THE BLASÉS

The Blasés story has two discrete phases. The original lineup of Bill Donohue, Rob Wagner, George Decker, and Paul Verdon dressed and played like standard issue new wavers with their sights set on MTV, and had their share of modest success. They made a pretty decent and surprisingly raw EP, All Night Long, and the Paul Devlin-produced video for "You Don't Know Me" was an MTV Basement Tapes finalist (Basement Tapes winners received Casio synthesizers, because who used guitars anymore?). But following the tragic death of bassist Verdon came a hiatus, and when the Blasés returned (with Billy Sheils on bass) they were noticeably scruffier for a post-R.E.M. world. Popular as ever, they would remain a New Jersey mainstay for the rest of the decade, with their "Firefighter" leading side two of the New Brunswick comp Mental Floss, and videos appearing on Matt Pinfield's 120 Minutes. But their 1989 self-titled LP made no impact beyond the local scene, and that was that.

I have to say, though, this charmingly-crude-by-any-decade's-standards, pencil-rendered flyer doesn't suggest a pop band at all. More like something Daniel Johnston would dream up.

[CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE]