So, this morning, for some reason, I decided to sort through iTunes and make myself a playlist of a lot of my favorite old 80s synthpop, freestyle and um... 80s club tracks. One huge hole in my tracks was the lack of the singles by Secession. On a whim, I check out Oink and, sweet jesus, someone uploaded a torrent yesterday of the complete singles discography of them!
No other band defines my good times in the 80s better to me. I was obsessed with Secession throughout the 80s and once had a complete collection of everything they had ever recorded. I sold all the vinyl singles and their one cd off on eBay years ago, because I got a freaking fortune for them... well over $200 for the cd alone...
But... right now... I'm happily reliving a lot of good moments in Baton Rouge and Houston in the 80s... Fire Island is a song I totally associate with my first days going out to Xanthus in Baton Rouge. The two songs that blew the doors off for me when I first found this new world of crazy electronic synthy dancey goodness were Fire Island by Secession and Stranger by Clan of Xymox. I remember just going nuts on the dancefloor to both of them, total ecstatic dance moments... and this was before I discovered ecstasy...
And then there was Touch, which of course I owned on marbelized vinyl... this was the song that 'everyone' first really got nuts about over them... and it definitley introduced the direction that vocals in the future songs would follow. I boogied down to it too, but Fire Island was still my baby.
Michael was the next single... and I loved it... and could listen to it a million times more, but I remember thinking it was a bit too poppy when it came out...
And then... they released it.... THE SONG of the 80s... the song that I danced to EVERY single time I heard it... the song that the DJ at Xanthus played every time I went out because he knew I would harrass him until he did... still, IMO, one of the absolute godheads of synthpop.... The Magician. It starts with that little synthy sound... then the drums... then the beat... a little change in the beat... the absolutely perfected vocal style... orgasm on the dancefloor every time guaranteed... Oh Magician... how I still still love you ever so much... you'll never understand the joy you gave me...
Promise was next. I remember finding the vinyl single at New Generation on Florida Boulevard in Baton Rouge. It was their last great single. Great drum beats leading into those synths that just vibrated down your spine... but rarely did I ever hear it on the dancefloor...
I don't have as fond of memories of the next two singles, Sneakyville and Radioland... unfortunately... they really weren't that great... especially Radioland...
Perhaps... soon I'll write about THE OTHER SONG of the 80s... (Be My) Powerstation by St Che...
4 comments:
Secession was a great band. A shame it's OOP & most likely will stay that way.
"The Magician" is on a few compilations of late '80s/early 90s dance hits. It's a great song. And it's great to read the happy memories others have of Xanthus. I was raised right outside of B.R. and adored Xanthus; I felt like I belonged there the first time I went! When it closed, it was the end of an era. when they reopened about 6 months later as Argon, it was okay, but the real magic had left.
this post was a while ago. I was not able to find anything on oink regarding downloads of the secession tracks. How I would love to get them in my iTunes. Any suggestions? I tried Limewire but that was a total no go.
How could I have missed out on Secession? I'm a big fan of everything synthpop from Camouflage and Cetu Javu to Seabound and Assemblage 23 - but there's a big gaping Secession-shaped hole in my collection.
Which, thanks you your heads-up, I'm now going to fill. Thanks.
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