Guilty ’80s pleasure uncovered: The Front
26 January 2012Oh wow. I found an old friend.
Back in the ’80s I belonged to mail-order music club Columbia House. I belonged several times, in fact; the presumptive plan was to join for their massive “several albums for a penny” entry deal, fulfil the minimum commitment of a few albums at full cost plus shipping, then quit and join again. I was with them during tapes, and remained during the CD era for a little while.
At some point I somehow picked up a self-titled album by a band called The Front. I don’t remember how I chose it. I knew nothing about the band. But I enjoyed the album. It was fairly cheesy hard rock. It was very close to The Cult, but with some slower grooves – plus a singer’s voice – that are a lot like The Doors. I played it a lot.
I never did learn any more about The Front. Eventually I got rid of the CD. I think I might have traded it to my brother for something, I’m not sure.
But I’ve thought about the album a lot over the years. As the Internet grew in scale I would occasionally look for it. But I never found anything. There were a couple of obscure bands with that name, it seems.
That changed this morning.
I did a Grooveshark search for The Front, and the second song it brought up was called “In The Garden”. That immediately triggered a memory of a track from the album I had. Sure enough, it was a song from that now fondly-remembered album.
From there I was able to find more songs, including that whole first album, which I’ve playlisted on Grooveshark. God, it’s cheesy. Awesomely, nostalgic-ly cheesy. I also found out that The Front were from Kansas City, and (clearly) had a short, obscure career. They renamed themselves Baker’s Pink, and the singer eventually went solo. I’m not going to bother with any of that. I’m just going to jam to the awesomeness of listening to these songs and pretending I’m a teenager listening to them for the first time.
Aaaaaaaand now I have “Sweet Addiction” stuck in my head. I think I took the CD from you when you were done with it.
I think the album is great (still), I also like the Bakers Pink album. They were a copy band, but most are when it comes down to it. Saw The Front as an opening act for Lenny Kravitz back (Let Love Rule tour) They did a good job, but Lenny was amazing.