In The Mix HOLLY BETH VINCENT Edition Vol. 2 SINGLES Demos DUETS & MORE!

 

In The Mix HOLLY BETH VINCENT Edition Vol. 2 

To recap what I wrote in the post for Vol. 1, Holly Beth Vincent is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, & record producer who took part in the Los Angeles punk scene. 

She formed Holly & The Italians with a high school friend, in 1978, & moved to London, where the band was welcomed by the British press & gained a recording contract with Virgin Records on the strength of the single; Tell That Girl to Shut Up.  

Holly & The Italians' debut album The Right to Be Italian had a long & troubled production before Paul Shafer & The World’s Most Dangerous Band members were asked to supply backing—which wasn’t to Holly’s liking—but which I personally love.  

Having cherry-picked the highlights from her albums on Vol. 1, I saved 45 releases, demos, & hard-to-find curiosities for Vol. 2. Holly providing vocals on Michael Monroe’s While You Were Looking At Me which is straight ahead rock & roll that would have blended in on any album by another one of my favorites; The Romantics.

You also get the 7” version of Tell That Girl To Shut Up. Miles Away, & The Dixie Cups’ Chapel Of Love in case you forget that she has her roots in Girl Groups.  Although I’d personally place her approach closer to The Shangri-Las than The Dixie Cups.

There’s a demo of a song that never got the full production it deserves; Walking With Lorraine taken from a 2 CD set Demos Federico.  It has lots of great stuff on it—but the demos don’t often eclipse the originals.  If my two volumes awaken, or re-awaken feelings of fandom, that Wounded Bird compilation would be your next logical stop.  Her album with The Oblivious is another avenue you might take—the track D.S.F. is taken from it.

There’s also another duet with Joey Ramone on Party Line, & lots of songs that just missed being included on (the CD-length) Vol. 1;  Honalu, We Danced & Holly’s take on Buffalo Springfield’s For What It’s Worth.

It’s been a lot of fun immersing myself in Holly’s music with a goal—to turn others onto how incredible an artist she is.  I’ve done it many times in the past, but always for purely selfish reasons.

FUGS FILM: An Unofficial Soundtrack

Had an opportunity to see the new documentary Fugs Film, and it was fuggin' fantastic. It chronicles their beginnings on the Lower East Side in the early 1960's, and the formative inspiration to fuse poetry with rock & roll.  Free speech, free love, peace, psychedelics, and revolution were also fundamental Fugs values.  

They were primitive noisemakers and rabble-rousers on their earliest LP's, but the Fugs quickly evolved to incorporate more accomplished musicianship and sophisticated arrangements (sometimes still in service to the crude humor that first brought them notoriety).  There was also an omnivorous intellect at work that made fans of Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsburg, William S. Burroughs, Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, Robert Crumb, Harry Smith, Lenny Kaye, and the Beatles.

Everything the Fugs released between 1965 and 1968 is essential listening, and many of their best-loved songs are featured in the film.  The documentary is also an opportunity to learn more about the members of the band as individuals, which in turn adds greater significance to songs like "Morning Morning", "The Garden Is Open" and "When The Mode Of The Music Changes".  It's a deeply moving and inspiring film.  

The documentary isn't just about the band; it's also about a period of incredible sociopolitical and cultural upheaval.  The Fugs were rooted in the Beat Poets, the Lenny Bruce obscenity trial, the Greenwich Village folk scene, the antiwar movement, the Sexual Revolution, Jewish culture, drug culture, Dada, the Diggers, hippies, yippies, peaceniks, freaks, and the freedom to say Fuck You to any and every figure of authority -- from your parents all the way to the Pentagon.

Just as I did after watching the documentary about The Embarrassment, I made a list of all the songs that I remember hearing in Fugs Film and assembled an unofficial soundtrack.  If the Fugs are new to you (and especially if you get the chance to see the documentary), I recommend listening to the music first, as it will enhance your enjoyment of the film.  The last song (Greenwich Village Of My Dreams) is from 2010's Be Free: The Fugs Final CD Part 2.

ELSEWHERE ON THE WEB:  Fuck You: A Magazine of the Arts.

In The Mix HOLLY BETH VINCENT Edition Vol. 1 PAUL SHAFER Joey Ramone JOHNETTE NAPOLITANO.

In The Mix HOLLY BETH VINCENT Edition Vol. 1 

Holly Beth Vincent (born Holly Beth Cernuto in 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, & record producer. In her youth Vincent sang and played drums and guitar in several bands and took part in the Los Angeles punk scene.  She was part of the female punk band Backstage Pass whose only recorded output is a live set at The Masque club.

She lived with Traffic’s Chris Wood & his wife in London and started a relationship with Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler who wrote Romeo & Juliet, Love Over Gold, and It Never Rains about her.  After their breakup, she returned home to California, & toured the midwest playing in bar bands like Brothel Creepers—usually playing drums.

In 1978, she formed Holly & The Italians with a high school friend, drummer Steve Young, & moved to London, where the band was welcomed by the British press & gained a recording contract with Virgin Records on the strength of the single; Tell That Girl to Shut Up.   

They made a two song appearance on Old Grey Whistle Test with Holly looking fantastic in thrift-store chic ("vintage clothing"), thin as a model, chewing gum & with her left ankle in a cast.  There's a fuzzy looking/sounding clip you can watch on YouseTube (I am after all writing this from New Jersey): OGWT

Holly & The Italians' self-titled debut album The Right to Be Italian had a long & troubled production before Paul Shafer & The World’s Most Dangerous Band members were asked to supply backing—which wasn’t to Holly’s liking.  The album was a power pop masterpiece, but a commercial failure (despite a US tour supporting The Clash & The Ramones) which led to the band's dissolution at the end of 1980.  (It's one of my favorite albums--hands down!). It also lead to Joey Ramone & Holly briefly dating, & recording two duets together, which are each included on a volume of Holly's IN THE MIX.  

Like The Ramones, Holly struck a near perfect blend of power pop, '60s girl group swagger, & punk attitude, yet somehow never found an audience the way Blondie and The Pretenders did. 

As Holly Beth Vincent, she released the confusingly-titled album Holly & The Italians in the UK—after which she was deported to the US by the British authorities.  With its lush orchestration, thick production & dark subject matter, it was like no other album from the era. Fans of her first release, as well her manager, Gary Kurfirst (who also managed The Ramones, Talking Heads, & The B-52’s) were horrified by it.  Holly claims Kurfirst dismissed the LP as "suicide music," thus precipitating the end of their business association.

She went to live in New York City, where she was a member of The Waitresses, for a week or two (before Patty Donahue returned to the fold) & played in other local groups. In 1990 she returned to Los Angeles after kicking drugs, meeting a guy, & having a kid.  Two years later, she recorded the album America with a new band that she had formed called The Oblivious. A collaboration with Concrete Blonde singer Johnette Napolitano; Vowel Movement followed in 1994. Vincent continues to write, & record, & recently has released albums mainly in digital format, including two collections of tech house music.

 

When MISFITS Walked The Earth

 

It really wouldn't be Halloween without some Misfits music, would it?  There was truly nothing like them.  One measure of the extent of their influence is the number of tribute albums and cover songs that they have inspired.  It's a worldwide phenomenon, as you can see from this list.

The album Walk Among Us found me at the perfect age.  I was 16 years old in 1982, in the throes of adolescent awkwardness and emotional turmoil.  Turning into a Martian, a zombie, an undead creature with 20 eyes in its head and an insatiable appetite for blood -- Glenn Danzig's tales of possession, transformation, lust, revulsion and "murderlation" resonated in ways that I couldn't articulate.  High school was miserable.  Sex was both an obsession and a mystery.  The world of the 80's seemed to be on the brink of nuclear annihilation.  Eating brains sounded better than applying for a job or taking a college entrance exam.  

Part of the band's brilliance was that it separated everything that was great about heavy metal from everything that seemed excessive and cliched.  It did the same with punk, by decoupling its primitive speed and rage from its self-righteous politics and insularity.  The songs on Walk Among Us are both foreboding and inviting.  "Come on to the violent world with me," Danzig sings.  "Come alive in the house that screams."  And it was so much fun to sing along.

Everything that was appealing about horror movies (their fascination with death, sex, pain, fear, evil and otherness) seemed to be personified in the Misfits' appearance and embodied in their songs.  The lure of forbidden knowledge.  The end of childhood and innocence.  The transformation of the human body as both an unwanted betrayal and a source of monstrous power.  Mindless, directionless hatred toward all sources of authority, including (and especially) one's parents.

Today I'm sharing two sets of Misfits covers.  One follows the trackist of Walk Among Us and Earth A.D.  The other set includes the songs collected on Legacy Of Brutality, plus more of the singles.  The music is performed in a variety of styles, including surf, ska, jazz, and rockabilly (as well as punk and metal).  The artists include both big names and unknowns.  Maybe a Misfits cover band is playing somewhere near you tonight.  May it always be so.

Halloween 2026 Vol. 5 - NOW WITH MORE WEREWOLVES!

 

Halloween 2026 Vol. 5 - NOW WITH MORE WEREWOLVES! 

Between Jon & I, we’ve posted SIX original HALLOWEEN comps, already this month, and this one makes SEVEN!

As advertised, this one is heavy on werewolves, & wolfmen.  It contains; I’m A Wolfman, Werewolf, The Wolfman, & The Wolfman Stole My Baby.  Not to mention, Rock-A-Die Baby by American Werewolves.

There are a few of “The Usual Suspects” from the comps I assembled this year; The Cramps, The Raymen, & The Fuzztones.

Some artists make their first appearance; Tito & Tarantula, The Mad Daddy’s, The Uncle Devil Show, & Kepi Ghoulie.

Some may surprise folks, like She & Him doing I Put A Spell On You, R.E.M.’s turn with The Muppets, Furry Happy Monsters, & Laika & The Cosmonauts combining of the themes to Psycho, & Vertigo into Psycko.

So sink your fangs into these 28 tracks of terror, and drink deep of the Halloween goodness that courses through their veins!

Horrorble Halloween (In Dub)!

Very excited about Horrorble, the new Mekons dub album!  Tony Maimone (former Pere Ubu bassist) is at the controls, creating a dubbed out companion to last year's Mekons album, Horrible. 

It got me thinking about dub albums that didn't use reggae music as source material.  One of the best-known is No Protection, Mad Professor's dub version of Massive Attack's 1994 album.  Mad Professor also recorded Ruts DC's Rhythm Collision back in 1982.

Another great example is Echo Dek, Adrian Sherwood's dub version of Primal Scream's album Vanishing Point.  In 2022, Sherwood created a dub version of Spoon's album Lucifer On The Sofa; and the following year he did it again for Reset (the album by Panda Bear and Sonic Boom).  

Dennis Bovell is a reggae musician and producer who also recorded post-punk bands like The Pop Group and The Slits.  One of my favorites is Bovell's collaboration with Steve Mason (ex-Beta Band) on Ghosts Outside, a lovely dub version of Mason's solo album Boys Outside.  Bovell also recently created Y In Dub, a version of The Pop Group's 1979 debut album.

Speaking of The Pop Group, their recently deceased frontman Mark Stewart often collaborated with Sherwood and others on dub-influenced projects.  Exorcism Of Envy (produced by Youth) is the dub version of Stewart's album The Politics Of Envy.  And speaking of Youth, he revisited the catalog of his band Killing Joke to create Killing Joke In Dub.  

The extraordinary guest list for Exorcism Of Envy reflects Youth and Mark Stewart's history and their influence: members of Crass, PiL, Raincoats, Slits, Massive Attack, The Orb, Factory Floor -- plus the legendary Lee Scratch Perry, Richard Hell, and Kenneth Anger (on theremin!)  Nun Gun was Mark Stewart's collaboration with members of the band Algiers, and together they created Stealth Empire In Dub, a companion to their record Mondo Decay (with remixes by Adrian Sherwood, among others).   It's also exciting to hear Keith Levene (as part of Necessary Intergalactic Cooperation) dubbed by Twilight Circus (from The Legendary Pink Dots) on NIC In Dub.

The band Khruangbin called on Scientist (another dub legend) to create a couple of dubs for their album Hasta El Cielo (a dub version of Con Todo El Mundo).  Today's mix also includes selections from dub albums by Michelle Shocked, Franz Ferdinand, Foals, and Jeb Loy Nichols' Fellow Travelers (mixed by Martin Frederix of Family Fodder and On-U artists London Underground), plus Snuff and The Dead 60's.  The Foals and Franz Ferdinand dubs were produced by Dan Carey.

Nathan Nothin recently shared the Spacemonkeyz dubs of Gorillaz tracks. After spending time with the album, I understand why it's one of Nathan's faves. Nathan has also shared the excellent Lucifer In Dub by Peaking Lights, which didn't quite fit on my compilation.   (I skipped Bill Callahan's dub album because it's boring.)  

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG:  more Adrian Sherwood, Dennis Bovell, Jeb Loy Nichols and Killing Joke.  

ELSEWHERE IN THE BLOGOSPHERE:  Enjoy new Halloween mixes at Kogar's Jungle Juice and MusicHoarder's Record Vault!  And check out One Buck Guy's feature on The Crow (soundtrack to the film).

Halloween 2026 Vol. 4 FIENDS Flesh Eaters BOMBORAS Cramps & MORE!

HALLOWEEN 2026 Volume 4 (POST)

I honestly feel this fourth volume of my HALLOWEEN comps has something for everyone in the (Manson) family.

There are at least two great garage groups named THE FIENDS.  One is from Los Angeles California, & the one that starts us off with Stake Through My Heart, from Vancouver Canada.  (No less a garage god than Rudi Protrudi designed the cover art for their entry in the TEEN TRASH series.)

Thanks to psychobilly bands like The Cramps, & The Brains there are plenty of twangy songs to choose from on All Hallow’s Eve.  But more of the bands on Volume 4 are full fledged rockabilly bands; The Leroi Brothers, The Paladins, The Delta Bombers, & Vince Ray.

Speaking of stylistic departures, The Cranberries’ Zombie is a song about “The Troubles” in Ireland, but that’s easy to forget when Bambi Thug puts in creepy contact lenses and runs it through their Spookometer.  I suspect Harley Poe borrowed their unit to inject some spooky into his version of that old chestnut The Hearse Song.  Gary Stewart is known mainly for honky tonk weepers like She’s Acting Single (I’m Drinking’ Double), but he must have gotten a wild (werewolf) hair up his butt before he recorded Morbid The Great!  

KC & The Moonshine Band may have been included just for their name—but their Zombiefied became a favorite as I listened to Volume 4 over & over to make sure it passed our 14-point quality inspection.

This volume breaks one of my cardinal rules regarding compilations: “Never have two tracks by the same band.”  It was an oversight on my part—because the offending tracks are by an instrumental group; The Bomboras &—I didn’t catch it until I had done all the artwork.  C’est la mort.

There’s another gaffe; In Dreams by Roy Orbison is mistitled Candy Colored Clown.  If David Lynch hadn’t shown the darker side of the song in Blue Velvet, I probably wouldn’t have considered including it at all.  Any song about a clown tip-toeing into someone’s room at night is perfect for any Halloween collection.

I can say that I love the cover art—because I didn’t design it—I co-opted a meme I found on the (spider) web.