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  1. #1
    very clever with maracas Davey's Avatar
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    Anyone have the feelies for those crazy rhythms in 1980?

    I wonder how many people heard about this album when it came out? Anyone here? Man, I love it like crazy now but I never heard it until the mid 90s. Heard of them before that, a little anyway, but never enough to make me jump on it. Would've loved to have this one back when it was new. I know it would've been a big favorite. Oh well, tons more that I missed along the way and many of them haven't aged all that well since, but this one seems nearly timeless.


  2. #2
    Indifferentist Slosh's Avatar
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    meet me in the dollar bin

    old music rulez, dude

    NP: Les Savy Fav - Inches RIYL good music

    I ain't got me no Feelies but was around for the Violent Femmes debut . Does that make up for it?

  3. #3
    very clever with maracas Davey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Slosh
    NP: Les Savy Fav - Inches RIYL good music
    I was thinking of getting that Les Savy Fav but I don't really like good music. Think it still might stick? Is that really just a singles collection? They only have one album and an EP, right? Where did all the singles come from? Or is it just an EP too? Or maybe I could just look it up myself but then I would be missing out on all this social intercourse.....
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  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Davey
    I wonder how many people heard about this album when it came out? Anyone here? Man, I love it like crazy now but I never heard it until the mid 90s. Heard of them before that, a little anyway, but never enough to make me jump on it. Would've loved to have this one back when it was new. I know it would've been a big favorite. Oh well, tons more that I missed along the way and many of them haven't aged all that well since, but this one seems nearly timeless.
    Long-time Feelies fan here. I'll agree that Crazy Rhythms is their best. As you said, nearly timeless. I remember seeing them play live at a small club in Providence, RI, sometime after The Good Earth was released. I'll tell ya, I saw so many cool shows back around that time ('84-'86)...Minutemen, pre-D. Boon's death, The Replacements back when Bob and Tommy were out of control, Husker Du in the midst of their meltdown, etc. Good times. Anyway, I digress...Back to The Feelies. Are you familiar with some of the other Mercer/Million projects of the eighties? I think the best was Yung Wu, with Dave Weckerman on vocals. They only released one album, which was titled Shore Leave. Pretty cool piece of work. I imagine that it's out of print, though. I'd offer to burn you a copy, but unfortunately, I only have it on vinyl.


  5. #5
    Indifferentist Slosh's Avatar
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    well..

    Quote Originally Posted by Davey
    I was thinking of getting that Les Savy Fav but I don't really like good music. Think it still might stick? Is that really just a singles collection? They only have one album and an EP, right? Where did all the singles come from? Or is it just an EP too?
    In 1996, before we had put out any records, Les Savy Fav had begun Inches. We designed Inches' cover art and broke it into nine parts to be released as related singles. Since then we have been writing and recording specifically for this project and releasing singles with nine different lables. All of the songs included were carefully chosen to work in sets of twos as 7"s, and also to relate to each other in the form of Inches. To those who have been getting the 7"s as they have become available- we hope you have enjoyed collecting and completing the project with us. To those who don't collect 7"s- you kind of missed out, but Les Savy Fav still loves you. We are very excited and proud to have finally completed this project and hope you enjoy hearing these songs all together.

    The initial pressing of Inches comes with a DVD, future pressings may not include this which is really too bad because it is a good one. Along with the music are commentaries about the songs not only by the band, but by Billy Preston and Chris Zane from Gigantic Studios, film and television personality David Cross, the publisher of Chunklet Magazine Henry Owings, National Recording Studio's Phil Manley, comedian Fred Armisten as Niles Covington/Fabrezio and booking agent/power broker Robin Taylor. Seth did all of the editing for the commentaries. Beyond that there is all this cool video- Doug Jaeger made one for "Meet Me In The Dollar Bin", Tim made one for "We'll Make A Lover Of You", Tarikh Korula did a screen saver for "Hello Halo, Goodbye Glands", Rob Hudak used moving image to great effect in his video for "Reform (Dramatic Reading)", Jeff Gutowski made one for "Blackouts On Thursday", and Syd did "Rodeo". If that wasn't enough, the photographers Andrew Paynter, Amanda Marsalis, and Don Monic submitted 10 beautiful photos each that they have taken of the band over ten years. The real cherry on top is live footage from a show at North 6th in Brooklyn which filmmaker Andrew Reuland shot with the help of Andrew Freiband and edited all by himself. The whole DVD was authored and encoded by Tarikh Korula from the interactive media cartel Uncommon Projects. All the design for the DVD and packaging is by Les Savy Fav, as are all the songs. If you didn't get a DVD in your copy it is sad, maybe you can find one in the dollar bin at your local record store. Thanks everyone.

    ~Slosh - shill

  6. #6
    Forum Regular nobody's Avatar
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    I've actually never listened to any Feelies recordings. I saw them a couple of times live many moons ago, but for some reason never picked anything up. They always impressed me live, so I really have no idea why. Looks like a hole in the collection I may have to plug.

  7. #7
    Forum Regular Ex Lion Tamer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JimN
    I remember seeing them play live at a small club in Providence, RI, sometime after The Good Earth was released.
    Hey Jim, I saw the Feelies just after The Good Earth came out as well, which is when I discoverd them myself. They opened for REM, (they are forever linked to REM because Peter Buck sort of re-discovered them and co-produced The Good Earth, their come-back album). BTW, The Feelies blew REM off the stage. Unfortunately I never got to see them as a headliner.

    I agree that Crazy Rhythms is a timeless classic, and though Only Life is well regarded too, I find the rest of the catalogue gets a little overlooked. The Good Earth is an understated classic and Time for a Witness is way underrated.

    I haven't had a chance to pursue any of the Mercer/Million stuff, the brief write up at allmusic.com makes me think it sounds more like The Good Earth than Crazy Rhythms. I'll have to keep an eye out. Jim, you gotta get a component burner, so you can burn those vinyl gems to CD (and share the wealth ), mine has been a god send.

    Have you heard Ausie band; David Kilgour & the Heavy Eights? Serious Feelies influence there!
    "I don't know. A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof, and when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven." The Right Honourable JC.

  8. #8
    Forum Regular Ex Lion Tamer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Slosh
    I ain't got me no Feelies but was around for the Violent Femmes debut . Does that make up for it?
    No! Get thee some Feelies, pronto! Lemme know if I can help.
    "I don't know. A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof, and when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven." The Right Honourable JC.

  9. #9
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    Dude, I was only 8 years old, but I was so there. The other kids in Little League would make fun of me, but I was hooked on those Feelies. My only 1980 regret is that I was still puzzled about the direction the Talking Heads were taking at the time (although I was right with them at the age of 5 when TH'77 came out) and hadn't yet discovered Prince.

  10. #10
    Indifferentist Slosh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ex Lion Tamer
    No! Get thee some Feelies, pronto! Lemme know if I can help.
    You can help I'm sure I have a few things around that would interest you as well. PM me when you have some time.

    NP: CRSv9 (nice job JD, BTW)

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ex Lion Tamer
    I haven't had a chance to pursue any of the Mercer/Million stuff, the brief write up at allmusic.com makes me think it sounds more like The Good Earth than Crazy Rhythms. I'll have to keep an eye out. Jim, you gotta get a component burner, so you can burn those vinyl gems to CD (and share the wealth ), mine has been a god send.

    Have you heard Ausie band; David Kilgour & the Heavy Eights? Serious Feelies influence there!
    Yeah, I'd say that the Yung Wu album sounds more like The Good Earth than Crazy Rhythms. You can hear some half-track mp3 samples here. I'm not a big fan of Wackerman's vocals, but the songs are good. There's even a cover of Powderfinger on there. I definitely need to look into one of these component burners. I also need to check out David Kilgour & the Heavy Eights. Thanks for the tips!

  12. #12
    very clever with maracas Davey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ex Lion Tamer
    Have you heard Ausie band; David Kilgour & the Heavy Eights? Serious Feelies influence there!
    Hehehe, you won't mind me being anal-retentive for a moment, will you? I'm sure chrisnz probably gets a bit twisted when people refer to one of the true originals in the Kiwi music scene as an Aussie. Kind of like calling Neil Young an American, eh? Or is he now? Anyway, David Kilgour and his brother formed the Clean way back in the late 70s and were putting out similar music to the Feelies in the early 80s, although with more of an early Who influence mixed in, I think. Their first single, Tally Ho, is one of the lost gems of rock n roll. Very cool. Not sure they ever really quite matched that level of fun and charm again as they moved more into jangle-rock, but there's a 2-disc anthology that collects all those early songs and it's a great listen. All the early stuff is pretty lo-fi, especially compared to those great sounding Feelies albums, but essential nonetheless for any VU fan. Lots of the sound that Yo La Tengo later became (listen to "Point That Thing Somewhere Else" by the Clean). And blueprints for many other bands, including recent faves like Life Without Buildings (just listen to the song "Side On" by the Clean). Highly influential. But I do agree that Jim should find a copy of any of those recent David Kilgour albums, especially the one you mention, although it's not easy to find in the US. We all benefitted from our Kiwi connection, chrisnz, so let one of us know if you need some assistance "finding" a copy ( ).

  13. #13
    Forum Regular Ex Lion Tamer's Avatar
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    That's what I get for posting when my fact-checker is out of town.

    Quote Originally Posted by Davey
    Hehehe, you won't mind me being anal-retentive for a moment, will you? I'm sure chrisnz probably gets a bit twisted when people refer to one of the true originals in the Kiwi music scene as an Aussie. Kind of like calling Neil Young an American, eh? Or is he now? Anyway, David Kilgour and his brother formed the Clean way back in the late 70s and were putting out similar music to the Feelies in the early 80s, although with more of an early Who influence mixed in, I think. Their first single, Tally Ho, is one of the lost gems of rock n roll. Very cool. Not sure they ever really quite matched that level of fun and charm again as they moved more into jangle-rock, but there's a 2-disc anthology that collects all those early songs and it's a great listen. All the early stuff is pretty lo-fi, especially compared to those great sounding Feelies albums, but essential nonetheless for any VU fan. Lots of the sound that Yo La Tengo later became (listen to "Point That Thing Somewhere Else" by the Clean). And blueprints for many other bands, including recent faves like Life Without Buildings (just listen to the song "Side On" by the Clean). Highly influential. But I do agree that Jim should find a copy of any of those recent David Kilgour albums, especially the one you mention, although it's not easy to find in the US. We all benefitted from our Kiwi connection, chrisnz, so let one of us know if you need some assistance "finding" a copy ( ).
    My Bad. Thanks Davey, for serving as my fact-checker while I'm short-staffed. Much appreciated. And apologies to our Kiwi-friend Chris.

    And, by all means yes Jim, if you have trouble finding the Kilgour album, allow one of us to hook you up.
    "I don't know. A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof, and when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven." The Right Honourable JC.

  14. #14
    Dubgazer -Jar-'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DariusNYC
    Dude, I was only 8 years old, but I was so there. The other kids in Little League would make fun of me, but I was hooked on those Feelies. My only 1980 regret is that I was still puzzled about the direction the Talking Heads were taking at the time (although I was right with them at the age of 5 when TH'77 came out) and hadn't yet discovered Prince.
    I had a pitcher try to take my head off one time for wearing a Joy Division t-shirt to little league practice... they just didn't get it..

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    The Replacements

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