Sunday 21 April 2013

Game Theory, Loud Family and Scott Miller live and rare.



After seeing a number of posts on the LF/GT Facebook page regarding live and rare stuff and finding out that some of my old links no longer work, I've put this post together which rounds up all my stuff in one place.

It's all yours.

Some of the files are missing basic information - venues, exact dates etc. Any updates will be gratefully recieved. Some of the files will only be available for 14 days, but I'm looking for a more permanent home for them.

I scooped these recordings up from a variety of sources, but most of the live recordings can be traced back to "Photo" Robert Toren. I'm indebted to Oxy, Don Valentine, Mick, Lunchboy and numerous subscribers to Dimeadozen for the rest. A sincere thank you to you all.  

All the Game Theory albums have beenre-issued beautifully by the amazing Omnivore label

Buy Loud family CDs, DVDs and Scotts' book "Music: What Happened?" here:

ALTERNATE LEARNING

ALTERNATE LEARNING EP:
(Rational Records, 1979)
Green card
What’s the Matter
Gumby’s in a coma
When she’s alone
________________________________________________
PAINTED WINDOWS
(Rational Records 1981)
Another wasted afternoon
Sex war
The new you
Dark days
Occupation unknown
Dresden
Beach State rocking
Ulysses
Painted windows
Let’s not wait
________________________________________________


NEVER MIND THE DIGINOISE 1*
(This and volumes 2 and 3 below are assembled from the tracks that appeared monthly for a while on loudfamily.com. They come from a variety of sources - some are live, some are rarities and, in the case of "Vado Via", specially recorded for the site. Also included are tracks from tribute and sampler CDs)

Intro
(Unknown)
Look through any window
(Loud Family; Recorded for the compilation CD "Sing Hollies in Reverse")
When she’s alone
(Alternate Learning; From the Alternate Learning EP, recorded 1979)
Beach state rocking
(Scott Miller; solo acoustic performance from an Oct. 9th 1985 Game Theory show in Detroit - venue unknown)
Here it is tomorrow
(Game Theory; recorded on Nov. 3, 1988, at Max's On Broadway in Baltimore )
Chardonnay (long version)
(Game Theory; Included as CD copies only featured the edited version to keep the total album time within acceptable limits)
We love you Carol and Alison
(Game Theory; recorded on Nov. 3, 1988, at Max's On Broadway in Baltimore )
24
(The Loud Family; performed as an encore by Soott Miller. The track was recorded at the
Loud Family's Oct. 5, 1996 show at the Hotel Utah in San Francisco)
The Letter
(Game Theory; From the French only LP Dead Center 1986)
He do the police/beauty and the beast
(The Loud Family; recorded Feb. 1, 1993, at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco)
Back of a car
(The Loud Family; recorded Oct. 5, 1996, at the Hotel Utah in San Francisco)
Tearjerkin’
(The Loud Family; recorded April 16, 2000 at TT the Bear's Place in Cambridge, MA
Inverness (with Aimee Mann)
(Aimee Mann and Scott Miller; recorded June 28, 1996, at Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco)
 
NEVER MIND THE DIGINOISE 2
Sexy Sadie
(The Loud Family; recorded July 9, 1998, at the Cactus Club in Milwaukee, Wl)
Cara Lee
(Scott Miller: recorded in 2008 for the 125 Records website)
Horse with no name
(The Loud Family: From the compilation 'Star Power' Pravda records 1995)
My free ride
(Game Theory; a Miller/Quercio composition from 1989))
Chicago and Miss Jovans Land-O-mat
(Loud Family; From the compilation Yellow Pills #4 Big Deal records 1997)
Vado via
(Scott Miller; recorded Fall 2001 at Scott‘s house )
Like a girl Jesus
(Game Theory;  recorded on Nov. 3, 1988, at Max's On Broadway in Baltimore )
We’re for the dark
(The Loud Family; from the Badfinger tribute album ‘Come and get it’)
You could make it all worthwhile
(Scott Miller: From the "Adolescent Embarrassment Fest" fan club tape; this song was written and recorded by Scott in 1977!)
Rose of Sharon
(Game Theory;  from the 1990 True Gamesters Christmas fan club tape)
A child’s Christmas saving the whales
( Game Theory; from the 1989 True Gamesters fan club recording)
Water
(Game Theory; Part 2 of the Christmas selection, taken from Game Theory’s 1989 True Gamesters fan club recording, featuring Michael Quercio)


NEVER MIND THE DIGINOISE 3
A huge thank you to Lunchboy for digging around in the dusty recesses of an abandoned hard drive and plucking these last remaining beauties from the void. As far as I know, this completes the set of files posted by Sue Trowbridge on loudfamily.com. It's Lunchboys' link to a Filefactory file. The trick is to click 'Slow download' and uncheck the box which says something like 'use Filefactory downloader'. Thanks again Lunchboy and also to Jen Grover who also raided her archives for the MP3s.

Dripping with looks
(The Loud Family; recorded on April 16th, 2000 in the studio of WFMU-FM in Jersey city, NJ)
Sword Swallower
(The Loud Family; alternate version. Recorded Aug 8th, 1998 at The Bottom Of The Hill in San Francisco)
Together now, very minor
(The Loud Family; recorded Sep 20, 1993 in the studios of Greater London Radio, London UK )
Total mass destruction
(Loud Family; recorded 1994 at Rob Poors house in San Francisco)
Corpus Christi
(Scott Miller; cover of  an Avengers song. Recorded Dec 21, 2000 at The Bottom Of The Hill in San Francisco )
Christmas Moog
(Scott Miller; recorded in 1977 at Scotts' parents house in Sacramento)
Crosseyed
(Scott Miller; Brendan Benson cover, recorded Dec 21, 2000 at The Bottom Of The Hill in san Francisco) 
Fairest of the seasons
(Scott Miller; Nico cover. Recorded Sept 29th, 2000 at The Starry Plough in Berkeley)
Finnegans Wake
(Scott Miller; recorded June 30, 2001 at The Starry Plough in Berkeley)
Little Daisy
(Scott Miller; Anton Barbeau cover. Recorded June 23, 2001 at The True Love Coffeehouse in Sacramento )
Revolution 9
(Scott Miller and Anton Barbeau; recorded for a 'White Album' tribute that never materialised)
Paranoid
(Scott Miller and Kenny Kessel; Black sabbath cover. Recorded June 30th, 2001 at The Starry Plough in Berkeley)





*Footnote: The compilation gets it's name from the fact that I diligently dubbed all the MP3s onto two CDs which, over time, got corrupted, with several tracks becoming unplayable. Ain't technology great?
________________________________________________

CHRISTMAS 1990 FAN CLUB CASSETTE
(Sent out to fans in the Game Theory fan club at Christmas 1990. Listen closely for tracks which were to appear on P.A.B.A.R.A.T a few months later)

________________________________________________

SACRAMENTO 1984
(Fat Fonzies) (Audience Recording)
Penny things wont
Real nighttime
Curse of the frontierland
Waltz the halls away
24
Friend of the family
Nine lives to rigel five
Aliens of our midst
I wanna get hit by a car
Shark pretty
Rayon drive
I wanna hold your hand

________________________________________________
ATLANTA 1984
(Audience Recording)
I’ve tried subtlety
Girl with a guitar
Shark pretty
Curse of the frontierland
She’ll be a verb
24
Waltz the halls away
Rayon drive
Make any vows
Book of millionaires
Real nighttime
Never mind
Friend of the family
Like a girl Jesus
Beach state rocking
The letter
Selfish again

________________________________________________

DETROIT 1985
(Metro Danceteria, October 4th)(Soundboard Recording)
01. ...I've Tried Subtlety  (fades in)
02. Shark Pretty
03. Curse Of The Frontierland
04. She'll Be A Verb -> ? (instrumental)
05. 24 (->)
06. Waltz The Halls Always
07. Rayon Drive
08. Never Mind
09. Make Any Vows
10. Real Nighttime
11. Couldn't I Just Tell You
12. Friend Of The Family (clipped at start)
13. Like A Girl Jesus
--encores--
14. Beach State Rocking
15. Metal & Glass Exact
16. Erica's Word

________________________________________________

BERKELEY, 1985
(UCLA KLAX-FM 90.7 FM Radio Studios March 17th 1985 )(Radio Broadcast)
SCOTT SOLO
01. Pacing At The Station 
02. Say It Ain't So Joe
03. Chat
04. Girl With The Guitar
05. Chat
06. 24
07. Chat
08. Any Other Hand (partial version - Scott gives up!)
09. Chat
10. I've Tried Subtlety
11. Chat
12. Trouble
13. Chat
14. Back Of A Car
15. Chat
16. Any Other Hand
17. Chat
18. Where You Going Northern
19. Chat
20. Erica's Word
21. Chat


KLAX SCOTT MILLER SOLO
________________________________________________

WINSTON SALEM 1985
(Ziggy's, October 12th) (Soundboard? Recording)
01 Gloria
02 I’ve tried subtlety
03 Shark Pretty
04 Curse of the frontierland
05 Nevermind
06 Linus and Lucy
07 24 Waltz the halls away
08 Rayon Drive
09 Where you going northern
10 Make any vows
11 Here it is tomorrow
12 Real nigttime
13 Remake remodel

________________________________________________

BERKELEY 1985
Berkeley Square, Nov 6th  (Soundboard Recording)
01. ...? (last 1 1/2 minutes only)
02. Shark Pretty
03. Never Mind
04. Curse Of The Frontier Land
05. The Only Lesson Learned
06. Baker Street
07. 24
08. Waltz The Halls Always
09. Where You Going Northern? ->
10. Real Nighttime
11. Rayon Drive
12. Couldn't I Just Tell You
13. ...Friend Of The Family (starts late)
14. I've Tried Subtlety
First Encore :::
15. Beach State Rocking
16. If & When
17. Remake Remodel
Second Encore :::
18. I Turned Her Away
19. Dead Center

________________________________________________

MINNEAPOLIS 1986
(First Avenue, October 19th) (Soundboard Recording)
Rayon Drive
The only lesson learned
Like a girl Jesus
24
Waltz the halls away
Girl with a guitar
Look away
Where you going northern
Shark pretty
I've tried subtlety
Friend of the family
If and when it falls apart

________________________________________________

BERKELEY 1986
(Berkeley October 2nd) (Soundboard Recording)
Carrie Anne
Rayon Drive
24
Waltz the halls away
Girl with a guitar
Look away
Where you going norther
Shark pretty
I've tried subtlety
Friend of the family
Kung Fu fighting
Curse of the frontierland

________________________________________________

CALIFORNIA 1987
(Stanford University, May 16th) (Soundboard Recording)
01 Not Because You Can
02 One More for St Michael
03 Little Ivory
04 We Love You Carol and Aliso
05 Here It Is Tomorrow
06 I've Tried Subtlety
07 Dripping With Looks
08 Slip Away
09 Nothing New
10 The Real Sheila
11 Shark Pretty
12 Like a Girl Jesus

________________________________________________

BERKELEY SQUARE  1988
(Berkeley 1988) (Soundboard Recording)
Erica’s world
Not because you can
Metal and glass exact
One more for St Michael
Real nighttime
Like a girl Jesus
Friend of the family
The real Sheila
Look away
Shark pretty
Chardonnay
Disrobing theme
Curse of the frontierland
Date with an angel
Remake remodel
White rabbit
Nine lives to Rigel five
LA woman
We love you Carol and Alison
Election
I’ve tried subtlety 1
I’ve tried subtlety 2

________________________________________________
________________________________________________

LOUD FAMILY

NEVER MIND THE CAMERA CREW
(This was a promo cassette sent out to radio etc at the time of P.A.B.A.R.A.T)
Spot the wet setup
Back of a car
You can’t put your arms around a memory
Jimmy still comes around
Beauty and the beast
Take me down

________________________________________________

SAN FRANCISCO 1990
(Great American Music Hall, Jan 1st) (Audience Recording)
Sword swallower
Isaacs law
Spot the setup
Rosy overdrive
Aerodeliria
Jimmy still comes around
Some grand vision…
Idiot son
Wyoming
Remake remodel
Take me down
Last day that we’re young
Even you
Give in world
Like a girl Jesus
He do the police in different voices

________________________________________________

KZSU STANFORD
(Radio Broadcast)
Sword swallower
Isaacs law
Spot the setup
Rosy overdrive
Aerodeliria
Chardonnay
Idiot son
Little ivory
Remake remodel
Take me down
And your bird can sing
Even you


________________________________________________
LIVE 1996
Flood waters…
Spot the setup
Such little nonbelievers
Aerodeleria
Don’t respond, she can tell
Sword swallower
Uncle Lucky
Debaser
Inverness
Sodium laureth sulphate
Top dollar survivalist hardware
Baby hard to be around
Go ahead, you’re dying to
Asleep and awake…
Curse of the frontierland
We love you Carol and Alison
Jimmy still comes around
Like a girl Jesus
Couldn’t I just tell you

________________________________________________
SAN FRANCISCO 1998
(Terrastock Festival)
Mozart sonatas
Not expecting both contempo and classique
Crypto sicko
Good, there are no lions in the street
Where they walk over St Therese/Sodium Laureth Sulphate
Rise of the chokehold princess
I'm not really a spring
Slit my wrists
Execution day
Way too helpful
Such little nonbelievers
Asleep and awake on the mans freeway


________________________________________________


NEW YORK CITY 2000
(Knitting Factory, April 17th)
01 Intro
02 Nice When I Want Something
03 Idiot Son
04 Backwards Century
05 Years 0f Wrong Impressions
0 Motion Of Ariel
07 The Waist And The Knees
08 Cortex The Killer
09 Don’t Respond She Can Tell
10 The Story In Your Eyes
11 Asleep And Awake On The Mans Freeway
12 Just Gone
13 720 Times Happier Than The Unjust Man
14 Sister Sleep
15 Encore Break
16 Where They Walk Over St Therese
11 Rosie Overdrive
18 Encore Break
19 Like A Girl Jesus
20 My Sharona
21 Dripping With Looks

 
 

Thursday 18 April 2013

Didn't we know we had it all? Scott Miller 1960-2013

I first heard the music of Scott Miller in the less than salubrious environment of the stock processing department of Virgin Records in Birmingham, UK. It was 1987. I can’t remember if it was the Mitch Easter production credit or the mentions in Bucketful Of Brains that alerted me to the existence of ‘Lolita Nation’, but when I found myself checking in a box of import LPs and it appeared (probably alongside a Japanese Jazz release and something by Modern Talking), I put it straight on the overworked record player. Fighting to be heard over the roar of three shrink-wrap machines came the sound of one of the greatest, most diverse, most ambitious, most cinematic, most confusing albums I have ever, or will ever hear. Razor sharp Pop songs rubbed up against edgy, synth-lead tunes via almost hard rock rifferama. Was that a vacuum cleaner? What did he just sing?
I was in love.
I consumed the back catalogue. Even when the records sounded like they were made in somebody’s bedroom (and they sometimes were) the songs were outstanding. From the “Alternate Learning” LP to “What If It Works?” Miller produced one of the finest bodies of American Popular Music ever.
And now he’s gone. At just 53 years of age.
The internet is now bristling with plaudits and quite right too. Sadly it’s all too late for Scott to reap the rewards of his prodigious talent, but I’m heartened by the fact that maybe a new generation will hear his music and have their horizons expanded like mine were. I’ve always thought that at some time in the future, Scott would be the subject of a career re-appraisal and critics from all over the world would fall over themselves to shower Scott with superlatives. I always figured he’d be alive to see it. It breaks my heart to know I was wrong.
(Side note… whilst on Honeymoon in the US in 2000, I found myself in Amoeba records in SF. Almost delirious with joy, I ran over to my new, superhumanly tolerant wife and exclaimed “They’ve got a Loud Family AND a Game Theory section!” She smiled and rolled her eyes. Not for the last time).
I don’t know what else to write without gushing. Scott (along with REM, The Church and a bunch of other fellow travellers) changed the way I listened to music forever and gave me a road map to some of the greatest songs I will ever hear. For about 10 years, every mix tape I ever made had “We Love You, Carol and Alison” somewhere on it. And trust me, I made a lot of mix tapes.
I was extremely touched by the message on the Loud Family website, beautifully curated by Sue Trowbridge:
“If listening to Scott's own music is too painful for you right now, as it is for me, I can tell you that he absolutely loved David Bowie's new album, The Next Day. He found Bowie's late-career resurgence to be hugely inspirational”.
That strikes me as being very “Scott”…”My music’s OK, but this guy’s stuff is REALLY good!” He apologised for his music a lot. There was no need. No need at all.
He was going to start work this summer on the first Game Theory LP since 1988. What an amazing record that would have been.
My sincere condolences go to his young family. They can take some comfort in the fact that Scott Miller was respected and admired by many, many people.
But I wish to God he was still here.