“Wall” b/ Living Colour
“Wall” is another of Living Colour’s (ahead-of-its-time) compositions with words ringing truer today, than when they were written for Stain (1993).
Back Where It All Began
December 21, 2000 @ CBGB — Will Calhoun and Doug Wimbish [HEAD>>FAKE] were playing a gig at the legendary, downtown club, and both Corey Glover and Vernon Reid were in the audience. It had been seven years since the four had played together, and Living Colour’s hiatus was about to end.
First, Corey sang a few tunes, and then Vernon stepped up, played a few more, and ended with “Memories Can’t Wait.” Living Colour had covered the Talking Heads tune for its first album, Vivid, as homage to another band that made its reputation at the legendary, New York City club in the Bowery.
After what everyone agreed was an enjoyable evening of musical fun, Vernon, Corey, Will, and Doug met the next day and discussion of a Living Colour Reunion had begun. Soon after, a national tour was scheduled to start that Spring (2001).
to be coninued …
[In the Post Apocalyptic Area]
• LIVING COLOUR / COVER
• LIVING COLOUR Pt./1 — a vivid start
• LIVING COLOUR Pt./2 — post-apocalyptic reunion
• LIVING COLOUR Pt./3 — back in the USSR
• LIVING COLOUR / “who shot ya?”
a new beginning
• LIVING COLOUR 3
.“Self-Evident”
b/ Ani DiFranco So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter (2003)
• BACK TO [LC] THE BEGINNING
• NEXT
“Funny Vibe”
Living Colour’s first single (“Funny Vibe”) was included on, but released before, the band’s 1988 debut album Vivid. Considering controversies surrounding the New York City police department’s “stop and frisk” policy, a growing trend of unjustified deadly force in law enforcement, and the rise and popularity of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, the band has appropriately kept “Funny Vibe” a regular in its new-Millennium sets.
“Release The Pressure” was an unreleased tune on Pride, the last Living Colour (“best of”) album/disc released after the band’s breakup. This performance was at the Orlando House of Blues, (December 28, 2001) just before the Reunion Tour’s last show, New Year’s Eve, back home in New York City.
— dave hogerty (originalnoise.org)
2001 — Other than Christmas Week (2000) at CBGB, it had been seven years since Vernon, Corey, Will, and Doug had played together when they reunited for a national tour in 2001.
In the beginning, the new Living Colour approached its reformation with a democratic and improvisational spirit. Early set lists were an eclectic mix of Living Colour’s past and samples of everyone’s individual interests. Shows included Jimi Hendrix, Sunday-Ready Gospel, Danceable Funk, and usually, a long, rhythmic, instrumental section, with a Middle Eastern, Trippy, Ambient Vibe, reminiscent of Head>>Fake.
[9/11] — such a lovely day to go flying.
— (originalnoise.org)
2OO3 — Feeling good (and inspired) after finishing the 2001 reunion tour in New York City, the band started writing with Living Colour in mind, and after a relatively short while, they moved into the studio to work on a fourth album, the second with Wimbish on bass. Some called CollideOscope schizophrenic, with tunes fitting the more traditional, Hard Rock, Living Colour formula (“Back In Black”), while others had more of a dub/industrial (Head>>Fake) feeling (“Lost Halo”) DON’T SHOOT.
Despite mixed reviews, a consensus, among critics regarding CollideOscope, was praising Vernon’s hauntingly sweet recollection of the 9-11 attack on the Twin Towers called “Flying.”
The 9-11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York City put an abrupt halt to Living Colour’s reunion tour and while watching the horrific event on television, Reid wrote “Flying,” what most critics sited as the highlight of the band’s fourth studio album, CollideOscope.
• LIVING COLOUR / still relevant after all these years
• LIVING COLOUR 1 / a vivid start
• LIVING COLOUR 2 / post-apocalyptic reunion
• LIVING COLOUR 3 / back in the USSR
• LIVING COLOUR 4 / “who shot ya?”