Be Your Own Pet

Two wonderful albums, trashy and innocent at the same time, from Nashville Tennessee's Be Your Own Pet.....guitarist Jonas Stein, drummer John Eatherly, bassist Nathan Vasquez, and of course, in the continuing "Growing Bored" tradition of "Kick Ass Chicks", vocal heroine Jemina Pearl.

The self titled debut came out in 2006, I know many who hated it passionately and likely still do, but some people, ya know......this is fun stuff here. Sort of like, maybe, a poor-man's Yeah Yeah Yeah's with Pearl playing the "roll" of a "junior" Karen O? Something like that maybe. Amatuerish as hell, slopy, short. blasts of garage punk, the LONGEST track clocking in at 3:00, we get gem after amatuerish gem, such as "Fuuuuuuuun", "Bunk Trunk Skunk", and "Let's Get Sandy (Big Problem)".....this is a fine album, if you are one of them there "haters" then go piss up a rope!

And guess what? The second album, "Get Awkward" is way much better! (yes, I DID say "way much").....this great, a future classic which is so fuckin great that THREE tracks were left off the US release for being "too violent" (YEAH!): "Black Hole", "Blow Your Mind", and the teen revenge classic "Becky" (I'd be doing you an injustice if I didn't give you the proper UK version).....

These kids released a few EP's as well before calling it a day.....I have one of them, at least, "Summer Sensation" which repeats a couple of tracks, but also gives us a couple more semi-classics.....

Be Your Own Pet were destined for a short shelf life. They did not enjoy much commercial success, but frankly, I loved them, and these are great fuking records. Punk-ass kids who can barely play their instruments, fronted by a potty-mouthed teen-slut queen? What in the FUCK could be better than THAT? If you are an old timer like me, check these out with an open mind,and see what the fuck I am talking about. This is the shit that rock n roll SHOULD fucking be, and thanks to Be Your Own Pet for some FUCKING GOOD TIMES!

BE YOUR OWN PET-01Threser's Flail/02 Bunk Trunk Skunk/03 Bicycle Bicycle You Are My Bicycle/04 Wildcat!/05 Adventure/06 Fuuuuuuun/07 Stairway to Heaven/08 Bog/09 Girls On Tv/10 We Will Vacation You Can Be My Parasol/11 Let's Get Sandy (Big Problem)/12 October, First Account/13 Love Your Shotgun/14 Fill My Pill/15 Ouch

SUMMER SENSATION EP-01 Bicycle Bicycle You Are My Bicycle/02 Girls On TV/03 Fire Department/04 Take That Walk/05 Hillmont Avenue

GET AWKWARD-01 Super Soaked/02 Black Hole/03 Heart Throb/04 Becky/05 Kelly Affair/06 Twisted Nerve/07 Blow Yr Mind/08 Bummer Time/09 Bitches Leave/10 You're a Waste/11 Food Fight/12 Zombie Graveyard Party/13 What's Your Damage/14 Creepy Crawl/15 Beast Within

Links in a little bit......you 50 year olds like me, please comment on this.....I love these discs and hope I am not the only one who still feels rock n roll can be fun, dirty, amatureish, obnoxious,  and FUN (yes, dickweed, I know I said "fun" twice)

The best Killing Joke post, ever, Part 2

As little knowledge as I have of Killing Joke in the 1980's (yesterday), I have even less of their 1990's body of work, and even LESS inner-workings of their live/rare stuff.....but, luckily for the requestor, I DO have a bunch of this stuff, so, while this isn't one of my favorite posts, for someone else it's gonna be a mother.......You gotta love how I aim to please  ALL the minions!

The 1990's saw the return to the raw, guitar based sound, forgoing some of the more synth based sounds of the albums of the late 1980's. In fact, I DO enjoy "Extremities, Dirt, and Various Repressed Emotions" as much, maybe, as anything they'd done, they sounded kind of revitalized to me with stuff like the cool "Money Is Not Our God".....all in all a pretty good album (listened this morning!)

They took a rather extended break, which seemed to do some good as well, because "Pandemonium" has some good, early-90's grunge-influenced rockers, such as the title track and "Whiteout".....again, just listened today, don't know if I have before or not, but this is a band/era that deserves another serious listen from the BigMan!.

In 1998 they released "Democracy".....checked that one out today to bu sure, and it sure sounde like the end of the road to me......not such a good album, desperate for the "next" sound.....just didn't like it....and with THAT, I am going to stop the studio albums HERE. If you are a huge fan, clammoring for a more recent album, just ask, I'm sure I have it in this monsterous torrent, but I just don't feel like listening to ALL of them.

So, other stuff.....what have we? WEEELLLLL....."The BBC In Concert 1995", can't say I've listened. "Chaos For Breakfast", an inersting 4-disc set of singles and stuff. The live "Gulf War Dance". A live audience tape from 3/13/85. The "Sessions" collection, covering a lot of odds and ends. A self-explanatory "Singles and Rarities" (3 discs!). A live 1979 set, "The Unperverted Pantomime". And if ALL THAT weren't enough, blog-super-friend Dave Sez hs come through with some of HIS stuff, I assume it's great, we'll talk about that a bit later, his knowledge and fondness for this particular band, one which I guess maybe I need to catch up with at least a bit.......sorry, men of Killing Joke, You just weren't my thing first time around.......hate when that happens!

EXTREMETIES, DIRT, AND VARIOUS REPRESSED EMOTIONS-01 Money Is Not Our God/02 Age of Greed/03 The Beautiful Dead/04 Extremeties/05 Intravenous/06 Inside the Termite Mound/07 Solitude/08 North of the Border/09 Slipstream/10 Kaliyuga/11 Struggle

 

PANDEMONIUM-01 Pandemonium/02 Exorcism/03 Millennium/04 Commotion/05 Black Moon/06 Labyrinth/07 Jana/08 Whiteout/09 Pleasures of the Flesh/10 Mathematics of Chaos

 

DEMOCRACY-01 Savage Freedom/02 Democracy/03 Prozac People/04 Lanterns/05 Aeon/06 Pilgrimmage/07 Intellect/08 Medicine Wheel/09 Abent Friends/10 Another Bloody  Election

 

BBC IN CONCERT 1995-01 Twilight of the Mortals/02 Chessboards/03 Kings and Queens/04 Darkness Before Dawn/05 Love Like Blood/06 Sanity/07 Love of the Masses/08 Requium/09 Complications/10 Wardance/11 Tabazan/12 Tension/13 Pssyche

 

LYON 3/13/85-01 Night Time/02 Sun Goes Down/03 Tabazan/04 Unknown/05 Darkness Before Dawn/06 Kings and Queens/07 Complications/08 Requium/09 Unknown/10 Love Like Blood/11 Unknown/12 Eighties/13 Unknown/14 Unknown/15 Unknown

 

CHAOS FOR BREAKFAST D1-01 Nervous System/02 Turn To Red/03 Are You Recieving/04 Almost Red

 

CHAOS FOR BREAKFAST D2-01 Wardance/02 Pssyche

 

CHAOS FOR BREAKFAST D3-01 Requium/02Change (Single Version)/03 Requium (malicious demo)

 

CHAOS FOR BREAKFAST D4-01 Follow the Leaders/02 Tension/03 Follow the Leaders (Dub)/04 Follow the Leaders (Original Lyrics)

 

GULF WAR DANCE (LIVE)-01 ITTM/02 Money Is NotOur God/03 Extremities/04 War Dance/05 Intravenious/06 Beautiful Dead/07 Change/08 Age of Greed/09 Requium/10 Wait/11 Empire Song/12 Pssych

 

"Sessions" disc progrmmed as one disc, didn't know of a better way of doing it, remember I am NOT overly familiar with these lads! If they DON'T all fit on one disc, SPLIT EM LAZY ASS!

 

SESSIONS-DISC 1 CAPITAL RADIO-01 Are You Recieveing/02 Change Capital/03 Complications/DISC 2-JAZ WITH PYR IN ICELAND 1982-04 Guess Again/05 Take What's Mine/06 The Catalyst/DISC 3 PEEL 12/16/81-07 Chop Chop/08 We Have Joy/09 Empire Song/10 The Hum/DISC 4-PEEL SESSIONS-11  Complications/12 Tomorrows World Bums Rush/13 Change/DISC 5 PEEL 10/17/79-14 Wardance/15 Malacious Boogie/16 Psyche/17 Nuclear Boy/DISC 6-PEEL 4/27/81-18 Butcher/19 Fall of Because/20 Tension/DISC 7-KID JENSEN 5/29/84-21 All Play Rebel/22 Blue Feather/23 New Culture/DISC 8-MARK  RADCLIFFE 4/26/84-24 Communion/25 Whiteout/26 Exorcism/27 Psyche

 

SINGLES AND RARITIES DISC 1-01 Nervous System/02 Almost Red/03 Wardance 7"/04 Psych 7"/05 Change/06 Requium 12"/07 Brilliant/08 Birds of a Feather/09 Flock the B Side/10 Fall Live B Side/11 Eighties Coming/12 A New Day/13 A New Day Dub/14 A New Day 12 on 7/15 Blue Feather Version/16 Ilbgstalt/17 Kings and Queens Right Royal

 

SINGLES AND RARITIES DISC 2-01 Adorations Instrumental/02 Ecstacy/03 Adorations Extenstion/04 Adorations Supernatural/ 05 Ilb86 Remix/06 Sanity Roman/07 Sanity Insane/08 Wardance Raf/09 Wardance Naval/10 Jihad/11 Beautiful Dead Flexi/12 Money Hideous Remix/13 MINOG Video Edit/14 Termite Mound Chainsaw

 

SINGLES AND RARITIES DISC 3-01 Change Spiral Tribe/02 Change Spiral Chance/03 Requium Malicious Damage/04 Requium Acapella/05 Change Instrumental/06 Requium Instrumental/07 Exorcism Full/08 Exorcism Mandragora Edit/09 Another Cult Goes Down/10 Millenium Aotearoa/11 Millenium Aotearoa Edit/12 Pndomonium Aotearoa Edit/13 Pandemonium Original/14 Mathematics of Chaos Aotearoa

 

THE UNPERVERTED PANTOMIME LIVE 1979-01 Psyche/02 Nervous System/03 Animal/04 Change/05 Nuclear Boy/06 Turn To Red/07 Malicious Boogie/08 Wardance/09 Are You Recieveing/10 You're Being Followed/11 Bodies

 

 

Lotta links here, not gonna get em all up tonight, sorry.....also see the comments section for DAVE SEZ great contribution to this post

 

 

By request: the best Killing Joke post, ever (part 1)

Never dreamed I had so much stuff by these guys, they haven't really been a huge favorite over the years,enjoyable enough, but they came along at just the wrong time, for me, the early 1980's, when I was thinking (correctly) that rock n roll was headed into a huge slump to say the least.....but today, in reviewing the muisc of Killing Joke, we can see that their gloomy, synth-alt-post punk stuff would certainly be influential on MANY acts of the later 80's and 90's.....there have been dozens of personel changes, but the constants have been keyboardist/singer Jaz Coleman and guitarist Geordie Walker.

Mind you, this is a band that eveidently tredges on today....I often have difficulty knowing where to draw the line on such bands, certainly I haven't heard any Killing Joke work since, what, 1995-6? So my knowledge of their latter day work will be non-existant, and I highly doubt that they were one of the few bands to stay off the downhill road to Suck City......so we'll focus on the 80's-90's, with ome live/rare/stuff thrown in, and if the original requestor wants something different I'll see what I can do.......as I said before, my familiarity with this band is not as great as it might be with others.

Earliest thing I can find here (other than a sludgy live tape which I will put up) is the 1980 debut "Killing Joke". It is a very good album, rocking and filled with intellectual, topical lyrics......"Wardance" and "Requium" were fine rockers and there are more. Good album.

1981's "What's THIS For?" is not quite as good, never really liked it that much, in fact I may have listened to it only once or so until starting this project....I kind of remember "Butcher" and "Follow the Leaders", but just vaguely......the third album "Revelations" (1982) sported a bit more gothic-sound, and I like it a bit better....."Chop Chop" and "Empire Song" being highlights.

"(Let's All Go to the) Fire Dances" and "Feast of Blaze" highlight the next studio LP "Fire Dances"....this band knew their formula for sure, I assume they had a serious hard-core following. Wish I'd have known a big fan of them to grab a bit more info, but just one of those things, never knew a HUGE fanatical obsessor of the band, as I do with so many other bands.....I must have downloaded a Pirate Bay Discography Torrent at some point to pile up so much material!

Next came "Night Time", with a fact I never knew, the song "Eighties" is similar enough to Nirvana's "Come As You Are" that at one point there was talk of legal action against Nirvana, until Kurt Cobain's death. It's quite a good album, one of their better, as "Eighties", "kings and Queens" and "Love Like BLood" are all quite good tracks.

1986's "Brighter Than A Thousand Suns" changes the sound quite a bit towards a more standard rock sound and way from the trademarked gothic-post punk noise sound....to me it doesnt work at all, but as I said, som fan of the band may hold it sacred. .....apparently searching hard for identity, they came up with 1988's "Outside the Gate", an album with VERY little guitar, almost a pure-synth record, which, a least to my memory, was timed fairly poorly as well. This closed out their 1980's efforts......lot o albums here, we'll hit the 90's tomorrow and maybe the live rare stuff too, don't know if it'll take 2 parts or 3, we'll see.......hope you guys like this one, NOT really one of my faves, but good enough, and something I haven't listened to in some time. See ya tomorrow.

KILLING JOKE-Requium/02 Wardance/03 Tomorrow's World/04 Bloodsport/05 The Wait/06 Change/07 Complications/08 S.O.36/09 Primitive

WHAT'S THIS FOR?-01 The Fall of Because/02 Tension/03 Unspeakable/04 Butcher/05 Follow the Leaders/07 Madness/08 Who Told You How?/09 Exit

 

REVELATIONS-01 The Hum/02 Empire Song/03 We Have Joy/04 Chop-Chop/05 The Pandys Are a Coming/06 Chapter III/07 Have a Nice Day/08 Land of Milk And Honey/04 Good Samaritan/05 Dregs

 

FIRE DANCES-01 The Gathering/02 Fun and Games/03 Rejuvenation/04 Frenzy/05 Harlequen/06 Feast of Blaze/07 Song and Dance/08 Dominator/09 Let's All Go (to the Fire Dances)/10 Lust Almighty

 

NIGHT TIME-01 Night Time/02 Darkness Before Dawn/03 Love Like Blood/04 Kings and Queens/05 Tabazan/06 Multitudes/07 Europe/08 Eighties

 

BRIGHTER THAN A THOUSAND SUNS-01 Adorations/02 Sanity/03 Chessboards/04 Twilight of the Mortal/05 Love of the Masses/06 A Southern Sky/07 Wintergardens/08 Rubicon

 

OUTSIDE THE GATE-01 America/02 My Love of This Land/03 Stay One Jump Ahead/04 Unto the Ends of the Earth/05 The Calling/ 06 Obsession/07 Tiahuanaco/09 Outside the Gate

 

 

Just a thank you......

It's 1:00 AM on Monday morning (Holiday so no     

work for me)......and  have
been thinking about his blog and how much I LOVE doing it......no, really, LOVE doing it.....I hope that some of you guys love it as much as I love doing it. It is theraputic for me, it gives me somthing to focus on (other than Strat-o-matic baseball) all year round, aves me the feeling that I am DOING SOMETHING that is helping other people. I've always loved my rock n roll, often to the point that it drives my wife crazy trying to find a place to sthast yet MORE CD's.....but I hAVE always loved new sounds, old sounds, just whatever sounds good to ME that I hope someone else will enjoy too.....I plan on keeping this blog running as long as possible, as I AM retiring this year, but this blog became a bigger "part" of me than I anticipated.......I have lots of friends, all over the world, thanks to blog, who are genuinley grateful for the music I try to supply each day.....Oh, once in a while someone bitches about somthing,but that is life, you cannot please EVERYONE. I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who reads, contributes, comments, tells me I suck, or whatever. I was apprehensive about starting this 3 years ago, and a lot has changed in my life, but this blog has become an IMPORTANT piece of my life, a piece of WHO I AM, and I plan on continuing it until they  bury me in the ground (as they nearly DID this past September)......PLEASE, all I ask: make requests, submit homemade comps (ala Jonman). contribute rare/interesting albums,  but there is SO MUCH MORE we can do....contrbute pictures of your kids.......short stories.....video projects......bar bad sets....amatuer demos.....hel contribute RECIPES if that is your thing.....let us be as one, a

COMMMUNITY, who share the good things in our lives......we may be worlds apart, but we common ground on which we can base excellent converstations......hope ypu enjoy some of the sounds I've tried to provide for you, if not, I know that NEXT TIME AROUND it will be something different!o all my readers and contributors, I LOVE you all, and I wish nothing but the best for you and your families! please, all I ask of you is to comntribute to this blog, I think it's pretty good for what it is, but let us try to  it (with YOUR help) to make it FUCKING great.....see ya tomorrow with a post on stoner rock greats Altamont! Sleep well and I love you, especially, of course, you ladies!

The best Plasmatics post, EVER!

I wish I had been paid for each time I, uhh, had "impure"
thoughts about the late Wendy O Williams as a teenager... I'd be wealthy. A fairly hated band, and a misunderstood one as well.... how often I heard that they "sucked" or whatever, when, in reality, they were a freedom of speech statement, from the heat, to very bit the degree I attempt to make this blog to me. If Wendy O in her short life instilled some ideas in me that people should JUST EXPRESS WHAT'S ON THEIR MINDS without fear of repercussion, God bless her, for being smart and forsightful as well as one of the sexiest women that ever took the stage......again, many don't think so, "she was "ugly", or "nasty', or a "slut"......anyone thinking so should REALLY revaluate this position, she was a sexy, beautiful woman who did things her own way, and lived a sad life in which she left us MUCH too soon. In short, I loved her, and I miss her.

The basic lineup in the early years (they went through a LOT of changes, Wendy O was the mainstay):Vocalist/saxophonist/"chainsaw artist" Wendy O Williams, guitarist Richie Stotts, bassist Jean Beauvoir, drummer Stu Deutsch, and guitarist Wes Beech..... they made an ear-crushing racket on record, basically, but it was their live shows for what they were known..... Wendy dressed in next to nothing with two slices of electrical tape covering her nipples (what I wouldn't have given to apply/remove them for her), blowing up automobiles onstage..... chainsawing televisions, destruction of instruments while being played....... you had to be there, but the more outrageous the better for the late, great Plasmatics.

The first studio release was 1980's "New Hope For the Wretched", a collection of screeching ugliness that attempted to replicate the bands stage shows....."Tight Black Pants", "Butcher baby" and a cover of Bobby Darrin's (!) "Dream Lover" DO stand out, not for everyone, but try to understand what is going on here, and seek out some U-Tube video of the band on stage should you not understand. Lucky you, the version here includes several live bonus tracks for your consumption.

Next up came 1981's "Beyond the Valley of 1984", not really going to talk about "growth" or development here, but for fans of the band (and YES unquestionably, I was one), it was a welcomed second release....."Pig is a Pig", "Sex Junkie", "Incantation" and more were perfect period pieces....more or less unlistenable today, but for a lost 19-year old in 1981, trying to find rebel-type music to piss off the establishment and parents....the Plasmatics were the shit.

They gained a certain amount of popularity, due to the controversy that surrounded them, their frequent arrests for onstage antics, and Wendy's sex-appeal, so later in 1981, the released the EP "Metal Priestess", which is more yet of the same, "Lunacy", "Doom Song", a live "Sex Junkie".....kind of hard to find today, so yer welcome!

For most of us, these two discs/1 EP pretty much summarize the Plasmatics, my unrequited love for Wendy leads me to happen to have a few more items for your inspection here..... first, they released their fourth album "Coup d'Etat" in 1984, containing a Motorhead cover, as well as decent stuff in "Put Your Love In Me" and "Just Like on TV", hell the music was as powerful as ever, me thinks the novelty had worn off a good deal, though.

Their final official studio album was "Maggots The Record", an attempt at telling some kind of story about some kind of future-environmental thing, with human kind threatened by flesh-eating maggots.....it's kind of funny, actually, but the sell-by date had passed..... my love of Wendy and my sense of humor call this one of the underappreciated discs of the 1980's...... 90% call it a piece of shit.

SO, ya got any rarities? I mean for the serious COLLECTOR? Well, a few.....a fairly rare live EP, "Bump N Grind", which adds a few must-hear "classics" ala "Fuck That Booty" and "Fuck N Roll". Also a couple of Wendy's "solo" efforts, "WOW" (It's her INITIALS Einstein) features "I Love Sex (And Rock N Roll)", as well as Kiss' "It's My Life", "Opus in cm7"....this is a fairly unknown disc, and Wendy fans will enjoy it. She also released the thrown together "Kommander of Kaos", odds and ends that sound totally pasted and sound like the end was near. I do have the classic (and I DO mean classic) single of her teaming with Lemmy from Motorhead on "Stand By Your Man", no household should be without one, that is for sure! "Fuck You!" is a collection of this and that, for the Plasmatics completiists (both of us, I guess)......


Wendy O Williams died from a self-inflicted gunshot in 1998. It was NOT her first attempt. It saddens me that (like Kurt Cobain, in a way) someone who brought SO MUCH enjoyment and excitement into my life was so sad and pained that she couldn't take life anymore. I (being honest here) wish there was something I could have done, Wendy was a personal heroine to me during my late teens, I loved her, and I wish she would have had a happier life. It means a good bit to me, so I wish to reprint a portion of her suicide note here. Again, I TRULY wish she would have been happier, simply because of all the happiness she brought me, for a while.....

"I don't believe that people should take their own lives without deep and thoughtful reflection over a considerable period of time. I do believe strongly, however, that the right to do so is one of the most fundamental rights that anyone in a free society should have. For me, much of the world makes no sense, but my feelings about what I am doing ring loud and clear to an inner ear and a place where there is no self, only calm." Rest in Peace, my dear...... you brought a good amount of pleasure to MY life, and for that I will always be grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you. So, I like doing "mega-posts" about significant acts.... to name a few, Sleater Kinney, The Clash, The Jam, the Rolling Stones, recently Radiohead and the Smiths among others. Do the Plasmatics belong in that company even for a second? Probably not, but we've been running with a theme of late, coined by Jonman, "Chicks Kick Ass", and NO chick could kick more ass than Wendy O Williams...... a cartoon character to a degree, for certain, but a damn sexy and voluptuous one...... for me, there was just something about her, a quality that made her special..... the music isn't great, but it fits the themes, and I know I spent a lot of my time in younger days, slobbering over Ms Williams pictures and fantasizing about grovelling at her feet and tasting her whip....... if that isn't an important memory in any sane young man's life, I don't know what is...... hopefully this explains why the Plasmatics (and WOW in particular) meant so much to me for a while...... hope some of you like the effort on this post, it's, again, one of the "labors of love" that I sometimes am prone to doing. BigScott62 OUT! MEET THE PLASMATICS EP-Sometimes I/02 Won't You/03 Want You Baby NEW HOPE FOR THE WRETCHED-01 Tight Black Pants/02 Monkey Suit/03 Living Dead/04 Test Tube Babies/05 Won't You/06 Won't You/07 Concrete Shoes/08 Want You baby/09 Dream Lover/ 10 Sometimes I..../11 Corruption/12 Butcher Baby/13 Sometimes I (live)/14 Living Dead (Live)/15 Tight Black Pants (Live)/16 Butcher baby (live)/17 Corruption (live)/18 You Think You're Comin/19 Fast Food Service BEYOND THE VALLEY OF 1984-01 Incantation/02 Masterplan/03 Headbanger/04 Summer Night/05 Nothing/06 Fast Food Service/07 Hit Man/08 Living Dead/09 Sex Junkie/10 Plasma Jam/11 Pig is a Pig METAL PRIESTESS-01 Lunacy/02 Doom Song/03 Sex Junkie (live)/04 Black Leather Monster/05 12 Noon/06 Masterplan (live) COUP d'ETAT-01 Put Your Love In Me/02 Stop/03 Rock N Roll/04 Lightning Breaks/05 No Class/06 Mistress of Taboos/07 Country Fairs/08 Path of Glory/09 Just Like On TV/10 The Damned/11 Uniformed Guards (Work-In-Progress) MAGGOTS: THE RECORD-01 Overture/Introduction/02 You're a Zombie/03 The White's Apartment/Full Meal Diner/04 Day of the Humans Is Gone/05 Central Research Laboratory/Valerie and Bruce on the Phone/06 Destroyers/07 White's Apartment/Bruce's Bedroom /08 Brain Dead/09 White's Apartment/Bruce's Bedroom II/10 Propagators/11 White's Bedroom/ Fire Escape/12 Finale BUMP N GRIND-01 Goin Wild/02 Pedal to the Metal/03 You'll Succeed/04 No Class/05 Party/06 Jammin/07 Live To Rock/08 Jailbait/09 Aint None of Your Business/10 Bump N Grind/11 Fuck That Booty/12 Fuck N Roll WOW-01 I love Sex (and Rock N Roll)/02 It's My Life/03 Priestess/04 Thief In the Night/05 Opus in cm7/06 Ready To Rock/07 Bump N Grind/08 Legends Never Die/09/Ain't None of Your Business KOMMANDER OF KAOS-01 Hoy Hey (Live to Rock)/02 Pedal to the Metal/03 Goin' Wild/04 Ain't None of Your Business (Live)/05 party/06 Jailbait/07 Bad Girl/08 Fight For the Right/09 (Work That Muscle) Fuck That Booty FUCK YOU!-01 Tight Black Pants (Rehearsal '77/Live '81)/02 Butcher Baby/03 Sex Junkie (live)/04 A Pig Is a Pig/05 It's My Life/06 Hey Hey (Live to Rock)/07 Goin Wild/08 You're a Zombie/09 Propagators/10 Know Wa'm Sayin ULTRAFLY- DEFFEST! AND BADDEST!-01 Rulers of Rock/02 $10,000,000 Winner/03 Super Jock Guys/04 Early Days/05 The Humpty Song/06 Know Wha'm Sayin?/07 On the IRT/08 La La land/09 Lies/10 Laffin and Scratchin WENDY & LEMMY-01 Stand By Your Man/02 No Class LOVE YOU and MISS YOU Wendy, you left us WAY TOO SOON.  Hope you are at peace now

Skip Spence "Oar"

This is a sort of an oddball rarity, it's a decent one to listen to and a strange hitorical curiosity....Skip Spence was a founding member of Moby Grape, who made exactly ONE good album ("Moby Grape") and a bunch of shitty ones.....anyway, Spence had a lot of mental problems, which led to his physical attack on a pair of his Moby Grape bandmates. He spent six months in Bellvue Mental Hospital, where he wrote this collection of songs. The releasesd recordings,on which Spence plays all instruments, were originally intended as a demo, to be fleshed out later.....the sparse, bare sound, however, evidently appealed to someone, and it was released as is......this is not going to be for everyone, a not all that rocking, folkish kind of thing.....but listen carefully, and you can actually hear the pain of Spence, and the sounds of a mind that was not well....another rocker whose demons got the better of him, not unlike Roky Erickson or Syd Barrett, both of whom made some very interesting recordings while "not well" also.

I don't even remember where I got this one, it's a download from somewhere, not sure how many of you will have heard it, heard of it, or even care much.....but I do, at times, enjoy this recording....I considered bundling this together with perhaps an album each by Roky and Barrett, but did not, as I did not wish to give the appearance that I was treating their mental problems as some sort of novelty, because I am not.

Please comment on this recording, I am interested in your thoughts on it.....I doubt it goes into anyone's heavy rotation, but without question, you may find it of interest, and it keeps alive my desire to provide variety on this blog.

OAR-01 Little Hands/02 Cripple Creek/03 Diana/04 Margaret/Tiger Rug/05 Weighted Down (The Prison Song)/06 War In Peace/07 Broken Heart/08 All Come To Meet Her/09 Books of Moses/10 Dixie Peach Promenade (Yin For Yang)/11 Lawerence of Euphoria/12 Grey/Afro

 

Spence passed away in 1999.....his main legacy being the classic first Moby Grape album, which is must-hear material.

 

Also, I understand there is a "tribute/cover" album, "More Oar, a Tribute to Skip Spence" I have never seen one.....does it really exist? I would like to hear it if you happen to have one!

With my son playing tournament basketball tonight as well as the NFL playoffs, you didn't expect me to go all out and do a huge Smiths-like post did ya? Come on, I'm not a public utility. By the way thanks to the legend that is DaveSez for providing a link to a cool Televsion rarity, you'll have to dig back through the archives a ways ("The Best Televsion Post Ever"), but it is worth it, outtakes from the "Adventure" album....Televsion is one of my all time favorite bands, so ANY additional rarities I can get a hold of from them is worth it, if you feel the same way, you'll want to go find it! Thanks DaveSez!

The Best Patti Smith Group post, ever....

Kicking off 2014 with a bang, a slew of albums and a few rarities from the legend that is Patti Smith....I have a disc of here performing on stage  (Cleveland) with Television, but I have not only already posted it (Best Television post ever), it is unfortunately near unlistenable. But, the remainder of the catalog, for my money, is pretty great......her melding of bizarre poetry and punk/new wave rock was a natural for fans of more "intellectual" rock of the Velvet Underground, Talking Heads, et al, and ALSO for the Ramones/Blondie crowd at CBGB's......unique and trail blazing, Deborah Harry did for Smith what Alice Cooper did for Iggy Pop....swipe a good concept/idea and then beat it to death.

In 1974 Smith formed the Patti Smith Band, with Lenny Kaye on guitar, Ivan Kral on bass, Jay Dee Daugherty on drums, and pianist Richard Sohl. Their first single was a cover of "Hey Joe", backed with "Piss Factory".....as much as I have made fun of various bands for "covering" "Hey Joe", a Patti Smith cover not only remakes the song, it turns it inside out and stands it on it's head.....the version of "Hey Joe" included a spoken section regarding then-topical Patricia Hearst ("Patty Hearst, you're standing there in front of the Symbionese Liberation Army flag with your legs spread, I was wondering were you gettin' it every night from a black revolutionary man and his women..."). Which, is not exactly the traditional version, one must admit.

In 1975, the group released the amazing debut album "Horses", a classic by any measure which includes a cover (really) of "Gloria" as well (I've made fun of bands covering THAT one a bunch as well, but this one chills to the bone: "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine......", as well as "Land", a frantic, psychotic rewrite of "Land of 1000 Dances" which is maybe only one of my five or so favorite album tracks ever (I would to describe it or cite portions, but there is no way in hell I could do it justice)....a must hear "classic", I'm going to include the CD version rather than the vinyl rip that I prefer, the CD containing Smith's take on "My Generation"

Next came "Radio Ethiopia", not quite as good as "Horses" but for my cash at least a four-star disc: "Ask the Angels", "Pissing In a River", and "Pumping (My Heart)" are all great tracks that stand the test of time, easily.....it pails, however, in comparison to the stunning "Easter", her best work and one of my ten favorite albums of all.....containing her best known song, the Bruce Springsteen-written "Because the Night", a great song but about a tenth of the genius here.....ALL "must hear" tracks, "Till Victory", the psychotic "Rock N Roll Nigger", the stunning "Privlege (Set Me Free)" and perhaps the highlight (although they are many) the incredible "25th Floor/High on Rebellion".....if you have never heard this album I won't speak to you until you do so.

The original Patti Smith Group would record only one more album, 1979's "Wave", not great but by no means awful, "Frederick", "Dancing Barefoot" and (another stunning cover) "So You Want to be a Rock N Roll Star" could be placed on one of the earlier discs without stickin out too badly.

At this point Smith went into semi-retirement, marrying Sonic Smith of the MC5.....she resumed recording again in the late 1980's, there are several albums available for completists/fanatics in a complete Pirate Bay torrent.
( ..http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/9190664/Patti_Smith_-_Discography_-_(1975-2012)_-_320_kbps)

..I am not crazy about them, for the most part, they are decent, but nowhere near as spectacular as the 1970's stuff, thus I am not posting it here. With one exception, in 2007 Smith released "Twelve" which is a covers album.....her brilliance as a cover artist guaranteed at least an interesting effort, tunes like "Gimme Shelter", "Smells Like Teen Spirit", and "White Rabbit" seem to have been written for her alone to cover......unfortunately, this SOUNDS a lot better than it actually IS, and, trust me, I WANTED it to be great.......it's here though I think it needs to be to complete the picture, while the other discs are nowhere near essential (1988's "Dream of Life", 1996's "Gone Again", 1997's "Peace and Noise", 2000's "Gung Ho", 2004's "Trampin'", and 2012's "Banga".....as I said before all are easily attainable from Pirate bay should you wish to hear/have them.

Now, a few of the rarities that I had mentioned, I found somewhere online the first "Hey Joe"/"Piss Factory" single, certainly you must hear this.........."Live Horses" is undated (at least my copy), but it is just what it sounds like, a live performance of the entire "Horses" album....we round his out with a pair of double disc live boots, both from 1979. The first comes from CBGB's, contains a lot of the stuff I'd want (leans a bit heavily on the then-current "Wave") including covers of "All Along the Watchtower"and "Twist and Shout".....the second set if from Essen Germany, a somewhat similar set list but time the covers include a smoking "Gloria" as well as "Jailhouse Rock".....There were actually some WAY cool looking boots on Pirate Bay that I wanted to grab and post here, but they aren't being seeded.....reminds me that if you use Pirate Bay or another Torrent Site, PLEASE seed what you download, it is important to the overall cause of sharing and completing the music collections of all of our online friends! If any of you perchance have any of those Smith Group boots that are sitting there on Pirate bay unseeded, PLEASE share them, either here (in the comments section where everyone can evaluate them) or email them to me and I'll upload them......lotta cool stuff over there that I wish could have been included in this post.

Wasn't sure how I wanted to do this....I don't have those 1988-2012 albums, have heard them and as I said they don't much get it done for me.....I guess I could have downloaded them and presented a "complete" picture, but I think the stuff I have put up here is truly "classic" material of the era, and of the scene....these discs are still in fairly heavy rotation around here, please comment and enjoy the hell out of these as much as I do!


I know of at least two songs of which Smith is the subject, "In Thee" by Blue Oyster Cult, and "Crow" by the Jim Carroll band......there are probably others. A true artist, and a great one.

Happy New Year and may the odds be ever in your favor!

1974 SINGLE-01 Hey Joe/02 Piss Factory

HORSES-01 Gloria/02 Redondo Beach/03 Birdland/04 Free Money/05 Kimberly/06 Break It Up/07 Land: a) Horses b) Land of  a Thousand Dances c) La Mer (De)/08 Elegie/09 My Generation (live bonus track)

RADIO ETHIOPIA-01 Ask the Angels/02 Ain't It Strange/03 Poppies/04 Pissing In a River/05 Pumping (My Heart)/06 Distant Fingers/07 Radio Ethiopia/08 Abyssinia/09 Chiklets

EASTER-01 Till Victory/02 Space Monkey/03 Because the Night/04 Ghost Dance/05 Babelouge/06 Rock N Roll Nigger/07 Privilege (Set Me Free)/08 We Three/09 25th Floor/10 High on Rebellion/11 Easter/12 Godspeed

WAVE-01 Frederick/02 Dancing Barefoot/03 So You Want To Be a Rock n Roll Star/04 Hymn/05 Revenge/06 Citizen Ship/07 Seven Ways of Going/08 Broken Flag/09 Wave/10 Fire of Unknown Origin/11 54321/Wave

LIVE HORSES-01 Gloria/02 Redondo Beach/03 Birdland/04 Free Money/05 Break It Up/06 Land/07 Elegie/08 My Generation

CBGB 3/11/79 DISC 1-01 Land: Horses/Land of 1000 Dances/02 Redondo Beach/03 Fire of Unknown Origin/04 Kimberly/05 Dancing Barefoot/06 Space Monkey/07 Privilege (Set Me Free)/08 25th Floor/09 Cold Turkey/10 For Your Love

CBGB 3/11/79 DISC 2-01 Revenge/02 Frederick/03 Seven Ways of Going/04 Poppies/05 All Along the Watchtower/06 Spider and Fly 1985/07 So You Want to Be a Rock N Roll Star/08 54321/Wave/09 Twist and Shout/10 My Generation

ESSEN GERMANY 4/21/79 DISC 1-01 Intro/02 Rock N Roll Star/03 Hymn/04 Rock N Roll Nigger/05 Privilege (Set Me Free)/06 Dancing barefoot/07 Redondo Beach/08 25th Floor/09 Revenge

ESSEN GERMANY 4/21/79 DISC 2-01 54321/Wave/02 Pumping (My Heart)/03 Seven Ways of Going/04 Because the Night/05 Frederick/06 Jailhouse Rock/07 Gloria/08 My Generation

TWELVE-01 Are You Experienced?/02 Everybody Wants To Rule the World/03 Helpless/04 Gimme Shelter/05 Within You Without You/06 White Rabbit/07 Changing of the Guard/08 The Boy in the Bubble/09 Soul Kitchen/10 Smells Like Teen Spirit/11 Midnight Rider/12 Pastime Paradise