Tag Archives: Big Star

Flashlite #740

Altin Gun

Nice show today with new music from California’s Crocodiles, Londoners Embrooks, Sunfruits of Australia, Les Lullies from Frnace and Turkish band from Netherlands Altin Gun. We introduce Moonlight Benjamin from Toulouse France, originally Haitian. We also welcome legendary Iggy Pop, Julie Christensen and Jody Stephens with new tunes. Jody is with Luther Russell in the third installment of Those Pretty Wrongs. At the tail end of the show we pay a tribute to David Lindley, who started his career in sixties with Kaleidoscope and continued contributing to important solo records, most notable Warren Zevon’s.

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Zlatni akordi – My Generation
Crocodiles – Degeneration
The Embrooks – In The Sky
Babaganouj – Stay Up For Me
Sunfruits – End Of The World
Those Pretty Wrongs – Scream
Popular Creeps – Wait & See
Iggy Pop – Strung Out Johnny
Les Lullies – Dernier Soir
Robert Forster – Always
Eamon McGrath – Fireworks
Julie Christensen – How He Lost Her
Moonlight Benjamin – Taye banda
Moonlight Benjamin – Salwe
Altin Gun – Kalk Gidelim
Kaleidoscope – Pulsating Dream
Warren Zevon – Detox Mansion
Warren Zevon – Something Bad Happened To A Clown

Flashlite #532

Crystal & Runnin WildToday we start off with the retro 50s sound of Crystal & Runnin’ Wild from Belgium. We follow that up with another retro band, Fever Feel lead by two brothers from Canada Landon Franklin and Logan Gabert. They are inspired by the 70s sound. Luther Russel is probably the most faithful keeper of Big Star fire. After his excellent project with Jody Stephens, Those Pretty Wrongs, he is back with te new solo record. Hedvig Mollestad is a guitar virtuoso from Norway and Crows are a new band from London. Two old-timers are back. Legendary Robin Trower has an excellent new record and so does the legendary psychedelic magicians Chocolate Watchband. Today’s show is dedicated to Boris Popović, the leader of Croatian band Running Party who passed away recently.

Boz Scaggs – Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered;
Crystal & Runnin Wild – Recipe For Agony;
Fever Feel – Come to Me;
John Wesley Coleman III – Baby I Like Your Style;
Guided By Voices – Windshield Wiper Rex;
Luther Russel – Talking to Myself;
Robin Trower – Little Girl Blue;
Red Devil Ryders (Live in CLE);
CFM – Wolf Behind My Eyes;
Shagg – Rustbelt Reject;
Hedvig Mollestad Trio – Bewitched, Dwarfed and Defeathered;
Running Party – Memories;
ESC Life – Say You Will;
The Long Ryders – Walls;
Gorilla – Mary Anne;
Chocolate Watchband – Bombay Pipeline;
Crows – Dysphoria.

Flashlite #380

Jody StephensThe best news for this show is that Jody Stephens from Big Star and Luther Russel of Freewheelers formed a new band called Those Pretty Wrongs (after a Shakespeare’s poem). Their new record is made in Memphis Ardent Studios with the old Big Star equipment and while it definitely draws on that sound, it’s definitely not a cheap nostalgic take on a beloved band. It underlines on just how much Jody was integral to this band. We also have new music from Fort Wayne’s Left Lane Cruiser, and Pat Todd. We have no less than two supergroups today. Hard Working Americans are Todd Snider and Dave Schools from Widespread Panic together with and Neal Casal. Hard working Canadians are Tuns with Chris Murphy of Sloan, Matt Murphy of Super Friendz and Mike O’Neill of The Inbreds. We also check out Fifty Foot Combo from Belgium and The Hunches from Portland OR.

Ron Wood – Act Together;
Left Lane Cruiser – Laid to the Bone;
Fifty Foot Combo – Accident Or Incident;
Hard Working Americans – Stomp and Holler;
Hard Working Americans – Half Ass Moses;
Neal Casal – I Will Weep No More;
Jody Stephens – You & Your Sister;
Those Pretty Wrongs – Ordinary;
Big Star – February’s Quiet;
Big Star – Way Out West;
Warm Soda – Jeanie Loves Pop;
Pat Todd And The Rankoutsiders – Don’t Be Sellin’ Emptiness to Me;
Pat Todd – Route 66 (Live in CLE);
The Inbreds – Cruise Control;
TUNS – Throw It All Away;
The Hunches – You’ll Never Get Away With My Heart;
Snooze In Motion – Mirror Song;
Pridjevi – Ubila sam cvijet.

Flashlite #261

Liquor StoreAnother international edition of the Little Lighthouse. We have new music from Italy, Ireland, Russia, Sweden, Iowa, Louisiana and Texas. Legendary Michael Doucet and his Beausoleil have a new record called From Bamako to Carencro. Then, Radio Moscow from Iowa have a new single. Talking about Moscow in Russia, I just recently heard about a cool garage band from over there called The Cavestompers. Forget Pussy Riot – Cavestompers are a truly spicy rock’n’roll serving. More garage hits come from Austin – new band Loteria and Sweden – The Most. Also based in Sweden is a new band called The Crunch which features former members of Cockney Rejects, Sham 69 and Clash. Five good looking ladies from Ireland are also pretty good songwriters – they called themselves September Girls, after that great Big Star tune. And finally – the title of the most fun record in this year so far goes to Italian glam rock band Giuda.

Caseworker – Negatives;
Loteria – Record Man;
The Cavestopmers – Night And Day;
Big Star – September Gurls;
The Bangles – September Gurls;
September Girls – Money;
Miss Chain And The Broken Heels – Don’t Look Back;
Giuda – Fat Boy Boogie;
The Most – So Wrong;
Low Cut Connie – Share Your Name (Live in CLE);
Mama Rosin – Casse Mes Objets;
Clifton Chenier – Johnny Can’t Dance;
The Revelers – La Jolie Fleur Dubois;
Beausoleil – You Got to Move;
The Blind Boys of Alabama – You Got to Move;
The Rolling Stones – You Gotta Move;
Radio Moscow – Rancho Tehama Airport;
The Crunch – A Little Bit of Grace (feat. Idde Schultz).

Games (Hozac)

GamesOne friend of mine classifies albums that he likes into big and small records. Not according to the dimensions, but according to impact and depth of a concept laid out on the record. According to that classification, Games is a small record. Simple three minute love songs, no impact or concept whatsoever. Still, simple can sometimes be really great. In this case, Games reached a near perfection in my mind. Every song is super catchy and fun. Simplicity of the overall delivery here is disarming.

This is a bubble-gum, a candy. In my ears it sounds so dandy, lemonade and cotton candy. These lyrics lay the ground for this record. But it’s real sugar cane, no artificial sweeteners, no corn syrup. From the beginning, the record strikes you as something really fun, but things really take off with songs number 3 and 4 Different Times and Baby Put Down That Gun. This is when you realize that this record is really special. Urgency and whirl of Different Times take it to that different level. Baby Put Down That Gun keeps the level high with a great chorus, perfect harmonies and a bridge lifted straight from The Ballad of John and Yoko.

The highlight on the B side is When The Time, the only slow number with wonderful 70s retro keyboards and harmonies which are just right. Those harmonies are just slightly out of tune and weary, after all, this music is made by humans. It’s also the moment of the record where the lyrics become more ambitious then the rest of the bubble gum oriented song-smithery. In recent past, this record has the same retro feel and atmosphere as the debut album for Gentleman Jesse and His Men, which is not that crazy of a comparison having in mind that, just like Jesse, the boss of Games, Jeremy Thompson, was once in The Carbonas. Also, Dave Rahn produced and played drums on both records. Going further in the past, this record could easily stand head to head comparison to any of the Stiff, Rak or Buddah releases and maybe even win.

My pet peeve with record reviews in general is that whenever the writers hear some harmonies or power-pop attitude, they start comparisons to Big Star. I love that band, but this needs to end. Neither Games or Mikal Cronin have anything to do with power-pop or Big Star. In case of Games, this is your good old unadulterated, pure sugar-cane bubble gum and be ready for the rush.

The vinyl copy of this record is absolutely one of the nicest pieces of plastic out there. The sound of the record is absolutely flawless and it’s a great example on how vinyl should be done in this day and age. All major flaws are skillfully avoided – the sound is full, no inner groove distortion whatsoever, no sibilance problems, perfect groove centering. Just great. Credit for such a great job goes equally to all engineers involved in the pre-mastering process and Dave Eck from Lucky Lacquers in Midleton WI, who cut the lathe. United Press from Nashville did duplication. The record finishes with a sound of a soda bottle opening and a special treat on the B side is a neat locked groove which takes the carbonation all the way to the infinity. Locked groove is pulled away from the center, so it will lock even for the turntables with automatic tonearms.

Flashlite #106 – People who died in 2010

Andy HummelThe last Little Lighthouse for 2010 is dedicated to wonderful rock musicians and rock personalities that left us in the past year. We have a practice at the show where we give small tributes whenever someone leaves this ugly world we live in, but we missed to pay a proper tribute to Andy Hummel, bass player of Big Star who had died in the summer while the show was on the break. We correct this omission now with two Big Star songs that Andy wrote. Of course, Alex Chilton from Big Star also died this year, which leaves the drummer Jody Stephens as the only surviving original member of this amazing band. Then we go on and pay tribute, one by one, to the other great musicians who died this year: Bobby Charles, Jay Reatard, Mark Linkous, Kenny Gethway, Captain Beefheart, Ari Up, Solomon Burke, Vic Chesnutt, Predrag Ivanovic and two rock’n’roll sidemen: Malcolm McLaren and Billy Ruane. To all of them, rest in peace and to all of us – happy new 2011.

Bobby Charles – Laura Lee;
Jay Reatard – Before I Was Caught;
Big Star – Way Out West;
Big Star – The India Song;
Alex Chilton – All Of The Time;
Sparklehorse – Hammering the Cramps;
Monstrous – Abby;
Captain Beefheart – Gimme Dat Harp Boy;
Jay Reatard – Oh, It’s Such A Shame;
Monstrous – Thumbsucker;
Sex Pistols – Pretty Vacant;
The Slits – So Tough;
Jay Reatard – Searching For You;
Solomon Burke – Home in your Heart (aka Find Me a Home);
Tommy McLain – Before I Grow Too Old;
Vic Chasnutt – When I Ran Off And Left Her;
Alex Chilton – I Remember Mama;
Varsity Drag – Billy Ruane;
Vic Chesnutt – Shippin’ Out;
Vokalni Kvartet Predraga Ivanovica – Niko ne zna moj bol;
Captain Beefheart – There Ain’t No Santa Claus On The Evenin’ Stage.

Flashlite #78 – Tribute to Alex Chilton

Alex ChiltonJust a few short months ago we lost Jim Dickinson. And now another Memphis rock’n’roll legend left the planet. Dickinson and Chilton are actually much more than Memphis rock’n’rollers. They are an epitome of a true rock’n’roll star anywhere in the world. Beautiful, uncompromising, larger than life but at the same time. Alex Chilton also epitomizes a sad, defeated rock’n’roll star, enormous talent that had difficulties finding its audience. When Chilton was 16 he had an early success with The Box Tops, but that was a little too much, a little too early.  Alex simply did not feel free to do his own thing. When he was ready to conquer the world in his twenties with The Big Star, he created a musical landscape that audience did not understand – as it was at least twenty years ahead of its time. Then Alex battled addiction to drugs and alcohol and recorded albums that were about to de-construct the very fabric of rock’n’roll – his solo albums were a diary of a man who’s sending signals from some other reality and his work with Tav Falco we all about striping the pop music from all the glitz and glitter to something rugged and rough, but much more honest and longer lasting. He then became an in-demand music producer, moved to New Orleans and eventually left all his vices. In New Orleans, after Katrina, he went missing for awhile and luckily he resurfaced. But just four and a half short years after, in Chilton got a heart attack in his home in New Orleans and that was it. He was only 59 years old, but his music is some of the most inspiring ever laid on tape. This is a two hour tribute to this great man. Even this double deck of Chilton’s music is not enough, so please check out another tribute to Chilton below, Igor’s Sympathy for Rock’n’Roll (look for the Panther on fire logo).

The Replacements – Alex Chilton;
The Box Tops – The Letter;
The Box Tops – (The) Happy Song;
The Box Tops – I See Only Sunshine;
The Box Tops – Since I Been Gone;
Alex Chilton – Free Again;
Big Star – September Gurls;
Big Star – The Ballad Of El Goodo;
Big Star – Back Of A Car;
Big Star – She’s A Mover;
Big Star – Thank You Friends;
Big Star – Holocaust;
Big Star – Kanga Roo;
Lesa Aldridge – Story Of My Life;
Alex Chilton – My Rival;
Alex Chilton – Hey! Little Girl;
Alex Chilton – Walking Dead;
Alex Chilton – All Of The Time;
Tav Falco’s Panther Burns – Train Kept A Rollin’;
Tav Falco’s Panther Burns – She’s The One That Got It;
Tav Falco’s Panther Burns – Burgeous Blues;
Tav Falco’s Panther Burns – Snake Drive;
Scott Adams – Torso Tourinado;
The Cramps – What’s Behind The Mask;
The Cramps – I’m Cramped;
The Gories – Smashed;
The Gories – Stranded;
Lorette Velvette – Eager Boy;
Alex Chilton – No Sex;
Alex Chilton – Thing For You;
Alex Chilton – Magnetic Field;
Alex Chilton – Guantanamerika;
Alex Chilton – Gavotte;
Alex Chilton – I’ve Never Found a Girl;
Alex Chilton – Lipstick Traces;
Alan Vega, Alex Chilton & Ben Vaughn – Candyman;
Alan Vega, Alex Chilton & Ben Vaughn – Promised Land;
Big Star – Dony;
Big Star – A Whole New Thing;
Alex Chilton – It’s Your Funeral.

Flashlite #57

Doug GillardAs you probably know by now, every Thursday, Zagreb radio staion Radio SC takes over this podcast and broadcasts it in their lunch-time time slot. So, in some ways, my local scene is now Zagreb, maybe even more than Cleveland. Therefore, todays show pays a special attention to three Zagreb bands – legendary Babies and two new bands Vex and The Voxtones and The Backstreet Brats. The Voxtones are a power pop deal and The Backstreet Brats are inspired by the 70s CBGB scene and Australian garage sound. All three bands also share a few members amongst each other, creating an rock’n’roll collective if you will… Now that I mentioned the Australian garage sound, in this show we bring you the newest representative in a Melbourne duet called City of Cool. Their self-titled debut ep contains songs that show a respect for the 80s underground that gravitated around SST, with a great songwriting ear for a good melody. Cleveland born Doug Gillard appears in today’s episode with his new song From What I’ve Done. Our old Italian friends Cheap Wine also have a new album. They call it Spirits. Cheap Wine greet us with a glass of good (but cheap) alcohol raised high in their songs celebrating the state of tipsiness. There are some good covers on it too. Today we check out their version of Pancho and Lefty. And the last, but not the least, we check out Big Star and Beatles reissues. Check it out!

Detlici – Take Five;
Sonic Youth – Stereo Sanctity;
City of Cool – Break It Up;
The Babies – Hated That Day;
Backstreet Brats – Thunderstorm Thunderstorm;
Johnny Thunders – Cool Operator;
Vex and The Voxtones – Big Star;
Big Star – O My Soul;
Christmas Future – All I See Is You;
The Beatles – Dig A Pony;
Lawson and Four More – Halfway Down The Stairs;
Doug Gillard – From What I’ve Done;
Gem – I Am a Tree;
Cheap Wine – Pancho And Lefty;
Townes Van Zandt – Pancho And Lefty.