It seems that on nearly every one of my radio show playlists for the past couple of years, you can find at least one track from a New Jersey band, or a band signed to the venerable Bar/None Records label. On this episode, we get to meet the man who’s been at the epicenter of American indie rock and roll for the past few decades: Glenn Morrow.
Glenn was in the bands “a”, The Individuals, and Rage To Live. He played at the legendary Hoboken club Maxwell’s, the spiritual center of the north New Jersey music scene. (For my fellow West Coasters: a quick map check verifies that this music scene is directly across the river from Manhattan.) Then he abruptly stopped performing music, and took the reins of Bar/None. In the interview, he answers the question about how he transitioned from performer to record label head honcho. (Spoiler alert–his first move was to sign They Might Be Giants–but you’ll want to hear him tell how.)
But my opposite question–how did he get back into performing–is what brings us here today. Playing with his old bands, at Maxwell’s closing night in 2013, the bug to create bit, and soon, a bunch of songs were written, and a band was formed, Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help. Their well-received self-titled debut came out in 2017, and now, the second album, “LP2” is about to be released. It’s pretty great. Slightly garagey, slightly topical, but very thoughtful and very much a rocker. Maybe something like “The Smithereens meet Lou Reed, but more indie and alternative” might at least point you in the right direction. Although finished before the pandemic hit, some of the songs speak to the tumultuous year about to grind to a close. It was produced by Elk City’s Ray Ketchem, helping it achieve the polish and artful vibe you’d expect from Magic Door Recording.
I thought I’d conduct the interview in two parts: first talk about Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help, and then separately, address Glenn’s history with Bar/None. But in reality, it’s really hard to separate the two, and both topics weave in and out of each other, throughout the conversation. A conversation that I’d been wanting to have for quite a while, and one that made my day. I hope it makes yours too. More information on Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help here: http://rhyme-reason.com/glenn-morrows-cry-for-help. And check out Bar/None Records here: http://www.bar-none.com.
Artist | Title | Album
R. Stevie Moore and Jason Falkner | I Hate People | Make It Be
Felsen | Heroin | Accidental Drowning
Blake Babies | Boiled Potato | Earwig Demos
Petrified Max | Hole In The Sky | Charlie Drove North
Duncan Faure | All at Once | Pronounced Four Uh
Death Of Samantha | Conviction | If Memory Serves Us Well
Rick Hromadka | Searchlight | Big Stir Singles: The Seventh Wave
Easy Love | 2. Alright | Wander Feeler
Nolan Voide And His Own Bad Self | Mid Life Crisis | Single release
JonEmery And The Unconventionals | If You Think You’re Heartbroken Now | Wrecked
Leslie Pereira & The Lazy Heroes | Good Karma | Good Karma
Chris Isaak | Running Down The Road | First Comes The Night
The Brothers Steve | She | #1
Trip Wire | Had Enough | Once & Always
The Amplifier Heads | Black Mascara | Music For Abandoned Amusement Parks
Elk City | 25 Lines | Everybody’s Insecure
Glenn Morrow interview
Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help | Soul Hold | LP2
Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help | Watch It Burn | LP2
Glenn Morrow’s Cry For Help | Forever and a Day | LP2
Poplord | Flower Bomb | Poplord vs The Universe
Lisa Mychols & SUPER 8 | Time Bomb | LISA MYCHOLS & SUPER 8
Rachel Taylor Brown | bruce wayne’s bastard son | Susan Storm’s Ugly Sister and Other Saints and Superheroes
Ming Tea | BBC | Austin Powers
The Clash | Overpowered By Funk | Combat Rock
Blake Jones & The Trike Shop | Sun Up | The Underground Garden
Alpha Cat | Thatched Roof Glass House | Thatched Roof Glass House
Marshall Holland | When The Rain Comes | Paper Airplane
Lannie Flowers, Danny Wilkerson, Orbis Max | One Of A Kind | Single release
Dolph Chaney | The Handling | Rebuilding Permit
Krista D | Penny for your Thoughts | Look at me… I’m Krista D
Frank Black | Superabound | Teenager of the Year
Alison Hogan | Angel At The Crossroad | Single release
Mimi Betinis | Pontiac | Music Sounds
mylittlebrother | Responsibility | Howl
Anton Barbeau | Magazine Street | Natural Causes
Sunshine Boys | The World Turning Round | Work and Love
Farrington | Anatomic | Single release
Piramid Scheme | Modern World | Seen This Before – EP
The Soundtrack Of Our Lives | Lone Summer Dream | Parasol’s Sweet Sixteen, Volume 5
fIREHOSE | Down With The Bass | Flyin’ The Flannel
Kai Danzberg featuring Dear Stella | Let Him Go | Big Stir Singles: The Seventh Wave
Bill Lloyd | I’ll Take It From Here | Don’t Kill The Messenger
Drunken Prayer | It Happens All The Time | Cordelia Elsewhere
Librarians With Hickeys | Obsession | Long Overdue
The Mysteries of Life | Coat of Arms | Bad Advice
In.Deed | Heart Attack | Everest
Belly | Feed The Tree | Star
Lou Reed | Sick Of You | New York
Allyson Seconds | Dig My Pig | Bag of Kittens
Chris Church | These Daze | Backwards Compatible
The Flat Five | Butterflies Don’t Bite | Another World
Hannah Judson | Parachute | Stingray
NRBQ | Over Your Head | You Gotta Be Loose
Steve Barton | Gimme Your Hand | Tall Tales And Alibis – album 3
Little Guilt Shrine | One Two | Boy Girl Boy
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