I used to love this record back in 1983. This is a video made by target videos so it is lip-synched which isn’t a bad thing because you can appreciate just how tight the band was at the time of this recording. The singer died recently which surprised me because I thought he had died long long ago.

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Huge in England. Virtually unknown in North America The Jam were one of the great rock bands of the punk era:

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Guys who can play drums and sing at the same time are freaks of nature if you ask me.

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Despite their role in launching the “New Romantic” movement I still love this song. They should play this at hockey arenas.

This was the best sound quality I could find - the vid cleans up a bit after the first little bit. Enjoy!!

(Funny how two drummers never really caught on)

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Danzig to be on next Rock of Love

Good for Glen. About time he got some stank on his hang-low. I mean he’s what 55 or something?

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Joanna Newsom is sooo cute.

And a thimbles worth of milky moon
can touch hearts larger than a thimble.

Down where I darn with the milk-eyed mender
you and I, and a love so tender,
is stretched-on the hoop where I stitch-this adage:
“Bless this house and its heart so savage.”

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Eric Lee Purkisher founder of the legendary punk/gragae/psychobilly band The Cramps died yesterday at the age of 62 (or 60 depending on which report you read) from a “pre-existing heart condition”

I saw these guys in 1986 at the old concert hall in Toronto. It was a truly awesome experience.

Hat tip: Kathy (who was probably at that show in ‘86) more here and here

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But there was some pretty awesome music among the crap that was the 70’s

Like this:

and this:

This band is criminally underrated in the annals of punk history in my opinion:

Sadly Devo pretty much peaked at this point (except for Gates of Steel) :

and possibly one of the coolest vids ever made:

I always thought the lyrics to this some were somewhat fanciful:

You may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife.
You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile.

Then one day I woke and realized My God! It actually happened…..

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Why? Because in such troubled times we all need heroes to turn to for inspiration and my friends these people are truly heroes:

Via

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The more things stay the same.

MIA channeling the Clash’s Straight to Hell on her hit Paper Airplanes

Volume on this one is a little low so crank it:

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If you are of a certain age and were of a certain subculture say about 25-30 years ago this vid of Channel 3 covering The Nils will be jaw droppingly awesome. As for the rest of you I pity the vacant hole in your souls.

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Just so y’all know. I am still alive. I just seem to work longer and longer and longer hours. 7am-10pm is becoming normal these days. Would love to blog with the ferocity and tenacity of Kathy or Nick or all the other great bloggers who are still taking the fight to the enemy. But my business is my priority right now and the best I can do is promise that I will get back to regular blogging sometime before I reach old age.

In the meantime here’s one of my old faves from my punk youth:

YouTube - The Clash - London Calling

Oh and for those of you who disbelieve us Global Warming skeptics when we say that in the 70’s everyone said there was going to be an ice-age. Consider that it was talked about enough to show up in the lyrics of this song.

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Admit it. You woke up this morning thinking “I don’t hear enough versions of “Where’s Captain Kirk” by Spizzenergi these days.

Sooo……

Studio version with Star Trek vid clips:

Early 1977 live version by the original Spizzenergi:

The best live version is here (but embedding has been disabled)

REM (yes REM) cover:

“Spizzsexual”- 1985

Spizzenergi 20 years (and about 50 pounds) later:

You can thank me as you’re humming this song all day. Maybe next week I’ll do a 999 Homicide retrospective.

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This is all kinds of cool:

VIA Sand and Cotton by way of Gorillamask

Oh and we are all aware that this is technically not “Death Metal” so don’t bother pointing it out.

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Live stuff often sounds pretty crappy but this totally kicks ass (although the volume is a bit low - so crank it):

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“…what David Cook did to ‘Billie Jean’ was Totally. Freakishly. Awesome.”

You mean covering a cover? Yeah that just about sums up American Idol in a nutshell.

Update: apparently David Cook mentioned he was doing the Chris Cornell version at the outset. Not being gay I don’t watch American Idol so I was unaware of this startling and earth shattering fact. Now people’s over the top reaction to this fellow’s karaoke performance is even more baffling to me.

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Heavy workload today so I don’t have time to post, instead enjoy this old Echo & The Bunnymen song:

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Sometimes I go over to my old blogspot site and read some of the stuff I wrote 5 -6 years ago and marvel at it. I really can’t believe how much better my blogging was back then. One of my favorite posts was one I wrote about country music called “Songs the Lord Taught Us”. I intended this to evolve into a series of posts about music but five years later this is the only one I have written. The original one was somewhat light on hyperlinks so I have added some. I would have liked to included mp3s of each but I haven’t quite figured out how to do that yet. So some of the links lead to lyrics - others to youtube performances and, occasionally an mp3. Enjoy.

Monday, June 09, 2003: Songs the Lord Taught Us.

According to CMT (Country Music Television) the theme song from the new Hillary Clinton movie (see the entry below this one) is the best Country song ever written. Runners up include:

He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones ranked number two, followed by Patsy Cline’s “Crazy,” Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” and “Your Cheatin’ Heart” by Hank Williams.

This list, which supposedly is the 100 top country songs of all time, is a bit of a head scratcher. Great songs like the aforementioned “Ring of Fire” “Blue Moon of Kentucky” and “I’m a Man of Constant Sorrow” share the space with Faith Hill’s schmaltzy “Breathe”, the annoyingly mawkish “Coat of Many Colors” and Trisha Yearwood’s “She’s in love with the Boy” - easily the most hideous song on the list (how did it manage to make it to 80?).

Of course this is all a matter of taste. Purists view country music the way Southerners view barbeque. The real thing is smoked slowly and the sauce is a carefully prepared concoction (with no added liquid smoke) and is used sparingly. What most people consider barbeque is ribs boiled to death with a sweet gloppy sauce (full of sugar and fake smoke flavors) slathered over it to make it edible.

Therein lies the difference between good country music and the insta-crap they pound out today under the “new country” moniker. One is honest craftsmanship; the other is assembly line banality.

So fire up your illegal pirating software and get ready to be aurally amazed because the Meatriarchy is about to lay some genuine country goodness on you. Download ‘em, buy ‘em, above all listen to ‘em. You’ll thank me.

1 “Cold Hard Facts of Life” by Porter Wagoner
This song gives me chills up my spine every time I listen to it. Dark moody and violent if they ever make a video of it Quentin Tarantino should direct. It is the Resevoir Dogs of country music. Lyrics.

2 “The Road to Kaintuck” by Johnny Cash.
From his classic mid-60’s lp “Mean as Hell” this song about pioneers struggling west in the face of hardship is a thing of beauty. From the “cripple creek” banjo riff to the haunting harmonies of the Carter Family it is an absolute joy to listen to. You can hear the stubborn doggedness of the early settlers in Cash’s defiant “I’ll bet I’m gonna make it to Kaintuck!” shout.

3.Rocky Top. By Boudleaux and Felicia Bryant

The official song of Tennessee is a breakneck bluegrass classic. One listen and you will yearn for the Tennessee hills and a jar of moonshine as well.

Update: compare the excellent version linked to above with this abomination (Loretta Lynn can’t even save it)

4. My Dixie Darlin by The Carter Family

Any supposed list of top country songs that omits the Carter Family is an out and out fraud. Long before slide guitars and faux western twangs the Carter Family was the real deal. In the 20’s and 30’s they cranked out a slew of recorded material that has been reissued on Rounder Records most of which come from classic “Border Radio” performances. Their biggest hit was “Keep on the Sunny Side” but I like this song better (probably because “Keep on the Sunny Side” is overplayed). It is a true old-tyme country song with a primitive guitar, nasal vocals and minimal production values. This is what good country music has in common with good punk music - a primitive honesty that makes up for the lack of fancy recording studios and big name producers.

UPDATE: The Carter Family’s “Will the Circle be Unbroken” is on the list at #36. My bad.

5 The Conductor Wore Black by Rank and File
Speaking of punk some of the best modern country music didn’t come out of Nashville, it came out of LA in the 80’s when a slew of punk bands discovered country music and began cranking out awesome slabs of vinyl under the catch all term “cow-punk”. The Dils were an early LA punk band (they appear in Cheech and Chong’s “Up in Smoke” fer Chrissakes) who started the trend. This song about a sinister trainload of nefarious characters is a great stompin tune that goes from hoedown to mosh-pit in a split second.

Update 3/13/08: alt-country darling Alejandro Escovedo was an original member of Rank and File. You can see him looking about 10 years old in this vid of the band

6 Lake Charles by Lucinda Williams
The Top 100 does place one of Lucinda’s songs on the list (Passionate Kisses) but one song does not do this enormous talent justice. If you cannot stomach wading through the sugar coated pap of Shania Twain, Faith Hill, Leanne Rimes, and all the other plastic cowgirls that saturate country music these days you will find Lucinda Williams to be the perfect antidote. Any recording by her is rewarding but “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” which contains Lake Charles is probably one of the finest records of any genre ever made. If you pick one artist out of this whole list to explore let it be this one.

7. “Old Plank Road” Uncle Dave Macon
Recorded in 1926 this song about working on a Georgia chain gang has the same charm as “Dixie Darlin” it is wonderfully primitive but at the same time a foot stompin’ catchy classic. One listen and I guarantee you will have to forcibly stop yourself from screamin’ YEEHAWW!! (no video evidence for this one - you’ll have to dig up the Mp3 - here would be a good place to start.

8 Carol County Accident by Porter Wagoner
Another great one from Wagoner this time about a car accident and the secrets it revealed to a small town. A nice little mystery wrapped in a 60’s style country song. Sounds great when blaring out of the cheap speakers in your pickup. Lyrics.

9 Jesus Walking on the Water; The Violent Femmes
Chrissy Hynde is an idiot but she did discover these guys while walking down a Milwaukee street and seeing them busking. She asked them to open for the Pretenders who were playing in town that night and the rest is history. Culled from their dark and brooding second Lp “Hallowed Ground” this song is an upbeat religious number which lifts the whole album out of it’s gloom. Live version here (but not as great as it could be - band sounds a little tired.

10 Call of the West; Wall of Voodoo
LA New Wave band Wall of Voodoo is best known for their early 80’s hit “Mexican Radio” less well known is this song which was the title track for the LP which contained “Mexican Radio” and also was it’s B-side. This song is a direct descendant of “The Road to Kaintuck”. A modern treatise on going west with references to drunken liquor store owners and “Time Life” books mixed up with images of hang-man’s trees and buffalo. “Sometimes the only things a Western savage understands, are whiskey and rifles and an unarmed man like you” goes the lyric. Brilliant.

So there you have it 10 giants to replace some of the pygmies on the top 100 list. I have more to add but I am tired of writing right now. Listen to these songs. Listen more than once. Find the lyrics on-line and read them. You will come away with a whole different take on country music.

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