retroblog.net

It’s time once again for Retroblog.net’s Friday Free for All. For today’s edition, I thought we should explore the vast underworld of bootlegs a bit. thanks to the almighty internets, the sharing of rare and interesting boots exploded these last few years. here’s just a random sampling of some that I have on hand at the moment.

Enjoy the tracks. and feel free to post a list of some of your favorite boots.

please note the sound quality will vary here due to these being “bootlegs” obviously.

GTR – Away (No One is to Blame) from the unreleased NeroTrend album (1987). This features Max Bacon on lead vocals and Steve Howe on guitar. Steve Hackett left the group at this point and Robert Berry was his replacement.

Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello – So Like Candy demo from the Flowers In the Dirt Sessions boot (1988). This is a great version that features both McCartney and Costello singing lead.

Todd Rundgren – Slut from the Vancouver August 25, 2006 boot. a great audience recording. It’s a rough and loose rendition with Tony Levin on bass and Jerry Marotta on drums.

Lindsey Buckingham – Go Insane from the Coach House December 10, 1992 boot. an awesome solo performance of his early eighties hit. definitely an improvement over the original recording which sounds a bit dated now due to the heavy use of the Fairlight sampler.

Susanna Hoffs – Darling One from her unreleased columbia album (1994). This is from the album that Columbia Records rejected. Hoffs ended up re-recording this song (along with some others) for her 1996 album “Susanna Hoffs”. This particular version is more upbeat than the officially released one.

Yes – Cinema/City of Love from the June 19, 1994 Canandaigua, NY boot. There are a ton of boots from this tour since the band did a simulcast of each show via “ConcertSonics”. Even though the “Talk” album isn’t one of my favorites, I thought some of the performances on this tour were pretty strong. I definitely miss Trevor Rabin, though. It’s definitely way overdue for Rabin to get back on stage!!

Journey – Send Her My Love from the Detroit Raised On Radio simulcast in 1986. It’s not the greatest sounding live recording but the “Raised on Radio” tour is fascinating to me for a multitude of reasons – one of which is the presence of Randy Jackson (of American Idol) on bass for this tour. listening to these old live recordings of Journey make me miss Steve “the voice” Perry even more!

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Happy Friday, everyone!

Todd Rundgren mentioned during his recent chat on Rundgren Radio that the live dates scheduled in October will be the last remaining shows supporting his 2008 album, Arena. So essentially this will be the last chance for Todd fans to experience the entire “Arena” album live. Be sure to catch one of the shows if you can!

Sun 10/18/09 Bay Shore, NY – YMCA Boulton Center
Tue 10/20/09 Rochester, NY – German House Theater
Wed 10/21/09 Annapolis, MD – Rams Head
Fri 10/23/09 Philadelphia, PA – Wachovia Spectrum (with Hall & Oates, the Hooters)
Sun 10/25/09 San Juan Capistrano, CA – The Coach House

The Spectrum show in Philadelphia is part of the “Final Farewell Concert Series” for the Spectrum which includes major rock acts like Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam closing out the sports arena. And believe it or not, tickets for the Hall & Oates/Rundgren show are only $6!!!

As for the musicians Todd will be using for these shows, it’ll be the usual “Arena” band minus Rachel Haden. I guess there was a scheduling conflict so in Rachel’s place will be none other than bassist Sara Lee. I’ve personally seen Sara Lee play live several times in the past, including her stint with the B-52′s and the Indigo Girls. She’s a fantastic bass player and it will be great to see her play along side the Wizard himself, Todd Rundgren.

OK, it’s time now for the Song of the Day! Since we’re on the subject of Todd’s Arena tour, I thought I’d post one of the many highlights from his Arena set.

Weakness by Todd Rundgren

I don’t keep a lot of secrets
But the ones I do will die with me
It’s not because I’m hiding something
A trusted friend I try to be

That you are my weakness, my weakness
You are my Kryptonite
The sun that shines a light on my soul…
—

Download a live version of “Weakness” [mediafire, mp3]
recorded off the live webstream of the Norwegian Wood show in Oslo, Norway, 13 June 2009. (courtesy of TR fan robznl)

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happy friday, everyone! To celebrate the weekend, I thought I’d share some tunes. Usually when I share some mp3s here on retroblog, I’d have some sort of theme and label it a mixtape but for the “free for alls” I’m going completely random. enjoy!

Rush – Time Stand Still – one of my favorites off of the “Hold Your Fire” album.

John Hiatt – Bring Back Your Love to Me – I love the vocal harmonies on this one.

Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Band – Something About You – a level 42 cover by Paul Shaffer and company.

Paul Anka – Mr. Brightside – a big band remake of the Killers’ song.

Sarah Brightman – Only An Ocean Away – I can only take Sarah in short bursts. Her voice can sometimes be a bit grating. but it’s still a good song.

Tenacious D – Beelzeboss – the clean version. – I think it’s funnier to hear these guys replacing all the cuss words with stuff like “you mother truckers”. heh.

I told you these would be completely random!!

I recently stumbled across an interesting 2001 interview with guitarist Jimmy Haun (currently with Circa and AKA) conducted by Henry Potts that’s posted on Henry’s Bondegezou website. I’ve always known that Haun contributed guitar work on some of the tracks on Yes’ 1991 Union album but I didn’t realize the extent of his contributions. According to what he said in the interview, Haun pretty much redid the bulk of Steve Howe’s guitar tracks on the album. Apparently Howe, Rick Wakeman and Jon Anderson weren’t really getting along with each other during the making of the album (yeah, I know, what’s new?) and producer Jonathan Elias had to rely on other studio musicians in order to complete the tracks.

Here’s an excerpt of the Haun interview:
So I went to A&M studios in Hollywood to meet Jon Elias and he played me the rough tracks for the new ABWH album. Basically he told me Arista felt Steve’s guitar parts were unacceptable and that he had just soloed over all the songs. Now this was partially true. What they wanted was a blend of the old classic Steve Howe sound mixed with Trevor Rabin! I guess they felt it would sell more records. So Jonathan gave me a mix of three songs with no guitar on them (“Without Hope”, “Dangerous” and “Silent Talking” ), told me to do what Howe/Rabin would do. So in my home studio I recorded wall to wall guitar parts and mailed Jonathan the tape to New York. There was also two other name guitar players (I wish I could tell you who) who had done the same thing but they liked my tape the best, so I flew to New York for approximately three months and recorded guitar for my favorite band (a dream come true!)
about the song: “Shock to the System”:
Must have been a shock to Steve’s system—there is simply no Steve Howe on that at all! Steve had, of course, written the opening riff (which I ended up replacing for sonic reasons). I think this was my favorite track because I got to write most of the riffs and there was this new section we came up with and tacked on at 4:10 and the riff is very reminiscent of “Gates of Delirium”. And I had to replace some of the bass! (Tony Levin left his bass at the studio so we got his exact sound and added the sections.) I guess Steve refused to play this section live. (This is the track that Rabin played for Steve on the plane during the Union tour and Steve’s mouth dropped.)

read the complete interview on Henry Potts’ website.

It’s definitely a great read for those like me who are always interested in that particular era of Yes. The Union album as a whole isn’t one of my favorites but I have to say that it spawned a once in a lifetime tour with eight legendary musicians on one stage.

Anyway, for today’s song of the day I thought I’d post a live version of a song from the much maligned Union album. enjoy.
—
Shock to the System

Shock to the system,
But you’re going back inside of the light.
Shock to the freedom,
Only one more body of love in the rolling
They’re rolling back to you!
Dreaming all the time; they be dreaming all the time.

So, in answer to the prayer,
The one you feel is there,
The one you feel so close to (the order of the Sun).
And everyone is one and all the pieces fit together.
Did it all begin with Someone?
Did it all begin with Someone?
I could not admit to being alive!

- Shock to the System (from the Mountain View, California show, August 1991) [download mp3 via mediafire]
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Well, it looks like all those Todd Rundgren fans on the other side of the Atlantic will no longer have to be so envious of those living near Ohio now. Rundgren Radio‘s special A Wizard A True Star LIVE concert in Akron has now spawned a sister show in London!! Apparently, Doug and Mel of Rundgren Radio has caused such a buzz with their September 6th AWATS gig that a concert promoter in the U.K. decided to schedule Rundgren to perform A Wizard, A True Star at the London HMV Hammersmith Apollo on Saturday February 6th, 2010. I’m not totally sure why the show couldn’t have been scheduled any earlier but there you have it. I’m sure Todd fans are just glad to see that there’ll be another AWATS gig planned after the September 6th Akron show. Who knows, maybe now with two official AWATS shows scheduled, it’ll all snowball into a full AWATS tour! wouldn’t that be awesome? Let’s make it happen. Get those tickets now!

For more info on the 2010 London AWATS show, check out the official NoblePR press release.

For info on the September 6th Akron Show, head on over to AWATSLive.com

And in honor of the recently announced U.K. show, I thought I’d share a few live versions of some AWATS tunes. enjoy!

International Feel (live 1994 at the Forum in London)
Here we are again, the start of the end but there’s more
I only want to see if you’ll give up on me
But there’s always more…

Never Never Land (with a twist 1997)
I know a place where dreams are born
And time is never planned
It’s not on any chart, you must find it in your heart
Never Never Land…

Zen Archer (Live Feb. 28, 1998 Florida)
Rivers of blood, oceans of tears,
life without death and death without reason…

I’m So Proud/Ooh Baby Baby (live Feb. 28, 1998 Florida)
Mistakes, I know I’ve made a few
But I’m only human, you’ve made mistakes too…

Just One Victory (Live 1981 Akron Ohio)
The time has come to take the bull by the horns
We’ve been so downhearted, we’ve been so forlorn
We get weak and we want to give in
But we still need each other if we want to win…

Ethel performing “Flamingo/Zen Archer” (live at TROMP International Music Festival Nov. 2008)

Bonus – Bill Lloyd’s brilliant cover of “I Don’t Want to Tie You Down” (from a tribute to Todd Rundgren CD)
Sometimes it’s hard to look up under
The times we’re going through
I scratch my head and stare and wonder
How to face the day anew…

Note: the mp3 files are hosted on mediafire for a limited time so grab ‘em while you can.
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Well folks, it’s time for another edition of the RetroBlog mix tape. And surprise, surprise, it’s the annual Valentine’s edition. Since last year’s theme was skewed toward the cynical end of things, so I thought I’d balance it out by swinging back toward the sappy side. I’ll call this set, “Love, AOR style”. for those that might not get the term – AOR refers to an old rock radio format called “Album Oriented Rock”. enjoy.

I Believe in a Thing Called Love – The Darkness
Can’t explain all the feelings that you’re making me feel
My heart’s in overdrive and you’re behind the steering wheel
Touching you, touching me,
Touching you cause you’re touching me

Love Will Find a Way – Yes
Here is my heart waiting for you
Here is my soul, I eat at chez nous

No Matter What – Def Leppard
No matter what you do, I will always be around
Won’t you tell me what you found, girl
Ooh girl, I want you

Oxygen – Bryan Adams
My pulse racin’, my head’s in a spin,
I need to see you darlin’, ’cause you’re my oxygen

Every Night – Paul McCartney (soundcheck, 1993)
Every night I just wanna go out, get out of my head
Every day I don’t wanna get up, get out of my bed
Every night I want to play out
And every day I wanna do
But tonight I just wanna stay in
And be with you, and be with you

I Want You So Bad – Heart
When the wind blows through your hair
I want you so bad, want you so bad
I see your smile boy everywhere
I want you so bad, want you so bad

When You Love a Woman – Journey
When you love a woman
You see your world inside her eyes
When you love a woman
You know she’s standin’ by your side
A joy that lasts forever
There’s a band of gold that shines waiting somewhere..

Hold On my Heart – Genesis
So hold on my heart please tell her to be patient
‘Cause there has never been a time
That I wanted something more..

Keep it Right Here – Survivor
There will be nights some restless nights
When you’re alone your thoughts start to wander
Wonderin’ if it’s right, you search the night
Baby you’re home, why look any farther..

*Note*: as always, files are hosted on savefile.com for a limited time. So get ‘em while you can.
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OK, have you O.D.’d on all the saccharine sweet holiday muzak on the radio like I have? Please for the love of all that’s decent in the world, there is absolutely no need for anyone to hear another rendition of “Jingle Bell Rock” or “Winter Wonderland”… and oh Lord, don’t even get me started on describing to you which level of hell Celine Dion’s version of “Blue Christmas” is.

Yes, I’m in a “mood”. Let me express it with my very own Christmas mix tape. I’ve got the songs that are a little more in-line with reality. and don’t worry, there’s no Celine Dion here. I call this Retroblog’s moody Christmas music 2008. enjoy!

Broken Heart for Christmas by Steve Lukather
I’m all alone this Christmas, nothing’s merry ’bout today
Yeah, I’m all alone this Christmas
Nothing’s merry ’bout today
It’s quiet here this evening, it’s a lonely holiday..

That was the Worst Christmas Ever by Sufjan Stevens
Our father yells
Throwing gifts in the wood stove, wood stove
My sister runs away
Taking her books to the schoolyard, schoolyard..

Christmas, Baby Please Come Home by Death Cab for Cutie
They’re singing deck the halls
But it’s not like christmas at all
I remember when you were here
All the fun we had last year…

December Child by Cindy Lauper
Snuggle up and let me hold kiss
Your baby breath in the dark and cold
On a silent night long ago
Another mother held her babe and told him
Close your eyes December Child..

Sweet Secret Peace by Neil Finn
Beautiful are you, your hands are new
All you feel is real and right and true..

In the Bleak Mid-Winter by Shawn Colvin
In the bleak midwinter
Stormy winds may blow
Earth stood hard as iron
Water like a stone..

When I Get Home for Christmas by Snow Patrol
It’s funny how you misunderstand
I only wanna hold her hand
You’re so far from me all year long
I can’t seem to right my, right my wrong

The Christmas Song by Weezer
You told me you would bring presents and treats
Cheering my spirits with homemade sweet meats
Here I sit waiting beside the tree all by myself..

OK now, go have a moody Christmas!!
laterz!
Retroblog

From deep within the depths of my vast music collection comes a new installment of The RetroBlog Music Vault. Today, I thought I’d feature an all time classic song from Todd Rundgren titled “Can We Still Be Friends”. Originally released back in 1978 on Rundgren’s Hermit of Mink Hollow album, the song went on to become one of his signature tunes (along with “Hello It’s Me”, “Bang on the Drum” and “I Saw the Light”). The song has been featured on a number of movies and TV shows including Vanilla Sky, Dumb and Dumber and Nip/Tuck. Over the years, the song has also been covered by a number of different artists which I’ll be covering here in the post.

1) Can We Still Be Friends by Robert Palmer
This is a straight ahead cover which was released a year after Rundgren’s original version. Palmer smoothed out the quirkiness of the original and made it a bit more radio friendly.
also available via Amazon on The Very Best of the Island Years

2) Can We Still Be Friends by Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart recorded a version that seems to be modeled after Palmer’s rendition. Again, it’s pretty straight forward except for an extended vamp at the end. Frankly Stewart’s cover leaves me a bit cold.
also available via Amazon on Camouflage

3) Can We Still Be Friends by Mandy Moore
Yes, laugh it up but honestly, I think Mandy Moore does a great version of this song. It’s probably my favorite of all the cover versions listed here.
also available via Amazon on The Best of Mandy Moore

4) Can We Still Be Friends by Todd Rundgren (Bossa Nova Style)
Todd himself recorded a cover version in 1997 albeit in bossa-nova/lounge style. I personally prefer the original over this lounge-y version but it’s still fun to listen to.
also available via Amazon on Greatest Classics: with a Twist

5) Can We Still Be Friends (live) by Todd Rundgren
Here’s a live version of the song performed by Todd at the Bottom Line in New York in 1978. I believe this was recorded during the same sessions that comprised Todd’s live album Back to the Bars.

enjoy the tunes. as always, the files are hosted on savefile.com for a limited time. grab ‘em while they’re hot.

For today’s selection from deep within Retroblog’s music vault, I present to you – the Heat of the Moment by Asia! Yes, that’s right, the band that ended up as a punch line to the 40 Year Old Virgin joke that reaffirms to people that you are indeed gay. har, har. But no matter what Judd Apatow thinks, the song written by John Wetton and Geoff Downes *IS* a classic in my book. To celebrate the song, I thought I’d post some of the many versions of the song that have been released over the years.

1) Heat of the Moment by Asia (Fantasia – Live in Tokyo) : The original lineup sounding a bit fatigued in this live version recorded in 2007. I could imagine the band in deep conversation over whether to play this song or not:
Carl: Do we have to play this darn song again for the umpteenth time?
Steve: I’m sick of playing that opening riff. It makes me sound like a hack!
John: I know what you mean, Steve. I wrote those lyrics in 5 minutes while I was taking a crap back in 1981.
Geoff: Don’t make me call up John Payne, you guys. He’ll be willing to sing it, no problem.
The concert promoter: Need I remind you all that your contract clearly states that this song WILL BE played at every concert! Or do you not need this big check that I have right here in my hands?
ALL: oh, right.
John: I guess we’ll get right back on stage and play the darn thing.

2) Heat of the Moment by Asia with John Payne (Archives – Best of Asia 1988-1997) : Here’s a studio remake featuring John Payne on vocals. Wetton’s original vocals played such an integral part in the song that without Wetton, it just doesn’t sound right in my opinion. What do you think?

3) Heat of the Moment by Wetton/Downes (bonus track from Wetton/Downes – Icon) : Another studio remake of HoTM but this time by the original songwriters, Wetton and Downes. Again, the remakes lack the spark that the original recording captured. Also the lack of Steve Howe’s trademark guitar leads don’t help matters here either.

4) Heat of the Moment by Asia (Live in Moscow) : This was recorded during the 3/4 reunion of the band back in 1990. Filling in for Steve Howe was Pat Thrall. I never thought Thrall’s over-processed metal sound was that complimentary to Asia’s style of music. and as it so happened, Thrall never came back after the 1990 tour.

5) Heat of the Moment by John Wetton (Chasing the Dragon) : Probably one of my favorite live renditions of this song. Wetton stripes the song down to the basics here. lovely.

NOTE: all files are hosted on savefile for a limited time. enjoy.

Purchase albums by Asia via Amazon:

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well, it appears that Tropical Storm Hanna is heading straight for the Carolinas tonight. I don’t live right on the coast but we are still going to get lots of rain and heavy winds as the storm moves inland. argh. I always worry about these gigantic trees that stand adjacent to my house whenever a strong storm blows through the area. I really don’t want to find a huge tree in my living room tomorrow morning.

So, enjoy today’s Retro-mix: storm’s a-comin’. ..and I’ll see ya on the other side…

Gnarls Barkley – Storm Coming
Run towards the hills to avoid the high flood
I can do a dance that will make the sky cry blood

Robert Cray – Forecast (Calls for Pain)
I can feel the thunder, I can see the lightning
I can feel the pain, Oh it’s gonna rain

Billy Joel – Storm Front
There’s a storm front coming
White water running and the pressure is low
Storm front coming, small craft warning on the radio

Asia – Who will Stop the Rain?
Who tells the wind which way to blow?
I wonder who will stop the rain
The rocks that hold the secrets, they don’t know
So who can stop the rain?

Big Country – The Storm
Through forest and moor as the clouds filled the sky
The storm broke upon us with fury and flame
Both hunters and hunted washed out in the rain

the Alarm – Eye of the Hurricane
Oh eye of the hurricane
I walk away in the wind and the rain
Into the eye of the hurricane of my life
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