More Miserable Than You’ll Ever Be

Description

More Miserable Than You’ll Ever Be is an album released by the American singer and songwriter Michael Roe of The Seventy Sevens fame under the 7&7is moniker, a name taken from the title of a classic song by the ’60s band Love called “Seven and Seven Is”. (Love featured Bryan MacLean, the half-brother of Maria McKee of Lone Justice fame.) The album was independently released on Alternative Records in 1990. The CD features Michael Roe solo tracks, demos/outtakes from The 77s’ self-titled album released on Island Records, and unreleased material from The Magnets (Michael Roe & Larry Tagg). (Fun With Sound, a second album under the “7&7is” moniker, was released on The 77s’ own label Fools of the World in 2004. Also see the compilation album Misery Loves Company released on Lo-Fidelity Records in 2014.)

In the late ’80s Michael Roe was high and dry. The bulk of his band, The 77s, had up and left him and the label for which he recently had been recording was facing a mountain of financial problems. Desperate to keep producing new material, Roe aligned himself with the tiny California based label Alternative Records (a miraculous little label led by Randy Layton, with a nearly flawless catalog of releases) and issued More Miserable Than You’ll Ever Be, an odds-and-ends compilation of leftover 7 & 7 Is songs designed as a space-filler as Roe plotted his next move. Though it was originally released in 1989 as a limited edition 1000 copies box set, featuring a cassette tape (“The Treasure In You”, “Come and Gone”, “Miserable”, “U U U U”), a 3-track CD-single (“The Treasure In You”, “Miserable”, “Perfect Blues”), and a 2-track 7-inch gold single (ballad side: “Jesus”, rhythm side: “Unsatisfied”), packaged in a hand numbered silver metallic box, the record was soon offered as a single convenient CD. (Actually, Alternative Records did send Michael Roe some money to make some demos that became the 4-track 7&7iS EP, initially released just on tape. That tape did pretty well and Randy Layton got the idea to do the expanded box set.)

With only three albums and sporadic live performances in the Christian marketplace, The 77s have been elevated from merely influential to legendary status among Christian rock bands. Perhaps only Daniel Amos can claim a more fanatical following. Like DA, The 77s never enjoyed the sales that their reputation commanded, and the band’s original records are out of print. However, two labels have begun to cater to fans with recent releases that perfectly complement one another, and collect a good deal of highly sought after material. Broken has compiled the superb Sticks and Stones collection, and Alternative (which released Steve Scott‘s Lost Horizon) has succeeded in persuading Mike to pull together some terrific new tunes, along with some 77s material from the vaults, to make More Miserable Than You’ll Ever Be.

More Miserable opens with the de facto title track, «Miserable», a grungy rocker with a theme which anyone wo’s ever tried to help an unconsolable friend will identify, and is followed by «UUUU» (You You You You), a Chuck Berry-by-way-of-Dave Edmunds rocker. You’ll be surprised by one of the new Roe solo tracks, «The Treasuer in You», a tender ballad unlike anything he laid down with The 77s. Another treat is the live recording (from 1985) of a Roe/Jan Eric duet of Lou Reed’s «Jesus», done in an acoustic blues style. Also rescued are four songs which appeared on The 77s’ 1987 Island album – «I Can’t get Over It», «What was in That Letter», «Do it for Love», and «Don’t Say Goodbye». All four are substantially different and in most cases, better, than the versions previously issued. Most interesting is the demo version of «Don’t say Goodbye». Which is slower, a bit rockier, and features some stellar sax work. Former Bourgeois Tagg members Larry Tagg and Mike Urbano contribute to the final two tracks, a Roe/Tagg tune called «Tattoo» and a totally different version of «Miserable».

The songs sound uniformly crisp and well-produced, despite the difference in age and master tape sources. 77s fans will have a field day, and those new to the band will find a perfect sampler, and hopefully, the first of many new recordings to come. [Bruce A. Brown, CCM, August 1990]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/more-miserable-than-youll-ever-be-deluxe/854511897)

CD tracklist:

01. Miserable – 4:05
02. U U U U – 2:53
03. Treasure In You – 4:23
04. Come And Gone – 3:58
05. Jesus (Live) – 3:09
06. I Can’t Get Over It (Live) – 4:26
07. What Was In That Letter (Vocal Rehearsal) – 3:04
08. Do It For Love (Stadium Mix) – 3:12
09. Don’t Say Goodbye (Demo) – 5:30
10. Tattoo – 4:05
11. Miserable (Cover Version) – 4:11

Note: In 2014 More Miserable Than You’ll Ever Be was fully remastered by Michael Roe, Mark Harmon, and Scott Reams from many of the original master tapes. This Lo-Fidelity Records re-release boasts 2 CDs with 13 previously unreleased bonus tracks and a 12 page booklet with historical photos from the “More Miserable” era, lovingly packaged in a tri-fold sleeve. Bonus tracks: Perfect Blues (Live) / Closer (Live) / Where It’s At (Live) / Do It For Love (vocal rehearsal) / What Was In That Letter (vocal rehearsal take 2) / Frames Without Photographs (vocal rehearsal) / Don’t Say Goodbye (vocal rehearsal) / God Sends Quails (cover version) / This House / Save It / Burning My Row Boat / Collector / You Don’t Scare Me (Live). Later also released for the first time on 12-inch vinyl double LP by Lo-Fidelity, fully remastered for vinyl. Pressed on Black & Pink and Green & Pink, limited to 100 copies of each version. Available at Bandcamp: https://the77s.bandcamp.com/album/more-miserable-than-youll-ever-be-deluxe

The 77’s – (L-R) Aaron Smith, Jan Eric Volz, Mark Tootle, and Michael Roe – with Randy Layton (Randall Wade Layton: September 4, 1960 – June 28, 2024), the mastermind behind Alternative Records.