Psycotic Pineapple: Where's the Party?

It's Not JUST Crazy… It's PSYCOTIC!!!

The first time I ever heard of The Psycotic Pineapple was on a Sex Pistols' record. I'm not gonna bother explaining that, as it's a pretty obscure reference, except to say that it piqued my interest enough that when I finally ran across a Psycotic Pineapple record in a store I bought it immediately! And I've never been sad for doing so.This one is very New Wave!!! And, of course, as anyone who was alive in the early 80s knows… There was No Such Thing as New Wave!

As such, though, it seems to be a pretty perfect record for 1980. It contains all the perfect 1980 stuff... Some Twangy Guitars, The Perfect "Kind-of, but not really, Obscure" 60s song, "Bad" Words, FUZZ!!!, and a Healthy Dose of Humor.

Humor is a good thing, by the way. Silliness is good too. This record has plenty of Silliness.

Psycotic Pineapple: Where's the Party?

1. Hang On for Your Life
2. The Devil Has Work for Idle Hands
3. I Forgot Who I Was
4. I Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Get Rid of You
5. The Saw
6. Headcheese
7. Sabrina
8. She's Boss
9. You're Gonna Miss Me
10. Drop Out
11. I Want Her So Bad

The Raybeats: Guitar Beat

A Twang Spy Surf Cocktail

The Raybeats were made up of former members of New Yorks' No Wave bands The Contortions and 8 Eyed Spy and played a raucous, raunchy twang, sax and organ driven style of instrumental pop that drew heavily upon icons such as Duane Eddy, The Ventures and The Shadows, but blazed their own trail in doing so. Quirky but rockin', inspired but original, their music pulls you back and kicks you forward at the same time. The band never kept a regular bassist for long, but on this record (their only full length LP) the bass is played by Danny Amis, now a member of Los Straitjackets.

The Raybeats: Guitar Beat

1. Tight Turn
2. Big Black Sneakers
3. Tone Zone
4. The Backstroke
5. B-Gas-Rickshaw
6. International Operator
7. Searching
8. The Calhoun Surf
9. Piranha Salad
10. Cocktails
11. Guitar Beat

M: The Official Secrets Act

This is ALSO where I'm from…

Well, okay. This is more like WHEN I'm from. This record is an amazing example of Cold War entertainment. There were a few of those back in the good ol' days. James Bond movies were the best, of course. Anything that scared the pants off of you with THE BOMB was pretty good.
I recall the first time I ever saw "On the Beach," with Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner and thought… "WOW!!! Look at Ava Gardner!!! Hubba Hubba!" But I also thought, of course, "It would be awful if all of humanity were to be destroyed by Atomic Warfare."

By that time, though, I'd also already seen the entire series of "Planet of the Apes" movies and, so, had thought "It would be awful if all of humanity were to be destroyed by a bunch of God-Damned Apes even if Kim Hunter (Hubba Hubba) were there!!!"

So, in the long run, The Entertainment Value of The Cold War turned out to be Greater Than The Warfare Value of The Cold War. If only that could be the case of all wars.

At least we got this record out of it. This is the fella (his name is Robin Scott, actually) that did that cute little song called "Pop Muzik" (New York, London, Paris, Munich...).

This record, "The Official Secrets Act" is his second album (released in 1980). My copy was purchased in "Used" condition and was previously owned by some College Radio Station. The following notes are what a Student Disc Jockey scribbled upon some labels that are affixed to the back of the jacket.

(1) Join the Party - Side 1 Cut 2 - Funny, Good beat, very catchy, great synth work EXCELLENT! Almost silly. Fades.

(2) RELAX - Side 2 Cut 1 -upbeat- very weird, but quite appealing-w/strings Give it a spin! ENDS COLD

2nd album by the man who brought you "Pop Muzik" - This is much stronger than the first album - Many synths, but not so much of a "Gimmick" album as an album of Rock n' Roll dance music. Very Melodic, not too weird, Don't Be Afraid.

M: The Official Secrets Act

1. Transmission (The World Is At Your Fingertips)
2. Join the Party
3. Working for the Corporation
4. Your Country Needs You
5. M'aider
6. Relax
7. Maniac
8. Keep It to Yourself
9. Abracadabra
10. The Official Secrets Act

This one has a bit more noise than some of my other rips, and then again it has less than some others as well.

The Accelerators: The Accelerators

This is Where I'm From

And these are friends of mine. Not close friends, but acquaintances at the very least.

The Accelerators came out of Raleigh, North Carolina, in the mid 80s. The Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill "Research Triangle" was already showing a great deal of promise as the next great Capital of Rock 'n' Roll. It was unfortunate then, I suppose, that those who's job it was to choose the next great Capital were the people who had set out to destroy Rock 'n' Roll completely.

The Capital had already been located, by the Experts (Music Journalists, Critics and Disc Jockeys), in several different spots. The Research Triangle was chosen following a string of successes by the dBs, Mitch Easter, Don Dixon and a few others. As a matter of fact, it seems almost as if The Accelerators recorded their album in The Capital but, by the time it was released, found themselves supporting it from the Boondocks.

Perhaps not too much more should have been expected of Profile Records. They had built their name on Rap, for Pete's sake (Run-DMC, for that matter). This record was their big attempt to step into the world of Rock!!! And it would have been a decent attempt, perhaps, with any promotion or advertising or support put behind it. As it turns out, though, the Record Label expected to be Showered with Moolah just for Signing the Hot New Group from the Hot New Spot. Amazingly, Profile Records wasn't around for long after this record came out.

The Accelerators: The Accelerators

1. Stayin' Up in the City
2. Why You Hang Up on Me
3. Two Girls in Love
4. Black Slacks
5. Under Your Wing
6. Radio
7. Ooh Whee
8. You're a Fool
9. What Is Real
10. Tears
11. The Letter
    

The band's front man and primary songwriter, Gerald Duncan, played and recorded a new CD with a new group of Accelerators a few years ago. They were quite good but didn't stick around for too long.

Bass Player Mike Johns remains active in his hometown of Spartanburg, SC, which is not to be taken lightly. Spartanburg has been home to a great deal of great music. The song "Black Slacks" was originally recorded by Joe Bennett and the Sparkletones, from Spartanburg, and is covered (slowly) on this record.

I don't know a thing about what ever happened to drummer Doug Whelchel other than the fact that he ran into a VW Beetle with his car and dragged it all the way home one night. I hope he's alive, well, and bragging about that particular exploit to this very day.

Guitar Slinger Brad Rice has gone on to play with such great bands as The Backsliders and Whiskeytown and is now doing quite well by his own self. He'd appreciate it, I'm sure, if you'd visit him at http://www.bradrice.net/ .

I agree with him that "If We Don't Buy Records... The Terrorists Win."

Buy his record, Karma Bed. I'd suggest, too, that you get it from Miles of Music 'cause they kick ass.

Not yours, though. Somebody elses.