This record -- brilliantly produced by Todd Rundgren -- kicks some serious ass (what a drum sound!) and it still makes me laugh, although these days I kinda feel like crying when it's over. Then again, one of the best definitions of rock I ever heard was "Fun songs about sad stuff."
In any case, I have no idea of what TPOH frontman/songwriting genius Moe Berg is up to of late, but I suspect he's at least as crotchety as I am. Heh.
14 comments:
I'm gonna play this for my graduating seniors starting next year as a heads up. Great find.
Allan Rosenberg
Moe Berg is semi-retired from music and spends most of his time, watching/playing and tweeting about hockey.
And from that same album, this gorgeous power pop gem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M64u7i_EemM
Why "She's So Young" wasn't a monster smash mega hit escapes me...
I got a very nice thank you note from Moe Berg when I reviewed their second album in SR. He actually said, and I'm paraphrasing, hey -- we've gotten a lot of adulatory press, but you're the only critic who really gets what we're doing.
Made my day, I'll tell you that for free.
I'm gonna have to go see if I have a copy of that review..
His twitter tag line is "I was a rock star now I'm a producer."
I'm a producer now
Takes me back to '88 and their first, and best, LP. BTW, is this the original 1986 version or the Rundgren re-do?
From my perspective, a power pop band with chicks is always a good idea. Moe Berg's output was refreshing in a decade that embraced boring and vastly overrated acts like R.E.M. as gods. Man were those guys sleep-inducing live.
Because it's a bit of a novelty tune, this one isn't something you want to listen to in perpetuity. But it sure brings back some nice memories. And the album is really fantastic.
There were a few other Canadian power pop bands around during this time. Some better, some worse. The Northern Pikes come to mind.
Too bad the second TPOH was such a letdown.
Moe Berg reminds me of this younger guy who was infatuated with me in the early 1980's. The resemblance is uncanny and kind of creepy. Only difference is that my acquaintance had eyeglass lenses as thick as pop bottle bottoms.
He had a cute smile but it became tiresome when I couldn't shoo him away. I never once led the guy on, either. Fact is I was quite cruel. He must have been a masochist.
He paid me a compliment once that stuck with me. He said I looked like a combination of Barbara Hershey and Plenty O'Toole. But the guy was half blind and his favorite artist was Bryan Adams. So...thanks Manny Godinho, I know you're out there somewhere.
Of course Moe Berg's infinitely cooler. The lyrical vibe of this track reminds me of The Wild Seeds "I Can't Rock You All Night Long." "Mud, Lies and Shame" was a pretty nifty, tuff and bitchen album. Man, I've got to get it out of storage.
The late 1980's in Los Angeles saw the rise of "Full Spectrum Rock" radio on KMPC/KEDG FM. It was a much needed format to break bands such as the ones mentioned above. But, like all great things, it was short-lived.
In the case of "The Edge," it only lasted two months. It was the quickest nosedive I'd ever seen in local radio.
By mid 1989 they switched to EZ Listening and changed the call letters to KLIT. I'm not joking!!
I used to make tapes of music and assume the role of a female temptress behind the microphone of KUNT-FM. The station played succulent music all day long. But it was the "Station of Imagination."
You should have seen the look on the faces of the media company when I ordered a package of jingles which were so filthy they refused to do them. It was kind of weird. But I was prepared to pay the substantial price to have them done. Just for hobby's sake.
Hard to believe they turned down the money. It was cash too. I think they were in shock. They were used to dealing with corporate types that actually owned radio stations.
I could tell they thought I was very unprofessional. It's as if they weren't sure if it was a put on. The cash should have made that evident.
I was a pretty big time drug dealer's wench at the time. He let me indulge my whims for certain favors and tasks. Sometimes I had to be his mule, but the risk was worth the outrageous money that he let me spend. Cue "Free Money."
However, KLIT was for real. Ha ha. But they went out of their way to say it stood for K-Lite. It would have been better the other way.
Vickie Rock
Vicki:
I have an mp3 of that Wild Seeds song, which is one of my all time faves. I'll put a link to it here as soon as I get back to my home computer tomorrow.
Actually, the divshare link is still active at the post I did about them. Enjoy!
http://powerpop.blogspot.com/search?q=The+Wild+Seeds
Thanks Steve. Any chance you have a link to the Acid Casualties - Panic Station? I've been thinking about that one lately. It had a few nice tunes on it.
Plus The Wild Seeds "Walking With the King" from the M,L&S album. That one smoked.
With re: to KUNT-FM my imaginary radio station, I may not have been able to secure the jingles, but I did have T-shirts and bumper stickers printed.
Like my struggling band Blue Poop's home recordings, the shirts were only big among the few and the proud which is to say, virtually no one. Our big songs were "I Married a Mexican," "Train Me," "Asylum Pussy," "Everything's a Dildo When You're Horny," and "Party In My Pants."
We were thinking of calling ourselves Just a Bunch of Dicks, which would have been ironic since we were all girls. We were all gonna assume "Dick" as our first name like the Ramones did with their last names. You can imagine the last names.
We also recorded a track with some friends in Claremont as Trampoleena Whambang. It was a romantic little radio-friendly ditty called "Eat My Cunt, Before You Fuck My Ass."
It was more subtle than it sounds.:-)
Vickie Rock
Don't have that Acid Casualties song, alas.
BTW, a publicist friend of mine, who was in a really great all-girl rock band called the Aquanettas
http://powerpop.blogspot.com/2013/04/possibly.html
later went on to front another group called The Mike Hunt Band.
Heh. :-)
"She's So Young" is seriously great.
Steve:
Never got a chance to see the Aquanettas. Did they have a good live rep? Do you know? The album's tasty. I can hear lotsa influences in there. Tell Jill she rocks. So many good bands from that era got little support and died on the vine. Many never even made a blip on the radar. I guess that's what hindsight is for.
What's the Mike Hunt Band? Sounds like something Ray Davies might have been in before the Kinks. I already know the answer but I'm waiting for your take. Please allow me to play stupid. It's quite effortless for me. I'm so dumb that I give myself away. But what is my underlying purpose? Please tell me about the Mike Hunt Band.
This talk about girls in bands got me thinking about the original Textones and the late 70's in SoCal.
Once, some guys that were in a band I knew asked me to fill in on bass because their player was ill. They were playing a "showcase" which was really just a battle of the bands. It was at Gazzarri's. Time period I'd say is 1979 or 1980.
I usually play lead or rhythm, but bass was not a problem. What was a problem is that these guys wore matching stage suits. They wanted to achieve the skinny-tie suit coat look. I had to dress like a damned King for the gig. As usual, my boobs were a problem.
Carla Olson was the judge. Don't ask me how she got stuck with that gig. There were about ten bands in the finals at Gazzarri's. They pretty much all sucked. It was embarrassing to be there. I can only imagine how Carla felt.
The band I stepped into won the competition. They were definitely the best, but the victory wasn't very sweet since everyone else sucked so bad. I don't know what ever happened to those guys. They were called The Orangutans. I thought it was a very stupid name. The main guys were Hispanic.
I can't even remember what the point of the whole competition was. You know, was there a prize? Money, studio time? Audition? I don't know. I just wanted to get out of the stupid Orangutan suit and into my womanly clothes.
The Plimsuols and Rubber City Rebels were playing down the street that night and I danced my buns off. I think someone slipped something into my drink because alcohol couldn't possibly have been making me feel as good as I felt. I cried tears of joy as I danced in abandon. It was such a relief after the bullshit at Gazzarri's.
Vickie Rock
The Mike Hunt Band -- it helps if you say it out loud.
:-)
Really, Steve, in a discussion of a song called "I'm an Adult Now?" Seriously?
Post a Comment