They were fantastic!

I was horrified by the venue. Once upon a time the Universal Amphitheatre was topless, it was a magical place that was the toast of L.A. Then they put a roof on it. So the neighbors would stop complaining and they could do shows year-round. Now it’s like the bar scene in “Star Wars.” Post-modern. So laden with advertising you’d think Live Nation was having a closeout sale and was planning to close up shop immediately.

There was a Heineken beer garden with Red Bull tables.

Drinks were served at multiple Tecate stands. There was advertising for a supermarket. And when you reached down to place your overpriced drink in its holder in front of your seat, you found it was wrapped in a Bud Light sticker. Something is terribly wrong in music. It’s got no heart, no soul, it’s mostly about the money. And if you think the public does not know, you’re sorely mistaken.

I didn’t see a single person I knew the whole damn night.

I expected the venue to be empty. Because they didn’t even have someone to park your car backstage. I mean I can do it myself, but usually they charge or do it as a courtesy/security. Finally someone came out from the building and lifted the tape and allowed me to park. I expected the venue to be a ghostland, a financial and emotional disaster.

But it was 85% full.

I didn’t understand it. The band didn’t have a U.S. record deal. They hadn’t been in the States in twenty years. Who’d know?

So it must have been papered. To avoid embarrassment. Punters out for a night of next to free entertainment.

But when the band hit the stage there was thunderous applause and a standing ovation. These people knew every word. Who were they? Kids raised on MTV? The average age was about thirty. Huh?

And at first I was a bit disappointed. You see they were a little rough. Emphasis on “little.” Because we expect perfection. Because so many of today’s live performances are not. They’re basically singing to hard drive. So the kids won’t be disappointed. With a lot of whiz-bang effects to make sure their short attention spans don’t wander.

And Marie Fredriksson… There was something wrong with her.

Now I know there’s something wrong with her. She had a brain tumor. They said she’s fully recovered. That she was healthy. But she’s not. She doesn’t walk so well and according to Wikipedia, she’s blind in one eye.

But she can still sing. Boy can she sing!

Like I said, it took a few numbers for her to warm up. And the band too. Because they were playing live. What a concept! This show made you want to go home, practice and play, they were having such a good time, it was the essence of what once was. Music!

You know the Swedes. They can do what we can times two. Maybe because it’s so damn cold and dark they’ve got no option. The lead guitarist could play in Guns N’ Roses. With his distortion and technical flair. Oh, he didn’t look the part. But didn’t you hear that music comes from the inside?

As for the drummer. He looked like he just came in from working on the railroad. With that cap and long gray hair. He’s the original guy. But he had power rivaling John Bonham. He was truly the engine driving the band.

And then there was the producer on keyboards and a bass player and Per. Who looked much younger than his years but has been a rock star in Sweden for twenty five years. And just about as long on the rest of the Continent, in the rest of the world. Yes, Roxette are superstars everywhere but here.

And it’s easy to see why. It’s because of the songs!

You know, they’ve got THE LOOK!

Sure, it was a big MTV hit, but that stinging guitar riff might not be “All Right Now” but it’s close. You couldn’t help but stand there and sing the “na-nas” at the top of your lungs when the band broke down and let the audience perform. Which happened multiple times. And, like I said, everybody knew every word.

And they did “It Must Have Been Love.”

And when they did “Perfect Love,” anybody would have swooned. Just Per and Marie. You know that authentic sound of an acoustic guitar, played perfectly by a master, the ringing truth that emanates? That’s the essence of music, not the cacophony, but the simplicity. A little is enough. A Pete Townshend so eloquently put it, “there once was a note pure and easy.”

And you can bet Roxette listened to all those Who records. Because history is important if you want to make it big, top the charts. You’ve got to have a foundation.

And I ignored Roxette at first. Just another lightweight pop confection. But then I got infected by “Joyride,” I couldn’t hear it enough, I taped the video from MTV so I could play it whenever I wanted, this is what we did way back when, before the Internet era.

And I loved it so much, I decided to play the album.

And that’s when I truly got hooked. By “Watercolours In The Rain.” It’s like a Led Zeppelin record. Starting with twisting acoustic guitar, then getting heavy and electric and going back again. If you like “Ten Years Gone” you’ll like “Watercolours In The Rain.”

And there were other winners on the “Joyride” album. Like “The Big L.” and “Church Of Your Heart,” which was done acoustically as the final encore. But what totally blew me away was last night’s performance of “Spending My Time.”

Funny how these songs are in your DNA. I haven’t played “Spending Your Time” in years, but I know every note, because if you’ve ever broken up, you know it’s true, with a feel exactly like you feel, wistful.

Spending my time
Watching the days go by
Feeling so small
I stare at the wall
Hoping that you think of me too

That’s it exactly! That’s the essence of disconnection, of breaking up. You’re experiencing emotional torture, are they too? Do you cross their mind, or are they happy and smiling in their brand new life?

Per and Marie didn’t have instant success. They both were journeymen before they hooked up. And worked together before they broke through. You see music is a life. With twists and turns. And just maybe, you’ll get lucky. Like when an exchange student returns to Minneapolis from Sweden and gets your record played on the local radio station.

But the old men in suits don’t believe in anything this simple anymore. They don’t want talent. They want Silly Putty, something malleable they can put through their machine, that they can squeeze and manipulate, a product to be consumed today and then discarded tomorrow.

I’m not saying that there’s not a future for electronic music or rap, but the essence of the business, the bedrock, is songs. That’s how you endure, by writing nuggets of truth that you present in such a way the public finds them irresistible.

That’s what Roxette does.

That’s what they did last night.

Subject: Tesla – 5 Man Acoustical jam

Bob,

The behind the scenes story is even a bit better and I’ve copied Cliff who may be able to shed some more light. Queenie did suggest we play accoustically at her club but we couldn’t just play 1 show, so we booked an acoustic tour (I can’t remember how many shows).

Well, before a show (either in Boston or Worcester), we went up to WAAF and played a couple of songs live on the air. Thought nothing of it, then finished up the tour including Philly which we recorded (one of us had the idea to record the show).

Several weeks (?) later, the Geffen radio/sales people in New England called to ask us on which album we had recorded “Signs” because the phones were ringing off the hook at ‘AAF. Well it turns out that WAAF had recorded our little acoustic fly by and were playing Signs in rotation.

Fortunately (see above) we had recorded a show for the archives…
1+1 equaled 3 and we had an acoustic record.

I’m guessing Cliff suggested Signs as a cover (or the band) and I probably pushed to record the Philly show because we had just finished working with the Stones on Steel Wheels and I had gotten to work with Jagger as he put together 25×5 which was a video summary of the Stones (old TV shows, news footage etc). After watching “video history” I was determined that all of our artists document anything special they were doing (or hope it would turn out to be special).

While the theory may not have applied to Tesla (although they were fast becoming a big band), it definitely applied to the filming of the making of Metallica’s Black Album (and we all got that one right!)

5 Man…was and is one of great management highlights. Which just shows, most times it’s better to be lucky than smart.

Regards
Peter
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

From: Cliff Burnstein
Subject: Re: Tesla – 5 Man Acoustical jam

Just to add: Ron Valerie was the program director at WAAF. He was in the bathroom while Tesla did the interview and acoustic songs. The live feed was piped in all through their offices inc. the bathroom. Valerie heard “Signs” while making his restroom visit. He put it right into rotation after that, unbeknownst to us at the time. Ron is still at ‘AAF today.

I want you to listen to Fred Armisen on Alec Baldwin’s “Here’s The Thing” podcast. Because he talks about giving up.

Sometimes you’ve got to do that.

Fred was in a band called Trenchmouth. With his buddies. For ten years. They toured not only the U.S., but Europe. With no roadies, lugging their own equipment up stairs, sleeping on floors. And Fred loved every minute of it.

Then he saw a forty year old drummer doing the same and he said “I don’t want to be that guy.”

There’s a fallacy that if you just work hard and long enough, you’ll make it. People heard about the 10,000 hours but didn’t bother to read Gladwell’s book. There are other factors, like timing.

I know this myself. I was frustrated with my reach and then all of a sudden the Internet blew up and I could reach people around the world for free! Before that… Positively desultory.

But even if the timing is bad, maybe you’re just not good enough. It’s hard to accept, but it could be true. Instead of slogging it out, maybe you should move on, consider music a hobby. Fred still plays his drums, just not professionally.

And there’s always a story behind the story, it’s never as seamless as these successes portray it. But Fred started filming bands (videotaping, before the YouTube era) at SXSW about their careers, using funny voices, and he built an audience for his productions. He went on tour with them. After playing with the Blue Man Group in Chicago for two years. Sure, that was drudgery, but he got paid and he learned so many things. Like the audience is there to be entertained.

And then, Fred moved to L.A. And he made friends.

That’s how you make it in the music business. On both sides of the fence, businessman and player, via friends.

And now he’s on SNL and “Portlandia.”

And none of that would have happened if he continued to believe he must be a musician, that it was his only option, banging his head against the wall as his audience aged and he starved.

You can play. You can be a fan. Not everyone has to be a professional. Not everyone is gonna make it.

Fred dreamed of being as successful as the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

It never happened.

Fred Armisen on “Here’s The Thing”

In retrospect the debut is the best.

But this live album is my favorite. My favorite live album of all time, hell, I’ve listened to it enough!

The debut got traction. Especially with “Modern Day Cowboy”… That’s on the live album too, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

You want to listen to “EZ Come EZ Go” and “Gettin’ Better” and “Little Suzi” and “Cumin’ Atcha Live.” But mostly I didn’t. I didn’t get hooked until the second album, the vastly uneven “The Great Radio Controversy.”

By 1989 CD players were de rigueur. And finally, we could program our favorite cuts. Want to know what killed the album? Not Napster, but the CD. You could listen to just the single, just your favorites, and there was no second side to give the CD bite. An hour plus of material was oftentimes impenetrable. At least in the days of vinyl you knew the second side opener was a killer, and the last cut on each side. They counted. What counted on a CD other than the opening cut? Which is why you should always put your best cut first, people may not get any further. Album sequencing? Best to worst, it’s just that simple. Then again, we won’t have albums to kick around that much longer…ha!

Anyway, there are three killer cuts on “The Great Radio Controversy,” “Lazy Days, Crazy Nights,” “The Way It Is” and “Love Song.” Oh, eventually I came to love “Heaven’s Trail (No Way Out)” and “Paradise,” knowing them from the live album, and I’ll admit “Party’s Over” is a good closer, but there was a period in 1989 when I’d play the first three tracks in a loop, on repeat…FOREVER!

Let’s start with “Lazy Days, Crazy Nights.” It’s the sound, the intro, like they’re building a spaceship to Mars. The first note makes you want to sign up. To this heavy excursion, piloted by the production team of Michael Barbiero, a disco expert!, and Steve Thompson.

But I love those lazy and crazy nights
It’s my way, it’s my life

EXACTLY! If you know me, you know I’m a night owl. I’d stay up all night every night if I could. I love it when the sun goes down, the world is my own, people stop calling, e-mailing and texting, even if I never leave the house I’m on my own mental adventure.

But my favorite of the three, my favorite song on “The Great Radio Controversy,” is “The Way It Is.”

Even though we could never seem to work things out
I still love you just the same
I miss your smile and that sparkle in your eyes
You’re so beautiful, never change

That’s exactly how I felt. It takes a long time to let go after they move out. You’re angry, but you’re still connected. Over time, you feel warmer towards them, but at first you’re in shock.

But what I love most about this verse is the way the song goes quiet, Jeff Keith is almost singing sotto voce, it’s private, intimate…and for that reason intense.

And there’s a great solo too!

And then comes the piece de resistance, “Love Song.”

On “The Great Radio Controversy” there’s a seemingly endless instrumental intro, which works perfectly because it sets the song up… After a minute, the music changes, it’s like the sun is rising and…

So you think that it’s over
That your love has finally reached the end
Any time you call, night or day
I’ll be right there for you, if you need a friend

That’s what you need when you’re at loose ends, friends. Hopefully you didn’t abandon yours when you got involved with your significant other, because loneliness kills.

But it’s not forever.

That’s the point of the chorus…

Love is all around you
Love is knockin’ outside your door
Waitin’ for you is this love made just for two
Keep an open heart and you’ll find love again, I know

Yup, you’ll lick your wounds and recover. Realize that’s what everybody’s looking for, connection. You’ll get into a conversation and your heart will smile as well as your lips and you’ll be in heaven. You’ve just got to hang in there.

And then the song explodes, the guitar wails…

And that’s exactly what happened, “Love Song” exploded. Through a special effects video banged on MTV of a live show, you see the girl on the guy’s shoulders and you just feel good all over. Hell, you know the power of music!

And then came “Five Man Acoustical Jam.”

It was Queenie Taylor’s idea. A promoter, who booked Slim’s. She saw Tesla perform acoustically at the Bammies, she asked them to do so at a club. That’s how greatness occurs, via happy accidents, often incited by another.

And you roll up that catalog and a few covers into a live show and you’ve got an album so infectious that you’ve got to get the DVD just to see it, to join in on the fun.

It’s more than the songs, it’s the narration, the offhand comments, you truly feel like you’re there…

It begins with “Comin’ Atcha Live,” which has a totally different feel than the studio take on “Mechanical Resonance,” it’s like walking into a biker bar with country musicians pickin’ and grinnin’ and swilling beer and your body shakes and you smile and you feel like the world is your oyster.

I’m a mean machine, I’m the kind you don’t wanna meet
My middle name is trouble, I’m a danger in the street

Acoustically this loses the edge and only the rebellion remains. The essence of rock and roll.

And “Comin’ Atcha Live” merges into “Truckin’,” a take any Deadhead would love if they could realize we share so many of the same roots, hard rockers and jam band fans.

And the second number is “Heaven’s Trail (No Way Out),” which sounds like everybody in the club put on their boots and went out hiking into the wilderness, leaving civilization behind.

You know there’s nothin’ like the real world to get me down
There’s nothin’ like the world outside that turns me upside down

This is the essence of hard rock, of metal, the alienation. But it takes a new twist on “Five Man Acoustical Jam,” because that’s what it is…ACOUSTICAL! The songs gain colors and subtleties they never had in their hard rock incarnations.

And then come the hits. For me anyway!

Yup, a live rendition of “The Way It Is” that makes you want to buy a guitar and practice just to play this. The vocal is imperfect, but isn’t life? On the studio take the instrumentation takes away from the meaning of the lyrics. Here, the words shine. I sing them in my head all the time.

Try to see it my way
Do I have to keep on talkin’ till I can’t go on

Yup, that’s right, WE CAN WORK IT OUT! One of those magical Beatle numbers that make our hearts swoon. This is what we did, play these songs in a circle in the sixties, but now they were doing the same twenty five years later.

And then came the hit. A cover of the Five Man Electrical Band’s “Signs.”

Who even remembered this song? I mean it was carved into my DNA, but I thought I was alone, but it turned out this band from Sacramento much younger than me knew it too. And it’s done half-seriously, half-jokingly, and as a result lightning is trapped in a bottle and a hit is born. Yup, a live cut riddled with imperfections broke through. Because it contains the essence of a hit… MAGIC!

And you’ve got to hear “Lodi” and “Mother’s Little Helper” but don’t miss “Love Song” and “Modern Day Cowboy,” which takes on a greater darkness played acoustically. Sometimes you strip things down, get quiet, and songs take on even more meaning.

But really, you’ll love every minute of “Five Man Acoustical Jam.”

Or you won’t.

You see we used to all listen to everything. Until rap, when a segment of the audience peeled off. Just after hard rock/metal separated from the mainstream.

And I never hear anybody talk about this album anymore, never mind this group. But I kept a cassette in my glovebox for fifteen years, just in case I needed a hit, a CD is within arm’s reach.

And just like Cheap Trick, the band’s career was derailed by a huge live album. “Psychotic Supper” has got the positively brilliant “What You Give” with the dynamics of a Led Zeppelin track, but the rest of the record was uneven and after such a huge commercial success, it was hard to get everybody’s attention focused once again.

Yup, too much success can hurt. Just ask Alanis Morissette!

But this was before “Jagged Little Pill.” Even before “Nevermind.”

I feel so lonely, yet I know I’m not the only one
To ever feel this way

That’s what it says in “What You Give.” And ain’t that the truth.

And that’s one reason we have music, to fill up the space, to eradicate the loneliness.

And that’s exactly what “Five Man Acoustical Jam” does. Squeeze out all the bad feelings and replace them with an exuberance that makes you live in the moment and anticipate greatness in the future. And the great thing is it’s there whenever you need it, ready to be played, to lift you right up.

Rhinofy-Five Man Acoustical Jam

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