Come Together

Photo of Carlos Hernandez Gomez from Fest For Beatles Fans Facebook page.

I can’t claim to have known Carlos Hernandez Gomez, but those who did paint quite an affectionate portrait of him. Gomez, a political reporter for WBEZ radio as well as for the local television station CLTV in Chicago, passed away from cancer at age 36 this past January. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Carol Marin called him, “streetwise and smart, punky yet sweet.”

He also made numerous friends among musicians in the city, and loved hanging out at Fest For Beatles Fans when it came to the Hyatt Regency in Rosemont each August. A post on the Facebook page for Fest For Beatles Fans notes that he was one of the people who sang “under the stairs.” This is an area in the hotel’s lobby where anyone at The Fest can join in on the communal spirit of singing Beatle songs. Terri Hemmert, the host of the weekly Breakfast With The Beatles show on WXRT, and a longtime emcee at The Fest, recalled Gomez as a friend, in a recent blog post on the station’s website.

On Thursday, April 8th, there will be a special Concert For Carlos, with a multi-media slide show, live bands, and an auction featuring donations from Pete Townshend, Brian Wilson, Ray Davies, and other well-known musicians. Performers will include The Gear; Eric Howell; The Beatle Brothers; Phil Angotti; and special guest Brad Elvis. The show starts at 7PM.

It will take place at Fitzgerald’s Night Club, at 6615 Roosevelt Road, in Berwyn. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. All proceeds go to Living Water International Haiti, a charity Gomez was actively involved with up until his death. There is also an online auction. For more information, see fitzgeraldsnightclub.com and www.water.cc/carlos

Slumgullion #4

Picture of Ellis Clark taken from his Facebook page.

Another buffet of entertainment snippets for a Friday.

The Ellis Clark SuperGroup at Viaduct Theatre March 6th I first met vocalist Ellis Clark back in the late 1980s when I did a Streetwalkin’ profile on his band Social Act for the Illinois Entertainer. Clark played a melodic brand of hard rock in that group, but he also founded the power pop/punk outfit Epicycle, which still performs from time to time, and he’s done a lot of producing for other artists. These days, Clark is probably most active as the keyboards player-guitarist-back up vocalist for The Handcuffs. On March 6th, at 10PM, he has something special going on at The Viaduct Theatre in Chicago. That’s when The Ellis Clark SuperGroup hits the stage, as part of a Chicago Acoustic Underground sponsored triple bill. Clark has put together an impressive line-up that includes drummer Brad Elvis of The Handcuffs; bassist Jon Brant, who played with Cheap Trick, as well as d’thumbs; sax player Mars Williams, who has worked with the Psychedelic Furs and several other bands; power pop veteran Phil Angotti; The Chamber Strings piano player Carol Engelmann; and percussionist Jim Hines. Special guests include guitarist Alfonso Ponticelli and The Handcuffs vocalist Chloe F. Orwell. It will be interesting to what these guys come up with. Clark has created a promo film, which can be viewed on YouTube. Also on the Chicago Acoustic Underground bill that night are Goodbyehome, a folk rock ensemble Clark has been known to collaborate with, and acoustic pop/folk artist Dawn Xiana Moon.

Possible Twigs Reunion? One of my very first Broken Hearted Toy posts last August concerned singer-songwriter Linda Good. She moved to Los Angeles 10 years earlier to pursue a solo career, and was visiting her old home town for a show at the Uncommon Ground on Chicago’s north side. At one point during that performance, Good called her sister up to the stage. It was a sort of reunion of The Twigs, the popular band Linda and Laura had founded years earlier. The Twigs had recorded two full CDs; the promising Bring Me The Head Of Eternity and the more polished The Universe Tonight, which found them successfully covering a variety of styles, from the sunny pop of “It’s Alright” to the hip hop of “Lucky.” Now, about six months later, Linda Good is reporting on Facebook that she and Laura are recording a new Twigs single together. Or as she dubbed it, a Twingle. Hopefully, she’ll keep fans posted as to its release date.

M.A.S.S. Appeal at Angel Island As its current production of Andrew Case’s emotionally charged cop drama Rant clearly illustrates, the Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company has established a reputation for cutting edge work. Now the group’s Angel Island space at the corner of Broadway and Sheridan Road in Chicago is also a great place to discover new musical artists. With M.A.S.S. (Mary-Arrchie Sound Series,) the group will present live electro, rock, and hip hop music. Acts who have already performed include Ol’Boy, an indie rock band that claims The Temptations and Tom Waits among its influences; Americana/punk singer-guitarist Garrett Santora; indie rock duo LionLimb; and cutting edge singer-keyboards player Natalie Grace Alford. Artist-In-Residence Ol’Boy will be a frequent M.A.S.S. participant, with shows on March 10th with The Ours, and The El is a Sound of Joy; with Merryweather and Teenage Rage on March 22nd; with Granny Frost and The Dirty Diamonds on April 12th; and with Audio and a special guest on April 19th. M.A.S.S. is also hoping to snag touring bands who might want to use the space for after-show or acoustic gigs. Portions of the proceeds from these shows will help fund the Mary-Arrchie, which is a non-profit theatre company. Acts looking to be part of M.A.S.S. can contact Carlo at info@maryarrchie.com

Hi-Fi Christmas Party

Released in 2002, Hi-Fi Christmas Party was put together by vocalist-bassist Dan Pavelich of the Chicago-based power pop band The Bradburys to help fund research for Von Willibrand’s disease, a bleeding disorder that had stricken his daughter. This easy-going holiday compilation includes contributions from several local and national power pop acts. Unfortunately, it looks like the CD is now out of print, although some of the songs are available on other compilations. It’s another example of how often musicians come together for charitable causes, particularly around this time of year.

Pavelich is equal parts philanthropist and musician here, leading The Bradburys through the romantic and highly energetic “I Love It When It Snows!” The song is currently available on the band’s MySpace page. The Jellybricks use a 1960s style arrangement on “We’ll Be Together,” their tale of a guy traveling on the holidays to be reunited with his girlfriend. On the bluesy “Christmas Is Saturday,” noted producer-performer Don Dixon is also eager to get together with his gal, and he brings an full choir along with him. The high-speed “It’s Christmas And I’m Going Home,” is Rob P. & The Q’s depiction of a city-dweller who needs to visit his old home town in order to find peace during the holidays.

Jim Babjak’s Buzzed Meg is pretty much The Smithereens without singer Pat DiNizio. The catchy “Christmas Morning” sports Babjak’s signature guitar playing, and he does a solid job on lead vocals. A different version of this song, sung by DiNizio, can be found on the very fun CD, Christmas With The Smithereens. “Christmas Morning,” as well as Andrea Perry’s funny “Fat Aunt Bette” and Glowfriends’ spiritual “Joy Of Christmas,” also appears on Ho Ho Spice, the 2-CD Hospice Awareness and Benefit Project.

Phil Angotti, whose band The Idea contributed one of the better songs on Yuletunes, goes the acoustic route with “Getting Home (for Christmas).” This light tune cleverly mixes references to The Three Wise Men, It’s A Wonderful Life, and A Christmas Carol. The Ted Ansani Trio finds the Material Issue drummer playing drums, bass, and vibes on the breezy, lounge style instrumental, “The Kriss Kringle Jingle.” Lisa Mychols brings back the girl group sound of the early 1960s with her “Listen To The Bells Ring” while October Elsewhere evoke The Kinks on their melodic “Christmas Every Day.” Other contributors to the highly worthwhile Hi-Fi Christmas Party include The Spongetones, The Lolas, Bill Lloyd, Jeremy, John McMullan, Dom Mariani, and Cool King Chris, which includes Jamie Hoover of The Spongetones.

Yuletunes - Part One

Once upon a time, before the retail industry ordained Black Friday as an extreme sports event for crazed bargain hunters, the day after Thanksgiving held significance as the official start of the Christmas season. It is in that antiquated spirit that I’m kicking off a series of posts related to holiday music.

Released in 1991 on The Shoes' Black Vinyl label, Yuletunes was an ambitious collection of original Christmas songs created by various power pop artists. Matthew Sweet, who contributed “Baby Jesus,” and Marti Jones and Don Dixon, who sang a duet on “Every Day Will Be Like A Holiday,” were the biggest names involved, and there were 13 lesser known acts from the Midwest. This will be the first of three posts on this classic Christmas album.

The Shoes had faded from rock’s mainstream by 1991, but “This Christmas” shows why they’ll always be revered in the power pop community. It’s a catchy rock song with a monster drum beat and chiming guitars that offers an optimistic view via harmony vocals. “Things will get better./Doesn’t seem like it now, but they always do.” Vocalist-guitarist Jeff Murphy would return to the theme of the importance of love over gifts during the holidays by having his kids sing the cute “The Christmas List” as the CD’s closing number.

The punchy “Merry Christmas Will Do” finds the trio Material Issue at the peak of its power. Jim Ellison’s rugged guitar playing takes center stage, and as usual, he’s a master at selling the pain of unrequited love through his evocative singing. “You don’t have to say you love me, I know that that’s not true,” Ellison concedes. “But Merry Christmas will do.”

The Idea, fronted by vocalist-guitarist Phil Angotti, contribute the melodic “It’s About That Time,” which describes winter scenes, church bell, carols, and watching It’s A Wonderful Life. It goes on to note, sadly, that the holiday season seems like the only time of the year when “we all have a lot of love to share.” This seems to be the most commercially successful song from Yuletunes; I’ve heard it playing on the overhead sound system at the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg and at our Jewel food store.

The single-named Leroy checks in with “Santa Stole My Baby,” a mid-tempo song that sets up a crime scene with clever clues like, “footsteps on the rooftop.” The slinky guitar playing underscores the sexy fun of lyrics like, “She makes him cookies./She calls him Chris./Gets everything double on her Christmas list.”

I’ll continue with Part Two of my look at Yuletunes on my next post.