Spike Priggen .
Stars after Stars after Stars.
The first release on Cockaigne that is does not feature a breath or stroke from Graney or Moore. A New York City artiste, Spike is coming to Australia in October to play gigs around this release, his second solo effort.
"In The Inside," written by Kerry Miller, originally
recorded by Hot Bodies.
"Hot Bodies was one of my favorite local bands of the late
'70s New Haven new-wave/Punk scene. Lead singer Ricky Rondo was kind of
a hero of mine and taught me some important guitar licks. There was some
talk of me joining Hot Bodies as the second guitarist, but Ricky broke
up the band instead, and started another, TV Neats, that included me.
The song was written by the band's drummer, Kerry Miller, who was the
only guy on the scene who was as big an Alex Chilton freak as me. He claims
to have written the riff on a guitar of mine. It's one of the first songs
I learned to play on guitar—two easy chords!"
"Be Married Song," written by Ward Dotson, originally
recorded by the Pontiac Brothers.
"I had this song on a Pontiac Brothers EP and another version on
an LP, and always loved it. Later on, Ward moved to NYC and we got to
be in several bands together, including his band Liquor Giants, my band
the Hello Strangers and the Pussywillows.
"How We Were Before," written by Colin Blunstone, originally
recorded by the Zombies.
"One of the rare Colin Blunstone-penned Zombies songs. I've always
loved its melancholy, end-of-the-party vibe, and can be found in a corner
singing it at the end of many a party."
"When You Looked At Me," written by Jenifer Jackson,
originally recorded by Jenifer Jackson.
"I first heard this song on Jenifer's Love Lane EP; soon after that,
I got to play bass on it for a few gigs with her. Jenifer's songs have
this timeless pop quality. Although it's probably the most recently written
song on my record, it sounds like it could one of the oldest."
"Big Store," written by Stephen Duffy, originally recorded
by the Jacobites
"I'm not sure, but I think Stephen Duffy wrote this one specifically
for The Jacobites. It's a pretty classic song—four chords,
no changes and a great Televisionesque guitar part. Not sure exactly what
it's about, but I like it. I saw Stephen Duffy, as Tin Tin, lip-synching
his dance hit "Kiss Me" back in the early '80's when I worked
at Danceteria, and certainly disco-danced to it many times."
Stars after atars after stars, the new Spike Priggen cd available on Cockaigne, click the image above to go to the online store......
Spikes' first album, "the very thing that you treasure". On Volare in the USA.
"I've been a big Jacobites since I first became aware of them in the mid-'80s. I've always loved the Only Ones and Johnny Thunders, and these guys crossed that kinda junkie-rock vibe with this incredible sweet, romantic side and, like the Faces, they had a lotta scarves. I once bicycled from Battersea to Islington and back in the rain to see the Jacobites after Sudden and Kusworth reunited. Epic Soundtracks was the DJ that night."
"Plainsailing," written by Tracey Thorn, originally recorded by Tracey Thorn.
"In the early '80s I was very into the U.K. indie-pop scene of Cherry Red Records and Rough Trade, especially the bossa nova pop of Weekend and Everything But the Girl. This is from Tracey Thorn's solo EP A Distant Shore, a very beautiful, minimal record, just a sad girl and her guitar. And maybe a tambourine."
"Questioningly," written by the Ramones, originally recorded by the Ramones.
"This was always one of my favorite Ramones songs; it's from Road to Ruin, their fourth album. I was pretty impressed at how much their songwriting had evolved by that point. The lyrics are touching and hilarious at the same time: 'Yes I said you're a girl that I once may have knew.'"
"Nightime," written by Alex Chilton, originally recorded by Big Star.
"I had a bootleg of the Big Star Third album, aka Sister Lovers, for awhile before it came out officially. It's always been one of my favorites, if sometimes hard to listen to. Like Skip Spence's Oar, it's kind of like listening to a guy have a breakdown. I've been singing 'Nightime' forever; it's one of the first songs I ever learned."
"Eighteen," written by Bruce/Buxton/Cooper/Dunaway/Smith, originally recorded by Alice Cooper.
"I've been singing this one for a long, long time too, originally in my solo acoustic sets, then in my country cover band, and for years now in almost every set I've played with my rock combo. I recorded a version of it over ten years ago that I'll post on my website at some point. A great song about not wanting to grow up, and a sentiment that I fully subscribe to."
"A Slow Soul," written by Green Gartside, originally recorded by Scritti Politti
"This was on the first Scritti LP, Songs To Remember, though I prefer the version on the b-side of their "Asylums In Jerusalem" single, on which they slowed it down and took out that annoying saxophone. I've always loved Scritti Politti, from their early lo-fi indie vinyl days through the later ultra-produced dance-pop stuff. Green Gartside's a great singer, a cool songwriter and a really good visual artist as well."
Spike with Bun ECarlos who features on drums on Stars after stars after stars.
Spike Priggen is coming to Australia to play some dates with Dave
Graney and the Lurid Yellow Mist. Spike will be performing songs backed
by Dave Graney , Clare Moore and other members of the Lurid Yellow Mist.
Dates are :
October 7th, Spike Priggen live to air on PBS radio
in Melbourne. "Studio 5 live".
October 8th,the Jive
Bar in
Adelaide.
October 15th,
the
Criterion
Hotel in Castlemaine.
October 16th, the Cornish Arms in Brunswick, Melbourne.
Thursday October 21st , the Vanguard
in Newtown.
October 22nd the Heritage Hotel in Bulli.
Saturday October 23rd ,the Brass Monkey In Cronulla.
Thursday October 27th, Spike will be presenting a show of his own at the Victoria hotel in Victoria st Brunswick.