TV Show Themes

[carrymehomestead]

Does anybody remember wayyy back in the year 2003 (or was it 04...ah, those were the days) when TLE got picked up to do their own versions of two television show themes for a compilation: Mighty Mouse and Gilligan's Island? I remember Chris describing Gilligan's Island as a sort of "punk sea-shanty", he was pretty excited about it, while by fan request they actually played Mighty Mouse when I saw them at a headlining gig in bumble-fuck upstate NY in the wake of the Aussie Invasion tour. Did these ever surface, or...double you tee eff??

Another pointless tidbit: While most TLE cover choices tend to be fairly logical, considering their penchant for classic rock n' roll (Rip It Up, I Get A Kick Out Of You), I always thought it was unusual and pretty damn cool that they covered The Cure on IFYOG. I remember at that same show in upstate NY, I caught the end of their soundcheck, and they played a real quirky rocker to cap it off. I was asking Chris if it was a new tune, but he said it was a Cure cover they were working on for a new b-side. Unfortunately, at the time, I knew fuck all about The Cure, so I didn't know what song it was...and apparently, never will.

[Colezy]

No, they've never surfaced. I wish they would though.

[carrymehomestead]

So, the compilation was never released? Does anybody know why? Did the record label dissolve? Was there legal troubles, maybe with securing the rights to TV show themes (gotta be expensive)? What was the name of it, anyway?

I can not rest until I know these things.

[Sarah]

I don't think anyone knows. I've been dredging this topic up about every 6 months (and the oldie goldie - Anyone got a copy of Homebake 2000 :p ) and nobody seems to have any answers unfortunately. You're lucky you got to hear one of them!

[carrymehomestead]

Yeah, it was pretty awesomely ridiculous I gotta say...somewhat difficult to decipher, though...one of the main marks of TLE shows, at least in the US where they play tiny punk clubs with a ridiculously loud equipment setup that can probably rock huge venus back home, is that the sound is completely fuzzy, distorted, and overwhelming...awesome. Bit hard to hear Chris' vocals in that environment though, the crowd's are usually devoted enough that they end up chanting every lyric over the chaos...I can't remember a time when someone didn't get on stage at some point and end up grabbing the microphone to rock out and sing along with the band. Sometimes I think I take for granted what we get away with since TLE are virtual unknowns with a cult following over here in America, as compared to Australia where it seems like they're basically an equivalent to Green Day. Can people get on stage at TLE shows in Australia without being mauled instantly by lumbering security guards? Man. Anyway, new songs are hard because you can't really hear what's going on, as opposed to an old song you know well enough to not need clarity. I have rambling issues.
As for the TV themes, I can't imagine i'd be that excited with the songs themselves, it's more for the fact of actually having heard them and owning them, because I'm a pack rat who must experience everything that The Living End ever create/have created.

Homebake 2000 would be pretty sweet to have. For me the ultimate TLE bootleg/rarity (I have no proof that a bootleg of this even exists, but in all logicality SOME kind of recording...even if it's just someone tape recorder or something probably exists) is the 2000 offshore festival performance...TLE played an early version of Silent Victory that contained what later became the chorus of Maitland Street. How fucking cool would that be to hear??

I say it probably exists in some form because I remember on my old computer a random TLE fan from the board sent me a tape recording of a gig from either 98' or 99' that contained a performance of a new song called "Before The Eyes of the Sun"...something I've never heard about before or since. I sometimes wish TLE fans obsessed to the point of Radiohead fans, simply because they have bootlegs or at the very least information about songs the band may have played only once or twice or maybe never even performed for the public.

I remember chatting with Scott at Aussie Invasion about b-sides, and he said since they often end up with 50 or more recorded demos for each album, they have tons of often quality shit just lying around...too many to put on singles and such, and he said they planned on possibly one day releasing it all as a box set, in the twilight of their career...*salivates*

[carrymehomestead]

didn't mean for this post to exist whoops don't smoke weed and post

[Sarah]

Yeah, Offshore would be good too, any recordings a few months before Roll On came out would be awsome. I only want Homebake cos I was there, and it was awsome for a festival show.

I remember talks about Before The Eyes of the Sun, and how all the songs sort of had bits and pieces that made it into album songs and stuff. Maitland Street started way back in the 1999 Riot tour days.

Oh and as far as rarities, I'd really really love a demo of Roll On with the different track listing...but i've never seen one for sale, or anything!

[Infiction]

I feel really slack, I didn't know any of that...

[Sarah]

*gasp* you're so slack!




:p

[The Dying Start]

Wow, an interesting topic for once. Nice detail!

But unfortunately those recordings have never surfaced. Parhaps they'll end up being bSides one day if the original compilation albums they were for have folded.

Anyhoo, the Cure thing isn't really that big a stretch, from the outset TLE we're fighting to escape the Rockabilly thing. Whilst that's where their roots lay, they were always looking for a more diverse sound. The Cure, i think, were a big influence on them if only because it was what was on the radio as they started getting into music. And i can't really let you get away with throwing "I Get A Kick Out Of You" under a rock and roll umbrella. It's a jazz standard for goodness sake! Which was also a big influence on the band, especially Chris. (Who studied Jazz Guitar at TAFE)

[Weston]

I remember Chris describing Gilligan's Island as a sort of "punk sea-shanty"
Oh Lord...I think the only thing cooler than that would be if The Living End did a cover of the Ship to Shore (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAY08pzGSqQ) theme. Anyone remember that?

[Grumma]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbFuW_Jkbg8

the bit where he starts whoopin major arse

[tanguyen]

Oh Lord...I think the only thing cooler than that would be if The Living End did a cover of the Ship to Shore (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAY08pzGSqQ) theme. Anyone remember that?

My mum loved that theme song. The flute/panflute thingo.