Friday, April 25

Right Profile - 1980s Demos

The Right Profile

The guys who almost made it:
The Right Profile, with Clive Davis 
of Arista Records
Demos
(mid 1980s)
 
studio demos
(various dates & studios)
 
sound quality: VG to VG+

REPERCUSSION: Mitch Easter produced an early session for The Right Profile, which resulted in the group's only official release, the 3-song Let's Pretend single in 1983 (see below). Don Dixon produced subsequent demos for the band, including some of the tracks included in this collection.

CURIOUS? This band reminds me of The Long Ryders, but with more passion and a spirit of abandon that I like.

01 God's Little Acre
02 Cosmopolitan Lovesick Blues
03 Underneath the Window
04 Something New
05 Infatuation
06 Heart & Soul + coda
07 Take a Look at Me Now
08 Who's to Say?
09 Ride My Train
10 True Blue You
11 'Til the Sky Turns Black

MP3 Files (first 6 = 320 kbps; last 5 = 160 kbps)

The RIght Profile (photos by Nelson Penninger)
Here’s a good overview of the band by Michael Allen via YouTube:  

THE RIGHT PROFILE: (1981 - 1988) The Right Profile was formed in the early 1980s. A long cold winter at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, was the void from which this inexperienced and enthusiastic band was hurled. Playing everywhere from colleges to the chicken wired stages of the South, they found themselves popular by the mid-'80s. Jeffrey Dean Foster, Tim Fleming, and Stephen J. Dubner held it together through a parade of drummers including the rock solid Whitey Foster (brother of Mr. Foster). Jon P. Wurster from Pennsylvania, having written cryptic yet amusing fan letters to the band, seemed the natural choice for the bands permanent drummer. He was relieved from his job at the toothpaste factory and shipped down south.  

The Right Profile toured up and down the east coast opening shows for many mid-'80s rock heroes including The Del Fuegos, the Del Lords,and Jason & The Nashville Scorchers. After Clive Davis of Arista Records left his limo long enough to see the band at CBGB's in NYC, The Right Profile signed a record deal with Arista Records in the summer of 1986. Arista was at one time home to many of the bands favorites, including Patti Smith, Graham Parker, and The Kinks. But the many Barry Manilow gold records in the hallways should have been a foreshadowing of the train wreck ahead.

After moving to New Jersey and recording numerous demos with many producers they finally made it back down south to record with the legendary Jim Dickinson in the summer of 1987. Stephen J. Dubner left the band and guitar-wiz Eric Peterson accompanied the band to Ardent Studios in Memphis to record with Dickinson. After these sessions proved unsuccessful, it pretty much was all over but the crying. None of the many recordings of this era of The Right Profile have ever been released. Some earlier recordings done by Mitch Easter and Don Dixon have seen the light of day. The early 3 song EP Let’s Pretend was released on Vibratune Records in the fall of 1983. The Dixon-produced sessions piqued major label interest and the song “Cosmopolitan Lovesick Blues” was later released on the European compilation LP, Welcome to Comboland.  


FUN FACT: Stephen Dubner from this band is the same Stephen J. Dubner who co-authored the best-selling Freakonomics (and a host of related books, syndicated public radio segments, etc.)
  
Learn more about The Right Profile at  the NC Music History blog     
     

Friday, April 18

Big Star - London 2008

Shepherd’s Bush Empire
London, England
August 28, 2008
   
audience recording (sound quality VG; crowd noise is present, but this is a very good quality recording, from the master)

TREMENDOUS THANKS to Pike1957 for recording, sharing and recently re-seeding this by request

Notes: There's an alternate recording of this show with inferior sound, so this may be an upgrade for some of you. The setlist features several songs from 2005's In Space, Big  Star's final album of new material.
  
01 - intro
02 - In the Street
03 - Don't Lie To Me
04 - When My Baby's Beside Me
05 - I Am the Cosmos
06 - Ballad of El Goodo
07 - Back of a Car
08 - Way Out West
09 - Till the End of the Day
(Kinks cover)
10 - Pomp & Circumstance #4 (from Elgar's 'Enigma Variations')
11 - Daisy Glaze
12 - Thirteen
13 - Baby Strange
14 - For You
15 - Feel
  

16 - September Gurls
17 - Thank You Friends
18 - Slut
(Todd Rundgren cover)
19 - Hung Up With Summer
20 - February's Quiet
21 - Lady Sweet
22 - Patti Girl
23 - band intros
24 - Mine Exclusively
25 - Wouldn't It Be Nice
(Beach Boys cover)
  
TT: 1:31:06
 
suggested disc split: between #15 & 16
 
MP3@320

Big  Star:
Jody Stephens – drums, vocals
LX Chilton – vocals, rhythm guitar
Jon Auer – lead guitar, vocals
Ken Stringfellow – bass, vocals

Friday, April 4

Peter Holsapple - WFMU Session 1983

WFMU-FM
East Orange, NJ
Feb. 25, 1983

FM recording (sound quality VG--; from a multi-generation tape source)
 
PH: has guitar, will travel (Austin, TX 1984)
Stephanie Chernikowki photo
HEAP O’ THANKS to WFMU for their undying support of The deeBs, to the original taper, and to dB’s Fan for sharing

NOTE: As received, this was not a great-sounding tape (lots of hiss & a handful of dropouts). I used Audacity to make various improvements — and now it's a pretty decent listen. Someone else edited out the interview bits, which explains the brief, truncated comments prior to some of the songs.

ROB SEZ: Here's a rare and welcome opportunity to hear Peter in busking mode: just the man and his guitar. He covers a lot of ground, playing dB's tunes, rare solo material, old covers, and a very early version of "She Got Soul." Pretty sure I'd never before heard him sing the old Big  Star chestnut that closes the set... ENJOY!
 
SAMPLE: "I'm In Love With a Girl (WFMU 1983)"


01 Not Cool
02 You Got to Die (Blind Willie McTell cover)
03 Since You're Gone (Ric Ocasek / Cars cover)
04 Poor Howard (Lead Belly cover)
05 Close to the Hand
06 Modern Boys and Girls
07 She's Coming To
08 On the Battlefront
09 She Got Soul (early version)
10 Nothing Is Wrong
11 I Feel Good (Today)
12 Elvis, What Happened?
13 You Don't Miss Your Water (William Bell cover)
14 Moving In Your Sleep
15 I'm In Love With a Girl (Big Star cover)

TT: 45:49 mins.


Peter Holsapple – guitar, vocals