Bop Doo-Wopp

by Richard S. GinellThis album, released as a stopgap between major projects, is really an anthology of various studio scraps and live remote pickups, no doubt carefully curated and selected by that indefatigable collector, Tim Hauser. The rhythm track for "My Cat Fell In the Well" dates back to 1976's Coming Out sessions (the vocals are from 1984); everything else comes from the period of 1983-84, including five performances from a live gig in Tokyo that was more comprehensively documented in 1996's Live In Tokyo. In the studio tracks -- a mostly eccentric lot -- the ebullient Transfer doo wop manner is celebrated again in "Baby Come Back to Me" and a nutty, fast "Unchained Melody." Though this is a peculiar, disjointed collection that only a Transfer collector would love -- the brief sum being less than the total of its parts -- the parts are certainly worth hearing, and they are certainly a departure away from the contemporary pop-minded Bodies and Souls.