New releases on the Enuff Z’Nuff rock & roll front.
Read MoreRedd Kross: Ace Of Cups 5/9/2017 - by Scott Carr
Redd Kross returned to Columbus after a 20-year absence to play Ace of Cups on Tuesday, May 9th. The last time the band performed in Columbus was at the Newport Music Hall in 1997. During that stop, they were on a bill with The Presidents of the United States of America but the band's history with Columbus goes all the way back to shows at the infamous club Staches which the band referenced during their Ace Of Cups show. (editor's note: Ricki C. was at one of those Stache's shows, and has always reported it as an all-timer. Maybe in the future we can coax 500 words out of him about it.)
If you are a fan of Redd Kross then you know why you love them, but to explain it to those who aren't familiar with them isn't so easy. I would describe them as equal parts power pop, punk, garage rock, psychedelia and a healthy dose of Saturday morning cartoon theme songs. Power Pop with a punk aesthetic is also a good way to describe them.
Redd Kross is led by brothers Jeff & Steve McDonald, who formed their first band while still in middle school after their mom bought Steve a bass guitar. The brothers first gig was opening for punk rock legends Black Flag. Redd Kross released their first EP in 1980 when Steve was just 15 years old and the band's first full-length album Born Innocent followed in 1982. Born Innocent featured one of their best known early songs "Linda Blair." With the release of 1987's Neurotica album the sound of Redd Kross was moving more towards psychedelic power pop and the band was attracting a larger fan base.
Redd Kross' commercial peak came with their 1990's releases Third Eye (1990), Phaseshifter (1993) and Show World (1997). Phaseshifter tends to be the album that most fans point to as the band’s best moment and it features some of their best known songs including "Lady In The Front Row," "Jimmy's Fantasy," "Visionary," and "Huge Wonder". After touring for their 1997 album Show World Redd Kross took a break and did not perform again until 2006. In 2012 the band returned with the album Researching The Blues, that effortlessly picked up right where they had left off in 1997. Since the release of Researching The Blues the band has sporadically toured and released a couple archival collections; the newest one being Smoke Seven 81/82 that features some of the bands earliest recordings and an unreleased live set from 1982.
So that brings us back to the show at Ace Of Cups. The band arrived in town just prior to the doors opening at 7pm. They had played in Cleveland the night before at the Grog Shop and were late getting into town. They quickly set up their gear and blasted through "Lady In The Front Row" for their soundcheck to the delight of fans who had arrived early to the show. The band went on stage around 9 o'clock after local band Good Shade warmed up the now packed house. Redd Kross opened their set with... "Lady In The Front Row," followed by Phaseshifter era single "Switchblade Sister." The band played three songs from their 2012 release Researching The Blues, including "Stay Away From Downtown" and "Uglier." The band also performed their 1984 EP Teen Babes From Monsanto in its entirety. The Teen Babes From Monsanto EP includes songs originally performed by, Kiss, The Rolling Stones, The Stooges, The Shangri-Las, David Bowie, etc. The Teen Babes portion of the show opened with Kiss' "Deuce" and the band treated the crowd to some funny Kiss-related banter, including some very well known Paul Stanley stage raps. The McDonald brothers have a well documented love for all things Kiss.
Redd Kross ended the show with a cover of a cover, playing The Quick's version of The Beatles "It Won't Be Long." The Quick were a 1970's L.A.-based power pop band that were a big influence on Redd Kross. Redd Kross also covered The Quick's "Pretty Please" on their 1997 album Show World.
The McDonald brothers on stage at Ace Of Cups. Notice Steve McDonalds vintage Gibson bass guitar ala Gene Simmons 1975 and his shirt that reads "BASS" with Kiss double S's.
Redd Kross have had a revolving door of members over the years with the McDonald brothers being the mainstays. Their current line-up features the powerhouse drumming of Melvins drummer Dale Crover. Dale also had stints in Nirvana, playing on some tracks on Bleach, Incesticide and various other sessions.
Hopefully Columbus won't have to wait too before Redd Kross come back to town. The band hinted that there may be a new record in the works, fingers crossed that will happen in the near future and we will see Redd Kross sooner than later.
The crowd seemed to be a mix of veteran Redd Kross Army fans that had seen the band before and some that were seeing them for the first time. All agreed that the show we all witnessed may have been the best thing we'd seen in a long long time.
Scott Carr is a guitarist who plays in the Columbus, OH band Radio Tramps. 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.
A couple of vintage Redd Kross shirts spotted at the show. Photos courtesy of Brett Ruland (Spoonful Recrords).
Enuff Z' Nuff: A Band You Need To Know - by Scott Carr
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
Me and Donnie Vie 1998
On stage with Donnie Vie at Oldfields On High.
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.
THIS MONTH IN ROCK 'N ROLL HISTORY: THE KNACK / GET THE KNACK - BY SCOTT CARR
June 15, 1979 - The Knack released one of the fastest selling debut albums in history. Get The Knack sold over a million copies in just two months and would spend five weeks at the number one spot on Billboards album charts.
The Knack are viewed as an overnight success, but in reality were one of the hardest-working bands in the business and had more than paid their dues. Singer/guitarist Doug Fieger cut his teeth with the Michigan-based power trio Sky in the early 70's. Sky released two records for RCA, Don't Hold Back and Sailor's Delight. Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller signed Sky to RCA after Doug Fieger had invited him to come see the band play. Miller would also produce both records for the band. Sky did not achieve much commercial success and broke up after the release of their second record. Doug Fieger relocated to Los Angeles where he met the guy that would become his songwriting partner for the next thirty plus years: that guy was guitarist Berton Averre. Doug and Berton began writing and demoing songs in 1973. Some of these songs would make their way onto The Knack's debut album and others remained in the vaults until the release of 2012's Rock & Roll Is Good for You: The Fieger/Averre Demos. Drummer Bruce Gary and bassist Prescott Niles would eventually join the band and The Knack made their live debut on June 1st 1978 at the Whisky A Go-Go in Los Angeles.
After having their demos rejected by dozens of record labels The Knack took to the clubs, began a relentless string of shows and quickly became one of the hottest tickets in town. Word was spreading about the band and people like Bruce Springsteen, Stephen Stills, Tom Petty and Ray Manzarek began turning out for shows. Not only were these guys coming to shows, they wanted to share the stage with The Knack and jam. All of this attention soon led to a bidding war between the labels and in the end The Knack signed with Capitol records. Doug Fieger said that one Friday night Bruce Springsteen got up on stage and jammed with the band and the following Monday morning they had 14 offers on the table. Not bad for a band that just a few months prior had seen nothing but rejection.
The Knack with Capitol A&R man Bruce Ravid.
Get The Knack features eleven original songs plus a cover of "Heartbeat," a song originally made famous by Buddy Holly. However, The Knack are actually doing a sped-up version of Humble Pie's cover of "Heartbeat." Doug Fieger was a huge fan of Steve Marriott and loved their version of the song. Get The Knack opens with probably the best one/two punch in power pop history: "Let Me Out" is a frantic Kinks inspired opener that gives way to the gloriously melodic "Your Number Or Your Name." Other highlights on side one include "Oh Tara," "Maybe Tonight" and "(She's So) Selfish" which was intended as the third single from the album but was scrapped because Capitol wanted the band to record their follow-up album as soon as possible.
"Good Girls Don't" brings side one to an end and is a song that dates back to the early Fieger/Averre demos and would become the bands second-biggest single. Side two opens with "My Sharona" which was released as the lead single from the album and became the fastest-selling debut single for Capitol records since The Beatles' "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and was the biggest selling single of 1979. "My Sharona" hit the number one spot on the Billboard singles chart and remained there for six weeks. "My Sharona" was written about a real person and the real Sharona appears on the picture sleeve of the single. Berton Averre's guitar work throughout Get The Knack is flawless and the solo he put down on "My Sharona" is one of his best. Another early Fieger/Averre demo gets a reworking with the inclusion of "It's What The Little Girls Do" on side two. Many of Fieger's lyrics on Get The Knack were inspired by the real life Sharona Alperin and the albums closer "Frustrated" is no exception, Fieger was infatuated with Sharona but she kept him at arm's length and this song is the ultimate exercise in frustration. "Frustrated" appeared on the B-side of "My Sharona" but the band felt it was strong enough to be an A-side in it's own right. Get The Knack was produced by Mike Chapman, who is best known for his work with the band Sweet and also producing Nick Gilder and Blondie. The album was recorded in just eleven days with minimal overdubs and a budget of only $17,000. The album seems to effortlessly capture the live energy of the band and is a perfect representation of The Knack in every way .
The Knack wanted their debut to be a double album but this idea was nixed by the label and the only song not used was an unreleased Bruce Springsteen track "Don't Look Back." Everyone was pleased with The Knack's take of "Don't Look Back" but the Springsteen camp decided that they didn't want the song on the market at that time, so the track remained unreleased for many years. While The Knack wore their influences firmly on their sleeve and were equal parts Beatles, Kinks, Beach Boys and Buddy Holly, they presented it in a way that had never been done before and delivered a sound that was completely original and clearly The Knack.
Bruce Springsteen on stage with The Knack.
Bruce backstage with The Knack.
Doug Fieger and The Knack created one of the best debut albums of all time and thirty six years later Get The Knack sounds as fresh, exciting and important as the day it was released. The Knack would release several more fantastic records over the years including 1981's Round Trip, 1991's comeback album Serious Fun and 1998's Zoom. Although the band never quite matched the commercial success of their debut album, Doug Fieger summed things up quite nicely with this quote...
“We’ve already had the success you dream about. But we’ve never played our music for that. We play it because this is the only worthwhile pop music to make – fun and sad, silly and smart, explosive but sweet, snide but vulnerable. It’s not about being cool but about being goofy and having a great time. We didn’t invent this, but it’s what we do.” – Doug Fieger
"My Sharona" picture sleeve featuring the real Sharona.
Sadly drummer Bruce Gary passed away in August of 2002 after a long battle with lymphoma and Doug Fieger was diagnosed with two brain tumors shortly after Gary's death. Fieger lost his battle with cancer on Valentine's Day 2010. Fieger's passing was a huge blow to the power pop music community and to all that knew him.
Recently Omnivore Records released expanded versions The Knack's last two studio records, Zoom and Normal As The Next Guy both featuring several bonus tracks and in July they will also be re-issuing Live From The Rock ‘n’ Roll Fun House. It seems that after all these years people are still getting The Knack......
Scott Carr is a guitarist who plays in the Columbus, OH bands Radio Tramps and Returning 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.