2016 Continues to Suck on Ice

Just heard that Michael Wackford -- drummer for Starry Eyed and Laughing, the greatest Byrds influenced band ever -- has passed away.

I saw SE&L a couple of times -- interviewed frontman and Rickenbacker ace Tony Poole, hung out with them after a gig on Long Island -- and they were a) absolutely great and b) thoroughly lovely unpretentious guys.

The band was preparing a collection of unreleased stuff when Wackford died in October; you can -- and should -- order it over at their official website HERE.

Your Tuesday Moment of Words Not Only Fail Me But I Have Completely Lost the Power of Articulate Speech

Please enjoy -- courtesy of my old friend Gregory Fleeman -- the astounding John Daker and a performance for the ages.



What can I say about Greg?

Well, for starters -- his mainstream claim to fame is that he wrote the vastly entertaining 1986 action thriller F/X, which starred Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy and spawned a sequel and TV series.



But back in the day, he fronted without question the most hilarious rock act I ever witnessed, the genius-monikered Gregory Fleeman and the Fleewomen. I encountered them, initially, while researching a piece on the neo-folk scene that was briefly resurgent in Greenwich Village in the early 80s; here's what I wrote at the time (in The Magazine Formerly Known as Stereo Review).

...Fleeman is a young ex-actor with one of the most warped sensibilities likely to be sprung on an unsuspecting public. His band is a motley collection of aging hippies, refugees from underground S-&-M clubs and punk/jazz fusion players, and his songs are about the funniest I've heard since...oh, since Tonio K. Take "Touching Myself But Thinking of You," which asks the musical slash cosmic question "If we're all one, who needs you?" Or his children's lullabye about the little men who come out when you're asleep ("They massage your heart/and your private parts/and throw parties in your mouth"); his impassioned love song about the Tappan Zee Bridge; a 40s swing tune called "Wisconsin Moon" ("There's too much beer...here!"); not to mention his soon-to-be-immortal production number, "the song, nay metaphor" he calls simply "Showbiz" (although it's better known to his fans as "Sucking My Way to the Top").

"I'm gonna swim that mountain...I'm gonna climb that sea."

It doesn't get any better folks.

Seven Characters in Search of a Drummer

Pop quiz: What do these two bands...

The Tearaways and "Bash"...



and The Empty Hearts and "I Don't Want Your Love"...



...have in common, other than being a) just great and b) having fantastic new songs/videos out?

Discuss. [Here's a hint -- Clem fricking Burke!]

Okay -- let's get down to cases. The Empty Hearts are sort of what we used to call a supergroup, featuring members of The Cars (guitarist Elliot Easton, for heavens sake), The Romantics, garage legends The Chesterfield Kings and Blondie (some drummer whose name I can't recall but whose initials are Clem Burke). The Tearaways, who hail from Santa Barbara, are also veterans, just not as individually famous; suffice it to say they've been kicking out the garage-rock and British Invasion influenced jams since the early 80s and number such folks as Tom Hanks as fans.

Oh, and they also have some drummer whose name escapes me but whose initials are etc...

You can read more about The Empty Hearts -- as well as ordering their music -- at their official website here. You can do the same for The Tearaways -- and should -- over here.

As for Clem Burke, he is now officially The Hardest Working Man in Show Biz.

Your Friday Moment of Why Didn't I Get the Memo? (An Occasional Series)

From 2000, and their Smile album, please enjoy The Jayhawks...

...and their utterly gorgeous piece of folk-rock/pop/neo-psychedelia "Baby, Baby, Baby."



Friend of PowerPop Capt. Al played this on his intertube radio show last Tuesday, and I nearly fell out of my chair; what a great fricking song. And the fact I had never heard it previously is now a source of some shame to me.

I should add that every time I start to get a little big-headed about some of the musical endeavors I've been involved in over the years, it's good to be confronted with something as awesome as this and develop a little humility.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

It's Turkey Day! (An Annual Series)

From 1969, here's the original classic lineup of Procol Harum...

...and their utterly gorgeous "Pilgrim's Progress."



Pilgrim -- get it? It's not rocket science, kids.

Actually, if memory serves (and if it does, I hope it washes its hands) this is something of a Thanksgiving tradition around here by now. Although I'll grant you that given we're now in the era of President Engelbert Trumperdinck it's not quite the same anymore.

In any case, enjoy the cranberry sauce and stuffing, everybody.

Also -- Matthew Fisher is God©.

Fifty Years of Bad Behavior. Oh Wait -- That's Vanessa Del Rio's Retrospective!

It's no secret that I'm not as rabid a Rolling Stones fan as I once was. Although I will say that I'm planning to enjoy their forthcoming album of sort-of obscure blues covers when it comes out next month.



In any case, got to see EXHIBITIONISM, the Stones' gallery historical multi-media 50th anniversary retrospective show yesterday....



...and it's pretty fricking amazing. I mean, it has the electric dulcimer Brian Jones used on "Lady Jane." My just dropped when I saw it, and that's hardly the only mind-boggling artifact on display.

The show runs through mid-March, and if you're in the vicinity of Greenwich Village any time soon I highly recommend it.

There Are Some Songs It's Just Impossible to Ruin (But This Is Not One of Them): An Occasional Series

From their 1993 covers album Acid Eaters...

...please enjoy -- actually, I don't think that's possible -- the otherwise estimable Ramones and their take on the Jefferson Airplane classic "Somebody to Love."



Seriously -- this is fucking appallingly bad on every level. I bring it up only because I was thinking not so fondly of right-wing asshat Johnny Ramone the other day, and I was wondering why Joey ever put up with his shit.

Okay, apart from the touring money.

There Are Some Songs It's Just Impossible to Ruin (An Occasional Series)

From 1990, and their sort of covers album Fakebook, please enjoy cult favorites Yo La Tengo...

...and a sprightly remake of that Cat Stevens song -- "Here Comes My Baby" -- we were discussing a few weeks ago.



Ira Kaplan, who's the auteur of this band, was originally a New York rock critic who came up professionally more or less the same time as me; a very good writer and a lovely guy (I can't recall specifically which press junkets we were on together, but I think one was The Who on the Quadrophenia tour).

That said (and I know some people whose opinions I respect absolutely LURVE Yo La Tengo) but at my age I have to be honest -- I've always found them a little bit twee, as the Brits say.

That said, this particular interpretation is really quite nice. There was a killer version of John Cale's "Andalucia" on the album too, if memory serves.

A Drop of Rain

Okay, I'm gonna get more than usually self-indulgent today, but please bear with me. I think it'll be worth it.

So -- some of you may know that my 90s band -- Gerry Devine and the Hi-Beams, who were essentially the Floor Models Mark II (we liked to describe our stuff as Merseybeat Cowboy music) -- released an album in 1995 on Gadfly Records, a small but interesting indie label out of Vermont. (They had the entire Tonio K. catalogue, which delighted me).

The album's out of print, and the label seems to be defunct -- in fact, we've been trying to get in touch with Mitch Kantor, the guy who ran it, for a while now with no success. Mitch -- if you're out there....

Anyway, it's a really good record, IMHO, but it was abominably mastered -- in fact, back in the day we were all kind of heartsick about what had been done to our magnum opus. So, having a lot of time on my hands recently after finishing the Flo Mos Letter From Liverpool project, I thought to myself -- let's reissue it and do it right this time.

To which end ace drummer Glen "Bob" Allen, original Hi-Beams guitarist J.D. Goldberg and myself spent the summer re-mastering the record from the original tapes and spiffing up some bonus tracks (live and studio). And the whole thing now sounds insanely good; we'll be releasing it both online (Amazon, Spotify, iTunes etc) and in physical CD form in December.

So why am I bringing this up? Because while listening to the final master in the studio the other night, I was absolutely gobsmacked when I heard this song on big speakers for the first time in a while.

I've always thought it was an absolute masterpiece, and way better than we actually were, frankly. But in the aftermath of the election it now struck me as sadly relevant in a way it hadn't when we recorded it.

It's called "A Drop of Rain." It was written by Gerry Devine (rhythm guitar and vocals) who came up with it after watching Ken Burns' Civil War documentary. I'm on bass and keyboards; Glen and J.D. are on everything else.

On the long road back from Gettysburg
The dust burned in their eyes
And by the time they got through Maryland
There were no more tears to cry
Ghosts out on the Interstate
The cursed and the blessed
The dream that died that hot July
Was never laid to rest

A drop of rain falls on the highway
A tear stain on the stone
There's a long parade of headlights
Trying to find their way back home
All the promises were broken
But the memories still remain
As the cars go flashing by
Like drops of rain

A thousand crosses burned at night
Across this holy ground
And we kept on hearing the same lies
Untill we came around
We're all in this together now
The union is preserved
All these years and waiting still
For justice to be served

A drop of rain falls on the river
Floating down to New Orleans
The melting snows of Canada
Come wash this country clean
All the way from Tupelo
We watched that mystery train
Fade off into the night
Through drops of rain

I hear the Sunday church bells
As the morning lights the sky
And all that I can do
Is throw this thing in gear and drive
Trail smoke down the blacktop
Through the endless miles of corn
These wheels were set in motion
Before I was ever born

A drop of rain falls on my windshield
The wind is in my ears
You can smell the storm that's coming
It won't be long until it's here
I wish I had the words to tell you
But there's no way to to explain
About this wind that drives me
Like a drop of rain

I get chills listening to it, and I think it's amazing simply as a poem.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on the reissue as we get near to the actual release date.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

All I Want For Christmas is No More Fucking Hipsters

The first new recording in 30 years by The Washington Squares is a cover of...The Chipmunks.

You know, back in the day. I found those guys is-it-ironic-or-is-it-sincere take on Peter, Paul and Mary as too fucking cute by half. This new song hasn't changed my mind.