Sex Pistols "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" 1977*****

I set out about 5 years ago to re-listen my record collection and note which songs I like the most on each record. It evolved into this blog: writing a short review for each album, after researching the circumstances of their creation in order to present them better. The initial "random selection" approach is mostly replaced by a combination of whim and of presenting either my latest acquisition or the one I feel like writing about the most. Until now I've covered less than 10% of the distance, mostly staying clear of the more iconic albums, because... 
...is there really anything left to say about "Never Mind The Bollocks?" I've heard it countless times, almost know it by heart. I'm sure many of you do, too: the thuggish hard rock banging by Steve Jones and Paul Cook, the melodic song backbone by original bassist/co-songwriter Glen Matlock, the self-destructive attitude and musical ineptitude of his replacement and punk's poster boy Sid Vicious. Above all, the rage and venomous eloquence of their singer/leader Johnny Rotten. His nihilistic, spot-on, disparagement of British society was in its way every bit as political and more astute than that of politically-minded punks like The Clash. I can't imagine that anyone remotely interested in rock music isn't familiar with these songs or the story behind the making of this album: the masterminding of the band by McLaren at the back of his fetish S&M boutique, the infamous TV appearance on the Bill Grundy show and their subsequent sacking by horrified EMI, the Thames cruise promoting "God Save The Queen" during the celebration for the Queen's Silver Jubilee... So I decided to focus on a lesser known page of the record's story, about which I read recently in MOJO: The Bollocks Trial. In its own right, the album cover is a design milestone, just as the music inside is a musical milestone: No group pictures, no dreamy psychedelic landscapes, just in-your-face aggressive fluo yellow and pink and the famous, much imitated, "ransom note" font. And, of course, the rude title "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols". Many record stores refused to sell it, while record charts refused to print its title, showing just a blank space instead. The Virgin Records store in Nottingham dared to put it on window display, at which point a police woman entered the shop, confiscated the records and arrested the manager for violating the 1899 Indecent Advertising Act. Thus began the Great Nottingham Bollocks Trial.

A pretty uneven fight, featuring on the one side the mummified fossils of the British legal establishment, and on the other side the impishly smart band manager Malcolm McLaren and young business genius Richard Branson, Virgin Record's boss. They could have hired a suitably bright young gun for their lawyer, but instead they chose celebrated barrister and novelist John Mortimer. Which led to the surrealistic effect of a bunch of esteemed older men dressed in judicial robes and ceremonial wigs seriously dissecting the word "bollocks" to decide whether it was indecent or not. The truth was that while the lower classes regularly used it as a swear word, few knew its meaning exactly. Mortimer started with a diatribe on the Medieval origins of the word and called forth his witness Professor Kingsley, head of English Studies at the local University. The acclaimed scholar testified that the term "bollocks" had been used from the year 1,000 on to describe a small ball (or things of a similar shape), and that it appeared in written form on the first ever English-language Bible in 1382, in that case to describe animal testicles. From the 16th century on, it became a word associated with the English clergy: Commoners who found their speeches to be incoherent would interrupt them with the cry "bollocks", and at some point the word "bollocks" even became interchangeable with "priest". Later it was widely used in colloquial speech as a vulgar synonym for "nonsense" or "rubbish" even though it wasn't featured in "proper" English language lexicons. Defense advocate and future Sir John (he was later knighted by Queen Elizabeth) Mortimer then close with these words: "What sort of country are we living in if a politician comes to Nottingham and speaks here to a group of people in the city centre and during his speech a heckler replies 'bollocks'. Are we to expect this person to be incarcerated, or do we live in a country where we are proud of our Anglo-Saxon language? Do we wish our language to be virile and strong or watered down and weak?" Appealing as he did to the judges' national pride he had turned the trial on its head: it was no longer about a bunch of obnoxious punks spouting obscenities, but about the virility and expressiveness of the glorious English language. Who would dare condemn them for using an ancient word that even appeared in Medieval Bibles? So of course they ruled in favor of Virgin Records. Johnny Rotten, present in the trial dressed in a suit and safari hat, made the following statement outside the court "Great! Bollocks is legal. Bollocks! Bollocks! Bollocks!"

***** for Holidays in the Sun, No Feelings, Liar, God Save the Queen, Problems, Anarchy in the U.K., Submission, Pretty Vacant, New York

**** for Bodies, Seventeen, E.M.I.

P.S. I recently discovered that my vinyl copy of this album had fallen victim to the great vinyl purge. I could have sworn I still had it, but no... so I went out and bought this reissue on bright yellow vinyl, with a nice inlay with photos. It's not the only album I buy for the 3rd time, while there are even some I've bought in 4 different editions. Rejoice, music industry! All is not lost, there are still suckers out there to be parted from their money!

The story of the great vinyl purge

I've mentioned the Great Vinyl Purge numerous times in my blog, mostly because I like the word "purge" and how dramatic it all sounds. But I've never shared the details of it with anyone. Seeing as some of you may have been reading my blog for almost 5 years, I feel I owe an explanation. I guess everyone has a similar story, millions of vinyl collections have been sold, especially in the 90's. Lack of interest, lack of money, lack of space, whatever. But this is my particular story: I started building my collection as a first-year student back in '88. I did have a few records before that, but I wasn't really into collecting. Entry into one of the good schools in Athens, crucially near the family home, was rewarded with a steady allowance, a relatively generous one for Greek standards of the time. Enough in any way to live the "student life" as it was called: give or take 8 months of partying per year plus 4 months of burying yourself in books trying to make up for all the lessons you missed while partying. Being a moderate drinker and a non-smoker (God, the money my friends spent on cigarettes!) I could also afford a couple of LPs per week. By the time I finished University and the ensuing 18-month compulsory military service, my collection had surpassed the 1000-record mark. But it stayed in my suburban parents' house while I as a young professional kept moving from one small city appartment to the next. I got into the habit of repurchasing my favorite records on CD. Easier to listen to at my portable home stereo or in the car while driving to work. And of course I went on buying new CD's at an increasing rate, though I stopped buying vinyl sometime in the late 90's. Then at 2004 a happy event set the wheels of the great vinyl purge in motion: my beloved nephew was born. My parents and sister switched houses, and my old bedroom which had been vacant for years became the baby's room. I packed my stereo and a few boxes of vinyl to take with me, but most of them had to be left behind since there was no place in my apartment. I kept most of my garage-rock records, because I prefer to listen to that music on vinyl, and because I've always thought of them as collectible. But their value hasn't increased that much, at least compared to more recent 90's stuff. I mean even albums by mainstream bands like Oasis or Cranberries are among my most valuable LP's now. Who could have guessed they'd be collectors' items some time? I would have thought they'd be ubiquitous, but it seems most of the world had given up on vinyl before I did, so these albums sold massively in CD form but minimally in vinyl. Well, I sold crates of that stuff for an average 2€ per piece, together with more obscure alt-rock bands from the same period who hadn't stood the test of time for me but whose albums are quite rare now. Mostly, and to my great regret, I sold the stuff I had twice (meaning both on vinyl and CD form) and those included my favorite records. I had an almost perfect vinyl collection of all the "essential" classics. I sold near mint copies of the complete discographies of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Doors,  Cream. Almost complete discographies by Deep Purple, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Neil Young (almost, because I didn't own everything by them twice) as well as The Clash, Ramones, Joy Division, Smiths, Cure etc. Even though they were never rare and there must still be large quantities of them around, everybody wants to own the classics on vinyl, which means they're now worth 10 to 20 times more than what they brought me then. Some rarities by Greek rock bands, from 60's pop stars Poll to early punk rockers Stress, did bring me a pretty penny. But, although the Great Vinyl Purge did pay the rent for a few months, It wasn't about the money. No, this was the proverbial senseless massacre. As the survivors often say, it's all a bit hazy. I couldn't tell why I ended up keeping certain records and selling certain others. Even now I'm constantly surprised to discover which albums I miss and can't fathom why or remember when I sold, say, The Chills' Brave Words. Or, worse yet, Rain Dogs, one of my favorite records ever. I didn't even have it twice, and can't possibly have sold it, but where is it? Only last month I found out I didn't have a vinyl copy of either "Never Mind The Bollocks" or Nirvana's "Nevermind". I could have swore they survived the purge despite having them on CD just because I was so fond of their cover art, and that I took them with me to The Netherlands. I'm slightly ashamed to admit that I did what I until recently mocked and went out and re-bought these records that I used to own. More about that embarassing new habit later.

Mahones "Irish Punk Collection" 2008(comp) ☘☘☘

The Mahones are not strictly speaking an Irish band, as they're based in Canada. Furthermore, they don't play traditional Irish music. They're nevertheless forever connected to St. Patrick's Day for me, as that's when I first saw them play: March 17, 2010 at O’Ceallaigh's pub in Groningen, followed by a performance at the Queen's Day Festival a few days later. They made a great noise and led us into a night of fun and drunken singalongs. I left the pub exhilarated and holding this CD, a compilation that the band was selling at their gigs at the time. Apparently St. Patrick's Day (1990) also marks the band's birthday, an initially one-off collaboration that has been going on for nigh on 30 years. This makes them one of the progenitors of Celtic Punk, obviously following on the footsteps of The Pogues but a few years older than the genre's most famous bands like Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly. The label Celtic Punk somehow sums their sound up: Irish folk played very loud, with punk rock speed and attitude. Sloppy punk versions of folk evergreens "The Irish Rover" and "Whiskey In The Jar" are mixed with original band material. The instrumentation comes from both worlds, but it's when the accordion and tin whistle take the upper hand that they channel the spirit of The Pogues ("Paint the Town Red", "Down the Boozer", "Celtic Pride", ballads "Streets of New York" and "London"). These songs are among my favorites, while the noisier punk tunes are either hit ("Drunken Lazy Bastard", "Shake Hands with the Devil", "Is This Bar Open Til' Tomorrow") or miss ("Going Back to Dublin"). As a whole this CD makes for a fine celebration of Irish Punk, but it doesn't even come close to the live experience.

**** for Drunken Lazy Bastard, Paint the Town Red, Across the U.S.A., Shake Hands with the Devil, Down the Boozer 

*** for Queen and Tequila, Whiskey Devil, A Drunken Night in Dublin, Streets of New York, Celtic Pride, London, Is This Bar Open Til' Tomorrow, Drunken Lazy Bastard (Live Version)

** for The Amsterdam Song, The Irish Rover, Going Back to Dublin, Whiskey in the Jar

Q magazine - 156 most influential records of all time

You may already know I'm a sucker for best-of/classic albums/whatever lists. I regularly buy books and magazines that feature them, trying to identify and fill gaps in my record collection - more often to smugly note how many of them I already own. Truth be told, these lists are at least 80% identical so I needn't go on collecting the magazines - but here we are again. The novelty this time is that these records are not necessarily the best or more famous or classic, but the most influential - according to Q's editors, that is. What interested me was, mostly, how do you trace the influence of an album? Thankfully the editors do present their arguments for each case, which is more than I can say about most "Best Of" lists. I don't necessarily agree with them, of course: How come that "Sgt. Pepper" is missing? I get that they only include one entry per group, but "She Loves You" surely wasn't the game-changer that "Sgt.Pepper" was, just another in a line of perfect pop singles produced by the Fab Four. And am I the only one who thinks Jimi Hendrix revolutionized the electric guitar? Doesn't that count for something? Also, while I'm happy to see Bikini Kill in this list, why "Revolution Girl Style Now"? It was initially a cassette demo, and released commercially after their first EP which I reviewed here recently. This was where most people first heard the songs. Not to mention Vangelis' music for Blade Runner; people may have been influenced by the excerpts they heard in the movie, but the actual original soundtrack album appeared long after the fact, in 1994. And Green River may have spawned two great groups (Mudhoney and Pearl Jam) but I doubt they influenced anybody themselves. Whatever, we can discuss the list for hours. I'm sure that they did back in Q offices, and that they had a great time arguing the nuances. Certainly, some of these albums were instant game-changers (e.g. "Nevermind") while others (e.g. "Velvet Underground & Nico") were the proverbial slow burners that went virtually unnoticed in their time but went on to have massive influence. Q being more pop-oriented than other monthly music publications, it also features some lightweights like The Spice Girls or Aaliyah. They might have been influential in some way, but I can't imagine caring for any band inspired by them. Another novelty of this list is that it mixes albums and songs (let's call them singles to justify the title "influential records"). As of now I own 90/156 of the list, though obviously not all the songs in single form: some in their parent albums and some in compilations. I'll present them here some time, at which point I will add links for the reviews to the relative list entries. Here is the complete list. I know it doesn't add to 156, but some of them are multi-entries e.g. Bowie's "Berlin Trilogy". Do the math.

   Albums

    1. KURT WEILL AND BERTOLT BRECHT - THE THREEPENNY OPERA (1928)
    2. THE BEACH BOYS - PET SOUNDS (1966)
    3. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND - THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO (1967)
    4. LOVE - FOREVER CHANGES (1967)
    5. CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND HIS MAGIC BAND - SAFE AS MILK (1967)
    6. THE KINKS - SOMETHING ELSE (1967)
    7. VARIOUS - MOTOWN CHARTBUSTERS VOLUMES 1-5 (1967-71)
    8. SCOTT WALKER - SCOTT 2 (1968)
    9. THE BAND - MUSIC FROM BIG PINK (1968)
    10. NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE - EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE (1969)
    11. LED ZEPPELIN - LED ZEPPELIN (1969)
    12. KING CRIMSON - IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING (1969)
    13. JOHN LENNON - PLASTIC ONO BAND (1970)
    14. BLACK SABBATH - BLACK SABBATH (1970)
    15. CAN - TAGO MAGO (1971)
    16. HARRY NILSSON - NILSSON SCHMILSSON (1971)
    17. NICK DRAKE - BRYTER LAYTER (1971)
    18. MARVIN GAYE - WHAT’S GOING ON (1971)
    19. SLY & THE FAMILY STONE - THERE’S A RIOT GOIN’ ON (1971)
    20. SERGE GAINSBOURG - HISTOIRE DE MELODY NELSON (1971)
    21. JONI MITCHELL - FOR THE ROSES (1972)
    22. VARIOUS ARTISTS - NUGGETS: ORIGINAL ARTYFACTS FROM THE FIRST PSYCHEDELIC ERA, 1965-1968 (1972)
    23. PINK FLOYD - THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (1973)
    24. FELA RANSOME KUTI & THE AFRICA ’70 - AFRODISIAC (1973)
    25. THE UPSETTERS - BLACKBOARD JUNGLE DUB (1973)
    26. KRAFTWERK - AUTOBAHN (1974)
    27. PATTI SMITH - HORSES (1975)
    28. BRIAN ENO - DISCREET MUSIC (1975)
    29. STEVIE WONDER - SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE (1976)
    30. THROBBING GRISTLE - THE SECOND ANNUAL REPORT (1977)
    31. SEX PISTOLS - NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS, HERE’S THE SEX PISTOLS (1977)
    32. BUZZCOCKS - SPIRAL SCRATCH (1977)
    33. BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS - EXODUS (1977)
    34. WIRE - PINK FLAG (1977)
    35. SUICIDE - SUICIDE (1977)
    36. DAVID BOWIE - LOW / ”HEROES” / LODGER (1977-79)
    37. GANG OF FOUR - ENTERTAINMENT! (1979)
    38. JOY DIVISION - UNKNOWN PLEASURES (1979)
    39. TALKING HEADS - FEAR OF MUSIC (1979)
    40. THE CLASH - LONDON CALLING (1979)
    41. THE CURE - FAITH (1981)
    42. BRIAN ENO & DAVID BYRNE - MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTS (1981)
    43. THE GUN CLUB - FIRE OF LOVE (1981)
    44. MICHAEL JACKSON - THRILLER (1982)
    45. VANGELIS - BLADE RUNNER (1982)
    46. THE BIRTHDAY PARTY - JUNKYARD (1982)
    47. THE FALL - HEX EDUCATION HOUR (1982)
    48. METALLICA - KILL 'EM ALL (1983)
    49. RUN-DMC - RUN-DMC (1984)
    50. KATE BUSH - HOUNDS OF LOVE (1985)
    51. THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN - PSYCHOCANDY (1985)
    52. SCRITTI POLITTI - CUPID & PSYCHE 85 (1985)
    53. ARTHUR RUSSELL - WORLD OF ECHO (1986)
    54. DEPECHE MODE - MUSIC FOR THE MASSES (1987)
    55. FLEETWOOD MAC - TANGO IN THE NIGHT (1987)
    56. U2 - THE JOSHUA TREE (1987)
    57. PIXIES - SURFER ROSA (1988)
    58. SONIC YOUTH - DAYDREAM NATION (1988)
    59. GREEN RIVER - REHAB DOLL (1988)
    60. N.W.A. - STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON (1988)
    61. MY BLOODY VALENTINE - YOU MADE ME REALISE (1988)
    62. TALK TALK - SPIRIT OF EDEN (1988)
    63. THE STONE ROSES - THE STONE ROSES (1989)
    64. SOUL II SOUL - CLUB CLASSICS VOL. ONE (1989)
    65. BIKINI KILL - REVOLUTION GIRL STYLE NOW! (1991)
    66. NIRVANA - NEVERMIND (1991)
    67. SLINT - SPIDERLAND (1991)
    68. A TRIBE CALLED QUEST - THE LOW END THEORY (1991)
    69. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE - RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE (1992)
    70. BLUR - MODERN LIFE IS RUBBISH (1993)
    71. WU-TANG CLAN - ENTER THE WU-TANG (36 CHAMBERS) (1993)
    72. SNOOP DOGG - DOGGYSTYLE (1993)
    73. BJORK - DEBUT (1993)
    74. JOHNNY CASH - AMERICAN RECORDINGS (1994)
    75. THE PRODIGY - MUSIC FOR THE JILTED GENERATION (1994)
    76. OASIS - DEFINITELY MAYBE (1994)
    77. RADIOHEAD - THE BENDS (1995)
    78. THE SPICE GIRLS - SPICE (1996)
    79. AALIYAH - ONE IN A MILLION (1996)
    80. BOARDS OF CANADA - MUSIC HAS THE RIGHT TO CHILDREN (1998)
    81. AIR - MOON SAFARI (1998)
    82. OUTKAST - AQUEMINI (1998)
    83. NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL - IN AN AEROPLANE OVER THE SEA (1998)
    84. EMINEM - THE MARSHALL MATHERS (2000)
    85. THE WHITE STRIPES - WHITE BLOOD CELLS (2001)
    86. THE STROKES - THE MODERN AGE (2001)
    87. DAFT PUNK - DISCOVERY (2001)
    88. THE STREETS - ORIGINAL PIRATE MATERIAL (2002)
    89. WILLIAM BASINSKI - THE DISINTEGRATION LOOPS I-IV (2002-3)
    90. DIZZEE RASCAL - BOY IN DA CORNER (2003)
    91. M.I.A. - ARULAR (2005)
    92. AMY WINEHOUSE - BACK TO BLACK (2006)
    93. BURIAL - UNTRUE (2007)
    94. BON IVER - FOR EMMA, FOREVER AGO (2007)
    95. RADIOHEAD - IN RAINBOWS (2007)
    96. KANYE WEST - 808S & HEARTBREAK (2008)
    97. THE XX - XX (2009)
    98. ROBYN - BODY TALK (2010)
    99. JAMES BLAKE - JAMES BLAKE (2011)
    100. FRANK OCEAN - CHANNEL ORANGE (2012)
    101. TEGAN AND SARA - HEARTTHROB (2013)
    102. BEYONCE - BEYONCE (2013)
    103. KENDRICK LAMAR - TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY (2015)
    Singles
    1. LONNIE DONEGAN - ROCK ISLAND LINE (1955)
    2. BO DIDDLEY - BO DIDDLEY/I'M A MAN (1955)
    3. LITTLE RICHARD - TUTTI FRUTTI (1955)
    4. LINK WRAY - RUMBLE (1958)
    5. THE BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP - DOCTOR WHO (1963)
    6. THE BEATLES - SHE LOVES YOU (1963)
    7. THE RONETTES - BE MY BABY (1963)
    8. PRINCE BUSTER’S ALL STARS - AL CAPONE (1964)
    9. BOB DYLAN - BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND (1963)
    10. JAMES BROWN - PAPA’S GOT A BRAND NEW BAG (1965)
    11. STEVE REICH - COME OUT (1966)
    12. THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND - A VERY CELLULAR SONG (1968)
    13. THE WINSTONS - AMEN, BROTHER (1969)
    14. THE STOOGES - I WANNA BE YOUR DOG (1969)
    15. LAURA NYRO - NEW YORK TENDABERRY (1969)
    16. GIL SCOTT-HERON - THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED (1971)
    17. NEU! - HALLOGALLO (1972)
    18. THE ROLLING STONES - ROCKS OFF (1972)
    19. AEROSMITH - DREAM ON (1973)
    20. GLORIA GAYNOR - NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE (1974)
    21. BIG STAR - SEPTEMBER GURLS (1974)
    22. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - BORN TO RUN (1975)
    23. 10CC - I'M NOT IN LOVE (1975)
    24. DOUBLE EXPOSURE - TEN PERCENT (1976)
    25. DONNA SUMMER - I FEEL LOVE (1977)
    26. THE SPECIAL AKA - GANGSTERS (1979)
    27. TUBEWAY ARMY - ARE ‘FRIENDS’ ELECTRIC? (1979)
    28. GRANDMASTER FLASH & THE FURIOUS FIVE - THE MESSAGE (1982)
    29. NEW ORDER - BLUE MONDAY (1983)
    30. THIS MORTAL COIL - SONG TO THE SIREN (1983)
    31. THE SMITHS - THIS CHARMING MAN (1983)
    32. WAYNE SMITH - UNDER MI SLENG TENG (1985)
    33. MARSHALL JEFFERSON - MOVE YOUR BODY (THE HOUSE MUSIC ANTHEM) (1986)
    34. PRINCE - KISS (1986)
    35. PHUTURE - ACID TRACKS (1987)
    36. M/A/R/R/S - PUMP UP THE VOLUME (1987)
    37. PUBLIC ENEMY - REBEL WITHOUT A PAUSE (1987)
    38. JULEE CRUISE - FALLING (1989)
    39. MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO - RADIO BABYLON (1990)
    40. APHEX TWIN - ANALOGUE BUBBLEBATH (1991)
    41. DJ SHADOW - IN/FLUX (1993)
    42. THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS - CHEMICAL BEATS (1995)
    43. SO SOLID CREW - 21 SECONDS (2001)
    44. THE FREELANCE HELLRAISER - A STROKE OF GENIUS (2001)
    45. THE RAPTURE - HOUSE OF JEALOUS LOVERS (2002)
    46. SKREAM - MIDNIGHT REQUEST LINE (2005)

Bikini Kill "The C.D. Version Of The First Two Records" 1994(comp)****

A few years ago I decided to acknowledge the 8th of March (International Women's Day) with the presentation of a Riot-Grrrl band, Sleater-Kinney. This year I thought I'd do the same with arguably the most iconic -certainly the most political- band of that movement, Bikini Kill. Why? you ask. Am I a feminist? No. Firstly, and more obviously, because I'm a guy. I know my profile photo isn't very clear, but don't let the long hair fool you. It's the photo of a guy, not of a bearded lady. And I don't think women need me to speak for them. Secondly, to one degree or another, all -isms seem to promote dogmatic and fanatic, even intolerant, behavior. Look at what happened with the #MeToo movement: an instrument for awareness sometimes abused for settling personal scores and to conduct high profile social media witch hunts. With that reservation, I do respect and support feminists, as I do all activists fighting for a righteous cause.

So I couldn't help being impressed while watching "The Punk Singer", a documentary on Kathleen Hanna, Bikini Kill's singer and de facto leader of the Riot Grrrl scene. I thought "wow! what an inspirational person! so radical, and provocative, and fearless!" which is obviously what the filmmakers wanted me to think, so kudos to them. They took an interesting story and made an arresting film out of it. I don't know if they overglorified their protagonist, but even if they did so what? The world needs hero(in)es. More to tonight's point, I liked the music in the film, so I went out and bought a CD by Bikini Kill. I chose this compilation of early material, as I recognized some titles from the film. Despite its title it doesn't contain any songs from their two LP's. The "two records" mentioned are the band's debut E.P. and a split L.P. with Huggy Bear. The reissue augments those with 7 unreleased demos, mostly of atrocious quality, but arguably of historic interest to fans. Not that the rest is the height of hi-fi but, hey, that's punk rock for you. Apparently many fans prefer these rough and aggressive recordings to the supposedly more "polished" later versions. The eponymous debut E.P. was "produced" by Fugazi's Ian MacKaye who basically just let them loose in the studio and recorded the result. His decision to not try to rein them in has ensured this EP has both fanatic admirers and adversaries (check out this contemporary review on Rolling Stone). If the best U.S. hardcore bands sound like a speeding train ready to destroy anything that gets in its way, Bikini Kill is the sound of a train that's been derailed and rolling down the slope at terrific speed. The drumming is just as aggressive but anarchic instead of mathematic. The vocals are simply out of control: Kathleen shouts, scoffs, snarls and screams with all the power she can muster. Which is a lot. 

  

The first song of their first record serves as a perfect statement of intent: "We're Bikini Kill and we want Revolution Girl-style now! Hey girlfriend/ I got a proposition goes something like this: Dare ya to do what you want/ Dare ya to be who you will/Dare ya to cry right out loud 'You get so emotional baby' I Double dare ya/ Double dare triple fuckin' dare ya girlfriend". It's a veritable classic and, along with a few other songs here, strangely reminiscent of the Dead Kennedys. Surprising how often Hanna manages to sound like an unholy hybrid of The Kennedys' Jello Biafra and your typical valley girl. "Liar" could have been another anthem, but gets derailed by blood-curling screams over a mocking reference to John Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance". Both this and the Ramones-y "Suck My Left One" reference rape and sexual abuse, not the lightest subjects in the world. "Carnival" is a dark satire and "Thurston Hearts The Who" a musical improvisation over reading a review of the band's performance. "Feels Blind" is the tragically poetic one, starting with melancholy before letting the rage out again "I'm the woman I was taught to always be hungry... I'd (even) eat your fucking hate up like love". Songs 7-13 come from the split L.P. "Yeah Yeah Yeah". They touch similar subjects and sport a similar hardcore sound. The highlights are "White Boy" (basically casting the typical male as an idiot and potential rapist, no wonder the band were portrayed in the media as man-haters) and, of course, "Rebel Girl" which became an unofficial Riot Grrrl anthem with its blend of politics and lesbian infatuation. Truth be told, of the 3 versions of this song Bikini Kill recorded, this is the least good one. The anthemic chorus and provocative lyrics are there, but it seems unnecessarily noisy and angry whereas later versions are proud and celebratory. Of the last 7 tracks, the less said the better: mostly uncooked punk in real lo-fi quality. Even lyrically they're quite weak. I mean "George Bush Is A Pig"? C'mon, is that all you got? OK, the spoken word "Chevy Window" is funny, though I suspect it was going for righteous anger. I choose to ignore the extra tracks that came with the latest reissue and give a solid 4* to the rest of the album. And, seriously, watch the embedded documentary above. You'll become a fan, too.

***** for Double Dare Ya

**** for Liar, Carnival, Suck My Left One, Feels Blind, White Boy, Rebel Girl

*** for Don't Need You, Jigsaw Youth, This Is Not A Test, Outta Me

** for Thurston Hearts The Who, Resist Psychic Death, George Bush Is A Pig, I Busted In Your Chevy Window, Get Out, Why, Fuck Twin Peaks, Girl Soldier. Not Right Now

Ronnie Hawkins "Rockin'" 1959-1963(rec) 1978(comp)****

I found this and a bunch of other rockabilly LP's at my neighborhood record store on sale for 3-for-€5. It is a beautiful French 1978 compilation on red vinyl containing songs originally recorded between 1959-1963. Just 12 tracks, 8 less than the UK version but all the hits are here. So I thought I'd get it, since I had nothing from The Hawk. My first contact with him was almost 30 years ago, watching "The Last Waltz" on Greek TV. At that point I was familiar with a few of the guests (Dylan, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Muddy Waters) but neither Hawkins nor The Band. More than his colorful appearance in the concert, it was the anecdotes of life on the road with him by the members of The Band that made an impression on me. And it's actually that stint of having The Band (who were then called simply The Hawks) as backing musicians that people mostly remember about Ronnie Hawkins - except from Canada where he was huge, a national rock and roll hero despite being born and raised in Arkansas, USA. The warm welcome he got in that cold land resulted in Ronnie and his band constantly touring Canada, and finally permanently relocating there. In the course of these recordings (1959-1963) his band kept evolving, with only Levon Helm remaining of the original American line-up, recruiting a bunch of Canadian boys until finally settling late 1961 in the line-up that later supported Dylan and found success as The Band: Robbie Robertson, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko and Helm. The first songs here hail from 1959, and they're first-rate rockabilly, all covers (Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Leiber-Stoller) with the exception of "One Of These Days". Credit must also be given for unearthing obscure R&B track "Mary Lou" by Young Jessie and turning it into a rock'n'roll classic. Two more covers ("Honey Don't" and "Sick And Tired") from 1960 are also good but typical rockabilly, but the ones featuring the future Band are amazing. Robertson in particular, then only 20, emerges as an electric guitar genius - it'd take 3 years for the likes of Jeff Beck to catch up with him. Just listen to the two Bo Diddley covers "Bo Diddley" and "Who Do You Love", and their fantastic version of "Susie Q" (written by Ronnie's cousin, Dale Hawkins). The Hawk already had a fearsome live reputation (he wasn't nicknamed "Mr. Dynamo" for nothing), so I can only imagine how incendiary his shows were with these young guns backing him. Bob Dylan was so impressed he recruited the Hawks for his 1966 world tour, and the rest is history: There's not a lot of difference between the smokin' version of "Who Do You Love" here to Robertson playing "fucking loud" as per Dylan's instruction during the "Judas!" concert. The Hawk would go on to make many more records, both rock and country. His fame will always be eclipsed by the deeds of his former proteges The Band, but one listen to this LP proves he really is worth a place among the great rock'n'roll pioneers.

***** for Mary Lou, Bo Diddley, Susie Q, Who Do You Love

**** for 40 Days, Matchbox

*** for Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Ruby Baby, Sick And Tired, One Of These Days, Honey Don't, Kansas City