Now I know normally in this series (such as it is) I’ve covered A-sides that have been unjustly forgotten and left in the attic of history. We’re switching it up this time for The Ones’ 1980 “Short Dress” b/w “Tight Rope” single on the fantastically named Blue Ribbon Records. The reason for this is rather simple, I think the flip side is far superior to the A-side.
The Ones, originally named Ozone, started in 1975 and made their bones in the familiar way- doing covers of their heroes and slipping originals in here and there where they could. Milwaukee’s punk scene (talk about unjustly forgotten) had coalesced into a thriving culture by the time the band won a “Battle Of the Bands” in 1979. As part of the prize, they won studio time a single release. They discovered another band using the “Ozone” name so they reshuffled the letters a little and ended up as The Ones.
This was their only official release. Rerun Records out of St. Louis recently released a lavishly-presented collection of this single as well as studio outtakes and live records. I highly recommend it.
As a bonus, here’s the band (under the old name) cranking this tune out, and I am not even kidding, on TV during a cerebral palsy telethon. It’s glorious. Look for the girl in the red dress over the singer’s shoulder about 48 seconds in, the look on her face is priceless.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qDcftRRJ58[/youtube]
