Fingerprintz - Houdini Love

When I was about eighteen I took a trip with my friend Sam to Mesa, Arizona. We stayed with his young widowed aunt and it was my great fortune to discover her late husband's CD collection. It was full of obscure (for an American teenager) new wave albums by artists I had read about but never heard -- Scottish bands Aztec Camera and The Silencers among them.

The Silencers sounded a lot like Simple Minds to me until I became more familiar with their work. Several of their songs teased the charts, particularly in France, but they never had a breakout hit in America or their native Britain. Their debut single Painted Moon came closest, peaking at number 57 in 1988. Of their studio albums only "A Blues for Buddha," their second, is still in print.

When I was introduced to The Silencers in Mesa almost 15 years ago the Internet was just becoming available to the public through dial-up modems. We weren't so rich we could afford that, so it was a few years before I discovered that The Silencers were a reincarnation of Fingerprintz, a London-based new wave outfit active from 1979 to 1985. If The Silencers were marginally successful, Fingerprintz was no more than a footnote in the pop history of a region whose minor bands' reputations often engulf actual musical output. If I had heard of Slaughter & the Dogs and Penetration then why hadn't I heard of Fingerprintz? [Answer: Slaughter et. al were part of a scene in Manchester that blew up so big even the little bands have gone down in musical history, and Penetration had a 1977 single that captured the punk zeitgeist.]

The last time Fingerprintz's albums were issued they came on black circles of polyvinyl chloride with little grooves all around, and I would be surprised if they were in stores again before compact discs were long defunct. I found my copies online somewhere and though they wouldn't impress an audiophile they are clear enough to get the main ideas across.

One of their tracks particularly stood out and it has since become one of my all-time favorites. In fact, it's my fifth-most-played track since February 2007. Houdini Love, from album "Distinguishing Marks" (1980, Virgin), has an uptempo rhythm -- though the vocals and guitar carry most of the energy. Jimme O'Neill's voice is a masterpiece of sublimated emotion. In another word, cool. The music anticipates The Replacements' poppier moments viz. Alex Chilton. I imagine Houdini Love was fantastic played live, and I hope someday it gets its due from critics and fans.

Download Houdini Love and bonus track Painted Moon here.