THE BANGSTERS Escape from Bubblegumland & The Scarlet Plague 2 x mini lp 1984/85 New Rose 320 kbpsHunting Party* /Johnny's Free* / Lonesome Banjo* / Demented Sounds* / Gore Darlings* / Trash Brain* / Escape from Bubblegumland° / I Can't Handle this Dream° / Strangers° / We can only ...° / The Heat° / Disappointed°/ Call Me Tonight° / Bermuda (bonus track) / Electric Fields (bonus track).
*Escape from Bubblegumland - ° The Scarlet Plague
Produced by Swasse.
The Bangsters: Swasse : guitar & lead vocals / Rolf Rock : drums & vocals / U.B. Moore : bass & vocals.
Formed in 1984 as a three-piece garage/psyche/punkrock-band The Bangsters were signed by french label New Rose that same year and released two mini albums. "Escape From Bubblegumland" (nov -84) and "The Scarlet Plague" (jul -85). Like the Nomads or the Sinners , the Bangsters were a sweden band from the same period.
Cd artwork by MAX !
During the 1970s, Dickinson moved behind the board and began working as a producer. His work on the Memphis cult band Big Star's final album, "Third", would make Dickinson a cult figure himself, and he would also producer Big Star frontman Alex Chilton's "Like Flies On Sherbert" album in 1979. Any band that wanted a bit of Dickinson's Memphis magic would sojourn to the Bluff City, and Dickinson would produce albums by Jason & the Scorchers, Willy DeVille, Mojo Nixon, Green On Red, the Replacements, Chris Stamey, The True Believers, Mudhoney, Rocket from the Crypt and Screaming Jay Hawkins, among many others.
Greg Kihn began his career in his hometown of Baltimore, MD, working in the singer/songwriter mold, but switched to straightforward rock & roll when he moved to San Francisco in 1974. The following year, he became one of the first artists signed to M. Kaufman's now-legendary Beserkley Records. Along with Jonathan Richman, Earthquake, and the Rubinoos, G. Kihn helped to carve the label's sound (a melodic pop with a strong '60s pop sensibility) a refreshing alternative to the bloated prog rock of the time. In 1976, after his debut on the compilation Beserkley Chartbusters, he recorded his first album with his own band. Through the '70s, he released an album each year and built a strong cult following through constant touring, becoming Beserkley's biggest seller. In 1981, he earned his first bonafide hit with the Top 20 single, "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)," from the "Rockihnroll" album. He continued in a more commercial vein through the '80s with a series of pun-titled albums: "Kihntinued" (1982), "Kihnspiracy" (1983), "Kihntageous" (1984), and "Citizen Kihn" (1985). He scored his biggest hit with 1983's "Jeopardy" from the "Kihnspiracy" album. One more single broke the Top 40, 1985's "Lucky," but by the time "Love and Rock and Roll" was released in 1986, the puns had run out and so had the hits. Kihn kept a relatively low profile throughout the '90s, releasing "Mutiny" in 1994 and "Horror Show" in 1996. "All the Right Reasons" followed in mid-2000. 
Most tribute albums fail because the interpretations are too diverse to make the album consistent. "Brace Yourself: A Tribute to Otis Blackwell" sidesteps that problem by having the artists record with a house band well-versed in the material of the legendary rock & roll/R&B songwriter. Thankfully, the approach works; none of the artists turn in a bad performance, and the disc rocks (albeit rather gently) from start to finish. But then again, it wasn't that hard to make a good album when the artists included are W. Deville, D. Edmunds, G. Parker or K. Kristofferson ! 
Bebe Buell's great blessing -- that she's a beautiful woman attractive enough to enjoy success as both a fashion model and a Playboy centerfold -- has also been something of a curse as far as her musical ambitions are concerned. Yeah, she's sexy and she's dated a whole bunch of rock stars, but while models who think they can sing are a breed most reasonable folks fear, Buell also seems to know and love rock & roll, and judging from Retrosexual, she's a hard rock belter of no small ability. No, Buell won't make you forget either Chrissie Hynde or Joan Jett on any of the album's ten tunes, but she does merit a not-unfavorable comparison to both of them, and she lets loose with some attitudinal swagger that might draw a grin from Iggy Pop or David Johansen on "Lust Never Sleeps" or "Bored Baby." The album's production is a bit too loose for its own good, some of the material is kinda cheesy, and Buell's band could use a dash more garage punk sneer and a jigger less metal crunch (though the guitarists ape Johnny Thunders more often than Eddie Van Halen, thank the fates), but overall this is a solid and enjoyable piece of rock action from a tuff girl who deserves more props than she gets -- she's cooler than Avril Lavigne, rocks better than Courtney Love, and has more fun than both of 'em put together. Points added for "Claw Bite," the best song about being attacked by mutant humanoid lobsters of recent memory. 
"... Anyhow, Fan Club (a division of New Rose Records) is nuts enough to to re-release this spellbound blues album (the bum groping king) . Listening to it , you discover an aristocratic red-neck , one of the saltiest guitar ever heard, a shootist. For the rest of it , the song remains the same. Always the same old story of honky tonks and Gents Roms graffitis. Wilhelm sings like an open fly and the guitar sounds like a three days hangover. Put a pinafore on before you play it. The intro of "Styrofoam" is gonna spit greasy stains on your tie. It's not genuine country music, it's not genuine blues. It's not country blues either. It's just another bottle smashed on your face, a corny crack & a splash of muddy poetry that sang lullabies to one another. Picture this ! You 've just wasted five bucks on that ! Serves you right." 
