Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CDLXXXIV--The Clash: Hitsville U.K.

What's all this fuss about being late?

This week's tune came from the much-anticipated follow-up album to The Clash's stunning masterpiece, London Calling.  It was a three-record set, sprawling and experimental and adventurous...and it took a while to grow on me.  But once it did, holy shit, what a record.  Always reminded me (not musically, just in its disparate songs) of The Beatles' unwieldy but brilliant White Album (and Lord have mercy would The Clash have ripped my heart out of my chest for that comparison).  And in its disparity, it yielded one of their more pop oriented songs, with a tongue-in-cheek nod to Motown....

I wrote about The Clash in Volume CCXXX, and as Joe Strummer hasn't risen from the dead (not from lack of trying, I'm sure), and Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, and Topper Headon have repeatedly said they have no desire to reunite or go on an oldies tour (like The Clash have anything that could remotely be called an oldie), I'll just leave it at the very good bio (if I do say so myself) of "The only band that matters" that I wrote for their first post.

"Hitsville U.K." was the second single released from the band's revolutionary named three LP set, Sandinista! (exclamation point theirs, not mine--the Sandinistas were a revolutionary left-wing Nicaraguan political group).  The single hit #56 in the U.K. but did not chart in America.  The album reached #19 in Great Britain and #24 here in the States.  It was also ranked at #323 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time."

Fun Fact:  Despite the fact that Joe Strummer sang the vast majority of their songs, somehow I've managed to pick two that were sung by Mick Jones (though this week he is ably supported by his then girlfriend Ellen Foley).

Every now and again, a song has a small but indelible moment.  In "Hitsville U.K.," it's about halfway through right before the instrumental break when Jones says (with his English accent) "So 'it it."  Can't ever listen to the song without waiting for that two second blip--it was one of the first things I noticed about the song when I first heard it some forty-three years ago.  The song, its title a nod to Motown's nickname "Hitsville U.S.A.," is a paean to the then burgeoning indie music scene in Great Britain, and how it had opened up the music business for everyday boys and girls.  It features nice vocal play between Foley and Jones, some funky ass bass work from Simonon, and is, much like my last post on The Clash, much more pop oriented than their usual fare.  Wonder why I'd like those two so much....

Lyric Sheet:  (Remember)/They say true talent will always emerge in time/When lightning hits Small Wonder/It's Fast Rough Factory time..."

Enjoy:

Republicans = Nazis

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCLIX--? and the Mysterians: 96 Tears

 This week's tune is from a band that some consider to be the first punk rock group.  That's a hell of a historical footnote for a band that, for the most part, had only one hit.  But if you're going to have just one memorable tune, might as well make the most of it.

? and the Mysterians were formed in my current home state of Michigan (specifically Bay City and Saginaw) in 1962 by the children of migrant farm workers as a trio, playing dates throughout their adopted home.  Shortly thereafter, Rudy Martinez (stage name:  Question Mark) would join the band, as well as keyboardist Frank Rodriguez, and the band would land its first record deal in 1966.  That same year they released their signature tune, which would eventually sell over a million copies.  The band would stay together through 1969, having four more charting hit singles.  For their career, ? and the Mysterians released four albums, but only their first reached the Billboard LP chart.  The band has reunited, reformed in new incarnations, and done a few collaborations since their heyday, and is still performing occasionally to this day.

Fun Fact:  Question Mark is something of a character, at one point in time telling interviewers that his soul originated on Mars and that he walked the earth with the dinosaurs.  At this time, rock journalists have yet to refute either claim....

"96 Tears" was released as a single in 1966, and later added to their debut album. the oh so originally titled 96 Tears.  The song would hit #1 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and was ranked #213 on Rolling Stone's list of the five hundred greatest songs of all time.  The album peaked at #66.

While I am sure there are nuances to "96 Tears" that a layman such as myself doesn't see, what strikes me most is how simple the song is:  for the most part it's some of the catchiest organ playing in the history of music, simple repeated lyrics, and an incredible vocal performance by Question Mark wherein he delivers the song with bravado bordering on anger but never lets the anger overwhelm the singer's conviction that he'll have payback for his broken heart.  Question Mark sings in short bursts and with a number of vocal inflections that add just the right amount of playfulness.  I've noted a time or two here just how special it is when a group of musicians get together and create a once in a lifetime classic, and "96 Tears" is another case where a band stood on the shoulders of giants.

Lyric Sheet:  "You're way on top now since you left me/You're always laughing way down at me/But watch out now, I'm gonna get there..."

Enjoy:

Republican = Racist

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLXVI--The Modern Lovers: Roadrunner

A couple of years back I was browsing through our local library's music selection and came across a four CD collections called No Thanks! The 70's Punk Rebellion.  Featuring 100 songs by 75 different artists, the collection captured my fancy for the next year (highly recommend it).  Over the coming years (yes, years) numerous songs from the set will be featured here, but I chose this week's first because, frankly, over the last ten years I cannot think of a tune that I enjoyed more (the first year I heard it, it was my #1 most listened to song on Spotify)...and it was fitting that it was originally released about the time my musical adventures began because it reminded me of exactly why I've devoted so much of my life to those adventures.

There probably is one, but I can't think of another band that had the kind of influence The Modern Lovers did and yet only released one album.  Led by Jonathan Richman (the original incarnation also featured David Robinson who would go on to fame with the Cars, and Jerry Harrison who would eventually help to form The Talking Heads), the band began in 1970, recorded most of the songs that would make their history in 1971 and 1972, broke up in 1974, regrouped in 1976 (and released the album that contained the aforementioned songs from '71 and '72), and broke up for good in 1988.  The only constant in the band was Richman, who would go on to release 8 more albums as Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, and 17 solo albums, though Richman turned away from rock and roll and mostly performs folk music with acoustic instruments these days.  The band also released three live albums.  They are considered forerunners of the punk, new wave, alternative, and indie movements, and their songs have been covered by Iggy Pop, David Bowie, the Sex Pistols, and Joan Jett.  Oh, and they're from Massachusetts....

"Roadrunner" was released as a single in 1976 from their debut, and only, album, the ever so cleverly titled, The Modern Lovers.  While neither the single nor the album came anywhere near charting, "Roadrunner" ranked #274 (and should have been much higher) on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time, and the album was ranked #381 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time.

Fun Fact:  The Modern Lovers have another song on the above compilation called "Pablo Picasso" in which they rhyme "Picasso" with "asshole."  Why that gives me such glee is a wonder, but it is the little things in life sometimes, ain't it?

It's easy to forget that in the end, for all its merits, rock and roll is a lot of fun--and that's more or less the premise of "Roadrunner."  A paean to Massachusetts, rock and roll, and driving at night with the (AM) radio on, the song's exuberance is a celebration of enjoying the moment...with the radio on.  I've tried and tried to come up with an adjective for Richman's vocals, but the best I could do was droll...but it works so well within the song that that's all that really matters.  The song is also a tribue to the Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray" (Richman was heavily influenced by VU).  From Harrison's swirling keyboards, to the driving drums and the thunderous guitars, with Richman's witty repartee as he extols driving around Boston while listening to music, until he asks the band to join in and the band chants "Radio on!" around Richman's vocals you know you are in the midst of utter brilliance.  It's a lovingly strange song for a lovingly strange time (Richman reportedly wrote it 1970 at the age of 19--there ought to be a law outlawing greatness at the age of 19).  And to think I missed it for forty years--but believe you me, I've been making up for lost time ever since I first heard it.

Lyric Sheet:  "Roadrunner once/Roadrunner twice/I'm in love with rock and roll and I'll be out all night..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

D'oh

Not only out of touch, but also out of their minds

Candace Owens (whoever the fuck that is  conservative commentator) said this week on Fox News that young people love Donald Trump because he's punk rock.

You cannot make this shit up.

Leaving aside the fact that, thanks to Trump, young people are now breaking for Democrats by a 60-40 margin (which will eventually marginalize the republican party for decades), has anyone told Ms. Owens that the punk rock movement died out, oh, about forty years ago?  Besides, don't talentless twits (see also, Nugent, Ted and Rock, Kid) really have more conservative mojo?

Stand up comics should beware though--conservative commentators keep this shit up and we won't have any need for comedians anymore.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, CXC--Richard Hell and the Voidoids: Blank Generation

Spending my formative years stuck in the small, but completely uninteresting town of Kokomo, IN, didn't lend itself to discovering much of what was happening in the late 70's in New York in the way of music.  Still, I was lucky enough to enter the music business in the early eighties, and got caught up in a hurry--noting this week's tune on some now long forgotten compilation LP (located somewhere in the basement, I'm sure...), considered by some to be among the best that came out of the American punk movement.

Richard Hell was born Richard Meyers in Kentucky before moving to New York City in 1966.  There he'd join up with his best friend from high school, Tom Miller (eventually Tom Verlaine), and form the Neon Boys, which became the band Television, one of the first punk bands to play regularly at the infamous club, CBGB's.  Verlaine and Hell eventually went their separate ways over group control, and Hell would join up with New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders to form The Heartbreakers (not to be confused in any way shape or form with Tom Petty's back up band...)...in which Hell also did not last long as a member.  Finally in 1976 he formed Richard Hell and the Voidoids, had an acclaimed record in 1977, had a heroin problem, released a second record in 1982 which went nowhere, and basically called it a career in the music business.  Hell has stayed busy through the years writing a couple of novels as well as many non-fiction pieces, and performing one man shows.  Other band members had a bit of success as well:  guitarist Robert Quine would work with punk godfather Lou Reed on a number of his records in the 80's, and drummer Marc Bell went on to quite a bit of fame as one Marky Ramone, the only member of the Ramones to still be alive when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Fun Fact:  Richard Meyers changed his last name to Hell because he said it described his condition...which is probably a bit better than changing his last name to Jesuschristwereallyliveinafuckedupworld...

Released on their now classic LP entitled, appropriately enough, Blank Generation, the single "Blank Generation" was not a huge seller (though it was considered an underground hit, for whatever that's worth) and did not chart, surprisingly enough for 1977 America, on the Billboard charts.  It did, however, end up on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of the "...500 Songs That Shaped Rock."

Opening with a wicked in your face splash of guitar, "Blank Generation" continues apace for the next two minutes and forty-five seconds painting a somewhat nihilistic picture of life in America in the mid 1970's.  Hell's vocals are an abrupt mixture of arrogance, anger, and ennui, echoing the sentiments of a, to quote a phrase, generation lost in space, and all the while the band's guitars are slashing, the drums are bashing, and Hell's bass guitar adds a nice flourish here and there.  And lest I forget, the doo-wop influenced, yet oddly eerie "ooh--oohs" interspersed throughout the song are the piece de la resistance which make you know you are listening to a piece of pop music genius.  While "Blank Generation" may not be the best punk song ever written (though it's certainly among them), it's certainly the one that best captured the spirit of the punk movement--and its influence on punk artists such as Patti Smith, the Sex Pistols, and the Clash cannot be understated.  It's another in a long line of performers who managed to make a little magic before fading into obscurity.

Lyric Sheet:  "The nurse adjusted her garters as I breathed my first/ The doctor grabbed my throat and yelled, 'God's consolation prize!'..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee