new wave Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft “Für immer”

sfilzen — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:34:12 +0000

Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft “Für immer” 1982. The album cover reminds me of that trend “tell me you’re 80’s euro-synthpop without saying you’re 80’s euro-synthpop” ie it’s dripping in electronic beep-boops, sparse drums (machine + real thing), though there is a mix of bright 80’s neon energy and dark industrial goth. We picked up Für immer last week in Berlin, I think at the weird 33rpm store. It was D.A.F.’s (translates as “German-American Friendship”) fifth LP; they formed in Düsseldorf in ’78, no doubt influenced by Kraftwerk. Their specific genre is described as Neue Deutsche Welle (German New Wave) which feels a bit more industrial than most British or American new wave and artists in the NDW genre were big influences on the EBM movement. D.A.F. are also lumped in with the electropunk and art punk descriptions but this LP is, to me, synthpop/industrial; overall it’s not hypnotic enough to be EBM. Anyway, it’s great! The opener “Im Dschungel der Liebe” (“Jungle of Love”) is straight-up new wave/synthpop with delightful plink plunks to accent the bleep bloops. “Ein bisschen Krieg” (“A Little War”), the second track, does a sharp turn into industrial territory (this one does veer to EBM). One of my top tracks, “Verlieb dich in mich” (“Fall in Love with Me”) is 1000% Devo inspired, as is “Kebabträume” (“Kebab Dreams” – which is hilarious based on our continuous dreams of the Doner kebab we consumed in Berlin). “Prinzessin” (“Princess”) takes another dark turn, though this a bit more Cure-esque in its swirly late -night atmosphere.

I couldn’t find any live performances or videos from Für immer so here’s a contemporary video of “Liebe auf den ersten Blick” off their 1981 LP Gold und Liebe featuring most excellent 80’s style dancing.

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Arcadia “The Promise”

sfilzen — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 17:24:31 +0000

Arcadia “The Promise” 1986. Today is Simon LeBon’s birthday (b. 1958)! “The Promise” was the third single from the Duran side project Arcadia’s 1985 album So Red the Rose. It went to #37 in the UK – I don’t think it charted in the US (though I loved it, and the entire record which I bought pretty much on its release date, November 18th 1985). “The Promise” features guitar work from Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and uncredited, but obvious, backing vocals by Sting. From wiki: “Sometime during the band’s stay in Paris to record So Red the Rose, they went to see a Sting concert there, and decided it would be interesting to have him come over and sing on the album, mainly because they liked the combination of Sting’s and lead singer Simon Le Bon’s voices on the “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” single by Band Aid, and wanted to see what would result from putting them together again. Sting was very amicable about the whole idea, and it turned out to be one of the band’s favourite moments on the record.” The b-side to the single is the gothic instrumental “Rose Arcana.”

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Soft Cell “Non-Stop Extended Cabaret”

sfilzen — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 17:30:21 +0000

Soft Cell “Non-Stop Extended Cabaret” 2024, limited edition Record Store Day release which I’m spinning today in honor of David Ball who died on Wednesday (b. 1959 d. October 22 2025). Non-Stop Extended Cabaret is a modern look back at their classic debut Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (1981) which went to #22 in the US and to #5 in the UK. The lead single from the LP, “Tainted Love” (originally performed by Gloria Jones, 1964) went to #1 in the UK and to #8 in the US. I feel somewhat responsible for part of its success: as a 10 year old me and my friend pestered the local radio dj’s on the request line relentlessly to spin the track. The version on this RSD release is a 2021 10″ extended version by Dave Ball. From the RSD website about the record: “This release was created by Dave Ball using only the original studio parts – they’re not remixes, they’re extended versions! Also included are a new reworking of their first single for Phonogram, “A Man Can Get Lost,” and the new, previously unreleased remixes of its flipside, “Memorabilia,” by The Hacker and Daniel Miller.” Soft Cell released two other singles from their debut which get an extended mix as well: “Bedsitter” which went to #4 in the UK (from Wiki: it is “a song that explored the underbelly of the London club scene of the time, it has been described by critic Jon Savage as one of the greatest songs of the 1980s”) and “Say Hello Wave Goodbye” (#3 in the UK and ranked no. 65 on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 100 Best Songs of 1982). I also like the dark wave vibe of “Youth (Dave Ball’s 2018 ‘Wasted On The Young’ Mix)” and dark, super-seedy “Sex Dwarf (2023 Extended Version).”

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The Quilz “Are You Still Out Tonight?”

sfilzen — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 19:29:31 +0000

The Quilz “Are You Still Out Tonight?” split 7″ with Xposed 4Heads “Ultra Cloud” 2020. Milwaukee synthpop /new wave retro 80’s mash up: each band performs their original track along with a remix/redo of the other’s song. We caught The Quilz last weekend at our neighborhood park’s annual Pumpkin Pavilion, where they performed an electric selection of spooky – but danceable! – Halloween-adjacent songs.

The Quilz’s “Are You Still Out Tonight?” is electro-dream pop, shimmery bright with a few dark-edged touches and nods to the early 80’s Euro-synthpop sound. The Xposed 4Heads version of the track has a driving beat and bass background, making it way less dreamy and much more urgent, but keeps the synthpop vibe. Xposed 4Heads are heavily influenced by Devo so their “Ultra Cloud” absolutely has that keyboard/guitar 80’s dancey space geek mood. The Quliz’s remix sounds pretty similar to the original, with maybe a bit more emphasis on the bleep-bloop synths plus an intro that maybe had some Duran nods (always a good thing). Both bands are fun to see live – I don’t remember if they’ve done a joint show but it would be a good one.

While neither of these songs is on this video, here’s a bit of The Quilz performance from last week filmed by man-about-Milwaukee Juan:

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Duran Duran “Meet El Presidente”

sfilzen — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 17:52:21 +0000

Duran Duran “Meet El Presidente” 1987. Last week I fulfilled yet another big life wish, spinning a 3 hour set of Duran Duran (plus side projects) vinyl records at Wiggle Room. I had intended to spin this song but it didn’t make the cut as I started to run out of time. “Meet El Presidente” was the third, and final, single from the Nile Rodgers produced Notorious; it hit #24 in the UK but just went to #70 in the US. If I’m being honest, I don’t really even remember it from ’87 (though my daily listens had skewed heavily punk by that point). The single version is a different mix than the album’s with a more pronounced Latin groove (think Miami Sound Machine). And because I don’t remember hearing the single back in the day, the LP version is a bit more familiar. Both are smooth, funky and highly danceable. The b-side, “Vertigo (Do the Demolition),” has a more slow-burn funk with a big 80’s production sound that, apropos its title, has a bit of an industrial flare.

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Talking Heads “Wild Wild Life”

sfilzen — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 17:03:53 +0000

Talking Heads “Wild Wild Life” 1986. 12″ single. The boppy, upbeat new wavey track was the lead single from True Stories and hit no. 25 in the US. Its video won the 1987 MTV Best Group Video award as well as “Best Video from a Film” (that video is extended sequence lifted directly from the True Stories movie): it features cameos from actor John Goodman and comedian Sam Kinison and the Talking Head band members parody a bunch of 80’s celebrities (Prince, Billy Idol, Madonna, etc) lip syncing. So fun! It’s not my all-time favorite Heads song, but it is pretty great. The 12″ single has both the Extended Mix as well as the LP mix, plus a version of the country-twanged “People Like Us” from the True Stories movie; there is a different version on the album. I’m not crazy about that song. And since I don’t even remember if I ever saw True Stories back in the 80’s (I probably did at some basement party but wasn’t paying attention), I can’t recall its place in the film.

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Duran Duran “Thanks Again”

sfilzen — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 18:55:41 +0000

Duran Duran “Thanks Again” 2025, bootleg double LP. Today, June 20th, is John Taylor’s 65th birthday (b. 1960). Thanks Again is a collection of alternative takes/live versions of cover songs that originally appeared on their 1995 LP Thank You. I’m sure a bunch of this stuff has been available on other releases or bootlegs; a possibly different version of Thanks Again was released on CD in 2023 that collected recording sessions from 1992-1995 (I don’t have that CD so cannot confirm). I do have a CD of Thank You and I think that some of the alternative versions on Thanks Again are even better than what appears on that album. “White Lines (Version 2)” has the same ass-shakey-funky beat with a different vocal sound from Simon that I quite like. Their take on Zeppelin’s “Thank You” is pretty epic. The acoustic version of Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” is lovely. Some aren’t as good: Both the regular and acoustic covers of The Doors’ “Crystal Ship” are pretty muddy and “Success” (written by Bowie, originally performed by Iggy Pop) is messy. I’m totally weirded out by their cover of Public Enemy’s “911 is a Joke” – it’s a cover viewed through the lens of The Rolling Stones in their Sticky Fingers era, complete with harmonica and twangy blues guitar. There are some Duran originals on Thanks Again, though alternative takes from the originals: two versions of “Electric Barbarella” – acoustic and “plastic kiss acoustic mix.” This album is also the only place I have “Dreamboy” which was written by Simon LeBon that is on the 1998 soundtrack for Love Kills starring Mario Van Peebles and Lesley Ann Warren (I haven’t seen that movie), as well as “Plastic Girl,” an unreleased song recorded during demo sessions for the album Medazzaland between 1995and 1997. I’m happy to have this in my rather impressive Duran collection but it’s really only for nerds like me with the uneven sound quality and questionable release background.

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Duran Duran “The Wedding Album”

sfilzen — Thu, 22 May 2025 18:19:50 +0000

Duran Duran “The Wedding Album” 1993. Today, May 22nd, is my and Joe’s anniversary – 26 years! And it’s World Goth Day..while Duran’s seventh studio LP (actually named Duran Duran but everyone knows it as The Wedding Album) is not at all gothy, the record is still perfect today. This is a reissue on gold vinyl – I think the vinyl release was pretty limited back in ’93. It went to #4 in the UK and to #7 in the US. I really wasn’t listening to much D2 in ’93 and certainly not any new material so I’m mostly familiar with this record in retrospect. But it does have what is now one of my favorite all-time Duran songs, “Ordinary World.” Live, it’s magic and I think they’ve performed it at every concert I’ve been to. It was the first single released from the LP and hit the top 10 virtually everywhere in the world. It’s a near perfect song: sad and sophisticated, glorious and anthemic. The second single released, “Come Undone,” is sexy as hell; it also was a hit going to #7 in the US and #13 in the UK. I’m actually not too familiar with a couple of the other singles they released from The Wedding Album: the rocker “Too Much Information” (#35 UK, #45 US), “Drowning Man” (only released as a single in the US) and “None of the Above” (Japan-only). However, the cover of Velvet Underground’s “Femme Fatale” I clearly am familiar with – it was only released as a single in France. That track, and its video, do happen to be quite gothy.

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Big Bang Theory “Big Bang Theory”

sfilzen — Mon, 12 May 2025 18:14:53 +0000

Big Bang Theory “Big Bang Theory” 1986. Funkladen Music (their own label). Bright 80’s new wave, highly funkafied, from Milwaukee. Synth-laden, horns galore and funky funky bass characterize Big Bang Theory. A dash of Oingo Boingo, a splash of Sheila E. and a whole lotta James Brown but white guys in Miami Vice suits. They don’t credit Duran Duran as an influence but I’d be shocked if there weren’t posters of John Taylor on bassist Jo Voboril’s bedroom walls as the style has JT all over. See “Game of Love” especially for a play-that-funky-bass ass-shaking groove. Another good track is “Funk With Me,” which is, obviously, funky. “New Direction” feels very 80’s British blue-eyed soul meets English Beat/General Public and Tears for Fears – it’s probably my top pick on the LP. Overall Big Bang Theory is very danceable, tight and rhythm-forward but it does all start sounding the same after a bit. There’s not much out there about Big Bang Theory (the band, there’s plenty about the TV show) – I learned they recorded the album at Firebrand Recording studio where other MKE acts like The Crusties, Those Spanic Boys, others also did recordings). They do have an active Facebook page and it looks like they’ve been fairly active the past couple of years around Milwaukee. I have zero recollection of the band, but I think their heyday was before I moved here – it looks like they did some touring in the late 80’s and early 90’s, including a set at CBGB’s in ’92. I did find an hourlong performance from ’92 here in Milwaukee, at Steny’s Block Party (lol) where their look had morphed to a more 90’s style:

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Duran Duran “Private Confessions”

sfilzen — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 18:23:09 +0000

Duran Duran “Private Confessions” 2025/1984. Limited edition bootleg on Mind Control Records. It’s Earth Day today so I needed to spin the best song for the holiday: “Planet Earth,” which appears on this unlicensed FM broadcast recording of Duran Duran at Madison Square Garden on March 21st, 1984. I’m fairly certain I have other versions of this same concert on vinyl somewhere in my collection; this release definitely hits the highlights, including many of their hits from Duran Duran, Rio and Seven and the Ragged Tiger. The sound quality is decent though it’s a bit heavy on the high end: I could really have used more of John’s beefy bass and Roger’s thundering drums, and Simon’s voice sounds forced at times. In fairness to Simon, he was competing with thousands and thousands of batshit crazy screaming teenage girls. “New Moon on Monday” is particularly wonderful, with a cute intro by Simon in which he dedicates the tune to the fellas in the audience who came to the concert “with the express purpose” to meet girls (lol good luck – all those girls are hoping to go home with a Duran!). “Save a Prayer” is lovely, as always, but Nick’s keyboards are way too low in the mix until the very end when they get a bit wonky. And of course “Planet Earth” is mostly fabulous with Simon asking the audience to prove they’re into it by dancing and screaming (I’m guessing he was obliged) and his super-high energy singing; but the ubiquitous 80’s sax is too high in the mix for my tastes though and the saxophonist totally fucked up a note or two. “Careless Memories” is as urgent as ever (their performance of this one is particularly excellent). The encore “The Chauffeur” is absolutely haunting.

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