Caropop

When drummer Gilson Lavis joined Squeeze, he became the band’s most experienced musician, having previously played with Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Dolly Parton. Starting with the gallop of Squeeze’s debut single, “Take Me I’m Yours,” he powered such undeniable Glenn Tilbrook/Chris Difford songs as “Up the Junction,” “Cool for Cats,” “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell),” “Another Nail in My Heart,” “In Quintessence” and “Tempted.” But the group dynamics grew tricky, his drinking knocked him out of the band twice, and after he got sober for good, he joined old bandmate Jools Holland’s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra and became an in-demand portrait painter. Lavis flips the Hourglass on an epic career here.

If you’re a fan of Philadelphia soul, you’ve enjoyed the work of Dexter Wansel. He wrote for and produced such Philadelphia International artists as Lou Rawls, Billy Paul, Patti LaBelle, Teddy Pendergrass and the Jacksons, and he conducted and played with MFSB, whose “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” was the “Soul Train” theme but wasn't called that for a reason he explains. As a kid working at Philadelphia’s Uptown Theater, Wansel assisted Stevie Wonder, James Brown and other acts. Later he got studio gigs as an early adopter of synthesizers, and his debut album, the much-sampled Life on Mars, showcases his jazz-funk chops and a lifelong passion for space. His stories and memories are a blast.

Drummer Freda Love Smith recently hung up her sticks after a long career playing in bands from Blake Babies to Antenna, Mysteries of Life and the Sunshine Boys. She also wrote Red Velvet Underground, a perfectly titled memoir that covers her rock ‘n’ roll life and her passion for cooking. Here she reflects on growing up in Bloomington, Indiana, and teaming up with John Strohm and, later in Boston, Juliana Hatfield to form Blake Babies. How did Allen Ginsberg come to name the band? Why didn’t that band last, and how did she feel about Hatfield’s solo success? What supernatural force named Antenna? How hard was the decision to retire? What’s she writing now? And why are rock ‘n’ food so entwined?

Drummer Linda Pitmon brings her abundance of power, groove and talent to the supergroups the Baseball Project and Filthy Friends plus other bands. Growing up in Minneapolis, she banged on Tupperware to replicate the fills of her favorite songs. She had indie success with Zuzu’s Petals, then moved to New York, where she connected musically and personally with Steve Wynn, now her husband. She tells of the joy of recording and performing songs about baseball with Wynn, Scott McCaughey and R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Mike Mills. She also previews the Baseball Project’s upcoming album, produced by Mitch Easter, and shares how she has thrived in the male-dominated world of rock drummers.

Soul jazz organist Ronnie Foster works as a solo artist but also played on Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life (“Summer Soft”), George Benson’s Breezin’ and albums by the Jacksons, Robert Flack, Grant Green and others. His first album, the scorching Two Headed Freap, came out in 1972 on Blue Note Records and was just remastered by Kevin Gray. Fifty years later he’s got a new Blue Note album, Reboot, his first release in 36 years. He’s also got great stories that cover a half century’s worth of playing, writing, producing, falling in love with the Hammond B3 and becoming best friends with fellow Taurus Stevie Wonder. You’ll also learn what a “Freap” is.

Peter Holsapple is the dB’s sole-singer songwriter when the band finally lands a U.S. record deal, but the excellent Like This is undercut by issues with the mix and distribution. Recording and releasing The Sound of Music is a fraught experience as well, and when the dB’s finally split, Holsapple accepts an offer to tour and then to record with R.E.M. He plays on R.E.M.’s breakthrough single (“Losing My Religion”) and album (Out of Time), but as he recounts in heartbreaking detail, a dispute over songwriting credits ends his relationship with these friends for years. Holsapple is eloquent and gracious as he describes the many industry challenges he has faced while continuing to pursue his love of music.

You may have seen Peter Holsapple playing live with R.E.M. or Hootie and the Blowfish, but you should know his own music. He co-led and then led the dB's, writing and singing such smart, tuneful songs as "Black and White," "Big Brown Eyes," "Living a Lie," "Neverland," "Amplifier" and "Love Is for Lovers." He also has played in the Continental Drifters, made three excellent duo albums with Chris Stamey, and toured and recorded under his own name. In part one of our conversation, he recalls being inspired while listening to Chicago's WCFL-AM from North Carolina, describes the beginnings of the dB's and Stamey's departure, and offers deep insights and colorful stories about maintaining the creative life of a songwriter/musician.

Spoon's Jim Eno doesn’t appear to be doing anything fancy when he drums, yet his deceptively groovy playing makes you want to move. He and frontman Britt Daniel, the two remaining original members, keep Spoon sounding unmistakably like Spoon amid the band's constant growth, changes and innovations. Much of the band’s guitar-heavy latest album, Lucifer on the Sofa, was recorded at Eno’s Austin, Tex., studio, with Eno having established himself as a producer with Spoon and artists such as Alejandro Escovedo (and he's got a fun story about working alongside Bowie producer Tony Visconti). Eno takes us inside Spoon’s creative process, how Daniel presents the songs, how Eno approaches playing them, how a seemingly straightforward rocker like “Held” is driven by experimentation and how the band learned to be happy again.

In audiophile communities it’s common to read raves about “the Bellman Cut” of an album because if Chris Bellman mastered it, it probably sounds great. One 2021 Record Store Day release even came with a sticker boasting “a killer lacquer cut by Chris Bellman.” How did he go from working on disco-era dance tracks to having the original masters of the first five Van Halen albums land on his desk? What impact did mastering Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill have on his career? What was special about the Tom Petty Wildflowers recordings he recently mastered? And is his job to make an album sound "better" than ever or just like the original?

The continuation of our conversation with the Devo co-leader goes deeper and darker into the band's history and our ominous cultural landscape. What caused Devo to split the first time, and why does Gerald Casale feel like he must do the heavy lifting now? What does he think of Mark Mothersbaugh's movie-scoring career? What was his experience directing videos by Cars, Rush and Foo Fighters? What are the stories behind his Jihad Jerry solo project and Devo's energetic reunion album, Something for Everybody? How big a hole did his late brother Bob Casale leave? Can we ever expect to hear new Devo music? Casale pulls no punches.