The Triumphs - Late '60's N.E. Ohio Garage / Psych Rock

The Triumphs were a Geneva / Ashtabula garage rock band that my uncle Roger Miller played bass for back in the late 1960's. Yes, coincidently he had the same name as the famous "King of the Road" country singer. Their first single, "Lovin' Cup" b/w "It's So Easy" is a Miller family artifact that I have kept in my record collection ever since the day, way back in 1968, that he visited us with a copy of it. I was only 10 years old at the time. I'm not sure my parents were all that enthusiastic with the actual SOUND of the record. Garage rock was not really their sort of thing. I was greatly impressed, though. Someone in my family actually made a record? How cool is this?

To me, my uncle was a mysterious guy. He was never around much when we went out to Geneva to visit my Grandparents, and when he was, he never talked a lot. The quiet type. Mostly he was always off somewhere, doing things that I could only imagine. I do know he raced stock cars; he had 10 or 12 silver and gold trophies on a shelf that I used to play around with when no one was watching. There was often a car or two of his in the driveway, like a Corvette or something, all in various states of being worked on for the next race. He also had a guitar - a really strange looking one with big fat strings. It was a bass, the first one I ever saw up close.

Unfortunately I never got to see his band play. Not long after these singles were made, my uncle quit the Triumphs - or maybe they broke up, I don't know which. After that he gave up on his music career and lived the married life, with two kids and a job. Many years later I found out that he was playing music at his church. During this period I finally heard him sing a few songs, with his acoustic guitar at some family gathering. He was actually quite good, although it was light-years removed from the sound of the Triumphs.

This turned out to be the last time I ever saw him. He died very suddenly when he was only in his early 50's. A heart attack, I think it was. By then I was playing in my own bands and putting out my own little records. I never got to know my uncle very well. Hardly at all, actually. Maybe if he had lived longer, I would have eventually. One thing I have learned over the years though, is that "eventually" sometimes has a way of never arriving. You wait too long and the opportunity passes you by, never to return. Still, perhaps he had an influence on me. It is not out of realm of possibility that the little round piece of plastic he gave me back in 1968 was a nudge, no matter how small, to the trajectory that my life was taking. So thanks Uncle - you never said much, but as the old saying goes, actions speak much louder than words.

"Lovin' Cup" is a Paul Butterfield song, but in the hands of the Triumphs, sounds much closer to the COUNT FIVE'S "Psychotic Reaction" than it does to blues-rock. The b-side, Buddy Holly's "It's So Easy," is a pretty straightforward cover of that, perhaps slightly more rocked up. Maybe I'll add that one to this post, eventually. According to the "Ohio Sounds" blog, "Lovin' Cup" was "recorded in Chicago at CHESS and got some regional play." I did not know this before. Chess Records studio: Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, the Rolling Stones and...the Triumphs? Hey, getting to record at a place like Chess is a HUGE accomplishment in my book.

Speaking of "Ohio Sounds," I stole the mp3 and photo of the 2nd Triumphs single from their blog. I think "People Try My Mind" is an original song, although I'm not sure. I never owned a copy of the 2nd single, nor do I know anything about the other members of the band - or even if my uncle actually played on the second 45. I'll just say that he did and wait for someone else to come along and prove otherwise.

DOWNLOAD:
Triumphs - Lovin' Cup
Triumphs - People Try My Mind
 
Listen to more cool Ohio rock singles at: http://www.ohiosounds.com 

This Tape Sucks!!

If you like early-80's punk rock that is loud, loose and preferably recorded on lousy cassette boom boxes, then this just might be what you’re looking for. Some bonfide boom box "hits" here, along with some cuts recorded in crude (and cheap-as-possible) studios.  No one had much money back then, and what little there was needed to be spent on beer and potato chips, NOT slick recording facilities.

"This Tape Sucks" was a 1982 N.E. Ohio cassette compilation that was released by Oops! Records, a label that sprouted from Oops! fanzine. Both were enterprises that yours truly had a heavy hand in back in the day. Several years ago I transferred these wonderful artifacts to compact disc, thus creating "This CD Sucks.”  Now I guess they can be referred to as "This Download Sucks." Throughout the digital process, you can be rest assured that the crap-tastic sound of these recordings has been preserved. You couldn’t improve them if you wanted to.

A few of these bands managed to stick around for a while and even put out records, for what is was all worth. Also for what it’s worth: some of this doesn’t really suck, although that’s just my opinion.

If you were there, then you can skip the rest of my B.S. and just listen again, if you care to. Info provided below is for people who weren’t “lucky” enough to know THIS TAPE SUCKS firsthand.  Songs are presented in the same order as they appeared on the original tape.

OFFBEATS:

A couple of these recordings actually ended up on an Offbeats retrospective CD & LP put out by Smog Veil Records, still available for sale, so go there if you are interested.
An Offbeats bio can be found at: http://www.clepunk.com/bands/offbeats/index.htm.  More free Offbeats downloads can also be found at: http://www.reverbnation.com/offbeats

Download:
Offbeats - “Why Do You Hang Out?”
Offbeats - “Hey Mate Ahoy”
Offbeats - “Society”
Offbeats - “Look At Em Go / Go Away”
Offbeats - “M-16”

LOUD AS FUCK:
An Athens, Ohio college punk band (later known as "One Man's Head"). LAF's Douglas Enkler later joined the Offbeats, bringing these songs along with him for us to play. Trivia: "Sad" was re-recorded by the Offbeats (in a real studio) for the “I Can See Your House From Here” EP. It was also later covered by Scrawl on their "Plus Also Too" LP. Mr. Enkler later went on to a stellar career as front man of Prisonshake.

Download:
Loud as Fuck - “I Don't Bathe”
Loud as Fuck - “Shit My Pants”
Loud as Fuck - “Sad”

DEFNICS:
A Cleveland punk “super-group” almost, featuring Robert Conn, formerly of the Pagans (see "Six and Change"), and now of  Chelsea Hotel.  The band also included Bob Sablack & Johnny Korosec, later of the Plague; Bob is now in the Chromekickers.  “Life So Fast” actually has pretty decent recording quality.  It was an outtake from the sessions that produced their “51%" b/w "Hello From Berlin” 45, a record that usually brings big bucks on Ebay. The Defnics also have stuff for sale from Smog Veil Records. A Defnics bio is at: http://www.clepunk.com/bands/defnics/index.htm

Download:
Defnics - “Life So Fast”
Defnics - “Governor's Daughter”

ZERO DEFEX:
The Zero Defex (aka ODFX) preached and tried to live the anarchy lifestyle to the hilt; they came closest to that ideal during their brief 10-to-15 minute live sets. These guys were so intense it was almost comical. They also managed to single-handily spit the N.E. Ohio scene in two - you either loved 'em or hated 'em. I thought they were fun. More about ODFX can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0DFx

Download:
Zero Defex - “4”
Zero Defex - “Do Not Pass Go”
Zero Defex - “Die Before”
Zero Defex - “Drop the A-Bomb on Me”
Zero Defex - “No More Control”

IDIOT SAVANTS:
An Idiot Savant is someone who is a genius at one thing only. In the case of this band, it was making a noise that sounded like an unbalanced washing machine stuck on spin cycle. Idiot Savants bio: http://www.clepunk.com/bands/idiotsavants/index.htm

Download:
Idiot Savants - Looking in the Mirror

DISSIDENTS:
Almost pop sounding compared to some of the other offerings on TTS. In reality another bunch of smart-ass Cleveland punks, except with some actual musical ability.  A Dissidents career retrospective CD was released on Smog Veil Records, so go there if that sounds like something that might float your boat. A Dissidents bio is at: http://www.clepunk.com/bands/dissidents/index.htm

Download:
Dissidents - “Modern Emotion”

BEATOFFS:
“Tra-la-la-la” pop/punk gibberish.  This was actually a recording by a little known Cleveland outfit called the "Generics,” who later evolved into the Offbeats. For some reason the band thought it would be fun to invert their new name and attach it to this almost-good-quality studio recording.

Download:
Beatoffs - “Ad Liberation”

URBAN MUTANTS:
One of the few punk bands on this comp that never managed to make an actual record. Also a much better band than this crude recording suggests. Too bad they weren’t around in the late 70’s when record labels were signing up anything from Akron. They could’ve been a contender.

Download:
Urban Mutants - “Not Living”

AGITATED:
Some referred to this band as thrash/metal, but this just sounds like revved-up punk rock, played in an echo-y basement, and recorded into a very cheap boom box cassette machine - which was exactly what it was. Later Agitated studio recordings were the unlikely subject of yet anther Smog Veil retrospective CD & 7" EP.


Download:
Agitated - “Almost Straight Edge”
Agitated - “In This Room”
Agitated - “Blissful Ignorance”

STARVATION ARMY:
A group that managed to stick around (on and off) for the next 10 years, longer then anyone else on this comp.  Perseverance, or simply too plain ornery to quit?  This is the embryonic version of the band. Later proto-grunge 7” singles and full length LP’s sounded almost nothing like this, and included almost none of the original members. Presented below is pure teenage HC angst served up by actual teenagers. More about SA: http://www.clepunk.com/bands/starvationarmy/index.htm
More SA downloads are at: http://www.reverbnation.com/starvationarmy

Download:
Starvation Army - New Black List
Starvation Army - Pain
Starvation Army – Fun

DUMBSHITS:
Is it just me, or is this stuff just a little bit affected? They obviously tried very hard to sound idiotic. The National Lampoon of the early 80’s punk scene. Closest comparison might be the Angry Samoans, except with none of that band’s musical ability. They never put out a record, and a quick glance below might give you an idea why. Dumbshits: http://www.clepunk.com/bands/dumbshits/index.htm

Download:

Dumbshits - “Hey Devo”
Dumbshits - “Turds with Corn in 'Em”
Dumbshits - “I'm Lost”
Dumbshits - “Bald Guys Fartin'”
Dumbshits - “This Tastes Like Fuckin' Shit”
Dumbshits - “Weird Fuckin' Noise”

TA Miller: "Roll 'em Nice"

Roll 'em Nice (T. Miller, 2009) 

Lemonade, too much sun. Too much of anything, it ain't no fun. Novocaine, I can't feel my tongue. I may be drugged but I'm not that dumb. Roll 'em nice, roll 'em nice. Your uncle has a problem, he thinks he's always right. Roll 'em nice, but keep it out of sight - your uncle has a problem with the crop you like.

They say it's dangerous, but then so is walking. I took a hike and nearly fell off a mountain. It's a strange land, so many legal cases - but buy a 12-pack and get twice as wasted. Roll 'em nice...

They'll sell you anything they think you need - but what you want, not even a seed. I saw my doctor, he said, "Listen to your body." Well mine told me it was time to party! Roll 'em nice...

Click to listen: TA Miller: Roll 'em Nice

Rain Delay

Rain Delay (T. Miller, 2009)

When the rain comes down, I don't mind I don't always hide. Take a look at five. The way is straight and very wide, but I dream of one, with the fog and the burning sun. When I woke inside, my body free with a prison mind, and I'm hanging around. When the rain comes down, I stand outside but I'm getting dry. When I dream of one, it's clear to see that the fog is why even though I try, body low but I'm standing high. When the rain comes down, water goes where the rainbow shines. I'm not hanging around. When the rain comes down, I don't mind, I don't always hide. Take a look outside, where it's straight and it always winds. On the ground or in flight, body low but standing high. When the rain drops fly, let me flow where the water glides. Stop this hanging around

Download:  Rain Delay

Swank Motel

Swank Motel was the Cleveland, Ohio "swing" cover band I played guitar for from 1993-98.  As our long-gone web page used to say:

"Swank Motel. has been called lounge, jazz, blues, rock, rockabilly, ska, heavy metal and a few other things as well. Swank Motel plays timeless music that spans virtually every decade of the 20th century. Everybody from Louis Jordan to AC/DC to Nirvana to Rosemary Clooney to Nat King Cole to the Circle Jerks. Swank Motel plays the sort of stuff workin' and drinkin' folks in Cleveland want to hear."


Vocalist and front man Darryl Whalen (Numbskull, Buddy Love Combo, many others) had the original idea for this band. Legend goes that he was trying to form a combo such as this as far back as the mid-1980's, but it wasn't until 1993 that he managed to convince someone (ME, on guitar) to actually do it. First came "Darryl & Tom's Screwed Up Acoustic Lounge Band." Next, the cool and talented singer Hadley Conner joined up. The finishing touches to the masterpiece known as Swank Motel was when funky bassist Benjamin Daniels showed up, and the groovin' and movin' Johnny P. (Lonesome Bones, Hemlocks) sat down behind the drum kit. Minutes later we were out entertaining club goers of all ages, from one side of town to the other. Along the way we also opened up for hep acts like NANCY SINATRA, SOUL COUGHING, and LYDIA LUNCH. How'd we do it? Check out the SWANK, below and find out: 

DOWNLOAD:
Come on-a-my House - version 1 (Rosemary Clooney)
World Up My Ass  (Circle Jerks)
Breed  (Nirvana)
Bela Lugosi's Dead (Bauhaus)
Six Pack  (Black Flag)
Party Doll  (Buddy Knox)
Route 66 (Bobby Troup)
Disco Inferno - version 1 (Trammps)


The year 1995 brought some major changes - Hadley and John bowed out and we welcomed aboard the multi-octave and wildly entertaining singer Jessica Skerry (Horvat), as well as Doug Turner and his fabulous drum kit...and so the SWANK continued, in a big-time way. This fantastic lineup is represented by the ever popular "Head Like A Hole," written by Mr. Trent Reznor himself. Naturally our version blows his out of the water. This track also features Kris Morron sliding that big 'ol trombone.  

DOWNLOAD:   Head Like A Hole  (Nine Inch Nails)

Not long after this was recorded, Darryl left the group. The remaining recordings feature myself, Jessica, Benjamin, Kris and either Doug or Ricky Exton on drums. Some recorded live, some recorded in the studio, ALL very swanky, as one would well imagine....
 
Download:

Disco Inferno - version 2 (Trammps)
Lazy Bones  (Hoagey Carmichael / Johnny Mercer)
Underdog  (cartoon theme song)
Secret  (Madonna)
Night and Day  (Cole Porter)
White Rabbit  (Jefferson Airplane)
Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens (Louis Jordan)
Come on-a-my House - version 2 (Rosemary Clooney)
Fight For Your Right To Party  (Beastie Boys)
Goldfinger  (James Bond theme)
Godzilla  (Blue Oyster Cult)
Spiderman (TV show theme song)
Breakin' The Law (Judas Priest)
Copacabana  (Barry Manilow)
Calling Doctor Love  (Kiss)


...and also two ORIGINAL compositions:

Chase Me With a Dead Fish  (Miller/Skerry)
Hugo The Dharma Cat  (B. Daniels/B. Gomein)

In the summer of 1998 I left the band to go on a long sabbatical out west. When I returned, I joined Darryl's Buddy Love Combo before moving out to Seattle. Swank Motel continued on for a while after I quit with a new guitar player named Danny White, before finally breaking up in 1999.   I went to see them play one time before I left town, and I can tell you it was still a (you guessed it) SWANKY good time. Today Jessica Skerry-Horvat plays in the band Lounge Kitty. If you like any of this music, then Tom Miller's Music Clog recommends you check out Lounge Kitty's web page and go see them play the next time you are Cleveland.
So that's it folks...and remember, whatever you do, DON'T go changing!! (unless it's for the better, of course)

Tom Miller - More Solo Recordings

STAY IN LOVE (FOR THE SAKE OF LOVE) - I had a dream several weeks ago that the Ramones were still alive and were jamming with Neil Young and the keyboard player from the Cars. When I woke up, I wrote this song.

SOLID GOLD  Try counting it up now, does it all add up?  Since I'm not rich and famous, I don't have the answer.   I posted this song briefly back in June, then took it down so I could re-mix it.

I'LL FEEL A WHOLE LOT BETTER written by Gene Clark and originally performed by the Byrds. Gene might roll in his grave if he heard this, but he is one of my favorite singer/songwriter guys from the 60's/70's. I could never come close to Gene, Roger McGuinn or David Crosby in the vocal department, so I didn't try to. No point to this, just somethin' to do on a rainy day.

Once again, I played all the stuff and did the singing, so don't go blaming anyone else. All songs copyright 2009 by T.A. Miller except "Feel A Whole Lot Better" by Gene Clark.

DOWNLOAD:
Stay In Love (For The Sake of Love)
Solid Gold
I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better

See my older post http://tommillermusic.blogspot.com/2009/06/tom-millers-music-blog.html if you want more Miller recordings.

Coming soon: Swank Motel

The Hemlocks: 1991 - 1994

By the beginning of 1991, Fraser and I were both gone from Starvation Army. I was given an abrupt pink slip; Fraser either quit or was fired, the story varies depending on who you talk to. So while the "new" SA was touring Europe with Green Day, Fraser and I started this project. Originally it was to have been a band, but apparently a classified ad stating, "ex-Starvation Army members looking for musicians" does not cause people to flock to your doorstep.

After 6 months of songwriting and frustration at not finding a bass player and drummer, we were ready to pack it in and call it a day. Fraser made plans to move to Laredo, Texas, of all places. I enrolled full-time at CSU, in an attempt to put my music career dreams in the dust bin where they most likely belonged.

All well and good, except Robert Griffin happened to be putting together a compilation CD right then. I decided we needed to be on it, as a final farewell to the Cleveland music scene. No band? No problem! We went into Mars recording studio armed with an acoustic guitar and a couple of lyric sheets, and recorded four songs. The two below appeared on "Hotel Cleveland, Vol. 3," on Scat Records. The other two songs we recorded, "Little Miss Hell" and "Prince of the Suburbs" seem to have gone missing from my musical library, so unfortunately I can not post them.

Fraser Sims - vocals
Tom Miller - guitar, tambourine

DOWNLOAD:
Heaven (version 1)
Wedding Day (version 1)

That should have been the end of the story, except Fraser moved back to Cleveland in 1993, and against our better judgment, we decided to give it a go one more time. After knocking the rust off our act by playing an acoustic show at the Literary Cafe, we put together the band lineup that is featured below. These 4 songs were recorded in a barn outside of Wooster, Ohio in the dead of winter 1994. It was cold and the owner/engineer was somewhat of a dick, but hey, it was only 10 bucks and hour.

Fraser Sims - lead vocals
Benjamin Daniels - bass
John Paturnak - drums
Tom Miller - guitars, backing vocals

DOWNLOAD:
Wedding Day (version 2)
My Alibi
10 Blocks
Sixes and Sevens

Not long after this, we played a show at the Grog Shop, and not long after that Fraser quit. For better or worse, these songs end up being the last music Mr. Sims has recorded to date. Listening to them now, it's easy to pick up on the sense of frustration in the lyrics: bad relationships, bad break-ups and associations reaching a dead end. Except, of course, reaching a dead end also means turning around and setting a new course. Time to move on. Regrets? Possibly, but does it really matter?

So now it's 2009 and I have decided to pull two more relics out of my closet and dust them off. The songs below are new "remixes." "Heaven (version 2)" is the Mars studio acoustic track; "Perfect Abandon" is a guitar and vocal-only rehearsal tape from 1993. I thought it would be fun to "finish" them by adding the bass and drums that have been missing all these years. Whether they are improved or desecrated is a moot point.

Fraser Sims - lead vocals
Tom Miller - guitars, drums, bass

DOWNLOAD:
Heaven (version 2)
Perfect Abandon

All songs copyright 1991, 1993, 1994 by Miller/Sims except "10 Blocks" which is copyright 1994 by Miller/Sims/Daniels. Thanks to Paul Slava for the image. Flyer by Rebble.