The dB's - New Year's Eve 1986, Raleigh, NC

*bumped for 2021 — 35th anniversary!*

The Brewery

Raleigh, NC

Dec. 31, 1986 into the wee hours of Jan. 1, 1987

   
audience recording (sound quality VG+; a well-balanced, solid-sounding recording).

  

Gene models the kind of hat all well-dressed  
New Year’s Eve revelers should wear
(a sideways Like This LP jacket!)

01 Any Old Thing

02 She Got Soul

03 Auld Lang Syne -- Never Say When

04 Rains Around Here

05 Lonely Is as Lonely Does

06 Not Cool

07 Never Before and Never Again

08 A Better Place

09 Today Could Be the Day

10 White Train

11 I Lie (end cut, fades out)

12 New Gun In Town

13 Change With the Changing Times

14 Amplifier

15 Love Is for Lovers

16 Witchi-Tai-To (Jim Pepper cover; Will sings lead)*

17 A Spy In the House of Love

18 Why Don't We Do It In the Road?
    

*16 is a traditional Native American peyote chant set to music (leave it to Will to find something that cool & include it in a dB’s show...)

TT: 78:25

ROB SEZ: A fired-up dB’s play a rowdy New Year’s Eve show — a perfect way to ring in any New Year. During the show, Peter announces (for the first time in public?) that I.R.S. Records has signed The dB’s and that a new album will be recorded and released in 1987. BIG THANKS to TG for recording the show and RIDICULOUS THANKS to dB’s Fan for the share.

FLAC
  
MP3@320

 
These photos were taken at a show in Boston at The Rat in the mid-1980s. But it probably looked a lot like this on New Year's Eve in 1986 at The Brewery in Raleigh.
  
  

The dB's:
Peter Holsapple: guitar, vocals

Gene Holder: lead guitar

Will Rigby: drums, backing vocals
Jeff Beninato: bass, backing vocals
   

The dB's - New York, N.Y. April 1982 (sbd)

LOSSLESS REPOST

The dB's

(venue unknown; possibly The Ritz)

New York, N.Y.

April 1982 (exact date unknown)

   

probably Chris Stamey’s last live show with The dB’s, mk. 1 

   
soundboard (sound quality VG++; sounds like it’s from a 1st-generation tape; the rhythm guitar is/was kinda loud compared to other instruments, so I reduced its volume; on a few songs, there's some distortion in the vocals)
   

You can hypnotize yourself if you stare
into their eyes for at least 3 minutes…

photo illustration by Magnet magazine

01 (I Thought) You Wanted to Know

The dB's, with Chris on his way out

Winston-Salem Journal photo

02 Living a Lie

03 Happenstance

04 Storm Warning

05 Dynamite

06 Tomorrow Never Knows 

07 Amplifier

08 pH Factor

09 I Feel Good (Today)

10 Excitement

11 Walking the Ceiling
     (It's Good to Be Alive)

12 Bad Reputation

13 Neverland

ROB SEZ: First, let me thank the taper and especially Scott R for sharing this rare recording with me. Obviously, this is not the usual length for a dB’s headlining set. It's just 13 songs because the guys were playing on a multi-act bill. At the end of the last song, Peter says, “Pylon’s up next.” It’s possible this was a show on April 22 at The Ritz for which The Teardrop Explodes was scheduled to headline, but never performed due to an intra-band blowup backstage. The dB's set features what may be the briefest version of “Tomorrow Never Knows” the band ever played onstage. Performance-wise, there's a chaotic energy that gives the recording an edginess I find appealing. Is this because Chris had already told the band he was leaving to focus on his own music? We may never know. I'm pretty sure this is the last known live performance before Chris departed The dB's. The whole thing is very enjoyable, but the last half of the show really cooks. TURN IT UP!

    

The dB’s:

Chris Stamey – guitar, vocals
Peter Holsapple – guitar, keyboard, vocals

Will Rigby – drums & vocals

Gene Holder – bass

FLAC
  
MP3@320

The dB's - Viceroy Park, Charlotte, N.C. 1982

LOSSLESS REPOST

The dB's
Viceroy Park

Charlotte, NC

Jan. 7, 1982

audience recording (sound quality range: VG to VG+). A few anomalies to note: brief cut repaired in “Ask for Jill” at 2:11, crowd noise comes & goes during the show, and I converted tracks 03 and 04 from stereo to mono to reduce excessive & loud crowd chatter near the taper.

   

Here's a GROOVY photo from a 1982 in-store appearance. In addition to the amazing early '80s hairstyles, check out the dB's poster & 45's on the counter, with Repercussion LP's (featuring the original cover art) in the bin below — next to the Yes, Journey and Cheap Trick albums (!). 
Peter, is that a headband you're wearing?!?

All hail dB's Fan for providing such a cool piece of memorabilia

ROB SEZ: This is another previously unknown Repercussion-era live show, and the performance affirms my conviction that this tour marked the peak of the band in concert (at least for The dB's Mach I.) This might be the only known live recording that features both “PH” instrumentals: “pH Factor” as well as “Purple Hose”. Very large thanks to TC for the recording and big thanks to dB's Fan for sharing.

01 Living a Lie (beginning cut, fades in)

02 We Were Happy There        

03 Ups and Downs*        

This is not The dB’s. It's Iggy Pop.
But it’s Iggy Pop at Viceroy Park in Charlotte, 
which is where The dB’s played this here show!

Thank you, Rusty Moore, for such a great photo…

04 I Feel Good (Today)*        

05 Bad Reputation        

06 Molly Says

07 (I Thought) You Wanted to Know        

08 Judy        

09 Excitement        

10 The Fight        

11 Happenstance        

12 Black and White        

13 Amplifier        

14 Ask for Jill (brief cut repaired at 2:11)

15 Soul Kiss        

16 Dynamite        

17 Purple Hose        

18 Storm Warning        

19 In Spain        

20 Big Brown Eyes        

21 The Summer Sun        

22 Neverland        

23 pH Factor        

24 If and When        

25 Hey Baby (Alex Chilton cover – see comment below)        

26 Let's Live for Today

*Tracks 3 & 4 converted to mono to reduce crowd chatter near the taper; all other tracks in stereo

The dB’s:
Gene Holder – bass
Chris Stamey – guitar & vocals
Peter Holsapple – guitar, vocals & keyboards
Will Rigby – drums & vocals

FLAC

MP3@320

ABOUT TRACK 25, ‘HEY BABY’:  Zach noticed when The dB’s played this song at CBGB, NYC on March 21, 1979, it had the very same tune as Alex Chilton’s song “Like Flies On Sherbert” — yet with different lyrics. [SEE THIS BLOG POST.] Since it also shows up in this show as an encore, I decided to investigate. Turns out there’s a good reason this sounds like the Alex Chilton tune. Chris Stamey explains: “These were the original lyrics, before he rewrote it as ‘Sherbert.’ It was about Lux Interior (lead singer of the Cramps), at least to some degree. When I was a sideman for Chilton in NYC, I played it regularly with him, or as regularly as we played most things anyway, near the end of the band. Ronnie Spector sang this with me and Fran Kowalski after Alex died, at City Winery in NYC for this ‘Channeling Chilton’ event.” Thanks, Chris, for solving the mystery for us (with a special shout out to your amazing memory for detail). I suppose I shoulda known this already, since there’s THIS 1977 LX CHILTON SHOW at the blog that includes Alex singing a shambolic version of the song...

              

The dB's - Greensboro, N.C. 1981 (aud)

LOSSLESS REPOST

Friday's
Greensboro, NC
Oct. 20, 1981
   
audience recording (sound quality: VG+)
   

One of my all-time favorite dB's photos. 
I'm guessing 1981 or '82.

About this recording: while working on the original post — featuring a great write-up from fantom, I noticed the recording was a bit chipmunked. I'm guessing the speed problem was due to 1980s-era cassette dubbing. When I obtained dB's Fan's treasure trove of tapes, I discovered a low-gen. copy of this show in his collection. I digitized the tape, slowed it down to the proper speed, and gave it a few other tweaks to improve the sound. BIG THANKS to the taper and ALL PRAISE to dB's Fan for the upgrade.

Outside Friday's one night, long ago
Rusty Moore / LoudFastPhoto

DISC 1
01 banter + (I Thought) 
     You Wanted to Know
02 Bad Reputation
03 Dynamite (cuts out mid-song)

A GROOVY flyer from Friday's

04 Big Brown Eyes (cuts in)
05 I Feel Good Today
06 pH Factor
07 Ups and Downs
08 Nothing Is Wrong
09 The Fight
10 If and When

DISC 2
01 Black and White
02 Big Time
03 Judy
04 Tomorrow Never Knows
05 The Summer Sun
06 Storm Warning
07 Excitement
08 Time Has Come Today
09 We Were Happy There
10 Happenstance
11 Neverland
12 Louie Louie*
13 Death Garage*
14 Let's Live For Today*
    
*Last 3 songs with Mitch Easter on guitar
   
The dB’s:
Chris Stamey – guitar & vocals
Peter Holsapple – guitar, keyboard & vocals
Gene Holder – bass
Will Rigby – drums & backing vocals
  
*Mitch Easter, guitar (as noted above)

FLAC
  
MP3@320
   
  

CBGB dB's - Jan. 1982

LOSSLESS REPOST

The dB’s

CBGB

New York, NY

Jan. 16, 1982

audience recording (sound quality range: VG to VG+; the usual crowd noise is evident since it’s a club show, but it’s more fun than distracting)

Pretty clever what the artwork creator did with the letters on the awning...

ROB SEZ: Two different recordings of this show have circulated in the past, but I am persuaded this is the superior-sounding version. I have re-tracked it and done some subtle eq work to bring out the best of this recording from a first-generation tape. Sincere thanks go to the original taper, dclubok for the original share, and edA for the re-up.

Early set:

artwork included in DL, of course

1.  Black and White

2.  Living a Lie

3.  Ups and Downs

4.  I Feel Good (Today)

5.  Amplifier

6.  Soul Kiss

7.  pH Factor

8.  Ask for Jill

9.  We Were Happy There

10. Bad Reputation

11. Happenstance

12. Neverland

13. banter / Black Sabbath tease

14. If and When

15. Tighten Up

16. Molly Says

TT: 50 mins. 46 secs. (Set 1)

Late set:

1.  (I Thought) You Wanted 

Although CBGB is no more, the famous awning
is now on display at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame

      to Know

2.  The Fight

3.  Big Brown Eyes

4.  Purple Hose

5.  She Might Call

6.  Judy

7.  Storm Warning

8.  Hey Baby
       (Alex Chilton cover)*

9.  The Summer Sun

10. Living a Lie

11. In Spain

12. Excitement

encores:

13. Everlasting Love

14. Get Down Tonight (Will Rigby vocal)

15. Let’s Live for Today

*see explanatory note about this song at THIS blog post

TT: 54 mins. 21 secs. (Set 2)

FLAC
  
MP3@320

The dB’s:

Chris Stamey – guitar & vocals

Peter Holsapple – guitar, organ & vocals

Gene Holder – bass

Will Rigby – drums

The dB's - 'Like This' REVISITED

LOSSLESS RE-POST
CLASSIC ALBUMS REVISITED

The dB’s

Demos & Live

1982-1985

artwork included in download

FM + soundboard recordings (sound quality: VG+ to VG++; various dates & sources; track 01 is the sole audience recording)  
     
01 Love Is for Lovers (live)*
02 She Got Soul #1 (demo)^

03 Spitting In the Wind (live)+

04 Lonely Is as Lonely Does (demo)^

05 Not Cool (demo)^

06 Amplifier (live)+

07 A Spy In the House of Love (live)+ [brief FM signal interruption at 4:31]

08 Rendezvous (live)+

09 New Gun In Town (live)#

10 On the Battlefront (demo)^

11 White Train #2 (demo)^

  

12 Darby Hall (demo)^

13 Elvis, What Happened? (demo)^

14 Love Is for Lovers (demo)^

SOURCES:

*The Blue Note, Columbia, MO 1984-07-16 aud

^Demo 1982-83 (tracks 02 and 11 have extra numbers in the titles because there was more than one version of the same song in the full demos set)

+Cat's Cradle, Chapel Hill, NC 1985-03-26 FM

^#Cabaret Metro, Chicago, IL 1984-12-05 FM
       

WAV lossless files

MP3@320

IF YOU ENJOY THIS ONE, be sure to check out the earlier post of The dB's debut album, Stands for deciBels REVISITED. 
    

ROB SEZ: Instead of posting the widely-circulated demos set from 1982-83, I decided to cherry pick a few of them and add some live tracks to create a “Like This REVISITED” comp. The dB’s third album is a triumph, especially given several big challenges — not the least of which was Chris leaving the band just as The dB’s were finally getting their first U.S. record deal.   

In case you’re not familiar with them, the demos date from that transitional time after the release of Repercussion, just before Chris left the group, and before the Peter-led dB’s signed with Bearsville Records in 1984. The source is a multi-generation cassette dub, so the sound quality is a tad muddy at times and there’s a bit of hiss on some tracks. I did my best to clean them up.   

The live tracks are standouts from 3 shows during the “Like This” tour: Columbia, MO, July 16, 1984 (The Blue Note); Chapel Hill, NC, March 16, 1985 (Cat’s Cradle); and Chicago, IL, Dec. 5, 1984 (Cabaret Metro). The first is a VG+ quality audience recording and the latter two are FM broadcasts. As usual, I used lossless sources for all the above. BIG THANKS to all the tapers and sharers, especially TheBynumite for his FM capture of the Cat’s Cradle show.
  

NOTE: don't be put off by the less-than-perfect sound quality of Track 1 -- the remaining tracks sound considerably better.

   
The “bonus tracks” for this collection are: the demo of “Darby Hall” (which, in its completed form, was a bonus track on the original CD release); the demo of “Elvis, What Happened?” (Peter must've had a serious Elvis fetish before the scales fell from his eyes…); and a just-couldn’t-resist repeat of the album’s first song in demo form. For extra enjoyment, read Peter's essay about writing "Love Is for Lovers" and hear an excerpt from the original demo of "Do You Believe This?" at The New York Times.
  

Like This, the original album,

appears to be out of print

THIS IS TOO GOOD AN ALBUM 

TO GO OUT OF PRINT!!

  
Are you listening, benevolent record label people??