If you were around during the eighties, and by that I mean out of your mothers womb and of musically cognizant age, you'll remember what it was like. The music was shit. Hair bands, synth based or hair metal, they were everywhere. Less than a decade after punk rock, it seemed all of that back to basics stuff was for naught. Rock 'n' roll was just as bad off, if not worse, than it was in the seventies. One night back then, I'm flipping through the dial and see a nineteen year old, living in a shithole he refers to as "the mausoleum", giving a guided tour of the shack. He points out pictures he's got on his walls, Elvis, Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent, Little Richard and James Brown. It was pretty refreshing to see youthful reverence, particularly on a channel that might be showing the Flock of Seagulls. Then there's a short clip of him and his drummer playing outside of the shack. Guitar, drums, and a good voice. Primitive as all get out, with virtually everything unnecessary stripped away, No bass player, rhythm guitarist, stage, or "proper" equipment. None of that nonsense. I was sucked in. It was my first exposure to the Flat Duo Jets.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
The Flat Duo Jets - Rockin' Bones mp3 at The Walrus
The Flat Duo Jets - Go This Way mp3 at The Datas In
The Flat Duo Jets - Harlem Nocturne mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Flat Duo Jets - Golden Stings mp3 at Leave You Wanting Less
Video:
Crazy Hazy Kisses at YouTube
2 comments:
Thanks for your blog and it’s great to see you dig the Flat Duo Jets. They changed the way I listen to music and reclaimed a huge chunk of endangered rock and roll: Grease, Happy Days, American Graffiti---for a child in the 70s, that’s what I came to know as the 50s. That degenerative momentum, I think, encouraged Back to the Future, fakey malt shops and retro cruise nights to flourish around my teenage self in the 80s. Man I hated that shit. George Lucas and Ron Howard were a bigger threat to rock and roll than disco or Eagles ever were. Their Disneyification of rock and roll went right for the roots, and it worked! As far as I could tell, rock and roll made prior to 1966 was as toothless as Great White and Paula Abdul. Then I saw the Flat Duo Jets on Dave Letterman (the Spring of 1990, I was graduating from high school) and their performance instantly re-angled the light on Little Richard and Buddy Holly, even even the Everly Brothers and Hank Williams looked wonderfully hideous.
Man, love your passion, but I respectfully disagree. George Lucas had his heart in the right place, but no matter how tame American Graffiti may have seemed to be, never mind disco and the Eagles, I think for someone in your age group (I'm older) the most damage was done by MTV and music videos. For guys your age, they sucked the curiosity factor right out of music. When my brothers and I were in our teen years, we were weened on the FM radio of the day and, more important, oldies stations which were still on the air. We spent our time in record stores going backwards. Though it would be a few years before a lot of old rockers entered our scope, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley and even Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, and Sonny Boy Williamson (all readily available, then and now) were on our playlists before we finished high school. A lot of it had to do with the fact that we saw very little music on TV, so we took it upon ourselves. I guess the lesson is not to look for aural inspiration from a moving image. But, in the end, it doesn't matter how you find the wild shit, or how long it takes, it's knowing that you've found it and knowing that there is a difference. Fuck yeah though, thanks for commenting, and thanks for linking to me on your twitter thing. And, by all means, keep hollering!
Post a Comment