Search - The Tubes :: Young & Rich/Now

The fact that these two albums, their second and third releases, have been out of print for years and Now never even issued on CD in this country is eloquent testimony to the fact that the Tubes are one of the most underrated bands of the '70s (though not underrated by all used CD copies of these albums go for staggering figures online). This was a band that blended disparate strands of Album-Oriented Rock into a vision all their own. Salacious Zappa-like satire? Check. Over the top theatricality a la Alice Cooper? Check. BOC-like hard rock? Check. Even avant-garde, Beefheart-ian atonality cropped up in unexpected places. Yet underneath all the pomp and circumstance this San Francisco group was still just a bar band, and it was these radically different stylistic directions that held back these records from widespread commercial success even as they rewarded those listeners that hung on for the ride. Whether live, with the various personas adopted by Fee Waybill, or in the studio, the Tubes approached each song as a conceptual art piece; such songs as "Don't Touch Me There," "Slipped My Disco,' "Cathy's Clone" and "God-Bird-Change" attest that they damn well pulled it off. One CD wasn't enough to hold these records; we've given them each their own disc, and added liner notes by Gene Sculatti drawn from a new interview with drummer Prairie Prince along with the original inner-sleeve art. Essential '70s artifacts whose vision remains vital and relevant.