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A 101 on 101 Club

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

I first posted this album eons ago, and it sounded like complete dogshit. In my ongoing effort to redeem myself for my ceramic needle USB-turntable early days, here it is again, re-recorded with decent equipment.

Live Letters – Bands Featured Live at the 101 Club


This is a very interesting record, and I wish I knew more about the people who made it. Apparently the 101 Club was a venue in  South London in the early 80s, but I don’t know for how long, who owned it, or if it was important to any scene or style of music. It’s long gone, and since the Sex Pistols probably never played there, no one seems to care about it today. In addition to being a club, 101 was also a label, putting out recordings of shows performed at the venue.

Of the 101 records I have, Live Letters is the best. It has the perfect combination of bands you probably know with bands you probably don’t, and it also does a great job of showcasing the crossroads of new wave music at the time. In one corner, you have bands like Endgames, who were sticking firmly to the Kraftwerk/David Bowie/Gary Numan ideal of the late 70s. And then in the other you have acts like Wang Chung and The Fixx, who were actively embracing pop music and the conventions of mainstream rock. Then there are bands like Fay Ray, who seem to be trying to do both.

It also has a hysterical back cover full of bizarre little news articles. Click on the pics to read them, and enjoy the tunes.

Wang Chung
You’ve Taken Everything
I Don’t Believe A Word
Journey Without Maps
By far the biggest band in Live Letters is Wang Chung, which were still going by Huang Chung here. In a humorous bit before the first song, one of the members actually tells the audience how to pronounce the band’s name. Here’ s a protip for all you kids out there in bands with wacky names: if you need to tell your fans how to pronounce it, then you should change the name.

None of these songs were ever released on any studio albums by the group, which is a real shame. “You’ve Taken Everything” has a great hook and bridge and “I Don’t Believe A Word’ is late-70s new wave at its best, high intensity and just about two steps away from punk when it gets to the fast-paced chorus (maybe five steps away when you consider the saxaphone). Speaking of the sax, “Journey Without Maps” might have one of the best opening sax melodies of the 80s outside of “Careless Whisper.”

As much as I love me some “Everybody Wang Chung Tonight,” it would have been interesting to have seen more music like this from the group.

Intermission – 101 Records Commercial
A silly faux-commerical for 101 Records

Endgames
Works
Visions Of
Stare 
Endgames never made it. They were an also-ran band in the over-crowded new wave scene of the greater UK/Scotland/Ireland/Wales areas, released two albums, and quickly vanished. However, if their Wikipedia page is accurate (and we all know Wikipedia is always right), they were sampled by Heavy D. Which means they win at life, at least a little bit.

Of all the bands on Live Letters, Endgames is the most stereotypically synthpop. No saxaphones to be found here, just cold, cold keyboards and dark, brooding vocals. These dudes liked David Bowie a lot.

The Fixx
Acrobat
Soho Alley
Eye For Design
Credited as “The Fix” here, this live recording shows a band in transition. “Acrobat” is a semi-experimental tune with some obvious Joy Division influence, while “Eye For Design” is a poppy, fun, upbeat pop tune that could have easily been the B-side to The Fixx’s megahit “One Thing Leads To Another,” and “Soho Alley” is a little bit of both. All are good tunes, but none are “Red Skies” quality.

Intermission – 101 Records Commercial No. 2
Another goofy promo extolling the awesomeness of 101.

Fay Ray
Do What You Want To Do
Dreams of Heart
Modern Lovers
No, not the actress who was in King Kong (that’s Fay Wray). And no, not the Japanese singer Fayray. This is Fay Ray, a new wave band that completely fell off the face of the Earth. I know next to nothing about them, but they did release one album, and if it’s anything like these tracks then I’m totally going to have to track down a copy.  Lead singer Sheila Macartney’s voice is very unique, with an odd wavering aspect that really gives her a feeling of vulnerability and emotion you rarely heard in new wave music at the time. Both “Do What You Want To Do” and “Modern Lovers” have an upbeat feeling that almost give them a 60s British Invasion vibe, while “Dreams of Heat” is a haunting ballad that best shows off Macartney’s stunning vocals. A great way to close the album.

Posted in Complete Albums, Endgames, Fay Ray, live, The Fixx, Wang Chung | 18 Comments »

The Andromeda Strain Soundtrack – All Records Should be Polygons

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

I posted this soundtrack eons ago. Back when no one read my blog. Now that next to no one reads my blog, I thought I’d give it another go.

The Andromeda Strain Original Electronic Soundtrack
The Andromeda Strain is a movie that came out in 1971, based on the Michael Critchon book of the same name. It was directed by Robert Wise, who also directed such classics as West Side Story and The Day The Earth Stood Still.

It’s a good adaptation of the book, albeit a little slow. What’s most interesting about the film (at least in my opinion) is its groundbreaking soundtrack. The score to The Andromeda Strain is the one of the very first all-electronic scores for a major motion picture. The only one I can think of that predates it is the score to Forbidden Planet, which came out in 1956.

Gil Mellé composed the score, using entirely instruments of his own creation. He created many of the bizarre sounds heard on the album by recording and then distorting all kinds of found sound, including buzz saws, trains and bowling alleys. So if you think about it, that probably makes The Andromeda Strain soundtrack one of the first examples of sampling as well.

It’s a very important historical document, and a technical marvel for its time, even if it hasn’t aged particularly well. Its extremely experimental, often sounding more like random noise than anything that might resemble electronic music music. So if you’re expecting to hear something like a John Carpenter score then you may be disappointed. It’s more abstract and atonal than that, very soundscape-like. Imagine what Vangelis’ studio must sound like before he tunes all his synths. It’s like that.

But what’s even more interesting than the score is the record that it came in.

That’s right, it’s a hexagon! It’s so odd that it came with a warning.

Well duh.

Even its packaging is out of this world. The record is enclosed in a die-cut hexagon that folds out, revealing linear notes about the soundtrack, as well as pictures taken from the film.

The back cover is pretty crazy too.

It’s safe to assume that this one-of-a-kind packaging and pressing cost a good amount of money to produce back in the day. I’ve read online that the studio only made 10,000 of these in this format, which is probably why they go for a good amount of money now. As you can tell from my pictures, my copy is more than a little beat up. If it was is better shape I would probably be able to get  at least $100 for it, if not more. As it is now, I bought it for about $30.

They also released a regular, non-hexagonal version, which I also have.

Not nearly as cool.

Anyways, if you fancy yourself a fan of electronic music then you should definitely give this one a listen. Like I said before, it’s not the most melodic thing in the world, but it’s definitely worth a listen.

Posted in Complete Albums, Gil Mellé, soundtrack | 8 Comments »

Happy Anime Soundtrack Funtime

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

This album is so weird and obscure that I don’t even know what’s on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do You Remember…? TV Animation Hero
This is a Japanese LP from 1983 featuring 16 classic cartoon theme songs from shows like Astro Boy and Tetsujin-28 (AKA Gigantor). It’s a pretty awesome record, and not just for the music, it also came with a bunch of sweet swag.

There are these great stickers, which I bet ended up on many a Japanese child’s lunchbox in the early 80s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then there’s this neat book. The cover looks like it should be in 3D, but it’s not. If you use red/blue 3D glasses on it you see a different image for each color. It’s a pretty cute little trick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside is mostly text, I assume its about the cartoons in question.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whomever had this record first kept it in amazing shape. I also have an order form that came with it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As well as the OBI strip. These are paper strips that are usually on the covers of LPs in Japan, they have the price and other information on them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So do you want to know what’s on the actual record itself?

Well guess what, so do I! There is next to no English text to be found on this record, the sleeve, the linear notes or anywhere else. I was only able to get the title of the record after I showed it to a Japanese friend, but they didn’t have time to go over the rest of the LP for me.

Here are the tracks I do know, thanks to some sleuthing on YouTube.

Track 1: Tetsujin-28
Track 9: Astro Boy
Track 13: 8Man

As for the remaining 13, I got nothing. And that’s where you come in.

You fancy yourself a Japanophile? Or are you from Japan? If so, and you can translate the album’s tracklisting, let me know in the comments! If I get the actual tracklisting I’ll be sure to update the zip file with the correct information.

Let’s crowdsource this people!

UPDATE
And thanks to one awesome commentor we have mission accomplished! Thank you for your help!

Posted in Anime, Complete Albums, Japanese | 5 Comments »

The Story of Star Wars/Return Of The Jedi – Star Wars Vinyl Part 2

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Story Of Star Wars Side 1
The Story of Star Wars Side 2

The Story of Return of the Jedi Side 1
The Story of Return of the Jedi Side 2

Ah, abridged movies on LPs, it’s amazing how far we would go to relive our favorite movies before the age of VHS isn’t it?

Both of these albums are pretty impressive in that they manage to condense an entire theatrical film into a 50 minute LP, thanks in large part to some amazing narration, which is what I’m going to talk about tonight, because I really have nothing of note to say about the Star Wars movies (hey, I like them a lot).

The Story of Star Wars was narrated by the late Roscoe Lee Brown. You may not recognize his name, but you’ll surely recognize his voice from the first second you hear it. Throughout his career, Brown was the voice of the Kingpin in the 1990s Spider-Man cartoon; and also did voiceover work for the Babe films, Oliver & Company and the Yu-Gi-Oh! series, just to name a few. In addition to his voiceover work, he was an accomplished actor, appearing in countless film and television shows, including Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Mrs. Doubtfire, Topaz, and The Cosby Show. The dude’s voice carried gravitas like nobody’s business, but it was also soothing and relaxing when the need arose. It’s no wonder that he did so many kids’ shows. I wonder if he narrated any children’s books, he would be the best bedtime storyteller EVER.

Chuck Riley did the narration for The Story of Return of the Jedi, and he’s another voice you’ll recognize in a heartbeat even if you can’t place his name. Riley’s voice is probably even more recognizable than Brown’s, as he served as the narrator for countless trailers, commercials, and radio programs during his life. The dude had the kind of baritone that you think would only be possible if someone injected themselves with 500 doses of testosterone while smoking whiskey coated cigarettes. If he was still alive today I’d pay him to record my outgoing voicemail message. I’d miss calls on purpose so people would be able to hear that shit.

Enjoy the albums! I’ll have more voyage to a galaxy far, far away later this week.

And hey, if you happen to have the audio for The Story of Empire Strikes Back, let me know.

 

Posted in Complete Albums, Star Wars | 11 Comments »

Ewoks Motherfucker: Star Wars Vinyl Day 1

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

I was going through my massive stacks of vinyl, pulling out anything that I either hadn’t recorded before or wanted to re-record. Turns out I have a lot of Star Wars vinyl. It also turns out that almost all of it (maybe all of it, I still have to do some research on one) has never been issued on CD or digitally. If that’s not an excuse for a series of themed posts, I don’t know what is.

So lets get Star Wars Week (I know it’s starting on a Friday, shut up) off with a bang.

A cute, adorable, furry little bang.

Ewoks Original Soundtracks – Caravan of Courage/The Battle For Endor
If you ever needed proof that Lucas created the Ewoks solely as a way to make money, then look no further than the two Ewoks television movies. Originally broadcast in 1984 and 1986, Caravan of Courage and The Battle For Endor were two hour-long TV movies made squarely for the little snot-nosed kids who fell in love with the Ewoks the second Isaw the adorable little furballs in The Return of the Jedi.

Hey, it worked for me. I remember loving the first Ewok movie when I was a kid (although I don’t have any memories of the second) and thinking that the Ewoks were pretty cool dudes overall. It wasn’t until I learned about the evils of targeted marketing that I began to see the furry little fuckers in a darker light.

Since I have fond memories of the film, I am never going to go back and watch it. I assume it’s bloody awful. Just reading over other reviews and summaries of the movie, it sounds more like a Saturday morning cartoon than a proper Star Wars film, or anything anyone over the age of 11 should enjoy. Of course, you could say the same thing about anything Star Wars, so I guess I should just shut up before I dig a hole I won’t be able to get out of.

Instead, I’ll just focus on the scores, which is why we’re all here in the first place.

The scores to the Ewoks films were composed by Peter Bernstein (more on him in a bit), not John Williams, and it shows. They lack the majesty, bombastic flare and memorability that are all Williams’ standards, instead serving more as quality background music with the occasional uplifting beat inserted when needed in relation to the plot. More surprising is that the scores are 100% original with no call backs or references to the original Star Wars themes. I guess I have to commend Bernstein for that, better to create your own thing than to piggyback off the success of others, but it all sounds incredibly non-Star Wars because of it.

A bit about Peter Bernstein, a man whose oeuvre can only be described as…workmanlike. Since 1973, he has contributed the scores to nearly 70 films and televisions shows, and the Ewoks movies are probably the  most respectable franchise the man has ever been associated with. His other work is mostly in the B-movie realm, with scores to films like the Chuck Norris horror flick Silent Rage; the classic 80s sci-fi comedy My Science Project; and the cinematic classic Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys all to his credit. He also composed the score for not only Hot Dog…The Movie, but also Hamburger: The Motion Picture. But hey, I’m not judging, a paycheck is a paycheck.

Peter’s father Elmer Bernstein was also a composer (the two would frequently work together), and he must be from who Peter inherited his impressive work ethic. Elmer Bernstein composed the scores for over 240 films and TV series in his lifetime, working until he died at the age of 82.

Elmer won an Oscar for his score to Thoroughly Modern Millie, and he also composed the scores to classics such as The Ten Commandments, To Kill a Mockingbird and Ghostbusters. But even he wasn’t above taking some work to pay the bills. In addition to his more “respected” work, Elmer Bernstein also composed music for films such as Saturn 3, Meatballs, The Good Son and Heavy FUCKING Metal. In fact, looking over his body of work, I just figured out that I own 10 of his soundtracks. Dude got around.

It should be noted that these are not the complete scores of other films. One LP can only hold so much music after all. Instead they are selected highlights from each film (with Battle of Endor being heavily favored). Oddly enough, they aren’t presented in any sort of order. So in case you were wondering, I’ll break them down for you now (and the download link is below the album art, in case you’re looking. I’m not doing individual links for this one):

Caravan of Courage
Trek
Izrina
Flying
Pulga Chase

Battle of Endor
Noa & Terak
Teek
Set Up/Terak’s Theme
Noa’s Ark
Good Night, Bad Dreams
Poker Game
The House
Escape
Farewell

“Into/Main Title” was used in both films.

This album was never officially released on CD, and don’t let anyone ever tell you different. The copy at Amazon is a bootleg, as evident by its hideous cover art and the fact that it credits John Williams as a composer.

So soak up B-grade Star Wars nostalgia, I’ll have more for you in a few days.

Posted in Complete Albums, soundtrack, Star Wars | 11 Comments »

Chairman Of The Board Part 2: Sinatra’s Revenge

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

And now for not long awaited/demanded second half of my Frank Sinatra covers album post. You can find part one here.

Mind Over Matter – New York, New York
Mind Over Matter was an NYC hardcore punk band that, if their Last.FM bio is anything to be believed, played a major factor in the development of screamo. If I was Mind Over Matter, that’s not something I would be bragging about. I like this cover a lot, especially how it injects NYC crime statistics into the end. One of the best tracks on the album.

Swell – I’ve Got The World On a String
Swell are a lo-fi band that’s still going strong after over 20 years. You can find more info on their current releases here. I really dig this cover, and since lo-fi is the shit right now with all the kids today, I bet it’s probably the least dated track on their entire album.

Crust – All or Nothing at All
Another band with a Butthole Surfers connection (they were on the Surfers’ label for a short time). As you would expect from a band with a Butthole Surfers connection, they’re kind of weird. Info on them is nigh-impossible to find thanks to the fact that if you type in “crust band” on Google you get information on about 60 million shit crust punk bands instead.

Down By Law – That’s Life
I have four Down By Law tracks on my hard drive, and all of them are covers. I got their takes on The Proclaimers’ “500 Miles” and Big Country’s “In A Big Country,” and their version of “Peace, Love And Understanding,” taken from the Before You Were Punk covers compilation. They’re a great covers band,  one day I’m going to have to find out how their own songs are.

Treepeople – It Was A Very Good Year
The second version of “It Was A Very Good Year,” this one is vastly inferior to the version by The Flaming Lips. It’s not necessarily bad, and the crass lyric changes are kind of fun. It’s just really hard to top The Flaming Lips. I know very little about Treepeople, but I did learn from their Wiki page that one of members was Dough Martsch, the vocalist/guitarist of Built To Spill. Another member of the group was in The Hand, whose “Wouldn’t It Be Beautiful” is one of my favorite songs of all time. At least, if that’s the same The Hand that I’m thinking of. Seriously. Find “Wouldn’t It Be Beautiful.” You can get it on MP3 for a buck at Amazon. It’s a beautiful song.

Samian – Come Fly With Me
There is another musician named Samian, so I can’t find much of any information this group. Anyone want to fill me in? A fun cover, although the “let’s act drunk and play” shtick wears out fast.

Small – Something Stupid
Okay, you know what? Too many bands from the 90s had generic names that are impossible to search for online. The perils of band name creation in a pre-Internet world I suppose. From what I could scour up on Discogs, these guys used to go by Small 23, and released three full-lengths and one mini-album in the mid-90s before calling it quits.

Jawbow – I’ve Got You Under My Skin
Jawbox was a punk rock group out of DC. I know nothing about them other than that. I do love the short-but-sweet-and-obviously-written-by-a-fan bio for them that’s on Discogs:

“This band is unfortunately no longer making music, here was their lineup:”

This is a shockingly beautiful take on the song, and another standout track on the record. Sorry for the scratching songs during the intro, couldn’t do much to fix that.

Ritual Device – Young  At Heart
My favorite track on the album next to Toadies’ version of “Luck Be A Lady Tonight.” I really love the way that the upbeat vocals are delivered in such a dark and menacing way. I don’t know much about Ritual Device, aside from what Last.fm tells me. Apparently they’re a punk rock band from Omaha. If I had to live in Omaha I’d form a punk rock group too.

Mousetrap – I Wish I Were In Love Again
Another punk rock group from Omaha. Shit be crazy in Nebraska. They should all get together and do a covers album of that Springsteen record.

Severin – Mack The Knife
I’m calling bullshit on this one. The cover of Chairman of the Board says that the album features “interpretations of songs made famous by Frank Sinatra.” However, Frank didn’t cover this classic until the mid-80s. The version that made the song obnoxiously well-known is by Bobby Darin, not Frank Sinatra! I don’t like that version of the song and I don’t like this one by this DC punk band.

Gnome -This Town
I got nothing.

John’s Black Dirt – Bim Bam Baby
And ditto. This is the most obscure band on this album, and that’s really saying something.

Posted in Complete Albums, Crust, Down By Law, Gnome, Jawbow, John's Black Dirt, Mind Over Matter, Mousetrap, Ritual Device, Samian, Severin, Small, Swell, Treepeople | 2 Comments »

Chairman Of The Board – The Best Compilation of Frank Sinatra Covers that 1993 had to Offer

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

The random mid-90s alt-rock compilation; is there any better source for oddball rarities and bizarro obscurities? It’s thanks to this trend of “let’s package as many bands who we think the kids who like Nirvana might like together and see what happens” we have albums like No Alternative, with Soul Aslyum’s awesome take on “Sexual Healing” and that crazy Carpenters tribute record with Sonic Youth’s cover of “Superstar.”

Chairman of the Board, a collection of alt-rock groups taking on standards made famous by Frank Sinatra, doesn’t have any classic cuts like those records do, but it’s still an interesting time capsule showcasing the wide variety of alternative bands that existed in the mid-90s that had absolutely nothing to do with grunge.

The album originally came out on CD and (blue!) vinyl in 1993 by Grass Records as a benefit album supporting both NARAL and Rock For Choice (the album is out of print now, so I don’t feel guilty about giving away a charity record for free). Odds are you’ve never heard of most of the bands here, save for a few very noticeable acts who were on the verge of breaking through right before the album was released. Despite this, these crazy takes on songs that you no doubt have heard a billion times over are usually fun to listen to. And if you’re like me, they’ll have you wondering whatever happened to a lot of these also-rans from the alt-rock landscape.

The tracks I’m posting here are from the first LP of the two record set. I’ll be posting the second half later this week.

Screeching Weasel – Chicago
Screeching Weasel has been around for approximately 80 years, and 429 people have been in the group (actually, it’s more like 26 years and 20+ people, but whatever) and I don’t think they’ve ever had anything that could be considered a hit single. They’re one of those bands you’ve heard of but never actually heard. Or you have heard them, but don’t recall where from. Their rendition of “Chicago,” originally written in 1922 by Fred Fisher, is a straight-up “let’s take the original version and play it fast” punk rock cover. Silly fun.

Kramer – My Way
I’ve never heard of Kramer, but he apparently has toured/recorded/produced about half of the bands I liked in the late 90s, including Urge Overkill, Galaxie 500, Low, White Zombie and Butthole Surfers (and GWAR – who I totally met once…it’s a long story). He also knew Penn & Teller, which may be why Penn Jillette wrote the linear notes to the album. His version of this Paul Anka tune is fucking creepy.

Sister Double Happiness – Summer Wind
I know absolultely nothing about this band aside from what I found on YouTube, all of which is better than this hideously awful cover. You’ve been warned.

Babe The Blue Ox – Lady Is A Tramp
This band has a horribly written Wikipedia page that was obviously put together by either a fan or the drummer. That being said, the wiki page is accurate when it says “It would be impossible to classify the style of music favored by the group,” if this cover is any indication. Quiet acoustic sections, random horns blaring, SCREAMING vocals. I love it. I don’t know what it is. But I love it.

The Toadies – Luck Be a Lady Tonight
I’m so glad I found this album so I could finally know where this cover came from, I’ve had it on my computer as a shitty 128kpbs MP3 since I was in college. It’s a great cover, and like everything The Toadies have ever done, it’s vaguely creepy in an undefinable way. Random trivia: This song is from the musical “Guys and Dolls” and is sung by the Sky Masterson character, not Nathan Detroit, the character Sinatra played in the 1955 film. He didn’t perform it until the 60s.

Twitch – Pretty Colors
There are about 80 bands named Twitch. If anyone wants to tell me which one this is, who is in it, and what happened to them I would appreciate it, because I like this cover.

Lester Vegas -Fly Me To The Moon
Again, I have no idea who this is. I think this may have been his only release. Any help?

Ten Bright Spikes -Brazil
If someone ever pulls a gun on you and demands you name a song that was covered by Bing Crosby, Paul Anka, Frank Sinatra, Chet Atkins, The Vengaboys, Kate Bush and Arcade Fire (albeit not all at the same time – although that would be awesome!) you’ll have an answer. My favorite version is still probably the Kate Bush version, simply because it’s in the movie of the same name. This is a good version as well, and is one of two tracks on the album that were vinyl exclusives. Once again, this cover is by a band that I can find absolutely nothing about, so if anyone wants to fill me in please do.

Girls Against Boys – My Funny Valentine
Hey, a band I’ve not only heard of, but love! Let me share with you some Girls Against Boys (aka GVSB) facts.
FACT: Nearly every GVSB song sounds vaguely similar to every other GVSB song
FACT: Nearly every GVSB song is pretty good, rendering the above fact okay.
FACT: They have two bass players
FACT: They have a song called “Kill The Sex Player”
FACT: I have no idea as to what a “sex player” is, nor why someone would want said sex player dead.
FACT: They haven’t updated their website in three years.
This is also the only version of “My Funny Valentine” I’ve ever heard that didn’t make me want to pull my hair out. So kudos to them.

Prisonshake – I Wish I Were In Love Again
Apparently these guys have been around since the late 80s. But don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard of them before, because they’ve only put out three albums, one in 1993, another in 1995, and a third in 2008. Productivity is for suckers! This is probably the most straight-forward cover on the entire album, which is cute, but kind of boring.

The Flaming Lips – It Was a Very Good Year
Without a doubt the biggest band on this record (sorry Toadies), but if you’re hoping for some Wayne Coyne psychedelic theatrics, I’m sorry. This is a very low-key and minimalist cover, and actually sounds more like something Grandaddy would have done. It’s still cool though.

Pitchblende – Here’s To The Losers
I can only say “I like this weird cover but I know nothing about the band” so many times. But…I really like this cover but I know almost nothing about this band. They were from DC and put out a few records in the 90s before vanishing, from what I can tell.

The Vindictives – Call Me Irresponsible
Miek Weasel (of The Screeching Weasels) was in The Vindictives, and it shows. Another “let’s play the slow song fast” punk cover. Generic? Maybe. But hey, if the formula ain’t broke then don’t fix it.

Posted in Babe The Blue Ox, Complete Albums, covers, Frank Sinatra, Girls Against Boys, Kramer, Lester Vegas, Pitchblende, Prisonshake, Screehing Weasel, Sister Double Happiness, Ten Bright Spikes, The Flaming Lips, The Vindictives, Toadies, Twitch | 2 Comments »

The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh – Original Soundtrack

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

I’ve lived in Pittsburgh for almost eight years now, and it’s a decision that I can honestly say I’ve never regretted. I love this city. I love its crazy roads, obscene colloquialisms (Jag Off!), awesome food and legendary record stores.

I also love its cinematic history, mostly because it’s so weird. Sure, we got George A. Romero’s zombie flicks to lay claim too, but the greater Pittsburgh also played hosts to classics like The Deer Hunter and Flashdance, as well as “classics” such as Sudden Death, Striking Distance and Stigmata.

The selection of movies to be filmed in my adopted hometown are as idiosyncratic and quirky as the town itself, and the oddest of the bunch has to be the 1979 critical and commercial dud, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh.

The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh stars basketball legend Dr. J as Moses Guthrie, the star player for the (fictional) Pittsburgh Pythons. The team sucks, until a spunky ball boy convinces Guthrie and the coach to cut everyone from the team except Moses, and replace them with players who share his astrological sign of Pisces.

Why?

Don’t worry about that. It just works, okay? It works so well that the team (renamed the Pittsburgh Pisces) goes on to win almost every game of the season, make the playoffs, and face the dreaded L.A. team in the Finals (spoiler alert: they win in thrilling fashion). Yes. It’s cheese, but its wonderfully aged cheese, made all the better by its amazing disco/funk soundtrack.

The soundtrack to The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh features performances by a variety of artists, it’s mostly the work of Thomas Bell. If you don’t know who Thom Bell is, you still probably know some songs he was involved with. During the 70s, Bell was one of the driving forces behind the Philly Soul sound, contributing as a songwriter/producer to some of the biggest acts of the scene, such as The Delfonics, The Stylstics and The Spinners (who are on this soundtrack). Bell produced, arranged and conducted every song on the record, and he wrote all the songs on the album as well, with the occasional assist from Leroy M. Bell (his nephew) and Casey James, the duo who made up Bell & James (who, not coincidentally, are also on this soundtrack).

The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh bombed huge when it came out in 1979 (I know, what a shocker) so the soundtrack was never even granted an official release. The few copies that were made were only issued as promos for radio stations. However, thanks  to Discogs, I know have one of those copies. So now, I am more than pleased to present to you the soundtrack to The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, the finest soundtrack to a film about Pittsburgh basketball and its relationship with astrology that you’ll ever hear.

Thomas Bell Orchestra featuring Doc Severinsen – A Theme For L.A.’s Team
An odd starting number for the soundtrack, considering that the movie is about the team from Pittsburgh, but it still serves as a solid opening number that sets the vibe for the whole album. And hey, it has Doc Severinsen from The Tonight Show, so that’s something.

Phyllis Hyman – Magic Mona
In the film, Mona is the astrologer/spiritual adviser who helps coordinate all the players’ star charts so they’ll know their strengths and weaknesses for each game (sure, it sounds stupid when I say it like that). For her theme song, Bell recruited Phyllis Hyman, a soul singer with a powerful voice who was actually raised in Pittsburgh (but born in Philly). Hyman had a few minor disco/dance hits in the 70s and 80s, and even had something of an acting career going for a while, but she committed suicide in 1995 at the way too young age of 45. I don’t know much about her other than that (which I culled from her wiki page) but she sure had an amazing voice, even if “Magic Mona” is a silly song.

The Sylvers – Mighty Mighty Pisces
The theme song for the Pittsburgh basketball team was contributed to by The Sylvers, a family act of nine (holy shit!) brothers and sisters from Memphis, Tennessee. Maybe the popularization of birth control is one of the reasons why we don’t see bands like this anymore. This song is basically one long hook “Mighty mighty Pisces/now you’re making history!” with some inspirational verses thrown in. Just like the movie itself, it’s stupid as hell, but instantly charming and fun.

The Spinners – “(Do It, Do It) No One Does It Better
One of Thom Bell’s more memorable projects, The Spinners were a big name for a while, scoring a string of amazing soul singles throughout the 1970s. Their funky soul style doesn’t really shine with this track though. If you want to see just how awesome The Spinners were, check out this performance of “Rubberband Man,” one of the best soul tracks of the decade.

Bell & James – The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh
Thom Bell was burying the lead by making the title track the last track of the first side, because this song is amazing! It’s probably the main reason why I’ve fallen in love with the movie so much. It’s impossible to feel down or sad after hearing to this track, which is one of the most oppressively upbeat disco tunes I’ve ever heard, which is quite the feat when you think about how disgustingly upbeat most disco is.I dare you to find a better funk/disco track about a Pittsburgh-based basketball team. You won’t! Seriously though, it’s pretty incredible, if all music was this fun and exciting the world would be a much better place.

As for Bell & James, the short-lived duo never really scored a major hit on the charts during their short-lived career, although Bell recently reappeared on The X Factor recently, which is just weird. He was eliminated, but I bet if he would’ve won if he sang this track.

Frankie Bleu – Moses’ Theme
There’s a really odd romance subplot to The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh involving Dr. J’s Moses character and the big sister of the ballboy. The “seduction” scene pretty much involves her watching Moses play streetball by himself (in slow motion) while this slow jam plays. Download this song, try that out for yourself and report back to me.

The Four Tops – Chance Of A Lifetime
I really hope I don’t need to explain who The Four Tops are. I mean, they’re only responsible for “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “I Can’t Help Myself,” “It’s the Same Old Song,” “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” and “Bernadette,” (my favorite vocal group song of all time). “Chance Of A Lifetime” is less than a fraction of good as those tracks, but it’s still one of the best songs on the record. Like most of the best songs on the soundtrack, it’s upbeat disco with a “you can do it theme” that’s impossible not to like.

I need more motivational disco in my life. Wah-wah guitars make me feel like I can accomplish anything.

William Hart – Follow Every Dream
This soundtrack works best when it’s trying to be funky and semi-inspirational, so this love song by the lead singer of The Delfonics is kind of meh. It’s fine. But whenever I listen to it I usually stop it halfway though and play “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” instead.

Eubie Blake & Thom Bell – Ragtime
It’s a ragtime song…dude, I have no idea. It’s only a minute and twenty seconds long, just go with it.

Loretta Lynn & Frankie Bleu – Is It Love, Must Be Love
The Coal Miner’s Daughter was the last person I expected to see on a soundtrack that predominately features soul, R&B and disco, but if the 70s were anything, they were random. This is a cute 70s soft-rock style song, generic, but cute. I have no idea who the unfortunately-named Frankie Bleu is.

 

Posted in Complete Albums, soundtrack | 23 Comments »

The Smiths: So This Is America – A Bootleg That is Criminally Vulgar

Monday, November 14th, 2011

The Smiths – So This Is America (Complete Album Download)
Intro
How Soon Is Now
Hand In Glove
I Want The One I Can’t Have
Still Ill
Frankly Mr. Shankley
Panic
Never Had No-One Ever
Stretch Out And Wait
The Boy With A Thorn In His Side
Cemetery Gates
What She Said
Is It Really So Strange?
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
That Joke Isn’t Funny Any More
The Queen Is Dead
The Draize Train
I Know It’s Over
Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now
Big Mouth Strikes Again
What She Said (Encore)

Vinyl bootlegs have always fascinated me. Anyone can record a concert and put it online today, and in the 90s it wasn’t too terribly difficult to press a small run of bootleg CDs (or just burn them to cheap CD-Rs), but going through the effort of pressing an illegal album to vinyl is rather impressive.

As I’ve read it, many bootleggers were able to get their albums pressed thanks to down-on-their-luck pressing plants looking for any source of income. The bootlegs would usually be pressed “after hours” when the major work of the day was done. Then the bootleggers would take their stash and the major labels would be none the wiser. That’s a lot of cloak and dagger work for muddy audience recordings, but hey, some people are dedicated.

I’ve also always found the outrage of labels towards bootleggers to be idiotic, and the idea that concert bootlegging somehow hurts legit album sales is a stupid one without any basis in reality. No one is going to pick up an audience-recording of a concert in lieu of a legitimate release. The person who buys a concert bootleg is the kind of person who has already seen the band on tour; owns the band’s entire discography; and most likely has many of the artist’s import releases and singles. They’re fanatics.

I don’t know about you, but when I think of bands that have fanatical fans, The Smiths are usually one of the first groups that come to mind. So it makes sense that there are tons of Smiths bootlegs out there. I don’t proclaim to be a huge Smiths fan (I’m just not that miserable anymore) but when I saw this one at Jerry’s Records for $15, I knew that price was most likely a steal and I snatched it immediately. Considering I’ve only seen one copy for sale online, for close to $100, turns out that I may have been right about this one.

This sounds like it was recorded by a fan in the audience, so it’s not the clearest bootleg you’ll hear. Still, since The Smiths never released official live versions of many of their best tracks, including “How Soon Is Now,” it’s worth at least one listen if you’re a fan of The Smiths.

Additional note: If you download this and wonder why the ID3 tags list 22 tracks and you only have 21, it’s because the bootleg had a “bonus” track: U2’s “Wire (Celtic Dub Mix).” While oddly fascinating (and kind of random), that track is on the deluxe edition of The Unforgettable Fire, so I’m not featuring it here.

I’m 50% certain my next post won’t be a bootleg. But I’m not making any promises.

Posted in bootlegs, Complete Albums, The Smiths | 1 Comment »

Urgh! Revisited Again (Not For The First Time)

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

Now that I have a great turntable and pre-amp, I’ve been visiting the archives to see which albums and singles deserve to be re-recorded and re-posted. Obviously, the soundtrack to Urgh! A Music War was one of the first on the list. These new recordings sound light-years better than my last attempt, and I highly recommended you download them even if you have an older copy I posted.

I’ve talked about Urgh! several times over, so I’ll keep the intro brief. It’s an amazing document of a time period in music, when the punk rock influences of the 70s were starting to find their way into pop music; the white British kids were discovering reggae; and when people like Gary Numan determined that any musical problem could be solved with more synthesizers. I don’t think there’s ever been another movie like it, and there certainly hasn’t been another soundtrack like it. Let’s take a look at it, one side at a time.

Side 1
The Police – Driven To Tears
Wall Of Voodoo – Back In Flesh
Toyah Wilcox – Dance
Orchestral Manoeuvers In The Dark – Enola Gay
Oingo Boingo – Ain’t This The Life
XTC – Respectable Street
Urgh! starts out a little weak, with one of The Police’s more bland efforts serving as the opening track. Things pick up quick though, thanks to an awesome lesser-known number by “Mexican Radio” fans Wall of Voodoo, followed by a freak-out of a performance by Toyah Wilcox. OMD calm things down a bit with their mid-tempo ode to nuclear warfare, but the calm doesn’t last long thanks to Danny Elfmann and the rest of Oingo Boingo rocking out “Ain’t This The Life,” one of their best tracks in my opinion. Closing side one out is a live cut by XTC, delivered so passionately and powerfully that it makes that eventual retreat from live performances all the more heartbreaking.

Side 2
The Members – Offshore Banking Business
Go-Go’s – We Got The Beat
Total Eclipse – Klaus Nomi
Athletico Spizz ’80 – Where’s Captain Kirk
Alley Cats – Nothing Means Nothing Anymore
Jools Holland – Foolish I Know
Steel Pulse – Klu Klux Klan
Side two is polarizing for me. It has some of my favorite tracks; Go-Go’s “We Got The Beat,” and the crazy “Where’ Captain Kirk” by Spizz, but it also has many of the album’s lesser numbers (at least in my opinion). I’ve never enjoyed reggae, so I almost always skip The Members and Steel Pulse tracks, and Jools Holland’s little piano bit is just annoying to me. Still, this side does have the jaw-dropping Klaus Nomi on it, so in the end it’s more good than bad.

Side 3
Devo – Uncontrollable Urge
Echo And The Bunnymen – The Puppet
The Au Pairs – Come Again
The Cramps – Tear It Up
Joan Jett & The Blackheats – Bad Reputation
Pere Ubu – Birdies
Gary Numan – Down In The Park
If side three of the Urgh! soundtrack was a standalone release it would still be worth buying. Amazing tracks by legendary bands such as Devo, Echo and The Bunnymen, Joan Jett, Gary Numan and The Cramps! All back-to-back! Epic. The Au Pairs hold their own against these more well-known bands, with their fun and quirky song about getting off (or not), and Cleveland-born freaks Pere Ubu accomplish the impossible and out-weird Gary Numan’s offbeat performance of his best song from the time period. All awesome stuff.

Side 4
Fleshtones – Shadow Line
Gang Of Four – He’d Send In The Army
John Otway – Cheryl’s Going Home
999 – Homicide
X – Beyond And Back
Magazine – Model Worker
Skafish – Sign Of The Cross
Side four is kind of a let down after the jam-packed collection of awesome that is side three. Yes, it does have X and Gang of Four (wanna hear a secret? I don’t like them!) but it also has forgettable tracks by forgotten artists like John Otway and Skafish. 999 does save things a bit though with “Homicide,” the best tribute to murdering fools that you’re ever likely to hear. Also, while some of these tracks are kind of mediocre, none of them are bad or annoying (save maybe for the Gang of Four number – but don’t tell anyone I said that), so it’s still a worthy finale to a near-flawless record.

But wait, there’s more!

Did you know you can buy Urgh! now? It’s available to purchase via Warner Brothers’ Warner Archives site. It’s just a DVD-R, but it’s in anamorphic widescreen and it sounds incredible. It definitely looks and sounds better than my worn-down VHS tape.

As you may know, there are many tracks in the Urgh! movie that weren’t featured on the soundtrack. Here are those songs, ripped directly from the DVD’s audio track (except for the Slodgenessabounds tune, since that’s not on the DVD for some reason).


Non-Album Tracks Ripped from DVD (Slodgenessabounds taken from VHS)
John Cooper Clarke – Health Fanatic
Chelsea – I’m On Fire
Dead Kennedys – Bleed For Me
Surf Punks – My Beach
Invisible Sex – Valium
Splodgenessabounds – Two Little Boys
UB40 – Madame Medua
The Police – Roxanne
The Police –  So Lonely
Klaus Nomi – Aria from Samson and Delilah (End Credits Music)
Highlights here include John Cooper Clarke and his breakneck punk rock poetry slam; the Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra comparing the oppressive governments of Afghanistan to living in Nebraska for his intro for “Bleed For Me,” and the…I don’t even fucking know what of Invisible Sex’s “Valium.” The extended jam version of “Roxanne” by The Police isn’t that bad either (and I usually can’t stand that song).

Enjoy and I’ll see you all next week.

Posted in Complete Albums, soundtrack | 15 Comments »

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