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Ear Candy #3
-by Tom Grozan
Ear Candy #3
‘All Things Venice’
-by Tom Grozan
“Venice
is the best vocal group in the country and one of the best groups of any kind
that I’ve ever heard” - David Crosby.
Remember
the So-Cal rock of the mid-seventies? (How can you really forget it, I think
there’s a space in everyone’s brain programmed with Hotel California)
The tight vocals, breezy melodies and laid back sensibilities of groups
such as the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Browne, and Crosby, Stills, &
Nash dominated the airwaves and sales charts of the time. Flash forward twenty
odd years and while those So-Cal rock standard bearers have been going through
numerous reunion tours and rehab stints four brothers/cousins with deep musical
roots have used this classic sound as the foundation to lay upon some of the
most magnificent vocal harmonies ever recorded.
Venice
was formed in the early eighties by two sets of brothers, Kipp and Pat Lennon
and Michael and Mark Lennon who are cousins to one another. Music runs in the
family, as Kipp and Pat are the younger brothers of the Lennon Sisters who
performed on the Lawrence Welk show. What sets apart Venice is their amazing
vocal harmonies. Everyone in the group sings with Kipp and Mark sharing lead
vocals and Michael and Pat singing backgrounds. It’s a sound so tight and
seamless that at its best it’s almost breathtaking.
Venice’s
self-titled debut was released in 1990 on Modern/Atlantic. The group’s
singular talent is evident on a few outstanding tracks but it’s clear that the
record company was pushing them in a harder arena rock direction along the lines
of Foreigner or Journey. Still even on the more generic rockers the groups
soulfulness and vocal arrangements lend the songs a unique identity. The
developing Venice sound can be heard on the soaring ballad “Change in the
Season” and more reserved acoustic numbers “Pushed Her Too Far” and
“People Laugh”. It’s in full bloom on “Hideaway Hill” with the
sweeping angelic dual leads, harmonies and tunefully minimalist backing track.
Unfortunately for them the publics tastes were starting to change from
mainstream to more alternative sounds and despite being their only major label
release this is the groups worst selling album.
After
being dropped by Atlantic the group refined their sound down to it’s bare
essence and put out “Born And Raised” on the small Vanguard label in 1997.
This time the group did things their way producing a more striped down acoustic
sound in which their trademark vocals are pushed to the forefront. Extremely
laid back and easy, “Born And Raised” is what I like to call a creeper. It
grabs you a little more and you hear something new with each listen.
The songs range from beautifully heartfelt and emotional “When I Get
Over You, Starting Here Again” to humorous “For A Kiss” to bittersweet “
Never Coming Back, Bad Timing Song”. “Born And Raised” is the album that
defined Venice as band and as artists.
The
group’s third and most recent album “Spin Art” came out in 1999 and on it
the group successfully interjects some of the energy from their live show into
the songs. “The Man You Think I Am”, “Mary On My Mind”, and “Poor You,
Poor Me, Poor Love” are exuberantly catchy and hook laden. The group is clearly a victim of it’s own low profile
because in the hands of one today’s more popular mainstream groups songs like
“End Of The World”,“So Bad” and “More Of A Miracle” would be huge
hits.
While
the group’s musical progress is charted on their albums the personality of the
shines through on their website www.venicecentral.com. This is far and away the
best band related website I have ever seen. It’s like a super packed special
edition DVD that’s constantly updated. In addition to the usual band news,
tour dates, and FAQ’s you get painstakingly exhaustive audio and video
sections with hundreds of downloadable clips and songs. The most fun and special
feature is the spinning V box’s that are generously scattered throughout the
website. Clicking on these provides commentary by the band regarding the
particular subject you’re viewing. Like a directors commentary on a DVD this
provides cool insight and behind the scenes dirt no normally afforded fans.
The
audio section of the website not only provides generously long song samples from
all of the groups albums it also serves up dozens of early demos of songs,
bootlegs of cover songs, interviews, full concerts, radio appearances,
commercials, even the groups freakin’ answering machine messages. The cover
songs are a real treat. Besides being great singers these guys are also
excellent mimics. Their versions of Bowie’s “Young Americans” and Bob
Marley’s (Could You Be Loved) are so spot on it’s scary. Plus, anyone who
can successfully mix Steven Still’s “Love The One You’re With”,
Zepplin’s “Kashmir”, and the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” is
brilliant. It’s also interesting
to see some of the other media things these guys have been involved with.
They’ve done a bunch of songs for the Simpson’s including the Cheer’s
parody “Flaming Moe’s” and the faux Michael Jackson “Happy Birthday
Lisa”. They’re also responsible for hundreds of commercial jingles, one of
the more famous being the Coors Light “It’s the right beer now”.
The
video section contains a number of full concerts along with probably every TV
appearance the band has made including Regis & Kathie Lee, Entertainment
Tonight, Access Hollywood, and virtually every other entertainment show on the
air. The most amusing of these video clips is the group playing a number of
“bands” on the early eighties syndicated comedy “Throb” which is set at
a fictional record company and stars a very young Jane Leeves of Frasier fame.
While
probably not for everyone’s tastes those with a predilection to ease into a
mellow sunny groove would be well advised to check this band out. At the very
least stop by www.venicecentral.com and root around a bit. There’s a lot
amusing things on there to keep you busy and you might soon find yourself hooked
on this fun and talented band.
As always I live for your feedback good or bad. Tell me what you think about the columns or clue me into some new music. Grozan@bellsouth.net
Copyright©2001 Tom Grozan