Monocled Alchemist

Rescued from the only surviving acetate

New England Teen Scene: The Roadrunners | One of my recent CD purchases is the ‘New England Teen Scene’, a collection of previously unreleased acetates and demo versions of songs that would have remained in the dustbins of life had it not been for Erik Lindgren of Arf Arf Productions, getting his arse into gear and making this happen in 1996.

OK, so I’m 28 years behind this important project / release but I suppose it’s better than never experiencing it at all.

Suffice to say, this New England Teen Scene CD collection is thoroughly recommended mainly because it contains a plethora of truly stunning unreleased pieces of sonic art but also for the painstakingly accurate liner-notes.

(ignore the cover description though – ’30 killer garage rock winners’ because some cuts are weak, especially the latter half of the CD)

New England Teen Scene: The Roadrunners

My focussed group on the compilation is The Roadrunners, based in Wallingford, Connecticut. They dressed smart, wearing suits and ties, and looked the part albeit, in an early British Invasion style.

Their sole recording experience took place at Syncron Studios on George Street in Wallingford. The facility was owned by John Frechette and was primarily known for recording television commercials.

All five members financially chipped in and four self-penned Byrds / British Invasion type songs were the results of many hours of hard work.

The band had five acetates made and gave one to their fan club to help the band procure bookings. The rest of the members had lost their discs over time. Only Ed Gerosa‘s disc survived the decades.

The superb “You’re Thinking Of Me” has rightfully attained “Jangle Knyghtes” status. The song is a hauntingly fragile piece of folk-rock brilliance, boasting textured guitar tones and loud, clattering tambourine.

The simple but effective organ break only adds to the number’s magnificence.

line-up:
Bill Tester (bass / vocals)
Malaguti (drums)
Richie Naples (guitar)
Bill Pallman (guitar / vocals)
Ed Gerosa (guitar / vocals)
Frank Zottoli (keyboards)

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