themed playlist

abp: johnny

October 15, 2020June 22, 2022abp.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: tv

September 19, 2020June 23, 2022abp.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: work

August 31, 2020June 23, 2022abp.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

Check out my List for all of the releases featured!

abp: surfing

August 11, 2020June 22, 2022abp.nick5 Comments

Intro

FMF#	Track	Artist	Album	Year
1	“Bustin’ Surfboards”	The Tornadoes	Bustin’ Surfboards	1963

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

00:15 Hello and welcome to abp’s surfing episode! Today we’re gonna grind some gnarly waves and get sooooooo pitted, dude! International Surfing Day is typically held on the third Saturday of June, right around the summer solstice. Originally brought to mainland America by Hawaiians and Native Polynesians, the sport saw an explosion in popularity in the 1960s Southern California scene. With help from a plethora of beach movies starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean’s music, and the beat generation books about heading out West, the sport would become a staple in the area.

01:10 In honor of the sport and its venue, we’re playing all kinds of surf and beach songs. We’ll hear songs about the “locals only” mentality, surfing birds, menstruation, a few covers, and some of the most famous surf instrumentals between sets.

01:40 Behind us, we’ve got The Tornadoes doing “Bustin’ Surfboards” from 1962. The band released one album with this tune included but would never record another. Quentin Tarantino would later famously use this track in his 1994 cult classic film Pulp Fiction.

02:10 Kicking off our show is the infamous So-Cal band Surf Punks. While not making waves in the mainstream, the band definitely had a local following. The band’s performance of this song live at the Whiskey A-Go-Go was featured in the punk documentary Urgh! A Music War. This right here, is peak 80’s “getting pitted”. So pitted. Here are Surf Punks with “My Beach”.

Set 1: Locals Only

2	“Meet Me At The Beach”	Surf Punks	My Beach	1980
3	“King Of The Beach”	Wavves	King Of The Beac h	2010
4	“(I Hate) Surfin’ In HB”	D.I.	Ancient Artifacts	1985
5	“Max Can’t Surf”	FIDLAR	FIDLAR	2012
6	“Surfin’ Bird”	The Trashmen	Surfin’ Bird	1964

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

00:15 That was The Trashmen, Minnesota’s most well-known surf/garage group. “Surfin’ Bird” comes from their 1963 album of the same name. The “bird” combines two other songs to form a medley of sorts; “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” and “The Bird’s The Word”; both by The Rivingtons. The Trashmen would stop releasing material in 1967 until 2013 when they would unite with Deke Dickerson for a four song EP.

00:40 FIDLAR begged to be heard in their ode to drummer Max Kuehn. If you hadn’t gathered from the song itself, their red-haired drummer not only lacks the balance to execute, but gets real stoned and tries to make it work. “Max Can’t Surf” comes from their debut eponymous LP.

01:10 In our first run-in with Rikk Agnew during today’s episode, we heard D.I. playing a cut from their debut album. D.I. spawned from the Adolescents, but mostly just rearranged the players. Casey Foyer, the Adolescents drummer became D.I.’s singer, with Rikk on guitar. Rikk joined Christian Death in 1982 and released an album along with kicking out his own solo effort. We’ll hear more from that later. In our “locals only” set, we heard “(I Hate) Surfin’ In H.B.” That’s Huntington Beach to all you non-locals.

01:40 Kings of the beach Wavves played us one of their theme songs from the album of the same name. Although the production value is quite different, the song structure between “King Of The Beach” and Surf Punks’ “Meet Me At The Beach” is pretty close. Close enough that I could picture Wavves covering Surf Punks, could you?

02:10 Some So-Cal alternative rock is headed your way now with Weezer doing “Surf Wax America” from their self-titled 1994 LP. Not to be confused with their self-titled 2001 LP, their self-titled 2008 LP, their self-titled 2016 LP, or either of their self-titled 2019 LPs. Of course, even though they’re all self-titled, they’re all a different color. So that helps. Here’s Rivers Cuomo singing about riding a surf board to work.

Intermission

“Pipeline”

The Chantays

Pipeline

1963

Set 2: Wavy Gravy

8	“Surf Wax America”	Weezer	Weezer	1994
9	“Tidal Wave”	Thee Oh Sees	Tidal Wave / Heart Sweats – 7″ Single	2009
10	“Catch A Wave”	Triptides	Psychic Summer	2011
11	“Wave Of Mutilation (UK Surf)”	The Pixies	Here Comes Your Man – 12″ Singl e	1989
12	“Charlie Don’t Surf”	The Clash	Sandinista!	1980

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

00:15 That was Joe Strummer and The Clash doing “Charlie Don’t Surf” from their 1980 triple LP Sandanista!. The Sandinistas were a political party named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistance against the United States occupation of Nicaragua in the 1930s. The album would find mild success compared to the follow-up Combat Rock, which launched the band into international fame.

00:40 Boston band Pixies took plenty of cues from The Clash’s punk rock views. Black Francis notoriously put out a classified ad seeking a female bass player who liked both Peter, Paul And Mary and Hüsker Dü. Kim Deal was the only one to answer and showed up without a bass guitar as she had not known how to play. With the release of the single “Here Comes Your Man” in 1989, the band reworked another track from Doolittle; “Wave Of Mutilation”. They slowed the song down and gave it a bit of a surf feel, hence the title of the version we played, “Wave Of Mutilation (UK Surf)”.

01:10 Los Angeles’ psych-surfers Triptides chimed in with a cut from their debut release. Psychic Summer was one of the self-released cassette tapes the band had put out in the early days. The album saw a re-release in 2019 transferring the tape to wax and streaming services. Triptides gave us “Catch A Wave”, not to be confused with the Beach Boys classic.

01:40 Thee Oh Sees dropped a deep cut into our set with “Tidal Wave”. The track comes from the Tidal Wave / Heart Sweats 7″ single released in 2009. If you ever watched the TV series Breaking Bad, you may have recognized this tune. During the episode Salud, (spoiler alert) when Gus presents Don Eladio Vuente with a bottle of rare tequila, they all drink it, get poisoned, and the “heroes” escape. Almost. Either way, cool track for the scene.

02:10 Alright, let’s get into some plagiarism! The Beach Boys ripped off Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen” so blatantly that Chuck Berry now shares songwriting credits with them. Granted, the melodies are basic and easily identifiable, it is still quite similar. This happened so much in the early days of rock and roll, that I’m truly surprised there aren’t more cases. I’m happy there aren’t, just surprised. Anyway, from 1958’s One Dozen Berrys, here’s “Sweet Little Sixteen”.

Intermission

“Wave”

Wun Two & CoryaYo

Waves

2015

Set 3: He Stole My Board!

14	“Sweet Little Sixteen”	Chuck Berry	One Dozen Berrys	1958
15	”Surfin’ USA”	The Beach Boys	Surfin’ USA	1963
16	”Surf City”	Jan & Dean	Surf City & Other Swingin’ Cities	1963
17	”Crimson Wave”	Tacocat	NVM	2014
18	“Let’s Go Surfing”	The Drums	The Drums	2010

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

00:15 The Drums‘ first single “Let’s Go Surfing” was first released on their debut EP Summertime. The song would get a slot on their debut album a year later and would make it onto a Volkswagen commercial. That whistling, it’ll get you every time. Frontman Jonny Pierce cites the Beach Boys as one of his many influences, along with reverb.

00:40 Prior to The Drums’ surf jam, we heard an ode to menstruation from Seattle’s Tacocat. The song’s music video would put them into the national spotlight after Katy Perry stole their image and shark costumes for her infamous Super Bowl performance. The band wasn’t too happy about getting ripped off but also wasn’t interested in a giant legal battle over a dancing shark. To their credit, to me, it totally looks like she lifted that vibe.

01:10 From a “Crimson Wave” to the blue waves of Malibu, we heard Jan and Dean and “Surf City”. Jan and Dean are credited with pioneering the vocal harmony sound that The Beach Boys would make famous. Nearly every other song they wrote was about surfing, all the way to Jan Berry’s car wreck. After spending two months in a coma, Berry would work his way up to walking again and eventually make it to the studio a year later. They recorded an incredibly psychedelic album in 1967 (Carnival Of Sound) that wouldn’t see the light of day until 2010 when Rhino would release it.

01:40 The Beach Boys’ Chuck Berry ripoff, “Surfin’ U.S.A.”, preceded Jan and Dean. Of course it was a blatant ripoff, it was on purpose. Brian Wilson had the idea of listing all the cool surf spots much like Chuck would list what was happening from city to city in “Sweet Little Sixteen”. So Brian asked his then girlfriend’s brother (who was a surfer) to give him all the hot surfing spots. They put the the list to lyric and the rest is history.

02:10 Next up, we’re all about the beach. Starting things off is New Zealand’s Scared Of Girls. The Auckland band released a debut EP in 2017 called SUCK and followed it with the “Waihi Beach” single in December of that year. One of the songs from that EP, “Beach Teens”, channels surfing’s most famous guitar riff a la “Miserlou”. See if you can spot it. Here’s Scared Of Girls with “Beach Teens”.

Intermission

”Wipe Out”

The Surfaris

Wipe Out

1963

Set 4: Sand Of The Beach

20	”Beach Teens”	Scared Of Girls	SUCK	2017
21	”Beach Rats”	The Growlers	Hung At Heart	2013
22	”Beach Sluts”	Howler	America Give Up	2011
23	”Beach Whatever”	Surf Curse	Sad Boys	2013
24	”Beach Porn”	The Frights	Dead Beach EP	2013

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

00:15 The Frights didn’t have intentions to become a full-time band when they played a one-off Christmas show in 2012, but after an audience member approached them in hopes to sign them, they decided to go with it. Hailing from So-Cal, The Frights incorporate all kinds of genres into their garage rock sound. After the release of the Dead Beach EP in 2013, the band would head to the studio to record their second LP, which was produced by Zac Carper, the frontman of FIDLAR.

00:40 It only has 6 songs, but the 2013 release from Surf Curse, Sad Boys, is apparently a debut album. Devil’s in the details I suppose. Nevertheless, the duo from Reno slipped into the 20-teens garage revival scene in hip fashion.

01:10 Howler wedged our “beach block” with “Beach Sluts”, the lead track from their debut America Give Up. After breaking up in 2017, lead singer Jordan Gatesmith formed Wellness. Wellness doesn’t have quite the same garage feel, but puts out great indie “slacker” rock, if you will.

01:40 SoCal beach goths The Growlers hold the annual Beach Goth festival in Oak Park, CA every year around October. The band has seen a shift in sound from their early days of surf/psych/garage rock to a more pop-based sound. The Growlers saw some lineup changes in 2020 after allegations came out of sexual misconduct involving them and women within their circle. Whatever happened, I hope they can learn and grow and more importantly, let’s hope the victims or affected parties are listened to and respected.

02:10 The next set blasts off with a rocket…to Russia. The Ramones’ 3rd LP Rocket To Russia was released just 18 months after their debut hit the shelves. “Rockaway Beach”, from that LP, would become the band’s highest performing single ever; proof once again that Billboard charts are not an indicator for great music, just popular music. “Rockaway Beach” is a fantastic track, but The Ramones’ best? Up to you. Rocket To Russia also featured The Ramones covering The Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird”. Alright, take it away Dee Dee…1! 2! 3! 4!

Intermission

”Surf Bat”

45 Grave

Sleep In Safety

1983

Set 5: Barrel Rolls

26	”Rockaway Beach”	The Ramones	Rocket To Russia	1977
27	“Surfers Are Back”	The Barracudas	Drop Out With The Barracudas	1980
28	”Nude Beach”	Peach Kelli Pop	Peach Kelli Pop III	2015
29	”Surfin’ Away”	Vivian Girls	Surf’s Up EP	2008
30	”Suzy Is A Surf Rocker”	The Crowd	Beach Blvd Compilation	1979

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

00:15 The Crowd hail from Hunting Beach, or “H.B.” as D.I. stated. When Posh Boy Records put out the famous Beach Blvd compilation in 1979, they included five tracks from The Crowd, five from Simpletones, and five from Rik L Rik. The rare cassette version, though, would include the debut Redd Kross EP featuring Greg Hetson. “Suzy Is A Surf Rocker” comes from that comp.

00:40 Before The Crowd we heard a Ramone from New York City singing about surfing. No, it wasn’t those Ramones. Cassie Ramone formed Vivian Girls in 2007 with Kickball Katy and Frankie Rose. After releasing their self-titled debut LP in 2008, the band pushed out a few singles not included on the album. One of those singles, “Surfin’ Away” would get a 1000 copy press and not be included on future albums.

01:10 Allie Hanlon started Peach Kelli Pop in 2009 as a solo project. The band’s name comes from a song title on Redd Kross’s 2nd official album, 1987’s Neurotica. That album is said to have been inspired by Saturday morning cartoons and breakfast cereal, e.g. “Frosted Flakes”. Allie’s inspirations include the anime cartoon Sailor Moon. I think I’m seeing a connection now. That was “Nude Beach” from PKP’s 3rd self-titled album.

01:40 London garage/surf revival band The Barracudas dropped in with a b-side from their 1980 His Last Summer 7″ single. “Surfers Are Back” originally showed up as the b-side, but was actually put on the US version of The Barracudas debut LP Drop Out With The Barracudas in lieu of “Campus Tramp”.

02:10 Popping off our final set is the 1960s Australian group The Delltones. Originally forming as a doo-wop group, the band shifted to surf rock after the US rock n’ roll sub-genre fad spread across the Pacific Ocean. Their cult classic “Hangin’ Five” from 1963 would launch them to national stardom and would also make waves in America. Oh, by the way, it was also featured in Aussie actor Mel Gibson’s first movie Summer City. Here’s The Delltones with half the wave power of hanging ten.

Intermission

”Power Surf”

Jerry Cole And His Spacemen

Surf Age

1963

Set 6: Everybody’s Goin’ Surfin’

32	”Hangin’ Five”	The Delltones	Surf ‘N Stomp	1964
33	”Surfside”	Rikk Agnew	All By Myself	1982
34	”Surf Combat”	Naked Raygun	Throb Throb	1984
35	”Surfin’ Cow”	The Dead Milkmen	Bucky Fellini	1987
36	”Surfin’”	The Orlons	Everybody’s Goin’ Surfin’	1962

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

00:15 “Surfin’ is the only life/The only way for me/Now surf”. Simple as that. That was the Philadelphia R&B group The Orlons doing a Beach Boys cover from the 1962 surf rock compilation Everybody’s Goin’ Surfin’. The Orlons are perhaps best known for launching the Watusi dance craze with their single “The Wah Watusi” in 1962. Ahh the 60s dance fad craze. Mashed Potatoes, Watusis, Twists, what a time to be alive and be a dancer!

00:40 Keeping things in Philly, we turn to The Dead Milkmen next. They were part of the obscure bands that got lumped in with hardcore punk during the early 80s scene. The Milkmen didn’t have loud, fast songs filled with aggression, but rather with filled their sound with sarcasm and clean guitars. “Surfin’ Cow” from their 1987 LP Bucky Fellini graced the final set.

01:10 I’ve seen surfers on Lake Michigan in thermal suits and ice cold water. I’m still not sure what the draw is though. Chicago 80s punk path-pavers Naked Raygun were perhaps the most prominent early punk band of that scene. With “Surf Combat” off of Throb Throb, the band takes shots at the glitz and glamour of the 80s. “Muscle Beach is now Pork Chop Hill” is such a fantastic, metaphoric line.

01:40 In our final Rikk Agnew run-in for the day we heard a track from his 1982 solo debut All By Myself. Rikk and Casy Royer spent some time in Social Distortion in the band’s early days before splitting off and forming the Adolescents. It’s amazing how connected that So-Cal punk rock scene was. Everyone was in everyone else’s band at some point. Rikk’s tune “Surfside” accompanied The Orlon’s R&B jam.

02:10 And that, surfers, is the end of the swells. The tide is low. The crests are flat. It’s time to go home and wipe the sand off your feet. Thank you very much for stopping by and riding some waves with me today. I look forward to seeing you here again next time!

02:15 (music plays and fades out)

Outro

”Spudnik (Surf Rider)”

The Ventures

Surfing

1963

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