One of the few upsides I’ve noticed to the 21st century was the fact that PPM Heroine Lene Lovich [her image should be in every dictionary adjacent to the “New Wave” entry] had gotten back into the fray and was playing shows again for the first time, seriously, since 1990. Her spirited vocals are in a class all their own and the one US date they planned for SXSW in 2012-2013 didn’t happen so we were slightly impoverished by not experiencing that.
I see that my Discogs want list has had a CD-R that she produced in 2022 for at least two years, but just last week, when posting on the new Claudia Brücken album, commenter Hishten Hien opined that he now needed a Lene Lovich album to complete his day. As I’m constantly in and out of my Discogs dashboard all day, every day, I couldn’t help but notice that the same day he mentioned her, there was a new Lene Lovich release at the top pof my feed. She had released an “Official Bootleg” on Bandcamp on April 17th!
So I replied to Hishten in the comment thread that his prayers had been immediately answered, not knowing that he was such a big Lene Lovich fan, that he’d already seen the band live recently where this was on the Merch table…and currently secured in their very own Record Cell. But now the rest of us can find out all about it.
Lene Lovich Band: Live In Frankfurt 2015 – Official Bootleg – UK – DL [2025]
- What Will I Do Without You?
- Blue Hotel
- Alone Now
- Maria
- Sleeping Beauty
- O Seasons, O Castles
- New Toy
- 1 In A Million
- Lucky Number
- Angels
- The Wicked Witch
- Light
- You Can’t Kill Me
- Details
- Home
This archive show was from a decade ago and it featured the band of that time, which is half still in place a decade later!
- Lene Lovich – vocals
- Jude Rawlins – guitar
- Valkyie – bass
- Morgan King – drums
- Kirsten Morrison – keyboards
It’s a fantastic set list for starters! Songs from every era of release save for 1988’s “March” album figure here, with a choice B-side offering to sweeten the pot! I might be a little sad that “Bird Song,” my go-to Lene Lovich song, is absent here but that’s rather churlish of me when confronted with a canon of such high quality as what Lene brings to the table. The main thing is that as an “official” bootleg the quality of the recording should be at least to a certain standard. So let’s sample below.
Oh yeah! That’s at least a soundboard recording and possibly more. The immediacy of the miking and PA comes across very well here and as I’ve not heard any live LL recorded contemporaneously, I’ve got to say that she’s still clearly all that and more, vocally! Lene Lovich is an icon not just for her style and beauty, but for that incredible voice she’s clearly still rocking at full strength. I really would go all-out on an actual CD of this but until that day, the £9.00 DL will make me more than just happy. I cannot wait until the budget will allow for grabbing a copy of this! If you agree the DJ hit that button!
-30-
![Want List: Visage DLX RM […finally!]](https://i0.wp.com/postpunkmonk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/visage-dlxrmuscda.jpeg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1)
Post-Punk Monk 
Hey hey hey, this post made my day. And before seeing this post I played the CD-R in my car earlier today – it’s such a pleasure and atmosphere. Before driving to the nearest street fitness to have my evening workout, I packed the cardsleeve CD-R in a plastic bag not to harm it in any way, and replaced Regina Spektor’s “Soviet Kitsch” in the car’s stereo. It felt so live, and she really has that same vocal as when she was young. She still does even in her 70s. Her body has aged, but not her spirit.
Just to make the things a bit more clear, I wasn’t actually at a gig, but the CD-R was offered online for a very brief time. I contacted Danny Valentine, who was offering it, because the shipping costs were quite expensive, and he said there had been a mistake, and offered me to send me a copy at reduced shipping price, as well as a personal signature from Lene if I wait a bit more. Of course I accepted. Then it arrived. That magical CD-R. Not the best image quality. Just a cardboard sleeve CD-R… But it felt and feels so special. Unfortunately, where I live, which is Bulgaria, Lene is practically unknown, besides having Slavic/Yugoslavian roots.
Regarding my “name”, I wanted to mention its origin. It’s not hEIn, it’s hIEn, actually this is a pun on a politically charged satire song from Bulgaria, called “Hishtna Hiena”, sung by the singer Petra. It means “carnivorous hyena”, and “hien” is like the male form of “hiena” (hyena) which in reality does not exist, but it’s absurd, just like Lene’s music.
Anyways, I am immensely thankful for this post, Monk! This blog is one of the few places I can visit and it’s not touched by AI. So thanks again for posting this article and even mentioning me!
LikeLike
Hishten Hien – Thanks for setting me straight on your “name.” As I’ve seen the name “Hein” for all of my life, I blame my eyes for not actually LOOKING and assuming. Since corrected! And your mention of no AI reminded me…didn’t I used to have an Anti-AI pledge badge in the sidebar? Where did it go??!! Grrrrrrr!
LikeLike
Yes oddly enough the AI banner has disappeared. And by the way I liked the Hein thing cause it sounds German and I speak German like a mother’s tongue. By the way, don’t you think the March album is quite underrated and overlooked and deserves a reissue? Songs like Hold On To Love, Make Believe, Nightshift and especially the song Rage are personal favourites of mine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am sure you have seen this, but allow me – Lene Lovich supporting The B-52’s and Devo on tour this fall, playing Charlotte, NC, on 10/24, and Alpharetta, GA, on 10/25.
LikeLiked by 1 person
strange_idol – No!!!!! Again, no email from the DEVO mailing list this time. The last one I got was over 6 months ago! I need to act now!!!!
LikeLike
Oh… fingers crossed this will work out for you!!!
BTW, I know the guy who usually does sound for Lene, Jon Clay, but this time she will come alone because of work visa costs etc. Jon played bass in a Housemartins-ish guitar pop band called The Ferrymen in the 1990s, I saw them once in Hamburg, Germany, and carried their releases in my mailorder.
LikeLiked by 1 person
strange_idol – Does this simply mean venue FOH? The band will be with her, yes!?
LikeLike
Jon only wrote that neither him nor any of her band members would be on the US tour, I don’t know if that will mean hired hands or backing tapes.
LikeLike
strange_idol – Gulp!!! I’d hope that for a high profile tour like this that Lene Lovich won’t just be out front with backing tapes! Please don’t tell me that! I’d rather an American pickup band be in place for any shows, though it does rankle that Lene’s regular band are cut out of this. With the cost of tickets, one would hope that everything would be right and proper.
LikeLike