Living Colour – Vivid

One of the cool things about working in a record store is discovering new music. When I worked at Dustys, this was definitely encouraged. In the summer of 1988, I distinctly remember walking in one afternoon and Dusty was excited about an artist named Tracy Chapman and her self-titled debut album. It’s funny looking back at this time. We all listened to the album and we were all in agreement that this was a very good album.  This got me fired up to find an album that I could be excited about and that could be my own personal discovery. We would take turns with the other employees to open an album for in-store play. We would get all kinds of literature on new acts and new releases.  So, when it came my turn to open one for the store. I had started doing some research. There was a one page info sheet from Epic Records/Columbia records on a band called Living Colour. I don’t remember what the exact wording was on the bio sheet. But, there was something about that both Jeff Beck and Mick Jagger had seen the band Living Colour in a NY club and were “blown away”.  At the time, I was a huge Jeff Beck fan and I figured that kind of celebrity endorsement was worth checking out. The other thing that intrigued me was that (in 1988) this was a hard rock band consisting of African Americans.  Guitarist Vernon Reid had started a movement of musicians called the Black Rock Coalition. This movement was made up of Black musicians that wanted to play rock…not dance music…but heavy rock. This was a big part of their bio and press statements. In 2011, this idea sounds dated and almost absurd. But, in the mid to late 80’s, it was just an odd sight to see black musicians playing rock…especially heavy rock. You would see black musicians playing some kind of watered-down dance R&B (a la Michael Jackson or Prince) and of course the rise of Hip-Hop and Rap was happening too.  One article I had read singled out bands like Fishbone and King’s X as the exception. King’s X was a favorite of mine with their lead singer (African American) Doug Pinnick in a trio with Texans guitarist Ty Tabor and drummer Jerry Gaskill.  Rock & Roll was founded by black artists like Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Fats Domino and by the 80’s it was a foreign concept of seeing black musicians rocking out! So, I decided to crack the seal on this LP and drop the needle on some Living Colour Vivid.

From the opening riff of Cult of Personality, I was hooked. This band was inventive and heavy and the rhythm section had a groove that was positively beyond words. This is how I discovered what a groove was. I could sense the heaviness. But, I could also hear and feel the funkiness in the playing. As with many of the albums I was listening to in those days, I dubbed a copy to cassette. With that cassette copy, I was usually walking across campus with my walkman and the rhythm on the second track I Want to Know was perfect for a good pace from off campus parking on the rush to class. Middle Man was the next track. By this time, the band was starting to get some airplay on MTV. I remember that their sound was diverse enough to be featured on the channel’s Sunday night alternative showcase 120 Minutes along with the Saturday night Hard Rock/Metalfest Headbangers’ Ball.  I just remember the interplay between drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Muzz Skillings to be something really detailed and intricate or maybe it was the bottom to top drum fill before the second verse!…or both!

I seem to remember that Middle Man got the initial airplay and then the Cult of Personality was then added into heavy rotation! I myself got a little tired of that track. But, there was an awesome performance of Cult of Personality when the band appeared on Saturday Night Live. By this time, singer Corey Glover had grown his braids very long and had added some color to the tips. So, when he bounded around the late night stage banging his head, it looked like an elegant Indian headdress. It was just an awesome sight to behold! I remember watching this clip on videotape at my friend – Forrest’s house. Forrest was living in his mom’s basement at the time. Forrest had the volume on this cranked. His mom yelled out, “Forrest, turn that down!”.  My record store misfit brother replied “But Mom, it’s Living Colour!! THEY ROCK(or rule)!”  She didn’t care whether they rocked or not(or even ruled for that matter). I still look back and laugh about that one!

For me, this music was incredible to take in. It was heavy and aggressive, yet it was improvisational and inventive. There was a groove to it and it was slamming in the assault. There was also social commentary about the state of race relations in America. Open Letter to a Landlord was a song about how the neighborhoods where these guys came from. Some may have been referred to as slums. But, these guys knew these places as their homes. All of a sudden, I was a white college kid from the middle of Nebraska becoming educated by this band. There has been a lot written about rap and hip-hop in the 80’s and 90’s as the voice and commentary of the black community. Well, I didn’t relate to the hip-hop culture. But, I would listen to the music of Living Colour. Another song that caught my attention was the song Funny Vibe.  Just for the color of someone’s skin, they were still getting judged. I myself was guilty of this a few years later when I had moved to Omaha. I had gone into the bathroom at the Westroads Mall at the same time as a black man and I purposely put my wallet in my front pocket because I thought I would be pick pocketed.  I felt so bad. Here I had been opposed to profiling and stereotyping blacks as criminals in central Nebraska where you may see a few blacks on the UNK college campus. Then, I got to Omaha and was working at a music store where many Rap and Hip-Hop CD’s were being shoplifted daily. So, it was only natural to think that the target audience for that genre would be the ones stealing it.
After I had a listen to this album, I praised it and recommended it to customers. We obviously played the album in the store. But, I noticed that the hard rock customers were the ones that I was selling this to. When I would ask for their opinion of the album, the common answer I would hear is: “This is a really good album for a BLACK rock band!”  At the time, I was in a Sociology class just called “Social Problems”. We were required to write a paper on a social issue. So, I wrote about my experience working at a record store and how customers had referred to this album as “pretty good for a BLACK rock band”.  There’s the racist comment right there. It shouldn’t have mattered whether or not what the color of the band members was. This was an awesome debut album. I wish I could find that paper I wrote for my Social Problems class.  I really felt proud of myself that I could relate something that I loved (like music) and apply it socially and academically to college courses.
As the album continued, so did the whole continuity of the music. The band covers the Talking Heads tune Memories Can’t Wait. This made me dive into the catalog of Talking Heads albums. That’s a great thing about music and bands who cover other artist’s songs. If you like a song, go back and check out the original artist.  I’ve always loved doing that. Of course, there’s always someone who always proclaims to like the newer version over the original. But, that’s another topic altogether.
The next song Broken Hearts was a song I wasn’t going to write about on this. But, when I dialed it up on my player, I was lured in by the funky slink and heavy drum intro. It just all moves together to make a great album.  From there, the album goes into Glamour Boys.  I always felt myself to be a misfit and never fit into any kind of social clique and I wasn’t about to be one in college. I supposed I could have been placed in the category of “Band geek”.  But, I had my circle of friends and I wasn’t about to pay a membership to be somebody’s friend. I was never a pretty boy. I was a long hair, mullet wearing, rocking misfit. I was never a slave to fashion. I bought all my rock t-shirts at Dustys. So, I could relate to the subject of Glamour Boys.  I hated the idea of joining a fraternity. Looking back, I had quite a few college friends that had joined fraternities. I didn’t. It just wasn’t my thing. In my mind, The stereotypical frat boy was a pretty boy and as the song states “I AIN’T NO GLAMOUR BOY!”  A couple years later, my musician friends in the band –The Untold would play this song and (as always) they nailed it.
The last two songs start with a howl from lead singer as he screams the question…”YEOOOOOW…..What’s your favorite colour, baby?!”  Of course, it’s LIVING COLOUR!  This is so rocking and slamming and funky. It just takes a hold of the listener and doesn’t let go. I remember being drawn into this aural experience and then the next track transitions into Which Way to America? The original LP version of this is actually shorter than the CD version. This was just an intense album.

I loved my rock in the 80’s. But, I was getting tired of all the “bad boy” GNR wannabes and 2nd generation Aerosmith hair band clones that the seemed to be coming out of the LA music scene. I loved my thrash bands like Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth. But, a lot of the stuff from that sub-genre got old too. This was just a funky rocking slamming breath of fresh air. I always felt so energized after hearing this album.
With their celebrity approval and endorsement from Mick Jagger, they opened up for the Rolling Stones (along with Guns N’ Roses) on the Steel Wheels tour. The band would follow up in the 90’s with Time’s Up in 1990 and Stain in 1993. Time’s Up won the band a Grammy for best Hard Rock album. They toured on the inaugural tour of the Lollapalooza festival in 1991.
By the time, they released Stain in 1993, The music landscape was a lot different. The grunge movement of Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam had become the popular groups of the day and everyone seemed a lot angrier. I no longer felt as though I was a “young tough living in a world of hate”. I was into a lot of contemporary blues artists and bands like Blues Traveler.  I bought Stain but found it hard to get into. Shortly thereafter, the band recorded a cover of Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love for the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie True Lies.  The band broke up shortly after that. Guitarist Vernon Reid recorded a solo album as did vocalist Corey Glover.  I had a little interest in them but never bought them. Corey Glover also did get some time on the road with the touring company of Jesus Christ Superstar in the role of Judas.
The band eventually regrouped in the early 2000’s.  I’ve been interested in hearing the new music. But, I never have given it a good listen like I did with the debut album in 1988. 
According to 1001 Albums....

Lead guitarist Vernon Reid...add in vocalist Corey Glover, drummer Will Calhoun, and the extraordinarily gifted bassist Muzz Skillings, and Vivid can still rest its case as a truly original recording, one that takes in thrash, hard rock, reggae, funk and rap.

The album is a definite moment of discovery in my music store career and will always stand up as a lifetime favorite.  In 2011, they may be referred to as just another band from the 80’s….and maybe they are. I hope people remember them as a great band …period and not remember them for the color of their skin!  Take a listen with your ears and not your eyes!