Bradley's Buzz

Bbbad... Carlton Heights Episode 4!!

I can't believe we are getting so deep into this, but for all of your reading pleasure, go no further than to the Carlton Heights official website where you can read our latest installment in the ongoing saga of those neighbors at Avenue Sea...

Labels: Aidan Palmer, Bradley Jacobson, Carlton Heights, Dylan Irving, Gay soap opera, Marty Mitchell, Ruth Carlton, Scripts

posted by swivek @ 6:35 PM 0 comments

Gee, I Think I Wanna Be An Actress

One of my all time fav movies is 1988's Outrageous Fortune with Bette Midler and Shelley Long - in the film Long's character is a struggling actress who takes her craft very seriously, along the way she meets up with Bette's flamboyant character who has starred in a strange space flick and when she ends up at a prestigious acting coach's office decides she's going to audition along with the uptight Long. Shelley fakes a Brooklyn accent and insists you can't just walk off the street and say, "Gee, I think I wanna be an actress..."

Yet that is exactly how I feel - well except for the ess part cuz gee I think I wanna be an actor. For the last few weeks I've been watching the improv sketch comedy show Thank God You're Here and I'm loving it, I always thought I'd be good at improv and when I did do a few plays in my day, I had to do a lot of improv and recall getting one of the best laughs out of an otherwise fairly mundane play called The Other Other Woman.

Then last night the Logo channel debuted The Big Gay Sketch Show - a sketch show a la Saturday Night Live and Mad TV only geared more for a gay audience and actually funny. In the premiere episode a few little sketches had me laughing out loud - including a Logo Lifetip sketch that found gay boys Chad Michael and Michael Chad showing a stunned audience that you can actually make ice in your own home. It's hilarious as they smile at the camera and continue opening the freezer wondering, "Is it ice yet?"

In another sketch one of the female actresses puts on a gray wig, black tights and heels and is Elaine Stritch working her first day as a Wal Mart greeter - if you've seen one Elaine's latest concert specials, you will be rolling... and there's even a news story about a little girl who spots a bear in her back yard that is pretty damn funny as well.

Also one of the actors happens to be Jonny McGovern, who has an alter ego named Gay Pimp that puts out fairly hilarous and sexy dance ditties including "Soccer Practice" with a fairly hot yet hilarious video you can see here -

So what does all of this television watching have to do with me? Well it makes me want to join a comedy troupe is what it does... I wanna be on TV too, and with two of my five goals met from my New Year's resolutions perhaps you'll be seeing my mug on a sketch show pretty darn soon.

To see some sketches from the new show just go to Logo and you can watch a few including the Elaine Stritch and the Logo Lifeline sketch which is part of the "Gay Pocket Friend" sketch... frickin' funny stuff.

Labels: Bette Midler, Big Gay Sketch Show, Bradley Jacobson Actor Man, Gay Pimp, Jonny McGovern, Outrageous Fortune, Shelley Long, Thank God You're Here

posted by swivek @ 11:30 AM 0 comments

Carlton Heights Episode 3

We're moving fast and furious now as we enter into the unfolding drama and humor of Carlton Heights - we have lies, sex, secrets and more in episode 3 OUR LIPS ARE SEALED!

Labels: Bradley Jacobson, Carlton Heights, Gay soap opera, Writing

posted by swivek @ 9:21 PM 0 comments

For your viewing pleasure

It's been a bit of stressful week for me so to numb the pain, yes I said the pain of my life, I am opting to head back to the 80's and a few of my favorite ladies... and why don't you join me...


Let's stop at 1980 and venture with Donna Summer as she becomes The Wanderer in all it's new wave glory, and if anyone can tell me what she's wearing on her head under those headphones I'd be much obliged....


then we travel to 1982 with Kim Wilde and her journey through her new wavey version of Cambodia....

Labels: 80s videos, Donna Summer, Kim Wilde, Lisa Hartman, Stevie Nicks, You Tube

posted by swivek @ 10:42 AM 0 comments

Guilty Pleasures Of Song

My musical tastes are all over the map, and recently I've realized just how true this is... here's some of what's been in constant rotation around my ears...

Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne (2007)
I hate this untalented pseudo punkette but this song is catchy as all hell and I can't help but like it, but the main reason is because it sounds like a Samantha Fox song from 1985 - has Avril always sounded like Samantha Fox? Does Samantha Fox know about this?

What Goes Around - Justin Timberlake (2007)
Another artist that I just can't stand yet somehow this song has worked its way into my psyche. I just can't stand looking at the dude, I know he's cute and all but he's just so gay and needs to come out of that closet and I'm still pissed about what a wimp he was during Boobgate.. my poor Janet don't need that kind of shizz in her life.

Tori Amos - Parasol (2007)
Off of her last album The Beekeeper, Tori seems to have reverted back to the greatness that was Little Earthquakes, at least on this tune. I love it and I love Tori's delivery. I thought this was from the new album as I'm apparantly a big idiot but I haven't actually heard anyting off of the new one though I'm not such a fan of the whole doll idea with a new 'character' having a song on the album and all that weird shizz she pulls, but hey it's Tori and she's eccentric so what can you do? At least the tunes from The Beekeeper (I've listened to them all now that I know what album I'm listening to) seems a little more entertaining, her last few albums had me on the floor napping.

Blue Angel - Blue Angel (1980)
This is the band Cyndi Lauper sang for prior to going solo. An album she declares sold so much it went lead. She also says the record company told her the 50's rockabilly they were doing was not going to sell and then a year later Stray Cats hit big doing the same thing. So you can tell where this music is coming from, but it's not really so much rockabilly, as it is a mixture of 80's pop, doo wop 50's style and the Shangri La's 60's. The album was released and done and gone in just a matter of months and our girl ended up bankrupt and all until her 1983 record contract. But the album is really good - there are versions of "Maybe He'll Know" and "I'm Gonna Be Strong" two songs Cyndi would later re-record on her own albums and the highlights to me, "I Had A Love" and "Fade." Cyndi's vocals are in full form and the band is pretty tight and fun. The album was released on CD for a very very limited time and I just happened to find a copy at Amoeba that I paid $16 for, more than I would normally pay but less than some greedmeisters are selling it for on Amazon.

Mary Weiss - Dangerous Game (2007)
Thanks to my pal Shae, I found out the lead singer of the Shangri La's headed back into the studio to record her first album in about 30 odd years. I'm so glad he told me and I'm so glad I bought this. Her voice is a bit deeper now but it's still that sass a frass Mary behind the mic. She even does a cover of "Heaven Only Knows" an old Shangri La's hit, and the music is very much in the vein of her former band, but with some added attitude and a few swear words here and there. I just can't believe she's waited this long to record but where ever she was hiding it's worth it, cause she sounds amazing and the songs are all really good. You can hear some of the gems at Mary's My Space page.

Carly Simon - Boys In The Trees (1978)
Everyone who reads this knows I've been on a quest to get all of Carly's old albums on CD, and the collection keeps going up. The first CD I bought of hers when I decided I loved her was 1975's Playing Possum and it has still been my favorite, followed closely by 1979's Spy and 1974's Hotcakes, but running around in there would be this 1978 effort which featured her hit "You Belong To Me" - a Michael McDonald co-write which brought her back to the top 10. The rest of the album is just as clever and meaningful as anything she had done before, probably her last collaboration with James Taylor as they would divorce a few years later, Boys In The Trees contains their duet "Devoted To You" (an old 60's Everly Brothers song), and a hilarious Jamaiccan reggae thing called "De Bat (Fly In Me Face)", and some other little gems. If you're looking for Carly, this is one to definitely get.

The Ordinary Boys - I Luv You (2006)
Okay because I do not live in the UK, I sometimes miss a few bands here and there and apparantly the Oridinary Boys is one such band, but boy was I ever missing out. Okay, to be perfectly honest this is the only song I've heard so far, taken from their 3rd album but as described by one reviewer they are the Smiths mixed up with Madness and how can that not be so right? I'm off to get their whole album and will return once I've heard it all but I don't think much could top this little pop gem. Hear it now at the Ordinary Boys myspace page.

Lucinda Williams - West (2007)
I'm not usually a big fan of the mellow country twinged stuff of people like Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffen or Lucinda Williams, but as I get older and spend more time in the company of older men like the Leivas, I realize there's a lot of poetic feelings I may have been missing out. I've found a new love for Emmylou Harris, I've discovered the genius that is Rosanne Cash, and I've pretty much given up on Patty Griffen, but Lucinda Williams as far as the album West goes, has my vote as being very talented and interesting. The lead off song "Are You Alright" is a true highlight, and I may have to check out and see if any of her other albums are as good.

Amy Winehouse - Back To Black (2007)
Another gal I had never heard of til she started making a splash with this album, it took a while for me to get into the whole album of Back To Black but as time has elipsed, I'm right there with her. One listen to "Rehab" had me hooked on her as a performer and writer but some of the other songs took me a while to get into. However, now that I've listened to it over and over, I can't get the damn thing out of my head.

and that's what I've been listening to, how about you?

Labels: Amy Winehouse, Avril Lavingne, Blue Angel, Carly Simon, Cyndi Lauper, Justin Timberlake, Lucinda Williams, Mary Weiss, Shangri Las, The Ordinary Boys, Tori Amos

posted by swivek @ 12:12 PM 2 comments

Carlton Heights Episode 2

The second episode of CARLTON HEIGHTS is now online!

Labels: Bradley Jacobson, Carlton Heights, Gay soap opera, My Space Groups

posted by swivek @ 10:02 PM 0 comments

Wonder Love Wonder Site

Last week I posted about my undying affection for Cheryl Ladd, and as much as I love that blonde angel, there is one 70's icon that takes her place as my ultimate favorite. Lynda Carter will always be Wonder Woman to millions and millions and it's so hard to even conceive that someone else would be able to play the superhero, which is why I think the movie idea has always been pushed back. I mean firstly how does one bring Wonder Woman to the big screen and how do you find someone to fill that suit the way Lynda did?

As a kid I loved Wonder Woman, okay as an adult I love Wonder Woman, I even have the DVD sets and love watching them. I saw all of Lynda Carter's variety specials in the 80's and constantly am on the internet scouting out to find them on DVD and to find her album Portrait. That's right the girl made an album too. In her defense, she was a singer prior to the landing of WW so it made sense she'd want to make an album.

I even owned the poster you see here, it is apparantly the biggest seller ever even outselling Farrah's nipple pic. Lynda won an award for the biggest selling poster of 1978 for the thing. I loved all of her TV movies including The Last Song (which I own on DVD) and the excellant Stillwatch (1987) which had three things going for it - Lynda, Angie Dickinson and it was based on a Mary Higgins Clark novel. Then her 1984 TV series Partners In Crime with Loni Anderson had this pre pubescent boy glued to my TV set on Saturday nights.

Anyway, to reiterate I love Lynda and am always looking for stuff about her. So imagine my ultimate shock when I hit the motherlode and found a website that had somehow eluded me all of these years. The Wonderland Site is dedicated to Lynda with a ton of pictures, videos of her work including her variety specials! and downloads of her frickin' songs. You know a Bubbatunes is on its way.

For anyone who loves Lynda, Wonder Woman or pure kitch, I highly suggest you bop over to for a look - you'll be left in pure wonderment.

Labels: Angie Dickinson, Cheryl Ladd, Loni Anderson, Lynda Carter, Partners In Crime, Portrait, Wonder Woman, Wonder-land

posted by swivek @ 1:46 PM 0 comments

Shocking Little Robbers

and here we have our two final Bubbatunes reissues of the Motels great back catalog. Today we venture into the years 1983 and the hit album Little Robbers and the blown up extravagance of the Motels final album 1985's Shock. So let's take a look shall we?

Labels: Bubbatunes, Little Robbers, Martha Davis, Remember The Nights, Shame, Shock, Suddenly Last Summer, The Motels

posted by swivek @ 8:52 AM 1 comments

Who Wants To Be Roomies?

Labels: Ebay, Ginger Ward, Houses For Rent, Kenny Ward, Knots Landing

posted by swivek @ 10:45 AM 0 comments

Carlton Heights "On The Air"

After all this time of talking about it, my soap opera Carlton Heights is finally online for everyone (yep that includes you) to read! We are premiering today with our pilot episode titled "I Know There's Something Going On" and for 13 full episodes you'll get to follow the lives and lies of the residents of Carlton Heights including those fun loving cul-de-sac dwellers of Avenue Sea.

The scripts will all be available online at our official website in a pdf (Adobe) file where you can download, print or read them online. So please join the happy (and not so happy) residents of Carlton Heights and a new episode will be uploaded every week until the thrilling season finale!

Here is our series synopsis:
Welcome to Carlton Heights, the ongoing script serial set in a small coastal town where the main residents are married gay men with the typical problems of every soap icon including infidelity, dark secrets, over sexed sluts living next door and one raving old homophobe lunatic who wishes they would all leave her town.

A hybrid of Desperate Housewives, Queer As Folk and Knots Landing, writer Bradley Jacobson's saga begins when Dylan and Scott Irving arrive in the small coastal town of Carlton Heights where the drama and humor are wrapped up into one tidy little sudser. The Irvings new neighbors on their friendly cul-de-sac include Larry and Zimmy Bustamante, the happy couple with newborn twins, the Mitchells - sarcastic and unhappy Marty and his sleazy husband Ronald who happens to be Scott's new boss. Then there's sexy and very single Aidan Palmer - whose oversexed shenanigans involve both Marty and Larry's husbands.

But there's more than typical suburban drama for up on the hillside standing over her town is Ruth Carlton, Aidan's homophobic, foul mouthed grandmother. To help aid, abed and deceive her is Haley Osbourne - Ruth's nursemaid and the singer at Marty's coffee shop.

As Dylan begins to mix with the residents it becomes clear that everyone has something to hide - from the origin of the adopted Bustamante twins and Larry's obsession with creating the perfect image to Marty's disintegrating marriage and Aidan's strained relationship with his grandmother. Dylan begins a quest to expose everyone but the biggest secret of the town may be one he doesn't want to know.

So once again, to all my fans, friends and the curious, Carlton Heights is now online! You can also join our My Space group where you can dish and comment about the scripts.

Prude Alert - Because I knew this show would never be considered major network programming, it is geared to an HBO/Showtime type of series with adult language and sexual content which may not be suitable for the faint of heart, prudish or all around tight assed.

Brad Jacobson is the singer/songwriter of the band Swivek. He also fancies himself a bit of a writer with his online script series Carlton Heights, a hybrid of Desperate Housewives, Queer as Folk and Knots Landing, making its online debut April 6, 2007. He is also currently working on a book of short stories called My Life As A Banana.

Labels: Bradley Jacobson, Carlton Heights, Desperate Housewives, Gay soap opera, Knots Landing, Queer As Folk

posted by swivek @ 10:05 AM 0 comments

That Flexible Sound

The greatest internet indie label Flexible Records has just released some brand new CDs by some of my favorite indie bands - and it's my duty as not only these bands' label mate but as a fan to talk a little bit about these brand new releases of music flexibility...

This month there are three new releases, a single by ASP, which is a gal named Amy from Idaho who knows her way around moody electro music, another single by a band called Jaguar who seem to know their way around a Casio and a full lengthed album of essential sounds by Warmer called 1:1, so let's take a look shall we?


flex59 Asp - Talk (single 2007)
Talk is the teaser single from the new album being recorded by Amy Willis aka ASP. She's had a few releases on Flexible including a gothy groove of a vampire song on the last Halloween compilation. Her music is always enjoyable and tangible but I think "Talk" with its minimal funk electro groove is the best song she's done so far. Mixed in with the uber cool beats is her trancey vocal take where she meanders in and out with simple words of 'I want to talk to you.' In a truly cool little option, Amy has invited every musician and would be musician of the world to download tracks from her new album and you can remix them yourself. She'll pick the ones she likes best and they may end up on the new album. If things keep going like this, I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up being a bright star in the electro indie scene. The single also contains a remix of "Talk" by our group leader/Flexible guru Patrick English's band Orange Television. You can download the single FOR FREE here: ASP-Talk single.

flex60 Warmer - 1.1 (2007)
Last year, Warmer (Sandpoint, Idaho's Jesse Gunn) released 1. to become in some respects different on Flexible Records. The album is a mixture of moody industrial rock and new alternative brushes that included the excellent "9 To 5" (not to be confused with Dolly of course), and this year he unleashes 1.1, though fairly close in the formula of the first album I am able to completely wrap myself right around this dark cloud of moody songs. Sure, it has the industrial elements of Nine Inch Nails, and Jesse Gunn's vocals are as equally strong and foreboding as Mr. Reznor, but Warmer actually knows about hooks and with each song the hook of it sinks into your soul and not only can you relate to the words, you actually feel them through the music. Using the excellent tried and true formula of verse/chorus in most songs, he is able to come up with the feelings of angst, anger, disgust, disappointment and the occasional euphoria without coming off so experimental and moody it's lost on the listener. When Patti Smith took her moody eclecticism into pop territory with the Easter album, she ended up scoring new fans and radio airplay, and when you listen to 1.1 you can't help but think back to spit fire Patti Smith, her convictions are as strong as her music and so are Jesse's. The melody and vocals represented in the outstanding "Ethanol" conjure up a Red Hot Chili Peppers vibe and the smooth verse/ outrageous chorus formula on "In The Key Of Drone" works beautifully with the lyrics, some of the best on the album. Another of my favs, "The Smells And The Taste" is essentially a sex song and pulls me right into its grips. The music, the vocals, the words all make 1.1 a great album, and add to the fact that Jesse Gunn actually looks like a rock star, well, I'd say Flexible may have a hit on its hands. The whole album is excellent and it's been quite a while since I found an album I enjoy from start to finish, and lucky for all of us, it's free! Just go to Flexible Records and download it and join Warmer's myspace page. I'm telling you this is good stuff. Maybe if I'm lucky someday I'll collaborate with Jesse, that could make some interesting dents in the Flexible roster.



flex61 Jaguar - Momus single (2007)
Relying very heavily on the now often overlooked Casio sound, Jaguar comes up with two little bits of musical endeavors that throw me right back to the days of truly being experimental and exciting. I've always wanted to head to a more pop/rock place in my own music but the whole Swivek sound began in a basement with Patrick English and I working on little loops of electro bliss and we pulled out that Casio more than once - including doing a cover of Blondie's "Fade Away & Radiate" (which would've been great if I knew how to sing after having 17 beers). So with each listen to "Momus" and its b-side "Would You Describe This Feeling As Warm" I am reminded of those old days in the Couer d'Alene basement and it just gives me the warm fuzzies. Download the single here - Jaguar/Momus.

and though it came out a few months ago, honorable mention has to go to the latest single by the one true punk indie band on the Flexible label, The Murders, who continually amaze me, with hook after hook, song after song and if I were lucky enough show after show in the blisterous Idaho world. You can download their latest single "Porcelain Doll" in all it's Pixie-ish glory at Flexible Records as well. The single also includes a live version of a sex song "White Knuckles." I tell you 2007 never felt so much like 1977 shady CBGB's as it does with these two songs. For even more Murders their excellent Galore EP is also available on Flexible.

and stick around in the next couple of days, because I am finally going to do a full up review of the newest Orange Television album America The Beautiful Dreamer, which you can also (and should also) download... hop to it and maybe we can discuss the bands together.... I know you're flexible too.

Labels: Amy Willis, ASP, Flexible Records, Jaguar, Jesse Gunn, Orange Televison, OTV, Patrick English, The Murders, Warmer

posted by swivek @ 11:57 AM 0 comments

All Four One and One Four All

Today we continue with our look back at the Motels catalog - a collection of albums that I decided need to be re-released and once I tell you all about them, I'm sure you'll agree. Luckily, cause I have so much time on my hands, I added all 5 of the Motels plus Martha Davis' solo album to our Bubbatunes catalog, and today we are going to talk about bub78, All Four One, the Motels' third or really fourth album. In fact, let's start right now shall we?

bub78 – The Motels – All Four One (March 27, 2007)

All Four One, is the most popular and successful album that was released by The Motels, and likely so since the band actually had two shots at making it. In the fall of 1981, Capitol Records set up the Motels with producer Val Garay, who had just come off the highly successful Kim Carnes Mistaken Identity album (“Bette Davis Eyes”) and with some inner turmoil in the band, Martha hired a few new guys and the producer set up a few session men to help fill out the sound for what would be the Motels’ third album Apocalypso. As it turned out, that third album didn’t really get the release it was supposed to and everyone had to go back and re-record in order to come up with an album Capitol Records would release. But why take it from me, when you could hear it first hand from Martha herself?

From the liner notes of All Four One (Expanded Edition):
OK…I’m sitting down to write about perhaps one of the most confusing times of my life and certainly a critical time for The Motels. The first thing I realize is I’m still confused. Where do I begin…?? How do I describe…?? What the hell happened anyway…???!!

The Motels were a “lucky band.” We were lucky to be around during the 1979 signing frenzy. We were lucky to be signed (and not dropped 6 months later) and we were lucky to get signed by Capitol Records, a label that was about the music and the commitment it had made to its artists – the proof of this being that we had already released two albums that had basically done nothing in America.

So maybe it was time to rethink the situation. “A new producer.” Exit John Carter AKA ‘Carter’ (a friend to this day)…enter Val Garay. Let’s have a flashback, shall we? (I love flashbacks.) Between the first and second albums it became evident that Jeff Jourard and myself were incapable of working together – this is where the phrase “personal differences” comes in so handy. Exit Jeff, enter my then-boyfriend Tim McGovern. He was one of the greatest musicians I’d seen – he played everything – drums , bass, guitar…he was like a psycho Hendrix. Unfortunetly, the psycho didn’t always stay onstage, and our relationship was stormy to say the least. As for myself, I was pretty much a stark raving lunatic…

Now we’ve circled around and are back at Val Garay, who was just experiencing huge success with Kim Carnes’ Bette Davis Eyes, and guess what? He was also a lunatic. At this point I want to impress upon you the fact that there were three other Motels – Michael, Marty and Brian – who were wading through all this shit as well. But their lunacy paled in comparison to the aforementioned group.

The shit we were all wading through was the making of the third album, Apocalypso. We knew that we had to start achieving some sort of commercial success, and the pressure was on. I cannont describe the energies, egos & power plays at work here. It was kind of like Harryhuasen Clash Of The Titans – Tim obsessing because he was finally able to flex his musical muscle; Val obsessing on visions of his production and management empire; me writing, depressing and obsessing…

When we finished one year later, Apocalypso was born…stillborn, that is. You see, Val had never let the record company hear the work in progress. When they finally did hear it, I still remember Rupert Perry (one of the great ones) looking at me, saying, “we’ll release it, if you insist…but the promotion guys will probably not work it.” In other words, it was already dead.

I found myself muttering, “I can’t go on”…and then proceeded as though on automatic pilot (actually, more like “Night of the Living Dead”) to pick up and fire Tim (from both home and studio), write new songs, get a new guitar player and start recording again. It hit me and it didn’t feel like a kiss… We recorded the new record – I think it took another year. By the time we were finished, we were tired, hurt, a little broken and on the verge of being a success (overnight).

The album was entitled All Four One because it was the fourth album and it was the four of us that weathered the storm.

Apocalypso was an album that was maybe too kooky for its day…nonetheless, it has always been one of my favorites. And now, for the first time, some of those tracks get to come out and play. I hope you like these recordings and know that no matter how crazy it gets, there’s always joy in creating and performing music. Thank you for making that possible. – Martha Davis, 1999.

All Four One would be released in April in 1982 and end up reaching #16 on the pop charts, helped along by the hit single “Only The Lonely” – the definitive in Martha’s spooky ethereal divaness. The album also launched two more singles, “Take The L”, with its so simple it’s utterly fabulous finding that if you take the l out of lover it’s over, and the boppy pop of “Forever Mine”. Both singles scored on the top 100 and probably received more airplay than sales since the album was being bought up left and right.

The rest of the tracks on All Four One, are the ones that really blow my mind. I’ve had about five versions of this album in my catalog over the years. One Way Recording released it on CD around 1995 and then an Expanded Edition came out in 1999 that included 4 of the Apocalypso session songs. As the years go by, I find myself going back to this album over and over. Though I have to admit it wasn’t until I made the Bubbatunes version that I really got into it. Where I used to think Careful was a profound stop on the Motels tour, I now believe All Four One is their very best album.

The darkness and allure that would’ve been found on Apocalypso isn’t completely gone from All Four One. The moodiness of the hit single is just one instance of this, but add in the surf scare sounds of “Tragic Surf” and a cover of the Crystals strangely alluring “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)” and you get the Shangri-La’s going new wave. It’s hard not to feel the venom of Martha’s sting when she’s singing such ‘carefree’ songs of death and domestic violence. “Art Fails” is another crowning achievement in the Motels repatoire, with its new wave jaunty back beat and Martha pleading, “I don’t want you to see me this way.” There’s also the title track of that misbegotten album with the jungle rhythms, off kilterness of “Apocalypso” – “they dance all night at Love Café/ Gina finds it very good that way/ no day/ no tomorrow/ all the children making love out of sorrow…” Martha is a supreme lyricist and her takes on foreboding love and city life attach themselves right into my psyche.

Of course nowhere is she more evident about singing the city life than in “So L.A.” another moody track that tells the tragic story of LA life – “Jimmy cracked when he came out here/ his precious dream was never clear/ though he practiced it a thousand times/ the city should’ve been his that night/ but the man on the corner got something new/ and something new is good for you tonight!” It’s always been one of my favorite Motels songs.

There’s even moody jazz thrown in, with the ballady “Change My Mind” and the opener of the album is a song that inspired me to write Swivek’s “Mouth” – the straight up new wave rock of “Mission Of Mercy” – “He didn’t say where he was goin’ but he left in such a hurry/ saying something about a mission of mercy/ mama hasn’t been sleeping well at all/ as she lays stretched out in the hall/ waiting for him to call…”

Though Capitol released All Four One as an expanded edition including some of the Apocalypso tracks, the CD is way out of print and they didn’t include a number of songs they could have. So when I decided to put Careful (1980) and Shock (1985) two Motels albums that saw the light of a CD release very briefly in the 90’s, on the Bubbatunes reissue list, I decided with all the rare Martha Davis and Motels I had, I would just re-release their entire catalog. And though I didn’t go the full way and actually release Apocalypso as a single disc, I did add all the tracks I could find as bonus cuts – including the groovy dreaminess of the original piano driven “Only The Lonely”, the first versions of “Mission Of Mercy” and “So L.A.” and three super cool tracks that would’ve been on the third album – “Lost But Not Forgotten”, “Schneekin’” and “Who Could Resist That Face?” and for a special added bonus there’s a bonus cut from the All Four One sessions called “Surrender” which is so frickin’ cool I can’t believe it didn’t make the final cut. But once again Martha’s words are probably more interesting than mine so here are her rundowns on a few of the tracks.

MARTHA’S RAP SHEET All Four One (1982) Apocalypso (1981)
What Martha Davis has to say for herself:

bub78 The Motels – All Four One (2007, 1982)
Track List:
01. Mission Of Mercy – Very few heartbreaks are as tough as parental abandonment, and whatever the reasons for leaving, I doubt that they will ever be understood by the children left behind. (2000 Martha Davis – Anthologyland) Mission Of Mercy is a song of abandonment, initially inspired by a child I knew whose father had disappeared. I now realize that it could very well have been about myself, dealing with the loss of my parents. After all, I did spend a lot of time “stretched out in the hall.” (Martha Davis; November 2001 for Classic Masters – the Motels)
02. Take The L – This classic, brought to you by Marty Jourard and Carter, is about being in the end of a relationship and not feeling too good about it. I remember Marty was going thru a break-up, and he and Carter were having a heart-to-heart. Carter said something to the effect of “Take the L outta lover, and it’s over.” Marty then excused himself, and went immediately to the piano. (Martha Davis; November 2001 for Classic Masters – the Motels)
03. Only The Lonely– Memories of the conception of this song are vague. I don’t remember what time of year it was, what room I was in or my state of mind. I know that in interviews I have said that it was about the paradox of “making it”, of being signed. In one hand you have the applause, the tours, the roses and the champagne; in the other, a feeling of emptiness, insecurity and loneliness. The diversions seemed necessary to fill the void. The one thing I do remember about this song is that it wrote itself. I picked up my old guitar (the one I’ve had since I was 8 years old), and there it was waiting for me. I guess if I could say anything about this song, it would be that it was a gift. (Martha Davis; November 2001 for Classic Masters – the Motels)
04. Art Fails
05. Change My Mind
06. So L.A.
07. Tragic Surf
08. Apocalypso
09. He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)
10. Forever Mine
11. BONUS TRACK Surrender – I kinda like this song…the arrangement needs some work…but who knows, I might take it back to the shop and tinker with it some more, don’t be surprised if you hear it at the next show. (2000 – Martha Davis – Anthologyland)
12. BONUS TRACK Only The Lonely (Alternate/ Early Version) – From the famous album that got away, APOCALYPSO, we bring you the original, Only The Lonely. That was the album that we had to do over, cause there “were no hits on it.” By the way, I apologized personally to Roy Orbison for using the title, he said it was cool. (2000 Martha Davis – Anthologyland)
13. BONUS TRACK – Lost But Not Forgotten – The verse of this song still makes me hot. It does what The Motels did best, “music noir.” With a little work on the chorus, who knows? (2000 Martha Davis – Anthologyland)
14. BONUS TRACK - Schneekin’
15. BONUS TRACK - Who Could Resist That Face?
16. BONUS TRACK - So L.A. – Apacolypso version
17. BONUS TRACK – Mission Of Mercy – Apocalypso version
18. BONUS TRACK – Only The Lonely (Live)

For more fun with the Motels visit the website www.marthadavis.com and www.jourard.com

Labels: All Four One, Apocalypso, Martha Davis, Marty Jourard, Retro music, The Motels

posted by swivek @ 12:38 PM 0 comments

LA Pride '82

Labels: Berlin, Gay Pride, Joan Jett, Josie Cotton Levi Kreis, Martha Davis, Motels, Pride 07, Retro musi, Teri Nunn

posted by swivek @ 11:53 AM 3 comments

The Artist Soon To Be Known As...

Ever since the Leivas informed that I could not paint our living room walls and I would be forced to stare at white walls for the rest of my life, I decided I was going to take up painting. Two years ago I told my little sister and she sent me some little canvases to get started with, then last Christmas I bought myself a whole painting kit with both water color and oil paints. Then the Leivas bought me an easel, he was all set to buy one that cost about $200 until I reminded him that these aspirations of mine come and go and perhaps we should just buy a $30 one until I make up my mind if I want to be the next Picasso.

But since I finally finished up the last two episodes of Carlton Heights (more on that later) I thought it was time to go back to the painting idea. I figure I don't have to be too talented to do what I want to do which is just a plain canvas with a bunch of color painted on it - no Warhol-esque murals of me and the Leivas or anything like that (not yet anyway).

To show the Leivas I do have some experience in this department, I pulled out the one and only painting I've ever done in my life. My mommy paints and one day she had her paints and easel out and I figured - hey I can do that too so I picked up the brush and searched deep in my soul to paint a city scape from a balcony. I thought it only right that I should share it with you - so without further ado, I give you Painting 1 - I know my title leaves so much to the imagination. What was he thinking? What is he trying to say? Why does it look like it was painted by a 3 year old? Is that why it has such a simple name? Converse if you must.

Labels: Bradley Picasso, City scape, Oil Paint, Painting

posted by swivek @ 8:55 AM 0 comments