Hello and welcome to Sound Idea Net Radio. Starting with this broadcast, I will be using Goodsearch as much as possible for researching the liner notes. In case you've never heard of Goodsearch, it is a search engine, just like Google or Yahoo, but you get to pick a charity. And every time you make a search, your charity gets 1 cent. There's a long list of charities for you to pick from and if you don't see one you like, you can submit your own favorite. The charity I have selected is WMNF, but I think I may pick a different one each month to spread the wealth. I strongly suggest looking into Goodsearch. We all make net searches every day, might as well help out a worthy cause. Anyhow, as you may or may not know, every Saturday morning I post a group of songs from my collection as a big MP3 and leave it up for 7 days and then it disappears forever. There's no talking between songs, but please read the play list and notes below. NEXT SHOW WILL BE POSTED SAT MAY 17, 2008.
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SHOW #36 (MAY 10, 2008)
01. Straight Youth "X On My Hand" (FL)
And now for a public service message from Ross Youth, Larry Edge and Bruce Hard, collectively known as Straight Youth, the straightest, corniest band of all time. This song is taken from the Straight Youth "Together We Can Do It!" 7" released by 4 1/2 Fingers Records in 1991. Yes, it is all a joke, but what you might not realize is that the guys playing on this record were all in real straightedge bands at one time. I bought this at a show in Gainesville from the very cool Mr. David Hayes, who ran Very Small Records, when he was the driver/roadie for Plaid Retina. As soon as I picked it up, David started laughing and said, "You've GOT to hear that." He was right. The guy who did 4 1/2 Fingers Records came into Sound Idea one day while I was out running errands, so I missed him. Darn, I had a lot of questions to ask about Straight Youth, like, "What's Larry Edge really like?" One thousand copies pressed. Here's what Flex has to say about the record. And it seems that this fellow has a copy for trade. And so does this fellow.
02. Gun Club "Sex Beat" (CA)
Ah, I've been enjoying this song for some 25 years now. And I've played it about 25 times this week alone. It was on a mix tape that someone gave me back during the Hoover administration or something like that. (Hoover? No, must have been Reagan.) Yesterday I got the urge to learn this on guitar, so I did a little searching and came up with this link. Very easy to play. Anyhow, "Sex Beat" is from the Gun Club's "Fire Of Love" LP (Slash Records, 1981). For some reason, I never picked up a copy of "Fire Of Love," so I had to take "Sex Beat" from a compilation album called, "Slash: The Early Sessions" (Slash Records, 1983) that I picked up last year at the quarterly Tampa Record Show. "Fire Of Love" has been reissued on a couple of times, so it should be pretty easy to find. There's about 6 of them on eBay now, but I think I'll keep hunting the old fashioned way and eventually I'll find one out there somewhere. You might want to check out this Jeffrey Lee Pierce bio and this howling live video.
03. No Security "Markt For Livet" (Sweden)
Back in November 2007 I bought a large record collection from a widow. The cherry of the collection was the Doom/No Security LP (Peaceville Records, 1989). Doom's OK. I'm not a huge Doom fan, but the No Security stuff is brutal. Have a taste. And check out this No Security profile on Kill From The Heart. Now I must find the No Security/Valvontakomissio LP (Finn Records, 1990). Here's a No Security fan page on My Space with a lot of info and a few songs.
04. Stretch Marks "Dog's World" (Canada)
Here's a nice bark-along tune from the Great White North. The Stretch Marks from Edmonton, Alberta made two records: a 7" and an LP. The "Who's In Charge?" 7" (Headbutt Records, 1983) 7" is much better in my opinion. That's where you'll find, "Dog's World." For some reason the Stretch Marks had a band logo with a mohawked alligator, which befuddles me because I don't think they have alligators in Canada. Check out the band bio on Kill from The Heart. Looks like these guys were pretty beefy. Cool! A Stretch Marks video on You Tube!
05. T.M.A. "Shit Don't Stink" (NJ)
Pure poetry here: "You think your shit don't stink, well, I've got news for you -- take a whiff -- it's rank!" Track taken from the first (and better) T.M.A. album, "What's For Dinner?" relesaed by Jimboco Records in 1984. Both T.M.A. albums have such bad cover art that they routinely turn up in the bargain bins. Less than a year ago, I dug up a spare copy of "What's For Dinner?" for about $3 and traded it to a friend. Keep your eyes peeled and just remember that saying about not judging a book (or record) by its cover. Check the New Jeresy section of Collector Scum.com for a pic of "What's For Dinner?" And here's a sealed copy of the second album on eBay.
06. Plaid Retina "Sugar Fit" (CA)
Can you believe the Plaid Retina "S/T" 7" was released by Lookout Records? (1989). This is most certainly the toughest platter Lookout ever made. It's a 12-song 45 RPM 7" with only one tune cracking the one minute mark. The review in Maximum Rocknroll said that Plaid Retina was a cross between D.R.I. and Capitol Punishment. I think that's a good description. By the time I got to see Plaid Retina, they had ditched the speed/thrash sound and were getting more experimental. They did that sound well, too, but I much prefer their early style. But when I shouted out for, "Sugar Fit," they were so amused that they played it. The red and white tshirt I bought from them that night turned into a tie-dyed pink mess in the first wash, but I still wore it for years. Here's a good band bio on Wikipedia.
07. Stupids "Sleeping Troubles" (UK)
Track taken from the second Stupids album, "Retard Picnic" LP released by COR Records in 1986. Nice mix of thrash and melody, eh? Kill from The Heart has a very good Stupids profile. I need a copy of the Studids "Violent Nun" 7" if anyone has a copy to sell or trade.
08. Satanic Malfunctions "Disgrace To Humanity" (UK)
I don't know much about Satanic Malfunctions, so I will refer you to their Kill from The Heart listing. I took this song from the "Disgrace To Humanity" LP (Teacore Records, 1990). Nice ratty guitar sound and tin can drums. Pretty fast. Looks like you can legally download some of their songs here. And here's a video on You Tube.
09. Private Jesus Detector "In The Name Of Democracy" (Belgium)
From the late 1980s to early 1990s, a lot of extreme music came out of tiny, tidy Belgium. Private Jesus Detector was one of those bands. I really can't find much info about the band, but a few years ago I purchased what I believe to be a bootleg discography album. All of the songs are demo-quality thrash like this, which is kind of fun in small doses.
10. Blitz "Warriors" (UK)
When I was the drummer for The Undercovers, Brandon's #1 all-punk cover band, we learned "Warriors." It's a bit more complex than it seems, especially that hi-hat disco beat in the beginning. And what's with the hissy "s" at the end of the word, "Warriors?" Sounds like steam escaping. I believe "Warriors" was the A-side of the second of three 7"s that Blitz released for No Future Records in 1981, back when I was in seventh grade. If you like this, check out the "Blitz Hits" CD released by S.O.S. Records. Guitar player Nidge Miller died in 2007, hit by a car. Check the Blitz My Space page.
11. Appendix "Taa On Mun Oma Sota" (Finland)
You regulars listeners know I'm nuts for Finnish punk/hardcore. Here's a nice one from the Appendix "Houra" 7", released by Propaganda Records in 1983. I picked up my copy in trade from the guitar player of Rattus in 2004. Here's one on eBay right now. Appendix made a lot of good records. Check their listing at Finnmusic.net. You'd be well advised to snag any Appendix you can find.
12. Armed Citizens "The Thrill Of It All" (NY)
I remember seeing an Armed Citizen's song on one of those Flipside video compilations a long time ago, but I can't seem to find much info about the band. Here's what Kill from The Heart has to say. And here is a blurb on Flex.
13. Blut + Eisen "Die Feineren Dinge" (Germany)
When I first started buying international punk and hardcore, German stuff was the easiest to find, so I bought a lot of German records. One of those records was a Blut + Eisen" 7". Then I started getting stuff from places like Italy, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Yugoslavia, Poland and Brazil and the German stuff seemed tame in comparisson. During my ill-fated 1995 record purge, almost all of my German stuff went bye-bye. A couple of years ago, I found the Blut + Eisen "Schrei Doch" LP (Weird System Records, 1984) somewhere cheap and it rocked me harder than I thought it would. That's where I nabbed this song from. Now I wonder what that 7" sounded like. The lesson, of course, is never sell your records. Keep everything. "Blut + Eisen" is German for, "blood and iron," which I feel is rather cool. Hey, here's a good video.
14. The Worst "We Are Those" (NJ)
I bought a beat to shit copy of the Worst "Expect The Worst" 12" (Mutha Records, 1983) about 12 years ago and barely listened to it because it was in such bad shape. A European bootleg came out (as a 7") in the early 2000s, which rekindled my interest. I dug out my beat up original, spun it and it was better than I remembered. Flex gives "Expect The Worst" a 9 out of 10 and calls it "a classic." I'm not sure I'd go quite that far. Anyhow, here's what I feel is the strongest track. The Worst also released a five-song 7" in 1982 on Mutha Records, but I don't have that one. The early Mutha titles are simple, tough hardcore and are getting to be some of the most sought-after American HC releases. A guy I know from New Jersey was quite tickled to discover that "Mutha" is a popular description tag on eBay these days.
15. TZN Xenna "Co Za Swiat" (Poland)
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a punker in a Communist country in the 1980s? In Poland, all of the punk records were released by the state-run Ton Press label. I played TZN Xenna waaay back in Show #4. At the time, all that I knew of the band was the two-song "Dzieci Z Brudnej Ulicy" 7". Since then, I have found a lot more Polish punk, including a great compliation album called, "Jak Punk To Punk" (Ton Press, 1986) with three TZN Xenna songs that I had not heard and a bunch of other good stuff. Click HERE for tons of info on the band on the awesome Kill From The Heart web page. And here is a nice article on Wikipedia that even explains the band's odd name. And here's a really good video on You Tube.
And that is our show for this week. Check back next week for another dense batch of jams from my personal stash.