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I WANNA BE SEDATED
I never (ever) thought Id see someone wearing a RAMONES t-shirt, and wanna kick their fuckin weak arse. But thats where Im at, as I see casuals walking around my town in their retro-RAMONES shirts, just cuz theyre deemed a hip n trendy item of clothing to be wearing right now. What a joke!!! I never followed the crowd and I dont understand herd mentality. So back off poseurs. An equally worrying thought is that as I was wearing RAMONES t-shirts way (way) back, does that mean I am in fact a tend setter, cuz the whole Jeans, T-Shirt, and Converse combo is pretty damn popular right now. Me
a trend setter
now thats funny!!!
Anyways, you can be sure the fakers wont be sitting down to watch the RAMONES Raw DVD, a mighty nice looking package that contains a rocking silver disc of on-the road, and live gig and TV clips from the Brudders, shot during the Eighties and up until their demise. Produced by Marky Ramone, and with a bulk of the filming taken from his personal archives, you can be sure that this is first hand footage, with lots of onechewfreefour Punk Rock, plenty of humour and banter, plus a little bit of craziness. Well, what did you hope for from Dee Dee??!! The section where he attempts to get money from the tour manager to purchase a Rolex watch is damn funny - as is the video for the disastrous Dee Dee King project with Dee Dee trying his hand at being a rapper. Gawd help us!! The RAMONES reputation and god-like status in Latino countries is legendary, and there are some wild scenes of the band on tour in South America, and having to literally flee from manic rapid fans. And hearing the band freaking out in the melee at tour manager Monte Melnick is fuckin hilarious!! Theres a bunch of extras including stacks of TV appearance, and a live show from Italy 1980 in the grounds of a cool looking fort. I can definitely recommended Raw for all you RAMONES heads.
Sticking in a retro-mode - I just treated myself to THE SAINTS All Times Through Paradise 4 x CD box set (EMI) Without a shred of doubt, the early music of THE SAINTS has been in my top-ten ever since I picked up a copy of their second album Eternally Yours for 75p in a bargain bin. 1980 was that glorious year. All Times
features their first 3 albums; Im Stranded their ripping proto-Punk explosion debut platter, the poorly received follow up Eternally Yours with its brass fuelled, energised Rn B and some of my favourite songs ever!! Lyrically, Eternally Yours saw all the pent up frustration and disillusion at the UK Punk Class of 77 vented in epic caustic salvos. The latter platter saw a shift in the ranks, with Alasdair Algy Ward (one of their roadies younger brother) joining singer Chris Bailey, guitarist Ed Kuepper, and drummer Ivor Hay, following the departure of original bassist Kym Bradshaw. Algy would later play with THE DAMNED during the seminal Machine Gun Etiquette era, and then form his own band TANK. The trilogy is completed by the long forgotten and out-of-print Prehistoric Sounds, their musical evolution taking Soul and Jazz influences onboard. The album bombed commercially, and although not a regular fixture on my turntable, its still a record I spin now and again, and was their most adventurous recording. THE SAINTS disbanded in its wake. All 3 of the studio album discs are ramped up by the addition of single versions, b-sides, outtakes, and also tagged on to Prehistoric Sounds are 6 tracks live at Paddington Town Hall, Sydney in 77 when they managed to rattle gig headliners RADIO BIRDMAN, with Chris Bailey sarcastically thanking the local chapter of the Hitler Youth in reference to the BIRDMAN logo backdrop, and the members militaristic stage wear. Disc 4 is 14songs recorded at the Hope n Anchor, London in 77 fans will note that Demolition Girl from this set was included on the Hope n Anchor Front Row Festival double album that came out in 78. Its a smoking set, and captures the band at the peak of velocity. So, there you have it - an absolutely essential collection as far as Im concerned. Funnily enough, even after numerous plays of these remastered CDs, in my head I can still hear all the scratches and bumps from my battered and now-retired vinyl copies, songs deeply embedded in my memory banks. Ach, the end of an era!
And theres been some new sounds pumping on my stereo too; SIGNAL LOST Children of The Wasteland LP (Prank) a female fronted outfit from Portland, Oregon and sounding like JINGO DE LUNCH goes Crust a captivating record. Unlike its beer and bacon, Denmark has never been that renowned for its musical exports, but all that gets blown outta the water by the storming NO HOPE FOR THE KIDS and their self titled album, which Ive actually read described as possibly the best Danish Punk album ever! Well, all I know is that these guys have got a gutsy CLASH-styled punch, and are armed with a strong melodic Eighties Euro-Punk style that recalls the likes of KINA (Italy) and SLAM (Sweden) Throws in some early TOXIC REASONS, and on final track The Ride theres no mistaking the MISFITS vibe. Im playing this CD heaps. JED WHITEY Mongoloid Cage Match CD (Manic Ride) has the Aussies going some way to reclaiming the RocknRoll crown from the Scandinavians, but being influenced by their Northern European cousins at the same time. Their heady power crunch of TURBONEGRO and HELLACOPTERS trading-AC/DC riffs at a BORED! show, with the COSMIC PSYCHOS and ONYAS playing upstairs is gonna give you good head! Does me! The additional enhanced tracks of DIY song videos are damn funny, especially Im Okay Youre Fucked, and neat sleeve cover work by Ray Ahn of the HARD-ONS. I just got the latest SPERMBIRDS CD Set an Example (Common Thread) its pretty solid collection of 14 new songs from these German veterans, and Lee Hollis snotty vocals are still ruling. Finally, and keeping up the Euro-mainland theme - SKITKIDS Onna for Pleasure LP (Kick n Punch) is primo Swedish hellfire, D-Beat meets Ass Cobra era TURBONEGRO that drops in like a depth charge - totally fuckin explosive.
Plug time - The latest issue of my zine ZONkED! is out, featuring Canadian elder statesman Joey Shithead (DOA ya chump!), Belgium hardcore outfit SUNPOWER, travel reportage from France and the USA, an on-the-road reportage with Dutch legends SEEINRED, a column from your very own Steve Scanner, and a stack of music reviews to strain your eyes to. Write me if youre interested in a copy and we can talk money, zine trades, Kalashnikovs or stolen artwork. Name your currency. And contributions for future issues are always welcome. So feel free to drop me a line.
Okay, thats all for now.
Ciao Amigos PETE (19-01-05)
pete@zonked.fsnet.co.uk