Steven Priest, founding member and bassist of glam legends Sweet, produced this 1980 7" from New York City boys The Hits, and it is apparently their only release. "Count on You" is strong anthemic power pop that falls squarely in the sound of it's year of recording, while "All the Girls" draws on an earlier influence of the New York Dolls/NYC glam scene which took inspiration from the uniquely NYC sound of early-mid 60's girl group records. "All the Girls" is ultimately the more interesting side, with it's turn-of-the-decade blend of 70's glam and 80's new wave, but both songs satisfy, and it's a shame that we don't have more recordings of The Hits to remember them by. Vocalist Mikael Kirke remains active in music (and appears to have been a writer on music for soft-porn mag Oui back in the 80's), and is reportedly working with Steve Priest again on a solo effort as I type this.
Both sides of the single are available for stream/download below, and I've also posted a video of them performing a third song, "Survivor," on the Flo & Eddie TV show further down. A video of them lip-synching the single on the legendary Uncle Floyd Show is easily google-able as well, and includes a great interview with the band, including them promoting their upcoming appearance on a WNEW spotlight that appears to have landed them the Flo & Eddie gig. Worth finding although the aped performance is hard to watch.
(B) All the Girls (Wanna Be In Gangs):
You can hear new music by the guitarist and the bassist of the Hits, currently known as TRNZPRNT, featuring Ricky Parent's last recorded performance on their soon to be released CD, "ICED". Go to Myspace.com/trnzprnt for a preview.
ReplyDelete