Home taping is killing music
Ed Kuepper – Master of Two Servants
(from the album Electrical Storm, Hot Records 1985)
In the summers of 1985 and 1986 I worked a succession of menial jobs in and around Boston and spent way too many idle hours listening to college radio (mostly WMBR and WZBC, but also WERS and others), which was sort of having a heyday in that college-saturated town. I’d tape many broadcasts and then bounce the songs I was super-psyched about onto my roommate’s borrowed deck. The first tape is labeled “The Great Radio Tape”, the second “It’s The Next Radio Tape!” and so on. I really need to digitize those tapes if they have not already dissolved. The track listing reads like, well, like Little Hits. I found out about Sweden, Austin, and New Zealand (heard the Chills “Pink Frost” for the first time one July evening). Many of these tunes are still all-time favorites, which is not all that surprising, seeing as how one’s tastes basically congeal and harden in one’s early 20’s. I’ve since collected many of these releases and still am on the hunt for a few more.
One of the tunes that appears on the Next Radio Tape (a Maxell XLII, no noise reduction) is Ed Keupper’s “Master of Two Servants”, a rollicking folky jangle with an ominous Celtic tint and skiffle beat. Only now hearing it again for the first time in ages do I realize that there are no guitars on this, just drums, bass, and multi-tracked mandolin…ok, wait, maybe there’s an acoustic guitar in there. Hard to tell. Kuepper was in the Saints, but the two solo records I have by him from around that time are much removed from the Aussie punk of “I’m Stranded”. No tape hiss on this one, as I digitized it from the vinyl. Should you be at all curious, here’s the track list from that first tape from ‘85. I’m half tempted to just to post the whole 90-minute thing as a sound file. If for some reason you think this might be a useful exercise, let me know. I’ve got four of these suckers, so be warned.
Side A:
Echo and the Bunnymen – Angels and Devils
Screaming Tribesmen – Move a Little Closer
Lulu Kiss Me Dead - Walk Away
13th Floor Elevators – I’ve Got Levitation
The Rain Parade – Look Both Ways
The Pushtwangers – Lies
The Salvation Army – She Turns to Flowers
Pere Ubu – Non-Alignment Pact
The Lyres – How Do You Know?
Lime Spiders – Slave Girl
Alex Chilton – Bangkok
The Easybeats – You Said That
Red House – 25 Reasons
Biff Bang Pow – There Must Be a Better Life
The Flies – All Hung Up
Side B:
Love Tractor – Neon Light
Diff Juzz – (unknown instrumental, probably “Soarn”)
Winter Hours – Hyacinth Girl ((original and superior demo version)
The Sound – Monument
Chuck Berry – No particular Place to Go
REM – Burning Hell
Zeitgeist – Freight Train Rain
Plan 9 – Step Out of Time*
Busted Statues – A Light in August
The Sid Presley Experience – Public Enemy Number One*
Wire – Map Reference 41°N 93°N
Flesh For Lulu – Seven Hail Marys
(*appear on previous Little Hits posts)
Andrew Chalfen
Michael said,
January 24, 2009 @ 11:31 pm
This song is great. I love The Saints and now I’ll have to look up Ed Kuepper’s solo stuff. Thanks!
If you’re up to putting it online I’d give the tape a listen. That Red House song is awesome and I can’t find an mp3 of it anywhere.
david said,
January 25, 2009 @ 1:48 pm
i was in boston, at the same time, listening to the same stations.
this was all pretty soon after i stopped working at the newbury comics on newbury street.
Anonymous said,
January 25, 2009 @ 5:04 pm
i will third that thought from David……I’d moved up from Philly in late ‘84 with a drummer friend determined to form a power pop band in a city that doesn’t like power pop bands!!! He also worked at Newbury Comics, tho it was the one in Harvard Square…by all means Stewart, post that tape….i have tons of similar things I too made over the years, some with tunes taped from those same Boston college stations……jim
Anonymous said,
January 26, 2009 @ 9:44 am
Please post the tape.
david said,
January 26, 2009 @ 3:28 pm
michael-
i put the red house recording into my computer a year or so ago. not the greatest recording, but good enough.
e-mail me (at wykoffd@bellsouth.net) and i’ll send it to you.
also, i’d argue that a large portion of what the outlets did qualified as “power pop”.
Dan Holway said,
January 26, 2009 @ 10:32 pm
Just seeing a list that has Zeitgeist’s (later The Reiver’s) “Freight Train Rain” on it warms my heart. A better world would have embraced that song as a major hit.
Peter Collins said,
January 27, 2009 @ 6:06 am
I’d post the tape. You know you want to. Isn’t it Dif Juz, by the way. I once had a few 12 inches by them, but either lost them, gave them away or shoved them in the attic…
Peter Collins said,
January 27, 2009 @ 6:11 am
Great track by the way. I think there is a guitar going on in the background there….
Andrew said,
January 27, 2009 @ 1:39 pm
Funny, yeah now I know that “Dif Juz” is the correct spelling, but originally I had no idea. Also, only recently, someone in the know said it’s pronounced “diffuse.”
mzamar said,
January 27, 2009 @ 3:49 pm
Post the tape! I am so glad you have The Flies’ All Hung Up on there, I just bought the vinyl a few months ago so I could enjoy that again. I also salute She Turns To Flowers, Slave Girl, and How Do You Know? >
How can one say Boston doesn’t like power pop what with the Cavedogs? I can remember so many nice pop moments in this town…
Peter Collins said,
January 28, 2009 @ 9:22 am
There’s a wikipedia entry for the band, though the usual ‘user beware’ warning applies….
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dif_Juz
Jon said,
February 1, 2009 @ 2:31 pm
This is my favorite track from this album, and a song I’ve always loved. Thanks, Andrew.
Jon
Larry Grogan said,
February 6, 2009 @ 7:27 am
That’s a great looking tape! I actually saw the Screaming Tribesmen (at a local club in Neptune, NJ) circa 1987/88.
lg said,
February 9, 2009 @ 9:14 pm
Plan 9
now there is a flash from the past
frankenslade said,
February 11, 2009 @ 12:09 am
Post it all! I love the fact that we can still cherish a cassette tape from ages ago.
Rryha said,
February 26, 2009 @ 10:51 pm
There are so many bands on that tape that I was a fan of back in the day but never got around to acquiring any associated music thereof that I would be greatly appreciative should you post the entire tape for us to enjoy. Thanks!
boyspider77 said,
March 20, 2009 @ 2:26 am
Light in August, the original version is on a tape I made in Boston during that time too!
Along w/ the other songs. I’d shop at In your Ear for all the new New Zealand tunes
Andrew said,
March 20, 2009 @ 1:25 pm
GarageBand seems to only want to record tracks up to 1/2 hour. I need to get a hold of Audacity or something that will let me record longer tracks for this.
RoadSox said,
March 28, 2009 @ 6:29 pm
This is an awesome blog including all the comments. You transport me to 1984, 85, 86 - the Newbury Comics on Newbury St. and Washington St., the Channel, Lupo’s and The Living Room in Providence. Thanks for capturing these good times.
David Shea said,
June 6, 2009 @ 8:58 pm
Would love to hear that tape. I was a regular @ In Your Ear, developed a Flying Nun, Athens & NC habit. FYI, M Crenshaw came out with an album this week, P Holsapple & C Stamey have one out next week and The Gravel Pit will be @ TT’s. Boston Rocks!