This is a pretty accurate review from Allmusic.com:
Casablanca's contribution to the early wave of new wave, Bugs Tomorrow skitters off the turntable, combining left-field originality with the usual references: Graham Parker, XTC, and Elvis Costello. Each ditty is a diverse entity, and even with printed lyrics, some of these wild ideas fly in one ear and out the other. Luckily, tunes this tasty make the songs stick in the cerebrum cortex. "Bitter Rice" collides xenophobia with weddings. The slammin' "Summer Camp" is a single for any season. "Chimpanzees" catches an early Phish feel. The lullaby "She Walks" simply transcends, before that potent power pop perennial "tonight" puts a wrap on the work in "Everything Tonight." Bugs Tomorrow runs where most would never dare (or care) to even walk. Sententious critics called Bugs' sole slab a calculated blender, but like Devo, that's the point. (Where London Calling mentions Montgomery Cliff, this record mentions Montgomery Ward.) Just kick back and enjoy this kooky capsule from one of rock's most erratic and entertaining eras. ~ Whitney Z. Gomes, All Music Guide
Morley Bartnof was in Arizona's own Cosmo Topper. David Vaught played bass or engineered numerous groups including Primitive Radio Gods, Toad The Wet Sprocket and Lone Justice.
Bugs Tomorrow are:
Bugs - Guitars and Vocals
Morley Bartnof - Keyboars and Vocals
Andrew Campbell-Hare - Drums, Percussion and Vocals
David Vaught - Bass
Barry Carson - Bass on "Experience"
Executive Producer Bruce Bird
Downloads all available on main page : http://azlocal.blogspot.com/
42 comments:
Dude, Bugs is my dad! I was so excited to find this little thing... my dad always says that he's "a rumour in his own mind, a legend in his own room," but I knew there must be someone who still listened to his music! Thanks a lot for this :)
LOL! Great, glad you found it, hope he's doing well!
chelsea-this was one of my favorite albums in the 80's! it is actually one of only 4 LPs that survived a flood in my house...finding it in MP3 format has been like revisiting my youth! so much fun and so much talent that should have been realized by the market...love this band!
You have no idea how excited my dad will be to hear your glowing review of his album :) You'll be happy to know that he's never stopped writing fabulously quirky music, and its only gotten better :) Thanks for being a fan, haha.
Hey! I'm Bugs' girlfriend. Bugs' name is John Henry Raskin. He still writes incredible lyrics, sings and plays guitar better than ever. His beautiful daughter Chelsea takes after her father in that she has an incredible voice and a wonderfully strange sense of humor! How cool to have his album on MP3! Thanks pjs!
Hey! I'm Bugs' girlfriend. Bugs' name is John Henry Raskin. He still writes incredible lyrics, sings and plays guitar better than ever. His beautiful daughter Chelsea takes after her father in that she has an incredible voice and a wonderfully strange sense of humor! How cool to have his album on MP3! Thanks pjs!
You are most welcome!
I remember seeing BUGS at Blackie's on Main street in santa monica...I think in is a wolfgang Puck restaurant now. I was a hopeful musician at the time and the band was great. They gave me an album and I still have it.
Hi Donna and Chelsea,
I still have this LP! Tell John Henry Jan Steckel says hi.
xxo,
Jan
The Return of Bugs Tomorrow?
thx so much for posting this
and the Hi Fi Mp3's sound is SO much better then the Long Player!
Bugz is one of my favorite peops
and we have kept in touch and played a few times through the years
Just for the Record (Pun Intended
Track 2 and Track 7 are identified incorrectly
track 2 Is Bitter Rice
and track 7 is Burning With The Fever
so the Titles are in the correct order yet when you hear the songs they are reversed dig?
After Bugs i joined Burning Sensations
we had a song and vid called Belly of the Whale
and for the past 5 years or so I've been performing and recording with Dramarama
But This fun record with Bugs will always be a great memory to revisit thanks for sharing
Morley Bartnoff
John,Hey I had a dream about this album and googled you. I did the hair for the album and was friends with Bugs etc. can't beleive you have a kid or that we are still alive I'm gonna put you on my Iphone.Rock on!!!!! Penny(Burns) Peyrot
I heard this album in Polish radio in 1980. In the same time the other interesting albums like Slaughter And The Dogs - Bite Back and Dirty Looks - st were released. I've been looking for that for many years! Which way I can download that? The link http://www.zshare.net/download/5493994839e2d9/e0d4525786ee9cd7b0b6092dcddbac45/1231030474/5493994/bugs.zip is not working!
Dead link :(
I heard this album in Polish radio in 1980. I've been looking for that for many years! Unfortunately download link is not working :(
Dead link :(
I have refreshed the link!
Enjoy
I've got it! Thanks a lot PJS!
You bet!
Howdy PJS . . .
Thanks for bringing John Henry and his persona of Bugs Tommorow into the 21st Century. Although it's great that you've hosted a download location, I really didn't need the mp3 download because I've got it all on tape... I've had one of the 2-trk master safety mixes since the final daze of mixing. I've kept it in my vault, just in case.
Thanks again for your efforts . . .
Oldest Roadie Left Standing
Ahhhh, Bugs.
What a bunch o' fun it was seeing and hanging with these guys.
The Starwood wasn't all safety pins and rolling around on broken glass and peanut butter. Sometimes it was fine kick-ass Rock and Roll music with Bugs.
I saw these guys a bunch of times, sat in on a couple of the mixing sessions for the LP, and then followed Morley and Andrew over to Andy And The Rattlesnakes and Burning Sensations.
In the entire LA scene, there may have been no finer gentleman than John (Bugs) himself. I have such fine memories of hanging with this open hearted sweetheart of a guy who was just too sweet and sensitive to make it in this cut-throat scene.
I ran into John again a couple of years aback at a Rattlesnakes reunion gig in Santa Monica, and if possible he was even warmer and sweeter than ever before.
And Bartnoff, man, do I have memories of Bartnoff. Tooling around LA, Santa Monica, Venice and Hollywood with him on the back of my motorcycle in a vain attempt to make sound check on time.
Hunting down power cables, flailing on his electric piano precariously perched on an ironing board, or playing the manic maniac Oberheim like the demented Bach of Los Angeles.
Hell, Morley was so hip, so professional, he even had call forwarding!
Somewhere out in the garage I still have my signed vinyl copy, and if I want to feel nostalgic I pop it on, and hear John whispering softly about the 'children of the night..."
Y'know, I think I'll go and do that now.
Thamks for the memories, and thanks to John and Morley for such a great ride when it felt the best.
I grew up in Buenos Aires , Argentina,
by the time I was a teenager I was listening to a loty of new wave music, that wasn't very popular,most of it from England. Besides that somehow it was very difficult to get rare non popular vinyls( no cd's yet) so I usually had to look everywhere to find something new. So one day I came across a Bugs Tomorrow vinyl, a treasure, really one of my favorites and all my friends who were into such music at that time. Many years later I moved to the US ( without my vinyls, of course) and had never been able to find a Bugs cd or anything until I got serious about surfing the net. When I found this page I was very surprise to see that the band was so small here....I thought and still think how's that possible !!! You made it all the way to Argentina.... so if Jhon or somebody close to him reads this I wonder if they ever play? I would love to see them playing!!!
and if I can get buy a record?
thank you
Ezequiel
The link to the download no longer works. Can it be fixed?
Ezequiel,
You can reach Bugs (John Henry Raskin)directly by emailing him at rasksearch@aol.com
Thank you for your positive comments and for finding us. We haven't checked this site in a few months, and your comments are very encouraging and much appreciated!
Donna Raskin
Ezequiel,
You can reach Bugs (John Henry Raskin)directly by emailing him at rasksearch@aol.com
Thank you for your positive comments and for finding us. We haven't checked this site in a few months, and your comments are very encouraging and much appreciated!
Donna Raskin
Hey Bugs fans, looks like we're going to do a "Bugs Tomorrow" reunion in 2011. Only Morley and Bugs from the original band, but should be great! Hoping to include three unreleased songs Bugs recorded with my old band "Punch" in the early 80's, including "Tiger in Love" and "Binocular Love". Really great songs!! Get ready for the return of Bugs Tomorrow!
As a kid I came across a savaging of this album in the Rolling Stone Record Guide of the time - a merciless dissection. Of course that made me want to hear it all the more; I was just leafing through the guide and decided to see if anyone had gotten around to digitizing it - looks like the link has died. Could you re-up one more time?
Dunno if anyone is looking after this blog lately but I am dying to hear Summercamp again. Love that song! Love this album! Can you please reup? Thanks!
All files are available for download on
The main page. Enjoy!
I remember seeing BUGS at Blackie's om Main ST in Santa Monica, I think it is a Wolfgang Puck resturant now. Much funner when it was Blackie's.
Bugs Tomorrow is not forgotten!
Thank you so much for posting this.
I made a point of buying the album used...had to use GEMM to find it and
it was not cheap (but worth it).
Not every song has to be painfully
deep. Sometimes I just want to have fun.
Here it is! LOL (as I type...and listen
to the album)
Take care,
Javadog
Hey Marty,
I wanted to add that Allmusic does not link you to Bugs Tomorrow.
If you search Burning Sensation, and
then check Credits, there you are,
but selecting you only show Cosmo Topper, and no Bugs Tomorrow.
Searching up Bugs Tomorrow does again
show you, but this links to the same page.
You deserve to have all of your credits listed!
(someone who never released an album ;0)
JD
http://www.allmusic.com/album/bugs-tomorrow-mw0000982027/credits updated
I'm listening to this album on vinyl for the first time and I think it's lot of fun!
True story, I found my copy on the side of the road, literally. On my way to work, I came across the record just lying flat next to a trash can. After picking it up, I noticed that it was complete. Not only that, but the record itself was in near pristine condition. It was fortuitous because I recently bought a new record player to enjoy my vinyl collection.
I took with me and now it is in a good home. Never heard of this group, but I'm enjoying the whole album. It's great to read through the comments, seeing all the people who loved the music along with Bugs' loved ones.
This discovery has made my week, so glad I found this! Take care!
I just bought your album at my favorite store, Younger Than Yesterday, here in Peoria, IL. I had honestly never heard of your band or seen the record before but something told me to buy it. I wish I could tell you it was behind the counter with a $50 price tag on it but I did pay $5 for it. I feel like I found a lost treasure! Have listened to it several times and it's infectious! A perfect time capsule of late 70's early 80's New Wave. It sounds like Elvis Costello was a heavy influence, along with several other Stiff Records song Smiths. Seriously, this is a great record. Thanks for making it all those years ago and I would very much be interested in anything else you have worked on since.
Btw Love the 'lock track' on side one! Great effect to end the side.
Hi Jay
Thanks for your kind review and for getting it. If you are interested in some odds and ends that I have done over the years you can search John Henry Raskin and Bugs Tomorrow on YouTube. Here is a link to a hidden gem that I did on the fly (extemporaneously)in a friend's kitchen in Tacoma about six years back that might make you smile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGpKpquBiGs.
Feel free to friend me on Facebook as well as John Henry Raskin.
Be blessed,
Bugs
My dad was in the music business and I found a pin back button that says “Bugs Tomorrow”, rare I’m sure!
Oh that’s cool! Are you able to post a photo of the pin!
I'm really sorry Ezekiel for the incredibly slow reply. Thanks for being a fan when it was really hard to be cutting edge in a different way than everybody else was and have people get it. All I can say is the demos were better than the album and if you read this and can send me contact information I will see if I can get you an MP3 of some stuff you'll enjoy.
Sorry for the late reply. I love that story of how you found the album. The fortuitous part about you just getting a turntable tells me it's a God thing. Believe it or not I'm now a pastor and all I can tell you is when we see those types of coincidences we always consider them to be orchestrated and like to think it's just God showing off. Thanks for writing this. I probably haven't checked it since you did, but now that I've read it it made me smile.
Jay, I really appreciate your kind review. You're welcome to reach out to me on facebook if you like. Sorry, sorry for the late reply. It's been a very long time since I've checked this thread.
I play with John every Sunday at church. I love that Guy!
I play with your dad John Henry every Sunday! Such a great friend!
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