"Let's be honest about who we are -- art rock for laughs," jokes keyboardist-guitarist Harvey Gold, referring to the "Obscurity" subtitle.
Before Obscurity: The Bushflow Tapes collects studio and live tracks recorded around the time of Huey's 1979 Warner Bros. album, Contents Dislodged During Shipment. "It's absolutely the first performance of anything that could be interpreted as the Waitresses," says Gold, speaking of the band that guitarist-singer Chris Butler found success with after the Huey album tanked.
Obscurity Deluxe consists of new studio cuts and unreleased tracks dating from the '80s to the sessions that yielded 1999's Disinformation. Gold also recently unearthed live tapes from a 1973 performance at Kent's Townhouse. Some of those songs may appear as bonus tracks.
"I never wanted to be a rock-and-roll star," says Gold, who still lives in the Akron area. "All I ever wanted was to affect someone the way I was when I saw the Velvet Underground or Captain Beefheart. And now, 5,000 years later, people are liking it, like a legacy thing."
· Victory Records' emo-meets-electroclash band Action Action will perform and sign autographs at Chris' Warped Records (13383 Madison Avenue, Lakewood) on Wednesday, September 22. The band features members of the Reunion Show and Count the Stars.
· Cleveland's Sonic Swirl Records is returning after five years off. It plans a slew of punk and garage releases, including the first solo album from Pagans singer Mike Hudson. Demos are now being accepted; for more details, visit www.sonicswirlrecords.com.
· If you're still lamenting the fact that your irreplaceable copy of the first Kidd Wicked cassette broke in 1992, here's your chance to get it back: On Saturday, September 18, Lakewood's Hi-Fi Club (11729 Detroit Avenue) will host a night of reunions by Kidd Wicked and Donatello, two Cleveland metal bands that were famous for big guitars and bigger hair. Kidd Wicked is rereleasing its eponymous debut on CD, and will perform the album in its entirety. The disc will be available through www.billymorris.net.
"So many people gave us the tag ''80s band,'" says Billy Morris, who co-founded Kidd Wicked in 1989 with Magna Fi's Mike Szuter. "But we were playing that style into the '90s. I hate that tag."
Morris, who went on to play in Warrant and fronts the Billy Morris Band, is also temporarily filling in on guitar for Quiet Riot.
Donatello, featuring Russell Donatello and Sean and Adrian Sampson, toured the country. Russell and Sean Sampson are now playing together in SNC, formerly Snack & Cakes.
· Cleveland riff rockers Abdullah will contribute a cover of St. Vitus's "I Bleed Black" to A Timeless Tale, a tribute to the SST proto-stoners. The disc drops in October on RavenMoon Records.
