PS Thanks for the Gasser downloads. I'll check out the rest of your blog. And welcome to the Hideout.

Contemporary with this was a record put out by Hawk Models to go along with the Weird-ohs and Silly Surfers plastic models, which I loved to put together as a kid in the '60s. The Weird-ohs --- Digger, Daddy, Endsville Eddie, Huey's Hut Rod, etc. --- were rip-offs of Big Daddy's characters to be sure, but they were pretty cool. The Silly Surfers were cool -- Hodad, Beach Bunny, etc. -- though they weren't as "Rothian." (They didn't have green and purple skin, fangs and bloodhot eyes, etc.) Anywho, there was an LP with songs about the Weird-ohs on one side and the Silly Surfers on the other. Pearl Jam actually covered one of the Silly Surfer songs, "Gremmie Out of Control." I found an MP3 of "Huey's Hut Rod" on the old Napster years ago. Love to get the thing on CD.

this is it! this is fresh, this is young, this is stupid... i love it!! maybe Voodoo Rhythm should put this out...

We haven't heard this ....

'77 'til '79 before they got into the N.F. shite...the UK'S version of The Saints/The Kids/Rose Tattoo!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nab any second hand records from this time or bootlegs so there's no cash goin' to 'em!!! Anyone else 'fessin' up to luvin' 'em?

Can't go wrong with Julien Temple on the steering wheel ;)

THIS MAKES ME IMMENSELY HAPPY!! FANX FOR THE INFO!!

Definitely cool, one of those great 70's bands that tends to get forgotten in the aftermath of the punk melee.

Very cool, cheers for the heads up.

Check it out: OIL CITY CONFIDENTIAL

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1379092/

Julien Temple is in production on "Oil City Confidential", a documentary on the amazing kings of 70's pub rock, Dr. Feelgood. Unfortunately Lee Brilleaux is no longer with us, but there should be enough footage of the band to enjoy. I'm looking forward to this one.

HEYA! Now, not that any episode stands back from the others, but this one in the second half of the century (i.e. behind the 50th episode mark) is the goshdarn shit! WHY: For your tellin' here I'm yellin: Two Stones covers, Vicars=Budget Rock, More Stones with Bomb Turks=Jivin' Sister Fanny, a Australia set with the Cosmic Psychos, Fleshtones, Cheap Time, Midnight Shakes, Lazy Cowgirls, The Novas, Honeymoon Killers, Mighty Ceasars.... Well whatever, the whole thing is a bigass drop of CANDY! Shit, I sound like a commercial, but it's TRUE!!!!

I saw them in Australia when they came through on the back of the first comeback album. They were pretty good but over-played the new stuff.

I heard a leak of the newie and I'm underwhelmed. Doing a reggae version of Trash sucks the big one, you know, and the rest of it sounded like bad Aerosmith.

no one could every replace Johnny Thunders, but i'll still probably go see them when they're here. they're playing at the venue i use to work at so i really have no excuse not to go.

I'm curious to hear thoughts on the reincarnated New York Dolls. They just released their second album since they reunited. I've given it quite a few solid listens, and, a bit to my chagrin I find myself enjoying it quite a bit. I liked their previous release too (perhaps a bit more). While a part of me is troubled by the use of the name New York Dolls by only two surviving members, I'm willing to forgive with the quality of this material. It'd be another story if they released something as embarrassingly putrid as the Who's Endless Wire - but happily, that's not the case. While I certainly miss Johnny Thunders' guitar work and (even more) his sneering/whining vocals, the music holds up to their classic work. It's not quite as good, and lacks some of the power and sleaze. Instead, it is a bit more refined and mature. All in all, it's quite good. I did catch their live show last time around too, and it was surprisingly good. There was certainly a high level of energy. Anyway, I'm just curious to hear other opinions.

This has got me thinking, which makes a change, so here is my 2p worth, rightly or wrongly, but just my opinion.

I remeber at the time that a lot of stuff that could not be classified nicely was labelled initially as punk, when in fact they were mainly pub bands jumping on the bandwagon at the time or idiots trying to cash in on a then new movement. Who can forget the anarchic Jilted John?

I kinda belive in the two waves of punk, firstly the likes of The Pistols, The Clash , The Damned et al were a new sound, as opposed to the mediocrity on the radio. Their roots totally in line with pure Rock & Roll. Listen to The Pistols "Spunk" album. They sound like a bloody good pub band but were in the right place right time, with the right attitude. The Clash were always being accused of wanting to be the Stones but they were far more deeper than that. As for the Damned, a bunch of nutters who did the right thing and got up and played, not caring who liked them. They brought fun back into music. The rebel attitude was pouring from these bands ala Brandos' character Johhny in The Wild Ones. It was this lot that changed and mapped out my life so I will always be grateful to them.

It took a while for the movement to settle down and then the split.

One portion, did sort of distance themsleves from the media circus that was punk, such as Joy Division, Killing Joke, Bauhaus, The Banshees and The Ants. The second wave of punk bands however, were as created in the main by the media, leathers, mohicans, glue, crazy colour hair and loud fast music. Nothing wrong with that, saw The Exploited, Actifed and Vice Squad loads of times, but I guess it was not really saying much.

To answer the question (finally) whilst The Clash were sincere and wanted to change the world, they did drift away from the punk ethos of the media but retained their intergrtiy by trying new stuff all the time. I woudl still rate The Clash as one of my all time top ten Albums. Top Ten punk album? Not so sure now I think of it.

Hope taht makes sens and was not too long winded.

Aaah, to be fair, hands up, I think you've got me there to a certain extent...

I'll admit that I'm probably guilty of the all too common failing of looking through my rose-tinted-clash-fan glasses and ignoring some of Joe's less admirable and contradictory characteristics; his socialist rhetoric vs. his actual money grubbing ways and so forth (but too be wholly fair who's never been caught in that trap? Dylan soon flung away his principals when Microsoft came a-calling).

It's no secret that the early days of London punk had no real agenda. Haircuts, tight trousers and posing took precedence over any coherent political ethos beyond angry sloganeering and god ol' fashioned unfocused teenage rebellion (and I've absolutely no problem with that...) and obviously everything about The Pistols fits perfectly in that mould. The fact that The Clash were one of the first to attach a slightly more articulate political message makes them a slightly more interesting listen for me personally, but I'll agree that this alone isn't enough to elevate them above any of their punk contemporaries. On pure musical chops though I still think that first Clash album has the edge over most. Don't get me wrong, I do rather like The Sex Pistols but I've always found them just a touch lacklustre in comparison to some other bands of that ilk, and their status as THE defining British punk band has always annoyed me somewhat (this is just my opinion based on the tunes, and I know I'm in the minority here...). The Pistols' stature seems founded more on their image and media outrage at the time (which was largely based on the 76 Today Show appearance which is just cringeworthy - with regards to both the band and Bill Grundy's behaviour) rather than their actual musical efforts.

I think possibly your giving Lydon a little too much credit there, for me his early antics have always smacked a little of teenage petulance rather than any considered subversive performance - and yes, that is very in keeping with those early punk ideals, but I just find it a little hollow.

It maybe sounds like I'm being a bit harsh on ol' Lydon and The Pistols, obviously Nevermind The Bollocks... deserves a place in the punk pantheon, just maybe not the top-spot, and hell, for his faults Lydon isn't nearly as vacuous as some we could mention (...cough - Sid Vicious - cough...)

Aaaanyway, seem to have got a little off topic here...

Interesting take Johnny Singles. We're on the same page regarding the first Clash album being supreme. I do disagree with your views on Strummer compared to Lydon though. I really do love the early Clash stuff, and Strummer is tremendous (I enjoy the 101ers quite a bit too). I think you're attaching way too much importance on the Clash (and Strummer) being "political" - as if that somehow elevates their importance as a punk band. It doesn't. All that matters is delivering the goods - which the Clash certainly do. Where I really find fault in your opinion is that Strummer is quite disingenuous. The immediate event that comes to mind is his spouting B.S. communist propaganda at the Us festival - while collecting (and later blowing) a healthy amount of cash from Steve Jobs. Lydon on the other had is completely captivating (and the Sex Pistols also deliver the goods musically - don't discredit them because of that clown McLaren). I have no idea where he stands on "issues", and that is part of what makes him so utterly fascinating. He's like the Andy Kauffman of rock-n-roll. He never gives you a wink, and lets you in on the joke.

I'd agree that the eponymous first LP is the only truly 'punk' of The Clash's albums but that's precisely why it's my favourite. For me White Riot is pretty much one of the quintessential 70s British punk tracks (far more so than Anarchy in The UK or any of The Sex Pistols' other offerings).

I'm always quite surprised when people knock the first Clash album, it's not exactly flawless but I do think it's by far one of the best albums of that ilk. I know the slightly remixed, slightly different US version is a little less frantic and a touch poorer than the UK version for some reason, but that really doesn't explain the degree to which it get criticised... Oh, I don't know...

I'd would agree that Joe wasn't exactly the most charismatic or overtly passionate of interviewees but I disagree that this somehow makes him disingenuous or not authentic as a punk figure, especially in comparison to Lydon. Yes, Lydon is/was more extraverted and full of 'angry young man' punk rhetoric in interviews, but then I've always found The Pistols as a whole to be a bit of a one trick pony and a more that a little all-mouth-and-no-trousers (after all this is a band constructed by McLaren with their image as the primary concern). For all his punk posturing and insipid social commentary Lydon's actual politics have always been somewhat lacking (this is of course a 53 year old man still flogging his punk credentials whist shilling butter for a living...)

Personally I think in both musical and political terms 'The Clash' is an archetypal British punk album, and surely punk album = punk band regardless of whatever style of band they might later transform into?

Haw! Good reading these again. King Kahn is so super fun live, I saw him once many years ago, in my old hometown. A totally crammed, small club that still hosts good times trashy bands on Sunday nites. The stage is small and there are some stairs leading up behind it. The horns section of the Shrines was sitting there - the rest of the band filling the stage floor while Khan would move thru the club, telling everyone he'd tattoo them afterwards if they'd only like!

I also seem to need to check out that Howard Tate ablum.

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican May 15, 2009 Unlikely as it might seem, one of the greatest living soul men happens to be a Canadian of East Indian descent living in Europe. I'm talking about his majesty King Khan (born Erick Khan), who, with his band The Shrines, will amaze and delight all his subjects with the group's latest album, What Is?! Khan is known — though not nearly as known as he should be — in two musical contexts. With his Montreal pal Mark Sultan, he's part of a stripped-down blues/punk/doo-wop duo called The King Khan & BBQ Show. But it's with The Shrines that he really shines. They're an extremely tight, though thoroughly insane, nine- or 10- or 11-piece band complete with horn section and a go-go dancer (billed as "Bamboorella, Go-Go Queen of the Underworld"). I was fortunate enough to see this band last summer at the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago. With The Shrines cooking ("like Stax/Volt all-stars on crystal meth," is what I wrote at the time) and Bamboorella gyrating like a crazy cheerleader, Khan bounced and lurched around the stage like a cross between Screamin' Jay Hawkins and some Hindu god. A little explanation about this album. What What Is?! is is a reissue of The Shrines' most recent studio album, which was released by the German label Hazelwood in 2007. But, for reasons known only to the gods of commerce, it wasn't released in the U.S. at that time. It's now on Vice Records, which last year released the band's "greatest hits" compilation The Supreme Genius of King Khan. Five of this album's 14 songs also appeared on Supreme Genius. Songs like "Land of the Freak," "I See Lights" (I love the bongos here), "I Wanna Be a Girl," and "Le Fils de Jacques Dutronc" (French lyrics on this one) show Khan and The Shrines at their hopped-up, rock 'n' soul finest. A classic tune is "In Your Grave," which starts out with a basic garage-rock guitar hook, and then takes a sharp turn to the funky with a snaky blaxploitation wah-wah guitar. The band plays like a dynamite truck with no brakes going 100 mph down a mountain road. But Khan can also get mellow and meaningful. "Welfare Bread" is sweet, Southern-style soul with lyrics like "You don't have to pay your bills anymore, now/You just have to eat my welfare bread." But the biggest surprise on What Is?! has to be the five-and-a-half minute "Cosmic Serenade." What can I say? It's cosmic. I'd read before that Khan considers one of his biggest influences to be the music of Sun Ra, but I never really heard much evidence of that until I heard this song. Meandering horns and primitive, jangly percussion (tambourine? rainstick?). Khan doesn't start singing until nearly two minutes into the track and then not for long. After hearing this, I think Khan and the band ought to try Pharaoh Sanders' "The Creator Has a Master Plan." You also can hear Sun Ra echoes, though not quite as obviously, in the opening minute or so of "Fear and Love." It's a fast-paced tune, but Khan doesn't play the soul shouter here. Instead he sounds like some laconic, psychedelic ranger. There's an irresistible multihorn freakout where most people would have put a solo. The album ends with "The Ballad of Lady Godiva" — no, not the stupid old Peter & Gordon hit. This is an uncharacteristic folk-rockish, lo-fi tune with droning keyboards (by Freddy Rococo) and what sounds like a dulcimer. Khan sounds almost like Bob Dylan as he urges everyone to take off all their clothes. It's great that Vice is rereleasing this album. I hope someday the company rereleases Khan's other albums, Three Hairs and You're Mine (originally on Switzerland's Voodoo Rhythm Records) and Mr. Supernatural, as well. And perhaps Khan will get his supernatural self to a recording studio soon and make a new album. I believe America is ready. Also recommended: Blue Day by Howard Tate. This album is the latest effort by Tate, an underappreciated soul man of the 1960s who re-emerged earlier this decade after decades in the wilderness of drugs, tragedy, and undeserved obscurity. Blue Day doesn't quite have the excitement level of his 2003 comeback album, Rediscovered. It's fun and very listenable, but too many tunes are run-of-the-mill. A couple of the songs here are remarkable, however. The opening tune, "Miss Beehive," is a cautionary tale apparently inspired by troubled soul singer Amy Winehouse, the "Miss Beehive" who "likes to misbehave." Sings Tate, "Everybody knows she puts something up her nose/And she don't want to go to rehab." But, with Tate's experience in life's gutter, there's compassion in the lyrics. "The girl is so defensive/Why does she act so tough/All of us should reach out to her/And send her a little love." And there's "Stalking My Woman," a minor-key, first-person account of an obsessed lover who doesn't care about a judge's warnings to leave the poor girl alone. If all the songs were as powerful as these two, Blue Day would have been a soul classic.

The Sidney J Wakefield clue turned out to be a helpful one -- thanks, PJ! SJW died in 1983, and "informed sources" tell me there's no chance in hell that his documentation has survived... but I lucked out and stumbled across the guy who compiled SJW information for Barry Wickham's book, and he had some half-answers for me. Shout-out to JOHN DIXON, hubba + hubba. Recorded in late 1965, he says, just as I figured, and apparently it's a Viv Records custom pressing. According to J.D., the other bit of matrix info suggests a custom label abbreviated as DD and artists with the initials H.A. and T.B. -- both sides apparently NOT by the same artist. Hell of a way to do things... but that strengthens my suspicion that this never had a legit. release. That's all I've got so far... Next stop: reissue labels that have done a thing with Viv compilations. Wish me luck... Hugo M. pmadreenter@yahoo.com http://pocamadreenterprises.bravehost.com

sounds cool,

I like how it's pretty down to earth but you don't hold back on the details

interesting stuff

this summer I'm hoping to be jamming lots so I'll see what happens I guess

I usually crack out a basic bass riff, then maybe dirty it up or not with a Big Muff Pi.
Paul the guitarist will play with chords round the bassline.
We hah and hum for a while, have a beer, then practice the whole song, usually it's repetitive process until one of us says "what about?" and we try those ideas within the tune.
Regarding the lyrics, we have a stock of songs that we try to fit into the new tune, or we will start saying any old thing until it fits. UIsally we have jst one line and will slowly change the words as the tune develops.

Hey,
thanks so much for bringing all this up! The bands sounds swell.
"Cambia Rocks" was/is great and it's awesome that the docu is made. Very cool.

Get's me totally freaked out those &%$§!?* idiots destroyed so much of it! GRAH!!

Of late, I have been putting my bass through a Russian Big Muff Pi.
Gives a dirty sound, but does not get too carried away.