Hope your rockist week has gone on swimmingly well. Mine has, what with my (in this case ever-shrinking) free time being filled up with more'n my share of heavy doody rock reading and music listening, some of which you might even read about amidst the garble printed below! I dunno about you, but when I jettison the weak tea-powered music and hackathon writing outta my system I feels oh-so-good, and the more hours I spend thumbing through an old comic book (your best entertainment value!) or fanzine while listening to Suicide (the classic, original stuff) or those madrigal-like early Velvet Underground demos on the bedside boom box the happier I feel. Call me an old fuddy-duddy for bein' like this, but it's the gosh-darned TRUTH and why should I be ashamed about it like one would be about admitting that HAZEL is their favorite classic-era tee-vee show!
The Eddie Criss Group-UNDERTAKER LP (Hozac Records)
Sheesh whaddaya know...yet another over four-decades-old record that was originally on David Peel's Orange label (reissued by the fine folk at Hozac) that I never even knew existed! Or if I had I had forgotten given my sieve-like memory but sheesh, why wasn't I payin' attention...after all, this Criss guy cooks on alla these high-powered tracks (think a cross between the Dolls and Aerosmith with some Backstreet Boys beat tossed in) with the fantastic lead guitar of WAYNE KRAMER!!!! keeping this from turning into a total obscurity in your mind. This is what I think about when such over-played terms as hard rock or heavy metal get tossed at me by unmistakable assholes who think they know it all. Best track - "Killer" which is a keen rewrite of "The In Crowd" done up for late-seventies New York rock 'n roll tastes, and you may even like it too!
14th Wish-"14th Wish"/"I Gotta Get Rid of You" 45 rpm (Hozac Records)
Hmmmm....another Orange Records release I never knew about, this time from a sneaky li'l trio that calls themselves 14th Wish, whadevva that means! But who cares, since this rec's a fine buzzer of a low-fi piece of rock 'n roll glory, the kind that has filled up many a promo packet throughout the eighties that were just brimmin' full of local groups that had released some mighty good records but since this was the eighties who in the music biz really cared? The record that your jerkoff kid brother coulda made which begs the question...why didn't he?
Matt Sowell-ORGANIZE OR DIE LP (Feeding Tube Records)
When I saw the cover of this 'un I really thought it was gonna be a turdburger par excellence, a throwback to a whole buncha those seventies "topical" singer/songwriter spinners whose relevancy had a lifespan of an original idea on this blog. Well CALL ME A BETTER MAN THAN YOU FOR SAYING THAT I WAS "WRONG", for ORGANIZE OR DIE is a real good platter if only because it's all instrumental and you can woosh the typical pinko message away from the actual work if you do wish to do so. Sowell handles his steel strings as well as many of you favorite sixties acoustic players (even the big guys like Fahey!), weaving melodies that are so moving that you can even sniffle a bit whilst overcome by the beauty of it all. Good enough introspection w/o making you wanna revert to some imaginary hippoid past and go out 'n press leaves in between your Peter Pauper Press books.
WET NURSE CD (band's own label)
First heard about these guys back when I would cruise the CBGB website checking out what was goin' on at the place whilst they were in their death throes. Along the way I discovered that Wet Nurse were a heavy metal group, and from the description on their own site I got the impression that these guys woulda been playing HM in that early-seventies sorta thud style that seems so appealing a good fifty years after them first thuds were laid down. Not quite---with Martin Bisi behind the boards you can bet that Wet Nurse are of the post-seventies hard thrash style that seemed just as popular with the Metallica freaks of the eighties as Grand Funk 8-tracks were with the box boy stoners of the previous decade. Nice enough growl here, some even of a melodic variety, tho it sure ain't enough to make me dig out any of my old Helmet platters.
The Silver Apples-SILVER APPLES CD, CONTACT CD (Rotorelief Records)
Got these even tho I have not only the original pressings but this early-90s reissue combining both on one juicy platter. However, given how it's almost three decades down the ol' poop chute I'm sure glad that both of these crucial platters have finally been awarded the Royal Carpet Treatment complete with alla that quality people like us need and crave now that the story has been told and these guys are a mystery no more!
Well, not exactly. These very recent (last year!) Cee-Dees do have rather nice elongated covers 'n all, but NO INTERESTING NOTES OR PIC/AD REPRODUCTIONS ARE TO BE FOUND ANYWHERE IN THE PACKAGE! (Not only that, but the credits have mistakenly been switched!) 'n man, I am sorta peeved since I sure coulda used something new in the way of snaps 'n info to tingle my senses at a time when they seem number 'n a extraction-anticipating denture candidate's gums. But so what, since I got the music and lemme tell you that both of these Silver Apples platters sure hold up swell not only with their proto-synthesizer wails that predate many of your favorite noisemongers of the seventies, but with that late-sixties THUNK! which came off so PURIFYING in the light of some of the things that were goin' on at the time. And if you do remember, a whole lotta them days weren't really good enough to be remembered this far down the line even if by today's standards it all might as well be the Troggs!
It's up to you. If you have the originals these might be way redundant but eh. I like supporting my fave groups ANY WAY I CAN! Maybe this purchase will put a few coppers into the purses of all those who sure didn't get enough filthy lucre for their efforts first time around, ifyaknowaddamean...
Sadistic Mika Band-1974 ONE STOP FESTIVAL CD (DIW Records, Japan)
Japan's contribution to the mid-seventies art/glam sound live and judo-choppin' the way you woulda expected! Too bad these guys (and gal) didn't capture the imaginations of more'n just a few import bin hoppers during them day because this really does hold up with the best of the chic sleaze that was goin' on at the time. Smart deca-pop with the English and Amerigan influences that you like crammed in for good measure. If Roxy Music were a Bentley and Sparks a Lincoln, the Sadistic Mika Band would be a 1965 Mitsubishi Debonair and that ain't no used car talk. bub!
Fire Dept.-FLAME FROM THE FEN 2 CD-r burn set (originally on Damaged Goods Records, England)
Double disque roundup of everything this early-eighties English group recorded. Neo-revival without the cheeky pose that works some of the time and doesn't quite "hit" the other, but it sure sounds a whole lot smoother'n a good load of the gunk that was comin' out durin' those sad 'n sorry days. Even when it ain't clickin' it's still a worthwhile investment if you're a fan of that Milkshakes/Headcoats brand of rock 'n roll, though I gotta say that sittin' through over two-and-a-half hours of this was a rather overbearing task. Try the thing piecemeal an' it just might do its work on ya.
Various Artists-THE LONG WALK OF DIRTY DAN CD-r burn (Bill Shute)
Bill really knows how to toss a salad! A musical one that is and tosses he does on this effort which has a good share of instrumental wildness, olde tyme hokeyness, blues, punk and punque for that matter. Even some United Nations mix and match that doesn't get all cultural on ya too! Personal fave of this batch is the Ventures version of "Wild Thing" with a bad Peter Lorre imitation that's even worse than mine! My Lorre impression, not my Ventures one. So good that even the more dippoid crooners that Bill deemed worth of my ears don't get too much inna way!
***In case yer still tuned in, I will update ya on my ROCKSBACKPAGES rompin' 'n copyin' because in a thousand years someone will find this quite important. Right now I'm catching a few things that slipped by here/there and have finished up copying everything I didn't have (and more!) from the infamous Mark Shipper of FLASH! and PAPERBACK WRITER fame. Also saved for posterity (and maybe my own posterior if there ever is a toilet paper shortage) a few interesting no wave-related items including a James Chance interview from THE NEW YORK ROCKER that really kicks me into gear considerin' what a poor subject matter the famed saxophonist makes with his droll and downright nasty responses! And yeah, I even got hold of all of the Stephen M. H. Braitman reviews if only because of his writeup of Chrome's HALF MACHINE LIP MOVES in BOMP!, even if the material presented here is taken from some late-sixties Van Nuys newspaper where the man spends his time blabbing about the likes of Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell. Gettin' down to the wire with these, so whatever ya do DON'T DISTURB ME WITH YOUR IDLE PROBLEMS while I try to loot all I can from this site!
***Nice bunch we got here, and thanks to Bill, Paul, Feeding Tube and Hozac for their contributions to THE CAUSE. Might be gettin' some even more special goodies inna upcoming weeks so if I do make sure you keep your peepers peeled just as if you were starrin' in UN CHIEN ANDALOU!
Sheesh whaddaya know...yet another over four-decades-old record that was originally on David Peel's Orange label (reissued by the fine folk at Hozac) that I never even knew existed! Or if I had I had forgotten given my sieve-like memory but sheesh, why wasn't I payin' attention...after all, this Criss guy cooks on alla these high-powered tracks (think a cross between the Dolls and Aerosmith with some Backstreet Boys beat tossed in) with the fantastic lead guitar of WAYNE KRAMER!!!! keeping this from turning into a total obscurity in your mind. This is what I think about when such over-played terms as hard rock or heavy metal get tossed at me by unmistakable assholes who think they know it all. Best track - "Killer" which is a keen rewrite of "The In Crowd" done up for late-seventies New York rock 'n roll tastes, and you may even like it too!
***
Hmmmm....another Orange Records release I never knew about, this time from a sneaky li'l trio that calls themselves 14th Wish, whadevva that means! But who cares, since this rec's a fine buzzer of a low-fi piece of rock 'n roll glory, the kind that has filled up many a promo packet throughout the eighties that were just brimmin' full of local groups that had released some mighty good records but since this was the eighties who in the music biz really cared? The record that your jerkoff kid brother coulda made which begs the question...why didn't he?
***
When I saw the cover of this 'un I really thought it was gonna be a turdburger par excellence, a throwback to a whole buncha those seventies "topical" singer/songwriter spinners whose relevancy had a lifespan of an original idea on this blog. Well CALL ME A BETTER MAN THAN YOU FOR SAYING THAT I WAS "WRONG", for ORGANIZE OR DIE is a real good platter if only because it's all instrumental and you can woosh the typical pinko message away from the actual work if you do wish to do so. Sowell handles his steel strings as well as many of you favorite sixties acoustic players (even the big guys like Fahey!), weaving melodies that are so moving that you can even sniffle a bit whilst overcome by the beauty of it all. Good enough introspection w/o making you wanna revert to some imaginary hippoid past and go out 'n press leaves in between your Peter Pauper Press books.
***
First heard about these guys back when I would cruise the CBGB website checking out what was goin' on at the place whilst they were in their death throes. Along the way I discovered that Wet Nurse were a heavy metal group, and from the description on their own site I got the impression that these guys woulda been playing HM in that early-seventies sorta thud style that seems so appealing a good fifty years after them first thuds were laid down. Not quite---with Martin Bisi behind the boards you can bet that Wet Nurse are of the post-seventies hard thrash style that seemed just as popular with the Metallica freaks of the eighties as Grand Funk 8-tracks were with the box boy stoners of the previous decade. Nice enough growl here, some even of a melodic variety, tho it sure ain't enough to make me dig out any of my old Helmet platters.
***
The Silver Apples-SILVER APPLES CD, CONTACT CD (Rotorelief Records)Got these even tho I have not only the original pressings but this early-90s reissue combining both on one juicy platter. However, given how it's almost three decades down the ol' poop chute I'm sure glad that both of these crucial platters have finally been awarded the Royal Carpet Treatment complete with alla that quality people like us need and crave now that the story has been told and these guys are a mystery no more!
Well, not exactly. These very recent (last year!) Cee-Dees do have rather nice elongated covers 'n all, but NO INTERESTING NOTES OR PIC/AD REPRODUCTIONS ARE TO BE FOUND ANYWHERE IN THE PACKAGE! (Not only that, but the credits have mistakenly been switched!) 'n man, I am sorta peeved since I sure coulda used something new in the way of snaps 'n info to tingle my senses at a time when they seem number 'n a extraction-anticipating denture candidate's gums. But so what, since I got the music and lemme tell you that both of these Silver Apples platters sure hold up swell not only with their proto-synthesizer wails that predate many of your favorite noisemongers of the seventies, but with that late-sixties THUNK! which came off so PURIFYING in the light of some of the things that were goin' on at the time. And if you do remember, a whole lotta them days weren't really good enough to be remembered this far down the line even if by today's standards it all might as well be the Troggs!
It's up to you. If you have the originals these might be way redundant but eh. I like supporting my fave groups ANY WAY I CAN! Maybe this purchase will put a few coppers into the purses of all those who sure didn't get enough filthy lucre for their efforts first time around, ifyaknowaddamean...
***
Japan's contribution to the mid-seventies art/glam sound live and judo-choppin' the way you woulda expected! Too bad these guys (and gal) didn't capture the imaginations of more'n just a few import bin hoppers during them day because this really does hold up with the best of the chic sleaze that was goin' on at the time. Smart deca-pop with the English and Amerigan influences that you like crammed in for good measure. If Roxy Music were a Bentley and Sparks a Lincoln, the Sadistic Mika Band would be a 1965 Mitsubishi Debonair and that ain't no used car talk. bub!
***
Double disque roundup of everything this early-eighties English group recorded. Neo-revival without the cheeky pose that works some of the time and doesn't quite "hit" the other, but it sure sounds a whole lot smoother'n a good load of the gunk that was comin' out durin' those sad 'n sorry days. Even when it ain't clickin' it's still a worthwhile investment if you're a fan of that Milkshakes/Headcoats brand of rock 'n roll, though I gotta say that sittin' through over two-and-a-half hours of this was a rather overbearing task. Try the thing piecemeal an' it just might do its work on ya.
***
Various Artists-THE LONG WALK OF DIRTY DAN CD-r burn (Bill Shute)Bill really knows how to toss a salad! A musical one that is and tosses he does on this effort which has a good share of instrumental wildness, olde tyme hokeyness, blues, punk and punque for that matter. Even some United Nations mix and match that doesn't get all cultural on ya too! Personal fave of this batch is the Ventures version of "Wild Thing" with a bad Peter Lorre imitation that's even worse than mine! My Lorre impression, not my Ventures one. So good that even the more dippoid crooners that Bill deemed worth of my ears don't get too much inna way!
***You're alone with your gal and nature is beginning to take its course. But do you have a handy back issue of BLACK TO COMM ready for those intimate moments? Make sure that you and your loved one are safe (from the dangers of unprotected rock reading) and have some of these on hand for that special, intimate time.
8 comments:
Hah! Silver Apples! Primo stuff, Chris!
Cheers!
Hi
John The Postman "is still above god" lp (unreleased lp recorded june '80)available now via overground rds. (stooges, larry fischer covers...). Good to hear the voice of the "wild" postman !
Nice to see The Fire Dept reviewed in your columns. Got all their records. They affected me as the same way as the len bright combo did before.
PS : to Alvin Bishop " Kensington market= really good discovery =thanks"
Cheers
Thierry
Still can't get over the story of how the cover photo for Contact happened. They let them into the cockpit of a passenger jet at JFK, thinking it would be good publicity for whatever airline it was! Freer days, indeed.
Oh, right, 1969 was a riot of freedom because a couple of guys got to sit in a cockpit.
Of course anyone with an IQ over 50 knows it is still fairly easy to visit the cockpit of a commercial airplane as long as it's idle and on the ground, but sure, be a shallow glibertarian idiot. Maybe you'll get an offer to write for Burning Cat Fur.
"Pan-Am were unhappy with the plane crash association and sued, causing the demise of the band and their label."
Ah, FREE-DUMB!
Re Kensington Market: Glad to have helped!
Cheers!
Hazel did nothing wrong.
Aw, a friend told me about the Eddie Criss LP and I added it to my wantlist and forgot about it until I saw this post seeing it's been reissued. That was a fast order!
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