Payola$ - In A Place Like This (IRS, 1981)

Here's an 80's album that is ripe for a reissue. You probably (should) know them by their 2nd album's hit, "Eyes Of A Stranger," also featured in the movie "Valley Girl." That song had a similar new wave/reggae vibe to The Police. And like The Police, The Payola$ started out a little more punk influenced. On this, their first album, they tread a nice mixture of new wave, '77 punk and reggae. Maybe a little closer to The Clash.

The band was from Canada, but their singer hailed from England, enhancing songs like the title track and "Jukebox" with his cheeky delivery. "Jukebox" and "China Boys" were redone from their debut 4 song ep. I actually prefer those versions since they're slightly faster, but they still sound great on this album.

I wish they had continued along this path a little more before embracing more of a pop sound. This is really a great album though, probably overlooked by punks for being too new wave and 80's fans for being kind of obscure. They seem to have released some of their later albums digitally, but this one is still out of print in any form.

Payola$ - In A Place Like This (R) (vbr 0)

Notes: So I grabbed a flac version of this from a torrent site. Thanks, Person! It's a really good rip, but quiet, so I cleaned it up a little and remastered it a bit. I also included remastered CD versions of the songs "In A Place Like This" and "China Boys" (in addition to the vinyl versions) from one of their Best Of CDs.