And co-writer of one of the most perfect songs of all time -- "Starry Eyes."
The Records first album -- The Records in the US, Shades in Bed in the UK -- is an absolute stone classic; there isn't a less than memorable song on it.
Here's perhaps my faborite. And certainly the most gorgeous.
I should add that The Floor Models were huge fans. Here's our cover of "Hearts in Her Eyes," another classic from that debut album. We used to play it live so often everybody in Greenwich Village thought we wrote it.
I got to meet John at the 1995 record release party for this great power pop compilation put together by Jordan Oakes; John, who was sort of making a comeback, contributed a stunning tune called "Her Stars Are My Stars."
Here's a very nice unplugged performance of it from a few years later.
Some bandmates of mine had a song on the same album as well, but alas, I can't find Mp3s of either of the studio versions of those on my iTunes library or on the intertubes generally. I'll see if I can track them down later in the week.
In any case, you'll have to trust me -- John's performance at the aforementioned show was glorious. And he was incredibly nice when I introduced myself afterwards; he remembered a review of a Records best-of CD I had written in the early 90s, which blew my tiny mind.
End of story -- I've said it before and I'll say it again: This death shit is really starting to piss me off.
RIP John Wicks.
9 comments:
OK. I'm looking at my copy of YP 3 and can't for the life of me figure out which of the artists would be your former bandmates. Rock Club?
If you need me to burn you MP3s of the songs, just say the word.
Sad to hear about Wicks. The Records had one-of-a-kind harmonies, but an output as short as Big Star. That first album should be in some kind of power pop Hall of Fame.
Yes, the Rock Club. Members include the Flo Mos drummer Glen Allen and part time Flo Mo Ronnie D'addario, now better known as the father of the Lemon Twigs.
Incidentally, do you by any chance have a copy of the Raspberries tribute album RASPBERRIES PRESERVED? Apart from being a pretty good album overall, the Rock Club has a nice track on that as well.
Yeah, I've got it. "Rose Coloured Glasses."
I loved "Time Will Tell on You," so I wanted to find "Wet Money." Not exactly a mainstream release. At the time, I lived near a used book store that also sold used CDs. I figured I'd look there, just for you-know-whats and grins. Lo and behold, there it was. I think I paid $3.50 for it.
So, what would you like me to burn for you? Do you use DropBox?
You can email me, too, if that's easier.
If you could burn the whole Raspberries album I'd be your best friend. You have my snail mail addy, right?
Yes, I do.
Do you need anything off YP 3?
Do you have DropBox? I can just put the files out there for you if you do.
I just ordered YP3 from Amazon.
The Records, and consequently, Wicks meant a lot to me, musically. Their first album is great, and the rest are all just a half step below. Starry Eyes, much like Bram Tchaikovsky's Girl Of My Dreams, never gets old, and should Starry Eyes appear anywhere - on radio, on a playlist, or in a film, I get the same shiver I got when I first heard the song. And the line within Starry Eyes that still knocks me out is "The boys have all been spoken to, The writ has hit the fan."
I know what you mean about the writ has hit the fan.😀
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