| CUSTOMER REVIEWS: | 5/5 - one of the best underrated bands of the 80-90's
If you want to hear Natalie Merchant at her very best and the distinctive guitar work of the late great Robert Buck, then this is the CD set for you. This is smart music, no love songs. Socially conscious lyrics put to great music. The upbeat Natalie that her ''solo'' fans have missed is all here. From the weird wild early days, to classics songs with meaning like: Don't Talk (alcohol abuse) What's the Matter Here (battered children) Hey Jack Kerouac (the beat poets) Poison in the Well (precursor to Erin Brockovich) Eat for Two (youth pregnancy) Big hits like: Like The Weather, candy Everybody Wants, These Are Days, and the cover Because The Night.
CD 2 has some great rare Gems like the Cat Stevens cover Peace Train, no longer available on the classic In My Tribe CD, and songs that fans know from cd single added tracks, like some great covers of the likes of John Prine, Lulu, Morrissey, Jackson Browne, Tom Waits, David Bowie, etc. This is one of those ''best of'' CD's that will make you want to go out and get all the 10,000 Maniacs CD's.
4/5 - A Reminiscence from a Comrade (7th Maniac?)
Being from Jamestown, N.Y., and an old friend of the band, I can bear witness to the birth of 10KM. In fact, conceivably I
might have even been a member of the group myself, as the members of the embryonic, proto-Maniacs (then Still Life, aka Is There Still Life: Rob, Steve, Dennis, Natalie, etc. w/o John or Jerry) actually invited me to join them as rhythm guitarist
after a couple of jams in my studio at the infamous Broadhead Mills (see Hope Chest's liner notes or the "Pit Viper" clip on Time Capsule). This was, of course, during those heady, post-punk days when the D.I.Y. aesthetic held sway. They didn't seem to care if I could play or not, God bless 'em.
I must say this was a tempting offer. I had just spent a good while trying to form a band with the redoubtable John Lombardo, who is one of my oldest friends. I'm afraid John grew
impatient with my Stu Sutcliffe-like amateurism; it just never clicked. In fact, we got the artist's co-op at the Mills going with band rehearsal space in mind. But these Still Life people
intrigued me: possibly out of necessity, they played mostly original material. I recall thinking that (dearly departed) Rob had such great raw potential...he was unsteady tempo-wise (a better drummer might have helped!), but he had such moments of gonzo guitar frenzy...that you knew he had something. And Natalie was special from the get-go; Dennis should be credited with acknowledging her talent straight away. I have a fond memory of her calling out for Roxy Music at the Mills when I first met her, me blaring out "Do The Strand" on the hi-fi there and her doing her patented dervish dance one afternoon...
I thought, pretty hip for a 16 yr. old...we've got a live one here! Despite all this, I decided not to join and be sensible for a change. I opted to marry my British girlfriend, Susan, and
look for a real job, relocating from Rust Belt blight to sunny
Atlanta, GA.
10KM really took seed one night in July 1981. Before I left
town for good, Still Life had a farewell gig in a subterranean pub called the Gatsby. They invited all sorts of their musician
friends to sit in with them, some "ringers" with pretty fair chops...including John, who played with them for the first time that night I believe. They were breaking up with a bang...even I joined in for some songs, cool covers like "Cross-eyed and Painless" and "Armagideon Time". I'll bet Dennis has a tape of this stuff somewhere in his attic...although I seem to remember a dancer knocking over their reel-to-reel deck with tape spooling out over the dancefloor, so maybe not! It was a great night...and within weeks they were busy forming a new band with John. For one gig they were the Burn Victims, 10,000 Maniacs thereafter. Rob sat out for a time and had to be coaxed back into the fold. The rest, as they say, is history.
I'd like to offer my perspective in contrast with Anthony DeCurtis' liner notes to Campfire Songs. Hey Anthony, if you're
puzzled by that Hedgen's gig, well, I'm the guy who got it for 'em. As I said, I moved to Atlanta in late '81 and I helped to urge the Maniacs to try their luck down here in '82. Through a mutual friend, they hooked up with Johnny "Hib-Tone" Hibbert,
but their initial stay here was fraught with frustration. Gigs like the one at Tokyo Beach, with a sum total of four revellers
including me (I was on their guest list, but I felt so bad for them that I paid the cover anyway!)They got bummed and fled for
home turf, writing some good new material and eventually producing an indie LP. Natalie wrote me asking for help landing a gig here...so I schlepped a tape of their LP around the clubs
like 688 and Rumours, but only Hedgen's bit. As I recall, although it was certainly the Satellites turf, Hedgen's also would book people like Guadalcanal Diary, so it's not that weird. The place wasn't really that empty either; it was their best attended gig to that point...40-50 people probably. It was a memorable gig as Jon King and Andy Gill (of Gang of Four) came to that show...we were tickled as we were big fans of theirs. This was at a crucial turning point for 10KM; afterwards, they got noticed in NYC, got proper management, etc.
I must say that I'm proud that my friends made their mark, that something of note came out of our daft little scene in our shrinking, backwater town. I'm glad that Natalie chose to include a lot of photos featuring John in Campfire Songs; he was a crucial member in those formative years. They were at their best during his original stint, and yes, I concur with Mr.
DeCurtis, they were best experienced live. My own favorite Maniac songs aren't included on this new CD...I like "Puzzle Lover" and "Maddox Table"...and Wishing Chair, with all the local color of WNY, has special resonance to someone like me. I don't discount In My Tribe...it is the most consistant one and deserved to be a hit, Peace Train or not. But I really think they missed John thereafter...I never much liked Blind Man's Zoo...material such as John's Angels of Stone would have pumped some much needed life into that one and he might have helped to talk them out of the lesser material. What a shame.
As far as the rarities go, well, real fans will always second guess any such compilation, and so it goes with me. I'd like to have seen "Don't Call Us" turn up; after all it was a track I spun their way. During an extended visit to the U.K., I taped a segment of John Peel's show and this track cropped up...it amused me, so I sent it to John suggesting they cover it and they did! The song was a student project, sung by kids from near Coventry, I believe, reflecting the dire job market of the day and we from WNY could relate. Digital Dinasaurs was the name of this one-off group. Also m.i.a. are a nifty cover of "Rum and Coca Cola" (problem obtaining the master) and the B-side with Billy Bragg ("Party of God") which I don't know what happened there. And I always loved their Eno cover, "Burning Airlines..."...were there no live recordings available of this one? I dunno.
Nice notes from the various band members...Jerry and Dennis really capture the spirit of the thing. And Natalie's tribute to Rob was touching...he always deserved more credit than he seemed to get.
Natalie was right: we were scavengers all; we were Clash fans all; and we were comrades all.
5/5 - Great Underated Band Of The 80's & 90's
If you want to hear Natalie Merchant at her very best and the distinctive guitar work of the late great Robert Buck, then this is the CD set for you. This is smart music, no love songs. Socially conscious lyrics put to great music. The upbeat Natalie that her ''solo'' fans have missed is all here. From the weird wild early days, to classics songs with meaning like: Don't Talk (alcohol abuse) What's the Matter Here (battered children) Hey Jack Kerouac (the beat poets) Poison in the Well (precursor to Erin Brockovich) Eat for Two (teen pregnancy) Big hits like: Like The Weather, candy Everybody Wants, These Are Days, and the cover, Because The Night. CD 2 has some great rare gems like the Cat Stevens cover, Peace Train, no longer available on the classic In My Tribe CD, and songs that fans know from cd single bonus tracks, like some great covers of the likes of John Prine, Lulu, Morrissey, Jackson Browne, Tom Waits, David Bowie, etc. This is one of those ''best of'' CD's that will make you want to go out and get all the 10,000 Maniacs CD's. |
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Friday, September 5, 2008
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