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Los Angeles Power Pop Band Releases Debut Album Forty Years in the Making

 

Multitrack tapes restored after sitting forgotten in a filing cabinet for decades

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Forty years after their final recording session, a Los Angeles-based power pop band is releasing its debut album. The 16-track master tapes sat forgotten in a California bedroom closet until they were discovered in a filing cabinet during the 2020 lockdown.

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The Bings' "Power Pop Planet - The Lost Tapes" is a literal time capsule from the pre-MTV 1980s, when new wave, punk, and power pop were still underground genres that flourished mainly in New York and Hollywood clubs.

 

Most of the songs on the album have never been officially released. Two of the songs were featured on the band's 1981 45-RPM single, which has recently gained popularity among vinyl collectors.

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This renewed interest in the band and some extra time provided by the pandemic is what led the reunited band members to have the brittle, 40-year-old tapes restored by specialists and transferred to digital. Their original studio engineer then used today's "Pro Tools" technology to mix from scratch the album that never happened.

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“I never knew we had the actual multitrack masters,” says Bings' bassist and discoverer-of-the-tapes Mark Randle. “I figured they got taped over. So when I realized what I had found, I knew we had to get these songs out there.”

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"Power Pop Planet" is now available on all major streaming platforms, YouTube and and compact disc, while a special-edition vinyl LP is in the works. The track listing features eight never-released tracks, the two songs on the vinyl single, as well as a bonus track.

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“The songs have been brought back to life," says Bings' songwriter-guitarist Dave Chrenko. "I think music fans will be surprised at how well the songs have held up.”

 

Back in the '80s, the band played respected live clubs like The Troubadour and Madame Wong’s, as well as other events. "In towns like Anaheim and Riverside, nobody had heard new wave before – and the kids went wild, screaming and rushing the stage," Chrenko said.

 

The single had been featured on legendary KROQ radio and had airplay on some local college stations. (It was eventually reviewed in "FLEX!", a 2-part discography chronicling punk and new wave records from the era.)

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While the definition of the power pop genre is varied, listeners say The Bings sound something like “The Ramones meet The Beach Boys" or "The Cars and Elvis Costello" — built on a combination of pop song sensibilities, big beefy guitars and tight vocal harmonies.

 

Over the years band members have continued with full- and part-time music careers. The band's second drummer, Chris Ralles, has toured with Pat Benatar for years, along with other artists like Kenny Loggins and ex-Eagle Don Felder.

 

"We're a lot older now," says Bing's guitarist Quint Randle, who went on to work as a music journalist. "But we still love the songs we made in our 20s when the L.A. music scene was innovative and vibrant—and filled with pastel colors!"

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For media interviews or access to WAV audio files, contact quint@joshuacreekmusic.com

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