Dr Know

Long story short- I have moved several times in the past few years, so the records (The 45's anyway) have been packed up. 95 percent of which haven't seen the light of day since the fall of 2006. I'm finally settled in a place where i aint leaving, so now the records are finally unpacked...
Starting this blog has made me rediscover so many cool forgotten gems from my collection. Stuff i had forgotten all about. This is one of those.


I won't bore you with the story of Dr.Know. They were a hardcore/punk group from southern Ca in the early-mid 80's. They split up for like a decade, and supposedly are now back on the scene.... Here's a link to their Wikipedia page if anyone gives a crap. Even though i'm not really into this kind of stuff anymore, i'm still really diggin these old school low-budget metal punk sounds. This band epitomizes the saying: "Too metal for punk and too punk for metal."


The only word i can think of to describe this record is "Cheap." You can hear the cheapness. Most likely recorded hastily (because studio time is expensive) in a second-rate studio, by a broke ass group of guys with piece of shit guitars and borrowed amplifiers. Mixed on the fly, and then released on a crummy low-budget label.
...The sound of punk rock perfection if you ask me.


Recorded in 1981, and not officially released until 1987
Side one of the "Original Group" 7" ep.

1. Savior/Cold War
2. What To Do



...And, Side Two.

1. Boys Life
2. Emergency Room




I wanted to include the whole thing, but unfortunately, my copy of the "Burn" ep has a skip in it- It doesn't matter though, because in my humble opinion the title track is the best part of that one anyway.
So here it is. This one's pure Motorhead.
"Burn"



Here's a LINK to another blog where the whole Burn ep can be had.
It's two years old, so i don't know if that guys link is still active....


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Gonna Make You

You cant go wrong with the Bo Diddley beat.

The Troggs, from 1966.

"Gonna Make You."

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Gotta Find A Job

I've been looking for a job for a while now. I had an interview this morning and finally got hired.
Yay Me.

To commemorate this occasion, here are a few work numbers.
(I cheated on this post- these are both from CD's, but i figured i could bend the rules a little given the circumstance.)



First off, here's some classic Jerky boys. I don't care what anybody says- this stuff cracks me up.
Sol Rosenberg: "Hurt at work."





Lee Dorsey- "Gotta Find A Job"

The words to this one really hit home. It's a good feeling to know that there will finally be some more money coming in.

"The roof is leakin' & the rent ain't paid
Need a new pair of shoes & I'm underfed
Old lady's fussin' 'bout the bills she made
I gotta get me out & find a job."

(Its all true.)



And here's a LINK to another work number i posted a while back, if you care to listen to that one too.

Jobs mean money, and money means new records. I'm excited.
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The Fonzarelli Slide

Every so often the missus and i entertain company, and when we do there is usually an abundance of 'adult beverages' to be had by all. After a few, i usually end up 'Playing DJ' which basically mans that i selfishly take over the stereo, and spin whatever records i feel like hearing.

I usually don't get too many complaints...

The other night we had a friend over for a little baseball, and after the game was over i busted out this gem. "Fonzie Favorites." I had forgotten that i even owned this record until i was doing a little organizing the other day and re-discovered it. There's nothing too special about the song selections here. Standard 50s/60s rock and roll and doo-wop tunes that you can hear on any-oldies-station-USA...
But there are a few hidden gems.

These two are original compositions just for this album, and they are both pretty strange.

First up is "The Fonzarelli Slide" which has more to do with Welcome back Kotter's Sweathogs, than The Fonz or Happy Days. Horshack even gives a shout-out to Laverne and Shirley. (Or is that Juan Epstien, the Puerto Rican Jew?) The Fonz does make an appearance, but considering the fact that it's his record, you'd think it would have a little more to do with him....

Listen:




I think this one is even worse (in that awesome sort of way.)
The Fonzie impersonator on this is sooo bad. If his face wasn't on the cover of the record, you'd barely know who it was supposed to be...



It skips in the fadeout and loops the last half of a second. I figure, if you're gonna have a record that skips, this is where you want it to be. I kind of think it adds a little something to the whole experience....


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Pac Man Fever!

As some of you might have heard, Pac Man celebrates his 30th birthday this weekend.
Pac Man is thirty. Christ, it makes me feel down right elderly...
It's been all over the news, and as one who likes to stay on top of significant historical events, i felt it was my duty to pass along this forgotten classic.

When i was a kid, i had Pac Man fever in a big way. The stuff was contagious!
And this song was the soundtrack.
Enjoy.






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R.I.P. R.J.D.

Holy Shit.

Ronnie James Dio is dead.

I spent the entire day out with the in laws, only to come home at 11:00pm and get this news..?
I am not happy about it- No sir, not one bit.

Here's a classic from 1964 that i hosed from one of my fellow music nerds over there at ye olde DEVIL'S MUSIC blog.



Here's Ronnie Dio's version of 'Love Potion #9' from way back in the pre heavy metal days.



>>>UPDATE>>>
Here are a couple more old Ronnie Dio and the Prophets singles that i was able to scrounge up. They are presented HERE for your listening pleasure.

Swingin' mid 60's rock and roll, sung by the future heavy metal legend.
Enjoy.

That's what its all about!

The words to this one pretty much say everything that needs to be said.


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Born To Be Cheap

I've been a fan of Divine and John Water's flicks for as long as i can remember.
Shit like this is part of the reason why.
I've had this record for a long long time. I'm not sure, but I think i stole it from my mother like a million years ago. (Hi Mom!)
Either way, it was fun to listen to again because i hadn't spun it since i can't remember when.

I skipped the B-side because it's just kind of a shitty version of 'The name game' (banana-fana-fo-fana fee-fi-fo-fana-- etc...) Not very exciting, and goes on way too long.

The title track however, is a great bit of early-80s low-budget rock and roll, sung only the way Divine could sing it. I had forgotten how awesome this one was.

Enjoy.

Divine - Born To Be Cheap

Astronauts!

In keeping with the whole 'space' theme, hows about a couple numbers from a band called The Astronauts...

There was a band called the Astronauts out of Boulder, Co in the early 60s. They had a hit single in '63 called "Baja". Yet another Astronauts came from England during the mid-late 70s punk explosion. They made lots of records, but probably didn't have any 'hits' to speak of.

This band is neither of those.

This Astronauts was an early 90's surf/space/garage combo from Germany. I didn't have much luck finding any info on this particular Astronauts on the mighty interwebs, since the name seems to be pretty common. Even their old label, Pin-Up, doesn't know anything about them...

I guess we'll just let the music do the talking.
And be sure to check my other Astronauts post by following THIS LINK.


From 1994- The Astronauts

Side one:
Rocket to mars / Rocket man



Side two
Moonshot / Switchblade


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Yesterdays visions of tomorrow

I'm a big fan of images from the past who's concept of the not-so-distant future made it seem like it was going to be so much fun once we finally got there. It was going to be like the Jetsons! We were going to colonize the moon, and keep martians as pets! Robots* would do everything while we sat on the patio and drank tiki drinks..!
What happened?
That 'future' in some cases is now, and what i want to know is- Where is my robot* butler? Or my flying car?
Where the hell is my jet-pack!? Huh?
Some future this turned out to be. I was robbed.



One of, if not the, finest musical looks at the future through the eyes of the past is Zager & Evans' "In the year 2525"
It's a dramatic tale of doom and gloom, with lots of key changes and a groovy beat.

From 1969, The pride of Lincoln, Nebraska, Zager & Evans.
"In the year 2525"




A post like this wouldn't be complete without the space age sounds of The Tornadoes' Telstar, now would it. That Joe Meek was a master of the technology of his day. Supposedly some of the sound effects on this one are a toilet flushing, and something involving a glass ashtray. (I'm not making this up- you can dial it up on any one of your interwebs.) There's probably some other far out noise in there too, but it all sounds like space to me...

The song was named after the Telstar sattelite, which went into orbit in July 1962. The record, which was released just five weeks later, featured a clavioline, a keyboard instrument with a distinctive electronic sound.
Dig it.

"Telstar"


Here's a neat site that i hosed some of these pictures from.
Check it out. Fun stuff.

For even more space age sounds, check out This Post i did a while back. You'll be glad you did.

*It's better if you use the Rod Serling pronunciation: 'Robits'










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Red River Rock

Cruising through the library, listening to a few tracks, trying to decide what to post next. No special reason for this one, other than the fact that i like it.


I don't know much about Johnny and the Hurricanes, what i do know is that my friends old band, Sorry Excuse (read about them, and hear their record HERE) used to do a pretty righteous cover of this one in their live set. They kind of had that whole Mummies thing going, (minus the ridiculous costumes) where they would cover obscure oldies tunes mixed in with their originals, and the stupid punk kids in the audience never knew the difference- But those of us who did recognize the songs, we thought they were brilliant for doing so. I remember being very fond of their rendition of Red River Rock.

As far as Johnny and the Hurricanes go, read about them HERE at their official website.


This one's for Andy.



Red River Rock



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People Gonna Talk

When i bought this record, i had no idea who Lee Dorsey was, i only knew the Fury record label from various CD reissues that i have. When i saw an actual record on Fury, i took a chance and spent the buck on it. Glad i did too, because these are couple of nice laid back bluesy funky jams. I always kind of thought that they sounded like Jimmy Reed with a legitimate band and no drinking problem. For whatever reason, as much as i dig these two songs, it never dawned on me to seek out any of Lee Dorsey's other music...

That's kind of how i have always done it though- Never a complete set of anything, but a sampling of everything.


I believe it was about a year ago on The Singing Bones blog, where i finally heard another Lee Dorsey tune, then i found another here, and another there- all the while thinking that someone must have already posted my single... I'm not saying for sure that someone else hasn't posted these two, but i still haven't seen either of them on the sites i follow.
I converted this record months ago, and finally i'm throwing it out there. I know absolutely nothing about the releases of Lee Dorsey 45s- what songs came when, and were released by who... I've just dug this little record for a long time, and i hope you do too...

People Gonna Talk




Do Re Mi

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