Happy Thanksgiving! Or, "Why a "joke" punk band reminds me of my parents..."

A dominating central figure of my parents living room was a stereo cabinet housing an aforementioned reel to reel tape deck, a receiver, a vinyl record player, and some kind of dolby a-b-c switch... this was a separate component that I think was eventually shrunk to the size of a pea and could be found on the side of every walkman produced in the 80's.
This component when switched a certain way and in combination with some knob or switch on the receiver would create a noise that would scare the living daylights out of my sister and I...
I remember we attributed this noise to some character (from sesame street?) called Sammy the Snake... which is weird because it didn't so much sound like a snake to me. I remember for some reason thinking that it sounded like an attack of screaming indians and a hurricane wind combined.

I was 5-7 years old and this made sense to me.

Eventually the stereo cabinet contained a dual tape deck and around 1989 or 1990 a single tray JVC CD player...(fancy!)

One of the occasional records my parents would play was Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant, an atrociously long, hippie sounding Thanksgiving story of sticking it to "the man" and then hanging out at your favorite diner...or something.

I am obviously not a fan. I do,however remember being entertained by the passage where the narrator is going to see a shrink... it went like this:

And I waked in and sat down and they gave
me a piece of paper, said, "Kid, see the psychiatrist, room 604."

And I went up there, I said, "Shrink, I want to kill. I mean, I wanna, I
wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and
guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill,
KILL, KILL." And I started jumpin up and down yelling, "KILL, KILL," and
he started jumpin up and down with me and we was both jumping up and down
yelling, "KILL, KILL."

Spencer is about to be the same age I surely heard this for the first time...maybe I should play it for him....

maybe not...

Instead, I'll play him this song by Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias, a comedy rock band, formed in Manchester, England in 1973. They apparently hung around long enough to watch the punk explosion around 1976-77 and trained their attention towards lampooning it by mimicking it. Mimicking it in a really convincing way...This song, "Kill" was apparently a jab at The Dammned's goth-punk image.

Immediately upon hearing it I was reminded of Arlo Guthrie going all Psycho-Killer...

What do you think...


Kill (NSFW warning, and NO I wont be playing this for Spencer, not just yet.)

From their outstandingly sarcastic "Snuff Rock" EP

The Normals: Almost Ready

I know very little about The Normals...just that they came out of New Orleans in the late 1970's...and not many bands can say that. Not many punk bands anyway.

This song is a classic along the lines of the second song I ever posted on this blog, (Television Addict) a great guitar intro and high energy! The singer sounds like he has some non specific accent (New Orlinan?) but that makes it cooler.

Thanks to the terrific Killed By Death site for this audio!

enjoy


Almost Ready

The Shirts!

My Parents had a reel to reel tape player on top of our stereo cabinet during the 70's and 80's. I swear to god that it was the same model used in the Evil Dead movies,but that could just be the similarities of most reel to reel tape players.

I remember my dad kept a couple dozen reels in the bottom of the cabinet and would play them from time to time. Steppenwolf, the Beatles, Jesus Christ Superstar and others. The Hair soundtrack was also played, which really is quite awful, but one of the female stars in the motion picture was Annie Golden lead singer of the band The Shirts.

The Shirts were among the first wave of bands to play CBGB in the late 70's art/punk movement. Not really given the notoriety of the Talking Heads, Television or the Ramones, The Shirts having a much poppier sound, they still add to an impressive list of the acts coming from that time and place.

Why didn't my parents go the extra mile and get a couple Shirts LPs and play those? Didn't they know Annie Golden was involved in something way cooler than Hair...all you had to do was Google it.... in the 1970s....

Here is a song called "Teenage Crutch" from their self titled debut LP.

Teenage Crutch

The Shirts apparently reformed after many years of inactivity... www.theshirts.net

The Banned "Him Or Me"

This single happened to be out on my stacks of CDs, and it is great...so I have posted it.

A nice slice of 1978 punk/power pop, a cover of Paul Revere & the Raider's "Him or Me".

From Tooting (!) England, one of several bands that made a moderately successful single and then vanished. This is NOT their moderately successful single - it is the follow up, which I like better. Besides their moderately successful single was a less interesting cover (Little Girl by Syndicate of Sound.)

enjoy!

http://www.the-banned.com/

Him Or Me

The Incredible Kidda Band

Formed in 1977 The Incredible Kidda Band released a couple singles in the late 70's but seemed to have recorded a lot of music. A CD only compilation of 29 of their songs came out and apparently sold out.

Thanks to the great blog Powerpop Overdose for turning me on to this group.

This is straight out of the time of skinny ties and feathered hair but it is pop at its best, good guitar riffs and classic melodies and songs... rough production is kind of endearing to me, the whole reissue cd is fabulous.

Here are two tracks from that CD.

Radio Caroline

Fighting My Way Back

New to me...

The Keys released a few singles and one LP in 1979 every time i see them mentioned there seems to be the obligatory mention that Joe Jackson produced their LP. This seems, to me, more of a sign of the quality of the record that any resemblance to Joe Jackson's sound.

I learned about this band here on the terrific blog called "PVAc to 44.1 kHz". A lot of the power pop bloggers I read know a bout this record but it was new to me. I really like the classic 80's vibe that this has without out sounding too cheesy. There is a kind of annoying slight tinny sound to the mp3s but I'll take it rather than never having heard them.

They sound like a 80's movie soundtrack band with better songs.

These are the first and last tracks from their one and only LP called: The Keys Album.

Hello, Hello

World Ain't Turning

14!

Popdefect are one of the few bands I can compare to Field Trip (see earlier post) and Shudder To Think and say that Popdefect makes them look like rock stars. I can truly say i am alone in all the people that i know who buy records that I own something by Popdefect. This is a travesty in the highest order.

Formed in the late 70's in Washington state, Popdefect put out their own records as Heart Murmur Records. They have about ten or so singles a few EPs (one of which is my favorite format the 10" record!) and a couple LPs. I own almost all of them and they got better and better as time passed. Their live record features Nick Scott their drummer playing a kiddie drum set with a 16" bass drum...and they still pull off sounding terrific.

At the tail end of their career they were on Flipside records (of Flipside magazine) right before that punk establishment went away. At this point Popdefect had become a very original quirky punk band with a pop edge. I really don't know how to accurately describe them other than that. They were a trio that had strong musicianship at each instrument. The Bass and drumming are varied and tight (usually) but what intrigued me ever since seeing them play at the Euclid tavern (opening for the awful Cows) was the guitar playing of singer/guitarist Al Anderson. Understand this, I am not a musician, i don't know much about the technical side of the music i love - I just know what i like. But I have yet to see a guitar player play like Al Anderson. First of all he plays a Gretsch...


I don't know how rare that is in general but it is rare for the kinds of bands I go see - it looks like a large string instrument from an orchestra rather than just a guitar. I guess it may be more common for rockabilly or country music. But it was not only the kind of guitar that was cool, but the way he played it. Using his top hand to aggressively stress certain moments - grabbing the strings and raking down on them. Playing above the part of the guitar called the "nut" (I had to look this up) which I think you can hear in this crazy song called The Moth and in the first few notes in many of their songs, they had a cool habit of having quiet guitar intros to lots of their songs.

They also gave away stickers like they were on fire, and made little photocopied books with their releases that were goofy and made buying their records that much more interesting.

I saw them again when I lived in Baltimore and was their back up place to stay, although that didn't turn out to be necessary.

I just ordered their limited edition farewell album from an Amazon collectible dealer because this post is making me bummed that they no longer exist, like so much of the music i love.... they called it quits in 1999 or 2000.

Here is my favorite song by them... Without . Live, this song turns into about a minute and forty seconds of pure aural mayhem that rivals any song ending in the history of music - I felt like jumping into the drum set with the guys in band...

Bash & Pop (Friday the 13th post)

So I didn't quite get this post out on the 13th but i figured, I'd still reference it in the title.

Bash & Pop were one of several post-Replacements outfits to record after the Minneapolis legends called it quits in the early 90's. replacements singer Paul Westerberg started releasing solo records, as did drummer Chris Mars. But bassist Tommy Stinson had perhaps the best release of the three in Bash & Pop, mostly because his record sounded the most like a Replacement record. Guitar driven pop rock the way the Replacements were doing on some of their last records.

At the end of the Replacements run as one of the best bands ever, they put out a CD single of a song from their last LP "All Shook Down" i cant remember the single but one of the bonus songs on it was called "Satellite". Tommy Stinson sang the song and not front man, Paul Westerberg. I heard it one time, and one time only, driving in downtown Kent on WMMS which I never listen to. I knew that my father had a friend that worked for the station and asked if he could locate the disc for me, that never came through and i never heard the song again. So after a while passed and i learned that Tommy Stinson was fronting a band of his own I was excited to get it thinking it would all sound like "Satellite".

Well it does and it doesn't really - it's better. I believe Bash & Pop's CD is still available, and probably for cheap all over the Internet, so here are two of their rare songs.

Harboring a Fugitive is a release on the obscure Soil Samples series of singles.

Situation is on the flip side of the Fast And Hard single.

For posterity i have included "Satellite" for you to compare as well.

Satellite

This should be post 13, but it's 12...

...because Field Trip have a song called "Thirteen" that, even though it's not one of their better songs, I have a special place in my heart for. The song s written from the perspective of a man looking back at himself at age 13, wondering "How I'd look to me right now..." Something I have wondered more than once...

Field Trip are a band that can start a new theme of posts here on "Bands that I like that I don't think anyone else does" While I know this is not necessarily true,it has always felt that way. My friend Matt does like them, but I honestly can't think of anyone else who even knows who they are.

Who they are is a group from Pleasanton, California that existed in the late 80s and early 90s. They played upbeat rock with a slight (VERY slight) country edge. I am not sure if this makes sense but they seem to be smiling though their records. Their playing is energetic, their subject matter is usually light and innocent and there is just something special about them that comes across as positive and fun.

Here is an example: All My Fault from their Headgear LP

So of course nobody liked them in the era of grunge and the punk explosion in the mid 90's.

But really all three of their records are thoroughly enjoyable, other people agree- here and here

Their demise seemed to be written in the cards for them by the time their last album came out (seemingly straight to the discount bins) but the band seemed indifferent to it. My favorite song by them is the very last track on their last album called "Ballad of Field Trip". Singer Jim Galbraith recounts the beginnings of the band and their elation at being signed to a tiny independent record label. The song takes you from the bands youth and you grow up with them and in a strange way resign yourself to their inevitable eternal obscurity.

It's poignant, and brilliant.

Ballad of Field Trip

Baby Goes To 11!

Quickly now people, I have a diaper to change and noses to wipe....

Superdrag were (are again now) a powerpop group from Tennessee. They had a minor hit in the mid 90's with this first track

Sucked Out

This is one of those "songs that reminds me of a place and time" songs. I was moving from Baltimore to Fremont, Ohio. My Friend Ken was driving and I had a drugged to a stupor cat (named Blurt) lying limp on a pillow on my lap and the stupid Ryder truck said we had a quarter tank of gas but ran out of gas anyway somewhere near Warren, Ohio.

A great song from a band I tend to rediscover from time to time and really enjoy. The Blogosphere was kind enough to find me their albums I have yet to purchase (but will). They are all good powerpop records... here is proof from their 2000 LP "In the Valley of Dying Stars"

Lighting The Way

Superdrag have reformed and their new record will be out on St. Patty's Day

First person to comment gets a free CDR of In the Valley of Dying Stars, get to it.

Elvis to the power of 10

That would be Elvis Costello to you. I am indirectly dedicating this post to Mr. Costello by bringing you two artists that were/are obviously influenced by the real Elvis.

The first one was a contemporary of his, even signed to the same label after Elvis went on to the major labels. England's Any Trouble were fronted by Clive Gregson a terrific songwriter in his own, but sounding so much like Elvis had to have taken it's toll on the bands acceptance. He even looks a bit like Elvis: see if you can guess which one is him-


Their debut Lp came out around 1980 although I've read that the band started up in the mid 70's but sped up a bit in response to the punk scene and acts like Elvis Costello. Good thing their music is so good. I really can't believe I never heard of this band until a couple years ago. Nothing wrong with being influenced by Elvis if you can do it this well.
Any Trouble "(Get You Off) The Hook"

The second artist is a current (sort of) artist that put out a criminally overlooked CD in 2004. Eugene Edwards' debut LP is an incredible mixture of possible influences - most noticeably Elvis Costello. I do hear other possible influences, like Squeeze or Marshall Crenshaw (any one remember him). In doing a bit of research for this post I am finding out that some of his music was sent out with Dell computers a few years ago so people may know him from that but that still doesn't make not having a Mac excusable.

Even a moderate Elvis Costello fan can hear the influence and will surely see the play on words at the beginning of this track as a nod to that influence:
Eugene Edwards: It Doesn't Get Better Than This"

Edwards has put out one song since 2004 and I can't imagine why, this album is so good and so solid all the way through I can't imagine he is out of good material. His website seems to never be updated and he doesn't seem to play shows...unless he only operates on myspace rather than his own website... if that is the case - shame on him.

To the Nines!

First post to be labeled "Songs the Blogosphere Taught Me"

My records are probably my prize possession in terms of material things, but I don't have the biggest collection in the world, somewhere between 1100 and 1200 records. In a better economy I could cash them in and put a down payment on a house. I know that there are others out there with bigger collections and the internet is a great place to discover those people.

I have expanded my musical taste greatly in the last few years by diving full on into the blogosphere. There have been more than a few musical gems discovered since i started. Some bands I never even heard of and some I just never listened to before.

The song for this post is from a 70's band called Granicus who were (as described by Wapedia):

"Granicus was a short-lived band from the early 1970s who played a style of hard rock similar to Led Zeppelin.

Granicus hailed from Cleveland, Ohio, and were signed to RCA in 1973. They released a single, self-titled album before calling it quits. There are rumors that the band recorded a second album that was never released."

Not really my cup of tea musically but entertaining enough to post for its local history here in Cleveland.
Granicus - Cleveland, Ohio

Eighth Wonder of the Blog.

"...and here's the new one from.. Rocket From The Crypt!!"

This was the announcement at the beginning of the first Rocket From The Crypt LP - Paint As A Fragrance. Unfortunately we will never hear anyone speak those words in truth again as RFTC disbanded in 2005.

Punk Rock with an emphasis on the Rock. RFTC were the one band I could handle with horns in their music, mostly because they never had a ska sound to their horn section, they always just beefed up the rhythm or bass lines of the music. RFTC brought attitude, fun and strong staccato guitar chords in a fun upbeat delivery that usually was not overly serious.

I once drove all the way from Cleveland to Philadelphia and back again in one day to see them, and would have gladly done it again.

One of the best parts of being a RFTC fan is the incredible amount of vinyl they put out. In between each album they usually released several singles and/or an EP or two. They kept you on your toes looking for limited releases and odd packaging...most notably the Cut Carefully And Play Loud EP which came as a 12" EP in a blank white jacket with a label sized hole (12" single style) on the outside of the jacket and over the the hole was placed a giant sticker which needed to be cut around the perimeter of the hole to free the record from the sleeve and provide the vinyl with a label. Yeah, I bought two just to leave one pristine. I am a collector.

I don't own every single one of their releases but I am pretty close. Unfortunately the ones I don't have may cost me.

On to the music...

It is very hard to pick a RFTC song, as they never had a hit single and don't have stand out tracks on their albums (they have stand out albums!)

So I'll try the method of posting a song that I feel represents them best and a song you might not be able to find of theirs.

here is the former: "Straight American Slave" from their "Group Sounds" LP



and here is the latter: "Tiger Feet Tonight" from their "When In Rome" picture disc.

Seven Means Seven!

Keeping on the theme from last post of bands I liked first, rather than stole from my sister...

And perhaps the greatest band of all time...(perhaps)

Nomeansno.

I first heard Nomeansno in high school when I bought their second LP "Sex Mad" purely on the basis of the review of it from Maximum Rock 'n' Roll magazine. This was a pretty common thing for me to do back then, as it was for lots of kids i would assume...there was no internet and magazines like MRR and Flipside were essential to finding new music.

If you don't know Nomeansno then please check out every single one of their releases right now...but start with the album "Wrong" from 1989. Considered to be their best work by many, including me. Not that their other releases have much wrong with them (no pun intended) you could do well to listen to anything in their career of over a dozen records, offshoot bands, EPs and singles.

Choosing a single track from Nomeansno is next to impossible so here are two. First a song from their LP "The Dance of the Headless Bourgeoisie" called "This Story Must Be Told". Chosen because of both its musical prowess and the dark, off putting subject matter. Lyricist Rob Wright often pens lyrics from the vantage point of someone disturbing or repentant or both. This song seems to be the story of an attempted rape with some kind of revenge by the victim in the form of strange psychological turmoil that may or may not be self inflicted. Or...I could totally have it wrong. That is the beauty of Nomeansno lyrics.

Masterful Bass and Drum work, a staple of Nomeansno.



Second, "Everyday I Start to Ooze", a song that I have no idea what they are singing about except maybe frustration with the general populace. The lyrics remind me of something the killer from the movie "Seven" would have written in one of his composition notebooks. (whoa this is post #7)



Here is their official website but don't take anything there seriously

My dad used to put on Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" while vacuuming our house. While it doesn't have the ironic punch that tune surely did for my father, Nomeansno's "The River" is my vacuuming song of choice... go hide puppy.

Six posts in...

...and the first musician related death I would bother to write about has occurred. Lux Interior of The Cramps died yesterday. He was slightly younger than my parents..which makes him too young to be dying.

The Cramps were one of the first punk bands i had ever heard, from a tape that I borrowed and copied that belonged to the lady that cut my hair - her name was Chrissy (can't remember her last name) and she was married to the brother of one of the Dead Boys. Side a of the tape had The Cramps record "The Smell Of Female" and side b had The Dammed "Dammed Dammed Dammed" LP. A pretty good tape to borrow, I'd say. As a tip once, I went to a record exchange and bought her a Dictators LP and when I gave it to her she laughed because she knew the songs from "back in the day - seeing them play before they had a record out" She was a pretty cool lady.

To this day I think "The Smell Of Female" is one of the Cramps best records, mostly because it is short and a rare instance of a live recording being better than studio tracks. (very rare in my opinion) I do like the Cramps but their studio output doesn't hold my attention over a whole LP. I like the Cramps in short (preferably LOUD) bursts, they are great for that!



Here is my favorite Cramps song, the first track off "The Smell Of Female" Called "Thee Most Exalted Potentate Of Love"
I used to sign my notes to my girlfriend (now wife) with this title while we were in High School. What a dork.

Post five: "Only because they once were punk..."

All bands change their sound over the years. If a band is lucky enough to stay a unit for more than a decade their sound matures and gains complexity, for better or for worse, to a point where fans of the recent stuff don't like old stuff and vice versa. (example - Bad Brains, Black Flag, Husker Du, The Clash although its hard to find anyone who likes their last albums over their first couple)

Sometimes bands sound nothing like they did when they started and you may have their new music in your library only because they once were _________, (whatever sub genre of Rock and Roll you would like to insert here) Examples? for me...Lemonheads, Dismemberment Plan, Fugazi, Replacements, Genesis) It would be a stretch to say that you might ignore a new band putting out the same record as one of your old favorites reforming or putting out their tenth LP.

Shudder To Think are a band like this for me. This would include the singer Craig Wedren's solo material and new band Baby. There is really no way I would listen to a song like the one later in this post if it was anyone else.

Shudder To Think started off as a punky rock and roll band on Dischord records and evolved into an Indie Pop Almost Was. Wedren's post Shudder music flips between introspective pseudo folky - to slightly techno-y dance music.

This song, if I remember correctly, was given away on Wedren's website as an in progress demo. It is called "One Man's Heart"



I may do another post on singers who's voices polarize listeners - You either love it or you hate it - I think Wedren's voice falls into this category. I've always thought it was pretty cool.

This post is dedicated to my sister Faith, who has had the biggest influence on my musical taste, especially early in my life - I would always take her tapes when I was a kid and listen to anything that came into the house. Shudder to Think maybe one of the few bands that I knew about first and she also ended up liking (Nomenasno being another, much more about them later).

FOUR!!!!

Staying in Australia one last time (for now)...

The Aussie punk band X put out an album entitled "Aspirations" in 1979 after a couple years playing around Sydney. It took me about two decades to hear this record, probably due in no small part to existence of the band X that most people know from Los Angeles. Don't get me wrong here, but X (L.A.) are a fantastic band that may get their own post here someday but the album from the aussie X is much more compelling to me than anything their L.A. counterparts ever did. The album is spastic, anthemic, catchy and it rocks with a raw energy that X (L.A.) only achieved live.



I had a hard time picking which song to put up here, so many of them are worthy. So decided to put up "I Don't Wanna Go Out" because it was the first song i ever heard by them.




The album has been reissued but still hard to locate try here.

You will not be disappointed.

Bonus post...(post #3) Steve Petryszyn

Steve was the first record collector I ever met. Just because I was 6 or 7 years old and he was my next door neighbor has not lessened the impact he had on my love of records.

Steve had so many records in his basement that it looked like another world to a kid walking amongst the shelves. My sister Faith was given a Bay City Rollers single and I got a Linda Ronstadt picture disc as a gift...I guess I liked her when I was 6 or 7? Here is the disc:



Steve hosted a series of record conventions in the Cleveland area (Parma actually, in the UAW hall) called the Record Roundup where a favorite record dealer of mine Dave Stimson made loads of money off me over the years.

Sher Petryszyn (Steve's wife) would greet you at the door and remind you about how she always would correct your exclamation of "Oh my god!" to the more preferred "Oh my gosh!" when you were growing up and playing in her house...Or maybe that was just what she talked about with me, I don't know.

Sher died of cancer in 2005 and the Record Roundups are a thing of the past. But both of them left an impression on me and if this blog is going to celebrate things from my perspective - it should have the Petryszyn's in it.

For anyone reading this into music from the 50's 60's and 70's Steve has a show on an internet radio station called Tunedex Memories - check it out here. The picture of Steve and Sher is from this site.

Second post, Same as the first...

Sort of....

The Victims were Dave Flick (Dave Faulkner) on guitar and vocals, James Baker (drums) and Rudolph V (Dave Cardwell) on bass.
Flick and Baker went on to form The Hoodoo Gurus (hence the name of post)

This song is the title track from their first 7" record, and it is an incredible one at that...the sound is classic early punk...even Stooge-esque to me.




It would take a lot of cash to own this record now so hop on over to Digital Meltdown or Killed By Death Records blogs.

For whatever reason I am in Australia again with this post...I'll stay there tomorrow as well.

Debut for Radio Lied To Me...

Daily posts for me to share anything and everything possible with you..mostly music for now...

A lost gem from the 80's... a good pop song.

Hoodoo Gurus "I Want You Back"





Hoodoo Gurus were an Australian rock band that had only minimal success here in the U.S.