It's out. Not only is it out, but the day it was released, the acoustic performance of ALL OF MY FRIENDS reached #1 on the Folk Rock Chart and #21 on the overall singles chart on iTunes in South Africa.
What's that mean? Nothing, I suppose, except that now I can say I've had two songs reach #1 on the iTunes Folk Rock Chart in South Africa.
Mark Pinto asked about the title, pointing out that we'd previously released something called "songs from the land of unimarts, pit bulls + karaoke machines." Here's what happened: That title would not appear alongside the rest of The Little Wretches' catalogue when searched for in iTunes. It COULD be found with a couple of additional clicks, but upon closer inspection, iTunes had placed the title under the category of KARAOKE. It was a CONCERT album, NOT a karaoke album. I tried for over a year to have the issue addressed and the problem corrected but to no avail. So I had the album pulled, revised, remastered, and re-issued under the new title.
I deleted the cover-versions of The Beatles' GOOD MORNING GOOD MORNING and Ewan MacColl's BALLAD OF A CARPENTER and my original SOMETHING HAPPENED. That brought the length of the concert down to a manageable length. (The original concert had been two-hours and also included Bowie's 1984!) I added live-performances of BE SOMEBODY, THE TASTE OF DIRT, and (MAY YOU NEVER BE THE) CHILD OF A REALIST. These are among my most-requested songs at live shows, and I really wanted to get them out.
I NEED this album to be available because it represents precisely what I do live. I almost always perform solo, but almost all of my recordings feature the full-band. Venues and bookers demand something that represents the show I want them to book. Well, here it is. This is me. This is what I do. I'm Popeye. I wish I looked sang and played like a young Glen Campbell, but I YAM WHAT I YAM. I write these songs, play them and tell some of the stories about the world that induced them.
I hope it builds and expands upon what we accomplished with UNDESIRABLES & ANARCHISTS. And we're hard at work on RED BEETS & HORSERADISH, so our follow up might be out by the holidays.
Lemme know what you think. You know how to reach me.