Lost Innocents

Awhile back, I wrote a dedicatory blog about The Rockets, a band I had only recently discovered. This time around I need to pay cyber-homage to The Innocents, and band I never get tired of...and probably one of the best bands you never heard of.

Like the other dozen or so people who bought The Innocents' lone LP in 1982, I first became aware of the band via a television show about them. I think it may have been a "20/20" special, but the basic premise of the program was to follow the band from club dates through a label signing to making their album. This mini-bio comes from AllMusic, written by Stephen Schnee:

This quirky new wave band found initial fame as the subject of a 1982 TV documentary that chronicled the life of a new band, following them from the clubs straight through signing a major label deal. Unfortunately, the initial interest quickly waned and the band found itself ridiculed by the same industry that initially embraced it. Fronted by vocalist Michael Hurt and featuring keyboardist Tommy Newman, lead guitarist Tony Kowalski, drummer Chris Kaye, and bassist Marten Ingle, The Innocents were, in reality, a talented and very creative band that mixed pop sensibilities and new wave quirkiness and created an original sound that no one before or since has managed to duplicate. Once the band split, the only member to attain any kind of notoriety was Newman, being part of the legendary Newman family of film composers (which also includes Randy). Under the name Thomas Newman, he's gone on to be nominated for numerous Academy Awards for many of his film scores.

I agree wholeheartedly with Schnee's assessment of the group; I never found them to be particularly "quirky," but their mix of pop and new wave was definitely combined with an unmistakable Devo-like hollowness. The first two songs rip into this sound right away: both Stop Shooting Up Stars and Directly From The Heart pound and thrust with an urgency that was poppy, but not necessarily radio-friendly. Track 3, Hold My Hand, is a tender ballad that nevertheless manages to feed this established urgent fire by crashing into the pre-chorus with a plaintive howl of pure sexuality: "Dontcha like messin' around, around, around? Dontcha like feelin' your heart begin to pound?" This same idea is presented once again in a later up-tempo number, Twisted Kiss, when vocalist Hurt insists that "She shakes when she's in my arms, trembles when she's next to me, ohh and that's a message of love!"

Side 2 of the album is a little more diverse, but still delivers a cohesive "Innocents" sound. Backseat Of My Car is perhaps the most like Side 1, with its lightning-fast chorus delivery. Sob Story and You Gotta Cry are both quasi-50's tunes, not so much in the way of production as the hollow sound of Hurt's voice and the throbbing 12/8 "stroll" feel. Without Time is a return to form, the repetitive cry of the chorus satisfyingly memorable.

And what of the players themselves? Thomas Newman is certainly the most high-profile Innocent; a prolific film composer, he's been nominated for Academy Awards for everything from The Green Mile to American Beauty to Shawshank Redemption. Bassist Marten Ingle hasn't disappeared either, keeping active in the music world by playing and touring with a variety of musicians in Europe. Of the other three members...well, I don't know. I Googled each, but was only able to find their names connected with the single album. They're probably all living "normal" lives now, rarely bothering to think of "that band I was in once." Don't worry, guys; you're not forgotten by at least ONE person out here who thinks that your lone LP was brilliant. Every time I sing along to "d-i-r-e-c-t-l-y, yeah baby!" your music lives on. Especially since a newly-acquired USB turntable has allowed me to transfer a happily found virgin copy of your album onto a CD. And the rest of you, reading this? Go out there and find a copy of this great, great music. You may have to hunt a little bit, but you'll be happy when you get it home & listen.