When I originally got involved in working on the liner notes to the Wanna Meet the Scruffs? CD reissue in late 1997, I of course went back and listened to that classic LP many times over. “Man, this is so good! I wonder what their second LP would have sounded like?” I mused aloud. (Sure, I talk to myself; doesn’t everyone?) I had heard from people in the know, like Not Lame Records honcho Bruce Brodeen, that the Scruffs’ unreleased second album was “killer.” While I trust Bruce’s opinion almost implicitly, I cautiously adopted a “wait and see” attitude, ’cause I’ve always been of the opinion that most unreleased music remains unreleased for a very good reason—it’s not really all that great.

Well, about a month or so later, I received a note from The Main Scruff himself, Stephen Burns, asking if I would be interested in penning some liner notes for the second, heretofore unreleased, Scruffs LP, Teenage Gurls. Never one to resist a non-paying job (ha, ha), I agreed, and Stephen sent me out a CD-R of the fifteen tracks that comprise the little digital piece of pop you’re holding as I speak.

Before receiving the CD, trepidation set in: “What if I don’t like the music all that much? What if it doesn’t match up to Wanna Meet the Scruffs? What if it’s not the amazing, should-have-been follow-up that I’ve heard it is?” (Geez, there goes that Borack, talking to himself again!)

Well, let me tell you, any such fears were quickly alleviated when the Teenage Gurls disc made its way to my CD changer. To put it mildly, I was floored! This CD is the natural follow-up to the Scruffs’ debut; from start to finish, it’s full of the same passion-fueled, heart-twisting power pop, albeit with a little more polish. As Stephen Burns says today, “We simply wanted to define our style of anglo power-pop a bit more clearly and we wanted the musicianship to go up a notch as well. But the passion, rage and fury needed to remain, perhaps with a little bit more clarity.”

Listen to this disc, and try to deny that the Scruffs succeeded in achieving Burns’ mission; tracks like the Buddy Holly-influenced “Danger”, “Edge of Disaster” and especially “Treachery” all have large doses of the passion, rage and fury that Burns speaks of. Matter of fact, in the frantic “Treachery,” Burns emotes like a power-popper at the end of his romantic rope, spitting out the lyrics as if he’s exorcising demons. And in “Edge of Disaster,” the rather desperate lyrics (”Everybody’s got to go sometime/and I think tonight must be my time” and “If I had a second chance/I’d do it all again except for romance”) belie the boppy melody.

There are plenty of other first-rate popsongs on the CD as well, but first, let’s answer the most obvious question: “Why in the name of Eric Carmen wasn’t this CD released 20 years ago?” Well?

After the Scruffs debut began garnering scads of favorable critical notices in late ‘77, the guys began catching the ears of some major record labels, such as Warner Brothers. In mid-’78, the Scruffs began recording some new Stephen Burns and David Branyan material (”I wrote songs constantly,” says Stephen) in the hopes of presenting it to the Brothers Warner and getting a record deal.

After completing the sessions (several of the tunes are present and accounted for on this here comp), the Scruffs headed to New York, where they plied their pop trade in clubs such as CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City. Stephen Burns picks up the story: “Warner Brothers did not sign the group based on the six tracks we presented them [all of which are included here], but we continued to play in New York until the late fall of 1978, when, due to “love” problems, bassist Rick Branyan decided to return to Memphis. [Drummer] Zeph Paulson, [lead guitarist] David Branyan and I recruited a New York City bassist (Steve Wood) to replace Rick.”

“In February or March of 1979,” Burns continues, “David Branyan suffered an incident on stage at Max’s Kansas City and simply could not go on anymore. He, then, chose to return to Memphis.” A local NYC guitarist, Steve O’Rourke, was tabbed to replace David Branyan.

By this time, Burns says he was being influenced by the “Nick Lowe and the Knack elements” on the radio, and began writing a new batch of tunes in that sort of vein to attract more label attention. In late ‘79, the new Scruffs lineup returned to the fabled Ardent Studios in Memphis to record a dozen or so more tracks, most of which appear on Teenage Gurls. More NY touring followed—including stints opening for Chuck Berry, Johnny Thunders and Peter Noone (!)—but still no record deal.

Finally, in late 1981, Burns and the rest of the Scruffs decided to pack it in, still not having ever released any of the twenty-odd tunes that they had recorded after the first LP (the exception being a one-off single of “Teenage Gurls” b/w David Branyan’s Chuck Berry-flavored raver “Shakin” that was released in the U.S. and Germany).

So, that, in a nutshell, is the poop on how and why some of the best power-pop recordings of the late ’70s/early ’80s never were released. But thankfully, two decades on, these magical Scruffs recordings have been compiled on CD by Stephen Burns, so pop fans can hear what they missed out on the first time around.

From the straight-between-the-eyes power-pop pleasures of the winning title track and the blatant Cheap trick-isms of the snappy “How We Gonna Do It?” (Think “Southern Girls” with a little kick in the pants towards the end) to the pounding drums and clever wordplay of the near-perfect “Boys/Girls Get Their Own Way” and the “Raspberries-Meet-The Ramones-in-Memphis” pop of “Alice, Please Don’t Go” (written by Burns about a girlfriend of Zeph Paulson’s), this is prime, juicy, Grade A stuff through and through.

Burns’ pleading voice puts the icing on the Scruffs’ cake, whose other layers are deliciously filled by Zeph Paulson’s big beat (he particularly shines on “How We Gonna Do It?” and “Boys/Girls”) and David Branyan and Steve O’Rourke’s economical guitar sounds. The incredible thing is, not one of these tunes sounds dated in the least; it wouldn’t be unreasonable to hear, for example, “Go Faster” or “Nick of Tyme” (Bonnie Raitt stole that one from ya, Steve!) on the radio in 1998.

In short, Teenage Gurls is vital pop music. It was vital 20 years ago, and I’ve got a funny feeling that it—and the Scruffs—will remain vital 20 years from now. ‘Cause you see, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

John M. Borack
March 21, 1998

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