I don't know if you know this band, but there's a fair chance that they are right up your alley. They are probably my alltime favorite live act, mixing disco danceability, ferocious funk energy, screaming horns, latin dance rythms, perfect pop song constructions, extremely clever (if somewhat juvenile) humor from August Darnell and some of the funniest staging you'll ever see. That combo is right up my alley, anyway, but that may say more about my juvenile sense of humor than anything else!
This particular set is really, really good (most of his best originals and covers of Sly Stone, Harry Belafonte, The 4 Seasons, and The Holmes Brothers) - although the recording is hardly SOTA. By the way, the band played at my 50th birthday party and tore the roof off the sucka (so to speak).
I recall you telling the story of KC playing your birthday - now that's a hell of a present! They're all good, but the first two or three Kid Creole studio recordings are absolute must-owns - "Off The Coast of Me"; "Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places" and "Tropical Gangster" are just incredibly musical recordings. LP, of course!!
The band's appearance at my party was actually my party's appearance at their show, and it was my present to myself.
The story is:
I was talking to their management and negotiating for their appearance at my party, when the band coincidentally scheduled its first LA show (Key Club) in 15 years, just 2 weeks before I was going to hire them. Instead, I booked the private room at the Key Club and bussed my party to the show, which was - as always - enormously entertaining. (This plan ended up cutting costs by roughly 80%.) Even my father in law, who detests anything smacking of rock'n'roll, really loved it.
As it turned out, my party guests were, outside of press, friends of the house, and friends of the band, the ONLY people at the show. Zero! ticket sales to the public - amplifying your point about the band's lack of recognition (stateside, anyway. I understand that they're more popular in Europe). The lack of a following is a mystery, and, sadly, I suspect that they will never return to LA after failing to sell a single ticket beyond my group purchase.
Marty
Three more thoughts:
1) I worked on (or around) Wall Street for 2 decades and the band has a real following among (mainly) lawyers and (to a bit lesser extent) bankers there. No idea why, but their LA show was scheduled (according to their manager) to "piggy back" on a private party they were playing that week for Deutsche Bank in LA.
2) In a final bit of weirdness, the LA Times reviewed the performance at my party. They noted the band's significance as a cultural touchstone for the "NYC alt-disco" circuit in the early '80s and commented that it was sad to see the band return after 50 years and find only a handful of hardcore fans (i.e. my party) there to greet them.
3) Finally, to anyone who buys the live record, note that the real party starts on track 3. The first 2 songs are disco covers, good fun in their own right (particularly the Kid's lecherous version of "Oh, What a Night", Franky Valli's nostalgic ode to losing his cherry), but not the main point of the proceedings).
Love the first line he speaks on the live record:
"Hey, Franky, I had a night like that, too. Let me tell you about it."
These are the songs I crank at break-neck volumes most often, and why I need more amplification:
1. 'Pushit' by Tool off 'Saliva' 2. 'Delirium Trigger' by Coheed and Cambria off 'The Second Stage Turbine Blade' 3. 'Hang you from the Heavens' by The Dead Weather off 'Horehound' 4. 'Assassin' by Muse off 'Black Holes and Revelations' 5. 'Icky Thump' by The White Stripes
Many choices but Jethro Tull is my pop/rock favorite. With the mix of acoustic and electric instruments, wide dynamics, tempo changes and esoteric lyrics make it tough to surpass. On the formal(HP)side Beethoven's 9th symphony is simultaneously brilliant and exhausting. When played loudly you feel your part of the chorus(lol).
Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet." Not as loud, though, as when I once heard it being performed live, from a seat in the very first row at Tanglewood (summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra). I would estimate that peaks reached at least 115 db.
Last night I enjoyed the guilty pleasure of FCA35 by Peter Frampton. This is a 3 disc live recording celebrating the 35th anniversary of "Frampton Comes Alive" released in 2012. The recording quality is excellent and I think that Peter Frampton is a gifted guitar player who has suffered from over exposure back in the day. This particular collection has a really tasty electric version of All I Wanna Be (is by your side) that sounded great with a little volume.
Max - do agree with you about PF. I played the heck out FCA way back when...as well as the eponymous studio LP released round about that same time. I may have to track down FCA35...was not aware of it. Thanks.
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