Abecedarians (band)

Abecedarians were an American, Los Angeles-based post-punk trio, active in the mid to late 1980s. The lineup consisted of Chris Manecke (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Kevin Dolan (drums) and John Blake (bass). They specialized in sparse, guitar-driven post-punk, though their most well-known song, "Smiling Monarchs", is alternative dance in the vein of New Order, and was in fact mixed by that band's guitar player and vocalist, Bernard Sumner.[1]

For other uses, see Abecedarian (disambiguation).

Abecedarians
Origin	Long Beach, California,  United States
Genres	New wave, experimental, post-punk
Years active	1983-95
Labels	Factory, Caroline, Independent Project Records
Past members	Chris Manecke John Blake Kevin Dolan

Discography

[2]

Singles

• "Smiling Monarchs" (6:34) / "Benway's Carnival" (5:08) (12", Factory UK FAC-117, April 1985)[3]

Albums

• Eureka (mini-LP, Southwest Audio Reproductions 7-PV-50772, 1986)
  • Ghosts / Soil / Beneath The City Of The Hedonistic Bohemians // I Glide/ Mice & Coconut Tree / The Misery Of Cities
  • Reissued by Caroline (CAROL-1342, 1987) with different sleeve and "The Other Side Of The Fence" replacing "Beneath The City Of The Hedonistic Bohemians"
  • Reissued by Pylon (2012), CD and 2×LP: Ghosts / Soil / Beneath The City Of The Hedonistic Bohemians // I Glide / Mice & Coconut Tree / Misery Of Cities /// Smiling Monarchs / Benway's Carnival / Switch / Other Side Of The Fence // They Said Tomorrow / Wildflower / John's Pop / Spaghetti Western[4]
• Resin (LP, Caroline CAROL-1343, 1988)
  • Dinner / Spaghetti Western / Where Whitie Ain't Allowed / Wild Flowers Grow From The Trash // Press Escape / Laugh At Yourself / Sufferin' Tarnation / Panic In Needle Park
• AB-CD (CD, Caroline CAROL-CD-1343, 1988)[5]
  • Ghosts (6:42) / Soil (7:00) / The Other Side Of The Fence (4:09) / I Glide (7:32) / Mice & Coconut Tree (4:59) / Smiling Monarchs (6:48) / Dinner (4:49) / Spaghetti Western (6:25) / Where Whitie Ain't Allowed (3:54) / Press Escape (5:01) / Laugh At Yourself (3:37) / Surf Western (3:17) / Panic In Needle Park (6:55)
  • CD version of Resin with previously released tracks
• The Other Side Of The Fence (2×10", Independent Project Records IP-031/032, 1990)
  • Beneath The City Of The Hedonistic Bohemians / Ghosts / John's Pop // Come Out / Classic / Spaghetti Western /// Switch / Where's Karen / Soil // The Other Side Of The Fence / Wildflower / They Said Tomorrow
  • early recordings, from 1983 to 1985

Compilation albums

• "They Said Tomorrow" - L.A. Mantra II (cassette, Trance Port Tapes, 1984)
  • reissued Calypso Now 1985
• "They Said Tomorrow" - Scream: The Compilation LP, Geffen Records, 1987)
• "Smiling Monarchs" - Hardest Hits Volume Two (CD, SPG Music Productions Ltd., 1992)
• "Smiling Monarchs" - Voices In The Air (CD, Wavestation, 1993)
• "Smiling Monarchs" - Too Young To Know, Too Wild To Care...1978–1992 The Factory Story Part One (CD, London, 1997)
• "Smiling Monarchs" - Auteur Labels: Factory Records 1984 (CD, Les Temps Modernes, 2009)
• "Benway's Carnival" - Auteur Labels: Independent Project Records (CD, Les Temps Modernes, 2010)

Appearances

• "Soil" (instrumental edit) - Appears as a track accompanying the 'Waimea Bay' bigwave contest (Billabong Pro) section of the surf film Billabong: Surf Into Summer (1986/87) at approx 19:48 mins in. (Other artists included in the film include TSOL and Agent Orange)

References

1. "80's Music Rules ~ Criminally Underrated Artists/ Bands ~ Abecedarians". Rave-and-roll.com. February 22, 2009.
2. "Abecedarians". Discogs.com.
3. "Abecedarians - Smiling Monarchs". Discogs.com.
5. "Abecedarians - AB-CD". Discogs.com.

External links

• Abecedarians at MySpace