Some FEATURED ARTISTS on this week’s Stronger Than Dirt (Saturday, August 29, 8-10pm) include the Zakary Thaks, Bay City Rollers, Feelies, Devo, Cassie, Stranglers, Polyrock, Suburban Lawns, Staches, lots of new music as well as the weekly Dusty Diamond.
COVER ART OF THE WEEK: Devo’s second album, “Duty Now for the Future,” might be considered somewhat of a tweener. Recorded shortly after the release of the iconic “Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo” album the band was already starting to emphasize the synthesizer over guitar. It also contained a backlog of songs (“Clockout,” “Timing X,” “Blockhead”) that had been in their repertory as far back as 1974 along with newer compositions. Released in June 1979 on Warner Bros., it was met with a tepid response from critics and was on the Billboard charts for ten weeks, peaking at 73. The cover art was designed by Janet Perr based on a concept by the band. It included a satirical Universal Product Code (new at the time) and a punch-out postcard and a band photo by Allan Tannenbaum.
DUSTY DIAMOND OF THE WEEK (a vintage gem from the STD vaults): Indie punk rockers Slant 6 make their return as a Dusty Diamond band. Based in Washington D.C. they were associated with the Riot Grrrl scene of the 90s, releasing two albums and two singles between 1992 and 1995. “Partner in Crime” is an up-tempo, somewhat angsty, even sinister noir rocker with interesting tempo changes. Not that it matters, but I can dance to it. It appeared on the 1995 “Inzombia” album on Dischord Records. You can listen to it here:
Promo art from Wazmo Nariz’s 1978 “Tele-Tele-Phone” single on Stiff Records. Photo by Sandy Rothberg.