Despite becoming a homeowner this year, I've discovered that I still owe taxes...so much for all those huge deductions. When I need a quick infusion of cash, the first thing I do is flip thru my CDs, looking for stuff to sell back. Of course, that's always tough because I can never seem to part with anything, no matter how long its been since I listened to it. While doing a bit of research into some of the rarer titles I have, I about plotzed when I saw Re-flex's one and only album, The Politics of Dancing, going for just a hair under $400.00 on Amazon.

That's right, $400.00. The decimal point is not misplaced. Huh, wha, huh?

While Politics is one of my favorite releases from 1983 (the absolute best year ever for music - trust me - someday I'll tell you all the reasons why), I have to admit, I'm having trouble justifying paying $400 for it. The hit title track is readily available on several compilations and the rest of the album is, mmmm, okay. Not $400 okay. More like $18.99 okay. One of the better songs from it was the second single, "Hurt", which, admittedly, sounded a bit like "The Politics...". I vaguely remember seeing the video once or twice on MTV, something to do with a male and a female robot at home, getting into a fight with the male robot exploding or something. Unfortunately, the label's assholism aggressive protection of its copyright has made it impossible to find on YouTube. I also had the 12" mix of this single, but thank my Mom for selling it in a garage sale while I was in Army Basic Training. Thanks, John's Mom!

After "Hurt's" anemic charting, Capitol Records tried again with a third single, "Praying To The Beat, that fared even worse. Not for trying, though..."Praying..." is a nice little driving number, and was the perfect album opener, if not third single. It looked like Re-flex was headed for one-hit wonderdom, unless their second album made a splash...

...alas, that second album, Humanication never saw the light of day, thanks to internal band squabbling and record company indifference. Humanication was completed, but Capitol chose not to release it, shelving it, where it collected dust for years and years until someone leaked a nice, clean DAT copy of it over the internet. A band member perhaps? Thanks to long-time LIT80s reader - let's just call him "D" - we can all hear what Humanication would have been like - here's the title track.

Wonder if that one would fetch $400?

"Hurt" peaked at #82 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Praying To The Beat" did not chart.
"Humanication" was never released.

Get re-flex music on Amazon for...heck, I'll sell ya mine for just $350 and throw in free shipping! Stupid IRS...

Labels: out of print, re-flex, unreleased