Tee-hee!! The early years of the "Femmes".

[Hallahook]

 

[GenderNectar]

Wow -- that is an early photo. Gordon always looks like he's 17. He's a doll.

Hey Hallahook -- what did you think of that new double cd deluxe edition of the debut cd that just came out? It was so great hearing all those lost demos and live tunes.
I actually brainwashed a friend of mine into being a Femmes lover. He lives in England so apparently they're not very well known there? Anyway, I copied the untitled album for him and when I asked how he liked it, he said he wasn't very fond of it. I told him to listen to it repeatedly until he knew most of the lyrics and that I promised it would grow on him. I swear -- about a month later he emailed me to tell me that he bought the new Femmes double cd that came out! YAY! It was a proud moment. I also sent him and another couple of friends the Tenacious D album and of course -- they love them. I do my part for society.

 

[Hallahook]

> Wow -- that is an early photo. Gordon always looks like he's 17. He's a
> doll.

> Hey Hallahook -- what did you think of that new double cd deluxe edition
> of the debut cd that just came out? It was so great hearing all those lost
> demos and live tunes.
> I actually brainwashed a friend of mine into being a Femmes lover. He
> lives in England so apparently they're not very well known there? Anyway,
> I copied the untitled album for him and when I asked how he liked it, he
> said he wasn't very fond of it. I told him to listen to it repeatedly
> until he knew most of the lyrics and that I promised it would grow on him.
> I swear -- about a month later he emailed me to tell me that he bought the
> new Femmes double cd that came out! YAY! It was a proud moment. I also
> sent him and another couple of friends the Tenacious D album and of course
> -- they love them. I do my part for society.

Good job GenderNectar!! Spread the sweet gospel of the Femmes wherever you can.
Yes, I have heard that new CD. It kicks butt.
Have you ever heard of a band called "Television"? The vocals are a bit like Gordons. They are no longer making recordings but should you get a chance to hear the album entitled "Marquee Moon", I think you'll find it facinating.)

 

[Patrick McCann]

> Good job GenderNectar!! Spread the sweet gospel of the Femmes wherever you
> can.
> Yes, I have heard that new CD. It kicks butt.
> Have you ever heard of a band called "Television"? The vocals
> are a bit like Gordons. They are no longer making recordings but should
> you get a chance to hear the album entitled "Marquee Moon", I
> think you'll find it facinating.)

I think it would be more correct to say that Gordon's vocals are a bit like Tom Verlaine's. Just setting the record straight. Thanks for having me.

 

[Rowdy Yeats]

> I think it would be more correct to say that Gordon's vocals are a bit
> like Tom Verlaine's. Just setting the record straight. Thanks for having
> me.

Well, Verlaine predates the Femmes. I don't know they have much in common outside the vocal style. If you like the Strokes and want to see where they got their inspiration (along with Richard hell's 'Blank Generation') or if you like yr punk WITH guitar solos, there's television.

'Marquee moon' is the one to buy, although if you like that, check out 'The Blow Up' which is live; and i like the self-titled reunion album, but I know the reviews are fairly mixed.

One last thing, Verlaine was producing Jeff Buckley's last album, but Jeff ended up dumping him as producer.

OK, that's enough.

 

[jenny]

I love the Femmes, they are especialy great live! They remind me of being 14 and driving around in the summer.

 

[CrushingBore]

> I love the Femmes, they are especialy great live! They remind me of being
> 14 and driving around in the summer.

And what, pray tell were you doing driving around at age 14?

 

[Jeff P.]

The early years of the "Femmes"./Mercy Seat

Anyone remember Gordons side effort called The Mercy Seat??
3 piece band playing gospel songs.very cool saw them a few times had the Lp but this was back early/mis 80's.

Anyone??????

> Wow -- that is an early photo. Gordon always looks like he's 17. He's a
> doll.

> Hey Hallahook -- what did you think of that new double cd deluxe edition
> of the debut cd that just came out? It was so great hearing all those lost
> demos and live tunes.
> I actually brainwashed a friend of mine into being a Femmes lover. He
> lives in England so apparently they're not very well known there? Anyway,
> I copied the untitled album for him and when I asked how he liked it, he
> said he wasn't very fond of it. I told him to listen to it repeatedly
> until he knew most of the lyrics and that I promised it would grow on him.
> I swear -- about a month later he emailed me to tell me that he bought the
> new Femmes double cd that came out! YAY! It was a proud moment. I also
> sent him and another couple of friends the Tenacious D album and of course
> -- they love them. I do my part for society.

 

[Rowdy Yeats]

Re: The early years of the "Femmes"./Mercy Seat

> Anyone remember Gordons side effort called The Mercy Seat??

Yeah, now that you mentioned it. Probably mid/late 's or maybe that just happened to be when i got into the Femmes. And Ritchie (first name?) the bassist had a solo album as well.

That first Femmes album is such a classic. It was already five years old when i first got into it, and it has only got more and more popular. they have that one song in an ad now, and it just got so much more popular in the 90's. It's such a great album, though.

The rest of the Femmes stuff is a bit dodgy. 'American music' was a classic single. i remember it and 'Sing Your Life' at about the same time, and thinking these singles would be number one hits in a perfect world.

OK, I'm old and in the way, so enough about that
-RY

 

[GenderNectar]

Re: The early years of the "Femmes"./Mercy Seat

> The rest of the Femmes stuff is a bit dodgy. 'American music' was a
> classic single. i remember it and 'Sing Your Life' at about the same time,
> and thinking these singles would be number one hits in a perfect world.

What did you think about 'Freak Magnet'? A lot of people don't seem to like it but I kind of enjoy it. It's very diversified. I love "Happiness Is". "When I eat a chocolate turtle -- I'm happy. When the box is empty -- I'm unhappy again" Bwhaha! You just don't hear lyrics like that anymore!

> OK, I'm old and in the way, so enough about that
> -RY

*ahem*! I thought we were the same age (or close enough). You callin' me old mister Yeats? Care to take this outside?

 

[jenny]

> And what, pray tell were you doing driving around at age 14?

I wasn't the one driving, I had a friends that were 16 and used to drive around with them. It was pure freedom.

 

[Rowdy Yeats]

Re: The early years of the "Femmes"./Mercy Seat

> What did you think about 'Freak Magnet'?

I never did hear 'Freak Magnet'. I didn't care much for 'New Times'. I mean, there stuff is still better than a good 90% of the stuff out there, but they just never got back to being as good as that first album.

> *ahem*! I thought we were the same age (or close enough). You callin' me
> old mister Yeats? Care to take this outside?

I'm not saying you're old. You seem to be pretty hip and happening. Just me. I'm babbling on about records that came out ten and fifteen years ago.

 

[GenderNectar]

Re: The early years of the "Femmes"./Mercy Seat

> I'm not saying you're old. You seem to be pretty hip and happening. Just
> me. I'm babbling on about records that came out ten and fifteen years ago.

No shame in that. I'm a retro gal myself. All of my friends say that I'm stuck in the 80's. (not style-wise though. Thank god for that!) It's not our fault though. We wouldn't have to cling to the 80's if something half-decent would grace our presence -- correct? Mind you -- I'll never stop listening to that music. You know, that's the main thing I love about The Smiths. They're absolutely timeless. Unlike Depeche Mode (whom I love), etc, you can always tell what decade they come from. The Smiths had their own sound. If you played them for someone who has never heard them -- they'd never know it was "80's" music. That says a lot about a band if you ask me.

 

[david]

> I wasn't the one driving, I had a friends that were 16 and used to drive
> around with them. It was pure freedom.

they were driving when you were 16? damn lucky sods. I am too lazy to send off for my provisional licence, and I'm feckin 18!

 

[Rowdy Yeats]

Oh, where did all the time go?

yeah, it's hard to beat the 80's 'new wave'. I watch VH1 Classic and see some stuff that hasn't dated well at all. And even some of the decent stuff sounds dated- The the's 'Infected' album, some of Sisters of mercy's weaker stuff, some Depeche.

But it was such a great era for music- Smiths, Depeche, Siouxsie, Cure, Echo, the Furs, New Order, U2 - all at their height. A lot of the great American indie bands at their peak, too.

I like newer bands that have come along, but there doesn't seem to be as many as from the 80's. Might have been Thatcher/Reagan, I dunno.

At the time, it seemed odd that moz was out of the Madchester loop- a dinosaur. But that stuff hasn't aged well at all, the early 90's - BAD, Inspirals, StereoMCs, Mondays, etc. Some great music there like the Stone Roses first album, but it's stuck in that moment.

Moz and Marr said they wanted to create music that could fit in any era, and I think they succeeded fabulously.

Are we going to be talking about Good charlotte and Nickleback and Creed and Ja Rule 15 years from now. Doubtful.

 

[GenderNectar]

> they were driving when you were 16? damn lucky sods. I am too lazy to send
> off for my provisional licence, and I'm feckin 18!

Hey! Nevermind. I didn't get my licence until I was 24!! Purely due to phobia & neurotisism. Here's the kicker. My mom and I got our licence on the same day! We even attended the same driver's training classes. Don't see that often, do you? My grandmother didn't get her licence until she was 52! There are some real issues running through my family. LOL Cuckoo.

 

[GenderNectar]

Re: Oh, where did all the time go?

> Are we going to be talking about Good charlotte and Nickleback and Creed
> and Ja Rule 15 years from now. Doubtful.

If we are then Come Armageddon, Come! My sanity depends on this. My senses have been assulted by these mindless twits for far too long already. Especially Nickleback. Being a lucky Canadian gal, we got first crack at them. *gags* Come, come nuclear bomb!

 

[Rowdy Yeats]

Re: Oh, where did all the time go?

Nickleback AND Avril Lavene. We should be bombing Canada instead of Iraq. And while we're at it, let's bomb Orlando, FL for giving us N'Sync and that crowd.

Lest we forget, music (or more precisely, radio) WAS bad in the 80's- Lionel Ritchie and Huey Lewis and Billy Ocean. There was great music underground.

But now there doesn't even seem to be that much great underground music. There is some good music on the radio now- QotSA, Audioslave, Chillis, but it's few and far between.

i just feel justfied that I was listening to stuff no one liked in the late 80's/early 90's and it's still being played. And what WAS popular- the hair metal is gone and forgotten.

Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong

 

[GenderNectar]

Re: Oh, where did all the time go?

> Nickleback AND Avril Lavene. We should be bombing Canada instead of Iraq.
> And while we're at it, let's bomb Orlando, FL for giving us N'Sync and
> that crowd.

HAHAHA!!! True enough. Could you just do me a favour and bomb us between the dates of April 10th - 15th since I will be in Hollywood. Oh -- and don't kill my cat! He's off limits. Everyone else is ripe for the picking.

> Lest we forget, music (or more precisely, radio) WAS bad in the 80's-
> Lionel Ritchie and Huey Lewis and Billy Ocean. There was great music
> underground.

Ack. Billy Ocean. Never thought I'd ever hear that name uttered again in this lifetime.
I think we were really lucky around here. There is an amazing radio station called CFNY which is based out of Toronto (and has now gone mainstream just like the rest of the sheep). Anyhoo -- it was fabulous! This is where I first heard The Femmes, Sisters of Mercy, etc. The one DJ, Chris Sheppard (who has also sold-out and joined a DANCE band here in Canada. Blah!) did these awesome mixes that you'd never hear anywhere else. Shortly afterwards, he also hosted a TV show in Toronto called Club 102. It aired live every Saturday night. They played alternative vids like Ministry, SOM, Caberet Voltaire, Nitzer Ebb, New Order, Love & Rockets, Siouxsie and the Banshees, P.I.L, The Bunnymen, Sugar Cubes and much, much more! I actually have a video tape full of those shows. Ahhh...memories. I'd kill to have something like that back again.

 

[Rowdy Yeats]

Re: Oh, where did all the time go?

When I was growing up, we lived out in the country, and I watched MuchMusic via satellite. they played some cool stuff back in the day. between MTV's '120 Minutes' and their 'City Limits' I got my fill of decent music. But that was back in the day, before Much went for the US audience, and i think they might have been bought out.

But they played a load of different videos, and it was pretty cool, and you might see a Smiths/Moz video every now and then, which was real cool.

Anyway, yer a canuck, you might appreciate that.