Nazz - 13th & Pine (lala) The collection of rarities is a bit of a wild mess compared to the sublime pop genius of Nazz (lala) but is further evidence that richest unexplored territory of popular music is what turns up if I start at Strawberry Alarm Clock and keep searching. Perhaps I was led to this by divine guidance, what with Todd being God and all.
Tommy James - A Night in Big City: An Audio Movie (lala) Wow. Tommy James took his Shondells money and whatever he had left from "Draggin' the Line" thought about it all for 20 years, and sunk it all into this 1995 concept epic about the city. The cover looks a little like an Atari game simulation of my senior prom. It opens with a mayor declaring "Tommy James Day" as Tommy and his band (one with "Rocky Balboa" voice) tearing off in a limo with synth-rock abandon. This is batshit, terrible stuff, songs bridged by skits, like if Kurt Weill V decided to revive his great-great-grandfather's tradition of folk opera, cowriting it with Huey Lewis, or perhaps Joe Piscopo. The peak is this dream of 21st century unity, "Megamation Man"
No more border in the new world order.
It's a Beautiful Day - s/t (lala) I know little about this late 60's psychedelic group except that they were led by a violinist named David LaFlamme (former member of Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks) and their idiosyncratic male-female harmony style is spoke of as an influence of those of John Doe and Exene from X. I can hear it, and I dig it. And it is a beautiful day....
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