Side Journeys And Early Rarities

The internet is a terrible place and it is a remarkable place.
Staying in one place long enough leads to discoveries of the less and more savory characters of life. If you’re lucky, that sort of rabbit hole leads to a treasure of time capsules we never expected to unearth.

It’s time to go back in time for a bit. A rock and roll family history that remains not entirely written. The CroMagnons and associated members have been around for quite some time in various acts. Very little can be found on my side of the world but I have put together such a family tree.

We’ll call it a work in progress for now.

Sorry for the chicken scratches. All adds to the character I say.

The early eighties were a time to be alive for music fans in many parts of the world and Japan was no exception. As we climb the family tree we notice some of those early songs in one band would be demos for songs used later in their careers. One such example is this clip from an early rock show of The Breakers. Interestingly both these songs of very similar melody have different lyrics! Different style, same tune really.

Compare and contrast with a song from a later project:

There are still many songs only available in the one release, so far as I’m aware. Here’s another upbeat tune from The Breakers:

I heard it said if a rock band decides to remove the word “The” from their name, every album after is somehow less great. Fortunately, these guys never did and these songs from The Coats and The London Times are pretty good jams to dance to on a Saturday night, or any night.

Sadly all these punchy Beatles-esqe punky songs would be lost to much of the world and history without those willing to archive them on the internet. A well of video libraries just waiting for someone to drink from. It’s been quite an interesting journey, someday perhaps more will find the time to travel.