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TITLE: SECRET THINGS: External Identities and Melodic Demos!
ARTIST: Viglione, Joe
Label: Varulven Records
Year: 2007
Catalog #VAR CD0050
1)The Violet Dawn (Viglione) 3:52
2)Secret Things (Viglione) 3:19
3)Love Reflection (Viglione) 3:17
4)Love That Feeling (Viglione) 3:07
5)Breaking Through (Viglione) 2:44
6)Can’t Tell Them Who You (Viglione) 3:15
7)External Identities (Viglione) 2:56
8)Thought About You (Viglione) 2:52
9)Everything In Slow Motion (Viglione) 1:58
10)Stretch My Hand Across (Viglione) 3:57
11)Voices In The Night (Viglione) 3:55
12)Lost And Found (Viglione) 2:02
13)The Ballad Of Jo Jo Laine (ViglioneJoe/Miller, Jimmy) 3:50
14)Reflect Love (Viglione) 3:24
15)Transporter (Viglione) 4:44
16)I Want You Sexually/Synth (Viglione) 3:57
17)Secret Things (original) (Viglione) 3:29
18)Love That Feeling (demo) (Viglione) 3:07
19)Reflecting On You (Viglione) 1:35
20)I Come Alive At Night (Viglione) 9:24
21)Suky’s Revenge (Viglione) 2:43
22)Can’t Tell Them (Demo) (Viglione) 2:43
23)Violet Dawn (Demo) (Viglione) 3:23
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Credits:
Jay Couper – Production, Engineering, Drums
Scott Couper – Guitar, Keyboards, arranging
Eric Brown – Guitar
Manuel Smith – Keyboards
Joe Viglione – vocals, guitar, piano, production
Ken Selcer – Editing, pre-mastering
Graphic Design, Album Cover concept: Joe Viglione
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SECRET THINGS
External Identities & Melodic Demos!
By Joe Viglione
Liner notes by the artist
While I lived at 30 Dragon Court in Woburn from 1979 to 1988 I used to put a simple cassette player on and tape guitar or piano songs when inspiration hit! Jay Couper went through hours of cassettes and – to my surprise – he and his brother Scott created a very credible album in their 8 track demo studio with pieces of songs that were works in progress. Some of the material was written for previous albums, “Breaking Through” a song that didn’t make it onto “The Intuition Element”, and “Love That Feeling” which was scheduled to be produced by Jimmy Miller but nixed when
“I Want You Sexually” came to be (and when Miller didn’t react positively to “Love That Feeling”). Albums rarely take the shape one initially envisions and this collection of melody and creative thoughts is a tribute to Scott and Jay Couper’s formidable skills as arrangers. They arranged “Secret Things”, “Reflect Love”, and intelligently captured my original intent on avant garde episodes like “Stretch My Hand Across The Universe” or “The Violet Dawn”. With the advent of CD we get 80 minutes to…stretch our music across this universe. If CDs players could write on both sides of the disc we could easily fill it with 160 minutes of this musical work.
I’ve put a few of the actual demos on here for anyone so interested to compare the first demo to the second stage: the 8 track recording. “I Come Alive At Night” we never tackled, the song somehow slipping through the cracks when it could have been a key element of the Count repertoire.
For songs like “Transporter” and “I Want You Sexually”, already professionally recorded, it was a matter of fun, familiar tunes being available to “warm up” when we felt like jamming. “Transporter” is unique on this CD (and the “Life’s Work” compilation) as it contains the extra verse. The song was written 8/18/87 during the Jo Jo Laine sessions at Normandy Sound in Warren Rhode Island. The extra verse “Out in the cosmos, up in the sky so blue” is not on the 24 track version (though with today’s technology I could easily sing it and cut and paste…). Scott & Jay (and
Eric Brown from the “Cat In The Dark” disc) truly understood what this material was musically about.
Lyrically! Well, “The Violet Dawn” borrows from imagery author John Rechy poured into his classic “City Of Night”, which is where Jim Morrison also borrowed for a hook in the song “L.A. Woman”. The works of Mary Baker Eddy are also significant here – “Reflect Love” is one of her terms. You can make your own psychological evaluation on mixing the worlds of Mrs. Eddy and John Rechy into one brew. My job is just to bake the cake.
Instead of making as much new music today, much of the time is spent transferring old masters to digital and putting these albums out to the world with bonus tracks and some kind of commentary. It would have been fun to descend into the cosmos of “Stretch My Hand Across The Universe” and “Violet Dawn”, but it takes funding, which is why each disc is getting its own “sponsorship” sheet to expand the pressing beyond the limitations of an Indy label and Digitial Distribution.
Secret Things gives a glimpse into where we were at during this phase of
my musical career.
Joe Viglione
11:41 PM September 3, 2006----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(C)2007 Joe Viglione/Varulven Records
Boston Rock & Roll Anthology #1 the new releases from Varulven
THE RE-RELEASE OF BOSTON ROCK & ROLL ANTHOLOGY VOL. 1
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wcfexqq0ldheIn 1983 a truck pulled up to the house at 30 Dragon Court. It was a very exciting moment as the cases were unloaded and brought into the kitchen via the side door.
24 years ago the great Producer Jimmy Miller watched as we frantically opened the first box. "What a great idea" he said, "a compilation of Boston music."
The first artists on the first Boston anthology were THE SPORES, produced by
Hirsh Gardner. The lead-off track, "Don't You Worry", was not on their four song e.p. Hirsh crafted a big sound for the band much like Mike Stone and Todd Rundgren got for Gardner's band, New England.
Ava Electris worked with Jon Butcher and the late Jimmy Miller. This track,
I'm Your Motorcycle, was performed - memorably - at the Paradise theater where she had a real motorbike on stage and sang from the revved up engine.
"Dreams In Reverse" was a great song from Joe Viglione's CVB band with Eric Brown.
Future City consisted of Alex Space and his friends.
Joe Mazzarri of THE DAUGHTERS and TWO SAINTS released a great BETTER DAZE and one of Boston's original hardcore bands, PSYCHO, appeared with How Much Longer.
New liner notes and additional tracks will be added to Anthology #1.
1. Don't You Worry The Spores 3:28
2. I'm Your Motorcycle Ave Electra 2:38
3. Dreams in Reverse Count Viglione Band 3:48
4. Contact Future City 4:12
5. Better Daze Joe Mazzari 2:28
6. Poverty Relentless Cookout 2:00
7. Thought Police IC 4 with Lord Manuel 1:55
8. Up and Down IC 4 with Lord Manuel 1:15
9. Sun Worship New Race 4:32
10. Blind Spot Disarray 4:10
11. How Much Longer Psycho 2:13
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