07.18.08
The Byrds
UNDER REVIEW-SEXY INTELLECTUAL- (MVD)- MVD has released a lot of these UNDER REVIEW dvds and some have been really good (The Smiths) and others (Leonard Cohen) have been , well, a bit on the boring side. This is definitely one of the better ones because A) I love The Byrds and B) you get to hear interesting chatter from some folks in the Byrds camp, namely writers like Johnny Rogan, Rolling Stone guy Anthony DeCurtis , country guitarist Vern Godsin and ex-Byrds members John York (who is in this a lot) and Gene Parsons. There is also brief chat from Chris Hillman and David Crosby. Any documentary that has this much good info is bound to be pleasant but you do get to hear some juicy anecdotes such as the fact that Gram Parsons not going to Africa with the band. It wasn’t because he opposed Apartheid but he wanted to stay in England and party more with the Stones ( I think he may have even outdone Keef in the partying dept.). John York had a good one about the band showing up in Nashville and wanting to meet the labels execs only to be turned away for being, umm…basically dirty, smelly rockers. It also includes plenty of live footage from all eras of the band, including live and studio clips of the band doing classics like “Mr. Tambourine Man”, “Eight Miles High”, “Mr. Spaceman:” and plenty of others. The Byrds fanatics probably already have this but even casual fans will enjoy this one as at over three hours there’s plenty to chew on. www.mvdvisual.com
07.18.08
Channel 3
ONE MORE FOR ALL MY TRUE FRIENDS (TKO)- I always really thought that out of the plethora of So. Cal. hardcore bands from the early 80’s that these guys were one of the more underrated ones. This 2-disc set (one dvd documentary and one cd from a live set in late 2006) documents the friendship of the band’s two main members, Mike Magrann and Kimm Gardner who initially became friends in middle school then started bands in high school in the late 70’s and things went from there. Along the way we hear from other band members including bassist Larry Kelley and early drummer Mike Burton as they discuss early hijinks (trashing hotel rooms) to band problems (the band going (mostly) metal in the late 80’s and alienating a lot of their fans) to even more serious topics (Magrann, who is half japanese, talks about his relatives being sent to internment camps, which was the basis for the song “Manzanar”). The best thing about the dvd is realizing that the band made some great music, especially in the early years, and the strong bond of friendship that exists to this day between Magrann and Gardner. You even get to hear some remarks from the bands label head, Robbie “Posh Boy” Fields (though you never see his face) as the band members tell the story about the time he came over and listened to them play while sitting on the washing machine in the garage. The opening liner notes (written by either Magrann or Gardner) asks whether they, out of countless other punk bands, deserve a film? My answer is undoubtedly a resounding yes. www.tkorecords.com
07.18.08
T.S.O.L.
THE EARLY YEARS LIVE-
(MVD)- Speaking of So. Cal. punk bands who made a name for themselves (and too, later went metal), T.S.O.L., also on the Posh Boy label, were definitely one of them. Apparently back in the day none of the bands from the Los Angeles area drew more kids to the gigs (or had more blood spilled at shows as their were from what I;ve heard, extremely violent) . This dvd, which has footage from 2 different gigs from 1983 wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for. The footage here is ok, but I dunno…I was hoping for something…..more. The FLIPSIDE footage was definitely the better of the two, this shows the band doing an outdoor gig and it shows them at the beginning of their experimental phase where they began using keyboards (check out the underrated BENEATH THE SHADOWS record) while vocalist Jack Grisham dances around and was dressed like a freaky gypsy or something. The one thing about these guys that set them apart from a good part of the rest of the punk scene was that they could play. These guys truly had talent, no 3-chord simpletons in this band (including terrific guitarist Ron Emory). The quality of this (FLIPSIDE) footage isn’t bad considering it’s over two decades old while the other footage, the stuff from TARGET was only a few songs and was just ok. You do get to hear hits like “Abolish Government/Silent Majority”, “Superficial Love” and, of course, “Code Blue.” The bonus material also includes the band doing a version of “Abolish Government/Silent Majority” from L.A. in 2007 and it still sounds great (even while Jack stops the song in the middle to berate a young stage diver, then starts the song up again from the middle) and a fairly boring band interview. Overall this isn’t bad and is definitely worth watching, as I said, I was just hoping for more. www.mvdvisual.com
03.07.08
D.O.A.
SMASH
THE STATE: THE RAW, ORIGINAL D.O.A. 1978-81- (SUDDEN
DEATH)- If you ever wondered just how smokin’ of a
live band that D.O.A. could be at times then here is your
chance to catch
them in all of their white hot glory. I didn’t catch
D.O.A. for the first time until the Summer of 1985 (on the
LET’S WRECK THE PARTY tour) and while they were good
I had heard stories about how I should have “seen them
when.” This dvd has plenty o’ footage with the
classic Joey Shithead (vocals/guitar) Randy Rampage (bass)
, Dave Gregg (guitar) and the youngster, Chuck Biscuits on
drums (Biscuits later went on to play with Black Flag, Social
Distortion, Danzig and a least a few others). For some reason
San Francisco seemed to be a big destination for them as
at least half of this footage is from there (On Broadway
in 1980, Old Waldorf from 1981, 10th St Hall from ’81
and a Bay Area mystery concert from 1981 as well). You’ll
get to hear some raging versions of classic cuts like “The
Enemy”, “New Age”, “No Way Out”, “World
War 3” and plenty of others. There’s even some
grainy backstage footage with our heroes hangin’ with
the Circle Jerks and The Lewd (you can’t really see
much) and a cool version of “World War 3” from
a television station in ‘79. So while a small bit of
the footage on here is sketchy most of it is truly classic
and well worth viewing. www.suddendeath.com
03.07.08
The Smiths
INSIDE
THE SMITHS WITH MIKE JOYCE AND ANDY ROURKE
(MVD)- Most of what you hear about the Smiths is from the perspective
of either Morrissey or Johnny Marr (or someone writing about
Mozzer or Marr) but this dvd is a bit different. Its interview
subjects are the nearly forgotten rhythm section of the Smiths,
drummer Mike Joyce and bassist Andy Rourke. Although in recent
years Joyce and Rourke successfully sued their old boss for
royalty money this dvd doesn’t t go into any of that.
Instead, the interviews with the two are from the beginning
until the end and everything in between. They both talk about
how they met each other and how they met Morrissey and Marr,
what the early practices were like, how they took the train
down to London and walked up to the head of Rough Trade Records,
Geoff Travis, and said “You have to hear this and release
it!” He did and he did. Rourke tells the story about
getting addicted to heroin, getting tossed out of the band
and then
being let back into the band after he cleaned up. One funny
anecdote is when Rourke is sitting with New Order’s Peter
Hook and Hook tells the story about watching the evening news
with his mum and seeing Andy Rourke on it getting busted. Hook’s
mum shouted to the tv set “Oooh…he must be a terrible
young man!” while her son Peter said “Oh, he is
mum”, laughing all the while telling the story to Andy.
You hear other quips from Mark E. Smith, Pete Shelley, Ricky
Wilson, and Mat Osman and others. The first time watching this
I thought it was ho-hum but each successive time has become
more and more intriguing as you truly get a sense of just how
special of a band The Smiths were. The extras are as long
as the main feature and one of the cool extra features is an
interview with the “5th Smith”, guitarist Craig
Gannon. www.mvdvisual.com
03.07.08
Tad
BUSTED
CIRCUITS AND RINGING EARS-
(MVD)- Of all the potential subjects of a dvd treatment
on the Seattle grunge scene I didn’t
think that Tad would be near the top of the list but the
folks behind this did a damn good job with it. Painting
its subject with the right amount of humor and tension,
the latter stemming from drugs, lawsuits, inner-band turmoil
and death of a friend (Kurt Cobain). From the minds
of Sub Pop owners, Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman came
the idea of painting the picture of a demented, 300 lb
lumberjack (butcher, actually) from the wilds of the Northwest.
And it worked. All of the press the band received, especially
that in the UK had pictures of these guys with flannels,
chain saws, goggles and the like. It also helped in photos
that Tad himself, a very large man, would have a twisted
smile and an occasional bowie knife in his hands (ie: on
the cover of the band’s terrific debut lp, GOD’S
BALLS). There’s plenty of fantastic live footage
which shows just how heavy the band could be both literally
and figuratively Along the way you get to hear commentary
from Tad himself as well as his bassist Kurt Danielson
and drummer Steve Weid (whose words occasionally seemed
bittersweet and occasionally downright sad) as well as
assorted members of Mudhoney, Soundgarden, Zeke, Nirvana
and a few others offering up their take on what a live
Tad show could be like and the constant state of flux of
the Seattle scene in general. You also hear tales of getting
dropped by record labels as well as lawsuits, one by Pepsi
and one from a couple that the band used on the cover of
their 3rd record, 8 WAY SANTA (now apparently born again
Christians). While now being older, wiser and calmer, you
get a sense from the interviews of 4 guys who at the time
were having a blast and wanted to ride it as long as they
could. www.mvdvisual.com
02.04.08
Dinosaur Jr
LIVE
IN THE MIDDLE EAST-
(IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT)- Of all of the 80’s bands who
made comebacks in these last few years (Mission of Burma,
Pixies,
etc. etc)
this is the one I was
the most excited about. I have always loved the first 3 Dino
Jr. records (with the original lineup) but as much as I loved
the records the two live gigs I caught by them back in 1987
(Trenton, NJ and New Brunswick, NJ) were both disasters.
Both sets got cut short and at both places (especially New
Brunswick) the sound was a complete mud bog. When Dino Jr.
played here last year at the Crystal Ballroom the sound was
great and the band was smokin’. This concert dvd, filmed
mostly at Boston’s Middle East, shows the band in fine
form. We all know that vocalist/guitarist J. Mascis is an
amazing guitar player and bassist Lou Barlow pounds the strings
on his instrument but the biggest surprise of the reunion
is drummer Murph. I don’t even remember him being that
good of a drummer but during these gigs he is a total machine.
We’re treated to early classics like “Kracked”, “Forget
the Swan” (my favorite song off their debut), “The
Lung”, “Freak Scene”, “Little Fury
Things” and plenty of other plus 2 covers (The Cure’s “Just
Like Heaven” and old Boston h/c band Last Rites “Chunks”).
Essential. www.image-entertainment.com
02.04.08
Nick Drake
UNDER
REVIEW-
(MVD)-
Mostly enjoyable 90 minute dvd on the late Mr. Nick Drake,
a musician who has gotten way more acclaim since his death
than he ever received while he was alive (Drake died in 1974
at age 26). The thing is there was only ever one interview
with him (and that interviewer, Jerry Gilbert, speaks on here),
no live footage or videos so all we are left with are his 3
records (4 if you count the outtakes record) and a whole
bunch of mystery. We are treated to interviews with a few Fairport
Convention guys ( Ashley Hutchings and Dave Mattacks) , folkie
Ralph McTell, both Nick biographers (Trevor Dann and Patrick
Humphries), Incredible String band-er Robin Williamson and
a few others lesser known types. It is interesting to hear
from a few people who actually knew Drake speak about him but
again, I wish they would (could) have found some old footage
of him playing live (which he rarely ever did ) or being interviewed.
Still, this UNDER REVIEW is definitely worthy of your time. www.mvdvisual.com
02.04.08
Bob Mould
CIRCLE
OF FRIENDS-
(MVD)-
Wow, good to see Bob Mould continue to reinvent himself.
My personal favorite part of his catalog is the Husker
Du stuff, maybe because that is when I first started listening
to his songs. Never cared much for Sugar when they were
around (I was probably still angry at the Huskers breakup)
but got into their stuff later. However, for folks who
have liked everything Bob Mould has done and always wanted
a smattering of each well then your wait is over. This
gig, filmed at Washington, DC’s legendary 9:30 Club
(a place I still have yet to set foot in) in late 2005
shows a recharged Mould with a terrific band Fugazi’s
Brendan Canty on drums, Jason Narducy on bass and Richard
Morel on keys) charging through 23 songs from his back
catalog. Starting off with three songs from Sugar’s
Copper Blue and right into a few from the solid Body of
Song . Elsewhere Moulds reaches far back and beyond in
recreating a classic from Workbook (“See a Little
Light”) and several from his legendary first band,
Husker Du ( “Celebrated Summer”, “I
Apologize”, etc.). At this point in his career Mould
( in the best shape of his life) doesn’t seem content
to play his acoustic guitar in coffeehouses. On the contrary,
the way he jumps around during this set you wonder when
he is going to break out the Flying V. www.mvdvisual.com
01.27.08
Donovan
THE
DONOVAN CONCERT: LIVE IN LA- (MVD)- Glad to
see Mr. Donovan is still out there making people smile..
Apparently at some point he became good friends with David
Lynch as this gig is a benefit for the David Lynch Foundation
for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace (a program
which funds Transcendental Meditation for at-risk youth……very
cool if you ask me!). Anywho, this gig was from 1/21/07
at the Kodak Theatre in L.A. and it’s just Donovan
and his acoustic guitar but he still sounds inspired and
lively. All of the hits are played (“Sunshine Superman:”, “Mellow
Yellow”, “Hurdy Gurdy Man”, etc.) an we
even see surprise appearance from Beach Boy Mike Love and
Donovan’s daughter, Astrella Celeste. I wouldn’t
call this essential viewing or anything but it’s well
done and a pleasant evening out (lots of smiles from the
crowd and hand clapping during favorite songs) and if you’re
a Donovan fanatic then you don’t wanna miss it. www.mvdvisual.com
01.27.08
Naked Raygun
WHAT
POOR GODS WE DO MAKE: THE STORY AND MUSIC BEHIND NAKE RAYGUN-
(RIOT FEST)-
Ah…..my beloved Naked Raygun. Always a pleasure to see
anything on these guys but when I heard they had reformed and
were playing some west coast gigs, well, that was icing on
the cake. This is a terrific documentary which coincided with
their headlining the Riot Fest in Chicago last year. It has
lots of great live footage and plenty of interviews. A few
of those who wax nostalgiac about Raygun include their old
buddies Steve Albini, John Kezdy (The Effigies), Jake Burns
(Stiff Little Fingers), as well as some Chicago area writers
like Greg Kot and Jim Derogatis. It’s interesting to
find out in interviews just how many lineups the band went
through and how many different types of sounds the band went
through (I guess real early on, when vocalist Jeff Pezzati’s
brother Mark who started the band was the vocalist , they were
quite experimental). At one point Albini tells that real early
on Jeff Pezzati had a pompadour before his brother told him
to get a haircut. The four (final lineup) members of N.R. all
tell some great band stories (Eric Spicer, who not only is
the tannest human being on earth, is funny as all hell) and
I only wish we would have heard from some of the ex members
of N.R., namely longtime guitarist John Haggerty, Marko Pezzati,
etc. The dvd has plenty of extras and it also comes with a
cd that includes 22 lives songs from late 2006 and at $20 this
is a steal. Even if you have a passing interest in N.R. or
punk rock (or the city of Chicago) then this is absolutely
essential. www.nakedraygun.org
01.27.08
Ramones
IT'S
ALIVE: 1974-2006- (RHINO)-
Both END OF THE CENTURY:THE STORY OF THE RAMONES and RAW
(both released in the last few years ) are great (especially
the former) but if you’re looking for the holy motherlode
of live material then look no further as this hot-pink cased,
2-dvd set (119 songs!) is it. It’s chronological and
from some of the early b/w footage from CBGB’S , Max’s
Kansas City and My Father’s Place show the band slowly
getting their look/sound down (ok, so it was there from the
beginning but the first footage from Sept of 1974 the band
was in its early stages but by the next batch of footage,
from April 1976, they were there). In addition to the classic
NYC haunts there’s several appearances on the UK tv
show The Old Grey Whistle Test (and a few on Top of the Pops
too) plus Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert (remember that
show ??? I do ….Don is shown on here announcing the
band in a hot pink shirt unbuttoned part of the way down
with gold chains n’ chest hair) and a ton of songs
each from The Rainbow in London (where the IT’S ALIVE
cd came from), the US Festival (in front of what looks like
hundreds of thousands ) , the outdoor San Francisco Civic
Center (on a beautiful day) , on the tv show Sha Na Na (Bowser
introduces them…heck, he looks like he could have been
a Ramone!) and the dvd-ending concert from 1996 in Buenos
Aires, Argentina in front of what looks like a million people.
No extras or special features but you don’t need them.
Flippin’ great! www.rhino.com
01.21.08
Cro-Mags
THE
FINAL QUARREL:LIVE AT CBGB 2001-
(MVD)- These guys seemed to be all the rage back in the
late 80’s in the northeast ( this is when their debut
record AGE OF QUARREL, came out and I was still living
in NJ) but
I never got into their brand of crunch-metal-punk. At these
time bands like these guys, Agnostic Front (who had gone
more metal than punk), The Crumbsuckers, Murphy’s
Law and the like seemed to be going for the hardest sound
they
could find (or at least the grimaces on their faces made
it look like that). As the title implies, this is the Cro
Mags last gig, at their haven, CBGB’s. Leader/bassist
Harley Davidson is the focal; point here (and it featured
prominently in the extras including footage with him and
his son and Harley giving a tour of CBGB’s). Definitely
not my favorite band out there but for fans this will quench
that thirst for them that I know you have. BONUS MATERIAL:
A slide show, a full set from Harley’s new band,
Harley’s
War, Harley giving a tour of CBGB and footage of Harley
and his son jamming. www.mvdb2b.com
01.21.08
Pet Shop Boys
CUBISM
IN CONCERT 11-14-06 MEXICO CITY- (RHINO)-
Had you told me back in my punk rock days that I’d become
a Pet Shop Boys fans I would have laughed in your face. Well,
when I interviewed St. Etienne in the mid-late 90’s Bob
Stanley told me he was a big PSB’s fan (he told me his
biggest influences were the PSB’s and the Beach Boys)
so I figured if it’s good enough for Bob Stanley (Mr.
Caff Records , to you) then it’s good enough for me.
My wife and I even caught them live in San Francisco in the
late 90’s and they put on a great show. This show was
on the tour for 2007’s FUNDAMENTAL but the songs during
this concert spanned their career and you get to hear old classics
like “West End Girls” , “Opportunities (let’s
make lots of money)” and “It’s a Sin” to
more recent tunes like “Psychological”, “I’m
with Stupid” and “Minimal.” The whole thing
is a complete spectacle with costume changes, choreographed
dance moves and plenty of computer generated fun as only PSB
can do. I feel this band has never gotten their fair shake
but hey, if you like excess and want to be entertained, CUBISM
IN CONCERT will entertain you. BONUS MATERIAL: photo gallery,
8-minute behind the scenes filmed in Mexico and audio commentary
from the band. www.wmg.com
01.21.08
Johnny Thunders
WHO'S
BEEN TALKING:IN CONCERT- (MVD)-
I gotta admit I was never a big New York Dolls fan and I
liked the Heartbreakers even less. Johnny Thunders, guitarist
for both bands and while a fine guitarist, I think the guy
was overrated. Had a chance to see him once in Philly at
Revival in about 1987 and blew it off (did he even show up?)
. This is a concert from Japan probably right before his
death and on stage with him he had a dancing girl/backup
singer plus a honking sax player. While he does play “Chinese
Rocks’ (his signature tune) he does play “In
Cold Blood”, “Personality Crisis”, “Gloria”,
plus his usual surf tunes; “Pipeline” and “Wipeout.” After
watching him play I now believe he probably wasn’t
overrated, in fact, he may have been a bit underrated. The
guy was a fairly amazing guitar player (in the scarf wearin’/face
makin’/struttin’ across the stage type styles).
It’s a shame that he’s known more these days
as a punchline to a heroin joke than he is a terrific guitar
player but we all make our own beds. WHO’S BEEN TALKING
is definitely worth checking out. www.mvdb2b.com
09.03.07
The Jesus Lizard
LIVE-
(MVD)- While I must admit that I was always partial to Scratch
Acid (vocalist David Yow’s band prior to Jesus Lizard)
that is not to say that I didn’t dig the Lizard. I did
indeed dig their stuff and I remember seeing them at least
once probably some dive in Philly (most likely The Khyber).
I did like seeing J.L. live ‘cos first off you had bassist
David Wm. Sims staring you down from the stage (just like he
used to do in Scratch Acid) and David Yow just being a complete
freak. The gig on this dvd was from October of 1994 from a
club in Boston, Venus de Milo ( well, the press release says
Boston but from the stage Yow says “Hello Cambridge” ….ok,
story time: one time in the late 80’s I was hanging out
with some friends in Somerville, MA and I made the genius comment
of “It’s great to be here in Boston” on when
a friend of a friend, not a very friendly one, looks at me
with a dead stare and says , in that Bah’stan accent, “You’re
not in Boston, you’re in Somerville!” ). Anywho,
on this dvd the camera shots are all good as is the sound and
at one point Yow gets the ok from a crowd and dives right in.
The band tackles “Gladiator”, “Mouthbreather”, “Horse”, “Mailman” and
plenty of others. Plus as a bonus there is 5 additional tracks
recorded in NYC at CBGB’s in the Summer of 1992 (including “My
Own Urine”, “Monkey Trick”, “Wheelchair
Epidemic”, etc.). www.mvdvisual.com
09.03.07
Lene Lovich
LIVE
FROM NEW YORK AT STUDIO 54- (MVD)-
While I own a handful of Lene Lovich records I must say that
I hardly ever listen to them (though I was happy as a pig in
poop when I got the “New Toy” 12” back in
the early 80’s). This show, from December 4th, 1981,
captures Lovich and her band (which includes, yep, that is
him, Thomas Dolby on synth ) in the Big Apple…..btu strangely
enough, it wasn’t from the Mudd Club or Danceteria or
even CBGB’s but from the legendary hedonistic disco that
was Studio 54 (where was Warhol? Bianca? Cher?). This is classic
in new wave excess from both the band and the fans. I remember
the early 80’s very well and yes, I too was a new wave
loser. Lene comes out dressed to the nines (as my pal Tony
used to say) looking like part UK hipster (thought she was
actually born in the USA, in Detroit) and part mental patient
(with that hair !) and out comes that famous hiccup of a voice.
With Dolby looking every bit the scientist that he is (or was)
and the other band members looking oh so new wave they tackle “Details”, “Lucky
Number”, “Rocky Road”, and , of course, “New
Toy.” I won’t say that this dvd enticed me into
tossing a Lene record on the turntable but I must say, I did
enjoy watching every minute of it. www.mvdvisual.com
09.03.07
The Queers
ARE
HERE- (MVD)-
Hard to believe that The Queers have been around for 25 years
and to commemorate it Joe and Co. have released this dvd.
If you have never heard this New Hampshire institution take
two parts Ramones and add some Screeching Weasel and Mr.
T Experience and yes, you have what we call, pop punk. All
the hits are played: “ I Spent the Rent”, “Fagtown”, “Tamara
is a Punk”, “Brush Your Teeth”, “ I
Only Drink Bud”, and , of course, the smash single, “Drop
the Attitude Fucker.” It has live clips from 1993 up
to 2005 as well as videos and some unreleased animated video
. I only have one problem: it didn’t play in my dvd
player and the odd thing is that this is the 2nd copy they
have sent me. The first one was scratched and skipped all
the way through. The only thing I can do is bring it over
a friends house and see if it plays over there. I really
do wanna see it.www.mvdvisual.com
