Naked Eyes, ABC, Belinda Carlisle, and the Human League are currently crisscrossing the country on the Regeneration Tour, an oldies-revival trek that thankfully isn’t entirely mired in nostalgia, since all the bands involved are performing more than just rote lists of hits. I caught the Regeneration Tour at the Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles a couple weeks ago, and I can say it’s definitely worth the time (three hours!) and money. Lost in the ’80s fans will appreciate the deep set lists that have liberal sprinklings of album cuts and even some new tracks.
For example, Naked Eyes not only played “Promises, Promises,” but also “Fortune and Fame.” ABC ran through a couple songs from their latest, Traffic. The Human League made my night by tearing through stellar renditions of “Seconds,” “The Lebanon,” and more songs I’d never dreamed of hearing live. The nicest surprise of the night, however, was Belinda, who, along with some predictable Go-Go’s numbers, had a sizable sense of humor about her standing as an Adult Contemporary solo artist. For example, before starting one tune, she winked to the audience, “You hear this next song these days in supermarkets and grocery stores everywhere.” Cue “Circle In The Sand.”
Another surprise was Carlisle beginning her set with the anthem “Live Your Life Be Free,” (download) the second single from her 1991 album of the same name. While a decent-sized hit overseas, “Live Your Life Be Free” was a complete and total stiff in the U.S., failing to chart. In fact, Belinda’s fourth album was a complete non-starter Stateside, the first single, “Do You Feel Like I Feel?” stalling out at a feeble #73, a sad showing for an artist whose first three albums featured several Top Ten hits.
A rockier than usual single in Carlisle’s solo career, “Live Your Live Be Free” probably didn’t deserve to flop so hard. Sure, Belinda does her usual Stevie Nicks-sitting-on-a-washer-during-the-spin-cycle vocal performance, but the chorus is soaring and sort of sounds like the type of thing Robbie Williams would record ten years later. However, it was hampered by a video that, while high-gloss and gorgeous, was a complete mismatch for the song. (more…)
Throughout the ’80s and ’90s, Morrissey made quite of a bit of noise in the music press (this is back when he deigned to speak with them) about bands he had a fondness for and wished to support. Being a dyed-in-the-wool Moz disciple, I’d usually read about these acts, then shuffle off to the record store to buy a single or album and give them a shot. While the man’s music tends to be on the impeccable side, sadly his taste level is about 50/50. For every truly great band like James or Suede Morrrissey would champion, there’d be an equally vile Kristeen Young or :::shudder::: Gallon Drunk.
Years before Eminem fantasized about killing his baby mama, another white rapper was crafting hip-hop joints about killing annoying passersby and setting fire to buildings in the dead of night with orgiastic pyromaniac glee. Dallas’ Mark Griffin took art rock, industrial beats, alternative, and hip-hop to create uncategorizable tales about modern life and the ones who can’t cope. College radio caught on first, playing “Truth Is Out Of Style” from Griffin’s first album, Hell With the Lid Off.
or on 
Here’s one I’ve been saving because … well, I’ve been too lazy to break out the USB turntable.
Knoxville, Tennessee combo Superdrag’s 1996 major-label debut, Regretfully Yours, will always remind me of driving. Y’see, I was finishing up college at Cleveland State University, which was about a 40-minute drive from my place in suburban Elyria, Ohio. Not exactly a hotbed of culture, mind you. Luckily, Regretfully was about the perfect length for the one-way trip, so that final semester of school, I would use it as my driving music. By the time that last song hit, I knew it was time to start looking for parking (of course, I could play it all the way over again by the time I’d find a spot on a busy Wednesday).
Since we’ve got 
Let’s get this out there up right up front: I love this song. Space’s 1997 single, “Female of the Species” 
When Ian McCulloch left Echo & the Bunnymen in 1988 for a solo career, no one really expected the rest of the band to carry on without him, much less attempt to replace him. McCulloch was such a singular rock presence, mixing Jim Morrison brooding with goth attitude (before there was such a thing), that any attempt to slot a new singer in his spot was nearly unthinkable. But the Bunnymen did, in fact, soldier on, and the results were surprisingly good — maybe even better than 
Former New Order bassist Peter Hook has a pretty big set of brass balls. When the band decided to take a break after 1993’s Republic, various members did their own thing 
Washington D.C.-based art-punk quartet Jawbox earned the ire of indie purists in 1993 when they left Dischord Records for major-label Atlantic in the Great Post-Nirvana Alternative Rock Swoop-Up. It proved to be not that big of a deal in the end when the resulting album, For Your Own Special Sweetheart, while sounding a little cleaner, ended up sounding pretty much like their Dischord stuff. Lead single “Savory” 