The Cold:
They're Really Warming Up
by Vincent Fumar
(Times-Picayune: 3/8/80)
Somewhere amid the rush of young bands scurrying to balance audacity with pop renovation, the Cold kicked hard and seemed fated to overcome the narrow definitions that fettered many of their contemporaries.
The Cold (formerly Totally Cold) formed last summer as an opening act for the Normals. Their repertoire then consisted of mid-60's pop reworkings with a strong Merseybeat leaning. Their provocatively sardonic interpretations of songs such as "I'm Down" and "Paint It Black" spoke of an ethic little touched on by others.
A few months ago they shifted personnel, with original members Kevin Radecker and Bert Smith being bolstered by Chris Luckette (formerly with the Normals) on drums, Vance DeGeneres on bass and Barbara Menendez on organ. It's a formidable sound, with a broad tonal scope and a beat that many name groups would gladly mortgage their equipment to have.
Last week, on a aptly freezing night at the Dream Palace, Radecker spoke about the Cold's recent developments. "We've been recording at Knight Studios. We'll be releasing a single. We'll put the single out first and save the more obscure stuff for the album. The single will probably be "Three Chord City." As show time neared, Menendez complained about the lack of a volume pedal for her organ and the size of the stage. "That stage looks like it's going to fall apart," she said. "I don't think we'll be doing too much jumping around tonight."
Onstage, the Cold were a well-oiled unit that showed few limitations in the area of pop they have chosen.
"Top of the Pops" was the opener, and spelled out the concise and quite authentic ring to the band - Radecker and Smith played rhythm guitars (which only rarely struck lead poses.) Menendez and DeGeneres provided supple coloration, while Luckette took off on another of those indomitable drum clinics that he not only was the drummer for the Cold, but any group he might find himself in. Quite simply, Luckette is the finest drummer to come out of New Orleans in the past 10 years, and proved it once again during the band's first number.
"Three Chord City," a Cold original and their forthcoming single, soon followed with a blast that, with any luck, should be overcoming millions with the same force heard by those in attendance on this night.
All five members of the band sing. Their other common quality, besides a devotion to 60's pop of the English variety, is that no one personality or instrumental sound attempts to dominate any other. It is a remarkably democratic outfit.
Luckette sang the lead to "Shape of Things to Come," Radecker to "Three Chord City," Menendez to "That's the Way Boys Are" and "I'm on E," and everyone else during numbers such as "Do You Have a Mind" (another Cold original), "Working Girl" and "You Know My Name." The stirring English beat material, all of done with jovial slants, continued with Menendez doing a scorching version of "Downtown," which contained a thrilling new extra beat from Luckette; the Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love," which was throbbing with youthful punch; and the Dave Clark Five's "Glad All Over," which proved that Clark's group had nothing on the Cold.
They're Really Warming Up
by Vincent Fumar
(Times-Picayune: 3/8/80)
Somewhere amid the rush of young bands scurrying to balance audacity with pop renovation, the Cold kicked hard and seemed fated to overcome the narrow definitions that fettered many of their contemporaries.
The Cold (formerly Totally Cold) formed last summer as an opening act for the Normals. Their repertoire then consisted of mid-60's pop reworkings with a strong Merseybeat leaning. Their provocatively sardonic interpretations of songs such as "I'm Down" and "Paint It Black" spoke of an ethic little touched on by others.
A few months ago they shifted personnel, with original members Kevin Radecker and Bert Smith being bolstered by Chris Luckette (formerly with the Normals) on drums, Vance DeGeneres on bass and Barbara Menendez on organ. It's a formidable sound, with a broad tonal scope and a beat that many name groups would gladly mortgage their equipment to have.
Last week, on a aptly freezing night at the Dream Palace, Radecker spoke about the Cold's recent developments. "We've been recording at Knight Studios. We'll be releasing a single. We'll put the single out first and save the more obscure stuff for the album. The single will probably be "Three Chord City." As show time neared, Menendez complained about the lack of a volume pedal for her organ and the size of the stage. "That stage looks like it's going to fall apart," she said. "I don't think we'll be doing too much jumping around tonight."
Onstage, the Cold were a well-oiled unit that showed few limitations in the area of pop they have chosen.
"Top of the Pops" was the opener, and spelled out the concise and quite authentic ring to the band - Radecker and Smith played rhythm guitars (which only rarely struck lead poses.) Menendez and DeGeneres provided supple coloration, while Luckette took off on another of those indomitable drum clinics that he not only was the drummer for the Cold, but any group he might find himself in. Quite simply, Luckette is the finest drummer to come out of New Orleans in the past 10 years, and proved it once again during the band's first number.
"Three Chord City," a Cold original and their forthcoming single, soon followed with a blast that, with any luck, should be overcoming millions with the same force heard by those in attendance on this night.
All five members of the band sing. Their other common quality, besides a devotion to 60's pop of the English variety, is that no one personality or instrumental sound attempts to dominate any other. It is a remarkably democratic outfit.
Luckette sang the lead to "Shape of Things to Come," Radecker to "Three Chord City," Menendez to "That's the Way Boys Are" and "I'm on E," and everyone else during numbers such as "Do You Have a Mind" (another Cold original), "Working Girl" and "You Know My Name." The stirring English beat material, all of done with jovial slants, continued with Menendez doing a scorching version of "Downtown," which contained a thrilling new extra beat from Luckette; the Buzzcocks' "Ever Fallen in Love," which was throbbing with youthful punch; and the Dave Clark Five's "Glad All Over," which proved that Clark's group had nothing on the Cold.
