Another Peach From Portland

Here's another record I picked up last week at Crossroads Music in Portland. When one of your favorite bands has released a paltry six albums in 37 years, well, you find yourself digging deep for rarities like promo singles, limited-edition EPs, bootlegs and the like for just one more song you don't possess. I can feel the empathy out there. The 1986 four-song 12" "No One Knows" from the Feelies eluded me for decades, but I can finally cross it off the shopping list. When I saw it in the bin, I swear I started to feel lightheaded. Did I overpay? As Discogs tells me, yes, yes I did, but I wouldn't trade that rush of adrenaline for an easy click of the add-to-cart button for anything.

As for "No One Knows", two of the songs come from the 1986 album 'The Good Earth'. All of the band's albums are fantastic, but I would rank this as their second best behind 1988 album 'Only Life'. I was a huge fan of Twin/Tone Records because of early releases by the Replacements and the Suburbs, and I thought it was really cool the Feelies found a home with them and Coyote Records in '86. Alas, this EP and 'The Good Earth' would be it from that label tandem.

The other two songs on "No One Knows" are covers that feel extra familiar because the Feelies have covered these acts more than once. Neil Young's "Sedan Delivery" is here, but the real gem for me is "She Said, She Said". The Feelies covered "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey" on debut album 'Crazy Rhythms' in 1980, and what a wonderful take that is, but this version of another classic from the Beatles may just eclipse it.

"She Said, She Said"