In 1974, The Flamin’ Groovies, a garage rock band based in San Francisco, returned to the U.S. after some time in the U.K. They had recorded a set of Dave Edmund-produced tracks, including “Shake Some Action”. Founding member Ray Loney departed the band, and with Cyril Jordan as lead vocalist and guitarist, The Flamin’ Groovies moved away from the R&B of their early years and more in the direction of British power pop. They had no record deal in the U.S., and were shopping the recorded tracks to different labels, and, amazingly enough, there were no takers.
Enter the late Greg Shaw, who with his wife Suzi Shaw started Bomp Magazine, a fanzine promoting underground music, in 1970. Shaw liked the band’s recordings, and decided to release the record, which was included with the magazine. The magazine sold enough copies to make the record break even. Through his contacts at FM radio stations, Shaw generated enough airplay, even though the band was unsigned. This was enough to get Sire Records to sign the band, and enough to convince Shaw to continue releasing records.
Over the years, the label has featured punk, pop, power pop, old-school rock, neo-psychedelia, and other genres. Its impressive roster has included The Flamin’ Groovies, Iggy Pop, The Romantics, 20/20, Zeros, The Jook, Shoes, Stiv Bators, Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, The Plimsouls, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Shaw died in 2004, but Bomp Records lives on, and is still releasing music, though more sporadically than before. [The last release was a B-Girls compilation from August 2017, and although it was almost five years ago, I hesitate to say that Bomp Records has closed up shop.]
Which brings us to the compilation album of the day: Destination Bomp (1994). To be sure, it makes a case for justifying the existence of Bomp Records, and it does include many songs from the label’s illustrious catalog. Overall, it makes for a thoroughly listenable experience.
What is unclear, however, is the selection of material. Clearly, the compilation evenly samples music from the two decades for which Bomp Records was in existence – hence, although there is music from the punk era (The Poppees, Dmz, and Iggy Pop), there is also new wave (Shoes, 20/20, The Romantics), some post-punk, pre-grunge music (The Green Pajamas), and some new-ish garage rock (The Brian Jonestown Massacre).
But that leaves some notable omissions. There’s no Venus and the Razorblades, who released “Punk-a-Rama” on the label in 1977. There’s nothing by The Jook, who released an EP in 1978. And nothing by The Modern Lovers, who released an early album on Bomp in 1981. And, I might add, nothing from “American Youth Report”, a compilation of L.A. punk rock which includes T.S.O.L. and Red Kross. Part of the problem is the vast catalog of Bomp Records. Unlike Ork Records, whose compilation I reviewed last week, Bomp released LPs, and is still active today, albeit with less frequency. Since the output of Ork Records was sporadic and consisted of singles and EPs and in any case was defunct by the end of the 1970s, there wasn’t much material and most of it was put on the 2-CD compilation. With Bomp, however, there was a lot more material to sift through, and unfortunately, much music was omitted.
Anyhow, if you don’t mind what was left out, this makes for a melodious compilation, and I don’t have much of a quarrel with those who selected tracks for this 2-CD retrospective. Just be aware that it could have been so much more.
