Wednesday, December 30, 2020

NO DOUBT, A PAID EXPERT WITNESS


From the man who brought you "Sweet Caroline", wrote "I'm A Believer" for the Monkees, is an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, an honoree at the Kennedy Center Honors and the owner of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award comes a complete and utter dog. This one, from 1968 "The Pot Smoker's Song". Just listen to it. Happy go lucky intro straight into a testimonial of someone who started with pot and who claims that along with meth (remember, this is 1968),"I also used to shoot acid up my spine." Really? Do tell bro.

This is bad even as album filler. Downright embarrassing for someone who really does have talent. Maybe he was doing it for the ladies of the parking lot. Whatever. The post I found it on has twelve other pot related songs, though I doubt any will match the juxtaposition of talent and cluelessness that this one has. Yeesh.

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Listen:
Neil Diamond - The Pot Smoker's Song mp3
at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Session 223 - Love, Mary Warner
at Probe Is Turning-On the People Twelve more weed whackers.

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

FROM THE SECOND LAP DEPARTMENT

Ha! I was scrounging around old posts at Art Decade and came across a song by Juaneco Y Su Combo. I instantly recognized it but didn't remember from where. I did a web search and this post came up. I figured that if I had forgotten about it maybe you had too. Here it is as it was posted four years ago.:

A week ago, I had no idea what chicha was. I'd never really listened to Peruvian cumbia. This week it was crash course time. It started with Juaneco y Su Combo, courtesy of the ever cool Super Sonido (or was cool. They haven't updated in a while). From there it was a stop at Tiger Milk Records, and by then I was sucked in. I'm not going to bullshit here, or re-write a description that's already been written. I got nothin'. Just links to all of the cool stuff I've been digging. Listen to a few of these. It's good, out there in an organic, spacey, definitely-not-from-here sort of way. Shit, I can't aptly describe the sounds, let alone the feel. Read the thing at Perfect Sound Forever, that's a solid rundown. But man, get lost in this music. File under "stuff from way over there".

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Listen:
Juaneco y Su Combo - La Cumbia De Los Cuervos mp3 at Super Sonido
Los Vagos De Paramonga - La Muerte Del Lobo mp3
at Super Sonido
Manzanita y Su Conjunto - Asi Asi Asi
at Super Sonido
Four more chicha bombs
at Super Sonido
Tiger Milk Records
- Streaming samples of their compilations
Visit:
Peruvian Chicha
at Perfect Sound Forever

Sunday, December 27, 2020

THANKS MYSTERY SELECTOR


I live near a fishing pier, a long fishing pier (1971 feet long). It's great for a walk at sunset with a lot of free range lollygagging. Even better with your sister, who you haven't seen in months, on Christmas Eve. The pier is T-shaped. It goes straight out into he ocean and then has wings, one pointed north, the other pointing south. That's the south wing that you see in the photo above, from three nights ago. Awesome sunset, no? As we walked away towards shore, it got more awesome. Someone at that end of that wing had a boombox of some sort and blasted "Sleepwalk" by Santo and Johnny. I had one of those moments, like when Dan Akroyd hears the Barkays' "Soul Finger" way off in the distance in Spies Like Us. The song selection was so was perfect for the time and place I was tempted to walk back out and thank the selector.



My introduction to the awesomeness of Santo and Johnny came from a hand me down record from my Uncle Mike, who was a Duane Eddy and Ventures freak as well, so I'm including the Ventures version too. It's about twice as long as the original. That's a good thing because the only thing that I don't like about the original is that it's too short. It's perfect for a slow dance but, really, what good is a slow dance if it only lasts two and a half minutes? I bet you dollars for donuts that Santo and Johnny were still living at home when they wrote it.

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Saturday, December 26, 2020

THE RIFF MAKER


Back when I had a paper route, I did what paperboys do between throwing papers, I trash picked. The night before trash days, the cans were brought out to the curb and that meant that the morning paper boys were the first to see what was in them. Alas, there was rarely anything worth taking home. But there was one trash can that I never skipped. There was a DJ from one of the local FM radio stations that lived in the middle of my route. Though not yet in my teens, I had the bug. I was just starting to get into music. So I knew about this DJ. I always checked his can. Unfortunately, if there was anything in there it was usually some singer songwriter type stuff that the station wouldn't play (i.e. Gordon Lightfoot, Jim Croce). It was getting to the point that even I, with my nascent musical knowledge, knew that that singer songwriter crap didn't cut it. But one day, right on top, Mountain's Climbing LP, their first. I'd never seen it before and didn't recognize the name of the band. But there were four members and they had sufficiently scraggly hair, a signifier of rock. I brought it home and the first song on the first side was "Mississippi Queen". Now, that song I knew. It was big enough that It had actually made it onto AM station playlists. And it rocked, hard.


That was the first Mountain song that I'd ever heard and it put Mountain on my list. By the time I was bussing tables when I was about fifteen, two waitresses were hired, transplants from Nantucket. Knowing nothing of Nantucket or where it was but knowing, by then, of Mountain's Nantucket Sleighride LP, I asked the women if they had ever heard of Mountain. I was flabbergasted when they told me that they knew Leslie West, Corky Laing and Felix Papalardi and actually partied with them "back home". Shit, I felt honored to bus their tables.


This all came flooding back to me three days ago when I heard that guitarist and lead singer Leslie West had passed away. West was the man with the riff. The intro to "Mississippi Queen" practically defines hard rock in the seventies. And his voice is one of those rock voices that sounds like it's seen a road or two. Man, that song has been a favorite of mine since that day after my paper route. That fucking riff.

West started out in a band called the Vagrants, and after Mountain it was West, Bruce and Laing.(Jack Bruce was formerly in Cream, Corky Laing was a holdover from Mountain.) Listen to "Why Dontcha". That intro, when the song really kicks into gear at :20 seconds, just knocks the fucking wind out of you.

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Listen:
Mountain - Mississippi Queen
(streaming) at YouTube
Mountain - Never In My Life mp3
at Nosmo Kings
West, Bruce and Laing - Why Dontcha
(streaming) at YouTube
Video:
The Vagrants - Appearance in a movie
at YouTube West at far right on stage

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

THE HOLIDAY DUMP CONTINUES!

Here's a handful that have been sitting around since 2012, posted at Black Squirrel Amusements. They're all from the same post, there's thirty songs in all. A few others are worth checking out, and more than a few are worthless. The Chipmunks, really? Yeah, it's a real mixed bag. These are just vaguely connected, but if you file them under what-not, it gives you a license to lump just about anything together. Plus, they're good. The unexpected treat was Mr.President, who I've never heard before, so that was cool to run into. Afro-funk from France. I'll be damned. I wanted to hate it, but it's so damn catchy.

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Listen:

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

LOCK DOWN THEATER NIGHT 40

Here's two classic live rock 'n' roll flicks that, if you haven't seen them, you really ought to check out. They used to make the rounds as a double feature at art movie houses, so they may be old news to some of you. Regardless, they're worth watching. The first one is a classic, The T.A.M.I. Show, filmed over the course of two days at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in 1964, with a bill that's hard to beat in any era. Hosted by Jan and Dean, the line up includes Chuck Berry, James Brown, the Stones, the Supremes, the Beach Boys, the Barbarians, Lesley Gore, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakota, and Gerry and the Pacemakers. For the performers without their own backing bands, the music was provided by members of the Wrecking Crew, notably Hal Blaine, Tommy Tedesco, Glen Campbell and Leon Russell. The music was arranged and produced by Jack Nitsche, who had his finger seemingly in every pie back then. Even the opening is worth watching, with Jan and Dean skateboarding across what looks like the Sunset Strip, while the Brits are being bused in, James Brown primps, and the Barbarian's Moulty gets fawned over by a group of adoring females. Apparently that hook of his does more than hold a drum stick. (I know. That's bad.)


The other film, The Big TNT Show, came out in 1965. Whoever was behind it was obviously trying to copy the format, but made a few questionable choices. The line-up includes Bo Diddley Ray Charles, Ike and Tina Turner, and the Byrds. Okay, that's a good start, right? Now keep in mind the formula they're trying to copy. Now, tell my why, in a show that aims to be hip, for teenagers, would you include the Modern Folk Quartet? How about Roger Miller? No offense to Mr. Dang Me, but that's parent music. Probably the most bizarre inclusion is the "special appearance" of David McCallum, riding high from his role as Illya Kuryakin in The Man From U.N.C.L.E,, conducting the orchestra in an instrumental version of "Satisfaction". Check the audience. The girls are going apeshit, like girls of that era were want to do, while the guys share my sentiment, almost every guy shown with a silent "WTF?" look on their face. Taken together, even the non-musical moments of both of these films make for a prime slice of mid-sixties American teenage anthropology. Or at least screaming girl-thropology.

A note about these videos: they're full length. You know what that means. They're sure to disappear after someone complains. You snooze, you lose. I haven't seen every minute of both of them, but of what I've seen, my favorite moment in The T.A.M.I. Show is the Barbarians, doing their only song, "Hey Little Girl" (at 1:14:34). Wait for the latter half, Moulty goes ballistic. My favorite moment of The Big TNT Show, keeping in mind that I am a red blooded American male, is the Bo Diddley part, particularly the Duchess. Those moves, while playing guitar, in that dress, with that, wait for it, Ronettes type hair style is just too much. Enough to buckle the knees. Which, of course, makes me no better than a screaming mid-sixties teenage girl.

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Watch:

Monday, December 21, 2020

HOUSEBOUND AND HOT

Whoa dad! Another lazy holiday cop out repost. Screw it, only a few days left. There's a lot to get to. Everything below was posted two years ago..

Can't believe that this post at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban has eluded me. Sitting there since 2014, three holiday mixes in three separate mp3s, each about the perfect length (1:10) to make a pre-fab CD mix to give someone. Because it's cooler than a zip drive, you still get to make a cover. 

The selections on these are pretty varied: country, soul, instrumental, surf,...you know, that group of people over there have good taste, so they're low on stinkers. At the very least you either have a soundtrack for three and a half hours of eggnog swilling, which actually sounds disgusting, or a host/hostess gift in a mix CD with your own custom cover. Yee haw, dig it.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Merry Twistmas from Ichiban!!! - Three mp3 mixes at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 81 songs in all. Originally posted here a year ago.

Sunday, December 20, 2020

THE LEAGUE OF CORPORATE SUCK UPS


Oh man, I had to cut it off somewhere. I was listening to an unlabeled mix CD that I'd made years ago. Sometimes when I make mixes I include a few sound bites, sound effects or commercials. On this particular mix I'd inserted Cream doing a Falstaff commercial. That one always slays me. Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce, all three respected musicians, in a band then at the top of their game, doing a commercial for an American beer. And not just any beer. A crappy American beer.

That led to the black hole that is the Sell Out file. There is no shortage of commercials by well known musicians. I kinda get it, but I'd never do it. If it came to that, I'd find another more honest line of work. I'll leave it at that. So here's some oddballs. You'll notice a lot of them come from Motor City Radio Flashbacks (MCRF). There's a bunch more there, both by famous people and company made. What the hell, they'll break up a mix. And some are laughable. The two Levis commercials by Jefferson Airplane almost sound like parodies. But nothing beats Cream crooning "Fal-staffff!"

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

Listen:
Cream - Falstaff beer mp3 at Rock Town Hall
Rolling Stones - Rice Krispies mp3
at Guterman
Ray Charles - Olympia beer mp3
at MCRF
Frank Sinatra - Michelob beer mp3
at MCRF
Lee Dorsey - Coke mp3
at MCRF
Chuck Berry - Dr Pepper mp3
at MCRF
Otis Redding - Stay In School mp3
at MCRF
The Supremes - Coke mp3
at MCRF
Jefferson Airplane - Levis mp3
at MCRF
Jefferson Airplane - Stretch Levis mp3
at MCRF
Paul Revere and the Raiders - Swingy (Mattel) mp3
at MCRF
Ramones - Miller Steel Reserve mp3
at Beware of the Blog
Video:
Os Mutantes - Shell Oil Company
at YouTube
Lou Reed - Honda scooter
at YouTube
Iggy Pop - Swiftcover car insurance
at YouTube
John Lydon - Country Life Butter
at YouTube
Ringo Starr (with three of the Monkees) - Pizza Hut
at YouTube
Various artists - i-Tunes
at YouTube This is a whopper. In one commercial: Liz Phair, George Clinton, Exene (X), De La Soul, Iggy Pop, Chuck Berry, Lil Kim, Smashmouth, Dwight Yoakum, Amy Mann, Ziggy Marley, Barry White, and Jeff Tweedy (Wilco).

Saturday, December 19, 2020

MORE ICING FOR THE 2020 CAKE

Oh hell yeah. I thought this link was gone forever. This unlikely pairing works, due in no small part to the big wall of sound type production. If you haven't heard "A Christmas Duel" I don't want to ruin it for you. In fact, it is such a heartfelt holiday ditty that you should withhold listening to it yourself until you can spring it on your office party, or better yet your family gathering when all the kids and in laws are in attendance, because there's nothing like the look of holiday joy on the faces of a group of people when they all hear it for the first time.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
The Hives and Cyndi Lauper - A Christmas Duel mp3 at Blogbdon

Friday, December 18, 2020

IT'S A C90 CHRISTMAS!


Yep, more holiday shake. This is a good one, Jeezus Fuck, It's Christmas!!!, a old school cassette mix tape by Lux Interior (from the Cramps), given to Kristian Hoffman (Mumps) back in the day, presented in two zips, one for each side of the 90 minute tape. Loads of good stuff, some you'll recognize and a lot you won't. A scan of the cassette cover with the titles is below. Being zips there's a little hassle involved so there's a streaming link as well. Every time the Cramps have come up in the past few years I've wondered what became of Ivy. Haven't heard a peep about her since Lux died. I'm kind of afraid of the answer. Here's hoping that she's doing well. Long live the Cramps and all that other cheerleading stuff.


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

Thursday, December 17, 2020

IT'S GO TIME SOMEWHERE


That photo of James Brown cracks me up, it's so damn corny. Not only does he have the Santa hat, but now he's pushed his funky skull through a wreath. What a nut! But you know the GFOS. You can dance to his farts. Seriously, his on base percentage is way the fuck up there. Not all them of them home runs. These funky jams are entirely worthy but are only relevant lyrically for a few weeks a year, at least for me. I just can't listen to Christmas songs in the off season, not even James Brown's. So yee haw. I'll just listen the shit out of 'em for the next week and a half.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
James Brown - Funky Christmas mp3
at SB Dave
James Brown - Go Time At Christmas Time mp3
at The Sound of Indie
James Brown - Signs of Christmas mp3
at Black Squirrel Amusements

Sunday, December 13, 2020

MEANWHILE, IN THE AWFULLY COOL ELEVATOR


The jazz station was having a Frank Sinatra weekend, celebrating his birthday with a Sinatra dominated playlist. I have one Sinatra LP, that's enough. I always thought that he was a little overrated. So, to fill the jazz fix this weekend I went on a Jimmy Smith binge. In the  thick of it I remembered having posted the songs below a few years back. Boom. Done.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Jimmy Smith - Jingle Bells mp3 at Panic Stream
Jimmy Smith - Santa Claus is Coming to Town mp3
at Review Stalker
Jimmy Smith - God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman mp3
at Panic Stream

Saturday, December 12, 2020

OKAY BOYS, SHOW ME JOLLY


I can't think of a better year for a little Scrooge to be thrown into the mix. The Sonic's "Don't Believe in Christmas" makes an appearance every year because, hey, it's the Sonics, but this year it's très à propos. Obviously, with the covid thing this holiday season won't be the same. The only thing really exciting is the exit of the Trump administration. So, the Sonics hatin' on Santa? That's about as normal as Christmas gets over here.

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

Listen:
The Sonics - Don't Believe In Christmas mp3
at Clayton Counts
The Sonics - Santa Claus
(streaming) at YouTube

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

LOCK DOWN THEATER NIGHT 39


I couldn't let a mention of Roger Corman the other day go by without mentioning one of his best known movies, the biker flick The Wild Angels. It popped up when I was watching Rock All Night and I'd be remiss if I didn't point you towards it. Classic biker flick theme, clichéd and corny period piece with a pre-Easy Rider Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra (whose "These Boots Were Made For Walkin'" was released around the same time), Bruce Dern, and Dianne Ladd. Music by Davie Allan and the Arrows. The package, from 1966, the snottiest year ever.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Davie Allan & the Arrows - Cycledelic mp3 at Office Naps
Davie Allan & the Arrows - Blues Theme
(streaming) at YouTube
Watch:
The Wild Angels
at YouTube 1966, Starring Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Dern, Dianne Ladd

Monday, December 7, 2020

LOCK DOWN THEATER NIGHT 38


Tonight's a double feature, because I'm know I've posted one of these movies before, possibly multiple times. That said, I can't believe I haven't yet milked it for a Lock Down Theater. So I am. And you can't go away pissed because you've seen it before, there's another flick.



First is the seminal 1956 rock 'n' roll flick The Girl Can't Help It. A relatively big budget film, it has what has got to be the best quality color footage of Gene Vincent, Little Richard and Eddie Cochran that exists. Oh, and Fats Domino too. I'd guess the reason for the big budget was because it starred Jayne Mansfield who was at her peak about then. She was the star power on this one, due to her hourglass figure. So, yeah, Jayne Mansfield's tits are the reason we have this quality footage of early rock icons.



The other movie is Rock All Night from 1957, that doesn't have quite the star power but Quentin Tarantino said that it was his favorite Roger Corman flick. Corman was pretty much the king of B movies. Whether you care what Tarantino's taste is or not, he likely knows more about B movies, grindhouse films and Roger Corman than you or I. Hell, I'll give it a shot.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps - Cat Man mp3
at LYWL
Little Richard - Keep A Knockin' mp3
at The New LoFi
Eddie Cochran - C'mon Everybody mp3
at Rocky 52
The double feature:
The Girl Can't Help It
at YouTube
Rock All Night
at YouTube

Friday, December 4, 2020

IT'S LIKE MSG FOR SONG TITLES


I've been meaning to point this out to some of the younger folk: Regardless of your age, even if you're not into oldies or rockabilly, stop for a moment. Right now, you are alive at the same time as Jerry Lee Lewis. He just had his eighty fifth birthday. Of course he doesn't have quite the same chops, but this is irrelevant. Pass on to your children, and tell them to tell the story to their children, you and one of the greatest rockers that ever lived walked the earth at the same time. Two hundred years from now, for your great, great, great grandchild, it'll be like saying that you were a Beethoven fan before he became cool.

I ran into a grab bag of old rockers with "rock 'n' roll" (or "rock and roll") in the title. That's what made me think of the Killer. As for the lady, it's a little early for Christmas, but Cordell Jackson's "Rock 'n' Roll Christmas" is here so I could post the fetching image above.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Jerry Lee Lewis - Rock and Roll Ruby mp3
at Internet Archive
Billy Lee Riley - Flying Saucer Rock and Roll mp3
at Internet Archive
Chuck Berry - Rock 'n' Roll Music mp3
at Internet Archive
Hank Mizell - Animal Rock and Roll mp3
at Internet Archive
Carl Mann - Gonna Rock and Roll Tonight mp3
at Internet Archive
Cordell Jackson - Rock 'n' Roll Christmas mp3
at Internet Archive

Thursday, December 3, 2020

PARTY IN THE HALL CLOSET


You know how it is when you remember some thing from years past and know you wouldn't think of throwing it away so you must still have it. It bugs you until you get up, go to the closet and and start looking for it. A photo, a postcard. book, knickknacks, whatever. What would have optimistically been a ten minute job turns into an hour or more. Every other box you open has some other cool shit that you forgot about. That, figuratively, is what just happened. I was looking for Al Garcia and the Rhythm King's "exotic" and run into Augie Garcia, the "father of Minnesota rock". What the hell, I started down that path and started to look for an image and ran into one of Charlie Musslewhite that looked familiar, clicked and found myself right back here on my own blog. The Mussslewhite post had "Cha Cha the Blues" a baddass early instrumental. Then I scrolled down the page. It turned out to be all of the posts that had been posted here in May of 2016. Some of the links are dead, but half or more are functioning, and there's a lotta good shit. Here's just the first random handful that had me salivating again.

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

Listen:
Charlie Musslewhite - Cha Cha the Blues mp3
at Groove Addict With Harvey Mandel and Barry Goldberg. Instrumental
Jessie Mae Hemphill - Standing In My Doorway Crying mp3
at Ghetto Session
Girls at Our Best - Getting Nowhere Fast mp3
at Art Decade
Mudhoney - You Got It mp3
at Adios Lounge
Public Nuisance - Magical Music Box mp3
at Rising Storm
Visit:
All posts from May 2016

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

SUMMER '78 MULTI-MEDIA FUN PACK


I ran into Generation X's "One Hundred Punks" and bam!, for a split second it felt like the summer of '78. That was when the punk scene in San Diego really started to catalyze. In the nine months leading up to that summer there were a scant three local punk shows. That summer of '78 was the Abbey Road summer. Abbey Road was a teen disco. Previously closed on Mondays, rented out on the cheap for a succession of weekly shows. Quite a few great bands played: the Zeros, the Crawdaddys, the Last, the Avengers, the Screamers, and the first Non (Boyd Rice and Robert Turman) show ever. It was a tiny venue and at the time the whole punk scene was about a hundred punks, hence the association.

Okay, if I was around in 1978, that makes me kinda old right? Let it pass. The reason I bring that up is because I remembered that I did a short interview with Billy Idol back then and it's online. In fact the complete second issue of my fanzine Substitue is online. It's not the greatest writing but looking at it today it does have some cool things in it, considering how little technology there was. Everything was by snail mail, long distance land line phone calls or in person. There's the interview with Billy Idol (Gen X days, a few years before he went solo), a Zeros interview, a thing on Poly Styrene (done by phone), a postcard from Boyd Rice, an a diary of five days on the road with the Elvis Costello tour, which included Nick Lowe and Mink DeVille. The writers were all people in the scene, only one an actual "writer".

After re-reading some of the fanzine (it had been a while) I went looking for old Generation X videos to try to pin point when exactly Billy Idol jumped the shark. I ran into a collaboration I'd never heard about. Billy Idol and Tony James from Generation X and Steve Jones and Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols. They called themselves Generation Sex, those cheeky rascals. The live set from 2018 was a mix of songs from both bands' catalogs. In the middle of it they do "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle". I really, really wanted to be critical. As I sat there watching an expanded gut version of Steve Jones (closest to the camera), while the song starts to close, they're singing "rock 'n' roll" over and over, It was at that point that my cynicism lost. Fuck, all four of the guys were from ground zero of the London punk scene in the late seventies. They've been musicians and friends for over forty years. They're OG punk rockers, singing about a swindle they are now living. Big fucking deal. ALL rock 'n' roll is a swindle. Idolatry has its price. At the end of the day, it's really just about fun.

Sunday, November 29, 2020

LOCK DOWN THEATER NIGHT 37


Ran across this and took a couple peeks. It's from '56, so think of the "rock" in the title from that standpoint. It's more rhythm and blues, the most recognizable names being Fats Domino and Joe Turner. When I was looking for an image. The "Rock 'n' Roll vs the 'Squares'" at the top of the lobby card stood out. Hell, I gotta throw in on that one.




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

Friday, November 27, 2020

LOCK DOWN THEATER NIGHT 36


So, the shopping spree at Ugly Things mentioned the other day included two back issues of Ugly Things, a book of Bomp magazine reprints and Look Out, an excellent compilation of San Diego bands from 1958 -1973. This spree was saturated. Any one of the items arriving in my mail box would have been be a treat. It's going to take a while to digest all of it.

One thing I was looking forward to was an in depth interview with the Weirdos in an Ugly Things back issue. I'd been meaning to pick it up for a while and knowing how thoroughly Ugly Things covers bands I expected it to be good. It was excellent. Eighteen pages with a lot of shit I didn't know. I've followed the band from their first few months of existence and I've read at a half dozen books on the early L.A. punk scene and countless fanzines over the years. Nothing I've read yet comes close to this interview. To the few of you that are Weirdos people, that issue of UT is marked down. Snag it before they're gone, and by the way, if you know the Weirdos, you likely know the Screamers. There's another back issue with a length interview with them (by Jon Savage).

The Weirdos interview whipped me into a Weirdos binge. The OG Weirdos, with both Denny brothers, Cliff Roman and Nicky Beat. The early videos linked below carry that line up. Tonight's long video is more recent, but better quality and one thing that stands out is how well they hold it together with just one guitarist. It's not easy mixing chords with short licks where they need to be, and Dix Denny does a great job.

One thing about the Weirdos. There's no one like them. Particularly the earliest incarnations. They were as much what they were as what they were not. They were out there, always serious on stage despite some of their songs being kind of silly. And they were tight, and intense. I haven't seen them in the last few years, but I've seen them in different line-ups over the course of decades and it has always been a hoot and a half. I'm not sure if you can get that from the videos, but regardless they're a slice of L.A. punk history. There were a lot of good punk bands in L.A. back in the day and the Weirdos were one of the best.

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

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

MENS FASHION DEPOT


It started innocently enough. I saw a thing on a friend's Facebook feed mentioning a compilation of San Diego bands from 1958 - 1973. A couple selling points: a 1973 cut by a band called Glory who were popular when I was way too young to go see bands. They're still talked about today as being the absolute shit back then. Once I did get older I met a couple of the members through my brother but still had never heard them. So, yee haw, I'll finally know what the fuss was about. The other selling point was the inclusion of the Strangers' "Caterpillar Crawl" (1958) a song that the Rumblers "borrowed" from for their song "Boss". Those two were enough of a reason to bite, the fact that it included 30 other local bands that I've never heard sealed the deal. I headed to the Ugly Things website. Shit was about to get thick.

Ugly Things started as a photocopied and stapled fanzine in the early eighties. The editor, Mike Stax, is a Brit who moved to the U.S. in 1981 to join the Crawdaddys and has been a scene fixture ever since. In 1983 he published the first issue of Ugly Things (he's big on the Pretty Things), and shortly after that was in the Tell-Tale Hearts. Ugly Things started taking off and I think there were a couple other bands in here someplace. Several years later he's now in the Loons, the magazine is now more like a book, and the website is going full bore. He still writes liner notes for compilations and has an Ugly Things record label. Just three of the 45s I' ve scooped up: The reissue of the Sloths' "Makin' Love" (500 pressed), the second Schitzophonics 45 (500 pressed), and the Nashville Ramblers' "The Trains" (1000 pressed).

Okay, so I went on a shopping spree over at Ugly Things. Four items. More on that later. I want to wrap this up before dinner so rather than switching gears and moving on to posting some songs, I thought I'd take an opportunity to post some links to musician owned labels. If you are going to do some holiday shopping anyway, these sites are are a great alternative to behemoths like Amazon. They also have oddities you're not going to find on bigger sites.

Support the true fiends:
Ugly Things
Mike Stax profile
at SD Reader
Norton Records
Voodoo Rhythm Records
Swami Records

Sunday, November 22, 2020

THIS GUY'S FAULT


A few things made me take a breather the last couple of days, not the least of which was taking out Stevie Wonder's Innervisions LP and blasting it. Loud, right smack dab between the speakers, dancing, or at least moving, eyes closed to "Too High". That started it. Man, what a monster to open an LP with. Two things occurred to me. One was that the LP was packed. Besides the opener, it had "Living In the City", "Higher Ground", "Don't You Worry 'bout A Thing" and "Golden Lady", all ingrained in my head. But I hadn't really listened to any of the LP closely for a long time. Then the second thing occurred to me. Despite posting somewhat regularly, I hadn't been spending enough time listening to music intently for my own personal pleasure. Fuggit, had me a two day listening party. It felt good.

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Thursday, November 19, 2020

TO HACK SURFERS AND WALLFLOWERS

My introduction to Martin Denny came through thrift stores. When I started making the rounds in my mid-late teens, Martin Denny LPs were in every fucking one of them. At the time my crowd was the guys from the beach. Guys. We were a bit too geeky, not cool enough, so few of us had regular girlfriends and those that did wouldn't think of bringing them to the beach. This freed us up to be uncivilized. It wasn't like we we were going to get laid any less. Socially, we had nothing to loose, so we got into some oddball shit. Going to the thrift stores and succumbing to Martin Denny's omnipresence was a rite of passage.

I have this great photo, buried somewhere in the hall closet, of my brother and two of the guys (I forget which friends they were), posing with three Martin Denny LPs as proud as a big game hunter with his trophy kill. We were into our own thing, free from the bondage of conformity. It was a pre-punk course in not giving a shit. And Dick Dale and Martin Denny ruled the backyard parties.

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

AND STONER ROCK I NEVER HEARD


Man, For the Sake of the Song is such a badass blog. Total old school. No ads, simple page design (using one of Blogger's oldest templates), well written to the point text and, best of all, awesome taste. Which is to say, my kind of taste. Just a couple weeks ago they had a Stooges cut with a blurb that, per Ron Ashton, the Stooges lifted a riff from a Pharoah Saunder song, and had that cut as well. Another post had Bunny "Striker" Lee produced reggae cuts (including I Roy), and then these here, classic early seventies stoner rock from bands that you never heard of. Check "Dancing In The Ruin" by Debb Johnson. I'm really digging the juxtaposition of stoner rock with horns. But really, what the fuck is that?

Sunday, November 15, 2020

LOCK DOWN THEATER NIGHT 35

Full disclosure: I have not seen this complete film. It's probably not for everyone. Come to think of it, the only people it is for are people who know who Johnny Thunders is and they've probably already seen it. At least a version of it. There's at least five versions. The filmmaker, Lech Kowalski, kept adding to it and editing it and then re-releasing it. It's kind slip shot, which may or may not be appropriate. The quality is dubious with the archive source material 8mm or 16mm film and primitive video. Whatever. I did spot check it. It seems to have way more Dee Dee Ramone in it than anyone really needs, but there is some good archival footage of the NY Dolls and the Heartbreakers.

Saturday, November 14, 2020

THE UNIMPEACHABLY COOL KEEPER

Most of you have probably scrounged around thrift stores and garage sales for records at one time or another. Some of you probably make the rounds regularly. I'd wager a guess that most of you have become attached to some of those records over the years and think of them as part of the playlist of your life. I know I've got it bad for some of my scores. But, you know, the vast majority of the second hand gambles end up in the box in the closet.

One record I got long ago was bought solely because of the title, or one word in the title. I knew of Bob and Earl's smooth "Harlem Shuffle", the song the Stones covered years later (and not well). I was familiar with that, so when I ran into "Harlem Nocturne" by the Viscounts I gambled a dime. Just because it had the word "Harlem" in the title. I'm glad I did because that song has remained a favorite for decades. In fact, when I used to DJ at clubs, it was always the last song I played.

The Viscounts version isn't the original but it's the first and only version I heard for years, then I heard Earl Bostic's. Still I dug the Viscounts more. Then the internet happened and I now know that there's a zillion versions. Still, the Viscounts has a unique feel to me. There's 43 versions of the song at an old post on Beware of the Blog, a lot of them serious contenders.

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Friday, November 13, 2020

TWICE THIS YEAR. OF COURSE. (C'MON 2021.)


What, what? Two Friday the 13ths in the same year? Well, shit, while I'm thinking of something else to post, you can tempt your fate with these topical ditties. Posted on the last Friday the 13th in March, but you lived through that one so what the hell. Tempt fate again.

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Tuesday, November 10, 2020

MEANWHILE AT THE ANTI ICE CREAM RALLY

A year and a half ago I linked to a song by Mythic Sunship (above), posted by the plain Jane but always awesome For the Sake of the Song. My chops wet, I went to look for a physical copy. Zilch. Every copy I ran into, even CDs were out of my price range. And I hadn't lagged, I was on the hunt right away. Eventually, after months of periodically checking a major online retailer, I saw a new copy for sale by an independent seller that didn't cost half a paycheck. The LP, Another Shape of Psychedelic Music, was worth the wait.

Then last July the same blog posted a live version of the same song. Being that the first link I posted was dead, I figured I'd point it out to you again. Then, I forgot all about it. Until today. I ran into a track by another outfit on the same label. When I dug around on the labels site I ran into another outfit, the Ellis/Munk Ensemble, from right here in San Diego. I had no clue. I really need to get out more. He said in the middle of a pandemic. On the very day that restrictions were tightened.

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Sunday, November 8, 2020

THE TWO BUCK CRAP SHOOT.


I'm not sure what might be the equivalent these days, but buying a random independently released 45 back in the day whas a crap shoot. Because the number pressed was so low, and so few record stores stocked independent releases (particularly from out of town bands), they weren't that plentiful. So if there was a future all-time great, word would take a while to get out. You had to take chances with unknown bands. You just considered the cover, band name, song titles, and general attitude of the package, and weighed the odds. You couldn't run to the internet and, depending on the record store, you weren't likely to get them to spin every record that caught your eye. The were usually a couple bucks.

The Urinals cuts below brought all that back, and after looking for an image I was reminded how half assed their sleeves were. (The sleeve above is from an earlier 45. The one for the songs below is worse.) So, you're in a record store, you never heard of them. Two bucks? Why the hell not?

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