DREAM LIFE
The album by SS-20 that I have, Dream Life was released on Voxx Records in 1986. As given on the back cover, the cutesy listing of the bandmembers on this album are Madeline Ridley (voices, spiritual advisor), Bruce Wagner (normal Hawaiian guitars, 3-string bass), David Winogrond (drums along the Mohawk), and Greg Berryman (lost weekend bass). They also list the “current line-up” more normally (the same line-up is given for their second album, Son of Fantasy): Madeline Ridley (vocals), Bruce Wagner (guitar, bass), Gary Stern (bass), and Greg Berryman (drums). Gary Stern also was the engineer on Dream Life.
Dream Life provides a delightful ride (trip?) that could be described as psychedelic folk, with meandering melodies, unexpected instrumental mixes, and signature guitar pyrotechnics. The vocals that are both written and sung by Madeline Ridley are a particular treat (Bruce Wagner is the other songwriter listed on the album); here she sounds quite a bit different from the way she sang “Born to be Wild”. Standout cuts for me among the band’s original songs include the opening track “Parade”, “Breakaway”, “You Think it’s Me”, and “The Wake”, plus the two covers of course; but as usual with the UARB’s, the whole album sounds great, and I could easily list all of the songs.
Two of the trademark covers by SS-20 are given on the Dream Life album. Side 2 opens with “My Eyes Have Seen You” that had appeared on the second album by the Doors, Strange Days, which incorporates the usual Doors flourishes; and the album closes with a fine, extended interpretation (running nearly 10 minutes) of “Penetration” that had appeared on the third album by the Stooges, Raw Power. Both songs are basically performed in the same style as the rest of the album, but the individual character of each of the two songs comes in quite clearly. I must say that I would have a hard time coming up with the name of another band who performs convincing covers of such a wide variety of rock songs.
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At about the same time that Dream Life by SS-20 was released, Sky Saxon also had an album out on Voxx Records called Private Party / Live at the Cavern Club (1986). The band name is given as Purple Electricity, consisting of Sky “Sunlight” Saxon (vocals), Jeff McDonald (bass), Steve McDonald (guitar) – both of Redd Kross – and Brian Corrigan (drums) of the Primates.
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The two songs on the B side of SS-20 with Sky Saxon are outtakes from the Dream Life LP (Sky Saxon is not involved in these recordings) and are two more cover songs by SS-20 of the Music Machine’s “Trouble” and “No Matter What” by Love (who had called the song “No Matter What You Do”). In their entry on this disc, the website www.skysaxonseeds.com/ notes: “This EP is a very rare post-Seeds instance of Sky [Saxon] not including ‘Sunlight’ in his name.”
(December 2017)
