Give 'Em Enough Rope Demo....Show # 287

Most Clash fans know that there are numerous bootlegs out there containing demos.  On today's program I played one of the demos from the Give 'Em Enough Rope sessions.  The song in question was "Safe European Home".  This version differs in many ways to the studio version, for one the lyrics are different and secondly, it seems slower than the album version. 

Produced by Sandy Pearlman who was known for this work with Blue Oyster Cult, Give 'Em Enough Rope was originally released in November of 1978.  The albums cover which depicts a man being eaten by vultures was designed by Gene Greif.  It was based off of a postcard that was done by Adrian Atwater titled "End of the Road".  Another interesting fact about the album is that on initial US pressings of the album the song "All the Young Punks" is labelled as "That's No Way To Spend Your Youth".  During the sessions the band was said to do several takes of the songs, leaving fans to believe that there could be more Clash material out there from these sessions.  On the Clash On Broadway box set "One Emotion" was included as an outtake from these sessions.  There has been demos and alternate versions of songs available on bootleg from just about every Clash album, the biggest being the alternate version of the album Combat Rock produced and recorded by Mick Jones titled Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg. 







The Play List:

1. Yardbirds - I Ain't Done Wrong
2. Dino, Desi & Billy - The Rebel Kind
3. Elvis Presley - I Got A Woman
4. The Missing Links - Wild About You
5. The Count Five - They're Gonna Get You
6. Quid - Crazy Things
7. The Jury - Who Dat?
8. Teenage Head - Top Down
9. The Saints - Lost and Found
10. Over Night Lows - Static Scars
11. The Deniz Tek Group - 1968
12. The Zeros - What's Wrong With A Pop Group
13. Alternative TV - How Much Longer?
14. Rude Norton - Gilligan's Island
15. Young Canadians - I Hate Music
16. U-J3rks - Naum Gabo
17. The Shades - New Clientele
18. Hot Nasties - I Am A Confused Teenager
19. Modern Lovers - Astral Plane
20. The Scavengers - Mysterex
21. The Hitmen - I Don't Mind
22. The Clash - Safe European Home (1978 Demo)
23. The Victims - Television Addict
24. Undertones - I Told You So
25. Cheap Trick - ELO Kiddies
26. The Gun Club - Preaching The Blues

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for February 16. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

Outdoor Miners...The Story of Wire...Show # 286

Wire formed in London, England in 1976, the group consisted of Watford Art College students. Collin Newman was on vocals/guitar, Bruce Gilbert on guitar, Graham Lewis on bass/vocals and Robert Gotobed on drums. Influenced by the emerging UK Punk scene at the time, Wire began playing live shows and gained the interest of Mike Thorne, who was a producer that had connections with EMI Records. Thorne, who was recording local Punk acts at The Roxy for a live compilation album, recorded Wire and included two of their songs on the compilation (titled Live At The Roxy). Shortly after this, Wire entered a studio to record their first full length album Pink Flag.

Produced by Mike Thorne, Pink Flag featured 21 songs. The overall sound of the album is raw with blunt sounding guitars and a certain kind of atmosphere (as all of Wire's albums feature), while combining visual elements as well as musical ones. Lyrically the album is contains intelligent and contextualized lyrics. The album was recorded almost entirely of live takes with no overdubs. The only songs that featured overdubs were parts of the song "Lowdown" and the song "Strange". Some of the songs on the album are thirty seconds long, but the overall cohesiveness of the album is great. Pink Flag features songs such as "Three Girl Rhumba", "Ex-Lion Tamer" a song about Batman, "A Field Day For The Sundays", and "Champs" a song seemingly about car racing. The 21 song album is a series of short music explosions combined the stripped down elements of Punk, Power Pop, and Pop. The songs are so catchy and short that the songs are cut to their bare essentials and then usually end. Other great tracks featured on Pink Flag are "Fragile", "12 X U", "It's So Obvious", and "A Feeling Called Love". The albums cover is credited to Graham Lewis and Bruce Gilbert. It is a photo of a pink flag on a flag pole, blowing in the wind that was seen (minus the flag) on the way to a live show. The album received critical acclaim, but in terms of sales it did not do very well.

Wire's second full length album, Chairs Missing would be released in 1978. The album featured what some people may call more of a New Wave sound. The production was different, the band experimented with their sound branching out from the sound of Punk, incorporating more Pop and dimension to their sound. Influences of Psychedelia and 70's Prog Rock are apparent in addition to the production techniques of Mike Thorne (who also played keyboards on the album). Chairs Missing features songs such as the dreary "Practice Makes Perfect", the sparse and textured "French Film Blurred", the fast paced keyboard rocker "Another The Letter" and the song "Heartbeat", which literally replicates a heart beat (musically). In addition to these tracks (and others), there are the songs "I Am The Fly", which is a song featuring strange, spring sounding guitar effects and "Outdoor Miner". While "I Am The Fly" was recorded prior to the album and a great pop song, the song "Outdoor Miner" is also an interesting piece of Pop music. Lyrically the song, which is about a serpentine miner, was written by bassist Graham Lewis and the music was written by Collin Newman. EMI Records liked the song so much that they asked Wire to extend its length (which was 1:44), which they accepted. Adding a middle section that featured Piano, Wire released "Outdoor Miner" as a single and it started climbing the UK singles charts. It would only go to #51. Overall Chairs Missing would go to #48 on the UK album charts.

Wire began touring, basically non-stop. They also made their first US appearance in the summer of 1978. Shortly after, in March Wire began a European tour with Roxy Music. Wire were at a high creative peak at this point and their live shows reflected that. Most of the shows contained new material that had not been recorded, although most of it would appear on their next album 154. Named after the number of gigs the band had played at that point, 154 showed Wire once again going into a different direction. The album was very melodic, smooth sounding and features more synthesizers and keyboards than any other previous Wire album. The album features songs such as "Two People In A Room" and "The 15th", which are short Wire songs similar to their earlier albums, but display a new sense of structure. There are also other songs, that are often moody and dramatic such as "A Touching Display" and "A Mutual Friend". The album also features yet another Pop song, like only Wire could make. The song "Map Ref. 41°N 93°W" is a song that picks up where songs such as "Outdoor Miner" left off, the song is a multi-textured and layered track. This album shows off the evolution process of the band, which if you are comparing to their other albums is highly evolved. They started out with the stripped down, bare-essential Rock/Punk with Pink Flag, brought more Pop and experimentation with Chairs Missing, and finally developed into a the album that was 154. Initial copies of 154 came with a bonus four track EP, that featured the songs "Song 1", "Get Down (Parts 1 and 2)", "Let's Panic Later" and "Small Electric Piece".

154 (1979) & Map Ref. 41°N 93°W Single (1979)

Following the release of 154, Wire began having creative differences which would eventually result in the end of the first period of the group. The band played a live show at the Electric Ballroom in 1980, which was a chaos fueled show where the band played several new songs (some of which were never recorded in the studio). The show was recorded on an 8-track recorder that was not set up properly, so the mix from the show was mixed in a distorted mix with two tracks. Released as Document and Eyewitness in 1981, this live album marked the end of Wire. After the release of this album, Wire took a five year break.

In 1985, Wire came back together as a band, this time fully integrating electronic instruments such as synthesizers, keyboards, drum machines and sequencers into their music, even more so than before. The first evidence of Wire's new sound came in 1986, in the form of an EP, titled Snakedrill EP. A full length album came in 1987, that would be titled The Ideal Copy. The album featured Wire's new approach to music via more electronic music based instruments (some have said that it resembles New Order), and it helped gain them more exposure in the US. After a US tour, another album followed in 1988 titled A Bell Is A Cup...Until It Is Struck. The album, which has been called by some as one of Wire's best albums, takes the bands electronic based music into a Pop music style with stream of consciousness lyrics.

The bands next album It's Beginning To And Back Again was released in 1989. The album was a collection of reworkings of live versions of songs from their album A Bell Is A Cup...Until It Is Struck. "Eardrum Buzz" from this album became the highest charting single Wire ever had in the US going to #2 on the US Modern Rock charts (it went to #68 in the UK). After Wire's next album Manscape, drummer Robert Gotobed would leave the group due to all the digital techniques that they began to use. For Manscape (which was released in 1990) Wire embraced more studio and computer based recording techniques. Without Gotobed on drums, Wire dropped the letter "E" from their name and became Wir. They released an album titled The First Letter in 1991 as Wir. This album which many think was ahead of its time, featured electronic soundscapes and not many vocals. The band went on a hiatus again after this.  The individual band members pursued solo careers.

In 1999, Wire began rehearsing again with Robert Gotobed (who started going by his original name Robert Grey) back on drums. In 2000, Wire played London's Royal Festival Hall in the UK, a short tour of the US followed. During this tour a large majority of the bands live set was older Wire material. Following more touring Wire decided to continue as a band. Their first recording in what can be called the third phase of Wire (the first being 1976-1980, the second being 1985-1991) was an EP called Read & Burn 01. Released in 2002, the EP was the first in a series of Wire releases, the EP demonstrated a sound similar to Pink Flag-era Wire. The second EP came the same year and was titled Read & Burn 02. The EP was just as loud and angry as the previous EP (Read & Burn 01). Send was released in 2003. It featured seven songs from the Read & Burn EP's in addition to four new tracks.

In 2006 some of Wire's earlier albums were re-issued and in 2007, Pink Flag was re-issued. These newer releases featured no bonus tracks (unlike the 1989 and 1994 versions) because the band felt that bonus tracks distorted the original artistic statements that they intended to make. A third EP, titled Read & Burn 03 was also released in 2007. The EP had a sound reminiscent of the sound created during 154-era Wire. Object 47 was released in 2008. This album marked an number of things in the bands career. First it was the first full length album that did not feature guitarist Bruce Gilbert. Second it marked the 47th release in Wire's discography (hence the title of the album). The overall sound of the album is extremely catchy. The album features songs such as "One Of Us" a melodic Post-Punk song and the stop and start song "Perspex Icon". Wire is currently working on a new album. 

More information:

Pinkflag.com (Wire's Official Website)
The Making of Pink Flag (Mike Thorne's Website)
The Making of Chairs Missing (Mike Thorne's Website)
The Making of 154 (Mike Thorne's Website)
Wireviews.com

This Week's Play List:

1. Wire - Dot Dash
2. Wire - A Field Day For The Sundays
3. Elvis Costello - Less Than Zero
4. The Rezillos - Mystery Action
5. Lost Patrol - Outta My Mind
6. The Perks - Escape
7. Blue Peter - Living In The Eighties
8. Crash 80s - Thrills
9. The Diodes - Tired of Waking Up Tired
10. Klark Kent - Don't Care
11. Subway Sect - Exit No Return
12. Shrink - Valid or Void
13. Wreckless Eric - Take The Cash (K.A.S.H.)
14. Colin Newman - & Jury
15. The Stranglers - Walk On By
16. Public Image Limited - Chant
17. Raptors - Running Away
18. Relief Maps - The Water Song
19. XX Teens - Only You
20. Devo - Girl U Want
21. The Rapture - Whoo! Alright Yeah.. Uh Huh
22. Radio 4 - (Always A) Target
23. Wire - The 15th

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for February 9th. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

Makers of High Grade Suites....The Upholsterers Story...Show # 285

In the late 90's Jack White was in numerous short lived bands such as, Goober and the Peas, The Go, Two-Star Tabernacle in the Detroit area, he was also working as an upholsterer. He was working in an apprenticeship with a family friend Brian Muldoon in Detroit, Michigan. The two formed a short lived band and released a seven inch. Jack White played guitar, covered vocals and piano, while Muldoon covered the drums and created sounds utilizing a worm gear saw. The seven inch, which would be titled Makers of High Grade Suites, was released in the year 2000 on the Sympathy For The Record Industry label.

The songs were recorded and produced by Jim Diamond in Detroit at Ghetto Recorders (White and Muldoon also did some producing too). The seven inch contained three songs all drawing on Blues, Punk, and Garage musical stylings. There were only three songs on this release, "Apple of My Eye" (a Jack White original), "Ain't Superstitious" (a Willy Dixon cover), and "Pain (Give Me Sympathy)"(a cover of a song by a Texas 60's artist Jack Star). It was given a limited edition run (100 copies), and featured numerous inserts all pertaining to upholstery. This now highly collectable side project featuring Jack White, is said to sell on ebay for around $400-$900.

Links:
Upholsterers Myspace

This Week's Play List:

1. The Soft Pack - Parasites
2. Soft Copy - Hot Cakes
3. The Doughboys - It's Alright
4. The Others - Revenge
5. Les Mods - Let Me Tell Ya!
6. Action Makes - Buddies (Rough Mix)
7. Surfer Blood - Take It Easy
8. Stanley Blacks - Whiskey Eyes
9. The Disraelis - On Earth
10. The Mark Inside - Nothing To Admit
11. Link Wray - Dinosaur
12. Upholsterers - Ain't Superstitious
13. Flat Duo Jets - Crazy Hazy Kisses
14. Sloan - Is It Never
15. Revolvers - Shuffle
16. White Stripes - Hotel Yorba
17. MC5 - Baby Won't Ya
18. The Stooges - Little Doll
19. New York Dolls - Chatterbox
20. The Jam - Art School
21. Ramones - She's The One

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for February 2nd. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

96 Tears ... The ? & The Mysterians Story...Show # 284

Taking their name from a Japanese science fiction film titled The Mysterians, ? & the Mysterians formed in 1962 in Saginaw/Bay City, Michigan. The band consisted of Larry Borjas (bass), Bobby Balderrama (guitar), and Robert Martinez (drums). When the band originally started out in 62, they played mostly instrumental songs that were inspired by Link Wray and Surf music. The bands lead singer and main song writer goes by the name ? (Pronounced question mark). His name was said to actually be Rudy Martinez, until he legally changed his name to ?. He also claims that he was born on the planet Mars and that he once lived in a past life with dinosaurs. This eccentric lead singer also is never caught without a pair of wrap around sunglasses.

Around 1964, the band relocated to Flint, Michigan and started building up a fan base. There was then a line up change because Robert Martinez was drafted, Larry Borjas was also enlisted. Frank Lugo took over on bass duties, Eddie Serrato became the Mysterians drummer and Frank Rodriguez was added as organist/keyboardist. With these new members in place, the classic "96 Tears" line up of ? & the Mysterians was formed. A poem by ? titled "Too Many Tear Drops" was brought into the band. It quickly became what would be known as "96 Tears", which would be the bands biggest hit. In 1966 the band recorded "96 Tears" for a local label that was owned by the bands manager Lillian Gonzales, Pa-Go-Go. The organ fuelled Garage Rock song became a hit locally in the Flint/Detroit area, which in turn attracted major record labels. The band signed to Cameo-Parkway Records because the labels logo was orange and that was ?'s favourite colour. With the band on a major label, they had more distribution and "96 Tears" became not only a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, but a Garage Rock classic. The song was also the first hit single by any Latino Rock band, and ? with his snotty attitude has also been named as a detrimental element in the evolution of Garage Rock and Punk music.

The bands first full length album was released in 1966, it was simply titled 96 Tears. The next single "I Need Somebody", also charted on the Billboard charts. "Can't Get Enough of You Baby" was the bands next single in 1967, it was minor hit on the Billboard charts. A second album followed the same year titled Action. This raucous album that featured many R & B cover songs, did not sell well and at the time the bands label Cameo-Parkway was dealing with financial difficulties. The label was absorbed by Allen Klein of ABKO Records, the Mystrians left the label and recorded more music for Capitol Records, Tangerine Records, and Super K Records. During this time there were line up changes in the group, Mel Schacher played briefly with the group, he would later go on to play with Grand Funk Railroad. The band also recorded an album for Ray Charles label TRC, that remains unreleased.

In the early 70s, ? & the Mystrians reformed with a different line up yet again, this time with two guitars and no organ/keyboards. They recorded again in 1972 and 1973 for different labels, but there was no real response commercially. ? eventually left the group to become a dog breeder, but the Mystrians would regroup again in 1978 to record some demos in New York with Kim Fowley. The tapes were eventually released as 96 Tears Forever: The Dallas Re-Union Tapes on the ROIR label. In 1984 the band played a reunion show in Dallas, Texas (where most of the band members grew up before relocating to Michigan) with original drummer Robert Martinez on drums. In 1997 the band reunited yet again playing at the CavesStomp Garage Rock festivals, they also played a variety of live shows in the US and Europe throughout the late 90s. In 1997, the band re-recorded their debut album 96 Tears. The reason that the band did this was that they were not able to get the rights to their original master recordings that were done in the 60s, the album was released on the Collectables label as Question Mark & The Mysterians. A live album as released in 1998 and in 1999 a new studio album was released titled More Action. After this release the band went on hiatus for awhile.

The band reformed in 2001 for a live concert event for Little Steven's Underground Garage, in 2003 they played for the final CaveStomp Garage Rock festival. In 2006, ? & the Mysterians were inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Currently the Mysterians, without ? play live shows and a documentary is in the works on the band rumoured to be titled Are You For Real.

This Week's Play List:

1. ? and The Mysterians - You're Telling Me Lies
2. ? and The Mysterians - It's Not Easy
3. Northwest Company - Get Away From It All
4. The Haunted - 8 O' Clock This Morning
5. Ugly Ducklings - Just In Case You Wonder
6. Mark Sultan - Something Wrong
7. Dirty Pretty Things - Hippy's Son
8. Spoon - Got Nuffin
9. The Horrors - Count in Fives
10. Action Replay - Decisions
11. Slates - Empty Streets
12. Private School - Rock and Roll Radio
13. Dream Dates - The Mess you're In
14. The Dishrags - Past is Past
15. Generation X - English Dream
16. Vampire Weekend - Holiday
17. The Vores - Monster
18. The Adverts - One Chord Wonders
19. The Hives - Abra Cadaver
20. Fire Engines - Everything's Roses
21. The Crocodiles - Soft Skull (In My Room)
22. The Hot Rats - The Big Sky
23. John Lennon - I Found Out
24. Paul McCartney - Smile Away
25. Blur - M.O.R.

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for January 26. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

Living World...The Story of The Visitors...Show # 283

Following Radio Birdman's split in 1978, Deniz Tek would form another band called The Visitors. This band was different musically from Radio Birdman, coming off with more of a New Wave influence. Deniz Tek was on guitar, Ron Keeley on drums, Pip Hoyle on keyboards, Steve Harris on bass, and Mark Sisto on vocals. In addition the New Wave vibe that was present on their material, The Visitors music also loomed with an ominous Doors influence. The band was made up of three former Radio Birdman members (Hoyle, Tek, and Keeley), Sisto was a long time friend of Tek's. The line up also was sonically different than The Birdmen, there was only one guitar (as opposed to Radio Birdman who had two guitar players), there was also a darker element to the bands music. Prior to the band forming, Tek and Hoyle were working as interns at a hospital, during their spare time they jammed on songs through piano and guitar and the songs for The Visitors were written.

In 1980, The Visitors released a four track EP entitled Phantom EP. Recorded in 1979 at Palm Studios in Australia, the songs on Phantom EP were originally intended as demos when the studio was booked by Charles Fisher. The band set up live and recorded to an 8-track and after an afternoon of recording, the best tracks were selected and put on the EP. The EP was produced and mixed by Charles Fisher and Deniz Tek.  The band only played about a dozen shows between 1978 and 1979, but they did make release more recordings. A full length album was also released, but it would not be released until 1983. The tapes remained unreleased for several years until the Citadel record label was convinced to remix the tracks.  All of the songs on the album were recorded at the same sessions as the Phantom EP.  Deniz Tek assisted in the remixes, and the artwork was done by bassist Steve Harris.  The album was simply titled The Visitors.

At this time Deniz Tek was also involved with The Angie Pepper Band and in 1981, he became part of the supergroup known as New Race. This band features Tek, Rob Younger, Warwick Gilbert, Ron Asheton (of the Stooges), and Dennis Thompson (of the MC5). The band was short lived (put together for a 1981 Australian tour), and only ever officially released one live album that was titled First and Last. Although the band was short lived, several live bootlegs exist of the band. Following this Tek returned to the USA (he was originally from Michigan) and became a physician and served in the Navy, he returned to Australia in 1991 and continues to play and make music. The Visitors was remixed and reissued in 1994 and has been remastered twice. The most recent edition was released in 2008 with bonus tracks and can be ordered through the Citadel Records website.    The Visitors have also reunited in 2005 and 2008 for select live shows.

More information can be found at:

Deniz Tek's Blog
Retro Kimmer: 48 Hours with Mark Sisto
The Visitors Myspace
Do The Pop (a post I did about Radio Birdman)

Play List:

1. The Doors - Take it As it Comes
2. The Griefs - Bored Outta My Goard
3. The Polymorphines - Bring Your Love Back Home
4. The Willowz - Repitition
5. David Kilgour - Nothing's Going to Happen
6. The Bats - Just Do It
7. Make Me Young - The First Summer After the War
8. Surfer Blood - Harmonix
9. The Action - Do The Strangle
10. Negatives - Echoes
11. Lowlife - Thinking Naturally
12. Luger Boa - Mutate or Die!
13. V2 - City Creatures
14. The Government - Zippers of Fire
15. Joy Division - No Love Lost
16. Pointed Sticks - On Fire
17. The Visitors - Euro Girls
18. The Visitors - Let's Have Some Fun
19. The Fall - It's The New Thing
20. David Bowie - Red Sails
21. Radio Birdman - Smith & Wesson Blues
23. Magazine - My Tulpa

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for January 19. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

New Damage...2010 Soundgarden Reunion...Show # 282

Soundgarden's last live show was in February of 1997. The last show was part of a tour the band was doing in support of their 1996 release Down On The Upside. At this point in the bands career, the tensions amongst them were rising and at that live show in February of 1997, after equipment failure, bassist Ben Sheppard threw his bass in the air in frustration leaving the stage.  The encore of the show was played not by Soundgarden, but by Chris Cornell solo. In April of 1997, Soundgarden announcned that they were splitting up. In November, the band released a greatest hits compilation titled A-Sides, they also talked of releasing a B-sides collection, but that never came.

In the years that followed the various members of Soundgarden were involved in other musical projects. Chris Cornell pursued a solo career, and played with Audioslave which featured members of Rage Against The Machine. Kim Thayil has played with numerous bands since Soundgarden split. He has played with Presidents of the United States of America, Pigeonhead, more recently he played some guitar for Probot in 2004 and with Sunn O))) and Boris in 2006. In 1999, he formed a Punk band with Krist Novesellic and Jello Biafra called No WTO Combo. Bassit Ben Shepherd played with The Wellwater Conspiracy in 1997, along with drummer Matt Cameron. Shepherd also formed the band Hater that released two albums, he also played bass for a song on a 2001 Mark Lanegan album titled Field Songs. Matt Cameron has been playing drums with fellow Seattlers Pearl Jam since 1998, he has released several albums with Wellwater Conspiracy, taking over as lead vocalist when Ben Shepherd left the group in 1997, and has contributed and collaborated with numerous artists.

Reunion rumours have been flying for some time now, but they were always put down.  Several band members have said that they did not see it happening, but around 2009 rumours started up again when Chris Cornell was interviewed by Rolling Stone to discuss a Soundgarden box set. There is said to be numerous outtakes, B-sides, alternate takes, demos and previously unreleased material available for the box set project, the band has also expressed an interest in releasing a B-sides collection CD in addition to the box set.  On March 24th, 2009 at a Tom Morello solo show in Seattle, Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, Ben Shepherd, and Tady Doyle played two Soundgarden songs "Hunted Down" and "Spoonman", which served as a reunion of sorts (minus Chris Cornell).  Also in additon to this Temple of the Dog (which features Chris Cornell, Matt Cameron and members of Pearl Jam) in October of 2009 played the song "Hunger Strike" together, which served as yet another possiblity that a Soundgarden reunion would happen.  On January 1st, 2010 via Chris Cornell's twitter page Cornell stated that the band would be reunitng in 2010. Exact details are not known, but the reunion will at least consist of some live shows and hopefully some sort of music release. A new Soundgarden website has also been launched called soundgardenworld.com.  By signing up for the newsletter, you can see a new music video for the band's 1989 song "Get On The Snake".

Play List:

1. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Zig Zag Wanderer
2. True Lovers - Bang Bang
3. The High Numbers - Zoot Suit
4. Main Line - Don't Wait Around
5. The Staggers - Out of My Mind
6. Nick Lowe - Cracking Up
7. The Phantom Chords - Big Town
8. Television - Call Mr. Lee
9. Thrush Hermit - At My Expense
10. Paper Lions - Everything You've Done Wrong
11. Foam Lake - Underwhelmed
12. Myelin Sheaths - Do The Mental Twist
13. Miesha & The Spanks - Harem
14. Githead - All Set Up
15. Blue Peter - Do The Robot
16. The Regulators - That's Right, Nothings Left
17. The Dead Boys - Hey Little Girl
18. The Wolfmen - Mr.Sunday
19. Soundgarden - An Unkind
20. Foo Fighters - Mountain of You
21. Iggy Pop - Fall in Love with Me

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for January 12. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

2009 Highlights...Show # 281

Today's program was composed entirely of albums that were released in the year 2009. The last nine songs on the show constituted my favourite nine releases from 2009. While re-issues were included in the list (The Beatles Remasters, Nirvana's Bleach 20th Anniversary Edition, and The Vaselines - Enter The Vaselines), I did not count them in the top nine list, due to the fact that they have already been released prior to 2009. The following are my favourite nine releases from the year 2009:

1.  The Black Lips - 200 Million Thousand

200 Million Thousand was the follow up to 2007's Good Bad Not Evil. This album differed from their 2007 release, instead of continuing with a similar sound the band went for a dirtier and darker Garage/Psychedelic sound. While the album does feature many great Pop moments ("Short Fuse","Drugs", Just Like Staring Over", and "I'll Be With You" ), the album has more of sleaze element than their previous album (Good Bad Not Evil). The 14 track album even features a Rap song "The Drop I Hold" and a cover of The Iguana's (Iggy Pop's first band) "Again & Again", that is mixed in with The Black Lips unique blend of fuzzy Atlanta, Georgia Garage Rock.


2.  Sloan - Hit & Run EP

Released fairly close to the end of 2009, this five track EP was released in digital form only. Of the five songs featured here two are from Bassist Chris Murphy ("Take It Upon Yourself", "Oh Dear Diary"), and one each from the other Sloan band members "Midnight Mass" (Jay Ferguson), "It Is Never" (Patrick Pentland), and "Where Are You Now?" (Andrew Scott). Overall the EP is a mix of Pop, 70's and 60's Rock, and is a great example of Sloan's excellent musical output of the last few years. A must for any Sloan fan and essential for anyone looking for a great underrated Canadian band.



3.  Julian Casablancas - Phrazes For The Young. 

This was the first full length solo release from Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas. The album is comprised of eight songs, all of which reflect a love for the 80's. While there are only eight tracks here, it still features some great enjoyable tracks that stand out on their own such as "Out of the Blue", "River of Brakelights", and "11th Dimension". This track seems like a nod to the New Wave influences employed on The Strokes album Room On Fire. The albums title Phrazes for the Young, is referencing Oscar Wilde's Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young.



4.  Pearl Jam - Backspacer


Backspacer is Pearl Jam's follow up to 2006's Pearl Jam. The songs on this album reflect more of a Pop and New Wave nature, the album was also produced by Brendan O'Brien (he hasn't worked with the band since 1998's Yield). Recorded at a variety of places in the US, Backspacer is said to be the bands most rehearsed record and the one with the most positive lyrics from front man Eddie Vedder. The album was released on the bands own Monkeywrench label and through Universal Music Group internationally. Cover art for the album was designed by editorial cartoonist Tom Tomorrow (real name Dan Perkins) and it features nine images created by Perkins. 


5.  The Almighty Defenders - The Almighty Defenders


Released in September 2009, The Almighty Defenders is a group made up of two bands King Khan & BBQ Show and The Black Lips. This 11 track album was recorded in Berlin (where King Khan was living) after The Black Lips had to cancel their tour of India following an incident on stage. In eight days, this new supergroup laid down the eleven tracks, it was released on Vice Records. The music on this album can be described as Gospel influenced Garage Rock.





6.  King Khan & BBQ Show - Invisible Girl

Released in November of 2009, Invisible Girl is yet another R &B and Garage Rock album, on my list, this one comes from King Khan & BBQ Show. While this duo (Originally from Montreal) has released several albums, this album is the bands third full length.  Elements of Sam Cooke, The Sonics, Chuck Berry, good old fashioned R & B, (not the new overproduced kind) and trashy elements of 60's Garage are all over this record.  





7.  The Dead Weather - Horehound 

In 2009, a band popped up featuring Jack White and Alison Mosshart of the Kills. The band consists of Jack White (drums/vocals/guitar), Alison Mosshart (lead vocals/guitar), Dean Fertita (guitar/organ/piano), and Jack Lawrence on bass. The group formed in January 2009, from a Jam session at Jack White's Third Man Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Following the session, the band began writing material and recorded quickly. Horehound was released in July of 2009, and did very well on the charts. The band was said to have been halfway done their second album in October of 2009.



8.  War Child: Heroes Compilation

This album is comprised of 15 bands doing cover songs. It features artists such as Beck (covering Bob Dylan), Yeah Yeah Yeah's (covering Ramones), The Kooks (covering The Kinks), and Franz Ferdinand (covering Blondie). The album also features a cover of "Straight To Hell" by Lilly Allen featuring Mick Jones of The Clash. Another interesting fact is that each song that was to be covered was selected by the original artist themselves. Artwork for the album was done by John Squire, former Stone Roses guitarist. For more information visit the Warchild Homepage. 



9.  Franz Ferdinand - Tonight

Produced by Dan Carey, Tonight draws on the bands earlier sound, bringing in elements of electronica, dub/reggae, 80's synthesizer music. The album is based around the concept of a night out partying and the morning after. The album cover photos (taken by Søren Solkær Starbird in Glasgow) have the look and feel of Berlin-era David Bowie. The album was well received and released by Domino Records in January of 2009, a bonus disc of Dub remixes was released in June of 2009 titled Blood.




Other interesting releases from 2009 were The Beatles re-issues.  This is an obvious choice, but these re-issues have been a long time coming.  The design and packaging are of excellent quality, and I highly recommend any of these albums.  The Vaselines - Enter The Vaselines, is an excellent collection of all the material that The Vaselines have put out, it is complete with demos, live material and studio recordings.  Rhino released the Where the Action Is box set.  This four CD collection features 100 songs from the Los Angeles area from the time period of 1965-1968, this is yet another great addition to the Nuggets series.  As far as new releases go, The Crocodiles released an eight track album titled Summer of Hate that seems very new wave influenced, and The Howlies released a great 60's Garage influenced album called Trippin' With The Howlies. 

Best of 2009 Play List:

1. Portugual. The Man - Everyone is Golden
2. John Doe & The Sadies - Stop the World and Let Me Off
3. Spiral Beach - Domino
4. The Vaselines - Dum Dum
5. Arctic Monkeys - My Propeller
6. Nirvana - About A Girl (Live Pinestreet Theatre 1990)
7. The Beatles - Think For Yourself
8. The Mustangs - That's For Sure
9. Neil Young - Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (45 Version)
10. Ex-Boyfriends - Born To Be Kicked Out
11. Yellow Wood - Chinese Women Unite!
12. The Crocodiles - Refuse Angels
13. The Horrors - I Can't Control Myself
14. Franz Ferdinand - Send Him Away
15. The Howlies - Sea Level
16. Beck - Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat
17. Dead Weather - 60 Feet Tall
18. King Khan & BBQ Show - Zombies!
19. Almighty Defenders - I'm Coming Home
20. Pearl Jam - Got Some 
21. Julian Casablancas - Out of the Blue 
22. Sloan - Where Are You Now?
23. Black Lips - Short Fuse

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for January 5th. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

Fan Club...The Brian James Story...Show # 280

After his departure from The Damned in 1977, Brian James made recordings for a solo single featuring Police drummer Stewart Copeland. Titled Ain't That A Shame, the single was backed with the song "I Can Make You Cry (another single from these session was released in 1982 titled Why? Why? Why?). Brian James decided not to continue with a solo career. He instead joined up with the band Chelsea playing lead guitar on the track "No Escape", which would appear as a seven inch single and on a full length ablum the same name in 1980/1981. He joined up with Iggy Pop's solo band. While he played many live shows with Iggy, he was not featured on any studio recordings. He was however on live albums such as Heroin Hates You.

Brain James then teamed up with Dead Boys front man Stiv Bators to form a new band that would be titled Lords of New Church. Consisting of Bators on vocals, James on guitar, Dave Tregunna (of Sham 69) on bass, and Nicky Turner (of The Barracudas) on drums, the band lasted from 1982-1989.  They recorded three full length albums (The Lords of New Church (1982), Is Nothing Sacred? (1983), and The Method of Madness (1984)) and an EP. The music of the band reflects a Glam and Punk nature, but they are sometimes labeled as Goth Rock. In 1982, The Lords of New Church had a top 40 single (#32 on the Canadian singles charts) with the song "Open Your Eyes".

In addition to being in these bands Brian James also formed the short lived band, Tanz Der Youth. James also played guitar in a band called The Dripping Lips, who released an album in 1998 entitled Ready To Crack. He was also in a super group called Mad For the Racket, which featured Stewart Copeland, Wayne Kramer, Clem Burke, and Duff McKagan. They recorded and released an album in 2001 that was titled The Racketeers. Brian James has throughout the 80's/90's reunited with The Damned off and on, there has also been numerous Damned collections released featuring outtakes when Brian was still with the band. He currently plays with a new band titled The Brian James Gang (a self titled album was released in 2006) and he also plays with The Lords of New Church. They reunited in 2003, with a new singer Adam Becvare (Stiv Bators passed away in 1990). An album titled Hang On was released in 2003.

The Play List:

1. The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat
2. The Dishrags - Carry On
3. Hot Nasties - Steppin' Stone
4. The Spys - Best That I Can Get (Demo)
5. The Diodes - That Was The Way It Was
6. Deja Voodoo - Call Link Wray
7. Christian D & The Hangovers - Vampire Rocker
8. The Drums - Let's Go Surfing
9. Harlem - Friendly Ghost
10. The Mink Chicks - I Can't Stop Being Foolish 
11. The Vores - Stress
12. Brian James - Living In Sin
13. Brian James - Another Time, Another Crime
14. The Brian James Gang - VIP
15. Tanz Der Youth - Delay
16. King - Baby Sign Here With Me
17. Carbon/Silicon - Make It Alright 
18. Devo & Neil Young - Hey Hey My My
19. Keith Levene - Cold Turkey
20. The Clash - London Calling (Vanilla Tapes Version) 

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for December 29th. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

2009 Holiday Special....Show #279

Today's program featured all Christmas/Holiday based songs. Several of the songs were from newer bands, but many were older classic songs from the 60's Garage and 70's Punk era.

In 1966, on the Northwest coast three Garage Rock bands put together a Christmas album Titled Merry Christmas. This album was made up of almost all original compositions and the songs on the album are not your traditional holiday songs.  It featured three bands, The Sonics, The Wailers, and The Galaxies. On this album you will find three songs by The Sonics ("Santa Claus", "The Village Idiot", and "Don't Believe in Christmas"), three songs from The Wailers ("She's Comin' Home", "Christmas Spirit", "Maybe This Year"), and four songs from The Galaxies ("Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer", "Please Come Home For Christmas", "Christmas Eve", "The Christmas Song"). Originally released on The Wailers Etiquette label, this album was re-issued on CD in 1991, but is often overlooked. It is a great Christmas album in true Garage Rock fashion, that now is very hard to find because it is no longer in print. On today's program I played a song by The Sonics from this album. I also played two other bands covering "Santa Claus" (The Gruesomes, and The D4), which is a song that is also on this album.  

Christmas Play List:

1. The Features - Christmas Wish Book
2. Pointed Sticks -X-Mas Time Again 
3. The Swimmers - The Christmas Sound
4. Duotang - Old Man Davie's Christmas Kingdom
5. Snow Globe-ins - Christmas Dog
6. Evaporators - Who Are You?
7. Atomic 7 - Senor Santa El Es El Monstruo
8. Johnny Cash - I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day
9. The Bicycles - Snow 
10. The Raveonettes - The Christmas Song
11. Los Straitjackets - Jingle Bell Rock
12. The Greedies - A Merry Jingle
13. The D4 - Santa Claus
14. The Yobs - Silent Night (Single Version)
15. Stiff Little Fingers - White Christmas 
16. The Kinks - Father Christmas
17. The Sonics - Don't Believe in Christmas
18. Joey Ramone - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) 
19. The Pogues - Fairytale of New York 
20. Julian Casablancas - I Wish It Was Christmas Today
21. The Gruesomes - Santa Claus
22. Pearl Jam - Santa God 
23. The Flaming Lips - Christmas At the Zoo
24. REM - Christmas Griping
25. REM - Parade of the Wooden Solider (Alt.Version)

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for December 22nd. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

Young Rival Interview...Show # 278

Coming from Hamilton, Ontario Young Rival started out in 2002 as The Ride Theory. The band features Aron D'Alesio (guitar/vocals), Kyle Kuchemy (guitar), John Smith (bass), and Noah Fralick on drums. Drawing influence from bands such as The Kinks, early Rolling Stones, Simply Saucer, Surf music, 70's Rock, and other 60's British Garage acts, The Ride Theory released their first album in 2002.

The Ride Theory, was produced by Jamie Andrew and features ten songs. The album introduced the world to jangly Garage songs such as "Alright", "Walk the Line", and "Can't Get it Right". The songs while they crunched with 60's Garage ethics, sounded fresh and original. Almost all the songs featured strong vocal harmonies that add further dimension to their music. There are also elements of Surf throughout their music too, that is evident on songs such as "Reflecting on A Foggy Day". In addition to this debut, the band has an explosive live show, which quickly built them not only a local following, but also a wider audience as well.

In 2005, Ride Theory released In This City. This album indicated a growing band, and the album displayed more musical dimensionality than on their debut. The album drew on 60's Garage, Surf, but also brought more Pop elements into their sound. Recorded at Chemical Sound Studios in Toronto on Reel-to-Reel tapes in 3 days, the album shined with a 60's gritty goodness. There are songs such as the riff filled "Dead Radio, Love", "I'm On Board" which emanates a Yardbirds/surf sound, "Parking Ticket", "Great White Shark", "Hey Sugar" Garage/Punk tracks, and finally "My Girl June". This song is an acoustic track filled with harmonious hooks, retro guitar licks, and handclaps, is clearly a highlight. After touring and being known as The Ride Theory since 2002, The Ride Theory changed their name to Young Rival in 2007.

Starting anew as Young Rival, the band took their sound to New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey, where they recorded new material. They posted several demos on their myspace page, sold demo CD's at their live shows, and even started receiving airplay in the UK. Working with Emery Dobyns (Lou Reed, Patti Smith), Young Rival produced several tracks that would end up on their first self titled EP. Young Rival features six tracks all of which keep true to the bands jangly Garage Rock past, while venturing into to new interesting music territory. It features songs such as "Another Nobody" an energetic reverb drenched Garage Rock, crowd favourite, "Poisonous Moves" a sleazy rocker, "4:15" which takes on a Zombie's-like influence, and "The Haunt", which reflects a darker yet melodic mood. The opener of the EP is the catchy and addictive "Your Island", a 60's style Pop song with strong harmonies, flooding drum crashes, and visually appealing lyrics.

On April 13th, 2010 (in the US on June 8th) Young Rival released their first full length album under that band name. Signing to legendary Hamilton label Sonic Unyon, Young Rival is now alongside other Hamilton, Ontario greats such as Teenage Head and Simply Saucer. Recorded during June of 2009 with Polaris Prize winning Jon Drew, Young Rival's self titled debut has all the energy, excitement and depth of Rock and Roll. Compared to previous releases by the band this album reflects a more "rough around the edges" sound.  There are also two tracks dating back to the bands recording sessions with Emery Dobyns from 2007 for the bands EP. The band takes on a new dynamic with this album. It Picks up where the bands six song EP left off, containing high energy rockers and songs more melodic in nature. Lyrically the album contains upbeat lyrics, juxtaposed alongside darker and tongue-in-cheek lyrics. Within the new sonic dynamics that are being displayed here, Young Rival will now operate a three piece. In December of 2009, rhythm guitarist Kyle Kuchmey left the group to pursue other interests, but he is featured on all of the recordings found on this album.

The album keeps true to their live sound. Songs such as "The Ocean", "Authentic", "T-Shirt and Shorts", "Workin", "Ghost in the Park", and "Just Can't Stay Here" all capture the essence of the band. Other songs on the album such as "At the Break of Dawn" which is an acoustic track similar to Velvet Underground with Surf Guitar elements, and "A Few Things Left" which is a Blues and Garage Rock track, add to the songs featured on Young Rival. Drenched in elements of 60's Garage, Surf, Pop and strong vocal harmonies, Young Rival is an eleven track album that you will want for your collection.

I was fortunate enough to get an interview with the band prior to their live show at Phog Lounge in November of 2009. It can be downloaded here. Be sure to check out their myspace to hear one of their new songs that will be featured on their upcoming album.

Interview

Band Links:

Young Rival Myspace
Young Rival Blog

This Week's Play List:

1. The Clash - Drug Stabbing Time 
2. Alternative TV - You Bastard 
3. The Sound - Cold Beat
4. Teenage Head - Get Off My Back 
5. Lou Reed - Hangin' Round 
6. The Killermeters - SX 225
7. VIP's - Suttgart Special
8. Rolling Stones - I'm Alright (Live)
9. Paul McCartney - I'm Down (Live)
10. Ugly Ducklings - Nothin'
11. The Shakers - Baby It's True
12. Guided By Voices - A Good Flying Bird
13. Link Wray - Slinky
14. Dead Drouillard - Chocolate Toupee
15. Young Rival - Authentic Child (Demo)
16. Young Rival - Poisonous Moves
      YOUNG RIVAL INTERVIEW
17. Young Rival - Got What You Need
18. Simply Saucer - I Can Change My Mind
19. The Saints - Untitled
20. Them - I"m Gonna Dress in Black (Version 2) 
21. The Standells - Riot On The Sunset Strip
22. The Guilloteens - For My Own
23. The Stooges - Loose
24. The Kinks - This Time Tomorrow

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for December 15th. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

Young Rival Videos:

Your Island
My Girl June

Mark Inside Interview...Show # 277

Photo By: Christina Naccarato

The Mark Inside originates from Whitby, Ontario. They started playing music around the year 2000, and currently reside in Toronto, Ontario. The band features Chris Levoir (vocals/guitar), Gus Harris (guitar), Geoff Bennet (bass), and Geordie Dynes on drums. Mixing influences such as 60's Garage Rock/Psychedelic, Punk and some 90's Rock bands such as Sonic Youth, The Mark Inside have created an urgent Rock and Roll mutation.

After relocating to Toronto, the band entered a studio with Tom D'arcy producing (of the band The Carnations). Intending to record an EP, the sessions turned out enough material for a full length album. Static/Crash was The Mark Inside's debut album and was released in 2004, initially on MapleMusic Recordings. It featured a varying style of music, but had stand out tracks such as "Carousel", "Everybody Talks To Everybody Else", and "Sweet Little Sister". Then Ian Blurton remixed the album with the band and they re-issued Static/Crash in 2005. Following the albums release and some music videos, The Mark Inside set out touring. Their live shows are loud, energetic, and their songs pour out with a dirty Rock and Roll fury. They have toured across Canada and parts of the UK and have played on the same stage with bands such as Velvet Revolver, Cuff The Duke, The Carnations, The Postage Stamps and Magneta Lane. In 2009, they played at North By North East.

The follow up to Static/Crash was recorded in six weeks in the UK, and is going to be titled Nothing To Admit. It was produced by acclaimed UK producer Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian) and is set to be released sometime soon. From previewing songs on their myspace, songs such as "Nothing To Admit", and "Lime Green Monkeys" groove with a Post Punk edge and a Garage Rock swagger. When the band played a live show at Phog Lounge in Windsor, Ontario, the crowd got to hear several other new tracks by the band. Some of the songs they played were songs such as the "Roman Candles" a Pop song with grit, and "Shocked" a suspense filled song with an aggressive soulful roar

I was fortunate enough to get an interview with the band prior to their show at Phog Lounge. The interview was done while the band was playing a game of Jenga with another band on the same bill, Young Rival. I have made the interview available to download along with two songs from Mark Inside's 7" single. Download them and spread the word, the band encourages it:

Interview
Circling The Drain
Liar!

Band websites:

Mark Inside Myspace Page
Mark Inside Blog

This Week's Play List:

1. The Griefs - All Over Again
2. The Vultures - Looking For A Job
3. X - The New World
4. The Wolfmen - Jackie Is It My Birthday
5. Franz Ferdinand - What She Came For
6. Kleenex - You 
7. Pere Ubu - Non-Alignment Pact
8. Action Makes - Berlin (Rough Mix)
9. Little Girls - Tambourine
10. Arctic Monkeys - Fright Lined Dining Room
11. Rich Kids - Put You In the Picture
12. King Khan & BBQ Show - Tryin'
13. Mudhoney - Generation Spokesmodel
14. The Mark Inside - Sweet Little Sister 

      MARK INSIDE INTERVIEW 

15. The Mark Inside - Circling The Drain 
16. The Mark Inside - Liar!
17. Gang of Four - Outside the Trains Don't Run on Time
18. The Lurkers - I Don't Need To Tell Her
19. Neil Young - The Art of Love 
20. The Subways - Holiday
21. The Almighty Defenders - The Ghost With the Most

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for December 8th. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

Mark Inside Videos:

Carousel
Sweet Little Sister

Destiny Street Repaired... Show # 276

In 1982 Richard Hell & The Voidoids released their second and final album Destiny Street. The album featured recordings of well known Richard Hell songs such as "The Kid with the Replaceable Head", "Time", "Lowest Common Dominator", and more. There were also a few cover songs on the album such as "Going Going Gone" a cover of a Bob Dylan song from his album Planet Waves, and "I Gotta Move" by The Kinks. In 2004, Richard Hell acquired the rights to the album and let it go out of print.

The original version of Destiny Street was always plagued with problems according to Richard Hell. When the original rhythm tracks were discovered in 2006, the opportunity arose for Richard to re-record parts of the album and that's what Richard did.  Using the original rhythm tracks which feature Robert Quine and Naux on guitar, Richard Hell on bass and Fred Maher on drums, several guitarists were brought in to add additional guitar parts (Bill Frisell, Ivan Julian, and Marc Ribot) and Richard re-recorded the vocals. The result is Destiny Street Repaired, an album that is more representative of the original vision Richard had for Destiny Street.

In addition to the overhaul of the album, the CD version of the album contains two bonus tracks that were recorded in 1979. "Smitten" is a previously unreleased song and "Funhunt" is also included here for the first time in studio form. Previously "Funhunt" was only available in live form. The artwork has also been modified by Scottish artist Jim Lambie. Destiny Street Repaired can be found at Richard Hell's Official Website and insound.com

Play List:

1. Richard Hell & The Voidoids - I Gotta Move (2009 Version)
2. Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Going Going Gone (1982 Version)
3. The New Strychnines - You've Got Head On Backwards
4. Dee Dee Ramone & The Chinese Dragons - Chatterbox
5. The Demics - The Least You Can Do
6. Little Red - Coca Cola
7. The Parkas - Isolation Pay
8. The Doors - You Make Me Real
9. Perpetual Motion - Infiltrate Your Mind
10. Last Knight - Shadow of Fear
11. Canadian VIP's - I Know
12. The Mynah Birds - It's My Time
13. Richard Hell & The Voidoids - The Kid With the Replaceable Head (1982 Version)
14. Richard Hell & The Voidoids - The Kid With the Replaceable Head (2009 Version)
15. White Denim - I Start To Run
16. The Sonic Avenues - Out of My Head
17. Black Sabbath - National Acrobat
18. Them Crooked Vultures - Reptiles
19. Queens of the Stone Age - Another Love Song
20. The Sweet Action - Tell Me
21. White Stripes - I Fought Piranhas
22. Gruesomes - What Wave
23. Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Lowest Common Dominator (2009 Version)
24. Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Funhunt (1979 Studio Demo)

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for December 1st. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

True Lovers New Video....Show # 275

After three weeks of fill-in hosts, I finally returned to my hosting duties on Revolution Rock. That being said, there was a new band featured on my show that deserves a mention.

The True Lovers were formed by New Zealanders Dion Lunadon (previously from The D4) and Ben Maitland (previously from Box Car Guitars) and are based out of Brooklyn, New York. Forming in 2008, The True Lovers are a Rock and Roll band that have a greasy honesty and venomous fury. They have recently released their first single entitled "Death Threat". The song is available for free via their website, a full length album is to follow in February 2010. In the meantime, check out their website, download their song for free and check out their video for "Death Threat".



True Lovers Websites:

True Lovers Official Website
True Lovers Myspace
True Lovers Twitter

This Week's Play List:

1. Starshooter - Get Baque
2. Blitzkrieg Bop - Bugger Off
3. Dry Heaves - Portable
4. The Spys - Underground
5. Braineaters - Rock Rock
6. Yellow Wood - Chinese Women Unite!
7. Githead - Take Off
8. That Ghost - Red Bow
9. Hot Hot Heat - Le Le Low (Live On CBC Radio 3)
10. Tricky Woo - Hot Kitty (Live On CBC Radio 3)
11. Sloan - Take It Upon Yourself
12. The Wolfmen - I'm Not A Young Man Anymore
13. Box Car Guitars - My Love is Blue
14. The Verlaines - Pyromaniac
15. The Clean - Point That Thing Somewhere Else
16. Bored Games - Joe 90
17. The Scavengers - True Love
18. Luger Boa - It's Too Complicated
19. True Lovers - Death Threat
20. The Jam - Down In The Tube Station At Midnight
21. The Hentchmen - Some Other Guy
22. The D4 - Sleaze City

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for November 24th. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

The Horrors Talk Records...Show # 274

This week my show featured yet another fill in host. Next week I will return to my hosting duties. Tune in next week (or visit this blog) because I will also play new music from The True Lovers, Sloan and more.

In the meantime, here is an interesting video featuring the UK band The Horrors. Courtesy of amoeba.com, the band discusses some of their favourite records. More information on The Horrors can be found in my Primary Colors post.



This week's play list:

1. Turbo Fruits - Want Some Mo'
2. Brand New - Bed
3. We The Weapon - Atlas
4. Devil Eyes - Freak Pocket
5. Noah And The Whale - My Broken Heart
6. Ian Brown - Stellify
7. Tune-Yards - Sunlight
8. Peace - I Forget
7. Metro4 - Little Sister
8. Black Feelings - Golden Children
9. The Dead Letters - Ghost Of A Thousand Battles
10. The Swell Season - Feeling The Pull
11. The Detroit Cobras - As Long As I Have You
12. 7 Worlds Collide - You Never Know
13. The British Columbians - In The Leaves
14. Spiral Stairs - True Love
15. Strike Anywhere - I'm Your Opposite Number
16. Felix - Death To Everyone But Us
17. The Cribs - Cheat On Me
18. The Cribs - We Share The Same Skies
19. Michael Yonkers - What Can I Do
20. Michael Yonkers - Were You In The Way

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for November 17th. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

Show # 273

Another fill in was featured on today's program, this time a newer CJAM volunteer named Ash. Today's program highlighted a lot of new Canadian releases, and mostly new music in general. Short update this week, will be more news next week so check back!

This Week's Play List:

1.  A History Of  - DC Heat
2.  The Black Halos - Bombs Not Food
3.  Despised Icon - Diva of Disgust
4.  Red Mass - Saturn
5.  Brilliant Colors - Should I Tell You
6.  The King Khan And BBQ Show - Crystal Ball
7.  Thomas Function - Ew Way Ew
8.  Hostage Life - White Jesus
9.  Nothingtons - Sleep Tonight
10. Sub City - Silence
11. The Job - Problem
12. The Hoa Hoa's - Flowers Are Free
13. NOFX - No More Lies
14. Etaion Shrdlu - Knew Dudes
15. Julian Casablancas - Left in the Dark
16. Pennywise - We're Gonna Fight
17. Pulley - Wrecking Crew
18. Sub City - Sweet Misery
19. Spiral Beach - Domino
20. The Stand Stills - Blind

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for November 10th. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

Nirvana Bleach 20th Anniversary....Show # 272

This week's program was hosted by Chris of I Am Collecting Beautiful Things. A wide variety of rock was played, new and old. Some of my favourite selections from this week's program was new music by Julian Casablancas and music from the re-issue of Nirvana's Bleach album.

Nirvana released a re-issue of their 1989 album Bleach celebrating the albums 20th anniversary this week. The album was originally released on June 15th, 1989. It featured songs such as "Blew", "Floyd the Barber", "Negative Creep", and "School" all of which reflected a heavier version of the band. "About A Girl" is also featured on Bleach and it is the albums purest pop moment, it reflects Kurt Cobain's Beatles influences. The album did not chart when it was originally released, but when Nevermind was released in 1991 and Nirvana started to become more popular, Bleach was re-issued and remastered in 1992.  Technically this is the second re-issue of the album, but this remaster of Bleach does have a noticable difference. For one all of the tracks have been remastered by Jack Endino (the albums original producer), and there is a bonus disc featuring a live concert from Nirvana at the Pine Street Theatre in 1990. In addition to this the linear notes have been expanded with additional notes and photos. 

Some other interesting facts about Bleach are that originally the title was going to be Too Many Humans.  Also Kurt Cobain is credited as Kurdt Kobain, and Dale Crover is featured as the drummer on some of the tracks and Chad Channing is the drummer on the other tracks.  It is a must for any Nirvana fan. 

Nirvana has also released a DVD of their Reading Festival performance in 1992, titled Live At Reading.  There are 25 live performances on the DVD and the picture has been remastered, it has been circulating in bootleg circles for sometime.  This is an excellent performance from the band.  There are some special editions of the album that contain both the audio and video of the Reading concert.  Usually there is a new Nirvana release every November, but last year there was no new Nirvana release, it looks like it was made up for because now there are two new releases available.  Both the 20th anniversary deluxe edition of Bleach and the Live At Reading DVD are now available to purchase. 


For a full history on Nirvana visit:

Endless, Nameless: The Nirvana Story Part One
Verse Chorus Verse: The Nirvana Story Part Two

The Play List:

1. North Of America - Central Port Of Equal Time
2. A History Of - Action In The North Atlantic
3. The Hoa Hoa's - Postcards
4. Alec Ounsworth - South Philadelphia (Drug Days)
5. Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension
6. Chuck Prophet - American Man
7. Mission Of Burma - After The Rain
8. Les Dales Hawerchuk - A Soir On Sort
9. Grooms - Dreamsucker
10. The Stand-Stills - Bound
11. Little Girls - Youth Tunes
12. Evening Hymns - Dead Deer
13. Thomas Function - Belly Of The Beast
14. Black Feelings - Last Rings Pt. 1
15. Talk Normal - Hot Song
16. Devil Eyes - Teeth
17. Times New Viking - 2/11 Don't Forget
18. King Khan & BBQ Show - Anala
19. Nirvana - Dive (live)
20. Etaoin Shrdlu - 1995-1997
21. Gospel Gossip - Home Is Where the Hibah Is

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for November 3rd. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

Electro Rock...Show # 271

Cyborgs Revisited was an album released by Simply Saucer in 1989. The Hamilton, Ontario band lasted from 1973 to 1979 and only ever released one single officially when they were together. "She's A Dog/I Can Change my mind was released in 1978. The bands style was a mix of bands such as Alice Cooper, MC5, The Stooges, Velvet Underground, and Hawkwind.

The song "Electro Rock", featured on today's program can be found on the album Cyborgs Revisited. The album was made up of two sides, the first being a demo session that the band did with Daniel and Bob Langlois and the second was a concert recorded in 1975 from Hamilton, Ontario. When the album was released in 1989, it was hailed as a lost Canadian classic ranking on top Canadian album lists. Most recently it was ranked # 36 in the Top 100 Canadian Albums book by Bob Mersereau. In 2003, Cyborgs Revisited was re-released with nine bonus tracks. The band has reunited and plays with a different line up.

Play List:

1. The Cure - Plastic Passion
2. The Passions - I Radiate
3. The Scars - Everywhere I Go
4. The Fall - Stepping Out
5. The Horrors - Who Can Say?
6. Little Girls - Tambourine
7. The Secretaries - Hey Girl
8. Jook - Aggravation Place
9. The Arkells - Deadlines
10. Laughing Clowns - Lucky Days
11. Dirty Pretty Things - The North
12. The Flaming Lips - Unconsciously Screamin'
13. Simply Saucer - Electro Rock
14. 63 Monroe - 99th Floor
15. Young Rival - Got What You Need
16. Devil Eyes - Noctilucent Ghost
17. The Flashing Lights - The Flashing Lights Are On
18. The Zeros - Mainstreet Brat
19. Deja Voodoo - Surfing On Mars
20. The Yauchts - Secret Agent
21. The Government - Real Computer
22. Dead 60s - Red Light
23. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Albert Goes West

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for October 27th. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

Yes Sir, No Sir... The Kinks Arthur Turns 40... & Show # 270

Its hard to believe that forty years ago in 1969, The Kinks first released their album Arthur (Or The Decline of The British Empire). It was released following their album The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, that upon it's initial release sold poorly. Since then Village Green has gone on to become a cult classic and many Kinks fans favourite Kinks album, but people often overlook Arthur. It is based upon a concept revolving around Arthur and his son, who moves to Australia from England with his wife after World War II. The album originally had its first inception by Ray Davies as the soundtrack for a television play. When the play was cancelled, Ray used the themes and ideas he created and transferred them into album form via The Kinks.

The album was recorded from May to July at Pye Studios in the UK in 1969. Another interesting fact about this album is that it was produced by Ray Davies (as was Village Green). The albums concept was based loosely on Rose (Ray's Sister) and her husband Arthur Anning, who moved from England to Australia. This was also the very same Rosie that the song "Rosie Won't You Please Come Home" from Face To Face was based on. Themes on the album are addressed such as war, British oriented nostalgia, and the boringness of suburban life. The album opens with "Victoria", a Hard Rock based song that lyrically addressed the British Empire in a satirical way. The ballad "Some Mother's Son", addresses the horrors of war, while the song "Shangri-La" is in a world of its own. It addresses what seems to be a paradise, but as the song carries along the listener finds out that what Arthur thinks is his paradise is actually his own prison as well. Musically, the song mixes elements of Folk, Hard Rock and has been said to be one of Dave Davies favourite Kinks songs that his brother, Ray Davies has written.

"Mr. Churchill Says" references the effects of World War II on the British people. Musically the song picks up from a slow Blues influenced Rock song to being Hard Rock once again. The song actually features paraphrased parts from the speeches of Prime Minister Winston Churchill and a siren in the middle of the song that is supposed to represent the air-raid siren heard during World War II. The album also features many other songs playing into this over aching concept. There are other interesting songs such as "Brainwashed", "Arthur", "Nothing To Say", and the six minute "Australia" which features excellent guitar work from Dave Davies. Overall, the album musically is an exciting Rock album.

The album sold poorly in the UK, but in the US it received greater acclaim and reached #105 on the US album charts. Singles released for the album were "Drivin'", "Shangri-La", and "Victoria". Only "Victoria" would do well on the singles market (with the exception of "Shangri-La" in the Netherlands). It went to #62 on the US Billboard Hot charts and #33 on the UK singles charts. Arthur would also mark the beginnings of The Kinks return to mainstream success and a return to the bands Hard Rock style. Arthur was reissued in 1998 with several bonus tracks.

Other Kinks Links:

Waterloo Sunset: The Story of The Kinks Part One
Drivin': The Story of The Kinks Part Two
Some Kinda Kinks (Village Green/Dave Davies Post)
Dave Emulen's Kinks Website


The Play List:

1. The Kinks - Nothing To Say
2. Supergrass - Never Done Nothing Like That Before
3. The Black Hollies - Gloomy Monday Morning
4. The Flaming Groovies - Teenage Head
5. One Way Street - I See The Light
6. J.B & The Playboys - Leave My Woman Alone
7. The Count Five - Double Decker Bus
8. Dr. Feelgood - Riot in Cellblock No.9
9. The Dishrags - Sold Out
10. Ex-Boyfriends - Special Occasions
11. Lost Patrol - Outta My Mind
12. Dream Dates - Search and Destroy
13. Ramona - A Way Over
14. The Goodamn Goodamn's- Steel City Livin'
15. No Age - You're A Target
16. Islands - Vapours
17. The Raveonettes - Bang!
18. Carbon/Silicon - What's Up Doc?
19. Young Executives - Ice Age
20. Mando Diao - Go Out Tonight
21. Van Morrison - Everyone
22. The Clash - Every Little Bit Hurts
23. The Kinks - Shangri-La

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for October 13th. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

In addition to my feature on The Kinks album Arthur, I also played a new song by Carbon/Silicon. Here is the music video for "What's Up Doc?"

CJAM Redefined....Show # 269

CJAM is now 99.1 FM. That being said, Revolution Rock aired for the first time on 99.1 FM this Tuesday October 13th. The show has been on CJAM since 2004 and this week marked my 269th program. If you are a visitor of this blog, it is a good idea to check out the new CJAM website. You can subscribe to individual programs and even subscribe to an RSS Podcast by going to the programs section.

The downloads from CJAM's site are now a bit different, but are easier to get. To download the show you can visit the Revolution Rock page , all of the files will be listed in this link if you'd like to download a particular show from a particular week. Also if you click the Podcast RSS button, you will be able to subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

99.1 FM Play List:

1. Almighty Defenders - All My Loving
2. BBQ - Outta My Mind
3. BBQ - I Wanna Be the Only One
4. Black Lips - Boomerang
5. The Scruffs - This Thursday
6. The Real Kids - Rave On
7. The Poles - CN Tower
8. The Reaction - The Kids Arrived
9. Spiral Beach - After Midnite
10. Rick White - Belief
11. Speaking Tongues - Run To My Door
12. Nirvana - School
13. Tank - Storm Trooper
14. Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension
15. Devo - Mongoloid
16. Peace - I Forget
17. Turbo Fruits - Trouble!
18. Generation X - Anna Smiles
19. XTC - Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down
20. Gang of Four - Love Like Anthrax
20. The Saints - This Perfect Day (Single Version)
22. Undertones - I Don't Wanna See You Again/I Told You So
23. Modernettes - Barbra
24. Pearl Jam - Gonna See My Friend
25. Buzzcocks - Operator's Manual

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for October 13th. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.