Tag Archives: The Smithereens

Late But Not Out or: For the Records

23 Monday Sep 2019

Posted by in Food, Music Review, Podcasting, Records, The Less Desirables Network

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Salutations™!!

This weekend, as I said was a little bit weird, timing-wise and we didn’t get to do our normal listening. That also threw our posting off a little on Beeswax Vinyl and in the Underdog Records “Now Spinning” page. So, I’ll leave a little posting about them here. Hah’bah’dah?

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©Enigma Records

This is from Saturday, Sunday and one today.

First up is a great record from The Smithereens. It’s their debut album from 1986, titled Especially For You. I say debut, but I really mean their first full-length album. They had some EPs and stuff prior. This had “Blood and Roses” and “Behind the Walls of Sleep” on it.

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©A&M

Then came the debut album from one of my favorite bands, The Police. It’s Outlandos D’Amour. They were extra punk/ska at this time and the album is just full of awesome tunes. “Next to You,” “So Lonely,” “Roxanne,” “Hole in My Life,” “Can’t Stand Losing You,” “Truth Hits Everybody” and “Born in the ’50s” just to name a few. I love this album. It’s not my favorite Police album but it’s tied for second with the other three that aren’t Synchronicity.

 

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©Sire Records

Next, was The Replacements’ Pleased to Meet Me. It wasn’t Tim or Let It Be (not to be confused with the Beatles album of the same name), which were both on the RS list, but it does have the song “Alex Chilton,” named after the singer of The Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton actually plays on this album, too, but not on that song. It’s punk, it’s rock, it’s alternative. It’s great. I enjoyed listening to it, a lot.

 

Those were Saturday’s listens. Sunday, we only got one in and that was Walking Across Egypt, which is basically author and musician Clyde Edgerton doing songs based on two of his books, Walking Across Egypt and Raney. This album is a lot of banjo and not-quite-bluegrass-Americana. Edgerton is a native of North Carolina, being born in Bethesda, close to Durham. He is a professor at UNC-Wilmington and has a street named for him in Kernersville. This is signed by Edgerton. The last bit is kind of an audiobook with a couple of passages read by the author. A good listen.

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©Flying Fish

 

 

Today, I listened to Pink Floyd’s Animals. This was the transition between Wish You Were Here and The Wall. It’s not my favorite, by any means. It’s a little more proggy than I’d like and less about compact songs. I like compact songs. Heck, read any of my RS list reviews. It’s a concept album that is based on socio-political issues in the late 1970s UK. That was a tumultuous time, for sure. There was turmoil within the band at that time, too. It led to Richard Wright leaving or being fired. Either way, he was no longer in the band. He was just a “hired hand” on The Wall, even though I felt he was a very important part of both of those albums. This was a decent listen. I dug it.

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©Columbia

That’s what I got for our playing the last few days. One day, we’ll get back to recording Beeswax Vinyl & More podcast. We’ll talk about more records soon. Hey, speaking of podcasts, we recorded both Fan Interference and The Man Who Ate the Town today. Listen to TMWATT here and FI here.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“If you didn’t care what happened to me and I didn’t care for you, we would zigzag our way through the boredom and pain. Occasionally glancing up through the rain, wondering which of the buggers to blame. And, watching for pigs on the wing.” – “Pigs on the Wing (Part 1)” (Waters)

Spinning Sunday or: The Haul 9/21/19

22 Sunday Sep 2019

Posted by in Records, Spinning Sunday

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Salutations™!!

Yesterday was a scheduling-weird day for The BCPF and me. We had a house-warming to attend in Charlotte so we had to put our regular activities on hold. We got back into town around 3pm so then we got to go to Underdog Records and got to listen to a few before we went to dinner. Anywhat! We got some good stuff. Here’s the haul:

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©Sire Records

  • The Replacements – Pleased To Meet Me — All I knew of this band (other than listening to the stuff on the RS list, somehow this isn’t on that) was the song “Alex Chilton” about, well, Alex Chilton, the founder of Big Star and lead singer of the 60s band, The Box Tops (“The Letter”). That song is on this album. Chilton actually played on this album, but not on his namesake tune. The Replacements started in punk but moved a little more straight-ahead rock and became one of the pioneering “alternative” rock bands. This album is great! I really dug it. VG+.
  • Paul Simon – Still Crazy After All These Years — We had this already but it was only in VG shape. We aren’t going on a big run of re-collecting better versions as it may seem we are from the last few weeks. However, if we find something that we know we are a fan of but our version wasn’t in the best of shape, then we’ll get the better version because we really enjoy listening. Besides, this one is a reissue on Warner Bros and the original we had was on Columbia. EX/VG++.
  • The Smithereens – Especially For You — The first full-length album by The Smithereens and supposedly one of Kurt Cobain’s favorite albums, per his journal. “Blood and Roses” and “Behind the Wall of Sleep” were both Top 40 hits on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks charts and the album is solid. It was a fun listen. EX/VG++.
  • The Smithereens – Green Thoughts — The follow up to the previous entry, we haven’t listened to this one, yet. It had the singles “Only a Memory,” “House We Used to Live In,” and “Drown in My Own Tears.” Sadly, we lost singer/guitarist Pat DiNizio in 2017. EX/VG++.
  • Pink Floyd – Animals — One of the few “classic” Floyd albums I didn’t have. This isn’t in the greatest shape but I couldn’t pass it up. It’s one of their “proggy” ones that is only five songs long but has three over 10 minutes long. I’ve heard it and it’s not my fave but I now have it. It’s an original pressing. VG-.
  • The Police – Outlandos D’Amour — The debut album by one of my faves. Finding them on vinyl has been somewhat of a chore. But, I’m working on it. This has “Next to You,” “So Lonely,” “Roxanne,” “Hole in My Life,” “Can’t Stand Losing You,” “Truth Hits Everybody” and “Born in the ’50s.” I love this album. I love all their albums, even if I don’t love all the songs. VG is what Jonathan said and while I trust him more than my own ratings, I didn’t hear any surface wear or noise so I’m going to say it’s VG+.
  • Glen Campbell – Southern Nights — I’m not a huge Campbell fan, but I do like the title song and I recognize his talent. It was $2. VG++.

Jonathan was busy in the store yesterday and he and “D” have been working on getting the store cleaned up for the big $1 album sale coming next weekend. Basically, boxes and boxes of $1 albums that he’s never put out before will be available and people will (hopefully) go crazy and buy a bunch of stuff! It could be a big deal. So, make sure you get by and get your $1 records. Make sure you clean them before you play them. Dirty records are like a social disease for styli. Listen to this week’s The Less Desirables to hear more about it! I have been using Discogs to “shake” my phone which leads to a random pick from my collection. That’s awesome.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Sleep lay behind me like a broken ocean. Strange waking dreams before my eyes unfold. You lay there sleeping like an open doorway. I stepped outside myself and felt so cold. Take a look at my new toy. It’ll blow your head in two, oh boy. Truth hits everybody, truth hits everyone.” – “Truth Hits Everybody” (Sting)