I Thought You Wanted To Know: 1978-1981＜Colored Vinyl＞

1978年にニューヨークで結成、現在に至るまで活動を続けるUSパワーポップの雄、DB'Sの初期音源集。新規リマスターされた初期のシングル、デモ、ライブ録音など23曲を収録しています。1981年にリリースされたデビュー・アルバム『Stands for Decibels』リリースよりも2~3年前に録音された音源が大半を占めているファン垂涎の内容!ライヴ音源も、彼らの初期アーカイヴから選び抜かれた貴重なものばかり!美メロと疾走感が同居する、DB'Sの魅力が詰まった初期音源集となっております。

The kind of smart, angular pop music that was a big part of what became known as New Wave in the mid- to late 70s was a product of the Deep South as much as any of the hipper enclaves of the East and West coasts. One could reasonably say Memphis cult heroes Big Star created the template with 1974s Radio City, and North Carolina acolytes like Mitch Easter, Chris Stamey, and Peter Holsapple were flying the flag in bands like the Sneakers and the H-Bombs while the scene was still incubating elsewhere. So when Stamey headed to New York City and started gigging with the dBs, which would include Winston-Salem pals Holsapple, Gene Holder, and Will Rigby, he wasnt jumping on a bandwagon so much as getting the rest of the world up to speed on the great music he and his peers had been making for several years. The period before the dBs cut their debut album, 1981s Stands for Decibels, was remarkably fruitful, and 2021s I Thought You Wanted to Know: 1978-1981 is a superb look at the groups first era. The album is dominated by demos they recorded while they rehearsed in a loft that was also home to New York Rocker magazine, while also featuring some early single sides and tapes from their club gigs of the era. Most of the New York Rocker demos previously appeared on the 1993 collection Ride the Wild Tom Tom, but this release boasts better audio and a prudent selection of the material, keeping most of the highlights and leaving out many lesser tracks. The strength of Stamey and Holsapple as songwriters is abundant on the demos, and with just a makeshift four-track recording setup to their name, they were savvy enough to put together an arrangement and get it on tape in a way that favors the song and the performers. The live tapes are of less-than-stellar fidelity, yet they document a band that had plenty of energy and imagination on-stage, and the covers of Tomorrow Never Knows and Time Has Come Today nod to their influences as well as their approach to making the material work on-stage. Even though Stands for Decibels and 1982s Repercussion are clearly superior, the buzz and inventiveness of these recordings is joyous and exciting, the work of a great band finding their path and loving the process. I Thought You Wanted to Know: 1978-1981 is a must for any serious dBs fan, even those who already own Ride the Wild Tom Tom, with the higher fidelity and live recordings making it the preferred foray into this era. ~ Mark Deming