WHAT A TEMPER!: TWO NIGHTS IN EIGHTY ONE

I screwed up my back Friday morning while exercising, sharp pain followed by constant aching all day long. This new aliment, along with the other existing aches proves that getting old sucks.

Continuing to work on the house, ready to rip off a new area of siding this weekend. More opportunities for injury.

Looking to something new. This night I decided to go back to 1981. First up was the British rock band The Pretenders, their December 16, 1981 show at the Old Dominion Theater in London. An excellent audience recording of some of their best music from their first two albums. Chrissie was sounding great while the guitar work was superb! A really rocking show. I had forgotten how good they were.

They were gaining in popularity following the release of two studio albums in 1980 and 1981. Their second album, Pretenders II, was release a few months prior to this show. The album would be the final release from the original lineup of the band, as shortly afterword the band would be fractured by the drug abuse that would take the life of guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, leading to a long recording hiatus.

If I remember correctly, I saw the original lineup at SUNY/Stony Brook, in the gym back in February 1982. I was transitioning from one job to another, taking a few months off to hang out at home during the winter. The Pretenders were frequently played on the radio station I listened to while finishing up my masters degree at the the University of Oregon. I liked them back then, I still like them now.

The paths beginning

Has not a care in the world

Felt like forever

Was a time to laugh
A life of youthful squander
But now he's crying

Trapped in this vessel
Spirit striving on clipped wings
Yearning to roam free

Mutiny in progress

A body in rebellion

Breakdown in command

The short horizon
Trees give way to nights stars
No limit above

A world in decay
The worst of us on display
Where are the heroes?

Download it here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DD0TMRBP

The second show to rock my world this evening was Echo & The Bunnymen, live at the Philadelphia East Side Club On October 15, 1981. A good quality audience recording. Someone in the club was really wanting to hear Over The Wall real bad, repeatedly calling for it towards the end of the show. Since it is a favorite of mine, I was hoping the band would play it too. Alas, they did not.

"Separately, what they're playing didn't seem that great. But somehow , when the four of them touched together, it ignited the blue paper. You could say to them, 'Play A to D' They'd all join in and play A to D, and it would just sound great. The four of them created some kind of chemical reaction." -Mojo, 1997

Song of the parents