web analytics

Pop Rock Nation

Author: David Middleton

  • FORTY-FIVE REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE #33: Self-Dressed Man

    Social Distortion's "Cold Feelings" 45

    SOCIAL DISTORTION  “Cold Feelings”  b/w  “Bad Luck (Live Acoustic)”  (Epic Records #ES7- 4568, white-label promo, 1992)

    Since there’s a million people out there who know more about Social D than I do, I’ll keep this brief.  My first exposure to L.A. punk stalwart Mike Ness and his brilliant Johnny-Cash-meets-The-Clash alchemy was ’81’s “1945” from the 2nd installment of Posh Boy’s Rodney On The ROQ series, which my high school accomplice Beaker and I spun endlessly in his bedroom while trashing all the furniture.  Black Flag’s “Rise Above” was on that same record.  God, what days.

    Social Distortion promo 45

    Fast forward a decade later, and that whole L.A. punk scene seemed decimated, with the exception of the more hard-melodic-power-pop punks like Bad Religion and Green Day (who had yet to really pick up the torch and run with it, along with Rancid, who had not yet fully blossomed out from the ska-rooted Op Ivy).  It was at this time that Ness and his Social D cohorts hit the height of their powers with the hooky, muscular (and very successful in an MTV-sorta way that doesn’t happen anymore) Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell LP.  This still-unplayed tour promo 45 from ’92 showcases the album’s lead-off track, “Cold Feelings,” which I still think is Ness at his best.

    Play \”Cold Feelings\” by Social Distortion

    Side B features a live acoustic take on Somewhere…‘s classic 2nd track, “Bad Luck.”  It’s a great rendition, but let’s keep things fresh, shall we?  Check out this recent, hard-chugging electric live take with The Boss & his E-Streeters at the LASA.  It totally kills.

    Play \”Bad Luck\” live in L.A. with Mike & Bruce

    Well, both “1945” and 1981 are long behind us, yet there’s still no stoppin’ the D.  Keep up with all the hottest poop at socialdistortion.com.

    NEXT WEEK:  Two…Two…Two Garage-Rock Classics In One!

  • FORTY-FIVE REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE #32: If You Like Penis Colossal

    Cheech & Chong's "Earache My Eye"

    CHEECH & CHONG  “Earache My Eye” (featuring Alice Bowie) b/w  “Turn That Thing Down” (A&M/Ode Records #66102, August 1974)

    Oh, how my mom hated this one.  All I remember is my older brother was driving me somewhere, and this 5-minutes-&-change comedy sketch popped up on the radio.  We both howled with laughter until our sides ached, and I insisted we stop off at King’s department store (the most cavernous, dimly-lit treasure chest on Earth) and buy the record.  Being the ultimate enabler, my brother agreed.  My copy even still has the “Dept. 1-463” sticker on the back.

    Since then, this track has become both a comedy and rock classic, the S&M-joke-riddled father/son sketch at the back referenced by hundreds of writers, and the untitled Gaye Delorme-penned glam satire at the front nicked by everyone from 2 Live Crew to Soundgarden.  And let’s face it, nothing’s funnier than Cheech Marin, America’s super-stoned answer to Cantinflas, wearing a tutu and pasties.

    See Cheech & Chong\’s \”Earache My Eye\” Live from 1978

    This disc’s non-LP flip, “Turn That Thing Down” is merely a cacophonous continuation of side A’s ending, effectively extending the whole sketch to 10 minutes total, for the true masochist in you.  A lease-breaker if there ever was one.

    Whaddaya tryin' to do? Tickle me?

    Personally, I would’ve preferred to hear one of Cheech & Chong’s Wedding Album‘s other great sketches, like “Black Lassie” or that “3 Little Pigs” bit, but I’m not one to begrudge C&C their dadaism.  After all, “Earache My Eye” spent 8 weeks in the Top 40, peaking at #9.  Not bad for a hilarious clusterfuck of satirical slacker stoner raunch.

    Cheech & Chong to this day continue to…oh, I don’t need to go into it.

    NEXT WEEK: I try to separate my body from my mind.

  • FORTY-FIVE REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE #31: We Built This City On New Wave

    Ritchie Valens' "Donna"

    RITCHIE VALENS  “Donna”  b/w  “La Bamba” (Lost-Nite Records #201, early-’80’s reissue;  Original release: Del-Fi Records #4110, 1958)

    You could Google “Valens” or “La Bamba” or even “famous plane crashes” and learn all you’d ever need to know about the late great Ritchie Valens, but you’d still only be skimming the surface.   The young Pacoima, CA wunderkind, tragically killed at 17 in the same historic crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly and J.P. “Big Bopper” Richardson 50 years ago this past February, left such an indelible stamp on rock music that it’s now literally impossible to fathom a world without him.

    Winter Dance Party

    Though Valens left behind only about an album & 1/2-worth of recorded material, those recordings are so genuine and heartfelt that they still explode from the turntable with an incendiary fury, making evident why Valens remains a major touchstone to everyone from the obvious (Santana, Los Lobos) to the not-so (Led Zeppelin, Richard Hell & The Voidoids).  His biggest hit, captured here on a somewhat questionable oldies-bin reissue, was this 1958 ballad dedicated to the gal that stole his heart, “Donna.”

    Play \”Donna\” by Ritchie Valens

    Lost-love laments in the style of The Platters or The Moonglows were common by 1958, but it’s Ritchie’s fresh-faced honesty that really sells the song here.  And sell it did, spending 18 weeks in the Top 40, peaking at #2 in December and riding on through into early ’59, when DJs flipped the record and discovered its blistering B-side.

    C'mon Let's Go!

    Valens took “La Bamba,” a 300-year-old Mexican folk song, turbocharged it with an electrifying rock ‘n’ roll backbeat and face-melting guitar solos, and created the world’s first Spanish-language rock smash.  And then, like a blazing comet zipping through the evening sky, he was gone.

    Play \”La Bamba\” by Ritchie Valens

    Though only a B-side, “La Bamba” spent 8 weeks in the Top 40, reaching #22.  Los Lobos recorded the song (along with several other faithful Valens covers for the hit biopic of the same name) and sent it to #1 in the Summer of ’87.  But you know that.

    To those of you reading this who have children, please do them a big favor:  go to eBay (or better yet a garage sale or flea market) and buy them an old monaural 45 RPM record player and a stack of old rock singles.  Turn off the fucking video games for once in their lifetime.  Let them sit cross-legged on the floor listening to Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Ritchie Valens, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and all the other great architects of rock.  Let them thrill to the tight & smooth harmonies of The Drifters or chuckle at the aural slapstick of The Coasters.  Let them jump up & down like total maniacs to Cousin Jerry Lee’s pounding “Pi-Anna” and Uncle Ritchie’s “Flying Guitar.”   Jump up & down with them until the records skip and you all fall down on the floor together laughing hysterically.  Let your kids feel early in their lives the real, pure, true, uplifting power of rock.  They will love you forever.

    NEXT WEEK: Turn around & bend over!