4 Rare 80s Albums [Part 117] New Wave torrent

Alternative Radio - First Night [1986]
--------------------------------------

Alternative Radio won the 1982 \'Battle of the Bands\' held at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool. The competition had a panel of judges including: Noddy Holder (Slade), Mick Khan (Japan), Roy Wood (The Move & Wizard), Angie Bowie and representatives from Melody Maker & NME. They signed a recording contract with EMI Parlophone in 1983 and their debut single \'Valley of Evergreen\' was released in January 1984.

The record made the top 100 and received good reviews. The follow up, ‘First Night’ was recorded but, horror of horrors, EMI didn’t like it. They said it wouldn’t pick up national radio play! The band left EMI in the summer of 1985 and signed to Cold Harbour Records. They put the single out instead and in 1986 ‘First Night’ went straight onto the Radio 1 play list. (One in the eye for EMI – The A&R guy responsible lost his job). Trouble was, being a small indie label, Cold Harbour struggled to get records into the shops quickly enough and this reflected in the chart position. The band recorded a Radio 1 session for Janice Long the same year.

1986 also saw the release of \'First Night\', the album & a stage play of the same name written by Rob & Alan together with friend and journalist Mark Thomas.

Les Enfants - Touché [1985]
---------------------------

Les Enfants from Dublin were formed in 1982 by Ronan O\'Hanlon and John McEnlly.
Derek Herbert joined in September 1982. Flo McSweeney joined in December 1983 but did not stay long with the band and turned down an offer to join full time in April 1984 when the band signed a potential six album deal with Chrysalis Records. She later joined Moving Hearts. It’s a solid record but sadly went unnoticed.

Skank - I Never Said That [1985]
--------------------------------

Skank was a very large band (3 females & 4 males) on display and produced an alternative new wave sound with flashes of off-center sounds and vocal lines. Female fronted and many instruments in play here – 6 & 12 string guitars, synthesizers, bass synths, synth horns, DX-7, Casio, and much more electronica being utilized on this LP. The group was from Texas and utilized Spindletop Records as their go to indie label.


The Major Thinkers - The Major Thinkers [1981]
----------------------------------------------
Consisted of Larry Kirwan, Paul Ossola, Pierce Turner and Thomas Hamlin, this record by Irish new wavers The Major Thinkers is a must have for 80s music collectors. Songs such as Avenue B, The Room and Humanesque are wonderful new wave tunes.