Robyn Hitchcock/Soft Boys: Classic or Dud?

solid recent show here: http://archive.org/details/robynhitchcock2013-04-27.aud.flac.16
the love from london tracks are mostly improved upon by the venus 3.

Cool. I've been depressed about having to miss the NYC show so I was hoping archive would come through.

x-post-- Hey, I was at that Washington D.C. gig. Was worried a bit beforehand that Buck might diminish Hitchcock's set due to Buck's inebriation, but it all worked out fine -- As I noted on a Peter Buck thread -- Near the end of his (Buck's) opening set he said: "Bad news for you, I still have another song to do; good news- I'm drunk." Buck sang with an annoying affected voice on blues-rock and garage rock numbers, and joked about Fleetwood Mac twice. With Robyn Hitchcock though he was more subdued and playing the proper sideman role.

The Velvets, Beatles, & Byrds encores were great. I think some of it is on youtube.

haha, peter buck! yeah the vocal stuff i've heard from him has been pretty dullsville. hopefully he's enjoying himself.

maybe him and johnny marr can do a joint tour?

And r Lloyd

Golden voices

Wait, Richard Lloyd's vocals are pretty solid compared to Buck and Marr. My comment when listening to Buck's show was, "Sounds like he's aping Captain Beefheart fronting a blues-rock bar band. Zzzzzzz..."

haha, yeah, lloyd is arguably a "better" singer than verlaine. not that i *prefer* his vocals, mind you. i actually have managed to avoid hearing marr sing so far. should i continue to do so?

it would've been awesome if buck turned out to be some amazing singer and he had just been holding out on everyone. Peter Buck-ley.

groan...now drummer adds a roll

Someone uploaded the Gotta Let This Hen Out! video. I never upgraded my VHS so I'm enjoying watching it this morning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3u8Z9dlKa4

cool, haven't seen that in ... 15 years? never released on DVD, I take it?

It came out on DVD in 2001, but I never bought it and I think it's out of print. It was just a straight transfer of the shit quality VHS so it was a low priority for me.

this usta get shown on a local NY/NJ UHF station (one song at a time) constantly in the mid '80s.

Last night I was listening to the Soft Boys "1976-81" comp and, by god, it's spectacular. The punkadelia sound, the harmonies, Robyn's twisted world view ("Sandra's Having Her Brain Out" was the first thing I ever heard from him at age 17 and it's never left my head since). I'm guessing there's lots more in the vault, not the least is the full Portland Arms gig which is wonderful. Bring it on!!

i still haven't gotten over the "have a heart betty"s on that

Best 2cd retrospective ever.

just recently heard "Salamander" for the first time, what a fantastic, sick song.

Yes! That track got orphaned in the most recent reissues from Yep Roc-- tragically, IMO.

kind of want to pretend those yep roc reissues never happened. do-over!

I was just mulling over "Two Halves For The Price Of One", an odds and ends comp at the end of the Soft Boys career. Only some of it has been released on CD:
Only The Stones Remain - Underwater Moonlight
Where Are The Prawns - Underwater Moonlight
The Bells Of Rhymney
There's Nobody Like You - Underwater Moonlight
Innocent Boy - Invisible History
Black Snake Diamond Rock (live)
Underwater Moonlight (live)
Astronomy Domine (live) - Invisible History
Outlaw Blues (live) - Invisible History
Mystery Train (live)

The version of Rhymney isn't the same one Robyn released as a b-side and Mystery Train is live vs the studio take on the 1976-81 comp. I think I've got that right...

'Innocent Boy' is so great, man I haven't heard/had that song in forever.

I think the Mystery Train on that is the same as on The Rout Of The Clones. Maybe not? I don't have them handy to compare.

Rout is 1978 gig, Lope At The Hive is 1980.

i'd like it if he put out the full gig from whence those live "two halves" tracks came. that's not floating around in the bootleg world, is it?

I've never seen it.

And thanks for the Rout/Lope clarification, GmcBB.

It's too bad The Asking Tree isn't updated anymore, or that there's not another level of detail regarding versions of each track. I've been digging into this stuff for years and even I have to refresh my memory from time to time.

Is there a specific date for the Lope recording? I had heard March 1980 but it doesn't match up with the one Asking Tree setlist for that time period.

It's got to be this one: http://www.jh3.com/robyn/base/gig.asp?chubb=70 but clearly the tracklisting is incomplete.

slightly confusing facebook update suggests that Joe Boyd is producing the next Hitchcock LP. which i think is good news.
gave love from london another try last week -- man, i would like to hear robyn's demos for it, because i really have trouble getting past the dullllll production (especially the programmed beats). hard to tell if the songs are good/bad/mediocre/whatever.

Joe Boyd is great news. I hope it's correct! Propellor Time felt a little Boyd-y and is my favorite of the last several RH LPs.

i wanna destroy you always segues into surrender by cheap trick for me...

a pox upon the media... got my kiss records out...

i have very mixed feelings about this dude but i wanna destroy you is all time, not that this is news to anybody

gave love from london another try last week -- man, i would like to hear robyn's demos for it, because i really have trouble getting past the dullllll production (especially the programmed beats). hard to tell if the songs are good/bad/mediocre/whatever.

Tyler, my feelings echo yours. I'm not sure the demos would be much better, the songs themselves are just not strong:

Harry's Song - Nice piano but his singing is a bit out of tune at times. Meh.

Be Still - This is a good one with good lyrics as most of his death-focused songs are. I dig the cello.

Stupefied - Um, no, jeez I don't like this one at all from the programmed beat to the weak keyboards. "You wanna get high but you don't know why", blech.

I Love You - This is alright, with an aggressive vibe, but he's done this sort of song better many times. Mentioning tendrils and dissolving just makes me want to queue up "Clean Steve" and "Chinese Bones", respectively.

Devil On A String - This might be better in demo form but the playing just seems so uninspired and the lyrics aren't memorable.

Strawberries Dress - Feels like a cut-and-paste job where all the pieces don't fit. Meh.

Death & Love - Crikey, who pressed the wrong button on the drum machine? Is he trying to sound like an "Avalon" outtake? His lyrics on this album feel forced - neither straight-forward nor weird enough. The "I got screwed, uh-huh" bit is very poor.

Fix You - I like this one, he takes some chances with aggressive vocals and it works.

My Rain - Again, his singing sounds slightly out of tune in places. Dull song anyway.

End Of Time - Not bad, not great. The teaser snippet of the unincluded title track is possibly the best thing on the album!

Didn't he say he was going for a modern/pop sound on this album? I guess that explains the production choices. Both this and "Tromso" have an unfinished feeling. Even taking the best tracks from both results in a bottom-tier release in his vast catalog. Ah well, they can't all be gems.

Wonderful show last night:

https://twitter.com/2fortheroaduk/status/407258157942312961/photo/1

also playing tonight, with a cellist (I forget who) - there were a few tickets on the door last night, so maybe there will be tonight, and he seems to be on very good form right now.

i can't stop playing "he's a reptile" because it has that special combination of absurd/funny/true lyrics and super standard rock song structure. so fun.

I'm sitting here in the abandoned brain... The hypothalamus is open to the rain and the leaves blow into the hall...

New album streaming at New York Times. SO MUCH better than Love From London. On first listen I'd say it's easily his best non-Venus 3 album in nearly 20 years. Might be able to remove the Venus 3 codicil given time.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/arts/music/pressplay.html?_r=2&

finally getting to this and yeah! sounds pretty wonderful. "san francisco patrol" might be one of the best things I've heard from the dude in 15 years. worthy of EYE.

I liked most of it, incl spare instrumentation and allusively, intimately direct address over weirdness (though was ready for weirdness/humor too). Goosebumps for the timing of "Don't Look Down." Good on "The Ghost In You," which fits/sets context & vibe; Psy Furs don't get enough coverage anyway. Are the others (except disappointing "Crystal Ship") all originals?

Also, who else is on it?

"don't look down" is a grant lee philips tune and to turn you on is roxy music... don't know who's playing on it, though.

Apparently he's on Marc Maron's WTF podcast tomorrow.

Haha wow!

I guess we'll finally find out who his guys are

jesus, this album is gorgeous

track 2 quite near mad me cry just now

wow.

anyone listen to wtf podcast yet?

It's okay but nothing revelatory. They kind of cover the same shit over and over because Marc's a bit of a putz.

Nice microview here, though why waste rationed words mentioning Syd, since reviewer then admits he's less relevant than Nick Drake---but Joe Boyd *also* produced "Arnold Layne," so just gotta namedrop one more tyme--it's RS, after all. Anyway, tells who owns the occasional female voice:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/robyn-hitchcock-the-man-upstairs-20140826

I didn't realize his dad wrote "Percy"! I love that Kinks album.

"The Man Upstairs" is definitely growing on me. I still sort of like the older version of "Ghost In You" but it's such an outstanding song in the first place and Robyn's take reveals the underlying emotional depth. His other covers are great except I'm not thrilled with "Crystal Ship". "San Francisco Patrol" is utterly gorgeous, in both sound and sentiment. The other originals are solid. Overall I think it's far better than "Love From London" and "Tromso Kaptain". He certainly set the bar high with the Venus 3 stuff!