punk

abp: johnny

October 15, 2020October 15, 2020abp.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#	Title	Artist	Album	Year
1	“Johnny One Note”	Ted Heath And His Music	Big Band Percussion	1961

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 Berry	Johnny B. Goode / Around & Around	1957
3	“Bye Bye Johnny”	The Rolling Stones	The Rolling Stones EP	1964
4	“Look Out Johnny”	Protex	Strange Obsessions	2010
5	“Johnny Better Get”	Zero Boys	History Of…	1984
6	“Johnny”	Ty Segall	Lemons	2009

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

“Johnny Fool”

Frankie & The Pool Boys

Frankie & The Pool Boys

2008

Set 2: Ride, Johnny, Ride

8	“Subterranean Homesick Blues”	Bob Dylan	Bringing It All Back Home	1965
9	“Johnny Was A Good Boy”	Mystery Trend	Johnny Was A Good Boy / A House On The Hill	1967
10	“Bullet”	The Misfits	Bullet	1978
11	“No Colt, No Johnny”	Death Lens	DeathFrights	2014
12	“Jaw Knee Music”	NOFX	Rock Against Bush Vol. 1	2004

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

“Stay Away From My Johnny (Instrumental)”

Freda Gray & The Rocketeers

Stay Away From My Johnny

1966

Set 3: Jaw, Knee, Rum, Own

14	“Johnny’s Got A Problem”	D.I.	Horse Bites Dog Cries	1985
15	“Johnny Hit And Run Paulene”	X	Los Angeles	1980
16	“Johnny, Are You Queer?”	Josie Cotton	Convertible Music	1982
17	“Johnny Twobags”	The Vandals	Live Fast Diarrhea	1995
18	“Johnny’s Gonna Die”	The Replacements	Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash	1981

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

“Johnny October”

The Challengers

Go Sidewalk Surfing!

1964

Set 4: Here’s Johnny!

20	“The Ballad Of Johnny X”	Bouncing Souls	Johnny X	1995
21	“Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts”	Less Than Jake	Losing Streak	1996
22	“The Ballad Of Jimmy & Johnny”	Rancid	Let’s Go	1994
23	“Degenerated”	Reagan Youth	Youth Anthems For The New Order	1984
24	“Johnny Was”	Stiff Little Fingers	Inflammable Material	1979

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

“Johnny Guitar”

La Playa Sextet

Johnny Guitar

1954

Set 5: Thee Johnnies

26	“Johnny Was A Soldier”	The Adicts	Sound Of Music	1982
27	“I Love Johnny Bravo”	The Diaboliks	Three Fur Burgers…And A Hot Chilli Dog To Go!	2000
28	“Johnny And I”	Thee Attacks	Strikes Back	2016
29	“Johnny Come Lately”	The Woggles	Ragged But Right	2003
30	“Johnny 99”	The Loved Ones	Distractions	2009

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

“Pipeline”

Johnny Thunders

So Alone

1978

Set 6: Joanie And Johnny

32	“Johnny’s Got A Gun”	Dead Moon	Defiance	1990
33	“Johnny Got A Gun”	The Gizmos	Rock & Roll Don’t Come From New York	2004
34	“Joanie Loves Johnny”	Screeching Weasel	Wiggle	1993
35	“Johnny Get Angry”	Joanie Sommers	Johnny Get Angry	1962
36	“Little Johnny Jewel”	Television	Little Johnny Jewel	1975

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

“Death Of Johnny Riviera”

Ray Daytona And Googoobombos

Space Patrol In Mission!

2002

Check out ourList for all of the releases featured!

abp: coffee

September 29, 2020September 29, 2020abp.nick3 Comments

Intro

FMF#	Track	Artist	Album	Year
1	“Coffee In The Pot”	Supergrass	Road To Rouen	2005

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

00:15 Hello and welcome to abp’s coffee episode! Today we honor one of the most famous and well-known drinks of the world; coffee! Java, espresso, cappuccino, Americano, cold-press, nitro-infused, etc.; the list of styles of the usually-served hot drink may be too long for the show. Are you a zombie before you get your morning brew? Does the caffeine addiction afflict you too? I hope you’ve had your dose of daily drip because we’re about to turn up the speed.

01:10 Historical accounts of humans consuming coffee for its energizing effects date back to at least the 15th century. East Central Africans first used the beans in the modern sense of roasting and brewing. Not much ahs changed since then in the form of preparation, though certain regions do things a little differently.

01:40 National Coffee Day is celebrated on September 29th each year in the United States. The day gives millions of people an excuse to celebrate their morning caffeine addiction by justifying it as a necessary step to our days. Yes, I am also one of those coffee heads. I’ll throw all the excuses at you that you’ve already heard; kids, job, stress, sleep, blah blah.

02:10 Have you ever drank too much coffee? I can definitely say that I have. That sick feeling, nauseous like you ate something terrible, all the while you’re blood seems to be at 1000 degrees and heart is pumping like it’s running a marathon. Suck. The Promdates, out of Norway, know all about that overdose, too. The lyrics to the next track describe that moment you realize you’ve gone too far. From their 2016 split with the Meeps, here’s Norway’s best coffee-guzzling punk band with “Coffee OD”.

Set 1: Coughy

2	“Coffee OD”	The Promdates	The Punk Rock Rumble – Split EP	2016
3	“Coffee With You”	Carbona	Back To Basics	1999
4	“Cappuccino”	Lunatics On Pogosticks	Sleeping Till The Weekend EP	2014
5	“Too Much Coffee”	SWMRS	Berkeley’s On Fire	2019
6	“409 In Your Coffeemaker”	Green Day	Slappy EP	1990

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

00:15 Sweet Children doesn’t really sound like a band that tours filling stadiums, does it? Or maybe it does, what the hell do I know? That’s what Green Day was originally called before moving to the more ambiguously colorful descriptor. Billie Joe Armstrong has been a vocal critic of the name, though, in 2001 stating it was the worst band name in the world. From early in their career on the Slappy EP, that was Green Day with “409 In Your Coffeemaker”.

00:40 A generation later, we move from Billie to Joey. Billie Joe’s son Joey Armstrong plays drums for Berkley band SWMRS. The band took influence from Green Day and others’ pop punk sound and mixed it with the EDM-tinged sounds of the 2010s. That was “Too Much Coffee” from Berkley’s On Fire.

01:10 From the West Coast, to the Gold Coast. Kinda. Lunatics On Pogosticks hail from Melbourne and channel all the right elements of garage rock. Slightly lo-fi sound, energy, simplicity, fun lyrics, they’re doing it right. The final track to their excellent 2014 EP Sleeping Till The Weekend, “Cappuccino” sits in the middle of the set.

01:40 Remaining in the Southern hemisphere, we heard Carbona from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The band takes their name from the Ramones song “Carbona Not Glue”, a track removed from their 1977 LP Leave Home because the company who made the stain remover Carbona didn’t want to be associated with, well, glue-sniffing. “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue” might have fed them that worry. Carbona, the band, sand “Coffee With You” from their sophomore LP Back To Basics.

02:10 Up next, The Smugglers ask the age old question – “Coffee, Tea, Or Me?”. The Vancouver, British Columbia band kept garage rock alive and well in the 90s and into the 2000s before calling it quits. Their 2000 LP Rosie was released through the legendary Berkley, California punk label Lookout! Records, the same label that released Green Day’s early works. Here’s The Smugglers with “Coffee, Tea, Or Me?”

Intermission

“Coffee Stained Shirt”

Voodoo Court

The Party’s Over

2002

Set 2: Javabilly

8	“Coffee, Tea, Or Me?”	The Smugglers	Rosie	2000
9	“One More Cup Of Coffee”	The White Stripes	The White Stripes	1999
10	“Cup Of Coffee”	The Novocaines	Ragdoll EP	2009
11	“One Cup Of Coffee And A Cigarette”	Glen Glenn	Laurie Ann / One Cup Of Coffee And A Cigarette – 7″ Single	1958
12	“Coffee Break”	The Rock N’ Rollers	Rock ‘N Roll Time EP	1958

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

00:15 That song seems to have a very familiar…sound to it. Very Bill Haley-ish. Perhaps that’s because the Rock ‘N’ Rollers are a studio-exec crafted band created solely for the purpose of selling records in line with a fad. If that really is the case, is “The Rock ‘N” Rollers” really the most creative name they could find? Apt, I suppose. Still. The EP Rock ‘N’ Roll Time, directed by Ken Jones, is five basic as hell rock and roll songs, and I love it. That was “Coffee Break” from said EP.

00:40 Glen Glenn was a rhythm and blues rock and roller from the 50s that did everything he could to mimic the swinging pelvis seen on TV. That is, until he got drafted. Glen recorded a few songs in 1958 and they’d actually get pressed to wax, but only days after his music hit the public he was drafted to the war and his career was over. Slightly. He would re-emerge in the 80s and record collectors began hunting for those early singles. His best known song, “One Cup Of Coffee And A Cigarette” graced our ears just now.

01:10 When Jay Watson left The Novocaines to play drums for Tame Impala, the band thought it was over. However, they reformed and put out a solid EP in 2009 titled Ragdoll. The lead single “Cup Of Coffee” starts off paying homage to Dylan with the line “One more cup of coffee before I go”.

01:40 The White Stripes covered at least three songs on their debut LP, including the Bob Dylan Desire-era ballad. The others being old blues songs from Son House and Robert Johnson and a rendition of the traditional folk song “St. James Infirmary Blues”; a track which Dylan also covered. “One More Cup Of Coffee” followed the Smugglers.

02:10 Coming up next is a trip down percolator lane. A trip that starts out light and poppy and climaxes with some real heavy psychedelic stuff; as most trips go. Starting things off is a cut from the debut record of Montreal, Quebec group Rock ‘N’ Roll Television. Here comes a bright, up-tempo discharge of television jonesing from the band titled “Coffee At Least”.

Intermission

“Java”

Al Hirt

Honey In The Horn

1963

Set 3: In The Mud

14	“Coffee At Least”	Rock ‘N’ Roll Television	Rock ‘N’ Roll Television	2008
15	“Coffee Monkey”	The Bottle Rockets	Leftovers	1998
16	”Coffee With My Friends”	Candy Hearts	All The Ways You Let Me Down	2014
17	”Coffee Cup”	The Wildflower	A Pot Of Flowers – Compilation	1967
18	“Coffee”	Psychedelic Porn Crumpets	High Visceral, Pt. 2	2017

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

00:15 Alright, pull your head out of the clouds now. We’re back on Earth. That sure was fun though. Another amazing Aussie group contributed to the set with Psychedelic Porn Crumpets doing “Coffee”. The song comes from the part two of their High Visceral releases. I wonder what Billie Joe Armstrong thinks of this band name?

00:40 The Wildflower, from A Pot Of Flowers, smoothed things out a bit after the Candy Hearts treat. Almost like a sip of warm coffee after a snowy breath. The Wildflower never released a proper album of their own, though they did compile all of their tracks for a release in 2008. The few songs they contributed to this comp, though, fit right in with the titular nature of the album and the whole San Fran peace-love-dope thing. We heard “Coffee Cup”.

01:10 As stated earlier, Candy Hearts represent their band name well in this set, bringing a light, poppy rock sound to what can usually be an intense set of songs around here. The New Jersey band put out two albums before reforming and renaming themselves Best Ex and going full-on pop. That was “Coffee With My Friends” from the group’s final album All The Ways You Let Me Down.

01:40 St. Louis, Missouri band The Bottle Rockets could easily be lumped into the 90s alt-country craze that took place, led by groups like Whiskeytown, Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, and the rest of the similar acts. But these guys seem to be a bit more raw, grittier, maybe even cowpunk-esque? From the Leftovers album, a literal collection of randos, that was “Coffee Monkey”.

02:10 Sometimes coffee is instant, sometimes coffee is black. Sometimes we just need to get back on the punkwagon. Up next is the seminal song from hardcore-turned-sludgepunk act Black Flag. After guitarist Greg Ginn took up a more heavy cannabis habit, things slowed down and Black Sabbath was channeled. The result spawned even more new groups looking to mimic this weird new slowed down punk thing. Here’s Black Flag doing “Black Coffee”.

Intermission

”Black Coffee”

Oscar Peterson

In A Romantic Mood

1956

Set 4: On Legal Speed, The American Way

20	”Black Coffee”	Black Flag	Slip It In	1984
21	“Black Coffee Blues”	The Ringo Jets	The Ringo Jets	2013
22	”Coffee Mug”	Descendents	Everything Sucks	1996
23	”Mr. Coffee”	Lagwagon	Duh	1992
24	”Instant Coffee”	Bugs	Growing Up	2020

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

00:15 What’s worse, instant coffee or bugs in your coffee? Bugs, obviously, you coffee snob. These Bugs, though, won’t bother you. Unless you really hate pop punk or Australian people. Brisbane group Bugs channel the late 90s/early 2000s pop punk sound while adding in new elements and lyrical relevance to the new world we live in. Of course, there are plenty of love songs though. That was “Instant Coffee” from Growing Up.

00:40 The artwork for today’s episode quotes Lagwagon’s “Mr. Coffee” from their 1992 debut Duh. Before they thought up such an eloquent band name, they were called Section VIII. Their demo tape made it to Fat Mike of NOFX/Fat Wreck Chords, who then decided to record them. A name change was in order, though. Singing “on legal speed, the American way”, that was Joey Cape and Lagwagon.

01:10 It was brief, but we got a hit of the most well known caffeine addict in the punk rock kingdom. That would be Milo Aukerman, singer of the Descendents. With many of his lyrics pointing toward his caffeine addiction and away from drugs or alcohol, Milo has championed the java jingle since the early days of the group in 1980. We heard “Coffee Mug” from 1994’s Everything Sucks.

01:40 Its not often we get Turkish rock and roll around here, so when we do I want to celebrate it. The Ringo Jets are one of the few, well-known garage rock groups in Turkey and dig up blues vibes along with their loud-fast energy. They covered Slim Harpo on their debut album, which closed out with “Black Coffee Blues”.

02:10 Londoners Margot are up next with a standalone single from 2018. “Coffee Stained Scars” was released before their debut EP Margotzeko and has yet to be placed on a physical medium. Still, that doesn’t mean I can’t play it. Here’s Margot sharing their love for BLTs.

Intermission

”Instant Coffee”

The Jokers

Manha De Carnaval / Instant Coffee – 7″ Single

1965

Set 5: Java Knife Party

26	”Coffee Stained Scars”	Margot	Coffee Stained Scars – Single	2018
27	“Jave Jive”	The Platters	Java Jive / Row The Boat Ashore – 7″ Single	1964
28	”Sugar In My Coffee”	Deuces Wild	Johnny Rider	1992
29	”Knife In The Coffee”	Car Seat Headrest	Nervous Young Man	2013
30	”Coffee Girl”	Skunk Monkey	Ego Deaf	2020

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

00:15 Straight outta College Station, Texas and released on Valentine’s Day 2020, that was Skunk Monkey doing “Coffee Girl”. The band’s sophomore release Ego Deaf was led by the single “Cherry Girl” and includes a second coffee song – “Americano”. I liked this one more, though.

00:40 Will Toledo formed Car Seat Headrest as a solo project and released 12, yes 12 albums on Bandcamp before signing to Matador Records. This guy works. The final self-released album Nervous Young Man includes the finale “Knife In The Coffee”, a garage rock epic; how rare!

01:10 The 80s brought a resurgence of rockabilly thanks to the Stray Cats. Deuces Wild were fellow Brits in hope of achieving slicked back stardom. They released two LPs and one EP between 1989 and 1991 before dissolving. From the 2nd LP, Johnny Rider, we heard “Sugar In My Coffee”.

01:40 I couldn’t really find a punk cover of “Java Jive”, but it is absolutely necessary in a coffee show. Bob Dylan plays the original version from the Ink Spots on his coffee episode of Theme Time Radio Hour, but if I’m gonna do a punk and garage rock show about coffee I have to keep the tempo up! The Platters did a groovy version of the song in the mid 50s and included it on their Encore Of Golden Hits, perhaps being the most up-tempo version of a slow song about coffee.

02:10 Things get real weird with the next track. Its new wave-y, its punk-y, it sure is lyrically…interesting. With an ode to one of the best sensations that can come along with drinking hot liquid, dunking, we’ve got The Deep Freeze Mice. From their 1981 debut LP Teenage Head In My Refrigerator, this is “I Like Digestive Biscuits In My Coffee”. For those non-Europeans like myself, the name doesn’t necessarily imply the reaction when it comes to these cookies. Oh, and there’s a long intro so just stay tuned…

Intermission

”Coffee & Smoke”

Kazam

Coffee & Smoke

2018

Set 6: Cream Or Sugar…Or Biscuit?

32	”I Like Digestive Biscuits In My Coffee”	The Deep Freeze Mice	Teenage Head In My Refrigerator	1981
33	”Fast Coffee”	Meggie Brown	Journey Of Goodbye	2020
34	”Station Coffee”	Jonathan Fire Eater	Wolf Songs For Lambs	1997
35	”A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop”	Neil Young + The Promise Of The Real	The Monsanto Years	2015
36	”The Coffee Song’”	Freedom’s Children	The Coffee Song / Satisfaction – 7″ Single	1967

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

00:15 That is how Cream should have recorded “The Coffee Song”. The South African group Fleadom’s Children took a song not included on US versions of Fresh Cream and gave it a heavier, psyched out sound. The group would change their name to Freedom’s Children after releasing the “Coffee” single, apparently for political reasons.

00:40 Speaking of politics, Neil Young practically made a name for himself writing about his political beliefs and causes. Neil has been a vocal opponent of all things unequal since his days with Buffalo Springfield. From his album with The Promise Of The Real, The Monsanto Years, Neil tackles corporations with “A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop”. Without naming them, who do you think he was talking about?

01:10 Jonathan Fire*Eater was the origination of half of the members of The Walkmen. They released two albums and an EP before calling it quits in 1998. Many claim them to be largely influential on the NYC post-punk revival sound that would spawn acts like The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and more. From their second and final album, Wolf Songs For Lamb People, that was “Station Coffee”.

01:40 Although Meggie Brown isn’t a largely known name even in her hometown of London, she still managed to land an opening spot for The Hold Steady in 2020. That is, before the pandemic ruined live music. Her debut single was produced by Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos at Edwyn Collins’ studio, which is a fantastic starting point! We heard “Fast Coffee” from the Journey Of Goodbye EP.

02:10 Well mudheads, that brings us to the end of this episode. If you’ve been sipping your coffee while listening along, you may need to head to the bathroom right about now. Maybe not, I don’t judge. Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time!

02:15 (music plays and fades out)

Outro

”Italian Coffee”

Fabrizio Fornaci

The Surfaces Vol. 2

2016

Check out my List for all of the releases featured!

abp: tv

September 19, 2020September 19, 2020abp.nick28 Comments

Intro

FMF#	Track	Artist	Album	Year
1	“Theme From T.V.”	Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet	Savvy Show Stoppers	1988

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

00:15 Hello and welcome to abp’s TV episode! Today I’m all about that boob tube, the silver screen, the couch potato’s companion, that lovely television set. What once was the focal point of many a living room in the post-War USA, has since become completely remote and mobile with the wave of streaming services and TV apps that exist.

01:10 In the early days of television, families would gather around the living room with their microwaved TV dinners and TV trays and ogle at the screen displaying black and white fuzzy imagery of comedy hours, music specials, straightforward news reporting and sports games.

01:40 After the internet gave cable companies a run for their money, they adapted and put their content online. By the year 2020, people could watch live TV on a cellular phone in the middle of nowhere in HD quality. So in honor of the incredibly popular invention, I’ve got a show stacked with TV songs.

02:10 Kicking things off is one of the most well-known, if not the most well-known punk rock songs about TV. Black Flag was on singer number three by the time Henry Rollins joined the band. Their first vocalist, Keith Morris, sang on the band’s debut EP Nervous Breakdown. Keith quit and went on to form the Circle Jerks with Greg Hetson. Hetson played in Redd Kross, which featured Ron Reyes on drums. Ron sang on Black Flag’s 2nd EP, Jealous Again. After Ron left due to violence at the shows, Dez Cadena would join and tour for the year. After Dez quit, the legendary Henry Rollins joined and recorded their 1981 debut LP Damaged. Here’s their ode to television from that album, “TV Party”.

Set 1: The Silver Screen City

2	“TV Party”	Black Flag	Damaged	1981
3	“TV Love”	Simpletones	Beach Blvd Compilation	1979
4	“TV Set”	The Cramps	Songs The Lord Taught Us	1980
5	“TV Luv Song”	Wavves	Life Sux EP	2013
6	“T.V. California”	Cosmonauts	Cosmonauts	2010

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

00:15 Like all of the bands in this first set, Cosmonauts hail from Southern California. The band dubs themselves “drug punk” and splashes in droney, shoegazey guitars on top of their garage sound. Their debut album was first released as a cassette-only Burger Records exclusive, but has since been repressed. From that debut, we heard “T.V. California”.

00:40 Nathan Williams and Wavves were three LPs in before releasing the EP Life Sux. The EP included 6 songs exclusive to the release and the CD version had two bonus tracks, one of which we just listened to. “TV Luv Song” was released as a digital single as well, but was included on that 2013 EP.

01:10 Things got a bit spooky in the middle of the set with The Cramps dropping in. Lux Interior and Poison Ivy Rorschach formed the group in the mid-70s and were apart of the CBGB scene in New York. Their debut record Songs The Lord Taught Us paved the way for an entire subgenre coined by Lux himself, psychobilly. Though, Lux thought The Cramps weren’t psychobilly at all.

01:40 Simpletones never put out a proper album as the original incarnations of the band, but did squeak out a couple of EPs in the late 70s on Posh Boy Records. It’s rather unfortunate, too, becuase they had a great sound. The Vandals would cover “I Have A Date” in the 90s and labels in Germany and Italy have compiled all of their tracks on an import LP with that very same title. We heard “TV Love” from the Beach Blvd compilation.

02:10 2015 curiously spawned a handful of great TV songs. Starting things off for the next set is the Philly, PA group Remember Sports. Bringing a pop-punky vibe mixed with what comes off as a Southern twangy crooner vocal style gives this band a uniquely bright sound. Great harmonies, great tune. Here’s Remember Sports, FKA Sports, with “Reality TV” from All Of Something.

Intermission

“T.V. Song”

Blue Man Group

Audio

1999

Set 2: Total Victory

8	“Reality TV”	Remember Sports	All Of Something	2015
9	“TV”	Colleen Green	I Want To Grow Up	2015
10	“T.V. Wedding”	Pill	Pill EP	2015
11	“TV”	Summer Cannibals	Show Us Your Mind	2015
12	“TV”	Negative Scanner	Nose Picker	2018

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

00:15 Yesssss, that was so good. 2018 saw the release of Negative Scanner’s sophomore LP Nose Picker and further advancement of their assault on the state of punk rock. Lead singer Rebecca Valeriano-Flores and the band mash together motorik and monotone in a succinct mix of power. The Chicago band released their debut self titled album in 2015 on Trouble In Mind Records.

00:40 I’d like to think that Summer Cannibals’ founder and lead singer Jessica Boudreaux named the band after the 90s Patti Smith song. I mean, it has to be that, right? Regardless, great move. Their 2nd album Show Us Your Mind launched them into national light and scored them a spot at SXSW and CMJ in 2015. “T.V.” closes out that LP and is the only sign of the band letting up after a forceful set of songs.

01:10 Brooklyn band Pill put out there 2015 debut EP on Andrew Savage of Parquet Courts’ Dull Tools label. The EP kicks off with “T.V. Wedding” walking down the aisle into your living room. Pill put out two great LPs and compiled their early recordings on The Dull Tools Tapes, but ultimately disbanded in 2019.

01:40 Colleen Green’s debut release paid homage to the Descendents when she titled it Milo Goes To Compton. She even covered their tune “Good Good Things” on it. Two albums later, we got I Want To Grow Up, possibly another Descendents reference. Colleen also covered blink 182’s Dude Ranch in its entirety in 2019 with just a bass guitar, which was very pleasing to hear. With her single “TV”, Colleen laments about how that silver screen has always been there for her through thick and thin, something I think many people can align with.

02:10 Naked Giants’ debut LP Sluff housed the single “TV”. While the first single off of the album didn’t quite gain traction, their second single “Everybody Thinks They Know (But No One Really Knows)” kicked their popularity up a notch. “TV” may have more depth and make for a more entertaining listen, but “Everybody” definitely has a poppier hook that can reel you in. Here’s that first single, though, “TV”.

Intermission

“T.V. Dream”

La Luz

Brainwash – 7″ Single

2013

Set 3: Crummy Commercials

14	“TV”	Naked Giants	Sluff	2018
15	”Television”	IDLES	Joy As An Act Of Resistance	2018
16	”TV Adverts”	The Nerves	TV Adverts – 7″ Single	1978
17	”Television’s Over”	The Adverts	Television’s Over – 7″ Single	1978
18	“Television”	R.M.F.C.	Hive EP	2018

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

00:15 R.M.F.C. is the brainchild of Buz Avenue, a young punk-trepeneuer out of Ulladulla, New South Wales, Australia. The project formed into a full band and added members and influence out of Sydney. With “Television”, Buz lives up to his name with a fuzzy scuzzy buzzy tune mixed with driving, tight drums.

00:40 The Adverts are an aptly named band for today’s theme. Adding to the fun, the lead singer’s name is T.V.! Tim (T.V.) Smith formed the band with Gaye Black in 1976 and they put out two LPs and a few EPs before calling it quits at the end of the decade. “Television’s Over” shows up on their 2nd and final LP Cast Of Thousands.

01:10 The Nerves were a three piece formed in Stafford, England in October of 1977. Not to be confused with the other Nerves, the band that wrote “Hanging On The Telephone” which would later be covered by Blondie. These Nerves put out one 7″ in 1978 featuring the song “TV Adverts” and watched it climb up the UK Alternative charts, but that’d be it for them. Great tune, nonetheless, and it fit in well next to The Adverts.

01:40 Now from Stafford over to Bristol. British band IDLES slapped their own style of rock and roll onto the set with some more motorik beats. With 2018’s Joy As An Act Of Resistance, the band channeled a new style of self-reflection, a positive one. It’s all in the album name. Find joy in life, because it seems that negativity at some point took over partnership power, and that’s just not right. “Television” comes from that joyous album.

02:10 Well now that we’ve had a delectable delve into British rock and roll, let’s take a flight back to California. Together Pangea formed in 2009 and reached new heights with the release of their third LP Badillac. The band would then tour opening for The Replacements during their final reunion tour as well as have bassist Tommy Stinson produce their EP The Phage. From 2019’s EP Non Stop Paranoia, here’s “Hi-Fi Television”.

Intermission

”TV Troubles”

Boxcutter

The Dissolve

2011

Set 4: Shitcoms

20	”Hi-Fi Television”	Together Pangea	Non Stop Paranoia EP	2019
21	”Television Sets Are Going Cheap”	Alien Nose Job	Suddenly Everything Is Twice As Loud	2020
22	”TV Life”	The Soaks	Loser EP	2016
23	”I Wanna Be On TV”	Fang	Where The Wild Things Are	1984
24	“TV Casualty”	Misfits	Static Age	1978

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

00:15 The Misfits suffered one of the rare instances in the music industry that prevents quality material from being released due to record contract issues. Glenn Danzig founded Blank Records to put out the band’s debut single Cough/Cool. In 1977, Mercury Records wanted to use Blank Records for one of their subdivisions and offered to buy it from Glenn, to which he countered with a request for studio time. They recorded 17 songs, but no one wanted to put the record out. They released the songs in various ways throughout the 80s, but Static Age wouldn’t see daylight as a whole until 1997.

00:40 Fang sprouted up in the East Bay area around Oakland, California in 1980 and would go through some lineup shifts before putting out their 1982 debut Landshark. Green Day covered “I Wanna Be On TV” in 1995 when recording Insomniac and put the song on the Japanese version of the release and the “Geek Stink Breath” single.

01:10 The Soaks hail from California as well, albeit a full generation or two after Fang. The San Diego group was one of many bands Jordan Clark would play with. Jordan also played bass in Mrs. Magician, Hot Like (A) Robot, and Tape Deck Mountain. From their 2016 EP Loser, that was “TV Life”.

01:40 Alien Nose Job is the moniker of a self-proclaimed bedroom recorder Jake Robertson from Clunes, Australia. Jake plays in the other bands Ausmuteants and School Damage, but sticks to his abode while recording ANJ. “Television Sets” was the first single released from the 2020 LP Suddenly Everything Is Twice As Loud, which is a perfect album title for a project that seemed to feel a whole lot more punk rock this go around.

02:10 Sticking around down under, Moses Gunn Collective hail from Brisbane. The group put out one fantastic psychedelic rock album in 2015, but only a few years later many of the members formed a new indie dance pop group called Confidence Man. Its amazing how different these two acts sound. Nevertheless, here’s “Colour Television” from the 2015 release Mercy Mountain.

Intermission

”Television Fission”

Man Or Astro-Man?

Experiment Zero

1996

Set 5: Technicolorvision

26	”Colour Television”	Moses Gunn Collective	Mercy Mountain	2015
27	“Colour Television”	Eddy Current Suppression Ring	Primary Colours	2008
28	”Colour Television”	Dune Rats	Sexy Beach EP	2011
29	“Colour TV”	Two-Bit Sister	Road Gore: The Band That Drank Too Much	1985
30	“Color TV”	Answering Machine	Color TV EP	2018

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

00:15 Answering Machine comes from NYC and happens to share their name with a Replacements song. Perhaps that’s why lead singer Samantha Campanile and guitarist J.D. Fetcho were asked by Two Minutes To Late Night to participate in their bedroom cover of the ‘Mats’ “Kids Don’t Follow”? Perhaps it’s just ’cause they rock? From their 2018 EP Color TV, that was the title track.

00:40 Two-Bit Sister is an unsigned band out of Margate, Kent, England. The band released their debut EP Radiator in 2020 and claims to be Margate’s number one sneez-core rock duo. Bless you. “Colour TV” comes from that debut.

01:10 Dune Rats are another Brisbane group from the Australian garage rock scene. Their debut EP Sexy Beach featured a lo-fi production sound fit for any literal garage. They’d evolve to a more alternative rock sound in later releases, but “Colour Television” remains a garage favorite.

01:40 The set started with Aussie band Moses Gunn Collective and bled into Melbourne act Eddy Current Suppression Ring. Their sophomore 2008 album Primary Colours garnered an A- rating from the legendary rock critic Robert Christgau. They took a hiatus in 2016 but returned with a new LP in 2019. “Colour Television” comes from Primary Colours.

02:10 Big Boys were apart of the early 80s Austin, Texas hardcore punk scene. Along with local legends The Dicks, Big Boys were pioneers in queer punk with both Big Boys’ singer Biscuit Turner and Dicks singer Gary Floyd being among the first openly gay singers, especially in the genre. Turner could often be seen in a pink tutu and cowboy boots when performing. Let’s let Biscuit charge us up with the Big Boys tune “T.V.”.

Intermission

”Television in 1.5$ Room Sucks”

Delicate Circumstances

2019

Set 6: Channel Surfin’

32	”T.V.”	Big Boys	Where’s My Towel / Industry Standard	1981
33	”Watching T.V.”	The Beets	Stay Home	2011
34	”Dr. TV”	The Eat	God Punishes The Eat EP	1980
35	”T.V. Blues”	UK Subs	Another Kind Of Blues	1979
36	”Television”	Bad Religion	Stranger Than Fiction	1994

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

00:15 Bad Religion bookends the episode with their LA hardcore counterparts Black Flag. The band was seeing a peak in popularity in the mid 90s with the emergence of punk rock in the mainstream. Guitarist and songwriter Brett Gurewitz’s Epitaph Records housed The Offspring and Rancid, two of the biggest punk bands around in 1994. Tim Armstrong from Rancid even stops by to sing a bit on “Television” from 1994’s Stranger Than Fiction.

00:40 UK Subs were one of the first punk bands and formed in 1976 as the UK Subversives. Vocalist Charlie Harper is supposedly the nephew of Cesar Romero, the actor who played the original Joker in the Batman TV series. The Subs’ debut LP 1979 Another Kind Of Blues was both a play on the new sound of punk rock and the drastically different sound of the album when compared with Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue. “T.V. Blues” comes from that debut.

01:10 The Eat is a band out of Miami, Florida whose 7″ singles and lone LP would haunt punk record collectors for years due to their scarcity and rarity. That’s what happens when great songs get limited to small presses. Luckily Jello Biafra picked up the discography and released it all as a compilation in 2007. From their 1980 sophomore EP, God Punishes The Eat, that was “Dr. TV”

01:40 The Beets were a Queens, New York band in the mid 2010s that put out some great lo-fi garage. Not to be confused with the band from the cartoon Doug, the real Beets put out a few albums including one for Hardly Art in 2011 and one for Captured Tracks that same year. “Watching T.V.” comes from the Captured Tracks one, Stay Home.

02:10 Stay home indeed, folks. That’s where the TV is. Of course, you could go screengaze anywhere else these days, but nothing feels like your own couch. In honor of that rerun machine, that LCD imagesystem, that media mumbler, thank you for stopping by for a celebration of television! I’ll see you next episode, same bat time, same bat channel…

02:15 (music plays and fades out)

Outro

”Television Snow”

Johnny Jewel

Windswept

2017

Check out my List for all of the releases featured!

abp: school

September 11, 2020September 19, 2020abp.nickLeave a comment

Intro

FMF#	Title	Artist	Album	Year
1	“First Day Of School”	Michael Giacchino	Inside Out Original Soundtrack	2015

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

00:15 Happy day and welcome to abp’s school episode. Today we’re gonna take a journey down the squeaky, waxed halls of the public education system. From high school, to graduation, to college, it’s all here.

00:40 Education has been a focal point for many advanced nations for centuries, with many more underdeveloped nations joining the school force with the boom of technology. While the internet may at times seem like nothing but a destructive web, thanks to the ability to transfer information instantaneously across the world, the internet has opened up a grip of opportunities for those in more remote locations. At this point, it seems you could do anything from anywhere via satellite.

01:15 All of that aside, today is all about that typical 13-year jaunt of schooling in grades Kindergarten through your Senior year. It seems that right around the time kids get to high school, their rebellious nature kicks in and out come the punk songs.

01:45 Kicking things off with a classic, we’ve got the Ramones doing their End Of The Century track “Rock And Roll High School”. The song also scored the soundtrack to the 1979 film of the same name in which the Ramones played themselves. It’s not Scorsese material, but a fun watch if you’re a Ramones fan. Here we go with the Ramones and “Rock And Roll High School”!

Set 1: Back To Class

2	“Rock ‘n’ Roll High School”	The Ramones	End Of The Century	1979
3	“Going Back To School”	The Fleshtones	Take A Good Look!	2008
4	“Back To School”	Cheap Time	Cheap Time	2008
5	“I Don’t Wanna Go To School”	The Donnas	Da Doo Ron Ron EP	1996
6	“Time Bomb High School”	Reigning Sound	Time Bomb High School	2002

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

00:15 That was Greg Cartwright and Reigning Sound chiming in with the title track to their 2002 LP Time Bomb High School. In true garage rock fashion, the song clocks in at under two minutes, almost 90 seconds really. What more do you need? Verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus, goodnight!

00:45 Speaking of straight-forward, no-nonsense garage rock, how about The Donnas?! In the early 2000s, The Donnas broke into the mainstream riding the pop-punk explosion wave that the late 90s had created. In the 90s, though, The Donnas were paying homage to the Ramones in their early days right down to their aesthetic. Their song “I Don’t Wanna Go To School” fits in perfectly with that Ramone attitude, and with the rest of the episode.

01:10 Cheap Time got straight to the point in “Back To School”. Their debut LP was released on In The Red Records, home to garage punk icons like Mark Sultan and Ty Segall. The band has gone through countless lineup changes over the years, but founder and frontman Jeff Novak has remained the constant. Their sound has been compared to Redd Kross many times.

01:30 The Fleshtones, although not nearly as famous as the other 70s New York City punk and rock bands, cut their teeth at CBGB’s. They debuted at the club on May 19, 1976. Although that sounds like the early days of punk rock, the Ramones had already played over 100 shows at CBGB’s by then. The Fleshtones contributed “Going Back To School” from their 2008 LP Take A Good Luck!.

02:00 San Francisco garage throwback pioneer Ty Segall is up next with fellow garage head Mikal Cronin to play a track off of their first officially shared credits collaboration together, Reverse Shark Attack. Ty’s production has been everywhere since he started making waves in the scene in the 2000s, including Ex-Cult’s debut album which we’ll get to a little later. Here’s Ty and Mikal with “High School”.

Intermission

“After School”

Brock Beats

Silent Talk

2019

Set 2: Hi-Skool

8	“High School”	Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin	Reverse Shark Attack	2009
9	“High School”	The Brat	Attitudes EP	1980
10	“High School Girls”	The Gears	Rockin’ t Ground Zero	1980
11	“High School Girl”	The Frights	Fur Sure EP	2013
12	“High School (Don’t Like Them)”	Naked Giants	The Shadow	2020

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

00:15 Seattle’s Naked Giants released their debut LP SLUFF on New West Records in 2018 to positive critical reviews. The real challenge was following it up with an equally, if not better, album. As is with every band. With their 2020 sophomore release The Shadow, the band continues their dance-the-stress-away vibe albeit with a slightly more down to earth vibe. From The Shadow, that was “High School (Don’t Like Them).

00:50 Southern California’s The Frights originally formed as a garage rock/surf punk band, but evolved more towards a pop-punk sound in their later records. From the band’s early-on Fur Sure EP, we heard their ode to their crush, “High School Girl”.

01:20 The Gears sang about their high school girl crush too, although in a little more of an aggressive tone. While I really do like this song, something about “You’re gonna get an education/I’m gonna get your ass” just seems so…off. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, what teenage boy isn’t thinking about sex? From their 1980 debut LP Rockin’ At Ground Zero, that was LA legends The Gears.

01:45 The Brat was a nice counter-attack to The Gears’ testosterone-fueled horned up anthem. Led by Chicana powerhouse Teresa Covarrubias, The Brat were also children of the LA punk scene in the late 70s/early 80s. The difference here, is that while most of the West LA punks were children of coastal royalty rebelling against the culture they were supposed to embrace, the East LA punks were generally not the wealthy class. BIPOC bands fit in with the punk scene because of the anti-establishment, DIY, struggling through life similarities. We heard “High School” from the band’s only official release, the 1980 EP Attitudes.

02:15 Now about that love/hate relationship with school. Let’s hear it in full effect. Starting things off is Nirvana with “School” from their debut album Bleach. As we move towards the middle of the set you’ll hear some very poppy and positive school tunes before we get back to hating it again. Let’s hear Kurt Cobain scream “No recess” a few times, here’s Nirvana.

Intermission

“Middle School”

Blue Wednesday Ft. Magnus Klausen

Chillhop Essentials – Winter 2018

2018

Set 3: School Spirit

14	“School”	Nirvana	Bleach	2012
15	“High School Roaches”	Bass Drum Of Death	High School Roaches EP	2010
16	“Be True To Your School”	The Veterans	The Veterans	2008
17	“Be True To Your School (’til You Get Kicked Out)”	The White Wires	II	2010
18	“School Days”	Paint Fumes	Uck Life	2012

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

00:15 The Charlotte, North Carolina band Paint Fumes reminisce about those notorious “School Days” with a cut from their 2012 LP Uck Life. Lead singer Elijah Von Cramon helped fuel the resurgence of garage punk in the Charlotte scene by not only owning the house that hosted garage rock and punk band house parties, but also actively sought out national acts to book. That’s scene devotion.

00:40 Canadian garage rockers The White Wires sang the anti-devotion school anthem with a cut from their 2nd LP WWII. The song was the first single released from that LP. “Be True To Your School (’til You Get Kicked Out)” calls upon that faux patriotism that schools insisted you held during the post-War days of the late 50s/early 60s. Peach Kelli Pop frontwoman Allie Hanlon drums for The White Wires, too!

01:10 The Veterans covered the most famous school spirit song, doing their rendition of “Be True To Your School”. The Beach Boys released the song as a single backed by “In My Room” which featured a harp. A harp.With Andrea Manges and The Veterans covering this one, we get a fresh sound for some taste-tested melodies. The cover comes from The Veteran’s self-titled 2008 debut.

01:40 “High School Roaches” was released by Bass Drum Of Death as an EP in 2010. The also featured “Get Found” from their upcoming album GB City. “Get Found” is the song that began their rise in popularity, but that also might be due to their songs being in so many video games. “Get Found” was in MLB2K12, and other games that have featured their songs include GTA V, Forza 2, Forza 4, and Sunset Overdrive.

02:10 The Rydells claim to be New Hampshire’s finest Ramones inspired rock and roll band. Now, I definitely don’t know enough New Hampshire bands to protest this claim, so for the sake of continuity I’ll agree. In fact, if you couldn’t pick up from the first song of the episode, many of these songs and artists are Ramones-inspired. Three chords and a message. The Rydells play to that perfectly, and on their debut LP Go Mental they proclaim their disdain for school, much like the Ramones did thirty years prior. Here’s Jimmy Rydell and the Rydells doing “School Sucks”.

Intermission

“Spy School Graduation Theme”

Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet

Sport Fishin’: The Lure Of The Bait, The Luck Of The Hook

1993

Set 4: School Sucks

20	“School Sucks”	The Rydells	Go Mental	2005
21	“I Hate School”	Suburban Studs	Slam	1978
22	“I Hate My School”	Necros	I.Q. 32 EP	1981
23	“I Hate My School”	Redd Kross	Red Cross EP	1981
24	“Fuck School”	The Replacements	Stink (“Kids Don’t Follow” Plus Seven) EP	1982

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

00:15 So, Paul Westerberg wasn’t really a fan of school. The second release from The Replacements was an EP titled Stink (“Kids Don’t Follow” Plus Seven). When the band went to press the album, they went straight for DIY punk ethic and pressed blank white sleeves. The first batch of pressings were stamped with hand carved potatoes dipped in ink! Love it! We heard “Fuck School” from that EP.

00:45 I mentioned Redd Kross earlier in the episode when talking about Cheap Time. The LA punk band is famous for being the starting point of musicians Greg Hetson and Ron Reyes of Bad Religion and Black Flag, respectively. After their debut EP and the departure of those two, the band put out their first LP Born Innocent named after the Linda Blair movie. “Linda Blair” was the first song on that release, and the band was named after the scene in The Exorcist where the character Linda Blair plays masturbates with a cross. A red cross. “I Hate My School” comes from their debut EP.

01:15 Touch and Go Records put out some Midwestern punk rock staples in the 80s, including releases from bands like Big Black, Scratch Acid, and even a Nirvana split single in the 90s. Necros bassist Corey Rusk joined Touch and Go founder Tesco Vee to help run the label and in turn released Necros’ debut EP. Their follow-up EP, I.Q. 32 featured the bass-heavy sounds of “I Hate My School”, another ode to anti-institutionalization.

01:45 Suburban Studs put one album out in 1978 after spending 1977 opening for acts like The Clash and the Sex Pistols. The band comes from Birmingham, England and toured extensively in their short lived career. They were like punk rock Van Halen, in a way, with driving guitar licks leading the sound. I played their 2nd and final single released, “I Hate School”.

02:15 The Lords of Lonesome are out of Kent, England and kick off the graduation set. The next song talks about the status of England in the 80s and the changes brought upon by unions protesting their rights. This song is super catchy and has old school UK oi punk vibes to it, although it was recorded in 2014 by what some might claim as…older rockers. Age is relative. Anyway, here’s the Lords of Lonesome singing about buying a cap and gown on graduation day.

Intermission

“Play School”

Syd Dale

Happy Novelties Compilation

1970

Set 5: Graduation Day

26	“Graduation Day”	The Lords Of Lonesome	The Arse Of England Compilation	2015
27	“Post Graduate”	Ex-Cult	Ex-Cult	2012
28	“I Shoulda Graduated”	The Catalogs	¡Viva Los Muertos!	1996
29	“Schools Out”	The Spits	Vol. IV	2009
30	“School’s Out”	45 Grave	School’s Out EP	1984

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

00:15 45 Grave formed in LA in 1979 right around the time the city was peaking in punk. The Germs, Black Flag, Adolescents and so many more bands were tearing up the city at their shows and word was spreading fast thanks to Rodney Bingenheimer on KROQ. Germs drummer Don Bolles drummed for 45 Grave and the band is considered one of the first American Gothic Rock bands. That darkness in rock wasn’t pioneered by them, though. Bands like Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper had that vibe early on. Makes sense that they would cover Alice here, too.

00:45 The Spits released their fourth self-titled LP in 2009, though some platforms call it School’s Out. Whatever the actual title is, the title track is great and sings of burning down the teacher’s car so that they don’t have to go to school. Failing school? No worries, just burn the teacher’s car.

01:15 The Catalogs were a short-lived 90s punk band out of Honolulu, Hawaii. The band released just one LP in 1995, ¡Viva Los Muertos!, and one EP in 1998. Although they never achieved success out of state, member Les Hernandez went on to form The Quintessentials, a fairly well-known horror punk band. Les died in 2019 after getting diagnosed with prostate cancer the previous year. They sure did one amazing parody of “I Wanna Be Sedated” though, with “I Shoulda Graduated”.

01:45 Ty Segall discovered Ex-Cult when they were still called Sex Cult before helping them with a band name re-brand and producing their debut. The punk band channels Ty’s dirty garage sound while adding their own gritty, hardcore flavor. “Post-Graduate” comes from that debut LP.

02:15 For some humans, after high school comes college. Before the Chicago, Illinois punk band Dwarves became the extreme and provocative band they are today, they started as a dirty garage rock band reminiscent of The Sonics out of Seattle. In fact, the band even spent some time on Seattle label Sub Pop before pissing them off on a hoax that the guitarist was stabbed resulting in them being dropped from the label. From their 1986 debut album Horror Stories, here is “College Town”.

Intermission

“School’s Out”

Sandy Nelson

Be True To Your School

1963

Set 6: Off To College

32	“College Town”	The Dwarves	Horror Stories	1986
33	“Terminal Preppie”	Dead Kennedys	Plastic Surgery Disasters	1982
34	“Uninversity”	The Woolen Men	Temporary Monument	2015
35	“Art School”	The Jam	In The City	1977
36	“Campus”	Cheatahs	Sunne EP	2015

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

00:15 Cheatahs are another shoegaze-y throwback sort of band coming out of London. This band also channels that My Bloody Valentine aesthetic and plays a sort of indie rock that’s washed in dream pop. From their Sunne EP, we heard “Campus”.

00:45 1977 ushered in so much more punk rock than most people understand. It wasn’t just The Ramones or the Sex Pistols who put music out, but rather hundreds, if not thousands of punk bands all channeling the same fast, three-chord style. Perfection. The Jam took inspiration from the Mod movement and The Who, but fit in very well in the early days of punk before branching off into their own sound. From their first LP In The City, that was “Art School”.

01:15 The Woolen Men hail from the Pacific Northwestern United States. Portland, Oregon to be exact. Woolen Men play short punk songs with clean styles and a knack for the obscure. They fit in well with Seattle’s Wimps, which is where I first discovered them. “University” from their 2015 effort Temporary Monument played during the college set.

01:45 Jello Biafra and the Dead Kennedys jumped in with “Terminal Preppie” from their 1982 LP Plastic Surgery Disasters. The song still stands true today calling out yuppie lifestyles in the lyrics. “I’m not here to learn/I just want to get drunk/And major in business/And be taught how to fuck” is the MO of many a college preppie. Sometimes they are jocks who are there not for education but for partying and football, or sometimes they’re the rich kid whose never known a consequence. They exist, and the Dead Kennedys want you to know how much they suck.

02:15 Well students, I’m afraid that bring an end to our lesson today. I hope you’re outlook on schooling isn’t as jaded as many of the writers of the songs played today. While institutional learning has it’s downfalls, the lack of education our world is experiencing is showing some pretty nasty colors. Don’t hate, ED-U-CATE! Thank you for joining me today, I’ll see you next time.

Outro

“Slideshow At Free University”

Le Tigre

Le Tigre

1999

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abp: work

August 31, 2020September 19, 2020abp.nick1 Comment

Intro

FMF#	Track	Artist	Album	Year
1	“The Work Song”	The Ventures	Wild Things!	1966

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

00:15 Hello and welcome to ABP’s surfing episode! Today we’ll be hearing songs from all walks of the world all united in one common goal; work. Do you just love your job? Good for you. Do you just hate your job? Well, get ready to lament in like company because most of today’s songs are fairly anti-work.

01:10 Humans have been working since the dawn of their existence. Throughout most of their existence, though, a paycheck wasn’t always waiting for the laborer. The majority of human life has been exploited for someone else’s gain and it wasn’t until the past 100 years or so that employees began to gain real rights in the workplace.

01:40 What started as an ancient form of labor, artisan masters at the top with journeyman laborers studying them, started to turn into a more organized form of work right around the time the industrial revolution occurred. Many years of bloodshed and trampled human rights had to pass by for workers to be represented in a somewhat fair way, though even today there isn’t equal pay for equally qualified individuals.

02:10 In spite or because of all of that, I want to celebrate the act of work. Whether you own your own business, or are an entry level paper pusher, we all gotta serve somebody. Art Brut tells stories in their songs, and on their 2009 masterpiece Art Brut vs. Satan, they hired a legend in the storytelling punk scene, Frank Black, to produce them. The album would feature an homage track to Minneapolis band The Replacements, along with this next cut about those sweaty summer work days. Here’s “Summer Job”.

Set 1: To Work, Or Not To Work

2	“Summer Job”	Art Brut	Art Brut vs. Satan	2009
3	“The Dreaded Day Job”	Thee Vicars	Back On The Streets	2008
4	“I Wanna Get A Job In The City”	The Kids	The Kids	1978
5	“Don’t Need No Job”	The A-Bones	Don’t Need No Job / Wah-Hey! – 7″ Single	1993
6	“The Working Man”	Creedence Clearwater Revival	Creedence Clearwater Revival	1968

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

00:15 The Golliwogs changed their name after reuniting during a hiatus in which two of the members were drafted by the US Army. During their reunion, they tossed around a few names, but liked the idea of somehow incorporating their friend Credence Newball’s moniker. What started as Creedence Nuball and the Ruby would evolve into Creedence Clearwater Revival and an album would follow in 1968. From that debut, we heard “The Working Man”.

00:40 The A-Bones covered an old rare rock and roll b-side from Jerry Parsons & The Blue Jeans. Jerry and the group would release Undecided / Don’t Need No Job in 1959 on Amp Records but that’s all you’ll find from them. The A-Bones covered “Don’t Need No Job” in 1993 and released it as a single backed by “Wah-Hey!”.

01:10 Belgium’s best-known punk band The Kids dropped in with an ode to getting a job in the big city. The Kids formed in 1976 and true to their name recorded their debut album when bassist Danny De Haes was only 15! “I Wanna Get A Job In The City” comes from that debut self-titled album.

01:40 Thee Vicars hailed from Bury Saint Edmunds, UK and brought that wild energy to their garage rock sound. As is the case for many stars that burn so bright, they would disband after the death of vocalist Chris Langeland at just 22 years old. Chris left us with some amazing music, though. Including “The Dreaded Day Job” from their debut LP Back On The Streets.

02:10 In the next set, we go job hunting. The stress of being out of work can eclipse even the sharpest of minds when you’re up against the wall. Minneapolis garage rock veterans The Blind Shake are here to sing about being out of work.

Intermission

“Trip To Work”

Smoke Trees.

Into The Deep

2017

Set 2: Wanted Help

8	“Out Of Work”	The Blind Shake	Seriousness	2011
9	“God Damn Job”	The Replacements	Stink (“Kids Don’t Follow” Plus Seven)	1982
10	“Workin'”	Black Lips	Let It Bloom	2005
11	“Work”	Frankie & The Witch Fingers	ZAM	2019
12	“New Job”	Dry Cleaning	Sweet Princess EP	2018

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

00:15 London’s Dry Cleaning released their debut EP Sweet Princess before they had even played a show. While the band resents the descriptor, they do fit in nicely in the early 80s first wave post-punk sound a la Magazine, Joy Division, and the like. I played the spoken-word laden “New Job” for you today.

00:40 Indiana-born psychedelic rock group Frankie & The Witch Fingers swooped in with an ode to work. The genesis of the band came with some members collaborating with guys from Triptides. While Triptides ride the psychedelic wave a bit more, Frankie turns up the distortion.

01:10 Distortion and psychedelia are ingredients for many of the bands played on abp, including one of the more infamous groups, Black Lips. If you’ve never seen the Black Lips perform live, you’ve probably got more wholesome imagery in your head than someone who has. The band is known to get wild. From their 3rd LP Let It Bloom, the Lips’ contributed “Workin” to the show.

01:40 Before the Lips’ we heard a two-fer from Minneapolis. The Replacements released their 1982 EP Stink in a first batch of pressings that included cover art stamped from potatoes. In fact, the first 3 pressings of Stink were potato stamped, the 2nd pressing being in red ink. We heard “God Damn Job” from that EP.

02:10 Up next is the big boss set. Jimmy Reed wrote so many blues songs that inspired a new generation of artists, you could possibly crown him as rock and roll royalty. In fact, maybe we should. The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Elvis Presley, The Grateful Dead, hell, even Bill Cosby threw is interpretation of “Big Boss Man” on an album. So here’s to Jimmy Reed with The Headcoatees covering “Big Boss Man”.

Intermission

“Boss”

The Rumblers

Boss

1962

Set 3: Pay The Cost To Be The Boss

14	“Big Boss Man”	Thee Headcoatees	Have Love Will Travel	1992
15	”You’re Not The Boss Of Me”	The Gruesomes	Cave-In!	2000
16	”Boss”	Necking	Cut Your Teeth	2019
17	”My Boss”	Heroine Sheiks	Siamese Pipe	2002
18	“Who’s The Boss?”	The Dewtons	Kill Bozy	2016

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

00:15 If you’re going to play rock and roll in the USA, starting a band in Detroit might be a good idea. Home to the godfathers of punk rock The Stooges, the city generates some of the best, hardest rock and punk America has to offer. The Dewtons fit right in. Their call-and-response anthem “Tony Danza (Who’s The Boss)” can overcome every crowd member with an urge to yell out the 80s TV star’s name.

00:40 Heroine Sheiks frontman Shannon Selberg is another Minneapolis musician arguing against work. More acutely, Selberg is fed up with his boss. Selberg hails from Minneapolis art-noise outfit The Cows and started the Sheiks after moving to NYC. Butthole Surfers frontman Gibby Haynes took them on tour as well. More from him later.

01:10 Vancouver band Necking tells it like it is. With their debut 2019 LP Cut Your Teeth, the band channels unfiltered biographical experiences and lays it all out on the table. “Boss” appears like a tongue-in-cheek lashing about “the man in charge of my livelihood”, when in turn the power comes from this song’s attitude. Well done.

01:40 The Gruesomes reunited in 2000 after a ten year hiatus. They band broke up in 1990 after achieving what they felt was the most success a group like them could achieve. Luckily for them (and us), garage rock is timeless. From their 200 reunion LP Cave-In!, that was “You’re Not The Boss Of Me”.

02:10 Unfortunately for us plebs, working multiple jobs is no longer a reflection of a go-getter or someone in a rut, but is rather reflective of the typical middle-class worker. What once was something rare has since become the norm. Erik Nervous explains his situation relative to the status quo in the next cut. “Do one job, and then do another”. Sounds about right. Here’s Erik Nervous with “Eight Jobs”.

Intermission

”The Spanish Job”

Cookin’ On 3 Burners

Blind Be t

2014

Set 4: Just To Get By

20	”Eight Jobs”	Erik Nervous	Assorted Anxieties	2018
21	”Hard Workin’ Man”	Natural Child	1971	2011
22	”The Way That You Work”	Les Sexareenos	Out To Sea EP	2001
23	”My Job At The Hive”	Coachwhips	Double Death	2006
24	”Friday On My Mind”	The Easybeats	Good Friday	1966

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

00:15 While the single was released in October of 1966, the debut album from The Easybeats, Good Friday, would be the one to host the international pop hit the following year. Each verse starts in a minor key with a new day in the week, culminating in a weekend rush of major key bliss. That was “Friday On My Mind”.

00:40 Oh Sees frontman Jon Dwyer turned up the distortion on every single instrument, including the vocals, for his side project Coachwhips. The band was known for their raw, dirty, noisy garage punk sound and executed it masterfully. They sound like the Kinks run through a megaphone, then through a fuzz pedal. From the b-sides compilation Double Death, that was “My Job At The Hive”.

01:10 Mark Sultan and Les Sexareenos popped into the middle of the set with a cut from their 2001 Out To Sea EP. The Sexareenos are one of many, many groups that Mark contributed to over the years. That was “The Way That You Work”.

01:40 Natural Child channeled their inner-Stones with the release of 1971. The Rolling Stones released Sticky Fingers that year, which nearly every Natural Child song on this album pays homage to. It’s a vibe, a style, that the Brits-turned-Southern Blues rockers perfected and Natural Child cooks with those ingredients zestfully.

02:10 In the next set, the time has come for celebration. What’s everyone’s favorite part of a job? The paycheck of course! Swedish punkabilly band The Accidents are members of the Burning Heart Records family. Burning Heart is closely affiliated with Brett Gurewitz’s Epitaph Records, and Epitaph releases Burning Heart albums in the US, including major releases from The Hives, Millencolin, and the Refused. Here’s “4 Days Til’ Payday” from The Accidents.

Intermission

”Lazarus Goes Back To Work”

The Mercury Four

Codename: Aurora

2007

Set 5: Pay Day

26	“4 Days Til’ Payday”	The Accidents	Poison Chalice	2005
27	”Just Got Paid”	SHINERS	Now EP	2017
28	“Just Got Paid”	BNLX	EP #3	2010
29	“Just Got Paid”	The Naturals	We Are The Naturals	2017
30	”Paycheck”	FIDLAR	FIDLAR	2012

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

00:15 FIDLAR spawned from the settled ashes of the late 80s punk movement in an incredibly natural way; with half the band members being literal spawns of a local legend. Greg Kuehn is an accomplished keyboardist and started his career with SoCal punks T.S.O.L.. Greg’s sons Max and Elvis play in FIDLAR. FIDLAR played “Paycheck” from their debut LP.

00:40 The Jolly brothers from Philly, PA recorded their debut LP completely on their own, full DIY style. After releasing it online in 2017, the Melbourne label Popboomerang Records picked it up for distribution. From that debut, we heard the brothers’ take on what they’d do when they “Just Got Paid”.

01:10 BNLX was the brainchild of Minneapolis musician Ed Ackerson. Ed made a big name for himself in the scene by fronting the band Polara in the 90s. After Polara, Ed took up production and manned the boards for bands like The Replacements, Motion City Soundtrack, Soul Asylum and more. Ed died in 2019 somewhat unexpectedly as he had hidden his cancer diagnosis from the public. Pete Townshend wished him well on stage when he played at the Xcel Center in Saint Paul, only to learn Ed would die a month later. Ed and BNLX contributed “Just Got Paid” to the playlist today.

01:40 SHINERS hail from London and are possibly one of the more “polished” garage rock acts on the show. There is definitely a garage rock vibe going on in “Just Got Paid”, but the production quality seems to push it into pop territory. Do with that information what you will. SHINERS put out Now 2017 in, well, 2017.

02:10 As the end of the work week nears, the level of production tends to wane a bit in the average worker bee. Maybe even to the point where you’d want to quit. Let’s hear a set of songs that could inspire you to walk off the job. Starting it off is Austin, Texas band the Butthole Surfers with a deep cut demo from their earliest days. Here’s “I Hate My Job” from Gibby and the gang.

Intermission

”Easy Job”

The Dead Rocks

One Million Dollar Surf Band

2008

Set 6: Who’s Comin’ With Me?

32	”I Hate My Job”	Butthole Surfers	Humpty Dumpty LSD	2002
33	”I Hate My Fucking Job”	M.O.T.O.	Eternal Standby EP	1998
34	”Quit Your Job”	Chixdiggit!	Born On The First Of July	1998
35	”Quit Your Job”	Wimps	Repeat	2013
36	”Take This Job And Shove It”	Dead Kennedys	Bedtime For Democracy	1986

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

00:15 With a name like Johnny Paycheck you’d better have a song or two about work. In 1977, Johnny recorded the David Allan Coe-penned tune for his comeback album of the same name. Dead Kennedys covered it on their final LP Bedtime For Democracy in 1986.

00:40 Seattle’s Wimps repeated the call to leave work with “Quit Your Job” off of their debut LP Repeat. Guitarist and lead singer Rachel Ratner founded Seattle radio station KEXP’s volunteer program while working there as a DJ. The band has since become a member of the Kill Rock Stars family.

01:10 One of the shortest songs you’ll ever hear on abp, Chixdiggit’s “Quit Your Job”, played before Wimps. The track comes from their sophomore LP Born On The First Of July but also was featured on the Fat Wreck Chords ambitious compilation Short Songs For Short People. The comp hosted 101 bands doing 30 seconds or less songs.

01:40 Masters Of The Obvious, or M.O.T.O. for short, formed in New Orleans in the early 80s by Paul Caporino. Paul would record songs by himself over the course of two decades, sometime enlisting band members for live shows. The first proper album came from Paul and the group in 2003; Kill Moto. Paul seems to really hate his job, though I can’t imagine he’s talking about playing rock and roll.

02:00 I suppose the glitz and glamour of being a rock star may wear off for some over time. For others it might be the only job they’ll ever know or want. For most, it seems, though, work is just another part of life, no matter how many songs or albums you’ve put out. Because of that, we get an entire library of music devoted to that dreaded 9-5. Thanks for joining me today, see you next time!

02:15 (music plays and fades out)

Outro

”Work Tapes”

Magic In Threes

2016

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abp: radio

August 20, 2020September 19, 2020abp.nickLeave a comment

Intro

FMF#	Title	Artist	Album	Year
1	“Midnight Radio”	Mecca:83	FUTURES Vol. 5	2018

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

00:15 Hello and welcome to abp’s radio episode! Today we’re digging into the broadcast medium that blasts sound waves across the land. Radio technology has been around since the 19th century and to this day is still used in it’s most basic form – broadcasting radio waves via transmitters to receivers all across the globe. Nowadays we have this thing called the internet, which basically does away with the old AM/FM signals and streams via the online connection, but we still want those airwaves.

00:45 I wanted to do a little something fun today, so we’re going to hear our radio episode book-ended with two versions of “Video Killed The Radio Star”. First up is Joyce Manor’s sped-up and tonally flattened version. Joyce Manor’s 2012 LP Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired borrows distinct design elements from the legendary Germs’ GI release. The music itself also borrows from Germs elements, though more in the vein of new age punk rock than early 80s sloppy hardcore. We lost Germs bassist Lorna Doom in 2019 to cancer and the infamous Darby Crash took his own life in 1980 by way of intentional heroin overdose. Joyce Manor’s 2018 release Million Dollars To Kill Me was named after Travis Barker’s memoir Can I Say in which Travis recounts offering a friend a million bucks to end his suffering after a horrific 2008 plane crash that injured him and DJ AM as well as killing the rest of the entourage on board. DJ AM died from an overdose the following year.

01:35 All this talk about overdose has me fixing for music. Let’s try to lighten the mood a bit. Here is Joyce Manor doing “Video Killed The Radio Star”!

Set 1: Radio Killed The Video Star

2	“Video Killed The Radio Star”	Joyce Manor	Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired	2012
3	“Radio, Radio”	Elvis Costello & The Attractions	This Year’s Model	1978
4	“New Radio”	Bikini Kill	New Radio – 7″ Single	1993
5	“Radio On”	Ex Hex	Rips	2014
6	“Car Radio”	Spoon	A Series of Sneaks	1998

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

00:15 Austin, Texas’ Spoon have been locked in indie rock legacy ever since the turn of the century, but it was probably thanks to some mid-to-late-90s solid releases that helped them climb there. The band’s sophomore effort A Series Of Sneaks was at the time met with flat acceptance, but since has grown into a cult classic of an album; proof once more that some artists are ahead of their time.

00:45 Washington D.C. native Mary Timony released her third solo LP Ex Hex way back in 2005 on the legendary Lookout! Records, but would take the album title and form a band under the moniker almost ten years later. Rather than the darker, brooding sounds of her solo work, Ex Hex channels the Pacific Northwest punk rock sounds of Sleater-Kinney. Mary was part of the Carrie Brownstein/Janet Weiss side project Wild Flag. The Ex Hex 2014 debut features the track “Radio On”.

01:10 Staying in the PNW, Bikini Kill dropped in with the title track to the 1993 New Radio single. A lyrical force of sexuality and rebellion, the song fits in perfectly with the writing style and content of Kathleen Hannah and Bikini Kill. Known as one of the forerunners of the riot grrrl movement, Kathleen has also released music with the electropop group Le Tigre and The Julie Ruin.

01:30 One of the most famous acts of rebellion in live music may have been when Elvis Costello stopped his band ten seconds into his Saturday Night Live performance of “Less Than Zero” to change tunes and sing the anti-corporate radio anthem “Radio, Radio”. Lorne Michaels was not amused and banned Elvis from Saturday Night Live until 1989 (supposedly giving Elvis the middle-finger during the whole performance).

02:00 Coming up in the next set we have The Shazam. Little Steven’s Underground Garage named this song their “Coolest Song Of The Week” back in 2006, though the song was actually released in 2000. Little Steven called it the “coolest fucking thing (he’s) heard in 20 years”. The song is legit, but to say that about the decades 1980-2000 seems a bit…irresponsible? Nevertheless, let’s get to it. Taken from The Shazam’s 2000 EP Rev9, named after the Beatles’ “Revolution 9” which the band covered on that EP, here’s “On The Airwaves”.

Intermission

“Radio Flyer”

Sinitus Tempo

2016

Set 2: Fresh Airwaves

8	“On the Airwaves”	The Shazam	Rev9	2000
9	“Don’t Listen To The Radio”	The Vines	Vision Valley	2006
10	“We Want The Airwaves”	Shonen Knife	Osaka Ramones	2011
11	“Do You Remember Rock And Roll Radio”	Ramones	End Of The Century	1979
12	“Radio Head”	Talking Heads	True Stories	1986

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

00:15 Radiohead, of course, took their name from the Talking Heads song we just heard. David Byrne directed and starred in the feature film True Stories, along with John Goodman and Swoosie Kurtz. Talking Heads re-recorded studio versions of the songs they played in the film and released the album True Stories to coincide with the movie. There was also a different soundtrack album released with various artists like Terry Allen & The Panhandler Mystery Band and Steve Jordan on it. Steve played the accordion on “Radio Head”.

00:50 The Ramones questioned our memories of the days of old when rock and roll ruled the radio. The imagery of “lying in bed with your covers pulled up over your head, radio playin’ so no one can see” is such a great snapshot of being a kid obsessed with music during the golden age of rock and roll. How appropriate a song, too, being that the 1979 LP End Of The Century was produced by the legendary producer and convicted murder Phil Spector. Hear that Wall of Sound?

01:20 Osaka, Japan’s Shonen Knife formed roughly 6 months after the release of The Ramones’ 1981 LP Pleasant Dreams. Shonen Knife’s debut release is an ultimate holy grail rare cassette-only album. Minna Tanoshiku was put out by the band in 1982 in a limited release of 50 copies. Some tape cases had the band’s lip prints on them! They did a Ramones tribute album in 2011, Osaka Ramones, to celebrate the band’s 30-year career

01:45 The Vines timed their American debut juuuust right with the release of their 2001 LP Highly Evolved. Riding the garage rock wave first rippled by The Strokes and The White Stripes and The Hives and all of The “The” bands alike, The Vines would hit it big with “Get Free”, a tune they completely demolished on the Late Show With David Letterman. When Craig Nicholls did a somersault after the first verse he knocked the guitar out of tune and oh boy did things fall apart after that! Awesome performance though. We played the first single off of their third album Vision Valley, “Don’t Listen To The Radio”.

02:15 Up next we have Brooklyn, New York band Nude Beach with the album opener off of their 2012 sophomore LP II. As the song is about to explain, sometimes there’s just not much worse than a radio playing a song you just don’t wanna hear. Here’s Brooklyn’s Nude Beach with “Radio”.

Intermission

“Hunting Bears”

Radiohead

Amnesiac

2000

Set 3: RAD-10

14	“Radio”	Nude Beach	II	2012
15	“Turn Off The Radio”	The Spaceshits	Misbehavin’	1999
16	“Radio”	Ty Segall	First Taste	2019
17	“Rock N Roll Radio”	Skegss	Rock N Roll Radio – Single	2014
18	“Playing On The Radio”	The Shivas	Dark Thoughts	2019

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

00:15 The Shivas hail from Portland, Oregon’s mid-aught’s house show scene. What’s more punk rock than DIY? Nothing. Can’t book a venue? Make a venue. Can’t find a promoter? Make a flier and staple it on the telephone pole. The Shivas fit right into that aesthetic, though pouring out garage rock psychedelia more often than pure punk rock. That was “Playing On The Radio” from 2019’s Dark Thoughts.

00:40 Skegss are another garage rock revival outfit from down under. The band made international headlines in 2015 when rappers Reese and Lil Yachty released a single “Do It” with perhaps the most blatantly stolen album artwork I’ve ever seen. Skegss had just started as a band the previous year and released their second single ever “Rock N Roll Radio” in 2014.

01:10 Ty Segall is a garage rock revival icon. Maybe even the millennial generation’s version of Mark Sultan and King Khan. Like those two, Ty is involved in countless bands and music projects. Ty plays everything from covers to collaborations, even TV show theme songs. His 2019 release First Taste was his second with the Freedom Band and featured “Radio”.

01:40 The Spaceshits put out one album in 1999, but are most notably known for being the group that connected Mark Sultan and King Khan. Sultan became the group’s singer shortly after joining and Khan, then known as Blacksnake, would replace one of the many guitarists that they cycled through in their short tenure as a band. When they were blacklisted from their hometown of Montreal due to violent stage shows, they toured Europe. Blacksnake stayed in Europe, Germany specifically, and began his new career as King Khan. The Spaceshits dropped “Turn Off The Radio” before The Shivas.

02:10 Red Mass is the brainchild of another Montreal garage rock vet, Roy Vucino. Vucino teamed up with Mark Sultan after The Spaceshits dissolved and formed Les Sexareenos, one of many of Mark’s projects. The Red Mass project features collaborations from up to 60 people, sometimes contributing recorded material via mail. Much like the famous Postal Service duo did in the early 2000s, Red Mass takes it to another level. Here’s “Radio Radio” from Red Mass’ 2009 Red Mass EP.

Intermission

“Esecuzione Radiofonica”

Ennio Morricone

The Blue-Eyed Bandit Soundtrack

1982

Set 4: Pirate Radio

20	“Radio Radio”	Red Mass	Red Mass EP	2008
21	“Radio Wunderbar”	The Carpettes	The Carpettes	1977
22	“Sex On The Radio”	Ivy Green	Ivy Green	1978
23	“Radio Radio”	The Kids	Naughty Kids	1978
24	“Radio Rape”	The Cortinas	True Romances	1978

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

00:15 The Cortinas were the Bristol, UK group that paired up nicely with The Clash in 1977, but were nowhere near as successful as them. Coincidentally, though, Cortinas guitarist Nick Sheppard would go on to play on The Clash’s Cut The Crap album after Mick Jones and Topper Headon were fired from the band. The Cortinas debut album signaled the end of them, however, with the band breaking up after its release. From that 1978 album True Romances, we heard “Radio Rape”, a song about making love to the radio.

00:45 The Kids, from Belgium, were another early punk rock band that are known for their anti-fascism anthem “Fascist Cops”. They released their debut self-titled album in 1978 on Dutch company Philips Records. Yes, that same Philips that made radios that you may well have played, or perhaps you’ve used their light bulbs? The Kids’ sophomore LP was also released in 1978, from which we played “Radio Radio”.

01:15 Ivy Green were actually from the Netherlands where Philips Records was founded. They were one of the few Dutch punk bands to land a major record deal and released their self-titled debut on Pogo Records in 1978. The cut “Sex On The Radio”, another weird ode to aural love, is almost a note-for-note mimic of Black Flag’s “Black Coffee“, but the Black Flag song didn’t come out for another 6 years. Coincidence or ripoff? You decide! Ivy Green was the name of Hellen Keller’s childhood home in Alabama.

01:45 British punk band The Carpettes‘ 1977 debut self-titled EP featured the track “Radio Wunderbar” and some issues of it list that as being the title of the EP. The Carpettes lasted all but four years before breaking up in 1981. They briefly reunited in 1996 and then again after the turn of the millennium eventually touring the USA in 2011. Nothing matches the energy of that debut EP, though!

02:15 The Clash’s debut EP took a jab at the radio industry and was released with an interview comprising most of the EP with just one song finishing it off. The only way to get this EP was to mail in a coupon printed in NME, plus the red sticker found on the band’s debut studio album The Clash which had been released just that week. After hearing that the EP was being sold for unbelievably high prices, they re-recorded the song and released “Capital Radio Two” on their 2nd EP The Cost Of Living. Here’s the Clash with “Capital Radio”.

Intermission

“Radioactivo”

Suprahumanos

Automatas

2015

Set 5: Ra(nci)dio

26	“Capital Radio”	The Clash	Capital Radio EP	1977
27	“Radio Havana”	Rancid	Rancid	2000
28	“Radio”	Mad Sin	Hooligans United: A Tribute to Rancid Compilation	2015
29	“Please Play This Song On The Radio”	NOFX	White Trash, Two Heebs And A Bean	1992
30	“You Can’t Say Crap On The Radio”	Stiff Little Fingers	Straw Dogs – 7″ Single	1979

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

00:15 Ireland’s Stiff Little Fingers nearly broke into the mainstream with their 1980 single “Straw Dogs” narrowly missing the Top of the Pops charts, which is fairly ironic considering the b-side to “Straw Dogs” was the anti-mainstream radio anthem “You Can’t Say Crap On The Radio”. The track also borrowed the main riff from The Clash’s “Capital Radio” as a bit of an outro. “Caaapital radio” was changed to “Craaapital radio”.

00:45 NOFX took the Stiff Little Fingers’ idea and went a step further. In “Please Play This Song On The Radio”, the band begs the radio DJ to play their new song on the radio while slowly devolving into a cuss fest, nullifying their initial request. The song comes 1992’s biographically-named LP White Trash, Two Heebs, And A Bean. NOFX also covered Rancid’s song “Radio” for their split LP release with the group in 2002.

01:15 German psychobilly band Mad Sin contributed their version of Rancid’s legendary punk anthem “Radio” to the Hellcat Records, Tim Timebomb-sequenced Hooligans United: A Tribute To Rancid compilation. That comp features some great takes on Rancid tunes, with some bands staying true to the songs and some taking them in an entirely new direction or language.

01:45 When Rancid recorded their 2000 self-titled fifth album, they did it one full take. Well, two full times run-through, with the second take being used. It brought such a personal feel to the record, and when Tim sings the final lines of the album you can hear him “signing off” and thanking everyone for listening. “Radio Havana” was the longest song on the LP clocking in at 3:42.

02:15 With the release of Scratching the Door: The First Recordings of the Flaming Lips, we finally got an official output of their first cassette demo. The only original song on the demo was “Killer On The Radio”, followed by a cover of the “Batman Theme”, The Who’s “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere”, and Richie Havens’ “Handsome Johnny”. The Who covered the “Batman Theme” on their first EP, and their second ever single released was “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere”. That’s interesting. Here’s the Lips’ only original from their debut demo, “Killer On The Radio”.

Intermission

“Fermentação Radioativa”

Light Strucks

Light Strucks

2017

Set 6: Radio Midwest

32	“Killer On The Radio”	The Flaming Lips	Scratching The Door: The First Recordings Of The Flaming Lips	2018
33	“Radio Friendly Unit Shifter”	Nirvana	In Utero	1993
34	“Radio K”	The Ergs!	Jersey’s Best Prancers	2007
35	“Left Of The Dial”	The Replacements	Tim	1985
36	“Video Killed The Radio Star”	The Presidents Of The United States Of America	Pure Frosting	1998

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

00:15 “You are the radio star”! The Presidents Of The United States Of America cap the episode today with their 3rd-recorded version of “Video Killed The Radio Star”. This version comes from their post-first-breakup compilation of b-sides and covers titled Pure Frosting. “Video” also caps off the 1998 Adam Sandler movie The Wedding Singer as it plays while the credits roll.

00:45 The Replacements played us a shout out to indie radio or college radio as it was known in the 80s. The term “left of the dial” comes from those stations being so low on the transmitter dials, usually with frequencies like 88.1 and 90.7. The band’s 1985 LP Tim would land them a slot on Saturday Night Live and just like Elvis Costello – they’d get banned. This time not for performing the wrong song, but for absolutely destroying their dressing room and switching clothes with each other before the performance.

01:15 The Ergs! dropped in with an ode to The Replacements’ hometown college radio station Radio K. The University of Minnesota’s station KUOM was formed in 1993 and has been solidly playing the best up and coming tunes ever since. The Ergs! must have enjoyed it enough to write about it. The tune comes from their 2007 EP Jersey’s Best Prancers.

01:45 Just under an hour drive south of Radio K’s headquarters would bring you to Cannon Falls, MN’s Pachyderm Studio where Nirvana recorded their third and final studio album In Utero. “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” was originally titled “Nine Month Media Blackout” and was a collage of poetry thrown back at the success of Nirvana in ’91. Kurt is reported to have hated the success, but others contest that view. In February of 1993, the band headed to the small Minnesota town and were “locked in” by the snow to get their work done and get out of there. Steve Albini brought his powerful technique and the studio’s notoriously amazing drum sounds were also captured. The result was a masterpiece in rock and the band would dissipate only a year later following Kurt’s suicide.

02:15 We began and ended with “Video Killed The Radio Star” along with a few stories of rock stars who died young. The rock and roll lifestyle has claimed countless young ones throughout time and still continues to do so. I suppose the word of advice here is that if you choose to get into the music world, be prepared for the harsh vices that could come your way. Thank you for joining me today and listening along. See you next time!

Outro

“Dial”

David Cutter Music

Singles Two

2018

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