Split Enz: Pioneer and Six Months in a Leaky Boat

There are certain songs that are usually played alone when they really should have the instrumental prelude that is included on the album. 

I can think of another example on a Los Lobos album, which I may get to in a future post. 

Six Months in a Leaky Boat is one of the first songs I knew of by Split Enz. 

Split Enz: My Mistake & I Hope I Never

I found the following of a live performance just last night. It goes back several years to 1980; I keep changing the band's lineup on you, don't I? The lineup here matches the one for the "I Got You" videos, so it's not all that far back. 

The drummer is Malcolm Green, and Noel Crombie is playing percussion, and in the first song, some whistling instrument. I understand he also played the spoons during concerts! 

I really like this video because it is a smaller venue, and the concert has a more intimate friendly feel to it. 

Split Enz: Dirty Creature

What about Tim Finn? Yes, he was the elder Finn brother and the leader of Split Enz after the departure of Phil Judd, as far as I'm concerned anyway. 

The following video shows the band as I most knew them, with the smaller lineup which had Noel Crombie as the drummer. I most easily remember them as being Tim Finn, Eddie Rayner, and then the three N's: Nigel (Griggs, the bass player), Neil, and Noel. Noel sure looks different with the short hair and goatee. 

But back to Tim; much like Ann Wilson and Heart, he was the older sibling with a strong presence and sang the majority of the lead vocals. (He also joined Neil's Crowded House for a time.)

Here's one of their most popular songs, Dirty Creature. 

P.S. - If you're squeamish at all, close your eyes for a few seconds around 2:33 when the creature flies out of the water! 

Split Enz: I Got You

Isn't YouTube the greatest thing ever? Of course, arguably, if you want to argue. And I do like sliced bread. 

This first video I found searching just now. Awesome. It features the band on The Paul Hogan Show wearing the make-up they used in their earlier videos and performances. 



And here is the official video used for this song, the most well-known hit internationally by Split Enz. 

Split Enz: One Step Ahead

Now that I'm posting about Split Enz, there are several videos to great songs to go through. I only have compilations of their music and these won't be in any sort of chronological order, and if they are, it's only by coincidence! 

 

early Split Enz with Neil Finn

As I spoke of in yesterday's post, Split Enz wasn't Tim and Neil Finn's band at the beginning. It evolved quite a bit over the years, going from more of an art band with a large line-up to a tight, more traditional pop band. 

After co-founder Phil Judd left, Tim's younger brother Neil joined as a guitarist. In today's video, he is in on the highly stylized fun. 

Tim sings lead here, as he did on most of their songs; Neil is the one with the glasses and pronounced cowlick playing acoustic guitar. 

early Split Enz

I find it fascinating to watch how a band evolves, even if I have to go back and retrace their evolution. 

I don't quite remember how much I knew about Split Enz back in my college days. I must have been aware of their later songs such as: "Six Months In a Leaky Boat," "I Got You," and "Dirty Creature." To me, it was a band led by the brothers Tim and Neil Finn. 

You might know Neil Finn more for his band Crowded House. But in the early days of Split Enz, Neil wasn't even in the band. And Tim wasn't necessarily the lead singer - as far as I've seen, a musician named Phil Judd co-led the band with Tim. 

I sort of started catching up with the band's history when I picked up a video that was a compilation of their music videos, from their beginnings and throughout their career. What an eye-opener! What I knew as a melodic pop band used to wear costumes and make-up, with quite a different line-up of band members... you'd have to see it. 

In this video, if you're at all familiar with "I Got You"-era Split Enz, there are three members in common here: Noel Crombie and Tim Finn playing tambourine (and trotting across the set at one point), and Eddie Rayner on keyboards. Eddie is extraordinarily talented and has served as musical director for New Zealand Idol, their version of Pop Idol, American Idol, et al. 

Keep an open mind while watching this video! 

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions: Rattlesnakes; Lloyd Cole: No Blue Skies

In an earlier post about The Bluebells, I mentioned the musician that has played in both that band as well as Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. I actually only own one Commotions album, the compilation CD called, "Lloyd Cole and the Commotions: 1984-1989." 

I own, however, several Lloyd Cole solo albums. 

Here is a performance of a song from the compilation: 



And a video for a song from his first solo album: 

Survival Sampler - Depeche Mode: Everything Counts

And so we've reached the final song on my Survival Sampler cassette. And it's a well-known song by a well-known band. 

I recall Chris Martin of Coldplay once saying that the trinity (or some such word) of rock bands that influenced him were: R.E.M., U2, and Depeche Mode. Well, I can relate to the first two, as they were my favorite bands during the 1980's, a decade that was my most active in listening to "my own" bands and discoveries. Depeche Mode, for some reason, not as much. 

But hey, I never got into Pink Floyd either. There are lots of seminal bands that I didn't listen to - I guess the bottom line therefore is: I need more disposable income! Even in the '80s, I felt I could only invest in one band between The Replacements and Husker Du... and I chose The Replacements. I can still picture looking at my two choices: "Hootenanny" by The Replacements, and "Land Speed Record" by Husker Du while shopping at Boo Boo Records in San Luis Obispo. I walked out of there with just one of the two: "Hootenanny." 

Though I later went on to purchase the '45 single of Husker Du's cover of the Byrds' "Eight Miles High." 

Quite a tangent there, huh? Here's Depeche Mode: 

Survival Sampler - The Assembly: Never Never

The Assembly - I don't remember ever seeing that name on my Survival Sampler's list of songs. Looking at it just now, I was thinking, who are they?

Going to YouTube to look for a video of it, pow, right in the kisser! I KNOW this song! Why does it sound so familiar? After admitting in my last post how I must have fast-forwarded the tape after listening to The Bluebells on side two way back when. 

This is a cassette tape mind you; it wasn't as easy to skip past songs as it is with modern technology (can my beloved compact discs really be outdated now too?). 

Even the name Feargal Sharkey rings a bell. He seems to be the main guy in this band. Here's the video I found to put in this post: 

Survival Sampler - Modern English: Rainbow's End

Wow - I guess whenever I listened to my Survival Sampler tape, I must have fast-forwarded after listening to China Crisis on side one, and done the same thing after listening to The Bluebells on side two. Because I don't recognize this song at all! 

I know Modern English for their hit song "I Melt With You" and little else. Although "I Melt With You" was a main staple part to the soundtrack of the '80s; I particularly have a picture in my mind of the video that came with it. 

Anyway, here's "Rainbow's End": 

Survival Sampler - The Bluebells: I'm Falling

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I love trivia, and in particular, trivia about music: musicians, band lineups, interesting connections, etc. 

I don't recall how or when I started learning one interesting bit about The Bluebells - about their bass player, Lawrence Donnegan. I suppose it may have been one day when I heard the local sports radio show talk to him as a special golf correspondent. 

Being a golf correspondent is one of the things he does now, but in the past he performed as a musician. And he wasn't just in The Bluebells; he was in a favorite band of mine (although not such a favorite that I knew the names of the band members, nor own each of their albums - I happen to like some of their music, okay?)... Lloyd Cole and the Commotions! 

But for now, here are The Bluebells; I couldn't find a video of this song that showed more than a glimpse of the bass player. 

Survival Sampler - The Cure: The Caterpillar

I'm not certain, but this song may have been the first I ever heard by The Cure. I never bought more of their music, but am well aware of many of their songs such as: "Just Like Heaven," "Friday I'm in Love," and "Boys Don't Cry." 

When looking for a video of David Bowie singing "Quicksand" so I'd have an idea of what the original sounded like before I discovered Seal singing it, I found several other related videos on YouTube. One featured David Bowie singing with Robert Smith (lead singer for The Cure); I'm not sure I heard it right, but I think it was mentioned that the two are the same age. Hmmm... 

Survival Sampler - Aztec Camera: Pillar To Post

It's been a long time since I've actually listened to my Survival Sampler cassette - I don't even have a working cassette player on hand, either inside where I live nor in my car. Finding videos on YouTube and listening to the song list again has been a lot of fun. 

Aztec Camera brings to mind the only member whose name I know: Roddy Frame. I found a neat series of live performances featuring him and two other notable songwriters playing live acoustically, but for now, here's the video for "Pillar to Post": 

Survival Sampler - King Crimson: Sleepless

My cassette says that it has the 12-inch version of this song, but I'm including a live version I found on YouTube of the band performing in Japan. This is another of the songs I didn't spend much time listening to on Survival Sampler. I guess I preferred the earlier songs on each side of the cassette and so was able to fast-forward to the end of the tape, flip it over, and press "Play" to start the other side whenever I listened to it. 

All I knew about King Crimson was that their bass player, Tony Levin, was in Paul Simon's band during the "One Trick Pony" years: Tony Levin, bass; Richard Tee, keyboards; Eric Gale, lead guitar; and Steve Gadd, drums. Now, if I got that right, I'm impressed - I didn't just look it up online or anything. 

So here's the video for the final cut on the first side of the cassette: 

Survival Sampler - Carmel: More, More, More

This one barely rings a bell. Looking back, I probably hit the forward button on my cassette player a lot. Not that there's anything wrong with the songs I more or less skipped through - I just liked others more, more, more... 

Survival Sampler - Scritti Politti: Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)

Okay, okay, I confess: I didn't necessarily get into all of the artists on my Survival Sampler tape. Scritti Politti is a name I knew, but didn't know anything about. In fact, this is the first time I've ever seen the video; I only ever remember listening to parts of the song on the cassette. 

Survival Sampler - China Crisis: Wishful Thinking

I never became familiar with the rest of this band's catalog of music; like most of the bands on the Survival Sampler, I just knew the one song I heard on this cassette. Such a trip down memory lane listening to them. 

Survival Sampler - The Church: Electric Lash

Looking back, I must have heard this before I ever listened to The Church's album, Starfish, which had my favorite song of theirs, "Under the Milky Way." 

This is an acoustic version of "Electric Lash" - different from the studio version found on Survival Sampler. As you can tell by now, I really like acoustic performances. 

Survival Sampler - The Smiths: What Difference Does It Make?

Quite awhile ago, I made a post or two about my most valuable possessions. Recently, I thought about another possession that means a lot to me: my cassette tape called: Survival Sampler - SR-1A Sound Rations. 

It's in a cool looking can that has Army-style print and has the look of food rations, I imagine. And the cassette inside has a fantastic variety of the alternative music of the time which was 1984. Almost 30 years ago! Yikes! How time flies. Yesterday's post of Echo & the Bunnymen is of a song that must be about that old too. 

For the next series of posts, I'm going to go through the list of songs in the order they are in in my Survival Sampler. This cassette introduced me to some bands that were new to me at the time. And some that were already favorites. 

Echo & the Bunnymen

Like Hootie & the Blowfish where there is no actual member of the band named "Hootie," Echo & the Bunnymen didn't actually have anybody named "Echo."

The lead singer's name is Ian McCulloch, and Echo was said to be the name of the drum machine, although I guess the band denies this. Who knows?

Anyway, here is the one hit that I remember them having, and it's one of the bookmarks I keep at the top of my list: 

Guadalcanal Diary plays Guadalcanal Diary

Yesterday's post included a video for a song of Guadalcanal Diary's, sung by Colin Meloy of the Decemberists. The song has rather dark imagery, so today I thought I'd post a couple of their videos with much brighter themes. 

It's a shame that bands like this and their song catalogs aren't more widely known. Guadalcanal Diary's lyrics touch upon a wide range of subjects, and their albums are well worth getting. 

This first one if from their album 2 X 4: 



This second one if from their album Flip Flop: 

Colin Meloy of the Decemberists plays Guadalcanal Diary

Note: Since I've mentioned the rest of Garbage by name, I should also mention Duke Erikson. 

******** 

One of my favorite bands from the 1980s and 90s was Guadalcanal Diary. I first saw them open a concert for R.E.M. during the Reconstruction Tour in Santa Barbara, California. It was my first R.E.M. concert after driving up to Berkeley to see them play only to have that concert rained out. 

Although I was certainly familiar with R.E.M.'s music at the time, I wasn't familiar at all with Guadalcanal Diary. And from their first note, I was won over. They had music that was immediate - I didn't have to listen to an album over and over until I "got" it. 

The Decemberists are a contemporary band, and I'm not even all that familiar with them. I've seen them play Austin City Limits on television and like their sound. 

Here is a performance that I found since discovering Augustana playing the Bing Lounge in Portland, Oregon. The Bing Lounge has lots of gems: 

more Garbage (and Angelfish and Screaming Females)

Like I mentioned in yesterday's post, I've been enjoying looking around YouTube for things to watch, particularly with the band Garbage lately. 

Here is a video that shows what member Steve Marker saw one fateful day while watching MTV that changed the future of the band: 



Next is another live performance that is among my favorites of theirs, from French television: 




And finally, a cover of a Patti Smith classic: 



I've gotta remember to go out and get some sun and exercise... I could sit here all day! 

obsessed with Garbage

Lately, I've been spending lots of time surfing for videos by the band Garbage. I find their lead singer, Shirley Manson, mesmerizing. Not just striking and cute and sexy, but she just oozes charisma. And I'm not the only one who thinks so; she not too long ago played a role in the television show, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I didn't watch the show when it was on, though; she was one of, if not the, terminator(s). 

Garbage had an early hit, Stupid Girl, quite awhile ago and I bought their first album back then: 




Not that they need any sort of cred, but their drummer is Butch Vig, who produced Nirvana's Nevermind album. 

Here's another gem of a performance I found on YouTube: 



The name of the band is powerful and great... and gutsy too. Luckily they're good enough where their music won't be said to be reminiscent of their name. It's kind of flippant and rebellious, don't you think? There was one interview I saw, maybe with Craig Kilborn, where Shirley mentions another name the band was considering; believe me, Garbage is much tamer. 

Shirley is Scottish and she is a regular guest with late night talk show host, Craig Ferguson, who is also Scottish. It's fun to watch them interact, like old chums. I dig the accent, especially coming from her. This video is from one of her appearances on his show (if you're squeamish, cover your eyes for the clip at the beginning of her as the Terminator - it's a brief clip): 

Seal sings Bowie

How many of you remember the VH-1 show, Unplugged? It was perhaps my favorite way to see performances by my favorite bands. Sometimes I like to imagine particular bands performing in that format, even though it would never happen. 

Anyway, my very favorite Unplugged concert was by Seal. I have others that are up there: R.E.M. and the Church come to mind, but Seal's was almost perfect. I'm surprised the DVD of it isn't available... at least not as far as I know. 

Here's the audio of my very favorite song from that performance; I have a VHS of the concert on videotape, but it's nice to have access to the song on YouTube, even though it's just the sound. I even prefer this version to David Bowie's himself - maybe because I heard Seal's first. 

Boston by Augustana

Much better putting the video directly into the blog post, isn't it? I think all I've done in the past is include a text link to the videos I wanted to share. Apologies for the ad though; I'm not sure how to get rid of it. 

I remember years ago that for the longest time I thought: what's the big deal with YouTube? Are people really that interested in strangers' home movies? It took quite awhile for me to discover that YouTube is for more than just posting home movies.

I'm going to keep posting favorite videos for awhile and see how that goes. I've got a whole bunch of them bookmarked; I just love whiling away time looking at music videos on YouTube. And like Amazon, there are many, many suggestions that take me in all sorts of directions. 

Here's one that I started listening to weeks before the bombings during the Boston Marathon. The song is so beautiful in itself, and yet took on a particular sadness after the tragedy although the lyrics are totally unrelated. 

This version is my favorite. Like several other songs by other musicians, the live version is what does it for me - much more so than the studio version. I don't know much about the band Augustana, but here is the main guy, Dan Layus, accompanied by a couple of musicians whom I don't think are normally in the band. 

James Bond and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang... how are they related?

Let's see if I remember how to do this (blogging that is) - it's been awhile. 

Anyway, while watching Jeopardy last night, I learned something I had no idea of before: Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, also wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. 

After seeing that, I was so incredulous I had to look it up online. And sure enough, it's true! Mr. Fleming wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a story for his child. 

I remember watching that movie as a kid and being quite terrified of that awful "child catcher" character. I even had a bit of a nightmare of a dream that included someone driving a big truck that looked like that "child catcher." I had this dream as an adult in my late-thirties. 

Yes, the movie made an impression on me; I can still hear Dick Van Dyke singing the title song, and can picture that shiny car. I'd watch it again except for, well, you can guess. He was terrifying, like those flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz. 

Here's the song though - what a blast to the past! I didn't remember the details, just the chorus: