Broadcasting In Colour

It's time to kick off the weekend with an anniversary foray, spotlighting one of the heaviest bands of the last 35 years.

They began in 1984, when a hard rock band featuring four Black guys was about as common as a Bulgarian Folk Ensemble comprised of Norwegian nuns.

They didn't make a record until 1988, but when they did they about blew up the world.

Today's utterly marvelous concert experience of vintage pedigree comes from that time, when that initial LP was first racing up the global charts.

It's sourced, as we always prefer, from the original pre-broadcast recording, which someone managed to boost onto a HiFi VHS tape back in the day.

In it they play just about their whole first record, as well as a couple of really weird and cool covers. It's all rendered with the balls-to-the-wall, volume-intensive energy for which they are famous.

Living Colour

Le Truck 

Lyon-Vénissieux, France

6.15.1989

01 Desperate People

02 Memories Can't Wait

03 Funny Vibe

04 Middle Man

05 Broken Hearts

06 I Want to Know

07 Glamour Boys

08 Open Letter (To a Landlord)

09 Money Talks

10 Cult of Personality

11 Which Way to America?

12 The Ocean

13 Sailin' On

14 What's Your Favorite Color?

Total time: 1:23:34

disc break goes after Track 07

Corey Glover - vocals

Vernon Reid - guitars, vocals

Muzz Skillings - bass guitar, vocals

Will Calhoun - drums, samples

Hi-Fi VHS transfer of a 24-track pre-FM source

576 MB FLAC/June 2018 archive link

There isn't much to say about these guys or this show, other than if you love them this piece here is as close to an official live document of the advent of their original lineup as you're likely gonna get in this lifetime.

I'll be back with a shit ton of posts beginning in a few days and continuing through the end of the month, but for now I advise blasting off your weekend with this headcrushing concert, taped 29 years ago today and still smoking like a strike of lightning.--J.