FIRST Volume 4 - Rock & Roll Firsts (Demos, 1st Bands, & So On.)

The FIRST series are catch-all compilations with a very wide berth for inclusion.

THE BEATLES usually pop up because they were responsible for so many firsts in rock & roll, but their presence here is secondary.  Volume 4 starts off with a track written & first recorded by CARL PERKINS that most people are better acquainted with as a track on a BEATLES album.  (Carl was actually in the studio when The Fab Four laid down their version).  LARRY WILLIAMS also benefitted greatly from having his song included on an LP by Liverpool’s favorite sons.

THE SHADOWS are more of the focus here, as their first recording (as THE DRIFTERS) makes an appearance alongside the first release by Marvin, Welch & Farrar after the band broke up, & (former-Shadows) Jet Harris & Tony Meehan’s Diamonds--which was JIMMY PAGE’s first session gig. 

Demos are prime possibilities for the FIRST series.  Included is a songwriter’s (BOB KELLY’s) demo for GENE VINCENT, & Gene’s own home demo for another song he had some success with: Lotta Lovin’.  THE RAMONES’ demo for Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World brings it all home—but not before FUGAZI, PAUL SIMON & TAYLOR SWIFT supply more of the same.

First singles or first recordings by acts who took a while to find a national audience are also convenient contenders.  There are first incarnations of THE MANHATTANS, THE DEAD BOYS, and the future JACKIE DeSHANNON recording as Sherry Lee.  FIRST BANDS are fair game, and JEFF LYNNE’s first recording outfit THE MOVE are represented, as are THIRTY DAYS OUT which I dug down deep in my trivia sack for... the band provided THE RAMONES' tour-manager Monte A. Melnick's first touring experience.

GREGG ALLMAN performs Melissa on Late Night With David Letterman & shares that it was the first song that he wrote and kept.  And there’s a dash of ZAPPA in the broth—Baby Ray & The Ferns was one of his earliest recording combos (although there is some dispute).

Some of my selections may have seen the light of day in JONDER’s excellent AS HEARD HERE FIRST series:

https://jonderblog.blogspot.com/2025/04/as-heard-here-first-original-versions.html

There’s a few of those here—tracks rock bands took and ran with that originated with Bullmoose Jackson, Tiny Bradshaw, Lloyd Brown, & Roy Milton.

That leaves only the cover photo—which was taken in Edinburgh—it's the FIRST photo of men drinking!

I urge you to check anywhere in the world for firsts, first, but be sure to check with JOKONKY, last!

 

Barney Bubbles Tunes 1977-84

In 1977, Barney Bubbles created some revolutionary covers and saw him paying respect to constructivist and modernist imagery with stunning original results for Stiff Records.
Barney had a long artistic relationship with Ian Dury, designing various classic sleeves for both his singles and albums.
The most famous of his LP covers for Dury and the Blockheads was probably 1979’s Do It Yourself, which was released with 36 cover variations based on Crown Wallpaper! 
His most prolific work was probably done for Elvis Costello’s releases, as he followed Costello & Nick Lowe from Stiff to Radar to F-Beat Records.
Even so, his work was not confined to those 3 labels as he was also active for Chiswick, Epic, a.m.o.
Barney had a very strong work discipline and took his assignments seriously, whether he could relate to the music or not.
Unfortunately, his private life was a rather different story (bipolar disorder and continuous financial problems didn’t help), and he took his own life in mid-November 1983... 

Barney at times had disagreements with both record companies (especially for the US market!) and artists, e.g. Dave Edmunds wasn’t pleased at all with the back cover of his Tracks On Wax 4 album... 

Even so, Barney’s design for Edmunds’ Twangin’ redeemed him completely!
The amount of work he produced was staggering, and this compilation only shows you the tip of the musical iceberg.

I’ve done my best to present either an album or a single cover of each song represented here, and the 35-page PDF also gives more details about Barney's influences.

As quite a few of the punk/new wave period Bubbles-related songs were already included in my previous Radar and F-Beat Records posts, I opted for some more obscure music, e.g. The Imperial Pompadours (Barney’s own band!), Elvis Costello in disguise, Laurie Latham’s band The Vampire Bats From Lewisham, and a Roger Chapman vinyl-only dub!
Besides the above, 1977-84 also features :
Ian Dury And The Music Students  / Generation X / Graham Parker / Mick Farren & The Deviants / The Adverts / Big Star / Humphrey Ocean's Iron Hoof / Nik Turner's Sphynx / Whirlwind / The Sinceros / Clive Langer And The Boxes / Chas Jankel / The Inmates / The Damned /  Dr. Feelgood / Inner City Unit / The Psychedelic Furs / Amazulu / Billy Bragg / Mercy Ray / Wang Chung 

The 2 volumes (which easily could have been 3, volume 1 posted yesterday for the 500niversary!) here give an adequate overview, covering prog-rock, space-rock, folk, pub-rock, country-rock, punk, funk, new wave, rockabilly, and more, enjoy! 

Jokonky's 500versary!

Today marks our 500th post. We (Jonder, Koen, and Stinky) would like to thank the readers who have followed and commented on the blog over the years, as well as newcomers.  It was March 2018 when Jonderblog started, with a post reflecting on the somber occasion of Mark E. Smith's birthday (somber because The Fall's frontman had passed away two months earlier).  

Stinky LePew joined in November 2018, adding a welcome sense of humor, a boundless imagination for creating new compilation themes, and a wide-ranging knowledge of music and musical trivia.  The two of us started a a "label" called Jon-Ky Records for our collaborative posts.  

Koen was a frequent visitor who was contributing guest posts to another music blog.  After that blog ended, we invited him aboard.  His debut was in December 2023, with the first of several excellent posts on the music of Robert Palmer.  Jon-Ky became JOKONKY, and we adopted a weekly schedule of posting (Koen on Mondays, Stinky on Wednesdays, and Jonder on the weekend).  

Today we interrupt our regular rotation to deliver a triple post.  I (Jonder) am sharing the fifth set in my series Punks Got Soul.  Today I also want to highlight a couple of my colleagues' contributions.  Koen's compilation of Chuck E. Weiss' music is one of my favorites. Another favorite is Stinky's three volume tribute to pioneering punk guitarist Brian James, who died in March of this year.  

Thanks, Jonder! And here's Koen, still very happy to be part of the JOKONKY gang. My partners' highlights are as follows:  

 

Stinky posted this great collection of classic songs from the 1960's and a wonderful write-up!  5 years ago, Jonder posted this neat Adrian Sherwood collection that seems to have fallen between the cracks, shame really, do check it out!  My own favorite post depends a lot on my mood, but for now it's the one about Garland Jeffreys. 

One of my own artistic 'heroes' is Barney Bubbles, and my contribution to this 500versary is Volume 1 of a 2-part collection of songs associated with him during 1969 to 1977, with artists range from Hawkwind to Brinsley Schwarz to Quiver to Johnny Moped... Volume 2 will be posted next Monday.

CONGRATULATIONS on 500 posts, Jonder—and thanks for letting me be a (Stinky) part of it!   Here's my personal favorite of Jonder’s posts—because I love PEARL, & because this post started our long association!  Everybody's Boring But Pearl Harbour (Part 1). My favorite Koen post: Geraint Watkins - Squeezin' & Pumpin'. And my favorite of my own posts: David Johansen - I Can't Be Wastin' Time.

Finally, here's my post for JOKONKY’s 500versary: Get In Loser, We're Going Rockabilly Vol. 6

The Best Of THE CARPETBAGGERS - Sin Now... Pray Later!

THE CARPETBAGGERS were a Twin Cities area three piece made up of two guitarists and a stand-up bassist--like their biggest influence JOHNNY CASH & THE TENNESEE TWO.  They’re an Appalachian echo of a time when drums weren’t allowed on The Grand Ole Opry, and their minimalist "classic country" approach would suit the single dashboard speaker of a late fifties roadster just fine.

They were prolific & prodigious songwriters.  On the first two albums, acoustic guitarist John Magnuson wrote the bulk of their material, with bassist Rich Copley also contributing.  By their third album Sin Now... Pray Later, electric guitarist Mike Crabtree stepped up.  (Of Mike, The Star-Tribune said: “Crabtree’s humble, single-note guitar playing creates warm country melodies with a subtle rockabilly feel”).  They all sang, & their voices blend together as if they were brothers.

Their songs range from downright depressing; Absent Without Leaving, to laugh-out-loud funny; My Jeannie’s In A Bottle, to surprisingly dark; Always A Pallbearer (Never A Corpse).  We're talking Leon Payne dark.  Songs by Roy Drusky, Bobby Lee Trammell, Marvin Rainwater, and Bill Anderson were scattered imperceptibly among the band’s own compositions.

Their first album was on Clean Records in 1992, their second was on Twin-Tone, and they went on to Hightone Records for their final album in 1996.  For a few years there, you were safe buying ANYTHING released on the Hightone label.  

The band did three tours with Son Volt and shared the stage with such notables as Los Lobos, Alison Krauss, The Jayhawks, and The Gear Daddies.

John Magnuson still records, and keeps a busy performing schedule.  Nowadays, there’s an Austin band called The Carpetbaggers—proof that you can’t keep a good name down.

I loved the band from day one, but my appreciation has only deepened.  I find it to be unparalleled driving music, so I go back to their catalogue regularly.  I’ve probably listened to this "best of" at least 60 times since I put it together twenty years ago—two or three times a year at least—which is why I decided to post it.  

 

Listen To The Radio

Growing up, I remember the radio in our house almost always being on and my Mom happily singing along from time to time with the songs she liked. In other words, the sound of the radio was an important part of my life’s background, great when my favourite songs were played, but more often lesser tunes caused me to either ignore them or grind my teeth in frustration.
Then there were the songs that (according to classmates) weren’t cool to like, but still sounded kind of neat, confusing times…
And of course deejays talking too much instead of just playing music, or ruining tracks by refusing to keep their mouth shut during the start / finish of a record, irritating.
Whether good or bad, most of us probably have similar radio-related memories; listening to your favorite station/deejay/radio-play/etc., taping songs of the radio, following sports, etc.
Over the years there have been loads of collections (vinyl/tape/cd) of songs played on the radio, either from a particular station (Radio Caroline/Veronica/etc.) or by a specific deejay (John Peel, etc.).
Here on Jokonky too, we posted a few radio collections as well:

New Wave On My Radio in 1982
BEST OF 2 METER SESSIES
Dutch Pirate Stations and Nederbeat 
Downstairs Dan Made Me A New Wave Fan

But I recently realized that there hasn't been any collection of songs ABOUT the radio... 
A quick search confirmed this, no vinyl, CD, or blog post anywhere, weird!
Therefore it seemed like a perfect opportunity for Jokonky to fill this gap...
For this first compilation, I focused on a mix of lesser-known songs, but who knows what the future will bring!

I also managed to sneak in 2 covers of well-known Mexico-related radio songs as well as 2 Dutch bands...

Some songs urge you to listen or turn on the radio, others the opposite!

Bad news, suicide, lovers, girls, and spirits are all subject matter here for that wireless contraption...

Never mind, without much further ado, altogether now:

Ha, ho

I found myself these days in total sensuality

Her radio and stereo, yes, all the same to me

One thing is clear, say we all know what we hear

The airwaves don't lie

I listen to the radio, its better than a stereo

We listen to the radio, radio stereo

 

Music That My Kids Enjoy

 

Last month I took a road trip with my son to see a concert.  I started taking him to shows when he was 12 or 13. We bonded over bands like QOTSA, Wye Oak, The Joy Formidable, Bully, A Place To Bury Strangers, and some of his favorite metal bands (Mastodon, Deftones, High On Fire, and Red Fang).  We saw Acrassicauda (the Iranian band featured in the documentary "Heavy Metal In Baghdad").  We once saw a couple exchange wedding vows onstage at an iwrestledabearonce concert.

My son turns 30 this year.  I feel fortunate that he and his wife live nearby, and that we get together fairly often.  We don't talk about music as much as we used to, so I encouraged him to play some of his favorites during our road trip.  I compiled a playlist of his selections, which I'm sharing today.  Each of these two mixes is an hour long.

Some of these songs date back to his high school years (class of 2014). I can hear the influence of bands like Dinosaur Jr., MBV, Pavement, Pixies, Nirvana, the Breeders, and the Jesus Lizard. 

We also listened to some newer music that he's into. It was interesting to learn from my son that there is a shoegaze revival going on now, and that a lot of the young shoegaze artists are based in Philadelphia.  There are also several of his local favorites from Atlanta (Sword II, Thousandaire, and Whores.) He seems to like a lot of bands with female singers, and I do too.

I have also taken my 25 year old daughter to shows.  We've seen Gorillaz, Animal Collective, Machinegirl, Perturbator and Tropical Fuck Storm.  Her tastes are a bit more esoteric, and I don't always grasp the appeal of the music that she plays for me.  But she did introduce me to Bambara and the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets.  "March On For Pax Romana" might be my favorite new song of 2025.

I've tried not to push my own tastes on my kids. I think the only CD's my son ever borrowed from me were Loveless and The Low End Theory.  I'll never forget when he asked his parents if we had ever heard of The Cure. We ended up going to see The Cure together (when they toured with 65daysofstatic). And just recently, my daughter asked me about the Cocteau Twins.  

I also included one song that my wife loves (Charly Bliss' version of "Steal My Sunshine" from AV Undercover).  Hope you find something to enjoy in these two mixes. If you're seeking reassurance that it's not just "the olds" who appreciate guitar-driven indie rock, you'll find it here. And I hope you have fun this weekend.  My kids and I are going to see Ovlov!  I can't get enough of their song "Strokes", and I really hope they play it.

POWDERFINGER'S BEST

POWDERFINGER burned their name across the Australian music landscape, clocking up 5 number 1 albums, 18 ARIA awards, 3 APRA awards and sales of more than 2.5 million albums. 

Their 18 ARIA awards put them behind only SILVERCHAIR, who they toured with for nine weeks on 2007’s Across The Great Divide Tour.  The two bands only united onstage at three of the tour’s 34 shows.

Once their line-up had solidified in 1992, they self-released The Blue EP, but someone stole the majority of the small run—today, they bring top dollar on eBay.  The band signed to Polydor in 1993 and played the prestigious BIG DAY OUT for the first time in 1994.  They finally hit the charts with Pick You Up in 1996 a song that lead singer Bernard Fanning said had a big influence on their direction (which is included on this compilation).  Their album stayed in the top ten for ten weeks and they toured with their idols YOU AM I (who Jonder may have turned me onto).

From there, their career was highlight after highlight.  They helped CROWDED HOUSE say farewell to the world at The Sydney Opera House playing to more than 100,000 people.

They were asked by filmmaker Gregor Jordan to write a track for his upcoming film, Two Hands, starring Bryan Brown and a young upstart named Heath Ledger. These Days was born (also included here).  At this point, Heath Ledger and Powderfinger became household names in Australia.

POWDERFINGER also had a song on the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2 Soundtrack, but they never achieved the widespread success in The States that they enjoyed in Australia.

They toured the U.S. with COLDPLAY which exposed more rock fans to their brand of rock & roll—but after an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, 9-11 happened, and cost them their momentum.

The group disbanded in 2010 after 21 years together, chosing their hometown of Brisbane to play their last show.  Lead singer BERNARD FANNING records as a solo artist, and guitarist IAN HAUG replaced Marty Willson-Piper in THE CHURCH.