Sodajerk
Radio Pittsburgh
A special 10th anniversary collection of radio appearances made by Pittsburgh's favorite ex-pats, Sodajerk. It chronicles everything from their very first radio spot to their last, when returning from Atlanta to release their last studio record in 2007.
Most bands can be classified as a great live band, or a great studio band. Sodajerk has always been known by the former. The onstage chemistry between Bucky Goldstein and "Poppa" John Tucker has always burned brighter than the studio lights. These are live-on-the-radio recordings.......no overdubs, no sweeteners. All were recorded in Pittsburgh on either 102.5 WDVE or 91.3 WYEP, both stations who took a shine to the Jerk early on and continued to support the band long after they pulled up stakes in Pittsburgh and moved to Atlanta. Here's the breakdown of the tracks:
BACK TO MISERY: This was our second appearance on DVE's infamous Coffeehouse, held every Friday morning where you're expected to rock at 9:30 am......it's harder than it sounds. However, this take had some grim determination to it. The lineup-Bucky: Vocals, Guitar/PJT: Drums, Vocals/Chad "Cha Cha" Sipes: Doghouse Bass/Erik Cirelli: Guitar
ANOTHER TOWN: This take was from our return to the Burgh in 2007 to promote the release of our "Sodajerk 2" CD. Once again, it's the DVE Coffeehouse. The lineup-Bucky: Vocals, Guitar/PJT: Drums,Vocals/Blake Parris:Bass/Ben Dranken:Guitar
ROTISSERIE GOLD: This was our first foray into the WDVE World Tour, which was when they spent a month of Fridays broadcasting live in the wee hours of the morning from a bar in the outskirts of Pittsburgh. We wondered how many people would actually skip work to drink in a bar at 7 am??? Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds apparently. We could not believe the crowd there! The lineup-Bucky: Vocals, Guitar/PJT: Drums, Vocals/Chad "Cha Cha" Sipes: Bass/Erik Cirelli: Guitar
GETAWAY CAR: Another DVE World Tour, this time in 2003 with a rollicking version of this tune that ended up on the self titled record. The lineup-Bucky: Vocals, Guitar/PJT: Drums, Vocals/Chad "Cha Cha" Sipes: Bass/Lucky: Guitar
FUCK N' FIGHT: A live set staple that made it to record on "Sodajerk 2", but this particular version was interesting. This was a DVE World Tour as well, but our guitarist at the time, "Just" Jim Relja, could not make the broadcast. We showed up as a three piece and "Buckshot" Randy Baumann decided to do double duty as DVE morning show host AND Jerk keyboardist. He managed to knock it out of the park and give the tune a nice honky tonk feel. When it came time to record it in the studio, we made sure to have him on it to bring that feel to the finished track. The lineup-PJT: Vocals, Drums/Bucky: Guitar, Vocals/Helen Wheels: Bass/"Buckshot" Randy Baumann: Keys
HEAD ON COLLISION: This one was interesting as well. The was WDVE's New Years Reprieve in January of 2004. "Cha Cha" could not make the gig, and Lucky couldn't find the venue, so Bucky and I ended up doing the tune as a duo. It worked so well, we decided to start doing "Son of the Jerk" shows as an acoustic duo on the side which worked out really well. The lineup-Bucky: Vocals, Guitar/PJT: Snare/Vocals
THE LONGER YOU WAIT, 22 CARS, SHE MUST LOVE LEAVIN': These tunes were from 2007 when we returned to the 'Burgh to promote the "Sodajerk 2" release. The fine folks at WYEP let us play on the air in front of an audience for a half hour in their brand new studio. The lineup-Bucky: Vocals, Guitar/PJT: Drums, Vocals (Lead Vox on 22 Cars)/Blake Parris: Bass/Ben Dranken: Guitar
DO IT AGAIN, DADDY-O: This was actually our very first radio appearance as Sodajerk. Kyle Smith of WYEP was kind enough to drag us out of bed at 7 am in February of 2001 to come into the studio and discuss the new "Unhappy Hour" CD. How we managed to get through this take with one bloodshot eye between us is beyond me. What's nice is it was recorded to cassette on a boombox, so you get that authentic static sound! The lineup-Bucky: Vocals, Guitar/PJT: Vocals
Enjoy!-------------------PJT
Country: Alt-Country