Day 12: Young Fresh Fellows- Live In Bilbao, Spain 2009

 Well, we finally made it! Day 12 (in 17 days) of the 12 Days of Trouble challenge that I self-inflicted on myself to write and post more music on this blog, is complete. I honestly have posted more this month than I probably have the last couple years and I learned a couple things the past few weeks. First, I have a lot of music I want to share, but half my problem is I can't decide what to post and agonize about what I should write about. I found making a long list and then a short list of music I enjoy made it easier and I tried not to think too hard about what to write. The hardest part is the starting so I've tried to just start blabbing about whatever's in my head and then edit back what made the most sense, if that makes any sense. Secondly, I remember why I started writing this blog, it's because I like talking about music and through the years have only connected with a handful of like-minded music blogs that I enjoyed reading and unfortunately many of those have dissolved, disappeared or have been taken down. I started writing about something I would like to read.Thirdly and most importantly, I would do this full time if I can figure out a way to make a living (get paid) doing this. I don't want to advertise nor do I want to pander to readers for views (like on Instagram or YouTube), but I would gladly quit my regular job to do something I love, for the same minimum pay. Until then, I've decided I will write at least two posts a week, to stay consistent and fresh, it will be hard with hockey season starting up again next month, but I will make it a priority!

My attempt to take a photo of a photo in The Strangest Tribe book. Photo credit to Marty Perez.

For the past couple of weeks there was a loose theme through some of the posts based on a couple of books I read last month. A common connection with both the Smugglers book and the Seattle grunge book is the Young Fresh Fellows. They were a band that took the Smugglers under their wing in the early days, taking them on tour, helping make connections state-side in Seattle, releasing a LP and CD on Popllama Records and Fellows/Fastbacks guitarist Kurt Bloch produced a couple of their albums. In the The Strangest Tribe book, the Fellows figured significantly, in the pre-grunge years they laid the groundwork for Seattle bands to tour beyond the statelines to draw more attention to the emerging scene in Seattle. The impression I get about the Young Fresh Fellows is they were ambitious, mischievous, mentors, very talented musicians and songwriters, fun loving and really really good people. The fact they have made only one lineup change since they're first club performance at the Rainbow Tavern in 1983 tells you something. They don't perform as much as they used to and with other commitments they're touring days are limited, but they do play a handful of shows almost every year. There's reason the Fellows opened and closed the 12 days series, my all time favourite band!

I made a mention in the last Smugglers post about west coast bands touring and recording live albums in Spain. The Young Fresh Fellows recorded and released, Take It Like A Matador (live in Spain) in 1993 and in the past ten years or so, the Fellows have toured Spain (2009, 2010, 2016) several times in multiple cities and have maybe played more gigs there than anywhere else besides Seattle or Portland. They are very popular in Spain and some of their albums have been released also Munster Records (label in Spain) including a different version of 2009's, I Think This Is, released in Spain as, I Don't Think This Is, that featured a different cover, 4 different tracks and a vinyl version.

In 2009, the Fellows did a six city tour of Spain and fortunately somebody (Matthijs) recorded and posted at least four of the shows on Dime which I downloaded at the time. I haven't seen any of those posted or traded since then so I thought it would be an ideal time to share some of those shows. For the finale of the 12 Days of Trouble, I'm posting the first night of that tour at Kafe Antzokia in Bilbao, it's a near perfect soundboard recording and we are very lucky to get the Fellows in top form. The performance is excellent and the setlist is a sampling from all their albums. They play select songs from their latest album at the time, their first in 8 years and as I said it sounds fabulous. Originally, I was going to post three consecutive Fellows shows from Spain in 2009, but instead I wanted to include a couple different posts. So, if there's a demand and you want to hear two more shows from the tour in Spain (soundboard quality, different setlists!!), I can post them next week after Labor Day when I'm back from the long weekend. Please leave a comment below or on FB or Twit. Thanks to everyone for reading and listening and I will promise to keep posting!!
Enjoy!!
#12daysoftrouble

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Young Fresh Fellows
Kafe Antzokia,
Bilbao, Spain
October 16th 2009

* Soundboard Recording
- Edirol R09 (WAV 24 bit / 44.1 KHz mode)
- Adobe Audition 3.0
- CD Wave
Recorded by Matthijs

01. Down By The Pharmacy
02. Suck Machine Crater
03. How Much About Last Night Do You Remember
04. Carrothead
05. Gotta Get Away
06. Why I Oughta
07. Backroom Of The Bar
08. Shake Your Magazines
09. Hillbilly Drummer Girl
10. Celebration
11. Have Love Will Travel
12. After Suicide
13. Tobacco Road
14. Sometimes I Wantcha For Your Money
15. If You Believe In Cleveland
16. When The Girls Get Here
17. My Friend Ringo
18. 99 Girls
19. Go Blue Angels Go
20. Taco Wagon
21. Picture Book
22. She's A Book
23. Your Truth Our Lies
24. I Don't Let The Little Things Get Me Down
25. Topsy Turvy Theme
26. Young Fresh Fellows Theme
27. Pretty Thing
28. Amy Grant
29. Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White
30. Strychnine

YOUNG FRESH FELLOWS- 2009-10-16 Bilbao, Spain FLAC. rar

Day 11: Scruffy The Cat- Live In Philadelphia 1987

As we head towards the home stretch of the 12 Days of Trouble challenge, I thought I would squeeze in another impromptu post that I hadn't originally planned for. I couldn't complete this series without including my favourite band from the Boston area (there are a lot of great bands from Boston I like a lot!), Scruffy The Cat. It's been almost five years ago since frontman, Charlie Chesterman passed away and his memory and the amazing music he and his band shared will never be forgotten. Scruffy the Cat produced a modest amount of officially recorded music, but browsing through the band's gigography reveals how much they toured and played live shows. They solidly toured non-stop from 1984-1990 without much breaks for recording, they released two EP's and two full length albums during that period. According to the tour schedule, I saw Scruffy the Cat on June 5, 1988 at the Rendezvous opening for Vancouver's, 54-40. I went to the show specifically to see Scruffy (I left shortly after 54-40 began) and they made such an impression on me I regret not seeing them earlier, apparently they played Winnipeg twice before in 1987, shit!

Trust me, Scruffy the Cat were the opening band. They were worth the $12 alone!

I was flipping through the Scruffy The Cat live recordings that I haven't posted yet and came across this show from 1987 that was only labelled with the venue and date. I got this off Dime a number of years ago and I honestly don't remember taking the time to listen, but I tracked down the file on an older hard-drive for the setlist and flac files. I played it last weekend and it's a good sounding soundboard recording that's super clear and the performance is energetic. This night they were opening for Alex Chilton and it's a bit unusual for the opening band to play encores and play for over 70 minutes...good for us! Interesting setlist with songs from the then forthcoming EP, Boom Boom Boom Bingo and some early versions of songs from Moons of Jupiter that would be released later in 1988. A very enjoyable set that put a smile on my face and I'm sure I can dig up more Scruffy shows in the future if there's a demand to hear more.
Enjoy!!!
#12daysoftrouble

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A couple other Scruffy the Cats live recordings previously posted:
1987-08-08 (late show)TT The Bear's Place, Boston, MA (direct link)
1984-05-20 WERS studio, Emerson College, Boston, MA (direct link)


Scruffy The Cat
Chestnut Cabaret,
Philadelphia, PA
December 15, 1987
Soundboard

Source\Lineage: SBD>Sony D5(m)>Onkyo TA-RW344 w\ azimuth correction>Cooledit Pro 2.0>.wav>CD Wave>flac (level 8)

***billydee masters, series 2, vol 31***

1) >intro<
2) Tiger Tiger
3) C’mon Everybody
4) >chat<
5) Thomas Doubter
6) Shadow Boy
7) Time Never Forgets
8) 2day 2morrow 4ever
9) Blue Russian
10) You Dirty Rat
11) Everything
12) Capital Moonlight
13) Bus Named Desire
14) Buy A Car
15) Moons of Jupiter
16) Runaway
17) Never Never
18) My Baby’s Alright
19) Nova SS 1968
20) Upside Down
21) Happiness To Go
22) >chat<
23) Little Bit o’ Soul
24) ?
25) -------
26) Sealed with a Kiss
27) outtro

p.s. I didn't write the notes in the text file with the setlist included in the rar file. Clearly he wasn't a true Scruffy The Cat fan. My apologies.

SCRUFFY THE CAT- 1987-12-15 Chestnut Cabaret, Philadelphia, PA FLAC. rar

Day 10: Fastbacks- Live In Seattle 1999 "Believe Me Never, Hate Me Forever"

On my summer vacation, my summer reading consisted more than the Smugglers book, re-reading High Fidelity and reading issues of Record Collector magazine. I dug up a book I received a couple of Christmases ago that I never got around to. The Strangest Tribe: How A Group Of Seattle Bands Invented Grunge by Stephen Tow, analyses the story behind the phenomenon of the "Seattle sound" that was more than the breakthrough of Nirvana and alternative music becoming mainstream and the word "grunge". When I originally put this book on my Christmas list (yes I know, my in-laws insisted we have lists) it was because I hoped it wasn't another book about Grunge, Nirvana, Soundgarden or Pearl Jam. I listened to and enjoyed several Seattle-based (and area) bands for years before Nevermind came out and I felt there was nothing really written about the alternative music scene in Seattle as I love bands like the Fastbacks, the Squirrels, the Posies, Jimmy Silva, Mudhoney and of course, the Young Fresh Fellows. Lo and behold, this book gives a background history of the Seattle music scene from the 80's until the mid-90's and there is much mention of the Young Fresh Fellows (one of the first Seattle bands in the 80's to tour nationally), the Squirrels, Fastbacks, Mudhoney, as well as lesser known early bands, the U-Men, the Heats, the Blackouts and Green River.

In those pre-internet days when you wanted music that wasn't available at your local chain record store it took more effort to search out new and interesting music. You could place a special order with the store, sight and unseen and take a chance or you could shop directly from the record label (or band) via mail order. I chose that option, basically you sent a letter to the label (getting the address from another record/CD/tape from that label) requesting a catalog or newsletter (usually printed on newsprint), they mail it to you, make your choices, get a money order from the post office or bank and mail it back and hopefully the record (s) arrive in a couple of weeks to a month. I actually found this method a lot of fun and I'll tell you there's almost no better feeling than receiving a packet in the mail with music in it. I've ordered almost all the products from the PopLlama Records catalog and I've received a couple orders directly from Estrus and Empty Records. Most of my Young Fresh Fellows items are directly from the band or from PopLlama including albums, 7"s, tapes, t-shirts and the Hits From The Break-Up album box set. Small labels are the best because you actually get real personal service, a good example was Bogus Records in Pittsburgh to track down some Frampton Brothers albums. Letter correspondence and phone calls directly from the label and Sean and Ed from the band were helpful and appreciated. I bet Madonna couldn't provide that kind of customer service.

The first LP I bought of the Fastbacks was Very, Very Powerful Motor that I ordered from PopLlama. At the time I didn't even realize Kurt Bloch was in the Fastbacks and the Young Fresh Fellows and when I did, this gave me another band to add to my favourites. Needless to say I was blown away and placed another order with PopLlama to buy the And His Orchestra CD and the live cassette, Bike-Toy-Clock-Gift. This lead to a string of excellent records on SubPop and they seemed to be gaining more exposure touring with Pearl Jam and you'd think they would have made it big commercially, but never quite hit any mainstream success. Which might be a good thing, they were together (on and off) for over 20 years and their career spanned several eras of the Seattle scene from the early 80's when nobody outside of Seattle cared, through Grunge and the 90's when Seattle was the "scene". They are one of the most underrated bands and least pretentious. In The Strangest Tribe, Stephen Tow dedicated ten pages to the legendary Fastbacks, "Twenty three years. that's how long Seattle's Fastbacks remained a growing concern---remarkable for a band of any ilk, but especially so for an underground punk act. From 1979 through 2002, the Fastbacks created amazing art. The band made music that lacked pretension, writing songs that became classics. In short, the Fastbacks were Seattle's Ramones." (Stephen Tow)

I'm posting a very nice soundboard quality Fastbacks show from 1999, the same year they released their last studio album. A solid show opening for the Posies, so it's short and sweet. I've previously posted some other Fastbacks shows and it might be a good time to explore those as well. On March 2, 2002, they played their last show (not counting the reunion shows) at the Bottom of The Hill in San Francisco. (Fastbacks- Last show) It's pre-FM sourced which means the sound quality is excellent. Nine years later in the same place and same city, the Fastbacks were back on stage for a much anticipated reunion show. (San Francisco 2011) Since then, the Fastbacks have released some compilation albums of unreleased, rare and early tracks. The latest, If You Want To Slow Down, Step On The Gas was just released in July. A good time to be a Fastbacks fan, keep the music coming!!
Enjoy!
#12daysoftrouble

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FASTBACKS
Arospace
Seattle, WA
October 22, 1999
Soundboard

01. Only At Night
02. As Everything
03. Fortune's Misery
04. Believe Me Never
05. Like Today
06. Went For A Swim
07. What's The Use
08. Goodbye, Bird
09. New Book Of Old
10. Gone To The Moon
11. Don't Cry For Me
12. Set Me Free

FASTBACKS- 1999-10-22 Arospace, Seattle, WA FLAC. rar

Day 9: Teenage Fanclub- Phoenix Festival 1997

Another band rapidly approaching the 30th anniversary milestone is Scottish band, Teenage Fanclub. The band formed in 1989 and released their first album, A Catholic Education in 1990. They hit their stride with 1991's classic, Bandwagonesque and continued an incredible run through the 90's of some great albums. As recently as this month, TFC re-released on vinyl and digital their five Creation label era albums (Bandwagonesque, Thirteen, Grand Prix, Songs From Northern England and Howdy!) remastered with a 7" of rarities included with each record. To celebrate these reissues the band is touring in October and November, Songs From Teenage Fanclub: The Creation Years playing in four cities, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and London performing three nights in each with a setlist from different periods of the Creation era (night one: songs from 1991-93, night two: songs from 94-97, night three: 98-00). As well, the band announced tour dates to Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand in February and also the news that founding member bass player, Gerald Love will not accompany the band on that tour and beyond. Love explained he was reluctant to fly frequently around the world and that the split was amicable, that he didn't quit the band nor was he fired. Sparky's Dream might just be the greatest song ever! He will be surely missed.

Originally, I wasn't planning to include a Teenage Fanclub show for the 12 Days of Trouble series, but I was spinning this disc the other night while reading the news about Gerald's departure and thought it would be a timely post. I chose this show from the Phoenix Festival in 1997 because the sound quality is flawless, their performance is spot on and the setlist is from my favourite TFC era. It is without doubt my best-loved TFC live recording as all but one song from the set is from their trio of their greatest albums (my opinion, but I don't think I'm alone with that statement), Bandwagonesque, Grand Prix and Songs of Northern England. An absolutely perfect recording that I'm surprised it hasn't been officially released yet. Trust me, this is a good one!
Enjoy!!
#12daysoftrouble

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TEENAGE FANCLUB
Phoenix Festival
Stratford Upon Avon, England
July 18, 1997
Source: FM Broadcast
Lineage: Unknown, but the sound quality is amazing

01. Start Again
02. Don't Look Back
03. I Don't Care
04. Alcoholiday
05. Mellow Doubt
06. Ain't That Enough
07. About You
08. Starsign
09. Neil Jung
10. Sparky's Dream
11. He'd Be A Diamond
12. The Concept

TEENAGE FANCLUB- 1997-07-18 Phoenix Festival FLAC. rar

Day 8: The Smugglers- 10th Anniversary Party 1998

Poster image lifted from Grant Lawrence's book, Dirty Windshields

I couldn't resist, here's another live recording from the Smugglers when they celebrated their 10th anniversary at the Starfish Room in their hometown of Vancouver back in 1998. This a spin-off of the last three posts of bands that shared the stage with the Smugglers on tours and incidentally, the Donnas were one of the bands that opened this show. The show also celebrated the release of the live album, Growing Up Smuggler, a tenth anniversary album, that was kind of a live greatest hits that was recorded in Madrid, Spain. Why have all the cool bands from the west coast released a live album recorded in Spain? Off the top of my head I can think of several besides the Smugglers, Young Fresh Fellows, Bum, the Posies, Model Rockets...(psst!...more of the YFF's in Spain upcoming)

 
The sound quality on this CBC RadioSonic broadcast is top notch, so it's a nice compliment to the live Spain CD, that was produced by Fastback/YFF, Kurt Bloch. I recorded this straight from the radio directly to cassette tape and I only recently had a listen and thought it was too good not to share along with the less than ideal sounding live show I was at in 1996. Let me know if there are any glitches to the transfer, it's an old tape that probably hadn't been played in almost 30 years. Speaking of 30 years, the Smugglers are celebrating their 30th anniversary (proof time is flying by, fast!) with a show on November 24th at Amigo's in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and unfortunately for those fans outside of Saskatchewan this is their only show in 2018. I thought it was a bit odd they chose Saskatoon as the site for their 30th anniversary party (instead of Vancouver or Winnipeg??), but when I read chapter ten of Grant's tour diaries book, Dirty Windshields I understood better. It's a nice tribute to a venue that treated the band well in the early days and it became a welcoming venue for the band. I'm considering making the road trip north (6-8 hours away?), but slightly concerned about late November prairie weather on the highway. Chixdiggit is opening, another band I saw numerous times in the 90's, so the bill is solid. I urge you if you have the funds and you're a fan of the Smugglers of Chixdiggit, it would be well worth the trip.
Enjoy!!
#12daysoftrouble

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THE SMUGGLERS
Starfish Room
Vancouver, BC
September 19, 1998
FM Broadcast Master

CBC RadioSonic radio> Maxell XLII 90 Cassette> Aiwa tape deck> ADS Instant music> usb> Nero SoundTrax> WAV> Direct WAV splitter> FLAC> rar

01. Rock With the Smugglers
02. Bishy-Bishy!
03. Action
04. Up And Down
05. Pebble Beach
06. Hey, Stephanie!
07. Shakedown!
08. Whiplash!
09. Rock Thy Neighbor
10. Pick 'Em Up Truck
11. The B 'n' I
12. She's A Machine
13. What's The Matter With Me (?)
14. She Ain't No Egyptian
15. To Serve, Protect And Entertain
16. Outro

THE SMUGGLERS- 1998-09-19 Starfish Room, Vancouver, BC FLAC. rar

Day 7: Cub- Saturday Night Live At the Starfish Room 1995

Actually, the date of April 21, 1995 was a Friday, but I'm pretty sure this Cub concert was broadcast on RealTime on CBC radio which aired on Saturday night. I spent a lot of my Saturday nights at home taping live concerts on the radio from RealTime and it's successor (also Saturday night time slot), RadioSonic (1997-2003). They broadcast complete concerts from a lot of good indie Canadian bands as well as bigger international names and the sound quality was excellent. I taped a lot of shows onto cassette and I've been gradually converting these tapes to digital files and have started posting them here. I actually didn't tape this broadcast, I received it in a trade, but this is a fine example of the excellent broadcast quality of these broadcasts. This show shouldn't be confused with the recent series of officially releases, CBC Brave New Waves albums that featured bands live in (CBC) studio sessions. Brave New Waves was another great CBC FM radio program (late night) that played "left of the dial" stuff, lots of indie and alternative bands that you usually didn't hear on commercial radio. The Cub session on Brave New Waves was recorded May 19, 1993 almost to the day of their 1st anniversary. Hey, Neko Case fans, Neko plays drums on this session! This album is available at the Cub Brave New Waves Bandcamp page, very cool pink & black effect vinyl is for sale, as well as digital download, CD and boring black vinyl.

The unofficial Dirty Windshields live soundtrack wouldn't be complete without a recording from Cub. Cub is another band that figured significantly in Grant's book as Cub and the Smugglers often shared bills together and touring together during the Smugglers second North American tour. Both bands were on the Mint Records label in Vancouver (Smugglers would later on Selling The Sizzle) and it was Cub that topped the charts of campus radio and helped drive up sales for Mint. "Cub's sound and attitude would prove highly influential for scores of young indie musicians seeking a new alternative to the new alternative" (Grant Lawrence). Another connection between the bands is that Cub's drummer, Neko Case dated Smugglers guitarist, Dave Carswell during this period, I didn't know that. This concert recorded at the Starfish Room in Vancouver is a sampling of some of Cub's best known songs and some extra cool covers that are better than the originals. If you're not familiar with Cub's brand of "cuddlecore", check their Bandcamp page for downloads, streams and information about purchasing a real CD. Hell, they only have 3 full length albums, it's well worth the purchase. Or if you want their collection of oddities, Mauler is a good place to start.
Enjoy!
 #12daysoftrouble

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CUB
Starfish Room
Vancouver, BC
April 21, 1995
FM Broadcast

trade> CDR> FreeRip> Flac> rar

01. Intro
02. Flaming Red Bobsled
03. Life Of Crime
04. Little Star
05. Green Eyes
06. Cast A Shadow
07. Runaway
08. Lucky 7
09. Pillow Queen
10. Sweet Pea
11. Voracious
12. A Picnic
13. Your Bed
14. Tell Me Now
15. The Day I Said Goodbye
16. New York City
17. Surfer Girl
18. Motel 6
19. Find A Way
20. My Chinchilla
21. Vacation
22. My Best Friend's Girl
23. Go Fish

CUB- 1995-04-21 Starfish Room, Vancouver, BC FLAC.rar

Day 6: The Donnas- Wednesday Night Live in Palo Alto, CA 1995

Another band the Smugglers frequently toured with were Lookout label-mates, the Donnas. The Donnas were an all-girl punk rock band from Palo Alto, California who attended school together and before they became the Donnas, they're first band was known as Ragady Anne before changing their name to the Electrocutes (I posted about them here in 2008). They created the Donnas as a separate band simultaneously with the Electrocutes and distinguished the bands from each other by each member taking the name Donna and their surname would be the first letter of their last name (Donna A,R, F, C) when they were performed as the Donnas. The Electrocutes were a raw fast
hard edge-metal band while the Donnas had a garagey punk sound, not unlike the Ramones (in some ways they were the reverse Ramones). The Smugglers played shows and toured with the Donnas around 1998-2000 and check out chapter 41 "Hot Boxin" in Grant Lawrence's tour diary/rock bio, Dirty Windshields for some very interesting road stories with the Donnas. Around this period, the Donnas were starting to create some buzz and attention from the major labels, their albums were selling and their tours were gaining more fans. Think of what a PR dream they would have been when they first started out, they were young (high school young), they wore matching "letter shirts" and spandex pants (later skin-tight leather and t-shirts), they were good looking with a persona that suggested a rebellious edge (can we say, female Ramones or think, Nikki & the Corvettes or Leather Tuscadero from Happy Days), they sang about boys, hooking up and 40 boys in 40 nights, say no more. They progressed from a high school punk/metal band(s) to cool indie label rebels to a cleaned up polished image with commercial success on a major label band as they performed on TV talk shows, and their music was used in movie/video game soundtracks and played main stage at Lollapalooza.

I was trying to decide which Donnas show I would post, because I have a couple great sounding soundboard/FM recordings from the early 2000's. Unfortunately a recording from when the Donnas performed in town didn't turn out too good. I saw them at the Pyramid Cabaret in 2005 and I was using some new Sound Professional mics (with a battery pack, the most money I've spent on sound recording equipment) with my minidisc recorder. For every recording I used these mics, the sound was overly bassy and it affected the overall sound noticeably. For the Donnas show, the sound coming from the stage already had too much bass in the mix, it's the kind of bass you can feel your pant legs flap against your leg because the bass was blowing way too hard towards you. Usually my (other) mics sounded okay because my body seems to absorb a lot of the high and low end of the sound. This recording though was completely unlistenable, with the bass brickwalling the sound to such an extent you could not hear the vocals or any guitar. Just a booooming blast of bass and drums! I only have a handful of live recordings that are impossible to enjoy and most of them were with these microphones. Fortunately, I only used them a couple years before I found a better (and cheaper) alternative.

Instead, we're going back to when the Donnas were just starting out, a couple years before their first full length album was released. Since the band members were all born in 1979, the girls would be around 16 years old at the time of this concert. This is a decent sounding FM broadcast on local radio in their hometown that captures their raw talent and how unflappably good they already were at this time. Many of the songs they play in the set are from singles they had recently released that later would appear as bonus tracks on the re-release version of their first album, The Donnas. As a bonus for this live recording, there's an interview with the band members! A rare and early glimpse of a band that would continue to grow up and mature with every release. Another must listen for fans of honest to goodness no frills all-girl rock' n' roll!
Enjoy!
#12daysoftrouble

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THE DONNAS
KZSU Wednesday Night Live
Palo Alto, CA
October 4, 1995
FM broadcast

01. Da Doo Ron Ron
02. High School Yum Yum
03. Boy Like You
04. Let's Rab
05. Let's Go Mano
06. Last Chance Dance
07. I Wanna Be A Unabomber
08. Get Rid Of That Girl
09. Interview (The songs from their 1st 45's are cut during the interview since they are released material)

THE DONNAS- 1995-10-04 Palo Alto, CA FLAC. rar

Day 5: "This Is A Song About A Girl" Mr. T Experience- Live in Winnipeg 1996

The Smugglers/Mr. T Experience tour came through Winnipeg in the spring of 1996 in thanks to a new distribution deal between Canadian (Vancouver) label, Mint Records and U.S. (Berkeley) label Lookout! Records. The labels co-released their line-ups artist's to get better distribution in the States for the Canadian bands and vice-versa for the American bands. Before this time, I bought albums from the Lookout label as an import, which meant steeper prices for Mr. T Experience or Screeching Weasel albums. This also meant label-mate band tours such as MTX and the Smugglers, otherwise we might not have had the opportunity to see bands like Mr. T tour to Canada as often, especially Winnipeg. As a result I saw Mr. T two years later at the same venue, but not since or before the Mint-Lookout hookup. This resulted in the Mint bands such as Cub, Duotang and the Smugglers getting much needed exposure in the States. For this tour, the Smugglers headlined the dates in Canada while the Mr. T Experience headlined the shows in the U.S.

In Grant Lawrence's book, Dirty Windshields, he chronologically writes about the various tour-mates the band shared stages with around the world. In chapter 29, Selling The Sizzle, Grant details the positive relationship with their label mates from Lookout and Mint and touring with MTX. "On the sold-out Mr. T Experience tour, the Smugglers got tighter and tighter and with rapturous crowds every night, our confidence grew". My relationship and love for the band began with their first album, Everybody's Entitled To Their Own Opinion when I heard the song, Danny Partridge on a late night CBC program, Brave New Waves which I would periodically listen to while drawing or painting. It was a great program to discover new and different music especially music that didn't fit the mainstream of commercial radio. I took note and eventually tracked down the album, of course I paid import prices. They were definitely one of my favourite bands during the late 80's/early 90's, their music had a sense of humour and a driving melodic punk sound that I could relate to. Yes, thank you Dr. Frank for some great records, hopefully he can bring a version of the Mr. T Experience to town again someday.

This recording was recorded the same night as the Smugglers set (duh!) and my only petty complaint is I wish the Mr. T Experience would have played a longer set. Of course, if they were the headliner they would have, but I was just happy to finally see them live. I even got to meet the band after the show, I bought a shirt and CD that they graciously signed. The recording sounds pretty good considering this was over 20 years ago and I used a cheap mic and tape recorder. It's another show I've never shared or traded, so this is the exclusive premiere post of the show. A Very enjoyable show and highly recommended for fans of great Berkeley based power pop-punk rock that isn't Green Day.
Enjoy!
#12daysoftrouble

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MR. T EXPERIENCE
Wellington's
Winnipeg, MB
May 22, 1996
AUD Master

Sony mic> Sony WM-GX35 Recording Walkman> Maxell XLII 90 Cassette> Aiwa tape deck> ADS Instant music> usb> Nero SoundTrax> WAV> Direct WAV splitter> FLAC> rar

01. Sackcloth And Ashes
02. Last Time I Listened To You
03. Tapin' Up My Heart
04. I Just Wanna Do It With You
05. New Girlfriend
06. Another Yesterday
07. Semi-OK
08. Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba
09. Two-Minute Itch
10. Alternative Is Here To Stay!
11. The Future Ain't What It Used To Be
12. Disconnection
13. I Fell For You
14. Even Hitler Had A Girlfriend
15. Dumb Little Band
16. We Are the Future People Of Tomorrow

MR. T EXPERIENCE- 1996-05-22 Wellington's, Winnipeg, MB FLAC. rar

Day 4: The Smugglers Live In Winnipeg "No-Hit Rock 'n' Roll!"

This summer I spent two relaxing weeks up at the cottage and as in past years I caught up on my reading for the year. I typically don't have time or more realistically don't make time to read books while I'm in the city, more specifically when I have internet access. Our cottage can't get a TV signal, barely receives a cell phone signal and definitely do not have wi-fi. We do have electricity, running water and a phone line, but for the most part we have to make our own fun, like board/card games, handheld and phone video games, DVDs, swimming, hiking and reading. The cabin is jam packed with shelves of vintage books (mainly sci-fi), but I choose to bring a selection of books and magazines I've been stockpiling the rest of the year since I have loads of time on my hands. This year, by coincidence the books and mags were all music related, mainly non-fiction (plus one fiction re-read, High Fidelity). I finished a book I started earlier in the year, How Music Got Free- A Story of Obsession and Invention by Stephen Witt. I found this book very fascinating, as it follows the birth of the mp3 and how it revolutionized the music business and how it changed how we access music either through buying CD's, pirating music, downloading and streaming. It's a behind the scenes look through the vantage points of some of the players in the industry, the inventors of the mp3, a top music executive, a worker at a CD manufacturing plant, a leaker and the creators of many music pirating download sites. It intrigued me because I lived this life, I saw and participated in many of these practices seeking leaked  pre-releases, and shared music through many p2p sites uploading and downloading a lot of music. Personally, it brought back a lot of memories and it was a game changer for me because it increased my interest (and obsession) like nothing else and opened the door to music I wouldn't have otherwise sampled. I still buy a tremendous amount of vinyl, CDs and tapes and I subscribe to one music streaming site, but I still get a lot of music through file sharing and downloading. Anyways, this book is an interesting read, it's both entertaining and educational for the music fan and for anyone interested in the business of the music industry.

A book I was itching to read for months was the rock biography about the Vancouver band, The Smugglers, Dirty Windshields- The Best and Worst of The Smugglers Tour Diaries written by lead singer, Grant Lawrence. I usually don't read rock bios, but it caught my attention because the Smugglers were a band I saw on several occasions back in the 90's and when I was flipping through the book in the bookstore, I found a chapter a about their Winnipeg incident, (sorta) opening for the Young Fresh Fellows and Hoodoo Gurus at the U of M campus. I won't go into details (you have to buy the book), but I was at that show (another life-changing moment, seeing the Fellows for the first time live!) and I didn't realize the circumstances of why the Smugglers were bumped from the bill. A funny story from earlier that day, I took off from work for a couple of hours because the Fellows were advertised to play a noon hour set at University Centre. Disappointingly, they weren't playing, but instead a galoshes wearing band was taking the stage. My disappointment was soothed a couple songs in, these guys were amazing! It was the Smugglers! They were energetic, jumping around on stage and they played some straight-up rock 'n' roll that impressed the crap out of me. I remember  very little response from the student crowd and I might have been the only one that watched their whole set. I was hooked! I saw them a few years later in 1995 at the Pyramid on a week night and once again the crowd was small and uninterested. In fact, I seated myself dead centre at the edge of the dance floor with no one in front or around me, seriously? One of the things I took notice from the book is how many great bands the Smugglers played with on tour. Apart from the Fellows, the Smuggs played with and/or toured with Cub, the Donnas, the Gruesomes, Mudhoney, the Posies, Fastbacks, the Queers, Supersnazz and the Mr. T Experience to name just some of the bands mentioned in the book. Though there is an official soundtrack (best of The Smugglers) for the book available (digital only), the next few posts will be an unofficial "tour" soundtrack featuring live recordings of some of the previously mentioned bands.

The live recording for this post is taken from a Smugglers show from 1996 at the non-defunct Wellington's bar in Winnipeg. Opening for the Smugglers was Duotang (from Winnipeg) and fellow Lookout recording artists, the Mr. T Experience. I went primarily because I love MTX and I've always wanted to see them live, but all three bands were excellent. The bar was jammed packed (it's not a large venue), but thinking back it wasn't a bad place to see a band. I recorded the show on my recording Walkman and I transferred the cassette to digital on my hard-drive. The fidelity isn't high and the crowd noise is definitely present, but it has that "I'm in the middle of a crowded bar" feel to it and after listening to the tape for the first time in years it sounds pretty good. This is the first time this show has been shared, I'm almost positive no one else taped it, so it's a nice historical document of the Smugglers on tour...in Winnipeg.
Enjoy!
#12daysoftrouble

Please do NOT sell or convert to lossy format (except for personal use)
Please share!

THE SMUGGLERS
Wellington's
Winnipeg, MB
May 22, 1996
AUD Master

Sony mic> Sony WM-GX35 Recording Walkman> Maxell XLII 90 Cassette> Aiwa tape deck> ADS Instant music> usb> Nero SoundTrax> WAV> Direct WAV splitter> FLAC> rar

01. Rock With The Smugglers
02. Smokin' Monkey
03. Make You Mine
04. Big Trouble
05. ??
06. Especially You
07. Keep On
08. She Ain't No Egyptian
09. The B'n'L
10. Bishy-Bishy!
11. Alan Thicke
12. Whiplash
13. Vancouver, BC
14. Stop! Look! Listen!
15. Kiss Like A Nun
16. Rock 'N' Roll Was Never This Fun
17. Rock with The Smugglers

Encore
18. To Serve, Protect And Entertain
19. Supercar

Not 100% sure about the song titles on the setlist, if you identify the missing song (s), let me know.

THE SMUGGLERS- 1996-05-22 Wellington's, Winnipeg, MB FLAC. rar

Day 3: Rilo Kiley Live In Minneapolis 2003

I was looking for something more random to post for the third installment of the 12 Days Of Trouble. I already had an idea of what I wanted to post for about 75% of the posts when I decided the take the challenge, but I left open a couple of days to decide later. Most of the posts will have a connection in some way to each other and a clue to what's coming is that "I am stuck in the 90's", you'll see what I"m talking about next post.

I chose a Rilo Kiley show from 2003 for a couple of reasons. It's no secret, I'm a big fan of their first four albums (including their first album) and I have posted some shows in the past, including a Jenny Lewis set at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. She really is so sweet especially on the band's earlier shows (pre-2004) when they were much more low-key and less polished performers. There was something kind of charming about them that said "indie" on smaller labels with less attention and focus just on Lewis, but more on Rilo Kiley the band, if that makes sense.

Another reason I chose this show is because it is recorded at the 400 Bar in Minneapolis, a smaller intimate venue that I've seen a couple of great concerts at. This show has a quiet intimate mood to it that is perfectly matched with the venue and I now regret not making the trip south to see the show. (Unfortunately, the 400 Bar closed it's doors on January 1, 2013) The sound quality of the recording is fantastic taken from the soundboard and thanks to whoever recorded and posted the show on Dime. The setlist leans heavily towards The Execution of All Things album, but also includes early workings of It's A Hit and Portions For Foxes that would appear on their next album, More Adventurous which would be released a year later. The band would gain wider indie success with that album and the days of the small venues like the 400 Bar would be left behind when they signed with the majors with Under The Blacklight. Anyways, here's a look back 15 years ago at the 400 Bar in Minneapolis.
Enjoy!
#12daysoftrouble

Please do NOT sell or convert to mp3 (except for personal use)
Please share!

RILO KILEY
400 Bar
Minneapolis, MN
July 20. 2003
Soundboard

01. It's A Hit
02. Always
03. The Execution Of All Things
04. My Slumbering Heart
05. The Good That Won't Come Out
06. August
07. Paint's Peeling
08. Jenny, You're Barely Alive
09. A Better Son/Daughter
10. Bulletproof
11. With Arms Outstretched
12. Salute My Shorts!
13. Hail To Whatever You Found In The Sunlight That Surrounds You
14. Portions For Foxes / Spectacular Views
15. Capturing Moods

RILO KILEY- 2003-07-20 400 Bar, Minneapolis, MN FLAC. rar

Day 2: Young Fresh Fellows- Live In NYC 1989

 If you've been following this blog for any length of time you probably already know who my favourite band is. The first clue is in the name of this music blog which is also the title of a song by the Young Fresh Fellows, from their debut album, The Fabulous Sounds Of The Pacific Northwest. Teenage Dogs In Trouble is the 12th track on the album which was released in 1984 and I hope this blog can do justice to the song (and the band). When I traded tapes back in the early 90's, my top band on my want list was any live recordings from the Fellows. A great starting point was the Gag Fah tape that featured a compilation of live, outtakes and rare tracks from pre-1990, but it took me a lot of list exchanges and searching to find any live recordings. Eventually I connected with some traders that had shows from 80's and 90's and once the internet took off I was able to work trades through sites like, Tapetraders.com, eTree and downloading on Dime.  Once you've compiled all you can buy from a band, like the Fellows or the Replacements (albums, CD's 7" ers, eps' etc) the search for live recordings and unreleased songs can only help the addiction to hear more. If you're a fan of the Young Fresh Fellows (or if you're not yet, you will be), four of the twelve days of trouble are for you!

This Young Fresh Fellows show came to me through a trade many years ago along with a couple other Fellows shows. It was transferred onto a CDR as one long track, but for your convenience and mine, I split the tracks and added a setlist. The album, This One's For The Ladies came out the same year as this show and it was the beginning of the Kurt Bloch-era both on record and live replacing guitarist Chuck Carroll. Funny thing is, this might be the first show of the tour after Kurt broke his arm or wrist during a previous show and he was temporarily replaced by the Pontiac Brother's, Ward Dotson on guitar. If you've heard Gag Fah, one of the live tracks is from this show with Dotson on lead vocals for the Mott the Hoople cover, Movin' On. A good sounding audience recording with some cool covers and a select of songs from the Ladies album and Dotson does a very commendable job filling in for Kurt. The date of the show that I had listed when I received the disc was October 11, 1989, but according to the Gag Fah track list, the date is November 16, 1989. I have another YFF show from November 24 in Cincinnati, so it might make sense the correct date is in November. If anyone has any recollection or knowledge of YFF tour dates in 1989, please let me know so we can confirm the date. On the last track (19. Equator Blues (partial)), I don't think this is from the same show and I don't have any information to it's source. Let's call this the bonus track. Anyways, this is a good one, one I've wanted to post for a while.
Enjoy!
#12daysoftrouble

Do NOT sell or convert to mp3 (except for personal use).
Please share!
 
YOUNG FRESH FELLOWS
Pyramid Club
New York City, NY
October 11, 1989 (or November 16, 1989?)
AUD

01. Girl From Ipanema
02. Get Outta My Cave
03. Taco Wagon
04. Picture Book
05. This One's For The Ladies
06. Ms. Lonelyhearts
07. Why I Oughta
08. I Started A Joke
09. Amy Grant
10. Movin' On
11. Middleman Of Time
12. My Friend Ringo
13. Topsy Turvy Theme
14. Rotation
15. Backroom Of The Bar
16. Have Love Will Travel
17. Beer Money
18. Born Free

19. Equator Blues

YOUNG FRESH FELLOWS- 1989-10-11, Pyramid Club, NYC, NY FLAC. rar

Hey, We're Twelve years Old!! 12 Days Of Trouble Begins Now! Day One- Early Violent Femmes

Not my actual LP. Taken from discogs.com

Believe it or not, this blog is 12 years old. Despite the takedown notices, copyright infringement violations and general apathy on my part, Teenage Dogs In Trouble is still alive. I know I don't show it all the time, but this music blog is a labour of love, my love of music, live and on record. I constantly surround myself with music that isn't canned shit off the radio or the usual mainstream garbage we are sometimes forced to listen to. Hopefully the people that read this blog can appreciate a similar taste in music as myself or discover music they aren't familiar with before. Through the years I've slightly changed the focus and format of the blog. My original intend was to share music samples from albums and CD's as well as sharing recordings of some the shows I've attended. The takedown notices were in part because of some of the copyrighted music I shared, so in recent years the focus is more on live concert recordings from shows I went to or live recordings that I've downloaded or traded for. I'm also posting in FLAC format instead of lossless mp3. I go to less concerts than I used to, but I have so many live recordings I still want to share so this blog will continue on as long as there is an audience. I appreciate all your comments and I try to reply to as many as possible, so please keep your comments and requests coming.

To celebrate 12 years, I thought it would be fun to challenge myself by posting 12 posts til the end of  August. My track record for frequent posting in the past couple years isn't that good, so this will be very challenging. A popular Instagram/Facebook "thing" are daily or 30 day challenges where the participant will post something (art, music, writing, photos etc.) for consecutive days. I have a friend that just completed a 30 day challenge playing drums to a different cover song everyday as well as a creating a watercolour piece of art. It was amazing and inspiring! (Congrats Kelly!!). I'll be honest, I don't think I can post for 12 consecutive days (I do have a 9-5 job), but I will attempt to write 12 posts from now until the end of the month (in 18 days). I'm coming off vacation and I did a lot of reading (mainly non-fiction music-related) while relaxing at the cottage so many of the posts will reflect the soundtrack of some of what I read or some of the music I listened to on the pod.

Day one begins with an early rare live recording from the Violent Femmes. This recording was ripped from a bootleg LP called, Violence In The Streets which apparently is quite scarce and it was posted on Dime some years back. There isn't an exact date for the concert, but it was from 1983, the same year as the first Violent Femmes album. A friend recommended I listen to their first album right after it was released and it changed my perception of what music could be and it was very influential to my musical taste. For me, it sounded nothing like anything I had heard before. The distinct sound of Brian Ritchie's bass, Gordon Gano's angry vocals, that snare drum sound, that both scared and intrigued me. The lyrics were sometimes religious, was this Christian rock?  Were they anti-religious? I honestly wasn't sure, but really I didn't care, I loved their music! This live recording captures some of the raw energy of the band and it must have been exciting seeing them in a small venue this early in their career. Interesting, the setlist drew from songs from 4 of their first 5 albums as well as a couple songs (Gimme The Car, Ugly) that weren't originally included on the first album (later as bonus tracks on the US CD version). A very good sounding recording that is well worth the listen if you're a fan. Highly recommended!
Enjoy!!

#12daysoftrouble

Please DO NOT sell!
Do not trade this in lossy format.
Convert to lossy for personal use only.

VIOLENT FEMMES
Tupelo's Tavern
New Orleans, LA
XX-XX-1983
very good AUD (on-stage mic?)

Vinyl LP bootleg> CDR> EAC> SHN> CDR> FLAC> rar

01. Kiss Off
02. Girl Trouble
03. Hallowed Ground (called Hello-Girl on the LP)
04. Gimme The Car
05. Country Death Song
06. Gone Daddy Gone
07. It's Gonna Rain
08. Add It Up
09. Special
10. Ugly
11. Prove My Love

VIOLENT FEMMES- 1983-xx-xx Tupelo Tavern, New Orleans, LA FLAC. rar