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When "He's a Rebel" skyrocketed to No. 1 in November 1962, America fell in love with the voice of Darlene Wright...but her name was nowhere to be found on the 45 which was instead credited to The Crystals. Ironically, it displaced Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash" from the top spot; Darlene and her group, The Blossoms, had provided the background vocals for that record, too. A second "Crystals" smash followed for Darlene, "He's Sure the Boy I Love," and she joined The Blossoms' Fanita James and Bobby Sheen as Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans, notching more chart hits including a revival of the Oscar-winning "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," "Not Too Young to Get Married," and "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart." But Darlene was rightfully chafing at the anonymity as her voice was quickly becoming one of radio's most recognizable. Producer Phil Spector agreed to give her the credit she was due, but not as Darlene Wright. From that point on, she would be Darlene Love - and the hits kept on comin', including "(Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry," "Wait 'Til My Bobby Gets Home," and the immortal "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." More than 50 years after the release of "He's a Rebel," Darlene Love's career is still going strong, and on April 7, Liberation Hall will revisit one special period with the release of Live 1982 on both CD and DVD.
The 1980s saw Darlene Love's great "comeback." Though she had never turned her back on music completely, she had taken time off to raise her family and was working as a maid in Beverly Hills when she took the first steps to reclaim her career. Friends like Steven Van Zandt (who had likewise championed Love's Philles Records labelmate Ronnie Spector) proved crucial during this period, encouraging Love to return to live performing. She took venues like Los Angeles' Roxy and New York's Bottom Line by storm, and in 1982, producer Bob Lasiewicz approached her to stage a concert that would be filmed and recorded for possible release.
The performance at Hop Singh's in Marina Del Rey, California, on April 21, 1982 featured both Love's classic Phil Spector hits and more recent material she would issue on her 1983 solo debut LP Whole Hearted. She invited her younger sister, The Honey Cone's Edna Wright, and The Blossoms' Gloria Jones to join her as background vocalists, while the band called The Monte Carlos was assembled for the show with a lineup consisting of Billy Cioffi (leader, guitar), Spyder Mittleman (saxophone), Scott Richardson (guitar), H. Wayne Erwin (guitar), Michael Clark (piano), Paul Hertzog (Prophet synthesizer), Randy Wagner (bass), Jerry Angel (drums), and Michael Richards (guitar).
The concert was originally issued in 1985 on the fledgling Rhino label as Darlene Love Live! with a CD arriving in Japan in 1992. Liberation Hall's new edition drops one song from the program issued on Rhino (The Blossoms' cover of Ike Turner's "Goodbye, So Long") but adds two songs not included on that earlier release: The Beatles' "We Can Work It Out" and, in a nod to Van Zandt's longtime friendship and support, Darlene's sizzling cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart." The latter is streaming now on YouTube and all streaming services.
"I'm so pleased this concert is finally making it to DVD," Love comments in the press release for this new edition. "It captures a time when I was putting myself out in the world again, knowing that I still had more to offer through my music. It was a thrill to perform alongside two women with whom I had been singing for decades -- my sister, Edna Wright, and my fellow member in the Blossoms, Gloria Jones. The band that was put together for the event, the Monte Carlos, really understood rock 'n' roll. It was more rhythm on stage than I have ever had, and I think that made a big difference. I can't wait for people to see this show."
Live 1982 marks the first time this concert has been available on home video. The CD and DVD have been produced by Bob Lasiewicz for Live Time Productions. The audio elements have been remastered and the video re-edited from the original recordings.
Look for this time capsule of Darlene Love's stage return from Liberation Hall on April 7. You'll find pre-order links below! And if you missed the 2022 release of Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music's The Many Sides of Love: The Complete Reprise Recordings Plus! (1964-2014), that career-spanning anthology is still available on CD.
Darlene Love, Live 1982 (Liberation Hall)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
- Da Doo Ron Ron
- Wait 'Til My Bobby Gets Home
- (Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gnna Marry
- We Can Work It Out
- Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart?
- He's a Rebel
- Not Too Young to Get Married
- Sometimes When We Touch
- Hungry Heart
- He's Sure the Boy I Love
- Gospel Medley: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot/Oh, Happy Day/When the Saints Go Marching In
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I have enjoyed the Rhino vinyl for so many years, so really looking forward to this! No loss for the Ike Turner track being removed… it wasn’t part of the original show, just a recording captured from a ‘Shindig’ video by The Blossoms and tacked on at the end. Hungry Heart is amazing!
So glad this is finally being reissued, so glad! I hope, since it was mentioned in the article, that Whole Hearted will soon follow. Not a stellar recording by any means, but there are far too little Darlene Love solo recordings available. Let's also hope there may be a follow-up to Introducing... in the works. One question, and perhaps I'm not reading it correctly, but is "So Long Goodbye" cut from both the CD program & the DVD program? Shame it's cut from either one at all.
Hi Dana, it’s apparently not on the new CD or the new DVD… reason being it was not part of the 1982 concert. It was a 1965 audio recording by the The Blossoms from ‘Shindig’ tagged onto the Rhino LP as the last track; I always felt that it had no place being there, but I think Rhino had to flesh out the LP with anything as they (apparently) couldn’t get licensing clearance of Hungry Heart from the original concert.
Thanks! Logical move, yes. The addition of "Hungry Heart" & "We Can Work It Out" make a more rounded show. I always enjoyed "So Long Goodbye". Sounded out of place, but it's a spirited track.