With much anticipation,”The Shroud of Touring: Live in 1985″ (CD only) is coming out on JEM Records on May 23.
Originally recorded for RCA on the steamy Memorial Day weekend of 1985 on the Jersey Shore, The Bongos’ only official live album, “The Shroud of Touring: Live in 1985” has remained unreleased until now- The 40th Anniversary of the performance. The album captures the band’s legendary energy at the peak of its power, joined by percussionist Steve Scales, fresh from the Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense Tour and movie. Restored from the original 24-track analog tapes, newly mixed and sounding as electrifying as ever, “The Shroud of Touring: Live in 1985” (JEM Records) brings the Bongos’ highly percussive sound to a new generation of fans.
The Bongos famously were the founding fathers of the Hoboken pop scene of the 1980s. Fronted by Richard Barone with Rob Norris and Frank Giannini, the group recorded its debut album, “Drums Along the Hudson” (PVC Records/1982), a critical hit on both sides of the Atlantic and a college radio staple. Adding guitarist James Mastro, the group toured relentlessly, signed with RCA Records, and released their major label debut, “Numbers with Wings” in 1983. The sweeping title song became an MTV favorite. Songs like “Barbarella” and “Tiger Nights” fared well on the fledgling alternative radio format and further raised the group’s profile. They released “Beat Hotel” (RCA/1985) , a year that saw them perform over 300 concerts across the U.S.
It was during that whirlwind tour that “The Shroud of Touring: Live in 1985” was recorded at the jam-packed Tradewinds in Sea Bright, NJ on May 24th, 1985.
The Bongos upcoming performance at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, NJ, brings all four original members back to the Jersey Shore forty years later to celebrate the release of a nearly-lost relic of a particularly wild night.
They are Richard Barone (vocals, lead guitar), James Mastro (guitar, vocals, lead vocals on “Splinters”), Rob Norris (bass, backing vocals), and Frank Giannini (drums, backing vocals).
