The Good, Michelle Weber and the Word Girls - Spiral Scratch Records July 20, 2013

While the other members of The Good continue to rock, vocalist He Who Shall Not Be Named is apparently off to hunt for a copy of Who Put the Bomp. Photo by Val Dunne/Barkloud Productions

            If Spiral Scratch Records and impresario Dave Anchovies (with wife Marisa Palumbo) aren’t careful, they will become possibly the coolest place to see and host of Buffalo bands.

            Val and I spent the vast majority of Record Store Day in Spiral Scratch, mostly its basement, listening to cool bands, and we caught a really good three-band show, namely The Good, Michelle Weber and the Word Girls July 20.

            The Good headlined the show and provided a fun, hard rocking, sometimes 1960s flavored sound in a slightly smaller format; guitarist Biff Henrich was not present, so guitarist Scott Michaels and Bob Kozak (who normally plays keyboard and guitar) made up for the change with some crunching and melodic riffs. He Who Shall Not Be Named added his usual high-energy, excitable vocals and worked the crowd a bit more than usual, including some mugging for the still and video cameras. Bassist Russ Steinberg continued providing bad jokes and support, while drummer Roger Nicol remained quiet between songs and powerful during them.

            Along with classic Good songs such as “Walk Around the World,” “Message From My Heart,” “Judy” and “Clouds,” it was great to hear the band reach back into the archives and play one of my favorites, “My Time to Leave.” HWSNBN also dedicated a song to Mary Moser, wife of Buffalo Music Hall of Fame member Bruce Moser, who is recovering from a serious medical situation.

            Michelle Weber opened the show and played both older and newer songs, including a few tunes from her classic “Cripple Head” cassette. The standout older tune was “Cut Them Off,” where Weber not only shows how far she will go to maintain a relationship but also demonstrates how far women are too often expected to sacrifice for others. Her guitar playing is still crisp and direct, blending melody and rhythm, and her voice shows signs of getting older/maturity in good ways, so that she doesn’t have to virtually scream or yowl in certain places to still make her point. One new song was a poignant piece on how she is processing the death of her father and the interesting situations that are generating memories.

            The Word Girls (for whom Anchovies plays bass), led by songwriter extraordinaire and guitarist Bill Nehill (also a Spiral Scratch employee), performed a startlingly good set, at times combining influences such as Jonathan Richman, Johnny Dowd and Nick Cave with battered but fascinating arrangements. The songs often focus on love and relationships sought, barely held onto and lost, and Nehill’s vocal delivery is mostly direct and dripping with emotions from happy to desperate and depressed. He has the uncanny knack of pulling you into a song, regardless how scary or hopeless it may sound, and his lyrics are powerful statements of someone trying to not only make sense of his world but trying to justify its, and his, existence in it. It had been too long since I caught Nehill live on stage, and I hope it isn’t so long until the next time.

             

Linda McRae Plays Sportsmen's Tavern May 31

           
            Linda McRae will return to Western New York for another fine performance with her Buffalo band, the Ragged Hearts, at 9 p.m. Friday, May 31, at the Sportsmen’s Tavern, 326 Amherst Street near Grant Street in Buffalo.

            McRae, first well-known for her time as bassist and vocalist with Spirit of the West, has become a seriously talent roots/Americana singer, songwriter and banjo player, and will feature songs from her most recent and fabulous CD, “Rough Edges and Ragged Hearts.” The Rugged Hearts are made up of Jim Whitford on standup bass and backing vocals, Mark Panfil on Dobro, accordion, harmonica and backing vocals; Doug Yeomans on guitar and backing vocals, and Randy Bolam on drums and backing vocals.

            McRae’s show is part of the Sportsmen’s Tavern’s Concert Series, and she calls the Sportsmen one of her “all-time favorite venues in the world.

            The CD, on 42 RPM, takes McRae’s rootsy sounds, from country, bluegrass, old-timey and rock, and blends them in the natural development of a talented musician catching her stride and taking her music to the next level. McRae, always an honest storyteller with little use for fantasy, has a thematic event she pulls from, her love and marriage to her husband, writer and poet James K. Whitmire. She sings of the ups, downs, laughter, sadness, confusion, hopes, dreams, nightmares, dread and simple everyday events that love and partnerships with people bring. She and Whitmire wrote several songs together on “Rough Edges and Ragged Hearts.”

            Several songs and passages on the new CD are powerful standouts, including “Higher Ground,” describes an alcoholic who knows he is dying talking to possibly the only person left who will listen to him, telling of his search for little more than a quiet, dignified place to die. “Hope It Lasts Through Supper,” mainly McRae’s voice and banjo, expresses the fun of two people actually liking each other’s company and being amazed something may come from it. The title song explains that people who’ve been through the romantic battles still feel love and need compassion, regardless the scars. “Deck of 52”features some mournful fiddle from Marc L’Esperance and nicely picked guitar from Stephen Nikleva as McRae sings of a lonely traveling Texas singer (dedicated to the late Townes Van Zandt).

 

            “Three Midnights,” a dark but eventually hopeful song co-written by McRae and Whitmire about “addiction, recovery and hope,” features the amazingly poignant couplet “I just bought a house with no windows/and it’s darker than three midnights in a jar.” (Whitmire has celebrated 25 years of sobriety.) The CD closes on a wonderful note,  “Be Your Own Light,” a somewhat rocking country gospel number on which McRae implores people to not be victims but to make their own joy and share it with others. The intro is twisted enough that you could hear Tom Waits joining in on it.

            42 RPM can be contacted at 3329 Lodmell Road, Victoria, British Columbia (BC), Canada V9C 3C1, or email at 42management@gmail.com, but you really should come to the show Friday and buy it from McRae and Whitmire in person.

It Isn't Feist, But the Music Still Sucks, OR Hall & Oates Shouldn't Have to Go For That (No Can Do)

Driving to run errands about a week ago, I was listening to WBNY 91.3 FM out of Buffalo State College when I heard a painfully bad, or at the very least uninspired, cover of the Hall & Oates classic "Private Eyes."

The wretchedness of the song, with the now way overdone, cliched affectless female lead vocal, apparently annoyed me enough to make me check for the song on YouTube. It turns out that the band is The Bird and the Bee, and this was one of what I would guess is too many songs off of "Interpreting the Masters Volume 1 - Hall  & Oates."

It's bad enough that this recording reminded me of the enormously overrated Feist, but I have now discovered that there is an entire CD of Hall & Oates covers by these two and, by the looks of the title, a threat to record more "tributes." I also noticed a certain indie pop pedigree of "The Bee," producer, keyboardist, etc., Greg Kurstin involving bands that are very least irritants (Beck may be the exception).

And yes, as you might imagine, I fall on the "you've got to be kidding me, where is the talent?" side of the Feist question, which each song of her's I hear causing one or more of my arm and hand hairs (forget my bald skull) to turn to grey or fall off altogether. Frankly, I am not sure that Apple Computers use of Feist's music in its advertising wasn't an even worse move than the company's calisthetics to avoid paying US taxes.

Also, I am a major Hall & Oates fan from the 1970s, and if I have the radio on in the car, absolutely crank any of their songs I hear. No, I do not consider enjoying Hall & Oates' music a guilty
pleasure, because there is nothing to be "guilty" or ashamed of; indeed, that is a topic for an upcoming post here.

Seeking the Freedom of Music on the West Side

A random event/encounter on Buffalo's West Side Saturday gave me encouragement and a sighting of the element of wonder, as well as some unneeded discouragement.

While I did my weekly shopping for several items at Price Rite that cost much less there than Wegmans or elsewhere (bananas, rolls, milk, cereal, applesauce), I had to go the aisle at the far end of the story, which offers bakery items, frozen foods and soda pop. A family of five, mom, dad and three kids, were shopping, with nothing standing out except some well-mannered behavior from the kids.

Suddenly, the oldest son, a Latino boy of about age 8-10, sees one of those displays with rails for corners and thinner wire on the sides to hold items in, most often used in toy and department stores to hold rubber balls. Instead of picking up and throwing any of the balls inside, he starts playing the wires like bass strings, immediately picking out a pretty decent, funky rhythm.

I stopped my rounds to watch and listen to this, both impressed and amused, when the boy discovered the different notes and started picking out a melody of sorts. I was amazed, and looked around, but saw no one but the family and me in the aisle. I was disappointed that no one else was present to witness this.

My listening was interrupted when the father went over to his son and said, "That's enough. How many times have I told you about doing this in stores?" First, you have talked to your son about playing bass this good on a store display before? Second, thanks, Mr. Killjoy; I hope you don't always show this lack of support of your son's and family's talents. Maybe you can't let him play on every display in every store, but a little bit of encouragement would be nice.

The Return of West Side Musical Notes

I used to have a blast when during our long walks, our beloved late dog, Walker Evans, and I witnessed some interesting musical activities on Buffalo's West Side. But last summer was spent getting over Val and my loss, and those posts (from a previous blog) ended for a while.

Fortunately, Harold and I have bee

n able to get out on some pretty serious travels around the West Side (Harold has a major walking motor), so it's time to start our musical walking blog observations again. Remember, Buffalo's West Side is an incredible melting pot of cultures brought here by rather recent immigrant populations, and has a very large Latino community.


About a week ago, Harold and I were walking on Chenango Street between Rhode Island and Massachusetts streets (just past a Buffalo Fire Department station) when we saw a man about age 25 with a guitar standing in front of three other same-age males sitting on a bench, with the middle guy holding a guitar and the other two guys intently watching. I could hear the first guitarist offer some instruction, including "after the first three, the fourth goes down here," and then he played what he was discussing, the full introduction to Heart's "Crazy on You."

Two days later, around the corner from that residence on Massachusetts Street, I could hear a full band rehearsing from an upstairs apartment/rehearsal space with a window open about halfway. It was loud without being overbearing, and as Harold and I closed in on the apartment, I recognized the song, Ozzy Osbourne's "No More Tears."

I didn't realize how popular hard rock and heavy metal still were on the West Side, and I hope to catch a wider variety of music there if/when the weather improves.

A Belated Public Thank You

A friend and former colleague, Barbara Cattrall Wallace, died March 16, after a long battle with cancer at age 61. We worked together for years at Bee Newspapers, and she later worked at the Internal Revenue Service and served as a lay commissioned pastor at several Presbyterian churches.

Barbara was also a U.S. Army veteran and journalist for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service, including in Germany. This is where the musical portion of the story connects. Barbara purchased a good number of vinyl albums in Germany during her service there, and eventually, she stopped listening to some of them. One day at work, knowing my musical geekdom and writing, she asked me if I wanted some of them, some of the more rock-oriented albums, making sure I knew that none of them were too recent (this was the late 1980s). I said of course I would take them.

A couple of days later, she brought a bag with about 10-12 albums in it to my desk and told me to enjoy them; I thanked Barbara and barely waited until I got home to check them. There were several Rick Wakeman albums, then a Bebop Deluxe album (cool), and the last two I pulled out of the bag were "Autobahn" and "Radio-Activity," both by Kraftwerk. There were two copies of "Autobahn," one in German and one in English, as well as the English version of "Radio-Activity," despite its German print on the cover. I profusely thanked Barbara the next day, and later thanked her again when she left Bee Newspapers.

But despite my writings over the years, I don't think I properly thanked Barbara, because I have enjoyed the Kraftwerk albums in particular an awful lot, and hold them as rather prized items in my larger than I ever expected vinyl collection. That was the kind of person Barbara was, doing good, kind things for other people because they were good acts and made people's lives a bit better.


Barbara is survived by her husband, Sherman C. Wallace Jr.; a son, David Cattrall; a daughter, Deanna Wallace, and three sisters, as well as many friends and colleagues who were kindly touched by her presence.

The Continental Reunion Party 2013

            Let’s not try to use too many clichés, such as gathering of the tribe, reliving old glories for one more night, or getting together the old gang again.

            That being said, the Continental Reunion Party 2013, celebrating what many would say is Buffalo’s classic punk/new wave club formerly located at 212 Franklin Street downtown, will be held Friday, March 15, at the Town Ballroom, 681 Main Street, Buffalo. Doors will open at 8 p.m., and the bands and DJs will start right away (ahem). Bud Redding, Hard Management and Mammoth Recording Studio are producing the Continental Reunion Party 2013, which will foremost be an evening of fun, friends and great music.

Tickets are available at tickets.com, or The Town Ballroom box office, (that’s where I bought mine) open every day from 12 noon till 5 pm.  The cost is $10 presale, $20 the day of show.

The show will feature these legendary Buffalo bands: The Fems Fatale (former Fems members-plus), the Irving Klaws, Terry Sullivan (featuring music of The Celibates), The Old Toys, Nullstadt, Funk Monsters & Woman, and Bobo. New bands Garda and Rustworm will also perform, satisfying the crowd’s need of new music.

The following original Continental DJs will also perform:  Andre’ Frazier, David Hall, Ken Cox, Arca Tek, Matt Hatten, Karl S, and Oldskool, and the futuristic Nekrotique. The bands and DJs are intended to cover the spectrum of the club’s eras, from 1980 till closing in 2006.

            I was able to ask Redding several questions; Bud is one of the people who may have seen every side of the Continental short of ownership, having been a fan, onstage performer, DJ, booker and virtual manager, and he took some time from arranging the show to answer.

KJH: How did the idea for a Continental reunion come to be? Were you surprised at the interest?

BR: The idea of a Continental reunion has been being floated around for awhile, and there were some half-hearted attempts to do it, but I wanted to do it right, and to really recreate the vibe from the club (i.e., needed a venue that could simulate the upstairs/downstairs feel), The Town Ballroom was the only venue in town that would work. I wasn't surprised at the interest in the show; I thought that if it was done right it would succeed. Facebook and this Continental page that Jennifer Shanley Clark started made it possible. I have tried hard and timed this to make it work.

KJH: Why do you think the Continental holds such a strong spot in many people's hearts after so many years?

BR: Good question - tough question. The club was so much for so many people, all with different reasons; music, friends, music, DJs, bands, friends, the staff (Marty, Dale, Mikey, etc), the variety of music (punk, wave, electronic, metal, grunge, weird...) and the girls and guys! It was a great place to hook up. I met my wife there, grew up there. It was the first club that many people snuck into with fake ID...it was the birthplace of the Goth scene in WNY...girls dressed sexy...boys dressed like girls...the music was different and usually original...it felt like Buffalo...we went there even when it was snowing like a bitch.

KJH: You make what I think is a smart point of noting that there were people who were upstairs, dance and DJ-oriented fans, there were downstairs people, mainly there to hear bands, and that many people moved back and forth between the two. Why did this come about?

BR: To me, this was the best part of the club, and what set it apart from all others. The alternative scene had two diverse parts - Dancing to the music from London, NYC, Berlin, and other points, plus the local original alternative bands. The layout of the Continental made that cool, fun, different, and exciting. (Owner) Bud Burke supported the local scene to the max, brought in some great touring acts (999, Billy Idol, The Bangles, etc.) and pushed the DJs to bring new music to the upstairs. When I started booking the bands (around 1990, I tried to do the same thing - I was very selective about touring acts, but tried to really push and nurture the local scene...I brought in KMFDM, Pigface, and a few others, but concentrated on local and regional stuff, or bands out on their first tour that would fit at the club. The DJs always brought in great new music and many people came just to dance. I loved (when I wasn’t working) to go back and forth between the two scenes, as I was both a local musician and a DJ. If it got boring downstairs, you went upstairs, or visa-versa. The stairs were tough at 3 am!

KJH: Between DJing, playing onstage, booking and virtually managing the Continental, you did just about everything there. Was there anything you didn't do or didn't want to do, and what did you take from it? Was it difficult to lessen your role there?

BR: I do not like to brag, it's not my thing, but I know I was the only person to play in a band, book the bands, and DJ at the club. And yes, during a tough time at the club, after Bud Burke died, I did kind of manage the place. The only thing I didn't do was schedule the bartenders and order the liquor! There was nothing that I didn't get to do that I wanted to, except for buying the place...if only I had the cash! When I left the club, they owed me a LOT of money (which I never got) and I was working 18 hours a day for a local NHL team as the Building Services Manager - doing major concerts like Metallica, Neil Young, Justin Timberlake, Rush, Phish, etc, as well as getting the arena ready for 40 NHL games, indoor soccer, lacrosse, and wrestling events...I really didn’t have time to go to the club, and only stopped in there on the rare occasion...I did miss it, but was so busy that it just didn’t matter. In 2003 I bought some new recording equipment and got back into the local music scene. (Bud sings, plays keyboard and write songs for Cowboys of Scotland.)

KJH: How far away are people planning to come from for the Continental reunion? Are there people you were surprised to hear from? What should people expect?

 

BR: There are people coming from California, Texas, NYC, Connecticut, and Florida, and that is just the ones I know of!! Yes, there were a few surprises in that list - I am so excited and grateful that people are going through so much to come to this party!! I am planning on making a donation to the Wounded Warriors Project after the event, so all this enthusiasm and support is much appreciated!! People should expect music, friends, drinks, the beautiful people, and a few surprises!!! (Just like the Continental!!)

(In addition to everything else he did, Bud Redding is a United States Marine Corps combat veteran.)

The band and DJ schedule is:

Band Schedule (Town Ballroom Main Stage)

8:00 pm – Garda

8:45 pm - BoBo

9:30 pm - Old Toys

10:15 pm - Nullstadt

11:00 pm - Terry Sullivan (With a Special Performance by The Celibates)

11:45 pm - Funk Monsters & Woman

12:30 am - Irving Klaws

1:15 am - The Fems Fatale

2:00 am – Rustworm

DJ Schedule (Town Ballroom Banquet Room)

8:00 pm - DJ Karl S

8:30 pm - Paul Hojnowski "DJ Oldskool"

9:00 pm - Matthew Maingley "DJ Matt Hatten"

9:30 pm - DJ Ken Cox

10:15 pm - DJ David Hall

11:00 pm - Andre' Frazier "DJ Brother Dre"

11:45 pm - Amy "DJ Nekrotique"

12:30 am - Jeff Naughton "DJ Arca Tek"

1:15 am - DJs Andre', David, and Bud

2:15 am - Jeff Naughton "DJ Arca Tek" till close...

            I’m not going to turn this post into a maudlin, here are my memories post; that will be saved until the reunion itself and my review of the show. But I will thank Bud Redding for his cooperation, as I did so many times over the years at the Continental, and mention that it is no coincidence that my wife, Val Dunne, and I spent so many years at the Continental, shooting and writing about bands, drinking and living our lives.