My colleague and pal Todd "Sloppy Joe" Anthony and I had commitment, or at least we should've been committed. It was about, geez, thirteen or fourteen years ago. We were working for the student newspaper at FIU, covering a concert in West Palm Beach. T. would write the review, I'd provide the gonzo companion piece. He drove (as usual) and I drank (as usual). We made the long haul, absorbed the show, even hung out with the zombielike members of the band backstage. And we wrote our little hearts out because it was one of those concerts, the ones you never forget and would love to relive. It was the J. Geils Band. (And a decent little opening act called U2.) Some of that magic is recaptured on the new Rhino double-disc compilation The J. Geils Band Anthology: Houseparty. Ten of the 38 tracks are live versions, and the whole thing sounds just fine (Peter Wolf and Seth Justman helped produce). "Centerfold" and "Freeze-Frame" didn't need to be included, "Angel in Blue" is sorely missing. But you get your "Must of Got Lost" and "Love Stinks" and "Looking for a Love," plus semi-obscure single sides such as a cover of Willie Dixon's "Dead Presidents." This package is a first in that it includes songs recorded for both the Atlantic and EMI America labels.
I hate to bring up major labels in a column whose theme is commitment to excellence. Oxymoronic, you know? I mean, how stupid could Atlantic be to pass on Natural Causes? Their loss, I suppose. I caught the band again recently, and they delivered an absolute presentation, the most coherent and affecting two hours of live music imaginable. Guitarist Joel Schantz was sick as a hog, but it didn't even slow him down. If the Washington Square live CD ever gets released, you can hear an excellent mix of the Causes' impossibly beautiful "Crazy Mixed Up World" there. Screw the majors.
Last week Sloppy Joe and I spent a couple of nights in the company of the big shots from all the major labels tied into the BMG conglom. He drove, the drinks were free, guess what I did? BMG took over the Confetti space in Fort Lauderdale and tossed this blast for their people and a few local sleazes who obtained tickets. The first night we caught A.J. Croce (Jim's son) playing a boogie-woogie piano and horns set. During the performance I handed Lydia Ojeda a note: "He's better than Harry Connick." Then I handed her another note: "But he sure as hell ain't no Arlan Feiles." Even Mary Karlzen, the nicest person in the world, had to nod her head in concurrence. The next night Joan Armatrading showcased, and Feiles, a big fan, actually showed up. Too weird. Unfortunately, Joanie was stifled by a listless band and an unprovocative set list. Her voice is strong as ever, and a few songs, the ones she played guitar on, particularly "Me Myself I," shone.
Mary Karlzen is still waiting for one of BMG's labels A or any other A to ink her to a deal, but she isn't sitting around waiting. Her video for "A Long Time Ago" (featuring a couple of Mavericks) was recently picked up by TNN. Radio is coming along more slowly, but it's coming along. Updates here.
Having spent a couple of nights in Broward, I feel high...um, I mean highly qualified to comment about the old county-vs.-county saw. I heard some of that bad heavy metal, and even the shots of Jack didn't help. (Thanks a lot for that one, Lydia.) But on the next night we stumbled into the Mind Shaft at Supersports Rock Lounge in Lauderhill just in time to catch the beginning of Forget the Name live. The club itself is pretty cool, FtN was totally excellent, rockin' it real hard. I forget which major label is signing Forget the Name. Yeah.
I guess FtN is a Dade band, and maybe that says something about this county conundrum. But this missive from Carol Spicer on behalf of (Broward's) Second Son says more. Noting that "there is a general belief that the Broward and Dade music scenes could never come together and that the competition between bands is at times cutthroat," Spicer goes on to commend and compliment manager Keith Schantz and the members of Natural Causes for their more-than-cooperation on behalf of Second Son. I won't go into all the details, but this is Spicer's summation: "In an industry where management is usually the worse offender when it comes to cutthroat tactics, Keith and the band are truly class acts." Oh. Maybe that's why they aren't on a major.
Another smokin' local that should be on a major but really couldn't be, Load, has new seven-inch material coming (I heard it, it kicks, as ugly as ever) and a big payback show with Buzzov-en, Grinch (who also has a way cool seven-incher out), and Cavity. These are bands that helped Load out when they toured, so Load's helping them out by arranging shows at the Ambassador tomorrow (Thursday) and the Square on Friday. Better see 'em now A cutthroat manager Bob Slade says the band will play very few, if any, shows this summer.
Chris "Johnny Punk Rock" Potash should be in town by the time you read this. Besides being one of my best friends in the world, Johnny was an early pioneer in the South Beach scene and a rockcrit for the Miami News before heading to Paris to study art and winding up in the New Yawk publishing game. Man, I'll never forget that day the Replacements dropped by his apartment to party. Updates here.
Those Steve Radzi sketches A the half of them that weren't scooped up by buyers at the Clean Machine A move to Club Cabana through June. The reception takes place at 7:00 p.m. Sunday. Take a look. Buy one. Everyone else is.
Hey, send your packages to this woman: A&R people do watch this show. So says Maralyn Fisher of Star Search. She's always scoping for teevy-able talent, and her address is 885 2nd Ave., New Yawk, NY 10017.
On the tape tip: Dream Harder by the Waterboys, a mix of Tom Petty and Robyn Hitchcock with tons of excellent moments, especially "The New Life" and "The Return of Jimi Hendrix."
Looking for live excellence: Dana Paul and His Nantucket Sound grace the Moonlight Melodies series this Friday at 7:00 p.m. (at SE 21st Avenue between SE First and Second streets in Deerfield Beach). Arturo Sandoval blows into the Stephen Talkhouse on Saturday. Sister Venus celebrates an EP release at Squeeze tonight (Wednesday). I think they're a Broward band. Squeeze is also initiating New Blood Friday performance art. Call Lisa Cillo at 522-2151 on Wednesdays between 6:00 and 9:00 p.m. if you're interested. JohnMartin's features country band High Noon tonight. Whistling Tinheads, along with Diane and Sturge, play Cactus this Friday.
Butthorn of the week: The Florida Marlins. We here at New Times, in our commitment to excellence, want to do everything possible to make Wayne Huizenga even richer. Way back in February we sent an explicit letter to Chuck Pool, director of the team's media relations department, explaining why we wanted season press credentials (essentially, so we could write about the damn team). This is, according to a team document, exactly what we were supposed to do. But we never heard from them. They say they can't find the missive. On April 9 staff writer Steven Almond followed up with another letter, which followed phone conversations, which indicated that credentials would be no problem. (Supposedly New Times is on some media list and if we ask pretty-please 48 hours in advance, we'll be allowed to publicize the upstart team.) Even worse, we had a specific story we wanted to report, but the team refused to cooperate. Even worse, a Marlin flack says we've been remiss. They're the ones who don't respond to our queries. Bad attitude. Go Marlins. You know where.
The media circus: The newest latest bestest issue of scrape is out. Great cover, groovy fodder (as usual), the standard commitment to excellence. And what does that get them? "We are now dangerously low on cash," says editor Marcos Moure, "so we might charge for scrape unless ads come in.