White Punks On Disc: The Tubes’ A&M Albums Collected in New Box

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The U.K. Caroline label will bring together the first five albums by art-punk act The Tubes in one collection next month.

The A&M Years features all the long-players recorded by the quirky San Francisco group, founded by vocalist Fee Waybill, guitarists Bill Spooner and Roger Steen, keyboardists Vince Welnick and Michael Cotten, bassist Rick Anderson and drummer Prairie Prince. Known for their off-the-wall stage shows (many directed by future choreographer to the stars/High School Musical director Kenny Ortega) and biting lyrics, The Tubes had minor hits on A&M in the U.S. (“Don’t Touch Me There”) and the U.K. (“White Punks On Dope”). They also attracted top-shelf talent behind the scenes: producers included Al Kooper (1975’s self-titled debut), Ken Scott (follow-up Young and Rich (1976)) and Todd Rundgren (1979’s ambitious Remote Control), with David Paich of Toto and Jack Nitzsche offering arrangements on Young and Rich. (The band would ultimately be dropped by the label during the 1980s, after which they signed to Capitol, recording two albums with David Foster and enjoying their biggest hits in “Talk to Ya Later” and the Top 10 “She’s a Beauty.”)

This five-disc box set includes all four studio albums from this period plus 1978’s What Do You Want From Live. As an added bonus, three bonus tracks–a live cover of “Love Will Keep Us Together,” a single version of “White Punks On Dope,” and the track “Drivin’ All Night” from the band’s unreleased last album for A&M, Suffer For Sound–are included across the discs. (These three tracks were all issued on the compilation T.R.A.S.H. (Tubes Rarities and Smash Hits) in 1981.)

The A&M Years will be available on August 11 and can be pre-ordered below.

The A&M Years (Caroline (U.K.), 2017) (Amazon U.K.)

Disc 1: The Tubes (originally released as A&M Records SP-4534, 1975)

  1. Up From The Deep
  2. Haloes
  3. Space Baby
  4. Malaguena Salerosa
  5. Mondo Bondage
  6. What Do You Want From Life
  7. Boy Crazy
  8. White Punks On Dope

Disc 2: Young and Rich (originally released as A&M Records SP-4580, 1976)

  1. Tubes World Tour
  2. Brighter Day
  3. Pimp
  4. Stand Up and Shout
  5. Don’t Touch Me There
  6. Slipped My Disco
  7. Proud To Be An American
  8. Poland Whole/Madam I’m Adam
  9. Young and Rich
  10. Love Will Keep Us Together (Live) (from T.R.A.S.H. (Tubes Rarities and Smash Hits) – A&M Records SP-4870, 1981)

Disc 3: Now (originally released as A&M Records SP-4632, 1977)

  1. Smoke (La Vie En Fumer)
  2. Hit Parade
  3. Strung Out On Strings
  4. Golden Boy
  5. My Head Is My House Unless It Rains
  6. God-Bird-Change
  7. I’m Just a Mess
  8. Cathy’s Clone
  9. This Town
  10. Pound of Flesh
  11. You’re No Fun

Disc 4: What Do You Want From Live (originally released as A&M Records SP-6003, 1978)

  1. Overture
  2. Got Yourself a Deal
  3. Show Me a Reason
  4. What Do You Want From Life
  5. God-Bird-Change
  6. Special Ballet
  7. Don’t Touch Me There
  8. Mondo Bondage
  9. Smoke (La Vie En Fumer)
  10. Crime Medley
  11. I Was a Punk Before You Were a Punk
  12. I Saw Her Standing There
  13. Drum Solo
  14. Boy Crazy
  15. You’re No Fun
  16. Stand Up and Shout
  17. White Punks On Dope

Disc 5: Remote Control (originally released as A&M Records SP-4571, 1979)

  1. Turn Me On
  2. TV Is King
  3. Prime Time
  4. I Want It All Now
  5. No Way Out
  6. Getoverture
  7. No Mercy
  8. Only the Strong Survive
  9. Be Mine Tonight
  10. Love’s a Mystery (I Don’t Understand)
  11. Telecide
  12. Drivin’ All Night (from T.R.A.S.H. (Tubes Rarities and Smash Hits) – A&M Records SP-4870, 1981)
  13. White Punks On Dope (Parts A & B) (from T.R.A.S.H. (Tubes Rarities and Smash Hits) – A&M Records SP-4870, 1981)
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Mike Duquette
Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, having written at and worked for all three major catalogue music labels and contributing to Allmusic, Billboard, Discogs, City Pages and Ultimate Classic Rock. He's penned liner notes for Verve, Chess, Mondo and Soul Music Records.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.

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9 thoughts on “White Punks On Disc: The Tubes’ A&M Albums Collected in New Box”

  1. This is great (and I hope the source for “Now” is a good one). I’d love to see a decent version of “Love Bomb” as well – the two releases on CD (from BGO, and later from Cherry Red) leave a lot to be desired in audio quality when compared to the few tracks issued by Capitol on “The Best Of The Tubes.” Iconoclassic’s Tubes reissues have been routinely excellent.

    1. No mastering information is available as of this writing. If that information is released, we typically include it in our coverage.

  2. All of this is/was released on disc. Some are mastered quite nicely. Unless there is something really special I’ll pass.

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