The Best Of Webb Wilder LIVE! Lyons, Paris, & Milwaukee! The Last Of The Full-Grown Men!

The Best Of Webb Wilder LIVE! was compiled from three shows in Lyon France, Paris France, & Milwaukee Wisconsin, & single tracks from appearances in Cambridge Massachusets & Bordeaux.  This collection covers almost as much ground as Webb does.

I'm partial to his psychedelic-tinged stuff like Please Don't Go, Tough It Out, I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night, & Slow Death.

There are also bluesier numbers you may know better by Rockpile (Oh What A Thrill) & The Fabulous Thunderbirds (Powerful Stuff, Sugar Coated Love), and the nuts-and-bolts rockabilly of Move It, Make That Move, & Rockin' Little Angel. 

Any fan of Wilder's knows to expect funny intros & The Webb Wilder Credo, & his originals like Hoodoo Witch, Poolside, Dance With Daddy, & Tough It Out, as well as songs he didn't write that have become associated with him; How Long Can She Last (Going So Fast?)

And when The Last Of The Full-Grown Men goes full country with a song like Steve Earle's Devil's Right Hand, you have to wonder why country radio doesn't have him in heavy rotation.

There are few acts that I enjoy more.  I got Wilder's autograph when I saw him perform solo one night a few years ago, & he couldn't have been nicer.

There's a great write-up here: Webb Wilder

Killing Joke's First Two Albums Live

Stinky is on a secret mission this week.  While he's away, I'm stealing one of his best ideas: the Homemade Live Album!  Thought I'd take my first crack at it with two of my favorite records from one of my favorite bands, Killing Joke.

This was also prompted by the recent shares of Killing Joke concert recordings at Floppy Boot Stomp and the Voodoo Wagon.  I bow in the general direction of SilentWay, Jobe, Draftervoi, and the rest of the folks who keep things running at those two fine blogs (three, if you count their VIP lounge!)

Killing Joke formed in 1979 and was active for over four decades, until the 2023 death of founding guitarist Kevin "Geordie" Walker.  The debut self-titled album was released in 1980, followed in 1981 by What's This For...!.  Those two albums meant a lot to me and my baby brother.  We didn't know it in 1980, but Killing Joke was laying a cornerstone for industrial music (not the phrase used by Throbbing Gristle, but the abrasive yet danceable style adopted by Ministry and other Wax Trax artists a few years later).

But the sound of Killing Joke wasn't just industrial.  There was post-punk in there (with John McKay as an influence acknowledged by Geordie, and Public Image as neighbors in Ladbroke Grove).  There was heavy metal in there; there was dub; there was a dance beat.  Synth punk was also part of the early Killing Joke sound, courtesy of singer Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman's keyboards. 

The best Killing Joke music (to my ears) was made by the four original members before Martin "Youth" Glover left to start a more commercial group called Brilliant  -- and before Jaz and Geordie went off to Iceland, predicting the end of the world (as the story goes). But hey, even a broken clock is wrong 22 hours a day!  

After the world failed to end, Killing Joke regrouped and found commercial success with the 1985 album Night Time.  Then they sacked drummer Paul Ferguson, “one of the best in the world,” according to Alex Paterson (that bloke from The Orb).  Strange things happened in the mid-80's. Ginger Baker and Steve Vai joined PiL, for god's sake. Strummer & Simonon fired Mick Jones. Even the Gang of Four went soft with "Hard".  "Whatever happened to those heroes?"

Anyway, here's a Homemade Live Album with all the songs from the first two LP's (plus "Pssyche", a 1980 b-side that is a fan favorite and a staple of Killing Joke setlists). Live albums can get monotonous, and Killing Joke was not a band given to improvisation or solo features ("Big Paul on the drums, ladies and gents!")  There are very few Geordie guitar solos, even on the studio records.  

On a serious side note, a round of applause for Mike Coles, who does the band's visual art and runs the Malicious Damage record label.  His graphic style and retro-dystopian themes sometimes recall Winston Smith's work for Alternative Tentacles.

My goal was to assemble a Homemade Live Album of diverse performances, ranging from very early (1979's semi-official Unperverted Pantomime) to the excellent Honour The Fire, the final show of the last Killing Joke tour in 2022.  SilentWay recently reposted an excellent live set from Tokyo in 2008, the first two nights of a worldwide tour by the four original members.

At the end of the last song here, Youth thanks Jaz, Paul, Geordie, and his childhood friend Alex Paterson.  According to Wikipedia, Paterson would DJ at early Killing Joke gigs, as well as singing "Bloodsport" with the band.  It's a nice "full circle" moment to end my Killing Joke live album.

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG:  a multitude of Homemade Live Albums from Stinky. PLUS an exclusive inside scoop on the Killing Joke singles "Eighties" and "Change".  Think Nirvana stole from Killing Joke?  Read our earthshaking investigation into the truth behind the myth inside the legend!

ELSEWHERE IN THE BLOGOSPHERE:  Khayem and Nathin Nothin have penned eloquent odes to Youth.

WEIRD AL JAMS AT EMO PHILIPS' BIRTHDAY PARTY - A JON-KY Exclusive!

It’s rare that we get our grubby little hands on something that’s unavailable anywhere else, but we believe this WEIRD AL performance to be a JON-KY EXCLUSIVE.  It's hardly The Pharma Brothers Wu-Tang Album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, but it's as close as we're likely to get.

As you know, we’ve been making a pretty solid case for WEIRD AL’S BAND being one of THE WORLD’S GREATEST COVER BANDS.

As near as we can determine this is WEIRD AL and his band (TBITB) performing at a private party on an off night on the VANITY TOUR.  AL’s opening act on that tour was the brilliant comedian EMO PHILIPS who’s no stranger to AL’s fans as he was in the weird one’s first film; UHF.  It’s clearly at least partly Emo’s birthday party as there’s a hilarious short version of Yoda that’s about him.

The impromptu affair begins with Al’s Band jamming, and drives home how good they are.  Al jumps up for Superstition & some wise guy requests (Loudon Wainwright III’s) Dead Skunk which seems to be an inside joke.  

But the band accommodates the request, which emboldens another audience member to shout out Disco Duck, which the band takes a swipe at.  Another heckler calls for (The Tubes’) Don’t Touch Me There, which devolves into I Touch Myself.  The fourth request is the more challenging I’ve Never Been To Me by one hit wonder Charlene—which is actually quite good.  But the hilarity is far from over.  

After the short tribute version of Yoda (with Emo-specific lyrics), the guest of honor cracks a couple jokes.

I’ve rounded out that admittedly short set with the two songs that Al’s Band put out to come closer to our usual goal: CD-length compilations.

WEIRD AL - NPR's Tiny Desk Concert! 3 Live Tracks & An Interview!

What's not to love about NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts?  Or Weird Al, for that matter?  

From Brandon Choe’s fantastic Los Angeles Times feature article about AL:

Yankovic is far and away the most successful comedy recording artist of all time. He’s sold more than 12 million albums. His last album, “Mandatory Fun,” was the first comedy album in history to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — and the first one to top that chart at all since Allan Sherman dropped “My Son, the Nut” in 1963. It went on to win Yankovic his fourth Grammy Award — of what are now five — in 2015. 

We're clearing the decks of Weird One's posts, with our final gem landing on Wednesday.

 

BEST OF THE SINCEROS LIVE! - Power Pop/New Wave Perfection!

BEST OF THE SINCEROS LIVE!

THE SINCEROS signed with Epic Records in 1979, & put out their debut: The Sound Of Sunbathing.  It was hampered by a terrible album cover in the UK, but the US version’s cover is pretty cool.  Their first single: Take Me To Your Leader got a lot of airplay—peaking at #70 in Australia.  

Their second album was shelved in 1980—eventually getting reworked/re-recorded & released as Pet Rock in 1981--but the delay cost the band their momentum.  Both albums are great new wave/power pop showcases for their clever & catchy songwriting, & quirky, yet cohesive, playing. 

The Sinceros had so many songs with hit potential.  Other highlights are; I Still Miss You, Little White Lies, Disappearing, Are You Ready (A Mark Kjeldsen solo single that was also released as a single by The Sinceros) and the very Joe Jackson-sounding Worlds Apart which are all included here. 

Members went on to play in Squeeze, Eurogliders, The Teardrop Explodes, Procol Harum, Nick Lowe & The Impossible Birds, and in Van Morrison’s band.  

Drummer Bobby Irwin is probably the member I was most familiar with after the band broke up.  He played with everyone in Rockpile—one of my favorite bands.  The Sinceros backed LENE LOVICH on her Stateless album—which I consider to be a classic--& they backed Lene on her BE STIFF tour.

Mark Kjeldsen joined forces with the great Danny Adler.  I spotlighted Adler here: THE BEST OF DANNY ADLER Vol. 1 & I did a BEST OF THE SINCEROS studio work that can be found here: BEST OF THE SINCEROS.

Tracks on this live compilation are from shows at the legendary London venues The Hope & Anchor, & The Paris Theatre, and Boston’s Rat Club.  Some (most?) of them are from the wonderful BB Chronicles blog: BB Chronicles/Sinceros.  A tip of the hat to them!

 

PEZBAND Live At The Big Kumquat 1979 POWER POP LEGENDS on their home turf!

 

PEZBAND Live At The Big Kumquat 1979 

This HOMEMADE LIVE album by power pop legends PEZBAND was sourced from an imperfect YouTube video that I fixed & edited into tracks.  I’ve done nothing else to it sonically, as it’s a wonderful document of a working band cranking out another great show in a long line of great shows.  The set list is solid, as is the sound, & the playing.  It was recorded near where the band formed, in Oak Park IL.

PEZBAND were still commercially viable in 1979, but their association with NJ’s Passport Records was nearing its end.  The label (formed by JEM & SIRE Records) went under completely in 1988.  

They rose to prominence again due to the resurgence of power pop that came from the INTERNATIONAL POP OVERTHROW weekenders & attendant albums, & RHINO’s wonderful DIY: Come Out & Play-American Power Pop 1975-1978 compilation (that included two of their songs; Stop! Wait A Minute, & Baby, It's Cold Outside).  They say the cream always rises to the top, but no one said it would be in such a tall bucket!  

Here’s more on the group from the band’s bio:  Pezband has shared the stage with Blondie, Fleetwood Mac, Supertramp, The Ramones, KISS, Cheap Trick, The Police, AC/DC, & Wishbone Ash, among others.  Pezband’s sound recalls classic British Invasion era bands like the Beatles, The Who, Jeff Beck, Yardbirds, and Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac fused with a New Wave sensibility (Cars, Jam, Blondie, Knack).

At the time of this energetic club date, PEZBAND consisted of Mimi Betinis on guitar, lead vocals, Tommy Gawenda on guitar, Mike Gorman on bass, vocals & Mick Rain on drums, vocals.  Betinis’ vocals are almost without echo, & he really delivers, as does guitarist Gawenda who I’d say is from the “close enough for rock & roll school” of guitar playing.  His enthusiasm, fantastic tone, and tasteful volume drives the band.  He plays with complete confidence—as if every bum note he hits is exactly what he intended to play.  I’d say he’s the reason Richard Cromelin of The LA Times described their music as combining “melodic pop, reflecting the McCartney side of the Beatles, with a hard, controlled attack powered by solid chording and squealing Who-like overtones.

All Music Guide’s John Dougan wrote: “Pezband play power-pop with a minimum of bullshit, and a maximum of exuberance and energy. With such great, great songs, Pezband should be huge.”

I couldn’t agree more.  They are one of my favorites, right alongside The Spongetones, The Nerves, The Paul Collins Beat, The Plimsouls, & The Smithereens.

The Waitresses LIVE in NYC, & The Story Of Christmas Wrapping!

The Waitresses LIVE In NYC, & The Story Of Christmas Wrapping!

I ran across this Homemade Record the other day, and wondered why I haven’t shared it.  Then I was reminded it has a legendary Christmas song on it, and it seemed like kismet that I gave it a listen just in time for the holidays.

For me, The Waitresses are one of the best pop bands of all time—and they should have been as big as Blondie.  Like Blondie they had a guitarist who wrote most of the songs, and an iconic female lead singer.  But while Patty Donahue was undeniably sexy, she wasn’t exactly Playboy Bunny material—her appeal came from her sarcastic “dishes it out as well as she takes it” persona.  "Boys like me" was an understatement.

Tracy Wormworth provided a nice bit of ballast with her winsome girl-next-door smile and thumping bass (she went on to work with Sting & The B-52’s).  Billy Ficca, the other half of the rhythm section, went the opposite direction and did his highest-profile work before joining--having drummed for Television.

Guitarist Chris Butler had previously lead an Akron band called Tin Huey that hewed closer to Gruppo Sportivo, or Devo territory.  Quirky, new wave-y and weird for the sake of being weird—but they had a way with a hook, and a pop heart beating in their breast.  After seeing The Waitresses on MTV, I sought out their albums: Contents Dislodged During Shipment, and much later: Disinformation.  Contents contained two songs that were later covered by The Waitresses: I Could Rule The World If I Could Only Get The Parts, and Hump Day, as well as a great version of Neil Diamond’s I’m A Believer.  I don’t think I've ever found 1999's Disinformation.

Patty left The Waitresses (the waitstaff?) to be replaced briefly by another one of my favorite female artists: Holly Beth Vincent who had fronted Holly & The Italians (and as a side note, had broken Mark Knopfler’s heart inspiring him to write Romeo & Juliet).  Holly left after two weeks, Patty came back, and the band split for good shortly thereafter.  Patty eventually became an A&R rep for MCA Records.

Snag this particular Homemade Record if all you know of The Waitresses are their two most popular songs, and their theme song for the TV show Square Pegs.   Their final album Bruisiology is fantastic—but this live set is from a year or two before it's release so, unfortunately, the only song that’s here is: They’re All Out Of Liquor, Let’s Find Another Party.  These tracks are taken from a DVD that contains snippets of interviews, and I’ve left some in, and also included the story of their best-known song: Christmas Wrapping!

And while you’re at it, why not visit Chris Butler’s Future Fossil Music site and hear the song he wrote about Jeffrey Dahmer after buying the Bath, Ohio house where Dahmer committed his first murder: https://www.futurefossilmusic.com/ghost.htm

The link, as always, is in the comments.  While you're there, please share which  female lead band that you feel "should have been huge"?

Webb Wilder Jammin' At Hippie Jacks 2010. (Another Stinky Production)

Anyone with a passing familiarity with Webb Wilder knows The Webb Wilder Credo: “Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard, grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em!”

He adopted the name/persona Webb Wilder from a character he played in the short film Webb Wilder Private Eye, and he went on to appear in Peter Bogdanovich’s 1993 feature film The Thing Called Love,  Blessed with a resonant, authoritative voice, he was also one of the first Satellite celebrity Radio DJ’s.

Wilder is one of those guys who has never put out a bad album, thirty-five years in, and who augments the songs he writes with great taste in covers.  He’s better than most at coming up with tasty album titles as well—like: Born To Be Wilder, Doo Dad, & Scattered, Smothered & Covered.  Not to mention naming backing bands: The Nashvegans, The Beatnecks, and The Drapes.

If this is your first exposure to “The Last Of The Full-Grown Men” I feel he dwells in the Bermuda Triangle formed in the area between Tom Petty, Dwight Yoakam, & Southern Culture On The Skids.

This is a set recorded at Hippie Jacks in 2010 that includes what I’d consider Webb’s best song Tough It Out, and wraps up with two staples of his live shows: The Flamin’ Groovies’ Slow Death and the Big Joe Williams classic Baby Please Don’t Go.  In the course of his live rendition of the latter, Webb inserts a story about asking Big Joe Williams what are your favorite songs you ever recorded?  Joe replied with Baby Please Don’t Go and Highway 49.  Webb asked: “Didn’t Howlin’ Wolf do Highway 49?  And Big Joe said: “He TRIED.”

Wilder’s stage patter, and his introductions to songs are as original, entertaining, and irreverent as the man himself.  Part of Wilder’s charm is his ability to utilize all of his talents in the course of a single show—even the solo set I saw. The big man from Mississippi powers through a performance by pulling out all his tricks from his tongue-in-cheek seriousness, his acting chops, expert pacing, reverence for the musicians that came before him, and his stellar playing and backing bands.

Regular visitors to Jokonky Blog know that trivia is “the wind beneath my stinks” and Webb Wilder shares his May 19 birthday with Joey Ramone, Pete Townshend, Dusty Hill, Phil Rudd, Grace Jones, & Shooter Jennings.  

To my knowledge, this live set is available no where else in album form—it’s another one of my Homemade Records—just like mama used to make!

THE BEST OF JERRY LEE LEWIS: Live At Gilley's 1981-1988

Jerry Lee Lewis broadcast five live shows from his cousin, Mickey Gilley’s gin joint in the 1980’s (Stinky writes).  Jerry Lee was struggling with drugs & alcohol when most of these recordings were made.   He’d been hospitalized due to ulcers in 1981 & 1985, and several artists (like the late Kris Kristofferson) went to see “The Killer” to pay their last respects.  Jerry went to The Betty Ford Center in 1986, and one Gilley’s broadcast represented here is from 1988.  Yet there isn’t a huge difference in his lucidity on these tracks.  

In my opinion, in an altered state or not, JLL could always put on an amazing show.  It was only in between the songs that you realized he was high enough to punch pelicans; when he leered at women in the audience, or salaciously slurred stories.  He also had a tendency to bark orders at the band during the songs when he’d been imbibing.  “Pick it up, son!”

Lewis is on his best behavior as he runs through songs that were in his live sets since the days of his legendary 1964 live album, Live At The Star Club: Great Balls Of Fire, Whole Lotta Shakin’, and High School Confidential as well as his later favorites No Headstone On My Grave, Chantilly Lace, and Who Will The Next Fool Be?  

Some songs are here more than once — because it was too difficult to choose between the versions included — as in the case of the only SLOW version of Great Balls Of Fire that I’ve heard him play, or one of the faster ones.

I own more Jerry Lee Lewis albums than any other solo artist, so it’d seem cruel to make you wait to download this piping-hot comp.  But I’d appreciate it if you’d answer the following question.

I saw four of the early rock & rollers live: Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Link Wray and Jerry Lee.  Who are the earliest rock & roll pioneers that you’ve seen live, and under what circumstances?

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG: Stinky's tributes to Link Wray and Otis Blackwell (who wrote Great Balls Of Fire as well as Breathless).  Plus more Chuck Berry covers than you can shake, rattle and roll a stick at.

NOT At Budokan

Stinky has shared a number of Homemade Live Albums on this blog, seeking out great live performances to recreate a studio album in track-by-track order.  He's created almost two dozen of them!  I suggested that he do the opposite: assemble the studio versions of one of the best-known live albums in rock music.  

We posted a compilation last year of OTHER artists who have performed at Japan's famous Budokan arena.  The boys from Rockford (as you may know) didn't plan to release their live album outside Japan, but it sold well as an import, and their live performance had an energy that the studio albums seemed to lack.  (Did you know that it was actually recorded in Osaka?  The Budokan audience was so enthusiastic that they drowned out the band!)

Having said that, why post the studio versions?   First, because casual fans may not have heard them.   At Budokan was the first Cheap Trick album in many record buyers' collections (and for some, it remained their only purchase.)  Back then, a live album was like a greatest hits collection: all the songs you wanted to hear by Peter Frampton or Kiss (for example), with none of the filler -- although Pete did stretch out some of his songs with those long talk box solos.  

Another reason for today's post: the studio recordings have greater subtlety and variety than the concert versions.  Though many live albums are "sweetened" after the fact, the studio versions benefit from layers of vocal harmonies, guitars and other instruments, and arrangements that may be difficult to reproduce in concert.

We discovered that Cheap Trick never released a studio version of "Ain't That A Shame", so Stinky found a great performance from the American Music Awards.  And you don't just get the ten tracks from At Budokan.  He also found a terrific live version of "The House Is Rockin (With Domestic Problems)".  At my request, he added "Writing On The Wall" (a personal favorite) and the 1997 recording of "Brontosaurus" (which Cheap Trick interpolated into "California Man" on Heaven Tonight).  "Dream Police" is here without strings, as well as a sample from the Albini sessions and a few other rarities.  

Mekon Wart

Men At Work did a brisk business worldwide in the early 80's. Their first album was released in October 1981 in their native Australia (the same month as the penultimate Police album, Ghost In The Latrine).  Six months later, Business As Usual got a worldwide release, and its singles "Who Can It Be Now?" and "Down Under" became #1 hits. 

Comparisons to The Police are inevitable, both for the "pop reggae" sound of their music and the similarities of their singers' voices. Both bands split up in 1986; both singers began solo careers, as well as acting in films and TV.  Another similarity: Stewart Copeland and Sting once came to blows, but Men At Work cofounder Ron Strykert was arrested for threatening to kill frontman Colin Hay.

This month, Colin Hay released his 15th solo album, Now And The Evermore. Meanwhile, Stinky has compiled another Homemade Live Album that recreates Business As Usual. Bonus tracks include b-sides (such as the original studio version of "Down Under") and a live version of their 1983 hit "It's A Mistake".

Understanding The Knack

Here are the songs from the difficult second album performed live, with bonus live tracks (including some surprising and cool cover song choices!) 

The critical backlash intensified when this LP was released, and the album title and cover photo didn't help. As Robert Christgau observed, "If they felt this way about girls when they were unknowns, I shudder to think how they're reacting to groupies." The single sounded more than a little like "My Sharona". (My favorite song from this LP is their Kinks cover, "The Hard Way".) They were touring hard, but were they running short on inspiration?

After a third album (Round Trip) that sold even less than this one, Doug quit and started a new band called Doug Fieger Taking Chances. Demos can be heard here. 

The other three members continued as "The Game" and "The Front" with a series of singers that included Michael Des Barres (who soon left for Chequered Past). The Knack reunited in 1986, and released a new album five years later, with (surprise!) a "sexy" lead single. Two more albums were released, in 1998 and 2001. 

Berton Averre became a composer of musicals, as well as a studio musician. Bassist Prescott Niles (who first recorded with the Velvert Turner Group in 1972) and drummer Bruce Gary (whose recording career also dates back to 1972) continued recording and performing with other artists. Bruce Gary died in 2006.

Fieger made a solo album and formed another band called Zen Cruisers (with Elliot Easton from The Cars and Clem Burke from Blondie). Here's a video of a 2007 live performance, with Zen Cruisers covering songs by The Beatles and Traffic. Doug Fieger died in 2010. This Homemade Live Album includes concert performances ranging from 1979 to 2007. The original songs date back to 1979, when The Knack was topping the charts and touring the world!

Don't Knock The Knack!

In 1979, The Knack's debut album topped the charts in the US, Canada, and Australia. Critics called them over-hyped and said they hadn't "paid their dues". The impression was that they came out of nowhere, immediately scored high profile gigs on the Sunset Strip, and triggered a major label bidding war.

In truth, Doug Fieger had been a working musician since he was in high school, first with a Detroit band called Sky (which released two albums for RCA in 1970 and 1971), and later as bassist for LA's Sunset Bombers. Demos recorded by Fieger and guitarist Berton Averre were rejected by several labels before The Knack built its reputation as a live act.

The Knack were also criticized as retro and sexist. Sexism is evident on the album, as well as songs that Fieger wrote and sang for Sky and the 1975 demo "Midnight Misogynist". And it must be said that a 25 year old man pursuing a 17 year old girl is both disturbing and pathetic.

But did the music itself deserve the critical scorn? Have a look at Trouser Press' takedown of The Knack's "slick, commercial Beatlesque power pop" (I thought they liked Beatlesque power pop?)

According to TP, "all it took was incredible, perfect timing and savvy marketing to lead listeners to overrate what were, essentially, routine skills."  Oh, you easily led listeners! Savvy marketing and incredibly perfect timing will always separate you fools from your money! Why record companies can't repeat this simple formula on a regular basis is a real head scratcher.

With the "Midnight Misogynist" safely in his grave, perhaps we can all admit that "My Sharona" was a terrific single with a great beat, catchy riff and chorus, and a glorious solo. It takes more than "routine skills" to make a record like that. In fact, it's tricky!

Never mind the hype, criticism, sexism, or any other ism's: Stinky has delivered another stellar Homemade Live Album with concert performances of all the songs from the Knack's debut, plus bonus tracks, covers and demos!