New to me. Detroit youths in 1971 decide to play rock rather than funk. Maybe they took some cues from the Stooges. They say Alice Cooper was a big influence. In 1975 Clive Davis funded recording sessions which yielded seven songs, but he insisted they change their name. They refused and he walked away.
In 1976 the band released a 45 with two songs in an edition of 500 copies.
Life was lived, and moved on. Fast forward 20 years, the children of members of Death form a band playing Death’s songs. They sign with Drag City and the record is finally released. The band reforms, though on original member has passed, and they record a new album and tour. A film is made about them.
In anyMy Facebook friend Darren Viola posted this clip today of Boston’s Lyre’s playing somewhere haughty. My guess is Newport, but they rock as anyone would hope they would.
In any case, no matter what this is, it is a pretty sweet documentary look at people dancing. Go!
Wikipedia says this band is a glam band from the 70s, but has no info.
Evan Davies led his WFMU show off tonight with this tune, which has an opaque edition on YouTube, which you’ll see below.
But first, my comments. This is good! Not the sound quality, though it doesn’t really hurt, but the guitar, and the song itself, and the drummer is working hell hard. Plus the bass is in there churning.
Maybe Evan will see this on Facebook and fill us in with whatever details, but in the meantime, Thanks Evan!
Evan’s show is great, I don’t listen enough, but we also have to remember he gave us the fabulous Graveyard. Thanks Evan!
This is Billy Borsey and his band’s third album, but at this point most of his original band was gone. Soul survivor Louie X. Erlanger on guitar was joined by Elvis Presley’s rhythm section, Jerry Scheff and Ron Tutt, in Paris, as well as keyboardist Kenny Margolis and others for an amazing adventure recording a record no one knew what to do with. Or, at least, Capitol Records was flummoxed when it was done.
This was a rock record that drew equally from hard rock, chanson, and Brill Building tunes filtered through Phil Spector, produced by Spector henchman Steve Douglas. Willy wrote some of the songs with Doc “Save the Last Dance for Me” Pomus, covered the Jive Bombers’ Bad Boy, and didn’t mind exploring the Cajun life, too. The wonderful thing is it feels all of a piece, a slice in time and eclectic taste, even as it slides from genre to style. I’ll admit, this record’s breadth reflects my
Listening to it again recently is to be reminded what a major figure Willy was, maybe not in his sphere of influence and celebrity, but in the pure fact of his craft, his musical skills and his songwriting talent. The other four CBGB house bands (Television, Blondie, Talking Heads, Ramones) were iconic figures in the punk eruption. Mink Deville was no less iconic in its way, but resisted the punk label, and while they were all just as talented and accomplished, he didn’t find a way to star quite so brightly as the others.
No disco for Mink Deville. (But he did have a huge hit from the soundtrack of the Princess Bride.)
Rolling Stone’s critics poll called Le Chat Bleu the fifth best album of 1980, for what that’s worth. What’s certainly worth your time is the whole album.
Here’s the first tune, This Must Be the Night, which echoes Springsteen’s sounds, but is a pretty fresh take on that sound. Or is it playing tricks on me?
Here’s the Borsey/Pomus collaboration on the World Outside.
A rocker.
Cajun, in French, a cover of a song from the great Queen Ida.
I’m not sure these are the best songs. Listen to the whole thing and make up your own mind:
This is a sappy song with a heart felt series of verses, and a gumptious elaborate arrangement of strings and stuff on the chorus.
But there is detail and structure and melody here that make it a great song. Not a riff song, not a rock song, but a pop song that expands people’s horizons rather than shuts them down. It’s a song that addresses adult concerns (who lives where, and why) rather than adolescent ones (who grinds where).
That isn’t rock, but it is a bit rockish in that whole Rambling Boy idea. Feel free to search for all the alternative versions on YouTube. They all help explain how a simple story became a trope. And how songwriting transcends genre. This is a song that is a short story. Or an anecdote. Or both.
There is so much going on here. Muddy seems to be copping to the idea he’s not up to the barely legal conversation. That’s the opposite of the mannish boy. But whatever is going on with that pales beside Luther “Guitar Jr.” Johnson’s guitar, which is bigger than life.
On this album, a live album, Johnny Winter makes some excellent appearances. He’s a great guitar player, but lordy, Luther makes a fairly straight blues into something else altogether. I know I’m sati-fied.
Live at Daryl’s House is this oddball show. The idea. Musicians go to Daryl Hall’s house and record songs with Daryl Hall.
When it started Daryl Hall seemed to be bankrolling these video casts, which were available on his website, and it was hard to see how this was a sustainable program. But the quality was always exemplary, the pairings interesting, the musicians great.
I came upon this O’Jays show tonight. Here’s For the Love of Money at Daryl’s House:
It’s not my favorite O’Jays song, it’s kind of a Temps’ rip, but there’s lots to like in that live version. Including Daryl Hall’s vocals . Here’s the much-more restrained original:
I was listening to Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy yesterday. It’s the Eno elpee I’ve never owned, and while I like the title I was a little put off by much of the music. Not bad, just hard and brittle for the most part, with lots of Englishy dancehall references.
So tonight I put on Here Come the Warm Jets, which is a great record. But I hadn’t listened to it for a while, and when Baby’s on Fire came on I had to post. It is incredible. Incredible in, like, why did we ever need another rock song after this?
At the time, I’m not sure I played any record more than Richard Hell and the Voidoid’s Blank Generation elpee. There are a bunch of great tunes on it, including a Creedence Clearwater Revival cover(!!!!) that’s both surprising and grooves. But this one is a bit like a folk song, except for the brittle strutting guitar solo in the middle, by the always excellent Robert Quine. I’m not sure what it means, except maybe it’s the other side of the Dark End of the Street.
