Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Television Addicts...Show # 148


The Victims stemmed out of another punk band called the Geeks forming in 1977; They came from Perth, Australia. The band who was a three piece consisted of Dave Flick (real name Dave Faulkner) on guitar/vocals, Rudolph V (Dave Cardwell) on bass, and James Baker on drums. The band would not last last long, from 1977 until 1979. Television Addict was the bands first single and debut, it featured the songs "Television Addict" and "I'm Flipped Out Over You". The song "Television Addict" was a menacing song with piercing chunky guitar parts and a bulky bassline, driven by a hard hitting drum beat. Lyrically the song is about a kid who shot someone, his lawyer blamed TV for all the violence and the reason for his actions. The song is a satirical and sarcastic one evident in cleverly worded lines such as "He claimed he was confused between fact and fantasy, It seems he's spent all his time in front of the TV screen", and "Just because I watch Dinah Shore doesn't mean I need a face lift, doesn't mean my brain has slipped".

Next in 1978, the band released their EP known as the No Thanks to the Human Turd EP. The EP would feature the songs previously mentioned plus others like, "TV Freak", "Disco Junkies", and "High School Girls". In 1979, the group split up. James Baker would go on to The Scientists and The Hoodoo Gurus, and band that Faulkner would also be a member of. The band has been featured on numerous Australian punk compilation albums such as All Loud on the Western Front, Tales from the Australian Underground and Do The Pop!.

Another Australian band featured on tonight's show was the Lime Spiders. Lime Spiders formed in 1979 and were influenced by 60's garage rock and psychedelic rock, but were labeled as a post-punk band. The band was formed by Mike Blood (guitar/vocals), Richard Lawson (Drums), Tony Bambach (bass), and Gerald Cohen (guitar). The band would go through numerous line-up changes throughout their span (the line-up mentioned here is from the 1983 version of the group, not the initial 1979 version). The band played a few live shows before breaking up, but they would reform in 1983. After winning a battle of the bands contest, the band recorded the single "25th Hour" in 1983. Next the band would have the single "Slave Girl" which did quite well for independent standards. The band would go through some line up changes and continue recording with "Out of Control" as a four piece group (an excellent cover version of this song can be heard on The D4's Out of My Head Album). In 1985, the band was offered a chance to record a single for the movie Young Einstein. The song they did was called "Weirdo Libido". The Cave Comes Alive! was released in 1987, being the bands first full length album. They would tour the US with acts such as Public Image Limited, and Iggy Pop. Two more albums would follow Volatile (1988) and Beethoven's Fist (1990). In 1990 they band would also break up yet again.

 Here's what was played:

1. Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers – let go
2. Count Five – psychotic reaction
3. Standells – dirty water
4. Velvet Underground – run run run (Norman Dolph Acetate 4-25-66)
5. Great Scots – lost in conversation
6. Ugly Ducklings – hey mama
7. Big Town Boys – august 32nd
8. 409 – they say
9. MC5 – thunder express
10. The Stooges – Mexican guy
11. Lime Spiders – 1 2 5
12. The Victims – television addict
13. The Saints – run down
14. The Adverts – safety in numbers
15. The Spys – underground
16. The Sturgeons – forward disorder
17. The Fits – bored of education
18. Ramones – bad brain
19. The Clash – long time jerk
20. X (Australia) - suck suck
21. Compulsive Gamblers – negative jerk
22. Compulsive Gamblers - way I feel about you
23. Green Day – walkin’ the dog (dookie demo)
24. Dirty Pretty Things – you fucking love it
25. Chris Cornell - poison eye
26. Viletones - kick out the jams (live)
27. The Stems - she's fine

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