PGH PODCAST

“Lost Treasures – Show #1”

your host, Bruce Brown

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LOST TREASURES – Show #1 (April 26, 2013)

BRUCE BROWN:         Welcome back to another “Fix It In the Mix” podcast. I’m your host, Bruce Brown. As a visitor to Pop Geek Heaven, you’ve hopefully taken the time to visit the “Lost Treasures” section of the web site. Of course, in one sad definition of the phrase, about 99% of what we refer to as “power pop” music – both past AND present – could be referred to as “lost treasures,” given the minimal size of the audience even the most successful power pop artists reach. In fact, while both bands I’m going to feature today were signed to major labels, and both had TWO shots at the brass ring, neither band was able to sustain a career long enough to enjoy chart success or commercial acceptance. And although you can find vinyl by both bands that isn’t prohibitively costly, neither band currently has a CD in print on a U.S. label, nor, as far as I can find, digital downloads anywhere.

The first band we’ll feature made its recorded debut in 1980. At that time, I had just left music retail and was not currently working as a D.J. So I’ve waited 33 years to say –  “Ladies and Gentlemen, The Cretones.”

Song 1: The Cretones – “Justine” (Thin Red Line)

Song 2: The Cretones – “Real Love” (Thin Red Line)

Song 3: Linda Ronstadt/The Cretones– “Cost of Love” (Mad Love)

Voice 2:         Three songs from The Cretones’ 1980 debut for Planet Records, Thin Red Line; well, actually, two and three quarters songs. The last track we heard, “Cost of Love,” was one of three songs written by The Cretones’ leader, Mark Goldenberg, to be featured on Linda Ronstadt’s album Mad Love. Given that album’s eventual platinum status, it certainly made Goldenberg a good deal more money than his own recording of it. Though Goldenberg would meet drummer Steve Beers after his move from Chicago to Los Angeles, the other two members of The Cretones – bassist Peter Bernstein and keyboard player Steve Leonard were old compatriots from the Windy City.

The band spent the better part of two years scuffling around L.A., before being signed to producer Richard Perry’s Planet Records label, and releasing Thin Red Line.

Song 4: The Cretones – “Mrs. Peel” (Thin Red Line)

Song 5: The Cretones – “Here Comes The Wave” (Thin Red Line)

Song 6: The Cretones – “Girls! Girls! Girls!” (Snap! Snap!)

Voice 3:         The Cretones once again, this time from its second album, the 1981 release Snap! Snap! When that album failed to be as explosive as the Chinese firecrackers on its cover, The Cretones, as bands will do, broke up. Not surprisingly, Goldenberg has had the highest profile in the ensuing decades, scoring songwriting hits such as The Pointer Sisters’ “Automatic” and steady guitar-for-hire gigs, with such artists as Peter Frampton, Chris Isaak and Jackson Browne. While Leonard has worked mostly as a software engineer and computer consultant, Beers has spent a good deal of time working as a television producer, and Bernstein has an impressive resumé as a composer of numerous TV and film scores.

Song 7: Little America – “Lost Along the Way” (Little America)

Voice 4:         And that is Little America, our second featured band on this edition of “Lost Treasures.” The musical landscape, which always changes rapidly, was moving at warp speed in the mid-1980’s. That’s when future Little America members Andy Logan and John Hussey, who originally met in Santa Barbara, headed down U.S. 1 to L.A., in search of greener pop music pastures. Not long after landing in the City of Angels, the pair met Mike Magrisi and Kurt Custer, who were then gigging in a Paisley Underground band called The Turn. Music bonafides were exchanged, and by 1985, the quartet, now christened Little America by Hussey, were demoing songs at Capitol Records, including this tune, that would eventually highlight the band’s debut album.

Song 8: Little America – “Walk On Fire” (Little America)

Voice 5:         “Walk On Fire,” the lead-off single from the self-titled debut by Little America. Capitol had passed on signing the band due to what it considered a shaky live showcase, but the band re-doubled its writing and recording efforts, landing a deal with Geffen and taking the bulk of 1986 to craft its debut album. “Walk On Fire” was released as a single just in advance of the album’s February 1987 street date, but Geffen’s marketing department was unprepared for the immediate positive response to the regional success the record enjoyed in the Southwest and Midwest. Still, Little America began a further promotional trek in an attempt to crack the coveted East Coast markets.

Song 9: Little America – “You Were Right” (Little America)

Song 10: Little America – “That’s The Way It Stays” (Little America)

Voice 6:         Although a major break-through eluded the band, Little America’s debut album did manage to sell more than 100,000 copies, a blockbuster by the fragmented standards of 2013. But in 1987, the band’s Geffen label-mates Guns ‘N’ Roses had set the bar juuuust a little higher, with Appetite for Destruction. In spite of the label focusing its efforts on the hot hand, 1988 found Little America back in the studio preparing its second album, Fairgrounds.

Song 11: Little America – “Fairgrounds” (Fairgrounds)

Voice 7:         In a tale that’s been told a thousand times when a band has an underperforming debut, Geffen Records began rejecting finished songs from Little America’s sophomore album sessions. Several fix-it methods were attempted, such as including the dreaded cover song to court audience familiarity – in this case, it was a credible but unspectacular version of The Byrds’ “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better.” The label also employed noted songwriter Diane Warren, whose resumé was just beginning to land on the desk of A&R reps chasing hits. The group resented the intrusion, despite Warren’s contribution helping ingite the only minor hit on Fairgrounds. The album, released in 1989, topped out at an anemic 20,000 sales. Geffen found itself consumed by the career resurrection of Aerosmith and the juggernaut of Guns ‘N’ Roses, so Little America was dropped.

And, as Little America departed, so must we. I’m Bruce Brown, and you’ve been listening to the “Fix It In The Mix” podcast, brought to you by Pop Geek Heaven. We’ll leave you with “Where Were You” from the Little America album, Fairgrounds.

Song 12: Little America – “Where Were You” (Fairgrounds)