THINKMAN - "The Formula" (1986)

 

"The Formula" is the best David Bowie album that David Bowie never made, or at least I think that's what Thinkman thought.

In reality, Thinkman was singer, songwriter, and producer Rupert Hine. 

Rupert produced albums by everybody from Stevie Nicks to The Fixx, Rush, Suzanne Vega, and Tina Turner, so I'm pretty sure he knows what he's talking about.

THINKMAN - "The Formula" 

THE VIOLENTS - Strings Of Hits" (1962)

 

The Violents were an instrumental group from Stockholm, Sweden who recorded in the early 60's.

Their first album came out in 1962 and was called "Strings Of  Hits." The first  song on the record was titled "Liebestwist" and was banned on Swedish radio because it was considered a violation of a classic work, that being "Liebestraum" by the composer Franz Liszt.

 

THE VIOLENTS - "Liebestwist" 

 They fared better with the last song on the record titled "Alpens Ros"("Rose Of The Alps"), which made it to number five on the charts in Sweden in 1962, but when it was released in the U.S., it went nowhere.

THE VIOLENTS - "Alpens Ros" 

AEROSMITH - "Made In America" (1997)

 

I love this song because it sounds like Aerosmith as a band playing in your local bar instead of an arena rock band of mega proportions.

I never get tired of it, it's just that good!

What a freakin' groove! 

AEROSMITH - "One Way Street" 

OINGO BOINGO - "Insects" (1982)

 

Rich here, betting that you know of the composer Danny Elfman -- and that if you don't know his name, you've surely heard his soundtracks in the past 40 years, including in more than 20 Tim Burton films. He's been nominated for numerous Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy Awards.

 

Maybe you didn't know that Elfman's been composing music since he was a teenager. In the early '70s, he became the music director for his older brother's street theatre art troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, which by 1979 had evolved into an the 8-man rock band Oingo Boingo with Elfman as the lead singer and primary songwriter. Oingo Boingo's music was wildly eclectic with Elfman's angular compositions that careened all over the musical landscape while combining sophisticated arrangements and bizarre subject matter. It wasn't everyone's cup of tea, and though Oingo Boingo had a taste of mainstream success with "Dead Man's Party" and "Weird Science," Elfman's quirky ska-meets-new wave-meets-jazz-and-pop was more suited to a quirky new wave cult audience -- the kind of audience sought by Tim Burton when he recruited Elfman to compose soundtracks for his equally quirky movies, starting with "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" (1985) and "Batman" (1989) and to the present day. 

 

Meanwhile, here's an emblematic taste of Elfman's work with Oingo Boingo, "Insects," from their 1982 album "Nothing to Fear."

OINGO BOINGO - "Insects" 

SPIDER SONGS!

 

I didn't know until recently that the 1966 album by The WHO titled "Happy Jack," was originally named "A Quick One." Apparently the title was changed for the American version after the song "Happy Jack" started getting some airplay, and also because they thought the title was a double entendre, that might be perceived as something dirty or nasty by the general public. 

This is one of my favorite WHO albums, and also one of my favorite 'spider' songs all in one neat package!

THE WHO - "Boris The Spider" 

 

This is the back of Link Wray's 1969 album titled "Yesterday And Today," that included his song "The Black Widow." "The Black Widow" was originally on Link's earlier album in 1962 when he was performing as Link Wray And His Ray Men.

It doesn't get much more classic than this!

LINK WRAY - "The Black Widow"

Even though there are hundreds of spider songs out there, I'd be doing a great disservice if I didn't mention the 1967 film "Spider Baby Or, The Maddest Story Ever Told" that had music written by the incredible Ronald Stein. If you're not familiar with him, Ron Stein was the mastermind behind the music in films like "Invasion of The Saucer Men," "Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman," "Ghost Of Dragstrip Hollow," "Dementia 13," "Journey To The 7th Planet," etc, etc!!

The cherry on top is who performs this song!

LON CHANEY JR. - "Spider Baby" 

THREE DECADES OF MONKEYS!!!

 

I was going to write about songs with spider references in them tonight, but something threw a monkey wrench into my plans, and it ended up being songs about monkeys instead.

There have been so many songs with monkey references over the years.

Here's a couple of good ones, and speaking of monkey wrench....

FOO FIGHTERS - "Monkey Wrench" 

 

One of the most common monkey songs would without a doubt be the classic by The Miracles in 1963 from this album titled "Doin' Mickey's Monkey."

THE MIRACLES - "Mickey's Monkey"

 

 

There are probably hundreds or more titles out there, but I'm through monkeying around for now, and am going to round out this perfect trio with a 1951 single by "Stick McGhee And His Buddies" on the "Atlantic Label" that will rock your socks off.

STICK McGHEE AND HIS BUDDIES - "One Monkey Don't Stop The Show" 

STEWART COPELAND - "The Rhythmatist" (1985)

 

This solo record by Police drummer Stewart Copeland, the soundtrack for a 1985 film called "The Rhythmatist," which he also co-wrote, just shows you what an integral part of The Police's sound he really was. 

STEWART COPELAND - "Brazzaville" 

THE AGENTS - "Modern Girl" (1983)

 

The Agents were a Power Pop band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and as far as I can tell, their total output was this one single in 1983.

Sounds like a pretty big production for a one off single. 

THE AGENTS - "Modern Girl" 

BLUR - "Song 2" (1997)

 

Blur's 4th album came out in 1997, and was titled simply "Blur."

Oddly enough, the second song is titled "Song 2."

I've dug this song ever since the second time I heard it.

BLUR - "Song 2" 

LORD KITCHENER - "Kitch 67" (1966)

 

A couple of years before he died, Lord Litter confessed to me that this gentleman right here named Lord Kitchener was where he got the idea for his name.

Lord Kitchener, aka Aldwyn Roberts, was a giant in the world of Calypso. "Kitch 67" came out in 1966 and was his 4th album out of the 37 he recorded.

Here's a great song about telling a person to mind their own business! 

 LORD KITCHENER - "Take You' Meat Out Me Rice"

Four Essential Power Pop Songs

 

In the Seventies as Rock got heavier, it also got less melodic. Led Zeppelin may have been the biggest band of the '70s, but with only a handful of exceptions, their music wasn't really known for memorable melodies. It was all about the heavy guitar riffs. 

 

Unfortunately, the pop charts didn't offer much of an alternative. Whereas Sixties pop had led a creative charge as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Kinks, and others expanded the intellectual and musical palette of rock and pop music without losing any of its melodic and harmonic inventiveness, by the beginning of the Seventies, the majority of pop bands littering the radio waves were wispy and lightweight. 

 

However, a few early Seventies bands -- most notably Badfinger, The Raspberries, and Big Star -- attempted to marry the tunefulness of the Sixties with the heavier sounds of the Seventies. Specifically, the music of these POWER POP bands was full of Beatles, Byrds, and Beach Boys melodic and harmonic influences accompanied by crunchy guitars and power chords. (A few years earlier Pete Townsend had described The Who's music as Power Pop.)

 

Nonetheless, despite a modicum of commercial success, Power Pop pretty much died from public view by the mid-Seventies. 

 

But then in 1975 The Ramones and The Sex Pistols came along, and the chaos of Punk ensued, followed in short order by New Wave; i.e., punk-influenced music that was more pop-oriented (see: The Talking Heads, The Cars)

 

And, surprisingly, bubbling under the Punk & New Wave scene came a new generation of power pop bands who, in addition to resurrecting the hook-laden sounds of original early '70s power pop, also incorporated the aggressiveness of punk. Although these new power pop records only scratched the bottom of the charts, they were significant enough to establish a New Underground Era of Power Pop that exists to this day. 

 

Here are four that you should know about:

 

SHOES - "Tomorrow Night" (1978)

 THE RECORDS - "Starry Eyes" (1978) 

  BRAM TCHAIKOVSKY - "Girl of My Dreams" (1979) 

 THE PLIMSOULS - "A Million Miles Away" (1983) 

THE WIPEOUTERS - "P' Twaaang!!!" (2001)

 

This 2001 surf music side project by 3 of 4 of the members of Devo is a kick in the pants. They called themselves The Wipeouters, and the name of their only release was "P' Twaaang!!!" 

It's an excellent crossbreed of Devo and Surf, and it's a damn shame they never came out with a second album!

THE WIPEOUTERS - "Bikini Beach" 

SONNY SHARROCK - "Space Ghost Theme" (1994)

 

One of the best TV theme songs from one of the best cartoon shows of all time happened in 1994, and I doubt it will ever be duplicated as far as originality is concerned.

Short & Sweet! Sonny Sharrock is in a world of his own!

SONNY SHARROCK - "Space Ghost Theme"  

PINK FLOYD - "Is There Anybody Out There?" (1979)

 

Is there anybody out there? 

I'm talkin' to you! 

It's been 47 years since "The Wall" came out, and we know even less than we did in 1979.

If we had listened to Pink Floyd, would the world be a better place today? 

I sure as Hell don't know.

PINK FLOYD - "Is There Anybody Out There?" 

THE PENTANGLE - "Sweet Child" (1968)

In 1968 the British folk group known as The Pentangle came out with this album called "Sweet Child."

Unique in every way possible, it's a keeper! 

The abundant talent of Jacqui McShee: vocals
John Renbourn: vocals, guitar
Bert Jansch: vocals, guitar
Danny Thompson: double bass, 

and
Terry Cox: drums

is more than obvious! 

THE PENTANGLE - "Sweet Child" 

THE HOLLIES - ROCKAPELLA - "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress"

 

 The Hollies had a lot of great hits over the years, but my favorite will always be this one because it's just an all around great song, and probably one of my favorite rock songs of all time.

THE HOLLIES - "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress" 

 

For somebody to be good enough twenty-one years later to do a version that's just damn near as good is pretty amazing, but that's what Rockapella managed to do.

I think you will agree! 

ROCKAPELLA - "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress"

ANDREW DORFF - "Hint Of Mess" (1997)

 

Discogs refers to Andrew Dorff as "an American country music singer/songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee."

He did write some country hits for other people, but if this is country music, I'd sure be listening to a lot more of it .

Seems like Andrew's life was an enigma, and he died mysteriously at the age of 40 in 2016 while on vacation in Turks and Caicos. 

Ten years have passed, and to this day, nobody seems to know what happened other than he drowned. 

This album of his titled "Hint Of Mess" came out in 1997, and on it was this terrific song with a great title!

ANDREW DORFF - "Insecuriosity"

Four Essential Hammond Organ Songs of the Psychedelic Era

 

Rich here to talk about how an affordable church organ became an essential instrument for rock bands once the music started getting Heavy. But, first, some background: Back in the mid-1930's the Hammond Organ Co. began making an alternative for churches that could neither house nor afford the large pipe organs found in gigantic cathedral-like churches. It was a successful venture.

 

After Hammond Organs became particularly popular in small Black churches, many gospel-influenced Black jazz, soul, and R&B groups of the '60s made the Hammond Organ a central part of their instrumentation. Meanwhile, with a few exceptions, most White rock bands of the time were using easy-to-transport "Combo organs." They were popular, but their thin, skating-rink quality sounded somewhat cheesy. (For example, listen to "96 Tears.")

 

In 1967, rock music was getting heavier. The bass and drums were louder, and the guitars were fuzzed and distorted, and some bands began replacing their tinny-sounding combo organs with the fuller-and-deeper-sounding Hammond Organ. When played through a Leslie amplification cabinet with a rotating speaker that gave the organ a whirling sound, the Hammond Organ was perfect for the dreamy, slowed-down psychedelic music of the time.

 

And the sound caught on. Procol Harum had a hit record in 1967 that featured a Hammond Organ front and center, playing a quasi-classical counter-theme against the song's bluesy melody. Shortly afterwards, many bands interested in being taken seriously ditched their combo organs and invested in a Hammond Organ. 

 

The following are four Hammond Organ-centric records from 1967-1968 that I consider essential, including the Procol Harum record I believe initiated the trend.

 

PROCOL HARUM  - "A Whiter Shade Of Pale

 

VANILLA FUDGE -"You Keep Me Hanging On"

 

DEEP PURPLE - "Hush"

 

THREE DOG NIGHT - "Chest Fever" 

E-IN-BRINO - "Indianapolis" (1981)

 

 "Red Snerts - The Sound Of Gilcher"

 From 1981, this record is a wild and krazy compilation of different bands from Indiana, and well worth a listen if you can get your hands on a copy. If not, you can find most of it on YouTube,

We have holidays for everything else in the world, I think it's time we start celebrating "Red Snerts"Day!

E-IN-BRINO - "Indianapolis" 

THE THOUGHT - "Every Single Day" (1985)

 

This doesn't happen often but the song I wanted to use from this 1985 self-titled album by The Thought was actually not available on YouTube, but it's okay, this song is almost as good! 

 I don't know why, but I thought that The Thought was from L.A., but they are really from from Broek op Langedijk, Noord-Holland.

It's all starting to make sense now. 

THE THOUGHT - "Every Single Day" 

Two New Releases for 2026 from Pumf Records!

 

Well, it's that time of the year and pStan Batcow and his Pumf Records label are back in the headlines again with two new releases.

First off is Volume 28 in the Godspunk compilation series featuring a gazillion artists

 

Second is a new release from pStan's own band Howl In The Typewriter titled "Primalore."

It would behoove you to check them out, and here's the place to do it!

PUMF RECORDS

CINDY LEE BERRYHILL - "Who's Gonna Save The World?" (1987)

 

I first heard the music of Cindy Lee Berryhill on a Rhino Sampler CD back in the day, and it was a song from her debut album in 1987 titled "Who's Gonna Save The World." I've been a fan ever since.

Damn, what a great talent, and what a great tune!

CINDY LEE BERRYHILL - "Damn, Wish I Was A Man" 

THE 88 - "Kind Of Light" (2003)

 

Life is too short to listen to boring music or the same old oldies over and over ad nauseam like they play on the radio, and that's why I do this to try and bring a little light and enjoyment into your life.

Here's another prime example!

The Los Angeles band known as The 88 released this album in 2003 called "Kind Of Light," and you just can't go wrong with something that's not just the same old fodder!

THE 88 - "All The Same" 

BUKKA WHITE - "Mississippi Blues Vol. 1" (1964)

 

The Blues!

Ain't nobody did it better than the originals, and Bukka White is truly an original.

A lot of modern blues is too clean, sanitary, and lifeless despite all the pedals and effects, and it just can't hold a candle compared to one guy and a 1933 National Duolian resonator guitar of the past.

This is the kind of stuff that makes you want to tap your foot, stand up and holler, jump, and shout!

This 1964 album titled "Mississippi Blues Vol. 1" by Bukka White should be in every person's record collection. It's that good!

"Aberdeen is my home,
But the men don't want me around,
They know I will take these women,
An take them outta town." 

I literally can't sit still listening to this song, and that's all I need to say!

BUKKA WHITE - "Aberdeen Mississippi Blues"

MONSTERS UNDER THE BED - "When I Die" (1997)

 

Rich here to relate a more personal note than usual because I have known Lance Morgan (aka Monsters Under the Bed) since the mid-'80s when he first responded to an ad I'd placed in Seattle's leading rock 'n' roll newspaper, looking for a singer/guitarist for my new band. In Lance, not only did I discover someone whose voice blended perfectly with mine, but I also discovered a prolific singer/songwriter who seemingly wrote more songs in a week than I could in several years. To this day, Lance continues writing and recording at a dizzying pace. 

 

In the early '90s, a few years after our band had run its course, Lance decided to record an album under the fictitious band name Monsters Under the Bed, and he invited me to participate. The album, "Neighborhood of Reality," was full of Lance's introspective lyrics and approachable melodies and harmonies and hooks where you might not expect them. As we approached the end of that recording project, I challenged Lance to write a song with different kinds of chord progressions than he normally used, and he came up with the amusing and catchy "When I Die," a song where he imagines a time when he can "stop writing introspective songs." It was also released as a single, and it's my favorite song from the album.

MONSTERS UNDER THE BED - "When I Die"  

STRANGEWAYS - "Show Her You Care" (1978)

 

Strangeways were a UK Power Pop band from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. This 1978 single was pretty much their whole catalogue, and if you can find a copy, it's going to cost you around $100.00 or more.

As seen here, they were also known as Ƨtrangeways!

STRANGEWAYS - "Show Her You Care" 

THE HEPTONES - "Night Food" (1976)

 

In my humble opinion, some of the best Reggae music ever recorded was in the 1970's. There were just so many bands that were at the top of their creative game, and The Heptones were one of them, and here's a perfect tune to prove my point!

THE HEPTONES - "Book Of Rules" 

THE MIGHTY BLUE KINGS - "Meet Me In Uptown" (1996)

 

I'm in the mood to just listen to some good fun music these days, and this release from the 1996 CD titled "Meet Me In Uptown" by The Mighty Blue Kings does the trick. 

Take a load off, forget all the BS, kick back and have a good time!

THE MIGHTY BLUE KINGS - "Buzz Buzz Buzz"

TAJ MAHAL - "Satisfied 'N Tickled Too" (1976)

 

There are so many great songs in Taj Mahal's repertoire over the years that it was difficult to just pick out one. The song I was looking for, his version of  "Nobody's Business But My Own" that was recorded live at Big Sur, I couldn't find on YouTube for some reason, but that's okay, this song is almost just as satisfying.

So here you go, it's the title tune from this awesome 1976 album.

TAJ MAHAL - "Satisfied 'N Tickled Too"

JIM KWESKIN AND THE JUG BAND "Beedle Um Bum" (1963)

 

There was a time many many years ago when Skiffle music was very big in the UK, and Jug Band music was fairly popular in the states, but then Rock music overshadowed both of them in both countries and bands like Jim Kweskin And The Jug Band pretty much virtually disappeared.

Kazoos are probably the cheapest musical instrument a person can buy, so maybe it's time for a Jug Band music revival. 

This very fun self-titled album was released in 1963, and is chock fully of nutty stuff like this.

JIM KWESKIN AND THE JUG BAND - "Beedle Um Bum"

FLAMIN' GROOVIES - "Shake Some Action" (1976)

 

The Flamin' Groovies are the epitome of a rock and roll band. Musically, all their dots are connected, and I'm really not quite why they are not more popular than they are.

"Shake Some Action"  made in 1976 was their 4th studio album, and it's just good from beginning to end, and the title song is a really good example of what they do best, and that is rock! 

Sometimes they were The Flamin' Groovies, and sometimes they were just Flamin' Groovies, but it really doesn't change anything, they were still great either way!

FLAMIN' GROOVIES - "Shake Some Action" 

List Songs, Part Five - "We Didn't Start The Fire"

 

Rich here to bring my series about songs that are comprised of lists to a conclusion, this one featuring Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" (1989). Billy Joel gets a tough rap a lot of the time. He could be self-absorbed and overbearing and glib. But he was one of the best songwriters of the past 50 years, and when he addressed social issues, he was usually spot-on. 

 

In the late '80s, after nearly 10 years of Reagan conservatism, idealistic young people started marching in the streets again, protesting economic inequality, human rights abuses ignored by America, the ongoing AIDS crisis, the menace of nuclear energy, the injuries to the environment, and the ineffectuality of neoliberalism. 

Just like we Baby Boomer had done to our parents, the youth in the streets blamed our generation for the risks to the country and to the planet. A Baby Boomer himself, Billy didn't dispute the accusations but denied that our generation had "started the fire" -- that history of the previous 50 years was filled with both cool cultural highs as well as terrible and horrific lows, and that the fire had been burning for a long time before the Baby Boomers came around.

 

Some might argue that REM was making a roughly similar point with "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," but their song wasn't as succinct a "List Song" as Joel's, which is a culturally and historically excellent list of post-World War II history:

BILLY JOEL - "We Didn't Start The Fire" 

MEAT PUPPETS - "Up On The Sun" (1985)

 

What can you expect from a band with a name like Meat Puppets?

Actually, you can expect a lot, and that's exactly what you'll get from this 1985 album of theirs titled "Up On The Sun." 

Listen to this song, and I think you'll agree.

MEAT PUPPETS - "Up On The Sun" 

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE - "One Nation Underground" (1967)

 

New York's ESP-Disk' label was founded in 1963 and was created to promote Avant-Garde and Free-Jazz music, and eventually also started producing 'Rock' music if you want to call it that. A better description would be something like 'Not Jazz,"or 'Sloppy Folk Rock,' and out of that emerged groups like The Fugs, The Godz, and Pearls Before Swine.

The Fugs are probably the most well known, but Pearls Before Swine fronted by Tom Rapp were probably the most talented.

Top Rapp went on to have a solo career before retiring from music in 1976. He later would go to school and end up being a civil rights lawyer.

In 1967, Pearls Before Swine released this LP called "One Nation Underground." 

For the cover, they used the panel that depicted "The Last Judgement" from Hieronymus Bosch's famous triptychs titled "The Garden Of Earthly Delights."  

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE - "Uncle John" 

PIÑATA PROTEST - "Necio Nights" (2018)

 

In my humble opinion, you can never have too many Punk Rock Tex-Mex bands, and Piñata Protest is out to prove it!

Unlike the awesome Carne Asada, these guys ARE a real band! 

PIÑATA PROTEST - "DUI" 

CANDYPANTS - "I Want A Pony" (2000)

 

I guess it's time to lighten up some, so here's a hilarious, catchy, and  incredibly foot stompin' tune by the band Candypants from their self-titled album in 2000.

I think it's perfect, and why this fantastic band only ever had one album, I will never understand!

 

 

This is the greatest spoiled rotten kid's song since Jimmy Boyd and Frankie Laine's annoying 1953 hit "Tell Me A Story."

 

CANDYPANTS - "I Want A Pony"

THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION - "Freak Out!" (1966)

 

Sixty years later, and this groundbreaking album by The Mothers Of Invention is just as fresh as it ever was, and there's a song on this album that has a message that still sends shivers down my bones!

 "Well I'm about to get upset from watchin' my TV, been checkin' out the news until my eyeballs fail to see, I mean to say that every day is just another rotten mess and when it's gonna change, my friend Is anybody's guess."

 Even though this song was written about the Watts Riots back in 1966, the message conveyed is still as strong as ever, and maybe even more so. 

"Who could imagine that they would freak out in Minnesota? . . ." 

THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION - "Trouble Every Day" 

TRINI LOPEZ - "Lemon Tree" (1965)

 

It's probably not hip or cool to like the music of Trinidad Lopez, III, aka Trini Lopez, but back in the early 60's he made some real feel-good music that was needed back then. I'd probably listen to the radio again if they started playing music like this today.

In the late 1950's, William Holt wrote this song. It was inspired by the Brazilian song, "Meu Limão Meu Limoeiro," that was originally written in 1930. 

In 1965, this version by Trini Lopez made it to number 20 on The Billboard Hot 100 charts. 

TRINI LOPEZ - "Lemon Tree" 

 

 

List Songs, Part Four - "California Girls"

 

Rich here. You might not think of The Beach Boys as a band that would engage in lyrical list-making. But they actually recorded a few songs that were comprised of lists, such as "Busy Doing Nothing," in which the singer lists the directions to his house and all the steps he takes to call up his girlfriend on a pay phone, and "I Went to Sleep" in which the singer lists all the things he did that day before going to sleep. 

 

Both are fairly minor songs in the Beach Boys catalog, but one of their most popular and famous songs includes a list of the girls the singer finds attractive in every part of the country before saying he wishes they could all live in California, where he lives. 

 

(An aside: "California Girls" was a big step in Brian Wilson's musical evolution as the first 20 seconds of the song is comprised of an instrumental passage that has nothing to do with the rest of the song before seamlessly transitioning into the romping rhythm of the rest of the song. It was a perfect example of a song with two movements, the kind of thing that Brian would refer to as his "Teenage Symphonies to God.")

THE BEACH BOYS - "California Girls"

SPIKE JONES & HIS CITY SLICKERS - "A Course In Musical Depreciation" (1955)

 

It's been 71 years since the release of this record by Spike Jones And His City Slickers titled "A Course In Musical Depreciation" and for me this stuff is still as hilarious as the first time I heard it.

This is kind of a greatest hits compilation, and the song I have here for you was actually first released in 1944. 

There was a time when comedy and novelty records were the rage, and sadly those days are way behind us, but at least we've still got access to all this great stuff from the masters of the past! 

SPIKE JONES & HIS CITY SLICKERS - "That Old Black Magic" 

MAGAZINE - "Play" (1980)

 

"Play" was Magazine's fourth release. It came out in 1980.

This song is lots of fun and full of surprises thanks to Herky Jerky master Howard DeVeto.

Nobody does it better. 

MAGAZINE - "Give Me Everything" 

FULL BLOWN CHERRY - "The Rockabilly Tribute To The Ramones" (2005)

 

Besides sex, is there anything more fun than a Rockabilly cover of a punk rock song? I seriously doubt it, and Full Blown Cherry were out to prove it with this 2005 release called "The Rockabilly Tribute To The Ramones," and I think they did a good job of making their point!

FULL BLOWN CHERRY - "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" 

THE BATS - "How Pop Can You Get?" (1980)

 

The Bats is one of those kind of groups that make you wonder, how good do you have to be to be popular? They released this album in 1982 called "How Pop Can You Get?" and that's another good question.

 

Hailing from Connecticut, and before their album was released, The Bats came out with this single in 1980, and it reveals how good they really were!

THE BATS - "Popgun"