The Things: Coloured Heaven 1984 + Outside My Window 1986

Formed in and around Los Angeles, California in 1983, the Things were the brainchild of guitarist/

vocalist and keyboards player Steve Crabtree — he was also the group’s songwriter. Roy McDonald, who would later go on to play for both Redd Kross and the Muffs, was the group’s drummer. Pete Rouch was the bassist in the group. They specialized in songs which had a melodic bent and included strong pop hooks, in an attempt to echo the kind of sound and feel of such famous ’60s groups like the Beatles and the Byrds.
                 

Sometimes with spangly/trebly Rickenbacker guitar to the fore. The Things excelled at this type of

composition as can be heard on such as the gloriously executed opening tracks, ‘Eyes Of A Child’ and ‘I Won’t Be There’. There’s also similar goings-on in ‘She Came Out Of The Sky’. And then there’s the small matter of the totally blissed-out psychedelic title track — one of the most different sounding tracks on the album — and a real standout for sure.
                      

"Coloured Heaven" was only supposed to be a demo tape to show off the kind of songs Steve and the

Things were working on, but Greg Shaw at Bomp / Voxx was convinced it was strong enough to be released as it was. The album also included a couple of really great, inspired cover versions, "Out Of Time" by the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds / just about any U.S. garage band you care to mention set staple, "Mr. You’re A Better Man Than I".
                    

The Things' Outside My Window, their second of three albums, is a delightful slice of Paisley

Underground retro-psychedelic pop, probably most closely aligned with the Rain Parade's legendary debut Emergency Third Rail Power Trip.  Shades of late 60s Nuggets-anthology garage rock bands like Paul Revere & The Raiders crossed with the Byrds and Love, the album is full of great hooks, hugely catchy, with psychedelic shadings, the occasional wah-wah guitar and organ sound shading the otherwise straightforward mid-80s college radio jangle pop.
                      

The Things from Los Angeles were among the most important bands in the Paisley Underground scene. Here's their second and most acclaimed album, originally released on Voxx Records in 1986. “After

having released one of the most important albums in California’s “Paisley Underground” movement with "Coloured Heaven" (Voxx, 1984), L.A. group THE THINGS achieved a similar triumph two years later with Outside My Window. Less than a year after Coloured Heaven, Things continue to look out towards the sky, while they colour it with another ten brushstrokes of neo-psychedelia, folk-rock and power pop.
                            

LINE - UP

                

Steven Crabtree (vocals, guitar, keyboards)
Mike Sosa, Roy McDonald (drums, percussion)
Pete Rouch (bass, vocals)
Andre Garcia (guitar)
Larry Klein (guitar, vocals)
Bob Wier (bass, vocals)

THE THINGS - COLOURED HEAVEN 1984
                            

The Things – Coloured Heaven
Label: Voxx Records – VXS 200.022
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 1984
Genre: Rock
Style: Paisley Underground, Garage Rock, Psychedelic

TRACKS

                  

                                 
01. Eyes Of A Child   3:22    
02. I Won't Be There   2:24    
03. It's Not That Way   3:50    
04. She Came Out Of The Sky   3:32    
05. Out Of Time       3:52
06. Coloured Heaven   3:48    
07. It's Over    2:51
08. Why Am I Waiting    3:55
09. Mr. You're A Better Man Than I   3:42    
10. All The Time   2:58    
11. It Seems To Be Raining   4:39

BONUS TRACKS

12. Oh Yeah   3:31
13. You Are The One   3:50
14. Wai And See   3:38    

Flac Size: 347 MB

THE THINGS - OUTSIDE MY WINDOW 1986
                      

The Things – Outside My Window
Label: Voxx – 200 033, Voxx Records – 200 033
Format: CD
Country: US
Released: 1986
Genre: Rock
Style: Paisley Underground, Psychedelic Rock

TRACKS

                       

01. Outside My Window   5:16
02. Can't Get Enough   3:03
03. Love Is Gone   3:46
04. Take The Chance   4:26
05. Everytime   4:31
06. All Work And No Play   00:52
07. You Can't Deliver   3:54
08. Look What You're Doing   4:11
09. I've Been Nowhere   3:43
10. Young And Wild   5:44

Flac Size: 452 MB

True West: Hollywood Holiday Revisited 2007 + Hand Of Fate 1986

 

True West is a guitar band, often considered part of the Paisley Underground. Singer Gavin Blair and guitarists Richard McGrath and Russ Tolman are the nucleus of the group. Originally from

California's Sacramento Valley, True West were contemporaries and friends with Los Angeles bands such as The Dream Syndicate, Green on Red, Rain Parade, Thin White Rope, and The Long Ryders. From 1979 to 1981, Gavin Blair and Russ Tolman had been bandmates in The Suspects, a Davis-based band, with a pre-Dream Syndicate Steve Wynn and Kendra Smith.
                                 

Out of the same mold as L.A.'s Paisley Underground bands, True West didn't fit because they were from Davis, CA (operating out of the nearby nexus for guitar bands, San Francisco) and a little darker and less dreamy than the others. They debuted with True West, an EP in 1983 on Bring Out

Your Dead Records. It was produced by the band's Russ Tolman and the Dream Syndicate's Steve Wynn. Hollywood Holiday, released by France's then-very hip New Rose label that same year, contained the debut EP as well as some new tracks. By 1984, the band signed a deal with U.S. indie label PVC for Drifters. Drummer Josef Becker left to join the similar, though darker California-centric roots band Thin White Rope, and after recording, so too did Tolman.
                       

True West landed in London in April 1985 amidst what the U.K. music press had declared "The American Invasion," which had been kicked off a few months earlier by the arrival of R.E.M. Suddenly, England couldn't get enough of American guitar bands and True West made the front pages of the big

three music publications of the day: the NME, Melody Maker, and Sounds. Several major labels came courting with talk of production by Steve Lillywhite (U2, XTC), but problems with their work permits did not allow the band to make scheduled appearances on The Old Grey Whistle Test and other British TV that would have pushed them over the top and into the arms of a waiting major, unlike other Paisley Underground bands. After a successful tour of the European continent, the band returned to the U.S. to write and prepare to record their third album
                          

West Side Story (Skyclad, 1989) is an odds-and-sods collection, Best Western (Skyclad, 1990) a

compilation of of old demos, and TV Western (Skyclad, 1990) adds some live tracks to the demo sessions. Singer Gavin Blair and guitarist Richard McGrath worked as Fool Killers after the breakup, and Tolman is a prolific singer/songwriter. Becker went on to play with Game Theory. The group's bassist was Kevin Staydohar.
                 

TRUE WEST - HOLLYWOOD HOLIDAY REVISITED 2007

                            

True West were the black sheep of the paisley underground set. While their pals were recording major-label records with Sandy Pearlman (the Dream Syndicate), working with Prince (both the Bangles and the Three O'Clock), hanging out with Gene Clark (the Long Ryders), or becoming critical darlings

(Green on Red), True West were relegated to a relatively tiny indie label (PVC) and split up before making much of an impression on more than a handful dedicated fans. Atavistic's 2007 release of the band's first two releases (1983's Hollywood Holiday and 1984's Drifters) proves that while True West may have faded into obscurity, their music remains challenging and inspiring, and stands up better today than many of their peers' best efforts.
                   

Influenced as much by the sound of mid-'70s N.Y.C. (Television) as by the psychedelic '60s (Pink Floyd, Quicksilver Messenger Service), the group was defined by the intricate and passionate guitar duels between Russ Tolman and Richard McGrath, the unhinged vocals of Gavin Blair, and the

incredible amount of drama and mystery in its sound. Hollywood Holiday is a raw document of a band that already sounds fully formed and ready to make a splash. Everything on the record seethes with energy and imagination, but the highlights -- like the melancholy jangle pop of "And Then the Rain," the wild tribal improvisation "I'm Not Here," the very catchy title track, and the awesome "You," which features Tolman and McGrath's mind-reading interplay at its most breathtaking -- are some of the best examples of the American underground of the early '80s you'll ever hear.
                        

After such an impressive debut, the next album was almost sure to be a major letdown. In True West's

case, though, there is only change to be found on Drifters, not disappointment. Drifters is a more polished record, made in a real studio with Sandy Pearlman's engineer behind the board (again, they were one step behind their scene-mates). While the sound is cleaner (oh, those cursed mid-'80s drum sounds!) and slightly less immediate than on Hollywood Holiday, it sounds raw and fiery enough to put, say, The Medicine Show to shame. 
                   

McGrath and Tolman still manage to work up storms of six-string majesty throughout, especially on "What About You," where McGrath channels Tom Verlaine very convincingly, the rampaging

"Backroad Bridge Song (What Could I Say)," and the chiming "Morning Light." True West reformed in 2006, with original members Tolman, McGrath, and Blair, along with new members drummer Jim Huie and bassist Ian Barrett and began to tour for a series of concert dates. The band released the 3CD set Kaleidoscope of Shadows: The Story So Far on their Bring Out Your Dead label in 2021.
(By Tim Sendra)
                        

True West – Hollywood Holiday Revisited
Label: Atavistic – ALP179CD
Format: CD, Compilation, Remastered
Country: U S
Released:2007
Genre: Rock
Style: Paisley Underground, Psychedelic Rock, Indie Rock

TRACKS

HOLLYWOOD HOLIDAY 1983        

                        

  
01. Steps To The Door   3:14
02. I'm Not Here   2:23
03. And Then The Rain   3:48
04. Hollywood Holiday   4:10
05. Lucifer Sam (Wri tten-By – Syd Barrett)   3:12
06. It's About Time   4:38
07. Throw Away The Key   3:12
08. You   4:47

DRIFTERS 1984        

                            

  
09. Look Around   4:30
10. At Night They Speak   3:22
11. Speak Easy   3:29
12. Shot You Down   3:32
13. What About You   4:47
14. Hold On   4:43
15. And Then The Rain   4:24
16. Backroad Bridge Song (What Could I Say)   3:01
17. Ain't No Hangman   2:47
18. Morning Light  4:02

THE VERLAINE DEMOS (PRODUCE BY TOM VERLAINE: TELEVISION)        

                                   

  
19. Burn The Roses   3:24
20. Look Around   4:22
21. Throw Away The Key   3:13

LINE - UP

                     

Guitar – Richard McGrath (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6 to 21), Russ Tolman
Lead Guitar – Steve Wynn (tracks: 5)
Backing Vocals [Guest] – Sid Griffin (tracks: 9 to 18), Stephen McCarthy (tracks: 9 to 18)
Bass – Ken Lacewell (tracks: 5), Kevin Staydohar (tracks: 3, 5, 7 to 21), Mike Palmer (tracks: 1, 4, 6)
Drums – Frank French (tracks: 2, 5), Joe Becker (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 19 to 21), Steve Packenham (tracks: 9 to 18)
Organ [Guest] – Chris Cacavas (tracks: 9 to 18)
Vocals – Gavin Blair
Written-By – Gavin Blair (tracks: 1 to 4, 6 to 21), Richard McGrath (tracks: 1 to 4, 6 to 21), Russ Tolman (tracks: 1 to 4, 6 to 21)

NOTES

Tracks 1 to 8 originally released as 'Hollywood Holiday' on New Rose Records in 1983 (ROSE 23).
Tracks 9 to 18 originally released as 'Drifters' on PVC Records (PVC 8921) in U.S.A. and New Rose Records (ROSE 45) in France in 1984.
Tracks 19 to 21 are previously unreleased.

Flac Size: 538 MB

TRUE WEST - HAND OF FATE 1986

                       

Two years of constant touring and several disappointing close brushes with a major label recording

contract had taken their toll on the band, and True West called it quits in the summer of 1985. Tolman started a successful solo career and the band decided to reform without Tolman shortly after and go on to record and release their third album Hand Of Fate the next year. 1986's Hand of Fate for CD Presents features guitar work by the Rain Parade's Matt Piucci and Green on Red's Chuck Prophet in place of Tolman. Shortly after, the band called it quits.
                        

True West – Hand Of Fate
Label:CD Presents, Ltd. – CD041
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 1986
Genre: Rock
Style: Paisley Underground, Psychedelic Rock, Alternative Rock

TRACKS

                               

01. Falling Away    3:57
02. The Gunner    3:37
03. Just One Chance    3:34
04. Mark Time    4:05
05. Trim The Fat    3:49
06. Riches Still May Fly   3:41   
07. Hand Of Fate    4:50
08. Waved Me By    4:27
09. Lost At Daybreak    3:28
10. Happenings Ten Years' Time Ago    3:31
11. No Comebacks    4:04
12. Bitter Dream   3:32
13. Story Of Sweet May   4:05
14. Leathers Worn   1:18

LINE - UP

                    

Bass – Kevin Staydohar
Drums, Guitar – Steve Packenham
Guest [Guest Artist], Percussion, Drums [Additional Drums] – Trey Sabatelli
Guitar – Richard McGrath
Vocals – Gavin Blair
Guitar - Matt Piucci
Guitar - Chuck Prophet    

Flac Size: 383 MB

28th Day: The Complete Recordings 2003

 

This mid-80's paisley pop group based in Chico CA featured Cole Marquis , Barbara Manning

and drummer Michael Cloward. Even though this neo-psych band garnered plaudits and acclaim, 28th Day would eventually become more well known for being the first band to call Barbara Manning a member. Manning, who would later find success as a member of the World of Pooh and S.F. Seals, as well as becoming a sort of indie/underground legend, played bass in 28th Day alongside Cole Marquis on vocals and guitar, and Mike Cloward on drums.
                                 

Although Manning would grow into a force as a songwriter in subsequent projects, the majority of 28th Day's work was written by Marquis. Their debut LP, released on Enigma in 1985, would be the only

studio work from the band, which was to split a short time later. That collection would be expanded in 1992, and then again in 2004, to much acclaim on each occasion. Manning would go on to many other projects, including the aforementioned World of Pooh, S.F. Seals, and the Go-Luckys!, while Marquis would go on to form the Downsiders.
(By Chris True)
                       

One of those albums that did absolutely nothing upon its release but has developed a certain cult cachet

over the years, 28th Day is the recording debut of both indie rock darling Barbara Manning and cult singer/songwriter Cole Marquis. Produced by True West's Russ Tolman and released through his own Bring Out Your Dead imprint via True West's label, Enigma Records, 28th Day is in many ways just another minor release in the post-paisley underground school of California indie rock.
                    

However, the songs' obsessive acoustic guitar strums and clipped, propulsive beats tie 28th Day to

fellow travelers like the Cat Heads and Vomit Launch. Like the work of those bands, songs like the ruminative "Pages Turn" (here in two versions) and the swirling, neurotic "25 Pills" suggest that Chico, CA, was the one city in the Northern Hemisphere that was attuned to the Krautrock-inspired art pop of New Zealand's Flying Nun label.
                   

The album's high point is the tense, strangled "Burnsite," a Manning song that climaxes in one of the

most anguished screams this side of Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures. 28th Day broke up shortly after the release of this album, which was reissued on the Skyclad label in the early '90s and again as part of the career retrospective Complete Recordings in 2003.
                        

28th Day – The Complete Recordings
Label: Innerstate Records – 7017
Format: CD, Album, Reissue
Country: US
Released: Apr 8, 2003
Genre: Rock
Style: Paisley, Alternative Rock, Indie Rock

TRAXS

                    

01. 25 Pills    3:24
(Written-By – Marquis)  
02. Where The Bears Sing   3:27
(Written-By – Marquis)
03. This Train   2:36
(Written-By – Pete Seeger)
04. I'm Only Asking   4:16
(Written-By – Manning)
05. Dead Sinner   3:56
(Written-By – Marquis, Cloward)
06. Pages Turn   4:31
(Written-By – Marquis)
07. Lost   3:27
(Written-By – Marquis)
08. Burnsite   3:54
(Written-By – Manning)
09. Instrumental #1   3:22
(Written-By – Manning, Marquis, Cloward)
10. Holiday   4:11
(Written-By – Marquis)
11. Stones Of Judgement   4:01
(Written-By – Manning)
12. Pages Turn (Alternate Version)   4:18
(Written-By – Marquis)
13. Life Story   3:04
(Written-By – Manning)

PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED LIVE RECORDINGS        

    
14. It's All Too Much   4:27
(Written-By – George Harrison)
15. Talk All Night   2:50
(Written-By – Manning)
16. She's Alright   3:19
(Written-By – Marquis)
17. Don't Rewind   4:27
(Written-By – Marquis)

PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED DEMO RECORDINGS        

    
18. Prophecy Written   5:27
(Written-By – Marquis)
19. No Sun, No Shadow   5:09
(Written-By – Marquis)
20. Only In Their Dreams   4:12
(Written-By – Marquis)

LINE - UP

                         

Vocals, Bass – Barbara Manning
Vocals, Guitar – Cole Marquis
Drums – Michael Cloward

Flac Size: 571 MB