Some FEATURED ARTISTS on this week’s Stronger Than Dirt (Saturday, March 16, 8-10pm) include the Sorrows, Motors, The Freeze, Au Pairs, Yo, Squire, Psychic TV, Angie Reed, Blasted Canyons, lots of new music as well as the weekly Dusty Diamond.
COVER ART OF THE WEEK: This week’s selection is not really about cover art but is rather a snapshot of a brief fad from the past. As a skateboarding craze swept Europe in the late 70s, record labels rushed to capitalize. The result was several one-off skateboarding themed records by anonymous studio projects, like these two fun, cheesy gems. Lady Skate et les Skateboard Kids was a French production released in 1977 on Barclay, while the Ricky and the Kween Teens single came out of the UK. It was released on EMI, also in 1977. Both included uncredited artwork and photography. (Click on image to enlarge)
DUSTY DIAMOND OF THE WEEK (a vintage gem from the STD vaults): The Donnas were a rock and roll band from Palo Alto and were active from the mid 90s until disbanding in 2010. Originally a lo-fi garage rock band they evolved into a more straight-ahead rock band and even signed with Atlantic in late 2001. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Machine” is from the transition period when they moved from Darin Rafaelli’s (Supercharger) Super*Teem! label to Lookout! While sticking with teen rebellion themed lyrics of their early years, it is a mid-tempo rocker with a fuller sound and includes a short but scorching guitar break. It appeared as a single in 1998 on Lookout! Listen to it here:
Promo art from the Insomniacs’ 1997 “Out of It” album on Estrus Records. Original cover design by Art Chantry and photography by E. Gorder and T. Gibson.