Tonight’s selections are from Morphine’s debut album, Good.
With only a two-string bass, a saxophone and drums, Morphine were able to craft a sound both unique and familiar. They drew upon rhythm and blues, jazz, and old school rock & roll while never fully embracing those styles and never using guitars. Their trademarks instead became their “low rock” sound, the captivating, relaxed baritone of their singer, and, of course, that smooth saxophone present on every song. The Boston trio held onto an avid cult following for almost a decade until things tragically came to a halt for the band in 1999.
In 1989, Mark Sandman, a skilled bass player who had been coming into his own as a vocalist, was a man without a band. His group, Treat Her Right, led by former Pink Cadillac singer David Champagne, had released their final album, Tied to the Tracks (featuring Sandman's lead vocals on several tracks) and broken up. In a similar situation was saxophonist Dana Colley, who had just finished a rather successful seven-year career with Three Colors, one of the more prominent bands of the Boston music scene. Already good friends and building on a foundation of previous jam sessions and various side projects, Sandman and Colley pooled their bandlessness together to form Morphine, adding drummer Jerome Dupree to become a proper trio in 1990. They built a cult following by playing loft parties and bars throughout Boston.
The band were signed to Russ Gershon's independent label, Accurate/Distortion, and released their debut album, Good, on that label in 1991. One year later, the album was re-released on Salem, Massachusetts indie label Rykodisc. A well-rounded introduction to the band's original take on rock, Good proved to be a fresh listen for fans of independent music, and received plenty of attention from college radio as well as positive write-ups in alternative music magazines across the country. — Amoeba Records
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The Saddest Song [1991]
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I saw Morphine live in 1996 at the Vogue in Indianapolis. It was one of the most physical shows I’ve seen. Not that the crowd was physical, the music was. The low end made the building vibrate. You could feel each note of the bass pass through you like a wave. It was sooo loud. I swear every note pushed air out of the building. It was intense.
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The Other Side [1991]
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On July 3rd, 1999, the band was playing a gig in Italy as part of the European leg of a tour. During the second song of their set, Sandman collapsed onto the stage. He was immediately given medical attention and put in an ambulance, but on the way to a nearby hospital, it was clear he had suffered from a heart attack and he was pronounced dead. The news was made even more shocking since Sandman had no previous problems with his health. He was just 46 years old. — Amoeba Records
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Good [1991]
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WHO’S TALKING TO WHO?
Jimmy Kimmel: Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, James Blake
Jimmy Fallon: Amy Adams, Billy Crudup, a performance from "Six"
Stephen Colbert: Melissa McCarthy, Lindsey Buckingham
Seth Meyers: The cast of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine", José Medeles
James Corden: Angela Bassett, NCT 127
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.
X-TRA
San Francisco’s American Music Club (led by Mark Eitzel) with a Carpenters cover. Love this one (I know, I know...).
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American Music Club :: Goodbye To Love [1994]
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Susan Anway, singer for the Magnetic Fields and early Boston new wave rockers V; passed away last week. Complications from Parkinson’s.
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The Magnetic Fields :: 100,000 Fireflies [1992]
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LAST WEEK’S POLL: LATIN STATE MOTTO (TRANSLATED)
Ever Upward (New York) 0% 0 votes
Mountaineers Are Always Free (West Virginia) 0% 0 votes
Nothing Without Providence (Colorado) 0% 0 votes
She Flies With Her Own Wings (Oregon) 45% 5 votes
To Be, Rather Than To Seem (North Carolina) 9% 1 vote
To The Stars Through Difficulties (Kansas) 45% 5 votes
PICKS
NCAA: Mizzou, Cincinnati, Oregon, Mississippi State, Texas State
NFL: Rams, 49ers, Chargers, Seahawks, Chiefs
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Portland State coach Bruce Barnum will buy your beer if you attend Saturday's home football game
"I've got a deal for you," Barnum announced, "anybody who heard me on your show... just say 'I heard Barney on the BFT' at the Barney Beer Garden and I'll buy your beer.
"I'm not buying your ticket, but I'll buy your beer."
How many beers?
Said Barney: "All of them."
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