Loudest show yet. Sure, the week before's show had all that early metal -
Sir Lord Baltimore,
Death, etc. - but the show was broken up with some mellow, rootsiness from the likes of
Tedeschi Trucks and
Little Feat. This, my third show, started wild and never let up until the final few songs.
My favorite song this week is
Queen's "Sheer Heart Attack." It's bloodier and heavier than almost any punk song from 1977. Drummer Roger Taylor had written it for the album
Sheer Heart Attack in 1977 but wasn't able to finish it then. By the time it came to record
News of the World the punk scene had exploded across the UK. It may not have been intended as a response to the punks, but it sure sounds like a rejoinder to all the younguns bitching about big arena acts like
Queen.
One of my favorite rock stories is about
Queen and the punks. I hope it's true. As the story goes, Sid Vicious was in the same recording studio as
Queen. He walked up to Freddie Mercury and said "Still bringing ballet to the masses?" Mercury promptly responded, "Ah, Mr. Ferocious, well, we're trying our best." If that's not true, it's definitely in the spirit of Mercury and company.
Among the last batch of songs are a few loosely linked by the lyric "I'm a" or "I'm an." I hadn't intended to do that but once I noticed it, figured, what the heck, and went for it - "I'm glad all over," "I'm the man," "I'm an upstart," and "I'm a rocker."
Music I Like, vol 1, #3 - Inflammable Material
01. (Ain't Nothin' But A) House Party - J.Geils Band -
Bloodshot - 1973
02. Too Bad - Faces -
A Nod Is As Good As A Wink... - 1971
03. Hot Love - Cheap Trick -
Cheap Trick - 1977
04. How D'You Ride - Slade -
Slayed? - 1972
05. I Saw Her Standing There - The Beatles -
Please Please Me - 1963
06. Sheer Heart Attack - Queen -
News of the World - 1977
07. Stiff Little Fingers - The Vibrators -
Pure Mania - 1977
08. The Day the World Turned Day-Glo - X-Ray Spex -
Germ Free
Adolescents - 1978
09. Suspect Device - Stiff Little Fingers -
Inflammable Material - 1979
10. Stranglehold - U.K. Subs -
Another Kind of Blues - 1979
11. Breakdown - Buzzcocks -
Time's Up - 1976
12. Bomber - Motorhead -
Bomber - 1979
13. Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers - ZZ Top -
Tres Hombres - 1973
14. Give Him a Great Big Kiss - The Shangri-Las -
single - 1964
15. Looking For a Kiss - New York Dolls -
New York Dolls - 1973
16. I Wanna Know Why - Aerosmith -
Draw the Line - 1977
17. Rip It Out - Ace Frehley -
Ace Frehley - 1978
18. Space Station No. 5 - Montrose -
Montrose - 1973
19. Razamanaz - Nazareth -
Razamanaz - 1973
20. Steeler - Judas Priest -
British Steel - 1980
21. Lightning to the Nations - Diamond Head -
White Album - 1981
22. Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden -
Iron Maiden - 1980
23. Hard Ride - Raven -
Rock Until You Drop - 1981
24. Wheels of Steel - Saxon -
Wheels of Steel - 1980
25. Green Manalishi - Fleetwood Mac -
single - 1970
26. Hurdy Gurdy Man - Donovan -
Hurdy Gurdy Man - 1968
27. All Strung Out Over You - The Chambers Bros. -
The Time Has Come -
1967
28. I'm Gonna Love You Too - Buddy Holly -
single - 1958
29. Glad All Over - Dave Clark 5 -
single - 1964
30. I'm the Man - Joe Jackson -
I'm the Man - 1979
31. I'm An Upstart - Angelic Upstarts -
Teenage Warning - 1979
32. Rocker - AC/DC -
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap - 1976
33. I'll Be Back - ? and the Mysterians -
demo - 1966
The British rock block on the 30th's show was my favorite set so far - but then I said that already. It was so much fun it led me directly back to Britpop, a genre I haven't listened to much lately. The past couple of years have seen my tastes tend toward the heavier. Turning back to Britpop was a blast. Aside from the heavy weights like Oasis and Blur, it meant digging out the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, the Charlatans, and many more. Throwing it together somewhat chronologically was cool too. The evolution from Madchester to the Camden Town sound isn't always obvious, but lined up back to back it sounds great. It also meant checking out some stuff I never got to the first time around back in the mid-nineties, like Black Grape and the Divine Comedy. If you don't know the songs I played, do yourself a favor, and when the show's finally posted on Mixler (soon, they tell me), check it out at your leisure and let the sounds of Cool Britannia wash over you.
The rockabilly set is a little cursory compared to the Britpop. Aside from all the songs being a lot shorter, I really only skimmed a little cream off the top from a handful of the top players - Carl Perkins, Wanda Jackson, etc. There's so much more to the genre, but then you can always check out Tom Ferrie's show on the station, Nowhere Fast. Still, it's a pretty boss set and a great introduction to one of the primary root sounds of rock 'n' roll. Also, there damn few folks in rock as cool as Carl Perkins - ever.
