A few staggering steps down ‘memory lapse lane’…
OK, I don’t care what ANYBODY says! This is a truly bitchin’ song!
Written by film composer Dmitri Tiomkin (!) for the 1961 film of the same name (starred Kirk Douglas… place squared-jawed toothy grimace here!)…
Gene Pitney (1941-2006 RIP) was a very talented guy who could really get the girls goin’ with that little catch/groan thing in his voice… I remember a Dutch girlfriend from junior high who was just NUTS over him! (more than me, methinks! ;-})…
Anyway, without further ado, here’s Gene Pitney with “Town Without Pity”…
Much later, in Arizona, where we were acquaintances of a little band called “The Beans” who a couple of years on became…
The Tubes live, 1974… A&M demo video…
Now do you begin to see? Does it become clear now how my mind was warped and I got to be the (lovable) raving lunatic that I am today??
Great stuff. You knew the Tubes? Holy shit!
Comment on December 30, 2009 @ 3:58 pm
Still occasionally correspond with Bill ‘Sputnik’ Spooner…
Comment on December 30, 2009 @ 4:00 pm
Great cover. I love that song. Did you know that The Tubes are wildly popular in France?
Comment on December 31, 2009 @ 6:36 pm
Mais non! mon Dieu!
Makes perfect sense when you think about it though! ;-}
The Tubes’ over-the-top theatrics proved to be both their blessing and their curse… and the French DO love Jerry Lewis…
What sometimes is missed amidst all the shock/schlock showbiz bit is that these guys were really good musicians!…
So yeah, makes sense and more power to ‘em getting a few Euros for their admirable efforts!
Comment on January 1, 2010 @ 3:35 am
While I’m on this Tubes thing, and to illustrate my point… the opening two tracks (“Up From the Deep” and “Haloes”) from their very first (1975) eponymous LP for A&M… (just a static pic and the music):
Despite the overproduction, ya gotta admit it’s a pretty damned oblique way to open a set!… and the playing is outstanding. I think I know what they were trying to do, in Spooner’s ‘Haloes’ especially… and I admire it still!
Sounds more than a bit like an operatic overture don’t you think?
Comment on January 1, 2010 @ 5:47 am