Women Sing Westerberg

Here’s a comp that does what it says on the tin.  Longtime Mat fans may remember that after the breakup, Paul Westerberg announced that he would be doing some collaborations with other artists.  

In the early 1990’s, he cowrote songs with the Goo Goo Dolls, Joan Jett, and Johnette Napolitano (for her Pretty & Twisted album).  The latter two songs can be heard here, along with covers of The Replacements and songs from Paul’s solo career.  

One of the last things Paul has released (a decade ago) was another collaboration:  The I Don’t Cares was his duo with Juliana Hatfield, and their version of “Born For Me” is here as well.

There were three versions of “It’s A Wonderful Lie” to choose from.  Mary Lou Lord and Christina Martin have recorded it. I chose the version by Puss N Boots, the trio of Sasha Dobson, Norah Jones and Catherine Popper.  

Two versions of “Swingin Party” are included, because the covers seemed different enough in style and mood.  “Androgynous” has also been covered a number of times.  I didn’t quite have room enough for the version by Miley Cyrus, Joan Jett and Laura Jane Grace.

It has been almost a decade since new songs appeared on Soundcloud and Bandcamp.  I wonder what Paul has been doing. Does he sing around the house?  Pick up the guitar, or plink at the piano?  Has he retired from playing and writing music?  Or does he have a dry wood garage full of unreleased material – enough to rival Prince’s archives at Paisley Park?  

He’s old enough now for Medicare.  Maybe he earned enough from the reunion tour, the reissues, and the royalties that he doesn’t have to "whore his past" anymore.  There's a theory that Paul agreed to the comeback tour in order to pay for his recent divorce and raise funds for Slim Dunlap's medical care.  Slim and Paul's ex-wife Laurie Lindeen both died in 2024.  Paul may have socked enough away to fund his own retirement.

So is he done with music? Will he have any involvement with the upcoming Mats biopic?  Who knows?  Not me.  Who cares?  Not many.  And do any of us deserve the answers?  Not likely.  But we can still grab our favorite lampshades and enjoy the swingin' sounds of Wimmen Singin' Westerberg.

We could do a lot worse.

HAZLEWOODIZM: Incurable Lee

Lee Hazlewood spent most of his adult life in a psychiatric hospital.  “Haze” (as his fellow inmates called him) couldn’t sing or play any instruments, but was convinced that he could become a pop star.  He befriended Duane Eddy, a young hospital orderly who played guitar to entertain the patients.  Hazlewood made up band names and song titles in exchange for cigarettes. 

Duane Eddy’s success in the music business made Hazlewood bitterly jealous. He began writing songs day and night, and insisted on making a record.  Duane got Hazlewood a recording contract on the advice of the staff psychiatrist, who thought it might cure Hazlewood of his monomania.

To everyone’s surprise, Hazlewood’s debut wasn’t a complete disaster.  Haze escalated his demands.  He was obsessed with the original “Brat Pack” – Sinatra’s daughter Nancy, and the sons of Dean Martin and Desi Arnaz.  He wanted them to record his songs.  His original lyrics read like a confession (or a threat):

These boots are made for stalking

And that’s just what I’ll do

One of these days, the cops 

Are gonna catch me stalking you

ARE YOU READY, NANCY?  BETTER START RUNNING!

Nancy Sinatra never met Lee Hazlewood -- their duets were recorded separately.  She had a restraining order against him, and was terrified that he would one day escape or be granted release from the psych hospital.

Hazlewood’s next demand was to make a record with Ann Margret.  Hospital administrators were improperly swayed by the possibility of meeting the popular sex symbol.  But she was almost as delusional as Hazlewood about her own singing ability, and the pairing was a flop.

Hazlewood’s treatment team decided to invent a fake duet partner for their patient. This too backfired.  The album Requiem For An Almost Lady was written after Haze discovered that “Suzi Jane Hokom” was pure hokum.   Heartbroken and betrayed, Hazlewood spiraled into a deep depression.

A series of LSD treatments finally relieved his depression, and Haze found a new obsession.  This time it wasn’t a celebrity: it was an entire country.  And now he wanted to make movies as well as albums.  Hazlewood never actually visited Sweden.  Everything was done on a soundstage, constructed by hospital staff for their famous patient.  Everyone had to wear costumes and pretend to speak Swedish.  The ruse was abandoned after the record buying public lost interest.  

Hazlewood’s later albums are rare because “Lee Hazlewood Industries” was a vanity label that existed only to press small quantities of Haze’s music during his declining years.  Lee Hazlewood was one of the first “outsider” artists in pop music. He belongs to the tradition of Wild Man Fischer, Daniel Johnston, and Wesley Willis.

DIE IDIOTEN: An Iggy Covers Album

 

It's Bandcamp Friday!  One new item that caught my eye is a single from The Art Gray Noizz Quintet with Lydia Lunch.  Together, they cover "Permafrost" by Magazine and "Mass Production" by Iggy Pop.  Here was one of the final missing pieces to complete a cover album project!

The Idiot was released in March 1977 and was followed six months later by Lust For Life.  Both albums were created during Iggy and Bowie's stay in East Berlin.  From their black and white covers to the musicians who play on both records, the two LP's are close siblings. Thus the title of this covers album, Die Idioten (The Idiots). 

I couldn't find this album online (or any other covers of "Turn Blue"), so there is a live version from Iggy's US tour with Bowie on keyboards and backing vocals.  Otherwise it's all covers, in a surprising range of interpretations in various genres, including reggae (Trippynova), mento (The Jolly Boys), rockabilly (J.D. McPherson), country (Kelly Willis, having fun with Chuck Prophet and The Gourds), plus a track from Angkor Pop, the Cambodian tribute to Iggy.  The biggest surprise to me was David Hasselhoff's version of "The Passenger".  It's modern European dance music, but the Hoff doesn't go over the top.  His vocal is faithful to the original.  Best thing he's done since his Lords Of The New Church cover!

The lyrics to these songs are among the best that Iggy has written, although some of them are problematic.  Iggy's attraction to underage girls is evident on "Sixteen" and "Tiny Girls".  Check out Eugene Robinson's article Punk Rock Pedophilia for a thoughtful examination of this issue.  

Another problematic lyric is "Visions of swastikas in my head, plans for everyone/It's in the whites of my eyes." Of course, the China Girl tells the song's narrator to shut his mouth.  It was Ron Asheton (not Iggy) who collected Nazi memorabilia, and it was Bowie who foolishly flirted with fascism.  

There's a fascinating new book called This Ain’t Rock ‘n’ Roll: Pop Music, the Swastika, and the Third Reich which explores this obsession among rock musicians.  Bowie, Lennon, Brian Jones, Keith Moon, Vivian Stanshall, Eric Burdon, Lemmy, Throbbing Gristle, Sid Vicious, Siouxsie, Mark E. Smith, Bernard Sumner, Richard Jobson, Spandau Ballet, Nico, Slayer, Kanye and many others are examined in music, word and deed.  

The author, Daniel Rachel, also wrote a book about 2-Tone and the Rock Against Racism movement; and in This Ain't Rock 'n' Roll he calls out RAR for being less focused on antisemitism than other forms of racism.  I would like to have read a chapter on the white supremacist and neo-Nazi connections to noise, neo-folk, and metal, but those troubling topics are explored here, here, here and here. 

Sorry for such a long and digressive post today.  If I may suggest one item to consider for purchase on this Bandcamp Friday, it's the new release from Atlanta singer-songwriter K. Michelle Dubois.  She was a founding member of Ultrababyfat, and on her excellent solo albums she collaborates with Dan Dixon and other members of Atlanta band Dropsonic.  

Dubois' new full-length, Served On The Half Shell, is a collection of originals and covers: All Tomorrow's Parties, Truth Hits Everybody, and The Culture Bunker by Teardrop Explodes!  Michelle has a compelling voice. I frequently return to her solo albums, and always try to catch her live shows (which are too rare). 

Her new record is a great introduction to her music, as it features both new originals and remixes of older ones like All Night Glamour (which really needs to be featured on the soundtrack of the next teen vampire movie.) I previously featured K. Michelle Dubois' music here on the compilation Georgia Women of Alternative Rock (GWAR).

Buy This Ain't Rock'n'Roll from Akashic Books

Buy other Daniel Rachel books from Bookshop.org 

Buy music from K. Michelle Dubois at Bandcamp

Rollin' With The ROKY ERICKSON Covers!

 

Illustration by Coop

Got to thinking recently about the great songs that Roky Erickson released in the 70's and 80's as a solo artist (and with his bands Bleib Alien, The Explosives, and The Nervebreakers).  What a songwriter he was!  And what a voice! 

I really should have included Roky on my Do Ya Think I'm New Wave comps, because he was one of the first musicians from the 1960's to embrace punk rock.  When Roky was asked in an interview to name his favorite Sex Pistols song, his answer was "Hot Cars" -- so the Angry Samoans wrote a punk song called "Hot Cars" in honor of Roky's imaginary Sex Pistols song!

Gregg Turner from Angry Samoans has an "A&R" credit on Roky's 1977 "Bermuda" single, and there's an Angry Samoans cover of Roky's "White Faces" which is only available on the cassette version of the 1990 Roky/Elevators tribute Where The Pyramid Meets The Eye.  I couldn't find it online to share with you, but Gregg later recorded another version of "White Faces" with his band The Blood Drained Cows.  (Gregg Turner also covered "Starry Eyes" on one of his solo records.)  

It's interesting to see who else has covered Roky more than once -- Jad Fair, Mike Watt, Mark Lanegan, Pauline Murray (Penetration), Nick Oliveri (QOTSA, Mondo Generator), Nicke Andersson (Hellacopters, Entombed), Antiseen and The Electric Six are definitely Roky fans.

The most recent Roky tribute album, 2021's May The Circle Remain Unbroken, was put together by the same guy who assembled Where The Pyramid Meets The Eye, which is kinda cool!  

It's hard to top Bongwater's cover of "You Don't Love Me Yet", so I included the Peel Session version.  The cover of "Cold Night For Alligators" appeared on the Scandinavian Roky tribute album, and there's a track from the shoegaze tribute album -- but the rest of these two dozen Roky nuggets have not appeared on other tributes, making this collection kinda sorta unique, more or less.

CONFIDENTIAL (not really) to Anonymous:  the Smokey Hormel links you requested have been reposted. 

CHROME COVERS: Songs of Damon Edge and Helios Creed

Chrome was a band that blew my mind when I first heard them as a teenager.  The surreal vocals and synthesizer of Damon Edge combined with the spacey guitar work of Helios Creed was irresistible. 

Damon started the band in San Francisco and released Chrome's debut The Visitation on his own Siren Records in 1976 (50 years ago!).  Helios joined for 1977's Alien Soundtracks. Edge & Creed experimented with recording techniques on that album and Half Machine Lip Moves (1979).  

Chrome then signed with Beggars Banquet and released Red Exposure, The rhythm section of John and Hilary Stench (formerly of Pearl Harbor & The Explosions) backed Damon and Helios on the next two albums, Blood On The Moon and 3rd From The Sun. 

Damon moved to France with his wife, Fabienne Shine (singer of Shakin' Street).  He formed a new Chrome lineup and released a series of albums between 1984 and 1994 (which have been collected on the Chrome Box II).  Helios Creed released his first solo album on Subterranean Records in 1985.  Later he found a home among like-minded folks at Amphetamine Reptile.

Damon died in 1995.  Helios and the Stench Brothers reunited under the Chrome name and began releasing new material, starting with 1997's Retro Transmission.  Helios Creed solo records continued to appear (often with his Chrome bandmates), and he also collaborated with Nik Turner on several projects.  He has also played with the Butthole Surfers and MGMT.  

2023's Blue Exposure may be the final Chrome album.  Helios is now 72 and was the beneficiary of a fundraiser last year to help pay for his care.  Buy some Chrome and Helios records from Bandcamp!

The best-known Chrome covers are Prong's version of "Third From The Sun" and the Jesus Lizard's medley "Chrome".  There's also a Chrome tribute album.  I've collected a variety of Chrome covers for today's share.  It's cool to see how Chrome has influenced metal bands, punks, industrial music, and noise rock.  Two recent covers that didn't make the cut are Imparity's version of "Third From The Sun" and last year's single by Anal Babes, with "Chromosome Damage" on the b-side.  

Chrome has also been sampled by Kendrick Lamar, Saul Williams, Billy Woods, Bradford Cox and Jim Thirlwell!  Hats off to Helios Creed, one of the gnarliest of all gnarly guitarists.

Punks Got Soul (#4)

 

Here's the fourth (and likely final) volume of Punks Got Soul.  It's been interesting to think about musical genre.  Consider the artists covering these songs: are they punk? Post Punk? New Wave? Pub Rock? Mod? 

And the songs themselves: at what point does R&B evolve into soul, soul into funk, or funk into disco?  The Blasters got it right when they titled their first album American Music.  The Who had it right when they billed themselves as "Maximum R&B" -- music for dancing, but with amps to 11!

I've asked myself whether I'm just collecting examples of the whitening of Black music (like Pat Boone's version of "Tutti Frutti").  But then I remember that rock & roll was kind of a collision between jump blues and hillbilly music.  Maybe the best soul music needs a great singer -- but the best rock (and punk) needs a LOT of guitar. 

When all is said and done, the music is (in the words of Q-Tip) "devoted to the art of moving butts". I leave you with these confusing musings and another collection of 1980's versions of soul, R&B, girl groups, Motown, funk, and whatever other omfuggin' labels you might choose to apply to these songs. 

Speaking of moving butts, we have two more Triple Song Title collections today.  Sexy Sexy Sexy contains disco, funk, soul, and other styles of music for dancing. Cool Cool Cool is mostly alt-rock from the last two decades, for those of us too cool (or too self-conscious) to venture onto the dancefloor.

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG:  more Joan Jett, Dave Alvin, Barrence, John McGeoch, and Oil Tasters!

Redd Kross Songbook

 

Redd Kross and Melvins are currently krossing the US on tour through September and October.  The two bands (which share drummer Dale Crover and bassist Steven McDonald) just completed a two month UK/EU summer tour. 

These two tours follow last year's release of The Redd Album (the band's self-titled double LP on In The Redd Records), the Redd Kross memoir Now You're One Of Us (which is now available as an ebook), and the documentary film Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story (which is now available to stream at home). EDIT: DVD and Blu-Ray announced for January 2026 (just in time for your Christmas return credits!)

This blog has featured a Redd Kross jukebox, plus Tween Baes From Tostardo (a companion to Teen Babes from Monsanto) and a two disc set of Redd Kross b-sides and rarities.  

Today we have a Redd Kross Songbook --  over 30 cover versions of songs originally written and performed by Redd Kross.  But wait, there's also an additional 40+ versions of the six songs from their 1981 debut EP.  

ELSEWHERE ON THE WEB:  

A free Bandcamp download of a Redd Kross concert recorded during their 2024 US tour (which includes all of the songs from the 1981 EP, plus their klassic versions of "Deuce" and "Crazy Horses").

The Gotobeds (who have covered the entire Red Cross EP) recently released a great new album called Masterclass.  

It's OK (the band led by former RK lead guitarist Robert Hecker) has a new album called Product Of California, with Roy McDonald (Muffs, Redd Kross) on drums.  

RK's current lead guitarist Jason Shapiro used to be in the band Celebrity Skin, and you can hear their music at the Black Lodge Relics blog! If you ask nicely, Black Lodge Relics might repost the Lovedolls movies and their soundtracks.  And speaking of soundtracks, another former Redd Kross member (Brian Reitzell) is now a famous film and TV soundtrack composer!

Punks Got Soul... Again!

 

Richard has been a friend of the blog for awhile now, and has provided a number of terrific guest contributions. After my last Punks Got Soul post, Richard made some excellent suggestions -- more than enough for a third volume.  So here it is!

Like the first two sets, this one includes some bands that aren't really punk (strictly speaking).  There's more from the Mod Revival (The Rage, The Chords, Dexys), more pub rock, some New Wave and some post-punk.  And once again, there are some girl group songs and others that might not (strictly speaking) be considered soul music.  But there are definitely some soul classics here as well as some O.G. punks like the Ramones, Drones, Leyton Buzzards and DOA.

Richard has also sent in a massive number of Triple Song Titles from all over the world, and it's been a few months since the last time they were shared with the faithful among you who enjoy them.  Today we've got Mas Mas Mas (mostly Spanish titles from Latin America, Europe, and the Afro-Cuban diaspora).  This music is outside my area of musical expertise, though I enjoy it.  I apologize for any mistakes or misattributions.  

Next is Surprise Surprise Surprise, which is just good ol' red-blooded meat & potatoes rock & roll, from names you know -- and some that may surprise you.  The third of today's Triple Song Title comps is called Fire Fire Fire, and it contains 20 scorchers with the same title, from various decades and genres.  Some of the blame (or praise) for today's post goes to Richard. He's like a fourth Beatle around here!

Songs The Dickies Taught Us

 

In a comment on Stinky's new series Reupholstered Songs, Richard said, "Give me The Dickies any day."  That really struck a chord, so to speak.  

The Dickies are masters of the Sped-Up Cover, as well as the Ironic Cover (another of Stinky's five cover categories). They had hits in the UK with punk versions of Paranoid, Silent Night, the Banana Splits theme, and Nights In White Satin.

Dickies' guitarist Stan Lee has called the band's cover songs "affectionate piss-takes of hippies and the old culture." Stan and singer Leonard Graves Phillips were raised in the California suburbs on a diet of American pop music, TV cartoons, the British Invasion, psychedelia, and early heavy metal.  

When The Dickies finally made a collection of all cover songs (1998's Dogs From The Hare That Bit Us), the irony was gone. In place of the piss-takes was a sincere affection for psychedelic pop and hard rock.  The song choices are a bit more eclectic than, say, the Ramones' covers album Acid Eaters, and The Dickies gave props to their contemporaries with a few punk and power pop covers.  

The Dickies Jukebox includes 29 songs that The Dickies have covered over the past five decades, arranged chronologically. Dickies Covers has the same tracklist, so their Hollies cover from 1998 is adjacent to their Monkees cover from 1979.  

Of course, The Dickies play faster than most of the bands they cover. Even with a bonus track, they cram 30 songs into 76 minutes. The Dickies Jukebox is just slightly over 80 minutes.  It won't quite fit on a CD.

If you enjoy The Dickies Jukebox, you might also dig Songs Redd Kross Taught Us and my Naz Nomad post.

REUPHOLSTERED SONGS PART 2 - COVER SONGS IN 6 CATEGORIES

REUPHOLSTERED SONGS PART 2 -  COVER SONGS IN 6 CATEGORIES

I love covers songs.  Songs that were “covered” by people who didn’t write or originally perform the best-known version of the song.  Tribute bands, and lounge acts, for instance, are also called “cover bands.”  

This is a collection of songs that were covered, reinvented, or “reupholstered” by a group who felt compelled to do so, for whatever reason.  It occurred to me, a long time ago, that there are SIX BASIC KINDS of cover versions. So, I’ve divided songs into the following SIX genres; songs that have been reupholstered by making one of the following six adjustments to the best-known version.

Reupholstered Songs:

Instrumentation (Drastic changes in instruments—swapping kazoos for electric guitars for example)

Slowed-Down Covers (Songs made different from the original by slowing the song down)

Sped-Up Covers (Covers made different from the original by speeding the song up!)

Ironic Covers (Covers where I suspect the band is trying to be funny/ironic in their choice of material)

Twee Covers (Covers done twee; using children’s choirs, toy instruments—overly cute & sweet!)

Same Cloth (Covers in which the band, or the version, are cut from the same cloth as the original!)

I posted these, and my reupholstery manifesto online a LONG time ago, but here they are preserved for posterity and paving the way for me to revisit the series—which is well underway!

Volume One of the first three kinds of Reupholstered Songs were posted last Wednesday:

Volume One of the SECOND three kinds of Reupholstered Songs (IRONIC, TWEE, & SAME CLOTH) are being posted today!

The order is intentional.  Each collection was designed to be (burned onto a CD and) listened to in the order they’ve been compiled.  You are, of course, free to do as you wish.

 

REUPHOLSTERED SONGS - COVER SONGS IN SIX CATEGORIES

REUPHOLSTERED SONGS - COVER SONGS IN SIX CATEGORIES 

I love covers songs.  Songs that were “covered” by people who didn’t write or originally perform the best-known version of the song.  Tribute bands, and lounge acts, for instance, are also called “cover bands.”  

This is a collection of songs that were covered, reinvented, or “reupholstered” by a group who felt compelled to do so, for whatever reason.  It occurred to me, a long time ago, that there are SIX BASIC KINDS of cover versions. So, I’ve divided songs into the following SIX genres; songs that have been reupholstered by making one of the following six adjustments to the best-known version.

Reupholstered Songs:

Instrumentation (Drastic changes in instruments—swapping kazoos for electric guitars for example)

Slowed-Down Covers (Songs made different from the original by slowing the song down)

Sped-Up Covers (Covers made different from the original by speeding the song up!)

Ironic Covers (Covers where I suspect the band is trying to be funny/ironic in their choice of material)

Twee Covers (Covers done twee; using children’s choirs, toy instruments—overly cute & sweet!)

Same Cloth (Covers in which the band, or the version, are cut from the same cloth as the original!)

A seventh might by Stylistic Reupholstery, but that’s… um… “covered.”  A jazz version of a rock song, or a folk rock approach to a heavy metal song, will usually also fall under one of the five headings above.  Part of my goal—as always—is to include as many styles of music as possible with each volume.

I posted these, and my reupholstery manifesto online a long time ago, but here they are preserved for posterity and paving the way for me to revisit the series—which is well underway!

The order of the songs is intentional.  Each collection is designed to be (burned onto a CD and) listened to in the order they’ve been presented.  You are, of course, free to do as you wish.

 

Punks Got Soul

 

In a similar vein to Steppingstones (punk covers of garage rock) and Nuggetized (punk covers of psychedelia), here's Punks Got Soul.  The first set starts out with pub rockers (Feelgoods, Hot Rods, Lew Lewis, Count Bishops). 

Then we get into the first wave of UK punk (Saints, Stranglers, Jam, Cortinas), and from there it's on to the Mod revival (Dexys, Secret Affair, Merton Parkas, Chords) and the ska revival (Specials, English Beat). Elvis Costello, Graham Parker and the Boomtown Rats are in there too. All of these genres and subgenres (including the original ska and Mod movements) were influenced by soul, Motown, R&B and blues.  

The second volume includes US artists, mixing in a bit of downtown NYC artiness (Contortions, Del Byzanteens, Talking Heads) and a couple of Dolls (David and Johnny) who first reminded us that girl groups were badass.  Plus more UK punk (Clash, Saints, Jam, 999, Boys, Upstarts), more pub rock (Roogalator, Inmates, Nine Below Zero), a few post-punks (Slits, Flying Lizards, Inner City Unit), and some new wave (Jane Aire, Japan, Original Mirrors).  Please enjoy irresponsibly!

Exiles On The Same Street

 

While browsing Stones covers, it became apparent that an Exile On Main Street cover album would be easy to assemble, especially since both Pussy Galore and Phish have recorded versions of the entire abum.  Fortunately, it was only necessary to use one song by each of them.

SIDE A: Rocks Off (Reagan Youth)/ Rip This Joint (Billy Squier)/ Shake Your Hips (Th' Legendary Shack Shakers)/ Casino Boogie (Casino Steel)

SIDE B: Tumbling Dice (Blackberry Smoke)/ Sweet Virginia (Jerry Lee Lewis)/ Torn And Frayed (Black Crowes)/ Sweet Black Angel (Wailing Souls)/ Loving Cup (US Rails)

SIDE C: Happy (Steve Conte)/ Turd On The Run (Pussy Galore)/ Ventilator Blues (Richard Hell & The Voidoids)/ Just Wanna See His Face (Blind Boys Of Alabama)/ Let It Loose (Phish)

SIDE D: All Down The Line (The Dirty Truckers)/ Stop Breaking Down (Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears)/ Shine A Light (Allison Crowe)/ Soul Survivor (Hoss).

AND ANOTHER THING: Here's the third (and final) volume of NUGGETIZED (more cover versions of songs compiled by Lenny Kaye from the First Psychedelic Era).  

More Punks Play Stones

 

The last Punks Play Stones post got some good responses, so here's another set with many of the suggestions received from andreyud, J in Europe, and Richard (plus my leftovers from the first volume).  Koen provided the delectable cover image at left.

This set ventures beyond the first decade of punk, as well as outside the standard definition of punk as a genre.  There are some OG's here (Richard Hell, Joe Strummer, The Damned, Chelsea, UK Subs) and some LA punks (TSOL, Mad Parade, Social Distortion, Redd Kross). There's also some power pop from The Records and Tommy Keene, some great bands from the Nineties and the Oughties, and some old folkies what once were punks (Mekons and Nikki Sudden).  

Speaking of the mighty Mekons, those loveable lads and lasses from Leeds are touring the US next month to promote their new album Horror.  Jon Langford, Tom Greenhalgh, Sally Timms, Lu Edmonds, Susie Honeyman, Rico Bell, Steve Goulding and Dave Trumfio are the current Mekons.  

It's been a few weeks since any triple song titles have been posted here, so here's Lies Lies Lies -- a set of 30+ punk triples for anyone who hasn't gotten all their ya ya ya's out. Bon appetit!  

Punks Play Stones (plus more Soul Queens)

 

adapted from an Ottilie Simpson photograph

Here's a collection of punk and pub rock bands doing Stones songs.  "Satisfaction" and "Street Fighting Man" are here twice, in very different versions.  Some big hits are here, as well as some deep cuts from the early Stones' records.  If there's any interest in a second volume, I've found loads of more recent punk style Stones covers.  This set covers the decade from 1976 to 1985.

Here too is a sequel to Stoned Soul Queens, with performances that didn't make the first set (either for reasons of space or because another cover version was chosen).  This set includes more than one version of the same song.  Some are more recent recordings (later than the 1960's or 1970's); and there are two songs included that the Stones didn't write.  Thanks to the readers who shared suggestions on the previous post.  Hope you enjoy this one!