THE FIRST AND THE LAST - New Race (Total
Energy)
Re-released to capitalize on the recent (relative) orgy of attention to things
Birdman and Detroit (as a result of Birdman's reformation/Australian tour and
the earlier series of U.S. dates Deniz Tek and Ron Asheton played with 
Scott
Morgan's Powertrane), this remains an essential purchase for any Barfly who
still doesn't own it.
Surely one of the greatest live albums of all time (for my money, only the Who's
"Live At Leeds" - RIP, John Alec Entwistle - and the first side of
the MC5's "Kick Out the Jams" come close), this is also the best way
to hear Ron Asheton's guitarissimo post-"Funhouse" (and it's nice
to note how un-deferential young Dr. Tek is to his Ann Arbor friend the ex-Stooge
- their guitars blend nicely and they alternate leads depending upon the demands
of the song, not the player's ego) and probably ex-Five drummer Dennis Thompson's
very finest recorded performance ever.
It's a reminder of just how weird was Radio Birdman's trajectory to remember
that the original occasion for the two-week spring 1981 tour from which these
performances were drawn was the original Australian release of "Living
Eyes," just three years after its recording and the implosion of Birdman
on Eurotour. Deniz Tek had been performing his medical residency in a Detroit
hospital, and was about to head off to U.S. Navy flight school. His wife Angie
Pepper, back in Oz due to a run-in with U.S. Customs, hatched the plan for New
Race in collusion with old friend Rob Younger. Somehow, after all the acrimony
surrounding the Birdman split, Warwick Gilbert was persuaded to participate.
The drum chair was originally offered to Ron's brother Scott, but that ex-Stooge
declined (and would have to wait for the Iceman's "Take It to the Vertical"
tour to see Oz). A few rehearsals, then off in the van...and the pattern for
the next 20 years of Tek musical activity was set.
This reissue replaces Gary Grimshaw's dragstrip cover art from the previous
U.S. CD with the original artwork from the U.K. release, which some will find
preferable. It also excises the Birdman take of "Descent Into the Maelstrom"
which was erroneously included on the earlier U.S. release. While some still
quibble with Younger's having re-recorded his vocals in the studio (and Clyde
Bramley's overdubbed backing voxxx), preferring the "purer" sound
of those bootleg releases on French Revenge, this set stands up well. The repertoire,
drawn from Birdman, the Visitors, the MC5, the Stooges, and Destroy All Monsters
(with one new original), remains classic. Crank it up, hear Ron hit "the
Lick" on "Crying Sun," and remember why we love this music. -
Ken Shimamoto
