Government Issue “CRASH”

12″ LP, Giant, 1988

I saw this band play the night before my 16th birthday, with locals Starvation Army and headliners The Dead Milkmen. I don’t really recall GI’s set. This may be partially due to my being familiar with only a small portion of their discography at the time … such as this record, the cassette of which I had in my shirt pocket one day during Chemistry class, prompting the teacher to pluck it out and read some of the lyrics aloud to the delight of my standard-issue classmates. Tossed the tour shirt when I got evicted during the alcoholic era.

Gluebag “Confused”

12″ LP, Framework, 2014

Things that make you go hmmm … I didn’t learn ’til I was about to write this post that this LP is a reissue of a tape originally released in 2008. Which explains a few things, such as the fact that it sounds as though it was recorded in one take in an airplane hangar, and that certain numbers may have been made up on the spot. Don’t get me wrong – that’s not a gripe! (More) music should sound this way! The cover art kinda tells the tale, too: imagine the Stooges covered by Crazy Horse, or vice versa. Niiiiice.

FUGAZI “Margin Walker”

12″ EP, Dischord, 1989

A former friend and colleague gave me this piece of vinyl, along with The World Won’t Listen and Veedon Fleece, for no reason other than he didn’t have any use for it any longer and thought I might.

We’re no longer in contact, which kinda sucks, but apparently the method I’ve adopted for dealing with significant portions of my past is to slam the door shut and ignore whatever’s behind it.

“I know I’m wired strange. It’s better for me to be alone as much as possible. It’s the best thing for myself and everyone else.” — H. Rollins

fIREHOSE “ ‘if’n’ ”

12″ LP, SST, 1987

fIREHOSE contained multitudes. I knew this dude in high school who went around claimin’ they were his favorite band – and his own combo’s jammin’ certainly supported that assertion. (He’s a teacher now, also operatin’ a river-kayakin’ rental business.) And then I knew this dude in college whose collectin’ only included their major-label releases. (I don’t have a followup report on him.) I myself don’t think I’d ever be includin’ this trio amongst my own “favorites,” but glory be, I have spent a lotta damn time listenin’ to them nonetheless. Originally introduced to them by a friend’s band practicin’.

Shelley Fabares “Telephone (Won’t You Ring)” b/w “Big Star”

45 rpm 7″, Colpix, 1962

I often think that if one didn’t grow up middle-class in suburban America – and personally I didn’t – it might be difficult to accept that what major media of the mid-1950s through mid-60s depicted as actual reality may legitimately have been so for a significant portion of the masses. Such as the pressing concerns expressed on this single by a then-contemporary actress, whose existence only registers to me as a result of a song by Redd Kross offshoot Ze Malibu Kids (called, sensibly enough, “Shelley Fabares”). Myself, I kinda hafta imagine someone else’s life. Maybe that’s the point, though?

“The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan”

12″ LP, Columbia, 1963

I know it’s basically silly to look askance at cultural eras that one didn’t experience, as if to disregard the shortcomings or inanities of one’s own, but it’s kind of hard to imagine what it was like when to a certain subset of hipsters, how “in” you were depended on how purely into folk music you were.

It reminds me of watching these kids from the ’90s rockabilly revival trying to one-up one another about the period authenticity of their duds – one of ’em, no lie, flaunted the correct brand of plastic comb in his front shirt pocket.

Thomas Dolby “She Blinded Me With Science” b/w “Flying North”

45 rpm 7″, Capitol, 1982

This has to be among the very first singles I ever bought, because in reverse of what I would imagine to be the usual pattern, I started out by acquiring albums. The funny thing about this record is that I don’t really recall buying it at all. Maybe my older brother did … but I don’t remember that being the case, either. Well, one of us bought it; it was a huge hit dominating the radio waves during a family trip to Florida. Discogs sez this particular pressing is from ’83, so I guess that’s when that trip took place.

DIDJITS “Que Sirhan Sirhan”

12″ LP, Touch and Go, 1993

Their final long-player may not be their best or most consistent, but it boasts great sound and a less tongue-in-cheek musical approach. Few looked to this group for depth or artistry anyway.

I saw Shellac – featuring esteemed Didjits producer Reggie Stiggs – play at the top of this absurdly great bill in New York City way back when, with Shorty, Rodan and Brick Layer Cake supporting. I was wearing my DIDJITS tee. A girl came up to me, told me I had the coolest shirt in the place, and walked away.

I still occasionally wear that shirt.

Dead Kennedys “Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death”

12″ LP, Alternative Tentacles, 1987

I woulda been 11 when I found out about the song “Too Drunk To Fuck” – from Bob Woodward’s 1984 John Belushi screed, Wired.

“He turned it very loud and began dancing and jumping around the bar. … slam dancing—a punk dance in which people violently crash into each other.”

Yes, I learned about punk rock from a book.
And at the time, I did not believe that any such profane song would be allowed to exist.

“[L]isten to this … They can’t play this record on the radio. This is what’s all wrong with America. This song can’t be played.” 

Dead Kennedys “Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables”

12″ LP, Cherry Red, 1980

“Kill the Poor” changed my life. I was already a left-leaning burgeoning iconoclast by the age of 13, but from the first time I heard this album’s first cut (out of context, mind you), that was it. My opinions on capitalist society, the military-industrial complex, and the U.S. government have barely wavered since.

I purchased this 1981 Italian Ariston pressing in pristine sealed condition at Randall Park Mall in hadda be 1987. (“Record Den”? That’s how I usually remember generic mall music stores.) No question this is one of the 3 or 4 records I’ve listened to the most in my life.