Dolce Vita – my college-era punk funk band – recently had a short, surprise spotlight on the web.
Three am reading, email pops up on my phone. “Marcus in Brazil” asks if I am the same David Quinn who recorded with Dolce Vita – and did I know hundreds of devotees of beloved but now obscure 80s music had been searching for, and finally found a song they all knew only as “Uptown People” on the r/lostwave community on Reddit?
Hi David,
My name is Marcus, I’m from Brazil and a Lostmedia’s community member.
Did you record this album? https://www.discogs.com/release/3734986-Dolce-Vita-Dolce-Vita
Did you know The song Break Down Those Walls has been searched for months? All we had was an excerpt and now luckly we know about the EP! Theres even a page talking about it:
So, is that you? I hope it is!
With kind regards,
Marcus
At first, I volunteered little information – I was polite, but I wanted to know a little more before revealing more than my Dolce Vita related info to an unknown entity – hopefully a person, but you never know – on the internet. I offered nothing but thanks, sharing information already public; the Bandcamp page:
Dolce Vita – Dolce Vita (Braineater Records, 1984)
And an interview from Italian Music TV (1983):
Afterhours email pinged back and forth half way around the world, and soon I trusted I was indeed dealing with a person, maybe even a possible friend… certainly a friend of my musical history.
Now as some readers know, I have always been proud of our work together as a band, I’ve even taken the liberty of quoting our producer, god of guitars Chris Spedding on the bandcamp page where you can preview for free and even buy a download of the EP.
“I haven’t seen that many new bands in the last few years that really knocked me out… The Pretenders, The Police when they first played CBGB’s, a few others… I thought Dolce Vita’s music was really great, and they really had what it takes live for being as young as they are.”
So “Uptown People,” that is, “Break Down Those Walls” should not have been impossible to find, right? Soon another r/lostwave maven! “Tom D” tracked me through my blog, messaging:
“Hey, just wanted to give you a heads up that “Break Down These Walls” was the subject of a 4 year search by what we call the “Lostwave” community. Somebody posted a snippet of the intro recorded off a NYC radio station circa 1984, and hundreds of people were looking for it under the name “Uptown People,” posting on threads on Reddit and other socials. Once it was ID’d as Dolce Vita, I picked up the vinyl and couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the singer was you! Big time Faust fan from my teen years in the 90s. Just thought you’d find it amusing that people were searching so long to ID one of your songs…take care, Tom D.”
Sure enough, on Reddit, where I took the time to thank people for “finding us” you can read a “I Was Here the Day This Was Found” chain for “Break Down Those Walls” that followed, with a link to both the single and the 1984 album by Dolce Vita.
is just one of the threads of people searching for, speculating about, finding and celebrating that La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
So I found new friends to thank all around the world on all these sites, and shared that Bandcamp download page on a few of the reddit and Youtube threads. Nearly 200 people previewed Dolce Vita for free and 3 people bought “Break Down Those Walls,” so, as I said to my surviving music manager, bandmates and producer last week, another late night email chain connecting New York, Rome, Connecticut, Rhode Island, “I owe all you guys a cup of coffee on our better late than never fans.”
And speaking of fans, a Lostwaver asked if he could have our lyrics; here you go:
Break Down Those Walls (Commonara/Quinn/Gilioli)
[Intro]
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
[Verse 1]
Uptown people looking down downtown
What are we gonna do?
Say boy, what are you doing in my town?
Hey, I’m talking to you, and I say
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
We were living in Cleveland
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
They’ll never understand
[Pre-Chorus]
We can’t live like this
With these walls between ourselves
[Chorus]
Break down those walls
Break down those walls
Break down those walls
[Verse 2]
Hey, one-way thinking one-way traffic
Rhythm doesn’t stop
Somethin’s comin’ and somethin’s drummin’
It’s time for the walls to rock and I say
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
We were fighting in the streets
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Breaking down their rules
[Pre-Chorus]
We won’t live like this
All thеse walls between ourselves
[Chorus]
Break down those walls
Break down those walls
Break down those walls
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
[Verse 3]
A hammer a heart it’s time to start
That’s where we play, New York, come on!
[Pre-Chorus]
We won’t live like this
With these walls between ourselves
[Chorus]
Break down those walls
Break down those walls
Break down those walls
You can break down those walls
Break down those walls
Break down those walls
Break down those walls
You can break down those walls
Bla Bla Bla Music. All Rights Reserved.
in walked quinn 
I’m beyond thrilled that this happened for you and your bandmates! Hopefully those Bandcamp sales start rolling in, it’s a hidden post punk gem! – Tom
Thanks, Tom, and you are part of the great story!
This is pretty rad, David! I just gave the EP a listen, classic 80s new wave/post punk sound!
Love it! I’m gonna hafta order it up on Discogs! – Bart
Thanks, Bart – our passions are our life and we are lucky to have music!
I loved this band… was at so many shows, it might be me in that video 🧐. I was also at a photo shoot (and may still have the photographs) that the drummer did for the village voice! Great fun, great memories so nice to find this.