THE TRUTH - PLAYGROUND - Dennis Greives

THE TRUTH - PLAYGROUND - On IRS Records

This is an another clip of a previous post on THE TRUTH, (Dennis Greives from Nine Below Zero). In the previous post it came with a somewhat unwanted extra of X singing BURNING HOUSE OF LOVE which I didn't particulary like.

I like the IRS tag in the beginning of the song. Here is what is interesting about this clip. Sure on one hand it is a total WHO rip off because its thrashy power chords with crashing drum rolls. But it works. THE TRUTH released this in 1985 and it is literally out of print.

I think its the most brilliant thing they ever did. The other albums they put out weren't as gripping as this. I also liked Grievsies later releases with Nine Below Zero but he really takes the R and B thing to a sleeping lull. Sometimes its amazing and sometimes its very subtle.

I liked the Townsend jump in the beginning. Its almost as if the UK kids had to come over here and show us how to do rock music. This really stuck in my head for years. The album - should you find it - is extremely expensive now and rare. I remember it being absolutely amazing in just about every way.

You really needed an album label like IRS back in the day. There was a lot of drivel going around with the devil and 666 stuff in the high schools. I was bored with it. I wanted something exciting. The edits are all equal length here for the most part. Its got a tempo to it.

Funny how you start to notice those sort of things when you actually do editing. Back in the 80's a lot of this stuff was done by hand before digital desktop editing....

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The only computers we had in 85' were those crappy Macs that were the size of a bowling ball.

The opening is from Back Porch Video. The Smartest kids in my neighborhood. I grew up in the same town as they did and used to watch this show growing up in Ann Arbor. They were the only kids that understood what I wanted to see and what mattered most. It wasn't rap music which at the time was not widely accepted as being a serious musical form. The things that captured my attention was bands like these.

Posted by Cantu on Oct. 20, 2007 at 9:02 AM

THE ALARM - MAKING OF THE ALARM

"Up Close With The Alarm - and Mike Peters"

This is inside the bands perspective of putting together a video. Peters and crew called it quits years ago until a recent VH1 show got them all together. Here they are perfecting their signature sound.

They are interesting because of their stage presence. Notice the cameras and mics coming from the ceiling like a boxers mic. This adds height to the performance. Also the multiple images being shown over the band adds a bit of visual dynamicism.

These guys really carried over the look and upbeat positive feel that created the image for IRS RECORDS, (which is now defunct). There was a lot of imagery and text floating over the bands videos and live performances. This was the case for a lot of the early IRS bands and added to their complex nature. All of these bands in the early days were quite interesting.

The Alarm is still producing this type of look and it really does cut against the whiney pop diva subculture that exists today. The other thing that sets them apart from competition is their ability to deliver sharp guitar hooks that jar up against one another. Somewhere in all that chaos this Dublin band is still able to deliver a likeable melody. When the entire thing is delivered and signed over you want to listen to it again and again. It has this long lasting effect that so many bands today seem to miss.

Ted Cantu posted this on Oct. 6, 2007 at 10:08 AM

THE BANGLES - BEFORE IRS TOOK A FALL

The Bangles were originally on IRS records and then signed onto a bigger label.. in this case.. CBS records. IRS would later complain that they lost all the acts the originally signed. Just like in Woody Allen's classic comedy, "Broadway Danny Rose".

This video is nice. I remember it. But I really thought it was IRS who put it out. Remember that IRS Records had a stone statue for their mascot and it was featured on IRS's THE CUTTING EDGE on MTV in the late 80's.

But lets not get sentimental and mushy here.....

The Bangles had a lot of great pop sensibilities to them. I think they could have lasted longer than what they did. Their demise helped give rise to non-musical forms. And encouraged non-musicians to form bands and fill up the airwaves.
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cantu fascube 2006

THE BANGLES - HERO TAKES A FALL

The Fleshtones - American Beat - CAN YOU HEAR THE AMERICAN SOUND?

In the 80's it seemed that just about anything was possible. Sunday nights you had a few choices on television, (we didn't have 900 channels back then) and some of the best were found on MTV. YES I SAID MTV.

This was before rap and shoot em up culture became the "in thing" in the commercial entertainment industry. MTV was not sucking up to the lowest case denominator as badly as they were then. Sure, they were showing popular videos and promoting the crap of the hour but they weren't glorifying the killing culture.

In short, music was fun. Pure and simple. It was chaotic and loud and if you watched Peter Zaremba and, "The Cutting Edge" then you knew it wasn't pretentious. This show came on once a month and it featured some great stuff from the IRS label. There was a ton of bands and the show was presented mondo style.

Every month they would pick a town and showcase the bands that made the nightlife work. They also would go into interviews with the bands and show you their day jobs which were far from glamorous. This show was amazing.

The FLESHTONES represented a big part of that mindset. Not only were they the house band for the show but also created the ecstatic legacy that it endured. Sadly, IRS records fell apart in the early 90's. And I missed the ecentricity that this label brought to the music scene. They weren't afraid to shatter the boundaries and create something loud and relevant. They had real balls.

The Fleshtones were a rehash of R&B mixed with loud garage Americana. In short, they were fantastic and brilliant. THey had a huge following in France. They are powerful even today and in fact... a little dangerous. They can really kick out a sound.

AH.. AS PETE WOULD SAY... THE MAJESTIC SOUNDS !!!

The Fleshtones - American Beat

THE THREE O CLOCK HER HEADS REVOLVING - VIDEO

This track is from Irs Records, and the Three O Clock... it is beyond brililant. There are tracks on there that to this day have not been duplicated. Its got a ferocious unexpected beat. Then its got this energy surge that rips through it and it ends somewhat extroadinary as well.....

The Bangles dated these guys and they admitted that during this time their music changed because of it. These micro pop stars are truly brilliant. I found myself playing this CD... Arrive without Travelling.... a gazillion times trying to pick apart the construction of the songs on them. I will never get it right.... They made it look so easy.

It has been recently re-released thank God after about 20 years. I honestly believe that after all this time that this type of pop magic has rarely been touched. Instead I had to suffer through endless rounds of driveling riffs and souless beats... Fugazzi and Nirvana and was bored to death with it.

These sparkling gems shine on.... and I am better because of it.

Let's Active - In Little Ways

Ah Mitch Easter..... right? I think he was in this band....

I remember this album proclaimed, BIG PLANS FOR EVERYBODY.. and I heard it playing in Arborland Mall record shop. I couldn't drive a car then but I was chasing these new sounds around town so incessantly that none of that stuff really mattered much to me. What was important was getting my hands on this unique sound. I was a devotee to these guys.... Melodically speaking.

I was later accused of playing "pretty music" when I formed my second band. This was supposed to be taken as an insult. My bandmates for the most part were fairly tuneless. I was always constructing stuff.... Mitch was my idol really. Listen to this guitar solo.... its got a building quality to it... in much the way Squeeze used to play theirs.

I even knew the hidden bar sequence at the very end on this track as it fades out on the album. You won't hear that on this video. But I remember it fondly.
This song has not aged.

LET'S ACTIVE.. IN LITTLE WAYS