While I may be a funk/soul/jazz/blues kinda guy, I do love my 80's Alternative Rock and New Wave. I love the uptempo, driving drum beats, throbbing, pulsating basslines, and sometimes an occasional hint of electronica here and there. But often the vocal performances of this genre are rather muted. They don't really wail much, so far as I can remember. Remember Yazoo and New Order and The B-52s? They barely "sung" at all.

However, witness "One Step" by a band called Felony, from their album The Fanatic (1983). The lead singer, Jeffrey Spry, was associated with side band projects of The MC5 and Iggy & The Stooges, so it makes sense that his howling verses on this track are actually punk.

Remember, no auto-tuning or digital trickery here, that's his voice and only his voice.

With a liberal dose of reverb, this song is haunting, perhaps moreso as Jeffrey sadly committed suicide on March 9, 1992, just a day before the re-release of The Fanatic album, now considered a classic.