Bradley's Buzz

The Bubbatunes Vaults 3

And so here we are again, this time we'll look through those dusty vaults and you know when you dust them off, there's some pretty interesting music to be found here. This time out we have some punky covers, some cheesy pop, some smoky vocals, and some live tracks, so let's get pumpin...

bub 13 Me First & The Gimme Gimmes - OTHER GUY'S 7" (2003)
Me First & The Gimme Gimmes are probably THE premier punk cover artists, a conglomerate of some of the more recognizable faces in new school punk, singer Spike Slawson formed the Gimme Gimmes with NO FX bassist Fat Mike, Lagwagon singer/guitarist Joey Caop, No Use For A Name guitarist Chris Shiflett and Lagwagon drummer Dave Raun. They were drawn together by a mutual love of 60s and 70s music, and decided to work exclusively as a cover band. Never originally planning to record they ended up appearing on punk compilations and then in 1995 they began releasing 7" singles named after the singer they were covering.

Beginning with "Denver", they produced "Billy" (joel), "Diamond", "Paul", "Barry" and "In Your Barcelonger" in this manner. Then in 2003, the Leivas found the band and I became a fan, so I took what songs I had and created this compilation of those 7" singles - they aren't all the songs included nor are they all the A-sides of the singles but they are a hoot and a half none the less, yes here on CD are those Other Guy's 7 inches done in that Gimme Gimmes work over.

Covering Neil Diamond, Paul Simon, Barry Manillow, James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and Del Shannon, and as a special bonus a Hall & Oates cover, this is one fun and gyrating little comp. Of course you know all the songs but you don't know them this way. The punk hollering of "You've Got a Friend" is worth it alone.

Track List:
01. Take Me Home Country Roads 02. Only The Good Die Young 03. America 04. I Write The Songs 05. Mother & Child Reunion 06. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me 07. The Boxer 08. You've Got A Friend 09. The Times They Are A Changing 10. Father & Son 11. Hats Off To Larry 12. Rich Girl

bub 14 Kristy McNichol - PUMPIN' (2003)
This very short (9 songs) compilation was one of the hardest to compile. In fact, it was so hard to track down Kristy McNichol’s music; this compilation almost never came to be. With all downloads you can never be sure how well the quality is until you actually get the song on your computer. Half the time it’s not even what you were expecting. Luckily there are Kristy fans out there – fans so adoring they loaded the classic “Baby Bye Bye” to their computer which is THE best song on The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia yet never ended up on the soundtrack album. Talk about injustice!

The first step was completed when a lovely girl named Amy (a girl I bonded brought to me by our devoted love of Lisa Hartman) made me a pristine copy of The Pirate Movie Original Soundtrack. Her cleaned up versions of the songs made me realize I HAD to make this comp.

My initial plan was to put “Pumpin’ & Blowin’” my favorite song by Kristy at the end of the comp but realized that with it at the beginning, it would surely hook me into Kristy’s musical world and I wouldn’t just fast forward. And so it begins with the nugget that is “Pumpin’ & Blowin’” The song is really the highlight of Kristy’s music and The Pirate Movie.

The song has the 80s all over with its thumping pop beat. Think Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” and you get the picture. In fact that’s not all too surprising when you realize the song (and all the original pop songs from the movie) are written by Terry Britten and Sue Schifrin who were devoted Olivia Newton-John song writers circa 1982. Despite it’s very obvious double entendre message, I’ve always felt “Pumpin’” was written with its tongue firmly in cheek. The song is so catchy and fun, you can’t help but love it. Sure it’s cheese, in fact it’s so cheesy it’s cheez whiz, but gee whiz I love cheez whiz.

The most important thing is Kristy is very believable singing the song. It’s one of her best vocal performances and the song is so sing songy everyone I know can’t help but give it two listens at a pop…

Thanks to Amy’s robust handling of the CD version to The Pirate Movie (not on CD officially so FCC back off!) there are two more Kristy songs to offer – “First Love” and “Hold On.”

“First Love” is the obligatory duet all musicals must do. In this case, it’s when the two characters meet for the first time. It’s love at first sight and we learn it all through this 80s ballad. Kristy really does a great job on her vocals in all the movie’s songs; sounding better than any previous effort and Christopher Atkins (not a singer at all) isn’t too bad either. According to Christopher, the producers amped up his vocals a little and he was surprised saying, “They can do anything, they can make a dog sound good.” And boy that dawg looked good …

In the film, both “Mabel” and “Frederick” get to sing their weepy ballad after all hope of their love affair is gone. Christopher got to do his, which ended up being the only official single, and Kristy’s was “Hold On.” This is one pop song that could’ve been done by any number of artists at the time and released to radio. It’s right out of 1982 and although not on the cutting edge side by any means, it’s pop cheese that would’ve or could’ve surely done some chart action…. Though it’s no “Pumpin’ & Blowin’”

Kristy’s only other singing role in film was in 1980’s The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia which is of course another of my all time favs. When I had Alf listen to the Kristy McNichol compilation (He does love me so) the first song heard from the Georgia soundtrack is “Hangin’ Up The Gun” a duet between Kristy and Dennis Quaid. I love the song, it’s a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll and Dennis is really quite good. I know he had or has a band in real life and was in fact part of Bonnie Raitt’s big revival in 1988 as they were next door neighbors and he loved her music. (Take that information any way you want to). But Alf just said, “What was it about the 80s that made every actor want to sing?” I don’t have an answer but I do know I liked it.

The biggest surprise for me was “I Need You Strong For Me”, a ballad of Kristy’s from the Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia. I didn’t really remember it from the movie and I didn’t expect to like it so much. But this is coming from the boy who is suddenly in love with “Somebody Must’ve Loved You Right Last Night” a Tanya Tucker keyboard heavy 70s number in a very similar vein to this. “I Need You Strong…” is actually a very pretty little number with Kristy singing, “Don’t go changing your life now/cuz I’m changing mine/It’s time that I am free/but I need you strong for me.” It would of course be a lot more effective if Kristy sang in a more recognizable key but anyone who ever heard a Swivek CD knows the off track key can be very effective and Kristy really takes off by the end of the song and something has to be said for one who gives their all in a performance and once you’re this far into the compilation you are so far into Kristy’s world you are ready to drop a tear.

It’s probably no surprise but I like the rock edge of pop music a tad more than ballads and “Baby Bye Bye” was always my favorite Kristy song fom The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia. She sings with a little more gusto than normally and there’s actually a pretty good guitar solo going on. The only problem is this wasn’t put on the soundtrack so the only version I have is one someone taped from the film which includes dialogue from the movie and a fairly shabby sound. But with a little cleanup the sassiness is at least audible. Kristy growls, “I heard from everyone in town/you’ve been slippin’ around/bye bye/baby bye bye.” I can’t help but think Tanya Tucker was somewhere on the set urging the girl on… “Do it like this, now like this, listen to how I sing and try, try you little boy girl, try!” Whatever it was, it happened and 1979 Tanya Tucker is definitely heard on this track.

The final tracks on this short 9 song compilation are from a 1978 album called Kristy & Jimmy McNichol, that’s right I’m not even joking. The brother and sister team who brought you endless Teen Beat covers brought you not only an album but a Kristy McNichol doll as well (but that’s another story)…

Though I haven’t heard the entire album ever I can probably safely assume it is very discoish and very 1978. The three songs picked here are made up of two covers and one very very disco song. In fact this thing is so disco Gloria Gaynor would probably hit the floor.

Kristy does her versions of “He’s So Fine” with the actual Chiffons singing backup (!) and “My Boyfriend’s Back”. The Chiffons song was actually a single credited to the brother and sister team though I don’t hear him at all, but the song actually cracked the top 100 (#79). Her covers aren’t too bad, but they aren’t all that different from the originals and her voice is a tad thin, but we’re talking about a 16 year old girl here who did not have the production advantages of the no talent girls of the 2000s, and I can’t help it – I like them.

The ending song is the fitting “Hot Tunes” which almost was put at the beginning of the CD, but thought others who listened may not get through it all to venture further into Kristy’s musical side. The song is a duet with Jimmy and it begins with those beats only a disco song would have, in fact the music sounds like something from a ChiPs episode, it’s that 1978!

“Can’t stop/Strong flow/Sounds so good/on the radio/Stomp my feet/Clap my hands/Surrender to the rhythm dance/The rhythm dance!”

Then the almighty chorus:

“Love those Hot Tunes/Hot flash/like a laser blast/Countdown/All systems go/Flying high/Like a UFO/ Like A UFO! / 10,9,8,7.6,5,4,3,2,1… blast off!”

Oh yes, it’s that good… and the perfect way to end a perfectly dive into the cheez whiz world of Miss Kristy McNichol.. the coolest piece of white bread the world ever saw… or heard.. Oh Kristy, where are you now?

Track List:
01. Pumpin' & Blowin' 02. He's So Fine 03. Hangin' Up The Gun 04. Hold On 05. My Boyfriend's Back 06. I Need You Strong For Me 07. Baby Bye Bye 08. First Love 09. Hot Tunes DOWNLOAD KRISTY McNICHOL - PUMPIN'

bub 15 Kim Carnes - ROUGH EDGES (2003)
Like most people, my introduction to Kim Carnes’ music was the mega hit “Bette Davis Eyes.” It was one of the first 45s I ever bought and I used to play it all the time. I loved the synthesized “slaps” through out the song and used to annoy my little brother to no end by pretending to slap him as the song played.

But Kim can’t be tossed off as just a one hit wonder; no you won’t find her next to Toni Basil in the Rock & Roll Museum. Kim had hits prior to and after “Bette Davis Eyes” she just never had as big of a hit. But that’s fairly understandable, this song was so huge repeating its success was impossible.

By the time “Bette Davis Eyes” was released in April 1981, Kim had been around for more than a decade. She sang with country bands and released a few albums in a more country folk vein that her big hit.

In 1978, her and her husband wrote the album Gideon for Kenny Rogers. It was a concept album of sorts with a cowboy theme. Kenny and Kim sang on “Don’t Fall In Love With A Dreamer” (not included on this compilation) and it became a hit.

The following year, she was the very first artist signed to EMI America Records on the insistence of the record company’s owner. Her first album on the label, St. Vincent’s Court didn’t do all that well but the following album Romance Dance spawned the top 10 hit “More Love” – a Smokey Robinson cover. Romance Dance also saw Kim moving into a more pop territory.

It was 1981’s Mistaken Identity that put Kim into the stratosphere. The album combined synthesized rock with country pop and it scored big. No doubt thanks to “Bette Davis Eyes” which was also a cover song of Jackie DeShannon’s. The original didn’t have those synthesizers in it and even the initial Kim recording didn’t have them. But after a little retooling they had the song everyone would come to know.

From the album I included not only that smash single but some of my favorites - Mistaken Identity as a whole is a kind of strange album, one album is synth rock and the next is pure coutnry, but for some reason it all works.

After the smashing success of Mistaken Identity and most notably the single, Kim’s next few albums were synthesized laden. Voyeur and Café Racers took different approaches however. Voyeur (the first full Kim album I had) was synthesized rock, while 1983’s Café Racers was dance pop, set to the tune of all those 1983 synthesizers and drum machines.

In 1985, Kim recorded Barking At Airplanes and took the helm as producer for herself. The album was a fairly big success considering the last two and she actually scored a top 20 hit with “Crazy In The Night.”

By 1986, even her minor hits were drying up, so she switched gears again and went back to her country roots. Kim is still recording and releasing records but it’s those five years on EMI America that makes up Rough Edges. They are my favorite Kim songs and they should be yours too.

The 1980 hit “More Love” is the only pre- Mistaken Identity I included. I had never heard the song either by Smokey Robinson or Kim until years after this song was a hit. I wasn’t even completely mad about it, but after numerous listenings, it really has a nice little ring to it. Kim gives her all to an almost disco country beat. I have since heard the original version and I hope the Motown gods don’t strike me down, but I actually like Kim’s version better.

The other songs from that country/hybrid of Mistaken Idenity include the country flick of “Don’t Call It Love.” I really like this song and the sentiment is so sweet it almost makes my teeth fall out, but being in such a wonderful relationship as I am, it touches me… “Nobody believes that I really care for you/they don’t think my heart is true/I don’t think you’d agree/you know I’m a life time guarantee/so if they ask you what you mean to me/don’t call it love/heaven’s above/we got a better thing/don’t call it love/that ain’t enough/tell them you’re my everything.” Awww.

“Still Hold On” has always been one of my favorite songs Kim ever wrote. It’s a country rock ballad that is full of powerful lyrics and a kick ass chorus. In 1986, my country girl Tanya Tucker came back from a hiatus of dried up hits to release the album Girls Like Me, and the last song on the album was her version of “Still Hold On.” Tanya’s is just as good as this original version, and on a side note in 1979 Tanya released her Tear Me Apart album featuring the title Chinn/Chapman song, and Kim did her version of the song on her album St. Vincent’s Court. Everything is connected in my little Bradley world...

A song often neglected on Kim Carnes' compilations is "Draw Of The Cards", a synthesized heavy ditty that is full of dark images and the is a fairly scary song. It was the follow up single to "Bette Davis Eyes" and hit the top 30. Once again, I recall the video and it kind of frightened me.

Through out the song, the music gets quiet and then loud, loud, until the end when the sax begins kicking in, loud, loud, LOUD, LOUD, SYNTHESIZER, HORNS, GUITARS, and a BIG SCARY JOKER LAUGH, before fading out. One of the most original songs to come out of this time period I think.

From Kim’s 1982 album Voyeur, I ended up using quite a few songs. “Voyeur” opens up Rough Edges and it is one of my all time favorite Kim tracks. I recall the video gained a lot of controversy as it was filled with violence and sex. Set to a synthesized rock beat, the story of the woman and her obsessions come shining through, “when voices through the thin walls/speak of abhorrent behavior/and the video’s her only savior…” Kim’s smoke filled voice adds to the eerie effect of the song, “Voyeur, voyeur/are you hot tonight? /dance dance dance/til it makes you feel good.”

The song was the opening number on the original album as well. I used to listen to that album over and over again. I loved that album, it had everything plus I loved the cover - a black and white photo of Kim in a mini skirt, jacket and high heels standing in front of some kind of factory looking building. It was so industrial, so dark. For the music inside there was rock guitars, synthesizers, keyboards, Kim’s rugged voice and some really good lyrics – plus Martha Davis of the Motels even showing up to sing along on one of the songs…

From that 1982 favorite I’ve included a few other songs including the pseudo duet with Martha – “The Arrangement.” It’s one of my favorites from that album. This track doesn’t bother using the keyboards or synthesizers of some of the others but it doesn’t go into country territory either. It’s pretty much a balls out rock song telling the tale of a very vain and selfish woman and her “arrangement” with her man. “He drives her all day long/to fancy bars and restaurants/she acts like nothings wrong/she satisfies his needs and wants/He will drive her/she will drive him crazy with demands/until he takes all he can stand" and that my friends is the arrangement.

The second single from Voyeur, was the rock ballad “Does It Make You Remember”. I’m not sure if there was a single version released or if the album version was the single. The album version is over five minutes and this is rare for a single, however listening to the song, I can’t imagine where or how they could’ve edited it down for a single version. If Kim weren’t a performer she would be (and was) a songwriter and it’s her lyrics that always affect me. If not a fan of 80s music or Kim’s voice, one would have to admit she writes some damn good stories.

My favorite song from Voyeur has always been “Looker.” It’s a song written by outside writers but it could’ve been one of Kim’s. Heavily laden synthesizers start out the song with Kim singing, “A pretty face reflected in a mirror/so perfect in every way/with every move the picture’s getting clearer/she’s got it all/she’s got it made,” / “She’s a Looker/that’s what they say/she’s got it all/ yeah she’s got it made/she’s a Looker/ with a beautiful face/always on display.” I can totally relate to this song as I too am quite a looker and it’s not so easy being pretty!

In the fall of 1982, a little movie known as Flashdance took the world and this little Bradley by storm. It was the first R rated movie I ever got to see. I could not stop talking about, whining and crying until my mother could take no more and brought me to the theater.

Anyway, Kim contributed to the soundtrack with her ballad, “I’ll Be Here Where The Heart Is.” To this day, it’s still one of my favorite songs, not just by Kim, and not just from the soundtrack but in general. Like I’ve said, Kim has a very clever of writing a lyric, then with her scratchy voice, I somehow am able to empathize with whatever she’s saying.

“I’ll Be Here Where The Heart Is” was never released as a single but Kim did put in on her next album, 1983’s Café Racers, and it was the B-side to that albums first single Invisible Hands.

For Café Racers, Kim hired Keith Olsen (Pat Benatar, Fleetwood Mac, and co-producer of the soundtrack to that flashy trashy strip movie we were just talking about) to produce and they came up with something she had never done before. A full blown synthesized dance oriented album. Full of drum machines, fake guitars, and Kim’s vocals…it’s not as bad as you would think.

There are a few highlights from the album including “Invisible Hands.” Sounding like a hybrid of Olivia Newton-John’s “Twist Of Fate” and Madonna’s “Burning Up”, the song might as well have “1983” as a subtitle. Needless to say I love it. Kim took the song to #40 on the pop charts; meanwhile Olivia hit #3 with “Twist Of Fate” and Madonna was yet to “conquer the world.”

“You Make My Heart Beat Faster (And That’s All That Matters)” was the long-winded second single from Café Racers. Done in a very similar vein as “Invisible Hands” it’s a fun little piece of synth pop, but nowhere near as enjoyable as the first single.

I love “story songs” and “Young Love” happens to be the one chosen here. You know the type of songs I’m talking about, Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer” comes to mind with its story of the guitar player and his girlfriend. Usually these stories involve a guy named Johnny or John. I’m not sure why but that’s the way it is – perhaps there’s an unwritten law in pop music that says you have to use Johnny as your protagonist in story songs.

John shows up in “Young Love”, “Jenny loves John/ but he doesn’t care/ Now that he loves another/I know he’s been getting his share/sometimes I want to tell her/but I wouldn’t dare/cause tonight when she calls/she won’t know that I’m there…” That’s right, Kim is a slutting ho sleeping with her friend Jenny’s boyfriend John! I love it. The song would’ve been better if someone got killed at the end but I guess that’s Tanya Tucker’s department, not Kim’s.

The final single chosen from Café Racers was “I Pretend.” The song only hit in the upper 70s of the top 100 but it’s totally Kim Carnes. In fact it probably fits better on Mistaken Identity or one of her more recent albums than it did on the Café album.

Kim hadn’t had a bona fide hit in a few years when she decided to take over as her own producer for her next album. 1985’s Barking At Airplanes came out in the summer, and I remember hearing the first single “Crazy In The Night (Barking At Airplanes)” on the radio. I loved it and so did others as it hit #15 on the pop charts giving Kim another hit.

If Voyeur was my favorite Kim album to this point, Barking At Airplanes had the makings of taking over the title. All of the songs were either clever little ballads that pulled at my heartstrings or synthesized pop confections like “Crazy In The Night.”

The best ballad Kim has ever done in my opinion is the title track to this compilation, “Rough Edges.” The music is very minimalist and the song is mostly just Kim singing her misery but it’s so chilling, leaving me awestruck every time I hear it. For some reason, it’s the song I turn on every time I break up with some bastard.

Chosen as the third single from Barking At Airplanes, the song never had a chance on the radio, but Kim performed it around the TV circuit and I caught a live performance on some award show and I immediately fell in love with it.

Beginning in a similar vein to Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors”, there’s a bongo playing and then some clever guitar loops for Kim to sing along with. “Rough Edges” came out about six months before Cyndi’s “True Colors” and this song really should’ve been just as popular as Cyndi’s ballad. The second single from Barking was the synth laden “Abadabadango”. Abadaba what o? I know, it sounds silly and it is silly but like “Crazy In The Night” which isn’t exactly poetry, this song is fun. And it’s done for fun’s sake.

If I were to analyze this song, I would say "abadabadango" is the moment when you hear that inner voice telling you how stupid you’ve been acting, how you need to realize what you have right in front of you. But I’m not Kim Carnes so what the hell do I know about abadabadango?

“Divided Hearts” is the final song of Kim’s EMI America catalog chosen for Rough Edges. The song comes from Kim’s 1986 album Lighthouse. The album went back to Mistaken Identity territory, not only in musical styles (mixing country pop with rock pop) but also reuniting Kim with producer Val Garay. It would be her last EMI album and her last contemporary pop album. But what a way to go.

So now you know the songs and stories of that smoky voiced Kim Carnes. Perhaps you too can share some of her rough edges and see beyond those Bette Davis Eyes. It’s all in the draw of the cards, but choosing Kim will give you an ace every time.

Track List:
01. Voyeur 02. Invisible Hands 03. Rough Edges 04. Bette Davis Eyes
05. More Love 06. Abadabadango 07. Does It Make You Remember 08. Crazy In The Night (Barking At Airplanes) 09. Don't Call It Love 10. I'll Be Here Where The Heart Is 11. Looker 12. Draw Of The Cards 13. I Pretend 14. Divided Hearts 15. Still Hold On 16. Take It On The Chin 17. Young Love 18. The Arrangement 19. You Make My Heart Beat Faster (And That's All That Matters)

bub 16 Linda Ronstadt - THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION (2003)
I didn't realize how much I love Linda Ronstadt until I decided to make this compilation. Not the new Linda, the one who does Broadway and Spanish tunes or even the late 80s Linda who hooked up with Aaron for a series of successful though benign duets, I'm talking the uber popular, radical (though thankfully she's still quite radical) and 'there isn't a song I won't cover' 1970's Linda Ronstadt. Dubbing the official sound 'the Southern California sound' hybrid of rock and country folk, she did it before the Eagles or Fleetwood Mac - after all the Eagles were Linda's first backing band and the Mac hadn't yet recruited Stevie or Lindsay when Linda began scoring her hits. It's a real testament to her voice that most of these songs were huge hits, since hardly any of them were originals. After all Linda is foremost a vocalist and she would take any old song she wanted and make it her own, another testament since most of the arrangements she used were identical to the originals. I decided to do the Linda songs I would listen to over and over so there's no Aaron duest here, no big band but plenty of 70's and early 80's stuff including a slew of album tracks from the Mad Love album, which was her new wave attempt in 1980 and probably my favorite Linda album.

But between the first and last songs are a ton of really great tracks, some familiar, most hits and all of them great. We begin with her rockin' 1982 little hit "Get Closer" mostly known now as the Dentyne single from a few years back, there really is a song in here and it has a rockin' little back beat. My ultimate favorite Linda track ever "You're No Good" follows and it just goes from there.

All her early and late 70's hit singles - "Poor Poor Pitiful Me", "It's So Easy", "That'll Be The Day", "When Will I Be Loved", "Blue Bayou", "Tracks Of My Tears", "Tumblin' Dice" - you know all the covers she did.

When going through the Ronstadt catalog I had, I realized there were a few early hits I may have overlooked and luckily I realized what gems they really are - her very country "Silver Threads & Golden Needles" has a great vocal take, "Love Is A Rose" another country ditty is so catchy and "Long Long Time" is a song I hadn't really ever listened to but it is now one of my favorites.

From her later years in the rock new wave mode I put on her hit singles from Mad Love - the Billy Steinberg composition "How Do I Make You", "Hurt So Bad", "I Can't Let Go" and the album cuts "Mad Love", and the Elvis Costello cover "Girls Talk". Also from her 1982 Get Closer album is her cover of the 60's "Lies" and "Tell Him", both real rocking little ditties and the ballads (both which were singles) "Easy For Me To Say" and "I Knew You When" which is amazing in just the opening lines Linda sings. The only left over from her post hit making period is the single "Heartbeats Accelerating" from 1994 which I immediately fell in love with back in '94 when I heard it on the radio - too bad that it wasn't a hit.

Track List:
01. Get Closer 02. You're No Good 03. Poor Poor Pitiful Me 04. Hurt So Bad 05. It's So Easy 06. I Knew You When 07. That'll Be The Day 08. Just One Look 09. Love Is A Rose 10. Easy For You To Say 11. How Do I Make You 12. Heartbeats Accelerating 13. Blue Bayou 14. Lies 15. Tracks Of My Tears 16. I Can't Let Go 17. Someone To Lay Down Beside Me 18. Girls Talk 19. Tell Him 20. Tumbling Dice 21. Long Long Time 22. Mad Love 23. Ooh Baby Baby 24. Silver Threads & Golden Needles 25. When Will I Be Loved

bub 17 Blondie - MUSICKLADEN LIVE '78 (2003)
A live concert on DVD taped for German TV, the Leivas put this on a disc for me and I couldn't just let it sit there without a Bubbatunes makeover now could I? It's a pretty interesting CD just for the fact that this was a show where they were basically promoting the Plastic Letters album, so this is when they still very new and hadn't hit the world over yet. 11 songs of pure punky pop and surf bliss that was early Blondie. Some of these songs were probably never played live again so it's kind of a rare treat to have such oddities as live versions of "I Didn't Have The Nerve To Say No", "Kidnapper" and "Bermuda Triangle Blues." The actual DVD that is available is worth having as well since Debbie shows off what made her the star she would become include her fetish for camoflauge which I immediately took up as well.

Track List:
01. X Offender 02. Little Girl Lies 03. Look Good In Blue 04. Man Overboard 05. In The Flesh 06. I'm On E 07. Love At The Pier 08. I Didn't Have The Nerve To Say No 09. Bermuda Triangle Blues (Flight 45) 10. Kidnapper 11. Youth Nabbed As Sniper

bub 18 Pat Benatar - LIVE HEAT (2003)
As you know, where there's Debbie there's going to be Pat. Here is another really great oldies live set. Recorded in Denver in early 1980, this was recorded on the tour of her very first album In The Heat Of The Night, this is Pat at her earliest and grittiest. Her vocals are young and raw and it's really quite a thrill to hear some of these songs. Not to mention some songs are ones she never recorded or did a different version of, including the Richie Valen's cover "Come On Let's Go", which she never recorded but really rips up on stage; and a really early and super gritty version of the Raider's "Just Like Me" which she did end up recording for album in 1981, but it wasn't as cool as this live version. Of course there's songs from the debut album all performed live, the hits "Heartbreaker", "We Live For Love", "I Need A Lover" all before they were hits and as an encore she comes back with "You Better Run" which she would end up recording and releasing as the first single from her second album Crimes Of Passion.

Track List:
01. If You Think You Know How To Love Me 02. So Sincere 03. I Need A Lover 04. My Clone Sleeps Alone 05. In The Heat Of The Night 06. We Live For Love 07. No You Don't 08. Just Like Me 09. Heartbreaker Encore: 10. You Better Run 11. Come On Let's Go

And there you go, you made it through #s 13-18 - I know I'm long winded but these CDs are great! Stay tuned for next time when we visit some boys who made a real difference in the world of alternative music and the world, and oh I don't know probably some Pat Benatar and Blondie.

Labels: Blondie, Bubbatunes, Kim Carnes, Kristy McNichol, Linda Ronstadt, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Pat Benatar

posted by swivek @ 8:54 AM