9/20/2013

JOHN FELICE & THE LOWDOWNS - Nothing Pretty


JOHN FELICE & THE LOWDOWNS Nothing Pretty  LP/CD  1988 
Don't Be Telling Me / Ain't We Having Fun / I'll Never Sing That Song Again / Not The One / Perfect Love / Nowadaze Kids / Nothing Pretty / Dreams / Don't Make Me Wait / Can't Play It Safe
Produced by Richard W. Harte.
John Felice & The Lowdowns: John Felice: guitar, vocal / Martin Paul Rowland : bass, vocal / Billy Borgioli : guitar, vocal / Pete Taylor : drums.

John Felice will always be best known as the beer-fueled, hot-wired frontman for Boston proto-punks the Real Kids, but that band's work didn't represent the full range of his musical abilities, and in 1987, with the Kids temporarily on the rocks, Felice offered fans another look at himself with his short-lived solo project, John Felice & the Lowdowns. With the Lowdowns, Felice wrote tough but thoughtful songs about broken hearts, busted lives, and the dark side of life in rock & roll, and he put ten of them on wax with the album Nothing Pretty. But for an album that dealt so strongly with lives gone wrong, it was sadly appropriate that the album died before it ever had a chance -- it was released by Ace of Hearts the same day their distributor went bankrupt, which prevented nearly the entire press run from ever reaching stores. It's a shame that it has taken 16 years for the album to finally get a proper release in the United States (thanks to longtime Real Kids boosters Norton Records), but a listen to the disc proves it was worth the wait -- conjuring up a stripped-down ghost of the Rolling Stones with its lean, guitar-based sound (built around the intertwined guitars of Felice and fellow Real Kid Billy Borgioli), "Nothing Pretty" is a superb piece of street-smart, no-frills rock & roll, and Felice has never shone brighter as a songwriter, especially on the bitter junkie's lament "Ain't We Having Fun," the post-breakup kiss-off "Not the One," and the heartbreaking "I'll Never Sing That Song Again," a sad but unsentimental look at a rocker nearing the end of his creative road. In his liner notes for the reissue, Felice says, "I am still more proud of this work than anything I have ever done," and it's not hard to see why -- on "Nothing Pretty", he dug deep into his heart and soul and came up with a minor masterpiece, and while it may have slipped though the cracks before, there's no reason for anyone who cares about smart but hard-edged rock to pass it by this time. Source


Entre Real Kids, Taxi Boys, Primevals, Devotions puis Real Kids à nouveau, voici venir, en 1987, dans la chaotique "carrière"  de John Felice, les Lowdowns ! En fait un album solo de John Felice épaulé par la guitare de Billy Borgioli. Un lp qui reçut de bien mauvaises critiques!
Etait-ce le son ? La noiceur des textes ? Ou l'époque qui commençait à sérieusement merder ?
Il y avait pourtant toujours "...haut perchée, avec juste ce qu’il faut de fêlure, l’incroyable voix de Felice." , comme le disait si bien Monique Sabatier dans le N° 25 de Nineteen,  biblique fanzine des 80's !
Comble de malchance le distributeur de l'historique label Bostonien Ace Of Hearts fit faillite juste avant la sortie prévue de l'album ! New Rose sauvera les meubles et sortira "Nothing Pretty" en France mais les compatriotes de John Felice durent attendre que Norton s'y colle en 2004!
Il va falloir réévaluer ce disque car il contient de grandes chansons: John Felice n'en a jamais écrit une seule mauvaise !


BUY IT HERE or HERE !

14 commentaires:

Unknown a dit…

Ça ne marche pas.

MIDNIGHT RAMBLER a dit…

Je viens juste d'essayer !
A 22H 02 ,le 9 novembre 2007 le lien fonctionne !
Sans doute oublies-tu quelque chose dans ton copier/coller !

Anonyme a dit…

J'ai dans ma collection le 33t original, dj promo, car j'ai été un fan des real kids.
Je me suis renseigné sur ce disque et peut vous dire qu'il n'a pas marché car la promo n'a pas suivi. Le jour de la sortie du disque, la maison de disque faisait faillite, ce qui n'aide pas, mais pas du tout à une bonne distribution.

Emile - Petit-Lancy

Gyro1966 a dit…

thanks- cool blog.

MIDNIGHT RAMBLER a dit…

Merci pour les commentaires et les infos !

Anonyme a dit…

Moi, je trouve que 'nothing pretty' est la meilleure chanson jamais sortie par Felice.

Et ce blog est dément.

jes a dit…

""Le jour de la sortie du disque, la maison de disque faisait faillite, ce qui n'aide pas, mais pas du tout à une bonne distribution.""
????
Ni New Rose, ni Ace of Hearts n'ont fait faillite en 1988, année de sortie de ce disque

MIDNIGHT RAMBLER a dit…

JOHN FELICE & THE LOWDOWNS: "Nothing Pretty" cd/lp 1988 reissue 2004


"Norton released the great lost John Felice album in 2004! NOTHING PRETTY, originally on local Boston label Ace of Hearts, went virtually unnoticed on its release in 1987, as all copies of the LP were tied up in a distribution bankruptcy nightmare. This newly re-mastered version finds ex-Real Kid John Felice and his new band (the Lowdowns also featured another former Real Kid Billy Borgioli on guitar) on ten soul baring original tunes with a strong Stonesy feel. An essential addendum for any Real Kids fan!"

Anonyme a dit…

encore une perle de Mr MR

Mr MR yellow mark !!!!!

10000 BRAVO & MERCI

jeffen a dit…

Another winner, MR.
Merci!

Anonyme a dit…

the real winner !!!

Mr MR for sure

the great Mr MR


putain trop fort ce gars
probablement un auvergnat; non ????

Anonyme a dit…

blog d aimant !!!!

DEE DEE a dit…

Parfait, comme d'habitude! Merci M. Rambler

lord jim a dit…

bonjour je n arrive pas a ouvrir le fichier,,,,ya un qui s affiche ___il est possible que la lecteur-Windows media- ne prenne pas en charge ce type de fichier pouvez vous m aider je vous remercie