First. Last And Then Gone For Good

First Men On The Sun - First Men On The Sun

The Abecedarians split in the late eighties, and reformed a few years later as First Men On The Sun. A change in name brought about a change in direction - their original USP of intricate layered melody had virtually disappeared, replaced by a more guitar driven alternative American rock sound. Drummer Jason Tooney assumed most of the vocals - sounding much like a west coast Michael Stipe, and the CD credits new bassist John Blake with most of the ideas. Even on the original Manecke compositions (the best tracks), First Men are hardly recognisable as Abecedarians and with little to stand them out against a whole plethora of mid-nineties US alternative bands, the First Men On The Sun disappeared into obscurity. Fans of American alternative rock will like this, fans of Abecedarians will possibly not. 

Ripped from a compact disc album released on Southwest Audio Productions (SAR 56744) in 1995 to high quality lossless flac audio.

1 Cary Grant's Hallucination
2 Sleeping On The Grill Of The King
3 The Way Things Are
4 I Took A Bus
5 I Could Beg
6 Breathe In
7 Crawling Chaos
8 Chiddle

Aye Bee - See Dee

Abecedarians - ABCD

Did somebody mention Abecedarians? Here's a fine compilation of twelve tracks from their first two albums sandwiching the Factory Records release, Smiling Monarchs. Eventually, I will get around to a 24bit rip of The Other Side Of The Fence vinyl but for now, this should satisfy most Abecedarian appetites. Enjoy!

Ripped from a compact disc released on Caroline Records (CAROLCD 1343) in 1988 to high quality lossless flac audio.

1 Ghosts
2 Soil
3 The Other Side Of The Fence
4 I Glide
5 Mice & Coconut Tree
6 Smiling Monarchs
7 Dinner
8 Spaghetti Western
9 Where Whitie Ain't Allowed
10 Press Escape
11 Laugh At Yourself
12 Surf Western
13 Panic In Needle Park

Tragedy And Mystery

Tragic Symphonie - Halcyon

Something rare donated by blog follower TheHappyOne. Tragic Symphonie was a 1984 home studio recording project by the talented Chris Manecke, who would later record and perform as part of important California act Abecedarians. Like the work of Abecedarians these are very intricate and layered compositions, which are mostly instrumental and possess the aura of LC era Durutti Column. No more so than the title track Halcyon, and the gentle pleasing vocal piece Lazy. Nice stuff!

Ripped from a transfer of unknown but lossless lineage of a cassette album self-released in 1984,

A1 Landauer's Christmas
A2 Icarus (Richie's Theme)
A3 McMurphy & Me
A4 Halcyon
A5 Lazy
A6 The Vanishing Prairie

Abecedarians - Smiling Monarchs

I have covered Abecedarians before but have never ripped my copy of this 12". In typical Factory style, this was released in the UK with no marketing and like many, I had no clue as to who they were - but still bought it! I think Peel did play it once or twice and copies were available in certain quality outlets in Manchester and London.

Although not credited, Smiling Monarchs was mixed by Bernard Sumner and is a pounding, sequencer driven track with lush string effects and a unique effect laden bass melody much akin to New Order. The similarity to Your Silent Face is clear to these ears. The flip-side Benway's Carnival reminds me of late period Ultravox and doesn't work for me. Smiling Monarchs is a lost Factory classic and deserves to be heard by all.

Smiling Monarchs : ripped to lossless FLAC from a 12" vinyl single released on Factory Records (FAC 117) in 1985

A. Smiling Monarchs

B. Benway's Carnival

Re:Upped!

Abecedarians - The Other Side Of The Fence

I'm delighted to re-rip and offer you this stunning album in a lossless flac format.

I'll freely admit to not owning much vinyl by American bands, but with great thanks to a good friend in California (a fellow appreciado of good taste and now a live music blogger), I now own a pristine copy of this superb double 10 inch compilation.
Abecedarians were a SoCal based cold wave three piece who supported New Order for a few shows on their 1985 tour. Their sound was very British new wave with obvious vocal influences by Modern English and B-Movie. Intricate plucked guitar and bass melodies wrap around their infectious sound and always make you want to hear more.

Formed in 1983 in Los Angeles, Abecedarians consisted of Chris Manecke (guitar, vocals, keyboards), John Blake (bass), and Kevin Dolan (drums). Their debut Smiling Monarchs was mixed by Bernard Sumner of New Order and released on Factory Records. The New Order influence is apparent in the prominent use of synthesizer, the magnitude of which is not heard in any of the band’s subsequent recordings. This debut track became instantly popular and is featured on many 80’s various artist collections.

Abecedarians moved to Caroline one year later for their debut EP Eureka. Resin followed in 1987. Two compilations have since been released: AB-CD, which is a collection of nearly all of Eureka and Resin, plus the Factory single and this compilation of early tracks and demos.
Beyond Smiling Monarchs the band had a unique, spare sound that was both genuine and endearing. Chris Manecke’s understated vocals, churning guitar, and accompanying earnest rhythm licks via John Blake’s plucky bass and Dolan’s subtle rhythms made the band sound bigger, more intricate and at times complex. The lyrics are dark, yet delivered in a way that makes the listener think perhaps the intention is more ironic than morose. There is no denying Abecedarians post-punk roots. Their recordings are rare and very hard to find.

This double 10" was released in a numbered edition of 1750 copies. The first 500 numbered copies were pressed on colored vinyl, while the rest of the edition (501-1750) were pressed on black vinyl. There also exist between 100-150 additional unnumbered copies stamped for promotional use only. Each is stamped on each inner record sleeve and on the back of the beautifully printed enveloped fold-out cover.

The Other Side Of The Fence : ripped from a Double 10" vinyl album released on Independent Project Records in 1990
A1. Beneath the City of the Hedonistic Bohemians
A2. Ghosts
A3. John's Pop
B1. Come Out
B2. Classic
B3. Spaghetti Western
C1. Switch
C2. Where's Karen?
C3. Soil
D1. The Other Side of the Fence
D2 .Wildflower
D3. They Said Tomorrow

Re:Upped!

Abecedarians - Demo Recordings 1983-1988

Although not a totally obscure band, Abecedarians had a very strong local following in Southern California, they are best known for two things: the Factory Records 12" single Smiling Monarchs; and the total unavailability of their entire back catelogue.

Smiling Monarchs was a big nod to 1983-period New Order with a remarkable resemblance to NO's Your Silent Face. By sheer coincidence, the final Factory release of the single was produced by New Order singer, Bernard Sumner. I prefer the demo version included here.
On the whole the band's sound leans more towards other UK acts such as Modern English and B-Movie. However on the more instrumental tracks, such as the Mardis Gras recordings, influences such as Brian Eno and, at times, the Durutti Column are all too evident.

In their time, Abecedarians released just one single, Smiling Monarchs, one EP, Eureka and one studio album, Resin. Since their break-up in 1988, two compilations of their work, AB-CD and The Other Side of the Fence have been made available. All of these are long deleted and currently fetch silly money (in excess of $100) on various auction sites. Some of these tracks found their way on to the double 10" compilation The Other Side of the Fence which is ripped into the archive of this blog.
Compiled from a selection of demo tape cassettes, you can hear the following:

1983 Demos
01. Wildflower
02. They Said Tomorrow

1984 Factory Demos
03. Smiling Monarchs
04. Benways Carnival

1985 Mardis Gras Demos
05. Mardis Gras
06. untitled
07. untitled

Recorded live at Santa Monica Civic Center 22nd Aug 198508. Pipe Dream

November 1985 - Eureka Demos
09. Beneath the City of the Hedonistic Bohemians
10. Surf Western
11. The Misery of Cities
12. untitled
13. Hip Hip Hooray

1987 Resin Demos14. Laugh at Yourself
15. Surf Western
16. Dinner
17. untitled

1988 The Last Demos18. untitled
19. Lift off
20. untitled
21. untitled
22. Brand New Song
23. untitled
24. untitled
25. Money

Re:Upped!