COWBOYS INTERNATIONAL "The Original Sin"
THE RAVE-UPS "These Wishes 12 inch"

Whenever I hear friends my age mounting their high horses about "alternative used to be alternative" and "modern rock this and that" and "the kids now don't know", I just shrug. I mean, they have a point, "alternative" radio right now should be playing bands like Voxtrot, Matt Pond PA, Phoenix, or Field Music instead of Hawthorne Heights and Godsmack. But they won't. So let's all get over ourselves, ok? Because when I dig deep down into records that came out during my formative years, the early 80s, it's not that hard to seperate your Mission UKs from your My Chemical Romances. Ick.

I didn't know much about Cowboys International when I was handed the record, yes, again, from my elders at the short lived vinyl only Entertainment Outlet in Chicago. I do remember them telling me that Psychedelic Furs owed them a great deal. Dopplegangers! Listen to "Pointy Shoes" and you tell me. Down to the persistent distorto-harmonica and angular guitars, it certainly could've appeared on the first Furs LP. Astonishingly, they have a website, and this may even be on cd. I was certain when I ripped this that a one-off album this old (1979) wouldn't be zeroed and oned, but maybe I'm wrong. More on them here.

The Rave-Ups came into fame because they were Molly Ringwald's favorite local band. They even appeared in Pretty In Pink as the house band (they were sadly overlooked for the soundtrack which could've won them a bit more of that, ahem, fame). They were an indie band, though, in 1986, and "Three Wishes" comes from a 12 inch on their Fun Stuff label. I picked this up at one of the absolutely most wonderful events for record geeks, for a dollar. For 10 glorious days, in Skokie, IL, fundraisers for ALS used to pitch a football field sized tent and sell hundreds of thousands of donated vinyl albums. They would sell you a box for $25 that holds about 50 records and you could just fill it. Unbelievable. I haven't lived in Chicago for years, and looked on that link, no mention of the annual sale. Sad if they don't do it still. Very sad. I always looked forward to it. "These Wishes" didn't appear on any album, but was re-recorded for their major label debut, which, let's face it, came about 3 years too late.

Anyway, I lump the Cowboys Int'l (name so not appropriate) and Rave-Ups in together, because, even though they are seperated by 7 or 8 years, they mine the same territory. The Rave-Ups could've been the Cowboys if they existed in '79 and were British. The Cowboys could've lived up to their name had they possessed a bit of the Rave-Ups' twang. Both belong to the same modern-rock-i-think-it-is-if-you-say-so-fine club and may have found a more mainstream audience if they were this year's model. For fans of Wilco, Bright Eyes, or maybe, Flaming Lips.

Cowboys International POINTY SHOES
The Rave-Ups THESE WISHES