However, amongst the artifacts I recently retrieved from a dank storage space in the Bronx was a rehearsal tape -- from 1989 -- of three of the four Flo Mos, plus guitarist extraordinaire Doug Goldberg, having a go at the song. In quite lovely stereo.
And here it is.
Lead singer Gerry Devine flubs the opening lyric, and my chum Glen "Bob" Allen is playing on an electronic drum kit, but I think it sounds pretty good none the less. That's me screwing up on bass and harmony vocals, of course.
In all seriousness, of all the songs I've ever played on stage, this has always been the one I enjoyed the most; I think it's something about the Buddy Holly-ish thing at the end of the choruses that gets me.
Given the year this was recorded, however, I can only assume that the then-current fatwah on Salman Rushdie was somewhere on our minds at the time.
9 comments:
Very nice attempt Steve, not bad at all. I've always liked this song, along with Suddenly You Love Me. Can't download it though, the link to mp3 thingy doesn't work.
I'm still in DivShare hell, although apparently starting October 10 things will return to normal. I'll send you the mp3 if you want it...
One of the nicest of your old recordings that I've heard yet.
If you hadn't pointed out the electronic drum kit, it wouldn't have been apparent.
Thanks Steve, send it to me. To add to my ever growing Floor Models collection.
NEVER would have guessed electronic drums. The Floor Models sound great, although I can't think of a bad cover of this song. ('specially partial to the Mavericks' version.) So much joy.
Great version of this! Why didn't the Tremoloes have more hits? I had the 45 of Silence Is Golden, but don't recall them getting much airplay on anything besides these two songs.
A tech note: When we did that, we were rehearsing at a recording studio. Hence the electronic drums. We all had headphones on and the guitars and bass were going directly from the amps into the board.
So what you hear in the mp3 is what each of us heard in our headphones as we were playing live.
It was a pretty cool way to rehearse, especially if you were trying to work out intricate harmonies without being drowned out by the instruments.
We popsters are always the most harshly critical of our own work. This is not bad at all. I've heard WAY less than this from famous bands with big fat record deals. Wish my 1st band in '78 would've done that tune, but it would have been faster & louder. :)
The playing and singing all around are great, truly. Love the upper octave bass drone thing in the turnaround between 1st/2nd verse. If that's the mistake its a keeper. Plus Doug Goldberg channeling James Burton over Gerry's melody line in the solo part. This could have been a bonus track on the CD.
AP
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