I am BACK!

After a WEEK of my beast being in the shop for devirusing, we can perhaps resume, this evening and this weekend, some speecial posts that I hope you guys will LOVE, to celbrate your extreme patience!

Couple more days, PLEASE continue to show patience

My computer is in the shop, and naturally THEY are shorthanded as one of their techs has been sick......so I am hoping to be back up and running by tomorrow (Wednesday), we'll see.....as I have told you so many times, I love doing this blog and would never abandon you all.......just need a nasty virus removed from my "partner"........thanks for your patience, I hope to throw out a few bonus posts, comics and whatever else comes to mind to make up for the disruption........gotta lots of cool stuff planned as soon as I get my machine back, please don't abandon me as I assure you I have not abandoned YOU!!!!!!!

By the way, please, Royals, let's kick some serious ass in game 7, it's been an amazing run and now let us finish it up RIGHT......Baumgartner is a shell of a pitcher and is on a shell of a roll, but come on KC, just show the determination you have shown the last month, and FIGURE OUT  a way to get this done !!!!!!!!!!!

blog will be down awhile

Got some computer issues I can't quite get resolved, should be back Monday or Tuesday or so with a whole new machine....gonna take a little time to clean this one out but I shall return!
Meanwhile if y'all need anything the email is the same, csgmiller@global.net......be back soon this was bound to happen

Dave Sez fills a request.

I don't remember who exactly asked for this, but a couple weeks ago, someme asked if I had the Stortbeat  1979-92 set which Dave Sez had presented sometime before on "Music Ruined My Life".....well I know I didn't havea it, so I put out a call fro Dave Sez who answered quickly and generously to provide us all with this great looking double disc set:

Here'a Dave Sez' track list for DI.......

    Disc one

    Gangsters
    - Record Company
    - Harlow Town
    Rabbits
    - Kitchen Parties
    -Tonight
    The Sods
    - No Pictures
    - Plaything
    Spelling Missteaks
    - Popstar
    - Mirrors
    - Rubber duck

    - Urge
    Licks
    - 1970's
    - System rejects/Hitler's still a Nazi
    No Wonder recordings
    Newtown Neurotics
    - Licensing Hours
    - You Said No
    Airplay Records
    Easy Action
    - Burning a hole
    - Kaspar Hauser
    Pressure Stops
    - Crash wanderer
    - Shirts
    Urban Decay
    - Severals
    - Sex Assault
    Preset
    - Better Days
    - So superstitious
    Gangsters
    - Best Friend

AND HERE for Disc 2:

isc Two
Runs/Teenbeats
- I'm never nervous (live)
- Nobody wants to know
- Bun in the oven
The Sods
- Snakes
- Work
Pete the Meat and the Boys
- Look what she's doing
- Superman
- Why should I care
Trendy Records
The Groove
- What am I gonna do about you
- I wanna be your pigmy
- Heart Complaint
- I'm in love
No label
Anti State Control
- Sniffing Glue Blues
- M.U.S.E
- 3rd World bomb
Gangsters
- Trouble (live)
- Weekend (live)
Rabits
- Romantic old sod
- Grab the haddock
Mirror Co
- Hit Single
- Beat City
Vertical Strokers
- Holidays
- Saturday girls
Rodger Milton
- My old man (backed by The Firm)
    - Crash wanderer
    - Shirts
    Urban Decay
    - Severals
    - Sex Assault
    Preset
    - Better Days
    - So superstitious
    Gangsters
    - Best Friend

Here are the zippy links for them both:



Should be readdy is just a few minutes, while we all take the time to thank Dave Sez for all of the great stuff he has provided us with here over the years! this blog simply would not be what it is without the help so many other contributors!

"Greatest Ever" Punk & New Wave (Their Words)

Well, this is a three disc set from 2013, I would hardly consider these tracks, many of which are on MOST comps to be the "greatest ever", and I wouldn't even mess with this, to be honest, if there weren't a handful of truly rare tunes here, as well as, among the more common ones there are some damn GOOD ones, I mean, I assume you all HAVE THEM ALL anyway, but maybe not, and if so, go ahead and fill in a gap. I must say right from the start that "Greatest Ever" is more than a good bit ambitious in titling.....

Disc One, features fairly white-bread selections that turn up ever time pretty much.....all good songs, but really... "Alternative Ulster" by Stiff Little Fingers? Is there a comp of this type WITHOUT that one? Great song, BUT..... The Buzzcocks "Ever Fallen In Love"? Eddie and the Hot Rods "Do Anything You Wanna Do"? These tracks, as great as they are, are practically generic, they appear on so many comps... if it were 1980, these might be wonderful finds but now? when each of us has 15 different comps with EACH of these tunes on it? Just seems redundant to me, to a degree.....

However, I do NOT wish to discredit the entire Disc #1.... some of this stuff turns up less often, and sometimes a comp can be "worth it" for even a single track (not saying this is the case here, BUT:)
The wonderful "Echo Beach" by Martha and the Muffins is a great one that doesn't turn up THAT much, The Skids "Into the Valley", The Ruts "Staring at the Rude boys, The Teardrop Explodes (now THERE's a band I need to profile!) "When I Dream" is a gem, "Is Vic There" by Department S is MUCH less well known, and tracks from Jona Lewie and the Fall save this disc from being a K-Tel "Amazing New Wave Hits".... cleverly program this and you may wind up with ONE good disc of material you did not have before.

Disc 2 is a tiny bit more esoteric, even though there are layups on this one as well, "One Step Beyond" by Madness, The Boomtown Rats stunning classic "I Don't Like Mondays", The Romantics "What I like about You".... easilly obtainable, punk/new wave fans likely already have these on 10 comps already.... .but of course the reason I am doing this is for the few tracks here which don't ALWAYS make the comps..... "Reward" from Teardrop Explodes, Bad Manners "Lip Up Fatty", The Slits great "I Heard it Through the Grapevine", and the stunning "Police and Thieves", NOT the Clash version, but the electrifying Junior Murvin version.... it would be worth purchasing this set for this track. Lene Lovich's "Lucky Number" is another track that misses the comps in general.......

So Disc 3...... again, PLENTY of softballs..... The Dead Kennedy's "Holiday In Cambodia", Penetration's overdone "Don't Dictate", After the Fire's "Der Komissar", other than that, for the most part, Disc 3 presents us with the most interesting tracks of the three, such as moderately unknown stuff from John Cooper Clarke, Anti-Nowhere League, the Slaughter & the Dogs take on "Hard Day's Night", "Butcher Baby" from the Plasmatics (miss you so much Wendy my Love), and Spizzenergi's fab "Where's Captain Kirk".........

There's enough stuff you might not have here to create a disc or a disc and a half, a lot of it is EASY to locate, and in better company...... this is not a "classic", "Must Have" comp, but for cherry pickers, there is a gem or three here waiting for you.

DISC 1-01 THE STRANGLERS-No More Heroes/02 STIFF LITTLE FINGERS-Alternative Ulster/03 THE SKIDS-Into the Valley/04 THE RUTS-Staring at the Rude Boys/ 05 THE BUZZCOCKS-Ever Fallen In Love?/06 THE UNDERTONES-Jimmy Jimmy/07 THE DAMNED-Neat Neat Neat /08 SHAM 69-Borstal Breakout/09 SPLIT ENZ-I Got You/10 EDDIE & THE HOT RODS-Do Anything You Wanna Do/11 THE TEARDROP EXPLODES-When I Dream/12 THE RUNAWAYS-Black Leather/13 MARTHA & THE MUFFINS-Echo Beach/14 DEPARTMENT S-Is Vic There?/15 TENPOLE TUDOR-Swords of a Thousand Men/16 WRECKLESS ERIC-Whole Wide World/17  JONA LEWIE-You'll Always Find Me In the Kitchen at Parties/18 THE FALL-Bingo/Master's Break/Out/19 STIFF LITTLE FINGERS-Johnny Was

DISC 2-01 MADNESS-One Step Beyond/02 THE SPECIALS-Ghost Town/03 THE BEAT-Mirror
In the Bathroom/04 IAN DURY & THE BLOCKHEADS-Reason to Be Cheerful/05 THE BOOMTOWN RATS-I Don't Like Mondays/06 THE ROMANTICS-That's What I Like About You/07 THE VAPORS-Turning Japanese/08 SQUEEZE-Cool For Cats/09 ADAM & THE ANTS-Kings of the Wild Frontier/10 THE TEARDROP EXPLODES-Reward/11 THE SELECTER-On My Radio/12 THE BEAT-Tears of a Clown/13 BAD MANNERS-Lip Up Fatty/14 THE SLITS-I Heard It Through the Grapevine/15 JUNIOR MURVIN-Police and Thieve/16 MADNESS-Baggy Trousers/17 JOE JACKSON-Is She Really Going Out With Him/18 LENE LOVICH-Lucky Number/19 BAD MANNERS-Special Brew

DISC 3-01 PENETRATION-Don't Dictate/02 UK SUBS-Warhead/03 DEAD KENNEDYS-Holiday In Cambodia/04 ABGELIC UPSTARTS-Angels In Disguise/05 THE DEFECTS-Suspicious Minds/06 THE VIBRATORS-Automatic Lover/07 ALTERNATIVE TV-Action Time Vision/08 LENE LOVICH-Say When/09 SPIZZENERGI-Where's Captain Kirk/10 THE CRACK-All or Nothing/11 999-Obsessed/12 SECRET AFFAIR-Time For Action /13 AFTER THE FIRE-Der Komissar/14 THE MONOCHROME SET-Strange Boutique/15 THE PLASMATICS-Butcher Baby/16 ANTI-NOWHERE LEAGUE-I Hate People/17 SLAUGHTER & THE DOG'S-Hard Day's Night/18 UK SUBS-Drunken Sailor/19 JOHN COOPER CLARKE-Evidently Chicken Town

OK, make of it what you will....at least half of the material at least most of us have..... but there are a gem and a gem-ette sprinkled throughout...... this was ALL great music, so handle it however you feel...... it just reminds me so much of one of those ridiculous K-Tel comps that sold at Ronco for 1.99........ but there is GOOD/GREAT shit here........ yours is to seek it out, grasshopper.

Murder City Devils

The Murder City Devils hailed from the Pacific Northwest in the mid 1990's, and they did NOT
really fit the current scene.....while the grunge stuff was the happening thing at the moment, these guys reveled in garage punk/stupid rock, ala the Swingin' Neckbreakers, as though there was something wrong with that.

The Murder City Devils were vocalist Spencer Moody, guitarist Dann Gallucci, bassist Derrick Fudesco,drummer Coady Willis, and later on, keyboard whiz Leslie Hardy.
In 2000 they released their self titled debut.....not bad, it includes thier single "Dance Hall Music", as well as "Get Off the Floor", "Broken Glass", and "Murder City Riot".....a pretty good album, fairly comparable to the Swingin' Neckbreakers or something like that.

Thier followup, after Hardy joined on fulltime, was "Broken Bottles Empty Hearts", which is a fine disc, Hardy's organ play makes it sound somewhat like The Miracle Workers (NOTHING wrong with THAT, RICHT?), it's a good album, perhaps thier best, with good stuff like "I Want a Lot Now", "Dancin' Shoes", and how can we not love a track entitled "Johnny Thunders"?
The next album thye released was "In Name and Blood", which was basically thier finale (full length anyway), it's a prettty damn good disc as well, check out "Press Gang", "Blunkhouse", and "Rum to Whiskey", every bit as solid as the previous effort....."stupid rock" will NEVER die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Before disbanding, they released an EP ("Thelma"), which is pretty good and likely is the backbones of what would have been thier next album, had it ever taken shape, and in 2003, Sub Pop relesed a disc with thier 2001 Halloween show (appropriatley entitled "R.I.P. 1996-2001")....this album serves as a sort of "live/greatest hits" disc, and if you are nfamiliar and want a sample, this is likely where I'd go before checking out all the albums.....sounds like they were a hall of a live band, wish I coulda seen em.....

A good, underappreciated band, lemme know whatcha think bout em.......got lotta stuff planned out
for the next few weeks, I'll be more enthusiastic about it if some of you hosers would comment on this stuff now and agqain!

MURDER CITY DEVILS-01 Dance Hall Music/02 It's In My Heart/03 Boom Swagger Room/04 Get off the Floor/05 Flashbulb/06 Broken Glass/07 Murder City Riot/08 Sick of Dreaming/09 Make It On My Own/10 Tell You Brother

BROKEN BOTTLES EMPTY HEARTS-01 I Want a Lot Now (So Come On)/02 Dancin' Shoes/03 18 Wheels/04 Left Hand, Right Hand/05 Ready For More/06 Cradle to the Grave/07 Dear Hearts/08 Hey Sailor/09 Johnny Thunders/10 Stars In Her Eyes

IN NAME AND BLOOD-01 Press Gang/02 I Drank the Wine/03 Blunkhouse/04 Idle Hands/05 Rum to Whiskey/06 I'll Come Running/07 Demon Brother/08 Lumeria Rising/09 Somebody Else's Baby/10 In This Town/11 No Grave But the Sea/12 Field Of Fire

THELEMA (EP) 01 364 Days/02 That's What You Get/03 Bear Away/04 One Vision of May/05 Bride of the Elephant Man

RIP-01 Bear Away/02 I Drink the Wine/03 One Vision of May/04 Midnight Service in the Mutter/05 I Want a Lot Now/06 Rum To Whiskey/07 Dancing Shoes/08 Waltz/09 Dear Hearts/10 That's What You Get/11 Idle Hands/12 Boom Swagger Boom/13 Murder City Riot/14 Press Gang/15 Broken Glass

As usual, I implore you to let me know what ya think bout these....I gotta LOTTA ideas for the next
month or so, I TRY MY DAMNDEST to come up with shit that maybe the bulk of you are unfamiiar with......That's the point round here......talk to me about Murder City Devils, if it is something you appreciate.......coz I got a BUNCHA more shit lined up for you REAL rock n roll fans, perhaps at least a YEAR's WORTH (not kidding), but I need you guys to continue to mshow interest, and that means not just doownloading, but commenting,,,,

No Seattle-Forgotten Sounds of the Northwest Grunge Era 1986-97

Don't miss this one, if  you do don't blame me!

Been listening to this fab two disc set all weekend on and off, even during commercial breaks during the Ohio State game and the Vikings game (don't want to hear about it), it is fairly awesome if you like this kind of thing.....allow me to set the stage. The title basically says it all, 28 tracks from the Seattle scene, by a bunch of acts, whom, never, have I heard of a single one, except in this context....you know how I do love punk unknowns, stoner unknowns, psych unknowns, and grunge anthologies which cover more than the normal Nirvana/Pearl Jam/Soundgarden/AIC stuff (all great, don't get me wrong) are a rarity, and this one covers about as obscure territory as we could imagine.....while whether these bands technically would qualify as "grunge" acts, they are all good hard rocking combos from the fertile Pacific Northwest scene of the era sited. Let's touch on a few highlights, but this is cherry picking, the whole set is a must hear! Thanks to Soul Jazz records for compilin this, in general, I don't post sets that are more recent releases, but I don't see this one being a million-seller and I'd like to publicize it a bit.......and have I EVER steered you wrong before? of COURSE not!

The first disc leads off with a Bob Mould produced track from Starfish ("This Town"), who also turn up on disc two.....just scanning the names of the bands is awesome...: Vampire Lesbos, Medaliscious, Yellow Sonw, Helltrout......how you gonna go wrong with names like that?

The scond disc features the weird psych-pop of Chemistry Set ("Fields"), a ferocious closser ("The System") from Attica, and some great female-led bands like Shug ("AM-FM"), Kill Sybil, and especially Calamity Jane ("Magdelena"). But trying to point out higlights here is like trying to name the worst player on the Vikings.....just throw ALL of them into a hat!

I think if you share my love of obscurity, and of regional compilations, and of amatuerish hard rock, you will want to hear this......it's a good one, too good to miss.....you'll thank me later.....just start listening and you will (should at least) LOVE this one!

DISC 01-01 STARFISH-This Town/02 VAMPIRE LEZBOS-Stop Killing the Seals/03 NUBBIN-Windyyy/04 SAUCER-Jail Ain't Stoppin' Us/05 MACHINE-Blind Man's Holiday/06 MEDALICIOUS-Beverley/07 HITTING BIRTH-Same/08 NUBBIN-Wonderama/09 CRUNCHBIRD-Woodstock Unvisited/10 THE ONES-Talk To Me/11 POD-123/12 THRILLHAMMER-Alice's Place/13 YELLOW SNOW-Take Me For a Ride/14 HELLTROUT-Precious Hyde

DISC 2-01 BUNDLE OF HISS-Wench/02 STARFISH-Run Around/03 THRILLHAMMER-Bleed/04 CHEMISTRY SET-Fields/05 MY NAME-Voice of a Generation Gap/06 SMALL STARS-It's Getting Late/07 SHUG-AM FM/08 TREEHOUSE-Debbie Had a Dream/09 MY NAME-Why I Fight/10 SOYLENT GREEN-It Smiles/11 KILL SYBIL-Best/12 CALAMITY JANE-Madgalena/13 SAUCER-Chicky Chicky Frown/14 ATTICA-The System

Some great sounds came out of that region and era.....these are not really among them, but it is more than a sum of it's parts.....I love this compilation, it's a great, original idea, and it comes with my very highest recommendations.

The ULTIMATE Velvet Underground (part 1)

This post is not going to be a joke, although a portion of it will be repeated from an older "rarities"
post.....I am going to post ALL of my Velvet Underground stuff here over the enxt three days, and there is a good bit of it, when studio albums, live stuff (official and boot, both), rarities discs and other abound here.....and the Velvets deserve to have every note of thier glorious career documented for anyone who wishes to hear them in all their glory......it was once said that the first album sold but 30,000 copies, but each of those 30,000 people who made the purchase started a band of their own. They were THAT influential, argueably THE most influential rock band of the last 50 years.
Tonight I am going to put up their brilliant original studio albums, with one slight caveat....I had to decide between using my original vinyl rip CD's, or using the killer 5-disc box set "Peel SLowly and See"......a difficult choice, but I finally decided on the box set. The reason is, not only are the vinyl rips really in pretty rough condition, but the box set includes a ton of demos and the like which we could not find elsewhere....the one downside to posting the digital is the CD version of "Sister Ray" (from "White Light White Heat") is one of those tracks that they need to digitalize over again, as there are sheets of guitar noise on it which absolutely disappear when played on CD......we will remedy this with a boot in the next day or two which has NOTHING but versions of "Sister Ray" on it. The rest of the digital versions make up for it in crispy clean sound which subtly rocks out as it did on my turntable in my beadroom back in the mid 1970's. So let us begin......

The first disc of "Peel SLowly and See" is a bunch of demos......all lengthy, all OBVIOUSLY demos, and all worth your time.....there is an 18 minute "All Tomorrow's Parties", a 13 minute "Heroin", 15 minute version of "Venus In Furs"......these are the bare bones versions, performed by Lou Reed, John Cale, and Sterling Morrison, before the Andy Warhol/Nico intervension that would occur before album #1 appeard.And album #1, "The Velvet Underground and Nico", appears here as Disc 2 of "Peel Slowly and See".....the lineup for this effort: Reed, Cale, Morrison, Maureen Tucker, and the infamous Nico......when referring to the track list below, take note, tracks #2-#12 are the original album as released, Track #1 is the "single Version" of "All Tomorrow's Parties" , then tracks #13-15 are three rarities you will not wish to miss, and it is THIS stuff that is the reason for using the box set......to say that the "rarities" are must-hear brilliant is incredible understatement. This album ("Nico") is a five star classic going away, and is without question my LEAST FAVORITE of their official releases.......where to start? "I'm Waiting For The Man", "Femme Fatale", "Venus in Furs", "The Black Angels Death Song", the mind melting "European Son"........simply stated, there had NEVER been anything like this in recorded  music before, EVER.

So, then the third disc of "Peel Slowly", (pay attention) is the SECOND studio album by the Velvets, and is MY personal favorite.....ditching Nico, "White Light White Heat is back to a lineup of Reed/Cale/Morrison/and Tucker......as it contains the legend that is "Sister Ray", the brain-exploding "I Heard Her Call My Name", and the absolutley indescribable (YOU try and describe it) "The Gift", in this format, tracks #8-#13 are the original release, tracks #1-#7 are some live and demo tracks, and #14-#16 are some studio rarities, including "Stephanie Says", that you won't want to miss....."White Light White Heat" is one of those albums that for which five stars simply isn't enough, it's one of the greatest albums of all time.....did you know the cover (of the vinyl version) which appears to be a plain black cover with white lettering on it, will reveal a drawing of a skull when held up to a black light.....you shoulda been there when I discovered THAT.

OK, FOURTH disc of the box set, THIRD album of the career, is "The Velvet Underground", replaces Cale with Doug Yule and is a 5-star masterpiece as well, on this one, the original album ("closet mix") is laid out as Track #2-#11, track #1 is a fine live "What Goes On" (one of thier best live numbers), and #12-#18 are another handful of studio rarities, live, and demos, including the fab "Lisa Says" that I've always loved from the live album and was thrilled to finally hear in studio version....the "official album" includes classics such as "The Murder Mystery", "What Goes On", "Pale Blue Eyes" (later covered effectively by Hole", and the great "Beginning to See the Light" ("Some wine in the morning, and breakfast at night").....another fantastic album.

If you are following along, Disc five (of the box) is the fourth and final disc of their career, "Loaded" (same lineup as previous album), presented here as Reed originally wished for it to be released.....the most accessible of their albums, and many people's favorite.....the classic "Sweet Jane", only one of the greatest rock songs ever written, "Rock And Roll" ("her life was saved by rock n roll"), the under appreciated "Cool It Down", "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'", and of course MORE, this of course is a classic of the five-star variety as well......on this one, Tracks #1-#10 are the original LP, and tracks #11-#19 are another grab bag of studio tracks, the great "Ocean", "Satellite of Love" (featured prominently in the movie "Adventureland" if you were paying attention), a live "I'll Be Your Mirror".....what in the name of God are you waiting for, if you don't have these, all I can say is WHY THE HELL NOT?

This should be enough to get you started.....to you whom are already initiated into this fraternity,
tomorrow will bring a windfall of live stuff, rare stuff, just STUFF YOU WANT TO HAVE......they never released a note that was short of brilliant (BIG exception: the album Doug Yule attempted to make after Reed left, can't remember the name of it and don't care to).....other than that, the next two days are my gift to the world, a boat load of incredible, brilliant, decades ahead of it's time music, that the world is STILL, today, attempting to keep up with.

PEEL SLOWLY AND SEE DISC 1-01 Venus In Furs (demo)/02 Prominent Men (demo)/03 Heroin (demo)/04 I'm Waiting For the Man (demo)/05 Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams (demo)/06 All Tomorrow's Parties (demo)

PEEL SLOWLY AND SEE DISC 2 (includes THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO)-01
All Tomorrow's Parties (Single Version)/02 Sunday Morning/03 I'm Waiting For The Man/04 Femme Fatale/05 Venus In Furs/06 Run Run Run/07 All Tomorrow's Parties/08 Heroin/09 There She Goes Again/10 I'll Be Your Mirror/11 The Black Angels Death Song/12 European Son/13 Melody Laughter (Live)/14 It Was a Pleasure Then/15 Chelsea Girls

PEEL SLOWLY AND SEE DISC 3 (includes WHITE LIGHT WHITE HEAT)-01 There Is no Reason (demo)/02 Sheltered Life (demo)/03 It's All Right (The Way That You Live) (demo)/04 I'm Not Too Sorry (Now That You're Gone) (demo)/05 Here She Comes Now (demo)/06 Guess I'm Falling In Love (live)/07 Booker T (Live)/08 White Light/White Heat/09 The Gift/10 Lady Godiva's Operation/11 Here She Comes Now/12 I Heard Her Call My Name/13 Sister Ray/14 Stephanie Says/15 Temptation Inside Your Heart/16 Hey Mr. Rain (Version One)

PEEL SLOWLY AND SEE DISC 4 (Includes THE VELVET UNDERGROUND)01 What Goes On (live)/02 Candy Says/03 What Goes On/04 Some Kinda Love/05 Pale Blue Eyes/06 Jesus/07 Beginning To See the Light/08 I'm Set Free/09 That's the Story of My Life/10 The Murder Mystery/11 After Hours/12 Foggy Notion/13 I Can't Stand It/14 I'm Sticking With You/15 One of These Days/16 Lisa Says/17 It's Just Too Much (live)/18 Countess From Hong Kong (demo)

PEEL SLOWLY AND SEE DISC 5 (Inludes LOADED)-01 Who Loves the Sun/02 Sweet Jane (Full Length Version)/03 Rock and Roll/04 Cool It Down/05 New Age (Full Length Version)/06 Head Held High/07 Lonesome Cowboy Bill/08 I Found a Reason/09 Train Round the Bend/10 Oh! Sweet Nuthin'/11 Satellite of Love/12 Walk and Talk/13 Oh Gin/14 Sad Song/15 Ocean/16 Ride Into the Sun/17 Some Kinda Love (live)/18 I'll Be Your Mirror (live)/19 I Love You

OK, obviously this is no damn joke.......and this is the tip of the iceberg......if you have holes in your Velvet Underground collection, they will be filled in.......if you are a novice, well, what are you doing here? Simply one of the greatest rock n roll bands that ever plugged in the amps.

UK Subs

Sort of hard, actually, to, in 2014 take much of an objective look at the career of the UK Subs for a
few reasons.....for one, they were formed in 1976 by singer Charlie Harper, bassist Paul Slack, guitarist Nicky Garratt, and a bunch of drummers, the steadiest of the early ones was Steven J Jones......in the close to 40 (!) years since, Harper is the only constant, they have had (well) over a hundred other members (a complete list appears on their Wikipedia page if you don't beleive me).....I don't really take bands seriously that go through that kind of personnel numbers, nor, in general, do I generally garner much enjoyment out of ANY band that still thinks they have creative ideas remaining after they have been recording for 38 years. They tredge on even today, honestly, I honestly don't want to hear any of the stuff from this century, perhaps my loss, but I'll deal with it.....
I could just skip them altogether, save for one factor.....back in the mid-late 1970's they did release a truly great series of singles, I don't think (I may be forgetting) that they ever did release a great "album", but the collected singles comps and live albums work quite well, so that is the focus of what I have, I'll have to check to see if I even HAVE any of the early "proper" albums, I may have one or two.

The best, and most comprehensive of the singles collections seems, in my opinion, to be "The Complete Punk Singles Collection", containing all the classic earliest stuff ("Stranglehold", "Tomorrow's Girls", "Warhead" and all the others, along with some rare finds, EP tracks like "Hey! Santa". The second disc of this collection is newer stuff, from the 1990's and the like, I assume fans of this band will already have these, casual fans like me probably won't care for it all that much. But I'm not going to break up the set, decide for yourself if you wanna hear it!
"Live Kicks" is a fairly smoldering live recording from a show at the Roxy, recorded I think in 1977 (released in 1980), evidently they were a fabulous live act.....would have enjoyed seeing them. I also came up with thier very first album, 1979's "Another Kind of Blues" which reprises alot of the early singles that I enjoy so much in the company of their fellow singles on "The Complete Punk Singles"......there is some filler here, it's a rare call for me, but I do recommend the comp, the first disc of it anyway, over the debut.

I've got a few other compilations here, there is a BUNCH of overlap with the great singles I have
referenced before....it's a tough band to anthologize.......read through the track lists below, start with the first disc of "The Complete Punk Singles" and "Live Kicks" and see if any of the other comps sounds appealing to you.......you could probably, depending on your tastes, pare this down to about four discs worth of stuff you like. Sorry, it's a hard band to sort out, DEFINITELY NOT "album" oriented artists, their place was the single and they managed it well, there is a lot of overlap here, granted, but take your time and cherry pick and you'll have as fine a UK punk singles anthology as you could hope for!
THE COMPLETE PUNK SINGLES DISC 1-01 CID/02 Stranglehold/03 Tomorrow's Girls/04 She's Not Their/05 Warhead/06 Teenage/07 Party In paris/08 Keep On Runnin' (Til You Burn)/09 Countdown/10 Self Destruct/11 Another Typical City/12 Private Army/13 This Gun Says/14 New Barbarians (Live)/15 Hey! Santa
THE COMPLETE PUNK SINGLES DISC 2-01 Motivator/02 Sabre Dance (Extended Version)/03 Jodie Foster/04 Post Card From LA/05 Betrayal/06 War on the Pentagon/07 Day of the Dead/08 Cyberjunk/09 Riot '98/10  Reclaim the Street/11 Drunken Sailor/12 666 Yeah/13 Warhead 2008

LIVE KICKS-01 BIC/02 I Couldn't Be You/03 I Live In a Car/04 Tomorrow's Girls/05 Stranglehold/06 Illegal/07 CID/08 No Rules (Victim)/09 Lady Esquire/10 Telephone Numbers/11 World War/12 Disease
ANOTHER KIND OF BLUES-01 CID/02 I Couldn't Be You/03 I Live In a Car/04 Tomorrow's Girls/05 Killer/06 World War/07 Rockers/08 IOD/09 TV Blues/10 Blues/11 Lady Esquire/12 All I Wanna Know/13 Crash Course/14 Young Criminals/15 BIC/16 Disease/17 Stranglehold
THE PUNK IS BACK (1995)-01 ORganized Crime/02 Bomb Factory/03 Dirty Girls/04 Waiting For The man/05 Rat Race/06 Teenage/07 Warhead/08 Sensitive Boys/09 CID (Live)/10 Tomorrow's Girls/Left For Dead (Live)/11 She's Not There/12 Kicks/13 I Don't Need Your Love/14 Limo Life/15 Cocaine
THE VERY BEST OF (BEFORE YOU WERE A PUNK)-01 CID/02 Tomorrow's Girls/03 Stranglehold/04 Teenage/05 Emotional Blackmail/06 Warhead/07 New York State Police/08 Party In Paris/09 Endangered Species/10 Down on the Farm/11 Shoot You Down/12 Count You Down/13 Apocalypse Now/14 Police State/15 Self Destruct/16 War of the Roses/17 Holy Land/18 Motivator/19 Postcard From LA/20 Nobody Move/21 Riot/22 Rebel Radio/23 Preacher/24 House Of Cards/25 Lost Not Found/26 Music For the Deaf/27 Stay Away (Nirvana Tribute)/28 I Need a Life (UK Subs vs Damned)
ORIGINAL PUNKS, ORIGINAL HITS DISC 1-01 CID/02 Barbie's Dead/03 All I Want To
Know/04 Tomorrow's Girls/05 Rat Race/06 TV Blues/07 Brand New Age/08 She's Not There/09 Fall of the Empire/10 I Couldn't Be You/11 Lady ESquire/12 Scum of the Earth/13 Warhead/14 Young Criminals/15 Telephone Numbers/16 New York State Police/17 Stranglehold/18 500cc/19 Face the Machine/20 Kicks/21 Party In paris/22 I Live In a Car/23 Teenage
ORIGINAL PUNKS, ORIGINAL HITS DISC 2-01 You Don't Belong/02 Rockers/03 The Same Thing/04 Violent City/05 World War/06 BIC/07 Blues/08 Crash Course/09 Emotional Blackmail/10 Emotional Blackmail (2)/11 Dirty Girls/12 Left For Dead/13 Organized Crime/14 Victim/15 You Can't Take It Anymore/16 Public Servant/17 Time & Matter/18 The Harper/19 So What/20 New Order/21 Perfect Girl/22 Gangster/23 Disease

Mull these over, sorry for so much overlap, but the live album smokes, and between the rest, you can probably make a comp you will really enjoy......btw the single "Down on the Farm" was covered to fine effect (IMO) on Guns N Roses "The Spaghetti Incident?".......as always, comments and requests are always appreciated, let me know how I'm doing with this stuff......hope everyone is enjoying the attempt at variety!

Another weird find....Brownout presents Brown Sabbath

Okeeee, from Texas  comes this strange bunch, who seem to specalize in "funakfying" existing
classic Black Sabbath tracks, using horns, stringes, etc.....I assume the members are mostly African American, thus the NAME of the band and the concept would make a little sense, and no matter what the case I commend them.......I've always said there is no bigger wase of time than covering somone else's song, and making a slavish, carbon-copy version of the original, which is so often why triubute albums fall flat.......Someone in  band (and I swear I forget who) once said that after performing the same song live over and over again, you start to hate the damn song and begin doing horrible things to it.......well, wait until you hear these Sabbath tracks you've been hearing for 40 years, done up TOTALLY different, and, while to a degree humorous (come on, it IS) there is NO QUESTION, they took someone else's songs and DID SOMETHING UNIQUE WITH THEM. Some will hate this, no question, but I think it's pretty cool to be honest with you.......the Black Angels vocalist even pops in on the opener, "The Wizard" which is cool in and of itself.......these Sabbath tunes are all from the first three Sabbath (classic) albums, and I promise you likely didn't consider previously, hearing them in THIS format

PART 1-01 The Wizard/02 Iron Man/03 N.I.B./04 Black Sabbath

PART 2-01 Hand of Doom/02 Into the Void/03 Planet Caravan


As always, especially with these more "out there" posts, YA GOTTA GIMME A FULL REPORT on what ya think about this, if you hate it, THAT THERE EXACTLY is why Baskin Roberts has 31 flavours.......get it? Just listen to it, if you hate it, let US KNOW......if you love it, LET US KNOW......we're just trying to see how you chance-takers react to some bizarre-ass postings.......like this one!

Sorry, a minutes indulgence....means a lot to me.

When I was in high schol, around 1977-78, there was a local radio station in my city, it was calWBLY, they had both an AM staition and an FM, the FM, for a few years there in the late 1970's was the best radio station  have ever heard. TOTALLY freeform, the on-air personalities simply played what they wanted to play. No idiotic program directors, playlists, or anything else.....guys and gals good musical tastes played the stuff they liked and also what they thought needed to be introduced to the masses.....I've written about the famous WOXY and, to a lesser degree, KEXP, and in thier days, they were fine stations, but NO RADIO STATION could POSSIBLY (I really mean this) hold a dim candle to WBLY-FM in the late 1970's......

During, I think, the summer of 1977, they introduced a new man run the midnight-6 show.....he was great, just fantastic......back in the 70's it was HARD to loacate ANY music outside the maintream, we would read about all the punk/new wave band in Trouser Press or New York Rocker, read reviews, salivate over the mail-order ads which were the only place we could get to HEAR any of this stuff (at a steep price)......this new guy, the midnight guy, his name was Marshall Phillips, and he had a ridiculous amount of vinyl, and GOOD SHIT TOO, Pistols, Clash, Dictators......Buzzcock, Dead Boys, Stranglers.......Runaways, Blondie, Ramones.......not JUST the punk stuff, also CLASSIC shit, the New York Dolls, the MC5, the Velvet Undeground, The Stooges........as well, asawesome classic metal from Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Mott the Hoople.....simply, the GREATES music of the 60's and 70's.....on some nights he would play strictly by request, and his local following was so large and great there were NOT calls for "Free Bird" and "Slow Ride", which one could hear any hour of any day.......the requests were for SOMETHING DIFFERENT, and I was thrilled.....FINALLY, a radio personality with some TASTE, and with the balls enough to not play the latest cut from Foreigner ever fifteen minutes. When he'd announce a "strictly by request" block, he'd say, "But, please, let's stay away from stuff with a dead beat......after all, softrock is like skim milk".......truer words never spoken.

I called him up one night and explained to him that I had very similar tastes in music to his own......he

told me to come on down to the station, and, if I ddn't mind, could I pick him up a pack of Marlboros.......I was thrilled to death to do so, the station was only about 15 minutes from my home. We hit it off right away, and from then on he would, very generously, allow me to borrow albums from his collection, to take home and tape.......I had a few things HE didn't have, an it was exciting for me to hear, say, tracks from Love's "Forever Changes" ON THE RADIO?!?!? MY copy of it, no less! Great times those years were I'd visit him once a week or so and we'd swap albums to make knockoff copies, any baby right here want to say we were doing anything "wrong" is welcome to never visit this blog again.

Well, at some point,it happened......WBLY hired a program director, who, of course, had a "better" idea......which of course was for WBLY-FM to basically drop the rock format (for AOR/pop), and you could hear the total misery in Marshall's voice as he had to announce some other track from Linda Rondstadt.....Boston.....or God knows who else......I once heard him play (as he pointed out "STRICTY by request") "Le Freak" by Chic.......literally, you could hear his teeth gnash. He was miserable, and, also, myself and my friends were prohibbited from visiting him at the station......

Finally he was reprieved, moving to WTUE in Dayton, a long-established rock station, who still had pretty rigid playlists, LOTS of Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Stones, and "Classic Rock".....but evntually, it the acceptance of stuff like Nirvana and Smshing Pumpkins, he was onc again able to induge in some of the stuff he really did enjoy. We lost touch, for the most part, after he left the Sprinfield station (WBLY), I would still listen to him on occasion, still marveling at that mooth, made for radio voice, and occasionally calling in with a "request" for "It's Too Late" by the Jim Carroll Band or something......as soon as he'd hear that rquest, he'd sigh and say "How you been, Scott?"

My ultimate point is this: different people shape our tastes in music....perhaps wth this blog, I have
influenced one or two of you in some small way......in MY OWN lifetime, NOONE, and i DO MEAN NOONE, had a bigger influence on shaping my attitudes and tastes in music.....Marshall was the greatest, he LOVED (as I do) introducing others to sounds that they had not heard before, and (again, like me), it would simply make his day if somone would get back to him and tell him how much they enjoyed te album, or tape, or whatever, that was really the greatest gift one could give to him.

Besides this, he was a super-intlectual, a left leaning Democrat who would discuss politics with you for hours on end, never taking the condescending view so-many political debaters take, he simply loved and enjoyed taking about poltical issues and was extremely knowledgeable. On top of this, he was one of the nicest, politest, and just plain BEST human beings I have ever met.

Marshall Phillips, I thank you for a lifetime of musical wealth that you provided me......thank you for opening my ears to somthing NEW, something DIFFERENT, and makin me understand that there is more to life/music than "Stairway to Heaven" or "Purple Haze" five times a day......there was always music, GOD music, out there, that you jus had to look for.....

On Sunday 10/5/14, Marshall Phillips was found dead in his apartment in Piqua Ohio. He had been having some health issues the past couple years, cause of death: natural.......he was 58 years old....I just want to say I will miss him, an will always appeciate the influence he had on my musical tastes, not just WHAT to listen to, but HOW TO listen to it, and HOW TO appreciate the fact that EVERYONE won't share our love for this music and too each his own.

I've been through a LOT of deaths in my life, they all affect me in different ways. I am not doing well with this one, although we haven't been close for years, maybe it can be compared to the loss of a special teacher or military office who taught you a lot and helped make you what you are. Please rest in peace, and if possible, continue to rock it hard from the other side, we'll all wind up there eventually.......thank you for being a friend, and for all you did for me.....I will always miss you and think about the great times and all that I learned from you.......just thank you.....

I'm not doing well with his, sorry, I hope putting it in writing will help me to get a grip on things.....

RIP Paul Revere

Paul Revere, of Paul Revere and the Raiders (one of VERY most underappreciated acts of the 1960's) passed away this past weekend at th age of 76......I also lost a VERY good friend of mine on the same da, which has bummed me out to the point of not posting for a couple of days, but I know I do have at least one and maybe a couple Revere comps back there.....


Ok, found one anyway....Northwest legends with a grungy/garage sound, outlandish Revolutionary War costumes AND a string of ass-kicking singles, if you are not as of now a fan of Paul Revere & the Raiders, here is a jumping-off point for you......if you ARE, you understand why I feel it necesssary to say goodbye to him (perhaps if you are my age or older you will recall the bands legendry appearances on Dick Clark's "Where the Action Is", often stunning.....

So, this comp starts out with "thier" version of "Louie Louie", obviously not the greatest version of the song, but an obligatory one....tracks 3/4 are classics pure and simple...."Steppin' Out" ("Wel I had to leave town coz of Uncle Sam's deal") and the great "Just Like Me".....other greats include "Hungry" and the often-covered"Kicks" (EarthQuake, for one, did a good version of that one)...also some very cool, not as well known tracks such as "Action", "Him Or Me", and their cover of "i'm Not Your Steppin' Stone"........

OK, it's not comprehensive, lacks some of the later, (IMO) less significant material like "Cherokee Nation" and "Legalize Marijuana", I knid of appreciate the era on which it focuses.....likely someone out there has a much BETTER and more comprehensive compilation than this one and if so send it to me and I will be glad to post it.......until then we have.......

PAUL REVERE & THE RAIDERS-GREATEST HITS-01 Louie Louie/02 Louie, Go Home/03 Steppin' Out/04 Just Like Me/05 Melody For an Unknown Girl/06 Kicks (Single Version)/07 Hungry/08 The Great Airplane Strike/09 Good Thing/10 Ups and Downs/11 Legend of Paul Revere/12 Action/13 I'm Not Your Steppin Stone/14 Him or Me-What's It Gonna Be?/15 Peace of Mind

Rest In Peace, Paul, some damn fne music, ahead of its time (IMO) here!

Wall of Sleep

Eveligh probably thinks I've sold out, variety has always been my goal, but I really do have a soft
spot for some of that good sludgy stoner doom.......so today, let's check out a pretty good one. From the land of Hungary, we have Wall of Sleep, who rose from the ashes of the (pretty great if you can find anything by them) The Mood.......Wall of Sleep consisted of guitarists Fuleiki Sandor and Greff Andros, vocalist Holdampf Gabor, bassist Marek Ferenc, and ace drummer Szolcsanyi Szaboles. They blasted out some better than average heavy-riffing, dark-lyriced stuff obviously influenced by Black Sabbath (as nearly every stoner/doom band to a degree), also finding some similarity with Cathedral, The Obsessed, and St. Vitus.
They garnered attention with the very good EP (2003), "Overlook the All", three good originals and a cover of Sabbath's "The Wizard".......this is a good disc, closer to the doom side of the coin than the stoner side, perhaps, and, oddly, (perhaps due to the vocalist), the Sabbath influence on these seem more of the "Blackmore Sabbath" (post-Ozzy) than the normal "Paranoid"-era influences......in general I was much less than a fan of "Blackmore Sabbath" (that's a joke, son), but the sound REALLY does work here....
The first proper LP was 2004's "Slow But Not Dead", a very solid album, easy 3-stars, "Far Away From the Sunrise", "Sysyphus' Downhill Ride" and the obligatory death-anthem "I Sleep" are all quite good, the riffing starts going a bit more in the stoner direction (think The Obsessed), if you like stoner/doom you likely have room for this on your self.
Which brings us to 2005's "Sun Faced Apostles", thier best effort by a HUGE margin and one you WILL want to make room on the shelf for. This thing simply slams out the killer riffs from word go (the stunning opener "On Pain of Birth"), on through great tune after great tune such as "Time of the Goblins" and "From the Bottom of These Days"......tremendous album, 4.5 stars, a semi-unknown classic of the stoner metal genre.....I highly recommend this one.
And, that was that pretty much......the next album, ".....And Hell Followed With Him" is pretty bad,
sludgy sound, lesser songs, uninspired vocals, the whole thing sounds thrown together......it's here if you want it.
2010 saw a bit of a comeback, at least better than the previous album.....the band acquired a new vocalist which seems to inspire things a bit, "When Mountains Roar", while nowhere near the quality of "Sun Faced Apostles", but at least it is significantly better than the lame "....And Hell Followed"........
Allegedly, they either have a new one out, or perhaps it is coming out soon, I don't care really all THAT much......here's the bottom line: if you are a big fan of stoner/doom metal, ya might want all of these.....if ya wanna dabble, "Sun Faced Apostles" is a semi-classic that transcends genre, a hard rocking masterpiece that you will love.......
I may not get anything up the next couple of days as the wife and I have an anniversary (27th) to celebrate and likely we'll go somewhere or something........so probably Monday or Tuesday, I'll get something else up for you wonderful folks, but for now, I hope the Suicide and Wall of Sleep efforts will keep ya busy for a little while......and, as always, happy to take requests and even happier to take guest contributions......see what you can put together (can't be worse than MY posts!) and it may be your ticket to internet fame!
OVERLOOK THE ALL (EP)-01 Overlook the All/02 Life Lies Low/03 Hands of Dust/04 The Wizard
SLOW, BUT NOT DEAD-01 Far Away From Sunrise/02 Sysyphus' Downhill Ride/03 That's
Why/08 Soil/09 The Very Same/10 0050/11 Ornaments of Heaven/12 Inside Garden/13 I Sleep
SUN FACED APOSTLES-01 On Pain of Birth/02 Sun Faced Apostles/03 Labyrinths/04 Ship of Stake/05 Time of the Goblins/06 The River/07 From the Bottom of These Days/08 Mother Sand & Father Stone
....AND HELL FOLLOWED WITH HIM-01 Buried 1000 Times/02 Nails For Crucifixion/03 Crusade/04 November/05 Unchanged/06 Cain/07 Signs/08 Stabat Mater
WHEN MOUNTAINS ROAR-01 Hungry Spirits/02 Recieve the Pain/03 Into the Light/04 Raven Avenue/05 Hell Sells/06 Bitter Smile/07 Trapped In Sorrow/08 Army of the Dead

Please, no matter what else, ROCK THE FUCK ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!