Rarebird's Rock and Roll Nest

After the L.A. power pop band Candy failed to achieve wide success with their only album from 1985 , they evolved into the heavy metal band Electric Angels, who also released only one album in 1990 , and who also found no commercial success. After a second Electric Angels album failed to materialize, three-quarters of that band’s lineup – bassist/lyricist Jonathan Daniel, drummer John Schubert, and a singer named Shane – formed another band called The Loveless, with guitarist Jon Ceparano replacing Ryan Roxie. The Loveless also recorded only one album, titled A Tale Of Gin And Salvation , released without a record label in 1995. A Tale Of Gin And Salvation is a more fitting follow-up to Candy’s Whatever Happened To Fun… than the Electric Angels album was. Where Candy’s songs were sung from the point of view of teenagers who were facing adulthood and were not hopeful about the coming transition, the songs of the Loveless sound as though they were sung by the same characters many ye...

After the L.A. power pop band Candy failed to achieve wide success with their only album from 1985 , they evolved into the Electric Angels, who also released only one album in 1990. (This band should not be confused with a more recent power pop duo of the same name). On the self-titled Electric Angels , former Candy bassist/lyricist Jonathan Daniel and drummer John Schubert were joined by guitarist Ryan Roxie and a singer named Shane. Their sound had little in common with Candy’s power pop and a lot in common with ‘80’s heavy metal. At its core, the album seemed to be aiming for an Aerosmith-type hard rock sound. As produced by glam-rock veteran Tony Visconti, their music more closely resembled that of some other hair-metal bands of the era – i.e. Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe, Poison – and Shane’s vocals had more than a passing resemblance to those of Bret Michaels. However, Daniel’s lyrics were much smarter than most from that genre. Although they tend to cover much of the same grou...

I recently received the 22nd set of exclusive vinyl items offered to platinum members of Third Man Records’ Vault service. For those who are unaware, Third Man Records is the label owned by Jack White, who is the leader of the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, and the Dead Weather, and is now a solo artist as well. The Vault service promises to deliver exclusive vinyl-only records (one full-length album and one 7” single) to its platinum members every three months. According to the postal service, my package was sent on December 13th. I received it on the 17th. This twenty-second set of items revolves around Jack White’s epic 27-song concert at the Bonnaroo rock festival on June 14th of 2014. The concert is captured on vinyl on a 3-LP set, and presented visually on DVD. There is no 7-inch single included in this package. It’s packaged just like a commercial boxed set, with a seemingly bottomless treasure trove of goodies inside. The box’s cover art features a cleverly designed lenticul...

Earlier this month, Omnivore Recordings released a Big Star live recording titled Live In Memphis in both audio and visual formats. It captures the reformed '70's band in a concert from October of 1994, at the New Daisy Theatre in the city of Big Star's founding. Original singer-guitarist Alex Chilton and original drummer Jody Stephens were joined by Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow from the Posies (replacing Chris Bell and Andy Hummel). This concert was performed a year-and-a-half after the same lineup appeared at the University of Missouri for the official Big Star reunion in the spring of '93 . Live In Memphis shows them in finer form, after they had more time to rehearse and develop better chemistry. Chilton still was not able to sing some of his old songs as well as he once could -- for example, "September Gurls" and "The Ballad Of El Goodo" might have been better handled by one of the two Posies guys. Otherwise, Live In Memphis is a long-over...

Troubled times continue for the Australian metal band AC/DC. Earlier this year, founding member Malcolm Young was forced to retire due to illness. And now, the band’s long time drummer Phil Rudd has been arrested in New Zealand. Rudd was initially charged with attempting to hire someone to kill two people, but that charge has now been withdrawn due to insufficient evidence. (Insert your own “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” joke here). However, Rudd is still being charged with threatening to kill yet another person, and also faces drug-related charges. The timing of this turn of events is very unfortunate, not only because AC/DC are about to release Rock Or Bust , their first album in six years, and are about to go on tour next year. (As of this writing, the band says that those plans will not be affected by Rudd’s arrest). But the timing is also odd because Rudd just recently released a solo album titled Head Job in Australia, just a few short months ago. Head Job is the first-ever...

This week I received the 21st set of exclusive vinyl items offered to platinum members of Third Man Records’ Vault service. For those who are unaware, Third Man Records is the label owned by Jack White, who is the leader of the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, and the Dead Weather, and is now a solo artist as well. The Vault service promises to deliver exclusive vinyl-only records (one full-length album and one 7” single) to its platinum members every three months. According to the postal service, my package was sent on October 24th. I received it on the 27th. This twenty-first set of items includes a live double-LP from the White Stripes recorded in Japan in 2000, and a single with two new studio tracks from the Dead Weather. The live White Stripes double-LP Live Under The Lights Of The Rising Sun captures two October 2000 club shows performed in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, Japan, marking Jack and Meg White’s very first overseas concerts. (The cleverly designed gatefold sleeve...

Eat your hearts out, hipsters! All of you hipper-than-thou alternative and indie artists who release recordings of white noise and think you're so cool and defiantly anti-mainstream for doing it -- guess what? Taylor Swift, of all people, has now one-upped all of you, without even trying. This past week, Ms. Swift (accidentally) achieved a new avant-garde milestone: she briefly had a #1 hit on the Canadian iTunes chart with something called "Track 3", which only consisted of eight seconds of white noise. And how did the American country-pop darling pull off this feat? The existence of "Track 3" was caused by an iTunes glitch, which made it appear to be an actual recorded musical track from Swift's soon-to-be-released new album titled 1989 . The accidental eight seconds of TV-static-like sound then became the top selling track on Canadian iTunes. Don't believe me? Here is the MSN article: http://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/taylor-swift-tops-canadian-it...

I have just learned that White Duck's In Season , the rare 1972 album on which John Hiatt made his recording debut , is now available on CD in South Korea. The distributor is Big Pink Music, which specializes in CD-sized album replicas of rare '60's and '70's singer/songwriter, country and folk LP's. It makes perfect sense that a label with that name and specialty would take an interest in White Duck, because the band bore some musical resemblance to The Band, as well as to the Flying Burrito Brothers, although their tone was more upbeat than either. This is the first time that In Season has ever been issued on CD anywhere. (Thanks to Perfectly Good Cigar: The Unofficial German John Hiatt Page for this information). In Season was the second and final album from White Duck. (Their self-titled debut album White Duck from 1971 has also been reissued in South Korea by Big Pink, but Hiatt was not involved with that album -- and I do not recommend it). Hiatt...