The Worst Of

Since recording the Noontide LP (1974), Barry Newman has performed in various Vancouver Island musical projects (live and studio) and has co-hosted various jam sessions. He continued writing during the 80's and gradually fine-tuned this material. Since 1994, publishing Cosmic Debris Musicians Magazine consumed most of his time. Budget restrictions also kept delaying a long-overdue studio session to get his newer material recorded. Finally in 2001, he got a chance to record some of these songs at Pierre Dube's Blackstone Studio.

Barry Newman plays all bass, lead and acoustic guitars on these 4 tracks. Erik Anderson plays drums. Other guest musicians are mentioned below.
1) Some Call It Lunch (2:03)
Written in 1980 during the Cold War and recorded 5 months before 9/11, this pop/jazz anti-war song reflects the scenario leading to the present "brave new mess". Engineer Pierre didn't have the sound-effects of "rockets which crash in the night", as Newman requested. Instead he found some effects of a jet plane and combined this with an explosion. And a few months later, we listened to this spooky product in amazement... as the 9/11 news unfolded.

2) Cherokee Dancer (5:05)
Written in 1979, for an old girlfriend of Barry's, who got deported. Listeners say it has a "60's" rock feel. Lots of nifty Strat guitar.

3) Don't Touch Me (4:00)
Go figure... Leonard Cohen meets Goldfinger? Superb vocals by Carol Jarvie (Victoria Opera Society) and sax-playing by Brent Hutchinson (Out Of The Blue). The lyrics are darkly dyslexic and shrouded in paranoid imagery... well, that's what Barry's mortician said.

4) 40,000 Brain Cells (3:30)
An anthem to alcohol... written in 1981, after a gallon of cheap Muscatel. In-yer-face blues-harmonica wizardry by Shakey Reay Suter, soaring the cosmos with Newman's psychedelic slide guitar...

Other tracks include 5 morbid thrillers from the Noontide LP (1974):

5) Such A Sunny Day - (6:29)

6) Another No-Party - (5:00)

7) On A Lifeline - (5:15)

8) Burnin' Wolf's Beef - (8:45)

9) Our Code Has a Long Way to Go - (6:07)