As time goes by

CherryDisc, Patti Smith, and Jim Fitting

by Brett Milano

It's been an unusually quiet year for CherryDisc, usually one of Boston's busiest indie-rock labels. When founder John Horton launched the label, in 1992, he made no secret of his intention to make hits and launch national acts -- and he did just that, with early releases by Letters to Cleo and Tracy Bonham, plus cult-level classics by Tree and Chevy Heston. But CherryDisc has released nothing at all in the past 11 months, which has led to some local speculation. Is it reorganizing, signing a major-label distribution deal, or disappearing altogether?

None of the above, answers Horton when I reach him by phone. CherryDisc has indeed signed a distribution deal, but it's with the New York indie label Roadrunner. The imprint will debut this fall with new albums by Boy Wonder and the Bags, plus the long-promised Van Halen tribute. Horton chose to go this route after pondering and turning down a major-label offer from MCA.

"It seemed like a good time to lie low, because the music industry was in a bad position, independent music wasn't selling that well. But it's coming back now because the mainstream is so generic. Our idea was to wait out the storm."

Besides, MCA's local reputation hasn't been good since it pulled the plug on the much-hyped Fort Apache/MCA imprint.

"It's not just MCA," Horton comments, "it's all the majors. They develop these deals with smaller labels and walk away after a year if there isn't any real success."

Horton is holding some good cards for CherryDisc's relaunch. Boy Wonder frontwoman Paula Kelly has seemed like a potential pop star for years; their CD should attract the same folks who fell in love with the Cleos. And the Bags compilation is long overdue, since the Boston proto-grunge/metal trio's original albums are all out of the catalogue. The new disc will be half greatest hits and half rarities; and the original band, which packed the Middle East for a reunion gig last year, will do at least one CD-release show.

CherryDisc's real ace in the hole is the Van Halen compilation, which is some kind of classic -- one of the least reverent tribute albums ever made and one of the funniest compilations in local history. Compiled by Jocobono drummer Todd Perlmutter (whose own band is, surprisingly, absent), the set includes "loose interpretations" of Van Halen tunes that are at once absolutely ridiculous and absolutely on target. And it's true to the fun-loving spirit of Van Halen, though we can't guarantee that Eddie would love the Gigolo Aunts' Rutles-like treatment of "Why Can't This Be Love," Mary Lou Lord's depressive Velvet-ized version of "Jump," or best of all, Talking to Animals' lounge/samba take on "Everybody Wants Some."

One of the best jokes isn't making the final cut, though: The ever-mischievous Elevator Drops turned in a very faithful, beautifully produced version of "Invisible Sun." The CD had to be remastered once the producers figured out that this was a Police song, not a Van Halen song.

The label is also throwing some muscle behind its most perverse band, Chevy Heston -- who wrote lyrics for one album while dropping acid in the studio and released a melodic, pop-based album that includes the word "pussy" 50 times. The band just got back from a national tour; though they didn't break any attendance records, enough tastemakers turned up to convince Horton that Chevy could be a bigger deal if more people heard them. To that end, the last two albums, Destroy and Come to Sterilized, are being combined on one CD for reissue this fall.

Horton's willingness to develop a band like Chevy says something about his new attitude. Although known around town for his business savvy, he admits that he didn't get rich off CherryDisc's early signings, having taken a relatively small cut when Letters to Cleo's Aurora Gory Alice was licensed to Giant ("I was naive and didn't ask for much from the majors"). And the success of Tracy Bonham's Island debut, The Importance of Being Upright, didn't spark massive sales for her earlier and, in my opinion, much better CherryDisc EP, The Liverpool Sessions. So he's learned that breaking national stars in a hurry doesn't necessarily pay off

For now he's looking to develop acts over time -- resisting the major-label mindset that you've got to conquer the world on the first album.

"I try to be realistic with anyone that comes to us; I tell them that you're doing pretty good if you can sell 10,000 copies. That's shit for major labels, but for indies it's a success. The best thing is to develop a fan base over the years, so you have some security. That's what we're looking to do, to develop the artists we've got. And then we'll have hits, but it'll take time."

PATTI SMITH

There were a lot of ghosts present at Patti Smith's performance at the Photographic Resource Center last week -- in fact, a dead person figured into nearly every song in the 90-minute show, which opened with a reading of Allen Ginsberg's fiercely spiritual/sexual "Postscript to Howl." Later came poems dedicated to William Burroughs (whose funeral she had recently attended), Robert Mapplethorpe, and Georgia O'Keeffe; a cover of Hank Williams's "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry,"; a countryish new tune inspired by Jerry Garcia; and a haunting/angry one written in response to the Heaven's Gate incident (the latter, she said, was written on vacation in Provincetown). Her late husband, Fred "Sonic" Smith, was also invoked with the show-closing "People Have the Power," which he co-wrote.

But there was still room for an encore of "Because the Night," the 1979 hit that she wrote with Bruce Springsteen. If an awareness of mortality figures heavily in Smith's vision these days, so does that song's romantic transcendence. This was her fourth local appearance since her return to live performance, and it was typical of other recent gigs -- not a full-fledged rock show, but not a total retreat from her past, either. Early in the show she read "Piss Factory," which dates from her New York punk days. Yet her delivery suggested how much has changed since then. The teenage Patti Smith in the poem wants to leave the factory and be a star; the adult Smith knows that life gets more complicated once you do so.

Backed by longtime collaborator Lenny Kaye and Oliver Ray on acoustic guitars, Smith slipped in and out of her old persona, still connecting with the intensity of "Dancing Barefoot," then stopping between songs to kick back. She even told a few jokes (she blamed the show's half-hour late start on her "being backstage fixing my hair," which was unkempt as ever). To call Patti Smith a punk nowadays would be like calling Pete Seeger a folksinger -- she's that, and more.

FITTING'S COOTS

What better occasion than your 40th birthday to launch a band called the Coots? Jim Fitting is the best and possibly only full-time harmonica player on the local rock circuit, known for his extended stay in Treat Her Right (with Mark Sandman, pre-Morphine) and for a recent two-year membership in The The (he played on the Hanky Panky album and its accompanying tour). But his birthday gig at Toad this Sunday will mark the first time he's ever fronted his own band.

"I got tired of waiting for guitar players to call me," he explains. "You hit 40 and you start feeling your oats, so I'm trying to focus myself. With this band I let the harmonica lead the way. As far as commercial considerations, who knows?"

A mostly instrumental band, the Coots include pianist Evan Harriman from Laurie Sargent's band, bassist King Kane from G. Love's Special Sauce, and original Morphine drummer Jerome Deupree. Their set features instrumental versions of the Animals' "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" and Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billy Joe." Along with the Toad show, they'll play Green Street on the 31st and the Kendall Café August 5.

COMING UP

If you're reading this before 5:30 on Thursday, you can still get to the Hatch Shell to see Papas Fritas, Lauren Christy, and the Amazing Royal Crowns for free. Later tonight (Thursday), Six Finger Satellite are at the Middle East, Lars Vegas do the lounge thing at Johnny D's, neo-proggers Xixxo are at the Linwood, and one of Boston's least trendy, most fun bands, the Varmints, are at Mama Kin. Also, Half Cocked play O'Brien's, before a temporary suspension of the establishment's entertainment license (apparently for a disturbance two months ago) shuts the place down for the rest of the weekend . . . On Friday the Vic Morrows have a CD-release show with Underball at T.T. the Bear's Place, rockin' popsters the Richards (with ace producer Ducky Carlisle on drums) are at Mama Kin, the Wild Colonials are at Bill's Bar with Verbow, and the Murmurs, better known lately as k.d. lang's girlfriend's band, open for OMC at the Paradise . . . Saturday it's Brother Cleve hosting a fun extravaganza at the Middle East with the Strangemen, Silver Star & the Jukebox Angels, and Big Ray & the Futuras. We don't think that the "Ledfest" at Mama Kin involves Zeppelin covers, but we know that Chelsea on Fire are playing it. Meanwhile, Talking to Animals and Vic Firecracker come to T.T. the Bear's Place . . . Seks Bomba are at Green Street Grill on Monday . . . And Louisiana zydeco sensation Rosie Ledet is at Johnny D's on Wednesday.