Song Of the Day: May 11, 2005
The Hummingbirds-Blush
rooArt Records 45, 1989
Pop singles don't get much better than this, the first of three 45s from the Hummingbirds' loveBUZZ album, produced by Little Hits first-ballot Hall-of-Famer Mitch Easter. The other two, "Alimony," and "Word Gets Around" are also terrific, but this one is the monster. This record and "All Away" by the Summer Suns were the singles that ignited my fascination with Australian guitar pop bands in the late 80s, at which point I already had quite a bit of catching up to do. The Hummingbirds reported being quite taken with Dinosaur Jr. at the time, which may account for some of the guitar din.
For some reasons Australia had the best looking picture sleeves in the world during this era. They tended to be in color, and were generally die-cut and glued, as opposed to the wraparound jobs that were so common here. I picked a LOT of Oz discs out of the 45 bin at Kief's just because they looked great. Batting average? About .500. This particular sleeve is a favorite; it looks like the record sounds. A most satisfying object; It gives me no small amount of glee just to pick it up and look at it. Which is really what record collecting is all about, right? I mean, it's not like I have time to listen to all of these things...
7 Comments:
Speaking of Mitch Easter produced thingys, did the Primitons ever put out any singles of note. I know I saw them live 2 million times in Richmond while in a drunken stupor in the 80s and thinking that they were the greatest thing out of Alabama since Bear Bryant.
Dean-
You just brought to mind one of my favorite records in the world. That first Primitons EP on Throbbing Lobster is SO absolutely perfect... They did have a 12" single of Don't Go Away with a cover of The Left Banke's "Something On My Mind" on the flip, along with another tune, but they didn't do any 7" singles.
So they were really good live too, huh?
Damn.
Jon
Oh yeah! They had the big fat hairy bear-like guy playing guitar and singing. He was an inspiration to we large sensitive men everywhere. He rocked. The only song I remember the name of is "Seeing Is Believing". It's amazing that they have absolutely no footprint on the internet.
This file is mucky-mucked in some way, eh? It starts abruptly, and jumps and skips.....
Born is correct; the conversion is hinky.
I met Mitch Easter a couple years ago, at a TapeOp convention. Nicest guy ever. He was on a panel of some sort; it was basically five huge egos and Mitch Easter. I shot bull with him about recording stuff for about five minutes, and he never once looked at his watch or tapped his foot. I love that man.
Aussie sleeves were the best, anyone out there heard these two Aussie mid 80s greats: The Eastern Dark, and the Zimmerman? This site is the best!
THANK YOU for mentioning anything at all by the Hummingbirds, who are, in my estimation, criminally underappreciated. "lovebuzz" is one of my 10 or so favorite records of all time, without question. Brilliant pop stuff. You clearly have great taste.
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