This week’s Stronger Than Dirt (Saturday, September 18, 8-10pm) takes a look back at the year 1981. I will be featuring some of my favorite tunes from that year, including songs by the Shoes, Gun Club, Au Pairs, Suburban Lawns, the Embarrassment, Mission of Burma, Replacements, Girls at Our Best, Judy’s, the Jam, Standing Waves, Kraftwerk, and many more. It’s a special fall membership drive show, so please consider pledging your support to KOOP radio and to the party sounds of 1981!
PICTURE SLEEVE OF THE WEEK: The Embarrassment, from Wichita KS, described their punkish music as “blister pop,” and were one of my very favorite bands from that era. They were active from 1980 to 1983, releasing a single and two EPs in that time. Their self-titled EP from 1981 on Cynykyl Records featured an original lithograph by John Boyd.
LAST WEEK’S DUSTY DIAMOND (a forgotten gem from the STD vaults): Mama Guitar were a Japanese all-female garage band with occasional flashes of surf. They were active from 1999 until they disbanded in 2006. “Nice Present” is a fun dance-y beat number that would be perfect for your next mixer. It appeared originally in 1999 on the “Introducing… Mama Guitar” album on Captain Trip Records, as well on a 2000 EP on Wiped Out Records. Listen to it here:
Promo art from a reissue on Futurismo Records of Suburban Lawn’s s/t album from 1981. Photo by Charles Wharton.