Tune Tag #103 with Hugh Jones of The Record Store Years, Pt. 2: Cheri Knight, XTC, J. Geils Band, Jason Crest, Zuider Zee, Millennium, Liverpool Express
These 2 record store management veterans from the '70s & beyond go bin diving so deep that scuba gear may be needed. You'll get some faves here, but keep an open 👂for some of the new-new-to-you, too!
When they told me my newest rescue had once been a show dog, I had no idea…….
Be that as it may, we welcome back of , for his second Tune Tag!
Hugh: “I am a writer, musician and carpenter living in Seattle, Washington. I spent 25 years (1975-2000) with a small chain of Seattle-area record stores known as Cellophane Square, and also published the Led Zeppelin fanzine, Proximity, during this time.”
Hugh’s first Tune Tag happened 50 weeks ago, in August of ‘24:
Last week, we tagged terrific tunes with
of :
Next week, we’ll sweep the Welcome Mat and welcome back
of If You Get Confused, for his Tune Tag, Pt. 2!
Hugh’s song #1 sent to Brad: Cheri Knight, “Crawling,” 1998
Hugh’s rationale: I chose this song to start my second Tune Tag for a few reasons: One, I love it. Two, not many people know about Cheri Knight, and three, I thought it could provide a variety of different directions for Brad to go from a musical or musician standpoint – The Twangtrust, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, E-Squared Records, etc.
I also have the ulterior motive of turning more people on to this wonderful artist – she only made two solo records, The Knitter in 1995, and The Northeast Kingdom in 1998, from which this track comes, after which she retired from the biz, and sadly, has not been heard from since, at least musically. I could go on and on about her and these two albums, and in fact I will be doing exactly that in a post at some point in the future! But right now, on with the tagging!
Brad’s song #1 sent to Hugh: Zuider Zee, “Listen to the Words,” 1975
Hugh’s response: I spent some time researching this band, whom I’d never heard of, and searched in vain for a musical, lyrical or technical connection between these two songs written and recorded over 20 years apart.
The music couldn’t be more different too, but after bringing up both artists’ Wikipedia pages side-by-side, the connection suddenly dawned on me: Zuider Zee’s songwriter & mastermind was one Richard Orange, and Cheri Knight’s original band, before going solo, was Blood Oranges.
The only other thing that I come up with is that both artists are pretty obscure and never had a ‘hit,’ and Zuider Zee is bemoaning the fact that people don’t “Listen To The Words,” and Cheri is a songwriter who has a way with words – “. . . I know I’ve got to do something ‘bout you, but nothing. . . is all I can do.”
Brad’s rationale: As Cheri Knight spent much of the ‘90s in The Blood Oranges, my citrus-forward mind went immediately to Richard Orange and his mid-’70s band (on Columbia Records in 1975), Zuider Zee. If Hugh is familiar with her previous band (and, there’s nothing to suggest he wouldn’t be), he’ll guess the link immediately. If not, I found it through looking up Ms. Knight, and he’ll bump into The B.O.s, too, at some point!🍊
Curiosity, too, makes me wonder if, in his record store days, Hugh knows of (or has heard…and likes!) Mr. Orange and his Zuider Zee (their Columbia debut was released in the same year Hugh began his quarter-century career in retail records)!
As I was wont to do fairly frequently back then (I was 20, and already in radio in ‘75), I thought nothing of writing artists when the whim struck me, and indeed, Richard wrote back several times, as we became rather chummy pen pals of a sort long before things like texting and social media were ever a thing!
That may have been my motivation for putting this piece together over three years ago:
A recent original recording by Richard, “Million Miles Away” (not the Plimsouls hit):
Hugh’s song #2: J. Geils Band, “Orange Driver,” 1975
Brad’s response: A) Well, Hugh certainly gets the Tag, here (perhaps now I’ll dub him Hue)! Now, I’m anxious to see just how familiar he is/was with not only Richard Orange, but Zuider Zee! This decidedly solid blues number was written by Detroit bluesman, Eddie “Guitar” Burns, a blues cat with whom I was heretofore unfamiliar. Johnny “Guitar” Watson? Sure, but not Mr. Burns (or, Smithers, for that matter). Let’s see if all this blues talk influences my next song choice!
Hue’s rationale: Okay, we’re talking about oranges? I’m staying with the color theme here with one of my very favorite J. Geils Band tracks. There’s nothing particularly unique or unusual about this song – it’s just a 12-bar blues, and the Geils Band wrote plenty of better tunes, but it is simply a *kickass* track. I mean, these guys are *getting down*! My favorite moment (aside from J.’s guitar solo and Seth’s piano flourishes) is at the very beginning when Peter Wolf mutters, “Gimme the key on it!”
Brad’s song #2: Jason Crest “(Here We Go Round The) Lemon Tree,” 1968
Hugh’s response: Once again, a musical or technical connection eluded me, but since we’ve been talking about Orange (and oranges), I’m guessing the connection is in the title – citrus! I happen to be a big citrus lover, lemons and grapefruit in particular, and in fact I can draw stares in a restaurant (if I want to) by eating the lemon – peel and all – when I’ve finished my glass of iced tea!
So. . . let’s go for a connection to both oranges and lemons in the next tune!🍊🍋
Brad’s rationale: “(Here We Go Round The) Lemon Tree” was written by Roy Wood, and covered by two iterations of his original two pre-ELO bands, Idle Race (in 1967) and The Move, plus British “psychedelic pop” group, Jason Crest (previously The Good Thing Brigade), the latter two being recorded in 1968.
Hugh’s song #3: XTC, “Mayor Of Simpleton,” 1989
Brad’s response: Definitely a flower power moment going on here, from Jason Crest to XTC…certainly on this track, and anything, really, from their Dukes of Stratosphear tracks…and, of course, squeezing this Andy Partridge plum from their citrus-flavored Oranges & Lemons!
Hugh’s rationale: From their 1989 album, Oranges & Lemons, another one of my all-time favorite tracks from what I would probably call my favorite XTC album, though that’s a tough call as their entire catalog is peppered with equally great LPs.
Brad’s reply: Just found this, Hugh, and thought you might enjoy this “American-ized” 2021 cover by The Verve Pipe’s 6’6”-lead singer, Brian Vander Ark (he’s Dutch) one of not even ten covers of the song since ‘89. It’s the first time I’ve known what the lyrics were!
Brad’s song #3: The Millennium, “Prelude/To Claudia on Thursday,” 1968
Hugh’s response: OK, no oranges or lemons in this one. And no obvious personnel or credits connections either, with the song once again recorded two decades before the XTC track.
So, I’m going with genre – the brains behind The Millennium was one Curt Boettcher, who went on to produce The Association’s first album and work with many other artists throughout the 1970s and into the early 1980s. Boettcher is generally credited with creating the sub-genre we now call “Sunshine Pop.”
XTC’s “Mayor of Simpleton” is nothing if not sunshine pop, at least musically – the lyrics have their dark edge at times, but that earworm of a jangly guitar part and the lush production and sprightly tempo all add up to – sunshine pop, 1989 style.
Brad’s rationale: I had nothing written, ‘cause I really was just gonna say what Hugh just said when composing the Tune Tag the week before publication. Nicely done, Hugh.👍 Boettcher (also seen as “Becher” from time to time, usually to accentuate the phonetic pronunciation), it should be noted, was one of pop’s premier vocal arrangers and session singers, and more than just a little credit should be given him for the harmony structures on The Association’s “Along Comes Mary” hit (written by Tandyn Almer) and its 1966 album, And Then…Along Comes The Association.
The New York Times once wrote of Boettcher: “If his life had gone just a bit differently [he passed away at 43 in 1987], [he] might have been another Brian Wilson. As it stands, Boettcher, a pop-music producer whose heyday was the late ‘60s, now survives in rock history mostly as a liner-note credit.
“He could have been, but never was. Yet he enjoys a godlike status among a select group of music fans, for whom obscurity is more enticing than fame.”
Here’s Boettcher, singing on the “Along Comes Mary” demo; its composer, Tandyn Almer, is on piano:
More about Boettcher and Tandyn Almer can be read here:
Hugh’s song #4: The Lovin’ Spoonful, “Money,” 1968
Brad’s response: Not to be confused with the first hit single for Motown in 1959, “Money (That’s What I Want),” as recorded by the late Barrett Strong, written by Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford. This is a John Sebastian joint, as recorded by the Spoonful in ‘68. I wonder who that is “playing” the typewriter!
Facebook friend, Jerry Yester (brother of The Association’s Jim Yester), arranged this track, with the band sharing production duties with the eventually prolific Joe Wissert:
Unless we’re matching release years, I’m guessing we’re generally tagging to loosely similar music genres…the late-’60s and the folky, somewhat loopy, psych lane.
Hugh’s rationale: Another song I love from an under-appreciated album. Jerry Yester, who was a member of this version of the Spoonful, and plays banjo on this track, is the brother of original Association member Jim Yester, and Jerry also produced the Association’s second album, Renaissance, in 1966.
Brad’s song #4: Liverpool Express, “Smile,” 1976
Hugh’s response: Yer a sly dog Brad! Initially I could find absolutely no connection from this Beatle-esque gem to the Spoonful track, and I spent a fair amount of time bouncing around Discogs and Wikipedia to the point where I was wondering if I had to concede and say, “you got me!”
Then, suddenly, at least a name I knew: Tommy Boyce, famed pop songwriter with his partner Bobby Hart, responsible for many of The Monkees’ best tunes, and one of my all time fave tracks under his own name, “I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonight,” Boyce also produced the Liverpool Express’ 1979 album, L.E.X. (released only in EU). Surely that had to lead somewhere?
I spent a fair while perusing various things that Boyce did or was involved in during his most productive years in the late ‘60s – which was a lot – and again came up with nothing. Eventually I got the bright idea of looking at what Boyce was doing in the mid-’70s when he produced Liverpool Express, and bingo!
On the ‘76 eponymous sort-of Monkees reunion album, Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart (Capitol Records, U.S., shown above), the extensive lineup of session musicians backing them up includes Jerry Yester on guitar.
Brad’s rationale: Well, I suspect Hugh might have trouble nailing this one down, as it’s really all kinda flabby and nebulous, at best! So, apologies, Hugh, if you spent a lot of time coming up, seemingly empty! Y’see, I spent quite a bit of time joyfully remembering all manner of late-’60s psychedelic and psych-pop bands, in hopes of tagging his Lovin’ Spoonful with something from the era, which led me to gleefully wallow in a bunch of sunshine pop bands of that era!
Speaking of the Spoonful, I’d always hoped longtime country singer, Alabaman, Charlie Louvin (1927-2011) would record an album of John Sebastian & Co.’s songs, and title said album, The Louvin Spoonful, but alas….nuthin’. I don’t ask for much….
All of a sudden, I remembered this band, but all I could remember was a vague image of the album cover, and “Liverpool,” as in thinking that was their name! I squeezed my brain just a little harder until I finally hit on “No, it was Liverpool….something! Express! Liverpool Express!” Sho’ ‘nuff, and here we are! I had to celebrate by bringing them up, here. American listeners will, doubtless, have never heard (or heard of) them!
Titled Tracks, it was the British band’s 1976 debut, and was released virtually the world over, except the U.S.! Well, I had it…as the UK import. If you were truly plugged in, like I happily was, at the time…coupla years in pro radio, transitioning into retail records (like Hugh), and reading all manner of rock mags of the time…somewhere, somehow, someone, was gonna hip me to this new British pop band who made no bones about their allegiance to the Fab Four! I was plugged into the stores (including Cactus, where I worked) that carried imports, so I ordered it!
Synching to track, granted, but, at least we get to see them move about in what has to be rare footage:
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Good to know your brain is 'citrus forward' Brad, we're on the same page there! I always enjoy Tuesday's tags and it's even more fun being involved in one - thanks again for asking me back.
I was completely unfamiliar with Zuider Zee, though Richard Orange's name did ring a bell - I'll be checking out your previous post on him & exploring more of the music. On Jason Crest I completely missed the Roy Wood connection, and had I figured it out might have gone off more in that direction. . . but then I might have never had the opportunity to hear your idea for a country album by the 'Louvin Spoonful' - !! - might just have to steal that idea!
And no apologies required for that Liverpool Express toughie - figuring it out was time well spent, also an interesting band I knew little or nothing about.
And so, enlightened and exhausted (not really), signing off - as Robert Plant would say: "Eye Thank Yew."
Cheers!
Great Tune Tag, guys! I listened to all of the tracks and, well, I'll respectfully pass on most of them, except "Orange Driver" by the Geils Band. (And there goes Brad asking us to keep an open mind 😁). I have a soft spot for the blues, what can I say, especially when accompanied by powerful vocals, so this track was, for me, a nice respite. Clearly recorded on the spur of the moment, from what I gather, and yet, the performance is phenomenal.
Now, what I loved the most about this Tune Tag is how multifarious, varied, and er... um... DIFFICULT some of the tags were! 🤣 You were both so switched on, from citrus fruits to obscure bands to names on liner notes! I love how the wealth of your respective backgrounds (which as we know is a nice mix of overlap and bifurcations) really shone through. Amazing work!!