| Issue
#45
Jan. ’03
“I was tuning in the shine of the
light night
dial…”
I don’t listen to the radio much
anymore, except for a couple of shows – One
Sunday evening late in November I tuned in to the "Local Bands" show,
which
originates out of New Haven, CT on WPLR and is hosted by Rick Alison
and James Velvet,
only to have this amazing surf sound jump my ears and awake my senses
– It was TOO
GOOD to stop listening to – I wanted MORE! –
“Who is this?”
It was the Mill Valley Taters.
I had just heard a few tunes from their
newly released double CD “History of
the Mill Valley Taters”
a retrospect chronicling the bands 1992-1999 catalogue which previously
had only been
available on a limited number of self-manufactured cassettes…
Fast Forward to the next Friday –
I’m listening to the only other radio show
I can appreciate; "Franorama" on WPKN, college radio from the
University of
Bridgeport, CT when host Fran Fried begins to play cuts
off…yup… “History
of the Mill Valley Taters” Again
I’m captured, hooked, aroused to
the point of needing more…
A couple of phone calls, an email from a
mutual friend, and a week later I’m
sitting in a local pub listening to The Big Fat Combo.
On bass is former
“Tater” frontman Tom Andrukevich; he passes me
along a copy of the professional
grade self-manufactured double CD, happy to hear I like it, yet
reserved over my
enthusiasm…
On the drive home I couldn’t
believe my ears, there was an amazing amount of music
taking place – it came from everywhere, it went everywhere,
yet, it was all right
here, on these discs – after several detours to extend the
ride and continue my
listening pleasure without breaking the magic, I arrived home popped
the CDs into the
player and proceeded to read the Liner Notes – And
that’s when I fully realized
the significance of what I was hearing. I also realized that I could
never write a review
that could so completely capture the essence of the music, in the same
way the music had
so completely captured me.
There was only one thing to do; I contacted Fran
Fried, entertainment
editor at the New Haven Register, New Haven, CT and the author of the
Liner Notes, I
requested his permission to reproduce them here for you –
word for word –
Permission Granted…
----------------------------------------
They arrived quietly and, years later,
departed the same way.
They were the guys hanging out in the corner
at the party who you didn’t give a
second notice to. Only when they walked to the corner of the room, set
up their gear and
played the bejeezus out of their instruments did you look up and raise
an eyebrow.
I was talking figuratively, but it might as
well have been literally. The Mill Valley
Taters, three unassuming, square-living guys from Fairfield County,
Connecticut, with a
funny name and a funny way of going about things, materialized from
nowhere, made a big
impression on a few, didn’t get too impressed about
themselves, went about their
business and, when they were done, just faded out the door –
and again, no one
noticed.
The reps of Messrs. Andrukevich, Sullivan,
and Neal – Tom, Steve and Chris,
respectively – grew in centimeters over the years, by word of
mouth and by the tapes
they would pass out to friends, fans and small surf zines around the
world. Living in a
land where the waves don’t get over 3 inches, their idea of
surf music bounced off
walls at funny angles. Their instrumentation was two guitars, a bass, a
drum machine (glad
Sandy Nelson didn’t hear this) and, if you were good boys and
girls, a theremin (and
hey, even Brian Wilson didn’t use one of those on his surf
tunes). And while you
could occasionally pick out Dick Dale and The Ventures, there was also
room for Link Wray,
rockabilly, The Mystics, film noir, even Television (the band, fool, as
in “Marquee
Moon”).
And that last name-drop is more than
appropriate, because their music, really, was made
for nocturnal driving more than daytime hanging ten. Taters tunes are
right up there with
Jonathan Richman’s “Roadrunner” for
all-time late-night cranking while
driving fast down some black, barren highway, emptying your skull
– especially when
playing one of their 15-minute-long tapes that repeated on the other
side. Believe me
– I’ve logged more miles and lost more Taters tapes
than I can count over three
vehicles in the last decade. These guys were road warriors and
didn’t even realize
it.
Which is why this new double CD is such a
treat. Not only do I get to hear all these
great instrumental tracks again in pristine form, I just get to have
them all again,
period, in one place for the first time. And many of you will finally
get to just plain
hear them for the first time. And since some of you now have CD decks
in your Ray Bradbury
scarab-beetles, you too, will know the sensation of white-stripe
surfing by the light of
the silvery moon at high decibels some July night. And you will dig
every minute of it.
Just obey posted speed limits, or something like that.
- Fran Fried
2002
--------------------------------------------------
History
of the Mill Valley Taters
Double CD by Mill Valley Taters
is now available for: $13.98 + s/h*
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Handling charges:
USA - $3.00
for the first 2 CDs
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Add $1.50 per each CD after.
Canada - $5.00 for the
first
CD ordered,
Add $2.00 per each CD after.
Everywhere else -$7.00
for the
first CD ordered,
Add $3.00 per each CD after.
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