''Seattle Syndrome Volume One'' is a compilation of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

-based bands and artists released on vinyl and cassette in late 1981 on

Engram Records Engram may refer to: * Engram (neuropsychology), a physical means by which memory traces are stored *Engram (Dianetics), a term used in Scientology and Dianetics for a "recording" of a past painful event not normally accessible to the conscious m ...

.Tow, Stephen: ''The Strangest Tribe. How a Group of Seattle Rock Bands Invented Grunge.'' Sasquatch Books, Seattle, 2011, p. 40. Supervised by former

Telepaths Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W ...

guitarist Homer Spence,

Danny Eskenazi Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to the male name Daniel. It may refer to: People *Danny Altmann, British immunologist * Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer * Danny Baker (born 1957), English journal ...

(who also bankrolled the project) and local promoter

Neil Hubbard Neil Terrence Hubbard (born 24 February 1948) is a British guitarist who has performed with Juicy Lucy, The Grease Band, Bluesology, Joe Cocker, Roxy Music, Kokomo, Alvin Lee, B.B. King, Kevin Rowland and Tony O'Malley, and played on the ...

, and recorded and engineered by

Jack Weaver John Harold Weaver (November 1, 1928 – April 7, 2009) was a Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff and the developer of the Weaver stance, a popular shooting stance for firing handguns. Biography Weaver was born on November 1, 1928, in South Ga ...

, the compilation features many of the well-known bands of the late seventies and early eighties music scene of Seattle, as well as including bands from Washington state. Stylistically, the contributions encompass a variety of music genres, ranging from

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier pu ...

post punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

and new wave as well as covering experimental

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to ...

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

and

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

The bands

Among the fifteen bands and artists contributing to the record are the regionally successful

X-15 The North American X-15 is a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft. It was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft. The X-15 set speed ...

and The Pudz with their respective tracks ''Vaporized'' and ''Take Me to Your (Leader)'' as well as post punk acts such as

The Blackouts The Blackouts were a punk rock band formed in Seattle in 1979 by singer/guitarist Erich Werner, bassist Mike Davidson, and drummer Bill Rieflin, who were all former members of a local punk band, The Telepaths. They were joined by Roland Barker, f ...

and The Beakers who were considered very influential on certain bands of the later grunge scene such as

The U-Men The U-Men was an American rock band, formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1980 and active until 1989. They toured extensively across the United States. Their musically "dirty" sound and off-the-wall sense of humor were a forerunner for the later ...

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Ya ...

The Young Fresh Fellows The Young Fresh Fellows are an American alternative rock group, that was formed in 1981 in Seattle, Washington, United States, by Scott McCaughey and Chuck Carroll. Tad Hutchison, Chuck Carroll's first cousin, joined for the recording of the gr ...

. Hardcore punk bands

The Fartz The Fartz were a Hardcore Punk band that was founded in 1981 and were one of the first well-known hardcore bands from Seattle, Washington. They were signed to Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles Record label. They were notable not only for play ...

(who would later evolve into Ten Minute Warning, also of considerable influence on the following generation of Seattle underground rock bands) and

The Refuzors ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

contribute songs as well as long-lasting

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti- suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other p ...

s, The Fastbacks (then with a teenaged

Duff McKagan Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964), sometimes credited as Duff "Rose" McKagan, is an American musician. He played bass for twelve years in the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late ...

on drums who would later join the Fartz and then be a formative member of

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff ...

). Jim Basnight of punk pioneers

The Meyce ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

and later of power poppers

The Moberlys ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

is featured with his solo song ''We'll Always Be in Love''. Finally, electronic and avant garde projects like Savant, Danny Eskenazi's own K7SS or Audio Leter side project Body Falling Downstairs were also included to present a comprehensive picture of the Seattle underground music scene. On the other hand, popular and also commercially successful Seattle

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ...

bands like The Heats or

The Cowboys ''The Cowboys'' is a 1972 American Western film starring John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, and Bruce Dern, and featuring Colleen Dewhurst and Slim Pickens. It was the feature film debut of Robert Carradine. Based on the 1971 novel of the same nam ...

had been consciously omitted from the record because, according to Neil Hubbard as quoted by Stephen Tow, "

hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...

''were not a part of the creative scene that later blossomed into the grunge scene."''Tow 2011, p. 41.

Title and cover art

The title "Seattle Syndrome" refers to the predicament Seattle based bands found themselves in during the late seventies and early eighties, described by Neil Hubbard as the fact that ''"a Seattle band could produce stunning renditions of highly original tunes, to little or no support. You could do anything here, good or bad, and nobody would care."''Humphrey, Clark: ''Loser. The Real Seattle Music Story.'' Updated and revised 2nd edition, MISCmedia, Seattle, 1999, p. 71. However, due to the then underdeveloped touring and promotion circuit for underground music, almost all of the bands who left Seattle for other cities – such as the Blackouts (who relocated to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, with some of their members later joining Ministry),

art-punk Art punk is a subgenre of punk rock in which artists go beyond the genre's rudimentary garage rock and are considered more sophisticated than their peers. These groups still generated punk's aesthetic of being simple, offensive, and free-spirit ...

Chinas Comidas Chinas Comidas were an early art punk band from Seattle, Washington, that formed in 1977 and disbanded in 1980 after having moved to Los Angeles. The group combined no wave and proto-punk musical influences with frontwoman Cynthia Genser's femini ...

(

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

) or glam punk band The Fags (

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

) – only found little success abroad and split up shortly afterwards.Tow, Stephen: ''The Strangest Tribe. How a Group of Seattle Rock Bands Invented Grunge.'' Sasquatch Books, Seattle, 2011, p. 40. The album's cover art contains a picture by Mark Strathy, who was a Professor of Art at

Central Connecticut State University Central Connecticut State University (Central Connecticut, CCSU, Central Connecticut State, or informally Central) is a public university in New Britain, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1849 as the State Normal School, CCSU is Connecticu ...

in New Britain, Connecticut. Mark donated the artwork to Seattle's

EMP Museum The Museum of Pop Culture or MoPOP is a nonprofit museum in Seattle, Washington, dedicated to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. Since then MoPOP has organize ...

's permanent collection in April, 2015.

Reception and legacy

Music journalist Clark Humphrey describes "Seattle Syndrome" both as ''"the first definitive document of the Seattle new-music scene"'' and ''"a souvenir of a time that was already moving on''", since eight of the fifteen bands represented on the record had already disbanded by the time of its release.Humphrey, Clark: ''Loser. The Real Seattle Music Story.'' Updated and revised 2nd edition, MISCmedia, Seattle, 1999, p. 71. Music historian Stephen Tow regards the first volume of "Seattle Syndrome" as ''"a critical yardstick in the history of underground Seattle music"'', ranking in with other influential compilations like "

Deep Six Deep Six is an English phrase of likely nautical origins, most commonly used as a verb meaning: "To discard, get rid of, or cancel; to completely put an end to something." The term may also refer to: Audio * ''Deep Six'', a 1984 six-part BBC Radi ...

" (released in 1986 on

C/Z Records C/Z Records was a Seattle-based punk rock record label that was established in early 1985 by Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale. It started with the release of ''Deep Six'' which collected the earliest recordings of what later came to be known as g ...

) or "

Sub Pop 200 ''Sub Pop 200'' is a compilation released in the early days of the Seattle grunge scene (December 1988). It features songs (many of them first releases and otherwise unattainable) from Tad, The Fluid, Nirvana, Steven "Jesse" Bernstein, Mudhoney ...

" (released in 1988 on

Sub Pop Records Sub is a common abbreviation of words beginning with the prefix "sub-". Sub or SUB may also refer to Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB Computing and technology * , an HTML tag for subscript * SUB designate ...

). In fact, "Deep Six" producer and C/Z founder Chris Hanzsek, then living in Boston, is reported to have been inspired by the "Syndrome" compilation to move to Seattle, start his own record label and, ultimately, release his own compilation of the burgeoning Seattle music scene.Tow 2011, p. 41. Mark Baumgarten calls the record ''"a definitive compilation of songs documenting the city's punk and new wave scenes that was highly influential to the bands that went on to form the nucleus of the grunge movement"''.Baumgarten, Mark: ''Love Rock Revolution: K Records and the Rise of Independent Music''. Sasquatch Books, Seattle, 2012.

Sequel

A sequel to "Seattle Syndrome Volume One" followed in 1982 entitled "Seattle Syndrome Two", once again presenting underground bands and artists from Seattle.

Track listing

;Side A #"Vaporized" -

#"Take Me to Your (Leader)" - The Pudz #"Discover Your Feet" - Student Nurse #"Four Steps Toward a Cultural Revolution" - The Beakers #"We'll Always Be in Love" - Jim Basnight #"Someone Else's Room" - The Fastbacks #"White Power" -

#"Campaign Speech" -

#"Party 88" -

The 88's ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

;Side B #"Young Man" -

#"I'm 37" - The Macs #"Love Is a Tractor" - Philippo Scrooge #"Stationary Dance" - Savant #"The Politics of Ecstasy" - Body Falling Downstairs #"21.252" - K7SS

References

{{reflist

External links

Seattle Syndrome Volume One at Discogs.com
Punk rock compilation albums Record label compilation albums 1981 compilation albums Alternative rock compilation albums