12/28/09

THE BEST OF 415 RECORDS

It was 1988 when I first read about 415 Records on a foreign music magazine my friend bought back then. I found out that some of the great NEW WAVE acts I love were under this record label. 415 Records was the first North American Record Label devoted to New Wave which was founded by Howie Klein, Chris Knab and Butch Bridges in SAN FRANCISCO back in 1978. YUP!! It's AMERICAN New Wave!! I was able to buy this 1994 compilation CD entitled "THE BEST OF 415 RECORDS" which showcased Five of the Bands under the label namely WIRE TRAIN, ROMEO VOID, RED ROCKERS. TRANSLATOR, and UNTIL DECEMBER. Well, I have to feature this CD Until December if you get my drift. He He He!! As written on the back cover of my CD "Started on a lark, for fun, as a public service, 415 Records was named after the police code for disturbing the peace". Hmmmp? Very interesting don't you think? The label primarily featured punk and new wave music from San Francisco bands although as the label grew they signed bands from other cities as well. There were also a lot of Artists/Bands that were signed by 415 but we will just concentrate only on those who are featured here in this compilation CD. Four of the Five bands in this CD namely Wire Train, Romeo Void, Red Rockers, and Translator were all introduced here in MANILA by WXB 102 back in the 80s which became popular for PINOY NEW WAVERS and PUNKS as well. It's just unfortunate that the band "Until December" didn't made it big here in MANILA back on those days. According to founders Howie and Chris, the simple reason that these bands were signed under 415 Records is simply that both of them loved the band's music.


Here's a photo of my "THE BEST OF 415 RECORDS" CD.

Another "The Best Of The Greatest" blogpost as I promised before. 415 was also hindered by the same factors that affect most independent labels which is the difficulty of reaching a national audience. The 1982 Columbia affiliation changed the situation dramatically because Columbia used their marketing knowledge and established relationships with the media like radio and television which was a great medium of spreading the awareness regarding the record label itself and to bring forth 415 records to a much wider audience. Romeo Void has been singled out by critics and musicians as one of the seminal groups of the New Wave movement. Klein has quipped, referring to some of the less successful ventures, "Before the Columbia deal, we made records that cost $5,000 and sold 50,000 copies. After the Columbia deal, we made records that cost $50,000 and sold 5,000 copies." While reading through the inner sleeves of my CD, I was surprised that PINOY punk club "The Mabuhay Gardens" based on San Francisco was mentioned by Howie Klein in his story. YUP!! Howie saw "Romeo Void" performed live in "The Mabuhay Gardens" back on those days where the Pinoy Owner NESS AQUINO was auditioning new bands for the club. Wow!! PROUD TO BE PINOY!! I have mentioned "The Mabuhay Gardens" before on my special "DEAD KENNEDYS" blogpost here on my little blog wherein the band also performed on the club back then. Kabayans, I guess you better say "1-4-3-4-4". He He He!! Here in the Philippines "14344" correspond to the number of the letters on each word of "I Love You Very Much". Huh? Why did I include that in this 415 blogpost of mine? Ha ha ha!! Well, It's better than the classic "214" song of Rivermaya don't you think? Btw, this CD contains 17 tracks wherein 3 songs each from Wire Train, Romeo Void, and Red Rockers while 4 songs each from Translator and Until December. Another great compilation indeed!! So here it goes "The Best Of 415 Records"!!



I uploaded my CD just in case you wanna have a copy of this compilation. I also took photos of the inner booklet that included the pictures of the Five Bands featured in the CD. I also uploaded one song each from the band for you to listen to. ENJOY guys!!

THE BEST OF 415 RECORDS
TRACKLISTING:



WIRE TRAIN
1. Chamber of Hellos
2. With God on Our Side
3. She Comes On

LISTEN TO "She Comes On" by WIRE TRAIN:




ROMEO VOID
4. A Girl in Trouble
5. Never Say Never
6. Not Safe

RED ROCKERS
7. China
8. Guns of Revolution
9. Dead Heroes

LISTEN TO "Never Say Never" by ROMEO VOID:


LISTEN TO "Guns Of Revolution" by RED ROCKERS:






TRANSLATOR
10. Everywhere That I'm Not
11. When I Am with You
12. Everywhere
13. I Need You to Love

UNTIL DECEMBER
14. We Are the Boys
15. Until December
16. Geisha
17. Heaven

LISTEN TO "Everywhere That I'm Not" by TRANSLATOR:


LISTEN TO "We Are The Boys" by UNTIL DECEMBER:


DOWNLOAD "The Best Of 415 Records" CD Here:

PASSWORD: http://docmuzic.blogspot.com/

Here are some added Infos about the CD which is also included on my CD inner booklet that I wanna include here in my blogpost. I just wanna give credit to these guys too.

Compilation Producer: Don DeVito
Digitally Mastered by: Vic Anesini, Sony Music Studios, New York
Product Manager: Rita Cox
Design: Lisa Sparagano
Packaging Manager: Gina Campanaro
Cover Illustration: Frank Zincavage


Well, I hope you guys enjoyed my 415 Record Label blogpost. I'll be featuring all five bands here on "The Doctor Is In" in the future in my own spare time so do watch out for it. This 415 CD collection pays tribute to the vision and attitude which took alternative rock to the forefront of popular music. THANKS AGAIN guys for dropping by!!



This Is
The Best Of 415 Records!!
-DR. STIRRING RHOD

12 comments:

Punk Rock Daddy said...

Sorry for the late greetings my friend! Belated Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New Year to you and your family!!!

Huli man at magaling... :)

DrStirringRhod said...

Happy New Year to you and your family too bro!! :-) CHEERS!!

DR. STIRRING RHOD

McDoC said...

Naalala ko nakita ko itong CD na 'to sa Radio City. Great post DSR! Wish you a Happy New Year!

DrStirringRhod said...

THANKS bing!! Happy New Wave Year 2010 to you and your family bro!! God Bless!!

DR. STIRRING RHOD

Chris Knab said...

Hi, this is Chris Knab, the VP and co-founder of 415 Records. I found you more or less by luck and Google.

I want to thank you for your kind words about 415 and all the amazing bands we had on our label. As you know 415 is a distant memory now, but a great one, and it means a lot to have the music of our bands remembered by you.

Thanks, and all the best to you in the new year
Chris

email:Chris@Knab.com

DrStirringRhod said...

WOW!! I'm not worthy!! :-) Mr. Chris Knab of the Legendary 415 Records on my blog. Hi Sir Chris!! THANKS for dropping by my blog and for the comments!! YUP!! These bands were very popular for PINOY NEW WAVERS and PUNKS back in the 80s. Their music are still played here in MANILA on NEW WAVE Radio Programs.

HAPPY NEW WAVE YEAR 2010 to you too Sir!!

CHEERS!!
DR. STIRRING RHOD

Anonymous said...

Hi!

First of all THANK YOU for this cd. However, the quality of the rip is very poor. Could you please re-rip it at a decent bitrate (192 or above) and reupload? I would be grateful forever!

Anonymous said...

Hey!

Just if you were going to re-rip this as I requested, you can forget about it. I found a lossless source for the cd. Thanks anyway for giving me the opportunity of listening to it!

DrStirringRhod said...

Well, that's good to know Nico!! THANKS for dropping by and hope you've enjoyed the blog tour. :-)

philbert said...

80kbps for the original cd? Please reupload 320kbps :)

DrStirringRhod said...

YUP!! You're right dude!! I did that on purpose. :-) The important thing IT'S THE ORIGINAL CD. :-)

Unknown said...

re upload The Best of 415 Records pls..........