Rhino Box: Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground

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This was a recent Pitchfork new item. Coming out this Fall. I have to say the track listing is pretty great (many choices are obvious which is good for an overview like this, but hard to believe they could license all these). This was the sound of 80s college rock.

>> Disc One:
01 R.E.M.: "Radio Free Europe"
02 The Jam: "Going Underground"
03 The Cure: "A Forest"
04 Dead Kennedys: "Holiday in Cambodia"
05 Passions: "I'm in Love With a German Film Star"
06 The Replacements: "I Will Dare"
07 Mission Of Burma: "That's When I Reach for My Revolver"
08 X: "Johnny Hit and Run Pauline"
09 The Jesus And Mary Chain: "Just Like Honey"
10 Depeche Mode: "Black Celebration"
11 The Dream Syndicate: "Tell Me When It's Over"
12 The Red Hot Chili Peppers: "Hollywood (Africa)"
13 New Order: "Temptation"
14 Japan: "Ghosts"
15 Magazine: "A Song From Under the Floorboards"
16 Aztec Camera: "Oblivious"
17 Hüsker Dü: "Don't Want To Know if You Are Lonely"
18 Black Flag: "Rise Above"
19 Wall Of Voodoo: "Back in Flesh"
20 The Go-Betweens: "Cattle and Cane"

>> Disc Two:
01 The Pretenders: "Message of Love"
02 Ultravox: "Vienna"
03 Dinosaur Jr.: "Freak Scene"
04 The Smiths: "This Charming Man"
05 Ministry: "Stigmata"
06 Lone Justice: "Ways To Be Wicked"
07 Killing Joke: "Wardance"
08 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: "Enola Gay"
09 The English Beat: "Mirror in the Bathroom"
10 The Raincoats: "Fairytale in the Supermarket"
11 The Smithereens: "Behind the Wall of Sleep"
12 Minutemen: "Political Song for Michael Jackson To Sing"
13 The Dead Milkmen: "Punk Rock Girl"
14 Concrete Blonde: "Still in Hollywood"
15 Joy Division: "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
16 Violent Femmes: "Blister in the Sun"
17 Meat Puppets: "Lake of Fire"
18 The dB's: "Amplifier"
19 Prefab Sprout: "When Love Breaks Down"
20 The Cramps: "Goo Goo Muck"
21 Sisters of Mercy: "This Corrosion"
22 XTC: "Senses Working Overtime"

>> Disc Three:
01 Echo & The Bunnymen: "The Cutter"
02 Bad Brains: "Pay To Cum!"
03 The Sugarcubes: "Birthday"
04 Robyn Hitchcock 'n' the Egyptians: "Madonna of the Wasps"
05 Faith No More: "We Care a Lot"
06 Sonic Youth: "Teenage Riot"
07 Gang Of Four: "To Hell With Poverty"
08 The Feelies: "Fa Cé-La"
09 They Might Be Giants: "Ana Ng"
10 The Chameleons UK: "Swamp Thing"
11 Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: "The Mercy Seat"
12 The Rain Parade: "I Look Around"
13 Psychedelic Furs: "All That Money Wants"
14 The Church: "Under the Milky Way"
15 Public Image Ltd.: "Rise"
16 Love And Rockets: "Kundalini Express"
17 Green On Red: "Gravity Talks"
18 Throbbing Gristle: "Adrenalin"
19 The Stone Roses: "She Bangs the Drums"

>>Disc Four:
01 Pixies: "Monkey Gone to Heaven"
02 The The: "Uncertain Smile (original 7" version)"
03 Bauhaus: "Bela Lugosi's Dead"
04 Siouxsie And The Banshees: "Christine"
05 Minor Threat: "Straight Edge"
06 The Lyres (Boston): "I Want To Help You Ann"
07 Beat Happening: "Our Secret"
08 Jane's Addiction: "Jane Says"
09 Julian Cope: "World Shut Your Mouth"
10 Kate Bush: "Running up That Hill"
11 Gun Club: "Sex Beat"
12 Camper Van Beethoven: "Take the Skinheads Bowling"
13 Suicidal Tendencies: "Institutionalized"
14 Cocteau Twins: "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops"
15 Happy Mondays: "24 Hour Party People"
16 Hoodoo Gurus: "I Want You Back"
17 Descendents: "Suburban Home"
18 The Pogues: "A Pair of Brown Eyes"
19 The Three O'Clock: "Jet Fighter"
20 Butthole Surfers: "Moving To Florida"
21 Billy Bragg: "A New England"

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 30 July 2004 12:24 (twenty-one years ago)

my biggest beef with this is the ordering of tracks - did they just hitr random and let 'er rip?

also, some strange choices from some of the included artists, though admittedly that might be more due to licensing than first choices.

a pretty redundant pruchase for me, so i won't - but probably great for people that didn't grow up on the stuff.

― rentboy (rentboy), Friday, 30 July 2004 12:29 (twenty-one years ago)

eg:
10 Kate Bush: "Running up That Hill"
11 Gun Club: "Sex Beat"
12 Camper Van Beethoven: "Take the Skinheads Bowling"
13 Suicidal Tendencies: "Institutionalized"
14 Cocteau Twins: "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops"
15 Happy Mondays: "24 Hour Party People"
16 Hoodoo Gurus: "I Want You Back"
17 Descendents: "Suburban Home"

terrible flow - unless they're trying to recreate the schizophrenic feeling of college radio (which might be exactly the case)

but honestly, that was always the "bad" part of college radio for me, hearing the horrible transitions and tepid DJs

― rentboy (rentboy), Friday, 30 July 2004 12:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Agreed that it doesn't neccesarily "flow" but there are so many good songs here. I can see the criticism that, for a lot of these bands, they had this large body of work in the 80s and one minor hit that people heard, and this box includes the hit. But I think that's what they were going for. This is one of Rhino's nostalgic boxes, not so much a true scene overview.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 30 July 2004 12:37 (twenty-one years ago)

agreed - and anything that contains "Moving To Florida", "Stigmata" AND "This Charming Man" can't really go wrong, now can it?

― rentboy (rentboy), Friday, 30 July 2004 12:40 (twenty-one years ago)

The SuiTees into the Cocteau Twins might be the worst segue I've ever seen ever!

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Friday, 30 July 2004 12:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Way to pick like the only Japan song without fretless....

― Patrick South (Patrick South), Friday, 30 July 2004 13:05 (twenty-one years ago)

christ, this just looks like they taped WLIR for an afternoon 20 years ago. it's random and utterly devoid of personality or taste, kind of like those alt radio stations that tried their hardest to make me hate the music i loved.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 30 July 2004 13:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Rhino put out three compilations containing many of these songs about 4 or 5 years ago in a series called "Post Punk Chronicles". I'm surprised they think there is the demand to do the same thing again.

― Anonymous, Please, Friday, 30 July 2004 13:39 (twenty-one years ago)

An average afternoon of WHFS in 1983 was more interesting than this, sadly.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Friday, 30 July 2004 15:30 (twenty-one years ago)

they're real risk takers at Rhino.

― jack cole (jackcole), Friday, 30 July 2004 15:32 (twenty-one years ago)

an average afternoon at WHTG on the jersey shore was *exactly* like this. except that they never played "i will dare." they played "the ledge" a lot.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 30 July 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

christ, this just looks like they taped WLIR for an afternoon 20 years ago.

Funny, I didn't notice any Shriekback.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Friday, 30 July 2004 15:41 (twenty-one years ago)

This is interesting for me because I am trying to put together about 100 songs that could be deemed 'classic alternative' (or you know, whatever) for a college radio station being overhauled. I was planning on checking out those post punk rhino cds anyway.

― artdamages (artdamages), Friday, 30 July 2004 16:46 (twenty-one years ago)

High school to thread.

― Lukas (lukas), Friday, 30 July 2004 17:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Really, I'm not quite ready to go back.

― Lukas (lukas), Friday, 30 July 2004 17:09 (twenty-one years ago)

The K-tel "Gimme Indie Rock" comp also used "A Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing." Why in a million years would this be where anyone should start with the Minutemen?

― Pete Scholtes, Friday, 30 July 2004 21:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Cribbing onto clever title, no doubt.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 30 July 2004 21:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Sorry, I guess this whole thing looks so alien to me because I never heard college radio in those years. I mean, is that why there's no Run-DMC or go-go here?

― Pete Scholtes, Friday, 30 July 2004 21:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Bah, it's just a matter of time before Slack Motherfuckers: The Decade That Punk Broke.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Friday, 30 July 2004 22:10 (twenty-one years ago)

haha - i actually really like the redundancy and obviousness of these (lumping this in with no thanks! obv.) boxsets, they're good consolidaters and good gifts for yr indie/punk lovin 16 yr old cousins that look at you like yr ancient cuz you can remember pavement. fuck it ain't like the nuggets boxes aren't equally obvious and redundant to garage and freakbeat geeks.

― cinniblount (James Blount), Friday, 30 July 2004 22:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Beat Happening right up next to Jane's Addiction pretty much sums up senior year of high school for me.

― sexyDancer, Friday, 30 July 2004 22:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Dave Kendall would be proud.

― maria b (maria b), Saturday, 31 July 2004 00:59 (twenty-one years ago)

shoulda picked an earlier Robyn Hitchcock song.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Saturday, 31 July 2004 01:10 (twenty-one years ago)

the presence of the majestic "I look around" by the rain parade almost justifies this baffling set

― purple patch (electricsound), Saturday, 31 July 2004 01:12 (twenty-one years ago)

The SuiTees into the Cocteau Twins might be the worst segue I've ever seen ever!

Except for :
02 Ultravox: "Vienna"
03 Dinosaur Jr.: "Freak Scene",
of course

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Saturday, 31 July 2004 01:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, the Post Punk Chronicles series even had a volume titled "Left of the Dial"!!! It seems like this box is to that series what the No Thanks box was to the D.I.Y. series. All the DIY and P.P. Chronicles CDs are out of print, so Rhino's re-releasing a bunch of that stuff on these boxes. This one probably has more "new" material though, since Post Punk Chronicles was only three volumes compared to DIY's nine.

― Mike Ouderkirk (Mike Ouderkirk), Saturday, 31 July 2004 01:33 (twenty-one years ago)

I like abrupt segues. They keep me awake.

― shookout (shookout), Saturday, 31 July 2004 02:12 (twenty-one years ago)

In a box set loaded with lousy transitions, THESE take the biscuit: Green On Red- Gravity Talks/Throbbing Gristle- Adrenalin/Stone Roses- She Bangs The Drums

― Blightersrock (Da ve Segal), Saturday, 31 July 2004 02:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, most of the box set just happens to be lifted from the earlier 1999 set of Post-Punk Chronicles that Rhino put out...those made much more sense.

― Ian Moraine (Eastern Mantra), Saturday, 31 July 2004 17:56 (twenty-one years ago)

They should do a power pop box with the remains of the DIY set.

― Mike Ouderkirk (Mike Ouderkirk), Sunday, 1 August 2004 03:32 (twenty-one years ago)

bitch, bitch, bitch...

― shookout (shookout), Sunday, 1 August 2004 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Sorry, I guess this whole thing looks so alien to me because I never heard college radio in those years. I mean, is that why there's no Run-DMC or go-go here?

well, they've already got a fishbone track on there, and the rules of alternative radio back in the day clearly stated "only one black artist per station."

uh-oh, wait a minute. i'm wrong. they don't have a fishbone track on there. how did that happen?

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Sunday, 1 August 2004 18:32 (twenty-one years ago)

fuck it ain't like the nuggets boxes aren't equally obvious and redundant to garage and freakbeat geeks.

you're not giving nuggets nearly enough credit. the original nuggets was a tastemaking record. left of the dial is serving long established tastes. big difference.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Sunday, 1 August 2004 18:37 (twenty-one years ago)

what percentage of these tracks were released on major labels?

what they should've done for this:
disc one - chronological 80s survey by juxtaposing the poppier u.s. underground guitar rockers the kids already know with totally weird european industrialists & noisemakers.
disc two - as above but the opposite: alternating famous synth/brit stuff with harsher u.s. guitar scuzz. nothing but bad segues, one after the other, starting to make sense after a while
disc three - emphasis on the most obscure stuff, the very underground stuff
disc four - emphasis on variety, with hip-hop, techno/house, latin and african rock, "mysteres des voix bulgares", etc.

the point is, this or anything any of you could devise would be cooler, and sell much less.

― mig (mig), Sunday, 1 August 2004 19:33 (twenty-one years ago)

you're not giving nuggets nearly enough credit. the original nuggets was a tastemaking record.

Yeah, but the original "Nuggets" wasn't released on Rhino. I'm with Blount here, really - I gave my 16 year old cousin* "No Thanks - The 70's Punk Rebellion" fer his b-day, and he was as blown away by it as I was by "1-2-3-4! Punk & New Wave 76-79" when I was his age. I don't want "personality" in these kinda overviews, I want a decent distilation of the current consensus.

* the x-mas before last he had just gotten into music, and was all about Avril. The one after that he was badmouthing her all over the place, listening to his 2CD Ramones comp and staring disapprovingly at me for watching Destiny's Child videos. *sigh* they grow up so fast!

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Sunday, 1 August 2004 21:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Dr. Bowdler to thread.

― jack cole (jackcole), Sunday, 1 August 2004 22:26 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

I've just found this on Amazon and I'm really excited about some of these classic post-punk bands covering classic post-punk songs by other classic post-punk bands!

Can't wait to hear Wall Of Voodoo performing The Jam's "Going Underground" or The Beat reinterpreting The Cure's "A Forest"!

Prefab Sprout covering the Dead Kennedy's "Holiday In Cambodia" is a surprising but inspired choice; as was the idea of getting Sonic Youth to take on The Passions' "I'm In Love With A German Film Star".

New Order are covering Japan's "Ghosts", while Magazine have taken on "Oblivious" by Aztec Camera and the Red Hot Chili Peppers have tackled New Order's "Temptation".

I can't help but wonder how Rhino managed to track down all these obsure cover versions and / or persuade so many of these great artists to come out of retirement just long enough to record these tributes to one another - but it's a fantastic idea and I can't wait to hear the results once this medication's worn off a little bit....

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Saturday, 8 October 2005 16:20 (twenty years ago)

If it wasn't only a tracklisting error, it would just be the greatest boxset ever.

― snowballing (snowballing), Saturday, 8 October 2005 16:27 (twenty years ago)

Dinosaur Jr. cover "This Charming Man"! If only...

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Saturday, 8 October 2005 16:34 (twenty years ago)

Minor Threat doing "Running Up That Hill," nice.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Saturday, 8 October 2005 16:35 (twenty years ago)

Can't wait to hear Joy Division's take on "Blister In the Sun".

― Jeff K (jeff k), Saturday, 8 October 2005 16:36 (twenty years ago)

Running Up That Hill - Minor Threat

!!!!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 8 October 2005 16:39 (twenty years ago)

I fear They Might Be Giants' cover of "The Mercy Seat" may lack pathos.

― Don King of the Mountain (noodle vague), Saturday, 8 October 2005 16:40 (twenty years ago)

Stigmata - The Smiths

Hehhehehehe

― Marxism Goes Better With Coke (Charles McCain), Saturday, 8 October 2005 16:41 (twenty years ago)

On the other hand Throbbing Gristle's "Bela Lugosi's Dead" and The Sugarcubes' "We Care A Lot" probably kill.

― Don King of the Mountain (noodle vague), Saturday, 8 October 2005 16:42 (twenty years ago)

Killing Joke doing "Enola Gay" OMG

fuck this for not existing.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Saturday, 8 October 2005 16:43 (twenty years ago)

Alex, is this any good?

Wardance - Lone Justice

― Marxism Goes Better With Coke (Charles McCain), Saturday, 8 October 2005 16:43 (twenty years ago)

j/k

― Marxism Goes Better With Coke (Charles McCain), Saturday, 8 October 2005 16:43 (twenty years ago)

eight years pass...

rediscovered this box-set. good grief, this is still so great (sequencing aside).

― Daniel, Esq 2, Sunday, 16 February 2014 15:54 (twelve years ago)

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