THE SKELETONS Live At Euclid Records & On Public Access TV
It’s timely that I’m diving deep into THE SKELETONS catalogue around HALLOWEEN, even if it's entirely coincidental.
Last time around--I shared tracks that are available nowhere else--and I’m doing the same this week--if you count these two performances I found on YouTube and converted into Homemade Records!
Being many folk’s choice for THE WORLD’S GREATEST BAR BAND, the way to experience THE SKELETONS is live. First up is a live set recorded at EUCLID RECORDS in 2011, & an earlier set on Public Access TV. Nineteen sizzling servings of honest-to-God rock & roll with a couple of the musical curveballs the band was known for thrown-in for good measure.
On the EUCLID set, they play a smoky jazzy version of THE KINKS’ You Really Got Me alongside songs by fellow midwestern musical heroes WAYNE CARSON & CHUCK BERRY (who they point out wrote Jaguar & Thunderbird while he was in prison nearby).
Part of their appeal is that they’re a band of obsessive record collectors who record music for obsessive record collectors.
Another thing I’ve learned about them is that they always championed up-and-comers. On a different live performance, they sing the praises of CORNELL HURD before they play a song they backed him on; If You Play With My Mind (You’re Gonna Get Your Hands Dirty). On the EUCLID set they play an AMY RIGBY song that they say hadn’t appeared on one of her records yet.
And like any band who've learned how to hold the attention of an audience that’s drinking, & more focused on fornication, they know how to grab your attention with an obscure cover song. One of their songs that I viewed purely as a way to do so has become one of my favorite songs by the group; The Monkey’s Uncle. A theme song from an ANNETTE FUNICELLO Disney movie! It drives home the other quality any great bar band possesses; great musical taste. They aren't looking to waste anybody's time.
The final ability they possess in spades is the ability to write great songs about subjects no one else has bothered to write songs about. A gift they share with artists they’ve backed on vinyl like HURD, JONATHAN RICHMAN, & ROBBIE FULKS. There are countless rock songs about (girls and) cars, but none like their Gas Money, or Trans Am.
So if you liked THE SKELETONS’ edition of IN THE MIX (scroll down if you missed it), I think you’ll enjoy these live sets!
If you'd like to take your own deep dive into THE SKELETONS/THE MORELLS/THE ORIGINAL SYMPTOMS a friend of theirs started his own label & relleased two different 4 CD sets, and a couple of other single CD releases on his own Almeron Records. You can email him at:
THE SKELETONS are famously on the short list to be THE WORLD’S GREATEST BAR BAND.
ReplyDeleteDownloaders are requested to share a BAR BAND that introduced them to music that became important to them.
In my case, there were two live acts (whose names I’ve forgotten) who turned me onto the music of artists that I love to this day. In each case, I approached the performer during a break to ask about the songs.
The first was a solo act who performed two songs by Delbert McClinton; Giving It up For Your Love, & Goin’ Back To Louisiana. The second was a fairly average hard rock band who managed exceptional renditions of U.F.O.'s Lights Out & Too Hot To Handle. In both cases I bought the original artist’s cassettes, & practically wore them out. Wherever those guys are at, the post is a tip of the hat to them through the mists of time.
The Skeletons Live At Euclid Records 04/11/11 & On Public Access TV
https://pixeldrain.com/u/SrjQEHHG
ANNETTE'S GOT THE HITS! On the other hand, Frankie looks like he needs a shave -- from head to toe!
DeleteWhat's a BAR BAND?
ReplyDeleteAn excellent question! So here, for example is a bar band very well known to anyone who ever hung out in Pasadena (or, for that matter, anywhere in the San Gabriel Valley) anytime between, say, the late 1970s and now:
Deletehttps://youtu.be/2jwewPV6jP0?t=188
And we're not talking about just any bar band; we're talking about "The Greatest Bar Band of All Time":
http://www.timeriver.net/snottyscotty/
Sadly, Scotty himself passed away in 2016 (see below) but the band as an institution manages to play on.
https://www.facebook.com/100063022369045/videos/980443319766086
(And, of course, thank you Stinky for the additional Skeletons material.)
Thank YOU for stopping by Crab Devil! Not THAT is a bar band. I should have thought of posting a video although my lengthy dissertation on the definition is posted below! Long live Snotty Scotty!
DeleteYes, it’s a good question, Anonymous.
DeleteSimply put they’re a band that plays primarily in bars. Like a wedding band, they have often adjusted their style of dress, attitude, & repertoire, to target playing predominately in a specific venue.
I found an article online where a bar employee described them thusly: They’re onstage to help the bar staff increase sales and help to ensure that the customers are having a good time. They’re professional, show up on time, stop playing when we ask, and are adept at keeping their volume to acceptable levels.
They are “working bands” who behave “professionally” because their livelihood depends on being asked back by the venues they play. They may have “day jobs” and may have settled on playing bars to be able to play music without all the traveling that comes along with being a touring band—although many of them tour—often in a set region. They balance playing live music with having a home life.
I should have been more specific, which is difficult, as the term is expansive. For instance, if the band’s set list focuses on songs that were chart hits they’re a “Top 40” bar band. The audience being familiar with the material they play is part of what defines most bar bands—bars generally don’t want bands playing entire sets of their own material.
(Continued below!)
Bar bands generally don’t have an opening act. Like The Beatles in Hamburg they grind out several long sets—and “cut their teeth” doing so. They learn what they’re best at by the audience response. If the two songs that get the biggest reaction are rockabilly numbers, they’re likely to add a couple more. So being a bar band can shape the band or change their direction entirely.
DeleteWhile bar bands may “have a draw” or a fan base that comes out to see them wherever they play, in many cases the VENUE is the draw for the band’s audience. The venue is the audience’s watering hole and the band isn’t the reason they’re there. Those audiences are as much patrons of the establishment as they are patrons of the band. Entry-level bar bands tend to be interchangeable. Personality is optional.
Tribute bands rarely make it into larger venues and concert settings, so they are bar bands because the’ve accepted that the size of the audiences they’re going to play to will max-out at three or four hundred people. They may play an occasional House Of Blues on an off (weekday) night, or go as far as being a “lounge act” in a casino—but they’re a working band who have accepted how far up the ladder they can go. There’s an element of novelty to them, and their name generally tells you who’s music they play, and even their gender—as in one I enjoyed; LEZ ZEPPELIN.
They are often “cover bands” but many have a few original songs. Some are honing their material in front of live audiences before recording the songs. Look no further than THE PRETENDERS excellent ISLE OF YOU for a perfect example of how playing songs for a year or two improves the authors performance of a song. On that release some songs I had turned my nose up at became favorites by virtue of having been “lived in” by the band, and done with less conventional instrumentation. Many bands who are writing & recording songs during the recording of an album are unhappy with the version they recorded because they had JUST written it, and they’ve improved the song a great deal since then by performing them live.
Ambitious bar bands are often playing bars to make some money, to buy better equipment so they can progress beyond playing bars—recording and touring to support their records. At this point playing live is to make money as well as to SELL RECORDS. At this point they’re often opening acts for OTHER recording artists, and they play a single set in a CONCERT setting. Being less grueling, this is a “step up” but can cause problems as band members have more time to spend getting in trouble between shows. Habits that took root in the clubs (like amphetamines) often overtake everything else and there may be a “step up” in terms of drug of choice—from cheaper amphetamines to cocaine, for instance.
So being a bar band is often a transitional phase.
As one of the commenters put it: “Boston (before they became BOSTON).” After Boston were a household name, and a staple on classic rock stations, bars were far behind them. The term means something different depending on if a band is on their way up or on their way down.
Ideally if a band makes it “out of the bars” they don’t have to return to them. Going back and forth can be dangerous—as White Lion taught us—bar bands should not have pyrotechnics.
(Continued below!)
In the case of the bands I referred to as bar bands (NRBQ & THE SKELETONS) they DID manage to go back and forth, and they DID have a wealth of their own material. They possessed the ability to write songs.
DeleteAt this point the formula changes from slipping a couple originals into their live set of “cover songs” to slipping unorthodox covers into their original repertoire—like “The Monkey’s Uncle!” They also embody a little bit of novelty in their unorthodox selection of material—they show their shared enthusiasms—BOTH bands have distinct personalities onstage.
Again, they’re “working bands”. Neither act was above playing a bar because the venue fitted into their routing. A touring band increases their profits if they play/work every night, AND if they travel shorter distances between performances. For a band who has made it out of the clubs—the appeal of dropping back into a club on a Monday or Tuesday is to make a little scratch and to break up the drive to the next gig. They are able to fill a club on an off night with their name recognition, and often command the entire cover charge for doing so. Venues often supply humble lodging, so they don’t have to pay to put themselves up in a hotel far from home—or worse sleep on couches.
So to call THE Q or THE SKELETONS bar bands wouldn’t exactly be a compliment—except they both clearly LOVE TO PLAY, and they’ve learned how to delight almost any audience, and they don’t ONLY play bars. They’ve put out more albums than many bigger names, and they occupy a unique niche in the music industry, and in the hearts of their fans.
As I re-read my post one more distinction hit me. A bar band often has a band member handle all their bookings. It isn't until they're touring regionally or nationally that they actually need management. Both bands rose to prominence before cell phones, and a decision-maker needed to be reachable at any time in the event of a cancellation, or a change to the terms of their booking or even the venue.
DeleteDEVO said they'd sign with manager Elliot Roberts if he got them on Saturday Night Live. He said: "Done." They were moved into larger venues in cities they were booked in due to demand for tickets. (Which I re-learned re-watching a great documentary on them that's on NETFLIX right now).
Do the Morells count? Saw them open for the Violent Femmes, bought the album and it blew my mind.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to present myself as an expert, but I'd say The Morells definitely count!
DeleteBravo Bravo Stinky, excellent post my friend! Bar bands who really got me shakin': Gear Daddies in college set the stage as I turned 21, Gooney Birds had the Dead angle for dancin', drinkin' and stinkin' that I would see Sundays at the bar as well as Mango Jam taking the slot later (excellent guitar player who played with my bass master bro' in their band Nasty Goat), but also gotta mention The Beat Farmers for bar bands. These all had regular shows at the bars I would attend. Then of course Golden Smog, Jayhawks, Soul Asylum, Replacements and Husker Du sure made good bar bands like non locals RHCP and FISHBONE.
ReplyDeleteReplacements, Fishbone and Beat Farmers (with the late great Country Dick Montana) are the only ones Viacom mentioned that I've seen live. The Twin Cities sure have birthed some great bands. I love the records I have by Gear Daddies, Golden Smog, Soul Asylum, Suburbs, and (most of all) the Jayhawks.
DeleteStinky, this has been a great learning experience for me as I am brand new to the Morells, Skeletons and Symptoms. I didn't know D. Clinton Thompson from Ragnar Kvaran or Tex Rubinowitz (who also had a track each on the 1980 compilation LP "Declaration of Independents").
It sounds like the Skeletons and Morells could play just about anything. Same for NRBQ. The Replacements were willing to TRY to play just about anything, whether they actually knew the song or not!
Why thank you, Viacom. Great examples, by the way.
DeleteI'm featuring another great bar band, THE CARPETBAGGERS in a post that's "in the pipeline". They were a Twin Cities band who put out three records. One was on their own Clean imprint, one was on Twin Tone, and their last was on Hightone--but aside from touring with Son Volt they were predominantly a "bar band".
Thannks partly to YOU, Jon there are lots more volumes in THE SKELETONS In The Mix, series. Thanks for your help in tracking down hard-to-find releases!
DeleteHigh school in the early 70's, the perfect age to sneak into bars, through (now, really) my own playing career...Boston (before they became BOSTON), Capt Swing (before The Cars), The Young Adults (y'know), Aerosmith everywhere, and a million local bands that grabbed my ears for at least a minute...Beaver Brown, The Killer Whales, Phil n the Blanks, The Brains, some kids a friend hired to fill in at a local folk club-R.E.M. Mostly the groups that were covering and messing up songs I wouldn't have recognized from the originals anyway! Music is a bit less fun these days (heavy sigh). Thanks for the bones, a tie with NRBQ for #1
ReplyDeleteThose were some "next level" bar bands, Anonymous, who made it TO the "next level!"
DeleteTwo bands come to mind: The Young Adults - Rhode Island’s first punk rock band; and Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs with their masterpiece, Pigus Drunkus Maximus!
ReplyDeleteThe Young Adults being Rhode Island’s "first punk rock band" reminded me of a description LOU WHITNEY gave of The Original Symptoms (which begat The Skeletons & The Morells). He said they were the only New Wave group in the area (Springfield MO) and when EVERY bar band became one, they recorded their lone album and moved on.
DeleteTop Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs ARE ANOTHER quintessential bar band, Will.
Did you see Top Jimmy figures into my BILLY ZOOM post? "Put the girl down, Jimmy!"
Like Jonder for me too this is all new, thanks Stinky! As for barbands.., weird, I don't think we had those back in the days, at least the Hilversum bars I frequented in the late 70s & very early 80s. But here in Bangkok I sometimes go to bars/pubs with live bands, good fun in general, however most of the covers I recognize easily and the few I don't are usually not that interesting anyway.
ReplyDeletePub rock, just standing between the bar and the loo, with minimal P.A. My own band was the best. Buy Off The Bar were great, Four One & Onlies played a lot of pubs. Eton Crop, Golden Strings, De Bronstgieters. A lot of Dutch bands played about everywhere. Houses for students, En Plein Air, Terrace-terror, only for expenses, tips, free beer....
ReplyDeleteThanks Koen. You filled in some venues I overlooked in my manifesto on bar bands, Richard. Pub rock bands are fairly interchangable with what we call bar bands in the states. I hadn't thought of houses for students, for instance, which brought to mind YOUTH HOSTELS!
DeleteMORE HALLOWEEN JAMZ:
ReplyDeleteKogar the Swinging Ape just posted a Halloween edition of Lux & Ivy's Favorites!
https://kogarsjunglejuice.blogspot.com/2025/10/best-of-lux-and-ivys-favorites.html
If you prefer, you can stream it at Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/Kogar/best-of-lux-and-ivys-favorites-halloween-edition/
Sweet! That collection was crying out for a Halloween edition!
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