The Road to Hell

Okay, if you’re keeping score at home, you should already know that this next series of Friday posts is about guilty pleasures, tunes that you would be embarrassed that anyone close to you would find out you like.

To tell you the truth, I could give an entire bowl of fuck about what anyone thinks about the music I like. See, my earliest memories were listening to music. Music, has therefore, always been a part of my life, whether it be good or bad. So I’m going to list music that I believe would be perceived as guilty pleasures by the majority of readers.

Crappy 70s pop including tons of one-hit wonders.

There was a lot of really great music coming out in the 70s. Most of what is considered “Great 70s Music” by the masses is still heard today in the form of the Classic Rock radio stations. What I consider really great, though, are the one hit wonders. I dig Albert Hammond’s (yes, Strokes fans, it’s Jr’s daddy) “It Never Rains in California”, “Driver’s Seat” by Sniff N’ The Tears, and a lot of disco. Yes, I said it; DISCO. I played it off by scribbling AC/DC and Blue Oyster Cult onto my Trapper/Keeper, but deep down inside, I still was into things like “I Love the Nightlife” by Alicia Bridges. My favorite disco tunes? “Boogie Nights” by Heatwave and “Boogie Oogie Oogie” by Taste of Honey.

The most amazing thing I found was this video of Taste of Honey. In the 70s, there was no MTV. I mostly learned of these artists listening to the radio daily. I could tell that there were women singing on this song, but I kind of figured that it was a Supremes type set up, where there were several female singers backed by a band. Yeah, I know it was pretty stereotypical of me. I apologize, but I was a product of the white honkey recording establishment. I would have never thought that the singer was also playing such a killer bassline. This is as amazing as watching Stevie Ray Vaughn play guitar. Seriously.



Crappy 80s pop including tons of New Wave bands

If I learned anything about 70s music is how much disco and pop was shunned. Shame on those people for not seeing the glory in such bad music. I truly believe that my peers in the 80s subconsciously decided that when it was our time, we would embrace the music of our generation.

For the most part, I was into metal in the 80s. I ran the gamut from hair metal to the heavy stuff. I had “Kill ‘Em All” by Metallica when it came out. I didn’t discover them later and then backtrack. I was there in the beginning, bitches! I fronted with the whole metal posture. But secretly, I was also really into Cyndi Lauper and Culture Club, thanks to an ultra-cool and fashion trend-setting younger sister.

So yeah, I walked around saying Boy George was a fag, and I’m sorry. That dude had some great tunes:



Not that the metal was really any better. Yes, Metallica was my favorite band for the longest time. But when that first Poison record came out, I was all over it. Later, I would find out that C.C. Deville had completely ripped off Rick Nielsen’s (Cheap Trick) guitar solo in “California Man”, but then, that was a song by Jeff Lynne’s earlier band, The Move, so I’m not sure who’s ripping off who anymore.

But the song, “Cry Tough” still remains a favorite. What an anthem!



Unfortunately, pop music got really shitty in the 90s. There were some great hits, to be sure, but once the Mouseketeers got recording contracts, that whole scene went into the shitter for me.

I liked punk rock as well, during my formative years. That, combined with my love of metal, evolved with the Seattle scene. I found a friend in college that was a key influence on me, and I began ordering everything with a Sub Pop label on it. Of course, Nirvana came off this label, and once again, I was into them way before a lot of people ever sniffed a flannel shirt after a hard night out at your local punk rock club. While Nirvana, Soundgarden and The Fluid all moved on to major labels, there were so many bands that didn’t. So yeah, I got the Cat Butt EP and the Blood Circus EP. I got every Supersuckers release from Sub Pop. While some people have long since disowned grunge, it will forever keep its place in my unbathed, drunken heart.

So there you have it, folks. My Little Secret (thank you, Afghan Whigs).

Enjoy your weekend, and don’t forget to pick up a bottle or two of Goose Island Harvest Ale.

Set the DeLorean for 1993

I graduated from college in May of 1993. It was sort of a tough year to find a job, but I lucked out and made my own luck.

About 4 years later I was in Pensacola at my local record/CD store, and I was looking for the new Dinosaur Jr. CD. Plus, I was picking up some used stuff - they had some of The Fluid’s single CDs that came off of their 1993 release, “Purplemetalflakemusic.” I told the girl at the counter that I wanted the new Dinosaur Jr. CD (she had to get it out of the glass case for me. This was a record store that specialized in punk and alternative music, but carried everything). I stated that I hoped the new one was as good as 1993’s “Where You Been?”

She said, “Yeah, it sure would be great if we could have another year like 1993, there was a lot of good music released that year.”

I’ve been thinking about that for 12 years now. So this morning, with a cup of coffee in hand, I retreated to the basement and began rifling through all of my CDs and records to see if that was true. Sure enough, here are some examples to hold that up:

Uncle Tupelo – Anodyne

The final release before these guys broke up. Enough has been written about Uncle Tupelo that I don’t really need to go into it here. This is my favorite release by them. Sure, I have songs that I like more on their other albums, but overall this is an amazing album, recorded live in the studio. It starts off with the mellow “Slate”, and then moves into the upbeat “Acuff Rose” (the dynamics of this song are especially great in live setting. I saw them in the small Maintenance Shop at Iowa State University and the instruments are all acoustic except for the bass. It’s a very raucous song, just check out this clip when Tweedy does it solo. Listen to the crowd.)





Afterwards, it kicks into some more rocking tunes before mellowing out with the title track. The entire album is fantastic. Every song is great. Definitely a good way to go out on a good note.

Afghan Whigs – Gentleman

If you’re in your twenties, are into substance abuse (the legal and illegal kind) and bad relationships, do I have a record for you. Sort of a concept album about the above, including going to support group meetings to possibly meet women, this was, to me, the Afghan Whigs' transition album from Sub Pop grunge band into the soul-influenced rock band they would become and then later when Dulli would take that even further with the Twilight Singers. The lyrics here are just plain killer. Even Dulli had to get someone else to sing “My Curse” because he couldn’t sing it without breaking down crying. My favorite tunes are “What Jail Is Like” (helluva description for a relationship) and “When We Two Parted” (You’re saying that the victim never wants it to end, good, I get to dress up and play the assassin again, it’s my favorite, it’s got personality). Click on the band's name above to read a kickass review and see some videos from this album.

Dinosaur Jr. – Where You Been

A lot of people rave about the earlier DJ albums with Lou Barlowe on them, like Bug. Me, I picked up some singles, but my love affair with Dinosaur Jr started with Green Mind. Then Where You Been came out and it changed everything. The whole alternative rock movement was in full swing and J Mascis and his band actually had a hit with “Start Choppin’” with its cool playful guitar riff, vocals that sounded like J had a bag of broken glass in his throat (I was actually playing a CD called Martin and Me by J Mascis at my house back in ’98 and my wife said, “This guy sounds like he belongs in a gas station, not on a CD”) and a catchy, rockin’ chorus. I think every song on here is great except for “Not the Same” which kind of has the same things I dislike about Neil Young’s “A Man Needs a Maid” – shrilly high vocals and timpani. Keep the fucking timpani out of rock music, please.

Cracker – Kerosene Hat

Cracker is one of those “clever” bands that I never really wanted to like, but something about what they do gels with my personality and I can’t help myself. I feel the same about the first two Oasis albums. Don’t want to like them, but don’t have a choice. It’s the music that’s making me do it, folks.

Kerosene Hat contains “Low”, which in my opinion, is just okay, and in fact, I usually change the channel on the (radio, TV, internet, etc) when it comes on. I love the title track with its goofy wordplay and downer feel, and the blues/slow tune “Take Me Down to the Infirmary” probably for the same downer feel. The cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Loser” is awesome, and “Eurotrash Girl” (hidden track #69 on the CD) is, in my opinion, an updated version of Three Dog Night’s “Never Been to Spain”. Really. Play them side-by-side and tell me you can’t see the influence there. There are also some decent mid-tempo rockers on here including “Sick of Goodbyes” and “I Want Everything”.







The Fluid – Purplemetalflakemusic

When Nirvana got big in 1992, it ended the era of hair metal, and pretty much all the crap metal that was going on at the time. Don’t get me wrong, I still like some metal, but there was a lot of really bad stuff coming out there in the end that if it came out today…the stupid white trash of this country would still eat it up. Okay, sorry, that was totally uncalled for. But Trixter? Firehouse? Gimme a break!

The thing I didn’t understand was a band like The Fluid should have soothed all those metal dude’s hurt feelings. Purplemetalflakemusic is the proof. This album has great heavy drumming, two guitars played through Mesa-Boogie stacks, and a kickass bass player laying down ominous low-tones. Some of the songs pulled influences from old-time rock and roll, though, with the backing “la-las” only sung by masculine men. Check out “My Kind”. The production on this album is awesome. Total WALL OF HEAVINESS coming down from the instruments.

Both “My Kind” and “7/14” are my favorites here, but the entire album has to be experienced from beginning to end to truly appreciate it. I could be wrong, though. Get the CD for the kickass purple metal flake sticker.

Prisonshake – The Roaring Third

Okay, here’s an album that I think you have to get by importing it. Kinda “pompous rock critic” of me to bring it up, I know, but this album rules. The song “2 Sisters” was on a compilation CD I got of a whole bunch of singles released in 1993, so I sought out the album. “Hurry” off this album, is top 5 all time for me. In one line, it sorta sums up this site to me: Hate to write, love to drink, hate being drunk, love haven written. If that makes any sense to you at all I’d have no choice but to say I failed…

Only one bad song is on this album, in my opinion; “Asiento”. Too loud and noisy. Lots of good guitar interplay on these songs. Some are stonesish, but it’s definitely a rock and roll album.

Cheap Trick – Budokan II

I am totally breaking the rules here. Cheap Trick at Budokan is still an album that I listen to, and it came out in 1977 when I was 9 years old. However, that album only had about half the concert on it. So in 1993, Cheap Trick released the rest as Budokan II. Both these albums pull from their first three full releases, and one song, “Can’t Hold On” was only available on their Found All the Parts EP, which is an import. At least 3 songs on here are about suicide, and I’d have to say if you want a suicide song, Cheap Trick does them the best (“Auf Wiedersehen”). These two albums have since been thrown together into the correct order they were played that night in Tokyo. I don’t have it.

Other honorable mentions:

Teenage Fanclub – Thirteen
Rocket from the Crypt – Circa Now
Dwarves – Sugarfix

The 1993 Playlist

7/14 – The Fluid
Gone to the Moon - Fastbacks
Start Choppin’ – Dinosaur Jr.
That was the Greatest Song – The Pooh Sticks
Hurry – Prisonshake
Last Dance with Mary Jane – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Pickin’ Flowers For – Best Kissers in the World
Chickamauga – Uncle Tupelo
Perfectly Good Guitar – John Hiatt
Gene Clark – Teenage Fanclub
Between You and Me Kid – Mudhoney
Dissident – Pearl Jam
Stadium – Monster Magnet
Ditch Digger – Rocket from the Crypt
Serve the Servants – Nirvana
Divine Hammer – The Breeders
What Jail is Like – Afghan Whigs
Missed – PJ Harvey
Don’t Tear Me Up – Mick Jagger
Auf Wiedersehen – Cheap Trick