#crackthesky — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #crackthesky, aggregated by home.social.
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New #review today: "The comparison for #BrassCamel that keeps coming up for me is #CrackTheSky’s Safety in Numbers (1978), with bits of #Queen’s Sheer Heart Attack (1974) and #Sweet’s Level Headed (1977). The uniting factors here are tight rhythm parts, charismatic lead vocals, and elaborate vocal harmonies in a fairly high register." #ExposeOnline #ProgressiveRock http://expose.org/index.php/articles/display/brass-camel-brass-camel-brass-camel-2.html
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Self-Titled Summer | Crack the Sky (1975, US)
Our next Self-Titled Summer spotlight is on number 331 on The List, submitted by mfennvt. Here’s a quick rundown:
- Point of origin(s): Hailing from the industrial town of Weirton, West Virginia, the so-called “Beatles of Baltimore” arose out of a chance meeting between Rick Witkowski, who was working in a music shop, and John Palumbo, who came into said shop and started playing Grand Funk Railroad’s “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home)” to try out a bass that was for sale. Finding out that Palumbo was a songwriter in search of a band, Witkowski, then the guitarist in a cover band with drummer Joey D’Amico, invited Palumbo to join their band. Palumbo soon convinced them that they needed to play their own material, and snagged an audition and then development deal with CashWest Productions to form a band. Originally starting as a 10-piece called Words, most of the recruits quit due to the group’s strenuous rehearsals. The Crack the Sky line-up settled as a 5-piece, consisting of Palumbo (on vocals, guitar and keyboards), Witkowski, and D’Amico, plus bassist Joe Macre and guitarist Jim Griffiths (both formerly of local band Sugar).
- Tasting notes: Prog/art rock inspired by the likes of King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Beatles, and James Brown, with quirky, sarcastic lyrics by Palumbo. To quote Rolling Stone‘s review, published January 1976: “Crack the Sky’s debut introduces a group whose vision of mid-Seventies ennui is original, humorous and polished without seeming too arty…If Palumbo’s lyrics are the latest in Seventies cynicism, their darkness is countered by the light-spiritedness of most of the music.”[1]
- Standout track: I personally love “I Don’t Have a Tie”. (Note that, unless I’m misinterpreting the lyrics 50 years after the fact, the second track “Surf City” might need a CW for a potential racial slur [and, no, I don’t mean “whitey”].)
- Where are they now?: Though praised by Rolling Stone as the debut album of the year, the brand new CashWest record label, Lifesong Records, dropped the ball with promoting and distributing the record, with the exception of Baltimore. As such, though the band has since released 19 additional studio albums (the most recent being the 2023 From The Wood) and continues to regularly tour, the band remains relatively unknown outside of Baltimore and the surrounding area; indeed, a search for this band will come up with a few articles titled something to the effect of “the best American prog band you’ve never heard of”.[2] The band has had a few line-up changes in its 50-year run; Palumbo, Witkowski, D’Amico, and Macre are in its current iteration as a 6-piece, along with Bobby Hird (on guitar, joined in the early 80s) and Bill Hubauer (on keys). If you’re in Maryland, you can still catch a few dates on their 50th anniversary tour. And if you can’t make it, perhaps check out their live album just released last month, Live 1st Album: 50th Anniversary, which captures – you guessed it – a live performance of the entire debut album, recorded over three nights of the anniversary tour.
- Websites: Band website, Wikipedia
Happy listening!
- Written by Stephen Holden for Rolling Stone issue 203 (January 1, 1976), quoted here: www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/20-rock-albums-rolling-stone-loved-in-the-1970s-that-you-never-heard-164876/crack-the-sky-crack-the-sky-58391/. ↩︎
- E.g.: www.rollingstone.com/feature/crack-the-sky-the-strange-survival-story-of-the-best-u-s-prog-band-youve-never-heard-707669/ and www.progrockguide.com/crack-the-sky. ↩︎
#1970s #artRock #CrackTheSky #music #musicDiscovery #progRock #selftitled
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MASTODON Working On New Material, Hints At A "New Configuration" Of Crack The Skye Coming
"Maybe we are cooking up some new stuff up in the background?" -
New #review today: "The Dream Is Free is a fine followup to #JoeMacre’s Bullet Train (2021). To briefly recap, Macre’s career in music began with the band #CrackTheSky in 1975, and while he’s been in and out of that band, he’s remained connected with guitarist Rick Witkowski, who contributes to four of the ten tracks here..." #ExposeOnline #ProgRock #ArtRock http://expose.org/index.php/articles/display/joe-macre-the-dream-is-free-2.html