- Mande Dahl - vocals

P

- none known

Genre: new wave

Rating: ** (2 stars)

Title:  Mande Dahl

Company: Rak n' Rol Rickor'dinz

Catalog: --

Year: 1979

Country/State: New York, New York

Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+

Comments: 4 track 12" EP

Available: SOLD

Catalog ID: SOLD 4863

Price: SOLD $10.00

She's a complete unknown to me and seems to have little or no presence on the web ...  Anyone know anything about her?   Well pass it on to me.

The rather attractive Miss Dahl appears to have at least dabbled in New York's late-1970s punk/new wave scene.  One of the few things I could find about her included the fact she opened for a couple of Mission to Burma shows.   With a voice and attitude that reminded me of The Waitresses'  Patty Donahue, her four track EP was actually rather entertaining.   The only other review I've ever come across compared her voice to "the spawn of Debbie Harry and Kim Gordon."  With Dahl 'sing-talking' her way through the four tracks, material like 'Ooh, I Don't Feel Nothin'' and 'Ready To Talk' displayed a nice mix of new wave energy and humor.  She also benefited an anonymous, but surprisingly strong backing band.  It's a short project - four tracks clocking in at about thirteen minutes, but I would love to know if she recorded anything else.

"Mande Dahl" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Ooh, I Don't Feel Nothin'   (Mande Dahl) - 2:42   rating: **** stars

Admittedly Dahl didn't have the greatest voice you've ever come across, but she used her assets well on the catchy 'Ooh, I Don't Feel Nothin''.  With a great chorus, the tune was easily as commercial as anything The Waitresses released. Besides, how doesn't like a good tune about a woman looking for an unencumbered fun time?

2.) Gasafaction   (Mande Dahl) - 2:40  rating: *** stars

The song title makes me smile ...  Kicked along by some jittery synthesizers, I have no idea what it was about, but 'Gasafaction' found Dahl upping the rock factor a bit. 

(side 2)
1.) Chinaman   (Mande Dahl) - 2:35   rating: **** stars

The EP's most conventional and commercial tune (I'm using that description in a broad fashion), 'Chinaman' failed on the political correctness sensitivity scale, but had a bouncy Talking Heads vibe that made it kind of fun.  Hard to imagine anyone would now record a lyric that references "almond eyes".

2.) Ready To Talk   (Mande Dahl) - 3:58  rating: *** stars

'Ready To Talk' was a bouncy rocker with a weird '50s-meets-new-wave edge.  The performance was certainly more energetic than capable, but it was fun.

So out of the blue this email hit my inbox.

I am Mande Dahl.  Messing around with [the] idea of a 30 year reunion next May 2010.  Our official debut was in Boston on May 15, 1980.  I would like to have played out on the anniversary of our first gig at Irving Plaza on December 7, 1979 yet just couldn't pull it together...not that I haven't had 30 years to do it.  Oh well.  So I would love to see the way you have packaged my still fondly remembered, 12 inch EP.  I still have one copy.   Right now I have just been in New York although I have been hanging out in California for the last 1 1/2 years and working on a project and I'm back there now.  . What I would really like to see and hear is the CD of my record. What do I do to get one?  Let me know and I will send an address to ship a copy out West. Got more songs I want to make into a CD, best dozen of the 50 songs we recorded. Getting excited seeing all the 80's bands playing out. B52's are playing next Tuesday in the hood...so bizarre.  Hope you are well and get in touch when you are able. Cheers, 

Mande Dahl, September 2009

And lo and behold  Ms. Dahl is back out there recording and performing.  YouTube has a rather energetic 2016 clip taken from an March 2016 charity performance at Hermosa Beach, California.   Mande Dahl Performance: Hermosa Beach Garden Party 2017 - YouTube

She also has a couple of interesting videos on YouTube:

Her composition 'Afghanistan' is certainly not for the faint of heart, ': MANDE DAHL "AFGHANISTAN" MUSIC VIDEO - YouTube

One dated 2020 for a song entitled 'Uber Babies': Uber Babies - YouTube

And one with the great title 'Kitchen Bitch' Kitchen Bitch - YouTube

SRB 01/2021 updated