FNR Extra: Guster

Jangle pop at it's very best:

Fa Fa


Amsterdam


Careful


One Man Wrecking Machine


Satellite

Jonatha Brooke

This is one "indie" singer who's work I've enjoyed for years. If you linger long enough, you'll also feel a steady pull that will let you know that it's better after all:

Linger


Steady Pull


Better After All

FNR Extra

One of my favorite songstresses from the late 1980's. Perhaps an acquired taste, but give her a listen! Basia:

Time & Tide


Promises


New Day for You


Cruising for Bruising


Baby You're Mine


Until You Come Back to Me


I hope you enjoyed her magnificent three-octave range! Stop by and visit her fan site.

Squeeze - Hourglass (1987)

Just because I heard this on XM today! I LOVE this song but had totally forgotten about it:

VERY Retro Mellencamp

We're talking back when he was still Johnny Cougar! I have been searching for these videos forever with no luck. They are from the late 1970's. Tonight while perusing Gathering Up the Pebbles, I discovered that Angie had one of them posted! I went and searched again and found them both - Thanks Angie!!

This Time


Aint Even Done With the Night

Mellencamp Plays the Fort

Jody strikes a pose
Jody and I had the pleasure of watching John Mellencamp live in concert at the Memorial Coliseum last night.

Los Lobos opened for him this time around - last time he was here, the opening act was Donovan who, while being a trend-setter back in the 60's, nearly put us to sleep! This was my first time recording video with my digital camera, so humor me on the quality. I should also note that I shot this from the "suite level" which, for those us you unfamiliar with the facility, is as high as you can go in the coliseum. Jody always seems to land positions with companies that purchase suites or skyboxes - I can't wait for the new stadium; her employer has already reserved a skybox!




Los Lobos





Mellencamp

Should Have Never Let You Go - Neil & Dara Sedaka

I'm in the habit of looking for obscure songs that I've enjoyed, and was pleasantly surprised to find this footage. From around 1980, if memory serves:

Good Girls Don't

FNR Extra - Jigsaw

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac

Last night, while profiling Bob Welch for FNR, I was astonished to find these older clips of the early Fleetwood Mac line-up. Peter Green named Fleetwood Mac after the band's rhythm section that consisted of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. It was initially a straight-up blues-rock band playing blues classics and some original material — just like Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Green was the leader of the group throughout their initial period of success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when their hits included "Oh Well", "Man of the World" and "Albatross". He wrote the song "Black Magic Woman" that was eventually picked up by Santana.

Following the release of "Albatross" and consequent rise in fame, Green struggled spiritually with the band's success and being in the spotlight. While touring Europe and after a gig in Munich, Germany, Green went on a three day LSD fuelled binge. In his own words, he "went on a trip, and never came back". Green's personality changed drastically after the episode: he began wearing a robe, grew a beard, and wore a crucifix on his chest. His use of LSD may have been a contributing factor to his mental illness, schizophrenia.

He quit Fleetwood Mac in 1970, declaring money to be evil and giving it away to charity. He performed his final show as a member on May 20, 1970. He recorded an experimental and extremely uncommercial album The End Of The Game and faded into obscurity, taking on a succession of menial jobs. I know you'll enjoy these clips of the band from those early days, and recognize the bluesy feel that bubbled just under the surface on many of the group's later hits:

Rattlesnake Shake (Live at The Playboy Mansion)
Check out a very young Fleetwood on the drums, and yes this song IS about what you think it is if you listen carefully. ;)


Need Your Love So Bad


Like it This Way


Oh Well