#203
1980 Housekeeping LISTENING POST DISCOVERY
The Late Show
Portable Pop
Genre: Can we just declare 1980 the year of Power Pop?
4.75 out of 5
Highlights:
Take a Chance
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
What Can I Do
Hey Sue
Won’t Mind Waiting
Just a Matter of Time
When I was in a band we played in a small circuit in LA. Those bands were all embracing of mine. And I’m sure their circles included many many other bands that I’d never heard of. While we played bills with Four Star Mary and The Piper Downs and B9, I’m sure that those bands played bills with bands that I have never listened to outside of the compilation record we appeared on for the Wheat From Chaff CD.
A lot of those bands (a LOT) would play another festival called The International Pop Overthrow. If you played the Overthrow you could contribute and have your band appear on one of the many multi-CDs that were made available for that year’s festival.
We didn’t do that. (We did, however, include ourselves on the West From Chaff CD)
But I do have a couple collections in the closet somewhere. They are impossible to get through. Because they are ENORMOUS.
And they are filled with bands you have never ever ever heard of, no matter how great they were.
I mean, just look at the list of bands we played with on that festival (link at the bottom).
What’s my point?
I know for a fact that those bands, so many of those bands, made great music. Music you will never hear. But your life would be enhanced if you did. The ones that rose from the sea to make it onto your permanent playlist are few.
That’s what The Late Show reminds me of. A band that would absolutely play on a bill with Bat Country and The Andersons! and Nice Guy Eddie and Sparklejets U*K* and The Slowtime Mondays and The Masticators and Taming Ingrid and The Piper Downs and B9 and Jed andandand...
Every One of those bands, even the ones I’ve never listened to could craft a handful of worthy tracks. And you would do worse than picking up some of those songs and putting them on a playlist and injecting them into your veins.
I would have glossed off the Late Show track if it was included on that 3 CD set, because it would have taken me HOURS to get to it. But, I bet you if it was “Hey Sue” or “What Can I Say” I would have found a way to get the entire record.
If I could go back in time I’d go back to 2001-2005. I’d play that circuit again and I’d remember to enjoy it more. And it was the best times of my life. Nothing will ever match it. And I’m grateful to every single musician and club booker and fan that let us play in that sandbox for that short time. And, no this won’t be the last time I wax on that experience.
(I recognize that “Take a Chance” is an interpolation of “I Can’t Explain” and I kind of love it for that.)
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