DVD Review: ’83 US Festival: Days 1-3

Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2013
Images from the Internet

 

’83 US Festival: Days 1-3

Directed by Glenn Aveni
MVD Visual
Unuson Corporation / Icon 
135 minutes, 1983 / 2009 / 2013
www.icontvmusic.com  
www.MVDvisual.com

Before there was Steve Jobs standing on a stage telling us we needed to buy cell phones and tablets, Apple was run by Steve Wozniak. He wanted to take his profits and, much like Sir Richard Branson of Virgin, do everything, Woz, as he was sometimes known, had the idea to spend his money on some tax shelters that he could use to spread the Apple name to the populace. I actually don’t mean it as cynical as it sounds, but you know what I’m sayin’.

The US Festival was a huge music event that drew an average of over 300,000 people per day, and had some of the world’s top musicians at the time, as well as those who were on the way up.

By the early ‘80s, hardcore had a shaky start and was totally not financially viable in any kind of way. Black Flag? Cro-Mags? GG Allin? No one heard of them on a national level, other than something like “…a riot at club so-and-so last night with so-and-so band was playing…”

Also, many bands I was interested in had turned a corner of popularity and had lost my attention. I mean, after the London Calling double set, did the Clash really do much that was innovative? U2 had become super-obnoxious superstars, Missing Persons had been a cutesy New Wave band who for some reason had a couple of major hits and had lost any club credibility, and I still remember standing on line waiting to see the premiere of Rock and Roll High School where a person behind me was wearing a t-shirt that read “Sit on my face, Stevie Nicks.”

But like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the US Festival as not just about the music, but about the corporate sponsorship, which is well represented here.

Day 1 (Saturday, May 28; “New Wave Day”):

The first band up is the Aussie rockers, the Divinyls. This performance was around the time of their breakthrough album, and the one I still consider their best, Desperate. They usually ended their set in the early days with this, their first hit, “Boys in Town” (years later it would become their opener). Singer Christine “Chrissy” Amphlett (d. 2013; RIP) would later become better known for her sexually tinged soft rock “I Touch Myself” and “Pleasure and Pain,” which is the equivalent of Slade being criminally remembered for “My Oh My” and “Run Runaway.”  In these nascent days, the Divinyls were a powerhouse, and Christine was like a caged lioness in a schoolgirl uniform. Of course, this is a great version of the song, but at the time, they all were. It is obvious by the red streaks up and down her arms that she had already finished the “Elsie,” another of my favorites, where she writes all over her face, arms and legs with a red lipstick. I would have liked to have seen their whole set, but who knows, maybe someday. The Divinyls are worth checking out.

Do you remember where you were when you heard that Michael Hutchence, lead vocalist of (also) Aussie group INXS, had accidentally(?) offed himself in a hotel room in 1997, made all the more newspaper fodder and culture fixation by his baby-mama’s claim that he was involved in autoerotic asphyxiation? Me neither. I was sorry to hear about him as much as I was about Amy Winehouse or any other overpampered and excessing rock star, but I do have to admit that INXS never meant a whit to me, and I don’t think I would know one of their songs if I fell over it. The one here, “The One Thing,” sounds pretty much like every other ‘80s song of the period with that same rhythm and hollow sounding drums. Hutchence, himself, moves well along the stage and is startlingly handsome, but it almost looks like he’s trying to channel Jim Morrison.

The English Beat was a fun band with their white ska, much like the more famous Madness. The multi-racial Brit boys are constantly moving around the huuuuuuge stage during their song, “Jeanette.” But I wonder why they put interviewee Mark Goodman, one of the very first MTV VJs, talking over them; unfortunately, this is only the start.

The Stray Cats were a decent post-rockabilly band (and acted like assholes to me, but that’s another story), though nowhere near as exciting as their New York rivals, the Rockats. “Rock This Town,” however, has rightfully become a classic, as they do it here. Actually, it’s kind of strange that this Americana music is sandwiched in among a bunch of British and Australian groups.

Men at Work pretty much were  a two-hit wonder in the States, and it’s interesting that they only do one of them, “Who Can It Be Now,” with a recent interview with lead singer Colin Hay talking over some of the instrumental parts. Frustrating; while I’m not a big fan, I do respect them for some reason, and I just think it’s insulting to the bands to overwhelm the music with talk, whatever I think of them. They also do their lesser known “It’s a Mistake.

Of course, the band I was looking forward to on this first day was the headliners, the Clash. My question (yes, there is always a question) is, since everyone knows that the heart and soul of the Clash was Joe Strummer (do you believe there would be a Mick Jones wall in the East Village if it has been Jones instead of Strummer to pass in 2002?), so why pick a Mick Jones song, even a decent one like “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” I would have gone with “London Calling” at the very least. Perhaps the producers were as stoned as Jones, whose stories rival even Willie Nelson? This was, by the way, the last show with Mick in the band.

The original line-up for the first day was as follows: Divinyls, INXS, Wall of Voodoo, Oingo Boingo, the English Beat, A Flock of Seagulls, Stray Cats, Men at Work, and the Clash.

Day 2 (Sunday, May 29; “Heavy Metal Day”):

Even at the time this event was happening, and in fact with many of the fests that the Ramones skewered so well in their “Something to Believe In” video, such as Live AID, when there are shots of the audience, a large amount of them are going to be of either braless women wearing tight clothes, women in bikinis, women sitting on the shoulders of their guys, and women with big…tracks of land, and Monty Python so famously put it. Sexist? Oh, yeah. To be fair, there are a few shots of buff shirtless men, but most males you see are drunk, screaming, or being macho morons.  And to think that these people are now in their early 50s with kids around the same age somehow makes me smile.

Everything that made Judas Priest was in place that day, including Rob Halford’s riding his ‘cycle and leathers onto the stage, his fey manner, and his four octave range. Canadian Hall of Famers, Triumph, for some reason gets the largest number of songs on this collection and is seen on this after JP, though they actually played before. Germany’s Scorpions, post-Michael Schenker (wow, I remembered how to spell it!), are also solid, of course, though they don’t do their metal classic “Rock Me Like a Hurricane.” Oh, well. I noticed that the band incorporated quite a few moves from the Who, such as the mic fling and the windmill.

All three have overlapping themes (hence belonging to the same genre), such as sung verses and screamed/screeched choruses, multiple guitar assaults, loyal fans, and the ability to make me wonder what’s for supper. Yes, I did sit all the way through the DVD of the day.

The original line-up for Day 2 was as follows: Quiet Riot, Motley Crue, Triumph, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Scorpions, and Van Halen.

Day 3 (Monday, May 30; Rock Day):

Okay, I realize this collection is a three-part special that was released in 2009, but whoever did it, well, I would like to have a conversation. For example, the first band up on the third day, which is more New Wavy than the official “New Wave Day,” is Berlin. Sure, lots of synth and ‘80s aesthetic, but I like singer Terri Nunn’s voice somewhat (that waiver was very popular then with the likes of Chrissy Hynde, who also played this day, though unseen here). Berlin is given very short shrift thanks to cutting the song to about a minute, and most of that having Goodman talking over it. I agree with what he says, but the producer could have put it between the songs, not over it. Plus, even when you can hear the music, they show the same damn clips of people in the audience (again, mostly women dressed provocatively for the time) that appear on the other two days. C’mon…

Quarterflash never even raised a blip to my peer group, to be honest. I think this is the first time I can remember actually hearing them. And I don’t think I missed anything. With Missing Persons, I can imagine people looking back and thinking, WTF? How did they get any serious attention, really?

It’s interesting to see U2 so early in their career before Bono and the Edge became prisoners of their personas (wraparound sunglasses, and the like), to paraphrase the wonderful Christine Lavin. And as big as U2 became, there is still talking over them, actually having the balls to compare them to Elvis and the Beatles. No wonder their egos became such monstrosities.

Wait, What? They put a Triumph song from Day 2 in the middle of a collection of Day 3? Certainly they didn’t run out of music for the day. They clipped Berlin down to nuthin’, and even talked over U2. What were they thinking, and is the producer secretly Canadian? Surely the band didn’t return and wear the exact same clothes.

Last up is Stevie Nicks (though Bowie closed the night). I have none of her music in my collection, but I can certainly see why she was so prominent on the bill. Diminutive in size, with Mick Fleetwood pounding the drums behind her, she barrels her way through her two songs, making it look easy. She definitely has one of the most distinct voices in rock, even when she’s doing a disco-style version of her solo hit, “Stand Back.”

The original mainstage line-up for Day 3 was as follows: Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul, Berlin, Quarterflash, U2, Missing Persons, the Pretenders, Joe Walsh, Stevie Nicks, David Bowie.

In conclusion, there is a strong woman starting the festival and a strong woman ending it, and lots of shots of audience bimbos inbetween. The success of the three-day collection (the fourth “Country Day” is not shown) is getting so see some acts that were soon to be gone, most of whom have vanished and others in their nascentcy on their way to superstardom. The failure is due to the lack of respect for the artists by narrating over them, or editing their work. Obviously, what is needed is a box set of the entire festival. In the meanwhile, this will have to do, but note that many of the clips here are quite available on YouTube, but you didn’t get that from me.

Song List:

Divinyls: Boys in Town
The English Beat: Jeanette
INXS: The One Thing
Stray Cats: Rock This Town
Stray Cats: Double Talkin’ Baby
Men at Work: Who Can It Be Now
Men at Work: It’s a Mistake
The Clash: Should I Stay or Should I Go
Judas Priest: Breakin’ the Law
Judas Priest: You Got Another Thing Comin’
Triumph: Lay It on the Line
Triumph: Fight the Good Fight
Triumph: A World of Fantasy
Scorpions: The Zoo
Scorpions: Can’t Get Enough
Berlin: Sex I’m A
Quarterflash: Find Another Fool
U2: Sunday, Bloody, Sunday
U2: Electric Co.
Missing Persons: Words
Triumph: Magic Power
Stevie Nicks: Outside the Rain
Stevie Nicks: Stand Back

 

DVD Reviews: Divinyls / Rose Tattoo Live, Boggo Road Prison 1993

Text © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen Blog, 2012
Images from the Internet

I have put these two reviews together because they were recorded at the same show.

Divinyls: Jailhouse Rock, Recorded Live at the Boggo Road Prison, Queensland 1993
Directed by Chris Fitz-Gibbon
Umbrella Music
85 minutes, 1993 / 2012
Umbrellaent.com.au
MVDvisual.com

I can still remember the first time I heard / saw the Divinyls play on some television concert series, back in 1984. It was jaw-dropping.

Lead singer Christina Amphlett came onstage wearing the adult Catholic School Girl outfit equivalent to AC/DC guitarist Angus Young, but her character seemed to be a bit, well, tetched, as they may say in the southern US. The songs were hard, sharp, and earnest, as Christina roamed the stage, doing some odd dances and head shakes, writing on her own face with lipstick, and pouring a pitcher of water over her head. But more than the theatrics, there was an edge to the songs and her voice, a yearning and sharpness, whether it was the desperation of “Boys in Town” or the slow burn and build-up of one of my favorites of this period, the extended “Elsie.”

Then they soon had their hits Stateside, like “Pleasure and Pain” and especially “I Tough Myself,” turning Christina more into a Sheena Easton (“Sugar Walls” period). Another equivalent would be Slade’s anachronistic “My Oh My” from that same era.

Later, in 1993, an infamous prison closed back in Brisbane, Queensland, so what else to do but to put on a huge rock concert at the grounds?

When the Divinyls start their set, with their tremendous “Boys in Town,” I had a shock. Great, powerful song about moving on, and, well, while the band is in full tilt mode, Amphlett basically goes through the motions. What a difference in tone from when I saw that televised concert ten years earlier to this performance. “Crap,” I said, “I hope the whole show isn’t like this,” a limp version of greatest hits. Thankfully, I was wrong.

Even by their second song, “I’ll Make You Happy,” off my fave of their albums, Desperation, the tempo and emotion had come up substantially. The material they cover on the DVD encompasses their five albums to date, including “Open Windows,” “Sex Will Keep Us Together,” “Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore,” and of course, “I Touch Myself” and “Strut”… I mean “Pleasure and Pain.“

Of course, the two songs that I would have loved to have heard, “Siren (Never Let You Go)” and the aforementioned “Elsie” were MIA. Still, I’m not complaining, because despite its limp start, the Divinyls prove to be made of hardier stuff, and they bring on their A- game. Sure, some of that early edge and brittleness is long worn down, but even at this level, the Divinyls were better than just about anything coming out of Down Under, such as the overrated Midnight Oil and Men at Work.

Yes, this DVD is worth getting, putting on, and enjoying it for the period piece that it certainly is, not to mention a more-than-decent repertoire. And then follow it up with Desperate and perhaps a cuppa.

Band:
Christina Amphlett: vocals
Lee Borkman: keyboards / guitar
Charlie Drayton: drums
Mark McEntee: guitar
Jerome Smith: bass

Set List:
Boys in Town
I’ll Make You Happy
Only Lovely
Guillotine Day
Need a Lover
Open Windows
Love School
Lay Your Body Down
Science Fiction
Temperamental
Sex Will Keep Us Together
Make Out Alright
Bless My Soul
I Touch Myself
Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore
Pleasure and Pain

Rose Tattoo: Live in 1993 From Boggo Road Jail
Directed by Chris Fitz-Gibbon
Umbrella Music
54 minutes, 1993 / 2012
Umbrellaent.com.au
MVDvisual.com

Rose Tattoo was known as the “Bad Boys of Australian rock” (hey, it says so right on the back of the DVD box). In a land that released the likes of AC/DC and the Saints, that’s saying something, I guess.

Vocalist Angry Anderson (aka Gary) is diminutive and imposing, his muscles and tattoos on display. And while his vocal range is certainly limited, he sure can produce some strength behind that scope. He does have an AC/DC/Bon Scott vibe going, and he flogs it for all its worth, with benefit. The song titles alone show you the direction they have taken, such as “Bad Boy for Love,” “Assault & Battery,” and “Rock’n’Roll Outlaw.” Surprisingly, “We Can’t Be Beaten” is not present, although they do quite a rousing version of the Stones’ “Street Fightin’ Man.”

It’s said that those with a troubled and violent youth either go into social work, the priesthood, or prison. Angry has managed to touch nearly all bases, in a sort. He is an advocate for juvies in the courts, acted in such films as Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and is a forceful member of the conservative National Front. He’s also a spokesperson for men’s health; not surprising since five members of his band has died from some form of cancer. As for prison, well, Anderson quips quite early on about how everyone expected him to end up in Boggo Road Gaol, and there he is. Ha!

Anderson’s voice definitely has a flint-striking-stone element that is appealing to a metal genre, and it is certainly no surprise that Rose Tattoo – er – rose to among the top of the heavy rock field. I do, however, think that perhaps the band is better suited for the studio in that Angry tends to have a small number of musical stage moves, where he walks to a spot, turns the microphone to the side of his head, moves his head to face the mic (giving the audience half a face), and his other hand straight out from his body. End of stanza, move to another place, repeat. I’m sure there are going to be RT fans who will disagree, but I’m just sayin’.

The guitarwork by Peter Wells (d. 2006) and Mick Cocks (d. 2009) is superb, as is the rest of the musicianship, as they grind down the metal to a primitive sound that is actually quite sophisticated in its form.

Honestly, during their heyday, Rose Tattoo never really registered on my meter much. I didn’t have MTV and was listening mostly to US-centric punk, but I am glad for this opportunity to do a bit of enjoyable post-catch-up.

Band:
Angry Anderson: vocals
Georgie Leech: bass
Peter Wells: slide guitar
Mick Cocks: rhythm guitar
Paul De Marco: drums

Set List:
Out of This Place
Bad Boy for Love
Assault & Battery
Tramp
The Butcher & Fast Eddie
Rock’n’roll is King
Street Fighting Man
Rock’n’roll Outlaw
One of the Boys
Nice Boys
Going Down





Bonus Video:

Ode to a Mixed Tape: No Messages Music +1

Text © Robert Barry Francos
Images from the Internet

This is a tape I made for someone else around 1990-91. It’s geared towards things I thought she may like. Below, I put as many of the actual recordings I used (all from albums rather than CDs), though I could not always find the studio version of the song on the ‘Net (came to the closest).
SIDE ONE

Baja Marimba Band - Ghost Riders In the Sky
Along with Herb Albert’s Whipped Cream and Other Delights (for his rendition of “A Taste of Honey”), the BMB was popular in my parent’s collective group. This particular cover has always been a favorite of mine since we got the album in ’66. Johnny Cash’s classic, which many consider the definitive one (along with the Highwaymen) was great, but the BMB’s is an insane rave-up with hoots, hollers and horns (and a xylophone!). There are a number of time changes, all leading up to a fading, happy party.

Lenny Kaye Connection - I’ve Got a Right
If anyone has read my “Ode” series before, they’ll know I champion Lenny’s only solo full release as the LKC. This song has a video somewhere – I know, I’ve seen it – and the song should rightfully have been a breakthrough for him. Aimed at the Religious Right during the Reagan years, Lenny strongly explains that he has the right to keep his “freedom of choice.” He further states, “I don’t mind sayin’ / That I don’t mind prayin’ / But I don’t like to be told how.” Backed by a strong rhythm section and organ, he masterfully builds the song with fierceness and melody. He may be crazy like a fox, but this song is hardly subtle.

Blue Angel - I Had a Love
Before Cyndi Lauper became Cyndi “Girls Just Wanna” Lauper, she fronted this excellent Long Island rock band. As she later proved with her cover of the Brains’ “Money Changes Everything,” Cyndi knows how to rock out. This song is more of a ‘60s style ballad, but it’s beautiful and she certainly shows her range. Though a lot of Cyndi’s early solo stuff has been overplayed, her Blue Angel material deserves to be heard more.
Mystic Eyes - Calm Me Down
Off the Mystic Eyes’ first full lengther on Get Hip Records, this cover of the Human Expression tune is masterfully handled by Bernie Kugel and crew. Solid garage pop out of Buffalo (though this sounds like it could have come from the Pacific NW of the ‘60s), this song is well suited for Bernie’s voice. The production is sparse, as it should be, and backed with Eric Lubstorf’s 12-sting hugging the circular melody, Craig Davison’s bass line and Scott Davison on skins, this brings this tune to a whole new level without drowning it in studio trickery.

Dream Academy - Life in a Northern Town
Speaking of studio-work, this tune is true wall-of-sound gloss. I have to admit, at the time, I liked the song, but for me, I’ve grown a bit weary of it. Its sing-along chant was charming, but now seems to just go on and on. Plus it seems both cheery and overwrought at the same time. Tastes do change. I have the album this came off of, but honestly, I can’t remember a single other piece from it. Like “C’mon Eileen,” it is a one-hit wonder in the ‘States.

Marshall Crenshaw - Someday Someway
Yes, more people know the Robert Gordon cover, and he did a bang-up job, but Crenshaw’s original is still the far superior. His jangly, Beatles-esque guitar holds up the piece, which is extremely catchy, poppy, and bouncy. Though guitar-based, the vocals are right up front, as they rightfully should be. Crenshaw’s career may be overshadowed by this tune, but this is a classic piece of songwriting, and something of which to be proud.

Divinyls - Siren Song
I realize this Australian band is better known for their salacious “I Touch Myself” and “Pleasure and Pain,” but I always thought the material off their earlier album, Desperate, was far superior, including “Boys In Town,” and especially “Elsie.” “Siren Song” is a fun co-shared vocal of love and desperation (as is much of their material), which strangely and effectively includes most of the alphabet. Lead vocalist Christina Amphlett’s transition from off-kilter schoolgirl in this period to later sex-bomb may have been technically successful, but there was something lost. Besides, her dumping a pitcher over her head when she performed this song live is pretty intoxicating: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bCLdMY-hOA

Ray Charles - Busted
It’s hard to say this is one of Ray Charles’ best tunes, as he was amazing so often, but I will posit that this is one of my faves. While sad, this blues number also has a very dark sense of humor (“I went to my brother to ask for a loan / ‘Cause I was busted… / My brother said ‘there ain’t a thing I can do… / And I was thinking ‘bout calling on you / ‘Cause I’m busted’”). Walter Lure also does a great cover of the song, by the way, on his Waldo’s Rent Party. Note that the video below is live, not the studio version on the tape.

Harry Chapin - If My Mary Were Here
While I found this song to be a touching number about loneliness and asking for forgiveness, the person I gave this tape to found it to be an ego trip for the protagonist, who has mistreated his ex- and only wants her back because he’s afraid of being alone, not because he cares about her. I can understand both views, honestly, yet I still find this middle-of-the-night-regret moving. Chapin may be an acquired taste for some, but once you get it, you’re rarely dissatisfied. There used to be a video of this, but now I can’t find it.

Sam Chalpin - Satisfaction
Where to even begin on this one? Sam is the father of Ed, the man who first recorded Jimi Hendrix (and my ex-boss), who was a cantor in his synagogue and felt he was a better singer than most of the music on the radio in the ‘60s. Ed took some background tracks and had his father do sort of a karaoke with them, such as this one, and “Leader of the Pack.” Hearing this elder Jewish man with a thick Yiddish accent singing these songs is truly priceless. Hysterically funny, one also needs to admire and marvel at Sam’s chutzpah. Though easy to laugh at Sam, I respect the man more, and howl in his honor.

Side Two

Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians - What I Am
The New Bohemians were going nowhere until Edie joined them, and then resented that she got all the attention. She left after a couple of albums and then they all disappeared. She married Paul Simon, pushed out a bunch of kids, and put out a failed solo release. But in all of this, Edie and the NB released a few really fine songs, such as “Circle,” “Little Miss S” (for Edie Sedgwick), and this one. While a bit lyrically overwrought with cutesiness (“Throw me in the shallow water / Before I get too deep”), the jazzy melody sustains it, along with her unique sounding voice (and stage stance).

Rutles - Ouch!
They may have been formed as a spoof of the Beatles, but the Rutles produced some mighty fine music in their own right, such as this revisionist / interpretation of “Help!” Neil Innis, known to many Monty Python fans, does a superb Lennon-esque take (as he does a great Dylan take-off with “I Suffered For Your Music Now It’s Your Turn,” or his own “How Sweet to be an Idiot,” both worth seeking out). As a stand-alone, this – er – stands on its own.

Hollies - Bus Stop
Truthfully, the Hollies aren’t one of my favorite Mersey Beat-era bands. “He Ain’t Heavy” is okay, and I detest the nails-on-chalkboard “Carrie-Ann,” but that being said about the band generally, specifically, I love this song. Perhaps it’s the key changes or the harmonious melody. There is a sanctified and stunning video done to this song by a television program called Déjà View (see below) that shows the life of the couple in the song from the bus stop’s perspective (and was clearly ripped off in the Hugh Grant walking through the market scene in Notting Hill, which uses the great Bill Withers’ tune, “Ain’t No Sunshine,” which I’ve also included below as a bonus so you can see what I mean).

Theme to Grand
Grand was a two-season television show from early 1990 that had a killer theme song. I’ve included two versions of it here, first and second season, respectively. The first, season one, is more general (but the sound on the video is better), and the one included on this tape. The second shows the cast and is more championed by the fans of the show (check out the very young Sara Rue!). It had a killer cast, such as Pamela Reed and Bonnie Hunt, but like many of the Hunt sit-coms, it came and went very fast and not appreciated by many. This tune has stayed with me all these years.


Monkees - You Just May Be the One
Is there anyone else left who hasn’t’ realized that Mike Nesmith was the most musically talented of the bunch (and yes, they all deserve to be in the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame)? This, along with his solo efforts of “Joanne” and “The Crippled Lion,” are great country-tinged pop songs that even Mike’s own post-Elephant Parts period hasn’t topped. Boyce & Hart wrote some amazing tunes for the boys, but Mike luckily got to sing some originals. Well, considering how the network felt about the band’s original material, we were lucky to have even heard it. Sadly, the only on-line version I found was this awful live one.

Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers - Abominable Snowman in the Market
This reggae-infused nonsense ditty is a perfect example of why JR’s “phase 2” (as it were) was so popular. It’s a great song. Usually I rankle at white guys doing reggae (the Police, the Clash), but this is just so innocent and cute, without being saccharine. It was during this period when I first saw JR and the Modern Lovers play in 1977 on Long Island, and I knew this album before his darker, first one (which contained the breakthrough “Road Roadrunner”). “Snowman” seemed so off the wall to me back then, and charmed me instantly. I’ve had the good fortune of seeing JR a number of times now, and videotaped him getting interviewed for Videowave cable access show. Most of the populace know him from his minstrel bit in the film There’s Something About Mary, but he is so much more than that. JR has had more incarnations than Madonna, and every chapter is unique and noteworthy. The version on the tape is studio-recorded, and the video, obviously, is not.

Roger Miller - In the Summertime
I had an early version of a greatest hits collection during my formative years, which started with his biggest hit, “King of the Road,” but the collection is just chocked full of great music. My enjoyment of old tyme country is most likely rooted in that album, and rests squarely on the shoulders of the brilliant Roger Miller. I mean, “Dang Me,” “England Swings,” “Engine Engine No. 9,” and the list goes on. This particular song is a rave-up with Miller’s often-present country scat. And this is certainly not to be confused with Mongo Jerry’s piece of crap. RIP, RM. Here is a link to a later, live version: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lEC7JsBTxA (embedding was not allowed).

Leon Redbone - Ain’t Misbehavin’
Redbone made his mark on Saturday Night Live and became a hit. Unfortunately, his tendency to sit on stage with his hat over his face sort of had a toll on his career. His distinct voice and style is instantly recognizable. This cover of the Fats Waller classic has remained one of my Redbone faves over the years. The video is a recent live clip; nice to see he still has some career left.

Kimm Rogers - Right By You
I’ve mentioned this song before on this blog. Kimm has had a couple of albums out (that I know of – and own), and her first remains one I can listen to repeatedly from beginning to end. It’s called Soundtrack of My Life, which is a totally appropriate name, as it seems she talks about the minute thoughts that pass through her brain, and it’s usually something that strikes a chord with the listener. I have never had a chance to see Kimm perform live, sadly, but it would please me enormously to thank her for many hours of listening pleasure.

Dave Edmunds - I Knew the Bride
Gee, yet another great song off the Get It album. It’s the record that just won’t end when it comes to astonishing music. I still remember my jaw dropping when I first heard it in the late ‘70s. This rave-up made me think of a friend down south that married a straight good-ole-boy. Somehow, though, I knew she would rock’n’roll again…and she did (and does) – without him. Now she’s married to a rocker, where she belongs. But I digress. This song was on my playlist when I got married, because I wanted something that would raise the roof. The live video version does not match the studio recording on the tape, but it still rocks.