I first heard gay synth-pop duo Rubberlegs last year while hosting a special “Track Artist Night” at New York City’s queer friendly Meow Mix Bar. Not exactly "track artists" per se, but perhaps "sequence" artists, bandmembers Gordon Smith and “Bunny” Thomas Rolanti sang and played “live” over sequenced music programmed into their two trusty onstage synthesizer keyboards. I booked them to open the evening, yet the popular pair drew more audience than any of the following acts.

Leg Warmers Reheated is the recent "remix" CD of Rubberlegs material created and recorded as far back as 1983, when the act was a trio. The CD is also a tribute to original third band member Robert Mesrach (now deceased), who was also Gordon Smith's lover of 14 years. Robert, who died in 1994 of AIDS, co-wrote much of the album’s material and performed much of its music. The CD's booklet offers both text and photos in loving memory of this seminal Rubberlegs artist.

Nearly all the instruments and vocals on Reheated were recorded in the '80s. Virtually nothing has been re-recorded. The original cassette and reel-to-reel tapes (remember tape?) were resuscitated via modern digital processing, including tape hiss removal and compression. The results are startling if not downright miraculous--the final sonic production is crystal clear, with true and even fidelity throughout.

As a product of the “I-luv-the-eighteez” age, Rubberlegs were natural synth-pop siblings of other 80s new wave/techno acts such as Human League and Gary Numan. But Rubberlegs’s sound was and is considerably more upbeat and chipper than their often dreary, angst-ridden rock brethren.

In fact, this listener hears elements of even earlier, happier times in Rubberlegs. I'm reminded of hippie groups like The Lemon Pipers, Napolean XIV, Gentle Giant, late 60's bubble-gum and other oddity psychedelia. With Rubberlegs there's also a more elemental working of the synths and drum machines into the music, and more friendly fun to the lyrics, reminiscent of progressive 80's groups like Devo and Missing Persons.

Handsome lead singer Gordon Smith croons over Rubberlegs's perky electro-pop sound in a most engaging way. His sparse, well-sung phrasings are punctuated here and there by various dubbed-in spoken words, vocal chirps, falsetto tweets and whispered asides. Gordon’s innocent, earnest and self-effacing delivery is at once both charming and disarming. One cannot help but love this guy, a sort of kinder, gentler David Byrne.

Gordon also displays a gift for witty lyrics laced with double-entendres, evident in humorous songs like "Hotprint" and "People Who Talk in Elevators." Anyone with a corporate day job will especially dig Gordon's clever observations on office environments.

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