New Wave for the New Week #115

I hate it when I discover too late that a band I would really love to see live is playing within traveling distance, and I can't go because I already have other commitments.  Such is the case this coming Tuesday night, March 15th, when one of my favorite venues in Baltimore, MD, The Ottobar, will play host to one of the all-time great Punk bands, The Adicts.  It's as close as they'll be to Lancaster, PA, and I'm going to miss them! Gah! Much gnashing of teeth and shaking of my fist at Fate!

If you aren't familiar with The Adicts, let's correct that immediately!  Their brand of Punk Rock was fun and catchy without being too goofy or cartoony.  Their Clockwork Orange Droog look and lead singer Keith "Monkey" Warren's whitefaced joker makeup gave them an instant identity apart from their black-leather-spikes-and-mohawks brethren, and while they certainly were never averse to tackling the same socio-political issues other UK Punks spat their anger towards ("Mary Whitehouse," "Viva La Revolution"), their lyrical themes could at times come out of left field ("Chinese Takeaway," "Joker In The Pack," "Shake Rattle Bang Your Head")

Their 1981 debut album, Songs Of Praise, and its follow-up a year later, Sound Of Music, remain the albums to have, but this is a band who never stopped and are still releasing music 30 years later (2009 saw their 10th album, Life Goes On, hit the shelves - still with essentially the same lineup as that which recorded Songs Of Praise!)  All of their material remains in print and easily available, and there have been innumerable greatest hits and singles collections over the years.  You can jump in just about anywhere without going wrong!

From the start, The Adicts were popular enough to regularly visit the British Indie charts and make numerous television appearances - which caused great consternation for the always stodgy BBC, who did not particularly care for the band's name.  To appease the network, the band briefly adjusted their moniker to "ADX," but by the time their third album, Smart Alex, was released in 1985, they dropped that affectation.  Fifth Overture appeared a year later, and was a somewhat moodier affair than their previous recordings (Goth queen Siouxsie Sioux makes a guest appearance here!), but gloominess aside, it's a great record that had been out of print for many years before seeing CD reissue. 

The Adicts devoted the next few years to touring and recharging their batteries, resurfacing in 1990 with the live Rockers Into Orbit, which saw a nearly full return to form with several classics being energetically played before an enthusiastic crowd.  Another live record followed, 1993's Live And Loud (which was paired with a live album by the band Vice Squad in its CD format).  That same year also saw their first new material in seven years, Twenty-Seven, which calmed any doubters as to whether Monkey and the boys still had it in them.

After taking a few years off, The Adicts were back in 2002 with Rise And Shine, an album that at first caught fans a bit off-guard, but soon grew to become a favorite among the band's catalog. 2004's Rollercoaster followed in suit, and a whole new generation of fans had come to appreciate the band. They continuing touring and recording today, playing to fans both young and old.

If you are in or near Baltimore this Tuesday, do yourself a favor and go see them.  And while you're there, spare a thought for me who wishes he were there as well!  Meantime, here are two classics from The Adicts: "Viva La Revolution" and, after a brief spoken bit at the start of the second clip, the simply outstanding "Joker In The Pack." Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

Hour lost. Sleep deficit increased. Grumblegrumblegrumble.....

New Wave for the New Week #114

While most Punk and New Wave Bands were harking back to the garage bands of the mid-sixties, one of the more interesting groups of the era chose instead to meld the the skinny-tie sound onto a framework of 1950s pop and R&B.  Formed in Vancouver in 1977, Doug & The Slugs created a sound that was unique and quirky, yet undeniably catchy.

Singer/songwriter Doug Bennett quit his day job as a graphic designer and put together a combo of like-minded musicians (guitarists Richard Baker and John Burton, keyboardist Simon Kendall, bassist Steve Bosley and drummer John "Wally" Watson), and began playing the Canadian club scene.  Their shows quickly became popular events, with the band often inviting fans to show up dressed in themed costumes - secret agents one night, clowns the next, etc. - with the band doing the same. With their high-energy good-time sound, the live events were more party than concert, and Canadian record labels began to notice.

The band did not want to lose their creative control, however, and at first opted to form their own label, Ritdong Records.  Ritdong released the first Doug & The Slugs single, "Too Bad," in late 1979.  Containing one of the greatest you-cheated-and-I-found-out choruses of all time ("Too bad that you had to get caught/That's not like you to lose face/So sad that you're not as smart/As you thought you were in the first place") and featuring Bennett's signature everyman vocals, it quickly became a local hit.  Seeing the potential for national and international success, the band cut a deal with RCA to act as the distributor for Ritdong, and quickly issued their debut album, Cognac And Bologna.

With a rerecorded "Too Bad" issued as the lead single and eventually winning a Juno Award as 1981 Single of the Year, Cognac And Bologna swiftly reached the lower rungs of the Canadian Top 40 Albums Chart.  Follow-up singles "Chinatown Calculation" and "Drifting Away" fell a bit short of the success "Too Bad" had seen, but kept the band afloat until 1981's Wrap It.

Wrap It leaned a little more obviously toward the New Wave and showed a band getting better at what they do.  The main single, a surprisingly successful mix of '50s doo-wop and '80s ska/2-tone rhythms called "Real Enough," came close to competing with "Too Bad" as the band's finest moment and kept the party atmosphere rolling, and Wrap It sold even better than Cognac And Bologna across Canada.

1983 saw their best-selling Canadian release, Music For The Hard  Of Thinking, and its concurrent single "Making It Work."  But Doug & The Slugs had yet to break outside of the Great White North, despite receiving rave critical reviews and some MTV airplay.  RCA dropped the band, who were quickly picked up by A&M.  Two more albums followed, Popaganda (1984) and Tomcat Prowl (1988), but neither had the impact of the earlier material.  Their debut single, "Too Bad," would see renewed interest in 1999 when it was used as the theme song for comedian Norm MacDonald's short-lived sitcom The Norm Show.

Doug & The Slugs never really ceased to exist, although Bennett did release some solo material along the way.  While they never did see much success outside of Canadian borders, they continued to be a popular live band with a strong following.  Sadly, Doug Bennett passed away in 2004.  Shortly thereafter, an excellent "greatest hits" package, Slugcology 101: A Decade Of Doug & The Slugs appeared, neatly gathering just about every must-hear track from this wonderful band.  After some consideration, the band decided to continue on under the Doug & The Slugs moniker, bringing on singer Ted Okos not to replace Doug Bennett, but to celebrate their late frontman.  They continue to play live shows today.

Please enjoy the clips for Doug & The Slugs' two most wonderful songs, "Too Bad" and "Real Enough":

Six Word Sunday

Occasionally, rainy days are beautiful things.

As Yet Untitled

Faintly, off in the distance, I hear her voice. Closer now, nearer, louder, her voice is dripping honey sweet melodic; now a breathy whisper, more breeze against my ear than actual sound; now normal, mundane: "How was your day?"

I try to answer her but the words will not come, which is just as well because she isn't there. Defeated, I take a bite of my roast beef sandwich, hot tender juicy wonderful, au jus runs down the side of my chin as the horseradish kicks in blazing hot eye-tearing but delicious as flames lap at the tongue. She's not eating her sandwich - it's too hot for her. She asks the bartender for banana peppers instead, and he produces a bright yellow bunch of bananas from behind his back, which he hands to her amid much applause.

Now he produces a bunch of flowers from behind his back as well, and I can feel the jealousy brewing in the pit of my stomach as she accepts them, the applause growing louder. She gets ready to step into the box to be sawed in half. Knowing that this is not going to be an illusion but an actual dissection, I turn away; I cannot watch. I run toward the door hearing blood-curdling shrieks being drowned out by ever growing applause.

The door is chained shut, heavy metal rusted and unbudgeable. "That door ain't been open in thirty years..." mutters an old timer on a nearby bench. I sigh heavy and turn my collar up against the wind, and head down the street. It's dark, lonely, cold, empty, but ahead there is a light - a house. I know I must get there quickly, but my legs disobey my commands to move faster. They are heavy leaden tired, but I persevere.

As I make my way up the walk, I see a silhouette peer through the blinds. I rush towards the door which swings open by itself. "Took you long enough," she says, laughing. "They're out back prepping the bonfire." As we walk through the house to the back door, the buzzing of a chainsaw gets louder and louder, cacophony, din, until finally I awake with a start, hit the snooze button, and go back to sleep.

New Wave for the New Week #113

Time for another New Wave footnote that is deserving of far greater attention.  This time around, we celebrate a fantastic skinny-tie power-pop trio from Staten Island who called themselves Dirty Looks.

Having each been veterans of the New York bar band scene, neither Patrick Barnes (guitars/vocals), Peter Parker (drums), nor Marco Sin (bass) were unfamiliar with toiling away in seedy clubs playing in front of drunken crowds when they began hitting the stage at CBGB's as Dirty Looks in late 1979. It seemed that luck was on their side this time around, however: those early sets resulted in almost instant interest from Stiff Records, and within two months of their first gig, they found themselves in the studio recording their first LP.

That self-titled debut was released in 1980, and remains one of the great hidden gems of the era.  Solid, punchy songs with clever lyrics and just enough attitude made the album a critical success, but the single "Let Go" didn't catch on as Stiff (and particularly their American distributors, Epic) had hoped.

The following year brought about both a second album and, thanks to Epic's woefully misguided meddling, the beginning of the end of the band.  The band recorded Turn It Up in early 1981, submitted it to the label, and went out on tour.  Epic decided they didn't like the record - too edgy, needed to be more polished and mainstream, they said - and asked Stiff to remix the recordings.  Stiff brought in Elvis Costello's production team to clean it up, but Epic still didn't like the result, and refused to release the LP in the US.  The revised version did hit the shelves in the UK, and it was only upon hearing the released version that the band became aware of Epic's 'help.'  Epic withdrew all support for the LP and the tour, leaving Dirty Looks high and dry, and understandably discouraged.

The final straw, though, came later that same year when Island Records offered them a chance to record some demo material for a proposed third record.  Island President Chris Blackwell decided he didn't care for Patrick's voice, and told the band they should do an album of instrumentals.  Without a label, the band trudged on, but when their manager died of a heart attack in 1984, Patrick Barnes dissolved the band and quit the music business for good.  Dirty Looks soon became a forgotten band, suffering a final indignity when a late-80s hair metal band swiped their name.  Nowadays, if you do a Google search on the band, you find a ton about that metal group but almost nothing on the original Staten Island power trio, sadly.

Both albums fell out of print over the years, but both can be had for cheap on a handy CD released about five years ago.  Well worth the price of admission, if only to have that wonderful first record.  For your listening pleasure, here are two audio clips from Dirty Looks: first, my personal favorite of their songs, the 'you-just-don't-dig-our-scene' anthem "You're Too Old," and then the shoulda-been hit single "Let Go." Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

Still not writing as I'd hoped...

New Wave for the New Week #112

"[Their debut album is] the equal of the first Sex Pistols or Clash LP, a hasty statement that captures an exciting time," crowed Trouser Press.  "[They] captured the spirit of the times few contemporaries could match," declared Colin Larkin in The Guinness Book of Top 1000 Albums. Dave Thompson, in his book Alternative Rock, asserts that they "[spat] out a failsafe succession of songs which still delineate punk’s hopes, aspirations and, ultimately, regrets."

Pretty heady praise for a bunch of kids from Bideford who gave us only two albums in a brief three-year career, but The Adverts more than lived up to such hype.  The eventually married couple of TV Smith (vocals) and Gaye Advert (bass) formed the core of the group, creating both a sound and a visual that is today more associated with memories of UK Punk style than anything The Pistols or The Clash left behind.  (Check TV Smith in plastic shades and pinned-up jacket lurching about in the first clip below; Thompson accurately noted that Gaye Advert's "panda-eye make-up and omnipresent leather jacket defined the face of female punkdom until well into the next decade.") With the addition of guitarist Howard Pickup and drummer Laurie Driver, The Adverts dove right into the epicenter of the UK scene, The Roxy, opening for Generation X in January of 1977.

They were immediately well received, and would play The Roxy regularly during that year, quickly being signed by Stiff Records thanks to having a patron in Brian James of The Damned.  Their first single, "One Chord Wonders," appeared in the spring of 1977, followed a few months later by their first UK Top 40 hit, the sneeringly clever "Gary Gilmore's Eyes," about a man who awakes from surgery to discover the serial killer's eyes have been transplanted into his skull.  (In reality, Gilmore actually did have his eyes and other organs donated after his execution, and several people did benefit.  Gilmore's is a fascinating if unsettling tale.  Go read Norman Mailer's account of Gilmore's life, crimes and psychosis, The Executioner's Song, for more.)

Despite its success, that single was not included on the original pressings of The Advert's debut album, Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts, which landed in stores in early 1978.  The album didn't need that hit single to carry it; it stood quite well on its own, thank you, with classics like "Bored Teenagers," "No Time To Be 21," "Safety In Numbers," and "Great British Mistake" making it an absolute must-own. If you don't know these songs by heart already, you won't pass Punk Rock 101 until you do.

Over the next year or so, The Adverts toured heavily.  Driver, unfortunately, contracted hepatitis, and was eventually replaced by Rod Latler; keyboardist Tim Cross was also added to the band at this time.  TV Smith was evolving as a songwriter, and The Adverts' sound was maturing.  When their second album, Cast Of Thousands, was released in 1979, it was met with some disappointment by fans who still wanted the raw power of the first album.  The sneer was not completely gone, mind you, but it was buried a little bit further back in the mix.  Taken on its own, it is a fantastic record with more outstanding tunes: "Television's Over," "Cast Of Thousands" and the eponymous "The Adverts" are all strong enough to stand alongside anything from the first record.  But poor press and poor promotion from their label combined to take its toll.  Howard left the band, and soon after The Adverts were no more.

But they did leave behind some great, great music, and deserved to be remembered as one of the best of the original UK Punk Class of '77 bands.  I am so fond of them that I am sharing three clips with you this week: first, the band's appearance on Top Of The Pops performing "Gary Gilmore's Eyes," then a clip for "No Time To Be 21," and finally, an audio-only clip of "The Adverts" from Cast Of Thousands. Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

Once again I trusted too easily.

A Friend In Need

Cindy Coble and I were classmates back in high school.  She was someone others always enjoyed being around: very bright, very sarcastic, very funny, very bold and often the center of attention, which was right where she loved to be.

Fast forward 25 years: Cindy joined Facebook and quickly reconnected with everyone.  Once again, she finds herself the center of attention among her friends, but now she needs everyone's help.  Cindy suffers from Myasthenia Gravis, a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disorder characterized by fluctuating weakness of the voluntary muscle groups, and  which can affect muscles that control eye movements, eyelids, chewing, swallowing, coughing and facial expression, as well as the arms and legs and sometimes the muscles that control breathing. The prevalence of MG in the US is estimated to be about 1 in 5,000 people, and at present there is no cure.

In her own words, Cindy describes how she became an MG sufferer:

In 2007, I was hit by a car while riding my bike, and had to have a double cervical spine fusion. I developed a super bad infection in my spinal cord, that landed me in the ICU for a coupla weeks. I never got better. My neuro thinks a virus or pathogen entered my system, tripped my immune system, and i ended up with Myasthenia Gravis. I used to be very active, totally type "A", and was very athletic. Now, taking a shower or grocery shopping wears me out. This disease is progressive, and there is no cure. Some folks enjoy remission, but generally it comes back. A cure in my lifetime may not happen, but I'd like to think we could make progress for future sufferers.

To her great credit, Cindy doesn't spend a lot of time bemoaning her fate.  That wouldn't be Cindy.  Sure, she has her times of frustration with MG, and more than once she has gone out of her way to thank everyone on FB for understanding as she...

...whine[s] and bitch[es] about slowly losing my abilities to walk, talk, work, hold a fork, crack an egg, bathe my dog, go sledding with my kids, tie shoes, think, swallow, breathe, shave my legs, volunteer, sing, dance, etc. I know I'm a total bitch and breakdowns are always ugly to witness, and I appreciate your jibs, jokes, and posts. Please consider giving blood this season, so many of us require a shitload, it's the best present, and you may mail it directly to me. I promise to share. 

Despite those frustrations, Cindy's personality still comes through in her words.  She is strong in spirit even as MG causes physical weaknesses.  Cindy doesn't live with MG; MG lives with Cindy!

This year, the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America's fundraising efforts take the form of MG Walks.  There are several physical walks scheduled in the Florida area, but for those not local to Florida, there is the Virtual Walk.  This is the walk that Cindy is involved with. Her goal is to raise $2000 toward research for a cure for MG, and she is already over a quarter of the way there!

Here is where you can help out.  Every little bit counts, and if you are able to donate even $5 or $10 towards Cindy's walk, you'd be helping immensely.  There is a link below to donate towards Cindy's goal, and Cindy's page can be found here - please go, read, learn, and if you can, help her reach her $2000 goal.  Or, as she has said, "Even if you're not inclined to donate, take a second to read a little. I thank thee!"

It would mean a great deal to me to know that my readers helped out, and I know it would mean the world to Cindy.  Thank you in advance for your generosity.