As continued from Friday, what other acts that I collect have I not had the pleasure of seeing perform? Step right up! Roll up! The hits just keep on coming!
- Peter Godwin – I’m a fan of the plucky l’il feller, but I’d bet dollars to doughnuts he’s never once had a US work visa.
- Peter Gabriel – Interestingly enough, I once did have the chance to see Mr. gabriel play my very own city. Alas, my love for his career only extended from 1977-1982. By 1994, or whenever it was, I could have cared less. But 1980?! How much? …where? – I’d have paid anything!
Heaven 17 ca. 2010
- Heaven 17 – These faves never once played the states, apart from a single reputed Studio 54 track date alleged to have happened in the 80s. Against all odds, for the last ten years or so, they’ve been gigging reliably in the United Kingdom. This x-mas season, punters in the UK will be treated to a “30th anniversary” tour of their powerful debut album, “Penthouse & Pavement.” It’s certainly not pencilled in the budget but I wouldn’t look askance at airfare and lodging. Hell, I’d pay the rest if there are any givers.
- Lene Lovich – It transpired that my single opportunity to see the electric Ms. Lovich in Atlanta was the very next weekend following a trip there the previous weekend to see… Pete Burns of Dead Or Alive fame perform an unforgettable [in all senses of the word] track date at the swell club Masquerade. I was young and stupid then, so the idea of trucking back up to Atlanta [about an eight hour drive from where I lived] the very next weekend sounded decadent. All that money I was making then must have clouded my mind! What I wouldn’t give to see her yet.
Howard Devoto of Magazine
- Magazine – This amazing, seminal Post-Punk band [in all senses of the word] were utterly dazzling. By 1981, it was all over, and singer Howard Devoto managed to release a further four albums until 2009, when the reformed Magazine [sans guitarist John McGeoch, R.I.P. 1955-2004] for a series of electric now-or-never gigs. Devoto’s acerbic wordplay and delivery insured that his material never dated badly and the musicianship of the band was always top drawer besides, so these gigs were welcomed like the manna from heaven they were to a generation of British fifty-somethings who carefully followed each word of Paul Morley in the NME way back when. The best I could do was a CD/DVD/T-shirt pack from the band’s website. Hey, it was better than nothing!
- The Nits – This well-respected Dutch band started life as New Waver wannabees, not a million miles away from Talking Heads or any of that ilk. By the middle of the 80s they started to spread their wings considerably, and by the 90s they were comparable to XTC, only with better songs. Their “Ting” album is a moment of rapturous beauty frozen in time. They played Montreal once in the last decade at a time when traveling there was out of the question. Otherwise, all of their gigs are in Europe, so we wait.
More to come later…
![Chris Cross: 1952-2024 [part 2]](https://postpunkmonk.files.wordpress.com/2024/04/ultravox-cross.jpg?w=200&h=200&crop=1)
Post-Punk Monk 
I saw Peter Gabriel once in 1977 – ostensibly to see “Dusty Rhodes” (aka R. Fripp) play with him (Roxy Theatre, L.A.) I saw The Nits twice (Tilburg and Paris). I saw Magazine as many times as humanly possible in ’79 and ’80 (in both L.A. and S.F.); also saw Luxuria! I saw Lene Lovich live in Paris in 1979, and somewhere around here I have a cassette of that show. Alas, Heaven 17 never came near here…
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@ronkanefiles – You saw Luxuria?! Allow me to touch the hem of your vestments, sir! I have to admit that Noko is a great guitarist. Howard always had great taste in guitarists. Noko’s solo on “Redneck” is one of the best guitar solos of the 80s, in my estimation. Was Fripp sitting on a stool in the darkness for the Gabriel gig as was his wont at the time? I would not have minded seeing Gabriel in ’77, ’78 or ’82 but ’80? Magic. You went to S.F. for Magazine? That’s devotion!
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I saw at least 4 x “Secondhand Daylight” shows in L.A., yet only one “Urgh” show @ The Warfield Theatre in S.F. ’80; Luxuria actually played at a club that no longer exists in Long Beach! When I lived in England, I missed Devoto’s book signing by one measly day (in Bristol, Avon). Yes, Fripp sat on a stool in the dark, in the wings when we saw Gabriel (who was not entirely so impressive). I wish I had waited until ’80 to see P.G., then I could’ve seen Random Hold!
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@ronkanefiles – Peter Gabriel is not intrinsically impressive, per se. It’s his sidemen who are impressive! PGIII hit me like a ton of bricks, not the least of it being that was the first time I’d heard Chapman Stick. Tony Levin – I’d see him playing under any conditions! The Urgh! Show – was that with McGeoch or Robin Simon by that time? The frequency of the earlier shows was kind of ironic because the Urgh! show was a “Correct Use Of Soap” show. I didn’t think that “Secondhand Daylight” had ever gotten a domestic release. But wait, here it is. Sonnuvagun. I sure never saw it!
The first Magazine album I saw and thus was able to buy was “Soap,” in its [actually better looking] US sleeve. I wish I’d kept my LP of that. Had I known the CD was in the “plain brown wrapper” I would have kept it. Never swap your music when you are “replacing” something with a CD that’s coming in the mail. There’s also the time that I ordered Torch Song’s “Exhibit A” on JPN CD when it was released, cut loose the LP and the CD ended up being a cancelled order! Then I had to re-buy “Exhibit A” on LP years later!!!
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“Urgh” show by Magazine in S.F. was with Robin Simon, I believe.
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@ronkanefiles – How nice. You got to compare and contrast. As much as I worship Simon’s guitar with Ultravox or John Foxx, McGeoch is the guitarist for Magazine.
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I saw Miz Lovich in ’89, as she came thru Boston to support her latest album March. Fun show, but just 7 years after the previous album (No-Mans-Land) came out, she was all but forgotten. Well, not by the small crowd gathered to worship her eccentric greatness.
Was quite annoyed Heaven 17 had to drop out of the last ABC-headlined Regeneration Tour of summer ’09. Instead I had to endure (sorry, not a fan) the likes of Wang Chung and the freaking Cutting Crew. At least ABC brought the good stuff.
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@ Taffy – Ah, yes, the Regeneration Tour of ’09. It would have been my only chance to see ABC in Charlotte, NC. That’s a few hours away from where I live, but when H17 bailed out that pushed it over the line for me. Too much sacrifice for too little gain. Cutting Crew – to be avoided… then as is now. My friend Mr. Ware is a huge Wang Chung fan. They have their moments, but I had seen them with him on their Mosaic Tour at the London Victory Club in Tampa, and I suppose that was enough for my casual level of fandom. Mr. Ware sees them whenever they’re out. Truth be told, live videos of recent vintage are pretty good.
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I will grudgingly admit to not loathing Wang Chung’s set. I can’t stand Dancehall Days, and Everybody Have Fun Tonight makes me want to poke my eardrums out with chopsticks, but somehow the more obscure tunes were mildly ingratiating.
On a shallower note, boy are they homely men!
Jeez, what a bitchy comment. My apologies. :)
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@ Taffy – Then does that mean that when you hear “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” …your head is full of chopsticks and you don’t like it?
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HAHAHA…
You *have* been spending a lot of time with the often inscrutable lyrics of Mister LeBon. Well played, sir.
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I got to see and chat with Lene and Les at that Atlanta gig … an incredibly long evening for other reasons, a story for another time. Then Jim came up and we saw that incredible Pete Burns show. Ah, good times. Atlanta remains my all-time favourite concert town.
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