Blue Ash was formed in Youngstown, Ohio in the summer of 1969 by teenagers Frank Secich (bass) and Jim Kendzor (vocals). Bill Yendrek (guitar) and David Evans (drums) were recruited later that summer. Legend has it that the band members were expelled from high school because of their long hair; they subsequently used their free time to practice. They played their first live performance at “The Freak Out” in Youngstown on October 3, 1969. They gained a loyal following by playing an endless stream of one-nighters over the next year. In October 1970, Bill Yendrek was replaced by guitarist/songwriter Bill “Cupid” Bartolin. Secich and Bartolin would become the band’s main songwriting tandem.
Blue Ash continued playing 250-300 dates a year throughout Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia, while the Secich-Bartolin songwriting team accumulated an enormous amount of original material. In June 1972, Blue Ash signed a production contract with Peppermint Productions of Youngstown and started recording and sending out demos. In late 1972, the band was signed to Mercury Records. Mercury released their debut album, “No More, No Less” on May 2, 1973, and released their debut single, “Abracadabra (Have You Seen Her?)” b/w “Dusty Old Fairgrounds” about two weeks later. This is today’s featured single.
“Abracadabra (Have You Seen Her?)” became Blue Ash’s signature tune and gained significant radio airplay, thus exposing it to a far larger audience than those who scored a copy of the first album, whether in its original pressing or on cassette or CD-R (at least before Collector’s Choice Music reissued the album on CD in 2008). The track has all the earmarks of a great rock anthem, starting off with David Evans’ drum beat, followed by a catchy riff by Bartolin. While Blue Ash is generally considered a power pop band, “Abracadabra” sounds more like hard rock in the tradition of such bands as The Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Regardless, the song screams hit single potential which makes it somewhat disappointing that this single did not chart.
The B-side of the single, “Dusty Old Fairgrounds”, is a Bob Dylan cover that is redone as a 1970s rocker. The evocative lyrics (“Well, it’s all up from Florida at the start of the spring/The trucks and the trailers will be winding/Like a bullet we’ll shoot for the carnival route/We’re following them dusty old fairgrounds a-calling”) are well-complemented by Bartolin’s Hendrix-esque guitar playing. The band runs through the song as if on speed, and the two minutes and 49 seconds of the song pass quickly. “Dusty Old Fairgrounds” is a worthy addition to Blue Ash’s body of work.
The single (catalog # is unknown) was released on Mercury Records in May 1973. “No More, No Less” would sell 19,500 copies of 20,000 copies pressed. That the album didn’t fare better can partially be attributed to the fact that around the time “No More, No Less” was being released, Mercury was also releasing albums by Bachman-Turner Overdrive, the New York Dolls, and Rod Stewart. Mercury decided that their biggest priority was promoting Rod Stewart’s album, with BTO being a close second. The rest would go to the New York Dolls and Blue Ash, and the label apparently decided that a New York-based band was a safer bet for getting a decent return on their investment, and the Blue Ash release got very little promotion. Mercury released two more singles by Blue Ash before dropping them from the label in 1974. That year, David Evans left the band and was replaced by Jeff Rozniata. It would be another three years before they were signed to a label: Playboy Records, a division of Playboy International. They released a single, “Look At You Now” b/w “Singing and Dancing”, in May 1977; the song became a regional hit in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as Pennsylvania and Ohio. As a result, Playboy decided to release a full-length album. Blue Ash’s second album, “Front Page News”, was released in October 1977, and did relatively well, selling about 55,000 copies. With “Front Page News” generating decent sales and “Look At You Now” hitting #1 in some markets, Playboy was going to allocate $25,000 to fund a tour of Texas. Plans for the Texas tour were being solidified when Playboy International pulled the plug on Playboy Records in 1978. The band forged ahead for a time, even expanding to a quintet with the addition of Brian Wingrove on keyboards and recording some new material. But by 1979 they had called it quits, the band slowly fizzling out as band members concentrated on their day jobs instead. The “No More No Less” era lineup of Kendzor, Secich, Bartolin and Evans reunited in 2003, and there was enough interest in the band to bring about the release of “Around Again” (2004), a 2-CD compilation of previously unreleased material. Bartolin died of complications from cancer in on October 3, 2009 (40 years to the day after Blue Ash played their first gig), seemingly putting an end to the latest Blue Ash incarnation.

Them was not only a great rock band in its own right, it was arguably the first rock band from Northern Ireland to make a significant impact on the music scene. Them originated when Van Morrison, formerly of the Golden Eagles, formed an rhythm and blues club at the Maritime Hotel in Belfast with entrepreneurs Jimmy Conlon, Jerry McKenna and Gerry McCurvey. He set about to find a backing band and eventually joined up with a band called The Gamblers that had been formed in 1962 by Ronnie Millings (drums), Billy Harrison (guitar) and Alan Henderson (bass guitar). Eric Wrixon, who was still in school, was recruited as a piano player and keyboardist, while Morrison played saxophone and harmonica and shared lead vocal duties with Harrison. Following the suggestion of Wrixon, the band rechristened itself Them (after a 1954 science fiction movie). The band debuted on April 14, 1964, and within a week people were queuing down the street to get into the two hundred capacity venue. Supposedly their studio work never captured the brilliance of their live performances, as they fed off the energy of the audience. A tape of one of their songs recorded by a fan found its way to Dick Rowe of Decca Records. Rowe had become famous as the man who turned down The Beatles, and eager not to make the same mistake, he rushed to the Maritime Hotel to see them in concert and soon signed Them to a standard two year contract. The minors who were members of the band needed their parents’ permission, and when Eric Wrixon’s parents refused to sign, he was replaced with Patrick McAuley. After an initial single failed to chart (“Don’t Start Crying Now”, released in August 1964), Them’s manager, Phil Solomon, and Dick Rowe hired session musicians Jimmy Page, Peter Bardens, and Bobby Graham to back Morrison on a cover version of Big Joe Williams’ “Baby Please Don’t Go”. The session was recounted in Stephen Davis’s biography of Led Zeppelin, “Hammer Of The Gods”:

The sessions for Them were really uncomfortable for Jimmy, as the four tough Belfast musicians were replaced, one by one, with London session hacks, “The group went in thinking they were going to record,” Jimmy said, “and all of a sudden they find these other people playing on their records. It’s a miracle they didn’t replace Van Morrison. Talk about daggers!”

The single had “Gloria” on the B-side. “Gloria” was a Van Morrison composition that had gained almost legendary status in the band’s live performances, where Morrison would often ad-lib the lyrics, and the song would often run twenty minutes. As one might have already guessed, “Gloria” became the stronger side and the single was even re-released with “Gloria” on the A-side and “Baby Please Don’t Go” on the B-side. And as one might have surmised from the title of this posting, this is the featured single of the day.
“Baby Please Don’t Go” was originally released as a single by Joe Williams’ Washboard Singers in 1935; Williams recorded another version in 1941 and the song has been covered by many artists since then; the most memorable example from recent years is the Aerosmith version from the “Honkin’ On Bobo” album, and AC/DC recorded a version that was included on the “’74 Jailbreak” EP. The original version features Joe Williams on guitar, singing while accompanied by – you guessed it – a washboard (and a violin). The 1935 recording sounds like it was recorded in the stone age, yet Williams and company turn in a spirited performance (I liked the washboard percussion at the end as well). The 1940’s version featured a harmonica (essentially replacing the violin) and a more traditional rhythm section (a bass guitar and drums). The chord progression on the song isn’t overly complex, and in the Them version, the song is driven by the main riff on Page’s lead guitar accompanied by a bass guitar. [One suspects that when Aerosmith recorded their cover version of the tune, they used the Them version, rather than the original version, as a template for their remake.] About 15 seconds into the song, an organ kicks in and not too long after that, drums and percussion. The lyrical content is very simple: it’s about a man begging his significant other not to leave him: Baby please don’t go/Baby please don’t go/Baby please don’t go/Down to New Orleans/You know I love you so/Baby please don’t go”. There is also a very interesting guitar effect about 1 minute and 20 seconds into the song that is difficult to describe; essentially, it sounds as if the guitar is muffled. A harmonica can be heard about 1 minute and 55 seconds into the song, and so much is going on here that until this point, one almost doesn’t notice that there hadn’t been any harmonica. Overall, the song moves along nicely, making it seem even shorted than its 2 minute 38 second length. Although “Gloria” ultimately became the more popular song and the band’s signature tune, the Them recording of “Baby Please Don’t Go” is a great song and it even became the theme music for the ITV music show “Ready Steady Go”.
“Gloria” is yet another of the classic songs covered in this blog that has been written about extensively, and as a result, it is very difficult to do it justice in a brief blog posting such as this. But if Van Morrison and Them can encapsulate teenage lust as well as they did in 2 minutes and 38 seconds, I guess I can try to encapsulate the song in a single paragraph. This is a very simple song: there are only three chords, although there are dynamic changes throughout the song, so that the band gets the most out of this rather simple riff. The song starts with the melody played on electric guitar by Harrison, followed by Morrison’s speak-singing Howlin’ Wolf voice (at the same time that Morrison starts singing, an organ can be heard – in the left channel in the stereo version – in the background, playing the same melody as the lead guitar; this could be either McAuley or perhaps session musician Arthur Greensdale, who was brought in by Rowe): “Like to tell ya about my baby/You know she comes around/She about five feet four/From her head to the ground/You know she comes around here/At just about midnight/She make ya feel so good, Lord/She make ya feel all right”. This is probably, as one critic suggested, one song that is as raunchy as it’s reputation, and in addition, it’s probably one of the best songs to get past the censors. About 1 minute and 20 seconds into the song, the tempo slows down, and the organ becomes more audible, and Morrison’s vocals seem even more desperate than before, as he describes the denouement of his anticipation:” Comes a-walkin’ down my street/When she comes to my house/She knocks upon my door/And then she comes in my room/Yeah, an’ she make me feel alright”. And then of course this gives way to the end of the song, in which the tempo picks up again, and Morrison delivers the last iteration of the famous chorus (“G-L-O-R-I-A!” with the rest of the band chanting “Gloria” in the background). It wouldn’t be doing the song justice if I didn’t also mention the fact that there seems to be two drums on this record – one providing rhythm, and the other one just thumping away. The extra drum may have been dubbed in, or perhaps it is Bobby Graham, also brought in by Rowe. In either case, there seems to be a lot going on in this pop song. “Gloria”, like “Baby Please Don’t Go”, has been covered numerous times (it’s so easy to play that Dave Barry once joked that if you throw a guitar down the stairs, it will play “Gloria”); the Status Quo, The Doors, the Patti Smith Group, and U2 come to mind as far as cover versions go, and AC/DC used the riff as the basis for “’74 Jailbreak”.
This single (catalog #: F12018) came with a picture sleeve – you can see it here as my default pic (as of 4-19-2008). And I happen to think it’s a rather nice sleeve, green and yellow with a picture of the band and track listing. It seems a bit weird that the word BABY appears in a larger font than the words PLEASE DON’T GO, with the word GLORIA appearing in a font size somewhere in between the two extremes; I have no idea why they did that. Interestingly enough, it was issued in the United States by Parrot Records, a division of London Records (Decca Records in the U.S.). After Parrot Records folded in 1973, the single was reissued by London Records. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, that this single currently has the honor of being the oldest single covered in this blog, having been released in November 1964.

This posting does not deal with the usual subject matter of this blog, but I recently finished watching the “Wiseguy Season One Volume One” DVD set, so I thought I’d share my thoughts on it:

Wiseguy First Season Volume One
Mill Creek Entertainment
2 Discs (the box says 4 discs, but I assure you there are only 2)
7 hours 33 minutes
Color
I first encountered “Wiseguy” circa 1990, when CBS starting airing reruns after the cancellation of “The Pat Sajak Show” (1989-1990), and quickly fell in love with the show. I’m not really sure what prompted my initial affinity for the show, although I had been a fan of shows like “Danger Man” (a.k.a. “Secret Agent”) and I liked the idea of the main protagonist fretting over the unpleasant consequences of his own actions. I also liked the idea of multiple episode story “arcs”, which something the show does particularly well. While each episode conceivably could be viewed in isolation, each one containing its own denouement and certain issues resolved within it, most of the episodes are part of a larger arc that are meant to be viewed in sequence.
“Wiseguy” was created by producer Stephen J. Cannell (“The Rockford Files”, “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, “The A-Team”, “21 Jump Street”), whose shows have provided endless hours of escapism. The series followed Vincent Michael “Vinnie” Terranova, an undercover agent for the Organized Crime Bureau (OCB), presumably a fictional division of the FBI, as he infiltrates and brings down various criminal enterprises. Although the scriptwriting is of a high caliber, much of the appeal of the show derives from the cast. By 1987, when the show first aired, Ken Wahl, who starred in the show as Terranova, was a veteran actor best known for his roles in “The Wanderers” (1979) and “Fort Apache: The Bronx” (1981). Jonathan Banks, who played Terranova’s superior, Frank McPike, was probably best known as one of the bad guys in “Beverly Hills Cop”. Jim Byrnes, who plays Daniel “Lifeguard” Burroughs, Terranova’s contact person, did not have any television roles before “Wiseguy”, but later appeared in “Highlander: The Series”.
This budget-priced DVD set covers the first ten episodes of Wiseguy, covering the entire Sonny Steelgrave arc, as Terranova infiltrates the organization of Atlantic City crime boss Salvatore “Sonny” Steelgrave (the late Ray Sharkey).
Other recurring characters introduced in this arc include Elsa Raven as Carlotta Terranova, Vinnie’s mother, and Gerald Anthony as Father Pete Terranova, Vinnie’s older brother. Pete Terranova was killed off at the beginning of the second season; Carlotta Terranova appeared sporadically over the first three seasons. Here’s a synopsis of the episodes (SPOILER ALERT):
1. Pilot (part one): Vinnie Terranova is released from Newark State Penitentiary, where he has just completed an 18-month sentence designed to establish his cover. When his training officer is killed by David Steelgrave (Gianni Russo), Vinnie sets his sights on bringing down the Steelgrave empire. He succeeds in getting himself hired as Sonny Steelgrave’s driver, although Sonny’s right-hand man, Tony Greco (Robert Miranda) and his brother David remain wary of him. He runs afoul of a redneck sheriff, the appropriately-named Lewis Butcher (played by Cannell favorite Jack Ging), who goes about his business in a manner as subtle as a flying mallet. The Steelgraves soon uncover a plot by Norman Winfield to ship guns from their docks without the Steelgraves’ consent. This intransigence costs Winfield his life, but who was his buyer? Part one ends with Terranova being arrested for a hit-and-run incident involving Butcher.
2. Pilot (part two): Terranova locates the buyer of the contaband guns using a motel receipt he found in Winfield’s pocket. This leads to a meeting with the buyer, Renaldo Sykes (Mark Rolston), in which David Steelgrave is shot dead by Sykes’ associate Raya Montenegro (Adriana Baron), while Sonny and Tony Greco are both wounded. Terranova soon realizes that Sykes’ claim that he had already paid $100,000 to have the guns shipped may be true and that Greco, who runs the docks on behalf of Steelgrave, may have pocketed the money without the Steelgraves’ knowledge. In any case, Terranova has the OCB deposit $100,000 in Greco’s bank account. Greco finds out Terranova is a federal agent, but by then Sonny realizes that he is a turncoat and Greco has no choice but to cooperate with the OCB in exchange for enrollment in the Witness Protection Program. A final showdown with Sykes results in the death of both Sykes and Montenegro, although the police arrive, seizing the weapons and arresting Terranova yet again. Soon Terranova is installed as Sonny’s new right-hand man after he apparently helps Sonny kill an FBI agent.
3. New Blood: In the wake of David Steelgrave’s death, Sonny feels the squeeze from both New York City mob boss Paul “Pat the Cat” Patrice (Joe Dallesandro), who forces Steelgrave to allow his accountant Sid Royce (Dennis Lipscomb) to become his business manager, and corpulent Philadelphia mob boss Mack “No Money” Mahoney (Joe Shea). Special prosecutor Anthony Serrera (Vic Polizos) is investigating Steelgrave, and Patrice is behind an attempt to assassinate Serrera, hoping to frame Sonny. Terranova manages to pinpoint a pizzeria which is behind the attempt he and Steelgrave manage to narrowly thwart the plot.
4. The Loose Cannon: Patrice insists that Sonny collect the full 15 percent protection money from local hood Cecil DeMont (Raymond Forchion), which precipitates a war with DeMont and his henchmen. In the meantime, Sonny’s nephew, Lorenzo Steelgrave (David Marchiano) arrives in Atlantic City, but the younger Steelgrave appears to be, as the title implies, a loose cannon. Terranova dates local girl Gina Augustina (Yvette Heyden) who eventually figures out that Vinnie is a federal agent, leading to an exciting climax for this episode.
5. The Birthday Surprise: Terranova investigates the murder of his cousin Danny Tessio (Eddie Pagliaro). Sonny decides to do business with drug smuggler George Zaratzo, against the advice of Patrice and Royce. McPike uses strong-arm tactics to find Danny’s killer, and Sonny’s attempt to smuggle Zaratzo’s drugs into the U.S. via Buffalo is thwarted.
6. One on One: When several attempts to smuggle contraband via the docks are thwarted, Terranova begins to suspect that the local police have an undercover agent inside Steelgrave’s organization. This comes in the form of Karen Leland (Annette Benning), who is having an affair with the married Royce in order to obtain information about Steelgrave’s business. Royce, however, has his own ideas about who the mole is, and has Patrice’s henchmen kidnap McPike, hoping to get him to reveal the identity of the undercover agent. Terranova and Leland arrive at a Patrice-controlled laundromat and free McPike. Leland subsequently disappears and is presumed murdered, with Royce as the prime suspect.
7. Prodigal Son: Terranova’s mother is mugged, leaving her in the hospital. This prompts Vinnie to finally reveal his identity as a federal agent to his mother, against OCB policy. He also finds out that Steelgrave is head of a drug distribution network operating in Patrice’s territory. McPike must decide whether to report Terranova’s violation to his superiors.
8. A Deal’s a Deal: When singer Joey Romanowski has a hit, he wants to renegotiate his contract with Steelgrave, much to Sonny’s chagrin. He instead hires two rogue cops (Dan Lauria, Steve Vinovich) to rough up Joey. They get overzealous and crush his larynx, ending his career. Overzealous does not equal smart, however, and they are the first officers to arrive on the scene of their own mugging. McPike suspects the cops are responsible for the mugging, but they in turn take pictures of Terranova meeting with McPike, which puts Vinnie’s cover in danger.
9. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: Sonny decides to marry Theresa Baglia (Martina Finch), daughter of Bronx mob don “Joey Bags” Baglia. Patrice finally decides to kill Sonny, perceiving him as a dangerous rival, and seeks someone inside Sonny’s organization to help him. Vinnie agrees to help him, but also arranges to have the OCB raid Sonny’s bachelor party 15 minutes before Sonny is to be killed. Sonny learns of the plot and garrotes Patrice in front of a V.I.P. crowd at his bachelor party.
10. No One Gets Out of Here Alive: Sonny decides not to kill Vinnie for his treachery, but realizes Vinnie is a cop and flees his bachelor party minutes before the OCB raids the place. Terranova pursues Sonny and both end up locked in a closed movie theater. After a violent fist fight, the two settle in and wait for the cops to show up. When they do, Sonny electrocutes himself rather than face the death penalty for murdering Patrice. In the meantime, Don Baglia’s son, Aldo Baglia, who presumably would have become Sonny’s new right-hand man, disposes of Patrice’s body and apparently evades the OCB dragnet.
Comments: I picked up this low-budget DVD set for $2.50 at WalMart. Although I was a fan of the show, I hadn’t seen any of these episodes in over 20 years, and I wondered if the show was as good as I remembered it to be. It was. Particularly memorable was the late Ray Sharkey’s performance as mob boss Sonny Steelgrave. He succeeds in taking a murderer and turning him into a likeable character. The supporting cast was also good; Jonathan Banks plays his role as the cantankerous McPike with relish, establishing an unusual on-screen chemistry with Wahl (speaking of which, how many shows have one of their key episodes ending with the hero being arrested by his partner?). Jim Byrnes does not have a lot to do here, although he would have a chance to shine in subsequent episodes. Elsa Raven and Gerald Anthony are worth a mention as his mother and brother respectively; they both provide some depth to the main protagonist and ultimately become fully developed characters in their own right. We also get some good performances by Joe Dallesandro as Patrice and Dennis Lipscomb as the oily Harvard-educated Sid Royce. While I generally abhor violence, many times during the arc I kept wishing Sonny would punch Royce’s lights out (“Go ahead, Sonny – this one’s justified”). And let’s not forget Annette Benning towards the beginning of her career as Karen Leland, and veteran actor Dan Lauria (this may have been another case of Cannell preferring actors that were already in his shows; I think Lauria guested in an episode of Cannell’s “The Greatest American Hero”).
There are several strong episodes here, but the best episode – and the most memorable one – in my opinion was the last episode in the arc, “No One Gets Out of Here Alive”. In this episode, Vinnie and Sonny, locked in a movie theater and waiting the arrival of the Feds, have some riveting dialogue. Sonny, realizing the net is closing, tries to justify his behavior and rails against Vinnie’s betrayal. One of the downsides of the DVD release of this episode is the absence of the Moody Blues’ “Nights in White Satin”, presumably due to copyright issues. The substitution of generic music diminished the scene in which it was used somewhat, but this is still easily the best episode of the arc. This episode also provides a good example of why I like this show: loose ends are rarely left as loose ends without a reason. Aldo Baglia, who we last see burying Patrice, surfaces in a later episode. A wanted felon in the U.S., he flees to Vancouver and has to suffer the indignity of working in a butcher’s shop and staying in a second-class hotel. He discovers Vinnie is also in Vancouver and tries to kill him. (Sid Royce also surfaces in a later episode, having joined the Witness Protection Program and working in Iowa as a shoe salesman under the alias Elvis Prim.)
If you’re looking for extras, this isn’t the set for you. There are no extras, and with 5 episodes on each DVD, the video quality isn’t the greatest. It would have been nice to see interviews with the cast members (especially given the direction which Ken Wahl’s career has taken), which might have provided some insight into the making of the show. Nevertheless, if you just want to see the episodes (the first season is also available on YouTube), and especially if you’re a fan of the show or of this genre, you can’t go wrong.

Brian Eno was born on May 15, 1948 in Woodbridge, Suffolk, and was educated at St. Joseph’s College, Birkfield, Ipswitch; at Ipswitch Art School; and at the Winchester School of Art, graduating in 1969. His professional music career began in the early 1970s as a member of the glam/art rock band Roxy Music (1971-73), initially operating the mixing desk, processing the band’s sound with a VCS3 synthesizer and tape recorders, and singing backing vocals, but eventually appearing onstage as a performing member of the group, often flamboyantly costumed. He quit the band after the promotional tour was completed for their second album, “For Your Pleasure” (1973), due to disagreements with lead singer Bryan Ferry and boredom with the rock star life. Eno embarked on a solo career, initially releasing a series of electronically inflected pop albums: “Here Come the Warm Jets” (1974), “Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)” (1974), “Another Green World” (1975), and “Before and After Science” (1977). He also produced a number of albums of highly eclectic and increasingly ambient electronic and acoustic albums, and is credited with coining the phrase ambient music, low-volume music designed to modify one’s perception of a surrounding environment. His efforts at composing ambient music began to consume more of his time, starting with “Ambient 1/Music for Airports” (1978) and “Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks” (1983). The latter album yielded the single “Silver Morning” b/w “Deep Blue Day”. This is today’s featured single.
The music on “Apollo” was originally recorded in 1983 for a feature length documentary movie originally entitled “Apollo” and later re-titled “For All Mankind”. The original version of the film had no narration, and simply featured footage of the Apollo moon missions accompanied by Eno’s music. The music on the album is thus a sort of ambient spacescape. “Silver Morning” is an instrumental track (as are all the tracks on the album”, in which Daniel Lanois’s pedal steel guitar provides the primary instrumentation, giving the song a warm, melodic, lazy feeling, conveying a sense of weightlessness quite effectively. With the pedal steel guitar, this track sounds not unlike one of the Grateful Dead’s side projects, and is an enjoyable listen.
The B-side of this single, “Deep Blue Day”, was included in the original “Apollo” soundtrack, but left out of the re-release of the film. Although the original version of the film had a limited theatrical run in so-called “art house” movie theaters, audience response was lukewarm. The filmmakers felt that the film could do better if it reached a wider audience, so they re-edited the film, added narration, re-structured the music and re-titled the film. As a result, several songs originally on the soundtrack were not included in the re-released version, including “Deep Blue Day”. Nonetheless, it is a compelling piece of music. In this case, the keyboards provide much of the lush, ethereal musical atmosphere, although Lanois’s pedal steel guitar adds texture to the composition, giving the track just a hint of a country flavor. This music won’t shake you to your foundations, but it is an evocative piece.
This single (catalog #: EGO 12) was issued on EG Records. There was a picture sleeve issued with this single (shown above). “Apollo” was one of two albums Eno would release in 1983; the other was “Music for Films Volume 2” (which contains some material also contained on “Apollo”). His next project was a collaboration with ambient musician Harold Budd entitled “The Pearl” (1984); next came the compilation albums “Benenungen” and “Benenungen II”, both released in 1985, along with his next album of all-new material, “Thursday Afternoon”. He would not release another album for seven years, with production work seemingly dominating his schedule. “Nerve Net” (1992) represented a return to more rock-oriented material, with heavily syncopated rhythms and a touch of jazz, which still retained Eno’s ambient sensibilities.

The Jam formed in Woking, Surrey, U.K. in 1972 with a fluid lineup that consisted of Paul Weller on guitar and vocals together with various friends at the Sheerwater Secondary School. They played their first gigs at Michael’s, a local club. The lineup began to solidify in the mid 1970s with Weller (bass), Bruce Foxton (rhythm guitar), Steve Brookes (guitar) and Rick Buckler (drums). In their early years, their sets consisted of covers of early American rock and roll songs by such artists as Chuck Berry and Little Richard. They continued in this vein until Weller discovered The Who’s “My Generation” and became fascinated by Mod music and lifestyle. Eventually Brookes left the band and was not replaced. Weller persuaded Foxton to take over as bass guitarist, and Weller became the band’s sole guitarist. The Jam soon gained a following around London playing minor gigs. Although they were considered a punk band, in many ways they stood out from their punk peers, wearing neatly-tailored suits and playing professionally. Indeed, they were labeled by many as “revivalists”. They were signed to Polydor Records by Chris Parry in early 1977. In April of that year, Polydor released The Jam’s debut single, “In the City”. In early May, the band released its debut album, also called “In the City”. After their non-album single, “All Around the World”, reached the U.K. Top Ten, the band was pressed by Polydor to record more material. Thus their second album, “This Is the Modern World”, was released in November 1977. The album got mixed reviews; while some critics were not impressed, many hailed it as a progression from the first album, praising the stylistic variety. They followed this up with a non-album single: “News of the World”, released in March 1978. Around this time, Weller was listening to old Kinks albums and the band recorded a cover version of “David Watts” for their next single, which they followed up with “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight”. Their third album, “All Mod Cons”, was released in November 1978. This was followed by two more non-album singles (“Strange Town” and “When You’re Young”), and eventually the “Setting Sons” LP, which became their first album to chart in the U.S. (peaking at #137). The Jam kicked off the 1980s with a double-A side single “Going Underground” b/w “Dreams of Children”. “Sound Affects”, their fourth album, was released later that year, which contained psychedelic pop. The Jam abandoned the psychedelic pop of “Sound Affects” for their next two singles, “Funeral Pyre” and “Absolute Beginners”. Their fifth (and final) album, “The Gift”, contained songs influenced by soul, R&B and funk, including the #1 hit “A Town Called Malice” b/w “Precious”. This is today’s featured single.
“A Town Called Malice” was the beginning of Paul Weller’s obsession with Northern soul, one which would continue when he launched the Style Council in 1983. The song starts off with a Motown-type bass line, soon joined by an thumping percussion, and an organ somewhat reminiscent of the Spencer Davis Group. The instrumentation is soon joined by Weller singing a typical Jam-type working class drama, with a hint of optimism: “Better stop dreaming of the quiet life cos it’s the one we’ll never know/And quit running for that runaway bus cos those rosey days are few/And stop apologising for the things you never done/Time is short and life is cruel but it’s up to us to change this town called malice.” The track chugs along with the economy of a typical pop song, clocking in at a mere 2 minutes and 57 seconds, but even so, there’s a very brief instrumental break about 2 minutes into the song; the organ is featured prominently throughout the track. The result is a song that is derivative, yet bouncy and entertaining, and arguably one of the best singles of 1982. It is certainly one of The Jam’s best singles.

The B-side, “Precious”, is a funky song that epitomizes the move away from the simple three-chord music of the band’s first two albums. Funk bass lines and wah-wah guitar effects featured prominently on “The Gift”, along with jazzy influences such as brass sections and saxophones, and nowhere is this more noticeable than on “Precious”. Weller forgoes the typical social commentary on this track, which is essentially a love song: “Your precious love – that means so much/Will it ever stop or will I just lose touch/What I want to say – but my words just fail/Is that I need it so I can’t help myself/Like a hungry child – I just help myself/And when I’m all full up – I go out to play”. “Precious” is the longest song on “The Gift”, clocking in at 4 minutes and 13 seconds, and this provides an opportunity for an extended (by the standards of early 1980s British pop) instrumental break, which gives the horn section a chance to shine, as the funky-sounding bass chugs along. Then we get one last lyric before the song ends abruptly with Weller’s concluding grunt. Overall it is not as notable a track as “A Town Called Malice” but is definitely better than the typical B-side. The 12-inch version of the single contained an extended version of the track.
The single (catalog #: 2059456) was released on Polydor Records on January 29, 1982. It was issued with a picture sleeve (shown above). It was the band’s third number one single in the U.K., and was number one for three weeks, keeping “Golden Brown” from The Stranglers out of the top spot. EMI, The Stranglers’ record company, objected to the sales of both the 7-inch and 12-inch versions of “A Town Called Malice” being aggregated to calculate sales, claiming that The Jam’s fans were buying both formats. Following a farewell tour of the U.K., Weller disbanded The Jam and went on to form the Style Council. Bruce Foxton released a solo album and joined Stiff Little Fingers in 1990, and remained with them until 2006. Rick Buckler formed a band called Time U.K. and in 1986, he and Foxton released a single under the name Sharp. To date there has been no reunion of The Jam, and Weller has publicly expressed his lack of interest in any kind of reunion. Foxton and Buckler, however, have played together in a band called From The Jam, which plays Jam material.

It’s safe to say that when two of a band’s signature tunes are collected on one 45 RPM record, it’s a prime candidate to become the featured single of the day. Such was the case with a Yes single released in 1972. The band that would eventually become known as Yes was formed by vocalist Jon Anderson and bassist Chris Squire in London, England in 1968. Squire had been in a band called Mabel Greer’s Toyshop with vocalist Clive Bayley, drummer Bill Bruford, and guitarist Peter Banks. Bayley left the band, as did Banks, but Banks returned after only three weeks, and the band added organist/pianist Tony Kaye. Now Anderson, Banks, Squire, Kaye and Bruford were in the lineup, and Banks came up with the name Yes, with the rationale that the three-letter name would stand out on posters. The band soon distinguished itself by taking other people’s songs and turning them into expanded, progressive compositions (e.g. their cover version of The Byrds’ “I See You” from their debut album). Their second album, “Time And A Word” (1970), featured a 30-piece orchestra. Before this album’s release, Peter Banks was fired and replaced by Steve Howe. “The Yes Album” (1971) was the first Yes album to consist entirely of original compositions by the band and the first to be produced by Eddie Offord. After the release of this album, Tony Kaye was either fired or quit; he was replaced by highly-regarded session musician Rick Wakeman. With Wakeman on board, the classic Yes lineup was complete, paving the way for the release of “Fragile” (1972), which spawned today’s featured single: “Roundabout” b/w “Long Distance Runaround”.
“Roundabout” is arguably Yes’s most recognizable song, and it exists in two forms: an 8 minute, 32 second version included on the album, and an edited, 3 minute, 27 second version featured on the single. And the single was rather successful, peaking at number 13 on the Billboard singles chart. “Roundabout” featured all the elements of the classic Yes sound, with longer instrumental passages, firmer bass guitar playing from Chris Squire, and sublime, even abstract lyrics. It opens with an ominous sounding note (sounding like a piano note played backwards) and a classical-sounding acoustic guitar. This section lasts about 40 seconds before launching into the song proper, and for once I can’t say that the song is built around a simple guitar riff – rather, the melody is busy and erratic (and fluid). When the song reaches the first occurrence of the chorus, the wisdom of bringing in Wakeman becomes apparent as his percolating, ethereal keyboard (at times it resembles the sound of a church organ) floats effortlessly above the guitar din. About 4 minutes into the album version, Wakeman gets a chance to shine with a brief keyboard solo. 4 minutes and 55 seconds in, we get a recurrence of the opening melody, with Anderson softly singing the chorus: “In and around the lake/Mountains come out of the sky and they/Stand there”. [Well, mountains don’t come out of the sky, but who can argue with such lyrical flair?] This gives way to yet another distinct passage, with a much lengthier keyboard solo, weaved in between a Steve Howe guitar solo, which in turn leads us to the end of the song, with a rocking version of the chorus followed by the band dreamily singing “Da da da da/Da da da” into the classical guitar strumming the closing melody, bringing us full circle. Even by the lofty standards of 1970’s progressive rock, one has to admit this is a rather elaborate piece.
“Long Distance Runaround”, by comparison, is relatively simple, although there’s a lot going on here as well. As one critic has noted, in the context of the album it initially seems no more significant than any of the shorter pieces on the LP that are sandwiched in between the three epics “Roundabout”, “South Side Of The Sky”, and “Heart Of The Sunrise”, which together account for about two-thirds of the album’s total running time. Perhaps this is why the song was relegated to the B-side of this single. It begins with a guitar and a keyboard playing an upbeat melody in unison, joined shortly by the rhythm section (Squire’s bass once again plays a prominent role). Steve Howe’s guitar incisively cuts through the song’s melody with a remarkable economy – he sounds as if he is racing towards the song’s finish – and Anderson’s vocals are delivered with a dreamy indifference that somehow seems appropriate for the lyrical content (“Cold summer listening/Hot colour melting the anger to stone”). The song is not at all like some of the more ornate pieces in the band’s repertoire; even so, the insistent rhythm of the song was a good indication of the direction the band would eventually take.

Jethro Tull evolved out of a seven-piece white soul group called the John Evan Band (later called the John Evan Smash), in which Ian Anderson, Glen Cornick and John Evan were all members. Based initially in Blackpool, they moved to London to try to obtain more bookings, but short of money, most of the members moved back to Blackpool, leaving behind Anderson and Cornick. They joined forces with blues guitarist Mick Abrahams and his friend, drummer Clive Bunker. The band had trouble getting repeat bookings, and resorted to changing their names in order to continue playing the London club circuit; a member of the staff of their booking agent supplied the name Jethro Tull and it stuck because that happened to be the name they were using when a club owner liked them enough to book them a second time. Soon they were signed to Chrysalis Records (a subsidiary of Island Records), and their first album “This Was”, was released in 1968. Shortly after the release of this LP, Mick Abrahams left the band. Future Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi briefly filled in for Abrahams, but soon the band had found a more permanent replacement: Martin Barre. The second album, “Stand Up” (1969), became the band’s only number one album in the U.K. and branched out further from the blues than the first album, establishing Jethro Tull as a progressive rock band. The band added John Evan as a keyboardist and recorded their third album, “Benefit” (1970). Today’s featured single, “The Witch’s Promise” b/w “Teacher”, was released as a stand-alone single in 1969, and “The Witch’s Promise” did not initially appear on “Benefit” (although it did later appear on a CD release of the album), but “Teacher” did, although the version on the single is a completely different take, arrangement and mix than the version on the album.
“The Witch’s Promise” continues the band’s move away from the blues, and the track can perhaps best be described as folk music. Ian Anderson’s flute and acoustic guitar open the song, and overall the song has a rather muted feel to it. The percussion is very light, and the keyboards are present, but clearly in the background. The rhythm section is hardly there at all, and the track is clearly driven by the acoustic guitar and the flute (the flute plays an especially prominent role in the beginning and end of the song). The lyrics give the song even more of a pastoral feel: Lend me your ear while I call you a fool/You were kissed by a witch one night in the wood/And later insisted your feelings were true/The witch’s promise was coming/Believing he listened while laughing you flew”. The lyrics seem to refer to three distinct entities: the person addressed in the second person (“You were kissed by a witch”), the witch, and a third person, referred to only as “he” or “him”. The person to which the song is addressed, one assumes, is a woman who falsely told a man (the “he” of the song) that she loved him; the singer warns her that what goes around comes around and he will ultimately leave her (“don’t you wait up for him; he’s going to be late”. At least that’s my interpretation of the song. The rhyme structure of the song seems to be: ABACA, with the first, third and fifth lines rhyming most of the time, but not always.

.”]“Teacher” is more standard fare for Jethro Tull, if such a thing exists. It starts off with a simple riff which nonetheless gives the band a solid foundation on which to build their sound. Bunker has much more to do here on the drum track. On the single version, Anderson’s flute is not heard (nor is the organ); instead, the guitar parts are more prominent. The “lesson” of the “teacher” referred to in the lyrics is not a sublime revelation, but I suppose it’s still a useful one: “Jump up, look around/Find yourself some fun/No sense in sitting there hating everyone/No man’s an island and his castle isn’t home/The nest is full of nothing when the bird has flown.” What’s great is that apparently the teacher is hipper than his student: “So I took a journey/Threw my world into the sea/With me went the teacher/Who found fun instead of me” – something to which someone as decidedly un-hip as me can relate. The song is definitely less restrained than “The Witch’s Promise” while still sounding rather folk-like and not at all resembling the proto-metal they would release in their salad days in the 1970’s. It’s still a very solid song – I like the lead guitar work particularly – and at least in the United States, this song is much more recognizable than “The Witch’s Promise”, as it has received much airplay on FM radio. [This might not be true in the U.K., where “The Witch’s Promise” single peaked at #4.] In addition, it can easily be argued that “Teacher” is the better song (it’s more accessible to someone who isn’t a die-hard Jethro Tull fan anyhow, at least in my opinion), and thus this might even qualify as a true double-A side.
This single (catalog #: WIP 6077) did in fact have a picture sleeve. It’s my new default pic, in fact (as of 4-18-2008). And it’s a pretty nice picture sleeve, in my opinion, with the red tint. The label was a green Chrysalis label (with the Chrysalis logo with the butterfly at the bottom and the song title at the top). I’m not sure if this was the standard label for U.K. releases. The single was produced by Terry Ellis and Ian Anderson.

External links:
Jethro Tull performing The Witch’s Promise in 1970

Genesis was formed in 1967 when Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks were students at Charterhouse School in Godalming. The original lineup consisted of Peter Gabriel (vocals), Anthony Phillips (guitar), Tony Banks (keyboards), Mike Rutherford (bass and guitar), and Chris Stewart (drums). The band (minus Stewart) was conceived of as merely a songwriting partnership, but they took to performing when they could not find anyone willing to perform their material. The band was signed to Decca Records in 1968 by Charterhouse alumnus Jonathan King. They released two unsuccessful singles in 1968, at a time when the band’s output consisted of psychedelic pop similar to the early Bee Gees and other bands of the era. After the first single, “The Silent Sun” b/w “That’s Me” was released, Chris Stewart left the band and was replaced by John Silver. In spite of the lack of success of the early singles, Decca opted to release an album by the band, recorded in August 1968 when the band was still in school (but on a school holiday). The resulting album, “From Genesis to Revelation” (1969), also did poorly on initial release. Silver was replaced by John Mayhew before recording began on the next album, “Trespass” (1970), which was also the band’s debut album on Charisma Records (with ABC/Impulse as the original U.S. distributor) and saw the band recording longer compositions and moving away from their psychedelic roots towards progressive rock. The album reached #1 in Belgium. Ill health and recurring stage fright caused Phillips to leave the band in the summer of 1970, causing the band to doubt whether it could continue. The band decided to forge ahead, replacing Mayhew with Phil Collins and Phillips with Steve Barnard. The tenure of Barnard was short-lived, and he was replaced by Steve Hackett in January 1971.
The band’s next album, “Nursery Cryme” (1971), was not a hit on its initial release in the U.K. and U.S., but was an unexpected hit in Italy, where it reached #4 and helped spur Genesis’s European success. “Foxtrot” (1972) became the band’s first album to reach the U.K. Top 20 and was a hit in several European countries, although it did not chart in the United States, where the band still failed to achieve the popularity that some of their progressive rock contemporaries held in the States such as Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd. They released “Genesis Live” (1973) as their first live album, and reached the Top 10 in the U.K. for the first time. “Selling England by the Pound” (1973) became their highest-charting album up to that point in both the U.K. (#3) and the U.S. (#70), and also contained their first charting single in the U.K., “I Know What I Like” (#17). This was followed by the ambitious double album “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” (1974), another successful LP that would turn out to be Gabriel’s last album with the band. It also spawned the single “The Carpet Crawlers” b/w “The Waiting Room (Evil Jam)”, which is today’s featured single.
The concept album “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” is about a Puerto Rican juvenile delinquent named Rael living in New York City, who is swept underground to face bizarre creatures and nightmarish dangers to rescue his brother John. In this portion of the Lamb story, Rael finds himself in a red carpeted corridor, filled with kneeling people that are slowly crawling towards a red door at the end of the corridor (“The crawlers cover the floor in the red ochre corridor/For my second sight of people, they’ve more lifeblood than before/They’re moving in time to a heavy wooden door/Where the needles eye is winking, closing in on the poor”). The only way out is through the next chamber (hence, the chorus of “[w]e’ve gotta get in to get out”). Rael is able to move about freely, so he dashes past them towards the door and goes through it. Beyond the door is a table with a candle-lit feast of food on it, and beyond that, a spiral staircase that leads upwards and out of sight. This song is one of the most memorable of the Peter Gabriel era – he uses his lowest register here – and it became a minor hit as well as a fan favorite. A new version of the song was recorded in 1999, which reunited all five members from the classic Genesis era.
The B-side of this single, “Waiting Room (Evil Jam)”, is a live version of a song originally included on “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway”. An eerie-sounding instrumental, “Waiting Room” represents the point in “Lamb” at which the album’s protagonist, Rael, has been left alone in a cavern by his guide, Lilywhite Lilith. A mysterious bright light comes up in the tunnel to the left of him, so intensely that it blinds him. In desperation, he hurls a stone towards the light, and the light fades just enough so that he can see again, and he catches sight of two mysterious globes before the cave collapses on him. The song is unique because it is something Genesis had never attempted up to this point and would never attempt again: a free-form improvisational jam. In the first part of the song, all musicians produce random, scary sounds. A keyboard cue signals the end of the first part and the main riff emerges from the cacophony of sound, signaling the beginning of the second part of the song – a melodic, up-tempo section. Heard in isolation, the track loses some of its potency, but “Waiting Room” complements the storyline well.
The single (catalog #: CB 251) was issued on Charisma Records in April 1975. I do not know if a picture sleeve was issued with this single, although the Portuguese release did have one (shown above). With Gabriel departing the band in 1975, the band decided to continue as a quartet, with Phil Collins taking over lead vocal duties. Genesis released “A Trick of the Tail” (1976) and “Wind and Wuthering” (1976), and the “Seconds Out” (1977) live album. This was Steve Hackett’s last album with the band, with Rutherford taking on guitar duties in the studio. The next album, “…And Then There Were Three” (1978), was the band’s first U.S. Platinum-certified album, and marked the beginning of their move away from progressive rock towards a more commercial sound. It yielded their first U.S. radio hit as well, “Follow You Follow Me”. After spending most of 1979 on hiatus, Genesis returned in 1980 with “Duke”, their most commercial album to date, and an album which contained the hits “Misunderstanding” and “Turn it on Again”. This album was followed by “Abacab” (1981), an album that featured Collins’ gated reverb drum sound, and “Three Sides Live” (1982), a live album which contained one side of studio tracks. The self-titled “Genesis” (1983) continued the trend of radio-friendly albums and contained the hits “Mama”, “That’s All”, and “Home by the Sea”. The band reached the pinnacle of their commercial success with “Invisible Touch” (1986), and returned five years later with “We Can’t Dance” (1991). When Collins left the band in 1996, Banks and Rutherford opted to continue, appointing ex-Stiltskin singer Ray Wilson as their new lead singer. The resulting album, “Calling All Stations” (1997) sold well in Europe, but did not fare as well in America, leading to the cancellation of a planned American tour, the dismissal of Wilson and the beginning of an extended hiatus for the band.

Pink Floyd had its genesis in an earlier band called Tea Set featuring guitarists Rado “Bob” Klose and Roger Waters, drummer Nick Mason, and wind instrument player Rick Wright. All four had been in a band called Sigma 6 which had since broken up. Tea Set added guitarist/vocalist Syd Barrett (Roger Waters switched over to bass guitar), and the band was rechristened Pink Floyd (or The Pink Floyd), an amalgam of the names of blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. Klose left the band, leaving Pink Floyd as a quartet. Barrett started writing his own material, influenced by both British and American psychedelic music, but incorporating his own whimsical humor. Pink Floyd became a favorite in the underground movement, and in October 1966, they formed a six-way partnership with managers Peter Jenner and Andrew King. This led to a contract with EMI and the release of their first single, “Arnold Layne”, in March 1967. “Arnold Layne” reached #20 on the UK singles chart and the follow-up, “See Emily Play”, reached #6. This led to their first full-length LP, “The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn”, released in August 1967. It was a commercial hit in the U.K., reaching #6 on the album charts, and was a critical success as well, with many critics recognizing it is a prime example of British psychedelia, second perhaps only to The Beatles’ “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. While the band was still working on a second LP, they released a third single, “Apples and Oranges” b/w “Paint Box”, in November 1967. This is today’s featured single.
The A-side, “Apples and Oranges”, was written by Syd Barrett and provides a prime example of Barrett’s pop psychedelia at its finest. It opens with a slightly distorted guitar, augmented by a wah-wah pedal. Soon we are introduced to Barrett’s vivid lyrical imagery: “Got a flip-top pack of cigarettes in her pocket/Feeling good at the top/Shopping in sharp shoes/Walking in the sunshine town feeling very cool/But the butchers and the bakers in the supermarket stores/Getting everything she wants from the supermarket stores”. And then we find out about a girl that Barrett saw walking around town in Richmond. The chord arrangement is relatively simple, relying heavily on G, which is probably the most oft-repeated chord here. The song fades out with a music box-like melody repeated, giving way to a wail of guitar feedback. Although “Apples and Oranges” failed to make the charts in either the U.K. or U.S. (in the latter country, it was released on Capitol subsidiary Tower Records), it is a memorable piece of psychedelic whimsy. Although the song was initially not intended for inclusion on an album (its first appearance on an album was on the compilation LP “The Best of Pink Floyd/Masters of Rock”, released in 1970), both tracks on the single were mixed in stereo, although the single was released in mono (the “Masters of Rock” LP represented the first appearance of the stereo version).
The B-side of this single, “Paint Box”, was written by Richard Wright, and the song features a minor key melody that prominently features E minor ninth and E added ninth chords. The song is played in the key of G and has a more complex chord arrangement that “Apples and Oranges”. The song is notable for its anti-social lyrics (also sung by Richard Wright): “Last night I had too much to drink/Sitting in a club with so many fools/Playing to rules/Trying to impress/But feeling rather empty/I had another drink”. The song also features some rather extended drum fills from Nick Mason. As the lyrics end, a piano solo begins, which lasts through the song’s fade-out. Listening to the song, this music listener is a little disappointed that Wright didn’t compose more songs, either for the Pink Floyd canon or as a solo artist. Still, “Paint Box” is a testimony to his capabilities in crafting rather ponderous music. This song can also be found on the “Masters of Rock” LP, as well as the “Relics” (1971) compilation of early Pink Floyd material.
The single (catalog #: DB 8310) was issued on November 18, 1967; it

was issued with a picture sleeve (shown above). This was the last single released during Syd Barrett’s tenure with the band. But the stress of life on the road, pressure to write new singles, and almost constant use of LSD began to take their toll on Syd Barrett, who became unpredictable both during concerts, where he would often strum the same chord over and over or simply stare into space, and during rehearsals. Since Barrett wrote most of the bands material, his breakdown could have been the end of the band, but the other band members decided to bring in David Gilmour to take Barrett’s place during concerts, with the hope that Barrett would continue to write for the band. When it became apparent that Barrett was unable to continue even in this capacity, his departure from the band was finalized, and the six-way partnership was dissolved. This left Pink Floyd without the support of Jenner and King, who decided to manage Barrett’s solo career, but determined to forge ahead with Gilmour. Their next single, “It Would Be So Nice”, released in March 1968, featured David Gilmour on guitar in place of Barrett. What followed was a gradual shedding of the band’s psychedelic sound as the band became more polished and collaborative. By the time “Meddle” (1971), their fifth album was released, they had evolved into a progressive rock band. Their seventh studio album was their massive U.S. breakthrough “Dark Side Of The Moon” (1973), which was their first U.S. #1 LP, and would remain on the U.S. Billboard album chart until 1988, establishing a world record. The album was the beginning of the band’s salad days, which would culminate in the release of “The Wall” (1979). The recording sessions for this album saw acrimony between band members – especially between Waters and Wright – reaching a new high, and Wright quit during the recording of “The Wall”. Nevertheless, he was employed for “The Wall” tour as a paid musician (and in fact was reportedly the only band member to profit from the venture, which lost about $600,000). The next album, “The Final Cut” (1983), was recorded by the trio of Waters, Gilmour and Mason, with the assistance of studio musicians; the album, which received mixed reviews, was viewed by some critics as essentially a Waters solo album. There was no supporting tour and in the aftermath of its release, Waters and Gilmour had a falling out, with both musicians working on solo albums: Gilmour released “About Face” (1984) and Waters released “The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking” (1984). Amid an ongoing dispute between Gilmour and Waters over legal ownership of the Pink Floyd name, the next Floyd album was released, “A Momentary Lapse of Reason” (1987), with Gilmour and Mason the only official members of the band (Richard Wright was employed as a paid musician for the album, but his contributions were minimal). Wright’s contributions were more substantial, however, on “The Division Bell” (1994) were more substantial. “The Division Bell” remains the band’s last studio album, although the live double CD “Pulse” was released the following year. In spite of the acrimony between band members, the “classic” lineup of Waters, Gilmour, Wright and Mason reunited for Live 8 in 2005. Richard Wright died of cancer in September 2008.

The dBs were the brainchild of Chris Stamey, who played bass with Alex Chilton (the Box Tops, Big Star) in 1977. After the breakup of the the Sneakers, a band Stamey co-founded with Mitch Easter, Stamey (guitar, vocals, keyboards) recruited former Sneaker members Gene Holder (bass) and Will Rigby (drums) for the dBs. They released their debut single, “(I Thought) You Wanted to Know” b/w “If and When”, credited to “Chris Starney and the dBs”. This is today’s featured single.
“(I Thought) You Wanted to Know” starts with a drum beat, followed by a catchy riff, joined by Stamey’s vocals about 20 seconds into the track: “I want to know what it is that we’re looking for/You say to me in a voice that’s both soft and sore/I’ve got the key, it’s just that I don’t think anymore/I am in the air, I don’t have a care”. Stamey evokes comparisons to Chris Bell here (while the bouncy melody, in this listener’s opinion, evokes comparisons to contemporaries such as The Rubinoos), and this song is a solid slab of power pop, a worthy addition to any collection of 1970s pop. This song was written by Richard Lloyd of Television; the dBs thus provide a link not only between the power pop/jangle pop bands of the 1970s and those of 1980s, but also between the latter and the 1970s punk movement. From the opening to the soaring, ethereal fade-out 3 minutes and 16 seconds later, this is one of the more memorable debut singles of this era.
The B-side, “If and When”, has more of a garage-rock feel to it, with a gritty-sounding guitar pounding out a catchy melody punctuated by Rigby’s solid drumming. The lyrics are as abstract as they are on the A-side, if somewhat more vexing: “If and when you come/I will see you there/I submerge your face/Blood all in your hair/I’ll be true and I won’t know/If and when you come/I’ll go slow”. We get a very cool-sounding guitar solo (albeit brief) 1 minute and 11 seconds into the track, followed by one last verse, and the song closes with Stamey’s vocals reaching a fever pitch with the lyric “I’ll be hot” (for the most part, Stamey would abandon his yelp in later releases) repeated several times preceding a wail of guitar feedback that brings the track to a screeching halt. One has to assume that the fact that the band chose two very different songs for this single has some significance, and the dBs show an amazing degree of range and depth that belies their status as a newly-formed band.

This single (catalog #: CRR 7) was released on Stamey’s Car Records imprint, a short-lived label that nonetheless released a few interesting records, including Chris Bell’s only solo single, “I Am the Cosmos”, and a Peter Holsapple maxi-single. There was a picture sleeve (shown above). In October 1978, Peter Holsapple (guitar, vocals) joined the band. The dBs were unable to secure a deal with an American label, so they signed with U.K.-based Albion Records, who released their debut album, “Stands for Decibels” (1981). The album received critical acclaim but achieved negligible sales. Their second album, “Repercussion” (1982), built on the strengths of the first and contained such singles as “Judy”. Stamey left the band after the second album and pursued a career as a solo artist and producer. The band finally landed a deal with an American label (Bearsville Records), but the release of their third album, “Like This” (1984) was delayed due to distribution woes. Rick Wagner, who played keyboards on “Like This”, joined the band on bass, and Gene Holder took over lead guitar duties. Peter Holsapple became the lead singer. After Bearsville Records went out of business, the band signed with I.R.S. Records, who released their next album, “The Sound of Music” (1987), on which Jeff Beninato played bass. The band subsequently broke up, although two CDs were released posthumously: “Ride the Wild Tom-Tom” (1993), consisting of early demos, recordings and singles, and “Paris Avenue” (1994), which consists of demos recorded in the band’s waning days. The band reunited in 2005, and began work on a new album. They recorded a version of “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” to benefit the New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund. They played two shows in Chicago and two shows in Hoboken, New Jersey that year. In early 2007 they played at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City and at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina. Work on the new album continues as time permits.