I was informed that my pick is next for this week. It’s Concrete Blonde by Concrete Blonde
I went for something pretty obscure, but also an artist and band that I have loved longer than almost any other. Concrete Blonde has been one of my favorite bands since high school in the early 1990s and I think Johnette Napolitano’s voice is probably one of the first female voices that truly captivated me and began my love for strong and unique female vocalists and songwriters (Joni, Nina Simone, Bjork, Nico, Neko Case, Chrissie Hynde, Fiona Apple, Lana Del Rey and many more). Johnette also plays bass and wrote most of Concrete Blonde’s songs, including most on this their debut album, with the exception of the George Harrison cover.
Its important to note about this album is its from 1986, so you will hear obvious sounds of 80s pop/rock, but also bits of punk and country/folk music, with Johnette’s vocals being the connecting throughline across the genres. Per usual, its been lumped in broadly as alternative rock despite it hitting many different genres. Johnette and the band also got lumped in with Goth music because of a few songs on this and later albums and they seemed to embrace that a bit likely in attempts to gain a following, but I still think that label is very limiting for this band. I associate Concrete Blonde sound more with LA, SoCal, and the Soutwest in general. It like concrete and desert or an early precursor to desert rock.
I still believe she was one of the most underrated rock vocalists of the last 50 years and a great songwriter too. While none of the albums are masterpiece, there are more good than bad songs, plus a few great songs on each album. I’d love to pick like 3-4 from each album to give you an even better idea of Johnette’s range as a vocalist and songwriter, but that’s not the format so here we go.
For you @W.B.T.G.Slinger I have to share one of the few songs without Johnette on lead vocals (she’s on backing), its an early cover of Nick Cave they added to a b-side compilations album back in 1994:
I saw them live at Cleveland Agora in 1993 with Counting Crows and Cracker opening, missing football practice the next day and getting a lot of shit for it. Its still one of my favorite pre phish shows and I really wish I got to see Johnette live more than a just a few times. I don’t think there is anything live from their debut album on YouTube, but here are a few of my favorite other live clips:
