The Great Leap Forward

20 years ago today #3: 18 Oct 1985

Ell Center, Northeastern University, Boston - The Outlets

I don't remember anything about this show. (This is going to happen a lot.)

The Outlets were a popular garage rock band in the early and mid-80's.

Here's a site with sound clips. And here's a review of their first LP, Whole new world. I used to have a copy. There is a CD available from One Way Productions (go about halfway down). Here's what's available on GEMM.

So far:
Number of shows seen, October 1985: 3
Number of bands seen, October 1985: 7
Total number of shows: 3
Total number of bands seen: 7

ATS-W

I took the last of my three teaching exams yesterday. This one was the ATS-W (Assessment of Teaching Skills - Written). For me, it was the hardest of the three since it isn't as fact-based as the other exams (Liberal Arts and Sciences Test and the math content exam - passed 'em both). The ATS-W is grounded in educational pyschology but most of the questions are of a "here's the situation, what should you do?" variety. Multiple choice for the most part, but some of them were tricky. And then there's the essay question, which I may have bombed since I hadn't learned about "multiple learning techniques" in class yet. So I hope I squeak by. I won't know for four weeks.

Friday Random 10.

01. Erasure - Take a chance on me - Pop! The first 20 hits
02. Future Sound of London - Translation 4 (wooden ships) - Papua New Guinea Translations
03. Mission of Burma - Laugh the world away - Mission of Burma
04. Nada Surf - From the rooftop down - The weight is a gift
05. Superchunk - Certain stars - Here's where the strings come in
06. Ben Folds Five - Song for the dumped (Japanese version) - Whatever and ever amen (remastered)
07. Jimi Hendrix - Fire (live) - The Jimi Hendrix Experience box set
08. The Cars - Funtime - Just what I needed (disc 2)
09. Pulsars - Silicon teens - Teenage nites EP (found this on the web here and here)
10. The Dentists - House the size of Mars - Little hits website

20 years ago today #2: 11 Oct 1985

Johnny D's - Expando Brain, New Parts From Old, Dredd Foole and the Din

I think this was in Somerville (?). Anyway, off to a fast start - two shows in two days. Expando Brain was a band recording for Mark Lo's Vacant Lot label. They appeared on the None whatsoever compilation LP (half Albany, half Boston). Beginners Only made an appearance, as did EB, Big Dipper and Miranda Warning (Ad's post-BO project). Expando Brain was an unhinged punk band that didn't look punk - Steve Davis, Steve Smith, Nick Hook. I still have a copy of their 7" and their LP Mother of God, It's Expando Brain! If you ever find any copies, buy 'em - they're prob'ly not too expensive. [Oops. See below.] If I could transfer my LPs to MP3, I would. Maybe by the time this is all done (summer 2010), I will.

Just looked - the album is selling in the $20s on GEMM. Jesus.

Update: EB history at Dirty Water here.

Last I heard, Hook was in Minnesota and Davis lived in the California desert. Last time I saw Davis was Mark's wedding in 1995.

Don't remember much about NPFO except they appeared on one of the Throbbing Lobster compilation LPs (I proudly have all three). Dredd Foole and the Din were pretty popular with some people. Pretty noisy, I believe. They made one LP for Homestead. I used to have it, but dumped it sometime back.

So far:
Number of shows seen, October 1985: 2
Number of bands seen, October 1985: 6
Total number of shows: 2
Total number of bands seen: 6

20 years ago today #1: 10 Oct 1985

Jack's - Beginners Only, The Shy Five, Judy's Tiny Head

Here is the first in what will be an ongoing series of posts detailing my club-going days when I lived in Boston. I will do my best to try to remember something about each show, but as I look back at some of the entries, I'm coming up empty. Should be an interesting memory exercise, at least.

I kept a list of every show I attended for a period of almost five years. As the 20th anniversary of each date comes up, I will post about that show.

The first show I ever went to in Boston was at Jack's on Mass Ave in Cambridge. I had just moved to Framingham a couple of weeks earlier and was dying to get out and see some music. Jack's was a club that had a huge window facing the street so you could be entertained (and possibly lured inside for a drink). I was invited by the incredible Mark Lo to see his friend's band, Beginners Only, led by one Adam Boc. Both remain good friends of mine to this day. Thanks to Mark and Adam for helping me get my start and for all of the inspiration.

BO was your basic indie guitar rock band. I was not too impressed - I was still heavily into the new wave of the early 80s and had just discovered WFNX. Imagine - a commercial radio station that played Shriekback, Depeche Mode and The Cure! Unheard of in those days.

The other two bands on the bill were The Shy Five and Judy's Tiny Head. JTH had something of a radio hit with a song called "My car" that I remember playing at WRPI before I moved to Boston. Another good song of theirs was "Lumbering Jack". Heavy on the funk bass, as many bands were in that era. I used to have their four-song EP. I think I sold it a long time ago. The Shy Five were a folky outfit with a, well, shy lead singer. I ended up seeing them a bunch of times opening for other bands.

Bonus link: The Shy Five make an appearance in some sort of entertainment calendar from 1990 (hosted by MIT). (Scroll down a ways.) JTH make an appearance in another entry. Weird, huh? They were in the 1984 Rumble.

So far:
Number of shows seen, October 1985: 1
Number of bands seen, October 1985: 3
Total number of shows: 1
Total number of bands seen: 3

Discover new music with Pandora.com

Pandora.com

Found this service through Wil Wheaton dot net, of all places. It's a site you can use to hear music you may not have heard before based on a suggestion you make ("New Order", for existence).

Example: I entered "New Order". It played New Order, French Kicks, M83, Mae, New Order,  Natalie Imbruglia(?), and Irving (this is the part where you learn something).

The first 10 hours are free, then it's $36/yr.

Podcast: All Over The Place 06

Well, here we are again. Not much to say - just the usual good music. Next week, some new stuff for sure.

AOTP 06 (66 min 18 sec) New! My Odeo Channel (odeo/30a4491a56cfc075)
Musical guests:

Martha and the Muffins
Keane
Travis
Bob Geldof
The Guess Who
The Cyrkle
The Beach Boys
The Frames
True Love Always
The Dambuilders
Belle and Sebastian
The Go-Betweens
The Thrills
Uncle Tupelo
The Buzz of Delight

How to:

To subscribe through iTunes (or Feedburner):

If you are using iTunes 4.9 or above you can simply choose “Subscribe to Podcast…” from the Advanced menu and enter this URL.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheGreatLeapForward

This will enable iTunes to automatically find and download new episodes of this podcast as they become available.

You can also subscribe through the link on the left-hand sidebar.

Forgot the Friday Random 10.

01. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Talking in the dark - Armed forces (disc 2)
02. Michael Penn - 18 September - Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947
03. Indigo Girls - Galileo - London , 03 Aug 2002
04. Tom Robinson - Roaring - Love over rage
05. Single Gun Theory - The red sunshine - Exorcise this wasteland
06. PJ Harvey - Rid of me - Rid of me
07. Half Man Half Biscuit - CORGI registered friends - live on Andy Kershaw, 26 Sep 2004 (BBC Radio 3)
08. The Negro Problem - Camelot - Post mistrel syndrome
09. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Busy bodies - Armed forces (disc 1)
10. Earth, Wind & Fire - Shining star - The essential EW&F

Boston Phoenix music section.

Haven't mentioned it in a while, but here's a good place to read about the latest releases. BP has interviews with:

The New Pornographers
Nada Surf
Devendra Banhart
The Fiery Furnaces
Ric Ocasek

Bush in the 30s.

Approval rating sinks to an all-time low as the wheels come off (finally). The American public begins to wise up (a little too late).

I won't be happy until he's in leg irons or roasting in hell.