Various Artists "Propaganda" 1979***

I'll admit it, it was the hillarious cover art that caught my attention: an illustration of Mao Tse-tung and band rocking it out in front of an enthousiastic crowd of stylized Chinese workers, mockingly imitating the style of Maoist propaganda posters. Otherwise, a few live recordings by Police and Joe Jackson is not what I urgently needed right now. The compilers make their intentions clear in the album's subtitle "A Blatant Attempt to Influence Your Musical Taste". These relatively famous new wavers were meant to entice you into giving these other artists the label (A&M) was trying to promote a try. The fact that the Granati Brothers, Bobby Henry, David Kubinec, and Shrink haven't exactly become household names is a measure of this record's success: it has been languishing in bargain bins ever since it first came out. In reality, while totally inessential, it certainly has its merits. Especially the first "live" side which opens with The Granati Brothers playing an energetic boogie ("Go Crazy") and continues with sinewy, punky, performances by Joe Jackson ("Throw It Away", Chuck Berry's "Come On") and Police ("Landlord", "Next To You"). Side Two opens with "Joey" by The Reds, a promising new wave/hard rock hybrid. They could -probably should- have been bigger. Squeeze's "Slap & Tickle" from their 2nd LP Cool For Cats flirts with disco. Bobby Henry's "Head Case" and David Kubinec's "Another Lone Ranger" (the latter produced by John Cale) are faceless glam while Shrink's "Valid Or Void" is closer to punk. Interesting soung, too bad they never got to record a full LP of them. A hitherto unreleased Joe Jackson track "Don't Ask Me" is an agreeable but generic fast rocker. If you're into 70's punk/new wave, you may want to give this record a chance. It's typical of that style and era, plus some of you may be surprised to hear how vital Police used to sound before becoming pop hitmakers.

**** for Go Crazy (Granati Brothers), Throw It Away (Joe Jackson), Landlord (The Police), Next To You (The Police), Joey (The Reds), Valid Or Void (Shrink)

*** for Come On (Joe Jackson), Don't Ask Me (Joe Jackson), Slap & Tickle (Squeeze)

** for Head Case (Bobby Henry), Another Lone Ranger (David Kubinec)