 | The film is narrated by Peter Wolf who was an early scenester at the Boston Tea Party DJ and a member of The Hallucinations, his pre J. Geils Band. Wolf states "The Remains stood at the door of stardom but never made it through."Yet Barry and company show no remorse. The film makes it clear that these four truly enjoy their camaraderie and waste no time or energy being bitter about what might have been. One of the Remains' contemporaries, The Lost were another 60's band based in Boston. Their lead singer,Ted Myers is quoted on camera saying that he always liked the "cleanliness and the tidiness of their arrangements" adding "live they sounded just like their records." |
Because for me, Billy Briggs' cool keyboard stylings best personify the sixties' aesthetic ,hearing him describe his modus operandi was particularly fascinating to me-"Because I was not providing a second hard rock guitar" Briggs said "I made sure that I provided hard rock back up to complement Barry's guitar."Indeed, Briggs always succeeds in adding strength and interest to the Remains' sonic attack. Since their demise in 1966, The Remains played in 1976 and Spoonfed records re-released their debut album on color vinyl produced by Bruce Patch. Over the next two decades,The Remains began to realize that the sixties' music scene was gaining steam worldwide and that they had acquired powerful international cult status. They reformed to play several garage festivals in 1998-the Purple Weekend in Leon,Spain and the Cavestomp in NYC. They played the Las Vegas Grind in 2000 and a tour of major European cities in 2006. Despite their inclusion on Lenny Kaye's original NUGGETS release, the Remains were never one hit wonders. Their debut single was "Why Do I Cry" which was a top pick in Cashbox and was a huge regional hit in the Northeast.Their fourth and last single of the sixties was "Don't Look Back",written by Billy Vera of "Lady In Red" fame. Both their first and fourth singles are included on the NUGGETS boxset, introducing the Remains to new generations. Moreover, "Why Do I Cry" is also in the hilarious Hollywood blockbuster,SUPERBAD. In one of the later scenes of AMERICA'S LOST BAND, the Remains are overlooking the Hollywood Bowl where all members except drummer, Chip Damiani opened for The Beatles. Then they are shown in practice, at an in-store performance,and at a club gig. When the Remains perform "Don't Look Back" , it is clear that they are at the peak of the power. In fact, The Remains are the best of both worlds as they retain the wild garage spirit of their youth adding a technical profiency that eludes most who share their genre. The most moving, heartfelt moment was as "Thank You" was played and a montage of clips were shown, shifting from black and white shots of the Remains of the 60's to color video of the Remains of today. This was the artistic zenith of the documentary. As the scene comes to a close, Barry leaves us with a thought that sums up the band's rock 'n' roll adventure so far-"Looking back now, there is no 'what if'. Everything takes its own course-the way it's supposed to be." --Nancy Foster The Remains are BARRY TASHIAN(vocals,guitar),BILL BRIGGS(keyboards,vocals),VERN MILLER(bass,vocals),and CHIP DAMIANI(drums,vocals) |
No comments:
Post a Comment