Marti Jones' Jukebox

 

In my post last week I asked our readers, "Who you wish would make another record?"  One of my own answers was Cassandra Wilson.  Sadly, this immensely talented singer of jazz and blues (and more) died this week at age 70.  Several collections of Cassandra Wilson's music are still available at this blog.  One of the greatest voices I ever had the pleasure to hear in concert.

A reader who goes by JPB In DC mentioned Marti Jones as a singer who hasn't made a record in a long while.  That got me listening again to her albums.  

Marti started her recording career with the short-lived Akron band Color Me Gone, but she is best known in the music world as a solo artist and as the wife and collaborator of Don Dixon.

Dixon produced each of Marti's solo albums, and they got married after the third one (1988's Used Guitars).  They have written wonderful songs together, but I think Marti excels as an interpreter of other writers' compositions.  She has a fabulous voice, and an ear for a great tune.  Dixon creates brilliant arrangements to showcase Marti's vocals.  He is also a terrific duet partner, his gruff voice like the Beast to his wife's Beauty.

Angelo at Power Pop Criminals recently nominated Lisa Mychols as The Queen Of Power Pop. I wouldn't start an argument with an expert like Angelo, but I think Marti deserves a seat at that royal table.  

Fun factoid: Color Me Gone's 1984 EP was coproduced by fellow Akronite Liam Sternberg. Marti sang the demo for a song that Liam wrote called "Walk Like An Egyptian".  Marti later recorded another Liam Sternberg song called "Crusher".

Marti currently focuses on painting.  Her last album, You're Not The Bossa Me, was released in 2014.  Her frustration with the business of music might be summed up in a verse from "Put Me On Top" (an Aimee Mann song that Marti covered):  "I should be riding on a float in a hit parade, instead of standing on a curb behind a barricade."

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.

The Reinvention Of The Guitar (according to Simon Reynolds)

Simon Reynolds has published a new book called Still In A Dream: Shoegaze, Slackers And The Reinvention of Rock, 1984-1994.  Mr. Reynolds (author of books about glam, techno, post-punk, and hip hop) recently participated in the feature "Bakers Dozen" at The Quietus website, where musicians and other creatives share their thoughts about 13 records that influenced them.  

Bakers Dozen is one of my favorite online features, and it has been the source of some great music recommendations.  This particular Bakers Dozen is titled "The Reinvention Of The Guitar in 13 Albums", although some of Reynolds' choices are compilation tracks, EP's, and (in one case) a Youtube video of a live Bo Diddley performance from the 1980's.

I decided to assemble a mix from "The Reinvention Of The Guitar" (without realizing that the author had already created a Youtube playlist of his selections).  

In my defense, his playlist includes three dozen songs, whereas mine is just 13.  He shortened the Bo Diddley video that begins his Baker's Dozen, and I shortened one of the lengthy guitar pieces from the reissue of Allan Bryant's 1977 album Space Guitars.  

Here's a cool thing about Simon Reynolds (who once wrote that he will never stop blogging):  he creates a blog to organize his thoughts, links, and overflow material as he works on a new book.  You can go back to the first month of his blog for Still In A Dream to get an idea of how the ideas for the book were conceived, and how they evolved.  His comments on his Bakers Dozen choices are also worth reading.

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG:  three sets of instrumentals with some fiendishly inventive guitar work -- compiled by me, Richard, and readers like you! 

A Compilation of Post-Punk Compilations

 

There's some overlap here between my Tribute To Punk Compilations and this one, as some compilation albums are the source of both punk and post-punk tracks.  Punk never ended, and there's not really a date or event that divides punk from post-punk.  If there were a dividing line, some artists would criss-cross it throughout their careers. 

There are some legendary names and tracks here, and some forgotten ones.  The last song ("Room With A View") may leave some listeners wondering.  It's included as a reminder that "low fi" and cassette releases existed long before labels like Shrimper started another musical movement.  But I chose "Room With A View" mainly because it's a song that still gets stuck in my head and tickles my ears all these years later.  It's a one-off from an unidentified LAFMS contributor to the Light Bulb Magazine #4 "Emergency Cassette" from 1981.  I bought the double tape set from LAFMS way back then, and bought it again from Tedium House decades later when it was unofficially reissued on CD-R.

Speaking of compilation albums, the Old Melodies blog has just posted the Pebbles and Ugly Things series of garage rock compilations.  If you don't have them, get over there!  And keep going back to Themes From Great Cities, where AJ is posting tons of punk and post-punk comps and classics.  Vibes is another great blog, recently posting the comps Blank Generation, Guerilla Girls, You're No Big Deal, and that most unexpected K-Tel comp -- Gimme Indie Rock!

A Tribute To Punk Compilations

Last week's Tribute To Tribute Albums got me reminiscing about making mixtapes: putting an LP on the turntable to add one perfect song to my newest compilation, then shelving it and grabbing another -- or maybe cueing up a tape-to-tape transfer.  Sharing these discoveries with friends and pen pals is kinda what Stinky and I do now in the digital age.

There was a fun discussion in the comments section here awhile back about the various artists compilation albums that had an impact on our musical tastes.  Fond memories were shared of records like IRS Greatest Hits, Urgh, The Enigma Variations, the Repo Man and Return Of The Living Dead soundtracks, the Flipside Vinyl Fanzines, The Blasting Concept, Tooth And Nail, The Wailing Ultimate, and a couple of comps that we've shared here:  Propaganda and No Wave.  

I decided to go through my own collection and pull a song (or two or three) that I would have put on a punk mixtape for a friend back then (or for my own entertainment).  Many of these songs still resonate with me all these years later.  My collection of vinyl and cassettes was mostly from the early 80's, and there were a few significant comps that I didn't own (or couldn't borrow to tape).  I tried to stick with the records I owned or had access to back then.

It's pretty heavy on US hardcore, with just a few of the first generation punk bands.  It's also skewed geographically toward Southern California and the upper Midwest.  What can I say -- in the early 80's, I was a teenager living in 'Scansin.  Most of my collection came from mail order purchases and review copies that were sent to my fanzine.  I used to write to some of these bands, and I got some cool responses from The Scapegoats, Secret Hate, Rebel Truth, and The Proletariat.  Die Kreuzen were local heroes, and I got to interview Bad Brains when they played Milwaukee.  Probably one of the greatest shows I've ever seen.  Both bands were on fire.

If you had asked me to make you a punk mixtape in 1984, most of these songs would have been on it.  Maybe with a few more tracks from Redd Kross, Secret Hate, die Kreuzen and The Sins.  Definitely more Angry Samoans and some Misfits.  Anyway, here's a 40 track compilation of tracks from punk compilations!

A Tribute to Tribute Albums

After the excellent Hal Willner post on Koen's blog, I got to thinking about tribute albums.  The avalanche of various artist tributes (to performers, composers, and influential albums) -- where did it begin?  I believe that it was inspired by Willner, who orchestrated tributes to Monk (1984), Weill (1985) and Disney soundtracks (1988).  

As Richard pointed out to me, the tribute album has a long history in jazz, but this was largely unexplored territory for rock performers.  Part of Willner's genius was inviting rock musicians and singers to collaborate with jazz and avant-garde performers. 

The earliest rock tribute album that I can find (other than Willner's projects) is 1987's Beyond The Wildwood - A Tribute To Syd Barrett.  This was the first of a baker's dozen of tribute albums released by the British label Invisible Records during the next five years.  

In 1988, Jon Langford assembled Til Things Are Brighter (a Johnny Cash tribute), CBS released A Vision Shared (a tribute to Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie), and the NME issued Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father (a tribute to the Beatles' album compiled by Roy Carr).  

1989 brought tributes to Buddy Holly, Shonen Knife, The Sonics, and Neil Young.  The latter included an enduring classic, The Pixies' version of "Winterlong". That song exemplifies some of the strengths of the tribute album: an unexpected pairing of composer and performer, a deep cut plucked from obscurity, and a stellar performance. 

Some tribute albums also served as fundraisers for worthwhile causes.  The Red Hot Organization issued its first release (a Cole Porter tribute) in 1990.  The Sweet Relief Musicians' Fund has benefitted a number of songwriters with health crises and medical expenses.  Profits from the NME's Sgt. Pepper tribute went to a helpline for children.

I  think  1990 was the first year with more than ten new tribute albums.  That number more than doubled in 1994 (the year that Jon Tiven got involved), and tribute albums increased exponentially through the rest of the 1990's. 

To mark the 2020 release of Angelheaded Hipster (Hal Willner's final tribute album), Ira Robbins of Trouser Press wrote an essay which warned that "when major labels commission (tribute albums), they corral momentarily popular acts" and "now-forgotten bands" to "interpret an important oeuvre".  This led to such misfires as Stone Free, Working Class Hero, and Ecomium (a Led Zep tribute that opened with 4 Non Blondes).

Today I'm sharing a tribute to the tribute album: some of my favorite cuts from tribute albums of the 80's and 90's.   Separating the wheat from the chaff, as it were.  Hope you enjoy.

Gnarly Guitarists: C.C. Adcock

 

Sometimes you hear a song before you're ready to really listen to it.  Such was the case for me with the music of C.C. Adcock.  Two decades ago, I received a sampler CD from Yep Roc Records which contained a song from C.C.'s album Lafayette Marquis.  At the time, it didn't resonate with me.

But last year, C.C was one of the artists recommended by Peter Lubin for our American Explorers project.  I fell in love with C.C.'s song Poke Chop.  Digging a bit further, I read about the Louisiana supergroup Lil' Band Of Gold and was even further smitten with C.C.'s song Runaway's Life.  

C.C. Adcock's first recording credit was on a 1990 compilation album called L.A. Ya Ya, where he backed Top Jimmy and King Cotton.  C.C.'s self-titled solo album was released in 1994.  The Lil' Band Of Gold (with Steve Riley, Warren Storm, David Egan, Pat Breaux, C.C. and other Louisiana swamp pop and zydeco musicians) released three albums.  The last one, 2012's Lil' Band O'Gold Plays Fats, is a set of Fats Domino songs sung by Robert Plant, Lucinda Williams, Jimmy Barnes (Cold Chisel), Tim Rogers (You Am I), and others.  

C.C. Adcock has contributed to TV and film soundtracks, and is also a producer who has worked on albums by Doyle Bramhall, James McMurtry, the 2022 comeback album from Tommy McLain, and last year's Clifton Chenier tribute album. On those last two projects, C.C. worked with Elvis Costello, Van Dyke Parks, and the Rolling Stones.  

It's Time (Again) for Power Pop!

A recent article on Bandcamp profiles a number of recent power pop performers, and makes a few excellent points on the genre.  The author (Ben Salmon) opines that power pop "has consistently surged as a reaction to some other musical impetus. The First Wave (The Raspberries, Big Star, Todd Rundgren) pushed back against the complexity and indulgence of prog and psychedelic rock in the early 1970s. 

"A decade later, the Second Wave (The Cars, Cheap Trick, Nick Lowe) provided a less aggressive alternative to the rise of punk. And the Third Wave (Teenage Fanclub, Matthew Sweet, Fountains of Wayne) offered a reprieve from the self-seriousness of ‘90s grunge and alt-rock."

The current wave "is power pop rooted in the Beatles (it always is, really); but it’s also deeply influenced by Sugar’s distortion pedals, Buzzcocks’ propulsive pace, and Guided By Voices’ philosophy that melody wins out over fidelity every time."  

The author places the newest generation of power pop in opposition to "a landscape of music that’s been pitch-corrected and snapped to a grid, over-compressed, edited into oblivion and robbed of character" and "an industry ruled by platforms that prioritize short songs and front-loaded hooks for shrinking attention spans."  Well said!  I've only heard two of the artists mentioned in the article, but will check out the others.

This seems like as good a time as any to share a collection of some of my own favorites from the Nineties, the Noughties, and beyond; beginning with the aforementioned Third Wave's reaction against grunge and what was once memorably labeled "complaint rock".  Maybe not all of it will meet your own definition of power pop, but to me these are all examples of accomplished songcraft, ringing guitars, soaring vocal harmonies, and clever perspectives on the eternal lyrical themes of love found and love lost.

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG:  more music from Hypnolovewheel, New Pornographers, Oranger, P.Hux and Redd Kross.  

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.

Punk's Got Soul and We've Got More Triple Song Titles

A tip of the hat to Hal, who recently found the blog and was inspired to send in two dozen Triple Song Titles from his own digital music collection! Why on earth hasn't "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" been included until now?  Heaven only knows.

We still haven't identified the mystery artist who performed "Really Really Really" (see my last post for the details, or lack thereof) -- but Koen and I each found another song with that same title. Really, we did!

I added a couple more triples to bring the set closer to the 80 minute mark, because you triple title fans have no doubt burned every one of these collections to CD. I know I haven't!  

Hal also suggested a perfect tune for the Punks Got Soul series, Serious Drinking's swell version of Candi Staton's "Young Hearts Run Free".  Thanks again, Hal!

James (another friend of the blog) nominated Lizzy Mercier Descloux's "Funky Stuff", and Richard found Akron band Chi-Pig's recording of "Going To A Go-Go".  Greetings and gratitude to all involved!

I finally found a way to get my man Moon Martin onto one of these compilations, with his version of "Boogie Woogie Country Girl" (with Jude Cole on guitar and BV).  There's a swell set of Moon Martin classics over at One Buck Guy's blog.  

They aren't all punks (there's some new wave, post punk, garage rock and whatnot), and it's not all soul (disco, funk, and R&B are present). Nevertheless, please enjoy Punks Got Soul #11 as well as Kill Kill Kill (Triple Song Titles #45).

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG:  much more Moon Martin.

Use Your Frequency Illusion: Triple Song Titles Strike Again

I may have stopped actively looking for triple song titles, but they seem to keep finding me.  When I'm reading blogs or other music-related sites on the internet (which is almost daily), a song with three (or more) of the same word in its title will often catch my attention.   

The phenomenon of seeing the same thing again and again, and the sensation that it must be more than a coincidence, is known as the Frequency Illusion (or the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon).  Today I'm sharing songs that went into a folder as they came to my attention.  One song is from one of Richard's whistling compilations, and another is from Stinky's recent feature on the music of Wazmo Nariz.

It's entirely possible that some of the songs in today's collections have appeared in earlier volumes, There are now almost 30 volumes, and it's almost impossible to keep track.  And I have more!  Too many more...

Today's share includes a MYSTERY TRACK!  I saved one of the songs without checking to make sure that it was tagged with the artist's name. Can you identify it? I have nothing but the title ("Really, Really, Really").  The length is 3:24, if that helps. It sounds like garage rock with punk and psychedelic touches.  I couldn't find it on Allmusic, Discogs, or RateYourMusic; and Shazam can't identify it.  Can you?  

The mystery track is the last song on today's compilation Koochie Koochie Koochie.  You can download it individually (rather than the entire comp) if you just want a go at solving the mystery.  

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. 

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..."

The New P0rnogr@phers Are 26 Years 0ld

I still remember the excitement of hearing "Mass Romantic" on college radio for the first time.  The New Pornographers sounded so different to my ears from other indie rock of 2000. It was a maximalist form of pop music, jam-packed with novel lyrical and melodic ideas, plus vocal arrangements that recalled groups like The Turtles. If you need a reminder of what was popular that year, check out Allmusic Loves 2000 or the Fluxblog 2000 Survey mix.

To be fair, I hadn't heard Zumpano (Carl Newman's former band), and it was a few years before I bought King James Version (Harvey Danger's remarkable 2000 album, which also featured elaborate vocal harmonies and clever lyrics).  Who but The New Pornographers could rhyme "set the scene" with "Byzantine" -- or create an irresistable chorus from the phrase, "Nobody knows the wreck of the soul the way you do"?

The liner notes to their debut announced, "We are The New Pornographers. This album is the second creation of The Blue Curtain," begging the question of what The Blue Curtain was, and what its first creation might have been.  I suspect it was Blaine Thurier's film The Low Self-Esteem Girl (which featured his bandmates Carl Newman and Dan Bejar as actors).

Dan Bejar had released Destroyer's Thief album in 1999, and Neko Case released Furnace Room Lullaby in 2000, adding to the impression that The New Pornographers was an indie supergroup, or a collective.  Dan's contributions to New Pornographers' albums gradually diminished as Destroyer flourished, and he left after 2014's Brill Bruisers.  

Neko Case has also had a successful solo career, and she collaborates with many other artists.  I'm pleased to report that Neko is still a New Pornographer and can be heard on the new album The Former Site Of.  She harmonizes beautifully with Carl Newman, but she is lead vocalist less often than she was back in the early 2000's (on songs like "Letter From An Occupant", "All For Swinging You Around" and "Mass Romantic").

John Collins was a founding New Pornographer, and he balances his work with Destroyer and other projects. Todd Fancey joined as lead guitarist in 2003, and he maintains a solo career as well as his membership as a Pornographer in good stead.  The same is true of Kathryn Calder, who joined in 2005 and also leads the group Frontperson. Wikipedia has a helpful chart of the New Pornographers' membership over the years.  Ironically, a drummer was recently fired after an arrest for child pornography.

Here's a CD-length "best of" The New Pornographers, starting with a song from the new album and working backwards to 2000.  The New Pornographers are touring North America through October 2026.  A word of advice, if you're going: I've seen Neko have audience members thrown out for recording cell phone videos.  

Buy The Former Site Of 

Buy tickets to see The New Pornographers

Elsewhere On The Blog: Neko Case's sister from another mister, Kelly Hogan

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