Hello Marchers!
We have a little cheery fun for you this month – we are presenting the first Holidays release, Everyday Is A Holiday originally released in 1990. As you recall, we put out their glorious second album Big Sexy World in 2022 and we thought it was time to give this Michael Stein classic a little love. Everyday is Chuckie Boy CD1001, the opening salvo of a boutique ten or so album release label. https://www.chuckieboy.com/
Now some of you think of Michal as the smashing True Olympian drummer, but this is Mr. Steinorama at his most poppiest, croonerest, cheeriest bestest!
And we have a tiny stack of 12” vinyl EPs that Michael is letting you have for a very reasonable rate. Wowsa. Plus an insanely increasing amount of shipping if you live outside the USA (Europe is about $35-40, Australia is over $50)
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A quality Stein interview:
TD: What’s the basic lowdown – how did you and Allison get this thing going? What is each of your musical histories?
MS: Basically playing music with our friends…learned to write the kinds of songs we wanted to hear at our parties!
TD: Tell us a little bit about how this got recorded and mixed – I see you did the tracking with Charles Meserole, who did The Fastbacks’ In America EP and mixed with Ed Brooks down at Steve Lawson’s, fairly early in Ed’s studio career.
MS: We recorded with Charles because our friend Gordon Raphael had worked with him, and found Charles’ laid-back yet immensely talented approach to be a great fit for us. Our colleague Gregg Silagyi was a solid producer and arranger, too…helped shape our basic ideas and took ’em someplace wonderful.
TD: You also did a very groovy video for “Octopus of Love” – which most locals did not do back then – it was much less easy than it is today. Were you hoping to be MTV stars?
MS: We really liked the videos that Tom Ensign, in Bellingham, had done, and tracked him down. Super happy with that nice Alki Beach 1990 Time Capsule he did for “Octopus of Love”!
TD: You recorded a whole second album which was finally released on Green Monkey a couple years ago. Why did it not come out when recorded and what led to the band’s demise?
MS: Basically, an ‘Extended Break’ turned into a VERY ‘Extended Break’…when we pulled those songs out of storage, it was a treat to hear just how well they held up!
TD: Will there be any performances for this release? Perhaps an “Octopus of Love” singalong at the Octapas Cafe here in Olympia?
MS: Of course…and an Octopus singalong at the Seattle Aquarium too! See ya there!
The Holidays gettin’ on down at the sunny Mural Amphitheater in Seattle: Allison – Michael – Greg
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We will continue working the vaults for the next couple months, next month we shall give you the Steve Turnidge remaster of Joey Kline’s Pomp and Circus Pants available for the first time ever on CD.
We have a Turnidge remastered Strongbow cassette release Music For Intense Cities coming your way soon as well. There is a nice show of Jon’s art currently on display at the Department of Ecology building in Olympia.
Continuing the oldies commentary, we just had two tracks show up on a Cherry Red (England) 3CD comp titled – This Can’t Be Today : American Psychedelia & The Paisley Underground 1977-1988. They grabbed Al Bloch’s “Hanging Around”, song #1 on our “Local Product” 1983 debut and of course, the closest we ever got to a hit, The Green Pajamas “Kim The Waitress”. Review: https://www.popmatters.com/us-psychedelic-underground
Brother Al looks pleased! BTW, the Bloch Bros. band, Bad Scene, rocked Easy Street Records. Buy their new album here!
And yes, Jeff and the Green Pajamas have a new single out SOS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWihrvjaZ60
Album soon?
There are rumors the PJs have a show coming up at Tim’s.
Oh yeah, and me, what’s up (in case you fergot to read last month’s newsletter)? Well, I am still giving the True Olympians a little vacation. My next album will be either a) a pipe organ album of my tunes played by Dennis Northway, arranged by Jim of Seattle and recorded at the First Christian Church in Olympia, or b) a Chicago blues style interpretation album of the Tom Dyer songbook with longtime Oly blooz band Fishtrap, or c) a solo TD album with new recordings of unreleased songs going back to 1969, including three arias which I performed as a teen, or d) a third, all-new album by my 1980’s band The Icons, or e) my uber-dancy-pop yet-unnamed (“Afterburners” – waddya think?) new Apple Logic duo with Michael Stein. We are two old dogs learning new trix.
TD consults with Eva of The Black Tones on which TD album should come out next!
See ya next month.
td
Ps. The Superbowl was an ass whuppin’. The parade was great!
