Saturday, December 06, 2003
Fri., Dec. 5, 2003, 12-2 AM
A little more than an hour of this week's show focused on Cleveland (with a little Columbus and Akron thrown in for good measure) to get ready for the Rocket From the Tombs ("RFTT") show on Monday. It is difficult to overestimate the pre-punk importance of RFTT and the Cleveland scene. Most of the elements of Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys can be heard in RFTT, and the core early songs of those successor bands were covers of RFTT songs. I am next on the air Wed., 12/10 from 10-12 pm.
1. Stiff Little Fingers, "78 RPM", Rough Trade Records, 1978: B Side of the Alternative Ulster 7".
2. Nurses, "Hearts", Round Raoul Records, 1979: From their first 7". The perfect mix of pop tunes and a sparse structure that keeps them from being too "New Wave" like a number of other early DC punk bands.
3. Stranglehold, "She's Not Leaving", Taang!: One of the first Taang! Releases.
4. Erase Errata, "Let's Be Active c/o Club Hott", Troubleman Unlimited Records, 2003 (new release): In unrelated news, I saw on the Troubleman Unlimited site that they are putting out the next Fat Day record. That is exciting news. I was in college radio with the members of Fat Day in the early 90's. I went to their website the other day and it wasn't there, so I thought that maybe they broke up, but when I saw news of the signing I guess they are just starting a new site to go with the new label.
5. Reducers, "Let's Go", Rave on Records, 1986?: A live track from a 7" that has two live tracks on the A side and reissues the two tracks from their first 7" on the B side.
6. Vibrators, "Stiff Little Fingers", CBS Records, 1977: The band Stiff Little Fingers (see the first tune) stole their name from the tracks.
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7. Flying Luttenbachers, "Clank", Skin Graft / ugExplode Records, 1996.
8. Big Black, "Passing Complexion", Homestead Records, 1986.
9. Martin Rev, "Black Ice", File Thirteen Records, 2003 (new release).
10. Mars, "Helen Fordsdale", Antilles Records, 1978: From the No New York no wave comp.
11. Ebba Gron, "Bevapna er", Mistlur Records, 1979: Somehow it is more fun to listen to catchy punk songs when you can't tell what they are saying since they are singing in Swedish.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
12. Dag Vag, "Dimma", Ball Records, 1978: Great Swedish noise.
13. Fall, "City Hobgoblins", Rough Trade Records, 1980.
14. Mountain Goats, "Pure Intentions", Shrimper Records, 1992: From the first 7".
15. Tall Dwarfs, "Cant", Flying Nun, 1987.
16. Undertones, "Family Entertainment", Strange Fruit Records, 1986: From the Peel Sessions recorded Jan. 21, 1979.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The next three sets were an experiment where we played a Rocket From the Tombs song and then played the same song by a RFTT successor band. I hoped to draw comparisons between the bands.
17. Rocket From the Tombs, "Final Solution", Smog Veil Records, 2002.
18. Dead Boys, "Final Solution", Sire Records, 1977.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
19. Rocket From the Tombs, "Life Stinks", Smog Veil Records, 2002.
20. Pere Ubu, "Life Stinks": Originally from the Modern Dance lp. I took it from the cd box set. I think the comparison here was the most successful. By the time of this recording, David Thomas had perfected his spastic style, and the roots of this can be heard in the RFTT version. The Pere Ubu version is faster and less conventionally structured than the RFTT version.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
21. Rocket From the Tombs, "Muckraker", Smog Veil Records, 2002.
22. Saucers, "Muckraker", Orange Records, 1979: The Saucers were Craig Bell's band after he moved to New Haven. Bell was also in the Mirrors before RFTT.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
23. Black Flag, "Six Pack" (request): Not Cleveland related, but glad to honor a good request.
24. Girls, "The Elephant Man", Hearthan Records, 1979: The Cleveland connection here is David Thomas' record label. The Girls were from Boston. This is the only record they put out while they were together. I think they were the only non-Cleveland band to record on Hearthan. It isn't clear to me how this came to pass. I think they dragged Pere Ubu to their practice space when Ubu was playing Boston. Daved Hild, of the Girls, subsequently played with David Thomas and the Wooden Birds and on other occasions.
25. Television, "Venus", Elektra Records, 1977: The RFTT connection here is Richard Lloyd, who is taking the guitar part of the deceased Peter Laughner in the reunion line-up for RFTT. This is appropriate because Laughner was a huge fan of Television and Tom Verlaine. When Lloyd quit Television, Laughner sought to take his place and I think that he even did for a few weeks.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
26. Easter Monkeys, "14th Floor", Hit & Run Records, 1991: Recorded in 1983 but not put out until later. From Cleveland.
27. Gaunt, "Revolution", Datapanik Records, 1992. Gaunt and the Datapanik label are from Columbus, OH. Datapanik named after the Pere Ubu ep "Datapanik in the Year Zero". Gaunt looks back on the Cleveland punk sound, especially the Pagans.
28. Rubber City Rebels, "Rubber City Rebels", Stiff Records: From the Akron comp. Not sure why a British label put out a comp of just Akron bands. Akron is the Rubber City because of the dominance of the tire industry (don't know if that is still true in the post-industrial age). Why is Greensboro called the "Gate City"? I have asked a lot of people this question and never gotten an answer. Email me if you know the reason why.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
29. Clocks, "Time Is on My Side", Terminal Records, 1980: From the Cleveland Confidential 7" comp put out by the Pagan's Mike Hudson. There was subsequently a 12" comp. Put out by Hudson also called Cleveland Confidential.
30. Electric Eels, "Agitated", Scat Records, 2001: A two lp set that is the most comprehensive retrospective of the Electric Eels. Along with RFTT, the Electric Eels were Cleveland's other most influential pre-punk band.
31. Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, "Can't Kill Stupid", Datapanik Records: From Columbus. Ron House of the TJSA was previously in Great Plains.
32. Mirrors, "Frustration", Scat Records: From the three 10" set "Those Were Different Times". One 10" each for the Mirrors, Electric Eels, and the Styrenes. Craig Bell was originally in the Mirrors before RFTT. They put out one 7" on Hearthan.
33. Styrenes, "You're Trash", Scat Records: From the above mentioned three 10" set. They were part of the Cleveland pre-punk scene. Anton Fier was in the Styrenes at one point.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
34. Mike Rep and Quotas, "Rocket to Nowhere", Siltbreeze Records.
Now we are done with Cleveland. Time to play some new releases.
35. LCD Soundsytem, "Give It Up", dfa records, 2003 (new release): Comp of dfa releases.
36. The Vexers, "Vicious", Ace Fu Records, 2003 (new release).
37. Explosions in the Sky, "First Breath After Coma", TRR Records, 2003 (new release).
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
38. An Albatross, "The Revolutionary Politics of Dance", Ace Fu Records, 2003 (new release).
39. Jad Fair, "Frankenstein Must Die", Armageddon Record, 1980?.
40. Melt Banana, "A Dreamer Who Is Too Weak to Face Up To", A-Zap Records, 2003 (new release).
41. Quasi, "Good Time Rock-n-Roll", Touch and Go Records, 2003 (new release).
See you at the Rocket From the Tombs show at King's in Raleigh on Monday night. I'll put a review of the show here soon.
1. Stiff Little Fingers, "78 RPM", Rough Trade Records, 1978: B Side of the Alternative Ulster 7".
2. Nurses, "Hearts", Round Raoul Records, 1979: From their first 7". The perfect mix of pop tunes and a sparse structure that keeps them from being too "New Wave" like a number of other early DC punk bands.
3. Stranglehold, "She's Not Leaving", Taang!: One of the first Taang! Releases.
4. Erase Errata, "Let's Be Active c/o Club Hott", Troubleman Unlimited Records, 2003 (new release): In unrelated news, I saw on the Troubleman Unlimited site that they are putting out the next Fat Day record. That is exciting news. I was in college radio with the members of Fat Day in the early 90's. I went to their website the other day and it wasn't there, so I thought that maybe they broke up, but when I saw news of the signing I guess they are just starting a new site to go with the new label.
5. Reducers, "Let's Go", Rave on Records, 1986?: A live track from a 7" that has two live tracks on the A side and reissues the two tracks from their first 7" on the B side.
6. Vibrators, "Stiff Little Fingers", CBS Records, 1977: The band Stiff Little Fingers (see the first tune) stole their name from the tracks.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
7. Flying Luttenbachers, "Clank", Skin Graft / ugExplode Records, 1996.
8. Big Black, "Passing Complexion", Homestead Records, 1986.
9. Martin Rev, "Black Ice", File Thirteen Records, 2003 (new release).
10. Mars, "Helen Fordsdale", Antilles Records, 1978: From the No New York no wave comp.
11. Ebba Gron, "Bevapna er", Mistlur Records, 1979: Somehow it is more fun to listen to catchy punk songs when you can't tell what they are saying since they are singing in Swedish.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
12. Dag Vag, "Dimma", Ball Records, 1978: Great Swedish noise.
13. Fall, "City Hobgoblins", Rough Trade Records, 1980.
14. Mountain Goats, "Pure Intentions", Shrimper Records, 1992: From the first 7".
15. Tall Dwarfs, "Cant", Flying Nun, 1987.
16. Undertones, "Family Entertainment", Strange Fruit Records, 1986: From the Peel Sessions recorded Jan. 21, 1979.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The next three sets were an experiment where we played a Rocket From the Tombs song and then played the same song by a RFTT successor band. I hoped to draw comparisons between the bands.
17. Rocket From the Tombs, "Final Solution", Smog Veil Records, 2002.
18. Dead Boys, "Final Solution", Sire Records, 1977.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
19. Rocket From the Tombs, "Life Stinks", Smog Veil Records, 2002.
20. Pere Ubu, "Life Stinks": Originally from the Modern Dance lp. I took it from the cd box set. I think the comparison here was the most successful. By the time of this recording, David Thomas had perfected his spastic style, and the roots of this can be heard in the RFTT version. The Pere Ubu version is faster and less conventionally structured than the RFTT version.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
21. Rocket From the Tombs, "Muckraker", Smog Veil Records, 2002.
22. Saucers, "Muckraker", Orange Records, 1979: The Saucers were Craig Bell's band after he moved to New Haven. Bell was also in the Mirrors before RFTT.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
23. Black Flag, "Six Pack" (request): Not Cleveland related, but glad to honor a good request.
24. Girls, "The Elephant Man", Hearthan Records, 1979: The Cleveland connection here is David Thomas' record label. The Girls were from Boston. This is the only record they put out while they were together. I think they were the only non-Cleveland band to record on Hearthan. It isn't clear to me how this came to pass. I think they dragged Pere Ubu to their practice space when Ubu was playing Boston. Daved Hild, of the Girls, subsequently played with David Thomas and the Wooden Birds and on other occasions.
25. Television, "Venus", Elektra Records, 1977: The RFTT connection here is Richard Lloyd, who is taking the guitar part of the deceased Peter Laughner in the reunion line-up for RFTT. This is appropriate because Laughner was a huge fan of Television and Tom Verlaine. When Lloyd quit Television, Laughner sought to take his place and I think that he even did for a few weeks.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
26. Easter Monkeys, "14th Floor", Hit & Run Records, 1991: Recorded in 1983 but not put out until later. From Cleveland.
27. Gaunt, "Revolution", Datapanik Records, 1992. Gaunt and the Datapanik label are from Columbus, OH. Datapanik named after the Pere Ubu ep "Datapanik in the Year Zero". Gaunt looks back on the Cleveland punk sound, especially the Pagans.
28. Rubber City Rebels, "Rubber City Rebels", Stiff Records: From the Akron comp. Not sure why a British label put out a comp of just Akron bands. Akron is the Rubber City because of the dominance of the tire industry (don't know if that is still true in the post-industrial age). Why is Greensboro called the "Gate City"? I have asked a lot of people this question and never gotten an answer. Email me if you know the reason why.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
29. Clocks, "Time Is on My Side", Terminal Records, 1980: From the Cleveland Confidential 7" comp put out by the Pagan's Mike Hudson. There was subsequently a 12" comp. Put out by Hudson also called Cleveland Confidential.
30. Electric Eels, "Agitated", Scat Records, 2001: A two lp set that is the most comprehensive retrospective of the Electric Eels. Along with RFTT, the Electric Eels were Cleveland's other most influential pre-punk band.
31. Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, "Can't Kill Stupid", Datapanik Records: From Columbus. Ron House of the TJSA was previously in Great Plains.
32. Mirrors, "Frustration", Scat Records: From the three 10" set "Those Were Different Times". One 10" each for the Mirrors, Electric Eels, and the Styrenes. Craig Bell was originally in the Mirrors before RFTT. They put out one 7" on Hearthan.
33. Styrenes, "You're Trash", Scat Records: From the above mentioned three 10" set. They were part of the Cleveland pre-punk scene. Anton Fier was in the Styrenes at one point.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
34. Mike Rep and Quotas, "Rocket to Nowhere", Siltbreeze Records.
Now we are done with Cleveland. Time to play some new releases.
35. LCD Soundsytem, "Give It Up", dfa records, 2003 (new release): Comp of dfa releases.
36. The Vexers, "Vicious", Ace Fu Records, 2003 (new release).
37. Explosions in the Sky, "First Breath After Coma", TRR Records, 2003 (new release).
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
38. An Albatross, "The Revolutionary Politics of Dance", Ace Fu Records, 2003 (new release).
39. Jad Fair, "Frankenstein Must Die", Armageddon Record, 1980?.
40. Melt Banana, "A Dreamer Who Is Too Weak to Face Up To", A-Zap Records, 2003 (new release).
41. Quasi, "Good Time Rock-n-Roll", Touch and Go Records, 2003 (new release).
See you at the Rocket From the Tombs show at King's in Raleigh on Monday night. I'll put a review of the show here soon.
