Yes, a Pole, and now that I think about it, after teaching us in seventh grade he advanced with us to eighth grade. You can imagine how thrilled we were upon hearing that news. We’d have a stickball game for PE out in the yard and he’d deposit pitches onto the church roof across the street, like Dave Kingman, but lefty, very athletic. I feel as I want to try and get in touch with him somehow, maybe I’ll try over the weekend. And @DISKOJOE, as you know, it was equally easy to hate the Yankees as a Mets fan, like me. I politely rooted against them on these trips.
Yes, I agree. On ‘Showbiz,’ because it was included as a package with a new studio album, I can accept that it was meant to be a souvenir of that specific tour. But for a live double-album I agree with your suggestions. Disclaimer: but it sold just fine without our brilliant stratagems!
The Barry Manilow joke is priceless on the NY 1980 new years eve gig. The lads always told some good ones.
Update on Prince of the Punks! That could also be accurate, and probably more appropriate style-wise! But I had this snippet in my mind yesterday... and it may seem strange, but this morning I did figure it out. Oddly, because the songs are completely different vibes... but it's the coda of At My Window. Starting around 2:09 on this timed YouTube link here. Brian's falsetto.
Low Budget live versions: The lead vocals are not the only thing different here, every instrument is different: different lead guitar, different bass guitar, and different drums doing different fills. The tempos are noticeably different with the album version being faster. It's not artificially sped up as both versions are still in the exact same key of A. I think the album version is from a different show as it still sounds mostly live as opposed to 20th Century Man which sounds mostly studio recreated. However, the mix of instruments in this album version of Low Budget and the bass tone still match the other Providence tracks on the rest of the album which are different from the other locations. So this is a mystery. Note too how these live versions of Low Budget have some but not all of the lyrics from the full length studio version that appeared only on the single B-Sides which were edited out of the album version ("Quality costs...", "I look like a tramp...").
@DISKOJOE your BoSox had some formidable line-ups; Rice, Lynn, Fisk, Evans, Scott etc. The Mets were so terrible back then I think I gained as much enjoyment from a Met win as a Yankee loss. Either occurrence was rare. All the Yanks did back then was win. From 1976 through 1981, (5 division titles, 4 pennants, and 2 World Series Championships). Hard times! The last time I saw the Red Sox play the Yankees in person was in May of ‘98 and the Sox scored 10 or 11 runs in 1 inning (and held on to win). The friends I went with wanted to leave but I wasn’t going anywhere since it was me who drove. I meant to recommend this book to you and @Wondergirl last week. It doesn’t get much better than Updike on Williams.
"Low Budget" I struggled to get through the 6 minute album version. The video was slightly more entertaining. It would work if this was the house band at a strip club. I don't care for the Low Budget version, and this does nothing to change my mind. I definitely don't need more Dave jamming. "Attitude" This song also doesn't do much for me. I think yesterday's songs may have been the highlights, but I'll keep pushing on!
Without this turning into the Warren Commission, I’ll reveal my source...Will Chrissie Hynde please take the stand... Something I’ve only just considered this morning; Ms. Hynde would have been two months pregnant with Natalie at this time.
Thank you, Avid Pyrrhicvictory for your kind words and recommendation on that Updike book. His story about Ted's last game is a literary classic. It boggles the mind that his last game wasn't a sellout, especially since the bleacher tickets were $.25 back then, according to my friend Jimmy, who went there as s kid. Speaking of John Updike, he lived for many years here in the North Shore of Boston, in a seaside community called Beverly Farms which is near me. Before both my hips blew out, I used to take long walks to that area. I was going on one such walk in Beverly Farms when I noticed a piece of paper on the sidewalk. I looked closer and I noticed that it was a check that was signed by John Updike. I tried to look for his house to return it but was unable to for some reason so I gave it to one of neighbors. Also, my first boss at the Salem Library, a very nice woman, told me that she had to throw him out of the library because he got into a very heated argument w/another patron.
Stop Your Sobbing This is a good rendition! Ray is in fine voice! I'd have to listen to the Pretenders cover to be able to say if this beats their version or not. It's definitely neck and neck. A great mid tempo song that hits the spot. Low Budget This song was made to be played live! the audio is simply fun on its own with Ray's vocal play. Then throw in the visual version and they're having a blast. I will say that Ray sometimes looks a bit silly bouncing around and trying to get a reaction out of the crowd(specifically the fist-pumps). But all is forgiven as I can see sparks of Ray's theatrical side from the mid-70s. Also love when Dave and Jim sync up playing. Attitude Well done! Can't find any faults. I have to say, Ray's haircut is maybe my least favorite of all his styles. Not nearly as bad as the 1966 mustache he had for a hot second though, but still not great.
You've expressed my feelings nicely! I'm kind of dreading the rest of Side 3, but I hope to be pleasantly surprised by a track or two...
Having known some Mets fans in my time, they all seem to HATE the Yankees. Maybe even more than Sox fans, which is saying something.
Late 70s Mets scarred me for life. Bosox, Yanks, O's and Brewers-the AL East was loaded in the late 70's.
Have been enjoying these tracks & everyone's comments immensely but have had to get back to my real job for a bit. Back soon.
Here's Soupy Sales w/the future rhythm section of Tin Machine singing the praises of the Mets on Hullabaloo in 1966:
Thanks so much for sharing these stories, to witness a Shelley plain is priceless. You know, my favorite poet was a librarian.
Low Budget / Attitude I hadn't heard either of these songs until we got to the Low Budget album here, so I don't have any long history with this entire side of One For the Road. I think I prefer the live versions of both these songs. The band is having tremendous fun. Ray is hamming it up, really putting a lot of energy out there, with plenty of voices and humor. There are some parts of Low Budget that are almost as much spoken word as some of those parts of Have Another Drink from Soap Opera. And then, with Attitude, I watch the video and it's hard to believe that this is the same guy who sang Nine to Five in the Starmaker TV special. But that was only 5 years earlier!! Seeing Dave in his black sleveless shirt makes me wonder if Nigel Tufnel was inspired by this performance...
Amazing that Rogan in his 700 page book didn't bother using that as a source. Also amazing that Chrissie seemed to just brush it off - figuratively and literally. Maybe it was due to her exposure to saliva as a NME journo during the birth of British punk?
Superman. live, stereo mix, recorded 11 Nov, 1979 at Volkshaus, Zürich, Switzerland This also comes from the Switzerland show, and follows Attitude, but Superman was actually song 7 in a 13 song main set, so again we see the band sequencing the album the way they think it is going to work best, and for me, as I say, I think they did an excellent job of this. We open fairly similarly to the studio version, and we have Gibbons doing a great job with the keys, on both versions. Ray comes in on the vocals and Jim Rodford doubles him for some of the low pitched double vocal sections. One thing I always notice from the video is how revved up Ray is. How much fun Rodford, and generally Dave seem to be having. Even Mick who apparently wasn't overly fond of the material is seen pretty happy and into it most of the time. We get great chorus backing vocals from Dave and Jim and the band is just obviously firing on all cylinders. The band is playful and tight and into it, and that is part of what goes a long way to making these tracks so good here. Dave has some more space to play on his guitar a bit, and we get some great live accents with the band on certain sections. Ray continues to infuse his personality and vocal accents all over these songs The main thing here that is a little different on the video is it sounds a little more raw, and for me that isn't a bad thing. Ray plays it up a little more on the video, and what little I know of Ray, the fact they were being filmed may have encouraged him to ham it up a little more, and push a little harder.... Again, for me, this is just great live rock music, and this track rises from the faux disco production it had on the album, to be a bonafide rock classic in concert.
