CONCERTS FOR THE PEOPLE OF KAMPUCHEA (1979)

The concert took place at the Hammersmith Odeon in London during December 1979 to raise money for the victims of war-torn Cambodia. The event was organized by Paul McCartney and Kurt Waldheim An album and EP were released in 1981, and the best of the concerts were released as a film, "Concert for the People of Kampuchea".

Special note: It was recorded on a VHS when the show was broadcasted again in the 90's. In 2004, i transferred it to DV format and then to SVCD format. Today, i would convert it to XviD4, but i didn't make the work again., so it will be SVCD.Size: 1,46GB (14 links). I know it was released on DVD but i never found it...

All the band links are independent, that means you may pick the bands you like and not grab the ones you hate.

Set List
Queen
Now I'm Here / Crazy Little Thing Called Love (1)
The Clash
Armagideon Time (1)
Pretenders
Brass in Pocket (1)
Matumbi
Guide Us Jah (In Your Own Way) (1)
Wings
Got To Get You Into My Life / Every Night / Coming Up (1 + 2)
The Specials
Monkey Man (1)
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
The Imposter (1)
Rockpile
Crawling From The Wreckage / Little Sister (1)
Ian Dury & The Blockheads
Sweet Gene Vincent / Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick (1)
The Who
Sister Disco / Behind Blue Eyes / See Me, Feel Me (1 + 2)
The Rockestra
Lucille / Let It Be / Rockestra Theme (1 + 2)

XTC - LE PALACE, PARIS March 18th (1982)

I guess you all know what happened in Paris, during the concert at Le Palace (March 18th) for the "English Settlement" 1982 tour. After two minutes of concert, Andy Partridge quit the stage, went backstage and never came back due to some then unknown reasons. Since then, XTC never toured again.
The event was filmed and aired on french TV (channel 1) in a legendary 16 minute TV special rarely seen in its entirety. French rock critic (now a writer and actor), Jacky Berroyer was the host of the documentary.

The coverage includes: (1 - 2)
1. Soundcheck ("Senses Working Overtime" & "Melt The Guns")
2. Andy Partridge Interview
3. Beginning of the concert ("Respectable Street")

I made some english subtitles (srt format) to dub the french voice over comments.
Click here to download the subtitles. (if you want them...)


Special note: The video was transferred from the VHS tape to a XviD4 PAL video (Two-pass compression, Resolution 640x480). Running Time 16'13. Size: 202 mb. You need both parts to unrar the file. I inserted the PPC logo in the upper right corner of the video.

WRECKLESS ERIC - CHORUS TV SHOW (1980)


















Wreckless Eric recorded live for the famous TV Show Chorus.

Special note: The video was transferred from the master VHS tape to a XviD4 PAL video (Two-pass compression, Resolution 640x480). Running Time 14'21. Size: 181 mb

Set List
Hit & Miss Judy / (I'd Go The) Whole Wide World / A Little Bit More

THE MEMBERS - CHORUS TV SHOW (1979)

In 1979, The Members were recorded live on the french TV show Chorus performing 5 songs.

The Members first single appeared on the Stiff Records One Off series. Titled "Solitary Confinement" the track was produced by Larry Wallis. In 1980, they had released their second LP "The Choice Is Yours" featuring a Larry Wallis song "Police Car".

Special note: The video was transferred from the master VHS tape to a XviD4 PAL video (Two-pass compression, Resolution 640x480). Running Time 17'44. You need both parts to unrar the file (218 mb).

Set List (1 - 2)
Muzak Machine / Police Car / Normal People / Solitary Confinement / The Sounds Of The Suburbs

FLAMIN' GROOVIES - GROOVE IN (1988)

If you look carefully at the Flamin' Groovies discography, sometimes you might feel quite lost. Indeed, there are so many various editions of the Flamin' Groovies official and semi-official releases that you might listen to the same stuff over and over again. "Groove In" was supposed to be a limited edition of 1.000 released on Revenge Records compiling various live tracks from different Flamin' Groovies line-ups. It was later reissued as "Les Génies du Rock #29" with fewer tracks (12) than this edition. Sound quality varies.

Songs
Cabiria / In Beetween / Doin' My Time / Night Owl Blues / Wild About My Lovin' / Local Boy Makes Good / Sportin Life / Good Morning Mr Stone / Carol / I'm A Man / Jam Sandwich / Heading For The Texas Border / Louie Louie / Slow Death / Shake Some Action / First Plane Home

THE NIVENS - SHAKE (1989)

The coming together in the mid '80's of Howard Turner and Russ Storerson would allow them to hone their own brand of jangle-psychedelia over the next few years (with a bit of help from their friends) to the point where a more-or-less chance meeting with French indy label Danceteria lead to their first serious single and album releases in 1989 - "Shake it from the Top" and "Shake" - making a serious impression on the French charts - the album peaking at No. 9 - and also achieving the then unheard of feat of an indy band getting a playlist on Radio One, and getting into the top 3 in the French "Best" magazine readers poll (the French equivalent of the Melody Maker UK poll). The Nivens.

In 2006, The Nivens toured again and released a compilation "From a Northumbrian Mining Village Comes The Sound Of Summer" collecting some of their singles plus some bonus tracks and different versions.

Songs
Shake It From The Top / Forever Young / Your True Colours / Frantic / Play Blue / No Good Wishing / West Of The County / I Love / In Passion / Fine By Me / Thru The Lantern

VARIOUS - THE REBEL KIND (1983)

"The Rebel Kind" was a collection featuring some of the finest 80's garage and psychedelic bands around including The Nomads, The Slickee Boys, Three O'Clock, Plasticland & The Long Ryders and more. Released on the Lolita label in France, but also issued in the USA on Sounds Interesting # SILP 011, and reissued as "New Psychedelic Sound", part of "Les Génies du Rock collection # 37".

Songs (Bands)
LSD (The Sickidz!) / Invisible People (The Slickee Boys) / 7 Come 11 (The Viceroys) / From Here (The Shout) / Have Love Will Travel (The Nomads) / Shadows Of Rainbows (United States Of Existence) / Ward 81 (Fuzztones) / No Apology (The Unclaimed) / All My Life (The Point) / Elongations (Plasticland) / Infected With You (The Miracle Workers) / And She Rides (The Long Ryders) / What Is In There (The Last) / Lucifer Sam (Three O'Clock)

DAVE EDMUNDS - HOUBA HOUBA TV SHOW (1982)

Dave Edmunds and his band recorded live at the Palace (Paris, France) for the famous french TV show "Houba Houba".

Special note: This has been transferred from my VHS Tape to DV and then to XviD4. Two-pass compression, resolution 640x480 PAL.

Running Time : 16'01
Size: 192 mb

Set List
True Love / Crawling From The Wreckage / Singin' The Blues / I Hear You Knocking / Sweet Little Rock'n'Roller

NICK LOWE - LIVE AT GINO, STOCKHOLM (1995)

Nick Lowe's triumphant return to the indie world back in 1994 was marked by the release of the critically acclaimed "The Impossible Bird" by Upstart Records. With the overall excitement that followed the release, it was evident that Nick's music had taken a slightly different twist on the road to a more mature toned set of songs with a stripped down musical arrangement.

And although it was unknown at the time, Nick's next two records "Dig My Mood" and "The Convincer" would travel along this same road, achieving greater result and success with each effort.

For some reason, these three records always represented a kind of trilogy to Nick and now for the first time, all three records are being packed together in a very limited edition Brentford Trilogy box set for hardcore fans and new believers alike. Within the package, the three records are included in their original musical format, but with classic cardboard packaging (digipack).

Additionally, a new book is included with extra photos and a new interview with Nick by Paul Gorman. The three CDs and booklet are encased within a handsome box which is open on one end to reveal the individual spines of each record. On the cover, there's a great photo of Nick from the period and on the back is an essay by Nick himself talking about why he considers these three records to be a "trilogy."

Click HERE to order your limited edition box set today!

Don't miss your chance to own this collector-worthy release! After 6/23, these albums will only be available in digital format.

To celebrate this, here's an amazing performance by Nick Lowe & The Impossible Birds (Geraint Watkins, Paul Riley, Bill Kirchen and Robert Trehem) recorded live at Gino, Stockholmn, Sweden (March 28th) and broadcasted on the swedish radio P3 FM (June 5th). I got the concert a while back on a registered website and as usual i made a custom artwork for the PPC blog.

Songs
12 Step Program / True Love Travels On A Gravel Road / Without Love / Soulful Wind / Rose Of England / Trail Of Tears / Dream Girl / Cruel To Be Kind / Where's My Everything / I'm Coming Home / 14 Days / Half A Boy & Half A Man / All Men Are Liars / Shelley My Love / Wildest Dream / I'll Be There / (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding / I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock'n'Roll)

TERRY MODERN (1999)

What was "doing" Terry Modern (better known as The Basher...) in 1999. Well he was "doing" this. No details but 4 links (639 mb). You need all four links to unrar.

1 - 2 - 3 - 4

PLANET MELVIN - PLANET MELVIN (1995)

You do remember that the Crash Street Kids "Little Girls" (1982) is in my top ten list of Power Pop albums. Though it was a success, they never recorded anything else until around 1995, when Melvin James formed a new band called Planet Melvin with his son Melvin III, they released this very nice and first eponymous CD (Junior's Motel Records) on which the Crash Street Kids reunited for one song "Me & My Alien". Gary Snow disappeared in 2002. Planet Melvin released their second CD "Chromosomes in Space" in 2002. Visit the official Planet Melvin website or the Myspace page.

Songs
Mercy / Chromacolor Dream / Inside Jane / Death Is Gone / Don't Mean Nothin' / This Time / More / Desolation / Feel The Need / Me And My Alien

ROGER McGUINN - AUANBABULUBA TVE2 (1986)

Roger McGuinn performing solo live on the Spanish TV show "Auanbabuluba" (TVE2) with his 12-string Rickenbacker. Hosted by Juan de Pablos, Roger McGuinn is interviewed and then performs on a stool a different version of "Mr Tambourine Man". An exceptional document (and this one is not available on YouTube yet).

Special note: This has been transferred from my VHS Tape to DV and then to XviD4. Two-pass compression, resolution 640x480 PAL.

Running Time: 11'23
Size: 144 mb

Songs
Mr Tambourine Man / Mr Spaceman / Turn, Turn, Turn / Interview / Mr Tambourine Man

SPARKS - TV SHOWS (1975)

Promoting the release of "Propaganda" (1975), Sparks made various television appearances including NBC’s Midnight Special, ABC’s In Concert (introduced by Keith Moon and Ringo Starr) and Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert.

Also created by Don Kirschner, ABC's In Concert was a television series which premiered on September 21, 1972, as part of ABC's Friday night Wide World of Entertainment programming. Alice Cooper appeared on that first episode.

By the mid-1970s, Don Kirshner moved on to create the syndicated series Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, and Dick Clark took over ABC's In Concert.The Don Kirshner's Concert was filmed at the New York Beacon Theater. At that time, the Mael Brothers were accompanied by Trevor White, Ian Hampton (both from the legendary band Jook) and Dinky Diamond (who played on their most famous "Island" albums). Wikipedia.

Special note: I got these two concerts some years ago in DVD NTSC format, i then converted them to XviD4 NTSC (two-pass compression, resolution 720x480). You'll need both parts of each concert to unrar the files.

Don Kirshner's Rock Concert (1 - 2)
Something For the Girl With Everything / Talent is an Asset / Hasta Manana Monsieur / Thank God it's Not Christmas / B.C. / Here in Heaven

Running Time: 24'08
Size: 305 mb

ABC's In Concert (1 - 2)
Something For The Girl With Everything / Talent Is An Asset / B.C. / Amateur Hour

Running Time: 16'04
Size: 203 mb

SPARKS - AMATEUR HOUR (1995)

Late 1974, Sparks performed live on the German TV show "Musikladen". The West German music television programme ran from December 13, 1972 to November 29, 1984. The show continued the 1960s Beat-Club under a new name, and in turn was replaced by Extratour. Some of the best bands as Blondie, the Ramones, or Badfinger guested on the show.
20 years later, MasterTone released the performance as 2cd set including one regular audio cd and a Video CD that worked on Windows '95 and Pentium PC's without MPEG Cartridge. It also played on CDi, PC, Mac, 3Do, Amiga CD32 and Sega Saturn with MPEG.

Special note: I extracted the video cd to single mpeg files. You'll find two different links The first one is the whole set (audio + video) of the performance (Running time: 14' approx). The second one is the audio mp3 of the show ripped at 320.

VCD (Audio + Video)
This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us / Amateur Hour / BC / Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth / Something For The Girl With Everything

CD (Audio Only)
This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us / Amateur Hour / BC / Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth / Something For The Girl With Everything

WONDERBOY - WONDERBOY (1992)

The first Wonderboy album is a solid representation of one of the most loved combos on the Los Angeles underground pop scene of the early '90s. When the songs are on, they absolutely hit the mark. "Shouldn't I Know More by Now" is a superb piece of gutsy angst to open the album, while "You Can Rest Easy Tonight" is full of lovely, subtle chord and tempo changes and some knowing, moving lyrics. Even better is the jaunty, optimistic "Burning Bridges" and its dismissive counterpart "Rebel Town," a diatribe against fake rebellion and stylish noncomformists. Maybe the next two Wonderboy albums would be more satisfying, but then a partly satisfying Wonderboy album is better than no Wonderboy at all. AMG

Songs
Shouldn't I Know More by Now / Web of Lies / Fair Is Fair / We Cry / Burning Bridges / The F Word / Rebel Town / Turn About Is Fair Play / Now You've Proven Me Right About Girls / You Can Rest Easy Tonight / Wait Forever

DM3 - LIVE LE MEYRIEUX (1998)

October 1998, Dom Mariani and Pascal Bartolone played three semi-acoustic sets at the popular bar "Le Meyrieux" in St Etienne (France). They were filmed by a "fab" french friend with his DV camera. The authorized non-professional shooting is a unique opportunity to watch DM3 and listen to their fabulous songs performed as a dynamic duo. This is the second concert (October, 10th).

Special note: Some years ago, I received the VHS from the "fab" french mate, then i transferred to mpeg format and compressed it to VCD Pal. You need both parts to unrar the file. Running time : 29'52

Songs (1 - 2)
T.V. Sound / Sunshine's Glove / Jumpin' For Conclusions / Dial 04 Josephine / Augustine / At First Sight / Second Floor

LE SYSTEME CRAPOUTCHIK - FLOP (1971)

French band, Le Systeme Crapoutchik reached cult status as soon as they had split and is now somewhat of a lost legendary band. Founder member, Gérard Kawcynski was a studio musician for top artist Jacques Dutronc (who nicknamed him Krapoutchik). So, Kawcynski with Christian Padovan formed his own band named Le Systeme Crapoutchik, they were joined by Claude Puterflam and helped by various studio musicians (Alarcen, Legovic, Pelay). Le Systeme Crapoutchik released a first EP in 1968 and some singles that were quickly followed by their first LP "Aussi Loin Que Je Me Souvienne", the music though obviously influenced by The Beatles/McCartney is more than a simple copycat recording. Of course, the album went nowhere and the band split in 1971 deciding to release a double LP for their swan song, naturally the album was titled "Flop". The band reformed later in 1975 for their last and final release. Flop was remastered and reissued in 1996 by french label Magic (limited edition of 1.000). All of the band's releases are almost impossible to find and are now fetching ridiculous prices.

Songs (CD Reissue)
Flop / L'enchanteur / Monsieur Sans Joie (1st Version) / Ploum Le Clown / La Vie Est Belle (2nd Version) / All What I Have (Un Peu De Rien) / J'aime Chanter / Demain / Je T'ai Cherchée Partout / L'enfant De Choeur / L'horrible Rêve / Un Jour Dans Ma Vie / Un Peu De Rien / L'amourophobe / Gamelle Trouée / La Vie Est Belle (1st Version) / Mourir D'amour / Au Clair De Lune Ou Dans L'ombre De L'autre / J'ai Regarder Passer Le Temps / L'horrible Rêve / Un Peu De Musique / Chanson Sans Paroles / Monsieur Sans Joie (2nd Version) / Les Sans Amour / Aussi Loin Que Je Me Souvienne

VARIOUS - SPIN PRESENTS (1985)

Spin Magazine presents some portions of its Radio Concert/ Radio Underground series on a promo 60' tape. Bands featured on the tape were The Blasters, Green On Red, The Del Fuegos and Hüsker Dü. This was transferred from the original tape and comes complete with a custom cd jewel case artwork.

Bands
Blasters - San Diego Sports Arena (14'10)
Green On Red - I-Beam, San Francisco (14'42)
The Del Fuegos - Spirit Club, San Diego (16'36)
Hüsker Dü - First Avenue, Minneapolis (12'10)

RED RIVER - TEXAS ADVICE (1990)

Very little is known about Red River indeed, so here's what the famous Frank Beeson wrote about the band in a BOB review.

"Red River is a power trio hailing from Texas-via-L.A. Fronted by virtuoso guitarist Billy Ray Martin, Red River is one of SoCal's greatest new finds. Billy Ray can thunderously plow through a slide guitar with enough expertise to challenge Z.Z. Top's Billy Gibbons. When bassist Suzy Mae takes the lead vocals, she sounds a bit like Joan Jett, and when she sings a duet with Billy Ray, the vocal blend recalls X. Red River are flowing strong".

They first released a mini LP in 1988 on french label New Rose which was included as bonus tracks with their full length "Texas Advice."

Songs
Ride-Ride-Ride / Texas Advice / Comin' To You Live / At The Roadhouse Tonite / V-8 Chrome And Wings / I'll Drink Your Blooze / Come On Over / Talkin' To Me / Dry County Blues / Something's Gotta Give / Ain't Workin' No More / Goin' Down / Broke Again / Mercury / Lucky Tonight / Fools Paradise / Cheap Thrills / The City Doesn't Weep

MIKE McCLINTOCK & CHRIS SPEDDING - LIKE SATIN (1988)

Hailing from New York City, Mike McClintock was featured on John Cale's "Music for a New Society" (1982), this is how he met Chris Spedding who was playing guitar on it. A few years later, Chris Spedding teamed up with Mike McClintock, both wrote and recorded two albums for the french label New Rose "Like Satin" (1988) and the mini album "Tightropewalker" (1989), the cd version of the latter including the "Like Satin" album. All the songs were written by Chris Spedding and Mike McClintock except "Fun, Fun, Fun" (James White guests on Saxophone). Mike McClintock was also featured on various New Rose compilations and a few years later Chris Spedding released his own version of "Call Of The Wild" on "Cafe Days Revisited" (1993)

Songs
Watch Out For The World / Cha Cha Baby / Call Of The Wild / Downtown / Let's Dance / Sometimes / Touch That girl / Fun Fun Fun

SPECIAL TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
COTTON MATHER - THE CRAFTY FLOWER ARRANGER (1992)

Formed in Austin in 1991, the original Cotton Mather lineup consisted of singer/guitarist Robert Harrison; guitarist Whit Williams; bassist Matt Hovis; and drummer Greg Thibeaux, who doubled on guitar. Actually only Robert Harrison and Matt Hovis recorded the promotional album "The Crafty Flower Arranger", in 1992. It was never officially released but was widely bootlegged in the wake of the group’s later success. Some tracks were re-recorded on the band’s debut album, 1994’s "Cotton Is King".

Songs
Asterisk Man / Ship Shape / Spellbound / April's Fool / Cross The Rubicon / Lost My Motto / Listen To The Angel / I'm In Debt

2 years and 1.000.000 hits later, PPC is still active. Thank you.

Special thanx to The Fab Four, Brian Wilson, Marc Bolan, Nick Lowe, The Ramones and all the power pop acts spreading their hooks all around the world.

Special thanx to Bomp & Greg Shaw, NME & Max Bell, Yellow Pills & Jordan Oakes, Bucketfull of Brains, The BOB and finally Bruce Brodeen who sent me one of his first paper catalog , therefore reviving the spark.

Special thanx to my mates who know who i really am...

Finally, YOU can thank my gear:

Thorens TD 321 and its tonearms SME 3009 Series 3
Nakamichi Cassette Deck 480
Denon Amplifier PMA 380
Sound Forge 8.0
Epson Perfection 1670
Photoshop CS2

Thank you everybody...and remember password is the word...

GIN BLOSSOMS - IN BLOOM (1994)

Formed in 1987, the Gin Blossoms have released a handful of classic albums, quite a lot of unofficial live albums too. Of the latter, "In Bloom" is one of their most famous live recordings. Actually, "In Bloom" was a compilation of two concerts from 1993. Tracks 1-9 were recorded at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, California, 1993 while tracks 10-17 were recorded live at the Metro in Chicago, Illinois. The Belly Up Tavern show was recorded for the Westwood One radio series, "In Concert." This is how a few tracks from this show appeared on the "In Bloom" but also on the New Miserable Experience's 2002 Deluxe Edition Bonus CD.
Visit Jesse Valuenzela website, Robin Wilson's page

Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, California (May 13, 1993)
Hold Me Down / What / Idiot Summer / Just South Of Nowhere / Soul Deep / Cheatin' / Allison Road / Mrs. Rita / Hey Jealousy

Metro, Chicago, Illinois (April 22, 1993)
29 / Until I Fall Away / It's Not Too Much / Just South Of Nowhere / Cheatin' / Mrs. Rita / Wasting My Time/ Standing In The Wheat

SILVER SUN - LIVE (1998)

Silver Sun recorded live in November 1998. This is the second volume of the bootleg series (there are 9 or 10 volumes) sold on the Silver Sun website around the beginning of this century. A great collection of some of the best Silver Sun songs.

Special note: As previouly stated for the previous Silver Sun posts, i got this from the same mate a few years ago, once again i made an original artwork.

Songs
Cheerleading / Dumb Bitch / Scared / Mustard / She'll Do / Last Day / Hey Girlfriend / Lava / Patients / Animal Feets / Would've If I Could've / Nobody / Bad Haircut / There Will Never Be Another Me / Golden Skin

COWBOY & SPINGIRL - COWBOY & SPINGIRL (1988)

Formerly of the Riff Doctors ("Turn Me On" can be heard on Teen Line Vol 1), Frank Bednash (guitar, vocals) teamed up with the former Hoboken's Cyclones Donna Esposito to form Cowboy & Spingirl. They first released a single in 1983 on Coyote Records, then there was a 6 song cassette produced with Mitch Easter. This demo cassette led to this legendary mini lp released in 1988 on Subway Records. One side was produced by Mitch Easter while the other one featured some self produced demos. After their first full length album "Earcandy" (1993), the Subway set was later remastered and included on "Odds & Bobs (1986-92)" (1999). Changing name to Toothpaste 2000, they released five albums between 1997 and 2002. Then, back to New Jersey, Bednash and Esposito became Mas Rapido and have released so far two albums "Mas Rapido" and "Pity Party" filled with plenty references to the history of power pop.

Songs
White Lies / Tomorrow's Hits Today / I'm In Heaven / Go, Go, Go / Turn Me On / Set The World On Fire / She / Say Goodbye

JOHNNY THUNDERS - LIVE AT JONATHAN SWIFT (1983)

Recorded live at Jonathan Swift's, Cambridge, Massachusetts between March and October 1982. This performance was first released as a bonus LP with the second Johnny Thunders album "In Cold Blood" until Johnny Thunders himself dissatisfied with the live stuff asked for its deletion. So, New Rose reissued the studio tracks as a 12" EP with a brand new sleeve. Highlights include "Sad Vacation," Thunders' sad farewell to fellow junkie Sid Vicious, an out of control "Louie Louie," with a brilliantly psychotic solo, a funny version of "Gloria," complete with a guitar quote from the theme from Bonanza.

The original "In Cold Blood" was finally reissued in Japan (1993) with a 12 page booklet on TEICHIKU TECP-25232 using the same artwork as the New Rose first issue. Later, it was also released in the UK on DOJO (1995) with a different artwork. Both are long out of print and hard to find.

Special note: I have included the b side of the New Rose 7" recorded at the same venue in Cambridge. The song was not featured on none of those aforementioned cd reissues. I didn't rip the studio tracks just because they are available at SOTD in WAV format, so grab them over there.

Songs
Intro / Just Another Girl/ Too Much Junkie Business / Sad Vacation / Louie Louie / Gloria / Treat Me Like A Nigger / Do You Love Me / Green Onions / 10 Commandments / In Cold Blood

GAME THEORY - TINKER TO EVERS TO CHANCE (1990)

Scott Miller compiled and annotated this career-spanning retrospective of his band Game Theory, and anyone looking for a convenient introduction to the band's arch and intelligent power pop could hardly do better than to pick this up. Tinker to Evers to Chance boasts 22 songs that offer representative selections from the band's four studio albums and three EPs, including their relative "hits" (well, "Erica's Word" and "The Real Sheila" got some college radio airplay and made brief appearances on MTV in the middle of the night), as well as hard-to-find material from their early 12"s. For the completists, Miller also re-recorded two very early Game Theory tracks with the band's final lineup and even reworked "Beach State Rocking" by his pre-Game Theory combo Alternate Learning. A nice mix of obscurities and favorites for the fans, and a revelation for the uninitiated, Tinker to Evers to Chance is hardly the only Game Theory album worth owning, but it may well be the best way to go if you're only going to buy one. Too bad this is now out of print and tricky to find, but you can try the bargain bins or your local thrift store. AMG

FLAC click here

Songs
Beach State Rocking / Bad Year At UCLA / Sleeping Through Heaven / Something To Show / Penny, Things Won't / Metal And Glass Exact / Shark Pretty / Nine Lives To Rigel Five / The Red Baron / 24 / Curse Of The Frontier Land / I Turned Her Away / Regenisraen / Erica's Word / Crash Into June / Like A Girl Jesus / We Love You, Carol And Alison / The Real Sheila / Together Now, Very Minor / Room For One More, Honey / Leilani / Throwing The Election

GARY & THE MASTICATORS - PERMANENT VACATION (2000)

This is a fun split single of power pop, one side by Gary and the Masticators who perform "Permanent Vacation", a surf and sand popper from the pen of Gary himself, the other by Gary and the Grip Weeds who cover the classic bubblegum anthem "Rock & Roll Love Letter," originally penned by Tim Moore. This 7" split single was released in France, so go direct through Pop The Balloon and purchase this gem (if it's still available). Visit the official Gary Pig Gold website.