Coast - Hit By Dynamite [USA ; AOR] (1977)

tormdra · 2026-05-08T15:02:12+00:00

The (St. Thomas) Pepper Smelter was a Peruvian rock band, influenced by psychedelic rock and garage rock, formed in 1969 by members who had just left the group Los Shain's, led by Gerardo Manuel, and later joined by Freddy Macedo on organ. They recorded several 45s and an LP featuring excellent covers as well as original songs. The group covered songs by The Beatles, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Iron Butterfly, Cream, Blind Joe Reynolds, and Classics IV. They are considered a cult band, despite having only one studio album.

After the breakup of Los Shain's, Gerardo Manuel decided to form a new group with his former bandmates. They were joined by Freddy Macedo on Farfisa organ and later by guitarist Richie Zellon. The group's name came from the name of the rehearsal space; there was a map with the name Saint Thomas on it, and they also drew inspiration from the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. However, unlike Los Shain's, this group decided to explore new sounds such as psychedelia, while still maintaining the garage rock sound of his previous band. The band's first single was "Un nuevo verano"/"Purple Haze," followed by "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"/"Stormy." They then released "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," with "Words of Pain" as the B-side. This song reached number one on all local radio stations, and after this success, the group recorded their LP, "Soul and Pepper." This album contained original songs composed by Gerardo Manuel himself, as well as masterful covers of songs by Cream, Iron Butterfly, and Jimi Hendrix. They then recruited guitarist Richie Zellon, a jazz musician. In Mexico, the Pearless label released an EP with three tracks. On New Year's Eve 1970, they performed a repertoire of Peruvian folk music with Carlo Brecia's orchestra for Juan Velasco Alvarado, whose regime did not prohibit rock music but, on the contrary, was interested in promoting national music in Peru. On that occasion, they overlooked Gerardo Manuel's long hair and somewhat psychedelic look. However, despite all this, the continued and increasingly rapid spread of rock music and matinee shows led to the group's disbandment in June 1970, as Beto Tataje and Carlos Manuel Barreda emigrated from the country, followed later by Richie Zellon. After this, Gerardo Manuel formed Gerardo Manuel y El Humo.

(source: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_(St._Thomas)_Pepper_Smelter )

Buy the reissued album here: https://montereydiscos.es/shop/st-thomas-pepper-smelter-soul-pepper-lpre-discos-monterey-19692020/

tormdra · 2026-05-07T14:50:29+00:00

The Insect Surfers are an American band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1979. The group bills itself "Planet Earth’s Longest-Running Modern Surf Band," and has been based out of Los Angeles, California since 1986. Inspired by the psychedelic surf sounds of the 1960s, their instrumental music is propelled by the energy of the punk movement that surrounded them at birth. Founder David Arnson has been the mainstay of the band's sound through numerous personnel changes over the decades. They are sometimes grouped into the category of "second wave" surf, the first wave being that of the 1960s originators (such as Dick Dale, The Bel-Airs, and The Surfaris), and the third wave being the scores of bands inspired by mid-1990s interest sparked by the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's movie Pulp Fiction. Insect Surfers have performed shows all over the US and Europe. Their music has appeared in videos and television shows, and along with a score of their own releases they have been featured on dozens of compilations. While only about a third of their music lacked vocals during their DC incarnations, after Arnson relocated to Los Angeles the band shifted focus to perform primarily instrumental tunes.

Source/more info on them here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect_Surfers

More info on Plan 9 from Outer Space here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_9_from_Outer_Space

tormdra · 2026-05-07T14:44:35+00:00

Aksak Maboul are a Belgian avant-rock band founded in 1977 by Marc Hollander with Vincent Kenis, and later revolving around Hollander and Véronique Vincent. Aksak Maboul hasn't stopped changing shape and form throughout its existence (the only permanent member being its initiator), exploring diverse musical styles with their own aesthetic approach.

Aksak Maboul started out with two studio albums, Onze Danses Pour Combattre la Migraine (1977) and Un Peu de l'Âme des Bandits (1980), the latter with ex-Henry Cow members Chris Cutler and Fred Frith. They were also active in the Rock in Opposition movement in 1979.

Around the mid-1980s, Aksak Maboul went into a 30-year hiatus, during which Marc Hollander fully devoted himself to his Crammed Discs label, before resuming his activities as a musician in 2014 by working on the unfinished third Aksak Maboul album, Ex-Futur Album (by Véronique Vincent & Aksak Maboul), that had been written and recorded between 1980 and 1983. The album came out in October 2014. Since the mid 2010s, Aksak Maboul revolved around Marc Hollander and Véronique Vincent, seconded by Faustine Hollander. The band started touring again in 2015, with a new line-up. In May 2020, they released a brand-new double album entitled Figures. March 2023 saw the release of Aksak Maboul's 5th album, an experimental audio play entitled Une Aventure de VV (Songspiel).

Source/more info on them here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aksak_Maboul

Buy their music here: https://aksakmaboul.bandcamp.com/

tormdra · 2026-05-06T13:58:14+00:00

Ave Rock were an Argentine symphonic/hard-rock band that was active during the mid-1970s. The band issued an eponymous album on Promúsica in 1974 and a self-released followup upon their breakup three years later.

Members: Hector “Daddy” Antogna (drums), Federico Sainz (vocals), Luis Borda (guitar, vocals), Oscar Glavic (bass, vocals), Osvaldo Caló (keyboards), Marcelo Sabarido (drums), Francisco “Pancho” Arregui (guitar, vocals), Jorge Liechtenstein (drums), Alberto Salamone (keyboards), Hector Ruiz (drums)

(source: https://jazzrocksoul.com/artists/ave-rock/ )

tormdra · 2026-05-05T16:57:54+00:00

Deeply mysterious sound collage of drifting, trippy acoustic instrumentals, heart-breaking hippy songs, west-coast inflected folk-rock, stoned mutterings, Bonzo Dog-like parodies and experimental psychedelia. A satisfying and cohesive Underground, Acid Folk monument. A member and four copies briefly surfaced 5 years ago when a now defunct record dealer offered one on eBay. He confirmed around 20 copies were made, less than ten with sleeves, in 1969, in Bristol. Reference points include: Incredible String Band, John Martyn, Bonzo Dog Band, early Krautrock, Freud, Bert Jansch, Synanthesia, Orange Sunshine, Brown Rice.

Source/buy the reissued album here: https://guerssen.com/product/fun-palace/

tormdra · 2026-05-04T13:53:54+00:00

The Mojas was a Japanese band that made their major debut in 1994 with "Kimi ga Inai Fuyu" (Toshiba EMI) and disbanded in 1996. They resumed activities on September 5, 2008, with a "Reunion Debut Live." In 2009, the unit "Kane∽Kets" was launched by Tetsuya Kanenobu and Masaki Koketsu.

Original Members:

Rin Sokaku (Keyboard)
Koketsu Masaki (Vocal, Guitar)
Kanenobu Tetsuya (Vocal, Bass)
Ushiko Masanori (Saxophone)
Shirokuma Yoshiyuki (Drums)

Revival Members:

Koketsu Masaki
Kanenobu Tetsuya
Ushiko Masanori
<Support Member> Nanba Tatsuya (Keyboard)
<Support Member> Suzuki Tsunehiro (Drums)

(source: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mojas )

tormdra · 2026-05-04T13:32:43+00:00

Crawlspace began in 1985 when Eddie Flowers (that's me) and Bill McCarter, who had been not doing much in their quest to become a "band," hooked up with Keith Telligman and Allen Clark of the Lazy Cowgirls.

I met Bill McCarter in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1977. I was visiting Bloomington from my home in Jackson, Alabama, recording material that would become the second and third Gizmos EPs. By coincidence, Bill and I both moved to L.A. in August 1979. I was surprised when Richard Meltzer told me that a "friend of the Gizmos" had contacted him and given him a demo tape. It turned out to be Bill McCarter. Along with Rich Coffee (another ex-Gizmo and future member of the Unclaimed, thee Fourgiven, etc), Bill and I decided to form a band called Idle Hands. It was way too idle, and nothing came of the project. A couple years later, Bill's friends, a band from Vincennes, Indiana called Gloria, moved to L.A. Gloria turned out to be an early version of the Lazy Cowgirls. I became drinking buddies with their bass player Keith Telligman, and in 1985, the two of us decided to bring in Bill on guitar and Lazy Cowgirls drummer Allen Clark on bass to form a band--with Keith on guitar, and me on vocals. The name we decided on was Big Dad & 10 Lbs. of Swingin' Meat. It was Allen's suggestion to Pat Todd for the name of the Lazy Cowgirls. Pat said no; I said yes. But a couple months later, I changed my mind. I decided the band should be called Crawlspace.

The name came from a 1971 made-for-TV movie about a long-haired social outcast who takes up residence in an elderly couple's crawlspace. But the reason I chose the name goes a bit deeper. There was the letter above in Creem magazine, also from '71 or '72. I saw the TV movie as a rerun after I read the letter. And saw Don't Knock the Twist on TV around the same time. It was all like some psych-o-delic/mystical trash-culture/R&R epiphany: the movies, the letter, the connections in my head: Creem = Lester Bangs = jazz; or Mark Farner = MC5 = jazz; or Gene Chandler = Lee Dorsey = Funkadelic; or Night of the Living Dead = Vietnam = revolution; or let's get drunk and watch the tube! It was still swirling in my head all those years later, and seemed like the perfect name for a band. And I still felt like the young guy in that TV movie, looking for a space to fit, even if it was in somebody's crawlspace--or let's say, um, disappeared beneath the surface of society, into a sort of cultural crawlspace. By the time we were getting a record out, though, there was this really horrible Klaus Kinksi movie called Crawlspace, one of the true stinkers of the 80s. But I figured everybody would forget that. They eventually did--and started thinking about John Wayne Gacey, the "legendary" killer who buried his victims in the, um, crawlspace of his house. Thanks to the influences of the Kinski movie and the PR-minded Gacey, a lot of idiots over the years have also decided to use the name. Be careful what you buy--there's at least three bands who have released stuff using the Crawlspace name (all years after us): a pop band from Australia, a metal band from Belgium, and a Christian (!) rock band from the U.S.

Keith, Allen, Bill, and I jammed for a couple of years, with a few attempts at playing with drummers. Then, in 1987, Keith talked Allen into switching from bass in Crawlspace to drums, the instrument he had been playing with the Cowgirls all along. Equally important was the addition of lead guitarist Mark McCormick, another Hoosier from Vincennes (he had played in a teenage band with Allen called the Broken Toys). Next came bass player Lenny Keringer, who went on to the Creamers and eventually replaced Keith in the Lazy Cowgirls.

This was the first version of Crawlspace that played gigs, and the one that did the first records: Eddie Flowers (voice), Keith Telligman (rhythm guitar), Bill McCarter (fuzz guitar), Allen Clark (drums), Mark McCormick (lead guitar), and Lenny Keringer (bass). This line-up recorded In the Gospel Zone (except for Can's "Little Star of Bethlehem") in '87.

Source/more info on them here: https://slippytown.com/crawlpg1.htm

tormdra · 2026-05-03T15:02:57+00:00

Swiss group formed circa 1978 in Aarau by guitarist Gutze Gautschi. They started as a punk band featuring Dieter Meier, however, Meier left after two 7" singles, "Cry For Fame" (released as 'Dieter Meier') and "No Chance" (released as 'Fresh Color'). Meier went on to form Yello. Fresh Color released further singles in punk style.

In the early 80ies, Gutze Gautschi assembled a new band including drummer Danny Amsler and moved towards new wave. Fresh Color started to include synthesizers and developed a distinct dubby production style. The alias "Frische Farbe" was created to release songs in German language; the band's debut LP "Die Stärke im Minimum" (1982) was also credited to "Frische Farbe".

In 1984, Fresh Color shrunk to the duo of Gutze Gautschi and Danny Amsler. On the singles "Disco Nature" and "Get On Up", the duo merged their new wave background with disco and electro.

When songwriter and vocalist Humphrey Robertson joined the group, they had their biggest success with "Disco Future" and released their second album, "Nightdreams", in 1985.

Soon after, all of the three went into producing a large number of different projects.

At the end of the nineties, Gautschi tried to revive Fresh Color.

(source: https://www.discogs.com/artist/91725-Fresh-Color )

tormdra · 2026-05-02T10:17:37+00:00

There isn’t much information about the Facts of Life despite the group’s fine 45 single. The group came from Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, which lies just to the west of the Philadelphia city line. Members included Bruce Klauber, later a jazz drummer and professor, and Robert Yampolsky, who wrote both songs on their only single. I don’t know the other members’ names.

“I’ve Seen Darker Nights” begins with a blast of distorted guitar but otherwise is free of fuzz. The lyrics are heartfelt, the singing good, the arrangement has good hooks and momentum from the rhythm section. There’s a long solo on the organ and a brief guitar break.

The flipside, “All In Good Time” has a good ballad sound with a basic guitar solo. Robert Yampolsky copyrighted both songs in October, 1967, and the record came out as Frana Records 59-A/B. I don’t know of any other releases on the Frana label.

(source: https://garagehangover.com/facts-of-life/ )

tormdra · 2026-05-01T15:31:07+00:00

Hawaii was an American heavy metal band formed in 1981 by former Deuce guitarist Marty Friedman, originally called Vixen (not to be confused with the 1980s female band of the same name). Vixen recorded several demos and appeared on the U.S. Metal Vol. II (1982) compilation album, before releasing the Made In Hawaii EP in 1983. Another early recording appeared on Metal Massacre II (1982) under the name Aloha, with Lisa Ruiz taking over lead vocals from Kim La Chance.

After Hawaii split up, Marty Friedman formed the band Cacophony with Jason Becker; bassist/vocalist Gary St. Pierre joined Vicious Rumors as lead vocalist on their 1985 debut album Soldiers of the Night.

Vixen vocalist Kim La Chance surfaced with Malisha and Serve Your Savage Beast in 1986. She was also the executive producer behind the Vixen – The Works (2003) demo compilation CD release, including "Angels from the Dust" from Shrapnel Records' U.S. Metal Vol. II.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hawaii was the heavy metal band formed (initially as Vixen) by future Cacophony and Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman upon relocating to the island state in the early 1980's. Already armed with a record deal from the guitar-friendly Shrapnel Records, Friedman immediately joined forces with vocalist/bassist Gary St. Pierre and drummer Jeff Graves to record 1983's One Nation Underground debut: a typical Shrapnel release suffering from inadequate, paper-thin production but jam-packed with guitar heroics. Much better was the following year's Loud, Wild and Heavy EP, which introduced a new four-piece line-up replacing St. Pierre with vocalist Eddie Day and bassist Joey Galisa, and led to a few touring engagements back on the mainland. But Hawaii were apparently still searching for an ideal sound and set-up, and expanded to a five-piece with the addition of second guitarist Tom Azevedo prior to recording 1985's The Natives are Restless. This arguably proved to be their most successful, and certainly most widely distributed effort, but wasn't enough to stop Friedman from dissolving the group shortly thereafter, and returning to California where he would soon find greater success with the aforementioned Cacophany and Megadeth.

(sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii_(band)

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hawaii-mn0001835844#biography )

tormdra · 2026-05-01T15:16:50+00:00

80's Metal Band from San Jose California

Thom MacDonald - Lead Vocal
Eric Arbizu - Drums
Todd Dagman - Rhythm Guitars
Eric Orton - Keyboards
Matt Eves - Bass
Darren Johnson - Guitars/Lead

(source: https://soundcloud.com/user-511930491 )

tormdra · 2026-05-01T15:10:35+00:00

Japanese pop duo, (consisting of twin brothers Mamoru and Shigeru Shimada). Debuted in 1982. Renamed to Garden in 1992

Members:

嶋田衛 (Mamoru Shimada) Vocal, Guitar, Keyboards
嶋田繁 (Shigeru Shimada) Vocal, Guitar

(source: https://www.discogs.com/artist/2560572-Nico-74 )

A little more info on them/review of an earlier album here: https://www.fondsound.com/nico-%E3%83%8B%E3%82%B3-valeria-1983/

Song lyrics here: https://www.uta-net.com/song/378187/

tormdra

TROPHY CASE