THE SPACE NEGROS Dig Archaeology (1980 - 1990) 1992

Tracklist 

1	Nazz IV	2:45
2	I Wanna Be Your Dog	2:56
3	The Best Things In Life Are Free	3:02
4	Little League	1:09
5	Go Dorothy Go (Do The Bible)	3:04
6	Sweep	0:38
7	Heart Full Of Soul	3:25
8	Batwa Pygmy Chorus	2:24
9	Crossfire/Tea For Two/Cha Cha Cha	5:32
10	I Don't Care	2:49
11	Go Commercial	3:40
12	Happenings Ten Years Time Ago (Revisited)	3:07
13	Back In The U.S.S.R.	4:28
14	Go To Hell	4:40
15	And Many, Many More	4:11
16	In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida	2:26
17	Too Much Talk	3:46
18	Double-Talking Heads	0:34
19	Sex Bomb	5:49
20	Robot	3:02
21	The Eighth Sea	3:00
22	The End Of Tradition	6:45
23	Fireman/Spaceman	2:39

 From Trouser Press

SPACE NEGROS

Maximum Control From Moment to Moment EP (Sounds Interesting) 1979
The Space Negros Go Commercial EP (Arf Arf) 1980 + 1984
Have a Lousy Xmas EP (Jingle Jungle/Arf Arf) 1981
The Space Negros Do Generic Ethnic Muzak Versions of All Your Favorite Underground Punk/Psychedelic Songs from the Sixties (Arf Arf) 1987
FAMILY FUN
Record (Eat) 1981


Before there was a Mission of Burma, two of its future founders played in this Boston group, alongside keyboardist/producer Erik Lindgren, a future member of Birdsongs of the Mesozoic. The 7-inch Maximum Contrast contains six offbeat offerings of experimental synth'n'tape tricks.
That same year, the original Space Negros fell apart; Go Commercial (shades of the Residents), another 7-inch with eight songs, is actually a Lindgren solo record. His upbeat pop songs — sort of a synth-happy R. Stevie Moore — are witty and sophisticated. The B-side includes a cover of the Yardbirds' "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago." The 1980 rendition of that classic took a Kraftwerkian electro-pop approach; the record's 1984 reissue replaced it with a heavy metal guitar version. Have a Lousy Xmas offers a topical foursome of laughable ill cheer originals (e.g., "Jingle Hell") played by Lindgren with Space Negro alumnus Roger Miller and others.
The windily titled album, recorded between 1981 and 1985 with a large number of instrumental contributors, consists entirely of exotically idiomatic (raga, bluegrass, Balkan, etc.) easy-listening instrumental interpretations of songs originally popularized by such venerable musical organizations as the Seeds, Who, Easybeats, Balloon Farm, Smoke, 13th Floor Elevators, Hotlegs and Tomorrow. Not as conceptually explosive as the Residents perhaps, but delightful.
Flipper may have a gripe against Public Image for lifting their concept of a generic record sleeve, but Family Fun — a Lindgren-led quartet — has them both beat. The cover of their 1981 EP (one side of four electro-pop tunes with Sara Goodman providing folkie vocals over the slightly off-kilter backing and a side of instrumental "EZ Listening Music") mimics the no-name products in grocery stores by carrying only the word "RECORD" stenciled over "Net Wt. 4.9 Oz. (45 RPM.) 135 g."
[Ira Robbins]