S.F. to Hollywood: The 415 Records Reunion
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Last night in San Francisco, Slim's nightclub played host to a reunion of three Bay Area-fostered new-wave bands that brought national heat to the S.F.-based 415 Records label in the '80s. Even though I wasn't there, I can give the show a nostalgic "thumbs-up," because I was at Hollywood's branch of the Knitting Factory on Thursday night where the same artists - the original line-ups of Wire Train and Translator and three members of Romeo Void - performed in public for the first time in a long while.
With proto-art-punk Patti Smith playing an early-evening show at the Santa Monica Pier, it was a very new-wavy evening in Los Angeles. A few who attended the Smith gig (and raved about it) made it to the Knitting Factory's front-stage room in time to catch Debora Iyall, the zaftig Native American poetess and singer who led Romeo Void, do justice to a few of her most memorable songs, including the alternative-rock radio and dance-club hit "Never Say Never."
Debora opened with a haunting acoustic version of "A Girl in Trouble," backed by Romeo Void bass player/composer Frank Zincavage and, sitting in for these two shows, guitarist Peter Bilt of another vintage San Fran new-wave band - Pearl Harbor and the Explosions. Filling out the sound (especially on the amplified numbers such as "Never Say Never") was Translator drummer Dave Scheff. A third member of Romeo Void was in attendance: sax player Benjamin Bossi, whose riffing provided major hooks in the band's studio recordings. Unfortunately, Bossi suffers from tinnitus, and, rather than exacerbate it by blowing sax with his old mates, he did a short, low-volume, anecdote-laden solo turn to open the show, singing and playing acoustic guitar on some quirky original material.
Translator followed with a totally bracing set that sounded as up-to-date as all of the best folk-influenced rock and roll. Not a time warp thing at all. The group - Steve Barton on vocals and guitar; Bob Darlington on vocals and guitar; Larry Dekker on bass; and, back to his usual slot, Scheff on drums - opened with a passionate version of "When I Am with You." They followed it with a careening but controlled race through my no-doubt-about-it favorite of their songs "Un-Alone" (which - like another expansive rock classic of the era, the Plimsouls' "A Million Miles Away" - is a perfect accompaniment to joyfully speeding down an open highway). Rolling out a sizable portion of selections from the four albums that they recorded for 415 in the early '80s, they climaxed with a gloriously shambling rendition of their wry signature song "Everywhere That I'm Not." They romped through a Beatle-esque cover of Larry Williams' roots-rocker "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" (a Translator B-side that wasn't readily available until the 2007 CD reissue of their eponymous 1985 album) to slam the set closed.
Last up was Wire Train, featuring singer-guitarist Kevin Hunter (who has worked as a professional songwriter for other artists since the band's heyday, and now composes for television shows and films), guitarist Jeff Trott (who also served as lead guitarist in World Party for a while, went on to co-author a handful of hits with singer Sheryl Crow, and produces recordings at his SoCal home studio), bass-player Anders Rundblad (who played for various bands and musicians until transitioning into movie-set construction), and drummer Brian MacLeod (who carved out a career as one of the most in-demand session players in pop music). These guys cheerfully delivered various dark, confessional rockers from their discography, and also used their time on stage to spotlight some intriguing tracks from their album Snug - which was not released by their label in the early '90s when it was recorded, but has recently become available via iTunes and Amazon. And they tore it up on their best-known cut "Chamber of Hellos." There were some helter-skelter moments. Still, like Translator, they sounded as if they hadn't missed a beat since they were a full-time working band.
The medium-sized audience - including Howie Klein, co-founder of 415 Records, eventual Reprise Records president, and now political activist, blogger and Trusted MOGger - was an enthusiastic mix of old new-wavers and their youthful progeny. Everyone seemed plenty satisfied, albeit a little melancholy over times past. Okay. That last part was about me. The clock does keep ticking, doesn't it?
Couldn't find an embeddable copy of the "Un-Alone" promo video, so I'm going with this plain old audio-with-vintage-images clip. Can't stop the rock!
Locating MOG account...
Comments (15)
Sounds like all it needed was the old KROQ.
I can't decide if it's you that makes the nights seem magical, or if the nights you pick are magical, or both.
Jonh: In L.A., perhaps. In S.F., it would've been KUSF and KQAK. Wow. Real alt-rock radio. What the hell happened?
Anna: Oh you flatterer!
MusicRX: That's the prescription! A little dated, but amusing/cute/charming nonetheless
Hey Michael, Thank you for the great review. It was wonderful to see you in LA at the gig -- a long way from Polk Street. I wish you could have been at Slim's -- check the two posted songs from Slim's at YouTube -- Everywhere That I'm Not and Necessary Spinning -- some sound problems, but the films show that it was really a great night for us. A fan sent us the rest of the film, and we will post more of it. LA was a gas, and having you and Howie there really made it a special occasion for us. I hope all is going well, and I hope we will get a chance to play Un-Alone for you in the near future. Cheers, Bob Darlington
Was Howie there? This Robert really liked 415 records.
Thank YOU, Bob. I'll be back in S.F. soon, but likely to continue splitting my time between Nor and SoCal. Wherever I am, I hope to hear you guys play again.
And yes, F.R.J., as I wrote in the post, Howie was in L.A. - although I don't think he made it to the S.F. show.
415 Records was a great label. Howie did not make it to SF and missed one of our best shows, ever. We have most of it on DVD, and it will be available to view at our website: www.translatormusic.com in the near future. A couple of songs are at YouTube and my Facebook site. Thanks again, Michael, and hope to see you, soon. Best, Bob Darlington
Hang in there.
Appreciate the heads-up, Bob. On my way to the site right now...
Wish I could have been there. Hardly the original line up of Wire Train though ... that would need to include Federico Gil Sola & Kurt Herr.
True, Eric, but Wire Train 2.0 did record some memorable stuff. Let's just say that I wasn't disappointed.
I prefer the first two records, but I like all of them. I'm enough of a Translator fan that I burned my LPs to disc because they hadn't come out on CD yet.
Eric: A true fan! And I mean that in the best possible way...