Various Artists - This Is Rockabilly Clash

Stumbled across this one a couple of years ago, in my ongoing search for anything and everything related to The Clash.  It's a compendium of Clash tunes reworked by several bands in the rockabilly/psychobilly style.  Here's the lineup of songs and artists:

1. Guns of Brixton - The Honeydippers
2. Career Opportunities - Farrell Bros.
3. Capitol Radio - The Hyperjax
4. Jail Guitar Doors - The Caravans
5. Train In Vain - The Sabrejets
6. Should I Stay Or Should I Go? - Long Tall Texans
7. I'm So Bored With The U.S.A. - XX Cortez
8. Jimmy Jazz - Frantic Flintstones
9. What's My Name? - The Charles Napiers
10. Bank Robber - The Pistoleers
11. Brand New Cadillac - The Accelerators
12. Janie Jones - Farrell Bros.
13. Know Your Rights - The Caravans
14. Guns Of Brixton - Rancho Deluxe

Some tunes here work better than others... but all in all, this is a great group of songs providing an interesting, different take on some familiar music from Strummer, Jones & Co., in a style with which the original band was not unfamiliar with.

No long-winded story from me regarding this one...  Posting this for no reason whatsoever, other than I like it, and thought that some of you might like it as well.  Here's the compilation This Is Rockabilly Clash, released on Raucous Records in the UK on July 11th, 2003.  Enjoy, and let me know what you think about it as well.

Please use the email link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:

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Various Artists - A Reference Of Female-Fronted Punk Rock 1977-89 (12 Discs)

[I began putting this one together back in mid-2018... but discovered some problems with the discs that took a while to sort out, and by the time I did so, I'd moved on to other write-ups. Guess I'll finish this one up now...]

I found this rarity available for download a couple of months ago [ed. note - early 2018], from an obscure music website, Kangnave (which appears to have been actively added to for a couple of years in the mid-2010s, but hasn't seen a new posting since 2015). Here's the description the blog moderator put up regarding this:

This is a pretty insane project put together by my pal Vince B. from San Francisco a few years back. As the title indicates, this is a homemade 12 x CD-R (!) compilation of punk bands fronted by female vocalists from 1977 to 1989. More like a giant mixtape than a compilation, as he only made 36 copies which he sent to friends and people who submitted material. You may notice that some of the bands didn’t have a steady female vocalist (The Lewd, etc.) but he still included songs that were sung by another member of the band. This is as international as it gets, with stuff ranging from world famous Blondie or Crass to the most obscure Eastern European cassette compilation veterans. The boxset came packaged in a handnumbered fancy translucent lunchbox enclosing all 12 CD-Rs, a stack of full-colored cards featuring comprehensive tracklist and artwork/info, as well as a manga pin-up figure! Talk about a labor of love.

Like the guy above said, this is a pretty incredible worldwide collection of decent to excellent punk vocalized by women - here's the lineup for all twelve discs:

Disc 1:

1. Blutsturz – Schweigen (Demo) (Germany, 198?)
2. Penetration – Money Talks (England, 1977)
3. Pyhäkoulu – Painajainen (Finland, 1986)
4. VulpeSS – Me Gusta Ser Una Zorra (Spain, 1983)
5. The Comes – Panic (Japan, 1984)
6. Suicide Squad – New Kids Army (Australia, 1980)
7. Rivolta Dell’Odio – Altari Del Terrore (Italy, 1984)
8. Sick Things – Anti-Social Disease (England, 1977)
9. Accident (a.k.a Accidents) – True Detective (USA, 1979)
10. Dishrags – I Don’t Love You (Canada, 1979)
11. Último Resorte – Hogar, Dulce Hogar (Demo) (Spain, 1981)
12. The Fastbacks – Someone Else’s Room (USA, 1981)
13. Anorexia – Rapist In The Park (England, 1980)
14. Phobia – Pretend You’re Not Crazy (USA, 1978)
15. Androids Of Mu – Bored Housewives (England, 1981)
16. Sort Sol (With Lydia Lunch) – Boy-Girl (Denmark/USA, 1983)
17. Tappi Tikarrass – Skrid (Iceland, 1984)
18. Flowers – After Dark (Scotland, 1979)
19. The Rentals – I Got A Crush On You (USA, 1979)
20. Pariapunk – Double Face (France, 1987)
21. Amsterdamned – Traditie Amme Balle (Netherlands, 1982)
22. Dr. Zeke – Vild I Skogen (Sweden, 1979)
23. The Lewd – Magnetic Heart (USA, 1982)
24. Au Pairs – Kerb Crawler (England, 1980)
25. Mo-Dettes – White Mice (USA/Switzerland/England, 1979)
26. Stripes – Weekend Love (Germany, 1980)
27. Violators – The Fugitive (England, 1980)

Disc 2:

1. Schund – Schund (Austria, 1982)
2. Wunderbach – Raya (France, 1982)
3. Total Muzak – Någonstans I Sta’n (Sweden, 1980)
4. Liliput – Hitch-Hike (Switzerland, 1980)
5. NJF – Sitting!! Pretty (Canada, 1984)
6. S.I.B. – Listless (Italy, 1981)
7. Manisch Depressiv – Zeitmaschine 1 (Switzerland, 1983)
8. Sheena & The Rokkets – Omae Ga Hoshii (One More Time) (Japan, 1979)
9. Rezillos – Flying Saucer Attack (Scotland, 1978)
10. Sado-Nation – Messed Up Mixed Up (USA, 1982)
11. Lucrate Milk – Fucking Pacifist (France, 1983)
12. Dan – Lust Is Greed (England, 1987)
13. Nasty Facts – Drive My Car (USA, 1981)
14. Life Cycle – Indifference (Wales, 1988)
15. Livin’ Sacrifice – Mentalsjuk (Sweden, 1981)
16. The Brat – Attitudes (USA, 1980)
17. Non Band – Ducan Dancin’ (Japan, 1982)
18. Bizkids – VIPs (Netherlands, 1980)
19. Minus Cway – Gdje Me Vjetar Odnese (Yugolsavia, 1982-88)
20. The Rats – Broken Wire Telephone (USA, 1983)
21. Anouschka & Les Privés – Contrôle (France, 1980)
22. Slits – Vindictive (England, 1977)
23. ICA – Untitled (Netherlands, 1981)
24. Trash – Peace Of What (USA, 1984)
25. Boys Boys – Monley Monkey (Japan, 1980)
26. Honey Bane – Girl On The Run (England, 1979)
27. TNT – Razzia (Switzerland, 1981)
28. Nuns – Wild (USA, 1980)
29. Electric Deads – 30 Years (Denmark, 1982)
30. Conflict – Who Will (USA, 1984)
31. Atims – Women (Netherlands, 1982)

Disc 3:

1. Hans-A-Plast – Polizeiknüppel (Germany, 1979)
2. Usch – LTO (Sweden, 1979)
3. Desechables – El Asesino (Spain, 1984)
4. Ici Paris – Le Centre Du Monde (France, 1980)
5. Action Pact – Suicide Bag (England, 1982)
6. Invaders – Backstreet Romeo (England, 1980)
7. Lepers – Flipout (USA, 1979)
8. Franti – Vento Rosso (Italy, 1983)
9. Out On Blue 6 – Examples (England, 1981)
10. Mr. Kite – Exit B9 (Japan, 1978)
11. De Zweetkutten – Atoomgeweld (Netherlands, 1981)
12. Ideal – Berlin (Germany, 1980)
13. Holly And The Italians – I Wanna Go Home (USA, 1981)
14. Modesty – Kad Srce Radi Bi Bam (Yugoslavia, 1982-88)
15. Delta 5 – Anticipation (England, 1980)
16. Beex – He Obliterates Me (USA, 1981)
17. Kaltwetterfront – Revolverheld (Germany, 1982)
18. Hydra – Ombre (Italy, 1985)
19. Vacum – Är Ungdomar Människor? (Sweden, 1980)
20. Nixe – Man Under My Bed (Netherlands, 1981)
21. Alternative – Seen Through Tear-Filled Eyes (Scotland, 1984)
22. Schematix – Nothing Special (USA, 1980)
23. Eyes – Don’t Talk To Me (USA, 1978)
24. Russians – Anything She Wants (England, 1980)
25. Kontrola W. – Manekiny (Poland, 1982/1998)

Disc 4:

1. Kizza Ping – Den Nya (Sweden, 1982)
2. Strapaze – Tage (Germany, 1983)
3. Glueams – 365 (Switzerland, 1979)
4. Kleenex Aktiv – Hilfe (Germany, 1985)
5. XL Capris – My City Of Sydney (Australia, 1980)
6. Josie Cotton – Johnny, Are You Queer? (USA, 1981)
7. Rakketax – Van Agt (Netherlands, 1980)
8. A-Heads – No Rule (England, 1982)
9. Drustvo Prisjecavalaca Boljih Dana – Sexualna Ovisnost (Yugoslavia, 1982-88)
10. Pink Champagne – Söndagsskolehyckel (Sweden, 1980)
11. Curse – Killer Bees (Canada, 1978)
12. Flirt – Don’t Push Me (USA, 1978)
13. 水玉消防団 (Mizutama Shouboudan) – 真空パック・トラベル (Japan, 1981)
14. Bizon Kidz – Godsdienstwaanzin (Netherlands, 1981)
15. X-Ray Spex – I Live Off You (England, 1978)
16. Reactors – World War Four (USA, 1980)
17. Klasse Kriminale – Construito In Italia (Italy, 1988)
18. Debils – Maso (Switzerland, 1981)
19. Plastix – Geschlechtsverkehr (Austria, 1981)
20. Avengers – Teenage Rebel (USA, 1978)
21. Hagar The Womb – Idolization (England, 1983)
22. Blitzkrieg – Szene (Germany, 1989)
23. DIRT – Hiroshima (England, 1981)
24. Disturbers – KZ Syndroom (Netherlands, 1980)
25. Andreas Dorau Und Die Marinas – Fred Vom Jupiter (Germany, 1981)
26. Pandoras – That’s Your Way Out (USA, 1984)
27. Lost Cherrees – Living In A Coffin (England, 1982)
28. Learned Helplessness – Vegis (USA, 1982)
29. A-Gen-53 – Stalingrad-Stumpfsinn (Austria, 1981)

Disc 5:

1. Crass – Where Next Columbus? (England, 1981)
2. A.P.P.L.E. – If In Heaven (USA, 1985)
3. Sleeping Dogs – (I Got My Tan In) El Salvador (USA/England, 1982)
4. Asbest – Family Care (Netherlands, 1982)
5. FFF – Arbeit Macht Dumm (Germany, 1986)
6. Gas – World Peace (Japan, 1985)
7. Les Calamités – Toutes Les Nuits (France, 1984)
8. Mother’s Ruin – Godzilla (Switzerland, 1979)
9. Toxic Waste – Traditionally Yours (Northern Ireland, 1985)
10. The Ex – Lied Der Steinklopfer (Netherlands, 1989)
11. NBJ – Dead Porker (USA, 1982)
12. Doll – Trash (England, 1978)
13. ST-37 – Unknown Soldier (Germany, 1985)
14. Jetset – Tot Hier En Niet Verder (Netherlands, 1982)
15. Fega Påhopp – Hålla Masken (Sweden, 1980)
16. Alma Y Los Cadáveres – Confidencias de Nutrexpa (Spain, 1982)
17. Da Stupids – Alien (USA, 198?)
18. Essential Logic – Quality Crayon Wax OK (England, 1979)
19. Beardsley – Summer Holiday (Japan, 1986)
20. Lärm – Pigeon (Netherlands, 1982)
21. Fatal Microbes – Violence Grows (England, 1978)
22. Sin 34 – Not (USA, 1983)
23. Vice Squad – Latex Love (England, 1980)
24. Lord Eva Braun – Week-End à Blois (France, 1989)
25. Ätztussis – Bullen (Germany, 1980)
26. Falange – Falange Suburbana (Brazil, 1988)
27. Bags – Survive (USA, 1978)

Disc 6:

1. Conflict – The Guilt And The Glory (England, 1982)
2. Putrid Girls – 1234 (USA, 1983)
3. Nog Watt – Going On (Netherlands, 1984)
4. Suburban Reptiles – 45 Single (New Zealand, 1978)
5. Lost Kids – Alle Taler (Denmark, 1979)
6. Edith Nylon – Edith Nylon (France, 1979)
7. Expelled – No Life, No Future (England, 1982)
8. Tollwut – Seuchen (Germany, 1981)
9. Blondie – Youth Nabbed As Sniper (USA, 1977)
10. Wartburgs Für Walter – More More Anymore (East Germany, 1989)
11. Ref – Soda Bikarbona (Yugoslavia, 1982-86)
12. Chumbawamba – beginning To Take It Back (England, 1986)
13. Mizz Nobody – Smittad (Sweden, 1978)
14. Platzangst – It’s A Light (Germany, 1983)
15. The Pogues – I’m A Man You Don’t Meet Every Day (Ireland, 1985)
16. St. Vitus Dancers – The Survivor (England, 1982)
17. Mary Monday & The Bitches – I Gave My Punk Jacket To Rickie (USA, 1977)
18. DZK – Juventude (Brazil, 1988)
19. Cocadictos – Juan Pablo II Y Amigos (Spain, 1983-84)
20. K.U.K.L. – Dismembered (Iceland, 1984)
21. Petticoats – Allergy (England, 1980)
22. Kalashnikov – Ødelæg Og Hærg (Denmark, 1984)
23. No Thanks – Fuck Everything (USA, 1983)
24. Indirekt – Shell Helpt (Netherlands, 1985)
25. Namenlos – Nazis (East Germany, 1984)
26. UXA – No Time (USA, 1980)
27. Peggy Luxbeurk – Sueur Froide (France, 1982)
28. Flere Døde Pansere – Midedød (Denmark, 1983)

Disc 7:

1. Toxic Shock – Remote Control (England, 1984)
2. Toxic Shock – Riot Riot Riot (USA, 1982)
3. Zelda – [Japanese Title] (Japan, 1981)
4. Total Chaoz – Oh Beatrix (Netherlands, 1981)
5. ZOI – Psaulme 1 (France, 1986)
6. Tozibabe – Moja Praznina (Yugoslavia, 1985)
7. Xmal Deutschland – Qual (Germany, 1983)
8. Ghost Walks – Fallen Angel (USA, 1985)
9. Life In The Fridge Exists – Have You Checked The Children? (New Zealand, 1980)
10. X – Nausea (USA, 1980)
11. Sacrilege – Dig Your Own Grave (England, 1985)
12. Combat Not Conform – Keep Your Head (Germany, 1985)
13. Typhus – ノータッチ (Japan, 1980)
14. Foreign Legion – Trenchline (Wales, 1986)
15. Rough Cut – Danger Boy (USA, 1981)
16. Ludus – Mother’s Hour (England, 1981)
17. The Bastards – Impossibilities (Switzerland, 1978)
18. Rutto – Paha, Kuolema (Finland, 1983)
19. Nikki Corvette – Young & Crazy (USA, 1977)
20. Photos – Skateboard (England, 1980)
21. Last Few – Suicide Commando (Netherlands, 1983)
22. Tyranna – Back Off Baby (Canada, 1980)
23. Screaming Sneakers – Violent Days (USA, 1982)
24. Poison Girls – Statement (England, 1982)
25. Verdun – Günther (France, 1988)
26. Noh Mercy – Caucasian Guilt (USA, 1979)
27. Bow Wow Wow – C30, C60, C90, Go (England, 1980)
28. Götterflies – Empty (Netherlands, 1981)

Disc 8:

1. Post Mortem – The Casualty (England, 1985)
2. Antischism – Evil God (demo) (USA, 1989)
3. Wrong Kind Of Stone Age – Run Amok (Australia, 1984)
4. The Puke – Happy Family (Netherlands, 1981)
5. Teddy & The Frat Girls – Clubnite (USA, 1980)
6. Questions – Take A Ride (France, 1980)
7. 無理心中 (Muri Shinjuu) – 子宮 (Live) (Japan, 1980-82)
8. Rubella Ballet – Something To Give (England, 1982)
9. Die Tödliche Doris – Kavaliere (Germany, 1982)
10. Los Microwaves – Time To Get Up (USA, 1981)
11. Extrém Exém – Eget Liv (Sweden, 1982)
12. Icon A.D. – Fight For Peace (England, 1982)
13. Dago Wops – Big Mac (Germany, 1981)
14. 8-Eyed Spy – Diddy Wah Diddy (USA, 1980)
15. Indian Dream – Insult To Injury (England, 1985)
16. Destroy All Monsters – Bored (USA, 1978)
17. Bluttat – Flying Into Heaven’s Door (Germany, 1985)
18. Raincoats – Adventures Close To Home (England, 1979)
19. Afrika Korps – Buzz Stomp (USA, 1977)
20. M’n’M’s – I’m Tired (USA, 1980)
21. キャ→ (Kyah!) – Slapdash (Japan, 1985)
22. Teenage Jesus & The Jerks – Less Of Me (USA, 1978)
23. Dog Faced Hermans – Balloon Girl (Scotland/Netherlands, 1987)
24. Mydolls – Soldiers Of A Pure War (USA, 1983)
25. Gash – Gash Trash (Australia, 1986)

Disc 9:

1. Berlin – The Metro (USA, 1982)
2. Poles – C.N. Tower (Canada, 1977)
3. Kuolleet Kukat – Vihollinen On Systeemi (Finland, 1984)
4. Joyce McKinney Experience – Armchair Critic (England, 1989)
5. VKTMS – Hard Case (USA, 1979)
6. ゴメス (Gomess) – 地獄へ (Japan, 1986)
7. Charol – Sin Dinero (Spain, 1980)
8. Tragics (a.k.a Misfits) – Mommi I’m A Misfit (USA, 1981)
9. Kandeggina Gang – Sono Cattiva (Italy, 1980)
10. Jingo De Lunch – What You See (Germany, 1987)
11. Vermilion – Angry Young Women (England, 1978)
12. The Maggots – (Let’s Get, Let’s Get) Tammy Wynette (USA, 1979)
13. Brain Death – Personal Affair (Japan, 1987)
14. Squits – Porno Pirate (Netherlands, 1982)
15. Siouxsie And The Banshees – The Staircase (Mystery) (England, 1979)
16. Unwarranted Trust – Honour’s Calling (Canada, 1984)
17. Bulimia Banquet – Scientology Sucks (USA, 1988)
18. Nurse – ナ－ス (Japan, 1983)
19. Secta Suicida Siglo 20 – Virginidad Sacudida (Mexico, 1989)
20. Castration Squad – The X Girlfriend (USA, 1979)
21. Jo Squillo Eletrix – Skizzo Skizzo (Italy, 1981)
22. A5 – Reeperbahn (Germany, 1980)
23. Manufactured Romance – You (England, 1980)
24. Frigidettes – Turmoil (USA, 1982)
25. Capitalist Alienation – Nuclear Trash (Canada, 1987)
26. Sperma – Please Love Me Tonight (Japan, 1985)
27. Mystery Girls – Ego (USA, 1983)
28. Exeroica – Del Apocalipsis (Argentina, 1988)
29. Partners In Crime – I Wanna Drive You (USA, 1984)
30. Dawn Patrol – What My Gonna Do (With Me) (England, 1981)
31. Maps – My Eyes Are Burning (USA, 1979)

Disc 10:

1. Neo Boys – Never Comes Down (USA, 1980)
2. New Walls – No Creation!? (Japan, 1985)
3. Gymslips – Miss Nunsweeta (England, 1982)
4. Loud Warning – Loud Warning (Netherlands, 1986)
5. Vs. – Magnetic Hearts (USA, 1980)
6. Turncoats – Waste Of Time (England, 1987)
7. Agonia – [Unknown title] (Italy, 1985)
8. Demented – Back To The Bed (USA, 1982)
9. PVC – Galehus (Norway, 1980)
10. Girls At Our Best! – Warm Girls (England, 1980)
11. Wilma & The Wilbers – Chronic Alkie (USA, 1980)
12. Cringe – Secretary Spread (USA, 1981)
13. Detectors – La Ciutat No Es Per Mi (Spain, 1987)
14. Suburban Lawns – Gidget Goes To Hell (USA, 1979)
15. Red Scare – Streetlife (USA, 1982)
16. Sofa Head – Invitation To Dinner (England, 1989)
17. 45 Grave – Black Cross (USA, 1980)
18. Plasmatics – Dream Lover (USA, 1979)
19. Not Moving – Behind Your Pale Face (Italy, 1983)
20. Enemy – Want Me (USA, 1978)
21. Potential Threat – Animal Abuse (England, 1982)
22. Anti-Scrunti Faction – Slave To My Estrogen (USA, 1985)
23. Legal Weapon – Hostility (USA, 1981)
24. OXZ – Be Run Down (Japan, 1984)
25. Shivvers – Teen Line (USA, 1980)
26. Donkeys – Wacky Acky I Aye (England, 1978-82)
27. Wrecks – Punk Is An Attitude (USA, 1982)
28. La Souris Déglinguée – Marie France (France, 1983)
29. SST – Autistic (USA, 1977)
30. Anti/Dogmatikss – Estado De Caos (demo) (Spain, 1983)

Disc 11:

1. Abwärts – Bel Ami (Germany, 1980)
2. Even Worse – Illusion Won Again (USA, 1981)
3. F.U.A.L. – Freedom Under Animal Liberation (Northern Ireland, 1989)
4. Nena – Nur Geträumt (Germany, 1983)
5. Gruftrosen – Mörder Von Gestern (Austria, 1985)
6. Sledgehammer – Paramilitary Recruits (Northern Ireland, 1988-ish)
7. Deutscher Abschaum – The German Superman (Germany, 1984)
8. Family Fodder – Debbie Harry (England, 1980)
9. Pink Turds In Space – Eastenders (Northern Ireland, 1988)
10. Die Mimmi’s – Mc Donald (Germany, 1984)
11. No-Song Kutkotz – Telegram (Netherlands, 1984)
12. Ratos De Porão – Nao Me Importo (live) (Brazil, 1985)
13. Martina + Part Time Punx – Mehr Von Dir (Germany, 1987)
14. Frightwig – Only You (USA, 1984)
15. Big In Japan – Big In Japan (England, 1977)
16. Bärchen Und Die Milchbubis – Jung Kaputt Spart Alterscheime (Germany, 1980)
17. Mood Of Defiance – American Love Song (USA, 1983)
18. Virgin Rocks – Get Along With You (Japan, 1987)
19. Ana Hausen – Professionals (England, 1981)
20. Métal Boys – New Malden (France, 1980)
21. Red Cross – Standing In Front Of Poseur (USA, 1980)
22. Dolly Mixture – Been Teen (England, 1981)
23. Morbid Opera – White Flag (USA, 1983)
24. Chin-Chin – We Don’t Wanna Be Prisoners (Switzerland, 1984)
25. Lovedolls – Now That I’ve Tasted Blood (USA, 1986)
26. Compos Mentis – Confused (New Zealand, 1985-ish)
27. Hysteria – Silent Hate (England, 1984)

Disc 12:

1. Pervers – Asozial (Germany, 1984)
2. Hugh Beaumont Experience – Moo (USA, 1983)
3. Inocentes with Meire – Ri Dos Hippies (Brazil, 1984)
4. Ruggedy Annes – Hollow Heroes (Canada, 1985)
5. Blowdriers – Berkeley Farms (USA, 1979)
6. Rap – Accident (Japan, 1985)
7. Decadent – Opposition Proposition (USA, 1982)
8. Warriors – Born To Ride (Japan, 1987)
9. Bambix – Little Miss Sunshine (Netherlands, 1989)
10. Super Heroines – Death On The Elevator (USA, 1981)
11. Cherry Vanilla – The Punk (England, 1977)
12. Hari-Kari – Prey For Peace (USA, 1983)
13. Kleenex – Ü (Switzerland, 1979)
14. Chute De Esperma – No Keremos (Spain, 1984)
15. Revo – Fuck The School (Netherlands, 1980)
16. The Fall – Hotel Blôedel (England, 1983)
17. Der Riß – Images (Germany, 1985)

As the compiler mentioned above, in some ways, the title of this set is a misnomer... although many of the bands featured in this compilation (such as The Raincoats, Kleenex, The Slits, Hans-A-Plast, etc.) are indeed all-woman groups, a good proportion of the songs being offered here are by unisex bands that just happened to have a woman as a lead singer (like X, Teenage Jesus & The Jerks, Chumbawumba and X-Ray Spex) or groups that let one of the female members sing a song or two  (like The Fall, 45 Grave, The Rezillos, and the like).  Perhaps a better name for this would have been A Reference of Female Voices in Punk Rock 1977-89... but maybe I'm just nitpicking. All in all, the selection here is superb...

Unfortunately, the initial set of downloads burned from this blogger's copies were NOT superb. I had a heck of a lot of issues with some of the song files, especially in the last five or six discs - some files were incomplete, others hopelessly corrupted.  So I made the time and took the extra effort to cull out the crap and find replacement files for some of these bands from other sources. Considering the level of obscurity of some of the tunes provided in this set, it goes without saying that it took a while for me to track everything down.   But in the end, I think I did.  So the set I'm offering here is a clean and uncorrupted as you're going to find out there for the time being.

Apparently, this set was featured on the Dangerous Minds website a few years ago - but still linked back to the Kangnave page, with its wonky files. Here for your listening pleasure is my repaired version of A Reference Of Female-Fronted Punk Rock 1977-89, a fan-compiled boot of twelve discs containing over 300 slices of quality punk and post-punk from the heyday of this music.  Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.

Please use the email link below to contact me, and I will reply with the download link(s) ASAP:

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Mark E. Smith, 1957-2018

I am floored.

The Guardian's obituary.

Can't even comment coherently on this now. For me, a profound loss - the leader of my all-time favorite band is no more. Don't know what to say.

More later...

The Clash - Clash On Broadway (The Interviews)

Here's a Leap Day quickie (and a way for me to keep up my monthly quota of posts as well . . .): a disc of interviews of various members of The Clash, put together as a promotion for the 1991 release of the Clash On Broadway compilation. These interviews, conducted by former band manager/associate Kosmo Vinyl in New York City and London in late 1991, provides info on the origins and operations, stresses and successes of the group from the 'horse's mouths' themselves. Mick Jones, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon detail their thoughts and inspirations behind some of the most important and popular Clash songs. While there is mostly just talk on this disc, there IS some music on here as well.

Here's the track lineup:

1. Interview (Mick Jones on the beginnings of The Clash)
2. Interview (Joe Strummer on the beginnings of The Clash)
3. Interview (Mick Jones on the beginnings of The Clash)
4. Interview (Paul Simonon on the beginnings of The Clash)
5. Interview (Mick Jones on the beginnings of The Clash)
6. Interview (Paul Simonon on the beginnings of The Clash)
7. Interview (Joe Strummer on the beginnings of The Clash)
8. Interview (Mick Jones on the beginnings of The Clash)
9. Interview (Joe Strummer on the beginnings of The Clash)
10. Interview (Mick Jones on the beginnings of The Clash)
11. White Riot
12. Interview (Paul Simonon; Joe Strummer; Mick Jones; on the transition from Terry Chimes to Topper Headon as Clash Drummer, and the writing of the song Complete Control)
13. Complete Control
14. Interview (Mick Jones; Joe Strummer on writing (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais)
15. White Man In Hammersmith Palais
16. Interview (Joe Strummer on the inspiration for Julie's Working For The Drug Squad)
17. Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad
18. Interview (Paul Simonon; Joe Strummer on writing One Emotion)
19. One Emotion
20. Interview (Joe Strummer; Mick Jones on covering the song I Fought The Law)
21. I Fought The Law (Live)
22. Interview (Mick Jones; Paul Simonon; Joe Strummer on writing the song and album London Calling)
23. London Calling
24. Interview (Joe Strummer; Mick Jones on writing Lost In The Supermarket)
25. Lost In The Supermarket
26. Interview (Paul Simonon on writing The Guns Of Brixton)
27. The Guns Of Brixton
28. Interview (Paul Simonon; Mick Jones on writing Train In Vain)
29. Train In Vain
30. Interview (Joe Strummer on writing Rock The Casbah)
31. Rock The Casbah
32. Interview (Mick Jones; Joe Strummer; Paul Simonon on writing Should I Stay Or Should I Go)
33. Should I Stay Or Should I Go
34. Interview (Paul Simonon, Mick Jones; Joe Strummer on recording Every Little Bit Hurts)
35. Every Little Bit Hurts
36. Interview (Mick Jones; Paul Simonon; Joe Strummer on the legacy of The Clash)

I ran this one down only a couple of years back, in my constant search for any and all noises related to The Clash. I had no idea it existed prior to then, else I would have acquired it at the same time I bought the compilation all those years ago. This mostly-interview disc may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I always find it interesting to know a band's roots, and how/why they came up with their hit songs. This album is a great complement to the original box set and the Clash On Broadway (The Outtakes, a.k.a. Disc 4) I posted earlier. If you have any interest in the history of The Clash, this is a must-have.

So here for your edification and listening pleasure, is Clash On Broadway (The Interviews), released by Epic Records in late 1991.  Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.

Happy Leap Day!

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The Clash - Clash On Broadway (The Outtakes)

Well, let's start 2016 off right - with some Clash!

From Sharoma's superb site, reviewing a multitude of Clash bootlegs and rarities, comes the following quote taken from his excellent write-up regarding the super-hard-to-find (except here, of course!) Demos, Outtakes, Alternates (D.O.A.) set:

"Along with Clash On Broadway Outtakes and The Rat Patrol, [you'll] almost have all The Clash demos, outtakes and alternates."

Since the other two mentioned above have long been available on this blog, I figured I might as well post the third and final selection in the band's bootleg triumvirate!

Despite this disc's professionally-produced liner notes and cover, which are identical to the 1991 three-disc Clash on Broadway Legacy Records release, this release is NOT an official part of that set. The original compilation (which included early singles, some live recordings, and a couple of previously unreleased tracks and demos) covered the period from the band's 1977 debut through to 1982's Combat Rock. It notably

included nothing from the critically and commercially reviled 1985 album Cut The Crap, about which I've had more than enough to say about in the past. The Outtakes (or Clash On Broadway (Disc 4), if you will), is an attempt to fill in that missing piece, and also provide fans with additional rarities and demos left off of the box set (which, in my opinion, had a pretty scanty selection).

Sharoma's site only details the last ten tracks for this boot (I stand by his reviews of these songs); I got the extended version from somewhere - I can't quite recall where or when, it's been so long. Here's the back cover with song details:

Highlights from the first half include some live concert takes by the post-Mick Jones Clash in Seattle, Glasgow and Paris (as much as I've badmouthed this lineup over the years, I must say that overall, they didn't sound that bad in concert); radio news reports of the chaos surrounding the Clash's legendary 1981 stand at Bond's International Casino in New York; a full-length version of "Dirty Harry", the early working title for Sandinista's "The Magnificent Seven" (a shorter version of this song is contained on my previous Clash post, Rocker Station); and in my opinion the only decent song off of Cut The Crap, "We Are The Clash". There are a couple of things here that have appeared elsewhere: "Rock The Casbah (with Ranking Roger)" was included on Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg, and "Guns Of Brixton (alt. mix)" was taken off of the Return To Brixton EP. But overall, the selections here are truly hard to find and well thought out.

So, for my first post of the new year, here's Clash On Broadway (The Outtakes), complied in 2002 by an European bootleg label called Scotty Snail. Enjoy, Happy New Year, and as always, let me know what you think.

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Minutemen - Double Nickels On The Dime (RS500 - #411)

Dennes Dale "D." Boon of The Minutemen died thirty years ago today, on December 22nd, 1985. It is truly hard to fathom that it's been that long.

The first Minutemen song I ever recall hearing was "Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing". I was listening to WHFS, the local alternative station, in my dorm room at Bancroft Hall shortly after the beginning of my youngster (sophomore) year at the Naval Academy in the fall of 1984 when this tune came on:

I don't know what it was about that song that grabbed me; was it the chugging melody? The plaintive, stop-start vocals? Or one of the few lyrics I could make out, "We'd cuss more in our songs and cut down the guitar solos" - followed immediately by a cheeky guitar solo? I didn't know much about The Minutemen prior to 1984; the little I'd heard about them was that they were "just another" California hardcore punk band, which formed my generally negative impression of the group before I'd ever heard a single note of their music. But hearing this weird, complex, melodic, funny song on the radio was a revelation, and completely turned my mind around regarding this band. That weekend, I made my way to Oceans II Records downtown and purchased the cassette version of the album this song was on, Double Nickels On The Dime.

Based upon what I knew of the band's history, I was a little concerned about what I would find on this album. Guitarist Boon and bassist Mike Watt were childhood friends, having met at the age of thirteen in San Pedro, California in 1971, after Watt's military officer dad was transferred to the area from Maryland a couple of years earlier. They started playing music together while still in junior high, playing rock covers and the like until their last year of high school, when they got into punk. The due began writing their own songs, and formed their first punk band, The Reactionaries, in 1978. When that group broke up eighteen months later, Boon and Watt formed Minutemen, with their former drummer from The Reactionaries, Ed Hurley, joining them a few months later.

The Minutemen began releasing records through Long Beach-based SST Records; their first EP, Paranoid Time was out before the end of 1980. Their first effort on vinyl completely lived up the the "loud/fast/hard" punk ethos - Paranoid Time blasts through its seven songs in six and a half minutes, and for the most part the tunes are what you would expect - abrasive guitars, thrashing drums, shouted vocals, everything at top speed. The disc was a minor hit in punk circles, quickly selling out its initial 300-copy pressing. Impressed, SST label head Greg Ginn invited the band to record a full-length album the following year. The Minutemen went into the studio for a single late-night session in the late summer of 1981 and laid down The Punch Line, which was released in November 1981.

Like their debut EP, The Punch Line is notable for the brevity of its songs; the album blazes through eighteen songs in fifteen minutes, with no song running longer than a minute and a quarter. But what's also notable about this release is the remarkable musical development of The Minutemen in the few short months since their first release. There's still some thrashing and shouting on this album, but some songs are melodic, tuneful in almost a prog-rock, free-form jazz sort of way. For instance, check out this song, "The Struggle":

I think that, despite their immersion in the early California punk scene (they were huge Black Flag and Flesh Eaters fans), a lot of what influenced The Minutemen's music came from their time as a rock covers band, playing music from groups they admired like Steely Dan, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Alice Cooper. Of course, coming out openly and admitting that they liked bands like that would have drawn the ire and opprobrium of their rabid punk fan base. So in a sense, Watt, Boon and Hurley "camouflaged" this rock/pop aesthetic with enough punk-y bells and whistles to be palatable for their crowd.

The Punch Line was the first Minutemen release that got some serious notice by the mainstream rock press, many of whom recognized early on that this was no ordinary punk band. The band continued to garner critical praise with their second full-length album, What Makes A Man Start Fires?, released in January 1983. All of this set the stage for their magnum opus, Double Nickels On The Dime.

Like I said above, at the time I purchased this album I didn't know a lot of details of the band's early history that I noted above. I knew that they were on SST, home of Husker Du, another California hardcore punk band. I'd heard a couple of cuts from the latter band's Zen Arcade (released on the same day as Double Nickels) and frankly, they weren't to my taste. So I still thought I was screwing myself over by purchasing an album based on my impression of a single song. As it turned out, I couldn't have been more wrong - Double Nickels On The Dime is a fantastic album, the definitive expression of what The Minutemen were all about - eclectic, thoughtful, tuneful, sharp, funny, introspective. As good as "Political Song . . ." was, there were plenty more on this album that struck my fancy. But probably my favorite tune here is "History Lesson, Part II", where D. Boon sings about how the band came to be, and specifically about his relationship with his band mate and friend Mike Watt:

The first line of this song, "Our band could be your life", is now iconic, along with "Punk rock changed our lives." "History Lesson, Part II" is an ode to a scene that was fast disappearing (in many ways, the release of Double Nickels marked the beginning of the end of the scene the band came up in. According to American Hardcore: A Tribal History author Steven Blush, this album (along with Zen Arcade), was "either the pinnacle or downfall of the pure hardcore scene."). Bands like Black Flag also began to ignore the rigid rules of their genre, and move away more and more from the thrash-and-bang sound. "History Lesson, Part II" is also one of the best friendship songs ever written - Mike Watt wrote the song as a tribute to D. Boon, but Boon ended up singing it and conveying his respect and affection for his old friend back at him.

Double Nickels On The Dime was met with near-universal acclaim upon its release - influential Village Voice critic Robert Christgau gave the album an "A-", then later admitted he underrated it. Even the critics and publications who didn't fully appreciate the disc at the time have made an effort in following years to rectify their error - Rolling Stone originally gave it 3 1/2 stars, but when it was re-reviewed in 2004, the magazine upgraded the album to "classic" status, a full five stars. Even with all of that, Double Nickels wasn't a huge seller; in its first year, only about 15,000 copies were sold (including the one I bought). That wasn't too shabby a result for for an indie band, but not enough to get you onto the Billboard 200. Still, to this day, the album remains The Minutemen's best selling record.

Even with all of the critical acclaim and their relentless touring in support of their record during 1984 and 1985, The Minutemen and its members weren't exactly household names in 1985. So D. Boon's death in a car accident that December wasn't big news in a lot of quarters. I was fairly plugged in to what was happening in the music world then, so I heard about it the day after it occurred, while I was home on Christmas vacation. From what I understand, Boon was sleeping in the back of a van being driven by his girlfriend through Arizona when the rear axle suddenly broke. The van immediately lost control and rolled off the side of the highway; Boon was thrown out the rear door and broke his neck, killing him instantly.

When I got the news, I got the same weird feeling in the pit of my stomach that I'd had a couple of months earlier, when I learned that The B-52's Ricky Wilson had also died unexpectedly (reportedly, at the time, of "cancer"; it was much later that it was revealed he had perished of AIDS). It was odd and sad to see musicians like these at the top of their game succumbing at such early ages to illnesses and accidents. D. Boon had a lot left to offer the music world; Double Nickels was only the band's third album. With every release they were expanding their melodic focus; it would have been cool to see where The Minutemen would have gone, had Boon remained alive.

But all in all, that feeling of loss I had was shared with very few others, just folks who knew and loved the band. The nearest analogy I can think of regarding the reaction to D. Boon's death was when guitarist Dimebag Darrell was shot and killed on stage in Columbus, Ohio in 2004. In certain quarters, Dimebag was a legend, the exciting and innovative musician behind Pantera and Damageplan. But I'll be willing to bet that the average man in the street had little if any idea who Dimebag Darrell was on the night of his death, why he was so important to music, and why his fans reacted with an outpouring of genuine despair and grief at his passing. To most people, he was "just another metal guitarist" . . . just as D. Boon was "just another punk rocker". But they were both much more than that, as understood by their true fans and supporters, and the music world lost something interesting and special with their passing.

Thirty years have now gone by, and for the most part, the memory of D. Boon has faded from general knowledge. But for a few, who still revere the legendary music that The Minutemen left behind, the spirit of Boon still endures. After a period of depression and seclusion in the wake of Boon's death, Mike Watt and Ed Hurley resumed their music careers, first in fIREHOSE, and later with other bands and their own solo work. They are still the keepers of the old band's flame, and in interviews wax nostalgic over the sounds they made together with their long-lost friend. Even after all these years, Watt still calls Double Nickels On The Dime "the best record I ever played on." Damn straight.

I was planning on writing a more in-depth history of the band and their music (especially this album) and a fuller account of the life and death of D. Boon here, but it's already been done, probably better than anything I ever could have written - here it is, if you're interested. It comes highly recommended.

Anyway, in memory of D. Boon, here's the album, released on SST Records in July 1984. Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think.

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Various Artists - Punk Rock Xmas

More Christmas stuff . . . generally speaking.

I don't know if I need to elaborate much about this offering; you pretty much know what you're getting here. There are more than a few of these types of compilations out there, filled with noisy, shambolic renditions of traditional holiday songs or barely coherent Christmas originals performed by punk bands old and new. But in my opinion, this one's the best of the lot - at least, I think it is; it's actually the only one of these sort of things that I own. Someone sent this to me years ago, I can't even recall what year. During the year, I don't pay much attention to it - and every December, I try my hardest to ignore it, but I usually end up playing at least a couple of cuts off of it as the holiday approaches.

Here's the lineup:

1. (It's Gonna Be A) Punk Rock Christmas - The Ravers
2. Silent Night - The Dickies
3. Hooray For Santa Claus - Sloppy Seconds
4. Fuck Christmas - Fear
5. A Merry Christmas - The Greedies
6. There Ain't No Sanity Claus - The Damned
7. Homo Christmas - Pansy Division
8. It's Christmas - Bouquet Of Veal
9. Merry Xmas Blues - The Celibate Rifles
10. Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight) - Ramones
11. Deck The Halls - Metal Mike Alison And Julia
12. Feliz Navi Nada - El Vez
13. Run, Run Rudolph - The Humpers
14. Daddy Drank Our Xmas Money - TVTV$
15. Here Comes Santa's Pussy - The Frogs
16. Christmas Christmas - Mojo Nixon
17. Mr. Grinch - D.I.
18. White Christmas - Stiff Little Fingers

This disc contains some touchstones of the punk/Christmas music hybrid genre, including: "Daddy Drank Our Xmas Money"

by TVTV$; The Humpers' rockin', straight-ahead version of Chuck Berry's classic "Run Run Rudolph" (one of my personal favorites); Sloppy Seconds exquisitely stupid cover of an exquisitely stupid holiday song, "Hooray For Santa Claus" (from the 1964 film Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, widely considered one of the worst movies ever made); and what is quite possibly the definitive punk rock Xmas song, "Fuck Christmas" by Fear.

Again, what else can I say? If you like this sort of stuff, this post will be right up your alley. If you don't . . . well, give it a shot anyway, at the very least for the sake of a laugh and a short respite from the overload of sappiness and saccharine that usually defines the holiday season. Sometimes, you need to tell Frosty with his hat and Charlie Brown with his little tree to get lost for a little while!

So, for your holiday listening pleasure, here's Punk Rock Xmas, a compilation released by Rhino Records on October 10th, 1995. Enjoy, Merry Christmas, and as always, let me know what you think.

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The Clash - Rocker Station

Recent comment on my Nakano Sun Plaza, Tokyo, Japan (1982-01-28) posting:

"Great show; always looking for Clash bootlegs. Will definitely bookmark your site. More Clash please!"

Ask, Mr. Donihue, and you shall receive!

Here's the great Rocker Station bootleg, put together by super-Clash fan Sharoma. As per a previous post I did many moons ago on a bootleg by this band, I'm going to get out of the way and turn the narrative description of this set over to him . . . only Sharoma - come in Sharoma!

I didn't hear about this comp until about four/five years ago, long after it first appeared, so I had the devil's own time trying to track down a copy of it - it was especially tough since this is really not an official bootleg, just a fan's collection of odds and sods.  But mission accomplished, and gladly so; there's some gold on this here disc - including the live version of "The Magnificent Seven" the band played on Tom Snyder's Tomorrow show in 1981, while they were in New York during their legendary Bonds International Casino residency, and the demo version of the same song from the previous year (then titled "Dirty Harry [Speed Mix]"). 

Here's the rest of the track listing:

1. Radio One
2. Dirty Harry [Speed Mix]
3. Rock The Casbah (Hot Tracks Mix)
4. Overpowered By Funk (New York Remix) [Speed Mix]
5. The Escapades Of Futura 2000
6. Radio One (Reprise)
7. The Escapades Of Futura Dub
8. Overpowered By Funk (Instrumental)
9. Rock The Casbah (Ultimix)
10. The Further Adventures Of Futura 2000
11. The Magnificent Seven (Tomorrow Show)
12. Lightning Strikes (Live)
13. The Magnificent Seven (Grooveblaster Remix)
14. In The Pouring Rain (Demo)

Here - have a listen and pick out the standout tracks for yourself. Enjoy Sharoma's Rocker Station Clash rarities compilation (first formatted in 2002), and as always, let me know what you think.

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Pee-Pee Soaked Heckhole's Five Year Anniversary

Wow . . . has it actually been that long?

Back in 2010, the mere thought of starting my own music blog was daunting, to say the least. I like to think of myself as pretty computer-savvy, but I honestly had no concept as to how to go about creating a forum to discuss and distribute to the masses selections from my voluminous collection of tunes. At the time, I figured that only hardcore computer geeks and programming experts had the know-how to set one of these things up, and that I was hopelessly outclassed in that field.  It was only after finally sitting down and really looking into it that I found how easy it would be to go about establishing my own site.  And I'm glad I did.

Over the years, I've written about albums both familiar and obscure, riffing on everything from Rolling Stone 500 selections to strange, hard-to-find bootlegs and other music considered to be well off the beaten track.  In several cases, the tunes I've talked about here have affected or influenced my life in some large or small way, and to this day many of them bring back fond and/or poignant memories from my past whenever I play them.  I'm sure that all of you out there have songs that do the same for you.

All in all, through this blog, I've attempted to sort out and organize my tangled thoughts to convey to you all my love for, hatred of, and, in some cases, mania for the tunes that I enjoy.  I like to think that I've been successful with this, based on the number of visits I've had here over the years and the friends I've made via this site.  And I must say that I've had a high, fine old time doing it!

I've been trying to think of an appropriate post to commemorate this blog's fifth anniversary . . . perhaps something with a "five" in its name, or a five-disc set. But in the end, I figured that there was no need for anything special. I'm planning on continuing this blog for a long time, so I'll need to save my selections for the future.

I will, however, leave you all with one of my longtime favorite albums, AK·79 - the definitive summation of the Auckland, New Zealand punk scene of the late 1970s, released by Ripper Records in late 1979. A fellow blogger and giant in contemporary New Zealand music by the name of Simon Grigg (who compiled the expanded CD version of this disc in 1993 and also wrote the liner notes) put together an excellent write-up on this disc; here it is, for your reading pleasure. I can add nothing more substantive to his fine words.

Accept this compilation as my thanks to you all for continuing to visit and comment upon this site. It's been a heck of a ride so far, and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon. Thanks - more to come!

(And, as always, let me know what you think.)

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The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & The Lash (RS500 - #445)

Here's a timely post, considering the day . . .

During my junior (Second Class) year at the Naval Academy, there was a guy in my company named John, who lived across the hall from me that year. John was sort of short and wiry, but strong and smart as shit, and the dude could run like a gazelle for miles. His one aim in life was to become a Marine Corps officer, and during his time at the Academy he focused on that goal with steely concentration. He was in no way a party hound or a 'good-time guy' - he spent almost all of his time either studying, running or reading Marine manuals and other things related to the Corps. Through his stern demeanor and the way he carried himself, he earned the respect of most of his classmates. And although I never heard him raise his voice or flip out on anyone, the plebes under his tutelage quickly learned not to be unprepared in his presence, and trembled under his gaze.

Just about the only thing John did outside of his academic and athletic pursuits that could remotely be called "recreation" or "relaxation" was listen to traditional Irish folk music. He was nuts for the stuff, and had stacks of it on cassettes which he kept in a special drawer in his desk. Now for me (and I think for most other people), a little bit of that music goes a long way - yet John would sometimes play his Irish tunes for hours, driving his roommates and others in nearby rooms straight up the wall. But people never got on him about it, due of that aura of respect the guy had around him. I DID make attempts to 'counter-program' on occasion, playing selections from my rapidly-growing collection of punk and New Wave cassettes to drown out the mournful Celtic wailing and tin whistle tooting coming out of his room. This no doubt painted me as some kind of music freak/weirdo in John's eyes. He was a pretty hard guy to get to know on a personal level, and we weren't really buddies, per se - more like nodding acquaintances. So for a while there, I couldn't figure out any way to break the ice and convince him to play something different every once in a while . . . until I hit upon a plan. And that plan involved The Pogues.

The Pogues had their origins in The Nipple Erectors (aka The Nips), a band formed near the very dawning of the English punk movement. The band, fronted by vocalist Shane MacGowan, released four singles and a live album between 1977 and 1981 (one song, "Gabrielle", is featured on the 1-2-3-4: Punk & New Wave 1976-1979 compilation I posted here last month). In the late 70s, MacGowan also played with a pickup band called The Millwall Chainsaws, which included banjoist Jem Finer and Spider Stacy on tin whistle. Near the tail end of The Nips' existence, the group shifted its musical direction, becoming less of a straight-ahead rock/punk band and incorporating Cretan and Irish folk into their music. This new focus didn't last, as the band fell apart within six months.

After The Nips broke up, MacGowan began concentrating more on The Millwell Chainsaws, who changed their name to The New Republicans. In 1982, he convinced his old Nips bandmate James Fearnley to join the group on accordian, and the quartet, newly christened Pogue Mahone (Gaelic for "kiss my ass") played their first gig at The Pindar of Wakefield in London in October, 1982.

Over the next year or so, the group added drummer Andrew Ranken and Cait O'Riordan on bass, and began building up a fan base in and around London, appearing at various local clubs and releasing a self-financed single, "Dark Streets of London". Pogue Mahone began receiving their first national attention in early 1984, when they opened for "The Clash" (and I use those quotation marks deliberately, as "The Clash" at this time consisted of Strummer, Vince White, Nick Sheppard and Pete Howard - the same lineup that would record and release the abysmal and much-maligned Cut The Crap a year later) during their Out Of Control Tour that winter. MacGowan and Co. signed

with Stiff Records that spring, and after a name change to The Pogues (brought on after listener complaints led to a brief ban from the BBC), the group released their first album, the generally well-received Red Roses For Me, in October 1984.

I didn't hear about The Pogues until the late spring of 1985, when I began seeing articles about them in the British music mags I read at the time. Their follow-up to Red Roses For Me was slated for release later that year, and as I recall, the stories I read seemed to downplay the punk side of the band's output, focusing more on the folk aspects of their sound. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about purchasing a hardcore Irish music disc . . . but at the time, I trusted the reviews and opinions these magazines offered, so I decided to give it a try. The Pogues' second album, Rum, Sodomy & The Lash, was released that August; I recall picking my copy up at a record store in Pensacola, Florida while down there doing a short summer training session.

Overall, I enjoyed the album very much. It's remarkable how well this punk/folk mashup works; the former genre intensifies the passion and the meaning of the latter. The Pogues storm through raucous, authentic-sound originals like "The Sick Bed of Cúchulainn" and "Sally MacLennane", and provide different takes on traditional folk tunes like "The Gentleman Soldier" and "I'm A Man You Don't Meet Everyday". But my two favorites off of this disc are a cover of Ewan MacColl's "Dirty Old Town" and the album highlight "A Pair Of Brown Eyes", penned by MacGowan himself:

The album cover itself is also remarkable, in that it superimposes pictures of band members' faces over figures in Theodore Gericault's classic and celebrated French Romantic painting The Raft Of The Medusa. All in all, Rum, Sodomy & The Lash was a smash hit in Britain, with the album making the UK Top 15 and three singles reaching the Top 100. It didn't do much chart-wise here in America, but the right people (myself included) were exposed to it. And that fall, I decide to expose John to it as well.

I bumped into him in the hall one day and engaged him in conversation, steering the chat towards music, especially towards his beloved Irish tunes. I casually mentioned that I had recently begun listening to Irish music, and offered to loan him my new Pogues cassette. John was initially skeptical - he KNEW what sort of stuff I was normally into, and couldn't believe that I enjoyed the same tunes that he did; he undoubtedly suspected that I was taking the piss out of him. His suspicions were somewhat alleviated when I went to my room and quickly returned with the tape, but he still had a weird look on his face as he sauntered away, promising to have a listen to it sometime soon.

A few days went by, and I hadn't seen much of John during that time - we were both off just doing out respective things. On the positive side of that, however, I hadn't heard much traditional Irish music coming from him room during that period, which was a blessing. I finally ran into him one afternoon out in the Yard on the way to class.

"Hey John - what's been happening?", I asked.

"Not much," he replied, taciturn as always.

"Did you have a chance to listen to that tape I lent you?"

"Yeah."

"What did you think?"

John paused for a moment, then broke into a rare and uncharacteristic smile.  "It's the greatest stuff I've ever heard!"

So I made The Pogues a new fan that day!

After graduation, I lost touch with John for several years. But I saw him again at the 20th Class Reunion six or seven years ago. He'd loosened up a lot since our Academy days, and we had a good time reminiscing about old times. I was surprised when he brought up my loan of that album to him; apparently, it affected him a lot more than he let on at the time. Not only did it lead him to become a Pogues fan for several years afterwards, it also expanded his music tastes beyond what he was used to, and he learned to appreciate groups that he was blind to before, like The Clash, The Smiths and The Jam. So I guess for once I did something right.

And with that, here's something right for you all: The Pogues' Rum, Sodomy & The Lash, produced by Elvis Costello (who ended up later marrying Cait O'Riordan for a few years) and released by Stiff Records in the UK in August 1985, and by MCA Records in the U.S. that same month. Enjoy your St. Patrick's Day, and as always, let me know what you think.  

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Various Artists - 1-2-3-4: Punk & New Wave 1976-1979 (5 Discs)

For such a precedent-shattering and groundbreaking genre, the Golden Age of punk rock was relatively short-lived. Although it's tough to nail down a definitive start to the punk era, 1975 seems to be the consensus, based on the rise that year of such New York City bands/musicians as The Ramones, Patti Smith and Television, and the emergence of The Buzzcocks and The Sex Pistols in the UK. But long before the end of the '70s, punk was already disintegrating, splintering into several different genres - post-punk, New Wave, hardcore, No Wave, Oi!, psychobilly, etc.

Even during its heyday, "punk" was more about the methods, means and attitude by which these musicians approached their music, rather than defining a uniform sound and approach. The Clash, The Jam, Talking Heads, X and The Damned are all considered some of the classic bands to come out of that era, but you'd be hard-pressed to come up with an all-encompassing description/definition of "punk" from their music. This wide variation in the sound and style of what was considered "punk" is one of the genre's strengths, but an aspect that makes the era particularly difficult to summarize and anthologize.

Now, I own a gazillion single- and multi-disc punk and New Wave compilations: Burning Ambitions: A History of Punk (Vols. 1 & 2); Rhino's D.I.Y. series from the mid-90s; The Number One Punk Album, and so forth and so on. I've got overviews of American punk, British punk, Australian punk - you name it. Some of them are pretty good, most of them are OK/so-so, and a couple are absolutely terrible. None of them serve to effectively capture the entire era. And for years, I figured that there would never be a release of any length that could do so. That is, until the late 1990s.

I recall reading about this set in the late winter/early spring of 1999, when I lived in Texas. There was an article about its upcoming release in one of the UK music magazines I regularly read back then - Q, the NME . . . I don't recall which one. But I do recall the glowing review the magazine gave to this box set; it completely whetted my appetite for it. There used to be a Virgin Megastore at the mall near where I used to live in Grapevine - I made a beeline down to it and immediately put in a special order for the set, since it was not slated to be released in the States. The thing finally arrived in May, a month after its UK release - a long black slab with protruding silver studs numbered "1, 2, 3, 4" on the front of the box, containing five enveloped CDs of music and a mammoth book of liner notes containing details on every single song.

Now, I'm usually against overarching compilations in general; I have been disappointed time and time again by these sorts of overviews falling short of their intentions. In my opinion, the only music comps in the past fifty years that have even come close to thoroughly cataloging and celebrating a specific genre are as follows:

1. The Nuggets garage rock compilation;
2. Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music;
3.  . . . and this one.

The compilers do their best to pull together most of the highlights (and a few low-lights) from those years; check out the song lineup:

Disc 1:

1. Complete Control - The Clash
2. Anarchy In The UK - The Sex Pistols
3. New Rose - The Damned
4. Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones
5. Shadow - The Lurkers
6. Thinking Of The USA - Eater
7. Ain't Bin To No Music School - The Nosebleeds
8. Borstal Breakout - Sham 69
9. I Hate School - Suburban Studs
10. GLC - Menace
11. One Chord Wonders - The Adverts
12. Right To Work - Chelsea
13. Johnny Won't Go To Heaven - The Killjoys
14. Bone Idle - The Drones
15. Where Have All The Boot Boys Gone - Slaughter & The Dogs
16. C.I.D. - UK Subs
17. Can't Wait 'til '78 - The Wasps
18. Ambition - Subway Sect
19. I'm Stranded - The Saints
20. Orgasm Addict - The Buzzcocks

Disc 2:

1. In The City - The Jam
2. Your Generation - Generation X
3. First Time - The Boys
4. Get A Grip (On Yourself) - The Stranglers
5. Don't Dictate - Penetration
6. In A Rut - The Ruts
7. Big Time - Rudi
8. Don't Ring Me Up - Protex
9. Justa Nother Teenage Rebel - The Outcasts
10. Solitary Confinement - The Members
11. Emergency - 999
12. 19 And Mad - Leyton Buzzards
13. I'm In Love With Margaret Thatcher - Not Sensibles
14. Romford Girls - Riff Raff
15. Sick Of You - The Users
16. Gabrielle - The Nips
17. Where Were You - The Mekons
18. Murder Of Liddle Towers - Angelic Upstarts
19. Oh Bondage Up Yours - X-Ray Spex
20. Sweet Suburbia - Skids
21. Television Screen - The Radiators
22. Alternative Ulster - Stiff Little Fingers
23. Teenage Kicks - The Undertones

Disc 3:

1. Teenage Depression - Eddie & The Hot Rods
2. Rich Kids - Rich Kids
3. Baby Baby (I Know You're A Lady) - The Vibrators
4. Suffice To Say - Yachts
5. Roadrunner - Richman, Jonathan & The Modern Lovers
6. Don't Care - Klark Kent
7. Nervous Wreck - Radio Stars
8. Up Against The Wall - Robinson, Tom Band
9. So It Goes - Lowe, Nick
10. Police Car - Wallis, Larry
11. Hard Loving Man - Moped, Johnny
12. Love And A Molotov Cocktail - The Flys
13. Where's Captain Kirk - Spizzenergi
14. Sonic Reducer - Dead Boys
15. Search And Destroy - The Dictators
16. Born To Lose - The Heartbreakers
17. Modern Dance - Pere Ubu
18. Fuck Off - The Electric Chairs
19. California Uber Alles - Dead Kennedys

Disc 4:

1. I Belong To The Blank Generation - Hell, Richard & The Voidoids
2. 10.15 Saturday Night - TheCure
3. Rip Her To Shreds - Blondie
4. I Can't Stand My Baby - The Rezillos
5. All I Want - Snatch
6. Looking After No 1 - The Boomtown Rats
7. Take Me I'm Yours - Squeeze
8. Sex And Drugs And Rock 'n' Roll - Dury, Ian & The Blockheads
9. Spanish Stroll - Mink DeVille
10. Is She Really Going Out With Him - Jackson, Joe
11. Whole Wide World - Wreckless Eric
12. Part Time Punks - Television Personalities
13. Safety Pin Stuck In My Heart - Fitzgerald, Patrick
14. You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory - Thunders, Johnny
15. Psycle Sluts - Clarke, John Cooper
16. Jilted John - Jilted John
17. Kill - Alberto Y Los Trios Paranoias
18. Paranoid - The Dickies

Disc 5:

1. Public Image - Public Image Ltd.
2. Warsaw - Joy Division
3. Staircase Mystery - Siouxsie & The Banshees
4. Damaged Goods - Gang Of Four
5. You - Au Pairs
6. How Much Longer - Au Pairs
7. Read About Seymour - Swell Maps
8. Young Parisians - Adam & The Ants
9. Monochrome Set - The Monochrome Set
10. We Are All Prostitutes - The Pop Group
11. Typical Girls - The Slits
12. Mannequin - Wire
13. Shot By Both Sides - Magazine
14. Science Fiction - XTC
15. Do The Standing Still - The Table
16. Another Girl Another Planet - The Only Ones
17. Young Savage - Ultravox
18. Puppet Life - Punishment Of Luxury
19. Jocko Homo - Devo
20. Marquee Moon - Television

As I alluded to earlier, the purpose of box sets such as this one is to provide the listener with an overview of a particular era or type of music. I know full well that it's damn near impossible to include everything - that would defeat the purpose of having such a set. Instead of providing the whole kit and kaboodle, a compilation like this one should effectively answer two questions:

a) "Does this set provide the listener with a insightful look into the genre?" and
b) "Upon completion, has the listener learned something useful about the genre?" 

In the case of 1-2-3-4: Punk & New Wave 1976-1979, the answer to both questions, in my opinion, is YES.

It's been almost fifteen years after the release of possibly the most definitive punk compilation of all time, and you NEVER hear anything about this set. In fact, 1-2-3-4 is currently out of print, which I regard as just another example of the recording industry's insanity and ass-forward thinking. This comp should never be allowed to lapse.

Therefore, it lives on here. For your listening pleasure, I present to you the superb 1-2-3-4: Punk & New Wave 1976-1979, released on April 19th, 1999 by Universal Music (UK) Ltd. Enjoy these one hundred prime cuts of '70s musical goodness . . . and as always, let me know what you think.

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LiLiPUT/Kleenex - LiLiPUT (2 Discs)

I began applying to graduate school while I was living over in New Zealand - spending practically every night after work for more than a year investigating programs, writing essays, and gathering information and recommendations. It was a long, grueling and nerve-wracking process, made even more difficult by the distance I was away from the places I was applying to and the technology of the time (keep in mind that I was doing all of this at the very dawn of the Internet/email age, so most of my work was being done at the library and my applications and appeals were being forwarded via regular (i.e. 'snail') mail). I looked into a number of university MBA curricula, with the goal being to get into one of what were considered the "best". I wasn't necessarily concerned with the university's location or ambiance, or whether it was the right 'fit' esthetically for me - I just wanted to get into what was considered a "top-ten" school (as per the annual U.S. News magazine rankings). Under that methodology and consideration, the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, a perennial Top Five pick, was the place I had my heart set on.

I forwarded all of my applications in late 1994/early 1995, and that spring I received news that I had been accepted to four schools, the University of Rochester (William E. Simon), the University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler), the University of California at Berkeley (Haas) . . . and Darden. I'll admit that the first two schools were essentially 'safety' picks - I had no intention of spending two years freezing my ass off in northern New York, and I'd visited UNC before and wasn't all that impressed. Although I'd been to the San Francisco area many times before, and used to live in nearby Monterey, I'd never actually been to the Berkeley campus. However, the thought of attending school in California was very intriguing . . . but in the end, I went with my head and did what I thought was right, and accepted the Darden offer. I flew back to the States that June, and started classes in Charlottesville that fall.

During my first month in grad school, the local PBS station in Charlottesville began airing the first in a ten-part documentary series, The History of Rock & Roll, an international effort jointly produced by the influential public television station WGBH in Boston and the BBC. The concept behind the miniseries was unique; instead of focusing on the big names, monster bands and landmark events in rock history, the programs would focus instead on the creators, innovators and visionaries - the sources and influences that made popular music what is today. For example, the first episode, "Renegades", dealt with the growing popularity in the late '40s and early '50s of R&B and blues music, "race" music previously relegated to black radio. The show featured interviews with former WLAC Nashville radio hosts from that era (whose late-night R&B shows were heard across the country thanks to the station's broadcasting power), and the owners of Chicago's Chess Records, ostensibly a jazz/blues label that nonetheless released several important records early in rock history. A later episode, "Blues In Technicolor", covered the San Francisco psychedelic rock scene from its origins right through to Altamont, with Ken Kesey, Ravi Shankar and Country Joe McDonald providing interesting commentary on the music and times. Every one of the shows was excellent. I didn't miss an episode that fall, and recorded every single one of them on my VCR for later viewing.

My favorite of all the Rock & Roll episodes was the second-to-last one, simply titled "Punk". In a tightly-constructed hour, the show went through some of the origins of punk, from Jonathan Richman's Modern Lovers and Lenny Kaye's Nuggets '60s garage-rock compilations, through the New York art scene and the dawn of CBGB's and into the British punk explosion and the influence of Jamaican music on the movement. The portion of the show regarding reggae and how it affected the music of The Clash and other English bands included a brief clip of a music video for "Typical Girls" by The Slits and an interview with the band's frontwoman Ari Up:

Although I had heard of The Slits long before I saw this show, I didn't own any of their music or really know that much about them. So I went running to my old reliable resource, the Trouser Press Record Guide, to glean whatever information I could about them (in addition, I ran out the very next day and bought Cut). What I found was interesting: The Slits were considered to be one of a celebrated triumvirate of great, groundbreaking female-led bands that emerged in the early years of punk. I'd also heard of the second band mentioned in the book article, The Raincoats (after quitting The Slits in 1979, drummer Paloma Romero, aka Palmolive, joined The Raincoats). But the third band, Liliput (or as they preferred it, LiLiPUT) was completely unknown to me, and I dug deeper to find out more about this group.

LiLiPUT had its origins in the late '70s Swiss punk scene (yes, there was a punk movement in that country, just like in several other places across the globe - you don't seriously think that punk's rise and fall took place only in Britain and America, do you?).  Two Zurich musicians, bassist Klaudia Schiff and drummer Lislor Ha, formed a nameless band with two male friends in early 1978, and with the most rudimentary of skills and less than a half-dozen songs, played their first gig at a local club.  In the audience of that first show was postal worker Marlene Marder.  As soon as the set ended, the men quit the band; but just as quickly, a mesmerized Marder stepped in as lead guitarist.

The trio recruited a lead singer, Ramona Carlier, aka Regula Sing, and by the summer the group released an EP on Swiss label Sunrise Records, calling themselves "Kleenex". Although only a limited number of discs (about 500) were pressed, one of them made it into the hands of influential UK DJ John Peel, who played it on his BBC show. Another reached the editors of Sounds magazine, 

who made it their "Single of the Week". All of this recognition fueled British demand for the record; reportedly, the lion's share of this first pressing was smuggled into England by the sleeve designer, who sold the discs across the country at premium prices. It also brought Kleenex to the attention of Rough Trade Records, who quickly signed them and released their first domestic single, "Ain't You" b/w "Hedi's Head" that November.

It was after the release of their second Rough Trade single in 1979, "Ü" b/w "You", that the band found itself in a little legal hot water. The Kimberly-Clark consumer products corporation, makers of Kleenex tissues, threatened legal action against the group and label over the unauthorized use of their trademarked product name. Kleenex quickly changed its name to LiLiPUT, and continued its release of Rough Trade singles under their new moniker - "Split" b/w "Die Matrosen" in 1980, and "Eisiger Wind" in 1981. Throughout this period, the band went through numerous personnel changes (mainly drummers and vocalists), with Schiff and Marder being the only constant members. Despite this, both singles were hits in the UK.

LiLiPUT released two albums on Rough Trade, a self-titled release in 1982 and Some Songs, released in December 1983, shortly after the group decided to break up. LiLiPUT never toured America, and for that matter didn't do much touring in Europe either. While they existed, they seemed perfectly content to remain close to home in Switzerland, making music as part of several other artistic projects band members were into (Schiff, as Klaudia Schifferle, was and still is a widely-recognized modern art painter; Marder wrote a couple of books). After their disbandment, the band's records quickly achieved legendary (although mostly unheard by the majority of the world) status. During the '80s, there were flashes of acknowledgement and tribute here and there. Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon cited LiLiPUT as one of her influences when she arrived in New York in the early '80s. And Book of Love included a cover of "Die Matrosen" on their 1986 debut album. But those nods were few and far between. As that decade wore on, LiLiPUT/Kleenex became little more than a footnote in punk rock history.

All of that changed in 1993, when Zurich-based Off Course Records released a two-disc compilation of the band's entire output. In one stroke, the group's entire back catalogue was made available; a welcome release, but due to Off Course's limited size and distribution, extremely difficult for all but the most dogged and dedicated to get their hands on. Of course, when I read about this hard-to-find disc in the mid-90s, that only whetted my appetite for it. I searched for LiLiPUT through the rest of my time in grad school and for years afterward, without success.

I spent two years at Darden before I graduated with my MBA. In that time, I came to respect the grad school and the university as a whole, but I never learned to like it there. UVA takes great pride in the fact that it is one of the oldest institutes of higher learning in the country, and that was founded by the great Thomas Jefferson. The campus is beautiful, rich in history and full of world-class facilities and amenities. For some reason, I naively thought that the area around the university would reflect that stately, cultured image the university built for itself, and would be akin to Venice during the Renaissance - a progressive, intellectual melting pot. At the very least, I thought that there would be a lot of cool, funky stuff going on close by the school, similar to what I experienced when I lived in Athens, GA, home to the University of Georgia (UGA), a few years earlier. I was looking forward to some cool bars, great music, and interesting activities to try when I wanted to take a break from my academics.

But in my experience, UVA was a far cry from UGA - or even Navy, for that matter. Far from being a center of culture and learning, the city of Charlottesville itself was very much a typical small Southern city, full of (what were in my opinion) hicks and low-brows. I'll never forget my introduction to the locals on my first day in town; I went to a supermarket just outside the college gates to stock the kitchen in my new apartment, and stepped out of my car in the parking lot only to encounter a slovenly, heavy-set woman shrieking at her two brats to "get [their] asses in the car - now!" Yes, I know that can - and does - happen pretty much everywhere, but for it to occur at that place and time was extremely off-putting, and left a deeply negative impression of the city and its people in me. 

As for the nightlife there, it left much to be desired. In the mid-90s, Charlottesville was still huffing and puffing with pride over the fact that The Dave Matthews Band, which had just hit it big, had gotten its start there a couple of years earlier (Matthews was a bartender at Miller's, one of the downtown watering holes, before starting out). The unfortunate result of that was that practically every local band playing out in town while I was there tried to sound like Dave Matthews - and I fucking HATE the Dave Matthews Band like I hate the Devil. So you can imagine how all of that went down for me. There were a couple of non-musical bars I went to off and on, and there was at least a decent record store (Plan 9 Records) downtown. But all in all, Charlottesville really didn't do that much for me. Most of my weekends there were spent either studying, or I'd drive 90 minutes up the highway to my folks' place in Northern Virginia and hang out in Washington, DC.

Traditionally, the University of Virginia is where the state's monied elite attend college, and as such there was a strong undercurrent of snobbery and entitlement present at the school. My grad school contained a number of former UVA undergraduates, who all knew the "secret handshake", so to speak, and were loath to allow many others into their tight-knit little klatch. Other exclusive groups quickly formed within Darden, and to be honest being part of something like that really wasn't my bag. I don't know whether it was my Navy experience or something else, but I'm more inclined to judge and befriend individuals on their personal qualities and merits and how they treat me, rather than joining up with a pack. So, instead of being a place where thoughts and ideas were aired and discussed, Darden quickly devolved into a glorified elite prep school; the cliques and castes there were just as rigidly defined and exclusively populated. I was accepted as a student there, but I never really felt accepted for who I was.

The Darden course of study was excellent, and I learned quite a bit while I was there. But I have few fond memories of the place, and almost no nostalgia for the days and months I spent there. A few years back, I was talking with a friend about our separate grad school experiences, and he asked me to sum up my time at UVA.  I answered: "The school was great, the professors were excellent, and the academic program was top-notch - the only way Darden could have been better for me was if I was the only student attending." By my count, I've had over 25 permanent addresses in my life, in locations all over the U.S. and some foreign countries. Over the years, I have been back to visit all of my former residences and locations . . . with one exception: in the nearly twenty years since I left Charlottesville, I have never returned.  Academically, UVA was just right for me; in every other aspect, it was a bad fit.

After graduating from Darden, I moved to Texas, where I worked for a financial company for several years. I moved to New England in early January 2001 and began working for FleetBoston Financial. The nature of my position had me flying all over the country, working with teams analyzing potential acquisition opportunities. Unfortunately, the first places I was sent to that winter were, basically, places you didn't want to visit during the cold weather months - cities like Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit. I was looking forward to going somewhere halfway decent (and moderately warmer), and finally had my chance when I was sent out with the team to the West Coast, to evaluate an opportunity in San Francisco.

There had been buzz building in music magazines for more than a year prior to my San Francisco visit that efforts were being made to finally re-release the long-out-of-print LiLiPUT Off Course compilation. Just before I left on my trip, I heard the news I'd been waiting to hear for years - there was an actual release date, which would coincide with my time in the city.  Upon arriving in town, I immediately contacted the Amoeba Music store on Haight Street (the World's Greatest Music Store in my opinion, as I've said before) to ensure that they would be carrying it on the day it came out.  They told me that they wouldn't have it, but their sister store in Berkeley would have it available.

Late one afternoon, I took the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train over to Berkeley, to pick up my reserved CD at the Amoeba over there. On my walk from the BART station down Shattuck Avenue and across town to the store on Telegraph Avenue, I took stock of the area. Berkeley seemed like a fairly interesting city, full of coffee shops and bars. It took no time at all to get to Amoeba and purchase the coveted music; it was cool to finally have the album in my hand! The record store was located in close proximity to the UC Berkeley campus - only a block or so away. So I decided before I went back, I would take some time, walk around, and check out the school and area more thoroughly . . .

Hours later, I rode the BART Millbrae line back into San Francisco, slumped into a seat, deeply depressed, with my head pressed against the window for almost the entire journey. Did you ever have one of those moments when you realized, with painful clarity, that you made the wrong decision? That's how I felt after that stroll around the Berkeley campus area. From the moment I stepped onto the grounds, I felt comfortable - no snooty, old-money vibe coming from that school. People were out and about on the grounds, some scurrying to classes or study halls or wherever, others sitting around talking or just mingling. People actually made eye contact and said hello to me as I walked by, which I found astonishing. There was music coming from odd corners of the campus, from windows playing cool tunes (apparently, it helped to have Amoeba so close!) or from someone just strumming a guitar in the grass.

The one thing I didn't see in anyone's face was tension, a feeling I had almost every day at Darden. Everything and everyone was just mellow - and not in a hippie-dippy sort of way, either. I've mentioned before in an earlier post that one of the things I've always liked and appreciated about the San Francisco area was how non-judgmental people were; as long as what you were into wasn't a nuisance or bothering anyone, folks were pretty much cool with it. The feeling I got from Berkeley was that that same sort of attitude prevailed. The streets around the school were full of brightly colored buildings and funky, eclectic shops and restaurants that I would have loved to have frequented if I lived there. The more I looked around that afternoon, the more I was convinced that UC Berkeley would have been the right place, and right choice, for me. That school and that area would have been the PERFECT fit for me, in every way.

I was still bummed by the time I got back to my hotel room in the city, so I opened up the CD set and began listening to tracks off the compilation, hoping that would cheer me up somewhat. And I must say that I was pleasantly and happily surprised at what I heard. Instead of the grinding, abrasive punk practiced by the majority of their contemporaries, LiLiPUT took a different tack; their music didn't neatly fit into the one-word categories of 'feminists' or 'punks' or 'artistes'. To quote writer John Dougan:

"Their music was not punk in the loud, fast economical sense; the band was forging a different kind of punk, one that was gleefully anarchic, avant-garde, unrestrained and suffused with a giddy, almost palpable sense of joy."

It's the sound of a group of musicians having a blast playing music together, and not really giving much thought to whether their songs would be popular or 'mainstream' enough. They weren't necessarily thinking about critical success or commercial gain - the members of LiLiPUT were making music essentially for their own enjoyment, and in spite of (or more likely, because of) their unabashed exuberance and ignorance of the unwritten rules of their particular genre, they gained a small but widespread and appreciative audience. They didn't conform, and do what they were 'supposed' to do or what others told them they could or couldn't do - they just did what felt right and good and fun to them. They listened to their hearts, rather than their heads . . . a lesson I wish I had followed years earlier, when I made that choice between grad schools, and ended up in a place that wasn't quite right for me.

What happened for me happened; the past is the past, and you live with your choices. But I found that sometimes it really IS better to stuff logic and pragmatism, and go with what you feel rather than what you think.

And so much for all of that. Here, for your listening pleasure, is LiLiPUT, the two-disc compilation containing the band's complete output - five singles, two albums and fourteen unreleased tracks - originally released on Switzerland's Off Course Records in 1993, and re-released on Kill Rock Stars on February 20th, 2001. Enjoy and, as always, please let me know what you think.

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