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Abecedarians

legacy:

First heard Eureka EP in 1987 thanks to a grainy tape my wife Karen had. Songs like the epic "Soil" and the rousing closer "The Misery of Cities" made me an instant fan and led me to the ABBA section of record store for years (Talk about polar opposites!). Very difficult to locate stuff from this L.A. based trio, who after five years together broke up in 1988 just after Caroline records combined Eureka and Resin onto one CD (and left out three of their best songs -- "The Misery of Cities," "Beneath the City of the Hedonistic Bohemians," and "Wildflowers Grow from the Trash" -- in the process!). Independent Project Records (home of Savage Republic, found elsewhere at this webpage) put out a beautiful collection of early Abecedarians demos (from '83-'85) called The Other Side of the Fence in 1990. It is STRONGLY recommended, and although it was originally issued as a limited edition of only 1750 copies, it couldn't hurt to contact IPR (P.O. Box 1483, Tempe, Arizona 85280) and see if there are any more available, could it? You wouldn't be sorry! As for post-Abecedarians projects, Chris Manecke, vocalist and guitarist, played on one song on Scenic's 1995 debut Incident at Cima (Independent Project Records).

*UPDATE*

Chris Manecke has recently obtained the rights to Abecedarians' entire catalogue from Caroline Records. Currently, there is a campaign afoot to encourage Chris to re-release this important body of work through a new label (Independent Project Records immediately leaps to my mind). Abecedarians songs have held up remarkably well over the years, and there is definitely a place for the Ab's in today's market.

Also, a fellow Abecedarians fan and new friend of mine has put together two spectacular homemade CD's of "left behind on vinyl" songs as well as live recordings of Abecedarians material. He has given me permission to place his e-mail address below for anyone interested in either of the following:

The Other Side of the Fence
(2 CD's)

***The entire IPR release plus Eureka's "Beneath the City of the Hedonistic Bohemians" and "The Misery of Cities"; Resin's "Wild Flowers Grow from the Trash"; Scream's "They Said Tomorrow"; and "Benway's Carnival," the B-side to the Factory single "Smiling Monarchs." PLUS Jeff has included seven songs from a live gig on June 17, 1988, onto the second CD. The sound quality is truly excellent, and visually the packaging is beautifully detailed to look just like the "real" IPR album.

Abecedarians Live at Harry C's, Redlands, California, June 15th, 1988


***Excellent sound quality (better than the live tracks on the other CD) on this Resin-heavy set that also includes two unknown songs.
(By the way, Abecedarians opened for the Throwing Muses on this night!)

Where Whitie Ain't Allowed
Press Escape
Dinner
Liftoff
Spaghetti Western
I Glide
Soil
Mice and Coconut Tree
Sufferin' Tarnation
Laugh at Yourself
??? Unknown ???
Dinner (soundcheck)

e-mail Jeff at jeff@silent.net

Where to Find Abecedarians Releases

abecedarians music search -- specializing in hard-to-find cd's for the discriminating collecter

Email: feltburns@aol.com