The Specials - USA 1980

This is The Specials live in concert back in January 1980 at Hurrah's, NYC.

The Specials began at the same time as Rock Against Racism which first gathered in 1978. According to Jerry Dammers, anti-racism was intrinsic to the formation of The Specials, in that the band was formed with the goal of integrating black and white people.

2009 has seen the band undertake a 30th anniversary tour (minus Jerry Dammers, however Terry Hall has stated 'the door remains open to him'). The tour has been very well received, their performance on BBC's 'Later With Jools Holland' can be seen on You Tube HERE.

This concert takes us back three decades to a much younger band.

Source: FM Broadcast

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@256kbps.

Genre: 2 Tone, Ska, New Wave.

Set: Majority of set

Track List:

01 Monkey Man
02 Rat Race
03 Blank Expression
04 Rude Boys Outa Jail
05 Too Hot
06 Doesn't Make It Alright
07 Stupid Marriage
08 Too Much Too Young
09 A Message To You Rudy
10 Gangsters

Band Line Up:

* Terry Hall - vocals
* Jerry Dammers - keyboards
* Lynval Golding - rhythm guitar, vocals
* Neville Staple - toasting, backing vocals, percussion
* Roddy Byers - lead guitar
* Horace Panter bass guitar
* John Bradbury - drums
* Rico Rodriguez - trombone
* Dick Cuthell - flugel horn

Links: Official site HERE.

Comments:

The Specials undertook a three week tour of the USA back in January 1980. On some of the gigs they opened for The Police and whipped the crowds up so much they just had to steal the show.

Jerry Dammers was keen for the band not to travel in Limos or stay in flashy hotels, I have read elsewhere that the tour manager was sent ahead on some occasions to ensure their accommodation was not too good !

Download link in comments below or click on the picture.

Buy: Mp3's at Amazon.co.uk - The Specials

The Breeders - Double Trouble 1993

Double Trouble is a collection of live performances recorded during The Breeders 1993 tour.

Formed in 1988 their first album, Pod (1990), received critical acclaim but was not commercially successful. The Breeders' most successful album, 1993's Last Splash, produced the hit single "Cannonball", and this material is from the tour that promoted the Last Splash album.

The Breeders' history began when Kim Deal, then bassist of the Pixies, began writing new material while the band were on a post-Surfer Rosa tour of Europe with Throwing Muses. As neither band had plans for the short term, Kim Deal discussed possible side-projects with Throwing Muses guitarist Tanya Donelly. After rejecting the idea of creating a dance album together the pair decided to form a new band.

Source: Soundboard

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Alternative Rock.

Set: Compilation from various gigs.

Track List:

01. Iris
02. Cannonball
03. Saints
04. Hag
05. Fortunately Gone
06. When I Was A Painter
07. Doe
08. Limehouse
09. Glorious
10. Doe
11. Hellbound
12. Safari
13. Happiness Is A Warm Gun
14. Glorious
15. Do You Love Me Now?
16. Don't Call Home
17. Fortunately Gone
18. I Just Wanna Get Along
19. When I Was A Painter
20. Limehouse
21. Iris
22. Opened

Links: MySpace HERE. Official 4AD site HERE.

Comments:
Double Trouble was yet another release by Kiss The Stone (KTS) records (as previously mentioned the company was based in San Marino, where the law allowed the company to market bootlegs as long as it placed royalties for the artists in an escrow account).

One upside of this is the audio quality and packaging of the original silver discs was often very good. This is the case here, and this mp3 version is is a must for any fan of The Breeders.

Download links (two) in comments below.

Buy: Mp3's at Amazon.co.uk - The Breeders

2010FM - New Idea Society

Some email promo's have me yawning from about the second line onwards this one started as follows and kind of gained my attention.

'After an arduous recovery from a touring accident on the Autobahn while on tour in Germany (singer and main creative force Mike Law broke seven bones on the left side of his body) Brooklyn's New Idea Society has finally regained the momentum that was brewing on their previous album, "The World Is Bright and Lonely" (2007)'.

Now I will be upfront and say I had not previously registered New Idea Society however having gained my attention I gave the two songs from the forthcoming album a listen and reckon they deserve at the very least a fairly decent plug from the Beehive.

Listen:
'Thorns'



Website: Official. MySpace.
Buy: New album release TBC.

Background: The new song is from an upcoming album produced by Andy LeMaster (Bright Eyes, Azure Ray). They are a huge departure from the bands previous recordings. Tracked in Brooklyn and Athens, New Idea Society searched out more of their Byrne/Eno, influences, partially a necessity, since Law was unable to play guitar due to injuries and was writing mostly around his working hand on keyboards and vintage synthesizers.

Eventually as injuries healed guitars found their was back into the mix but a precedent had been set for an album centered around the keyboard and piano playing of Chris DeAngelis and the reserved playing of drummer Alan Cage (who was lured back to drumming from semi-retirement from Quicksand/Seaweed by the excitement of the songs). As Law notes, "For the first time New Idea Society became a collaborative band with Alan and Chris being so prominent in the formation of our sound. The tour accident and some important people leaving our lives framed the mood of the album and how we were all feeling in that aftermath".
After tracking 19 songs the band is happy to share the song "Thorns" as it prepares the album for release.

European tour dates coming this January and February. U.S. dates to follow.

The Ditty Bops - California 2008

For those who are not familiar with The Ditty Bops they are an American band from Los Angeles, California. They were previously with Warner Brothers, however they now self produce their material.

They are noted for their tight vocal harmonies and playful style, and are headed by Abby DeWald (vocals and acoustic guitar) and Amanda Barrett (vocals, mandolin and dulcimer). For those of you who are familiar with their wonderful music, then this is an absolute delight!

This is a full concert of the band performing live at The Freight & Salvage Coffee House (The Home of Traditional Music) in Berkeley, California. This concert took place on the 7th March 2008 and the recording includes both sets.

Source: Soundboard (see comments).

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps.

Genre: Folk, bluegrass, blues, western swing, ragtime.

Set: Full Set

Set List:

Set One:

1. Intro
2. In The Meantime
3. Million Dollars
4. You Made Me Love You
5. Feel From The Outside In
6. Seed Of Wonder
7. Skinny Bones
8. Audience Banter
9. Painted Eyelids
10. Pale Yellow
11. Summer Rains
12. Interlude for Ten Strings

Set Two:

13. Second Set Intro
14. Whens She Comin' Home
15. Fix-It Men
16. Whispering Light
17. Because We Do
18. Angel With An Attitude
19. Always Remember
20. Awake In A Dream
21. Hunting My Dress
22. Crazy People
23. Encore Break Intro
24. E: I Feel Like Singing

Links: Official site HERE. MySpace site HERE. Freight & Salvage Coffee House HERE.

Comments:

A few notes regarding this recording. It would appear to be from two sources as the second set is noticeably louder. The quality of both sets suggest soundboard as the audience levels on both are as would be expected. Whatever - it is a great gig & the encore sets new standards in live performance !

Download link in comments below or click on the picture above.

Buy: Mp3's at Amazon.co.uk - The Ditty Bops

2010FM - Mighty Tiger

Welcome to 2010FM where Beehive Candy will feature new artists, albums, events and the like, that capture our attention in the coming year.

We kick off a couple of weeks early with Mighty Tiger who have just been signed up to Paper Garden Records and their 'Western Theater' album is scheduled for release on March 9th 2010.

Seattle’s Mighty Tiger are a five-piece Capitol Hill dwelling chamber-pop group and also plan to tour down to SXSW and back with fellow Seattle rockers, 'Grand Hallway'.

Listen:
“33 1/3”



Website: MySpace.
Label/Buy: Paper Garden Records - Release tbc.

Bio: With its members emerging from the Midwest and the Southwest, this particular collection of musicians unified in the dreary Pacific Northwestern Seattle, WA. Drawing from influences as diverse as Harry Nilsson to The Flaming Lips, Mighty Tiger applies vintage pop sensibility to indie rock innovation, creates a sound that is uniquely their own.

Western Theater, Mighty Tiger's full-length debut album, is a testament to the vision of the band: conceptual yet cohesive and relaxed. The spectrum of inspiration is apparent, with nods to the sonic landscapes of Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and Built To Spill’s Perfect from Now On. But while Mighty Tiger shows a refreshing willingness to wear its musical influences on its sleeve, the primary strength of the album is the way the band’s divergent points of reference unite around a sound that is distinct yet often tastefully unpredictable; whimsical chamber pop swirls in a turbulent sea of epic indie rock glory. Mighty Tiger have created an eclectic atmosphere in Western Theater that is as intellectual as it is intelligible and as somber as it is light-hearted. One thing is clear about this record and about this band: Mighty Tiger wants its listeners to have as much fun listening to Western Theater as they had making it.

Kate Bush - Amsterdam 1979

'The Tour of Life' is the only ever tour by Kate Bush. During the 1979 tour, Kate became the first ever singer to use a wireless headset radio microphone on stage, which enabled her to incorporate extensive dance routines into her live shows.
A number of reasons have been suggested as to why she subsequently abandoned touring, among them her reputed need to be in total control of the final product, which is incompatible with live stage performance, a rumour of a crippling fear of flying, and the suggestion that the death of 21-year-old Bill Duffield severely affected her. Bill Duffield, her lighting director, was killed in an accident during her 2nd April concert at Poole Arts Centre. Kate Bush held a benefit concert on the 12th May, with Peter Gabriel and Steve Harley at London's Hammersmith Odeon for his family.
The tour comprised of 28 dates including five nights at The London Palladium. This is from her concert at the Carr'e Theatre in Amsterdam, Holland on the 29th April 1979.
Typical of her determination to have control, she was involved in every aspect of the shows production, choreography, set design, and staff recruitment. The shows were noted for her dancing, complex lighting and her 17 costume changes per show.
Source: Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Singer songwriter, art rock, pop rock.

Set: Majority of set.

Set List:

1. Moving
2. Them Heavy People
3. Violin
4. Strange Phenomena
5. Hammer Horror
6. Don't Push Your Foot On The Heartbrake
7. Wow
8. Feel It
9. Kite
10. James & The Cold Gun
11. Oh, England, My Lionheart
12. Wuthering Heights

Links: Official site HERE.

Comments:

It is no surprise that most Kate Bush 'unofficial' material tends to be studio outtakes and demos rather than live concert bootlegs, considering she has only undertaken the one tour.

This concert was first circulated as a silver disc on Italian bootleg label GDR (GDR CD 9213)back in 1992. The CD was entitiled 'Wow' a song which of course was also performed in the show.

Reloaded - 29/May/2015 - download link in comments. 

Buy: Mp3's at Amazon.co.uk - Kate Bush

Beehive Recommends - The Morakestra

If I have some new music that I want to listen to I expect I am not alone in listening whilst doing something else like surfing the net or whatever.

The Morakestra were playing in the background yesterday and I was trying to write an article and in the end I had to turn them off. Not because there was anything wrong, quite the opposite actually as they are so catchy, tuneful, and full of great guitar hooks and songs that they became a total distraction.

Which of course is a joy as I love those moments when you realise you are listening to something that connects home. OK the band themselves have been around for a while, indeed their web site adds 'Founders and key creative minds David and Will Mora are twin brothers who were proudly born and raised in the West Texas border city, El Paso, Texas. Fellow El Pasoan Jim Ward contributed to the rebirth of Morakestra via production and recording of the band's latest album, Witness to Connection, out June 2nd, 2009 on indie label Stratking Records'.

Listen:
'Tell You Something'



Websites: MySpace, Official.
Buy: The Morakestra

It was Texan guitar legends Mario Otero and Charles Teitsworth who first pushed the Mora brothers to turn their early compositions into a polished collection of songs, and before long, the boys had a debut album, “Live from Moraq.” Released in 2007, it showcased a variety of impressive session musicians, but it was the Moras themselves who handled all of the guitar work and vocals, and ultimately produced the album. The brothers spent the following months playing gigs with an ever-changing band to back them up, and buzz grew around the talented twins, who became known as “dueling guitar players.”

"The Morakestra's biggest selling points on Witness To Connection are the addictive guitar riffs that populate every track…Songs show both pop sensibility and a unique style that belongs solely to The Morakestra…Witness To Connection is a powerful effort." - Atlanta Music Guide

Stray Cats - Live In North America 1982.

Are you ready to rumble? There is nothing like a blast of rockabilly and a blues belter or two, to clear the cobwebs and the Stray Cats certainly know how to liven things up as was the case here back in the early 1980's

Now I am a little confused over the venue or even city that this gig was actually from. The silver disc boot says the band were live in Los Angeles on April 28th 1982. It's just that the song 'Rumble In Brighton' keeps on having the lyrics changed to 'Rumble in Toronto' something the audience seems to appreciate.

That aside this is one rocking concert from the band at the peak of their musical journey. It's not until 'Lonely Summer Nights' that the band slow things down a little, showing how well they could recreate 1950's rock'n'roll in differing styles.

Source: Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Rockabilly.

Set: Full Set.

Set List:

1. Baby Blue Eyes (4:22)
2. Double Talking Woman (3:47)
3. Rumble In Brighton (3:55)
4. Drink That Bottle Down (5:25)
5. Built For Speed (5:57)
6. Foggy Mountain Breakdown (1:42)
7. Jeanie Jeanie Jeanie (3:39)
8. Stray Cat Strut (5:38)
9. Lonely Summer Nights (3:55)
10. Rev It Up (3:08)
11. Come On Everybody (3:46)
12. Runaway Boys (5:09)
13. Oh Boy (2:41)
14. Something Else (4:24)
15. Fishnet Stockings (3:15)
16. Rock This Town (6:45)

Links: Official site HERE.

Comments:

The group, whose style was based upon the sounds of Sun Records artists from the 1950s and heavily influenced by Bill Haley & His Comets, had little initial success in the New York music scene. When Setzer heard that there was a revival of the 1950s Teddy Boy youth subculture in England, the band moved to the UK. The band found themselves in the midst of a nascent rockabilly revival, with youth wearing drape jackets, brothel creepers and updating the 1950s look by using hairspray instead of grease to style their hair and by wearing bright, "loud" colours.

After a gig in London, Stray Cats met producer Dave Edmunds, well known as a roots rock enthusiast for his work with Rockpile and as a solo artist. Edmunds offered to work with the group, and they entered the studio to record their self-titled debut album, Stray Cats, released in England in 1981 on Arista Records. They had three hits that year with "Runaway Boys", "Rock This Town," and "Stray Cat Strut." The UK follow-up to Stray Cats, Gonna Ball, was not as well-received, providing no hits. But the combined sales of their first two albums was enough to convince EMI America to compile the best tracks from the two UK albums and issue an album (Built for Speed) in the U.S. in 1982.

Download links (two) in comments below.

Buy: Mp3's at Amazon.co.uk - Stray Cats

Beehive Recommends - Daisy McCrackin

We are reliably informed that Daisy McCrackin was born in San Francisco and now lives in Los Angeles.

So what else can I add, well having read her bio on MySpace her original move to LA was to develop an acting career, with some notable Hollywood credits to her name including 3000 Miles To Graceland (with Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner.) She also had the honor of being one of Michael Myers teen victims in a Halloween sequel from 2002 (no wonder she switched over to a music career), however clearly her artistic yearnings eventually led her away from LA for a while as she slowly developed her song writing and guitar skills.

Having listened to her debut release 'Rodeo Grounds' I have to say there is something special about Daisy and her music. I would imagine she will appeal to both folk and indie fans alike, the comparisons are there (from Joni Mitchell to Beth Orton) however she has a unique and very intimate style that has a personal and charming edge.

Listen:
'tell her'



Websites: MySpace, Official.
Buy: Daisy McCrackin

Her bio goes on: Back in Los Angeles, Daisy moved to the fabled Rodeo Grounds arts collective in Topanga Canyon, where she bathed in the deep and salty waters of authentic expression daily. Inspired by the eclectic community of artists living by the beach, serving as a muse and creating by the moment, Daisy took up painting, and continued to labor at the guitar. Immersed in a supportive environment that encouraged her artistic exploration, Daisy wrote songs and improvised instant ballads ‘round the famed campfire, holding her fellow creatives captive while dazzling them with hilarious impromptu outpourings of quirky lyrics, sung to sweet, simple melodies. Still too shy to share her “serious” songs, Daisy stuck to modeling by day, and making her cohorts laugh by night. Finally, after an intense song-writing jag Daisy sang a somber, personal song to a close friend who advised her to quit her day job and dedicate herself full-time to music. She played her first live show in 2006, and was dubbed “an instant rock star” in an LA Weekly review, which reported that Daisy “stole the show.”

Sandy Denny - Newcastle Guildhall 1972

This is the second in our new occasional series under the banner 'Rarities and Collectors Items' where the audio might not be first class but the interest factor is likely quite high.

It's over thirty years since Sandy Denny passed away, and yet her influence as a folk singer and artist has remained down the years, her ability to interpret anything from traditional folk too folk rock setting the benchmark for those that have followed.

This is a beautiful set recorded by a member of the audience who edited out the gaps and some applause however retained her conversation with the audience along with the songs. Being a small venue and with a respectful audience the intimate nature of the concert can be felt and heard.

Performing on October 12th 1972 at the Guildhall, Newcastle, England this is the much missed Sandy Denny.

Source: Audience recording

Sound Quality: Very good for audience recording and era mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Folk, Electric Folk.

Set: Majority of set.

Set List:

01. Itll Take A Long Time
02. Bushes And Briars
03. Sweet Rosemary
04. It Suits Me Well
05. Late November
06. Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood
07. The Sea Captain
08. The Sea
09. The Lady
10. John The Gun
11. Late November

Comments:

From wikipedia:

Sandy Denny (6 January 1947 – 21 April 1978), born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, was an English singer and songwriter who has been described by Allmusic's Richie Unterberger as "the pre-eminent British folk rock singer". She emerged in the mid 1960s while still a teenager, performing on the folk revival scene where she displayed her mastery of traditional singing and interpretation. Her song, "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?", written during these early years, has been covered by numerous artists and is regarded as a classic of its type.

Sandy Denny's renown grew after her death, and her songs have been covered by many other artists. She is considered a founder of the British folk rock movement and perhaps its most important female singer and personality. It has been suggested that her effortless and smooth vocal delivery still sets the standard for many of today's female folk-based singers.

Over a ten year career Sandy Denny left an extensive legacy and remains influential. She is remembered for the crystal-clear purity but also the strength of her voice as well as her pivotal involvement with the British folk rock movement, where, as a member of Fairport Convention, she moved the band away from west coast American cover versions and into performing traditional material and original compositions. She is also noted for her duet with Robert Plant on Led Zeppelin's fourth album in 1971, on the song "The Battle of Evermore", and to date she remains the only guest vocalist on a Led Zeppelin album.

Download link in comments below or click on the picture.

Buy: Mp3's at Amazon.co.uk - Sandy Denny