August 3, 1983 – “This Is It” Multi-media Show – Community Playhouse (now SwillBurger)
March 3, 1984 – “This Is It” Record Release Party – Top of the Plaza
“What we’ve heard is so disturbing
It takes time to settle in
Our destination doesn’t matter
This is it… life hereafter”
The song always comes first. It has been forty years since Personal Effects released the album “This is It.” It included the song “This Is It” and the back of the album featured photos that Duane Sherwood took of a video of the “This Is It” Multi-media Performance at the Community Playhouse in 1983. In March of 1984 we celebrated the release of the album “This Is It” with a special performance at the Top of the Plaza. So it must have been somewhere near the end of 1983 when we ran a Whirlwind snake down the laundry shoot of our house on Hall Street and recorded the album, “This Is It,” in the basement.
From guitarist, Bob Martin’s website: “We borrowed a Tascam 8-track tape recorder, a Yamaha mixing console, and an audio snake that we ran from the basement, up the laundry chute, to a 2nd floor bedroom which acted as the control room. Bernie Heveron (our bass player) had gotten ahold of three used reels of 1/2 inch tape from the Eastman School of music. We also borrowed a Neumann mic for vocals from Dwight Glodell (who referred to it as ‘his car’, due to the expense of being one of the best microphones in the world).
Duane Sherwood was the recording engineer, who’d run the recorder and set up a rough playback mix. We used a walkie-talkie to communicate between floors (I think). Or we may have just yelled up the laundry chute. After every take, we’d all run up two flights of stairs to hear what we’d done.
When it came time to mix, we used the same setup, limited by the post production processing available. And what we came out with was a respectable effort considering the lo-fi nature of it all. We pressed it, and it was issued as the first release on our own Earring Records label.
I sent the tapes off to Sonicraft in 2011 to have the multitracks converted to digital for remixing and put the transfers away for a few years. This summer, I finally got around to seeing what could be done with them. I was most surprised by how well we’d actually recorded the tracks back in 1984. They sounded great, and really only needed a bit of multiband compression/limiting and some equalization.
As my ears aren’t as good as they once were (hey, a life in rock and roll), I turned finalizing the project over to the amazing Arpad Sekeres for final EQ and mastering.”
THIS IS IT – REMIX 2024 Available now on streaming platforms
1. I Had Everything (Dodd, Fournier) 3:08
2. My Desire BONUS TRACK (Dodd, Fournier) 2:59
3. No One Can Get To You (Heveron) 3:53
4. Bring Out The Jazz (Dodd, Fournier, Heveron, Martin) 3:24
5. X-Melody (Fournier) 3:02
6. Fascinating Game (Edic, Fournier) 4:16
7. End Of The World* (Dee, Kent) 3:14
8. Drifting Apart (Dodd, Fournier) 4:25
9. What’s The Attraction (Heveron) 5:13
9. Security (Fournier) 2:19
10. A Mess (Dodd, Fournier) 4:41
11. Main Trail BONUS TRACK (Heveron) 3:43
13. Porch (Dodd, Edic, Fournier, Holm) 2:53
14. Mojave BONUS TRACK (Dodd, Fournier) 6:18
15. This Is It (Dodd, Fournier, Heveron, Martin) 3:11
Personal Effects are:
Paul Dodd – Drums, Vocals
Peggi Fournier – Vocals, Sax, Organ
Bernie Heveron – Bass, Vocals
Bob Martin – Guitar, Vocals
This record was recorded and mixed by Personal Effects at home on borrowed equipment with help from Duane Sherwood.
Special thanks to Duane Sherwood, Dwight Glodell, Kevin Vicalvi, Eric Dufaure, Bob Morasse, PCI, Stan, Whirlwind Audio, Dwight’s car, Shawn Irons, Scorgie, Chris Grener, Chris Schepp, Sheryl and Carol.
Front cover photo by Gary Brandt. Design by Paul Dodd
All Songs © 1984 Lint Music (BMI) except* Summit Music Corp. (ASCAP)
(P) Earring Records, A Division of Lint Music © 1984 Personal Effects
Review: PERSONAL EFFECTS “THIS IS IT” BY PAT THOMAS, Notebook APRIL 1984
“Personal Effects new album “This Is It” is a pop masterpiece in its own right. Recorded by the band themselves at home, the production is basic, yet smooth and flowing. The songwriting and musicianship is first rate, the lyrics and music complementing each other throughout the album.
A catchy guitar riff with a haunting organ background starts off “I Had Everything,” the opening song and one of the album’s more memorable melodic songs. (And one that I would strongly recommend for airplay.)
The alienation concepts of “No One Can Get To You” are lyrically, reminiscent of Jack Kerouac’s “The Dharma Bums,” “sit in the woods for three days.
One of Personal Effects’ more popular songs follows, “Bring Out The Jazz,” a happy upbeat tune celebrating the joys of life with Paul’s vocal perfectly projecting the mood of the song. “Bring Out The Jazz” sums up what Personal Effects are all about. A fun, creative band without pretensions or falsehoods that make good, danceable, intellectually and physically stimulating and satisfying, pop music.
Other highlights include “Drifting Apart” – easily the best song on the album with its psychedelic feel, low-volume guitar providing just the right touch – a great mix and production that captures the spirit of the band and their live performances.
Another surprise follows, “What’s The Attraction.” Bernie’s lethargic vocal and intelligent lyrics tell an increasingly intense story of a religious-cult gathering or concert. The vocal line builds and builds as Bernie works himself into a nervous frenzy that is fantastic and genius.
In rock music’s existence, musicans and bands have influenced each other time and time again, sometimes to the point that everything begins to jell into one, evident thru MTV and FM-Top 40 radio stations. The best thing about Personal Effects and “This Is It” is summed up in one word; “UNIQUE.”
Bob Martin created this poster below from his memorabilia from that time.
