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. 

As Heard Here First: Original Versions of Hit Songs

Saddened to learn that David Thomas died this week.  His music was featured here recently as one of Richard Thompson's collaborators, as well as his recent work with Pere Ubu and Rocket From The Tombs.  A final Pere Ubu album will be completed by the rest of the band, and David Thomas' autobiography will also be released.

Last year I shared First Versions Of Well-Known Songs, a collection of tunes that were later remade by the original artists.  Today we have a series of songs that became hits for other artists.  

This type of collection has been done many times.  Any Major Dude has done an amazing job over the years of telling the histories of the original songs and artists that didn't make the charts. It would be easy to think of them as cover versions (since they sound less familiar than the hits), but many of these are performed by the artists who composed them.  In some cases, the hit version was released within weeks of the original.  It's interesting to listen and wonder what might have been missing from the original that made the hit version more appealing.  Or what might make an artist or producer think, "If we make a few changes, this song could top the charts." To my ears, some of the originals sound better than the hits, and maybe they just weren't properly promoted.  

The series starts in 1960. In the 50’s, it wasn’t unusual for multiple artists to record the same song, especially in the early years of rock & roll, when a “race record” couldn’t get airplay on white radio stations.  It was also an era when fewer songwriters recorded their own compositions.  There were exceptions, but the “singer/songwriter” was not yet an accepted business model.  Songwriters shopped their songs to publishers or labels.  Label owners, record producers and DJ’s sometimes received (or took) a songwriting credit.   Black songwriters were most often the victims of this practice, which became less widespread after the payola scandal, and after people like Chuck Berry achieved enough success (and learned enough about the music business) to be able to refuse it.

Today there are four CD-length sets, with over a hundred songs released between 1960 and 1971.

DAVID JOHANSEN "I Can't Be Wastin' Time"

We don’t go in much for posthumous tributes, here at JOKONKY ENTERPRISES.  We prefer to send the artists we love flowers while they’re alive.  But David Johansen is an artist who deserves one.

Devo considered themselves pioneers who got scalped, and that was the case with Johansen & The New York Dolls.  They were progenitors of punk, and glam rock.  Their audacious approach, musically & visually, influenced thousands of bands who were successful worldwide--while falling short of that level of success themselves.  Joe Strummer often cited The New York Dolls as a major influence, as did many of the first wave of punks—& the hair-bands of the 80’s.

Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler was closely watching Johansen when both bands were in their infancy.  Tyler lifted the androgyny, the scarves on the mic stand, and even married Johansen’s ex-wife Cyrinda Foxe.  And yet I never heard Johansen speak ill of him—which is only one of the reasons I admire him.

Johansen could do everything Tyler did—but Tyler couldn’t have pulled off a fraction of what Johansen accomplished if he'd lived four lifetimes.  And (as was said about Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers) Johansen did everything Tyler did backwards and in high heels.  

Whenever Tyler & his band presented a chance for a side-by-side comparison, they always fell short.  Compare the tracks on their blues album Honking On Bobo to David Johansen’s work with The Harry Smiths--or Aerosmith backing Jimmie Page & Robert Plant to Johansen playing with Hubert Sumlin (on today’s offering).

It might sound as if I don’t like Tyler’s music—just the opposite—but his success relies heavily on the cult of personality, whether he’s writing a book, cutting a contemporary country album at the height of the popularity of contemporary country, or criticizing other performers on a “reality” TV show.

Johansen seemed to be all about artistic expression &, rather than serving up what was popular, he challenged his audience to keep up.  He reinvented himself almost as many times as David Bowie, he acted as well as he sang, and he appeared in enough films for me to think of him as the American Tim Curry.  Along the way, David Jo co-starred in the Christmas classic SCROOGED, & acted in one of my favorite movies; LET IT RIDE holding his own with Richard Dreyfus, Terri Garr, Robbie Coltrane, Jennifer Tilly, & Mary Woronov.

In his Buster Poindexter personae, and as himself in the Scorsese-directed documentary Personality Crisis: One Night Only, he showed he’s also a bon vivant and a storyteller.  “The film captured him performing at the Café Carlyle, blending his entire musical journey—from Dolls to Buster to blues—in a single night. Scorsese, known for his meticulous storytelling, saw Johansen as more than a musician; he saw him as an artist who embodied the evolution of American music.”

He also hosted a satellite radio show.  I think we love him here at Jokonky because Johansen’s “love of music wasn’t just about performance—it was about sharing, educating, and celebrating every note and lyric that ever moved him.”

The two quotes above, and some of the information in this blurb came from this wonderful blog post:

https://www.thatericalper.com/2025/03/01/five-things-you-didnt-know-about-david-johansen/

Before he passed last week, I made a donation to Johansen’s SWEET RELIEF fund to help pay for his substantial hospital bills—which are still burdening his family.  As a life-long used record buyer, it was probably the only money he ever made from me.  If you’d like to contribute: https://www.sweetrelief.org/davidjohansenfund.html

The tracks I selected from Johansen’s varied career are the ones that I felt showcased his many facets, from the “attitudinal” lead off track, to him doing an intimate version of Looking For A Kiss on NYC’s WFUV, to his theatrical reading of a Disney song from Stay Awake.  

There are a few cuts from Live It Up, that show what a raucous live performer he was. There's also the clever wordplay of Funky But Chic, and Frenchette.  It closes with a stripped-bare live version of his own Heart Of Gold recorded with just Budd Mishkin on guitar and David on harmonica.  That version and the live version of Is This What I Get For Loving You? always stir my sadness, and I suspect that they always will.

Wilko Johnson With The Artists

Listening to Mick Farren's Vampires Stole My Lunch Money recently, an instantly recognizable guitar sound jumped from the speakers.  It could only be Wilko Johnson.  That got me to thinking about Wilko's other musical exploits after he left Dr. Feelgood.  He formed a band, the Solid Senders.  He joined Ian Dury & The Blockheads.  And he collaborated with a range of other performers.

I wasn't planning to do a Wilko compilation, especially after Koen made such a great one.  But the more I looked into Wilko's post-Feelgoods discography, the more interesting it got.

It's a pleasure to hear Wilko with other vocalists (including Ian Dury, Pearl Harbour, and Roger Daltrey), as well as playing with other guitarists (such as John Turnbull, Steve Hooker and Makoto Ayukawa).  Ayukawa's wife Sheena sings "Fujiyama Mama".  It's a shame that Johnny Thunders only sang on "Cool Operator" and didn't engage in a guitar duel with Wilko.  At least we get to hear Wilko and Wayne Kramer trade licks on "Walking Wounded" by The Mutants (not the SF Mutants, but an "all star band" assembled by Marco Pirroni's former Wolfmen collaborator, Chris Constantinou.) 

Wilko also played on a 1977 single by Celia & The Mutations (members of the Stranglers backing a female singer).  At a concert by The Stranglers and Friends in 1980 (while Hugh Cornwell was in prison) Wilko backed Phil Daniels on "Dead Loss Angeles". (Daniels played Jimmy in Quadrophenia and was the vocalist on Blur's "Parklife".)  In 2013, Wilko guested on a single by the Urban Voodoo Machine. And then he made an elpee with that geezer what was in The Who.

You can watch Wilko go through all his stage moves and facial expressions during a storming performance of "Sweet Gene Vincent" and "Blockheads" during Ian Dury's 1985 concert filmed at the Hammersmith Odeon. Wilko spent many years playing with bassist Norman Watt-Roy -- in the Blockheads, Solid Senders, and The Wilko Johnson Band.  Norman is also the bassist on the tracks with Pearl Harbour, Makoto Ayukawa, The Mutants, and Roger Daltrey.

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG: Dr. Feelgood's Jukebox, Vol. 1 & Vol. 2.

Comeback Special: 2024 Edition

Once again it's time for holiday shopping, and this year's comeback albums make great gifts.  The biggest comeback is probably Sounds Of A Lost World, The Cure's first album of new music in 16 years.  Or maybe it's Ensoulment, The The's first new album since 2000.  

Some of this year's comebacks were bittersweet.  Steve Albini died shortly after the release of Shellac's To All Trains. Wayne Kramer and Dennis Thompson did not live to see the release of Heavy Lifting by The MC5.  Effigies frontman John Kezdy died in 2023 as the band was recording the album Burned (which was released last month).

Fans of Chicago bands like Shellac and The Effigies will also like Rack by The Jesus Lizard and Arcwelder's Continue.  Les Savy Fav's Oui LSF adds a dance beat to noise rock, like chocolat in your beurre de cacahuète.

The mopey Goth in your family might crack a smile if you gift them the latest by The Wolfgang Press, The March Violets or even The Woodentops. 

Fans of difficult music are (by definition) difficult to shop for.  Surprise them with your eclectic taste by giving them new releases from Normil Hawaiians, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, or Seefeel.

The headbanger in your family will dig the new Nasty Savage album, and if you know a hip hop fan, LL Cool J's comeback album The Force proves that he's still one of the best to do it; and Q-Tip's production is top notch. (Tip samples Can, Gary Numan, and Finnish prog rock band Wigwam!)

Softies should read "first since 2000"

Looking for something with a feminine touch?  Try The Softies or Fairground Attraction -- or rock out with The Fastbacks!

The White Animals' album Star Time is one of my favorites of 2024, and the glam rock stomp of "Ready To Go" is a highlight of today's compilation.  

The Hollywood Stars have been away the longest (since 1977), unless you count The MC5, but Brother Wayne is the only original member to do the Heavy Lifting (Dennis Thompson drums on a few songs). It would be a solid comeback even if it were a Wayne Kramer album, and I love his solo on "Black Boots".  

I broke my self-imposed ten year comeback rule to include Johnny Foreigner, simply because it's such a joy to hear them again.  Maybe they can teach me How To Be Hopeful about 2025.

Kim Shattuck's Got The Hits!

Hard to believe that Kim Shattuck has been gone five years now.  Founder of The Muffs, member of The Pandoras and The Coolies (both with Melanie Vammen), guest vocalist with White Flag, co-leader of The Beards (with Lisa Marr of Cub), and (briefly) bassist of The Pixies. Kim accomplished a lot, even after she developed ALS, a cruel disease that attacks your nerves and muscles and takes away your ability to move, speak or breathe.

You can hear Kim's singing and songwriting on records by all of the artists above.  She didn't sing or write songs in the first incarnation of The Pandoras, but she contributed originals to the band's comeback.  

When Kim sang cover versions other artists' songs, she brought her own personality and sensibility to each tune.  The Muffs had some success with their cover of "Kids In America", but even better is their version of "No Action" (which Elvis Costello called one of the best covers of his songs). Roy McDonald kills it on the drums.  I also love Kim's unhinged take on Frank Black's "Thalassocracy" (a highlight of The Beards' album Funtown).

Her voice could be incredibly raw and snotty or irresistibly melodic and charming, and she could summon the most ungodly roar!  Sometimes it's through hearing a different voice sing a familiar song that we can appreciate a vocalist's style and skill.  Listen to these tracks and you will hear Kim became more confident over the years, and she wasn't afraid to take on "White Rabbit" on Bowie's "Changes".

As a White Flag collaborator, Kim was part of the Bill Bartell story (coming to a theater near you). Bill's universe included the Tater Totz and Redd Kross. RK shared a drummer with The Muffs for a number of years, and that's why today's share is called Kim's Got The Hits!  

Photo of Kim from Analog Love: The Art Of The Mixtape.  ELSEWHERE IN THE BLOGOSPHERE: Kim and Melanie leading The Pandoras live on WFMU in 2015.  We miss you, Kim!

The Best Of Greg Kihn

Stinky sez: Greg Kihn was a San Francisco icon, and while he never made it big-time, he did make it into the charts in a big way with JEOPARDY, which got MTV airplay and was parodied by Weird Al as "I Lost On Jeopardy".  It was stopped at the #2 spot by Michael Jackson’s Beat It — which was also parodied to great effect by Weird Al.

Kihn’s best-known number, THE BREAKUP SONG (They Don’t Write ‘Em) is a power pop classic, which is why it appears here three times.  If you sing a song every time you perform for 42 years, you wind up with more than one “keeper” in the can.  So included here are the original hit version, a live version, and a solo version.

Bill Graham regularly booked The Greg Kihn Band at Winterland, and the next to the last show presented at the venue was Kihn opening for Tom Petty.  Greg Kihn was one of the first acts to record a Bruce Springsteen song.  Manfred Mann scored a hit with Blinded By The Light in 1976.  Kihn nailed his 1977 recording of For You, the same year Robert Gordon released Fire, which Springsteen wrote especially for him.  Patti Smith’s co-write with The Boss (Because The Night) followed in 1978.

Kihn could always spot a good song.  His cover of Beserkley Records label mate Jonathan Richman’s Roadrunner is nearly as good as the original.  He plucked Cheri Baby from Hot Chocolate’s set list, and serves up a quirky almost new wave version of I Fall To Pieces.  On this collection he covers Telstar, Love’s Made A Fool Of You, Not Fade Away, and a second Springsteen track, Thunder Road.

Starting in the mid-1990s Kihn was a longtime DJ in the San Francisco Bay Area and was a nationally syndicated nighttime radio host.  He also wrote novels. 

ELSEWHERE IN THE BLOGOSPHERE:  The Greg Kihn Band live in Milwaukee (1983) at They Don't Make Albums Like That Anymore Albums That Should Exist.

Sinéad O'Connor Meets On-U Sound

Sean-Nós Nua was the first album I reached for after learning of Sinéad O'Connor's passing.  It is a collection of traditional Irish folk songs with contemporary touches, including electric guitar (Skip "Little Axe" McDonald), bass (Carlton "Bubblers" Ogilvie), Hammond organ (Nick "Mutant Hi-Fi" Coplowe), and programming (by Alan Branch and Professor Stretch).  These parenthetical names should be familiar to fans of Adrian Sherwood and On-U Sound.  Adrian and Skip coproduced Sean-Nós Nua.

Sinéad first worked with the On-U crew on her 2000 album Faith And Courage.  Four songs were produced by Adrian and Skip.  On the album's finale, "Kyrié Eléison",  Sinéad is accompanied by the voices of Bim Sherman, Ghetto Priest, Junior Delgado, and Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah.

Sinéad's 2000 single No Man's Woman was backed with an On-U remix of "This Is A Rebel Song", plus the folk tune "Her Mantle So Green".  The latter track reappeared in 2002 on the Sean-Nós Nua album.  

Sinéad's 2003 compilation She Who Dwells includes several songs "produced by O'Connor/Sherwood/McDonald".  She remade one of them ("Dense Water Deeper Down") for her final album, 2014's I'm Not Bossy, I'm The Boss.

Sinéad O'Connor Meets On-U Sound (today's share) concludes with "1000 Mirrors", her 2003 single with Asian Dub Foundation, which was produced by Adrian Sherwood and Nick Coplowe.  

Songs The Flamin' Groovies Taught Us (part 2)

This second part of The Flamin' Groovies Jukebox features British Invasion bands as well as American bands inspired by the Beatles, Kinks, and Stones.  The Flamin' Groovies shared bills with their Bay Area contemporaries, but they were seen as out of step with the psychedelic scene (which was arguably just as Beatles-influenced and blues-influenced).

When I assembled Alex Chilton's Jukebox, it was divided pre- and post-British Invasion.  Same goes for The Flamin' Groovies Jukebox, and this second (and final) set reflects the changes in the band's sound after Roy Loney left and Cyril Jordan took the reins. 

Of course, British Invasion bands loved Little Richard, Chuck Berry, The Everly Brothers and other American rock and R&B as much as The Flamin' Groovies did. 

The same can be said of Dave Edmunds.  Cyril and Chris Wilson admired Edmunds' production of the 1971 Rockpile album, so The Groovies went to Rockfield Studios in 1972 to record their classic original songs "Shake Some Action" and "You Tore Me Down" with Edmunds.

The Groovies were around for the birth of the punk scene too. They played London's Roundhouse in 1976.  Ron "The Ripper" from Crime was The Groovies' bassist for awhile.  Danny Mihm (original Groovies drummer) played on 1978's Destry Hampton & The Wolves From Hell EP, a classic of San Francisco punk.

In 2017 (almost 50 years after Sneakers), Cyril, Chris Wilson, and George Alexander made a new Flamin' Groovies album called Fantastic Plastic.

Rest in peace Roy Loney and Tina Turner, whose "River Deep Mountain High" is a highlight of this Groovies Jukebox, and one of the last songs The Groovies recorded at Gold Star in 1981 (the year in The Flamin' Groovies' career when this series of cover songs ends).

The Good, the Sad, and the Gnarly

GOOD NEWS: Ivan Julian has released a new album, Swing Your Lanterns.  The former Voidoid is now in his sixth decade of making music, as a multi-instrumentalist and producer.  And if You Don't Know Ivan Julian, there are two career-spanning compilations of his music on this blog.  

At the Free Music Archive, you can stream or download WFMU performances by Ivan, his former wife and bandmate Cynthia Sley (with the Bush Tetras), and their son Austin Sley Julian (The Sediment Club). Stream and purchase Swing Your Lanterns at Pravda Records.  

Another gnarly guitarist, Derwood Andrews has collaborated more than once with legendary drummer (and author) Rat Scabies.  Late last year, they released their first full length, Derwood and the Rat.  Stream and buy the download here!

SAD NEWS: Michael Belfer died in March 2022.  One of my favorite guitarists, he began his music career with The Sleepers and Tuxedomoon, and spent the 1990's playing with Torcher, Black Lab, and Lil Tiger, as well as engineering and producing. Michael's memoir When Can I Fly? is available from Hozac Books. Buy it!

We've lost some legendary guitarists in the past year (Tom Verlaine, Keith Levene, Jeff Beck, Wilko Johnson, Bruce Anderson).  Michael Belfer deserves to be ranked among those greats.  Listen to my compilation of his music and you'll hear why.

MORE GOOD NEWS: Belfer's co-author Will York has brand new book called Who Cares Anyway: Post Punk San Francisco and the End of the Analog Age.  York has started a podcast to accompany the book.  His first guests are Joe Carducci and visual artist Kim Seltzer (who created album art and posters for the Toiling Midgets). Spread the word and buy the book!

Speaking of books and guitarists, an authorized biography of John McGeoch called The Light Pours Out of Me was published last April. 

Mark E. Smith was born on March 5.  (March 5 will also mark the fifth anniversary of this modest blog.)  If you're a Fall fan, you probably know about the new album by HOUSE Of ALL, which includes happy Fall guitarists Martin Bramah and Pete Greenway, drummers Paul Hanley and Simon Wolstencroft, and the mighty Steve Hanley on bass.  The first two HOUSE Of ALL songs previewed sound brilliant, and I couldn't be happier about the two drummer lineup. 

Brix Smith also has a forthcoming album called Valley of the Dolls.  (When will she stop borrowing titles from Redd Kross?)  Brix, Paul Hanley, Steve Hanley and Simon Wolstencroft are also published authors. (Would love to read a book by Martin Bramah on his years with The Fall, Blue Orchids, and Nico.)  HOUSE Of ALL might be one of the most literary bands of recent years. Order the album in vinyl, CD and digital formats at Bandcamp.

RELATED BLOG POSTS:  Blue Orchids, Bruce Anderson, Derwood Andrews, The Fall, Ivan Julian, John McGeoch, Keith Levene, Michael Belfer, San Francisco punk and post-punk, SF's Subterranean Records

Comeback Special: 2009

  

Comeback Specials feature artists who returned with new albums after absences of a decade or longer.  I choose a song from each comeback album to share with you.  2009 was a notable year.  Moebius and Roedelius reunited as Cluster. Miriam Linna and Billy Miller put the A-Bones back together.

William DuVall (whose career dates back to Atlanta hardcore band Neon Christ) joined Alice In Chains for their first album since Layne Staley's death, and Krist Novoselic joined the surviving members of Flipper.  

Robert Kidney and his brother Jack made a comeback as 15-60-75 (The Numbers Band), with Chrissie Hynde's brother Terry on sax.  Paul & Gene made a new Kiss album.  They angered fans by replacing Ace and Peter, and by selling the  album exclusively at Wal-Mart.  Pobody's nerfect.

In 2009, Ben Lee made a new Noise Addict album (which is free on Bandcamp!) with the help of Lou Barlow.  Ben started Noise Addict when he was 13. 

Sérgio Dias was 15 when Os Mutantes first appeared on Brazilian TV.    Neither Rita Lee nor Arnaldo Baptista participated in the Os Mutantes "reunion" album; only Arnaldo's brother Sérgio Dias remained for 2009's Haih... Ou Amortecedor.....

Nineties bands Polvo and Six Finger Satellite made new records. 6FS released both a new album and Half Control, an album of previously unreleased recordings from 2001. 

Stiff Records alumni Pointed Sticks and Tenpole Tudor decided that 2009 was the right time for new records.  The Pointed Sticks have since released two more albums in 2015 and 2022.  Mick O'Donnell from Downliners Sect played on the 2009 Tenpole Tudor album.  O'Donnell died in February 2022.

Guitarist and songwriter Gary Higgins came back in 2009 for Seconds, his first record since 1973's Red Hash.  Grant Hart (pictured above) released his final album, Hot Wax, which featured Basia Bulat and members of A Silver Mt. Zion and GYBE. Grant Hart died in 2017.  Billy Miller (A-Bones frontman and Norton Records cofounder) died in 2016.

Dr. Feelgood's Jukebox, vol. 2

Mickey Jupp's band Legend opens the second volume of Dr. Feelgood's Jukebox with 1971's "Cheque Book", and the party continues through the 1980's and into the early 90's.  Lee's last recording was 1994's live Down At The Doctors, which kicks off with Mike Morgan's "If My Baby Quit Me" (released in 1990) and "Tanqueray" (from the 1991 solo album by Chuck Berry's pianist Johnnie Johnson).  

Even near the end of his life, Lee Brilleaux had an ear for new tunes that would fit the Feelgoods' style.  I don't know if Lee personally chose all of the 50+ songs on these two sets, but he certainly would have had input into the Feelgoods' versions.

This volume includes some of Dr. Feelgood's early 70's inspirations, such as Legend, Mungo Jerry, and Loose Gravel.  Other songs were written by the Feelgoods' contemporaries (including Will Birch from The Kursaal Flyers, Nick Lowe from Brinsley Schwarz, and Larry Wallis).

Will Birch penned this fine remembrance of Lee Brilleaux, as well as a history of pub rock called No Sleep Til Canvey Island and biographies of Ian Dury and Nick Lowe.  There is a biography of Lee Brilleaux by Zoë Howe (who also helped Wilko write his memoir, Looking Back At Me).

It's been said that Lee Brilleaux's cheque book funded the founding of Stiff Records. The veracity of this claim has been disputed, but in the words of Graham Parker, "It's a lovely legend."

Dr. Feelgood's Jukebox, vol. 1

The world lost Wilko Johnson in 2022.  A tribute to Wilko's musical career was recently assembled by art58koen. Get it at The Good Old Major's Hole. A couple years ago, Stinky and I talked about featuring Wilko in our Gnarly Guitarists series, but art58koen's tribute is far better than anything I could have put together. 

Dr. Feelgood is a musical ship of Theseus which sails on without any of its original members.  Lee Brilleaux died almost 30 years ago.  Robert Kane has fronted the Feelgoods for the past two decades.  Brilleaux was a dedicated showman, and he might be well pleased to know that Dr. Feelgood continues to entertain and inspire audiences.

The Feelgoods are known for many fine original songs, written by Wilko and other band members.  But they also specialized lean & mean covers of R&B, rock, soul and blues songs.  Perfect candidates for this blog's Jukebox series, aka "Songs Someone Taught Us". Here's the first set, compiling the original versions of songs covered during Lee's tenure as head Doctor.  

Volume 1 starts in 1954 with "Riot in Cell Block #9" by the Robins, and continues through 1969.  I left out some of the better known artists that Dr. Feelgood covered (you've heard the Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters songs).  But there are still some heavy hitters (Bo Diddley, Howlin Wolf, John Lee Hooker), and more tunes that you may already know and love.

NRBQ's Jazz Jukebox

Hope you all had a Terry Christmas, everybody! Can't let 2022 end without completing the NRBQ Jukebox series.

It seems a shame to separate these jazz tunes from the other NRBQ sets (since the Q is nothing if not eclectic), but some of the songs are quite lengthy.  

Terry's idols Thelonious Monk and Sun Ra are present, as well as the Carla Bley composition "Ida Lupino" (recorded by NRBQ on their debut album), and "Things Are Getting Better" by Cannonball Adderly (which NRBQ covered on Scraps).

"South" by Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra appeared on Froggy's Favorites; Sonny Rollins' "Valse Hot" was on The Scraps Companion. The Q took on Roland Kirk's "Here Comes The Whistleman" during the Ludlow Garage live set; and "Paris" (a composition from late in Moondog's career) was featured on NRBQ's live album You Gotta Be Loose.

Claude Thornhill's composition "Snowfall" falls outside the chronology of these compilations (as it was recorded by the reformed NRBQ on 2012's We Travel The Spaceways), but I invite you to listen to NRBQ's version here.  

I first heard "Snowfall" as a child, on the Ramsey Lewis Trio's More Sounds Of Christmas LP (1964).  That album (and its 1961 predecessor, Sounds Of Christmas) were in heavy rotation on the family stereo every December when I was growing up, and they are still the first records I put on when I'm ready to get into the spirit of the season.  It was a thrill to hear Terry and the guys do "Snowfall", back when Pete Donnelly of The Figgs was NRBQ's bassist.  Klem Klimek (a frequent NRBQ collaborator) sits in on harmonica.

Here's the Ramsey Lewis Trio's version of "Snowfall".  If you only think of Ramsey Lewis as a "smooth jazz" player, his acoustic recordings from the 60's on the Chess and Cadet labels are a revelation.  Ramsey passed away in September, 2022.  Ramsey was a pianist who could really swing, and I bet Terry was a fan.

Gnarly Guitarists: MX-80's Bruce Anderson (RIP)

Several great singers and players have left us recently. One loss that saddened me was the death of Bruce Anderson from MX-80 Sound. I never met Bruce or saw him perform, but I was a fan ever since I sent a buck to Ralph Records in 1980 for their first Buy Or Die EP, which opened with Bruce's astonishing guitar work on "Don't Blame It On Me" (aka "It's Not My Fault").

I sent a letter to the band, offering to start a fan club. MX-80 frontman Rich Stim politely discouraged the idea, but he sent me a copy of the Big Hits EP.

Trouser Press described Bruce Anderson's style by asking readers to "imagine a cross between Sonny Sharrock and a bad-mood Robert Fripp." Glenn O'Brien quipped that MX-80 was “either the most Heavy Metal Art Band or the most Arty Heavy Metal Band”. Anderson himself credited John McLaughlin, Terje Rydpal, Wilko Johnson, Clarence White and James "Blood" Ulmer as influences.

After two albums for Ralph, MX-80 went quiet while Rich attended law school.  Bruce played in Henry Kaiser's band (with John and Hilary Hanes from Chrome and Pearl Harbour & The Explosions). Bruce also played with Malcolm Mooney's Tenth Planet and Pluto. He contributed to several records by Angel Corpus Christi (with Andrea Ross and Rich Stim), and to the Residents' 1989 album The King & Eye.  

The unbroken bond between Dale (left) and Bruce (right)

The MX-80 mothership had multiple satellites. O-Type was essentially MX-80 without Rich; Bar Stool Walker was Bruce and Rich; lazyboy was Bruce and bassist Dale Sophiea; Grale was Bruce and Dale with Gregory Hagan and Dale's son Nicolas Sophiea; French Radio was Bruce, A.C. Way, and Jim Kaiser. Can't forget The Gizzards and Half-Life (both now on Bandcamp!)

In 2021, MX-80 Sound released Hougher House, a spoken word tale with musical backing about a dysfunctional and avaricious family. The band began recording a new album to be titled Better Than Life. Bruce died on January 11, 2022 -- ending almost five decades of MX-80 Sound. I bet the man played guitar every single day for 50 years.

The first MX-80 LP (Hard Attack) was reissued by Superior Viaduct, and the Ralph albums were recently reissued on vinyl by Ship To Shore Media. Other MX-80 and O-Type releases are available from the Family Vineyard label.  Feeding Tube Records released the 2016 LP So Funny. Hougher House was released on CD by Psychofon.

Here are two extensive articles about MX-80's history, written by Steve Albini and Peter Conheim of Negativland. Bandcamp links: MX-80 Sound, Bar Stool Walker, Quadruped Media, Petit Mal Music, Angel Corpus Christi. Rest in sound, Bruce.

The Best Of Steve New and Stella Nova

Steve New auditioned at age 15 (fresh from the London Jazz Orchestra) to be the Sex Pistols' second guitarist. That didn't work out, but in 1977 he and Midge Ure (McLaren's first choice for Sex Pistols singer) joined Glen Matlock's new band, Rich Kids. 

Midge, Glen, Steve, and Rusty

Steve New played drums on Steel Leg vs. The Electric Dread, and keyboards on the PiL song "Pied Piper". As a guitarist, he backed Sid Vicious,  Johnny Thunders, Iggy Pop, Pearl Harbour, Barry Andrews and Gary Twinn (him again?) Pearl Harbour said, "Steve had the most unique guitar sound & his solos were from another planet."

Pulling faces with Pearl Harbour

Steve New played lead guitar on the Gen X single "Dancing With Myself". Billy and Tony James reportedly wanted Steve to be their new lead guitarist, but were concerned about the severity of his heroin addiction. There are long periods of silence in the Steve New discography.

From 1996 until his death in 2010, Steve New was a member of Glen Matlock's Philistines. Steve also led his own musical projects Lude, The New, and Beastellabeast (the latter two with Beatrice Brown). He worked with Lawrence on the Go-Kart Mozart album Tearing Up The Album Chart.

Stella Nova and Beatrice Brown

Beastellabeast was the first group where Steve embraced his identity as Stella Nova. Previously his transvestism had been kept hidden. The two albums by Beastellabeast are musically adventurous and worlds away from the Rich Kids and Philistines. There's some extraplanetary guitar work, stuttering rhythms and musique concrète in the songs of Beastellabeast and The New. Stella Nova had a fine singing voice, and it's a shame that we didn't get to hear more of it. 

Stella Nova died of cancer in 2010, less than six months after a Rich Kids reunion show. Phil Singleton's description of the show makes me wonder if any recordings exist from that night. Rest peacefully among the stars, Stella Nova.