THIS AIN'T OVER, HUNS!

Okay, here's the deal. A song called "Wild Man"? I'm gonna bite. I don't care what type of music it is, I'm not going to pass it by without hearing it. This time I wasn't disappointed. While it's not as over-the-top wild as the title would imply, it does kick some semi-serious ass, sounding like something that might come from the Cramps arsenal, particularly at the 2:30 mark. And lest you think that the kids inhabiting the stage in the above photo don't have a little bit of wild in them, there's this snippet from an interview at 60s Garage Bands:  

"We had two songs we were going to record; they were ‘Genie’ and ‘Wild Man.’ The Huns came to our practice at Lloyd’s house and stole ‘Genie.’  They renamed it ‘Shakedown.’ They rushed into the studio and recorded it first and released it.  We were furious!  We went as a mob to Dean Coley’s house (their bass player).  His father was their manager, so we stood out in the street and tried to get them to come out and fight." 

Hey, ol' man Coley, watch yer back!

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Listen:
The Tamrons - Wild Man mp3 (via DivShare) at Junk Shop Juke Box
Once you get to DivShare, click on the green "Download" button, and scratch your head for fifteen seconds while the timer counts down. When the button reappears, you're good to go.
The Huns - Shakedown (streaming) at YouTube
Visit:
The Tamrons at 60s Garage Bands

THE SPECIALIST

Bongo man Preston Epps, Two early ones. Check out YouTube for a bunch more. He really did do a lot of cool stuff. You should check him out. And done.

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Listen:
Preston Epps - Bongos In Pastel mp3 at Eyeswings (?) 1959
Preston Epps - Bongo In the Congo mp3 at Eyeswings (?) 1960

GOT A LIST? GOOD. ADD THESE.

The two songs below are from early releases on Daptone Records, around 2002 or so, and they're pretty indicative of what I like about the label. If you were to listen to these without knowing anything about them, you'd have a hard time guessing when they were recorded. You might not even be able to peg exactly what era they're emulating, or if it's even intentional. You know what else is cool? Music like this has no expiration date. You can go buy it now, or put it off until you're sixty. But, remember this, when you're at a weak moment and you;re tempted to take a chance on something current based on some jackoff blogger's raves, take it from this jackoff. Both of these LPs should take precedent. Says me. The jackoff.

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Listen:
Sugarman 3 - Funky So-and-So mp3 at DK Presents
The Daktaris - Super Afro Beat mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Visit:
Daptone Records

BLACK RANDY, WHO?

A chance click-by through Funky 16 Corners just ate about an hour, obsessing over a single song. Larry, the guy over there, posted a version of "Give It Up or Turnit A Loose" by Wilbert Longmire. I know, who? That's what Funky 16 Corners is good at, digging up this stuff by people you've never heard of. It just made me want to hear James Brown's original version, recorded in 1969. And, what the hell, his extended version from 1970. And it made me want to hear Lyn Collins's version, produced by the GFOS in 1974, capped off by Black Randy and the Metro Squad's 1979 version. The latter floors me, as do JB's versions. The (technically Black Randy-less) Metro Squad tearS it a new one. It's pretty crazy in context, because Black Randy and the Metro Squad consisted of members of the L.A. punk scene, with a rotating roster that included, at one time or another, members of the Bags, X, Go-Gos, the Germs, the Eyes, and an early member of the Screamers. You might have had to be there, but I still find it more than nuts.

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Listen:
Wilbert Longmire - Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose mp3 at Funky 16 Corners Go there to get it.
James Brown - Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose (single version) mp3 at ATumbler(?)
James Brown - Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose (LP Version) mp3 at ATumbler(?)
Lyn Collins - Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose mp3 at Groove Nut Records
Black Randy and the Metro Squad - Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose mp3 at 7 Inch Punk

DIG IT! JAMAICAN SOUNDS '58-'69

If you're at all into pre-reggae and early reggae related Jamaican music, go get yourself a napkin. You're gonna need it. Underground Uncovered just posted a two hour, 44 song mix of Jamaican music from 1958-1969.  This is good stuff, jazz, R & B, bluebeat, ska, and rocksteady. It's a zip file with individual song files, all labeled with the year of release, so you can sort them chronologically if that's your thing. Got to Underground Uncovered to see the song listing.

Note: At Zippyshare, click on the orange "Download Now" button. Ignore those other huckster download buttons. Some songs are in the mp4 format, so some may not play on whatever you listen back on, but still, it's 44 songs so it's not the end of the world. It's a quick download, 189 MB.

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Listen:
Hold On - Jamaican Music 1958 - 1959 (via Zippyshare) at Underground Uncovered Note: At Zippyshare, click on the orange "Download Now" button

AND SHE ROCKED THE CUFFS

I was all over the damn place tonight, goofing off at this site and that. Somehow I landed on a Janis Martin tack, and it occurred to me that I've never posted anything about her. So here's a few songs. The bio and profile stuff will linked below will have to do. I'm still on that goof off thing.

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Listen:
Janis Martin - Bang Bang mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
Janis Martin - Drugstore Rock and Roll mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
Janis Martin - My Boy Elvis mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
Janis Martin - Ooby Dooby mp3 at Mp3 Rockabilly
Visit:
Janis Martin at Rockabilly Hall of Fame
Janis Martin at Wikipedia

¡VOLVER AL AZÚCAR!

Celia Cruz is that rare singer, one of those that makes you lose stock of what you think you like. You can't help it. It's just full on 100% joy. Even if you can't understand the lyrics, you'll end up shaking something. The first one below, "La Vida es un Carnaval" ("Life is a Carnival"), can cut through any sourpuss mood you can throw at it. And listen to what she does with the other two songs, the originals of which you may not be entirely nuts about. They get transformed into potable dance floor sweat.

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Listen:
Celia Cruz - La Vida es un Carnaval mp3 at ATumbr(?)
Celia Cruz - Yo Vivre (I Will Survive) mp3 at Clones Project
Celia Cruz - Ob La Di Ob La Da mp3 at BBC
Video:
Celia Cruz - A Night of Salsa at YouTube With Tito Puente, full 1999 concert
Celia Cruz at YouTube Take your pick. 
Visit:
Celia Cruz at the Smithsonian

CHEAP CRYPT

I just listened to Andrew WK's "Party Hard" for the first time in a long while. I really attempted to rule out anything I knew about him, or his music; put it all out of my head and be as objective as possible. You know what it sounded like? Rocket From the Crypt and Cheap Trick playing together. Needless to say, tonight, I got nothin'.

The above image is from a limited edition T-shirt, sold by WK in 2012. You Sex Pistols nuts will probably be reminded of Jamie Reid's "God Save the Queen" imagery  Cheeky. Is that the word?

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Listen:
Andrew WK - Party Hard mp3 at Stop Okay Go
Vitit:
Andrew W.T.F. - Earlier post (way old) 

LIKE THIS, KA-CHINK, KA-CHINK,...

Well dip me in it, I've been fucking around this place for how long, and never had a post featuring the Skatalites? How does that happen? They were like ground zero. Right there when mento and rhythm and blues got chummy, absolutely the shit in the pre-rock steady, pre-reggae days of Jamaican music. The original line-up included the horn section of Roland Alphonso, Don Drummond and Tommy McCook, the holy trinity of Jamaican brass. And Jackie Mittoo on keys, who would become one of the most influential keyboard players in the history of reggae. They initially recorded with Coxsone Dodd (not a bad place to start), followed by Duke Reid, Leslie Kong, Randy Chin and Prince Buster, among others. I don't care if some of you think this is elementary. Listen to it, cop to it, or just get out of here. I don't care. I'm a wild man.

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Listen:
The Skatalites - Guns of Navarone mp3 at Plain or Pan
The Skatalites - Exodus mp3 at Iniva (?)
The Skatalites - James Bond Theme mp3 at a Bond fan site
The Skatalites - I Should Have Know Better mp3 at Fantastic Weapon
The Skatalites - Rockfort Rock mp3 at Job.Yipikai (?)
The Skatalites - Ska-Ra-Van (Caravan) mp3 at Tanyao (?)
The Skatalites - Fidel Castro mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Video:
The Skatalites - Dynamite (?) at YouTube 1980s incarnation
Visit:
The Skatalites - Official site
The Skatalites at Wikipedia

EVEN THE SHAKE IS GOOD

You know the hits. Trust me, even if you're not familiar with the label, if you've heard any soul music at all, you've heard stuff on Stax. As a label, it's up there with the greats. The elite labels that had their own sound and often their own studio. You know what I'm talking about. Sun, Chess, Motown, and the like. The labels with insanely great runs of quality 45s, one after another, for years. The cool thing about the labels with that kind of consistency is that often even the second tier stuff kicks ass.

Boogaloo Time has three posts with a great cross section of Stax stuff, names you'll recognize, some you won't, early and mid-peak. Twenty three in all. Here's just a few. The first one below by Rufus and Carla (Thomas) is the first Stax 45 for both of them. Booker T, of all people, is on sax. The one by Donna Rae and the Sunbeams is down there because it's pre-soul, and actually pre-Stax, It was released in 1960 on Satellite Records, which would became Stax. It's rockabilly. The other two are just oddballs I dig.

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Listen:
Rufus and Carla - 'Cause I Love You mp3 at Boogaloo Time
Donna Rae and the Sunbeams - Little Fool mp3 at Boogaloo Time Pre-Stax rockabilly on Satellite
Eddie Kirk - Them Bones mp3 at Boogaloo Time
Floyd Newman - Frog Stomp mp3 at Boogaloo Time
Dig it!:
4 more Stax mp3s at Boogaloo Time
5 more Stax mp3s at Boogaloo Time
9 more Stax mp3s at Boogaloo Time

THE UPSETTER CHALLENGE

Oh yeah, Lee Perry, the Upsetter.,, The first song I heard of his was "Roast Fish and Cornbread", included on a fairly straightforward reggae compilation. It was at odds with the other songs on the record.. Ahh, I can remember that "what the fuck?" moment like it was just yesterday. But it wasn't; it was decades ago, and you know what? The nut has kept my attention ever since. Check his early production of Bob Marley's "Mr. Brown". That's a little sonic mayhem going on there. And check "Jungle Lion", wherein the band intimates Al Green's "Love and Happiness", while Perry does his thing, in this case which is yelping, grunting and ranting, in addition to producing. 

You reggae people know as well as I do, any attempt to do a comprehensive profile of Lee Perry would take a long while, and tonight I don't have a long while. Just consider this a grab bag. Even if you're already a Lee Perry fiend, you might not have seen the commercials he did for Guiness beer. Yeah, those WTFs just keep stacking up. You newbies, the guy is a mad genius. He's an incredibly gifted and inventive producer and performer, he lets his freak flag flight, like stratosphere high, and any attempts to research video clips and records to get inside his head are futile. You think you can figure him out? Have at it.

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Listen:
Bob Marley, produced by Lee Perry - Mr Brown at Review Stalker Go there to get it.
Lee Perry - Roast Fish and Cornbread mp3 at Passion of the Weiss
Lee Perry - Jungle Lion mp3 at Stop Smiling
Lee Perry - Panta Rock mp3 at KUCI
Lee Perry and the Experience - Disco Devil mp3 at Evil Vince 8 minutes!
Lee Perry - Black Panta mp3 at Quarterlife Party
The Upsetters - Exit the Dragon mp3 at Slutty Fringe
Of historical note:
Lee Perry - People Funny Boy (streaming) at YouTube The Joe Gibbs putdown
Lee Perry - Run For Cover (streaming) at YouTube The Coxsone Dodd putdown
Video:
The Upsetter - Documentary trailer at YouTube
Lee Perry, Guiness commercials (?!?) at YouTube
Lee Perry - At Black Ark studio (1982) at YouTube
Visit:
Lee Perry - Official site
Lee Perry at Wikipedia
The Upsetter - Documentary site

THE SLEEPER

I'm a twin, an identical twin. The reason why I bring that up is because I can't listen to the soundtrack to The Endless Summer without a big smile invading my face.  (Skip to the bottom of the post if you can't be bothered with personal blabbing, funny as it might be.) Back in the nineties, the original soundtrack had been out of print for some time. I knew the album well because I had a thoroughly thrashed-from-use vinyl copy and longed for a replacement.  One day I was driving home from work, past a surf shop a few blocks away, and had to pull over. They had an Endless Summer poster in the window, advertising the album, which had recently been released on cassette and CD. I didn't even have to think. I went into the shop to buy it. I was all kinds of stoked, muttering to the guy behind the counter how long it had been since I heard a clean copy, and more of that nonsense that no one needs to know but when you're jazzed you start spilling. For some reason the guy behind the counter was giving be all sorts of weird looks throughout the transaction, more so than would normally be given an over enthusiastic customer. I mean, this guy was keeping his distance, as if I was going to rob him, like I was nuts. I sloughed it off, and headed home.

When I got home, I had to call my brother before I even listened to it, because the LP was also a favorite of his, so I knew he'd want to know. When I told him that the shop had it, he said that he knew, and asked if I'd listened to it. I told him I hadn't and he said that he had, and that it wasn't the original version. All of the songs had been rerecorded by the band, the Sandals, probably taking advantage of the fact that there was a demand and the original was out of print. He said that it was too clean, that it lacked the vibe of the original version, so much so that, after hearing the copy he had just picked up, he brought it to the local record store and asked if they could reseal it for him. He then went back to the same surf shop to return it. Keep in mind that this was just hours before I was in the shop. When he tried to return it, the guy behind the counter said that he couldn't take it back because it had been resealed. Well, my brother pitched a fit, got in the guy's face and all of that. He pointed out to the guy that there was nothing on the outside packaging that indicated that they were not the original recordings. The counter guy finally relented. The same counter guy that looked at me as if I was nuts. We laughed about it, and I thought about returning my still sealed copy. We decided that the guy had already been through enough for one day. We'd fuck with him later. We howled about that one.

The soundtrack, in its original form, is a tier two surf classic. It has a less frantic pace than you're used to in surf music, making it a prime soundtrack for an after-beach barbeque, replete with a sunburned back and water still dripping from your nose. Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban posed the complete LP about a year ago, and if you didn't get it then, here's your reminder.

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Listen:
The Sandals - The Endless Summer mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
The Sandals -  6 Pack mp3  at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
The Sandals - Decoy mp3  at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
The Sandals - Nine more songs at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
The Endless Summer radio spot mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Video:
Endless Summer clips at YouTube
The Sandals and Bruce Brown at Vimeo Dialogue at the end. Semi current.
Visit:
Bruce Brown Films
Bruce Brown at Wikipedia
The Endless Summer at Wikipedia
The Sandals at Wikipedia
The Endless Summer collection at Surf Classics The original iconic poster design was by John Van Hammersveld who later did the cover of Exile on Main St.
   

THIS DRUMMER IS AT THE RIGHT GIG

Okay, I've come to the conclusion that if you want to locate funky New Orleans music from the mid-sixties through the early seventies, you just have to look for a session that James Black played on. I've been poking around sporadically since last night and have found nothing that would negate that suggestion. This is a great example of why you never limit yourself to the music you know. If it wasn't for that Betty Harris photo yesterday, I'd would not have known about James Black. And, as it is, I feel like I slipped through some crazy secret portal. Maybe he's well known to collectors and his breaks are sampled all over the place, I don't know. I do know that I've been walking around my whole life not knowing who he is, and now I do. And now the fun begins...

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Listen:
Roy Ward - Horse With a Freeze mp3 at Soul Garage 1968 
Sonny Jones - Sissy Walk mp3 at Soul Garage 1971
Mary Jane Hooper - I've Got What You Need (streaming) at YouTube 1969
Eddie Bo and the Soul Finders - We're Doin' It (streaming) at YouTube  1969
The Explosions - Hip Drop (streaming) at YouTube 1971
This is good:
James Black - Guardian of the Groove - Audio documentary at YouTube 
Note: This is part one. At YouTube, check the right column for the rest.
Visit:
James Black bio and discography at Drummer World

GATEWAY TO THE BEAT

I have no idea where I'm going tonight. I had the photo above saved for some reason, so I thought, what the hell, let's check some Betty Harris stuff. You know how that happens. The first song I ran into was "Break In the Road". Flat out, this song blows my mind. The tone is set three seconds into it, with feedback. Not wailing feedback. It sounds like it was accidental and they just left it in. And it reappears sporadically throughout the song. Yes. It's raw. Then you notice the beat. Sweet holy Jesus. That's when the whole thing goes haywire. Totally distracted in a different direction. The drummer is James Black. I know that because I ended up at Drummer World of all places, digging on the other work of his. Add another one to the list. That reminds me, I don't know shit.

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Listen:
Betty Harris - Break In the Road mp3 at Drummer World
Betty Harris - Break In the Road mp3 at Soylent Cream
Eddie Bo - Hook and Sling mp3 at Drummer World
Lee Dorsey - Riverboat mp3 at Drummer World
Four more songs featuring James Black at Drummer World
Visit:
James Black bio and discography at Drummer World

KING OF THE BOYS' ROOM

Johnny Winter died yesterday. It hits kind of hard around here, because he was my biggest musical influence from the age of 13 to about 18. Yeah, those years. I'll spare you the personal sobbing (if you're curious, here's a couple posts about growing up as a Johhny Winter freak, here and here).

He was a blues man, capable of rocking, and a freakishly good guitarist. By that I mean at times fast, really fast, but always fluid. Sometimes just on the cusp of overplaying. By rotating styles (acoustic bottleneck, electric blues and rock 'n' roll, oft times on the same record), he always sort of directed the focus to the center of the Venn diagram, the blues.

Here's a smattering. Keep in mind when listening to his chops, he was born in 1944. So, for instance, on the Johnny and the Jammers tune, he's fifteen years old. On "Dallas" he's twenty five. How many twenty five year olds can play like that?

I may add blurbs about each song, and I know I'll add some videos. I just wanted to hep you to these right now. A little something to help you contemplate the loss of one of the greats, because that's what Johnny Winter most assuredly was, one of the greats.

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Listen:
Johnny and the Jammers - School Say Blues (streaming) at YouTube 1959
The Insight featuring Johnny and Edgar Winter - Please Come Home For Christmas mp3 at Cloudfront (?) 1966
Johnny Winter with the Traits - Parchman Farm mp3 at Lake Tahoe Real Estate (?) 1967
Johnny Winter - Meantown Blues (streaming) at Hell Hound on My Tail 1967
Johnny Winter -Be Careful With a Fool mp3 at Smokestack Lightning 1969
Johnny Winter - When You Got A Good Friend mp3 at Cover Me 1969
Johnny Winter - Dallas mp3 at David Fulmer 1969
Johnny Winter - Hustled Down In Texas mp3 at Review Stalker 1969
Johnny Winter And - Johnny B. Goode (live) mp3 at Ghost Whisperer 1971
Johnny Winter - Still Alive and Well (full LP), streaming) at YouTube 1973
Johnny Winter - Ain't Nothing to Me (streaming) at YouTube 1973
Muddy Waters with Johnny Winter - Mannish Boy (streaming) at YouTube 1977, Produced by Johnny Winter
Johnny Winter - Trick Bag mp3 at David Fulmer 1984
Video:
Johnny Winter - Full set, Copenhagen at YouTube 1970, 23 minutes

VERY FUNNY. GIVE 'EM BACK.

Blame it on the oddballs. I ran into Roy Orbison doing a Coke commercial yesterday, and today I ran in to a song sung in German. Reason enough to revisit some of his early stuff. You know as well as I, early almost always wins.

I'm just going to go ahead and get this out of the way: Roy Orbison-vocals, guitar; Johnny Wilson-guitar; James Marrow-electric mandolin; Jack Kennelly-bass; Billy Pat Ellis-drums. That's the line-up for Roy Orbison and the Teen Kings' "Go, Go, Go", a 1956 Sun release. You'll be curious after hearing it. I'm just saving you the trouble of tracking down who was responsible for this compact slab of genius. Of particular note is the guitar, which is insanely tight. ¡Es lo mejor, Jerry! ¡Lo mejor!

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:

Roy Orbison - Go, Go, Go mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Roy Orbison - Ooby Dooby mp3 at Iaan Hughes (?)
Roy Orbison - Claudette mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Roy Orbison - Hey Miss Fanny mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Roy Orbison - Rock House mp3 at Drop box(?)
Oddballs:
Roy Orbison - Mama (German version) mp3 at Haywood NYC
Roy Orbison - Coke commercial mp3 at Motor City Radio Flashbacks

LEE DORSEY LOOKING COOL

I swear, I don't know how it happens. One minute you're listening to the Downliners Sect, and not fifteen minutes later you find yourself on a Lee Dorsey (above) and Allen Toussaint tear. Here's a few really good ones, the Dorsey/Toussaint collaborations getting increasingly funky, and complex. Listen to "Yes We Can", Dorsey's version, written, arranged, and produced by Toussaint. Listen to all the stuff going on. It's like every instrument is a rhythm instrument. Even the vocals. It's just completely the shit, at least in the mood I'm in tonight. A masterwork of rhythm. The Pointer Sisters version is pretty damn funky too. That one was produced by Richard Perry, which is surprising considering the funkiness. But that Toussaint, ,,,man. Full genius.

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Listen:
Lee Dorsey - Holy Cow mp3 at Oscarowski (?)
Lee Dorsey - Ride Your Pony mp3 at Boogaloo Time
Lee Dorsey - Yes We Can mp3 at Fishheads
Pointer Sisters - Yes We Can Can mp3 at Le Mellotron
Oddball:
Lee Dorsey - Coke Commercial mp3 at Motor City Radio Flashbacks
Visit:
Allen Toussaint at Wikipedia

TOUGH LOVE

As per usual, the mere mention of a band by a friend turned into a fiending preoccupation for the next twenty four hours. This time it was the Sonics. Early into this one, I thought I'd avoid getting pulled in by listening to something else, and that happened to be Rubber Soul. Nope. The juxtaposition was all fucked up. Let me spare you the experiment. You cannot directly segue from the Sonics to Rubber Soul. It doesn't work. It might be possible with one of those nutty cuts on the White Album (The Beatles), but Rubber Soul? No way. It's like some sort of aural joy buzzer.

Here's a handful. Most of you are probably intimately familiar with at least a few of these. This is really for the younger folk. I don't want them to learn about the Sonics out on the street. Not to go parental on you, but would you want your kid to be introduced to the Sonics by some jackass in skinny jeans? I thought not.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Sonics - Psycho mp3 at Bag of Songs
The Sonics - Strychnine mp3 at Gimme Tinnitus
The Sonics - The Witch mp3 at Ryan Bossetti (?)
The Sonics - Shot Down mp3 at Net Profit (?)
The Sonics - Have Love Will Travel mp3 at Wigh I Were There
The Sonics - Money mp3 at Girl Jukebox
The Sonics - Don't Be Afraid of the Dark mp3 at Ink Mathematics

TO THE RAMONES

As you may have heard that Tommy Ramone (Tom Erdelyi), passed away yesterday. He was the last surviving original member of the band, with them for their first three LPs. If you weren't around when the Ramones first appeared, it's hard to put into words what a game changer they were. From my own personal experience, I can tell you this: it was on a drive home from seeing the Ramones (and Blondie), at the Whisky in Hollywood, that my whole outlook about music, and peer pressure, changed forever. Crammed into the backseat of an overstuffed car, my mind was reeling trying to process what I had just seen. While the friends I was with were astute music freaks, most of my other friends were less enlightened, thoroughly locked in to what is now referred to as classic rock. I wondered what they would think when I told them about what I'd seen, and as excited as I was, I sensed that they would have nothing but disdain for short, solo-less, three chord, two and a half minute songs. It was at that particular moment that I realized for the first time in my life, I didn't have to care what they thought about what I liked. Extrapolating, I didn't have to care what anybody thought about what I liked. Or what I did, or what I said. I was freed.

If you don't own the LP above, you have been identified as a replicant. Click here to listen to it.

What the Ramones did was simple. They stripped things down, They simplified things to the point that they essentially started things over from scratch. All of the bullshit in rock 'n' roll was discarded, and re-presented in it's most basic elements. In doing so, they changed the whole dynamic. The first LP was recorded in a week, for $6,400. Despite it's influence among a select group (punk rockers), airplay was not forthcoming. How do you play the Ramones back-to-back with someone like Peter Frampton? Or Queen? Or Lynyrd Skynyrd? You don't. (Just take a look at the Billboard charts from 1976. Yeesh.) In fact, it wasn't until April of this year that their first LP was certified gold. It took thirty eight years for the LP to sell 500,000 copies. Considering that many of the units sold could have been second or third purchases by people who had worn their original copies out over the span of thirty eight years (I'm on my third), it's almost inconceivable that there have been that few people who get it.

Here's a smattering of stuff from the original four members. If you haven't heard the first LP in its entirety, I suggest you stream the YouTube link, loud. If you already have a bunch of the Ramones, check the 1975 demos, produced by Erdelyi. If you never saw them live, check the 1977 live video above. If you want to have your heart melted, check the young Korean students singing "Judy Is a Punk". If you want their complete story, just do a web search. There's a ton out there. A thumbnail won't cut it. I guess this is really just to acknowledge a personal debt and to publicly thank them. Long live the Ramones.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Ramones - Blitzkreig Bop mp3 at I Dream of Jimmy
The Ramones - Chain Saw mp3 at ATumblr (?)
The Ramones - I Just Wanna Have Something to Do mp3 at 8106
The Ramones - Do You Wanna Dance mp3 at 8106
The Ramones - California Sun mp3 at ATumblr (?)
The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated mp3 at Want You Bad
The Ramones - Judy Is a Punk mp3 at ATumlr (?)
The Ramones - Sheena is a Punk Rocker mp3 at The Mad Makerel

1975 Demos, produced by Tom Erdelyi:
Note: Direct linking may be disabled. If so, go there to get them.
The Ramones - I Dont Wanna Go Down To The Basement (demo) at 7 Inch Punk
The Ramones - 53rd & 3rd (demo) mp3  at 7 Inch Punk
The Ramones - I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (demo) mp3 at 7 Inch Punk
The Ramones - Judy Is A Punk (demo) mp3 at 7 Inch Punk
The Ramones - Loudmouth (demo) mp3 at 7 Inch Punk
The first LP:
The Ramones - Ramones (streaming) at YouTube
Video:
The Ramones -  It's Alive - 28 minute live performance (1977) at YouTube
Sullivan School kindergarteners - Judy Is a Punk at YouTube
Visit:
The Ramones at Wikipedia
Roberta Bayley's original source photo for the first LP cover

IT'S RAY'S FAULT

Everyone should have a group of people they share music with. By that I mean, get turned on, and turn on in return. The "you gotta hear this" friends, the humble ones. Not the "I can top that" types, but someone who genuinely wants others to hear this or that. We should all have those friends. Ray, "The Guy Who Always Finds Good Shit On YouTube" is one of those guys. He just did it again. Today he posted an audio only YouTube clip of Zakary Thaks' "Bad Girl". That's all it took.

Zakary Thaks is textbook garage band, capable of greatness on vinyl, but in reality not all that mind blowing, at least not in the live video I just viewed. It's good, just not the riot one would expect. It's nine songs, twenty nine minutes, ample time to put it in gear. Alas, they show themselves as merely good; albeit with great records to their name. That's what makes them so textbook. They had to have been really, really, good at times. They did open for the Yardbirds and the 13th Floor Elevators. But you'd never know it by the video. A handful of songs and a short video don't add up to a comprehensive overview, I know that. Whatever, these three are awesome, and the video, at the very least, has an anthropological coolness to it.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:

Zakary Thaks - Bad Girl mp3 at Garage Rock Radio

Zakary Thaks - Face to Face mp3 at The Rising Storm

Zakary Thaks - I Need You (streaming) at YouTube

Video:

Zakary Thaks - Nine songs, live at YouTube 1967

Visit:

Interview with Zakary Thaks' Chris Gerniottis at It's Psychedelic Baby

TWO DOZEN LATIN KEEPERS

I'm not even going to mess with this one. It's Latin stuff, salsa, boogaloo, and afro cuban, and all hot shit. Most are from the Fania label, basically the Stax of sixties and seventies Latin music. Go to Mixtape Riot and dig on the excellent cross section. Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, Ray Barretto, Willie Colon, Joe Bataan, and more of that Fania mob. If you dig those, there's twelve more of similar vintage at Passion of the Weiss. And, to the guy on the fence about Latin music, I have a suggestion. You might want to relax and let it take you where it will.

The LP cover above is really just up there because I dig it, and because the title song, "Acid", is among the songs posted. Know this, it ain't no hippie acid.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:

¡Viva Fania! - 12 songs at Mixtape Riot Click on the song titles. 
1-2 Boogaloo - A Bluffers Guide to Boogaloo - 12 more songs at Passion of the Weiss
Video:
Fania All-Stars - Live In Africa at YouTube An hour and a half!
Visit:
Fania Records
Fania Records at Wikipedia
Fania All-Stars at Wikipedia

STILL FRESH

Depending on your age, you might have had the same experience. Punk rock comes along and you're excited by all the possibilities. The whole music dynamic changes. After digging your heels in, you begin to realize that the bulk of your records are by big budget bloated rock stars who's job it is to put as much distance between the performer and audience as possible. Because the bigger that space is, the more elite they are, and that leads to adulation, wealth, and a lot of hooey that has little to do with music. Fuck that. You're done being a sucker. You begin to purge your record collection, Half the shit you owned is suspect. As you get close to bare bones and then start to rebuild it, you find yourself looking for music with different criteria.

That was basically how I ended up listening to reggae. I had just a handful of reggae records at the time, and was still sort of guessing. My first picks were records that were mentioned in magazines and interviews, but without direction from a peer, I got to the point where I was just going to have to take the plunge and gamble. That was the situation when I saw an LP with a guy squatting, mid-bowl load, half enveloped in a cloud of smoke. This looks authentic, I thought. I had never heard of the artist, and had no idea there were different types of reggae, let alone what sound systems were, what toasting was, or what the role of Jamaican DJs was.  All I knew is that the dude looked like the real deal, so I bought it. The LP was Dread In A Babylon by U Roy. To say that the gamble paid dividends is a massive understatement. It's an all timer in this house, loved as much when I heard it today as it was when one of the songs, "Runaway Girl", appeared on my top ten in the second issue of my fanzine [mumble mumble] decades ago. That's just a long winded way of saying that U Roy has been with me for a long time, and ain't going anywhere soon.

Here's a smattering of U Roy. Just a few. Because, as you'll note, I got carried away with all that self sbsorbed shit. I didn't even get to anything about U Roy himself. That just gives me an excuse to post more of his stuff later. In the meantime, here's a few. The first is the one that started my obsession with reggae DJs, and as it happened, the first U Roy song I ever heard. "Runaway Girl". So good.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:

U Roy - Runaway Girl mp3 at Tous les jours la grande chose (1975)
U Roy - Chalice in the Palace mp3 at Pixie Radio (?) (1975)

U-Roy - Natty Rebel mp3 at Tous les jours la grande chose (1976)

U Roy - Your Ace From Outer Space mp3 at Clumsy and Shy (1970)
U Roy - Way Down In South mp3 (via DivShare) at Dave's Jukebox (1972)

Holy shit! Live DJ sets!:
The King Attorney Hi-Fi sets at Who Corked the Dance King Attorney hosts U Roy, Dillinger, Ranking Trevor and others. Click on "Reup"," and it'll take you to MediaFire, which is a bit of a pain, but they're fast downloads, and really, you may never again have the opportunity to hear U Roy on the fly in the seventies.