The Swimming Pool Q's - High Dive (1989)

The Swimming Pool Q's were formed in 1978 by Jeff Calder (vocals, guitar, saxophone, theremin) and guitarist Bob Elsey, who recruited Billy Jones on bass guitar, and Robert Schmid on drums, with vocalist/keyboard player Anne Richmond Boston joining just prior to the release of their first single 'Rat Bait'. This was released in 1979 on their own Clorinated label, and the superb Beefheart-influenced track brought them critical praise, securing them support slots with Devo and The Police. When Jones left he was replaced by Peter Jarkunas, and the band signed to Danny Beard's DB Records to release their debut album 'The Deep End' in June 1981. Although it only sold around 20,000 copies, I got my hands on one of them and it has always been a favourite of that early 80's jangle-pop scene, although the band themselves would rather be described as "folk pop gone country". After two years without a further release, and with Jarkunas and Schmid replaced by J.E. Garnett and Billy Burton, the band returned in 1984 with the single 'The Bells Ring' and the eponymous album 'The Swimming Pool Q's', released on their new label A&M Records. They toured with Lou Reed as support act on his New Sensations tour, and a second album for A&M, 'Blue Tomorrow' appeared in 1986, but it failed to meet A&M's expectations, and the band was dropped from the label. They then signed to Capitol Records, and released their third album 'World War Two Point Five' in 1989, and although Boston had left by this point, she designed the album sleeve for them. After a couple more years with nothing really happening for them, the group split up in 1992, reforming in 1998, and releasing the 'Royal Academy of Reality' album five years later, in 2003. In 2001 an expanded version of 'The Deep End' was released, which included 13 bonus tracks, but I completely missed this and so it's taken me 20 years to hear them. For anyone in the same boat, who loved the band in the 80's but didn't know about the 2001 re-issue, I've extracted the previously unreleased tracks and am posting them as a completely new album, which could have slotted in between their first and second records. If you don't know the band then listen to that first single 'Rat Bait' here, and wonder why they weren't much bigger than they were back in the day.   

Track listing

01 Model Trains (Are Better Than Rock & Roll) (previously unreleased 1979)
02 Tussle (I Wear Glasses) (previously unreleased 'The Deep End' out-take 1981)
03 Stingray (b-side of 'Little Misfit' single 1982)
04 White Collar Drifter (previously unreleased 1978)
05 Home-In (from 'Squares Blot Out The Sun' compilation album 1980)
06 Working In The Nut Plant (from demo cassette 1982)
07 Going Through The Motions (previously unreleased 1979)
08 Short Stuff (previously unreleased demo 1982)
09 1789 (previously unreleased demo 1989)
10 Building With A Clock On Top (previously unreleased demo 1982)
11 I'm A Q (live at Rose's Cantina, Atlanta 1978)