This may seem off the beaten path a bit, but three Life Out Of Balance members warrants a post and I wanted to put up something about a person very important to LOOB of whom little has been mentioned thus far on this blog! That person is founding member Richard Wittman! Not only was Rich one of the original three members (with Ted & Ward)...from what I gathered (I joined later), LOOB was very much Rich's baby! 30 years ago, these three guys met at the Stony Brook School and started a group, they roped in local musician Hubie Poole, formerly of F and Hubie Poole & the Chlorine Tablets. They recorded a demo at the end of the summer - Rich went to England for a year - and when he returned LOOB reconvened, this time with new drummer Mike Goodman (who turned out to be a real pain the ass!).
Rich left soon after I joined but remained a friend of the band, introducing & opening for us at our gig later that summer, and - in the autumn of 1990 - asking Ted & myself to play on some tracks he was working on with a British songwriter, Adam Boyle. Ted & I never got to meet Adam, but we had a great day with Rich, recording in Connecticut. Rich plays some tasteful guitar on these Map Collection songs, and - if I don't mind saying so myself - Ted & I did a bang-up job as well!
Rich is still playing in a band called the Spreewells, very much with the same Clash sensibility that early LOOB had! Reason enough to tip our hats to founding father, Rich Wittman! Cue The Map Collection!
The Map Collection, "Mappa Mundi", 1990
If I Were More Doer Than Dreamer
Just When You Least Expect It
Everything I'm Almost
The Length Of A Fringe
Adam Boyle - lead vocal
Richard Wittman - guitars, backing vocal, whistling
Ted Schreiber - bass
Michael Goodman - drums
Recorded August 26-28 & November 4, 1990 at Suite Sixteen Studio, Hartford, Connecticut
PLUS BONUS! On 12/12/90, LOOB, while warming up before a rehearsal, did a (very!) loose version of "If I Were More Doer Than Dreamer", probably after having just heard the tape (this very tape!). Halfway through, we switch into the break for the ancient LOOB tune "Rain" (same chords) before moving on to the business of the day.
Life Out Of Balance, rehearsal, Rocky Point Studio, 12/12/90
If I Were More Doer Than Dreamer/Rain
Hubert Poole - guitar, vocal
Frank Russell - guitar
Ted Schreiber - bass, vocal
Michael Goodman - drums, vocal
Download here (mp3 and lossless flac in one folder; delete flacs if you don't want the large files)
https://www.mediafire.com/?558t2t14d0rd1lv
