Blast from the past

Ya gotta love Facebook...

...well at least for some things.

A few weeks ago a long lost friend from the 80s worked her way to my FB and sent me a friend invite. From there she told me she had an old video from my Livingston Fury days and wanted to know if I wanted a copy.

Well duh.

And because I have a blog, I am now therefore required to share this video time capsule with YOU. Here we are performing the title track from our 1987 album Nature of the Beast.

I'm quite sure I don't even have to bother with the snark. I'm guessing you'll do just fine.

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Livingston Fury - Track 8

Speak The Language

Here is the link to download track 8, Speak The Language. This track has been added to the MY MUSIC DOWNLOADS dropdown box in the sidebar as well.

Well, here it is - the 8th and final track from Livingston Fury's one and only album - Nature Of The Beast.

This song, (I Don't) Speak The Language, with it's darker and more mysterious style, shares a similar feel to the title track. Even though it doesn't immediately present itself as a standard manufactured "top 40" type of song, it was always one of our most requested tunes in the clubs. I think the steady backbeat, the smokey flavor and the instrumentation variety, such as sax and keyboard horns, caused it to stick and become a memorable favorite among our fans.

In other music news, the guitar player from The Receders and I will be performing downtown this Saturday night in our first-ever event as a duet. We've been toying with this idea for a long time and have finally decided to just bite the bullet and give it a shot.

Of course, this gig in no way implies that we are moving on from The Receders. We're just interested in trying something a little different on the side - something a bit more subtle and tasty. We'll be playing old-school stuff such as James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Harry Chapin and even some Tom Waits for good measure.

So for those who can join us locally, stop down at the Mississippi Bean and Tea Company on Saturday night between 8 and 11 and check it out!
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Related Reads - follow these links to read related posts:

Track 1 - Nature Of The Beast
Track 2 - When I Think About You
Track 3 - Waiting For The "A" Train
Track 4 - Holding Out For Love
Track 5 - Only You
Track 6 - Hot Seat
Track 7 - Blame It On Love

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Livingston Fury - Track 7

Blame It On Love

Here is the link to download track 7, Blame It On Love. This track has been added to the MY MUSIC DOWNLOADS dropdown box in the sidebar as well.


This song, Blame It On Love, was our management's pick for "mostly likely to become a hit." I had it figured that had we signed a record deal, there would have been 3 hits - When I Think About You, Only You, and Blame It On Love. Other people in the band probably had different opinions, but I always felt these songs were the most "commercial."

The Receders played this weekend at Bubba's again. It was great to see so many Harleys lined up out front. I laughed when one woman came up to me after dancing for about 1/2 hour nonstop and commented about how hot it was in the place. I suggested that perhaps if she removed her leather chaps and vest she might be more comfortable.

But the best comment came from a woman who was there playing pool at 7:00 p.m. when we were setting up. She stumbled over to me and asked "What time do you guys shtart?"

I told her we started around 9:30.

"9:30?" she slurred. "Hell, I'll be shmashed by then!"
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Related Reads - follow these links to read related posts:

Track 1 - Nature Of The Beast
Track 2 - When I Think About You
Track 3 - Waiting For The "A" Train
Track 4 - Holding Out For Love
Track 5 - Only You
Track 6 - Hot Seat

Read More......

Livingston Fury - Track 6

Hot Seat (Of My Car)

Here is the link to download track 6, Hot Seat. This track has been added to the MY MUSIC DOWNLOADS dropdown box in the sidebar as well.

In Evolution - Part 3 I mentioned that our management group at the time was also responsible for the rise of the teen pop sensation group The Jets. This song, Hot Seat, was their attempt to tie us into that same formula by having us put out a similar 80's "pop" offering. I actually like this song very much and had a lot of fun with the keyboard stuff on this one. It's fun, catchy and extremely danceable. Enjoy!

Speaking of danceable, The Receders played last night for the annual Freedom Flight POW/MIA fundraiser and had another great turnout. I don't know the tally yet, but last year this event raised over $25,000 for this worthy organization.

Hundreds of people showed up for the auctions, drawings and fabulous New York strip steak dinner. Yum. We've been playing this event since 2000 and ALWAYS enjoy the evening. The people are great, the food is fantastic and the dance floor is packed.

I'll be chillin today, however, since I didn't get to bed until 2:30 a.m. and had to be at church at 8:00 this morning to sing with the choir. Yowsa.

Snnzzzz...
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Retro Read - follow these links to read related posts:

Track 1 - Nature Of The Beast
Track 2 - When I Think About You
Track 3 - Waiting For The "A" Train
Track 4 - Holding Out For Love
Track 5 - Only You

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Livingston Fury - Track 5

Only You

Here is the link to download track 5, Only You. This track has been added to the MY MUSIC DOWNLOADS dropdown box in the sidebar as well.

This is my favorite song on the album. With its bright sound, catchy refrain and memorable melody, Only You was a hit just waiting to be discovered.

I still believe this song and others on this album would have stood up to anything else being played on the air during the 80's. However, since commercial success is more about who you know and luck than just pure talent, the odds of being "discovered" are actually very low.

That's why I like posting these tracks every few weeks. It's a fun way to highlight what I did for an entire decade of my life, and hopefully other people will get a chance discover Livingston Fury along the way.
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Retro Read - follow these links to read related posts:

Track 1 - Nature Of The Beast
Track 2 - When I Think About You
Track 3 - Waiting For The "A" Train
Track 4 - Holding Out For Love

Read More......

Livingston Fury - Track 4

Holding Out For Love

(As noted in Nature of the Beast - Title Track, I am going to post a new song from our album every 2 weeks until all 8 tracks have been posted.)

Here is the link to track 4, Holding Out For Love. This track has also been added to the MY MUSIC DOWNLOADS dropdown box in the sidebar as well.

In other music-related news:

Born To Run

I finally got the chance to watch my Bruce Springsteen 30th Anniversary 3 Disc Set. This includes the documentary DVD of the making of Born To Run, the live concert DVD of Born To Run in London, and the digitally remastered CD of Born To Run, the album. All the Born To Run you could ever possibly want!

Here are a few thoughts I have on the package...

Being the huge Springsteen fan that I am, it’s a little hard for me to be objective. In a nutshell, I ate it up. Born To Run came out in 1975 when I was 14 and has been at the top of my favorites ever since. So having all this BTR memorabilia couldn’t make me happier.

However, one thing to keep in mind... there IS a lot of material to sit through, so you’ll need a good night with nothing else planned to see it all. The documentary has a running time of 90 min and the concert DVD goes over 2 hours. That’s a lot of Bruce-time, even for the biggest fan.

The Documentary DVD
The documentary was narrated by Bruce himself as he drove the interviewer around his old New Jersey stomping ground. Also included were dozens of mini-interviews with most of the original musicians and producers from the band.

But the best part was the archival footage of their time in the studio. Here we get to see a 24 year-old Springsteen as he extracts the symphony of music from his head and directs the band in re-creating his vision. Then watching Bruce take on the impossible task of assembling the months of recorded material into the final masterpiece known today as Born To Run. My favorite quote was from Bruce himself as he explained,

"It was a unique group of people in that everybody was finding their way in their job. I was not interested in a strictly professional setup because I didn't want to contain my talents in that box because I didn't know where they were going to lead me at the time. At that time, my concern was this: I have these abilities. I don't know what they are. But I know that they're there. And I don't know where they're going to lead me. But wherever that is, I have to go, even if it's down a bunch of blind alleys 'till I find the one that I want that I do want to go down. And also, just give me room to do this particular thing in my own fashion."

This quote underscores the "pain" that the band went through to record this album. In fact, everyone later agreed that this was by far the most difficult project they ever worked on. The song Born To Run alone took them over 6 months to record.

The Live Concert DVD
As far as the live concert footage goes, this is a historical "must have". There were a few times, however, when some of his antics showed his age and seemed almost humorous. Watching Bruce grasping his hat and pulling it over his head in angst over the pain of the lyrics got a bit tired after awhile. Sure he was “living the stories”, but it still came off a bit hokey.

None-the-less, this is classic footage of a classic concert and is the perfect accompaniment to the documentary. Not only do you get 6 of the songs from Born To Run (except for Night and Meeting Across The River), but you also get to see an additional 10 songs including such classics as 4th of July - Asbury Park, The E Street Shuffle, and Rosalita.

The Born To Run CD
What can I say – it sounds amazing. Much better than the warbly old cassette tape I was stuck with during the 80's and 90's. The clarity and quality of this digitally remastered CD will surprise you, especially if you have a good system or headphones. Never before has Jungleland sounded so religiously fulfilling.

Summary
As I said before, for veteran Springsteen fans this set is an absolute must-have. And for the younger fans, this should be looked at as a mandatory history lesson, required to watch to fully appreciate the genius behind the music.

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Livingston Fury - Track 3

Waiting For The "A" Train

(As noted in Nature of the Beast - Title Track, I am going to post a new song from our album every 2 weeks until all 8 tracks have been posted.)

Here is the link to track 3, Waiting For The "A" Train. This track has also been added to the MY MUSIC DOWNLOADS dropdown box in the sidebar as well.

Speaking of musical experiences, just wanted to give a shout out to all who showed up to see The Receders at Joseph's for our first time in last weekend. Thanks to all of you, we had a GREAT night - so much so that the owner asked us to come back as soon as possible.

It was extra special for me to have soooo many friends and family there. Sis and hubby and big bro drove down from Duluth, little bro and wife came down from Brainerd, co-workers and many friends stopped by and a rockin good time was had by all. So - thank you all!!!

Here's a few pics of me doing what I do best - hammin it up! I'll leave out images of other people to protect the innocent - AND guilty.









Just soooo happy








With the "Receder Guy"











Working that harp!

Quote of the night: "If I drink the rest of this, I'm going to throw up."

You know who you are!

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Livingston Fury - Track 2

When I Think About You

As promised in Nature of the Beast - Title Track, I am going to post a new song from our album every 2 weeks until all 8 tracks have been posted.

Here is the link to track 2, When I Think About You. All tracks will also be added to the MY MUSIC DOWNLOADS dropdown box in the sidebar as well.

Livingston Fury was a magical time of my life, filled with close friendships, exciting travels and bizarre experiences. More than I can even remember.

Case in point... A few months ago several of us got together for a reunion party in Minneapolis. Everyone from the band was there except our bass player, whom we haven't heard from in years. As expected, we started yucking it up about the old days and reminiscing about different things when our drummer mentioned the time I had introduced him to the future Hall of Famer Paul Molitor.

Me: "I don't remember that."

Drummer: "What! You don't remember the time in Kansas City when you were standing there talking to him for like a half hour? That's amazing! I came up to you and you were like, 'Oh yeah, this is Paul Molitor,' like he was just some other dufus in the club."

Me: "No, I don't remember that. Was I in the band then?"

Drummer: "Jeff, you were ALWAYS in the band."

Of course this exchange should not in any way imply that I have problems remembering things today because of use of illicit substances then. For as unrealistic as it sounds, we were actually a very "clean" band. My issue is that my memory simply sucks. We went a lot of places and met a lot of people - and that was 20 years ago. Heck, I can't remember what I had for supper last night.

Still, it's a whole lot of fun trying to remember. Every time I get together with these folks I end up with a stomach ache from laughing so hard. And someday (most likely when my kids are out of the house in only 8 1/2 years - but who's counting) I'll find the time to capture some of these highlights in my future biography.

In the meantime, I'll keep posting these tracks every two weeks for you to download... if I can remember to do so.

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Nature of the Beast - Title Track

My profile on the right claims that I'm an "ex-touring musician..." I think this old picture of me on the left says enough.

I literally spent the entire decade of the 80's on the road, most of it with a band called Livingston Fury. We were a very hip 80's "hair" band for the era (think Duran Duran with a spicy funk female lead). This combination made us very successful in the large dance venues of the time and enabled us to tour non stop for years on end.

In addition to playing night clubs we also recorded this album in 1987 which received air play in the Minneapolis market. This gave us the opportunity to open for some very popular national acts, the biggest being Loverboy at Riverfest in St. Paul in 1988.

(click on pictures to enlarge)

This was an extremely exciting and rewarding phase of my life. My music has taken me around the world, given me experiences that most people can only imagine and led me to my wife via a performance in the Sammy Davis Jr. Telethon in St. Louis in 1987. My journeys have been so interesting in fact, that I am currently in the process of writing my autobiography which I will someday publish on another site.

Ironically, it was our success as a road band that ultimately led to our demise. Because we were in such demand, our group was easily booked well over a year out. The easy money commission we drew for our agency provided no incentive for them to "shop" us to the record companies of the day. Two years of being ignored by the big guys left us frustrated and unfulfilled. Therefore, in an effort to move on with our lives, we mutually decided to dissolve the band in 1989 and go our separate ways.

Now, because of digital reproduction technology and this blog, I have the opportunity to share what I think was a very overlooked album with the whole world. So, over the next few months, I'll be publishing one song about every two weeks for you to download - and post them in a drop down box on the right as well.

I think you'll find the music stands up to anything else released in the 80's, and maybe even today. I'll let you be the judge of that.

Here is the link to the title track - Nature Of The Beast

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