Soundtrack Albums Vol. 1: Punk Soundtracks

The soundtrack album is an interesting art form. It could be a lot of different songs by a lot of different people that were in a movie all on one CD. It could also be a bunch of tunes written by one person/band all for one movie. Sometimes they serve as a really cool compilation of related songs. Sometimes they are very disjointed. Sometimes a soundtrack sounds amazing in the film and then you buy the album and it doesn't really work as a stand alone album (cough Friday Night Lights cough).

However, when it does work it's a beautiful thing. So this is the first part in a short series of articles where I'm going to shine some light on my favorite soundtrack albums. For this first installment I'm going to be highlighting some Punk soundtracks.


Return of the Living Dead (1985)

Return of the Living Dead is not only one of the greatest movies of all time but it also has one of the greatest soundtracks of all time. For those of you who haven't seen the movie (you should be ashamed of yourselves) it's, for lack of a better term, a punk rock zombie movie. By definition it's a zombie movie but it's nothing like Romero's bleak social commentaries. It's a dark comedy within a horror movie with zombies. Sounds awesome, right? Well it is but enough about the movie; it's time to discuss the soundtrack. The album is 35 minutes of punk and death rock. It opens with "Surfin' Dead" by the Cramps, which is exclusive to this album and the main reason I bought it in the first place. Then one after the other you get classics from 45 Grave, T.S.O.L., The Flesh Eaters, The Damned, Rocky Erickson and more. It would be almost unethical of me to end the article about this album without mentioning the last two songs. The song's are both by a band called SSQ and they are the most fantastically 80's-ish songs on the album. They're still dark (they were used in a zombie movie) but they have that stereotypical 80's pop sound underneath the dark tones and lyrics about death. The first song is called "Tonight (We'll Make Love Until We Die)." I believe the title says it all and I don't need to explain to you exactly why this song is so good. The last song, "Trash's Theme" is a synth-y instrumental. It's dark and ominous in parts, it grooves in other parts. I love it.


Repo Man (1984)

Repo Man is the be all and end all of punk rock soundtracks. It also serves as a pretty decent introduction into L.A. Punk, which everyone knows I'm slightly obsessed with. If nothing else, this soundtrack goes down in rock and roll history for "Repo Man," a fantastic and exclusive Iggy Pop song. After Iggy Pop the soundtrack breaks the listener in slowly with something anyone buying this album is probably already familiar with, Black Flag's "TV Party." From there we move onto another veritable hardcore punk classic, "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies, quite possibly one of the greatest and most melodramatic pieces of teen angst ever committed to tape. Then We get "Coup D'Etat" from the Circle Jerks' classic third album, Golden Shower of Hits. From here on is where the album starts to tread unfamiliar territory and gets very interesting because of it. For the remainder of the album we get forgotten gems, obscurities, and just plain weird tunes. One band from either the forgotten gems or obscurity category depending on your own point of view is the Plugz who contribute "Hombre Secreto," "El Clavo Y La Cruz," and "Reel Ten." (editor's note: Anyone who's been keeping up with the L.A. Punk articles should recognize the Plugz as having been mentioned in the Flesh Eater's article.) Two songs from the obscurities category mentioned before are "Pablo Picasso" by Burning Sensations, which is memorable for the spoken lyrics and the reoccurring theme of "Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole," and "Bad Man" by the Juicy Bananas. The Juicy Bananas are interesting in that they weren't a real band. They consisted of Zander Schloss (who joined the Circle Jerks on bass in '84 and went on to play in The Weirdos when they reunited in the 90's) and Sy Richardson who played Lite in the film. Richardson speaks lines his character delivers in the film over the music completely composed and performed by Schloss. (movie dork note: Repo Man's director, Alex Cox, made what we will call his 1980's punk rock trilogy. Repo Man was the first, followed by Sid and Nancy, and then Straight to Hell. Sy Richardson was in all of them. He starred alongside Courtney Love and Joe Strummer in Straight to Hell.) The last song to mention is the Fear classic "Let's Have A War" which I would throw into the forgotten gem category I mentioned. Fear don't get mentioned enough but Lee Ving was one of the great front men of rock and roll in general and this is a sampling of his great shout then sing then shout some more vocal style and the sarcastic lyrics he's known for.

Downtown 81

Ever heard of Jean Paul Basquiat? Well this movie, filmed in 1980, is sort of a scripted day in the life of Basquiat. It was meant to be a portrait of the No Wave/Downtown scene happening at the time (which was mentioned in my article about scene comps and my article about my favorite Soul Jazz Records releases) but was never finished. In 1999 the movie was resurrected but the original audio track was lost so they brought someone else in to dub Basquiat's voice as he had been dead since '88. Thankfully, the soundtrack survived and acts as one of the best documents of a scene that was so crazy and original that it deserves every bit of documentation it gets and more. What makes it so special is that a lot of it was recorded during live performances which makes the recordings exclusive to this album and really gives you a feel for what it was like back in 1980. There is so much music on this disc that I can't go as in depth into everything as I'd like but I'll break it up into groups. No Wave is represented by DNA, James White and the Blacks, and Lydia Lunch (formerly of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks). DNA was recorded in the studio specifically for this album while James Chance and Lydia Lunch were captured live playing No Wave classics "Sax Maniac" and "The Closet," respectively. The Mutant Disco/Ze Records thing is represented by Kid Creole and The Coconuts and Liquid Liquid. The dark, mostly synth heavy new wave stuff is represented by Tuxedo Moon, The Plastics and Suicide, who are represented by their song "Cheree" which is actually a very pretty song and not one of their loud, confrontational songs. The hip hop which permeated the downtown scene is represented by a Melle Mel track and one of the greatest hip hop songs ever recorded, "Beat Bop" by Rammelzee vs. K-Rob. Then there's weird stuff that could have only existed in this time and place. Gray show off their dark soundscapes and percussion with the song "Drum Mode" while The Lounge Lizards bring their atmospheric, experimental jazz to the table. Then there's "15 Minutes" by Chris Stein of Blondie. The song is only 46 seconds long and sounds like a beat someone from Anticon would have produced. Walter Steding and the Dragon People's "New Day" sounds like a mix between Michael Leonhart and the Avramina 7 and a Bollywood musical. Last but certainly not least is a recording by the man himself, Basquiat. It's called "Palabras Con Ritmo" and is a spoken word poem recited over a brilliant rhythm track by Coati Mundi with a beat made by congas and other percussion instruments, harmonica, and noises such as crickets and the sounds of far off groups of people cheering. This soundtrack makes for an incredibly varied listen and acts as a very important document of a scene which came and went and can never be replicated which makes this disc an invaluable addition to anyone's collection.

R.I.P. Mitchell Dubey

Mitch Dubey was killed last night in his own home in New Haven, CT. I've had the pleasure of knowing him for the past couple of years. I always looked forward to going up to Connecticut and seeing him whether it was for a Flaming Tsunamis show, a My Heart To Joy show, a Hostage Calm show, a Swear Jar show, or just to hang out and play Uno Attack or Monopoly Deal at his house. He was a great guy, a great friend, and a great musician.

His band, Swear Jar, released a demo tape in 2009. It was a 5 song cassette but those 5 songs summed up the band and the band members perfectly. The songs could go from soft, to long guitar buildups with feedback and then hit you in the face immediately with guitar work that was fast, heavy, but still extremely fun all at the same time. That's exactly how I knew Mitch. Occasionally he'd be calm and quiet, but most of the time he'd be running on full blast, always happy, always stoked to see you, and always excited just to hang. No matter what, he always had fun and you couldn't help but have fun if you were anywhere near him.


Here is a link to Swear Jar's tumblr. Right at the top is a link to download the demo for free. Download it, listen to it, spread it around. It's too good to be a footnote in the history of a friend who's no longer with us.

I'm gonna miss you Mitch.


There's a P.S. to the Swear Jar story. This demo is going to be released as a 7" EP. The A-side is going to be the full demo, and the B-side is going to be a new Swear Jar tune, one that Mitch had written but was never recorded. There's no date yet for when it will be released, but keep an eye out.

2.13.61

Today is a very special day, Henry Rollins' 50th birthday. The punk legend responsible for some of the greatest punk and hardcore of all time (State of Alert, Black Flag, Rollins Band, and all the talking records) is officially middle aged. So what's Rollins' mid life crisis going to be? I'm sure he'll just travel some more and do some talking gigs like he always does. In fact, he already started. He's scheduled a tour around his birthday this year. He was at Joe's Pub in NYC from the 8th and the 12th, he'll be performing a special one night only show in Washington D.C. tonight and he'll be at Largo in L.A. from the 16th to the 19th. I wasn't able to get tickets to any of them but the D.C. show is being filmed and I'm sure it will be released within the next year on DVD.

I would like to take this space here to wish Rollins a happy 50th birthday. I tried to be down in D.C. tonight but the tickets sold out way too fast. He means a lot to a lot of people and I am definitely one of those people. I grew up on punk rock and the lyrics that he screamed out to me every time I popped in a Black Flag CD are permanently ingrained in my mind. I could identify with a lot of them. I felt as though the song could have been written about me and when you can make that connection to a band at such a young, formative age they become a special part your adolescence.

I also read Get In The Van: On The Road With Black Flag at a young age and to this day it is one of the most inspiring books I've ever read. For those of you who (for some reason) haven't read it yet, it's Rollins' tour journals from his entire stay in the band. I think you'd have a hard time finding a band that worked harder than the Flag especially since they always got so little in return, but they kept working, kept touring and kept playing because it was what they loved doing. When I read it, I felt as though I could accomplish anything; I just needed to want it enough and work at it.

Long story short, Rollins played a part in shaping me into the person I have grown up to be. He didn't know it, but he was there with me for all of my awkward teenage years and for that I can never thank him enough.

Happy 50th Birthday Rollins. I hope you you never stop doing what you're doing.

As a special treat, I'm putting up an interview I did with Rollins around this time last year. We talked about his recent adventures, homosexuality, and lots of other things.

The interview is split up into two 30 minute files and you can download both of them here

New Jersey Noise Radio

I've decided to branch out the blog and use the name for my radio show on WRPR 90.3FM here at Ramapo College. Each show will feature a coherent theme, like each article I post (sometimes they will overlap). So far this semester I've done 2 shows and both are available for download in mp3 format here.

I've added a text box to the side of the website which has the link to download the shows and I will keep it updated with information about each episode.

Thanks for reading and now, thanks for listening. I hope you dig the shows.

Badass Women

As I sit here putting off reading an introduction to the theories of gender scholar Judith Butler I started to think of all my favorite female musicians. While music outside of the realm of pop music still tends to be male dominated I can think of more than a few radical and, for lack of a better term, badass women who have undeniably shaped my musical tastes over the years. So tonight, as I continue to put off reading overly intellectual essays on gender I'm going to take a look at gender from the best perspective I can: The music I love.

There is one woman who always comes to mind first whenever I talk or think about female musicians and that person is Exene Cervenka. Exene, along with John Doe, sang for the first wave L.A. punk band X (one band that has yet to be given the New Jersey Noise treatment, mostly because of the popularity they have achieved over the past 25 years). She had barely any singing experience, if any at all, before joining X. John Doe wanted her to sing in the band because of her beautiful poetry. He felt the words she scribbled into notebooks would make great lyrics instead. She took the job in spite of her lack of conventional talent and became part of one of the most memorable vocal duos in rock music because of it. Exene had no formal music training and didn't know anything about chords and harmonies so she faked it. When a song called for her to sing along with John instead of singing a conventional harmony part she just sang what sounded good to her. What resulted was some of the greatest punk rock ever recorded. The beauty of Exene wasn't just in the vocals though. The real reason she has had such a lasting impression on me is because she wasn't just the singer. Far too often do women fall into the "front woman" role which does not necessarily allow them to exist other than being a pretty face in the front of the band. That wasn't Exene. She was an important part of the band and existed not just as the front woman but as an intellectual being, a poet and an integral force in the sound that X defined during the course of their career together.

Some highlights of Exene Cervenka's career include:

"Your Phone's Off The Hook, But You're Not" from Los Angeles (1980)

"The World's A Mess; It's In My Kiss" from Los Angeles (1980)

"We're Desperate" from Wild Gift (1981)

"I'm Coming Over" from Wild Gift (1981)

"Some Other Time" from Wild Gift (1981)

"Motel Room In My Bed" from Under The Big Black Sun (1982)

"Under The Big Black Sun" from Under The Big Black Sun (1982)

"Breathless" from More Fun In The New World (1983)


Another woman who immediately pops up whenever I consider some sort of list of influential and talented women in music is Poison Ivy Rorschach of The Cramps.
Poison Ivy met Lux Interior (lead singer) in 1972 and they moved to Akron, Ohio together then to New York City in 1975. The band fully formed in 1976 and from then on they changed members every couple of years, but Lux and Poison Ivy were the constants. She was the lead guitar player from the time they formed until they broke up in 2009 after Lux's passing. She was a formidable guitar player and had one hell of a stage presence. She was beautiful and menacing at the same time, luring you in like a venus fly trap and then scaring the shit out of you. The Cramps' musical legacy is iconic to say the least and Poison Ivy played an integral part in shaping that legacy. She shared a passion for strange and obscure music with Lux. They dug for hours through record stores finding amazing and (a lot of the time) demented rock & roll, rockabilly, R&B and novelty records, many of which they ended up recording for their albums. She was just as responsible for making those cover songs their own, so much so that I had no idea they were covers for at least a year into listening to them. She is one of the most criminally underrated guitarists of all time. She never went for virtuosity and casual listeners might not notice how cool the guitar was because people don't usually believe that less actually is more anymore. She didn't need to show off; the music didn't call for it. She created the dark, scary tone that much of the Cramps catalog had and she did it with style.

Here is a list of selections from the Cramps catalog that highlight Poison Ivy's talent:

"Surfin Bird" from Gravest Hits (1979)

"I'm Cramped" from Songs The Lord Taught Us (1980)

"The Crusher" from Psychedelic Jungle (1981)

"Cornfed Dames" from A Date With Elvis (1986)

And check out her vocal work on these two:

"Kizmiaz" from A Date With Elvis (1986)

"Get Off The Road" from A Date With Elvis (1986)



The third name that needs to be mentioned for this list to be considered at all complete is Wanda Jackson, The Queen of Rockabilly. She effortlessly floated back and forth between country and rockabilly and has been recording and performing since the early 1950's but it is her late '50's rockabilly sides that have made her an important part of rock & roll history. Please allow me to take you back to 1950's America for a moment. Women enjoyed a breakthrough in independence in the 1940's when they got jobs in droves due to the country's men being overseas due to World War 2. However, when they came back the women were sent back home and expected to be wives, mothers and homemakers again. The second wave of feminism and the sexual revolution was still a decade away and it was barely even on the country's radar at the time. The ideal home was the Leave It To Beaver home. Then in walks Wanda Jackson to sing some of the hottest and meanest rockabilly to date, as good or better than her male contemporaries who dominated the genre. With songs like "Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad" and "Rock Your Baby" she showed the world that she was an unapologetic, powerful, independent woman who didn't need a man's approval and had no problem making demands.

With the exception of the first song on the list all of my selections of Wanda's best material can be found on Rockin With Wanda (1960), a collection of her late 1950's rockabilly singles:

"Funnel Of Love" from the 45rpm single (1960)

"Rock Your Baby"

"Fujiyama Mama"

"Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad"

"Savin' My Love"

L.A. Punk Vol. 5- The Controllers

The Controllers are yet another first wave L.A. Punk band. So far I have covered The Germs, The Weirdos, The Flesh Eaters and The Dils in my quest to inform you about the early L.A. punk scene. The Controllers, like the four bands already written about, released their first record in 1977 and were in the forefront of the original scene.

According to Johnny Stingray they formed on July 4, 1977. It was a drunken decision made after seeing some fireworks. The original line up which appeared on their first single, released on What Records towards the end of the year, consisted of Johnny Stingray on guitar and vocals, Kid Spike on rhythm guitar and vocals, DOA Dan on bass and backing vocals, and Charlie Trash on drums. At this time, the band was practicing at The Masque, in fact they were, supposedly, the first band to discover the Masque, and according to members of the band, they played the first advertised show at the Masque.

In January of '78 Charlie Trash and DOA Dan left the band, leaving Kid Spike and Johnny Stingray without a rhythm section. They played day 1 the legendary Masque Benefit at the Elks Lodge in MacArthur Park on Feb. 24 1978 with Paul Roessler (of The Screamers, brother of Kira Roessler, bassist for '84 Black Flag) and Bruce Barf (later of Wall of Voodoo), then Johnny Stingray switched to bass and they found "Maddog" Karla Barrett to play drums (Who was mentioned in an earlier article as one of the drummers on The Flesh Eaters' No Questions Asked LP). Maddog was not only a woman, but a black woman, which was an underrepresented demographic in the early L.A. punk scene. But when it came down to it, it didn't matter what she was other than that she was an amazing drummer. This line up recorded another single, this time for Siamese Records sometime in '78, and 3 tracks for Chris D.'s Tooth and Nail comp in '79.

The band broke up in spring of '79 after leaving behind a legacy of just 2 singles and 3 tracks on a comp LP. Though there wasn't much music, it was pretty groundbreaking at the time. The band incorporated a rootsy rock and roll sound into the '77 punk paradigm which would influence many bands at the end of the decade and throughout the 80s. Kid Spike would take that sound with him when he joined the Gears shortly after the Controllers broke up.


Neutron Bomb b/w Killer Queers

The band's first single was released on What Records in 1977 as What 04 (Seeing a pattern? The Germs' first single was What 01, The Dils first single was What 02). These two songs are classic pieces of punk history. "Neutron Bomb", now known as "(The Original) Neutron Bomb" because it came out months before the Weirdos song, is classic bone crunching punk rock. It's dark, it's got a great riff, and the lyrics are bleak at best. The b-side is a silly song about murderous hustlers with a really catchy guitar riff. All in all this single shows the rock and roll influences which would come out in full force in their next two releases but is the most "punk rock" of their original output





Slow Boy + Do the Uganda b/w Suburban Suicide

This single, The Controllers' second, was released on Siamese Records in 1978. It opens up with a straight up punk rock attack. The guitars on "Slow Boy" are almost Black Flag-esque (circa Nervous Breakdown) but faster. It's got that great riff AND it's fast and heavy. The second half of the A side is straight up rock and roll with a punk edge. "Do the Uganda" is very reminiscent of the sound Kid Spike would take with him to The Gears the following year. It's short, fast, and catchy. What more could you ask for? "Suburban Suicide" is almost 4 minutes long and is much slower and has some great bluesy lead guitar. The influence from the Detroit bands they said they loved so much really comes through on this one. (Although they said the MC5 were boring but had a couple of good songs. I can't get behind that at all) I hear a lot of Stooges in this song.




Tooth and Nail

We've already talked about this comp, put out by Chris D.'s Upsetter label in 1979, twice; first when we looked at the Germs' catalog and again when we looked at the Flesh Eater's music. The Controllers offer up three great songs on this comp, "Another Day", Electric Church", and "Jezebel". "Another Day" is a harder, punkier version of the Punk/Rock N Roll hybrid people like Johnny Thunders and Richard Hell were doing in New York. "Electric Church" contains some bluesy riffing, guitar solos, and a catchy chorus. It's their simplest song yet and also one of their best. The last Controllers song found on this album is the often covered "Jezebel", originally recorded by Frankie Laine. They take the swing out of it and hammer out the riff while maintaining the dark, eerie qualities of the original.




The Controllers

This is THE Controllers CD to get (it's also the only one I'm aware of). It compiles both singles and the Tooth and Nail tracks. In addition to those 8 songs you get 2 previously unreleased songs, "Barnacle Bill the Sailor" and "Tail Lights to Texas". I think these songs are from the 1970's but the liner notes don't say anything about them other than that Johnny Stingray found them on old cassette tapes. "Barnacle Bill the Sailor" is a silly, pirate shanty-type song. "Tail Lights to Texas" is a cool honky tonk tinged song with some good guitar work. The last Controllers song on the CD is "White Trash Christ" from a 1996 session during the band's first and only reunion. Also included is one track, "Top Secret" from Johnny Stingray's post Controllers band, Kaos. Kaos formed in 1980 and put out one EP which can be found in its entirety on the What? Stuff compilation. The last 2 songs compiled with this CD are "Your World" and "Hot Stumps" by Skull Control. These tracks were recorded in 1992 and released in 1993 by a band consisting of members of The Controllers and another early Masque-era band, The Skulls. These two songs were apparently Controllers tunes dating as far back as 1977 but were never recorded until the Skull Control sessions.

L.A. Punk Vol. 4- The Dils

I'm back with another addition to my L.A. Punk series. This time the subject of the article is The Dils. They were a hard band to track down concrete facts about. Neither of their CD reissues have any biographical information but here's what I've pieced together. The Dils formed in 1976 and go their start in Los Angeles. They later permanently relocated to San Francisco but their original ties to the L.A. scene make them an important part of the early L.A. scene. The core of the band are Chip and Tony Kinman who play guitar and bass, respectively. The band had a few drummers throughout their existence. The original drummer, Andre Algover (Endre Alqover), played on their first single and possibly their second. Other drummers included Rand Mcnally (co-founder of Dangerhouse Records), Zippy Pinhead, and John Silvers. Their first single was released by Chris Ashford on his What? Records label which had just been put in place to release the first Germs single and their second was released on Dangerhouse Records, both iconic labels associated with the birth of punk in Los Angeles. They were also featured in Cheech and Chong's Up In Smoke in 1978 during the battle of the bands scene beating out many other classic L.A. punk bands for the part in the movie, including the Germs whose "Sex Boy" found on their first single was recorded during the try outs for the movie held at the Whisky a Go Go.

They were an overtly political band which seemed to get them in trouble a lot. They were self proclaimed socialists constantly calling for class wars. They never really seemed at home in the fun loving early L.A. punk scene which I'm sure was one of the factors which led to the move to San Francisco though getting banned from the Whisky may have also contributed. There are a lot of published interviews from the 70's to read if you want to get the Kinman brothers' perspective on punk and the new wave. I always found that they tend to come off as slightly pretentious in interviews. Whatever their politics and opinions may have been, the music speaks for itself.

The band broke up in 1980 but the Kinman brothers never stopped. They started Rank and File soon after the Dils which continued in the rock direction the Dils took on their final release. After Rank and File they regrouped as Cowboy Nation and later Blackbird.

I Hate the Rich b/w You're Not Blank

For those of you keeping track, this was released in 1977 on What Records as What 02. (What 01 was the Germs' first single.) "I Hate the Rich" is a lightning fast guitar onslaught. It also serves as an introduction to the Dils' politics which lean pretty far to the left. "You're Not Blank" is one of my favorite punk songs of all time. The mix, by today's standards, isn't very good but the fact that the guitar is so loud, just as loud if not a little louder than the vocals, adds to the charm.



198 Seconds of the Dils (Class War b/w Mr. Big)

This, their second single, was also released in 1977 but this time on the legendary Dangerhouse label. For their second outing the sound is bigger, the production is better, and the songwriting and playing is a little more rock & roll. "Class War" is up there with the best of the Dangerhouse catalog. The guitar is hard but catchy and the vocals are intense. "Mr. Big" is a great song but not the greatest tune of its time. The vocals are catchy but he lyrics aren't the greatest you'll ever hear (Hey Mr. Big/You look so big to others/Hey Mr. Big/I can see you're nothin); typical socialist punk lyrics.



Made in Canada (Sound of the Rain b/w Red Rockers Rule b/w It's Not Worth It)

Fast forward to 1979. There isn't a hint of punk left in the Dils' sound. They went soft. On this record there are acoustic guitars and vocal harmonies. It's not bad if you're not expecting punk. It holds up with the softer of the power pop stuff coming out around this time. "Red Rockers Rule" rocks the hardest (but it doesn't rock THAT hard...). "It's Not Worth It" is the catchiest of the three and "Sound of the Rain" is the softest. All in all not a bad release but I won't lie and say I wasn't disappointed the first time I heard it.



Class War

This is the first of two CD reissues by Bacchus Archives. There's no reason for there to be two because there's barely 80 minutes spread out between the two but they had to split up three singles worth of material with some live stuff so that fans would have to buy both...Anyway, This release opens with their first single, "I Hate The Rick" and "You're Not Blank" (Don't ask me why they called it Class War if the Dangerhouse single isn't on here...). In addition to those two classic pieces of punk history you get a decent live recording from 1980. Within those ten live songs you get a pretty cool version of "Mr. Big", a slower version of "You're Not Blank", a cover of Buddy Holly's "Modern Don Juan", "Red Rockers Rule", It's Not Worth It" and a few others. I would never have bought this for the live material, it's just not that great. But, the first Dils single IS that great.


Dils Dils Dils

This, number two in Bacchus's series of Dils reissues, covers far more ground than the first. The CD opens with "Blow Up", a demo from 1977 and The Dils first recording. It's a great song. It's got catchy vocals reminiscent of what they would end up doing on the Made In Canada EP but it's punk and the guitar is really crunchy. Next up is the two songs from their second single and all three from their third. Rounding out the CD are 9 songs recorded at 2 different shows in 1978 and 1 song recorded live in 1979. The band was about to go soft and there are definite hints of that on these 1978 recordings but they aren't entirely there yet. The first four live tracks are the best, being the most punk and the best recording quality; it even contains an 8 minute version of the Velvet Underground's "What Goes On".

Top 5 of 2010

As 2010 comes to an end I like to look back on all the CD's that came out throughout the year. This year I fell behind. I really focused on filling in a lot of gaps in my collection that I didn't buy a lot of new albums. The new discs I did buy, though, are incredible.

Here's my Top 5 of 2010:


5. Bigger Thomas- Steal My Sound

Bigger Thomas formed back in 1988 in New Brunswick, NJ. They started as Panic! and then changed their name to Bigger Thomas and in 1989 put out their first album. 21 years later they are still playing and still recording. This, their 5th album, contains some of their best songs yet: "Matinee Idol", "Permanent Error", and "Pure". They are keeping that 1980's sound alive and doing it well. In keeping with that theme they even got John "Teflon" Simms, the artist behind much of the 2 Tone artwork, to design the cover. I've known these guys for about 6 years and I've never been disappointed with a show or an album and they've certainly kept the streak alive with this one.



4. Budos Band- III

Budos Band exploded onto the scene back in 2005 with the release of their debut full length. It is now 5 years later and they have released their 3rd album on Daptone Records. This might be their best one yet (I haven't spent enough time with it yet to say for sure). Budos Band are one of the best instrumental bands out there. The rhythm section never falters and they have the best sounding horn section I've heard in a long time. I bought this album as soon as I saw it and I was blown away. The production is far superior to their first two albums and the grooves are darker and scarier but just as funky.



3. Mondo Drag- New Rituals

I got turned onto this band pretty soon after this album was released and I bought it immediately after hearing it. I hadn't been so excited about a new band in a very long time. This album is a hard one to write about because it doesn't really fit under any umbrella terms other than "modern psychedelia" but that doesn't really tell you anything about what it sounds like. It is as bluesy as it is spacey. The guitar goes from heavy to soft from song to song and the bass player takes a page out of Geezer Butler's book and doubles the guitar melody/riff a lot throughout the album. Start to finish it's an amazing album but it was one specific song that made me buy the CD as soon as I did after my first listen. The song is "Serpent Snake" and it's equal parts early Queens of the Stone Age and Hawkwind.


2. King Hammond- The King and I

I went to England in June/July of '05 and bought tons and tons of records and CD's. It was like a trip to Mecca for me. I was finally able to get the Madness CD Box Set with all of the studio albums, a ton of 2 Tone singles, some Dave Clark 5, etc. One specific CD I found was a comp called Ska Crazy. It's focus is post 2 Tone British ska. This CD is soley responsible for getting me to look at the fact that there was a gap between 2 Tone and the so called "3rd Wave" which has now become something of an obsession of mine. It had songs by Bad Manners, The Loafers, The Hotknives, Maroon Town, Judge Dread, and King Hammond. I always loved the King Hammond song from this comp, "Skaville UK", and I noticed Bad Manners did this song too but I always preferred the King Hammond version. I always tried to find out more about this King Hammond guy but there never seemed to be any information about him on the internet other than a few other compilations he was on. It wasn't until recently that I found out the history of King Hammond thanks to The Duff Guide to Ska breaking the news that King Hammond was putting out a new album. Turns out King Hammond is the alter ego of Nick Welsh (late 80's Bad Manners and Skaville UK). He put out two albums back in the day and returned after many many years to put out The King and I. It's a fantastic album filled with great, danceable skinhead reggae like only King Hammond can do.


1. Danzig- Deth Red Sabaoth

This one should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me or read my Danzig/Misfits/Samhain article from last Halloween. I fuckin love Danzig and this is his best album since Danzig IV. His last album, 2004's Circle of Snakes was decent but not nearly as exciting as this one. For this album, as on Circle of Snakes, Tommy Victor(Lead singer/guitarist for Prong) plays guitar and adds a really interesting new sound to the band. The pinch harmonics mixed with the vintage, 1970's bass amps Danzig decided to record a lot of the guitar tracks through give it a really classic heavy metal sound. This album has Danzig's best songwriting since the early 1990's and the package features lots of busty undead women. Classic Danzig.

My Favorite Christmas Songs

It's Christmas Eve and as I laid in bed this morning watching the Dr. Who marathon I began working on a list of my all time favorite Christmas songs. Here are the 15 songs I came up with:


15. Jona Lewie- Stop the Cavalry (1980)
Jona Lewie was an interesting character. He had a few singles on Stiff Records and this one was his biggest hit.

14. Vandals- Oi to the World (1996)
Who doesn't love this song? The No Doubt cover doesn't even compare to the original.

13. Run DMC- Christmas in Hollis (1987)
I always loved this song. It's a great beat (sampled from Clarence Carter's "Back Door Santa") and some great rhymes.

12. Crucial Youth- X-Mastime for the Skins (1988)
This song, from the Crucial Yule single is a punk rock Christmas classic. These guys had a sense of humor and this song's pretty funny.

11. Fishbone- Slick Nick, You Devil You (1987)
This one's from the It's A Wonderful Life vinyl only EP but you can get all 4 tracks from that on the Fishbone 101 CD. It's a funny song about a drunk, unruly Santa Claus.

10. James White and the Blacks- Christmas with Satan (1984)
10 minutes of James Chance singing a song about hanging out with Satan on Christmas while squeaking his way through holiday classics in between the verses.

9. Kinks- Father Christmas (1977)
This is a Christmas classic. Only the Kinks would write a Christmas song about a bunch of kids beating up a mall Santa. It is more of a criticism of the British economy at the time disguised as a Christmas song.

8. Bad Manners- Christmas Time Again (1989)
This is a re-recorded version of "Skinhead Love Affair" with some lyrics about Christmas.

7. Weezer- Christmas Song (2000)
6. Weezer- Christmas Celebration (2000)
Both of these Weezer songs come from a 2 song promo release simply titled The Christmas E.P. Both songs are great Green Album era tunes.

5. Waitresses- Christmas Wrapping (1981)
This one is from the first Ze Records Christmas album. This has been a Christmas favorite since I was young. The Waitresses were an amazing band and should be known better than just by this and "I Know What Boys Like".

4. Fear- Fuck Christmas (1982)
Do I even have to explain why I love this song?

3. Sonics- Don't Believe in Christmas (1965)
2. Sonics- Santa Clause (1965)
These two are from the Merry Christmas album on Etiquette Records and were added to the CD reissue of Here are the Sonics!!! along with a third Christmas tune that didn't make the list called "The Village Idiot". "Don't Believe In Christmas" was also released as a split single with the Wailers' "Christmas Spirit" on the flip. Both of these songs are classic fuzz rock at its finest.

1. Pogues- Fairytale of New York (1987)
It doesn't get much better than this song. This has been a favorite of mine ever since I first heard the album it comes from, If I Should Fall From Grace With God. It's a beautiful duet between Shane McGowan and Kirsty MacColl (fellow Stiff Records recording artist and daughter of Ewan MacColl who penned "Dirty Old Town" which the Pogues covered on Rum, Sodomy and the Lash).

Long Songs

In revisiting the blog I decided I want to start getting a little more editorial and a little more personal. I love exploring the discographies of bands and labels I find to be criminally underrated but I want to start to branch out. I decided to start by posting some lists. I love making lists of favorites because of the challenge. It's hard to pick favorites but it's also fun and I think you can learn a lot about someone by what they love enough to call their favorite.

I also thought that this would be a good way to get some discussion going (if anyone is actually reading this).

So, for the first list I have compiled a list of my ten favorite long songs. There are two criteria for this list: the song has to be over 15 minutes long and it has to be a studio track. I've always loved long, epic songs. It takes a lot of talent to record a song this long and keep it interesting the whole way through.

The list is laid out like this:

Band- Song Title [Album Title, Year, Length]


10. Kyuss- Odyssey/Conan Troutman/N.O./Whitewater [Welcome to Sky Valley, 1994, 18:19]

9. The Cure- Carnage Visor: The Soundtrack [Faith, 1981, 27:51]

8. Hawkwind- You Shouldn't Do That [In Search of Space, 1971, 15:42]

7. Yes- Ritual (Nous Sommes Du Soleil) [Tales from Topographic Oceans, 1973, 21:34]

6. Pink Floyd- Atom Heart Mother Suite [Atom Heart Mother, 1970, 23:44]

5. Frank Zappa- Big Swifty [Waka/Jawaka, 1972, 17:22]

4. Count Ossie and the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari- Grounation [Grounation, 1973, 29:50]

3. The Velvet Underground- Sister Ray [White Light/White Heat, 1968, 17:31]

2. Rush- 2112 [2112, 1976, 20:33]

1. Monster Magnet- Tab... [25......Tab, 1991, 32:15]

Moon Records Vol. 2

So, It's been almost a year since my last post. I don't know what happened but time really got away from me. I have recently resurrected the blog, though, and have been going through an updating old posts and preparing some new articles for the near future. First up is the next volume of my trek through the Moon Records catalog.


Dieter Osten- East of Eden (Toast 11/ Toast 12)

This is another weird one from the early Moon catalog. This is a full length album released in 1986 by Dieter Runge, the man who brought you the East of Eden 7" single 2 years earlier, both songs from which can be found on this full length LP. There are only two reggae/ska songs on the album, one being "Sea of Happiness" from the single. The rest of the album is just really good rock and roll. Some of it almost borders on having a Mod influence.

Toasters/Beat Brigade split 7" (Toast 13/ Toast 14)

This 7", released in 1987, contains one song each from The Toasters and Beat Brigade. The Toasters song is "Talk Is Cheap" and is the same version of the song found on their album. The real gem is the Beat Brigade song, "Try and Try Again." Last time we heard from Beat Brigade it was "Armageddon Beat" from N.Y. Beat. That song was a catchy, fun calypso number. This time around it's completely different. "Try and Try Again" is a fast and incredibly catchy ska tune. It might be the fastest song they ever wrote and it's definitely my favorite. From that infectious guitar hook, to the horn lines, to the vocal melody that will have you singing the chorus in your head for weeks after hearing it, it's just about the perfect modern ska song.

Legal Gender/ The Scene split 7" (Toast 15/ Toast 16)

This split 7" between two very cool bands also came out in 1987. Legal Gender only released this one song before going through a slight personnel change and becoming the NY Citizens (more on them later). Their contribution to this split, "Overcast," sounds nothing like the fast, fun, danceable ska the Citizens would become known for over the next couple of years. Instead, it is more of a midtempo, dark, moody ska song with a punk chorus reminiscent musically of what The Scene and The Press were doing at the time. The Scene were a NY punk band who alligned themselves with the NYC ska scene. They had their song "Walking" on NY Beat a year earlier. This time they give us an even better song, "Bruise In Me." It has traces of the Oi the Press were doing at the time, while channeling the mod/punk of early Jam (circa In The City/This Is The Modern World). Where "Walking" was fast and fun in the spirit of '77 punk, "Bruise In Me" shows how they'd grown musically in just one year with a slowed down song that showed off much better and more intricate songwriting while maintaining the catchy, sing-a-long feel of "Walking."

Second Step- Do You Know This Man? b/w 2 Men In Suits (Toast 17/ Toast 18)

Another 7" was planned for release in 1987 but it, unfortunately, never saw the light of day. It's a real shame because Second Step were fantastic and apparently unstoppable and unmatched in a live setting from what I've heard from people who were lucky enough to have been there. There are obvious parallels to be made between Second Step and The Selecteras both had charismatic front women with the occasional male vocal. Neither bands had large horn sections either. The Selecter sometimes used Rico Rodriguez and Dick Cuthell on recordings for trombone and trumpet respectively and Second Step had a permanent sax player and, at least for part of their career, a trombone player. All similarities aside, Second Step did their own thing and did it well. They generally went for a slower reggae sound as opposed to the uptempo ska happening all around them though they indulged in the Manhattan funk/rock sound which permeated through the scene in the late 80's with the song "Friction" (See Urban Blight and the Skinnerbox's Tales of the Red). It's really a shame this single never came to be because both songs are amazing. I have an interrupted live version of "Do You Know This Man?" and a demo of "2 Men in Suits." "Do You Know This Man?" is a very fun song with an incredibly catchy horn line. The verses border on early reggae and ska and is the fastest and most upbeat song I've heard by the band while the chorus goes into a darker reggae before the horns come back in and speed it up. "2 Men in Suits" is a slower reggae with a hypnotic sax riff and a very mod/soul chorus. I recently had the opportunity to see Remi (Second Step's lead singer) perform "2 Men in Suits" with the Beat Brigade at B.B. King's. I'm sure it was the closest I'll ever get to seeing Second Step.

*thanks to Marco on the Bass and Dave Barry for hipping me to more Second Step music than just the one track on the New York Beat LP. They were always one of my favorite bands on the comp and finding out there was more and actually being able to hear it was a great surprise.

Learn more about the Moon Records catalog by reading my previous article on the label here.

Moon Records Vol. 1

The Music

Toasters- The Beat b/w Brixton Beat (Toast 1/Toast 2)

This was the single that started it all. It was released in 1983 and technically wasn't even released on Moon Records, the label on the record says Ice Bear Records. This single is incredibly rare, however, the two songs are available on the out of print Thrill Me Up CD Reissue on Moon Ska (which is WAY easier to find). If I had to compare the A-side, "The Beat," to anything I would compare it to The English Beat. The English Beat (or just The Beat in the UK) were a big influence on Bucket and I hear that in this song. It has that great mod guitar and is only barely a ska song (the keyboard and the drummer are the only instruments that maintain a typical ska beat, and the keyboard cuts in and out throughout the song) however, that doesn't make it any less of a ska masterpiece. "Brixton Beat" is the first version of what would eventually turn into the Toasters' classic "East Side Beat" on their debut LP, Skaboom!. It starts out as a slow dirge and then turns into a mid-tempo, dark ska song with very prominent bass. There's also some chilling female vocals harmonizing with Buck at points but mostly singing Ooooooooh's during the verses. The only thing similar to the more well known version found on Skaboom! is that the horn line on that one is played by the guitar once or twice on this original version.

East of Eden- Mystic Mood b/w Sea of Happiness (Toast 3/ Toast 4)

This single was released in 1984 and was the first release with a proper Moon Records imprint. My info on this is a bit hazy, but from what I understand the main musician is Dieter Runge, and he used a revolving cast of characters for this and the full length he put out a few years later. What I know for sure is he is German and was in a punk band called Rotzkotz from 1977-1981 before moving out to New York and recording this. (I've tried to find some Rotzkotz singles on the internet and the few times over the years they've popped up, they go for far too much money for me to afford.) His East of Eden material is very interesting. "Mystic Mood" is a cool mod-rocker. "Sea of Happiness" is a simple yet incredibly catchy ska song. The chorus will have you singing along immediately and you'll have the melody stuck in your head all day.

Toasters- Recriminations (Toast 5/Toast 6)

It's now 1985, and the Toasters are back with a 4-song 12" EP. This is the beginning of my favorite period of the band's music. These 4 songs are where they begin finding that classic late 80's sound they would perfect on the Skaboom LP. The first side is "Recriminations" and "Razor Cut," two of my favorite Toasters tracks. The flip side is "Run Rudy Run" and "Radiation Skank." This record is their most new-wavey, and since the band still hadn't added any horns to the lineup it's heavy on the guitar and keyboards and "Run Rudy Run" features the melodica work of Joe Jackson, of "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" fame. Bucket knew Joe Jackson through working at Forbidden Planet in London. One day after Buck moved to New York City to work in Forbidden Planet's Manhattan location, Joe Jackson walked into the comic shop and the two caught up. The two British expatriats became friends and drinking buddies. Joe Jackson ended up producing this EP under a pseudonym, due to contractual obligations, and would play melodica with them live whenever he was in town. This EP was re-released twice in 1988 with a new cover on Unicorn Records in the UK and also on Moon Records. It was also added to Skaboom! on both CD reisssues (Moon Ska and Megalith).

Kill Me- s/t (Toast 7/ Toast 8)

This is a funk rock LP released in 1985. I haven't heard it yet (but I did just find a copy which should get to me in the mal in a week or two) but apparently the band consisted of a couple members of the Toasters and Bucket's friends from Forbidden Planet, a comic shop he used to work at.

Various- N.Y. Beat: Hit & Run (Toast 9/ Toast 10)

This comp came out in 1986 and is a landmark album in American ska history in that it was the first American ska compilation. It also means a lot to me as an album because this album is what got me into '80s American ska. Unless you really look deeper, not much is said about American ska music from the 1980's. The Toasters, Fishbone and Bim Skala Bim are the only bands that really get any credit. While those bands are/were great, they were not the only ska bands in town. N.Y. Beat opened my eyes to the fact that there was a coherent ska scene in New York City in the mid-eighties. There was more than just The Toasters, and some of the songs on this LP are arguably better than the 2 Toasters tracks. The bands on this comp are: The Toasters, Beat Brigade, The A Kings, Cryin Out Loud, City Beat, The Daybreakers, The Scene, The Press, Urban Blight, Second Step, The Boilers, Too True, and Floor Kiss. Every song is amazing and every band should have gotten the fame they deserved. My personal favorites are "Armageddon Beat" by Beat Brigade, "Escape from Reality" by Urban Blight, "Oppurtunity" by Second Step, "Brighter Days" by the Boilers, and "Why is the Boat so Small?" by Floor Kiss.

For more info on N.Y. Beat, you can check out the Marcoonthebass blog here and join this Facebook Group to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the album and read up on all of the bands that were featured on it.

Also, for those of you who love scene comps as much as I do, there is a NY Beat-esque comp devoted to what was going on in Boston called Mash It Up that you should definitely check out if given the chance. The LP is pretty hard to come by, but like NY Beat it was released on CD by Ska Records under the title Skaville USA Volume 2.



****As will be the case in all of these posts dedicated to the early days of Moon Records, The Duff Guide to Ska and Marco On The Bass provided invaluable information. I couldn't have written it without them, and EVERYONE should read those two blogs!*****

Danzig

It's getting close to Halloween, and with Halloween comes a few traditions. First, I always watch at least the first Halloween movie on Mischief Night, over the past few years it has turned into a full on Halloween marathon consisting of as many movies in the series I can stay awake for. The second is, since college, I've gone to a show every October 31st. Two years ago it was World Inferno's Hallowmas, last year it was The Flaming Tsunamis/The Fad/Hostage Calm/My Heart To Joy/Coldsnap in Connecticut and this year I'm going to Hallowmas again. The third tradition is that I start listening to a lot of Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig. Nobody gets me pumped for Halloween quite like Glenn Danzig. So in the spirit of my favorite holiday this post is all about Danzig.
Glenn Danzig is a personal hero of mine. He's a run of the mill Jersey kid who made it big and all on his own terms. He also kept a variety in his career, never sticking to one sound for too long. His story starts in 1955 in Lodi, New Jersey. He grew up as an outsider, liking "dorky" things like comic books and b-movies. He formed the Misfits in 1977. They went through many lineup changes, had a handful of releases and broke up in 1983. In 1984 he began work on his next project which would be called Samhain. The band released 2 LP's and 1 EP, then around 1987 morphed in the band Danzig. Danzig released its first album in 1988, and the band has continued ever since though Glenn Danzig is the only original member remaining. On top of these three bands, which account for the vast majority of his work, he has also released a solo 7", 1981's "Who Killed Marilyn" b/w "Spook City USA", had the song "You and Me(Less Than Zero)" appear on the Less Than Zero Soundtrack credited to Glenn Danzig & The Power and Fury Orchestra, though it's actually played by the everyone in the original lineup of Danzig except Eerie Von. He has also released two CD's of classical compositions called Black Aria and Black Aria II released in 1992 and 2006, respectively.

The Misfits
The Misfits formed in 1977. I'm not going to go into much of this history, because I'd have to name a ton of people who went in and out of that band over the 6 years they were together. I'm not going to go release by release either, because they put out a fair amount of 7"s that are so incredibly rare I doubt I'll ever own them and some of them are so rare I'll probably never even see one in real life. I'm instead going to talk about what's available on CD and what I know about them off the top of my head. In order to have as complete of a Misfits discography as you can you need 3 things: The Box Set, Static Age, and Walk Among Us.

The Box Set has almost everything in it. It is 4 discs and contains Collection, Collection 2, Evilive, Earth A.D., Legacy of Brutality, Static Age, and a disc of unreleased demos. It's a lot of music. It runs the gamut of the entire Misfits lifespan, from the very first 7" ("Cough Cool" b/w "She" which was never released in their original mixes before) through the 7"s, the Static Age Sessions, and their hardcore period when they released Earth A.D. It does not contain their final LP, Walk Among Us due to licensing issues but it does contain every song on that album found throughout the collections and the disc of unreleased demo sessions. This set was also the first time the Static Age sessions were ever released in their entirety. A lot of it had made its way onto 7"s and compilations like Collection and Legacy of Brutality, but some were still unreleased. It is my favorite Misfits material, however, you really need to get the reissue by itself.

Static Age is my favorite Misfits release. It was recorded during 1978, my personal favorite time period of the band, and contains some of my favorite Misfits songs, including "Bullet," "Angelfuck," "Hybrid Moments," and "Last Caress." The CD reissue is necessary because it was remastered and expanded after its original release with the box set. Not only is the sound remarkably better but they give you 3 songs that were claimed to have been found since the release of the box set. Those songs are "She", "Spinal Remains" and "In The Doorway." The last track is studio outtakes, like an audio blooper reel from the recording sessions.

Last on the list is Walk Among Us, their final LP, released in 1982. One year earlier, the Misfits had dabbled in hardcore with Earth A.D. and it was great. For this album they took that hardcore and mixed it with the classic Misfits sound for the most varied release of their career. It went from classics like "Skulls" and "Night of the Living Dead" to really heavy hardcore with "All Hell Breaks Loose" and the live version of "Mommy, Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight?" All of it is amazing and absolutely necessary for any Misfits fan.

Samhain
Samhain was Danzig's next band. They formed out of the ashes of the Misfits. Originally, the band featured Brian Baker and Lyle Preslar, formerly of Minor Threat. Neither of them remained in the band for very long, although Preslar's guitar can be heard on four tracks on the band's debut album, Initium ("Black Dream" "Macabre" "Horror Biz" and "The Shift). The band was a transitional band for Glenn Danzig. The sound was much darker than the Misfits, but not yet the outright blues/metal sound he would perfect once changing the band's name to Danzig in 1988.

Samhain released Initium in 1984, Unholy Passion in 1985, November Coming Fire in 1986, and Final Descent, a posthumous collection of unreleased material, in 1990. All of this can be found in the Samhain Box Set, along with a live CD featuring 2 shows, one from 1985 and another from 1986. The box set also contains a VHS (it's never been updated from VHS to DVD) of a few live shows which were heavily bootlegged, and a reprint of a Samhain comic book.

Samhain is an interesting period of Glenn Danzig's career. It usually goes overlooked and is his least celebrated work. Don't let that fool you though, the music is great. It's got the horror-themed lyrics you loved in the Misfits but the music is much darker and heavier. They also reworked a few Misfits classics ("Horror Business" "All Hell Breaks Loose" and "Halloween II").

Danzig
In 1988, Glenn Danzig changed Samhain's name to Danzig when they signed on to Rick Rubin's Def American label. The band now featured Glenn Danzig on vocals, Eerie Von on bass, John Christ on guitar, and the legendary Chuck Biscuits on drums. There was also a distinct shift in style. The band now played bluesy riff-based metal. Danzig are still playing together and occasionally release albums, however this original band only lasted through 1994. In that time Danzig released four amazing albums, Danzig in 1988, Danzig II: Lucifuge in 1990, Danzig III: How The Gods Kill in 1992, and Danzig IV in 1994. All four of those albums are great, though the first two are really essential. Those two albums were landmark albums in Glenn Danzig's career and in what was happening in metal at the time. The metal genre mostly consisted of thrash bands at the time, and the stoner metal scene was just beginning, but not many bands were bringing it back to the basics and just focusing on a good, heavy, and bluesy guitar riff.



All of this music is great year-round, but every October when I start getting psyched on Halloween I start listening to copious amounts of Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig.

Early Heavy Metal

I've been a huge Black Sabbath fan since I was an awkward 7th grade boy. I got into Ozzy's solo stuff first because Down To Earth had just come out, which is actually a really good album. Then I got the Ozzman Cometh best of which had two early Sabbath demos of "Black Sabbath" and "War Pigs." When I heard the riff from "Black Sabbath" I fell in love. I knew I needed to immediately go out get all of their albums. Ozzy, Tony, Geezer, and Bill have been a huge part of my life ever since. Every time I'm walking or biking around at night, I listen to Black Sabbath or Masters of Reality. From the 1970 debut all the way to Heaven and Hell with Ronnie James Dio, I've spent more hours than I could possibly ever recount listening to Sabbath. After a while I started to wonder where this music came from, who were the bands that were playing this heavy music who influenced Sabbath, and which other bands from the 70s were playing this heavy music at the same time or slightly after. Sabbath are called the fathers of heavy metal, but it couldn't have come out of nowhere. I was a little surprised when I found out where Sabbath got there sound from (though now that I'm older and wiser it makes perfect sense)...it came from the blues.

Sabbath started out as a blues band who experimented with heavy riffs. From there, I started to discover other heavy bands based in the blues, namely Blue Cheer. Blue Cheer formed in 1966 in San Francisco and were extremely radical in that they combined the blues with hard rock and psychedelia. Some of you might be saying to yourself, it's not that radical, Cream were doing it at the same time...Well, Blue Cheer were doing it much heavier and freakier than Cream. They could go from a straight ahead blues rock tune to the craziest, distorted freakouts being made at that time. Their first two albums, Vincebus and Outside Inside, both released in 1968, are essential listening. No other band at the time or since has done it quite like Blue Cheer, and every band based in blues rock, especially the entire stoner metal scene with bands such as Monster Magnet, Kyuss, Fu Manchu, etc. owe a lot to Blue Cheer for paving the way more than 40 years ago.


Then there was the MC5. Though the MC5 are considered more of a proto-punk band than a proto-metal band like Blue Cheer, they used the blues as a starting point for creating something much heavier which is why I would argue they were both. All you have to do is listen to "Borderline" "I Want You Right Now" and "Come Together" to hear what I'm talking about. Though all three of their albums are great, their 1969 live debut Kick Out The Jams is essential, and fits the proto-metal sound I'm talking about best. (I reviewed this album in my 1969 article).



Now fast forward one year. The '60s are over, having officially died on December 6, 1969 at the Altamont festival organized by the Rolling Stones. With this new decade came heavier music. Black Sabbath released their first two albums in 1970. Two other bands also released their debut albums in 1970, and these albums should have been huge but for some reason just faded into obscurity. The first was Wishbone Ash, a British rock band formed in 1969. Their self titled debut album released in 1970 was grounded in the blues but it had an edge to it that set it apart from the other British blues rock bands of their time, such as Fleetwood Mac and Cream. It was heavier than what was going on in pop music but today it just sounds more like a blues rock album than a hard rock album because of how hard rock and metal have progressed. The band also sported two lead guitarists. Their twin lead format was really incredible and the vocals were very bluesy. Their first album, which sported 6 songs in 42 minutes was their crowning achievement. After this album they moved on to softer territory incorporating folk into their sound, and from then on they were never as heavy again.




The second band, Sir Lord Baltimore, formed in 1968 in Brooklyn. They released two albums, Kingdom Come and Sir Lord Baltimore in 1970 and 1971 respectively. These guys were HEAVY. They, along with Sabbath, were some of the first people to get really heavy and write bone crunching, distorted riffs. They also straddled the line, keeping it really bluesy while also making it distinctly heavy metal, as you can hear on heavy metal blues freakouts "I Got A Woman" and "Hell Hound" off the first album. In addition, they also did straight up heavy metal in songs like "Kingdom Come" from the first album and "Where Are We Goin" and "Woman Tamer" from the second album. These two albums are incredible from start to finish. They were both reissued on one CD, but that reissue is long out of print. If you ever come across a copy, GET IT.






There was another band who embodied the early heavy metal sound perfectly. They were second only to Black Sabbath themselves. The band was called Pentagram. I felt they deserved their own article, so stay tuned for more 70's metal, because if you were at all interested in this article you'll need to hear about Pentagram...