BRAZIL NUTS? I DON'T GET IT.

Holy shit, the Summer Olympics start in less than a week. I better step it up with the Brazilian shit. You've but a few days to brainwash yourself. Here's a good start. Os Mutanes. If you already know them, there's some live stuff and rehearsal takes below that you might not have heard. If you haven't heard them, time's a wastin'. Drill them into your skull before all hell breaks loose in Rio.

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Listen:
Os Mutantes - Dom Quixotet mp3 at Internet Archive
Os Mutantes - Ando Meio Desligado at Avant Avant Go there to get it
Os Mutantes - Fuga Nº2 Dos Mutantes mp3 at Avant Avant Ditto.
Os Mutantes - Adeus Maria Fulo mp3 at 20 Jazz Funk Greats
Big ol' bonus:
NOTE: When you click on the Big O link, a thing will pop up from Cloudfare, it's just checking that you aren't some mp3 stealing bot.
Os Mutantes- Seattle 2009 / Brazill 1970 at Big O 10 live tracks from 2009 and 6 rehearsal takes from 1970

FUNK ROCK STARTED SOMEWHERE

This could be good. Unreleased early stuff by Betty Davis, recorded in 1968-69, with Mitch Mitchell on drums, guitarist John McLaughlin, Herbie Hancock on keyboards, Wayne Shorter on sax, and organist Larry Young. The three songs I've heard are telling, not quite as hard as the stuff she did just a couple years later, but you can hear it coming.

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Listen:
Betty Davis - Down Home Girl mp3 at Aquarium Drunkard Go there to get it.
Betty Davis - Hangin' Out (streaming) at F Yeah Black Rock Music
Betty Davis - Polititian Man (sample, streaming) at Sound Shelter
Earlier:
Betty Mabry - Get Ready for Betty (streaming) at YouTube
Later:
Betty Davis - He Was a Big Freak mp3 at Surreptitious Music
Betty Davis - Anti-Love Song mp3 at The Frump
Visit:
Betty Davis - Interview on The Sound of Young America at Maximum Fun
Podcast:
Behind The Black Power Goddess: Betty Davis' Early Demos Released at NPR
Video teaser:
Betty Davis - The Columbia Years 1968-69 at YouTube

COMMENCE GOOFING OFF

I've no clue what you listen to while you get stuff done or why. I try not to think too much about what I listen to on those occasions. I don't want those associations to stick. I can tell you what I won't play while I get shit done. The Cramps, Pussy Galore or Gun Club. They're reserved for leisure. Nights that I know full well shit ain't getting done. Do the dishes later. Let's Party.

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Listen:
The Cramps - Live at CBGB Jan 19, 1978 at Internet Archive
Go there for the set list.
Pussy Galore - Renegade at Recidivism Go there to get it. Scroll down a bit, it's there.

Pussy Galore - Sweet Little Hi-Fi (streaming) at YouTube The one that sold me.

Pussy Galore  - Exile on Main St. at Xtrmntr A cover of the whole LP. I've seen it referred to as a train wreck, and that's about as accurate as it gets. Any band that audacious was someone to watch.

Pussy Galore - Sugarshit Sharp (LP) (streaming) at YouTube This was the reward.

Gun Club - Fire of Love (LP) (streaming) at YouTube You can find lots of live videos at YouTube, but if you haven't heard them, start with this, their first LP.

Gun Club - Preaching the Blues mp3 at Internet Archive

SUN #298, ANOTHER ROCKER ON THE BOOKS

Another Sun artist that left and was tamed by the biz. Ray Smith, whose "Right Behind You Baby" packs a wallop, first recorded at Sun, and then went through a succession of labels. I've only hear two non-Sun sides and they're okay, but nothing like "Right Behind You Baby". A cursory listen detects early symptoms of the dreaded Johnny Burnette "Only Sixteen" disease.

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Listen:
Ray Smith - Right Behind You Baby mp3 at Rocky 52 Sun, 1958
Ray Smith - That's All Right mp3 at Rocky 52 Judd, 1959
Ray Smith - Rockin' Little Angel mp3 at Rocky 52 Judd 1959
Visit:
Rocky 52 Click on "Discography" and kiss your night goodbye.

WHERE THE HELL DID THIS COME FROM?

From out of nowhere, this one. Illinois Jacquet. Who the hell is he? All I know is after hearing his "Bonita", the rest of the night is his. It's got this very late night sounding stoney vibe to it. The after hours wind down. Dig it. The whole LP is there too, at Groove Addict, and it's really good, When was the last time you listened to an LP by a bassoon player? Before you dismiss it, check the cover above. Kenny Burrell's on it and I think I remember that he's supposed to be something special. The credits say that it was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's. You jazz freaks should know who he is. Note: If you're going for the whole LP, beware. Watch out for pop-ups and deceiving buttons. When Adfly pops up, don't click on anything. Wait about five seconds and a button will appear in the top right corner that says "Skip ad". Click on that. If you run into unfamiliar territory, caution is advised. Virus protection on stun.

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Listen:

Illinois Jacquet with Kenny Burrell - Bonita mp3 at Groove Addict

The whole LP:

Illinois Jacquet with Kenny Burrell - The Message (zip) at Groove Addict 7 songs in a zip. Beware of the pop-ups and fake buttons,

THE IMPOSSIBLE COVER

Jeez, has anyone ever covered the Modern Lovers' "Roadrunner" and even come close to the feel of the original? I've yet to hear a really good one. Joan Jett got the song on national TV, bless her heart, but even her version might have been better left undone. Yo la Tengo's version has a nice guitar freakout, but the rest is pretty bland as far as covers go. How hard can it be? It's a simple song. Just turn it up and go at it! And don't let John Lydon get anywhere near you.

He's had sufficient time to learn this one.

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Listen:
The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner mp3 at Waking Up To
Yo la Tengo - Roadrunner (streaming) at YouTube
Video:
Joan Jett - Roadrunner at YouTube Live on Letterman
Visit:
Past Modern Lovers posts Scroll down the page, a lot of good stuff.

DUDE...SHOES.

Astrud and João Gilberto

You'll have to excuse me. After day at the beach, with trunks still well, sunburned and salty, I had to cool off. I had little choice. It was time for some bossa nova. Yeah, laid back. Sue me. I've been meaning to post some Brazilian stuff anyway, ahead of the Summer Olympics, because there might be all sorts of side stories there and they may taint your associations with Brazilian music (that is, if you haven't heard much). At the very least there's the Zika virus, which is tragic no matter how you look at it. Then there's that "Welcome to Hell" thing. Yeesh. You never know though, things could go well.

If you've heard one bossa nova song, chances are it's "The Girl From Ipanema", most likely the English version, sung by Astrud Gilberto and backed by João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Stan Getz. It's like the "Johnny B, Goode" of bossa nova (although that reference may be lost on you younger folk). The story goes that in the midst of a recording session for the Getz/Gilberto LP, which included the Portuguese version sung by Antonio Carlos Jobim, someone had the big idea to record a version sung in English. Gilberto's wife Astrud, an untrained singer, was chosen to sing because she was the only Brazilian in the studio that spoke English well enough to wing it.

Here's that song, and a few Astrud Gilberto oddballs, if only because she managed to milk a career out of a chance opportunity. Then there's a link to a post that includes, what the author claims are, the eleven best bossa nova songs, past and present. I'm in no position to argue. If you're still not fully chillin', there's another link to a 46 song compilation Blue Note Plays Bossa Nova, featuring jazz artists on the Blue Note label, which means most aren't Brazilian but, hell, I ran across it so I'm not going to let the link go to waste.

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Listen:
Stan Getz and João Gilberto with Antonio Carlos Jobim and Astrud Gilberto - The Girl From Ipanema mp3 at Caipirinha Lounge
Walter Wanderley Trio with Astrud Gilberto - It's A Lovely Day Today mp3 at Art Decade Bossa nova with organ, you don't hear that everyday.
Thievery Corporation with Astrud Gilberto - Light My Fire mp3 at Spacepack Not bossa nova, but interesting pairing
Elis Regina - Águas de Março mp3 at Caipirinha Lounge Because the author claims it is the number one of all time, the best version of "the perfect bossa nova". Sounds good to me. Awesome in fact.
Visit:
Top 11 Bossa Nova Songs, Past & Present at Caipirinha Lounge
Blue Note Plays Bossa Nova at Internet Archive Note: Scroll down until you see VBR MP3 iunder "Download options" in the right column. Click on that.

WOW, LOOK AT MR. SPIT SHINE

I hadn't looked for Captain Beefheart stuff that I hadn't heard in a while. So when I ran into a 1974 live radio broadcast (at Big O), I went looking for more. I found enough that it'll take a while to digest it all, so here's just a brief rundown. Note before clicking the live thing is at Big O: A thing will pop up from Cloudfare, it's just checking that you aren't some mp3 stealing bot. The live thing is from 1974, right after the Magic Band walked, so it was recorded with a new band. It's kind of an odd mix of some jam band and no wave tweaks, with a pissed off Howlin' Wolf jabbering all over it. 

The thing at Vinyl Villan is good. An imagined Beefheart compilation by someone way more into him than I am. It's a nice cross section. The cover of "Evil" down there is live, from 1966, and kicks beaucoup ass.

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Listen:
Captain Beefheart - Evil mp3 at Cover Me
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band - Where There's Woman mp3 at Avant Avant
Captain Beefheart - An Imaginary Compilation at Vinyl Villain Ten songs, good reading.
Captain Beefheart - Live, Kansas City MO, 1974 at Big O/Roio Twelve individual songs.

I HATE TRAFFIC JAMS

Well, oh well, Comic-Con is in town this week. My bet is that a few of you have heard of it. It started out as a small get together for comic book collectors and creators. That was a few decades ago. It's now grown to this massive pop culture/sci-fi/geek orgy, three (or is it four?) days of all sorts of left field gluttony. It's the biggest convention that comes to San Diego, and I think it's the biggest comic related convention anywhere. It's a big deal for some, and if you live here, a giant pain in the ass. Because it brings in so much tourism related revenue, the city leaders lay down for it.

I went to it only once, a very early Comic-Con, then held in the basement of a hotel, but I only had a passing interest in comics. The reason why I went was because, for whatever reason, the Deadbeats were playing. I have no clue why they were booked, there was no comic connection whatsoever, and they were practically unknown in these parts. They were a L.A. punk band that had a record on Dangerhouse and played occasionally in L.A., but weren't really well known outside of California. Even in Southern California, they had a second tier status in terms of name recognition, for a few reasons. They were weird, didn't really subscribe to any sort of punk rock mode of fashion or sound, they had a sax player in their ranks, as well as a young drummer who's chops were pretty advanced (I think I remember that his dad was a jazz musician). The only members that were omnipresent in the L.A. scene (as most band members were back then) were the sax player, Pat Delaney, and the guitarist, Geza X, at least that's how it seemed. A reunion gig in 2014 (top photo above) also had ex-Screamer Paul Roessler on keyboards. I had the record, and I'd never had an opportunity to seen them, so off to whatever a comic convention is.

The show was in a small room and the crowd was pretty thin, mostly local scenesters, and the scene back then was really, really small. There might have been fifty to a hundred people, and that's if you include the Deadbeats entourage. Among the L.A. people was Brendan Mullen, proprietor of L.A.'s Masque. (He was wearing a hand drawn badge that I had made a week earlier for a friend who was in a local band. How he ended up with it, I don't know.) The show was short, but memorable enough that some friends and I put on a show not long after (flyer above) that included the Deadbeats, the Zeros, and the Young Americans (the latter, an out there band that included Ferrara Brain Pan, then Steve Hitchcock, a criminally overlooked influence on the early San Diego scene). That's a pretty tight bill in itself, though that show is probably better known in some circles as the debut live performance of Non. That's a whole other story.

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Listen:
The Deadbeats – Kill The Hippies E.P. at Killed By Death Four songs, individual mp3s

PADDLE OUT? YEAH, SURE, ALL I EVER DO.

This one's bugging me. "Our Favorite Martian", by Bobby Fuller and the Fanatics, a surf song I've heard a million times, but either I'm like one of you liner note slackers, or I've heard it a million times under a different title by another band and I can't remember who in the hell it was. That still makes me a liner note slacker. The shame. If another version pops into your memory, fill me in. Like I said, it's buggin'. Do check that photo above. It just screams surf, doesn't it?

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Listen:
Bobby Fuller and the Fanatics - Our Favorite Martian mp3 at Rocky 52
Related: 
Bobby Fuller - Earlier post with way more stuff
Past surf posts and there's been several.

THE DRILLING IT INTO THICK SKULLS DEPT.

How badass is Larry Williams? If you've heard of him, you likely know. (He's been here before, several times.) If you haven't heard of him, I'll bite my tongue. His songs have been covered by the Beatles, the Stones, the Who and Led Zeppelin. And Little Richard. And a thousand others, but you get the idea. If that doesn't make you want to check him out, then adding that his seminal recordings were on Specialty probably won't mean a thing, or that he did some damn good semi-Northern soul sides with Johnny Guitar Watson in the second half of the sixties. No, you'll just keep walking around like that.

The always peckin' Boogaloo Time just did a Larry Williams post with eight songs, including three the Beatles covered. There's a few others down there too because it's a link dump kinda night.

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Listen:
Larry Williams - She Said Yeah mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Larry Williams - Short Fat Annie mp3 at The New LoFi
Larry Williams - Eight songs at Boogaloo Time
With Johnny Guitar Watson:
The Larry Williams Show (with Johnny Watson) - Two mp3s and LP at Groove Addict
Johnny "Guitar" Watson and Larry Williams - The Best of the Okeh Years - Four mp3s and an LP at Groove Addict
Johnny "Guitar" Watson and Larry Williams - Two For the Price of One - One mp3 and an LP at Groove Addict
Pin up:
High resolution version of above photo at Ace Records

AN ICON OF OUT THERE

Alan Vega died the other day, and I'm not really going to dwell on it. I appreciate his groundbreaking work as half of Suicide (the other half being Martin Rev), but sometimes you just have to be in the mood, and tonight I'm not. So here's a few Vega related things, including "Frankie Teardrop", because every band has it's "Free Bird". There's a couple live things too, from 2009, and a couple writings found, you know, not here. The photo above of a young Vega was found on the site of his ex-wife, Mariette Bermowitz.

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Listen:
Suicide - Frankie Teardrop mp3 at DK Presents
Suicide - Dream Baby Dream mp3 at Free Music Archive Live 2009
Suicide - Girl mp3 at Free Music Archive Live 2009
Visit:
Alan Vega, Punk Music Pioneer and Artist, Dies at 78 at New York Times
Bruce Springsteen's Eulogy for Suicide's Alan Vega at Pitchfork Plus Springsteen cover of "Dream Baby Dream".

HAIRIER THAN THEY LOOK

Larry and the Blue Notes

Man, I'm just all over the place tonight, so I won't keep you. Here's a handful of garage bang 'em outs, all found at Beware of the Blog, and all good. I'm sure they've been compiled over the years, in the Pebbles or Back From the Grave series. Or the Nuggets series, or one of Sundazed's compilations. There's a bunch of one-off regional compilations too. Shit, there sure has been an abundance of garage compilations. So, yeah, these may be familiar to some of you, but if they are, you probably have a better record collection than I do, so go listen to it. Come back tomorrow.

About Beware of the Blog, the site is no longer updated but has left all of its posts up, and they go back years. Just about all of the song files are still live too. In its run, Beware of the Blog had a lot of contributors with good taste, and in a variety of genres. Dig around over there while you still can. After I listened to a few of these I was off to Ugly Things. You know what happens there.

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Listen:
Larry & The Blue Notes - In & Out mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Carpetbaggers - Let Yourself Go mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Motions - Everything (That's Mine) mp3 at Beware of the Blog Dig the guitar solo
The Dirty Shames - Makin' Love mp3 at Beware of the Blog
The Stoics - Hate mp3 at Beware of the Blog

FELLINI AS SELECTOR

I can trace my cognition of Pérez Prado to a precise moment. I was in an independent movie house, the type that shows art flicks, foreign movies and cult favorites. You know the type. Late nights, subtitles and a whole lot of head scratching. Don't get too stoned at intermission or you may fall asleep during a long scene, that type. The movie that was showing was Fellini's La Dolce Vita. All things pointed to interesting: Italian, black and white, 1960, with Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg. I'd seen stills and it had a particular coolness. In one party scene, the revelers encourage a woman to strip, and someone suggests "Patricia" as the background music. The juxtaposition was memorable.

After viewing it, among all the things that I came away with, and there were many, was a name added to the list. You know, the list. I didn't know his name yet, but that was when I first heard his music. When I finally heard "Patricia" (on the radio of all places), I had a name, Pérez Prado. He's been hanging around here ever since.

One thing I like about Pérez Prado is his well timed grunt-like "huuh!". He seems to love it. It's not in every song, but it is something he often does, and after you've heard it in a few songs it becomes almost comical. Another thing about Prado is that, although he was known for his mambos (hence the "huuh!"), he was not above doing things a little tweaked. There's often an element or two that are just a little bit exaggerated. Dig "Tabu". The trumpeter must have just got his first mute. It's as if he's trying to wear it out in one song. The other song to check is "Circle". It's credited to him, but it's hard to believe. His son led his band after he retired and given the songs vintage, around 1970, it may be his son's doing. Regardless, it's like a theme song to a cop show, done by a band of Italian session musicians, like only 1970-era Italian session musicians can. Like some sort of funky Spaghetti Wrecking Crew.

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Listen:
Pérez Prado - Patricia (streaming) at YouTube
Pérez Prado - Tabu mp3 at Super Sonido
Pérez Prado - Circle mp3 at 45 Giri a Porta Portese
Pérez Prado - Sexomania mp3 at Office Naps
Pérez Prado - Tico Tico mp3 at Beware of the Blog

WILD IN THE STREETS

That unassuming looking guy up there is Garland Jeffreys. He wrote one of the Circle Jerks' signature songs,  "Wild In the Streets". He was a long time pal of Lou Reed's, from before the Velvet Underground. He was buds with Bob Marley, Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen. I saw a photo of him, somewhere online, planting one on Bette Midler's kisser. And he wrote "Wild In the Streets".

His stuff isn't what you'd call exciting, but it is good and has a certain groove that comes in handy when your putzing around the house, at least that's how I get my feet wet. That was meant as a compliment, really.

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Listen:
Garland Jeffreys - Wild In the Streets (via Zippyshare) at Devil's Music
Circle Jerks - Wild in the Streets mp3 at ATumblr (?)
LP Streaming:
Garland Jeffreys - Truth Serum (streaming) at American Songwriter 2012, Jeffreys at 70

SWEDISH MEATBALLS

Right in the middle of a Venn diagram, where the Cramps, the Heartbreakers and the Ramones intersect, right there you'll find the Nomads. Throw in a little Gun Club, a little Stooges, you get the idea. Sort of. But where the Nomads really succeed is their ability to make any cover, and they've done many, sound like a Nomads song. And their choice in covers is awesome.

Here's where I get off. Check their first LP, Outburst, streaming at YouTube. Blast it in the ol' cubicle. That LP was a random pick in an import bin, a chance purchase I made when it first came out years ago. I bought it based on the covers that they did, and it ended up a serendipitous milestone. I've been digging the Nomads from the first notes that I heard, and that was decades ago. I can't say that about many bands. Outburst was that good.

It's hard to find downloads of their stuff online, and that's the only reason you haven't seen them here repeatedly. But I just ran across a good one. The She Pays the Rent EP (linked under "The EP" below) is a bit of a hassle to download and unzip, but it's worth it, trust me. The Lyres' original of the title song is down there too, so you can hear what they do with a cover. That's not to say that their own songs aren't hot shit too. In fact, it's near impossible to find a something even questionable. Their collective shit don't stink.

You have to check out the video above, from a concert celebrating their twentieth anniversary of being a band. (That was in 2001. They've recorded as recently as 2012. That's dedication.) The clip has them with Chris Bailey from the Saints,  doing "Stranded". Fu-huck yeah. I don't care if it's twenty years on, that warms the ol' cockles. Check out the other video linked below, same concert with Wayne Kramer and Jello Biafra doing "Kick Out the Jams". Yeesh. Then, a couple old in-studio live things.  "Real Gone Lover" slays me. As does "She Pays the Rent". Hell yeah, horns and all.

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Listen:
The Nomads - I'm Five Years Ahead of My Time (streaming) at YouTube The Third Bardo cover
The Nomads - Boss Hoss (streaming) at YouTube Sonics cover
The Nomads - Wimp (streaming) at YouTube Zeros cover
The Nomads - She Pays the Rent (streaming) at YouTube Lyres cover
The Lyres - She Pays the Rent (streaming) at YouTube
The Nomads - More than 50 songs! (streaming) at YouTube
Their first LP
The Nomads - Outburst (Full LP) (streaming) at YouTube
The EP:
The Nomads - She Pays the Rent EP (zipped download) at All I Want
Video:
Nomads 20th Anniversary - Kick Out the Jams, Hultsfred 2001 at YouTube With Wayne Kramer and Jello Biafra 2001
The Nomads - She Pays the Rent (Live in studio) at YouTube 1985
The Nomads - Real Gone Lover (Live in studio) at YouTube 1985
The Nomads - Three more songs (Live in studio) at YouTube 1985

I'M SORRY, WE'RE OUT OF TIME

Man, Roxy Music just can't get a break around here. After constant detours, I was finally going to kick out a post about them, and just get it out of the way. But for the fourth or fifth time, I ended up somewhere completely different. Tonight it was going to start with "Editions of You" because it's early, relatively raw, and it pretty much rocks. Then it was going to be Mudhoney's cover of it (insane guitar on that one), and on to more Roxy Music from there. But I paused, thought about how "Editions of You" could very well be their "Rip This Joint", which is, of course, one of the most rocking songs the Stones ever did. Both songs are raw, and both with a nod towards fifties era rock 'n' roll, particularly the sax solos. Then I ended ended up watching a clip of Green Day doing "Rip This Joint" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, which I hadn't seen before. Or at least remember seeing. It's tight, but all I could think was "they better have a sax solo". They did. And now I'm no longer thinking about Roxy Music. That's how that happens.

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Listen:
Roxy Music - Editions of You (streaming) at YouTube
Mudhoney - Editions of Youth mp3 at I Am Fuel, You Are Friends This rips.
Rolling Stones - Rip This Joint (streaming) at YouTube
Video:
Green Day - Rip This Joint at YouTube From Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Roxy Music - Editions of You at YouTube

THEY SHOULD'VE USED IT MORE

I'm not a Beatles freak. I recognize their massive talent and all of that, but I really don't listen to them all that much. But like Grandpappy Chuck says, if it's a rocker I'll admit it. And "Revolution 1" slays me. Not because of the tune itself, which is a good one, or the lyrics, which are also good. Nope. I dig it because of the distortion on John Lennon's guitar. Yee haw.

DANCE?

Roxy Music still has to wait. I went looking for a song of theirs and ended up on an old post from 2011 at a blog I'd never been to. Wouldn't you just know it, distracted again. This time by a dance mix of "For A Few Dollars More" by Ennio Morricone of all things. Not a remix, but an actual dance version, and it appears to be by Morricone himself. What the fuck? That's all it took.

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Listen:
Ennio Morricone - For A Few Dollars More mp3 at Blondin
Ennio Morricone – Per Qualche Dollaro In Più (Dance Mix) mp3 at Thee Mightee Kittens
Hugo Montenegro - For A Few Dollars More mp3 at The Basement Rug
Billy Strange - For A Few Dollars More (streaming) at YouTube
The Golden Palominos - For a Few Dollars More (streaming) at YouTube

CRAZY LITTLE WOMEN BEWARE

I heard Bryan Ferry's cover of Wilbert Harrison's "Let's Stick Together earlier, and while trying to think of nice things to say about Roxy Music, I took a Wilbert Harrison tack. You guessed it. Not going back tonight. Roxy Music can wait their turn.

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Listen:
Wilbert Harrison - Kansas City mp3 at Rocky 52 1959
Wilbert Harrison - Happy In Love mp3 at Office Naps 1961
Wilbert Harrison - Let's Stick Together (streaming) at YouTube 1962 This rules.
Wilbert Harrison - My Love mp3 at Rocky 52 1965
Wilbert Harrison - Let's Work Together mp3 at Rocky 52 1969
Bryan Ferry - Let's Stick Together mp3 at Rock Town Hall 1976

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY

On a chance visit to Dangerous Minds today, I was surprised to see the latest article, one by Howie Pyro about Black Randy. For the uninitiated, Black Randy was an irreverent fixture of the early L.A. punk scene, and his band, the Metro Squad, a rag tag group made up of members of other bands. What set Black Randy and the Metro Squad apart from most bands in the L.A. scene, or any punk scene for that matter, was that they were unbeholden to just about everything considered punk rock, with one glaring exception. They didn't give a shit what anyone thought about them, including the punk rockers. Owing more to primitive abrasive funk then the three chord formulaic stuff everybody else was playing, the closest comparison might be the Contortions and other James Chance bands. 

So, that's who Black Randy was. Now, the story behind one of the photos that accompanies Pyro's article, the one above, which I wrote about nine years ago (holy shit, time flies). Through the magic of cut and paste, here's the story if you're at all interested. Note: It's way funnier if you were a Weirdos fan back then:

Visit punk oriented mp3 blogs enough and you'll eventually run across Black Randy downloads. They'll come and go, and it's often the same songs. I've always put off posting the links, until now. I thought I lost "Give It Up or Turn It Loose" for good, and I panicked. Eventually I found my way back to the site that I originally downloaded it from a year ago, and ran across one of my comments on the page with the post. It was about a night in a hotel room with Middle Class, Alice Bag and Black Randy (after a San Diego show).

"Middle Class had stored their equipment that night in my Mom's garage, and I went with them, Black Randy and Alice Bag to a hotel on Rosecrans to whoop it up. I've always had a few vivid mental snapshots of that night. Alice Bag playing the Bay City Rollers on a portable cassette, Middle Class sitting on the edge of the bed, and the most memorable, of Black Randy with a lampshade on his head saying "Look, I'm John Denny!" [John Denny, as in the singer for the Weirdos.]

After re-reading my comment from a year ago, I wondered how accurately I remembered the incident. I thought I remembered it clearly, but it was about 1978 or '79. Regardless, I proceeded to download "Give It Up..." and was preparing to post a link when I decided to search for an image of Black Randy that wasn't already all over the web.

On the second page of the search results, I hit paydirt. This wasn't just an uncommon Black Randy photo. This was one of him replete with a lampshade on his head. In a case of mega-deja-fookin'-vu, the pose was exactly as the one in my mental snapshot, with one hand holding up the edge of the lampshade. Too weird.

I'm thinking this must be a gag that he did all the time back then. So, I click on the photo. It takes me to Alice Bag's online photo album at Flickr. The photo was from San Diego, on a trip with Middle Class. (I'm in utter amazement at what can be found online.) Upon closer inspection he's holding the San Diego phone book. That night he had called for cab for me (and gave me cab fare) to get back to my Mom's. Even weirder. What are the chances? (Note: Besides the lampshade, the John Denny "wardrobe" included the clear plastic cover of the lampshade as a tube top. I had forgotten that part.)

This is not to illustrate that I was in some sort of hip inner circle. I barely knew Middle Class and had never met Alice Bag or Black Randy before that night. No, this is to illustrate that I can actually remember something.

The real reason I posted all of this was not out of laziness. It's to direct you to Pyro's thing. It's a good read and sums up Black Randy far better than I have. There's also some links to his 45s at Killed By Death, but to really hear how far Black Randy and the Metro Squad strayed from the three chord copycats, check the the Frontier Records reissue of his only LP.

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

Listen:
Black Randy and the Metro Squad - I Slept In An Arcade mp3 at Killed By Death Go there to get it
Black Randy and the Metro Squad - Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose mp3 at Killed By Death Ditto.
The first 45:
Black Randy and the Metro Squad - Trouble At The Cup mp3 at Killed By Death Go there to get it.
Black Randy and the Metro Squad - Loner With A Boner mp3 at Killed By Death Ditto.
Black Randy and the Metro Squad - Sperm Bank Baby mp3 at Killed By Death Ditto.
Visit:
‘Pass The Dust, I Think I’m Bowie!’: True tales of Black Randy, first wave Los Angeles punk icon by Howie Pyro at Dangerous Minds
Black Randy profile at Black Randy (fan site?)
Post-Punk Oddities 

THE LINK

Well, this is cool. I just ran into a couple Roscoe Gordon songs. He's been posted here before, and I'm certain I've voiced my preference for his stuff on Sun. His early stuff is like the link between rhythm and blues and reggae; and he's probably the only artist that had records on both Sun and Coxsone Dodd's Studio One. I do gravitate towards the Sun stuff, but even his later stuff is great. The first song of his that I ever heard was "Just A Little Bit" on a Vee Jay rhythm and blues compilation, which I think dates from the early sixties. But soon after that, I heard the collection of his stuff on Sun and was completely sucked in (thank you very much Charley Records).

Here's a couple that were on Boogaloo Time. Make sure you check the source posts (here and here) for other great R & B songs by Little Willie John, Wynonie Harris, Big Joe Turner, Etta James, LaVern Baker and others. Yeah. That nameless Boogaloo guy posts some good shit.

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

Listen:
Roscoe Gordon - I'm Gonna Shake It mp3 at Boogaloo Time
Roscoe Gordon - Just a Little Bit mp3 at Boogaloo Time
Rosco Gordon - Shoobie Doobie mp3 at Rocky 52 This rules

OKAY, LET'S

This is a good one. It's like a meeting of the He-Man Women Haters Club on Our Gang. With hair. Just the guys. Talk about girls. That is until the one guy slips up and gets all PC towards the end and says "Let's talk about women" thereby ruining the opportunity to defend the demeaning sassy talk with the ol' "it was a different time" defense. 

Dig the clip too, from "Riot on Sunset Strip". The dialogue of the actors was probably written by some pipe smoking screenwriter with an ascot. But it is the Chocolate Watch Band in the background, and that counts for something.

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

Listen:
The Chocolate Watch Band - Let's Talk About Girls mp3 at Mango Bango (?)
The Chocolate Watch Band - Don't Need Your Lovin' mp3 at Mango Mango (?)

I KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS, AND I'M STILL PISSED

Hell, I told myself I wouldn't post this, but for for aging West Coast elder punks, X's "Fourth of July" might as well be John Phillips Sousa for how often it gets dragged out on Independence Day. Still, I resisted. Then a friend posted the video on Facebook with the comment "It's not the 4th of July until I hear this", and I gotta say, having not heard it for at least a year, it sounded fine. Written by ex-Blaster Dave Alvin, when he replaced Billy Zoom as guitarist for X. He was only in the band for a short while, and has recorded the song himself, but I've always categorized it as an X song, because once you have the endearingly awkward harmonies of John Doe and Exene Cervenka on a song, it's an X song. Not to downplay Zoom's or Alvin's contributions to the band, or drummer D.J. Bonebrake's for that matter. John and Exene, as us aging West Coast elder punks like to refer to them, singing any song together makes it an X song in my book.

It's not even really about the Fourth of July. It's a guy lamenting the dissipating relationship with his squeeze, trying to re-woo her by reminding her that it's the Fourth, "Hey baby, it's the Fourth of July" is his plea. It really is a great song, I have to say. 

Dig the original X version, and a demo of it. If you're well familiar with X's version, check the live version by Alvin. He gets all Springsteen up in there, sans horns, the pianist doing the heavy lifting to great effect. Good shit Maynard.

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

Listen:
X - 4th of July mp3 at Bruised Fruit CDs
X - 4th of July (demo, streaming) at YouTube
Dave Alvin & the Guilty Men - 4th of July (live) mp3 at Archive.org
Video:
X - Fourth of July at YouTube After Alvin's departure, Tony Gilkyson on guitar