Tommy Newsom - Live from Beautiful Downtown Burbank (1978)

"Chimes Festival" by Tommy Newsom

Whenever Doc Severinsen took over for Ed McMahon as announcer or took a break of his own, first chair saxophonist Tommy Newsom led the Tonight Show Band. Like many veterans of touring Big Bands, Newsom found himself working for one of the last bastions of those sizable orchestras when he joined the Tonight Show band in 1962 just before Carson took over. He arranged for the band and garnered a reputation for his dry wit when ad-libbing with Johnny. He released his debut album Live from Beautiful Downtown Burbank in 1978 for Direct-Disk Labs, a label that cut live performances straight to lacquer.

The album showcases Tommy Newsom, the arranger. Performed by a (sort of) Big Band orchestra, the music is not jazz and not orchestral but somehow both. The highlight of the album is the opener "Chimes Festival," a piece written by Newsom and inspired by the NBC jingle. The composition starts with a brassy blast of the familiar chimes and gradually weaves its way through a string of primetime genres, from adventure to game show, all composed and delivered with pomp and bombast. The final touch comes from Doc Severinsen's featured trumpet, and he elevates the piece for his good friend delivering the album's best solos. The rest of the songs on the album are arranged in the same style: brass heavy and winding and pleasant; a familiar jumble of musical influences and genres that only seems to have a place in the repertoire of a 70s television orchestra.

Here is the discography surrounding Tommy Newsom's debut album:

"Happy Go Lucky Local" by The Tonight Show Band

Johnny Carson Digs at Tommy Newsom

Johnny Carson and Tommy Newsom Banter

Pass the Headphones!!

Steve Forbert - Alive on Arrival (1978)

"Goin' Down to Laurel" by Steve Forbert


Ramones were co-managed by Linda Stein with Danny Fields.  She also managed young folk troubadour Steve Forbert.  Forbert released his debut album Alive on Arrival in 1978 on Nemperor Records.

Here is the discography surrounding Steve Forbert's debut album:

Goin' Down to Laurel (1978 single)
Alive on Arrival
Thinkin' (1979 single)
Arriving Live (1979 promo single)
The Oil Song (1979 single)

"Grand Central Station, March 18. 1877" by Steve Forbert


Pass the Headphones!!

Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance (1978)

"Street Waves" by Pere Ubu


Rocket from the Tombs didn't last long but their remains are many.  The longest lasting and possibly most influential remains are the art-punk incarnation called Pere Ubu, a band headed by ex-Tombs member David Thomas.  They released their debut album The Modern Dance in 1978.

Here is the discography surrounding Pere Ubu's debut album:

30 Seconds Over Tokyo (1975 single)
Final Solution (1976 single)
Street Waves (1976 single)
The Modern Dance (1977 single)
The Modern Dance
Datapanik in the Year Zero (1978 compilation EP)
Live at the Longhorn (1978 live bootleg)

"Heart of Darkness (live)" by Pere Ubu


"Sentimental Journey" by Pere Ubu


"Humor Me" by Pere Ubu


Pass the Headphones!!

Kate Bush - The Kick Inside (1978)

"Kite" by Kate Bush


After a string of musical failures, David Bowie briefly considered the possibility that his name was not written in the rock stars.  As an alternative, he pursued the possibility of being an actor and studied acting under legendary mime Lindsay Kemp.  Ten years later, Kemp garnered another musical pupil, Kate Bush, who studied interpretive dance.  Bush took up learning with Kemp while on two-year retainer with EMI Records after being discovered at the age of 16 by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour.  At 19, EMI released her art rock debut The Kick Inside in February 1978.  The album met unexpected success (#3 on the UK charts) due to the chart-topping surprise of her first career single "Wuthering Heights".

Here is the discography surrounding Kate Bush's debut album:

Wuthering Heights (1978 single)
The Kick Inside
The Man with the Child in His Eyes (1978 single)
Live on TV, 1978 (1978 live bootleg)
Them Heavy People (1978 single)
Moving (1978 single)

"Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush with Interview


Pass the Headphones!!

Siouxsie and The Banshees - The Scream (1978)

"I'm Cold" was a b-side to The Cure's third single "Jumping Someone Else's Train" and featured guest Siouxsie Sioux on the backing vocals. Not only were The Cure and Sioux's band two of the leading forces of the post-punk movement, but they also held a strong respect for each other and the groups' members collaborated often on side-projects. Robert Smith (lead singer of The Cure) even substituted as The Banshees's guitarist for the length of a 1979 tour.


Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin first became known as prominent members of the Bromley Contingent, vocal followers of the Sex Pistols that helped popularize the fashion of the early UK punk movement. Several bands came out of the Contingent such as Billy Idol's Generation X and Sioux and Severin's Siouxsie and the Banshees. The band debuted at the 100 Club Punk Festival in Fall of 1976 to fill in for a last minute empty slot despite not having enough members to round out the band. The gig survived with the aid of borrowed musicians Marco Pirroni on guitar and still unknown Sid Vicious on drums. Severin played bass and Siouxsie naturally rounded out the quartet with her unique vocals. The two intended to break up the band after the festival but were asked to keep performing. With a serious future now in mind, they officially added two members to the Banshees: Kenny Morris (drums) and John McKay (guitar).

The Banshees, who were now selling out venues, held out for a contract that allowed complete creative control and eventually received one from Polydor. The first result of the contract came out in early 1978 with the Top Ten UK single "Hong Kong Garden". The band released their debut album The Scream by the end of that same year that peaked at 13 on the UK charts. A follow-up single "The Staircase (Mystery)" was released early in 1979.

With all expectations that Siouxsie and The Banshees be a punk outfit like their figureheads Sex Pistols, their debut album became one of the earliest works to be described as post-punk. They began with the foundation of the punk movement and pushed it in a more complex and experimental direction that contrasted with the pure, raw energy of their predecessors. Siouxsie and the Banshees also strayed away from calls for revolution, instead lyrically turning inward to more personal and individual issues while delivering them by more poetic means. Earlier, calling Siouxsie's voice unique might have been a bit of an understatement. Her one-of-a-kind delivery slides and jumps through every song and ties the music together. Her voice, just like her image, is unmistakably punk because it breaks all the rules.

Here is the discography surrounding Siouxsie and the Banshees's debut album:

Hong Kong Garden (1978 single)
The Scream
The Staircase (Mystery) (1979 single)
Love in a Void (1979 single)





If you have any ideas for where the tour should go next, please give a shout. I'm always open to new artists and genres, and even if I don't take the recommendation, I always keep it in mind.

Pass the Headphones!!