Poppin' the Cherry Part III: Blame It All on the Nights on the Bowery

Okay -- as attentive readers will recall, we alerted you back in November to the news that the good folks at Cherry Red Records (aka the Coolest Record Label in the World) had seen fit to include a track by The Hounds (i.e. the 70s pop/rock band I toiled with beginning in college) on a new 4 CD (101 songs!) boxed set devoted to groups who played at the legendary New York City club C.B.G.B.

Well, I just got my review copy, and wow -- Cherry Red knocked it out of the park.

You can get more details about the collection at the first graf link above; for now, let me just say that ace rock critic Rob Tannenbaum, who compiled the set, contributes absolutely fabulous liner notes, and that the packaging and mastering are across the board terrific; everything here looks and sounds great (our track has never jumped out of the speakers quite so adroitly, for which I'm profoundly grateful).

The official release date is January 30th; in the meantime, you can pre-order it at Amazon, or if Jeff Bezos offends you (as well he should) directly from Cherry Red over HERE.

Hey, what are you waiting for? 😎

P.S.: If you want to hear the Hounds song, it's at the link in the first graf as well. On the actual box set, it's on disc one, between The Dictators, Patti Smith, The Dead Boys and The Ramones. How cool is that?

[cross-posted at PowerPop]

Today I Swear Eternal Fealty to Cherry Red Records

Okay, this strikes me as thoroughly unlikely but it is nonetheless true: The Floor Models have a song on a new box set from Cherry Red Records, aka the World's Coolest Label.

From the promo material:

In 1979, The Knack kicked open the doors for a global power pop explosion, and a year or so later, almost as quickly, the doors closed again, but not before a mass of their contemporaries followed them through. Soon, a bunch of others got caught up in the excitement and the record business relearned the power of guitar-driven pop - the first few years of the '80s were as exciting for power pop as the last couple of the 70s had been, and even when it returned to the underground, the music continued to flow throughout the decade.

‘I Wanna Be A Teen Again’ follows the 80s power pop explosion from its hypocentre early in the decade to its enduring late period gems, exploring both leading and lesser lights, the old hands and new talents who made it such an exciting musical happening. By the middle of the decade, the term power pop had been all but retired, but a handful of new bands found success by avoiding it, whilst new movements, including the Paisley Underground and indie pop, helped keep others alive under new brandings. All the while a small number of holdouts, the pop equivalent of the soldiers lost in the jungle after the war had ended, strove to keep the music and the name alive.

Packed with classic cuts and long-overlooked rough diamonds, and appearing at a time when new outfits like The Lemon Twigs pick through the body of 80s power pop for material and inspiration and some key artists like Redd Kross and The Bangles are celebrated in books and film, ‘I Wanna Be A Teen Again’ is a timely examination and celebration of this action-packed era and its thrilling sounds.

We're on the second disc, in between Marshall Crenshaw and Cheap Trick -- and how fabulous is that?

The set features over 75 songs, neatly alternating between hits and deep cuts from a myriad of name artists/genre faves (I can't believe we're on an album with Rick Springfield and Material Issue) and obscure ones like us; you can peruse the complete track listing -- and order the thing, which will be available starting July 18 -- over at the Cherry Red website HERE. I'm told there will be a booklet with extensive liner notes and lotsa cool photos, including one of the Flo Mos; I'm also informed that you'll be able to stream the set over at Spotify, and I'll keep you posted on further details as I get them.

And may I just say, and for the record (as it were) that I'm over the moon thrilled and honored that we're a part of this thing, and my only regret is that my departed bandmates -- 12 string ace Andy Pasternack, who wrote the song, and drummer Glen Robert Allen -- didn't live to see it.

PS: Oh, and here's the title song, which I must confess I was previously unfamiliar with.

Of course, I am now, unsurprisingly, totally nuts about it.

[cross-posted at PowerPop]

It's True -- the Masses are Clamoring for a Nasal-Voiced Jewish Rock Critic From Forest Hills Singing a Paul Westerberg Song!!!

[cross-posted from PowerPop]

Okay kids, please enjoy the world premiere of "I'll Be You" -- a cover of the 1989 Replacements classic -- produced and warbled by some guy whose name rhymes with Sleeve Nimels.

Oh, and it has an instrumental b-side. Which that Nimels guy not only wrote, but also plays the left and right channel guitar parts on.

As you can see, both the a-and-b sides are currently up for listening (YouTube) and purchasing (Bandcamp); the complete single will also be up elsewhere -- i.e., Spotify and the rest of the usual youngster-friendly streaming suspects -- in the next couple of days, depending on my work ethic. At some point, I'm probably gonna press up a handful of CD versions, with the actual record company label art reproduced on the disc; I'll keep you posted on that, if any of you are wacky enough to want such an artifact/collector's item.

I should add that the friends and musicians generously supporting me on this Folly of My Old Age include David Achelis, Benny Landa and J.D. Goldberg on the electric and acoustic guitars. Brent McLachlan (who engineered) is on drums. Art direction is by Joan Harrison and a certain Shady Dame of my acquaintance. Steve Schwartz, (a prince), is responsible for the YouTube transfer. (I'm on everything else, i.e. lead vocals, bass and keyboards.)

Thanks, guys -- you did killer work, and cheap!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the thing -- it'll probably be the last recorded representation (at least that I'll share with anybody) of what I laughingly refer to as my musical career, and I gotta say, it's not horrible for a geezer.

I Knew There Was a Reason I Loved That Woman

What -- you mean she DIDN'T actually buy a copy of our album?

Heh.

POSTSCRIPT: Big news coming about my new solo single -- watch this space!

On the Bowery

Okay -- this is just too cool for words.

The short version: Cherry Red Records -- the most prestigious rock reissue label on the planet -- is assembling a three CD box set whose theme is Stuff and Records Having to Do With People Who Played at CBGBs in NYC in the Mid to Late 70s.

And somehow, the people putting this project together had not only heard of the 1976 indie single by my pre-Floor Models old band The Hounds -- who did in fact play at CBs a couple of times, including opening for a pre-stardom Blondie -- put out back in the day...

...but they figured it was catchy/historically important enough to include in said forthcoming package.

They're using the A-side, thankfully...

...which was recorded at Electric Lady Studios circa 1975. Attentive readers over at PowerPop will recall that story, which involves a cameo by Ron Wood of The Rolling Stones.

In any event, said CBGBs box set is apparrently scheduled for release sometime late his year, and I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, that leads to the business at hand. To wit:

...and your favorite (or least favorite) band (or album cut by an artist associated however tenuously with the CBGBs New York downtown scene of the '70s) is...?

In case you're wondering, my favorite folks from out of that gestalt is/are, hands down, the great Mink DeVille. If you don't know from them, I'm not going to get into their history right now, but there's a new documentry about them that should be available for streaming momentarily. (Also, get me drunk and I'll tell you an amazing story about my encounter with frontman and auteur Willy DeVille at the offices of Atlantic Records in 1981. It's hilarious and creepily terrifying.)

But my favorite single track, however, has got to be this power pop gem -- from the unjustly critically pooh-poohed Live at CBGBs album -- by the unjustly forgotten Laughing Dogs.

God, I love that song.

Discuss!!!

[cross-posted at PowerPop]

Give the Drummer Some

[cross-posted at PowerPop]

Floor Models drummer and my great good friend Glen Robert Allen...

...passed away four years ago last Friday.

Glen Bob was, of course, one of the most talented, funny, and all around mensch-y people it has ever been my privilege to know and work with. And as I've said on previous occasions, he enriched my life in so many ways I couldn't begin to enumerate them.

I will say, however, that I still really haven't come to terms with the fact that he's gone. Truth is, these days when I go into the recording studio, I inevitably look to the back of the room and expect to see him sitting on the couch yelling at me about tempos.

So you'll understand how delighted and moved I was when I awoke the other day to discover that our brilliant mutual friend Steve Notis had just written, performed and posted this tribute in his honor.

Wow.

Je repete -- wow.

That's just so heart-tugging and beautiful I lack the words.

Except "thank you, Steve!" of course.

But seriously, even if you didn't know and love Glen personally, I guarantee you can't hear that song without getting, intuitively, that it sums him up perfectly.

So -- thanks again, Steve. You did what us Red Sea Pedestrians call a mitzvah.

And I guarantee that, somewhere in rock-and-roll heaven, Glen is taking a break between sets and going "Thanks, guys. And yes, I deserved that."

Today We Are a CD!!!

As promised, physical copies have at last arrived! Now if I can only figure out a way to get Amazon to sell the damn things. I mean, you can already download or stream it over there...

Oh well, in the meantime, because I love you all more than food, here's a sample track for free. A swell cover of the Box-Tops classic; I'm in there on piano somewhere.

Gerry's EP Update

As promised, a sneak peek track from In My Own Good Time, the fab new EP by personal friend of mine (and long-time frontman of The Floor Models) the incomparable Gerry Devine.

The rest of the EP (which features occasional bass and keyboards by some dweeb whose name rhymes with Sleeve Nimels) is also up at Bandcamp, but the official release everywhere else -- Spotify, Amazon, iTunes, YouTube, and the rest of their ilk -- happens on Tuesday June 12th.

Needless to say, I'll keep you posted on that, as well as where and when actual physical CDs can be procured.

Oh -- and have I mentioned how hilarious the album cover is? The work of my beautiful and brilliant art director girlfriend who, as always, is working cheap. [cross-posted from PowerPop]

EP or Not to Be

Just to whet your appetite. More details coming soon.

Now I Can Die Happy

Sent Chris Hillman -- bass player of The Byrds and one of my musical heroes since high school -- a copy of the Floor Models Byrds tribute album and received the following reply end of December 2021.

Well done Steve, Thanks for sending your Cd. You guys sound really good. Merry Christmas!

I'm not kidding about the die happy thing.

WHO DID WHAT? THE COMPLETE CREDITS FOR "IN-FLYTE ENTERTAINMENT"

The album is now available on most digital platforms (YouTube, Spotify, Pandora, CD Baby, iTunes, etc.)

And after four months of beauracratic mishegass, I am pleased to announce that it is finally available for streaming and download over at Amazon HERE.

Physical CDs are also available at Kool Kat Musik.

In the meantime, here is the stuff that wouldn't fit on the actual physical CD graphics.

So -- here we go. None of the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

THE FLOOR MODELS -- In-Flyte Entertainment: A Tribute to the Byrds" WHO DID WHAT!

!. "5D (Fifth Dimension)" Gerry Devine (vocals, acoustic and electric 12-string guitars, bass) Marc Moss (electric guitar, drums, percussion) Randy Welch (highland bagpipes) Owen Devine (bodhran)

2. "What’s Happening?!?!" Rob Laufer (vocals) David Achelis (guitars) Steve Simels (bass and sampled strings) Brent McLachlan (drums)

3. "I Come and Stand at Every Door" Steve Simels (lead vocals and bass) Joe Benoit (harmonies, guitars and drums)

4. "You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere" Willie Nile (vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar) James Maddock (lead acoustic guitar) Joe Benoit (electric 12-string) Steve Simels (bass and harmony vocals) Brent McLachlan (drums) Jonathan Gregg (pedal steel) The 50 Voice St. Louis Aquarium Choir -- Cait Brennan, Frank Burrows, Gerry Devine, David Hawxwell, Allan Weissman (harmonies)

5. "So You Want to Be a Rock ’n’ Roll Star" The Floor Models (all vocals and instrumentals)

6. "All I Really Want to Do" The Floor Models (vocals and instrumentals) Stu Daye (additional harmony and guitar) Joe Benoit (outro guitar)

7. "Wasn’t Born to Follow" The Floor Models (all vocals and instrumentals)

8. "The Bells of Rhymney" Marc Jonson (lead vocals, harmonies, electric 12-string) David Achelis (electric rhythm guitar) Steve Simels (bass and tacky roller rink organ solo) Brent McLachlan (drums)

9. "Here Without You" Peter Spencer (lead vocal, acoustic and electric guitars, drum programming) Caleb Spencer (harmony vocal) Steve Simels (intro guitar riff, synth strings, bass)

10. "Lady Friend" Stu Daye (vocals, guitars, bass) Rafael Fuentes (vocals, guitars) Dave Donen (drums) Steve Simels (glockenspiel)

11. "We’ll Meet Again" Ronnie D’Addario (all instruments and vocals)

12. "Chimes of Freedom" Gerry Devine (all instruments and vocals)

The Floor Models: Gerry Devine (lead vocals, guitars) J.D. Goldberg (guitar) Andy Pasternack (vocals,12-string guitars) Steve Simels (bass, keyboards) Glen Robert Allen (drums)

Produced by Steve Simels. Except tracks 1 and 12: Produced and engineered by Marc Moss at Target Studio, Red Hook, NY

Special thanks: Randy Welch for loan of the acoustic 12-string; Tommy Perkins for the album title

Inside cover photography: Allan Rosenberg

Update on What Is Definitely the Album of the Year

This post is for Hardcore Byrds Fans (HBFs), a small subset of humanity that -- unless I'm very much mistaken -- includes a fair number of the people who hang out at this here blog.

Okay, to make a short story long: Back in June of the storied 1967 Summer of Love, the aforementioned Byrds released a single called "Lady Friend."

Apart from the fact that it was an absolute masterpiece -- and this is something that's been confirmed by the judgement of history -- it was also the only Byrds single written solely by David Crosby.

In any case, the teenaged me bought the damn thing, and played it endlessly, to the point that by August it was more or less worn out. And I recall, vividly, waiting in breathless anticipation for the release of the next Byrds album, so as to be able to enjoy the song in stereo, as nature intended.

Imagine my chagrin, then, when said album, which came out in January of 1968 and turned out to be the otherwise fabulous The Notorious Byrd Brothers...

...did not feature said song in either mono OR stereo, and that Crosby had been fired from the band and replaced on the album cover by a horse. Which presumably Crosby is still pissed off about, although who knows?

Cut to the present, where attentive readers are aware that my old band The Floor Models has been working for over a year -- pandemic very much? -- on a Byrds tribute album.

But what said attentive readers do not know is that just last week we finished -- 95 percent -- the last track on the album, which by an odd coincidence turns out be "Lady Friend."

And because I love you all more than food, here is said version. Enjoy!!! Oh -- and I should add that the track features our good friends and musical colleagues Swifty and Dupree's Amplified Heat, a crew that I will tell you more about when the album arrives (we have all sorts of interesting guest artists on it.)

BTW, to my knowledge, despite the splenditude of the song, the only cover version by a band anybody's ever heard of is by the usually estimable Flamin' Groovies. Alas, IMHO, it sucks. There's another one by The Posies, which is nice, but it's unplugged (i.e. all acoustic without a rhythm section), so I don't think it counts.

I should add that when our Byrds tribute album is commercially available -- which should be by late June -- I will be alerting you folks quite loudly.

I should also add that the guy playing the glockenspiel part on the intro and outro of the song is some asshole whose name rhymes with Sleeve Nimels.

[cross-posted from PowerPop]

In-Flyte Entertainment Update

My current favorite song from that Floor Models tribute to The Byrds I've been bugging you about of late.

FYI, the above is only 95 percent finished; it isn't mixed, and the fake string solo will be considerably more ornate after I redo it.

That said, I absolutely adore the track even in its current form, and bless our old Village pal Marc Jonson for his brilliant work on vocals and 12-string.

I should add that we're two songs away from having a finished album; the great Willie Nile has contributed an acoustic version of "You Ain't Going Nowhere," that we're going to add a full band to, and Gerry is hard at work on a version of "Chimes of Freedom," a song that I've always loved but seems especially relevant in the post-President Shiit for Bains era. I'll keep you informed.

[cross-posted from PowerPop]

Byrds Tribute Album Update

So in case you were wondering, here's what's happening with the forthcoming Floor Models tribute to the those guys with the Rickenbacker 12-string.

At the moment we have 9 songs in more or less completed form as well as some amazing album art (courtesy of my beautiful and brilliant art director girlfriend...

...who as always is working cheap); the current plan is to finish two more tracks this month and then to get the whole thing out immediately to a world clamoring for more Floor Models stuff, but as you know, these things always take longer than you hope or expect. In any case, I'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, here's the fully finished opening and closing tracks; hope you enjoy them.

I should add that "We'll Meet Again" features our old pal and auxiliary Flo Mo Ronnie D'Adarrio on all vocals and instruments, and we offer it up as a farewell to our late great bandmates Andy Pasternack and Glen Robert Allen. I hope somewhere in heaven they are listening to it and smiling.

[cross-posted from PowerPop]

Byrds Project Update

From their forthcoming Byrds tribute album (In-Flyte Entertainment)...

...please enjoy The Floor Models (featuring some asshole whose name rhymes with Sleeve Nimels on bass and synth strings) and their gorgeous cover of the Gene Clark classic "Here Without You."

There'll be a little tweaking of this (which we otherwise finished in the studio last night) when we finalize the album mix -- and it's now looking like the record is gonna come out early next year -- but I think this is just terrific, and god bless our special guests Peter and Caleb Spencer, who did absolutely stellar work on it.

I should add that if you think the front cover is cool (which it is), wait until you see what we're gonna do with the back cover. Heh.

Your Monday Moment of Steve Fulfills a Life-Long Dream

So thanks to the miracle of modern technology, I just got to sing and play with the freaking Byrds.

The back story: As you may or may not know, I am in the process of putting together a final Floor Models record -- specifically, either an album or an EP that will be a tribute to The Byrds (titled In-Flyte Entertainment, courtesy of friend of PowerPop and moi Tommy Perkins. Thanks. Tommy!). This is going to feature a lot of my musician friends -- some of whom you will be familiar with -- but the core group of players is going to be the surviving Flo Mos before we shuffle off this mortal coil, which could be any minute now. Heh.

In any case, I've been kicking this idea around since last year, and at the time I was conceptualizing it, I was hobnobbing with our late great drummer and dear friend (or, as I used to refer to him, my musical director for the last 50 years) Glen Robert Allen. My idea was that we'd restrict the Byrds songs being covered to those they had done between their debut LP in 1965 and their final album involving David Crosby in 1967, i.e. just their folk-rock and psychedelic stuff, before they went country-rock. The music that had principally influenced the Flo Mos.

Glen, however, being the brilliant guy he was, said to me "Uh, Steve -- that's great, but if you don't include "Tulsa County," the gorgeous country song from the Ballad of Easy Rider LP, then you're a mongrel idiot." I was not immediately convinced, but I do in fact love that song and on reflection -- not even considering Glen's health issues at the time -- I ultimately agreed with him.

Bottom line: A few weeks ago -- the intertubes being the wondrous things they are -- I found an instrumental track of the Byrds recording of said song, sans lead vocal and with a barely audible bass. And then last Thursday I went into the studio and put a new vocal and bass part on it.

Which is to say I finally got to collaborate with my favorite band of all time.

The track isn't done -- ultimately we're gonna replace all the original instrumentation, including adding an electric 12-string to it, which should make it sound less country-rock and more 1966. But in any case, this rough version is now the favorite thing I've ever done artistically in my entire life. I think it really sounds like an authentic Byrds outtake I just happened to sneak onto when they weren't paying attention.

I should add that I barely recognize my voice, which is a good thing. I'm well aware that I've never been a particularly good singer; basically, I can negotiate a sort of snotty sounding nasal Jewish suburban punk Lou Reed kind of thing at best. But here, I think, I've done better; to my ears, the vocalist on this genuinely sounds like his heart has been broken.

I'll keep you up to date on the progress of the track and the album itself as things develop. And god bless you, Glen.

[cross-posted at PowerPop]

Consumer Notes From All Over

Finally, a ray of sunshine amidst the darkening gloom of life in the time of the Trump Virus.

The Floor Models new (but recorded in 1982) live album is now available pretty much everywhere, including YouTube (if you want to listen free) or for download at Amazon, Spotify, iTunes and the rest of the usual suspect digital platforms.

I only wish our late great good friend and drummer Glen Robert Allen, who passed in February, was still around to have seen/heard it.



BTW, in case you were wondering why it's taken this long to get the damned thing out, it's totally my fault; when I submitted it for digital distribution to CD Baby (where it's been solely available for over a month) the date I gave for its official release to other platforms was 3/29/20 -- in other words, a fucking typo on my part. I actually yelled at CD Baby about this, but there was nothing they could do, and like I said -- it was totally my fault.

I should also add, and I've told this story before, that The Records' classic in the clip was one of the first songs the Floor Models played as a group. In fact, we used to do it so often in our club shows that everybody in Greenwich Village thought we wrote it. A notion that, if memory serves, we did less to disabuse people of than perhaps we should have.

Today We Are A Video (Part Le Troisième)

From our just released (but recorded in 1982) live album Floor by Four, please enjoy the fabulous Floor Models and the official video for our prescient ode to urban paranoia "What's Wrong With This Picture?".



The above is from the same show as the videos for "Free Advice" and "Shadow of the Flame" I posted recently. And as with those clips, the audio -- in glorious stereo -- was dubbed from a performance at the same venue taped five months earlier (the video shoot, alas, was in mono). And once again, kudos to our pal Steve Schwartz for synching the two more or less flawlessly.

I should add that the song itself is by our late great 12-string ace Andy "Folk Rock" Pasternack, who's singing it, and I believe it was his idea to put the quote from Paul Revere and the Raiders at the end of the instrumental break.

Oh, have I mentioned that you can and should download the album over at CD Baby HERE? Or that it will be available at all the usual digital platforms -- Amazon, iTunes, Spotify et al -- by the end of the month?

Today We Are Another Video

From our just released (but recorded in 1982) live album Floor by Four...

...please enjoy the fabulous Floor Models and the official video for "Shadow of the Flame."



The above is from the same show as the video for "Free Advice" I posted last week. And as with that clip, the audio -- in glorious stereo -- was dubbed from a performance at the same venue taped five months earlier (the video shoot, alas, was in mono). And once again, kudos to our pal Steve Schwartz for synching the two more or less flawlessly.

I should add that the song itself is by lead singer/guitarist Gerry Devine, and it was an absolute gas to perform. I must admit, BTW, that I had not recalled it came in at a concise two and a half minutes. Apparently we really were a pop band.

Oh, have I mentioned that you can and should download the album over at CD Baby HERE? Or that it will be available at all the usual digital platforms -- Amazon, iTunes, Spotify et al -- by the end of the month?

Today We Are a Video

From 2020, and our new live album Floor By Four, please enjoy the fabulous Floor Models -- featuring some asshole whose name rhymes with Sleeve Nimels on bass and lead vocals -- and (a song I like to dedicate to Jewish moms everywhere) "Free Advice."



The song, of course, was written by our late-great 12-string ace Andrew Pasternack, who is doing the wonderful impressions of Roger McGuinn from stage left.

A technical note: The sound for that clip, which as you can hear is in very good real stereo, was actually recorded at a different gig (at the same venue) than the video (which was only in mono). A coveted PowerPop No-Prize© is hereby awarded to our chum Steve Schwartz, who synched the two pretty much flawlessly. Your check is in the mail, pal.

I should add that you can -- and definitely should -- download the album...

...at CD Baby over HERE. It will also be available on all the usual digital platforms -- Amazon, Spotify, iTunes, etc. -- by the end of the month.