Great thread, this one. I continue to favor the Eighties R.E.M albums the most, including their Warner Bros. debut Green. They became inconsistent after that, but still, to me, there is no such thing as a worthless R.E.M. album. Even Around the Sun has its value: I've found it a remarkably soothing album to listen to when I've had a hangover. My wife is a longtime R.E.M. fan too, buby Delvin
Bip, where did you grow up, that you were picking up radio from Vancouver?by Delvin
> No "4th of July" by X? Actually, I did play that song, instead of the Blur song in the final set. It was a phone request. Post has been edited.by Delvin
"Kids in America" - The Muffs "Rocket USA" - Suicide "Proud to Be an American" - The Tubes "Only in America" - The Hoodoo Gurus "American Gigolo" - Weezer "In the U.S.A." - The Flamin' Groovies "U.S. Drag" - Missing Persons "I'm So Bored with the U.S.A." - The Clash "The American Ruse"by Delvin
And my glass is raised along with yours, Fab. I was a latecomer to the actual punk scene; it was the New Wave bands that drew me into this wonderful creative world of music. I've told how I discovered Talking Heads, Devo and The B-52's on Saturday Night Live ... but looking back, I can't help but wonder how I would've reacted to this new music if I'd tuned in, perhapsby Delvin
I really like the Boston comp in the DIY series, but there's little room to deny that Rhino had to stretch things a bit for that one. Mass Ave: The Boston Scene covers a much wider time span than any of the preceding volumes: eight years (1975-1983), as opposed to the two or three years covered by each of the other discs. Oh well ... if they'd devoted a volume to Denver's musiby Delvin
DIY: Teenage Kicks — UK Pop I (1976-79). I get a lot of mileage out of this series.by Delvin
Thanks Aitch! I did get a digital file of that song and edit the FCC-averse language in the intro ... and then goofed up and played the original file. I haven't gotten any complaints yet, though ... not even from my mom. So no blood, no foul.by Delvin
You're welcome, Keith. I wouldn't have had it any other way. Some years back, we were at a party at a friend's house. Our friend's stepmom was an Irish woman who told me, when the conversation had steered to music (if you can imagine that), that her brother had been in a punk band. No surprise, I asked what his band had been called. "The Boys," she answered.by Delvin
"I Need That Record" - The Tweeds "Dirt" - Mission of Burma "Brickfield Nights" - The Boys (R.I.P. Honest John Plain) "Disturbance at the Heron House" - R.E.M. (by request) "Press Darlings" - Adam & the Ants (by request) "This Is the One" - The Stone Roses "Pulling Mussels from the Shell" - Squeeze (for drummer Giby Delvin
> Did Split Enz have any other U.S. hits? Nothing that cracked the Billboard Top 100.by Delvin
The composer of the Mission: Impossible theme, among many others (still writing scores or themes for movies as late as 2015). Details here.by Delvin
> Am genuinely surprised that Wall of Voodoo's "Mexican Radio" > only peaked at 58. I feel the same way about Split Enz' "I Got You" -- a Number One to the Kiwis and the Aussies, unsurprisingly, and charting quite handsomely in the UK and Canada as well, yet peaking at just #53 in the States.by Delvin
Just a follow-up ... I saw my neighbor yesterday, along with three other teenage boys. He introduced me to them as the guy who recorded the Velvet Underground tapes for him. The three of them were instantly excited, giving me the thumbs-up, apparently having enjoyed the tapes in the car. (Or maybe he has a boom box at home, I don't know.) They started talking about other kids they know, whosby Delvin
> I saw Sparks in 2022 at the Copernicus Center in Chicago, > which was actually a very nice venue for a show, but one that >is primarily a Polish cultural center. Reno, the German cultural center in Colorado Springs went through a period in the late '80s where they hosted a lot of the cooler bands in Colorado Springs, plus quite a few from Denver. The notion that the propby Delvin
I got to see Einstürzende Neubauten performing in a junkyard in Denver. It turned out to be a pretty suitable site for the gig ... and from what I later read, much less problematic than some of their bookings at established music venues. I can't say this show made me a big fan of their music, but it sure was wild.by Delvin
I've heard a lot of great reviews about their current farewell tour, from people whom I respect and trust for music recommendations. Nevertheless, I chose to pass on their (final) Seattle appearance, last month. That 2005 reunion gig in Denver was one of those all-too-rare concert experiences that one wants to hold onto. Hey, in the liner notes for Go4's comp A Brief History of theby Delvin
David Robinson came out of retirement long enough to record a new album and undertake a short tour with The Cars. Granted, that was almost fifteen years ago ... but hey, maybe he'll dust off his ol' drum kit to regroup with the Modern Lovers. He can take a challenge.by Delvin
Keith, Gang of Four never achieved a high profile on any commercial sort of radar, here in the States. But the college radio stations were quite taken with the band, from the moment their debut album landed. Later songs like "I Love a Man in a Uniform" and "Is It Love" gained a bit of traction on commercial radio, at least in my little corner of America. And the cool rock banby Delvin
I never explored Bad Company's records, probably because the songs that radio stations endlessly rehashed never excited me enough to investigate further. (Lord knows I could have, though: I swear that everyone I knew in high school had at least one BadCo album in their collection.) So to me, Mick Ralphs was a nameless entity, until I was clued in to his meritorious work with Mott ... a clueby Delvin
OMG, there's actually a band called Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs? No, I just looked it up, and they're called Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs! Jeez, it makes my eyes hurt to look at that band's name on the screen. That's worse than We Butter the Bread with Butter ... although I'd say We Shared Milk is still a worse band name.by Delvin
I saw the Dream Syndicate open for R.E.M. in 1984. Great set, as I recall. Their recent records have been pretty good, so I'm drawn to this one. Interesting that they're playing both in Bellingham (a very scenic hour's drive for me, each way) and Seattle (an urban hour's drive to get there, but only a half-hour drive home, after the Seattle traffic has settled down).by Delvin
I had Duran Duran and Face to Face in there. That's gotta count for something.by Delvin
Episode VI: Return of the Palindrome! "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" - Eddie & the Hot Rods "Way of the World" - Cheap Trick "I Am a Scientist" - Guided by Voices "Green Eyes" - Hüsker Dü "Space Junk" - Devo "Heaven" - Talking Heads "For What It's Worth" - Holly Beth Vincent "Naked Eye" - The Who (by requby Delvin
I bumped into one of my neighbors the other day, a teenage boy who lives up on the next block. We've known this young man since shortly after we moved into our current condo; his grandmother lives on the next floor up, so we see him fairly often. Anyway, he was excited to tell me that he'd just gotten his first car, a Honda Accord. I didn't find out what year it was, but itby Delvin
Man, that itinerary truly is "bi-coastal." I know a lot of folks in the heartland feel left out, when a cool band goes on tour ... and rightly so. But jeez, it's almost as if the band is afraid to get too far away from the water.by Delvin
> I always wonder why people would pay money > to see a band they don't like. Seems very odd to me. The shows I mentioned were just one-nighters at rock 'n' roll clubs ... the kind of clubs where the normal entertainment was a cover band that would get booked for a week to play all the songs that the clientele were used to hearing on AOR radio. Indeed, when a touring banby Delvin
Did anybody here ever get to see Golden Earring? Perhaps not a band that gets a lot of respect here ... although they've never even gotten much mention here at all, so I guess I wouldn't know. Nevertheless, I remember their (few) Stateside hits as high points of mainstream rock radio in the '70s and '80s. And talk about longevity: not only did they keep touring Europe reguby Delvin
I'm really fascinated by the fact that this tour is booked in Everett, not Seattle. Along with that, Apex Kings Hall isn't some sports bar or other inappropriate kind of venue. It's a pretty nice place, within easy walking distance from my house. AAAND, the show isn't on a Friday night. This looks like a must-attend for us. (I'd better get tickets before theby Delvin
Ohhh man ... Zoo, I checked out the web site and the photos, and it almost instantly took me back to the early '80s, when we were doing lights for bands who played the various live-music clubs in Colorado Springs. I remember one-nighters by Translator, Modern English, The Members, Rank and File, the Payola$ et al ... and I can still hear the heshers in the crowds jeering at these weirdo bandby Delvin