Here’s an odd little video. A one-camera performance of “Godless” from back in the day shot by Launch and included on a cd-rom, or something? It could have been filmed in July of 2000, or October of 2000, or… November of 2000? I’ve never seen it. But then again, I don’t see most things.
GOTHMAN
For months after completing Thirteen Tales we all had copies of the album. I had listened to my copy roughly 4000 times when one day I was riding in a car that had one of those CD players that automatically started the disc over again after the last song. The last song on the record was “Nietzsche.” It turned itself around to the first song on the album which, for the first 4000 times I listened to it, was “Country Leaver.”
“Country Leaver” to me sounded really great right after “Nietzsche.” I started thinking of how it would work if it was moved to song two but “Solid” didn’t seem right directly after it. Then I thought maybe it would work if the record just started with the “trippy ending” songs at the top then “Nietzsche” would be third and “Country Leaver” would be fourth and so on. This was before iTunes and laptops and iPods so I had to go back to the car stereo and start the record at “Godless” to see how it felt.
It was amazing. That “Godless” intro right at the top into “Mohammed” just seemed perfect. Then “Country Leaver” sort of worked as a wake up call with its rooster sort of waking you from the stoned haze of the first three songs. Magically, “The Gospel” ends up last when you do this creating a perfect ending to what I believe is a perfect record.
BRENT DEBOER
Hey there, Dandy Girl/Boy. Is there something you have always wanted to know about Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia from Mister Courtney Taylor-Taylor but you can’t just call him up on the phone becuase he’s literally a stranger? Questions like “how did 13 Tales get its name,” or “did you think “Bohemian Like You” would buy you a big house?” That sort of thing. Or whatever you want. Who’s gonna stop you? Post your questions here, on our Facebook, or tweet @TheDandyWarhols with the tag #AskCTT all this weekend, and he’ll will answer the best ones via video presentations next week.
Have a safe weekend!
GOTHMAN
Yesterday we took a look at The Dandy Warhols on Conan O’Brien. Today we track back to Friday, November 3, 2000 (Peter’s birthday) for CBS’s Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn. Not too bad for a band who just got off a plane from Australia.
GOTHMAN
On November 30, 2000, The Dandy Warhols took time out from the third North American tour of the year to fly from Saskatchewan to New York City to make the first of two appearances on NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien. It was their second national network appearance in a month, coming after the band played CBS’s The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (remember??) on November 3rd [VIDEO LOST TO THE AGES??]
The Dandys would return to Late Night in 2003 for one of the most memorable evenings in Dandy Warhol lore.
UPDATE: Friend JS Martin on “The Facebook dot com” found the Kilborn video almost immediately, we’ll show it to ya tomorrow.
GOTHMAN
We’ve got a story coming up from Fathead about the song order of Thirteen Tales and how it got that way. Would it surprise you that at one time, “Country Leaver” was to open the record? It does, but it doesn’t really. I mean, it’s a great song. It’s one of my favorites. I never ever ask Courtney what his songs are about, because it should be open to your own interpretation (I guess), but I can guess what’s going on here. I feel like I’ve been in this situation way too many times in my life, on a plane armed only with dumb blind faith.
(This video is from The Alternate Side in New York.)
GOTHMAN
To kick off their big Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia tour, The Dandy Warhols have scheduled a special preview show on the Oregon coast Saturday, May 18th at the San Dune Pub in Manzanita.
TICKETS:
30 Premium tickets ($80.00)
Premium ticket includes:
– Round-trip school-bus ride to the coast with The Dandy Warhols, with tour guide Tres Shannon (Voodoo Doughnut, X-Ray Cafe).
– Stop-off in Tillamook for an exclusive Dandys mini-performance.
– Ticket to show at San Dune Pub (21+)
– Discounted rate on a room at the Sunset Surf Motel in Manzanita. (Upon purchase, ticket holder will receive a secret discount code that they will use when booking their room.)
80 Show-Only tickets ($25.00)
Show-only ticket includes:
-Ticket to show at San Dune Pub (21+)
Premium and Show tickets are available NOW at cascadetickets.com while supplies last.
GOTHMAN
I had a 1966 Cadillac Sedan Deville that I had bought just a little after we released Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia. It was huge. One of the longest cars ever made. 19 feet 8 inches if I remember right. It fit eight people easily. It had five ash trays. It was the most perfect car I ever owned.
For the Horse Pills video we decided to pile eight people into the car and basically have a raging party while I drove down I-5 and 405 in a circle around Portland. We turned the camera on and just passed it around the car taking turns filming. Looking back I’m thinking it might have been a bit dangerous but we were young and carefree. The video is a document of one of the best periods of my life. To me it works as an extension to the video for Bohemian Like You that was mainly filmed in my Rock Dorm apartment and my two favourite neighbourhood bars featuring most of my favourite people. It feels like one of those nights when we would all leave Slabtown and pile into my Caddy and head across town. It’s a great low budget DIY video that just works.
BRENT DEBOER
One thing that popular movies get wrong about bands recording an album is that the whole band sits in a recording studio in a circle and just plays “the songs” live. Nah, man. That may have been the case in Little Richard’s time, but for well over 40 years, songs – and albums – have been assembled like a puzzle, with the only real guide the original intent of the songwriter (via his/her demo recording) and the intuition of the producers and recording engineers. The only real limitation is time. While this process can result in legendary recordings (like our own Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia), when it comes to playing the songs live, you kinda have to reverse engineer your parts.
Part of Zia’s process in learning her parts for live performance is what you see here. Zia makes these notes for herself during the initial rehearsal sessions whenever the Dandys venture forth on performing new material. She doesn’t need keep the notes on hand very long at all, just a few days. Quite frankly, I don’t know how we still have this sitting around the Odditorium, since these notes were obviously transcribed two studios ago. I think we have not thrown anything away, ever.
GOTHMAN
Now Courtney usually eschews discussing what songs “mean,” but in this interview conducted in 2000 with Ink 19, the subject of Nietzsche comes up, and…
Courtney, you’ve had this fascination for Nietzsche, and now you’ve written a song named for him. How was that song inspired?
Courtney: That came straight off the bathroom-stall wall of a private college in Portland. Pete and I roadied for a swing band that was playing there. I couldn’t believe it when I saw that. I was like “Okay, I’ve gotta use that. That’s amazing.” It said “I want a god who stays dead, not just plays dead. Even I can play dead.” And that’s the lyrics to the song.
Read the entire interview, which includes some anecdotes on the recording of Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia, as well as what Saturday morning cartoon Zia thinks the Dandys are most comparable to, by pointing your interweb browser HERE.
GOTHMAN
