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Cast

Rob Manochio (guitar)

Ricky McLean (guitar, vox)

Chris Antonowich (kit)

David Goodchild (bass)

Jan Mangini (keys/samples)

Jennifer Truesdale (vox-Fragile)

Ken Field (sax)

Studios

Bitch Kitty (recording and mixing)

TJ Wenzl (engineer) & Wasabi Sound w/ Rob Manochio

Zippah Recording Studios

Brian Charles (engineer)

Mastering - Zippah Studios - Brian Charles

Songs

  1. The Scream

  2. Fragile

  3. Bowery Bums

  4. Who Would U Be W/Out Yr Friends?

  5. Carnival

  6. What R U Waiting For?

  7. Walk You Home

 
 
 
 
 

7 SONGS is our 6th record in 10+ years. Fortunate to be able to record and finish brand new tunes during the pandemic. No rehearsal in advance, they were largely worked up in the studio. Made them freshly created. We were safe, got it done and are super proud of the result. Each song, typically for us, is wildly different genre-wise from the other. I’ve edited 5+ videos that we’ll post gradually. 

Note: Chris Antonowich is planning to press and release a 7” vinyl of FRAGILE and WHAT R U WAITING FOR? for sale at his Monumental Market LP location under his Light of Day record label.

We also (Gandhi Spinning Wheel DIY) burning 7 SONGS at optimal quality one-at-a -time. If ya want a copy, contact me (sidewalk, FBK message, email, berlinrick.com, text, et al. $7 - a buck a song. If you live too far away, I’d include shipping cost. 

We’ve been lucky to have worked in 5 great studios with great engineers throughout. Proud of all of ‘em, meagre sales notwithstanding - never the point in any ultimate sense. To create art/music is the luckiest of sublimations. 

We miss you, hope to play out and see you soon.

With love,

The band.


And this:

7 SONGS is our last record with Robby Manochio. An irreplaceable loss. His guitar work, creative guitar parts have in many cases made Berlin songs work in ways I never could have imagined. Instantaneous song appropriate, nimble, brilliant solos. 

He’s moving back to New Jersey. Bella Luna (his long time chef gig) collapsed with the pandemic. His parents are in their 80’s so it’s important for him to be nearby. God knows we miss him. (His best friend, Ricky McLean, will miss the hours of Franklin Park golf, the funny stories and the brotherhood between them. As will Rob.) 

We salute you, Manochio and expect a ‘last waltz’ return for one show once the Covid cloud lifts.


We did find someone new (Matt Bailin - leader, arranger for The Party Band and co-writer, singer, instrumentalist for Wildcat Slim) who will bring new life to old songs. He’s an ace musician and music teacher (Music School, UMass, Lowell). Matt plays horn(s), guitar and sings. We are honored and lucky he wants to play music with us.















EARLY REVIEWS OF 7 SONGS:

Dude! This Shit is Epic!! Jen Truesdale (Fragile), KILLIN’ IT!!! Great Vision my friend. AMAZING!!!

Just listened three times! Absolutely love it! It's so good! The band is incredible! Great performances! Love voice and lyrics! Rick Berlin is arguably the most brilliant and prolific songwriter to ever come out of Boston, though His body of work has long since transcended its border. So it is no surprise that Rick continues to add to his canon with his latest from the Nickel + Dime Band of musicians that deliver what you’d expect from the man: an exceptionally produced and performed set of well crafted eclectic rock n’ roll pop songs with lyrical narratives that can only be described as “Quintessential Rick”. My Personal favorites and, for those who are familiar with Rick’s history, the songs “The Scream” “Fragile” and “Carnival” are stand outs and harken back to his more theatrical bands of the past! Well worth the Nickel & Dime! 

- Gary Cherone (Extreme)

They said that Bowie and Lou Reed were chameleons, but they got nothing on Rick Berlin. If you’ve kept in touch, it should make perfect sense that the same guy who pioneered theatrical rock with Orchestra Luna, synth-rock with its offshoots and cabaret pop later on, is now doing urgent, elemental rock with the Nickel & Dime Band. Berlin is above all a songwriter who says what needs saying, he does painful truths, he does sharp humor and and he does rising above.And his voice proves a perfect fit for the Americana direction of this batch of songs. Begun before shutdown and finished over the year, these seven songs shed some light on a confusing year: “The Scream” sets its desperation to to a film-noir funk arrangement; “Fragile” is a standout ballad about admitting vulnerability when you’ve got no choice. There’s upbeat stuff here too: “Bowery Bums” takes a gritty look back at the heyday of CBGB, complete with a bassline that Dee Dee Ramone would have loved playing-- while “Carnival” evokes a more exotic corner of bohemia. The set closes, appropriately enough, with one song about misbehaving and another about making a connection afterwards. Berlin shows you some colorful scenes he’s been to over the years, odds are good you’ll recognize a few of them yourself.

Bowery Bums is my favorite new song!

That song (FRAGILE) of course was emo and almost activated my tear ducts but I would have None Of That because I am an emotionally stunted boy. It was wonderful…you’ve been in the Zone for decades now. So inspired by you constantly. It’s superb. Never surprised by the quality, but amazed at you abilities to chase a song into the best corner and capture.

- Sir David Minehan

I love the whole album. Really love the job that T.J. Wenzl did bringing all the parts together and really making the whole thing pop. Great/big guitar work. Loved the CB's song. Reminds me of a modern day Jim Carroll Band tune. The song 'Fragile' is one Rick's best I've heard and I've been listening to him my whole life. The power of the vocals coupled with the fragility of the guitar parts and lyrics make it a standout for me. The musicianship is terrific and Rick's voice and words have never sounded better.

Rick Berlin has ben creating beautiful and brilliant music since the mid-70’s when I caught his then band Orchestra Luna on two memorable nights at Preston’s Airport Lounge in Nantucket. They were a wild and unwieldy band that lived at the intersection of art-rock, opera, fusion, glam and punk-- and they had a pronounced influence (largely uncredited) on folks like David Byrne. Rick’s latest incarnation with the NICKEL + DIME band, recorded during the pandemic, shows him in tremendous vocal and songwriting form, still capable of hitting the same heights emotionally as Orchestra Luna—but in more concise song formats. Every song is unique, and the stylistic range is impressive. My favorite is BOWERY BUMS, which rocks fiercely while name checking many of the CBGB’s regulars (including Patti Smith, Danny Fields, Joey Ramone and Seymour Stein) whom Orchestra Luna shared a stage and a moment with. They are all good songs that will grow on you—and are definitely worthy of your attention.

Rick has created a soundtrack to help us weather this pandemic. He takes us back to our glorious past to the CBGB’s punk scene when we threw caution to the wind, has us screaming during the present lockdown and social void, and gives us hope for a future when we can simply walk home with a future love. Past, present and future in 7 SONGS. One of the very few good things about the Vid is new music from Nickel + Dime.

I loved this! 7 Songs is brilliant. Just when you think you know were each song is going it turns down another street or lifts up into some other universe. The lyrics are damn smart, whether they be etching out a story or lifting off into poetry: like a poem/like a Redwood tree. Vocals by Jen Truesdale on Fragile - wow. Vocals on Walk You Home so gorgeous. Each one of these is a little world, made perfectly.
- Lesley Bannatyne

DEAR RICHARD YR LATEST “SEVEN’ WITH YOUR AMAZING NICKEL & DIME BAND IS BREATHTAKING / FRAGILE / STRONG / IRREPRESSIBLE /AND SWINGING AND I THINK I SAW MY LIFE ON STAGE FLASH BEFORE MY EYES DURING THE ENDING OF BOWERY BLUES !!!!

- Willie ‘Loco’ Alexander

Once again Rick Berlin and crew have created deeply moving and resonant music that touches the soul in the most direct way. Each song is profound, and I've learned a new thing about myself with every listen. Put this album on repeat and listen LOUD!

Loving the new album. Always great to hear your timeless voice. Your songs paint a story and a scene - every time. Your writing takes me right there. Love hearing the CBGB reference. You are a timeless wonder!

Few have the deftness and true sense of adventure like Rick Berlin. Every time I get an update from Rick about his next album/video/flight of fancy, I'm always engaged albeit underprepared for what I'm getting into. These new 7 songs are no different...outta the gate with The Scream- an almost post-punk state of our global union- to the funhouse rollicking of Carnival, this is simultaneously vintage Berlin as well as a new playground. I once asked Rick to explain to me how he writes his songs and he gave me a belly laugh and a smiling "I have no idea...". But there's always a glint to his eye that's his trademark and an unmistakable contract: you're on his ride and he knows exactly what he's doing. It's always a beautiful journey to be on and 7 songs is yet another testament to that.

Rick Berlin is Boston's fine wine in the basement; he just gets better with age. On his latest album, all of the hallmarks of Rick's unique style are front and center: his jester's heart and love of mischief, his poetry of the street, filled with lovely slice of life details and melancholy and nostalgia, and the punk cabaret showmanship that has made him a local icon. Together with his band, tight and inventive as ever, '7 Songs' swings, grooves, rocks and ultimately leaves you with a big silly smile on your face. This is Rick's gift, to be equal parts beatnik barfly and rock raconteur, and we are all lucky to be in his orbit.

  • Phil Wilcox (musician, runs the LP store at Tres Gatos)

Loving the disc! This record really brings it all home, from Jacques to the Midway Cafe, with a pit stop at the Brendan Behan or Doyles, 7 Songs, gets you out of your funk, and back into the groove with its Valentine of post-punk melodies good the whole year 'round. The Nickel & Dime Band's 7 Songs pours out soulful sounds with a rare chance to spot two drunks dancing, only this time, in your living room.

- Adam Schatten (Documentarian)

Some great work as usual by the irrepressibly creative artist Rick Berlin and his formidable Nickel and Dime band, juiced up to the highest emotional levels by the separation and contemplative nature of Covid quarantine. Stand outs: He channels Beastie Boys aggression with the riff-oriented frustration release "Scream", "Fragile" goes drumless and uses the texture of quiet delicate guitar arpeggios, very much like "Days" from the second Television album, and echoes passages from his book "Paragraphs" in thinking about his body both physically and spiritually. In Bowery Bums he travels back to his early CBGB's beginnings to spin tales of his early Orchestra Luna days where he and his large, dramatic ensemble were part of the burgeoning scene and did everything future punk rock stars did except fit in. Rick's voice sounds uncharacteristically tough using a Jim Carroll-like monotone against a two chord punk rock construction. The rest of the songs, especially "Walk You Home" bring you into his world of bar life, music and friendships as only he can, although it feels a little wistful and nostalgic considering how we've lost all these things in the past year..

- David Wildman

How you were able to record these durning the pandemic is a miracle. I have to laugh as I picked in addition to WHO WOULD YOU BE WITH OUT YOUR FRIENDS, WHAT R U WAITING FOR and FRAGILE which you notate will be a vinyl single in your blurb!!!!!! Great idea. The change at 2:20 in FRAGILE is plain brilliant. Also liked WALK YOU HOME. You continue to show the world what a great song writer/vocalist you are. Wishing you all the success in this crazy mixed up business we are in.

Folks, please check out Rick Berlin's new album. Seven great songs with the Nickel & Dime Band, punk-funk-gay in energy & attitude. If you can imagine that.

With 7-Songs, a double-rainbow looms to remind us that no matter where we are, The Dimers will meet us at our sacred watering hole. Their latest night out pushes vocalist Rick Berlin into romantic parts unknown, with a revival of grooves and growls that saves the rock-and-roll we love, one song after another. After a long year of mixing, the very best of Nickel's flavorful sound finally emerges, to make a bow, after a brief shower, and with their backs to the sun. 7-Songs is our chance to fill the darker skies with light and colors, right now. So, keep your ears open for The Nickel and Dime Band's clarion calls, found in these seven soulful transmissions. Go buy this album. To-day.

  • A.S. Powers (Filmmaker, Curator, and Rock-o-phile, Jamaica Plain, MA.)

Have been listening and am charmed by your band's effort. Never heard Rob's guitar w/ so much precision & punch...he'll be missed. Your creativity continues to be sublime, smokin', & plain ole wonderful!!! I am always enraptured with your warm optimism, the flow of tunes, your unmistakable talent, and the enthusiasm of your material. What a great team you have gathered round you. Of course, I am smitten with all of your efforts. You are the zeitgeist!!!! Forward......

  • Curt Naihersey (Musician, author, zine publisher)

7 Songs by the NICKEL AND DIME BAND is the perfect detour away from whatever ails ya…each song is like a postcard from a day in the life…it seems awash of pandemic plus four years of strife and evil tweets hasn’t robbed Berlin of his colorful prose and magnetic turns of phrase. Highly recommended; and crank this one up…it deserves a good blast!

  • Micah Sheveloff (Songwriter, Musician)