Visual Sound: Issue 20
Blondie
“One Way Or Another”
Debbie Harry worked as a bunny at The Playboy Club in Great Gorge, Sussex County, after being raised in Hawthorne, Passaic County. Reportedly, she left New Jersey for good when she sang for a band called The Stilettos because of a stalker. (She also quit modeling “when I had to go to bed with every photographer,” she once told me). In ’74, she put together Blondie. In ’78, their third album, Parallel Lines, had a song about the stalker incident composed by her and bassist Nigel Harrison. Here, she sings it live while the band “plays” to a track.
Mike Daly & The Planets
“Letter From The Front”
Passaic-born singer-songwriter Mike Daly says this song was inspired by Saving Private Ryan and HBO’s Band of Brothers, along with the stories of World War II veterans in his extended family. It’s written from the point-of-view of a fictional armed-forces member who’s seen battle and fears he might never get home to his loved ones. The musical arrangement, which veers dramatically from Daly’s power-pop roots, features his acoustic guitar, co-producer Jim Van Sickle’s acoustic bass, and Jim Smith’s military-style drumming, punctuated by the anguished wailing of Patrick Maturo’s blues harp. “Letter…” begins with a 1944 public-domain recording of the marching cadence, “Sound Off!” Also known as “The Duckworth Chant,” the cadence credited to Private Willie Lee Duckworth, an African American soldier serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. It sets the tone as well as the tempo of Daly’s original composition. The stark accompanying video, edited by Daly, is a photographic slide show of U.S. service members provided by his family and friends.
(Advertisement) Story continues below…
Mark Mulch
“Christmas Must Be Tonight”
A beautiful cover of what should have been a classic by The Band but this 1975 deep cut off The Band’s Northern Lights Southern Cross album has been overlooked. Now, though, it gets positively rejuvenated by Mark Mulch of Toms River. Singer-Songwriter Mulch, who now lives in Tennessee, is part of the upcoming documentary, The Jersey Sound.
Mark Mulch: "A couple of different things inspired me to record my own version of The Band’s “Christmas Must Be Tonight” First and foremost I’m a huge fan of The Band and always thought this was a beautiful hidden gem of a song written by Robbie Robertson. Also, I had been hosting my own version of Levon’s “Midnight Ramble” in Nashville and wound up having one at the legendary Welcome to 1979 studios and realized it was the perfect place to record the song and video. I was very lucky to get not only some of the best musicians in Nashville to play on it but they also happen to have become some of my best friends. To round it out, studio owner Chris Mara and his staff are absolute pros and did an amazing job engineering, recording and mixing the song all live to analog tape!"
Skid Row
“Resurrected”
The Bach-less but not rock-less Skid Row have come a long way since their humble Toms River origins. “Resurrected” is the fifth single from their surprisingly good The Gang’s All Here. Directed by Frank Gryner (who has helmed clips for Alice Cooper and Def Leppard), Rachel Bolan, whose concept this is, says, “being a fan of animation, I was very excited when the opportunity to do an animated video was presented to us. I really wanted to give the video a sci-fi feel that would convey that you can conquer anything, no matter how big the monster, even if it lives within the parameters of your inner circle.” Skid Row can be seen in the upcoming documentary The Jersey Sound.