What Makes a Great Album Cover? - by JCE

NOTE: I wrote this piece a while back and never sent it to Pencil Storm. I had done a number of stories with lists, top ten this or top ten that…..it got tiresome so I started writing mostly about shows I went to see, or great records. Well, thanks to COVID-19, I am not getting to any shows anytime soon, so I dusted this one off for your reading pleasure. Comments at the end regarding what you agree with and what you don’t would be greatly appreciated!

Every rock n roll fan loves album artwork, or at least most do. Some may enjoy liner notes or printed lyrics even more, but me, I love the artwork. I always have. I am the same way with my massive collection of vintage skateboards. It’s all about the artwork. Here are some album covers that I think are noteworthy:

The New York Dolls. I was late to the party with this band, likely due to my age. I discovered punk rock and a whole new world of music starting with The Sex Pistols and The Clash. When I finally wised up to the greatness of the New York Dolls, I found this double album, which was just their first two records packaged together. Love this artwork. Glad I still own this.

Ricki C.’s two cents: JCE has been kind enough to allow me throw in some extraneous thoughts on his picks. He & I have figured out in the course of our long-distance friendship that he’s 11 years younger than me, the same age-gap as my child bride Debbie & I. In the case of The New York Dolls, that 11 year difference is HUGE. I was 21 years old in 1973 when the first Dolls record came out and it quite literally changed my life. I’ve often said - and it’s probably in Pencil Storm somewhere - if it wasn’t for the New York Dolls right at this moment I would have a grey pony-tail halfway down my back, granny glasses on & be listening to Grateful Dead bootlegs. Thankfully I’m not. Here’s photographic proof of that rock & roll transformation from the 1970’s…..

The Ramones / Road To Ruin. The Ramones debut album cover is iconic, and I love the photo of the band in ripped jeans and leather jackets leaning against a brick wall. Rocket To Russia was good too. But this comic book style cover and the bright yellow logo and the big amps with NYC in the background is just awesome to me.

Ricki’s two cents: The first time I saw The Ramones live was in 1976 or 1977 - I was still drinking then, so it’s a little hazy - at a Columbus, Ohio bar called Cafe Rock & Roll, that three months before had been a grocery store. Best conversion of a retail space EVER.

The Damned / Damned Damned Damned. This is a classic punk rock record. It was groundbreaking. The song “New Rose” is an amazing single. But I am not here talking about the music, this is about album covers. I don’t quite know what draws me to this one other than the super clean and simple Damned logo and the fact that the photo screams punk attitude to me (I just realized how similar the Ramones record above looks to this one).

Ricki’s two cents: I bought the single of “New Rose” because Nick Lowe produced it - and Nick Lowe was my Number One Rock & Roll Hero at that moment - and because it was on Stiff Records. What more could a West Side boy have asked for? I never had the album. (And still don’t.)

Minor Threat. This is the debut from legendary D.C. hardcore band Minor Threat. I absolutely love this photograph by Susie Horgan. It was taken during a hardcore show at the Wilson Center, a place I went to several times. Almost everyone thinks the photo is Ian Mackaye, the lead vocalist. In reality, it is his brother Alec asleep on the steps at a Wilson Center show. Alec was not even in the band.

Ricki’s two cents: I never “got” hardcore, probably because I came of rock & roll age in the 1960’s and still needed a little melody mixed in with my love of guitar chaos/noise, hence my affection for Boston’s The Neighborhoods, maybe the greatest blend of punk aggression & pop hooks ever, and the band that is the basis for JCE’s & my friendship.

The Replacements / Let It Be. Boy, what can you say about this. The photo seems so perfect for the unbelievable music that is on this record. Paul Westerberg’s seeming indifference is priceless. I have seen a ton of photos of this band and this one remains my absolute favorite. I recently read that the initial concept for this record cover was going to be the band stumbling across Abbey Road mimicking the Beatles record of that name.

Ricki’s two cents: Yeah, I love this cover. It’s SO Midwest. Perfect.

The Clash / London Calling. I saved the best for last. This is my favorite record cover of all, 100%. I remember buying my copy in 1979 and the sheer aggression depicted just got me so amped to play the album. My copy had a little sticker on it that said “The Only Band That Matters.” That is bad ass.

Ricki’s two cents: I may miss Joe Strummer more than any other rocker we’ve lost, and that’s taking into account Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, John Lennon, Johnny Cash & Tom Petty.

I listen to all kinds of rock n roll, including a lot more metal than I care to admit, but when it comes to album artwork, the punks get the nod! - JCE

Another Thursday Night in Rock n Roll Paradise: Carissa Johnson - by JCE

I am big fan of the band Damone. If you don’t know about them, they are from Boston and they made a few great records between 2003 and 2008. They recently played a reunion show and the opening slot went to Boston locals Carissa Johnson & the Cure-All’s. I looked up Carissa Johnson on YouTube figuring that anyone who gets to open for Damone must have some redeeming qualities. Well, that was a very good decision on my part. Carissa and her band made killer records in 2015, 2016 & 2018 and released a couple of really good singles in 2019.

At the end of 2019 Carissa released an acoustic record called A Hundred Restless Thoughts. It is a thing of beauty. While I generally want to hear driving electric guitars in just about everything, Carissa managed to create a brilliant record in the acoustic realm. I have been listening to it non-stop. Early this year, she announced a small tour to support the record. I was hopeful that she might get close enough to Virginia for me to go to see her. There ended up only being something like ten dates, but I lucked out. She included Richmond, VA, two hours from my house. The show was on a Thursday night at a little spot called the Garden Grove Brewing Company & Urban Winery.

My beautiful wife and I figured we would make an evening of it, so we booked a hotel and made a dinner reservation. The venue doesn’t even sell advance tickets, and I wasn’t sure how many people would really know Carissa Johnson. I didn’t know what to expect. We got to the Garden Grove a little early and there were quite a few people there, but we were able to get a space really close to the stage. Carissa came out, set up her merch table, got herself a stool, set up a mic and grabbed her guitar. This was a one-woman tour for sure, although she had a lady with her that we later learned was her Mom.

By the time the set was ready to start there were a number of mostly uninterested people in back and at the bar, and three guys from a band that was slated to play later in the evening that were paying attention. Other than that it was pretty much just the two of us. I guess happy hour was ending, as the place got more empty as the night went on. My wife and I remained right up front. Carissa played two sets, twelve songs each. She was fantastic. Between sets I bought a vinyl 45 and after signing it, Carissa introduced us to her Mom and we hung out and talked about how we came to be there, how the tour was going and where she was headed next, and most fun of all, we talked a little about the Boston music scene. Carissa was super gracious and really nice to talk to. At one point she texted Noelle, vocalist and guitarist for Damone, and told her about how her two fans in Virginia had come to exist thanks to Damone.

If you have read this far, then you owe it to yourself to check out Carissa Johnson. Buy her records, go see her play if you ever get the opportunity. Look up her Facebook page and Paypal her a few bucks to help with the tour. It astounds me how someone who writes such good songs and plays & sings so well can remain so relatively unknown. I completely understand that there are thousands of amazing artists that no one has ever heard of, but when I see one as good as Carissa, I just want to find a way to share it with the world. Good luck Carissa Johnson. I hope you make it back to Virginia again, maybe with a full band next time. Keep on rockin’. - JCE

A beautifully packaged vinyl 45, and the set-list.

Carissa Johnson, acoustic in Richmond, VA.

Carissa Johnson, left, with JCE and his wife.

Good photo - from the internet, not mine.

Spring Training Is Almost Here! Reflections on the 2019 World Series and Why It Meant So Much To Me - by JCE

(editor’s note: This blog is our THIRD baseball upload of the past week from various Pencil Storm contributors. Obviously nobody could WAIT for the Super Bowl to be over so they could indulge their Boys of Summer proclivities. Cabin fever RULES!)

Well, the NFL season has been put to bed and now it’s time for March Madness and then baseball. With that in mind, I wanted to reflect just a little bit on the 2019 MLB season. I was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in the suburb of Alexandria, Virginia. When I was about 6 or 7 years old my cousin Eric introduced me to baseball card collecting. I remember whenever my cousin was visiting from his home outside Philadelphia, we would spend time at my grandmother’s apartment, which was really close to a 7-11 store. She would buy us gobs of Topps baseball cards at ten cents a pack. We would spend hours trading our “doubles” and building our collections. I remember the first goal was for me to get all the Washington Senators, and Eric was collecting the Philadelphia Phillies. Most of these memories were 1970-71, which I know because I still have all those baseball cards---the 1970 cards have a gray border and the 71’s are black. The black ones look great with the red in Senators’ uniforms.

1970 Topps Frank Howard

1971 Topps Ted Williams (manager)

It was about that time that the Senators packed up and moved to Texas to become the Texas Rangers. I was heartbroken. My Dad (RIP) took me to RFK Stadium to see the Senators a number of times. My best friend John who lived down the street once caught a Frank Howard home run ball. I loved that team, even though they lost most of the time. With my team gone, I vowed not to root for the Rangers, and due to the fact that my favorite player in baseball was Carl Yastremski of the Boston Red Sox, I declared that the Red Sox would be my team from that point forward. The San Diego Padres threatened to relocate to D.C. only a season or two later, and I have a Topps baseball card that reflects that, but it never happened. If it had, I would have abandoned the Sox and rooted for my hometown team again.

an interesting card… $6.85 on ebay if you want one

I faithfully rooted for yet another losing team for the next 33 years until Boston finally broke through in 2004, winning the fall classic after winning the American League in a miracle comeback against the hated Yankees. I watched every playoff and World Series game in 2004 and it was worth the loss of sleep. I was elated over my Sox finally winning. I was 41 years old and it was the only time my team had ever won in baseball. My sister (RIP) went to school in Boston and got me to Fenway park once. That is a special memory, like my Dad and RFK Stadium. Since then the Sox have taken the title three more times, in 2007, 2013 and 2018. But those next three Red Sox wins were not as sweet for me. Why? Well because even though I still pull for Boston to win the American League pennant every year, in 2005 Washington, D.C. got baseball back. Naturally, I had to declare my true allegiance to my hometown Washington Nationals. They may have taken a couple of seasons to win me over, but they did.

Which brings me to 2019. After 14 years in town, and after some big playoff failures, the Washington Nationals brought a World Series title to D.C. for the first time since the 1924 Senators. Again, I stayed up late, watching my team pull off miracle after miracle to win the Series. When it was done, I had a feeling that exceeded even the 2004 Red Sox title.

I count myself lucky that without being a bandwagon jumper, I was able to root with all my heart and soul for two of the most improbable World Series champions—the 2004 Boston Red Sox and the 2019 Washington Nationals. I don’t expect to win another one in my lifetime, but that’s fine. I got this one, and it means a lot to me.

Now it’s time for pitchers and catchers to report!

Fast Start: The First Great Records of 2020 Are Here - by JCE

It seems like I just posted my picks for the best records of 2019 on my Facebook page (The Neighborhoods, Starcrawler, The Hangmen, Dave Hause, and Foxhall Stacks, by the way), but now I’m already excited about 2020. The first great full-length record of the year - by Beach Slang - is already here, and based on a single that dropped January 10th, there’s another great one coming. Here’s what I’m talking about:

Let’s start with this single by Tuk Smith & the Restless Hearts called “What Kinda Love.”

Tuk Smith was the driving force behind the Atlanta band called THE BITERS. The Biters are easily in my top ten favorite bands of all time. They called it quits in 2018 (“indefinite hiatus,” they said) after about nine years and a bunch of superb records. Tuk started this new project, and if this single is any indication, he is picking up right where The Biters left off. His songs are all rock n roll anthems; part metal, part punk, with a huge dose of big 1970’s sound. It’s not retro, it’s fresh and it’s great, trust me. His new record was produced by Rob Cavallo, who has worked with Green Day and many other big name bands. Amazingly, it has just been announced that Tuk Smith & the Restless Hearts will be going on the full stadium mega-tour this summer with Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett. Good for Tuk, he deserves some big-time exposure. The video for this single is highly entertaining as well…….

I took this shot of Tuk at a Biters show a few years ago.

Next up – “The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City” by BEACH SLANG. This one is a full-length, 11 songs. It’s too early to tell, but I won’t be surprised if I declare this to be one of the best two or three records of 2020. Beach Slang has been around since 2013 and they have some nice records. They are led by a kid named James Alex who is dripping with talent and takes that “wearing your heart on your sleeve” thing to the absolute extreme. His new record is spectacular. The most important thing you should know, and he will readily admit to it, is that this record has the influence of The Replacements all over it.

One of the best songs is even called “Tommy in the 80’s” and features Tommy Stinson on bass. It’s about listening to Stinson in the 1980’s and it is a rocking song that should make the ‘Mats proud. The vocals on the slower songs sound like Paul Westerberg to me. Check out “Nobody Say Nothing.” The track “Kicking Over Bottles” is another rocker that is just awesome. Those three songs I have mentioned are enough to make this record be important to me, but it is strong start to finish. If you like The Replacements, you really should listen to this from beginning to end, a few times. You won’t regret it.

James Alex of Beach Slang, thank you for this record.

Happy listening in 2020! We are off to a great start.

Rock N Roll Through The Eyes Of A Teenage Daughter - by JCE

ROCK N ROLL THROUGH THE EYES OF A TEENAGE DAUGHTER - by JCE

I live and breathe music 24/7. In my house, music almost never stops playing. Every plan we make seems to have music as a central theme. I can’t so much as take a run, relax on my patio or even drive to the store without making a good playlist. I spend far more time listening to music than I do watching TV, that’s for sure. This is how my daughter grew up, and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, as they say.

Naturally, my daughter has formulated her own musical tastes from a young age, preferring not to latch on to “Dad’s music.” I will say we do love quite a bit of the same music, because we both have pretty wide-ranging musical tastes, and we love to share new musical discoveries with each other. We also love to go to shows.

My daughter, who is now 19 years old, reads all of my Pencilstorm ramblings as well as the journal I keep of all the shows I go to see. So when she suggested I write something about my favorite shows that we have gone to see that were “her bands” I thought it was a cool idea. My daughter’s first concert was the Jonas Brothers when she was seven years old. That one isn’t going on my list. Neither is 5 Seconds of Summer (twice), Big Time Rush, Florida Georgia Line or even Billie Eilish, who was cool. Every one of those shows and lots of others were great simply because I was there with my daughter and we never fail to have great musical adventures together. We have also seen tons of shows that I absolutely wanted to see that my daughter also wanted to see—Bully, Starcrawler, The Struts, Halestorm, Cilver, The Pretty Reckless, Jade Jackson and many others, but this blog is about shows with my daughter that I never would have been at if she hadn’t asked me to take her. These were her bands, her choices, over a number of years. So here’s the best of the bunch, in no particular order:

BIG & RICH w/ GRETCHEN WILSON at Celebrate Virginia in Fredericksburg, VA

I am not a country music fan. My daughter, however, does enjoy certain country artists. I don’t think she has listened to these guys in years, but here’s the story; Big Kenny is from the county I live in. I knew him before he moved to Nashville and made it big. So, when my 10-year old professed that she liked Big & Rich, I used some contacts and got her a signed photo and a signed book for her birthday. That’s all I needed, but Big Kenny also came through with concert tickets including VIP seating and backstage passes. We all had a blast and my kid cried tears of joy. That was many years ago, however. The rest of these will be more current.

Big Kenny being very nice to a star struck kid

ROYAL THUNDER at The Camel Club in Richmond, VA

I took my daughter to some shows that typical young teenage girls love, but as her musical tastes started to get a little more refined, my daughter decided she wanted to start going to see some club shows. Luckily, unlike when I was a kid, most shows these days are all-ages. So when she happened upon a hard-rocking outfit called Royal Thunder and asked if we could go see them at a little club called The Camel in Richmond, VA, I agreed and we went to see her first club show. Talk about a nice surprise. They played a killer set, gave a shout out to my daughter - who was about the only underage kid there - and we had a great time. It was my first time at The Camel, but I have been back several times since then.

Mlny Parsonz, vocals and bass for ROYAL THUNDER, also made time for a picture and a brief conversation with my daughter.

FALLING IN REVERSE / MOTIONLESS IN WHITE (THE END IS HERE TOUR) at The National in Richmond, VA

My daughter went through a period of time where she was mostly listening to very heavy metal. I’m not talking about hair bands, I’m talking darker stuff. I wouldn’t put Falling In Reverse into the scream-o category, but this tour featuring five bands was heavy, and I really wasn’t looking forward to it. Nevertheless, we headed for Richmond, stopping at Starbucks for coffee and later grabbing a meal. I am a Dad who has been lucky enough to spend some quality time with my daughter, just the two of us, going on a bunch of rock n roll adventures. We parked and got in line and once in, quickly realized that my 5’3” daughter wasn’t going to see much from the floor, which promised to be a full-tilt mosh pit anyway. Instead, we went up to the balcony and got front row seats. The first few bands were hit & miss, mostly miss. But then came Motionless in White. I learned a lesson in being open- minded that night. The band was visually spectacular, hard rocking, and yes they screamed a lot, but it was damn good. Their song called “A-M-E-R-I-C-A” was the one that sold me. Falling In Reverse was pure energy and also a sight to behold. It was a great night.

ANDY BLACK at The Norva in Norfolk, VA

We drove over three hours to make this one happen. Andy Black, who is best known for the band he fronts called Black Veil Brides, was an absolute must for my daughter, so we booked a hotel and bought tickets. The first solo record by Andy Black is pretty decent, so I knew I would enjoy the music. The show stands out as one to remember mostly because my daughter loved it, and the trip in general holds good memories.

The marquee at The Norva

Andy Black onstage

ALL TIME LOW / SWMRS / WATERPARKS / THE WRECKS at Rams Head Live in Baltimore, MD

At some point, my kid latched onto punk-pop-emo-indie stuff and we took her to D.C. to see All Time Low and Sleeping With Sirens. That show left me unimpressed. This later show with a bunch of great bands is probably my favorite one in this blog.

The Wrecks opened the show and they were spectacular. I knew a few songs of theirs already and they were great, but they broke out a new tune called “James Dean” that got me pumped up early. Look that one up. Next was Waterparks. All I need to say about this was that we had not heard much of their stuff, if any, beforehand. They are now, a few years and a couple of albums later, my daughter’s very favorite band. So that alone made this a special show. She has raved about Waterparks since that night. Next was SWMRS. For me, they were the highlight of the evening. Their guitar player was wearing a skirt and as he bounced and wobbled all over the stage all I could think of was Captain Sensible from The Damned. I really like SWMRS now, but this was the first I’d ever heard of them. All Time Low were the headliners, and while I will admit their songs are good and their set was good and they deserved to be headliners, I had more fun discovering the new stuff.

The only thing that wasn’t perfect about this show was that my daughter and her friend who came along went to the floor, while my wife and I took a spot in the balcony. That seems proper when you have two parents and two teenage girls, but I did miss talking about all the finer points of what we liked and didn’t like during the show. No worries though, we broke it all down afterwards. We can talk music for days.

SWMRS – My view from the balcony, my kid is somewhere in that swarm below.

ALL THINGS GO FESTIVAL at the Union Market in Washington, D.C.

So far you have discovered that my kid likes punk, metal, and even country. Well she likes pop, too. That’s one thing I love about her, she is open to everything, and she likes what she likes. So when she asked me to go to this festival in D.C. I was not surprised. It’s a two-day festival featuring mostly female artists. The main goal was to see Carlie Hanson on Sunday so we opted for single day tickets. We got to the market a little before gate-time and once inside the fences (this was outdoors) we took a spot on the front rail. In order we saw: Shenna, Teamarr, Carlie Hanson, Allie X, Olivia O’Brien, Leon, Betty Who and Melanie Martinez. My daughter liked Olivia O’Brien. I thought Allie X was interesting, but none of this was up my alley. So why did it make my list of good shows? Because of Carlie Hanson. She was highly engaging and entertaining, she played more songs than a lot of the others and most importantly, she was the reason we were there and my daughter loved her. She rocked a lot more live than her records might suggest. This was a very long day: we arrived at 11:30 a.m. and left at 11:30 p.m., plus the drive was two hours each way. And yet my kid and I had so much fun critiquing artists, people-watching and just spending time together that I was very happy to be there the whole time. (My aging back started achin’ a bit toward the end there, though.) The coolest thing that happened was that an hour or so after Carlie Hanson played, we spotted her and her bandmates heading for the food vendors, or the exit, I’m not sure which. We were able to catch up with them and my daughter got to meet another hero.

We had the front rail for the artist we came to see.

Carlie Hanson (right) and band surrounding JCE’s daughter.

VANS WARPED TOUR at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD

Perhaps my favorite day spent with my daughter bonding over music was the Vans Warped Tour in 2018. I won’t recount that one here because I wrote about it previously. If you have time, go back and check out this previous piece here on Pencilstorm:

http://pencilstorm.com/blog/2018/the-vans-warped-tour-2018-my-experience-by-jce?rq=jce

I’m lucky to have a daughter who shares my greatest passion, music.

Ricki C. & JCE Talking Boston's Finest Sons: The Neighborhoods, including a brand new record.....

In the age of the internet, it’s possible to have a friend you have never actually met. Ricki C and JCE are fast friends after years of correspondence, and one of the things they have always agreed upon is the greatness of Boston’s best band, THE NEIGHBORHOODS. After literally years of anticipating a new record, it’s finally here. Titled “Last Known Address,” the new ‘Hoods record is worth talking about, so Ricki C hatched a plan to do just that. Below, he and JCE discuss the new record and The Neighborhoods in general, through a back and forth conversation. Here you go…..

How did you first learn about the Neighborhoods anyway?

JCE: I went to school in Charlottesville, VA, and I lived there afterwards - pretty much all of the 1980’s. One day, probably in 1985, this guy named Maynard was tacking up flyers around town that said “Fire Is Coming” (the band’s then-current indie release). Maynard played in local bands, managed a band and booked shows for bands he wanted to bring to town. Anyway, I had never heard The Neighborhoods until that day.

RICKI C.: My high school best friend & bandmate Dave Blackburn (who taught me more about music and rock & roll than anybody else in my existence) moved to Boston in 1972 after intentionally flunking out of Ohio State University. My visits to Dave in Boston over the next couple of years is what launched my love of Boston rock & roll. That love affair started with The Modern Lovers, who Dave saw play at a high school – with a young up & coming band called Aerosmith OPENING the show – pretty soon after he got to Boston. Said love affair continued through the 1970’s with Willie Alexander, The Real Kids, The Nervous Eaters and about twenty more. (see appendix A below)

In mid-1980, on one of those visits, I happened on a new magazine called Boston Rock that featured The Neighborhoods on the cover of its debut issue and it was literally love at first sight. I sent away for their debut single on the Ace Of Hearts label – “Prettiest Girl” b/w “No Place Like Home” – when I got back to Columbus and the rest is history.

The Neighborhoods in 1980 / David Minehan on guitar, John Hartcorn, bass, Michael Quaglia, drums.

What’s been your experience seeing them play—how many times have you seen them?

JCE: I saw that show in Charlottesville when I first heard of them, at a place called the C&O, I believe. After that I was hooked. I’ve seen them in their hometown of Boston at Bunratty’s, I’ve seen them in Richmond, VA Beach, at least twice in D.C. and probably at least three other times in Charlottesville. One time I even saw them at a frat party at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA. My wife (fiancé at the time) and I lived in Charlotte, NC, for a year. On our last night there, before we moved back home to VA, we saw The ‘Hoods play a club called The Pterodactyl. All the boys in the band were wearing matching black t-shirts that said “Fuck You, We’re From Boston” on the back. I’m forgetting some, so I would say I’ve seen them about 12 or 13 times. They are so spectacular live that me and my friends in Charlottesville would never miss them if we were within a couple of hours. My friends’ band 98 Colours opened for them sometimes and they slept on the couches and floors of people I knew on multiple occasions.

RICKI C.: Oh man, this live category has GOT to be the one where I’m most jealous of my long-distance compatriot, JCE. Virginia & Washington being on the East Coast means he got ‘Hoods live opportunities WAY more often than this Midwest/Ohio boy. I had to FLY to Boston to see The Neighborhoods in the early years. (Flying to Boston To See The Rock & Roll) Luckily, from 1980 to 1984 I was working in the stockroom of Ross Laboratories here in Columbus, and it was simultaneously the HIGHEST-PAYING and EASIEST job I ever had, affording me the cash to indulge myself in live ‘Hoods.

I never got to see the John-Hartcorn-on-bass era band but I know I saw the Tim-Green-on-bass Neighborhoods twice. I was still drinking heavily AND smoking pot in those early-80’s days, though, so those shows are kinda hazy. I don’t even recall what clubs they were at, but one seemed to be in a strip-shopping-center with a carry-out and maybe a laundromat or tanning place in it. For sure it wasn’t The Rat, which I had been to a few times earlier in the 1970’s.

By far my favorite place to see The Neighborhoods in Boston was The Channel, a 1700-person capacity bar near Boston Garden, right on a subway line, really easy to get to from my Commonwealth Motel Boston home base. As much as I’ve come to enjoy seeing bands in small (50-200 capacity) clubs, I dearly LOVE watching rock & roll bands kick out the jams in big-ass bars, auditoriums & theaters like the shows I grew up on in the 1960’s: Veteran’s Memorial (capacity 3172) and later the Columbus Agora (still in operation, now called The Newport, capacity 1500 or so).

The Neighborhoods @ The Channel, 1982 / Minehan & Quaglia, Lee Harrington on bass.

The Neighborhoods only played my home town of Columbus, Ohio, once, in May of 1986. This is a review I did of that show for The Noise, a Boston fanzine I dearly loved back in the day. (Along with Boston Groupie News and the short-lived Frenzy.) All tolled I probably saw the guys maybe 7 times, i.e. not nearly enough.

Tell me about the best show you ever saw them play…..

JCE: That’s impossible. The show I saw in Richmond had my friends as the opener and The Neighborhoods had a guest guitarist that night. It was this guy from a Richmond band called The Good Guys. He was great and Dave Minehan loved him. He invited the guy, right there on stage, to officially join the Neighborhoods as a second guitarist, but the offer was declined. I honestly believe it was a serious offer though. Another good one was at a club in D.C. called 15 Minutes. They announced that they were calling it quits and it would be their last show. They played with a vengeance that night (the Dave, Lee and Mike lineup). Afterwards I got a CD signed by them and Dave wrote “Neighborhoods, R.I.P.” under his name. It was heartbreaking. All the shows in Charlottesville were good, because all my friends were always there and they knew us. They would take the stage and my friend Tracy would start yelling for them to play her favorite song, “Shake” before they even played the first note.

RICKI C. I’ve gotta say one of The Channel shows in either 1982 (when I went to Boston to spend my 30th birthday alone, when I was first sobering up), or 1985 were the most rocking shows I ever saw from David, Lee Harrington & Mike Quaglia. But that Columbus show in Stache’s - capacity 85 people (though the club owner once sold 300 tickets to a Dream Syndicate show there) - was the BEST show. When you pack the sheer excitement of a band like The Neighborhoods - who regularly played 1700 capacity venues in their hometown - into a tiny rock club roughly the size of some rich guy’s frickin’ LIVING ROOM, the magic was just OVERWHELMING.

Plus that show was the only time I ever got to talk to & hang out with the guys in The Neighborhoods. It was a genuine bonding experience for me, and I treasure that rock & roll memory TO THIS DAY, 33 years later.

Rank their records from best to worst.

JCE: Reptile Men, The High Hard One, Last Known Address, Hoodwinked, The Neighborhoods, Fire is Coming, The Last Rat.

Hoodwinked and The Neighborhoods have mostly the same songs. Hoodwinked has that amazing cover of “Southern Girls” by Cheap Trick. Also, I am one person who happens to absolutely love the version of “Prettiest Girl” that is on the self-titled Atlantic release. A lot of people would disagree.

RICKI C.: Wow, their recorded output is a place we really diverge on The ‘Hoods. My best to worst: The High Hard One, Fire Is Coming, The Last Rat, and Reptile Men are the great ones. I haven’t absorbed Last Known Address enough yet to drop it into the canon, but I gotta think it’s gonna slot between Fire Is Coming and The Last Rat. Further, I find Hoodwinked and the self-titled Atlantic CD almost unlistenable. (Indeed, that Brad Whitford-produced record is why I couldn’t ever get people to take The Neighborhoods seriously when I pronounced them my “favorite Boston band ever” and “better than The Replacements” in blogs like this one, on my old site: Growing Old With Rock & Roll / The Neighborhoods “Cultured Pearls.”)

Then again, in the first decade of this 21st century I was lucky enough to be supplied – courtesy of Eric Law of Boston and Vic Gagnon of Ann Arbor, MI. (among others) – with a couple dozen live sets of The Neighborhoods from all over America stretching from 1979 to well into the late 1980’s, and any number of those live sets just MIGHT be better than any of the ‘Hoods official releases. They were just such a GREAT live band.

Let’s (finally) get to the new record. Review it in 1,000 words or less.

JCE: Well, I obviously love it, since I have it ranked right after The High Hard One. First off, there are no clunkers on it whatsoever.

It starts strong with “Half Life” and if every song was about that good, I would be happy. But it gets even better.

I really get fired up starting with track two. “ByGone Era” is a killer, probably my favorite or second favorite on the record. I love the sort-of play on words, and the sentiment—is it ‘good bygone era’ or is it ‘goodbye gone era’? The answer is both.

Tracks 2-5 are my favorite, I think. Track 3, “I Go Dark” is strong. For track 4, we get “Billy the Kid” which is maybe my third favorite on the record. I like the slow, melancholy start and then the way it kicks into gear. Tracks 5, “Don’t Look Down,” is excellent and probably my second favorite.

Track 6, “In Case of Creeps” is great. Unfortunately, it has this section that is just talking/noodling that goes on way too long and ruins the song. I cured that by using iTunes to clip the song at the 1:45 mark. That way it’s short, but it’s perfect.

Tracks 7-10 are very good, maybe not great. Track 8 is called “The Stowaway” and it is my least favorite. Track 10, “The Parasites” is a song most ‘Hoods fans already know. It’s never been a favorite of mine but it’s still damn good.

Track 11 jumps up a notch. It’s called “The Tiled Room” and it has a Replacements vibe to me.

The record winds down with track 12, “We Are All Alone.” It’s a really cool slower song. I really like this one a lot, but I think because it is so repetitive that it would have been better if it were four minutes long instead of 5:26.

Overall, it’s just so good. After all these years I feared the possibility of disappointment, but to the contrary, this exceeded all my expectations. I will say that the CD packaging is really weak, but hey, it’s about the music, right? Still, after all these years some liner notes or lyrics would have been nice.

RICKI C.: I concur about the CD packaging. Artists & labels these days just seem NOT TO CARE at all about CD’s as a physical product, everything is just about downloads: Spotify and Rhapsody rule. I really miss jewel-case CD’s with cool covers and inside booklets with credits and lyrics, like JCE said. (I suspect that’s all just about economics in the indie world, and I FAILED Econ 101 in school all those decades ago.)

Musically the record is BEYOND solid: crunching guitars, cool bass, kick-ass drums, great vocals; what else and what more can a rocker gonna ask for these days? Plus, lyrically the songs are actually ABOUT something, and how many places do you get that in 2019, where every band I hear writes maybe two verses and then just bores us with a chorus until the (oftentimes merciful) conclusion of the tune? “Half Life,” “Bygone Era” and “Billy The Kid” are my early standout favorites. (And are you gonna find lyrics as sharp, heartbreaking AND insightful as “Standin’ here as sad as birthday candles blown out so long ago / If you could only tell us not to worry, ‘cuz everything is beautiful / We’d let it go” from “Billy The Kid” about a departed compadre on a rock record this year? I gotta doubt it.)

So the entire disc is kinda like a supercharged Cheap Trick rumbling with The Jam in a dark alley in Boston sometime in the summer of 1979, only with WAY better lyrics and I’m gonna leave it at that. David Minehan is absolutely one of my top 10 rock & roll songwriters of all time and bassist Lee Harrington comes up with a couple of solid tunes on this disc. Buy it, or download it, NOW!

The Neighborhoods, 2010 / Minehan & Harrington, John Lynch on drums.

Final words or stories?

JCE: I would just say that this has been a long time coming. I discovered a website called Hoods Online years and years ago. At one time, they would post a live show once in a while. I started getting emails from an email list I signed up for, and at one point, they were promising not only a new record, but the release of an apparently finished record called “Last of the Mohicans.” Neither ever came out, that was like eight years ago, or more. Then this one started being teased and there were even little clips of the songs on that website for a couple of years. Guitarist & main songwriter David Minehan is obviously a busy man, but it was so worth the wait. I hope I can see them play live again. I saw Dave play with the Replacements a couple of years ago and he is still just the best to watch.

Oh yeah, and thanks to you, Ricki C, for asking me to do this. You are a real friend, a great writer, and you have pretty decent taste in music. And thanks for the GIANT pile of live Neighborhoods CD’s that you gave me!

RICKI C: I can’t think of a better present for the rockers on everybody’s Christmas list than Last Known Address. It’s on Spotify & all that, or you can order from my favorite Boston-related merch outlet QRST’s Store, linked here…….Neighborhoods & Boston rockers merch.

Appendix A: the track listing of Ricki C.’s homemade-from-vinyl 2-CD set Best of Boston Rock & Roll

(note: I’ve made individual “best of” CD’s of The Modern Lovers, The Sidewinders, The J. Geils Band, Aerosmith, Reddy Teddy, The Cars, The Neighborhoods, Mission of Burma and 'til tuesday for my collection. These are the other Boston bands I love.)

CD-1 / Boston Rocks / 1975 – 1977

1) Kerouac

2) Mass. Ave. – Willie Alexander, indie single, ’75

3) Holiday Fire – Marc Thor

4) Boystown Boize – The Boize, split indie single, ’75

5) Prized Possession – Fox Pass, indie single, ‘76

6) Loretta – The Nervous Eaters, indie single, ’76

7) All Kindsa Girls

8) Common At Noon – The Real Kids, indie single, ’77

9) Lift Up Your Hood – DMZ, indie ep track, ’77

10) You Looked So Pretty When – Willie Alexander, indie single ’76

11) Boys & Girls

12) Romance – Reddy Teddy, album tracks, ’76

13) Hot For Teacher – Thundertrain, indie single, ’76

14) Pup Tune – Willie Alexander & The Boom Boom Band

15) Boy From Nowhere

16) Ball Me Out – DMZ

17) Better Be Good

18) Who Needs Ya – The Real Kids

19) I’ve Got To Rock – Thundertrain

tracks 14 – 19 from Live At The Rat album, 1976

CD-2 / Boston Rocks / 1978 – 1986

1) Baby Boom – DMZ, album track, ’78

2) Psycho Blonde – Pastiche, compilation track, ’80

3) Better Off Dead – La Peste, indie single, ’78

4) When You’re Young

5) Teenage Flu

6) Big City Rock – The Atlantics, album tracks, ’79

7) Everybody Wants To Survive – The Infliktors, indie single, ’79

8) I’m Talking To You – The Maps, indie single, ’79

9) When Things Go Wrong – Robin Lane & The Chartbusters, ’79

10) Stuck On The Same Refrain – The Peter Dayton Band, ’81

11) Ina’s Song – Limbo Race, indie single, ’83

12) Tiger, Tiger – Scruffy The Cat, indie ep track, ’86

13) The Room Starts Spinning – Classic Ruins, album track, ’86

14) I Want To Help You Ann

15) High On Yourself

16) What A Girl Can’t Do – The Lyres, indie ep tracks, ’83

17) Generic New York City Woman

18) Junk Train

19) Motherfuckers – The Blackjacks, album tracks, ’86

20) I Couldn’t Say No – Robert Ellis Orrall w/ Carlene Carter, ‘83