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Considering that Gay Dad was mentioned, maybe we can just set the album limit to two, as there was a 2001 album that went seriously nowhere except to a small cult.


Back in the Late 80's, there was a one-album band called Raymonde featuring singer James Maker who was mentioned as a favorite singer of Morrissey - in fact Maker did record for the legendary singer's label, Attack almost a decade ago. I bought their one album used for about a dollar and was not much into it despite a couple of highlights.

After one 1988 single, Destintion Breakdown, the band re-named themselves Red Patent Leather Angels (RPLA for short) and wound up on EMI and Collision Arts for yet another round of singles and one album, Metal Queen Hijack (The S/T release was a Demo release). After '94, they went away.


Another band that crosses my mind is 5:30, kind of a Britpop before Britpop, filled with a lot of Mod 60's images and the must-record Madchester Wanna-be single, "13'th Disciple," which actually was one of the better ones. Thier one album, Bed, was a car tape favorite a long time back. They were one of those bands that were around a while before they crossed into their 10 Minutes of Alternative Fame - they were mentioned a lot in hip music circles although obviously other interests stopped their growth. Some remember their Early 90's music for having a bit of an attitude that kept it moving, although it's best sampled on the a-sides to most of their singles like "Abstain!" and "You" (From what I remember an NME Single of the Week...maybe, but don't quote me). After splitting up in '92, leader Paul Bassett formed Orange Deluxe who went through the Mid 90's with some success, being on Dead Dead Good being a plus. Five Thirty were a good trio, although it's possible that the pressures of the industry and seeing their well-recieved debut album drop into the cut-outs led to the quick split up. From what I remember, there was a rave from soneone at KROQ (possibly Rodney, but I have to see it somewhere again) that was used on the US ad for the album, but that did not help matters.

One other band of the era, Birdland - once again the UK band (there was a New York-based band a while back) - had a very brief return some time ago, but they were yet another British band that was favored but found success hard to come by beyond a devoted cult following who loved their sharp music. A major plus, however, was being on Radioactive in The US, then home to The Ramones. In The UK, they were on Lazy, home to The Primitives. A 120 Minutes favorite was "Shoot You Down." "Hollow Heart" was another good side, and their image of dying their hair blonde and cutting it Mid 60's style with a touch of Punk was pretty cool too, and a good alternative to the Rave stuff as well as the Grunge look - each one looking like a mix of Brian Jones and The Ramones. Their shows were reportedly exciting (smashed guitars from what I remember), but the album obviously neutered that sound...although as someonewho did not catch the shows, it sounded pretty good to me.