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The Vinyl Resting Place

Where Dead Records Go To Live Again

06/19/2026

On their last LP, The Smiths { The Smiths Official }leader Morrissey sings the refrain “Reissue, repackage, repackage, reevaluate the songs” on the track ‘Paint a Vulgar Picture’. It was a portentous line to be sure as The Smiths have been run through the money mill as their label has reformulated every possible demo, live, unreleased, alternate versions or b-side into every conceivable cash cow. The reason? Fans (like me) will buy them. This incredible band only had four proper albums after all and one live set - five (5) official releases total in the UK. But like The Beatles, several U.S. only releases made their catalog a bit confusing. This is actually an unofficial reason of all of the above that is not supposed to be sold on Discogs, but somehow someone posted it and I snatched it up. It’s an interesting listen as several of the songs have different lyrics, slightly different tempos or straight-up instrumentals. If you’re a fan, be on the lookout for this - tho I suspect it’s going to be very hard to find. 4 “picking at the bones of brilliance” out of 5 -
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06/16/2026

As a super fan of the dark court jester of Rock, Warren Zevon, { Warren Zevon } imagine me reading the pitch describing this compilation; Warren’s son, Jordan Zevon, discovered a cache of demos, alternate takes and unreleased songs from his father after his passing. Never before released, these songs comprise three of the four sides with a full half side an interview with Warren on his songwriting process. Yup, I pre-ordered immediately. Despite it being an excellent addition to his already incredible catalog, I will contend that this set likely requires that you are a super fan to truly enjoy it. Zevon’s peak period was the second half of the 1970’s when excesses in music were fueled by corporations seeing dollar signs and throwing money at glossy production. Warren was the beneficiary of that even without having chart success. With most of these tracks just Zevon at the piano or guitar, it’s a chance to hear a uniquely talented artist stripped down to a pure singer songwriter. 4.25 ‘four track recordings’ out of 5. -
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06/14/2026

The song playing is not The Modern Lovers { jonathan michael richman } - but this cover will give you a sense of the raw Punkishness you’ll find within - original tracks are not available on Spotify. I say it that way because ‘Punk’ wasn’t a thing when this was recorded in…wait for it…1972(!). This album is actually a series of demos recorded btwn ‘72 -‘73, first with John Cale and later with Kim Fowley, but because they never recorded a ‘proper album’ Warner Bros. gave up support of the band and eventually dropped them. Leader Jonathan Richman had moved on musically, embracing a laid-back sound inspired by his time in Bermuda - and he all but disavowed these early recordings. So, everything fell apart. Jerry Harrison eventually joined Talking Heads { Talking Heads }, David Robinson eventually joined The Cars and John Felice formed The Real Kids. Then in April of ‘76 (almost 4 years later) The Ramones debut dropped (like a nuclear bomb) and introduced PUNK with a capital P. Having a similarly raw, amateurish, two-chord onslaught on many of the ML demo’s, California’s Berserkly Records got the rights from W. Bros. and released the demo’s as a debut record from a ‘new’ band, The Modern Lovers. This is now regarded as a classic and the definitive Proto-Punk record. BONUS - the interstitial music interludes in the film “What About Mary” is Mr. Richman playing the that laid-back sound he adopted while rejecting his Punk beginnings. 4.25 “a supergroup before fame” out of 5.
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06/12/2026

The Housemartins were a short-lived Jangle Pop band from the late 80’s that cracked the UK charts on more than one occasion, while remaining virtually unknown in the U.S. I only discovered them because in high school I ran with dyed-in-the-wool Smiths fanatics - and the two bands sounds are very similar. Be warned, their lead vocalist sings in a range and delivery that some find off-putting. If you listen to this, the title track, and find it annoying you may want to pass. I can look past it having grown up in the 80’s with Anglophile leanings. Speaking of that, this is a very British band - likely another reason they never registered in the U.S. Their leftist ideals and sarcasm toward British Aristocracy would be lost on most Americans - myself included. Again, for me it’s the music. Oh, and their name, Housemartin? It’s a migratory, insect-eating songbird of the swallow family, famous for building mud nests. 4 ‘happy and sad in the falsetto world’ out of 5.
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06/11/2026

As the story goes, in 1977 Roger Waters { Roger Waters } presented two concepts for the next Pink Floyd { Pink Floyd } album to his bandmates; ‘Bricks In The Wall’ and ‘Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking’. After much debate they decided on ‘the bricks one’ which became The Wall. Waters shelved ‘Hitchhiking’; the real-time, mid-life crisis story of a man’s 4-wheel roam in a California desert. With incredible playing from Eric Clapton { Eric Clapton } and the late David Sanborn { David Sanborn 🎷 }, this first solo record from Waters is the closest you’ll ever get to classic Pink Floyd. I discovered it shortly after its release in 1984, but the story was lost on my 17 year old brain - I just loved the music. Today, at 59 it makes a lot more sense - I’ve met people who ‘get weird’ in the middle of their life. His Amused To Death remains my absolute favorite, but this is a close second. 4.75 ‘car, crisis, bad decisions and loneliness’ out of 5.
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06/09/2026

I was surprised to learn that there is a broadway show for the 1987 film ‘The Lost Boys’ { } with completely different music from this soundtrack. Upon its release I thought it was great premise (Pater Pans Lost Boys live in a CA beach town roaming as a gang of vampires) but the ex*****on by director Joel Schumacher was a bit ham-fisted. Like many of his films, it was ‘style over substance’ yet here we are dragging the river for any viable IP to sell to the public. The movie soundtrack did suffer a similar fate in that it’s got a little schlock (Power Play by Eddie and the Tide) to go with the sublime (People Are Strange by Echo and the Bunnymen) but it’s a super fun nostalgic spin for me - and I suppose for those buying tix in NY. 4 ‘memory lane is dark and foggy’ out of 5.
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05/31/2026

I discovered this album on a YouTube video list of obscure Power Pop bands. To say The Last is strictly Power Pop is a stretch, but it’s their elusive (shape-shifting) style that makes this record so unique…and why not having audio to share truly sucks. It’s that same genre-defying that may have caused their debut ‘L.A. Explosion’ to bomb (pun). Ironically it came at a time (the musical transgressive zenith that was 1979) when it should have crushed. Among the 14 tracks here, you can expect to hear elements of; Surf Rock, Power Pop, Pop-Punk, Psych-Pop, Folk Rock and even some Sunny Beach Pop. Despite this flip-flopping style ‘the flow’ of songs still - somehow - makes sense. Very hard to find the original on Bomp! Records so I had to have it imported from Italy. Ok…HAD? I WANTED to have it imported, despite the price tag. You can find the whole album on YouTube if you like what I’m describing here. 4.25 ‘tighten your seatbelt’ out of 5.
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