Thursday, November 18, 2010

Singles Going Single #149 - Nine Lives 7" (1985, Cheshire)

Here's a delightful single from a little spoken of Allston, MA trio featuring the vocal stylings of one Cheryl E. Wanner, who tilts more in the vicinity of Chrissie Hynde than Debbie Harry (though the premise of "Shopping" is thoroughly frivolous in the manner of say, the Go-Gos).  Bright, ringing guitar lines from axe-wielder Frank Gerace sweeten the pot.  You can safely file the catty Nine Lives under wave/power pop, though the group doesn't particularly strive to be either.  Both Wanner and Gerace are still making music, which you can investigate here

A. Shopping
B. Dressed for Success

Hear

3 comments:

joseph kyle said...

Lovely little single!

And I gotta say something...I didn't realize who you were until just now! I have always enjoyed your writing with BTO. You're one of the reviewers I can rely on!

By the way, I write for BTO now myself, except under the tutelage of Sir Jim Santo, Esq. I feature profiles of new acts and the occasional record review here and there.

C'est moi: http://www.bigtakeover.com/author/Joseph+Kyle/

cheers!

spavid said...

Rabid rules! It's a small world after all. I really appreciate the compliments. I write for the print edition only, but that could eventually change. I do so much with the blog each week that I'm usually too tapped out for anything else.

Just FYI, I don't use my real name anywhere on here, but thanks for revealing that you're a scribe for one of the best music zines out there, and long may it run. BTW, did you attend the BTO 30th Anniversary shows this summer?

joseph kyle said...

Hey--yeah, I remember you talking about writing for BTO, and I noticed what you said about the name thing. I was curious as to who you might have been, so I looked it up, and was pleasantly surprised!

I've been a reader for about 20 years now...nope, I didn't make it out to the BTO fest, but would have loved to! And Jack Rabid is a major inspiration for me, and he's someone I've admired and, well, patterned my own writing style based upon his "music with heart" notion, and that he never is afraid to let his fandom show. Even though it's a major publication now, to me it still feels like a 'zine. Between him and Gail O'Hara, I feel like I had some good role models.

Jim made an offer a long time ago for writing for the BTO site, and, to be honest, the proposition was overwhelmingly flattering. When the subject came up again after being rejected by Pitchfork (another site I wrote for, but back at the beginning of the decade)...I decided, "what the hell, why not?"