Music videos that feature Thunderbirds

[wellREDman]

What tour was is it where Jamie switched to guitar and they got a diff bass player?  Logically I figure Temple would need that more, but maybe it was Electric.

     It was the second half of the Electric Tour, they started with a uk club tour at release and then when it broke big in the US  they played Arenas there and worldwide, and returned to the UK for a couple of sold out nights at Brixton Academy, which was shown on the BBC, something that was rare in those days. Jamie switched for the later set of shows. The bass player was Haggis, post Zodiac Mindwarp and pre 4 horsemen. I saw them both ends of that tour, I think the only time Ive ever done that.

At the time I didn't realise it was Sorum on Temple either

  It wasn't. he didn't join til the tour. The drummer for the album was Mickey Curry, although allegedly a lot of Eric Singers work made it on there, he played on the demo's of the album but by the time of final recording he had parted company with the Cult

Getting slightly closer to back on topic, I recently completed my second attempt at a White Falcon/Gibson Les Paul Jumbo hybrid guitar.  Surprisingly (the Gibson LoZ pup is nothing like the Gretsch pups) thru my Sunn Solaris and a 4x12 it gets close to Duffy tone (but nowhere close on any other amp I have tried so far):

  Oooh thats Gorgeous!  I have daydreamed about a white and gold  335 type guitar, but I find full size acoustics too cumbersome so I'd like a thin falcon :p 

I never knew that Bob Rock did the tragically hip, but it makes sense that he did other stuff other than commercialise many rock and metal acts, which is what I will always associate him with.

For my teens and 20s the Cult's musical evolution and mine mirrored each other. I was a 14 year old  punk when I first saw them, as the support act for my girlfriends crush Big Country. we then went our separate ways. through Siouxsie I discovered the Sisters and Bauhaus and was a full fleged goth when Love arrrived. Then at college  I rediscovered metal and was a denim wearing motorhead type when Electric arrived!  after that I drifted away I dutifully bought the records and went to the shows but was disillusioned with them for for Sonic Temple and  Ceremony, but  the  Black Sheep album came at a time when musically I was getting involved with dance music and electronica so that really worked for me.
   It was probably always on the cards that Craig Adams would do a stint in the Cult, Billy and the Mission were thick as thieves for a while, in fact on the Gods Own Medecine tour he joined them onstage multiple times, and he and Craig were members of the same  LA celebrity biker club.
 
To bring it all back on topic  here is Craig with his thunderbird from that period



  This one doesnt show the t-bird, but on this non album release from the same period  you can definitely hear the power of adding Craig's bass musculature to the bands dynamics

[Granny Gremlin]

Oooh thats Gorgeous!  I have daydreamed about a white and gold  335 type guitar, but I find full size acoustics too cumbersome so I'd like a thin falcon :p 

Thanks, yeah, I actually burnt my forearm (2nd degree - blisters) on the binding from too fast strumming when I took it to the studio to plug it into a big stack fro the first time - came up with a Duffyish riff I wanted to hammer it into my brain so as to not forget. 

For my teens and 20s the Cult's musical evolution and mine mirrored each other. I was a 14 year old  punk when I first saw them, as the support act for my girlfriends crush Big Country. we then went our separate ways. through Siouxsie I discovered the Sisters and Bauhaus and was a full fleged goth when Love arrrived. Then at college  I rediscovered metal and was a denim wearing motorhead type when Electric arrived!  after that I drifted away I dutifully bought the records and went to the shows but was disillusioned with them for for Sonic Temple and  Ceremony, but  the  Black Sheep album came at a time when musically I was getting involved with dance music and electronica so that really worked for me.

Interesting trajectory; wouldn't have guessed half that from the pics I'd seen of you.  I didn't swing so far one way or the other but I did add goth to the punk/new wave and then threw in some rave culture at around that same time.  If I had a metal phase it was in grade school - it never really took with me; kinda like hip hop.  Both of those were what most of the kids around me were into, and though I liked some of it, I just wasn't that into it in a general sense - couldn't commit to the subculture.  Siouxsie is still a favorite (and an inspiration, both her for the singing as well as Severin for the bass playing) but I never did get into Bauhaus or Sisters of Mercy as much as I should have.  They weren't as accessible to me; didn't know where to start with them (they both had a lot of albums and some were actually not that great - the Sisters especially had some weird periods - I had a very limited record budget and didn't know where to start; didn't want a dud - this was before youtube so no other way to find out since I didn't know any other fans).  I went with Joy Division and stuck a toe into the industrial scene which is what goth morphed into over here (Skinny Puppy was Canadian and their first record is seminal - that one is still in regular rotation for me... though most kids were all about NIN and KMFDM; I tried to convince them Puppy and JD were Trent's influences with limited success).  On my most recent European holidy to visit the fatherland 2 months ago I actually was going to buy the Bela Lugosi's dead 12" cuz I never see that around over here but it was gone when I came back for it.  I did grab the Southern Death Cult Record though.

To bring it all back on topic  here is Craig with his thunderbird from that period

A great example of Duffy restraining himself; just a little feedback play for the entire first verse.  And yes, now that you mention it the bass tone on that record was great and typical TBird. The whole thing also felt more intimate - Ian's vocals were rawer and he displayed more range ( both in delivery as well as tonally; sings a lot lower for the first time) than his usual full-on wail (see Emperor's New Horse or Black Sun - speaking of, loved that out take of Bob Rock at the start of Emp; 5 takes ain't all that bad).

The band shot on that record's sleeve was the catalyst to get my nose pierced.  Been wanting to since I was 15, but had to wait til I was 18 to legally get it done. Then forgot about it for a few months after my birthday, got busy over the summer and then picked up that CD off the shelf to take for listening on the subway to class and as soon as that was done walked right up the strip from campus and got it done before heading home.  Weird little kink den place with some dominatrix piercer lady and this sub dude inna back who made the jewelry; a friend had her nipple pierced there so I knew they were clean, if a bit creepy (apparently the lady was into  her - I wasn't concerned for myself in that regard).

Anyway, that whole record is solid front to back.  ... I did forget about the drug references tho (and they're not positive ones); The Cult just never struck me as a drug band, but maybe that's what happened with Temple and Ceremony.  I mean, they did move to LA and all.

  This one doesnt show the t-bird, but on this non album release from the same period  you can definitely hear the power of adding Craig's bass musculature to the bands dynamics

That was the sign to me that the Cult might be bouncing back.  The sheep record sound isn't there yet, but the elements are there just not  glued together as well and polished up, but you could see where they were going.  It's possible that Craig deserves more credit than I have realised up til now (he did get some cowrites on the album  IIRC).  Compare The Witch to Star and it becomes plain. ... which has some good TBird shots so:



This record made me think about so many new things musically.  Like before it I didn't even consider radically different snare sounds for different songs on a given session; or weird lofi tunings (I had hated ringy snares from back in my drum line days; love them now when appropriate). Extreme panning.  Not erasing what at first seem to be mistakes or flubs (Ian's voice hits the limit in Star there a few times but it's wonderful); not having to have everything absolutely perfect all the time can humanise a song (something I think is really lacking in modern productions).

[Basvarken]

[OldManC]

Is there not an RD video thread? I tried searching but didn't see one. I could swear I've seen it, but maybe just in here? It's sort of shaped like a bird, right? 70s cheese, but they could bring it. No auto-tune here, though I wonder if some of that accompaniment is a tape. Some of the drums and strings sound too much like the studio version...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jqruhCiwd0&feature=youtu.be

[Basvarken]

Thanx for posting George. The Babys is one of my guilty pleasures. I have all their albums. And a few of John Waite's solo albums and Bad English too.

The accompaniment is definitely not live. There's an entire horn section toward the end.

[OldManC]

I saw Midnight Special and didn't even consider it until I started hearing stuff that had no players on stage. I guess it wasn't always as "live" as they said!

I'm the same way with the Baby's and Waite's solo career and band projects. A friend of mine is playing guitar in his band right now and it kills me that I don't live anywhere near where they're playing. Every time I've seen Waite he's been really good.

[gearHed289]

I dug the Babys back in the day. Back when Waite played bass, I saw him on the Midnight Special or Don Kirschner's playing a Zemaitis, which created my lust for a Les Paul-style bass. I thought he looked really cool with that thing.

[TBird1958]

I can't seem to outgrow my love of bombast............

Frankie with a 50th AnniBird, $%^&&#@* out Solid Gold 

[Highlander]

Is there not an RD video thread?

http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=6622.0

Pretty sure I saw them pretty early on, circa 1st LP... there was also a promo live LP around the same time... the buddy I bought my SG and the Hiwatt/Marshall gear from had it... did have it on tape but long gone...

[Stjofön Big]

This is a real surprise, and a sight of one of the oldest videos concerning the T-bird! Ladys, and Gentlemen, let us be introduced to the Firebirds and Thunderbirds nest, with a couple of tunes for every season.

[Dave W]

Not a big fan of the Four Seasons (sing like a man, Frankie!) but that's some good early footage. There's another Four Seasons video on page 2 of this thread.

[uwe]

Multinational retro rockers Blues Pills (reenacting the late 60ies) with an original Non-Rev IV ...

[66Atlas]

Something is officially wrong with me because I just watched that entire video and kept thinking "they need to stop showing the leggy blonde and put more of the bass player in."  I need to enter therapy.

[uwe]

Indeed. You're being distracted by the wrong things.

I saw the Blues Pills quite recently opening for - guess? - Deep Purple. Ms Leggy Blonde wore a tight leotard then (barefooted), but she doesn't overdo it with playing on the male audience's testosterone output (excluding those more interested in the blond boyish bassist of course, our tastes and preferences adjust as we grow older, there is nothing inherently wrong with that ...), she's natural about it, no MTV type choreo-sexy-chick-posing, it's all pretty much late-sixties-hippie-girl-dancing.

As for the music, they play their stuff with a lot of heart and energy, but pretending that there was no musical development since 1969 isn't exactly the future of rock. If someone gave them Janis Joplin's last album, they'd probably be shocked about how overtly modern it is.  One thing I do like is though that while their music is heavily indepted to blues and even soul influences, she doens't try to sound like a black singer (like countless others) and stays more in a Grace Slick mode.

[Dave W]

I couldn't listen to more than 30 seconds of her vocals -- agreed, very much like Grace Slick -- but she was fun to watch with the sound muted.