SPONSORS - SPONSORS (1982)
In '79, the Handgrenades issued what would become the best UK DIY punk single not actually from the UK: their "Demo to London" b/w "Coma Dos" 45, self-released in an undetermined quantity on the band's unnamed imprint.
With the decade now coming to a close, the band's 45 had filled a coveted slot in the jukebox at CBGB's ("and David Byrne used to play it!" comments Kern). The band had also dropped the Handgrenades moniker and adopted another: the Sponsors. They maintained the same line-up -- Kern on vocals and guitar, Steve La Cava on bass, Dave Kilmartin on second guitar, Pellicoro on drums -- but the name change signalled a pop maturation of their sound. They would, however, retain some of their nervous and edgy tunes, like "Murder in the U.S.," a Handgrenades original.
Then, Plexus secured the Dictators' Andy Shernoff as producer and sent the Sponsors to their first real recording facility: Skyline Studios on 31st St. in Manhattan. Under the direction of a more confident and proficient Kern and Pellicoro, the Sponsors skirted new-wave and power-pop territory with their underrated eponymous LP of '82.
The Sponsors' one and only long-player brought the band collegiate radio play and a modicum of attention, but it failed to propel them starward. They continued to gig around NYC and the surrounding area whenever they could. Their dissolution was a quiet one.
Fortunately, Numero Group issued 2005's Prefill: Yellow Pills 2xCD compilation, a power-pop collection that included the Sponsors'"In And Out of Love" and "Love I Can't Wait," both strong pop numbers from their LP.
ZS (157 mb)