OK, it can’t be avoided, so without further ado,
let’s chuck in the usual reference: Talking Heads.
There’s no escaping how much Come On sounded like
Byrne and co., though whether they were ripping off a
local up-and-coming bunch of contemporaries or it was
all a big coincidence is unclear. The band aren’t
completely oscure, ‘Disneyland’ having been
included on legendary ROIR compilation The Great New York
Singles Scene, whilst guitarist George Elliot has the
huge kudos (in this reviewer’s book) of subsequent
collaborations with the late and very great Klaus Nomi.
But failing to include any biographical details amongst
the wad of photos and lyrics in the thick CD booklet seems
a surprising omission for this anthology of a basically
unrecognised band’s work. Personally I think Come
On have the edge on the critically fetishised Rhode Island
lot, largely due to their utterly mad lyrics.
Who wants to hear ‘Psycho Killer’ when you
can hear Come On inciting pensioners to riot in ‘Old
People’, or indulging in the uneasy (and possibly
illegal) sexual reveries of ‘Housewives Play Tennis’
and ‘I’m Five’?
One question though: why is this type of music always
described as “angular”?
For a number of New York groups the line between art-rock
sensibilities and danceable club rock was an ever-narrowing
one, and while high profilers like Talking heads managed
it spectacularly for all to see, others played the Bowery
circuit and then faded into a post-CBGB oblivion. Take
COME ON for instance—there’s not much of a
legacy as to their presence in the late 1970s scene, but
a presence they certainly had. There was a review—faintly
remembered by some—along with some (mainly unreleased)
recordings which have recently seen the anthologized light
of day.
Their music consisted of a minimalist take on major influence
The Beatles, a scratch-guitar sound from George Elliott
and a high-pitched vocal delivery from frontman Jamie
Kaufman that crossed the elusive art/punk line when it
came to subject matter. This was best illustrated in their
debut single,'Don’t Walk On The Kitchen Floor' /
'Kitchen In The Clouds' [two songs about kitchens on one
disc!] which put them firmly in the area of the Heads,
lyrics-wise.
Likewise evident in the rest of their recorded output,
COME ON addressed the niceties of housewives’ panties,
trips to Disneyland, and senior-citizen [as opposed to
juvenile] delinquency. Doomed to obscurity, their CD-compiled
memory serves to remind us how many long-forgotten bands
passed through the grafitti-covered doorways of Max’s,
CBGB, and a dozen other dingy Manhattan dives that were
the birthplace not just of punk, but also the repercussions
of punk, be it increasingly finely-crafted [and populist]
new wave music, or its antithesis, the musical introspection
and minimalism of no wave…
-NYC
Rock by Mike Evans
Early
New York punk rock madness reigns down once again this
month with another Come On review. Come On are more on
the side of The Talking Heads than Richard Hell. They
maintain good violent punk lyrics throughout like these
from "Old People":
Turn
over cars,
Elbow young people,
Set garbage on fire
Fuck
yes! That's what I want to hear, people! Where would punk
rock be with out copious amounts of violence and malicious
destruction of property? It would be in boring-town that's
where. If you love early punk, the Talking Heads, or destruction
in general, pick this up and give it a spin.
"Unlike many of their contemporaries, Come On was
overlooked by the record labels and wallowed in obscurity
for their entire four year existence until disbanding
in 1980. In hindsight, that's a real shame, because many
of the songs on 'New York City 1976-80' are as good as
anything released by the Talking Heads, Richard Hell,
or Television..."
"...There's a bit more evidence of the existence of
Come On that survives, though not much. What seems to be
their sole bit of press at the time was a rather obtuse
concert review in New York Rocker, capped with a rundown
of the vital stats of frontman Jamie Kaufman, courtesy the
singer himself. Recent inquiries made of both Andy Schwartz
(Alan Betrock's successor as NYR editor) and self-styled
Dean of American Rock Critics, Robert Christgau, come up
with no recollections of the band from either gent. It has
been suggested by some anonymous rock gadfly that, if the
Talking Heads were the Beatles, Come On were Badfinger.
Listening to the recently compiled, mostly previously unreleased
anthology, Come On: 1976-1980 (Heliocentric), such a simplistic
attitude doesn’t necessarily seem unfounded: the angular,
tightly wound leads, chicken-scratch rhythm guitars and
Kaufman's high-strung yelps all leave no doubt as to what
band was a major inspiration for the quintet. But hey, "Baby
Blue" and "No Matter What" were just as good
as anything the Fabs churned out, right?
So it is with Come On's earthier, wackier variation on the
early, pre-funkicized themes of Byrne and co. Indeed, one
could not conceive of David, Chris and Tina in their wildest
RISD dreams coming up with a debut single consisting of
not one, but TWO songs based around kitchens
('Don’t Walk On The Kitchen Floor' / 'Kitchen In The
Clouds', from 1978, thankfully included on the CD). And
it is every bit as much a treat listening to Jamie Kaufman
ponder where one puts the silver in the latter, heaven-bound
nook as it was the first time hearing the head Head tensely
announce that he didn’t have to prove he was creative.
The remainder of Come On's resuscitated worldview is of
a similarly bemused and hysterical nature: "Old People"
tipping over cars and setting trash bins alight (kind of
a musical version of the Monty Python 'Hells' Grannies'
skit), a recitation of colors of tennis-playing housewives'
panties, a child's ultimate disappointment at Disneyland
("Mickey didn't shake my hand!"). Truly, Jamie
Kaufman comes off as a nerd-geek visionary of a stature
and conviction a hundred Weezers could never hope to achieve.
Those seeking adventure in their art-pop should be most
grateful that former Come On guitarist George Elliott believed
enough in the worth of his compatriots' work, all these
years later, to have bothered putting this CD out in the
first place."
-PERFECT
SOUND FOREVER webzine
Who were these guys? There were five of them, including
a female guitarist—neatniks all, favoring white shirts,
black pants, short hair. Half of this belated testament
was recorded CBGB 1978, a final track Hurrah, both places
I frequented. But I'd never heard of them, and when I checked
with New York Rocker's Andy Schwartz, he recalled only the
name. On the evidence of these 16 homages to early Talking
Heads, we were missing something: the halting yet propulsive,
arty yet catchy ejaculations of the uptight nerd as subversive
geek. A five-year-old sex fiend joins a suburban tennis
player exposing her underthings joins somebody's kitchen
floor joins the incendiary "Old People": "Get out in the
streets/Turn over cars/Elbow young people/Set garbage on
fire." Lotsa laughs, though.
B PLUS
Robert Christgau ~ Village Voice June 21, 2000
COME ON CD IS REALLY GOOD
As I write this newsletter I am listening to Come On, who
sent us their CD this month. They played in NYC clubs more
than 20 years ago, to fans including David Byrne and Brian
Eno. As I listen I'm reminded of the Talking Heads, Eno,
Devo and other people and bands who played around with stocky
rhythms juxtaposed against odd, fast, clipped vocals and
lyrics that consist as much of "hah!"s and "ugh!"s as of
words and images. Their CD packet reminds me of Bauhaus,
all black and white and full of stark circle graphics and
such. They are part of the "non-sense" musical genre, and
I like their straight yet complex mix of guitars, drums,
all the basic instruments but put together in a way that
still sounds fresh. Why don't bands today experiment like
this, and take up where bands of the late '70s and early
'80s left off?
Most of their songs seem to be "concept songs": Mike's mother
looks like the Mona Lisa; Where do you keep the silver in
a kitchen in the clouds?; Housewives play tennis and drive
station wagons; but sung against their jangling, fast guitars
and drums the songs seem to hold warnings--"Don't walk on
the kitchen floor!!" is sung with as much barely controlled
agitation as anyone could sing about love or death or anything
else "important," and behind the words the music marches
on insistently like an army troop toward its death.
The CD I have is "New York City 1976-80." I don't know if
there are others available, or where; I think Come On is
pretty rare stuff, but get your hands on it if you can.
RE-SEARCH
eNewsletter #3, March 2000
"The Come On Story" (HELIOCENTRIC) will be
nostalgic only for hardcore habituees of CBGBs circa 1978.
Recording only one single and some demos, Come On were a
New York punk/new wave outfit very much in the mould of
Talking Heads and Pere Ubu.
Vocalist Jamie Kaufman utters deadpan geek haikus like "Tuesday
on this block/ House in a mess/ Stains and ashtrays/ Feeble
lampshade/ A glass, no ice" and "Housewives play tennis/
They drive station wagons" while the group works up a nerdish
sweat with angular, choked guitars and 'difficult' rhythms.
On paper they may sound a bit like They Might Be Giants'
long-lost older brother, but their horn-rimmed quirkiness
sounds less mannered and more cutting than that of their
distant relations. Come On may have inhabited their own
bemused world, but they never left this one behind.
-THE WIRE
ISSUE 194, APRIL 2000
P. 63
Come On
"The Come On Story"
Heliocentric
http://www.heliocd.com/comeon.html
Some would say this unconventional quintet is truly out
to lunch. Others may lay it down to something in the water
in Come On's local reservoir. But these people are obviously
unfamiliar with the sparse, underground genre of nonsense
pop. A dead pan modus operandi, yet brimming with outlandish
ridiculousness, seems to be the general hallmark of this
genre. As can be seen from the cover photo of "The Come
On Story", Come On have taken to it like a fish to water
and the same ethos permeates every note of this undeniably
outre outing.
It's hard to pin-point the forefathers of this genre, with
bands like Talking Heads and They Might Be Giants being
substantial contributors of such superlative arrant cobblers
over the years. Earlier rock contemporaries, Zappa and Spinal
Tap, could also be attributed with such forefather honors.
Either way, Come On picked up the baton and carried on this
intriguing marriage of music and twaddle.
Come On's music adopts quirky melodies and techniques such
as staccato chording to accentuate the eccentric nature
of their oddness. Some very amusing social commentaries
in "Old People" and "Housewives Play Tennis" completely
cracked me up with observations such as "Housewives play
tennis/They have weak backhands" -- not when you come home
lager'd up and forget to call they don't.
Oh yeah, these guys would have been a hit with the PE department
in high school. "Physical Ed", being their tribute to this
compulsory fun and fitness institution which musos the world
around hold dear to their hearts.
"The Come On Story" concludes with my personal favorite
"Disneyland". "I hate Disneyland/Mickey didn't shake my
hand" being the general theme of the song, it includes a
quality parody of Mickey Mouse casting coital aspersions
upon Snow White and Donald (Duck I presume). "Mickey Mouse
is a Rat!/Mickey Mouse is a rat!" sees the band dishing
out possibly the harshest derogation one could conjure up
for a mouse. I'm inclined to cut Mickey some slack here.
He was probably far too scared to shake these guys' hands.
They weren't snubbed by the mouse, they were fled from.
Unfortunately, Come On's perpetual state of facetiousness
has worked against them in one respect. Their covering letter
identifies them as a band on the scene twenty years ago
with supporters including Willem Dafoe and Linda Hamilton.
Although the dates of the production credits in the liner
notes on the disc's sleeve corroborates their vintage, I
still can't tell whether they are just taking the piss or
not. Perhaps Linda or Willem can confirm by responding below.
Whether this band is a going concern today is really neither
here nor there in assessing the merits of this album. "The
Come On Story" is a brilliant collection of nonsense pop
tracks -- give it a burl!
David Rogers
Taken from Music Magazine: 181.4 Degree from the Norm
...arty, detached, alienated, asexual white soul dance music.
I hear something new and interesting every time I put this
on!
(Old Punks Web Zine)
A pure and no-nonsense approach to music making that is
much missed these days
-COMPULSION
OME ON "New York City 1976-80" (Heliocentric, 69 Cooper
Sq. NYC 10003) Archival presentation of super-obscuro New
Wave/punk era NYC art-rock combo. Legitimately eccentric
themes, musical decisions and lyrics explain what made this
band popular to a small core audience and doomed to obscurity,
but it's great to hear this stuff (including their impossible
to find single, demos and live CBGBs tracks) finally released.
The band features Nomi collaborator George Elliott who released
this on his own label. The main criticism is lack of narrative
notes, though the photos are great.
page 81, Rocktober #27, April 2000
COME ON - THE COME ON STORY
This is a very interesting collection of tunes that were
put down more than 20 years ago, a 5 piece who frequented
the New York scene, playing such venues as CGBGs & the like,
with fans such as David Byrne, David Bowie, Sonic Youth's
Thurston Moore & the like.
Even just hearing the first couple of songs "Mona Lisa"
& "Old People" reminded me of the sounds of a number of
bands, particularly that of Devo, with whom there is a great
comparison, as well as the overall feel of others like The
Dead Kennedys & even Sex Pistols at times.
The album is basically a collection of a lot of their material,
with 16 songs, comprising a single, various demos & some
live material as recorded at CBGBs in 1978. Pick for me
are a couple of tracks near the end, "Bad Luck With Parents",
"Physical Ed" & "Salt & Pepper", though "Housewives Play
Tennis" is one that caught my ear a little earlier. A very
interesting selection & one that points towards the genesis
of some of the bands that have followed.
A review from Australia
Come On - New York City 1976-80 (CD, Heliocentric, New
wave pop)
This is an intriguing CD for several reasons. First, it
brings to light the fact that for every band that "succeeds"...there
are hundreds of other bands who are just as good who get
left by the wayside. Secondly, the disc presents a band
that most of us have probably never even heard of... Come
On were a band playing the New York Scene at about the same
time that other notables like Patti Smith, Television, Richard
Hell, and Talking Heads were just hitting it big. For whatever
reason(s), Come On did not "make it" as they say...and they
and their music were left by the wayside. This disc contains
the band's single, demo recordings, and some live tracks.
The sound is surprisingly similar to the aforementioned
Talking Heads at times...which makes one wonder... (Seeing
what a big shithead David Byrne has become, we'd just as
soon assume he stole his tricks from this obscure band...but
alas, we don't know that for a fact.)
The missing link in New York New/NoWave music. Clever, catchy,
weird and all that good stuff.
(Subterranean)
COME ON
New York City 1976-80 - Heliocentric
Avant garde, Experimental, Punk, Rock
One of the lesser known unsung bands of the late '70s
punk scene, Come On was a band light years ahead of their
time. Like Devo and Talking Heads, this band took high art
aesthetic and lo-fi twang and melded it with a simple pop
sensibility to create what had to be some of the most daring,
interesting and innovative music of its time, or any other
for that matter. Largely ignored and overlooked, except
in their native NYC, it would be nice to think this 16-track
collection of their single, some demo material and a 1978
live set from CBGB could open them up to a whole new fan
base. Newer bands like Sonic Youth, as well as established
cutting edge artists like Brian Eno and Richard Hell have
all sung the praises of Come On. Now it's time for everyone
else to get turned on.
Stuart Green - March 3rd 2000
THE BIG TAKEOVER REVIEW
'THE COME ON STORY'
Come On played minimalist, pre-techno era rock along the
lines of early Talking Heads.
The lead singer Jamie Kaufman sounded a lot like David Byrne,
with atonal songs about housewives playing tennis, the secret
lives of suburbanites, Disneyland, and parents.
I've never heard of this band before, but this has the feel
of something from one of those groups that made lots of
people want to start bands, just because it's so simple
and crazy and easy to play and full of stuff that seems
near-improv that it's inspiring.
-Holly Day
THE COME ON STORY / New York City 1976-80
If COME ON had survived they may have developed into a stunning
New Wave force a la Adam Ant or even, dare I say it... XTC.
In the late seventies, a goofy rock style, marked by deconstructionistic
yet eclectic melodic phrasing, emerged in places like New
York and London. In the cusp between the popularity of punk
and that of new wave, this style, called post-punk, filled
a certain vacuum... but the name is kind of misleading.
Punk didn't really turn into post-punk... punk did it's
own thing. But post-punk was one of the main elements of
new wave. Punk's motivations lay more in pissed-offness
(which is darn fertile soil), while bands like XTC, THE
TALKING HEADS, ADAM AND THE ANTS, DEVO, and SPLIT ENZ had
outlooks that were more silly. The post-punk era lasted
about five years until its own threads began to unravel.
As in any style, some groups just don't hang around long
enough to grow, such is the case with COME ON. They were
one of the New York post-punk posses, but they sounded more
English. This is they on HELIOCENTRIC RECORDS. From the
reads of it, this was pretty much their entire repertoire.
They hadn't even put out a proper LP... just a single. It's
so simple. One album... 16 tracks, it's the whole anthology.
So what are you waiting for... come on!
Reviewed ByRyan Johnson, FRIGHT X Contributing
Writer
NO RULE ZINE (June 2000)
from Sweden
translation:
Interesting music has always been been provided in New York
City. COME ON named its music as Nervous Rock and they contributed
to the collection "SINGLES: The Great New York Singles Scene"
(ROIR) together with Patti Smith, Television and Richard
Hell.
The music is closely related to what Talking Heads created
in an early stage. It is music that pulls, pulsates and
shakes of different rhythms with lyrics that can be described
as funny, but different. Titles like 'Housewives Play Tennis'
, 'Kitchen In The Clouds' and Bad Luck With Parents makes
you have to read the lyrics more than one time and I catch
myself when the cranium swings like a pigeon head to these
weird colorful beats. Nervous as Hell!
-Dick Sandstrom
COME ON were an obscure New York band that had one
single out in the late 70's. This disc includes their self-released
single plus studio and live output. Along the lines of early
Talking Heads or Richard Hell. Really good geeky New Wave
stuff that any fan should buy.
-PUNK PLANET MAGAZINE, ISSUE #39, SEPT./OCT. 2OOO
Every genre of music leaves behind some glistening gems
in the muddy silt of history's fast-flowing river - Come
On are one such semi-precious stone from the New York scene
of the late-Seventies. This set collects all their singles,
demos and live CBGB cuts to draft an endearing blueprint
of a prototypical New York new-wave band of the period.
Highpoints include the observations of "Housewives Play
Tennis", the drum-driven shudder of "See Me" and the agitated
guitar scales of "Old People". Unfortunately, the liner
notes offer little information about the band's development
and demise, but musically, this set reveals the fertile
sediment which later held the sapling roots of bands like
Sonic Youth.
- The Rough Guide /Rock
COME ON
NEW YORK CITY 1976-80
"I don't know how much, if any, of these way-back original,
new-wave tunes are previously released-they're a first for
me. Apparently taken from demos, one single (presumably
released) and a 1978 live CBGB show, this 16-song CD offers
a clean glimpse into nascent post-punk absurdist new-wave
as much as chronicles the band's brief career. At times
spare and poppy, at others craggy and ornery, this collection
recalls the early work of peers Talking Heads and Wire,
et al. With lyrics waxing at once silly and social-critical,
the era's hallmark nerd chic and edgy preposterousness come
rushing back (to ears that were young and taking it all
in from a distance at the time) in provoking waves. I like
this stuff a whole lot-I'm not sure what the kids will make
of it, but the atonal, pre-electronic chill Come On were
reeling still makes me wanna pogo and slink somewhere between
dressing sharp and blowing snot. Indeed, this is a fine,
raw yet well-crafted reminder of whence we've come but not
entirely progressed."
(Heliocentric)
-Chesley H.
SOUND VIEWS # 57
WINTER 2000
"Remember the Rutles? If the Kids in the Hall had done for
the Talking Heads what Monty Python did for the Beatles,
this album would be the hilarious result."
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