/|\(;,;)/|\ There's an ocean of music, and I'm swimming as hard as I can. I use this blog to post music & commentary; I hope you find something here that does it for you. Peace!
“Magazine Love” by The Screamers
The Screamers were one of the biggest acts on the L.A. Punk scene. Notice that they’re just playing drums and keyboards, and take a moment to think how rare it is you see a Punk band that isn’t playing guitar-based Rock music. The Screamers were unconventional to say the least. They never released an official recording—all we have are bootlegs like this one, In A Better World—but for a while they insisted their proposed debut album would be released only in video form. Bear in mind, this was in the days before MTV, and the only other band that was proposing such an advancement at that time was Devo. And there are still rumors floating around that The Screamers did, in fact, record a conventional album, but they shelved the tapes and never released it. If those rumors are true, then somebody call Indiana Jones, because those tapes are the Lost Grail of L.A. Punk.
“122 Hours Of Fear” by The Screamers
Once upon a time, The Screamers were one of the biggest acts on the L.A. Punk scene. Notice that they’re just playing drums and keyboards, and take a moment to think how rare it is you see a Punk band that isn’t playing guitar-based Rock music. The Screamers were unconventional to say the least. They never released an official recording—all we have are bootlegs like this one, In A Better World—but for a while they insisted their proposed debut album would be released only in video form. Bear in mind, this was in the days before MTV, and the only other band that was proposing such an advancement at that time was Devo. And there are still rumors floating around that The Screamers did, in fact, record a conventional album, but they shelved the tapes and never released it. If those rumors are true, then somebody call Indiana Jones, because those tapes are the Lost Grail of L.A. Punk.
“Punish Or Be Damned” by Lost Sounds
If you need any further reason to check out Jay Reatard’s band Lost Sounds, dig this: Even their outtakes make for better listening than most other bands on their best day. Here’s Jay, Alicja Trout, and the rest of the crew covering their under-appreciated Synth-Punk forebears: The Screamers’ “Punish Or Be Damned.”
“Punish Or Be Damned” by The Screamers
The Screamers never released an official recording. Ever. Not one. Sure, they were one of the hottest bands in L.A. for a time, but they never made a record. They cut several demos and a few of their shows at the Whiskey A Go Go were bootlegged and appear in dodgy collections like In A Better World, which I consider Mandatory Punk, and someone even put together a cool Screamers DVD awhile back, but—let me say it again—there are no official Screamers records. The band simply never made an album. Ever. End of story.
(Except… there are rumors, alright? Rumors that The Screamers recorded a full-length album but shelved the tapes, having decided that the recordings were unsatisfactory. Meaning there could be a pristine, studio-quality recording of The Screamers sitting in a closet somewhere, and if you found it, you’d be a goddamn millionaire. So if you’re in the mood for a treasure hunt, why not go searching for the Holy Grail of L.A. Punk?)
The Screamers performing “122 Hours Of Fear.” Once upon a time, this was one of the biggest acts on the L.A. Punk scene. Notice that they’re just playing drums and keyboards, and take a moment to think how rare it is you see a Punk band that isn’t playing guitar-based Rock music. The Screamers were unconventional to say the least. They never released an official recording—all we have are bootlegs—but for a while they insisted their proposed debut album would be released only in video form. Bear in mind, this was in the days before MTV, and the only other band that was proposing such an advancement at that time was Devo. Does playing a keyboard make you smarter or something? Somebody should look into this…
Yet Another Doc Shoe Geek Moment: At one point The Screamers featured the talents of a young musician named David Brown. Ever heard of him? Well, after leaving the band, Mr. Brown and a certain Pat “Rand” Garrett formed Dangerhouse Records, one of the great indie labels of all fucking time, putting out early Punk singles from Bags, The Weirdos, Deadbeats, Black Randy & The Metrosquad, and X.
WARNING! Doc Shoe’s Music Blog will be posting a shit-ton of Punk this week.
[Note: Yeah, I know, I promised a Boris marathon and I promised a Folk-Punk marathon, but I’m prone to these moments when I desperately need to play loud, obnoxious music that will frighten your roommates. That, and I’ve got a pile of bootlegs, rarities and compilations that I’ve been meaning to post for a long time now, so humor me while I damage your eardrums, alright?]
theclosingtime asked: I love asking you shit so I'll just ask more shit. Any song you can't find anywhere? No bootlegs available, album has been out of print for 50 years etc. I know it's Internet, but some stuff just can't be found, especially when used in a movie scene with additional sounds, so you can't even rip it properly.
Oh, shit, now you’ve opened a can of worms. There’s a few things I still can’t find, like the “Dig A Hole” cassette-only single by Toadies. There’s a song that was used in the trailer for David Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch that wasn’t on the Howard Shore soundtrack. There’s an LP that Smart Pils supposedly released on the Bluurg label that I just can’t find anywhere. There’s still some early singles by Howlin’ Wolf that haven’t been collected on CD. I’ve heard rumors of a studio album recorded by The Screamers that the band shelved and never released, but that might be horseshit, like those rumors of some recorded sessions Captain Beefheart supposedly did for DJ John Peel. There’s a couple Brian Jonestown Massacre bootlegs I haven’t tracked down yet. I can’t seem to find anything by this Folk-Punk artist The Casual Terrorist, aside from a couple tracks he’s done for punk comps. And I’m always searching for more from Mutant Monster Beach Party, a Japanese band that didn’t record much—I don’t think they ever made an album—but what little I’ve found by them is amazing.
This isn’t counting all the records I could find easily but can’t afford, like a lot of stuff from Jay Reatard’s label Shattered Records, or some of those early Punk singles from Dangerhouse Records, which are probably worth more than my life by now. If I had a pile of money I’d start collecting those early Chuck Berry singles, especially Chess 1722, a 45 with “Almost Grown” on one side (featuring backing vocals from a young Marvin Gaye), and my favorite, “Little Queenie,” on the other. But I’m too poor to be a collector, so I’m content to listen to “Little Queenie” on my iPod.
To be honest, it still amazes me how much easier the internet has made it for me to find music. I’m only in my late twenties, but I remember a time when I had to drive an hour to the one indie record store I knew of, and then place a special order just to get a spoken word CD by William S. Burroughs that you can probably rip off the internet for free right now. Wait a moment… Yup, I just checked, you can totally rip that album for free, or buy it on iTunes, or order it from Amazon. Isn’t technology great?
Thanks for writing & keep on rockin’ in the Free World, dude—
Doc Shoe
