Full Show Friday: Big Audio Dynamite - Live on Meltdown 1987

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Big Audio Dynamite!

This week's Full Show Friday is a televised performance from Big Audio Dynamite back in 1987 on the British show Meltdown. 

Pro shot pro sound set list below. Enjoy!

C'mon Every Beatbox 

V. Thirteen 

Limbo the Law 

Medicine Show 

Sightsee MC

 BAD

Live Streams: DJead Night

 With live music on lock down (like everything else currently in New York City) live streams and old concerts have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. While this current state of pandemic separation is in order we will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure and you can always check out or weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past. Please support the artists any which way you can.

Today we highlight: DJead Night

A coming together of Deadheads on 4/20:

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To get into the mood here is a live tune from the Grateful Dead. "West L.A. Fadeaway" from the summer 1987 tour with Bob Dylan:

Beginners Guide To The Grateful Dead - Part Two

There is a lot of music out there and some artists have massive catalogs which can paralyze new listeners with overwhelming choices. This Beginners Guide series will attempt to give new listeners entry points to some of these artists. Today we will look at: The Grateful Dead.

This post was very long so we are breaking it into two parts. This first offering will discuss the five places RtBE feels are the best entry points to the band. The follow up post will dive into the different eras of the Dead and pull out some well known and underappreciated shows for further listening. 

In part one RtBE discussed live shows and albums which will ease a listener into the band. The group has such a wide range of music/sound/shows that RtBE went through the years they were active and pulled out specific highlights. While this gets long, it is literally the tip of the iceberg. The Internet Archive is a digital gold mine for amazing Grateful Dead shows, but below are are choices throughout the years for highlights and further listening. 

Let's do a deeper dive now...

Album Review: Grateful Dead - Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1991

Grateful Dead

Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1991

*** out of *****

The summer is here and while Corona Virus has wrecked havoc on live tunes in 2020, the ultimate summer time band the Grateful Dead released (in fall 2019) a huge box set commemorating their jaunts to the 80,0000 seat Giants Stadium in the swamps of New Jersey and we can use the lock down to revisit the behemoth.

These years in Dead history history (somewhat surprisingly) found the Grateful Dead at their popular peak and while long time fans will love/bemoan any era, the band was generally in fine form during these years. Playing these massive outdoor shows spitting distance from the countries largest city guaranteed huge crowds, and if you were one of the thousands who caught these shows this is a fantastic memento...if not, you can skip this bloated release from the band.

It is not that these are bad shows, or poorly played, but there is very little that is must hear over the 15 CD's. Unlike say the recent June '76 box set which illuminated an era and proved wondrous, these concerts have been available to fans in high quality versions for years. If you are new to the band, start elsewhere, this is too big of an investment. The best option may be to just skim the cream of the crop as the best show from this box set has been released on its own and find a good copy of 7/10/89 to round it out.

Below are highlights and comments on each of the shows, it should be noted the quality of the music is fantastic with crystal clear production and restoration of these tye-dyed nights:

Full Show Friday: The Grateful Dead 10/3/87 Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, CA

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Grateful Dead!

For July The Masters Focuses on The Grateful Dead

July finds RtBE mining familiar ground when it comes to our Masters Series, but there is just no better summer band, so enjoy The Grateful Dead in the sunshine to end the work week. This month we have four shows from the band and we will be using the four decades they were active for each week. This week the 80's get some love, 1987 in particular.

The eighties were tough on everyone, especially long touring musical bands as New Wave, Glam and Rap took hold of the pop charts. The decade was especially hard on Jerry Garcia who fell into a diabetic coma in 1986 and when he awakened he needed to relearn how to play guitar from scratch. 

The last few years of the decade however saw some really strong tours from the Dead, Summer '89 has a few great shows, Spring '88 was solid and Fall '87 was good as well. Today we are going to grab a show from that run, 10/3/87 at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. 

The key to late eighties is Brent Mydland's modern key's and Bob Weir singing strongly (in his Daisy Dukes)as they both had a few big songs to work with including "Throwing Stones" which anchors a really strong second set on this night. By this point in their career the group fell into a two set routine with "Drums and Space" every show, and on this evening they are worth a listen (not always the case). Brent's sound and singing may not be for all Dead fans, but it sounds proper to RtBE.  

First set highlights are the funky "Hey Pockey Way" with Mydland's electro keys and beautifully gruff voice leading the charge where as "Candyman" just oozes out of Garcia's guitar. "When I Paint My Masterpiece is a joy as well.

Pro shot, pro sound, full info below. Enjoy:

Grateful Dead October 3, 1987 Shoreline Amphitheatre Mountain View, CA A Peanut Production Field Recording: Don Pearson Tapes Provided By: Charlie Miller Capture, Edit, Encode, DVD Authoring: Markiki Audio Synchronization: Kevin Tobin Video: Pro Line Feed - Master Master: Pro Line Feed - Unknown Signal Chain - Unknown Beta Deck - Beta HiFi Master Transfer: Beta HiFi Master - Sony SL-HF900 - Canopus ADVC-300 - iMac i3 - Final Cut Pro 6 - Compressor 3 - MP4 - YouTube Audio: SBD - Cassette Master (Maxell MX90) Transfer Info: Cassette Master (Tascam 122mkII) - Apogee MiniMe (24bit/48k) - Samplitude Professional v9.02 - FLAC/16 Remastering Info: FLAC - Adobe Audition v3.0 - Samplitude Professional v11.2.1 - FLAC - (shnid=121961) All Transfers and Mastering By Charlie Miller - September 14, 2012 Set 1 Tuning Hey Pocky Way New Minglewood Blues Candyman The Addams Family Tuning When I Paint My Masterpiece West L.A. Fadeaway My Brother Esau Birdsong The Music Never Stopped Set 2 Maggie's Farm Cumberland Blues Looks Like Rain Terrapin Station Drums Space The Other One Stella Blue Throwing Stones Lovelight The Mighty Quinn Jerry Garcia - Guitar Mickey Hart - Drums Bill Kreutzmann - Drums Phil Lesh - Bass Brent Mydland - Keyboards Bob Weir - Guitar

Full Show Friday: Lionel Richie The Outrageous Tour 1987 Ahoy Arena, Rotterdam

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Lionel Richie!

We were at Jazzfest the same day as Lionel Richie this year, but we decided to head back to the quarter before he took the stage. To make up for that we are highlighting him today in our Full Show Friday Series from his 1987 tour.

Pro Shot, Pro Sound, Full Setlist below. Enjoy:


01. Hello 02. All Night Long 03. Running With The Night 04. Truly 05. You Are 06. Three Times A Lady (deleted due to copyright issue) 07. Sail On 08. Say You Say Me 09. Se La 10. Penny Lover 11. Tonight Will Be Alright 12. Dancing On The Ceiling

Full Show Friday: Anita Baker - One Night of Rapture

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Anita Baker!

Every April we have a special showcase for bands who are playing this years Jazzfest in NOLA. Today we will focus on Anita Baker who will be playing tomorrow on the Main Stage, Saturday May 5th.

So we get one extra as the fest is now into it's second weekend and we need to focus on another artist playing this weekend. It is Anita Baker who was the first artist announced for this years festival. Well that's not true, she let slip she was playing the fest on her farewell tour, before any other artists were announced.

Since she will be playing tomorrow and it is the one day RtBE will not be a the fest this weekend, today's show captured from her 86-87 tour will have to do. Pro Shot, Pro Sound.  Enjoy:

Full Show Friday: Los Lobos Live at The Ritz 1987

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Los Lobos!

Occasionally for our Full Show Friday series RtBE decides to dedicate the month to certain topics like showcasing random years, say 1979,  or unique live venues, like CBGB's. Sometimes we combine both like Bonnaroo 2014. This month we are focusing on live shows from the historic NYC Venue Webster Hall aka The Ritz. Enjoy!

RtBE have enjoyed many a concert at the famed Webster Hall or as it was known in the 80's, The Ritz and a few weeks ago the club played host to it's last show for sometime as it will be undergoing a long renovation. To celebrate the illustrious venue we will be dedicating September's Full Show Friday's to the club, highlighting some amazing performances. 

Here is Los Lobos at the height of their commercial success on the back of the film La Bamba, playing the famed NYC venue in 1987. The show was shot for MTV and has pro video and pro sound. We recently re-watched the American Epic Sessions and loved Los Lobos, a band RtBE still needs to dig deeper on. Full setlist with timing is below...Enjoy!

Los Lobos - Full Concert
Recorded Live: 3/26/1987 - Ritz (New York, NY)

More Los Lobos at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault.com
Subscribe to Music Vault: http://goo.gl/DUzpUF

Setlist:
0:00:00 - Will The Wolf Survive
0:04:16 - We're Gonna Rock
0:06:54 - Come On, Let's Go
0:09:47 - Our Last Night
0:12:43 - Walking Song
0:15:33 - How Much Can I Do
0:18:16 - Anselma
0:22:01 - Buzz, Buzz, Buzz
0:24:52 - Matter Of Time
0:28:47 - Evangeline
0:31:21 - I Got Loaded
0:34:12 - Let's Say Goodnight
0:38:02 - Corrido #1
0:40:53 - Serenata Nortena
0:43:57 - Volver, Volver
0:47:34 - I Got To Let You Know
0:50:03 - My Baby's Gone
0:54:14 - Farmer John
0:56:42 - Don't Worry Baby

Full Show Friday: Michael Jackson 1987

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week..Michael Jackson!

Sure last week was the massive Madonna, but this week we go to the King of Pop and while we went big all of February we end it now because it doesn't get any bigger then this. Michael Jackson performing at perhaps the height of his career, during the mammoth Bad Tour. This show is from Brisbane, Australia, performed 11/25-28/87.

It finds Michael really working it and going back through things with a Jackson 5 Medley and a full rare Jacksons song "Heartbreak Hotel". While we rarely ever throw on MJ, this is a damn fine show and proof of his power as a performer. Pro-sound (if a bit warped by VHS age) and pro footage (same) with a setlist below. Enjoy:

"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
 "Things I Do For You"
"Off the Wall"
"Human Nature"
"Heartbreak Hotel"
"She's Out Of My Life"
 Jackson 5 Medley - "I Want You Back"/"The Love You Save"/"I'll Be There"
 "Rock With You"
"Lovely One"
"Working Day and Night"
"Beat It"
"Billie Jean"
"Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)"
 "Thriller"
 "I Just Can't Stop Loving You"
 "Bad"

Full Show Friday: BB King and Friends 4/15/87

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's.  These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week.. BB King & Friends!

The world lost a great one when BB King passed away earlier in 2015. We wanted to celebrate his life and this show from 1987 is an excellent capturing from LA on a night where his "friends" joined him. It was a murders row of contributors.  

The hour long show is packed with people from the pop, blues, soul world ready to help the legend out (you can see the list below). Our personal highlights are the Etta James/Dr. John "I'd Rather Go Blind"  (really anything Etta sings) and the cooking "Let the Good Times Roll", but honestly this whole show it pretty dynamite. 

While we have used Mr. King as a Full Show Friday in the past, we never really talked about his passing much and this show can do the talking for us. 

Pro sound, Pro video, setlist below, Enjoy:

Live at Ebony Showcase Theatre in Los Angeles, April 15th 1987

0:00 - Why I Sing The Blues

5:45 - Please Send Me Someone To Love (w/Gladys Knight)

11:18 - The Thrill Is Gone (w/Eric Clapton & Phil Collins)

18:15 - I'd Rather Go Blind (w/Etta James & Dr. John)

24:15 - When Something Is Wrong With My Baby (w/Billy Ocean)

28:15 - The Sky Is Crying (w/Stevie Ray Vaughan & Albert King)

25:13 - Somebody's Got A Hold On Me (w/Etta James)

39:00 - In The Midnight Hour (w/Etta James)

43:03 - Ain't Nobody's Business (w/Gladys Knight & Etta James)

48:10 - Let The Good Times Roll

51:25 - Take My Hand, Precious Lord

54:40 - Finale


Starring:

B.B. King

Gladys Knight

Chaka Khan

Etta James

Paul Butterfield

Stevie Ray Voughan

Albert King

Billy Ocean

Phil Collins

Eric Clapton

Happy 4th of July with the Grateful Dead 7-4-1987

Well it is a national holiday, and hopefully you are all out BBq'ing up some fun and watching the sky explode in honor of our great country.  I was in a bar 4 years ago around this day and the conversation came up, "What is the Greatest American Band?"  We discussed/argued/arm wrestled/danced jigs over various issues and criteria, and we all had different opinions in the end, but I went with, you guessed it. The Good Ol' Grateful Dead.

 To me they just represent American popular music the best over the course of the last 60+ years.  Never settling into genre's, routine or predictability.  Having up moments down moments, new members half members, problems and awe inspiring live musical moments on more of a regular basis then their critics like to admit.   So July 4th and The Grateful Dead, ain't that America?!?  Last year The Dead released one of their best July 4th shows with Trucking Up To Buffalo.  If you want a great clean late 80's Dead experience give that show a whirl, it is really great in both DVD and CD form.

Today is something else entirely...

it is from a sweltering hot country birthday in Boston July 4th 1987, you can click that link or stream it right C'here:


This is a Front of Board Audience tape so the quality may not be as high as some of the past shows I have highlighted but on the 4th we are in the crowd with the people, we can hear their cheers and the crackling of mics and swirl of the tapes.  At any case it is certainly listenable in fact I think this version is better then the "supped" up one also found on archive.

This show was a bit different then the rest of the tour, while technically you can call it 2 sets, in reality it was 1 long one, but during the first part some of the highlights are the Brent led "Tons of Steel" (yes I love Brent...who doesn't?!?)  and the crisp sounding "Box of Rain" that fired up those in attendance even more then the oppressive heat.
 
After "Althea" the band went pretty much right into a perfectly summer shining "Uncle John's Band" that had some sharp lines from Jerry and a great drum section from Billy and Mickey.   A brief "Playing in the Band" and a nicely segued "Truckin'>Other One>Wharf Rat" which found the band (especially on "Wharf Rat") flowing sweetly even with the echo vocals.  OK I know you must be thinking sure it's an decent set but nothing remotely special... well they had to play another full set, helping out this guy...

And magically that recording is posted here (sssh don't tell Sony!) ....so it is a special holiday treat.  While I am sure looking back neither group was particularly in love with the performances on this tour, I find them much more listenable then most people.  Perhaps because I love Dylan so much, but I always find him a fascinating listen even when he is sucking donkey nuts, and believe me he is far from doing that lewd act here.  Summer of 87 weren't his best run of shows, they did remind him how powerful a live show experience can be and for that you can directly thank the Grateful Dead.

"John Brown" bristles, I love the ease with which the Dead play "I Want You" even if Dylan is a touch aggressive.  The "Joey" and the fire and brimstone laced "Slow Train Coming" both made the official release following this tour from this show.  I've never really been sure why when it comes to the "Joey" but today's show may actually be my favorite version of "Slow Train Coming" Dylan ever did, the oppressive heat comes thru reminding that there's Hell Below...

All of the "All Along The Watchtowers" are fun this tour as are the "Queen Jane Approximately"

Dylan and The Dead 07-04-1987 Queen Jane (approximately)

agratefulmule | MySpace Video

And the "Stuck Inside A Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again"

Dylan and The Dead 07-04-1987 Stuck Inside of Mobile

agratefulmule | MySpace Video
I am hoping to do a whole series on Dylan (with some help) so I will leave this show here for you to enjoy, and have a happy, safe, fun July 4th...The boys wish you all the best:

Dead and the Neville's Part 2

Jumping back into listening/discussing the tag team of San Fran's Hippyest and NOLA's ambassadors brings us to this Monday's Show, and it is from an actual Monday, July 6th 1987 to percise.  Click that link or listen here to the embedded show:

 While the Giants were in town and sweeping the Pirates in a double header, the other San Franciscans were setting up their guitars at the Igloo.

   aptly named.

The Fellas were in the middle of their historic tour backing up Bob Dylan, he was not on the bill this night after having just played with the group on July 4th and would meet up again on the 10th. With Dylan not announced, but rumored to be in attendance, anticipation ran high, but the bard wouldn't emerge this night, in fact this show is probably better off because of it.  I will eventually get into the Dylan and The Dead tour I am sure, but my feelings are mixed on the pairing back in 87, however my feelings aren't mixed on this show...It smokes and The Neville's are just half the reason why, the other half is Jerome John Jerry Garcia.

Garcia 1987

From the opening notes this is a special show, and while everyone raves about the second set (with good reason) some time needs to be spent on the first.  Granted I would give the sound here probably about a 7.5 or 8 out of 10, but you get the crowd love, and the the energy from the boys playing is right there.  The opening "Feel like a Stranger" lets us know that Garcia is really feeling it, his guitar runs backing up Weir's vocals are fluid and funky, just check out the groove he drops into around the 5 minute mark and continues until the end.  Garcia's strumming and picking are sparks in front of some spacey drums from Mickey Hart.  This is a great version and Garcia doesn't want the silky six strings to stop as he goes into the fan favorite "Franklin's Tower".  The singing takes a back seat as "Row Jimmy" continues the top level musicianship on display before one of the coolest "Big River's" shows up.

This cover of the Johnny Cash classic is a staple in the Dead's repetorie, first showing up in 1971 and sticking around until the band stopped in 95.  Here's Johnny's version:

Cavorting in Davenport.

When the Dead covered "Big River" it was usually a short burst of country/polka energy dropped in the middle of the first set.  Here that energy is amped waaaay up, Garcia's picking is fiery and aggressively propelling the tune forward into Brent Mydland's keyboard runs that starts out at 2:30 mark sounding exactly like a fiddle, before dropping into a twinkling workout before another solo from Jerry and the drums of Billy and Mickey race until the tracks conclusion.  One of my favorite versions of this often played tune.

The group rewards Brent's innovative playing with allowing him to belt out "Far From Me" before the set closing trio pays homage to the guests about to come out first, the icon they are touring with second, and their traditional roots with third via "Stagger Lee">"Desolation Row">"Don't Ease Me In".  Throughout this first set Garcia was on point, I will admit there were times especially later in his career, when his amazing guitar playing sounded lazy, everyone has bad off nights...or tours, but this was certainly not one of those...oh yeah on too the 2nd set...

I mentioned my favorite version of the funk/disco Dead with one of my earlier Monday posts, and while that "Shakedown Street" is still my favorite, this version should probably get a mention in the conversation of excellent live performances.  Around the 9:50 mark things get clicked up a notch with some solid fretwork, but the whole version is solid.  It is rollicking groove-fest to kick start the second set, pitch perfect pretty much all over, stuttering drums, simple runs, heavy on vocals (was that a little scat singing by Jerry?) and an alive crowd; a great feeling throughout. "Just Gotta Poke Around..."

A popping "Samson and Delilah" is next before The Neville Brothers come out to help turn the standard "Iko Iko" into a full fledged party, a fantastic version that is getting me smiling while I am replaying it.  The Dead's first ever playing of "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" followed:

A fun little ditty, before the party flowed into another tune popularized by Harry Belafonte (written by Norman Span) with "Man Smart (Woman Smarter)" which is my favorite calypso cover the group did with regularity, excellent lyrics and fun beats.  The Neville Brothers help out with rhythmic tightness, vocals and some funky arse grooves.

"Drums>Space" kinda destroys the vibe a bit, but the second Dylan cover of the night is an all time classic, with the Neville's supporting, the group kills it with "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", this version is pure boosh one of the best the band has done.  Here is a youtube clip of, you know, another decent cover version:


After the Dylan only thing left to do was rock out with the two night closing rockers "Good Lovin'" with its "LaBamba" licks and Neville rhythmic tinkering before the classic "Johnny B. Goode" which the crew on stage managed to do; Be Good, Powerfully.  The Neville's and The Dead were quite a pair. 

Re-listening to this show you can feel that wild NOLA spirit throughout, even if they were playing in Pittsburgh.  It is in the funkiness of "Shakedown St" or "Feel Like a Stranger", the Mississippi country back water of "Big River" the Partying vibe of "Iko Iko" or the majesty of the "Knockin" or the Rockin' of "Johnny B Goode".  It's all there, and I can't wait to get down to that town.  Enjoy this show...