― James Blount (James Blount), Monday, 13 January 2003 18:14 (twenty-one years ago) link
Thanks Mike for the advice on the rest.
― Tim (Tim), Monday, 13 January 2003 18:19 (twenty-one years ago) link
It is a shame that The Feelies other three albums are not in print these days.
I haven't heard much of any of their other groups or records other than one Wake Oolio record I played a couple of times back when I had a radio show when I was in college.
― earlnash, Tuesday, 14 January 2003 00:23 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 14 January 2003 02:10 (twenty-one years ago) link
― willem (willem), Tuesday, 14 January 2003 09:35 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Marco Damiani (Marco D.), Thursday, 19 January 2006 14:47 (eighteen years ago) link
― Vicious Cop Kills Gentle Fool (Dada), Thursday, 19 January 2006 14:53 (eighteen years ago) link
Don't forget the other albums! I actually prefer the Good Earth...depending on my mood.
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 19 January 2006 15:31 (eighteen years ago) link
― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 19 January 2006 15:36 (eighteen years ago) link
― TRG (TRG), Thursday, 19 January 2006 15:37 (eighteen years ago) link
― ZR (teenagequiet), Thursday, 19 January 2006 15:53 (eighteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:01 (eighteen years ago) link
Nabisco, so NOT OTM!
(not that there is anything wrong with tom petty)
― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:02 (eighteen years ago) link
so do I. I always read raving reviews of their live shows, with all those great covers, and I just hope someone will finally release all their back catalogue. (in a rather pathetic move, I bought the "Something wild " dvd just to see them play for 30 seconds...)
― Marco Damiani (Marco D.), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:09 (eighteen years ago) link
I was recently wondering why someone hasn't resurrected the Feelies sound circa Crazy Rhythms. I play in a weird cover band that does "The Boy With The Perpetual Nervousness", and chances are the people we play in front of have never heard it before, but they dig it. They don't really dig it when we do "Lady Godiva's Operation" though.
Time For A Witness is a truly underrated record.
― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:14 (eighteen years ago) link
― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:15 (eighteen years ago) link
i don't hear that AT ALL. their sound is so introverted and seemingly unconcerned with "reaching out" to any particular demographic.
― stockholm cindy (winter version) (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:21 (eighteen years ago) link
thank fucking god, and bout fucking time.
― stockholm cindy (winter version) (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:23 (eighteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:28 (eighteen years ago) link
I'd probably take Feelies most days. I love Television but am more often in the mood for Feelies.
― TRG (TRG), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:28 (eighteen years ago) link
― nerve pylon (flat_of_angles), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:33 (eighteen years ago) link
everybody keeps telling me so and I'm fucking jealous of all of you.also, about their later albums: they are so unpretentious, subtle, simple without being simplistic. they had this marvellous, almost ascetic understatement. and songs like "deep fascination", "invitation", "find a way" are just so good.
― Marco Damiani (Marco D.), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:38 (eighteen years ago) link
Age, I guess. And maybe a little bit of disappointment.
― Marco Damiani (Marco D.), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:39 (eighteen years ago) link
― nerve pylon (flat_of_angles), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:40 (eighteen years ago) link
I've been dying to hear the early live "punk" Feelies stuff, and would assume that compared to that stuff, Crazy Rhythms already shows them moving in a different direction.
But I stand by the belief that, at least with the Good Earth, the structure, the energy, the sound, the aesthethic, isn't as different from Crazy Rhythms as most people assume, it's just a slight shift in the arrangement.
Let's hear it for the Trypes EP and the Yung Wu record as well. I've been looking for the Dave Weckerman solo 7" of Shore Leave for a while...I think you can still order Young Wu and maybe Good Earth as CD-rs from Coyote/TwinTone.
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:45 (eighteen years ago) link
― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:46 (eighteen years ago) link
― Brian O'Neill (NYCNative), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:47 (eighteen years ago) link
― Cunga (Cunga), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:48 (eighteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:49 (eighteen years ago) link
― Sang Freud (jeff_s), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:51 (eighteen years ago) link
i like the good earth as much as it's only life. i always kinda seperate the first album from everything else. they are all great.
― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:51 (eighteen years ago) link
― Marco Damiani (Marco D.), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:51 (eighteen years ago) link
― nerve pylon (flat_of_angles), Thursday, 19 January 2006 16:54 (eighteen years ago) link
They're from New Jersey. They weren't chic downtown cool hipsters; they were dorks from across the river. They were a populist band, whether they were successful at it or not (see Something Wild).
wild xpost
― mcd (mcd), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:01 (eighteen years ago) link
I don't think the later stuff, or at least the Good Earth, is necessarily "safer", some of it as angstful as Crazy Rhythms, maybe it's just a bit more subtle, and a bit more acoustic. Otherwise I think the songs aren't that different. But it's also the production...Crazy Rhythms being marked by much electric guitar played direct, whereas Peter Buck's production of the Good Earth is more conventional.
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:01 (eighteen years ago) link
Dan your comments re: the Good Earth are OTM. I thought it was just a sort of more acoustic/more straight forward Crazy Rhythms. It doesn't have the immediacy of youth, but it does have the warmth of experience.
Fantastic.
― mcd (mcd), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:04 (eighteen years ago) link
i have that Shore Leave 7" (autographed, even!) somewhere...
― nerve pylon (flat_of_angles), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:07 (eighteen years ago) link
I'd guess that if the Feelies had remained together and recorded an album or two between CR and TGE, the difference between the two may not have seemed so glaring.
― James, Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:08 (eighteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:09 (eighteen years ago) link
― mcd (mcd), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:09 (eighteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:10 (eighteen years ago) link
http://www.geocities.com/thefeeliesweb/images/disc/noone.gif
see: http://www.geocities.com/thefeeliesweb/disc/disc.htm
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:20 (eighteen years ago) link
― TRG (TRG), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:22 (eighteen years ago) link
I agree - when I say "safer" I dont mean less risky, just literally retreating in their hometown (sorry if I'm not able to express myself a little bit more clearly). The difference between the two albums is all in the "perpetuous nervousness" of CR and the "slowdown" of Good Earth (with everything this title also implies). Anyway, please reissue these albums soon!
― Marco Damiani (Marco D.), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:22 (eighteen years ago) link
http://www.oxfordcollapse.com/
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:31 (eighteen years ago) link
― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:40 (eighteen years ago) link
― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:52 (eighteen years ago) link
the aforementioned oxford collapse do this. i highly suggest everyone checks out butterglory's rat-tat-tat for more.
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:54 (eighteen years ago) link
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:55 (eighteen years ago) link
― mike a, Thursday, 19 January 2006 18:00 (eighteen years ago) link
Yeah, dad a, I believe they did record the guitars that way.
xxxpost
One thing I love about this album is the liner notes, the way they painstakingly itemize every instrument used and who-played-what. Anal folks like myself LOVE having all that information at their fingertips.
― Myonga Vön Bontee, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 07:38 (sixteen years ago) link
Thanks MVB! (So gershy, I suppose you're not in love with Felt Forum's current rebranding as the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden?)
― dad a, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 07:51 (sixteen years ago) link
oh, i haven't lived in nyc for years, last i heard it was the paramount. aren't there plans to build another msg a few blocks over?
― gershy, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 07:55 (sixteen years ago) link
Listened to it today! "Raised Eyebrows" ftw!
― Cunga, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 08:02 (sixteen years ago) link
That's news to me gershy. The Felt Forum Feelies/REM show was the only one I ever saw at MSG so I can't say I'd feel sentimental about the loss, especially since the place was so square they handed out Stagebill-type programs before the show, listing an unimaginably bad season lineup of concerts, just to make it clear that good shows were the exception and not the rule.
The cover art to Crazy Rhythms is like a perfect arty counterpoint to the Ramones NYC-brick-building four-on-a-wall debut.
I lived in Montclair for a year and got pretty excited to find that there's a record store called Crazy Rhythms in Verona. My excitement instantly evaporated when I asked the proprietor if there was any connection and he made clear that no, he didn't care for the Feelies or about them. Do not shop there.
― dad a, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 08:42 (sixteen years ago) link
here's an awe-inducing clip of the feelies performing crazy rhythms in 1980
― m coleman, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 10:43 (sixteen years ago) link
I've got the old CD - is there much difference between that and this reissue? Any plans to reissue the later albums? I need The Good Earth as well.
― Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 10:55 (sixteen years ago) link
i havent listend to this awesome record for too long. now it's time.
― Zeno, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 15:19 (sixteen years ago) link
The Feelies are probably my all-time favorite live band, but I can definitely see them losing something in an arena setting.
― mike a, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 16:17 (sixteen years ago) link
i saw an rem/feelies arena show at that time in...connecticut, i think. and feelies were great. not nearly loud enough, obviously. but they were definitely into it. saw them open for lou at the tower in philly and that venue was AWESOME for them. smaller, but still really big and the sound was great.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 16:21 (sixteen years ago) link
i was really hoping they would bust out what goes on or something at that lou show, but nothing doing.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 16:24 (sixteen years ago) link
Saw them three times — all amazing shows. Last time was at the Blue Pelican in Newport (which, before it closed down, was the ONLY reason ever to venture into that lame city, besides the folk and jazz fests) with the late, great Boston band Lifeboat opening. They all jammed on "What Goes On," which was also in Lifeboat's repertoire.
― Jazzbo, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 16:32 (sixteen years ago) link
Crazy Rhythms was in Montclair but closed years ago.
― dan selzer, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 16:33 (sixteen years ago) link
I was there last June. From my one visit I gathered that it's the same guy running it, same store name (he named it after the jazz standard), just moved further up Bloomfield Ave to a hole in the wall in Verona.
― dad a, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 17:04 (sixteen years ago) link
the old cd is incredibly quiet. anyone have the vinyl?
― artdamages, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 17:24 (sixteen years ago) link
i have the vinyl. sounds fab.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 17:28 (sixteen years ago) link
art, is your CD on Line Records? I know a lot of people with gripes about their dB's reissues.
― dad a, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 17:29 (sixteen years ago) link
er, i have old vinyl. there was a vinyl reissue, wasn't there? mine's on Stiff.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 17:37 (sixteen years ago) link
all my feelies is on vinyl. i need a copy of the last album though. maybe i'll break down and buy a 20 dollar cd on amazon. i had the tape, but it got lost.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 17:38 (sixteen years ago) link
a&m i think (xpost)
― artdamages, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 17:38 (sixteen years ago) link
and i do wanna get the new glenn mercer cd too.
i haven't heard time for a witness in so long it will be like having a new feelies album!
― scott seward, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 17:40 (sixteen years ago) link
best thing about time for a witness is the reversed photo in the cd booklet that makes everyone in the band look like a lefty. that warms my lefthanded heart every time i see it.
second best thing is the la's-esque pop of "doin' it again."
but as feelies albums go, it's very meh.
― fact checking cuz, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 17:51 (sixteen years ago) link
i remember being really excited when it came out, but i didn't play the tape much.
seriously, if there are feelies fans who don't own wake ooloo's hear no evil, they should buy it. i love that album. i'm ashamed to say that i don't own the other two wake albums. i'll get around to it, i swear!
― scott seward, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 17:55 (sixteen years ago) link
i dunno, i'll rep for Time For A Witness -- definitely the most straight-ahead of the Feelies records, but it has a great guitar sound and some nice tunes. But I love everything those guys have done. they should be headlining coachella, amirite? Anybody else pick up the Glenn Mercer solo CD last year? It might have a bit more of a "Feelies" sound than the Wake Ooloo stuff. More subdued than anything else he's done but pretty nice all the way through ... any news on them putting out the pre-Crazy Rhythms stuff mentioned upthread? PLEEEEZE.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 18:01 (sixteen years ago) link
Great band, and one of the most consistently listenable, too. There's rarely a time when they don't fit the mood or setting.
All four records are strong, I can't even pick a favorite.
― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 18:04 (sixteen years ago) link
hay i just ripped my cd so i can listen on the computer. it was a conicendece
― the galena free practitioner, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 20:29 (sixteen years ago) link
and what about the Smithereens soundtrack!
I first heard about / saw part of this film last week. Here is one of many notable things about it: at the very end, the van is occupied by a bunch of hookers, among whom is a tranny hooker played by a young Chris Noth.
So if anyone ever challenges you to a degrees-of-separation thing where you have to get from Sarah Jessica Parker to Richard Hell in one move, there you go
― nabisco, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 20:33 (sixteen years ago) link
The Glenn Mercer album is pretty good, though not on the level of The Feelies at their best or Yung Wu. I kind of like the cover of Within You Without You/Love You To. It's on emusic.
― dlp9001, Thursday, 24 January 2008 00:43 (sixteen years ago) link
This album didn't make any sense to me until I played it EXTREMELY LOUD and fairly drunk. Then it became one of my favorite albums ever.
I always recommend this to people who like Marquee Moon, though to me Crazy Rhythms > Marquee Moon by a nose
When the hell is that deluxe vinyl reissue deal supposed to be coming out???
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Sunday, 23 March 2008 01:17 (sixteen years ago) link
see here for that news plus exciting reunion news:
the feelies - classic or dud?
― sleeve, Sunday, 23 March 2008 01:20 (sixteen years ago) link
just posted a Crazy Rhythms-era live show over on the blog: http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/ so good
― tylerw, Tuesday, 16 June 2009 13:52 (fourteen years ago) link
playing this live in September at ATP of course :-)
― Jamie_ATP, Tuesday, 16 June 2009 14:15 (fourteen years ago) link
GRRRRR!!!!
― Marco Damiani, Tuesday, 16 June 2009 14:30 (fourteen years ago) link
haha, yeah, that's how I feel. wonder how it'll sound? probably great, but it didn't seem like they played all that much off of Crazy Rhythms during the reunion shows last year -- just the title track and "Raised Eyebrows" I think ...
― tylerw, Tuesday, 16 June 2009 14:38 (fourteen years ago) link
Tyler, you have the best blog. Thank you. More feelies!
I seriously considered making a pilgrimage to maxwell's with Mrs. Staggerlee for those shows. Alas, do not have an extra $2000 lying around.
ALAS.
― staggerlee, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 01:17 (fourteen years ago) link
awesome, tylerw, thank you
i went for a run that lasted the duration of 'crazy rhythms' not long ago. i found it exhausting
― thomp, Wednesday, 17 June 2009 01:31 (fourteen years ago) link
http://www.tomwarren.com/music/images/feelies_30.jpgcrazy rhythms recording sessions! more here: http://www.tomwarren.com/music/Feelies.html
― tylerw, Monday, 3 October 2011 22:38 (twelve years ago) link
good lord, this band was/is(?) perfect.
― chromecassettes, Monday, 3 October 2011 22:44 (twelve years ago) link
nothing here that hasn't circulated previously, but a cool way to approach the pre-Crazy Rhythms years:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HjrcAhmH_U
― tylerw, Wednesday, 13 January 2021 15:06 (three years ago) link
I was dancing round the shop when I found the Stiff "Crazy Rhythms" in our local Oxfam for £2, early last year.
― Mark G, Friday, 15 January 2021 08:13 (three years ago) link
those ork records version of fa ce la and forces at work are so good
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Friday, 15 January 2021 13:07 (three years ago) link
I think of this record sort of like Wire's Pink Flag - an atypical debut whose style they never exactly returned to.
I saw them opening for Lou Reed in 1989, and if they were not the best band I've ever seen live, they were certainly the best whose music I didn't know before seeing them. They covered "Dancing Barefoot" as someone mentioned above, and either said nothing or no more than "thanks" to the audience.
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 15 January 2021 16:10 (three years ago) link