Search - Great Crusades :: Damaged Goods

With all my worldly possessions Sanford-and-Son-ed in the back of Brian Leachs Toyota pickup, I arrived in Chicago about 11:30 p.m. on May 16, 1998. With a welcoming party from Leach and my new roommate, Brian Hunt, I promptly proceeded to lose my mind and the next day, my keys. Such was the first night at my new home-a big loft at North and Oakley avenues, in Wicker Park. I started writing the songs on this CD soon after, with the help of Hunt, Leach, and Christian Moder, who had recently relocated here from Los Angeles. The songs were all done within about a year, but we figured we better try em out and see what stuck. So, we did a tour of Germany and Austria to play the new songs and to support the European release of The First Spilled Drink of the Evening in May 1999. But most of the songs were inspired by experiences we all had right here in Chicago. What this means is that if you hear places and names in the songs that sound real, they usually are. Cases in point with the Hungry Brain, the Pontiac Cafe, and Bernadette, a lady I met right on the front step of my new place. It seems only appropriate that we did much of the recording for Damaged Goods in that very loft-some in the basement, some in the main room. We actually recorded on the street corner, so dont be surprised if you hear some cars, buses, or trucks passing by. We also again enlisted Adam Schmitt (and his studio), without whom none of this would have been in any way possible, to produce, fix all the rough spots, and keep us endlessly entertained with his archives of famous studio outtakes. Youll also hear from other folks we enlisted who played horns, strings, and percussion; snapped fingers and clapped hands; rambled drunkenly and yelled nonsense; broke bottles and valuables; and generally made the recording sessions a great time. And so, without any further adieu, heres how they turned out. We decided to call it Damaged Goods.