I'M A MONSTER

A few years ago, while visiting San Francisco, I found myself with a day to do nothing but eat, shit, and shop for records, so that's what I did. After scouting overpriced but excellent hole in the wall stores in North Beach, I trekked out to the end of Haight, for my second visit in two days to the huge ass record store that I cannot name. (They put a friend's record store out of business, so I should add that I kinda had it in for this store, like all predatory Goliaths.) It was huge, and its size offered a relatively broad selection. After checking the bins of disparate semi-obscure artists to get an idea of their selection, I eventually made it to the garage section, which is where I ran into the guy who smelled like cigarettes.

While browsing, he went from "the annoying recommender" to dyed in the wool rock n' roll heart, that smelled like cigarettes. One look at this guy told you everything you needed to know. He was older than me (which is to say, not young), with long sideburns, weathered face, and beat to shit leather jacket The "I've been around so long, all the hipsters my age went straight long ago" look. This guy was one real rocker, stealth, no showboatin'. While browsing next to each other, talk turned to the Nuggets boxed sets, then Kicks magazine and somehow segued to him telling stories about his buddy Cyril Jordan and the Flamin' Groovies. Up to this point, my most prominent impression of the Groovies was "Shake Some Action," a great record, but a little too polished for my tastes.

Years earlier, I, like many teenagers, bought "Teenage Head" as a cut-out, on the merit of the cool band shot on the cover, only to dump it later. But dang me if the guy that smelled like cigarettes didn't convince to give it another listen. What amazes me now is that this total stranger was so true to his old school cool, that his opinion carried merit; just based on the sense that he was that rare bird, the real thing. Now, every time I hear the Flamin' Groovies, I think about that guy, and the shit shooting session that lasted well over an hour. So these are for the guy who smelled like cigarettes, who was convinced that the Flamin' Groovies, in their prime, were the American Stones. I should have bought him a beer.

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The Flamin' Groovies - Teenage Head mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Flamin Groovies - Shake Some Action (non-LP version) at Beware of the Blog
The Flamin' Groovies - Slow Death mp3 at Sibling Shot
The Flamin' Groovies - Have You Seen My Baby mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu