It was around when I was in junior high though I guess on it's last legs (77-79), soon to be replaced by "new wave". I heard plenty of it on the radio, school dances etc, but was never moved enough to seek it out and own it, though my brother did give me Rod Stewart "Blondes Have More Fun" picture disc for my new turntable which was his "disco" album, as many other established acts did "disco' albums later to be followed by "new wave" albums (Alice Cooper "Flush The Fashion" anyone?) I was oblivious to it's origins from the gay club scene in NYC because by this time is was so homogenized and mainstream. But what I remember most from that period was being introduced to early Rap & 70's funk, the later which I guess was also part of the genisis of Disco. The school I went to was not diverse at all. Maybe 15 black kids total. My friend Robert Love was from Texas and from a world completely unlike mine. Never heard him play any disco, but he loved to dance and had the moves back then. Instead of Disco, he turned me onto Parliment, Bootsy Collins and also Curtis Blow (mostly by sneaking into his older brother's record collection when he wasn't home) and by turning me onto local radio station KDAY. But as far as Disco, it still really hasn't grown on me, not even as something campy, although I do laugh at that scene from the sitcom Malcom in the Middle when the dad is doing rollerdisco to that song "Rollercoaster" or was it "Funkytown". But I had no qualms cranking up D.O.A.'s song "Disco Sucks" (later to be reborn as New Wave Sucks) when I was turned on to it in 1980. Even that late in the game, TV disco dance shows like "Solid Gold" were still on the air.

Sorry, this was a pretty long winded answer just to say, naw, not my thing, there's too much good music I haven't heard yet and too little time to spend it listening to Disco.

I like some of the same things you listed just now, Dave, but back then I was a major hater of disco.  I was a working musician who suddenly wasn't working, as weren't most of my contemporaries, because the clubs could just put records on and the patrons were happy.  Why pay a band to play?  It made us very mad.  I refused to see Saturday Night Fever at the time.  Seen it since.  Not bad.  I can listen to enough disco these days to make a good 90 minute playlist, but the four-on-the-floor thing gets very old when there's nothing else making it stand out, and it still feels like a majority of the disco stuff was pretty slick and nondescript.  Then there are songs like "I Feel Love".  Niiice.  It just took me 30 years to get over the grudge.

I listened to Disco in junior high and a bit as an underclassman, well before I was exposed to Punk. The 'Disco Sucks' meme was out there, but even as an 8th grader it seemed pretty bone-headed. Why couldn't you listen to both?

So I like the slick stuff like Chic (still do) and the mainstream stuff like Sister Sledge and Donna Summers. I also liked the kitschy aspect of it, 'Midnight at the Oasis' or Sun-Radiation Level, or the Village People.

One of the appealing things about it was that it was so positive. It's kinda hard to explain, not that there was a lot of negativity about, esp. for a kid, but it made you feel good. And it was listened to by Black, White, and Latino, so it didn't divide as the 'Rawk' movement did (all white, pretty much).

Interestingly enough (but maybe not), even then I was looking for different types of music, so obviously it didn't totally satiate me. But nothing did.

As more bad Disco came along, I slowly found out about New Wave, and then Punk. Soul and Funk I found out about separately during Punk.

Only festivals I can possibly go to this year are Le Beat Bespoke or Purple Weekend. Too busy to be able to take time off April-November, when the majority of festies happen. Still, I'm gunna try my best to make Ponderosa Stomp.

Any recommendations on which of the two to go to? Don't really want to dish out the cash to fly to Europe two times, but I'm lucky enough to to have family to stay with/reason to visit in Spain/Switzerland. Figure if I try for Le Beat, I can buy a cheap ticket to London (I hear March + April are cheapest to fly to Europe). On the flip side, I'm already pretty fluent in Spanish, y me voy a encantar un otra ves para practicar/otra lugar para conocer.

And who knows? Maybe I can scrounge the dough for both.

Well , what American bands that don't play in America are you having over?

I'M AMAZED NO ONE HAS SAMPLED "I CAN FEEL YOUR HEARTBEAT" (THO MAYBE THEY HAVE. I TRY NOT TO FOLLOW STUFF THAT SUCKS. IT JUST FOLLOWS ME) , BUT , IT'S GOT THAT STONE COLD FUNK GUITAR (WAKKA TAKKA ! WAKKA TAKKA ! LOVE !LOVE ! CAN''T YOU FEEL MY HEARTBEAT? WAKKA TAKKA WAKKA TAKKA)......"CRAZY HORSES" HAS BEEN WIDELY COVERED , WITH GOOD REASON , IT'S THE SHIT !!!

TANK (NWOBHM band with Algy Ward , ex- Damned) , DEMENTED ARE GO , SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY BAND
 , AND EVEN SOME BAND ON WAX TRAX DID IT (BUT I DON'T FOLLOW STUFF THAT SUCKS. THE RECORD STORE WAS FANTASTIC , THE UNBELIEVABLY OVERRATED LABEL IS NOT.). I'm not a huge Partridge Family fan , but , I admit they had some good tunes. Even the REAL faux Partridge Family (Pre - David Cassidy and Shirley Jones involvement) are perfectly passable wanabee Cowsills Sunshine Pop.

DJ Johnson said:

Yep, Redd Kross did a cover of Crazy Horses when they were putting Third Eye together.  There's a release (probably unofficial) called Third Eye Demos that has the track.  I got an MP3 of the song off a website someone attached to Redd Kross was running way back when.  Love their covers.  Especially "Dancing Queen" and "Pretty Please Me".  

Bubblegum is my semi-guilty pleasure.  I was just the age they were aiming at when a lot of it first came out in 1969.  Still love The Archies and 1910 FGC (and even got to see them in concert opening for The Monkees, though who the hell knows who was actually in the "band" that night), Ohio Express, a lot of the one hit wonders and, most of all, The Cowsills.  Something about them always made me very happy.  And "Mr. Flynn" was a pretty great tune I still have to hear often.  I even like The Partridge Family, which makes a lot of people assume I wear a foil hat.  I know most of the stuff released by that faux band falls under the category of light pop or even easy listening, but there are some great gum tracks mixed in ("I Can Feel Your Heartbeat" being my fave).  I mix questionable stuff into my gum playlists, but to me it fits.  Stuff like Blondie, Bonnie Hayes & The Wild Combo, Go-Go's, etc.  



Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

I think "Crazy Horses" was also done by Redd Kross but I'm not sure.

Yep, Redd Kross did a cover of Crazy Horses when they were putting Third Eye together.  There's a release (probably unofficial) called Third Eye Demos that has the track.  I got an MP3 of the song off a website someone attached to Redd Kross was running way back when.  Love their covers.  Especially "Dancing Queen" and "Pretty Please Me".  

Bubblegum is my semi-guilty pleasure.  I was just the age they were aiming at when a lot of it first came out in 1969.  Still love The Archies and 1910 FGC (and even got to see them in concert opening for The Monkees, though who the hell knows who was actually in the "band" that night), Ohio Express, a lot of the one hit wonders and, most of all, The Cowsills.  Something about them always made me very happy.  And "Mr. Flynn" was a pretty great tune I still have to hear often.  I even like The Partridge Family, which makes a lot of people assume I wear a foil hat.  I know most of the stuff released by that faux band falls under the category of light pop or even easy listening, but there are some great gum tracks mixed in ("I Can Feel Your Heartbeat" being my fave).  I mix questionable stuff into my gum playlists, but to me it fits.  Stuff like Blondie, Bonnie Hayes & The Wild Combo, Go-Go's, etc.  



Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

I think "Crazy Horses" was also done by Redd Kross but I'm not sure.

Fuck, yeah! The Ramones could be called a bubblegum group, covering Indian Giver, and they had those beats.

Also, there's that Ohio band that did the Standells 'Try It'.

So many of the original punks remember that stuff from their childhood, it stuck with them.

There's a band now called Pink Filth who do all of that stuff, but put it through effects/pitch shifter boxes. LP is 17 Bubblegum Smashes, plus 1 45 where they sing the lyrics of 'Convoy' to the tune of  'Funky Cold Medina'. (useless trivia: they have a found-noise band called Crevice Worship. TMI?).

And the Queers and any band that came after them may have put too much bubblegum into their stuff.

I don't know if they are "stoner rock." I've been told they sound better when stoned though. Explosions in the Sky are amazing.

The Voodoo Idols' song about The Cramps was"Temptation".

Know who the first known artist was to reference The Cramps in a song ? Joe Jackson ("The Evil EYE ,1980.).
 
John Battles said:

Yeah , I first heard "Love Me" on the superior UK comp , "Off The Bone"....I have'nt heard too many bands that had the chutzpah to take it on , now.....The Bananamen /Stingrays , Moondogs ....Robert Gordon lifted one line from it , Cramps style , on "Too Fast To Live , Too Young To Die "  . But , Axel is right on two counts - That this is about covers of Cramps songs , And that it's hard for people  to separate the originals from the covers , or songs they lifted the hubcaps from to create their own songs. Good artists borrow , great artists steal.

On the other hand , The Cramps have been accused of lifting from songs that only sound similar , just not similar enough e.g. "New Kind Of Kick" resembles "He's Waitin' by The Sonics , just , not enough . Ditto for The Tune Rockers' "Green Mosquito" and "Human Fly". Ivy said they had'nt even heard the song , yet , when they wrote  their signature tune.

Anyway - Crookshanks : Naked Girl Falling Down The Stairs.

That's one , I can think of others , but The Jehovah's Witnesses woke me up at 10:30 ,this (Saturday) morning.

Here's a few songs about The Cramps -

Alan Vega - Kid Congo    ( I apologize for mispelling Kid's last name , earlier. It's  actually spelled "Tristan". ).

Voodoo Idols - Forgot the name of the song ....Will look it up.

Gun Club - For The Love of Ivy.

oh , God. He's back.     Forgot to mention the fine Chicago Rockabilly/ Garage  / Cramps - influenced band , The Dyes , do an all - Cramps set every Halloween ,with help from members of other local bands. Local Horror /Sci Fi Film Fest  mogul , Rusty Nails , did the same thing with some local musicians , several years ago.

Yeah , I first heard "Love Me" on the superior UK comp , "Off The Bone"....I have'nt heard too many bands that had the chutzpah to take it on , now.....The Bananamen /Stingrays , Moondogs ....Robert Gordon lifted one line from it , Cramps style , on "Too Fast To Live , Too Young To Die "  . But , Axel is right on two counts - That this is about covers of Cramps songs , And that it's hard for people  to separate the originals from the covers , or songs they lifted the hubcaps from to create their own songs. Good artists borrow , great artists steal.

On the other hand , The Cramps have been accused of lifting from songs that only sound similar , just not similar enough e.g. "New Kind Of Kick" resembles "He's Waitin' by The Sonics , just , not enough . Ditto for The Tune Rockers' "Green Mosquito" and "Human Fly". Ivy said they had'nt even heard the song , yet , when they wrote  their signature tune.

Anyway - Crookshanks : Naked Girl Falling Down The Stairs.

That's one , I can think of others , but The Jehovah's Witnesses woke me up at 10:30 ,this (Saturday) morning.

Here's a few songs about The Cramps -

Alan Vega - Kid Congo    ( I apologize for mispelling Kid's last name , earlier. It's  actually spelled "Tristan". ).

Voodoo Idols - Forgot the name of the song ....Will look it up.

Gun Club - For The Love of Ivy.

These guys introduced me to real R&B, which I am glad they did. I saw them at Blackheath Concert Halls and they were excellent, as they were at the Great British Beer Festival too.

Wilko Johnson is one of the giants of British rock and roll.  This is terrible news.  

Please ,  as a resident in Wilco's home town , let's not call Wilko Johnson "Wilco".

Jeff Tweedy was always a nice guy in the times I briefly met him , but Wilco's music was obsolete , getting out of the starting gate. WILKO's music will outlive us all....That said , and I don't mean to be critical . We have Wilco coming out of our ears like you have Morrissey coming out of yours.  MY MISTAKE , WE ALL HAVE MORRISSEY COMING OUT OF OUR EARS !!!!  DR. FEELGOOD TOURED THE STATES AT LEAST TWICE , BUT , THEY NEVER PICKED UP ANY STEAM AROUND HERE , EVEN WITH THE "PUNK" CROWD , THO' A FEW ROCK ZINES WROTE THEM UP.  Speaking of early Dr. Feelgood , that's them backing Heinz in the "1972 (Wembley ) Rock'n'Roll Show" film.

Lets face it. Wot Dr Feelgood would ya really pay good money to have the chance to see? Canvey Island 73 74 or London Soho sleazy backroom 2009? Wheres ma Bellbottoms? I'm off back to when Great Britains questionable political stance fuelled one of the greatest maverick music movements and genres the country's ever witnessed. Pre Thatcher madness. Luuuuverly! Wilco Johnson! Gentleman!

Well , as you know , they're really hard - pressed to let go of bands that are considered institutions in England (As The Feelgoods most assuredly are.). By rights , the book should have been closed on the Dr. Feelgood saga when Lee Brilleaux died. However , I heard some lineups that followed (And at least featured people who served under Lee , if not John , John , nor JOHN (That's a Dr. Feelgoodjoke.) ) were'nt bad. Gypie Mayo even spoke highly of the early post - Brilleaux lineup , which featured this young guy with a LOTTA 'tood that James Porter and I saw fronting a version of The Animals . We both looked at each other and said "WHY is'nt this guy Lee Brilleaux's successor?" - if he had to have one. IN ABOUT A YEAR or two, HE WAS.
 

Still , today , why bother? Unless the surviving memebers want to do a benefit for Wilko , as they should.
Trash Freak said:

I'm with you there Barty. Though I've not seen 'em... There was no way I was payin £18 to see a band with Zero original members!



sideshow Barty said:

and seeing as my 10 cents aint worth jack shit,here it is anyway.....dont bother with the current touring' dr feelgood'llp

YES!  I got mine back in September and I really love it and what i love most is that Mike put so much time into it that you the reader never has to play guessing games again.  It's that good.  the only thing I can think that bothers me is that Canadian groups aren't covered even though they end up on BAck From the Grave and Teenage Shutdowns sometimes.

Anybody read this yet?

Just ordered mine from Ugly Things.

I stumbled on this when researching fuzz and, to my ears, the FZ-1A nails the "Satisfaction" sound almost as much as the original FZ-1 Keef used...

Maestro Fuzz comparisons

I'd never heard of NORTH EFFECTS until this post but the pedal AND prices look great... though I don't get why the Primitive only has one sound clip (what with it being more expensive than the Rite which gets like 5+. Not to mention that 1 sound clip doesn't sound majorly like Satisfaction, Valleri, Keep On Running, etc territory.

I'll either get the Rite or take a chance on the Primitive.

"Coming soon!", according to In The Red.

Well , sad but true , America was'nt ready for a racialy mixed Rock group. After Arthur's friend , and two - time collaborator , Jimi Hendrix , broke the color bar(With a White rhythm section , no less.) , things started to open up , and you had bands like Sly and The Family Stone reaching a multiracial audience.....But , Arthur refused to tour. They played New York ONCE , I read. Of course , he toured with Hendrix in Europe , in 1970 , but , that was a totally different version of Love (Albeit underrated.).
 
dave said:

Just checked out some clips, fantastic. Can't wait to see it.

Like James Brown, he got a raw deal to set an example.

Love should be as famous as the Beatles.

Just checked out some clips, fantastic. Can't wait to see it.

Like James Brown, he got a raw deal to set an example.

Love should be as famous as the Beatles.

Re. The Thunderbirds (A direct reply was not possible. Contact International Rescue. ).

A classic....."Those are'nt puppets. They're marionettes!" ("That Thing You Do ".)

Playlist 1/12/13