#thecavedogs

[indieephemera]

Hand-written playlist for a mix tape of songs by Boston bands The Cavedogs and Gigolo Aunts, summer 1990.

Much like my Flying Nun mix tape, here I copied music from CD to tape so I could more easily play it in friends’ cars, or my boom box at my school’s art studio. In this case, it was an entire CD: the recently-released debut album by one of my favorite local bands, The Cavedogs. But of course I needed to fill up the rest of the cassette.

I’d taped a live Cavedogs show that July, one of my first outings using my Sony D-6 recorder. So that went on the tape. And I thought the Gigolo Aunts would be another good addition. Not only were they sonically similar, the two bands even often shared a bill. And the Gigolo Aunts demo tape I had was only four songs long, so it made sense to put it on another cassette with a longer run time.

I’m not sure if I still have a copy of this mix, but at least I held onto all three original sources for it. And I will put that Cavedogs gig up online at some point as part of my live recording archive.

[indieephemera]

CD longbox for Joy Rides for Shut-Ins by The Cavedogs, released by U.S. label Enigma Records in 1990.

I first discovered The Cavedogs via WFNX’s local music program, Boston Rocks, where their demos were in heavy rotation for most of 1989. I’d go to their gigs (when I could sneak into the rock clubs) and even interviewed them for my high school newspaper.

So when their debut album was released on Enigma Records (home of Game Theory!), it was an event. The band even did a signing at Newbury Comics or Tower Records, which is where I picked up this CD. I opened the longbox then and there for the band members to scrawl all over the CD booklet. But even then, I held onto this little piece of cardboard.

[indieephemera]

Hand-written lyrics for the Cavedogs song “Tayter Country,” as scribbled by guitarist Todd Spahr.

The Cavedogs were one of my favorite bands in the Boston music scene of the late 80s. Hooky songs that veered from power pop to crunchy rock, with three distinct personalities and songwriters brimming with charm and sass.

It was somewhere around the time when I interviewed the band for my high school newspaper in fall of 1989 that I must have gotten a copy of these lyrics. At the time, I had a habit of obsessively transcribing the lyrics of my favorite songs, even if it meant I had to rewind the tape over and over again to try to make out every last word. So if the song in question is written by someone with whom you’ve established a personal relationship, why not simply ask for the lyrics? So I did.