Midnight Radio
I am a sucker for great live rock and roll albums, and my CD player has nearly burnt out playing great performances ranging from Stevie Ray Vaughan’s In The Beginning and Live at Carnegie Hall, to Tori Amos’s incredible live singing and playing on To Venus And Back. More recently, I have gotten heavily into My Morning Jacket’s Okonokos and Wilco’s Kicking Television.
A great live album I have just recently discovered is Big Head Todd & The Monster’s Midnight Radio - originally issued back in the 1990s. This is a compilation of live recordings and taped jam sessions with a very bare, reverb-free sound. I can only describe it as a mix of perhaps Dire Straits and The Minutemen. I have been listening to this one non-stop for the past week, and highly recommend it. “The Moose Song” is amazing.
The Comments
beerorkid July 21, 2007 at 8:39am
BHT&M;are pretty good. I saw them down at the Rococco years back.
I am a huge sucker for live music and get most of it from here
CP July 21, 2007 at 12:14pm
Huh. I’ve listened to this album since the mid 90’s and never even considered it a “Live” album. I guess that is a testament to it’s quality. I agree that it is probably their best release.
I saw BHT&M;for the first time in 1994 in Kansas City when they toured with Dave Matthews. The real life version of Cheech & Chong were sitting behind us in the balcony of the Municipal Auditorium. They were these two long haired ex-hippies in their late 40’s and we learned that they were BHT&M;"groupies" just following them around. After their set they were in a completely “altered state” and tapped us on the shoulders and said - “Who is this Dave Matthews guy? Should we stay to hear him?”
My friends and I convinced them that they should stay. About three songs into Dave’s set they tapped us on the shoulders again and said “Good call dudes, here, thanks.” and handed us a stash of “natural herbs and spices.”
Through the 90s I saw them live 5 times, mostly in Denver and Boulder, CO.
By the way, when I lived in Colorado, Todd’s younger brother was a computer teacher in the same school district I was in, so I attended meetings with him all the time. Good guy.
I am a huge fan of their earlier music. I’ve gotten each of their albums over the years, but find that with each release I care for them less and less. It’s too bad really.
Mr. T July 22, 2007 at 8:54pm
Thanks for the story CP, I like hearing about peoples’ concert experiences. Unlike you, I am coming really late to this album. The very first time I ever heard of BHTM was about 12 or so years ago when I saw an old Jeff Bridges movie called “Blown Away” which opened with “In The Morning.”
It wasn’t until about a year ago that I thought I would break down and get one of the live albums, and finally decided on “Midnight Radio” a few months ago. Would love to see them alive sometime.
foxspit July 23, 2007 at 9:36am
First time I’ve heard these guys. Nice! Thanks for turning me on to them.