I’m a fan of obscure music, 80s post-punk/new wave, and rare and hard-to-find movies, so a flick like Urgh! is the holy grail to me.

This amazing concert film featured live performances by a virutal who’s-who of 80s legends, including Gary Numan, The Police, X, Oingo Boingo and Wall Of Voodoo – and has of course been nearly impossible to find for years. I first heard of it years ago but couldn’t locate a copy until recently, when I found a ratty old VHS copy of it buried on the bottom shelf of my local video store (the amazing Head’s Together Video – located at 2121 Murray Ave. Pittsburgh, PA). Since then I’ve seen several DVD bootlegs, and I honestly think that most of them were taken from the actual video tape at Head’s Together – since they feature the same tracking problems as that worn-down tape. I’m told there was a laserdisc release once, but I’ve never seen it. The movie remains unreleased on DVD, and the latest rumors on the internet credit this to some bizarre legal issue involving home video rights. Other people have blamed its long status in limbo on Gary Numan’s withholding his performance material (I can’t find any evidence supporting that, however)

Making matters even worse, the complete soundtrack has never been available. The original vinyl release contained 27 of the 34 songs featured in the film, and the CD release cut that list down to just 21! Of course the CD is out of print, and the vinyl is amazingly hard to find.

But that’s where I come in! For the next few days I’ll be posting selections from the Urgh! soundtrack, taken from my pristine copy of the LP. I’ll be posting one album side at a time.

So without further delay, here’s side one:

The Police – Driven To Tears
Wall Of Voodoo – Back In Flesh
Toyah Wilcox – Dance
Orchestral Manoeuvers In The Dark – Enola Gay
XTC – Respectable Street

Isn’t that some amazing shit? Stay tuned for tracks from Joan Jett, X, Gary Numan, Gang Of Four and much more in the days and weeks to come. I’ll also be posting links to where you can find out more about this amazing diamond in the rough.

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