The New Yorkers, the late-1970s Los Angeles jazz-fusion band that included future Megadeth members Chris Poland and Gar Samuelson, are finally getting a record. Brooklyn’s Psychic Reader Records is issuing Low-Temperature Delay, a 12-inch vinyl and digital collection of previously unreleased studio demos and live tracks by the band, who formed in 1978 and never put out an album at the time.
Decibel, which premiered the track “I Only Cry For You” on Nov. 4, says the vinyl and digital release is set for Dec. 4. Later reports, including Blabbermouth’s Nov. 8 write-up, described it more loosely as coming at the end of the year. The label’s official artist page announces the project but does not give a date.
What’s Coming From The New Yorkers
The package, according to the announcement circulated by Psychic Reader, includes a fold-out poster and an inner booklet of photos and liner notes. Label head Cotter Phinney, who organized the release, called it “an opportunity to uncover the origins of one of metal’s most unlikely and influential lineups,” adding that “fans deserve to hear it.”
Poland told Decibel the musicians were in their early twenties and that “none of us had ever seen a studio before.” Bassist Robertino “Pag” Pagliari remembered the first session as an overnight job on Hollywood Boulevard, on the third floor, roughly between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. “Back in those days, that corner was awful,” he said. “And here it is, one o’clock in the morning, and we’re humping gear up three flights of stairs just to get a couple songs done.”
How The New Yorkers Tied Into Early Megadeth
The New Yorkers came together after Poland and brothers Gar and Stew Samuelson left Dunkirk, New York, for Los Angeles and linked up with Pagliari and saxophone player Don Roper. The band drew on fusion acts such as Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report and Return to Forever, but, the announcement says, dropped keyboards in favor of Poland and Stew Samuelson’s twin guitars.
Despite studio sessions, a local following and a meeting with a major-label A&R, The New Yorkers never released a record. Poland and Gar Samuelson later joined Megadeth and played on Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good! and Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? Samuelson died in 1999 at age 41.
Preorder information is being handled through Psychic Reader, including the label’s Bandcamp and the official page for The New Yorkers. “I Only Cry For You” is already streaming, per Decibel’s Nov. 4 premiere.
