World Party was the very first band I saw for free because I
was working for a radio station! It was early in the summer of 1990. Mike
Parrish and I drove his shitty green car up the QEW to Toronto for a really
cool double bill, all paid for by our friends at Chrysalis Records!
Our evening began at Bamboo for dinner with the band The Pursuit Of Happiness. I sat across from Dave Gilby and we stared are our
waitress’ boobs the whole dinner. Not cause they were big or she was showing a
lot of cleavage, but because she was wearing a really loose fitting tank top… I
mean loooooose, and her tits were just hanging out. Perky little B-cups with
pointy nipples, if I remember correctly. We nicknamed her Downtown, because she
looked like Downtown Julie Brown from MTV. Every time she put anything on the
table, they were right in our face! We must have drank 12 beers between us just
to get her to keep coming back to the table. We didn't care cause the record
label was picking up the check!
After dinner, we headed out to the Diamond to see World
Party. The only time I ever saw Karl Wallinger play live. Then we headed to a
really small place where The Pursuit Of Happiness was playing a “secret show”
billed as The New Adults On The Block. Which is not only a fun take on the New KIDS On The Block, but also the band's biggest single "I'm An Adult Now." I drank so many free Black Label beers
at this show, that we had to pull over on the way home so I could puke. “If I didn't have puke breath, I’d kiss you,” I said to Mike when I got back into the
car. He didn't get it.
Oh right, Goodbye Jumbo. I can’t say I've listened to this
album since that time, but I must have heard “Way Down Now,” and “Put The
Message In The Box” a million times since. Sadly, those are all I cared about
from this offering. “Is It Too Late?” and “When The Rainbow Comes” are all
right. This listen proved to be a little
boring. But, I will say that “Way Down Now,” is up there as one of my all-time
favorite songs!
Inside my future eye.
What I see just makes me cry. I’m way down now. I’m way down now. The clocks
will all run backwards. All the sheep will have two heads and Thursday night
and Friday will be on Tuesday night instead. And all the times will keep on
changing. And the moving will increase. There’s something about the living,
babe. That sends me off my feet. There’s breeding in the sewers. And the rats
are on their way. They’re clouding up the images of my perfect day. And I know
I’m not alone. And I know I’m not alone. And I know I’m not alone!
You can divide The Afghan Whigs career right down the
middle. The first half was their Indie period and the second half was their
brilliant period. Although, some music snobs would probably disagree with me on
that assertion.
Gentlemen marks the beginning of the Golden Age of Whigs! Their last three albums contain some of my favorite music. They also represent almost 99% of the Whigs music that I have listened repeatedly for the last 19 years. Every now and again I'll go back to the first three, but they just don't speak to me. Their last album on Sub Pop, Congregation, was actually pretty good, if I remember correctly. I’ll definitely listen to it again this year.
Gentlemen isn't flawless, there's some stuff on here I don't love, but "Gentlemen," "Debonair," "What Jail Is Like," and "My Curse" really set a beautifully fucked up table for the much overlooked masterpiece to come, Black Love.
 |
| Denis Leary took this picture of me and Greg Dulli at a Mets game. |
I had to pull out Foals' first album Antidotes to remind me
what I didn't like about them. Let's just say their "sound" is what I don't like. They’re not for me. Who likes this?
Tomorrow we listen to Live Mental Jewelry, Hole Live Through This, and ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead Lost Songs.
Here's the entire March Playlist!
No comments:
Post a Comment