Enuff Z' Nuff: A Band You Need To Know - by Scott Carr

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Hailing from Blue Island, Illinois, Enuff Z' Nuff was formed in 1984 by guitarist/vocalist Donnie Vie and bassist Chip Z' Nuff. Originally known as Enough Z' Nuff, the duo immediately began writing songs together. Leaning heavily on their influences of The Beatles, Badfinger, Slade, Queen, Elvis Costello and their home state heroes Cheap Trick, Vie and Z' Nuff built a catalog of hundreds of songs in short order and began hitting clubs all around Chicago. 

Enuff Z' Nuff took their shot at big time success when they released their self-titled debut album on Acto Records in August of 1989.  Glam metal was taking it's last gasp of breathe and Enuff Z' Nuff were pushed right into the middle of it all. While the band did have the glam image, their music was not metal and it certainly felt more sincere than their glam metal counterparts. Big media even took notice of Enuff Z' Nuff being quite different than the flavor of the week that the labels were churning out at the time. Rolling Stone magazine describe their music as "Beatle-esque song craft and ripping hard rock" while Billboard magazine called them "a truly gifted power pop act." Even radio shock jock Howard Stern took an interest in the band and often featured them on his nationally syndicated radio show, Stern would later write liner notes for the bands fourth album 1985. In the liner notes Stern mentioned a trip he had taken to a remote deserted island and he only took five cassettes with him and three of them were Ennuff Z' Nuff. Enuff Z' Nuff made back to back appearances on Late Night With David Letterman and Letterman said "when it comes to rock 'n roll kids, these guys are all you need." Kiss' Paul Stanley said "Their debut album is a classic!"

It would seem that everything was set in place for Enuff Z' Nuff to become a household name, but it just wasn't in the cards. The debut album did quite well and spawned the MTV hits "New Thing" and "Fly High Michelle." By the the time the band released their second album Strength the music climate had changed and anyone associated with the glam metal scene found it tough to get any attention. Strength was a far superior album to the bands debut album and found the band delving deeper into their Beatle-inspired power pop roots. Acto Records dropped the band but they were quickly picked up by Arista Records for their third record, Animals With Human Intelligence. Almost as soon as they were signed to Arista they would find themselves without a label again. This would be the bands last go around with the majors and Chip and Donnie forged ahead releasing their music on indie labels and sometimes you could only track down their new music via Japanese imports. Although they no longer had the support of a major label the quality of their music never suffered. If anything, it continued to get better with each record.

To date the band has released 12 studio records with a 13th on the way in December. The bands has had its share of inner turmoil, including the death of guitarist Derek Frigo in 2004 and the death of drummer Ricky Parent in 2007. Donnie and Chip have been the creative force behind the band and have struggled to keep the name of the band alive. Donnie has been in and out of the group a couple times and is currently not a touring member of the band. Chip is currently fronting the band and has a entirely new line-up touring the country. Their new record coming out in December - called Clown's Lounge - is an archival release of songs the band recorded around 1988 but never released. Donnie Vie has released several solo records over the past decade or so and continues making music on his own.

My personal history with Enuff Z' Nuff dates back to 1990 when a band I was in opened for them at a teen club in Huntington, WV.  We got to hang out with the band and they were really nice to us, which isn't always the case when you get an opening slot for a national act. I continued to follow the band and would open for them a couple more times over the years. The most interesting interaction I ever had with the band was sharing the stage with singer Donnie Vie for a one-off solo show he did at Oldfields On High here in Columbus in 2002. Donnie was in town for the holidays and wanted to play a show but didn't have a band. Donnie's wife at the time was a mutual friend and she reached out to me and asked if my band would be interested in backing Donnie up at this show. Of course we said we would. We scheduled a few rehearsals with Donnie and we had been doing our homework, so we already knew a bunch of songs. Donnie wanted to play mostly songs that we didn't know but by the end of rehearsals we had a pretty solid set put together. The night of the show the set list went out the window and Donnie said,  "We are gonna play one we have never played before...." He looked at me and sayid, "Stand By Me, John Lennon style." I launched into the opening guitar part, the band joined in and the rest is kind of a blur. Donnie ended the set with a swan dive into our drummer's drum kit. It was a crazy night but we all survived, barely. Although Donnie knows my name, throughout this whole experience he always referred to me as "Fingers." 

Chip Z' Nuff, myself and Derek Frigo 1990

Chip Z' Nuff, myself and Derek Frigo 1990

Me and Donnie Vie 1998

Me and Donnie Vie 1998

On stage with Donnie Vie at Oldfields On High.

On stage with Donnie Vie at Oldfields On High.

Donnie's infamous dive into the drum kit.

Donnie's infamous dive into the drum kit.

I'm writing this piece with the hope that it will shed some light on this great little band from the 1980's that not many people remember, but also as a tribute to the loyal fans that have stuck by the band for almost 30 years. Illinois has spawned so many great power pop bands like Shoes, Material Issue, Off Broadway, Pezband, and of course Cheap Trick. Enuff Z' Nuff has elements of all those bands in their music and they also managed to carve out their own unique sound. If you are looking for a "new thing" to listen to, I would suggest picking up an Enuff Z' Nuff CD. I think you will be pleasantly surprise.

The current touring version of Enuff Z' Nuff will be playing the Alrosa Villa on Saturday October 29th. 

Check out the clips below for a little taste of what Enuff Z' Nuff is all about....

Scott Carr is a guitarist who plays in the Columbus, OH  bands Radio Tramps andReturning April.  Scott is also an avid collector of vinyl records and works at Lost Weekend Records. So...if you are looking for Scott....you'll either find him in a dimly lit bar playing his guitar or in a record store digging for the holy grail.

 

Noisivision Studios produced this Enuff Z'Nuff video for their hit single "There Goes My Heart." www.noisivision.com Prod. Co. Noisivision Studios Director: Brian Smith Producer: Braddon Mendelson © 2008 Pony Canyon Year: 2000 Location: Exteriors filmed at Richard Rioux County Park, Stevenson Ranch, California http://www.noisivision.com/category/music-videos/

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises Catholic Girls · Enuff Z Nuff 1985 ℗ 2008 Stoney Records (BCD Music Group) Released on: 2008-03-25 Auto-generated by YouTube.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises Goodbye, Goodbye · Enuff Z Nuff 1985 ℗ 2008 Stoney Records (BCD Music Group) Released on: 2008-03-25 Auto-generated by YouTube.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises Day By Day · Enuff Z Nuff 1985 ℗ 2008 Stoney Records (BCD Music Group) Released on: 2008-03-25 Auto-generated by YouTube.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises I'll B The 1 2 Luv U · Enuff Z Nuff 1985 ℗ 2008 Stoney Records (BCD Music Group) Released on: 2008-03-25 Auto-generated by YouTube.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises I'll B The 1 2 Luv U · Enuff Z Nuff 1985 ℗ 2008 Stoney Records (BCD Music Group) Released on: 2008-03-25 Auto-generated by YouTube.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises We're All Alright · Enuff Z Nuff Tweaked ℗ 2008 Stoney Records (BCD Music Group) Released on: 2008-05-27 Auto-generated by YouTube.

Uploaded by DonaldEVanDevelde on 2015-11-18.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises Ain't It Funny · Enuff Z Nuff Paraphernalia ℗ 2008 Stoney Records (BCD Music Group) Released on: 2008-07-22 Auto-generated by YouTube.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises Rollaway · Enuff Z'nuff Dissonance ℗ 2010 Copyright Control Released on: 2013-06-01 Music Publisher: Copyright Control Auto-generated by YouTube.

Enuff Z´Nuff - Mother´s Eyes (High Quality)

Promo Video

Enuff Z'Nuff performing High at M3 Rock Festival, Merriweather Post Pavilion, US. Fri May 11th 2012

Enuff Z'Nuff performing Fly High Michelle at M3 Rock Festival, Merriweather Post Pavilion, US. Fri May 11th 2012

Remembering David Bowie Through His Music - by Scott Carr

January 10, 2016 the world lost a true music icon in David Bowie. For over four decades Bowie pushed the envelope and delivered an eclectic body of work that will live on forever.

The last eighteen months of his life, Bowie was fighting an aggressive form of liver cancer. While Bowie knew his time was limited, he continued to work and deliver one last record Blackstar, released on his 69th birthday, just two days prior to his death.

It's pretty tough to sum up what David Bowie's legacy will be as he was a chameleon and meant so much to a wide variety of people. I'm guessing Bowie would like to be remembered as a true artist because his musical library is truly a work of art.

I decided the best way to work through the sadness of losing such a great visionary would be to put some records on the turntable and enjoy what he gave to the world. Below you will find a list of five of my favorite records from David Bowie and ones that I think scratch the surface of telling his musical history. I did not include The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars because I felt like that is an album that everyone already owns and knows back and forth. It is essential, no question, but so are these.......

Hunky Dory (1971)

Technically Bowie's fourth studio release but for a lot of reasons it feels like a new beginning and a debut. Bowie had signed a new deal with RCA for this record and also brought in producer Ken Scott to oversee the record in place of Tony Visconti, who had produced Bowie's two previous records, Space Oddity and The Man Who Sold The World. Visconti had also been Bowie's bass player but was replaced by Trevor Bolder. With Bolder on board Bowie had found the last piece of the puzzle for his band known as The Spiders From Mars for the next couple of years.

With all these new beginnings it seems rather fitting that the albums opening track is "Changes". The lyrics for "Changes" seem to echo David's thoughts on how everything around you is in a constant state of change and this is something that would ring true for his entire career. Although not a Top 40 smash for Bowie, "Changes" would prove to be one of his most enduring songs and the last song he would perform live before retiring from the stage in 2006. Other highlights on Hunky Dory include "Oh, You Pretty Things", "Kooks", "Andy Warhol", "Queen Bitch" and "Life On Mars". Hunky Dory set the tone for Bowie's next few albums and a period of great success. Bowie himself felt that Hunky Dory was the album that gave him an audience and considered it one of the most important albums of his career.

The Lodger (1979)

The Lodger is the third album in the "Berlin Trilogy". The trilogy began with 1977's Low and Heroes. Bowie worked closely with Brian Eno on all three records in the "Berlin Trilogy" and they are considered some of his most experimental music of his entire career. 

Many unusual recording techniques were used during the "Berlin Trilogy". In the case of The Lodger, guitarist Adrian Belew cut many of his guitar parts to backing tracks that he had no prior exposure to and sometimes didn't know what key the song was in. In other instances musicians were asked to play instruments that they were not familiar with.

While The Lodger was still continuing in Bowie's "experimental" stage, it didn't push boundaries quite as much as the previous two records. The Lodger had more of a pop sensibility and tighter song structures. I think all three "Berlin" records are important but The Lodger reigns as my favorite. "DJ", "Look Back In Anger" and "Boys Keep Swinging" are all classic tracks.

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Scary Monsters (1980)

After Bowie's highly experimental and artistic venture of the "Berlin Trilogy", there was an effort to make a commercial mark with his next album, Scary Monsters.

It was a new decade and Bowie was ready for the next chapter. The birth of the MTV generation was still a year away, but Bowie had already embraced the new visual medium like no other. Two classic videos were made for the Scary Monsters record, "Ashes to Ashes" and "Fashion". Both videos garnered heavy rotation when MTV hit the airwaves in August of 1981. At the time "Ashes to Ashes" was the most expensive music video ever made. It is no surprise that Bowie was ahead of the curve when it came to making music videos.

Scary Monsters was a commercial success and brought Bowie his first UK No' 1 since 1974's Diamond Dogs and his highest chart position in America since 1977's Low.

Promo posters for the new Bowie album stated "Often Copied, Never Equaled" -  can't argue with that statement at all.

Scary Monsters remains one of my all time favorite Bowie records. It would be his last record for RCA, who had been his label since Hunky Dory. Bowie signed with EMI in 1983 for his Let's Dance album which would continue his commercial renaissance.

Tin Machine (1989)

The unexpected success of 1983's Let's Dance album led to a creative slump for Bowie. Let's Dance had become the biggest selling album of his career and he felt like he needed to follow up it's success with more of the same. In the end the two records that followed Let's Dance were not as well received and Bowie has jokingly referred to that time period as his "Phil Collins Years".

In an attempt to refuel his creative energy Bowie formed the band Tin Machine. Unlike his previous band The Spiders From Mars, Tin Machine a true democratic venture with creative input from the whole band. Bowie wanted a stripped down rock sound for this record and felt like this was a good way to regain his vision as an artist. The album was recorded quickly and with very few overdubs. 

The Tin Machine record has many great songs on it including "Under the God", "Crack City", "Bus Stop", "Prisoner of Love" and a fantastic cover of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero".

Some suggest the work that Bowie did with Tin Machine as a precursor to grunge. I have included it on the list of albums because it was the vehicle that enabled Bowie to continue making amazing records for another two decades. If Tin Machine had not happened Bowie may have very well packed it in.  For that reason, I see this as one of his most important records. Check it out.

Blackstar (2016)

Released on his 69th birthday and just two days prior to his death, Blackstar shows Bowie determined to be creative right to the end.

Bowie began work on Blackstar shortly after his last album, The Next Day, was released in 2013. Bowie knew it was going to be his last record and wanted to finish it for his fans and say goodbye with a gift of music.

I have not spent a lot of time with this record yet but from my initial spins I feel it's as important as any record he has made in the last 49 years..

Two videos were released from the record prior to his passing, "Blackstar" and "Lazarus". Bowie had no interest in repeating his past, even in his last days he was still reinventing his music and his artistic visions. Blackstar may not click immediately with some but in time it will all make sense.

Many heartfelt tribute have popped up over the past few days but Bowie's longtime friend and producer Tony Visconti said it best with this quote...

"He always did what he wanted to do. And he wanted to do it his way and he wanted to do it the best way. His death was no different from his life—a work of Art. He made Blackstar for us, his parting gift. I knew for a year this was the way it would be. I wasn't, however, prepared for it. He was an extraordinary man, full of love and life. He will always be with us. For now, it is appropriate to cry."

RIP David Bowie

Click here to read Ricki C's thoughts on David Bowie

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Scott Carr is a guitarist who plays in the Columbus, OH  bands Radio Tramps andReturning April.  Scott is also an avid collector of vinyl records and works at Lost Weekend Records. So...if you are looking for Scott....you'll either find him in a dimly lit bar playing his guitar or in a record store digging for the holy grail.

David Bowie - Hunky Dory Release date: 17 December 1971 tracklist: 00:00 Changes 03:37 Oh! You Pretty Things 06:49 Eight Line Poem 09:45 Life On Mars? 13:39 Kooks 16:33 Quicksand 21:41 Fill Your Heart 24:49 Andy Warhol 28:46 Song for Bob Dylan 32:58 Queen Bitch 36:17 The Bewlay Brothers

Music video by David Bowie performing DJ.

Promo video for the 1979 single. Very nice =D

Music video by David Bowie performing Fashion.

Music video by David Bowie performing Ashes To Ashes.

1980 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Nbctv Live Like the part audience cheered so loudly when mr.carson mention bowie And Carson said : "After all this, he'd better be good." :)

Provided to YouTube by Warner Music Group Crack City (1999 Remastered Version) · Tin Machine Tin Machine ℗ 1999 Jones/Tintoretto Entertainment Company LLC under exclusive licence to Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company Released on: 1999-09-20 Bass, Vocals: Tony Sales Drums, Vocals: Hunt Sales Engineer: David Richards Engineer: Justin Shirley-Smith Engineer: Nigel Reeve Engineer: Peter Mew Guitar, Vocals: David Bowie Guitar, Organ: Kevin Armstrong Guitar: Reeves Gabrels Mixer, Producer: Tim Palmer Mixer, Producer: Tin Machine Composer: David Bowie Auto-generated by YouTube.

Working Class Hero is a song written by Lennon and performed here by David Bowie. It is from the album Tin Machine in 1989.

"'Blackstar" off David Bowie's album Blackstar available now on iTunes: http://smarturl.it/blackstar_itunes Amazon: http://smarturl.it/blackstar_amazon Spotify: http://smarturl.it/blackstar_spotify Vinyl: http://smarturl.it/blackstar_vinyl LimitedEdition Lithograph & Music Bundles: http://smarturl.it/blackstar_dbstore Limited Edition Clear Vinyl: http://smarturl.it/blackstar_clearvinyl Follow David Bowie: http://davidbowie.com http://facebook.com/davidbowie http://twitter.com/davidbowiereal http://instagram/davidbowie

"'Lazarus" off David Bowie's album Blackstar available now on iTunes: http://smarturl.it/blackstar_itunes Amazon: http://smarturl.it/blackstar_amazon Spotify: http://smarturl.it/blackstar_spotify Vinyl: http://smarturl.it/blackstar_vinyl Limited Edition Lithograph & Music Bundles: http://smarturl.it/blackstar_dbstore Limited Edition Clear Vinyl: http://smarturl.it/blackstar_clearvinyl Follow David Bowie: http://davidbowie.com http://facebook.com/davidbowie http://twitter.com/davidbowiereal http://instagram/davidbowie