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It's the Joe Vig Top 40 for May 2023
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1)The Lost Weekend: May Pang / John Lennon
2)It Ain't Over Yogi Berra Biopic
3)Picard, the Last Season
4) Jourdan
5)The Philosophy of Modern Song, a book by Bob Dylan
(Lillian Roxon returns!)
1)The Lost Weekend, A Love Story
https://www.maypang.com/the-lost-weekend
2)It Ain't Over Yogi Berra Biopic
3) Picard the Last Season
4)Jourdan
Was just playing Frankie Lyman's "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" on the piano when Jamaican agent supreme, Racquel Reynolds, sent Jourdan's Way Too Long ft. Liacay which is filled with Lyman flavors but is its own original, majestic song that is just so ....comfortable and wonderful to listen to. And then it just stops. Wow. Three minutes and twenty six seconds that you will want to play over and over and over again. It's Pop, it's Reggae, highly commercial and smooth as smooth can get
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd7xQo5G1QU
The Philosophy of Modern Song is Bob Dylan's first book of new writing since 2004's Chronicles: Volume One--and since winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016.
Dylan, who began working on the book in 2010, offers his extraordinary insight into the nature of popular music. He writes over sixty essays focusing on songs by other artists, spanning from Stephen Foster to Elvis Costello, and in between ranging from Hank Williams to Nina Simone. He analyzes what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal. These essays are written in Dylan's unique prose. They are mysterious and mercurial, poignant and profound, and often laugh-out-loud funny. And while they are ostensibly about music, they are really meditations and reflections on the human condition. Running throughout the book are nearly 150 carefully curated photos as well as a series of dream-like riffs that, taken together, resemble an epic poem and add to the work's transcendence.
In 2020, with the release of his outstanding album Rough and Rowdy Ways, Dylan became the first artist to have an album hit the Billboard Top 40 in each decade since the 1960s. The Philosophy of Modern Song contains much of what he has learned about his craft in all those years, and like everything that Dylan does, it is a momentous artistic achievement.
https://wdwnt.com/2023/03/disney-releases-official-poster-for-the-little-mermaid-movie-official-trailer-to-debut-during-the-oscars/
https://www.deezer.com/en/album/402357077?deferredFl=1
YouTube
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=noei22ClgGk&list=OLAK5uy_kBELVq1WEgMYxumeYtOjniEg8AaAMsKFg
You can play repeatedly every track on Vintage Reggae presented by JONFX (if you don't believe me, click on the Deezer link where you can hear samples,) a composition like "Miracle" draws you in with precisely played memorable sound. There is so much reggae coming from all around the world, but JONFX and his authoritative understanding of how to entertain, tell a story, and make it work from track to track is a pure delight in this day and age of repetitive copying. "Work It Out" pleasantly is an instantly good-feeling tone that builds an atmosphere around you. Saturate yourself with this disc and the melodies will stay in your mind and follow you around in a good way.
https://www.amazon.com/Redeemer-Matthew-Modine/dp/B000087F5R
REDEEMER - DVD Movie
Amazon.com
When a Black Panther raid on the house of a dope dealer goes awry, an innocent young man is killed and the leader of the raid team, a Panther named Charles Henderson (Obba Babatunde), is sentenced to life in prison. Bestselling author Paul Freeman (Modine) offers a creative-writing class in Henderson's prison, initially looking for a story for his next book; but when Henderson becomes his student, Freeman starts to investigate Henderson's case and becomes convinced that, after 20 years, Henderson deserves to be released--but the next step is convincing the sister of the man whose death Henderson is responsible for. Redeemer is a bit obvious, but the script does tackle its subject from a variety of perspectives, the direction is clean and straightforward, and the performances have commitment and energy--Babatunde is particularly compelling. --Bret Fetzer
12)Staying Alive: Ozzy and Dweezil Zappa
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17)Stephen Bishop ("On and On" https://youtu.be/ljuJnUYozUg ) sends us a Demo that Got the Deal Saturday night, 5/20/23 via Twitter
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19) Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius One Foot in the Next World (Live at ProgStock) https://youtu.be/riBWgHo3MgE
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A & M Records single #1737 is a haunting four minutes and forty-four seconds of music from Joan Baez which stands as a classic epic translating a love affair by two legends into equal parts paean/spiritual revenge. Calling her ex the "unwashed phenomenon" and someone good at keeping things "vague", she tells Bob Dylan and the world she needs "some of that vagueness now." "Now" is the end of 1975 and urban legend has it that this Top 35 hit (not nearly as big as her Top 3 "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" from 1971) was the product of some record company ultimatum to deliver a chart song or else. Much like the alleged demands put on Garland Jeffries which resulted in "Wild In The Streets" on Atlantic (and the "or else" anyways, or else being termination of residence at that particular label). If the myth is true, this is a pure pearl from the oyster's irritation, recorded between January 21-24 1975, it would gain momentum in October and November of that year. A truly magical excursion into the relationship between Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, the songstress has to deliver words on par with her stunning voice, and she does, matching her famous ex-lover and capturing a "Hollywood" relationship brilliantly. Bernie Gelb's liner notes shed some light on the creation of "Diamonds & Rust", noting it was the first track cut at the sessions. Baez equates gems and tarnish with thinking about the past, and concludes the ode/attack with the notation that she's already purchased that luxury, paid in full. Reading between the lines is half the fun, and Dylan's friend Buzzy Linhart says he can go on and on about the significance in these grooves, as can most fans of Dylan...and Baez. A classic in the truest form of the word, produced by Joan and David Kershenbaum with the singer on guitar as well as Moog and Arp Synthesizers. Exquisite, and the title of a superb and important album from this artist. For more insight into the workings of this great moment, one only has to go four more cuts into the record as Joan concludes side 1 with a parody of Bob Dylan's voice on his own "A Simple Twist Of Fate", which could be Baez reflecting on what she's just done - turned the tables. https://www.allmusic.com/song/diamonds-rust-mt0010683866
Song Review by Joe Viglione [-]
Three Times in Love
Tommy James
"Three Times In Love" is as exquisite a pop confection as you'll find, a #1 Adult Contemporary hit for Tommy James which should have ushered in a whole new career for the singer/songwriter in the 1980's, one that could have had him giving Olivia, Elton, Helen and Barry a good run for their money on the pop charts. Millennium Records single #11785 came at the dawn of that new decade going Top 20 on the singles charts in February of 1980. The guitar strums are even lighter than Nick Lowe's hit, "Cruel To Be Kind" from the year before, the sentiment a lot more positive than Lowe, a song about falling in love head over heels, not once, not twice, but three times. It's survival of the fittest from the first love of teen years being a game and and ultimately fading away to the second time around finding the person in question older and wiser, The lyrics take a back seat to the gorgeous hook, a gliding vocal of "three times in love" over cascading acoustic guitars with a stunningly sweet lead right before the bridge. Tommy James made some good records for Fantasy in the '70's, including a wonderful re-make of "Tighter, Tighter", the hit he wrote and produced for Alive 'n Kickin'. The label change to Millennium Entertainment allowed this title track the opportunity to reach an audience, and it deserved to. Sophisticated adult pop by a craftsman who has the voice and intuitive charm, this number drives politely, swimming in pretty sounds and is a far cry from the garage rock of "Hanky Panky" which launched James' storied career. Of the 19 chart songs he wrote or performed, there's something extra special about this one. Co-written by Tommy James and guitarist/bassist Ronnie Serota, the song clocks in at four minutes and nine seconds. A Spanish version was also released, which has become something of a collectors item.
https://www.allmusic.com/song/three-times-in-love-mt0004334491
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The Tomorrow War's Time Travel Rules Explained (Is There A Paradox?)
What are The Tomorrow War's time travel rules - and do these time travel rules serve to explain the paradox Amazon's sci-fi film may contain?
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Did Paul McCartney write new?
- " New " is a song written by Paul McCartney. It was originally recorded by McCartney and produced by English musician Mark Ronson for McCartney's sixteenth studio album New, and appears as the sixth track on the album.
"New" was greeted positively by critics and the musical press. As well as being selected as BBC Radio 2's Record of the Week[4][5] and placed on their A-list,[6] the track was greeted as the "Track of the Day" by Mojo which praised its "doe-eyed optimism, irresistible melody" and "orchestrated pop arrangements".[7] Rolling Stone's Will Hermes, praised its "bouncy harpsichord-laden melody", giving it a four-star rating and drawing comparisons to the Beatles' "Got to Get You into My Life",[8] a view shared by The Daily Telegraph which described it as a "jaunty, Beatles-esque stomp".[9]
Paul McCartney is peeling back the curtain on his last conversation with his former Beatles bandmate John Lennon.
In his new book “The Lyrics,” the musician writes how he and Lennon spoke about baking bread the final time they spoke.
“It was very special to me that we reached that point, actually, because you had the whole horrible thing of the group breaking up,” he told “The Howard Stern Show.” “I think we just realized, ‘Come on, guys. We love each other. What are we doing? We’re messing around.’”
https://www.today.com/popculture/paul-mccartney-talks-his-final-conversation-john-lennon-t238607
McCartney performed the song live on late night shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon as well as at the iHeartRadio Music Festival where he premiered it as well as several other songs off the new album.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
Action, Adventure, Thriller
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This self-titled album from singer P.J. Colt gets into the history books as the first album recorded at Electric Lady Studio, and the participation of Jeff Baxter, who performed with Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers, and many others. Some reference guides list this album's year of release as 1970, others as 1976. There is no copyright on the disc, making 1970 seem like the release date; it certainly looks and sounds like a project from the early '70s. There are two standout tracks, "Grave Down by the River" and "Growing Old," although the record is pretty consistent and listenable all the way through. Colt originally released the song "Growing Old" on a single and an album by Boston band Dirty John's Hot Dog Stand on Amsterdam Records in 1970. The track has a spacy opening, while Colt's vocal sounds hauntingly like early Michael McDonald. "Growing Old" follows "Blues Train," a competent cross between Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally" and the Velvet Underground's "Train Comin' Round the Bend." The musicianship shines throughout; guitarist Baxter emerged a star after his involvement with "the Bosstown Sound" of producer Alan Lorber on the third Ultimate Spinach album, which is a testament to talent winning out. Ray Paret did the production here, listed in the smallest of type. He certainly did not get in the way of the band, musicians who cook on Bonnie Bramlett's "Someday," "Black Jesus" -- actually, on every track. Ed Costa's keyboards and the plethora of backing vocalists are all tastefully combined in the straightforward production and mix. There's a significant cover of Van Morrison's "Crazy Love," a song suited to Colt's vocal style, while the rendition of "Honky Tonk Women" -- try though it may -- does not achieve what it seeks: the drunken barroom Leon Russell atmosphere and attitude. Colt's originals are listenable blues-rock, from the funky opening track "Once in the Morning" to the blues-drenched "I'm Tired Now." Drummer Jim Wilkins, pianist Costa, and guitarist Baxter collaborated to pen the tune "Leave Me Alone," one of the album's more rocking and commercial numbers.
Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities, Vol. 2 Review by Joe Viglione [-] https://www.allmusic.com/album/northern-souls-classiest-rarities-vol-2-mw0000306570
Great sounding and dense with information Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities, Vol. 2 is a true labor of love, compiling 24 solid tracks on the Kent label, a follow-up to the first volume released in 2001, four years before this wonderful sequel. It is sonically superior to another 2001 classic, Northern Soul Connoisseurs on Spectrum/Uni, the huge quantity of these anthologies from this music genre almost as overwhelming as the 45 rpm singles they collect. Ady Croasdell delivers 12 pages of liner notes on slick paper rife with photographs and copies of the actual labels from some of the 45s contained herein. The music is breathtakingly magical, the "Heatwave" beat driving the Extremes "How I Need Your Love" sliding quickly into Jimmy "Bo" Horne's "I Can't Speak," hardcore doo wop merging with '60s pop creating sweet soul confections that stand up to repeated, endless spins. Isaac Hayes and Joe Shamwell combine to write the superb "Sea Shells" as voiced by the Charmels, produced by the legendary Hayes/Porter combo. It's followed by William Hunt's dynamite version of Bobby Hebb's "Would You Believe," also recorded by original Procol Harum drummer Bobby Harrison, as well as Grady Tate and Kenny Lonas. The song lineage here will no doubt make Northern soul fans' mouths water for more versions of these hard-to-find classics. Lonas' rendition goes for a good hundred dollars if you can find it, Hunt's version that's included here is probably even rarer as it came from a Steamside demo. For students of the genre, Croasdell's liner notes are thorough and worth putting on the xerox machine to enlarge and cherish as you read them and listen to Janice Christian with Johnny & the Charmers performing "Just a Bad Thing," which sounds like Barbara Lewis and the Toys' Barbara Harris all rolled into one -- and how can you not help but love that! Jennifer Wells "Dining in Chinatown" is bright and full of fun, reminiscent of Ramona King's "Oriental Garden," though more up-tempo. Jackie Washington's "Why Won't They Let Me Be" is also a standout, but there's not a bad track on these two dozen sides which have not only stood the test of time, they've escaped total obscurity by virtue of their inclusion here. ~ Joe Viglione
Format: CD (1 Disc); Stereo
by Joe Viglione [-]
Revival Time is a disturbing but terrific production and presentation by John R. Phillips, not to be confused with the late John Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas. One really doesn't want to venture where lyricist Blake Silverstrom is going with nine of the ten poems he has constructed, and Phillips' eloquent readings also make the listener wonder what the motivating force is here. The singer's voice is close to Meatloaf in texture, and "Conversations in Styrofoam" could be right out of a censored version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show; it is dark, it is frightening, it is not something you'll want to play often. "Art Kills takes this concept, not a step further, but sideways, where it sounds like the protagonist is extinguishing the life from his lover. The entire album isn't this devastating but, though the artist and his collaborators could have moved into a Christopher Cross direction (the singer's voice is able to go from Mr. Loaf to Mr. Cross), a ditty like "I'm on the Cover of Newsweek, Mom" isn't about the celebration of success, but more like the despair of a parent whose child happens to be John Hinckley, Jr. or Timothy McVeigh. The dark joke here is that these tunes could be uplifting and wonderful, but the artists paint a different sort of picture. "Church of Nowhere" states that the earth will "reclaim the church and God will have nowhere to go." The instrumental, "Eternity," displays Phillips' musicianship without the twisted words, but even here it is dark and eerie. Revival Time would be an appropriate soundtrack to a horror movie like Session 9 but, for those picking it up thinking it will be a fun-filled revival, well, there's no "California Dreaming" in these grooves. Track ten, the reprise of "She Could Use Who She Wanted," puts the downer lyrics to a painful solo piano performance. The band plays the negative sentiment as if it is a bright and snappy pop tune on track seven. The reworking sounds like the artist has listened to too much John Cale and, had Cale produced this, both he and Phillips would be damned for all eternity. It's well-crafted, but harrowing stuff. Tim Burton should play this a few times before making his new film; however, it is not for fans of Petula Clark or Cass Elliot.
by Joe Viglione [-] https://www.allmusic.com/album/tim-moore-mw0000625721
Tim Moore is a pop maestro, and the ten songs on Tim Moore, mostly copyrighted 1972 and 1973, have an exquisite understanding of pop structure and melody. The mystery here is how "Love Enough" escaped Rita Coolidge, Barry Manilow, Helen Reddy, or anyone seeking a hit during the '70s explosion of pop songs on the radio. It would have been perfect for Kenny Rogers, come to think of it. Russ Kunkel is on drums on that tune, as well as "A Fool Like You," arranger Tom Sellers providing the bass accompaniment on those two tracks. "Aviation Man" is a real departure with some Cajun blues thrown into the garage rock mix -- it is the artist stretching out and moving away from the serious pop of "Second Avenue" and "Charmer." Released on A Small Record Company, distributed by Gulf & Western's publishing division, Famous Music Company, the album was picked up by Asylum records the same year, and finally released on CD in 2002 via the people at Edsel. "When You Close Your Eyes" has that bouncy pop that Three Dog Night could've done a great job with -- this album is brimming with hooks and melodies, a smorgasbord of sound. The understated production by Nick Jameson, who also plays drums on "Aviation Man," is just perfect for the performer. "I'll Be Your Time" brings thoughts of Randy Edelman, David Pomeranz, and other '70s songwriters to mind, that stark vocal against a sparse piano/guitar/drum/bass backing which doesn't get in the way. Moore's voice really plucks at the heart strings, a naïve Dan Fogelberg who should have had multiple tunes on hit radio. Tom Sellers' string arrangements are also underplayed, which is a good thing. Sellers takes control from the very first track, "A Fool Like You," the words, vocals, and musicianship all very direct. As with the songs of Buzzy Linhart, there's an immediate charm to this material. Fans of Harriet Schock's classic debut Hollywood Town would find this collection very, very appealing; it could be the East Coast male counterpart to Hollywood Town.
The Modern lovers, 'she cracked" Song Review by Joe Viglione https://www.allmusic.com/song/she-cracked-mt0011849687
Song Review by Joe Viglione https://www.allmusic.com/song/hospital-mt0033440253
With Jerry Harrison's dirge-like keyboards this is the underground "Whiter Shade Of Pale", a solemn slowed down sentiment originated by Lou Reed in "Pale Blue Eyes" off of The Velvet Underground's first post-John Cale. This track appears on the Cale produced eponymous Modern Lovers album, though he's not credited as the director of this particular performance. It was tracked at Intermedia Sound on Newbury Street in Boston where Moulty & The Barbarians recorded 70's tunes, where Aerosmith's "Dream On" was recorded, and where another Jonathan, Jonathan Edwards, created his Top 5 1971 hit, "Sunshine". That the eventual drummer for The Cars, David Robinson, is on this lament, and that his future band would go on to buy this fancy studio years later is a touch of irony. It's also an indicator that had The Modern Lovers kept going in this direction, they could've been the landlords of the place where this mood piece came into the world.
Jonathan talks about his own eyes as well as the woman he adores here, and the power that resides the eyes of that girl who lives in modern apartments. He's a real stalker in this one, walking down her street with tears in his eyes. The dark romance is not something relegated to just his songs, urban legend has it Jonathan slept all night on the lawn in the rain outside the window of his future wife while she was married to (and sleeping with) someone else. Not to make this review read like The National Enquirer, it is important to note that this creative artist walked the line between the astral world and reality, truly involved in the romances he was writing and singing about.
"Hospital" is a simply great melody from Jonathan Richman, melodies being one of the man's true strengths. It is the organ that dominates this dramatic soap opera of a young guy going "to bakeries, all day long now, there's a lack of sweetness in my life" - descending into some twisted self-tortured mental abuse "I can't stand you", pathos in dichotomy, emotions splitting like atoms over the ominous and slow mood set up by The Modern Lovers. Talking Heads keyboard player Jerry Harrison donated this tape to the album from his archives, and its position on the compilation release that became that landmark disc is essential. The tone sets it apart from the wild fury of many of the other songs it is included with, Robinson's powerful drums picking up the tempo in a way that possibly influenced The Talking Heads, and many others. The song is simple, obtaining its power in the attitude and emotions. You can't help but find this dark essay intriguing, but worry that because it is so well suited to a Psycho film that if a judge and jury got to hear it performed in a courtroom, the singer certainly would have found himself held for observation. This isn't domestic violence, nor is it verbal abuse, it is the strange thoughts of a man who "can't stand what you do, but I'm in love with your eyes." As James Taylor wrote in "Fire And Rain" about his friend at McLeans hospital dying just a couple of years before this episode, one has to wonder what put the subject matter into the "Hospital" in the first place? He knows where she lives. He's scared once or twice, and he's on her street late at night. You do the math. It's where she got her eyes, and he can't stand what she does because it makes him think about himself. Ok. Totally brilliant, malevolent and you just picture poor Jerry Harrison needing therapy going from this gig to "Psycho Killer" in quick succession. Those who think Lou Reed's "Sister Ray" was the most twisted thing you've ever heard give this another spin.
Song Review by Joe Viglione https://www.allmusic.com/song/astral-plane-mt0032758853
Quasi-mystical Jonathan is what we get on "Astral Plane", a brilliant compostion of love in the world in-between - "If you won't sleep with me, I'll still be with you, I'm gonna meet you on the astral plane". And how many actually do visit the people who get almost close to us during everyday life, achieving relationship goals in that realm between the "real world" and sleep? Smart underground poetry from Jonathan Richman at his most poignant, lyrics that glide away from the mainstream but are not too obscure for the intuitive underground rock fan. The Modern Lovers kick in after the song begins with Jo Jo's lonely announcement "Tonight I'm all alone in my room/I'll go insane" and in less than three minutes he projects his persona into your speakers to declare that his everpresent punk/blues can evaporate with a journey plucked out of Sri Paul Twitchell's Eckankar teachings. Richman isn't doing his spiritual exercises, though, he's traveling through the Twilight Zone with the Modern Lovers bashing out their own statement in a world separate from his imaginary lover. The song remains surprisingly consistent in attitude on the latter Kim Fowley demos (not the earlier ones Fowley did with engineer Dinky Dawson ) as on the more popular Warners tapes which have the aura of John Cale's finesse. The band resembles The Velvet Underground more than Jonathan sounding like Lou Reed. He comes off like a Bostonian fronting that venerable group, Jerry Harrison copping the riffs of his producer, David Robinson doing his best Moe Tucker while Richman indulges in his wonderfully brash dementia. The record is so fantastic you actually want to break it over the singer's head for abandoning this jangly guitar confronting keyboard sound, a style that is fresh and exciting years after it was tracked and never duplicated, even by its creator. "Astral Plane" is one of the greatest moments of pop merging with punk, Richman's eccentricities leading many fans to the conclusion that the singer didn't even get his wish in the dreamworld, and that, indeed, it was what drove him allegedly insane.
Live at CBGB's [Atlantic] Review
by Joe Viglione [-] https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-cbgbs-atlantic--mw0000109483
This is it, the classic double LP from CBGB's that was instrumental in putting national focus on the "new wave," a brilliant handle comparing the next generation of garage and underground rockers to French cinema. Warren Stahurski may not be a household name, and the band that he fronted, Manster, shares the same fate, but Manster's quirky cover of the Yardbirds' "Over, Under, Sideways, Down" is charming in this setting. Robert Gordon launched from the Tuff Darts, and his penchant for rockabilly lost him some of those fans who were turned on by "All for the Love of Rock & Roll" or the even more notorious "Slash" -- bookends that open and close the four sides comprising Live at CBGB's: The Home of Underground Rock. Annie Golden put a voice to the highly experimental pop of the Shirts, and Capitol Records snapped them up along with Willy "Mink" DeVille. The Shirts' "Operetico" is still novel today. They, the Tuff Darts, and DeVille get three songs each of the 16 spots available, and there are two each for Laughing Dogs and Manster, while Sun, the Miamis, and Stuart's Hammer are fortunate with the inclusion of one track each. At six minutes and 42 seconds, DeVille's "Cadillac Walk" is a sort of Rolling Stones "Memory Motel-type epic. Craig Leon co-produced with Kim King, and this no doubt led to Leon's production deal with MCA Records. As legend has it, DJ Debbie Frost played Leon a Willie "Loco" Alexander 45 rpm on the jukebox at the Rat nightclub in Boston, and he signed the Boom Boom Band to MCA. It's key to this story because the Rat proprietor, Jim Harold, modeled his Live at the Rat compilation after Hilly Kristal's work; while Alexander far and away gave the most impressive performance, five of the Boston acts went on to major label deals, clearly owing a debt to Live at CBGB's. The Laughing Dogs have a Mott the Hoople-type attitude, while Manster's "I'm Really Not This Way" has some of the innovation that Television embraced. Tom Verlaine's manager, Terry Ork, is thanked, but the exclusion of that band, as well as Patti Smith, Blondie, and other eventual stars, was a serious oversight. A minor act but potent force, Wayne County also deserves his/her 15 minutes for the sake of history. Maybe tapes that are sure to exist will surface and expand this amazing project. Until that time, one of the ultimate hate songs, "Slash," has Robert Gordon belt out the immortal line "I'd rather slash my wrist and cut my throat than spend the night with you," concluding this pioneering compilation. It was a historic moment in rock & roll, and this document is a time capsule treasure of the musical movement as it was evolving.Live at CBGB's [Atlantic] Review
by Joe Viglione [-] https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-cbgbs-atlantic--mw0000109483
This is it, the classic double LP from CBGB's that was instrumental in putting national focus on the "new wave," a brilliant handle comparing the next generation of garage and underground rockers to French cinema. Warren Stahurski may not be a household name, and the band that he fronted, Manster, shares the same fate, but Manster's quirky cover of the Yardbirds' "Over, Under, Sideways, Down" is charming in this setting. Robert Gordon launched from the Tuff Darts, and his penchant for rockabilly lost him some of those fans who were turned on by "All for the Love of Rock & Roll" or the even more notorious "Slash" -- bookends that open and close the four sides comprising Live at CBGB's: The Home of Underground Rock. Annie Golden put a voice to the highly experimental pop of the Shirts, and Capitol Records snapped them up along with Willy "Mink" DeVille. The Shirts' "Operetico" is still novel today. They, the Tuff Darts, and DeVille get three songs each of the 16 spots available, and there are two each for Laughing Dogs and Manster, while Sun, the Miamis, and Stuart's Hammer are fortunate with the inclusion of one track each. At six minutes and 42 seconds, DeVille's "Cadillac Walk" is a sort of Rolling Stones "Memory Motel-type epic. Craig Leon co-produced with Kim King, and this no doubt led to Leon's production deal with MCA Records. As legend has it, DJ Debbie Frost played Leon a Willie "Loco" Alexander 45 rpm on the jukebox at the Rat nightclub in Boston, and he signed the Boom Boom Band to MCA. It's key to this story because the Rat proprietor, Jim Harold, modeled his Live at the Rat compilation after Hilly Kristal's work; while Alexander far and away gave the most impressive performance, five of the Boston acts went on to major label deals, clearly owing a debt to Live at CBGB's. The Laughing Dogs have a Mott the Hoople-type attitude, while Manster's "I'm Really Not This Way" has some of the innovation that Television embraced. Tom Verlaine's manager, Terry Ork, is thanked, but the exclusion of that band, as well as Patti Smith, Blondie, and other eventual stars, was a serious oversight. A minor act but potent force, Wayne County also deserves his/her 15 minutes for the sake of history. Maybe tapes that are sure to exist will surface and expand this amazing project. Until that time, one of the ultimate hate songs, "Slash," has Robert Gordon belt out the immortal line "I'd rather slash my wrist and cut my throat than spend the night with you," concluding this pioneering compilation. It was a historic moment in rock & roll, and this document is a time capsule treasure of the musical movement as it was evolving.
