Eight-X (38)

Hello, ready for some more Eight-X vinyl ? For starters there's a request i got some weeks ago for Romeo Void's great debut album, well here it's..the band unfortuately didnt last that long, just 3 albums, lacking the babewatch MTV appeal certainly blocked their progress as form once more blocked sight of content..that said It's a Condition is a very strong debut album.... The Smiths had no such worries, but then they were by enlarge a huge but local (UK) phenomenon...the album here, Hatful Of Hollow, wasn't even released in the US. I have to admit, myself i wasnt that big a fan, Morrisey's voice nerved me, though not as much as his 'cold meat' fans yeez....however, this album contains a number of great tracks....Play Dead was one of those bands that grew out of the fading UK punkscene, got labelled Gothic Rock something they didnt like. Anyway they had the usual release problems with labels and never really got to build on anything save their renowned live shows. After they folded in 85, Caught From Behind was released in 86, a compilation of the liveshows they did all over Europe the year before...

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Romeo Void - Its A Condition ( 81 ^ 98mb)

Debora Iyall, a Native American (from the Cowlitz tribe) born in rural Washington and raised in Fresno, CA, moved to San Francisco in the mid-'70s to attend the San Francisco Art Institute. Intrigued by the burgeoning local punk and post-punk scenes, Iyall, Zincavage, Woods, and Derrah formed Romeo Void in 1979. Iyall has said that the name, meaning "a lack of romance," was inspired by a headline on the cover of a local magazine that read "Why single women can't get laid in San Francisco." The combination of Iyall's powerful vocals and searing imagery with the band's muscular blend of dark atmospherics and a rattling momentum, with Benjamin Bossi's splattering free jazz saxophone coloring everything, made Romeo Void one of the strongest of the American post-punk bands.

Shortly after the group's formation, saxophonist , Benjamin Bossi, teamed up with Romeo Void. The revised lineup recorded their debut single, "White Sweater," and a cover of Jorgen Ingmann's atmospheric 1961 twang-guitar instrumental hit "Apache," for the new local indie 415 Records in 1980. Before sessions commenced for their first album, 1981's It's a Condition, Derrah left the group, replaced by ex-Explosions drummer John "Stench" Haines. One of the masterpieces of American post-punk, It's a Condition received rave reviews upon its release. Perhaps even more importantly, Cars leader Ric Ocasek heard the album and invited the group to his Synchro Sound studio in Boston. The resulting Ocasek-produced EP, Never Say Never, on the back of the enormous dance club and college radio airplay of the single, led directly to 415 Records' ongoing association with Columbia Records.
 
1982's "Benefactors" kicks off with a less-impressive shortened mix of "Never Say Never," almost completely eliminating Bossi's squalling, Albert Ayler-like solo, fading out before the hypnotic ending and bleeping out a rude word in the second verse. A denser album than the sparse It's a Condition, Benefactors is nearly the equal of the earlier record, with the hyperactive dance-pop of "Undercover Kept" signaling a new interest in musical directness that would reap commercial benefits on their next album.

Like It's a Condition, that third album, 1984's Instincts, was produced by 415's former house producer David Kahne, but it's far slicker than the debut, this newly commercialized approach scored the band their only Top 40 hit, "A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)," which Iyall claimed is an answer song to Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," the album is a disappointment in comparison to the stellar work that had preceded it. By the time of these sessions, relations had become strained in the group subsequently Romeo Void broke up in early 1985. Romeo Void reunited for a few benefit shows in 1992 and later that year released a career-summary compilation, Warm in Your Coat.



01 - Myself To Myself (3:44)
02 - Nothing For Me (3:37)
03 - Talk Dirty (To Me) (4:46)
04 - Love Is An Illness (3:42)
05 - White Sweater (4:44)

06 - Charred Remains (3:03)
07 - Confrontation (2:40)
08 - Drop Your Eyes (3:37)
09 - Fear To Fear (2:40)
10 - I Mean It (5:41)

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The Smiths - Hatful Of Hollow ( 84 ^ 134mb)

The Smiths were an English rock band active from 1982 to 1987, The Smiths were formed in early 1982 by two Manchester residents: an unemployed writer named Steven Patrick Morrissey, and Johnny Marr ( John Maher ), a guitarist and songwriter. After recording several demo tapes with the drummer from The Fall, Simon Wolstencroft. they recruited drummer Mike Joyce in fall of 1982 and bassplayer Dale Hibbert.The band picked their name in part as a reaction against the fancy and pompous names used by popular Synthpop bands of the early 1980s. Critics have called them one of the most important alternative rock bands to emerge from the British independent music scene of the 1980s, and the group has had major influence on subsequent artists.They released four studio albums and several compilations, as well as numerous non-LP singles. Although they had limited commercial success outside the UK while they were still together, and never released a single that charted higher than number 10 in their home country, The Smiths won a growing following, and they remain cult

Signing to indie label Rough Trade Records, they released their first single, "Hand in Glove", on 13 May 1983. The record was championed by DJ John Peel, as were all of their later singles, but failed to chart. The follow-up singles "This Charming Man" and "What Difference Does It Make?" fared better. Aided by praise from the music press and a series of studio sessions for John Peel and David Jensen at BBC Radio 1, The Smiths began to acquire a dedicated fan base. By February 1984, The Smiths' fanbase was sufficiently large to launch the band's eponymous debut album to number two in the UK chart. Its mood was generally bleak. Shortly after the release of the album, Morrissey idol Sandie Shaw recorded "Hand in Glove" backed by Marr, Rourke and Joyce. The hit single resulted in the band performing barefoot (a Sandie Shaw trademark) on Top of the Pops.

In 1984, the band released several singles not taken from the album: "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" and "William, It Was Really Nothing" (hommage to Billy 'Associate'McKenzie) , it featured "How Soon Is Now?" as a B-side. The year ended with the compilation album Hatful of Hollow. This collected singles, B-sides and the versions of songs that had been recorded throughout the previous year for the Peel and Jensen shows. The radio session versions were felt by many (including the band) to be better than those released as singles and on the debut album. Early in 1985 the band released their second album, Meat Is Murder. This album was more strident and political than its predecessor, including the pro-vegetarian title track. Meat Is Murder was the band's only album (barring compilations) to reach number one in the UK charts.

Morrissey brought a political stance to many of his interviews, courting further controversy. Among his targets were the Thatcher government, the monarchy and the famine relief project Band Aid. Morrissey famously quipped of the latter, "One can have great concern for the people of Ethiopia, but it's another thing to inflict daily torture on the people of England." During 1985 the band completed lengthy tours of the UK and the US while recording the next studio record, The Queen Is Dead. The album was released in June 1986, shortly after the single "Bigmouth Strikes Again". The single again featured Marr's strident acoustic guitar rhythms and lead melody guitar lines with wide leaps. The record reached number two in the UK charts, using a mixture of mordant bleakness and dry humour.

A legal dispute with Rough Trade had delayed The Queen Is Dead by almost seven months (it had been completed in November 1985), and Marr was beginning to feel the stress of the band's exhausting touring and recording schedule. In early 1987 the single "Shoplifters of the World Unite" was released to chart success, it was followed by a second compilation, The World Won't Listen. Despite their continued success, personal differences within the band — including the increasingly strained relationship between Morrissey and Marr — saw them on the verge of splitting. In August 1987, Marr left the group, and auditions to find a replacement for him proved fruitless. By the time Strangeways, Here We Come (named after Strangeways Prison, Manchester) was released in September, the band had split up. The breakdown in the relationship has been primarily attributed to Morrissey becoming annoyed by Marr's work with other artists and Marr growing frustrated by Morrissey's musical inflexibility. Strangeways peaked at number two in the UK but was only a minor US hit. The album received a lukewarm reception from critics, but all four members name it as their favourite Smiths album. A couple of further singles from the album were released with earlier live, session and demo tracks as B-sides, and the following year the live album Rank (recorded in 1986) repeated the UK chart success of previous albums.

In 1996, Joyce took Morrissey and Marr to court, claiming that he had not received his fair share of recording and performance royalties. Morrissey and Marr had claimed the lion's share of The Smiths' recording and performance royalties and allowed ten percent each to Joyce and Rourke. The judge in the case described Morrissey as "devious, truculent and unreliable", the court found in favour of Joyce and ordered that he be paid over £1 million in back pay and receive twenty-five percent henceforth. Needless to say that closed the door on any reunion/tour even if millions of pounds have been offered for it. 



01 - William, It Was Really Nothing (2:09)
02 - What Difference Does It Make ?(Peel, May 83) (3:12)
03 - These Things Take Time (Jensen, July 83) (2:32)
04 - This Charming Man (Peel, September 83) (2:42)
05 - How Soon Is Now? (6:43)
06 - Handsome Devil (Peel, May 83) (2:46)
07 - Hand In Glove (3:11)
08 - Still Ill (Peel, September 83) (3:32)

09 - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now (3:32)
10 - This Night Has Opened My Eye (Peel, September 83) (3:38)
11 - You've Got Everything Now (Jensen, July 83) (4:14)
12 - Accept Yourself (Jensen, September 83) (4:01)
13 - Girl Afraid (2:47)
14 - Back To The Old House (Peel, September 83) (2:59)
15 - Reel Around The Fountain (Peel, May 83) (5:49)
16 - Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (1:48)

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Play Dead - Caught From Behind - Live (86 ^ 97mb)

Play Dead (Rob Hickson (vocals), Pete Waddleton (bass), Mark "Wiff" Smith (drums), and Steve Green (guitar ) ) were a band from Banbury (Oxfordshire) that grew out of the fading English punk scene in 1980. Play Dead made three studio albums ..."The First Flower" (83), "From The Promised Land"(84), and "Company Of Justice", which appeared on their own label Tanz in 1985. That year two live albums were released Into the Fire Live - The Final Epitaph Live .Waddleton left the group in 1986 and moved to India, after a brief period as "The Beastmaster Generals" the Playdead dissolved.

In 86 a collection of various live concerts by Play Dead recorded from October 1984 to September 1985 was released after they had folded officially ..Caught From Behind: Live In England, France, Germany, And Switzerland. A year ago "From The Promised Land" has been rereleased with nine bonustracks.



01 - Break (3:43)
02 - Last Degree (3:20)
03 - Solace (4:54)
04 - Shine (3:43)
05 - Isabel (4:29)

06 - Sin Of Sins (4:35)
07 - Torn On Desire (4:21)
08 - This Side Of Heaven (3:12)
09 - Sacrosanct (3:20)
10 - The Tenant (5:21)

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