LOOK WHAT I COULD FIND vol 78
"From Paris to Pittsburgh" - 16 pop culture pitstops in a race around the world

 

In The Trashcan Records       GEM078
"Raining in Pittsburg, dark in London? Grab your bags and head for Saint-Tropez, Kuwait or Congo and have a Malibu in Okinawa..."

1. i'm in pittsburgh and it's raining - the go-devils

Terrific cover version of The Outcasts' 60s punk anthem by these Japanese girls from Osaka, and almost as fabulous as the Vibes' version. Dionysus Records released this one in 1996. See also vol 54.

9. kuwait - ghost rider

Italian release that came with a 1994 Urlo Magazine. It's punky new wave garage by a band featuring Luca Losi, also active in Pikes In Panic, a garage punk psych band, and earlier in Arco & I Bizzarri, two bands worth checking out.

2. malibu - the ho-dads

Extremely hard to find one-sided two-track 45 from the early 90s. It's a young Babz, later in The Diaboliks, singing this turbo charged surf ditty about Malibu.

10. okinawa - indochine

The second best track from "Le peril jaune", my fave Indochine album (see vol 7) was also released as B-side of a new version of "Kao-Bang" in 1983. I can't really explain why I love this track so much. Teenage memories perhaps?

3. palisades park - the vice barons

An instrumental surf version of this Freddie Cannon smash hit. It's 1995 and the Vice Barons disbanded a year later. Ricky formed The Mighty Gordinis, Chester became the singer of Periferique Est, a punk outfit.

11. dark streets of london - pogue mahone

After The Nipple Erectors disbanded Shane MacGowan and James Fearnley formed Pogue Mahone, which can be translated as "Kiss my ass".  That's why they changed the name into The Pogues after this 1984 self-released 45. Add the Nips' energy to the sound of The Dubliners and drown it in a stream of whiskey; that's what The Pogues sound like.

4. honeymoon in new york - heaven 17

It's a British Electric Foundation or B.E.F. song but recorded here by a side project which soon became more famous and resulted in a huge career: Heaven 17, which was born out of the ashes of the first Human League line-up. Instrumental synth-wave pop song that could have been a Human League song indeed. Released as a B-side in 1981 by Virgin Records.

12. living in nw3 4jr - johnny rubbish

A parody version of "Anarchy in the UK" from 1978 on United Artists. You must hear it to believe.

5. draggin' usa - banana erectors

Japanese  punkpop band with a female singer you can't understand what she's singing. It's supposed to be English, I'm told. Sympathy For The Record Industry had the guts to release this.

13. carnaby street - the jam

Being mods, albeit with a punky twist, they sing about their beloved fashion street. It's 1977 and they seem to forget 1966 was more than a decade ago. You can't call it punk. It's Paul Weller and that's that.

6. san francisco girls - the roman gods

Originally by The Fever Tree from San Francisco, this 45 was given away in 1986 with issue 23 of magazine The Next Big Thing, published by former Legion Of The Cramped president Lindsay Hutton. The Roman Gods were actually The Fleshtones.

14. twist à saint-tropez - telex

Marc Moulin, Dan Lacksman and Michel Moers were Telex, who even were selected for the Eurovision Song Contest with their Moroder-moog disco ditty "Euro-vision". Here they've created a Moog synth vocoder electronic disco version of the best know French twist song. It's 1978 and it was their first release.

7. congo square - the squares

No, this is not a Mighty Caesars or Milkshakes instrumental gem unleashed. It's from a French combo that recorded it in 1993 for Get Hip.

15. sexy eiffel tower - bow wow wow

A sighing 14-year old girl was the trademark of shock effect seeker Malcolm McLaren. "I'm coming, I'm coming, I feel sexy, your sexy Eiffel Tower" leaves nothing to the imagination. A couple of years later they topped the charts and the scandal was far away.

8. congo - arno

"Forget the cold sweat" was a minor hit in Belgium in 1986 for ex-TC Matic frontman Arno. The flipside features an ecclectic instrumental you should listen at sitting in the garden around midnight while dozing in your hammock.

16. il est cinq heures paris s'éveille - dutronc

One of Jacques Dutronc's biggest hits in the 60s. Fabulous version by these UK Medway garageheads who recorded this in 1995. Watch out, there's also a Belgian garage band called Dutronic that plays many Jacques Dutronc songs.