In 1984, the pop-rock world changed forever, as a six-song platter of pop perfection titled Places That Are Gone (Dolphin) put Tommy Keene onto the CMJ charts and atop the Village Voice EP of the Year poll. Blatantly romantic, unapologetically melodic, bittersweet but absolutely invigorating, it was the sort of record that you could put on before you went out on a Saturday night, or sit around and mope to if you didn’t feel like facing the world. It still stands as a powerful statement, not only establishing Tommy as a unique singer-songwriter, but also as a guitarist with a sound as distinctive as Pete Townshend or Johnny Marr.
From 1983-2009 Keene has released 9 albums, 4 EPs and 3 Compilations/Live releases including 2009’s critically acclaimed “In The Late Bright” (Second Motion) which continued to establish Keene as one of the critically acclaimed (and commercially ignored) power-pop singer-songwriters of our time.
For the very first time in his amazing 27 year career, a retrospective of Keene’s finest work can be found in one place. “Tommy Keene You Hear Me” is a stunning and near perfect collection of tracks that is a must-have for the hard-core fans as well as first-time buyers to introduce them to Keene’s craft.
This 41-song collection of perfectly crafted tunes contains the classics: “Places That Are Gone,” “My Mother Looked Like Marilyn Monroe,” “Love Is A Dangerous Thing,” “Compromise,” “Warren In The ‘60s”, all with glorious melodies, indelible hooks and note-perfect guitar solos ideal for radio. The collection also includes some rare or unreleased tracks such as a T-Bone Burnett/Don Dixon produced “Gold Town”, the unreleased “Don’t Sleep In The Daytime”, a guest appearance co-written by Jules Shear on “When Our Vows Break”, a live version of “Long Time Missing”, acoustic version of “Black & White New York” and cover versions of Lou Reed’s “Kill Your Songs” and the 20/20 cover of “Leaving Your World Behind.”
Tommy himself admits his stuff isn’t groundbreaking. “It’s just fun,” he once said. “It’s good music and good songs.” Uh, yeah.. that’s an understatement
click below to sample a video from 1994 performance on Conan O’Brien (with the late-great Jay Bennett playing in the band)
Tommy Keene on Conan
and sample the legendary power-pop track “Places That Are Gone”
Places That Are Gone
AND Tommy will be touring in September with a full band playing shows that will feature for the very first time the album Songs From The Film preformed in it’s entirety along with other selections from the new retrospective!
Sept 8-Milwaukee WI-Shank Hal
Sept 9- Chicago IL-Schuba’s
Sept 16-Pittsburgh-Club Cafe
Sept 17-Washington DC-930 Club
Sept 18. Bordentown NJ-The Record Collector
Sept 22-Los Angeles CA-Spaceland
Sept 24- San Francisco CA-The Hemlock Tavern
