Miscellaneous Reviews

Chef's Salad: The Sound Of Boston From Studio B
Various Artists (1975)
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3zfyxqy0ldae
Live At The Rat
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gcfpxqe0ldae
Rick Berlin Live At Jacques
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gbfyxqukld6e
(I never reviewed LIVE AT JACKS for AMG, but have a copy! of it)
Michael Fremer I Can Take A Joke
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jxftxqt0ldke
WCOZ Rock Album
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=A3v831vfozzza
Review by Joe Viglione
Radio stations sponsoring compilations of local recording groups was the rage in the
'80s, and some important musical time capsules were created. When acts hit from
those discs, those time capsules turned into
collectors' items. The first volume of now-defunct radio station WCOZ's The Best of
the Boston Beat (named after DJ Lesley Palmiter's excellent Sunday night local music
program) was issued on WCOZ Records, manufactured by Infinity Records, in 1979 (the
station's major competition, by the way, was Infinity Broadcasting). This second
set, released in 1981, is on the Starsteam label out of Houston, TX. Starstream
Records/Big Music America may have been a company which specialized in radio station
LP projects, as the disc came with a ballot for voting on the album's best track and
there was a national 25,000 dollar grand prize and a "record contract" (no specifics
other than that). "Big Music America has gone into major cities all across the
country to solicit tapes," is the claim on the back cover. Years after the regional
album's creation, no such "battle of the bands" mentality is necessary. Classic
tracks by the Jon Butcher Axis, Balloon (who featured future Joe Perry Project lead
singer Charlie Farren), soon-to-be Boardwalk recording artists the Stompers, along
with Johnny Barnes and a band with future producer Chris Lannon as guitarist,
Midnight Traveller, give the album credibility the contest could not. Musically, the
best tracks are "Shutdown" from the Stompers, "Roll Me" from Johnny Barnes featuring
the gifted Craig Covner on guitar, Charlie Farren singing "Political Vertigo," and a
classic early rendition of "New Man" by the Jon Butcher Axis, more driving than the
remake on their Polygram debut. Anne English gets a nice runner-up status with "All
I'm Waiting for Is You," while the other artists provide a snapshot of a moment in
Boston music history. "Rock on the Radio" by Mark Williamson and American Teen is
mainstream hard pop, while Midnight Traveller travels that same road. It's a good
thing the tracks were not put back to back, as they sound very similar. Keep in
mind, this is when radio programmer John Sebastian (not the singer/songwriter)
brought WCOZ to 9.1 in the ratings by offering the world a steady diet of Led
Zeppelin. That was the format of the station and this second volume reflects the
album rock mindset. Powerglide is another band who made some noise, but like the
aforementioned American Teen and Midnight Traveller, they were not part of what was
considered the "underground" of the day. The Stompers, Jon Butcher, Balloon with
Charlie Farren, and Johnny Barnes were able to cross into both arenas -- the
suburban club scene as well as the Boston rock & roll crowd -- but none of these
groups were totally embraced by the world where the Nervous Eaters, Willie
Alexander, the Real Kids, and other members of the Live at the Rat clique performed
and/or caused trouble. This album's lack of music from that world is a drawback --
the artists who got airplay on DJ Palmiter's show were not fully represented by
'Coz's Rock 'n' Roll Album: The Best of the Boston Beat, Vol. 2. Trapper, the Smith
Brothers, and Witch One may have names that evaporated as quickly as their
respective careers as bands did; their inclusion is a departure from the first
volume, which had an impressive nine artists of the 12 being those who were more
firmly established, but the "I exist therefore I am" philosophy earns them their
place when someone picks up this rare collection and gets to hear some voices from
the past. When you put this collection alongside Wayne Wadhams' 1975 Chef's Salad
compilation and the Live at Jacks and Live at the Rat recordings, along with other
collections of local music, you get a better focus. There were three compilations in
radio station WCOZ's series before they changed call letters and went dance
music/rap.
Tracks
Title
Performer
Time
1 Shutdown Sal Baglio
2 Rock on the Road Mark Williamson
3 America Jim Pacheco
4 Roll Me Johnny Barnes
5 All I'm Waiting For Ann English, Phil Brigham
6 Earthquake Rick Thibodeau
7 New Man Jon Butcher
8 Political Vertigo Charles Farren
9 Father's Son Skip Hulme
10 Take It Like a Man Pete Zins ...
Performed by: Pete Zins, Stuart Covington,
11 I'll Be Waiting for You Jimmy Sawaya
Releases
Year
Type
Label
Catalog #
1981 LP Starstream BMC-80108
2)Didi Stewart One True Heart Sam Goody 12/11/01
http://www.samgoody.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/MusicProductPage?searchId=pop&merchantNum=8546&titleId=1406964&amgId=R%20%20%20%2076916
3)Didi Stewart Begin Here
http://www.samgoody.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/MusicProductPage?searchId=pop&merchantNum=8546&titleId=78324560&amgId=R%20%20%20562921


Willie Loco's Boom Boom Band back up Sal Maida's wife:
Lisa Burns
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS70310091935&sql=Arm6atr3lkl7x
(Maida played in Roxy Music, Milk 'n Cookies, Velveteen)


From Worcester:
Point Of Ares
Enemy Glory Darkly Blessed
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS70310091935&sql=Amu3ibks9aak9