OPENING GIBBERISH
Back in 2012, Mammoth Cave Records was set to re-release the three Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet albums. The debut album, Savvy Show Stoppers, made it out on vinyl and download, but the release didn't go well and Mammoth Cave has since folded. In 2016, the re-relase program kicked off again with a higher-profile label (the esteemed Yep Roc), and things went much more swimmingly.
For Record Store Day 2016, Yep Roc released a limited-edition vinyl box set that included all three albums (all remastered) and a new fourth album (Soft Polished Separates) which contained a mix of previously unreleased tracks, b-sides, and other assorted rarities. In September, the three original albums were released on LP, CD and digital. The songs from Soft Polished Separates were divvied up amongst the original three (although for the vinyl releases, the bonus tracks are included as part of the digital download that comes with each album).
BIAS WARNING: As someone who runs a Shadowy Men fan site (The Shadowy Site On A Shadowy Web), I'm obviously a big fan of these reissues. This should not be a surprise.
NOTE: Despite being released first, I'm reviewing the box set last. It's just simpler that way.
Back in 2012 I wrote:
Shadowy Men's debut album, a compilation of songs from their first five singles, gets a lavish vinyl & download only re-release on Mammoth Cave Records. The album is an instrumental classic, and held with a bit of reverence amongst surf music fans, although it's more eclectic than pure surf. Shadowy Men are really an instrumental rock band, with far more varied influences. If you remember the 90's sketch comedy show The Kids In The Hall, then you've heard S Men's signature track "Having An Average Weekend" - it was the theme song. The packaging gets a nice upgrade as well with a new gatefold sleeve and tongue-in-cheek liner notes. An album I can't recommend highly enough.
The 2016 reissue keeps "Vibrolux Deluxe" and adds the short, backwards B-side "Weird Beards" after "Run Chicken Run". In addition to the bonus tracks that were on the original CD issues of the album, you get a terrific cover of the silly 70's song "Popcorn" and an unreleased early S Men track, "Big Saxophone Lie". This is still the best starting point for getting into Shadowy Men. "Having An Average Weekend", "Bennett Cerf" and a ton of others are instrumental classics. Definitely worth picking up even if you got one of the few Mammoth Cave albums.
tracks: "Good Cop Bad Cop", "Musical Interlude", "Theme From T.V.", "Zombie Compromise", "Malfunction", "Shake Some Evil", "You Spin Me Round '86", "Vibrolux Deluxe", "Run Chicken Run", "Weird Beards", "Bennett Cerf", "Egypt Texas", "Customized", "Our Weapons Are Useless", "Shadowy Countdown", "Harlem By The Sea", "Having An Average Weekend", "Boogie In G"
bonus tracks: "Big Saxophone Lie", "Misty", "Summer Wind", "Big Baby", "Customized (sax tape)", "Popcorn"
Back in 1991 I wrote:
Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet are a local Toronto band, probably best known as the band who plays the theme and background music for the cable series The Kids In The Hall. Dim The Lights is a great collection of short guitar-based instrumentals that fall somewhere between pop, surf-music and Duane Eddy-style instrumentals. A fun album.
This album was my introduction to Shadowy Men and the more I listened, the more I liked it. Now it's one of my all-time favorites. It's in my Top 100 Of All Time (along with Savvy Show Stoppers). "Aunt's Invasion" is a Shadowy Men classic, as is "Hunter S. Thompson's Younger Brother" and a ton of others. The bonus tracks add three of my very favorites: "The Alouette, She Was Canada's First Satellite, Way Before The Americans Even", a cover of The Diodes' "Tired Of Waking Up Tired", and "Rover & Rusty". An absolute must.
YouTube: "Aunt's Invasion", "Hunter S. Thompson's Younger Brother", "Who's Afraid Of Alyson Hymer / Wow Flutter Hiss", "Rover & Rusty"
tracks: "Dim The Lights, Chill The Ham", "Reid's Situation", "I Know A Guy Named Larry", "Exit From Vince Lombardi High School", "Aunt's Invasion", "Running Meredith", "Bang Bang", "Hot Box Car", "In My Room", "Dewy Drops Of Spring", "5 American 6 Canadian", "Who Painted Whistler's Mother", "Case Of The Missing Lady Fingers", "Jackpot", "D. Tour", "Hunter S. Thompson's Younger Brother", "Misogomy & The Object", "Ben Hur Picked Off In A Gazebo", "Who's Afraid Of Alyson Hymer / Wow Flutter Hiss", "You Spin Me Round '86", "Babakganoosh", "Siesta Cinema", "Dim The Lights, Chill The Ham (Reprise)", "Vinyl", "Shakin' All Over"
bonus tracks: "The Alouette, She Was Canada's First Satellite, Way Before The Americans Even", "Tired Of Waking Up Tired", "Rover & Rusty", "Foreign/Aft", "Santa's Compromise", "Winterfresh", "Deck The Halls", "Having An Average Weekend '78"
Back in 1993 I wrote:
An amazing album. The Shadowy Men are an instrumental band known for providing the background music on The Kids In The Hall. Sport Fishin' is a great album - two dozen tracks (some under a minute in length) full of spunk and wit. Irresitible.
The final S Men album suffers only by comparison to its two predecessors - it's a killer album with great songs all throughout. "They Don't Call Them Chihuahuas Anymore", "Haig Earl" and "Off Our Back Conrad Black" are big favorites, but there are a ton of others. The reissue adds two of the band's songs backing the B-52's Fred Schneider (from his album, Just Fred) and three previously unreleased songs: "The Last Of My Hiccups", "Underground Sounds", and the mighty "16 Encores" which jams roughly 30 rock classics into a six-minute medley (you really, really need to hear "16 Encores").
YouTube: "They Don't Call Them Chihuahuas Anymore", "Haig Earl", "Off Our Back Conrad Black", "16 Encores"
Having trouble playing "Name That Tune" with "16 Encores"? You can cheat and see the details on my Shadowy Men site.
tracks: "Unwatchable*", "Spend A Night, Not A Fortune", "Three Piece Suit", "Fortune Tellin' Chicken", "(Relax) You Will Think You Are A Chicken", "Plastics For 500, Bob", "That Wuz Ear Me Callin' A Horse", "The Singing Cowboy", "Farbs", "Spy School Graduation Theme", "Cheese In The Fridge", "Autumn Leaves", "Unwatchable**", "Mecca", "Haig, Earl", "Algoma Reflections", "We're Not A Fucking Surf Band", "Peas Porridge Rock", "Honey, You're Wasting Ammo", "They Don't Call Them Chihuahuas Anymore", "Off Our Back Conrad Black", "We'll Be Right Back!", "What I Like About Grease", "Memories Of Gay Paree", "Babywetsitself ™", "Shakin' All Over"
bonus tracks: "Lick" [Fred Schneider with Shadowy Men], "Sugar In My Hog" [Fred Schneider with Shadowy Men], "The Last Of My Hiccups", "The Jehrney", "Song Of The Lobster", "Underground Sounds", "16 Encores", "Tape, Tape, You Bought Our Tape"
As mentioned above, the wonderfully named Oh, I Guess We Were A Fucking Surf Band After All… combines the vinyl editions of the three original albums, and collects all the bonus tracks onto a separate album titled Soft Polished Separates. It's a nice cost-saver to make these bonus tracks since the original albums were out of print, but I really like Soft Polished Separates as a fourth Shadowy Men album. On its own, it holds up nicely with the official three albums.
Of course, if you pick up the three CDs, you can recreate Soft Polished Separates on your own. Everything's there.
YouTube: very cool trailer video
tracks (Savvy Show Stoppers): "Good Cop Bad Cop", "Musical Interlude", "Theme From T.V.", "Zombie Compromise", "Malfunction", "Shake Some Evil", "You Spin Me Round '86", "Vibrolux Deluxe", "Run Chicken Run", "Weird Beards", "Bennett Cerf", "Egypt Texas", "Customized", "Our Weapons Are Useless", "Shadowy Countdown", "Harlem By The Sea", "Having An Average Weekend", "Boogie In G"
tracks (Dim The Lights, Chill The Ham): "Dim The Lights, Chill The Ham", "Reid's Situation", "I Know A Guy Named Larry", "Exit From Vince Lombardi High School", "Aunt's Invasion", "Running Meredith", "Bang Bang", "Hot Box Car", "In My Room", "Dewy Drops Of Spring", "5 American 6 Canadian", "Who Painted Whistler's Mother", "Case Of The Missing Lady Fingers", "Jackpot", "D. Tour", "Hunter S. Thompson's Younger Brother", "Misogomy & The Object", "Ben Hur Picked Off In A Gazebo", "Who's Afraid Of Alison Hymer / Wow Flutter Hiss", "You Spin Me Round '86", "Babakganoosh", "Siesta Cinema", "Dim The Lights, Chill The Ham (Reprise)", "Vinyl", "Shakin' All Over"
tracks (Sport Fishin' - The Lure Of The Bait, The Luck Of The Hook): "Unwatchable*", "Spend A Night, Not A Fortune", "Three Piece Suit", "Fortune Tellin' Chicken", "(Relax) You Will Think You Are A Chicken", "Plastics For 500, Bob", "That Wuz Ear Me Callin' A Horse", "The Singing Cowboy", "Farbs", "Spy School Graduation Theme", "Cheese In The Fridge", "Autumn Leaves", "Unwatchable**", "Mecca", "Haig, Earl", "Algoma Reflections", "We're Not A Fucking Surf Band", "Peas Porridge Rock", "Honey, You're Wasting Ammo", "They Don't Call Them Chihuahuas Anymore", "Off Our Back Conrad Black", "We'll Be Right Back!", "What I Like About Grease", "Memories Of Gay Paree", "Babywetsitself ™", "Shakin' All Over"
tracks (Soft Polished Separates): "Big Saxophone Lie", "The Alouette, She Was Canada's First Satellite, Way Before The Americans Even", "Summer Wind", "Tired Of Waking Up Tired", "Lick" [Fred Schneider with Shadowy Men], "Winterfresh", "Rover & Rusty", "Big Baby", "Santa's Compromise", "Deck The Halls", "Having An Average Weekend '78", "The Last Of My Hiccups", "Sugar In My Hog" [Fred Schneider with Shadowy Men], "Customized (sax tape)", "Popcorn", "Misty", "The Jehrney", "Song Of The Lobster", "Foreign/Aft", "Underground Sounds", "16 Encores", "Tape, Tape, You Bought Our Tape"