Storming through the age of Quarrel

You probably already know but if you don't now you do.
German dates for the Judge euro tour 2014 with Cro-Mags

See you at one or maybe all of those shows.

 

Never in the night

What's there to say about Blitz? I'm sure you know about their influence on early hardcore bands like SSD and Iron Cross for example and that Judge put a cover of 'Warriors' on their 7". Maybe you also know that their music changed quite a bit after the first 3 Singles and the 'Voice Of A Generation' full length. So with nothing else for me to add here is...

 

Blitz - Never Surrender b/w Razors In The Night - No Future Records - Oi 6

Do you ever get so excited about a record that you don't see the obvious damage to the cover? It's not that this is a very rare 7" which actually doesn't make it that exciting to find one yet the first time I picked up a copy of this record I only realized later that the cover was damaged. Obviously not bad enough for me to notice right away but still too much for me to be satisfied with.

This time I double checked before buying so I can finally move on with one less pebble in my shoe and a shorter distance to travel until completing the most crucial part of my Blitz collection. The most crucial part being 1st pressings of the 4 releases already mentioned above and of their more New Wave sounding 7" with the killer titletrack 'New Age'. Everything else is on the same list as those later TSOL or Circle Jerks records.

Concerning this I am missing left and right while the middle is all set now. Or to be a little more precise I still need the 'All Out Attack' and 'New Age' singles. Doesn't sound too bad.

 

More bad music for bad people like me

Sometimes I wonder if there's a single person out there with a taste in music as bad as mine. Sure there are people with a similarly eclectic approach but I never met someone who likes exactly what I like. Is that even possible? Two people liking exactly the same bands while their likes are spread far and wide? But then again... Who cares?

Yes, I do think about it at times but actually I don't give a damn so here we go again with yet something completely different from what I've posted so far after the 10 month hiatus.

And again it is one of my favorite bands. Formed in 1976 in New York they never disbanded until their vocalist Erick Lee Purkhiser died on feb. 4th 2009. Him and his wife Kristy Wallace pretty much were the band. Everybody else had been replaced more than once in the 33 years of their existance....

I'm asking myself right now if there was any other band associated with Punk that went this long without ever breaking up? Hm, did Social Distortion exist between 1998 and 2004? Did Agnostic Front ever break up after I lost interest in the music they went on to make? What about Bad Religion? No Fx? Anyone have an answer instead of more questions?

Anyway. The Cramps are certainly one of the most influential bands in the history of Punk. They might even have launched a whole subgenre. Although they never thought of themselves as a Psychobilly act as far as I know I can sure see why people would put them there. I'm not too well travelled in that regard but don't The Meteors claim to have coined the term and being the only true Psychobilly band? When they formed in 1980 it is very well possible they had already listened to The Cramps whose Major Label debut 'Gravest Hits' was already out by then.

At a time when everybody wanted to progress. Get away from the same old boring drab. Erick and Kristy better known as Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, who were immersed in NY's Punk scene surrounding CBGB's and Max's Kansas City, took a step back only to get at the world with a sound that wasn't just their own brand of Punk. What they unleashed was so far ahead of their time that even by today's standards their mix of 50s Rockabilly with the raw sound of 70s Punk / 60s Garage topped off with elements of glam, horror movie themes, burlesque and drag is pretty wild. Imagine what an effect it must have had on people seeing them in the '70s.

In 1984 they released the 2nd (or 3rd depending on how you look at it) compilation of previously recorded and released material called 'Bad Music For Bad People' and this is the one I finally got my hands on. Unfortunately though I'm not too sure what I got.

The front cover is the same on all the releases I know of

The back cover of the US pressing is different from the canadian pressing of the same year and early pressings come without a barcode. So it's safe to say it's not the canadian or a later official pressing.

But the record is in such a good shape I'm afraid it is the 2010 bootleg which was released on yellow, white and black vinyl. I couldn't find any info on how to tell the black vinyl boot from the OG pressing or even a picture showing the backcover of the unofficial release. Usually those 'fanclub editions' tend to use the same artwork as the 1st press. Thus it cannot be ruled out that this is one of them.

The labels are grey with black text and maroon I.R.S. logo and info. Just in case you can't tell from these high quality pictures.

Of course there is also no picture of the labels to be found that are used for the latest reissue. Leaving me with only the matrix as a possible way to tell wrong from right. Bootleggers hardly ever use matrix etchings at all or scratch them out. Which is what tipped the scale towards buying the record because my copy does have the same matrix etchings as listed for the canadian pressing. I guess they did a one time press of the LP and only had different covers made.

Still, with everything pointing towards an original US 1st press I'm not totally sure. Is it possible that a bootleg features the same matrix etchings as the original? If so how the fuck do you tell the two apart? Did the OG use thicker cardboard with a glued on cover? I have no idea.

If you know... PLEASE chip in. I'm going crazy over this.

Thanks.

 

UPDATE:

The info I gathered so far points towards this being a bootleg. Very, very well made but still no original. Damn! Silver instead of grey labels seem to be the difference and probably the color of the I.R.S. info is rather purple on the OG instead of the maroon on my copy. Somehow though I'm still not really sure about it. Probably because I want it to be an original. On with the inquiries.

UPDATE #2:

Now I'm sure I got a bootleg. The info on discogs was updated by a guy from London after I asked him about how to identify a 1st press. Thank you very much to that dude and FU to the bootlegger for making it that hard to distinguish between OG and boot.

Differences are silver instead of grey labels on the official release and additional info etched into the runout grooves as opposed to just the catalogue number in the dead wax of the unofficial release.

 

You never have fun

That's what's being said about Straight Edge people. And you know it's true. We are a bunch of moralizers constantly reminding you that we've 'got better things to do'. Perhaps that's why I like the song but maybe it's just a great song.

I always like to dip my feet into uncharted waters. You never know what you're going to find. Sometimes it's a gem like the 7" featured here.

About a year and a half ago I discovered the awesome Shotgun Solution Blog. The person running it pretty much has the to me unknown territory of Power Pop / Pop Punk mapped out while I'm still struggeling to remember the bands I downloaded and like. I never cared much for Pop Punk or Power Pop Everything I heard that was associated with that genre I didn't like. And I really don't know where to draw a line between the two. But at some point I realized there are actually some really great things to unearth from that drawer. Naturally I rejoiced upon finding a fine source.Although it got pretty quiet on her/his blog lately, for a while there were shitloads of posts to check out. Too many actually for me to keep up with. So once in a while when my schedule allowed it I downloaded a bunch of stuff and unfortunately only gave it a quick listen resulting in quite a bit of confusion. Mostly I cannot remember which bands I like and which ones are too pop-y or beatle-esque for me. And yes, that means I don't like The Beatles. In my book they did nothing good for Rock'n'Roll. I'm with the Meatmen on this. '2 down 2 to go'. But let's get back to what I like. You know?! Be postive. Straight Edge. PMA. All that stuff.

My memory works best with pictures and has quite a few downloaded covers stored somewhere in the back of my head which I will recognize should one be sitting in a box I'm flipping through at a store. On the downside I cannot remember if the music is any good. Especially when being somewhere with no possibility to listen to the thing it really bums me out. Lucky me Vinyl Pirate in Zuerich had a listening station.

The Locals - you never have fun b/w yes or no 7"

'You never have fun' rightfully owns the A-Side to this 45.It's a total hit mixing powerfull pop music with the right amount of punk rawness.It's rough edges are sure to catch on to anyone even remotely susceptible to this music.

'Yes or no' is a solid B-Side.It incorporates the same qualities yet isn't as good.Come on. There has to ba a second place.

 

Griffy Records published the original pressing in 1980 and the last one on ebay sold for $86. While that is considerably less than the $315 someone had to dig up for a copy in 2009 before the reissue was released by Sing Sing Records in 2010, I couldn't be bothered to bring up anything close to that.

I'm very happy having found a NM copy of the by now also kinda hard to find repress with a pricetag you'll find on most of the recently rereleased classics.

Next time I take out some records to spin for an audience this one will most definitely be among them.

 

Blue Christmas

With this post I reveal to you one of my pleasures that not a lot of people I know can get behind.

I love Christmas and the music that comes with it!

My collection of that genre includes Crooners like Andy Williams, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, etc. and Country Singers like Jim Reeves, Loretta Lynn, John R. Cash, Glen Campbell, etc. with some Rock'n'Roll compilations like 'Phil Spector's Christmas Album' on the side and of course Elvis Presley.

This year though unfortunately marks the second in a row that I am not able to enjoy Christmas because I have been working since mid November and will be doing so until mid January while having to stay at hotels most of the time. At least last year I had the 24th off but this season the most consecutive hours spent at home and awake were about 6 hours. Not nearly enough.The weeks leading up to this year's holidays I was in Zuerich, far away from home and thus staying at a hotel. While everything around me spelled Christmas in all capitals my room surely didn't. Not a good combination for someone like me so I was feeling rather blue.

With this being said it was probably no coincidence that I found an LP called 'Blue Christmas'. I think I never before came across a record reflecting time and sentiment this perfect. Add to that the fact that it's by Ernest Tubb who is one of my favorit Country singers and you'll have me at my most vulnerable. Totally disregarding the price and overpaying.

The orignal was released in 1964 by Decca in the US. This is a reissue on Stetson from the UK though. No idea when it was released. Chances are most likely at an all time low but if you do have any more info on this release. Let me know.

And for all of you who didn't, utterly disgusted, skip this post right away I do now have a little HC related annecdote.

More than 7 years ago, my memory is a little blurry there, I listened to Ernest Tubb on a beautiful day. The evening of which I went to see MDC for the first time. They played a very small venue in Duesseldorf where I lived at the time so naturally friends of mine were attending too and accidently one of them knew the woman driving MDC on this tour. Hanging out and talking we got to know that the promoter of the show hadn't provided the band with a place for the night. Not at ease with the thought of those ageing pioneers having to sleep in a van my girlfriend at the time and I decided 'What the heck both of us don't have to work tomorrow so why don't you crash at our place'. They were a little hesitant at first but with no other option they gladly accepted in the end.When we arrived at our apartment first thing for me to do was file away that country record. My thought was that they'd probably not want to listen to any of that redneck stuff. But how wrong I was. Despite their leftist politcal stance they do very well enjoy the twang of old country. Ron was the first to take an interest which led to a nice and long chat about the history of music, how important it is to know where you're coming from and to not limit yourself to one genre.The night peaked when Mikey Offender (RIP) gave me his homemade Tape of early recordings by Robert Johnson (an early Blues musician).So Ernest Tubb was the gateway to having a great time with original members Ron, Dave, Mikey and their drummer for the Tour Mike. Leading to me putting up a show for them a year later, having Mikey over for a third time when he filled in on bass for Direct Control and another planned show that was unfortunately cancelled because of Dave's health issues which had everyone involved over here be quite worried. After that the contact kinda faded. The last thing I heard was that Dave is doing better to the point where he can play the odd show but is still too weak to tour. That's been a while ago already and I truely hope he made more progress since. Maybe one day MDC will come over for a final tour. Everyone at the AK47 and I would go more than out of our way to make a show happen.Dave, Ron, Mike if by any odd chance you're reading this. You're always more than welcome.Mikey. You'll always be remembered. May there be plenty of beer in heaven.

 

Dare to feature

I have fond memories of the 'Philly Dust Krew' compilation a friend of mine bought in the 90s. Back then our resources were very limited due to being young and still in school which is why I was satisfied with the tape copy I got and went on to buy other releases. The old school way of sharing music before the internet and downloads.

4 bands were compiled on this various artists CD. Dare To Defy, Starkweather, Hard Response and All Out War. Two of those I really dug and still do while I didn't care about the remaing two. I guess All Out War is the most obvious one of those I liked. The other one being... well, probably not the one you might think if you peeped ahead or are drawing conclusions from the title of this post. No, it's not Dare To Defy. It's Starkweather! Ever heard their 'Into The Wire' album? That's some sick shit. Sooo good!

And yet this post is about a Dare To Defy record. How come? Well, the fond memories of that compilation do include Dare To Defy and Too Damn Hype Records who also released the following 7". This already is a little bit of an incentive to buy. On top of that it was cheap which always helps. The main selling point though are the features. Both Jerry A of Poison Ideand Paul Bearer of Sheer Terror appear on this piece of wax. Now this is something I can't resist. Especially not at the price I picked it up for. Sheer Terror are one of my all time favorite bands and Paul Bearer's stage antics are priceless. Poison Idea are only a tad shy of being one of my favorite bands too. Probably because they released so many stuff and I don't think all of them are on the same level with the classic 'Feel The Darkness' album. In contrast to this I regard Sheer Terror's output as flawless. That's probably why they are one of my favorites and Poison yidea are not. Even though I think 'Feel The Darkness' is one of the best hardcore punk albums ever.

After all this pointless babble I present to you a few pictures of the Dare To Defy 'Tales From The Drunkside' 7" that was released by Too Damn Hype Records in 1992 featuring special guests Jerry A and Paul Bearer.

Inside of the fold-over sleeve.

If you have any pressing info or your own story regarding this record please share...

 

The underark with two 'd'

I guess everybody has an example of a songtext he/she thought was something completely different before actually reading the lyrics. With me one of those is the text to Misfits' 'attitude' where I always hear "Inside your feeble brain there's probably a hole - If you don't shut your mouth you're gonna feel the flow" when it's actually "whore" and "floor". Of course the real lyrics rhyme better but come on... I like my version better and I'll always pretend that's what it actually is.

But the case with this Mayday 7" is a little different. First of all it's not about the lyrics. Somehow I always thought their 1st 7" from 1992 'The Underdark' on Vicious Cricle Records is called 'The Underark'. Maybe that's why it never popped up when searching ebay. Haha.

I haven't even heard any of the songs yet. Maybe that's why I was never inclined to spend the money I saw it changing shelves for when accidently finding it under 'other items for sale' on ebay or listed on discogs. But I doubt that. The split 7" with Integrity, 'Lost In Sabbath' and 'Staplegun' are great releases that made rounds on my turntable regularly in the '90s. Somehow though it's been a while since I listened to any of those. I love the 7" and 10" format. Yes, even the hated by so many 10" format. Still, once they are filed with the rest of the collection they usually stay there. It's a shame but I hardly ever have time to sit down and really enjoy a record. Usually I have LPs spinning while I take care of things that need to be done. And when I have the time to put on a few 7"es and enjoy everything about them there are new ones waiting that I'm eager to get lost in. So once I'm back home I'm sure this one will get some love before being admitted to the family vault.

That being said I am very happy having found this gem for even less than I would have paid for it. Until I can give it the love it deserves these pictures (altgough not too good... hotel... bad lighting... no camera... blah) will have to do

Now I'm down to 4 7"es until a complete collection unless there is more than one version of the 7" on Endless Fight Records (what a great label that was). Let me know if there is.

Last thing for this post:I saw a pink vinyl copy of 'The Underdark' being sold on ebay once which I cannot find any info on. Is it that rare? Anyone have any info?Here's a picture from the ebay auction:

 

Live Reed

With me buying records is something that has always been influenced by the cover. From the earliest purchases I can remember up to this one. Lou Reed's 'take no prisoners' live double LP.

While I was already pretty much satisfied owning 's/t' (gotta have the first solo album), 'Transformer' (his best album) and 'Coney Island Baby' (a nice record featuring the must have song 'A gift' (google the lyrics and you'll know why)) the cover to 'take no prisoners' always spoke to me. And everytime I saw it I heard it a little louder.... pick me up.... Pick me up..... Pick Me up.... until it was PICK ME UP and I just couldn't resist anymore.

This one is a very nice OG 1978 US pressing. How can you resist that?

Unfortunately I only saw the following while taking those pictures

Who the fuck does stupid shit like that????A heartfelt FUCK YOU to the one responsible.

Both records come with printed innersleeves but they both look the same. So the above pictures show the front and back of one of those. The other one looking different would have been nice though.

Following now are pictures of the labels and if you don't already know let's see if you can find the strange thing about this release

Why did they do that? Record 1 featuring Side 1 & 4. Record 2 featuring Side 2 & 3. Does anyone see or know any reason? Any suggestions?

If Side 3 would switch places with Side 4 it would be a very nice touch. At least for those who have a DJ set up with two turntables at home. Then you could play all of it without any pause. The more I think about it the better I like that idea for a Live album. They were on a good way but in the end missed by one. Too bad.

Another thing is that I don't like the song 'Viscious' not being included. To me that's his best song which I still need to have on a 7". And I guess I will have to pick up his 1st Live record from 1975 too because that one includes my favorite.

In conclusion it seems this record is pretty useless and I bought it only for the cover but hey, one more Lou Reed LP in your collection is never a bad thing plus the cover is really very good. Even with that darned scribble.

Now I only need the 1975 Live LP next to a 7" version of 'Viscious' to be satisfied with my Lou Reed collection.

 

Sealed traditionalists

On to the superior format with this post.

Maybe this is also a good time to let you know that my likes are all over the place. I am inclined to pick up vinyl ranging from Blues to Soul, Country to Psychobilly, Metal, Punk, Hardcore, Hip Hop, 90s Alternative plus some Indie and Pop stuff. My main focus being on Punk and associated Genres ranging from progenitors MC5 up to metal influenced Hardcore that's just not yet metalcore.

Devo being another one those progenitors, who despite their 1st 7" from 1977 already formed in 1972, are one of my favorites. I cannot begin to comprehend what an impact their sound must have had on the burgeoning punk scene.

I am totally in love with them yet I cannot find it in me to really collect their output. There is just way too much for my limited resources. I'd be very much satisfied owning just one nice copy of any of the many pressings of each of their regular studio albums. Which is a little strange because with other bands it has to be 1st pressings and I have no idea why Devo don't qualify for that. It's just one of those things. One LP though sticks out but let me add first that whenever I accidentally come across a nice 7" or live LP at a real life record store I do consider buying that. I just don't search the web for it.

The one album sticking out is 'New Traditionalists'. Why? Well, not because I think it's their best but because there is a limited amount of 1st pressings that do come with a huge poster and a bonus 7". Or at least these days the number of complete packages are pretty limited. When it was released in 1981 it was issued in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand so I guess it wasn't that hard to find one back then. I know it was also released in several other countries the same year but thise pressing didn't come with either poster or 7".At first I didn't know about the additional stuff because as I already mentioned I am usually happy with just any nice copy and therefore had picked one up at a fleamarket before I came across a copy at a store in Leipzig that came with the poster in mint condition. Naturally I had to buy it because I cannot stand missing something that should actually be included. Yes, I am at times happy with having just any pressing of a record but they always have to be complete. (Come on. I'm not that much of a slacker.)This sparked my curiosity and had me check discogs. Ever since I am on the look out for a complete copy. Or at least one that does have the 7" so I can upgrade and chuck the rest. Some days ago on the hunt through Zuerich there it was

As you might already have figured out from the title of this post and the pictures. The damn thing is still sealed. 32 years after it was released in the USA I find a sealed copy somewhere in europe. How the hell did that one survive 32 fucking years. It's amazing. And if I get to live that long it will stay sealed for the next 32 or more years. I don't exactly know why but somehow it feels like an accomplishment to survive that long. I can't find it in me to bring that to an end.

Win some lose some. Sometimes it feels like doing both at the same time.

And so the hunt continues for that elusive little bonus 7"

Here's a picture of the poster from my instagram account which I took after purchasing it.

 

Open mouth

To start off this round of latest purchases I'd like to address one of the biggest omissions in hardcore that I can think of. But first let me ask you this:

How many of you are into the Unity - blood days, Uniform Coice - staring into the sun and/ or DYS - fire and ice LPs?

Probably not too many.I however love these records and sometimes when in the right mood these three are not enough and not always the first ones to listen to. It very well happens that, if at home, I pull out Leeway's adult crash LP and give it a spin first. While on the road though I have to revert to what's on my iPod and although all of those are on there there's also another very beautiful nugget to be found that I never think of when I'm back home simply because it was never released on vinyl. How can that be?

How is it possible that Leeway's 'open mouth kiss' was never released on vinyl? So many albums get repressed. Why not this one? I would definitely buy and know a few others who would too. Please! Someone get on this. There IS a demand for that.

I don't care much for CDs. I think in the last 5 years I picked up maybe 3 of those and here I present to you the fourth:It's too good not to own at all.

Leeway - open mouth kiss

As mentioned already I am not into CDs so I took only one quick picture. Posting about it from work now I realize I should provide more. Hang in there. I'll do that...

...and here we are. Not the best pictures but what can you do? Late at night in a hotel room with no good lighting and no real camera. Sorry.