DANCING ABOUT ARCHITECTURE PRESENTS THE DESERT ISLAND LP SERIES (in no particular order)

ROCKPILE-SECONDS OF PLEASURE

For starters, this is not even the best Rockpile album. For that you have to take Nick Lowe’s “Labour Of Lust”, combine it with Dave Edmunds’s “Repeat When Necessary” and hit shuffle. I guarantee the best two record set experience never released. 100% pure beat, no filler.

However, since that dream LP has to be cobbled together by the listener, “Seconds Of Pleasure” wins out by default. It certainly is no slouch. Now considered to be somewhat of a rock and roll classic, it’s release in 1980 fell on the deaf ears of the record buying public, both in England and here in the United States. It charted as high as #27 during it’s brief five week stay on the Billboard album charts.

Looking back on what was popular back then, it’s easy to see how the record never had a chance. “Glass Houses” by Billy Joel, The “Urban Cowboy” soundtrack, “Voices” by Hall And Oates, “Women and Children First” by Van Halen. The list goes on. Suffice to say that there was nothing else in 1980 that sounded remotely like Rockpile.

Not that the ‘pile were looking to cow tow towards any trends or fads. In Nick Lowe’s own words, the band “specialized in playing Chuck Berry music four times faster than anybody else”. This was a band that played shows night after night essentially burning themselves out on the road between 1977 and 1980.

Strangely enough, by the time the band recorded it’s “debut” , Rockpile had effectively run it’s course. The fact that “Seconds Of Pleasure” did basically nothing sales wise didn’t help matters either. Lowe and Edmunds had outgrown each other, and in Lowe’s words “There was no more fun to be had”.

As stated previously, the record over the years has grown in stature. It is nothing less than a fierce uncompromising take on rock and roll in the truest sense of the phrase. Elements of Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and The Everly Brothers permeate each and every track. The most ironic twist here is that by being steadfastly loyal to the music they loved, Rockpile's sound actually ran contrary to the corporate rock leanings of the era.

Lowe and Dave Edmunds would continue their solo careers independently of each other, occasionally crossing paths and reconvening on a record or two here and there. Billy Bremner played sessions, most notably providing a spot-on James-Honeymann-Scott imitation on The Pretenders’ hit “Back On The Chain Gang”. Terry Williams was snared up by Mark Knopfler , who employed him during his most successful incarnation of Dire Straits.

However, for one brief moment in October 1980, the absolute truth was laid down on some 43 minutes worth of black plastic. “Seconds Of Pleasure” lives on as a testament to the true heart of rock and roll. To paraphrase David Byrne, this ain’t no Huey Lewis.

We certainly love ourselves now, don't we?

Unaccustomed as I am to writing opinion pieces and at the risk of composing a post that smacks of “well DUH!”,I feel compelled to state my position on the existence of tonights 2 hour telethon.


It’s all well and good that all you celebrities (and you know who you are) want to come together, check your egos at the door and donate your time. We appreciate it.

It seems however, that these actions just smack a little bit of disingenuousness.

Instead of going on TV for two hours during prime time and asking Mr and Mrs Front Porch for donations, all the while basking in the gloriousness that is yourselves, wouldn’t it make more sense to strive for something that stretches a tad beyond the photo op and the publicity that goes along with it?


How about hopping in a bus and playing shows across the country, donating everything to Haiti. Your bosses, the record companies, can pledge all expenses in addition to making a sizable contribution of their own. You can even charge the media if they want to follow you around, and donate those proceeds too. Otherwise, they are’nt allowed in. Kinda like a corporate “guest list”. Think of all the positive press that would receive, not to mention all the money you’d raise.

Then you can release a box set of all the shows and donate those proceeds too. I’m sure the record company won’t mind. You could even all sign about 200 and auction them off for even more money. That wont take up too too much of your time and resources would it? It is for a good cause. After all, you are asking people who are undergoing their own private hardships, some who may have even been out of work for an extended period of time to “give till it hurts” are’nt you?

It seems to me that you are taking advantage of a global catastrophe by shining more light on yourselves. Am I wrong? Please set me straight. After all, I am nothing compared to you. I’m just a hack blogger. I’m not so sure I’m even qualified to describe myself as that. You folks on the other hand, are the epitome of all that is glorious. It would seem to me that you folks could be doing more. A lot more.

A Woman in a Black Cocktail Dress.

To me there’s nothing more fascinating than the stories behind the music. No matter how miniscule or trivial, I really enjoy reading accounts from those who were there how this certain event was a turning point. Or specifically, how a concert stood out because of an event that took place during the show.

Sometimes though, the story grows to mythical proportions and is in no way trivial. Case in point the story of Duke Ellington’s performance at The Newport Jazz Festival, 1956.
The Duke had fallen on hard times. Traditional jazz was at a low point in it’s popularity, replaced by Be-bop and the jazz improvisational giants such as Parker, Monk and Gillespie. Combine that with the dawning of Rock n’ Roll, and it’s easy to see why many big band outfits had simply closed up shop by the mid 1950’s

The Duke however soldiered on, playing gigs at roller skating rinks and other venues that were clearly beneath his status. Money was so tight that he was paying musicians out of his own pocket, drawing off of his backlog of song royalties to do so.

Jazz festivals were in their infancy at this time, so it bears mentioning that this was not a “festival” in today’s sense of the word. It was pretty much a buttoned-down crowd for the most part, which makes what was to take place during Ellington’s set all the more surreal.

After about six or seven numbers, Duke pulled out two compositions from 1938 called “Dimenuendo In Blue” and “Crescendo In Blue”. The two tunes were joined together by an improvised tenor saxophone solo by Massachusetts native Paul Gonsalves. The band were experimenting with the repertoire during the shows leading up to Newport, and the solo had evolved to the point where Duke had told Gonsalves to just “blow as long and as hard as he wanted to”. This passage, 27 choruses in length, would be arguably responsible for the rebirth of Ellington’s career.

The performance was simple enough. Gonsalves on sax, joined by only bassist Jimmy Woode, Sam Woodyard on drums, and Duke on piano. You can audibly hear band members urging Gonsalves to “dig in” and keep playing. Between Ellington’s propulsive piano pounding and all of the hollering onstage, the musical onslaught taking place proved to be too much for a woman sitting in a box seat wearing a black cocktail dress.

As legend has it, she sprang up out of her seat and began dancing. Her actions were the catalyst for other audience members to ignore their sedate surroundings and before you knew it, a large percentage of the crowd went crazy, dancing like there was no tomorrow.

It all seems unbelievable and too embellished over time. Until you hear the recording. The audience response at the end of this was nothing short of pandemonium, with Gonsalves collapsed in exhaustion.
In fact, the ovation was so extended that it actually exists as a separate track on the album, titled “Announcements-Pandemonium”.

Columbia Records recorded the show and released it on LP. It became one of the top selling albums of that year. Ellington would ride a resurgent wave of popularity that would last until the end of his life.

The story though, does not end there. It was not uncommon for “live” albums to be tweaked in the studio prior to being released. “Live At Newport” was no exception. Overdubs would be placed on top of the live music so the record would sound better.
So Duke and his band set out to do precisely that immediately after the festival.

Other than the usual cosmetic fixes, the most glaring error apparent on the tapes was that Paul Gonsalves had delivered his legendary sax solo into the wrong microphone! The Voice Of America radio network was taping the show for broadcast, and Gonsalves used that mic instead of the Columbia one. As a result, the sound was not as good as it could have been. It was in fact inaudible for the most part, so the performance was recreated in the studio.

So with the actual solo thought to be gone forever, the “pandemonium” that ensued at Newport was replaced on the LP with a fabrication that was close to the real thing but not quite. A discovery in 1996 though,would soon change all that.

The original Voice Of America tapes had been located. Using digital technology, the two source recordings were painstakingly synched up to each other. The result was not only a truer reproduction of the events of that day, but because there were now two sources, it could also be remastered for stereo.

Released in 1999, the concert that revived Duke Ellington’s career was finally made available with no embellishments or overdubs. Even more astonishing is it’s presence in stereo, considering that the performance was recorded in 1956 and stereo as a format would not even be invented until 1957.

Tony Clarke, “The Sixth Moody” passes away.

British record producer Tony Clarke died this past Monday at age 68. Best known for his work with the Moody Blues during their most prolific and popular period, Clarke was assigned to the Moodies at a time where it was widely perceived in industry circles that the group was on it’s last legs.

Instead, the partnership beared immediate fruit beginning with “Days Of Future Passed” and the FM rock staple, “Nights In White Satin”. Clarke was largely responsible for pointing the band in the orchestral direction although he curiously had no formal music training either.

However, his broad vision and ability to maximize the usage of then newer instruments such as the Mellotron immediately caught on with the progressive leanings of the day. His chart accomplishments with The Moody Blues include 3 UK #1 albums, 8 consecutive top 25 LP’s in both the US and UK, and 7 top 40 singles on both sides of the Atlantic. His highest overall 45 was “Question” which reached #2 in the UK. In the US, it was “Nights In White Satin” that achieved the same chart position.

The partnership was so successful it resulted in the creation of The Moody Blues own label, Threshold Records where Clarke became essentially a top staff employee of the band. Although the lion’s share of his total output was with The Moodies, he had also produced works for other artists such as Clannad and Rick Wakeman.