L’Amour – Look To The Artist: 1978-1981

When admiring a piece of cultural and historical significance it’s not uncommon for the admirer to question where it all began; to trace it all back to the epicenter of the event that set it all into motion. If RICKY AND THE WHITE BOYS were the punk rock meteor that crashed into an unsuspecting Richmond, VA in the age of disco then L’AMOUR was the shock wave immediately following that fabled and chaotic impact event, forever altering the cultural landscape within the city limits. Formed in 1978 by a couple of disciples of rock and roll who’d had their lives altered by said genre / belief system in the years prior to that, Tom Applegate and Dave Stover recruited other like minded rockers to aid them in their aural conquest over the next few years that followed in the group’s all too brief existence. In that time they left behind a trail of broken bottles, perhaps a few broken hearts, and definitely some perturbed club owners up and down the east coast. But most importantly, the fellas in L’AMOUR left us with documentation of their rock in the form of some long forgotten tapes. Nearly 40 years after the band entered the studio to lay down tracks for their first and only 7″ single on the band’s own legendary ZERO DEGREE RECORDS (a label that became synonymous with the release and widespread circulation of the early Richmond punk scene that was soon to follow), Beach Impediment is proud to not only re-release those classic songs but also bring to light a slew of previously unreleased tracks, alternate demo takes, and even a rare later era soundboard recording of the band live in their hometown that exhibits a grip of originals that sadly never made it into the studio before the band’s untimely demise the day before Reagan took office. Lovingly transferred from the original 1/4″ reels (some of which were a wee bit moldy after years of being M.I.A. but were thankfully salvaged via professional cleaning) along with a new mastering job, these tracks hit harder than ever! Members would go on to play in other classic and ground breaking Richmond bands like BEEX and THE PREVARICATORS. Each record comes with a fold out 12″ x 24″ double sided insert chock full of archival photos and flyers plus liner notes from Tommy the Rock himself that give the reader a glimpse into the counter-cultural explosion of the late 70’s / early 80’s in the land once known as Dixie. Electric guitars were (and still are) their only desire. Limited to 500 copies.

Beach Impediment Records – BIR-032