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Friday, July 27
Friday, July 20
20,000 Blog Hits Celebration = Charlotte Times 2!
One day last week,
The dB's Repercussion Blog
reached the 20,000 hits mark —
6 months after its debut.
6 months after its debut.
Pretty Dang Cool, I think!
HOW TO CELEBRATE?
Get double happy with a double helping of dB's shows from Charlotte, NC
(where I've spent a lot of time since moving there when I was 12).
Both shows were supplied by friends of the blog, so special thanks go out this week to Batchain and to Scott.
ENJOY!
Milestone, Charlotte, NC 1980 + bonus
The
dB's
The Milestone
Charlotte, NC
Oct. 8, 1980
audience recording (sound quality VG). The mix comes & goes in the first two songs, so I cut & faded in both; otherwise smooth sailing for the
rest of the show, with a good clear mix.
NOTE: last 3 tracks are from an early
1980s show in Atlanta, GA
Highlight: great high-energy show. You get the feeling the guys knew that punk bands also performed at The Milestone, and you can hear it in their playing.
Highlight: great high-energy show. You get the feeling the guys knew that punk bands also performed at The Milestone, and you can hear it in their playing.
BIG THANKS to the taper and Batchain for
the share!
 |
| A band you can really look up to...
photo by Stephanie Chernikowski
|
DISC
1
01
(I Thought) You Wanted to Know (beginning cut; fades in)
02
Judy (beginning
cut; fades in)
03
Dynamite
04
Soul Kiss
05
pH Factor
06
Death Garage
07
You Can’t Take Her Away From Me
08
My Back Pages
09
(unknown instrumental)
10
Bad Reputation
11
What’s the Matter With Me?
12 You Got It Wrong
13
I Feel Good (Today)
14
Big Brown Eyes
15
The Summer Sun
DISC
2
16
Tearjerkin’
17
The Fight
18
If and When
19
Let’s Live for Today
20
Everlasting Love
21
What I Dig
22 Spitting In the Wind*
23
Black and White*
24
The Summer Sun*
*last 3 tracks are from an early 1980s show in Atlanta, GA (#s 22-24
have sometimes circulated with The Ritz, NYC, Feb. 1982 recording)
The dB's:
Chris Stamey
Will Rigby
Gene Holder
Peter
Holsapple
 |
| The dB's ponder the future S. Chernikowski photo |
Friday, July 13
CBGB - NYC 1979 + Early Demos
The dB’s
CBGB
New York, NY
March 21, 1979
+ early demos
CBGB
New York, NY
March 21, 1979
+ early demos
I thought a musical dose of The dB’s early days might be fun.
BIG THANKS to the taper and Batchain for the share!
In the live set, only 2 songs from the debut album appear, alongside several early tunes that later disappeared from the group’s repertoire. For extra fun, compare the punked-up live version of "If & When" to the demo!
 |
Central Park Lake, NYC, 1980
photo by Laura Levine |
March 21, 1979
(aud., sound quality VG to VG+)
02 Dynamite (sound quality dips for about 90 secs.)
03 You're Gonna Want Me To*
04 She's Green, I'm Blue
05 Everytime, Anytime
06 Bad Reputation
07 Rendezvous (brief distortion at 0:46 & 2:19)
08 My Back Pages
09 If and When
10 We Were Happy There
11 Let's Live for Today
12 The World Keeps Goin' Round (slight buzzing on this & final track)
13 Hey Baby*
*titles are guesses, based on song lyrics
 |
| The dB’s and the NYC skyline, c. 1980 |
The dB’s
Early Demos (late 1970s)
(sbd., from multi-gen. cassette; sound quality Gd+ to VG-)
(sbd., from multi-gen. cassette; sound quality Gd+ to VG-)
02 If and When (demo) + instrumental
03 We Should Be In Bed (demo)
04 What I Dig (demo)
05 Nonsequitur of Silence (demo)
A probable date for these demos would be 1978 (the first 3 at least). The sound quality is a bit less than the live set, and you can hear a dropout once in a while, but otherwise pretty darn listenable for the age & origins of the material. I checked to be sure there’s no overlap with the oldest tracks on The dB’s excellent Ride the Wild Tom-Tom comp or either of the Sneakers comps (look HERE or here). One or two may be the same take, but in any case, the mixes are different than the released versions.
Check out the instrumental that Chris tacked onto the “If and When” demo — guitar feedback segueing into classical woodwinds; very weird & very cool!
Chris Stamey & The dB’s
Gene Holder - bass
Will Rigby - drums
Chris Stamey – guitar, vocals
Peter Holsapple – guitar, vocals
 |
Before the name was shortened, the band was
known in the early days as “Chris Stamey & The dB’s”
(flyer from March 1979 show, Hot Club, Philly) |
The Golden Palominos - Toronto 1987 + bonus
El Mocambo
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
April 1987 (from the "Blast of Silence" tour)
(Toronto show: audio rip from pro-shot video, sound quality VG+; Boston show: audience rec., sound quality VG-)
 |
| Syd Straw and cohorts in The Golden Palominos at the El Mocambo |
02 Angels Voices
03 Work Was New
04 The Push and The Shove
05 Merry Go Round
06 Something Nothing
07 Buenos Aires
08 Quiet Her
09 Rockin' My Soul
10 (Kind of) True
11 Risk of Love
12 When You Love Somebody
13 The Ocean (Led Zeppelin cover)
14 The Last Man*
15 Something Else (Is Working Harder)*
16 Without a Trace*
17 Diamond*
*Last 4 are from March 17, 1987, Boston, MA show (audience rec.)
*Chris Stamey on bass & vocals in place of Matthew Sweet
 |
| Drummer Anton Fier is the founder of The Golden Palominos |
LINEUP:
Peter Blegvad: guitar & vocals
Anton Fier: drums
Jody Harris: guitar
Lisa Herman: keyboards & vocals
*Chris Stamey: bass & vocals
Syd Straw: vocals
Syd Straw: vocals
Matthew Sweet: bass & vocals
Bernie Worrell: organ