Song Of the Day: October 3, 2005
Sure I love the Beatles and the Byrds and the Velvet Underground, but can there be any doubt that it is actually the Embarrassment who were the greatest band that ever lived? I'd read bits and pieces about this band in the Wichita Eagle-Beacon, and was intrigued by the notion of a band from a city I could actually travel to in an afternoon playing original music. I thought all bands in Kansas played covers, mostly of REO Speedwagon or Van Halen. But it wasn't until I saw a review of "The Embarassment EP" in Stereo Review, of all places, that I decided to send a letter to the address asking how I could get one. Thanks to Jake Euker, it arrived shortly, and I found disconcertingly that after playing it, my Cars and Gary Numan records (the manifestations of "new wave" that were available at the Alco Discount Store) seemed drab and colorless. It was so exciting that after hearing it I had to go out and walk around the neighborhood in an attempt to dissipate the energy and/or try to tell somebody about the epiphany I'd just had. ("Just ignore him and he'll go away," was, I'm sure, the most common reaction.) A few months later my brother would come along with his KJHK cassettes (alluded to in earlier posts) and completely blow my mind. It was an incredibly exciting time, and I've still feel very lucky and grateful to have experienced it.
By the way, although it is currently out of print, Bar None Records was still planning to press more of the Heyday CD the last time we talked to them.
9 Comments:
Ahhh...one of my faves. I uncovered this dandy drowning in a craperal bin at Pier Platters in Hoboken (Bill Ryan musta lost his mind danglin this one).
grassiass!
One of the greatest bands I ever stumbled across! I'd never heard of them until I saw them in Chicago, opening for PiL (The Effigies, if memory serves, preceded The Embarrassment). They so wrong for the bill that they were just right.
i was late to the party, only discovering them after big dipper's immense "heavens." i just recently got "heyday" from emusic, after years of not hearing the band. i've been listening to them nonstop in the past few weeks and can't decide which cut is my favorite. right now it's "woods of love." :)
Pure joy!
I got into the Embos as a teenager, too, and ALMOST got to see them live. They came to Milwaukee after Death Travels West came out, and I went to the club with Paul Host (who is the John Peel of Milwaukee college radio). No one else showed up, so the band decided against playing. Instead we all went to the WMSE studio, and Paul interviewed the band on the air. I remember Ron Klaus was very excited about rap music. Ron or Bill had a boombox that he used to record bits of conversations, like audio snapshots. The band spent the night at Paul's house, and I think his mom made them pancakes in the morning... with her SPATULA. -- jonhope
I need to get me "Heyday." I have "God Help Us", but I NEED "Heyday."
Just stumbled on your site, and well, I'm swooning. The Embos are indeed way up there at the top of the firmament. Filled out my collection last year with their "Blister Pop", perhaps their last posthumous release. The label still has more in stock I think...
Entirely too young to have known about the Embarassment while they were a functioning outfit, I discovered them only recently on the recommendation of a friend. Unfortunately the only item in their discography that could would qualify as reasonably easy to acquire for someone of limited means is the disappointing Blister Pop compliation (and the mediocre reunion album God Help Us, I suppose)... a reality that really sucks given that I'll I've got to show for my interest in the group are a handful of crummy mp3's constituting their self-titled LP.
The news that Bar/None was planning to press more copies of the Heyday comp. made my day... thanks for the great post!
They were practically the house band at Off-The-Wall hall at one time. Awesome drummer...
Post a Comment
<< Home