Jamboree – Melt Down

Jamboree
Melt Down
1985 Jayrem Records
New Zealand

Brent Tasker – Vocals
David Ball – Guitar, keyboards
Dave Steunebrink – Guitar
Andrew Horst – Bass
Jozsef Fityus – Drums

Angela Tasker – Backing Vocals on “Spin Me”

Side One:

1. Melt Down
2. A Familiar Quietness
3. Cold

Side Two:

1. Out of Season
2. Spin Me

I have heard this one before but found out some more information about it so I thought I would cover this here (even though it is technically vinyl). Jamboree was an early version of Hoi Polloi before Jenny Gullen joined. Ball, Horst, and Fityus joined Gullen by the time they were Hoi Polloi and released Satisfy in 1990. Horst and Gullen were also married by the time they were in Hoi Polloi, but I don’t know if that was the case here. The sound here reminds you of an earlier version of their later sound. It was kind of in line with what many New Zealand alternative bands were doing at the time. This album also contains an early version of “Spin Me.” They also have a single from 1987 called Independence Day that will now go on my want list. Steunebrink didn’t seem to join Hoi Polloi, but he did go on to produce and/or manage many Christian bands and acts, including Hoi Polloi.

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.

Hoi Polloi – Satisfy

Hoi Polloi
Satisfy
1990 (no label)
Auckland, New Zealand

Jenny Gullen – Lead vocals, acoustic guitar
David Ball – Lead guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards
Andrew Horst – Bass, backing vocals, acoustic guitar
Jozsef Fityus – Drums

Jasmine Kemp – Background vocals on “Satisfy”
Dave Henderson – Background vocals on “Satisfy”
Youth Renewal Singers – Background vocals on “Rest Tonight”
Guy Wishart – Acoustic guitar on “Satisfy”
Jeff Tribe – Trumpet
Peter Slainey – Saxophone
Dave Parry – Keyboards on “Love Shine Down”

Side 1:

1. Rest Tonite
2. Rain
3. Love Shine Down

Side 2:

1. Satisfy
2. The Other Name
3. Come to Me

This is the debut demo by Hoi Polloi – probably the one that got them in to play Cornerstone, where they were signed back in the day. All of the songs on here were re-recorded for their 1992 Reunion Records self-titled debut except for “Love Shine Down.” Of course, that song was re-recorded for 1993’s Spin Me. I’ve read that the band thought their first two albums were too slick and overproduced – you can hear more of their true sound here it seems, as these tracks are more alternative sounding and less slick pop than the label release versions. I always liked those two albums for what they are, but listening to this demo you can really hear the label influence on their sound. This would be their only demo until after they were signed, when they recorded Only Flying in 1996. Also an interesting historical note – the members of this band minus Gullen were in a band called Jamboree that released an ep called Melt Down and a single called Independence Day in the 1980s.