Vinyl From the Vault

Daily (maybe) pulls from the vault: 33-1/3, 45, 78, old, older, classic, new, good, bad. Subjective. Autobiographical.

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Where’d you go?

I set up my own website www.vinylfromthevault.com

More flexibility in appearance and content than Tumblr allows

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Murphy's Law "Back With a Bong"

Murphy's Law "Back With a Bong" 1989. Profile Records. Clear vinyl. New York melodic hardcore, Back With a Bong is the band's second album and had an almost completely new lineup from their s/t debut in '86 - save vocalist Jimmy Gestapo (James Drescher) - that included Agnostic Front and Warzone guitarist Todd Youth (Todd Schofield).

Just a reminder that I’m really not here on Tumblr anymore. I have a month’s worth of posts since the last one -- www.vinylfromthevault.com 

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Love and Rockets "Rock and Roll Babylon"

Love and Rockets "Rock and Roll Babylon" 1989. Big Time Records/Beggars Banquet. 12" single promotional-only release. "Rock and Roll Babylon" appears on their 1989 self-titled album; it's a really lovely industrial-goes-psychedelic goth song. The 12" is a double A-side (like promos for radio stations tend to be, DJ's being in a big hurry and

Latest post on my website! 

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The Cure "In-Cure-Able"

The Cure "In-Cure-Able: Punk at Its Best" 1981. Very much a bootleg, with a blank label and cheaply pasted on front and back images (that you can see are starting to peel). Discogs lists Centrefugal Records as the record label that released it: that information may have been on an album insert, now lost to

Vinyl From the Vault now has its own website!

I will try to cross-post to Tumblr 😊

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Joan Jett & The Blackhearts “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” released 40 years ago today, November 18th, 1981.* This worn and well-loved LP was the first record I ever bought with my own money when I was 10 years old and I still love it (and since it’s an original pressing, it has the track “Little Drummer Boy” included as the record was released for the holiday shopping season. I don’t like that Christmas song but Jett’s version is tolerable). Hard pop rock inspired by the late 50′s/early 60′s classic rock-n-roll sound, Jett’s second solo studio album (and her first with the backing band The Blackhearts) was a massive hit, hitting #2 in the US and #25 in the UK. The title track “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” was the first single from the album; originally recorded by the Arrows in 1975, Jett’s version went to #1 in the US and #4 in the UK. But the single and the version on I Love Rock ‘n Roll wasn’t her original take - she first recorded it with Steve Jones and Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols in ‘79 as the b-side to “You Don’t Own Me” (which appears on her first solo LP Bad Reputation). Jett also released “Crimson and Clover” as a single, another cover song (by Tommy James & The Shondells), which hit #7 in the US and #60 in the UK. Jett’s version is so great, adding in a hard rocking beat to balance the sweetness of the original. Other notable covers that Jett recorded for I Love Rock ‘n Roll are “Bits and Pieces” originally by The Dave Clark Five, “Nag” by The Halos and “You’re Too Possessive” (she basically covers herself: it was on The Runaways’ album Waitin’ For the Night from 1977). The album isn’t all covers, though - I really love Jett’s “Love is Pain” and the Bo Diddley-inspired “Be Straight.” 

*Reblogging myself from two years ago. 

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Nitzer Ebb “That Total Age” 1987. Not on vinyl, but on ALL the other formats: I bought the cassette in ‘87 (and listened to it incessantly that year), picked up the CD sometime in the 90′s or early 2000′s, and am currently streaming it on Spotify (my tape player will probably munch the cassette and I don’t have a CD player readily accessible). Last night we got to see Nitzer Ebb play at Turner Hall here in Milwaukee - it was insane!! I danced non-stop for almost 2 hours (logging in over 10,000 steps and 2 cardio workouts on my FitBit 😅). The last time I saw them was over 30 years ago, in the summer of ‘90 when they toured with Depeche Mode - the bands are/were good friends and continued to work together on tours and recording for years after. Nitzer Ebb’s Bon Harris and Douglas McCarthy look older; I suppose I do, too. 

Relentlessly pounding EBM/industrial dance, That Total Age was Nitzer Ebb’s debut album. The single “Join in the Chant” hit #9 on the US dance charts and the crowd went insane last night when they performed it. They also played “Murderous” and “Let Your Body Learn” (two of my favorites and both also released as singles ), plus a hilarious ballad version of “Violent Playground” and “Alarm” as part of the encore. While not on That Total Age, Nitzer Ebb also played “Hearts and Minds” (we have that 12″ single on vinyl). Another top pick from the album is the opener “Fitness to Purpose.” My original cassette has the track “Warsaw Ghetto” which was not included on the originally released CD’s (mine doesn’t have it) but that track does appear on the 2018 reissue. 

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Led Zeppelin “IV” released 50 years ago today, November 8th, 1971. IV is not  the album’s true title: it is officially untitled and was supposed to be simply referred to by the four symbols pictured on the LP label. The band’s name does not appear on the cover and there is no catalog number on the spine. Despite this, it is probably one of the easiest recognizable, best-known and best-selling  records of all-time (charting at #1 and #2 in the UK and US) and is considered one of the best albums ever recorded, landing at or near the top of a zillion best-of lists. 

IV is definitely early heavy metal and certainly hard rock but Led Zeppelin always interwove elements of Celt/Anglican folk and Lords of the Ringsy imagery and IV’s iconic “Stairway to Heaven” is the epitome with its bustles in hedgerows, May queens and pipers piping. It was also the most confusing song to be confronted with at awkward junior high dances, starting as a slow dance (oh my God he wants to dance with me!!) and then breaking into an upbeat metal jam where we’d kind of drop our arms and sway self-conciously. Or maybe that was just me? Also I’m realizing that particular junior high dance occurred only 15 years after IV’s release and oh my god I’m also feeling very old. Anyway, I love “Stairway” (and many of its covers/parodies, including the one by Little Roger and the Goosebumps “Gilligan’s Island (Stairway)” which Robert Plant declared his favorite cover of the song) but even better are the absolute ripping opener “Black Dog” (#15 US), “Misty Mountain Hop” (more mixing of Tolkien imagery with modern day youth culture), “Rock and Roll” (released as a single in early ‘72, hitting #47 in the US) and the supremely beautiful “Going to California.”

*reblogged and revised from my post in 2017

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Radioactivity “Radioactivity” 2013. Dirtnap Records. I just finished listening to a podcast featuring Ken of Dirtnap Records (“Full on Church of Rock ‘n’ Roll” Episode 48) and Radioactivity, among several other Dirtnap bands, came up in the discussion. Ken gave me this record awhile back and it’s been in my pile of new-to-me records to spin so today’s the day! Radioactivity is powerpop-punk via Texas via Japan; when guitarist/vocalist Jeff Burke moved back to the States he reformed the band he was in overseas, The Novice, into Radioactivity. He joined up with Mark Ryan (bass) from The Marked Men and High Tension Wire and Gregory Rutherford (drums) from Bad Sports and High Tension Wire. 

Radioactivity is punchy, melodic and a little bit snotty: punk in the spirit of the the Ramones with very few hard edges, a teeny bit of jangle and tons of energy. Better for pogo-ing than slamming. “What You Want” is a re-worked Novice song (also released on Dirtnap Records in 2013 as a 7″) and one of my favorite songs on the LP. Other top tracks include the lead track “Sickness,” “World of Pleasure,” “Alright” and “When I’m Gone.” 

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Duran Duran “Future Past” 2021. Released just a couple of days ago, limited(ish) edition exclusive clear vinyl for “Spotify Fans First” pre-orders. Today, October 27th, is also Simon Le Bon’s birthday (b. 1958)! Future Past is Duran Duran’s 15th studio album and it is GREAT! The track “Anniversary” is pure, crank it to 11 dancing bliss, put it on repeat and as catchy and addictive as any of their other great hits like “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Planet Earth” or “Reach Up for the Sunrise.” My other top tracks so far (I’m on my fourth listen since getting the delivery two days ago) are “All of You” which has an excellent play-that-fucking-bass John rhythm, “Beautiful Lies” which is synthpop goes funk (the secret Duran Duran sauce) and “Invisible” which was the first song I heard a few months ago with that wild AI generated video. I’m working on really liking the songs upon which they collaborate with other artists (“Give It All Up” which features Tove Lo, “More Joy!” featuring Chai and “Falling” which features Mike Garson). But I’m just so happy that I still love this band and they continue to put out fantastic music.  

The title Future Past is also resonating with me a lot: about a week ago an old friend of mine who I met through our mutual love of Duran Duran back in 1984 sent me ALL of her old Duran Duran posters, magazine pictures, little tiny newspaper clippings, etc. In that pile of goodness was a letter I had typed and printed out on my dad’s old dot matrix computer that I literally have no recollection of whatsoever. Apparently my Duranie penpal from California (who I did get to meet in-person I think in the summer of ‘84 or ‘85) and I had schemed to write a book about Duran Duran and sent out this form letter to people requesting photos and must have included some sort of survey that the letter references. Spoiler: that book never materialized. 

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Parliament “Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome” 1977. Today, October 26th, is Bootsy Collins’ 70th birthday (b. William Earl Collins, 1951). Bootsy co-wrote all but two tracks on Parliament’s 6th studio LP (those were "Wizard of Finance" and "Placebo Syndrome") and plays bass on most of the album. While known for being the funkiest of funky bassist, Bootsy did not play bass on one of Parliament’s most famous songs that appears on Funkentelechy - “Flash Light,” which was Parliament’s first #1 R&B chart hit; it also went to #16 on the pop chart in the US. That song’s bass line was, rather, a synthesized bass played by Bernie Worrell and Bootsy plays drums on “Flash Light.”  Parliament released two other singles from Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome: “Bop Gun (Endangered Species),” the album’s opening track, and the title track “Funkentelechy,” which went to #27 on the R&B charts. The song is so long that for the 7″ single it had to be split between the A and B sides.  

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The Cramps “Psychedelic Jungle” 1981. I’m spinning The Cramps’ second LP today, October 21st, on what would have been singer Lux Interior’s 75th birthday (b. Erick Lee Purkhiser 1946, d. 2009). Psychedelic Jungle is a psychobilly punk blues 50-50 mix of covers and originals, including one of the band’s most iconic tracks, the cover of “Goo Goo Muck” (originally by Ronnie Cook and the Gaylads, 1962) which gained notoriety in ‘86 as part of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 soundtrack. Other notable covers include “Rockin’ Bones” originally by rockabilly great Ronnie Dawson (1959), the Bo Diddley-beat “Jungle Hop” by Kip Tyler and the Flips (1958) and “The Crusher” (a MKE-area favorite - we even have an annual Crusherfest) by the Novas (1964). The Cramps originals like “Caveman,” “Don’t Eat Stuff Off the Sidewalk” and “The Natives are Restless” are creepy, weird and perfect for pre-Halloween listening. 

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Johnny Marr “Fever Dreams Pt. 1″ 2021. Limited edition silver vinyl. 4 song EP released just a few days ago (October 15th), Fever Dreams Pt. 1 is the first portion of a double LP (Fever Dreams Pts. 1-4 to be released on Feb. 23rd, 2022) and it’s gorgeous. It has a big, polished 80′s-style production (and I mean that in the most complimentary way), is swirly and dreamy, and - it goes without saying - the guitar work is perfection. Marr released the opener “Spirt Power & Soul” at the end of August and I literally ran to the computer to pre-order the EP upon one listen. Anthemic with a driving, almost industrial beat, it’s a dance-floor burner that would feel at home equally at an 80′s raver as it would in a 2021 club (well, if those were open). The other three songs are great, too. “Receiver” is awesomely big, too, with an ominous opening/chorus and a Johnny-fucking-Marr hook. “All These Days” is dark, too, brightened ever so by Marr’s jangle. The final track, “Ariel,” is the most Smiths sounding of the tracks - I love it. 

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INXS “Underneath the Colours” released 40 years ago today, October 19th, 1981 (in Australia only, they released it to other markets a year or so later). INXS’ second LP went to no. 15 in Australia. Maybe it’s because I have little to no emotional connection to Underneath the Colours, unlike most of INXS’ other 80′s releases, but I’m really not crazy about this record. The funky title track “Underneath the Colours” is pretty good (I believe released as a single in New Zealand, no idea if charted or not) as is the dark, post-punkish “Barbarian,” but the rest of the album is pretty bland new wave pop with little to none of their later infectious and anthemic sound. Besides the title track, they also released “Stay Young” (#21 Australia) and “Night of Rebellion” as singles. In 1982 INXS put out Shabooh Shoobah which took their sound in a new direction, one that gave them international success. 

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S.M. Wolf “Precious Downtime” 2021. Romanus Records. Limited edition (50 copies) tricolor variant. Until now I was completely unfamiliar with Indianapolis’ S.M. Wolf but since one of my life goals is to have one copy (or more) of every Romanus Records release, I ordered one of these when it was released at the end of August. Precious Downtime is catchy and melodic, buzzy and shimmering indie pop with a dash of psychedelia.  It’s S.M. Wolf’s fourth album and, according to one reviewer (who I will trust since I haven’t listened to those other three records), the LP is lighter and more optimistic, which is interesting as the band recorded most of the material during the pandemic (as the record’s title alludes to) and without the benefit of being together as a full band for most of it. My top tracks include the lead track “Good Vibration (not that one..dream No. 1)” (the title makes me laugh), “Heinous Scepter” (the record’s title is part of the chorus and despite the name of the song it’s a really upbeat track), the rocker “Let It Go,” “Bangkok” which is just lovely and accented with some unexpectedly soaring trumpet and the supremely mellow closing tracks “The Sun Dies Too (automatic No. 2)” and “A Brighter Day.” 

S.M. Wolf headlined Romanus Fest last month - the fest doubled as their record release party - and I’m super-bummed we missed it; we’ve made it down to Indianapolis for all the past Romanus Fests and I’m hoping we can get there in 2022 - maybe S.M. Wolf will perform at it again - their music is pretty much perfect for a late summer outdoor evening festival. 

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Jon Spencer Blues Explosion “Now I Got Worry” released 25 years ago today, October 15th, 1996. Matador Records. JSBX’s fifth LP is one of my top 5 of all of their releases (though I may be guilty of saying that about all of their albums). Wild and noisy punk blues with some of their iconic tracks including “Wail;” Weird Al Yankovic directed and made a cameo in the highly entertaining and hysterical video which includes Spencer popping out of a toilet and Judah and Russell doing the macerana). Other great tracks are “2 Kindsa Love,” “Fuck Shit Up” (a cover originally by Dub Narcotic who they toured with in 2002 - at the show we went to Dub didn’t end up playing because they got there late but did manage to incite a mini-riot and get the club shutdown), “Chicken Dog” (with guest vocals from Rufus Thomas and Mark Ramos Nishita aka Money Mark), “R.L. Got Soul” and “Can’t Stop” which has the greatest - and most truthful - line of all time: “Throw your hands in the air and kiss my ass ‘cause your girlfriend still loves me.” We saw JSBX during the tour for this record at the Barrymore Theater - and got to go backstage after the show - in Madison, WI about a month after its release (Nov. 9, 1996 - as always a huge thank you to pop-catastrophe.co.uk for having such a thorough archive!).

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Prince “Controversy” released 40 years ago today, October 14th, 1981. Shockingly, our copy still includes the large poster which somehow escaped the normal rips, wears and tape tears from being attached to an 80′s teenager’s wall (the image cropped a bit here because posting it in its full glory got me thrown into “violates social standards” jail 🙄). 

Controversy is Prince’s fourth album; it hit #21 on the US album chart and #3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop album chart. Funky and danceable, its themes are a mix of socio-political commentary (most explicitly on “Ronnie, Talk to Russia” but also on the pro-gun control song “Annie Christian”), religion and sex sex sex without even a whisper of innuendo. Songs- and that poster! - like “Sexuality” (released outside of the US as a single - 1981 America was clearly not ready for it), “Do Me, Baby” (which was released, hitting #41 on the single chart and #1 on the R&B chart; it was supposedly written not by Prince but by Revolution bassist Andre Cymone), “Private Joy” and “Jack U Off” tell us exactly where Prince’s mind was at when writing the LP. Other singles he released were the title track “Controversy” (#70 US, #5 UK) and my favorite song on the album, the ultra-funky “Let’s Work” which went to #1 on the US Dance chart.  

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U2 “October” released 40 years ago today, October 12th, 1981. October, their second album (no. 2 in the UK and no. 104 in the US) solidified U2′s epically big and soaring anthemic post punk sound with a heavy emphasis on religion and spirituality. “Gloria,” with its soaring chorale chorus (“Gloria, in te domine”), is one of the strongest tracks on the record; it went to #55 on the UK single charts. “Fire” was another single (#35 UK). The album also has an air of beautiful sadness, particularly on “Tomorrow” about which Bono said, “[Its] influences: primarily Joy Division, Invisible Girls. A great example of how you can write a song and not know what you’re writing about. ‘Tomorrow’ is a detailed account of my mother’s funeral. But I had no idea when I was writing it.” U2 wrote much of October while touring the US for their first album, Boy, but bad luck plagued the band: Bono lost the lyrics for the album backstage during a show and the songwriting process needed to be rushed along in order to keep the studio recording schedule. Producer Steve Lillywhite stated the recording sessions were "completely chaotic and mad.”