BRIGHT LIGHTS! 2014 radio promotion

 


For our first BRIGHT LIGHTS! Syracuse New Wave Rock 'n' Roll Reunion in 2014, we were working with 95X and The Rebel 105.9 to promote the event. Scott Dixon at 95X wanted to play some music by the BRIGHT LIGHTS acts on his radio show; at his request, I compiled a CD of tracks by some of the artists who would be playing at BRIGHT LIGHTS!  Here 'tis!
 

1.  1.4.5.:  "Are You Ready?"  Latter-day track (2012), included on the group's anthology CD 3 Chords & A Cloud Of Dust.  1.4.5. is led by guitarist Paul Armstrong from The Flashcubes.

2.  1.4.5.:  "She Couldn't Say No"   From 1.4.5.'s 1981 EP Pink Invasion, also included on 3 Chords & A Cloud Of Dust.

3.  JACK "PENETRATOR" LIPTON:  "Search And Destroy"  Jack was in The Penetrators, and now fronts his own Jack Penetrator Band.  This Iggy & the Stooges cover features Paul Armstrong on guitar and The Ohms' Ducky Carlisle on drums.  From Jack's Forgotten Boy CD.

4.  THE MIAMIS:  "Name And Number"   I don't know much about The Miamis, but this track is from the early '80s, and I'm very much looking forward to seein' em live on the 19th.

5.  SCREEN TEST:  "Sound Of The Radio"  Early '80s track, originally unreleased, included on the group's anthology CD Inspired Humans Making Noise.  Screen Test is Gary Frenay, Arty Lenin, and Tommy Allen, all of whom are also in The Flashcubes.

6.  THE MOST:  "Rockerfeller"   Lead singer Dian Zain, guitarist Paul Armstrong, and a rotating line-up of other players.  This track appeared on a 1980 compilation LP called From The City That Brought You…Absolutely Nothing, which was mostly a compilation of Rochester bands.

7.  THE MOST:  "Girls Don't Pay"  Unreleased.

8.  THE MOST:  "Girls Don't Pay [live]"  Unreleased, from a performance at CBGB's.

9.  PORCELAIN FOREHEAD:  "Everything But"  1982 live performance at Squires East.  The original P4 was Skid Skidmore (the late Dave Egan) and A Symmetrical (Mark Walsh), later joined by Porcelana (Karen Oberlin).

10. MACHINE AND HUMMER:  "No Place Like Home"  Dick Hummer had been the drummer for The Most before becoming the human half of Machine And Hummer.  He will be joining Porcelain Forehead for two songs on the 19th, but does not wish to be billed as "Machine And Hummer"

11. MAURA:  "Summer Coulda Lasted Forever"  Maura was Maura Boudreau, a teenager from  North Syracuse, who began her long live music career playing bass for The Antics.  Now she and her husband Pete Kennedy are The Kennedys, a world-renowned folk-pop duo, and they're just returning from a UK tour.  I believe "Summer Coulda Lasted Forever" was the first song Maura ever wrote, and we hope that she'll sing it when she fronts Maura & the Bright Lights at the Bright Lights show.

12.  MAURA:  "Summer Coulda Lasted Forever [edit]"  Because we have a short attention span on our show, Dana created an edited version of the above track, which fades out about a minute and 30 seconds earlier.

13.  THE TREND:  "Electric Chair"  Debut single, now a high-priced collectible that has sold for as much as $1000 (though its market has since cooled a bit).  Included on the expanded CD reissue of their LP, Batman Live At Budokan. 

14.  THE TREND:  "Zink Tabletz"  From Batman Live At Budokan.

15.  THE DEAD DUCKS BAND:  "No Direction"  Unreleased demo, circa 1979-80.  The earliest incarnation of the Ducks included Bobcat Goldthwaite, but not for long. 

16.  THE FLASHCUBES:  "It's You Tonight"  1993 recording, included on the Bright Lights CD.  Written by Gary Frenay.

17.  THE FLASHCUBES:  "She's Leaving"  Another '93 recording for Bright Lights, written by Paul Armstrong.

18.  THE FLASHCUBES:  "No Promise"  1979 recording, pure power pop, included on Bright Lights.

19.  THE FLASHCUBES:  "Do Anything You Wanna Do"  Eddie & the Hot Rods cover, from the 2003 album Brilliant.

20.  THE FLASHCUBES:  "When We Close Our Eyes"  Arty Lenin track from Brilliant.

21.  THE FLASHCUBES:  "Pathetic"  Paul Armstrong track from Brilliant.

22.  THE FLASHCUBES:  "Green Glass Windows"  From The Flashcubes' most recent album Sportin Wood, a tribute to the songs of Roy Wood.  

2016 POSTSCRIPT: at the time I made this CD, I didn't have any tracks by Distortion, a band which was also a part of BRIGHT LIGHTS! in 2014. Dick Hummer was scheduled to perform with Porcelain Forehead, but a last-minute family issue forced him to cancel his trip.