The POWER POP COVER-UP Show #118 March 15, 2014

The Power Pop Cover Up is dedicated to Carol!

Carol (original version by Chuck Berry)- Hello Keeps Us Off The Streets
September Gurls (Big Star)- The Bangles Different Light
Closer To The Stars (Soul Asylum)- The Hold Steady Rags
Rock and Roll Love Letter (Bay City Rollers)- The Records Rock and Roll Love Letter
Sorry (The Easybeats)- The Three O'Clock Baroque Hoedown
Jetfighter (The Three O'Clock)- Spinning Jennies Stratosphere
Shake Some Action (The Flamin' Groovies)- Jenny Dee and The Deelinquents Keeping Time
With A Girl Like You (The Troggs)- Alex Chilton Top 30
^The Letter (The Box Tops)- Paul Collins King Of Power Pop
Dyna-Mite (Mud)- The Blondes The Blondes
Androgynous (The Replacements)- Joan Jett and The Blackhearts Greatest Hits
Another Girl, Another Planet (The Only Ones)- The Replacements All For Nothing
No Matter What (Badfinger)- Gary Charlson Real Live Gary
I Can't Turn You Loose (Otis Redding)- The Plimsouls The Plimsouls... Plus
*Hanging on the Telephone (The Nerves)- Blondie Parallel Lines
*When You Find Out (The Nerves/The Plimsouls)- Joe Algeri Faux Pas
*Walking Out On Love (The Nerves/The Beat)- The Yum Yums Singles 'n' Stuff 
*Paper Dolls (The Nerves/Jack Lee)- Rubber City Rebels Rubber City Rebels
*Zero Hour (The Plimsouls)- DM3 Garage Sale
*Million Miles Away (The Plimsouls)- Goo Goo Dolls Hold Me Up
All Kinds Of Girls (The Real Kids)- The Shods Thanks For Nuthin' 
Pretty Please Me (The Quick)- The Dickies Stukas Over Disneyland 
I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (The Rubinoos)- Farrah Moustache 
Cruisin' Music (Raspberries)- The Rubinoos Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About
Misadventure (Squeeze)- Queued Up S/T EP 
He's A Whore (Cheap Trick)- The Biters He's A Whore 
That 70's Song (Big Star's "In The Street")- Cheap Trick That' 70's Show Presents That 70's Album: Rockin' 
Wake Up Little Susie (Everly Brothers)- Suzi Quatro The Wild One - The Greatest Hits 
Somebody Made For Me (Emitt Rhodes)- The Merrymakers Bubblegun 
>I Can't Let Go (The Hollies)- Sloan Recorded Live At A Sloan Party! 
Cycles Per Second (The dB's)- Lisa Mychols Sweet Sinsations 
Green Shirt (Elvis Costello)- The Tremblers Twice Nightly 
It's Easy (The Barracudas)- The Kwyet Kings Been Where? Done What? 
Ballad Of El Goodo (Big Star)- Matthew Sweet Big Star Small World 

^Power Pop Prototype:  The Letter by The Box Tops #1 Billboard Hot 100 8/12/67

*SacroSet:  The Nerves Cover Up

>Power Pop Prototype:  I Can't Let Go (The Hollies) 1966 

Cover songs are a double edged sword- with one or two

Scott Asheton 1949-2014

choice selections a band can share its musical influences, creating an even deeper relationship with fans.  I'd put The Dictators cover of The Stooges "Search and Destroy" in this category.  At the time I had a vague idea who Iggy Pop was, but The Dictators got me digging deeper for The Stooges and for that I will always be grateful (RIP Scott Asheton, the Stooges and Sonic's Rendevous Band drummer- he was a true original).

On the other hand, if a band chooses cover songs poorly it can be viewed as pandering or even worse, the dreaded "sell out."  In August 1968 The MC5 established themselves on the cutting edge of the counterculture as the only band that didn't puss out on playing at the Democratic Convention/Police Brutality Exhibition in Chicago.  Their reputation was further cemented with the release of the blistering live album Kick Out The Jams in February 1969.  Midwest department store chain Hudson's refused to stock the record due to the infamous "Kick Out The Jams motherf***er!" intro and more f-words in the liner notes.  The MC5 responded with this ad in alternative paper Fifth Estate (click to enlarge), thoughtfully including the Elektra logo despite the fact that no one at the company had approved it. Hudson's then pulled ALL Elektra product from its shelves and the band was thrown off the label.  

Their outlaw status confirmed, The MC5 signed with

Atlantic Records.  They went into the studio with future Bruce Spring -steen producer Jon Landau and made Back In The USA, a record of short, super tight R and B/early rock and roll influenced music that harkens back to the stuff the band was playing in 1965-66.  I LOVE the album; songs like "American Ruse" and "Looking At You" are the very definition of proto-punk, but the hippies and freaks who dug the free-form sonic onslaught of Kick Out The Jams were not amused.  It wasn't bad enough the record was named for a patriotic Chuck Berry song (they do a straight-up unironic version), Side 1 Track 1 of  Back In The USA is a cover of Little Richard's "Tutti-Frutti."  In 1970 that was probably about as reactionary as you could get and The MC5 never seemed to recover their fan base, even with third album High Time which was a return to the Kick Out The Jams sound.

So, choose the wrong cover songs and its curtains for your band.  Or it makes you a one-hit footnote/joke (see The Lemonheads' version of Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson," or Alien Ant Farm's take on Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal").  Of course, go all the way and you become the much derided "Cover Band," scorned by musicians, critics and "serious" fans alike.  Check out these lyrics to Red Cross' "Cover Band" if you don't know what I'm talking about:

We're a cover band
We like boring songs
Solos that are long
We listen to KIIS
Top 40 hits
We're a cover band
We're a cover band

We can't write worth sh*t
'Cause we're illiterate
We listen to The Knack
We have Marshall stacks
We can't write worth sh*t

(short solo)  


We can't write worth sh*t
'Cause we're illiterate
We listen to The Knack
We have Marshall stacks
We can't write worth sh*t

Red Cross 1980: Ron Reyes (later of Black Flag),
Greg Hetson, Jeff and Steven McDonald

I've never been sure about all the words to this song, especially "we like boring songs, solos that are long" and "cause we're illiterate."  I also thought they were talking about the group Kiss and not the Los Angeles Top 40 radio

Steven McDonald Today

station KIIS-FM.  So, for this post I decided to go to the source and e-mailed the band on their website.  Within an hour webmaster Jon got back to me with the full lyrics.  Then the next day Redd Kross bassist Steven McDonald (who I believe is 11 in the photo above and doesn't look a day older) e-mailed me the lyrics from his iPhone.  How cool is that?

Ironically when original guitarist Greg Hetson left he brought "Cover Band" to his new group Circle Jerks, who "covered" it with new lyrics, changing the title to "Live Fast, Die Young."  (I like both takes on the song, yet for sheer snottiness nothing beats the version by "Red Cross," as they were known before a lawsuit forced them to change the spelling of their name.)  If that isn't enough irony for you, in

Teen Babes From Monsanto, 1984

1984 Redd Kross put out an all-covers album called Teen Babes From Monsanto with songs by Kiss (a killer version of "Duece"), The Shagri-La's, The Rolling Stones, The Stooges and David Bowie.  Proving they were in on the joke, the group also "covered" their own song "Linda Blair" from first album Born Innocent.

Like many of my strongly held opinions about music that "sucks," my attitude toward cover bands has changed over the years, largely due to the following factors:

• For my 40th Birthday my wife Jaime threw me a party that included the debut of my cover band The Dadz.  I tell you, as much as I liked playing original music back in the day, there's a lot to be said for whipping up a dance floor of drunk 40 year olds with The Ramones' "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," The Monkees "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone," and "Anything, Anything (I'll Give You)" by Dramarama.  How great was that night?  I still use a cut from the photo below as my profile picture.

Rick, Joe and James

• The other reason I'm much more forgiving about cover bands is that live music is rare these days and outside of major cities there aren't too many places booking bands that play original music.  So, on a Saturday night in Sonoma you're probably not going to pass up a chance to see Misfit's cover band Braineater, while over at The Mystic Theater in Petaluma they are packing them in for House of Floyd, Zepparella, and AC/DShe (the latter two all-female tributes).

• Finally, the DJ thing is out of control.  Neither of my kids has EVER been to a school dance with a live band.  They will never know the mounting anguish as the tempo picks up in "Stairway to Heaven" or "Freebird" followed by the rapture of realizing you are going to stay in a slow dance clench all the way through to the end.  Depending on the band, each of those songs could be 15 minutes long!  At the time I had never held a sweet-smelling pretty girl in my arms for that long.  What a rush!  My friends and I would mock the bands that played our school dances, usually made up of guys only few years older than us.  At the same time we couldn't help noticing how the attitude of girls in the audience changed after the band got offstage.  Once they'd seen him tear though "Barracuda" and " Smoke On The Water" on his Stratocaster, they never looked at the grease monkey from the Hall's Corner Exxon the same way again.  In any case, when live music is plentiful, hating on cover bands is to be expected yet I'll still take well played live music over a DJ any day of the week.

In closing, I'm going to share some photos of three new favorite cover/tribute bands that I've never heard but turned up in my Interweb research for this post:

The Misfats

I wonder if they hid the guy in back because he's too skinny and they didn't want to blow the concept.

Mini-Kiss

Remember these guys from from the Super Bowl commercial they did with Full-Sized Kiss? (Maxi-Kiss?)

Gabba

This London band plays Abba songs in the style of The Ramones.  Are you mad you didn't think of it first?  I know I am.


Finally, as a public service I present the following, in case you are considering a career in the cover band arts:

Who knows, this may be where The Misfats got their start....

Download link for the POWER POP COVER UP is below (Click to stream or to download, right click and "Save Link As")
ALL KINDSA GIRLS #118

Show #117 February 22, 2014

 This one's dedicated to an anthro- pomor- phised musket! (it's true, just check Wiki- pedia)

Black Betty- Ramjam Ramjam 
Black Cloud- Dipsomaniacs Freakin Eureka 
He Said She Said- The CRY! Dangerous Game 
Everything Keeps Coming Up You- The Tories The Upside of Down  
Secretary- Nightman Don't You Know  
Sgt. Sunshine- Corin Ashley New Lion Terraces 
A And R Man- Paul Warren and Explorer One Of The Kids  
Baby for the Day- Happiness Factor Self Improvement?  
^Black Coffee In Bed- Squeeze Singles: 45's and Under  
When We Were Kids- The Slickee Boys Uh Oh… No Breaks! 
So Much- Jack Green Humanesque 
Side Of Time- Lisa Mychols Above, Beyond and In Between
Lost Horizons- Gin Blossoms New Miserable Experience  
Maybe I'll Stay- The Tremblers Twice Nightly  
*Black and Blue- The Exploding Hearts Shattered  
*Black And Blue- The Semantics Powerbill 
*Black and Blue- The Tearaways Ground's the Limit 
*Black and Blue- The Sugar Stems Sweet Sounds of the..... Weekend Boy- Candy Whatever Happened To Fun
Out In The Dark- The Lurkers Greatest Hit: Last Will And Testament... 
C'mon Linda- The Genuine Fakes The Striped Album 
No Money- The Freshies The Very Best Of 
I Gotta Getta- The Undertones The Undertones 
Feel Like I'm Crazy- The Blend Anytime Delight 
>Black Diamond- Kiss Kiss 
I Won't Regret- Fastbacks Very, Very Powerful Motor 
When The Music Starts- Greg Kihn Greg Kihn Band "Best Of Beserkley" '75-'84 
Living Legends- The Donkeys Television Anarchy 
Blackjack- Barrence Whitfield And The Savages Dig Thy Savage Soul 
Blackout- The Pods It's A Bummer About Bourbie EP

^Power Pop Peak: #26 US Mainstream Rock Tracks 4/9/82

*SacroSet:  Black and Blue Songs

>Power Pop Prototype:  1974 

Like a lot of you I'm sure, I was a food tourist long before Anthony Bourdain made it trendy.  I love California but the food is just too healthy here- to really reconnect with the two basic food groups, sugar and salt, you've got to come back east.  At the top of this post I'm photographed with a delicacy my father-in-law Doug, a notorious sugar fiend, introduced me to in Hickory Corners, Michigan where it is called a "Kreme Horn." In Massachusetts it goes by the far more exotic moniker "French Twirl" (ooh la la!)  Before we go any further I need to differentiate between "cream" and "Kreme;" one is organic and the other delicious but outside of their color they have nothing in common. 

It's a good thing I discovered the French Twirl because I likes my Kreme and my former favored Kreme delivery vehicle from Dunkin' Donuts has been hard to come by on recent trips back east.  You can't drive a mile in eastern Mass

Dunkin' Donuts Vanilla Kreme Filled- YAY!!!

without passing a Dunkin' Donuts, yet they are so focused on "healthier" fare these days, (bagels and muffins pass for "healthy" I guess) there's hardly any room left for my Vanilla Kreme-filleds (They call it "Vanilla Kreme" to distinguish it from other more noxious "Kreme" products on their menu- more on this in a moment.)  What's more, it's been 20 years since I've sunk my teeth into an "extreme donut" like the Bismarck- a six inch jelly filled crueller topped with a wide swath of Kreme topped with a narrow stripe of jelly!  YEAH!  Even back in the day they rarely had The Bismarck and no I don't know why it was named after the Prussian statesman (or German battleship).  

My dad worked at the Downey School in Brockton, Mass and on Friday evening he would often bring home a dozen Honey Dew donuts- a Massachusetts based chain. I liked Honey

Dew's Kreme filled donuts even more than Dunkin's.  As I delivered the Boston Globe on Saturday morning I'd dream about the Kreme filled treat back home only to return and find that my sister Sarah had eaten my donut!  It wasn't even her favorite kind!  Oh the injustice of it!  I think she did it just to spite me.  I'd raise hell and Dad would threaten to stop bringing home ANY donuts but he eventually started buying four Kreme-filleds and peace was restored (eating more than two would put you in the hospital).  Coming home from Cape Cod once in the late '90's I stopped at a Honey Dew shop right off the Sagamore bridge and had what is likely the single greatest donut I have or ever will eat:  a Kreme-filled infused with jelly.  I'm haunted by the memory as I have never been able to find another donut like it.  Man, what a treat!

As my donut love is widely known, over the years family members coming to visit have smuggled some Dunkin' Donuts in their carry on luggage.  Needless to say this is greatly appreciated in California where I believe Kreme is constitutionally prohibited.  On a couple of occasions, however, this has led to crushing disappointment.  I remember the time my sister-in-law Christy brought a full DOZEN from Phoenix and as I delightedly opened that

Dunkin' Donuts Bavarian Kreme Filled- BOO!

beautiful orange and pink box I saw to my horror that they were BAVARIAN Kreme.  As luscious as I find Vanilla Kreme, I find Bavarian Kreme equally repugnant- it's like a donut stuffed with tapioca and each one weighs about a pound.  Who would ever eat such a thing?  Anyway, Christy went to all that effort and she was so excited to see my reaction that I choked down two of those Bavarian monstrosities right there in the airport!  I tell you, that was rough.

Jenny, another sister in law, gave me a Dunkin' Donuts gift card for Christmas this year (these ladies know me well).  Jaime and I took the train down to New York City over the holidays and I'm happy to say I was able to find two Kreme-filleds at the store on 48th street in midtown Manhattan- they were every bit as good as I remembered.

Now, don't get me started on Whoopie Pies...

It's a good thing I live in California, because if I'd stayed back east I'd probably weigh 400 pounds!


Click the links below to stream/download this week's show (pause and un-pause if the download gets stuck)
Hour 1
Hour 2 

Show #116 February 8, 2014

The All Kindsa Girls RAIN DANCE is dedicated to Rainy Jane!

Rainy Jane- Davy Jones Rainy Jane
Rainin' Like Soft Fun- The Orange Humble Band Assorted Creams 
She Brings the Rain- The Grip Weeds Infinite Soul: The Best of the Grip Weeds
Sound of the Rain- The Dils Made In Canada Double-7"
I Wish It Would Rain- Wreckless Eric Big Smash 
Standing In The Rain- Squire Big Smashes
Stood In The Rain- Four O'Clock Balloon Yellow Pills Vol 4 The Best of American Pop!
Standin' In The Rain- The Finders Calling Dr. Powerpop
^Only Happy When It Rains- Garbage Garbage
Singing In The Rain- Just Water Singing In The Rain
Walk In The Rain- The Pop The Pop
As The Rain Goes- Stryker Stryker 7"
The Summer Rain- Shoes Shoe's Best
Cold As The Rain- The Signals Person To Person
*Let It Rain- The Boys Boys Only
*Let It Rain- OK Go Oh No
*Let It Rain- The Dream Syndicate Tell Me When It's Over: The Best of
*Let It Rain- UFO Let It Rain
Another Rainy Weekend- Nushu Hula 
The Sun And The Rain- Madness The Business
Rain- The Jam Direction, Reaction, Creation
When it Rains...- X See How We Are 
Just A Little Rain- The Cryers The Cryers 
Sheltered From The Rain- The Angels The Angels 
>Flowers In The Rain- The Move Flowers In The Rain 
Rain- Status Quo Rain
Delaware Rain- Ric Menck The Ballad Of Ric Menck 
Right As Rain- The Neighborhoods ...The High Hard One...
Crying In The Rain-Rockpile Seconds Of Pleasure 
Another Song About The Rain- Cracker Cracker 

^Power Pop Peak:  #55 Billboard Hot 100 9/18/95

*SacroSet:  Let It Rain (please!)

>Power Pop Prototype:  1967

Never doubt the enduring power of rock and roll!  Case in point, after hearing nothing but dour California drought news the entire month of January I decided to do something about it with the ALL KINDSA GIRLS RAIN DANCE!  I started working on the program the day before the Super Bowl and what do you think happened that night- it started to rain!  What's more, the following Thursday while I was in the studio recording the show it started raining again and didn't stop for four days.  In fact, when the show aired that Saturday night there was flooding all over Sonoma- though we knew better than to complain about it.  Unfortunately it ended up being mere "drops in the bucket" compared to what we need but still, I made it rain!  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

As I often do when putting a theme show together I went to youtube and searched on "Let It Rain" and up came this really funny video from Along Came Polly featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman:


I had completely forgotten about his part in this movie, which I think I watched on a flight.  After films like The Master, Ides of March and The Savages, you forget how funny Philip Seymour Hoffman could be.  I decided to include the video (at least the audio portion) in the show's SacroSet of songs called "Let It Rain."  Little did I know Philip Seymour Hoffman would be dead less than a week later...

PSH as Plutarch Heavensbee

I was already ambivalent about the Super Bowl as the Patriots had been wedgied, pantsed and wet-willied right out of Denver two weeks earlier.  That game was straight up embarrassing!  Anyway, my friends Frank and Joanna were coming up to watch the Super Bowl and I was looking forward to seeing them.  When Jaime and I got back from church that morning my daughter Nica bounded down the stairs to tell us that "Plutarch Heavensbee- the guy who plays him, is dead!  Of a HEROIN overdose!"  Nica and I are big fans of the Hunger Games books.  When Hoffman, one of my favorite actors, signed on for Catching Fire I took it as a sign of personal validation.  It meant a lot to me that a guy who had several Oscar nominations and one win believed in the The Hunger Games enough to commit to three movies.  That was the thing about Hoffman, in parts big or small, in blockbusters or indie films, he always brought something interesting to the table.  You could argue that Catching Fire was just a paycheck but I don't think that's the way Hoffman operated.

As is the fate of many character actors, I saw Hoffman in several films before I really "saw" him, including My New Gun with Diane Lane (who I've loved since The Outsiders), Scent of a Woman, Leap of Faith and Nobody's Fool.  I didn't see Twister when it was in theaters so I didn't catch Hoffman's performance as a lunatic storm chaser until later.  I'm glad it turned out that way because it meant Philip Seymour Hoffman first came to my attention in Boogie Nights.  His character Scotty J's desperate crush on Mark Wahlberg's Eddie Adams (a.k.a. Dirk Diggler) was just heartbreaking.  Hoffman could have come off creepy but I think he made the character sympathetic:

After Boogie Nights I went back and saw director Paul Thomas Anderson's first film Hard Eight, which also features a great Hoffman performance as hillbilly shooting craps.

 
That's it for him in the movie, yet even with limited screen time, Hoffman certainly makes an impression.  It's worth noting too that the title of the movie "Hard Eight" is first referenced in this scene.

I think Hoffman will be remembered most for the deep sadness and internal struggle in his characters, whether it's Lancaster Dodd in The Master or Gust Avrakatos in Charlie Wilson's War or Andy Hanson in Before The Devil Knows Your Dead.  It's hard for me then to separate his performances as these fictional characters from the living, breathing person who stuck a needle in his arm and died of a heroin overdose, leaving three children without a father.  If that is the cost of great talent then happily count me as one of the teeming mass of untalented.  I know it's my morbid side, but I have wondered if there are young actors out there toiling in obscurity who would trade with Hoffman, for all of it- talent, ambition, critical esteem, fame, wealth, artistic freedom, an Oscar.... and death at 46.  On the other hand, I'd like to think that Hoffman himself would take that trade too, choosing to live in obscurity to a ripe old age, maybe as the star of his small town community theater.

The Great Lester Bangs

One of my favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman performances is in Almost Famous.  He plays legendary rock critic Lester Bangs mentoring young writer William Miller (a stand in for writer/director Cameron Crowe).  Early in the film the two meet in a diner:


Then, late in the film they have this phone conversation:

Lester Bangs: Aw, man. You made friends with them. See, friendship is the booze they feed you. They want you to get drunk on feeling like you belong.  
William Miller: Well, it was fun. 
Lester Bangs: Because they make you feel cool. And hey, I met you. You are not cool.  
William Miller: I know. Even when I thought I was, I knew I wasn't.  
Lester Bangs: That's because we are uncool. And while women will always be a problem for guys like us, most of the great art in the world is about that very problem. Good-looking people don't have any spine. Their art never lasts. They get the girls, but we're smarter.  
William Miller: I can really see that now.  
Lester Bangs: Yeah, great art is about guilt and longing and love disguised as sex, and sex disguised as love... and let's face it, you got a big head start.  
William Miller: I'm glad you were home. 
Lester Bangs: I'm always home. I'm uncool.  
William Miller: Me too!  
Lester Bangs: You're doing great.  The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool.  My advice to you. I know you think those guys are your friends. You wanna be a true friend to them? Be honest, and unmerciful.  

The bitter irony is that Lester Bangs died the ultimate "cool" rock star death:  from a drug overdose (Darvon, Valium and NyQuil of all things) in New York City on April 30, 1982.  He was 33.  I suppose we should be happy we got 13 more years from Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Click on these links to download this week's show (pause and un-pause if they get stuck):
Hour 1
Hour 2

Show #115 January 25, 2013

Tonight it's all for Rosemarie!

Rosemarie- Superchunk Majesty Shredding 
Insane- Rollercoaster Rollercoaster 
Waiting For The Drums- The Bye Bye Blackbirds We Need The Rain 
Comic Book Heroes- The Tearjerkers Fool 7" 
Catch Me- Cherry Twister Cherry Twister 
In The Street- Big Star The Ardent Studio Sessions (1972-1973) 
You're So Damn Hot- OK Go OK Go 
Don't Wait Up For Me- The Beat The Beat 
^Moneytalks- AC/DC The Razor's Edge 
Red Dragon Tattoo- Fountains Of Wayne Utopia Parkway 
Remember Tonight- The Shivvers Til The Word Gets Out 
She- Starz Attention Shoppers! 
I'm Not Sure- The Chords This Is What They Want
Introduction to Girls- Breakup Society James At 35 
*Money Talks- Hates 30 Years of Hate 1978-2008 
*Money Talks- Shane Champagne S/T 10" EP
*Money Talks- Penetration Dont Dictate 7" 
*Money Talks- The Kinks Money Talks 
*Money Talks- Soul Asylum Say What You Will...Everything Can Happen
Didn´t Tell The Man- Radio Birdman More Fun! 
Kick Their Teeth Out- The Greatest Liar The Girl With The Chesnut Eyes 
Come Along- The Adicts Smart Alex  
When I Look In Your Eyes- The Romantics The Romantics 
A Girl Like You- 20/20 Look Out! 
Sandwich Time for the Smaller Children- LMNOP Elemen Opee Elpee 
>Money Talks- The Penguins The Cool Cool Penguins 
Fall Awake- Velvet Crush Stereo Blues 
Flipside Rock- Rob Tyner with Eddie And The Hot Rods Life On The Line 
I'm In Love (With Not Being In Love With You)- The Yum Yums ...Play Good Music 
Your Girl, My Girl- Screams Screams 
I'm All Right- Fast Cars Coming, Ready or Not! 
Money Down- Raspberries Side 3 

^Power Pop Peak:  #23 Billboard 12/8/90

*Songs Called "Money Talks"

>Power Pop Prototype:  1958

For good reason, I've always been wary of groups with the word "band" in their name.   The first artists that come to mind are either lite pop (Starland Vocal Band, Little River Band, Climax Blues Band) or southern rock (Allman Brothers Band, Charlie Daniels Band, Marshall Tucker Band)- not really my kind of music.  Calling your group "The [insert name here] Band" has always struck me as a little uninspired.  Why not just go with your own name.  Do the sidemen in "The Joe Blow Band" feel any more enfranchised than if they were just playing with "Joe Blow?"   It's a known fact that the clock started ticking on Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour's musical partnership as soon as their record company forced them to change from Oister (granted a TERRIBLE name) to The Dwight Twilley Band in 1974.  Seymour felt the name downplayed his contribution and he was absolutely right!

Shane-Champagne Band

There are other exceptions to my "no groups with 'band' in their name" rule like The Chocolate Watchband, Jim Carrol Band, The Greg Kihn Band, Tom Robinson Band and from my hometown of Boston, Shane-Champagne Band.  I first heard them on Boston powerhouse rock station WBCN so they seemed like a BIG deal.  Like most of the Boston groups I loved back then, Shane-Champagne Band were not punk, owing more to Buddy Holly than to The Stooges.  They were a straight up Boston rock and roll band, though granted they seemed more commercial minded than The Real Kids or DMZ. 

It still amazes me to think about it but in 1977 when I was 13 year old I got to see Shane-Champagne Band.... for free.... in Kingston, Mass.  I never found out who was responsible for booking the entertainment for the Class of 1977's prom but they did an amazing thing bringing Shane-Champagne to the Kingsbury Club.  (Despite the name, it's a tennis club and NOT a rock and roll club.)  

Five years later I was to graduate high school inside the steamy environs of the Kingsbury Club when the outdoor ceremony on the Duxbury High School football field was rained out.  By then I could not wait to get the hell out of town but back in eighth grade I was completely enthralled with high school.  Such innocence... such naivete... but come on they had Shane-Champagne Band play their freakin' prom!  

In my 8th Grade home room there was a kid named Mike Klein who sat a row over from me.  We used to talk about music a lot because years earlier he was one of the few people I knew who admitted to liking Kiss.  In 7th Grade Mike was the only person who didn't mock my binder with the painstakingly applied stickers from Kiss' Rock & Roll Over on the front.  (Man what a waste!  Why oh why did I think ANY of my classmates would find that cool?!?) Anyway, one day Mike tells me that his mom is on the high school prom hospitality committee and Shane-Champagne Band was the entertainment.  Not only that, but she needed two volunteers to serve punch that night and did I want to join him!  We wore white button down shirts and black bow ties we bought at the Duxbury 5 and Dime.  Mike's mom gave us red carnation boutonnieres and we were good to go.  

On prom night we got there early to help with setup and got to see the band's sound check which was incredibly cool.  Once the prom started Mike and I were worried about somebody spiking the punch and us getting blamed for it- how were a couple of 8th Graders going to stop anything?  I'm happy to say that while every second person made a joke about spiked punch no one tried, which was a big relief.  Shane-Champagne Band were awesome, they made quite a racquet!  (cuz it's a tennis club, get it... HA!)  Just great rock and roll songs interspersed with the requisite ballads for

slow dancing.  From behind my punch station it looked like a straight up rock show, not a prom.  By 1980 the group had dropped "band" from their name and moved in a more commercial direction.  It seemed like Shane Champagne were trying to jump on The Police's bandwagon as their self-titled 10" EP includes a couple of reggae-pop songs, one of them "Shadow World" which I liked okay and got some airplay on WBCN.  "Money Talks" from tonight's SacroSet comes from this record.

Speaking of money talking, before I close out this post I've got to mention "Angus Bucks."   After several years of ignoring the band, Cousin Rich and I jumped back onto the AC/DC train big time in the late 80's- seeing the band three times on the Blow Up Your Video Tour in 1988 and at least once on The Razor's Edge Tour in 1990.  It's was on the latter tour that during the performance of tonight's Power Pop Peak, "Moneytalks," the skies rained down thousands of Angus Bucks on the crowd.  

Economy unstable?  Try moving to an Angus-based currency!

Unfortunately Cousin Rich and I were not seated on the floor so we missed our chance to get our own Angus Bucks.  The good news is that every copy of the initial release of AC/DC Live (which documents that tour and is an amazing record) included an Angus Buck- so for all you know I got mine at the show.  The funny thing is that on e-bay each Angus Buck now sells for about $6 so they would've made for a solid investment.  This isn't the only example of the Angus Buck's value either.  Check this out from Wikipedia:

"Coinciding with The Razors Edge tour, the Soviet Union disintegrated.  As a token of thanks for his youthful followers, Boris Yeltsin arranged for AC/DC to add Moscow to the tour. The venue had to be relocated numerous times due to high demand, eventually settling on an airfield. Due to the volatile political and economic climate, the Russian ruble was suffering from severe inflation. For an extremely short period of time, Angus Bucks dropped on the crowd had more value than the ruble itself and were actually used for regular monetary transactions."

Don't know if it's true but I WANT to believe!

Download tonight's show below (if the download stops just pause and un-pause)
Hour 1
Hour 2