Numero Group is an archival record label based in Chicago that exists to excavate gems from the past -- they create compilations of previously released music and reissue original albums. They're great at what they do.
Recently they've put out tons of material by incredible bands like Unwound, and Sandy Denny & The Strawbs. Their discography is vast and filled treasures.
Their latest may be the best work they've done to date, though. They've unearthed a UHF show from the 1980s, The Chicago Party, and have now released a boxset of all the magic they've rescued from the past.
"For 23 straight Saturday nights of 1982, The Chicago Party dance show assaulted Chicagoland UHF eyeballs" the description on Numero's site about the project says.
That assault came courtesy of "Spandex, Southside fly guys, tender tenderonies, magicians, contortionists, prismatic video gimmickry, and lip-synched singles by a rising regime of local post-disco casualties."
It's quite impressive, so we asked Numero how it all came together.
"While researching a Pieces of Peace project a few years ago, a few of our guys were in the living room of Willie Woods, who had produced the unreleased LP by this legendary Chicago group," Numero's Jon Kirby tells BuzzFeed Music. "Willie's a pretty deep guy. One thing led to another, and Willie mentioned having all of the U-matic masters to a television show he'd produced in the '80s called The Chicago Party. He explained that there was a theme song, musical guests, skits -- a pretty sophisticated operation. Once we were able to get all of the footage digitized, we were blown away."
It's easy to see why.
"You are lucky to catch glimpses of this kind of stuff on YouTube," Kirby tells BuzzFeed Music, "and here we were sitting on 12 hours of high-grade, independently produced Southside variety show magic."
"It provided a pretty fascinating look at what exactly was going on in Chicago -- sonically, visually, and culturally -- during the early '80s and we knew it would make a great fit in the Numero catalog," Kirby says.
The research Numero did to unearth The Chicago Party is impressive as well: "We licensed the footage from Woods, and set to finding all of the performers from the show. Often these artists were only identified by their first name--sometimes a nickname."
"Some of these groups were established recording concerns with major label recording contracts and others were completely undocumented," Kirby tells BuzzFeed Music. "Eventually, we found all but a few of the artists; some remembered exactly what they were wearing when they appeared on the show, while some didn't remember appearing on the show at all."
Kirby continues: "One of the most special discoveries made during this research process was discovering the Universal Togetherness Band, a group that appeared on episode 21 -- only two episodes from the end."
"It turns out they recorded dozens of songs, despite having never released anything during their five years as a band. We ended up releasing an entire album by the Universal Togetherness Band, a group that we would have never encountered were it not for The Chicago Party," says Kirby. "And the Universal Togetherness Band is great! I don't mean to sound dramatic, but I can't imagine life without their music."
It's easy to see why in the short Instagram snippet above.
All the clips from the show are pretty special, though.
Even when they go awry.
Thanks Numero Group, for bringing this show back to life.
You can order Ultra High Frequencies: The Chicago Party boxset on the label's site -- "Unfettered nightlife and outlandish humor poured out of oddball outpost The CopHerBox II and onto TV screens, presented here as a 100 minute video mixtape on DVD. Its companion compilation features five previously unreleased tracks, joined by music culled from a trove of self-released 45s and small-time 12"s. Die-cut cathode-ray jacket and six in-package stills put the Party at your fingertips."