The Producers' Best and The Satellites' Rest

 

After a reader mentioned The Producers in a comment, Stinky resurrected one of his early homemade compilations: a selection of favorite songs from this successful Atlanta band.

If you had MTV back in its early days (or if you are a dedicated power pop and new wave fan) you may remember "She Sheila" and other infectious Producers songs like "What's He Got" and "What She Does To Me".

According to this article, The Producers made a fifth album in 2012. Discogs and Rate Your Music don't list it, so perhaps it was never released.

The Georgia Satellites also have a complex history that overlaps with The Brains, another Atlanta band on another major label during the same years (1980-82) when The Producers were enjoying their greatest popularity. Today we have Stinky's live versions of the Satellites' 1988 and 1989 albums. Down Underground has all the Brains you can eat.

Georgia Week Day Two: Love Them Satellites!

 

The Georgia Satellites, like their fellow Atlantans the Black Crowes, reinvigorated Southern Rock by bringing it back to basics: loud, bluesy and defiantly unsophisticated (which is NOT the same thing as stupid). 

If you've spent any time in the South, you're familiar with the practice of allowing someone to assume that you're a dumb hick. It's an efficient way to dismiss self-important windbags, and it's always entertaining to watch someone make a fool of themselves by thinking they know all there is to know.

The Satellites' debut combined Dan Baird's original songs with a couple well-chosen covers. The Satellites drew from the same well as the Stones and the Faces, reclaiming the American blues and Chuck Berry riffs that the Brits repackaged and sold back to us during the 60's and 70's.

Stinky has repackaged the Satellites' three albums by selecting live performances of each song, as he did for his previous Homemade Live Albums. It's a great way to revisit old classics.

This one was released on the first day of 1986. The band scored a #2 hit with "Keep Your Hands To Yourself", a simple but clever song about an age-old romantic dilemma, with Baird's laconic swagger and Rick Richards' stiletto-sharp leads.