Back to Zero Now

From the bio

In 1984, a six-song platter of pop perfection titled Places That Are Gone (Dolphin) put Tommy Keene onto the CMJ charts and atop the Village Voice EP of the Year poll. Blatantly romantic, unapologetically melodic, bittersweet but absolutely invigorating, it was the sort of record that you could put on before you went out on a Saturday night, or sit around and mope to if you didn’t feel like facing the world.

It still stands as a powerful statement, not only establishing Tommy as a unique singer-songwriter, but also as a guitarist with a sound as distinctive as Pete Townshend or Johnny Marr.

The title track of PTAG is probably one of the half dozen best power pop songs ever, but I think it might be the second best song on the EP. The best song is "Back to Zero Now" (first song on side two), which was the song that stamped Tommy Keene as a unique talent. It originally came out as a single in 1983 (tacked on to a reissue of Strange Alliance) and is the first song on his career compilation. One of the best songs ever written by anyone, ever, full stop.

There isn't a version of "Back to Zero Now" on youtube (there was one that was removed for "terms of use" violation -- WTF?), so here's the same version of "Places That Are Gone" from Conan I posted earlier.


The best Tommy Keene video on youtube.