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elcome to the Digital Meltd0wn Music Blog. The aim of this blog is to introduce the readers to music that is out of print, commercially unavailable, released under a creative commons license, or with approval by the featured artist. The majority of the music posted here would be considered underground. Don't let that fool you into thinking that the music featured here might be any less enjoyable than that of the mainstream artists you hear on the radio, as this couldn't be further from the truth. Please keep in mind that the majority of the artists that appear on this blog, along with their respective record labels, are not wealthy and need your support. If you enjoy the material that you find here, please support the artists/labels by purchasing their material afterwards. If you are an artist/label that would prefer to have your material removed from this blog, simply leave me a comment, and I would be more than happy to promptly remove the offending post. In addition to running this blog, I also work on a few other projects during my spare time. You can find links to those, as well as a few other important links associated with Digital Meltd0wn in the menu bar above.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

The Blues Astronauts - No Sanctuary

The Blue Astronauts - No Sanctuary Album Cover

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not Harvard -- Yale. (Jonathan Edwards college, class of '82.)

Check out this link for pictures:
http://mds.gotdns.com/gallery/bluesast

said...

Anon,
Thanks for the link to the photogs.
& the Harvard - Yale correction.
Wish there was some more info.

Zer0_II said...

This is a rare treat indeed. I didn't have much luck digging up info on these guys either. last.fm didn't even have a single track scrobbled by them, which is very rare, even for an obscure vinyl album released in limited quantities. I've just started listening to the album, but I really like what I've had a chance to listen to so far. Thanks for sharing this little treasure with us.

Zer0_II said...

Testing

Ian said...

This is intense, and I haven't heard anything quite like it. I downloaded and listened before I read the post and thought "these guys must be from the Boston area in the 80's".

I tip my hat to their excellent taste when dealing with such a tricky fusion of genres.

Anonymous said...

To All: The Blues Astronauts were a Yale band, most of them in Jonathan Edwards College there, and all graduating in 1982. After graduation, they stayed together--with one leaving--and ended up in Boston for a year or so before all going separate ways. At Yale, they were a popular band, playing lots of Saturday night gigs in the colleges, as well as shows at Toad's Place, a blues festival at Brandeis (with some big names like Matt Guitar Murphy and Koko Taylor headlining), and concerts at other schools local area colleges like Trinity. They were known for long and good shows: they had a lot of fun, were guys with really different backgrounds and talents, and a good sound, a blues/jazz and even funk fusion. No Sanctuary, I gather, was cut in a studio in Hartford, basically in one day. The guys cut 500 copies, put stickers randomly on the back of the album, and sold them to friends to pay the bills.

said...

To Anonymous,
Thanks for the info about the Astronauts. There is little about them on the interweb, so I knew it would be up to folks who might have known them or known of them to fill in the blanks. I would have loved to have seen them live, but in 1982 I was on the left coast. I love that they hand made the album covers, & limited to 500 copies, I am indeed fortunate to have one. I have always cherished it, but now, even more. Thanks again.

Ian said...

Did any of your copies of this record have an enclosed press kit? I recently got a copy on ebay, and it included a 3-page photocopied press kit consisting of:

1. A cover letter from their manager with a short bio and description of the band's sound. The letter is from their manager, a guy named Michael H. Smith, and is worded as if addressing a college radio station or independent label or publication ("As an outlet for independent music, you obviously play a large role...").

2. A standard one sheet with a list of the things the band has done and their plans and contact info.

3. A photocopy of the cover of the Boston Phoenix August 10, 1982 on which is a picture of them playing live, and a short blurb about them from the inside is pasted on.

Pretty cool. I scanned them for you guys:

http://thebigbigbucks.battlemounta.in/other/blues_astronauts_1.png
http://thebigbigbucks.battlemounta.in/other/blues_astronauts_2.png
http://thebigbigbucks.battlemounta.in/other/blues_astronauts_3.png

said...

Ian,

Thanks for the scans. I wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in them or not so I didn't include them. Appreciate you taking the time.

Again, the scans are at
http://thebigbigbucks.battlemounta.in

individual pages:
/other/blues_astronauts_1.png
/other/blues_astronauts_2.png
/other/blues_astronauts_3.png

Thanks again

Charlotte said...

hey, my dad is mike albrecht, guitarist. he's a public school teacher in philadelphia and still playing music! primarily with these guys: www.thebluesmessengers.com

this was a great write-up. i showed my dad!

said...

Charlotte,
Thanks for the reply. It is so totally kool that your dad got to read it. I am stoked & honored. Thank you for taking the time to reply. This album is one of my favorite vinyl treasures. Tell your dad, from this humble soul, great job. & thanks for the link to what he's doing today.

G.B. said...

Any chance this might be re-uploaded, please?

Marbs said...

Ditto ... I tried to upload but the link is dead.

Zer0_II said...

G.B. & Anonymous: I'll reupload this soon. Thank you for pointing out that the download link was dead.

Anonymous said...

Dead link :'(. I'll search the web for a working one... Thanks anyway!

Ian said...

Here's a download for the time being: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3271853/The%20Blues%20Astronauts.rar

Bre said...

Thanks, ian.

Anonymous said...

Ian,
Thanks for re-posting the album. I saw the Blues Astronauts perform several times while I was at Yale (PC class of 1984). I have a cassette copy of the song Sanctuary recorded over the air from the campus radio station WYBC. I've been haunted for the last 30 years by my memories of groovin' to the band and am thrilled to finally find the info and the songs.
Thank you to the blog and all the posters.
-Serdar
January 2012

Nathaniel said...

Like Charlotte, my dad was also in this band: Jonathan (Boo) Elmer. He is currently the chair of the english department at Indiana University. I hope he doesn't get mad that I'm exposing his lifelong nickname. Funny to me that you guessed he was still in music, but he still plays trombone regularly with other professors who moonlight as jazz musicians! Keepin' the dream alive!

said...

I was just reading through the comments on this post as I was re-uploading it. These comments are the real reason I keep blogging & sharing rare & unusual musick. Especially personal anecdotes from Charlotte & Nathaniel (offspring of the Astronauts themselves) or pertinent information & valuable additions from obvious musick fans like Ian. To you & everyone else who commented here, my eternal gratitude.