New Generation #5

New Generation #5
1987 (no label)
Compiled by Jeani Bond

Side 1:

1. Red Christmas – My Rhapsody [Mark Krischak & Friends – Volume 2, 1987]
2. Johnny Quest – Page 69 [Transition, 1986]
3. The Call – Day Or Night [Into The Woods, 1987]
4. The Lifesavors – Record [3-14-81, 1981]
5. Circle One – The Gospel [Patterns of Force, 1983]
6. New December – On That Day [We’re Sick of Satan, 198?]
7. Blue Trapeze – Femme Fatale [Sanctuary, 1985]
8. T-Bone Burnett – Trap Door [Trap Door ep, 1982]
9. The Lonely Now – Thunderclouds [Captive, 1986]
10. In Transit – Micro on the Move [Demo, 1986]
11. Steve Scott – Sound of Waves [Lost Horizon, 1988]
12. Marc Plainguet – Gaea [Amebas in Love, 1986]

Side 2:

1. Scottie Joel Cooper – The Beat [The Beat: 1958, 1985]
2. Souls in Exile – Epilogue [Demo, 198?]
3. Louvre – Manifest Destiny [6 Song Demo, 1985]
4. Pete Ward – Foot in the Door [Between the Eyes, 1983]
5. The 77s – What Was In That Letter? [The 77s, 1987]
6. Undercover – Tears in Your Eyes [Branded, 1986]
7. Johnny Quest – The Rap [Transition, 1986]
8. Crazed Bunnyz – Tap Dancing Into Hell [Achtung:Musik Klirrfaktor, 1986]
9. The Magnetics – The World is Not My Home [Shots in the Dark compilation, 1981]
10. Daniel Amos – Shadowcatcher [Fearful Symmetry, 1986]
11. Deacon Blue – Loaded [Raintown, 1987]
12. Restricted Access – Go No Stop [Jacob’s Tears, 1987]
13. Mark Krischak – Modern World [Acoustic Demos, 198?]

I have tried to transfer this one for a while, but side 2 just won’t play right. Luckily, these are all available at the archives of the show. Still going backwards in time, so we move on from New Generation #6 to episode #5.  Many of the songs and artists on here you have heard of, but there are some interesting songs to note. The first is the New December song – it’s not on their Furious Children demo. It is announced as being on a demo called We’re Sick of Satan, but I have not been able to track that one down yet. There is also a Souls in Exile song, but I have yet to hear any more about their demo, either. Then finally there is a Mark Krischak demo that I have not heard elsewhere, either. As always, a cool collection of the deep tape underground in the mid-80s. Next up will be episode #4.

New Generation #7

New Generation #7
1987 (no label)
Compiled by Jeani Bond

Side 1:

1. Jamboree – “Spin Me” [Melt Down, 1985]
2. Absence of Ceramics – “How Do I Know You Are Real” [Exception to the Rule, 1987]
3. Steve Taylor – “What is the Measure of Your Success?” [I Predict 1990, 1987]
4. Mike Futch – “Johnny” [Buy Dis Album Ore God Will Disconnect My Fone, 1987]
5. The Lifesavors – “Blue” [Us Kids, 1981]
6. New December – “New December” [Furious Children, 1986]
7. The Lonely Now – “Original Intentions” [Original Intentions, 1987]
8. Thee Underdogz – “Cult Club” [Thee Underdogz, 1987]
9. The Noiz Boyz – “Attack of the Cults” [Noiz Boyz, 198?]
10. No Laughing Matter – “Religion Sucks” [It Bites K-Mart Shoppers, 1986]
11. Blackhouse – “The 2 Classes of People” [Hope Like a Candle, 1985]
12. Bloodgood – “Crucify” [Detonation, 1987]

Side 2:

1. Geoff Mann – “Creation” [Psalm Enchanted Evening, 1986]
2. Geoff Mann – “Dance” [Psalm Enchanted Evening, 1986]
3. Andy Pratt – “Face I Wear” [Not Just for Dancing, 1983]
4. Daniel Amos – “Pictures of the Gone World” [Darn Floor – Big Bite, 1987]
5. People – “I Love You” [I Love You, 1968]
6. Blue Trapeze – “See Them Turn” [Mask & Marquee, 1986]
7. Unopened Present – “Going Through” [Demo,  198?]
8. [Mark Krischak promoing New Generation from Japan]
9. Mark Krischak – “Foreigner”
10. Marc Plainguet – “The Repeated Course” [World Media, 1986]
11. Jeff Johnson – “Tesseract” [Icons, 1986]

For those that weren’t aware, the underground music scene of the 80s not only had a robust independent magazine scene, but also a very productive tape trading aspect as well. Sometimes this was just someone making mixtapes or copies of albums for friends, but several people went the extra step of making actual shows on tape and then dubbing several copies and sending them out to people all over the place. These shows were often set up like radio shows on cassettes, with the main difference being that they played music that was often ignored by radio stations. Probably the most well known tape show in the Christian Underground was Jeani Bond’s New Generation series. Jeani also ran (and still does) an indie label and distribution network as well. She has archived these episodes online, so you can listen as well. I’m starting at #7 and going backwards because the collection I have only has #4-7. But I will cover #1-3 when I get a chance as well. As you can see in the track listing above, many of the tapes represented on this show have been covered already here (most of those that have not I will probably get to at some point). New Generation focused mainly on music, with Jeani only jumping in every few songs to let you know what you had heard and were about to hear. She also used a little bit of Steve Taylor and some Blackhouse songs to create the intro and exit music. And that pretty much summarizes the music range here – signed quirky stuff like Taylor to really left-field underground stuff like Blackhouse, and everything in between: punk, alternative, thrash, noise, acoustic, metal, hardcore, electronic, indie, you name it. Most of these reviews I will focus on songs that are unique to each episode that I haven’t heard elsewhere. You can follow the links above to read about other artists. For this tape, Jamboree kicks things off, with New Zealand-flavored alternative rock. Then there are several songs covered here, or from label releases. The Noiz Boyz track appears to come from a later release that expanded Neighborhood Rock with 3 more songs that I haven’t heard. Side 2 has several well-known bands, but also contains some obscure Mark Krischak tunes. One is by The Unopened Present, who have  demo not reviewed here yet. Then there is a recording of Mark promoting New Generation from Japan. Finally there is a Mark Krischak song that I have not heard before, that I call “Foreigner.” Of course, he has about a hundred demos that I have not found yet, so it is probably just from one of those. This tape is a great historical record of cool music. I don’t know if there were more after #7, but next I will review New Generation #6.

Blue Trapeze – Mask and Marqee

Blue Trapeze
Mask and Marqee
1986 Fullspeak Records
Fullerton, California, USA

Dan Koenig – Guitar, vocals
Roger Arendse – Bass, backing vocals
Lisa Klive-Koenig – Drums, vocals, keyboards

James D. Murray – Bass clarinet

1. Mask and Marqee
2. Afraid of Real
3. A Reason
4. See Them Turn
5. The Old Home
6. Midnight Sun

Blue Trapeze was kind of a fixture and/or central band in the Christian alternative rock/modern rock underground. They released at least 4 albums that are still spoken of in high regard by those in the know today. This album is probably the band’s most well-known (well, either this one or 1990’s The World Won’t Fit My Skull). Before this was 1985’s Sanctuary and 1984’s Who Were You Then? I have all of their releases – the first three on vinyl even – as well as a 2001 compilation called Stillborn Dreams with a bunch of unreleased songs that I can find no explanation about online. Anyways, it was good to hear the tape version as my vinyl version is a bit scratchy. The sound here is a good mixture of all the big mid-80s alternative crowd, but in a way that sound unique to them.