The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh – Original Soundtrack

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 »

Smashing Pumpkins Reissues: Mini-Reviews

December 3rd, 2011

I’m going to keep this rather brief, because while I like these new Deluxe Editions, I really don’t have much to say about them. I also have other music I’d rather be writing about.

I’ve already gone over the sound quality of these sets, but what about the content itself?

Both of these Deluxe Editions are three-disc sets, each containing their own bonus CD of rare material and a live concert DVD.

I’ll start with the CDs. There are very few “new” tracks on these discs. If you’re looking for previously unheards songs, you’re probably going to be a little disappointed. The Gish bonus disc only includes two completely unheard tracks (demo versions of “Hippy Trippy” and “Jesus Is The Sun”) while the Siamese Dream bonus CD includes four never-before-heard tunes (demos of “STP,” “Moleasskiss,” “USA” and “USSR”). The rest of the tracks on both discs are either previously released B-sides that weren’t on Pisces Iscariot, or alternate/early versions of previously released material.

But that’s not to say that this material still isn’t worth having. In fact, the majority of these demos and alternate versions stand up on their own as complete songs, and not just curiosities designed to appeal to the hardcore fans and no one else. I really enjoy the demo version of “Today,” since it’s far heavier than the original, and helps to convey the actual dark and disturbing lyrics of the song way more than the final version ever could, and it’s great to have another eight-minute version of the Singles soundtrack cut “Drown” (this one with a different guitar solo). The lo-fi demo versions of “Spaceboy” and “Luna” are great as well.

I haven’t been able to fully absorb the live DVDs yet, but they both sound great. They are videotapes from the early 90s, however, and look about as bad as you might think. If you never got to see the Smashing Pumpkins during this era of their career, you should be in for a treat.

So, consider my mind blown. Someone finally treated classic albums from the 90s with the respect they deserve, giving us deluxe editions that should please both old and new fans alike. If you love the Pumpkins or if you’re a bit younger and have never really heard them, these new editions are great jumping on points.

Now…for tonight’s music. To be honest. I got nothing. All the rare Smashing Pumpkins I have is in print. So instead I’ll once again direct you to the Internet Archive, where you can find a complete recording of the Smashing Pumpkins’ performance from VH1’s Storytellers. It’s a great show with a lot of interesting comments from Billy. I suggest you check it out.

Posted in The Smashing Pumpkins | 3 Comments »

A Shocking Lack Of Rage (In A Cage): Smashing Pumpkins Week Day 2

November 29th, 2011

So far, the important albums of my generation haven’t fared too well when given the “deluxe” treatment. Pearl Jam’s Ten was re-issued in an amazing deluxe package, but the record itself was compressed to hell. Nirvana’s Nevermind had it even worse (a fact I’ve documented here repeatedly) thanks to a shameful box set that might go down in history as one of the worst re-issues of all time.

Because of that, I was more than a little trepidatious when Billy Corgan announced that he would be remastering and re-releasing the entire Smashing Pumpkins catalog over the course of the next few years – starting with re-issues of Gish and Siamese Dream. I was even more apprehensive when I discovered that Bob Ludwig, the hypocrite behind the Nevermind remaster, would be behind the mixing desk for these new deluxe editions.

Thankfully, while neither album makes it through the loudness wars entirely unscathed, I’m happy (wow, I’m happy?!?) to report that the damage is rather minimal.

Allow me to explain.

Here’s “Siva.” The top is from the original CD release, the bottom from the remaster:

Original Dynamic Range: 11
Remaster Dynamic Range:  8

“Tristessa,” another great track from Gish

Original Dynamic Range: 10
Remaster Dynamic Range:  8

Onto Siamese Dream and “Cherub Rock.”

Original Dynamic Range: 10
Remaster Dynamic Range: 8

Let’s do one more for good measure, my favorite Smashing Pumpkins track, “Silverfuck.”

Original Dynamic Range: 11
Remaster Dynamic Range:  8

So yes, the new editions of both Gish and Siamese Dream suffer from decreased dynamic range. However, look at those dynamic range differences, they aren’t that drastic, nothing like the hack job that Nevermind was subjected to. I suspect that if there is any difference in fidelity with these re-issues, most audio equipment (and ears) won’t be able to pick it up. I sure as hell didn’t.

Did these albums need to be louder? Probably not, but at least they didn’t seem to be noticeably damaged in the process.

They also come with some pretty solid extras, which I’ll talk more about in my next post.

Until then, let’s celebrate this unlikely event with an awesome bootleg!

Smashing Pumpkins – Pluggletric (Click here to download the complete album)

Spaceboy
Dancing in the Moonlight
Rocket
Cherub Rock
Today
Drown
Disarm
Siva/Disarm
Geek USA
I Am One
Cherub Rock
Silverfuck
I Am One
I don’t know why, but I associate the Smashing Pumpkins with the 90s more than any other band from that era.

One experience that was especially “90s” for me were my weekly trips to the local record store and scouring their collection of bizarre “import” CDs, many of which were really bootlegs.  I spent many a paycheck at that CD Warehouse, buying poorly labeled and typo-ridden bootlegs of bands like Garbage, Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails and, most often, the Smashing Pumpkins.

Of those boots, Pluggletric was one of my favorites. As its name suggests, half of it is acoustic and the other half electric. Of the acoustic stuff, “Today” and “Cherub Rock” are highlights, mostly because they lend themselves so well to the acoustic format – very mellow and chill. When it comes to the electric live tracks, the choice cuts include a blistering rendition of “Geek USA” and the epicly epic “Silverfuck,” which is extended to 11 minutes in length here.

And if you think that’s impressive, when I saw them live in 1997 they played a version of that song that was almost 30 minutes long. You may call that excessive, drawn-out and masturbatory, but I call it the point where the Smashing Pumpkins became my favorite band in the world until they disbanded three years later.

 

Posted in The Smashing Pumpkins | 5 Comments »

Smashing Pumpkins Week Day 1: If I Were Dead Would This Record Sell

November 28th, 2011

It’s a big week for the Smashing Pumpkins, and I mean the actual Smashing Pumpkins, not that group that Billy Corgan has with him now.

This Tuesday we get new Deluxe Editions of both Gish and Siamese Dream. For many children of the 90s (myself included) these records hold just as much weight, if not more, as Nirvana’s Nevermind and Pearl Jam’s Ten. While those albums showed that rock could work when it was stripped down and bare, the best stuff by The Smashing Pumpkins proved that sometimes bigger (and bigger) was still sometimes the way to go. I love the bombast, guitar wankery and batshit self-indulgent grandiosity of the classic Pumpkins tracks. Nothings sounds like them, even to this day.

The extras on these Deluxe Editions look to be pretty stellar, let’s just hope they don’t fuck it up this time (Bob Ludwig is mastering it…). Expect a full review by yours truly later this week. Until then, here are a couple Smashing Pumpkins bootlegs that are absolutely smashing (see what I did there)?

Smashing Pumpkins: Live at the Axis Nightclub – September 23rd, 1991
Intro
Rocket
Tristessa
Window Paine
Bury Me
Siva
If that date above looks familiar, that’s because it’s the same date as this Nirvana show. That’s right, The Smashing Pumpkins were the opening act for that night. That’s a lot of awesome for one night.

This recording is a little muddy, but it definitely sounds better than the Nirvana recording that was made the same night. The nine-minute version of “Siva” is fucking awesome too.

Like the Nirvana bootlegs I’ve hosted, this is yet another gift from the awesome Duane Bruce. I thank him for hooking me up with the files.

Smashing Pumpkins: Live at the Cabaret Metro – October 5th, 1988
There It Goes
She
My Eternity
Under Your Spell
Bleed
Spiteface
Nothing And Everything
The last (real) Smashing Pumpkins concert was at the Chicago Metro in 2000. Attendees of that legendary show got this CD, which is a bootleg recording of the group’s very first concert as a complete band (before this show they played with a drum machine). It’s not unlistenable, but it’s definitely more of note for its historical relevance than its actual quality: there’s a reason why you probably never heard of any of these songs.

Still jonesing for more Pumpkins bootlegs? Head over to the Internet Archive, they have an amazing selection of high-quality Smashing Pumpkin bootlegs from the 80s to today. If you don’t know where to start I highly (highly) recommend their second-to-last show from November 29th, 2000.

I was at that concert, I’m certain my ears never completely recovered from it (wear earplugs kids) and it was totally worth it. And it’s a high-quality FM rip, so it sounds amazing.

Posted in bootlegs, The Smashing Pumpkins | 1 Comment »

We Be Pearl Jammin’

November 22nd, 2011

Here is the rare Pearl Jam I was going to post a few weeks ago, but was too disgruntled to bother. My heart really isn’t in talking about the group still, which is why this post is kind of brief. Good tunes though.

Pearl Jam
Of The Earth (Live)
This is a new song that Pearl Jam premiered on their 2010 European tour. This live recording is an after-credits easter egg on the concert documentary film The Kids Are Twenty, the “for the fans” documentary about the band that the fans can no longer buy because the band chose to make it a limited edition release. But I’ve bitched about that enough…moving on.

Foldback
Harmony
Thunderclap
These three tracks are instrumentals that were used as background music for a couple of montages from the Touring Band 2000 DVD that came out in 2001. Slight, but still worth a few listens. Much like their origin suggests, they make for great background tunes.

No Jeremy
Falling Down
The annual “holiday” single is the only reason why I stick with the Ten Club (Pearl Jam’s fanclub). Over the years the band has used the Ten Club single to premiere many great tunes, including “Last Kiss,” and their covers of “Sonic Reducer” and “Love, Reign O’er Me.” This year’s single was one of the best, featuring these two incredibly rare tracks. “Falling Down” is an entirely original song that was only performed once, while “No Jeremy” is a radical reworking of “Jeremy” that restructures the song into something else entirely. Both recordings are taken from the same 1995 concert at Red Rocks.

Even though it’s Thanksgiving this week, I hope to get at least two more posts up before the holiday, including another Duane Bruce bootleg.

The probability of this happenings is directly related to how insane my family drives me and how much vodka is in my father’s house.

Posted in B-sides, live, Pearl Jam | 7 Comments »

Nirvana Live at the Axis Nightclub – September 23rd, 1991

November 17th, 2011

A couple weeks ago former WFNX DJ Duane Bruce was kind enough to share a recording of a rarely heard Nirvana concert from 1990. He put it up on Soundcloud, but it hit its download limit there within minutes. I contacted him about sharing it through my site, and he was kind enough to oblige me.

He also shared with me this tease:

I’ll have something else just as rare coming around thanksgiving. Not saying anything else right now, but you will be very happy.

He wasn’t kidding. This is…awesome.

Nirvana: Live at the Axis Nightclub – September 23rd, 1991 (Complete concert download)
Intro
Aneurysm
Drain You
School
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Come As You Are
Sliver
Jesus Don’t Want Me For A Sunbeam
Floyd The Barber
Polly
About A Girl
Breed
Rape Me
Blew
Been A Son (Excerpt)
Negative Creep

I’ll let Duane share the details:

Well my friends…here it is. Nirvana’s full length set from the now legendary WFNX 8th Birthday Bash at Axis on Sept. 23rd 1991.

But, you must take the bad with the good. I did not record the show . However, the party that did was in the pit for the first 4-5 songs, so it is historical but muffled at times. Axis was packed to the gills. Think ‘Green line on a Friday rush hour with a Sox game at home’ packed. By the time “Come As You Are” starts, the sound quality improves to about as good a bootleg as you could hope for (thanks to Mike Zeigler at nirvanaguide.com for the assistance).

The concrete walls and floor of Axis provided the perfect acoustics for the raw energy. Dave Grohl’s first Boston gig with the band. This is also the first time that they ever played “Jesus Don’t Want Me For A Sunbeam” by the Vaselines. Both Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic comment that “We just learned this one today”. It was a rare night that only a small number (1200+) saw.

I remember that the WFNX staff was pumped for this show more than any other in its history and deservedly so. The Axis staff was also ready to go. MTV was on hand as well as a number of other local, national and international journalists. The show was later written about in NME. By the time that you get to “Rape Me” you will be transfixed and may even start to tear up a bit. It was only the fourth time that they had performed it live. WFNX had an early copy of ‘Nevermind’ and we played some tracks for the great Lenny Kaye, guitarist for Patti Smith, about a week before the show. He had never heard of Nirvana, but upon hearing them declared “that somebody has to protect them”.

I have had this recording as well as the previously released Nirvana show at ManRay for the past 20 years and realized that it was time to share with everyone. One day, I will be gone and they will wind up on the curb. They deserve better than that. It’s rock and roll history. Thank you Maxell for making a quality product that lasted.

I remember that right before the set, both Krist and Dave were on stage and ready to go, but no sign of Mr. Cobain. I had to dash upstairs through the thick crowd and met Kurt on the stairwell as his bandmates cat-called him from the stage. I can still hear Krist in his falsetto voice…”Oh Kuurrtt” coming through the speakers.
30 seconds later, then WFNX Music Director Kurt St. Thomas introduced them……..enjoy!

Some technical disclaimers: I made no effort to clean this up, and the only edit I made while cutting the concert into individual tracks was to decrease the volume at the very beginning of “About A Girl” because it was way louder than the rest of the recording. Part of “Been A Son” is missing, but that is also the fault of the source material and not me.

Like Duane says, it’s a rough recording, but it’s not unlistenable – I’ve heard (and posted) way worse boots. The power of this performance pushes its way past the technical limitations of the recording. If you consider yourself even the slightest of Nirvana fan then you must download this now.

And thanks again Duane! You are a Golden God for sharing this.

Posted in bootlegs, Nirvana | 8 Comments »

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

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)

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 »

Nirvana Live at the Man Ray – 4.18.90

November 7th, 2011

I don’t know if you all knew this, but I kind of like Nirvana.

So when word spread last week that a previously unreleased Nirvana concert had made its way online, I had to have it. Unfortunately the only place you could get it was on Soundcloud, and they have a 100 download limit cap. Also, the Soundcloud copy of the concert cut out early, leaving four tracks unheard.

Undeterred, I reached out the Duane Bruce, the former Boston DJ who recorded the concert and uploaded it to Soundcloud, and he agreed to send me a copy of the concert to distribute here. Everyone thank Duane!

“Thank you Duane!”

Okay, you can all download it now, since you’ve been so nice. The first link is a zip with the entire show, the others are the individual tracks (and in case you’re wondering, I’m posting links to the MP3 files directly so the post gets picked up by various MP3 aggregators).

Nirvana – 4.18.90 – Live At The Man Ray Nightclub, Cambridge, MA
Intro
School
Floyd The Barber
Love Buzz
Dive
Scoff
About A Girl
Spank Thru
Breed
Some tuning and rambling
In Bloom
Big Cheese
Molly’s Lips
Been A Son
Stain
Negative Creep
More tuning and rambling
Blew
Pay To Play
Quick disclaimer: for a bootleg recording this sounds great, but it’s still a bootleg. There’s a lot of line noise and hum, and a few odd clips and cuts near the end, but none of that should affect your enjoyment of what sounded like a totally kick ass show! Highlights include  a great version of “About A Girl” (which I always thought sounded better “plugged”) and blistering early versions of “Breed” and “Stay Away” (the latter of which is presented in its early “Pay To Play” incarnation).

Thanks again to Duane Bruce!

Posted in bootlegs, live, Nirvana | 6 Comments »

Unidentified Flying Vinyl – File #733 UFO

November 7th, 2011

File #733 UFO  – Courtesy of Jack Jenkins. This record may not be copied without his permission.

Sometimes the weird records I buy take me on weird journeys. This one was one of the weirdest, but also the most fun and surprising.

File #733 U.F.O. is a documentary record. I posted one of these a few months ago, although that record – which was a collection of interviews with prostitutes – was more exploitation than proper documentary.

This record is far more serious and well-produced than that piece of pseudo-titillation. But what is it?

I’ll let the record’s linear notes explain:

“What is a U.F.O.? If you’re looking for a simple answer to this question, you won’t find it in this album. Instead you will hear eye-witnesses claim the UFO’s they’ve seen to be from football-sized to 70 feet wide, flashing every color of the rainbow. Some insist the UFO’s are here on a peaceful mission; another quotes an Air Force officer who states UFO’s accounted for the utter disappearance of three of our aircraft. And a Florida resident wears a lump of scar tissue on his forehead where he says a UFO shot him with a blinding beam of light.

“FILE #733 UFO brings actual voices of Americans who are just like you and me…except for one or two startling experiences. Like the lady who played hostess to seventy people, and every one of them saw the frightening glowing objects that plagued her hillside home for weeks. Or like the California man who rode in a fourteen-room, thirty-foot tall space ship and discussed religion with the commander but who has been asked by the Air Force to soft-pedal the experience. Or the lady whose journey to the corner store was delayed by a firey flying object which stopped her car and ruined the battery. Or the…

But what do the ‘officials’ say? The Air Force spokesman questioned on UFO’s seems to brush the subject aside, leaving only a crack of light beneath a curtain of indifference: yet their project “Blue Book” admits a small percentage of UFO sightings remain unexplained. Scientists meanwhile back away from the subject.

Whatever your notion about Unidentified Flying Objects, “FILE 733, U.F.O.” will be an absorbing listening experience you’ll play over and over again. And, who knows? It may turn out to be history in the making!” – Jim French Radio K.I.R.O.

If you have any interest in UFOs, then you should get a real kick out of this production. The interview subject range from 100% credible to 100% certifiable (more on that in a bit) and regardless of their believability, they’re always entertaining and interesting.

I’d never heard anything like this record and wanted to know more about who made it. The linear notes did include a bit about the record’s producer/narrator, Jack Jenkins:

“Who is Jack Jenkins? The young producer-narrator of FILE #733 UFO is Jack Jenkins, a Korean veteran and inveterate seeker of truth, whose part-time hobby investigating unidentified flying objects reports has consumed thousands of hours – and hundreds of dollars. His search for information on the UFO has taken Jenkins to plausible-seeming pilots, earnest and modest matrons, impassioned self-professed prophets and nerve-wracked homemakers who have grown to wish they’d never been visited by UFOs. The narration contained in this album is concise and documentary in tone, and the voices of the actual UFO contactees or authorities were recording by Jenkins with a minimum of tape-editing, removing only pauses and redundant material. As a broadcast, as well as a long time friend, it’s a pleasure to know that thousands of Americans will now enjoy the opportunity of meeting one of the communications industry’s most promising young men: Jack Jenkins. – Jim French

Those notes did a good job of answering the question “Who is Jack Jenkins?” But I wanted to know “What happened to Jack Jenkins?” I also wanted to find out how he put this record out, what he tought of it, and what he did after it’s release! But as you can probably imagine, information on a 40+ year old record about UFOs is hard to come by, so I had to do the digging myself.

As you can probably imagine, Jack Jenkins is a pretty common name, so finding any information on this Jack Jenkins was really tricky at first. I did searches for “Jack Jenkins KIRO” “Jack Jenkins UFO” and “Jack Jenkins Century Records,” all with no luck. I tried countless other variations as well, each with no credible results. Eventually, I did a search for “Jack Jenkins radio commentator” and I came up with this: a commercial for a film about growing your own food “narrated by former nationally syndicated radio commentator, Jack Jenkins.”

That sounded promising.

The DVD was being released by Country Living Grain Mill, so I visited their website and sent an email to their contact address:

This is going to sound very strange, but I’m trying to track down someone named Jack Jenkins who produced a record in the 1960s about UFOs called “File #733 UFO.” It’s a documentary record that claims to have interviews with actual abuctees and assorted other people connected with UFOs….I know it’s an incredible long shot, but are they the same person? If so…I’d love to get a chance to ask Jenkins a few questions about it. If not…I’m sorry to waste your time with such a very strange question!

The response shocked me:

My father, Jack, produced and narrated File #733 after visiting and interviewing a number of people who claimed to have experiences with UFOs.  He’s not around today, but he’ll be in tomorrow if you’d like to give him a call and chat with him.

-Joel Jenkins

(It is at this point that I would like to remind any of you looking for a freelance researcher/writer that I am always looking for additional work.)

Well, I wasn’t going to turn down an offer like that, so last Wednesday I talked to Jack on the phone for about half an hour. He seemed just as shocked that I was able to track him down as I was, with the first words out of this mouth being “You should be a genealogist! You dig deep!”

After I told him how I was able to find him, he told me the story of how File #733 UFO came to be.

In the mid-1960s Jenkins was a radio host for KING radio in Seattle. During that time he would frequently get calls in from people claiming to have seen UFOs. He already had an interest in the subject, as did many at the time, and these phone calls piqued his curiosity even higher. Starting with the people he talked to on the radio and then going from there, Jenkins went out with a reel-to-reel tape deck and microphone, recording conversations with all kinds of people who claimed to have encounters with alien spacecraft.

But anyone can do that, so how did Jenkins manage to get his conversations pressed to vinyl?

Well, Jenkins knew how to record an album, and he was able to get it pressed, because he was a franchise for Century Records, a small record label based out of California. Working with Century, Jenkins recorded hundreds of local bands, choirs, vocal groups and other acts who wanted their music released. He had this record pressed just like all those others. About a thousand were made, and they were sold primarily in the Pacific Northwest.

As for the content itself, Jenkins considers some of the stories on File #733 UFO to be highly plausible, with reliable witnesses telling credible stories. At the same time, there are also many crackpots on the record whom Jenkins exposed as such. According to Jenkins, this created some scary situations after the record came out.

“I started to get thinly veiled threats that made me begin to worry about my wife and family” he said.

Thankfully, it soon became apparent that the crackpots just wanted what every crackpot wants: money. Eventually, they caved in on their threats and asked Jenkins for a cut of his profits. Since the record didn’t actually make any money for Jenkins, that ended that issue.

As for the more credible people on the record, Jenkins stayed in touch with some of them years after the record was released. He tried to stay in touch with Sid Padrick, one claimed abductee on the record, but some years ago Padrick had apparently vanished without a trace. According to Jenkins, Padrick did always say that he believed the aliens would return for him someday…

(Cue X-Files theme music).

As for Jenkins himself, he eventually left the recording and radio industries altogether. Today, he runs Country Living Mills, selling home grain mills to people around the world. The obvious enthusiasm and energy young Jack Jenkins displayed while talking about aliens on File #733 UFO, the 77-year-old Jenkins shows while discussing grain and grain mills. He believes that people today are too reliant on mass-produced grain and other foods that suck out all the nutrients and are full of harmful chemicals. According to Jenkins, more people should rely on locally grown food and, when possible, prepare their own grain and other foods.

While so many people preaching against big business and corporate food sound like the very crackpots Jenkins exposed on his record, Jenkins comes off incredibly likable and polite, explaining his views in a way that makes sense even to someone like me, who knows next to nothing about food production.

Although Jenkins is no longer involved in radio and he hasn’t worked on another UFO-related project since this record, he’s still immensely proud of the record he made all those years ago, and his faith in the subject remains unwavering.

“I’m delighted with it. I know UFOs are out there and there’s no question about it. And I consider some of the people I met absolutely honest and very plausible. It’s one of those things we probably won’t know for quiet a while. But that’s okay. It’s good to have a few mysteries.”

I thank Jack Jenkins for the opportunity to talk to him about his unique record and I would also like to thank him for letting me share it with all of you. I hope you all find it as fascinating as I do.

 

Posted in Interview, Non-Music, UFOs | 8 Comments »

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