| « Danny, I Didn't Even Know You Were Ill | Mystery Date » |
Mystery Date Revealed: The Urban Verbs
Thanks to all the well-hung who laid their opinions on the table. Without further ado- The Urban Verbs.
From The Trouser Press:
URBAN VERBS
Urban Verbs (Warner Bros.) 1980
Early Damage (Warner Bros.) 1981Fascinating but tragically overlooked, Washington, DC's Urban Verbs were an arty quintet whose lead singer was the brother of Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz. And therein lay the Verbs' problem: while guitarist Robert Goldstein guided the band through striking modern instrumental pieces of depth and quality, Roddy Frantz's urban-alienation lyrics, delivered in a fair approximation of David Byrne's vocal style, typecast the group as second-string imitators. The Verbs' records showed great potential, but this needless flaw prevented them from being taken seriously.
Mystery track #1 is Ring Ring from their first album and #2 is Frenzy from the same album.
More treats after the fold.
Follow up:
There is an Eno connection as well. From their MySpace page:
Next Question-This music was recorded by Brian Eno and Ed Stasium at CBGB's after the Urban verbs first show there. The band and Eno then took the recording into Media Sound Studios on W 57th Street where they mixed the version you hear here.
This is that version.
Their second and last release, Early Damage was produced by Steve Lilywhite. Here's a few tracks from that one:
Jar My Blood
Promise
P.S. They have a reunion show scheduled for May 24 in D.C. at the 9:30 Club.
2 comments
They aren't the great lost band or anything and I do, despite the pointed Eno question in the Chatter, think that an entire album produced like that version mighta been awfully kewl.
Given that, those two albums are more than mildly interesting and historically interesting given the time period. Thought it was worth a show 'n tell.
Comment feed for this postComments are not allowed from anonymous visitors.
