Steppingstones (Part 3)

Here's a third set of Steppingstones.  This series is a companion to Nuggetized (punk covers of Lenny Kaye's seminal collection of garage rock and psychedelic artyfacts), and a stepchild of the ongoing Punks Got Soul cover song series.  There's overlap among the three series -- but whatcha gonna do about it?

The inspiration for Steppingstones was a disastrous press conference where a drunk and boorish John Lydon claimed that the Sex Pistols never played cover songs.  Marc Bell (aka Marky Ramone) immediately responded, "Stepping Stone!"  Henry Rollins was there too; he kept quiet, but he knew from his SOA days that "Stepping Stone" was adopted as an anthem of the DC hardcore scene by kids who had learned it from the R&R Swindle soundtrack.  

Steppingstones #3 digs a bit further into the bubblegum and glam rock years, as well as landmark early 70's records from Alice Cooper, Patti Smith, Lou Reed, Brian Eno and the Modern Lovers that inspired the first decade of UK punk.  Stretching a bit this time to include The Scientists (from Down Under) and The Forgotten Rebels (from Canada).  

I hope that you can forgive the presence of Paul Francis Gadd (his prison name) and separate the undeniable art from the irredeemable artist.  His appeal for release was denied in 2025, and rightly so. 

As with previous volumes, the original songs (on vol. 3.1) are generally longer than the punk versions (on vol. 3.2).  So there's a bonus track on 3.2 of T. Rex jamming with The Damned on a live version of "Bang A Gong".  The original recording bangs on for over 12 minutes, so I made a few crude edits in Audacity to reduce the length without sacrificing Rat Scabies' glorious drum solo.  

Speaking of The Damned, they have recently released Not Like Everybody Else, a covers album which serves as a tribute both to the late Brian James and to the music that inspired the band.  Rat Scabies, Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible and Paul Gray are touring this year to promote the record.  I saw them in concert last spring, and they've still got it!  Dave is in great voice, and the Captain is still an idiot savant, firing off brilliant solos while bouncing around as loony as ever.  Paul is a master of that Rickenbacker tone (like Lemmy and Bruce Foxton before him), and Professor Scabies beats his drumkit until it begs for mercy.  (SPOILER: no mercy granted.)  The tour is no "filthy lucre" cash grab, it's a celebration of fifty fuckin' years of mindless, directionless energy paired with magnificent showmanship.