Darkroom (Canada)

For this one we have to delve back, deep into my childhood and with that back to one of my big Idols and Heroes… Lumpi von Schlotterstein. Lumpi was one of the Characters in the TV show ‘The little Vampire’ (Or ‘Der kleine Vampier’ as we knew it in Germany). Lumpi was played by the Canadian Actor/Musician Jim Gray, who probably single handedly influenced more children then any other tv personality in Germany… every boy wanted to be like him, and every girl had a crush on him… well, at least that’s how I remember it. ;-)

But to get back to the subject, besides singing the title-song (Which you will find a bit further down) for the series, Jim Gray already was an established musician in Canada. He released two Albums with his Band ‘Darkroom’, ‘San Paku’ in 1983 and ‘A test of time’ in 1985. Both Albums are a bitch to find in Germany, and I only got my Hands on the first one because my wife found it and recognized Jim on the cover. (That’s what you get for marrying a german guy, you will have to watch strange but really cool TV for children. )
When you are listening to ‘San Paku’ you can clearly hear that this is an '80s band, not that there is anything wrong with it. There are a lot of comparable bands out there, so I will not even try to drop a name here, I highly suggest everybody listens to it and picks one for them self. But all in all it’s a decent Album and fun to listen to. Having this strong childhood connection to this man may influence my point of view here, but there is nothing wrong with a little bit of Hero Worship.

Jim Gray - They can See in the Dark

As a conclusion I can only say that it is a relief to have an alternative to ‘They can see in the dark’ to spin at parties… ;-)

San Paku 1983

In Dim Light 3:35
Leave It To Heaven 3:45
Tears Hold No Cure 3:45
Proven Guilty 3:32
It's Cold Out Here 3:44
San Paku 5:06
Don't Talk 3:30
Some Stories Never Change 5:23
Pressure 4:06

Bonus from EP:
Detective Man 3:22

And if you have never seen ‘The little Vampire’ you should really search for it, it’s an amazing show.
But be careful, it needs to be the Original German/Canadian co-production from 1985, there was another series and a movie later, and both are really bad… most likely because they don’t have Jim Gray playing Lumpi. ;-)