NEEVA - Neeva (1983)

Country:

USA

Genre:
Electronic
Style:
New Wave, Synth-pop

Members:
James Nevius, Vanessa Wilkinson

VIDEO

"Blue Star"

Credits:
Artwork By [Art Direction And Design] - Spencer Drate
Drums, Noises [Telephone] - Andy Newmark
Primary Assistant Engineer - Arthur Payson
Guitar - James Nevius , T.J. Tindall (tracks: 03, 08, 09)
Mastered By - Howie Weinberg /Photography [Album Cover Photos] - Curtis Knapp
Producer - T.J. Tindall /Recorded By - Eddie Ciletti
Songwriter - C.P. Roth (tracks: 03, 08) , James Nevius , T.J. Tindall (tracks: 06) , Vanessa Wilkinson (tracks: 01, 02, 05)
Synthesizer [Korg Ms-20, Wasp, Micromoog, Pulse] - Vanessa Wilkinson
Synthesizer [Yamaha Cs-80, Oberhiem] - C.P. Roth
Vocals - James Nevius
Piano - Cotton Kent (track 06)/Whistling - Arthur Payson , Eddie Ciletti , James Nevius , Vanessa Wilkinson

Notes:
Recorded and Mixed at Skyline Studio, New York City, 1981.

"Will You Be Mine" is listed as two separate tracks, Part I and Part II, on the Side B disc label. However, the two parts are combined into one physical track on the vinyl, are listed on the LP cover as one track, and the side B label only gives the total time for the one "combined" track.

Tracklist:

01 Starshine (3:05)
02 Love (Gotta Hold On Me) (3:25)
03 Blue Star (3:08)
04 In Tune (3:13)
05 Seventeen (3:00)
06 Walking On Air (3:11)
06 Let Your Body Go (3:25)
07 Will You Be Mine (Part I And II) (7:15)
08 Tomorrow's On Its Way (3:20)

Link to download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/70175601/neeva-neeva_1983_192_kbs.rar.html

It's strange but i found info about everybody who contributed on this album,except the most important two persons ,the members. (I found some James Nevius on the net ,one of them leading tour guides in New York,other has a famous club etc.,but none of them the guy im looking for.It was same with Vanessa Wilkinson)

Neeva's album is very rare. I hope you will like it!:)

They released only one Lp and some singles in 1983.

Anyway their most known song is "Walking On Air",which is appeared on the compilation "Miniminiminiminimal vol 4"

Where are you now dear Vanessa and James ?? I would be very happy with more info about you! I hope if you see this entry will give me a sign of life ! :)

UPDATED (oct.2008)

Good news !! i got messages from Vanessa, Jim and Eddie !!:)

VANESSA WILKINSON

works for Brooks Range Petroleum and living in Alaska

Vanessa added:

"Instead, let's start over. I am Vanessa from Neeva. You got a lot of the info correct but missed some stuff. I liked Walking on Air a lot however, Blue Star is the one that we did the video of and was on the radio for a short time.
I met Jim in Tenafly NJ. I moved from San Francisco with my band Human Benz. I started a band called Our Daughter Wedding with my then boyfriend Keith and our high school friend Layne.(LOTS of stories there) Jim had a band called Neighbors and Allies at the time. We decided to put together a band. TJ Tindal had been following N&A and really liked what Jim and I had going so offered to produce us. The cute couple of the 80's. After Neeva (10 years later!) I met up with TJ again and we got married. He produced my next record which the guys from Billy Squires band played on. I never released that one.

NEXT: Yes we played live a lot. In fact we went on a mini tour with DavidJohansson. From the NY Dolls.

I am a classical flute player. Have played flute all my life. I was attending Napa College when I was in high school and playing first chair forthe North bay wind ensemble and the San Francisco Wind ensemble. I love contemporary music and played flute in a rock band that played high school dances and military bases when I was in High school. That band was called Dusty Rose. I played keyboards because I really disliked how Jethro Tull butchered the flute in rock music so I just could not play my flute and changed to Keyboards. My second record I did play flute. I wrote almost all the music and sang lead on all songs and keyboards. Alan ST John did almost all the keyboards on that one however.

Thank you for your interest! I can talk DAYS about those days! The daystaking dance classes with Madonna, Charlie Roth..........my modeling in NY that interwinded with the music......the other videos I cameoed in (MinkDeville "I must be dreaming" for one. I was the strawberry blond)"

JIM NEVIUS

had played in the "groovy teen band" called "Gloop Nox & The Stik People"(mid 1970's), later fronted Neighbors and Allies before formed Neeva.Before and after Neeva he also played the organ (and wrote some songs too) as a guest musician on John Trubee's albums. This was between 1976 - 1991.(More on John Trubee here : http://www.empty.de/Trubee.htm and here:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=150061279).

Later Nevius became a pastor for Apostolic Church of Truth and Spirit and still playing music.see this (there's also a recent photo of Jim there):http://www.webacts.org/
some more pics here:

http://www.webacts.org/BTS2006.htm

Jim is professor at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Jim added:
"Yes, John Trubee and I were high school buds and played together for a few years. I appear on some of his tracks. He was considered as lead guitarist for Neighbors and Allies, but Fred Reed fit in a bit better. Vanessa came to NJ with Keith Silva from California. Layne Rico followed them later and the three of them formed Our Daughter's Wedding in 1980. Meanwhile, Neighbors and Allies was the toast of the town in New York. The original lineup of Neighbors included myself, Tim McGeary, Fred Reed, Gordon Zuehlke, and Scott Simon.

Neighbors played in New Hope PA quite a bit, which is where the connection with TJ was made. As it happens, Vanessa and I began to date and decided to do that demo with Eddie, whom we had met through TJ. Keith and Vanessa had been boyfriend and girlfriend, but when she and Keith broke up, Scott replaced her in Our Daughter Wedding and Keith, Layne, and Scott went to California to record "Lawnchairs." The song had commercial success, which led to the breakup of Neighbors and Allies.

When Neighbors broke up in early 1982, I went with Neeva - Vanessa and I had a deal with MSI pending,with TJ as the agreed upon producer. From there, we went and did the record,Scott Simon, who would eventually join ODW was the keyboard player for Neighbors. Tim went with The Rescue, and Fred and Gordon continued to freelance. Neeva unofficially disbanded in the winter of 1985.

I went back to work with what would eventually become Neighbors and Allies again. We signed a development deal with Island Records, but it did not yield an album.

An interesting side note is that Vanessa, Charile, and myself were in a dance class (around 83/84) with the likes of Steve Bray, producer Madonna/ Breakfast Club drummer, C.P. Roth, Neeva/Blessed Union of Souls, and none other than Madonna, who was still a struggling artist at the time. Madonna's 'look' that she used on her first album cover was eerily similar to Vanessa's in those days.

There was one night during that period when we all enjoyed a poached salmon dinner at the dance teacher's apartment. Funny, a bit of pre-history of Pop/Rock in that room.
BTW - Madonna was the only one who could really dance. The rest of us were doing it to get in shape and to keep our balance on stage, etc.

Finally, we have located some master tapes and look to post the entire Neeva record, plus bonus tracks, on ITunes and other services. In the mean time, if you want my stuff, Neighbors and Allies has recorded the album Separate Ways, which is also available on ITunes.

We recorded Separate Ways, in part because the band never stayed together long enough to make a record. In 1981, Neighbors and Allies was the top unsigned band in NYC. An interesting side note is that the original demo the Neighbors made included Keith Silva, later singer for Our Daughter's Wedding, on guitar, and Vanessa on synth. It was a small small world for us back then.

Vanessa did work with TJ later that she may be willing to send you if you post the request on your site. We all still speak to each other from time to time, save Andy and CP. I hear from John Trubee daily. On another note, I am a guest vocalist on a new Our Daughter's Wedding single to be released shortly called "Luv Train."

My current focus musically is Neighbors and Allies (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=416787096 and http://neighborsandallies.com/), which was, by far, my favorite band that I was ever in, and, in my opinion, the best. I don't mean to say that Neighbors was better than Neeva.It was better suited to me in retrospect, largely owing to the fact that I am primarily a guitar player.David Bowie was a fan of the band, as were the members of Blondie among others. Neighbors and Allies, had it not been for the breakup, would have been a number one act in the 80's.

You will see more and more old videos of Neighbors appearing on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/NeighborsandAllies).

Regarding your query as to my conversion to ministry, I think a good deal of my music might answer that question. I was, indeed, on a spiritual journey, even through music. Blue Star is a metaphor for the earth, and the sun that might come to take those dreams away is a metaphor for the son of God. The Neighbors and Allies song "Caught in the Reign" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umv6cWYfleE&feature=related) is all about my struggle to come to terms with spirituality.Vanessa and I would like to thank you for keeping this site alive. Our record never got the attention we thought it deserved, in large part owing to the label, which was small and ill-equiped when it came to promoting a record nationally."

WE have some great unreleased stuff: "Save a Little Love","Video Kideo" and "Feel Cool".Plus "Countdown" and "Happy Again",the very first recordings Vanessa and I did."

Thanks

Jim

EDDIE CILETTI

is most well known for his monthly column in MIX magazine - now going on its fifth year. He recently told some of his students that he'd been writing a column a month for ten years. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/recordingschool/2868017381/)

"He's moved to Minnesota, but he's still the best fixer (electronic equipment) in the biz, and he does it by mail-ordure."

More info:

www.tangible-technology.com

Eddie's site is a useful resource for information about equipment maintenance and repair."Do you need help Recording, Mixing or Mastering your next project? I have a flexible array of interactive services to help with many aspects of the recording process, including restoration."

http://www.wendycarlos.com/bake%20a%20tape/baketape.html

"A Recipe for Tape Restoration. By Eddie Ciletti. Very detailed explanations with a lot of photos. Mr. Ciletti provides detailed plans for a do it yourself tape baking system. Recommended for the highly ambitious!"

http://mixguides.com/education/articles/techs-files-turning-down-heat/

Eddie added:

"My name is Eddie Ciletti and I recorded and mixed this album! We had a great time making it. Too bad enough people didn't get to hear it.
I'm so vary glad you like NEEEVA. It was one a few a few albums I Recorded and Mixed. (Arthur Payson was the primary assistant engineer at that time. Even though he'd never admit it, Arthur was a good guitar player who at the time was changing career paths.)
I'll be happy to fill in all the gaps I can.
More than anything, I would like to set the "record" straight as far as Arthur is concerned. He was my assistant, a very capable and knowledgeable partner in the process, HOWEVER, the "sound design," aka the recording and mixing process, was all "out of my head," for better or worse. I was still learning alot then, my primary strengths are, in this order technical, musical and historical. It has taken me a long time to nurture the weaker aspects of my skill set. I have since found my niches and am very happy with my life and results I can get in the studio. Arthur did go on to do bigger projects than I did and I would attribute this to his two strengths - being more musically talented and more politically savvy. I tended to be very direct and this is not always the way to nurture a struggling artist.
It all started like this...

1975

I already knew who TJ was because he played on one of my fave Bonie Raitt albums, GIVE IT UP. I met T.J. Tindall in 1975 thanks to Jim Zubernis, who went to Penn State. I was three months away from graduating when Jim asked me to meet him at Sigma Sound in Philadelphia.. At the time TJ was playing with Duke Williams and the Extremes, in addition to all those great Gamble and Huff records, and I still have a cassette tape of the song they were working on. When I stepped into the control room and saw all of that equipment, I knew what I wanted to do with my life!
full eddie story ( not updated in over ten years)

http://www.tangible-technology.com/who/who_is.html

NEEVA STORY

I can't tell you anything about Neeva history, because I only met them in the studio. I can tell you that we did the first two Neeva demos on 2-inch 16 track at Skyline Studios (the same studio we had finished the HJ project). It was also the same studio that Nile Rogers would eventually "take over." Once TJ and John Montgomery had officially established a record label, we were at skyline regularly for over a year (and several projects) between 1981 and 1983.
Jim, Vanessa and Charlie were a fun bunch to hang out with - all very talented - which made working with them a pleasure. Their music was very different from HJ and all the gamble-huff stff that TJ and Cotton were known for. TJ was stretching out, trying like many musicians to catch the "new wave" of music. Vanessa seemed so young at the time and the video does not do her justice. She was much more the girl-next-door than the costumes and make up made her out to be. Still, it was good to seem them then. I have a picture of all of us in the studio that I will scan and post."

You can see NEEVA photos -and more info- here:

http://www.tangible-technology.com/music/neeva/neeva.html

!!!NEWS!!!

Jim added:

"We were going to post the old Neeva album with bonus tracks on ITunes!!"

"I've started a MySpace site with the intention of sharing some of our more obscure stuff."

Some info about the guest musicians:

Andy Newmark

SlyAnd The Family Stone's fame and a session musician worked together with George Harrison,Bryan Ferry,Carole King,David Bowie,Roger Waters etc.

Recently, Andy has performed with Bryan Ferry on his latest world tour, playing in Australia, Russia and England, to name but a few.

More info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Newmark

http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Andy_Newmark.html

T.J. Tindall worked with soul/funk/disco bands since the 70s as Duke Williams And The Extremes, The Salsoul Orchestra,First Choice, Love Comittee and MFSB

Cotton Kent was the Keyboard player in The Salsoul Orchestra and also worked with The Trammps,Loleatta Holloway,Carol Williams etc.

T.J.Tindall and Cotton Kent were a member of Hurricane Jones.Detailed info here:

http://www.tangible-technology.com/music/hurricanes/hurricanes.html

C.P Roth worked with John Giorno Band,Shannon,Nolan Thomas,Monet,Noel and a member of Blessid Union Of Souls

More info:

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/pop_music/43110

The engineer is Arthur Payson a sound engineer and record producer who often works in tandem with Desmond Child. He has worked with such diverse acts as Cher, Clarence Clemons, Laurie Anderson, Joan Jett, Ratt, and Alice Cooper.(also with Robin Beck,Mass Production,John Waite,Secret Weapon et.)

So it's funny to see these -mainly-soul/funk musicians took part on this new wave album!:)

Marteen Andruet

"He's been a successful producer for some time. He did not play on the album, but he was with the band from the video up to our breakup. He really got his start in NYC with Neeva. I didn't know at the time, but Tim McGeary of Neighbors and Allies and The Rescue, had suggested him to me to replace Scott Simon who had left Neighbors for Our Daughter's Wedding. Tim and I disagreed about adding a keyboard player. Ultimately, all our fussing back and forth led me to form Neeva. But, Marteen and I eventually got together. Marteen eventually took over for C.P.Roth. We did some demos with him. "Countdown" and "Feel Cool" were recorded at Todd Rundgren's studio in Woodstock. Marteen was with us for that one.
John Holbrook(http://www.johnholbrook.biz/Site/Welcome.html)was the engineer and Jean-Yves Labatt was the producer.(French-born Jean Yves "M. Frog" Labat was a short-lived member of Todd Rundgren's Utopia, he only appeared on their first album before being replaced by Roger Powell,see: http://theband.hiof.no/albums/labat.html)" (Jim)

!!!NEWS!!!  2013.06.03

Good news by Jim!!

Our Daughter's Wedding:


"Some interesting news. Scott Simon, original member and lead songwriter for Our Daughter's Wedding, and I have teamed up with none other than Charles Roth, old CP to me, to do a new Our Daughter's Wedding record. There may be a European tour coming up, who knows.


But, this is exciting because it joins Scott and Jim together to bring Jim's pop sensibility to Scott's more gritty, R&B punk sound that ODW was famous for. Charles adds that extra spark.

The new ODW EP is out entitled "Life's a Party." Hoping new Neighbors and Allies will be out soon. Just gotta get the whole gang into it.
Saltyka's favourite song:

NEEVA:

Marteen Andruet, who toured with Neeva as our Bass key player, remastered the Neeva album which I should soon post on ITunes.
I just posted a song by Neeva, Save a Little Love, on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OmvpEDGpms&noredirect=1). Tell all your friends. It was the song we thought would get us a new deal back in 1984."

This song is just brilliant. Almost 30 years gone and still sounds as fresh as ever..

Check here the new Our Daughter's Wedding album:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/lifes-a-party/id587568847

and get Neeva here:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/neeva/id412793206


More info on Neeva:

www.myspace.com/neeva1983

http://www.side-line.com/news_comments.php?id=49221_0_2_0_C