Tradewinds, Sea Bright, NJ..... Catherine Wheel exploded onto the music world in 1992 with a 7-minute rock opus called "Black Metallic." This song synthesized the dance-rock of the Stone Roses, the moody riffing of Sisters of Mercy, and the simplified indie coarseness of the Jesus & Mary Chain into one epic expression of loosely-opaque lyrics. Its effect was anthemic on the alt-rock crowd, still reeling in the months after "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has dashed previous anthems to splinters. The band recognized the power of returning to full volume after its 90-second breakdown section, which stripped everything down to drums plus a little lead guitar and vocal noodling. The crashing conclusion of this breakdown was the song's secret weapon, the stunning amendment to the dance-rock Constitution put forth by the Stone Roses and ultimately the missing ingredient to "Fools Gold." I never had a chance to see the band live during the years immediately fol...
Bailey Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY I first heard Echo & The Bunnymen on record when I got to college and stated working at WICB in the fall of 1984. I fell in love with the 1983 Porcupine LP, especially the two lead-off tracks, "The Cutter" and "The Back of Love." Oh, and the live version of "Do It Clean," on which frontman Ian McCulloch starts singing The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" during an instrumental break that DJ John Webber would often play on his "Radio Wave" show. This was my first opportunity to seeing Echo live. My strongest memory of the show is a brief but powerful moment halfway through the concert. McCulloch was smoking cigarettes on and off throughout the show. While he was in the middle of singing one song, he stuck his arm out behind him and to his left, fingers dangling down. A stagehand crept swiftly out from the wing and tucked a lit cigarette into his fingers. And without even a glance behi...
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY.... It was McCartney's first U.S. tour since the "Wings Over America" go-'round, and for all I knew it could be my last opportunity to see a Beatle perform live in concert. I simply had to go to this show! I was still working for the U.S. Postal Service in Whippany, NJ, when tickets went on sale, so I took the morning off and went to Scotti's Records in Millburn to buy my tickets. Although I was there before the appointed time when the tickets went on sale, others were there before me. I waited patiently in line, eager for my turn--I was going to buy the maximum number of tickets allowed (four) and sell the others to a few friends (at face value, of course). Of course, it didn't work out that way. Just before I got up to the counter to buy tickets, the show sold out. I was angry and disappointed. I had to get tickets. So I went to a ticket broker. I bought a pair for $110 each, although that seemed absolutely outrage...
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