Saturday, November 3, 2007

Acme Thunder - Let's All Get Naked (1978)

Chicago's Acme Thunder sprang from the ashes of area group, Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah in 1977. Where AHJ were decidedly hippy influenced, Acme Thunder were unquestionably a full on rock outfit. With essentially the same lineup as AHJ, the band enlisted Harvey Mandel on lead guitar and soon, their debut "Let's All Get Naked" was issued the following year. Though Acme Thunder were a credible act in and around the Chicago area, the addition of Mandel helped elevate the band to a whole other level musically. Having a successful solo career for many years, as well as ties to artists like Canned Heat, John Mayall, The Ventures and Love, Mandel's expertise was an instrumental factor in the development of the band's new sound.

Strangely enough though, the band only lasted two years before fizzling out completely. Aliotta continued in music primarily as a session player, Haynes went on to form his own publishing company and has issued a drug rehabilitation self-help album. Jeremiah is living near St. Louis, but his musical activities are unknown at this time. Mandel continues to thrive as a solo artist.

"Let's All Get Naked" is a respectable effort with a rather schizophrenic viewpoint. Swaying from bluesy rock to hard rock to glossy pop, the album doesn't quite know where it's going. The highlights are undoubtedly the rock tracks like "If I Only Had a Girl", "Go Like a Beast" and "Flowers". Several of the cuts including the fusion jam "Mexico", lack the presence of strong hooks, rendering the overall impression of this album as a bit lopsided in the quality department. Despite the magnificent musicianship here, the album fails to stand up on its own as a whole. Taken in parts, however, "Let's All Get Naked" is an interesting excursion into many genres. Never issued on compact disc, here's a sweet vinyl transfer straight from the archives. Check it...

13 comments:

micksguitar said...

great lp. amazing post.keep doing what you're doing it's fantastic. thanx mick.

Anonymous said...

Unique site. I gotta laugh cuz yer highlighting rare but, according to the majority of your descriptions - mediocre titles at best. I remember seeing A LOT of these as freebie promos coming thru the Mall Record Store I worked for back in the 80's and could barely give them away then. But still a few gems amongst. Would love to see a re-post of ACME THUNDER. thanks BFB

Anonymous said...

OMG - I used to be in a band with a guitarist who was close friends with Mitch Aliotta! Didn't think I'd find any references to this album on the web, but here it is!

Lost the vinyl long ago, would love to see a re-post!

Anonymous said...

I met the ATB with Mitch Aliotta at a club outside Waukegan in 1981. My friends and I drove down from Milwaukee.... Mitch was the most real musician I had ever met. They dedicated their song "Golden harley" to me and my frineds cuz we weer from Milwaukee. They, of course, played Lake Shore Drive. It was a fantastic night

Acoustic1 said...

Hi, Great post although it seems I am a little late. what are the chances of a re-up? I would greatly appreciate it. If you Have the Aliotta Haynes and Jeremiah Lake shore drive album would love to see that as well.

Mant thanks

Anonymous said...

Hello,congratulations for your nice work,can you do something with this link,cause its not working?Thanks for your time

Anonymous said...

The link is dead. Could someone please re-up this. I'm a big Harvey Mandel fan and would really like to hear this.

Anonymous said...

HELLO RONNIE
COULD YOU SEND ME THE LINK ON MY EMAIL FOR THE ACME THUNDER LP
i AM LOCATED IN FRANCE AND HAVE NO CHANCE TO FIND IT HERE
I WOULD LIKE TO LISTEN TO IT
MY ADRESS IS franck.lassal@orange.fr
MANY THANKS IN ADVANCE
VERY FRIENDLY FRANCK FROM FRANCE

Anonymous said...

HELLO
COULD YOU REUPLOAD THE LINK PLEASE
I HAVE NO NEWS FROM YOU TIL FEBRUARY MANY THANKS IN ADVANCE FRANCK FROM FRANCE

Anonymous said...

Would love a relink of this.

Many thanks

Anonymous said...

hello ronnie
oh yes i need absolutely a relink of the acme thunder lp
my adress is now francklassal@orange.fr
tell it to me when it is ready
many thanks in advance franck from france

Anonymous said...

R.I.P Mitch Aliotta.7/21/15. Talented, charismatic man. Sad day!

Unknown said...

I have a signed copy of the album. They used to play at a night club in Charleston, IL named Ted's Warehouse. All the members of the band autographed the album for me.