So I just watched recently the new WHO documentary, and I gotta ask why is the 1980s era who so maligned?? I saw the "farewell" tour in 1982 with my sister & loved it, I love the FACE DANCES & IT'S HARD albums (post-Keith Moon). Much better than ENDLESS WIRE( which could have been good if it weren't so overproduced). As far as I can recall you could not turn on rock radio in the early 1980s without eventually hearing ANOTHER TRICKY DAY, yet it appears on NONE of the hits collections, what' up with that? The only representatives of these albums refered to are EMMINENCE FRONT (superior!) and YOU BETTER YOU BET ( great pop tune!), but there was much more happening at this period than those 2 tracks!! Did they just decide that they hated KENNY JONES or what? Maybe because 2 of the most heard tunes from then were ENTWISTLE songs( by the way, the greatest string instrument player in the history of stringed instruments- I'll kick your ass if you disagree, that's my conviction!!) being THE QUIET ONE & YOU, both on par with MY WIFE, BORIS, POSTCARD and a zillion B-sides- all great songs about rapists , bullies & monsters,. Entwistle rocks, goddam it, just LISTEN to that thunderous bass presence!!
I'm in the midst of my semi-annual WHO obsession, this time it's a bit John heavy, sorry! Check out the CD reissue of QUICK ONE, it's got a ton of John tunes as bonuses- king of the freak-beat B-side.
were never one of my favorite local bands, but cannot be denied in the genre we call FREDEROCK or Frederick Rock - from my locale, the one in Maryland, home of FRANCIS SCOTT KEY, birthplace of Hot Young Movie Star Shawn Hatosy (more about him in an upcoming blog) and setting of that Barbara Fritchie poem (There's a BULLWINKLE of that one!) . The Love Gods were formed in the mid 1980s when The LEFT from nearby Hagerstown split-up, their IGGY-esque vocalist hooking up with former SUBTERENEANS Pat Faville & Mike Trail, as well as Hagarstown/Frederick Punk legend "Knuckles" Rempe from local favorites MONSTER ROCK. Trail was fired soon after forming only to be replaced by the "psychedelic" madman Andrew Roff (aka Dr. Serendipity) . It was this line-up that recorded the groups only long-player (and only other actual release following a Bona Fide Records flexi.) from which this track is taken. Never a favorite of mine ( I was a SKEPTICS fan), the group did have some interesting moments, mostly after the departure of FAVILLE & his subsequent replacement by Eric "Little E>" Reichard & future Porter Hall TN. guitarist/vocalist Gary Roadarmel (one of my bestestest friends ever) when they convened to record the ELECTRIC REPTILES cassette EP, which unfortunately seems lost to time, I don't seem to have a copy anymore , nor does Gary, which is too bad, as it contained some amazingly simple dumb-head rock classics penned by Little E (something of a genius of simplistic, non-sense zombie rocker), featuring as it did classics like WEED FIENDS, ELCTRIC REPTILES and the all-time favorite ROOM OF DEAD. The Lovegods eventually morphed into the more resiliant , but rather indistinguishable BEEF PISTOL & continued on until their last show when they were attacked & beaten up by an outdoor Pennsylvania audience, 20 or more years younger than the average band member. Some of the Love-Gods stories are some of the funniest stories in low-level punk glory, someone should write a book. Dig!
In my opinion, the WORST place for music is Australia. There are several exceptional Aussie groups, mind you... but that's why I use the word EXCEPTIONAL. Because aside from a few exceptions ( my opinion, folks) such as THE BIRTHDAY PARTY, DEAD CAN DANCE, EASYBEATS, um, ... that's all I can think of. When I think Aussie, I think brash, throbbing, thudding verses & shout out choruses, ala MIDNIGHT OIL, INXS, HUNTERS AND COLLECTORS, etc. Or smarmy clever crap-o-la ala MEN AT WORK . And what's with this claiming immigrants as natives stuff??? We all know the BEE GEES were actually from Manchester & were down under for all of 5 years before returning to London, as well as AC-DC with their undeniable ties to Scotland.
I just can't get enough of that "dark side" we're supposed to outgrow in our 20s. Case in point: Spooky, sinister creepy evil sounding music. The past week I've been in the midst of a severe BLACK SABBATH jag, for the 50th time or so. That stuff NEVER gets old, and have been listening to more of the later- post SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH stuff, not that crap with that creep DIO, the albums like TECHNICAL ECSTASY & NEVER SAY DIE. Not bad, but decidedly more "mature" (lees scary) than the first 5 LPs (the PERFECT discography- if you do not have them then you need them all- Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Master of Reality, Vol.4 & Bloody Sabbath). On another note, my search for spooky recently led me to that Popeye chicken commercial-singin' DR. JOHN, who's first few albums are FULL of spooky southern Voodoo rhythms & hoodoo lyrical content - absolutely mystical in places. I challenge you to listen to ANGOLA ANTHEM in the dark ( if it helps, put on headphones & hide under the covers). This stuff is LOADED with the sounds & imagery of midnight incantations, chicken blood & old scratch himself, yet tumbles with a deep-fried eroticism, the sound of nocturnal blood orgies in the woods & swamps. The first time I heard the tune here it was a trendy new-wave version by THE FLOWER-POT MEN I borrowed from Burl- fun and zippy, but utterly friendly. Mac's version sounds like a warning, dark & foreboding. On an interesting note, the album it's from GRIS-GRIS was recorded in the night using studio time & space (and musicians!!) from a SONNY & CHER recording session that Mac was a musician on after the hippy-dippy duo had left for the evenings! Makes it even spookier if you ask me. Dig...
