Scruffy The Cat- Boom Boom Boom Bingo

I had a request for this, but also I thought it was a nice tie in with the start of the Stanley Cup finals on Wednesday with the Vancouver Canucks versus the Boston Bruins. Scruffy The Cat hails from Boston or should I say hailed, since they haven't released an album or performed together in over 20 years. Scruffy the Cat is a long time favourite of mine (as well as here on TDIT) and I even had the thrill of seeing them live once in 1987 (?) when they were touring the BBBB record.

Fans of the band will be thrilled to hear they are planning to reunite for a one-off show on June 12th at TT the Bear's in Boston. Unfortunately, the circumstances of this reunion is a fundraising benefit concert for Scruffy front man, Charlie Chesterman who was diagnosed with colon cancer last year and has been undergoing intensive chemotherapy treatments. There is a sweet line-up of bands performing, including The Upper Crust, The Raging Teens, Barrence Whitfield, Chaz & The Motorbikes (Charlie's most recent band) and former Scruffy members Stephen Fredette (guitar), Randall Gibson (drums), Burns Stanfield (keyboards), and possibly Stona Fitch (banjo) are expected to play onstage together, with Chesterman, for the first time since disbanding in 1990. If you are anywhere near the Boston area on June 12th, I urge you to support this cause and take in what I expect to be an amazing day of music. For more details about this show and about how you can contribute and donate to a fund set up for Chesterman and his family, go to www.charliechesterman.com and the Facebook event page, Friends Of Charlie Chesterman Benefit. I hear they might be selling some new Scruffy the Cat t-shirts at the benefit, I would LOVE to buy one of those! I bought a shirt back in 1987, but it's now threadbare, torn .

Boom Boom Boom Bingo is a five-song EP that was released between the Tiny Days and Moons Of Jupiter albums. The EP consists of 2 new originals and 3 live songs and the music is upbeat. Song for song it's a pretty good listen, too bad it's so short.
Enjoy!!

SCRUFFY THE CAT
Boom Boom Boom Bingo (1987)

1. You Dirty Rat
2. Blue Russian
3. Shadow Boy (live)
4. Runaway (live)
5. Happiness to Go (live)

SCRUFFY THE CAT- Boom Boom Boom Bingo. rar

Sloan- Live At The Halifax Music Festival 1996

The cartoon above was drawn by Paul Covello.

Last night, Sloan played in my city as part of their 20th anniversary tour. I slightly regret not going, as I have never seen the band live, but I had family from out of town visiting so I missed the show. I heard they might play at least a song from each of their 10 albums and I'm really hoping someone recorded the show. Sloan's latest album, Double Cross (XX) is a fine album, maybe their best since the 90's and I wouldn't mind hearing live versions of songs from that record.

Until someone posts a show from their current tour somewhere online, I'll have to be content to listening to older shows. During the mid-90's many of their live shows were broadcast on CBC radio, I have a few I've downloaded and I have a couple on cassette that I recorded off the radio. One such show is from 1996, during the Halifax Music Festival which I recently transferred from cassette. During the broadcast, there was short sets by Change Of Heart, Scud Mountain Boys, Push-Kings, SIANspheric and Sloan. I'm not sure if Sloan's set is complete or not, but I'm hoping it was just short because of all the other bands on the bill on the same night. This show would have been circa, One Chord To Another and some consider this Sloan's height of commercial popularity (at least this is one of my favourite Sloan records), if they ever really had any. Anyways, if the response is good I'll post more Sloan shows and if anyone can help with the setlist (I'm too busy and tired right now), that would be appreciated. Thanks!
Enjoy!!

SLOAN
The Birdland
Halifax, NS
September 14, 1996

SLOAN- 9-14-96. rar

Blake Babies- Rosy Jack World

This week I will try to post your requests!

When I was in Toronto, I bought a used copy of the Blake Babies first album, Nicely, Nicely. I had a digital version already, but I figured it's hard to find and it would be cool to have the actual CD. It was a consideration to post here, but I had already posted their last EP and then I was asked if I had a rip of the Rosy Jack World, the last release before the Blake Babies broke up...the first time!

Released in 1991, this 5-song EP featured 2 covers (Temptation Eyes, Severed Lips) and 3 originals. This mini-album was a solid way to close out their all too brief career. The disc also gave foreshadowing of what was to come for Juliana Hatfield who went solo after this release and even re-recorded the song Nirvana (just acoustic guitar and vocals from Juliana) for her debut album, Hey Babe released a year later.
Enjoy!

BLAKE BABIES
Rosy Jack World (1991)

1. Temptation Eyes
2. Downtime
3. Take Me
4. Severed Lips
5. Nirvana

BLAKE BABIES- Rosy Jack World. rar

They Might Be Giants- The Flood Show

Credit: Susan Howson / Richmond.com

Thanks for your kind comments, I will be do best to get to some of your requests this week. Before I get to that, I have something else on my mind. In the city and Province where I live, there are two major news stories dominating the headlines for the last few weeks. First, the NHL looks like it will return to Winnipeg when the sale from Atlanta is completed. Supposedly, according to reliable sources, the sale is a mere formality and an official announcement is expected any day now. If you aren't from Canada or even North America, you might not understand why this is such a huge issue. You see here in Winnipeg, we lost our NHL franchise, the Jets when it was sold and moved down south to Phoenix. You would think a franchise in a cold, hockey-type climate could support a pro hockey team, but with the financial situation at the time with high salaries, low Canadian dollar and an inadequate arena, it became difficult and seemingly impossible to keep the team. Winnipeg is a hockey hungry city and though it's AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose was a suitable substitute, it still wasn't the NHL. Anyways, their return is imminent and this is huge news in our mid-sized Canadian city.

The other "big" news story in my region is the flood. The rising waters of the Red River and Assiniboine River has kept people on edge with evacuations and much loss of property and homes in this annual battle against Mother Nature. This appears to be one of the worst floods ever for this region even topping the "Flood of the Century" in 1997.

As a tribute or at least because I came across this CD the other day, I'm posting a live show from They Might Be Giants performing the complete Flood album. This album was originally released in 1990 and this concert celebrated the 10th anniversary of the album. I received this disc in a trade, but it was recorded and released exclusively through TMBG Unlimited which was a collection of mp3-only albums which were available to eMusic subscribers (no longer). The sound quality is excellent, thought there is some static on the opening track and according to the setlist for the show, this recording is incomplete because they play additional songs besides the Flood set. Regardless, this is a great compliment to one of They Might Be Giants most popular albums.
Enjoy!

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY
"The Flood Show"
November 30, 2000

Theme From Flood
Birdhouse In Your Soul
Lucky Ball & Chain
Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
Dead
Particle Man
Twisting
Your Racist Friend
We Want A Rock
Someone Keeps Moving My Chair
Hearing Aid
Minimum Wage
Letterbox
Whistling In The Dark
Hot Cha
Women & Men
Sapphire Bullets Of Pure Love
They Might Be Giants
Road Movie To Berlin

TMBG- The Flood Show, 11-30-00. rar

The Sadies- In Concert, Volume One

To round out my mini-tribute to Toronto is a live recording from Toronto-based band, The Sadies. Their music combines garage rock, traditional country and surf rock, and they have collaborated for albums with Andre Williams, Jon Langford and Neko Case. They backed up Neko on tour and for the release of her the excellent live album, The Tigers Have Spoken and they seem to be to go-to back-up band for others including Greg Keeler from Blue Rodeo.

The Sadies recorded their own double live album over a two-night stand at Lee's Palace in Toronto and proved they are as good on vinyl as they are live. For this concert, the band shares the stage with many of those collaborators as well as other guest appearances which makes this show seem like their version of the Last Waltz. Guests include, Kelly Hogan, Jon Spencer, Garth Hudson, Gary Louris, members of Blue Rodeo and of course, Jon Langford and Neko Case. The album is a little long and sprawling at times, but it's a nice sampling of the range of sound The Sadies possess. The guest appearances are a treat, but at times it pushes the Sadies back into the back-up role when it should be their time to shine. Overall, a great tribute to the band, amazing performances and a mighty fine listen!
Enjoy!

THE SADIES
In Concert, Vol. 1 (2006)

DISC 1

IntroductionCheat
Why Be So Curious (Pt.III)
1,000 Cities Falling (Pt. II)
Rat Creek
Song Of The Chief Musician (Pt. I)
16 Mile Creek
Taller Than The Pines
Lay Down Your Arms
Higher Power
Uncle Larry's Breakdown
Eastern Winds
Stay A Little Longer
Northumberland West
Lonely Guy
Snow Squad
Leave Me Alone
Ridge Runner Reel
1,000,002 Songs
Dying Is Easy
Tiger Tiger

DISC 2

Back Off
Justine Alright
Talking Down
American Pageant
Strange Birds
Home
Hold On, Hold On
Evangeline
Tailspin
Good Flying Day
Lucifer Sam
Another Day
All Passed Away
The Story's Often Told
You're Everywhere
Within A Stone
Food, Water, Etc.
Jason Fleming
Her Love Made Me
Memphis, Egypt



THE SADIES- In Concert, Volume One (Disc 1). rar
THE SADIES- In Concert, Volume One (Disc 2). rar

Weeping Tile- 1995 Live CBC Broadcast

Photo of Weeping Tile by Graham Kennedy

Another CBC radio broadcast recorded in Toronto. This is also from 1995 with Kingston band, Weeping Tile, that helped launch the career of a TDIT fav, Sarah Harmer. Much of the material is from their first major label record, Cold Snap and fans of the band will be pleased to hear this is a great sounding show recorded at the Opera House. This is the only Weeping Tile show I've heard, so I'm guessing they are hard to come by. So if you have any of their shows, let me know.
Enjoy!

WEEPING TILE
Opera House
Toronto, Ont.
Sept. 22, 1995
CBC Real Time

01. intro
02. Joint Account
03. Poked
04. Cold Snap
05. UFO Rosie
06. Good Fortune
07. Westray
08.
09. The Room with the Sir John A. View
10. Handkerchiefs and Napkins
11. Pushover
12. The Grin
13. Sinner
14. outro

WEEPING TILE- Toronto 9-22-95. rar

The Muffs- Live In Toronto 1995

Photo by Shiki-jitsu

I was nowhere near Toronto when this show was recorded in 1995, but I did walk past Lee's Palace on Bloor Street West last week. Many great bands have played this venue and hopefully sometime in the future I'll get the opportunity to see a show there. (I noticed the Baseball Project is there on June 1!)

This Muff's show was recorded and broadcast on CBC's Real Time concert series and the sound quality is excellent. I built up a large collection of concerts recorded off the radio and CBC usually broadcast the complete unedited concert with a nice matrix mix that sounded as crisp and clear as any official concert recordings. I haven't listened to much Muffs recently, but I have their first 4 albums and this show would have been circa, the Blonder And Blonder record, their second album.

THE MUFFS
Lee's Palace
Toronto, Ont.
Aug. 30, 1995
FM Broadcast

01. intro
02. Agony
03. Lucky Guy
04. Saying Goodbye
05. Ethyl My Love
06. Sad Tomorrow
07. Laying On A Bed Of Roses
08. What You've Done
09. Beat Your Heart Out
10. Red Eyed Troll
11. End It All
12. I Don't Like You
13. Right In The Eye
14. Big Mouth
15. I Need You
16. Oh Nina
17. encore break
18. Just A Game
19. From Your Girl
20. New Love
21. outro

THE MUFFS- Lee's Palace, Aug 30, 1995. rar

The Rugburns- Mommy I'm Sorry

Back from Toronto and I was thinking the theme of the next few posts will be Toronto-related in some way. Probably not Toronto bands, but either the venue or a song reference or something. Had a great time, though in reality I was only there one full day and two halves, I love walking around and exploring a different city. You see, I live in a mid-sized city (3/4 million), so when I visit a larger city, I'm still in awe of their subway system, art galleries, shopping (record stores!) and tall skyscrapers.

Speaking of skyscrapers of Toronto, I've been meaning to post this EP, Mommy I'm Sorry by The Rugburns for some time now. If you're never listened to or heard of the Rugburns and you like music with some humour and lots of cynicism, this is a good one! This 6-song EP contains probably their best-known song and live favourite, Dick's Automotive. I have a few live versions of this song and it's one of the craziest insane songs I've ever heard...a classic! The rest of the disc is pretty good too, including a nice remake of the Sesame Street theme. These guys are great and I highly recommend their full-length albums, Morning Wood and Taking The World By Donkey.

Though the band doesn't play much anymore front-man, Steve Poltz still tours and records regularly. You may see him at a house concert near you.
(FYI- Poltz is Canadian-born (Halifax)!)

For a sampling of the Rugburn's live show, archive.org has downloads and streaming of some of their concerts.

THE RUGBURNS
Mommy I'm Sorry (1995)

1. The Fairies Came
2. Lockjaw
3. Dick's Automotive
4. This Flood
5. Skyfuckingline Of Toronto
6. Sesame Street

THE RUGBURNS- Mommy I'm Sorry. rar

Blake Babies- Epilogue

While browsing the PledgeMusic page, I couldn't help myself and I bought an original Juliana Hatfield artwork (acrylic painting) with proceeds going towards her new album and her support of dog (and cat) shelters. Looking forward to framing it up and getting up in my music room, I'll post a photo when I receive the artwork.

I also noticed she had up for sale, the rare last Blake Babies EP called, Epilogue which was sold only at shows (Some Girls) and was self-released through Juliana's, Ye Olde Records. This is now her preferred manner to release new music without having to appease record label execs and the mass audience. This five-song EP was the last ever songs recorded by the Blake Babies around the time they got back together for their 2001 reunion tour. On the PledgeMusic page, Juliana was selling the last three sealed copies and they sold out quickly for $200 each. I know this isn't a substitution for the real thing, it would be extremely cool to have a copy of this EP, but for those that can't afford it or can't find it because it's out of print, I think it's definitely worth the listen. Some interesting covers and a re-mix of Nothing Ever Happens, is an appropriate nice end to this chapter of the Blake Babies. I'm still kicking myself for not driving to Minneapolis to catch one of their reunion shows! It's been another 10 years since then, how about another reunion?

BLAKE BABIES
Epilogue (2002)

1. Walk A Thin Line
   
2. Shakin' Street
3. I Wanna Be Sedated
4. My Motor
5. Nothing Ever Happens (remix)

BLAKE BABIES- Epilogue. rar

Juliana Hatfield- Live In Toronto, November 18, 1997

There are two reasons for this post. First, I'm going to Toronto for a couple of days next week, so I thought it was appropriate to post a live show from Toronto (Lee's Palace, in this case) and secondly, Juliana Hatfield is recording a new album that might be released as early as July!

Toronto is always cool, I've been there more in the last 5 years than the 40 years previous, so I'm trying to explore and check out different things each time and I'm realizing there is a lot I haven't seen. I've visited the Hockey Hall Of Fame two times (or is it 3?), I've been to a Argos and Jays game, I've seen a show at Second City, done the Science Centre and I've made my usual rounds to CD/record stores. Things I haven't done in Toronto include, seeing a live concert, Leafs game, Art Gallery Of Ontario, ROM, up the CN tower...any suggestions? Not much in the way of live bands when I'm there, I guess the time to go would be during NXNE next month.

I don't know if you've heard about this yet or not, but there's a brilliant program called Pledgemusic, that allows fans (like myself) to pledge money directly to musicians to help fund music projects such as recording albums, touring, etc.

Here's how it works (taken from the site): PledgeMusic provides fans and artists the opportunity to work together to make new records and raise money for charity. By combining new social networking technology, old school music biz know how and an irresistible menu of exclusive incentives, fans can visit the site to hear great new music, enjoy and share unique experiences with the artists they love and actively participate in the release process. Juliana is also donating a portion of the proceeds to the Save A Sato Shelter and a portion to the Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem, Massachusetts, where she volunteers.

I've done my share as I've donated money to go towards the making of Juliana Hatfield's new album. She will be using the money raised to go directly to assist in the recording expenses, production, packaging and marketing for the album. When you donate, you will have access to her updates on the project with exclusive mp3's, video, photos and Juliana's thoughts on the process. For incentive, the donation is in the form of items to purchase with as little as $10 for a new album download to as much as $1000 for one of the guitars she is using to record the record. There are many unique items that hard-core Juliana fans would love to get their hands on such as, original artwork, cassette of song ideas, workbook, a skype session and locks of her hair. Unfortunately, most of these items are sold already, but she has been adding more items as this has been going on. I bought a signed CD almost a month ago (as I missed most of the good stuff), but I may pledge more. Presently, Juliana is in the studio recording tracks for the album and she has given us daily updates and video clips of the process. Very interesting and well worth the tiny investment.

This is a great show, I remember when it was broadcast on CBC radio and I missed half the set and recorded (on my cassette-blaster) only the last bunch of songs. Fortunately, the excellent blog, Wilfully Obscure posted the concert a few years ago and my search for the show was satisfied. A nice sounding FM recording with Juliana at the height of her commercial success (arguably?), which even includes a couple of songs from her never released, God's Foot recording, as well as a cool version of the Blake Babies, Take Your Head Off My Shoulder and the Descendant's, Hope.

JULIANA HATFIELD
Lee's Palace
Toronto, ON
November 18, 1997

01. I Got No Idols
02. Outsider
03. Fade Away
04. Dying Proof
05. Fleur De Lys
06. Waves
07. What Have I Done to You
08. My Sister
09. My Darling
10. For the Birds
11. Live on Tomorrow
12. Addicted
13. Dumb Fun
14. Spin the Bottle
15. Take Your Head Off My Shoulder
16. Trying Not To Think About It
17. Hope

JULIANA HATFIELD- Toronto, 11-18-97. rar

Imaginary Cities Opening Set Before The Pixies

One band that has been generating a big buzz recently, is the Winnipeg band, Imaginary Cities. They formed about a year ago with members Rusty Matyas (from the Waking Eyes and currently a member of the Weakerthans) and Marti Sarbit (The Solutions), who released their debut full length, Temporary Resident in February 2011. They put together a full band last May and debuted live at Toronto's NXNE music festival in June. They have since toured the country and lucked out supporting the Pixies on their current tour.

I previously saw Imaginary Cities before Christmas when they opened for the Weakerthans marathon show. I recorded the show, but I haven't even listened to it yet...I guess I should. I also recorded their set before the Pixies last week and I have had a couple listens and I'm quite impressed. Their sound is tight and their songs are catchy and well crafted. I'm kind of on the fence with Marti's voice, but I'm enjoying the music and I would probably go see them again. Have a listen and let me know what you think. CBC radio is all gaga about the band, so judge for yourself.
Enjoy!

IMAGINARY CITIES
Centennial Concert Hall
Winnipeg, MB
April 27, 2011
(Sorry, I don't have a setlist.)

FLAC version on Dimeadozen (need to be a member)
So far, no one has downloaded the show!

IMAGINARY CITIES- 2011-04-27. rar (mp3)

The Pixies- Live In Winnipeg, April 2011

Photo by Pong0814

If you're a fan of the Pixies and specifically the Doolittle record, this show is a must listen. I've listened to my recording of the concert show twice at work already and I'm pretty happy how it turned out, except of course for the usual overly enthusiastic fan boys behind me. Apparently one of them "loves Kim" and he wasn't ashamed to let everyone know for most of the show. At least they weren't talking throughout the concert, which in my taping annoyances list is the worst offense.
Enjoy!

If you have an account, I recommend the FLAC version posted on Dime. (If you love live recordings, try to sign up!) If you don't plan to trade the show or you don't care if the music is compressed, see the mp3 file below.

PIXIES
Centennial Concert Hall
Winnipeg, MB
April 27, 2011

01. Dancing The Manta Ray
02. Weird At My School
03. Bailey's Walk
04. Manta Ray
05. Debaser
06. Tame
07. Wave Of Mutilation
08. I Bleed
09. Here Comes My Man
10. Dead
11. Monkey Goes To Heaven
12. Mr. Grieves
13. Crackity Jones
14. La La Love You
15. No. 13 Baby
16. There Goes My Gun
17. Hey
18. Silver
19. Gouge Away

20 encore crowd
21. Wave Of Mutilation (UK Surf)
22. Into The White

23. encore 2 crowd
24. Winterlong
25. Bone Machine
26. The Holiday Song
27. Nimrod's Son
28. Where Is My Mind?
29. Gigantic

PIXIES- 2011-04-27. rar