“1985 – C/Z is born (a year prior to the launching of the Sub Pop label) with the release of the DEEP SIX compilation featuring the first available recordings from Soundgarden, Melvins, and Green River (who later spawned Mother Love Bone & Pearl Jam). The record marked the earliest beginnings of grunge. In time these bands are signed and successful.”
The six bands are: Green River, Malfunkshun, The Melvins, Skin Yard, Soundgarden and U-Men. The most noteworthy descendant band not mentioned above is Mudhoney. Singer Mark Arm was first in Green River. Many would consider this the first significant record from the burgeoning 1980s Seattle scene. Some would call it “grunge”, but I’ve read that many of the bands didn’t like being lumped into a single category.
Wikipedia has a good article about Deep Six where you see the song list and the band rosters. Scan the list and you’ll see a lot familiar names sometimes under less familiar bands. These guys moved around a lot.
I was very excited about this music because it was essentially guitar-based rock that wasn’t, for the most part, stupid mainstream stuff from guys with teased up hair and makeup. I suppose it was punk in its own way, but with better riffs.
There were only 2000 copies of Deep Six made. It’s supposedly collectible, and tonight I saw a copy on eBay for $75.
And so begins my favorite ZZ Top song, “Waitin’ for the Bus.” Growing up I loved hearing it on the radio. All the AOR stations would also play “Jesus Just Left Chicago” right after it. That’s also how the songs are ordered on this best of. It’s hard to believe ZZ Top had a “best of” out in 1977. Also, after non-stop listening to this compilation over the last couple days I’m amazed how funky these cats are, or at least were. There are many other great ones here: “Tush”, “La Grange”, “Heard it on the X” etc. They’re still rocking live shows with these tunes, but their later period work doesn’t really compare.
To my everlasting regret I never have been able to find their records. And I do want records. Whenever I’m in a proper record store I always head right to the Zs, but no soap. At least I scored this one from my friend Bob when he moved West.
I found a great, recent video of ZZ Top playing “Waitin'” and “Jesus” live. Check it out below. Billy Gibbons has such a huge, nasty tone. I read a long time ago that he uses something like an old silver dollar for a pick. Once I started watching these videos I couldn’t stop. After about six I said to myself “you’re spending too much time on music.” I know, that’s crazy talk.
I went to a hardcore punk throwdown last night with Double Negative, and got to meet my new buddy Kevin, singer of the band. More about that and their new album next Monday.
Today’s record is English Settlement by XTC. Regular readers of this site will know that I’m no card carrying member of the XTC fan club, but this one is better than most. Which is a good thing because it’s a double album. If you’re going to release a double album please put in the extra effort. Otherwise… the obvious. My favorite song is the first one, “Runaways.” This is Mary’s record and I defer to her on the rating.
Sorry about the slightly out of focus album jacket, but I did throw in a pic of one liner sleeve at no extra charge.
New music for the new week… Double Negative from Raleigh, NC is triple hardcore and they’re playing at Gourmet Perks here in Asheville tomorrow night! That’s Tuesday, September 25, uh… 2007. This music ain’t for everybody, but if you like hardcore you’ll love this. I love it, though somehow it makes me feel old and young again at the same time. Check out the Double Negative page at MySpace for some tunes and more info.
Acquired: 2005 – Bob Bobala Jazz Heritage Endowment
Keeper: Yes
Bob Bob’s left-behind record collection is the gift that keeps on giving. Tonight’s album is a double from Randy Weston. Bantu comes in a nice gatefold cover complete with a lengthy article about these reissues and more significantly, the original program notes and lyrics by the late great poet Langston Hughes. Hughes collaborated on the first LP in this reissue. The second record was originally released in 1957 and consists of more straightforward, but excellent, jazz. The first LP contains “Uhuru, Afrika” which the album notes describe as his masterpiece.
“This four movement suite was one of the first acknowledgements of African roots among Afro-Americans and one of the first major jazz works to absorb that influence and use it honestly and creatively.”
In Step is the last album to come out from these boys before Stevie died in a helicopter crash. It’s also his first album after he had sobered up. The album definitely has a more upbeat vibe than the earlier records. But positivity and the blues don’t really go together. In Step seems to be missing the grit of the first three records, but if that’s the price of being sober please stop killing yourself. All that said, I do like the whole record. Surprisingly, my favorite song is the nine minute jazz instrumental “Riviera Paradise” that closes the album. It’s blissfully smooth and low-key, not what you expect from Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble.
The Joshua Tree by U2 came out in 1987. That’s the same year I met my wife. Our 17th wedding anniversary was yesterday. Instead of doing something special with my lady I spent the entire day finishing a web project I had committed to do. Fortunately, to know me is to love me and she continues to put up with that kind of silliness. Of course, I love her completely. We’re just getting started.
In addition to my sentimentality about the year 1987, I have other reasons to really like The Joshua Tree. I didn’t enjoy the recent playing of The Unforgettable Fire that much. So, I was not expecting to love this one. And I was wrong. This album is incredible. I even like the hits despite hearing them thousands of times. I have to wonder if there was an inside joke around the first two songs being “Where the Streets Have No Name” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” My favorites are “Bullet the Blue Sky” and “Red Hill Mining Town.”
Another memory I have attached to this album is from the live tour. I didn’t go see the band this time, but I did sell tickets. I was working at a small chain called Mother’s Records in Hampton. We sold tickets there. U2 came to the Hampton Coliseum in December for two highly anticipated shows. People were coming at me from everywhere in an attempt to score tickets. I remember a guy from the shoe store down the way trying to bribe me with something like $50. The concert promoter made sure that kind of thing would not happen. They sent agents to stand watch over every ticket machine until the shows sold out. Even our employees at the store who wanted tickets ended up sleeping in the long line overnight. I had just recently been made Assistant Manager at this store and for some reason the higher-ups thought it was a good idea to let me be the manager to open the store the morning the tickets went on sale.
I got to work early and saw the fattest, longest line of would-be ticket holders line I have ever seen. As I walked closer to the store some people in line began to recognize me and started yelling and clapping. I felt like I was the rock star, but that didn’t last long. Once tickets went on sale and other stores opened it seemed every other store in the mall was complaining to mall security and the police about the chaos. I was only 21 years old and really had no clue what everyone expected me to do to solve the problem. In the meantime, every time the promoter’s watchdog turned his head or talked to someone the teenage staff at the ticket counter were printing extras and squirreling them away as fast as they could. I think it took about two hours to sell out, but it seemed like an eternity. The next year the mall wouldn’t renew the store’s lease, primarily because of that one day with the rowdy U2 fans.
A few weeks later Mary and I went on our first official date. It was not a rock concert.
There’s no way I will be fair to this band and record; I apologize for that. For those about to not rock… I salute you. And speaking of not rocking, Lee Gomes at The Wall Street Journal wrote a great article about how the iPod and MP3s are killing the sound of music. The hills are alive with crappy-sounding over-compressed music tweaked to sound better for the “lowest common denominator”, iPods.
With that rant out of the way, let us now whine about 10,000 Maniacs. I don’t know what it is about them. It may be Natalie Merchant’s voice, and probably the overall tone of their music. I’ve always found them annoying, and Blind Man’s Zoo is no exception. Mary got a couple of their records way back and now even she doesn’t want to hear them anymore. Not hatin’, I just can’t take it.
Acquired: 1990 – Promo at a store I owned with my brother.
Keeper: No
I love metal and comedy, just not combined. At least that’s true when the comedy is not so subtle, which is the case here. Scatterbrain are a group of tremendous musicians, and I’m sure their live shows were pretty fun. Here Comes Trouble is full of intricately arranged songs that no lazy bunch of slackers could ever produce, but the over-the-top jokes end up making it all seem trivial. Take a look at the liner pic below of the guys in Groucho Marx glasses. That pretty much sums up this album.
Possibly the most noteworthy thing here is the Robert Williams painting as cover art.
Today’s selection is The Good, The Bad and The Queen by the band that allegedly has no name. But everyone seems to call them GBQ so I’m filing it under “G.” The music is very different than Damon Albarn’s other project, Gorillaz. It’s mostly chilled out. The songs sound like they are from another time, but not dated. There are at least a couple moments that make me think of the Beach Boys. To be honest, I didn’t pay much attention to this album for a while after Mary bought it. Then, I saw them perform on Henry Rollins’ show on IFC and it was so strange that I had to check it out. I’m glad I did.
Want to know what it's like to have brain surgery? Well here's the long version of my experience. Complete with pictures and videos! Read all about the Brain Surgery Experience.
