The Go-Go's At Theatre at Westbury, Westbury, NY 6/7/11

So I've been what you could call a "minor fan" of The Go-Go's for about twenty or so years. I liked selected songs by them as a small child (namely "Surfing And Spying" and "We Got The Beat"). And as an adult I purchased all of their cd's, vinyl singles and albums. In the past they have toured with several favorite bands of mine (namely Redd Kross and Too Much Joy). But I had never seen them play live until this past week at the Theatre at Westbury, in Westbury, Long Island, NY. The formerly-known-as-The Westbury Music Fair is a wonderful venue with wonderful acoustics. The stage also rotates, although the venue was not set-up as such for this particular concert.

The opening band was the LA-based The Dollyrots. They are refreshingly unpretentious and down to earth while simultaneously armed with your standard rock poses. They are a pop/punk trio and are fronted by the gorgeous bassist/vocalist Kelly Ogden. Highlights of their set included their single "California Beach Boy" as well as covers of Melanie's 70's chestnut "Brand New Key", an accapella rendition of "As Long As We've Got Each Other" (aka The Growing Pains theme song) and Joan Jett & The Blackheart's "Bad Reputation". The band is currently signed to Joan Jett's Blackheart Records. The band is rounded out by Luis Cabezas on guitar (whose rhythm guitar parts were somewhat reminiscent of Joan Jett) and the exceptionally tasteful drumming of Chris Black. A fine opening band, overall.



The Go-Go's 'Ladies Gone Wild Tour' is ostensibly to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their debut album, Beauty And The Beat. It was recently reissued as 2CD & 2LP sets with previously unreleased concert recordings and a remastered original album on pink vinyl. It was also touted to be their farewell tour, but Belinda Carlisle has since said that they will, indeed continue to perform after this tour ends.

The band were wonderful and were in better form than I aticipated. Drummer Gina Schock is a workhorse and bassist Kathy Valentine - who looked fantastic - was obviously enjoying playing the songs, again. Pixie-like rhythm guitarist Jane Wiedlin danced laps around the stage while lead guitarist/sometime keytboardist Charlotte Caffey, the grounding force, was excellent as always. Onetime-punkrock cheerleader Belinda Carlisle was also in fine form, leisurely hitting her notes as always.



The band was obviously well-rehearsed and sounded fantastic. They performed everything you'd expect to hear (except maybe the mid 80's hit "Turn To You") and perhaps didn't expect to hear (the Sparks/Jane Wiedlin single "Cool Places" and Belinda's Go-Goesque solo single "Mad About You"). The only songs from Beauty And The Beat they didn't perform were "You Can't Walk in Your Sleep (If You Can't Sleep)" and the fine album closer "Can't Stop the World". Nor did they delve into anything non-singles from the truly underrated Vacation album, nor anything from the long out of print Talk Show album.

The set list was:

Vacation
Tonight
How Much More
Get Up And Go
Mad About You (Belinda Carlisle)
Lust To Love
Mother's Little Helper (The Rolling Stones)
Automatic
Fading Fast
Cool Places (Sparks/Jane Wiedlin)
This Town
Unforgiven
The Whole World Lost It's Head
Our Lips Are Sealed
Skidmarks On My Heart
We Got The Beat

First Encore:
Surfing And Spying/Beatnik Beach
Head Over Heals

Second Encore:
Fun With Ropes.

They were selling the vinyl reissue (which I personally passed up as would've been my fourth copy) and ton of cool gear including a blue shirt with the Beauty And The Beat album cover and dates on back. I'm really glad I saw the band as they were unexpectedly very good.

Big Special Thank You to Michael McIsaac.

Eight Days a Week: Inside the Beatles' Final World Tour by Robert Whitaker and Marcus Hearn

Robert Whitaker had a privelaged amount of intimate access to The Beatles. He's the photographer responsible for the infamous Yesterday and Today "butcher cover". As well as the black and white photo on the back of Revolver and the back-cover color photo for the UK compilation A Collection of Beatles Oldies (But Goldies!) . Whitaker accompanied the band and documented their final tour which spanned Germany, Japan and North America.







Eight Days a Week: Inside the Beatles' Final World Tour contains many previously unpublished photographs and is an intimate view of John, Paul, George and Ringo on the road with their entourage of Neil Aspinall, Mal Evans and Brian Esptein. It also clearly illustrates just how restricted the band were as they were confined to their hotel rooms. It's a very nice document of the band with their guard down as they were just about to come off the road for good.

This is a highly-recommended coffee-table book for any Beatles fan.

256 Pages, Metro Books (2008)

Dennis Wilson Camco Drums 1964 Advert

Apple Records Advert April 19,1968 NME/Melody Maker

The Beach Boys Smile Album To Finally Be Released As "The Smile Sessions"

THE BEACH BOYS’ LEGENDARY ‘SMiLE’ ALBUM SESSIONS TO BE RELEASED THIS YEAR BY CAPITOL/EMI

Never-Before-Released Original 1966-’67 Album Sessions Compiled for 2CD and Digital Packages and Deluxe, Limited Edition Box Set

Hollywood, California - March 14, 2011 – Between the summer of 1966 and early 1967, The Beach Boys recorded, in several sessions, a bounty of songs and drafts for an album, SMiLE, that was intended to follow the band’s 1966 masterpiece, Pet Sounds. The sessions were ultimately shelved, and The Beach Boys’ SMiLE has never been released. With the full participation of original Beach Boys Al Jardine, Mike Love, and Brian Wilson, Capitol/EMI has collected and compiled the definitive collection, ‘The SMiLE Sessions,’ for worldwide release this year in multiple physical and digital configurations.

The SMiLE Sessions presents an in-depth overview of The Beach Boys' recording sessions for the enigmatic album, which has achieved legendary, mythical status for music fans around the world. The SMiLE Sessions will be released in 2CD and digital album packages and a deluxe, limited edition box set.

Co-produced by Mark Linett and Alan Boyd, all of The SMiLE Sessions’ physical and digital configurations will include an assembled album of core tracks, while the box set delves much deeper into the sessions, adding early song drafts, alternate takes, instrumental and vocals-only mixes, and studio chatter. The SMiLE Sessions invites the listener into the studio to experience the album's creation, with producer, singer and bassist Brian Wilson's vision leading the way as he guides his fellow Beach Boys, singer Mike Love, drummer Dennis Wilson, lead guitarist Carl Wilson, rhythm guitarist Al Jardine, and newest member Bruce Johnston (who'd replaced Brian Wilson in the touring group during 1965), through the legendary sessions.

"I'm thrilled that The Beach Boys' original studio sessions
for SMiLE will be released for the first time, after all these years,” says Brian Wilson. “I'm looking forward to this collection of the original recordings and having fans hear the beautiful angelic voices of the boys in a proper studio release.”

“One of my favorite songs from the SMiLE sessions is ‘Wonderful’,” says Mike Love. “The song truly lives up to its title, as do many of the tracks on SMiLE. Cousin Brian was at his creative peak during those sessions. I’m unaware of anything that comes close in pop music.”



“I recently played some of my personal acetates from the SMiLE sessions and they held up really well,” says Al Jardine. “We would come home from touring and go straight into the studio to record. Brian couldn't wait to show us his latest ideas. We were recording SMiLE and Pet Sounds material simultaneously, so the tracks and vocals all have the same great quality. Most of the vocals were done at Columbia Studios in Hollywood, across the street from Western Studios, where most of the tracking was done.”

“For me, it's always been about the way Brian Wilson brilliantly composed and 'voiced' his amazing chord progressions and melodies,” says Bruce Johnston. “SMiLE really made me smile!”

“Personally, I loved it,” the late Carl Wilson said in 1994 of the SMiLE sessions (from the Don Was-directed documentary, Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times).

“In my opinion it makes Pet Sounds stink - that's how good it is,” the late Dennis Wilson told a journalist in 1966 of the planned SMiLE album.

What Brian Wilson brought to the table, in his effort to maintain The Beach Boys' position among the top rock 'n' roll bands of the day, was beyond what anyone could have expected. Beginning with “Good Vibrations,” then into SMiLE, Wilson had begun to construct songs in a modular form, crafting individual sections that would later be edited together to form a coherent whole. In several intense bursts of creative energy, Wilson, drawing on the talents of the finest studio musicians in Los Angeles and utilizing the best studio facilities available on any given day, laid down dozens and dozens of musical fragments, all designed to fit together in any number of possible combinations. No one had done this in pop music, and Wilson had just created “Good Vibrations,” The Beach Boys’ best-selling record in a long string of hits, by using this method. His next endeavor would be an album-length version of this unique and luxurious songwriting parlance: SMiLE.

In 1965, Brian Wilson had met an up-and-coming session keyboard player and songwriter, Van Dyke Parks. Noticing Parks' conversational eloquence, Wilsonfelt that he could help to volley The Beach Boys’ songwriting into the wave of broader-messaged and socially-conscious rock 'n' roll that would come to define the '60s. They were soon collaborating on keynote songs for SMiLE, including “Heroes and Villains,” the band’s follow-up single to “Good Vibrations.” Wilson and Parks would also co-write “Surf's Up,” “Vegetables,” “Cabin Essence,” “Do You Like Worms,” “Wonderful,” “Wind Chimes,” and other bits and pieces of theSMiLE tapestry. Parks also introduced Beat-Pop artist Frank Holmes to create album
sleeve art and a booklet interpreting the album’s James Joyce-mode lyrics.

The reason SMiLE did not see a release in early 1967 had more to do with back room business that obscured the creative side of the program than anything else. In late 1966, The Beach Boys formed Brother Records, initially to produce outside artists. Soon, however, The Beach Boys would become embroiled in a court action with Capitol Records with the goal to become the top-selling artists on their self-owned, independent label. The group withheld “Heroes and Villains” and announced they would instead release “Vegetables” – recorded with the band’s own money in April of '67 – on Brother Records. By July of 1967, Capitol Records and The Beach Boys had come to terms, with Capitol agreeing to distribute the band’s Brother Records, and it was agreed that SMiLE was no longer to be the band’s next album.

The SMiLE Sessions’ global release date, complete track lists, and artwork will be unveiled soon.

“Surf's up, aboard a tidal wave, come about hard and join the young and often spring you gave. I heard the word, wonderful thing... a children's song... ”

- from “Surf's Up” (Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks)

The Adventure Club Sessions (KDGE, 1993)

This has my money for best North-American Radio Station Compilation. Ever.

These are acoustic recordings from the studios of KDGE-FM "The Edge" in Dallas, TX. Recorded from 1989-1993, all one needs to do is consider the high-quality of artists to decide if it's the best compilation of it's kind. Here's the track listing:

1. Ocean Colour Scene - Alibis
2. Frank Black - Old Black Dawning
3. Jellyfish - The King Is Half-Undressed
4. The Catherine Wheel - Don't Want To Know If You're Lonely
(a cover of the Hüsker Dü single)
5. James - Lose Control
6. The Cranberries - Linger
7. The House Of Love - Crush Me
8. Blur - Miss America
9. The Lilac Time - Too Sooner Late Than Better
10. His Name Is Alive - Baby Fish Mouth
11. Frazier Chorus - Cloud Eight
12. Frank Black - Czar
13. James - Maria's Party
14. The Trash Can Sinatras - The Safecracker
15. The Posies - Will You Ever Ease Your Mind
16. XTC - Blue Beret
17. The Lilac Time - Raspberry Beret/Kiss Me medley
18. The Lemonheads - It's About Time
19. Suede - My Insatiable One

The Clash: Westway To The World

Frustratingly short snippets and selective subject matter taint overall credibility.


The Clash may have been one of the most interesting, important and best rock bands to have ever existed. And this documentary does in fact support that theory. However, the selectiveness of the subjects discussed leaves much to be desired. Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20 - and in the case of the people responsible for this documentary - it's also very revisionist.

There is absolutely no mention of the post-Mick Jones Clash that existed from 1983-1986. Four years of a bands history is an awful lot of time to simply not feel like mentioning. Sure the album this band produced - 1985's Cut The Crap - may not have been on par with say London Calling but few albums are. To completely fail to not mention it makes me wonder why the filmmakers would simply choose to re-write history as if it never existed. All this does is support the fact that documentaries edit history any way they want. The unmentioned band (Simonon/Stummer/Pete Howard/Vince White/Nick Sheppard) toured the US in 1984 and also did a busking tour of England in 1985. By not mentioning them at all does no favors for any new young fan who actually wants to know about The Clash's actual history and not just what was graciously selected and edited for them.

Then there is the issue of obtaining great rare footage only to have mere seconds of it peppered throughout the documentary! This seems to be the biggest complaint from everyone I know who has seen Westway To The World. To not add any of this footage (i.e. The Clash playing both songs on SNL/Their appearance on Friday's/Tom Snyder/US festive footage/etc) is simply a snub to the band and its fans. All this does is leave bootleggers with even more viable footage to sell (and none of this made it way to the Special Features portion of the DVD either).

Having said all that it Westway To The World is a welcome documentary. The Clash did have an MTV Rockumentary in 1991 with some great interview footage (arguably superior to the interviews here) and great footage of the band circa-1979 that could've been used here but were not. There is however, the bonus material of all the existing footage for The Clash On Broadway. Footage of which the reason why so little exists is because Topper took out an injunction so that film never be released. Since it was never finished (because of the injunction) most of it was thrown away or deteriorated since it would never see the light of day anyway. Gee thanks Topper - now we really see you in a positive light!

The Clash and director Don Letts won a Grammy for 'Best Long Form Music Video' for this feature documentary.

The Cure: 4Play in Charlotte

The Cure pictured here in their 1980 prime - they don't look like this anymore.


Fine presentation of a once-great band clearly past its peak.

I've been a fan of this band for about twenty-plus years now so I was pleasantly surprised to find out about this 60 minute segment on HDNet TV of a Cure show from June of two years ago on their 4Tour. The presentation of the band was for all intents and purposes very nice. It was not 'The Cure In Orange' - their amazing feature-length filmed concert film directed by Tim Pope (which is sobbing to be released on DVD) - but few concert films are. No fast editing and all four band members gets a decent amount of screen time which was certainly nice.

I've personally found The Cure's past few releases to be slightly lacking (in inspiration perhaps) and haven't seen them live in many years. In any case, the main problem with The Cure's performance was that songs that themselves which were once nearly mid-tempo are now very slow, and one-time fast numbers are now nearly mid-tempo (to be generous). I've seen several older bands of late (Gang Of Four, The Police, The Fleshtones) and something I've learned from them is that being older in age doesn't necessarily mean slowing down the arrangements of your songs simply because you are few years older. "The Walk" and "Primary" are two such songs that have suffered as a result of this. I don't know if drummer Jason Cooper has much to do with slowing down the arrangements but they are, in turn a different band than before with little distinction in different tempos. This was not the case when the Cure's old drummer Boris Williams was in the fold. Use of keyboards are also sorely lacking - always a constant and necessary element of the band in the past. However now all keyboard parts are done on guitar.




(See previous caption above.)


Another unfortunate is Robert Smith's voice. He's always been one with a distinctive voice, although not a very big voice at that. It's now limp, whiny and fully-exposed in a live setting. This doesn't help their cause for a great live show.

And not to kick a band when they are obviously down (so to speak) but I was actually embarrassed watching two (nearly) fifty-year old men (Robert Smith and Porl Thompson) wearing eye make-up and (in Smith's case) the silly haircut. These are things that probably should have been in been eased out of the image in the mid-nineties. All one has to do is look at picture-perfect bassist Simon Gallup and wonder what Robert and Porl are (or in this case, not) thinking. In terms of what makes music such as The Cure's successful - image is simply just not important. It's just sad, embarrassing and unfortunate when the band leader doesn't realize that himself and insists on wearing the silly make-up. It would be easy for someone unfamiliar with the band to view the make-up motif as style over substance. And to think that this band was at one time supposedly "anti-image".

However if you are a fan that believes The Cure can do no wrong - obviously you'll be hearing none of this and eat this performance up.

The Police Confidential by Danny Quatrochi

The Police Confidential by Danny Quatrochi
William Morrow & Co.
October 1986
128 pages

Great companion to the Lynn Goldsmith Police books (The Police and The Police: 1978-1983) at very least.

Danny Quatrochi - Sting's right-hand man (bass technician) from New Jersey and Police roadie - put forth a fantastic book. If anything it's too short considering all the Police photos he's taken. He's one of them, so you get a lot of photos with The Police's guard down.

Embarrassingly, the back cover photo of Danny (and his awesome shirt) was how I was introduced to XTC in late 87/early 88. He was sporting a dark Drums & Wires shirt which made me think - "that's a cool shirt - what does it say exactly?". So I have Danny to thank for me becoming a huge XTC fan, unbeknownst to him.

Thanks for the cool pics of Andy, Stewart and Sting Danny - and XTC rules.

Capitol Records' Teen Set Inner Sleeve 1964

All of my fellow vinyl junkies out there might be able to identify this. It was an inner sleeve found in Capitol's albums to promote their releases and their new 'Teen Set' magazine.

The Beach Boys At Theatre at Westbury, Westbury, NY 7/23/10

Okay, so maybe "The Beach Boys" is something of a misnomer seeing that two of the the founding members - lead guitarist/vocalist Carl Wilson and drummer/vocalist Dennis Wilson - have both passed away. Creative leader Brian Wilson has had an active solo career since the late 80's. And rhythm guitarist and vocalist Alan Jardine was unceremoniously fired by Mike Love after Carl's passing (real classy Mike) in 1998. So basically the band in question is Mike Love and Bruce Johnston with a handful of very talented others, including John Cowsill (of The Cowsills) who sang lead on "Help Me Rhonda" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice"...and special guest John Stamos (I wish I was kidding)*.

I've been a fan of The Beach Boys since the Summer of 1998. Basically since I first saw the VH-1 documentary Endless Harmony. The Beach Boys have since become one of my all-time favorite bands. The band is now basically a Beach Boys cover band (albeit a very, very good one) fronted by members Mike Love and Bruce Johnston. I'd been hemming and hawing over the notion of seeing them for long enough (these guys aren't getting any younger) and decided to see them.

All things considered - the show was wonderful. It would have been amazing to have seen these guys circa 1965 - 1975, but as there were no time machines handy this would have suffice. Bruce's vocals on "Disney Girls" were fantastic and Mike's vocals were as good as they've always been.

The band was fantastic and the venue was intimate and the acoustics were wonderful.

Set List:

Catch A Wave
Hawaii
Little Honda
Do It Again
Surf City
Surfin' Safari
Surfer Girl
Getcha Back
Wendy
I'm So Young
Why Do Fools Fall in Love
When I Grow Up (to Be a Man)
Darlin'
Be True to Your School
Ballad Of Ole Betsy
Don't Worry Baby
Little Deuce Coupe
409
Shut Down
I Get Around

Intermission For 25 minutes

California Dreaming
Then I Kissed Her
California Girls
Sloop John B
Wouldn't It Be Nice
Disney Girls (1957)
Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring
Forever (John Stamos On Lead Vocals)
God Only Knows
Good Vibrations
Help Me Rhonda
Rock & Roll Music
Do You Wanna Dance
Barbara Ann
Surfin' USA

Encore (although they never left the stage)


Kokomo
Summertime Blues
Fun Fun Fun.

* All kidding aside, Stamos was actually, and surprisingly, well-accounted for. He alternated between rhythm guitar, drums, backing vocals, timpani, bongos and took lead vocals on Dennis Wilson's "Forever". And he made the ladies swoon and squeal like it was 1964 all over again (I kid you not).

Random Best Of Year List: 1992!

The Best Of 1992:

Albums:

1) XTC: Nonsuch



2) Morrissey: Your Arsenal



3) They Might Be Giants: Apollo 18



4) Big Star: Third/Sister Lovers



5) Eggstone: Eggstone In San Diego



6) The Cure: Wish




7) John Wesley Harding: Why We Fight



8) Too Much Joy: Mutiny



9) Chris Bell: I Am The Cosmos



10) Sugar: Copper Blue



11) Television: Television



12) Beastie Boys: Check Your Head




13) Prince: The Love Sign Album



14) Barenaked Ladies: Gordon



15) Singles (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)



16) The Fleshtones: Powerstance



17) Social Distortion: Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell



18) Juliana Hatfield: Hey Babe



19) Ride: Going Blank Again



20) Pavement: Slanted & Enchanted



Singles:

1) XTC: "The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead"



2) Redd Kross: "Trance"



3) Matthew Sweet: "I've Been Waiting"



4) Teenage Fanclub: "What You Do To Me"




5) Morrissey: "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful"



6) Ride: "Twisterella"



7) The Cure: "High"



8) Tom Cochrane: "Life Is A Highway"



9) Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians: "Oceanside"



10) Toad The Wet Sprocket: "All I Want"



11) Too Much Joy: "Donna Everywhere"



12) Suede: "Metal Mickey"



13) Right Said Fred: "Don't Talk Just Kiss"



14) John Wesley Harding: "Kill The Messenger"



15) Paul Westerberg: "Dyslexic Heart"



16) They Might Be Giants: "The Statue Got Me High"



17) Blur: "Popscene"




18) Pulp: "My Legendary Girlfriend"




19) Red Hot Chili Peppers: "Breaking The Girl"



20) The Soup Dragons: "Pleasure"