by Bill Holmes, Pop Culture Press
Thank God! One of the more critical "oh-that-won't-sell-let's-shelve-it" mistakes of 1990 finally has closure, and people can get a chance to hear what die-hards with secret taped copies have been crowing about for a decade.
Tonio K (Steve Krikorian) first burst onto the rock scene in the late 1970s with the caustic and brilliant "Life in the Foodchain," a concept record from Hell that mixed witty and insightful social commentary with blistering rock and roll. Although "Amerika," the followup, contained more great music, Tonio K was no longer the flavor of the month and sales dipped. He released a great EP called "La Bomba" (not yet re-released) and then later a pair of majestic records for What/A&M in the mid-1980s that were chock full of great songs but could find no home on radio. Then it seemed that he disappeared, surfacing occasionally as a collaborator with friends like Charlie Sexton or supplying songs for soundtracks. Gigs were either infrequent or low profile, or probably both.
What actually happened was a third record for A&M produced by T-Bone Burnett and featuring a hot band including organist Booker T. Jones (!!), ex-Attraction Bruce Thomas (bass) and T-Bone himself. Guests on the record included Peter Case, Warner Hodges (Jason & The Scorchers), Paul Westerberg and Los Lobos' David Hidalgo. The music kicked ass, and as always, the lyrics were amazing. How could this record not get noticed? But some bean counter said "uhh÷no." But they wouldn't release the tapes, either, so this sat on a shelf and collected a mound of dust. Enter Mitch Cantor, fan and label owner, whose dogged persistence finally elicited some cooperation from saner heads, and eighteen months later you can finally hold this in your hands.
So the big question is this÷does it hold up? Unequivocally, the answer is yes. Kicking off with the manic "Stop The Clock" (with a heart-attack guitar solo from Marc Ribot that has to be heard to be believed), the twelve cuts showcase both sides of Tonio K÷the intolerant cynic with the vocabulary to back it up, and the introspective social observer who is able to communicate about faith and hope in a valid and non-fanatical light. Rockers like "Time Steps Aside" and "Pardon Me For Living" are fresh and vital, and the acoustic numbers place even greater focus on his stellar lyrics. Topics of homelessness and child abuse in "Hey Lady" and "That Could Have Been Me" could have been rudimentary folk songs in the hands of a lesser artist, but here are first rate work. And maybe it will take a lesser artist to have a hit record with "I'll Remember You," an absolute killer song that, like most truly great songs, will never find its way onto the radio unless some hack like Celine Dion sings it.
The liner notes by Tonio K are a great bonus, insightful and sometimes self-deprecating illuminations of the songs. Kudos to Gadfly Records for altruistically stepping up to the plate and re-releasing records by people like Andy Breckman and Tonio K simply because they deserve to be heard. No one thinks these are stadium-filling artists, but it's obvious Tonio K has a lot more to say, and I don't care whether it's brand new or has eight years of dust on it. The man is a flat-out work of art, an essential artist, and deserving of a wider audience that he hopefully will now find.