Album Notes

Formed in 1980 by songwriter Chris Newman and originally called The Untouchables, the band that became Napalm Beach premiered at Portland's Long Goodbye opening for The Rats (The Rats were Fred and Toody later of Dead Moon, with drummer Sam Henry, formerly of the Wipers). Sam Henry left The Rats to join forces with Newman in October of 1981, and Napalm Beach was born.

Recorded in 1985, "Moving To And Fro" was Sam and Chris's fifth full-length album. It was self-released on cassette in 1986, and on vinyl (in Europe only) in 1988.

Newman says that he "wrote the songs with his head in the space of a 14-year old boy, inspired by that time when Music was his Sanctuary." Chris played bass, guitar, and sang, and Sam played drums. Soundman Tom Robinson recorded them in a Portland warehouse on 8-track.

In 1988 German label, "Love's Simple Dreams" released "Moving To And Fro" on vinyl, but rearranged the song order and added three extra songs. Still, the German release received critical acclaim in Europe, and Napalm Beach's first European tour followed in 1989. Though cassettes were made and distributed underground, "Moving To And Fro" was never formally released in the United States.

Skullman's 2009 vinyl transfer / re-release of "Moving To And Fro," features the correct songs, in the correct order, as originally conceived by Newman. These ten tracks contain eleven beautiful songs, two of them (Frenzy and Red Blooded) joined by a classic Sam Henry drum solo.

"Moving To And Fro" is a true underground lo-fi rock classic.