Things Your Mother Never Told You

Jayne/Wayne County's most audacious album is also possibly among the most important of its age. Released in 1979, just as new wave was teetering on the brink of a bold step forward, Things Your Mother Never Told You was one of the sudden shoves that sent it sprawling into its destiny.

Electro-punk starts here. Producer David Cunningham takes only part of the credit; years later he would lead the Flying Lizards into heavily stylized electronica. But County's songs match his ambitions, from the harsh soundscapes behind C3 to the soft-spoken paranoia of Waiting for the Marines and on to Berlin.

It's not all electro-art smarts. Boy With the Stolen Face and Wonder Woman are archetypal Electric Chairs, while the murder mystery Wall City Girl could have fallen off a forgotten volume of Nuggets or Pebbles. The title track seethes with the promise that made County the superstar (s)he nearly was.