Times Beach Step In Time

Times Beach came together in 1983 with a core of active members from San Francisco's vibrant theater community. That background propelled the band to a kind of stage glamor that wasn't much seen during the era of post-punk, industrial, and goth music. They were just so striking to see and hear. And they had damn good songs. But, like so many excellent bands of the era, they suffered from the home town curse since they were not from New York or England or Los Angeles. They were just from San Francisco. Over the course of two years, Times Beach performed throughout the Bay Area, playing most of the major (and minor) clubs such as The Stone, Baybrick Inn, Cotati Cabaret, Berkeley Square, Sound Of Music, Trocadero Transfer, Ashkenaz, Ruthie's Inn, Sleeping Lady Café, and the beloved Chi Chi Club (where the regal Miss Keiko was a true fan). They had a good group of dedicated supporters, and many of their shows were real party events. When it came time to record, they accepted an invitation from the illustrious Snakefinger (aka Philip Lithman) to produce them at Russian Hill Studio. He brought along his friend Eric Drew Feldman to help out, which proved fortuitous. Eric and Times Beach's Stēv LeGrand formed a bond that resulted in many successful projects, including scoring the award-winning production of Sam Shepard's The Tooth Of Crime for Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The first part of their story ends just about there, as they never made enough money to actually produce the album from the recordings. And the various members started drifting off. The final public gig was like their first, at the Mabuhay Gardens, in November 1984. Side One of this LP is comprised of those glorious Snakefinger sessions. Side Two presents just a few of the other great songs they wrote and performed live and never captured in any other form