Brett CallwoodThe Tubes
The Completion Backward Principle (Capitol)
This is what we will be performing at the Whisky A Go Go on December 20. We’re doing the entire album, and then we’ll do another hour of songs from all the other albums. The last time we played the Whisky was 1977. I’ve been there a few times but it’s going to be quite a nostalgic evening.
I think this album is our most iconic album. We’ve done a lot of albums, but this was the first one we did with David Foster and he is a genius producer. It’s also our first album with Capitol Records. We had never worked with such a perfectionist as David. He really made us work hard and he was a cruel taskmaster. But it turned out really great. I think it still stands up today and that’s why we decided to bring it back and play the whole thing.
It’s got a little more of an R&B flavor to it than our previous albums had. When we worked with David, he had just finished working with Earth Wind & Fire. He had never done a rock album to that point. I think without knowing it, he gave it that flavor and let it go that way. He always used to say, “The song has gotta pay off.” He helped us rearrange the final chorus and the close of the song, and made it pay off for us.
We do new shows every year, but we’ve got to put in “Amnesia,” we’ve got to put in “Talk to Ya Later,” “Sushi Girl,” this songs from this album. So I think it’s a great record. We had to work so hard, and he made us all so much better players and singers. He changed our whole world.
The record before this, we had worked with Todd Rundgren and Todd was a feel-good kind of producer guy. He was a musician too, and he would say, “That feels pretty good, yeah,” then move on. That’s not David. It got easier on the next couple of records, because we got better.
The Tubes play with Jimmy Richardson at 8 p.m. on Friday, December 20 at the Whisky A Go Go.
(Capitol)
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