a (probably) overlong story of how i came to hear of bobtown

"Alan Lee Backer is playing on Long island Friday night." I was trying to prepare a presentation for work. My wife was checking into activities for the kids, when the email came in on her computer. And that comment was what led to my seeing Bobtown yesterday (see yesterday's post). For I am an Alan Lee Backer fan.

Some (OK, a ton of) background: in college -- actually, I don't remember if it was college or the years shortly thereafter -- I saw the Beat Farmers play at the Lonestar Roadhouse. The Lonestar was a C&W bar /restaurant / venue on 57th Street in Manhattan. It's no longer around. Anyway, I was one of the few people who came around early enough to catch the opening act -- a local country-flavored band called Five Chinese Brothers. They gave me a copy of their single, "Baltimore," which was out on Diesel Only Records. Diesel Only specialized in New York country-flavored singles. Often it was truck driving music. They also provided me some of my earliest experiences with alt-rock. Influenced by the Five Chinese Brothers's single, I eventually bought a copy of each of the brand's singles that were still available. Actually I bought two copies of each -- my Christmas present tro Desmond that year was one copy. One of my favorites was "Two Hearts (Tender Lovin' and True)" by the Twanglers. I wish I could find a Youtube video of it, but I can't. FWIW, here's a video of the Twanglers live doing "My Babe:"

I loved "Two Hearts," but that single (and the song's appearance on Diesel Only's compilation, Rig Rock Jukebox, was all I had of the Twanglers. I bought the three Five Chinese Brother albums as they came out. Those were the days when I still bought a lot of albums. I had a job and no kids. Money flowed freer then. From the liner notes I could see the names of the brothers. One of them had even played in a band with a guy I was freinds with in college. Small world. Anyway, the Twanglers never did an album. So I loved the track, but never knew names or anything. One of the names that I didn't know was Alan Backer.

Nearly twenty years later, I was with the family at the Long Island Children's Museum. We were there for a performance by Ken Waldman, Alaska's fiddlin' poet. I should write a post about him. No promises. Anyway, he recites his freeform poetry while playing the fiddle. On this occasion, he had a drummer backing him up. I recognized the drummer. I was sure opf it. But I couldn't quite tell from where. At the end of the show, Ken thanked him by name. It was Charlie Shaw. I knew that name. From somewhere. But I couldn't place it. So I approached him and asked if he had been in any New York area bands that I might have seen him in. Among the many names he reeld off was Five Chinese Brothers. I responded by reciting lyrics from "Baltimore." So we talked music for a while. I mentioned other bands that I liked from Diesel Only. Including the Twanglers. He mentioned that he's in a new band called The Wicked Messengers with a couple of the guys from The Twanglers. Really? So I got the information.

Some time later I went to see them play at Hill Country, a Texas-style barbecue restaurant in Manhattan. I surprised Alan Backer before the show by asking him to autograph my copy of the Twanglers' single. I mentioned that it was one of my favorite songs. I later learned that he wrote it, so I must have sounded like I was just buttering him up, but I was being honest. It was great show. I saw the Messengers play a couple of other times -- they do a great show. But between work and family commitments, I don't get out to see them as much as I'd like. They do a karaoke show at Hill Country on Tuesdays, and I hear that's a great show. It's sort of like karaoke, except instead of having pre-recorded music, you have a live band behind you. Here's a video of someone doing Billy Joel's "You May Be Right:"

It's difficult for me to work that in. I should make a point of picking a Tuesday and going. Come hell or high water.

Anyway, As I posted yesterday, I almost didbn't make it to see Bobtown. But I'm glad I did. And Alan even gave me a copy of the Wicked Messengers' second album, Livin' Fast

Anyway, I leave you with Bobtown doing "Hell and Gone." I admit that I can't tell if this is the version from before Alan became a member.

a night in bobtown

Thank God for parkour. Earlier this week I heard of a concert that was really tempting. I wanted to go.

But it wasn't going to happen. I've been a workaholic recently -- one of the reasons I've been blogging so sparsely. I have a lot to get done for work, and this week has been particularly tough for me. Tuesday I had to make a presentation at work. I may blog about it since it was about music, but I may not since it was about music about the company and I'll have to remove so much that any interesting aspects will be lost. Anyway, I lost a full day of my "real" work to that. And a half day on Wednesday taking my youngest to the dentist. So despite wanting to go see this show, I probably would have missed it.

But I lucked out and was saved from myself. The kids wanted to go to a Friday parkour class. It just so happens that the class was near the venue (a library in Long Beach) and it staretd at the same time. So we all went out. My wife driopped me off at the library and went off to parkour with the kids.

I can't stress enough how glad I am that this worked out. The band was a five-piece called "Bobtown." According to the introduction, Bobtown was originally an acapella group that Katherine Etzel put together as a vehicle for her field hollers. She learned that artform working on farms in Iowa. The band is different now -- for starters, it's not acapella. But there is a heavy emphasis on vocal styling  - they feature some of the most haunting vocal harmonies I can recall hearing. The style can best be described as eclectic. There are songs that sound like gospel with an appalachian flavor. At one point they sounded like Motown with banjoes. And there was one song, "Resurrection Mary," that sounded like an Andrews Sisters number. Oh, and I loved their cover of Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper." For another cover (though not one they performed at this particular show), follow the following link (which, for some reason, I can'tr seem to embed in this post):

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di7zx9rHMBw

One thing that I found interesting was the visual aspect of the band. Ther's no big drum kit. There was plenty of percussion -- spoons, a triangle. And Etzel herself was playing a small drum, and had a small suitcase rigged up for use as a kick drum. Interesting.

My big regret? They were on Kickstarter about a year ago. See their plea video:

I wish I'd known. For a $500 pledge, they would record a cover version of a song of your choosing. Did the pledger have the option of choosing a song he or she wrote? That's an option I would have loved to go with -- similar to my donation to Wreckless Eric's and Amy Rigby's Kickstarter campaign. Or for $501, the pledger gets the cover version and an appearance in one of their videos. Too late. Maybe there'll be another campaign for their next album?

five missing one -- well, the lyrics anyway

I finally got around to registering the copyright on "Five Missing One," the song I wrote last year. I recorded a demo with HP Mendoza when my family visited him in december. I blogged about it back then. The process of registering the copyright online is remarkably easy, once one gets over one's natural tendency to procrastinate over any task that's not entirely familiar.

So now, with copyright registered, I present the lyrics:

Five Missing One

 Guiding horses with able hands
Through valleys and tablelands.
Another night by the fire
With the freedom we desire.

We're five but we're missing one.
Ride together under moon and sun.
We had a friend who wouldn't run.
We're five but we're missing one.

He thought it was all for fun.
And in a moment gone.
A day I won't forget.
But a life I can't regret.

We're five but we're missing one.
Ride together under moon and sun.
We had a friend who wouldn't run.
We're five but we're missing one.

He kne the risk. He took the chance.
And gave us his last dance.

So we drink to the family we found
And to the one who's not around.
And we ride on.

We're five but we're missing one.
Ride together 'til the ridin's done.
We had a friend who wouldn't run.
We're five but we're missing one.

I'm kind of proud of it, since I succeeded in a few specific goals. I wanted something that was evocative of the old western songs. Almost a Louis L'Amour novel in musical form. It didn't quite get to LL novel stature, but I managed to get a little bit of s atory in there. I also succeeded in leaving a certain mystery in the story. It's clear that someone died, but I don't say how. That's a biggie. At some point over the last couple of years I had the realization that one of my problems as a songwriter is this urge to fill in every gap. That can make things too cumbersome. If I tried to tell the whole story of how the missing one died, I'd have to add a couple more verses. (at least). And that's not really the point of the song anyway. It would be, I guess, if I had written more verses to completely flesh out the story. But I like this better. And I like the point of the song better this way. I have to remember this going forward. There's one song in particular that I've been toying with for years. If I consciously leave details out, that might help me make progress.

Also, I think I succeeded melodically. If I ever figure out how to add widgets to this blog I can attach my demos so you can listen. Anyway, I got away from the same chord progressions that I tend to fall back on. CDG GDC GDGC. Transpose as you like, but you get the idea. Here the verses are based on going from D to D-suspended then back to D. Then transitioning to A7 via an A7-suspended. Of course, to play it again, I have to reconstruct the exact chord progression. I have an early version on my computer. But I made changes in San Francisco and hand-wrote them. But I lost the copy that I wrote them on. I think I'll manage, because those suspended chords were the only things that were in any way exotic.

There are a couple of people I have to email mp3s to. Maybe I'll get around to it sometime in the 23rd century.

he was trying to eat my guitar

Not long ago my kids went on a tour of a chocolate factory. As a souveneir they brought me a chocolate guitar. I thanked them and set it aside. I knew that if I opened it, I would eat the wghole thing in very short order. Just a bite. Just another bite. Just a little bit more. And before you know it, it's gone. A couple days later, I still hadn't opened it. I came home to the news (courtesy of my daughter) that her younger brother was trying to eat my guitar. I ran upstairs, with visions of him prying my guitar case open -- wondering why he would want to eat a musical instrument. But all was well. He was trying to eat the chocolate guitar.

amy and eric -- the actual concert

I wrote about the social scene at Eric and Amy's concert. And about planning to talk with them about recording. But I didn't actually say a word about the music itself.

To a large extent it was the same stuff I've seen them play a couple of times in recent months -- at a club in Manhattan, and at their house after Hurricane Sandy. But they did throw in a twist. They noted that this concert would emphasize Eric's album, The Donovan of Trash, and her album, Diary of a Mod Housewife. They didn't play the whole albums. But they did play selections from them.

Being a bigger fan of Eric's than of Amy's, I'll talk about the stuff from DoT. Hearing a live version of "Joe Meek," and one of "Birthday Blues" were highlights. I can't help sounding lioke a little fanboy because -- well, I am. That's part of why I, a year plus ago -- explicitly gave up on the idea of doing "reviews" in the traditional sense.

One thing I can do without, though, is their penchant for getting into noise. They do this kind of wall of feedback that I just can't get into. I love seeing them in concert, and that's a price I pay for a show that I generally love. But when Eric starts fiddling with the knobs and they build this, this noise... Welll, at those times I wish i had earplugs.

I was surprised by their choice of closing song -- "Leaving on a Jet Plane." Where the heck did that come from?

the social scene at eric and amy's

The social scene at Eric's and Amy's house on Saturday (for their house concert) was interesting.

I'm not quite sure of the economics for Eric and Amy. Twenty dollars a ticket. There were probably about 40 seats. But I think most of the people there are friends and music industry contacts who don't have to buy a ticket. Certainly many of them are. Talking to people, it almost seems as if what they do is plan a pot-luck dinner party (did I mention, everyone brings some food or drink to share) for their frineds, add a conecrt to the evening's plans and then sell tickets. Maybe not. Maybe it's just what it appears -- a concert to which friends are comped. I'm not complaining either way. Whatever the case is, I'm paying to see a concert, and getting more than my money's worth. As I've said in other posts, the ability to chat with them before and after the show is great.

Anyway, I spent some time talking to a friend of theirs. Norma Coates is a musicologuist who studies music in society. The main questions she looks into have to do with gender roles in rock music. Why is rock music so dominated by men? My wife's answer, by the way, is "follow the money." If I get a chance, I'll do some searching for Professor Coates' research, and maybe talk about it. I've learned from past posts not to say that I will post about this or that. Too many times I have said that I would and haven't. A couple of times Norma mentioned that she bets that by going to a Wreckless Eric/Amy Rigby concert I am doing something hipper this weekend than anyone else I know. Now, I agree with her. But, of course, others who are not into either Eric or Amy may not view itthe same way. I see it as seeing a legend of the new wave/punk era (whom I happen to think makes great music). Others, of a different perspective, may see it as going to see a washed-up has-been reliving his glory days. Either way. I go because I expect that I'll have a good time. Eric and Amy have yet to dissapoint me.

I also spoke to Clay Harper, who is a friend of Eric's. He started a conversation with me by asking what's my favorite Wreckless Eric album. I though a second, and decided on Le Beat Group Electrique, which Eric did in the early '90s. That album sticks in my mind for two songs: "Sarah" and "It's a Sick Sick Sick Sick Sick Sick Sick Sick World." Surprisingly, Clay said that's also his favorite (while expressing surprise that I had named it). Turns out Clay was the special musical guest for the night. Introducing him, Eric explained that after LBGE came out, Clay loved its o much that he flew to France to meet Eric. Of course, he failed to forewarn Eric, who was out of town when Clay arrived. So Clay went home and then wrote to Eric asking what it would take to get him to come to Atlanta to produce an album.

The evening';s full circle moment was when it was mentioned that Clay had been in the Coolies, an alt rock band from Atlanta in the 1980s. I was never very into them, and know little about them. But I have an album of theirs, called Take That, You Bastards. What's noteworthy about the album is that it has a bunch of covers of Simon & Garfunkel songs. I always find it interesting when I learn of a connection between two musical realms that I didn't know were connected.

planning with eric and amy

I went upstate yesterday to attend another Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby house concert (i.e., concert at their house) yesterday.

Before going upstate I emailed them. I still have to record with them, pursuant to their Kickstarter campaign. It's been months, and I've put off contacting them about it. So I typed an email.

I felt I had to explain where I was coming from, since they had expressed surprise when I explained that I'm not a performer. I didn't realize when I learned of the campaign that the chance to record with them was aimed at performers who want recordings of themselves performing. As a longtime fan of Eric's and a songwriter, my thought was "Wow! I can have a recording of Wreckless Eric singing one of my songs. Ultimately I realized that it would be better to have them do a demo of a new song. I pushed hard to finish writing "Five Missing One," and made a rough demo of that with HP when we were on vacation. But meanwhile, on vacation I started writing another song,which I would rather not name yet. Let's just call it WASAM. I think WASAM is better suited to Eric's and Amy's style, since I hear it as a  Nashville type song. Also, it's a positive topic, which my wife prefers. Finally, of course, I have a decent rough demo of "Five Missing One' so I'm better off recording something else wuith them One irony is that the new song is something I hear being sung in a female voice, so it'll probably be Amy's lead vocal. The real catch, though, is that I don't have the dang song completely written. Since I'm doing this to sell my sogwriting, I need to have a complete song. Not that I would mind sharing a copyright with them, but I don't think that's what they're into.

Anyway, the email explained most of that. I showed it to my wife to make sure there was nothing that could offend. She read it, then said to talk to them instead of sending the email. So I wrote a new email in which I asked if I could chat with them after the show. So after the show I talked to Amy and explained pretty much exactly what was in that email. She said they woul;dn't mind working with me to tocuh up a song that's mostly complete. And sharing a copyright, if warranted, is OK.

So what I have to do is make a really rough demo. I have a portable recorder that I bought just for this purpose. I'll email that to them with a lyric sheet.

never give the microphone to a fan

well, that was stupid of me

I was at a function and ran into someone I hadn't seen in about a year. He plays trombone. But for some reason I had it in my head that he plays the saxophone.

To make smalltalk I asked "How's the sax coming along?"

"Trombone," he said. "I play trombone."

Without thinking, I asked "Are you sure?"

the melting pot in action

It epitomizes New York as a melting pot. A New York subway busker. He's black, he performs in a tux, playing Jewish music on saxophone and clarinet. Often, runs around in circles while playing, in a manner that reminds me of Chassiddishe men dancing.

What's the story behind it? Maybe he just likes Jewish music. Maybe he works nights playing at Jewish weddings and Bar Mitzvahs. Maybe he's Jewish.

If I ever have the chance to see him -- he plays in the Times Square subway station -- I'll try to find out.

ouch =/= help

I was once talking to a friend about the Rutles. I avered that "Ouch!" was my favorite song of theirs. He said he didn't like it because it was exactly the same song as "Help!", the Beatles song that it was parodying. I argued that it was a close parody but it's not the same song. The melody, I pointed out, is different. No dice. He insisted that it's the same song and since he's a musician (he'd been in, like, you kow, actual bands) he knows better.

Well, I don't care how many bands he's in. It's a different song. You can judge:

gimmicks

What won't they think of next? A Swedish band, the Shout Out Louds, have released their new single, "Blue Ice" in a new format: a playable record made out of ice.

I'd love to follow up by saying it's available in the refirgerated section of your local record store, but you'd see through that particular joke. First of all, most record stores don't have a refrigerated section. Second, the ice version of the single is an extremely limited edition. Only ten were made. And technically, when you get it (assuming you are one of the chosen few), what you get is a mold, a bottle of water and instructions. You pour the water in the mold, freeze it, remove the record from the mold and then play it. Cool! For more details, here's the article I saw.

Yeah, it's obviously a gimmick. Keeping the record as part of your collection is not an easy thing to do. I would assume it's not great for your record player, and I doubt the ice would survive many playings. Heck, even the first play seems to be pretty porr quality. But it is a clever idea and good for some attention.

In a similar vein, I recall reading about a record that came with a cardboard turntable that -- if memory serves -- had to be folded together. And I also recall reading about a digital record that has some kind of software built in to change it in small random ways so that it never sounds the same twice. Don't ask me for details. I don't recall.

A bunch of questions come to mind: Do you have to use the water provided in the bottle, or does plain old tap work? Will the music sound bubblietr if you use seltzer? Can the mold be used more than once? I would hope so. I'd hate to think that you can use it once and that's it. But I could see the possibility that the plastic mold is damaged beyond reuse when the frozen disk is removed.

What I will admit is that it shows how far gimmick releases have come. I remember some gimmick releases from my youth, but they were all simpler. There were some singles that came in odd shapes. I particularly remember a specially released single by the turtles that was shaped like a turtle. Split Enz' first album came with some kind of laser etching so that if you held the record at the right angle you could see the album's logo on it. I also had a 5-inch single (Jona Lewie's "I'll Get By in Pittsburgh") and a 6-inch single (Squeeze' "Another Nail in My Heart").  And, of course, there were picture discs, and albums released on clear or colored vinyl.

My favorite gimmick, though, was a flexi-disk produced by Mad Magazine. It was for a song called "It's a Super Spectacular Day." The gimmick was that it had eight different endings, and you didn't know which one would play any given time you listened to it.

could wilko be the next fester?

Can anyone watch this and tell me that Wilko Johnson wouldn't make a great Uncle Fester?

gene roddenberry: piece of work

"Work" isn't the noun I wanted to end the title of this post with. But discretion is the better part of valor

One of the stories out of Hollywood, and I'm assuming it's true, centers on Gene Roddenberry and how he managed to snag (unethically, in my opinion, 50% of the royalties for the theme from Star Trek.

I assume you know the theme. ethereal music with a wordless female vocal. To my ears, it sounds like a theremin.  It's aired without lyrics, but there were lyrics to it:

Beyond the rim of the star light
My love is wand'ring in star flight.
I know he'll find in star-clustered reaches
Love, strange love a star-woman teaches.
I know his journey ends never.
His star trek will go on forever.
But tell him as he wanders his starry sea
Remember, remember me.

The things about it is that Alexander Courage wrote the music for the theme. Afterwards, gene Roddenberry added his lyrics. Roddenberry never expected to air the lyrics. But by writing lyrics he could claim credit as co-author and get half the royalties for the song. Courage (rihtfully) considered this unethical, but Roddenberry defended it by saying "Hey, I have to get some money somewhere. I'm sure not gonna get it out of the profits of Star Trek."

I still like Star Trek, but this bothers me.

tfia at licm

Today the family went to see Trout Fishing in America (TFiA) at the Long Island Children's Museum (LICM). Before talking about the concert, I'd like to go off on a couple of tangents and talk about the band and the venue.

Band first. Trout Fishing in America (Ezra Idlet and Keith Grimwood) are far and away the best children's band out there. Their songs are catchy and entertaining, and accessible for children. But the songs are structuired like regular songs. What I mean by that is that they have all the musical complexity of pop songs aimed at an adult audience, so they don't bore ears trhat have spent decades listening to music. Another thing that I like can best be described in terms of what it's not. A lot of other performers of children's music are very self-conscious about being educational. And they make the music educational at the expense of the music itself. TFIA don't do that. The music is the music. And it's damn good. In one song they're counting the wheels on a truck, and the kids are enjoying it. But it's so catchy that adults are going with it too. Another song is about a space alien that made it's way into the singer's nose. The kids are amused (OK -- some are grossed out), but the song sounds like something from the early new wave (circa 1980), and adults are loving it. I'll note that TFIA is not strictly a children's band. They do "serious" "adult" music as well, and their CDs are generally split into the adult and children's categories. I tend to like their kids music much more. But that's just me.

Now for the venue. The theatre at LICM, in Garden City, New York, is one of those underappereciated and underattended gems. They have some great shows there (not all music, mind you) by great performers. Off the top of my head, I can remember shows by Chinese Theatre Works, Ken Waldman, Nappy's Puppets, and Chip Bryant. There have been others. These are high quality shows by great performers in an intimate environment. There's not a bad seat in the house. Today was the first time that TFIA played there. Theatre manager Jim Packard told my wife that getting TFIA to the theatre was on his bucketr list. Another thing that I appreciate about the theatre at LICM is the price point. The show was $3 per ticket. Admittedly, that was the member price. I think the nonmember price was $4. Having a family of 5, I really appreciate that. There's lots of activities where the price seems reasonable until you multiply by 5. We' have seen TFIA in other venues where the cost for the whole family runs in the $100 neighborhood. Jim, if you're reading this please don't take it as encouragement to raise the prices.

As for the show, It was a good assortment of their favorites. There was "18 Wheels on a Big Rig" (see video below, which was not from today's show, but pretty well captures the spirit of what we saw), "100 Little Ducks" and "My Hair Had a Party Last Night" and others. They played these with the usual good humor that I've come to know. At one point, Keith talked about how they recognize some people who have been to their shows before, and I would swear that Ezra was looking straight at my wife. We were, by the way, in the front row. OK, we (along with the other family we went went) were the front row.

The only thing that seemed out of place was one of the new songs, "Don't Touch My Stuff," a musical reaction to theft last year of their van with all their musical intruments in it. TFIA is, if nothing else, a playful band. And even in their few angry songs ("Mine!" is the only one that comes to mind) the anger is offset by playfullness. But "Stuff," from the starting thundering bass riff, is angry. And it didn't sound right at a TFIA concert. I understand the motivation, but still...

There were a couple of other new songs. "Creepy Dead Bug" is one I look forward to hearing on an upcoming album. And " You've Got a Funny Name" from theuir latest album, Chicken Joe Forgets Something Important. The album is a CD with a book around it -- they call it a book with a CD, but I prefer my description.

One thing that's difficult when I talk about TFIA is that I have to avoid talking about a favorite song or even a short list of favorites. I may come up with a list of three songs that come to the top of my head. Maybe "We Weary Deer," "Alien in My Nose" and "Chicken Joe." But then you ask me about "No Matter What Goes Right," and I think Yeah! That's one of my favorites too!. But what about "King of My "Mountain"? Yeah, that too! And it keeps going.

At any rate, following are some videos:

"18 Wheels on a Big Rig." This was not from today's performance, but it is of recent vintage, and captures a lot of the same feel. I note two things about the song: 1) At the end, when Ezra recites digits of pi, he does it wrong. I once mentioned that to him after a show. He said he knows. I don't know why they still do it that way. 2) I would love for them to add a bit where one of them notes that most wheels are round. But some of the wheels are perfect squares, and now we're gonna count the perfectly square wheels. They would then sing "Oh, there's 1, 4, 9, 16 wheels on a big rig." I suppose that would go over too many heads.

"Alien in My Nose," which they did not perform at today's show. It sounds like it should have been a new wave / powerpop song thirty-five years ago. I remember the first time I heard it. It blew me away.

"16 or 17 Hours of Sleep." This is a new song I hadn't heard before today. It's from the new album, whcih comes with a book wrapped around it.

listen long and prosper

Do you remember the background music when Captain Kirk first faces the Gorn? Or when he and Spock go at it with Lurpas? How about when he almost found himself in a fast draw with Morgan Earp? If you're a Star Trek fan -- or even if you're not -- you're probably familiar with the music. You may not know exactly which piece plays when, but it probably brings the show to mind.

Now, you can listen to these -- and other Star Trekian musical gems to your heart's content. The Wall Street Journal reports that La-La Land Recotrds has just released a fifteen-volume set of CDs featuring all the music from the original series. The WSJ reported described it better than I could (I wish I could write like this):

Even non-Trekkies will likely recognize some of the more memorable passages—like the tyrannical horn motif of the treacherous Romulans in the episode "Balance of Terror." Or the screaming trumpet threat of the mindless, planet-destroying berserker in "The Doomsday Machine."

Now, not all Star Trek music was brass-heavy and foreboding like the pieces cited above. There were the playful bits, like when Kirk and Spock are caught stealing clothes back in the 1930's, or when Scotty drinks an alien (from the Andromeda galaxy) under the table. Whatever good and bad there was in that show, the soundtrack music was arguably the best in television.

The downside to this is that the CD set is priced at $225, which places it out of the realm of impulse purchases. I suspect that the good folks at La-La Land are simply taking advantage of Trekkies. Not that there's anything wrong with that -- I believe in the free market, and recognize that we don't have any kind of fundamental right to cheap Star Trek music. But I won't be buying this collection unless the price comes down a lot. No matter how much they begs.

Ahhh ahhh ahhh. Bitter dregs.

trombone silliness

I find this kind of amusing to watch. A camera mounted on the hornd of the trombone, aimed at the face of the person playing it.

I will admit that it gets me a tad seasick.

the strangely cd

So I've had a chance to listen to and digest the Strangely CD, Hot Air Boat Lune.

I like it, though it's not what I expected. Of course, I'm not sure what I expected. Strangely is an iconoclast, and his music, based on what I can find on Youtube, doesn't fit the conventional molds. In fact, it's probably more accurate to call him a performance artist than a musician, though music is part of said performance. For examples, here are some videos:

There's a bit of old-timey spirit and some hillbilly influence. My favorite track on the album (sadly, not depicted above) is "Hey Lady," a kind of louldly touching tribute to a woman in New York.

The only musical issue I have with the CD is that there's a certain intensity on it that I haven't seen in his earlier music. Some of tracks sound very angry as a result. It's almost as if Strangely felt he had to come through big time and was just trying too hard.

The packaging is, of course, a real DIY job. The disk is a Verbatim CD-R designed to resemble a record (you know, those big black vinyl thingies they used to make). No one bothered even to write the name of the album, or artist or anything on it. The CD case is brown cardboard with minimal black ink. The song titles are on a paper insert.

Strangely did write (on the inside of the case), "To Marc, My only fan in (Jamaica) New York..." and he signed it. He also inserted a paper with a handwritten note expressing his hope that we got through superstorm Sandy OK. I don't have the heart to tell him that my wife is also a fan of his, and she's in Jamaica, New York. I suspect that his Kickstarter money was almost exclusively from his Bellingham fan base, and there were very few contributors from elsewhere. So he was tickled to see a New York address.

got strangely

A while ago I blogged about Strangely and his Kickstarter campaign.

I finally got the album in the mail. It came some time in December while I was away on vacation. I haven't really had a chance to listen to it yet, but I'm looking forward to it...

pretentious

Someone (with whom I agree) noted that "The only thing more pretentious than "They Might Be Giants" is "They Might Be Giants" for children.

more on musicifying with hp

As a followup on my recording with HP...

I learned a few things from the experience. HP pointed out that the bridge of a song doesn't need a melody that resolves itself. It can be good if the bridge ends with some tension leading into the verse that follows. And I did change my melody for the bridge in order to achieve that effect.

I've also been thinking about the lyrics in choruses. I tend to think of choruses as static -- each verse has different lyrics, but the choruses are all the same. That's the way I think of it, anyway, even though I know it's not always the case. There are songs where the choruses all differ in a line or two. But what I did with "Five Missing One" is keep all the choruses the same, except for the last one, which has one different line. I like the way it kind of creates an expectation that the choruses will be the same and then throws a curveball at the end. Of course, I'm throwing another curve at it. That one line that changes? I decided on a different different line for the final chorus. Problem is HP and I already recorded it the way I had it. So when I register the copyright I'll just have the lyric sheet reflect the new line. That should cover me.

After I register the copyright I'll write a post in which I reveal the lyrics, and I'll address that final change. Of course, if I can figure out how to embed a ReverbNation widget in this blog, I can make my demos available to anyone who reads this.

papa was a...

Know what I'd love to see?

I'd love to see Mick Jagger's and Keith Richards' children form a band and do a version of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone."

musicifying with hp

I am still planning to record a track with wreckless eric and amy rigby. That will probably happen some time next month. At least now I have the song to record.

I had three songs that were complete. But I also already have servicable demos of each of them. So rerecording with Amy and Eric would, in a sense be a lost opportunity. Sure, I'd have a recording of Wreckless Eric doing one of my songs. But it wouldn't increase the number of sonmgs I could put on a demo disc to send to producers, etc.

So my plan was to write a new song. Which I did. The song, "Five Missing One," is meant to be an old-time western-style song. I've been kind of sitting on the idea for a while, letting it gestate. I asked my friend, HP (whom I'm visiting and about whose music I have blogged before), if he would be interested in collaborating on it when I was visiting him on vacation. I ended up writing pretty much the whole song in the week or two before vacation, and tonight sat down with HP to finish it up and record a rough demo. In the event, it didn't need much more songwriting. There were a couple places that I had alternate lyrics that I was choosing between, and HP helped me decide. There were places where I wasn't sure that I had the right chord, and HP helped me with that as well. There were a few places where he helped me improve the melody. But HP said he doesn't think he contributed enough to justify sharing the songwriting credit. So, even though I offered to register the copyright in both of our names, he said to do it in just my name.

And we recorded a rough demo. It's three tracks -- me on guitar, HP on lead vocals, and HP doing harmony. It'd not a perfect demo. There's some distortion on the guitar track, and it's definitely too fast. But I think it's good enough to take to Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby.

validation

It's interesting how I get a thrill when a song I love comes on the radio. Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind" or Dave Edmunds' "I Hear You Knockin'" are two good examples. It doesn't matter that I have the song in my CD collection and I can pretty much listen to it whenever I want. Somehow it's a special thrill and I have to hear it all the way through. I think it's somehow about my taste being validated.

hey you

Nighttime. We're driving through the Nevada desert. The kids are drowsy and starting to fall asleep. I'm flipping through radio stations to stay awake. Pink Floyd's "Hey You" comes on, and I stop flipping. Then Sharon, my middle child asks me to change stations. "This song is creepy," she informs me.

concert at eric and amy's place

This past Saturday night I went upstate to Catskill, NY. Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby were giving a house concert to raise money for victims of hurricane Sandy. Or was it superstorm Sandy? Anyway, it was the best concert I ever went to. No. Not the "best" concert, whatever that means. But of all the concerts I have ever been to, it was the one I enjoyed the most.

Details to follow. For now, here's a link to Eric's blog, where he wrote about it. http://thedysfunctionalworldof.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-hurricane-house-concert.html

dissed

the worst teeth in the history of music?

Great song. Lousy teeth.

great cello rockin'

I like these guys

nick lowe concert

Kids notwithstanding, I went to the Nick Lowe concert that I'd been so looking forward to.

Downside first: Apparently Nick doesn;t come out to sign autographs. That was a dissapointment. One of the nice things about being a fan of musicians who are, to be polite, not at the peak of popularity, is that getting autographs or a simple handshake is relatively possible. Oh well.

I was in the tenth row, near the center, in a venue that doesn't really have any bad seats. I wasn't as close as I was at the recent Wreckless Eric concert, but I was close enough to see Nick's expressions, and to feel that I was truly seeing him (as opposed to ants at a distance or an image on a jumbotron. Nick performed solo. Just him and an acoustic guitar. For some reason I thought he'd have a band behind him. No matter.

Predictably, Nick concentrated on songs from his cronner era, which is generally placed at The Impossible Bird and everything since. Disagreeing with conventional wisdom, I don;t think of Bird or his subsequent album, Dig My Mood, as part of that era; they were kind of transitional. I think the crooner stuff began with The Convincer. That would mean it currently consists of that lbum, At My Age and The Old Magic.

He opened with "Stoplight Roses" from Magic, and also did "Sensitive Man," "Somebody Cares for Me," "I Read a Lot" and "House for Sale." from that album. There may have been others -- I wrote down titles as he played the songs (there were 21 in all, including two encores), but I am writing this from memory. There was also "I Trained Her to Love Me" from Age, "Lately I've Let Things Slide" from Convincer and "Soulful Wind" and "I Live on a Battlefield" from Bird. About the latter song, Nick told the audience that Diana Ross did a cover of it. It wasn't her finest hour, he said, but it did buy him a new bathroom.

But along with the new, he did play some older Rockpile-era (and even pre-Rockpile-era) songs. The second number he performed was "Heart" from the Rockpile album, and he did "When I Write the Book" from that album as well. At other points he performed "I Knew the Bride," "Raining Raining" and "Without Love."

"(What's So Funny 'bout) Peace Love and Understanding," another of his early numbers kind of annoyed me. He has explained in many interviews that it was written as a sarcastic piece, poking fun at hippies. When he did it with Brinsley Schwarz it had a certain acerbic bite. That was accentuated when Elvis Costello covered it turning it into a real snarling thing. But after 9-11 it has been retrofitted as a serious plea -- sort of Nick's answer to John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance." And, of course, in this day --when we are at war, with the situation worsening in post-war Iraq, and talk of possible forays into Syria or Libya or Iran -- such a song goes over quite well in deep blue area like Port Washington. But I see the plea as very simplistic. I would prefer the sarcastic version of the song.

After performing his one US hit, "Cruel to Be Kind," Nick noted that some of his contemporaries feel trapped by their lone hit -- they have to keep playing it over and over, and they don't like it. (Was that, BTW, a jab at opening act Jim Keller who didn;t play "867-5309/Jenny"?) But he still loves to play his hit. And that was a good example of Nick's charm with the crowd. His between-song patter was relaxed. He talked about how this was his first time playing in the area (Port Washington specifically, nit the whole New York metro area). He then went on to note that the mayor of some town in the upper west -- he named the town, but I don't recall -- picked him up at the airport, that some other town in Nebraska is the home of the Nick Lowe sub sandwich. But here he is unrecognized and can walk down the street undisturbed. He hopes, he said, to change that.

I will say that I thought Elvis Costello's "Allison" was an odd choice to end the show. Why such a downbeat vinegary close?

the first concert i went to

Writing yesterday's post about concert venues reminded me of the first concert I attended back in 1983. It was Nick Lowe at the Nassau Coliseum. For those who don't know, that's the arena on Long Island where the Islanders play. So we're talking about a big venue, though not the monster venue that is the Meadowlands. I should note that it wasn't really a Nick Lowe concert. It was a Tom Petty concert, and Nick Lowe was the opening act.

And, of course, I went for the opening act. Nick was supporting his then-new release, The Abominable Showman. I remember the thrill when he took the stage. I remember shouting "We want action!" at several points, in a vain attempt to request the opening track on the new album (which was titled "We Want Action"). I remember being dissapointed that he didn;t play that song, although he did play "Ragin' Eyes" after pointing out that he had a new album out. I don't really remember what else he played. I do remember that I couldn't really see him clearly, because of the distance. But I didn't really mind. I was at my first rock concert and I was thrilled.

I left after Nick's set, so I didn't see Tom Petty's performance, though I saw a few bits as I was walking trying to find the exit. If I had it to do over, I'd probably stay to see his act.

i prefer a small venue

After I went to see Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby perform, and anticipating the upcoming Nick Lowe show (which is this coming Sunday, by the by), my wife found a deal on Bruce Springsteen tickets. Half price to see him at the Meadowlands (technically, Met Life Park, or whatever it is that they call the big football stadium where the Giants and Jets play their home games).

I passed.

$60 for a ticket to see a concert at a huge venue like that doesn't really appeal. The problem with huge venues is that I don't really feel like I'm seeing the musician live. I'm so far away that all I can see is specks on the stage. I know that that speck in the middle is Bruce Springsteen (or whoever, depending on the show), but I can't really see him. There are lots of big screens to help out, but I may as well be watching a screen at home. Never mind the traffic and other logistics of getting to such a show -- although I'll admit that that is particular to the show. A concert at Shea Stadium Citifield would be easy for me to get to but still has the other drawbacks.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't mean to diminish Springsteen. I know he's a great performer and showman. I'm told he puts on four hecks of a show. And I even like a godd bit of his music, though I could hardly be classified as a rabid fan. But the downsides of such a show are just too much.

In that sense I am lucky that my favorite musicians aren't exactly household names. My ticket to see Amy and Eric was $15. I was sitting maybe ten feet from the stage -- and I could've been closer if I'd wanted. I could feel the vibrations when Eric jumped. And it's not because the sounds were amplified. I could see the strings on his bass quivering. I could see his face squished in concentration. When Amy broke a guitar string I could see it dangling from the headstock. I could see it getting in the way of her fingers on the frets. And I don't mean that I could see it in an image projected on a Jumbotron. Looking directly at her guitar I could see the strings and the fingers and the frets themselves. That's more esciting than anything I'd see at the Meadowlands. And I talked to Eric and Amy before and after the show. I got to connect with the performer.

And the upcoming show... $45 for my ticket -- yes that's significantly higher than the Eric and Amy ticket, but Nick Lowe is a bigger draw for a variety of reasons. At any rate, it's still cheaper than the Springsteen ticket would have been, and that would have been half price already. My ticket is in the tenth row, just off-center. As with the Eric show, I'll be close enough to see everything. It won't be quite as intimate -- this is a real theatre with seats -- and assigned seats at that -- while the other was the basement of a bar. but it'll still be good

when names change

One thing that causes my anal-retentive self a bit of agita is when bands either change their namess or are inconsistent in their spelling.

I like to organize my music alphabetically by band or artist. Admittedly, my CDs haven't been organized for quite some time, but that's another story -- and even so, there's still the database that I'm forever trying to complete. But my organizational efforts are hampered by a few bands that don't have the decency to be consistent.

Now, when a band records under a completely different name (e.g., Brinsley Schwarz recorded and released some tracks as "The Knees"), that's fairly straightforward. I enter those tracks as recorded by the band under whose name they were recorded. In the example cited, I list those tracks as being by The Knees.

But there are other cases where things aren't quite so easy for anal-retentive me. Following are a few examples:

The Toy Dolls
The British punk rock group's tenth album, Orcastrated,  has their name on the cover spelled as "Toy Dollz." Note the "Z" at the end. I could ignore the missing "The" at the beginning -- lots of bands add and remove "the" all willy nilly without regard for the anal-retentive among their fans. But the "Z" bothered me. Alphabetically, keeping the album separate wasn't a big deal, since "Toy Dollz" comes right after "Toy Dolls." But part of me wants to list them as a different band, and list all the tracks as by the "other" band. Of course, many of those tracks also appear on compilation albums, so those albums would show tracks by both "Toy Dolls" and "Toy Dollz." I've resisted the urge, but it does bother me.

Squeeze
There was a contemporary American band called "Tight Squeeze." So to avoid confusion this British group was, early on, billed as "U.K. Squeeze" in the States. And their first album was  released as U.K. Squeeze. For the longest time I filed that album under U (while all other releases were filed under S. And my database reflected tracks from that first album were reflected as being by U.K. Squeeze instead of Squeeze -- even when they appeared on compilations. A friend (who is a bigger CD collector than I am (though he doesn't keep a database on computer) summed it up succinctly when he found out. "That's mental" he sneered. Perhaps so. What made me change it and file everything under S? Some epiphany that it was mental? No. When I found out that, in Great Britain, the band was always billed without the "U.K." in front of its name and the album was released as Squeeze. Of course, even though my copy of U.K. Squeeze went back to S with the other Squeeze albums, I kept it after Sweets from a Stranger because the album title still had "U.K." in it even if the band name didn't. I have also since learned that the band was also known as U.K. Squeeze in Australia. That was because of an Australian band called Squeeze, and lasted much longer.

The Flamin' Groovies
The Flamin(' -- ?) Groovies made some great music, but for some reason they couldn't decide whether their name had an apostrophe in it. Or maybe they simply changed their minds after three punctuation-less albums. Part of me really wants to reflect two different bands in my database. I also never really know whether to use the hyphen when I write their name. I tend to prefer to include the apostrophe, since it just doesn't look right without it. So the one band in my database has the apostrophe in its name. I'm guessing that if I were to ask Roy Loney or Cyril Jordan about the name, and whether the apostrophe should be there, they'd look at me like I was nuts. Or maybe anal-retentive. Did I mention that I'm anal-retentive?

Lynyrd Skynyrd

When the band reformed in the late '80s after the airplane crash-induced hiatus, here were legal battles over use of the name Lynyrd Skynyrd. As a result, the 1991 album was released as Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991, and the album notes made it clear that the band was also known by that name. I find it interesting that, while Wikipedia mentions and briefly discusses the legal battles, I can't find anything about the band being billed under the expanded name.My database still reflects it as being a different band. I suppose if I liked them better and became a completist when it came to their music I would have to do the resaerch and decide how to reflect them. But I don't and I'm not so I probably won't.

John (Cougar) Mellencamp
When he first started out, John Mellencamp reluctantly agreed to use the stage name "Johnny Cougar" because his manager felt that "Mellencamp" was too difficult a name to market. He went back and forth between John and Johnny. Eventually, when he had had some measure of success he was able to add his real surname to the mix, so several albums were released as "John Cougar Mellencamp." It wasn't until 1991 that the "Cougar" was gone and he started releasing albums as "John Mellencamp." It makes me glad that Jason Ringenberg had a band behind him so his last name didn't become an issue.

best use of bach

 

I enjoyed this video, which features Brandenburg Concerto No. 3

picking a nit re an otherwise-great song

One of Nick Lowe's recent songs is "Lately I've Let Things Slide." It's off the 2001 akbum, The Convincer. It's a really good song of depression. One of the better works from his reinvented phase. I have been having trouble recently getting it out of my mind. I do, however, have one complaint about the lyrics. There's a passage:

I go to the bin
I throw the laundry in
And pick out my cleanest shirt

The singer is explaining that, having failed to do the laundry, and having no clean clothes he has to go to his dirty clothes and do the best he can with them. But because of the meter of the song, my mind keeps hearing it as if he is describing a series of thee actions: 1) he goes to the bin; 2) he throws the laundry in; and 3) he picks out his cleanest shirt. That's not what Lowe was trying to convey in the song, but I can't help hearing it that way.

You judge:

am i destined to be a stephin merritt fan

Stephin Merritt is not a household name*. That's fine. Some of my favorite musicians never quite made it to "household name" status. Many had brushes with it, but are long past it. So that's not a  big deal. Merritt is the lead singer and main songwriter for The Magnetic Fields. I'd never heard of him or the band before I met my wife. When she and I met, she was living in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was a big fan. Se used to go to Magnetic Fields concerts and sit on the side of the stage. And he'd make fun of the way she dressed. That from a man who only wears brown.

I've tried listening to their music, but never quite got into it. Merritt's voice is haunting, a fact that's enhanced by his deadpan delivery. I sometimes find it fascinating to listen to, but I never got into it.

But over the years, there have been what I will, for lack of a better phrase, call the intrusions of his existence into my consciousness. Given his stature in the music world, it would be easy enough to go through life rarely if ever hearing of him and not taking note when I did. But because my wife is a fan, that doesn't happen.

Early this year I was reminded of him by a CD in a big box of disks I got through Freecycle. I blogged about that back in February.

Another time, I listened to one of his songs and found it kind of good. But then when I went to Amazon and listened to samples from the album, I just didn't like it.

This time it was a film screening hosted by The Modern School of Film. The school is having a series of film screenings. In each, a musician (Neil Finn of Split Enz is up next) is asked to pick one movie to screen. Then, after the screening, there's a conversation and Q&A between the musician and the host. Last night, the musician was Stephin Merritt.

As a film, Merritt chose The Black Lizard, an odd Japanese mystery from 1968. In case you want to see it, here's part 1 (of 9 on Youtube -- I have not checked to make sure all 9 are there, so watch at your own risk):

 When asked why he chose that movie, Merritt explained that he picked it because he wanted to see it -- he hadn't seen it in 18 years and it's not available on DVD.

But getting away from the movie pick, after the film, they showed a Magnetic Fields video for "Andrew in Drag," from their latest album. That was great. Here it is:
I also found the Q&A interesting. Merritt, while not unfriendly, seemed kind of uncomfortable onstage. I couldn't tell if he was angry or bored (after the fact, that's my guess). But at times, he almost seemed to be daring the host to ask him a question.

At one point, and I forget what question prompted this, he said that he's incredibly bored when he sings. He purposely does take after take until he's wooden, because he doesn't believe singers should emote. This, by the way, explains what I observed above about his deadpan delivery. At any rate, he wants to get the emotions of a song from lyrics and the melody -- not from a singer emoting. I was amused by his observation that one of the problems in music is that everyone wants to be Aretha Franklin. He clarified that Aretha Franklin is a good thing, but everyone wanting to be her is a bad thing.

The point here, if there is one, is that with each Merritt encounter I find myself drawn more and more to liking his music. Maybe someday soon I'll be buying his albums?

*A note on my "household name" comment. Originally I wrote "big star." My wife disputed that by noting all the stuff he's done, and at venues like Lincoln Center. He is, she argues, a big star. It's just that he's a big star who few people would recognize. Rather than split hairs or argue semantics, I figured I'd change it to "household name." 

good guy dylan

Rolling Stone magazine has yet another interview with Bob Dylan. I should note at the outset that I haven't read it -- it seems to be behind some subscribers-only firewall. So my comments are based on an article, in Reason, about the interview.

Interviewer Mikal Gilmore devotes an inordinate amount of energy to trying to get Dylan's endorsement of President Obama. To his credit, Dylan demures. Telling quote:

This gives Gilmore his hook: didn't Obama change all that? And isn't it so that people who don't like him don't like him because of race? Gilmore takes five different swings at getting Dylan to agree. Some of Dylan's responses: "They did the same thing to Bush, didn't they? They did the same thing to Clinton, too, and Jimmy Carter before that....Eisenhower was accused of being un-American. And wasn't Nixon a socialist? Look what he did in China. They'll say bad things about the next guy too." On Gilmore's fourth attempt, Dylan just resorts to: "Do you want me to repeat what I just said, word for word? What are you talking about? People loved the guy when he was elected. So what are we talking about? People changing their minds?"

It's particularly ironic given that Dylan made his name in political music.

The thing for me is that I get tired of hearing the show business crowd pushing their opinion as if they know better than anyone else. I even remember reading of one star (I can't remember who) going so far as to say that actors know better because they are trained to play roles and so have more empathy. Now, accepting that claptrap for the sake of argument, it says nothing about understanding whether policies are likely to work or what the unintended consequences may be.

But I digress.

Certainly, celebrities can endorse politicians or policies. But at some point I find it a turn-off. One of the reasons that I lost interest in Christine Lavin (New York-based singer/songwriter who was, in the 1980's, one of the cool breed of "new" folksingers) is that I got tired of her adding politics to her act.

I'll admit that, to some degree, my feelings are a matter of whose ox is being gored. I'd be less bothered if the Hollywood set were endorsing views that I shared. Hey, I'm only human. But even so, when I hear about Hank Williams Jr.'s latest diatribe, I roll my eyes and wish he'd shut up. And I tend to be more sympathetic to his views than to, say, Peter Yarrow's.

I just want to add, with regard to the above quote, that I was particularly glad about Dylan refusing to blame opposition to Obama on race. There are lots of political arguments that I think are wrong. But that one -- that opposition to Obama is about race -- isn't just wrong. It's aggressively wrong, and offensive to boot. Remember, half a decade ago, when we were told that dissent is the highest form of patriotism? Now, judging from some of the rhetoric from some prominent left-wing celebrities (including Dylan's interlocutor), it's the lowest form of racism.

rhyming: "spoil it" and "toilet"

I have now come across a second instance of a pop song rhyming "spoil it" with "toilet."

Not earth-shattering, but an odd enough rhyme that I find it interesting that I';ve come across two instances by very different artists.

The second instance is from "Weid Al" Yankovic's "Wanna B Ur Lovr:"

You're absolutely perfect
Don't speak now, you might spoil it.
You're eyes are even bluer
Than the water in my toilet

The first instance, as all will recall, is from Ian Dury & the Kilburns' "You're More Than Fair:"

A tender moment,
Don't let nothing spoil it.
I shall caress your clitoris
As we reach the toilet.

I'll note that the above video is of an Ian Dury tribute band performing the song. Every video I could find of Ian Dury performing this, or of a studio version contains a (slightly cleaned-up version with the clitoral reference replaced by something slightly less risque. But I still have the original 45 with the lewd version.

the basher comes to port washington next month

I'll be sseing Nick Lowe in concert next month. He's performing at a small theatre in Port Washington, on Long Island.

It's kind of fortuitous that I found out about it. A few weeks ago I was having dinner at a diner on Long Island with my family and another family. For some reason (probably because I was being a smartass) I mentioned Nick Lowe twice during the dinner conversation. Caryn, the other mother, noted it in puzzlement since she'd never heard of him. Well, my smartassery paid off. Caryn and her husband are mebers of the small theatre in Port Washington, so when the calendar came out and she saw Nick Lowe on the schedule, she called my wife to let me know.

So I have ticket to the show -- sadly, I don't know anyone who is interested enough in Nick Lowe to go as well. But I'll be in seat J109. That's tenth row, near the center. Not bad. I'll be close enough to see his face in detail as he performs.

Maybe I'll be able to nick an autograph after the show.

Funny thing is that I had a chance to see Nick earlier this year. He was opening for Wilco. I didn't bother, since the tickets were kind of expensive, and I have no interest in Wilco. I've had mixed feelings, since one never knows how much longer he'll continue to tour. But now I feel better. These tickets are a little cheaper, the venue is more intimate, I'll be closer, and I won't have to sit through an act that I'd rather not bother with.

I am, as of this moment, a very happy boy.

To give a flavor, here's some recent vintage Nick:

singing about the evil chickens

Like a lot of people, if I'm alone I'll absent-mindedly sing lyrics to songs I know. The other night, for example, I was waiting for the bus, and started singing "I Still Miss Someone." But for some reason I have a habit of replacing the lines with assertions about evil chickens ruling the world. So pretty soon I'm singing sopmething like

I never got over those blue eyes
And evil chickens rule the world

But gradually I start replacing more and more of the lines with the evil chicken references. Eventually, I'm just singing:

Evil, evil chickens
Evil chickens rule the world
Evil, evil chickens.
Evil chickens rule the world.

I hope nobody is listening.

chatting at the amy and eric show

I had gotten to the Wreckless Eric concert early. The information I had said 7:00, and even though I didn't expect the show to start at 7 on the tick, I didn't realize that the doors weren't scheduled to open until then. So I left and came back a few slices of pizza later. At 7:00 the doors still weren't open, but I was free to hang out at the bar for happy hour. At 7:15 I was kind of lurking around the entrance to the stairs to the show, wanting to be the first (or nearly the first) to go down so I could secure a good spot. There was another guy obviously having the same thoughts. My new nemesis. I sized him up -- about my age. Not as bald as me (damn him!), but his hair was grayer (Ha ha!). Then the doorkeeper explained to us that they were still doing soundchecks and the downstairs bartender still hadn't shown up, but he'd let us down when he could.

So my nemesis and I started chatting. His name was Stuart. It still is, I suppose. He lives in Washington and had come to New York specifically for this show (and was therefore staying around for the Saturday show at Hastings on-Hudson).

What I found interesting is that his interest in Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby had a different origin than mine. I had been a longtime Wreckless Eric fan. So when he started recording with Amy Rigby (whom he had, by that time, married), I bought those albums. I'll note that I may or may not have heard of Amy Rigby before that. She had been married to Will Rigby of the dBs. I think (though I'm not sure, and I'm too lazy to chack) that he recorded for Diesel Only Records, which put out a bunch of great truck-driving singles a couple of decades ago. In my own little music cocoon, it had never occurred to me that others might have started as Amy Rigby fans. But that's what Stuart's story is. He had, he volunteered, listened to Eric in the eighties. But not beyond that. He was a big fan of Amy's and had attended many of her concerts.

In fact, Stuart was enough of a fan that Amy recognized him and chatted with him. And he had gotten to know Eric through the association. So once we were downstairs discussing music before the show. Eric came over for a little chat. I stood up dumbly not knowing what to say, or if I hould say anything. Hummina hummina hummina. Here's one of my big musical idols standing right here in front of me for a conversation. OK, it's not like he's Justin Bieber and I'm some 16-year-old-girl. But still -- Wreckless. Eric. Talking to me.

Actually, it's not the first time we'd talked at one of his shows. About 20 years ago, when Le Beat Group Electrique was still new, I saw him perform at The Knitting Factory. I remember being so proud in my Stiff Records T-shirt. I didn't know at the time that there had been acrimony when he left Stiff. So I asked him to autograph my copy of the new album. He looked at my T-shirt, and said "Oh, you're one of them." I felt really embarrassed. He signed the album, inscribing "Hope I live up to it all," which I thought was clever. That copy of the album is now in Somerville, where my wife's friend Patti lives. She borrowed it a long time ago. Maybe I'll get it back someday. In the meantime I bought another copy used on the British version of Amazon (for like $100).

The second time I talked to Eric was during the early or mid oughties. I'm not sure what year. But he was playing in New York. During that show I was chatting with Amy Rigby (though I didn't know who she was). She simply described herself as his girlfriend. The two of them talked for a while. I  talked to him briefly and put my foot in my mouth.

So, what could I do? I had to follow tradition. Stuart and Eric greeted each other with a brief hug. I said something like "I take it you've met?" Then proceeded to gtell Eric that he and I had met but he wouldn't remember it. Damn, I have a way with words.

During and before the show, Stuart and I talked a bit about music. We agreed that Nick Lowe is still putting out good music, and that a Rockpile reunion would not be a good idea. We agreed that Kaye's opening opening act was a bit odd, and that Rebecca Pronsky was very good. And, of course, he loved Amy's and Eric's performance.

After the show, and after buying merchandise (a T-shirt, a copy of Eric and Amy's new album, their 7-inch vinyl single, and the two CDs that Rebecca Pronsky was selling), I set out getting autographs. Eric was busy moving equipment, but Amy was friendly. She signed the album and the single. I asked about the Kickstarter reward. She's emailed in July, and I emailed right back, but never got a response. Then, last week I got another email. This had a link to the digital version of the album, which was part of my Kickstarter reward. But her email seemed to read as if she had never gotten mine. She said that sometimes Eric gets emails that he wants to craft a response to, but he ends up putting it away for later and forgets about it. I can believe that. She said to try emailing again. I will.

Eventually, Eric came up to chat with people. I got his autograph, talked a little about music. I mentioned the Kickstarter campaign, and he also said to try emailing again.

Part of me wanted to stay, but I was exhausted and had a family to get home to. So I bid a hasty farewell...

eric and amy in concert

Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby did a show in the East Village Friday night.I meant to blog about it earlier, but life got in the way.Anywho...

The one advantage of following an artist who is not among today's biggest stars is that you get to be close up. The venue was the basement of Bowery Electric, a small bar on the Bowery. No assigned seats -- actually, it was mostly SRO, but I was the first one down (or second -- waiting for the doors to open, I was chatting with a guy named Stuart, and he and I went down together) so I snagged one of the few chair-like things (a cushion on wheels). The stage was small ("intimate," I suppose, is the polite word), and very close. Being upclose like that is a very different experience than seeing a bigger name in a big venue. It was very much like the house concert where I saw Janey Street play, although the setup was more elaborate.

But the point is that I was watching musicians perform, but I wasn't much fartehr away from them than I would have been if I had been having a normal conversation with them. At my day job, I've had plenty of meetings in which I've talked to people over a farther distance. You can see the emotion on the singer's face, see the strings vibrate on the bass guitar.

The show was billed as Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby, with Rebecca Pronsky as an opening act. As it turns out, there was a third act -- sort of an opening opening act. I didn't catch her name. Kaye something?

Kaye's performance was a bit odd. Just her and a ukulele (which she sometimes played with a bow, like a viola). She did, however, have a digital loop effect so she could make it sound like there were several people playing ukuleles (or viola-ukes). I couldn't help wondering if this was her first time performing onstage in front of an audience. A couple of times she would have to restart a song because of some mistake she'd made. Also, she was reading either the lyrics or the chord progressions from a sheet of paper that she kept on a chair beside her. Her choice of of material was also a bit odd. I think it was all cover tunes, though I only recognized one of them -- Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls."

And that, I guess, gets at the heart of the song. There's a certain incongruity in hearing a Queen Song performed on a ukulele. And, of coouyrse, that wasn't the only song she did was writtne from the point of view of someone appreciating the female form. Her first song, the title of which I didn't catch, was also from that poerspective, and explicitly identified the singer as male. So I, as a heterosexual male, couldn't help but wonder if Kaye is gay, or if she just likes those particular songs?

Kaye was followed by Rebecca Pronsky, who was much better. Pronsky, whom I hadn't heard of, is part of Brooklyn's music scene. She was accompanied by her guitarist (and, I suspect, significant other), Rich Bennet. She seemed, in some ways, to be a country singer, though the arrangements were more Duane Eddy-ish. I suppose a big part of that is due to the Bennet's haunting guitar twang. It was a short set, that I wished would go on longer. It was enough to convince me to buy copies of both CDs that she was selling.

When Eric and Amy started their set, there was an immediate shift in energy. Rebecca's set had been subddued and measured. Then Eric and Amy start in, quite loudly with electric guitar and electric bass. Suddenly the prior set seemed constricted. They concentrated on material from the three albums they did together (the third is just out), which is understandable, though a bit dissapointing. My knowledge of Eric's music is encyclopedic when it comes to his Stiff Records years, and reasonable for the years after. But I'm not as up on all the material he and Amy did together. And they didn't do "Men in Sandals" or "Astrovan," which are possibly their best know material from recent years. I think the highpoint was "I Get Out of Breath," (from Two-Way Family Favourites), which I recognize as a Turtles song, though I don't think they were the original performers of it either. I also really enjoyed "Zero to Minus One" from the new album, and a song which they described as being about how they met, but which I don't recognize from any of their albums. I'll have to look into that. I would have loved to hear them do "The Downside of Being a Fuck Up" from their eponymous album.

They pretty much eschewed their pre-coupling material for the show, though for an encore they did one song from each of their prior careers. For him it was "(I'd Go the) Whole Wide World," and from hers it was "Dancing with Joey Ramone." Then, they closed with "I Still Miss Someone."

I left elated. As I've noted in prior posts, I've been a big fan of Eric's for 30 years or so. Watching him now isn't the same as it would have been back in the eighties, during the peak of his career. He's pushing sixty, and doesn't have the same energy. The music isn't the same anymore. But damn if it isn't fun to watch him.

The following video of "Dancing with Joey Ramone" isn't from the concert in question. But it should give you an idea...

I have a lot to say about chatting with them, and with Stuart (whom I mentioned above). But I'd like to leave this post as a simple discussion of the concert.