NORMALS “LIVE IN NEW ORLEANS, LA- CIRCA LATE 1978 OR 1979”
*9.26.2014 UPDATE: Whoops, both links below accidentally pointed to the same .rar file instead of 2 separate ones (Part 1 and Part 2). Fixed these links, so thanks to the person who pointed this out!
OK, finally (!)- almost 3 months later!- is the live Normals stuff I promised to post in my last Normals posting that had the 1980 New York interview and whatnot.
This is an especially inspired and energetic set from the Crescent City’s finest. I assume that the tight playing and in-your-face inspiredness of their set was typical of most of their live shows they played back then. I am not sure when this was recorded- maybe late 1978, maybe 1979- as it was on the 90 minute unlabeled cassette I got back in ’97 which also had that New York interview and some other stuff. But I assume this is before their relocation to New York City in the Fall of ‘79, when they were still based in the N.O.
There appears to be one unreleased track on here- “You Make Me Feel So Good” (Track 9)- UNLESS I am having a senior moment and am forgetting what Normals reissue this has already appeared on. The rest of the songs in this live set eventually appeared many years later on one of the various Normals post-mortem reissues that have come out over the years.
What’s cool is to hear a live version of “Almost Ready”, a live version of which has not appeared on any of the Normals reissues. Since it’s their most famous song, and a New Orleans punk anthem if you will, how about someone does a reissue of the original 7″, tack on this live version of the song, and then also include that alternate version of “Almost Ready” that was on Last Laugh’s “So Sad So Bad” reissue from a few years ago? Package it in a nice, thick, booklet sleeve with a bunch of band pictures, flyers and whatnot, and I think you’ve got a winner of a reissue right there. Easy for me to say, though, since I’ve never released a record eh.
What’s also cool about this 16-song live set is that it’s a mixture of their very early, more garage-y stuff from early 1978 (songs like Schoolgirl Domination or Dog In Heat); a song from their single; and then a bunch of songs from 1979 when they took a more melodic (yet still driving) direction (see Memories, You Took You Got, etc), some of which would eventually be recorded in a studio- the famous Memphis sessions.
Also cool is to hear some goofing off from the band (see Track 11), and some between-song banter, which shows that they were a “serious” band who could play their asses off tightly, but also had a sense of humor and had a good time on stage too.
TRACK LISTING
Almost Ready.mp3
Henry VIII.mp3
Schoolgirl Domination.mp3
Vacation To Nowhere.mp3
Porcelain Scene.mp3
Please Remember.mp3
Memories.mp3
(Tuning Between Songs) .mp3
You Make Me Feel So Good.mp3
38-36.mp3
(Goofing Off Between Songs) .mp3
Dog In Heat.mp3
You Took You Got.mp3
Around The Downtown.mp3
Got You Runnin.mp3
So Bad, So Sad.mp3 (this one cuts out unfortunately)