5 posts tagged “bucky pope”

BOAT RECORDS POP!s WITH KA-BOOM!BOX
Madison Punk Veterans Deliver Crossover Dance/Pop Synthesis
Available From Boat Records October 31

MADISON, WI -- Ka-Boom!Box detonates their first EP POP! Recorded with Coney Island’s Wendy Schneider, POP! is an exuberant blend of reggae, electronica and Afro-Caribbean grooves that sets carefully crafted songs against a wall of percussion and a swirling palette of rich synth and guitar tones. Created by a seasoned contingent of noted Madison and Chicago-based musicians, POP! recalls Bow Wow Wow, Steel Pulse, Lene Lovitch and Blondie.

Robin Davies (bass) and Dan Bitney (drums and percussion) recap their roles as the powerful rhythm section of Madison’s mighty Tar Babies, a Midwest punk/funk success story who signed with SST Records and released the landmark Fried Milk in 1987. Dan Bitney now plays primarily with post-rock pioneers Tortoise, and Davies moonlights as the drummer for Madison rocker favorites The Motor Primitives. (The third member of the original Tar Babies, Bucky Pope, frequently guests live on the Ka-Boom!Box cover of Madonna’s “Lucky Star.”)

DJ Christopher Robin (keyboards, vocals, turntables), a veteran of Madison’s Cruel and several San Francisco salsa bands, connected Laura Miller (vocals and melodica) and Eastside J-Dub (turntables and electronic drums) to Davies and Bitney. The group has quickly established themselves as a unique and electrifying presence on the party and DJ circuit, winning fans and rapidly ascending the club scene.

Rodney Anderson, who worked with Davies and Bitney in Booty Froot, joined in as guitar craftsman. Laying funk grooves against blistering solos, Anderson creates a thrilling counterpoint to the vinyl samples and scratches. Miller adds her own lo-fi human element, infusing the crackling mix with simple, honeyed vocal lines.

The band holds a residency at Mickey’s Tavern as the Ka-Boom!Box DJ Explosion on the first Saturday of each month, where they come armed with vinyl to produce a highly danceable flip side to their live set.

POP! Track Listing
1. "Let It Drop"
2. "Show Me The Way"
3. "Strange Girl"
4. "Coming In Threes"
5. "The Night The Stars Threw Down Their Spears"

http://www.ka-boombox.com

Tonight we are going to see The Know It All Boyfriends, a supergroup that tends to get really hammered and mangle 60s and 70s pop songs. I have seen a fair percentage of their shows, and they are always sloppy, ill-rehearsed, drinking heavily on stage--and it's terrific fun. It's sort of Garbage fronted by Freedy Johnston, except the band really has roots in Spooner and Firetown. They have fabulous vintage gear and are totally crack, pro musicians--Butch Vig has time like God--so even as they are stumbling through "Band On The Run" without ever having played it, it's pretty great. These guys love and respect the Trans-Am joint-in-mouth, drink-in-hand, shifting into fifth aesthetic, and they bring it.

I'm pumped.

images from http://www.garbage.suite.dk/kiab.html

Freedy Johnston Guitar and vocals

Jay Moran Guitar, Accordion and vocals

Duke Erikson Bass, Guitar and vocals

Butch Vig Drums, Guitar and vocals

James "Pie" Cowan Percussion and drums

Bill "Stick" Bielefeld Tour Manager/bass

Here's a list of some of the songs they play at their shows:

• AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long
• Bachman Turner Overdrive - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
• Burt Bacharach & Hal David - (They Long To Be) Close To You
• Cheap Trick - I Want You To Want Me
• Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water
• Elvis Presley - Suspicious Minds
• Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way
• Iggy Pop - The Passenger
• Isley Bros - Twist And Shout
• Joe Cocker - The Letter
• Joe Jackson - Is She Really Going Out With Him?
• Kiss - Rock & Roll All Night
• Led Zeppelin - A Whole Lotta Love
• Led Zeppelin - D'yer Mak'er
• Lee Michaels - Do You Know What I Mean
• Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walking
• Ohio Express - Yummy Yummy Yummy
• Paul McCartney - Band On The Run
• Prince - Little Red Corvette
• Roberta Flack - Feel Like Making Love
• Steve Miller - Space Cowboy
• Steve Miller - The Joker
• The Beatles - Yellow Submarine
• The Cars - My Best Friend's Girl
• The Clash - Should I Stay Or Should I Go
• The Hollies - Bus Stop
• The Turtles - So Happy Together
• Velvet Underground - I'm Waiting For The Man
• Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane
• Van Halen - Dance the Night Away

I saw their first show ever, which I was similar to this one:

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In addition to being the drummer for Garbage, Butch Vig produced seminal 90s records like Nirvana's Nevermind and the first two Smashing Pumpkins LPs. His studio, Smart Studios, is 1 1/2 blocks from my house, so he's a neighborhood fixture despite being in L.A. much of the time. Sessions at Smart have hosted U2, Killdozer, early Nirvana demos just post-Bleach, and many, many more.

Butch produced early Tar Babies records as well; careful readers will recall I play music with former members of that band. In fact, Tar Babies singer/guitarist Bucky Pope is babysitting the kids tonight with his girlfriend while we attend the show.

KBB052006

So, we did the DJ Explosion! thing again on saturday night. It's a monthly residency at the hip tavern in our 'hood (the whole band lives within a six-block radius, which is great). Instead of playing as a band with instruments--that seems like an outmoded classification since one of the "instruments" in the band is a mixer + decks

Mickeys112505

but anyway--all the band members have been showing up with vinyl and doing consecutive sets. We've done this 4 or 5 times now, and it's a blast.

This time out Bucky Pope was guest DJ.

The theme was PUNK ROCK!  

I started off the night with a history lesson set, kicking things off right with with Bowie ("Rebel Rebel") and New York Dolls ("Personality Crisis.") If I remember correctly, the rest of the set was as follows:

Velvet Underground - 1966 bootleg with incredibly weird John Cale drone
The Clash, "Charlie Don't Surf"
Generation X - "Night of the Cadillacs"
Violent Femmes - "Hallowed Ground"
Replacements "My Favorite Thing"
Husker Du - "Crystal"
Sounds of History - 1981 newscast on degenerate youth
Black Flag - "Six Pack"
Mecht Mensch "Acceptance"
Blondie "Hangin' on the Telephone"
Tones On Tail, "Go!"
David Byrne/Brian Eno, "Regiment"

Robin Davies turned in an incredible set fed by his collection of punk and hardcore 45s and ...flexi-discs. I'd like to obtain his set list. There was a lot of Midwest hardcore--Killdozer and Imminent Attack. Killer.

Bucky's set was electic-o but very good, considering I was explaining to him how to get a headphone mix vs. a room mix five minutes before he went on.