The Unheard Music (Volume XXXVII)

I've been in a Luna state of mind lately.  No, I'm not still lamenting the band's breakup of four years ago but I did just finish Dean Wareham's first book, "Black Postcards: A Rock and Roll Romance", which is terrific.  Now, I say terrific as a massive fan of Luna, in fact I put them among my favorite bands of the last ten or fifteen years.  Sadly, as is the case of nearly every band I embrace, Luna never really enjoyed the type of mainstream success that can sustain a band over a long period of time.  I'm kind of the Typhoid Mary of liking bands, if I like your band, chances are you're destined for obscurity.  Now with most bands it's the type of obscurity that comes with a devoted cult following but it's obscurity nonetheless.

If you're new to Luna, go out and buy a copy of Penthouse--hands-down their finest work--and come back to this post after you've listened to it at least twice.

Say you're already a fan of Luna, if you have all the records (they never put out a bad one--a mediocre one or two--but never a bad one) you should try the wonderful documentary, "Tell Me Do You Miss Me?" which is available on Netflix (and Amazon) and well worth your time.  It documents the 'farewell tour' Luna embarked on after announcing their breakup.  And unlike a lot of films with bonus material, the outtakes on "Tell Me" are nearly as entertaining as the film itself. Don't miss Rolling Stone Editor Joe Levy gushing about the band and how uniquely New York they were and his explication of the line from "Slide": "SoHo has the boots, NoHo has the crack/ New England has the foliage but I'm not going back." Just priceless.  Guitarist Sean Eden's story about a rash he suffered is also quite funny.

Now if you own all the Luna records, have seen the film, you're ready for the next step which is to read this book.  You could raise the question, "Why on earth would I want to read a book written by some guy who led a band that never achieved any recognizable level of mainstream success?" Well, we've all read star biographies in which the 'star' leads a charmed life, becomes rich, famous and (if we're lucky) confronts some demons or conflict.  There is a vicarious thrill of reading those books but this book is about the hard reality of being in a working band.  It's about playing for four paying customers in Kansas City, being $2 million in debt  to your record label and cheating on your wife while she takes care of your infant son at home.  It's reality and as dour as that description sounds, the book is filled with funny anecdotes and tales of the good times as well, it's just tempered with the not-so-glamorous moments.  There's good sex and bad, good drugs and ill-fated ones and plenty of rock-n-roll of all stripes.  Maybe it's partially because I know people in the book and it's written by a person whose writing has always captivated me but for me to get through a 430 page book in a little over a week is as good an endorsement as it gets.  Don't want my endorsement?  Here's another from a peer (Liz Phair, guesting for the NY Times) who's also been through the up's and down's of a life in music

And for the casual or hardcore Luna fan, a treat this week, live (bootleg) Luna recorded over their two-night last fling in Chicago at The Abbey Pub just two weeks or so before their final shows ever in NYC.  A regular reader of this site (who may choose to remain anonymous) provided me with these recordings a few years back, which I believe are readily available in some internet circles, if you know where to look.  A trio of songs that originally appeared the aforementioned Penthouse album: Sideshow By The Seashore , Bonnie & Clyde (originally done by Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot) and the sublime 23 Minutes in Brussels.  And while the Days of Our Nights album wasn't among their best, Four Thousand Days is the standout track.  Have a great weekend, enjoy the (live, bootleg) music.

Comments

[jean b]

Hey Ken, you and I share the same brain, I swear. I'm about halfway thru the Wareham memoir (which is fantastic--he's a great storyteller) and as I was reading this week, I was thinking "I bet Ken would like this book. He should do an Unheard Music on Luna." And hello, here you are. Brings back good college/Iowa City memories, Luna and G500 on the record store stereo, selling next to nothing while Stone Temple Pilots and Blind Melon ruled the sales universe.

[ken]

What does it say about us when we're waxing nostalgic for the 90's??!! :)

More odd coincedences, while I was reading the passage about Galaxie 500's first album (a friend of mine put out their first record on his label, Aurora Records) I got a text from that guy and then last week, while I was in Pittsburgh, I read a chapter where they had just toured the Warhol Musueum (I had just been there) although they got a private tour being semi-famous and all.

But yeah, a great read from a talented writer, I'd love for him to write a novel. And do see the documentary, it's great.

[jean b]

Have you heard the Dean & Britta record? Really nice. Not sure if this is mentioned in the book (I haven't gotten that far yet so I don't know how Dean and Britta Phillips got together) but Britta played the "druggie bass player" in the Justine Bateman/Julia Roberts/Liam Neeson movie "Satisfaction." A horrible movie, but I always seem to stop and watch if I catch it while flipping channels. Not sure if she's acted since.

[ken]

Yeah, I'm a big fan so I have both D&B records. As I've written on this blog before, Britta Phillips is the hottest woman, the Supermodel of Indie rock.

And while I'm not familiar with the cartoon, Britta was the cartoon singing voice of "Jem".

In addition to being gorgeous, she's also quite personable and sweet.

[Mike]

I was nodding my head in agreement throughout your entry, Ken. I adore the band, love the documentary DVD, and thought the book was great. Galaxie 500 was actually my first real exposure to "indie rock" when one of my brothers accidentally left his 'On Fire' cassette behind when he headed back to college - Dean was my gateway drug.

[Kent]

I think we played with them once. Didn't we Jay?

[Jay]

Laika was the band we opened for. They were from Stoke Newington/London. Jeff lived there for awhile.

I was an intern at Elektra Records when Lunapark came out. I liked the mellow Feelies/VU vibe of that album but missed out on the rest of their catalog. I'll give Penthouse a spin, thanks.