HoZac Books is proud to present The White Label Promo Preservation Society: 100 Flop Albums You Ought to Know, written and compiled by Sal Maida and Mitchell Cohen, who have recruited for their “society” a gang of esteemed music obsessives: musicians, label executives, and journalists who chose favorite albums from the 1960s and 1970s to rave about and expound upon. The only criterion was that the albums never made the top 100 on Billboard’s LP Top 200 (although in a few cases, they did quite well on the R&B or country chart). The selection ranges from east coast vocal-group harmony to punk and metal, from superstars like The Who and the Beach Boys to virtual unknowns.
As Sal and Mitchell write in the book’s introduction, “These are the albums you might not read about, except here. No one needs to tell you why Pet Sounds, Revolver or Blonde On Blonde are essential parts of any decent record collection, or guide you towards classics – or even somewhat lesser efforts – by the Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry or the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Or which Pink Floyd album is indispensable (hint: the debut; you can stop right there). Although we have strong opinions about pantheon artists like Led Zeppelin and Marvin Gaye, and are happy to share those views with anyone in earshot, that isn’t what this book is about. We aren’t here to challenge or endorse rock orthodoxy. Neither is the mission to, once again, assert the brilliance of Skip Spence’s Oar, of such artists as Nick Drake, Big Star, and the Velvet Underground, whose influence, despite the lack of any commercial success in their time, has been thoroughly – one might even say exhaustively – documented elsewhere.”
To help tell this story, Sal and Mitchell called on an impressive team of guest essayists: Lenny Kaye, Russ Titelman, Amy Rigby, Brian Koppelman, Dennis Diken, Bebe Buell, Jim Farber, Susan Whitall, Steve Shelley, Phil King, Ira Robbins, Billy Altman, Marshall Crenshaw, Peter Holsapple, Wreckless Eric, Peter Keepnews, Miriam Linna, Joe McEwen, and a cast of dozens. Sal Maida has played bass guitar with Roxy Music and Sparks, was a member of the snappy NYC power-pop band Milk ‘n’ Cookies, and has chronicled his exploits as fan and musician in the HoZac book Four Strings, Phony Proof, and 300 45s. There is not much about rock music in the ‘60s and ‘70s that he doesn’t know, and it was quite an ordeal getting him to hone his list of underrated, underselling albums down to manageable length for these purposes. Mitchell Cohen has been writing about music and movies since the early ’70s (CREEM, Film Comment, High Fidelity, Musician, Phonograph Record…), was a major-label A&R guy for around a quarter-century, and is the co-author of Matt Pinfield’s memoir All These Things That I’ve Done, as well as the author of an upcoming book on Arista Records for RPM/BMG Books.
What you will find out here are things like how Evie Sands, with Any Way That You Want Me, made one of the most confident and accomplished albums by a female singer-songwriter before Tapestry. You’ll find out how Bobbie Gentry followed up “Ode to Billie Joe” and the LP of that title with a haunting, mysterious concept album. You will, in all likelihood, be introduced to the quirky New York folk-rock duo of Bunky & Jake, to the art-rock of Ars Nova, and to the entrancing psych-pop of Blossom Toes. Georgie Fame, Joe South, the Hollies, Jackie DeShannon, the Impressions, the Everly Brothers, and Nico, all pop up here, often in ways you might not expect. This is a book for everyone who has gravitated to used-record stores, garage sales and flea markets in search of something he or she hasn’t encountered before. You might be at a record fair, browsing with a friend through cardboard boxes, and have that friend say, “You need to hear this,” pretty much forcing an album you’ve never heard of into your hands.
This is the book version of that.
381 pages, softcover, 3rd edition of 500
PRE-ORDER: An Ideal For Living - A Celebration of the E.P. (Extended Play) BOOK by Corey du Browa & friends
$25.99 USD
Four Strings, Phony Proof, 300 45s & Bottom's Up BOOK by Sal Maida
$23.99 USD
ALL OVER THE PLACE - The Rise of The BANGLES From the LA Underground BOOK
$34.99 USD
'PUNK UNDER THE SUN - Punk & New Wave in South Florida' BOOK by Joey Seeman and Chris Potash
$35.99 USD
BUY + Homework Expanded Debut LP –
SCREAMING URGE 'Buy' expanded Archival 1980 vinyl LP
Screaming Urge
$21.99 USD
The White Label Promo Preservation Society Volume 2 BOOK
$30.99 USD
I Don't Fit In - The Nerves & The BEAT memoir by Paul Collins with Chuck Nolan
$26.25 USD
Ways Of Seeing LP –
Gentilesky 'Ways of Seeing' debut VINYL LP
Gentilesky
$20.99 USD
I'm Immature II –
I'm Immature: The Singles II vinyl LP
Burnt Envelope
$20.99 USD
1979-84 Singles Collection –
Neon Leon 1979-84 Singles Collection vinyl LP
Neon Leon
$21.99 USD
DA - Dark Rooms b/w White Castles (original 1981 Autumn Records 7" single)
$24.99 USD
PULL DOWN THE SHADES - Garage Fanzine 1984-86 compendium BOOK by Richard Langston
$31.99 USD
Rebel Soul - BOOK by Bebe Buell
$41.99 USD
GUILTY! My Life in The Joneses, A Heroin Addict, A Bank Robber, and A Federal Inmate BOOK by Jeff Drake
$28.99 USD
Kill A Punk For Rock & Roll 1976-2019 Photographs by Marty Perez BOOK
$37.99 USD
Dust LP –
'Dust' vinyl LP (1st pressing Gold edition of 400)
The Rubs
$16.50 USD
1977-82 Archival LP –
1977-82 Archival vinyl LP by The Revelons
The Revelons
$19.99 USD
HZB-015 WICKED GAME - The True Story of Guitarist James Calvin Wilsey BOOK by Michael Goldberg
$30.99 USD
Crystal Anis –
Limiñanas - Crystal Anis vinyl LP (Black edition of 600)
The Liminanas
$19.99 USD
Offering LP –
'Offering' vinyl LP
Green/Blue
Sold Out
DISTURBING THE PEACE - 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave BOOK by Bill Kopp
$30.99 USD
DOWN THE SHORE Original Soundtrack (1981) –
DOWN THE SHORE Original Soundtrack Archival LP by Adam Roth and his Band of Men
Adam Roth and his Band of Men
$19.99 USD
Where The Wild Gigs Were BOOK (HZB-013) by Tim Hinely & Friends (softcover)
Sold Out
Soursob s/t debut LP –
Soursob s/t vinyl LP
SOURSOB
$17.99 USD
1979/80 Cincinnati –
The DENTS 1979/80 Cincinnati archival vinyl LP
The DENTS
$18.99 USD
When Can I Fly? The Sleepers, Tuxedomoon & Beyond by Michael Belfer with Will York
$24.50 USD
Pushups Is Pop – 'Pushups Is Pop' 1979-80 Archival LP
Sold Out
Fall In Love 1992-93 –
The GORLS 'Fall In Love' 1992-93 Archival LP
The GORLS
$18.99 USD
I Gotta Get Rid Of You (1980 Archival) –
14th Wish (1980 Archival) 7"
14th Wish
$8.99 USD
Undertaker LP (1980 Archival) –
'Undertaker' Limited edition 1980 Archival LP by Eddie Criss Group
Eddie Criss Group
Sold Out
The Complete Studio Works 1978-80 –
Whirlywirld - Complete Studio Works 1978-80 Limited vinyl LP
Whirlywirld
Sold Out
Diamond Distance & Liquid Fury: 1969-76 –
Diamond Distance & Liquid FURY 1969-76 archival LP
Sonny Vincent: Primitive 1969-76
Sold Out
HoZac Records Chicago, Illinois
The only reliable zit on the face of underground music, since 2006.
Streaming and Download help