96: Various Artists – These People Are Nuts!

These People Are Nuts! I.R.S. 10th Anniversary Compilation

Can a sampler album be a great rock album? In my own School of Rock it can. I.R.S. Records put out These People Are Nuts! in 1989. It was a 10th anniversary compilation of I.R.S. Records best music from 1979 to 1988. I.R.S. became influential by launching such groups as R.E.M., Skafish, The Alarm, Fine Young Cannibals, Concrete Blonde, Gary Numan, and the English Beat. That's not a bad catalog of artists to be standing behind. While These People Are Nuts! doesn't have some of the more well-known artists they signed, like Black Sabbath, it has a carefully selected list of songs deliberately selected to flip off I.R.S. critics.

From the CD liner notes:

Miles Copeland and Jay Boberg would like to extend their brain-felt thanks to all of the maniacs and lunatics who have made I.R.S. what it is today. Remember, sanity is in the ears of the listener, and we like to think if we're nuts, which we obviously are--so are you. Thank God for that! So keep your ears peeled. We aren't going to get any saner over the next ten years.

This is surrounded by simulated newspaper clippings of negative reviews of the bands included in the compilation. My favorite is a reprint of a review of R.E.M.'s first EP from the Pitt News:

OK, here's a southern-based techno-rock band that, believe it or not, sounds like a cross between U-2 [sic] and the Byrds, but unfortunately this five-song EP isn't. Somehow, R.E.M. has foudn a way to record the same song five times with only subtle variations in rhythm and lyrics. The only thing R.E.M. accomplishes here is to get more money for an IP instead of a single.

What's that about 20/20 hindsight?

Long out of print, you can still find this CD used at Amazon and other places on the Web. I recommend it because the lesson is some of the best rock ever recorded was full of risk and against-the-grain thinking. Too bad after I.R.S. folded there was nobody else stepping up to prevent mainstream rock from becoming as boring as it is now.

Track Listing

#	Artist	Title	Length
1	The Police	Nothing Achieving	1:56
2	Go-Go's	We Got the Beat	2:31
3	Wayne County & The Electric Chairs	Thunder	4:02
4	Wazmo Nariz	Checking Out The Checkout Girl	2:26
5	Root Boy Slim	Dare To Be Fat	3:53
6	Skafish	Sign of the Cross (Live)	4:14
7	John Cale	Jack The Ripper	3:05
8	Oingo Boingo	Only A Lad	3:33
9	Klark Kent	Don't Care	2:07
10	Buzzcocks	Ever Fallen In Love	2:39
11	English Beat	Whine & Grind	3:48
12	Cramps	Goo Goo Muck	3:03
13	Magazine	About The Weather	3:24
14	Wall Of Voodoo	Mexican Radio	4:09
15	The Alarm	The Stand	3:16
16	R.E.M.	Superman	2:51
17	Dr. & The Medics	Spirit In The Sky	3:32
18	Lords Of The New Church	Like A Virgin	3:49
19	Timbuk 3	The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades	3:22
20	Fine Young Cannibals	Johnny Come Home	3:28
21	Caterwaul	The Sheep's A Wolf	4:22
22	Concrete Blonde	It'll Chew You Up And Spit You Out	4:45