Take your pick of spellings, 77s, 77's, Seventy Sevens, it all adds up to the same thing. One of the greatest bands you've probably never heard before. Or if you have, one of the greatest bands in your collection, and one you guard jealously. Unless you're one of those people who bought multiple copies knowing that one day collectors would shell out for your little treasures, thus enabling people like me (losers) to finally get what you had all along.

First off let me state that in the early days I had ample opportunity to pick up all of their stuff when it was new, but for some reason I never elected to buy anything. Fast forward couple of decades and behold the 77s are still clicking along as a power trio still anchored by the angst of frontman Michael Roe.

I caught the bug in 2002, and have been making up for lost time.

1 2 3 (©1995 VIA Records)

VIA Records re-issued the first three 77's albums in a box set conveniently titled 1 2 3. This is the same little label that released Mike's Safe as Milk. It should have been a great year, but alas, the poor bastard just can't buy a break. VIA went tits up faster than big bird could say Aloysius Snuffleupagus, and when they went down they took their stuff with them.

However at least a few of these treasures floated to the surface before going to Davy Jone's locker. And VIA did it right too. The albums sound crisp, and many of the songs are surprisingly fresh (some are still completely cheesy). The accompanying booklet is great, and the number of bonus cuts with each disc makes these highly sought after. Make no mistake these are collector's items. I should know, a couple years ago these little gems put me back more than I can admit to in print for fear of my wife killing me.

So let's take a look inside and see what we have … in the immortal words of Lawrence Welk, "ah one, ah two …"

Ping Pong Over The Abyss (©1982)

1: A Different Kind Of Light 2: How Can You Love 3: It's So Sad 4: Falling Down A Hole 5: Someone New 6: Renaissance Man 7: Ping Pong Over The Abyss 8: Time Is Slipping Away 9: Denomination Blues (That's All) 10: A Different Kind Of Light [Live] 11: How Can You Love [4-Track Demo] 12: It's So Sad [Live] 13: Falling Down A Hole [Live] 14: Ping Pong Over The Abyss [4-Track Demo] 15: Denomination Blues (That's All) [Live]

I remember hearing some of this way back in the early 80's and thought it was cool, but never got around to buying it. Listening to it now coming up on 25 years later, many of the songs have enough new wave nostalgic charm to make some them seem quaint but nothing special.

When I first played this CD, I was shaking my head and wondering what the fuss was all about. I'd suffered through their brutal Talking Heads infused "It's So Sad" and the Led Zeppelinesque title track where I'm pretty sure Mike wore his really really really tight pants to assist him in hitting the high notes. The songs were all over the map. New wave, rock, pop - and everyone was stepping behind the microphone, except for Jan, but I'd bet you a quarter he wanted to. Nothing against the two Marks, but it doesn't do much for musical consistency having almost as many lead singers as The Alan Parsons Project.

In fact I'd write most of this off as nothing more than a time capsule, if it wasn't for "Time is Slipping Away" and "Denomination Blues (that's all)" - these two songs have the time quality classic pop songs have. This is the stuff fans of the 77's "pretty pop songs" would come to love.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad album - it's just that I'm looking through the other end of the telescope - what the hell am I trying to say? Right. This was a debut, and for the times it was pushing a lot of buttons, and was slippery enough to avoid easy labelling. But it didn't make it easy to like at the time either.

The CD version, contains a half dozen extras, which are pretty cool. The live versions sound great particularly "Denomination Blues" and show a band that can really cut it up in front of an audience.

Reviewed December 13, 2005

All Fall Down (©1984)

1: Caught In An Unguarded Moment 2: Someone New 3: Something's Holding On 4: Your Pretty Baby 5: Another Nail 6: Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba 7: Under The Heat 8: Mercy Mercy 9: You Don't Scare Me 10: Make A Difference Tonight 11: Locked Inside This Moment (Ballad Version) 12: Locked Inside This Moment (Rock Version) 13: Someone New (12" Version) 14 - 84: Filler 85: Jesus 86 - 87: Filler 88: Filler 89: Tattoo 90 - 91: Filler 92: Sketch

All Fall Down is a marked improvement over their debut. By 1984 the European influence on North American pop was starting to show, and there are a number of songs here that have some of that vintage 80's sound. "Mercy Mercy" seems a little out of character on the album, but of all the songs on the album this one hinted most broadly at the noisy elements the band would later explore.

Over the years 77's have earned a reputation as a cutting edge band, I'll give them full marks for crafting great songs, but I'm not sure if I'd describe most of what they've done as bleeding edge. They did fuse together a number of pop styles, and depending on your point of view it was either genius, or the guys were trying anything to write a hit. (I lean toward genius). "Under the Heat" finds Mike once again channelling David Byrne, and at first I didn't really care for it, but dang it - this is an infectious song, and it doesn't hurt that the guitar solo absolutely kicks ass.

Here I am over 20 years later still getting off on the 77's. This is a really good album of 80's pop songs. In addition to the stock 10 songs, there are a few bonus tracks. There are two versions of Mark Tootle's "Locked Inside This Moment" one is a syrupy ballad, and the other a pop song. Then some comedic genius thought it would be funny to add around 75 five-second filler tracks before getting to the last couple of bonus tracks "Jesus" "Tatoo" the album closes with a sketch by Charlie Peacock, and Mike. It's kind of funny in an unfunny way. I can see why they added all the filler.

For those purists who had the original album, the CD has side 2 before side 1, and I kind of think it works better this way.

Reviewed December 14, 2005

(©1987)

1: Do It for Love 2: I Can't Get Over It 3: What Was in That Letter 4: Pearls Before Swine 5: The Lust, the Flesh, the Eyes & the Pride of Life 6: Frames Without Photographs 7: Don't Say Goodbye 8: Bottom Line 9: I Could Laugh 10: Do It for Love (demo) 11: I Can't Get Over It (live 8-track demo) 12: What Was in That Letter (live 8-track demo) 13: The Lust, the Flesh, the Eyes & the Pride of Life (live 8-track demo) 14: Frames Without Photographs (live 8-track demo) 15: Don't Say Goodbye (demo) 16: MT (unreleased alternative mix) 17: Don't, This Way (single version)

The Island Record is considered by many fans to be the band's high water mark. It is an album that by all accounts should have broken the band wide open. With their first two albums the guys were building a decent following on college radio, and were getting press in Rolling Stone. Everything was lining up, and the distribution with Island seemed like the ticket. Then U2 released The Joshua Tree right on the heels of Seventy Sevens - and the team at Island made their Sophie's Choice and sent the 77's to the showers.

Is this album really as good as all the hype and bullshit people spout off about what could have been? In a word: YES. I wouldn't go so far as to call this the perfect pop album, but my goodness people, this was just about as good as it got. It still sounds as powerful today nearly 20 years later as must have to the few who managed to snag original copies.

The album would be a classic for the first three songs alone, but like an infomercial, that's not all, there's more! - the hits keep coming - with the eight-minute blues angst of "Pearls Before Swine" a song that shows the band as more than just pretty pop song writers. The second half of the disc opens with "The Lust" a song that has taken on a life of it's own. It features The Byrds Chris Hillman on bass. If the band has a signature song, this is it. "Frames Without Photographs" is another great piece - the band could do no wrong. The album closes with Mike's lament "I Could Laugh" it's a song that doesn't follow the easy convenient two verses and a chorus formula. It's a beautiful poem in seven stanzas.

The CD takes the original and improves upon it eight additional demos and live tracks. Including an alternate mix of "MT" and the single version of "Don't This Way".

The band put it all on the line in an all or nothing gamble, and came up empty. "and you can laugh, and I can laugh, and we can laugh, but it's not funny."

Reviewed December 14, 2005

Sticks And Stones (©1990 Broken)

1: MT 2: Nowhere Else 3: This Is The Way Love Is 4: Perfect Blues 5: Don't, This Way 6: You Walked In The Room 7: The Days To Come 8: The Loop 9: God Sends Quails 10: Love Without Dreams 11: Do It For Love 12: Lust, Flesh, Eyes And The Pride Of Life 13: Pearls Before Swine 14: Bottom Line

Sticks and Stones is a self described collection of unreleased demos, dead dogs, weak sisters and failed experiments. Oddly enough this is one of my favourite albums by the band. Then again, why should you believe anything I say? I think at this point I've said that about every other release by these guys. But this time I mean it. I really mean it. Apparently I'm not alone, as this ranks up there as one of the 77's best selling efforts. Not that one can equate sales with quality. If that was the case I'd like a lot more of the crap that's played on the radio.

It's amazing to me how well the majority of the songs collected here have held up over the years (years and years and years). Sticks and Stones was new to me this year, and I've been listening to it off and on pretty steadily for a few months. There are a number of really amazing songs here. I'm still not enamored with Mike's noisy stuff. I know there's a joke about the 77's being two bands: the pretty pop band, and the atonal noisy band. Well, guess which one I prefer? There are times when the two merge and create magic, such as on "God Sends Quails". But mostly they keep to themselves. This explains why to this day I find nothing especially appealing about "Pearls Before Swine". I have a little more patience for "Perfect Blues", mainly because it's so much fun - except for that weird beep - what the heck was that? "The Loop"? I think I found the failed experiment.

But the pop songs! "MT", "Nowhere Else" (I love this song, the imagery is wonderful), "Don't This Way", "Love Without Dreams", and of course the demo versions of "Do It For Love", and "The Lust" make this a must have album for anyone who likes a great pop song.

Sadly this one, like almost everything else by this criminally overlooked and mostly forgotten band is out of print. They can be found ... at a price.

Sticks and Stones marked the end of the first iteration of the 77's. It would take a couple of years, but the band would regroup and come back better than ever.

Don't believe me? Read on ...

Reviewed May 23, 2004

Eighty Eight (©1991 Brainstorm)

1: Perfect Blues 2: I Can't Get Over It 3: Wild Blue 4: Mary And The Baby Elvis 5: Closer 6: Where It's At 7: The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes & The Pride of Life 8: Over Under Sideways Down 9: Mercy Mercy 10: You Don't Scare Me 11: I Could Laugh

The 77's show that they're one hell of a live act. Recorded live in 1988, the band was coming off the infamous Island album, and the future of the 77's wasn't looking all that great, the result was a full throttle devil may care show packed with the best of the noisy songs.

I'll admit to being more partial to the pretty pop songs, but now and then I'm in the mood for something a little more gutsy. This isn't to say that the band doesn't showcase their softer side here as well - it's just that the album's true highlights come from the loose jams from the discs last three tracks. It makes me wish they'd taken a similar approach with "The Lust" just to see how they'd bend the song into new shape.

I know I said that Sticks and Stones was the end of an era, I suppose that Eighty Eight officially has that honour, but it was recorded years before it saw the light of day. Either way it was the end of one chapter in the career of the 77's.

Reviewed August 21, 2004

The Seventy Sevens (Pray Naked) (©1992 Brainstorm)

1: Woody 2: Smiley Smile 3: Phony Eyes 4: Kites Without Strings 5: Happy Roy 6: Deep End 7: The Rain Kept Falling In Love 8: Holy Hold 9: Look 10: Nuts For You 11: Pray Naked 12: Self-Made Trap

I've had to succumb to the happy seller's ground known to the world at large as ebay to continue my collection (I didn't review these albums in chronilogical order, but I post them that way). This is the infamous Pray Naked album, and shows the band at the height of their formidable prowess. David Leonhardt had joined the band bringing his staccato strat and jangly bits from his Strawmen gig, as well as a couple of songs penned with Bill Harmon (Mark's older brother). Both are among the highlights of this great disc.

There's somethig undeniably addictive to the band's boogie woogie music. There are so many great songs here it's hard to imagine that this didn't break the band wide open, sell millions of records, solve world hunger, and explain why people think Chris Farley is funny (or at the very least provide the question to the ultimate answer). But that didn't happen and this remains a celebrated, but little known chapter in a brilliant career.

This has been referred to as the "mellow" album, and if this is mellow then Bob's my uncle. There are some cookers here, but it's the haunting introspective songs that really cut through and grab you by the short and curlies. This is the first album by the band that grabbed me early and made me go "ooh" and "ah" almost all the way through.

Life is strange, and I wonder sometimes what it would be like if the rest of the world had caught on to rock's little secret.

Reviewed January 6 2004

Drowning With Land in Sight (©1994 Myrrh)

1: Nobody's Fault But Mine 2: Snowblind 3: Snake 4: Indian Winter 5: Film at 11 6: Mezzo 7: Cold Cold Night 8: Dave's Blues 9: Sounds O' Autumn 10: The Jig is Up 11: Alone Together 12: For Crying Out Loud

I'm probably one of the worst kind of fans. I jump on the bandwagon late, and then try and catch up. Case in point. The 77s (77's, Seventy Sevens - take your pick, I'm sure one of them is correct). Anyway here's one of the band's last "big" releases. Myrrh is a pretty big label, and I'm sure they had a lot of fun trying to figure out what to do with these guys. They're artists, and you know how people love artists.

My first couple of listens through this one were uneventful. Some of the songs jumped out right away, but it took a couple times around for the rest to sink in. I'm not a major Led Zep fan so their killer version of Nobody's Fault But Mine didn't exactly set my shorts on fire (good thing, not a great location for a fire). The whole thing was noisy, brash, and irritating. All of the essential ingredients in a classic album that will stand the test of time.

The band still had Dave Leonhardt, and the amazing Aaron Smith (he's a hell of a pounder). When the songs started to emerge like one of those weird 3D pictures that were so popular in the mid 90's it was like a mini epiphany. You could almost hear me going "oooh" and "ah" as I started to get it. I like the noisy stuff just fine, but songs like "Film at 11", "Cold Cold Night", and "For Crying Out Loud" are freaking brilliant. The instrumental "Mezzo" is wicked too. Hell, (I meant to say heck. Ah shit, ack, I mean shoot, I'm going to offend Mike and the boys should they ever read this, not to mention my mom) even "Nobody's Fault" strikes a great chord. The moo moo line on Dave's Blues kills me, where did that come from?

Oh yeah I wouldn't want to forget "The Jig is Up", and "Alone Together" - they're great too.

So here we have a band who challenges the listener both lyrically and musically, and what happens? They keep going but their audience keeps getting smaller and smaller in direct proportion to their distribution deals. What is wrong with this picture? These guys should be on magazines across the country, lounging around pool side drinking dealcoholized beer (mmm for the taste) and writing more great tunes instead of struggling along making about as much as the chief fry guy at some burger joint.

Where's the justice?

Clunk (the sound of me falling off of my high horse).

The 77's ladies and gentlemen - quite possibly one the best bands on the planet.

Really.

Reviewed August 17, 2003

Tom Tom Blues (©1995 Brainstorm)

Rocks In Your Head / Honestly / You Still Love Me / Outskirts / Flowers In The Sand / Don't Leave Me Long / Gravy Chain / Five In The Nave / Earache / Deliverance

Now this is an album I’ve been listening to for months off an on, and have tried on more than one occasion to jot my thoughts down. Initially I thought it was okay, but it didn’t really grab my attention (hmm, that sounds kind of familiar...). But there was something about it that kept me coming back to it - over and over again. This is like a great-layered onion, or if you prefer a nice parfait (gotta quit watching movies with the kids) - every time is a little different to the taste (the parfait, not the onion).

This isn’t a pretty pop record, it’s rough and raw and is a screamin’ wicked fest for the ears (um, I think that means good). I think I’ve mentioned before that I don’t have a lot of 77s baggage from their earlier efforts so I can’t do much other than let this stand on it’s own merits. Mike Roe is perhaps one of the greatest working man’s guitar players around. He plays with an energy and emotion a lot of today’s slingers only hope to attain.

The only fly in the ointment is the aptly named "Earache", which is brutally unlistenable (noisy noisy noisy), and is preceded by "Five in the Nave" which is a precursor to the horribleness to follow - I think the guys did it on purpose - and truly enjoyed themselves at the expense of the listener.

Reviewed April 2003

Ep (©1999 Millenium 8)

1: The Years Go Down 2: Sevens 3: Unbalanced 4: Blue Sky 5: The Best I Have

Wow. And again I say unto thee, wow.

Yeah, it's short, but the title kind of gives that away. This is a great album for all that. I know that Mike, Bruce, and Mark like noise and seem to relish in creating atonal dissonance, but here they thankfully keep themselves on the straight and narrow road. The results are five very strong songs that stack up better than most of the crap I've had the pleasure of hearing lately (referring to rock radio here, well that and the neighbor's kid's stuff that's blaring across the street).

"Sevens" is brilliant. I'd have to rank it with the best 77's stuff I've ever heard. Then there's Mark's infectious bass line on "Unbalanced". Wicked. As I said, all the songs here are definite keepers. These guys have only gotten better with age.

Haven't heard of these guys? What's wrong with you? Check 'em out and be enlightened.

Reviewed August 18, 2003

Late (©2000 Fools of the World)

1: Unbalanced 2: Sevens 3: The Years Go Down 4: The Best I Have 5: Blue Sky 6: Related (Unreleased Jacked Version) 7: Mr. Magoo (Alternate Mix) 8: Flowers In The Sand (Alternate Mix) 9: Outskirts (Alternate Mix) 10: You Still Love Me (Alternate Mix) 11: Honey Run (Instrumental Mix) 12: Shotgun Angel 13: Go With God But Go (Live / Unreleased) 14: Perfect Blues (Live / Unreleased) 15: Dave's Blues (Live / Unreleased) 16: Denomination Blues (Live / Unreleased)

Late is a wonderful mishmash of previously released songs with alternate mixes, with four previously unreleased live songs. If you have their e.p. and the radio active singles and field of crows, you may be asking “Why should I buy this?” To which I reply, “Why? Why? Why not! What the hell kind of fan are you?” Of course if you’ve always wanted to get something from these guys, get this one. BUY BUY BUY.

You can read about my gushing on the first five songs by looking at the e.p. review – you want cool check out the bass run on "Unbalanced" - wicked. What’s great are the alternate remixes. Some of them are pretty close to the original, and there are some that offer a slightly different view. The instrumental version of "Honey Run" is great. Their plodding version (I'd think my CD player was playing at 16 instead of 33, but thems records, not this new fangled digital stuff, CDs spin real fast!) of "Shotgun Angel" is slowly growing on me.

The live songs are fantastic, and really showcase the talent of the band. Go with "God but Go" evokes images of Simon and Garfunkle doing an updated version of "The Boxer".

Reviewed July 18, 2003

A Golden Field Of Radioactive Crows - Radioactive Singles (©2000 Fools of the World)

1: Related (Radio Mix) 2: Mr. Magoo 3: Related (Jacked Mix) 4: [Dialogue] 5: Tattoo (Live) 6: Shotgun Angel (Cowboy Mix)

A tease for the upcoming release. Of course being the back assward kind of guy I am I bought this after getting the full album. So I'm not going to go too much into the stuff here as you can skip ahead and read the review below which will no doubt be as uninformative as this one.

"Related" is an okay song, and over time has grown on me. Which is a good thing since there are two versions here, and another on the full release. This also includes the cover of DA's "Shotgun Angel", which is actually pretty good once you get past the overly slow pace of the song. Of course there's a live track here, which is cool since the 77's are a hell of a rock band live.

There's also a little blurb where Mike talks about the band.

Like the man says, wanna know what all this stuff sounds like and what it all means, buy the record for yourself.

Reviewed August 18, 2003

A Golden Field Of Radioactive Crows (©2001 Fools of the World)

Tracks: Genuine / Down From You / U R Trippin' / One More Time / Rise / Leaving / Mr. Magoo / Related / I've Got / There Forever / Mean Green Season / Begin

Wicked.

I will admit that I wasn't sure about this one the first couple of listens. It was good, but it didn't really grab me (notice a theme here or what?). What it needed was some attention - the world has enough paint by numbers simple pop artists out there who don't have anything to say - 77s are craftsmen, so it deserved a proper listen or thirty.

So I put it on the CD player in my room. The one that plays when I get up, and the one that plays while I read in bed. It's the one that plays when I fold laundry. Basically whatever is one upstairs gets played - a lot. This one stayed on upstairs for over a month.

Unlike my first exposure to the band with Direct, this is a rock and roll record, and the three boys are an amazing trio (new member Scott Reams who appeared on the radioactive singles disappeared as mysteriously as he appeared). This is not just Mike Roe restickered. I'm hard pressed to pick the standouts as they work together so well. "Mr. Magoo" is an obvious best track since it's the most commercially appealing (did I say that?) but the rest of the tracks are great.

They put a great deal of effort into all aspects of this one. The production is great, and the packaging (yes people still pay attention to the package - MP3s are okay, but I don't raid the internet - I want it all) is first notch.

It's a bloody shame that these guys have been relegated to the small market indie arena. I know that they had their shot at the brass ring in the 80's, but shoot, these guys are really good.

Plug: Curious about what the fuss is about check out their site and what they have at MP3.com (okay, once upon a time that would have worked, but long gone now - they sold out and went mainstream - bastards).

Reviewed January 2, 2003

Happy Chrimbo! (©2001 Fools of the World)

1: Run Rudolph Run 2: Blue Christmas 3: Winter Wonderland 4: I'll Be Home For Christmas 5: What Child Is This? 6: Hark The Herald Angels Sing 7: Silent Night

This was a limited fan club release originally, and a while back their webstore made this available to the great unwashed. Being a dirty bird, I snatched this up as quickly as I could.

I got it in the summer, and Christmas came early to my house. I have no idea why this isn't made available every Christmas to give people a chance to experience Christmas 77s style.

Although clocking in under 25 minutes, this is a joyous little collection of carols, and old classics. The songs run from Mike's love of rockabilly on "Run Rudolph Run" which pays homage to the great Chuck Berry, to a brilliant melancholy version of "Blue Christmas" which I'd bet you fifty bucks would be a big hit if it ever got a decent push. The boys even sample some classic Crosby on their version of "I'll Be Home for Christmas". On "What Child is This" Mike even manages to make his singing of the word "ass" sound holy (hole e? - I better not go there, this is a Christmas album!)Fittingly (is that a word?) the album closes with a gentle version of "Silent Night".

This is a remarkable little Christmas album both sonically and in terms of performance. It is totally work seeking out, this isn't an after thought in the 77's catalog it's one of the their gifts to us.

Happy Chrimbo indeed!

Reviewed December 31, 2005

Direct (©2002 Fools of the World)

Tracks: Born on Separate Days / Perfect / Roesbud / Dig My Heels / Lifeline / Take Your Mind Off It

Okay here we go.

I've finally picked something up by 77s. Dang if I don't start with a short little fart. Clocking in at 25 minutes it's more a teaser than an album. Since I don't have any past baggage in terms of comparison to their old stuff, I can only let it stand on its own. It's very good (see how things work backwards? This was the first review and I liked it right away). I've got three of Mike's solo records, and this is in a similar vein (duh) which is great. He sounds more like Mike on this one, rather than the chameleon he turns into when he's noodling around on his own stuff.

I think I'm going to have to dig out my credit card and put it through more abuse (oh my aching wallet).

With only six songs you don't really expect me to pick out a best pick do you? You can start at the beginning and work through it like I did, although I will say that "Lifeline" is wonderful, and so is "Take Your Mind Off It" with its Garciaisms. Oh, and "Roesbud" (ar ar nice pun Mike) is cool. Wait a sec, "Perfect" and "Born on Separate Days" are solid, then again so is "Dig My Heels".

Reviewed November 23, 2002

Ninety Nine (©2007 Lo-Fidelity)

1: Blue Sky 2: Flowers in the Sand 3: Outskirts 4: The Boat Ashore 5: The Stellazine Prophecy 6: The Best I Have 7: Blood and Roses / Pearls Before Swine 8: Snowblind

When the lads unleashed '88 in '91 it captured a band in transition. They had just come off the Island album that in the words of Agent 86 "Missed it by that much", and the guys were kicking ass and taking names. It was raw, furious, and hungry. The future was still ahead of the band, and they were making a grab for the brass ring.

Here we have the bookend '99 in '07 that captures a band that still has a few miles left, but are going it alone on their own label. This performance captures the long term core of the band: Mike Roe on guitar, Mark Harmon on bass, and Bruce Spencer on drums. At this point Scott Reams was a member, but by the time Late came out in 2000, he had moved on.

The album was recorded by Steve Griffith, and the album was restored and mastered by Scott Reams. Heck, even Jeff Elbel assisted with some of the pre-production. I can only guess at the state of the master tapes prior to Jeff and Scott working their magic on them was. Whatever they did, it was worked. This is a decent sounding recording. If I was a betting man, I'd have to assume that this was not intended to be a live album, as the crowd noise is pretty hard to hear - which leads me to believe that all we're able to hear is what the stage mics picked up.

What I like about this, is that the except for "Blood and Roses / Pearls Before Swine" all of the songs were from 1994 and later. "Blue Sky" and "Best I Had" were new songs. Hell, er I mean heck - even "Stella" a song I normally do not like at all, have an energy and freshness to it, that I am able to appreciate. Like its predecessor the band is at the top of it's game, but there's a maturity to the performance. The guys are playing music, and you can tell they're happy to still be doing what they love to do.

The 77's will never be the next big thing. They are however the next best thing to a big thing - and that's being a band that has weathered more than a few storms, and has a core audience that knows a good thing when they hear it.

Reviewed February 29, 2008

For Lyrics, Send $2.00 and a S.A.S.E. to ... (©2004 Negative Fruit)

1: Dave's Blue 2: Someone New 3: U U U U 4: Sunshine Down 5: Lutheran Hymn 6: MT 7: Till Jesu Comes 8: Leaving 9: Snake (cold hearted mix) 10: Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba 11: I Can't Get Over It 12: The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes and the Pride of Life 13: Hold Dearly To Me 14: Ao seu lado (Nowhere Else) 15: This is the Way Love Is 16: Smokescreen 17: Cry Out Loud 18: Closer 19: Tattoo 20: It's For You

BigDork (real name disguised, which is disturbing considering he's really quite proud of being called a Dork. Ask him about his collection of colour coded pocket protectors) is making quite a name for himself in the indie arena. This is the third "fan"oriented tribute album the man has helmed, and he has puts together a quality package (music will be discussed later). He's really outdone himself this time around - the cover art is great (way to go littleDork). The criteria for appearing on the tribute was pretty simple. Claim a song, record a song, submit a song. As you can appreciate, submissions run the gamut from outstanding to, er, ah - insitting. But that's what makes a fan tribute so appealing. Besides, does anyone really give a rat's bottom what I think anyway?

I confess I have a song here, which more or less strengthens the "If I can do it, you can do it" nature of the project. You may be asking, "Okay wise acres, I'm a fan of the band, should I get this?"

Short answer: Yes.

Longer answer ... maybe.

It all depends on how deep your appreciation for refrigerator art goes. If nothing less than perfect will do, then stay away, because there are moments here that would fit nicely on the American Idol auditions bloopers soundtrack (what kind of name is Bano for a band? With a name like that the band must be able to take a lot of crap). But if you can look past that to the heart of what is being done, then you're the same type of person who appreciates it when your cat brings in a dead bird for your approval. In other words you're more than ready for a fan tribute for this most tribute worthy band.

There is a lot of charm here. In fact if you're a fan, this album is like having one of those "family" concerts where everybody regardless of ability shows off just because it's fun, and there's no harm in being goofy with your relatives. As I sit here writing this my three year old daughter held up the jewel case and pointed to the cartoon of Mike playing the guitar and proclaimed, "This is the bestest funny guy dad." Which just about sums it up.

If you're curious take a chance, after all there are enough honest to goodness moment here's to make this worthwhile.

Reviewed September 25, 2004

More information visit the BigDork site.

(This review is based on a preview copy I received prior to the full release.)