Echo and The Bunnymen — Crocodiles

• Artist: Echo And The Bunnymen
• Title: Crocodiles
• Year: 1980
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Tracy / Mary
• Acquired: 1980 – No idea where I got my copy but my friend Jeff Arthur turned me on to the band.
• Keeper: Yes

1980 was a very good year for music. Echo and The Bunnymen is one of my all-time favorite bands and this was their debut. This album is full of “hits” and pretty much every other modern rock bar band in the ’80s did a cover of some song on “Crocodiles.” Usually “Do It Clean” or “Rescue.” Like “Louie Louie” or “Gloria” those songs are so good, and so simple that it’s hard to do bad versions of them.

It’s almost impossible to explain their sound, yet it sounds familiar. They’re arty and edgy, but they can rock. The lyrics are interesting and intelligent sounding, but not pretentious. I think often times singer/songwriter Ian McCulloch chooses words for how they sound instead of what they mean.

I think they’re geniuses and by most accounts so do they. More Echo and The Bunnymen records and stories to come as I continue to lap through the alphabet.

D.C. 3 — The Good Hex

• Artist: D.C. 3
• Title: The Good Hex
• Year: 1986
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1986 – Bought it for myself when I worked at Mother’s Records in Hampton, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

Dez Cadena is the D.C. in D.C. 3. He has been in a number of bands, but I’m guessing most people who have any idea who he is remember him as the pre-Rollins singer of Black Flag. He also played guitar on “Damaged”, which was Rollins’ debut and Black Flag’s first record to get a lot of attention.

I’m not sure how I got into D.C. 3, but I really liked this record when it came out in 1986. It’s pretty heavy rock and though there is a lot of guitar noodling it doesn’t sound too much like jam music. Some might even describe it as “classic rock”, but there is definitely something more happening here. I was surprised to read that Cadena was only 25 when they made this record.

There’s a note from Dez on the back cover that ends:

To those who ask what the difference is between the music I play now and what I used to play, I would say that there is no difference. — D.C.

My favorite song is a high speed, almost metal track that kicks off side two called “No One But Yourself To Blame.” Even the lyrics are cool.

You can never… never… blame anyone but yourself.
You can… but you’re playin’… a loooooosing game.
You’ve got no one but yourself to blame.

Or something close to that. Hard rockin’ words to live by if you ask me.

P.S. Keith, say what you will about downloaded digital music, but you can’t flip it over, there is no side two, and you can’t even take a picture of it. So what’s the point? Rock and roll is not about convenience.

The Jim Carroll Band — Catholic Boy

• Artist: The Jim Carroll Band
• Title: Catholic Boy
• Year: 1980
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1982 ? – Unknown origin.
• Keeper: Yes

Something about Jim Carroll just depresses me. He paints a pretty miserable picture of the 1970s. I remember hearing “People Who Died” on the radio as a teenager and really liking it. It seemed almost punk, but smarter or something. I also really like the track “It’s Too Late”, another of the more rocking cuts. I didn’t get the record right away, but eventually picked it up. I’ve also read his book “Basketball Diaries” and I don’t remember that being too uplifting either. Am I fan? Not so much I guess, but I’ll keep “Catholic Boy” in the collection.

B-Movie — Nowhere Girl

• Artist: B-Movie
• Title: Nowhere Girl
• Year: 1982
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 5
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1982 – Olsson’s in Georgetown, DC.
• Keeper: Yes

This is an early-80s 12 inch single. And it is so “80s” sounding that even people born after it was released, and there really are people like that, would know when it was made. Lotsa synths and somewhat mopey vocals. Mary gives it a 5.

Brass Belt Buckle Baby!

My dad made this belt buckle for me sometime in the mid-1970s. A big “S” for Sigler, but it’s clearly similar to the Superman joint. I’ve kept a close watch on it ever since. Recently, I found a new belt for it and have been wearing it everywhere. People keep asking me “How can I get one?” You can’t, man, you can’t. And if this one ever goes missing I’ll know it’s mine when I see it because he put my name on the back. Little brother had one too.

ABC — Beauty Stab

• Artist: ABC
• Title: Beauty Stab
• Year: 1983
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Tracy / Mary
• Acquired: 1983 – Unknown origin.
• Keeper: Yes

“Beauty Stab” is the second album by ABC, and it’s very different than their debut. This is a darker, more rocked out, more arty, and less funky record. It’s also much more guitar-heavy, but with horns and strings still in there. They certainly didn’t repeat themselves. The most under-rated pop band ever.

Zodiac Mindwarp and The Love Reaction — Wild Child

Zodiac Mindwarp and The Love Reaction -- Wild Child

• Artist: Zodiac Mindwarp and The Love Reaction
• Title: Wild Child
• Year: 1987 ? No year listed anywhere.
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 5
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1987 – Bought it when I worked at Mother’s Records in Hampton, VA.
• Keeper: Maybe

House hunting across the USA is not always fun. I got home at 2 AM after 8 hours of driving with my brother and his wife. We were checking out Asheville, NC, and it was definitely cool. After talking over some options with Mary I called my realtor to get an offer going on a house we really liked. He called me back with the bad news that someone had made an offer a couple hours before and the buyers had accepted it. What the hell?

Anyhow… this is a 12 inch single. I’m not really a completist, but I do have tons of Zodiac records. The only reason I may keep this mediocre disk is just because it’s part of the collection. Maybe I’m being hard on this record because of my mood, but I listened to it before I left so I don’t think so. It’s dance hall mixes of sleaze rock and there are some fun moments but overall it’s just dull. And Mark Manning/Zodiac Mindwarp’s picture on the cover is a bit much don’t you think? Still a fan, but damn.

The Yardbirds — Roger The Engineer

The Yardbirds -- Roger The Engineer

• Artist: The Yardbirds
• Title: Roger The Engineer
• Year: 1966/1982 This one is a reissue.
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1983 ? – Unicorn Records in Portsmouth, VA, I think.
• Keeper: Yes

Tonight I’m writing from Asheville, NC. Another house hunting mission, this time with my brother Grayson and his wife Kellie. We just left a pizza place called The Mellow Mushroom. Excellent pizza, but unfortunately we got in late and the poor staff had to eventually turn on the bright lights to drive us out.

The Yardbirds: Any band that has had Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page as members (in succession) demands that you own at least one of their records. Jeff Beck plays on “Roger The Engineer.” I think this album had a few songs that were hits at the time. I’m guessing the one song people may recognize now is “Over, Under, Sideways, Down.” Last year I even heard it in an automaker’s ad for some new car, can’t remember which. Subaru maybe?

This record is psychedelic, bluesy, and rocked-out. Everything you really need to get through life.

X — Under The Big Black Sun

X -- Under The Big Black Sun

• Artist: X
• Title: Under The Big Black Sun
• Year: 1982
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Mary / Tracy – We both had copies.
• Acquired: 1982 ? – Unknown origin.
• Keeper: Yes

The only thing better than X is more X. For some reason their second record “Wild Gift” is mysteriously missing from our collection, but we do have the CD. So, here’s their third release, “Under The Big Black Sun.”

I remember they had a pretty funny video for the lead track “Hungry Wolf” with fake bats zooming aound, conspicuously hung on strings. I suppose that one would be considered the “hit” for this record, but I like everything here. My favorites are the tear-jerker “Come Back To Me” (about Exene’s sister that died) and the album closer “The Have Nots.” “Dawn comes soon enough for the working class…”

Ideal — Der Ernst Des Lebens

• Artist: Ideal
• Title: Der Ernst Des Lebens
• Year: 1981
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Mary
• Acquired: 1981 – Mary bought it in Germany when she was an exchange student.
• Keeper: Yes

I’m writing this one from Virginia Beach, we’re house hunting, but I did actually play the next week’s worth of records, just all yesterday before we hit the road. Also, this really isn’t an “I” day, but I misplaced this one earlier in this pass through the alphabet. Back on track with my favorite letter, “X”, tomorrow.

You may think this band’s name is pronounced I-DEEL, but it’s really i-dee-ALL. They are German, very German. All of the lyrics are in German, and I’m not sure if that makes me like it more or less than I would if knew what they were saying.

Stylistically Ideal are all over the place. One song may sound like Missing Persons, another will have steel drums(?) with more of a pop/ska feel. Some of this apparent eclecticism may come from the alternating of vocalists. Sometimes the one woman in the group is the lead singer and other times it’s a man. One of the more manly songs is “Sex in der Wüste”, or “Sex in the Desert.” Remember what I said about not understanding the lyrics? I’m guessing on this one it’s better that way. This song is so arty, so early ’80s that it you can imagine it being the inspiration for any number of skits on Saturday Night Live. And now… we dance.

(You probably won’t get good search results unless you add some other words like the song title above.)