Epic Records did a lot of things right in the '70s, like signing all the bands that would get them through the '80s, but one of the things they did that does not get enough credit was their two volume run of "Exposed" various artist compilations.
Each volume was a two-album set priced at $3.98 (a sweet deal in 1981) featuring two songs each from a number of up & coming artists that are now considered seminal, if not legendary (some are, some aren't).
"Exposed I" included The Boomtown Rats, Rosanne Cash (yum, did I type that out loud?), Judas Priest (yum, yeah, what's it to ya?), the Romantics (damn!), Ellen Foley, Stevie Forbert, Ian Gomm, the Sorrows, Adam & The Ants, Garland Jeffries, and Loverboy before they were went all "Hot Girls In Love" and lost the new wave vote.
It was an opportunity for someone like me - not exactly close to any record store that would carry ALL of these titles at the time - to at least sample a smattering of the artists I was constantly reading about. I remain a huge fan and more than half of the artists on this comp, amazingly.
Others, like Sorrows and Forbert, I enjoyed on this comp but have still never seen a copy of their Epic output in a store. If I ever do, stand back!
"Exposed II" came along in 1982 and stuck to the same concept, offering two cuts each from Billy Thorpe, Gary Myrick, The Hitmen, Tommy Tutone, Psychedelic Furs, Harlequin, Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons (sooooo rare now), Orchestral Maneuvres In The Dark, Karla DeVito, The Whitford/St. Holmes Band, and, last but not least, Holly & The Italians, whose "Tell That Girl To Shut Up" stole the show.
At a time when Joan Jett & The Go-Go's were topping the charts, one would have thought Holly & The Italians, working with the same producer (the legendary Richard Gottehrer) could have trotted into the Top 40 with this vampy anthem.
Sadly, the band lasted only one album and then Holly further confused the marketplace by calling her first solo album Holly & The Italians.