Tag Archives: Rock

Raging Fire: Everything is Roses – 1985-1989

RagingFire_EverythingIsRosesMid-80s post-punk from the heart of country music

From a vantage point on the West Coast, Jason and the Nashville Scorchers seemed to be an anomaly – a rock band from Nashville – and when they dropped “Nashville” from their name, the connection between Music City and native-born rock music grew even more tenuous. But the Scorchers turn out to be both the nationally known emblem of and an inspiration for a lively Nashville rock scene that was broader than the mating of country and punk. A less widely known darling of that scene was Raging Fire, whose mid-to-late ‘80s catalog is sampled for this 22-track anthology.

Fronted by vocalist Melora Zaner, Raging Fire could pull back and give hints of their Nashville origins, but the band’s dynamic rock ‘n’ roll rage was more in line with the barking poetry of Patti Smith, post-punk of X and new wave studio sounds of the 80s, than southern rock or country twang. Even the band’s acoustic numbers, such as “After Loving One Man From East Texas,” have some bite. Had they been in San Francisco or Los Angeles, or five years later in Olympia, things might have been different; but as it played out, they attracted attention from record labels, but never closed a deal.

The group toured the midwest and south, and gained college radio play for their EP A Family Thing and album Faith Love Was Made Of. The former is included here in its entirety, the latter sampled alongside demos and tracks drawn from compilation albums. Without a label deal, the band’s momentum stalled, the members’ lives moved in different directions, and the group drifted and broke apart. With this first-ever reissue, it’s still hard to imagine this music coming out of Nashville, but even harder to imagine there wasn’t one label who could get this band signed. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Raging Fire’s Home Page

Adam Ant: The Blueblack Hussar

DVD_TheBlueblackBussarThe renewal of a rock ‘n’ roll survivor

1980s music fans will remember Adam Ant’s string of hits and a series of dandyish videos that dominated the early years of MTV. His New Romantic imagery was the studied creation of an artist, born from a love of history and a formal art school education, and a perfect fit for the New Wave era. His music combined the free spirit of punk rock with the poses of glam and the tribal wallop of twin drummers, and proved itself a surprisingly sturdy platform. Ant’s music career slowed down in the mid-80s, but his charisma and innate theatricality led to television, film and theater gigs that lasted out the ‘90s. But in 2002, troubling behavior that first cropped up in college returned with a vengeance, and in 2003, Ant was involuntarily “sectioned” for in-patient psychiatric care.

Ant discussed his bi-polar diagnosis in the documentary The Madness of Prince Charming, and again in his 2006 autobiography Stand & Deliver, but it wasn’t until four years later that he was sufficiently recovered to piece together a full artistic return. Legendary director Jack Bond documents that return in this 2013 cinema verite film, chronicling Ant assembling and rehearsing a new band, touring for the first time in fifteen years, and recording the album Adam Ant is The BlueBlack Hussar Marrying The Gunner’s Daughter. Along the way, the film reveals its subject as creative, intelligent, funny, hard-working and introspective. Viewers weaned on the MTV videos will come away with a much deeper appreciation of the thought and craft that went into Ant’s early work, and a feel for his continuing passion as an artist.

Along the road to re-emergence, Ant meets up with actress Charlotte Rampling, whose appearance in The Night Porter was a seminal early influence. He charms Rampling as they work together in the studio, just as he does artist Allen Jones, who has a connection to Ant (or more accurately, the pre-Ant, Stuart Goddard) of which he wasn’t even aware. Bond’s camera followed Ant for more than a year, capturing the frenetic energy of his return. The film doesn’t impose any context on the raw footage – no story setup for Ant’s return, no title slides identifying the guests; but there is an arc as Ant rehearses the band, publicizes his return, gigs his way up through smaller clubs, and emerges at the film’s end into the sunshine of Hyde Park and the welcome of an enormous festival audience.

Some fans have complained that the album capping this comeback was raw and underproduced, but the documentary makes evident that Ant is meticulous about everything he produces. If the album is raw, it’s because it was meant to be. Some of Ant’s new lyrics are coarse, and his music reaches back to the punk rock of his earliest work, but there isn’t even a hint of nostalgia to be heard. In his mid-50s Ant remains as magnetic and captivating as he was in his 20s, perhaps more so with the removal of MTV’s intermediation. The artistic drive that kept him upright as the original Ants were spirited away to form Bow Wow Wow continues to sustain him today; and in turn his energy sustains his fans, who turned out in droves for both his UK and US tours.

MVD’s 2015 DVD release augments the original documentary with bonus live performances of “Whip in My Valise,” “Young Parisians” (a duet with Boy George) and “Deutsche Girls”, along with a Q&A with the film’s director, Jack Bond. Longtime fans (who probably saw this film upon its theatrical release) will enjoy having this in their collection, but it’s the casual MTV fans who will really learn something new. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Adam Ant’s Home Page

Billy Shaddox: I Melt, I Howl

BillyShaddox_IMeltIHowl70s-pop tinged country, rock and folk

Billy Shaddox’s 2013 solo release, Golden Fate, threaded an Americana base with double-tracked vocals that echoed the country-inflected early ‘70s soft-rock of acts like Lobo, America and Gallery. His second album follows a similar path, mixing unabashed pop with rootsier fare that moves the banjo and guitar forward. Shaddox’s voice is a flexible instrument that sings dreamily on the opening title track, but adds a subtle husk for the shuffle “Feels Like Home.” The latter features stomping bass and a terrific electric piano solo before the accompaniment breaks down and reconstitutes itself.

There’s a taste of power pop in “My Hands Don’t Lie” and hints of Badfinger and Elliot Smith in the summery “Fireflies,” but the modern productions keep from turning these songs into nostalgia. He glances backward for a reference point, but keeps his view straight ahead as he sings “you can never look back, and the future is your friend” on “Golden Coast.” When Shaddox howls, it’s optimistic and upbeat, with rising melodies and lyrics that question limitations. He’s as comfortable with raucous electric guitar as he is with fingerpicked acoustic, and his arrangements are incredibly dynamic. This is a real sleeper! [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Billy Shaddox’s Home Page

Marshall Crenshaw: #392 – The EP Collection

MarshallCrenshaw_392TheEPCollectionSix originals, six covers and two bonus tracks

This fourteen-song collection pulls together material Crenshaw originally recorded and released across three years of 10” vinyl EPs [1 2 3 4 5 6] and a Kickstarter campaign. Each EP included an original A-side and a B-side that featured a cover song and a reworking of an earlier Crenshaw tune. Developed as an antidote to the grinding cycle of album-tour-album-tour, Crenshaw used the project as an opportunity to record with a variety of musical friends, as well as alone in his studio, and to revisit favorite songs from his and other writers’ catalogs. This set omits the reworkings of his own material, but adds a bonus live cover of the Everly Brothers’ “Man With Money,” recorded with the Bottle Rockets, and a previously unreleased demo of the original “Front Page News.”

The originals are surprisingly similar in mood, given the span of time over which they were recorded. All are mid-tempo, introspective and slightly downcast, though the earlier sides, “Stranger and Stranger” and particularly the recriminations of “I Don’t See You Laughing Now,” spark with a bit more energy. The covers are an eclectic lot, both in the artists covered and the specific songs selected, spanning titles from The Move, Carpenters, Lovin’ Spoonful, Bobby Fuller Four, Easybeats and James McMurtry. Programming the originals 1-6 (in reverse chronological order) and covers 7-12 undoes the original release structure and makes the disc’s second half more interesting than the first, but a playlist (6, 7, 5, 8, 4, 9, 3, 10, 2, 11, 1, 12) restores the original order and pairings. A nice collection for turntable-less fans, but newbies still need to start with Marshall Crenshaw. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Marshall Crenshaw’s Home Page

Holly Golightly: Slowtown Now!

HollyGolightly_FastTrackToSlowtownHolly Golightly returns to her retro UK roots

Though it’s been more than a decade since she waxed an album with a rock ‘n’ roll band, Holly Golightly has been active with her clanking, ramshackle country blues duo Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs. Her new LP reunites her with her UK mates – Ed Deegan, Bradley Burgess, Matt Radford and Bruce Brand – and picks up where they left off, with kittenish jazz (“Frozen in Time” and “Empty Space”), sultry rock ‘n’ roll (“Seven Wonders” and “As You Go Down”) and a terrific cover of Barbara Acklin’s “Fool Fool Fool (Look in the Mirror).” Throughout the album, the guitars buzz and snake, the double bass adds deep tone, and Golightly multiples herself into a one-woman girl group.

The band finds its deepest grooves on mid-tempo struts like “What You See,” with Golightly exhibiting a simmering indifference that’s mesmerizing. You’ll catch a hint of the Shangri-Las’ on “As You Go Down,” with Golightly’s monotone providing a cool contrast to the band’s “Sophisticated Boom Boom” groove. Everyone is so fully locked in, that it’s hard to believe it’s been ten years since 2005’s My First Holly Golightly Album. The guitar leads are broken in, yet fresh (with a nice nod to the Shadows’ “Apache” on “Forevermore”) , and the rhythm section is casually tight. Fans will love this return to previous influences, and those who arrived via the Brokeoffs will enjoy Golightly’s other roots. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Holly Golightly’s Home Page

Tommy Keene: Laugh in the Dark

TommyKeene_LaughInTheDarkTommy Keene has never sounded better

When last we met Mr. Keene, on 2013’s Excitement at Your Feet, he displayed unerring taste in cover songs, and a knack for applying his own sound without obscuring the sources. Two years later he’s back with a new set of original songs, and while the covers album left Keene to write this album from scratch – no leftover material and no jump-starting a return to the studio with a resurrection of an earlier work – the album builds on both his trademark sound, and his sojourn through other people’s songbooks. Keene’s guitars and vocals have never sounded better, and the overall mood of the album retains the irrepressible excitement of early works like Places That Are Gone.

Keene has never shied away from his primary influences – the Beatles, Byrds, Big Star and Who – but even his earliest records sounded distinctly like Tommy Keene, rather than his forerunners. The title track may make you nostalgic for Big Star’s “Feel,” but the reference creates a new, shared experience rather than a retreat to the origin. The same is true for the echoes of “Dear Prudence” in the six-and-a-half minute closer, “All Gone Away,” with Keene’s guitars and John Richardson’s drums stretching out as if they’re jamming side one of Abbey Road to a close. Thirty years of record making has sustained, but not really changed Keene’s approach, making this a must-have for longtime fans and a great starting point for newbies. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Tommy Keene’s Home Page

The Buckinghams: The Complete Hit Singles

Buckinghams_TheCompleteHitSInglesThe original recordings, but not the original mono singles

It took Chicago’s Buckinghams five tries to crack the singles chart. Their second single, a 1966 cover of James Brown’s “I’ll Go Crazy,” bubbled under, but their fifth release, “Kind of a Drag” raced up the Billboard chart to sit in the top spot for two weeks in February 1967. The group continued to chart through 1969, with their last entry, “It’s a Beautiful Day,” creeping up to #126. In between, they clicked with four more pop icons in 1967, “Don’t You Care,” “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” “Hey Baby (They’re Playing Our Song” and “Susan,” and posted several lower-charting singles – all of which are included here – on the charts.

The Buckinghams built their initial success with six superb singles and an album on the Chicago-based U.S.A. Records label. The album was released in both mono and stereo, but the singles, which were aimed at AM radio, were released only in mono. Varese has included all six of the A-sides, but, as has generally been the case for the Buckinghams in the digital age, the less impactful stereo mixes are used. Apparently Sony (who owns the recordings) wouldn’t or couldn’t produce the mono masters. And that’s a shame, as the wide stereo mixes dissipate much of the energy conjured by the hot mono singles. Also a question mark is the last of the group’s U.S.A. singles, “Summertime,” which is offered at the album’s 3:53 length, rather than the single’s reported 2:17 edit. Perhaps only the DJ single was edited, but if so, it would have made a nice inclusion.

The group moved to Columbia Records, where they produced three albums and nine singles, the latter of which are included here, again in stereo. The one novelty among the Columbia material is an edited version of the hit “Susan.” Originally issued with a thirty-second instrumental freakout inserted by the group’s producer, the single was reissued in edited form, and it’s the latter that’s included here. Beyond the hits scored for Columbia, the group had several fine singles that charted lower or not at all, including “Back in Love Again” (which turned up the following year as a “moldy oldy” on Chicago’s Kiddie-A-Go-Go!), the bubblegum soul “Where Did You Come From,” light-psych “This is How Much I Love You” and two more non-LP sides.

Other than “Susan” (and the inclusion of “Summertime”), these recordings appear to be the same as released on the earlier Mercy, Mercy, Mercy compilation. What distinguishes this set from Mercy are the stereo mixes. When Mercy was produced, a number of tracks were remixed by Vic Anesini; Varese asked Sony for the original period mixes, and assuming that’s what they received, they’re a great addition to the group’s digital canon. The absence of original mono singles, particularly for the U.S.A. sides, merits a more accurate title for this collection, but the 12-page booklet includes rare photos and excellent liner notes by Clark Besch, and Steve Massie’s remaster sounds great. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

The Buckinghams’ Home Page

Continental Drifters: Drifted – In the Beginning & Beyond

ContinentalDrifters_DriftedNot so odd odds ‘n’ sods from superb Americana collective

The Continental Drifters publicity often hung on the renown of the Bangles’ Vicki Peterson, the Cowsills’ Susan Cowsill and the dB’s Peter Holsapple, but the music and musicianship of this collective was deeper and broader than its three most famous members. Among its riches were multiple lead vocalists, stellar instrumentalists, the contributions of multiple songwriters and the forge of collective musical sensibility. The group’s formation in Los Angeles and relocation to New Orleans magnified that rich bounty of talent in a confluence that drew both from West Coast and Southern roots.

Omnivore’s two-CD set offers a wealth of rare material that will gratify the band’s many fans. Disc 1 features early material, including from their import-only debut, demos and alternate mixes. At times, the group’s early recordings sound like the Band plugging Little Feat’s instruments into Buffalo Springfield’s amps in a Los Angeles club built in Mississippi. But you can also hear the melodic echoes of the Bangles and Cowsills in Susan Cowsill’s mesmerizing “The Rain Song,” deep soul in Carlo Nuccio’s organ-lined “Here I Am,” and heart-wrenching balladry in Ray Ganucheau’s “I Didn’t Want To Lie.” This was a band with no shortage of excellent original material or musical imagination.

Disc 2 focuses entirely on the band’s way with cover tunes, collecting tracks from tribute albums (including their entire Listen Listen EP tribute to Sandy Denny And Richard Thompson), European imports and live recordings. Their taste in covers was both exquisite and broad, including material from obvious sources like Gram Parsons, Lucinda Williams and Neil Young, and less obvious sources, like Tommy James (Alive and Kicking’s 1970 hit “Tighter, Tighter”), Brian Wilson (Surfin USA’s brilliant, bittersweet album track, “Farmer’s Daughter”), and William Bell (a country-harmony arrangement of Otis Redding’s “You Don’t Miss Your Water”). Their multi-vocalist arrangements of “Dedicated to the One I Love” and “I Can’t Let Go” are dreamy and joyous.

Even in compilation form, with material drawn from across time, geography, lineups and projects, there’s a unity of purpose that holds this all together. It’s a testament to both the band and the collection’s producers, Pat Thomas and Cheryl Pawalski, that the group’s disparate musical interests fit together so easily and remain so timeless. The inclusion of live and cover material shows how the group’s versatility turned their shows from a mere recitation of studio material into a dynamic revue. This two-hour ten-minute collection includes a twenty-page booklet highlighted by fresh notes from the band members and detailed discographical data. This is an essential bookend to the group’s previously released albums. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Continental Drifters’ Home Page

Steppenwolf: The ABC/Dunhill Singles Collection

Steppenwolf_ABCDunhillSinglesA treasure trove for Steppenwolf and John Kay fans

Steppenwolf’s residual radio legacy – “Born to Be Wild” and “Magic Carpet Ride” – may fairly represent their brand of hard-rocking psychedelia, but it simultaneously over-represents their otherwise modest results as a singles band, and under-represents their enormous success as an album act. These two towering hits overshadow four years of gold-selling albums and a string of mid-charting singles that deserved a bigger stage. Real Gone’s two-disc set assembles Steppenwolf’s ABC/Dunhill A’s and B’s (except for “Monster,” which uses the full “Monster/Suicide/America” album track in place of the shorter single edit), alternate B-sides, and John Kay’s solo singles into a compelling recitation of the group’s lesser known singles and adventurous flipsides.

Beyond the two big hits, a few of the groups singles remain familiar. Their second release, a funky rock cover of Don Covay’s “Sookie Sookie,” failed to chart, but gained airplay on soul stations, their chilling take on Hoyt Axton’s “The Pusher” graced the opening scene of Easy Rider, and “Rock Me” closed out their top ten run in 1969. Nine more singles over the next couple of years brought some musical highlights, but only middling chart success, topped by 1969’s “Move Over.” AM radio was a big tent in the early ‘70s, and though there was still space for rock music, apparently the Doors, Who, Alice Cooper and Led Zeppelin had sharper commercial elbows than Steppenwolf. But even though the group’s singles stalled midway up the charts, their albums continued to sell and their popularity as a concert draw resulted in a gold-selling live LP.

The group’s B-sides often provided more musical reach than the A’s. Goldy McJohn’s signature organ provides an ominous underpinning, and John Kay’s gruff, bluesy vocal was well spent on producer Gabriel Mekler’s “Happy Birthday,” the original “Power Play” has a Dylan-esque meter and showcases then newly-added lead guitarist Larry Byrom, snappy horns were added to the instrumental B-side “Earschplittenloudenboomer.” and the arrangement turns acoustic for the string quartet backed “Spiritual Fantasy.” There’s was also a lengthy experimental instrumental, “For Madmen Only,” which was replaced as the B-side of Mars Bonfire’s “Ride With Me” by the more conventional “Black Pit.” The top sides had their adventurous moments, including the Kustom Electronics’ “The Bag” talk box used on “Hey Lawdy Mama” and a superb take on Hoyt Axton’s anti-drug “Snowblind Friend.”

In 1972, Steppenwolf disbanded, and Dunhill retained John Kay as a solo artist. His work combined originals and covers drawn from a surprising range of sources, leading off with a heavy cover of Hank Snow’s “Movin’ On.” Kay also covered Hank Williams’ wounded “You Win Again,” Alan O’Day’s “Easy Evil” and Five Man Electrical Band’s “Moonshine (Friend of Mine).” Kay’s voice is easily recognized, but freed from the legacy of Steppenwolf’s “heavy metal thunder,” he finds resonance with Richard Podolar’s spacious and more gentle productions. The combination is particularly effective on Kay’s fine country, folk and soul-tinged originals “Walk Beside Me,” “Somebody” and “Nobody Lives Here Anymore.”

This is a terrific set for the band’s fans, with mono singles mixes used for disc one (except track 15), and nearly half of disc two (3-5, 8-9 and 14-15), and true stereo for the rest. Those seeking the band’s hits are better off with a single disc collection (or even bargain priced copies of their first two albums), but fans will really enjoy this view of the band and John Kay’s early solo work. The latter may be the set’s biggest surprise, particularly for those weaned only on Steppenwolf’s radio hits. The generous running time (77:48 for disc 1, 69:26 for disc 2), is complemented by a 24-page booklet that’s stuffed with photos and intimate liner notes by John Kay. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Steppenwolf’s Home Page