smoe.org mailing lists
ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Dave Seaman <seamand@upmc.edu> |
| Subject | SJUK & DLB |
| Date | Thu, 04 Nov 2004 13:10:40 -0400 |
[Part 1 text/plain US-ASCII (7.8 kilobytes)]
(View Text in a separate window)
Am just beginning to dig the new release by Adam Marsland - good stuff!
I'll report back in more detail once I've had more time to digest.
Also, can't believe no one other than me and Stewart M has sung the praises
of the new Green Day release "American Idiot" on this list. Really, it's
really really good! Dare I say great? Yes I do so dare!
I recently received a few CDs in a trade with another list member and am
enjoying them quite a bit.
The first CD is "Bamboo Lounge" by Sparklejets UK. Great stuff! I
especially enjoy the songs by Michael Simmons - great songwriting,
arrangements, vocals, harmonies - the whole deal. Funny how the guy looks
like a big, bearded, long haired bob of the mountain character, but has this
great soft pop voice. On the first few spins of the disc, I really didn't
care for the songs by Susan West - her voice reminded me a bit of Grace
Slick, whom I actively dislike. But after a few more listens, Sue's tunes
are growing on me. At least they are making me car dance. She has an
oddball yet engaging wit that brings me back to some of my favorite bands of
the punk/new wave/70s power pop era. Bottomline, the band rocks - they are
versatile and talented. I want to hear more - any suggestions on what else
to pick up by them?
And what's up with the UK tag?
The second CD is "Exploding Plastic Inevitable" by DL Byron. I'm a big fan
of "This Day and Age" (if you don't have it, FIND IT AND GET IT NOW), but
never heard another word about the guy. Until I heard this CD - which I'm
happy to report is a winner. Reminiscent of Roger McGuinn singing 70s
Springsteen - which is a good thing in my book. The CD is short - only 7
songs - so I guess it is more of an EP than a CD. No matter, all the songs
are quite good, and I'd much much rather hear a good short CD than a long
one padded with filler. The last song is a live coffee house version of DL
doing the song "Shadows of the Night", which sounds great with just his
voice and guitar. He intros it: "here's a song I wrote that was recorded by
someone famous, made a bit of money for me...". I knew the song, but just
couldn't place it - until I found a writeup on DL from AMG. The song was
made famous by none other than Pat Benetar! Now I remember it - and I must
say I prefer DL's version. Here's the article, for anyone who cares:
_________________________________________________________________________
D.L. Byron: an overview
The complete entry from All Music Guide, written by Pemberton Roach:
Raised by his adoptive parents in southern New Jersey, D. L. Byron (born
David Byron), became enamored with the Beatles, the Byrds and Bob Dylan at
an early age. When he wasn't busy getting thrown out of a string of
exclusive prep schools, Byron formed several teenage garage bands and won a
number of poetry competitions. Deciding to pursue his music career in
earnest, Byron moved to New York City in February of 1971. After working
briefly at the Colony Record shop (located on the ground floor of the Brill
Building) and living in a $45 per week fleabag hotel, Byron managed to catch
the tail end of tin pan alley, procuring a $75 a week job as a staff writer
for E. H. Morris. While there, he met and was influenced by greats like
Harold Arlen, and began to perform at open mic nights around New York. In
1979 Clive Davis and Arista discovered Byron and signed him, hoping to find
success with an American version of Elvis Costello or Graham Parker. In
1980, D. L. Byron released This Day and Age, which became an instant power
pop classic. Produced by Jimmy Iovine and featuring members of Billy Joel's
band, the record contained ten tracks of energetic pop/punk in the vein of
the Jam's In the City and Elvis Costello's Armed Forces. The album spawned a
Top 40 hit and popular MTV video with the first single, "Listen to the
Heartbeat." Byron toured the U.S. heavily in support of This Day and Age,
both as a headliner and as an opening act for Bob Seger (on his Against The
Wind tour) and the Boomtown Rats (on their Fine Art of Surfacing tour).
Shortly afterwards, Byron recorded a version of "You Can't Hurry Love" for
the R.S.O. Records soundtrack to the Tim Curry vehicle Times Square, which
also included songs from the Cure, XTC, Joe Jackson, Suzi Quatro, Lou Reed,
the Ramones, Roxy Music and others. Arista also released a 12-inch single
version of Byron's remake of "Down in the Boondocks," which featured Billy
Joel on backing vocals. Soon afterwards, D. L. Byron began recording demos
for his second Arista album. One of these songs, which Byron planned to use
as the lead single for the album, was "Shadows of the Night." Arista,
however, told Byron that "Shadows of the Night" and the other songs were not
commercial enough and promptly put him on suspension for a year. Later,
several other artists recorded "Shadows of the Night," the most famous of
whom was Pat Benatar. Benatar used the song as the opening track on her 1982
Get Nervous LP, which went on to sell over four million copies. "Shadows of
the Night" won the 1982 Grammy Award for Record of the Year and has since
been included on several compilations and "greatest hits" packages.
Disillusioned by Arista's lack of foresight, Byron asked to be released from
his contract and the label complied. Byron then decided to concentrate on
his writing and, although plagued by personal problems and drug abuse,
managed to place songs on Never Run Never Hide by Benny Mardones (a gold
record), Lights On by Price-Sulton, the self-titled record by Drive She
Said, and others. In the early '90s, Byron completely renounced drugs,
delved seriously into various forms of spirituality and successfully located
his birth mother (interestingly enough, Byron found that his real
grandfather had owned the music store where he bought his first guitar). He
then began performing and recording again, releasing Exploding Plastic
Inevitable on Zen Archer/Fountainbleu Records in 1998. The new album had a
much folkier slant than This Day and Age, (drawing critical comparisons to
Marshall Crenshaw and Tom Petty) although Byron's pop songwriting chops were
fully intact. In 1999 Byron undertook a U.S. tour co-headlining with two
other Fountainbleu artists, began writing material for a new album and
recorded a song for a Gene Clark tribute album.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The complete review of the album from All Music Guide, written by Pemberton
Roach:
An obscure, but absolutely essential example of late-'70s/early-'80s power
pop, D.L. Byron's This Day and Age easily ranks with the best work of
contemporaries like Pezband, Graham Parker and the Jam. On this, his debut
album and only officially released full-length record for Arista, Byron
rages through a set of first-rate original compositions (in later years
Byron became a successful hit songwriter for other artists) with the
flailing guitar fury of a prototypical angry young man. While some artists
fitting this description tend to get bogged down in politics, Byron remains
true to the power-pop credo of "girls, girls, girls" and delivers one biting
examination of failed (or failing) romantic relationships after another. The
energy level on This Day and Age remains high throughout the album's ten
songs, due in part to the top-notch rhythm section, which includes some
then-members of Billy Joel's touring band. Legendary producer Jimmy Iovine
keeps the sound simple, crisp and up-front, wisely avoiding the many of the
tricks that make other albums from this period sound so dated. Those
listeners only familiar with D.L. Byron's much mellower 1998 comeback album
Exploding Plastic Inevitable may find This Day and Age a bit too punk rock,
but any lover of pure power-pop should make every effort possible to find
this stunning high point of the genre.
Rated 4-1/2 stars (out of 5)
For assistance, please contact
the smoe.org administrators.