Grew Up With A Monster

1979 Warner Brothers Loss-Leaders album of mostly Cali-lite rock and disco-ish stuff through three of the four sides, with a slightly-weird third side thrown in to liven things up.
I really like the Jones, Harrison (Beatles out take), George, ASB, and (especially) Roches tracks, and the Van Halen is the best they ever did. Tin Huey is my stone cold winner here, though.

Warner Brothers Loss Leaders - Monsters


Rickie Lee Jones: Danny's All-Star Joint
The Doobie Brothers: Here to Love You
Osiris: What's the Use?
Ashford & Simpson: It Seems to Hang On
George Benson: Livin' Inside Your Love
Lowell George: Can't Stand the Rain
Randy Crawford: I Stand Accused
George Harrison: Not Guilty
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Stir It Up
Gary Wright: Love's Awake Inside
Kate & Anna McGarrigle: NaCl
Van Halen: Dance the Night Away
Mary Russell: Heart of Fire
Inner Circle: Everything is Great
Chaka Khan: Sleep On It
Gino Soccio: Dance to Dance
American Standard Band: Got What It Takes
Wornell Jones: Lay It on the Line
Tin Huey: Hump Day
Alice Cooper: From the Inside
Michael Franks: Underneath the Apple Tree
The Roches: We

Exploring the Barn

Here's a smart little set from The Explorers Club at the Awendaw Green Barn Jam of 2-1-12 that featurres several tracks from their new album Grand Hotel.

The Explorers Club at the Awendaw Green Barn Jam 2-1-12

So Long, Farewell, Until We Meet Aga...In 1996

In retrospect, the signs were obvious. We had had a rough and ragged series of road trips with some remarkable mis-steps by our "booking agent" (renting a Lincoln Town car instead of a van for a trip to Nashville, for example), we were getting bored with songs and adding random rearrangements, we were being willfully discordant/arrhythmic, and our fashion sense went all to hell (much in evidence on this video). We had conflict with the soundman, as well (you can hear me yell at him at one point) - he seemed incapable of curing the recurring feedback problem. Ella Gurus really probably wasn't the best venue for us - we were much more at home in the echoing confines of the Cityside Cafe. This, then, is a document of a band breaking up - this was the final show for Sea 7 States. In fact, I don't think we ever even practiced again.

I had never seen this tape before this year, though I remembered that Judybat Jeff Heiskell was there with his camera (you can briefly see him in a shot at the very end). I'm shown packing up a cassette recorder at the finish, so apparently an audio recording was made, but perhaps it was so bad that I destroyed it (very unlikely for this OCD archivist). Regardless, it seems to have vanished.

There is still a core of valiant dancers struggling to have a good time despite the efforts of the band. (If you recognize yourself, drop a note in the comments!) One of them is former drummer Todd Eaton, who occasionally interjects some cowbell playing from his place on the dance floor.


Sea 7 States @ Ella Gurus 8-28-89 (the final show)


3/4ths of this version of the band did meet again in 1996, when Brett, Jon, Phil, and Kevin gathered for a weekend of recording in Charlotte, NC that also served as Kevin's bachelor party. A couple of tracks from that session ended up on the Incompleat CD.