The J. Geils Band - Showtime! (1982)

Note: this release was originally purchased as an LP, later replaced by a CD.

Even though they had been around for more than 10 years, I, like many of my peers, became aware of the J. Geils Band when they hit it big with their Freeze Frame album in 1981. I had that release on cassette tape, but when I heard the single I Do from the Showtime! album, I went out and bought it on the strength of that song which features mad harmonica playing from Magic Dick. I believe this is the last J Geils album with vocalist Peter Wolf and he certainly puts on a show. This live album isn't as good as the classic Full House Live, but it's not too bad.

Press of the time:

• Rolling Stone (★★★½): "loose, energetic and sounds as if it were taped on a cassette recorder smuggled in under somebody's sweater."
• Billboard: "tight, fast segues and playful banter"
• High Fidelity: "a welcome breather"
• CashBox: "slickly produced concert package"

Chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200 chart: #23
• Billboard Rock Album chart: #6
• CashBox album chart: #25
• Rolling Stone chart: #23

Tracks: I can't think of a more high-energy opener than Just Can't Stop Me. Unfortunately, it goes downhill quickly from there. I was tempted to skip over track 5 (I'm Falling), but that would have put me on the worst track on the CD: Love Rap, in which Peter Wolf spends 5+ minutes talking about love in an imagined Garden of Eden where Adam smokes weed and gets the munchies. While this is all said in fun, it makes for a track that doesn't call for repeated listening. Wolf's rap about love serves as an intro into Love Stinks where the album picks up and just keeps building steam until the end. I'm sure when I listened to this album as a teenager, I just put on side 2 (which started with Love Stinks). I missed a great opener, but the strength of this release is the closing sequence of 5 great songs ending with a great cover of Land of a Thousand Dances.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I remember picking up this album on a trip into Houston with my buddy Jim. We would go to Sound Warehouse and spend lots of money on albums we couldn't get locally (now its just, i.e., Amazon, iTunes, etc.) I also remember calling in a request to the local radio station to play I Do, but they only had the 1977 studio version. Do they still have request shows on the radio?