BOOK REVIEW! THE YOUNG LUST READER (And/Or Press, 1974)

It didn't take long for underground comix to go overground as anyone who was opened up a magazine in the early seventies could have told you. It was only a few short years after their late-sixties debut that alla those cutting edge and anything goes artists began popping up in the pages of PLAYBOY and NATIONAL LAMPOON and really, if your Aunt Petunia knew who R. Crumb was it ain't underground no' mo an' ain't that the truth!

Come to think of it, the undergrounders rose to the top even earlier if you count R. Crumb's cover of the CHEAP THRILLS album and even Wacky Packages. And given the fanzines from whence these cartoonists sprang not to mention college humor rags and HELP! like, even Helen Keller coulda seen the whole shebang rising to the top like curdled milk. 

And for something that was considered to be all hush-hush and verboten these books sure did get around, something which is evident by this rather easily enough obtainable mid-seventies collection of the first three issues of YOUNG LUST comics. Billed as "THE UNDERGROUND ROMANCE COMIC", YOUNG LUST was a deft spoof of them lovey dovey titles that used to clutter up a whole load of fat gals with pimpled thighs's bedrooms amidst the records scattered all over the floor and Bobby Sherman posters. Trouble is, this ain't just ANY love 'n kisses title but one whose usage of the hoary old format is more'n just a fine way not only to "satirize" the genre but make some rather cutting observations at what was then passing for mid-class Amerigan living. Believe it or don't but YOUNG LUST reveals the sordid and gritty underbelly of ranch house suburban slob living (amongst other things) in a way that makes PEYTON PLACE look like MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD!

Underground reg's Jay Kinney and Bill Griffith were the mastermind behind this 'un which makes YOUNG LUST all the more potent. Naturally others do make appearances (Justin Green, Roger Brand etc.) but this is pretty much Kinney and Griffith's ballgame which is superbo by me since I think these guys were the funniest, most on-target undergrounders not only in style but in content and taste.

It can get pretty dirty but you'll be laughing your libido off at a good portion of it (some does fall flat, don't get me wrong). But amidst the porno parts there are some rather high-larious bits from the fake ads for other titles (RAPE FANTASIES, QUEER DIARY, JUST LAID...) and the usual neo-Johnson Smith tomfoolery which I must admit comes off pretty funny for a guy who spent most of his just-pre-pubesprout days pouring through tons of titles wondering if it was worth it to spend a whole two bucks on a plastic slot machine I was hoping to sucker the neighborhood kids into plunking their nickels with. 

The stories that appear in YOUNG LUST should get anyone who has a sense of humor similar to mine in a more'n just jovial mood and I'm not even talking about the overall dirtiness. Some of these sagas are pretty keen in the way they satirize the pre-teenbo girl titles with a then-modern-day twist which just might be a good history lesson for some and plain ol' nostalgia for others. Take for example this story by Kinney about some young lass torn between a campus hippie and a young and clean cut ROTC member who, after shunning the latter after he punches out a protester, tells the hippie that even though he is a gosh swell guy the radical life is not for her and well, it's sayonara adios and maybe even goodbye. In typical teen gal tingling twist ending fashion the guy reveals his true self, an undercover narc out to bust some local ne'er do wells so all ends swell enough for those of you who still believe that there's love and romance in this world.

You might prefer "My Rock 'n' Roll Lover", a sweet saga where a fourteen-year-old gal with an eighteen-year-old body and one of those typically teenage gal bedrooms like I mentioned in paragraph two gets to do the groupie thing with the leader of the rock group God and the Bunwads. Well, things do seem to start out fine, at least until our lass discovers that the guy's secret desires just might be somewhat out of the ordinary even though I'm sure a good portion of you readers have engaged in what this specimen has done, and often at that. And this is just one of the milder stories that pop up so you better brace yourself for what IS in store.

The one that should most appeal to the typical BLOG TO COMM reader is "Armed Love", a tale 'bout some Detroit area White Panthers who like to hang out at the Grande Ballroom and see the MC5 in between their various revolutionary and lovemaking endeavors. After being hassled by a cop while passing out legalize marijuana pamphlets they knock the officer out, shove him in the trunk of their car and, since true revolutionaries don't waste anything, butcher him for meat. Getting somewhat sick over the entire ordeal (mainly a finger that's sticking out of her stew), leading lady Sheila rushes out of the commune and gets picked up by a seemingly well-meaning fellow who turns out to be an undercover cop who takes her to the station for a gang bang that doesn't quite end up the way you woulda thought!

There's more from "Teen Talk With The Wholesome Twins" who ain't as scrubbed up as you may think, plus the aforementioned comic ad spoofs for everything from records (Hymen and Arbuckle) to some of them items that the Comics Code strictly forbade publishers to sell for years on end. One interesting soo-prise's a page of one-panel comics that feature a few of the really big names in the underground who don't appear anywhere else in the book like R. Crumb and Gilbert Shelton. I kinda liked Jay Lynch's contribution where some guy tells his gal that he's gonna buy her a new ass because the one she was using has a crack in it!

And what's really cool about YOUNG LUST are the covers which at a distance look like authentic olde tyme above-ground titles aimed at the gal set (well, excepting ish two with some teenbo couple doing it standing up right on the sidewalk), and I can just imagine a scenario that might have taken place where some armchair hippie wannabe kid who wears bell bottoms and takes the messages delivered in GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW to heart has a buncha these hidden in his room and his li'l cyster discovers 'em while snoopin' 'round. Obviously thinking that they're legit romance titles the brat pours through them right out there in the open, getting a lesson in sex that she just wouldn't get from her parents stutterin' and circumventing the issue at hand. If the folks ever found out about these comics I just wouldn't want to be there when dinnertime came and pop brings up the subject right before the apple pie's bein' served!

So like, maybe it is a little too soon between these "megaposts" as I like to call 'em but eh, I want to keep this blog "somewhat" up to date and for that matter don't want all three of you reg'lar tuner inners left waiting any long than you really have to! Really, I know how some of you actually hold it in twixt posts just like I used to while waiting for the next issue of KICKS to come out, and boy could that hurt given that mag's "irregular" output! Not that there's anything of real interest to peck the keyboard about this go 'round (after all, it is January, one of the more doldrumesque months to have ever been invented), but I do want to let it all hang out in typical Hombres fashion before the news becomes even more stale than that slice of bread that somehow slipped in between the refrigerator and stationary drawers.

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Well, it looks as if Paul Stookey really is a solo act now that onetime collaborator Peter Yarrow has joined former partner in marching Mary Travers in hootenanny heaven, a place where I guess all good folksingers go even if they really weren't that good. Yarrow managed to live to the ripe old age of 86 which you must admit is a pretty long lifespan for a folk singer who you think would have been laid low by one of those down-home diseases like TB or Huntington's Disease. Now I am admittedly not that well versed with the Peter Paul & Mary catalog...I mean I will say that the singles of theirs that I can remember rate a two outta five stars (nothing special but not worth the energy switching the station), but other'n that when I think of them three all that comes to mind are black and white photos of people standing on some outdoor stage singing songs about hammers surrounded by other folksingers looking somewhat smug and proud given their service to humanity. 

Given Yarrow's penchant for the underage stuff (getting a 14-year-old gal to jack him off into her face) it seems as if his private inclinations have bested his public image as a wholesome altruistic man who thought Eugene McCarthy was the greatest. Being a big famous name and all it'd figure that Yarrow would be bestowed a get out of jail free card after serving a mere three months out of a three year sentence, and the fact that Jimmy Carter pardoned the guy during the final days of his presidency is definitely another big strike against the recently 86'd world leader. Sheesh, now I mentioned Carter in THREE straight posts!

Also a fond farewell to Jean-Marie Le Pen, whose daughter just might be the big hope that France has been needing ever since the Huguenots went and ruined everything that once-proud nation stood for. But you know that if she ever did get into power she'd cave in like it seems they all do. Oh well, we can always wait for another generation of Le Pens to pop up and get things right.  

David Lynch also bit it---his 86-ing doesn't affect me one bit since I really don't cozy up to those underground directors who upgrade themselves and make moom pitchers for people beyond the snob art house cadre (Florey, Waters, Downey...). Despite that, I will mention that Lynch's passing reminds me of something that happened way back in the 90s and my parents were doing an antiques show at a local "resort" where some actress who at the time was on TWIN PEAKS happened to be staying while filming in the locale. After my father heard about this he told me he wish he could have confronted the actress face-to-face and tell her what he thought about her and her definitely non-"G" rated television show! If only that meeting had happened...would have loved to have been there to see it!

And who could forget Anita Bryant, a woman we should have listened to ages ago given all the pervertos and gender-screwed nutcases (and who knows, maybe even YOU) we have to put up with these days! The Florida Orange Bird was unavailable for comment.

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FROZEN PIZZA RECOMMENDATION!: When it comes to what you're gonna slip into the ol' oven when the stomach pangs start getting pangier try Mama Cozzi's frozen pizzas! They're the tippy top best with a tangy sauce, non-droop crust and loads of good toppings t'boot! Thankfully none of 'em have that weird preservative taste which I gotta admit I like in the same way I like Polysorbate 80. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...the meatball as well as the sausage with ricotta cheese. Available only at your local Aldi's.

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And now, as a public service for those of you who are not up-to-date on music of other peoples and cultures, here are THE SADISTIC MIKA BAND gettin' into an Asian Roxy chic mood that should bring back fond memories for all of you import bin watchers! All I gotta say is that it must have been pretty cold in the studio that day:

 

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Time to slip into that brainy and above-you-all rock critic mode once again so give your undivided attention to my definitely not rockcrit opinions regarding a number of items that were sent to me by Paul McGarry and no one else this time! Got some doozies in here today, but then again aren't they ALL doozies in one way or another, only in varying stages of expressiveness or decay? Whatever. here's what's on the plate this go 'round:

Bob Dylan and the Band-DISC 9 JANUARY 15, 1974 CAPITOL CENTER, LARGO MD. CD-r burn (originally on Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings)

I sure as shootin' can remember back when I was a not-so wee sprout and a whole lotta hoopla was goin' on 'bout the Bob Dylan/Band tour which was bein' touted like the second coming of Eddie Haskell 'r sump'thin'. The weirdest thing is, when I was a kid I didn't know Dylan from Adam to be cliched about it and wondered what all the hoopla that I had heard about his was all about. Like it wasn't like the guy was exactly lighting up the charts during the early-seventies (as if the local stations would have played "George Jackson" in the first place!), and although I used to see his records in the bins I had nary an idea as to who he was or his importance in any musical scene that I was aware of! 

In fact I used to espy Woody Guthrie albums 'round the same time and, given the similarity in looks between Dylan '63 and Guthrie I thought that the two, along with girly-looking Arlo, were all somehow related! But then again when I was a child I believed Bob's last name was pronounced "DIE-lan" since Ronnie Tyson's surname was "TIE-son" and not "Tiss-on" which definitely would confuse a kid still in the single-digits. But then then again as you all know I thought it was "JI-MI" Hendrix with two long "i"'s and people who gab with me will know that I still pronounce it the way I did way back when if only to be disrespectful.

In order to commemorate the original hype surrounding the Dylan/Band reunion there's a fiftieth anniversary box set detailing most (if not) all of it and y'know what---#9 of the set has been burned especially for me! Why Mr. McGarry copied this particular disque and not any of the others I do not know, but for a guy who passed on BEFORE THE FLOOD not only because it cost more than my depression-era wages could stand but because it seemed like "older kid music", this 'un's like a totally new adventure. Kinda makes me feel like those college types with long hair and mustaches I used to see all over the place when I was a way younger turdburger than I am now, hoping to Heaven that in NO WAY would I ever end up like any of these WHOLE EARTH CATALOG/PSYCHOLOGY TODAY-reading world saving yammerers.

Kinda sounds throwaway in more'n just a few spots. I never heard LIVE AT BUDOKAN so I just don't know how throwaway this would be next to that infamous tossout, but in part this is almost as sleepwalk as a number of eighties-on live shows that I've unfortunately managed to hear. Dunno about you, but for the most part the majority of these numbers sound as if they were rattled off by a jaded-beyond-belief bigger'n life (in the words of Li'l Abner) "ideel" who really is sick of singing the same ol' same ol' repeatedly but is wowed by alla 'em $$$'s dangling in front of his eyes. 

There are flashes of the ol' brilliance to be discerned here and there, some which might even reach a ROYAL ALBERT HALL height of Dylan at his bestest of best. "Hollis Brown" and "Like a Rolling Stone" growl on at a gnarling pace and the acoustic segment's got some sense of mid-sixties spark for a mid-seventies world of decadence so it can't be all bad!

You'll think it totally strange to hear that I actually prefer the Rolling Thunder-era Dylan to this flick your bic and stick it in the air period in Dylanology, but Dylan '74 still has quite a bit of post-revolution sway that appeals to me in a strange neo-Reedian way. You rich 'uns'll wanna splurge for the entire box but eh, this'll suit me just fine.

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Wilco-A.M. CD-r burn (originally on Sire Records)

Back when Wilco first popped up on the scene I thought Wilco Johnson of Dr. Feelgood/Solid Senders fame dropped his last name so he'd be easier recognized with just the first 'un it a la "Elvis" or "Gamera". Truth was this was an offshoot of the ol' Uncle Tupelo group doing more of that alt-country rock that really must've appealed to someone, but not to me! 

Getting all of my preconceived notions regarding this music (which always irritated like an undigested peanut wigglin' in the sphincter) out of the way and trying to be honest and up front sans prejudice, I will say that Wilco, at least judging from this early effort, were "OK", non-offensive folk rock with the expected country twang done up in a way that I'll bet Peter Laughner would have appreciated. In fact, if I twist my ears a little I kinda/sorta could have seen him writing a neo-Stonesy country blues track like "It's Just as Simple", even performing it at one of his acoustic shows. Otherwise I wasn't exactly zoomed by these sounds. Face it, Wilco were yet another entry into the legion of dumbed down musical acts who took the better ideas of the past and diluted 'em like my aunt used to water down the Kool-Aid in order to stretch it out a bit.

Another one of those records I will not be listening to again, but some of you more eclectic snoots out there'll probably go for it bigtime!

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Savoy Brown-GETTING TO THE POINT CD-r burn (originally released on Decca Records, England)

What else can one say about a Savoy Brown album? It's a Savoy Brown album! For white toughies who want to absorb the black toughie experience but are too chicken to act like black toughies. Best track to transcend what you would expect to show up on this platter..."Mr. Downchild".  

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The Stranglers-3 EARLY DEMOS/BBC CONCERT, PARIS THEATRE 1977/CAPITOL RADIO SESSIONS 1977 CD-r burn

These demos didn't even pop up on that Stranglers collection of early turdbits I reviewed quite some time back, but as far as these sorta things go they're pretty snazz in the way that they capture that early pre-spiky hair-era styled punk rock sound that these guys were best known for at the time. The '77 live portion and Capitol seshes have a good pump that recalls the Seeds and Velvets more than it does Doors, so fooey on all you anti-Stranglers snobs!

Neeto, though I really would like to hear that Stranglers show where Burnel's amp blew so he sang the bass parts!

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The Three O' Clock-BAROQUE HOEDOWN CD-r burn (originally on Frontier Records)

I'm so ancient that I remember when Bomp! was selling this 12-inch EP and of course I passed on it because...well, you already know why.

Finally get to hear the thing and you know, it really is a nice piece of pre-gutpuke pop-psych revival that can get somewhat "twee" (like on the record closer "As Real as Real), but otherwise it sounds sorta OK given the competition at the time. 

Back then I probably would have thought it all just too sweety-puss in light of what was capturing my fancy, but in the here and now all I can think of is just how brilliant this stuff sounded next to all that funny-hair MTV quap that was capturing the imaginations of youth who shoulda been herded into the re-education camp that was closest to their video arcade.

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GANDALF CD-r burn (originally on Capitol Records)

Gawrsh, how many times did this platter pop up on set sale and auction lists throughout the eighties! Not that I particularly WANTED to give this 'un a spin but eh, I got a burn of it so what choice do I got?

These guys, despite their proggy sounding name, are a fairly/middling good '67 vintage psychedelic pop group with touches of the Left Banke and SoCal sunshine pop tossed in for good measure. Of COURSE they're nowhere as good as the Banke but they do convey that aerie feeling that was custom made for chubby girls who got pimples on their thighs from them rubbing together too much. The best way I could describe it is "pleasant". Don't miss their cover of Eden Ahbez's "Nature Boy" which ain't as good as the Great Society's let alone Nat "King" Cole's but is still fine '67 pop zone-out that's probably not gonna make you crawl up the wall.

Good 'nuff for some of you snoots, but for the most part this just doesn't reach them heights of true zone-out that the records of this strata were best known for. Maybe if I had only met up with that shady looking guy who always used to show up at the playground after school...

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The Smiths-HATFUL OF HOLLOW CD-r burn (originally on Rough Trade Records)

Can't tell you just how much I was irritated by MEAT IS MURDER to the point where I wrote off Morrissey and his crew even until this very day. But you will be surprised to hear that I really enjoyed their early BBC sessions which had the kinda zip and pop that "underground" music tended to lack during those days when the seventies concepts that punk rock presented for us seemed to go off in all directions just like the Challenger.

These tracks are a roller coaster ride from intriguing to snoozerino with some of 'em good and others half 'n half. "Hand in Glove" still packs a somethingorother that's as powerful as it was when I first gave these a listen still oh so long ago...maybe it is because back when I first heard this numbuh my mind was swirling in directions akin to a spinning top on a table just bound and ready to fly off, but I find this way more digestible than what was all to be in only a few short years.

BTW, the title sure brought back the memories, not of the music but of a famous gag by Johnny Carson on the old TONIGHT SHOW. The one where he held up the photograph of an English streaker who was captured by bobbies at a football match, with one of them covering the guy's privates with his cap. Carson entitled this picture "A Hatful of Ralph" and boy for some reason did it get the laughs!

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The A-Bones-A TRIBUTE TO BENNY JOY CD-r burn (originally on Norton Records)

Once again the A-Bones spread out on this homage to the long-forgotten (then long-remembered) Benny Joy. Sometimes these 'bones remind this fanabla of the rock 'n roll that came out of the early-sixties Minneapolis area while at others they're pre-teenbo idols Paul Revere and the Raiders. And at others they're that kind of rockabilly that made most all of the other '80s practitioners of the form sound like YOUNG AMERICANS outtakes.

The entire swerve and swivel of this effort encapsulates the gamut of rock 'n roll during its pre-mudslide days and is perhaps even more sink-into-your-psyche because of it. Did I mention the Dictators and Fleshtones? A mighty good one that reminds me of just why groups like this 'un sounded so great, especially after being inundated with tons of nth-rate 80s/90s freebees (ya really think that the editors of them mags'd send me any of the good stuff???!??) trying to make sense of the spaz I just heard then laying it all onto print as to why you should avoid it at all cost!

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Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band-I'M GONNA DO WHAT I WANNA DO 2-CD'r set (originally on Rhino Handmade Records)

This is the oft-bootlegged My Father's Place show, presumably in its entirety and in boff SQ while we're at it. I never bothered to get the original (even though tapes of this were cluttering up a whole passel of trading lists way back when) because...well, you know. 

Good to hear it so late in the twilight of my life...the mix of old and new is fine and the newer'n before Magic Band who you would think was all slicked up (ex-Mother Bruce Fowler on trombone) suite Beefheart's vocalese and general play perfectly. Every second, from the twixt-song chatter to the old faves re-done and brand new tuneage is nothing but pure pleasure for these hammers and stirrups.  

Really, what more can be said about a guy who gave us music crazed miscreants so much happiness over the years without a single drop (even counting them Mercury albums!) in quality and pure addled energy.

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Roky Erickson-MORE POWER TO YOU CD-r burn (bootleg)

Roky live and alone for a small and as you'd kinda expect appreciative bunch, poppin' on all cylinders with a passion that's bound to bring a tear to even the more stone hearted amongst you above-it-all readers. The strums are simple but effective in the way they compliment Roky's vocalese, and a setting such as this really does bring out a side of the guy that seemed to have been hidden from everyone but his most rabid following...that of a passionate singer/songwriter (in the truest sense) who is a whole lot more cognitive than he ever seemed to let on given all of the stories, let alone interviews, we've been inundated with for quite some time. 

The song selection features trackage not exactly part of the guy's regular song list including a downright religious effort with lyrics taken from the man's legendary yet obscure beyond-belief 1972 book OPENERS.  If you want yet another break from the high-decibel jackhammer rhythms you've been accustomed to all you life well, this unplugged as they say effort's obviously much better this than listening to Whole Grain Harry yammering about whatever haute cause there may be, right before scarfing down some Ben 'n Jerry's that is!

Of course, if you do miss Roky's more demonic side, there's an acoustic take of "Cold Night For Alligators" recorded the previous year which'll probably affect you way more than that lobotomy did Roky!

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Quite a few people think I should be more than just "embarrassed" by most all of the scribings that I have done not only for BLACK TO COMM but a variety of publications of an under-the-wire garden variety. You might be surprised to read that I am not. I figure that yeah, most of the time the opinions expressed were atrocious along with whatever it was that passed for a "writing style", but then again the views sputtered out in these efforts were just a reflection of what I was feeling and thinking about at the time. I may feel quite differently in the here and now regarding a few of the things I once thought and thus writ, but there's no reason why I should have my old writings, as run on sentence and stream of unconsciousness as they were, suppressed or even poo-poo'd by myself for that matter. You will probably feel differently and if you're not familiar with these older efforts of mine well, you can always click on the above link and discover for yourself either the heights of fandom expression or depths of rock journalism depending on the very own winds blowing in the tastelessness of your own cranial capacities.

Overseas readers...beware the hefty postage and duty costs and ask about purchasing only if you are serious and rich for that matter. And don't be rude...I go to the post office with every made-up parcel to get the honest low down on how much it all will cost you (that involves time and gasoline!) and I absolutely hate 1) people who act all serious and then fail to notify me that they can't afford their order and 2) people who won't even respond after expressing interest leaving me in the lurch! Seen way too many of you types these past few years and well, the less of you that I have to put up with the better I say!

TO ALL MY ENEMIES, SAD NEW YEAR

Just like with every other solar spin I've experienced since kindergarten, it is comforting to know that the past 366 days have finally kicked the ol' pail and headed off into eternity. Sometimes I just love seeing my past stay there where it belongs, even if the passage of time just makes me CRINGE seeing how farther and farther away we're distancing ourselves from the boffo days of rock 'n roll as that oft-touted International Youth Language (back when people like myself were youths of course). I'm talkin' rock 'n roll as a way of life and not the backdrop for various sundry activities...rock as a serious form of expression (of hate, indifference, nihilism...) that you couldn't explain to your fellow classmates let alone the older generation. 

You should know the schpiel by now since I've repeated it so often --- talkin' the dominance of a generation that didn't care one whit about entering into the straight life yet loathed the hippydippy alternative with an equal passion. Roughly the 1964-1981 under-the-counterculture days, back when early (and mid) period Dylan and Jagger packed a good enough wallop to the general teenbo psyche of the day and, when those guys started to come off somewhat pale, there were always such under-the-counterculture types as Lou Reed and Iggy Pop that you could rely on, maybe. Even though I was musically conscious for only a few of those years I will admit that I am glad that I was alive throughout the whole dang thing. Only wish I was smart and rich enough to take it all in. Magazines, records, chemicals...those things cost a whole lotta money and unlike alla you kids who didn't have to rely on depression-era wages like I did boy did I have to miss out on most of the essentials!

It was an okay year. Heard enough new music to keep my ohrs satisfied. Also spent an inordinate amount of time burrowing through my vinyl revisiting a lotta items hanging about in the darker corners of my collection that I had been ignoring for way too long. Kept busier than usual with real life deals but tried to get some funtime into it, actually succeeding somewhat on lazy Sunday afternoons and those infrequent days off. Heck, I even managed to crank out a couple more posts than I did the year before.

If I have any regrets about 2024 t'is that I didn't tick enough of you people off with my scabrous opinions and outright comments that I felt would get the usual precious petunias who sometimes tune into this blog all a'stomach gurglin'. That is, unless you were ticked off regarding my news 'n views and didn't want to give me the satisfaction of knowing... But whatever, if you are "offended" you do deserve it.

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Well, it finally happ'd...no more Jimmy Carter. As I wrote a few months back there were rumors of his passing slipping onto the internet which suddenly vanished in typical Tom Petty fashion, and in a joking way I wrote that at first I believed that the news of the man's deep six was being suppressed in order to get more traction out of it when the Democratic convention was in full swing (y'know, sympathy 'n all). Obviously the guy was still rumblin' on (somewhat --- remember when they wheeled him outside on a gurney for his 100th birthday and he already looked like a corpse?) until that dreadful day two weeks back when he actually did hit the carbon cycle. Not to anyone's real surprise considering all of the stories regarding his being on hospice, one which seemed to roll on for a pretty longer than usual period of time. But if you're an ex-prez I guess the suits in charge drop everything to cater to every little health-related problem while peons like us just keel over. 

Yep, he's about as alive as that tee-vee series that was named after him (CARTER COUNTRY, a show of which all memories had vanished once Carter vamoosed the White House). And with his passing well, a whole lotta old and at-times forgotten memories have just come swooshin' in from the deepest, darkest regions of my memory. 

When CBGB closed its doors a good two decades back I said that the seventies were over, but with the passing of #39 all I gotta say is that the seventies are really really REALLY over! And like I also mentioned back during the summer, Carter really did epitomize everything that I thought dank and depressing about the latter portion of that decade. Maybe you remember all of those dull television situation comedies (CARTER COUNTRY included) with those wonky, go out of their way to offend you Hollywood morality tales that were anything but funny, complete with the obligatory bedroom scene which were so patently staid that they actually made a case FOR celibacy. Howz'bout alla that horrid disco and the general AM/FM doldrums that made an underground music scene all the more potent, not forgetting a staid beyond belief middle of the road wishy-washyness that not only did Carter, but life in general oozed! 

Carter really was the dishrag president residing over a period in time that was not worth living in, the middle of the road-ster that both the conservatives and the VILLAGE VOICE radical types loathed with an equal passion. Given the general disgust and outright hatred both the Panama Canal and B-1 types as well as those rabid lesbians had for the dude these recent accolades regarding his greatness that are being tossed out all over the place sure make me want to do more'n just a little chuckling!   

Well, he was kind of an idiot trying to look hip with all of them "New South" post-segregationist whiteys he was palling around with during his campaign (remember that rumor where Capricorn Records head Phil Walden supposedly used his status as a "close, personal friend" to make the guy suppress punk rock just so it wouldn't cut into his sales, telling Carter that if punk were to flourish the kids would go wild like they did back inna sixties?). Who of you who were up and about then could forget his pathetic misquoting of Bob Dylan in an attempt to drag in the ROLLING STONE vote, a lame grab for the post-Viet whole grain kids who were so annoying even SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE was poking fun at 'em. A man so much into post-Watergate openness that he just hadda tell us that he lusted in his heart if any of us really cared what kind of sexual fantasies that wonk had rumbling 'round in his cranium. 

At least there were some bright spots in his tenure such as the mere existence of Billy, Carter's quintessential redneck brother who made for quite a few chuckles given his tendency for shady dealings and acting like the stereotypical deep south goof that most of us thought was a snooty northern bias to begin with! Do any of you remember Billy Beer or the Starland Vocal Band's summer replacement series (yeah, really!) where regulars Proctor and Bergman of FIRESIGN THEATRE fame...no foolin'!!!...had this gag about the Starland Vocal Band's Brother Billy? It's the only thing I can recall from the scant few seconds of watching that program I'll tell ya! (Episodes are available via Youtube although I did a quick comb through what was available [so you don't have to] and couldn't find this particular skit, which I surmise might all be for the better.) Gary Busey's Billy Carter portrayal on an old SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE was also a hoot, with Gilda Radner as Ma Carter's "my little ol' poor wrinkled heart" line still bouncing 'round in my brain lo these many years later.

And with this entry I've done something that I never thought possible...and that is mention Jimmy Carter in two consecutive posts!

Well to put a cap on it all let me just say that the guy eventually found his niche building houses, so more power to 'im, I guess.

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Here's a Christmas card that made its way into the mailbox way too late to print in my last megapost so better late than somethingorother (equal thanks to the ones Fadensonnen and Bill Shute sent as well, along with some neato presents I will be reviewing not only on this post but in the future). Once again the Droogs come through to show their appreciation for one lousy article I did on 'em a good thirtysome years back which really does show true heartfelt thanks, I guess. (If you think I am proud and have accomplished one decent thing in my entire dull life well, you are right!) And hey, if any of you out there in the audience can help the Albins with their request to smuggle Droogs contraband across the border (I sure can't!) how about writing to them at 2216 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Lost Angeles CA 90046 and lending a helping hand to a bunch who never ever did let us down!

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I love going on the UNDERGROUND ARCHIVES "X" page outta Portugal...you never know what kinda interesting rockism artifacts from the era that I most certainly appreciate one will find. Lots of rare pictures to be seen here!  Other'n that I've been amusing myself having a ball with AI, creating interesting art that maybe I should share with you lest the Vice Squad bust down the door of my bedroom. Nothing obscene mind ya, but if your sense of boy/girl relationships is stuck at age 13 well, you'll kinda get an idea of the wonders I've been whipping up as of late! It could all hang in any art gallery and you to'd stop and stare just like I did at that age!

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The following items were all hustled my way (didn't buy a single one given that I only spend my precious dinero on absolutely positively gotta have it items these days) by people with such names as Thierry Muller, the aforementioned P.D. Fadensonnen, Robert Forward, Wade Oberlin and Paul McGarry. Yeah I know they sound like aliases, but if you were one to associate with me in any wayshapeform wouldn't YOU want to use one yourself?

Wally Shoup Trio-BLUE PURGE CD-r burn (originally on Leo Records, England)

I can see why Wade Oberlin gets off sending me dubs of this guy's works given how Shoup's playing echoes the best of alla them sixties/seventies improv types without the sterility of some of the players that have come out since. Who'm I kiddin'---I tend to go for this breed of deep reflection of loft success pass even if at times the players do rate a big "0" as Frank Lowe once said of James Chance. 

Over an hour of the even newer than the old new thing jazz with bassist Reuben Radding and drummer Rob Rees playing around the beat in the best Sunny Murray tradition. Can even discern moments of just back from retirement Ornette during the Blue Note era. Sheesh, with alla these Shoup burns Oberlin has been sending me I gotta wonder if these guys were related!

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The Alan Lechusta/Christopher Adler Duo-PLEISTOCENE CD-r burn (originally on what I would call the artists' own personal label...no actual company is mentioned)

Some smart fanabla reviewed this quite awhile back and an equally smart one sent me a burn of it, so what else did I do but act like an appreciative sorta turdburger and listened to the thing!

So listen I did and well, I'm sure glad that I tuned in because PLEISTOCENE is one of those perfect platters to spin during these winter weekend afternoons where all I have to do is sit and reflect on how other people hadda go and waste my life away. But what a way to spend those hours, listening to Lechusta's melodic soprano saxophone trills (he plays a baritone too) while Adler plays piano almost as good as Cecil Taylor on NEFERTITTI (the album as well as the title cut of the same name). And while Lechusta is of a different breed than Jimmy Lyons he's still on the mark with his depth and passion which he infuses into his instruments. Powerful, connects to the core being of your very existence sounds are to be experienced. I'd mention how someone doing the Sunny Murray free rhythmic duties would have helped immensely but I already mentioned him in the previous review and don't wanna over do it.

At times the piano/horn interplay reminds me of that "Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles" track on CHURCH OF ANTHRAX. You heard it before but hear it again. And if you really do wanna hear it again all you have to do is activate the youtube video below:

 

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Don Letts,  Stratetime Keith, Steel Leg, Jah Wobble-STEEL LEG V THE ELECTRIC DREAD CD-r burn (originally on Virgin Records, England)

Mr. Oberlin promised that this would be the last Jah Wobble-related burn he'll send my way, and given that I never was one who really cozied up to much of what smarter than I'm ever supposed to be underground pundits called "post punk" those words were somewhat of a relief. 

It is whatcha'd expect. Some of that white imitation reggae pops up here too (well, almost white given the presence of Letts). If you liked browsing through those early-eighties Rough Trade catalogues on the search for the latest from England this 12-inch 45 might be way up your well-traveled alley but for me...eh!

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Mi Ami-AFRICAN RHYTHMS CD-r burn (originally on White Denim Records)

Who says noise rock is dead? Not these totally anonymous (to me at least and googlin' didn't help!) kiddos who put this effort out way back 2008 way. A particularly hard effort to describe...in parts it kinda sounds like some early-eighties 12-inch dance mix played at 78 with the rhythms pounding even harder while at others it take on airs of late-sixties Pink Floyd with a heavy organ mood backed by Burundi beats. 

Whatever it may be this is one of those records that reminds me of what the human brain could have conceived of with only the proper bit of cranial abilities mixed with various mental stimulants that can still get you into a heap of trouble.  One of the longer 12-inch 45 rpm's since Cabaret Voltaire's THREE MANTRAS. The kinda music the Soul Train Gang shoulda been dancing to!

Experience it directly below.

 

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King Khan-THE INFINITE ONE/THE NATURE OF THINGS CD-r burn (originally on Ernest Jennings Records, Canada)

Here's a guy whose music went through a whole load of changes I'm sure even Bowie couldn't have kept up with. Unlike Bowie, the sounds weren't a roller coaster twixt maddening heights and abysmal lows, and when I say lows I'm not talking Bowie's 1977 "comeback" album either.

THE INFINITE ONE from 2020 and '23's THE NATURE OF THINGS are a mix of what I would truly call instro avant garde jazz pop if such a thing would have or could have existed way back when music really did have an overpowering feeling over impressionable sub-autistic types like myself. Sorta mid-sixties e-z listening bachelor pad sounds for the Hai Karate set yet with that bared-wire undercurrent of urban funk ('n even neo-reggae Spaghetti Western!) that made black music quite listenable. Or at least listenable before the onslaught of disco tarnished the image of black low-down cool for quite some time.  You can imagine these actually being used in some by-now ancient piece of cinematic excursion, but what you'll be seeing on the screen at the same time just might startle even a seen it all before kinda guy like you.

There does seem to be quite a bit of modern day "revisionism" which is to be expected, but what else would one expect long after the original fire's been extinguished and the mode of the music has been shredded beyond recognition?

Both of these ain't anything I'll be listening to while I'm snuggled up in this world but hey, you might have a hankerin' to give 'em more'n just "adequate" spins.

And yeah, I really admire him for the time he shoved his bared rear end into Lindsay Lohan's face. Hope he forgot to wipe.

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The Incredible String Band-THE 5000 SPIRITS OR THE LAYERS OF THE ONION CD-r burn (originally on Elektra Records)

Shall I listen to this as if I were one of those ultra-eclectic rockscribes you used to see who liked just about everything that was placed in front of their bleeding ears? Some of them critypes were whatcha'd call "admirable" and in fact I even copped a tad of what passes for my writing style from a few of these scribblers. But I'll just play it my own stupid self. 

It's acoustic Anglo/Celtic folky music which would appeal to the more progressive type of sound discerner out there, and yet I find these attempts to bridge a whole slew of musical realms (naturally, none of the realms I actually care for) a whole lot more palatable than some of the British folk retreads of the late-sixties these guys were competing with. Is it due to a budding realization that there is music outside of my usual horse-blindered parameters, or is it because I liked the "metaphysical punk rock" of Mike Heron's SMILING MEN WITH BAD REPUTATIONS?

If you must know well...I find it all OK. Considering I did think these guys (and gal) were nothing but early progressive schmoozers I gotta say that this is a whole lot more digestible than what prog rock eventually turned into. Not my go-to when looking for the kind of music that stimulates my nerve nodes, but if I saw you with a copy I wouldn't kill you.

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Sal Mineo-THE COMPLETE EPIC RECORDINGS CD-r burn (originally on Taragon Records)

No, I am not going to make the obvious jokes that you readers are just champing at the bit for. However, I WILL comment on the music itself and mention how these tracks were pretty hotcha if you're one of those Greg Prevost types who go for Fabian (hey, I like the ol' wopadago the same way I like teasing turdlers who can't fight back). Kinda wish the material that was chosen for him was way more punky --- who knows, he could have been the United States' answer to JP Kalfon! As it is, this is typical fifties pop for the bobbysoxers and zit-encrusted gals who couldn't get a dog to play with 'em unless they tied a pork chop 'round their necks. There are a few good enough tit rubbers that might not pack the same wallop as "Theme from A Summer Place" but eh, it'll do in a pinch.

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Lou Reed-SISTER RAY IN THE SEVENTIES 2-CD-r set 

With a little tweaking (amongst other things) Mineo coulda been another Lou Reed, but at least we had the real Lou to contend with and he did do us some good. SOMEWHERE that is. Anyway, a chap who calls himself Tyler Wilcox (a name that sounds familiar) compiled two disques of Lou doing "Sister Ray" during his earlier solo career and it does make for educational listening. 

Lou's post-Velvet Underground days did swing from pole to pole and you can hear each of 'em on these shiny platters, at times sounding like he's content to churn out the predictable pablum for the goonies while at others giving remarkable remake-remodels that almost sound like another song, like one of the various numbers by various VU acolytes over the history of Velvetdom that took from that master and sashayed in their own direction to remarkable results ("Remake/Remodel" included). You wouldn't've thought that Lou had it in him at the time, but wonders do happen.

Mr. Fadensonnen even copied the liners for me which surely did make for finer'n fine reading. Some interesting insight is presented in these notes which give even an old turdburger like myself info that I never knew 'bout before. One surprising note regards the '73 backing group that none other than Moogy Klingman fronted...the drummer in the 'un was a chap named "Chocolate" which makes me wonder if this is the guy of the name nom de who held down the original drum chair in Hackamore Brick! If so the strange history of under-the-underground rock 'n roll gets even more tangled than I ever would have thought.

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Various Artists-ROCKINITIS --- ELECTRIC BLUES FORM THE ROCK 'N' ROLL ERA VOLUMES ONE & TWO CD-r burn (originally on Stag-O-Lee Records)

Oddly enough I have been getting somewhat interested in rhythm and blues o'er the past few months or so, probably stirred up after reading various Vivien Goldman and Giovanni Dadomo articles from seventies-era issues of SOUNDS. Maybe not as interested in it as I should be, but given how much I love those early garage band ditties that made 1958-59 so exciting I find these efforts not one bit off the mark as far as primitive sounds and execution of said sounds go. Some familiar names, some familiar songs and although you serious aficionados probably heard it all before there's no reason why you can't hear it again.

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The Klitz-ROCKING THE MEMPHIS UNDERGROUND CD-r burn (originally on Spacecase Records)

Actually thought 'bout buying this 'un when it first popped up 2018 way, but didn't because...well...money constraints and all. Well, thanks to Mr. Mueller I finally get to hear these Klitz and these nineteen tracks are everything I woulda expected this all-gal group to have been. Not exactly punk rock as in 1977 spiky hair 'n all, the Klitz sound instead like a group of teenbo gals who coulda put this group together a good five or so years earlier in the decade and they still would have gotten washed away by the tide of lesser talent. Total basement primitiveness from covers of "Cocaine" and "Wild Thing" along with other faves and originals that really do live up to originality. Suburban ranch house yet decadent. Musical instruments bought from the Sears catalog 'cept for little brother's chord organ. It sounds as if it was recorded on an old reel-to-reel in one of the participant's bedrooms during a slumber party. Definite repeat play here.

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The Offhooks-OUTSIDE LOOKING IN CD-r burn (originally on State Records, or is it Get Hip?)

Gotta give major "kudos" to this 90s-vintage Scottish group that not only has the 1965-66 Amerigan local band style down to a tee but recorded it all up so it sounds like the thing's being played out of a transistor radio. Sure beats a lotta the late-eighties "garage band revival" recordings that were so pristine you woulda thought they were produced by Queen Elizabeth. Overall feel is more BACK FROM THE GRAVE than it does PRISTINE PSYCHEDELIC ALTRUSITIC DREAMS RECORDED BY HIPPIES BEING PASSED OFF AS PUNK PROGENETORS. Jim Sohns shoulda sued their singer. Really authentic to the point where ya kinda get the idea that Friday and Gannon are gonna bust the entire bunch any minute now.

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RODION G.A.--BEHIND THE CURTAIN --- THE LOST ALBUM CD (BBE Records, England)

A Romanian electronic music composer? Didn't know they had electronic music in Romania. Didn't know they had electricity in Romania. Didn't know they had MUSIC in Romania but obviously they do and Rodion Ladislau Rosca and his Rodion G.A. is just but one aggregate who dabbles in the medium. Or at least they dabbled because Rodion's been dead three years, but anyway this recording's one that positively will appeal to anyone who grooves to seventies-vintage electronic beat bleat, the kind of music that seemed somewhat adventurous at one time then hackneyed to the core only a few years down the line. 

 It is the kind of electronic sound you used to hear on a whole slew of PBS programs and late-night commercials in the mid-seventies, a rather analog sounding synth music which should appease the purist in neo-pop electronica sounds who hates the digital era with contempt and loathing. At times Rodion G.A. come off somewhat Harmonia-esque krauty while at others this could have been music used to hype the local wrestling match on UHF. 

A nice nostalgic romp for me considering that I did have a tad bit of an "affection" for some of those early Giorgio Moroder rumbles. I eventually grew outta it but listening to this music did remind me of my just-post pubesprout days to the point where all I kept thinking about were bathroom door locks and Vaseline.

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Randy and the Goats-ON THE LAM CD-r burn (originally on Broken Records)

There were way too many obscure bands, and I'm talkin' bands that I and undoubtedly you would want to wrap your ears around, that were up and about during the sainted seventies (give/take a few years) and definitely worthy of listening to. Unfortunately most all of 'em left us without any recorded product, or even surviving sounds for that matter, for anyone to enjoy a good forty/fiftysome years after the big beat sorta sputtered on into areas I wouldn't traverse into no matter what!

I managed to discover and even reviewed a few of 'em over the past couple of decades, but sad to say there are way too many who haven't been uncovered and surely do deserve the notoriety no matter how late in musical "evolution" it may be. And Albany New York's Randy and the Goats are but one of about a bazillion acts that ought to garnish some rah rahs no matter how belated they may be because well, they were a pretty good act and actually released (on their lonesome) a record that will appeal to some of the more rockist readers who tune into this very blog.

Nothing soul-gripping or essential, but I find Randy and crew quite worthy of praise with their Lou Reed/Dylan mishmosh meets early Tom Petty style that has a good enough neo-Stonesy backwoods slide that doesn't irritate yo the way some local bar band of the past most surely would've. For an independent platter outta nowhere this sure sounds rather pro w/o the gloss trickery that practically ruined the idea of "rock music" for me. 

The writing's as energetic as the playing, the Goats roaring on with a spirit and approach that at times reminds me of some forgotten Peter Laughner grouping, or at least that neat band you used to hear down the street that did nothing because all the bars'd book were those horrid cover bands that all the wonks you knew seemed to cum buckets over. Smart set people like us of course wanted something better but that only made us all the more evil in many a person's eyes. And like I said many times, justice (the fact that this music is somewhat remembered while those cover acts are kinda remembered like a loud fart in gym class) just don't cut it...the time for REVENGE is now and if I don't see some bloody "classic rock" scalps soon I'm gonna do more'n just a little screamn'!

A should-have for those of you who, like me, thought that music in general lost a whole load of soul and feel once the early-eighties really began to slip into gear.

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Just yet another reminder that there are plenty of BLACK TO COMM back issues still available and they're going fast. They're going fast to the incinerator if you lunks don't buy some, so if you don't want to be dodging flames in order to snatch up these should be classic this late in the rock fandom game mags send your precious pennies my way (instructions are in the link) and see first hand what all the hubbub is about...that is if there really was any hubbub about these rags goin' on in the first place!