I have a collection of tapes from New York and New Jersey radio stations during 1980-86. Mostly New Wave, Punk, Post-punk, Synthpop, spacey electronic.
These tapes are mostly just collages of short clips, under 1 minute, sometimes 10 seconds or less - if I post such clips, that is all I have available. I will post them if it seems to be adequate to identify. Usually, if you know it, you know it.
Kenny Cathead, WatZatSong description
Kenny Cathead (also known as NY80sTapes) is a YouTube and WatZatSong user who has posted many unknown songs. Most of them are from his cassette tape collection, ranging from early to late 80s. He hasn’t posted any new sample since 2024, but remains active to this day.
History
Most of Kenny’s samples were first uploaded to his YouTube channel on June 10, 2023, in a single hour-long video titled “Unknown”. The video was a compilation of most of the songs on the cassette tapes that he couldn't identify; the vast majority of the snippets were under 1 minute long, with many even being under 30 seconds. He later uploaded all of these snippets, along with a few others that weren't included in the video, to the platform WatZatSong.
On November 24th, 2023, on the FMM Discord thread for the songs he posted, Kenny said that he wasn’t the person who recorded the tapes, but instead a friend who was trying to make a sound collage, but he recorded a few things.
TBA
List Of Songs In "Unknown"
| Status | Confirmed/Placeholder Name | Youtube Upload Date | WZS Upload | Identified On | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identified | "Untitled (Don Slepian)" (Former placeholder, "Liminalist Spacey Ambient #2) | June 10th, 2023 | N/A | October 6th, 2025 | [↗] |
| "Untitled (Don Slepian)" (Former placeholder, "Liminalist Spacey Ambient #1) | [↗] | ||||
| "Untitled (Don Slepian)" (Former placeholder, "Pure Electronic Piece #2) | July 6th, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Autobahn" (Former placeholder, "Prolonged Guitar Strum") | N/A | August 25th, 2025 | [↗] | ||
| "Biggest One (Demo)" (Former placeholder, "Whimsical New Wave") | August 17th, 2025 | [↗] | |||
| "Waiting For The Night" (Former placeholder, "New Wave Instrumental") | June 18th, 2023 | August 16th, 2025 | [↗] | ||
| "Paradise Eyes" (Former placeholder, "So You Wanna Hit") | June 19th, 2023 | October 9th, 2023/July 18th, 2025 | [↗] | ||
| "Tribes" (Former placeholder, "Experimental Electronic Bit #1") | July 10th, 2023 | July 12th, 2025 | [↗] | ||
| "Poland" (Former placeholder, "Moody New Wave") | N/A | April 10th, 2025 | [↗] | ||
| "(No. 467) Spielplatz" (Former placeholder, "Brief Scatting Jazz") | June 26th, 2023 | March 21st, 2025 | [↗] | ||
| "I Go So Low For You" (Former placeholder, "Every Day Back On The Street Again") | June 18th, 2023 | January 28th, 2025 | [↗] | ||
| "No Stranger To Glenda J." (Former placeholder, "Early 80's Hard Rock #1") | July 17th, 2023 | January 8th, 2025 | [↗] | ||
| "Étude In Sine" (Former placeholder, "Electronic Classical Excerpt") | June 17th, 2023 | December 27th, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "At Night" (Former placeholder, "Waiting For A Countdown") | N/A | December 8th, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "Someone's Changing" (Former placeholder, "Early 80's Hard Rock Song #2") | August 9th, 2023 | November 30th, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "Gdansk" (Former placeholder, "Harsh Noise Screams") | N/A | October 25th, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "Middle Class" (Former placeholder, "Organ Raggea") | July 17th, 2023 | October 3rd, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "Angels" (Former placeholder, "Gary Numan-Like-Song") | N/A | [↗] | |||
| "The Station I'm In" (Former placeholder, "Experimental Synthpop") | June 21st, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "State St." (Former placeholder, "Minimal Wave #3") | July 14th, 2023 | September 27th, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "I'm Not Your Doormat" (Former placeholder, "Electronic Circus") | June 19th, 2023 | September 12th, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "The Merger" (Former placeholder, "Psychedelic Dissonance") | June 17th, 2023 | September 6th, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "Baby Happy" (Former placeholder, "Catchy Upbeat Track") | September 5th, 2024 | [↗] | |||
| "Der Tag Schlägt Zu" (Former placeholder, "Tochter Dämon Der Gewalt") | N/A | August 31st, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "The Lesson" (Former placeholder, "I'm Where The Mole See The Skies") | June 24th, 2023 | August 31st, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "Rain" (Former placeholder, "Laughter Post-Punk") | N/A | [↗] | |||
| "Electric Gnome Dance" (Former placeholder, "Synthpop Pots & Pans") | June 21st, 2023 | August 1st, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "Somewhere In New York" (From placeholder, "Yo Yo Yo Ja Ja Ja") | July 16th, 2023 | July 22nd, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "The Deaf Mute" (Former placeholder, "Spooky Synthpop") | June 19th, 2023 | July 14th, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "Sixes And Sevens" (Former placeholder, "Horror") | N/A | July 2nd, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "A Ten Minute Eon" (Former placeholder, "Pure Electronice Piece #3.2") | June 17th, 2024 | [↗] | |||
| "Distanced" (Former placeholder, "Pure Electronic Piece #3.1") | [↗] | ||||
| "Meeran's Account" (Former placeholder, "Pure Electronic Piece #3") | [↗] | ||||
| "Sequelsong #2 - The Omnion" (Former placeholder, "Pure Electronic Piece #1") | July 6th, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Woman" (Former placeholder, "I'm Here") | July 16th, 2023 | June 11th, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "Break Down Those Walls" (Former placeholder, "Uptown People") | July 1st, 2023 | May 28th, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "Love Mystery (Instrumental)" (Former placeholder, "Funky Synthpop") | May 14th, 2024 | [↗] | |||
| "Different View [Single Version]"(Former placeholder, "Flase Pretenses") | April 15th, 2024 | [↗] | |||
| "Flesh And Steel (Extended Mix)" (Former placeholder, "A Machine") | April 5th, 2024 | [↗] | |||
| "Breakaway" (Former placeholder, "When You Need It") | July 16th, 2023 | March 31st, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "Grey At Present" (Former placeholder, "Images In Vogue-Like Song") | June 20th, 2023 | March 23rd, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "Joanne" (Former placeholder, "Loch Ness Monster") | July 9th, 2023 | March 14th, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "Jenny's Doin' Fine" (Former placeholder, "Energetic Power Pop #3") | N/A | Febuary 1st, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "Love Dance (Love Mix)" (Former placeholder, "Section 25-Like Song") | June 18th, 2023 | December 31st, 2023 | [↗] | ||
| "Music Machine" (Former placeholder, "Wann Kommt Die Band") | July 14th, 2023 | November 19th, 2023 | [↗] | ||
| "You Make It Hard" (Former placeholder, "Then Turn Away") | N/A | November 18th, 2023 | [↗] | ||
| "Boogie" (Former placeholder, "Synthesized Traditional Rock Riff") | July 17th, 2023 | October 12th, 2023 | [↗] | ||
| "The Iron Compass" (Former placeholder, "Urgent Synthpop") | June 24th, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Terra Nova" (Former placeholder, "Kraftwerk-Like Song") | June 19th, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Jericho" (Former placeholder, "Heroic Electronic Crescendo") | July 14th, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Chelsea" (Former placeholder, "Synth Library Track") | June 26th, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Jingle Bells (Traditional)" (Former placeholder, "Whimsical Christmas Tune") | N/A | October 6th, 2024 | [↗] | ||
| "I Am A Vapour" (Former placeholder, "I'm Burning My Bridges Behind Me") | June 18th, 2023 | October 1st, 2023 | [↗] | ||
| "Dancing In A Trance" (Former placeholder, "The Fixx-Like Song #2") | June 19th, 2023 | September 30th, 2023 | [↗] | ||
| "All The Way" (Former placeholder, "The Carpet Lights") | June 20th, 2023 | September 1st, 2023 | [↗] | ||
| "Iron Curtain" (Former placeholder, "CIA Hates Communists") | June 18th, 2023 | August 26th, 2023 | [↗] | ||
| "And Many, Many More" (Former placeholder, "Mannheim Steamroller-Like Song #1") | June 19th, 2023 | August 16th, 2023 | [↗] | ||
| "Carving The Future From Soap" (Former placeholder, "I Need An Hour") | July 16th, 2023 | August 15th, 2023 | [↗] | ||
| "Find Her" | June 21st, 2023 | July 25th, 2023 | [↗] | ||
| "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter" (Former placeholder "Ah-Hoo-Wah") | July 9th, 2023 | July 9th, 2023 (16 Hours) | [↗] | ||
| "Leaving" (Former placeholder, "Who's Going To Leave") | June 20th, 2023 | June 23rd, 2023 | [↗] | ||
| "Hit Man" | June 17th, 2023 | June 17th, 2023 (1 Hour) | [↗] | ||
| Nearly Solved | "Dark Synthpop" ("Carpe Diem" by Chemistry Set?" | June 10th, 2023 | June 18th, 2023 | November 17th, 2023 | [↗] |
| "Experimental Electro" (Very Popular [Demo?] by David Garland?" | N/A | N/A | [↗] | ||
| "Scratching Electro" ("M-M-M-Manhattan [Unknown Version]" by Sonic Architecture?)" | [↗] | ||||
| Unidentified | "I'm Only Dreaming Now" | June 10th, 2023 | August 28th, 2023 | N/A | [↗] |
| "Dream Through The Door" | July 19th, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Walls Of Fire" | July 16th, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Spacey Electronic Piece #5" | [↗] | ||||
| "Intense Electronic Piece" | July 14th, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Minimal Wave #1" | [↗] | ||||
| "Stranger In The Corner" | July 12th, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Klaus Schulze-Like Song" | [↗] | ||||
| "Suspensful Electronic Piece" | [↗] | ||||
| "Fairlight Demo" | July 9th, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Minimal Synthwave" | [↗] | ||||
| "My Uncle Pete" | [↗] | ||||
| "Spacey Electronic Piece #4" | July 6th, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Spacey Electronic Piece #3" | [↗] | ||||
| "Spacey Electronic Piece #2" | [↗] | ||||
| "Spacey Electronic Piece #1" | [↗] | ||||
| "Electronic Barking Dog Sample" | July 1st, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Mannheim Steamroller-Like Song #2" | June 26th, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Dramatic Pipe Organ" | [↗] | ||||
| "How Happy Life Can Be" | [↗] | ||||
| "Tangerine Dream-Like Song" | June 24th, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Above Me" | June 21st, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Smooth Jazz Excerpt" | [↗] | ||||
| "Rapid Spooky Synthpop" | [↗] | ||||
| "Spooky Electro" | [↗] | ||||
| "Fashion Hurts Remix" | June 18th, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "New Wave Instrumental" | [↗] | ||||
| "Bruce Haack-Like Song #2" | June 17th, 2023 | [↗] | |||
| "Bruce Haack-Like Song #1" | [↗] | ||||
| "Experimental Guitar" | [↗] | ||||
| "Chiptune Track" | N/A | [↗] | |||
| "Mid 80's New Wave Excerpt #3" | [↗] | ||||
| "New Age Piece Ending" | [↗] | ||||
| "Soft Piano Ballad" | [↗] | ||||
| "Rockin' Garage Tune" | [↗] | ||||
| "Nothing Had Changed" | [↗] | ||||
| "Skipping Punk Rock" | [↗] | ||||
| "Silly Synth" | [↗] | ||||
| "Dissonant Trombone" | [↗] | ||||
| "Progressive Rock Excerpt" | [↗] | ||||
| "Mid 80's Synthpop Excerpt #2" | [↗] | ||||
| "Psychedelic Folk Tune" | [↗] | ||||
| "Happy Pure Electronic" | [↗] | ||||
| "Mid 80's Synthpop Excerpt #1" | [↗] | ||||
| "Rapid Minimal" | [↗] | ||||
| "Melancholic Synth" | [↗] | ||||
| "Funhouse Electro" | [↗] | ||||
| "Pure Electronic Piece #4" | [↗] | ||||
| "Echoey Drums" | [↗] | ||||
| "Energetic Power Pop #1" | [↗] | ||||
| "Screaming Punk Rock Excerpt" | [↗] | ||||
| "Radical Synthpop" | [↗] | ||||
| "Twangy Pop Rock" | [↗] | ||||
| "New Wave Guitar Riff" | [↗] | ||||
| "Early 80's Post-Punk Excerpt #1" | [↗] | ||||
| "Country Rock Oriented Excerpt" | [↗] |
List Of Song posted on WatZatSong
| Status | Confirmed/Placeholder Name | Upload Date | Identified On | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identified | "Plaisir Synthetique" (Formerly placeholder, "Uptempo Instrumental EDM") | November 19th, 2023 | July 14th, 2024 | [↗] |
| "Chemistry" (Former placeholder, "Frantic Synthpop/C.I.A Hates Communists [Part 2]") | July 6th, 2023 | August 26th, 2023 | [↗] | |
| "King's Gambit" (Former placeholder, "Stop Me From Falling") | July 9th, 2023 | August 25th, 2023 | [↗] | |
| "Battered Misters" (Former placeholder, "Rather Fond Of Boxes/Coconut") | July 18th, 2023 | August 2nd, 2023 | [↗] | |
| "The End Is Near" | March 4th, 2024 | March 4th, 2024 (5 Minutes) | [↗] | |
| Nearly Solved | "1990 Honda Accord Commercial" (? by Jerry Hey & Don Piestrup?) | December 7th, 2023 | N/A | [↗] |
| Unidentifed | "Synthpop or Minimal Wave" | August 28th, 2023 | N/A | [↗] |
| "Dream Infinitely" | July 18th, 2023 | [↗] | ||
| "Ominous Electronic Piece" | July 12th, 2023 | [↗] | ||
| "I'm Just A Boy" | July 6th, 2023 | [↗] | ||
| "Classical Electronic Piano Piece" | [↗] | |||
| "Frightful String Quartet" | June 20th, 2023 | [↗] |
External Link(s)
- WatZatSong Profile.
- YouTube Channel.
- Full Kenny Cathead/NY80sTapes Songs on Lostwave's Misc Spreadsheet.
- Full "Unknown" Video Spreadsheet.