RECORD TURNOVER 80s HITS #138
Following Slumberland’s reissue of Hot Rod Hotel by East Village, the lone album by England’s The Sea Urchins has been one of the great lost albums of Byrds-inflected pop that has yet to see a vinyl reissue. That will all change in January when Oakland label 1972 Records release Stardust with remastered sound and orange vinyl. They’ve already put out great reissues with Maximum Joy and The Gordons and this is one that is sure to sell out even faster. The original LP, released on Sarah Records in 1990, is already fetching prices well over £100 despite being more of a singles collection than an album per se.
Apart from the Sarah 45s the collection also includes the flexis the group released in 1986. One of those tracks was used to christen the influential Australian label Summershine, which became something of a local version of Sarah Records and of course being connected through the Sydney band Even As We Speak, who were signed to both labels.
On these 80s recordings – which were cut around the same time that The Stone Roses started working with producer John Leckie – we also hear echoes of 60s mod groups from Britain like The Eyes and Californian folk-rock alike. But of course the sound also owes a lot to the early Creation Records releases from e.g. Primal Scream and The Loft.
