Live in London

by Dave Thompson Live in London was the first Dr. Feelgood album to be recorded following the departure of guitarist Gordon Russell -- although nobody knew that at the time. New member Steve Walwyn had played just a handful of shows with the band when they headlined London's Town and Country Club, a sold-out show that was being filmed for a television special; it was only when the group listened to the tapes after the show that they decided there could be no better way of introducing the new recruit to the record-buying public. The set was classic late-'80s Feelgoods, ranging across the band's entire career and drawing the wildest crowd-pleasers from every era. Even among the old-old-timers, who in the audience could resist powerhouse renditions of "Milk and Alcohol," "Down at the Doctors," and "Route 66," pumped out with the Maxim gun intensity that had always been the Doctor's calling card? "Baby Jane" is a savage surprise, taking a song that had grown somewhat tired and disheveled and giving it an absolute facelift; "She Does It Right" sounds dirtier than it has since Wilco's day. And one track from the misguided Classic album, the apt "Quit While You're Behind," proves that, whatever else was wrong with the record, it wasn't the material. Live in London is not a new Stupidity -- time, place, and flavor have all changed irrevocably since the days when this material wasn't simply exciting, it was fresh as well. But anybody ever sitting down to chart the Feelgoods' musical course by live recordings alone would be hard-pressed to find even the hint of a decline. The Doctor is always on duty.