On this day in 1977, the Sex Pistols played a secret show in Plymouth, England. They were billed as The Hamsters. Not to be confused with the other UK band with the same name. Today we have the song Secret by Half Japanese.
posted by Sean at 2:29 AM
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After 16 years together, The Lucksmiths will be playing their very last show tomorrow night at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne, Australia. Our good friends Steve & Nancy will be attending this momentous event. Coincidentally, both Steve & Nancy were in attendance when The Lucksmiths played their very first show in the United States in Chris Munford's living room. Over the years Tullycraft has had the good fortune of playing with The Lucksmiths on a number of occasions, and it's always been a pleasure. Speaking for the rest of Tullycraft, I think I can say we will all truly miss this wonderful band. In a recent interview we were asked to name our favorite Lucksmiths’ song(s), Chris and Jenny both chose “Smokers In Love,” so today we have a live version of Smokers In Love recorded at the Baltic Room here in Seattle. Happy Friday!
posted by Sean at 12:19 AM
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Today is Jeff Fell’s birthday! On this day in 2005, Tullycraft was playing a show at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio. That morning Cori woke-up early and decorated Jeff's hotel room door with a large birthday banner, and before our show Jenny presented him with a “Big Tits Gimme Fits” trucker hat. I don't recall if he wore the hat on stage or not. I'm pretty sure he didn't. After we rocked Case Western, we celebrated properly at a local bar... and then onto the streets of Cleveland. Today we have the song Falling Down by DREAMDATE. Happy Birthday Jeff!
posted by Sean at 12:13 AM
9 comments
Hey! Los Campesinos are playing tonight at Howie & Sons Pizza in Visalia, CA. If you don't know, Visalia is in the heart of California's agricultural San Joaquin Valley, about 230 miles southeast of San Francisco. Settled in 1852, it is the oldest permanent inland settlement between Stockton (the hometown of Pavement) and Los Angeles (the hometown of Guns N' Roses). Today we have the song You'll Need Those Fingers For Crossing by LOS CAMPESINOS from the album, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed.
posted by Sean at 12:02 AM
2 comments
On this day in 1966, The Beatles played two concerts at the Seattle Center Coliseum (one in the afternoon, and one in the evening). These would be the band's last live performances in Seattle. The 10-song sets only lasted 30 minutes and the lyrics were barely audible over the crowd, but fans loved it. Critics weren't as forgiving. Rolf Stromberg of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote: "The range of their voices is middling; they can't sustain or hold a note very long, nor do they have grace or power." The sets included the songs: "Day Tripper," "Yesterday," "Nowhere Man," "Paperback Writer" and a cover of the Chuck Berry classic "Rock and Roll Music." Today we have the song Cheat the Future by DARREN HANLON recorded live at the Moore Theatre in Seattle.
posted by Sean at 12:03 AM
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On this day in 1979, the film, Rock 'n' Roll High School (featuring The Ramones) was released. Executive Producer, Roger Corman wanted a latter-day version of the wild teen movies he had produced in the 1950s and 1960s. He felt that the best way to adapt the film to the 1970s would be to center the plot around the popular music of the day. Today we have the song Rock 'n' Roll High School by THE RAMONES. Happy Monday.
posted by Sean at 12:10 AM
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Joe Strummer was born on this day in 1952 in Ankara, Turkey. His father was a British foreign-service diplomat. Today we have the song Safe European Home by THE CLASH from their second album, Give 'Em Enough Rope. Happy Friday!
posted by Sean at 12:08 AM
1 comments
On this day in 1969, it would be the last time that all four Beatles were in the recording studio together. They were at Abbey Road Studios, in London to complete final mixes of the Abbey Road album, and to decide the running order of the songs. Today we have the song Polythene Pam/She Came In Through The Bathroom Window by THE BEATLES from the album, Abbey Road.
posted by Sean at 12:07 AM
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On this day in 1979, the song, "My Sharonna" by The Knack hit #1 on the Billboard pop chart and stayed there for 42 days. Today we have the song Pop Chart by THE TINY MASTERS OF TODAY.
posted by Sean at 12:16 AM
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On this day in 1982, The Pastels released their debut, Songs For Children 7” on Whaam! Records. The single featured the two songs, “Heavens Above!” and “Tea Time Tales”. In an NME feature at the time, Stephen Pastel stated: “I’d like us to sound like a ‘60s group with an element of bubblegum in it. The Pastels are punk, but not like The Exploited or Anti-Pasti, they’re just stupid and silly. (We’re) more like The Television Personalities, that’s the way punk should have gone.” Today we have Where The Trains Go (Breaking Lines) by THE PASTELS from a Peel Session recorded in 1984.
posted by Sean at 12:05 AM
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Last month I caught The Summer Cats at a house show here in Seattle and they were terrific. That evening I picked up their new album, Songs For Tuesdays on beautiful colored vinyl and I’ve been enjoying it ever since. I’ve noticed that KEXP has been enjoying it quite a bit as well. Today we have the song Hey You from the album, Songs For Tuesdays.
posted by Sean at 12:24 AM
1 comments
On this day in 1995, Oasis and their arch-rivals Blur both released new singles in the UK. At the time they were two of Britain's most popular bands and this marketing stunt started what would become the biggest chart war since The Beatles fought it out with The Rolling Stones in the 1960s. The overwhelming news coverage turned the event into a bitter class war between the Northern working class Oasis and the Southern middle class Blur. In the end, Blur won the battle when their single "Country House" sold 274,000 copies, and Oasis' single "Roll with it" sold 216,000 copies. But, Oasis' 1995 album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? went on to sell 20 million copies, the third biggest-selling album in UK chart history (behind Queen and The Beatles), so some might say Oasis won the war. Today we have Country House by BLUR, performed live at The Budokan in Japan. Happy Friday!
posted by Sean at 12:07 AM
1 comments
On this day in 1966, the radio station KLUE-AM in Longview, TX organized the first "Beatles bonfire," where ex-Beatle fans could burn the groups' records. The next morning (8/14/66) KLUE's radio tower was struck by lightning, throwing the station off the air. Today we have the song Lightning Parade by NEW GRENADA from the album, Parting Shots.
posted by Sean at 9:19 AM
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On this day in 1980, Devo played two shows at the Showbox in Seattle, WA.
posted by Sean at 12:23 AM
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On this day in 1986, The Monkees re-entered the Billboard album charts two decades after their heyday, thanks to a repeated MTV marathon of their popular 1960's television show. The sudden revival of the Monkees inspired the first official Monkees single since 1971, "That Was Then, This Is Now." The song reached #19 on the Billboard charts in 1986. However, this success was not without controversy. Davy Jones had declined to sing on the track, recorded along with two other new songs included on the compilation album, Then & Now... The Best of The Monkees. It was reported that these recordings were the source of some personal friction between Jones and the others during the 1986 reunion tour. Jones would typically leave the stage when these new songs were performed. Today we have Forget That Girl by THE MONKEES from the 1967 album, Headquarters.
posted by Sean at 12:14 AM
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On this day in 2005, I was enduring the sweltering heat at the Little Kings club in Athens, GA. I was watching some bands as part of the Athens Popfest, when a nervous-looking guy came up to me and introduced himself as Nate. He told me that he was in a band and he described their music as "kind of like Tullycraft... only dirtier." I found this description intriguing, and we talked for a bit. At the end of our conversation he gave me a t-shirt and a CDR of his band. Later that night we were driving to dinner in our rental van. You must know: when Tullycraft travels we almost never remember to bring music for the car. This was one of those occasions. Jeff had discovered the local classic rock station, when suddenly Jenny remembered the CD I had been given earlier that day, "Hey, we should listen to that CD," Jenny exclaimed! Cori perked-up and inquired as to what the band was all about. I explained how Nate had called them a dirty version of Tullycraft. "Cool, what are they called?" Cori asked. "Cars Can Be Blue" Jenny replied. We put the CDR in the van's player and on that ride we all discovered Cars Can Be Blue together. The songs were funny, catchy and yes... super dirty! Before long we were all singing along. The CD didn't leave the player for the rest of the trip (and not just because it was our only CD). Cars Can Be Blue 'All The Stuff We Do' became our soundtrack to the Athens Popfest 2005. Today we have the song She Needs It from the album, All The Stuff We Do.
posted by Sean at 12:09 AM
4 comments
On this day in 2003, Tullycraft played a show in Oslo, Norway as part of the Øyafestivalen Music Festival. When we arrived, one of the promoters told us he had made arrangements for us to stay at a place in town. After the show, each of us found ourselves carrying Øyafestivalen-issued mattresses through the streets of Oslo, following a guide who promised he had the ideal spot for us to stay the night. Eventually we arrived at a very small, street level storefront, and were told "this is it!" It looked like it could have been a coffee shop to me. Once our guide left us, we discovered that the one bathroom in the shop was located in the dank basement, accessible only through a trap door. We attempted to arrange our mattresses on the floor, but we quickly found that it would take Tetris-like precision get them all to fit in such a small space. I believe Jeff finally figured out how to arrange all of the mattresses properly. That night we joked about the "glorious life" of an indiepop band on tour, and I think Chris told us that he was already sick of playing the song "Twee" - which we had just released as a single. The next morning we caught a flight to Stockholm. Today we have a live recording of the song, Belinda and an interview we gave to P3 Pop Radio in Stockholm, Sweden. Happy Friday!
posted by Sean at 12:39 AM
7 comments
On this day in 1928, Andrew Warhola (aka Andy Warhol) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Warhol is best known as a painter, printmaker, and avant-garde filmmaker, but he was also a band manager. In 1965, Warhol became the Velvet Underground's manager and it was his suggestion that they feature the German-born singer Nico on several of their songs. Warhol's association with the band helped them secure a recording contract with MGM's Verve Records. Warhol credited himself as "producer" on the 1967, The Velvet Underground & Nico album, but insisted that he gave the Velvets free rein over the sound they created. Today we have the Velvet Underground classic, What Goes On performed by NEW BAD THINGS from their Camp 18 7" single.
posted by Sean at 12:49 AM
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On this day in 1962, Marilyn Monroe died from an overdose of sleeping pills at her home in Brentwood, California. Her death was presumed to be suicide. She was 36 years old. Her ex-husband Joe DiMaggio had flowers sent to her grave every day until his death in 1999. Today we have BUNNYGRUNT covering The June Brides' song We Belong.
posted by Sean at 12:12 AM
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Hey! This Friday (Aug 7th) The Special Places (aka Jenny & Cori from Tullycraft) will be performing at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard, WA. Joining them on the bill will be Ron Hexagon, The Nightgowns, and BOAT. If your Friday isn't already booked with plans to see either Rod Stewart or Phish at one of the Amphitheatres in the area, I highly suggest this show. And who knows... Jenny & Cori may even whip-up their own version of "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" Today we have the song Buoy by THE NIGHTGOWNS from their album, Sing Something.
posted by Sean at 12:57 AM
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On this day in 1949, representatives from the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and National Basketball League (NBL) met at the Empire State Building in New York City to finalize a merger. After a damaging three-year battle to win both players and fans, the rival leagues agreed to merge and form a new league called the National Basketball Association (NBA). At that time, the new NBA was made up of 17 teams that represented both small towns and large cities across the country. Today we have the song Law of Rule by THE MILL KIDS - aka Jordan Michelman (saxophonist for the band Iji). Iji is currently on tour playing both small towns and large cities. If you happen to live in Richmond, VA. they are playing a free show at Cous Cous tonight (Aug 3).
posted by Sean at 12:16 AM
1 comments