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. Looking back, it's easy to forget what an audacious piece of work the record was. Blatantly romantic, unapologetically melodic, bittersweet but absolutely invigorating, Places That Are Gone 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 one of Keene's most powerful statements, and it has held up remarkably well over the years. Though, these days, unless you were smart enough to hang on to your turntable, you'll have to listen to it on The Real Underground collection (Alias, 1993). Of course, that's not such a bad thing, The Real Underground also contains Back Again (Try), a USA Today top college pick in 1985, and many other rare and unreleased tracks from 1982-92. Keene made enough noise in the early '80s to get the majors involved. And in 1986 he released Songs From the Film on Geffen (re-issued in July of 1998 with a healthy assortment of bonus tracks and now once again out of print). Produced by Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick (also the producer of Elvis Costello's masterpiece Imperial Bedroom), the album featured two MTV videos, Listen To Me and a re-recording of Places That Are Gone, and spent 12 weeks on Billboard's Top 200. Critical reception was some what mixed. Songs from the Film received rave reviews in some quarters; others felt that the slicker-than-indie production signaled that Keene had lost his way. In hindsight, it's difficult to see what there was to complain about. The album contains some of the Bethesda, Maryland-raised tunesmith's best songs. My Mother Looked Like Marilyn Monroe, Call On Me, Paper Words and Lies, Astronomy, Underworld and arguably some of his finest vocal performances ever put on wax. The re-issue of Songs also contains all the studio tracks from the Run Now EP (Geffen, 1986). The EP's title track is one of the all-time great Keene rockers, with inspired rhythm section work from drummer Doug Tull and bassist Ted Niecely, plus a terrific guitar solo from Keene. The singer as well as the song appeared in the Anthony Michael Hall movie Out of Bounds. Rent it today and catch Tommy's 15 seconds of celluloid glory. After Run Now the original Tommy Keene group disbanded, with the aforementioned rhythm section and guitarist Billy Connelly all headed their separate ways. Without a band,Keene headed down to Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee to record with producers and session men John Hampton and Joe Hardy. The Result was Based On Happy Times (Geffen, 1989). As suggested by the bittersweet title, Happy Times is the darkest album in the Keene catalog. Although his best material has always been infused with a certain melancholia, Happy Times tracks like The Biggest Conflict and A Way Out reveal a more fatalistic outlook. The guitars are heavier, there is less jangle, and there aren't as many hooky vocal harmonies. Unlike much of his earlier work, Based on Happy Times by no means can be tagged with the dread title of power pop. It is a beautifully crafted, if sometimes brooding, arty rock record. And it is now, of course, very out of print. Based on Happy Times would also be the first time and, so far, last time Keene would work with another songwriter on an album. When Our Vows Break, written with Jules Shear, has long been a live favorite and is one of the record's standout tracks. The album's leadoff track, Nothing Can Change You, can be heard as a cover version by the Goo Goo Dolls on the B-side of the Australian version of their single Slide. And while I'm name dropping, R.E.M fans should note that Peter Buck appears on two tracks, lending some Marc Bolan-style guitar on the Beach Boys cover Our Car Club and mandolin on 'A Way Out.' In support of Based on Happy Times, Keene put together a new rhythm section, John Richardson on drums and Brad Quinn on bass, and hit the road for a month-long tour with the Replacements. The tour found the Keene group playing for sympathetic and appreciative audiences a rarity for an opening act and would eventually lead to Keene joining Replacements leader Paul Westerberg as a sideman on Westerberg's 1996 solo tour. 1992 saw the release of Sleeping on a Rollercoaster (Matador), Keene's first new music with the new rhythm section of Richardson and Quinn and his first since leaving Geffen. The EP contains Love Is a Dangerous Thing, a surefire hit in an alternate universe In 1996, Keene released Ten Years After (Matador), his first full-length album of all-new material in seven years. Produced by Keene and recorded by pop music wunderkind Adam Schmitt, the album contains classic pop hooks and the loudest guitars to date. The album probably comes closest to the sound of a live Tommy Keene show, which, if you've never seen one, can be a pretty thunderous affair. Apart from rockers like Going Out Again, Compromise and Turning On Blue, the album also contains the lovely Silent Town (dig the tremolo guitar solo at the end) and the country swing (sort of) of You Can't Wait for Time. If Ten Years After revealed that Keene had stored up a lot of creative energy in the 49 dog years between full length LPs, his next effort, Isolation Party (Matador), showed that he could do just as well if not better on much shorter notice. Released in 1998, Isolation Party is much more focused than its predecessor (Perhaps due to its being recorded over a few months as opposed to a few years). For the album, Keene recruited an all-star cast, getting some fine instrumental and vocal performances from former Gin Blossom Jesse Valenzuela and Wilco's Jay Bennett and Jeff Tweedy. Like the Moody Blues (Did I just feel the force of 10 billion butterfly sneezes?), Tommy Keene knows the right way to start an album, and Isolation Party is no exception. The album's opener, Long Time Missing, ranks among the best songs he's ever written, and that's saying a lot when put in the company of Places That Are Gone, Back To Zero, My Mother Looked Like Marilyn Monroe, Highwire Days, and Silent Town, all of which, coincidentally, can be heard in sizzling versions on the new TK live album, Showtunes.