Take That! Songwriters Taking Swipes At Others Vol. 6

Take That! Songwriters Taking Swipes Vol. 6

On this SIXTH installment of TAKE THAT! songwriters take swipes at the usual targets: authority figures, society, & the government.  This volume doesn’t focus as much on tracks recorded by the songwriter as the earlier collections. But it’s usually a fair bet that the singer’s loyalties align with the scribes’.

P.F. Sloan & Edwin Starr take aim at war, with the songs Eve Of Destruction, & well… WAR.

As a recording artist, P.F. takes a swipe at society, as does Sonny Bono, The Temptations, Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs, & Wendy O. Williams (backed by KISS!)

The Ramones basically tear the “Whattaya got?” page out of Marlon Brando’s book with I’m Against It, by being against nearly everything.  The Fugs’ Ed Sanders isn’t happy with hermaphrodites in The Iliad, & Jon Langford is upset with Nashville Radio.

Tennessee Ernie Ford is railing against “the man”, Bo Diddley is against drugs, Suzi Quatro glares in the direction of  Hollywood, & Loretta Lynn rails against Santa!  A bold strategy unless you plan on being on the nice list for certain this year.

While The J. Geils Band is miffed at love in general, Wayne County is incensed at being deemed unworthy of a good dicking.  And Jerry Lee Lewis is taunted by his old friends Ronnie Hawkins & Carl Perkins during a live performance—which is something no fan of The Killer's should miss!

Guest Spots Sequel: Hollie Cook

 

Way back in 2018, Hollie Cook was featured in "Guest Spots", a series that I started to compile songs featuring an artist that did not appear on their own albums.  Here we are eight years later with another set from this talented young singer.  

Hollie Cook's most recent album Shy Girl was one of my favorite new releases of 2025. It was followed by Shy Girl In Dub, which is equally wonderful.  She is back on the Mr. Bongo record label (where she started her solo career with her self-titled 2011 album.)

Hollie is in demand as a vocalist, and not just in the world of reggae and dub.  It doesn't hurt that her parents are both professionals in the music world, but her success is entirely the result of her own talent and hard work.  Among the artists from her parents' generation, she has sung with The Slits, Vic Godard, Glen Matlock, Keith Levene, and Jah Wobble.  She recently appeared on Don Letts' first solo album and Mark Stewart's final album.  

I was also really pleased to see her name among the guest vocalists featured on the 2025 album by West Coast soul and reggae band The Night Owls.  Here's hoping that Hollie's career continues to grow, so that we can feature her music here again in the near future!

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG: The first volume of Hollie's Cookbook. 

Take That! Songwriters Taking Swipes At Others Vol. 5

Take That! Songwriters Taking Swipes Vol. 5

Waylon Jennings feels this Outlaw Shit has gotten out of hand while Travis Logan feels this country needs a little more steel guitar.  The Smiths feel you just haven’t earned it, while Joe Jackson can’t believe who that hottie's dating, & R.E.M. preaches that Living Well is The Best Revenge.  While he had his shortcomings, I've always admired Sly Stone’s stance on Loose Booty.  In Ellis Unit One (Live) Steve Earle manages to play guitar while he shakes his first at capital punishment.

Graham Parker rekindles his resentment toward his former label with an acoustic version of Mercury Poisoning.  On the other hand, Nick Lowe loves his label.  Jackson Browne is anti-racist, The Kinks are anti-money grubbers, & Cyan are anti-Lulu!  All The Young Punks (New Boots & Contracts) came late in The Clash’s recording history, but retained a lot of bile.  The Who’s My Wife is self-explanatory, as are Motörhead’s Fools, & Mojo Nixon’s Destroy All Lawyers. - Stinky

Rest In Peace, Parthenon Huxley

He was born Richard Miller in Baton Rouge.  After spending part of his youth in Greece, he returned to the US to attend UNC Chapel Hill.  In 1980, he joined The Blazers as singer and guitarist, and then The Dads.  His first solo single was 1983's "Buddha, Buddha" (under his first pseudonym, Rick Rock).  

He got signed by Columbia and moved to LA to make his debut album, Sunny Nights.  It was released in 1988 under his new name, Parthenon Huxley.  A nod to the old world, and a wink at the brave new one.  

Parthenon Huxley also helped out on other artists' records.  He coproduced the two albums that Mark Oliver Everett made as A Man Called E (before spawning the band Eels).   He also worked with Sass Jordan, Stevie Salas, and Kyle Vincent, among others.

A man called E meets Mullet Man

Parthenon Huxley formed a power pop power trio and named it P. Hux.  The band's 1995 debut album, Deluxe, is a celebration of being in love.  Sadly, the next P. Hux album Purgatory Falls (released in 2001) was about the grief of losing his wife to cancer.  

Huxley joined The Orchestra and toured the world with Mik Kaminski, playing ELO classics and new material.  A song from The Orchestra's album No Rewind is included in today's share.  There's also a remix of a song from Homemade Spaceship, a P. Hux album of ELO covers.  

He eventually remarried and became the father of two daughters.  Five more studio albums were released over the next two decades, plus two collections of stray tracks, three live records, and an autobiography.

In addition to all that, P. Hux contributed to a number of tribute albums, cementing their power pop bona fides by performing songs by Todd Rundgren, Badfinger, and The Raspberries -- plus an original "commercial" for The New Sell Out.  

Parthenon Huxley died in 2026, seventy years after Rick Miller was born.  As a songwriter, he captured authentic feelings of love and loss.  He could poke fun at organized religion and at himself ("Angeleno"). He could be eloquent, and he could celebrate "Simple Things". He sang and harmonized beautifully, and boy could he play guitar.  Check out "Meteor Sky" from his other power trio, VeG.  I treasure his music, and hopefully this collection represents his talents. 

The Best Of Webb Wilder LIVE! Lyons, Paris, & Milwaukee! The Last Of The Full-Grown Men!

The Best Of Webb Wilder LIVE! was compiled from three shows in Lyon France, Paris France, & Milwaukee Wisconsin, & single tracks from appearances in Cambridge Massachusets & Bordeaux.  This collection covers almost as much ground as Webb does.

I'm partial to his psychedelic-tinged stuff like Please Don't Go, Tough It Out, I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night, & Slow Death.

There are also bluesier numbers you may know better by Rockpile (Oh What A Thrill) & The Fabulous Thunderbirds (Powerful Stuff, Sugar Coated Love), and the nuts-and-bolts rockabilly of Move It, Make That Move, & Rockin' Little Angel. 

Any fan of Wilder's knows to expect funny intros & The Webb Wilder Credo, & his originals like Hoodoo Witch, Poolside, Dance With Daddy, & Tough It Out, as well as songs he didn't write that have become associated with him; How Long Can She Last (Going So Fast?)

And when The Last Of The Full-Grown Men goes full country with a song like Steve Earle's Devil's Right Hand, you have to wonder why country radio doesn't have him in heavy rotation.

There are few acts that I enjoy more.  I got Wilder's autograph when I saw him perform solo one night a few years ago, & he couldn't have been nicer.

There's a great write-up here: Webb Wilder

Killing Joke's First Two Albums Live

Stinky is on a secret mission this week.  While he's away, I'm stealing one of his best ideas: the Homemade Live Album!  Thought I'd take my first crack at it with two of my favorite records from one of my favorite bands, Killing Joke.

This was also prompted by the recent shares of Killing Joke concert recordings at Floppy Boot Stomp and the Voodoo Wagon.  I bow in the general direction of SilentWay, Jobe, Draftervoi, and the rest of the folks who keep things running at those two fine blogs (three, if you count their VIP lounge!)

Killing Joke formed in 1979 and was active for over four decades, until the 2023 death of founding guitarist Kevin "Geordie" Walker.  The debut self-titled album was released in 1980, followed in 1981 by What's This For...!.  Those two albums meant a lot to me and my baby brother.  We didn't know it in 1980, but Killing Joke was laying a cornerstone for industrial music (not the phrase used by Throbbing Gristle, but the abrasive yet danceable style adopted by Ministry and other Wax Trax artists a few years later).

But the sound of Killing Joke wasn't just industrial.  There was post-punk in there (with John McKay as an influence acknowledged by Geordie, and Public Image as neighbors in Ladbroke Grove).  There was heavy metal in there; there was dub; there was a dance beat.  Synth punk was also part of the early Killing Joke sound, courtesy of singer Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman's keyboards. 

The best Killing Joke music (to my ears) was made by the four original members before Martin "Youth" Glover left to start a more commercial group called Brilliant  -- and before Jaz and Geordie went off to Iceland, predicting the end of the world (as the story goes). But hey, even a broken clock is wrong 22 hours a day!  

After the world failed to end, Killing Joke regrouped and found commercial success with the 1985 album Night Time.  Then they sacked drummer Paul Ferguson, “one of the best in the world,” according to Alex Paterson (that bloke from The Orb).  Strange things happened in the mid-80's. Ginger Baker and Steve Vai joined PiL, for god's sake. Strummer & Simonon fired Mick Jones. Even the Gang of Four went soft with "Hard".  "Whatever happened to those heroes?"

Anyway, here's a Homemade Live Album with all the songs from the first two LP's (plus "Pssyche", a 1980 b-side that is a fan favorite and a staple of Killing Joke setlists). Live albums can get monotonous, and Killing Joke was not a band given to improvisation or solo features ("Big Paul on the drums, ladies and gents!")  There are very few Geordie guitar solos, even on the studio records.  

On a serious side note, a round of applause for Mike Coles, who does the band's visual art and runs the Malicious Damage record label.  His graphic style and retro-dystopian themes sometimes recall Winston Smith's work for Alternative Tentacles.

My goal was to assemble a Homemade Live Album of diverse performances, ranging from very early (1979's semi-official Unperverted Pantomime) to the excellent Honour The Fire, the final show of the last Killing Joke tour in 2022.  SilentWay recently reposted an excellent live set from Tokyo in 2008, the first two nights of a worldwide tour by the four original members.

At the end of the last song here, Youth thanks Jaz, Paul, Geordie, and his childhood friend Alex Paterson.  According to Wikipedia, Paterson would DJ at early Killing Joke gigs, as well as singing "Bloodsport" with the band.  It's a nice "full circle" moment to end my Killing Joke live album.

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG:  a multitude of Homemade Live Albums from Stinky. PLUS an exclusive inside scoop on the Killing Joke singles "Eighties" and "Change".  Think Nirvana stole from Killing Joke?  Read our earthshaking investigation into the truth behind the myth inside the legend!

ELSEWHERE IN THE BLOGOSPHERE:  Khayem and Nathin Nothin have penned eloquent odes to Youth.

Beat That Dead Horse One More Time: Punks Got Soul Vol. 10

Here it is -- again -- and it's called... PUNKS GOT SOUL 10! (Saw you in a mag, kissing a man, saw you in a mag, kissing a man, smoking a fag, kissing a man, saw you in a mag, PUNKS GOT SOUL 10!)

Really the only punk song on here is the last one (by Snuff), although I suppose that some of these geezers used to be punks.  There's the Clash, Red Rockers (the "American Clash" back before they went new wave), and Johnny Thunders.  Alex Chilton, if being sloppy drunk in the studio counts as being a punk. 

At a stretch, you could add Hazel O'Connor and Elvis Costello.  Maybe even Mick Hucknall (that ginger bloke out of Simply Red) -- he was once in a punk band.  Divine probably out-punked them all in terms of attitude and REAL rebellion against social norms.  Grace Jones, too. They were punks before you or I was a punk.

Anyways, here's the tenth in a series that I never thought would go this far, and a series that has been relatively popular in terms of downloads.  Collect them all!

Pixeldrain seems to be working at the moment, but (as always) if you ask politely, we will upload new links to another host. ("Any help?" is a comment that I deeply dislike.  Get some help from Ella Jenkins or Miss Manners, you impertinent punk!) 

Today I replaced a number of dead Krakenfiles links from 2022-23, including my MKE 80 comp of singles and EP's released by Milwaukee artists in 1980.  

There are a dozen songs on my laptop in a folder called "Punks Got Soul v11", and I'm opening up the request line.  So if you're having a good time dancing with your baby, pick up the phone and ask (nicely), "Hey Mr. DJ, can you play that song..."