45 Number Forty-Six

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNnAvTTaJjM

I love the vibe of this band. I remember when I first heard their music it was so unlike anything I had ever heard. I wasn't sure what to make of it. It was kind of artsy, which was not my pop music. I often didn't know what they were singing about. But with such a tight groove, soul grabbing rhythms, and quirky lyrics, I had no choice but to go with it.

On 10-10-83, in a gym at George Washington University, I witnessed an unforgettable performance. I remember we were standing around at show time looking at an empty stage, and wondering what the hell was going on. Had the band been a no-show? Was there going to be a delay? Then the lights go out, and David Byrne walks out with a boom box and acoustic guitar. He turns on the boom box and the rhythm starts. He straps on the guitar and begins to strike the strings. He delivers a version of Psycho Killer that is killer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pCZ5E5tn4I , check it out, still killer).

Then with each new song a new element or band member is added to the stage. Right before our eyes the the show was constructed. It was amazing. We talked about it for months. Then within a year the movie Stopping Making Sense came out, and we realized what we had witnessed. The beginnings of what would become their live performance masterpiece. I believe the movie was filmed in LA, some months after the show I saw.

My ticket for that show had been a "frontstage" pass sticker that they gave out to the student helpers. I don't even remember how I got it, as I was no helper. But I wore it on the butt pocket of my jeans. When I got home I cut the pocket of my pants, and hung the whole thing on my wall. I still have it to this day. Here it is scanned in for you.
Stop Making Sense is famous for another reason as well. Early in our relationship, my wife and I scooted out of dinner party early to go see it at a theater.

45 Number 45

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrbNeOEG0GY

This one reminds me of why I like music so much. Takes me back to the mid seventies, listening to WDOS on the AM dial, and singing along. I love singing along, especially in the car. It's why I keep trying to play guitar. So I can sing along. Hopefully, not while I am driving.

This picture sleeve is a great example of the album art I loved from this band. Makes you smile. I also just liked how the guys in OMD looked on their album covers. Like freaky musicians. A favourite cover and picture of the band are below.

(This is not the band.)

45 Number Forty-Four

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1tTN-b5KHg

I had forgotten how good this video was. Never was a Genesis fan. But I have enjoyed Gabriel's solo hits. They tend to be a bit slick and over produced, but his tunes are more palatable than the crap his bandmate Phil Collins has done.

45 Number Forty-Three

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2BavhwpIJg

I have had this 45 since1975, when I was fourteen years old. Probably bought it at some department store like FBC or Jamesway. I remember buying 45s way before I ever bought an album. We had a little portable record player. I have the other 10cc hit on 45 from the same time period as well "The Things We Do For Love." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgptvsHHYK4&feature=related . But then I moved up in the world and bought their next album, Bloody Tourists. At the time I thought this song from that album was the bomb; "Dreadlock Holiday" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGLsAkeRd84 . Man, look at this video. Yikes! These guys were butchering reggae way before the Police.

45 Number Forty-Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhpFibJKzPo

Givin' it one more little Squeeze. If you are a fan, check out this link. It is a live version of the song (no lip sync) from 1979 on The Old Grey Whistle Test TV show. It features an intro from Jools Holland, and then the performance. Check out Jools with the hat and big stogie.

Red vinyl. Some of the great things about record collecting; cover art, liner notes, picture discs, shaped vinyl, and colored plastic. A couple of Christmases ago I was searching for a gift idea for my kids to give my wife. I always like to try to think of something they can make. I stumbled across cooking vinyl records and making objects out of them. So I looked through my stacks, picked out some colored and black discs, and we burned some. We made a couple of bracelets, hair clips, and some bowls. Just to make some of my record collecting friends gasp. Here is a picture of the pink vinyl, Rolling Stones, 12 inch single, "Miss You” shaped into a bowl.

45 Number Forty-One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xayLarNiBo

The Coward Brothers are Elvis Costello and T-Bone Burnett. The link is to a clip from the Not Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco of the two of them singing this song. The video is not very good, but it is the only glimpse of the song I could find online.

T-Bone has had a long relationship with Costello, producing and creating music. Sometimes it seems that T-Bone is everywhere these days, producing other artists and film music, organizing multi-artist tours, and putting out a couple of his own albums in the past several years. Don't believe me? Here is the link to the T- Bone retrospective from the R n' R Hall of Fame. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAZtCG68zfo&feature=related

I was (am) an rabid T-Bone fan back in the early eighties, and I love many of the musical projects he has been involved with during the recent years. I had a hard time, though, with some of his own recent musical compositions. I really love his earlier musical material with the Alpha Band and the great solo albums he has made. I was fortunate enough to see him in a small club on his own in the early eighties, and that still ranks as one of my favourite live performances. His early production work with Los Lobos, The BoDeans, and Marshall Crenshaw is also great.

Here are some links to early T-Bone songs:

"Come Home" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uhyFqUmcyM&feature=related

"Power of Love" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibNeGpbyjOg&feature=related

"Primitives" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd_SDrW99NM&feature=related

"River of Love" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzFZTBYE-kM&feature=related

"Interviews" (Alpha Band) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HMBpgHHGPo

45 Number Forty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzFnYcIqj6I

This is a nice video representation of this song. Annie Lennox's voice and beauty are so striking. This song takes me back to the early eighties' MTV-influenced video dance clubs that we inhabited. I remember a club in the Georgetown neighborhood of D.C. called Posers. What an appropriate name. Loud music, big dance floor, alcohol flowing, and several big screens for your latest new wave videos. A stark contrast to the other dingy rockin' roll venues I loved and still love. I can't picture myself in that "posers" scene, but I guess it fit the times and I still get a charge out of the music, if not the videos.

How about a couple of videos from that time that I remember fondly:

The video that kicked off MTV's debut, "Video Killed the Radio Star" - The Buggles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwuy4hHO3YQ

When I think New Wave, I think of the first Tears for Fears album, The Hurting. I remember this video for "Pale Shelter" so clearly playing on the big screen at Posers, especially the alligator slipping into the pool. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTn4o2Z-vZU

Lastly this always made us laugh and dance; "Turning Japanese" by the Vapors. It's a good example of where power pop met new wave, which is what I liked about it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEmJ-VWPDM4