The Rubinoos

I was really stoked to find this first clip. The original lineup of The Rubinoos performing "Rock and Roll is Dead" on British TV circa 1977. Tommy Dunbar on lead guitar and lead vocal, Jon Rubin (who usually did most of the lead vocals) on rhythm guitar, Royse Ader on bass and Donn Spindt on drums. Their second album, "Back to the Drawing Board" is one of my top power pop albums of all time. It is a crime that this album has never been available on CD.

I had the pleasure of seeing the 'Noos live in 1980. By that time, Al Chan had replaced the departed Ader on bass. They were as good a live band as I have ever seen.

The second clip was from their stab at MTV stardom around 1983. By that time, only Tommy and Jon remained. A nice song, produced by Todd Rundgren.

Free

For the most part, I am not a huge fan of blues-rock. The band Free is an exception. Paul Rodgers is a big reason. No British singer has his pipes. He must have been about 20 in these clips, but sounds much older.

But Free's ace-in-the-hole was guitarist Paul Kossoff. That guy could make a guitar cry and wail. Throw in bassist Andy Fraser (who co-wrote most of Free's songs with Paul Rodgers) and drummer Simon Kirke, and there you have it.

Clip number one is from the German TV show "Beat Club". "Fire and Water" was the title song to what many believe was their best album.

Clip number two is a live take of "All Right Now" from the 1970 Isle of Wight concert.

Rodgers and Kirke would go on to considerable fame with Bad Company. Fraser had a solo career that was a non-starter, but did write the hit "Every Kind of People" for Robert Palmer. Paul Kossoff died in 1976.

Update....

Apparently the Beach Boys clips I posted over the past few days have been removed by YouTube. A sign of the new Google-ownered YouTube? Probably.

The Beach Boys

Obviously, I love the Beach Boys. The following two clips are pretty amazing.

First up is performance by Brian, Mike, Carl, Al and Bruce in 1985 at Ronald Reagan's second inaugural. They do a really nice live version of "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring". I love it when I come across a latter day clip where the guys prove they can still pull off something like this. There are some parts that are harder to watch...like the dedication by Mike Love to Nancy and Ron...but it is great to see Brian looking thin (though uncomfortable), putting his arm around his brother's shoulder, and sporting a nice falsetto.

The second clip is from American Bandstand circa 1978. It is Mike Love's side project Celebration, doing their hit single "Almost Summer". The surprise is that a chunky Brian (who co-wrote the song), wearing a cool Adidas track suit, is along for the ride. Brian's 'marching' is pretty funny. The video clip quality is not that great, but it is a nice song.

Chicago / The Beach Boys

The following clip is from 1974 on Dutch TV. "Wishing You Were Here" was a huge hit single, featuring a Terry Kath lead vocal and backing vocals from Dennis Wilson, Carl Wilson and Alan Jardine of The Beach Boys. The track appears to be canned, though Kath's lead appears to be live (as does Peter Cetera's vocal on the bridge). Carl and Alan do their part to appear that they are singing backing vocs, with Mike Love standing in for Dennis. Terry Kath looks very uncomfortable in his tuxedo!

Watch the whole thing...at the conclusion of the Chicago song, the Beach Boys do a live version of "Surfer Girl", with Alan Jardine taking Brian Wilson's lead on the bridge. They sound great.

The Runaways

I've grown tired of the decade thing....

Sandy West of the Runaways died of lung cancer this week. She was 47.

The first post is the post- Cherie Currie The Runaways live on British telly.

The second clip is also live..."Cherry Bomb"!

RIP Sandy.

The dB's

Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple were at one time neck and neck with Difford/Tilbrook to be the new Lennon/McCartney. Unfortunately, Chris Stamey left The dB's after their amazing second album "Repercussion". The group carried on without Stamey for quite a while, and though Holsapples songs continued to be great, the band was never the same without Stamey in my opinion.

The original lineup reunited for some shows in 2005. There are some recent recordings available on their website...click here.

This is a 1981 live clip of the original lineup doing "Big Brown Eyes" from their first album.

Shakin' Stevens

I have one of those books where they compare the charts between the US and UK. For every decade they given the Top 20 singles artists. It should be no surprise that the top artist in the US in the 80's was Michael Jackson, and Madonna was tops in the UK.

Most of the UK list is of artists who also had hits in the US, even if they weren't in the US Top 20...artists like UB40, Spandau Ballet and Wham!

However, the Number 2 singles artist of the 80's in the UK was Shakin' Stevens...who had zero hits in the US. frankly, I had heard of him, but never heard him. He has around 15 Top 20 hits from 1981-1987. His music seemed to be a sort of Elvis-lite.

This song is pretty interesting as it features an accordion. It's from 1982 and called "Give Me Your Heart Tonight".

Adam and the Ants

Here's a quicky...Adam and the Ants on Tom Snyder doing "Antmusic" live. The second is a video of a really nice pop song sounding nothing like his earlier music...."Wonderful".

U2

I have lost touch with Bono and the guys over the years. I see them on TV, but I never buy their albums. I admire that they change and try new things, but little of it really gets to me.

But in the beginning, I loved them. I try to shy away from videos that got played over and over on MTV over the years (at least when they played videos), but this is one I have to post. I love "New Years Day". It made me want to run out and buy the album, "War". I still love the video and that album. They were filled with passion back then...and still hungry. Now they are too rich to be that hungry, which I suppose will happen with any act that gets big. Bono does get bonus points for actually doing something constructive with his fame.

After the well known clip is a live take of the same song performed by a more mature U2 in 2005. Bono doesn't seem to 'bring it' quite like he did back circa 1983...still they sound pretty good.

The Jam

I was upset with Paul Weller for a couple of decades after he broke up The Jam. I don't think he has done anything post-Jam that he couldn't have done with Bruce and Rick. Recently though, I have reconsidered. How many bands quit while they are still great? The Beatles and....anyone else? The Jam were great from their first album...they progressed and didn't often repeat themselves, and their final album was great too. The last two singles were as good as they ever got.

These are videos for their last two singles. First up, is a semi live performance on "Top of the Pops" of their very last single "Beat Surrender". Following that is the vid for my favorite Jam song, "The Bitterest Pill". Following those is a live take on "The Eton Rifles". Kudos to Bruce Foxton for his great bass playing!

...and one more...solo Bruce Foxton performing "Smithers-Jones" in 1983!

The Clash

As we are beginning a week of posts on the 1980's, I am going to hit a band that straddled the 70's and 80's. The Clash released "the album "London Calling" in December of 1979, but the album is generally considered one the the best (if not the best) album of the 1980's.

Below are two clips of The Clash performing songs from "London Calling". The clips are "Clampdown" and "London Calling". The third clip is Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros doing "London Calling" live in 1999.

RIP Joe.

The Beat (aka Paul Collins' Beat)

The Beat released their first album around the time that The Knack first got big. Now, I don't want to slam The Knack, because I like them....but nothing they did ever approached that first Beat album. Paul Collins was a former member of The Nerves (with Peter Case and Jack Lee). The album was shot through with pure adrenaline from beginning to end.


Below are a couple of live clips from The Beat in their prime . "Rock and Roll Girl" and "Walking Out on Love". The third video is "Will You Be A Woman" from the brand new Paul Collins' Beat CD, "Flying High". The style is quite different from the classic Beat sound, but Paul still sounds great.

Elvis Costello

EC was an acquired taste for me. I was watching SNL the night Elvis pulled out "Radio Radio", and it did nothing for me. Eventually, my buddy Tito's passion for him won me over....about the time that "Trust" came out. I loved that album and worked my way back from there to discover his earlier albums. Elvis is a particular fav of mine now (particularly his 1976-1984 output).

The first clip is a cool vid for "Pump It Up", followed by a live "Watching the Detectives" from the "Top of the Pops" and the famous "Radio Radio" clip (which now does appeal to me!).

Pilot

David Paton and Billy Lyall were in the Bay City Rollers circa 1969-1971 (see pic below), though neither were in the band by the time that their first Top 10 hit "Keep On Dancin" " hit the charts towards the end of 1971. Not to worry though, because Paton and Lyall would go on to form Pilot (with drummer Stuart Tosh), which released it's first album in 1974. This album features two classic singles, "Magic" and "Just a Smile". Ian Bairnson joined the band on guitar for their second album.

Pilot recorded four albums from 1974-1977, but each featured a different lineup, with only Paton as a member of the group for all four (though if memory serves me, Bairnson played on the first album, he just was not yet a member). Paton, Lyall and Tosh recorded album one, joined by Bairnson on album two. By the time their third album, the underrated classic "Morin Heights", was released Lyall was gone...and only Paton and Bairnson remained for album four. Paton and Bairnson released a Pilot album in the last couple of years...which I guess would make it five...


These guys deserved better, but at least they had a single that continues to be played. Tosh was a member of 10cc for a while. Paton and Bairnson played with the Alan Parsons Project for many years. Lyall dies of AIDS in 1989.



The first clip is "Magic", of course. The two following are "Just A Smile" and "Penny in My Pocket".

The Beach Boys....again

When I started this 'decade a week' series, I said I would not repeat bands. I lied. I came across these two Beach Boys videos and couldn't wait to get them up.

Dennis Wilson was second only to Brian Wilson as a creative force. The first clip features a rare performance of Dennis' "Sunflower" track "Forever". It is a really beautiful song. "Sunflower" is one of my favorite Beach Boys albums. I think it really proved that the guys could put out a classic album with little involvement from Brian....not that Brian was totally absent.

The second clip is an early 1970's rendition of "Wild Honey", with Blondie Chaplin taking the lead vocal (sung by Carl Wilson on record).

The third clip is Adam Marsland's Chaos Band version of Dennis' solo song "River Song" (written by Dennis and Carl Wilson). It is a really great rendition, performed live. Adam has a husky pop voice that is really suited to Dennis's songs. The legendary Evie Sands is on guitar and vocals.

Dwight Twilley Band

I mentioned in my Cheap Trick post that gradually I began to buy albums by artists other than The Beatles (or a Beatle). "Sincerely" by the Dwight Twilley Band was one of the first. I really don't remember why I bought it...either I heard "I'm On Fire" on the radio, or I read a great review in Rolling Stone.

One of the things I loved about DTB was that there were just three guys making big sounding records. Dwight Twilley wrote, sang and played guitar and piano. Phil Seymour sang and played drums AND bass, and Bill Pitcock IV fired off jolts of great lead guitar. Dwight and Phil were rock star pretty...Bill..not so much. That may be why only Dwight and Phil were pictured on the albums.

The sound of those two albums were different. Where most power pop bands mixed The Beatles with The Who, or The Hollies...DTB seemed to mix The Beatles and Elvis. It was really an original sound.

The guys only made two albums before Phil left the group. Dwight and Phil both hit the Top 20 with solo singles (Dwight with "Girls", Phil with "Precious to Me"), and they must have stayed friends as Phil sang on a couple of cuts on future DT solo albums...and Twilley gave Phil two great songs for his first solo album. Bill continued to appear with both Dwight and Phil.

Dwight continues to make solo albums, frequently with Bill on guitar. Phil died of cancer in the early 1990's. I started a Dwight Twilley band chat board on AOL in the late 1990's. I got a few emails from Dwight and his wife. They were always very cool with me, which I appreciated. I went to a DT live show in a small club supporting "Tulsa", and even though I practically walked right into Dwight when I entered...I was too chicken to introduce myself. I am still kicking myself for that!

Clip number 1 is Dwight, Phil and Bill (with Tom Petty on bass) lip syncing to "Looking For the Magic". Clip #2 is an early 1980's live performance of "I'm On Fire". Bill is on guitar, Susan Cowsill sings harmony.

RIP Phil Seymour.

John Lennon

John would have been 66 years old today. Much missed...Happy Birthday JOL.

Clip one is "Instant Karma" from "Top of the Pops"...definitely a live lead vocal...with a tad too much reverb. Circa 1970.

Clip two- a promo for "Mind Games" from 1973.

Clip number three is a promo for the "Anthology" version of "I'm Losing You". The clip features the backing musicians for that version...Rick Nielsen and Bun E Carlos of Cheap Trick on guitar and drums, Tony Levin on bass. Apparently Yoko didn't like this version, so it was re-recorded for "Double Fantasy"...hard to believe...this track was as low down and nasty as John had been since "Cold Turkey" in 1969.

Cheap Trick

I love The Beatles, and most of the first records I bought were either Beatles albums, or Beatle solo albums. Only around 1976-1977 did I really consider that any other artist existed (well...at least existed to the point where I would buy a current, newly released album). For me, the first of these bands was Cheap Trick. Other than The Beatles (or Wings), Cheap Trick was my group of that era.

I had seen reviews for Cheap Trick albums in Rolling Stone (RS was once cool), but it was the review for "Heaven Tonight" that first spurred me to action. I convinced my buddy Gary to buy it...while I bought "Powerage" by AC/DC. Though I still like Bon Scott era AC/DC, Gary got the best end of the deal. We listened to that album for what seemed like months. We liked it so much that we went to the local record store to try to get the first two albums ("Cheap Trick" and "In Color")...they didn't have it...in fact we had to hit record stores in a 50 mile radius before we finally found it. "In Color" remains my fav CT album...great from beginning to end.

I ended up getting "Cheap Trick at Budokan" on import about 6 months before they finally released it in the US. It cost $15.00...no small sum in 1978.

Cheap Trick carries on. They never put together an album as solid as any of the first three, but each album since then has had a worthy track.

The first video is a promo for CT's first single, "Oh Candy". Video number 2 is from the Budokan shows, "Look Out". The bottom vid is from 1983...CT doing "I Can't Take It" live on the Alan Thicke Show...Jon Brant had replaced the departed Tom Petersson on bass (Petersson would return in 1987).

The Kinks

This will be the final post of 60's week as we move into the 1970's...but really...The Kinks could have fit into one of three decades as they were making fine music right up through the 1980's.

This first clip is a raucous live performance of their first hit, "You Really Got Me". Clip number two is the guys 'performing' "Days" in 1969. The third clip is a bonus of Ray Davies promoting his first solo album, 40 years after that "You Really Got Me" clip. It is a great album and shows he still has it.

The Yardbirds

This is a great clip from French TV. It is the final lineup of The Yardbirds....Keith Relf, Jimmy Page, Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty. The song is very well known, but a track that was only released on a quickly withdrawn live album that was released to cash in on Page's Led Zeppelin success. The song is "Dazed and Confused". It is very similar to the version released on Zep's first album.

The song itself was....ahem...'borrowed' from Jake Holmes and credited solely to Jimmy Page.

For the sake of comparison, a clip of Zep doing it is right below ....

The Small Faces

Another UK band which was essentially a one-hit wonder in the US, but had numerous UK hits was The Small Faces. Powered by the songwriting team of Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, The Small Faces began as an R&B band but shifted to what could be described as a power pop band by the time they broke up.

The Small Faces broke up in 1969 when Steve Marriott left the group to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton. The remaining members brought Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart on board and continued as The Faces.

The first clip "All Or Nothing" is taken from the German show, "Beat Club".

The second clip is "Song of a Baker" from "Colour Me Pop"...the great Ronnie Lane sings lead!

The third clip is a bonus from 1974...Ronnie Lane solo after leaving The Faces. The song is "How Come". The audio fades in spots, but you get the idea.

Fab!

Peter and Gordon

This clip awful in almost every way. The picture is grainy, the sound is not stellar, but what it does have it this- a great song. "Wrong From the Start" is a a song that should have been a hit. P&G had six Top 20 songs (between charting hits in the US and UK), none as good as this one.

My Mom had a 45 from Capitol Records that had the Frito-Lay logo on the label. My guess was that it was some kind of promo. It had this song on one side, and The Lettermen's version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' " on the other. It must be kind of rare, because I posted that I had it (my Mom had given to me) on a P&G website, and I got an email from none other than Gordon Waller asking about it. I told him I would scan the label and send an image to him...like an idiot, I never did.

Great song...check it out.

The Move

The Move had about nine UK Top 20 singles from 1967 through 1972...in the US? Zilch. The best they could do in the US was a Top 90 showing with "Do ya", one of their final singles. I still cannot fathom why. Like a lot of US Move fans, I found about them through the Electric Light Orchestra. The final version of the Move and the first version of ELO were one in the same...they were actually recording under the both names for a time 1971-1972.

They were a great live band. The first clip is the original lineup, Roy Wood, Carl Wayne, Ace Kefford, Trevor Burton and Bev Bevan. The song is "I Can Hear the Grass Grow". They were a great vocal band...though Carl sang the bulk of the tune, Roy and Ace grab a couple of lines as well.

The second clip is a live take of "Blackberry Way" (a #1 in the UK) on the TV show "Colour Me Pop". By this time, Kefford had left the band, with Burton sliding over to take the bass.

They were a fantastic live band.

The third video is a bonus promo vid...."10538 Overture" was originally recorded to be a B-Side for The Move, but with the addition of masses of cellos by Roy Wood, it became the first ELO song....by this time the group was down to Roy, Bev and Jeff Lynne. Roy left early in the recording of the second ELO album, and ELO (led by Jeff) went on to be huge...even in the US.

The Rolling Stones

I have to admit I have a real love/hate relationship with the Stones. I love most of what they did through "Black and Blue" in 1976, and hate (well...more tolerate) everything since. Yes, they have done a few great things since 1976...but precious little that can touch their golden years.

When The Beatles split, they were all under 30. They are forever young. The Stones kept plugging away and are diminished because of it. Does that mean that I think that just because all of the original Stones (except Brian Jones of course) are over 60 that they can no longer rock if they want to? No...I guess what puts me off the most is a 60ish Mick prancing around like it's still 1969.

Well...here are two clips from their prime....the first is the 'make up' version of the "Jumping Jack Flash" promo.

The second is the promo for "We Love You"...which featured backing vocals from John Lennon (probably) and Paul McCartney (for sure). When you see Brian Jones, you'll wonder how he lived until 1969....

For good measure, I have added a third video...this one proving you can age gracefully...Muddy Waters in 1978. He was about the age that The Glimmer Twins are now...if the Stones wanted to...they could do something like this...straight blues and rock it...instead, they shoot for a mass market that has passed them by (in my opinion).

On with the 60's....

Chicago Transit Authority

I'm afraid the Chicago of the 1980's and 1990's has blunted out the memory of how fantastic they were in their original lineup. This live clip from Chicago playing "I'm A Man" live on the German TV show "Beat Club" in 1969 is a reminder of how great they were...vocals traded from Terry Kath to Peter Cetera to Robert Lamm, not to mention Kath's furious guitar playing. The death of Kath in 1978 ended the golden era of the rocking Chicago.

The second clip is Chicago from a 1971 concert in Japan. The video quality isn't that great, but the sound is pretty nice. It certainly beats a claen version of "Stay the Night"!