Romeo Void was formed in 1979. Drawing inspiration from the local underground music scene, the band’s founding members were San Francisco Art Institute students Debora Iyall (lead vocalist, lyricist) and Frank Zincavage (bass guitar), alongside local musicians Peter Woods (guitar) and Jay Derrah (drums). They soon added saxophonist Benjamin Bossi. According to Iyall, the name Romeo Void referred to “a lack of romance.”
Live from Mabuhay Gardens: November 14, 1980, was captured during the same period that Romeo Void was recording its critically acclaimed debut album for 415 Records, It’s a Condition. Derrah was still drumming with the band at this live show, but was replaced by John “Stench” Haines by the time the sessions for It’s a Condition were underway.
Live from Mabuhay Gardens: November 14, 1980, features one of three Romeo Void live sets captured that year at the famed punk club by deejay Terry Hammer, who would typically broadcast portions of his recordings on the UC-Berkeley radio station KALX.
Eight of the eleven songs on Live from Mabuhay Gardens: November 14, 1980, would eventually appear on It’s a Condition. The opening track, “Guards,” would surface in 1981 as the B-side of the band’s national breakout single, “Never Say Never.” “Fine Line” is an original that has never been released in any format. The album’s closing number, “Double Shot of My Baby’s Love,” is a cover of the Swingin’ Medallions’ 1966 hit, which was the first 7-inch single which Iyall owned.
“There were all of these young people hungry for new sounds,” Iyall recalls of the period. “Punk rock had recently broken through and the rulebook was being rewritten by bands as diverse as X-Ray Spex, Television, and Suicide. In San Francisco, we all started buying 7-inch vinyl again, a format I had abandoned a decade earlier. Our goal was to make art. The thought of becoming rock stars was not on our radar.”
The first single from Live from Mabuhay Gardens: November 14, 1980, is available now on digital music services: “Charred Remains.” Liner notes for the release were written by San Francisco punk archivist Jack Johnston.
Romeo Void soon came to national prominence in 1982 when the fledgling MTV Network picked up on the band’s “Never Say Never” video and put it in heavy rotation. Two years later, the group’s biggest chart hit, “A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing),” from the album Instincts, reached #35 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Benjamin Bossi, the saxophonist who appeared on all the band’s recorded works, died on December 13, 2022, of complications from early onset Alzheimer’s disease. “Through his deep love of jazz, Benjamin had a knowledge of musical structure, keys and chords, that we didn’t have,” remembered Iyall. “His wanting to play with Frank, Peter and I was a huge vote of confidence at the start of Romeo Void. If he hadn’t developed tinnitus in the late 1980s, the world would have heard a lot more incredible music from him.”
Track Listing:
1. Guards'
2. Nothing for Me
3. Confrontation
4. Fine Line
5. Charred Remains
6. Drop Your Eyes
7. Love Is an Illness
8. White Sweater
9. Talk Dirty to Me
10. Fear to Fear
11. Double Shot of My Baby’s Love
The EP features two original studio tracks, both released as singles in 1983, and two reimagined versions from the forthcoming 2023 U2 album Songs Of Surrender, on limited-edition, 180g heavyweight white vinyl, plus an exclusive poster with an illustration by Bono.
The two tracks “Two Hearts Beat As One” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday” were originally released as singles on March 21, 1983, each in different regions globally, as the second single from the band’s acclaimed third studio album War. Released on February 28, 1983, War knocked Michael Jackson’s Thriller off the top spot to become the band’s first UK #1 album, as well as reaching #12 on the US Billboard Top 200 charts to be certified gold.
“Two Hearts Beat As One” / “Sunday Bloody Sunday”
Format Information:
12” EP Info:
12” EP Info:
• 4 track 12” EP, cut at 45 rpm
• 180g white vinyl, housed in plain white poly-lined inners
• Single sleeve outer
• Features exclusive 600x600m poster on gloss art paper
Track list:
• 180g white vinyl, housed in plain white poly-lined inners
• Single sleeve outer
• Features exclusive 600x600m poster on gloss art paper
Track list:
SIDE A:
1. Two Hearts Beat As One (War Mix)
2. Sunday Bloody Sunday (War Mix)
SIDE B:
1. Two Hearts Beat As One (Songs of Surrender Mix)
2. Sunday Bloody Sunday (Songs of Surrender Mix)
“Two Hearts Beat As One” / “Sunday Bloody Sunday’ is available exclusively at participating independent record stores on Saturday, April 22nd, 2023. For a full list of stores, visit www.U2.com and https://RecordStoreDay.lnk.to/
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