Songs Of the Day: September 23-24, 2005
The Three O'Clock - Jet Fighter
From the LP 16 Tambourines, Frontier Records, 1983
The Three O'Clock - In Love In Too
Fan Club 45, 1983
"Wimpy." "Paisleyed twees." "Is that a man singing?" Yes we heard them all back in the early mid-80s, pointless blather from Philistines with their old ways who could never understand THE POINT. The point: Michael Quercio may have written the most indelible hooks of the 80s. And yeah, I think they eventually reached a point where the production was a serious detriment, but that point was certainly not the hit-packed Arrive Without Travelling. The Three O'Clock are still revered in our house where we play their records all the time because our planet is warm and full of life and wonder. Here is a monster 45 from their first LP, and the fan club 45 (flip = "Lucifer Sam") that was appended to the French issue of the "Baroque Hoedown," EP, but didn't turn up on the Frontier 16 Tambourines/Baroque Hoedown CD.
12 Comments:
A bit of trivia:
Ethan James, owner of and producer at Radio Tokyo studios (where the Three O'Clock recorded) was once a member of Blue Cheer and a fairly well-known hurdy gurdy player.
Cody
Thanks for the extra song, Jon! I've got the 16 Tambourines/Baroque Hoedown CD and the Salvation Army CD, but not this song. Greatness. Gratitude.
I appreciate getting the extra song too -- I have it somewhere packed away on a cassette that I got years ago from a good friend who was Michael Quercio's biggest fan. Amusingly, she's now the Jupiter Affect's manager!
In a 1983 publication "Alternative America" put out by KJHK pioneers Blake Gumprecht and the late Steve Greenwood, Michael Quercio was interviewed as the then new "Baroque Hoedown" was being released. Here's a brief reading,...
Quercio: "Well screw you. I can be wimpy and get somewhere with it."
(in response to all the L.A. punk bands at that time in the early 80's)
Gumprecht: "How many paisley shirts do you own?"
Quercio: "I've got a whole garage full, probably around 150."
Greenwood: "Someone really should call the Guinness Book of World Records. Which cartoon character do you idolize most?"
Quercio: "Fred Flintstone."
Greenwood: "Which cartoon character do you resemble the most?"
Quercio: "Betty Rubble."
Ah yes, but *I* have Michael's picture of Dorian Gray tucked away at home in my attic. It is FAR from the west coast, and will never again see the light of day.
Hi! Just wanted to thank you for this great site. I've only known about it for 2 days and already found a lot of songs I've been looking for and many I didn't know I should have been looking for. Any chance of something by The Numbers that isn't on their "63-66" LP being posted? Keep up the great work!
That should have been the "64-67" LP on VOXX but you all probably already guessed that...
I became a rabid Three O'Clock fan after having discovered the band through a chance viewing of the "I Go Wild" video. I even waited out overnight to get 2nd row seats when they toured with REM in '85 (REM? Who cared about them?) and wrote them adoring fan letters and valentines all through college.
I remember in the Three O'Clock fan mag an interview with Michael Quercio said his favorite sport was cookie baking. Boy, if that didn't seal the deal on my love what would?
Thanks for the link, hooray!
Saw this group from the front row in DC around 1983. They opened for REM. Jet Fighter was superb and so was "Susie's on the Ball Now.''
Great time for music.
I saw the 3:00 live twice - once headlining in DC, once opening for REM in NY. Both times they were actually a bit disappointing; Michael Quercio was painfully out of key at the DC show. But his stage patter was amazing. Heckler: "You suck! Get off the stage!" Quercio: "Hey, just have a cup of lemonade and groove with us."
Thanks for the kind words! There should be a new Three O'Clock reissue next year compiling all of the hard to find and unreleased tracks from the Frontier period.
My best,
Danny Benair
Three O'Clock
www.naturalenergylab.com
I was in love with Michael, he was very cute back then, but probaly only had 2 or 3 dozen paisley shirts.. The rest was all kinds of Salvation Army stuff from the 60's - 70's.
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