If someone told Michael Ubaldini that dusty copies of his old band\u2019s records from four decades ago would sell for hundreds of dollars each, he probably wouldn\u2019t have believed it. Not that anyone was really rushing to tell him. Especially not the internet-savvy young fans of his obscure, \u201880s power pop band the Earwigs that followed him to his present day gigs as a singer-songwriter begging for copies of \u201cShe\u2019s So Naive\u201d pressed on 45s for a mere $20 each. To Ubaldini, 61, it (naively) appeared like he was getting the better end of the bargain.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome kids came up to me at a gig one time and asked if I had any of Earwigs\u2019 original 45s which had become a collector\u2019s item but at the time I didn\u2019t know it,\u201d said the Orange County-based musician who still gigs regularly in OC and Nashville, Tenn. \u201cI told em \u2018yeah I got couple of those.\u2019 They said \u2018Can we buy em?\u2019 So I sold them to the kids for $20 each thinking I\u2019d gotten a really good score, but they must\u2019ve felt guilty about what they paid for them because they were offering to give me some other records on top of what they paid me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not long after the dubious parking lot sale, Ubaldini went online to find that the 45s packaged in flimsy, handmade cardboard sleeves with the photo of the band pasted on the front (known as the \u201calt sleeve\u201d to the original band logo cover) were being sold for over $300 on sites like Discogs.<\/a> <\/p>\n After his initial shock subsided, Ubaldini tried selling the records himself. \u201cI had a few more and I put one online \u201cbidding starts at $100, buy it now for $350,\u201d he said. \u201cI went to breakfast and came back and somebody bought it.\u201d<\/p>\n The Earwigs perform at The Cuckoo\u2019s Nest in Costa Mesa<\/p>\n (Courtesy of Michael Ubaldini)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n The highest amount paid for a rare bootleg copy of the 45 record containing the catchy single \u201cShe\u2019s So Naive\u201d and \u201cHere Come the Earwigs\u201d was sold on Discogs for about $500.<\/p>\n This revelation, along with his desire to finally give his old band a proper album release, sparked a recent revival for The Earwig\u2019s largely forgotten legacy. On Saturday, The Earwigs\u2013fronted by Ubaldini alongside the band\u2019s original drummer Dave Reed, guitarist Oscar Munoz and bassist Jerry Adamowicz will play a long-delayed album release party at The Mamba Sports Bar & Grill in Huntington Beach for \u201cThe Earwigs\u2014Orange County 1981: The Lost Debut Album\u201d limited edition vinyl pressing. The first two pressings sold out in just five days via pre-order. Each of the pressings of 100 copies is made in a different color which are being stocked in record stores from their native OC to London and Japan.<\/p>\n The once-popular band started in 1978 and played at legendary Costa Mesa venue the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest alongside celebrated bands from the early OC punk scene like The Adolescents, T.S.O.L., Agent Orange and Social Distortion<\/a>. \u201dWe were part of that scene but we weren\u2019t a punk band\u2014we had a bit of a mod influence mixed with the energy of the Buzzcocks and the Ramones,\u201d Ubaldini said.<\/p>\n Though they never quite fit in with the bands credited for bringing Orange County punk to the world, the pompadour grit that combined Hamburg-era Beatles with sped-up bubblegum pop songs about teenage love and suburban angst carved a brief moment in the music history of the region.<\/p>\n So how did the Earwigs gain this unlikely cult following unbeknownst to its founding member?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/foAy1mFIesM\/hqdefault.jpg\")
<\/picture>