The Giant Panther

My Insipid Record Collection - The Motels

2009-11-14T12:25:00.009-05:00

Here is another band I felt never got enough credit for being good. The Los Angeles based "New Wave" band The Motels struggled a long while before ascending to the charts consistently in the early 80's, but they had some terrific songs. I wrestle with which one is my favorite all the time. I absolutely loved the songs "Suddenly Last Summer" and "Danger," but I think my all time fav by The Motels is "Take The L." Martha Davis had a great voice and a nice way of expressing her relationship angst. A curious thing about some bands is that they have to chart elsewhere globally before some of these US based record labels bother to sign them. In the case of The Motels, they had an international hit in France and Australia with "Total Control" in 1979 before Capitol records deigned to sign them. You folks might think I'm a whack job, but I'd like to believe I would have made a terrific A&R guy back in the day. I missed one of my callings there for sure. I still feel like I have an excellent ear for music (hey, stop laughing!) and am much more open minded about music than many of the people I have known over the years. Oh well, that and two cents will get you about as far along in life as you might imagine. You are looking live at my music career unfortunately...

To this day it's not clear to me how some folks in charge of programming at local FM radio stations are influenced by factors other than the music. There is just no accounting for some bands rising and others sputtering when the talent level seems so obvious in favor of the band that can't seem to make it. Funnily enough, it was only in the early to mid 80's that I felt albums really got frisked in full for every last great single. Some of the records that benefited at the time were Bruce Springsteen's Born in The USA, John Cougar Mellencamp's Scarecrow and Cyndi Lauper's She's So Unusual. Each of these records had up to five or six "singles" consistently played on FM radio. Even the mighty U2 no longer gets that kind of respect. The merits of No Line On The Horizon aside, it seemed be sabotaged by the worst lead single they've had in decades in "Get On Your Boots." I thought "Magnificent" was brilliant you barely hear it a mere ten months after it was released. They are playing "I'll Go Crazy" a bit now, but the record is probably done as far as singles are concerned. Zooropa and Pop got more respect than that. Weep not for U2, but it's just another sign of the terrestrial radio apocalypse. Selling singles the way they do today won't make anyone rich.

Back to The Motels; they were all over the FM dial from 1979 to about 1983. Exceedingly poor management allegedly left the band broke, unbelievably enough, by 1987 at which time lead singer Martha Davis decided to go solo. They resurrected, to little fanfare, around 1998, but after 1985's Shock they really were never heard from again for all intents and purposes. I hesitantly submit that The Motels are one of those bands that if you can grab a comprehensive greatest hits package you are probably good to go. They had five studio albums plus name only releases in 2007 & 2008. The players behind Davis have shifted many times, but with her voice out front the sound is instantly recognizable. Regarding today's posted single "Take The L," I wish I had written it myself. Take The L out of Lover and it's over...one of my all time favorite rock song sentiments. The Motels seemed to get lost in the female fronted mass of successful 80's acts like The Go-Go's, The Bangles, Joan Jett, Pat Benatar and that ilk. Those were pretty consistent acts, but it's a shame The Motels have faded from most people's memories. I don't know a thing about Martha Davis personally, it wasn't like she was in the news all the time (at least that I can remember), but I just loved her voice. Still do. "Danger" your love is like a stranger...."Who's Problem Am I?" if I'm not yours...and then "Suddenly Last Summer"....all these songs still sound great to this very day...

The Motels - Take The L.mp3

The Motels -Take The L.mp3 YSI

My Insipid Record Collection - Timbuk 3

2009-11-10T18:43:00.015-05:00

Here's an act that I really liked back in the late 80's and into the 90's. They were a folk duo with a drum machine called Timbuk 3. I only first heard them in 1986 when the late WBCN used to play their first single "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades." For years, and thankfully I've broken myself of this habit, folks used to ask me how I was doing and I'd say "Doin' alright, gettin' good grades" as in "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades." This band always had clever wordplay and I have always loved that kind of thing. "Fifty thou a year'll buy a lotta beer" was another cute line from this once fairly popular song. Radio took to it pretty well and it gave these guys some footing, but I feel like I was the only one buying their records. They probably did too. I got a big kick out of them. "Shades" even made it all the way to #19 on the Hot Billboard 100 in 1986. Not bad huh?

Timbuk 3 initially consisted of a husband and wife team named Pat & Barbara MacDonald. I saw them play live on the grounds of Boston's Channel Club back on October 30, 1991. The legendary Channel was on its last legs by then and they had opened a tiny little club for smaller acts called "Club Vertigo" in the back of the same building. That is where I saw Timbuk 3. By then they had added real live backing musicians to their band so they were now a foursome. Timbuk 3 only recorded from 1986 through 1995, but all of their records had some redeeming music on them. I was definitely a fan. I bought every single one of their full length releases. They appeared on MTV's The Cutting Edge in 1986 and I.R.S. Records subsequently bankrolled them as a result. I don't pay much attention to radio programming, as ludicrous as that statement sounds coming from me, as it applies to artists that aren't getting played. I was hooked on this band immediately. Greetings From Timbuk 3, their first album starring "Shades," was a blast. There isn't a bad track on it and a favorite cut of mine, "Shame On You," was apparently featured in the opening scenes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, but as you know if you read my Halloween post; I didn't see it. According to Wikipedia, their music has been featured on over 20 combined compilations and movie soundtracks.

There isn't much information on the World Wide Web about these guys, but they were nominated for a 1987 Grammy for Best New Artist. That must have been a huge honor for them and very well deserved in my view. They have some allegiance with both Madison, Wisconsin and Austin, TX, but I don't have all the facts unfortunately. There next record after Greetings was Eden Alley, which again was excellent. It was kind of country folk with ironic lyrics and catchy melodies. After two records I was sold. I just bought the rest without hearing a note in advance. One of my all time favorites in their catalogue, and I promise you that ten or more of their songs are in the running, is "Dirty Dirty Rice" from their third, and some would say their best, release called Edge of Allegiance. Released in 1989 amidst the R.E.M., Soundgarden and U2 fare of the day, it is flat amazing that this band was kept alive for another six years. I don't know a single soul that has these records, let alone treasures them like I do. "Dirty Dirty Rice" popped up on my Sony iPod like device not three hours ago at the gym and I enjoyed the heck out of it for the billionth time. It's sometimes spooky how you know a band is out there and somebody somewhere is obviously enjoying them just like you, yet nobody you know knows anything about them...it's kind of like being on your own musical island...

I'm going to recant this thought for one hot minute now that I just remembered something; I once gave a mixed track cassette to a friend of mine in the early 90's. A real non starter of a music fan if I ever saw one (he's the kind of guy who will listen to maybe 100 albums of music total until the day he dies with no desire or room for anything new...and this has been going on for 20 years already). I finally figured out that if I give away a cassette I had better make sure I still have the master because it will only be a matter of months until said giftee loses or destroys the copy I give them. Anyway, I give this guy one of my all time great cassettes with The Cure, The Jam, The The, New Order, The Clash and all the other your "B" but probably my "A" cuts of the day and wouldn't you know, out of 90 minutes and maybe 25 songs he comes back with "I love that song Dirty, Dirty Rice." I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. All of the songs he could have come back with...funny...you never know what will strike someone...turns out he wasn't so stupid after all...

Timbuk 3 was unfairly pigeon-holed as a novelty band because of "Shades." It had those funny ironic lyrics and nobody who depended on the radio for their musical knowledge ever heard from them again. They must have been terrible right? Wrong! The truth is these folks were very good song writers and their voices blended beautifully right on through their last record in 1995. I think, unfortunately, their records are out of print these days due to public apathy. That's a real shame, but they were very cool for my money and I just loved 'em. So what if you've never heard of them? Sometimes that is what The Giant Panther is for...just in case you missed it...

Timbuk 3 - Dirty Dirty Rice.mp3

Timbuk 3 - Dirty Dirty Rice.mp3 YSI

www.timbuk3music.net

My Insipid Record Collection - The Charlatans UK

2009-11-09T17:54:00.008-05:00

Another band from the early 90's I've mentioned in the past, but just haven't gotten around to blogging about is The Charlatans UK. They are yet another band with a name conflict here in the States that forced the "UK" tag, but if I were these bands I'd wear it like a badge of honor. It sounds so much cooler than say, The Charlatans US, although I could actually live with that if I had to. I know they fool around with calling themselves The Charlatans as originally intended, but they'll always be The Charlatans UK to this fan. The record I come to talk about today is called Some Friendly and it was released in October of 1990. As a 30 year old roaming the alternative rock scene, I just loved this record. I saw them perform at The Paradise February 26, 1991 and had a ball. I know I've talked ad nauseum about the Manchester Scene in the UK around this time, but I never really spelled out how great I thought this record was. Some Friendly and Between 10th and 11th, their followup record, were very solid as first and second records go, but this band was right there with the makers of this sound. I don't want to dwell on it all over again since I have posted about this is the past, but the bands that best represent this period in musical time were The Charlatans UK, The Stone Roses, The Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, The Chameleons UK, James, Oasis, The London Suede and Electronic. There were others, but these bands acts are probably the most famous.

The Hammond B3 Organ seemed to be at the fore of many of the sounds you heard coming out of Manchester at that time. I know many people have long forgotten Between 10th and 11th's "Weirdo," but that song was a killer single in 1992. It's intro was pure organ and it rocked. British heavyweights Deep Purple made a nice living incorporating that instrument into their music and now it was back with a vengeance. I think, though, it was the combination of the Hammond, the drug Ecstasy and the boundless energy in those days. My crowd never touched Ecstasy, but we loved that music as if we had. Some Friendly's first single, "The Only One I Know," was a big hit on WFNX and I owned the CD inside of a week of hearing it. WFNX barely touches it anymore, which is really disappointing to be honest, but at the time they were also dabbling with "You're Not Very Well, Then and Sprosten Green" as well. That didn't last very long, but however I feel about this station today I can't say they didn't play "The Only One I Know" and "Weirdo." There were eleven tracks on Some Friendly and the radio fooled around with four of them. Not bad for a band that nobody ever heard of prior to 1990. Time monkeys around with your memory of records, but I still like Some Friendly very much. It brings me back to a time when I seemed to have less cares, but the truth is I should have had twice the cares. It might have done wonders for the following decades....ah hindsight...

I'm going out tonight, not to see a band, but to hang out with friends so I'm going to keep this relatively short (by my standards). The Charlatans UK are still recording to this day and released a CD called You Cross My Path in 2008. I haven't followed them since their heyday (my tastes move all over the road and I can only stay on top of so many bands), but they went on to record eight more records after 1992's Between 10th and 11th (allegedly named after the rough address of the NY Marque, which was where their first US gig was according to Wikipedia). I frequently go back and listen to this record and if you've never heard it I'm recommending it. Like I said, for every post I only need to make one new fan to make it all worthwhile...

The Charlatans UK - The Only One I Know.mp3

The Charlatans UK - The Only One I Know.mp3 YSI

www.thecharlatans.net

Guilty Pleasures - Grand Funk Railroad

2009-11-07T17:52:00.014-05:00

I'm sure to catch hell from The Giant Panther with this post, but I can't do a Guilty Pleasures feature without embarrassing someone (ultimately me) right? One of the funniest things I've seen on The Simpsons (a show I still love to this day) was a scene from an ancient episode called Homerpalooza where Homer is playing the car radio while shuttling some neighborhood kids around and they balk at his music, particularly Grand Funk's "American Band." Homer is indignant and shocked, essentially saying what about the "wild, shirtless lyrics of Mark Farner?, the bong rattling base of Mel Schacher?, the competent drumming of Don Brewer?...oh man!" It is actually funnier if you were a fan of the band, as I was, back in the early 70's. Some bands wind up being caricatures of their former selves and I think, to a degree, that is what happened to the venerable Grand Funk Railroad.

First of, no name changes...ever! Chopping off the Railroad was a move I didn't particularly care for. Apparently there is a Grand Trunk Western Railroad running through their home town of Flint, MI and they decided to use a play on words as the name of their band. Great job. It was a very memorable name until they butchered it. Grand Funk Railroad was a power trio fashioned after bands like Eric Clapton's Cream. The critics hated 'em, but the fans loved 'em. Reminds me of the ascent of Kiss; another band I enjoyed the heck out in the 70's. I heard "Cold Gin" at the gym today on my Sony iPod like device and it still sounds great to me. Beginning in August 1969 with On Time, Grand Funk Railroad began making records that were sort of Rock & Soul. Their style was distinctly American, but it was still rock music at its core. There was a rumor going around that Grand Funk Railroad intentionally recorded their early music with the bass guitar seemingly out in front and allegedly louder than the lead guitar. There was a school of thought that bassist Mel Schacher was the best musician of the three so they decided to accent the positive. I guess I never noticed it if that is true, but I just love the sound of 1970's Closer To Home. Always have. 1969's On Time had "Heartbreaker" and 1970's Grand Funk has "Mr Limousine Driver," but Closer To Home, their third LP, was a very good record. Side two had three songs and all of them were great. "I Don't Have To Sing The Blues, Hooked On Love, and I'm Your Captain (Closer To Home)" made a perfect album side clocking in just shy of 22 minutes. I still love to play these three tracks to this day.

By 1972 Grand Funk Railroad was kind of sputtering along. They had released three more records called Survival, E-Pluribus Funk and Phoenix, but sales were mediocre at best. There was at least one good song on each record; namely their covers of Dave Mason's "Feelin' Alright" and of The Glimmer Twins "Gimme Shelter" on Survival, "Footstompin' Music" on E Pluribus Funk and "Rock & Roll Soul" from Phoenix, but they had reached a bit of a crossroads. They were brawling with their manager, Terry Knight, and had decided to bring on a keyboard player named Craig Frost after failing to entice Peter Frampton to potentially join the group. The resulting sound seemed to alienate their fan base to a degree. It was around this time they started going by the protracted name of Grand Funk and hired one Todd Rundgren (there's that man again) to produce their new record. By this time Knight was out and they were posing half naked on the inside jacket of 1973's We're An American Band. We're An American Band was a terrific record even as sick as you all are of hearing the title cut. Grand Funk Railroad, as I like to call them, never sounded so consistent on one album. There were eight definitive Grand Funk tracks and only "Walk Like a Man" got any airplay other than "We're An American Band." Nevertheless, anyone who bought that record and played the piss out of it like I did knows every note and lyric. I'm going to go with "The Railroad" and "The Loneliest Rider" as my personal favorites, but I love "Stop Lookin' Back, Creepin' or Ain't Got Nobody" as well.

This is about where Grand Funk Railroad kind of went off the rails to coin a phrase. 1974's Shinin' On had a couple of decent tracks, but the Funk became ultra popular for their cover of Carole King's & Geffrey Goffin's "Locomotion" originally made famous by Little Eva. I hate to admit this out loud, that is what this column is for I guess, but my friends & I lip synched and faked playing the instruments to this song on stage at some faux talent show in 8th grade if memory serves. Uggh. "We're An American Band" and "Locomotion" were their only Number One singles according to Wikipedia. Their next record, December 1974's All The Girls in The World Beware, had two more top ten singles in "Bad Time" and "Some Kind of Wonderful" plus a lesser known hit called "Responsibility," but the once mighty Railroad was now a pop band. An awful lot of people loved them as a result, but I became much less interested. I think the band did too because less than two years later it was over for all intents and purposes.

I know I'll get laughed at or whatever, but I still get a charge out of some the early GFR. Call them Rhythm & Blues, Soul or Pop, but no one can say they weren't mega successful. I'm posting their perfect album side tonight because I'm in a good mood. It was nearly 40 years ago now, but I don't care. Tell everybody you know; you've got some Rock & Roll Soul!

Grand Funk Railroad - I Don't Have To Sing The Blues.mp3

Grand Funk Railroad - Hooked On Love.mp3

Grand Funk Railroad - I'm Your Captain (Closer To Home).mp3

Grand Funk Railroad - I'm Your Captain (Closer To Home).mp3 YSI

The Giant Panther Does Requests! - Kim Mitchell

2009-11-03T14:52:00.012-05:00

I just learned something right here, right now...I mentioned Canadian rocker Kim Mitchell in my last post and somebody, anonymously, asked me to post the songs I made reference to. Never a problem as we aim to please at The Giant Panther, so I figured I better bone up on Kim before I speak out of turn. I did some checking and it turns out Kim Mitchell was the lead singer of a band called Max Webster. Why is this important? Well it's probably not to any of you, but for me Max Webster was the first band I ever saw perform live at a rock show. I'm not going to count seeing David Cassidy at The Garden State Arts Center sometime in the early 70's. Ssssh! Don't tell anyone. Tracing some of my love of music from my allegedly cool late 60's awakening on through The Partridge Family (1970-1974) before figuring out what cool actually means can really be embarrassing. Keep in mind I was ten years old when I first laid eyes on Laurie Partridge. The significance of stumbling onto this tidbit about Max Webster is mostly irony, but I'm guessing Kim Mitchell was probably the first rock guitarist I saw play live (assuming he was there). This was 1976 at The Tower Theatre in Philadelphia. Cheap Trick was also on the bill followed by Rush performing 2112. Not bad out of the chute as far as I'm concerned. Who doesn't love a good blast of "The Temples of Syrinx" once in awhile? I definitely do even if I'm once again in the minority. I probably wouldn't have ever made the connection between Kim and Max Webster if someone hadn't requested these songs. I think that's kind of cool don't you?

I own the two records you see in the picture above. Akimbo Alogo and Shakin' Like a Human Being were their titles. I'm thinking I saw Kim Mitchell perform at either a WBCN (RIP) lunchtime concert (those were big in the 80's...the band would go on stage around noon and be done by 12:45 PM so everybody could make it back to work...they usually went down on Lansdowne Street so basically it was for students, folks with employers that didn't know or mind that you were cutting out fifteen minutes early and getting back fifteen minutes late, and those folks who worked in the Fenway area) or at something like a WBCN Rock & Roll Expo. I remember seeing The Long Ryders (Looking For Lewis & Clark) at something like this, but I can't remember if I actually did see Kim Mitchell or not. "Go For a Soda" was played fairly regularly for a couple of months back in 1984 and "Patio Lanterns" had a minor run a couple of years later in 1986. Here they are both are courtesy of "Anonymous," who seems to show up a lot in our comments files. Kim Mitchell apparently still records and performs according to his Wikipedia entry, but I have to admit to losing track of him. I did like these two songs though so I'm sure he's got more if you can find them.

Kim Mitchell - Go For a Soda.mp3

Kim Mitchell - Patio Lanterns.mp3

Kim Mitchell - Patio Lanterns.mp3 YSI

One Track Mind - The Pursuit of Happiness

2009-11-02T18:00:00.011-05:00

I've been meaning to knock this one out for a while now and since I have an hour before The World Series I thought I'd toss this one back out to the masses for fun. Canada has long been a wellspring for catchy rock nobody seems to ever get to hear. I remember Kim Mitchell back in the 80's (Patio Lanterns & Might As Well Go For a Soda might ring some long lost bells) for example. The Pursuit of Happiness (TPOH) was one such band for me. Many of you will probably remember their quasi novelty track "I'm An Adult Now" released back in 1988 on their CD Love Junk. This is one of those humor meets pretty good song mashups for me. As I have noted in the past, I love when humor is injected into a good rock track. If I like AND it makes me laugh I'm sold. This record is classic cut out fodder. I remember loving this self titled record from 1975 by a Virginia band called Artful Dodger. Nobody I know can even recall this band, but I know every note on this record. I remember WNEW-FM in New York City, the mother of all FM rock stations for this once young listener, used to play a song off this record called "Think Think" for a couple of months back in 1975. I loved this record all the way through, but you can find it for 49 cents in a used record store and it's long out of print. It's a great record, but it's been a graveyard special since 1976. I guess what I'm trying to say is I love some records unconditionally even if nobody else on the planet has ever heard of them. In fact the older I get I'm convinced I have at least fifty of these in my collection. TPOH had a minor hit song with "I'm An Adult Now," but their record was really very good and it had/has zero audience.

Sometimes today, at least for me, I go shopping without a single shred of information about certain artists. I might hear them in Newbury Comics while I'm in the store or maybe I read about them in a trade publication, but back in the day it was all about the image. I'd buy anything on a whim trying to expand my horizons. I feel like I have to tell the story (again you're probably thinking) of how I had come to buy certain albums just by virtue of the artwork. In other words, by shear luck of the draw. I know I'll get the usual guffaws from a lot of you when I tell you I bought Joe Walsh's So What and Supertramp's Crisis What Crisis? just because of their covers and they are still two of my all time favorites. The Giant Panther hates Joe Walsh, but I'm a huge fan of his. Not because of "Rocky Mountain Way" or "Funk #49" or "Life's Been Good"; I love Joe Walsh because "Turn To Stone" was such a fantastic single. I didn't know The James Gang from Spanky and Our Gang back then, but I do now because of "Turn To Stone," which was actually a remix of the original version on an earlier record called Barnstorm. I love all of his "b" cuts like "Meadows" and "Indian Summer" and "Rosewood Bitters" and "Welcome To The Club." As for Supertramp I'm not embarrassed at all to admit to being a fan. Crime of The Century, Crisis What Crisis? and Even in The Quietest Moments were brilliant records long before anybody ever heard of Breakfast in America. I think you all know by now I go off on tangents at the drop of a hat, but I used to love shopping by picture or image. Albums were physically huge and a good album cover was a huge seller right up until the advent of the CD. I would have never bought Crisis What Crisis? without seeing that album cover and thinking those dudes are out there. I wanted to see what they had. I'm certainly glad I did. Great recording.

No one will accuse TPOH's Love Junk of having a great cover, but it was produced by Todd Rundgren and released on Chrysalis Records. Chrysalis, with its signature butterfly, was a British label existing as a subsidiary of Island Records. For me Chrysalis Records stood for Jethro Tull and Procol Harum, but it also housed a substantial portion of the library of such acts as Blondie, Ultravox and such inexplicably great sellers as Huey Lewis & The News and Spandau Ballet. True he said. Uggh. Anyway, Wikipedia does not give insight as to how TPOH came to be produced by sound wizard Todd Rundgren, but his signature sound (Bearsville?) is all over this disc. Harmonies out the wazoo (I should do some research on that word as it is amazingly prevalent in the lexicon of the past couple of decades don't you think?) and very clean sounding, Love Junk was a very good record in my opinion. It was never going to be album of the year, but I've heard much worse. Unfortunately most people haven't heard it at all. 49 cents might be high for the price this baby would fetch at a yard sale. No matter, "I'm An Adult Now" rocks pretty hard and has a few hilarious passages that I just love. "I don't hate my parents, I don't get drunk just to spite 'em, I got my own reason to drink now, think I'll call my dad up and invite him." This song just goes on and on with the cleverly written laughs. I wish I had written it myself. As for the album, check out the easy harmony on "When The Sky is Falling." Great stuff. I don't care if it's in the cut out bin. It's the public's loss as far as I'm concerned.

The Pursuit of Happiness - I'm An Adult Now.mp3

The Pursuit of Happiness - I'm An Adult Now.mp3 YSI

One Track Mind - Halloween Treats

2009-10-31T09:07:00.021-04:00

I know many of you are way too young to remember the 1960's daytime Gothic Soap Opera Dark Shadows, but my friend David from River Road in Millington, NJ and I used to watch the thing with his older brother Joe. There was this game by Mattel called Creepy Crawlers that was very famous in the mid 60's that allowed you to make rubbery monsters from a mold. My guess is that the game would never get by the child safety inspectors today, but back then it was very popular. Between that and The Munsters & The Adams Family, which were both comedies, and shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents & The Twilight Zone there was a lot of interest in monsters, vampires and the unknown back then. It's not so different today, these things are cyclical and I'm a Sookie Stackhouse watcher myself, but I'm all grown up now. I have yet to see a real life vampire so I'm betting such things do not exist, but back in the late 60's Dark Shadows literally made the hair on the back of my nine year old neck stand straight up. I was banned from watching it by my mother because I would have nightmares. It sounds kind of laughable today, but I gotta tell ya Jonathan Frid and company scared the living bejesus out of me. Even at nine or ten years old I couldn't get enough of Lara Parker, or Angelique as her character was named, back then. Lara was gorgeous and scary all at once. She went on to be a nice character actor appearing in hit TV shows such as The Incredible Hulk, Kojak, Hawaii Five-O, The Rockford Files and Baretta (you remember that sweetheart Robert Blake right?). Something about "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time" if I remember correctly. Speaking of loser ex-stars, I saw about ten minutes of Naked Gun II the other night and there was O.J., in his glory days, saving the day. Brutal. I know the Naked Gun movies have a cult following, but I struggle with that kind of slapstick humor. I realize I'm probably in the minority.

Before I get to your Halloween treats I saw this picture on the Internet of a couple of books I bought at our school's Book Mobile back in the day. Remember those babies? It couldn't have been more than 1972, sixth grade for me, and the five year run (1966-1971) of Dark Shadows had just ended. I don't know how many of these books Marilyn Ross wrote, but they were hot property amongst my peers at the time. Get a load of the price tags on these books; 50 cents! If we had five or six dollars back then we were rich by Book Mobile standards. Naturally the smart kids were buying Catcher in the Rye or House of The Seven Gables, but I was buying The Mod Squad or The Love Bug or some such garbage. Hey, not a word about Peggy Lipton! She was right up there with Marlo Thomas, Agent 99, Marilyn From The Munsters, Patty Duke and Marcia Brady...ha, kidding, but you see what we had for female hotties way back when? It was Mary Tyler Moore or bust I'm telling you. Now you know why I had a thing for Peggy Lipton. She was so cool and laid back. No Charlie's Angel she.

I'm not a horror movie fan. I think Dark Shadows knocked me off the horror thing forever. I've never seen Nightmare On Elm Street, Scream or any of those movies. I think I got through The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Night of The Living Dead at least once, but we did have this TV show called Chiller Theatre on WPIX Channel 11 while I was growing up in NJ so I still had one foot in the supernatural in the 70's. I think the show originated out of Pittsburgh, PA and it mostly dealt with science fiction, much like The Twilight Zone, but as long as nobody was creeping into a dark basement with no hope of not encountering trouble (hello Jodie Foster in Silence of The Lambs...just call for backup for chrissakes!) I was usually OK. Chiller Theatre was eventually on Saturday nights at 11:30 for the most part and it was so popular in Pittsburgh that it kept Saturday Night Live off their local channel for many years before finally giving way around 1978. The show ran, in form or another, from 1963 to 1983. A heckuva run for a TV show nobody remembers wouldn't you say?

OK, I'm posting several Halloween favorites today. I have a folder on my hard drives with about 83 songs on it. I can remember being invited to a costume party about three years ago and not really wanting to go. I love Halloween except for the costumes and the candy and the obligatory parties. Call me the Grinch of Halloween I guess. I have no imagination when it comes to costumes and no girlfriend to dress me up. I always buy some stupid mask or some expensive costume and I dread the whole affair. So, around 7 PM I started sorting my database by key phrases like ghost, graveyard, devil, zombie, Dracula (I just saw this great documentary on Vlad The Impaler on The History Channel...I guess he's the original Dracula...nasty person...but he had some wild castles and escape routes...that impaling thing though; geesh...looks downright painful), spirit, vampire, Halloween and whatever else I could think of and started making a folder. I eventually showed up around 11:30 PM without a costume, but carrying a flash memory drive. Three years later and nobody has even heard it and I've totally dropped the ball about adding to it. My Christmas file, by contrast, has nearly 900 songs in it and I could never listen to the whole thing even if I started on December 1st and listened 'til I dropped. Besides, there are only about 25 central Christmas Carols so I have forty versions of The First Noel and all the other suspects...not exactly enticing, but there are some awesome versions. I guess what I'm saying is if you think you have some great newish Halloween songs I should know about please drop me a comment and point me in the right direction.

I'm going to post some 20 old standbys and some of my personal favorites, but these are by no means my absolute favorites. I was just in the mood. Hope you all have a blast tonight. Be safe.

Alice Cooper - Welcome To My Nightmare.mp3

Beck - Devil's Haircut.mp3
Black Sabbath - The Wizard.mp3

Blue Oyster Cult - Joan Crawford.mp3

Donovan - Season of The Witch.mp3

Joy Division - Dead Souls.mp3

L7 - Pretend We're Dead.mp3

Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells.mp3

Lou Reed - Halloween Parade.mp3

Ministry - Everyday is Halloween.mp3

Rush - Witch Hunt.mp3

Tegan & Sara - Walking With a Ghost.mp3

The B-52's - Devil in My Car.mp3

The Cult - Lil' Devil.mp3

The Police - Spirits in The Material World.mp3

The Pyschedelic Furs - The Ghost in You.mp3

The Rolling Stones - Dancing With Mr D.mp3

The Sugarcubes - Delicious Demon.mp3

The Violent Femmes - Nightmares.mp3

Tim Curry - Sweet Transvestite.mp3

Bobby Boris Pickett - The Monster Mash.mp3 YSI

My Insipid Record Collection - Stereophonics

2009-10-30T17:34:00.010-04:00

So, I had never heard of Sterophonics until I was watching FX's Rescue Me a couple of years back. I love a good TV show that also breaks (relatively) new music. My first class at Emerson College, way back in the Fall of 1978, was Introduction To Mass Communications. I couldn't tell you the professor's name for tonight's Mega Millions number, but down the road there were classes I had where the student teacher was Denis Leary. I don't remember if I took an Introduction To Comedy Writing course or what, but somewhere along the line I had Denis as a student teacher. Wikipedia says he graduated with the 1979 class, but I'm a bit skeptical. That would have meant we went to the same school for a year. I remember seeing his friend Mario Cantone (of Sex in The City Fame to name one thing) perform at The Emerson Comedy Workshop, but I can't honestly claim to remember seeing Denis Leary perform in person. I know I saw Eddie Brill (a national comic that warms up The David Letterman crowd nightly in addition to touring all over the place) perform several times. Every time I look at Gina Gershon though, who was also apparently a classmate of Denis Leary's, I think it's a shame I can't remember potentially having gone to school with her either. She's two years younger than I am so I must have. Remember you fool! No? Oh well...my loss for certain...

Where was I? Oh yeah, I discovered the Welsh band Stereophonics while watching Denis Leary's Rescue Me. The song they used was "Devil," which is apropos if I don't have time to do a Halloween blog tomorrow, but hopefully I will. I don't know much about Stereophonics to be honest, but I liked their record Language. Sex. Violence. Other? I gather the title of the CD was snatched from the back of a video rental, but no matter. I'm clearly a late bloomer here because they had been together since 1992 and had been making records since 1997. Language. Sex. Violence. Other? came out in 2005 and it was Stereophonics' fifth record already. All I know is I loved "Devil" after hearing it on Rescue Me so I went out and bought the CD. They remind me of another band I like that nobody seems to know in Monster Magnet. I'll probably catch some flak for that, but I think "Devil" would have fit right in on Monster Magnet's Dopes To Infinity. I realize Monster Magnet is considered Stoner Rock (there's a category for every imaginable sliver of Rock no?), but Stereophonics are all over the place themselves. Both of these records are very good, but New Jersey's Monster Magnet is a tad heavier. You'll hear some faint Oasis in Stereophonics' music, but that was almost to be expected in those days in that geography. Not that that's a bad thing. After all that's like two degrees of separation from The Beatles. With a love like that, you know it can't be bad...

Language. Sex. Violence. Other? featured the singles "Dakota" and "Superman" before "Devil" surfaced. A fourth song, "Rewind" has its fans as well. I haven't followed their career as closely as I probably would have liked to, but I understand they have a new record coming out in a couple of weeks called Keep Calm and Carry On. We wish them well. As for Rescue Me, I always wonder if somebody on the staff of the show is responsible for tabling this tune or if Denis himself chose it. Denis is plenty cool as is, but I'd like him even more if he knew his way around a modern rock record bin. Either way I enjoyed it and love this CD. I know TV shows like The O.C. have a string of CDs of music that they "broke" on their show, but I haven't seen that show believe it or not. I think it's really smart though to do what they're doing. I just looked at The Music From The O.C. Mix I on Amazon and Jet, Spoon and The Dandy Warhols (We Used To Be Friends....tremendous!...I know I told you to go out and buy The Dandie's Welcome To The Monkey House about a year ago, but I'm telling you again...fantastic record) are all on this CD so they've got some big names going for them. Oh wow, I gotta get with the program here...I just checked out Mix II and found great bands like The Eels, The Killers (though I'm fast getting sick of these guys), Death Cab For Cutie, Interpol, Nada Surf and The Thrills on it. Somebody knew what they were doing five or six years ago huh? I don't know if the show is still on the air, but that is tremendous branding. I always pay attention to the music in the background of any show. It's the music geek in me I guess.

OK, without further ado....I'm passing along 2005's Stereophonics' single "Devil." Hope you like.

Stereophonics - Devil.mp3

Stereophonics - Devil.mp3 YSI

www.stereophonics.com

My Insipid Record Collection - Graham Parker

2009-10-25T16:16:00.016-04:00

Another one of my favorites from Days of Future Passed is Graham Parker. He had a couple of different backing bands over the years, but there is no mistaking his voice. I have remarked in the past about my college years basically transforming what I thought were my musical tastes. Graham Parker & The Rumour were a British "New Wave" (I get so tired of adhering to the labeling of bands, but if nothing else it gives it a bit of a time stamp I suppose) act that had three relatively well known records by 1979's Squeezing Out Sparks. All I know is that when I was leafing through famous used record store Nuggets in Kenmore Square in the early 80's I saw a lot of these album covers; Heat Treatment, Howlin' Wind and Stick To Me. The argument could be made that the more you saw particular records the poorer the quality or they wouldn't be there. Respectfully disagreeing I always went home and tried to find out more about artists that had more records in their section than most. There was no Internet, obviously, in those days so I had to go back to my DJ friends at the restaurant where I worked to get the skinny on some of the UK bands I was really just learning about.

The thing is, I went home to New Jersey for the summer of 1979 and worked in a factory that made those horseshoe things you see on the back of big truck cabs. They're called fifth wheels. It was a filthy disgusting job that I worked with other so-called respectable college kids home for the summer. I'll bet I was making $4.50 an hour tops to assemble these monstrosities on big chains hanging from the ceiling. If you did 25 a day you were considered a hard worker. I will say that since college kids are often too stupid to stay home the night before a 7:30 AM factory job, there were many days that seemed like weeks to this clock puncher that summer. The regular year 'round employees basically had a good chuckle at our expense and we knew we didn't want to end up like them so it was a volatile three month mix as the foreman chased us around trying to make sure my friends and I weren't dogging it (which we were as often as possible if memory serves). The reason I relay this intensely boring tale of 1979 is because the kids I was working with didn't all necessarily come from the same school district. Many times we were gladiators on the sports battlefield of The Delaware River Conference (DRC) in rural NJ. Once we put that aside there were always interesting exchanges about music. We used to sit in our cars during our fifteen minute breaks or half hour lunches and listen to, gulp, eight track tapes. One kid I didn't know at all before I started working at this factory played Squeezing Out Sparks and I liked it. I remember he was big Tom Petty guy too so maybe he started me down that path as well. I still love "Listen To Her Heart" to this day.

In 1979 some of the top records, not really counting The Clash's London Calling since it came out with a couple of weeks to spare in the decade, were Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures, Gang of Four's Entertainment!, The B-52's debut album, The Police's Regatta de Blanc, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Damn The Torpedoes, Pink Floyd's The Wall, Elvis Costello's Armed Forces, Neil Young's Rust Never Sleeps, Public Image Limited's Second Edition, David Bowie's Lodger, Supertramp's Breakfast in America, Joe Jackson's Look Sharp, Talking Head's Fear of Music, AC/DC's Highway To Hell, Nick Lowe's Labour of Lust, Fleetwood Mac's Tusk, Blondie's Eat To The Beat, The Cars' Candy-O, The Eagles' The Long Run, Led Zeppelin's In Through The Out Door, Cheap Trick's Dream Police, Roxy Music's Manifesto, Iggy Pop's New Values, The Patti Smith Group's Wave, Gary Numan's The Pleasure Principle, Marianne Faithfull's Broken English, Ian Hunter's You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic, The Kink's Low Budget, Wire's 154, Frank Zappa's Joe's Garage, The Jam's Setting Sons, The Cure's Three Imaginary Boys, Dire Straits' Communique, XTC's Drums & Wires, Prince's debut album, Tim Curry's Fearless, Van Morrison's Into The Music, Bob Dylan's Slow Train Coming, Molly Hatchet's Flirting With Disaster, Van Halen II, The Alan Parsons Project's Eve, The Undertones debut album, ZZ Top's Deguello...and that doesn't include records by Michael Jackson or Donna Summer and others that weren't my style. Why did I list them all? I know I'm old, but does it strike anyone else that the top 100 records in this day & age just don't seem to measure up? It might be a case of the older I get the better it was, but that is one heckuva lot of great music concentrated in one era for some random year thirty years ago no? Maybe it's just me, but I'm not somebody who says "in my day" contrary to the occasional Giant Panther eye roll as I wax poetic about a long lost body of work. I love today's music just as much as if I grew up on it if it strikes me, but explaining what struck me in my formative years in here on this blog is very difficult to do without sounding like some clueless middle aged guy. Which I'm not...clueless that is...

The first time I heard "Local Girls" by Graham Parker I was on the bandwagon no questions asked. But Squeezing Out Sparks has other great songs like "Passion is No Ordinary Word, Nobody Hurts You, Discovering Japan, You Can't Be Too Strong, Saturday Nite is Dead and Love gets you Twisted." Anyone who followed Graham Parker's career knows full well this guy has a boatload of great songs like "Soul Shoes, Don't Ask Me Questions, Heat Treatment, Stupifaction, Temporary Beauty, You Hit The Spot, Mercury Poisoning, Don't Let It Break You Down, Get Started, Start a Fire and countless others. His Passion is No Ordinary Word compilation is a nice place to start if you would like more information about Graham Parker. For now though don't bother with the "Local Girls." Here endeth the Rumour, er, lesson...

Graham Parker & The Rumour - Local Girls.mp3

Graham Parker & The Rumour - Local Girls.mp3 YSI

My Insipid Record Collection - Sugar

2009-10-21T08:30:00.009-04:00

I've done my part to understand and digest Husker Du. I own Candy Apple Grey, Warehouse: Songs and Stories, Zen Arcade, Flip Your Wig and New Day Rising. These records all came out between 1984 and 1987. I didn't buy them until well into the 90's, mostly because of their critical acclaim. I'm not saying I don't like Husker Du, but these records don't get a lot of airplay at my house. I realize these guys were Minneapolis legends on par with The Replacements, but I prefer Bob Mould's solo stuff and his short lived band Sugar to Husker Du. Maybe it's sacrilegious, but that is how I feel. I can distinctly remember my friend Jefferson playing Bob Mould's solo debut Workbook for me in 1989 and it sold me. I've been a big fan of his ever since. You may remember the singles "See a Little Light" or "Wishing Well" from that record. It was almost acoustic Husker Du slowed down to a more reasonable speed. It could have been construed as a folk record. I just love this guy's voice and the pain he sometimes radiates. He's been wronged by lovers, record companies, band mates, alcohol and all the usual problems a rock musician seems to go through. Get this man a Behind The Music!...

Husker Du broke up in 1988 and Bob Mould has been releasing solo records ever since give or take a side project like Sugar. Sugar surfaced in 1992 and it was everything I loved about Mould solo in an alternative rock setting. Mould even has a song called "I Hate Alternative Rock" because I don't think he likes being typecast. For those of you who never followed his solo career he's got several tremendous songs I highly recommend. Among my personal favorites are "One Good Reason" from 1990's solid Black Sheets of Rain, "Fort Knox, King Solmon & Next Time That You Leave" from 1996's Bob Mould, "Can't Fight It" from the 1993 No Alternative compilation and "First Drag of The Day & Skintrade" from 1998's The Last Dog & Pony show. You can find all of these records in the cutout section of your local used CD store, but that just makes me love them all the more. You'd think I'd hate seeing records I paid full price for when they were first released selling for 99 cents (in some cases), but not me. I feel like grabbing the person next to me...you know the one; he has to look at the "M's" at the exact same time you do and has no clue about waiting his or her turn...and saying "buy this!," but I never do. I guess my point is if you like Bob Mould or Sugar think about scooping up all of his solo records between 1989 and 1998. They are all very good in my opinion.

Looking back on it, you could see the Sugar thing coming on if you were paying attention to his solo work. He was slowly picking up the pace and featuring a harder edged sound after Workbook. By the way, Bob can wield the axe. When he rocks, on top of that voice, he delivers the goods. I saw him play at The Paradise a couple of years back and he stayed and signed CDs for about 20 of us after the show. He couldn't have been nicer. He had a firm handshake (sounds ridiculous, but I'm believer in a solid handshake) and he looked you right in the eye. I loved his humility. He seemed like a normal guy to me. I'm aware that he has a colorful personal life, but I'm all about the music so I bought this last three CDs and got them signed as a show of support. His music has changed a lot after The Last Dog & Pony Show. They say his latest album Life and Times, which came out recently, puts him back on track, but I haven't heard much of it as of yet. I think he DJs a lot and some of the stuff on his records the last decade or so has revolved around dance music and technology experimentation.

Sugar was a different animal. A very good Bob Mould on steroids. Teaming up with ex Mercyland bassist David Barbe and drummer Malcolm Travis from my old friends Human Sexual Response (see earlier post), Mould hit a real sweet spot in his career. Copper Blue was released in September of 1992 and I went to see them play at The Orpheum Theatre in Boston in May of 1993. They rocked. WFNX was playing "Good Idea, Changes and If I Could Change Your Mind" and I was all over this record. My favorite track though was "Hoover Dam." Standing on the edge of the Hoover Dam. I'm on the center line. Right between two states of mind. Great lyrics. For those of you who are unfamiliar, The Hoover Dam is located on the state line between Arizona and Nevada and harnesses the power of the mighty Colorado River. Completed in 1936, the dam is still one of the biggest electricity generators in this country. I watched a documentary a couple of years ago on the building of the dam and it was pretty educational. We lost a lot of men on that job. Herbert Hoover got all the credit, but it's probably the biggest tourist attraction outside of Las Vegas to this day. My mother lives out in Nevada so while out in Vegas on a business I let her drag me over there. I don't know the name or number of the highway, but the imagery in Mould's song is all I could think of while I was there. I stood where Bob stood. Pretty cool. I'm leaving you with Hoover Dam because I just love this song. Hopefully somebody out there will agree with me.

Sugar - Hoover Dam.mp3

Sugar - Hoover Dam.mp3 YSI

My Insipid Record Collection - The Clash

2009-10-20T15:53:00.014-04:00

A friend of mine comes over my place from time to time and likes to call it "Mantown." I laugh every time he says it. Why does he call it "Mantown?" Because everywhere you look there are framed rock posters. Led Zeppelin, Robert Johnson, Nirvana, The Who, Nine Inch Nails, Peter Gabriel, The Rolling Stones, U2, New Order, Dave Mason, The Clash, Bob Dylan, Gov't Mule, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, She Wants Revenge, AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen, The White Stripes, Radiohead, John Hiatt and a Chicago blues bar called "Blue Chicago" all have prominent wall space in my crib. It's only a 1500 square foot condo or I'd have more stuff up there. It's my own little personal Rock & Roll Hall of Fame I guess, but in the absence of anyone telling me what to do for the moment it just sorta happened. My friend's been married and divorced twice so the implication, even as he now cohabitates with yet a third female, is that if I was presently living with a woman this kind of thing would not stand. Maybe he's right, but at least they are all tastefully framed and not slapped up on the wall with thumbtacks right? That's gotta count for something don't it? I love horrible grammar sometimes, don't you?

One of the posters I had framed is an oversized picture of the cover of The Clash's London Calling. The poster is bigger than anything else I own and it's so big I couldn't fit it in my Volkswagen Passat when I went to pick it up. It was quite hilarious until then. I had to put it back in the store and dig up a friend's truck to move the thing the twenty miles (I had it done near work) from the framing store to my wall. Hanging the thing was a major bear as well. Putting one of those three pronged, three nail required thingamajigs in the beautiful brand new pristine wall (this was about three years ago now) was painful enough (but not nearly as painful as watching them cut a hole in my wall to brace my new flat screen on the cantilever arm...that was pretty wild for a new condo owner...they had to thread the wires through the wall so there was no getting around that one), but I ended up solo hanging the thing and that was pretty hairy. Although the worst, by far, hanging story is when I hung my oversized The Song Remains The Same Poster (it came with the release of the DVD a couple of years back if you mailed in for it) over my stairwell that leads up to the master bedroom. It's so high in the air you needed a ladder, which I promptly went out and bought. The thing was, the stairs were relatively steep with no carpet to brace the ladder on and the art of getting behind such a high space combined with the length of the poster had the ladder nearly perpendicular. Naturally I was soloing the task so there were some very precarious moments involved. It would be hilarious if it wasn't so stupid. It looks beautiful today, but I may never be able to get it down.

Where was I? Oh yeah, The Clash. Over my kitchen table hangs the biggest Clash poster I have ever seen. It's not that unusual or anything, but it's big. It creaks every now and then I'm always waiting for the worst. I bought a corner hutch about a year later so I had move the thing over four inches on the wall. Glad it's still there is all I can say. I'll sell the place before those old holes are exposed for all to see. London Calling was released way back in December of 1979 just in time for the stocking stuffing masses. I was just reading a Classic Rock Magazine reprint of an article that originally appeared in the NME (New Music Express) that same month. It was about a Mod DJ turned producer named Guy Stevens. Guy was a bit of a badass, but he was famous for producing bands like Free and Spooky Tooth while serving as the first house producer for Island Records. He claims to have invented Mott The Hoople (at least making sure that the name Mott The Hoople, taken from a book by Willard Manus, was used as the name of a band he was involved with at some level) and to have introduced Keith Reid to Procol Harum. He then allegedly failed to sign Procol Harum to Island and watched them sell over 90 million copies of "Whiter Shade of Pale" for someone else.

His legend also included making tapes of his fearsome record collection he mostly mail ordered from America for groups like The Who so they had something to cover inbetween originals. But his real Calling, pardon the obvious bad pun, was that he discovered The Clash by happenstance as he was visiting someone across the street from where they were rehearsing. He allegedly heard the Clash song "White Riot" and set off to reclaim his sagging career. Apparently the disappointment of being abandoned by Mott The Hoople after producing their first five Island records and losing out on untold millions via the Procol Harum fiasco set off the usual alcoholic haze...only this one lasted nearly seven years. When The Clash told CBS Records they were going to use Guy Stevens the label pushed back. They didn't like him. Good thing they buckled.

Guy Stevens produced the fabulous London Calling album and regained his place as the Phil Spector of the UK in the process. As a youngster of 19 in 1979 I was still getting used to being on my own and still had a record collection full of Supertramp, The Cars, Boston, Cheap Trick, The Beatles & The Stones, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Heart and Steve Miller (not that there's anything wrong with that); I just wasn't yet prepared for the onslaught that was The Clash. You're going to laugh, but you know when it really hit me that these guys might be pretty good (let alone the only band that really mattered)? It was about three in morning somewhere around 1980. I had just got off my shift as a line cook at TGI Fridays and about 12 of us headed back to someone's apartment in the Fenway here in Boston. Someone put on a copy of "Magnificent Seven" from The Clash's Sandinista! and the girls all started dancing. Funny how you come upon certain points in your life and attach them to bands and the memory sticks as a result. I know I had heard London Calling prior to this. My college roommate must have played "Brand New Cadillac" about eight gazillion times. I liked it fine, but I didn't yet love it. All of the sudden I was a Clash fan. "Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad" mad for this "new" band called The Clash. I didn't get a Mohawk, but I can remember going to Strawberries when Combat Rock hit the streets. They were all but done by them, but I didn't know that. I was just getting started! I even bought Cut The Crap and thought "This is England" rocked!

OK, my post is way too long now. London Calling was voted the #8 record in the latest Rolling Stone Top 500 Records of all Time poll. It's fitting. It's a double album with nary a weak cut. Sandinista!, by comparison, is a triple album that could have been a great double album. None of us could afford it back it the day even though I think it sold for a respectable $11.99 (don't quote me!). It had fantastic songs on it, but there was a lot of filler for my money. No filler on London Calling. Everyone knows the title track and the unlisted smash hit "Train in Vain," but there are great songs mixed in there. My personal favorite is The Guns of Brixton, but Death or Glory is always right behind it. Most folks know "Lost in The Supermarket" and "Clampdown" because they were played ad nauseum on AOR radio, but songs like "Revolution Rock, Rudie Can't Fail, Spanish Bombs, Jimmy Jazz, Lover's Rock and The Card Cheat" are fantastic. It's a must own. But for me, the Paul Simonon penned track "The Guns of Brixton" just does it for me. It's fitting because it's Simonon that is the Clash member that is about to do serious harm to his instrument on the cover of London Calling.

The Clash - The Guns of Brixton.mp3

The Clash - The Guns of Brixton.mp3 YSI

My Insipid Record Collection - Catherine Wheel

2009-10-18T13:47:00.008-04:00

In 1992 a band from Great Yarmouth in the UK meandered onto the scene with a record called Ferment. Local WFNX DJ Julie Kramer seemed inordinately enamored of these guys and played "Black Metallic" until the whole region finally got it. I didn't need much prodding to be honest. "Black Metallic" is just a fantastic song. Write that down. FANTASTIC. I know I've prattled on about this many times, but from 1987 to around 1993 I was all over new bands the way The Giant Panther is on them today. In fact, he stumbled on "Black Metallic" about two years ago now and came to me wondering if I'd ever heard it. Heard it? I'd say this song stands as one of the very best the so called alternative 90's had to offer. The 90's get a bad rap from a lot of folks including The GP, but once you get past the flotsam and jetsam there were a ton of great artists and music in my opinion. The same as in any other decade in my opinon. Catherine Wheel was one of those artists.

Catherine Wheel consisted of guitarist and main vocalist Rob Dickinson, guitarist Brian Futter, bassist Dave Hawes and drummer Neil Sims. Formed in 1990, Catherine Wheel took its name from a type of firework, but "Catherine Wheel" was also a type of medieval torture device. I don't think the band minded the duel associations. They were lumped in with what the British press referred to as "shoegazing" artists. I guess the prevailing definition at the time was used to describe artists that stood on stage performing almost motionless with no intent of trying to rile up the crowd with inane phrases like "Hello Cleveland!" Frequently said performers were actually looking down at their shoes while they sang. It might be more of a myth than anything, but it was kind of a humorous way to describe low impact live shows in those days. I never did see Catherine Wheel now that I think about it, but I could swear I did see them once at Boston's Hatch Shell. Alas, I have no proof or memory of such a show. You had to manufacture your own ticket at free outdoor events and sometimes I spaced it. Oh well. Since I don't remember it I can't imagine it had much of an impact if in fact it ever took place. Nice huh? Nothing like advertising my over indulging early 90's memory loss I guess...

Regarding Catherine Wheel, they had a nice run from 1990 until roughly 2000. They toured incessantly, but never really got over the metaphoric hump. They were big around Boston and I'm sure in the UK, but records sales were so-so at best. The press loved them that's for sure. I did too actually, but while their records always had a "hit" or two they never really felt complete to me. Ferment broke some ground, but none of their records made it higher than 25th on the U.S. Charts according to Wikipedia. Still, many of you might remember songs like "I Want To Touch You, Heal, Balloon, Crank, Show Me Mary, and Judy Staring at The Sun," but by and large they never reached the ethereal heights of "Black Metallic" ever again. They had a terrific cover of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" on 1996's Like Cats and Dogs compilation that also went under the radar. Their last gasp CD Wishville, released in 2000, received more of the same lackluster consumer attention and the band went on an open ended hiatus. Still, "Black Metallic" will keep Catherine Wheel on the tip of my tongue forevermore. What a great single. Consider them Giant Panther Hall of Famers as a result.

Catherine Wheel - Black Metallic.mp3

Catherine Wheel - Black Metallic.mp3 YSI

One Track Mind - Think Tree

2009-10-17T17:48:00.006-04:00

Give yourself a pat on the back if you can recall these guys. Think Tree was an eclectic Boston band that used to play places like Chet's Last Call and The Rat in Kenmore Square. They were really tough to get a handle on. In those days nobody was labeled an "Indie" band per se, but if there was such a designation these guys deserved it. There isn't a heckuva lot of information about them on the web, but I wanted to post this song anyway. I have some kind of masochistic streak in me when I post I think. I want to post under the radar chestnuts that push folks to post comments, but sometimes I guess I go too underground. I'll probably have 25 people download this song, but I don't care. Somebody somewhere will go; "oh yeah." I only need one person to make the post worth my time.

Think Tree put out an EP in 1990 called 8/13. I was reading an interview posted on the web somewhere and lead vocalist Peter Moore claimed the 8/13 had a cryptic meaning that couldn't be revealed for some reason. He did offer that electronic drummer Jeff Biegert once lived at 813 Terrence Wood Drive in Colorado, but that seemed designed to throw us off the trail. They came and went inside of five years, at least based on their releases, but they were definitely part of the local rock scene in the early 90's. I first heard "Hire a Bird" on WFNX that first year and took to the song right away. It's quirky and the lyrics can be indecipherable at times, but that didn't stop me. I see that they published the words in the CD now that I look into it, but I don't recall ever actually reading them at the time. I just taped the song onto one my cassette mixes and off I went. "The Lovers" and later "Rattlesnake" from their 1992 release Like The Idea (on Caroline Records) also made later tapes for me. This band blended all kinds of odd noises and they definitely weren't Slaves To The Rhythm that's for sure. I saw them play at Avalon on February 18, 1992 at a Nomination Party (my ticket was ripped, but I'm guessing it was related to The Boston Phoenix somehow), but I don't recall anything about the show. I know they were headliners, but I'm guessing there were other good bands there that night as well. My memory of the early 90's isn't so hot I have to admit. It's really kind of sad.

Unfortunately, they disbanded around 1995, but then again they never could quit their day jobs. Caroline didn't fund their tours they way they would have liked so they actually toured Europe more than North America by the time they were done. There is a story that Nine Inch Nails honcho Trent Reznor heard "Hire a Bird" in a Burger King restaurant and took Think Tree backstage after warming up a Peter Murphy Boston gig at Citi way back when. There was talk of Reznor performing a song with Think Tree at one their shows at some point, but it never did materialize. It's a shame these guys never found their place in this tough business, but it's a story told a thousand times. They can be proud of "Hire a Bird" though. It's kind of amazing how little information is available about these guys, but maybe that only bolsters their legacy. A little mystery never hurt anyone.

Think Tree - Hire a Bird.mp3

Think Tree - Hire a Bird.mp3 YSI

Lock The Door & Cover Me - Built To Spill

2009-10-10T15:37:00.008-04:00

OK rockers. Want to know the two very best kept secrets in rock today (only in my humble opinion of course)? Is that a yes? OK, I'll tell you; Built To Spill and The Black Keys. One band is from Idaho (Built To Spill) so you understand why they might not be a household name and the other is from that rock bastion Ohio (The Black Keys). Are you aware that Cleveland Rocks? Even the legendary Ian Hunter and Drew Carey know this...get on the stick! Seriously, I can't say enough about these two bands. I just love them to death. Tonight, Built To Spill is playing The Middle East in Cambridge. The venue holds maybe 1000 if the Fire Marshall is properly greased so it's a must see if at all possible. Naturally I procrastinated to see if my baseball team was playing the night of the concerts (there are three this weekend) and now that I want to go this evening I have no ticket. I should go camp out right now because this is going to be a murderously tough scalp I fear. This band is just fantastic in concert. This would be my third or fourth time seeing Built To Spill if I get in. The Black Keys I've probably seen five times now. Both bands are highly recommended and Giant Panther approved.

My Built To Spill story is actually kind of accidental and funny. I hope I haven't told it before in past blogs, but now I have a year's worth of history to space. I wouldn't know Built To Spill from spilled milk but for a fortuitous incorrect purchase about nine years ago. I was playing softball in North Cambridge for a bucket of blood pub called Sligo's in Davis Square (Somerville, MA) and we would retire to the bar after we played every Friday night for years. Davis Square is a great little college beehive of activity; Tufts University is over in nearby Medford and Somerville in general has been slowly gentrified the past fifteen years or so. It's about eight miles from Boston at most, but it houses some great bars, BBQ, theaters and live entertainment clubs (no, not those kind...geesh). It is just flooded with beautiful coeds and youth. I just love visiting the place. Sligo's, our sponsor at the time, is a giant throwback bar. It opens at dawn for third shifters and basically gets by on the spill off from packed clubs like The Burren, The Joshua Tree and Redbones (the best BBQ in our part of the world). It is crawling with nefarious types perched on their stools right next to college kids. It's a mixed everything venue; people who start drinking to prevent their hangover from taking over the following day (you know the types; boilermakers and red eyes before noon) and college kids who could care less what time of day it is. Does the day end in "y?" Yes? One Pabst Blue Ribbon please...

How do I always get so far off track? Oh yeah, drinking after softball. Sometimes we'd have to run various errands for money and slices or ice or whatever after a given game. Parking in Davis Square is no picnic, but once that is settled sometimes we'd hit the bank for drinking money just before showing up to explain how we dropped the ball or hit the big homer. It was fun. I didn't like tying up my Fridays, but the league was competitive and we just kept playing. We only won the thing once in 1997 for our seven or eight years of trouble, but we never gave up trying. One team was always better than we were...every year. It all came down to pitching and we didn't have much. Anyway, one night while my buddy was getting cash I wandered over the to used CD store (remember those?) across the street and bought some music for fun. I must have picked up the latest CD by some artist (they sold new stuff too) and headed straight for the register because I know I wasn't in there long. Unbelievably, there was a line of four or five people trying to get out of there so I had time to check out the equivalent of your garden variety grocery store magazine rack as I was waiting. One CD just popped up as I was browsing (we must have won that night because I was feeling curious) and it said Live - Built To Spill. Some of you may remember the York, PA band Live that had numerous hits in the early 90's. I thought this was their new CD so I bought it! I had no idea the band was Built To Spill and the album was Live. That was one of the best mistakes I ever made.

Built To Spill is an Alt-Country band, but not like, say Uncle Tupelo or Wilco. They are a Blues band, but not like The Black Keys or Gov't Mule. They are a Jam band, but not like Phish or Blues Traveler. They are tough to pin a label on honestly. They are considered Indie, but so is everyone with absolutely no radio airplay. I think it's safe to say they are Neil Young disciples, but it's almost like Neil Young meets The Allman Brothers Band. But not quite. First of all, I don't really even like live albums per se. I think I mentioned this recently. And this was my first foray into the world of Built To Spill. Wow! This is a fantastic recording all around. I instantly went out and bought their entire catalogue. I just love this band. Their studio records are great and their live show is flat awesome. Doug Martsch is one of the most underrated guitarists around. I'm out of superlatives I swear.

OK, wish me luck getting in tonight, but I don't like my chances about now. I'm posting an exceedingly long cover version of the awesome Neil Young dirge Cortez The Killer from 1975's Zuma. Built To Spill lovingly reproduce this song with such intensity I was hooked after a single listen. The rest of their Live album is so good I can't even convey my enthusiasm with any clarity. Under the radar for their entire existence, they get by on their enormously loyal cult like following (Hello) because they deliver time after time in concert. Check them out and enjoy this flawless remake of Cortez The Killer. Grab a cup of coffee or something because this is no three minute throwaway cover. And to think I haven't even heard a note of their brand new record called There is No Enemy that just dropped this past Tuesday. Hopefully that'll change this evening.

P.S. I'm in!! Just scored a ticket off Craigslist while waiting for this bear to upload. Score!

Built To Spill - Cortez The Killer.mp3

Built To Spill - Cortez The Killer.mp3 YSI

www.builttospill.com

Lock The Door & Cover Me - The Violent Femmes

2009-10-09T14:54:00.008-04:00

I didn't know anything about Glam Rock when I was a kid. I didn't know T-Rex as Glam Rock. I didn't know that Mott The Hoople, David Bowie, Gary Glitter, Slade, Roxy Music, Sweet, The Tubes or The New York Dolls were considered Glam Rock either. I didn't know the genre was mostly associated with androgynous bi-sexual secretive (stage persona only or otherwise) types that wanted you think something (anything!) that would draw attention to their act. I wasn't much for David Bowie's early shtick honestly, but his music was so good it just didn't matter. Even one my personal musical heroes, Mick Jagger, had multiple rumors circulating that he might have been bi-curious back in the day. I was never that guy myself, but it was a tad unnerving to hear about my favorite musicians (I'm talking to you Lou Reed...as if he gives a rats backside) potentially playing for or with the other team. And forget about that old Rod Stewart rumor... I guess my point is Glam/Shock Rock's infancy wasn't very shocking looking back on it, but it did produce some great records.

It has always been about the music for me. If I liked the music I could overlook differentiating sexual preferences, politics or garden variety idiocy. That is what made them human. I have mentioned my childhood friend Jim in my blog in the past. He had three older siblings that all had a pretty big influence on our listening habits when we were between 14 and 18 years of age. They weren't always around, but their record collections were. It's part of the reason I lug my 1200 or so albums (I haven't bought one since 1987's Landing On Water by Neil Young) whenever I move. I just can't get past the visual and the nostalgia (let's be honest about what it is now...and that was only 22 years ago...The Times They Are A-Changin' no?). One of the records we got stuck on as young boys was T-Rex's The Slider. We had already seen 1971's Bang a Gong (Get It On) played on Dick Clark's American Bandstand and, I swear, the first time I heard this song it was a must own proposition for me. I bought Electric Warrior (the record Bang a Gong first appeared on) and The Slider a couple of years later, but first we had to listen to Jim's sister Nancy's copy of The Slider for free over a thousand times. I was just listening to it before I began to blog today. It still does it for me.

T-Rex's lead singer Marc Bolan was something else. He was a very charismatic performer and oozed sensuality as he spit out his lyrics. Some of them made you laugh ("I've got a Rolls Royce, 'cause it's good for my voice"), but humor was also part of his persona. Marc Bolan was a larger than life character. Unfortunately he died in a car crash in 1977 effectively ending T-Rex. If you still don't own Electric Warrior (1971) and The Slider (1972) and you have some early 70's David Bowie in your collection, go out and buy them. I still listen to them 35 plus years later. "Children of The Revolution" was eventually covered by Wisconsin products The Violent Femmes in 1986 on their CD The Blind Leading The Naked. The do a nice job on the cover, but the T-Rex version still rules. I've long been a fan of The Violent Femmes and have seen them a couple of times over the years. They have their own fantastic catalogue of originals, but I was immediately impressed when they chose to cover this T-Rex song. Very solid choice. Now go out and buy some Violent Femmes records.

"Children of The Revolution" was released as a single in September of 1972 and was eventually included as a bonus track on the reissued 1972 albums Ride a White Swan and The Slider as well as on the 1973 reissue of Tanx. How it didn't make the original cut on one of these records is beyond me. It's always been a favorite T-Rex track of mine. Hope you agree.

Children of The Revolution - The Violent Femmes.mp3

Children of The Revolution - T-Rex.mp3

Children of The Revolution - The Violent Femmes.mp3 YSI

Lock The Door & Cover Me - UB40

2009-10-07T16:48:00.007-04:00

I don't know how many of you folks know that UB40 is a the British equivalent of our unemployment application over here in the states. I love the name of this band. I know there were UB-40 German submarines in the first World War, but the band UB40 was allegedly formed while actually waiting in the unemployment line. How appropriate is that for today's economy? Brother. UB40 is a reggae band formed in Birmingham of the UK in 1978. The word is they were discovered in a bar by Chrissy Hynde of The Pretenders. I tell you, I learn more about the bands I listen to by posting than by natural curiosity sometimes. I haven't posted much about Reggae music so far, but I'm working on it. I definitely enjoy it from time to time, though I'm no aficionado. The Giant Panther dumped a bunch of modern day reggae artists on me recently, but it's taking me forever to go through them for a number of reasons. I'm on it though. I have goals. It'll happen and I'll report back to you eventually.

UB40 had a number of hits of their own, but they really embraced the cover as a money making vehicle. They had great taste in music as they covered The Temptations, Neil Diamond, Al Green, Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley, Elvis Presley...even Sonny & Cher. Labour of Love (I & II) was the name of two full albums of cover songs released in the mid 80's. They later added a third in the late 90's. They have sold over 70 million records worldwide and they have been called the most successful reggae act of all time. I guess Bob Marley wasn't around long enough, but I'm only going by what fact king Wikipedia is saying. UB40 still records today, although lead vocalist Ali Campbell left the band in 2008. Apparently Maxi Priest has taken over for him, but don't quote me. Although bands like The English Beat, The Clash and The Police were mostly contemporaries, I can't help but think a little UB40 rubbed off on these guys. There was quite a reggae scene in the UK once upon a time.

I'm going to post UB40's cover of the Al Green classic "Here I Am (Come and Take Me) today. I am an Al Green fan from way back and this cover, while fairly close to the original, is a nice blend of Reggae without sacrificing the Soul of the original. It's a great song to begin with, but UB40 does a nice version of it. I've been lacking on my cover posts lately, but mostly it's because I can't think of the ones I want to post when under the gun. My cover posts are some of the most popular for some reason so I'm cognizant of that and will post more in the future. Thanks for reading.

UB40 - Here I Am (Come and Take Me).mp3

Al Green - Here I Am (Come and Take Me).mp3

UB40 - Here I Am (Come and Take Me).mp3 YSI

www.ub40-dep.com

One Track Mind - The Grapes of Wrath

2009-10-06T15:56:00.013-04:00

Sometimes I forget how many songs I've forgotten. Literally. I was just over in the "G's" of my library looking for something else and on the end of the row was a band I had long since forgotten about called The Grapes of Wrath. I knew they had a great song I hadn't heard in years, but for the life of me I couldn't quite remember what it was. I hadn't yet digitized the CD so I grabbed it and fired it onto my hard drive. Another one behind me. If you do these right they are fairly time consuming and I'm always happy to have whatever I was just working on behind me. I will be ecstatic when I get to the end. Bands that I only have one CD of are kind of the best because I know it won't take me long. I procrastinate over the big boys believe me. I'm dreading going back over my Rolling Stones or Who catalogues and upgrading their quality. Unfortunately it must be done.

I'm not going to take up a lot of space today on The Grapes of Wrath. Fortunately I don't have to do a book report on John Steinbeck's famous novel here, just piece about a folk rock band that had a great song that made me buy their record back in 1991. These guys were Canadian Folkies that rocked a tad. They were from British Columbia and had released five studio albums before breaking up in 1992. They also released a greatest hits record in 1994 and reunited for a sparkless record called Field Trip in 2000, but it wasn't to be as they broke up again soon afterwards. I know I listed this band under my One Track Mind feature, but they were actually pretty good through and through. I've got a well documented thing for Folk music as we know. I didn't blog about the recent passing of Mary Travers of Peter, Paul & Mary fame recently, but I probably should have and kind of regret it.

Ironically, I hadn't heard "Leaving On a Jet Plane" in decades when I was in the famous ski resort town Killington, VT over the weekend at one of the clubs at the foot of the mountain seeing a great cover artist called Joey Leon (I hope I have that right Joey!). The reason I tell the story is that they took a half hour break between sets and "Leaving On a Jet Plane" magically appeared in their between set music mix. The drunken crowd, admittedly hanging around all day without a flake of snow to exercise their brains with, all started singing along with Mary. I started feeling guilty about being so lazy regarding her passing and was even enjoying the song myself, which as we know is very uncool. Joey, who let some seven songs play in the interim between sets, actually took the time to go back up on stage, short circuit the song mid crowd vocal and declare his hatred for it. Even though she just passed away! We'd been cheering him all night, but we had to boo him then...

It was kind of a bummer, but he may not have realized that she just passed away. It'll probably be another decade until I hear it again, but Peter, Paul & Mary were pretty big in the late 60's. Between your Bob Dylan covers, your Puff The Magic Dragons, your I Dig Rock & Roll Musics, Your This Land is Your Lands, your If I Had a Hammers, your Lemon Trees and your Jet Planes this folk trio was all over the convergence of Folk and Rock. By the time Rock was in charge, Peter, Paul & Mary were fairly passe. However, they went down kicking and screaming with 1970's (technically December 1969, but who's counting?) "Jet Plane." Even though it was written by John Denver and had to be re-released two years after it first appeared on their album 1700 in 1967, it was to be PPM's only number one hit. Nevertheless, they had a wonderful legacy. R.I.P. Mary...what a voice...

I guess my point is between Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel I really developed a love for Folk music early on. I followed it right into rock behind bands like The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and later, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. When a band adroitly combines Folk and Rock I'm usually a soft touch. The Grapes of Wrath did just that. I guess Sarah McLachlan once warmed up for them on one of their tours. Oh those crazy Canadians looking out for each other huh? I thought that was pretty cool actually. Kind of like when Joni Mitchell and Neil Young shared the stage for a song or two in The Last Waltz. Anyway, I'm intentionally cutting this post right here so I can catch the one game baseball playoff this afternoon. I love those one game Game Sevens! I Hope you enjoy my posting of "You May Be Right." I really loved this song when it was on that old fangled thing known as the radio way back before the turn of the century. If you are going to call yourselves The Grapes of Wrath you'd better be good huh? I'd say this song qualifies. Hopefully you agree.

The Grapes of Wrath - You May Be Right.mp3

The Grapes of Wrath - You May Be Right.mp3 YSI

One Track Mind - Machines of Loving Grace

2009-10-05T18:36:00.005-04:00

I was just rummaging through my collection to find something to blog about and came across a song I really liked from 1993. You remember 1993 don't you? C'mon, it was only 16 years ago now. It was the year of brilliant songs like The Breeders' Cannonball, The London Suede's Animal Nitrate, Beck's Loser, New Order's Regret, Nirvana's Heart Shaped Box, Pearl Jam's Daughter, Smashing Pumpkins' Cherub Rock, Belly's Feed The Tree, Mazzy Star's Fade Into You, Liz Phair's Fuck and Run, Urge Overkill's Positive Bleeding, Juliana Hatfield's My Sister, Elastica's Stutter, Soul Asylum's Black Gold, Bjork's Human Behaviour, James' Sometimes (Lester Piggot), Porno For Pyros' Pets, Alice in Chain's Rooster, King Missle's Detachable Penis, Radiohead's Creep, The Screaming Trees' Nearly Lost You, Stereo MCs' Connected, Midnight Oil's Truganini, Stone Temple Pilots' Plush, Cracker's Low, Grant Lee Buffalo's Fuzzy...heck even Sting's If I Ever Lose My Faith in You. Solid year no?

One song that is long gone and forgotten that I loved from that year is a song called "Butterfly Wings" from Industrial Rockers Machines of Loving Grace. They took a page out of the Nine Inch Nails playbook for certain, but they are slightly more melodic than NIN pound for pound. Industrial Rock, as we have discussed previously in the space, does have its detractors. I never quite made the Industrial Rock distinction when I was soaking up everything within earshot back then. If it was good it was good and this song was great. The Machines of Loving Grace were a Tucson, Arizona band that formed in 1989. They weren't around very long, but they did release three records before disbanding in 1997. I have just learned from our friends at Wikipedia that the song I am posting was featured on the original soundtrack to the movie Punisher: War Zone. I've never seen it, but it's probably one reason some of you folks might recognize this track. I could swear I heard them perform it live at The Hatch Shell in Boston many moons to the south, but I have no proof.

I was going post a link to their web site, but it turns out some guy who collects old typewriters, apparently machines of loving grace, has what should be their URL. How funny is that? I'm sure that why they broke up (he said facetiously). I wish I could think of the next big phrase, company, technology or product name, buy the naming rights and force them to pay for my summer and winter homes in order to get it back. Oh wouldn't that be sweet? Unfortunately my hindsight is better than my foresight and I'm just not that smart. If I had that kind of insight into the future I'd just save it for Mega Millions and be done with it. As for the real Machines of Loving Grace, they gracefully bowed out of the game over a decade ago and haven't been heard from since. They have a My Space page I noticed, but that could just be another unofficial fan generated page. As I've said many times before though; it's better to have one great single than to have none. Hope you like...

Machines of Loving Grace - Butterfly Wings.mp3

Machines of Loving Grace - Butterfly Wings.mp3 YSI

My Insipid Record Collection - Soundgarden

2009-10-01T14:50:00.023-04:00

Hey everybody (say it like The Simpsons' Dr Nick)! It's my one year anniversary of blogging. I posted my first entry one year ago today. I bet you guys are thrilled huh (not)? No? Well, I'll try to do better this year. I was listening to my local Alterna-Rock station this morning and the DJ, Julie Kramer, was on a Grunge jag. Alice in Chains is back. Layne Staley isn't, but they are. I have to admit I like "Check My Brain." I didn't want to like it, but it really maintains the AIC sound and I'm happy for them. WFNX plays a lot of so-so things they think are good, such as Paramore (sorry to all you Paramore fans...I don't mean to offend anyone), but this station is very funny nowadays. Granted the early 90's were all about the Seattle Grunge sound, but man was I loving it. Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees, Temple of The Dog, Mother Love Bone...even Hole (indirectly)...I loved it all. It was a great muscial era I thought.

It'll be interesting when I get around to listening to the rest of the Alice in Chains record, but I'm very encouraged by the first single. So this morning WFNX played the new AIC single, Pearl Jam's "I'm Alive," and Soundgarden's "Burden in My Hand" all within about 15 minutes of each other. I had given a lot of thought as to what my birthday post might be and hearing "Burden in My Hand" from 1996's Down On The Upside this morning on the radio kind of put me over the top. I didn't actually own Bad Motorfinger right away when it came out in 1991, but I should have. It has some of my all time favorite Soundgarden singles on it. Speaking of Singles, I loved that movie when it came out in 1992.

For those of you who haven't seen it it's basically about being young and single in the Seattle area during the Grunge era. It's one of my favorite soundtracks. I love Paul Westerberg of The Replacements and I've always had kind of a thing for Bridget Fonda (Kyra Sedgwick too for that matter...before all that Closer lipstick...scale it back Kyra...please), but the soundtrack was sheer grunge. Soundgarden contributed "Birth Ritual" and Chris Cornell contributed "Seasons," but the whole record was great. It even had some Jimi Hendrix, Heart (in the form of The Lovemongers getting the Led out with "The Battle of Evermore") and my favorite Smashing Pumpkins song of them all; "Drown." A great soundtrack can really cement a movie in the record buying public's mind. I'm a great case study for that I guess. I'll never forget that movie because of the music. I guess the same could be said of The Big Chill, but Singles was an Independent film so you rooted for it right?

I was a huge Grunge fan. Nirvana's Nevermind is always going to be a big inflection point for that genre, but there were some great bands from that era. Soundgarden was absolutely right in the middle of it at the time. Has anyone else heard Johnny Cash doing "Rusty Cage" on one of the American Recordings records he did with Rick Rubin producing? I just love Johnny Cash anyway, but these American Recordings are tremendous. I'll eventually post one of those covers, but they should be checked out by anyone and everyone. Consider them Giant Panther approved.

Soundgarden, led by Chris Cornell, released Bad Motorfinger in 1991, Superunknown in 1994 and Down On The Upside in 1996. Three great records in a row. I had my chance to see them in Boston around 1992 or so and dropped the ball. I distinctly remember a friend of mine saying "you better go see them now because after this they will be huge." He nailed it. Superunknown is so solid it defies superlatives. I just skipped through it on Amazon and forgot how good "Mailman" is. Or "The Day I Tried To Live." Or "Head Down." You could take the hits right off this album and it wouldn't bother me in the least. I absolutely loved "Black Hole Sun, Fell On Black Days and Spoonman," but I've heard them so many times they have lost some of their zeal for me. Still, the first time I heard "Black Hole Sun" I went right out and bought my first Soundgarden CD. I couldn't have been more pleased with the result. I then went back and bought Louder Than Love and Bad Motorfinger just because. Later on Down On The Upside had a fantastic track called "Blow Up The Outside World" I just loved as well. There was nothing wrong with "Pretty Noose" either. I just couldn't get enough Soundgarden then.

The band, which formed in 1984, basically broke up after five studio albums in 1997. They were the first Grunge band to get signed to a major label when they signed with A&M in 1990 and sold 20 million records worldwide. Their popularity came a couple of years after the other worldly fame of Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but they had nothing to be ashamed about. This was a great band too. They took a lot of heat from their fans after leaving SST Records and going "pro," but it was worth it. Cult labels like SST and Sub Pop were awesome for starters, but you really needed the promotional muscle only a major could provide. Bad Motorfinger wasn't out long before people figured out "Outshined, Rusty Cage, Jesus Christ Pose and Holy Water" were outstanding songs and that the record was worth buying. I probably didn't own it until 1994, but better late than never. I think "Outshined" is my favorite Soundgarden track, but at least ten of their tracks are in the running.

Chris Cornell released a couple three solo records, but splitting up Soundgarden proved to be a questionable move. Superunknown debuted at number one on the Billboard Charts in March of 1994 and went platinum five times. I love it when a great record finds mainstream success. I know I shouldn't, but when I look at those Top 40 charts I really cringe. I just bought the October issue of Rolling Stone Magazine this morning, mostly because the delectable Megan Fox is on the cover with her Gail O'Grady (take a good look!), er, Marilyn Monroe tattoo, and am presently looking at the charts. Of the Top 40 selling records I only own Kings of Leon's Only By Night, The Black Crowes' Before The Frost..., John Fogerty's The Blue Ridge Rangers Ride Again and Eminem's Relapse. That's four of the Top 40. Pretty sad huh? Even on the college charts I can only claim The Dead Weather, Wilco, Blitzen Trapper and Modest Mouse. That's because I'm off the Arctic Monkeys Bandwagon...if I was ever on it. Anyway, the point is when Soundgarden was number one that was great for rock music. Today you have Whitney Houston and Miley Cyrus on top. 'Nuff said, am I right?

OK, my one year post is way too long for saying nothing new. I just wanted to say glad to have you folks as readers and I hope once in a while I turn you onto something new or something you have forgotten. Today I'm looking California and feelin' Minnesota. One year...made it! Talk soon.

Soundgarden - Outshined.mp3

Soundgarden - Outshined.mp3 YSI

Awesome

2009-09-29T15:31:00.003-04:00

Listen to this Neon Indian remix of Au Revoir Simone. I wasn't overwhelmed with the original version, as a matter of fact, this remix could have worked just as well on its own. This reminds me of a backing song to an 80s sci fi movie played on a VCR with lousy tracking. It's way harder to make something sound bad/lo-fi than it is to make it sound aesthetically pristine. Jealous.

Can't wait to hear more from Neon Indian than the bits and pieces that I've seen in blogoland.

MP3: Au Revoir Simone - Another Likely Story (Neon Indian Remix)
Alt Link

Neon Indian Myspace

One Track Mind - Propaganda

2009-09-29T15:21:00.005-04:00

Synth Pop mostly gets a bad rap. I wasn't a mad fan of the genre, but there are some bands I just love that only made this kind of music. Depeche Mode, Erasure and Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark are three that come to mind right away. There were some awful examples of this style of music, but I don't like to speak ill of the dead. Usually they swoop in for one great track, usually danceable, and then head off into the sunset never to be heard from again. It's no picnic trying to separate yourself from the Synth Pop pack. Either you are very, very good or you are ignored. There doesn't seem to be much in between. I guess that era has come and gone no?

Today I'm reaching back to 1985 for a favorite chestnut of mine called "Duel" by a German act called Propaganda. They were formed in 1982 in Dusseldorf. The only thing I know about Dusseldorf, unfortunately for me, is that Bob Crane used to mention it on Hogan's Heroes from time to time. World traveler I am not. Maybe some day. Propaganda, a fitting name for a band from Germany, was basically Ralph Dorper of the German band Die Krupps (who allegedly didn't play an instrument), singer Suzanne Freytag and a DJ named Andreas Thein in the beginning. Later on Thein left and was replaced by Michael Mertens. They also added another singer named Claudia Brucken and were signed to Trevor Horn's fledgling ZTT label. ZTT seemed to be all set to release Propaganda's debut album, A Secret Wish, when one the most overrated and over hyped bands of all time, label mates Frankie Goes To Hollywood, hit the big time in 1984 with their single "Relax" from Welcome To The Pleasuredome. I could never figure out what the big deal was, but "Relax" and "Two Tribes" were pretty big hits back then. I should post my pristine radio station promo copy on eBay huh?

The reason I mention Frankie is that ZTT had to back up the promotion of Propaganda's A Secret Wish to put it's full force behind the Frankie phenomenon. Finally in 1985 Propaganda released its debut album to relatively little fanfare. I hate to throw the one hit wonder tag at these artists as you know, but I'd never heard of Propaganda prior to the late 80's and I haven't heard a note from them since, but I'm sure they exist. I just listened to A Secret Wish end to end and I have an idea whey they faded into obscurity, but I don't want to offend the eight reviewers on Amazon.com that refer to it as "A True Synth Pop Masterpiece!" and "Visionary! One of My Favorite Albums Ever!" I'm not going to go down that road, but "Deul" is a great single and I wanted to post it for those who may have forgotten it. I'll say it again though; one great single is better than none every time. Props to Prop...

Propaganda - Duel.mp3

Propaganda - Duel.mp3 YSI

Guilty Pleasures - Chicago

2009-09-26T07:14:00.010-04:00

I was thinking about the Jazz Rock genre the other day while listening, gulp, to David Clayton Thomas era Blood, Sweat & Tears and I got to thinking about the market in general. There used to be a band called Johnny Hates Jazz a while back and by rights I should know every note they ever recorded, but I don't. I loved the name though. I remember telling you folks I used to go around saying I hated Country music, but the truth is I really don't. I feel the same way about Jazz. I never liked it, but now I have a tolerance for it. I mean, I have a copy of Kinda Blue and Bitches Brew (Miles Davis for those of you that need it), but I really don't listen to them much. I've got some John Coltrane records and a handful of other Jazz artists, but I've always been curious about what I might be missing musically and these records just kept surfacing on all time critics lists so I bought them. I may circle back to them in the future, tastes do change, but I'm not counting on it. I'd rather go see Jazz in a club than listen to it in my home. I'm pretty sure that stems from me never having learned to play an instrument and that is something I regret. Maybe it's not too late.

When it comes to Jazz Rock I think of the 70's. The all time king of the genre, for me personally, is Steely Dan. I don't care if I ever hear another note of Aja or Gaucho either. I'm a mad Steely Dan fan. I reach for Pretzel Logic, Countdown To Ecstasy and The Royal Scam all the time. It seemed like the genre congregated in the early 70's though doesn't it? Artists like The Average White Band, Tower of Power, Chase, Weather Report, Chicago, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Santana, Manu Dibango, Jeff Beck, Sun Ra, Eddie Harris & Les McCann, Van Morrison, Soft Machine, Return To Forever....even Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell and Frank Zappa...all spearheaded the Jazz Rock scene way back when. But it all seemed to come and go at once didn't it? Maybe it's my imagination. I will say that an incredibly good band called Morphine excelled under the radar until Mark Sandman's death in 1999. If you have never taken the time to check out Morphine get on the stick. Those guys were flat brilliant.

Arguably the most successful Jazz Rock band of all time is Chicago. Santana and Chicago have something in common and I'll probably catch hell from somebody for saying as much, but they have too many records. Imagine boiling down Santana's catalogue to 15 records? The guy would be even more famous than he is already. Don't get me wrong. Santana has at least 30 phenomenal songs starting with No One To Depend On. I own maybe 12 Santana records, but he must have 30 on the market. I can remember all of my friends just loving his 80's record Zebop!, but Inner Secrets, Abraxas, Shango, Marathon, Santana III, Santana I and Moonflower were all fantastic records just to name a few. I just thought he was more prolific than his market could stand. Then again, who's the multi millionaire and who's the loser in this scenario? Sorry Carlos, I just couldn't buy them all dude.

When it comes to Chicago though I have a bigger complaint; what's with the roman numeral naming scheme? It was later changed to Arabic numerals, but as a record buyer it was hard to buy, say, Chicago V without owning the previous four you know? I know, I'm anal, we've established that already, but I know I'm not the only one. For the longest time I just had the first record and Chicago's Greatest Hits, which is probably still in the top 50 selling records of all time (but I'm definitely guessing). After the first couple I could see making a change couldn't you? No matter, Chicago records sold like hotcakes for decades. Over 120 million worldwide according to our friends at Wikipedia. They say they sold almost as many records as The Beach Boys in the 60's and 70's. They had five number one albums and 21 Top Ten singles. Yikes. Still, if you bought a Chicago record after 1977, or Chicago XI in their terms, it would be kind of surprising. Their leader and lead guitarist, Terry Kath, inadvertently shot himself in 1978 and an argument could be made that they were never the same after that. When bassist and vocalist Peter Cetera left the band in 1985 it definitely changed their sound. Nevertheless I have long loved Chicago.

Formed in 1967 in, amazingly enough, Chicago, IL, the Chicago Transit Authority were first know as The Big Thing. Luckily they changed their name (eventually shortening it to Chicago after their first record) and put out a great self titled double album in 1969 that made everyone sit up and take notice. Many of their compositions were lengthy and had to be edited to get radio airplay. The first record produced "Beginnings, Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?, Questions 67 & 68 and I'm a Man." Nice start out of the chute no? I'm sorry that half of whatever audience I've established here will turn up their nose at this next sentence, but that is what my Guilty Pleasures posts are designed to elicit I guess...I still love the song "Saturday in The Park." There, I said it. Yes I love Nine Inch Nails and listen to Marilyn Manson on occasion, but god I wish I wrote that song. When I hear it at a baseball game on a Saturday afternoon it really moves me. But I've got a massive handful of Chicago tracks I still love. "Feelin' Stronger Everyday" is still a personal favorite as well. Chicago still exists in one form or another and fans still flock to their shows, but they are soft rock fodder these days. That's OK, they've earned the right to do whatever they want as far as I'm concerned. I've never seen them and I may never see them, but that won't ever remove them from my Guilty Pleasures list.

I'm leaving you with one of my favorite Chicago tracks from Chicago VII called "Skinny Boy." It's a short track, but I could never figure out why it wasn't up there with all their best hits. If I can turn just one of you onto it my day will be made. They were terrific in my book.

Chicago - Skinny Boy.mp3

Chicago -Skinny Boy.mp3 YSI

www.chicagotheband.com

My Insipid Record Collection - The Sisters of Mercy

2009-09-25T15:15:00.008-04:00

In 1987 The Sisters of Mercy released Floodland and I was instantly smitten. I had no clue about so called Goth(ic) Rock, but who knew a deep voice and a well oiled drum machine could get me going? Some day I'm going to divide my collection by English/European Rock bands and United States Rock bands and see what the percentage is. The British Invasion still has a huge effect on my taste in rock music. The Beatles (anyone else listen to those new re-masters end to end? Finally!), The Rolling Stones and The Kinks basically changed the world of rock music forever beginning in the early 60's. Not that I ever gave much thought to where the music originated, but I find it interesting that I love so many English/Scottish/Irish bands. A band like The Sisters of Mercy are but a blip on the radar, but I was very excited about them back in the 80's. A couple of days ago "Lucretia My Reflection" popped onto my Sony iPod like device at the gym and I instinctively stepped up the pace of my workout. I still love it 20 plus years later and that says something no? Hey! Be nice...

I was reading the reviews at Amazon.com and one of the headlines screamed "Best Goth Record Ever!" I have to be honest, I do like Goth Rock, but I am not the foremost authority on the stuff. I know I have written about it in the past, but I don't feel qualified to agree with this reviewer. I can tell you I saw them perform twice; once at Great Woods in Mansfield, MA in the late 80's and once in the early 90's when they warmed up The B-52's at Citi Club (or Avalon I can't remember...today it's a House of Blues). Local radio station WFNX-FM used to play "This Corrosion" regularly back then (just try listening for that one nowadays), but unless there is a satellite station (and I'm sure there is) catering to Goth Rock you won't be hearing any of these songs anytime soon. Still, Floodland reached #9 in UK and sold very well in the United States as well. I know all of my friends had it at the time.

On their web site The Sisters describe themselves as a Rock & Roll Band, a Pop Band and (this is key) an Industrial Groove Machine. Industrial Groove Machine. I like that. They definitely have the grooves. The songs on Floodland were on the long side and many of the best ones had extended mixes designed for the dance floor. I think I have mentioned that I'm not much of a dancer in the past, but bands like The Sisters of Mercy, Joy Division, New Order and the like can and have enticed my white boy shuffle out on the dance floor. It's embarrassing, sure, but at least the music is cool. I just can't get psyched for stuff like the late Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough." No offense to anyone who thinks that song is dance floor heaven. The funny thing about this record and its 1990 follow up CD Vision Thing is that there are terrific cuts on them. Vision Thing was jammed with great songs like "Detonation Boulevard, More and I Was Wrong." I'd buy it again today I swear. Their first release, First and Last and Always was also pretty good. Unfortunately, that's basically their entire catalogue. Three studio albums. Still, I have no problem telling folks I love these guys.

I find it hilarious that I love a voice and a drum machine (Doktor Avalanche is what the drum machine is affectionately known as...it even has its own column on their web site) and endlessly repetitive grooves and lyrics. I don't care. The Sisters rock. Either you settle into the groove right away or you whine about technology taking over the skill of a great musician. Us non-musician types really only care about the finished product. I don't care who votes Democrat or who's gay; all I want is something I can tap my foot to. This provides that in spades. The Sisters are still kicking around somewhere as their web site will tell you, but I'll always remember them fondly from the 1985-1990 period where they widened my musical palette. Thank you Sisters.

The Sisters of Mercy - Lucretia My Reflection.mp3

The Sisters of Mercy - Lucretia My Reflection.mp3 YSI

www.the-sisters-of-mercy.com

Your Tour Guide - Secret Machines

2009-09-22T12:30:00.009-04:00

I've been meaning to write about these guys for months now and my opening just now presented itself. Secret Machines refer to their music as Space Rock, but The School of Rock sound chasers are having a field day with these guys trying to trace their lineage. You hear Pink Floyd mentioned, but I don't hear that at all. Last night I saw them perform, at the venerable Paradise here in Boston, for the very first time. I own three of their CDs, but I have to admit to not absorbing the last two releases as much as I intend to in the future. I'll have to get back to you on those.

I remember reading the year's critical and popular reviews in 2004 and stumbled upon their major label debut called Now Here is Nowhere. I didn't know they had an earlier 2002 EP called September 000 at the time, but it wouldn't have mattered. I liked what the critics had to say about them and I liked the artwork on the cover of the CD. I had more disposable income in those days so I threw a copy in my Amazon.com bucket. In those days my 20 mile commute from Back Bay in Boston to Framingham, MA for work was where I got the majority of my listening done during the work week. It's wasn't much time, believe me, and it was a straight shot, reverse commute no less, down the Massachusetts Turnpike to get there. Some days I heard five songs tops each way (not that I'm a lead foot or anything). I guess my point is I actually grew to like this record despite sleep deprived cranky rides into work and the frazzled stressed out rides home at night. I don't have ADD or anything, but that's a neat trick. You always want to hear something you know when you have a short ride and I didn't know anything about Secret Machines at the time. They still won me over.

Secret Machines is a three man act that evolved out of a myriad of Dallas, TX based bands even as they consider the great City of New York their home these days. In doing some light research I found out that original band members Brandon and Ben Curtis were brothers (I know that's stating the obvious, but monitoring the personnel in bands was never my strong suit). Brandon does most of the vocals and handles the bass. Ben played lead guitar on Now Here is Nowhere and 2006's Ten Silver Drops before leaving the band in March of 2007 to focus on his own band called School of Seven Bells. I don't have enough information to call it creative differences, but School's music has been described as Dream Pop, which I guess is in the ballpark of The Postal Service. If that is true, I really loved that Postal Service record, it makes sense, but I'm sure there's more to the story.

A highly competent guitarist named Phil Karnats was hired as Ben's replacement and he put on a show last night. I think I heard a bit of Adrian Belew during some of his improvisations and I enjoyed his contributions immensely. The drummer's name is Josh Garza and I loved his thunderous playing. He was very precise, heavy handed and clean sounding. It really made the sound in my opinion. I saw him watching headliners ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead after he was done playing (they had two drummers) and it made me think he was a student of his craft. Secret Machines haven't really made it just yet though. Naturally nobody is playing their music on the terrestrial dial and they were their own roadies last night. I stopped both Brandon and Phil to tell them how much I enjoyed the show as they were wheeling their equipment out, but they would never remember even though the crowd was obscenely small. I'm guessing maybe 250 people were there last night. That's just sad, but then again that's life on the road for fledgling bands I guess.

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead apparently weren't enough of a draw to fill The Paradise on a September Monday night, but in fairness a little known act called U2 was performing in the area last night as well. I went to see U2 Sunday night complete with monster staging and glitter, but everyone knows stadium shows are purely for the social aspect of the group attending of concerts. It's like a football game in many respects, after all most of these stadiums are football stadiums in the U.S., but you don't just whistle up the gate just before the band takes the stage. You get there three hours early to beat traffic, drink and eat like there is no tomorrow, walk a mile plus to get into the stadium only to watch 1000 foot monitors instead of the tiny creatures known as the band. It's kind of comical really. I think I paid $252 face value to watch them play from roughly 75 yards as the crow flies. Throw in the $10 beers and $50 parking and you wonder why you bother.

Shows like last night's Secret Machines show even up the score as we were maybe twenty feet from the band at any one time with open access to the bar and facilities. You can't ask for anything more. Secret Machines are better in concert than on CD, but that's a complement because the CDs are really very good. Now Here is Nowhere is one my sleepers of the present decade. I hope you like it. I'm posting "Nowhere Again" because it is around four minutes and representative of their sound, but there are four to five other tracks on this record I'd have no problem posting. Some of them are close to ten minutes so I didn't want to lose you, but I love them just as much. I hope they find eventual success in a very tough market. I'm a fan. Hopefully we'll make a few more out there.

Secret Machines - Nowhere Again.mp3

Secret Machines - Nowhere Again.mp3 YSI

www.thesecretmachines.com

Cover: Cloudbusting

2009-09-22T11:43:00.003-04:00

John always does the fun posts on covers, one hit wonders etc, thought I would take a stab at it. This is a cover of Kate Bush's Cloudbusting by Wild Nothing aka Jack Tatum. The cover stays relatively true to the original, and fits nicely with Wild Nothing's minimalistic, dark style, similar to something you would hear from the Italians Do It Better label (Glass Candy, Chromatics etc).

The other cool thing about a cover like this, is that it potentially opens the door to younger listeners who might not be aware just how great Kate Bush is. It's no surprise that many have paid homage to her, one of the most popular of which was probably the Chromatics cover of Running Up That Hill.

I don't know much about Wild Nothing, but I'm digging what I've heard on his Myspace page.

MP3: Wild Nothing - Cloudbusting
Alt Link

Wild Nothing's Myspace

MP3: Kate Bush - Cloudbusting
Alt Link

My Insipid Record Collection - L7

2009-09-19T15:28:00.016-04:00

I have been thinking about blogging about L7 for months now. Today is the day. I don't claim to be an expert on all female rock bands, but I have always liked L7. I think my first exposure to an all female band was The Runaways back in the early 70's. I remember hearing my friend Jeff play "Cherry Bomb" and thinking that it was kind of interesting. The most successful all girl band would have to be The Go-Go's I suppose, but if I was posting about The Go-Go's I would have listed this post under Guilty Pleasures. It's hard for a out and out rock fan like me to admit he likes The Go-Go's, but I have to say I didn't mind them. They were completely overexposed thanks to MTV and Belinda Carlisle's attractive mug, but, love 'em or hate 'em, The Go-Go's had some great songs. I used to like "This Town" from Beauty and The Beat. I also enjoyed "Vacation" from Vacation and "Turn To You" from Talk Show. If that makes me uncool...well, let's just say it wouldn't be the first time. I have always loved a female voice on top of my rock. So be it.

The Runaways, with Lita Ford and Joan Jett in the band, knocked down a few walls, but it wasn't until years later that The Go-Go's proved an all female band could actually sell records. Ironically, female fronted rock bands with lead singers like Debbie Harry, Chrissy Hynde, Joan Jett, Ann Wilson, Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, Sinead O'Connor, PJ Harvey, Annie Lennox, Shirley Manson, Kim Deal, Courtney Love, Karen O, Stevie Nicks, Tanya Donnelly, Siouxsie Sioux, Pat Benatar and on and on were often very successful precisely because their singers were female. For some strange reason the powers that be decided women couldn't handle their instruments as well as men. Pretty crazy if you ask me, but I wasn't an A&R guy in the 70's making these types of pronouncements.

After you strip out the popular, but hardly rocking, all female acts such as The Go-Go's, The Bangles, The Indigo Girls, The Dixie Chicks, Bananarama and bands of that ilk you are left with the female bands that rock. Hard. You have your Girlschools, your Donnas, your 4 Non Blondes, your Vixens, your Kittys, Your Slits, Your Sleater-Kinneys etc, but I liked L7 the best. I didn't have time to make certain that every band I mentioned was, in fact, all female, but the consensus is what I went with. I'm a sucker for Joan Jett, old Heart, Hole, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Garbage, Fleetwood Mac, The Breeders, PJ Harvey, Jefferson Airplane, Belly, The Breeders, Throwing Muses, Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Pretenders & Blondie (just for starters), but all of them had at least one male in the group so they are disqualified from this discussion (as it were). Your definition of the hardest rocking all female band will differ wildly, but, I'm throwing in with L7. They weren't messing around.

L7 is a Los Angeles band that existed mostly from 1985-2000. Their unusual name, sometimes mistaken for the sexual connotation of 69, was apparently a 1950's slang phrase to describe someone who was square. As in not cool. Of course, "square" is missing from today's lexicon with good reason, but that is the word on the band's name according to Wikipedia (so it must be true). In fairness, L7 began originally with a guy name Roy Koutsky on drums, but he was quickly replaced in 1988 by Demetra Plakas to compete the all female lineup. Donita Sparks, Suzi Gardner and Jennifer Finch were the other three original members of the band. In 1992 they released their third album called Bricks Are Heavy produced by wunderkind Butch Vig. You may have heard their signature song "Pretend We're Dead" on the radio, but that record had at least one other excellent radio friendly track called "One More Thing." 1994 bought us Hungry For Stink and the song I came to post today called "Can I Run." These gals were labeled a grunge act since they became popular in the wake of Nirvana's Nevermind, but they seemed to disappear from the scene fairly quickly after Hungry For Stink. Their final studio record was 1999's Slap Happy. They had a nice run and performed at Lollapalooza at least once. Radio is fickle and the record buying public didn't get much of a chance to know this band, but they were excellent. It' a shame they didn't get more recognition.

Like Public Image Limited, their status is listed on their web site as being on an indefinite hiatus. Sorry to hear that, but they never really busted into the main stream despite their modest success. However, I'm here to report that they actually rocked and that is what I'll always remember. Apologies in advance to all the all female bands I omitted in this post. I know there were many.

L7 - Can I Run.mp3

L7 - Can I Run.mp3 YSI

www.l7official.com

My Insipid Record Collection - King Crimson

2009-09-14T14:06:00.018-04:00

I don't know if there is such a thing as the Big Bang Theory, but if one exists for Progressive Rock, I'm of the opinion that it begins with King Crimson's 1969 debut LP In The Court of The Crimson King. I could be wrong of course, but I feel this record just created an Autobahn for groups like Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Rush, Pink Floyd, Focus, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Rush, Golden Earring, Porcupine Tree, The Mars Volta, Dream Theatre, Be Bop Deluxe, Bigelf, Kansas, Tangerine Dream, Marillion, Pendragon, Camel, The Flower Kings, Spock's Beard, Hawkwind, Renaissance, The Strawbs, Electric Light Orchestra, The Alan Parsons Project and countless other bands to speed right on into the public consciousness. Obviously some of these bands pre-date King Crimson, but after In The Court of The Crimson King the game had changed. There was no longer any doubt that a market for this stuff existed. I know there will be Pink Floyd backers out there claiming they led the way, but this album was something else entirely. More importantly it actually sold records.

Many rock fans have a love-hate relationship with Prog Rock. I'm not one of them. I really enjoy the stuff. I know a lot of folks like to include Jethro Tull in the Prog Rock discussion, but I look at them as more of a Blues band. I love them too, but most people don't. Prog Rock is very polarizing for some reason. Sometimes I think it's about having the patience to sit down and take in a long composition, a skill most rock fans don't seem to have. I love the three minute single too, but sometimes I want to immerse myself in classic records like Genesis' Selling England By The Pound, Pink Floyd's Animals, or Rush's 2112. Jethro Tull's Thick As A Brick or side three of the great double album Living in The Past are mostly why Jethro Tull has that Prog tag, but Prog Rock to me, is Yes and the 10 tracks that make up Close To The Edge (1972), Tales of Topographic Oceans (1974), and Relayer (1974). Today's Prog Rock leader is probably Porcupine Tree, but there are several great Prog Rock acts trying to make a name for themselves right now. You just don't ever hear them on any terrestrial radio station. If I didn't own a monster collection myself, I'd probably subscribe to a satellite radio station just to find a station that zeroed in on specific genres like Prog Rock.

Robert Fripp, Peter Sinfield, Ian McDonald, Greg Lake and Micheal Giles were the incarnation of King Crimson that started this band and are credited with these five masterful songs. King Crimson has gone through a ton of personnel changes over the years, but the brand still exists and their catalogue is very impressive. I've got them all, which is probably over 30 when you consider all the live records they have, but I haven't followed all of their changes. In The Court of The Crimson King has five songs; "21st Century Schizoid Man, I Talk To The Wind, Epitaph, Moonchild" and the title track. Without intending to aggravate anyone, 21st Century Schizoid Man could very well have been the blueprint for Black Sabbath's "Iron Man." They both have a mechanical and robotic feel to them. I'm probably not doing a very good job of conveying that sentiment, but for some reason the two songs feel linked to me for some reason. Hopefully somebody out there will be able to read my mind.

In The Court was released in October of 1969 and shot all the way up to #3 on the British Charts and went Gold in the United States. That is nice and everything, but this record is insanely influential. I think I mentioned in the past that a New York area DJ, the late Alison "The Nightbird" Steele, used to begin her late night radio show on WNEW-FM with King Crimson on an almost nightly basis for many years. In fact, Steele, who passed away in September 1995 at age 58 is not only a member of The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but is also widely revered for championing Progressive Rock music in the 70's. She had a sultry voice and was playing the music I was most curious about as a teenager. Not only was she female (no small feat in the good ol' boy male dominated world of radio in those days), but she was pioneering music you never heard during the day. Alison Steele was a consumate entertainer and a trailblazer. I'll always remember her fondly. She helped make my childhood.

It is said that King Crimson is actually a synonym for Beelzebub, the Prince of Demons, but this album wasn't really about that. The pageantry of this record is hard to describe. It is essentially three compositions with two soft bridges between them. "I Talk To The Wind" and "Moonchild" are lovely tracks, but the meat and potatoes of this record is "21st Century Schizoid Man, Epitaph and The Court of The Crimson King." A painter named Barry Godber did the infamous cover although he died shortly after it's release in 1970. It is one of the very best covers in rock music history from this writer's point of view. Robert Fripp has been quoted as saying that the cover is the Schizoid Man and the inside jacket is The Crimson King. I just located the actual album I own on Atlantic Records and it's worth noting that the band made sure to print the lyrics on the inside jacket. That was very rare in those days and I've long felt it was crucial for fans like me to actually understand the lyrics. This record isn't as hard to decipher as say, Mick Jagger's vocals in "Brown Sugar," but when you can sit down with your favorite party favor and follow along as the record plays it creates a real bond between band and fan. At least it did for me. I can't carry a tune, but I love my lyrics...

I don't have enough superlatives to describe my affinity for this record and what it helped to influence so I'm going to stop blabbering now. I've heard this record thousands of times, but I feel like it is in the rare company of personal favorites that I need to go back and listen to in full a couple of times each year. It's bombastic, it's religious sounding, it's ethereal and it's just plain great. My Wonder Years were so long ago it's not true, but I literally looked up to this record. Probably because my best friend's older brothers and sisters loved it, but I swear the thing had mystical powers. It's like going to church listening to it and I never much cared for church. I realize many of you folks might not appreciate this record the way I do, but I just felt like the ground breaking story of In The Court of The Crimson King needed to be told (again). Thank you very much for reading...

King Crimson - In The Court of The Crimson King.mp3

King Crimson - In The Court of The Crimson King.mp3 YSI

Lock The Door & Cover Me - Van Halen

2009-09-12T11:27:00.007-04:00

Did I mention how much I love covers? Even when the cover turns me onto the original? Actually, in this case, the cover reminded me of the cover that should have turned me onto the original. In 1973 somebody handed me a copy of David Bowie's Pinups. It was an album of covers, which sometimes takes the fun out of it, but I didn't know many of the songs back then. After all, I was 13 years old. Among the songs was a cover of The Kinks song "Where Have All The Good Times Gone." It was first released as a B side to the classic 1965 single "Till The End of The Day." Baby I feel good, from the moment I rise...god I love The Kinks. I think The Everly Brothers invited inter-band family brawls, but The Kinks were right there. Ray and Dave Davies might not haven't gotten along much of the time, but they were one volatile rock & roll force. Few bands have 40 GREAT singles to their credit, but this band does without question. The funny thing is I didn't consider "Where Have All The Good Times Gone" to be one of them until I heard David Lee Roth and company rework this baby. I hate to say it, but this cover might be better than the original. And no offense to the legendary David Bowie, but his cover was nothing to write home about. Of course nobody can say that about his career though. I can never get enough cow bell, er, David Bowie. Whoa...

You can find The Kinks version of this song on the 1965 LP The Kink Kontroversy, but I'm sure it's out of print by now. Van Halen sped up the tempo and Eddie Van Halen Blows Your Face Out as J. Geils used to say. Van Halen was on such a ride by 1982 they could have put out a cover of Seasons in The Sun and the world would have soaked it up. Van Halen was an interesting act. I thought the Sammy Hagar led 5150 was more than respectable, but there is no comparison to the David Lee Roth led Van Halen. I don't know exactly why, but I fought Van Halen for the longest time. My friend's Jefferson and Mark just loved this band and the more they loved them the more I scoffed. I was wrong, big time. I'm not ashamed to admit it either. I never did care much for their cover of "You Really Got Me," but their love of The Kinks is to be applauded. I just thought there was too much showmanship in Eddie's guitar work and Roth's yelping vocals in that song and "Ice Cream Man." However, the first track that blew my hair back like the Maxell guy in the chair was "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love." OK I said.

Still, Van Halen's records didn't totally grab me until 1981's Fair Warning. Van Halen, Van Halen II and Women and Children First all had BRILLIANT singles on them; most notably Beautiful Girls, Dance The Night Away, Everybody Wants Some!!, And The Cradle Will Rock..., Jamie's Cryin', Runnin' With The Devil and Somebody Get Me a Doctor, but they seemed somehow incomplete and a bit disjointed to me. I even liked their cover of their cover of the Linda Ronstadt hit "You're No Good," but again, these records were not my all time favs. Fair Warning changed all that for me. My favorite Van Halen song is "Dirty Movies" and nobody even knows the track. It could have, and should have, been a monstrous hit. But "Unchained" was terrific. "Mean Street" and "Hear About It Later" I also loved. I reluctantly hopped aboard the Van Halen bandwagon express with my buddies. I only saw them once in their heyday. It was at the then Worcester Centrum on Saturday October 23, 1982 on the Diver Down Tour. I can't remember anything about that concert, after all, it was an hour ride from Boston to Worcester and I wasn't driving, but I'm sure it was a blast. My $11.50 ticket stub can't talk, but if it could I'm sure it would ask why I left it in my back pocket the whole show...

Van Halen was starting to splinter by 1982's Diver Down, but that didn't stop them for releasing another great record, even if they had to feature three covers in Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman" and Martha & The Vandellas "Dancing in The Street" as well as WHATGTG to do it. "Little Guitars" and "Secrets" made sure there was some good original material on the record, but nothing could stop the masses from buying this record in droves. They peeled off one last big seller in 1984's 1984 before Roth took off to eventually become an EMT. I might have been the only one who enjoyed his radio show after the insufferable Howard Stern left the terrestrial dial, but I was clearly in the minority. The cynic in me thinks it must have been time to make the doughnuts with regard to the lastest Van Halen reunion with Roth a couple of years ago, but I did get to see them, sans the assless chaps and the ridiculously high leg splits, at The Naming Rights For Sale Garden in Boston's North Station recently and enjoyed the hell out of it. I hear tell they are planning a new record in the next year without original bassist Michael Anthony, but I'll get over that. Bass players get no respect huh?

I didn't mean to focus on Van Halen as much as I did here, but they are the artists with the post. I'll say it again though, The Kinks were among the greatest bands off all time. I can only imagine how many great songs they'd have recorded if they could have stood each other's company more often. In the grand scheme of things, there is no comparison between the legendary Kinks and Van Halen, but in no way do I mean to denigrate what Van Halen once brought to the table. They were a good, no make that great, time. So, I ask you, Where Have All The Good Times Gone?

Van Halen - Where Have All The Good Times Gone.mp3

Van Halen - Where Have All The Good Times Gone.mp3 YSI

www.van-halen.com

One Track Mind - Pete Droge

2009-09-12T01:25:00.010-04:00

This is all I know about Pete Droge; a friend of mine, Stacy, who is also a masseuse, told me about this artist while I was on the table about 15 years ago. Stacy and I had worked together in a restaurant called TGI Fridays in the early 80's. She was a very cool, make things happen chick who took a shine to yours truly about 30 years ago. Sounds sad to say now, but back in the day it was practically all I had to go on. We ran in a circle of friends that, at such a tender age, lent itself to a bit of a mutual stat culture. I don't mean to say this in any kind of a negative way, but from time to time one or more of my buddies may well have had sex with the same woman. Most of the time I was on the outside looking in, but generally speaking eminent domain was a phallacy. My relationship, such as it was, with Stacy was not exclusive. That is not to say Stacy slept around, because she most certainly did not, but I might know two or three guys that enjoyed the same experience in a manner of speaking. Not that there's anything wrong with that mind you. She was a blast.

The only reason I even mention it is because Stacy had great taste in music. She turned me onto a couple of bands that I might not have ordinarily caught onto. For that I will always be Grateful, if not Dead. One night, exactly one year apart almost to the day, we were enjoying each other's company for a second time when my roommate, a temporary fix based on the departure of a long time friend, kicked down my bedroom door mid act thinking I was enjoying the company of his ex. Stacy and I enjoyed a good laugh about it, but it was always something we had in common even if our relationship was relatively temporary in its own right. I basically parted company with all parties involved on the spot, but that didn't stop me from hiring Stacy when I needed a massage. She was terrific even sans the happy endings. One night she laid the music of Pete Droge on me. Pete is an alternative folk singer-songwriter. I guess the song that I came to post today, "If You Don't Love Me (I'll Kill Myself)," appeared in the soundtrack to the slapstick comedy Dumb and Dumber later that year, but I had no idea. I just knew a friend of mine turned me onto a great song.

I'm a sucker for a simple guitar riff and a good melody. It's not that complicated. My friends laugh at me for saying I'd prefer a woman with similar taste in music, but it's so true. I have enough ammunition to not buy another record for my final thirty or forty years on the planet and it's completely portable. I can see myself as a Tiki Bar owner, hello John Hiatt, in my Golden Years (ooo wop wop wop...don't let them tell you your life's taking you nowhere...). If I had a woman half as curious and half as musically tolerant I'd have scored big time. I want to play Back in Black and Court and Spark back to back and have her adroitly adapt without batting an eye. Perhaps that's asking (A Touch) Too Much. I'm probably just waiting for that proverbial Car On A Hill, but it seems reasonable when you consider how many women I see at each and every show I attend. They seem to be having as much fun as I am. We just don't seem to know each other is all and it's a shame.

Anyway, "If You Don't Love Me (I'll Kill Myself)" is a great song. I haven't given the Final Solution much thought as it applies to women, but I get a kick out of this song's sentiment. Since I was crushed in the 80's, apparently never to recover, it feels like a bit of a theme song for me. Pete, of course, can just shove on to the next venue and put some salve on his wounds any time he feels like it, but I can't play a lick of guitar. That puts me at a distinct disadvantage. You'd think after 23 years I'd have moved on to the next disappointment, but the fact is I haven't. See what happens when you blog after midnight? It's like truth serum. And drunk dialing. Don't forget Sexting. Total heart on the sleeve crap. Stacy (they call me Stay-cee, they call me her) probably wishes I felt the same way about her, but I never did. Love Stinks for sure, but particularly when you are on the wrong end of the gun. Oh well. Here's a little Pete Droge for those of you who know what I'm talkin' about.

P.S. Congrats to The Giant Panther who recently got engaged to a great lady! Score!!!

Pete Droge - If You Don't Love Me (I'll Kill Myself).mp3

Pete Droge - If You Don't Love Me (I'll Kill Myself).mp3 YSI

Lock The Door & Cover Me - Doctor & The Medics

2009-09-11T15:30:00.005-04:00

One of my all time favorite singles from my youth was Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in The Sky." I had the 45 rpm (revolutions per minute for today's potentially uninitiated) record in 1970 on Reprise Records and I still have that very same banged up piece of vinyl to this day. I loved everything about this song, but then again I wasn't smart enough at 10 years of age to know it had religious overtones. I'm a Golden Rule kind of guy when it comes to religion. The only type of extremist I am is someone who politely removes himself from conversations that involve religion or politics. What a happy place the world would be without these hot topics huh? "Spirit in The Sky" is more of a faith song than it is any type of gospel endorsement. Norman Greenbaum is said to be of Jewish decent even though "Spirit" would seem to be more of a Christian rock song than anything else. Not that this 10 year old cared. It was a great song and still sounds great to this day even if a little dated.

Norman Greenbaum was a Malden, MA native as a young man and studied music at Boston University of all places. What? No Berklee College of Music? Don't most folks go to B.U. to become Doctor's (I knew there was a tie in here somewhere...sometimes you just get lucky!) or Lawyers? What do I know? I went to Emerson College and now I sell things and blog about nothing for free. Idiot. Should have just made a beeline for Babson College or some other business school and rewritten the history of my 22-38 age wasted youth. Hindsight is wicked isn't it? Do you folks cringe when you get your Social Security statements and see what you made annually in your twenties? No? Maybe it's just me then. I had a rockin' good time though, I can assure you of that. Anyway, Greenbaum's "Spirit in The Sky" sold over 2 million copies before 1970 had ended. Apparently Norman was not very enamored of the publicity surrounding his successful single even though he allegedly lip synched "Spirit in The Sky" on Dick Clark's American Bandstand that year. He moved to California in 1971 and hasn't been heard from since according to his Wikipedia page. That'll cement your one hit wonder status I guess.

A former London based DJ named Clive Jackson put together a band called Doctor & The Medics in the early 80's. Andy Partridge of XTC fame was lending a hand producing some of their records and in 1986 they released a cover of "Spirit in The Sky" on a record called Laughing at The Pieces. The single went to number one in 32 countries if you can believe Wikipedia. How does that happen? I know the song was good, but number one? In 32 countries? They say Norman Greenbaum lives off the royalties of his records, as in plural, which shocked me. Singles cost 79 cents in 1970 so I can't imagine what ten percent of 2 million is (math major he is not), but that money should have run out eons ago right? Enter the good Doctor and now it all makes dollars and cents I guess. Doctor & The Medics will not go down in history as one of rock's finest groups, but at least they had good taste in covers. There is not much to separate the two songs, and for a change I'm posting both versions, but I had no complaints at the time. I dutifully added the Doctor's version to my legendary (in my mind of course) mixed cassette tapes to bring an oldie into the 80's. Now this version is ancient. Pretty funny huh? If you are like me you'll like both versions. Talk soon.

Doctor & The Medics - Spirit in The Sky

Norman Greenbaum - Spirit in The Sky

My Insipid Record Collection - Killing Joke

2009-09-10T17:15:00.007-04:00

I have to tell you, I've got a list a mile long on songs and bands I'd like to post about. I can be just about to open up the Panther dashboard and peak behind the curtain to actually post and I will change my mind at the last second. Barring a concert...by the way I spared you my thoughts after seeing The Allman Brothers Band and Widespread Panic for the umpteenth time as well as a great performance by one time icon & legendary Humble Pie guitarist Peter Frampton last week...you can thank me later I suppose...I usually just grab what is on my mind at the very last second and start typing. I'm sure you can probably tell huh? It's part of my charm, admit it...

I want to say that I know very well many of you like this group of artists and not that group, but I Get Around more than The Beach Boys. I'm sure you are out there making fun of some of my choices, but so be it. I know the PR folks would rather I write about today's hot new bands, and maybe one day soon I'll be back on that charter, but for now that is The Giant Panther's domain. Send your cards and letters to....Oh whatever Nevermind. I came of listening age in the 70's and that will never change. For instance I was thinking about doing a greatest live album ever post, speaking of Peter Frampton, but I know I'd have a tough time convincing the lot of you that records like Little Feat's Waiting For Columbus, The Who's Live at Leeds, The Allman Brother's Live at Fillmore East, The Band's Rock of Ages, The Grateful Dead's Live Europe '72, Lou Reed's Rock 'N' Roll Animal, Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's 4 Way Street, James Brown's Live at The Apollo, Nirvana's MTV Unplugged, David Bowie's Stage, The Talking Heads' The Name of The Band is... or Johnny Cash Live at Folsom Prison belong in the discussion. I'm old and chances are you're not. I get that. I never really even liked live albums. You had to be there it seems most of the time. Kind of surprising for someone with as many concerts under his belt as yours truly, but Whoomp! There It Is. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm just bursting with songs I want to share and ideas to discuss so stay tuned. You might not like everything, but there is almost no one I can't pass along something to eventually. It might take a while, but be patient. I'm not afraid to post about anything.

Today's choice of bands is Killing Joke. I was talking about Industrial Rock a while back in my Ministry post (hey, where you going?) and I have to tell you there are several bands that I was a late bloomer on. I have been enjoying some Skinny Puppy and some Red Lorry Yellow Lorry lately. I didn't even buy some of the Killing Joke CDs until about twenty years after they were released. I was reading somewhere about this band, I'm thinking it was an article about Dave Grohl's taste in music (but don't quote me), and he mentioned this Killing Joke record. I just love it when I score a GREAT song that I completely missed the boat on when it was a "hit." Thanks Dave. Better late than never I figure. No wonder I'm posting about records that are 20 plus years old huh? Anyway, Killing Joke are from Notting Hill in the UK there is little doubt these guys influenced Nirvana, Ministry, Primus, Tool, Jane's Addiction, Soundgarden, The Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails and or Faith No More to name just a few. The Joke were an in your face inflammatory act with several dust ups with the press among its credits. I wouldn't go so far as to lump them in with occultists, but they had a Jimmy Page like interest in Aleister Crowley. Black magic and Rock & Roll have always been a good mix no?...

I have never seen Killing Joke perform, but I'm told it can be riveting. They are still performing, mostly overseas, but I haven't followed them much. They have 13 studio records in their catalogue, but I'm not an expert on their contents. What I can tell you is the very first track off of their very first record in 1980 was brilliant. I don't know if they ever quite matched it to be honest, though some of you may remember the track "Eighties" or "Love Like Blood" or "Night Time" from their 1985 hit record Night Time. All I know is that "Requiem" is one great tune. Hopefully I can turn someone onto it for the very first time Right Here, Right Now. Wow, a Jesus Jones reference right on your computer screen...were they ever cool?...I bought their record of course...

Killing Joke - Requiem.mp3

Killing Joke - Requiem.mp3 YSI

www.killingjoke.com

One Track Mind - The Undertones

2009-09-08T15:51:00.009-04:00

"Teenage Kicks" is one of those songs you think you know and can never prove it when someone asks you who sings it. The Undertones were a band that formed initially in 1975 in Northern Ireland. They initially started out as The Hot Rods, but, shockingly enough, there was already another band using that moniker. It took them several years of performing covers and facing rejection when guitarist John O'Neill wrote a hard driving single called "Teenage Kicks" in 1977. It was finally recorded as a demo and sent to all of the labels without much luck in 1978. One of the people they sent the demo to was the legendary BBC Radio I DJ John Peel. He had them re-record it in June of 1978 in Belfast and it appeared as a four song EP called Teenage Kicks later that summer. Peel was so enamored of "Teenage Kicks" that he proclaimed it his favorite song up until he passed away in 2004. Pretty heady praise considering what he's had access to all of those years. It seems like every European musical act from that era had some "Peel Sessions" threatening to be released in their back catalogue at some point. I'm sure there are several more to follow as well.

The Undertones were a three chord Power Pop/Punk band back in the late 70's. At first they were influenced by The Beatles, but the advent of Punk Rock had them touring with The Clash and admiring Pete Shelley's Buzzcocks. With the support of John Peel the sky is the limit in the UK. "Teenage Kicks" made it all the way to #31 on the British charts. They were signed by Sire Records and it seemed like they were on their way. They recorded their debut album, The Undertones, and it was released in May of 1979. Unfortunately, by 1981, The Undertones were unhappy with their label, feeling they were poorly promoted outside of the UK. They were able to successfully negotiate their way to EMI Records later that year, but their sales never did set the world on fire. Tensions in the band eventually led to the departure of lead vocalist Feargal Sharkey by 1983. Sharkey went on to form The Assembly with ex Depeche Mode keyboardist Vince Clarke before hitting the solo circuit in the 80's. You may recognize Vince Clarke's name from Erasure as well. I'm a big fan of both of those bands. Former Undertones guitarists John and Damian O'Neill went on to form another great band, That Petrol Emotion, which had a lot of success between 1985-1994. So, while many consider The Undertones a one hit wonder, there were some very good rock & roll genes over the long haul in this band. I always find ensuing success in different bands to be a good measure of a band's stock. Clearly there was talent in The Undertones even if the charts disagree.

The band completely reformed in 1999 with a new singer, Paul McLoone, and still tours to this day it appears. A Q Magazine poll of the British Public to unearth the 100 British albums of all time found The Undertones debut record placing 90th. Not bad at all. "Teenage Kicks" will always be their high point, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with that as far as I'm concerned.

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks.mp3

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks.mp3 YSI

www.theundertones.com

One Track Mind - Q Lazzarus

2009-09-02T13:37:00.005-04:00

I was listening to Giant Panther's posting of The Drums' Let's Go Surfing earlier and this song came to mind. "Goodbye Horses" was a song written and performed by the late William Garvey (unfortunately Garvey just passed on this past August 3rd) and appeared in the killer flick The Silence of The Lambs. If you are like me you had never heard of Q Lazzarus or William Garvey prior to this 1991 blockbuster film. I don't have any clue as to why it was left off the official soundtrack since it was basically the musical star of the show give or take the Tom Petty music as the girl was originally abducted, but it was. A band called Psyche did a cover of this song in 1996 on their CD Legacy, but the versions are nearly indistinguishable. Usually this means the cover is weak, but in this case it's pretty close in terms of which version is better. Maybe it comes down to who's drum machine is programmed better? Hey, The Drums, get it? What a coincidence...

I seriously doubt there can be any spoiler alerts 18 years hence, but in case you haven't seen the film...I'd suggest coming out of your cave once in a while. Serial Killer Buffalo Bill (impeccably played by actor Ted Levine) has a scene where his androgynous character dances with his unit tucked between his legs trying to mimic something akin to what today's youth refer to euphemistically as a "camel toe." Ted Levine's portrayal is constantly mimicked by the general public, most often comedians, which is a sign of greatness as far as I'm concerned. "Goodbye Horses" was the theme of this crucial scene. I can never hear this song and not think of Jody Foster, but it had just the right far off, oblivious to evil, sounding cadence to make it perfect for this movie. At the time I was thinking I had missed an Orchestral Maneouvers in The Dark (another great guilty pleasure for this writer) song, but I got that cleared up later. "Goodbye Horses" also turned up in the film "Married To The Mob" and in "Clerks II." It's a pretty cool track as far as I'm concerned. I don't need to hear it more than a couple times a year, but I'm definitely a fan. I find that the vocals in The Drums remind me of Q Lazzarus' "Goodbye Horses." I doubt a one hit wonder like Q Lazzarus could have influenced The Drums, but the similarities seem apparent to me. When they say "Oh Mama, I want to go surfing" I'm hearing Q Lazzarus. Maybe it's just me, but just for fun and games...

Q Lazzarus - Goodbye Horses.mp3

Q Lazzarus - Goodbye Horses.mp3 YSI

The Drums

2009-09-02T12:15:00.002-04:00

I'm crawling out of the woodwork to actually blog on something. For those of you who don't know, there are two writers for The Giant Panther, John and Ryan. This would be Ryan. John can actually be counted on to keep the ball rolling, posting faithfully and passionately on a regular basis, conjuring up lost classics and concert reviews.

I'm the other typically more cynical jerk who really kind of just chimes in twice a year when something (usually new) really grabs my attention. I don't like ACDC or any other band I might hear at a Patriots game, but John and I rarely disagree on loving a band beyond those guidelines. He's been on a quite a run lately I might add, loving The Replacements and others.

I came across The Drums somewhere in my aimless web browsing, and their sound grabbed me immediately. They somehow teeter on the edge of extremely poppy without ever offending me (which extremely poppy tends to do). I think the magic formula for The Drums is their minimalistic approach to pop, sort of a punk theory applied in their genre. Fans of Vampire Weekend (or those of us who find them slightly appealing but mostly tiresome) will most likely enjoy The Drums.

I don't know much about these guys but they have an EP titled Summertime due out on Sept 15, and they hail from Brooklyn. I thought it interesting in their bio that they set out to create a band that sounded like The Wake, a pretty obscure, but awesome concept. If you like New Order, Swans, or Joy Division you would like The Wake by the way. While I do hear hints of it, The Drums are something quite different (which is a good thing, nobody wants an exact replica of something else). Particularly digging Don't Be A Jerk Jonny. "You used to pretty, but now your just tragic, believe in something, you're full of horseshit". How often I've wanted to say that to someone.

Keep an eye on The Drums.

The Drums - Let's Go Surfing Alt Link
The Drums - Don't Be A Jerk, Jonny Alt Link

Guilty Pleasures - Donovan

2009-09-01T15:26:00.015-04:00

When I was a young man I remember my father, who played a lot of fastpitch softball as I once did, had a teammate named Tommy Armstrong. I used to play bat boy for free sodas so I got to know the team pretty well. Tommy was probably seven or eight years younger than my father and, as such, was in much better touch with the world of rock music I loved so much. My father liked Booker T & The MGs "Green Onions," but that's as far as it got. I'm pretty sure I mentioned in past blogs how much he hated my copy of Tommy James & The Shondells' "Crimson & Clover," but just to reinforce it again my father and I had nothing in common musically. My mother, however, is largely responsible for the passion you see before you on a weekly basis. She played Little Richard, The Shangri La's, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and, of course, Elvis Presley. She loved Frank Sinatra, but this is the gist of my first ten years of exposure to Rock & Roll. Hat off to ya mom...I think...

Incredibly, Tommy Armstrong would actually lend me, a nine or ten year old kid (is he crazy!?) some of his very best records. I remember him lending me The Best of Bob Dylan, Volume I & The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed. I'm pretty sure it was Tommy who lent me a copy of Neil Diamond's Hot August Night too. Neil gets a bad rap what with "Sweet Caroline" being played every night in the 8th inning at Fenway Park and all, but he wrote some great tunes. UB40 can thank him for "Red, Red Wine" if I recall correctly as can The Monkees for "I'm a Believer." And those are just a couple of songs he wrote, but didn't have big hits with himself. I'm a "Kentucky Woman" fan myself, but Neil doesn't have to apologize to anyone and I haven't paid much attention to him since 1973. Back to Tommy's album collection; he also lent me a copy of Donovan's Barabajagal. I've been a fan of this record since I was 10 years old. I know as TV's Craig Ferguson might opine with humor...

Donovan Leitch is a Scottish folk singer-songwriter who was wildly popular in the 60's among the flower power set. He mixed jazz, psychedelic rock, pop, world and fusion sounds to score several top 40 hits. Most people would recognize "Mellow Yellow" or "Sunshine Superman" or "Season of The Witch," but he has a pretty healthy catalogue of good music. He became so popular in England that he was the first artist Clive Davis ever signed to Epic Records, which was a subsidiary of CBS Records at the time. In 1968 Donovan released the single "Hurdy Gurdy Man" and received the best radio airplay he had ever had 'til that point. In 1969, The Jeff Beck Group, sans Rod Stewart, backed him on the single "Barabajagal" and he scored some credibility among the rock set. He had long been friends of The Rolling Stones' Brian Johnson and The Beatles, but many of his songs didn't rock hard enough for the masses. I was too young to know he didn't rock before I started digging his music.

Donovan was also a poet. The song I want to post today is "Atlantis." Atlantis was originally released as a B side to a song called "To Susan On The West Coast Waiting" in January 1968 and radio programmers immediately gravitated to the stronger "Atlantis." No offense to "Susan," a song I enjoy myself very much, but "Atlantis" was a monster track back in the day. It starts out as a poem with some easy listening, but slightly eerie music backing the reading. It then builds until it unleashes a crescendo of great sound and harmonies. Apparently Sir Paul McCartney sang backup on this song, which I didn't know until about fifteen minutes ago, but I just love this whole piece. It's probably folklore, but Atlantis, which was supposedly an island near Greece, is alleged to have fallen into the sea after attempting to invade Athens. Plato is considered largely responsible for its existence in the history books, but truth or fiction, it is not fun to consider a lost city under the Ocean? Seriously, would Aquaman have been able to summon a school of dolphins to his aid without this shaky tale of an underwater community? I think not. The song was also featured in the movie "Goodfellas" during a particularly gruesome scene if memory serves.

Barabajagal was a mix of jazz, rock and folk. It has some weak material on it such as "I Love My Shirt," but I have to tell you I don't mind any of it. "Superlungs My Supergirl" is another fun track. I can throw this onto my turntable or into my CD player and be right back in front of my close and play record player checking out the album artwork. Donovan still records to this day, but from 1966-1971 he was as popular as The Doors, Steppenwolf, Led Zeppelin or any of the acts surrounding the venerable one-two punch of The Beatles and The Stones. Flower power, The Summer of Love, Hippie Dippie Weathermen and many things associated with folk music and peace and love faded as the 60's came to a close, but Donovan's legacy is pretty cool. He was never the English Bob Dylan, but I definitely enjoyed his music antediluvian kings and all. Hail Atlantis!....

Donovan - Atlantis.mp3

Donovan - Atlantis.mp3 YSI

Your Tour Guide - The Black Crowes

2009-08-28T13:08:00.020-04:00

Last night I saw The Black Crowes and The Levon Helm Band. Nice double bill. I've been seeing the opening act a lot more at the concerts I've been attending lately, but I think it's more of a coincidence than anything else. I love a good double bill, don't get me wrong, but trying to fit in dinner and other issues can sometimes lead to skipping the opening act. Maybe it's the $10 beers, maybe it's the lack of real food in the venue, but it's rare that I sit through two or more acts at a given concert. Nobody knows better than I do that this is my loss, but it is what it is. I want to say right here that I am a huge fan of The Band. I've come to appreciate their brand of countrified folk rock more and more as I get older. I realize that they have some Canadian blood in them, but I just feel like they represent a real slice of Americana. It's always a good time to go back and reacquaint yourself if you feel it's necessary. I don't seem to ever get tired of listening to them.

Levon Helm is a living legend. The man is 69 years old. Born in Arkansas in 1940, Helm's voice is unmistakable. Whenever I hear songs like "The Weight" or "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" I see this guy's face in my mind. What soul. You feel like you can just picture Chester or Luke from "The Weight" or Virgil from "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" when you hear him tell those stories. How great is "Virgil quick come see, there goes Robert E. Lee?" The imagery is just outstanding and so very southern. It just boggles the mind that The Civil War was a mere 150 years ago (give or take of course). It seems like it happened centuries ago. Levon Helm brings it right into your living room. Hopefully you've all seen The Last Waltz, but if you haven't get right on that. You need a good three hours, but it's worth it. Last night Levon, unfortunately, was under doctor's orders not to sing so we didn't get the full effect, but the man was drumming his heart out. I'm sure many of you are aware he battled throat cancer about a decade ago and his vocal chords require constant maintenance. Hopefully he'll be back on the beam soon. They say he recorded his last CD, Dirt Farmer, at 80% of his former vocal range. I didn't know this. I'll have to go back and re-listen. He's much more diminutive than I imagined. This was the first time I got the chance to lay eyes on him. He's not a big man. Then again, maybe I'll have done a fair amount of shrinking over the next twenty years. Hopefully around the waist line, but I'm not holding my breath there.

Levon's Band played several Band chestnuts. Chest Fever, It Makes No Difference, and The Weight were all tackled plus they covered The Grateful Dead's Tennessee Jed, a personal favorite of mine. I really enjoyed the whole experience. Chris Robinson came out and took a verse or two of "The Weight" as the band shared the song. Amy Helm, his daughter, was front and center all night and Al Kooper, famous for any number of groups and sessions (most famously for playing the organ on Bob Dylan's epic "Like a Rolling Stone"), made an appearance as well. I guess he lives in Somerville, MA relatively around the corner from me. Overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable show and great to see Levon doing what he loves. I envy that and it was very heart warming to watch.

The Black Crowes-Levon Helm tour connection most recently comes from their idea to record at Helm's recording studio at his home in Woodstock, NY known as "The Barn." He hosts "Midnight Rambles" every Saturday night to help pay for his medical bills. Apparently local musicians drop in quite often and jam. Woodstock is still a haven for artists. I'm not sure my local police would go for weekly midnight concerts, but there is more space out that way. Anyway, I want in. I want to go to Yasgur's Farm and the Baseball Hall of Fame on the same trip. That would be my idea of a great road trip. The Black Crowes recorded their latest record, Before The Frost, in front of a live studio audience. The CD comes out Tuesday, but they played the bulk of it in concert last night and it sounded great. There is a tandem CD with 8 new songs (with one cover I understand) called Until The Freeze that legal procurers of the CD can download with proof of purchase. I'm told it sounds great and their is light audience clapping in the background after each song as if maybe twenty people were there. I don't think it's ever been done before, but I'm sure I'm wrong. I'm looking forward to it.

OK, I need to shut myself off because I could go on for a while here. I'm leaving you with the set list and gentle push to go see this double bill. I've probably seen six or seven Black Crowes shows and I always leave satisfied. I was listening to Warpaint in my car last night and I had forgotten how much I liked that CD. Here is Goodbye Daughters of The Revolution. Rock on Robinson clan.

Good Morning Captain. Make Glad. Let Me Share The Ride. Houston Don't Dream About Me. Whoa Mule. Shine Along. Appaloosa. She Gave Good Sunflower. High Head Blues. I Ain't Hiding. What is Home. Movin' On Down The Line. A Train Still Makes A Lonely Sound. Sometimes Salvation. Twice As Hard. Been A Long Time (Waiting On Love). - Encore -She Talks To Angels. Shake Your Money Maker.

The Black Crowes - Goodbye Daughters of The Revolution.mp3

The Black Crowes - Goodbye Daugthers of The Revolution.mp3 YSI

www.blackcrowes.com

My Insipid Record Collection - Ministry

2009-08-27T13:53:00.007-04:00

Few bands morph from synth pop to what a friend of mine calls "devil music." He's clueless of course, but Industrial music does have it's detractors. When Ministry released With Sympathy on Arista Records in 1983 I thought it was great. It was so 80's, but it was also very cool. I know frontman Al Jourgensen tries to distance himself from this record, but it's a still a great record. They say Arista took artistic control of the release, much to the chagrin of Jourgensen, but for him to refer to it as "an abortion of an album" is being way too critical. Who knew Ministry could have some nice danceable melodies? Imagine all the folks who thought this band was going to be releasing shiny happy music for the next five or six years only to be hit with "Stigmata" or "Jesus Built My Hot Rod." That probably shocked a few bedroom communities. I know I was a little surprised.

Ministry was formed in 1981 in Chicago, Illinois. The only constant in their entire existence was Al Jourgensen. Original drummer Stephen George was with him long enough to release four 12" singles in on Wax! Tracks Records including "All Day" and the fabulous "Everyday is Halloween" before departing. From then on out it was Al and the somebodies. Ministry's musical assault lends itself to a myriad of recording techniques, but they did tour. There must have been something about that combination because Ministry blew through an awful lot of bodies between 1981-2008. I have to admit I didn't follow Ministry blindly into the abyss. I was disappointed that they chose the path they did, but I respect their right to have chosen it. I have a copy of Greatest Fits on which they fool around with Bob Dylan's Lay Lady Lay, but as much as I love Nine Inch Nails, I don't think heavy Industrial Rock is the place for me. No offense intended to those who love it of course.

With Sympathy might not have been representative of Ministry's body of work, but it has some great singles on it. I was absolutely in love with "I Wanted To Tell Her" back in the day. I also loved "Effigy (I'm Not An)." This album was also responsible for "Work For Love" and another great tune called "Revenge." Playing it back in full, there are a few weak links, but these four songs are very strong. No need for embarrassment; either on my part or Ministry's. Twenty six years later you rarely hear any of these tunes on alternative rock stations and you can forget about any of the balance of Ministry's catalogue except for an occasional spin of "Everyday is Halloween." I don't think Al Jourgensen cares about terrestrial radio one iota. I'm OK with that. He's got a ton of followers and I'm sure he's not hurting for his next mortgage payment like the rest of us.

I'm leaving you with "I Wanted To Tell Her" even though it sounds so 80's. I used to sneak this one into a number of mix cassette tapes as a youngster. Nobody ever seemed to know who sang it. Now you know once and for all; Ministry. Hopefully this will jog a few memories.

Ministry - I Wanted To Tell Her.mp3

Ministry - I Wanted To Tell Her.mp3 YSI

Your Tour Guide - The Moody Blues

2009-08-26T07:26:00.008-04:00

My first exposure to The Moody Blues came when I first heard the single "Nights in White Satin." That song was re-issued in the mid seventies for some reason and was a hit all over again. I think one of the proms I never attended at Voorhees High School in Glen Gardner, NJ used it as the theme song if memory serves. That's usually enough to turn you off to any song, but I had a history with The Moody Blues. My best friend Jim had three older siblings and they all had Moody Blues records. We used to play the baseball dice game Strat-O-Matic and listen to these records endlessly. Finally, in 1974, The Moody Blues released This is The Moody Blues as a greatest hits package. It didn't catch everything, but it sure was close. For a 14 year old on a grass cutting budget, this was the jackpot. A double album priced at no more than $7.99 at Korvette's on Route 22 in New Jersey was nirvana. I haven't thought about Korvette's in years, but pow, just like that, I'm back in 1974. I guess E.J. (Korvette) declared bankruptcy in 1980 and folded the chain, but he was my music man for a couple of years. I was a Massachusetts resident by then so I didn't get the memo, but God bless that chain.

Note the vinyl marks on the artwork above. You know this baby sat in a heavy pile of records for a long time. It's not my copy, but it might as well have been. I love The Moody Blues. I know it's not very fashionable to say as much these days, but I've always loved this band. I remember a friend of my father's gave me a cassette copy of Seventh Sojourn in 1972. I played that thing like there was no tomorrow. I just loved it. This is The Moody Blues was one of the first greatest hits records I can remember where you didn't get a break between the songs. Nearly every one of them was blended or had a few seconds of silence between the tracks. I didn't mind it when I was playing the album, but digitzing the music is kind of a nightmare. Songs frequently get chopped unfortunately.

Last night The Moody Blues played the Bank of America Pavilion here in Boston. At 49 years young I felt like a toddler in this silver haired crowd. The Moodies released their first record, Days of Future Passed, in 1967. Many of these folks were obviously long time fans like me with the emphasis on the long. Aside from seeing 60 somethings Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graeme Edge on stage looking every bit their age, it was interesting to see a crowd of folks pushing 60 trying to rock. Maybe this is how I look at a Kings of Leon concert I'm guessing huh? I know many of you folks out there probably know four Moody Blues songs at best, but these guys were pioneers. They mixed poetry and orchestral soft rock and produced some great music. Like Pink Floyd, there has never been anybody like them. Even with three of the original five on stage, it was like I was back in Boston Garden in 1980 or at Concerts On The Common in 1988 minus Michael Pinder and Ray Thomas. When they broke into "Tuesday Afternoon" about five songs in I was in nostalgia heaven. It practically was Tuesday Afternoon to boot. Great symmetry. I'm a sucker for symmetry.

The highlight of the show, for me, though was "Never Comes The Day" from 1969's On The Threshold of a Dream. I sang that thing at the top of my lungs along with everybody else within earshot. I know most of you probably don't even know the song, but it's a great tune. I love Justin Hayward's voice. It's so soothing. I didn't get to hear "Lovely To See You" or "Legend of a Mind" last night, but I didn't really care. I've heard those first seven records hundreds of times. I was just happy to be there last night on a picture perfect late August evening. Our ten days of summer is coming to a close and even I, allergic to weather 80 degrees and above, was comfortable last night. The weather hasn't quite broken yet, but you can feel it coming. I just love the cool weather of the fall season. I knew I was going to the show all along, but I didn't grab a ticket until yesterday afternoon. I found a single in the 12th row center and had a tremendous view of their gorgeous new flute player dressed in black. She might have been talented, but I was too dazzled by her silhouette to notice.

I saw Bruce Springsteen over the weekend, but I felt like writing about The Moody Blues instead. I feel like these guys just don't get their due in rock history. Thirty years from now the band and us fans will probably be gone so I'm doing my part to remind folks what great artists these guys were and are. I could leave you any number of Moody Blues songs and be happy about it, but I'm going to go with You and Me from Seventh Sojourn. Even if you are a reasonably big Moody Blues fan you might not know this one. I hope you like it.

The Moody Blues - You and Me.mp3

The Moody Blues - You and Me.mp3 YSI

www.moodyblues.co.uk

My Insipid Record Collection - Public Image Limited

2009-08-25T15:28:00.008-04:00

I have been meaning to write something about Public Image Limited (PIL) for a while now. This is the story of Johnny Rotten. OK, maybe not but I'm not sure Neil Young was right on top of it either as much as I love Neil. I was a late bloomer to The Sex Pistols. I didn't get them or there fan base when I was 17. All that registered with me was the spitting. I hate spitting. That said, today I'm a huge fan of Never Mind The Bullocks (Here's The Sex Pistols). I love the title, I love "Holidays in The Sun" and I love "Anarchy in The UK." In fact I love "God Save The Queen" and "Pretty Vacant" too. For a band likened to The Monkees in terms of their instrumental prowess Never Mind The Bullocks was a helluva record. It still sounds ground breaking and explosive to this very day. Not bad for alleged hacks huh? In fairness the criticism was mostly aimed squarely at Sid Vicious, but it wasn't his exclusive domain. Rotten & Vicious seemed famous for being famous at the time.

Since I didn't follow The Pistols' saga until Sid & Nancy came out in the mid 80's it stands to reason I didn't know the first thing about PIL when they started making records. The fact that the first two PIL records were too artsy and avant-garde for commercial radio didn't help me at all either. After the demise of The Sex Pistols it is rumored that John Lydon, the ex Mr Johnny Rotten, was proffered by Virgin Records head Richard Branson as a potential lead singer for the band Devo believe it or not. Allegedly, Devo wanted no part of that. I can't imagine why can you? Do you ever feel like you've been duped? Well, no, not really. Whether we are talking The Monkees, The Archies, Josie & The Pussycats, The Partridge Family, The Pistols or any other idea/brand before actual musicianship concept all we have to go on is the finished product right? If you liked "Last Train To Clarksville," and I did, who cares who plays the instruments? I wouldn't go around saying a comic strip that produces "Sugar, Sugar" is a rockin' good act, but you get my overarching drift here (I hope). Of course, it could be that Johnny was talking about something completely different like the length of their show that particular night or how badly they had been managed, but hey, these guys were the perpetrators of The Great Rock & Roll Swindle right? There's gotta be truth in advertising no?

Initially John Lydon formed PIL with bassist Jah Wobble, guitarist Keith Levene and drummer Jim Walker. Naturally that lineup lasted about two clicks, but such is the nature of rock & roll I guess. The band has been officially on hiatus since 1992, but John Lydon is probably the only one who thinks that. The thing is, I really liked these guys. I think "Seattle" from 1987's Happy? and "Rise & Home" from 1986's Compact Disc flat are brilliant. I love John's snarling vocals. I played "Disappointed" from 1989's 9 ad nauseum back when it came out and I think another half dozen of their songs are highly listenable. PIL might have been a bit ahead of their time. They got by on next to no radio airplay until their fifth record named Album, Compact Disc, Cassette or Digital Download depending on your preferred format. And even then it was restricted to "This is Not a Love Song" from 1984's This is What You Want...This is What You Get. Today maybe a half dozen combined tracks from The Sex Pistols and PIL might consistently turn up on WFNX & Julie Kramer's Leftover Lunch, but for the most part Public Image Limited is just that; a band with a limited public image. I could care less. I think they were great and tell anyone that bothers to ask as much and I was never a punk (no, really).

I grappled with which track to post because I only get one crack at it you know? I have a thousand bands to blog about and PIL won't be back anytime soon at The Giant Panther I'm sad to say. I just listened to several of my favorites and just decided "Rise" is the only way to go. Anger is an energy don't you know. If you say it enough times it sticks I promise. Until the next time...

Public Image Limited - Rise.mp3

Public Image Limited - Rise.mp3 YSI

My Insipid Record Collection - The Cult

2009-08-24T23:13:00.010-04:00

One of the hotter bands the 80's will be remembered for is an English rock band called The Cult. They formed in 1983 and released their first record called Dreamtime in 1984. You can file them under Alternative Rock, Post Punk, Goth Rock, Hard Rock or Heavy Metal, but just make sure you file them. Between 1985's breakthrough Love right up until 1991's Ceremony The Cult rocked my world. I never played in a band, got a tattoo or had hair down to my arse, and maybe that's been a mistake, but the first time I heard She Sells Sanctuary I was on the bandwagon lock, stock and barrel. They just hit my AC/DC sweet spot between Classic Rock and Alternative Rock. I couldn't get enough of them once upon a time. That just happens sometimes doesn't it?

At their inception, The Cult were known as Southern Death Cult before shortening it to The Cult. I think they made the right move. The word "Cult" is quasi off putting as is let alone adding some Southern Death to it no? 1984's Dreamtime was no slouch of a record, but their sophomore record Love was a smash. The first track was called "Nirvana." Hmmm. "She Sells Sanctuary, Rain and Revolution" were all great songs. The record went on to sell over 2 million copies and I'm betting the lion's share of those sales were to U.S. based upstanding citizens like myself. Or maybe not...I'm just guessing. What we can safely say is that The Cult were best described as vocalist Ian Astbury, guitarist Billy Duffy and "Friends." And I'm not talkin' Jennifer Aniston. Pretty soon these two guys weren't even friends if the stories are true. Over on the always helpful, but taken with a grain of salt Wikipedia I count 21 ex-band members. Think those guys are tough to work with? Just sayin'.

Beggar's Banquet was the label that bankrolled these guys and even though they were undeniably successful with Love, the label was apprehensive about their next release back in 1987. They say that their followup to Love was originally called Peace, but I didn't even know that until ten minutes ago. Some rock historian I turned out to be huh? Apparently The Cult were not happy with the sound of the record and they turned to none other than Rick Rubin to remix their new single "Love Removal Machine." The label wanted no part of re-recording or remixing anything, but Rubin's presence can be very persuasive. He produced a minor hit record by a little known act called The Beastie Boys the prior year you might recognize as License To Ill. Holy game changer Batman. How many times have I heard No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn you ask? Don't even go there. Suffice to say, at whatever the cost, The Cult and their label did the right thing letting Rubin talk them into re-recording the entire record and renaming it Electric. I played the vinegar out of this record back in the day.

My favorite Cult tune has got to be "Wild Flower," but "'Lil Devil" and "Rain" or "Revolution" are in the conversation. They have at least ten others that get me going as well. It's funny, you almost have to apologize for liking metal anymore. People get so worked up with genres. I just know what I like and I have no problem saying Joni Mitchell and Carole King are supreme talents. None. I'll be blogging about them when you least expect it. I'm endlessly curious, but I write mostly about what I know cold because I'm still trying to digitize my music library. I don't know if I see a light just yet, but my hard drive has about 65,000 songs on it as we speak. I'm guessing I'm about 2/3 of the way there, but when (not if) I cross the 100,000 mark I'll make a formal announcement. As if anyone cares right?

As for The Cult, they imploded around 1991 after releasing Ceremony in an acrimonious legal haze, but have resurrected, to coin a Resurrection Joe type phrase, a couple of times since. I haven't really followed them since 1991 even though I did buy their last two records. I don't know that The Thrill is Gone, but the rocket fuel sound of their music in the 80's hasn't quite been matched since. "Wild Flower" is still a song that puts a smile on my face every time I hear it. Maybe it'll work for you too.

The Cult - Wild Flower.mp3

The Cult - Wild Flower.mp3 YSI

www.thecult.com

My Insipid Record Collection - Grace Jones

2009-08-22T13:27:00.011-04:00

I love Grace Jones. Sometime in the 80's I discovered her and I don't think I've stopped listening since. There's nobody like her. I'd love to see her perform some day, but I'm not sure I'll get the chance. Grace Jones was born in Jamaica in 1948. Her parents moved to Syracuse, NY in 1965. I don't know the details of Grace's height, but she's got to be close to six feet. She was a model working NYC and Paris before scoring a recording contract with Island Records in 1977. I don't know her sexual preferences either, but she was androgynous looking and had a huge following in the gay community. I could care less about that stuff. I'm not much of a dancer, but Grace Jones makes it happen for me. Sometimes she speak sings, especially when covering acts like Flash and The Pan, Iggy Pop, The Pretenders, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers or Roxy Music, but she can sing too.

In the late seventies she began being seen around New York City with one Andy Warhol, who liked to photograph her, after he got done toying with Edie Sedgwick a couple of years prior. I never quite got the appeal of Andy Warhol, but it's clear he gave the wild ones a place to congregate (The Factory) and he did have one foot in the art world and one foot in the world of movies. That can make a very big impression on young women (or so I'm told). Come to think of it, wish I had been him give or take 90 eccentricities and that pasty mug. Anyway, Grace used to stroll into Studio 54 with Warhol and create quite the stir they say (you know...the people who say she created quite a stir...how hysterical is that line of advertising? They say you should wait to buy a home...who is they?...You know...the ones who say you should wait...makes me laugh every time...I'm such a simpleton). A tall African American woman wearing a flat top haircut dressed in the wildest outfits ever taking over the dance floor. That's one way to raise your profile I guess.

Grace did one last album for Island Records in 1985 called Slave To The Rhythm before moving on to Manhattan Records. In 1986 she released Inside Story on her new label and the song "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect For You)" was her final charting single. In fact, 1989's Bulletproof Heart, the recording of which allegedly saw major clashes with dance music producer extraordinaire Nile Rogers, signaled a twenty year break from recording for Grace Jones. No matter, she still had relative bit parts in movies like Conan The Destroyer, A View To a Kill, Vamp and Boomerang to fall back on. Last year she released a critically acclaimed CD called Hurricane that seemed to put her back on the rock & roll map, but I have yet to digest that one fully. I'll have to get back to you on that one...

Jones had many dance floor favorites, but "Pull Up To The Bumper" is probably her most well known number. Unfortunately this single has about twelve remixes on the market so I'm not even sure where this one comes from. The version on Nightclubbing is only 4:41, but the one I'm posting is 5:47 and to me is the definitive remix. Hopefully you will agree. Break out the Warm Leatherettes...

P.S. For those of you who play before you download rest assured that the whole song is there for downloading. I don't know why, but for some reason my host doesn't want to finish this track. I checked it twice and downloaded it myself to make sure it works.

Grace Jones - Pull Up To The Bumper.mp3

Grace Jones - Pull Up To The Bumper.mp3 YSI

My Insipid Record Collection - The Replacements

2009-08-19T16:41:00.009-04:00

I saw The Replacements just once. It was March 22, 1989 at The Opera House here in Boston. The building has been completely refurbished since that broken down venue was hosting the likes of hard partying bands like The Replacements. Nowadays it looks gorgeous, but in the late 80's The Opera House was about to implode on itself. I don't know the history of the building at 539 Washington Street, but it was hosting vaudeville and all kinds of acts decades before I was born. It's got a nice legacy. I saw The White Stripes there a couple of years ago and was impressed. My ticket stub to that Replacements gig, which was probably one of their last 'round these parts, says I paid $17.75 (a 25 cent restoration fee was attached...well, restoration was in order). Increasing ticket prices really shock me now and then. I don't let them deter me, but sometimes it's staggering no?...

Last night I saw a 40 year old band called Mountain (with Leslie West and Corky Lainge still going strong) and that show cost me a reasonable $30. Next Tuesday I'm seeing The Moody Blues for $60 and though there seems to be only three of the original members touring that seems reasonable too. Bruce Springsteen brings his army to the edifice formerly known as Great Woods this weekend and I paid $95 for that ticket. Hey, he's got to pay ten or twelve people right? I'm thinking about Peter Frampton (Showcase Live, as I've mentioned in past posts, is so intimate that it's really hard to pass up legends like Mountain and Frampton playing there) on September 1st and those ducats are going for $62.50. Man, if only he never released "I'm in You" huh? I know he's fallen way out of favor since 1977, but Frampton Comes Alive! is still in the top ten discussion of the best live albums ever recorded and I've never seen him. Hiss if you must, but the man can play guitar.

The Replacements were a Minneapolis, MN band formed in 1979. Disciples of Alex Chilton led bands like The Box Tops and Big Star, The 'Mats even wrote a song about the guy called, amazingly enough, "Alex Chilton." You may have heard it on your local Alterna-Rock station. They were a very enigmatic band in their heyday. Led by Paul Westerberg, The Replacements were known for their uneven live performances. If drinking were a spectator sport, their only rock & roll rival, at least on stage, would be Guided By Voices. God I love those guys, but that's another post for another day...promise. The Replacements were originally comprised of vocalist Paul Westerberg, guitarist Bob Stinson, bassist Tommy Stinson and drummer Chris Mars. Bob Stinson wasn't much of a fan of the Sire Records version of The Replacements (they were signed by Sire after releasing three studio albums in 1983...and in doing so became one of the first "underground" bands to graduate to a major label) that began with their fourth studio album Let It Be in 1984. They began to play softer, more commercially viable music and as Bob's drinking took on a life of its own he was let go after 1985's Tim. Their And Then There Were Three...(how about that Genesis reference right there huh?) record, Pleased To Meet Me, contained two of their most famous songs ever in "Can't Hardly Wait" and "Alex Chilton." The softer version of The Replacements was definitely a commerical hit.

Each of their final five studio records had something great on them. Let It Be had "I Will Dare" and the gorgeous "Unsatisfied" to go along with their cover of Kiss' "Black Diamond." Tim had "Kiss Me On The Bus" and "Here Comes a Regular" plus "Left of The Dial." Post Pleased To Meet Me record Don't Tell a Soul had "Talent Show" and "I'll Be You." The final CD, some say essentially a Paul Westerberg solo effort, called All Shook Down at least had "Merry Go-Round." I became a Replacements fan the very first time I heard "Can't Hardly Wait." It's still probably my favorite 'Mats tune. Minneapolis gets overlooked as a hot bed of music fairly often, but Replacements contemporaries Husker Du and Soul Asylum were from there around the same time period. And we don't even need to mention Prince do we? I'm not going to count the legendary Bob Dylan here as he made his musical bones elsewhere, but Minneapolis should be proud of their output. The Replacements had a couple of memorable disastrous tours with R.E.M. and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers that only added to their problems. Infighting, personnel changes, alcohol abuse and turmoil ultimately led to their demise around 1991, but they have a better greatest hits package than many bands and "Can't Hardly Wait" is a masterpiece in my book. Maybe they'll reunite one day, but if they don't I'll still be playing their records. There is just something about them. I hope you feel the same way...

The Replacements - Can't Hardly Wait.mp3

The Replacements - Can't Hardly Wait.mp3 YSI

Lock The Door & Cover Me - Devo

2009-08-15T15:28:00.012-04:00

I have to admit to not getting Devo for the longest time. I didn't much care for "Whip It" and I didn't like it much when they screwed around with (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction as I will go to my grave a huge Rolling Stones fan. It seemed like music for geeks and shut ins. Well, I guess I'm both these days. Today I'm a pretty big Devo fan. I went to see Devo last summer and got pulled into the 2nd row by a friend of mine. I had a god damn blast. I was singing "Mongoloid" at the top of my lungs like some teenager. Sci-Fi Rock? Newer than New Wave? Synth Kings? I don't really know, but nobody sounds like Devo. When you hear Pink Floyd's Animals there can be no other band in the history of rock that sounds like that right? What greater compliment is there? I've done a complete 180 on Devo.

My two favorite Devo songs are probably "Girl U Want" and "Beautiful World," but I've come to embrace their funky catalogue. I'm Through Being Cool you might say. Those yellow space suits, red hats and crazy eye wear is all part of their schtick. Their fans are inclined to wear all of that stuff to their shows and it's hilarious. Again with the comedy in my rock! I love to laugh while I'm enjoying my music. A good sense of humor is tremendously valuable in rock. No need to take yourself so seriously all the time I say. If you can mix the two (good music and humor) you have me. I really believe that is what made Van Halen such a good time and I know for a fact it makes AC/DC. It's a great combination. Hey man that suit is you!...you'll get some leg tonight for sure...tell us how you do...

Devo were complete pioneers who formed in Akron, OH in 1973. They started out on Stiff Records and graduated to major label Warner Brothers when David Bowie and Iggy Pop got on their bandwagon. Brian Eno produced their first record, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We are Devo!, and off they went. They scored a gig on Saturday Night Live in 1976 and became a bit of a sensation as a result of the exposure. They appeared on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert in 1979 as well. Any young rock fan in the 70's was keenly aware of Don Kirshner's Rock Concert and The Midnight Special because in those days that was the only way you could see your favorite bands perform live, especially at 13 or 14 years of age. American Bandstand or Ed Sullivan didn't really count because they weren't real concerts. And you knew your parents were not going to let you go to NYC (in my case) and see a rock band. Not with all that Mary Jane in the air. Geesh. Talk about Reefer Madness. I remember I got my first glimpse of Kiss on one of these shows (I can't remember which one unfortunately). They did Strutter, Firehouse and Nothin' To Lose and your friend Johnny had seen enough and had to have that debut album. C'mon...Cold Gin...Deuce...Black Diamond...yeah man! All that makeup melting all over the place...it was MTV before MTV. Too bad I wasn't smart enough to invest my allowance...

In 2000 Devo put out Pioneers Who Got Scalped: The Anthology. I'm not sure this is the definitive collection, but it's got a lot of covers on it. They covered many songs including Are You Experienced?, Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, Secret Agent Man, Satisfaction, Working in a Coal Mine and the song I came to post today; Nine Inch Nails' Head Like a Hole. All of their covers feel like they've been fed into a blender and synthesized, but they come away with that distinctive Devo stamp on them. I understand this cover was done specifically for the film "Supercop," but I've never seen it. In fact, if I wasn't screwing around on the Internet one day I probably never would have heard this cover. I've long been a fan of Nine Inch Nails so I was curious when Devo took a crack at their signature tune. I'm strangely OK with it, but then I already admitted to being a fan...

Devo - Head Like a Hole.mp3

Devo - Head Like a Hole.mp3 YSI

www.clubdevo.com

My Insipid Record Collection - The Jam

2009-08-14T14:33:00.006-04:00

I'm not only stuck in the 80's, I'm stuck in 1980 it seems. I don't care. I was jamming (to intentionally coin a phrase) along on my Sony iPod like device this morning at the gym and one of my all time favorite Jam songs popped up. Oh baby, I'm dreaming of Monday, Oh baby, will I see you again...man I love that song. I think I'm the only one because I haven't heard it on the radio since, well, 1980. Yet Town Called Malice from 1982's The Gift seems to get all kinds of airplay to this day.

Sound Affects is a great record. It has Pretty Green, Monday, Start! and the granddaddy of all Jam songs; the brilliant "That's Entertainment." Whoa. The Jam catalogue is full of great songs like "This is The Modern World, The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had to Swallow), Beat Surrender, Just Who is The 5 O'Clock Hero?," etc, but I favor "That's Entertainment" and "Monday." The irony here is that only die hard Jam fans would even know the song "Monday." It was one of those songs for me that you loved initially, but didn't buy. The Jam were an English Mod Rock band that had been around awhile when they released Sound Affects. I lost track of the song for a number of years, but came across it again around 1986 or so and by then I was flat nailing down every track or album I ever wanted as I built my collection. Today it's kind of embarrassing to be honest. All my friends my age seem to have left their rocking days behind them and even the youngsters I pal around with these days, The Giant Panther excluded of course, just don't seem to get the same charge out of seeing live concerts that I always have. Not only that, listening to music seems to be on the wane too. I know that sounds absurd with the surge of iPod Nation, but it seems like that listening is reserved for the gym and commuting to and from work. I can't remember the last time a buddy of mine and I sat down and listened to the new record by one of our favorite artists and had a couple of beers. It's pretty sad.

I know folks have better things to do and families and everything else, but I still love checking the list of new releases on a given Tuesday. I've been to about fifteen concerts this summer. I don't tell you folks about every one (that takes work!), but trust me when I tell you I'm out there. I've got three warhorses on the docket over the next six weeks in Bruce Springsteen, Mountain and U2, but I'm always a threat to locate smaller shows. I solo most of them now. I used to always buy two tickets and now I just buy one if I buy anything at all in advance. Usually I just show up on the night of event. It's great not having to unload tickets if plans change too. Me & Craigslist. Hello, I'm Johnny Cash...what do you have? The Pretenders and Blondie, among others, just blew through here and I took a pass. Have seen them both and just wasn't feeling it that night. Sometimes you risk the final curtain when you pass. Debbie Harry and Chrissie Hynde are five to ten years older than me, but they both can still sing. It's just a matter of if they want to. And then it's just a matter if I want to listen on a given night right? Most of the time I'm in The Mood for a Melody believe me.

Back to The Jam...They released six studio albums and one Live album between 1977 and 1982. They had Punk Rock leanings, but they were very musical and had great harmonies. The Paul Weller led outfit wore suits as opposed to shredded jeans and safety pins, but that didn't stop them from being talented angry young men. After the band broke up Paul Weller went on to form the critically acclaimed band The Style Council, but I never loved them like I loved The Jam. I hope somebody out there goes "Oh yeah!" after I post "Monday" and puts it in their iPod. After all, I live for just that.

The Jam - Monday.mp3

The Jam - Monday.mp3 YSI

My Insipid Record Collection - Robin Lane & The Chartbusters

2009-08-13T15:51:00.016-04:00

I'm sort of stuck in the 80's for the moment, but I'll work my way out of it; I promise. I remember hearing about Robin Lane & The Chartbusters on WCOZ in about 1980 if memory serves. They used to broadcast entire records late at night and I used to use my tape deck to record them in my Emerson College dorm room. My memory isn't what it used to be, but I'm pretty sure I recorded Robin Lane & The Chartbusters debut album on one side of a cassette and Heart's Bebe Le Strange on the other. I'll bet if dug deep around here I could locate that exact TDK cassette complete with faint static in the background from the radio station signal. It probably has a recognizable DJ introducing what was new music at the time. I remember playing this particular cassette ad nauseum for months. I loved the Wilson sisters back then and The Chartbusters' first album was solid as well.

In 1980 I lived on the 8th Floor at 100 Beacon Street in Boston in an area we dubbed "Centerville" because we had set up a living room in the hallway that served as community property. It was surrounded by five or six double occupancy dorm rooms that we all lived in. We'd order Domino's pizza and watch Saturday Night Live and make god awful drinks out of anything we could cobble together. I think we used to call them "Smashers" for obvious reasons. It was an innocent time and I don't remember doing all that much studying to be honest about it. We would all share our music with each other and, of course, we'd be in tune with what was being played on the radio. Robin Lane's single "When Thing Go Wrong" was a monster hit back then and we all just loved it.

I was probably the only one who just kept playing the record all the way through though. I'm sure there is a science to releasing singles as it relates to their placement on a full length LP, but if I was in a band I'd never want the first song on a record to be my lead single; particularly if you are in an unknown band. It's just too easy to play the first song and change the record at a party. Do that enough times and you never get to the rest of the album. Buy more records and that first track only record is now associated with being a one hit record in your mind and you wind up never playing it at all. I was never that kind of music listener, but I've seen it happen with friends of mine. I always played B sides of singles and the entire album if I bought it. Part of that was because I couldn't afford more than four new albums every two months or so in those days. I had to listen to everything to get my money's worth. If only that were true today...

That time in my life came and went faster than I could have ever imagined, but my love for Robin Lane's first record, and "When Things Go Wrong" in particular, has never waned. I had mentioned 'Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry" in an earlier post and these two songs are in the same league for my money. Both were female fronted bands and both of these songs should be on any Top 50 list of Boston's greatest local songs. I used to play it at parties decades later and invariably someone would bolt forward to ask me who the artist was. Here are some fun Wikipedia facts regarding Robin Lane I didn't even know. Did you know she was married to future Police lead guitarist Andy Summers for two years? Did you know Robin sang backup on the song "Round & Round" from Neil Young's epic 1969 release Everybody Knows This is Nowhere? And Apparently "When Things Go Wrong" was the eleventh video ever played on MTV's very first programming day back on August 1, 1981. Now that's pretty cool no? I'm sure Robin is so sick of this song by now that she might distance herself from it, but that'd be a shame if that were true. It has held up amazingly well and still sounds like a million bucks.

Robin Lane & The Chartbusters.mp3

Robin Lane & The Chartbusters.mp3 YSI

One Track Mind - The Del Fuegos

2009-08-12T18:16:00.006-04:00

Yet another Boston band from the 80's was a band called The Del Fuegos. In the late eighties an artist named Juliana Hatfield immortalized The Del Fuegos in her song "My Sister" by name checking them as the warm-up act for a potential Violent Femmes show her sister might have taken her to if she'd stuck around. Before they had a record out, before they went gold...and started to grow. I always liked that line. In 1985 The Del Fuegos released an album called Boston, MA. WBCN was squarely behind them and the first single was "Don't Run Wild." It took me a few spins to warm up to it, but I was soon a huge fan of this single.

I wasn't really sure what to make of The Del Fuegos when they released their first album in 1984. Yeah, they were a garage rock band, but aside from "Longest Day" and "Backseat Nothing" there wasn't much to write home about relative to radio airplay. Led by brothers Dan and Warren Zanes, the band had an awful lot of hype around the station, but I didn't really get the feeling they were headed for big things at the time. If memory serves they were toppled by the Aimee Mann led 'Til Tuesday in the 1983 WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble (a battle of the bands for the unfamiliar). In fact the runner up was The Sex Execs of "My Ex" fame. Talk about where are they now huh? And I'm dead certain none of the judges were dazzled by Aimee's drop dead good looks either. In fairness "Voices Carry" was and is a tremendous song and The Del Fuegos had yet to unleash "Don't Run Wild." The Fuegos were left behind with the likes of Digney Fignus and their hit "The Girl With The Curious Hand." I'm sure they were hoping for more as good as that song was.

After "Don't Run Wild" became a WBCN staple the world was The Del Fuegos' oyster. They had another track called "I Still Want You" and "The Sound of Our Town" that did some minor charting, but "Don't Run Wild" was a killer track. I don't know what exactly happened to these folks after 1985, but it was all over by 1989 for The Del Fuegos. No matter. Every time I hear "Don't Run Wild" I think very fondly of this time of my life. And to name their record Boston, MA was pretty ballsy even though it guaranteed some airplay with a title like that in this town. I hope you like this track as much as I do. I love the whole feel of it. Great tune.

The Del Fuegos - Don't Run Wild.mp3

The Del Fuegos - Don't Run Wild.mp3 YSI

One Track Mind - The Lyres

2009-08-12T15:30:00.004-04:00

So, with WBCN officially dead and gone, I figured I'd post a song by a Boston band called The Lyres. The only consistent Lyres lineup has Jeff Connolly (who goes by Monoman) on vocals and organ; after that it was just a matter of what era you are talking about. The single I came to post today, "I Want To Help You Ann," was released on Ace of Hearts records in 1981. According to their web site the lineup for this single was Jeff Connolly, Peter Greenberg on guitar, Mike Lewis on bass and Howie Ferguson on drums. It is referred to as Lineup #6 spanning June 1980 to January 1982. The Lyres were a trip to see live, but their buzz exceeded their catalogue for the most part. The artwork I post here was originally from a four song 1981 EP known as AHS: 1005, which I'm guessing is the Ace of Hearts catalogue number. It has since been expanded to include "I Want To Help You Ann," but the lead track on this piece of vinyl was "What a Girl Can Do." They also had minor hits with "Don't Give It Up" and "She Pays The Rent" which I always thought were pretty good tracks, but by and large The Lyres were never much of a household name outside of Boston.

The Lyres were a garage rock band. "I Want To Help You Ann" is a big time cut. It comes at you like a freight train. The Lyres were descendants of an earlier garage rock band called DMZ. Apparently DMZ, Connolly's prior band, was signed to the awesome Sire Records label only to have their initial release tabled due to a poor mix (allegedly by Flo & Eddie of Turtles fame). It is said DMZ eventually morphed into The Lyres. They finally got their debut record, Lyres On Fire, released in 1984. It is a garage rock classic if you read the reviews on Amazon.com, but I'm going to have to go back and listen to it again. I was right there (in Boston, working at WBCN...the radio station that helped break them) when this all went down and I can't recall it being a game changer, but I don't mean to disparage The Lyres in any way. I love garage rock and I love a handful of their tracks, but I would probably place them on a par with a band like The Del Fuegos. The Del Fuegos were another Boston band with at least one monster track in "Don't Run Wild." I wish I had written both of them to be sure, but neither of these acts went on to live in infamy. In fact, I think I'm going to post "Don't Run Wild" in a few minutes for fun. "I Want To Help You Ann" rocks. Simple as that. I hope you add it to your iPods and look fondly on The Giant Panther as a result.

The Lyres - I Want To Help You Ann.mp3

The Lyres - I Want To Help You Ann.mp3 YSI

www.limbos.org/lyres

My Insipid Record Collection - Human Sexual Response

2009-08-11T07:49:00.007-04:00

I had been in Boston maybe two years when I first heard Human Sexual Response on the radio in 1980. The song was Jackie Onassis and to this day I still like that single. I immediately had to investigate. Human Sexual Response was a Boston band that lasted, give or take, maybe five years from roughly 1977-1982. That isn't a long time for a band as good as HSR was, but they definitely made their mark here. I have always found their sound interesting for some reason. They had four hits, mostly on the local level; Jackie Onassis, Andy Fell, Land of The Glass Pinecones and the song I came to post today "What Does Sex Mean To Me?" They also did a cover of a 1966 song by The Capitols called "Cool Jerk" which got a little airplay early as well. Making a great song like Jackie Onassis about an American icon just about guaratees this band will never be forgotten. It's not a great Christmas song (meaning it'll get played at least once a year for decades), but it's the next best thing isn't it? They say even Jackie O liked it. Does it get any better than that?

The origins of HSR are fairly typical, but it's kind of surprising to note that they have a background that includes the kazoo and Country & Western music. These folks defy a musical category, but they got lumped into the New Wave category because nobody knew where to put them. Fig. 15, their debut record, was released in 1980 and it definitely made a splash on both local college radio and local rock stations. They had a titillating name, which always helps, but they had some shock value going for them as well. In addition to "What Does Sex Men To Me?" they included a song called "Butt Fuck" on this record. Today the Butthole Surfers are announced by DJs like it is nothing (they only play "Pepper," but that is another story), but in those days I'm kind of surprised it passed the smell test. Needless to say, it was not going to get any airplay. The thing is, this record is really very good. I like the way it was recorded and I love the way lead singer, Larry Bangor, kind of stuttered his vocals. He had a slight quake and quiver to his vocal delivery which adds to their sound. Some may not agree, but I think it has a touch of David Byrne to it. Very artsy. I'd have posted "Land of The Glass Pinecones," because I love that song too, but that doesn't quite illustrate what I'm having trouble describing here. You can find that one on their 1981 release In a Roman Mood. Do check it out if you've never heard it before. The CDs are fairly hard to find these days, but worth the hunt.

Human Sexual Response broke up in 1982. They turned into the The Zulus and what seems like half a dozen other bands over the years. It's kind of hard to explain how much impact HSR's two records had on my listening tastes over the years, but suffice to say they opened up my ears to new sounds. "What Does Sex Mean To Me?" was the first song in which I ever heard the word "vagina" used, much less rhyming it with "China." I thought that was pretty cool way back when and I haven't changed my mind since. This song is well written, it rocks and it's wonderfully irreverent. Hats off to Human Sexual Response, wherever they are. I remain a big fan almost three decades later.

Human Sexual Response - What Does Sex Mean To Me?.mp3

Human Sexual Response - What Does Sex Mean To Me?.mp3 YSI

Guilty Pleasures - Sweet

2009-08-01T18:49:00.007-04:00

The first time I heard the British band Sweet was when a song called "Little Willy" was played on the radio station I was listening to in 1972. It had a fun cadence and it was right on the Bubblegum fault line. Sweet had a lot of trouble extricating itself from the Bubblegum label and it's not hard to understand why with the name they chose. In fact, they tried very hard to distance themselves from their bubblegum tag by intentionally doing heavier music on the flip side of all their singles. It drove label executives a bit crazy, but it definitely opened some eyes on the other end of the equation. In the days when you only had an "A" and "B" side to make a decision about a band that second song always got played. Maybe not always on the air, but if the "A" side was listenable the "B" side got a couple of revolutions to make sure nobody was missing anything. When you make songs like "Ballroom Blitz," "Little Willy," and "Fox On The Run" you're gonna get pigeon-holed to a degree. The truth is Sweet had more in common with Glam rockers like Queen, Gary Glitter, T-Rex and Slade than U.S. Bubblegummers like The Ohio Express, 1910 Fruitgum Company or The Monkees.

Back to "Little Willy" for a moment; I still don't exactly know what the song was about, but I did know that I kind of liked it. Sweet had that way about them. Sometimes they sounded like a gang of people singing to you as opposed to just one voice. I never much cared for "Ballroom Blitz," but an awful lot of people did. Sweet had the party vibe about them. They sounded like they were having fun. Everybody wants a piece of the "Action" right? I did know that Willy wouldn't go home, but I never did figure out why. The lyrics are vague, but Willy seemed to like to dance and he had an attitude. I gathered at least that much, but the song was a blast and fun to listen to nonetheless.

Well, I didn't pay them all that much mind until the summer of 1978. It was my senior year of high school and we were all preparing for that trip off to college that would change our lives forever. We still had a couple of months to work a summer job and goof off and listen to the radio and that's just what we did. I was painting houses that summer and one of the songs in very heavy rotation was Sweet's masterpiece "Love is Like Oxygen" from their 1978 album Level Headed. It is often mistaken for belonging to the Electric Light Orchestra catalogue, but it represented a new direction for Sweet as they tried to distance themselves from their old sound. Plagued by lead singer Brian Connelly's alcoholism, several personnel changes and RCA's attempts to shape them, Sweet switched to Polydor Records and scored their final Top Ten Hit in "Love is Like Oxygen." Guilty Pleasure or not, I'll always love "Love is Like Oxygen." So consider me outed in a manner of speaking...

Sweet - Love is Like Oxygen.mp3

Sweet - Love is Like Oxygen.mp3 YSI

Lock The Door & Cover Me - Sonic Youth

2009-07-31T15:21:00.007-04:00

I don't have much to say today, but I felt like posting anyway. Sonic Youth's cover of The Carpenters' "Superstar" is a real head scratcher. Released in September of 1994, this CD single called If I Were a Carpenter seemed destined to be a collector's item almost instantly. Richard and Karen Carpenter became ridiculously famous in the early 70's with songs like Close To You and We've Only Just Begun. I hate to admit this, but I owned a 45 RPM copy of Close To You way back in 1970. There isn't enough sugar substitute on hand to describe Karen Carpenter's dreamy voice crackling over the AM airwaves. At 10 years of age I was not smart enough to know The Carpenters were definitely not cool. Thurston Moore and I must have a little something in common I figure.

"Superstar" is a story about a groupie who scores her rock star only to find herself trying to continue the relationship with nothing but a radio after he leaves town. It was written by Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett with help from the venerable Leon Russell. Originally released as a B-Side to a single called "Coming Home" by Delaney, Bonnie & Friends, it became popular because it was included on Joe Cocker's star studded Mad Dogs & Englishmen live performance release in 1970. Allegedly named "Groupie (Superstar)," it was shortened to "Superstar" obvious reasons. Already covered by Bette Midler, Cher and an Australian singer named Colleen Hewitt, Richard Carpenter re-recorded it with Karen's vocals and released it in 1971 on the album "The Carpenters." It included Rainy Days & Mondays and sold a gazillion copies for their A&M label. The song was also featured in movies like "Tommy Boy" and "The Ghost Rider." Gotta love that permanent movie exposure for posterity.

Then Sonic Youth came along, added about 20 seconds of classic SY feedback, and turned it into an ethereal hazy alternative remake. Clearly they liked the song, which is very important in doing a different sounding cover. Groupie songs are always kind of sad I figure. Even though "What's Your Name" by Lynyrd Skynyrd will never be my favorite Skynyrd song, at least it has something to say, good or bad. I didn't do any research on groupie songs, but I bet I could really come up with a healthy list with a little digging. Anyway, I present to you Sonic Youth's version of The Carpenters' 1971 hit "Superstar." Hope you like it even as you find it a little bit creepy (the way I do).

Sonic Youth - Superstar.mp3

Sonic Youth - Superstar.mp3 YSI

www.sonicyouth.com

Your Tour Guide - Kid Rock

2009-07-30T07:01:00.010-04:00

So You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star? Then listen now hear what I say. Knowing full well The Giant Panther is going to find this post cringe worthy, I wanted to tell you how much fun I had at the Kid Rock show last night. As most of you know, rock & roll is about attitude nine times out of ten. There is no shortage of attitude in Kid Rock's world. There are plenty of acts out there that are potentially better than Robert James Ritchie in all aspects of musicianship, but Kid Rock is an entertainer. He's An American Bad Ass. He is having fun up on that stage and the packed house at the Mansfield, MA venue formerly known as Great Woods was all over it. They can sense his humor and energy. They got what they came for and they loved it. It's hard not to get caught up in his schtick.

I would not have been there, having witnessed AC/DC and Steely Dan perform over the past four days, but my friends Mark & Melanie suggested I tag along with them and I'm glad I did. My back to back concert going skills have eroded over the past decade or so. There was a time when I could do four or five live shows in a week and be no worse for the wear. No more. After six hours of celebrating amongst the 46,000 who saw AC/DC perform at Gillette Stadium the day before, I didn't have much gas left in the tank. We showed up four hours before the concert for fun and games two days ago, but last night we did a mere 45 minutes of tailgating prior to the Black Stone Cherry, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kid Rock triple bill. I haven't seen three bands perform on the same day in years so Black Stone Cherry, hailing from Edmonton, KY, had no chance of being witnessed by us as the evening's first act. Don't take it personally men. Next time. It was pretty painful for me to watch what is left of Lynyrd Skynyrd run off their no surprises set list as Kid Rock's fluffers though. They only have one original member remaining plus Ronnie Van Zant's younger brother Johnny on the vocals. It's not the musicianship that makes it painful for me though; it's the overdone hamming it up for the crowd and the time honored mentioning of the local city and state to get a rise out the audience. It feels so staged to me. Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of the greatest and most important bands of the 70's. They are a top three all time southern rock act. You want An American Bad Ass? Try Ronnie Van Zant. There was a Whiskey Rock A Roller and a Street Fightin' Man...

The band we watched on stage last night felt like a souped up cover band. I don't mean to offend anyone here, but it's how I felt. My favorite Lynyrd Skynyrd songs are nowhere to be found when I see this version play. No Saturday Night Special, No On The Hunt, No I Ain't The One, No Ballad of Curtis Loew, No Poison Whiskey, No Searchin', No Cry For The Bad Man, No Every Mother's Son, No Things Goin' On and No I Never Dreamed. I understand they have to play the hits and they are now a warm up band at best with a finite hour long set list, but it seems a shame to carry on in a way. They did do a nice tribute to everyone who has ever played with them, both dead and alive, during their encore (please don't make me tell you what song) which was touching, but I'm kind of hoping I never have to see them play again and I mean that in the nicest possible way. The original lineup were true legends, but this lineup kind of reminds me of Willie Mays circa 1973 and I really hate myself for saying as much. I truly loved this band and I respect their right to make a living.

As for Kid Rock, I would identify myself as a casual fan. I did buy Devil Without a Cause back in 1998, but mostly it was because I was buying everything in sight and the buzz on Kid Rock was pretty strong in those days. Bawitdaba seemed like more of the same rap-rock-metal I wasn't very fond of in the early 90's so that was not the song that got me to buy the CD. That had to be Cowboy. My local bar played it every time I was there back then and after being literally bludgeoned over the head by it 300 times or more I finally decided I liked it. Again, the humor involved was the big draw for me. Kid Rock is the David Lee Roth of this generation. Both of these devil may care rockers represent excess in rock & women and they thrive on your characterization of them as such. They are both caricatures of an ideal and persona that may or may not even really exist. Both are maligned and derided for any number of things, but neither one of them ever cared. That stuff was our problem, not theirs. Kid Rock seems like a very nice man having a blast to me. He was seen at a local club called Wally's Cafe on Massachusetts Ave in Boston's South End the night before the show. Wally's is a no nonsense color blind jazz club that has been there for what seems like 100 years. There are absolutely no frills and it's a neighborhood bar to boot. As it happens, Monday night Peter Wolf was in the bar, ostensibly to meet up with Kid or vice versa, and they apparently hobnobbed with the locals. The club's capacity MIGHT be 100 if the Fire Marshall is appropriately greased so it's a tiny venue. I wasn't there, but a friend of mine was and got a picture of himself with Kid Rock as a keepsake. Pretty cool.

The Peter Wolf thing was curious to us (Mark, Melanie & I that is) because our friend said The J. Geils Band was rehearsing there. We figured it was Magic Dick or J. Geils minus Peter Wolf or something and kind of dismissed it. It stood to reason our friend was a bit confused not knowing the music of either act. He was more than likely stopping by to take in some jazz on a typical Monday night. Then, about halfway through the Kid Rock show last night, our skepticism was eradicated. Out strolled Peter Wolf to sing Centerfold with Kid Rock (I immediately thought it was a perfect opportunity for them to play Detroit Breakdown seeing as Kid is from there and The J. Geils Band's second home was absolutely Detroit, but sometimes I outsmart myself). Centerfold will never be my favorite J. Geils cut, but it was a cool thing to have witnessed and I'm glad I did.

Kid Rock's catalogue could be considered to be a bit thin to some, but I like an artist that isn't afraid to do covers. Last Night's show included The Rolling Stones' Tumbling Dice, Sly & The Family Stone's Everyday People and The Georgia Satellites' Keep Your Hands To Yourself. We got a couple of bars of another Detroit icon in Ted Nugent's Cat Scratch Fever as well. One of the highlights for me was Kid taking over the turntables from his DJ Uncle Kracker (I'm assuming that was him, but don't quote me) and doing some quality scratching while a full bottle of Jim Beam and a glass rotated on the second turntable. Naturally he poured himself a monster belt and the crowd roared. Tremendously charismatic, Kid Rock can't stop smiling as he soaks in the crowd's adulation. Everyone had a blast and I don't care who thinks this guy is White Trash (all due respect to Edgar Winter). There had to be close to 15,000 people there that were thinking the very same thing. Women love him and men want to be like him. The very definition of rock star no? Whine away if you don't like his music, his musical ability, his voice or Pamela Anderson, but give this guy his due; he has a huge following.

Kid Rock - So Hott.mp3

Kid Rock - So Hott.mp3 YSI

www.kidrock.com

My Insipid Record Collection - Dada

2009-07-24T19:00:00.006-04:00

Dada was a three piece California band that surfaced in 1992. They hit the airwaves with a fun song called "Dizz Knee Land" that some of you may recall. It actually reached number 5 on the Billboard Modern Rock Charts if you can trust Wikipedia to deliver the facts. Their CD "Puzzle" actually moved half a million copies based on this song for the most part. Not bad. Unfortunately for these guys their label, IRS, was under financial duress and folded just after they released their third CD and they descended into relative one hit wonder status. They immediately signed with MCA, which was usually a mistake (see Skynyrd, Lynyrd for a little background on working with those guys...hey, that gives me an idea for a future blog...Mercury Poisoning by Graham Parker...EMI by The Sex Pistols...I could probably cobble together a list of pretty decent songs by artists disenchanted by their label...I'd probably run out of labels though...nobody was happy it seems), just before they were sold.

Dada went on to record for seven more years before calling it a day in 1999. Naturally they re-surfaced again in 2003 and seem to be still kicking around. The more I look into the history of bands I respect, the more I find they are still trying to make a go of it in a music industry absolutely crushed (kind of like a Wav file condensed into an MP3 file ironically huh?). I guess since I'm not out every night of the week anymore I am just not noticing just exactly who is playing The Paradise in between the quarterly shows I seem to find interesting enough to withstand the aforementioned bad sight lines over there. Who is sneaking into Harper's Ferry when I'm not looking I wonder. Where is Dada playing and who is playing them? Beats the heck out of me, but I did want to post a song from Puzzle that I really liked. I hear them at the gym and then I forget to post them, but not this time...

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow has a great old school story telling feel to it. It's part rockabilly, part surf and part rock. It doesn't rock as hard as Face The Day in the post directly below this one, but it winds its way through an interesting tale of picking up a hitchhiker named Tina and robbing a bank, but it's the music that I really like. I sometimes don't look at song lyrics because when I see them on paper I'm ultimately disappointed in the brevity or the seemingly nonsensical story line. I used to argue with myself when I was young about whether it was the lyrics or the music that moved me, but now I understand the music has always been the draw for me. I like a well written line on top of it, but without the melody forget it. Just my two cents. OK, without further ado, I present Dada's Greatest Hit as voted on by me. Take a listen and hopefully you'll have a new tune for your iPod.

Dada - Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.mp3

Dada - Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.mp3 YSI

www.dadatheband.com

One Track Mind - Angel City

2009-07-23T17:10:00.011-04:00

This record, Darkroom, actually had a bigger hit than the song I came to blog about today way back in 1980. WCOZ and WBCN in Boston were both playing "No Secrets" around that time by a band (then) called Angel City. "No Secrets" had a great refrain and melody and it was ultra radio friendly. Today it has to be considered a true lost classic from the early eighties. As opposed to a "lost classic" you hear 95 times a year on your local classic rock station. Angel City was an Australian band that apparently was recommended to their local label by none other than Bon Scott and Malcolm Young of AC/DC in 1975. Nice endorsement. They were formed in 1970 and it took nearly a decade before they hit the big time and major label executives at Epic took a chance on them. I don't know about album sales, but this was a fun record and a rockin' good time...at least in my tiny slice of the world.

I think by now you all know I have a problem with bands that change their names, most of the time by legal force or record company pressure, after their initial surge into the marketplace, and then try to change it back after the conflicting band disappears. Today this band apparently goes by The Angels, but you'll never hear me refer to them as anything but Angel City. I made the transition from "California" to "Anaheim" regarding baseball's Angels, but I'll be damned if I'm going to call the current Angels the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim." Who are they kidding? Anaheim was so much cooler and the city that actually houses the ballpark deserves sole billing in my book. Geesh. Back to Rock & Roll; if I understand the situation this band only went by Angel City to avoid confusion with the Washington, DC area glam rock band Angel who were famous in the late 70's. You may remember Angel as the band that had that great holiday classic "The Winter Song" from their 1978 album White Hot. No offense to either band or their respective fan bases intended, but they both ended up being a footnote in rock history. Apparently they are still both recording in various personnel configurations to this day, but I don't think they are getting much in the way of terrestrial radio airplay.

Angel City's Darkroom had a cut called "Face The Day" that some of you might remember was eventually covered by the band Great White, who are famous for being the band that had the misfortune of performing the night of the deadly 2003 fire that killed 100 people at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, RI six years ago. That's kind of ironic because Angel City and Great White have both had a myriad of personnel changes that make you wonder why they still want to use their respective band names. I'll give Great White props for covering Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten Twice Shy" as well as "Face The Day" though. These are two great tunes. "Face The Day" is a blitzkrieg of awesome driving sound. I love the guitar work and it's on my own personal list of great forgotten one hit wonders (yes, I'm aware that "No Secrets," at the very least, disqualifies them from that distinction, but I'm going with it just the same). Every time I load someone's iPod or change the music on my gym device "Face The Day" seems to get the nod. It may sound dated to some of you, but I've always loved this track to death. It kicks some serious butt. In my own personal band rating criteria all you need is one great song to take your place in rock history. Since my vote is the only one that counts relative to this blog; welcome aboard Angel City. Job well done.

Angel City - Face The Day.mp3

Angel City - Face The Day.mp3 YSI

My Insipid Record Collection - The Jim Carroll Band

2009-07-20T18:05:00.009-04:00

As I get over the demise of WBCN, I'm going to feature bands that the radio station had a hand in breaking way back when. The Jim Carroll Band was something of a red hot meteor that bounced off my twenty year old noggin' back in 1980. Their debut album Catholic Boy was one of those records that came out of nowhere for me. I didn't know much of anything about who Jim Carroll was back then and what separated truth from fiction, but "People Who Died" was a tremendous track that instantly put this album on the map. People wanted to know who these guys were. Not exactly Punk Rock, but the urgency was incredible. It seemed so tongue in cheek that it had to be more funny than vicarious right? Apparently wrong. Legend has it that Carroll was a bonafide heroin addict at 13. 13! And here I was thinking I was a bad ass stealing a Budweiser from my father's beer only refrigerator located in our garage at 14. Guess again rookie. Can you imagine Waiting For The Man at 13?

Jim Carroll was also a basketball junkie and apparently played in the National High School All-Star Game in 1966. Twelve years later he wrote The Basketball Diaries which was made into a movie in 1995. Who played Jim Carroll you ask? Try Leonardo DiCaprio. Whoa. That young man has the world by the tail no? Oh and did I leave out that Jim Carroll was allegedly a male prostitute to support his habit? The Basketball Diaries was said to be excerpts from his own diary between the ages of 12 and 16 detailing his world of drugs, sex and basketball. They say he worked for Andy Warhol and received encouragement from Patti Smith regarding his band. I would imagine that connection comes from the fact that they were both poets, but I'm only guessing. The Band came and went inside of three years essentially (though there was a late 90's comeback of sorts), but they had a lot to say.

"People Who Died" has been on numerous lists of great 80's songs and still gets a little radio airplay every now and then, but "It's Too Late" is the song I came to talk about today. The first line is a killer, no pun intended...It's too late to fall in love with Sharon Tate. You'd instantly think this was going to be a song about the beautiful actress who appeared in 1967's Valley of The Dolls, but was later murdered by The Charles Manson "Family" in 1969. It wasn't, but the lyric is ingrained in my brain forevermore. "It's Too Late" is three minutes and four seconds of hard driving frustration. I've always been a big fan of this tune. The Jim Carroll Band never again reached the heights of their debut record, but I have a feeling the Catholic Boy is getting by just fine these days. If I had to hang my hat on two songs, these two would be just fine by me if I were him. Enjoy.

The Jim Carroll Band - It's Too Late.mp3

The Jim Carroll Band - It's Too Late.mp3 YSI

www.catholicboy.com

R.I.P. - WBCN 104.1 FM "The Rock of Boston"

2009-07-15T16:47:00.020-04:00

Wow. 41 years. March 15, 1968. That was my eighth birthday. I don't know where to actually start so I'll do my best to keep this as brief as possible. Short version? WBCN-FM is going off the terrestrial dial for good on August 13, 2009. It was born on March 15, 1968. The Boston Concert Network is taking a powder. Its valuable real estate right of the dial is going to be assumed by sister station WMBX, better known as Mix 98.5, and it's god awful "Hot Adult Contemporary" format (what is THAT exactly? Tried and true hits distilled down to the very bone over the past four decades and repackaged as new to the clueless casual music fan masses until they change the channel?) are Movin' On Up in classic George Jefferson style. Hoo-ray for them. My periodontist listens to Mix 98.5. I can't tell you how much I miss hearing The Spiral Starecase or The Sanford Townsend Band between cleanings. The mid dial 98.5 frequency will be handed off to talk radio. Psyched! Another talk show in Boston! This is a very sad day for those of us who worked at WBCN in one capacity or another. The station had vacated its long time 1265 Boylston Street address behind Fenway Park sometime ago, but what a history. I was only there four years, but I can tell you some wild stuff went down inside those walls. It was never boring. What it was could be described as exhilarating.

I was a 22 year old line cook at TGI Friday's on Newbury Street when I got the call up to the big leagues. I had filled out paperwork to answer the vaunted Listener Line early in 1982 after graduating from Emerson College. Having wondered what happened to the fastest four years I've ever experienced, I thought it might be a good idea to work at the local rock station since I had visions of being a DJ once upon a time. What a rocket scientist huh? The position was strictly volunteer, but I felt like I was on my way. Silly rabbit. As fate would have it I was assigned a four hour shift during the Mark Parenteau show. Mark was a tall, lanky, golden voiced fun loving guy that worked the afternoon drive show. Mark had jumped ship from rival WCOZ in the late seventies to join a stellar WBCN lineup that included Charles Laquidara, Ken Shelton and Carter Alan. I got to know these people pretty well during my time there. I lived and breathed the station nearly 24 x 7. Mark invited me, after a couple of weeks of working the Listener Line to join his intern staff.

Over the next four years I worked with about five or six other interns until I was the senior guy on his staff. Trust me, that wasn't anything to write home about. He had his share of turnover, but that wasn't the issue. I was too happy to come in and work for free and watch the stars come and go. I'd work two of the five shifts and maybe more depending on the schedules of others. I had a couple of crappy paying jobs, but generally I just loved being around The Rock of Boston. I was paid to work remotes and edit comedy tape for Stitches Comedy Club, but it was peanuts. Larry "Cha-Chi" Loprete, one of the nicest men you'll ever meet (he still does Breakfast With The Beatles every Sunday morning at 8 AM which you can listen to live or stream later on via the web at www.wzlx.com), used to throw me a bone every now and then with a free ticket or poster or whatever he could. There were plenty of personalities in that building who looked down on young "college" kids like me, but Larry wasn't one of them. I didn't dwell on the ones that did. I just loved the radio. I still do even though it doesn't resemble anything remotely to what I grew up with. Even so, the news that WBCN is leaving the airwaves hits the psyche hard.

Nothing ever came of my affiliation with the station, but I don't regret working there. I had a ball. The station held off WCOZ (Kick Ass Rock & Roll) and later Classic Rock Station WZLX to hold its own in a tough market, but the peak of the station was probably 1980-1986. Nobody could touch them and all the artists surfaced there at one time or another. On any given day I would see somebody famous. I'm not much of a stargazer though it might not sound like it. I refused to mug for photos (i.e. pop into the outskirts of a group photo at the last minute) or ask for autographs. I was just happy to be there. I figured something good would come of knowing these folks eventually. It never did. It's hard to describe without airing dirty laundry, but suffice to say they don't call it the go go 80's for nothing. It was a good time. The death knell, for me, for WBCN was when they farmed out The Big Mattress morning show in favor of The Howard Stern show. WBCN used to be about the underground and free expression. It was never about strict playlists either. It was all about personalities, current events, breaking new bands, promoting comedy, controlled mayhem, attitude and (mostly) new music.

I know I shouldn't be surprised when stuff like this happens. There have been so many changes in the world since I was a kid (including this here blog to name just one), but there are institutions and then there are institutions. Nobody that I know was left at the present day WBCN (which is scheduled to soldier on in digital format only on the web...thanks alot...can I please pay for that too?) and I couldn't name a single on air personality. I stopped listening in the late eighties, which I'm well aware is part of the problem, but a listing WFNX is lucky nobody has come along to knock them off their perch as well. They seem to have more freedom, but they are also victims of tired programming. It just seems like no station has its autonomy anymore and the FM dial has been rendered all but useless. Computerized playlists and repetitive programming is what really Killed The Radio Star. We survived MTV. The decision to allow companies to own more than one radio station in a single market was a crusher too. Mega conglomerate ownership ruined the individuality of programming. DJs loathe to be told what to play as a rule, but with no latitude whatsoever? Why be a DJ at all? Classic Rock stations are what's left behind after other stations like WBCN take all the risks. Now what? Who breaks future Classic Rock in Boston? It won't be WFNX, though I have noticed they've been sneaking Classic Rock into their format without so much as an announcement lately. Their alternative/Indie bread and butter is not going to change too much. This should be very distressing to rock artists as well. WBCN was a shell of its former self at the end, but it still had the most famous call letters in Boston's long and explosive rock history. Rest in Peace.

That was REAL short huh? Oh well. I'm leaving you with the very first rock song that was ever played on WBCN as it began its 41 year run. It's from a little known power trio called Cream.

Cream - I Feel Free.mp3

Cream - I Feel Free.mp3 YSI

www.wbcn.com

Your Tour Guide - Lez Zeppelin

2009-07-12T10:06:00.032-04:00

My third consecutive night of live music had me face to face, for the third time overall, with a Led Zeppelin cover band called Lez Zeppelin. Aside from having arguably the best cover band name in the history of the genre, this band is damn good. The first time I saw them was at The Middle East in Cambridge about two or three years ago. I want to say early March of 2007, but don't quote me. The place was stifling hot and I was at least twenty yards from the stage. I saw very little and didn't really make the connection of just how good this band actually was at the time. I recently saw them at The Paradise maybe three months back and came away very impressed. I made a mental note that if I wasn't doing anything the next time they showed up I'd go see them again. That day was last night. Lez Zeppelin performed on a boat cruise that toured Boston Harbor for roughly three hours. The fact that my friend Adam Klein was promoting the show (www.rockandbluescruise.com) didn't hurt, but I would have gone anyway. A lot of folks balk at being trapped on a boat for three hours at functions like this with the usual bad beer and bad food, but I didn't give it a second thought. Well, that's not entirely true; if it had been 80 degrees or hotter I probably would not have gone. The weather was very manageable last night for this Irish boy. There is always a wind chill factor on the harbor and a light jacket did the trick. It was hot right in front of the band, but if you needed to cool off you had an option. It did rain the final half hour of the cruise, but nobody really cared by then.

I have seen my share of cover bands over the years for sure. The late Brad Delp (Boston) led Beatlejuice was probably my favorite. I saw this AC/DC cover band called Black Angus at Fat Boy Bill's Blues Bar in Milford, MA that I was sure I would hate, but I ended up loving. I even got to sing Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap...actually just "Done Dirt Cheap" into the microphone as the band worked the tables in the joint. If you drink enough whiskey you figure you can do a passable Brian Johnson (in your mind anyway) right? That was a blast, but I tend to shy away from cover bands. It can get a bit embarrassing and too nostalgic at times, no offense to anyone who makes a living doing that type of thing. Lez Zeppelin is a whole different ball of wax. They take great pains to preserve the integrity of the original music and it shows up in spades. If they didn't I probably wouldn't have seen them a second time. They'd be just another cover band making a buck. They aren't.

First, the crowd is highly entertaining. Diplomatically speaking, there is definitely a cross section of lesbians at each show, but that is not the big draw (at least for me). Led Zeppelin had a predominantly male audience back in the day, but I like to see what straight women show up at these things. Any woman who likes Led Zeppelin is a friend of mine. There was a lot of dancing on the high seas last night and I love to see who is moved and at what age. Led Zeppelin is such a musical brand that generations of young folks catch up to their greatness via their parents and older siblings that you end up seeing a lot of people up to 25 years younger at these types of shows. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that one of the prettiest girls on the boat within shouting distance of my 49 years got so hammered that she wore a black thong OVER her jeans by the end of the cruise. I noticed her earlier because she was using one of the steel poles holding up the second deck as a mock stripper pole. Her friends thought it was hilarious and frankly so did I. She looked like a lot of fun and was having a blast. I lost sight of her and when I caught up to her later in the cruise she was clearly One Toke Over The Line. They sell underwear at the Lez Zeppelin concession stand so I even though I was kind of hoping she had made a conscious decision to out her own thong, that thing could have come from anywhere. I'm sure she regrets, or maybe doesn't remember it all, walking around like that for over an hour, but rest assured some of us got a kick out it. She was a chocolate mess by the end of the cruise (swearing like the drunken sailor she was), but the entertainment value was very high. I hope she feels OK today, but she looked like she skipped dinner for sure. She wasn't the only one having a good time either. The whole cruise was a digital photography smorgasbord.

Back to the music; Lez Zeppelin rocks. Plain and simple. If you love Led Zeppelin you should make it a point to go see these women perform. They did a great cross section of songs last night, but my favorite was Custard Pie from Physical Graffiti. They are very tight and well rehearsed and they don't just play Black Dog and Rock & Roll (mercifully). If you are familiar with Led Zeppelin chances are you have heard the Wilson sisters (Ann & Nancy of Heart fame) cover Zeppelin as The Lovemongers. This is right in league with that....oooh, it's Sunday Morning as I type and I'm listening to Carter Alan's Sunday Morning Blues (www.wzlx.com) as I do every week. Tea For One by Led Zeppelin just came up as if on cue (thanks Carter!). The thing is, Lez Zeppelin doesn't take the easy route; they tackle No Quarter and Since I've Been Loving You as well. I was just on their web site and it looks as if the band is in a bit of transition. The last time I saw them they had a different lead singer and only lead guitarist and founder Stephanie Paynes has a bio presently. I'm pretty sure Leesa Squyres (excellent) was drumming the last time I saw them, but after that I can't be sure. The bass player, MeGan X, was also exceptional. This isn't some muddy mix (and a boat has got to be the worst place to engineer decent sound) with a passable Robert Plant imitation here at all; these are tremendous musicians and they have Led Zeppelin down pat. I highly recommend going to see them.

OK, back to back to back nights means this old codger is going to have to take a break for a few days. I'm leaving you with Lez Zeppelin's cover of The Ocean from Houses of The Holy. By the way, these studio recordings don't do any justice to their live performances. You'll have to trust this concert going veteran on this. If you like Zeppelin, you'll love these gals. They're impressive.

Lez Zeppelin - The Ocean.mp3

Lez Zeppelin - The Ocean.mp3 YSI

www.lezzeppelin.com

Your Tour Guide - Jet

2009-07-11T00:50:00.015-04:00

Well, Jet's new CD isn't due for six weeks or so, but some friends of mine left me some freebies for tonight's show at The Paradise here in Boston. My benefactor's, Mark & Melanie, are the Jet fans in my circle, but they chose the fair weather of Cape Cod versus the Friday night concert. I don't really blame them. Not because of the fair weather or because of Jet playing in town, but because The Paradise is probably my least favorite venue to see a concert. It's general admission and holds maybe 1500 (guessing) people, but the sight lines are awful and the air conditioning is non existent. The Paradise is legendary in Boston's long history of hosting concerts, but there are three massive load bearing posts in the middle of the audience that totally wipes out any hope of a view behind them. I'm talking two to three feet wide pillars that eclipse the sun. I hate them and have always hated them, but they are a fixture in this structure. To the credit of whoever owns The Paradise these days, whether it's John Lyons or somebody else (I lost track), they have done a lot of thing to make the venue palatable since I saw Robin Trower and NRBQ way back in the early 80's, but the place still bites. Either you are in one of the decent 60 side and overhead view spots or the front row of standing room (in which case you are done drinking or going to the facilites) or you are basically listening to King Biscuit Flower Hour on the radio as far as I'm concerned. Unless the place is half empty, I have never cared much for the experience that is The Paradise. It's a glorified TT The Bears in Cambridge for my money and TT's is at least a bar first and foremost. Like Johnny D's in Somerville, I kind of wish they'd burn 'em down and begin again, but I'm not holding my breath.

My affinity for all things Australia is relatively well documented by now. AC/DC, Midnight Oil, INXS, Airbourne and Jet are just scratching the surface regarding The Land Down Under. I have posted about most of them by now, but I've still got more work to do. The truth is I didn't really want to go to Jet tonight. I had attended Peter Murphy last night and I am scheduled to see Lez Zeppelin on a boat (Blues) cruise around Boston Harbor tomorrow night. I played some basketball this afternoon and I feel like I've gone 15 rounds with Smokin' Joe Frazier about now. But my friend's Mark & Melanie raved about these guys the last time they were in town so I felt obligated to check them out. I'm glad I did. They definitely operate out of the Oasis and Beatles playbook (Look What You've Done is exactly what I'm talking about), but I don't really hold that against them since I am fans of both bands. They also were a bit reminiscent of The Hives if you can believe that. I just love Walk Idiot Walk by The Hives and I swear Jet has that same choppy urgency at times. They only have two records and one to be released next month, but their new material (That Girl's a Genius to name just one) hold up exceptionally well. In fact I'm looking forward to Shaka Rock when it gets released as a result of seeing them live. I wasn't expecting much when I showed up, but color me impressed.

Jet are closer to classic rock than Indie Rock, which is The Giant Panther's favorite genre, but they had a rabid following and I enjoyed the heck out of their performance tonight. They definitely rock. I'm already on The Giant Panther's bleep list for missing his BBQ tonight, but I had a rock & roll commitment so hopefully he'll cut me some slack. I don't have any of the new material to feature here so I have to leave you with their show closing rocker Cold Hard Bitch instead. The audience was predominantly male, not surprisingly, but there were plenty of pretty young things to go around. I have always loved the young girls holding hands to knife through a particularly thick crowd ostensibly in search of the ladies room. I know my dirty old man mind works overtime when confronted with such sights, but don't hold it against me. By the way, Jet look cumulatively 25 years of age max. They remind me of another young band from Australia that I couldn't get enough of once upon a time in Silverchair. I wonder if those kids are 30 yet. I don't care how old you are if you can rock like Jet and Silverchair. If you get a chance to see these guys is a real venue take a chance. It's a ballad free zone for sure...and that's always a good thing in my book...

Jet - Cold Hard Bitch.mp3

Jet - Cold Hard Bitch.mp3 YSI

jettheband.ning.com

Your Tour Guide - Peter Murphy

2009-07-09T17:35:00.014-04:00

Just Push Eject and Give Me The Tape. Tonight I saw Peter Murphy Live. There are some serious rock baritones out there in the land of Rock & Roll; Iggy Pop, Brad Roberts (Crash Test Dummies) and the Godfather of Goth Peter Murphy are three that come to mind off the top of my head. I don't know which one is deeper, but I love them all (yes, even CTD). There is a pretty good reason why they resonate (to coin a phrase) so well. They're unique sounding. I love their sound. I hadn't seen Peter Murphy since April 10, 1990 at Citi Club here in Boston. I'm pretty sure I saw him earlier at The Orpheum Theatre in a triple bill around 1988, possibly involving The Church, but I can't find the proof to be sure for the moment. It's in here somewhere though. I know that for sure.

You know how you call radio stations seconds after an announcement promising free tickets and you get a busy signal for days? Well, today I was just fooling around dialing WFNX trying to win tickets to see the legendary Peter Murphy (Bauhaus) last night at Showcase Live on the grounds of Foxborough, MA's Gillette Stadium (home of the New England Patriots) and guess what? I won! Showcase Live is a smallish venue reminiscent of many hotel venues in Las Vegas, NV. There are several tables with multiple parties, meaning you sit with strangers, and the place is spacious, airy and a little sterile. Know what? I liked it. The service was great, the place was nicely air conditioned and during the show there were times when I was literally within ten feet of Peter Murphy. Pretty cool. The venue is maybe two years old and I had never been due to the one hour commute and the nasty Cross - Town - Traffic (I love the way Jimi Hendrix spit that out...You're Just Like...). I missed The Church last Thursday and I was determined to show up down there and check this place out. The place holds 750 when they sell standing room and a mere 500 when they just seat folks. That's my kind of place!

I've been a Peter Murphy fan since I first heard "Indigo Eyes" in the late 80's. I didn't know much about Bauhaus, but I knew "Bela Lugosi's Dead" was a hit for them. I knew they covered David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and T-Rex's Telegram Sam, but I wasn't altogether sure what made them great until years later. The tour Murphy is doing now is called "The Secret Covers Tour." I assumed he would be covering songs, but I didn't know which ones or how many. What I got was John Lennon's "Instant Karma," David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and a wonderful version of Joy Division's "Transmission" complete with Ian Curtis' signature hand gestures. The funny thing is I didn't hear any of his hits and I still had an awesome time. No "Indigo Eyes," No "Cuts You Up," No You're So Close," No "Final Solution," No "All Night Long," No nothing. I did hear great versions of "Deep Ocean, Vast Sea" and "Time Has Got Nothing To Do With It," but I clearly have work to do with his catalogue. He had several rockers I didn't recognize and that tells me I'm slipping. I did zero prep work for this show, but I had a whale of a time. The sound was great too.

I had just watched, finally, the movie "Control" which is the story of Joy Division and the death of Ian Curtis. I have seen "Sid & Nancy" and many films of this rock star death genre, but I never fail to be fascinated by the stories. Anyway, Peter Murphy, all 51 years of him (I think he turns 52 on July 11th), rocked the house. The Goth crowd was mostly in disguise at this show, but there were a few poorly aged veterans of the scene complete with the additional pounds we all seem to lug around, but this wasn't a show for the scenesters. It was a show for the diehards. Murphy put on a great show so go see it if you see an opportunity. It was cheap and he's playing smaller venues so you can literally stand right next to him while he performs. There was a strict no pictures policy in place, but I figured vanity was an issue. That or he didn't feel like wearing makeup...

One of my favorite Peter Murphy tracks is from his first CD called Love Hysteria. It's called His Circle and Hers Meet and I'm leaving you with it now. Naturally this wasn't played either, but I didn't mind. I hope you like it. Live music is the very best and every time I see a show I remember why I love it so much. Long Live Rock as my friends in The Who might say...I need it every night...

Peter Murphy - His Circle and Hers Meet.mp3

Peter Murphy - His Circle and Hers Meet.mp3 YSI

www.petermurphy.info/tours/secret-cover

One Track Mind - Cliffs of Dooneen

2009-07-07T16:53:00.007-04:00

Today I am knifing through my collection to find one of the best obscure tracks I can think of. Oh, I've got about twenty written down somewhere to bring you as the days roll on, but this one is one of my favorites. I used to work at a hardware company called Cambridge Digital which had an affiliation with a software company called Unisource back around 1984. The hardware company had the geeks and the software company had the chicks. If memory serves a friend of mine named Marty got me a job in the mail room because we were both working the door at the now world famous Bull & Finch Pub, which you may know as Cheers. I was working three jobs; one at WBCN as an intern, one at the bar and the other one to make whatever pennies I needed to get by on. It was my first non restaurant job post college. I didn't take it very seriously (after all, anyone could stamp the mail and take it to the mailbox) and there were some like minded characters working there that egged me on. The reason I tell this story is because one of the guys that was working there at the same time was a bass player named Ira Nulton. I figure everyone has worked with a future rock star at some point no?

Ira was an unassuming nice guy who did whatever they did at Cambridge Digital and we used to run into each other often though he'd probably never remember me today. It was only 25 years ago, but it seems a lot less than that to me some how. Ira was in a band and, as such, was dating an extremely attractive blonde, though I could never remember her name even if tonight's Mega Millions winning numbers depended on it. I worked in the mail room so I ran into just about everyone myself. I was miraculously dating an out of my league girl from the software company myself so, aside from the fact that my career was headed nowhere at the time, life was good. Ira's band used to play around town from time to time, but it just seemed like it was never convenient for me. I didn't even own a car back then because I was living downtown. I can't say for sure if they were even called Cliffs of Dooneen when I knew Ira, but that is what they eventually became. I was out of that company by 1986 or so, but the last thing I remember about Ira is that he was in some kind of motorcycle accident so I didn't see him very much after we stopped working together. I always followed the music scene though and The Cliffs of Dooneen released a CD called The Dog Went East, and God Went West in 1991 on Critique Records out of Woburn, MA.

The band consisted of Eric Sean Murphy on lead vocals, Martin Crotty on lead guitar, Ira Nulton on bass and Lex Lianos on drums. I'm sure all of you have records or CDs that you just know are out of print and that nobody else you know has and this is one of mine. I can't say for sure, but I think I finally saw Cliffs of Dooneen at a now defunct club called The Irish Embassy in Boston's North Station area. I don't have my usual ticket stub to document this fact, but I'm pretty sure this concert would have taken place in the 1991-1992 area. This is why you save your ticket stubs kids! You just can't say you were there. I was watching a fantastic VH1 Classic Rocumentary about the James Brown concert in 1968 at Boston Garden that apparently saved the city from major damage in the wake of the murder of Dr Martin Luther King just a day or two earlier. The Mayor of Boston at the time, Kevin White, arranged to have PBS broadcast the concert in the event that it might convince some folks to stay home that night. He forgot to tell James Brown until after the fact, but as a result many of the would be patrons simply returned their tickets for a refund and watched it on TV. Brown demanded the $60K in lost revenue and threatened not to perform. In the end he went on, the mayor went back on his word and stiffed him (according to his manager) and Brown ended up doing the concert for a mere $10K. I wonder how many people will tell you today that they were there? It was voted the top concert of all time in Boston in a Boston Phoenix poll a few years ago. Anyway, save your ticket stubs...just shove 'em in the back of your jewel boxes for safe keeping...I guess now you have to tape 'em to your computer since we are going digital huh?

Anyway, all tangents aside, The Cliffs of Dooneen were a lot better than they were ever given credit for. I don't say this just because I happened to know, in passing, someone who was in the band. If you ever get a hold of The Dog Went East, and God Went West check it out. I'm posting Through An Open Window because it still sounds great to this day. Congratulations Ira and the gang, wherever you are, for a job well done. The music business swallows up many a great talent and spits it back out and just because this record didn't go platinum doesn't mean it wasn't any good. I loved it. And this single? Julie Kramer should be playing it on WFNX's Leftover Lunch once a month to this day. Too many of those so called leftovers are main courses. You have to dig deep to find chestnuts like Through An Open Window. It's a Hidden Gem at the very least Julie. This baby will probably get downloaded only 25 times out of curiosity, but I don't care...it's a great tune. Mix it up out there people! Seriously I hope you agree with me. Talk to you all soon.

Cliffs of Dooneen - Through An Open Window.mp3

Cliffs of Dooneen - Through An Open Window.mp3 YSI

Do you hate to read that bad??

2009-07-06T17:13:00.002-04:00

What has the world come to, a free, brand new soft cover bio of Sonic Youth, all you have to do is leave a lousy comment! There must be someone left in the world that likes to read. It can't be all just grabbing for free mp3s on the interweb!

Leave a comment here

My Insipid Record Collection - X

2009-07-03T19:12:00.016-04:00

X was a great act. I swear this band whistled right over the vast majority of rock fans on this continent outside of Los Angeles in the late 70's & early 80's. X was a Punk band that played a rockabilly style countrified brand of Punk Rock. Formed in Los Angeles in 1977, X only had a handful of radio friendly songs. At least, more than any radio station in the northeast chose to play. X seeped into my consciousness very late in their existence. I left the New Jersey area just as The Ramones were exploding and never really experienced the Punk scene. To this day I'm not much for body piercings (not that there's anything wrong with that as the saying goes) and it just seemed that crowd had an affinity for spitting in public and putting safety pins through their eyebrows. Slam dancing, ripped jeans and t-shirts and the general disheveled look of the allegedly disenfranchised just wasn't my style. Unfortunately, sometimes music gets pigeon-holed and aligned with a particular crowd and alienates the rest. Today I am a great fan of a lot of Punk music, but back then...

Where it all began changes as the years go on, but you can generally consider The Ramones as a top five Punk act. The Clash were punk rockers, maybe the greatest of all time, but their music really evolved as time went on. The Sex Pistols were punk personified around the globe and Never Mind The Bullocks still sounds wonderfully irreverent to this day. I guess you could say The Ramones represented New York, The Clash & Sex Pistols the UK and X Los Angeles...no offense to any giant Punk bands I foolishly left out intended...

I didn't really want to discuss Punk Rock in particular today though. I wanted to talk about X. The band was led by Billy Zoom and John Doe (and Doe's poetry writing girlfriend Exene Cervenka). I'm dead certain those are their real names (he said facetiously), but they make for a great combination either way. While serving as a glorified intern at WBCN I came across a song by X that I just loved and it turned me onto the band for good. In 1985 they released their fifth album called "Ain't Life Grand." It had a track called "Burning House of Love" that just did it for me. The station played the song for maybe three or four months as a "B" track; meaning we could hear it, at most, once every ten to twelve hours as opposed to every shift. That is probably why I still like it to be honest. I was surprised when I did some research and found they had been around for years. WBCN had a couple of X tracks in their available singles catalogue; their cover of Otis Blackwell's "Breathless" made famous by Jerry Lee Lewis from their previous record in 1983 called "More Fun in The New World" comes to mind, but by and large X were invisible to the Classic Rock crowd in 1985. Being the curious sort, I did some digging and found out that X had covered The Doors' "Soul Kitchen" earlier in their career and had it produced by none other than The Door's keyboardist Ray Manzarek. Now that's cool...

My favorite X track has been distilled down to "White Girl" from their second album called "Wild Gift," but it could be any of half a dozen others. I really like this band. X also does a wicked version of The Troggs' "Wild Thing" which you may have connected with the top five baseball movies of all time motion picture Major League. I love that version. Every time Charlie Sheen comes into the game they play it. Tremendous. If The Troggs original version wasn't so perfect this would be the definitive version I swear. I regret never having seen X live and everything you read about them says that is where they really made their collective mark. After "Ain't Love Grand" Billy Zoom left the band, but they weren't done. 1987's "See How We Are" and (after a hiatus) 1993's "Hey Zeus" are quality records as far as I'm concerned. Most folks will stomp their feet and say that early X was the best and they probably have a point, but I always admired this band. The musical experimentation, the Punk roots, and their blues, rockabilly and country mix was way off the beaten path. I liked it. I love a good female vocal in good rock band too. The obvious chemistry between lovers Cervenka and Doe still sounds great. They were a throwback act. They had roots all over the place and it made their music fun. They were very influential, but it's a shame they weren't able to reap more commerical success. It sure seems like they earned it.

The song I'm leaving you with was written by short term X member Dave Alvin who replaced Billy Zoom for the "See How We Are" sessions. His time was short lived, but the appropriately named for the occasion 4th of July was a fine contribution. I hope you like it. Happy Independence Day to everyone. This country still rocks! Please have a safe holiday.

X - 4th of July.mp3

X - 4th of July.mp3 YSI

www.xtheband.com

Contest: Sonic Youth Biography Goodbye 20th Century

2009-07-01T14:40:00.005-04:00

Cambridge-based Da Capo Press just released the paperback edition of GOODBYE 20^TH CENTURY: A Biography of Sonic Youth by journalist David Browne. Giant Panther has a copy of the soft cover to give away. Please drop a comment with your favorite Sonic Youth album cover and email address, and I'll pick a winner next week.

MP3: Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot

Alt Link YSI

R.I.P. - Michael Jackson

2009-06-25T22:59:00.014-04:00

This is kind of a tough one for me. I was never a big Michael Jackson fan, though I own The Best of The Jackson Five and a copy of Thriller. It's definitely not time to talk negatively of the deceased, but I can't think of anything past 1984, when he was absolutely the King of Pop, that I can point to that pumps me up about Michael Jackson. He was, however, right there with the titans of that mid 80's era alongside Prince, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and U2. Those were the five biggest acts of the 80's as far as I can tell. It goes well beyond record sales and concert revenues...these five acts overshadowed all comers. Jackson's 1982 album Thriller catapulted him into the stratosphere, as if he wasn't already famous and successful enough. It remains one of the best selling records of all time to this day. By the time MTV began playing his Thriller video, complete with a reading from the venerable Vincent Price, Jackson had no place on this earth to hide from his fame. His legendary moon walk is probably one of the most mimicked dance steps of our generation. A TV performance of "Billie Jean" on the 25th Anniversary of Motown special was flat jaw dropping. Michael Jackson was an incredibly talented performer. One of the greatest the world has ever seen. He apparently died of cardiac arrest today at age 50. What a shame. Even though his music is not necessarily our charter I felt like it was important that The Giant Panther should acknowledge his passing.

There were rumblings that Jackson was thinking about making a comeback and that several shows had been scheduled for London in the fall, but I wasn't much interested in that potential spectacle. His eccentric behavior and insistence on maintaining a childlike persona seemed to eventually derail any scintilla of sanity in his world. Here was a striking young African American male with the world at his feet and somewhere along the way he just seemed to come unglued. They call Joan Rivers the Queen of Plastic Surgery or some such thing, but Michael Jackson had to lead the league in completely unnecessary surgeries. As far as I was concerned, Jackson was a good looking man, but he obviously didn't see it that way. I have to believe the stress of being Michael Jackson just overwhelmed him. He sold a lot of records after Thriller and was still in the news, mostly for all the wrong reasons unfortunately, but he never did attain those heights ever again. We can't imagine what it was like to be the son of an allegedly abusive father and a pop star by eight years old or whatever it was. The Danny Bonaduce story doesn't even scratch the surface here.

I was an AM Gold guy in the late 60's and early 70's. I got on quite nicely with The Love You Save, ABC, I Want You Back, Rockin' Robin, I'll Be There and Never Can Say Goodbye. I started to lose it when he had the hit "Ben" about the friendly rat and as popular as Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough or Rock With You were I couldn't stand them. I was never much for so called "Dance Music." My ears perked up when I heard Eddie Van Halen's solo on "Beat It," but I still wasn't completely sold. "Billie Jean" was a brilliant pop song though. I remember we played it on WBCN, a rock station, and that was amazing. Like Prince, Michael Jackson's music was color blind and crossover format friendly. I even liked "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," but I was back on the outside looking in when P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) became a hit. WBCN played this record until nobody could stand it anymore. It had the same type of "Legs" as ZZ Top's Eliminator, Cyndi Lauper's She's So Unusual, Prince's Purple Rain and John Mellencamp's Scarecrow. Whether it was four, five or six singles radio just kept playing all of these records for over a year...almost until the artist's next record came out!

I guess what I came to say is that Michael Jackson was a true icon. Larger than life. A supreme talent. I didn't always like his music, but I was clearly in the minority. His legal troubles, the opulent Neverland Ranch, the multiple facial reconstructions, the rumors about his sexual preferences, the endless stories about his financials and mental status, the inexplicable marriages, and the bizarre footage of him hanging a child out of a hotel window? You can have all that stuff. At the end of the day the world lost a world class entertainer at a very young age and it is kind of a shame the way it all ended for him. He seemed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb, but that doesn't change what he accomplished. I hope he can rest in peace now. He's earned that much. Best wishes to the surviving members of the Jackson family and all of his heartbroken fans.

Before I go I wanted to mention Farrah Fawcett's passing as well. She was 62 years old. The sex symbol of the 1970's, Farrah ended up overcoming her "handicap" of being gorgeous and went on to prove herself a serious actress when nobody thought she had it in her. Charlie's Angels and one fantastic poster might have put her on the map, but she took it from there. I'm glad she is no longer suffering and will remember her fondly until my turn comes.

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean.mp3

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean.mp3 YSI

Lock The Door & Cover Me - Cake

2009-06-21T16:25:00.010-04:00

Cake is an interesting act. An American "Indie" band from Sacramento, CA, Cake burst onto the national scene around 1996 with a cover of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive." Fashion Nugget was already their second record, but we didn't know that at the time. All we knew is that while Gloria Gaynor was famous for that song folks who listened to Cake and similar bands weren't typically fans of that type of music. It came across as more funny than anything else. The next thing I remember hearing is "The Distance," a song that thrust Cake into the spotlight. It had lyrics conducive to having the local professional sports franchises potentially adopting it as their marketing soundtrack. I know the Boston Bruins gave it a whirl at one point. As a result, Fashion Nugget is not the first record I reach for when considering a Cake CD. I can listen to "The Distance" if I have to, but it's gone the way of "Song 2" by Blur, "Tubthumping" by Chumbawumba, "Rock & Roll Part 2" by Gary Glitter, "Let's Get It Started" by The Black Eyed Peas, "We Will Rock You" by Queen, "Centerfield" by John Fogerty, "All-Star" by Smashmouth, "Welcome To The Jungle" by Guns 'N Roses, "Unbelievable" by EMF, "Ready To Go" by Repulica, "Jump Around" by House of Pain and that god awful "Who Let The Dogs Out" by The Baja Men. You no longer care if you ever hear these tracks again. Ever. They're a little too easy as halftime fodder while watching the cheerleaders. You know you haven't heard the last of them so no reason to play them at home or add them to your iPod. They are overexposed for good. The Distance might be better than all of these tracks, but it has been dragged down to that level by virtue of its association with sporting events and TV commercials.

Cake, though, is a great band. They only have five records, a B-side compilation and a live disc. I'm sure it is intentional, but all of their album covers look very similar with a yellowish or white background. Nothing is very eye catching. It adds to their mystery I suppose. I last saw them at the Hatch Shell in Boston last summer at the Earth Day Festival. The played their cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs." I had never heard it before. As a Black Sabbath fan, at least until 1978 or so, I loved it. I decided to post it for fun today. Make no mistake; Cake has a fine catalogue in their own right. I own all of their studio records, but Prolonging The Magic and Comfort Eagle are great records. I'm not sure which one I like the best, but you can trust me when I tell you that they are very much worth owning. Hardly a throwaway track across the board. Cake has always had a tongue in cheek sense of humor about them which I can really appreciate. I always like a little humor in my rock & roll. It makes it fun every now an then. "War Pigs" is one of the all time anti-war protest songs of our time. When Cake sings the lyrics you can actually understand what Ozzy was mumbling way back in 1971. They could never match the epic back beat of the Black Sabbath original, but I think you'll find this to be entertaining. I gave it the thumbs up both in concert and on record. Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers out there. Hopefully this one will be a sleeper cut on your iPod now...

Cake - War Pigs.mp3

Cake - War Pigs.mp3 YSI

One Track Mind - Private Lightning

2009-06-20T11:08:00.013-04:00

Power Pop is a term you hear fairly often when talking about oldies that sort of split the atom between Bubblegum (think The Ohio Express or The 1910 Fruitgum Company), Pop (think Three Dog Night, The Grassroots or The Lovin' Spoonful) and Rock (think The Doors or Cream). I was reading that Pete Townshend of The Who is generally credited with coining the phrase in 1967 when asked what type of music his band played. Referring to "I Can't Explain", "Happy Jack" and "Pictures of Lily" he replied "Power Pop." I never knew this tidbit of information. I can't describe Power Pop when I try to explain it, but I know it when I hear it. It's always been a favorite genre of mine. It lends itself to one hit wonder bands, or at least to bands that don't have a lot of catalogue exposure. One of my all time favorite Power Pop songs is "Shake Some Action" by The Flamin' Groovies. That song rocks. How about "No Matter What" or "Baby Blue" by Badfinger? Yes please. Little Girl by Syndicate of Sound? Yep. What about "Starry Eyes" by The Records? Love it. I loved Pop Rock when I was a kid. Time of The Season by The Zombies. Spirit in The Sky by Norman Greenbaum. In The Summertime by Mungo Jerry. Go All The Way by The Raspberries. Surrender by Cheap Trick. Anything by Todd Rundgren. September Gurls by Big Star. Bus Stop by The Hollies. I'm On Fire by Dwight Twilley. She's So Selfish by The Knack. Teenage Kicks by The Undertones. Switchboard Susan by Nick Lowe. Anything by Joe Jackson. Driver's Seat by Sniff 'n The Tears. Melt With You by Modern English. The Buzzcocks. The Monkees. The Beach Boys. The Kinks. Electric Light Orchestra. The Easybeats. Love. Heck, you could even call Blue Oyster Cult Power Pop if pressed. The list is blissfully endless...

Later on we had The Replacements, XTC, Blondie, The Bangles, The La's, Fountains of Wayne, The Dandy Warhols, The New Radicals, Matthew Sweet, The Lemonheads, Teenage Fanclub, The Romantics, The Plimsouls, Marshall Crenshaw, R.E.M., Squeeze, The Jam, The New Pornographers, Jimmy Eat World, Weezer, The dB's, The Smithereens, The Pursuit of Happiness, Utopia, Nada Surf, The Hoo Doo Gurus, Rhett Miller and others carrying the flag. The actual time frame of the golden age of Power Pop is up for debate. By most accounts the sweet spot was 1975 or so until maybe 1983, but we all know that Power Pop was invented by The Beatles. The Kinks, The Who, Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders, The Troggs, The Rolling Stones, Sly & The Family Stone and scores of bands had also paved the way prior to 1975, if indeed that is the imaginary line in the sand. The thing about it is, I think you have to have had roots in the AM Gold Pop era to appreciate this music to the level that I do. It was right on the fault line when AOR FM radio started to take off. The music needed to be longer than 2 minutes and 15 seconds and it had to have something to say. The late 60's and early 70's had a backdrop of heavier music making it's own history in Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Aerosmith, but there was a bridge to this music that was a hybrid of pop and rock. It took nearly a decade to come and go, but fortunately there is still a market for this product even if it is dormant at times. It's kind of cyclical I think. Some might call it antiquated, but I like it.

I don't know what it is that attracts me to this genre so much, but it's like ear candy for me. It's easy to understand the lyrics and sing to and it just rips the nostalgia from my can't remember what I had for breakfast brain. I'm posting two Power Pop tracks today. The first is without a doubt one of my favorite local Boston band tracks by a band called Private Lightning. This band never really made it out of New England, but I don't care. "Physical Speed" is a masterpiece from my point of view. I was so happy to read on another blog that they were going to re-release their 1980 self titled CD this month I ordered it before it was available. They had a second song called "Song of The Kite" that I also loved, but these tracks were very hard to find for decades if you didn't own their original album. I never did own it, but I did record the single on a cassette tape for safe keeping and held onto it tightly until now. Whenever I hear it I am instantly taken back to hazy lazy summer days on Nahant Beach back in 1980 with a kite tied to my beach chair and the cheapest beer we could find. Most of the time we had two or three bikini clad waitresses with us from work with the boom box blasting. I'm sure there was no connection to the ideology behind "Girl of My Dreams" and my love for the second song below, but it sure was nice to get lost in the day dream with that kind of company just the same. Local New Englanders already know Nahant is not exactly a five star beach, but it was close to Boston and most of the time we needed to be at work by 4:30 PM so Nahant it was. I just loved Physical Speed. Private Lightning was a rousing success if for no other reason than this contribution to the world of music. Congrats guys (and girls) wherever you are today. You rocked my world nearly 30 years ago and still do to this day. That has gotta be such a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. I'd be so proud if somebody remembered my signature tune for a decade, let alone three...that was such a long time ago...still, I remember it like it was yesterday...

The other song I'm posting is Bram Tchaikovsky's "Girl of My Dreams." Bram released Strange Man, Changed Man in 1979. It had a mediocre cover of The Monkee's I'm a Believer (written by the legendary Neil Diamond), but nothing else that riled up the radio community. Luckily they latched onto this track and played it like there was no tomorrow. Everything about this track screams Power Pop and I could never ever get enough of it. It's a brilliant track. I hope you like it too. I don't know what it says about me that Bram's "girl" Judy was a blow up doll, but the song is so beautiful I can overlook that minor detail. At least I'm not one of those clowns who brings blow up dolls to sporting events to be passed around huh? Don't you judge me...

Private Lightning - Physical Speed.mp3

Private Lightning - Physical Speed.mp3 YSI

Bram Tchaikovsky - Girl of My Dreams. mp3

Lock The Door & Cover Me - Rage Against The Machine

2009-06-19T14:55:00.009-04:00

Ahoy Hoy my friends! Did you know that "Ahoy Hoy" was the standard greeting in the early days of the existence of the telephone? Me neither. Luckily it was replaced by "hello" before too long and only the venerable C. Montgomery Burns of Simpson's fame uses that greeting in the modern day. Sorry for the prolonged absence, but it seems like I've got a lot going on these days for a guy in between jobs. It's concert going season and though my budget isn't what it used to be, but I've got a couple of outings planned shortly. I remember seeing Devo for the first time last summer (pre-blogging for this rookie) in the second row and having a rip roaring blast singing "Mongoloid" at the top of my lungs with friends. Hopefully some such slice of life awaits me in the coming months so I can report back to the masses for fun. Is there anything better than an outdoor summer concert? I ask you...

I can remember when WFNX, my local alternative rock station here in the Boston area, began to morph it's playlist to include the mash-up between hip hop, rap rock and metal in the early 90's. Suddenly bands like Rage Against The Machine, Linkin Park, Cypress Hill, and Limp Bizkit starting taking over the airwaves. We already had Faith No More and The Red Hot Chili Peppers edging into that genre a bit, but now, coming off The Manchester Sound and a ton of singer songwriter types like Matthew Sweet the melody was gone. Shout singing, rap rock and noise became the order of the day. I actually stopped listening to WFNX for a while. Aside from the DJ turnover and god awful repetitiveness of the programming, I really didn't like the direction they were headed. Local dinosaur rock station WBCN was almost playing the identical artists at the time next to their standard fare of Aerosmith and U2. Maybe the change was too sudden for me at the time, but I really felt WFNX was losing its way. I was turned off. No more obscure tasty treats like Propaganda, The Lightning Seeds, It's Immaterial and scores of other bands I can't remember off the top of my head. Today order has been restored. The maddening tiny playlist still exists, but they are back on the beam of what made them great in the first place; new artists mixed in with at least some reverence for what came before. I'm a big history guy; I love to trace musical lineage. It's all borrowed one way or another...

I've begun backing off on my Rage Against Rage statements of the mid 90's. I was pointing at Rage as the reason alternative rock had gone to hell in a hand basket. I never really was keen on Bulls On Parade, but I've come to enjoy these guys more than I ever thought I would. Truthfully, if I wasn't filling an iPod for a friend who wanted all that stuff; Disturbed, Drowning Pool, System of a Down and the like I wouldn't have given Rage a second chance. I was more of a Soundgarden and Monster Magnet guy at the time. Those bands still had some discernable melody to offer to me. Now I find myself Raging from time to time. Guerilla Radio no longer goes right through me like it once did. Sleep Now in The Fire! Have you seen that TV commercial where the three rockers with long hair are swinging their manes around with headphones on? Not only is that flat hysterical it reminds me of watching concert footage of RATM and their fans just grooving to the music. I was listening to RATM's Renegades a while back and stumbled upon their cover of Bob Dylan's Maggie's Farm. I love Bob Dylan to pieces so I thought this would be fun to post. Even if Rage is not your cup of tea, and I totally get it if they are not, the re-worked Maggie's Farm is very cool for my money. Enjoy.

Rage Against The Machine - Maggie's Farm.mp3

Rage Against The Machine - Maggie's Farm.mp3 YSI

www.ratm.com

Contest: Passion Pit Album Giveaway

2009-06-08T11:00:00.002-04:00

I have a few copies of Passion Pit's new album "Manners" to give away. Please post a comment on your favorite Boston area band of all time, and your email address.

I'll plug the entries into the Giant Panther Randomizerbot 2000. For those that aren't aware of this machine's capabilities, it utilizes the latest in roto girder, ball bearings, and gauze pad technology to pick a few winners.

The Giant Panther Randomizerbot 2000 hard at work

Here is Passion Pit's tour schedule, haven't seen them live before but looking forward to the Paradise show:

6/03 Austin, TX Emo’s

6/04 Houston, TX Warehouse Live

6/05 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon

6/06 Atlanta, GA The Drunken Unicorn

6/08 Richmond, VA The National

6/09 Washington, DC Black Cat

6/11 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo

6/13 Covington, KY Mad Hatter

6/14 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle (SOLD OUT)

6/17 Buffalo, NY Mohawk Place

6/18 Boston, MA Paradise

6/19 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom

6/20 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom

8/09 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza

My Insipid Record Collection - The Pixies

2009-06-04T10:34:00.014-04:00

One of New England's finest exports in the 1980's was a band called The Pixies. I'm quite sure you have heard of them if you liked the Modern or Alternative Rock genre. With a few minor exceptions, The Pixies were mostly comprised of Black Francis, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago and David Lovering. You may have noticed their much ballyhooed one off reunions over the past couple of years at strategic festivals. Their story has been told more than once. You also may have heard of how one time University of Massachusetts-Amherst college roommates Black Francis and Joey Santiago formed a band in 1986 and began recruiting band members. They found bassist Kim Deal allegedly by placing an ad requesting a female bass player that liked both folkies Peter, Paul & Mary and Husker Du. I really have no way of knowing what is true and what isn't, but legend has it Deal was the only one who responded to the ad and showed up for the audition without a bass guitar claiming she had no money to retrieve it from her native Ohio. On top of that she had never played the instrument if you believe the rumor. Apparently drummer David Lovering was discovered at Kim's own wedding reception. Different, but with the pieces now in place they began to build the legend...

I began thinking about The Pixies again this morning because my local alterna-rock station, WFNX, runs a feature every Thursday morning called "My Song is Better Than Your Song." I kind of like the bit, but they frequently fail to mention the song titles after the first time and they don't document the history of the game on their web site. It's kind of maddening because it takes place in a span of 15 minutes to half an hour and then they crown a champion. Voters are encouraged to continue the debate on their home page, but it basically ends right there. It would be a lot more fun if you could go to their web site and look at the history of what song beat what song. It's a futile pursuit of course, but if I miss a week or some guy is champion for weeks on end I want to follow his song titles. They might have made some improvements to their web site, I haven't checked in a while, but it was severely lacking when I last checked to try and track some of the history of the game. It is an interesting concept for someone with a little historical perspective on the station. I think I was listening to it before the morning crew were born, but that's on me I suppose. They rag on old time alternative legends like Roxy Music, which drives me up a wall (I can't communicate how much I love everything about Roxy Music including the name of the band), but they are just kids. I get that. But I love it when they get all bent out of shape when Mission of Burma's That's When I Reach For My Revolver tops Pearl Jam's Jeremy or Steppenwolf's The Pusher takes out Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart (don't quote me on that last match up...I'd reference it if I could). They frequently have older guests like Big Jim's Dad (Big Jim is the afternoon drive guy who also hates several bands I love) who won several weeks in a row with older tunes they would never actually play on WFNX. It's kind of fun to see how much perspective the actual listeners have and how many of them are in my age bracket. You can sort of tell by the votes and it's a fun curiosity for me.

The reason I tell the story is because this morning one of their sales guys brought Van Halen's Ice Cream Man to the My Song party. I love David Lee Roth led Van Halen, but Ice Cream Man has never been a favorite of mine. I know it's an old blues standard redone, but I would have picked a gazillion other Van Halen tunes to ostensibly go up against what will likely be a song they play on the station. The champion picked The Pixies' Dig For Fire from 1990's Bossanova. Predictably, Van Halen went down by a 4-1 margin even though this Pixies number is probably not in their top ten songs lifetime in my opinion. For those of you who don't know who The Pixies were, they had a brilliant seven year run from 1986 to 1993 or so. They had four studio albums and an EP. It doesn't sound like much, but what an impact. Nirvana and other bands have tipped their collective hat to this outfit from Boston. Combining surf music, punk rock and Black Francis' infatuation with all things UFO, this band's sound was characterized by soft and melodic excerpts frequently followed by harsh explosions of sonic noise. It was referred to as LoudQUIETLoud in their 2006 Rockumentary. You couldn't really put a handle on it, but you knew it was something totally different. It had some Sonic Youth and Husker Du attached to it, but it was definitely off the beaten path.

The Pixies had to wait until their third record for real "national" recognition. I say "national" because it's debatable whether they were ever really that big in the United States. Once they had established a bit of a foothold in Europe and Surfer Rosa gained some notoriety, they were able to sign a deal here in the States and get going. The first song I ever heard by The Pixies was "Gigantic." Whoa. 'Nuff said I thought to myself. Count me in. Many of their songs were short bursts of intensity and Gigantic was just perfect as far as I was concerned. Then I heard "Where is My Mind?" and I was an even more ardent Pixies fan. Everything sort of changed when they released Doolittle in 1989. Now they were stars. I will never get tired of listening to "Monkey Gone To Heaven" as long as I live. Songs like "Debaser" and "Wave of Mutilation" just put Pixies fever in overdrive 20 years ago. I know very well I will receive some criticism for what I'm about to type, but I liked Bossanova the best out of all of their records. It contained all kinds of "B" cuts. Aside from the radio friendly Dig For Fire you might have heard personal favorite "Is She Weird?" on the radio, but never today. It's a crying shame too. The Pixies were much greater than people even realize today. It just goes to show you what you hear on the radio or see on the charts is not necessarily indicative of greatness. They cobbled together one more record called Trompe Le Monde in 1991 before calling it a day. It's amazing that they could put together two more good records after it became public knowledge that Francis and Deal were having a power struggle. Thank god they squeezed out the song "U-Mass" before they expired. That song positively rocks! Black Francis famously notified band members Deal & Lovering of his cessation from their union via fax (remember those?) in January of 1993 officially ending their intial run as Monsters of Alternative Rock.

OK, I've got to shut myself off because I could go on all day about these guys and this post is already too long. The Pixies imploded due mostly to the egos of Black Francis and Kim Deal, but one of the greatest shows I have ever seen took place November 27, 1991 (the night before Thanksgiving that year) at The Orpheum Theatre in Boston. For my $20.50 I saw an unbelievable combination of intensity, musicianship and crowd worship. I walked out of their completely spent and talking to myself. How could this band be on the verge of breaking up? They clearly were ignoring each other to a degree, but WOW!...what a concert! After the breakup Kim Deal formed The Breeders with her sister Kelley and dominated the free world with the song "Cannonball" in 1993. Black Francis became Frank Black and also released a tremendous, but little known, self titled solo album in 1993 (go buy that one if you like The Pixies...trust me) before his career tailed off big time. The song I leave you with today is from Bossanova called "The Happening." If you don't own Bossanova you have never heard it, but it is very representative of The Pixies. Death To The Pixies? I think not!...

The Pixies - The Happening.mp3

The Pixies - The Happening.mp3 YSI

Passion Pit - Manners

2009-06-01T09:37:00.004-04:00

A little useless peek into the world of giant panther. When I listen to music in Itunes, I always use the "star" ranking system for every song I come across. This way I can create smart playlists like, all hip hop three stars or greater. Good way to make sure an awful skit or intro doesn't pop into a party playlist on shuffle. Most end up at 3 stars, good chunk of 4, and 5 stars are reserved for tunes like This Must Be The Place or Tunnels.

If you are still reading this, you're probably wondering what any of this has to do with Passion Pit's new album. Me too. I just finished my first full listen of their new full length debut Manners. Every single song got 4 stars. Michael Angelakos and company can now die happy knowing they are safely and securely sitting at 4 stars across the board in my itunes, what else is there? Granted, this 4 star melee could be looking before I leap, after only one listen, but it's much more likely love at first sight.

I always love new talent sprouting out of my home town of Boston (Cambridge to be exact). Their EP got a lot of buzz last year, I must admit I wanted to love it, but it was a little scattered to get a regular rotation from me.

Their follow up LP Manners is a remarkable maturation for these guys. Every song is a winner, not as many stretches for Angelakos' falsetto, which on the EP at times could wear on you. I do this with severe hesitation, as I hate making comparisons, but I think it's worth it to help win new ears. If you like MGMT, give Passion Pit a chance, you won't be disappointed.

Layered synths, beats, melodies and harmonies make up the landscape of Manners, a well thought out complete piece, unlike John's Siouxsie post, which was littered with grammar eff-ups. I fart in your general direction John, Anonymous commenter and I are forming an interweb grammar police to get rid of web-scum like you. You "can can" count on us coming after you.

Go out and buy Passion Pit immediately, support up and coming local bands, and go see them live.

Passion Pit - Folds In Your Hands Alt Link

Passion Pit on Myspace
Buy Manners

My Insipid Record Collection - Siouxsie & The Banshees

2009-05-28T17:00:00.017-04:00

Today I thought we would celebrate the music of The UK's Siouxsie & The Banshees. When I came to school in the fall of 1978 I had no idea of who Siouxsie & The Banshees were. I always felt like I was musically adventurous, but it really wasn't the truth until the onset of the 1980's. Around that time I was still listening to Heart, Supertramp, Electric Light Orchestra, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd along with my Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Doors, Floyd, Bowie, CCR, Who, Petty, Yes, Aerosmith, Sabbath, ELP, Crimson, Tull, Zeppelin, Moody Blue childhood core. It's enough to make The Giant Panther wretch, but there's nothing I can do about that. It's still my musical DNA. It's the baseline to what comes after. I can remember rummaging through my best friend's older sibling's record collections like a heat seeking missile thirsting for an unknown target. Joni Mitchell, It's a Beautiful Day, Love, The Byrds, Cream, John Mayall, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Buffalo Springfield, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, The Mama's & The Papa's...icons of the late 1960's...the list is endless. I was hooked unlike anyone else in my town including my friend Jim. We'd play rummy 500 or Strat-0-Matic (a baseball dice game for those of you not in the know) and go through six or seven albums at a sitting. We'd argue over the merits of Foghat or Alice Cooper and by 1974 or so I felt like had the best album collection in my town for a kid.

Coming to Boston after high school was an eye opener. There were so many local bands; The Neighborhoods, Mission of Burma, Berlin Airlift, The Dogmatics, The Cars, The Lyres, Robin Lane & The Chartbusters, Private Lightning, Willie Loco Alexander & The Boom Boom Band, Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers, The J. Geils Band, Aerosmith, The Atlantics, The Real Kids, Human Sexual Response, The Nervous Eaters, The Outlets, The Del Fuegos, Classic Ruins, Unnatural Axe, The Real Kids, La Peste and countless others. They were being played on the radio, mostly WBCN and WCOZ in those days, right next to the big boys. It was hard to distinguish them from the national acts because I was hearing so many new sounds. I wasn't very familiar with the local club scene and it wasn't until I interned at WBCN for several years that I was able to make the distinction. WBCN wasn't perfect, but it did a tremendous job of promoting local music and local comedians.

Regarding Siouxsie & The Banshees; I first heard the song "Christine" from Kaleidoscope around 1980 and it stopped me in my tracks. I used to get it confused with another song from that era I just loved called "Echo Beach" by a Canadian act called Martha & The Muffins. I have always loved female singers fronting rock bands. You can laugh at Heart all you want, but before they went soft in 1987 with that awful mega selling What About Love single I really loved them. Ann & Nancy Wilson were great as far as I was concerned. And before you ask, yes I loved Joan Jett and any other woman who really rocked. Let the derision commence. Today I just love Karen O and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The new record is a bit soft, but Maps put 'em on the map so I shouldn't complain. They are going to have a hard time topping that debut in my opinion. Santogold are very good too and I just learned that their song "My Superman" was based in part on Siouxsie's "Red Light" from Kaleidoscope (thanks Wikipedia...I think). Pretty cool admission if you ask me (but no one ever does). The Banshees were very influential. Heck, even The Cure's Robert Smith played with them for a short while.

Siouxsie & The Banshees have an impressive catalogue of great tunes. In addition to Christine, they can list Hong Kong Garden, Happy House, Dazzle, Cities in Dust, Kiss Them For Me, Peek-a-Boo, Shawdowtime, Spellbound, their covers of The Beatle's Dear Prudence and Iggy Pop's The Passenger and the song I'm leaving you with today; The Killing Jar. Their 1988 release Peep Show was a big college radio hit and I was all over it. The band had been together for about 12 years by then and had plenty of success, but real commercial recognition had eluded them until then. Cities in Dust from 1986's Tinderbox was a pretty big single, but I would say their popularity peaked with 1991's Superstition and the single "Kiss Them For Me." It was a top ten alternative rock song for that year without a doubt. By 1995 the band had had enough. The party was over. I still enjoy the heck out of their catalogue though and the song "The Killing Jar" was always a favorite of mine. Enjoy.

Siouxsie & The Banshees - The Killing Jar.mp3

Siouxsie & The Banshees - The Killing Jar.mp3 YSI

www.vamp.org/Siouxsie

Guilty Pleasures - Steppenwolf

2009-05-23T12:09:00.004-04:00

I don't know why I'm filing this one under Guilty Pleasures because I don't feel guilty. Most people know Magic Carpet Ride or Born To Be Wild and that is the extent of their Steppenwolf education. Too bad for them. I had these 45's when I was a kid, make no mistake, but Steppenwolf was a great band and one of Canada's finest rock exports. Formed in 1967, this band sold over 25 million records. Sounds like nothing next to sales of say, U2, but in those days people didn't buy records, they bought singles. The Beatles and The Stones might have sold actual albums, but after that not too many bands were selling a lot of albums. Album Oriented Rock (AOR) radio was just getting started. Before that all you got was the 45 rpm single with an "A" side and "B" side.

One of my very first singles was The Box Tops version of Wayne Carson Thompson's The Letter. The "B" side, Happy Times, I couldn't tell you a thing about. Sometimes the "B" song was terrible. Another early single in my collection was The Rolling Stones' Honky Tonk Woman. The "B" side was "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Wow. Now there's a double whammy for your 99 cents or whatever I paid in 1969. Still other singles, like The Shocking Blue's "Venus" has an obscure "B" side like "Hot Sand." Hot Sand was a great track I still love to this day, but nobody I know has ever heard of it. As much as I loved Venus, I never came anywhere close to buying the whole album. It just wasn't done in those days. Today you have iPod Nation focusing on singles and mixed track play lists. It's really the same thing except we had crappy portable Close and Play turntables for our 45's. I may have mentioned in this space in the past that I held a yard sale and dumped all my Beatles 45's for pennies so I could buy bubblegum and baseball cards. Fool. Anyway...

Steppenwolf had several radio friendly hits besides the two mentioned above like Rock Me, but they were a blues band first and foremost in my opinion. Anybody who has heard their cover of Hoyt Axton's "The Pusher" from their first album and made famous by its inclusion on The Easy Rider Soundtrack knows what I'm talking about. What's ironic about this band is that they basically were given credit for coining the phrase "Heavy Metal" as it was used in the song "Born To Be Wild" to describe a Motorcycle's noise quotient. They were too heavy for the AM radio dial where they first made their bones, but they were not heavy metal. I could go on and on about why I loved this band or which songs were my favorites, but from 1968-1976 Steppenwolf was one of the biggest names in rock. Motorcycle clubs still gravitate to their music to this day. The record I'm taking the song I'm posting from is called Steppenwolf The Second. People will probably laugh and The Giant Panther will have yet another chuckle at my old wrinkly expense, but there isn't a bad cut on this record (nor the first record for that matter). I'm leaving you with one of my all time favorite Steppenwolf tracks called Don't Step On The Grass Sam. It's essentially a call for the legalization of marijuana, but it's more about telling the government to find more important things to worry about. It's got some great imagery and sound effects and it's bluesy as all get out. Truly a guilty pleasure as defined by me. Happy Memorial Day to everyone. This one's for the Veterans of the 60's. THANK YOU!

Don't Step On The Grass Sam - Steppenwolf.mp3

Don't Step On The Grass Sam - Steppenwolf.mp3 YSI

www.steppenwolf.com

My Insipid Record Collection - Love and Rockets

2009-05-23T10:39:00.012-04:00

Goth Rock. Atmosphere. Depression. Self loathing. The color black. Hypnotic beats. Tribal sounds. Dirge like music. Dark lipstick. Heavy eye makeup. Pasty skin color. Dyed jet black hair. Far away eyes. Skeletal physiques. Body art. A particular fashion trend. Drum machines. The Cure. Sisters of Mercy. Siouxsie & The Banshees. Bauhaus. The Cult. Gene Loves Jezebel. Dead Can Dance. Killing Joke. The Fall. Fields of The Nephilim. The Mission UK. Mistle Thrush. Red Lorry Yellow Lorry. Joy Division. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. This Mortal Coil. Tones On Tail. Love Like Blood. The Goth scene has always fascinated me. The culture of Goth is kind of interesting, but it's the music I've always loved. I don't know Peter Murphy or Robert Smith, like most people, but they represent the face of Goth to me. I'm very big fans of both. Today The Dresden Dolls and several others try to carry the flag, but to me it seems like Goth's time has come and gone (musically anyway). I don't mean that in any kind of derogatory way because I'm still a big fan of the genre some 30 years later, but I was never involved in the Goth culture. I might have felt disenfranchised at some point, but I never marched to the Everyday is Halloween mantra. That doesn't make me right or them wrong; it's just what my experience was. I never ran into it much until the early eighties. By the 1990's into this decade they were making movies like Blade, The Craft, The Crow and The Labyrinth that celebrated the Gothic way of life. Loved the movies, loved the music. Pretty cool when you think about it...

Regarding the music one of the many bands I loved from that era was Love and Rockets. Bauhaus is probably the mother of all Goth Rock bands. When lead vocalist Peter Murphy left the band in 1983 some of the remaining members, Daniel Ash, David J and Kevin Haskins formed Love and Rockets in 1985 after Ash and Haskins had spent a couple of years in Tones On Tail. Love and Rockets was not really a Goth band per se, but their music demanded your attention. I can still recall their cover of The Temptations' Ball of Confusion being played on TV's Miami Vice. Crockett and Tubbs doing their thing to Love and Rockets. The nation got a taste of Goth as millions watched. How cool was that?

Their first release, Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven in 1985 didn't set the world on fire, but I thought it was great. Haunted When The Minutes Drag was an interesting track. Their followup to that was Express in 1986. I just loved this record. In addition to Ball of Confusion (US release) it had All in My Mind, It Could Be Sunshine and a tremendous track called Kundilini Express. Then they released Earth Sun Moon in 1987. I was all over this record when it came out. It had hits, sleepers, and even a folk song or two, but No New Tale To Tell rocked me hard. I still love this song. Two years later they released the self titled Love and Rockets with the single "So Alive" on it. The cumulative effect of the past three records pushed this one as high as #14 on the U.S. charts if you can believe what you read on Wikipedia. That's about as high a chart position as you'll ever see an alternative rock band rise. They never again reached these heights, but I'll always look fondly on my four Love and Rockets CDs even if my local alternative rock station, WFNX, seems to have forgotten they ever existed. It seems so much more important to them to play Rancid's "Time Bomb" over and over again. I don't know, maybe I don't see how dated this band (maybe it's me who is dated) is. I'm willing to leave room for that possibility, but I really enjoyed this band's music. Hopefully you did too.

Love and Rockets - No New Tale To Tell.mp3

Love and Rockets - No New Tale To Tell.mp3 YSI

www.loveandrockets.com

Your Tour Guide - The B-52's

2009-05-17T17:01:00.005-04:00

It's mid May and the weather is ever so slowly starting to break in Boston. Please Come To Boston for the springtime as Dave Loggins once crooned. I live in the Northeast because I enjoy humidity free weather. It's my exact favorite weather here, all things considered, between late April and June 1st and from mid September until November 1st. Those are my twelve weeks. After that it's central air or bust. Certain bands represent the summer for me and The B-52's are one of those bands. They played The House of Blues next to Fenway Park last night and I had no designs on attending. I spent the afternoon trying to help a friend of mine's son with his Little League game. As a result I was invited over for dinner. During that stay I got a call offering me free tickets to the show. I'm really glad I accepted. Six or seven friends of mine and I enjoyed a great show.

It's kind of an eye opener, not that I need an eye opener when it comes to this, when you see these performers carrying on into their sixties still performing. I go to see new bands and old bands alike, but you see some folks at these shows, the way they behave as if they haven't been out in years, and you realize you are getting up there. I don't feel particularly old, but my peer group would seem to indicate otherwise. If you were in college between 1978 and 1982 chances are you loved The B-52's. There has never been anyone like them. Some folks consider them a novelty act. I know The Giant Panther isn't very high on them, but I've always been a big fan. I think I've seen them roughly half a dozen times without doing any fact checking. It's more of a social thing for me. Women love them and men love women (most of the time I guess I should add in the name of Fred Schneider). They're kitchy, funny and danceable. If I had never heard a note of Cosmic Thing I would still be a big fan. I love Lava, Dance This Mess Around, 52 Girls, Planet Claire, Dirty Back Road, 53 Miles West of Venus, Give Me Back My Man, Strobe Light, Quiche Lorraine, Devil in My Car, Mesopotamia, Whammy Kiss, Private Idaho...heck even Rock Lobster even though I've heard it a nauseating number of times. Make no mistake, they have some shaky material on the market. They've had their down time, but this band has always had my respect. I wasn't expecting much last night to be honest, but they were a blast as always. Everyone was friendly and dancing and the vibe was a lot of fun. If you know jaded Boston you know that is not always the case. Everyone at the show feels like they're in on the joke and they think it's funny. There are worse ways to spend $36 (face value ticket price) even if you could care less if you EVER hear Love Shack again. Good luck with that...

This Athens, Georgia band was mixed in the New Wave genre, but they were their own sound. Fred Schneider is sometimes closer to a tongue in cheek comedian that a true lead singer. Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson take turns with Fred manning the microphone and their voices have always blended tremendously. The crowd ate it up last night. Capacity for this venue is in the 2500 range and it was fairly full. They ran through all their hits including most of their smash Cosmic Thing plus a handful of new tracks from the underrated Funplex. It's pretty amazing they could take a 16 year hiatus and their first song back (Funplex) is right where they left off. I never looked at these entertainers as favorites or even take them very seriously, but that doesn't mean they aren't damn good at what they do. I've supported them for years and I'm glad they seem to still be having fun because I know the crowd is. I didn't need to see them again, but I'm happy I went because it was good clean fun and I had a good time. That's what The B-52's are; a good time. If you've never seen them you should. If you have seen them before don't be afraid to see them again on this tour this summer for fun. They still sound letter perfect and deliver their own particular brand of the goods. I ain't no student, of ancient culture, before I talk, I should read a book, but there's one thing I do know, there's a lot of ruins in Mesopotamia...

The B-52's - Mesopotamia.mp3

The B-52's - Mesopotamia.mp3 YSI