W.O.C.K On Vinyl: Bad News - The Cash-In Compilation (1987, 1993)

Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song or album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.

Spinal Tap were by no means the first spoof band. In the ‘70s, Eric Idle and Neil Innes created The Rutles, a bald-faced spoof of The Beatles that George Harrison himself gleefully got involved in, having always been a fan of the Pythons. But in the ‘80s, the year before Spinal Tap burst onto the scene, the British series The Comic Strip Presents… created a mock band that was taking the piss out of the very same era of ultra-glam, ultra-self important, hair-metal bands that Spinal Tap were poking fun at – Bad News.

The core group, though, were Peter Richardson, Nigel Planer, Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson, the latter three of whom are now perhaps best known from the similarly-anarchic series The Young Ones. Its members are Vim Fuego (aka Alan Metcalfe), vocals and lead guitar (played by Adrian Edmondson); Den Dennis, rhythm guitar (Nigel Planer); Colin Grigson, bass (Rik Mayall); and Spider Webb, drums (Peter Richardson).

Their first appearance was in 1983, in the first series of The Comic Strip Presents... (written by Edmondson, and produced by Michael White/Comic Strip Productions).

The episode, Bad News Tour, took the form of a spoof rockumentary, in which the incompetent band is followed on tour by an almost equally incompetent documentary crew.

Coincidentally, it was in production at the same time as the similar film This Is Spinal Tap, which was released the following year to much greater acclaim.

The band also guested on some TV music shows and released a self-titled album, consisting of thrashy rock songs interspersed with arguments amongst the band. Brian May of Queen produced the album, which included a cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".

They also played a tour of universities and polytechnics as well as playing Reading Festival in 1987. They also played a suitably bad set at the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. This performance was featured in a second Comic Strip film, More Bad News, broadcast in 1988.

A feature of the band's performance that day which did not appear on film was an interesting method of dealing with the audience's (plastic) bottle barrage, which was a traditional and awkward welcome for some bands at the Donington festival in those days. Before the performance proper started, the band spent some time just running around on stage dodging bottles, and Mayall used his guitar as a bat in an attempt to return some. [extract from spirit-of-metal.com]

Album Review
Spinal Tap rip-off or hilarious English parody-of-a-parody? Comedy is so subjective to review -- either you laugh or you don't -- but Bad News provides more belly laughs than Spinal Tap. The essential difference in Bad News' shtick versus their Stateside counterparts is while the latter parodied the excesses of arena-rock stardom by focusing on a band good enough to be welcomed to the machine but stupid enough to be lost in it, Bad News focuses on a band that barely have enough talent to record a song -- and if you've ever spent time in a band in high school or college, the petty bickering and dumb behavior of Bad News rings true. Interspersed between several intentionally terrible (and thankfully short) songs such as "Drink Till I Die" and "Masturbike" are what sound like mainly improvised and edited routines. 

The album holds up over time, with many throwaway jokes revealing themselves only after years of listening. Recommended to fans of 1980s British humor. The CD reissue from Rhino contains the full album, plus tracks from their cassette-only release Bootleg and their Yuletide single "Cashing in on Christmas."  More information about Bad News and their 'rise to fame' can be found at culturedvultures.com

This month's WOCK On Vinyl post features one of my favourite musical spoofs - mainly because I was a big fan of the 'Young Ones' back in the 80's.  While their humour and banter is both Wicked and Clever, their musical covers and tongue in cheek 'Hair-Metal' originals are also strangely entertaining!  Ripped from CD to MP3 (320kps), this compilation features all tracks from their 1987 self-titled LP plus additional tracks from their cassette bootleg and Christmas Single. 

Folks - it doesn't get any Weirder, Crazier and Kornier than this, so prepare yourself for some serious Bad News - you'll never be the same again.

Tracks

01.  Hey Hey Bad News 

02.  Masturbike

03.  Double Entendre   

04.  Drink Til' I Die  

05.  Cashing In On Christmas Dub 

06.  Bad Dreams 

07.  Warriors Of Ghengis Kahn 

08.  A.G.M 

09.  Bohemian Rhapsody (Cover: Queen)

10.  Pretty Woman  (Cover: Roy Orbison)

11.  O Levels 

12.  Life With Brian 

13.  Bad News 

 

Personnel:

Vim Fuego (Adrian Edmondson) Lead Guitar, Vocals

Den Dennis (Nigel Planer) Rhythm Guitar

Colin Grigson (Rik Mayall) Bass Guitar

Spider Webb (Peter Richardson) Drums

Brian May - Additional Guitar on "Bad News", "Pretty Woman", "Drink Till I Die", "Life with Brian", "Cashing In on Christmas"

Bad News Link (138Mb)  New Link 18/11/2024

Glenn Cardier - An Everyday Maniac [The Festival File Vol.20] (1989) with Bonus Tracks

(Australian 1965 - Present)

Although his musical output has been primarily gentle, reflective and sensitive, the wry and unpredictable Glenn Cardier is a trashy rocker at heart. He began his career playing lead guitar in a Brisbane Hendrix/Cream acid rock band called The Revolution (see photo below taken at Hoadley's Battle Of The Bands in late 60's) and still burns a candle in the window for Eddie, Gene, Carl, Buddy, Jerry and Elvis. "I grew up with rock 'n' roll" he enthuses, "and my heroes are Pete Townsend, the Beatles and the like".

After two years as a school teacher, Glenn found his way into the recording game when his "Every Wounded Bird" was the winning Queensland entry in Bandstand's National Songwriting Awards.

Signed to Festival records in 1972, he moved to Sydney and cut his debut album, 'Days Of Wilderness';, which won him a Best New Talent Award from Australia's commercial radio stations (who ironically rarely played his records). It was a time when Carole, James, Joni and their like were murmuring meaningfully over their acoustic guitars, and Glenn dived into the angst stakes head first.

Unwillingly to be cast as a limp folkie, Glenn bravely went out on the road with the likes of the La De Das, Sherbet, Daddy Cool and Country Radio, and found himself on the bill of Sunbury '72 and Sunbury '73 [from which the bonus track was sourced]. He also opened for Frank Zappa (with Kevin Borich on acoustic guitar) and Manfred Mann's Earth band in Sydney, and undertook a fondly remembered campus tour called Woodsmoke & Oranges, in the company of Richard Clapton, Mike McClellan and Paul Pulati. "Those were the days when audiences, no matter who they came to see, were prepared to sit down and listen to you" Glenn recalls. "The music itself seemed more important at that time".

Taken at Sunbury 73' 

The truly superb tragi-comedy 'Only When I Laugh' album in 1974 displayed the strength and humanity of Glenn's highly individual, pathos-laden songs, with "The Darlings Of Market Street" and "Lovers Alias Fools" drawing considerable acclaim. Armed with a slew of fine reviews and one of 'Gough's grants', he set off to London that year, to record a third album (Glenn Cardier) under producer Labi Siffre, with musical assistance from Chas & Dave and The Shadow's Brian Bennett.

Moderate BBC airplay was forthcoming, as was tours with Fairport Convention and man. Olivia Newton-John recorded the touching "New Born Babe", while back in Australia, OL'55 included "Iridescent Pink Sock Blues" on their triple platinum 'Take It Greasy' album.

Glenn's English sojourn ended in 1978 and he relocated himself back in Sydney. Since then his musical activity has been spasmodic but always interesting. He was the alias 'Sydney Hill' singing "Establishment Blues" on the flip side of the double gold single "C'mon Aussie C'Mon" in 1979 [also added here as a bonus track].

Above photo shows Sydney Hills (aka Glenn Cardier) accepting his gold record from Peter Hebbes, on the right. Guess who's hiding beneath the Paper Bag !

The following year Glenn wrote and recorded 'Socka', the theme for the World Youth Soccer Championships, which was heard by 300 million people. He then undertook an Australian and Asian tour with Spike Milligan, which proved to be a perfect outlet for his offbeat sense of humour [I saw this stage show when it played in Melbourne - it was hilarious]

In more recent times he has been responsible for the delightful Christmas track "Reindeers on the Rooftop", singing under the alias Riff Raff, and has begun work on a new album 'Rust in The Tailfin' [but never eventuated. The title track eventually appeared on his 2002 album 'Rattle The Cage']. Over the years, his songs have been recorded by Jeff St.John, Broderick Smith, Margaret RoadKnight, Julie Anthony and others. He has led the road bands The cardinals and The Bel-aires.

This album presents the best of Glenn's three albums as well as a number of tracks - Tin Minstrel, Christopher Columbus, The Same Old Story, Ulysses (first version) and I Saved Annette From Drowning - which have not previously appeared on an LP. "Dance Numbers", recorded in England, is presented on disc for the first time, as is "Spaghetti Western" (from a Perth date on the 1980 Milligan tour).    [Liner notes by Glenn A. Baker - 1989]

This post consists of FLACs ripped from CD (supplied by Deutros with thanks) and includes full artwork and label scans. All photos featured in post were sourced from Glenn's Website.   I decided to post this 'best of compilation' in response to a request from a blog follower. It had always been my intention to post something of Glenn's, as he has always been the quiet achiever within the Aussie musical world yet he is such a strong writer of music and lyrics and deserves a lot more recognition.   I have also decided to include his B-Side hit single "Establishment Blues" and his iconic rendition of "Australia" from his Sunbury days, as Bonus Tracks.

Track Listing

01 Lovers Alias Fools 2:31

02 The Darlings Of Market Street 2:00

03 Anniversary 1:54

04 New Born Babe 1:49

05 Ulysses 2:35

06 Tin Minstrel 2:44

07 Every Wounded Bird 3:23

08 I Am The Day 3:18

09 Cars 2:19

10 Dance Numbers 3:13

11 Butterfly Net 2:56

12 The Iridescent Pink Sock Blues 1:53

13 Oh, Dear Saint Peter 2:01

14 Christopher Columbus 2:31

15 Love At First Sight 1:13

16 Please Don't Eat The Flowers, Dear 2:10

17 The Same Old Story 3:33

18 I Saved Annette From Drowning 3:35

19 I See A Comedy 2:34

20 Spaghetti Western (live) 3:34

21 Australia (Bonus Live Sunbury 73')   2:29

22 Establishment Blues (Bonus B-Side Single)    1:55

Glenn Cardier Link (321 Mb)

David Crosby - Oh Yes I Can (1989)

 (U.S 1965 - 2023)

Oh Yes I Can....and he did!

"David Crosby is back in the international spotlight with the release of his new solo album. He returns with an LP full of the lyrical and melodic prowess we've grown to respect from this very talented artist. Crosby is one of the most innovative figures to have been involved in rock music over the last two decades. As a founder member of The Byrds, Crosby was a pioneer of a least three musical genres, just retrace his work with Crosby, Stills, Nash and (later) Young. That wonderful bittersweet voice sounds as fresh today as when it first appeared on record. Guitarist Michael Hedges, pianist Kenny Kirkland, singers James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and J.D Souther make special guest appearances throughout this LP."  [taken from cover Liner Notes]

'Oh Yes I Can' album was released during the week of February 11, 1989. It was Crosby's first solo album in 18 years.

This was David´s first Solo effort after finally having cured his Lebanese Flu. The mood of the album was very optimistic. David was letting us and his wife Jan know that “Oh Yes I Can still make music” and “Oh Yes I can still be the man you fell in love with”.  And David invited a lot of friends to celebrate his return. The whole West Coast Scene took a train and went to the Studio. You will recognise Graham Nash, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Steve Lukather and many others. And David´s band includes Russ Kunkel and Joe Vitale on Drums, Craig Doerge on Keyboards (who also co-wrote many of the tracks on the album), Joe Lala, Danny Kortchmar and Larry Carlton on Guitars,  George Perry on Bass and Mike Finnegan on Organ. And, finally, David´s voice is back in its full glory.

So everything and everybody is set to make a great record. Unfortunately that did not quite happen for two reasons. Firstly, the songs, mostly written by David alone or in association with Craig Doerge, are very mainstream and lack the magic of his Byrds /CSN days. Secondly, the production is very generic. Artists like Toto and Jackson Browne come to my mind when listening to Melody and In the Wide Ruin.

There are some exceptions to the rule of course. There is quality in songs like Monkey and the Underdog and Tracks in the Dust. The first song is the story of David (The Underdog) in his battle against drugs (The Monkey). And in the second song we welcome Graham Nash´s harmony vocals. That probably explains why I consider this song to be the best on the album.

So yes, David was back and that´s great. But did he miss the mark? Maybe.

Crosby, Stills and Nash

Album Review

Back in 1989, Crosby was the underdog in a fight against a drug addiction that so nearly killed him and landed him in prison. The drugs sapped away the creativity and left Crosby questioning his decisions. 'Oh Yes I Can!', finally released in 1989, took an entire decade to make and was finally released a full eighteen years after the last solo album 'If I Could Only Remember My Name'. Written off the back of Crosby's powerful autobiography 'Long Time Gone' (which is similarly full of apologies and mistakes), it's an album unique in the Crosby canon, without the eccentric certainty of the predecessor or the big open heart of the CPR records to come.

Despite the certainty of the title, 'Can' is the one Crosby album where Crosby fears he can't and where nothing is safe, where things have gone so wrong that he can't get himself out of trouble. 'Drive My Car' has the narrator taking his motor for a spin, simply because it's the only thing in life he has any control over anymore. 'Tracks In The Dust' tries to have a four-way conversation about how to put the world to rights and comes up empty, or at any rate ends up a tie. 'The Monkey and The Underdog' is a struggle still left ongoing at the end of the song, the odds still heavily in favour of the tougher drug-Monkey whose killed so many, even though the underdog is doing his best at putting up one hell of a fight. On 'Distances' even Crosby's eloquence can't break through the barriers the drugs have built up.

The title track is the closest we've had to an apology in over fifty years of music-making, part fictional but also part autobiographical. Even Crosby's decades fighting the American establishment get overturned with 'Lady Of The Harbour' praising the constitution (if not the ways it's maintained) while the album even ends with the unofficial US anthem 'My Country 'Tis Of Thee'.

Crosby, it seemed, had finally cut his hair. It takes an outside song, by Crosby friend Craig Doerge's wife Judy Henske, to proclaim that deep within nothing ever changes within the self, even when everything changes.

Oddly, perhaps, given how much Crosby has always worn his heart on his sleeve you don't get much sense of that truly awful period in his life from the music on 'Oh Yes I Can!', which is a largely upbeat and hopeful album. There's only one song about drugs, nothing about prison and precious little about 'freedom' (the closest we get is the statue of liberty appearing to America's first immigrants). Maybe that's because five of these eleven are old songs (four dating back to that 1979 record and 'Drop Down Mama' even further), one of these a cover and one a traditional folk tune/national anthem, which leaves only the title track, 'The Monkey and The Underdog' 'Tracks In The Dust' and 'Lady Of The Harbour' as bona fide new compositions.

 

Crosby sounds more concerned with the outer world than he's ever been in song before, perhaps because he felt so cut off from anything outside his cell during his time in prison - hence the inclusion of songs that are respectively about his girlfriend Jan, fellow drug sufferers, the state of the world and a nationalistic pride for America from someone whose just realised how much they miss it. The last of these three songwriting methods are ones Crosby won't ever really return to again with no future song being so blatant about drugs, fictional four-way dinner party conversations or jingoistic concerns, though all are heartfelt after so long in solitary. What is constant is the true start of a run of love songs for girlfriend Jan Dance, the one loving constant in what must surely be Crosby's most difficult decade and final proof to the man who once sang 'Triad' and meant it that he had to commit himself to one true love.

Jan had problems herself, struggling with Crosby's lack of income and getting by through odd-jobs while battling drug issues too. Thankfully there's a happy ending, with the pair getting married soon after Crosby's release (and they still are to this day, with this currently the longest running relationship in all of CSN-dom). Though Crosby had survived hell and many fans expected a record full of exorcising demons, it's that sense of happiness that comes over most on 'Oh Yes I Can' - that love is there somewhere if you look hard enough (even if it's only in a 'melody' or a simple car-ride, two old pre-jail songs that must have taken on new meanings after being denied to Crosby for so long). The album's other message is that sometimes, just sometimes, under-dogs can win the hardest fights.

Overall, then, 'Oh Yes I Can' wasn't the album we were expecting and it smacks at times of the speed and necessity with which it was made as Crosby found his need for a quick income was faster than his still slightly sluggish inspiration could flow. There has never been a Crosby related album with quite so much filler (the special case of covers project 'A Thousand Roads' aside) and the late 1980s production is often at odds with the timeless era-defying songs they're meant to balance (even more so than the 1979 version of the album, actually). However, there's a lot of hard work that went into this album at both the composing and recording stage and a lot of truth and heart went into the lyrics and melodies too.

 

The 1979 recordings are, 'Drive My Car' aside, too good to hold back in a drawer somewhere (it seems odd that Stills and Nash didn't pick up on the excellent 'Distances', especially, the same time they 'borrowed' 'Delta' and 'Might As Well Have A Good Time'). The best of the new songs like the title track and 'Tracks In The Dust' are right up there with Crosby's best too, poignant and sophisticated. The much-debated flag-wavers 'Lady Of The Harbour' and 'My Country 'Tis Of Thee' aren't the betrayals of liberalness fans took them to be at the time, but a wider understanding of the idealism in Crosby's nature and his frustration when America so infrequently even tries to live up to that fact. 'In The Wide Ruin' is a better and more suitable choice of cover than most on next record 'A Thousand Roads' and Crosby's voice is still full of pure beauty throughout, impressively so given what Crosby had been doing to it for the past decade.

Like Crosby, 'Oh Yes I Can' is far from perfect, is often opinionated (even if most opinions are right) and slightly conceited at times across the album. But, really, would fans have had it another way? Despite the production, despite the covers, despite the mix of old and new material and a sense of commercialism that will never be there on his solo works again, there's plenty of the 'real' Crosby here and after pretty much fifteen years out of the public eye (two songs on CSN's 'Daylight Again' and CSNY's 'American Dream' aside) for long term Crosbyphiles that's blessing enough. Oh yes Crosby still could, most of the time anyway - and that's all about this album you really need to know. [Extracts from alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com]

This post consists of FLACS ripped from my 'near mint' vinyl and contains full album artwork for vinyl and CD formats, along with label scans and photos.

It was always my intention to do a tribute post for Crosby in light of his recent passing (Jan 19, 2023), however I wanted to see what other bloggers posted first, before I produced mine. I think this album is one that has not been posted recently, and is a worthy addition from his wide discography.

RIP David Crosby - aged 81

Track Listing

01 Drive My Car 3:34
02 Melody 4:07
03 Monkey And The Underdog 4:15
04 In The Wide Ruin 4:47
05 Tracks In The Dust 4:47
06 Drop Down Mama 3:06
07 Lady Of The Harbor 3:19
08 Distances 3:35
09 Flying Man 3:24
10 Oh Yes I Can 5:08
11 My Country 'Tis Of Thee 1:58

Artists:

Vocals - David Crosby, Graham Nash, Michael Hedges, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, J.D Souther
Bass – Leland Sklar, George Perry, Tim Drummond
Drums – Joe Vitale, Russ Kunkal, Kim Keltner
Guitar – David Crosby, Danny Kortchmar, Joe Lala, Steve Lukather, Jackson Browne, Michael Hedges, Mike Landau, Larry Carlton
Slide Guitar – David Lindley, Dan Dugmore
Keyboards – Craig Doerge, Mike Finnegan, Kim Bullard

David Crosby Link (216Mb)

John Waters - Looking Through A Glass Onion 'John Lennon In Words And Music' (1993)

 (Australian 1992 - 2014)

John Waters is an Australian film, theatre and television actor, singer, guitarist, songwriter and musician best known in Australia, where he moved to in 1968. Waters was born in London, England. He first faced a live audience as a singer and bass guitar player with 1960s London-based blues band The Riots before travelling to Australia, initially for an extended working holiday and then eventually settling there permanently. Waters is an accomplished musician, and since 1992 has toured many times with his one-man show Looking Through a Glass Onion.

Created and performed by Waters and esteemed singer/pianist Stewart D’Arrietta; Lennon – Through a Glass Onion is part concert and part biography, revealing the essence of the life and astonishing talent of one of the most admired icons of the past century. This compelling story features 31 iconic hits of Lennon and his collaborations with McCartney including Imagine, Strawberry Fields Forever, Revolution, Woman, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Working Class Hero, and Jealous Guy.

It’s been 30 years since John Waters and Stewart D’Arrietta first performed Lennon – Looking Through a Glass Onion on the small stage at Sydney’s Tilbury Hotel. Little did they know that over an inspiring 25 year journey they would perform the show in both New York and London, leaving their mark on audiences around the world.

Back in 1992 actor and musician John Waters transformed himself into John Lennon when he first performed 'Looking Through a Glass Onion', a homage to the music, mystery and memory of John Lennon, with the help of Stewart D'Arrietta.

The song 'Glass Onion' was John Lennon's postscript on the Beatles era. It had a strong image of crystal ball gazing and peeling away the layers on life that it inspired John to create a stage show - a kaleidoscopic collage of song, word, emotiuon and image exploring the essence of John Lennon, and what made him more than a 20th Century rock star.

Along with Stewart, they chose Beatle songs that for them were essentially Lennonesque. Stewart arranged these songs as a map to take the audience through Lennon's musical life. John wrote the monologue to link the songs.

Rather than impersonate, John wanted to evoke Lennon's honesty, bitter-sweet humour, self criticism and disdain for pretentiousness and promposity. The result was this stage show - 'Looking Through A Glass Onion' which both John and Stewart have delivered to audiences over the past the 30 years.

Stage Show Reviews

Review 1:  In 1992 a dark-haired and handsome John Waters came to Adelaide to present his, then new show, Lennon Through A Glass Onion. Twenty-seven years later he returns, with hair now grey but voice still as rich as it was back then. I missed out on a ticket all those years ago and after the accolades he received, I always regretted it. Thanks to the Adelaide Fringe, this year I got another chance, and it was worth the wait.

This show has certainly been around the block and returns after its Off-Broadway success, with Waters leading on guitar and vocals, accompanied by Stewart D'Arrietta on piano. This is an intimate and very moving theatrical production, part music, part spoken word, which celebrates the genius and talent of one of the world's most famous songwriters, John Lennon.

Waters has been a star of stage and screen for over four decades. His longest stint was as a presenter on the education television program for young children, Playschool, which he did for twenty years. Upon researching his early music career, I found out that Waters first gig was as a singer and bass guitarist in a London based rock band, The Riots, and so, from this early training and having years of performing this show behind him, he was more than comfortable to stand in a spotlight and present himself musically at his best.

Waters excels in this show, portraying Lennon so authentically through speech and song. His imitation of Lennon's Scouser accent completed his black leather look and, as shots rang out before he even stepped onstage, one was reminded of Lennon's murder and how the world lost not only an incredible singer and songwriter that day but a true artist and teacher of peace.

From that fateful night, Waters takes us back to where it all began with The Beatles, giving us snippets of Lennon's early life and taking the audience through, in story and song, to his relationship with Yoko Ono and the birth of Sean.

In just 90 minutes, Waters manages to present around 31 hits of Lennon and Lennon/McCartney, including Imagine, Strawberry Fields Forever, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Revolution, Woman, Working Class Hero, and Jealous Guy. An accomplished guitarist, it is Waters singing and characterisation that truly bring this piece to life. He has channeled not only Lennon's accent and voice but his very soul, no more so than when he sang Mother, and Imagine.

D'Arrietta was the perfect accompanist who is a talent in his own right. His rich harmonies, spot characters, keyboard, and percussion skills, rounded out this show to give it rare appeal. The Grand Central Showroom was packed to capacity and, at the end of the evening, all there left with not only appreciation of Waters (who by the way is 70 now) but of Lennon and all he had to offer the world. (Reviewed by Fiona Talbot-Leigh, Sunday 17th February 2019)

Review 2.   It was twelve years after Lennon’s death in 1992 that Waters conceived of the show with musician Stewart D’Arrietta. The name, a lyric from a song off the influential White Album, is a “sort of retrospective on the whole Beatles era. I’ve been berated by a few promoters for the title being rather obscure, but I didn’t think it was,” he laughs. “Don’t you know the double White Album for God’s sake?”

Since its inception, the one-man (and band) production has toured on the 20th anniversary of Lennon’s death and is now filling up the theatres yet again with Adelaide and Canberra shows sold out and others heading in a similar direction. “Our first audience is obviously baby boomers in general because they’re the people who kind of lived through the actual time, but the music itself just keeps going and spreads to all the subsequent generations.

It’s just a concert of songs with a little bit of extra that helps you maybe understand the background of the songs, because the songs themselves are a text of Lennon’s life.”

The “extra” comes as a monologue “which is kind of interwoven within the songs.” Which begs the question – how authentic is the monologue? Does it consist of Lennon’s actual words? “Not really. I take a cue from some of the things John Lennon has actually said. Maybe like one line or something as a quote of his and I expand on it as if it was him talking.”

The monologue is presented in a brilliant Liverpudlian accent, which can’t be too difficult for Waters as he spent his formative years in London where he played bass in a rock ‘n’ roll band called The Riots. So why not a show about fellow bass player Paul McCartney? “I think Paul McCartney is a fantastic musician and songwriter and is an equally important part of that era of music as Lennon really, but when you think about the MAN, he [Lennon] is more interesting. It’s a no-brainer.

“Lennon had a lot of grit in his voice, which I liked. White guys can sometimes try too hard to sound black but white people have soul of their own anyway. When they just do it naturally, it comes out like John Lennon.”

Unlike the aforementioned geezers, Waters doesn’t need to draw on the fame of John Lennon for a counterfeit sense of self worth. We already know and love the guy – from his 1988 AFI Best Actor performance in Boulevard of Broken Dreams to his more recent roles in TV’s All Saints and Offspring.

“I just love the fact that I was able to come up with something that enabled me to go back to my roots as a singer with bands and to add to that something that I learned over the intervening years about being an actor, being on a stage and communicating with the audience. So I sorta put all these elements together in a show.”

After meeting with Waters, I think it’s safe to say that Lennon is not turning in his 30-year-old grave. (review by Kanye & Jay-Z at Beat.com.au)

Interview with John Waters

How did you come up with the idea of Lennon: Through A Glass Onion?

It was through the memories of John Lennon and my love for his music that I decided to personalise a show about him by channeling him in a way that means I didn't have to dress as him but could present his music to other people.

Tell us a bit about the show Lennon: Through A Glass Onion?

The show takes a journey inside John's head and gets you closer to knowing what sort of man he was and that was my objective with it.

How did the name come about of the show because there are so many great John Lennon songs?

Glass Onion is the name of a Lennon song which featured on the "White Album" and it describes Lennon's tongue in cheek retrospective of the Beatles era and I thought it made a nice analogy for remembering things but not entirely clearly – a little distorted… who knows what the glass onion is, it doesn't matter.

Has Yoko Ono seen Lennon: Through A Glass Onion if so, what were her reactions?

Yoko Ono knows the show very well from DVDs and scripts and CD recordings etc, but it has some very confronting images of the death of Lennon and I wouldn't invite her to attend to be honest as I think it would put her through the worst memory of her life. She knows what we do and how strong the images are of John Lennon and feels we are doing story in the right way and that is why she is supporting us.

How many songs are performed in Lennon: Through A Glass Onion?

31 songs, either in full or in part.

Do you have a favourite song from Lennon: Through A Glass Onion?

Yes, Strawberry Fields Forever – it's a definitive John Lennon song for me.

As you've grown older has your view of John Lennon changed?

I would say I've learnt a bit more about John Lennon through other people's reactions and the reactions of people who knew him personally and who have seen the show in the UK and New York City especially – their stories and anecdotes have really increased my knowledge about the guy.

The show has evoked strong emotions from some audience members. What sort of reactions have you seen?

I have seen people in tears after a show, literally in tears, and feel deeply moved by the show.

At one stage you had a five piece band, why did you decided for this tour to have yourself and Stewart on stage?

The show started in this format with myself and Stewart. I believe it's most intimate and most powerful in getting the message across in this stripped down performance.

You performed the show in London and New York. Can you tell me about this experience?

It's always fantastic to reach a big audience in the two main theatre cities in the world so I think it's been incredibly fortunate that we've been able to play both those cities and hopefully we can go back. (Interview by Belinda Nolan-Price for Weekend Notes)

This post consists of FLACs ripped from CD.  Although this show has never been released on vinyl, it was released on cassette tape (and therefore still conforms with my blog's charter) 

I have always been a big fan of John's acting career, having being first introduced to his acting talents when he played Sergeant Robert McKellar in the 1974–76 television series Rush (set during the Gold Rush days of Colonial Australia). 

It is only when I stumbled upon this CD by shear accident at a garage sale that I realised Waters had other talents hidden beneath his brooding exterior. I must say I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to this show for the first time, his take on John Lennon is simply stunning and brilliant.  

Whether you are familiar with John Waters through his acting career or not - you really need to hear this album 

Track Listing

1 Liverpool Lullaby 1:05

2 A Day In The Life 1:09

3 Pretty Mild Day Isolation 3:20

4 Glass Onion 1:45

5 Someone Once Said 0:28

6 Lucy In The Sky 1:01

7 And Then You Get This Great … 1:29

8 Working Class Hero 2:16

9 Everybody Meets Someone 1:22

10 How Do You Sleep 2:20

11 I Loved The Fame 2:42

12 All You Need Is Love 1:39

13 People Always…. 0:42

14 I’m So Tired 1:21

15 I Have To Admit … 1:20

16 Revolution 2:07

17 I Think It Was Ringo … 1:02

18 Sexy Sadie 2:05

19 Don’t Know What To Say 1:20

20 Come Together 1:02

21 Only Thing Nobody Can Touch … 0:14

22 Strawberry Fields Forever 2:24

23 Steel And Glass 3:00

24 Suppose I Just Graduated … 1:07

25 Nowhere Man 0:47

26 I Don’t Suppose 0:29

27 Julia 1:43

28 Mother 1:34

29 Yoko Had This … 0:48

30 Woman 1:59

31 Yoko Thinks I’m a Fag  0:05

32 The Ballad Of John & Yoko 1:47

33 Everybody Falls Back 1:47

34 Crippled Inside 1:51

35 ISMS … 1:11

36 How 2:45

37 God 1:53

38 I Really Thought … 0:50

39 Jealous Guy 2:09

40 I Sent Her A Postcard … 1:28

41 Watching The Wheels 2:13

42 Doctors Told Us … 0:37

43 Beautiful Boy 2:35

44 Done It All Wrong… 1:59

45 Isolation 1:16

46 Oh, I See … 1:28

47 Imagine 3:13

The Band:

John Waters - Guitar & Vocals

Stewart D'Arrioetta - Keyboards & Vocals

Hamish Stuart - Drums, Percussion & Vocals

Sam McFerran - Bass

Klaus Bussmann - Guitar & Vocals

Paul Berton - Guitars

Jan Young - Guitar on "Ballad of John & Yoko" and "Crippled Inside"

David Cafe - Vocals

John Waters Link (419Mb)

Rolling Stones - Still Life (1982) + Still Life Revamped EXS-1981-03 (1982)

 (U.S 1962 - Present)

One of the great tours of the first half of the 1980s was undoubtedly the one that the Rolling Stones performed in promotion to their latest studio work: "Tattoo You", released on August 24.1981 The album's release was preceded by the single "Start Me Up / No Use In Crying" on August 14. Single that quickly climbed to the charts reaching number 2 in the United States and Canada.

Between June 30 and July 2, 1981: The Rolling Stones shoot straight studio-performance video clips in New York City for "Start Me Up", "Hang Fire" and "Worried About You". "Neighbors" at the Taft Hotel in New York City and . "Waiting on a Friend" on the streets of Greenwich

After promoter Bill Graham and Keith Richards convinced Mick Jagger of the need to embark on a new world tour, the band met at Long View Farm, North Brookfield, Massachusetts, from August 14 to September 25 to rehearse. But before starting rehearsals Mick and Keith hold a meeting to discuss the tour and tell Ron Wood he will have to curb his cocaine habit if he wants to join them.

August 26, 1981: Mick Jagger holds a press conference at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, announcing the Rolling Stones' 1981 Tattoo You U.S. Tour. Worcester on September 14 in front of 11,000 fans, the tour began in Philadelphia on September 25 at the JFK Stadium, with all tickets sold out, with 181,564 spectators. The tour grossed $50 million in ticket sales when the average ticket price was $16. The Stones were estimated to have reaped about $22 million after expenses. Roughly three million attended the concerts, but unfortunately, this was the Stones' last tour of the United States until 1989.

October 15, 1981: A fan dies at a Stones concert in Seattle after falling 50 feet off a railing. The New Jersey concerts are filmed by director Hal Ashby for the indoor show portion of the film Let's Spend the Night Together. December 13perform at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe (Pheonix), Arizona, where the outdoor part of the film Let's Spend the Night Together is shot. Next day,Kansas City, ick Taylor joins in on the first night and stays through the whole set. The Rolling Stones end the 1981 Tattoo You U.S. Tour with two arena concerts in Hampton, Virginia, with the first concert (on Keith Richards' 38th birthday) telecast across the country on pay-per-view TV. During the show, Keith swings his guitar at a fan rushing the stage during Satisfaction.

February 1982: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards join director Hal Ashby in Los Angeles to start work on the concert film "Let's Spend the Night Together" and on the soundtrack for the film at the Power Station in New York City: a double lp. Ordered Bob Clearmountain and David Hewitt to mix a live album. Mixtures that were made at the Record Plant studios in New York, with the idea that the album coincided with the start of the European tour on June 2, 1982 in Rotterdam.

The original project was to be a double album, where three of its sides were recorded live during this successful American tour and the last one would feature some tracks from Chicago's Checkerboard Lounge with Muddy Waters, the night of November 22,1981. [extract from albums forgotten reconstructed]

Still Life - The Album

The aural equivalent of a Stones t-shirt? Maybe, but this short single-disc live outing, recorded during the band’s 1981 American tour, was released in time for the European leg when the Stones were enjoying a second life in popularity, touring the now canonised 'Tattoo You'.

Still Life sashays exuberantly through the decades, opening with a scintillating ‘Under My Thumb‘, then moving onto Stones staples like ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together’ and a blistering ‘Shattered’ where the weaving guitars of Ron and Keith are at their brilliant best, as Charlie effortlessly keeps it all together, and pre-departure Bill Wyman is faultless as always on bass – although Bobby Keys, still on the outer with Mick, is sadly absent.

The rhythm section and band interplay is exemplary. A concert movie was also released to accompany the album and Mick’s banter after the opener is priceless:

“Welcome to everyone watching on TV, hoping everyone’s having a good time, sinking a few beers, smoking a few joints…alright!”

They don’t make them like this anymore. The album is heavy on covers: ‘Twenty Flight Rock’ and ‘Going to a Go-Go’, both blues classics, are all garish mannerisms from Mick as he runs from one side of the stage to the other in his spray on tights as Ron and Keith smile and nod at each other with their perennial cigarettes.

There’s occasional vocals from Keith where it sounds like “Return of the Living Dead the Musical”, before they launch into a pacey ska version of Emotional Rescue’s ‘Let Me Go’. It’s delivered at break-neck speed, before Keith unleashes the trippy tones of his MXR Phase 100, a signature sound for this era, for the marvellous ‘Time Is On My Side’. Keith’s guitar treatments are subtle and as always sublime and his plaintive riff ringing out across the crowd is even more bittersweet.

We have room for another cover, Some Girls‘ Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me), a show stopper as Mick, Keith, and Ronnie sing together at the mic – a fine middle-era Stones moment. Then the high octane ‘Start Me Up’ and a super-fast ‘Satisfaction’ are exhausting just listening to them as they close out the album all too soon.

It does finish rather abruptly. I was having a lot of fun but it was brought to a sudden close and the outro ‘Star Spangled Banner’ (the Jimi Hendrix recording) chimes in as the Stones depart stage left.

Despite the album seemingly truncated, super-ultra-brief and probably released as a cash grab as a tour promo, it’s an amazingly enjoyable short burst of Stones live frivolity bringing back some great summer memories.

While it doesn’t document the overall performance of the ’81 shows, it is representative of who the Rolling Stones were at the time: a great live rock ‘n roll band. The album cover, a painting by Japanese artist Kazuhide Yamazaki whose work inspired the tour’s extravagant stage design, is very much of its time [extract from thepressmusicreviews.wordpress.com].

Rolling Stones - JFK Stadium 1981

Bonus - Still Life Revamped EXS-1981-03 (1982)

The Rolling Stones "Still Life" live album highlights eclectic songs from their 1981 tour of America. Leftover tracks were put together as official radio concerts for the "King Biscuit Flower Hour" and "Super Groups In Concert"

"Still Life Revamped" intertwines all of the radio broadcasted songs in to the "Still Life" album or includes them as bonus tracks with official interviews (see stonesworldcollection.blogspot)

The interviews from disc 2 were apparently done in 1982 since they included the Still Life album and the Let's Spend the Night Together movie. Some of what was said by Keith and others places the interviews in 1982.

Apparently the interviews on disc 2 were made for a radio broadcast sent to radio stations on LPs (see images below) and then later used in "The Complete History of the Rolling Stones" radio specials.

The interviews on CD 1 came from "Supergroups in Concert" radio broadcasts of the 1981 tour (see above). Many of the same musical performances were included in the King Biscuit Flower Hour broadcasts but KBFH didn't include the interviews from disc 1.

This post consists of 2 RIPS, all in FLAC format. The first, the official release of Still Life was taken from my Vinyl which I purchased back in 1982. As usual I am including full album artwork for both LP and CD releases, along with label scans.  Although I enjoy this live set, it was far too short in my opinion and my preference has always been to play their double album Love You Live when I'm in the mood to hear some live Stones.

Because this live album has no real track separation and most tracks simply run into one another, I am providing an alternative rip for your pleasure that has no track breaks (ie. Side 1 & 2 only).

The second rip is an extended bootleg release of Still Life which was sourced from the Stones forum "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" thanks to 'Exilestones'. This double CD set includes additional tracks and interviews sourced from various radio shows, also ripped from vinyl. Full CD artwork (including booklet) and vinyl label scans are also included.

Still Life Track Listing

01 - Intro (Take the A Train)

02 - Under My Thumb

03 - Let’s Spend the Night Together

04 - Shattered

05 - Twenty Flight Rock

06 - Going to a Go-Go

07 - Let Me Go

08 - Time is On My Side

09 - Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)

10 - Start Me Up

11 - Satisfaction

12 - Outro (Star Spangled Banner)

Still Life Link (242Mb) 

New Link 19/11/2024

Still Life - No Track Separation (242Mb)

New Link 19/11/2024

Still Life Revamped Track Listing

101 - Take The A Train (Intro)

102 - Under My Thumb

103 - Let's Spendf The Night Together

104 - Shattered

105 - Twenty Flight Rock

106 - Going To A Go Go

107 - Let me In

108 - Time Is On My Side

109 - Beast Of Burden

110 - Waiting For Friend

111 - Let It Bleed

112 - Just My Imagination

113 - Miss You

114 - Start Me Up

115 - Satisfaction

116 - Star Spangled Banner (Outro)

117 - Jumping Jack Flash

118 - Interviews Part 01

201 - Still Life Interview

202 - Under My Thumb

203 - Let's Spend The Night Together

204 - Shattered

205 - Black Limousine

206 - Twenty Flight Rock

207 - Going To A Go Go

208 - Time Is On My Side

209 - You Can't Always Get What You Want

210 - She's So Cold

211 - Hang Fire

212 - Brown Sugar

213 - Start Me Up

214 - Satisfaction

Still Life Revamped Link (1.19G)

New Link 19/11/2024