Obscure 80's Indie New Wave songs
April 4, 2013 5:48 AM Subscribe
Hello. I am trying to locate a few recordings by obscure indie new wave bands that got stuck in my head in the 80's that I've been trying and failing to locate ever since. I have no idea the names of the bands or artists that recorded the songs, but hopefully I can provide enough information that someone who is familiar with them can identify them. The songs are "Genghis Khan," "Watch out Franco," and "Heart of a Boxer."
On "Genghis Khan": A friend bought the album this song appeared on after he heard the band play when they opened for Peter Gabriel in the early 80's. (The Gabriel concert was probably in the SF Bay Area.) It has a very danceable beat with huge, rollicking drums that I imagine are meant to evoke the sense of Mongol Hordes galloping across the plains. The production values and feel remind me of, say, Remain in Light-era Talking Heads. The lyrics of the chorus, as I recall, sound something like "Run/The high wire/Lives fall/To the edge/Keep on/Don't look back/To the edge/Genghis Khan."
The next two songs I heard on a college radio station, again this was in the SF Bay Area in the early 80's. These are both more raw and low-fi than the previous song -- think The Fall or Violent Femmes.
"Watch Out Franco": and the chorus lyrics were something like "Watch out Franco/Fall foreign aid (? Fall for an egg?)/Watch out Franco/You might end up Eva Braun's slave".
"Heart of a Boxer": The singer has a delightfully demented, garbled delivery, and the only lyrics I can recall, which were repeated several times throughout the song, were "she's got the heart of a boxer/And I just can't stop her!"
Thank you Ask MetaFilter. You're my only hope.
On "Genghis Khan": A friend bought the album this song appeared on after he heard the band play when they opened for Peter Gabriel in the early 80's. (The Gabriel concert was probably in the SF Bay Area.) It has a very danceable beat with huge, rollicking drums that I imagine are meant to evoke the sense of Mongol Hordes galloping across the plains. The production values and feel remind me of, say, Remain in Light-era Talking Heads. The lyrics of the chorus, as I recall, sound something like "Run/The high wire/Lives fall/To the edge/Keep on/Don't look back/To the edge/Genghis Khan."
The next two songs I heard on a college radio station, again this was in the SF Bay Area in the early 80's. These are both more raw and low-fi than the previous song -- think The Fall or Violent Femmes.
"Watch Out Franco": and the chorus lyrics were something like "Watch out Franco/Fall foreign aid (? Fall for an egg?)/Watch out Franco/You might end up Eva Braun's slave".
"Heart of a Boxer": The singer has a delightfully demented, garbled delivery, and the only lyrics I can recall, which were repeated several times throughout the song, were "she's got the heart of a boxer/And I just can't stop her!"
Thank you Ask MetaFilter. You're my only hope.
Could "Genghis Khan" possibly be Germany's 1979 Eurovision entry?
posted by Yiggs at 6:32 AM on April 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Yiggs at 6:32 AM on April 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: This is the first one:
Electric Guitars - Genghis Khan
posted by cincinnatus c at 7:00 AM on April 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
Electric Guitars - Genghis Khan
posted by cincinnatus c at 7:00 AM on April 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I'd bet that the third one is "Heart Like A Boxer" by a band called Cripples, on their album "Unfaithful Legends", though I can't find the audio online.
posted by cincinnatus c at 7:03 AM on April 4, 2013
posted by cincinnatus c at 7:03 AM on April 4, 2013
Best answer: The second one must surely be "Watch Out, Franco!" by A Cruel Hoax, mentioned in this blog post. Again, I can't find any audio.
posted by cincinnatus c at 7:09 AM on April 4, 2013
posted by cincinnatus c at 7:09 AM on April 4, 2013
Best answer: Cincinnatus, you are amazing!! You have restored my faith in the internet. Thank you!!
p.s. How in the world did you find and/or happen to know this disparate music trivia?
posted by glennonymous at 3:11 AM on April 5, 2013
p.s. How in the world did you find and/or happen to know this disparate music trivia?
posted by glennonymous at 3:11 AM on April 5, 2013
Response by poster: Yiggs, you receive honorable mention for pure awesomeness.
posted by glennonymous at 3:19 AM on April 5, 2013
posted by glennonymous at 3:19 AM on April 5, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by brujita at 5:57 AM on April 4, 2013