New York City guitarist, singer and songwriter Steve Conte has released a new single, co-written with Andy Partridge (XTC) titled “Fourth of July.”
The song also features drummer Prairie Prince ( The Tubes & Todd Rundgren) who played on XTC’s classic album, ‘Skylarking.’ On bass is Steve’s brother John Conte, with Andrew Hollander on piano.
The track serves as a follow-up to his 2021 acclaimed solo album Bronx Cheer, and offers an early preview of his upcoming new LP due out in 2024 via Steven Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Records.
Stream the video HERE.
Stream the single on DSPs HERE.
“Fourth of July” was written with one of my favorite songwriters of all time, from one of my fave bands – Andy Partridge of XTC. I feel blessed to be writing with one of my heroes…and to be recording for Little Steven Van Zandt’s label, Wicked Cool Records,” says Conte.
“With a title like “Fourth of July” I knew I didn’t want to make this song lyric at all patriotic American or about Independence Day – I wanted it to be about the sparks that fly, the fireworks that go off in a relationship. One with intense chemistry…love, fulfillment …bombs bursting in air, ya know? Explosions, yes – but no stars & stripes.
The chorus of the song is one that I’ve had kicking around since the 90s. I wrote the hook while getting ready to leave my NYC apartment for some July 4th event – I just started singing about what was happening that day. The hook was all there; chords, melody, the title lyric, the phrasing – complete with that odd timing. I thought it could be something special because I never forgot it.”
On Working With Partridge, he says, “When I presented the idea to Andy, we had already written 4 songs together, so we were on a roll. I played it for him and without hesitation, he knew exactly where to go for the verse. That was exciting, after having this baby lay dormant for decades. He rattled off the verse melody, we came up with most of the verse chords together and then after we left the Zoom session, I tweaked some of the chords & melody a bit to fit my vibe. AP came up with the very cool guitar interlude and gave me some great arrangement ideas, as did my ‘remote’ co-producer Andrew Hollander.”
Long known for his memorable guitar work as a member of New York Dolls, as well as former Hanoi Rocks frontman Michael Monroe’s band (with whom he still performs), Steve found international fame in recent years via his collaborations with Japanese composer and artist Yoko Kanno on the soundtracks to several hit anime series, including Cowboy Bebop.
Over the years he’s also worked with Peter Wolf, Eric Burdon of The Animals, Willy DeVille, Billy Squier, Willie Nile, Maceo Parker, and even been Paul Simon’s tour rehearsal vocal stand-in.
Conte first met Wicked Cool founder Stevie Van Zandt when the Dolls played Van Zandt’s Underground Garage Festival in 2004. “But my connection with him goes back to Jersey,” he says. “I grew up with his cousins in Matawan [near the Jersey shore], so I had been hearing about his legend for years.”
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