The Crazy 8s to Play Bite of Oregon, Reissue Live Album
According to a 2006 interview on LocalCut, the Crazy 8s are one of Sam Adams favorite local bands. He called them “loud, brassy and not pretentious.” But the future Mayor is not alone. The 8s have secured a place in Portland rock history (inducted in 2007 to the Oregon Music Hall of Fame), and the fact that the band will play on 8-8-2008 (get it?) just adds one more feather to an already crowded cap.
In addition to the performance at The Bite, the 8s are re-releasing Big Live Nut Pack on the same day (the history of which is, well, sorta crazy, as illustrated in the massive press release below). Good times for lovers of hectic, ska-punk-rock-funk (plus the kitchen sink)! The ever-DIY 8s sent us scans of an old WW article along with the press release for the show, which you can see below or read in its full glory at our Flickr page).
Go crazy!
2007 Oregon Music Hall of Fame inductees, the legendary Crazy 8s, return from rock n’ roll retirement in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the greatest day in Oregon Music History?.8-8-88 in which the guys celebrated the release of their live double lp/cd “Big Live Nut Pack” with a series of 8 performances throughout the Portland metropolitan area. “Big Live Nut Pack” went on to be acclaimed as one of, if not the, best live independent recordings ever to come out of the Pacific Northwest.
It is only fitting that Crazy 8s headline Friday night, 8-8-2008, at The Bite of Oregon, as the event also celebrates an anniversary-their 25th! Presented in conjunction with the Oregon Music hall of Fame, the performance honors “The Day of the 8s” as well as the release of a 20th Anniversary Edition of “Big Live Nut Pack”. The double cd on Secret Sound Recordings features all original tracks as well as 8 bonus cuts.
BACKGROUND:
Crazy 8s ruled the road from 1983 through 1993 as their legend as a ska/funk/rock/reggae outfit made them a college radio success. Touring endlessly, they employed a grassroots indie approach, borne out of a series of successful indie recordings which earned respectable positions on the College Media Journal, Gavin Report, and Tower Records Pulse charts. “Law and Order” sold over 20,000 copies and featured the track “Johnny Q.” which became an instant hit becoming the “Screamer of the Week” at Alternative Lrock powerhouse WLIR-New York. Rolling Stone named the 8s as one of “9 Bands to Watch” and locally the 8s had two songs , “Touchy Situation” and “Luv’ll Find You” go Top 20 at Z100 while being consistently featured on KINK radio’s “ Local Music Spotlight” and being named to KGON’s list of “The Top 920 Bands of All-Time”. All the while performing with acts including The Clash, The Neville Brothers, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Oingo Boingo, The Violent Femmes, UB40, The English Beat and Steel Pulse to name a Lfew.
The Bite holds special memories for the 8s Manager Marc Baker?..”Some of our most memorable shows in Portland were at The Bite. Stage dives, crowd surfing and people as far as you could see?.it was awesome!” Fittingly, their last reunion was at The Bite of Oregon and they did not disappoint. “It’s great to have the chance to rock at The Bite one more time!”
TWENTY YEARS AGO
At the original release of “Big Live Nut Pack”, Crazy 8s performed 8 shows, the first 7 from a stage mounted on a 40’ semi flatbed. The mobile stage traveled throughout the metro area making stops at historic retail outlets including Tower Records, Music Millennium, Everybody’s Records and Rockport Records with Z100 running live remotes throughout the day while The Portland Police would arrive to check out the mess but the 8s would be already off to the next stop. The final and wildest show was the performance held at Starry Night in front of a sold out frenzy of a crowd that featured warm-up Crazy 8s Muzak from a costumed Mr. Peanut as well as a volley of 1,000 bags of Hoody’s Peanuts and free backstage passes “that would get you absolutely nowhere”.
ALBUM DETAILS
Crazy 8s 20th Anniversary Edition of “Big Live Nut Pack” is being released the night of the show at The Bite of Oregon and is being distributed internationally by Burnside Distribution Corporation.
CRAZY 8S ARE
Todd Duncan-Vocals, Sax
Mike Regan-Bass
Danny Schauffler-Sax, Keyboards, Flute, etc?
Carl Smith-Percussion, Vocals
Tim Tubb-Trombone, Keyboards, Vocals
Marc Wanaka-Guitars, Wit
Rick Washington-Drums
Jeez, we used to put music on the cover:
Photos provided by the Crazy 8s.
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Jay Bozich
says:Dan Reed is playing the Bite Saturday night.
moderate connection i suppose.
old folks.
Posted @ July 15th, 2008 at 8:22 pm (July 15th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkIngrid Burghardt (Kempees)
says:Hello to Tim Tubb from a fellow CVHS alumni and an OSU grad as well; I live in the Bay Area and remember going to Berkeley Square and Slims to enjoy the 8’s. After we bought a turntable for Christmas we pulled out our older albums and were downloading them to the iPod and turned our 18 yr old son onto the 8’s music. His band class at school has really enjoyed listening to them and were looking for the sheet music (?? any ideas where we can get it??). Well, I wish I could get to Portland for 8/8/08 – think about the Bay Area for a gig!? Take care, Ingrid (maiden name Kempees) Burghardt
Posted @ July 17th, 2008 at 3:32 pm (July 15th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkDan Schauffler
says:I wrote out Johnny Q. for my band students. I could mail you a copy for Alto Tenor sax, flute clarinet, trombone etc. The drums are on their own. I also scketched unison lines for Courage and Conviction. Law and Order is almost done. These are not the U of W Husky arrangements mind you. Simple HS AND MS cheat sheets for kids AND PEP BAND.
Posted @ July 25th, 2008 at 12:18 am (July 15th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkDan Schauffler. sax player for the 8s
Dan Schauffler
says:OOPS, I BETTER ASK THE GUYS FIRST.
Posted @ July 25th, 2008 at 12:19 am (July 15th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkDanny
Martin Wallace
says:Hey Dan:
I’ve been a huge Crazy 8s fan since the 1980s when I was a student at PSU. (Now I’m a teacher myself.)
A few years ago, I started studying music and learning to play the bass guitar. I suck, but it’s a lot of fun. I would LOVE to be able to obtain any music (or even chord charts) for Johnny Q. Anything you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Also, I’m really looking forward to the re-release of Big Live Nut Pack.
Thanks,
Posted @ July 29th, 2008 at 5:46 pm (July 15th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkMarty
Carol Batchelor
says:I feel like I’m one of the 8’s biggest fans ever!!! The late 80s for me were all about driving to the next 8s gig wherever that might be and making sure I was front and center to catch the sweat that would fly off Tim and Todd! Eww gross huh? Not when you’re a 19 year old groupie… lol!
I can’t tell you how sad I was when the band broke up and have carried my precious vinyl of those days around from place to place all this time, but alas they have warped and aren’t worth a darn anymore. And I have yet to find a replacement for my alltime favorite Nervous In Suburbia album, I think they never released it on CD and many of those songs seem to be absent from the re-releases…
Any ideas how to get that album in it’s entirety in a digital format?
I was lucky enough to see these guys in their prime, back when there WERE eight of them, and if you do nothing else this summer, go see them at the Bite. I hope they’ve been working out – the show they’re famous for is a pretty rigorous one!!!
And yes Dan Reed of course playing Saturday night, which offers another local 80s icon who has a whole new selection of music to share with us which will be worth seeing. I will certainly be missing the old Minneapolis feel of the Network days and be hoping for maybe at least a hint of lace!
Long live Portland ROCK, see YOU at The Bite!
Posted @ July 30th, 2008 at 11:20 am (July 15th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkKen Baer
says:Oh man, I’m SO excited they’re performing at the upcoming Bite! I was right up front next to the stage for the last time they performed there (and then again across the river in Vancouver). Was that really 5 years ago?!?
My connection with the band goes back to around 1985 when I first saw them at the Rose Festival. I was hooked! I got all their albums, saw them whenever I could, and became a big fan. A few years later I was working for a local software company, Hash Inc.. making 3D animation software, and we were working on our second 3D animated short which I was producing. We needed music, and I really wanted to use First Strike from the 8s. I contacted Marc Baker and he hooked me up with the guys. I was mixing the soundtrack of our film at Desitrex studio where the band had mixed Nervous in Suburbia, so we were able to mix from the original studio recordings. Todd Duncan personally oversaw the remix of the music, which excluded the vocal (his). I can’t tell you how cool that was for me. He was great and it sounded great.
My favorite part of that encounter was hearing an alternate opening to the First Strike track. You hear a guy channel surfing (back in the day of manual tv channel switching!), you hear the Tonight Show, commercials, game shows, etc. Then you hear a new report come on that there’s a nuclear attack in progress and the bombs are falling on the US. The next thing you hear is the guy turn off the TV and crack open a beer. Todd said they guy’s attitude is “fuck it, we’re all gonna die, I might as well have a beer.” They ended up not using that because they couldn’t get permission to use the real TV show audio.
The film we did was called “Joyride” and can be seen at:
http://www.hash.com/amfilms/search/entry.php?entry=663
Keep in mind it’s circa 1991, 4 years before Toy Story.
Posted @ August 1st, 2008 at 11:22 am (July 15th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkKen Baer
says:PS – I also attended the Beaverton leg of the 8/8/88 tour (Beaverton Mall and Beaverton Fred Meyer). Is there any more appropriate venue to see them perform Nervous in Suburbia than the Beaverton Mall? I don’t think so! And back then, it was still Beaverton Mall, not this Cedar Hills Crossing bullshit!
Posted @ August 1st, 2008 at 11:52 am (July 15th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkSean Derrickson
says:Hey All, Can’t wait to see you all on Friday as your going to Kick Some A#$! Break a Leg an make my ears bleed!
Posted @ August 1st, 2008 at 2:43 pm (July 15th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkKatherine
says:I’ll be there FRONT AND CENTER, baby!
In 1988 I was 15 and Not Allowed To Go To Portland…the big scary city! OMG was I ever PISSED at my mom for making me miss the day of the 8s…
Posted @ August 8th, 2008 at 10:40 am (July 15th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkMartin W
says:Man, I’m so jealous! It’s 08/08/08, and I’m 700 miles from Portland. I hope everyone enjoys the show; I’m sure it’ll be great.
Posted @ August 8th, 2008 at 4:14 pm (July 15th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkLori Hill
says:Oh My God!!!! I can’t believe I missed it. Those mid-80’s to late 80’s gigs were some of the very best times of my life!!! I now live in Tahoe with my hubby and two dogs and wish I could get cd’s so I can download the music. Hope you guys are all doing well.. would love to contact you. E-mail me if you can. (Rick or Tim or Mike) Thanks to my Portland friend in Huntington Beach who made me a tape years ago, I still work out to the greatest hits…..but again, it’s a tape…so where can I buy your awesome, wonderful, life-altering music!!????
Love you guys,
Lori
ps…..put me on your mailing list for the next performance, whenever, wherever…
Posted @ August 25th, 2008 at 6:01 pm (July 15th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkScott Axford
says:Yo Crazy 8 guys, where can I find a CD of Nervous in Suburbia? Just not in the record stores here in Tampa!
Ax
Posted @ March 6th, 2009 at 11:05 am (July 15th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkMichael
says:Still looking for a Nervous in Suburbia CD ever since my cassette was stolen years ago. Any help out there? Miss some of the songs which did not make Still Crazy After All These Beers.
Posted @ April 5th, 2009 at 6:15 am (July 15th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkJim Armstrong
says:Can anyone tell me what happened to Casey Shaar? I see the Crazy 8’s are playing in Spokane this Friday, April 17 and I will definately goe see them. Casey is a former brother-in law
Jim Armstrong
Posted @ April 15th, 2009 at 10:10 am (July 15th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalink