Richard Barone & Glenn Mercer - Hazy Cosmic Jive (Cobalt Blue Vinyl)

Cobalt Blue Vinyl

Ten glam rock covers, pressed on cobalt blue vinyl in an edition of 250. Side A is studio; side B is live.

Richard Barone fronted the Bongos, the Hoboken band at the center of that city's early-1980s scene. Glenn Mercer sings and plays guitar in the Feelies, from North Haledon, New Jersey, whose debut Crazy Rhythms placed in critics' lists of the decade's best records. The two began playing this material together as a concert series in 2019, and the album carries their touchstones across ten songs: Bowie, T. Rex, Brian Eno, Roxy Music, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop.

Dave Weckerman of the Feelies plays drums and percussion, and Bob Torsello of the Shrubs and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams plays bass. Mercer produced.

The title comes from a line in Bowie's "Starman," and Barone has described the project this way: "This show is, in a way, a trip through our record collections: records that made us want to pick up guitars."

Tracklist

Side A

1. Diamond Dogs (David Bowie)
2. Jeepster (T. Rex)
3. Needles In The Camel's Eye (Brian Eno)
4. Editions Of You (Roxy Music)
5. Suffragette City (David Bowie)

Side B

6. Baby's On Fire (Brian Eno)
7. Vicious (Lou Reed)
8. Funtime (Iggy Pop)
9. Raw Power (Iggy & The Stooges)
10. Star (David Bowie)