Labor Day 2020

ThinWhiteLineRockNRoll

Bob Porter Month Soundtrack

Six songs from Thin White Line to start thr new year..

New Years Mix

End of the Decade Mix

this song is from Dock of the Bus Stop, our first release. Most of our songs were pretty serious, but we did have a fun side.    

01 Pink Dots From Mars

Bob wrote this song about the infamous female punk band Dress Up as Natives. It's always been a favorite and loads of fun to play. These folks in the picture celebrate the spirit of that great band.

02 Gentlemen Prefer Natives ()Long silence at start

We recorded this at Duquesne University, they had recently added a sound design major. We were Brian Cobb's class project. The songs came out well, and were the backbone of the Something Invincible release.

Magnet of Bad Luck

Balancing  Act was written while the band was working on a picket line for a local grocery union. We weren't hired so much for our activism, as we were for the somewhat scary images that we presented. It was work, and our release Welfare Dub, and this song, which was released a few years later, were the results.

Balancing Act

This is a song that never made too many releases. We recorded this when Jeff Flaherty was in the band on guitar, and Toby Houser on bass. It was done at the Granati Brothers Studio in Coraopolis, Pa. The Granati's are a musical dynasty dating back several generations. They toured with various famous rock bands, and working there was a pleasure. The best compliment we ever had was when Dave Granati called us Lifers. As in we would play music until the end of our days.

Nobody Knows But I

This song features Toby Houser on Bass and Jeff Flaherty on guitar. We recorded this in the rehearsal space on a four track machine. It is one of the songs on our final release Something Invincible, which came out in 1995. It's short, fast and dense.

Problems With Electricity

This song is from the Welfare Dub release and is one of the most balls out tunes we played. Fast, raw and ripping, it gets straight to the point and shreds until the end.

The Welfare Dub

Night Silence (Studio Version)

This song was originally released on the Welfare Dub Cassette. It is the title track of the remastered EP on iTunes and Amazon under the band name Thin White Line. With the opening lines, "Love and emotion begone. History repeats itself if we wait to long..." it's as pertinent now as it was 20 years ago. Another great Robert Porter song.

Superman and That Girl

This is from our last sessions at the basement studio in Hazelwood. This has Toby Houser on bass, and Jeff Flaherty on guitar. It is on the Something Invincible release. I always think that apart from the beautiful metaphors, there is also the hidden pain of Bob's ongoing fight with The cancer that came from his service in Vietnam. As I look back now, I wonder what we fought for, something I'm afraid I people 40 years from now will wonder about our actions today. Peace    
Released on the 7th anniversary of Robert Porter's Death

Watch That Pain

This song is from the first album, Dock of the Bus Stop. despite some blemishes, it's a decent release with some great moments. This song was always fun to play.

Dock of the Bus Stop

Babylon Kids

This is a digitally polished version of a song from an earlier release now available as part of the Superman and That girl EP on Amazon and iTunes. It is the hottest track from the 90's and I would put it up against classics like Ace of Spades, Sonic Reducer or Anything by the New York Dolls. I love all those songs, but I think this is just as good. So pop on some headphones, buckle up and prepare for the 100 mile an hour propulsion of Thrilling Cities.

Superman and That Girl - EP

Thrilling Cities

This is Bob Porter's signature version of this Otis Redding tune. Many have tried, but few have made it their own the way Bob did. Wheteher ending the set, or ending the evening's performance, this song made it into almost every show's set list. I post this for the anniversary of his birth, to honor his memory and all the birthdays that we shared.

Live from Somewhere

Dock of the Bay

This was one of the first songs completely written by the version of the band I was in. I don't remember where it was recorded, Definitely done in a real studio. There is no complete version available on any CD or record. Just this from a cassette.

We're Not Animals

This features recordings from bands I've played in over the years. New material is in the future. Groups include Thin White Line, Eraserhead and Kitsch.

02 Gentlemen Prefer Natives ()Long silence at start

THIN WHITE LINE & FRIENDS