Customer Reviews

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About The Rubinoos

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The Berkeley, California bred Rubinoos produced sweet, hook-filled and harmony-laden pop in an era (the mid-70s) that rock was loud, heavy and taking itself quite seriously. At the time their records didn't achieve the level of acclaim they deserved, but retrospect has brought the missing accolades. The DIY movement at the end of the '70s opened the door, and subsequent power-pop revivals reframed the Rubinoos as a seminal inspiration, alongside their own influences, such as The Beatles and Raspberries. Irregular regroupings to play live and record new CDs have shown their inspiration deepening and their talent expanding.

Their first run found a flash of fame in their second single, a cover of Tommy James "I Think We're Alone Now." Television appearances and teen magazine spreads sustained the enthusiasm for their terrific debut album, but their indie label struggled to keep pace with the momentum. A spellbindingly hook-filled follow-up single ("I Want to Be Your Boyfriend") and a fine second LP put them on the cusp of larger success, but a lack of financing and an untimely distributor problem sabotaged their chances. The band eventually split, with vocalist Jon Rubin and guitarist/songwriter Tommy Dunbar decamping for Los Angeles. A one-off EP produced by Todd Rundgren ("Party of Two") and a movie title theme ("Revenge of the Nerds") led the group to virtual status. Subsequent regroupings have produced occasional reunion shows, a tour of Japan, and a pair of latter-day CDs.

For those late to the party, getting your ears on the band's classic sides has been a frustrating experience. Their eponymous debut was reissued on CD in the late '90s (apparently remastered a quarter-step flat!), and quickly fell from print and into collectordom. Their second LP, "Back to the Drawing Board," was even tougher to find, and their third release, the EP "Party of Two," nearly impossible to catch after its original release. Additional Rubinoos sides that had been scattered on various Berserkley compilations also went MIA. The situation improved when the UK-based Castle Music acquired the Beserkley catalog and issued a 16-track Rubinoos anthology in 2000. And this year the floodgates have broken open with individual reissues of all three original releases (each with bonus tracks), and this extensive 3-CD set.

Unless you plan to pick up everything the Rubinoos have out on CD, this box is what you need. Disc one includes the group's debut single ("Gorilla," a DeFranco Family cover), the first two albums in their entirety (remastered at the correct speed!), and a trio of rarities that include covers of The Strangeloves "Rhythm of Love" and The Paley Brothers "Rendezvous." The original albums retain all the sweetness and light that was so out of place at the time of their recording. Rubin's high-tenor soars on songs of love (often the puppy variety), the harmonies are crisp and bright, and the guitar solos and punchy rhythm are a pop radio dream. "Rendezvous" was remixed from the original multitrack tape and its Wall of Sound is liberated from the cassette mix previously issued on the rarities CD, "Garage Sale."

Disc two adds additional rarities from "Garage Sale" (including a great cover of The Raspberries "Cruisin' Music") and tracks that were demoed for a never-completed third group album. These latter tracks, including "Hurts Too Much" and "Hit the Nerve," are a truer continuation of the earlier albums than the Rundgren-produced "Party of Two" (which was credited as a Rubinoos release, but only included Rubin and Dunbar). Also on the second disc are selections from the group's more recent releases, "Paleophonic," "Crimes Against Music," and "Twist Pop Sin." The all-covers "Crimes" offers up moving versions of The Eurythmics "Thorn in My Side" and Todd Rundgren's "There Goes My Inspiration," and a superb Four Seasons styled take on the obscure Lou Christie tune, "If My Car Could Only Talk."

Disc three features an entire vintage concert, recorded in 1978 at London's Hammersmith Odeon. In addition to Rubinoos originals (including the otherwise unavailable "Hey Royse"), the band reaches back to their roots as a cover band, singing a cappella on "Rockin' in the Jungle," and jamming on bubblegum's national anthem, "Sugar Sugar." The latter even manages to quote "Smoke on the Water" and "Downtown" before invoking an audience sing-along! The show closes with a 6-minute cover of The Seeds "Pushin' Too Hard," and the disc ends with a a cover of "96 Tears." As tightly controlled as the Rubinoos were on disc, they were equally exhilarating on stage, able to reproduce their harmonies in concert and summon up great rock 'n' roll energy.

As a career retrospective, this box set delivers everything you always wanted to know about the Rubinoos. The first two albums are gold, the proposed tracks for the third album in the same league, and the odds 'n' sods better than most bands' finished tracks. The missing Rundgren produced tracks of "Party of Two" never really fit the band's profile, and the additional rarities of "Garage Sale" and "Basement Tapes" are for fans that've fully digested the core catalog. This set is an essential for anyone who loves pure pop music. [©2007 hyperbolium dot com]

The Rubinoos are a talented band who did not get the recognition they deserved.They rock with hooks and leave the listener wondering who are these "guys"....Buy it,enjoy it and spread the word about THE RUBINOOS".

Simply put the Rubinoos are one of the Greatest Power Pop Bands of all time! And while this really does NOT include "Everything " it does a great Job by featuring all of the Songs from their first Two LP's and a ton of tunes from the rest of their 30+ year Career! What really makes this a must have is the Super Live Show featured on disc three from 1978. Energy galore!

You should not buy this set if you don't like hooky songs, great harmonies and incredible guitars. You should not buy this set if you don't like The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Raspberries. Even if you already own Rubinoos LPs or CDs, the incredible mastering, the recently discovered and freshly mixed 1978 live performance from The Hammersmith Odeon makes this purchase a no-brainer. You've been warned, don't play cute.

I must have listened to the first Rubinoos album a hundred times in the late 70's. I lost a considerable amount of my (once huge) record collection, and that album was part of it. Having not only that but everything these guys did (and a live show from the same period!)answered a prayer. Power pop in the best sense of the word, it doesn't simply mimic the sources. The Rubinoos would have been at home on Shindig or Hullabaloo, but that is only true due to the positive joy that spills out of the speakers. No irony, no angst, no shoe-gazing, no "gonna change the world" pontificating (not that those things are necessarily bad)or cooler-than-you attitude. Just incredible guitar, bass, and drums pop music. When it's done this well, it just doesn't go out of style. You can hardly accuse them of trying to cash in since disco, punk, and AOR rock were where the money was in 1977. Imagine the Raspberries, but a little more down to earth, or Big Star w/o the heavy load (don't even get me started on how amazing Big Star was-RIP Alex & Chris)and add a touch of Tommy James (duh) and you have an idea. Honestly, 80% of this set is stunningly good, and the rest is not that far behind. You know this won't be in print forever, so if you're tempted...give in.

Found these guys by accident in the late 70s with my then girlfriend Janine. Was going to see Paul Collins Beat at the Berkeley Keystone and misread my dates. These guys played instead and i was hooked. Saw them everywhere for the next few years (Berkeley, Palo Alto and SF) and dragged loads of friends who also became fans--well except for a couple of losers that didn't know better. I even saw them once at some divvy place off HW 680 (or was it 580). Anyway, they never got the credit they deserved. Other than the music, the best part of their shows was their humor. They really were the Beach Boys meets the Ramones. I still catch them when they reunion and the time they played the LA Pop fest.

I just want to know one thing. When are these guys going to release a serious cover of Sugar Sugar? Their version put the Archies to shame.

Buy this CD you will not be disappointed.

I'm a little hung by other's description of the Rubinoos as "DIY" (do it yourself) because they were always so very proficient musically and vocally--almost to a fault, and like Bruce Springsteen, even greater live. I say "fault" because it puzzled me at the time and it still does today why these guys didn't get on better with the punk/new-wave people. I mean, listen to the insults at heavy metal people here, very specific such as at Ted Nugent: (stoner) audience confrontation! you gotta love it. And listen to this live in England version of "Hard to Get"--wasn't that almost exactly what Nick Lowe was doing at the time? and then they actually opened for Elvis Costelo on the Armed Forces tour. This tape shows you how aggressively and FAST they were playing "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" when they returned. Very driving. Donn Spindt was (and probably still is) a GREAT GREAT drummer. I mean, was it snobbery on the Rubes part (not to interact more with the new-wavers) because they were so technically good?) and they lived in Berkeley, right? I know this is a group who probably suffers far too many "what-ifs," but HAD they just slipped into a corner of the new-wave scene circa 78-81--as Greg Kihn did remember? Wouldn't they have destroyed groups like the Records and Bram Thaichovky and The Yipes and the Lambrettas, The Pez Band, even Secret Affair? and wouldn't they even had had an "in" into the Berkeley punk/new-wave revival scene developing only about 7 years later, with Green Day and Rancid? (where, also with the Replacements' fandom in Minn? they would have/should have/ been properly revered as the courageous fathers of power-pop that they really are?). There are some of us, from aged just a little younger to just a little older than Barack Obama (read: Anthony Bourdain), who believe the late 70's to early 80's new-wave period was our very own pre-army 50's Elvis, and mid-60's Beatles/Beachboys/Stones period, and the Rubinoos SHOULD have been more of a part...

One quibble I have to bring up, not having to do with legitimate excuses the boys may have about quarrels with Matthew Kaufman and independent distributors going bankrupt, is how in large doses their "humor" could have bitten them on the as*. I mean, it's one thing to say segue from The DeFranco Family's "Gorrila" and "Heartbeat it's a Lovebeat" into "Sugar Sugar" in order to pi** off Jefferson Starship fans. Absolutely understandable, they were doing God's work as the "King of the Hill" folks say. But quite another to to over-emphasize this 'silly sh**' side of the Rubinoos, until it could have been falsely perceived as their raison d'aitre. They WERE A UNIQUELY FANTASTIC POP GROUP--and there shouldn't be anything embarrassing or undignified about that. So, I agree with the Rubes about making fun of those who called them 'pu****s', because a rock and roll (or even pop) group is not a masculine manly proposition the way say weighlifting is. BUT, come on, how many times did they have to keep playing DeFranco and Archies' covers , and let's face it, why were their own compositions (such as on "Back to the Drawing Board") so very younger in concerns than their actual age? How old were they (no, not their lying age of 12 in 1972) when they were singing about 'Arcade Queens' and 'the halls of school' or "Saturday Mornin Cartoons" and hosting 'win a date with the Rubinoos' contests in Tiger Beat, what have you? Why even do we need so many versions of "Rock and Roll is Dead" ? Wouldn't one suffice? I get the joke, ha ha. but again? I remember a (what I thought at the time was an unfair) review from Rolling Stone I think where they accused the Rubes of being so cynically cheerful that you would expect them to spit up on your shoulder if you hugged them. As if they were SO goof-ball because they themselves deep down might have been embarrassed by pop music. Otherwise, why not 'just do it straight'?

But let's stress the good side: this set is beautiful, gorgeous in fact, and great without (many) qualifications. Frankly, you will be thrilled when you receive it and open the package. However, as someone said, it DOESN'T have everything. I sure miss "Red Light" for example, from the "Live in Germany" LP and if it was me, I would toss off the 80-s sounding "Revenge of the Nerds II" theme and "Troubled Love"--should have gone to Toto. My personal favorite Rube's period is "Hurts Too Much" and "Hit the Nerve" and "I Love the Way Your Touch"--but if someone agrees with me, they will have to buy the "Basement Tapes" CD for "I Don't Wanna Break Up" and "When the Rain Comes Down" and the cover of "It's a Shame." But, nevertheless, the 2nd CD here is the one I am currently playing over and over in the car--because of its CLASSIC songwriting and singing, 'falling in love' and 'being in love' respectively, are not necessarily reserved for those in jr. high school you know--so special thanks for the newer songs from "Paleophonic" and "Twist Pop Sin" which I will have to seek out and also buy soon.!

..and in a better world, the Rubinoos would've been stars. The proof's in this sparkling three-disc set. If you like guitar-driven melodic pop with soaring harmony vocals and some tongue-in-cheek humor thrown in for good measure, it doesn't get much better than this. The obvious influences are '60s-era Beach Boys and the Raspberries, but the Rubinoos' music stands on its own merits and is well worth discovering.

If you're already a Rubes' fan, the best reason to buy this set is the terrific remastering job. I offer in evidence "Rendezvous," an Andy Paley song originally recorded for--then left off of--the band's 1978 long-player BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD. I'd heard this song previously on their 1994 rarities collection GARAGE SALE, where it sounded like a 16-year-old outtake. Not any more. Now it leaps out of the speakers, sounding like the Beach Boys produced by Phil Spector, background vocals and castanets right in the room with you. Amazing. And pretty much every song sounds this good (who knew there was so much bass to be found in those old Beserkley tapes?) There might also be the odd track you haven't found elsewhere, like the Rubes' title song from the "Revenge Of The Nerds" soundtrack, or their cover of the Raspberries' "Cruisin' Music." The previously unreleased 1978 Hammersmith Odeon concert also included here is just icing on the cake.

So buy this box to either discover a wonderful, unjustly-neglected band, or to hear familiar songs sound better than they ever have before. You win either way.

These guys were way too good in the '70s, and they're still way too good. A band has that managed to draw on roots and influences and still sound totally fresh, The Rubinoos are LONG overdue for this sort of collection. Buy it now, and once you've had the tremendously fun experience of listening to it (and that's one of the great things about this great band--their music is just so damn much fun to listen to), buy another copy for your best friend. He or she will thank you. And speaking of thanks, here's to the band for all the music in this set, a document that shows how great they were at the beginning and that proves they haven't lost a step.