in 1983, original bassist berke would depart to be replaced by roadie and all-around funster, joe lupo, and the band would begin work on recording their first proper album. while the bass work of berke was widely regarded as brilliant, graziano remarked that lupo was "the plutonium rod that fueled the certain general party reactor. during this time, certain general would catch the attention of british music journalist kris needs, who championed the band and later served as their host during their first uk visit. at the suggestion of needs, "far away in america" (1984) was conceived as a collaboration of sorts and the lp was shared with another new york band, friends and musical colleagues band of outsiders. independently released on sourmash records in april 1984, it featured two live and two studio recordings by each band. the two groups furthered the co-op approach and toured together in the spring and summer of 1984 in both the united states and the united kingdom to promote the record. highlights of the uk dates included shows at alice in wonderland (where in his typical exuberance dulany smashed his hand through the asbestos ceiling) and the batcave in london, as well as the hacienda (with james) in manchester.