The sort-of official website of '80s pop combo The Floor Models [Gerry Devine, Andrew Pasternack, Steve Simels, J.D. Goldberg and Glen Robert Allen] -- with updates on their 2021 Byrds tribute album In-Flyte Entertainment, their reunion gig and their various forthcoming group and side projects, including Gerry's 2023 EP In My Own Good Time, Steve's 2024 cover of The Replacements, and two amazing reissues on Cherry Red Records!!!
It boggles the mind, but we have sold out our initial run of Floor Your Love discs at CD Baby.
I have shipped new copies to them -- and how hilarious is it that we actually have a distributor of sorts for this stuff? -- and I would just like to add that they make great birthday presents for the masochists power pop fans of your acquaintance.
In any case, in celebration, here's another bonus track: A low-fi but nonetheless listenable live version of us doing Nick Lowe's "American Squirm" at the Other End in 1982.
Apologies for the off-key harmonies by yours truly.
And speaking of apologies, you'll note that I introduce the thing as "a song about lice." I swear to god, I was not on drugs at the time.
Just got an e-mail from CD Baby, and as difficult as it is to believe we just sold two more copies of the album.
One -- a digital download at Amazon. The second -- an actual physical copy of the CD, to some guy in Pennsylvania who I do not know personally.
Which means I am gonna actually have to ship some more copies of the CD to the aforementioned CD Baby, because we are now officially out of stock.
Color me completely stunned.
In any case, to celebrate, here's a bonus track -- an admittedly low-fi but eminently listenable live version of "Let Her Go," which can be heard in a studio version on the album. This one's from a show at the Other End in '82, and there are some interesting differences between the arrangement we were performing at this point and the "official" version.
Just got an e-mail from CD Baby -- we sold another copy of the album in Spain!!!
A CD no less, not just a digital download. Good thing I just had some more copies of the CD pressed -- if we sell two more, I'll have to make them available to our "distributor."
Seriously, at this point we're bigger than Generalissimo Franco on the Iberian peninsula. Who could have predicted?
...because I just discovered that Floor Your Love (the album) has received a very nice review by jangleholic fan Eric Sorensen over at Pop Geek Heaven, the very cool website run by Not Lame Recordings founder Bruce Brodeen.
You have to register to read all the cool stuff on the site, but it's free and it only takes about half a minute.
In any case, a big tip of the Floor Models chapeau to Sorensen and everybody at the site.
Today, the Floor Models on Pop Geek Heaven -- tomorrow, world domination!!!!
Okay, it has now been exactly two years since your humble scribbler started this here blog.
Well, strictly speaking, I first posted on January 10, 2011, but close enough.
In any case, I started this here blog for two reasons. Number one, I had just had a parting of the ways with the folks at BoxOffice.com, for whom I had been toiling on a daily basis for a couple of years (a wonderful run, incidentally -- it was one of the nicest professional gigs I've ever had) and thus had some unexpected free time on my hands.
And number two, it was a way to sort of goose myself to get the project that ultimately became Floor Your Love the album going, after much procrastination. Said project was on my mind for obvious reasons -- I thought the music deserved a hearing before the musicians (including me) were too old to particularly care anymore.
But I would be remiss not to finally credit the original inspiration for the project. Which was the incomparable Willie Nile. I bumped into Willie at a Dave Edmunds show sometime in the early 90s, and the first thing he said to me was "Hey Simels -- when is that Floor Models box set coming out?" And I remember going home that night and thinking -- you know, that's not a bad idea.
So -- a long overdue tip of the Floor Models chapeau to Willie. Thanks, dude.
Has the project run its course? Not sure, actually, but I'm updating the blog today because the good folks at CD Baby have just informed me that two copies of the album were actually purchased on Friday. By complete strangers, i.e. people I don't know personally. One was a digital download, and the other the physical CD (that's a first for us, incidentally).
I realize that if this rate continues we won't be on the Billboard sales charts until sometime around the time that frozen smoothies become available in the nether regions of Hades, but still -- it's a thrill for us, trust me.
And in honor of those two complete strangers who were unaccountably moved to buy the album, here's a bonus track that didn't make the cut.
From the David Grahame home 4-track demos (our earliest recorded work, circa 1981) here's our first attempt at a song that in a more sophisticated form appears on the album: Andy's "You'll Come Around." Unlike the album track, it's actually sung by the song's composer, and while primitive, I think it retains a certain naive charm that's quite endearing.
Anyway, finally, I just wanted to say thanks to everybody who helped out with the album project, especially my beautiful and brilliant girlfriend who served as art director (working cheap, I might add) and Steve Schwartz, whose efforts at audio restoration basically made the whole thing possible.
And to my once and forever bandmates Andy, Gerry and Glen Bob -- you guys were and are the best.
Well, lots of interesting stuff to report since last I posted.
1. Courtesy of CD Baby, I just got the Floor Models first ever royalty check, in the amount of $53.76 cents, for albums downloaded (at Amazon, iTunes, and the aforementioned CD Baby). This may not sound like much, but let me tell you -- if you know that you have $53.76 coming in every month, you can budget out your year pretty good.
Seriously, some of those downloads were from people unknown to me, which is really gratifying.
2. The physical CDs are done, and I'm now in the process of shipping them out to various friends, press contacts, etc. I'm also sending a bunch to the now twice aforementioned CD Baby, so that other people unknown to me may order physical CDs in the future.
No vinyl, sorry.
Heh.
3. Dig this five-star review that a person named Wallace -- unknown to me -- posted about the album at CD Baby (you've heard of them by now, right?).
What a pleasant surprise to find this. A million years ago I was an NYU student and caught these guys regularly at The Other End (club is better known since as The Bitter End). They had a great sound, very 1960s inspired, a mashup of Beatles, Byrds, Monkees, Buffalo Springfield, Searchers, and other groups in that style. I didn't realize at the time how much of the material was original, I just assumed they had identified great but obscure tracks. They were 180 degrees opposite the prevailing pop sound of the time (Human League etc) but it's amazing how fresh and relevant The Floor Models sound on this collection.
If anybody out there knows who this Wallace guy is, please tell him that a coveted Floor Models No-Prize™ is his for the asking. Seriously -- he must have been a friend of somebody we knew back then; help me out here, people!
4. And finally, if you didn't see these two comments on the post downstairs, which are self-explanatory, all I can say about them is -- words fail me.
Hi I'm Enrique from Barcelona, Spain (we have a Blog Power Pop Action!, And there I learned of the existence of this great record).
The songs are wonderful, I love this great album in physical format, vinyl hopefully but of course also in CD format.
I repeat again, Great!!!!!!!
Enrique
Hi friends,
I'm Pedro from Madrid (Spain) and, as my friend Enrique, from Power Pop Action!
too.
I have listen the samples of your record and I have enjoyed it very much, every song are GREAT, perfect guitars and choruses with marvelous melodies with hooks.
Thanks for your music
Pedro
Naturally, I dispatched CDs of the album to these guys pronto.
I should add that they weren't kidding about Power Pop Action! -- it's an actual Spanish language power pop blog, from Spain and everything, and you can -- and should -- access it over here. Incidentally, if anybody reading this is fluent in Spanish, please go over there and let us know what Enrique and Pedro are carrying on about. Could be a hot one!
