Before the East Coast new-wave circuit had a map, The Shades were already driving it. Formed in Central New Jersey from the high-school group Nobody Special, the six-piece developed it's own songs while holding down four-set bar nights and carrying them to the Hot Club, City Gardens, the 9:30 Club, the Rat and Bookies. They shared stages with the Mumps and, in September 1979, The Police. Between 1978 and 1980, sound engineer John DeMarzo captured The Shades in the Evans brothers' basement on a TEAC quarter-inch four-track machine. Basement Sessions 1978-1980 gathers nineteen of those previously unreleased demos, then adds both sides of the band's 1979 Go-Go single, ""Hello Mr. Johnson"" b/w ""Are You My Angel?,"" originally distributed in Britain through Rough Trade. Four-track tapes, six musicians and hooks enough to escape the basement. Liner notes by David M. Snyder. Remastered by Prof. Stoned.