FORGOTTEN KEYS: Obscure New Wave & Synthpop Vol. 1 1979-1987

The inaugural compilation I'm presenting today is a culmination of tons of different killer '80s tunes (for this edition, one from the '70s as well) that seem to have been lost to time. To clarify, maybe just lost to time in the States. Some of these tracks have over a million views on their respective YouTube videos, but for all the US-released compilations from this decade, I've seen next to none of these.

We start off with 'Love Will Find A Way' from The Reels, a 1979 post-Devo/Cars jam from down under. A curious act in that after this phase they went full sophisti-pop, the genre that first inspired my idea to create this mixtape. The following three tunes only appear on 7" singles, and those singles appear to be the only releases by the bands.

I slipped a couple power pop tracks in this set, although I could easily (and likely will) make an entire separate mix just for that subgenre. 'Walking On The Roof' by Sgt. Arms is such a banger and not including it seemed like a disservice. 'She Looks A Lot Like You' by Clocks is another apparent Cars-influenced track that really stands out.

There's a few things I wanted to include but wasn't able to find clean digital copies of. Perhaps my favorite '80s one hit wonder of the month, 'Mary's Prayer' by Danny Wilson seems to not exist around the blogosphere. A very peculiar track called 'Where's Romeo?' by Cava Cava is also buried. I've spent over a year trying to find an MP3 of 'I Hear Voices' by Ghost Of An American Airman, but I wonder if I'll ever get a hold of that one. Thankfully the gloriously low budget video still exists on YouTube, although no audio comes out of one channel.

The odd INXS meets Faith No More presentation of 'We Need Protection' by Picnic At The Whitehouse could only be found in its 12" remix version. I'll likely have a best of 12" remix compilation at some point down the road, so I wanted to keep this first mix down to just the album or 7" edits. However a song like 'Bitter Heart' by the Ricky Gervais-fronted Seona Dancing I believe only exists as a 12" mix. For whatever reason it's notated as such on the digital files.

Speaking of "Where Are They Now?"s that are very easy to answer, the synthpop fiends might recognize Slam Bamboo as being Trent Reznor's first musical outing. 'House On Fire' is an indisputable hit. And 'Whatever Happened To Fun' by Candy is a necessary cut. To what may only be known to listeners of the WTF Podcast, Candy's bass player is now a successful A&R rep responsible for bringing out Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, and more.

Lastly, the one thing I don't have nailed down when it comes to putting these digital mixes together is mastering. So, bear with some volume dial adjusting here and there. My main goal with these compilations is to introduce folks to some of my favorite underground tunes from the era I wasn't alive for, but live for now.

Listen, enjoy, keep this sacred.

1979
1. The Reels - Love Will Find A Way

1980
2. Occult Chemistry - Fire

1982
3. The Dots - Helen In Your Headphones
4. Sgt. Arms - Walking On The Roof
5. Clocks - She Looks A Lot Like You

1983
6. Industry - State Of The Nation
8. The Hawaiian Pups - Baby Judy
9. Seona Dancing - Bitter Heart (12" Version)

1984
10. Sex Execs - My Ex
11. Fiction Factory - (Feels Like) Heaven
12. Al Corley - Square Rooms
13. Fun Fun - Color My Love

1985
14. Candy - Whatever Happened To Fun?
15. National Pastime - It's All A Game
16. Picnic At The Whitehouse - We Need Protection (Screamix)

1986
17. Blue In Heaven - I Just Wanna
18. Silent Circle - Touch In The Night
19. Slam Bamboo - House On Fire

1987
20. Living In A Box - Living In A Box

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