The Last Waltz

Today, Thanksgiving in the U.S., November 24th, 2016, is being recognized as the 40th Anniversary of the concert by The Band known as The Last Waltz. It was both filmed and sound recorded, resulting in a documentary film directed by Martin Scorcese and a triple-LP released by Warner Bros. (although their prior albums were mostly on Capitol-- except for two recorded with Dylan when he was renegotiating with his own label, Columbia). The actual date of the concert was November 25th, 1976. This month there have already been several retail items released to commemorate the event, including a 2CD set replicating the 3LP album and a deluxe package that appears to pair the 2002 4CD set with a Blu-ray disc of the Scorcese film.

The reason why this was preserved for posterity at all, let alone revisited periodically as it has been, becomes immediately evident to anyone who has seen the film, even though it relates only a fraction of the proceedings. Guitarist and principal lyricist Robbie Robertson was leaving the group. At the time, and for some time after the film hit theaters in 1978, it was widely believed that the group was splitting up entirely. Interviews since then indicate that was not the intention of the other members but public perception has a way of shaping self-fulfilling prophesies. Other members would tour and record separately and in combinations, including as "The Band", but the performances that night were fantastic even if the title isn't 100% accurate.

The whole event was roughly nine hours, including four hours of music, Thanksgiving dinner for 5000 people, plus prior band rehearsals and later studio recordings to complete the two planned media projects. Joining The Band onstage were a wish-list of headlining musicians and singers they've worked with or for. The only one I can think of that wasn't evident was Allen Toussaint. To date there has never been a legitimate release of the full day's recordings and it's unlikely there ever will be. Perhaps for the 50th Anniversary a raw source tape without edits or overdubbing will stream online on Thanksgiving as background music for people who don't watch football.

Well, leftovers are calling me. If Black Friday proceedings don't slow the internet to a crawl then I'll probably add some thoughts tomorrow.

V05-T03 Hombre Secreto

.

.....I first saw the movie "Repo Man" in the theater and fell in love immediately. It's one more reason the human race has to thank Mike Nesmith. He's credited as an executive producer, which usually translates to financing a project rather than any hands-on participation, but though the punk music dominating the soundtrack and nihilism dominating the characters are both outside of his usual modus operandi his trademark dry humor is all over the dialogue.

Volume 5: DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL (YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE IT'S BEEN), track 3

• 01:48 "HOMBRE SECRETO" (P.F. Sloan, Steve Barri; Spanish translation by Tito Larriva)
• performed by The Plugz
• original source: VALP MUSIC FROM THE ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK "REPO MAN" San Andreas Records/MCA SAR 39019 (US) 1984
• and my source: the same

.....Sloan's co-writer, Steve Barri, was actually credited on the label as "S.B. Lipkin", his real name. I used his professional name because it's more widely recognized (and to be fair, Sloan's name is a pseudonym, too). Below are my notes from 1994.

....."What? No Japanese? Well, these compilations wouldn't be complete without a foreign language number in there somewhere. Of course, you may know this in English as the Johnny Rivers song 'SECRET AGENT MAN'. Being a long time fan of the TV show 'The Prisoner' (and its antecedent 'Secret Agent', with which Americans associate the song), those opening chords always catch my ear. I think there's a Lou Miami recording of this out there. In English, I mean.

....."The Plugz are a fine example of L.A. punk's dirtiest little secret-- i.e., that it isn't any more homegrown than the rest of the rock in L.A. Just like in the big commercial rock world, the best 'L.A.' punk bands weren't from Los Angeles; they were from San Francisco or Mexico. At first the only clubs to play in were in L.A. and the minute clubs opened elsewhere bands stopped making the haul to L.A. to perform. When the mass media types no longer saw punk bands in Los Angeles they assumed that there couldn't be anything going on in the 'lesser' towns and declared that punk was dead. Michael Nesmith, on the other hand, decided to look beyond the end of his nose and decided that it was not. He backed the production of 'Repo Man' (for which Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton will be forever grateful), whose soundtrack album was probably the first mass-marketed example of the fourth phase of punk (hardcore). The CD finally came out nearly ten years after the movie."

.....Shortly after the movie was released The Plugz renamed themselves the Cruzados and signed to Arista. They had previously released their own records. The new identity didn't last very long and the Cruzados also ended their existence with a movie, 1989's 'Road House'. They actually appeared on screen for that one, part of Tito Larriva's extensive list of film credits. The line-up for this particular track was:

• Tito Larriva- vocals
• Steven Hufsteter- lead guitar
• Chalo 'Charlie' Quintana- drums
• Tony Marsico- bass

.....None of the selections give individual producer credits, although the project was produced by Peter McCarthy and Jonathan Wacks. I'm not sure if they had any direct involvement with the recording since there are two other Plugz tracks on the soundtrack with different personnel and were likely recorded earlier than "HOMBRE SECRETO". Actually, the whole album is killer, as is the movie, and both are heartily recommended in their entirety.

First Anniversary

.....In the first post to this blog I explained why I began the series of mix tapes I called "So, What Kind Of Music Do You Listen To?". I worked in an environment frequented by teens and young adults and I filled the day (and my commute) with a variety of CD's and custom compiled cassettes, trying to not repeat much during those 8-10 hour days. When one young man noticed that he always heard something different when he wandered in he asked me point blank what my music collection was like. It was too big and varied to describe without sounding either like I was bragging or else avoiding the question. It prompted me to create the cassettes in unmarked boxes so that the recipients could listen without preconceptions and discover something new one song at a time. He became the first recipient of Volumes 1 and 2 and responded enthusiastically. Of course, it led to a second question that I really should have seen coming. "How did you find all this stuff? How does a collection with all these odds and ends start?" That's much easier to answer, actually. It starts far more conventionally by comparison before it veers off on wild tangents. When he asked me what I thought would make a good recommended listening list for someone starting a collection I promised him I'd write one on the way home after work and hand it to him the next time he came in. I did. Then I kept writing. Then I said to myself, "I'd better photocopy this, because I never want to do this again and somebody's bound to ask." I did wind up using it a few more times but making a blog entry out of it would make it even easier to find the next time the question arises.

.....Bear in mind that this list was created in the mid-1990's, so if your favorite album from the past decade isn't on there it's because it didn't exist. Also, it was a stream of consciousness exercise, so they're not in order of importance. I think rankings reveal more about the writer than the albums anyway. These are pieces of art and entertainment that will have different values to different people in different contexts. It's like the weather: the farmer needs the rain that ruins your picnic, the skier needs the snow I hate to shovel. This music isn't for everybody, it's for anybody. I tried not to repeat artists but after a while it becomes almost a disservice not to. Most of these are (or were) on CD on major labels so they're generally more accessible than much of what's on the rest of the blog. Oh, and all the dates on these are off the top of my head, unlike those used in the blog, which are carefully researched. List corrections in the comments if you notice something, but I've only got one day to type all this.

1. Pink Floyd- DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (1973)
2. Dead Kennedys- FRESH FRUIT FOR ROTTING VEGETABLES (1980)
3. King Crimson- LIZARD (1970)
4. Kraftwerk- RADIOACTIVITY (1975)
5. The Ramones- ROCKET TO RUSSIA (1978)
6. Simon and Garfunkel- BOOKENDS (1968)
7. Talking Heads- REMAIN IN LIGHT (1980)
8. Brian Eno- BEFORE AND AFTER SCIENCE (1977)
9. David Bowie- THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS (1972)
10. Mott The Hoople- THE HOOPLE (1974)
11. Elton John- 17-11-70 (1971) [NOTE: In the US the title is 11-17-70]
12. Marvin Gaye- WHAT'S GOING ON (1971)
13. The Wh♂- WHO'S NEXT (1971)
14. NoMeansNo- (LP) THE DAY EVERYTHING BECAME NOTHING (1985) and (EP) SMALL PARTS ISOLATED AND DESTROYED (1986)-- these original Canadian vinyl releases were reissued in the US by Alternative Tentacles, who also combined them on the following CD: THE DAY EVERYTHING BECAME ISOLATED AND DESTROYED (1988?)
15. The Residents- THIRD REICH AND ROLL (1975)
16. Patti Smith- GONE AGAIN (1996)
17. Lou Reed- BERLIN (1973)
18. The Cramps- A DATE WITH ELVIS (1985)
19. Frank Zappa- HOT RATS (1969)
20. Television- MARQUEE MOON (1977)
21. Sonic Youth- GOO (1989)
22. Iggy Pop and James Williamson- KILL CITY (rec. 1976)
23. Devo- DUTY NOW-- FOR THE FUTURE! (1979)
24. Camper Van Beethoven- TELEPHONE FREE LANDSLIDE VICTORY (1984)
25. Elvis Costello- MY AIM IS TRUE (1977)
26. Blue Öyster Cult- AGENTS OF FORTUNE (1975)
27. The Beatles- REVOLVER (1966)
28. Nico- DESERT SHORE (1971)
29. John Cale- PARIS 1919 (1973)
30. Rich Kids- GHOSTS OF PRINCES IN TOWERS (1978)
31. Jonathan Richman- JONATHAN RICHMAN (Rounder, 1990)
32. Aretha Franklin- (2LP) AMAZING GRACE (1974)
33. U2- THE JOSHUA TREE (1987)
34. R.E.M.- DOCUMENT (1987)
35. T. Rex- ELECTRIC WARRIOR (1971)
36. Roxy Music- MANIFESTO (1978)
37. Wire- PINK FLAG (1977)
38. Stiff Little Fingers- INFLAMMABLE MATERIAL (1978)
39. Social Distortion- MOMMY'S LITTLE MONSTER (1982)
40. Tears For Fears- SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR (1984)
41. Kate Bush- LIONHEART (1979)
42. Captain Beefheart- CLEAR SPOT (1972)
43. The Byrds- YOUNGER THAN YESTERDAY (1967)
44. Led Zeppelin- HOUSES OF THE HOLY (1973)
45. They Might Be Giants- LINCOLN (1986)
46. Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper- BO-DAY-SHUS! (1987)
47. The Go-Go's- VACATION (1982)
48. Big Dipper- CRAPS (1986)
49. The Tom Tom Club- THE TOM TOM CLUB (1981)
50. Wizzard- EDDIE AND THE FALCONS (1974) .....and now time out for ten compilations.....
51. Chuck Berry- (2LP) THE GREAT TWENTY-EIGHT
52. The Dickies- GREAT DICTATIONS
53. Pansy Division- PILE-UP
54. Tones On Tail- NIGHT MUSIC (UK version)
55. D.O.A.- BLOODIED BUT UNBOWED (Civil Defense CD version)
56. Neil Young- (3LP or 2CD) DECADE
57. Argent- ARGENT ANTHOLOGY
58. Various Artists (Dischord)- (LP) 4 OLD 7''S ON A 12"; reissued on CD with two more 7"s and a new title: (CD) DISCHORD 1981: THE YEAR IN SEVEN INCHES
59. Rolling Stones- (3CD) THE SINGLES COLLECTION
60. The Jam- (2LP) SNAP! .....and now back to original albums.....
61. XTC- SKYLARKING (1986)
62. The Pogues- RUM, SODOMY AND THE LASH (1983)
63. Bauhaus- MASK (1981)
64. Laurie Anderson- MISTER HEARTBREAK (1984)
65. Peter Gabriel- PETER GABRIEL (3rd album; Gabriel's first four solo albums were all called "Peter Gabriel" until his label threatened legal action and had the fourth album retitled before release. The 3rd album has "BIKO".)
66. Genesis- SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND (1973)
67. The Velvet Underground- (w/Cale) WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (1967) or (wo/Cale) VELVET UNDERGROUND (1969)
68. The Jimi Hendrix Experience- AXIS BOLD AS LOVE (1968)
69. Fugazi- IN ON THE KILL TAKER (1996)
70. The Clash- (3LP or 2CD) SANDINISTA (1981)
71. Joni Mitchell- COURT AND SPARK (1975)
72. The Au Pairs- PLAYING WITH A DIFFERENT SEX (1982)
73. Steppenwolf- MONSTER (1969)
74. Alice Donut- BUCKETFULS OF SICKNESS IN AN OTHERWISE MEANINGLESS SOCIETY (1990)
75. Alice Cooper- BILLION DOLLAR BABIES (1973)
76. The Soft Boys- UNDERWATER MOONLIGHT (1980)
77. Robyn Hitchcock- I OFTEN DREAM OF TRAINS (1984)
78. Ian Hunter- SHORT, BACK AND SIDES (1981)
79. Tom Verlaine- TOM VERLAINE (1979)
80. Blind Faith- BLIND FAITH (1969) .....and now ten various artists albums of original material.....
81. VA- WHERE THE PYRAMID MEETS THE EYE (1990) a tribute to Roky Erickson
82. VA- REPO MAN (1984) Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
83. VA- THE BRIDGE SCHOOL CONCERT (1997)
84. VA- ALVIN LIVES IN LEEDS (1990)
85. VA- NOBODY'S CHILD: THE ROMANIAN ANGEL APPEAL (1990)
86. VA- (2CD) RUBAIYAT (1990) Elektra's 40th Anniversary
87. VA- (3LP) WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN (1972) featuring Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
88. VA- (2CD) THE LAST TEMPTATION OF ELVIS (1990)
89. VA- (4CD) THE STIFF RECORDS' BOXED SET (1992)
90. VA- TIME BETWEEN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BYRDS (1989) .....and another ten without repeating an artist.....
91. Paul Simon- GRACELAND (1986)
92. X-Ray Spex- GERM FREE ADOLESCENTS (1978)
93. Redd Kross- BORN INNOCENT (1983)
94. Bob Dylan- BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME (1965)
95. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds- KICKING AGAINST THE PRICKS (1985)
96. Bryan Ferry- THE BRIDE STRIPPED BARE (1977)
97. Firesign Theatre- HOW CAN YOU BE IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE WHEN YOU'RE REALLY NOWHERE AT ALL? (1969) (actually, any F.T. album is recommended as long as you listen to it really closely)
98. New York Dolls- NEW YORK DOLLS (1973)
99. Shinehead- UNITY (1988)
100. The Tubes- THE TUBES (1975)
101. The Monkees- HEADQUARTERS (1967)
102. Butthole Surfers- LOCUST ABORTION TECHNICIAN (1987)
103. Hüsker Dü- FLIP YOUR WIG (1985)
104. The Meatmen- WE'RE THE MEATMEN...AND YOU SUCK!! (1984)
105. The Del Fuegos- BOSTON, MASS. (1986)
106. Scruffy the Cat- MOONS OF JUPITER (1988)
107. Tracey Chapman- TRACEY CHAPMAN (1987)
108. Mission O f Burma- SIGNALS, CALLS AND MARCHES (CD contains original EP plus singles)
109. Love And Rockets- EXPRESS (1985) [modern CD contains all UK and Canadian tracks]
110. The Flying Burrito Brothers- (2LP) CLOSE UP THE HONKY TONKS (1972) (one LP greatest hits, one LP unreleased; the nearest CD equivalent is a Rhino compilation, THE BEST OF...)
111. Minor Threat- COMPLETE DISCOGRAPHY (1989) (this CD is actually a compilation of all prior vinyl releases)
112. Jethro Tull- THICK AS A BRICK (1975)
113. Nick Drake- FIVE LEAVES LEFT (1969)
114. The Moody Blues- TO OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN'S CHILDREN (1969)
115. Beck- ODELAY! (1996) (the only one so far that I don't actually own-- I think...)
116. Joy Division- UNKNOWN PLEASURES (1980)
117. Traffic- THE LOW SPARK OF HIGH HEEL BOYS (1971)
118. Jane's Addiction- RITUAL DE LO HABITUAL (1989)
119. Jim Carroll- CATHOLIC BOY (1980)
120. Richard Hell and The Voidoids- BLANK GENERATION (1978) .....having covered over 100 artists without repeating any (I don't count solo members from bands or bands with common members as 'repeating'), I feel it's safe to go back and give second albums for bands/artists already mentioned.....
121. Pink Floyd- (2LP) THE WALL (1979)
122. Dead Kennedys- FRANKENCHRIST (1985)
123. King Crimson- LARK'S TONGUES IN ASPIC (1973)
124. The Ramones- END OF THE CENTURY (1980)
125. Talking Heads- SPEAKING IN TONGUES (1983)
126. Brian Eno- ANOTHER GREEN WORLD (1975)
127. David Bowie- SCARY MONSTERS (AND SUPER CREEPS) (1980)
128. Mott The Hoople- WILDLIFE (1971)
129. Elton John- CAPTAIN FANTASTIC AND THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY (1975)
130. The Wh♂- THE WHO SELL OUT (1967)
131. Patti Smith- HORSES (1976)
132. Lou Reed- GROWING UP IN PUBLIC (1979)
133. The Cramps- OFF THE BONE (UK compilation)
134. Frank Zappa- APOSTROPHE (1974)
135. Sonic Youth- (2LP) DAYDREAM NATION (1987)
136. Iggy Pop- AMERICAN CAESAR (1995)
137. Devo- Q:ARE WE NOT MEN? A:WE ARE DEVO! (1977)
138. Elvis Costello- ARMED FORCES (1979)
139. The Beatles- (2LP) THE BEATLES (1968) (aka "The White Album")
140. John Cale/Terry Riley- THE CHURCH OF ANTHRAX (1971)
141. Jonathan Richman- ROCK 'N' ROLL WITH THE MODERN LOVERS (1976)
142. R.E.M.- GREEN (1989)
143. T. Rex- any of a zillion hastily thrown together compilations that all feature the same A-sides repackaged over and over and over again-- he's been dead for twenty fuckin' years and they're still making them to this day!-- new ones every year as though no one's ever seen them before! Even the unification of the EEC couldn't stop them. Who the hell is buying these same songs over and over? He's already been licensed all over the world. Is he the only musician on the planet whose demand hasn't been undercut by Chinese piracy?!?.....Anyway, try to find one with "RIDE A WHITE SWAN" and "CELEBRATE SUMMER".
144. Roxy Music- SIREN: THE FIFTH ROXY MUSIC ALBUM (1975)
145. Wire- THE IDEAL COPY (1986)
146. Captain Beefheart- SAFE AS MILK (1967)
147. The Byrds- SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO (1968)
148. They Might Be Giants- FLOOD (1990)
149. Bauhaus- PRESS THE EJECT AND GIVE ME THE TAPE (1982) live
150. Laurie Anderson- STRANGE ANGELS (1989) .....and as long as I'm allowing myself to repeat artists, here's ten essential concert films.....
151. Talking Heads- STOP MAKING SENSE
152. The Band- The Last Waltz
153. Laurie Anderson- Home Of The Brave
154. Frank Zappa- 200 MOTELS
155. Pink Floyd- LIVE AT POMPEII
156. Various Artists- ANOTHER STATE OF MIND
157. Various Artists- THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION (NOTE: It's important to get the original movie; ...PART 2:THE METAL YEARS is too polished)
158. Sex Pistols- THE GREAT ROCK AND ROLL SWINDLE
159. Nico- NICO-ICON
160. The Wh♂- THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT .....and ten excellent soundtrack albums (see #52).....
161. OMPS- EASY RIDER
162. OMPS- JUBILEE
163. OMPS- SHAFT
164. OMPS- THIS IS SPINAL TAP
165. OMPS- ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS (2LP UK-only version)
166. OMPS- TANK GIRL
167. OMPS- ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
168. OMPS- THE BLUES BROTHERS
169. OMPS- TRAINSPOTTING
170. OMPS- VELVET GOLDMINE .....and finally, thirty random albums to complete the 200....
171. The Cure- (LP) STANDING ON THE BEACH or (CD) STARING AT THE SEA (compilation)
172. Motorhead- NO SLEEP 'TIL HAMMERSMITH
173. Various Artists- LIVE AT THE ROXY (1977)
174. T.S.O.L. (True Sounds Of Liberty) (EP) WEATHERED STATUES (1983)
175. Mike Nesmith- NEVADA FIGHTER (1970)
176. Them (2LP) THE STORY OF THEM (compilation)
177. Suzi Quatro- any cheap compilation that includes "DEVIL GATE DRIVE"
178. Yardbirds- (recently released collection of BBC broadcasts on Warner Archives whose name escapes me; I already had the two disc import version before the US one came out)
179. The Velvet Underground- THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO (1967)
180. Black Flag- DAMAGED (1980) or any of a number of compilations that include the EP SIX PACK (1978)
181. Eric Clapton- ERIC CLAPTON (1970)
182. George Harrison- (3LP) ALL THINGS MUST PASS (1970)
183. The Undertones- THE VERY BEST OF THE UNDERTONES (compilation)
184. The Buzzcocks- SINGLES GOING STEADY (compilation)
185. UB40- RAT IN THE KITCHEN (1984?)
186. Dead Boys- YOUNG LOUD AND SNOTTY (1978) (or, even better, the same album was released with the long lost proper mix under the title YOUNGER, LOUDER AND SNOTTIER-- same recordings, very different sound)
187. John Cale- FEAR (1974)
188. Jefferson Airplane- SURREALISTIC PILLOW (1967)
189. Stevie Wonder- INNERVISIONS (1972)
190. The Clash- LONDON CALLING (1979)

.....and I seem to have lost the last page. Leave ten albums I missed (before 1997, please) in the comments section and maybe other readers won't know the difference. Take your time; my next post is at least a week away.

V04-T16b "...and I hope we passed the audition."

.....Finally, the end of cassette two.

Volume 4: "THE LITTLE BROWN ONES ARE THORAZINE, GEORGE", track 16b

• 00:13 [excerpt from "GET BACK", ad lib by John Lennon]
• performed by The Beatles [nominally]
• original source: LP LET IT BE Apple PCS7096 (UK) May 8th, 1970
• and my source: CD LET IT BE Parlophone CDP7 46447 2 (US) 1987

.....The full text of the quote at the end of the song "GET BACK" is, "I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we passed the audition". Actually, the working title of the album was also GET BACK, until the tapes were eventually selected and packaged as LET IT BE. Maybe a little timeline is in order.

1. In 1968 the Beatles take five months to record the double album nicknamed "The White Album" (THE BEATLES). Much of the time was spent writing and recording separately.
2. Jan. 1969 the YELLOW SUBMARINE album is released. One side contains songs used in the movie, some of them old outtakes, the other side has George Martin's soundtrack instrumentals from the movie.
3. Jan. to May 1969: In order to work more collaboratively as a band, the Beatles began recording jam sessions of oldies: rockers, R&B and blues like "BLUE SUEDE SHOES", "BYE BYE LOVE", "LAWDY MISS CLAWDY", etc. Eventually they were inspired to write original songs together again. Sessions were filmed for possible use in a documentary and the music was produced by George Martin and their engineer, Glyn Johns. The project was called GET BACK, as in "Get back to your roots".
4. The album version of "GET BACK" was recorded January 27th. The single version and its B-side were recorded on the 28th. Then, on the 30th, the famous rooftop concert was filmed. It would turn out to be their last public performance and ended with the song "GET BACK" followed by Maureen Starr (Ringo's wife) applauding, Paul McCartney thanking her ("Thanks, Mo!") and John Lennon goofing around with the theme of returning to their early days by giving the quote I repeated at the top of this list. That snippet was later grafted on to the end of the studio version for the album.
5. Apr. 1969 the 7" version of "GET BACK" b?w "DON'T LET ME DOWN" is released in UK. (May in US.)
6. May 1969 the GET BACK album is completed. For a cover photo, the band recreates their pose from the photo sessions that yielded the cover to LP PLEASE PLEASE ME in 1963. Unfortunately, returning to an earlier, simpler approach to playing and recording created an album that sounded much rougher and more raw than the band felt comfortable with and they cancelled its release.
7. Jun. 1969 the 7" version of "THE BALLAD OF JOHN AND YOKO" b/w "OLD BROWN SHOE" is released in UK and US.
8. Jul. to Aug. 1969 the LP ABBEY ROAD is recorded with George Martin "really producing" (his words). He apparently didn't care for the GET BACK experiment.
9. Sep. 1969 Lennon, Ono and Clapton go to Toronto for the live debut of Plastic Ono Band at the end of an otherwise 1950's nostalgia concert with Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry and many others. Two weeks later LP ABBEY ROAD is released.
10. Oct. 1969 the 7" version of "SOMETHING" b/w "COME TOGETHER" is released in UK and US.
11. Jan. 1970 the song "I ME MINE" is recorded and a second version of LP GET BACK is proposed and rejected.
12. Feb. 1970 the LP HEY JUDE, a collection of non-LP singles and two songs from A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is released in the US only.
13. Mar. 1970 the 7" version of "LET IT BE" b/w "YOU KNOW MY NAME" is released in UK and US.
14. Mar. to Apr. 1970 Phil Spector is hired to remix existing unreleased tapes to salvage the GET BACK project. He radically remixes a 1968 recording of "ACROSS THE UNIVERSE", leading many fans to believe the band had recorded a new version. He also uses the 1970 song "I ME MINE", but the majority of the material comes from the year-old GET BACK sessions.
15. May 1970 the film and album, both named LET IT BE, are released. There's also a derivative US-only 7" of album tracks "LONG AND WINDING ROAD" b/w "FOR YOU BLUE".

.....And that's the over-simplified account of the events. I left out the ugly legal tangles and television appearances. The excessive studio behavior (during the "White Album" sessions there were 70 takes of "HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN") inevitably led to the band's desire to simplify. The problem was that they weren't the same persons, the same musicians or the same band they were in 1962. It was as though the accelerated lives their fame brought them provoked a mid-life crisis at age thirty. Having got that out of their systems they went back home to their wife (Martin) and created one of their best albums. McCartney cited the release of the LET IT BE album in court documents regarding the dissolution of the Beatles as evidence that the band's direction and business decisions were being harmful to his career. It's not that bad, even if Martin was a better judge of the band's strengths than Spector had been.

.....My reasons for closing with this clip? Like most of these selections it was mostly instinct at the time. In retrospect, I knew that one mix tape is an impulse and two is a proposal. The second implies a series not implied by the first. Of course, when I made the first one I had no delusions that I could distill the character of my music collection to 90 minutes. By continuing the format I had insinuated that the was no time limit being imposed. Therefore, distilling the character of my collection becomes, theoretically anyway, a legitimate objective to pursue. And it would be an objective that would take more than four cassette sides to seriously address. This blog reaches its first anniversary this week and the past year, if you've been reading it, has been the audition. And if you come back, I guess that means "we passed".

V03-T11 Little Cat

.....I used to be frustrated by the fact that I couldn't find more information about the child star who recorded this number, although the last time I aggressively researched him was probably 1994 when I compiled this tape. Now, with the advent of some of the most powerful databases on the internet, I've learned that IMDB, Allmusic and Wikipedia are also completely clueless as to this boy's identity. The best I can guess is that he may have grown up to be the lead singer of the Dutch pop group Jonz. Or maybe not. I'm still frustrated, of course, but feeling far less inadequate about it.

Volume 3: A KINDER, GENTLER ZERO TOLERANCE, track 11

• 02:18 "LITTLE CAT (YOU'VE NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD)"(Nick Lowe)(additional arrangements by David Bedford)
• performed by Jonas
• original source: VA2LP ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS: THE [OMPS] Virgin VD2514 (UK) 4/86
• and my source: VACD ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS: THE [OMPS] Virgin CDV2386(UK) 1987?

.....Taken from Colin MacInnes' novel, "Absolute Beginners" was a period film documenting Britain's belated recognition of teenagers as a demographic and subculture. It may seem strange today, but a century ago the concept of the teenager was just being introduced. Prior to that it was presumed that children turned into adults with no intermediary stages. It's been mentioned elsewhere, and is repeated early in the film, that Americans invented the teenager. That's certainly true in the case of mass media fictional characters, where youths saddled with adult responsibilities (Little Orphan Annie, Tintin, et al) gave way to hormone-crazed and judgement-impaired balls of energy like Andy Hardy and Archie Andrews. The population bubble that followed the end of World War II would later turn teens from a curious sociological phenomenon into a serious purchasing power in any industrialized economy.

.....Composer Nick Lowe is no stranger to teen idol pop. About a decade earlier than this recording he was invited to join the newly launched Stiff label but was in a contract that prevented him from doing so. To avoid the penalties which would stem from breaking the contract, he tried to prompt the label that he was signed to into firing him. To this end he submitted songs like "BAY CITY ROLLERS, WE LOVE YOU", knowing that their star was on the wane in England. What he did not know was that they were just becoming huge in Japan, where the song became a hit. Of course, he eventually became a notable performer and producer at Stiff, albeit with a renewed respect for the power of pop. He's also apparently a student of the period. The movie takes place in 1958, and the song's subtitle is taken from a 1957 speech by conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, often paraphrased as it is above, quoted here: "...most of our people have never had it so good." The speech sought to bolster his fellow conservatives with positive signs of post-war recovery, which was also a significant topic of the film.

.....Rereading my original liner notes, they seem mostly still relevant:

"Another soundtrack selection, this one a little more off the beaten path. Also, you may find the soundtrack to the movie Absolute Beginners in bargain bins (and it really would be a bargain) but this track would not be on it. The US album has the songs that are featured as production numbers in the movie. The UK version contains the US version plus a second, shorter LP with Gil Evans' instrumental score and the full unedited studio versions of songs heard only in snippets or in the background of the movie. This song, for instance, is heard playing on radios. The joke is that the main character (and the audience) know that the singer was a snotty, unkempt schoolboy just months before this song became a hit and in fact watched the boy's manager 'discover' him (at an audition) and dress him in flashy clothes as an acceptable counter to "that American Negro music". Even though the movie takes place in England (1958?) it perfectly describes the state of pop music in the US, circa 1959-1962: the real rockers were dying in plane crashes (Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, et al), serving in the army (Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley), in jail (Chuck Berry for tax evasion), blackballed due to scandal (Jerry Lee Lewis for marrying his teenage cousin) etc, etc. A teenaged music marketplace was created in the mid-fifties out of babies born after World War II. Rock music caught the record industry by surprise, since 'race music' and other folk forms were deemed commercially unviable and pigeonholed in a manner that would have kept them so except for the size of the demographic base demanding it. The response was (and has been ever since) to mass produce lightweight, uninspired substitutes for soul and imagination (and in this case, sex). Thus, Paul Anka, Neil Sedaka, Connie Francis, Pat Boone and others reassured parents everywhere that a clean-cut young man was in the White House setting a fine example and that rock and roll was just a bad dream. The 'little cat' was that music, the music that came between Alan Freed and the Beatles and which was the rule rather than the exception in England.

"What sold me on this song was the chorus (listen closely):

'Boom, baby; Boom, baby; Boom, baby, boom;

'Baby, boom; Baby, boom; Baby, boom...' "

.....Well, here in 2010 I don't have much to add to that except that the 25th anniversary of the movie is looming and I'm hoping that we see a decent 2-DVD with the extras not seen on the shamefully skimpy and improperly transfered 2003 DVD. (Seriously, if the selling point of a movie is music and visual spectacle, why bother releasing a home video version at all if you're not going to pay any attention to the quality of the sound or color?) In addition to a mountain of detailed period production designs that must exist (the Criterion edition of Brazil would be the standard to live up to) both DVD and Blu-ray formats could accommodate the digital format premieres of some of the music from double album and spun-off singles that didn't make it to even the extended UK CD. There were two Gil Evans instrumental takes on "ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS" and "NAPOLI" which I'm sure jazz completists would appreciate. More importantly there was Laurel Aitken's "LANDLORDS AND TENANTS" and Ekow Abban's "SANTA LUCIA" from scenes key to the plot. That doesn't even count material that didn't make it to vinyl, such as a wedding song played on steel drums. The anniversary is in April and I'm not getting my hopes up, since the 50th anniversary of the book seemed to slip by quietly unnoticed last year.

.....More trouble for London tomorrow.

V03-T10b Little Black Dress

.....Had I adhered to my original schedule for this blog, I would have been entering this post and the last long before the cast of "Glee" did their 'Rocky Horror' episode. Predictably, the contingent of the professionally indignant yammered to one another about the sexual subject matter. Just as predictably, they were completely silent about a prior episode in which the sole wheel-chair bound student sings a slowed-down version of "Dancing With Myself", the Generation X/Billy Idol song about masturbation. It doesn't take much to read between the lines of that song, but if you're stupid enough to believe that teenagers wouldn't have sexual feelings if they didn't hear songs about them, then you're stupid enough to assume that teenagers with a physical handicap don't have sexual feelings at all.

.....But we're here to talk about eine kleine herren with a different preoccu-...PA-tion.

Volume 3: A KINDER, GENTLER ZERO TOLERANCE, track 10b

• 02:27 "LITTLE BLACK DRESS" (Richard O'Brien, Richard Hartley)
• performed by: The Cast of "Shock Treatment"
• original source: LP SHOCK TREATMENT ODE/Warner Bros. LLA 3615 (US) 1981
• and my source: the same

.....The film adaption of the musical play "Rocky Horror" was a flop as a first run feature, but became a roaring success as a midnight movie starting the following spring and continuing for decades until home video killed the theaters in which it played. Once Hollywood (or more specifically, 20th Century Fox) discovered that there was a previously untapped market for repeated viewings of movies on the fringe (such as "Pink Flamingos" and "El Topo" before their own RHPS) they decided to create a cult film for that market and simply bypass what would be the normal first-run national release and go straight to the midnight circuit. The flawed logic behind that decision assumed that because they perceived these films to be losing money in their initial releases but lucrative in the second lives, that more profits were to be made by eliminating the first stage. The problem with that kind of thinking is that it ignores the fact that the second stage is only more profitable because the bulk (but not all)of the movies' production costs were covered in the first stage. Despite the difference in content and presumably audiences between cult films and blockbusters, the economics of distribution thirty years ago was the same for both. 'Profits' is just the name for what you make after the costs are covered. If that happens all at once, it's a blockbuster. If it happens over the long term, it's a cult film.

.....Seeking a sequel to "Rocky Horror", the studio approached Richard O'Brien and Richard Hartley, who set out to do just that. Logistical problems in reassembling the original cast and other delays prompted so many compromises that O'Brien began to realize that he would never get the sequel he wanted. Instead he opted for an original story and hoped to pitch it as the sequel that perhaps the studio wanted. Hence, "Shock Treatment"(1981), with some characters from RHPS played by different actors and some actors from RHPS playing different characters. In this particular number O'Brien and Patricia Quinn once again play incestuous siblings (Cosmo and Nation instead of Riff Raff and Magenta) but Janet Weiss Majors (she has since married Brad) is played by Jessica Harper, a veteran of "Phantom Of The Paradise". Also on hand is Australian Barry Humphries as Viennese game-show host Bert Schnick. He is better known as to Americans as Dame Edna Everage.

.....I have long suspected that "LITTLE BLACK DRESS" was a "Rocky Horror" outtake. It could fit neatly between the scene in which Frank uses the Medusa ray to turn his prisoners into statues and the Floor Show sequence where he appears in drag. It's the only part of the movie noticeably lacking transition, which the song could provide. According to the commentary of the 2006 DVD the song "BREAKING OUT" was indeed intended for some incarnation of "Rocky Horror", but "LITTLE BLACK DRESS" isn't mentioned there or in the two mini-documentaries included as bonus material.

.....More from the movies in the next post.

V03-T10a Belt You About The Mouth

.....Wow, is it Monday already?

.....When I left off in July I mentioned that the prevalent theme of rebellion so common in the first half of Volume 3 would be shifting to a theme of little things in the latter half. What better way to introduce little things than with an interstitial?

Volume 3: A KINDER, GENTLER ZERO TOLERANCE, track 10a

• 00:31 "CUT #4 BELT IN MOUTH" [no writer credited]
• performed by Richard O'Brien [as Riff-Raff]
• original source: promo-only one-sided 7" on 20th Century Fox Music #DS211(US) ?9/75
• and my source: CD SONGS FROM THE VAULTS Rhino R2 71011B(US)1990

.....The first time I heard this was when I found this rarities disc in the boxed set 4CD THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW 15TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION Rhino/ODE R2 71011(US) 1990. This, and a second compilation featuring foreign language and other performances from various international cast albums, were boxed with the previously available soundtrack and Roxy (L.A.) cast albums. The track above originally came from a promotional single sent to radio stations in advance of the September 24, 1975 theatrical release of the "Rocky Horror" film adaption, hence the approximate release date I estimated. A common enough format at the time, the single was a one-sided 7" vinyl record with eight cuts. On the boxed set it's given the self-explanatory title "ROCKY HORROR RADIO COMMERCIAL (BELT YOU ABOUT THE MOUTH)", but I went with the title as it appears on the record. Of the eight promotional clips only this and one other made it onto the CD. If you like, you can check out the details at the following link:

http://www.rockymusic.org/album/radio-spots.php

.....Tomorrow I'll detail the track into which this interstitial leads.

V03-T08 Skeet Surfing

.....The reason for including this track? Honestly, I can't imagine a reason not to.

Volume 3: A KINDER, GENTLER ZERO TOLERANCE, track 8

• 02:58 "SKEET SURFING" (Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Chuck Berry)
• performed by Val Kilmer [with Flo & Eddie]
• original source: EP TOP SECRET! Passport PB 3603 (US) 1984
• and my source: the same

.....Actually, I don't believe Wilson, Love or Berry wrote those lyrics. They were probably written by the Zucker brothers, who wrote the script. Obviously the music is an amalgamation of multiple Beach Boys songs such as "SURFIN' USA", "SHUT DOWN" and "CATCH A WAVE", among others. And the Chuck Berry credit? That's from the Beach Boys' own albums. They borrowed so heavily from Berry while writing their early material that a few songs give him a co-writing credit despite him not having any direct involvement.

.....Oh, and that is actor Val Kilmer singing his own part-- a much younger Val Kilmer, long before playing Batman. In fact, I think this is before playing anything else, his first screen credit. I don't know if he got a lucky break or if he put everything he had into that movie, but it turned out fantastic. That may be hard to believe in a post-"Scream" world where genre parody movies are a dime a dozen and scrape the bottom of the humor barrel. There was a time when genre parody was only approached by people with something to say and the means to say it: "Sleeper", "High Anxiety", "Little Big Man", "Spinal Tap", etc. In "Top Secret" the target is vanity vehicles for rock musicians crossed with wartime espionage films. The result is a gleeful flood of anachronisms, like watching a dozen Hollywood-made period costume epics at once. Medieval knights with chrome armor? Hercules with a wristwatch? "Top Secret" will see you those and raise you a 50's style Elvis character using 60's style surf music to fight 40's style Nazi's who are running a 70's style East Germany.

.....Aiding and abetting on the soundtrack are Flo & Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan), former members of the Turtles who went on to perform with Frank Zappa and T. Rex after a record executive told them they were getting fat and therefore couldn't work as musicians anymore. Somebody of their caliber would have been necessary to evoke the vocal harmonies of a Beach Boys record, since the Wilsons and company worked liked dogs rehearsing their voices. Whereas their British Invasion counterparts worshipped Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, Brian used the Four Freshman as his professional yardstick. Volman and Kaylan may have been forced to give up any hopes of being teen idols, but like every good parodist from Spike Jones to Weird Al, their technical abilities were every bit the equal of their targets.

.....Oh, and we're not done with Elvis just yet. Not by a long shot.

V03-T05 People Like Us

.....The silver anniversary for this item is bearing down like a steam-roller with no mention of a reissue, remastered or otherwise. At the time I put Volume 3 together (1994) I thought it was strange that this wasn't on CD. A charting band who would no longer make new material; a guest vocalist with a hit TV show at the time; an album never released on CD in eight years and a wealth of potential bonus tracks to sweeten the package, maybe even justify a front-tier list price. It's now been three times that long-- twenty-four years-- and the whole shebang is still long out of print.

Volume 3: A KINDER, GENTLER ZERO TOLERANCE, track 5

• 04:23 "PEOPLE LIKE US" (David Byrne)
• performed by Talking Heads w/ John Goodman
• original source: B-side, 7" Sire 9 28629-7 (US) 1986
• and my source: the same

.....Talking Heads released REMAIN IN LIGHT, one of the most- if not the most- ambitious albums of their career, in 1980 and toured to support it through 1981 followed by a sabbatical from the group to release solo projects that year. They reconvened to release SP EAK IN GI N TO NGU ES in 1983 and film the subsequent tour (which became STOP MAKING SENSE). The three years' difference between one tour and the next shouldn't have meant much, but apparently it did. The Heads have always had a reputation as a cerebral band, at least by rock standards. Yet, even for multi-instrumentalist college graduates the activities of recording and touring in a rock band lend themselves to artificially protracted adolescence and arrested development. That's why the hiatus between their first four studio albums (1977-1980) and last four (1983-1988) is worth mentioning. Following their solo projects, they seemed to have considered their own adulthood. And, being academics, rather than run screaming or go into denial, they picked it apart and looked at it under glasses. Themes of domesticity and family relationships permeate the lyrics and the music is less arch and angular and more pliant and sinuous, about continuation and flow and sustaining rather than distinction and precision. And of course the band members would have been fluent enough in art history to make the connections between their own thirty-something nesting inclinations and the Dutch genre painting movement of the 1600's and its potential for liberating the artist through the mundane.

.....Following the tour film came a pair of projects that drew on this new appreciation for the homestead. The first collection of songs became the album LITTLE CREATURES (1985), self-contained songs that occasionally related to each other through the aforementioned themes. The second project required its songs to contribute to a central narrative which became the skeleton of a higher concept, multi-media campaign that took advantage of their label's parent company, Warner Brothers, to carry out. Under the umbrella title TRUE STORIES it consisted of: (1) an album of songs recorded by the band; (2) concept videos for select songs; (3) a feature film for theatrical release that incorporates both the concept videos and performances of the album's songs by cast members instead of the band; (4) a companion book to the movie; (5) a soundtrack album mostly containing instrumental scoring; and (6) three vinyl singles (each in 7" and 12" formats-- so, six singles total) spread out from the summer of 1986 to the spring of 1987 to keep the movie and album on people's minds. There were probably other bells and whistles tied to Warner's cable and publisher empire as well, such as the David Byrne cover of TIME Magazine for October 27, 1986. According to publisher Richard B. Thomas, it was only the second self-portrait ever allowed in the magazine's history (the first was a Robert Rauschenberg collage in 1976). Byrne himself gets six pages by Jay Cocks (incorporating a one page review by Richard Corliss of the movie, directed by Byrne). Related to that are an additional two pages on avant-pop theater coming out of New York at the time, written by Michael Walsh and name-dropping Laurie Anderson (also on Warner's) and Robert Wilson.

.....Each of the three singles tied to the TRUE STORIES project featured A-sides from the band's album and B-sides selected from the cast's performances. The first was the track used here: John Goodman singing "PEOPLE LIKE US". Yes, that John Goodman, the guy who went on to play Roseanne's husband on the long-running TV show. Professional large person. Grossly underestimated actor John Goodman. "Raising Arizona", "Barton Fink", "The Big Lebowski",... um, "King Ralph"...well, you're reading this on a computer, aren't you? Just go to IMDB and knock yourself out. ... You back yet? SEE? I told you. Underestimated.

.....Trying to get any of the non-band tracks is problematic. The soundtrack album is notoriously unavailable, all the more criminal because in addition to the presence of Talking Heads members and Tubes' drummer Prairie Prince, there's a performance by Kronos Quartet and a composition by Meredith Monk. In 1999 the 12" remixes of "HEY NOW" and "RADIOHEAD" appeared on the CD 12X12 ORIGINAL REMIXES. In 2005 there was a cube-shaped box issued containing DualDisc remasters of the eight studio albums. The remaster of TRUE STORIES contained the standard movie version of "RADIOHEAD" as well as "PAPA LEGBA". Early in 2006, as the DualDisc editions were being released individually, iTunes made available the unimaginatively titled BONUS RARITIES AND OUTTAKES, which included this Goodman vocal-- still with no physical disc. The movie itself has been available on DVD for awhile, but I've only seen it offered in the chopped version shown on cable. Not only is it reformatted for television instead of widescreen, but the funeral scene at the end is removed completely. Here's hoping that restorations can be made available, preferably in a single package and preferably before everyone who would care is dead.