A Necessary Collection (1978-1982) (Remastered) The Necessaries

• 1 Law And Order 03:40
• 2 I Feel Tension 03:25
• 3 I Do 02:30
• 4 Dancing Out Of Time 03:05
• 5 Runaway Child (Minors Beware) [Alternate Version] 03:18
• 6 Detroit Tonight (Alternate Version) 02:51
• 7 Snake Dancing 02:44
• 8 Working 03:50
• 9 Paceways (Alternate Version) 04:09
• 10 Big Sky 04:12
• 11 The Dark Side Of Me 03:39
• 12 Tachito In The White Meredes Benz 04:13
• 13 New Strangers In Town 03:56
• 14 Skylife 04:05
• 15 The Dancing Girls Of Windsor 03:36
• 16 My First Idea 03:43
• 17 3rd Generation 04:16
• 18 The Exterminator 04:35
• 19 A Detective Story 04:14
• 20 Jerry Leaves The Small Town 03:29
• 21 Mona Lisa On My Arm 03:34
• 22 The World Is Loud 03:12
• Total Runtime 01:20:16

Info for A Necessary Collection (1978-1982) (Remastered)

“The group has no niche, it doesn’t fit in anywhere,” explains Necessaries drummer Jesse Chamberlain in a 1980 Melody Maker interview. “We just state the facts about life in America, like The Clash did about England, but we’re not so heavy about it.”

The Necessaries rose from the ashes of Harry Toledo and The Rockets, a little-known New York art-rock band playing gigs at Max’s Kansas City during glam’s metamorphosis into punk. The Necessaries came together in 1978 and in the too-brief lifespan of the band counted among their members, Ed Tomney (Rage To Live, Luka Bloom), Jesse Chamberlain (Red Crayola), Ernie Brooks (Modern Lovers), Arthur Russell (The Flying Hearts), Randy Gun (Love Of Life Orchestra).

First championed by John Cale on the strength of Tomney’s songs, Cale produced their first single for Spy Records (under the I.R.S. umbrella) which was released in 1979. With the forward momentum brought about by the single, the band set about tracking demos intended for Warner Bros, but The Necessaries ultimately would sign to Seymour Stein’s Sire Records. These rough demo basic tracks lacked overdubs, mixes and any finishing touches that would have made them viable for commercial release, but due to tour commitments, the band had to put the sessions on hold to hit the road. While on tour, the band was shocked to discover that Sire had issued the unfinished tracks as their debut album Big Sky (issued in 1981).

The band had Big Sky withdrawn and replaced with Event Horizon (issued in 1982) which included half the original tracks from Big Sky and continued to record throughout 1982 aiming for a follow-up. It was not to be and their final studio sessions remained unissued until now.

Completely Necessary (Anthology 1978–1982) is the first authorised collection of recordings by The Necessaries and includes 37 tracks, 28 of which are previously unissued. Completely Necessary represents the most accurate musical history of the band laid out across three albums.

Album notes by Michael IQ Jones trace the history of the band for this compilation produced by The Necessaries’ Ed Tomney and Cheryl Pawelski (Omnivore Recordings). The audio has been restored and mastered by Michael Graves at Osiris Studio.

Finally, an essential missing piece of the late ’70s/early ’80s New York scene that was just slightly ahead of the college alt-rock soon to come, is finally available to rediscover—this time it’s authorized and absolutely necessary.

The Necessaries

Digitally remastered

Please Note: We offer this album in its native sampling rate of 48kHz, 24-bit. The provided 96kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

The Necessaries Formed in 1978 from the ranks of Downtown ensemble The Flying Hearts, The Necessaries were very much a band of their times. Their sound – a sleek, melodic take on new wave – was largely the design of founder and frontman Ed Tomney, and Russell entered the band on cello and keyboards at the suggestion of the group’s bassist, Ernie Brooks, formerly of the Modern Lovers. The group released two records on Sire, 1981’s Big Sky and 1982’s Event Horizon – the latter a rejigged version of their debut with a few Russell originals. But the confines of a touring rock band proved too limiting for the mercurial Russell, and by the release of the latter he’d jumped ship. One day in spring 1981, the band were driving to Washington DC when they hit traffic at the Holland Tunnel. Seemingly on a whim, Russell grabbed his cello, opened the door, and fled.

Without Arthur Russell, The Necessaries would have been a solid powerpop ensemble – a little Talking Heads, a little Cheap Trick, with subtle but nagging melodies and a likeable bounce to their rhythms. But spin Event Horizon and you can hear Russell actively nudging the group towards the margins. “Everyone wanted to make a commercial record, and Arthur was the curmudgeon, the anti-guy,” remembered producer Bob Blank in Tim Lawrence’s Russell biography Hold On To Your Dreams: Arthur Russell And The Downtown Music Scene. “He totally knew what to do musically, and then he would deliberately put people in an awkward position and make them claw their way out.”

This album contains no booklet.