GGOOLLDD “Boyz” 2015. Deluxe edition, limited edition on blue cassette. Gloss Records  It’s a perfect summer day, a crime to be indoors,  I’m taking the Vault to the patio and firing up my  new, old-school portable cassette player. Formerly from Milwaukee, the dream-pop synth-forward GGOOLLDD released a few versions of their debut full-length Boyz. This version has a couple of demo versions and different remixes from other releases (I believe we have a different variant, entitled Gold +, on vinyl). The sound is lush and decadent, the perfect aural backdrop for my current garden view which is exploding with flowers, leaves, trees, bees, birds, butterflies and even a couple of hummingbirds. That view is also incredible distracting (in the very best of ways) so my ears are only half-focused on the album. The title track/lead single had quite a buzz around it back in 2015 and was covered extensively-ish by local indie media. It is catchy and ABBA-danceable for sure. Their “theme song” “Gold” is a tad more upbeat and also fun; the instrumentals “Love Me Like Honey” and “STFU” are like dream sparkles. Another top pick is “For the Night” (which, along with the instrumentals, will be a perfect backdrop for nighttime firefly watching).

The Little Roosters “Live!” 1983, Wrapping Great Music, featuring Alison Moyet (Yazoo/Yaz) and Garrie J. Lammin (The Bermondsey Joyriders). Seeing the name Alison Moyet on the cover, let’s just say I had expectations and preconceived notions about what this live album would sound like and those were proved 100% inaccurate! Not a bleep bloop Vince Clarke/Yazzy synthpop note to be found – just hard-rocking guitars and beats. Moyet’s appearance is also super-muted; I’m not sure she sings lead on any of the tracks. This live LP (no date or location noted, it’s also the label’s only release so likely a bootleg) is straight-up pub rock, with some glam and r&b influences. Their sole S/T album release, from 1981, was produced by Joe Strummer so that gives an idea of their fans/audience. The sound quality is pretty decent for an early 80’s bootleg live record. Most of the tracks are written by the band (Lammin in particular) – “Ain’t Proud” is particularly funky and “Scared” is glammy with some punk sneer and attitude (the full title really should be the chorus “Scared the shit right outta me!”). The encore “People Breakdown” must have been their “big hit” as it was the only single released on a somewhat major label (Polydor, 1981) and it’s just a good rock-n-roll song and I’m fairly certain this is where Moyet is actually at the mic. There are a few covers, mostly by American blues musicians. “Pills” is great, written by Bo Diddley but The Little Roosters’ version has much more in common with the New York Dolls’ cover. The Roosters cover of The Temptations’ “Just My Imagination” takes Motown to the pub – it’s raw and fun. So despite the somewhat false advertising of Moyet’s involvement, it’s a nice glimpse into the rock/pub scene of the early 80’s. 

Duran Duran “The Crystal Ship” bootleg, 2025/1993. Parachute Recording Company. Double live album recorded for live FM Broadcast at  Momentum Arena, Pretoria, South Africa on April 24th, 1993. It’s my birthday today and I usually have a stash of Duran vinyl I haven’t listened to or written about in my collection. This live LP is one of the more unusual ones that I picked up recently: the versions of the songs are radically different than almost any other live albums I’ve heard. “Planet Earth” has a whole string section and “Hungry Like the Wolf” has strings, too, plus an enthusiastic acoustic guitar and different backup vocals (which prompt Simon to most definitely go “off-script” for this classic track). “Ordinary World” is lush, elevated with that (fortunately less enthusiastic) acoustic guitar and Simon’s vocals are stellar (a note here that the photos on the LP covers are closer to 2023 than 1993 – Simon definitely did not look like that, nor was Dom playing guitar for them – 1993 was the Warren Cuccurullo era). Simon’s intro to “Come Undone” is hilarious – suggesting that instead of wearing one’s best, clean underwear just in case, he thinks it might be better to go without completely, then launches into a Cure-esque guitar intro (not Simon, that’s probably Warren); the song is slinky and suggestive. The intro to “The Chauffeur” is a total head-scratcher though: Simon talks about a guy in a car on hot day in July on Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles (while in South Africa? Ok?) before the song starts (it’s beautiful once it gets going though the spoken-word moment is a bit jarring). Of course I didn’t write the song but the dirty streets of LA are absolutely not what I envision for this song. The first LP ends with the bootleg’s namesake “The Crystal Ship” which is, of course, a Doors cover. “Girls on Film” is also really unusual – orchestral strings, lyrical embellishments like I’ve never heard, a bit of jazzy free form action: absolutely nothing like the original. “Notorious” is funky as always, but the instrumentation seemed off and a bit out of key (same with the backup vocals) and fortunately they didn’t mess with “Save a Prayer,” sticking pretty faithfully to the original (just a bit more finger-picking on the acoustic and a whisper of strings). On Side 4 there is one other cover: “Success” by Iggy Pop is really fun; but then “Wild Boys” is the most subdued version imaginable before they launch into the finale of “Rio” which is as glorious as it always is.

You can view the entire performance here: