Teenage Superstars...The Story of The Vaselines and Show # 248

The Vaselines formed in 1986, in Glasgow, Scotland. The band started out as a two piece group featuring Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee on vocals and guitar. The band released their first EP, Son Of A Gun in 1987. This would be released through 53rd & 3rd Records, which was an independent record label set up by Stephen Pastel (of The Pastels). The EP would feature three songs including the song "Son Of A Gun" and "You Think You're A Man", which was a reworking of a song originally done by the band Divine. The EP went to number 26 on the UK Indie charts. The band's 1988 EP was titled, Dying For It. This EP featured songs such as "Molly's Lips" and "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam", which showed off some Velvet Underground influence, the song featured viola. The song "Molly's Lips" has been said to be a tribute to the Scottish TV star/actress Molly Weir. This EP went to number 11 on the UK Indie charts.

The band would become more of a full band around this time adding Charley Kelly on drums and James Seenan on bass. The band would record only one full length album, Dum Dum. Released in 1989, the album was released on the 53rd & 3rd label, but the label would fall apart at this time. The album would eventually be released through Rough Trade, but the band had already split up by this point. In 1990, the band reformed briefly to open for the US band Nirvana when they played in Scotland in 1990. Nirvana were becoming a bigger more well known group at this time, and Kurt Cobain would cite The Vaselines as a major influence on the group. Nirvana would cover "Son Of A Gun" and "Molly's Lips" (featured on their album Incesticide) and "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam" (renaming it "Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam" and recording it for their MTV Unplugged album). Nirvana's covers of The Vaselines helped them become more well known than they were at the time.

In 1992, Sub Pop released a Vaselines compilation titled The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History. The compilation featured all of the Vaselines recordings and a previously unreleased song titled "Bitch". Eugene Kelly would go on to form the group Captain America (they renamed themselves Eugenius) in 1990. Kelly has also released some solo albums. Frances McKee formed the group Suckle in the late 90s. The Vaselines have reformed for a few live shows in 2006 and in 2008 played a series of live concerts. A live show was also played in London in the UK, on March 27th, 2009. In May of 2009, Enter The Vaselines was released on Sub Pop. This compilation features all of the bands recordings, plus a live concert and demo recordings.

Play List:

1. Nirvana - Son of A Gun
2. Nirvana - Molly's Lips
3. Vaselines - Son of A Gun
4. Vaselines - Teenage Superstars
5. Pluto - Expelled
6. The Thermals - You Dissolve
7. The Odds - Say You Mean It
8. Clues - Elope
9. Bureaucrats - Killing Ground
10. Guided By Voices - Everywhere With Helicopter
11. Dim Stars - Rip Off
12. Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick
13. Foo Fighters - Wattershed
14. Red Squares - Transmitter
15. Pointed Sticks - Marching Song
16. Tim Ray & The Druts - Dying in Brooklyn
17. The Buckets Of - 9 of 10
18. The Sounds - Painted By Numbers
19. Blondie - I Didn't Have The Nerve To Say No
20. Okmoniks - Teenage Timebomb
21. Nickel Eye - Another Sunny Afternoon
22. John Doe - The Golden State
23. John Doe & The Sadies - Are The Good Times Really Over For Good?
24. X - Your Phones Off The Hook, But You're Not
25. The Nerves - Hanging On The Telephone
26. Elvis Costello - (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes

To download this week's show visit the CJAM archives and select the files 10:00 AM and 11:00 AM on May, 12th 2009.