Japanese Breakfast - Live ACL 2018-10-06

Today's entry is Japanese Breakfast (aka Michelle Zauner) which comes via a recent recommendation from Terry, which he described as a "sort of a cross of Bjork and 10,000 Maniacs".  She/they are coming to the Norva May 2, 2019; unfortunately I'll probably be out of town that day otherwise I'd make a point of catching this show. 

Terry's description is pretty accurate, with a strong, bright guitar sound that also reminds me a bit of "Damon and Naomi with Ghost".  The concert video he shared with me is from the Austin City Limits Festival, Oct. 6, 2018.

Lisa Loeb - "I Do" (forgotten song)

Danette and I saw Lisa Loeb at the Attucks Theatre on Friday.  Although we like her well enough, neither of us are huge fans, so we went to the show on a whim, not really knowing what to expect. She was solo, with only her acoustic guitar, and gave a very good show.

We learned a few things in the course of the evening.  First, Lisa is a good story teller, and especially entertaining was the backstory about how her song "Truthfully" was constructed for the soundtrack of "One Fine Day", only to be bounced out in favor of Shawn Colvin's cover of "Someone Like You".   Second, we had no idea that Loeb has had a prolific career writing children's music, including winning a 2018 Grammy in "Best Children's Album" for "Feel What U Feel".  She performed just a couple of children's songs for us, the most memorable of which was "Disappointing Pancake".

Of course she performed "Stay (I Missed You)", the song for which she's most well known.  But she closed her set with another hit single, "I Do", from 1997's LP "Firecracker".  We both remembered the song, but neither of us could remember the last time we heard it.

Lisa Loeb - "I Do"

Queen - "One Vision" (forgotten song)

We saw the Queen / Freddie Mercury biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" about two weeks ago.  I enjoyed it, even though Danette is a much bigger fan of Queen than I am.  I don't dislike them, and I certainly recognize their proficiency and importance, but they were never important to me.  Regardless, the movie was enjoyable and it motivates today's choice for a "forgotten song".

Even though the movie ends with Live Aid (1985) and thus did not cover the 1986 LP "A Kind of Magic" from which the single "One Vision" was released (it was also on the Iron Eagle soundtrack, if anyone still remembers that movie...).  "One Vision" received radio and MTV airplay at the time, but it's certainly not one of their better songs and has mostly faded from our collective musical radar...

So why choose this song?  Because I want to introduce you to Laibach, a band which was (is?) important to me (albeit for other portions of their canon).  What can I say about Laibach?  They're exactly what you'd think an Eastern European, martial, art-by-committee, collective would sound like.  It was never really clear if they were fascist or communist, or perhaps simultaneously both in defiant self-negation, but it was clear they were authoritarian.  I've never been sure if they're serious, or if they are just the Slovenian version of Devo and the Church of the SubGenius and it's just a long running inside joke that I lack the cultural context to process (in the same way the Chinese Government struggled to understand The Onion).

Regardless, I'm using their "cover" of "One Vision" as an opportunity to introduce them here.  Laibach occasionally did loose covers of popular Western songs, although whether they did them out of respect or disdain is not entirely clear either.  Their "cover" is appropriately renamed "Geburt einer Nation" ("birth of a nation"), and is from the 1987 "Opus Dei" LP.

Are they for real?  Or a performance art, musical version of the Colbert character?  Either way, they convey more middle-class shock than Queen ever did...

Queen - "One Vision"
Laibach - "Geburt einer Nation"


P.S. Both Freddie Mercury and "Eber" (a pseudonym; lead vocals for Laibach) are both sporting the same 70s pornstache...

Taylor Swift - "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (spotlight)

Earlier this week Taylor Swift came off the sidelines and endorsed a political candidate, something that she has not done in the past.  Given that a large percentage of her country music fan base is surely conservative, this is a significant act for her.  And she did not mince words either:

As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. 

 In other words, Taylor Swift just said to Marsha Blackburn and the GOP:

You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me
But we are never ever, ever, ever getting back together

Good for her; apparently she's had an impact.  I don't know if it will be enough, but the time to be coy about who and what you support is over.  Predictably, she's been added to the list of things the GOP doesn't like: LeBron James, the NFL, Ford Motor Company, Harley Davidson, Nike, Levi's, Willie Nelson, and now Taylor Swift.  And while America is more than the sum of various companies and celebrities, as the list grows longer one can't help but think that what the GOP really dislikes is, in fact, America. 

"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" is a single from her 2012 LP, "Red".

Taylor Swift - "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"

Bear Hands - "Giants" (forgotten song)

Last year we got married, and this year we had another significant life event: the joint purchase of our new home in Ghent, which partially inspired the choice of this year's birthday song.

"Giants" is a single from the 2013 Bear Hands LP "Distraction".  It received a moderate amount of airplay on 96X when it came out, although I'm not sure I've heard it on the radio recently.  I liked it immediately: it works the loud-soft-loud, with a frenetic hip hop structure followed with a slower chorus and meaty, early-80s guitar riff, lots of white noise and no negative space -- but I can't remember if Danette had strong feelings about it one way or another.  However, this is another installment in a list of songs that make me think about Danette, not necessarily a list of Danette's favorite songs.

The chorus is the obvious why it makes me think of Danette, with variations of:

I said I know you love me, I am loving you more
I am loving you more

And, a little more on the nose given our recent purchase:

Give you everything that I have ever owned
Soon I will have bought us up a house and home
Up on the seventh floor

Studying the lyrics and commentary a little more closely, there is school of thought that the song is actually about co-dependent junkies ("I've been awake for days in the dusk and the dawn"), but I'm just going to pretend I didn't read that.  Besides, the last several birthday songs have embraced more metaphorical connections; the song feels joyous and we're not going to let a possible Springsteen-esque dark undercurrent ruin the song.

The deciding factor for choosing this song is the video itself: a well-executed but presumably otherwise low budget affair that features the band members posing and what are likely their girl friends in a more celebratory mood.  The director visually conveys a youthful, hedonistic exuberance, and that's how I feel about Danette -- even if we're almost old enough to be the parents of the people in the video.

Bear Hands - "Giants"

Previous birthday songs:

2017: Alvvays - "Archie, Marry Me"
2016: Molly Hatchet - "Flirtin' With Disaster"
2015: Avett Brothers - "Kick Drum Heart"
2014: Ani DiFranco - "32 Flavors"
2013: The Green Pajamas - "Kim the Waitress"
2012: The Cure - "High"
2011: Blink 182 - "Josie"
2010:  Dead Milkmen - "Punk Rock Girl"

Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Saturday Night Special" (spotlight)

Ed King, one of the original guitarists for Lynyrd Skynyrd, died last month.  He appeared on their first three studio LPs, and then left the band in 1975 (he later returned in 1987 for the post-crash reboot of the band).  Although he is best known for writing the guitar riff Skynyrd's signature song "Sweet Home Alabama" (he's also the one counting off at the beginning of the song), I also recently learned a few things about him.  First, he was originally in Strawberry Alarm Clock -- yes, the same Strawberry Alarm Clock that gave us "Incense and Peppermints" (insert "Listen to the Flower People" Spinal Tap reference here), he grew up in California and was the only member of Skynyrd that was not from the South, and obviously did not have the shared high school experience with the band's namesake, Leonard Skinner.

I had considered marking his passing using "Sweet Home Alabama", and the band's relationship with Neil Young, which despite the name checking in the song was quite positive.  As I've already introduced, Danette and I are big fans of both the band and the genre, but SHA is not our favorite song of theirs.  One of the songs that we do love and never fail to crank up and sing along with in the car is "Saturday Night Special", for which Ed King does have a co-writing credit (and he might have the count off at the beginning of this song too?).  It's a great song and was the only single from their 1975 LP "Nuthin' Fancy".  It also has the distinction of being a member of a trilogy of great Lynyrd Skynyrd songs that violate the lyrical norms of the Southern rock genre: cautioning against substance abuse ("That Smell"), running away from a fight ("Gimme Three Steps"), and being unambiguously pro-gun control ("Saturday Night Special"):

Hand guns are made for killin'
They ain't no good for nothin' else
And if you like to drink your whiskey
You might even shoot yourself
So why don't we dump 'em people
To the bottom of the sea
Before some ol' fool come around here
Wanna shoot either you or me

I recommend, based on the strength of the outstanding guitar work in "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Saturday Night Special", we forgive Ed King for "Incense and Peppermints".

Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Saturday Night Special" (studio, live 1976-03-07).

Aretha Franklin - "Freeway Of Love" (forgotten song)

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, died today.  I'm not even an especially big fan of hers, but her impact is far too significant to ignore.  I'm not going to even to attempt to review her career -- spanning 60+ years, with over 100 charting singles, and 18 Grammys, her career speaks for itself.  I do count myself lucky to have seen her perform live once: Danette and I saw her at the Ferguson Center in Newport News in 2009. 

I will mark her passing with her 1985 single "Freeway of Love", from the LP "Who's Zoomin' Who?"  It's certainly not one of her classics, but it was her last #1 single and did result in her 12th Grammy.  It's a very 80s sounding song, and features Clarence Clemons (bonus Bruce reference -- he had a 1984 song called "Pink Cadillac").  And while you hear her classics all the time, I don't recall the last time I heard this song.

Aretha Franklin - "Freeway of Love": single edit, 12" "Rock Mix" (this version also features Dez Dickerson of The Revolution)

Grandmaster Flash - "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" (forgotten song)

This post goes out to Terry as well as Drew's wife, Lian.  Terry and Drew had a 30 year class reunion (they are class of 88, I'm class of 87) on August 4, and Terry noticed that later that night at the Boathouse in Newport News, very near the reunion hotel, Grandmaster Flash was giving a concert.  Not missing a chance for a complete 80s weekend, Terry organized a post-reunion sortie to see this hip hop legend.  I have to admit that before this show I did not realize he was still touring!  Thanks to Terry for setting this up.

This post also goes out to Lian because, owing to being a few years younger than us, she did not know who Grandmaster Flash is.  Of course, she was raised on classical music and show tunes and knows more about those genres than me, Terry and Drew put together, but, well... "Flash is fast, Flash is cool".  Once we had conveyed the cultural significance of the night's show she was as pumped as we were.

Flash did not disappoint.  The entire show was given in the style of a history lecture, with a backing video helping him convey the origins, history, geography, and key figures of hip hop and turntablism.  I was unable to find the backing video online but GMF's Youtube channel has several other items worth checking out, including this letter to Kool Herc.

Flash did elements of "The Message" in his set, and I'm pretty sure he did not do "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", but I'm including it here because 1) I remember when it came out in 1981, and 2) this single was notable because it featured only Flash and not the Furious Five (as did last week's show).  While "Wheels of Steel" might seem straight-forward today, it is hard to overstate its significance in mainstreaming the role of DJing and mixing.  Zoom in on the label pictured above and you can see the "Special Thanks" and the source material listed.  Some of those songs were on the same label (Sugar Hill Records), but the prohibition against sampling had yet to catch up with the state of the art.

I'm really glad I had the opportunity to see GMF, catch up with Terry and Drew again, and that Lian filled in a gap in her musical knowledge!

Grandmaster Flash - "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel"

Terry's text message about the August 4, 2018 show.

A still from one of Terry's videos.

Bonus link: The "Boathouse" in Newport News?!  It's a nice venue, but it's not the real Boathouse.

2019-07-27 update: Like the "real" Boathouse, the Newport New Boathouse is now closed.

The Interrupters - "She's Kerosene" (spotlight)

Today on 96X I heard the DJ talking about Ska, explicitly mentioning her fondness for The Specials and The Selecter.  After accusing 96X of being less alternative than they used to be, the mention of those two bands got my attention.  The DJ then described The Interrupters as carrying on that tradition, and proceeded to play "She's Kerosene".

And while the 90s had a Ska revival, The Interrupters appear to be more indebted in sound and aesthetic to 2 Tone Records of the late 70s / early 80s, which gave us The Specials, The Selecter, Madness, The English Beat, etc. 

The Interrupters have been active since 2011, and "She's Kerosene" is from their 2018 LP "Fight the Good Fight". Billboard has a nice interview about their "breakout hit", two days before they were featured on the Jimmy Kimmel show.  Sounds like another overnight success, 7+ years in the making...

Other tracks on their Youtube Channel make it clear the debt Aimee Interrupter owes to both Joan Jett and Joe Strummer, but I'll feature "She's Kerosene" here since 96X was kind enough feature a song that fits my definition of alternative: 80s alternative music, with updated production... 

"She's Kerosene": official video, live on Jimmy Kimmel 2018-07-27

Peaches - Live KEXP 2015-10-07

I'm about two weeks late for Pride Month and about six weeks late for the Samantha Bee controversy, but today I address both, via a live in the KEXP studio three song set by Peaches, aka Merrill Beth Nisker.

Why?

1. Peaches is awesome, and her entire canon is a wickedly-clever blend of feminist, LGBTQ, and social commentary.  Even though you've probably never heard of her, a scan of her guest appearances and remixes will establish her alt-cred. 

2. The Peaches song "Boys Wanna Be Her" is used as the theme song for Samantha Bee's TV show "Full Frontal".  Samantha Bee is also awesome, wickedly clever, fierce, and... I don't think she should have apologized.  One word should not distract us from the larger message, but I suppose this leaves us with the other "c-word".  

Velocity Girl - "Sorry Again" (forgotten song)

I already mentioned "Sorry Again" in passing in my review of Velocity Girl's self-titled 1993 EP, but I was recently reminded how much I love this song when it recently came up in my iTunes session the other day.  As the only single of their 1994 LP "¡Simpatico!", this actually received limited airplay locally in the mid-90s but I don't think I've heard it on the radio in 20+ years.  That's too bad because it's an amazing alt-power-pop song as well as a great aural mid-90s time capsule.  And the outfits in the video -- was 1994 really that long ago?! 

Eventually I should review the entire LP, and although it's solid, nothing else on it matches the magic of "Sorry Again".  For me, this song is like "Cruel to be kind" and "Jessie's Girl" -- I can play them 10+ times in a row without getting tired of them.

Velocity Girl - "Sorry Again"

Sun Mahshene - "Drones That Don't Kill" (LP review)

A year ago yesterday, Terry, Drew, and several other of us saw the Irish band Sun Mahshene at a bar in Dublin, Ireland.  We were there for Terry's bachelor party and Terry had researched where we could catch some live music close to where we were staying.  We listened to some of their stuff on Youtube and decided to arrange our schedule so we could catch them performing that Saturday.  They put on a great show and we were able to purchase one of their last copies they had with them that evening of their 2016 EP "Drones That Don't Kill".

Their web site describes their sound as:

Lead by Nathan Henderson, Sun Mahshene is a collective of musicians from Dublin Ireland. Their melodic hooks mixed with fuzz and grit delivers a sonic wall of sound.

This brings up a recent conversation Danette and I had last week: I stated that I thought 96X was no longer as alternative as they used to be, to which Danette countered that perhaps the definition of alternative had changed.  I thought about it some and decided that probably at least part of it, because I prefer my "alternative" to stick mostly to modern interpretations of 80s and early 90s alternative music.  Sun Mahshene certainly does that: a shoegazing sound with heavy influences from "Darklands"-era The Jesus and Mary Chain and "Bad Moon Rising"-era Sonic Youth.  So, yeah, it's new music, but there is a clear line of sight back to what for me (and presumably for Danette, Terry, Drew, et al. as well) is real alternative music; the aural equivalent of what we in the car world call "new old stock" (see also the video for "No Control", which is reminiscent of Terry's light shows back in the day...).

The streaming EP has four tracks, but the CD has a hidden fifth track ("I Love You").  It's just a few bucks and it would be a great addition to your collection.  And keeping with the theme of this post, I'm happy to have the actual CD in my collection.

Standout songs: "No Control", "In the End" (with a great guest vocal from Lydia Des Dolles that would make Hope Sandoval proud), "You", "I Love You" (hidden track)

Skip 'em songs: n/a

Final score: 7/10

Bonus links: Review on Primal Music, Review on GoldenPlec

Bonus pic:

May 27, 2017, at the correct bar (Sin é, IIRC), but after the band was done -- who thought to take a pic of Sun Mahshene performing?

Update (bonus bonus pic): Drew sent me this image and "reminded" me that he was smart enough to take a pic of the band performing...

Boogie Down Productions - "Love's Gonna Get'cha (Material Love)" (forgotten song)

It's been a while since I've discussed BDP / KRS-One, and the 1990 single "Love's Gonna Get'cha (Material Love)", from their LP "Edutainment", is a good opportunity to pull together a variety of threads.

First, I like songs that tell a story, and KRS-One is an excellent storyteller.  In this song, KRS-One tells of a teenager's progression into criminality in order to provide for his family:

The very next day while I'm off to class
My moms goes to work cold busting her ass
My sister's cute but she got no gear
I got three pairs of pants and with my brother I share
See there in school see I'm made a fool
With one and a half pair of pants you ain't cool
But there's no dollars for nothing else
I got beans, rice, and bread on my shelf
...
So here comes Rob his gold is shimmery
He gives me two hundred for a quick delivery,
I do it once, I do it twice,
Now there's steak with the beans and rice,
My mother's nervous but she knows the deal,
My sister's gear now has sex appeal,
My brother's my partner and we're getting paper,
Three months later we run our own caper,
My family's happy everything is new,
Now tell me what the fuck am I supposed to do

Second, I recently finished Trevor Noah's "Born a Crime", part autobiography and part biography of Trevor's mother and growing up in South Africa with apartheid and subsequent poverty.  This passage (p. 209) about his post-high school hustling in Alex struck me as similar to the story that KRS-One tells:

One of the first things I learned in the hood is that there is a very fine line between civilian and criminal.  We like to believe we live in a world of good guys and bad guys, and in the suburbs it's easy to believe that, because getting to know a career criminal in the suburbs is a difficult thing.  But you go to the hood and you see there are so many shades in between.  ... In the hood, even if you're not a hardcore criminal, crime is in your life in some way or another.  There are degrees of it.  It's everyone from the mom buying some food that fell off the back of a truck to feed her family, all the way up to the gangs selling military-grade weapons and hardware. 

Third, for some reason the BDP Youtube Vevo channel seems to have removed the official video (4:52 radio edit); in fact all the bookmarked URLs come back with a copyright violation takedown notice (example 1, example 2).  But since this was a popular video, there are correctly archived versions in the Internet Archive.  For reasons I don't understand, the 6:39 LP version is still available on the official Youtube channel.

So there you go: a great storytelling song from some 27 years ago, with a connection to a book I recently finished, and I was able to use web archives to resurrect the original video (with its charming, community theater production feel).

Boogie Down Productions - "Love's Gonna Get'cha (Material Love)" official video / radio edit, LP version

2020-07-23 update: The archived version no longer works (!), but I found another version on the live web.  

Opal - Rimini, Italy 1988-03-26 (concert)

I uncovered this gem just yesterday, almost 30 years to the day from when it was recorded.  I already reviewed "Happy Nightmare Baby", where I briefly mentioned that Opal continued for a while with Hope Sandoval in place of Kendra Smith before transitioning to Mazzy Star.  I had found a handful of mp3s online from the Hope/Opal era, but this is the first full concert video had I found. The video quality is not great, but considering this was an underground band in a small club 30 years ago, well you just have to be happy that you have something at all.

As mentioned in my "HNB" review, while Opal is similar in style to Mazzy Star they still had not developed the more lazy, acoustic sound that would become more prevalent in the Mazzy Star catalog.  That plus the fact that it is a live recording, the sound is heavy and sometimes harsh and thus casual Mazzy Star fans will not particularly enjoy it.  I had previously mentioned that Opal's sound could be "triangulated between The Doors, The Velvet Underground, and Black Sabbath".  Here, they make those influences explicit with  consecutive covers of "Indian Summer" by the Doors (which appeared on "Early Recordings") and "Heroin" by VU.

The set list is interesting in that it includes many songs from "HNB", including my favorites "Rocket Machine", "Magick Power", "Happy Nightmare Baby", and the indomitable "Soul Giver".  I think "Indian Summer" is the only song from "Early Recordings" or the bootleg "Early Recordings Vol. 2".  Other songs include: "Ghost Highway" and "Blue Flower" would show up on "She Hangs Brightly", a cover of "Killing Moon" (Echo and the Bunnymen), a cover of "Soon Be Home" (The Who), and a couple of other songs I can't place.  At least one song, "Where did you run to", is from Hope's high school band, Going Home, with Sylvia Gomez.

And since it's still Women's History Month, I should acknowledge not only Hope Sandoval, but also Suki Ewers (playing keyboards in the screenshot above), who has been a multi-instrumentalist in Opal, Mazzy Star, and the Warm Inventions (in addition to a solo career).  With the death of drummer Keith Mitchell last year, Suki is the only member, outside of the core of David Roback & Hope Sandoval, who can trace her involvement back to Opal and the late 80s.

Opal, live in Italy, 1988-03-26

Tanya Donnelly - "Heart of Gold" (the song remains the same)

One of my favorite LPs is the 2008 Neil Young tribute LP "Cinnamon Girl", which consists entirely of covers of Neil Young songs by female artists.  I'll eventually get around to reviewing the entire LP, but for the moment we'll continue Women's History Month with the advance single from the LP: Tanya Donnelly covering "Heart of Gold" on the A-side, and LUFF covering "Tell Me Why" on the B-side.

Tanya Donelly is on the A-side because she is an alt-rock icon, having been in Throwing Muses, The Breeders, and Belly, in addition to her solo career.  That's quite a resume, and she deserves to be the featured artist.  She turns in a really good version of one Neil Young's most popular -- and one of my favorite -- songs.

But the real surprise of this single (and indeed, the entire LP) is LUFF's cover of "Tell Me Why".  Whereas Tanya and most of the other artists on the LP stay pretty close in style to the originals, LUFF gives a mesmerizing, shoegazing version of a more obscure song.  I did not know of LUFF prior to this LP and I'm not 100% sure they're still active, but I intend to explore more of their (limited) discography.

Tanya Donelly - "Heart of Gold"
LUFF - "Tell Me Why"

Neil Young - "Heart of Gold", "Tell Me Why"
CSNY - "Tell Me Why"

Sonic Youth - "Kool Thing" (forgotten song)

I realized recently that so far my discussion of Kim Gordon and Sonic Youth here were mostly in the context of the Kim / Thurston split ("Diamond Sea", "Girl in a Band").  Women's History Month is a good excuse to fix that and to remind everyone why Kim is the Lemmy of alt/college rock.

I certainly knew about Sonic Youth prior to "Goo", their 1990 major label release, but just through coincidence of timing this was the first LP of theirs that I bought and really embraced.  "Kool Thing" was the first single off the LP and is certainly more accessible than their previous work.  At the time I enjoyed it as a great song, but it wasn't until much later that I learned the back story that it is about a 1989 article in Spin Magazine where Kim interviewed LL Cool J and the resulting cultural chasm between them, part of which is attributable to not finding space for feminism in the machismo of LL's style of hip-hop (e.g., "The guy has to have control over his woman").

Of course, the video and song are filled with many clever LL "Kool" J references (e.g., "walking like a panther", "I don't think so", "let me play with your radio"), and even briefly features Chuck D  (I always felt he was significantly underutilized in this song, but to be fair the story goes theirs was an unplanned, serendipitous collaboration resulting from Public Enemy being in a nearby studio).

Enough about the back story -- there's a good "official" video and many live versions available, but this 1993 live version is a good reminder of when and why Kim (and Thurston) were the queen (and king) of the scene...

"Fear of a female planet"
Sonic Youth - "Kool Thing": live 1993, official video

LL Cool J - "Going Back to Cali" (from which the official "Kool Thing" video borrows)

Joan Jett - "Bad Reputation" (forgotten song)

In my previous post I mentioned Pat Benatar being the most prominent female AOR rock stars of the late 70s / early 80s, and while that's probably true, I would be remiss to not mention Joan Jett as well.  Her big breakthrough came in 1982 with the single "I love Rock-n-Roll", from the LP of the same name.  Despite a lengthy and successful career, that song is still probably her most popular.   And while I can't say I dislike it, I never really liked it that much either.  I get the whole feminist reclamation of a cock rock song (the original version was released in 1976 by Arrows, and it's kinda stupid*, even for a boom-boom-chop song), but I can't get past "meh". 

The song that should be her most popular is her auto-biographical, pop-punk anthem "Bad Reputation".  The story behind this song and video is a little bit complicated: she released a self-funded, self-titled LP in 1980.  In 1981, the same LP was reissued by Boardwalk Records, but this time the title was changed to "Bad Reputation", with the same cover art and only mild reshuffling of tracks.  The song "Bad Reputation" was first the b-side to the "Jezebel" single from the LP "Joan Jett", and then it was later released as an a-side single from "Bad Reputation".

After the success of "I Love Rock-n-Roll", she made a video for "Bad Reputation" in 1982 and the subject of the video is her ultimate triumph over the record labels that had nothing to do with her first LP, due in part because of her "bad reputation" as a former member of the Runaways.  I remember Bill Glidden had both "Bad Reputation" and "I Love Rock-n-Roll", and presumably I still have a copy of both on a cassette somewhere.

Anyway, much respect for Joan Jett and her setting the template for riot grrrls to follow.  She did not  soften her sound like Pat Benatar, nor did she tart it up like fellow former-Runaway Lita Ford, instead opting for a timeless "Joan Ramone" look.  For someone that made her career on smart choices for cover songs, this original should be the canonical Joan Jett song -- it's still awesome some 37+ years later...

Joan Jett - "Bad Reputation"




* Perhaps I can't get over its self-referential nature; I harbor a special distaste for rock-n-roll songs that are "about" rock-n-roll, but that's a topic for another time...

Pat Benatar - "Precious Time" (forgotten song)

For my next post in recognition of Women's History Month, let's go back to 1981 and the title track from Pat Benatar's third LP, "Precious Time".  It was not released as a single and as such, I don't recall it getting radio airplay at the time.  But it did have a video that was played on MTV a good bit at the time, and at 5:29 for the video (6:03 on the LP) it might have been a bit too long for a typical radio single.

I always liked Pat Benatar, but she was particularly important for Danette while growing up.  Pat Benatar certainly wasn't the first female rocker but she arguably was the most prominent in the US during the late 70s / early 80s, and as such served as a role model for Danette in an otherwise male-dominated genre.  Unfortunately, this is the last Pat Benatar LP that rawks...  starting in 1982 she married her guitarist, Neil Giraldo, swapped her second guitarist for a keyboardist, and shortly afterwards started a family; the sum total of which might have been good for her personally but it took a toll on her music.  I liked a lot of her songs that followed, but they no longer rawked.

We saw Pat Benatar at the NorVa (was it really 10 years ago?) and she gave a great show, and we'd definitely see her again if given the chance.  In the meantime, enjoy the slow heaviness of "Precious Time", the last heavy song she released before happiness, children, and keyboards arrived at the Benatar / Giraldo household.

Pat Benatar - "Precious Time"

False Sacrament - "That One" (forgotten song)

For reasons I can't quite remember earlier this week I started thinking about False Sacrament, a local band from the late 80s -- early 90s.  Perhaps it was because my previous review was about jazz fusionist Allan Holdsworth giving a slight nod to metal, and you could say that False Sacrament was a metal band giving a hat tip to jazz.  There's not a lot of information about them online, but after texting with Gregg, Scott, Terry and others, plus some Internet sleuthing, I was able to piece together a little bit of history about this band.

They featured Wendy Niles on vocals & clarinet (!), Danny Frazier on drums, Steve DiFazio on bass (who Gregg says he's still in contact with), and Thel Dominici on guitar.  Wendy, Danny, and Steve were all from Denbigh High School, class of 88 (none of whom I knew, but see my previous post on Tone Deaf and other DHS alumni), and Thel went to high school in Va Beach.  I thought I saw False Sacrament at the Denbigh Jam, but Terry assures me that never happened.  I did see them with Terry at in Norfolk, ca. 1990 or 1991, and it was probably at the (in)famous and now defunct Kings Head Inn but I'm not 100% sure about the location.  Some time around 1992 False Sacrament had moved out to San Francisco to further their career, though they toured all over.  One of the places they toured was Terry's house on Old South High at JMU (previously mentioned in my House of Freaks post), as evidenced by this cool concert flyer that I lifted from Terry's page (and his Corn Rocket video might be from the same show; Terry says Thel went to HS with the guitarist from Corn Rocket).

Why am I featuring their song "That One"?  Well, I found a video of them playing that song (or at least I'm pretty sure that's the song) at what looks to be a record store in California on 1992-07-26 (the source of the screen grab at the top).  I could only find one more concert video from them (at "Photon" in Va Beach from 90 or 91, where I'm sure I played laser tag but I don't recall seeing bands there), but the quality of that video is not great.  Audience/amateur recordings from ~30 years ago are rare (video recorders were $$$), so we're lucky to have the two we have...

Terry says he has their split 10" EP with Schlong, and Scott said he received their 1991 demo tape for his radio show at Elon.  The demo tape in particular holds up well -- heavy, intricate, challenging... and clearly not commercially viable.  Unfortunately, False Sacrament sounds nothing like the Seattle Sound that was about to steamroll the alternative music scene.  If forced to make a reference, maybe a funk-less 24-7 Spyz?  To which you say "who?" and I say "exactly." Or perhaps pre-Rollins Black Flag. 

On the two live recordings, Wendy isn't playing clarinet but you'll find it in the demo tape and other studio materials.  And since Wendy and her clarinet were a big part of their sound, I'm using this post to kick off Women's History Month, where I feature artists / bands with females in prominent roles.

That's the best I can do to reconstruct the history of False Sacrament.  Thanks to Terry, Scott, and Gregg for helping me pull this together, and if anyone else can help fill in the blanks please let me know.

False Sacrament - "That One" (live 1992-07-26), "Cosmic Enchantment" (90/91), 1991 Demo Tape, 10" Split EP,  "Paradigm" 7".  The only entry in discogs that I could not find was their 1993 self-titled LP.


Bonus link: I found the video "Baby Farm - False Sacrament Party 1991", but as far as I can tell it only features Baby Farm (another Hampton Roads band from the same time frame). 

Allan Holdsworth - "Metal Fatigue" (LP Review)

Although it was nearly a year ago, I only just recently learned that Allan Holdsworth died.  You probably haven't heard of him, but he was a guitar players' guitar player, venerated by  Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, et al.

The only reason I know of him was because his LP "Metal Fatigue" was reviewed in metal fanzine Kick*Ass Monthly* shortly after it came out in 1985.  I recall Bob Muldowney saying in his review something to the effect of "I don't really understand this LP or why I was asked to review it."  For whatever reason, Holdsworth had switched to Enigma Records, which primarily had metal bands, and this LP was sent for review to KAM.  I was in search of the next "Rising Force", so despite the cautionary review I ordered this LP from Slipped Disc.  For the first 25 seconds I thought I had found the next "Rising Force", but then at 0:26 it became clear that this was jazz fusion, or perhaps what fusionists think a metal LP should sound like. 

But I didn't dislike it, and it stayed in low rotation; it even grew on me enough that in college (I think?) I picked up his 1982 LP "I.O.U.".  Then I got his 1986 LP "Atavachron", where he fully embraced the "SynthAxe", and my revulsion was so strong that my Holdsworth period was mostly done (think Eddie Van Halen switching to keyboards on "1984", but much, much worse). 

My musical horizons were expanding by the time I hit college and I became more knowledgeable and appreciative of jazz.  But this LP still occupies a weird place in between metal and jazz.  I won't go so far as to say it's a necessary LP, but it's certainly a good LP that nicely showcases Allan's challenging style, even if it sounds like it was written for fellow guitarists instead of regular listeners.  I should revisit his extensive discography and forgive him for his SynthAxe dalliance. 

Standout songs: "Metal Fatigue", "Home"  (full LP)
Skip 'em songs: "In the Mystery"
Final score: 6/10


* See my "Haunting The Chapel" review for a note about Bob Muldowney and Kick*Ass Monthly.  

Prince - "I Would Die 4 U" (spotlight)

Super Bowl LII has come and gone and it was quite a good game, especially since I did not care who won.  Justin Timberlake was the halftime show, and reviews appeared to be mixed (e.g., "This is how Justin Timberlake lost the Super Bowl" vs. "Halftime Review: Justin Timberlake Emerges Fumble-Free After Bad Pre-Game PR").  I'm ambivalent about Justin Timberlake: he's funny on SNL, and he brought sexy back and for that I'm grateful, but otherwise I don't care that much; his performance seemed fine to me but I had set the bar pretty low.

For me, the truly interesting part of the halftime show was JT's tribute to Prince (presumably because the Super Bowl was in Minneapolis?) and the controversy leading up to the event.  Apparently the plan was to "recreate" Prince via a hologram (similar to that used for Maria Callas and Roy Orbison), a technique that Prince had previously called "demonic".  The hologram idea was eventually scrapped courtesy of Sheila E.'s advice, and instead we were treated to Prince singing ""I Would Die 4 U" via old Purple Rain* footage projected on what looked like a giant bed sheet.  Apparently that still upset some Prince fans; I can only assume they destroyed their DVDs (VHSes?) of "Purple Rain" on April 21, 2016.

Prince - "I Would Die 4 U" 




* Ok, technically it was footage from both "Purple Rain" and "Prince and the Revolution Live!", but while you've likely seen "Purple Rain" a dozen or more times, have you actually seen the latter concert film?

Iron Maiden - "2 Minutes to Midnight" (forgotten song)

A State of the Union special...

Last week the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists advanced the Doomsday Clock by 30 seconds to 2 minutes to midnight.  The Doomsday Clock is a symbol, created in 1947 by the Science and the Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist at the beginning of the Cold War, of our proximity to human-made apocalyptic disaster, most notably nuclear war. 

In 1984 Iron Maiden released "2 Minutes to Midnight", a single from "Powerslave", about the Doomsday Clock.  Interestingly enough in 1984 when the song was released the clock was set "only" to 3 minutes; the Clock has only been at 2 minutes once before (1953) and never closer than 2 minutes.

Hearkening back to my discussion with Drew about how themes from 80s metal songs are sadly relevant again, choosing "2 Minutes to Midnight" is a little on the nose but it also seems unavoidable.

"As the madmen play on words and make us all dance to their song
To the tune of starving millions to make a better kind of gun"

Iron Maiden - "2 Minutes to Midnight" (lyrics)

Motorhead - "(We Are) The Road Crew" (forgotten song)

"Fast Eddie" Clarke, the last living member from the "classic lineup" of Motorhead, died this week.  Lemmy died just over two years ago, and although I missed it at the time, Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor died six weeks before Lemmy.

Motorhead went through many lineups, with Lemmy as the only constant member, but Clarke and Taylor were there for the first five studio LPs, and various live LPs, EPs, and singles.  Clarke would go on to leave Motorhead in 1982, forming the mildly successful but otherwise forgettable band Fastway with some other NWOBHM veterans.  Let's be honest: leaving Motorhead might extend your life expectancy, but musically things aren't going to improve. 

Of all the great songs from the classic lineup my favorite is probably "(We Are) The Road Crew", which I've already referenced in my "No Sleep till Brooklyn" post.  The studio version is great, of course, but the version I'm featuring here is from a 2005 BBC "Classic Albums" documentary where Clarke, Lemmy, and Taylor got back together and ran through songs from the "Ace of Spades" LP after not playing together in 20+ years.  This version is instrumental only, so the focus is on Clarke's solos instead of Lemmy singing.  The tempo is also slightly faster than the original, and it just plain kills.

"(We Are) The Road Crew": 2005 BBC version, 1980 studio version




Bonus link for "Fast Eddie": I have a vague memory of a Fastway video from the early days of MTV; I think it was "Say What You Will", but I can't find an actual video for it.  And I might be wrong about which song it was, but it doesn't really matter since they're all deservedly overlooked (admittedly "Say What You Will" has a nice, bluesy riff, but I just can't warm up to Dave King singing metal).