Watch out, fellas...OFS (Our Father's Sons) Unlimited were from Columbus, Ohio, home of the Prix Label, which is featured as part of the Numero Group Eccentric Soul series.
Mister Kidneys is a funky warning about a smooth talkin' backstabber, 'slick as Super Fly', who is prowling the scene, messing up lives, stealing women from their fellas. The music is a mix of guitar, organ, horns, and bongos/percussion. A couple of short guitar solos included, one at 0:48, the other later at 1:26. Near the end, the vocalist spells out m-i-s-t-e-r...I wonder why he did not also spell out k-i-d-n-e-y-s? Or kidneys instead of mister.
In the Simpsons TV universe, action figure Radioactive Man has a villain named Mister Kidney Punch, who specializes in, unsurprisingly, delivering a punch to the kidneys. According to the Radioactive Man wiki, he works alongside the Scarlet Floozy and the Human Lawn Dart in a group called the Threatening Threesome. Perhaps Mister Kidneys and Mister Kidney Punch are...one and the same!!
not too many images of the group to choose from...Mister Kidneys in lower right corner.
Government Center is the last song on the Modern Lovers album I own, which is the 1986 Berserkley/Rhino release. It begins with a bass line that bears an unfortunate resemblance to "I Think We're Alone Now", but Jonathan Richman's enthusiastic vocals relieve us from any emotional damage. His voice jumps out of a megaphone, encouraging the band to work hard and play well for the folks at the government center:
make the secretaries feel better when they put those stamps on the letters
I hear the word 'ledgers', not letters, but it's hard to say. Anyhow, the Modern Lovers are gonna make it swing at the center, with all the "great desks and chairs", bring smiles to the secretaries, get the office boys jumpin around. Their only challenge is stuffy "old Mr. Ahearn." He's probably the boss, or an impatient regular patron. Calm down, Mr. Ahearn! Makes me think of Mr. Weatherby. I have no idea what sort of government center this is, what services it provides, or why the Modern Lovers are playing a gig here. Were they invited, or is this some sort of spontaneous occurrence?
I really like the organ on this song, played by future Talking Head Jerry Harrison. Nice handclaps as well. Then there's the backbeat drumming of future Cars member David Robinson. Bassist Ernie Brooks was Harrison's roommate at Harvard University. And clean cut Jonathan Richman, later to sing and appear in There's Something About Mary. It would be cool if the Modern Lovers reunited at some point, but apparently Jonathan Richman has no interest in playing these songs again. Waaahhhh!
When I think of the industrial rock genre, about which I am not that knowledgeable, I visualize a dark and rainy Blade Runner-like atmosphere. I see images of factories, steel mills, smokestacks, garbage cans used for drums, what the music of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids should have really sounded like. I also think of groups like Cabaret Voltaire, Einstürzende Neubauten, Nine Inch Nails, and the influence of German groups like Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream.
Chrome are often described as pioneers of industrial rock. They definitely have the metallic drum sound and various machine noises scattered about that create that sort of landscape. However, Chrome sound more rock, because of the dominance of Helios Creed's guitar and all the effects he uses. OK, from what I've read, they are described as a post-punk group. Their songs take a punk template, then pile on layers of effects and noises with the vocals often gurgling electronically right below the surface.
Critical Mass is a perfect example of their sound. Heavy primal drums, distorted guitar chords, little beeps and blurps, phasing, and vocals that are modulated to an extent that make them difficult to comprehend. To me, the most amazing thing that I find hard to wrap my head around is the fact that this was released in 1979. I mean, Donna Summer, My Sharona, Michael Jackson, and the Bee Gees were big that year. Chrome were making these bizarre, non-commercial recordings that still sound fresh and modern. Timeless stuff, Mr. Peabody.
Italian Blues...very cool, kind of unusual, I don't think I've ever heard an Italian singing this sort of music. He's got a great voice. Nice production, very clean. Bravo, signore!
Helios Creed...a religion of the Sun. The brother of Apollo. But one is a Titan and the other is an Olympian. As a Titan, Helios was imprisoned in Tartarus, the deepest part of the Underworld. His real name is...nah, not gonna do it. But I digress.
I don't know too much about this guy other than the little bit I've read. He's a guitarist who played in the group Chrome (more about them soon), and he has released a number of his own albums with his band. He grew up listening to Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. His music is dark, effects-laden industrial psychedelic rock.
The Federation is from Kiss to the Brain. It starts off with this low mix grungy squelch, then you got yer basic rock drum beats and phaser space effects all mixed into a swampy Dagobah-like atmosphere. The alien visitor lyrics come in at 0:40:
Looking on your planet
We are coming down
Coming through the clouds
Coming to your town
We are the Federation
The United Federation of Planets? Has the Enterprise crew transported to Dagobah? Perhaps Yoda was a distant ancestor of Balok, and Kirk has traveled across time to meet him. I hope he minds his manners or Yoda will have to open up a can of the Force on him. The other thought I had was that these Federation aliens are the more sinister cousins of the nerdy Sky Men. "Children of Earth, be not afraid..."
South African group Freedom's Children should have achieved a certain level of recognition in their own time. They released a couple of excellent psychedelic rock albums in the early 70s that would have fit in nicely with any high school kid's Yes and Led Zeppelin records. Sadly, few people outside South Africa heard them. Since the early 70s were also the peak of the apartheid era, the road to fame was full of roadblocks. They went to England, but were prevented from legally performing there because of its opposition to apartheid. Additionally, the group's progressive lyrics resulted in much of their music being banned from South African radio. When apartheid finally ended in the 90s, their music became more accessible.
Gentle Beasts is actually a five minutes plus track from their album Astra. The edited version I have is from a compilation called Love, Peace & Poetry: African Psychedelic Music. Guitar and organ fade in, then at around 0:10 there are some repetitive lyrics that I am not able to decipher, something about 'the body begins'? I have googled the lyrics but have found nothing. Well, the vocals are repeated three times until 0:22, at which point the guitar and organ play complementary figures that diverge around 0:29. The guitar turns all trippy reverb acid-rock landscape as the organ draws out chords and the bass and drums keep the rhythm under control. This keeps up for the final 1:30.
Who says a hardcore punk band can't play reggae? And vice-versa. The first time I heard Bad Brains was when I borrowed their Rock for Light album from the library about 15 years ago. That album starts out with a few punk songs, then all of a sudden there's this reggae song. I was totally confused. I did not think it was the same band. I subsequently found out that these guys were Rastafarians that started out playing, like, jazz fusion, but were also into hard rock AND reggae AND were pioneers of hardcore punk.
Sailin' On is from their self-titled debut album, and it is high energy. The lead vocalist is H.R., and he periodically makes these amazing yowls that are like a kid throwing a tantrum. His voice ranges from low Iggy Pop croon to high-pitched whining, simultaneously at times, or so it seems to me.
The band play with crushing power, pure adrenaline. At 0:55, Dr. Know plays an 11 second solo that pummels the atmosphere. It's all very heavy and loud, but then in the final six seconds of the song they stick in this little Chick Corea light 70s fusion moment. They could do it all.
I've watched most episodes of The Venture Bros, but never one episode of Jonny Quest. It was before my time. I figure the intro alone provides a template for the typical episode:
1) First there is a jungle with natives and wild animals...and a pterodactyl? Or is it a pteranodon?
2) Then the military shoots a walking eye spider machine in the southwest.
3) A former linebacker turned mummy explodes through a wall, then as it's holding a helpless Indian guy over its head, this white-haired soldier of fortune dude shoots at it and the ceiling collapses, likely killing the Indian guy (who was a loving father of one adorable son). Way to go, "Race"-ist.
4) Red-suited weirdos travel in flying teacups.
5) A little pug dog is snatched up by a vulture.
6) Snakes slither and giant lizards are walked on leashes.
7) Various laser beams are fired from and at a ghost pirate ship right outta Scooby Doo (another Hanna-Barbera classic).
THE END
If I were a boy in the mid-60s I would have loved this show, without a doubt. The music alone would be enough to entice me. Tribal drums, spy movie guitars, dramatic horns, I'm already on the edge of my seat. Then the music turns heroic and we are introduced to the cast, soaring through the air in a supersonic jet. Jonny Quest...who spells his name Jonny? I had to go back and correct all my Johnny typos. A groovy flute says 'relax, sit back and enjoy the ride on this flying fortress of brave macho men and their lads.' Dr. Benton Quest, a self-made millionaire, he's quite a guy. Then there's Mrs. Q, she's gorgeous. She's one lady who knows how to take care of herself. When the camera hits on "Race" Bannon, the music gets a come hither alluring nightclub treatment. Be still my beating heart. Then we get Hadji...no last name. Perhaps Race was worried that Hadji would snitch on him for killing his dad (hey, look kid, I was paid the big bucks to kill that Mummy via an ad in Soldier of Fortune magazine, I can't be blamed for a little collateral damage, OK?), so they all took the little blabbermouth with them. And finally, Bandit, the comic relief (until he gets torn apart by a vulture). Where are they headed? Hopefully off to Acapulco for some fun on the beach. Ooh la la!
Below: Brock Sampson vs. "Race" Bannon...who would win?
The La's were from Liverpool. Everyone remembers their song "There She Goes." I never cared for the song, and I hated it even more after it was used in a super annoying commercial for birth control (watch video clip at your own risk).
Feelin' is a crisp slice of jangly pop that came out during the time when Manchester ruled, before the rise of Blur and Oasis and the Seattle grunge explosion. It has a memorable fuzz guitar hook (swiped from the Beatles' "I Feel Fine") and a swinging carefree quality to it. The guitar solo is short and sweet. Overall, a fantastic throwback to the 60s.
Here, kitty kitty...The Vaselines were a Scottish band, their two principal members being Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee. They achieved more recognition after Nirvana covered a couple of their songs. I love their compilation The Way of the Vaselines - A Complete History. Lots of great tunes.
Monsterpussy is about Frances's cat. According to Eugene, the cat was pretty wild and would run and hide under the floor and it had to be coaxed out with food. The lyrics are pretty morbid - there are lines about skinning the cat and using the fur for gloves, a hat, or a scarf...after it's dead of course. I am sure it was a sweet kitty and no one ever actually considered doing these things. It's just litter box humor. Meow...
I love Frances's vocals, they sound like a sweet siren in the night, calling out for the Monsterpuss, nice layer of reverb. The guitars are a wall of sound, sending out little riffs along the way. A nice little garage rocker.
The Jewels of the Madonna is stream of consciousness composing from the mind of Mayo Thompson and the Red Krayola, taken from the album God Bless the Red Krayola and All Who Sail With It, an album of similar sketchy avant-garde pop tunes. I'm not quite sure how to interpret this song. It is a brief conversation between two people over drinks. One person has been blessed with either a car or some money, apparently a divine intervention from heaven. He was shining shoes and selling papers when he received this miracle.
The song appeals to my sense of the absurd. The music starts up hesitantly, like a car with bad exhaustion. The drums kick in, and while the lyrics are being delivered there are occasional bursts of random electric guitar. It's a big weird pre-punk experiment, and from 1968! It would be years before bands caught up to this style. For context, I'd group it in with some of the stuff the Fugs or Frank Zappa were doing. And, of course, other International Artists groups like The 13th Floor Elevators and Bubble Puppy.
...it's Vampira! Well, we have emerged from the dire situation in Dirty Harry, but now we have to face this frightening character. Aw, she's more camp than scary. Vampira, aka Maila Nurmi, hosted her own series called The Vampira Show in the 50s. She was also in the Ed Wood classic Plan 9 from Outer Space.
Misfits could be the house band for Vampira, or for that matter Elvira, MST3K, and Son of Svengoolie, although their heavy punk energy would overwhelm the light-hearted humor of those shows. Their songs are influenced by classic B-type sci-fi and horror movies. Vampira is either an homage to the legend or simply a basic description of her. The rhythm guitar and bass are a wall of grungy mud. Glenn Danzig's voice is a V8 engine, powerful and smooth, as opposed to the spitting rancor of Jello Biafra or Johnny Rotten. He sings like a demon on wheels; perhaps he's being pursued by The Crimson Ghost, whose ghoulish skull serves as the group's logo.
A punk/metal speed tune. Lots of metal characteristics - twin guitar solo, fast double kick drums. The vocals are so so, kind of 80s in a way, like the Outfield or something.
Whoa! Pain!!...so much pain!!! This is way more extreme metal than song #2. The guy will need some throat lozenges after swallowing all that gravel. Some cool guitar layers, solos. It all slows down after 2:20, I like this part the best. Nice guitar riffing.
In conclusion, one of these songs is not like the others.
Lalo Schifrin composed the music for all of the Dirty Harry films. His soundtracks enshrouded San Francisco in a sinister and unnerving fog that followed Harry Callahan as he pursued the various criminal elements lurking in the seamy underbelly of the urban jungle. Another Victim is apparently from the 1983 Sudden Impact film, but it could be from any one of the series.
After four uncertain seconds, a giant fuzz bass groove bursts in, followed by a clean guitar tone picking out the creepy melody. Are we being followed? At 0:26, the groove suddenly leaves us all alone in an unfamiliar area, frying in the hum of electronic suspense. A bass meanders about, confusing our senses as we look for a safe way out of the situation. Is someone following us? We keep moving...then...then...!!
Are you ready for some football more tv tunes??!! G-F-E-C! As a kid, those descending four notes would send shivers up my spine, as ABC's Monday Night Football blasted onto the TV screen. Howard Cosell's pre-ci-sion speech would build up the tension as he focused on the star players of each team facing off that evening. My Chicago Bears were not on too often in the late 70s, but when they were I could count on hearing Cosell boom out something about the great Walter Payton, the idol of so many Chicago area kids like me.
The horns kicked off the music in glorious fashion, but it was the rising strings that swept me up in the moment. They seemed to build forever, almost like the orchestral surge in A Day in the Life by the Beatles. In households and bars all over the country, this was the music of Monday night. Of course, in Central Standard Time, the game came on at 9 pm. I would usually only get to watch the first half before bedtime. Unless, of course, the Bears were playing (and they weren't already getting their butts kicked by halftime). MNF should have kept this music, instead of that stupid Hank Williams, Jr redneck trash.
This was my crew: Don Meredith, Howard Cosell, and Frank Gifford.
The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams was a TV show from the mid-70s, starring Dan Haggerty. I enjoyed it as a kid, though I think it was only on for one or two seasons. It wasn't a great show by any means, but its message of respect for nature and the environment, the habitats of wild animals, and the art of simple living had an impact on me. When I think about all the crazy loud cop, military, hospital, 'reality', jingoistic network garbage we have today, I often feel nostalgia for some of the old shows like this that will never come again.
The theme song is by Thom Pace. It's corny and sappy as anything, but it's sweet and gentle, too. Guitar picks out some G maj notes, before going to Bm - C -D for the vocals. A nice little twist to an E7 chord on 'we are staying here forever' pushes the nostalgic tone. The lyrics 'deep inside the forest is a door into another land' conjure a mystical longing to escape from the urban life. That was a big part of the back to nature vibe of the 70s. Harmony, majesty, a 'world were we don't have to run.'
I recall watching this show when I was 8 years old, and it gave me nightmares. There was this one episode where a person would look normal in the front, but from behind it was this furry monster. Then there was the sewer creature, where Kolchak got stuck down in the sewer because a truck had parked over the manhole cover. Zombies, vampires, headless motorcycle riders, each episode saw journalist Carl Kolchak (played by A Christmas Story father Darren McGavin) risking his life to write a story, without any support or gratitude from his boss and the Chicago police.
The theme song is total bait and switch. It begins with Kolchak whistling a little tune, then some flute and light piano join in and all is gentle and breezy. Ah, this seems like a nice mellow show. Then at 0:25 a violin kicks in and the tension builds. At 0:30 it's like someone has turned out the lights. I'm not sure if it's a cello or what, but it is a sinister melody. The main whistling motif appears again, but now it is creepy. The piano plays these discordant staccato notes in patterns of five. Are you scared yet? You will be!
Each week I will post three random selections from the website bandcamp.com, a place where people post their musical creations. Here are this week's entries:
Search is from the Post-Mersh, Vol. 1 CD. It's also on the Minutemen album The Punch Line, a 12" record with 18 tracks that only lasts 15 minutes. I remember when I first saw a friend's copy of the album Double Nickles on the Dime. It has 45 songs across a double album. Most of the songs are between 1 and 2 minutes in length. Micro-songs. Sprints. There is a documentary about the group called We Jam Econo. Not only did they keep their songs short, but they were their own roadies and did as much as they could on the cheap.
The Minutemen took their name from the American colonial-era militia groups, not because their songs are short. It just works out this way. Guitarist D Boon was a student of history and a lot of his songs dealt with progressive, left-wing politics. Mike Watt's tended to be more abstract.
Search is sung by bassist Mike Watt. I think it is a good representation of their music. Tight, funky ensemble playing, they pack a lot into an intensely brief 0:53.
The theme from 'Barney Miller' starts off with a memorably funky bass line by Chuck Berghofer. We see a view of New York City from a distance. Then this sort of grimy city keyboard jumps in with some drums. At 0:11, a sweet electric guitar from, supposedly (I was not able to completely verify it), Dan Ferguson, kicks up the funk. I especially love that lick from 0:14 - 0:16 or so. During this visual part of the intro, Barney Miller walks up some steps and laughs at something funny another cop tells him.
Some fairly typical TV theme horns arrive at 0:23 to remind us that we are supposed to be watching a TV show and not just sitting around grooving on the bass and guitar. By now, the visual aspect of the show's intro is introducing us to the rest of the cast. The character of Barney Miller was played by a true New Yorker, Hal Linden. He also hosted Animals, Animals, Animals, a children's show that had a great, and very 70s, theme song.
The late great J Dilla (James Dewitt Yancey) starts off the new year with the opening track from his album Donuts, called "Donuts (Outro)". He did a reversal of sorts, opening with the outro and ending with the intro. The whole album makes a complete circle, as the intro flows back into the outro. One big donut. J Dilla had an incurable blood disease. The album was released on his 32nd birthday. He died three days later. The amazing thing about this guy was that he worked constantly on this album while he was in the hospital, as his condition worsened. He also produced a lot of other artists' recordings. I'm sure he would have done so many more great things. Donuts is a weird and wonderful experience. There are lots of samples, including Raymond Scott's "Lightworks" and "Bendix: The Tomorrow People", really sci-fi electronic stuff. "Donuts (Outro)" is something like 12 seconds long. It fascinates me with its "I don't care" line and the funny "Dilla" stutters. It comes out of nowhere and then the album moves on from it.
