Thursday, March 23, 2006

Primitive Sound System and Peter Gunn spinning nothing but Punk - Thur. March 23rd at DC's

"Just what does 'Eat my fuck' mean?!"

Hello Y'all,
That's right kids it's time to break out your Pogo. Mr Peter Gunn and myself (Primitive Sound System) will be poking holes in your eardrums with over 30 years of Punk Rock grooves. The combo of Primitive Gunn have over 1000 years of collecting between them so you are in for a treat. Here's the twist, Mr. Gunn will be representing Boston and the UK while I'll slam the other 49 states and a few other choice places. I don't get to do this that often and I think I can say the same for Gunn so if these are classics from your childhood or you are just discovering how lame Blink 182 is this should be one hell of a night.

If you are driving don't drink and If you are drinking don't drive. Please mind your manners, always tip your bartenders and remember Jersey still smokes... I think.

Peter Gunn and Primitive Sound System
9PM - 2AM (Closing)
DC's Tavern
505 8th Street, Hoboken, New Jersey
PH: 201-792-5550 - Operators are standing by!
http://www.myspace.com/dcstavern

(Some of) The Music:
Pere Ubu - "Final Solution" (Hearthan cat. HR102)
Out of Ohio comes one of the biggest influences on me musically. Pere Ubu play music as twisted as their namesake. Alfredd Jarry stood just over 4' tall and put away 3 bottles of Absinthes a day with hardly anything to eat. He concocted the tale of the corrupt and disgusting King Ubu when he was just a boy and it followed him throughout his life. Jarry's bent reality and pseudosciences influenced many prog rock bands but it is Pere Ubu that wrap themselves inside and out with his essence and churn it into Punk brutality spit in your face by a Poet Behemoth. "Final Solution" is a desperate coming of age story detailed by an outcast. Intro'd with a thudding bass and pounding drums the guitar builds and squeals creating the tension. Dave Thomas slowly pleads his case and begs us to understand that his is just different. As much as life seems to scare the hell out of him (and us) it is apparent he his looking for answers to make sense of anything even one thing that may lead to ultimate bliss and not necessarily an untimely demise. SO-LU-TION! I can play this song over and over and ever time I get chills.

Boys From Nowhere - "Beg" (Young Lion cat. no #)
Listening to Bill Kelly on FMU and going to the Dive in NYC in the 80's opened my ears to so many of the new Garage / Psych bands and the Boys from Nowhere remain a favorite to this day. I got to see them play in the mid-80's at a 99th Floor Magazine release party at The Dive in NYC. "Beg" comes close to their raw live sound but live this stuff cut like a knife and made me crazy. Primal and genuine.

Rapeman - "Marmoset" (no label cat. no #)
Steve Albini and Rapeman took Big Black to the next level with precision and angst in equal measure. A Marmoset is one of the oddest looking monkeys on earth. Knowing Albini's reputation this song is about someone and not the odd lil' monkey as he refers to the subject as a red eyed dirty little rat. Rapeman consisted of the greatest rhythm section EVER with David William Sims (Scratch Acid) on bass, and Rey Washam (Scratch Acid, Big Boys) on drums. Albini bands are the few bands that can actually stand toe to toe with The Melvins.

Husker Du - "Statues" (Reflex Records cat. no #)
Even from the first bass notes Husker Du hinted that they were not going to sound similar to other bands. Flipper influence aside there is still something weirdly Poppy about this rage filled teenage blast. Simple and to the point wagging their finger at the popular kids but even more so they really seem to believe the Statues are listening. So young, so naive.

Husker Du - "In A Free Land" (new alliance records cat. NAR-010)
By the time of "In A Free Land" Husker Du sound like a completely different band from their humble beginnings. The pace is kicked up to nothing short of break-neck and Bob Mould begins to develop his shout and sing style. Hey narrator, this is Hardcore to me. "What Do I Want" gets back to some nice Noise Rock influences without slowing down in the least and M.I.C. is full throttle similar to their previous release the aptly titled "Land Speed Record."

Minutemen - "Joe McCarthy's Ghost" from Paranoid Time ep. (SST cat. SST-002)
Minutemen, Pere Ubu and Mission of Burma are three of the most important rock bands to me. Few bands have inspired me enough to want to play music and Minutemen make me want to play every time I hear them. Grooves tight enough to be called Funky, political lyrics with real social messages and songs short and fast enough to be considered Hardcore.

Minutemen - "If Regan Played Disco" from "bean-spill" e.p. (new alliance / Thermidor cat. T8)

Meat Puppets - "Teenager(s)" from the Take It! Magazine flexi "In Full Cry"

Wayne County & The Backstreet Boys - "Max's Kansas City" (Max A County Line Production cat. 1213)

Dead Boys - "Sonic Reducer" from "New Wave rock 'n' roll - Get behind it before it gets past you." (Sire cat. Pro 696 (promo only double 45 compilation))
Patti Smith - Piss Factory" b/w "Hey Joe (Version)" (Sire cat. SRE 1009)
Talking Heads - "Psycho Killer" (Acoustic) (Sire cat. SRE 1013)
The Ramones - "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" (Sire cat. SA-746)

The Cramps - "Drug Train" (Illegal Records cat. ILS 0021)
Memphis Gothic, Rockabilly, Blues Drenched, Slop Rock via NYC!

Killer Kane Band - "Don't Need You" (Whiplash cat.EP-200)

Television - "Little Johnny Jewel" Part One and Two (Ork cat. 81975)
Richard Hell - "Blank Generation" Ork cat. 81976)
Idols - "Girl That I Love" (Ork / WEA cat. NYC 2)

Richard Hell & The Voidoids - "The Kid With The Replaceable Head" (Radarscope Records cat. ADA 30)

The Heartbreakers - "Chinese Rocks" (Track Record / Polydor cat. 2094 135)
I can't be sure but Johnny Thunders could have been sent here to change the world and weirdly enough... he did. At least the world of music. Thunders changed the face of music (audibly and visually) with one of the greatest rock bands ever, The New York Dolls, and after that band imploded or exploded (depending on where you were standing) and returns with The Heartbreakers to change it all again. The Heartbreakers probably never thought of themselves as a Punk band but I can't imagine The Stooges did either. Vicious NY street slang put to music and delivered by a gang in a dark alley stealing your wallet, throwing you a beaten and leaving you for dead. Oh yeah, they also sing about drugs, lost love and PIRATES!

The Heartbreakers - "One Track Mind" (Track Record / Polydor cat. 2094 137)

Outsets - "I'm Searching For You" (Contender Records cat. PPI 351)

Criminals - "The Cops Are Coming" (Sing Sing Records cat. S1001)

Snatch - "All I Want" b/w "When I'm Bored" (Lightning Records cat. LIG 505)
Patti Palladin and Judy Nylon get some help from Heartbreaker Jerry Nolan on this shared vocal plea for some action. Oi - Eh - Oh - Eww! "The stuff I learned I got real fast, what I can't use I left in the past!" Piano, fiery guitar and one of the coolest 45 covers in my collection.

Lester Bangs - "Let It Blurt" (Spy Records cat. SPY 003)

The Victims - "Head" (Golden Disc Records cat. GDR 1002)

Beastie Boys - "Egg Raid On Mojo" from Polly Wog Stew e.p. (Ratcage cat. MOTR 21)

Detention - "Dead Rock N' Rollers" (Rigor Mortis cat. RIG-1)
Can be found on Killed by Death: Raw Rare Punk Rock, Vol. 2. My brother and I attended Newark School of Fine Arts in the mid 80's where we hung out with a varied group of creative types including Mark Medvetz the replacement guitar player for Detention. Medvetz was wound incredible tight and eased his pain with bottles of cough syrup.

Ed Gein's Car - "Brain Dead Baby" (Ed Gein's Car cat. EGC-3355)

Bad Brains - "Pay To Come" (Bad Brains Records cat. BB01)
Is it possible for an entire genre to be defined by a single song? I don't think so. I do think it is possible for some songs to encompass the heart soul of a genre to help define it. "Pay To Come" is one of those songs. Thusly the self titled ROIR cassette and "Rock For Light" are perfect LPs and unfortunately most Hardcore records pale in comparison.

Minor Threat - "I Don't Wanna Hear It" from s/t ep (Dischord Records cat. No. 3 (blue cover))
Speaking of perfection DC Hardcore legends Minor Threat came out of the box with an instant classic. "I Don't Want To Hear It" should be played loud enough for all to hear and especially for those not listening. The roar of the masses could be farts!

Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (DRI) - "Violent Pacification" (R-Radical Records cat. DRI-7)

Dils - "I Hate The Rich" (What? Records cat. WHAT 02)

The Weirdos - "Destroy All Music" (Bomp cat. 112)

Dead Kennedys - "California Uber Alles" b/w "Man With The Dogs" (Optional Music cat. opt 2)

Love and Respect - "Hey" from Deep + Heartfelt e.p. (Penultimate cat. PEN009)
Thurston Moore chased me around Pier Platters when I bought the only copy of this they ever had in stock. In retrospect I of course understand that level of musical obsession and you know what, this record is that good and holds up to this day. Hopefully he got a copy of the LP when it eventually came out on eMpty. "HEY" is the standout but there are no misses. Sounding very 70's Punk but with a foot firmly planted in the majestic North West. Just another single to sadly remind me how much most new Punk bands really do suck.

Cat Butt - "64 Funny Cars" (Penultimate Records cat. )
James Burdyshaw played guitar for some of the best Garage / Punk bands in the late 80's and early 90's in the Seattle scene. Cat Butt's sound seemed to pick up where U-men left off with a little less Goth.

Green River - "Together We'll Never" b/w "Ain't Nothin' To Do" (Tasque Force cat. ICP-01)

Tad - "Jack Pepsi" (Sub Pop cat. SP1000)
Simply the greatest song to come out of the "Grunge Years."

Melvins - "Grinding Process" (C/Z Records cat. CZ-1705)
Holy crap, no wonder these guys eventually covered Flipper. "Grinding Process" is like waiting for ketchup too make it's way out of the bottle and rectifying that by smashing the fucking thing. I bought this sometime in "86 or "87 and it was one of those records I couldn't stop listening to but didn't really have many things like it. I was not a fan of Heavy Metal in High School well, that is other than Black Sabbath which scared the shit out of me the first time my cousin played my brother and I their first LP (I was 9 or 10). He shut off all the lights and blasted it in his bedroom while my brother and I could barely move from fear and he air guitared the whole record. Then, I couldn't get enough of it, thank you Chard.

Iggy and The Stooges - "I Got A Right"
Destroy All Monsters - "Bored" (IDBI Records cat. EEEE 1)
Radio Birdman - "What Gives" (Sire cat. SRK 6050)
The Saints - "Stranded" (Power Exchange cat. PX 242)

Some LP's as well...
Meat Puppets - "New Gods" from Meat Puppets II (SST cat. 019)
Germs - (GI) (Slash Records cat. SR-103)
Red Cro$s - "White Trash" from Born Innocent (Smoke 7 Productions cat. SMK 7-103)
Flesh Eaters - No Questions Asked (Upsetter Records cat. UPCJ 34)
Fear - The Record (Slash Records cat. SR-111)
The Crucifucks - s/t (Alternative Tentacles Records cat. Virus 38)
Adolescents - s/t (Frontier Records FLP 1003)
etc.
etc.
etc...

Damn I am bringing WAY too many records as always.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Primitive Sound System at the Hoboken Historical Museum Sun March 12th at 4PM

Hello Y'all,
As Hoboken is slowly stripped of its... soul the following may seem very unlikely . Believe it or not the corner of 1st and Monroe once housed Club Zanzibar. Some of the greatest talents of Soul Music's finest hour graced the Zanzibar's stage. Active from 1961 - 1975 the club remained a neighborhood watering hole until 1981 and then closed its doors. Let's face it, those were the premier years for Soul music and artists as famous as Kool & The Gang, The Drifters, The Coasters, etc all gigged at The Zanzibar. More historically notable are the lesser known talents that came and went unnoticed by the masses but noteworthy none-the-less. I have not yet spoken to Ms. McNeil but it would seem that The Zanzibar was a great gig for any touring band at the time because it provided a second show to a NYC area audience. Of course this would be similar to Maxwell's which for the most part started having live performances as The Zanzibar fell from popularity. Do all good things really have to come to an end? Does time make everything nostalgically interesting? In the case of The Zanzibar I think something great came to an end and thankfully the good folk at The Hoboken Historical Museum have enlightened us to yet another significant establishment and the culture that surrounded it. I have lived in Hoboken for close to 20 years and NO ONE has ever mentioned the Zanzibar to me. It's time to change all that.

Sunday March 12th - 4PM - 6PM
The Hoboken Historical Museum - 1301 Hudson Street, Hoboken, NJ - FREE Admission
Dorothy McNeil - Discussion and remembrances of Club Zanzibar
This event is part of the Museum's Working People series which explores the life and culture of workers in Hoboken and the greater metropolitan area through fiction, poetry, film, and two oral history publications (chapbooks).
For more info visit the Museum's site

I'll be spinning selections from acts that played The Zanzibar as well as music significant to the time period and to the Northern NJ scene.

Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters - "What'cha Gonna Do" (Atlantic cat. 45-1055)

Little Johnny Taylor - "Sweet Soul Woman" (Ronn Records cat. Ronn 43)

Billy Bland - "Do The Bug With Me" (Old Town cat. Record No. 1109)

Sterling Harrison - "P's and Q's" (Astroscope (Distributed by All Platinum) cat. AS 108)

Nu-Sound Express, Ltd. - "Ain't It Good Enough" (Silver Dollar Records cat. SD 152)

Kool & The Gang - "Dujii" (De-Lite Records cat. DEP 561)

Dyke And The Blazers - "You are My Sunshine" (Original Sound cat. OS-90)

The Coasters - "Soul Pad" b/w "Down Home Girl" (date cat. 2-1552)

Rufus Thomas - "Sophisticated Sissy" (Stax cat. S-221)

Lloyd Price - "They Get Down" (GSF Records cat. 6904)

Wilson Pickett - "Ninety-Nine And A Half (Won't Do) (Atlantic cat. SD 8129)
Wilson Pickett - "Take A Closer Look At The Woman You're With" (RCA cat. DJHO-0049 (APBO-0049)

Baby Washington and Don Gardner - "Baby Let Me Get Close To You" (Master Five (MC5) cat. 9110)

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Primitive Sound System - Mixed Tape Sessions - Maxwell's Tuesday March 7th from 9PM-2AM

Hello Y'all,
This was the first year in about 5 years that I didn't get to spin on Mardi Gras, hell I'm fat every Tuesday so I figure I can do this, this week. The other thing that popped into mind while pulling Betty Harris' "There's A Break In The Road," Cyril Neville's "Gossip" and Curley Moore And The Kool Ones' - "Shelley's Rubber Band" was that a set of heavy ass guitar and groove was in order. I have no idea what the bands playing in the back sound like this week but I bet you that they all have a guitarist. So if anyone requests anything "interesting" this week that will be my answer. "Hold on, yeah this song has a guitar too. Will that do?"

Primitive Sound System Mixed Tape Sessions from 9PM - 2AM
Maxwell's
1039 Washington Street
Hoboken New Jersey
(201) 653-1703

The Mixed Tape Sessions:
No stone unturned and no vinyl format left unspun or unsung. Crawling, spinning and stumbling through the decades finding the connections between 50's - Now Instrumentals of all shapes and sizes, Funk 45's, Raw Soul and R&B, Soul, Gospel, Blues, Country, Latin, Brazilian, African, Dub, Rock Steady, Ska, Reggae, Indian, Jazz (of all types), Lounge / Moog, Hawaiian (slack key and Pop), Vocalists, Singer Songwriters, 50's – 70's Pop, Garage Rock, Psych, Surf and Drag, Soundtracks (OST), Comedy, 70's Rock, Prog, Punk, Hardcore, Hip Hop, Indie Rock, Noise and some Metal old and new. I'm mostly drawn to the instrumental side of life favoring the "B" side to the "A." Heavy as hell beats and exquisitely subtle moments side by side to entertain, educate and elate.

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OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS:
Sunday March 12th at 4PM at The Hoboken Historical Museum - 1301 Hudson Street, Hoboken, NJ
Dorothy McNeil reminisces about the Soul Club she co-owned in Hoboken, NJ from 1964 - 1975, The Club Zanzibar. I'll be spinning records of artists she will be speaking about and ones who passed through her fine establishment and some that just fit the mood. For more information call the Museum at (201) 656-2240 or visit them online at http://www.hobokenmuseum.org/

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Stuff I'll be spinning Tuesday:

Jimi Hendrix - "No Such Animal" (Audio Fidelity cat. AF-167)
More of a 60's Garage / Soul Instrumental but definitely when that really kicks. Hendrix is far more in the Billy LaMont / Lonnie Youngblood / Isley Brothers sound here but he tosses off lick after lick without ever losing his way. A steady pounding rhythm and sharp sounding organ give space to his chunky riffs which act at times like the vocals but occasionally a hoot and a holler can be heard giving it a bit of a party feel.

Iron-Knowledge - "Show Stopper" (Tammy Records cat. T-1043)
I just got this so of course I can't stop playing it. If you Like 70's Heavy Rock or its modern spawn known as Stoner Rock then this could be the best thing you have ever heard. You can feel the Armadillo in the lead vocalist's trouser with ever half ass lyric spit out of each groove. He should be commended because you can picture the stage presence ripped from the Aerosmith how to handbook with ever inane syllable. Of course it all opens with a guitar riff, but this one is weirdly slow handed and very very Stoner, the drums can almost be perceived as timid comparatively but don't you fret they will have their day in the Sun just you wait. We are dragged through mindless words and choruses of dancing, cocaine and possibly incompetence, though I can't be sure. It doesn't really matter as this is just a lead into the SHOW STOPPER! The blazing guitar solo...DUDE! Wait, what is this at the foot of Cock Rock Axe Slinger Mountain... the break. That's right, sleepy, tappy guy throws in a nice clean break just because he can. We are treated to another chorus of "Show stopper, show stopper," before it all comes to a very sudden end. Thank you Iron Knowledge for knowing that one day Stoner Rock would resurrect you from 70's Sir Lord Baltimore obscurity.

The BBC - "Upside Nwod (Down)" Mono b/w Stereo (Mega cat. 615-0091 (wht lbl promo))
"Upside Down" is not as Stoner as "Show Stopper" but the guitar is certainly handled with more skill and that never compromises the weight. The whole band here is in the pocket and crashes its way through some really nice changes including a deeply soulful organ solo that gives me chills. The BBC is The Bill Black Combo in disguise and personally I think they should have hid more often.

"Super Cirkus" - "Bubblegum March" (Super K cat. SK 9)
This song goes through so many changes in 2:24 it needs therapy. Easily one of my favorite Funky guitar driven instrumentals.

Blackrock - "Yeah, Yeah" (Select-O-Hits cat. 104)
The intro of Blackrock, although a bit moody, doesn't really foreshadow the early Parliament-esque sounds you are about to be pummeled with. The drums are sickly heavy and make me want to pound out the rhythm right along with them but really it is the guitar player here who goes for it and takes the spotlight. Screaming, head bobbing licks that get sweeter and sweeter as he fuzzes things up just float, dart and cut you in half without ever loosing the funky groove. I picture him being carried Christ like over the crowd before being gently returned to the stage still playing wildly where he suddenly fades away and it is debated for years whether he existed at all. Actually, I spoke with him on the phone once. He said it was just him and his buddies messing around in his families studio and called it Blackrock because at the time "that was the thing to do."

Joe Savage and the Soul People - "All Power To The People" Pt. II (Jacklyn Records cat. 1010)
Another brutal guitar attack finishes out this song that I bring quite often to play.

The New Establishment - "Slums Of The City"
For one reason or another I always have to play these three in a row.

I packed a lot of Garage records as well including some fine guitar moments like:

The Bubble Puppy - "Hot Smoke & Sassafras" (International Artist cat. IA-128)
Frijid Pink - "End Of The Line" (Parrot cat. 45-PAR-349)
The Rugbys - "You, I" (Amazon Records cat. AM #1)

I recently knocked off 3 Want List items all in the top ten of that list so I am pretty excited:

Eddie Floyd - "Big Bird" (Stax 45-246)
A clean copy of this bad boy has alluded me for about 10 years but thanks to my brother's keen eye and a very packed Smallchange box at the last record swap I now can spin until my heart's content. A pounding Al Jackson beat, throbbing bass and screamed horns are all lead by one of the coolest guitar riffs in any song thanks to Steve Cropper. Eddie Floyd sounds anxious, nervous and even a bit worried which just pushes this song to a whole other level. Pure perfection.

Mickey Lee Lane - "Hey Sha-Lo-Ney" (Swan cat. S-4222 H)
I have not only been wanting this FOREVER but also had to figure out what the hell it was. Weirdly about 2 years ago I stumbled across a CD copy of a compilation put out on Candy Records and THERE IT WAS! Oddly I had asked Todd-O-Phonic over the years (after hearing him play it in sets) what the hell it was. I would do my best to describe it but unfortunately with very bad results and never any closer to the answer. "You know it's garagey and party like." That's like describing friends of mine with, "Shaved head, weird beard, wears a lot of black... you know 'em." So you can imagine my surprise to find out that he was involved in said comp which of course he replied, "Oh yeah, great song." Yes, a great song indeed and thanks for the info kind sir. Another deceiving guitar line intros this Garage / Soul Party tidal wave. I have certainly overused the words "pounding drums" over the years but... that is exactly what you have going on here. Mickey Lee Lane has one hell of a raspy voice that is a perfect foil for the chorus which sounds almost sweet in comparison. This could go on for half an hour and I don't think you would bat an eye and you would certainly not get bored, maybe tired, but not bored.

Syl Johnson - "Take Me Back" b/w "I Take Care of My Homework" (Twinight Records cat. 116)
I am not a completest when it comes to collecting but in some cases the music is just that good. The Syl Johnson 45's released on Twilight / Twinight are all must haves. I don't know how or why I missed this one over the years but I did. "I Take Care of My Homework" is on the Collectibles Records comp I have so it's not like I didn't know the song and it is on every discography I have copied down over the years. Odd and no real explanation. Regardless, my good friend Stephen laid this copy on me for my birthday. Thank you sir. "Take Me Back" kicks with horns, tight drums and of course Syl's distinctive guitar and vocals. This one is slightly reminiscent of "Come On Sock It To Me" but that is OK with me. There is a short sax solo that is not really common to his records of this time and adds a really great element to the whole thing. Superb.