===========================================
_
___ ___ ___ ___| |_ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
|_ -| . | -_| _| _| _| . | . | . | . |
|___| _|___|___|_| |_| |___| _|___| _|
|_| |_| |_|
===========================================
Volume #0072 04/25/98
===========================================
Stereo has Come of Age
Subject: Re: Bacharach
Sent: 21/4/98 5:54 am
Received: 22/4/98 12:37 am
From: David Feldman, feldXXX@XXXXXXerables.com
Jack says, in part:
> All Saints were a travesty, I thought. Four young women on
> stage singing a Bacharach number, and they couldn't manage
> even a halfway decent harmony among them. Feh. Plus, they
> slouch. Plus, they dress like slobs.
Yeah, what's the deal with them? How in the world did they
land this gig and a SNL slot right out of the box? Does
payola live? I had pretty much the same reaction as you to
the special. Another thing that worried me a bit is how
much Elvis's first song sounds like "God Give Me Strength"
and his other BB collaborations.
Dave Feldman
RIP: Carl Wilson
Song of the Week: "Landslide" (Fleetwood Mac) from "The Dance"
Movie of the Month: Love & Death on Long Island
Best Time Killer of the 90's: Filling out the gender survey at
"http://www.imponderables.com"
Subject: Eric Matthews
Sent: 21/4/98 5:54 am
Received: 22/4/98 12:37 am
From: David Feldman, feldXXX@XXXXXXerables.com
Paul Mac asked:
> > CD of the Month: "The Lateness of the Hour" (Eric
> >Matthews)
>
> Got his last disc. Really liked the sound of it (Though
> the liner notes were the most pretentious I've ever read,
> unitl I saw his interview in Tracking Angle).
>
I don't know if I'm alone, but I find myself not reading
many liner notes in CD's. I'm still waiting for albums to
come back -- I find it infuriating trying to find the
composer of a song and taking an eye test instead.
This is my first Eric Matthews. But I don't think it will
be my last.
Now I'm obsessed with "Landslide" (see new sig.). It's hard
for me to remember a remake by an original artist that I've
ever thought was so much superior to the original, not
because of a reinterpretation, but because the singing
itself is so much better. In fact, I used to dread Nicks's
leads on Fleetwood Mac songs. She is singing *so* much
better now it's scary. Can anyone else think of an
established performer who has improved so much over time?
She's a walking argument for taking care of substance abuse
problems.
And at the risk of veering even further off-topic, I can't
recommend the movie "Love and Death in Long Island" enough.
It's my favorite movie in years, and it will be of interest
to anyone who has ever loved anyone or anything that others
don't understand. It's ostensibly about popular culture and
homosexuality, but it could be about anything. What a
wonderful idea for a movie: "You can find beauty in the
most unexpected places." It's only playing in about 20
cities in the U.S. now, and it's written and directed by a
relatively obscure British director, but it's worth seeking
out. Any movie in which John Hurt, an effete novelist,
becomes obsessed with Jason Priestley (playing a B-movie
star) has to be fascinating.
Dave Feldman
RIP: Carl Wilson
Song of the Week: "Landslide" (Fleetwood Mac) from "The Dance"
Movie of the Month: Love & Death on Long Island
Best Time Killer of the 90's: Filling out the gender survey at
"http://www.imponderables.com"
Subject: Bob Crewe Interview Sunday
Sent: 21/4/98 6:03 am
Received: 22/4/98 12:37 am
From: Doc Rock, docroXXX@XXXXXXom
The man was great to talk to. I can't give you TOO much
info, or I'll scoop myself for my article! But here are
some tidbits!
1. He never ever used Hal Blaine.
2. The story of his seeing a couple of silhouettes on a
shade from a train window is totally false.
3. The Toys never sang on anything by Diane Renay.
4. The Four Seasons were NOT named after a club, bowling
alley, or restaurant (or anyplace else) that they once sang
in.
5. Freddie Cannon was not named for his explosive singing
style.
6. "Sock It To Me Baby" did not have the F word.
7. There were no Rag Dolls, just a variety of session
singers. The photo that I have of them is not really them,
'cause there WAS no them.
8. Ditto the Bob Crewe Generation. Cover photos were of
friends, not singers.
Interesting, eh? This is why I do interviews before I write
articles or posts. Second-hand accounts, even published ones,
cannot be relied upon!
But I LOVE interviews!
Doc
Subject: Rodney and the Kessels (again)
Sent: 22/4/98 10:23 am
Received: 23/4/98 12:29 am
From: Brad Elliott, surfXXX@XXXXXXline.net
Page responded to my earlier post:
>> I'm assuming the Rodney single you're referring to is
>> "Little GTO," on which Rodney was backed by the group
>> Blondie, with The Honeys on backing vocals...
>
> Wow! That brings back memories. Now I recall the single you
> mentioned and Blondie/Honeys involvement, but the side I was
> referring to was "Rodney on the ROQ." Now I can't remember
> whether this was the B-Side to Little GTO or not.
Was "Rodney on the ROQ" ever released on vinyl? It's not
the B-side of "Little GTO"; instead that spot is occupied
by a non-vocal sound collage called "Holocaust on Sunset
Boulevard" -- a very obvious throwaway B-side.
> The album release date is interesting, because
> most of those tracks are from the late 70's, I believe. By
> 1984, LA was leaning toward the hair band thing with Guns N
> Roses just starting to make a buzz. That implies the '84
> album was all the stuff the Kessels had in the can from
> their Phil bodyguard days during the latter half of the
> 70's.
Interesting observation. I'm sure you're right. And that
probably helps to explain why there apparently was no
"Volume 2" followup -- nobody was buying that kind of music
in the mid-1980s.
> I love that "A Division of..." credit, btw. Just like Uncle
> Phil.
I guess they did learn something from him after all!
> Now, a question for you, Brad. Do you agree that Fowley's
> track off _74/79_ sounds nothing like Phil circa A Woman's
> Story / Lennon's R&R album, yet has much in common with the
> production values of Rodney Bingenheimer presents All Year
> Party, Volume One?
Oh, yeah, absolutely! I'd guess that the actual production
credits on that Fowley track are probably something like
"Produced by Dan and David Kessel, with assistance from
Uncle Phil and Kim Fowley." (You just know Fowley had to
get his two cents in there somewhere!) At best, maybe
Spector stopped by the studio while they were cutting it.
No Spector production touches can be heard at all!
And hey, I'm still wondering whether anyone knows of any
other releases on Martian.
Surf's up!
Brad
Subject: Jack Nitzsche and Harvey Kubernick
Sent: 23/4/98 12:39 am
Received: 23/4/98 12:49 am
From: le_page_XXX@XXXXXXies.com
Speaking of Harvey Kubernick...
Harvey does a ten question quickie interview with Jack Nitzsche
in the current issue of Mojo. Great quotes on Spector, the
Stones, Neil Young and Miles Davis. It's really short, but careful
editing preserves Nitzsche telling some classic stories.
In the same ish, a brief phoner with Brit Invasion tunesmith
Graham Gouldman. Graham is currently doing "unplugged" dates:
"People are always surprised when they find out I wrote songs for
the Hollies and the Yardbirds. If I hadn't have written those I
wouldn't be doing these gigs, because it feels so good to let
people know I wrote those songs."
I personally think he wrote his best stuff around the time of
Upstairs, Downstairs and No Milk Today.
--
le_page_XXX@XXXXXXies.com
RodeoDrive/5030
Subject: Chad (no Jeremy - and no Claudine Longet)
Sent: 24/4/98 4:01 am
Received: 24/4/98 11:33 pm
From: Marc Miller, marXXX@XXXXXXom
Since someone mentioned Chad & Jeremy...the other night
I was watching "Jungle Book" for the 3478th time and I
noticed that Chad was the voice of one of the vultures.
I thought you'd wanna know...
Marc
End
