"Our Secret" b/w "What's Important"
Beat Happening
"K" Records, 1984

While I never liked the Beat Happening debut LP the way others took to it, I did like this single or at least the B-side ("What's Important"). It features a quiet, poppy Heather song about the things left unsaid between two friends. A slowed down Jonathan Richman, I think, and a good example of what some of the original (modern) lo-fi sounded like. Lyrics are here.

Beat Happening, if you didn't know, are the modern progentitors of what has blossomed into a rather healthy lo-fi movement and this came off their first LP. Calvin, who sings and strums, runs the Olympia-based"K" Records. The A-side ("Our Secret) is sorta what turns me off about them. Despite the sweet lyrics, Calvin singing in his off-key, and that voice makes me tired and queasy for some reason. I'm sure it's just me. Someday I'll have to put together a mix CD with just Heather songs and maybe one or two Calvins.

"What's Important" (201 kbps VBR; 2.9Mb)

Notes:

• If you not familiar with Beat Happening, you can download more of their stuff plus lots of the other bands on "K" Records
• One factoid - to my knowledge Beat Happening has never covered another artist or band (at least in their recorded material). All songs 100% originals. They have been covered, though, themselves. There's also a tribute album with Scrawl, Sonic Youth (Kim and Thurston, at least) and Superchunk contributing...
  
• Both sides, in fact the entire debut album that later came out, was produced by Portland's Greg Sage
• Beat Happening's First Fan Page
• You can also buy this song on the debut LP - CD Universe has a good price