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Black Vinyl Shoes by Shoes
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fave it Power Pop | Beatles-pop
15 tracks | 40 minutes
Released Sep 2004
on Black Vinyl Reco
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for a 30-second preview. All tracks are 192kbps high fidelity sound quality. Protected WMA $0.77 or unprotected MP3 $0.88.
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- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 01:57 Boys Don't Lie lyrics BUY MP3 01:57 Boys Don't Lie lyrics "GIFT MP3" 01:57 Boys Don't Lie
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:08 Do You Wanna Get Lucky? lyrics BUY MP3 03:08 Do You Wanna Get Lucky? lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:08 Do You Wanna Get Lucky?
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:44 She'll Disappear lyrics BUY MP3 02:44 She'll Disappear lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:44 She'll Disappear
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:18 Tragedy lyrics BUY MP3 03:18 Tragedy lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:18 Tragedy
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:38 Writing A Postcard lyrics BUY MP3 02:38 Writing A Postcard lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:38 Writing A Postcard
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:24 Not Me lyrics BUY MP3 02:24 Not Me lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:24 Not Me
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 01:49 Someone Finer lyrics BUY MP3 01:49 Someone Finer lyrics "GIFT MP3" 01:49 Someone Finer
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:51 Capital Gain lyrics BUY MP3 02:51 Capital Gain lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:51 Capital Gain
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:40 Fatal lyrics BUY MP3 02:40 Fatal lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:40 Fatal
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:54 Running Start lyrics BUY MP3 02:54 Running Start lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:54 Running Start
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:26 Okay lyrics BUY MP3 02:26 Okay lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:26 Okay
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:52 It Really Hurts lyrics BUY MP3 02:52 It Really Hurts lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:52 It Really Hurts
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:45 Fire For Awhile lyrics BUY MP3 02:45 Fire For Awhile lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:45 Fire For Awhile
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:00 If You'd Stay lyrics BUY MP3 03:00 If You'd Stay lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:00 If You'd Stay
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:45 Nowhere So Fast lyrics BUY MP3 02:45 Nowhere So Fast lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:45 Nowhere So Fast
The 1977, power-pop, grand-daddy of 4-track, home recording.
Editorial review
Most bands start out trying to bang their songs together in someone's living room, but Shoes certainly made more of that experience than most people. Jeff Murphy, Gary Klebe, and John Murphy were three pop obsessives from Zion, IL, who bought a four-track, found a drummer (Skip Meyer), and started putting songs on tape in Murphy's living room with all the care their primitive circumstances would allow. While the results were intended to be used only as a demo, Black Vinyl Shoes eventually attracted the attention of PVC Records, who gave the homemade set a nationwide release; the album's positive press eventually earned the band a major-label deal. Like their contemporaries and kindred spirits the Scruffs, Shoes were one of the few interesting pop bands to emerge in the mid- to late '70s who were very obviously <I>not</I> new wave; Shoes were pop classicists in the manner of the Beatles and the Raspberries, and if their low-tech recording setup dictated a leaner and more basic approach than the Fab Four, the thick guitar lines, smooth backing harmonies, and trickier-than-they-sound melodic structures made it clear their back-to-basic style was a nod to past rock glories as much as a call to jangly arms. But Shoes also had their own set of quirks to bring to the table (again like the Scruffs, Shoes had an unusual perspective on the male/female relationship), and there's an understated, off-kilter wit to songs like "Tragedy," "Do You Wanna Get Lucky?," and "Capital Gains" that's as delicious as the band's rich, satisfying songcraft. Black Vinyl Shoes is an album whose somewhat primitive production actually works in its favor; with 15 tunes to record and only four tracks on hand, Shoes made a record that was about melodies, hooks, and harmonies, and the result was an album that helped kick start the '80s pop revival -- and still sounds fine almost a quarter of a century later. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
Bio / Background
This 1977 power-pop classic was one of the first, D.I.Y., self-released LPs of the home recording age. Recorded in a livingroom on a Teac 3340S, 4-track tape machine it has been refererred to by some in the press by the grandaddy of D.I.Y. home recording. Self-produced, recorded and packaged on the band's own Black Vinyl Records label. The original LP pressing of 1,000 copies have been known to fetch over $200 a piece, if one can be found. The 15 pop gems embodied here have an innocent charm that received rave reviews in the US and abroad and eventually attracted the attention of Elektra Records. It remains a touchstone in the do-it-yourself craze of home recording and holds up well even amid today's digital technology and remains a testament to what can be achieved with good songwriting on a shoestring budget.