Somethin' A Little Different...

The few and far between purveyors of this blog will probably be blindsided by the fact that I am actually a massive Bee Gees fan. Tucked in between Beck and Begging For Incest are two dozen CDs of my favorite UK-via-Queensland pop trio. I thought I'd upload two hidden treasures in their extensive discography, completely overshadowed today by the billion-selling disco era LPs which forever defined the band from the late 70's on. 1968's Idea is a somewhat psychedelic offering which finds the Gibb brothers still searching for their own sound. Some tracks sound exactly like the Beatles (to such an extent my girlfriend asked if they actually were unreleased Fab Four tracks) while others venture into Jefferson Airplane/Mamas & The Papas territory. At the end of the day though, the songs that stand out are clearly Bee Gees songs. Some readers may recognize "I Started A Joke" from Faith No More's excellent Who Cares A Lot? version - while "I've Gotta Get A Message To You" is pure Bee Gees with an epic harmony chorus straight out of their later years together. "When The Swallows Fly" and the title track are also stand outs. Which brings me to 1974's Mr. Natural. Another quirky album cover aside (the Bee Gees were the undisputed champions of awful cover concepts) - get past the sappy opener "Charade" and you will be in proto-disco heaven. Backed by the producer (Arif Mardin) and back-up band that would help jettison them into worldwide fame a few years later with Saturday Night Fever (among other LPs), the Bee Gees locked down their unique mix of funk, blues and pop with this album. Ranging from delicate ballads ("Voices" and "I Can't Let You Go") to funky R&B ("Throw A Penny" and "Mr. Natural") to dance floor classics crying for a strobe light ("Down The Road" and "Heavy Breathing") it's a great party record will easily embed itself in your annoying I-can't-stop-humming-these-songs repertoire. Shit, who am I kidding, I fucking love almost every album these guys made but these two records top 'em all. Enjoy.

1968                                                                     1974

Sour Candy

Sophomore major-label release by nerdcore legends 2 Skinnee J's had everything wrong going for it. Shelved by its record company (Capricorn) who initially promoted it then pulled the plug over some sour grapes regarding Woodstock '99. Sold to another uninterested record company (Volcano) as part of Capricorn's bankruptcy proceedings two years later. Volumizer eventually made it onto CD racks without the benefit of advertisement or reviews as trade magazines claimed to have reviewed the initial Capricorn release and would not listen to the album twice. Needless to say, this gem was quickly forgotten and destined for discount rack purgatory. Yet, as often happens with albums like this, there is a lot to like on Volumizer. "Horns Of Destruction" is a great opener - perfect for your next bumpin 'house party and "Grown Up" is a pretty rockin' would-be pop hit that in instantly catchy. "Big Beat Evangelists" showcases the darker hip-hop sound of the band with a cool-ass groove but it's the bittersweet "Lemon Drop" that stands out as my favorite. Every guy has that one girlfriend who treated you like shit while you foolishly took it- this is the pefect homage to you fucking bitches out there. The song hits that shit on the nail - awesome stuff. Unfortunately there are some misses and some of the more "ballad-y" stuff seems a little out of place. There aren't quite as many sci-fi Star Wars references on this one either but you can't have everything I guess. Enjoy.

Pass The Buck

River City Sampler

Stumbled upon this local obscurity last night, a 1993 snapshot showcasing five bands from RVA trying to catch up with what Seattle was then usurping the MTV market with. Nothing immediately standout, but all the bands have a good track or two except for Schwa - what the fuck man - "Our God In Heaven" is probably the worst song I have heard in a long time. Each band has a style that can probably be compared to a more popular grunge/post-metal band from the era (The Technical Jed = Toadies, Burst Into Flames = Breeders, etc.) but it's still good listening - and what the fuck else were they gonna do at the time? I gotta say I was actually pretty into a few of the songs, especially "Cartoon Train" and "Candy's Gone." Each of the bands have since faded into nothingness or spawned some other moderate local efforts but nothing hugely notable. Regardless, it was a nice find in the endless stacks of CDs collecting dust in grocery bags around the band room. 

Sample Me

 
Currently watching: Monster A Go-Go!

Currently listening to: Children Of Gaia I Pray To Watch You Bleed

Back For Some Air...

Wow... it's been like two months since my last post and nothing to show for it. Yard still looks rough and my laundry list of home improvement projects hasn't even had the dust blown off it. Oh well - still got all summer to catch up I guess. Anyways, regardless of my failures as a suburban homeowner, I've found myself revisiting this great CD during my hours of (apparently useless) lawn mowing and mulching. Flashback 1992: Driving home through the night to New England from spring break in Fort Lauderdale (a fun 16 hours of munching mini-thins and Diet Pepsis), my college pals and I ended up on some oldie station which had us deliriously singing along to some fun tunes including Mungo Jerry's "In The Summertime" and Jerry Reed's "Amos Moses". Once back at school my roommate was obsessed with finding "that 'Summertime' song" on a single so we blindly hit some of the downtown record holes. Man, how was shit accomplished without the internet back then? We didn't know the artist, the song's real name or even remember how it really went (give us a break, there was a week's worth of alcohol poisoning eating away at our short term memories) yet through a stroke of luck we found some old store owner who knew exactly what we were talking about and presented this CD. Interestingly, we didn't just find Mungo Jerry's one-hit wonder on the album, we found the entire setlist of the radio show we heard. I guess enthusiasm for the job waned around 3AM on that South Carolina oldie station and the DJ simply pressed play on the CD and ran (or slept). The songs are still great 20 years later (and shit, they were already 20 years old back then) and get me chuckling nearly every time I hear 'em, partially from the absolute schlock of it all but there's also a bit of nostalgia. R. Dean Taylor's "Indiana Wants Me," Jerry Reed's aforementioned "Amos Moses" and, yes, even Partridge Family's "I Think I Love You" are my faves - a perfect snapshot of 70's kitsch. And if you can take another boring anecdote, this CD actually kept an old girlfriend and I together through the throes of our 54th or so breakup - Bobby Sherman's über cheesy "Julie, Do Ya Love Me" happened to come on random play right as we were slamming doors to go our own way... "Honey you cried the day I left you, even though we knew I couldn't stay" boomed in the background and yes, our love saw the light. We finally broke up two years later, effectively ending one of the worst (and longest) relationships in my life, but that's beside the point.

C'mon Get Happy

 
Currently watching: Barton Fink

Currently listening to: Ween Chocolate And Cheese

New Wave '81

 

Since my dad's British, some of the cooler events of my childhood were the trips we'd make overseas every few years to visit family in the UK. A great bunch of folks across the pond who are the most wonderful hosts  - too bad I don't get to see them as often as I wish I could. One of the more memorable trips (1981) had us returning to the good ol' U.S. with a mix tape containing some up-and-coming British bands. Who knew in 6 months Duran Duran would be a Top 20 chart staple for the next decade or two? Well, we sure didn't but it's funny to think that we (and the kids on our tiny cul-de-sac) heard them first. Of course no one (except my brother if he ever reads this) will have any interest in the Tenpole Tudor, Buggles, Adam Ant, Duran Duran and ELO tracks on this website but I put them up for posterity so you could see how hip and on the pulse of the music industry my 8-year old ass was thirty years ago.

Stand And Deliver