Once released as an LP sent to radio stations only as a promotional item to help sell the band’s debut album, Live! At The Paradise Theater, Boston, 1980 is PRETENDERS at their livest best. The show was recorded on March 23 of that year just a few months after Pretenders was released to critical acclaim. Already the band was touring the USA, and within a year or so they’d released a stop-gap EP and then their second full length, the imaginitively-titled Pretenders II. To say things seemed to be happening for them is an understatement – and yet that momentum came to a pretty swift halt soon after. The stories have been told elsewhere of how guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon went down the well-traveled drug death road that so many rockers have, so let’s just say there’s no telling what the band would have done had the original lineup stayed intact. Not that the Pretenders didn’t end up achieving a pretty solid career…
Anyway, for Record Store Day 2020 (Drop 1), Sire/Warner Bros. has issued that for-broadcast-only concert on a real cool clear/red vinyl LP that comes in a clear PVC cover*. The 11-song set list is made up primarily of tracks from the band’s first album, so you’ll hear “Precious,” “Kid,” “Mystery Achievement” and “Tattooed Love Boys,” for instance, and early versions of “Talk of the Town” and “Cuban Slide.” Recording-wise, Live! At The Paradise Theater is of a quality I’d call “better than soundboard,” as in it’s lacking some shimmer in the high end and could stand a little more bottom, but otherwise much better than if you’d taped it from the radio back in the day. Of course, big time (real?) Pretenders fans would have looked for a copy of the original promo release, but those are fairly rare and not exactly on the cheap side. So now RSD comes to the rescue – or to the delight of those who had no idea this item ever existed at all. I don’t tend to listen to live albums all that regularly, but this one I’ll put on more frequently than, say, this RSD’s live Bowie release (the 1974 tour recording, reviewed here). If you’ve been trying to hunt down that original release, it is time for you to stop all of your sobbing and grab one of these.
3.5/5 (Sire RCV1 114, 2020) * Do yourself a favor and keep the record itself in a regular paper or audiophile sleeve; over time records get baked into PVC sleeves and become unplayable.
DAVID BOWIE’s camp has been regularly issuing and reissuing some of the man’s concerts for Record Store Day and other events so you gotta wonder how close to the bottom of the barrel they’re getting. Will one bad apple spoil the rest of ’em? I’m Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74) might just be one of those (possibly) offending apples.
These “legendary,” “mythical” concerts were what basically amounts to Bowie rejigging his band mid-tour – originally dubbed the Diamond Dogs Tour – with additional performers, and changing the arrangements to reflect, I guess, what he was hearing in his head. He dialed up the soul and dialed back the rock – and that is either gonna be a real plus for you (like, if you’re a big fan of Young Americans, recorded soon after) or a let down (like if you prefer David’s rockier, Ziggy-er side). For me, firmly in the latter category, it’s not as great as I had hoped it’d be. I much prefer Cracked Actor (Live in Los Angeles ’74) (issued for RSD 2017, see my review here) for its crunchy arrangements. Here we have near-cheesy keyboards (sorry, Mike Garson, ’cause I generally like your playing) and an at-times caterwauling sax (courtesy of David Sanborn) that sounds pretty dated (think of the theme song for Saturday Night Live). Ugh. On the other hand, I do like the covers medley of “Foot Stompin’/I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate,” with its “Fame”-style guitar stabs. But that sax. You’re killin’ me, Sanborn!
I’m Only Dancing also suffers from a hoarse-voiced Bowie and the recording’s mediocre sound quality. It sounds better than your typical bootleg of the era, for sure, so this is probably an improvement in that regard. Design-wise, this package is miles better than its mid ’70s counterpart, with graphics adapted from the tour program that was available at the shows. The 2LP and 2CD sets are both Record Store Day exclusives so they’re going to go fast. Whether you want to make the trip to your local vinyl emporium is up to you – though you should go and support your local regardless of your interest in this year’s Bowie release. You’ll be able to either pick up a copy of this or something else that’ll float your boat. Let’s not forget, no matter what any of us critics say about any particular DB product, it’s still gonna be better than your average album. It’s Bowie! – Marsh Gooch
The Kink Kronikles is one of my favorite kompilations of any of those in my kollection. In 1972 THE KINKS had recently moved on from their original US record label, Reprise, to the hopefully greener pastures of RCA Records, so the wise guys in their former A&R department decided to put together a kollect… okay, I’m gonna stop with the “’k’ in place of ‘c’ thing” now… collection of a bunch of great singles and pair them with tracks – primarily B-sides – that they hadn’t yet released on album on this bounteous 2LP set, which has just been re-released for Record Store Day 2020.
One of the smarter things the label ever did was to draft rock critic and Kinks fan John Mendelsohn to not only compile the tracks, but annotate the package. What he put together, selection-wise, is an exemplary survey of what made the band so great. And his liner notes, which take up the entire inside of the gatefold cover, are an illustration of the fine art of putting someone on a pedestal and trying to knock them off of it at the same time. Mendelsohn’s twisted love of The Kinks is no secret (he later even penned a book about them), and neither was his sarcastic yet spot-on writing about rock music. They don’t make ’em like him anymore.
Remaining in Reprise’s catalog for many years, The Kink Kronikles was a valued 2LP set for the group’s hardcore US fans despite it being compiled and released without any input from the band. This, certainly, had been par for the course at Reprise. Just like The Beatles, The Stones and The Who – and pretty much all of the British bands – The Kinks had had their albums sliced ’n’ diced at will by the powers-that-had-been because those bozos presumably thought they knew better what would fly in the good ol’ US of A than their counterparts in the UK. And by that, I mean, you know, “We’ll cut a few songs from this 14-track album, take the tracks from some of the singles – hell! – even include a coupla tracks that were on the last album and bang! We got another way to make money off of these funny sounding English guys who probably won’t be around next year anyway.” The thing is, this compilation had so many sought after songs on it – lots of rare B-sides and songs lopped off their UK LPs – that the album became a pretty good seller, quite likely even cannibalizing sales of RCA’s current releases of new Kinks material (’71’s Muswell Hillbillies and ’72’s Everybody’s in Show-Biz).
I don’t have an original copy of The Kink Kronikles to compare this new Record Store Day version to, but it sounds pretty phenomenal, cats. Besides that, the collection itself is a great mix of familiar and obscure tracks. Sure, you get “Victoria,” “Days,” “Waterloo Sunset,” “Lola” and “Sunny Afternoon,” but you also get once-super-hard to find goodies like “She’s Got Everything,” “Big Black Smoke,” “Mr. Pleasant,” “Berkeley Mews” and the then-unreleased “Did You See His Name?” There are 28 tracks here and they’re all worthwhile. Yes, today in 2020 they’ve pretty much all been added to the appropriate reissues of the band’s original albums, so if you’ve got the multi-CD sets of Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur or whatever, you have a good number of what’s here. But that’s no reason to pass on this limited edition, red vinyl reissue that’ll probably be deleted before you can say “Kinks reunion” for the umpteenth time. – Marsh Gooch
Another Record Store Day 7″, JOHN LENNON’s “Instant Karma!” b/w YOKO ONO’s “Who Has Seen the Wind?” is not exactly a reissue of the original 1971 single. This time it’s a pairing of 2020* remixes of the songs, in line with the 2019 remix of Lennon’s Imagine album (also recorded in ’71). Apparently held over from that release – after all, RSD was supposed to be in April – as a reminder about the availability of the aforementioned remix LP (these tracks aren’t on it or any of the box set versions), this 45 is housed in a similar “picture” sleeve and dons near-identical Apple labels and the original UK catalog number. (The lengthy, modern UPC barcode and catalog number are, of course, unique to this release and thankfully printed only on the outside hype sticker.) This “ultimate mix” of “Instant Karma!” isn’t that different from the original, though it does seem to make the individual instruments stand out on their own a little better, with Klaus Voormann’s bass and Alan White’s drums a bit tighter. Back then, Lennon, Ono and co-producer Phil Spector went for a much denser, Wall of Sound-esque mix than what we’d consider good today. Still, if you’re not intimately familiar with the original you really have to squint to hear the difference between the ’71 and ’20 mixes.
As for Ono’s “Who Has Seen the Wind?,” I am honestly not familiar enough with it to hear the differences between the original and today’s remix to weigh in. Sorry, Yoko! I’d certainly heard the song before (I have an original pressing of the single), but was never as interested in repeat listenings of it as I was of the A-side, which is not only a stone cold classic but was also a worldwide hit and has appeared on numerous Lennon compilation albums over the last fifty years. But I can tell you this: these 2020 remixes are for the hardcore fan (as you’d basically expect) and not the casual listener. This trend of remixing classics is getting a bit tedious, really. I mean, especially in the case of something like “Karma,” which suffered a bit from a crummy mix, why not really go for it and do something radically different? Or at least noticeably different?! – Marsh Gooch
2.5/5 (Apple/Calderstone APPLES 1003/602508778711, 2020)
* Chances are these remixes were actually done in 2019 during the same sessions as the Imagine remixes.
NOTE: The above video is, of course, of the original 1971 mix.
Forty years ago hardly anyone knew who THE SOFT BOYS were. These days there are plenty of people, highly schooled on obscure rock bands, who know that the band was a late ’70s British “punk” group fronted by Robyn Hitchcock, who later went on in the ’80s to front a group called The Egyptians and then out on his own to continued relative success as a relatively eccentric singer/ songwriter. I Wanna Destroy You is a 40th Anniversary double 45 package of The Soft Boys’ two 1980 singles, whose A-sides – “I Wanna Destroy You” and “Kingdom of Love” – were two of the best tracks on their Underwater Moonlight album, and whose B-sides weren’t part of that album. Now you can get a real handy 2×7″ set that replicates those two singles as one of this year’s Record Store Day releases.*
“I Wanna Destroy You,” of late, has become a bit of a political song thanks to it being used as a theme for those wanting to sack certain US presidents (including our current leader, He Who Shall Not Be Named, But It Rhymes With DUMP). This hard-rockin’, Byrds-meets-punk tune still thrills me, some 35+ years after I first heard it. B-side “I’m an Old Pervert (Disco)” is a slightly different take or recording of a tune that appeared as just “Old Pervert” on the aforementioned LP. Not a bad song but definitely a flip side. Meanwhile, Near The Soft Boys was a 3-track 7″ EP that contained not only the A-side/LP track “Kingdom of Love,” but a strange little ditty called (natch!) “Strange,” and a real hot cover of a never-officially-released Pink Floyd tune, penned by the strange Syd Barrett, called “Vegetable Man.” What made this cover tune so great were these two factors: 1) Only the most hardcore of Floyd fans knew about it, as it had only been available on pretty bad sounding bootlegs, and 2) The Soft Boys’ version really fleshed out the song with a complete arrangement including harmonies and the lot. When I first got a hold of this single (a battered copy, I might add), I assumed it was a Soft Boys tune, despite the writer credit inside – I was still a novice Pink Floydian at that point. This version is so good, it’s a wonder that Syd’s band never finished it and put it out as a single. Well, I mean, the chances of a song called “Vegetable Man” becoming a hit might have been slim and none, then and now, but you get what I’m saying.
Anyway, this I Wanna Destroy You double-7″ is available at independent record stores this Saturday, 8/29/2020, and after that, wherever you can find a copy in-store or online. Though the five songs are now readily available on CD, this is a nice package that also includes a digital download card in case you wanna add them to your iTunes library – which you will, unless you’re some kinda vegetable man… or woman. – Marsh Gooch
5/5 (YepRoc YEP2693, 2020)
* Record Store Day 2020 has been split into three dates, the first being 8/29/2020 with the next two to follow in September and October, thanks to this year’s coronavirus pandemic.
As far as eccentric British musicians go, there may be none as gone as ROY WOOD. You wanna talk about a guy with a vision? How about a guy with all kindsa visions? He was a founding member of the great Birmingham ’60s beat band, The Move, co-founder of Electric Light Orchestra with Jeff Lynne, and the prime mover of WIZZARD. That “group” – which sometimes seemed like Wood playing all the instruments himself – was responsible for a number of UK hits in the ’70s, though sadly only their “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday” is the only single of theirs that ever came close to charting here in the States. By the time Wood got to recording what came to be known as Main Street, the man was (in his own words) “trying to grow up… [it was] probably a last minute attempt to retain some sort of sanity.” Well, I guess you could call it that – if you’re Roy Wood!
What we have here is a reissue of an album that went unreleased upon its completion in 1976. A lone single (“Indiana Rainbow”) was issued in the UK as “from the forthcoming album, Wizzo” that was unable to gain any chart attention and so the album went unissued until 1999. This time, Esoteric Recordings has added a bonus track and tweaked the artwork (though they didn’t improve on Edsel’s design from ’99). This is a weird album. It’s full of a lot of the dense power pop arrangements that Wood is known for, but then, on top of that, there’s all of this jazzy stuff thrown in. Sometimes it’s fusion courtesy of his lead guitar, sometimes it’s pseudo swing and even some faintly calypso-sounding instrumentation. It’s got subtle nods to even the gnarliest Move stuff (“Brontosaurus” and “Curly,” particularly), as well as other supremely rockin’ bits (like the bonus track, “Human Cannonball”) that’ll draw you in, and even some progressive rock for variety. I mean, if ever there was an album that benefited and/or suffered from including everything but the kitchen sink, this is it.
I honestly don’t know what to think of Main Street… Is it an album that’ll grow on me and become a regular part of my rotation? I don’t expect it to – it’s just too out there. But – and this is a big but – if you’re a Roy Wood fan and you missed this one the first time it came out, you will obviously be drawn to this, practically the (il)logical conclusion to where Roy was heading with Wizzard all along. After it’s all said and done, you may just utter (like I did more than once), “Well, that is a weird album.” – Marsh Gooch
PAUL McCARTNEY’s Archive Series is now ten years old. In 2010 he started releasing deluxe packages of his non-Beatles work with perhaps his greatest post-Fabs album, Band on the Run. Here we are in 2020 and Macca’s reissued Flaming Pie, the 1997 solo outing that was hailed as his best since 1989’s Flowers in the Dirt, which was hailed as his best since… probably Band on the Run. At the time of Flaming Pie’s release we were all glad that he’d put out something that surpassed his previous studio album, 1992’s so-so On the Ground, which wasn’t bad but not nearly as good as the aforementioned Flowers. As his Archive Series has matured, so has the way McCartney and his business associates have packaged the man’s legacy.
This time, the various formats of the campaign include the customary, flagship “deluxe” box set (usually a number of CDs, a DVD or two, and a handful of books, posters and other memorabilia recreations) – in this case, 5 CDs, 2 DVDs, some books and other stuff – followed by a 3LP box set (consisting of the original album spread across two records and a third LP with various demos), a standard 2LP release (just the album tracks), and a 2CD set featuring the original album on disc one and a generously populated (21 tracks) disc of demos, etc.* Because Flaming Pie came out in the mid ’90s and vinyl hadn’t yet begun its comeback, the 14-track, 54-minute album was primarily a CD release, though it came out in limited quantities in the UK and USA on single-record vinyl that was both rare and not of a very high-fidelity nature. (The more time per side of vinyl, the lesser the quality of the audio.) This time it was decided to spread it out over two records – a wise choice – and the half-speed mastering job is amazingly good. The 3LP box set features this 2LP album (in a gatefold cover) along with a single bonus LP (in a standard record cover, and pressed in standard fashion) both housed in a slipcase complete with Japanese-style “OBI” strip. The slipcase’s cover is very minimalist and is quite tasteful, allowing the actual album’s cover to carry the release’s identity as it originally had (albeit with the title written in bright red rather than black, as it is/was on the current 2LP/initial 1LP release). An almost-dozen tracks make up that bonus LP, being “home recordings” and demos of eleven of the album’s 14 tracks. They make up a nice “alt” version of the album.
If you go for the 2CD reissue of Flaming Pie, you’ll get a high-value set with 21 bonus tracks (comprising disc two) that’ll be great for your ears and your wallet. The tracks on the 3LP bonus record are all there, as are more slices of alternative Pie and some of the B-sides that were originally released with the album’s singles (“Young Boy,” “Beautiful Night” and “The World Tonight”). Being that this is a digitally mastered set, you might expect it to sound a little less warm compared to the vinyl and it probably does; I have always had a hard time A/B’ing formats due to having to switch back and forth between them and trying to compensate for the typical difference in volume between CD and vinyl. I think both the 3LP and 2CD sets sound surprisingly good and they both make me want to really savor Flaming Pie today the way I never really did back in ’97. Wanna get into the deluxe edition?
Well, I haven’t yet sprung for that. As it currently costs beyond $200, it’s outside of my budget for now. What I can tell you is that it is clearly a gluttonous serving of Flaming Pie, with: an oven-full (two CDs) of the aforementioned demos and home recordings; a CD with an item called “The Ballad of the Skeletons” featuring McCartney with Allen Ginsburg, Lenny Kaye and Philip Glass (what a trio!) and a more-or-less complete episode of Oobu Joobu (a syndicated radio series McCartney hosted in the ’90s); a CD with a tour of, and samples of the instruments Paul keeps at his Hog Hill Mill recording studio (including the mellotron The Beatles made massive use of back in the day); and two DVDs with a documentary of the making of the album (called In the World Tonight), videos for the album’s singles, a few EPKs (electronic press kits) and even an interview with David Frost. AND a bunch of bespoke books and other ingredients to pad out the box and the price of it. Phew! Sure, 200-ish bucks might not seem so much for all of this, but keep in mind: like most baked items, it’s highly unlikely you’ll want to enjoy all of this more than once, so you gotta really consider what kind of monetary outlay you’re willing to make for such a rare, probably-to-be-enjoyed-once treat.
And THAT’s where that * asterisk way up above in paragraph two comes in! Because: There is an even grander version of Flaming Pie available, the Collector’s Edition. Limited to 3,000 units worldwide, it contains everything in the Deluxe Edition plus the 3LP vinyl set, half a dozen art prints featuring the album cover and other Linda McCartney photos, a Flaming Pie plectrum (what we guitarists in the USA call a pick), even more printed ephemera, and the ability to download the album at 24-bit/96kHz HD resolution. (And probably some other stuff that I was unable to make out from the various editions’ ingredients lists!) This all comes in a box that is “.6 of a metre long by about half of a meter wide” (according to Paul Sinclair in his unboxing video over at my favorite music site, SuperDeluxeEdition) – don’t ask me what it weighs ’cause, not only can I definitely not afford this version, but there’s no weight info anywhere on the web that I can find! Apparently, though, this one’s gonna set you back a good $400+ (not including a highly likely hefty shipping price). If you’re salivating heavily right now, here’s some comfort for ya: it’s probably already sold out by now so if you didn’t already know about it and order it you’re not gonna get a taste of this one any time soon.
Did you wanna hear about the music? Well, as mentioned way back at the start of this review, Flaming Pie was a critically acclaimed release that many considered to be a collection of classic McCartney styles. From the rocking songs like the title track, “The World Tonight” and “Young Boy,” to the bluesy “Used to Be Bad” that he wrote and played with Steve Miller, to the poppy, slightly melancholy sounding “The Song We Were Singing,” and a number of other flavors that you expect from Paul, this one’s got songs to recommend to just about every kind of Macca fan. But, unlike on many of his other releases, nearly all of these songs sound like McCartney in top form. None of it sounds phoned in. So, musically, it’s definitely worth looking into, either for the first time or once again. Now, naturally, I have some minor issues with the release, but this time – you lucky devils! – there’s nothing worth bothering to bitch about. And that means you can go enjoy yourself some Flaming Pie without having to think about me while doing so. That’s my gift to you. Go ahead – have a slice. – Marsh Gooch
Another hybrid SACD/CD release from Intervention Records is JOE JACKSON’s Body and Soul. The 1984 album was the followup to his acclaimed Night and Day album (which featured the hit “Steppin’ Out”) and had his next – and bigger – hit, “You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)”. This was another digital recording, too, this time recorded at a Masonic Lodge in NYC. Sometimes these early digital recordings can sound great, and other times time isn’t too kind to them. This one is a happy occasion for lovers of Body and Soul, as Intervention’s SACD/CD hybrid presentation treats the outing with respect and glorious results.
Jackson had shunned his angry New Waver persona by the time he got together again with old friends David Kershenbaum (co-producer) and bassist Graham Maby, as well as new colleagues Vinnie Zummo (guitar), Ed Roynesdal (keys/violin) Gary Burke (drums), singers Ellen Foley and Elaine Caswell, and horn players Tony Aiello and Michael Morreale. The material was of a more jazz bent, with more swing than Joe’s typical thing (not counting the full-on jump jazz homage, Jumpin’ Jive) and yet still coming from a pop place. There were no growly “I’m the Man” type rockers this time out, Joe moving into the more mature and thoughtful territory of songs like “Not Here, Not Now” and the aforementioned “You Can’t Get What You Want.” I can’t say it’s all good, though, as I find “Go For It” to be quite tedious (unless he’s being super sarcastic?!) and a few others to be mediocre for the man. Still, there’s also “Be My Number Two” (second best song on the album?) to round out the good ones.
Body and Soul is a full sounding recording, and the new SACD brings out all of the body and soul in Joe Jackson’s musical arrangements. Certainly the production can be credited for that, but also the new mastering by Kevin Gray, whom I have celebrated here before (see my review of the Flying Burrito Bros.), really shines. Intervention has a number of Joe Jackson’s releases in their catalog, either as SACD/CD discs or as beautifully rendered vinyl reissues (including Look Sharp!, I’m the Man and Night and Day) and they’re all worth the money. So if it’s high fidelity sound you want, and you know that’s what you want, you can now get it. Get it? – Marsh Gooch
Once released as an LP sent to radio stations only as a promotional item to help sell the band’s debut album, Live! At The Paradise Theater, Boston, 1980 is PRETENDERS at their livest best. The show was recorded on March 23 of that year just a few months after Pretenders was released to critical acclaim. Already the band was touring the USA, and within a year or so they’d released a stop-gap EP and then their second full length, the imaginitively-titled Pretenders II. To say things seemed to be happening for them is an understatement – and yet that momentum came to a pretty swift halt soon after. The stories have been told elsewhere of how guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon went down the well-traveled drug death road that so many rockers have, so let’s just say there’s no telling what the band would have done had the original lineup stayed intact. Not that the Pretenders didn’t end up achieving a pretty solid career…
NuDisc 