WAS's Awesome New Wave Song Of The Week #28: The Jetzons - Hard Times

Tempe, Arizona was best known for being a prodigious 'college rock' incubator in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  Bands such as the Gin Blossoms, The Refreshments, The Chimeras, The Pistoleros, Gloritone and Dead Hot Workshop (amongst many others) came out of the desert with original alt-rock college tunes at that time.   The real first Gin Blossoms LP was called “Dusted” and was a late 80s pinnacle of vinyl (before they lost their lead songwriter/guitarist to suicide and got corrupted by the A&R men).   The Refreshments are best known for their song “Banditos” which was on heavy rotation on alternative stations at the time… as well as their instrumental which kicks off every episode of the cartoon series “King of the Hill”.  But the Refreshments did much more than that - their (only) two albums are amongst the favorites in my collection!   Dead Hot Workshop are more of a ‘cult’ band … their best two songs are “River Otis” and “Burger Christ” … all of these bands are worth a listen, a great snapshot of the early 90s Tempe scene.

But for this week’s awesome song we go back even further … to Tempe AZ in 1982.  At that time an obscure band called the Jetzons crafted their one and only album, “Made in United States”.  An uptempo, rocking, new wave gem it contains synths, complex vocal tracks, infectious grooves and funky danceable melodies galore.   The best song on the album is this week’s awesome song, a number called “Hard Times”.   But here’s the thing - although made in 1982, “Hard Times” wasn’t properly released until 2008!   See, in 1982 the album didn't get much traction (like most of the later bands mentioned above) and was mainly a cult phenomena.  It took over 25 years for their record company to compile all the Jetzons recordings and they were all re-released with “lost tracks” including “Hard Times”.  The Jetzons found new audiences … as well as … controversy! 

Seems that after The Jetzons originally faded from memory, the music for "Hard Times” was “appropriated” for a Sonic the Hedgehog video game by none other than the sleazy posse of the late, not-so-great, chart-topper, nose-chopper (and suspected kid-bopper) Michael Jackson !    Of course everyone involved denies everything (sound familiar?) but judge for yourself - after you enjoy this weeks’ obscure but awesome song, “Hard Times” … by The Jetzons (not Michael Jackson and not Sonic the Hedgehog!)

 

-WAS