Radiation Reissues Vinyl, CD & Tape 161 Items

Legendary Essex band Eddie & the Hot Rods prefaced punk and pioneered what would later be deemed ‘pub rock’ through a raucous offshoot of ramp that was definitely ahead of its time, with hefty doses of raw power and humour. Signing to Island Records would bring them lasting fame, and these rough and rowdy demos date from just before the ink was dry, when Lew Lewis was still a prominent presence on harmonica, capturing them on the cusp of the Teenage Depression breakthrough. Early cuts of ‘Wooly Bully,’ ‘Get Out Of Denver’ (with Vic Maile on piano), ‘Double Checkin’ Woman’ and ‘Been So Long’ have to be heard to be believed, and there’s a bonus dub of the latter too. Essential listening for all Hot Rods fans!

Skating the lines of punk, post-punk and goth, Paranoia was formed in the northern potter’s town of Stoke On Trent from the ashes of politically-oriented protest group, Civil Defence. With the Brereton Brothers on drums and guitar, and bassist Mick Edgington and his wife Jan on vocals, the group had an intimacy not often encountered in punk, their outlook and northern location bringing them onto Riot Squad’s Rot Records for this sole LP. The music is fast, bold and deals with pertinent themes, “Vietnam,” “1984” and “My World” protesting political failures, “Dead Mans Dreams” and “Man In Black” edging towards the gothic. An overlooked classic that reflects the underground musical shifts of the early 1980s.

Never-before-heard unreleased Junkshop Glam gold dust from the genre’s No.1 band. Portsmouth’s Hector are widely regarded as the very best of the Junkshop Glam Rock bands introduced to us in the early 2000s by the RPM’s lipsmackin 70’s CD series. Recently discovered archive analogue tape recordings found in the attic of frontman Phil Brown form this unique LP. The band’s original DJM singles together with “Demolition”, an unreleased third single, join forces with outtakes, demos, live and rehearsal recordings to make this release an unmissable opportunity for glam rock fans worldwide to hear more from the band whose anthem “Wired Up” has been adopted as a battle cry by a new audience of fans with books, fanzines, radio shows and club nights proudly named after it. Hector’s “Wired Up” was released in 1973. It had all the ingredients of a hit single. It should have topped the charts and launched a spectacular career for the band. In a fair world, the name “Hector” would be mentioned alongside bands like Sweet and Slade. Unfortunately, timing and luck weren’t on their side. The product was there, the press coverage was there, the Radio 1 airplay (which was everything back then) wasn’t and the kids that did hear it must have been deaf, dumb and blind. The plug was finally pulled in 1975 after their second single “Bye Bye Bad Days”, another poky punch of proto punk dressed up in a velvet glove, also failed to become a heavy-hitter. “Demolition – The Wired Up World Of Hector” is not a phoenix from the ashes. It is Pompey* from Pompeii. Tunes from the ruins. Glamour in amber; perfectly preserved. A second chance to make a first impression. Hector are back! Are you watching and listening?

Enigmatic power-pop quartet the Fans formed in l978, spurred into action by the Bristol area’s vibrant new wave scene. Singer/guitarist George Smith previously fronted the Dragons (with future Tom Robinson collaborator Jo Burt) and guitarist Rob Williams was in Uncle Po (with future Dexy’s violinist Helen Bevington); they split after two singles for Fried Egg, but regrouped in 2OlO following a Japanese hit cover of their dejected ‘You Don’t Live Here Anymore.’ This dynamite collection joins the Fried Egg work with rare demos and live recordings, the definitive picture of one of Avon’s most impressive new wave guitar bands.

Bristol new wave quartet the Numbers formed in 1977 with vocalist/rhythm guitarist Nick McAuley, bassist Wayne Kingston, drummer Lee Gardener and future Massive Attack guitarist Angelo Bruschini. Heavily influenced by Bowie’s Berlin trilogy, early recordings surfaced on compilations issued by the local Heartbeat label in 1979, namely the power- punk-pop ‘Alternative Suicide’ on 4 Alternatives and the funked-up ‘Cross Slide’ on Avon Calling. This excellent compilation pairs those songs with unreleased demos, giving us the complete picture of a band far ahead of their time, with Bruschini already on dazzling form.

Swedish punk began in the late ‘70s and by the mid-‘80s, the small steel mill town of Fagersta had seven bands, immortalised on rare compilation The Vikings Are Coming, which is surprisingly diverse: Bizarr’s old-school punk is influenced by the Clash and SLF; Cruel Maniacs give social criticism and Crude SS’s hardcoredraws on Discharge; Rescues In Future’s speedcore is super melodic, influenced by Husker Du; Fear of War’s thrash is anti-religious and there’s more thrash from Bedrovlerz (or ‘Miserablerz’), while Ugly Squaw proffer unique power-punk humour (also making an incognito faux-reggae appearance as Rasta Boys). This edition revives the ori- ginal Swedish version released on Uproar Records in l985, giving us the full monty of this must-have anthology.

In between the charting debut LP City Baby Attacked By Rats and the acclaimed follow-up, City Baby’s Revenge, the independent Clay Records gathered all their Charged G.B.H. singles for the shocking compilation, Leather Bristles No Survivors And Sick Boys, capturing their versatility, as well as their shit-on-you attitude. The anti-war ‘Generals’ is an early classic, ‘Necrophilia’ tests the limits via an ironic salute to copulating with corpses and there are plenty of other shock-value moments, all delivered with their trademark blend of hardcore, metal, angst, rage and humour. Essential!

After the chart-topping debut City Baby Attacked By Rats, Birmingham ‘uk82’ punk pioneers Charged G.B.H. cut City Baby’s Revenge, their second release for Clay Records, and even though a mere year had passed, City Baby’s Revenge showed significant progression, Jock’s guitar more obviously inspired by metal, the lyrics more explicit and the sound even rawer than before. With a cool take of the Stooges’ ‘I Feel Alright’ and the reggae/rockabilly-esque ‘Skanga,’ this acclaimed winner is the LP that broke the band in the USA and is arguably the best they ever recorded required listening for the band’s devotees and all fans of metal-edged hardcore.

First vinyl reissue for Darien, Connecticut hardcore punk legends Vatican Commandos’ 1983 second 7", originally on the Pregnant Nun label. A 'killed by death' holy grail for the US hardcore collectors finally back in print, courtesy of the original members. Faithful reproduction of the original cover art by Rob Zombie himself. Fully remastered.

At its purest, there is little that can match the visceral thrill and empowering spirit of hardcore. As front-man of New York City hardcore kings Cro-Mags, this is something John Joseph knows very well, and with Up In Arms, he and his Bloodclot compatriots deliver a furious collection that hits hard on every level. "In this band we're doing what each of us have always done: give it our all," he states plainly. "We work hard, and we have a lot to say. Look around the planet - people are fed up with the corrupt ruling class. They destroy the planet and kill millions for profit, and the formula for our response is simple: Anger + applied knowledge = results. Don't just bitch. Change it." The results reflect the roots and passions of the individual members. Danzig/Murphy's Law guitarist Todd Youth was the first piece of the puzzle. "We've always talked about doing this record together, Todd had songs written and I had notebooks full of lyrics. In late September 2015, I went out to LA to do a triathlon and injured my calf muscle, so I couldn't race, and Todd said he could get some studio time. So, we went in and cut the demo. While there are things we may perceive as a negative in our lives, in fact the universe has a bigger plan, and that experience ultimately resulted in the record." Having been friends with Queens Of The Stone Age and Danzig powerhouse drummer Joey Castillo for three decades, the two musicians had long admired each other's work, and their collaboration has been a long time coming. Following Castillo's suggestion of bringing in Nick Oliveri (Queens Of The Stone Age/The Dwarves) to handle bass duties, the lineup was complete. The songs that comprise Up In Arms manifested after the quartet plugged in and let the music speak for them. "We didn't decide to try to play anything, these are the songs that happened when we started jamming, and I love this band because there are no egos involved. Our goal is to make the best music possible, period. I love it when those guys contribute with melodies, etc., and I've even helped with some of the arrangements. Because we all think alike, our lyrics deal with the issues of the day, and that makes for better songs." Every track on Up In Arms lives up to the rallying cry of the album's title - the bursts of high energy hardcore act as the perfect accompaniment to Joseph setting his sights on injustice and the seemingly endless flaws of the contemporary world. The breakneck thrashing of "Slow Kill Genocide" is an anthem for everyone sickened by those responsible for "killing the planet and all its inhabitants through industry and war. They're fucking maniacs and must be stopped." The suitably titled "Manic" attacks with bared fangs, Joseph making it clear that you can only push someone so far before they will react with violence - a call to arms for the disenfranchised who want tomorrow's world to be better than today's. Tracked at NRG in Los Angeles, the raw, old-school production that leaps out from the speaker comes courtesy of producer Zeuss (Hatebreed, Revocation), and the record was mixed by Kyle McAulay at NRG. From the moment the opening title track explodes to life, it's clear that everyone involved is having a blast and playing from the heart, and that this is no frills / no bullshit music at its most passionate - every song evoking mental images of utter chaos in a heaving mosh pit. For anyone approaching the album for the first time, Joseph has only this to say: "Turn the volume way the fuck up!" And with plans to tour everywhere, Bloodclot will be getting in a lot of faces in 2017 and beyond. "We are already writing material and the next album is in the works. But, for now, all we want is to hit the stage to support 'Up in Arms', and every single night leave every ounce of ourselves up there."

Record Store Day 2021 Release. Reissue for KK’s third album, originally issued on the Twins label in 1993. Fully Remastered edition featuring one bonus track, full color poster by Alteau and double-sided lyric insert. Limited to 500 copies.

Record Store Day 2021 Release. Punk parodists Splondgenessabounds achieved more than most in the early 1980s, with three chart hits, including a top-ten smash and another in the top thirty. Formed above a mini-cab office in Peckham, southeast London, they scored a contract with major label Deram through a Battle of the Bands contest, debut single B-side ‘Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps’ hitting number 7 on the singles chart in June 1980. An equally unlikely cover of Boer War saga ‘Two Little Boys’ hit the top thirty and initial single A-side ‘Simon Templar,’ based on the theme from The Saint, was also popular. This incredible debut album has each of these tracks and so much more, with plenty of fart songs and a closing dub of ‘Two Pints.’ This is the sound of the band at their magnificent best, a pick of the bunch for all Splondgs fans.

Channel 3, aka CH3, was formed in 1980 in suburban Cerritos, about 20 miles southeast of Los Angeles, with frontman Mike Magrann, guitarist Kimm Gardener, bassist Larry Kelly and drummer Mike Burton. Signing to Posh Boy in 1981, their eponymous EP had the hit ‘Manzanar,’ which was championed by John Peel on the BBC. Posh Boy founder Robbie Fields was in the producer’s chair for their excellent debut, Fear of Life, a blistering punk assault on American values. Free from the heavy metal leanings of their later work, this no-holds-barred debut is a must for all fans of So-Cal hardcore.

During the late 1970s, hardcore punk hit the surfer town of Huntington Beach, southeast of Los Angeles, like a gnarly wave. Shattered Faith are among the most revered of the groups to surface from her shores, co-founder Kerry Martinez and early member Goblin both from the Latino community. This indispensable collection gathers all six tracks from their renowned Poshboy session of 1981 that yielded the classic protest single “I Love America”/“Ronald Reagan,” as well as the entire slew of 1979 demos, appearing on vinyl for the very first time. This is So-Cal hardcore at its irresistible best. All tracks remastered by California Punk rock mastermind Geza X. Comes with folded poster with exclusive Shattered Faith 1982 photos by punk photographer Alison Braun. Essential!

Retrospective on these UK82-sound prime movers, spanning their early days and containing their 1980 demo tape, their hard to find 1984 'No Hope For A Future' 7" originally out on the German Pogar Records label, tracks from the "We Don't Want Your Fucking War" and "We Don't Need Nuclear Force" compilation, outtakes from their first 'Bloodsuckers' LP's recording session, and four live tracks from an incendiary live set at the Working Man's Club in Besham, July 28th 1986. A plethora of rare tracks covering their 1980-1985 period, presented here on a limited edition vinyl together with unpublished early photos kindly provided by the band and complete with a 60x60 cm poster!

Originally released a mere eight months after their groundbreaking 1978 self-titled debut LP (RAD 8002LP), The Kids' second album is a pure masterpiece of straightforward punk rock. A little less raw than their previous material, but still far from the new wave sounds the band started experimenting with on their following records, Naughty Kids remains one of the best examples of non-UK '70s punk and definitely a mandatory addition to the collection of any Killed by Death fanatic! This reissue also includes five bonus tracks recorded live in 1978

Limited 500, Comes With Full Reproduction Of The Three Original Inserts In A Poster Insert! Southern Los Angeles experimental punk band Mood of Defiance was formed in Hermosa Beach in 1981, spinning off from a short-lived synthesizer project called Kindled Imagination, formed in nearby San Pedro (home to The Minutemen) with drummer Richie Wilder of Saccharine Trust. Teenaged lead singer and band originator Rachel Morgan, who was known as “Screaming Bitch Rachel” and later, Hatha Watha, formed MOD with Wilder, recruiting initial guitarist TA Black and bassist Kevin Ball from a music press advertisement. Debut demo recordings (eventually issued as In A Box) featured this line-up but after Black and Ball quit the band, they were replaced by Danny Dean Philips and Gary Kail from the band Anti, moonlighting in this side project for debut album Now, released on Philips’ and Kail’s aptly-titled New Underground label in 1982; other band members featured on the disc include drummer Thaddeus. Opener “Divided States Of America” set the disc’s defiant punk tone, though “Sticky Lips” and “Girl In A Painting” are less caustic, with broader musical dexterity and post-punk rhythmic references. An important piece of southern Calfornia punk history back on vinyl after 38 years.

Formed in Fullerton, CA in 1978, Social Distortion were one of the original LA punk groups and their first single was released on legendary LA punk label Posh Boy. But far more rare than that first single ("Mainliner" b/w "Playpen") is the unreleased EP Posh Boy's Little Monsters. This EP only made it to the test pressing stage back in 1981, and featured those two tracks from the first single along with "All The Answers" and "Justice For All." This is the absolute holy grail for Social Distortion fans and it's finally available in commercial form on two limited edition pressings for RSD 2019, black vinyl available worldwide and a Europe only red vinyl limited edition. Includes 2 bonus tracks.
“Of the 3 teenagers who recorded for me, one has died, another was believed to be dead and one became immensely wealthy from playing music. The one who did hard time in prison was not Mike Ness. It was the drummer Carrot, better known as John Stevenson, now living a very ordinary life in rural Florida.
I now count John as a dear friend. Apparently, he was only l6 years old when he rolled into the studio that day in April l98l, armed with a taped up pair of drumsticks. He played great as did both Mike and Dennis (RIP). This time there was no fighting in the studio over production values. I had promised Ness that we would not fight so once there was a minor disagreement over the artwork for the proposed l2", I dropped the project in favor of the Playpen/Mainliner 7" which sported iconic artwork from the band.”

Founded in 1982, the CRACK didn't release their debut album until 1989. These British punkers were often tied into the Oi! scene of the mid-80s along with Cockney Rejects, and The Business, they had more in common with the melodic punk stylings of 999 and mod groups like The Jam or Secret Affair. Featuring a blistering wall of guitars and biting melodies, from the classic album opener "My World" to the raw closer "The Giddy House" The Crack deliver ten fantastic original tunes that, while firmly rooted in 1980s UK anthemic punk, also features a pop sensibility that presages the oncoming Brit-pop scene that would absolutely dominate the '90s. Seriously, we'd bet the farm that the young Gallagher brothers were blasting this back in 1989. Absolutely essential 1980s UK punk that bridges the gap between 80s OI! and the Brit-pop/power-pop revival. Killer.

It is impossible to overstate the significance of The Crowd to the nascent L.A. hardcore scene. Whilst bands like early Agent Orange and Social Distortion were playing to handfuls of fans in northern Orange County, in 1979 the Crowd were already filling backyards on their home turf in Huntington Beach, California. Ironically, it was further afield in the San Gabriel Valley that I first saw them perform, opening for the still punk Go-Gos in a small club. Without the continuing success of The Crowd in 1979 and throughout the summer of 1980, I would have packed my bags for London. Instead, the L.A. hardcore scene lifted off!

Formed in London in 1977 by Mark Perry and Alex Fergusson, then editors of the punk fanzine Sniffin' Glue, Alternative TV was a post-punk group known for incorporating reggae rhythms and pushing the boundaries of the definition of punk towards the experimental and avant-garde. Their first album, The Image Has Cracked, came out originally in 1978 and is a wholly unique piece of British post-punk. Beloved by John Peel, and close confidantes of Throbbing Gristle, Alternative TV is one of the most original and beguiling groups of the era. This classic is reissued on 180 gram with 2 bonus tracks and a double-sided insert.

Tongue-in-cheek punk act Toy Dolls came together in the northeast formerly industrial town of Sunderland, England in 1979 with working-class humour at the forefront of everything and frontman Olga breaking up the Oi singalongs with searing guitar assaults. Issued on the independent Volume label as usual, third album Idle Gossip continued in the same mould as their first two LPs with ‘Geordie’s Gone To Jail,’ ‘Keith’s A Thief,’ ‘Silly Billy’ and the title track all cracking numbers built on Olga and company’s irresistible charm; ‘I’ll Get Even With Steven’ even gives a po-faced punk nod to Elvis. Another great Toy Dolls LP!

Having played with the likes of influential movers and shakers on the anarcho-punk scene Antisect and Icons of Filth, on their first full-length LP, Birmingham’s Sacrilege established themselves as a unique force to be reckoned with, wreaking havoc on what we could classify as sonic tropes belonging to a spectrum of subgenres dealing in the extremes: hardcore, doom, and thrash. Fronted by Lynda ‘Tam’ Simpson and her seizure-inducing spells injected with a fierce, sociopolitical-cum-mythopoeic banshee bite (but not wanting to understate the line-up of Damian Thompson on guillotine-quick/milkshake thick guitars) - the six-track onslaught is every bit as crushing as the title suggests. From depraved dungeon synth-scapes on opener Lifeline to the planet-flattening funeral toll of The Closing Irony, one question remains: One riff to rule them all? Yes.

A manic clash of guitars, bass and drums beating each other’s brains out in the same sonic bullring? Check. Despite already (if a little unbeknownst) being considered crust pioneers, by 1988, Hellbastard had firmly inserted themselves, even proudly so, in between a series of bifurcated genre schisms well-protected by those scene’s respected guardians. Their official debut, Heading For Internal Darkness no less perfectly exemplifies that schism. With Wendy V Gill’s haunted-cosmos monologues injecting some transcendental light into the neck otherwise being mercilessly ripped to pieces by Scruff and Scotty’s spaced-out vocal grunts, opener We Had Evidence to the equally arresting elevator-shaft-with-a-mind-of-its-own Death Camp to The Pylons whip up seriously dark whirlwinds into atmospheric dances of rapid energy and relentless spasms of spellcasting drama. Never mind metal, too punk for anything.

First time ever cassette edition for Nikki & the Corvettes’ self-titled debut album originally released on Bomp Records in 1980. Led by Nikki Corvette, the group brought a fresh burst of energy to the punk and power pop scene of the late '70s and early '80s. Fueled by catchy melodies, infectious hooks, and Nikki's charismatic vocals, the album delivers a rollicking ride through a blend of punk, rock, and retro pop influences. Tracks like "Back Seat Love" and "Let's Go" capture the carefree spirit of youth and rebellion, making this LP a cult favorite among fans of vintage punk and power pop. With its raw energy and unabashed fun, "Nikki & the Corvettes" remains a timeless gem in the annals of underground rock’n’roll.