Teenage Neon Jungle (Rare & Unreleased)

The Los Angeles quartet Candy might have made it big had power pop been promoted in the '80s by Sunset Strip–lurking A&R types with satin jackets and bottomless credit cards. And while that vision may have been unrealistic back then, it’s aged amazingly well over the years. The collection opens with the sugary title track to Candy's sole album, 1985's Whatever Happened to Fun. The PolyGram-signed Candy had a secret weapon that none of its peers possessed: guitarist Gilby Clarke. He brought in a pop-metal style that would later suit him better as a member of Guns N’ Roses. You can hear how ahead of the curve he was in 1981's “Daddy Is a Jet,” Candy's first recorded demo. Here, Clarke injects the band’s burgeoning blend of bubblegum, power pop, and new wave with searing heavy metal leads that made him Izzy Stradlin’s replacement 10 years later. The 2003 compilation Teenage Neon Jungle abounds with other gems, especially Candy's pristine cover of The Beatles’ “She Loves You” recorded at a 1985 performance at The Palace in Hollywood.