POP/SNEAK PEEK : TORIES IN THE LOOP ON TODAY'S POP SCENE.Pop-rockers the Tories have been together two years, but until recently, the local quartet felt like fish out of water. ``We came at the end of the Nirvana hate-your-mother thing,'' singer-guitarist Steve Bertrand said. ``It wasn't fashionable to be a pop band, but now it seems to be our time to shine.'' The Tories album, ``Wonderful Life'' (N2K Encoded Music), is due out Sept. 23. The band blends fresh melodies with strong hooks and crunchy guitars. A track titled ``Gladys Kravitz'' was KROQ disc jockey disc jockey (DJ) Person who plays recorded music on radio or television or at a nightclub or other live venue. Disc jockey programs became the economic base of many radio stations in the U.S. after World War II. Jed the Fish's Catch of the Day recently, and modern-rock Y-107 has also spun the band's music. ``I'm pretty fond of the local scene,'' Tories guitarist-singer J.J. Farris said. ``It's better than it was a few years ago. There was a real dismal time here when Seattle was the happening place and L.A. was a big ghost town ghost town, term for any once flourishing American community that has been abandoned, generally for economic reasons. While most of the towns have little or no population, they often contain old buildings, which may serve as tourist attractions. . But I have the feeling in the next couple of years that L.A is going to be huge again.'' The quartet - which also includes bassist James Guffee and drummer Brent Klopp - recorded ``Wonderful Life'' for renowned producer Phil Ramone's newly created N2K imprint in Atlanta and the Bahamas. ``We didn't just set up and record the album top to bottom,'' explained Bertrand. ``Each song is a story, so we didn't want to have the same sounds on every track. We literally tore down our equipment before each song was cut. On some songs we used vintage guitars and old amps, and on some we used new equipment. Each song was looked at as a separate entity.'' Soul-song tales Need a good music read? Try ``Heart & Soul: A Celebration of Black Music Style in America 1930-1975'' (Stewart Tabori & Chang; $40) by Bob Merlis and Davin Seay with a foreword by Etta James. The just-published 160-page pictorial-essay book uses vintage visuals, vivid stories and humorous tales to tell of black music style in this country. The volume is filled with characters such as Southern soul great O.V. Wright, a singer deemed ``too ugly to tour.'' Other characters include James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3 1933[1][2] – December 25 2006), commonly referred to as "The Godfather of Soul" and " , Fats Waller Noun 1. Fats Waller - United States jazz musician (1904-1943) Thomas Wright Waller, Waller , Little Richard Little Richard, 1935–, American musician and singer, b. Macon, Ga., as Richard Wayne Penniman. One of the first rock musicians in the 1950s, he recorded "Tutti Frutti," "Long Tall Sally," and "Good Golly Miss Molly." Since then, he has turned to religion. , Aretha Franklin and plenty more. Merlis, head of worldwide corporate communications Corporate communications is the process of facilitating information and knowledge exchanges with internal and key external groups and individuals that have a direct relationship with an enterprise. for Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label that operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group. It is internationally known as WEA International Inc. , and Seay, director of media information services See Information Systems. for Warners, are set to participate in a book signing Oct. 3 at Golden Apple on Melrose Avenue. What makes the book so inviting are more than 400 color images of original photos, publicity shots, posters, programs, advertisements, magazine covers, sheet music and more. DiFranco tickets Acclaimed punk-folkie Ani DiFranco has announced shows Nov. 5 and 6 at the art deco Mayan Theatre in Los Angeles. Tickets at $25 are available through Ticketmaster. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: The Tories: Steve Bertrand, left, Brent Klopp, James Guffee and J.J. Farris. |
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