SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-El Mocambo, Toronto ON (November 1987).
After re-listening to some of the Rheostatics most recent shows, I checked the Rheostatics Live site and found out that he has added some really old shows. This show is the oldest show on the site, dating back to 1987. A brief Rheos history shows that in the earlier incarnation, it was Dave Bidini, Tim Vesely and Dave Clark. They were joined by the Trans Canada Soul Patrol and played mostly R&B and funk. Around 1985 the Soul Patrol left and Martin Tielli joined. Around the time of this show, they had released Greatest Hits. And then they broke up (circa 1988). Then they reformed in 1991 with an entirely different sound.
So this is from what I guess you’d call he Mach II era: no Soul Patrol but before the breakup. Interestingly, only two songs from this how appeared on their debut album, although many appeared on earlier demos.
They play 11 songs, including what I assume is an improvised rap from Dave Clark (the really silly one of the band). And the songs are dominated by a smooth guitar sound and often times a funky bass. Perhaps the most amazing thing about this set is the prominence of Tim. He sings many of the songs and Dave includes him in many jokes. Martin is almost non-existent.
“National Pride” dates back to 1983 and starts as a kind of goofy rap song but then turns into the funky version from the demo. Martin Tielli also released a solo song called “National Pride” which is nothing like this. They follow this with the “Greensprouts Theme Song” (which they played at the AGO almost 30 years after this show). Dave Clark calls it the “silliest song ever written,” although in the years hence they have made a few challenges to that claim.
“Good on the Uptake” is a song I’ve heard in a few places before. Tim sings lead and there’s a kind of funky bass line with lots of guitar harmonics. I think Martin is singing backup (and probably playing the harmonics).
Tim breaks a string and Dave Clark shouts, “This song is called Rheostatics learn how to string their guitar.” With a broken string they play an impromptu version of “Red Dog Ray” taught to them by Reverend Ken and the Lost Followers “about the beer strike in 1983. We were all pissed off because we had to drink Old Milwaukee and Rolling Rock and all that shit.” This song has come up in their sets in the early 2000s.
It segues right into “Ditch Pigs” from Greatest Hits and sung by Martin. The middle section devolves into a chant of “I want an egg salad sandwich and a glass of Coke.”
For “Four Upright Walls” Bidini introduces David Clark as the Poet Laureate of Etobicoke. This is a rap of sorts in which the band does response to Dave’s rap (with all kinds of crazy sound effects and even some beatboxing (!)).
“Crystal Soup” is very much a Tim song–it sounds a lot like a song he would write now–there’s a surprise guitar riff in the middle of the verses that sounds a bit like Rush. At the end of the song Dave introduces “Mr. Nigel Tufnel,” although I’m not sure to whom he is referring. “Sue’s Mining Song” (also sung by Tim) has a kind Rush feel although the lyrics are very un-Rush (“woman,” “girl” and a line about “buzzards on your Steely Dan”). It also features Tim screaming a high note! It’s a pretty heavy song (especially at the end).
It’s funny that they follow-up with “a nice song,” Martin’s sung “Crescent Moon” a very, very new wavey song that Bidini wrote, and which leads of Greatest Hits. They follow with a fun and fast rocking “People’s Republic of Dave” in which Dave encourages Tim to make silly faces. And Tim growls that he wishes his name was Dave. This seems like a great show ender, but they’ve got one more song.
“Chemical World,” has a kind of discoey guitar opening and lots of slap bass.
[READ: January 5, 2016] Zombies Need Love Too
I prefer to read series like this in order, but sometimes you can only get the books that you can get (and you don’t get upset). For reasons I don’t understand, my library only had the first two books (which were also collected in Liō’s Astonishing Tales which they also have) and the two most recent books. There’s maybe two books in between, as far as I can tell.
The good thing is that there’s not a lot of forward narrative in these stories–except perhaps for the new pets that Liō acquires.
So after four years what is Tatulli writing about? Well, largely the same stuff, which is fine with me. (more…)
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