Month: October 2020

abp: zombies

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Here’s the Spotify link to the playlist. You’re welcome to recreate it on any platform you choose. Just press play and read along, acting like the voice in your head is the DJ. The times listed are that of the song playing, not the full episode length. I play this with a 5-second cross-fade enabled. Have fun!

Intro

FMF#TrackArtistAlbumYear
1“Driveway To The Cemetary (Main Title)”Morricone YouthNight Of The Living Dead2016

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 Hello and welcome to abp’s zombie episode! Today we are going to dig up from the dirt and claw our way out of our graves. Today is all about zombies! The Wikipedia definition of a what makes a zombie is a fictional undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. So, walking dead.

01:10 Zombies have become apart of normal culture now, with more and more movies and artistic works putting their own new twist on the old idea of reanimation. These days, you might find zombies spawning in other ways such as carriers, radiation, mental diseases, vectors, pathogens, parasites, scientific accidents, etc.

01:40 Zombies go well with rock and roll. They’ve been written about musically since the 60s and have always had that dark side vibe to them. Really though, they’re just shuffling bags of rotten meat meandering through the night looking for brains. The horror punk genre will be represented well today.

02:10 The Creepshow have cycled through three singers over their years, starting with Jen “Hellcat” Blackwood. Jen contribtued to the band’s debut album and recorded a music video for “Zombies Ate Her Brain”, but would ultimately leave the group after getting pregnant and starting a family. Those pesky kiddos. The group then brought on Sarah “Sin” Blackwood for a few albums before shifting to Kenda Legaspi. Here’s Jen singing that first single.

Set 1: Have We All Turned Into Zombies?

2“Zombies Ate Her Brain”The CreepshowSell Your Soul2006
3“Zombie Nation”The BrainsZombie Nation2010
4”Zombie Nay-shun”Sick VicarsTwo Nintey Nine1984
5“Zombie Girl”The QuintessentialsLegends From The Grave2005
6“Zombies”The LillingtonsThe Too Late Show2006

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 I’d like to think of that one as theme song to today’s themed episode. Well, that’s the song I quoted in the playlist artwork. The Lillingtons ask if we’ve “all turned into zombies” in their 2006 tune “Zombie”. The band has been churning out tight, three chord punk rock since the mid 90s, with lead singer Kody Templeton fueling the fight. Kody also sings and plays for Teenage Bottlerocket; Wyoming’s other punk band. Just kidding, I’m sure there are dozens of them…

00:40 Uttering the words Hawaii and punk will likely spark a conversation about The Quintessentials, Hawaii’s most famous horror punk group. Of course, “most famous” is relative and opinion-based, but you get the point. Led by Les Hernandez, the group churned out five albums since their inception. “Zombie Girl” comes from their 3rd LP, 2005’s Legends From The Grave.

01:10 Riot Squad were a punk band out of Mansfield, UK that formed in the early 80s. After forming, a few of the members started Rot Records to release their music along with other local punk acts. In 1984, they put out the compilation Two Ninety Nine, a collection of UK bands. Sick Vicars landed two songs on the comp and we heard “Zombie Nay-shun” from them.

01:40 The Brains are a Canadian psychobilly band led by Rene De La Muerte Garcia. After 18 years and a solid seven albums leading The Brains, Rene was tapped by scene legend Nekromantix frontman Kim Nekroman to play drums for them. Kim is famous for playing a standup bass shaped like a coffin. We heard “Zombie Nation”, the title track from The Brains’ 2010 LP.

02:10 Coming up next is a zombie jamboree dance fest! Mark Sultan and King Khan put out What’s For Dinner? in 2006 as The King Khan & BBQ Show. The duo channels retro sounds in all walks of their music, be it funk, soul, garage, or punk, and mixes in their own new flavors. With “Zombies”, you get that punk attitude chugging along in a very militant way accompanied by a lamenting for being alone. Here’s “Zombies”.

Intermission

7“Watusi Zombie”Jan DavisWatusi Zombie / Pooky1964

Set 2: Dead Can Dance

8“Zombies”The King Khan & BBQ ShowWhat’s For Dinner?2006
9“Zombie Dance”The CrampsSongs The Lord Taught Us1980
10“Do The Zombie”The EyelinersDo The Zombie1997
11“Zombie Hop”Zombina And The SkeletonesMondo Zombina!2005
12“Zombie Zoo”Tom PettyFull Moon Fever1989

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 Full Moon Fever showcased some of Tom Petty’s influences along with some of his extremely talented friends. Fellow Traveling Wilburys Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, and George Harrison all contributed to this LP, with Jeff producing it. Del Shannon, someone Tom looked up to as a kid and befriended as an adult, contributed the animal noises to the interlude, right after “Runnin’ Down A Dream”; a song that references Del himself.

00:40 Zombina & The Skeletones are a Liverpool band hopelessly devoted to horror punk. Vocalist Zombina also learned the theramin to bring that spooky, UFO sound to their music, too. Paying homage to the Ramones’ 1992 album Mondo Bizarro, the group named one of their EPs Mondo Zombina!. That EP features “Zombie Hop”.

01:10 Timmy V from The Lillingtons was the Eyeliners’ touring drummer for a while, connecting the Wyoming group with the New Mexico sisters. Lisa, Laura, and Gel Baca make up the punk trio. They recorded “Do The Zombie” in 1997 at Poop Alley Studio, the same studio that Beck recorded “Loser” at. Three years later, they would put the song on their Here Comes Trouble album.

01:40 The Cramps, the Godfathers of psychobilly, dropped in with a song the Lord taught them. The Cramps predate the Misfits by only a few months, but both bands put their own spin on spooky songs. The Cramps were more Carl Perkins than Ramones, with the Misfits being the opposite. “Zombie Dance” is a classic and must play for today’s show.

02:10 Misfits fans, rejoice! The time has come for the CEOs of Horror Business to rain blood on our episode. Coming up next is a five song set all from the Misfits, in one way or another. Misfits mastermind Glenn Danzig announced in 2016 he’d be rejoining the group, bringing the main original lineup back together. Right before that, though, Jerry Only and his son had recorded the Friday the 13th EP with drummer Chupacabra featuring the zombie tune “Mad Monster Party”.

Intermission

13“Hollywood Babylon”The Crimson GhostsSome Kinda Hits2005

Set 3: Dawn Of The Danzig

14“Mad Monster Party”MisfitsFriday The 13th2016
15”London Dungeon”The UndeadThe Morgue…The Merrier2016
16”Astro Zombies”King FlamingoCovers, Baby!, Vol. 12018
17”Braineaters”The UnbornThe Last Man On Earth2020
18“Night Of The Living Dead”88 Fingers LouieHopelessly Devoted To You1996

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15  Zombies speak in groans, and half of the Misfits’ catalog is whoas, ohs, and oohs. 88 Fingers Louie, named after a Dick Tracy character, covered the Misfits’ zombie classic “Night Of The Living Dead” for the 1996 Hopeless Records compilation Hopeless Devoted To You; a take on Grease.

00:40  The Unborn ate brains in Italian with a cover of ‘Braineaters”. The closing track from Misfits’ Walk Among Us was sang by the entire band to give the effect of a mob of zombies chasing their dinner, lunch, breakfast and brunch. The Unborn rewrote the verses with completely different lyrics, instead singing about eating heads and the lack of options in the city as a zombie leaving you to just eat brains. The song comes from their 2020 EP The Last Man On Earth.

01:10 King Flamingo earned my respect solely due to the punny genre they classify themselves as; Goo-Wop. Goo-Wop Records put out King Flamingo’s Covers Baby, Vol. 1 back in 2018 and also most of the group’s other efforts. The lo-fi garage act took a new approach to the often covered “Astro Zombies”.

01:40 Glenn Danzig wrote “London Dungeon” with Misfits’ then-guitarist Bobby Steele while the two were in a London jail cell after a battle with some local skinheads. When the Misfits returned to the US from that 1979 European tour, Bobby quit and went on to form The Undead the following year. The Undead would then go on to cover the song on their 2016 LP The Morgue…The Merrier.

02:10 Moving from the “Night of the Living Dead” now, to a set of living dead songs. The Plasmatics were a metal punk band led by the notoriously wild Wendy O. Williams. Wendy was a porn star-turned-rock star famous for her onstage antics, including chainsaws, toplessness, and other extremities. Her voice, was not that of singing birds, either. She’s almost like the opposite sex version of G.G. Allin, if such a person could exist. I stress almost. Here’s Wendy and the group doing “Living Dead” from Beyond The Valley of 1984.

Intermission

19”Zombie (Bolero)”Xavier Cugat & His OrchestraCugi’s Cocktails1963

Set 4: Blight Of The Living Dead

20”Living Dead”The PlasmaticsBeyond The Valley Of 19841981
21”Living Dead”UK SubsEndangered Species1982
22”Talk About The Living Dead”The SpookshowPsychosexual Chapter 22006
23”Living Dead”Strange HandsDead Frozen Deer2010
24”The Living Dead”Jim Burgett With Don Ralke And His OrchestraLet’s Investigate / The Living Dead1961

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 Jim Burgett was a little-known rockabilly singer out of Ceres, California who was active in the late 50s Lake Tahoe scene. Jim stuck with it for a while but his songs would never gain the national notoriety. He recorded his most well-known hit, “The Living Dead” in 1961 and would lay down a few more tracks throughout the 60s before calling it quits.

00:40 Strange Hands hail from Bordeaux, France and classify themselves as Hippie Punk. The band put out the Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things EP, which was put out on cassette by Burger Records. “Living Dead” comes from their 2010 EP Dead Frozen Deer.

01:10 The Spookshow are a Swedish horror punk group right in the vein of The Creepshow or The Horrorpops. The makeup of a horror punk group does offer a stereotypical cliche; pinup girl-esque singer, stand-up bass (sometimes shaped like a coffin), and sideburns. Lots of sideburns. The formula works, though. As many of these bands have proven. The Spookshow played “Talk About The Living Dead”, led by Laura Weed.

01:40 UK Subs became the first Western band to play Poland in 1982 after martial law had been imposed. They were touring for their recently released album Endangered Species and after the addition of Steve Roberts on drums and Alvin Gibbs on bass had taken the punk band in a more metal direction. “Living Dead” fit in nicely behind the Plasmatics.

02:10 The Horrorpops were one of the original purveyors of that special horror punk formula. That stand-up coffin bass? Signature bass of Kim Nekroman, lead singer and founder of Nekromantix; one of the first psychobilly bands. Kim is married to Patricia Day, singer of the Horrorpops, and helped launch her career after the two met in the mid 90s. Here’s Patricia singing “Walk Like A Zombie” from their sophomore LP Bring It On!.

Intermission

25”Zombie Compromise”Shadowy Men On A Shadow PlanetWow Hiss Flutter ’861986

Set 5: Dead Man Walking

26“Walk Like A Zombie”The HorrorpopsBring It On!2005
27“Zombie Walk”The CynicsSpinning Wheel Motel2011
28“I Walked With A Zombie”Roky Erickson And The Aliens Roky Erickson And The Aliens1980
29“Walking Dead”The ViciousAlienated2006
30“Walking Dead”Barb Wire DollsSlit2012

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 Barb Wire Dolls are a Greek punk band that made their name in front of the legendary Lemmy Kilmister at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go. After seeing them play, Lemmy signed them to his Warner Bros. backed subsidiary label Motorhead Music. Their sophomore album, Slit, was produced by Steve Albini and the intensity of its sound proves so. I played “Walking Dead” from that LP.

00:40 The Vicious were a Swedish garage punk band in the late 2000s that put out one EP and one album before splitting up and forming a different group. 3/4 of The Vicious went on to form Masshysteri, a similar band but with lyrics in Swedish. The Vicious’ lone EP had a song on it titled “Masshysteri”, the Swedish word for mass hysteria. “Walking Dead” came from their 2008 LP Alienated.

01:10 Speaking of aliens…Roky Erickson formed the Aliens (as blieb alien) after doing a stint at the Rusk State Hospital in Rusk, Texas. He was transferred there from the Austin State Hospital where he was being held due to his conviction of the possession of a single joint. Facing ten years, he plead insanity and was henceforth given a bunch of electroconvulsive therapy and Thorazine treatments. “I Walked With A Zombie” comes from the first two overlapping LPs recorded with the Aliens in 1980/1981.

01:40 The Cynics were formed in the early 1980s at the direction of Gregg Kostelich. Gregg would form Get Hip Records to put out the band’s material and also sign other garage rock artists that continue to carry the lo-fi fuzz torch. Get Hip has put out albums by Thee Headcoatees, The Black Hollies, The Fleshtones, The Gories, and more. From their final LP, Spinning Wheel Motel, the band contributed “Zombie Walk”.

02:10 On Tom Petty’s Full Moon Fever album, he name drops Del Shannon’s “Runaway” during “Runnin’ Down A Dream”. For Screeching Weasel’s 1988 sophomore LP, the Chicago band threw down a cover of “Runaway”, albeit only thirty-some seconds long. What more do you need? Coming up, from 1988’s Boogadaboogadaboogada, this is “Zombie”.

Intermission

31”Zombie Catchers”The EyeberriesThe Eyeberries2017

Set 6: Infidel Mars

32”Zombie”Screeching WeaselBoogadaboogadaboogada1988
33“Del Mar Zombies”The FrightsFur Sure2013
34”Zombie Features”Fake TidesFake Tides2010
35”Rockin’ Zombie”The CrewnecksRockin’ Zombie / When I First Fall In Love1959
36”Infidel Zombie’”The DickiesDawn Of The Dickies1979

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 The Crewnecks were a group of college kids that played the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania area for a four years before splitting up. They recorded only a few singles, including “Rockin’ Zombie”, which was covered by garage rock band Messer Chups. The group would split in 1961, though, due to military commitments.

00:40 The Dickies released their sophomore LP Dawn Of The Dickies just six months after George Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead hit theaters in the US in 1979. In a clear homage to George’s film, the album cover shows the band being attacked by blue painted zombies with the lettering accompanied by blood spatter. “Infidel Zombie” tells the story of a girl on a murderous mission.

01:10 Let’s think about what makes a zombie a zombie. Undead? Check. Eating brains? Check. Shuffling along looking for their next victim? Check. These are some common zombie features. Fake Tides exemplify the sounds of their habitat perfectly. They hail from SoCal; San Diego, California. Imperial Beach exactly. That surf/punk/garage sound wafts through the air waves of herb smoke and vape emissions. Fake Tides did “Zombie Features” from their self-titled debut.

01:40 Just a few blocks away, perhaps, resides another SoCal San Diego group; The Frights. The group enlisted FIDLAR frontman Zac Carper to produce their third album Hypochondriac. For their followup, though, they enlisted bass player Richard Dotson to produce in a cabin in Idyllwild, California. From their 2nd EP, Fur Sure, that was “Del Mar Zombies”.

02:10 Alright deadites, that’s the end of it. Grab your chainsaws, your shotguns, your machetes, your flamethrowers, and any other zombie deterring weapons you have just lying around. Its time to liquify the dead! I hope you enjoyed the show and stay safe out there!

02:15 (music plays and fades out)

Outro

37”Citadel Zombies”The DamnedStrawberries1982

Check out my List for all of the releases featured!

Malachi Krunch / Sold On Murder – Split

abp.nick5 Comments

Completely random find. As I was parsing through the various Commodores and Jim Reeves albums at the local antique mall, suddenly this black and white, somewhat DIY-press-looking thing popped out at me. It was literally between a Poco record and a Christmas compilation. What the hell?

So, of course I start looking it over, trying to find some information on it. It’s a split album, one side per band. Malachi Krunch and Sold On Murder. The Malachi Krunch side has some text that implies their EP is titled American Realities along with a picture of two people in hats, glasses, handkerchief masks and holding guns. Its kind of intimidating.

Flipping it over shows the artwork for Sold On Murder’s side. A longhorn skull with a bunch of symbols behind it and what appears to be an interpolated gas mask is staring back at me. Alright, it’s time to hear what this stuff is like.

Side one; Malachi Krunch.

It’s fast. Its loud. Its hardcore. Yep, that’s kinda what I was expecting here. This isn’t music for a Sunday morning brunch. This is Saturday night, punch a cop, piss in a gutter, debauchery straight outta Connecticut.

Now for what I’ve been able to find. Malachi Krunch was the first band of New Haven, Connecticut punk Jim Martin. Jim would go on to front the band Broken, and later Chem-Trails. As I page through the insert a bit and read some of the lyrics, its clear to me that this band’s message is right up my alley. Cutouts of “STOP THE WAR ON THE POOR” and “Resist Amerikkan Genocide AND Drug War” are plastered betwixt lyric sheets. Yes! Song topics range from Puerto Rican revolt due to lack of representation, resistance, homelessness, pollution, and and ode to Dan Quayle’s wife Marilyn.

Jim’s still fronting hardcore crust acts today and leads the group Chem-Trails. Here he is performing with them in 2018.

Further digging yielded this basement performance recording of Malachi Krunch and Seizure in 1989. That’s Jim there with the long hair and sideburns, a completely different image from his more well-known shaved head aesthetic. His look matched the picture of him in the insert. I wonder if the pic was taken at this show?

Now for side two. Sold On Murder is muuuuch more difficult to find information about. I found this interview with Kris Keyes, a frontman for the band Dive Bomber in Los Angeles. He talks about how he first started painting himself in the music world while working with a band called Sold On Murder in New Haven, Connecticut. This checks out, too, because in the liner notes it thanks Kris Keyes for help on “Open Mind/Mind Decay” and “An Insanity Plea”.

According to a comment on this news story about a murder victim in New Haven in 2008, one of the members of Sold On Murder was, in fact…murdered. John Evers Robinson played bass and sang vocals for Sold On Murder, but was killed before the album was released. This was confirmed after I started looking through the inserts that came with the record.

One side of the lyric sheet is a memorial to John that also includes some pictures of Dan Quayle and his contradiction quotes. The lyrics are wild, in the sense that topics range from eating the world, drinking blood, sex, anti-capitalism, mental illness, and police brutality. Rad.

The music itself is hardcore. Fast, uptempo, brutal vocals, messy guitars, blazing solos. Its peak late 80s hardcore, like Bad Brains mixed with Living Colour (both of which are mentioned in the “thank yous”. This was absolutely worth the buy and a very fun trip into history. Its a real shame that John was murdered, the message behind his art is poignant 30 some years later. I’ll leave you with his quote from the insert.

Thanks for reading!

abp: johnny

abp.nick1 Comment

Here’s the Spotify link to the playlist. You’re welcome to recreate it on any platform you choose. Just press play and read along, acting like the voice in your head is the DJ. The times listed are that of the song playing, not the full episode length. I play this with a 5-second cross-fade enabled. Have fun!

Intro

FMF#TitleArtistAlbumYear
1“Johnny One Note”Ted Heath And His MusicBig Band Percussion1961

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 Hello and welcome to abp’s Johnny episode!  Today we are going to dive into the phenomenon that surrounds an ideal of a man named “Johnny”. Now, I bet you could name at least a handful of songs that mention Johnny. I bet you could also name a bunch of songs sang by a Johnny (Rotten, Cash, Nash, Karate). Johnny is forever and Johnny is never.

00:40 Johnny seems to be the go-to character for rock songs.  It seems like everyone and their mother Mary has written about a Johnny, or vicariously lived through Johnny in the music.  John has been in the top 20 most popular baby names of the U.S. since the census began.  It was the most popular name for males until 1924 but still remains in the top 20 to this day. Other forms of John include Jon, Jonathan, Jack or Jackie.  We’re gonna stick to just Johnny today.

01:10 A bit later in the episode, we’ll be treated to a meta Johnny couple of sets. NOFX’s “Jaw, Knee, Music” quotes lyrics from a grip of punk songs about our titular subject matter. I’m gonna play at least 10 of those references. More might be scattered throughout the show.

01:40 Kicking off today’s episode is the song that started it all. Well, it wasn’t the first “Johnny” song by any means, but this song started the mythos of Johnny in rock and roll music. Not only did Chuck Berry launch an entire new genre with his new rhythm and blues sound, “rock and roll”, but he also started the legend of Johnny. And for those of you (like myself) who weren’t around when this song hit the airwaves, maybe this channels something in you to time travel…

02:10 Berry propped up Johnny as a rock star. A guitar god from the backwoods of Louisiana. That may sound a bit autobiographical for Chuck and that’s because it partially was. Chuck took parts from Bob Wills’ “Ida May” and gave it a new sound to create his first single “Maybellene”. For “Johnny” he lifted the guitar intro from Louis Jordan’s “Ain’t That Just Like A Woman“. Alright fellas, well “here’s a blues riff in B, watch me for the changes and..try to keep up.” Here is “Johnny B. Goode”.

Set 1: Jonathan, Be Well

2“Johnny B. Goode”Chuck BerryJohnny B. Goode / Around & Around1957
3“Bye Bye Johnny”The Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones EP1964
4“Look Out Johnny”ProtexStrange Obsessions2010
5“Johnny Better Get”Zero BoysHistory Of…1984
6“Johnny”Ty SegallLemons2009

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 Whew!  That was garage rock lo-fi staple, Ty Segall.  Ty is by far one of the most productive musicians in garage rock.  After releasing his debut album in 2008, Ty put out over fifteen albums with various bands in the span of a decade.  He released three albums in 2012 alone.  This dude doesn’t stop! From early on in his career, that was “Johnny” from Lemons.   

00:40 Before Ty, we were treated with some Zero Boys. The Indiana punks put out one EP, Living In The 80s, and one LP, Vicious Circle before splitting up in 1983. They recorded songs for a second album but split before finishing it. One of those recordings was “Johnny Better Get”, and was included on the compilation album that featured those lost songs; History Of…

01:10 With our first taste of Northern Ireland punk rock today, that was Protex. The Clash are allegedly the origination of punk rock in Belfast. They were scheduled to play there in 1977 but the show was cancelled by the insurance company supporting the band. They were scared. The band still made a profound impact and launched a scene that would generate bands like Stiff Little Fingers, Rudi, Protex, and many more. Protex even took their band name from a Clash song; “Protex Blue”. They played “Look Out Johnny” after the Stones.

01:40 Chuck Berry actually wrote five songs in total about his famed Johnny. After the success of “Johnny B. Goode”, Chuck would go on to write “Johnny B. Blues”, “Go Go Go”, “Lady B. Goode”, and “Bye Bye Johnny”; the latter of which was covered by The Rolling Stones. The Stones released their eponymous debut EP in January of 1964. “Bye Bye Johnny” was the lead track on the album, leaving the absolute possibility that this track was the first Stones song some people heard.  

02:10 Chuck once said he hopes Bob Dylan lives ’til 100 and that he (Chuck) lives forever. The two formed a bond later in life that lasted until Chuck’s death in 2017. Chuck didn’t live forever, but his music will and he can keep us forever young. Some say Dylan helped create rap music with this next song. I’m not so sure about that, but he sure does quite the poetry slam. Here’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” from Bobby D.

Intermission

7“Johnny Fool”Frankie & The Pool BoysFrankie & The Pool Boys2008

Set 2: Ride, Johnny, Ride

8“Subterranean Homesick Blues”Bob DylanBringing It All Back Home1965
9“Johnny Was A Good Boy”Mystery TrendJohnny Was A Good Boy / A House On The Hill1967
10“Bullet”The MisfitsBullet1978
11“No Colt, No Johnny”Death LensDeathFrights2014
12“Jaw Knee Music”NOFXRock Against Bush Vol. 12004

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 Fat Mike is such a punny guy. “Jaw Knee Music” caps off the set but will remain in our hearts and minds for the next half hour or so. When Mike started punkvoter.com to oust Bush Jr. from the White House in 2004, he was forced to forgo some of those punk rock hassles of selling out and mainstream media coverage. He appeared on Dennis Miller, the band played on Conan O’Brien, and they would register voters at Warped Tour. Too bad it was all for not. During that time, Fat Wreck Chords put out the Rock Against Bush compilations, which would feature unreleased cuts from some pretty big names; including an exclusive from Green Day. NOFX contributed “Jaw Knee Music” to the first comp, a song comprised of punk rock references all in the name of Johnny.

00:40 Like NOFX, Death Lens started out in Los Angeles. Also like NOFX, they’ve released a few split albums with some other stellar bands. Their first split with The Frights was titled DeathFrights and came out in 2014. It featured two originals from each band, one cover of the other band’s tune, and one collaboration song. The original version of “No Colt, No Johnny” is on this EP.

01:10 “Ride, Johnny, Ride!” The Misfits’ debut single Cough/Cool may have been recorded without a guitar, but possessed all of the demonic attitude for a Misfits record. The single, released by Glenn Danzig’s Blank Records, would stand out only to get Mercury Records to donate 30 hours of studio time to the band in exchange for the rights to Blank Records trademark. The Misfits used that to record 13 songs, none of which anyone wanted to release. So in true punk DIY fashion, they released it themselves EP by EP, starting with their 2nd EP Bullet.

01:40 On Dylan’s shotgun blast song, “Like A Rolling Stone”, he croons “You say you never compromise/with the mystery tramp/but now you realize”. The Mystery Trend misheard that lyric, although Mystery Trend is a great band name. They couldn’t get their career to take off along with all of the other San Francisco Sound psychedelic acts of that era, perhaps due to band member cycling or to the lack of promotion from Verve Records. They did release one single in 1967, though, “Johnny Was A Good Boy”.

02:10 Starting into our Jaw Knee Music sets now, here’s So-Cal band D.I. The lyrics to this song also start off “Jaw Knee Music” and feature our beloved Johnny having a problem and being out of control. Quite the change from that Southern backwoods Louisiana boy who could play a guitar like ringing a bell. Here’s “Johnny’s Got A Problem”.

Intermission

13“Stay Away From My Johnny (Instrumental)”Freda Gray & The RocketeersStay Away From My Johnny1966

Set 3: Jaw, Knee, Rum, Own

14“Johnny’s Got A Problem”D.I.Horse Bites Dog Cries1985
15“Johnny Hit And Run Paulene”XLos Angeles1980
16“Johnny, Are You Queer?”Josie CottonConvertible Music1982
17“Johnny Twobags”The VandalsLive Fast Diarrhea1995
18“Johnny’s Gonna Die”The ReplacementsSorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash1981

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 Wrapping up the first Jaw Knee Music set of the day, that was The Replacements’ “Johnny’s Gonna Die” from their 1981 debut LP Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash.  Fat Mike quoted the song verbatim with the line “Johnny always needs more than he takes/Forgets a couple chords/Forgets a couple breaks”.  The track would turn out to be the slowest and longest on an 18 track-36 minute ear blast of an album.  

00:40 The Vandals took issue with what they saw as hypocrisy when someone who had it pretty good decided to sing the blues. The blues are for when you don’t have it pretty good, right? “Johnny Twobags” is the story of a guy who thinks he has it rough, but when put into perspective, he’s just having a bad day. From the 1995 punsationally-named LP Live Fast Diarrhea, that was “Johnny Twobags”.

01:10 In verse three of “Jaw Knee”, Mike asks “Johnny, is he queer?”.  In the late 70’s, Josie Cotton moved to Los Angeles from Texas and found herself in the blooming punk scene.  After hooking up with Larson and Bobby Paine, Josie was offered the track and included it on her 1982 album Convertible Music.  She would also appear in Valley Girl, but after a second musical effort in 1984 would she would ultimately fade out of the scene.

01:40 X stopped by with “Johnny Hit And Run Paulene” from their debut album Los Angeles. Although they fit in perfectly well with their drugged-out scene cohorts, X’s angle was purposefully void. No band name (X), no bass player (John Doe). X crossed rhythm & blues guitar styles with punk rock fervor, resulting in a kind of 50s greaser meets 80s speed freak vibe.

02:10 Fat Mike also sang the line “Johnny says he’s bound by only six strings to this world”; a direct lyric lift from the Bouncing Souls song “The Ballad Of Johnny X”.  Originally recorded for the Punk Sucks compilation, the track would be re-recorded for their sophomore album Maniacal Laughter later that year and both tracks feature the actual Johnny X on them. Johnny X is Mike Cavallaro, a comic book writer and artist that went to the same high school as the Souls. Once again, Johnny is someone’s alter ego. Here’s “The Ballad of Johnny X”.

Intermission

19“Johnny October”The ChallengersGo Sidewalk Surfing!1964

Set 4: Here’s Johnny!

20“The Ballad Of Johnny X”Bouncing SoulsJohnny X1995
21“Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts”Less Than JakeLosing Streak1996
22“The Ballad Of Jimmy & Johnny”RancidLet’s Go1994
23“Degenerated”Reagan YouthYouth Anthems For The New Order1984
24“Johnny Was”Stiff Little FingersInflammable Material1979

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 Stiff Little Fingers’ version of “Johnny Was” doubles the track time of the original. The original cut, done by Bob Marley on Rastaman Vibration, was credited to his wife Rita upon release. Bob was in contractual standoffs with Cayman music and rather than battle them in court, he gave all credits to his friends and family with hopes to provide for them using future earnings from the music. Mike sings “Johnny was a good man” in reference to this song.

00:40 According to Reagan Youth, if you rang a bell, Johnny would start to drool. Also, Johnny “wastes his days eating ‘ludes”, was “a teenage vegetable”, and was “a mindless brainwashed pig”. All of those descriptors are from Reagan Youth’s “Degenerated”, fully repurposed by NOFX for the theme. Remember when this song was covered in that Airheads movie?

01:10 Fat Mike soap-boxed fellow Bay Area punkers Rancid by placing some of their Johnny lyrics in his composition. Rancid released Let’s Go in 1994 and rode the mid-90s punk/alternative wave until going full reggae-rock band by 1998. Let’s Go introduced us to Lars Frederiksen, their 2nd guitarist, and also included the song “The Ballad Of Jimmy And Johnny”. The band would return to their punk roots on their 2000 self titled release.

01:40 Towards the end of “Jaw Knee Music”, Fat Mike can be heard singing “Johnny questions sellout bands”. Before Rancid, Less Than Jake played us “Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts” from their 1996 album Losing Streak. LTJ was one of the more underground ska bands that emerged in that late 90s weird ska punk phase, leaving the fame to the Bosstones or Reel Big Fish.

02:10 Alright, well that’s done. That was fun! Coming up next is a continuation of what Johnny was. According to The Adicts, “Johnny Was A Soldier”. Furthermore, Johnny was an amputee; possibly an angry amputee? Is this what Fat Mike is referencing? The Adicts are droogs incarnate, the gang members from Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange. From their sophomore album, Sound Of Music, here’s “Johnny Was A Soldier”.

Intermission

25“Johnny Guitar”La Playa SextetJohnny Guitar1954

Set 5: Thee Johnnies

26“Johnny Was A Soldier”The AdictsSound Of Music1982
27“I Love Johnny Bravo”The DiaboliksThree Fur Burgers…And A Hot Chilli Dog To Go!2000
28“Johnny And I”Thee AttacksStrikes Back2016
29“Johnny Come Lately”The WogglesRagged But Right2003
30“Johnny 99”The Loved OnesDistractions2009

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 Bruce Springsteen wrote “Johnny 99” during his recording sessions for Nebraska after reading Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States.  The entire album is bleak and quiet, with topics limited to murder, despair, and longing; its amazing.  Philadelphia, PA punk band The Loved Ones covered Bruce’s “Johnny 99” on their Distractions EP and brought the song into a whole new light.

00:40 The Woggles are led by the Professor Mighty Manfred Jones. He hosts a radio show on Little Steven’s Underground Garage chock full of music that would fit in perfectly well with abp’s episodes. Little Steven signed The Woggles to his Wicked Cool record label right after the release of their 2003 LP Ragged But Right. From that LP, that was “Johnny Come Lately”.

01:10 The Attacks are a Danish garage rock revival band that broke up a year before releasing their reunion LP Strikes Back. Then they broke up again. That album included a cool cover of a techno song from another Danish group Superheroes that originally appeared on their label’s 15 year anniversary compilation Saluting The Crunchy Frog in 2009. That was “Johnny And I”.

01:40 The Diaboliks were a little-known garage rock band from the 90’s. Featuring a mostly female lineup, the band would put out a mixtape of an LP as a debut, a few EPs, and one full-length LP in 2000.  Lineup changes and band tension led them to split after the release of their full-length Three Fur Burgers…And A Hot Chilli Dog To Go!;  where we lifted “I Love Johnny Bravo” from.

02:10 Dead Moon was comprised of Portland legends Fred and Toody Cole along with Andrew Loomis. Fred engineered most of the band’s recordings using the mono lathe that the Kingsmen, another Portland group, used for “Louie Louie”. Dead Moon carried the torch for garage rock revival in the 80s, keeping their sound limited to the capabilities of a few instruments and analog tape. One of their more influential and well-known songs is up now. Here’s “Johnny’s Got A Gun” from their 1990 LP Defiance.

Intermission

31“Pipeline”Johnny ThundersSo Alone1978

Set 6: Joanie And Johnny

32“Johnny’s Got A Gun”Dead MoonDefiance1990
33“Johnny Got A Gun”The GizmosRock & Roll Don’t Come From New York2004
34“Joanie Loves Johnny”Screeching WeaselWiggle1993
35“Johnny Get Angry”Joanie SommersJohnny Get Angry1962
36“Little Johnny Jewel”TelevisionLittle Johnny Jewel1975

00:10 (music fades low for voice-over)

00:15 Television’s debut single “Little Johnny Jewel” was released on Ork Records (the same label that originally agreed to put out Misfits’ Bullet EP but the deal fell through). Richard Hell formed the group with Tom Verlaine but after a falling out left and started his own band, The Voivoids. After his departure, Richard Lloyd joined and they recorded the 7-minute epic debut. They must have enjoyed the jam session, because on their debut album Marquee Moon, they included the 10-minute epic title track to round out Side A.

00:40 After a minor charting hit in 1960 with “One Boy”, Joanie Sommers landed a #7 hit single with 1962’s “Johnny Get Angry”.  Once called “The Voice Of The Sixties”, Joanie wouldn’t repeat the success she found with “Johnny Get Angry”.  Now with clear hindsight, we can say Joanie was most likely not the voice of the sixties. Who do you think was?

01:10 Screeching Weasel play into the leather jacket Fonzie aesthetic that makes many a punk rock song fun. Keeping with that Happy Days vibe, Ben Weasel sings about the dreamed-up love affair between Joanie Cunningham and someone named Johnny. Perhaps its Johnny Suede? Or maybe this is a fantasy. I mean, the song does mention Fonzie getting fucked up on ‘ludes and Joanie and Johnny doing heroin. Screeching Weasel also covered “Johnny, Are You Queer?” on their 1994 album How To Make Enemies And Irritate People.

01:40 After Dead Moon was an old punk jam from The Gizmos, a band out of Bloomington, Indiana that’s had more lineup changes than records released.  While they never released an official full album, the band put out four EPs and split record before calling it quits.  We played “Johnny Got A Gun” from the compilation Rock & Roll Don’t Come From New York.

02:00 Alright Johnnies, that about does it for today. May the legend of Johnny live on forever in our collective imaginations. Now…what women’s name would be a good companion episode to this one….?

02:15 (music plays and fades out)

Outro

37“Death Of Johnny Riviera”Ray Daytona And GoogoobombosSpace Patrol In Mission!2002

Check out ourList for all of the releases featured!

Heard To Find: The Dynettes – “Witness To A Heartbreak”

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Artist: The Dynettes
Track: “Witness To A Heartbreak”
Release: New Guy / Witness To A Heartbreak (7″)
Year: 1965
Duration: 2:30

Maurice Williams scored a huge hit in 1960 when he and The Zodiacs put out the single “Stay”. At just 1:36 in length, the single would become the shortest song to ever reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the United States. After groups like The Hollies and The Four Seasons laid down their own versions of the song and pushed it into an international audience, Maurice & The Zodiacs would reap the benefits. Jackson Browne interpolated it into the finale of his 1978 masterpiece album Running On Empty as “The Load Out / Stay” which again brought the song to new audiences. It wasn’t until the song’s inclusion on the 1987 soundtrack to the film Dirty Dancing, though, that it would sell it’s highest amount of copies.

In 1965, Maurice wrote and arranged a pair of tracks for the girl group The Dynettes to record. I can’t seem to find much on The Dynettes individually, but as the record suggests the song was recorded in Chicago, Illinois around 1964 under the production of Bill “Bunky” Sheppard. According to the comments section of this Nerdtorious.com post, the lead singer’s name was Idella and she was last known to reside in Charlotte, North Carolina. That’s it. That’s all I can find, and that’s assuming the comment is legit.

As for the song itself, it bounces along like a lollipoppy, mid-60s soul jam with a nice, clean guitar chasing the messy drumbeat backed up by an organ and a call and response type vocal setting. It’s a shame this one didn’t make it further up the charts.

I’m sure the saturation of sixties girl groups made for a challenge for anyone to break through to fame, especially with the absolute domination from Phil Spector and his Wall of Sound groups.

The A-side, “New Guy” is another gem, this time with a more up-tempo approach. I love how the deep horns back up the girls’ vocals in start contrast. This song could easily be found on a movie montage or soundtrack. Something Summer-y.

The Constellation Records catalog has all kinds of hidden soul gems from 1964-65 and you can currently find the Constellation of Rhythm & Blues compilation on streaming services. Give it a dig sometime, these songs are the epitome of “lost treasures”. Instead of posting links to just the Dynettes’ music, here’s the full compilation.