You knew something was up heading towards the exhibition facility known as the Aleppo Shriners Auditorium as tons of cars were parked on the street way before the entrance. Upon entering the huge event center there were all sorts of characters from a fully-dressed Spiderman (of course) to a giant yellow robot creature from Transformers (obviously with a person inside working it) to a really huge person walking around as a Monty Python character. Who knew that along with the thousands of CDs and vinyl albums and comic books and autographed posters there would be this carnival inside the carnival of people dressing up for the occasion?
__________________________________________________REVIEW
CD: WET SOUNDS
ARTIST: Tsunami of Sound
Drenched in the reverb of guitarist Dave Esposito, the classic "Mr Moto" gets the whammy bar and lots of love and care opening up this dynamic and authentic perspective on instrumental surf rock. The two minute and fifty-two second rendition of the Belairs classic - which originally clocked in at 2:09 on Surfside records - is splashier, echoey-er (is that a word? Well, it is now!!) and a tad more elaborate. This New England based group (a quartet, though without Arlington's Bob Damiano they performed as a trio on Saturday and still had a big sound,) take their favorite surf rock classics and "wet them up" - adding lots and lots of reverb, thus the album title Wet Sounds - a take-off on the Beach Boys Pet Sounds.
Mr Moto by Tsunami of Sound
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeNF4zD3W44
Listen to the original by the Belairs on Surfside records
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgHFxPGMg4M
The articulate original, "Pearl Harbor, written by Esposito, fits in perfectly with the material the group embraces, drummer Rick Sanger keeping the back beat solid and grooving. Sanger told Visual Radio on camera at the event that he wrote the third song, "Crystal Pier," on keyboards and brought it to the group, recording the CD at Damiano's studio in Arlington. It starts with drums, of course, and has a Beatle-esque intro (say, "I Saw Her Standing There" rhythm guitar or countless other early Beatles' guitar musings - check out the Beatles here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrRUpvuBWQE ) before "Crystal Pier" regresses (or evolves) into the surf rock motif that is the ultimate goal here. At 3:47 it is the longest track on the disc. Come to think of it, an instrumental of "I Saw Her Standing There" would be a nice addition to the group's repertoire.
David Esposito's "Motor Oil" - a two minute and seven second exercise and pulse-pounding creative audio emissions goes on an adventure, experimenting with ideas in the context of a two minute romp, keying off of Aerosmith's "Same Old Song and Dance" riff. The three originals sandwiched in between the covers, "Mr. Moto," "Spanish Flea" and "Wild Weekend."
"Spanish Flea" is a lot more Dick Dale than the light (and very famous) Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass rendition http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxsOXOPni0o off of Alpert's Greatest Hits album (a variation of the song was also the theme to The Dating Game TV show.) This fluid and coherent rendition is the perfect warm-up to the rave-up "Wild Weekend" that follows. A song that started out as a theme to a radio show, after the Rockin' Rebels brought it to the Top 40 it has become a surf-rock staple. On Wet Sounds guitarist Esposito explores the nuances of the cavernous melody. Check out a couple of live versions by the band here:
Hear Tsunami of Sound perform "Wild Weekend"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VLflPuZnFE
Wild Weekend, Patriot Place, Foxboro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW9fePTD7eU If you dig The Ventures, "Let's Dance" by Chris Montez, Dick Dale and the classic sound of the 60s, get it updated on this tour-de-force. For fun, give a listen to both the Rockin' Rebels rendition:
"Wild Weekend" The Rockin' Rebels
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVf144-Ccj4
as well as Roxy Music sax player Andy Mackay's Wild Weekend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rplw3Szuu8
and the NRBQ version of "Wild Weekend" with lyrics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orW-ZBYgTmg
_________________________________________________________
TSUNAMI OF SOUND
Jamie Huggins on bass
http://www.tsunamiofsound.com/jamie-huggins
David Esposito Guitar
http://www.tsunamiofsound.com/david-esposito
Rick Sanger on drums
http://www.tsunamiofsound.com/rick-sanger
Bob Damiano on guitar / keyboards / recording
http://www.tsunamiofsound.com/bob-damiano
SOME LIVE MUSIC FROM TSUNAMI OF SOUND
Tsunami of Sound live - "Penetration"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG3ddGPsVYQTsunami of Sound "Rawhide"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsVi1mcXIoA
___________________________________________________
Andy Mackay of Roxie Music Wild Weekend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rplw3Szuu8
NRBQ "Wild Weekend" with lyrics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orW-ZBYgTmg
"Wild Weekend" The Rockin' Rebels
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVf144-Ccj4
The following information is from YouTube off of a very cool site, Colorradio.com. Check out that page (link below) for lots of inside information:
The Rockin' Rebels career began when Buffalo, New York disc jockey Tom Shannon and his partner Phil Todaro wrote a theme song, "Wild Weekend," for Shannon's radio show. The song -- originally a vocal -- became a local favorite with his listening audience, and the light bulb went on over his head when he was deluged with requests for a copy of a record that doesn't exist. While hosting a record hop, Shannon was approached by a local high school band on the bill, the Rebels, named after Duane Eddy's backing group. The band asked Shannon if they could play an instrumental version of his theme song. Shannon hadn't thought of the tune as an instrumental, but after hearing the group's version of it, he quickly booked them into a studio. Released on Todaro and Shannon's own Marlee label in 1959, the record was a big hit regionally, kicking up enough noise to secure the band a spot on Dick Clark's Amercian Bandstand. Read more here:
http://www.colorradio.com/rockinrebel...
PERTINENT OTHER MUSIC FOR AFICIONADOS:
The Routers "Wild Weekend"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iZ9CqPNC5w
The Lively Ones - Surf Drums
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neqw-YlicY8
Telstar The Tornadoes 1962
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryrEPzsx1gQ
A different group, the Tsunami Surfers performing "Mr. Moto"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy2BfhiAV9U
____________________________________________________________
GOLD DUST
Classic album sells for hundreds of dollars on the internet
The Couper Brothers / Gold Dust have renewed interest with their original Gold Dust vinyl going for megabucks on the web. Scott Couper and his brother Jay Couper are putting the finishing touches on their new CD - "Gold Dust - 29th Aniversery Deluxe Edition" which features their first critically acclaimed 1986 album "Gold Dust" in its entirety, bonus studio tracks, rare live tracks and a bonus DVD with live performances, rehearsals and other fun stuff.
Three of those bonus tracks not on the original release are “Fear of the Unknown,” “Try Again,” and “You’ve Got A Lot To Learn.” Here are reviews of those three “lost” songs re-mastered and ready to be unleashed upon the planet.
Fear of the Unknown
The Couper brothers, also known as Gold Dust, create simple songs with complex arrangements and straight-ahead themes. “Fear of the Unknown” is a different direction where the riff borders on Rush-like attitude with a Leslie West’s Mountain undercurrent on the drums, Jay Couper doing a couple of nice Corky Laing-ish runs. The two minutes and sixteen seconds don’t have keyboards of heavy production, as the duo has employed on some of its other material. This is no-nonsense in your face, snarling guitar taking the listener down a dark path, the rabbit hole that takes one to the world where the sentinels crawled through the Matrix. A nice song if the Wachowski brothers ever resurrect the series and do a Matrix IV.
Try Again
Guitarist Scott Couper is on vocals here on four minutes and two seconds of crunch rock. Scott uses the Richard Nolan lecture lyric (with, perhaps, some Nolan influence on the singing style) as the guitars build a framework, a rhythm buzzing while the lead notes blitz like red hot meteors showering down. Should help bring more attention to the earlier titles that were initially issued on the vinyl release.
You’ve Got a Lot To Learn
The three minutes and seven seconds of “You’ve Got A Lot To Learn” is about disagreement, circular guitars and a constant rhythm bolster the harmonies on this admonition not looking for a response. The intentional low-fi production from these two excellent musicians is what is back in vogue in 2014, so the timing is perfect as vinyl collectors to go wild on this classic material. Can’t wait to hear all the bonus stuff.
Scott Couper writes out the sheet music to their compositions, and the guys spend countless hours honing the material. Which is why there’s such a run on the first pressing making this impending reissue all the more exciting.
The guys showed up for the Original New England Compact Disc & Record Expo at the Dedham Holiday Inn earlier in 2014. Maybe they'll be at the next one in September
Sept 14 Original N.E. Compcast Disc & Vinyl Record Expo
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