From Milwaukee USA (of all places), please enjoy The Shivvers, live on WMTV-TV in Madison in 1980, with the utterly-transcendent-should-have-been-a-monster-power-pop-hit-and-an-immortal-radio-classic "Teen Line."
Seriously, these guys and that gal(!) are as good as it gets on every level. But I have two questions.
1. Why didn't they get signed to a major label?
2. HOW THE FUCK IS IT POSSIBLE THAT I NEVER HEARD OF THESE GUYS UNTIL MY CHUM PETER SPENCER SENT ME A LINK TO ANOTHER YOUTUBE YESTERDAY??????
Now excuse me, while I head on over to Amazon and order a copy of...
...which apparently collects everything they ever recorded during their barely four years together.
C'mon, aren't you glad I posted the above rather than the obligatory clip of Springsteen singing about the 4th in Asbury Park?
6 comments:
Oh c'mon, leave Sal alone. No seriously, Teen Line is nice peppy tune, maybe a minute or so too long.
As for why they didn't get signed? Well, why didn't a zillion good bands. Why weren't we signed. Don't get me started.
In life I've realized that everything happens by chance, luck, coincidence and being at the right place at the right time. And if you're not, you're shit out of luck.
Have a Happy 4th, and don't get blown up.
If she sings every song count me out, but otherwise pretty cool.
Every town of any size had a band like this; Chicago's Numero Group label is putting out a comp of Illinois bands from that era (this is a blurb from their website):
NUM044 Buttons: From Champaign to Chicago 2LP
A sugar-coated tribute to the state Numero calls home, From Champaign To Chicago is a 19-track survey of Illinois' cheapest tricks, beginning in 1973 with Peoria outliers the Jets and ending in 1987 with Romeoville's Julian Leal and his Dick Clark-approved "Get Away." From Champaign to Chicago connects the various micro power-pop scenes that once pockmarked the now wrinkled face of the Land of Lincoln.
Chicago had a similar scene back in 65...here's my sort of tribute to it.
http://powerpop.blogspot.com/2009/12/garage-bands-of-gods.html
I got to 1:19 this time.
Honestly, Steve? I think a better argument can be made for the FloMos (but I'm probably biased--and a little bit brainwashed by this point).
Stil...I didn't hear anything that special there, and her singing was more than slightly irksome.
The Shivvers "TEEN-LINE" was the inspiration for Hyped2Death's famous TeenLine series of powerpop compilations, which look to be still available here:
http://www.hyped2death.com/
I bought a half-dozen or so of the comps and they have some pretty choice tunes; he even had one of the early singles by The Sighs (pride of Western MA) years before anyone else posted it. Check him out; he has many other compilation series too. Just your typical obsessed music fan.... :)
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