Good Songs By Bands You’ve Never Heard Of (and a cover by Zwan)

I was in Youngstown, Toledo and Detroit over the weekend and now I am sick. I do not believe this is a coincidence.

Endgames
Love Cares (Extended Version)
Love Cares (Single Edit)
Ready Or Not 
Endgames is on the Live Letters LP I featured a couple weeks back. On that 1981 release, they area  dissonant post-punk act with a decided Joy Division influence. In this single from 1983, they are a mainstream pop act with a decided dance bent. The Endgames of 1981 could have performed on a double-bill with Echo & The Bunnymen. The Endgames of “Love Cares” could have opened for A-Ha. Nice to see that major labels’ dulling of edgy and interesting acts isn’t a new development in any way at all. I still “Love Games” and its b-side, but damn, I would have loved to have heard an album from the Endgames that recorded “Works” and “Visions Of.”

The Hardsonic Bottoms 3
Do It Anyway You Wanna (Extended Version)
Do It Anyway You Wanna (Dub Version)
Do It Anyway You Wanna (Donald Duck Version)
Do It Anyway You Wanna (Night Dub Version) 
I have a lot of questions about this release. First of all, someone has to explain this to me:

The image on the left is the cover to the “Do It Anyway You Wanna” single, originally released in 1988. The image on the right is the cover to Franz Ferdinand’s 2005 album, You Could Have It So Much Better.  I assume they were both inspired by the same source image, but what image is that?

Now that I got that out of the way, I can talk about the song itself. What the hell is this thing? Like I said before, it was released in 1988, but it sounds like some bizarre combination of 90s big beat dance; mid-80s industrial; and late 70s disco. What the hell is it? It is a remix of another song? Who the hell are The Hardsonic Bottoms 3? What the hell do they want you to do (anyway you wanna)? Why is one version called the Donald Duck Version?

What the hell is going on here? I’m so confused! At least the song is fun, even if it can kind of drive you slowly mad with is repetitiveness.

Jigsaw
Sky High
Brand New Love Affair
I have a passion for collecting vinyl soundtracks, and for me, the soundtrack to the 1975 Ozploitation masterpiece The Man From Hong Kong is kind of a holy grail. One day I will find it, and everyone on this blog will know when that happens, because I will post the hell out of it.

So it was a nice surprise to find a 1989 12″ single to “Sky High” by Jigsaw, the theme song to the film. This dance remix of the song isn’t as good as the original version, but it’s still worth a listen. “Brand New Love Affair” is…less worth listening to.

Zwan
Number Of The Beast
Lost Turntable, your only source for Zwan B-sides in 2012. Because…someone has to? Shit I don’t know.

I actually have a lot to say about Zwan, but like Zwan itself, it doesn’t really matter. Enjoy the weird cover. I’m going to go pass out into a pile of blankets.

12 Responses to “Good Songs By Bands You’ve Never Heard Of (and a cover by Zwan)”

  1. Noah says:

    Here’s the source image for those album covers: http://magculture.com/blog/?p=1663

  2. Lance says:

    The cover artwork for the Hardsonic Bottoms 3 and Franz came from a very old Soviet advertising poster. I uploaded the original artwork to: http://www.club6400.com/dl/doitanywayyouwanna.jpg

    Believe it or not, “Do It Anyway You Wanna” was a HUGE late 80s classic in Houston, TX. Clubs played this and myriad other new beat and european style underground hits instead of the typical 80s pop.

    Thank you so much for posting this. I’ve been trying to get my hands on a good copy of it but have not been successful. You rock.

    And if you and any others are interested, I have over 50 classic 80s club tunes that I know you’d like on my “Record Rack” app on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/club6400

  3. Lance says:

    P.S. – The link to “Love Cares (Extended Version)” points instead to “Do It Anyway You Wanna (Extended Version)”.

  4. Lost Turntable says:

    Fixed! thanks for the tip.

  5. zack says:

    I think the Zwan cover was used in the movie “Spun”.

    Again… great posts. Thanks!

  6. Jp says:

    Thanks for the Zwan song, i didn’t knew it.
    By the way, you got a mail 😉

    Jp

  7. longtallernie says:

    “Do it anyway you wanna” was originally performed by People’s Choice. In fact is was their biggest hit somewhere in the mid-70’s. It’s a so called dance-classic. The Hardsonic Bottoms 3 version is fun, I prefer the original though. Thanx for sharing anyway!

  8. Snowy says:

    Aleksander Mikhailovich Rodchenko a Russian artist died 1956
    The Franz Ferdinand is from a 1924 portrait of Lilya Yuryevna Brik.
    Dutch punk band The Ex used some variations of the portrait as did Mike & The Mechanics for their “Word Of Mouth” Album. The Franz Ferdinand Single “Take Me Out” is inspired by Rodchenko’s “(One / A) Sixth Part Of The World” poster.
    It’s wonderful how we recycle.

  9. Snowy says:

    Do It Any Way You Wanna was originaly by Peoples Choice (c1975)
    I think Cashmere had a go in the 1980’s which lost the “edge” of the original…Oh those “soft” 80’s sounds…it’s a mood thing…the 80’s!
    Ben Liebrand (who else) remixed the Peoples Choice one to goo effect.
    More recycling!!!

  10. Snowy says:

    Oh forgot!
    Ben Liebrand has a gret series of Box CD Sets with many older dance tracks from all periods. Mostly the extended, remixed or 12″ versions etc. Very good.
    He is also constantly seeking out any “masters” or very good quality recordings of all those dancefloor fillers. http://www.liebrand.nl/
    Keep up all the great work.

  11. gruff says:

    Papa M did a version of Last Caress In the same vein as the Zwan cover. Worth hearing.

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