Tonight’s selections span the career of 1980s Marietta rock band, Guadalcanal Diary. It’s not fair to the band to compare them to R.E.M. but you know college rock band from Georgia on a major label; it’s a lazy comparison but I can see why critics made it. Maybe if you squint and look real hard you might find a song here and there where that comparison sort of sticks but Guadalcanal Diary did its own thing. They were rocking out before R.E.M. had their “big rock” epiphany (say, the Document / Green era).
This is the original 1983 video for Guadalcanal Diary's "Watusi Rodeo".
It placed third in an "American Film Institute" competition in 1983 and last in the aforementioned (1984) MTV Cutting Edge outing (southerners marching through a crowded field of bad hair-metal bands). MTV did air it several times though, including in the early '90's as a "Closet Classic".
All footage is from Marietta, Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville, Memphis, and Charlotte during my first road trips with Guadalcanal. The [dancers] were the only planned shots and captured at the "Much Ado About Midtown" festival In Midtown Atlanta 1983 (during that era there were many mid-town cultural events that sprang from more of a community-driven ethos and less from the cynical corporate-fests that followed). Editing was performed in Atlanta on industrial VHS decks. The first version cost just under $200. — Warren Chilton
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Watusi Rodeo [1984]
(Warning: some footage in this video may be disturbing)
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Signed to DB Recs at or near the local label’s commercial high point, Guadalcanal Diary released its debut EP, Watusi Rodeo in 1983. The disc’s catchy yet slightly off-kilter songs (mostly by guitarist Murray Attaway) attracted the attention of Elektra, who soon signed the band. Released in 1984, the Don Dixon-produced Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man exposed the group to a national audience. Three more major-label albums followed: Jamboree (1986), 1987’s 2 X 4, and Flip Flop from 1989. The group never approached the popularity of R.E.M. or B-52’s, but its albums accurately represented the Atlanta brand of college rock as it existed in those years. 2 X 4 in particular is often held up as among the best of Guadalcanal Diary’s work. — Musoscribe
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Trail of Tears [1984]
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I've never heard of (let alone seen) this forgotten 80s movie Rockin' Road Trip (1985). Now I wanna to see it. As an aside, the background characters in this scene have the typical 80s media punxsploitation look. It’s outrageous and out of line in at least one case.
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Ghost on the Road [1985]
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If retrospect gives the advantage of appreciating the subtlety of trends, then I'm wondering why Guadalcanal Diary hasn't been culled from the bottom of the 1985 album charts. REM backlash is inherent on their debut, Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man, but that first college rock scene was so small in the south at the time. Bands who were only slightly less hardworking than REM were guaranteed to amble off into the mere shadows of the behemoth. Perhaps my sympathies are driven by the specter of inattention, but I will stand up and vogue for this album. — Tiny Mixtapes
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...Vista [1989]
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To read more, check out this four part series on guitarist Jeff Walls (Guadalcanal Diary, the Woggles) at Stomp and Stammer. It’s an oral history of Walls (who passed away in 2019) and Guadalcanal Diary. Great read, highly recommended.
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Always Saturday [1989]
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This underappreciated Georgia quartet distinguished itself from any number of smart, tuneful American guitar combos by combining accessible songcraft with provocatively twisted lyrics. Singer/guitarist Murray Attaway’s songs reflect a bizarre variety of far-flung interests, from a preoccupation with the supernatural to a fascination with American cultural imperialism; the band delivers them all with rootsy irony.
Dixon — and inspiration — returned for the smashing 2 X 4, on which the group’s members dip into their shadowy art-rock pasts (Attaway once fronted a Yes cover band) to finally create music as distinctive as the lyrics. “Litany (Life Goes On),” “Newborn” and “Winds of Change” sport big, ambitious arrangements that suit their subject matter just fine. — Trouser Press
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Litany (Life Goes On) [1987]
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WHO’S TALKING TO WHO?
Jimmy Kimmel: Janelle Monáe, Sadie Sink, Rita Wilson, Smokey Robinson (R 12/6/22)
Jimmy Fallon: Kate Hudson, Morris Chestnut, a performance from "A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical" (R 12/12/22)
Stephen Colbert: Dr. Anthony Fauci, Cody Keenan (R 10/5/22)
Seth Meyers: Janelle Monáe, Paul Dano, Kevin Murphy (R 12/14/22)
James Corden: Tracee Ellis Ross, Sosie Bacon, Erica Spera (R 11/17/22)
SPOILER WARNING
A late night gathering for non serious palaver that does not speak of that night’s show. Posting a spoiler will get you brollywhacked. You don’t want that to happen to you. It's a fate worse than a fate worse than death.
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After listening to Guadalcanal Diary songs on Spotify today, this came up in a “similar to” recommendation. “Hey! It’s that Fetchin Bones song I like!”. Another 80s Southern underground rock band who never found much commercial success — “Yep, that’s similar to Guadalcanal Diary!” (I joke, but not really). Never saw this band live but I did see Fetchin Bones singer Hope Nicholls perform in Chicago during the early 90s as a member of Pigface. Fun show!
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Fetchin Bones :: Love Crushing [1989]
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LAST WEEKS POLL: IS CHRISTMAS TIME REALLY THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR?
Yes 20%
No 48%
Bah Humbug! 32%