Butthole Surfers : The Anal Obsession

|October 15, 2009 | Stuffs

Well, now I know what I was doing instead of homework on October 25th, 1984 ( click on photo ) .

Ayaléw Mésfin * 1973

|October 15, 2009 | Found Sounds

Here’s ” Hasabé “, which I can easily imagine a sweaty Addis Ababa crowd bumping to. Clearly, Ethiopian musicians of this time had heard and absorbed American funk, but Mésfin’s vocal takes this track to an entirely different, otherworldly place.

Ayaléw Mésfin : ” Hasabé “

Ayaléw Mésfin : ” Hasabé ”

The Misfits * 1978

|October 15, 2009 | Found Images

3 Sons Of Texas * 1995

|October 14, 2009 | Found Images

Gibby, Willie, and Roky.

Nuremberg * 1493

|October 14, 2009 | Found Images

The Undead * 1982

|October 13, 2009 | Found Sounds, Philosophy

Stiff Records TEES 7-14. Here are 4 songs from my old vinyl copy of the ” Nine Toes Later ” EP. The Undead was the band that guitarist Bobby Steele formed after leaving The Misfits in 1980, and the tunes are very much in the same vein as those from The Misfits’ ” Beware ” period ( note the big, driving Rickenbacker bass sound, very Misfits-y ). There are some catchy, good songs here, and Steele, a ripping rock n’ roll guitar player, had a serviceable punk voice, edgy /snotty yet melodic — but you have to wonder how much greater these tracks would have been with Glenn Danzig singing.

01. The Undead : A Life Of Our Own

01. The Undead : A Life Of Our Own

02. The Undead : My Kinda Town

02. The Undead : My Kinda Town

03. The Undead : When The Evening Comes

03. The Undead : When The Evening Comes

04. The Undead : I Want You Dead

04. The Undead : I Want You Dead

Say what you will about Danzig’s post-1980s career choices, but in terms of the very long legs their recordings have, The Misfits are becoming Generation X’s Beatles. There will be books, there will be films, there will be exhibits in museums, and if they ever do reunite, they will play stadiums. On paper, The Misfits’ aesthetic was odd — on one hand, Bronx-Italian crooning, 1950s pop melodies and classic early rock n’ roll song structures, and on the other, noisy, aggressive post-1977 punk rock, and, due to the lack of a competent drummer ( until the addition of Black Flag’s Robo in 1982 ), an absence of any kind of groove other than a straight-ahead minimal beat that was ultimately an afterthought — yet it all works SO WELL. Whenever I hear one of the classic Misfits tracks, ” Astro Zombies “, say, or ” We Are 138 “, or ” Hybrid Moments ” ( I could go on and on and on ), I get the same feeling, the same electric charge I got hearing them for the first time at age 15. These songs still make me want to watch horror movies on a black and white TV. ” Halloween ” makes me want to put on skull makeup and go egging.

Here’s a little more about the enduring music of The Misfits:

It’s been a long time since the wacky jazz-lounge ironic cover version held any appeal for me – for a while, during the early 90s, it seemed like cocktail-ized interpretations of current rock songs were everywhere and the trend played itself out quickly. In general, tongue-in-cheek covers are tricky because they can backfire by highlighting deficiencies in the performers’ original songs, and anyway, cynicism isn’t usually the basis for good music. Having said all that, though, there’s something kind of great about the Misfits Meet The Nutley Brass : Fiend Club Lounge CD. When I was helping run a bar a couple of years ago we put it on the jukebox and I saw the same thing night after night : the jazzy-lite no-vocals version of ” Where Eagles Dare ” would come on and someone would look up from their beer and yell, ” Wait ! Is this The MISFITS?!? “. Those are some strong melodies, some of the strongest.

Speaking of covers and the grunge era, here’s a little something extra for you.

The Lemonheads : ” Skulls “

The Lemonheads : ” Skulls ”

Programming Country Bear

|October 13, 2009 | Found Images

It’s an important job! For more Country Bear, go here.

The Mo-Dettes * 1980

|October 12, 2009 | Found Sounds

Here’s ” White Mice Disco ” , a track from the great all-girl post-punk band The Mo-dettes’ rare and only LP,           1980’s ” The Story So Far … “.

The Mo-Dettes : ” White Mice Disco “

The Mo-Dettes : ” White Mice Disco ”

Teddy Boys

|October 12, 2009 | Found Images

For more beautiful photos of elderly Teddy Boys by Ben Watts, go here. For more information on who the Teds were, go here.

The Justice League of America * 1975

|October 12, 2009 | Found Sounds

Power Records 8174. Here’s another superhero story record from the 70s ( from the Power Records imprint of the Peter Pan label ) featuring Power’s usual tongue-in-cheek hack acting, canned sound effects, and terrible manufacturing – these were pressed, not on vinyl, but cheap black plastic – but this one has SONGS. There was always a rack of these albums ( and the Power 45s, which featured read-along mini comic books and had the ding! sound on the record to indicate when to turn the page ) at Woolworth’s when I was little, and just about everyone my age had at least one.

1. The Justice League Theme

1. The Justice League Theme

2. Wonder Woman : The Return Of Brunhilde

2. Wonder Woman : The Return Of Brunhilde

3. Plastic Man Theme

3. Plastic Man Theme

4. Plastic Man : Invasion Of The Plastic Men

4. Plastic Man : Invasion Of The Plastic Men

5. Metamorpho Theme

5. Metamorpho Theme

6. Metamorpho : Fumo The Fire Giant

6. Metamorpho : Fumo The Fire Giant

7. Aqua Man : Defeat Of The Dehydrator

7. Aqua Man : Defeat Of The Dehydrator

8. The Flash : Three Faces Of Mr. Big

8. The Flash : Three Faces Of Mr. Big

David Seville

|October 10, 2009 | Stuffs

No news, but I really like this photo of David Seville, creator of The Chipmunks. When I was a little kid, I used to have the ” Chipmunk Punk ” LP, where they do versions of songs by The Knack, Blondie, and Tom Petty. I had a friend who had a turntable that could play at 16rpm, and we used to love slowing the album down so that The Chipmunks sounded like normal adults singing very sloooooowwwwwly. Anyway, for a fun and informative history of The Chipmunks and David Seville, go here.