In The Post-Apocalyptic Area
“Flying” b/ Living Colour
In the days immediately following 911, Vernon wrote this song, painting a vivid picture of the day as he remembered it being burned into his mind.
(play)
“Spiderman” (2002)
— The first trailer (with the Twin Towers) was withdrawn after 911.
“Release The Pressure” (December 28, 2001)
— Living Colour @ The (Orlando) House Of Blues
“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?”
“Danger” (2008)
— music b/ Doug Wimbish
— painting b/ LindaZacks
— photography b/ DaveHogerty OriginalNoise.Org
• LIVING COLOUR / still relevant after all these years
• LIVING COLOUR / a vivid start
• LIVING COLOUR / post-apocalyptic reunion
• LIVING COLOUR / back in the USSR
• LIVING COLOUR / “who shot ya?”
Washington D.C. [Sept. 24, 2016]
@ The Museum of African American History and Culture.
— photography b/ daVe. (OriginalNoise.Org)
“Imagine” (intro) b/ Corey Glover
— The Rhythm Of The Games (Olympics) 1996
“Two Sides” Shade b/ Living Colour
— National Museum of African American History and Culture (Sept. 24, 2016)
“Danger” (2008)
— Doug Wimbish
— painting b/LindaZacks /
— photography b/DaveHogerty / OriginalNoise.Org
• BACK TO LIVING COLOUR
• Corey Glover #2
From Russia With Love
Living Colour‘s first record (Vivid), and its first tour (“Steel Wheels” w/ Rolling Stones), were more than thirty years ago, but today, in a Trump-scarred America, the band’s message remains relevant — especially 1989’s Grammy Award-winning “Cult Of Personality.”
A fact that makes it that much more frustrating for the band, when more-and-more frequently, those in the music industry want to sell, market, and book Living Colour as a “Classic” or “Legend” act.
“I’m living this shit everyday,” Corey Glover says confidently.“We’re as relevant today, as we’ve ever been.”
Doug Wimbish recruited a number of his longest musical collaborators, including Living Colour, Tack>>Head, and The SugarHill Gang (Rapper’s Delight) to record Music for Linda, the (2014) EP he produced for Paul McCartney.
With the ascendance of Donald Trump, Living Colour’s first (Grammy Award-winning) single, “Cult of Personality,” could be seen as prophetic, but even the see-the-future Living Colour couldn’t have known how relevant its 2014 cover of the Beatles’ “Back In The U.S.S.R.” would be today, now knowing how sympathetic Trump is to Vladimir Putin and Russia.