The Ramones - Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? (forgotten song)

"This is rock 'n' roll radio. C'mon let's rock 'n' roll with the Ramones." You're not a Ramones fan if that phrase doesn't make you start pounding out a beat...

The first single from the 1980 LP "End of the Century", I remember this video getting some rotation on MTV but I don't recall much, if any, airplay on the radio (most stations seem to think the Ramones recorded only one song).

"End of the Century" was recorded with Phil Spector as producer. This change in sound alienated some fans, and the sessions were exhausting if not outright dangerous. I realize Spector is a murderer and a complete nut job, but I'd be lying if I said I did not love his Wall of Sound -- even with the Ramones, and even with The Beatles.

Some things that not a lot of people realize about the Ramones:

1. They set the template for punk, not the Pistols.

2. They were a reaction to the perceived excesses of 60s psychedelic rock, 70s prog rock, disco, etc. No fusion jams and no Tolkien lyrics.

3. They were heavily influenced by the sounds of late 50s and early 60s, including girl groups, The Beach Boys, etc. Sure, they played louder and faster than the originals, but they were basically pop songs.

"Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" made explicit all of their influences, most of which predate me so links are provided:

Rock 'n, rock 'n' roll radio Let's go
Rock 'n, rock 'n' roll radio Let's go
Rock 'n, rock 'n' roll radio Let's go
Rock 'n, rock 'n' roll radio Let's go

Do you remember Hullabaloo,
Upbeat, Shindig! and Ed Sullivan too?
Do you remember rock 'n' roll radio?
Do you remember rock 'n' roll radio?

Do you remember Murray the K,
Alan Freed, and High Energy?*
It's the end, the end of the 70s
It's the end, the end of the century

Do you remember lying in bed
With your covers pulled up over your head?
Radio playin' so no one can see
We need change, we need it fast
Before rock's just part of the past
'Cause lately it all sounds the same to me
Whoa whoa, oh oh

Will you remember Jerry Lee,
John Lennon, T. Rex and Ol' Moulty?
It's the end, the end of the 70s
It's the end, the end of the century

You won't find a better, more loving tribute to the era.

Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio: studio version; live version (for those who prefer their Ramones Spector-less).

"This is rock 'n' roll radio. Stay tuned for more rock 'n' roll."


Bonus link: 7" B-side "I Want You Around"


* = Presumably "High Energy" was a radio program of the 50s/60s. Link suggestions are appreciated.

The Dead Milkmen - "Punk Rock Girl" (forgotten song)

For Danette's birthday: "Punk Rock Girl"... the single from The Dead Milkmen's 1988 LP "Beelzebubba". You'd be hard pressed to find a band more consistently clever and funny than The Dead Milkmen. The song and video form a wry, 1980's time capsule that celebrates and vilifies, as appropriate, the cool part of town vs. mall culture, Mojo Nixon, Poison, Sonny Bono, The Beach Boys (who neither wrote nor performed "California Dreamin'"), Minnie Pearl, and music video lip syncing (0:40 -- 0:47). In addition, it features an accordion and the world's worst guitar solo (1:37 - 1:53) -- what more could you ask for?

I didn't know Danette in 1988, but if I had, I'm sure I would have said:

...
Punk rock girl
You look so wild
Punk rock girl
Let's have a child
We'll name her Minnie Pearl
Just you and me
Eat fudge banana swirl
Just you and me
We'll travel round the world
Just you and me
Punk rock girl

Punk Rock Girl: YouTube.

Bob Marley and the Wailers - "Redemption Song" (the song remains the same)

In the mid- to late-80s it was de riguer for every high school bedroom or college dorm room to have a Bob Marley and The Wailers poster (the image used on the LP "Legend"); you couldn't be alternative without it. So I'll consider the background on Marley as read since there's nothing I can add to it.

"Redemption Song" is the last song on 1980's "Uprising", the final studio LP from Bob Marley and The Wailers. With the possible exception of "No Woman No Cry", "Redemption Song" is probably my favorite BMATW song. The 7" version of "Redemption Song" had both the acoustic version (from "Uprising") as well as "band version" with The Wailers.

There are dozens of covers of "Redemption Song"; I won't even try to list them all. When Joe Strummer covered it on his 2003 LP "Streetcore", there was only one way to improve on it: a duet with Joe Strummer and Johnny Cash, from the 2003 posthumously released box set "Unearthed". Once again, you have to hand it to Rick Rubin for putting this together (see also: my review of "God's Gonna Cut You Down"). Honestly, does it get any better than Joe Stummer & Johnny Cash covering a Bob Marley song?

Bob Marley (acoustic solo): YouTube. This is closest to the version you're used to.

Bob Marley and The Wailers: YouTube.

Joe Strummer: YouTube.

Johnny Cash & Joe Strummer: YouTube.

(This is an obvious companion to my review for "Streetcore", but I felt it deserved its own entry.)

Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - "Streetcore" (LP Review)

I have to confess that I knew little about Joe Strummer's career after The Clash until I saw the documentary "Let's Rock Again!". Despite the somewhat silly title, it is a quite good description of the modest circumstance of Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros on tour promoting their second LP, 2001's "Global A Go-Go". Sometime after seeing LRA, I also saw the documentary "Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten". Apparently I'm not the only one that wasn't clear what he had been up to: even strummernews.com refers to the period between The Clash and The Mescaleros as "The Wilderness Years".

I liked what I heard in those documentaries, so I bought "Streetcore", which was posthumously released in 2003. I'm trying to review this LP without both the nostalgia regarding Strummer's untimely death in 2002, and my own continuing appreciation for The Clash, whom (much like Joy Division) I understand and appreciate far more now than "back in the day".

So with every attempt to be objective, I can honestly say this is an excellent LP. Not just a collection of excellent songs, what I appreciate most is this LP sounds exactly like what an LP by a 50 year-old Joe Strummer should sound like. I'll try to describe what that means, and we'll see if Lee agrees with me...

Strummer was in his mid-20s when the seminal double LP "London Calling" was recorded, and its sound captures the righteous indignation of a young punk. On "Streetcore", Strummer doesn't try to sound like the angry, street preacher of his youth and The Mescaleros don't try to be "the only band that matters". On the other hand, the fire is still there: he's still angry and he hasn't given up the fight, but he's tempered with age, experience, wisdom, and perspective. He doesn't deny his origins either; for example, the song "Burnin' Streets" slyly incorporates the lyrics "London is burning", but without the urgency of The Clash song "London's Burning". In summary, "Streetcore" gives us a version of Joe Strummer that is like aged leather.

This LP was assembled after Strummer's death, so there is a mixture of producers (e.g., Rick Rubin is the producer of the cover of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song"), and the song "Midnight Jam" was unfinished when Strummer died so instead of vocals it features samples of Strummer's BBC radio show. As a result, "Midnight Jam" sounds a bit like "Death is a Star" from "Combat Rock". And as the name The Mescaleros suggests, there is a definite Tex-Mex sound on some songs, esp. "Coma Girl", "Get Down Moses" and "Long Shadow". They're mostly known for their world music influences, but it sounds more like punk-influenced rockabilly to me. The only song that doesn't work for me is "Arms Aloft".

It is tempting to rate this more highly than it deserves because it is Strummer's last LP. However, even if he was alive and still recording, this would still be an important LP that serves as a blueprint for aging rockers yearning to remain relevant. It reminds me of the scenes in "Let's Rock Again!" where Strummer is promoting his upcoming concert, talking to people on the boardwalk and then later to a DJ at a local radio station. He seems to take it all in stride, but the viewer is left to think "dude, you're talking to Joe F'n Strummer, and you don't even realize it..." It is unfortunate that this LP is not more well-known.

Standout songs: "Coma Girl", "Get Down Moses", "Long Shadow", "Ramshackle Day Parade", "Redemption Song", "All in a Day", "Midnight Jam", "Silver and Gold".

Skip 'em songs: "Arms Aloft".

Final score: 9/10.

The Cribs - "I'm A Realist" (LP Review)

This is an odd sort of EP from The Cribs: I think it only exists for the public in digital form, although I've found some evidence on ebay that it also exists (under a different cover) as a promo-only 4 track EP (the discogs.com entry seems to support this theory as well).

In my quest to acquire the back catalog of The Cribs (see my other reviews), I tried to find a CD version of this EP. Failing in that, I broke down and bought it on iTunes, which I have to confess is very unsatisfying. Yes, I understand that I'm something of a fossil by continuing to buy hard-copy formats of music, but 1) the collector in me isn't satisfied if there isn't a physical manifestation, and 2) my professional interests in digital preservation make me more optimistic about the long-term viability of CDs over my iTunes library.

Should you buy this EP online? Or hunt up a promo version on ebay? The short answer is "yes". It is mostly a collection of songs that have appeared in other releases, but some of them have been difficult to get and/or have only been in 7" vinyl. And if you're a hard-core collector, then promo-only releases are gems in your collection (for example, I'm proud to have a copy of DJ Shadow's "One to Grow On" promo-only LP).

The title track is the final single from 2007's "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever" LP. It's not a bad song, but it certainly wasn't a standout track from the LP. This EP also contains a remix of "I'm A Realist" from The Postal Service, which I believe is the only track on this EP you can't find elsewhere. I'm a big fan of Jimmy Taborello (1/2 of TPS; see also my review of "Dumb Luck"), and while I really like the idea of a TPS remix of a song by The Cribs, I can't say it works that well. It is "interesting", and it sounds exactly like what a TPS remix should sound like, and while I'm happy to have it as a collector I don't really play it all that often.

However, the other two tracks on the EP I play all the time. "Don't You Wanna Be Relevant" and "Kind Words From the Broken Hearted" first appeared as a 7" non-LP single in 2007 after the release of MNWNW. "Don't You Wanna Be Relevant" is a blistering continuation of their previous songs like "Hey Scenesters" and "Mirror Kissers"; conventional wisdom says The Pigeon Detectives are the target of the band's wrath in this song. No one can do sneer and snarky like The Cribs.

"Kind Words From the Broken Hearted" would sound at home on either of their first LPs. This is in part because it was produced by Edwyn Collins (who also produced "The New Fellas") after his recovery from illness. There should be a law that requires Collins to produce every LP by The Cribs -- they simply don't miss when they get together.

The digital-only version closes with a video for "Our Bovine Public" from MNWMW. Not new material, but an excellent song and the video draws heavily from the DVD set "Live At The Brudenell Social Club".

Standout songs: "Don't You Wanna Be Relevant" (live version), "Kind Words From the Broken Hearted" (live version), "Our Bovine Public" (live version, Jools Holland).

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 8/10, on the strength of "DYWBR" and "KWFTBH" and being the last release of the pre-Johnny Marr era.

Bonus Links: "I'm A Realist" (live version on Jools Holland; last.fm live version w/ Johnny Marr), "I'm A Realist (The Postal Service Remix)" -- these aren't good enough to be "standout", but they're not really "skip 'em" either.

Bonus Links #2: The B-side of the original 7" of "I'm A Realist" featured a cover of "Bastards of Young" by The Replacements: cover by The Cribs, original by The Replacements.

Bonus Links #3: Wichita Recordings has the official video for "Don't You Wanna Be Relevant", but the audio volume is very low. It's a great video, but you'll need to really crank your volume.

The Persuaders - "Some Guys Have All The Luck" (the song remains the same)

If there is an award for most cover versions of song that never gets played on the radio, "Some Guys Have All The Luck" would win hands down. My first recollection of this song is from the Rod Stewart video on MTV. Although the video received a fair amount of play for a short while and was a single from his 1984 LP "Camouflage", I don't recall on it on any of the local radio stations. It has the dorky, casio-keyboard sound that I absolutely hated (esp. since I was in my metal phase), but I still kind of liked this song. I was sort of surprised that I liked it, especially considering that Stewart failed to make interesting music after 1981's LP "Tonight I'm Yours" (edit: once again, Danette has accused of being too generous; she says Rod Stewart ceased being interesting ca. 1977). I didn't realize at the time the song was a cover and that was probably the reason why I liked the song despite the modish production.

I can't quite remember when I discovered the Robert Palmer version. At first, I thought it was Palmer covering Stewart, but later I learned that Palmer's version came out in 1982 on "Maybe It's Live". It still has an early 80's sound, and there's actually a video for this version, but it is 1) bizarre and 2) NSFW. I'm not sure why in 1982 you would make a video that you know can't play on MTV. Furthermore, he really only borrows part of the chorus from the original -- it is almost more of a remix than a cover.

After doing a little poking around on the Web, I learned SGHATL is actually a 1969 single from the R&B group The Persuaders. It was a top 40 hit for them then, but I don't recall ever hearing it on an oldies channel. Knowing that Robert Palmer based a lot of his material on R&B covers (and to a lesser extent, Rod Stewart as well), this made sense. And their version is quite good, even if it sounds modish as well.

A little more poking around on the web and I found that Derrick Harriot release a reggae / proto-dance hall version in 1974; this version is quite good too. Maxi Priest released another reggae version in 1987, but this one doesn't do much for me.

Saving the best for last, I uncovered on YouTube a "live in the tour bus" recording by Camera Obscura (whom you may recall from my glowing review of "Let's Get Out of This Country") which is, as far as I know, not available on any of their official releases. No disrespect intended to original writer Jeff Fortgang, or Robert Palmer, but Tracyanne Campbell is always going to trump the others in my book.

The Persuaders: YouTube.

Derrick Harriot: YouTube.

Robert Palmer: Dailymotion, TOTP version.

Rod Stewart: Dailymotion.

Maxi Priest: YouTube.

Camera Obscura: YouTube.

Liz Phair - "Liz Phair" (LP Review)

Danette has accused me of being too generous in my reviews, but I think I'm just reviewing my favorite stuff first. But just to be fair, I'll review something that's really, really bad: Liz Phair's fourth LP, 2003's self-titled "Liz Phair".

OK, so that's cheating a bit -- everyone knows this is a terrible LP. Liz Phair hit the scene in 1993 with "Exile in Guyville" and it was a critical blockbuster. Everybody loved Liz: the sexy, brash, irreverent, pottymouthed girl-next-door. The critics loved her so much, in fact, they could never quite forgive her for not continually re-releasing "Exile in Guyville". The analogy to M. Night Shyamalan is obvious.

But in 2003, she hit rock bottom. Eager to trade in her indie cred for something more tangible (she warned us, see: 1998's "Shitloads of Money"), she enlisted the production team The Matrix and strived to write more commercial songs. Not coincidentally, "Liz Phair" was the first LP to not feature re-recorded songs from her early Girly Sound demo tapes. The result is that she ended up imitating her imitators -- she became a 36 year-old Avril Lavigne. She simultaneously failed to gain significant cross over success and yet still managed to alienate her indie fan base. Where her earlier LPs were clever/funny/shocking, "Liz Phair" is stale/calculating/hollow. As David St. Hubbins tells us: "It's such a fine line between stupid, and clever."

The result was scathing reviews that were more clever than the LP itself: the NY Times called it "Liz Phair's Exile in Avril-ville" and Pitchfork Media gave it a 0.0. Ouch. On a 10 point scale, that's like going to 11 the bad way. I tried to think of my own witticism for this review, but the best I could come up with was a couple of Spinal Tap retreads. If she mailed it in, so will I.

I will say that I actually like the songs "Extraordinary" and "Why Can't I?". And I'm further ashamed to say those are two of the four songs that she co-wrote with The Matrix. Since The Matrix only contributed to four songs, two of which I actually like, I have to conclude that Liz bears most of the blame for this LP, where the other 12 songs vary between "bland" and "awful". I could call them out one by one, but what's the point? The less said about them the better. Finally, the video for "Why Can't I?" is terribly clever -- a must see, slightly anachronistic homage to CD jukeboxes and 1960s-era cover art.

Standout songs: "Extraordinary" (different version, from the movie "Raising Helen"), "Why Can't I?"

Skip 'em songs: all of the others. really.

Final score: 3/10. Tough love.

Weird Bonus Link: A video (from spinner.com) that appears to be an apology for the LP, conflating The Matrix production team and the film The Matrix. Maybe it seemed funny on paper, but it just makes things worse.