GOODBYE, BLUE MONDAY – DEMO

May 4, 2012
Posted by Brian

I’ve been plagued by annoyance as of late. Google Sites, the upload tool I use for hosting the music found on this blog, hasn’t let me upload anything for a couple of weeks. Not sure what the problem might be, but it’s Google, who can I possibly ask about it? Mr. Google?

Thus, I’m switching over to Soundcloud for this next update. I hope it’s not too annoying. You’ll still be able to download the tracks, just click on the little black arrow in the right hand menu of the player to copy the song. But, if this change over does annoy you, know that I sympathize. My own obsessive need for structure makes variation in layout from post to post very, very troubling. I hope we can all get through it together.

So, the Goodbye, Blue Monday demo. What can possibly be said other than that I thought it lost forever. I had a copy of this cassette of course, but along with a few other gems, I seem to have misplaced it. However, a few weeks back Tim sent me a link to a Russian blog that seemed to have nothing but the nicest things to say about the boys and their music. I’m not clear on whether the writer of the blog was aware of Goodbye, Blue Monday prior to coming across them on GoKidGo.org, but nonetheless, they are clearly fans and that rools.

Listening to this demo once again after such a long time away from it, I am amazed that this is the same band that went on to record this 7″ and this one here. While they all share a similar style, the mood is so drastically different in the demo. There’s an urgency that seems lost in the official releases while the demo just attacks from the first note. That’s not to say the split 7″ and 7″ are bad. Not at all. Both have their own voice, but it’s a more relaxed feel. This demo is punk thru and thru.

Goodbye, Blue Monday were close friends whom I hung out with on a daily basis. From day one, they solidified into an incredible live band that sounded and played like a ton of bricks. I think I always envied their cohesion as a band. Sure, you might be able to form a band with some great ideas sonically, but trying to gather a band together that plays with real harmony, meaning, a natural tendency to step in time, and you’re talking a whole ‘nother beast. Goodbye, Blue Monday always blew Franklin out of the water whenever we played live together. They blew almost everyone out of the water when they played live.

I don’t remember why the guys broke up. They weren’t around all that long. But, I would have loved to see what they accomplished on a full length.

Here’s the boys demo in all its glory. Enjoy. Photos by the incomparable Shawn Scallen.

01 Far From A Starched Heritage by GoKidGo

02 Hoe Down by GoKidGo

03 Saccharin by GoKidGo

04 Transister Traffic Jam by GoKidGo

05 The Work Of Fools by GoKidGo

06 The Man Who Only Lived Long Enoug by GoKidGo

SOMEWHERE ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD – 1996

December 13, 2011
Posted by Brian

Again, working my way through some photo albums and I came across this picture I snapped somewhere on tour in 1996. This would have been on the tour Franklin and Goodbye, Blue Monday took together across the US with Atom as our ever faithful, responsible tour manager.

Remind me to ask Atom to give a written, detailed account of the time he was detained at the Canadian border trying to bring equipment into Canada so that our bands could play. It’s a true horror story.

Anyways, I just love this photo of Greg, Ralph, Josh and Tim. Often, playing shows on tour is the least entertaining part of the adventure. Moments like these, stopped on the side of a deserted highway looking out over the vast nothingness that exists outside our own experience is what makes the travel worthwhile.

Enjoy!

FACEBOOK FLYER DISCOVERY!

December 2, 2011
Posted by Brian

One of the unfortunate things that I have not been able to settle on is the correct spelling of, “flier”. Or is it “flyer”? I refuse to look it up because it seems like something I should know but alas, I do not.

Anywhoo, just a quick find here today.

Tim linked me via. “the Facebook” to this flier posted on this fellas page.

I can’t recall a thing about this show but please make note the polite comment on the bottom of the flier/flyer.

“Please bring some money for the touring bands.” Ah, the 90′s.

I AM HEAVEN – S/T LP

March 29, 2011
Posted by Brian

One thing that is difficult about running a blog such as this one is trying to remember details. I’ve said it before in previous posts, but in regards to certain musical projects or time periods, my memory is pretty much void. An obvious solution of course would be to go to other interested parties and ask them to contribute their thoughts or memories. Believe you me, I have…unfortunately, what I get is a lot of ballooey.

Fortunately, I did see Mike Parsell last night, and he was able to give me a little background information about today’s subject, I Am Heaven.

I Am Heaven was a very short lived band that formed somewhere in the area of 1995. As Mike explains it (and I summarize), after Frail broke up, he teamed up with Eric Wareheim and Fred Coldwell who had been playing in a band called Elements of Need. Brian Hutchinson (a fella who had played in a band called Lollycolumn) was looking for a band and thus, I Am Heaven was formed.

Mike, who had been playing drums for Mandela Strikeforce, would stay on the drums, Eric played guitar, Brian would play bass and Fred would sing. They started practicing pretty steadily and began playing shows pretty quickly. One thing I Am Heaven was known for was their equipment. Believing in the idea that, “more volume meant more awesome”, I Am Heaven boasted the following gear when they played live:

2 – 8×10″ Marshall guitar cabinets
2 – 2×15″ Fender bass cabinets
2 – Mark II Marshall guitar heads
2 – Ampeg bass heads

Mind you, this was potentially enough wattage to power a small radio station, but I Am Heaven, only being around a short while, rarely played outside of basements. Needless to say, a typical I Am Heaven show (while visually impressive because of the sheer amount of equipment) rarely sounded like anything more than ear-splitting noise. Which was a shame since they had a great bit of talent between the bunch of them and some righteous grooves.

That’s why it was such a pleasure when they recorded this 12″ LP. To this day, I don’t think anyone can say for sure if it was ever officially released, but I managed to get my hands on a copy of the vinyl, sans cover. Was there a cover? I don’t know.

The record was recorded at Snugfit Studios by an older fella who lived with his Mom. Several bands would record there over the years and it’s understandable why. The ride cymbal on this I Am Heaven recording sounds great. It’s really difficult to get a good ride cymbal bell on recording so when you find a person that can, you stick with them.

Of course, following I Am Heaven, Mike and Brian would go on to form Goodbye, Blue Monday with Tim and Chris from True High Fidelity. Eric would form Ink & Dagger with Don Devore and Sean McCabe and Fred would kind of groove out for a while.

Sorry, no song titles on this slab of wax. Enjoy!

GOODBYE, BLUE MONDAY – 7″

February 10, 2011
Posted by Brian

Let’s get back to Goodbye, Blue Monday. As I mentioned in that previous post, they were always a pretty stellar live band. Big, thick and tight. After their split 7″, Goodbye, Blue Monday decided to release a 7″ on our Energy Network record label. Of course, by the time this single was released, Energy Network was on its way out. As I said before, we never were very good at running a record label.

Honestly, I’m not even sure if any actual Energy Network money was put into this release as we didn’t really ever have any money. Instead, the boys might have put the money up themselves and we just slapped the Energy Network logo on the back.

By this time, a fella named Alap Momin had been making some pretty sick recordings over in Jersey for bands like Assfactor 4, Rye Coalition and The Van Pelt. The boys decided to take their wares over the bridge and record with someone that actually knew how to get good tones out of their recording equipment. From what I recall, the studio was in a garage which once again proves it’s not necessarily the equipment one has but the talent involved that makes a recording sound like something you’re interested in hearing.

These files were ripped directly from the 7″ so all the scratches and hiss one might expect from a record are present. It sounds familiar.