What is a "Greatest Hit" anyway?

Steve Winwood's sold out "Greatest Hits" tour stop at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby was not so much this

as it was this:

What I'm saying is that, with the exception of the No. 1s "Roll With It" and "Higher Love," the 69-year-old blue-eyed soul singer/keyboardist/guitarist ignored the 1980s, the period of the bulk of his greatest hits.

Whaaaaat?

The first inkling this might happen came as Winwood  took a seat behind a Hammond organ. That keyboard's distinct and classic sound would probably rule out the more synthesized sounds of "Valerie," "While You See a Chance" and "The Finer Things." It should be mentioned that the gifted multi-instrumentalist in Winwood's rock-solid band freed "Higher Love" from its '80s sonic prison by playing the song's chirpy synth hook on saxophone.

Sure I absolutely expected to hear Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and Blind Faith songs -- the 1970 Traffic song "Empty Pages" still sounds quite fresh -- but was not expecting something branded as "Greatest Hits" to so grossly under-represent Winwood's most commercially successful decade.

"Did Steve Winwood just not have a good time in the '80s?," I wondered.     

Then I read something he said to Digital First Media's Gary Graff: "I remember, at some point in the '90s, there were people who were following me for my work in the '80s who weren't familiar with either Traffic or Spencer Davis, and didn't know that I was the same person that sang 'Gimme Some Lovin'' or the same person that sang 'Can't Find My Way Home' (both big-time crowd-pleasers at the Tower). I do specifically remember one person coming up to me after a show to say: 'I loved the show, but why did you finish with a cover of a Blues Brothers song?'

So I have these different sort of levels and phases I've gone through, and one phase isn't always familiar with the other phases."

 From what I could tell, Winwood's Philly faithful skewed close to Winwood's age, and therefore found "Dear Mr. Fantasy" and "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" to be satisfying enough. The audience was also appreciative of the opening set by Winwood's daughter, Lilly (who appears in my "Roll With It" video above), who has a storytelling singer/songwriter thing going that would fit in very well at the Philadelphia Folk Festival.

Later I discovered Winwood recently released a "Greatest Hits Live" album, culled from the tour, that features "Back in the High Life Again," "Arc of a Diver" and "Freedom Overspill" -- songs I really wish I could have heard.

Review: The Psychedelic Furs at the Ardmore Music Hall

The old Brownie's 23 East was jumping Friday Jan. 9.
Perhaps thinking that people had forgotten about them, since they haven't released any new music since 1991, one of the truly great bands of the '80s booked a show at Montgomery County's Ardmore Music Hall. The Psychedelic Furs officially sold the place out a couple weeks before the concert date. So surprise guys, people do still find the music you made -- punk aggression with heartfelt, desperate longing (and a honkin' dollop of saxophone) -- very meaningful. My wife noticed that the audience skewed to people of our "certain age," and gave the evening a vibe of parties she enjoyed back in the day.
Richard Butler still has that wonderfully distinct, nasal, smoky, Johnny-Rotten-snarling rasp, so he sounds cool singing anything. 
Here's a story that appeared in Ticket that reveals that new Furs music is pending.
Priding itself on having good sight lines, my suggestion to the Ardmore Music Hall -- which is an interesting hybrid of a general admission/standing club like the Trocadero with a cabaret having precious-few bar seats -- would be to cap the sell-outs at a slightly smaller number. By the time the Furs took the stage for the roaring opener, "Into You Like a Train," the best view I could get was an under-somebody-else's-butt-level angle.

 Whew! When there's a sell out at Ardmore, get there about when the doors open. You have been warned.

But before I tell you more about The Psychedelic Furs' performance, here's a few words about an unexpected bonus -- an opening set by the Philly band Travel Lanes. Being a fan of the local hook-based roots rock bands Buzz Zeemer and Flight of Mavis, I recognized Frank Brown's voice, which my wife astutely observed has quite a bit of Elvis Costello in it. That led to me tweeting @djcaterina about them, and getting confirmation that yup, that is the Buzz Zeemer guy. Travel Lanes' highlights included the Buzz Zeemer songs "Break My Heart" and "Crush." The latter sounded even better than the BZ recording. They also put an ace spin on The Ramones' "She's the One."

They smartly promoted their Jan. 24 show at Dawson Street Pub, but the deadpan quip of "we're a local band, which you can see ... locally" came across as snarky and rubbed me the wrong way. Dude, you're opening for the freakin' Psychedelic Furs! That's a plum slot for a new group; embrace that with a smidge more gratitude and enthusiasm, please!

 The Furs hit crowd-pleasers like "Pretty in Pink," "Love My Way," "Heaven" and these killer tunes:

 They also mined their catalog for excellent songs like "Until She Comes," "Mr. Jones," "Only You and I," "Run and Run" (which lyrically is kind of a bookend companion song for "Pretty in Pink," IMO) and "Fall," which features this unforgettably sneering punk couplet:

Marry me and be my wife/You can have me all your life
Our love will never end/Parties with stupid friends
LOL -- damn!
Who'd have thunk it ... these songs have aged rather well, especially with the new life breathed into them by the band.

Ant music for sex people

He's been described as kitsch and camp, but I disdain the negativity of both of those words.
One of the most eccentric - how d'ya like that? - characters of the '80s, Adam Ant, is set to play the Trocadero Theater in Philadelphia Oct. 5. General admission tickets are $25. Call (215) 922-6888.
The show was originally supposed to be on Valentine's Day, but was rescheduled because of some snag with the release of a new album. Thought I saw something to that effect on Ant's website, but it's no longer there.
Hooo boy. I'm just hoping that's not Adam's bipolar disorder - which got him in some trouble in the '90s - flaring up.

One of three songs that charted in the U.S. top 40 for Stuart Goddard, aka Adam Ant. "Wonderful" was one of few bright spots for him in the '90s.

It was during the "Goody Two Shoes" period when I sat next to Denyel Trumbore in my seventh grade math class (wonder whatever happened to her?). She was obsessed with the guy. I was crushing on Denyel, so logically I sought out the unique post-punk sounds of Adam & The Ants, and Adam's more poppy, but equally quirky, solo material.
Dismiss the English new wave singer as a flash in the pan if you must, but Ant does have a distinctively oddball sensibility for both fashion and lyrics. I think of him as a theatrical missing link in music between David Bowie and Lady Gaga.

With the final Adam & The Ants record, Adam took Britain's New Romantic movement to a garish extreme.

Because of his accent, often slurred diction (which is ultra-weird considering all the acting he's done), and strange phrasing, half the time you swear he's singing in some unknown language (For being English, he does drop in quite a bit of French, and occasionally some Italian). In a bizarro, Adam Ant way, that's apropos for a man who sang about Antmusic, Ant people, and an insect nation.
Here's a medley of my favorite way-out-there lyrical Adam Ant-isms. Some are tongue-in-cheek. Some are witty. Some are mocking. Some don't make any friggin' sense at all!

"When I saw you kneeling,
crying words that you mean.
Opening the eyeballs, eyeballs
pretending that you're Al Green, Al Green."
--Goody Two Shoes

"An 18th century brain in a 21st century head."
--Room at the Top

"If I were kind and adoring,
how would that be?
Very boring.
Mr. press man, with your pen/knife,
always asking
about my sex life.
'And who with?'
'And how many times?'"
--Desperate But Not Serious

"We don't need to see what the butler saw,
or a mirrored room with a mirrored floor
All the sneaky looks gazing down on you
are no substitute for our rendezvous."
--Strip

"So what's the point of robbery,
when nothing is worth taking?"
--Stand and Deliver

"This gold on the teeth's no sense at all.
It only matters when it's on the wall.
In the naughty north and in the sexy south,
we're all singin'.
I have the mouth."
--Ant Rap

"Have you ever stopped to think
who's slave and who's the master?
And remember this -
You don't need anything
after an ice cream."
--Car Trouble

"So unplug the jukebox,
and do us all a favor.
That music's lost its taste
so try another flavor - Antmusic"
--Antmusic

These next 2, I think, are coded references to Ant's Romnichal heritage. They're more gypsies than indigenous peoples, but you get the idea.

"See a nation on its knees,
and its heritage dead.
See a nation needing 'civilization,'
just like a hole in the head.
One race! Today! One chant! Kick!
So now you're trying it on me,
but I'm aware of the plan.
To save the 'man' you have to kill the 'Indian,'
by simply shaking his hand."
--Kick

"I feel beneath the white.
There is a red skin
suffering from centuries of taming.
And even when you're healthy,
and your color schemes delight.
Down below those dandy clothes,
you're just a shade too white."
--Kings of the Wild Frontier

"After nine years in the army,
they took away his brain.
They tattooed 'defect' on his brow,
and signed him up again."
--Nine Plan Failed

"Don't like your stare.
Don't like the arm in the air.
Your style is so brash,
and that silly mustache...
The evil I see
sends bad vibrations through me.
And oh what a square
with your diagonal hair."
--Tabletalk

"I could be religious if you didn't have to kneel down.
I could be religious if a god would say 'hello.'
I could be religious if an angel touched my shoulder.
I could be religious if they set the hymns to disco like this:
Holy, holy, holy,
Lord god almighty,
God in three persons,
Beloved trinity."
--The Idea

"I'll fill your bath with
the finest champagne.
I'll lick your skin dry.
I cherish your name.
The stakes get higher
as you dress sparsely.
So why did you have
to be so nasty?"
--Deutscher Girls

"Young Parisians are so French.
They love Patti S-mith."
--Young Parisians

"I'm a friend of Michael Jackson.
I'm a friend of Mr. Spock.
I'm a friend of Dr. Kildare.
I'm a friend of The Woodentops.
I'm an old friend of Charles Hawtrey.
I'm a friend of Michael Caine.
I'm a friend of Stanley Spencer.
I'm a friend of big John Wayne.
I'm a friend of Stevie Wonder.
I'm a friend of Eric Fromm.
I'm a friend of Bryan Ferry.
I'm a friend of Terence Stamp."
--Friends

"They cut you in half with a gun,
and they give you a Band-Aid."
--Killer in the Home

"Ladies can be captains and ladies can be chiefs.
Just like glorious amazons,
Ann Bonny, Mary Read.
A woman's wrath hath no man,
and this all men must fear.
These were ladies from hell,
carving crimson careers."
--5 Guns West

"A thrill a day keeps the chill away.
Love like a dagger and a sound like a wi-mo-weh."
--That Voodoo

"When you're a
pirouetting, high kicking,
thigh slapping cruiser.
When you're a
hip grinding, spellbinding,
clean cut seducer."
--Friend or Foe

"Marriages are made in heaven,
so what the hell happened to mine?"
--Made of Money

"You fight so hard to get your name.
Please don't eat my leg, grandma.
On every tongue, in every brain.
Please don't eat my leg, grandma.
How in the hell can you complain?
What a bore you pop stars are.
Privacy's gone down the drain."
--Cajun Twisters

"Bang bang, you're dead!
Did not! Did too!
Stop diddy-bopping buddy
bouncing Betty on you.
Well I've been where I'm was going,
and it's not Tom of Finland."
--Vive Le Rock

"Miss Thing, please tell me why
he says 'child' when he meets another guy.
Turn it up.
Have your fill.
Up in the treble,
with a voice like a power drill."
--Miss Thing

"Whoops-in-a whoops-in (Dress it up)
Jam-jam jammerin' (Dress it up, Dress it up)
Yabba-yabba-ding-ding (Dress it up)
Delta hey max Nine
We will be fine
Apollo Nine
Even though NASA say
'Way out of line.'"
--Apollo 9

"Crouched and trembling
with hate,
mixes both and dies
both ways.
Going round the twist with
heartbreak."
--Hell's Eight Acres

"Wanted:
-One big truck that brings me camp over Medusa
-One miniature ration freeze boot lucky cross and cigarette lighter combined
-$500 in Rubles
-Ten packs of chewing gum
-Four lipsticks
-Five pairs of black nylons and a hula-hula skirt, buddy.
-One .38 special fully automatic
-Five clips of ammunition
-One week's concentrated emergency rations containing one, two, three sample size morphine syringes
-Two Phantoms
-One B-57
-Four Chinooks
-One 79 grenade launcher and a U.E.U.
Geez, a fella can have a real mean-dog of a weekend with all that stuff.
Sh*t!
Yes sir, I've done some questionable things in my time
One more trick and you'll be dead.
No way to talk to a suicide head.
The chance to begin again.
Rebel in your time.
Have a better one,
Bye."
--P.O.E.

"Shack-shoo-wow
boom-lagga-lagga-boom
lagga-boom-sha-boom!"
--Rough Stuff

"Keep your friends real close,
and keep your enemies closer.
And be a real Hoss Cartwright on the ponderosa."
--Young, Dumb and Full of It

A coming out party

3/5 of Fish Relics. From left to right: Me, Joe Digney, Paul Saylor.

The Rising Sun Inn on Allentown Road in Franconia Township has a really good assortment of live music. I'm not just saying that because my cover band, Fish Relics, plays there every month or so. The various lineup incarnations of Rollin' & Tumblin' and The Manatees are regulars. On April 23, this group, Planets, is throwing a birthday bash for somebody in the band. Also, this one band called Big Fun, which has been booked for a future date, has a Michael Jackson tribute set within their act (!).
Ladies and gentlemen, a star was born March 6 at the RSI! Hatfield resident Amy Brobst had a band once upon a time, but they never got out of the basement. Her alto (with a detectable country twang) is quite pleasing and she's easy on the eyes. Hers is a talent that I took an interest in nurturing because I saw a performer with an itch overdue for scratching. Turns out all the support she required was someone strumming a guitar and an encouraging attitude.
As the video shot by her husband, John, shows, it looks like I found something promising. Some of our friends call us Kenny & Dolly, as in Rogers and Parton.
There are several '80s songs Fish Relics has wanted to tackle, but shied away from because they only work with a female singer. Amy/Dolly's already-impressive fan group will be pleased to know that the plan is to get her singing with the full band at the RSI Saturday May 15. That particular show will be an '80s party, hopefully with a prize for showing up in your finest period attire.
Save the date and refer to the Rising Sun entertainment schedule at http://www.risingsuninn.net/.