Most Of The Girls Like To Dance (But Only Some Of The Boys Do)

I love Don Dixon. "Who the hell is Don Dixon?" you may ask. The answer is, a very talented producer responsible for early R.E.M., Smithereens and later Chris Stamey albums but I love him for his own music, especially the album entitled "Most Of The Girls Like To Dance (But Only Some of The Boys Do)".

On that record he covers Nick Lowe's "Skin Deep"(which is awesome)but his own material is simply put, in a class by itself. I love so many of the songs from that record that I have committed many to memory and they are part of my personal repetoire.

"That Girl!" Rehearsal

Back in Business

After having the summer off (except for two casual get togethers) we reconvened last Sunday night for a good old fashion, shake the rust off rehearsal. All in all, not bad considering its been three months!

Worked on nailing down all the new tunes we started, talked about and began working on our IPO setlist (November 8th or 9th?) and scheduled an IPO warmup gig for October 18th at Kenny's Castaways.

Buddy Love is back in business...

Brian Wilson's That Lucky Old Sun

Been listening to Brian's new album all morning. When I first heard some snippets a month or two ago I wasn't impressed but after hearing it whole I've changed my mind, THIS ALBUM IS BRILLIANT!

Who is Joe Meek and what is that strange sound?

Over the years I've heard the name Joe Meek over and over, mostly in reference to guitar effects pedals. The reputation the name evoked was high but I never thought further about who he was until recently when I discovered that he wrote and produced the fabulous 1962 single "Telstar" by the Tornados and also produced the 1964 British Invasion group The Honeycombs' song, "Have I The Right".

After further investigation I discovered that Joe Meek was considered to be on par with Phil Spector in England, with a reputation for strange behavior and even stranger records which he produced bucking British recording industry conventions by having his own "home" studio, and making enemies in the process.

The record that "made his reputation" in England was a song written for a television actor called John Leyton who became a pop sensation with "Johnny Remember Me".

If you are interested, download the BBC Documentary called
"The Strange Story of Joe Meek" here! (be patient, it's a LARGE FILE!)

Also, check out this article by Lenny Kaye for more inside info on the stange sounds of Joe Meek.

Comments about the WMJC-FM Unlabeled Show

I guess our song's appearance on WMJC-FM has made a bit on an impact as there are quite a few comments about it on their website.

If you haven't yet heard it, push the play button below and check it out. (also feel free to add your own comment on WMJC-FM's Buddy Love webpage).

Reality Check

I am always writing new songs, most of which get abandoned before being finished. But the ones I do finish I finish for a reason; because I think they're worth finishing (duh!)

After presenting a batch of songs to the guys the other day I was suprised to receive the following feedback from Joey regarding one of them, "Great hook but not into the verses." Although the other guys liked it (especially Scottie-boy) Joey is the one who has to sing it and if he's not into it, its not gonna come off well so what's the point?

Now in days gone by my ego would have blown a fuse. There would have been no discussion about "if" we should do a song or "how" we would do it, it would have been done the way I wanted. Thankfully we're all more grown up now because instead of taking it personally I listened to the song with "new ears" and understood what Joey's reservations about the verses were; boring melody! I then re-wrote the melody in the verses and am now even more happy with this song than I was before.

Here's the point of this story; being in this band is VERY different now than it was 28 years ago and specifically, working with Joey these past two years has been an absolute pleasure and I am gratified that we can say whatever we have on our minds without any bullshit. The end result of all this is that the song is MUCH BETTER NOW thanks to Joey's impartial criticism. I feel very lucky to have his significant talents to convey my song ideas and to keep me on my toes. Thanks Joey.