The Expressos (Rozzi vocals - Mick Toldi guitars - Nicholas Pyall guitars, keyboards - Milan Lekavica drums - Johnny Christo bass) used the New Wave Girl Group shtick so successfully employed by Blondie but never sounded derivative.
In fact, both the song-writing and the playing on Promises and Ties, on tracks like “Tango in Mono” and “My Yesterday”, equal a lot of Blondie’s late 70’s peak. The Byrds influence on “There She Goes” and “Promises and Ties” rings true and the spectre of Spector haunts it all. The album is without any weak spots and it's unfathomable how it (along with the contemporaneous Keys album) does not have a cult following and lavish re-issue. One day…
Promises and Ties link is in the comments
Speaking of comments, please don't let this unheralded masterstroke appear here without leaving some words behind to celebrate its existence!
Speaking of comments, please don't let this unheralded masterstroke appear here without leaving some words behind to celebrate its existence!
MySpace
Also see Vinyl Goldmine for some unreleased Expressos tracks!
Richard adds...
Miki from the Expressos is currently very ill with a brain tumour. Please send your prayers and thoughts to Mik and his family
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Don't remain silent, when such as this is offered....
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?lb55vrc9rvh8904
wow. never heard of them. but i'm a fan now...
ReplyDeletethanks!
WHFS used to play them...I had forgotten about them until I heard "Tango In Mono". Thanks ever so much!
ReplyDeleteNever heard of them before. I'll listen to them right now. Thanks
ReplyDeleteI love "Kiss You All Over". Rozzi comes across as a more Alto (and, er, "professionally trained"?) version of Chrissie Hynde as the band pumps away at a shouldabeen power pop classic. C'mon,somebody, give 'em the lavish re-issue treatment they deserve - I'm talking to you Captain Oi!
ReplyDeleteExpressos were amazing. It's truly a great album. And yes, HFS in DC found it for me.
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ReplyDeleteLove bringin' y'all the obscurities...
Todd
...and to remind y'all of things forgotten...
beaylosdalton
Another new Expressos fan, yay!
CPB
Yeah they seem to fall between niches, not punk enough for Capt. Oi and too straight-ahead for Cherry Red.Still since this is the era of the micro-niche maybe soon...
Let's find..
Thanks to you, Todd and (wikipedia) I have now learned a little about American broadcasting history.
Thanks! Great stuff!
ReplyDeleteMiki from the Expressos is currently very ill with a brain tumour. Please send your prayers and thoughts to Mik and his family
ReplyDeleteTango in Mono is absolutly one of the most fantastic records of all time. I LOVE that record. It took me years to find a copy here in Australia. It was released here but was nowhere even close to being a hit. I heard it on an alternative radio station and was blown away by it. I searched and searched and eventually found one in a secondhand record store and literally squealed when i found it. I now own 6 copies of it, I find I am unable to leave a copy of it behind whenever I see one. It's one of the records that I most love to turn people onto. Thanks for posting the clip for Kiss You - Never seen that one.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear Mick is unwell. Thanks for making one of the most important songs on the soundtrack of my life. I'll never be able to thank you enough or express how happy these songs make me.
Ian
Adelaide, Australia
Hey Jeffen
ReplyDeleteThanks for The Expressos album.Excellent.And also for The Passengers album.I have been listening to Angie Peppers' husband Deniz Tek lately.And that led me to listening to The Hitmen,New Christs and many an Aussie band.
Doug
Doug
ReplyDeleteGreat listening list, some names I'll need to review on there.
i've been listening to this over the last few days. totally agree. there is not a bad song on here and a few of them i absolutely love. you cannot only hear artists who influenced the expressos, but even artists who would go on to be influenced by them. rec rec rec
ReplyDeleteAgreed, agreed, agreed.
DeleteMiki Toldi unfortunately died April 2011. We had some fun times together, especially at his birthday party at Rozzi's where he & her jammed thru' the evening & his last Christmas.
ReplyDeleteA sad day. hopefully the band's legacy will only grow with time.
DeleteI distinctly remember the day I saw this on top of the pops and just couldnt get the song out of my head (still there all these years later) - i never understood why this band didnt make it - they were just outstanding and the video was great at a time when music videos were pretentious art house rubbish so wonderfully parodied in the not the nine oclock news video.
ReplyDeleteAnother musical injustice to curse at.
DeleteThank you so much for these comments it means a lot to me. Writing with Miki was so easy....we had that kind of thinking the same thing at the same time type of musical relationship.....I think it shows.....the hardest thing to do is write a simple pop song ..... it either becomes lost in unecessary cleverness or musical ego overtakes the song itself. I feel very proud to have been a part of this album x Rozzi x
ReplyDelete"it either becomes lost in unecessary cleverness or musical ego overtakes the song itself."
DeleteWise words for the ages.
Thanks for your comment here and for the amazing music, I swear one day this album will gain a broader audience - it's madness that it's so unknown!
i was searching this band and came across your blog...sorry to hear of the passing of Miki...
ReplyDeleteWhat a gem! but sadly the link is dead...
Sad new indeed. I gather you found the link over at Fade 2 Grey...
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