To paraphrase Chris Tucker: have I lost my motherf–kin’ mind?!? I can’t believe I haven’t given a shout-out to one of my Top 5 favorite songs of all-time. I could be wrong, but I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who thinks this song sucks. Someone prominent … probably Chuck Klosterman … once called Cheap Trick one of the coolest bands of all-time. During the late 1970s, they were a band that seemed to be popular with EVERYONE, from headbangers to punks to teenage girls to rock critics. I know there are some votes out there for “I Want You to Want Me” (my daughter being one of them), but my vote for greatest Cheap Trick song is “Surrender.”
The entire song is about the teenage protagonist’s parents giving him endless advice for all kinds of life issues and then coming home to this scene:
“When I woke up, Mom and Dad are rolling on the couch.
Rolling numbers, rock and rollin, got my Kiss records out.”
How much of a mindf–k is that? Surrender, at that point, is the only answer. From the tremendously awesome 1978 album “Heaven Tonight.”
Another winner from Butch Walker and the Black Widows, this is extremely catchy, crunchy power pop in the mode of late 1970s Cheap Trick. From the 2011 album “The Spade,” which also had the gem “Summer of ’89.”
Another classic from Mr. Costello. Second only to “Watching the Detectives,” this is my favorite Costello song. A very accurate approximation of 60s garage punk with all the bile and sexual frustration you’d expect from 60s garage punk. You have to watch this video for what Costello does with his freakin’ feet. One of the most freakishly intense performances I’ve ever seen. I’d be shocked if he’s not wearing orthopedic shoes today, just for his work on this video alone. From the classic 1978 album “This Year’s Model.”
One of my favorite paranoia songs of all time by the original Napoleon Dynamite, Mr. Elvis Costello. I really love the low-key intensity of this track. Key line: “Who put these fingerprints on my imagination?” Damn! From the 1979 album “Armed Forces.”
Sid Vicious’s biggest musical moment … this is Sid’s infamous punk cover of the Frank Sinatra warhorse, with new filthy lyrics. The video, originally at the end of Julien Temple’s Sex Pistols documentary “The Great Rock n Roll Swindle,” is equally as infamous, with a graphically violent climax that must be seen to be believed. Not safe for work.
Perhaps the best use of this song was over the end credits of Martin Scorsese’s gangster classic “Goodfellas,” a perfect choice that sums up the entire picture.
And … as a bonus … here’s the version of the scene from the 1986 Alex Cox-directed biopic “Sid and Nancy” with Gary Oldman dynamically taking the mic as Sid. While this is not Oldman’s first big performance, it was the one that made him famous.
From Jello Biafra’s 1989 spoken word album “High Priest of Harmful Matter” comes this monologue about the “Frankenchrist” trial from 1987. “Frankenchrist” was a 1985 album released by the legendary punk rock group The Dead Kennedys (Biafra’s band at the time) and the album infamously included a poster that featured the H.R. Giger painting “Penis Landscape.”
Never mind that a sticker on the album cover contained a warning label about the poster, Biafra (and others) were brought up on criminal charges for “distributing harmful matter to minors.” What the prosecution hoped to do was for Biafra (an artist on an independent record label) to plead guilty so a legal precedent would be set. The prosecution actually admitted that going after Biafra was a “cost-effective” way to send a message. Had that precedent been set, then prosecutors could have gone after bigger game, such as Prince or Madonna. But Biafra … seeing the big picture and the REAL reason he was targeted … chose to fight the charges instead. Sadly, his fight was without the help of any major record label (who seriously should have seen the bigger picture as well and helped Biafra … but did not). Fighting the charges was expensive and nearly bankrupted Biafra and his record label, but he won … sort of. The trial resulted in a hung jury and the judge chose to dismiss the case after the jury couldn’t come to a unanimous decision.
The entire arrest and subsequent trial are brilliantly (and very entertainingly) explained in this 43-minute monologue. Some bad language here and there, but to quote the label on the “Frankenchrist” album, “life can sometimes be that way.”
Some bizarre footnotes of this trial:
1) Gene Simmons of KISS wanted to the buy Biafra’s life rights to make a dramatic film about the trial with Billy Crystal playing Biafra (?!?)
2) The prosecutor, Michael Guarino, later admitted it was a mistake to have gone after Biafra and later came together with him on Ira Glass’s “This American Life” to discuss the trial and for Guarino to apologize. Guarino also admitted that his son became a huge Dead Kennedys fan in later years and would blast their music to the annoyance of everyone on their street.
Actress Mink Stole … who has starred in several John Waters films over the years … tries her hand at singing and the results are terrific! “Female Trouble” is her take on the theme song from Waters’ 1974 film of the same name and her slow, sultry take goes down well with a fine bourbon. I posted another song from Mink at the start of the year, “Sometimes I Wish I Had a Gun,” which is similarly stunning.
Now, both songs, along with several others are available on Mink’s first (and hopefully, not last) CD, “Do Re Mink” which is available for download on iTunes or on Mink’s website:
Another KROQ-FM favorite. This was actually a Top 100 hit for the American band Sparks (who barely had any chart action in the US, but were huge in England). The accompanying video was allegedly directed by David Lynch (of all people). I say allegedly, because I originally read something that he only produced the clip, but now I’m reading he directed it. (If someone can clear this up, I’ll gladly edit this entry to set the record straight).
Anyway, you may want to turn the bass down on this one because the heavy percussion will blow your speakers. And considering Lynch is involved with this video, it’s more than a little disturbing. Unless, of course, you like seeing a pale skinny guy in a Hitler mustache do a striptease wearing women’s lingerie.
From the album “Angst in my Pants” (one of the best album titles of all-time). More fun trivia: Sparks performed this on SNL back in 1982 … when SNL still showed some adventurous spirit when selecting their musical acts.
Chalk this up to fallout from watching the great Rodney Bingenheimer documentary “Mayor of the Sunset Strip” recently, but I’m in a very KROQ-FM mood right now. Most people know this song from the soundtracks of two iconic 1980s films (“The Last American Virgin” and “Revenge of the Nerds”), but this was one of the songs you could hear in heavy rotation on KROQ-FM (from Los Angeles) back in the early 1980s.
If you’re a fan of Sirius First Wave, you must check out KROQ2, the HD version of KROQ that plays NOTHING but New Wave and (some) Punk from 1977-1985. It’s available on a lot of internet radio apps.
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