Tuesday 5 August 2014

The Call, 10,000 Maniacs, X - Elektra Caravan '87 7"

Not sure where I got this one from, but its a sampler for Elektra records featuring three bands, The Call, 10,000 Maniacs and X. The inside gatefold sleeve has information on each band and their latest albums which the label is clearly trying to promote (high resolution scans included).

First up is 'The Call', despite this being a track from their fourth album, I had never heard of them but I really like this track and after all these years I think will check out some of their stuff. Anyone know this band? any recommendations? or is this a one off?, then leave a comment.

Second up is 10,000 Maniacs, a John Peel favourite, and one of their best songs 'What's The Matter' is from their second album 'In My Tribe'. If you like 10,000 Maniacs you will already have this, if you've never tried them then I would recommend starting with their first album 'The Wishing Chair'.

Last up is 'X' the original punk band formed in 1977. Although be prepared this track from their sixth album is nothing like their old stuff, I would nearly categorise this as alt country. but I still like it and would also recommend trying some of John Doe's sole material.

Band: Various
Label: Elektra
Year: 1987
Tracks:
1. In The River - The Call
2. What's The Matter - 10,000 Maniacs
3. See How We Are - X

Ripped from glorious scratched vinyl

So if you like these then why not try out the albums they are sampled from:
The Call's fourth album 'Into The Woods':
Into the Woods
10,000 Maniacs second album 'In My Tribe':
In My Tribe
X's sixth album 'See How We Are':
See How We Are

6 comments:

Punkzer0 said...

hi Anon and allcik, I will check out both of these when I get a mo

Anonymous said...

with the Call go get "modern romans"cd and dont bother with the rest

Punkzer0 said...

Thanks for the advice anon

Diablo Rules said...

Hi Gary. If you want some of The Call stuff just leave me a comment here, to post them.

Cheers

Nate said...

Modern Romans is not great, mostly because it is difficult to find a correct version of it!

You know one of their songs better than this. I Still Believe is played by Tom Cappello in Lost Boys. He's the buff greased up sax player. Interesting is that he plays sax on Peter Gabriel III, and Peter Gabriel sings backup on the album Reconciled that has the Call's original version of I Still Believe.

The Call actually have quite a cult following. They just have a unique sound. I kinda think of them as a "What if Bruce Springsteen started in the 80's" type of thing. Similar sense of melody, similarly layered lyrics (without the city-boy parables).

By the way, the superior 10,000 Maniacs is Hope Chest, in my opinion. This is a comp of their early EPs, from the same era that they would cover Joy Division and others on stage. It is very unique. Like a post-punk reggae, but not like the Clash's later stuff. Further out there than Wishing Chair (although My Mother the War is on both).

Punkzer0 said...

Hi English Frog thanks for the offer, I have picked up their albums recenty.

Hi Nate, thanks for the comment and info. I didn't know about Hope Chest, I will check it out, thanks for the pointer.