MOJO WORKOUT

My list of my favorite music I listened to in 2023…finally!

Well, you can’t say yes and you can’t say no

Just be right there when the whistle blows

– “All Down The Line” by The Rolling Stones

Can you believe it’s already February? I’ve spent the past month trying to make up my mind if I was gonna finish this and post it or not. I say every year that I do this for my own amusement, out of boredom, yet I end up getting bored doing it and struggle to finish it before the year expires. No resolutions for me, I’ve already missed the train. That lonesome whistle has long been blown. I kept trying to finish it and then I would write more, then ask myself “Why am I doing this? Nobody gives a shit about this. I’m not getting paid for this. Why do I torture myself?” Hell, I’m actually paying for the blog itself. There’s a reason I’ve never taken being a writer seriously: DEADLINES! The hardest question to answer is how can I just blow this off when I’ve put so much work into it? So, here I am, finally posting my end of the year blog about the music I listened to in 2023, and of course, with a massive playlist. And the playlist? First I’m like “Keep it to 100 songs…” Next thing it’s 150…200…250… It’s now sitting at 277 and 13 and 1/2 hours long (however Youtube says 279 but they keep “hiding” videos). I didn’t even bother making a Spotify version this time, mainly because there’s just too much not on that platform. I don’t have time or the brain cells to do a podcast or radio show, so this is the best I can do. I’ve actually listened to it from beginning to end in one day. You can drop into any part of it and be entertained. Let me be blunt, someday I’m gonna be dead and this is all I will have left behind. Not kidding. I have no kids, no property, just a lot of records and useless knowledge. Over a decade ago I had the crazy idea of writing a book, but I can’t even finish a blog, so… Also, I’m gonna die in 2024, so this is gonna be the last one of these. OMG! You’re actually reading this? Now that I’ve got your attention…

Won’t you be my little baby for a while?

No, no, I’m not predicting my demise, but we never know, right? More reason for me to complete this dumb thing. 2022 was the one of the weirdest, yet most exciting years of my life. I went to several amazing shows, spent time with great friends, and I got to DJ in public several times for the first time in over a decade. Then I had a heart attack (metaphorically) thinking I might lose my record collection when the roof of my apartment collapsed. Instead, I relocated to a Dallas suburb and in the most unlikely of things, it led to me being in a relationship for the first time in a long time. However, it didn’t last long. In 2023 my love life collapsed (sad trombone). Honestly, it’s kind of funny. I wasn’t sad or heartbroken, and I really have a pretty good self-deprecating sense of humor about it. I know what mistakes I made and take my share of the blame. I’m just not cut out for it, I guess, and really too old to care anymore. The only steady relationship I’ve ever had is with music, and that’s what I’m here to talk about. And yet my end of the year playlist is heavy on songs about relationships, with a very tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. I made a playlist back in the summer I called “You Don’t Love Me”, inspired by ‘60s Garage band The Little Boy Blues’ cover of the Bo Diddley song of the same name. The songs were totally random, selected by my Apple Music shuffle. I thought it was hilariously coincidental but never intended it to be a message or commentary. My entire taste in music pretty much revolves around songs of love and heartbreak. It’s called “The Blues”. Every song I love can have a meaning or none at all, or just be me having some fun with the absurdity of it all. A certain someone didn’t see the humor. It probably didn’t help that I used that JW Blues quote about love being the root of all evil. Seriously, there’s a lot more important things to worry about than a failed relationship.

My 2022 playlist had a theme of death, and it’s obviously still on my mind. It’s natural as we get older to concern oneself with such matters. This was also the year The Covid finally caught my ass, and get this, it was at a show (I know, shocking). With the interruption of Covid in 2020, I went 460 days without seeing a live show. I had been going to see live bands and concerts since I was 15, with only maybe a few months here or there staying home, so it was a weird withdrawal period. I finally went out the very night the 14 day waiting period after I received my second vaccination shot expired. Since then I have been to 76 shows, with 25 in 2023. It was a trip down to Austin to see The Gories in May, that the bug finally got me. Right at the end of The Gories set I started feeling extremely tired and felt like a head cold was coming on. The next morning I felt like death. On the plus side, I made the trip with one of my best friends who loves The Gories but had never seen them. They got The Covid too. It’s the world we live in these days.

Two weeks later, I was at another super-spreader event, this time in Dallas and yes that damn crud was making the rounds there too. I was thrilled to be involved with the Bar of Soap Reunion. Bar of Soap was a bar/laundromat that I frequented throughout my 20s and 30s and into my early 40s, and had a few DJ gigs there. I was asked to curate a playlist of bands that had played BoS, and most of the three hour playlist got played in between the bands that appeared at the reunion. I couldn’t do it without including “Bar of Soap”, the fantastic 2001 tribute by BoS regulars the Fed-Ups. I needed to make a YouTube clip for it, so I borrowed tons of photos from the BoS Facebook page and made a doc-style video that was enthusiastically received. I’m pretty proud of it. It was the number one most viewed video…by me! No question it had to be on this playlist as well. I also included some other tracks from my BoS Reunion playlist like Pump’N Ethyl’s classic Punk anthem “I Hate Work”, Houston’s Flamin’ Hellcats and their tune “Problems”, which appears in the credits of Varsity Blues, yet I don’t recall hearing the song in the film. I saw the Hellcats many times back in the day and they were so good! “Problems” was also in my top 5 most listened to YT clips. The reunion showcased a few bands that played BoS back in the day or at least had members that played there, like Long Black Car who had a breakout performance. The show was capped by another reunion, legendary Dallas psych-rockers Lithium X-Mas, and I included their great cover of Nilsson’s “Jump In The Fire”.

More notes on my ridiculously long playlist…As in recent years, I have done more than just make a playlist of my favorite new releases of the year, but also songs from the many vinyl scores I found, along with tunes “The Algorithms” introduced me to, and a few songs I’ve loved forever but just never made it onto a playlist. With no DJ gigs this year, I had a ton of songs bubbling over that just needed to be put on a playlist. Like last year, I’ve also paid tribute to many of the musicians that have left us in 2023, plus one film director and one record label head (I will explain later). Speaking of labels, in celebration of the book Estrus: Shovelin’ the Shit Since ’87, I slipped in a mini-playlist of songs by bands that were on Estrus Records. I had made two huge playlists back in the fall covering almost everything available on YouTube that was released by Estrus. On this playlist I even included a non-Estrus cut by head honcho Dave Crider’s band The DT’s, whom I had never heard until recently, and it’s them covering my favorite AC/DC song! Speaking of…, December 31st marked 50 years of AC/DC, and the Ramones’ Road To Ruin turned 45, and with a new Rolling Stones album, I got my top three favorite bands covered, as required by law. Speaking of “the law”, let’s not involved them with the two videos I made for the two songs I discovered by the obscure late ‘90s UK Garage Punk band Strip Kings. I thought they had only released three singles. To find out nearly 20 years later, there were a couple more tracks out there by this great band, was one of the best surprises of my 2023.

Back From The Grave, the influential ’60s Garage compilation series had its 40th anniversary this year. I could have added fifty songs from there but I just went with the first song on Volume 1, by Ft. Worth’s The Elite. I also had to include some Hank Williams as he was my undisputed favorite artist (as confirmed by Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube) due to his 100th birthday celebration and my “Hank 100” playlist. The first Hank song on this playlist, “Alone and Forsaken”, has more than just some tongue-in-cheekiness. The lyric “please hold to my hand” was the title of the 4th episode of The Last Of Us, the HBO TV series based on the video game of which I’m a huge fan. I was fanatical about the show, watching each episode multiple times. The song was featured in the original game and in a breathtaking scene in the TV episode where the characters drive across the ruins of America. It was awesome. I sometimes think my dorkiness helped killed my relationship as well. Ha!

Hoping I wouldn’t find myself where I am now, I started working on this years’ playlist with the very first new record I got back in January, so let’s start there. There’s no rankings or any particular order. These are just my favorites. Also, I’ve taken the liberty of recycling some of my own words from Facebook.

2023 Releases

Mike Watt + The Secondmissingmen – “We Got Soul” b/w Up Around The Sun – “History Lesson Part II” split 7”(Red Parakeet Records)

This was my first new record of 2023, and if you were wondering why the playlist starts off with a couple of old Minutemen and Big Boys tunes… Mike Watt and Tim Kerr are longtime friends and this single is a beautiful statement on the impact music has had on them and all the other friendships between the two legendary punk bands they started, and what they are doing currently. The vibe of this record seemed to echo across my playlist. It is a celebration of the past, present and future. Watt’s band takes the Big Boys’ “We Got Soul” and slows it down to a funky dirge, with the horns replaced by a Hammond B-3. It’s ridiculous to say one track it better than the other, but Kerr’s side does give you the warm and fuzzys like no other. Up Around The Sun is an acoustic-instrumental folk duo consisting of Kerr on guitar and Jerry Hagins on banjo. Since they don’t sing, and the Minutemen’s classic “History Lesson Part II” was just a monologue by the late D. Boon, UATS simply invited thirty of their friends to recite Boon’s immortal lines like “Our band could be your life” and “Punk rock changed our lives”, among others. If I may repeat myself, the only word that really describes it is “beautiful”. From the start I decided the originals would start the playlist, with the new covers as the finale, and then the playlist just grew (and grew and grew and grew and…) from there.

The Mullens – Get What You Deserve (Get Hip)

According to my Spotify’s “2023 Wrapped”, the top four songs I listened to were by Hank Williams, a no-brainer. Number five was “What You Deserve” by my longtime friends The Mullens. As the self-proclaimed #1 Mullens fan on earth, I couldn’t be prouder. I was so happy that their 5th album was finally released (don’t get me started on why it’s really their 6th). Even though I had been listening to it for over a year before it’s release, and having heard basically every song from their origins in demo form, I love it more and more, every time I hear it.

The Return of Walter Daniels Meets Jack Oblivian and The Shieks 7” EP (Black & Wyatt/Ghost Highway)

It wouldn’t be one of my ‘end of the year’ lists without some Memphis/Oblivians representation. Greg has placed his Reigning Sound into retirement, while Eric continues to dominate the independent record label and live music festival racket with Goner Records and Gonerfest, and Jack O and his merry band of misfits just keep bringing it. One of my favorite albums of 2022 was by Teeth Of England, a North Carolina/Memphis outfit that included Jack and his Sheiks sideman Seth Moody. Then there’s Mr. Daniels of Austin, Texas and his howlin’ harmonica, always in rotation, whether it’s his current work-release program Walter Daniels & The Del Valle Trustees, his 2022 solo single cover of Jeffrey Lee Pierce’s “From Death To Texas”, or his legendary work with Jack O’ Fire and Big Foot Chester. Anytime Walter Daniels and Jack Oblivian get together you know it’s gonna be good.

This is the second time this particular group of musicians have collaborated for a 7” slice, with Ghost Highway releasing the first in 2017. This sequel is amazing. The ghost of Poison 13 is channeled on Willie Dixon’s “7th Son”, while Jack takes the lead on The Rolling Stones “Rice Krispies” jingle. Oh what fun! Things reach boss level when this crew grooves on the classic “Comin’ Home” (made famous by Mel Torme and many others). Artwork by Art Chantry and mastered by Mike Mariconda. Instantly one of my top records of the year!

Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders – “All Down The Line” b/w Guerrilla Teens – “Rip This Joint” – Exiled In Warsaw split 7” (Heavy Medication)

Being that they are my all-time favorite band, you’d think The Rolling Stones releasing a new album this year would be a big deal to me. Well it is but it isn’t, and I’ll get into that more later. It is a bigger deal to me when some of my favorite contemporary artists cover the Stones, as I expressed that last year reviewing every one of the Norton Rolling Stones Covers singles. After the Minutemen/Big Boys introduction on my playlist, I jump right to a new Stones track, partly to spit fire but also to set up the three killer covers that follow. Last year’s playlist also had a set of Stones covers, so…traditions!

“Single of the year!” I wrote back in August. I mean seriously, how could anything be better than two top notch Rock ‘N’ Roll outfits blasting through a couple of Exile Stones hip-shakers. I shouldn’t have to say “former Lazy Cowgirls singer…” If you call yourself a rock ‘n’ roller and don’t know who Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders are…well stay in school, fool. Guerilla Teens are coming outta Portland OR, and they include former Humpers/Lovesores members Scott “Deluxe” Drake and Jeff Fieldhouse. Both bands also appear on a split 10” EP recently released by Ghost Highway. How else could I possibly put it but to say Guerilla Teens rip up “Rip This Joint”. I believe The Rankoutsiders took their name in part, from another Exile On Main Street classic and they’re one of the few bands I can trust to do this material right. If Pussy Galore hadn’t already done it, I’d suggest The Rankoutsiders cover the whole album. I think it would be cool to hear multiple “cool” bands tackle Exile. Maybe this single could be the seed of a project like that? Take my money already. Just need 16 more bands…

Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders – Sons of the City Ditch (Dog Meat)

I ordered this Australian release from a US distributor on November 7 and I still have not received it. I knew it would take some time coming from down under, but JFC. The fact that there’s isn’t a US label that has Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders (from Los Angeles) as priority number one is a shame. This is music that fits best with the older Garage/Punk crowd, but it’s rootsy enough to appeal to the Alt-Country/Americana or Classic Rock loving fan. I know there’s millions of bands out there but it just puzzles me when one is so good, and yet off the radar of most people. Maybe it’s best that this band is a well kept secret, but when I suggested that people should listen to Sons of the City Ditch instead of the new Rolling Stones album, I wasn’t kidding. It’s so much better.

I can’t help but think of the Stones’ “Rocks Off” when I listen to “Livin’ In A World Of Hurt” as it kickstarts this album with some hot horns, It’s followed by one incredible song after another. In a perfect world, I would be sick of hearing “Cheap Shot Artist”, “Venus DeMilo Broke My Back”, and the country-good time rockin’ of “Back Down In The Basement” on the radio every day. There’s also a couple of interesting cover songs choices here: David Johansen’s “Donna” (besides the Stones, the Dolls are also strong with these Rankoutsiders), and I’m guessing that’s guitarist Kevin Keller taking the lead vocal on “Hi Ho Silver Lining”, which was Jeff Beck’s 1967 debut solo single after leaving The Yardbirds (it was first released by UK band The Attack just days before Beck’s version, but his was a top 20 UK hit). I wonder if the idea to do this cover originated before or after Beck passed? Funny thing, Beck was always embarrassed by the song.

I hate to beat a dead horse comparing this album to the new Stones. Pat Todd’s 40 year music career stands on its own, but this record kind of reminds me of the legend of the Stones hearing the Flamin’ Groovies’ Teenage Head while working on Sticky Fingers. I’ve read many things on the subject, and I can’t quote where I got this point, but I don’t think Mick ever actually said that Teenage Head was better than Sticky Fingers. Instead, he acknowledged that the Groovies were on the same wavelength of interpreting American roots music, and because they were an American band, they might be more authentic at it than the Stones. In 2023, I think Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders have delivered an album that Stones fans only wish Mick and Keith had the courage to do.

Turnstyles 2 (Black And Wyatt/Head Perfume)

Turnstyles is Seth Moody and Graham Winchester, Memphis wildcats who have played with Jack Oblivian & The Shieks, Teeth Of England, Reigning Sound, Compulsive Gamblers, and probably many more that I don’t know. Yet. This is their epic 2LP second album, full of garage/surf/pop/country…basically if you like the stuff they do in all their other bands, you’re gonna love this. It’s crazy good fun. And if I’m not crazy, I would say the front cover is a nod to Let It Bleed while inside the gatefold is a bit of Tres Hombres? This record is an epic, sprawling lo-fi garage adventure, with a little bit of surf and a lotta soul. Only on the vinyl and download from Bandcamp will you find a cover of The Everly Brothers’ “So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)”.

Thee Cha Cha Chas – “Our Love”/ “Rock ‘N’ Roll Till I’m Dead” 7” (Folc Records)

What’s this? Another 2-piece Rock ‘N’ Roll combo for Jeffery to fall in love with? Yes, but this time with a strange musical instrument called a “bass”. I first heard this duo from Melbourne, Australia a few years ago and loved them instantly. February 11, 2019 to be exact (looked up when I first posted them—dork!). “Rock ‘N’ Roll Till I’m Dead” is a way of life I subscribe to, and I added it to my Best of 2023 list back in January. It’s the other side of this double B-side (🤣) single. “Our love ain’t no mystery, it’s as easy as 1-2-3, it’s as dumb as it comes, it’s just love, let me give you some” makes me all fuzzy & warm. Their infectious sound follows in the Chuck Berry/Ramones traditions of Supercharger and The King Khan & BBQ Show.

Lewsberg – Out and About (12XU)

This year’s Gonerfest was so much fun! I saw nearly every band from my couch as I ponied up $20 to stream all four days. Holy…shit…The Kids from Belgium fucking ruled! C.O.F.F.I.N., Tee Vee Repairmann and all the other Australian bands were great, and the tribute to King Louie was beautiful. I had already seen The Courettes and The Gories earlier this year and it almost felt like I saw them again, just not physically. Does this count as my 5th time to see The Mummies?…There were so many great bands, but one band truly captivated me. I had never heard of Dutch band Lewsberg before their Saturday afternoon set, and I haven’t gotten them out of my head since. Lewsberg play a type of music that I was once quite drawn to. Low-key, mellow and simple, yet noisy and loud in the right moments. They remind me not so much of Bedhead, Pavement, or Sonic Youth, but more of the feeling I used to get from those bands. They also get Television and Modern Lovers comparisons, but the most obvious is The Velvet Underground, and one could easily accuse them of being nothing more than a VU rip off band in the same way that countless bands have aped the Ramones. However, Lewsberg do “it” so well and interestingly, that I’m am completely hypnotized every time I listen, and I have repeatedly watched their Gonerfest set. After I first watched them, the first thing I pulled up on YouTube was the video for their 2022 single “Six Hills”, which I remembered vividly from their performance for the lyrics: “You’re driving without a license, I’m driving uninsured. Why don’t we crash into each other, I’ve got the feeling that we should.” Now that sounds like a promising relationship! Because it grabbed me so quickly, I put it on the playlist first and mixed in a couple of older tunes along with songs from their new album.

Mudhoney – Plastic Eternity (Sub Pop)

I don’t have a whole lot to say about Mudhoney’s newest album Plastic Eternity, except it is fucking great. I thought their last album, 2018’s Digital Garbage, was amazing, and the new one might be even better. Right around the time of the new album, I also got the Five Dollar Bob’s Mock Cooter Stew EP reissue (originally released by Reprise in 1993, issued by Jackpot Records on vinyl for the first time). Both records propelled me to finish reading Keith Cameron’s Mudhoney: The Sound and The Fury From Seattle, which I ironically bought in Seattle in 2015 but had only gotten 1/3 of the way through it. I finished it and then jumped on Steve Turner’s Mudride. My 2023 Mudhoney journey climaxed with seeing them play for my 10th time in November. I just love how this band has always done what they wanted while staying true to their punk roots and never taking themselves too seriously. As Kim Thayil put it, “They are the people who would be watching them.” M.F.F.M.!

Rocket 808 – House of Jackpots (12XU)

If there’s one…two things about my taste in music that are easy points to remember, I like guitars and have always had a certain disdain for electronica. Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” was the height of synth-pop for me and I still love it. Maybe it was because I was a teen in the first two-thirds of the ‘80s and got beat to death with synth-pop, or just that I was raised on hard guitar rock, with Metal and Punk having the greater impact on my developing tastes. Eventually Rap/Hip-Hop and Industrial music would change my perspective, but I still had no interest in music where a drum machine replaced an actual drummer, and anyone claiming that guitar music was dead had might as well have declared war on me. Yet I have throughly enjoyed both albums by Rocket 808, and it’s not because, as I claimed in my review of the first album, that John Schooley is a friend, but really it’s because I’m a fan of John Schooley. From The Revelators to The Hard Feelings, Meet Your Death, and his one-man-band output, which of course this is also a one man construct, I just enjoy what he does. His concept of Link Wray meets Suicide as a neo-noir soundtrack is intoxicating, and it makes the many miles I drive very entertaining. Who’d think I would finally appreciate Sigue Sigue Sputnik? Well, they’re still not my thing but Schooley’s cover of “21st Century Boy” does make me respect them more. Thankfully he doesn’t attempt the Bach intro.

So just as I’m almost finished with this ridiculous project, I realize that all music clips for House of Jackpots have been removed from YouTube. Two songs have been replaced with different audio clips as well as actual music videos. I had both as well as two more songs on the playlist, so it kind of fucks up my thing. The music video for “Under Surveillance” is pretty freaking awesome, using clips from various ‘70s & ‘80s TV shows. Hopefully the rest of the album will be restored and I can fix my playlist.

Daddy Long Legs – Street Sermons (Yep Roc)

If Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders’ newest album is Exhibit A for making no big deal about the new Stones album, I now give you Exhibit B. Never mind the “blues-punk” tag. This isn’t some lo-fi screech meant to annoy your neighbors. It’s well-produced and played, yet roof-raising blues rock deliverance. It’s also proof that those people, the stuck on classic rock curmudgeons that say there’s “no good new music these days”, are just lazy.

The Jackets –“Life’s Not Like The Movies” b/w “Attracted” 7” (Chaputa) / “Pie In The Sky” b/w “Misery Man” 7” (Wild Noise)

It’s taken me a while to really get into Swiss band The Jackets. I’ve always liked what I heard, but only listened to a few tunes. I also regret not going to see them when they came and played Three Links years ago. We don’t get a lot of cool bands in Dallas, and The Jackets are just one of many I was foolish about and stayed home (sidenote: Amyl & The Sniffers finally came to Dallas this year and I went to Austin to see Sugar Shack!). As The Jackets “Be Myself” kept popping up randomly in my streaming, I wondered “What ever happened to The Jackets?” Well, it turns out they released two great singles this year and I’m guessing there’s more to come in 2024. Maybe I can redeem myself by getting another chance to see them.

The Exbats – Song Machine (Goner)

I still haven’t gotten to see The Exbats either, but streaming their Gonerfest set in real time was almost as good as being there. It’s incredible how this band just continues to deliver the goods. I almost can’t listen to their early Ramones meets Monkees garage pop anymore without getting sad that I never got to see them play those songs live (like my favorite “Hey Dummy”). Yet, I’m totally taken by the more polished pop harmonies and arrangements they seem to produce so effortlessly. The fact that my favorite track on the aptly titled Song Machine is “Singalong Tonight” kinda says it all.

The Hives – The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons (Disques Hives)

“Album of the Year!” a friend posted. Really? I hadn’t really listened to The Hives in years. I loved, I mean LOVED their first three albums. I mean, I ate up all that “Hate To Say I Told You So” is the new “Smells Like Teen Spirit” hype. I thought they would change the game and put Rock ‘N’ Roll back on top of the mountain forever…and ever…and ever… So…I laughed when I heard “Album of the Year”. I‘ve still haven’t heard their last two albums. A couple of years ago they came to play the Granada and I swear, tickets were $100! I was like “Sorry Hives, you guys were great back in the day, but your schtick isn’t worth a hundred coconuts.” I did see the awesome Evil Dead inspired video for “Bogus Operandi”, but I never got around to checking out their new album til my friend made that declaration. OMG! This album is so f’n good! How, after so many years is this band still so good at what they do? Despite one personnel change, they really haven’t changed much.

Pitchfork commented “none of the Hives’ brethren in the garage revival would ever risk sounding this stupid” First of all, the so-called “garage rock revival” was a joke. The Hives came out of the ‘90s Garage Punk scene, which was preceded by countless bands from the ‘70s and ‘80s that were inspired by the ‘60s Garage era. There was no revival, it’s just that the mainstream found another buzz word to exploit, like “grunge”, and applied it to any band with a fuzz pedal or vintage guitars, most of which had nothing in common with The Hives. Those bands wouldn’t risk sounding this stupid because they had no sense of humor. Sorry, it’s an old rant for me. Howlin’ Pelle put it best describing the new album: “Rock’n’roll can’t grow up, it is a perpetual teenager…” They may have laid Randy Fitzsimmons to rest, but The Hives are forever.

Bart and The Brats/The Battlebeats – Chickpea Records Presents An International Garage Split: Vol. 7 split 7” EP (Chickpea)

The returning champs! The Battlebeats released three monster 7” EPs last year that collectively topped my list, but this year Andresa Nugraha’s only recorded output was this split 7” EP with French punks Bart & The Brats, which like the Battlebeats is a one-man band on record. Bart De Vraantijik’s music reminds me of the Rip Off Records style of Budget Rock. “Can’t Stand The Beatles” is at the same time a boring cliche and a fun, eternally Punk statement. I love The Beatles of course. Ranting about how you hate them is so silly, but also never goes out of style. Oh btw, the record has nine selections on it. You get four from Bart and five from Andresa. Who the hell puts 9 songs on a 7”?!? Pretty fucking Punk Rock! UPDATE: The Battlebeats’ new album Meet Your Maker coming in April 2024 from Sweet Time Records!!

Kid Congo Powers – Sings Subsonics “Frankenstein” and “Peanuts” 7” (In The Red)

I read more books this year than ever (actually finished a few) and Kid Congo’s Some New Kind of Kick: A Memoir was one of the best. Such a fascinating life as a gay Chicano kid (real name Brian Tristan) that found his path through Punk Rock, for which he was at Ground Zero when the L.A. Punk scene started. He met the eccentric Jeffrey Lee Pierce and formed The Gun Club without having ever played an instrument. Before he and Pierce could ever get a recording done, The Cramps recruited him and gave him his forever stage name. He parted ways with The Cramps and found himself in Berlin as a member of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. He would return to and finally record with The Gun Club. His life was riddled with tragedies and addiction, but he survived and still makes music today. Really cool that he cut a tribute to the Subsonics with this single. The Subsonics also reformed and played a few shows this year, including pairing up with Billy Childish in Virginia City, NV, and with Kid in Arizona.

je’ Texas – self titled/self released

The Stools – R U Saved? (Feel It)

I had a fantastic SXSW this year. I finally got to see The Courettes (twice!) including their set at The Chess Club, which is where the legendary Blue Flamingo once was, and where I spent so many nights when I lived in Austin in the late ‘90s. I also finally got to see Civic from Australia play one of their 12 (!) sets they played during SXSW. However, I’m kinda over them, hence them not being on the playlist. The only new releases by The Courettes in 2023 were a Cramps cover and a bunch of weird mash-up covers that I have mixed feelings about, but that’s a discussion for later.

I saw The Stools play in a dive bar in South Austin. There were other people there, but I think me and my brother Darin, and Dan Kroha of The Gories were the only ones really digging the noise these Detroit rockers were blasting out. They brought to mind other noisy punk-blues outfits like Cheater Slicks, Reatards, or any band James Arthur has been in, and being from Detroit, I’d imagine there’s some John Brannon records in their collections. The next day I saw them back up Dan as Danny & The Stools at the Chili Dog Fest.

The Chili Dog Fest, the best event that happens during SXSW, is where I was also blown away by The Bad Lovers’ CCR/Groovies/Burrito Bros-sounding good time Rock ‘N’ Roll. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to check them out. I also enjoyed seeing longtime Austin favorites like The Ugly Beats, The Crack Pipes, Bigfoot Chester, and Amplified Heat. I knew that Amplified Heat bassist Gian Ortiz was also in another band called je’ Texas, but I was not prepared for how magnificent and beautiful their music was. Where AH take that late ‘60s Cream/Hendrix power trio thing to heart, but mix it with some Sabbath and Motorhead, je’ Texas are far more psychedelic. They reminded me more of side three of Electric Ladyland with some Elevators, Moving Sidewalks and The American Blues mixed in. I was picking my jaw up off the ground after every song.

Eric Unusual – The Last One digital single

Mudhoney’s “Little Dogs” video was such a happy little surprise. I instantly called it “video of the year”. The very next day, Austin punk Eric Unusal released his genius computer animated video for “The Last One”. Maybe I just have a thing for dancing skeletons and Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, but I think it’s amazing. Back when I lived in Austin, I used to see Eric’s band The Cruel and Unusual all the time. Really happy he’s still making music, and the song is really good. It certainly fits into my headspace, playing on the theme of every day, every minute could be “the last one”, so seize that shit. Thanks Eric. And it turns out that he has a new band called Actuators who will be making their live debut on Feb. 10 at The Parlor in Austin.

Wild Billy Childish & CTMF – “Traces of You” b/w “Traces of You (demo)” 7”/ Failure Not Success LP (Damaged Goods)/ Juju Claudius: It Hurts Me Still (Hangman)

A few years ago while visiting a friend in Austin, I was introduced to some young whippersnapper, and Billy Childish came up in conversation, and this kid was quick to say “All Billy Childish songs sound the same”, which I replied “That’s what someone who’s never really listened to Billy Childish would say.” He suddenly pulled a knife as I smashed a bottle and… All kidding aside, he laughed and called me an old man and I proceeded to remove him from my lawn… Seriously, he laughed and said I was wrong. We were both right. To someone who’s only heard a fraction of Billy’s work, sure, a lot of his music sound the same, which is to say it all sounds like Billy Childish. But I’ve listened to literally every thing he’s done and there’s so many different styles of music that he’s covered (Punk, Garage, Blues, Folk, Country, Jazz, Pop etc.) that’s it’s stupid and uninformed to say it “all sounds the same”. However…Billy likes to repeat himself. He’s recorded multiple versions of his songs with all the different bands and side projects he’s been involved with. He’s even done multiple versions of various cover songs, sometimes rewriting lyrics or giving them different titles, like on the most recent William Loveday Intention album, Secret Intention. In 2022, The WLI released 9 albums but this year only one. It is basically covers of several early blues songs by Mississippi Fred McDowell, Blind Willie McTell, Mississippi Shieks and Robert Johnson, some with altered titles. It’s cool, but really just more of the same.

It would be weird to have one of these playlists without the most prolific artist I listen to, right? Last year’s playlist was loaded with Childish tracks, mostly from the WLI’s study of Dylan and roots music. Truth be told, I didn’t listen to much BC this year…HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! I’m joking of course, but I didn’t listen to a lot of new BC until just recently. One of last year’s treats was the reunion of Thee Headcoats Sect, the ‘90s side project that included former Downliners Sect members Keith Grant and Don Craine with Thee Headcoats. With Craine’s passing last year, the group reunited for a 7”, and that led to the long awaited reunion of Thee Headcoats themselves. 23 is a magic number as 2023 saw the release of the first new Headcoats recordings in 23 years. There was the split 7” with CTMF, where both groups do the same song, “Full Time Plagiarist”, followed by a full-length Headcoats album, Irregulararis (The Great Hiatus). I bought the single and then listened when the album came out, but frankly, found neither to be anything above ordinary. I love that the first Childish band I got into and saw live could come together and do something new, but it just wasn’t as interesting to me as what Billy has done in recent years. Fortunately, their 1990 Sub Pop album Heavens To Murgatroyd, Even! It’s Thee Headcoats got a nice 2023 reissue to make everyone forget the reunion LP.

CTMF’s Failure Not Success is more of the same as well, but it’s still pretty good. One of my favorite songs from last year was the WLI track “Becoming Unbecoming Me”, an amazing folk-pop tune that just felt so un-Childish, definitely quite different from the garage punk of the Caesars or Headcoats. CTMF do their version quite nicely and it’s one of my favorite songs once again. Then there is a 7” released this year for a song called “Traces of You” that features Julie Hamper on lead vocals (Billy’s wife and CTMF bassist, who along with drummer Wolf Howard have been Billy’s accomplices on nearly every Childish recording since The Buff Medways). The 7” features two versions and I went for the demo version. Again, this song is so different from what we come to expect from Childish. It’s basically the ‘60s girl group sounds of The Delmonas or Thee Headcoats, but with more of a indie pop feel. Somehow I didn’t realize just how many songs Julie has taken the lead on as I stumbled onto the comp Juju Claudius: It Hurts Me Still. “Juju Claudius” is Julie’s nickname from The Chatham Singers, and this comp includes songs from that group, WLI, The Shall I Say Quois, along with many CTMF tracks. I just had to put a trio of songs from this awesome collection on the playlist, including the Chatham Singers’ mesmerizing cover of Hank Williams’ “Angel of Death”. At first I saw that this comp came out in 2017, but I also just saw that a vinyl version was released in November. I’ve ordered my copy!

Death Party – Demos 7” EP (Turkey Baster Records 2023)

August 12, 2018 is a pretty significant date in my life. It was the night I saw Labretta Suede & The Motel 6 for the second time. I have a framed poster of the show hanging on my wall. It’s also when I took all the footage that I used to make a video for Labretta’s song “Bad News”. And it’s also the night that me and Nick Papaioannou became friends. I had met him a year before, but it was after Labretta’s set that Nick and I hung out. Despite our thirty year difference in age, our tastes in music are very similar. A few months later I saw his band The Pleasers (“Evil Eye” has its origins in an old Pleasers tune) and I was pretty blown away, so much so I expressed interest in managing them. I helped them get a gig in Austin during SXSW. The band didn’t last long and Nick flew off to Seattle before settling in Austin where he formed Death Party. Taking their name from a Jay Reatard lyric (which I honestly don’t know), there’s several other bands with the same name (some inspired by The Gun Club song I would presume), the influence of Jay is obvious, but I know Nick is also very influenced by Kurt Cobain, Thunders/Dolls, and lots of ‘70s Punk. They even cover The Mullens! And now they have their debut 7” on the same label that released singles by The Motards, The Chumps, The Reclusives, and other Texas Punk bands I’ve loved, and a favorite from last year by none other than Labretta Suede & The Motel 6! Sadly I didn’t add them to the playlist as they’re not on YT, so check out their Bandcamp. Really happy for my friend to see this record get released, and for them to launch their first tour. Unfortunately their tour came through Dallas on Jan. 14 with single-digit temperatures, and laugh if you will, I just couldn’t make it. I actually went out to see The Mullens & Pussy Gillette the night before and I just couldn’t expose myself like that again. Fuck you, I’m from Texas! I’ll be complaining about the heat before you know it.

https://deathpartyband.bandcamp.com/album/death-party-demos

Pussy Gillette – Permanent Trash (Bad Rope Records)

Late addition to the list, I just picked it up at their Jan. 13 Dallas performance, however I also had just seen them play with Surfbort, Sugar Shack and several other bands at Emo’s 30-ish Anniversary celebration in Houston back in September and had been digging them for a couple of years. I was talking to guitarist Nathan Calhoun and brought up Pussy Galore, not realizing the obvious similar band name and initials. They’re different musically but not so different. This PG sings about the same classic Punk themes of anger, frustration, sex, and boredom as Jon Spencer’s legendary DC/NYC outfit did, and this PG puts out killer low-budget Punk recorded on a 4-track and makes videos on VHS. Nathan’s guitar plays off bassist/singer Masani Negloria’s fuzzy bass lines, never complicating things with any unnecessary indulgence while Brent Prager keeps the beats simple and solid. While this is Negloria’s first ever band, Calhoun and Prager are veterans of the Austin music scene, both having played in Fuckemos. Nathan has played with Chaindrive, Gibby Haynes and pulled double-duty with Surfbort at that Emo’s anniversary show. Brent played with Sugar Shack in the early ‘90s and is still playing with legendary noise rockers Cherubs. The first time I saw PG in 2022 was with Brent, but now drummer Larry Funke takes Prager’s place in the live version of Pussy Gillette, Live, Masani introduces every song with one or more words like “baby”, “suckas”, and “motherfuckers”, which displays a playful sense of humor. Tough provocateur onstage, offstage her infectious giggle shows this band is just about having fun. For more proof, check out the video for “So Fucked”, which features all four members. I love the old-timey jazz that plays at the beginning and end of the video (possibly from the video game “BioShock”?). It’s not the version on the record, but I chose to use the video clip for the playlist.

The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds (Polydor)

December 30, 2023…6:50 PM…I’m driving home from a family holiday party, about ten minutes away with the Cowboys game starting at 7:15, and I’m listening to the new Rolling Stones album. I need to write my review and I’ve got thoughts bouncing around in my head, when I decide “I need to go buy this record!” I hadn’t given it much thought other than hoping maybe somebody would have given it to me for Christmas. But now I’ve got one day left to finish up this project (which of course I didn’t) and I really should have the record. So I head to Josey Records, the only store I’m certain will have it, and indeed they did. They also have the 2021 2LP 40th Anniversary reissue of Tattoo You, which I’ve been wanting for two years, so I said “why not?”. Of course I’m spending my Christmas bonus that I’m supposed to be saving, and because I’m an addict, I start digging and before too long I’ve got a stack. Then I lay my eyes on a record I never thought I would ever come across in the wild, and especially not with one day to go on finishing up my project. But there it was, a 2008 repressing of the Minutemen’s Double Nickels On The Dime, the record that has been in my constant rotation all year and in which the first song on my playlist comes from. So freaking weird. Some things are just meant to be.

It’s time to let you all in on the joke…I don’t hate the new Stones album…I LOVE IT!!! Why? Because it’s the fucking Rolling Stones, my ALL-TIME FAVORITE BAND!!! That declaration does not mean that I, or you, have to like every thing they do or have ever done (I just do). Their worst album, whether it’s Dirty Work, Bridges To Babylon, or Their Satanic Majesties Request (throw yer tomatoes 🍅😜), are still Rolling Stones records and I like/love them all. It’s only Rock ‘N’ Roll and I like it, yes I do (groan!). But let’s be real, Hackney Diamonds is not some game changer. It’s the same type of Stones record that they have made over and over for decades.

Every Stones record over the past 40 years follows the same basic blueprint. You get a handful of tough Keef Riff Hard rockers mixed with Mick’s overproduced Pop ballads and dance numbers, usually with some cringy/cheesy lyrics. Yes, it’s totally weird hearing a 80-year old man sing about chasing girls and the difficulties of relationships. It is even weirder when their videos are filled with young ladies old enough to be their great-grandchildren (see the cool billboard/archival footage video for “Angry” with the unnecessary hot girl in a contvertible). But Mick has made it clear his entire career, he’s an actor playing a part. Young love is the thing that we all are the most nostalgic about later in life. You never get over your first love, first crush, first heartbreak. As a songwriter, you can write about those feelings forever, and Mick Jagger isn’t gonna ever stop singing about these things. And sure, Mick’s lyrics can be bad and bizarre like on “Whole Wide World”, a song that’s meant to be inspirational and about not giving up:

Behind the bars of prison

You’re never getting out

They wanna break your balls in those slimy walls

And the guards are lardy louts

What? The? F… The Stones can’t help but write songs like the ones on this record. A good riff that leads to a very, very textbook, overtly commercial Pop chorus is a formula that they do well. They also seem to always find enough energy to rock it better than most of their contemporaries. What other band from the ‘60s has made a new record that at least tries to rock these days? I would say The Sonics, but 2015 was a long time ago.

“Who the fuck do The Rolling Stones think they are?” is not an actual quote from anyone, but a consensus of opinions from a lot of people when Hackney Diamonds was released. I called it boring, I really did, but it’s obviously grown on me. Some people only have disdain for the audacity of “The Greatest Rock ‘N’ Roll Band In The World” to release such a mediocre album, possibly their final new album ever, after not giving us a single goddamn record in 60 years that we can all agree on 100%. Yes, you heard me. Not everyone thinks _____ (fill in the blank) is the greatest Stones album. Isn’t that amazing? So why have such a rotten attitude about these old men giving it one more shot? Personally, I never thought they would keep going if one of the main four members died. I mean obviously when Mick or Keith go, that’s the end, but I thought losing Charlie… it’s just too late to be that sentimental. Although I do feel like the choice of closing Hackney Diamonds out with Muddy Waters’ “Rollin’ Stone”, performed by just Mick and Keith, as their way of saying “goodbye”. This could be…

Hearing some clown from some band I never gave a shit about, or say, Pitchfork, just rip the Stones to shreds over this record is so stupid and pointless. The reviewer, who I can’t even bother to type his name, goes on and on about how he thinks this record is just a cash grab constructed for Super Bowl ads (and yes, “Angry” is already being used as a bumper in sports telecasts). For some reason he shits all over Keith’s “solos” without even acknowledging that Ronnie kicks ass all over this record. He has some cockamamie idea that “Bite My Head Off” is a failed attempt at turning on Punk dads. I’m not a dad (but old enough to be a grandad) and while I’m a huge fan of Punk, I’ve never been a punk, but the song is pretty fucking Punk, played by some guys who have been pretty fucking Punk since ‘63, punk. Paul McCartney’s “overblown” bass line clearly reminds me that he’s hung out with the surviving members of Nirvana a bit, but what exactly is wrong with that?

I’ve also read some people complain about the Stones or Beatles taking up all the air that younger artists are denied…seriously? There are billions of people on this planet, and believe it or not, not all of them give a fuck about music (gasp!). There’s a lot of people with a lot of different tastes. To think that some young band doesn’t get the breaks because the Stones keep hanging around? That’s about the dumbest fucking thing I’ve ever heard. One of my favorite songs of the past year is by a young band singing about how they can’t stand the Beatles! You really think if no one cared about the Beatles or Stones then Bart & The Brats would be stars? If only Spotify paid enough so musicians could quit their day jobs. Sorry pal, it ain’t gonna happen. There’s plenty of old men fucking up this world, and it sure ain’t Mick and Keith, or Ronnie or Macca. I’m so tired of people whining about Spotify or the friggin’ Beatles or Barbie dating some football player or whatever. As the cliche goes, this is why we can’t have nice things. If you can’t stomach a Rock record by 80 year old rockers, that’s ok, and also yer problem. The older I get, the less cranky I try to be, especially about music. There’s plenty of music that doesn’t interest me, but I don’t have time to waste on bitching about it. I’m more interested in hearing people talk about what they like than what they hate.

Ok, where was I? Oh yeah, I have no problem with this record not breaking any new ground. Let’s be honest, have the Stones done anything truly classic since Tattoo You (if you consider Tattoo You classic, that is)? Sure, there’s been some great songs here and there, and I certainly enjoy Undercover, Steel Wheels, Voodoo Lounge, and many things that came later, but none of it is extraordinary. And that’s ok. I love a lot of what AC/DC has done since Back In Black, but they’ve never come close to that level of greatness. Likewise, the Ramones made some great records after Road To Ruin, but nothing compares to those first four, and of course many will say “first three”. Why anyone would expect more from the Stones is something I don’t understand. As another cliche goes, it is what it is…and I like it.

I will agree that Hackney Diamonds has the single worst cover art in the Stones’ history, and since Charlie was always involved in such things, his absence could explain this. I will disagree that “Sweet Sounds of Heaven”, featuring Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder, is one of the greatest Stones songs ever. It’s ok, but kind of pretentious and I swear it’s a rip off of somebody else’s song that I just can’t seem to think of. Screw me, I’m old. Speaking of old, 33 year old Andrew Watt, born a couple of months after the Steel Wheels tour wrapped up, was brought in give the recordings (which some date back to the 2015 Blue & Lonesome sessions) some needed pep. I had never heard of Watt till Iggy’s last record (oh wow I totally forgot Iggy released a new album in 2023), but his resume if filled with names that don’t impress me. Bill Wyman has never been the Stones bass player in Watt’s lifetime, so it’s cool that he got to meet him when Bill recorded his part on “Live By The Storm”. Outside of Keith, Bill and Macca, Watt plays bass on this record. Sorry Darryl Jones. And OMG Watt co-wrote three songs?!? Sarcasm aside, I think the collaboration has paid off as this is the best album the Stones have made since their last one. And better than that one and many that came before. If that doesn’t make any sense then why are you reading this?

Some honorable mentions for things I stumbled onto, like The Bomboras’ return with super cool SHAG album art on Songs From Beyond! (MuSick Recordings), things suggested by friends like Sunny War’s Anarchist Gospel (New West), or favorites from last year like The Out-Sect and their split single digital release The Out-Sect Meet The Wind Ups. Also, one of my favorites of last year, Kate Clover, released a new single “No More Romance” (SongVest) and I’m excited she’ll be playing in Dallas soon. As I mentioned before, The Algorithms turned me onto all kinds of old/new to me stuff, including lots of cool R&B, Rockabilly and Blues. I discovered some fine Swedish Honky Tonk from a band called The Country Side of Harmonica Sam. Their 2017 song “Lookout Heart” tipped me to their very retro, but exquisitely performed ‘50s style Country, yet with my hit and run listening, I totally missed that they released a new album in 2023. Here’s a couple more online discoveries:

The Little Boy Blues – “Nothing Left To Say” b/w “Mr. Tripp Wouldn’t Listen” 45 (Numero Group 2014)

One of my favorite 2022 discoveries was an obscure Country singer named Joyce Street, and a set of reissued singles from the Numero Group. Turns out they released a full length compilation in ‘23 of her music, but I somehow missed it and will have to get that. I can also add to my cart this The Little Boy Blues 7”. LBB were a Chicago band who were together 1964-1969, playing one of their earliest gigs opening for The Rolling Stones in ‘65. I’ve loved their cover of Bo Diddley’s “You Don’t Love Me” from the Garage Punk Unknowns series for years, especially because of the lead guitarist rips it up like Jeff Beck. Like many ‘60s bands, LBB went from Chess Blues/R&B-laced Garage Punk to Psychedelia in their run. In 1968, Fontana Records released their only full album, In The Woodland Of Weir. “Nothin’ Left To Say” is from their final recording sessions, and was finally issued on a 7” by the Numero Group back in 2014. As I was first listening to it, unaware of who it was, I had to check because I thought it sounded like current day Austin psychedelic rockers je’Texas. Groovy stuff.

Sarah Borges & The Broken Singles – Love’s Middle Name (Blue Corn Music 2018)

It’s hard to believe it’s been a decade now since I flipped over Shovels & Rope, and yet I haven’t had much interest in them in the last few years. I will go to my grave declaring their O’ Be Joyful album as a classic that will stand the test of time. I’ve always wanted to use their haunting cover of Charlie Feathers’ “Can’t Hardly Stand It” on a playlist and did so here. Through my S&R fandom, I’ve been aware of many artists that fall under the Americana or Alt. Country banner, but haven’t really found any other artists that really hit me quite like S&R (although I give them credit for turning me onto JD McPherson). Funny thing is I gravitate towards female artists more in the roots category, with S&R’s Cary Ann Hearst being one of my favorite singers on earth. Of course I also was a bit of a Lucinda Williams fan several years ago. What happened? I can’t answer that but it is ironic that I haven’t listened to her in years but I’m digging these other ladies who are all surely inspired by her. I’ve enjoyed checking out music this past year from Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, New Orleans’ Esther Rose (Rose and Shook have both just released new singles) and Austin’s Beth Lee & The Breakups, but it’s never anything that goes beyond my short attention span.

It was streaming “Can’t Hardly Stand It” that led The Algorithms to introduce me to Sarah Borges & The Broken Singles, who has really caught my attention. First of all, her Country/Punk style totally rocks, secondly she’s worked a lot with former Del Lord/ original Joan Jett & The Blackhearts lead guitarist Eric Ambel, and did a cover of Greg Cartwright’s classic Compulsive Gamblers (and the recently passed Mary Weiss) tune “Stop And Think It Over”. Her most recent release was in 2022 but it’s her 2018 album Love’s Middle Name that’s really grabbed me. I’m not gonna oversell this, her music has the right amount of punch to engage me, but it’s still that kind of commercial “straight music” that’s not gonna impress most hipsters, but I haven’t heard a song by her yet that I didn’t dig. Oh, and “The Broken Singles” is such a great band name! Lord knows I have had my share.

Reissues & Vinyl Scores

I found some incredible records this year. I couldn’t possibly include them all on the playlist, but I sure as hell tried. I’ve already mentioned the Minutemen’s Double Nickels…, but here’s some of the other artists I scored records by in 2023: Downliners Sect, Canned Heat, CCR, Johnny Winter, Leon Russell, Josh White, The Gun Club, The Mothers of Invention, Opal, The Buck Pets, The Twist Kings, two volumes of the great Boss Black Rockers series, The Count Five, Louis Jordan, The Trashwomen, Dead Moon, Thee Mighty Caesars, Thee Headcoats, Boss Hog, Sylvain Sylvain, Demolition Doll Rods, The Real Kids (I picked up another copy of Grown Up Wrong and included “Who Needs You” on the playlist, which also appeared on the Live At The Rat comp, which I also scored this year), and here’s a few I had something to say about…

The Undertones (Sire 1979)

In the spring of 1983, I bought this record and UB40’s Signing Off at Zooworld, KZEW’s annual rock ‘n’ roll fair/concert at the Dallas Convention Center. It was the same day I saw local band The Devices open for Joe “King” Carrasco. It was my second punk/new wave show. Fast forward about eight years and I had sold both records in my first ever purge. A few years later while I was living in Austin, I heard Scott Gardner play “Teenage Kicks” on his Stronger Than Dirt radio show and it was like divine intervention. I suddenly knew what John Peel felt. How had this song not stuck with me at 16? I would eventually pick up most of The Undertones stuff on CD, but I have searched for about 25 years for a copy of this. “Teenage Kicks” is one of the greatest songs ever written and I love this record so fucking much!

The Coasters – Greatest Hits (Atco 1959)

One of the first rock ‘n’ roll groups I ever heard, I still have the “Little Egypt” 45 my mom gave me when I was 5 or 6, hanging right above my turntable. They have forever been like a religion to me. For years I’ve wanted this comp, but it was always priced high, like $35-$40 twenty years ago, before the vinyl resurgence, or it was always in bad shape. I got a slightly different greatest hits collection Atco put out in ‘71, and just last year I got a Euro comp that had 20 cuts on it, so I pretty much have the Coasters covered on vinyl. Well, I finally found this copy for $8. It’s pretty worn, lots of surface noise, and skips on one song. I thought maybe someday, some friend’s kid, or one of my nieces or nephew will really get into music and records, maybe have one of those crappy Crosley record players, and I’d give this to them…nope.

Ella and Louis (Verve 1956)

“I should get this”, I said when I came across this classic from these Jazz giants (and backed up by the Oscar Peterson Quartet) but with a $20 sticker I sat it back down and thought I might come back to it if I didn’t find anything else. By the time I got near the end of the section I had a nice little stack going. That’s when this young kid, a teenager presumably, came up and started digging where I had started. “Excuse me, I know you’ve been through these, did you see any other Ella Fitzgerald records?” Before I could answer he said “Besides this one?” I told him no and he thanked me, then walked away with the record in hand. Several minutes later he returned and stashed the record in the back of the rack. An hour later I had finished looking through the entire record section, looked at a few books and movies, then I went to find the record the kid had stashed. He had long left the store. Having spent most of my life digging for records, I’m all too familiar with the move of stashing records in the back of a rack. Can’t say I’ve ever done it myself, but I’ve found many a treasure out-of-place, stashed in the back. I don’t know why some people think someone won’t find something they’ve hidden. I thought to myself “Is this bad karma to take this record for myself, especially after the cordial interaction I had with this kid?” Naw, you snooze you lose. As impressed as I was by a young person’s interest in older music, lessons must be learned. Later on I realized that there is this song “Dream a Little Dream of Me” by Ella Fitzgerald with Louis Armstrong (not on this record) featured in season 4 of Stranger Things. Ahh…it all makes sense now.

With The Beatles (Parlophone 1963) UK 2014 reissue / Beatles For Sale (Parlophone 1964) 2014 reissue mono / Help! (Parlophone 1965) UK 1969 reissue, stereo

Earlier in the year, I scored nearly 50 free records from a customer. I traded some for some other killer finds including a few by the Fabs. My quest to own all the UK Beatles releases is officially a thing now.

The Kinks – The File Series 2xLP (PYE/Precision 1977) UK / The Journey, Parts 1 & 2 (BMG)

I found this great budget Kinks greatest hits package that covers 1964-1970. It’s a pretty perfect vinyl set, for me at least. I have a very similar collection on CD. In 2023, the were two new Kinks anthologies released, The Journey Parts 1 & 2, to celebrate the band’s 60th anniversary. The two discs feature selections hand-picked by the surviving members covering 1964-1975. There was already the massive 5-CD Anthology box set from 2014 that covered everything up to ‘71, and included B-sides and alternate takes (and stupidly removed from Spotify in favor of The Journey). The Kinks are still a world of discovery to me.

Nervebreakers – Politics 7” EP (Wild Child 1978)/ “Hijack The Radio” b/w “Why Am I So Flipped?” (Wild Child 1979)

Last year I listened to the legendary Dallas Punk band Nervebreakers a lot as there was a new album of previously unreleased recordings, and right after picking up the reissue of their We Want Everything! album, I found an original. This year I found their first two 7” records. Love this band. Said it before, I will say it again, the Nervebreakers belong in whatever history is taught, as one of the great American Rock ‘N’ Roll bands and certainly one of the greatest from Texas.

Big Al Downing – Rockin’ ‘N’ Rollin’ (Roller Coaster 1988)

I can’t say where or when I first heard of Big Al Downing. Maybe it was his 1978 Top 20 Country hit “Mr. Jones”. Maybe it was his first single from twenty years earlier, “Down On The Farm”, first released on Dallas based White Rock Records. It was when he was the rare black musician in a white rockabilly group, Bobby Poe (Brant) and The Poe Kats. Bobby would sing the hillbilly stuff while Al would take on the more R&B/Rock ‘N’ Roll stuff. Check out “Rock ‘N’ Roll Record Girl”, where Al goes into Little Richard’s “Good Golly Miss Molly” right in the middle. Maybe it was the killer “Georgia Slop” (a Jimmy McCracklin cover), which appears on a Twistin’ Rumble comp, and I probably heard it somewhere else too. One thing is certain, since loving J.D. McPherson’s cover of “Just Around The Corner” last year on The Warm Covers Vol. 2 EP, Downing’s name has been on my list of artists to dig into (Downing and McPherson are both from Oklahoma). Holy shit! This guy was fantastic. A piano pounder that played R&B, Rockabilly, Soul and Country. The Poe Kats were also Wanda Jackson’s backup band and appeared on “Let’s Have A Party”. Later he had hit duets with Little Ester Phillips. He was heavily influenced by Fats Domino and Little Richard, and recorded with many of the same New Orleans session greats that recorded with his influences.

JD McPherson – The Warm Covers LP (New West)

Oh, and that Warm Covers Vol. 2 EP, where JD McPherson covers Big Al Downing? It got compiled with Vol. 1, plus some bonus tracks and was released as a full LP for RSD! The version with the new bonus tracks is still not available online, so I picked a song from Vol. 1 for the playlist.

Richie Richardson with Charlie Cuevas and The Jaguars – “The Jump” b/w “I Like It Like That” 45 (Galaxy 1961) unofficial reproduction

Back in the early 2000s, as I was becoming more and more obsessed with obscure ‘50s & ‘60s Rock ‘N’ Roll, I got turned onto the Desperate Rock ‘N’ Roll series, borrowing James Arthur’s copy of Vol. 4., I made a tape of it. I loved the mixture of Rockabilly, R&B, and Blues, which along with similar comps that Crypt Records put out, I was sent on a quest to discover “the secret history of Rock ‘N’ Roll”. For every Elvis, Little Richard, Beatles or Stones, there were hundreds if not thousands of artists/bands that produced great songs that were never hits. A by-product of following the wide-world of underground garage punk, I would learn about more cool stuff from other like minded freaks. These obscure tunes have influenced my mixtapes, DJ sets, and taste in music for the past 20+ years. Although I wrote down the artists and songs on DRNR Vol. 4, I had mostly forgotten most of it, with the exception of Teddy “Mr. Bear” McRae’s “Hi Fi Baby”, which I found a reproduction 45 a couple of years ago.

One track from the comp that I searched for years for to no avail, was the second cut, “Do You Wanna Jump” by Charlie Cuevas. Since I pretty much stopped listening to tapes a decade ago, I had pretty much forgotten the song until about a month ago when it randomly played on my Spotify. It is on one of the volumes of the Boss Black Rockers series, and it was not “Do You Wanna Jump” by Charlie Cuevas, but “The Jump” by Richie Richardson. Then I searched it on YouTube and that’s where the puzzle was finally solved: Charlie Cuevas and his band The Jaguars were the backing band of singer Richie Richardson. The song was apparently released by Houston based label Galaxy Records. Wow! This awesome tune I’ve loved all these years came outta Texas?!? And that’s where all the info ends. I can’t find anything else about Richie Richardson, Charlie Cuevas, or Galaxy Records. There is a current Latin music Galaxy Records based in Houston, but no connection to this raw, killer 1961 Rock ‘N’ Roll 45, which sounds like it was recorded 5 or 6 years before.

Honeymoon Killers – Hung Far Low (Bang! Records 2021) reissue, originally released by Fist Puppet Records 1991/ Honeymoon Killers – The Loved, The Lost And The Last (Bang! Records 2022)

When I saw Chrome Cranks play in early 1995 (or was it late ‘94?), I couldn’t help but approach Jerry Teel and tell him just much I loved the Honeymoon Killers’ final album Hung Far Low, and jokingly thanking him for cultivating/fathering what I thought then and still completely believe was one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll bands ever, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. He laughed but I couldn’t help but think that he was already tired of hearing about how great they were. Imagine people telling you how great the band formed from the ashes of your old band was. He agreed they were great and was very appreciative of my compliments on Hung Far Low, which I still consider one of my all-time favorites. When I ordered this and the rarities comp The Loved, The Lost And The Last, Jerry sent them to me quickly and with a personal “thank you” note included.

Pat Boone (Dot 1956)

Listen up you squares, don’t tell me you love Rock ‘N’ Roll if you don’t own this record. “Gee Whittakers” has got the corniest lyrics ever. Love it!

Keith and Tex – Redux (Soulbeats Music 2021)

I first heard this song called “Stop That Train” in the early ‘90s when I saw the classic Jimmy Cliff film The Harder They Come, but it wasn’t exactly that particular song. It would be nearly twenty years later that I finally got the soundtrack on vinyl, and was reminded that the song in the film was actually called “Draw Your Brakes” by a DJ named Scotty. I would learn that “Draw Your Brakes” is an example of Jamaican singjay style, where a DJ or singer is “toasting” (similar to rapping) over a dubbed or remixed track. In this instance, Scotty was toasting over “Stop That Train”, a hit song by Keith Rowe and Tex Dixon from 1967 (a cover of the 1965 Spanish Town Skabeats song). Once I heard Keith & Tex’s version, I fell so in love with it and for years I have looked through the Reggae section of every single record store I’ve been to, looking for a Keith and Tex record. I’ve scanned through countless Reggae and Rocksteady compilations for just this one song. No dice. How could I never find this famous, legendary tune on any record? Oh sure, I found it on Discogs, but that’s never any fun. Well, I finally caught that train at Waterloo Records in Austin. Of course Austin is where for decades I saw the huge mural on the side of the old Varsity Theater in Austin at the corner of Guadalupe and W. 24th Street with the iconic image of the double-pistol pose of Jimmy Cliff as “Ivan” from The Harder They Come. And so now I finally have “Stop That Train” on vinyl!!! Oh, and just a couple of months ago I was listening to The Mummies’ Runnin’ On Empty Vol. 1 compilation. At the very end of the record there is a recording of audience chatter after a Mummies gig. There’s a song playing in the background, and after hearing it countless times I finally realized, it’s “Draw Your Brakes”!!

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced? 2xLP (Experience Hendrix 2015)

I’m gonna “try” to keep this short. At 14, “Red House” from The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Smash Hits (1969) comp became my forever favorite song. It’s hard to explain why this psychedelic blues masterpiece still thrills me, and even makes me emotional sometimes. I’ve had it as the ringtone on my phone for so long that every time i hear it randomly streaming, I think my phone is ringing. When I was 16, I found the original 1967 UK Track Records version in a 2-LP “2-For-1” set, that included both Are You Experienced? and Axis: Bold As Love, on Polydor Records. The song sequence was completely different than the Reprise version of AYE?:

UK version

Side A

1. Foxy Lady

2. Manic Depression

3. Red House

4. Can You See Me

5. Love Or Confusion

6. I Don’t Live Today

Side B

1. May This Be Love

2. Fire

3. 3rd Stone From The Sun

4. Remember

5. Are You Experienced?

US version

Side A

1. Purple Haze

2. Manic Depression

3. Hey Joe

4. Love Or Confusion

5. May This Be Love

6. I Don’t Live Today

Side B

1. The Wind Cries Mary

2. Fire

3. Third Stone From The Sun

4. Foxey Lady

5. Are You Experienced?

So the basic difference was that their three big UK singles, “Hey Joe”, “Purple Haze”, and “The Wind Cries Mary” were kept separate from the UK album, but included on the Reprise US version (also different spellings on a couple of song titles). One of the tracks that Reprise replaced was the 12-bar blues “Red House”, which Jimi said “Everybody was scared to release ‘Red House’ in America because they said, ‘America don’t like the blues’!” But what blew my teenage head was that the version of the song on the UK album was not the same version on Smash Hits. And that’s just the beginning of the mystery. Sidenote…as a sequencing obsessive, I’ve always been fascinated with “Red House” being the third track on the UK version. It definitely follows the High Fidelity rules: start with a killer, then take it up a notch, then cool it off a notch.

As much of Jimi’s life and career that has been documented, discussed and analyzed, I haven’t been able to find a thorough history of “Red House”. It was first recorded on December 13, 1966 at CBS studios in London. This version which would ultimately appear on the UK album, always sounded to me like it was a totally live take with Jimi saying at the fade-out “How’s that?” Then on December 21, several takes were recorded again at De Lane Lea Studios, and just as on the CBS recording, Noel Redding played a 5-string guitar tuned down instead of bass, but all takes were scrapped except for one backing track. It’s believed that Jimi overdubbed the track, adding vocals, guitar and echo, on March 29, 1967, or in early April, at Olympic Studios. Now that may sound like a lot of details, but it’s always puzzled me why this version was not on the UK album. One would think this version, which Jimi had put so much work into, with the far more explosive guitar attack, and with it certainly being the more psychedelic version with the echo and double-tracked solo would be his definitive version. It’s not just a more exciting take, but Jimi’s playing is out of this world on the second version. However, in the final mixes for the album, Chas Chandler decided to use the first version and the album was released on May 12. There’s a lot of stories about conflicts between Chandler and the band, including with Jimi. He informed Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell from the start that they would have no say in anything, that everything would be Jimi’s vision. There is a theory that the second version of “Red House” might have been intended to appear on the US version of Axis: Bold as Love, but that album was just too loaded as it was. I would guess it was never even considered for Electric Ladyland.

One thing that I just learned recently is there was a third version of “Red House” released, and as it turns out, I’ve had it for over a decade. What? Yes, it appears on the 1969 Warner/Reprise Songbook compilation, the very first release of Warner Brothers “Loss Leader” series of samplers. I had listened to it before and thought “That’s just the Smash Hits version…” Well, it is the exact same take. Trust me, I know every single note of that recording by heart. However, it is a different mix where there is no echo on the guitar, or at least there’s less echo, and while there is the second guitar that comes in halfway into the solo, it’s not quite as pronounced as the Smash Hits mix. Wow. My all-time favorite song is the gift that keeps on giving. So much for keeping it short.

The Senders – All Killer No Filler (1977-2001) (Left For Dead 2022) 134 of 200

If you’ve been picking up what I have been laying down, and you’re digging Pat Todd, Walter Daniels/Jack Oblivian, or Daddy Long Legs, then your next stop is The Senders. Before I even heard others make the comparison, I was thinking of The Senders’ Punk-R&B as like a U.S. counterpart to Dr. Feelgood, Lew Lewis or other great pub rockers. However, I’m kind of ashamed that it’s taken me so long to really dig into this band. It shouldn’t have taken the passing of their singer to get me sent.

Having been a Johnny Thunders fan since I was a teen, I certainly knew The Senders name but never really heard them. When Philippe Marcade sent me a friend request six years ago, it was right as his book Punk Avenue: Inside the New York City Underground, 1972-1982 was being released. It was like many social media friend requests I get from musicians who are promoting themselves and they find me through mutual friends and see me as a “music guy”. In most cases I love it, but I certainly have gotten some weird ones. I enjoyed seeing Philippe’s posts about his storied life (he left France for America in his teens), being a part of the early NYC Punk scene where The Senders were contemporaries of the Ramones, Heartbreakers, Blondie, The Cramps and more. I also loved hearing his memories of the late and brilliant Senders guitarist Wild Bill Thompson, and his friendship with Thunders (Marcade played drums in the first lineup of Johnny and Wayne Kramer’s short-lived Gang War). As much as I love reading and collecting books on music, I never got around to getting Philippe’s book (something I will fix soon). Likewise, I wanted to get this amazing comp of Senders recordings last year and include it on last years list, but it just got pushed out of reach budget-wise.

This comp includes The Senders’ debut 45, their 12” EP Seven Song Super Single, and many other choice cuts and rarities. There’s a couple of Howlin’ Wolf covers, a Fats Domino one, Bill Allen’s “Please Give Me Something”, and crazy points for covering The Crazy Teens’ “Crazy Date”. Mm-hmm! I can’t say it enough but Wild Bill Thompson was an astounding guitar player. Damn, his shit is hot! Before Wild Bill was a Sender, Johnny Thunders helped his pal Philippe out by playing a few gigs and one of those shows appears on Side D of this. Thunders sideman/guitarist Henri Paul Tortosa, who played on Johnny’s So Alone album, was also a Sender on these gigs. Tortosa left this world in 2023 as well. The CD/digital version of this comp includes four additional tracks including a live recording of the Stones’ “Empty Heart” with special guest Wayne Kramer.

Philippe Marcade passed away June 5, 2023. I regret that I never told him how much I love his work. We only interacted a couple of times on FB. He reacted to some of my posts and we exchanged a few comments. He seemed like a lovely guy. I enjoyed reading his posts, especially the one about him chauffeuring Chuck Berry around Paris. Crazy stuff. RIP

In Memoriam

So many people die every year. When will it stop? Sorry for the dark humor, but with all the death in this world from war, disease and basic nature, I gotta have a little levity. 2023 was no different than any other year in the number of notable musicians that left us, but there were too many for me to pay tribute to all the ones I appreciated. The big three for me were Tina Turner, Jeff Beck and Tom Verlaine. I included many songs by each of them as well as others. Here’s some that I included on the playlist:

Anthony Dominick Benedetto aka Tony Bennett – Some old guy that sang duets with Lady Gaga. Infantryman who invaded Germany and liberated concentration camps. First to have a non-Country hit with a Hank Williams song. Career survived when Rock ‘N’ Roll hit, praised by Sinatra as “The best singer in the business.” Participated in the Selma to Montgomery march. Survived drug addiction and career failures, and made a comeback decades later. Crooner deluxe.

Dean Carter – Wild ‘60s rockabilly/garage rocker born Arlie Dean Neaville, most known for his crazy version of “Jailhouse Rock”.

Rudolph Isley – Of the legendary Isley Brothers. Not much else to say or shout.

Huey “Piano” Smith – NOLA R&B pianist famous for “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu” and “Don’t You Just Know It”. Eternally infectious.

Barrett Strong – Early Motown artist, producer, songwriter and singer of “Money (That’s What I Want)” (covered by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Sonics and countless others) and lyricist of Edwin Starr’s “War”.

Jörg Evers – Guitarist/singer of ‘70s German Punk band (the) Pack. Beloved by the ‘90s Garage/Budget Rock crowd.

Teresa Taylor – Butthole Surfers’ drummer and iconic actor in the movie “Slackers”.

Bob Feldman – Of ‘60s Pop group The Strangeloves who did “I Want Candy” and “Night Time”.

Otis Barthoulameu aka O – guitarist in Olivelawn, Fluf and other bands, producer and skateboarding & music photographer.

Glenn Lockett aka Spot – Musician, skateboard photographer, house producer for SST Records, worked with many legendary Punk bands like Big Boys, Minutemen, Descendants, Meat Puppets, Husker Du, Poison 13, Misfits and more. I included Black Flag’s “Jealous Again” on the playlist because it was the first record I ever heard produced by Spot.

Scott “Top Ten” Kempner – Guitarist/singer/songwriter in The Dictators and The Del Lords.

Gary Young – Original drummer in Pavement.

Philippe Marcade – Singer/blues harp in The Senders, writer.

Henri Paul Tortosa aka Henri Paul – guitarist for Johnny Thunders, Stiv Bators, Mink DeVille and others.

Shane MacGowan – Legendary frontman of The Pogues. I never really got into The Pogues, but “All The Time In The World” by his early Punk band The Nips, aka The Nipple Erectors, is one of my favorite ‘70s Punk tunes.

Jean Knight – Stax singer of “Mr. Big Stuff”, I included her first recording, a cover of Jackie Wilson’s “Doggin’ Around” on the playlist.

Yusuke Chiba – Former vocalist for Thee Michelle Gun Elephant. TMGE were a hugely popular band in Japan. I was fortunate to see them play in 2002.

Anna Mae Bullock aka Tina Turner – Ike & Tina were one of the first musical acts I was aware of as a child, but I didn’t really become a big fan till later when I got that one live album recorded in Ft. Worth. I was as much a fan of Ike and his many contributions to Rock ‘N’ Roll, but we all know what a terrible man he was. Tina’s story of survival and comeback is inspiring of course. I went on to collect so many of their records. I’ve long preached about the brilliance of the Come Together album, and I love so much of their music. I even enjoyed her comeback in the ‘80s, which I was working in record stores at the time. I loved her so much!

Jeff Beck – I’m pretty sure the first thing I heard by Beck was The Jeff Beck Group’s debut, Truth, and specifically “I Ain’t Superstitious”. I bought a budget/ bootleg cassette called Jeff Beck – Anthology, but it was hardly an anthology as it was all Yardbirds, and part of it was stuff with Clapton. It was my introduction to The Yardbirds. I was enamored with Five Live Yardbirds, and Little Games, but outside of the hits, I didn’t really listen to the Beck era as much till later. I certainly watched their part in Blow Up a million times. So really it was those first two JBG albums that was my main exposure to Beck, along with hearing “Going Down” and “Freeway Jam” ad nauseam on FM radio. In my early twenties, I got turned onto the Lord Sutch & Heavy Friends album and always loved that killer riff on “Gutty Guitar”, and learned much later that Sutch and Beck went way back, as Jeff played on Sutch’s “Come Back Baby” in 1964. I was very lucky to see Beck live when he toured with Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1989. One of my favorite things I ever read as a kid was about Joe Perry meeting and playing with Beck, and Jeff telling Joe about the guys that influenced him, like Hank Marvin, Cliff Gallup, and Link Wray, and how that made Joe go and listen to those guys. I’ve repeated that process over and over as a music fan. BTW, I said earlier that Beck was embarrassed by “Hi Ho Silver Lining”, but I just watched a clip of him performing it on Jools Holland’s TV show in 2003, with Chrissie Hynde, Jimmy Cliff, Solomon Burke, Tom Jones and Robert Plant…it was a hit song after all.

Tom Verlaine – I’ve often told the story of picking up the Ramones’ Leave Home and Television’s Marquee Moon on 8-track at a thrift store when I was around 14-15. I finally bought both on vinyl when I was 18-19. By then I owned a car with an 8-track player and I was still listening to them. When I sold the car I left all my tapes in the trunk, hoping the new owner would listen to them or maybe they would end up back in a thrift store. I’ve always regretted that and hope they didn’t end up in a landfill. My love and appreciation of Television was always odd to myself, considering that I always liked the loud and fast side of rock ‘n’ roll more. There was just enough Punk attitude in the beauty of Television’s swirling, hypnotic guitars. I still listen to Marquee Moon multiple times a year. It still fills me with joy. I included some Neon Boys (Verlaine and Richard Hell pre-Television) on the playlist too. I feel extra lame that it’s taken me past the year mark of Tom Verlaine’s passing to finish this.

Major Influence Category:

William Friedkin – I had to include Redd Kross’ “Linda Blair” in tribute to legendary filmmaker William Friedkin, who passed August 7. The Exorcist, one of my top 5 favorite films, celebrated 50 years having been released the day after Christmas in 1973. I had just listened to an incredible podcast interview with Friedkin a couple of weeks before he passed. It was hilarious listening to him call The Exorcist II: The Heretic a “piece of shit”, and his great advice on filmmaking “forget film school, just watch Hitchcock.”

Seymour Stein – The last 16 tracks on my playlist is a separate playlist on its own, as I pay tribute to Sire Records and the great man behind the label, Seymour Stein. Sire was formed in 1966 by Stein and Richard Gottenhrer. Stein had worked for King Records in Cincinnati, but returned home to New York and started working in the Brill Building where he met Gottenhrer, a songwriter/producer and member of The Strangeloves. He briefly worked with The Shrangi-Las as their road manager, and in 1977 tried to help them make a comeback on Sire, but it didn’t work out. For the first decade of Sire, their only real success was progressive rock band Focus and their hit “Hocus Pocus”, and the Climax Blues Band. My stepdad Rocky was a fan of CBB, and that’s most likely where I first saw the iconic Sire label. Stein made a mistake when he passed on Jimi Hendrix, but was redeemed when he signed an unusual band from Queens, The Ramones. He followed that with signing Talking Heads, Dead Boys, Flamin’ Groovies, The Undertones, The Pretenders and many other groundbreaking bands.

Seeing the connection between the ‘60s Garage era and Punk/New Wave, Sire reissued Lenny Kaye’s influential 1972 Nuggets comp, originally released by Elektra Records. In 1977, Sire joined Elektra as a subsidiary of Warner Brothers, giving Sire major distribution. Stein is sometimes credited with the term “New Wave”, as he believed “Punk” was derogatory and had a negative effect on sales and radio play, and promoted his acts as New Wave. He allowed UK label Vertigo to include several Sire acts on another influential comp called New Wave (I included Little Bob Story’s Small Faces cover from that comp on the playlist). New Wave would become a blanket term for a lot of new music in the ‘80s, and Sire would distribute new sounds by groups like Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Smiths, Yaz, and Echo & The Bunnymen. Then Stein found major Pop success with a young singer named Madonna, and continued heading for the end of the century with music from The Replacements, Ministry, Dinosaur Jr., My Bloody Valentine, and so much more. The music that Stein believed in would influence legions of other acts and had an undeniable impact on music history. It was such a part of the soundtrack of our lives, or as my friend Joe Jarvis said, “The first label I could trust as a teenager.” Just look at the selections that I added at the end of the playlist. “Blitzkrieg Bop” and some of my other selections might seem like obvious choices, but just think of the first time you heard these songs and the impact they made on you. Just think of the impact Sire had on the world. It’s all because Seymour Stein believed.

One of the biggest problems with finishing this has been finishing this. Every story has to have an ending, and I’ve been having the hardest time trying to tie this mess up. My relationship ended when I just couldn’t find the words…with a nod back to The Little Boy Blues, I had nothing left to say. Well, there ya go. That’s enough. ENOUGH! Enough of my suffering brain. I should take this moment to say “I quit.” Mark my words, this is the last one of these I’m doing. I just can’t do it anymore. It’s become like a bad habit, almost like drugs and alcohol. It’s fun to party, but I feel like I’m trying to relive some other good time. I’m trying to recreate a feeling by taking things to the limit, and I have a real problem with limits. Playlists are addictive. I remember in the late ‘90s, I went to see Sonic Youth, The Flaming Lips, and the Butthole Surfers, all separately, but each time I dropped acid, and each time it was a bit of a disappointment overall. It had run its course and so has this. Anyways, I’ll be dead before this year’s done. Oh shit! Are you still reading this? Don’t worry about me, I’ve got plenty of dorky rambling left to do. Enjoy this while you can. To quote High Fidelity again, “When is it gonna stop!”

I know I sound ridiculous and maybe I’m having a mental breakdown of some sorts? While I was trying to wrap this up, I decided to get caught up on “The Boys”, the ridiculous, over-the-top, R-rated superhero saga on Prime. I had just finished the spinoff “Gen V” and pulled up the main series to see when the new season starts, when I realized that never finished the last season. The best I can figure out is that I had two episodes left when my roof collapsed in July 2022, and I just forgot about it. In those last episodes (spoiler coming), a character named Noir has a bit of a psychological breakdown as he hallucinates a bunch of imaginary friends, all animated animals, birds and woodland creatures that speak to him in a fucked up Disney’s Uncle Remus kind of way. I kind of feel like Noir, with this blog and my playlist and all the songs and bands being like my imaginary friends. Noir’s cartoon pals send him to his death (sorry, spoiler) and I kind of felt bad for him. I mean, he was a villian on the show but really every character on that show, hero or villain, is a victim of a cruel and greedy world. Um…I’m not saying it’s the same for me, but I do feel disemboweled sometimes (like Noir ends up…sorry, again). I spill my guts and then try to push them back in. The next day I’m leaving for work and there’s this squirrel sitting under my van, and then right at that same moment, a blue bird lands about ten feet away. Now they were not animated, but they did speak to me. “Finish that stupid blog and playlist!” So here it is.