Showing posts with label Punk Rock N Roll. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Punk Rock N Roll. Show all posts

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Must Read: “He’s Good-Bad But He’s Not Evil….” Tribute To Cheetah Chrome by Pepsi Sheen & The Rocknroll People…

Hi there. I'm breaking the silence just to let you know about THIS! And this is rock & roll journalism at its
best!! I must admit and apologize to the guys over at VEGLAM, that I wasn't taking walks as often as I used to in the (near) past... The presence of Pepsi Sheen squiggle made me instantly light up a cigarette, let kids to fool around with the computer (I don't do this usually, I'd like them to play with real toys), grabbed my tablet and took in every word along with the whiffs! You know, I had in print almost every Flash Metal Suicide article of Pepsi and Stu but I sadly lost 'em two years back with the move to our new house... Hope someday find them all again somewhere... Anyway, I missed this kind of rock & roll writing... Way to guys! Hook in!!

PS: Sooner or later, we're gonna hit with another WAX thing... Stay tuned for more Rock & Roll!

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The Ramones - "The Ramones" (LP, Philips - 1976 ~ Japan 1st Pressing)

You know already that we don't want or like to post things that's in print or easily approachable. Except to this, there's nothing more to say or add as well... I mean, what in bloody hell should I think of, for such a classic that haven't been quoted earlier? Anyway, if you still want my two cents, here it is: The Ramones fist eponymous long play is perhaps, an eminent reason for rock & roll's salvation back in the dark AOR and prog days of the '70s as the old cliché is still saying! As important for your life, if you consider your self a rock & roller, as your heart, your ears and your dick! The three chord assault magnificence and the very example and meaning of "Less Is More" phrase.The true American rock & roll look up (I mean, Chris Montez! Now that's what I call a good taste!!), the horror movies and comics subculture, the glue - sniffing, the ripped jeans, leather jackets and sneakers (now) fashion trend, the pop tendencies and the need for speed, all of these and more, are gathered in here! If you can't find up right in the front sleeve, the well known Sire logo it's because that's the first Japanese pressing... I'm pretty sure, you get it now (if you haven't by now), why we did those exceptions and offered two kinda 'different' Ramones LPs, right?! He-he...


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The Ramones - "Leave Home" (LP, Sire - 1981~Italian Reissue)

Without any question the first six long plays by the Ramones are beyond any review policy (YES you must count "Pleasant Dreams" too, as an overlooked classic)! I bought for the first time "Ramones", "Leave Home" and "Rocket to Russia" about 20 years back, all three on the same day and I've played them a millions times ever since in their countless editions. "Leave Home" remains to this day my favorite Ramones output.

I guess a 'fave' item gets the prize/title by the way it fits with someone's character. And the Ramones second hit, did this for me instantly. A record title as laconic and to the point as their two and a half minute blasts. Vitriolic, sharp, impressible and funny (but never dumb as many dorks claiming) lyrics and with the often mentioned 'slicker' production by Tony Bongiovi and Tommy Ramone sounds to this day an even better approach than the one Phil Spector tried with "End of the Century"! A blasphemy? Probably but who cares anyway?! We're talking about punk rock here mate. Actually, we're talking about powerpop..!
I mean, dive your turntable's needle on the grooves and judge for yourself. Does any record by Elvis Costello or Dwight Twilley have more 'power' than this!? Come oooooooon! And when we're saying 'pop' we must agree on what we are talking about, OK? Cause I'm 100% with Joey's and Dee-Dee's side of thinking on what 'pop' is (or sadly... was). I fell in love with the Ramones because I was first in love with the Ronettes, the Crystals and the Shangri-las through the (very) few 45s of my parents. And "Leave Home" has many songs with the same over the top pop quality all these 60s girl groups had. And those pop blasting tunes are the ones that made me say from day one, "That's it, man"! Cause you can rave with any possible right from your side for trademark brudders songs like "Pinhead", "Commando" (fuckin' brilliant!!!) or "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment" but let me hassle now and go all the way for "Oh-Oh I Love Her So", "Babysitter", "Swallow My Pride" and "I Remember You" cause sorry brothers, those are the real stand-outs with the aforementioned top class pop quality! Give a listen to the pseudo Spector sounds and the woo-hoo vocal harmonies in here, and see downright that worked waaaaaaaayyy better than what Spector himself captured a few years later!
OK, clearly I can go on forever on every single track about this monument's knack, but I have to put a full stop now (I mean, I didn't even mention the unapproachable taste of the band by choosing to cover The Rivieras!).
So, we're perfectly sure by now that you did get the message from the "Italian Reissue" on the post's title, why we pick on something you probably have already and in many formats or editions. Yep, that's right, Jean Philippe's back again!

"I have checked various vinyl versions (8), and this is clearly the best one (to my ears). Japan original is probably better, but it's expensive. The French original sounds quite good, but it's got some very unpleasant distortion on several tracks. The recent Rhino reissue has also some pressing problems, and both US and UK originals are not great to my ears. All these pressings have harsh vocals & guitar, which may be viewed as 'rawness' (read: 'true punk sound'), but to me it sounds like pressing flaws. I don't know much about CD's, as I've only heard a Japanese remastered CD, and this cheap-looking Italian vinyl reissue (from 1981) sounds richer & cleaner to my ears. I like when inexpensive records sound the best!"
He-he, I'm sure you know straightly when my buddy's saying something about fidelity, can't do no wrong!

As I was going to bed for siesta, took with me Bomp's PowerPop Special issue from March 1978. Greg Shaw had seen on the Ramones the same things I was telling you in the lines upwards:

"The Ramones are now a pop group more than a punk band. Their aggressive wall of guitars sound has been accepted as part of the pop vocabulary, and where the mainstream of Punk has gone to greater extremes of offensiveness, the Ramones have become a very positive, life-affirming youth explosion. (...) If you can imagine the Beatles having emerged at a time when the doors of radio were more than momentarily shut against them, and making their first 3 albums without the benefit of any hits, you'd have it. (...) Someday, Dwight Twilley will be a star. And someday, the Ramones will be a legend."

As much as Greg's prophecy went to the dustbins about Twilley, the exactly opposite happened for the Ramones! Crank it up once again!

PS: "I Remember lying awake at night / And thinking just of you / But things don’t last forever / And somehow baby / They never really do"...  We miss you SO MUCH Joey and Dee-Dee...


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The Gunslingers - "Better Out Than In" (CD, EGO - 1995?)

I found this on ma hard drive courtesy of our good friend Steve. That's a MEGA RARE item of a fuckin' amazing rock & roll band from UK. I remember told him not to give away the link cause I wanted to post it in here and through all my fallen times, Steve waited and kept his promise. Thanks buddy! So it's time to fulfill mine. I know this 'Gunslingers' name has too many claiming its paternity but these guys are the ones, you really need to know! And if you are already a glam punk & roll fan, I bet you're familiar by now to their classic 'Never a Dull Moment' (if not, Midnight Rambler took care of you here). The sad thing's that there's not too much info out there and I really wonder why? You get loads of crap from stupid mediocre sleaze bands and when it comes to those that really matters, you have nothing, zero, nada...
Anyway, for all of you guys and gals having a Facebook account, I found this page for them, so if you ever get there tell them Mihaleez sent you, he-he.
And you know, what I hated on most sleaze bands (not all) and adored to the glam punk, were the same things from a different angle: The influences, the style and the production. The sleaze bands were more of a hairdresser's salon artifact in a time the glam punks were the streetwise motherfuckers of your bad fame corner. The first ones stole the Johnny Thunders rulebook and became millionaires and the last ones were the cursed flame torchers that stayed forever to a cult status but won the dignity and the appreciation of the true rock & rollers! And the Gunslingers were right up my alley with their Faces on puss and boots approach! Let's not forget the Crybabys connection... Not to mention they supported Motorhead... Hope someday someone pick on their stuff and make a proper re-release...


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Sex Pistols - "Nevermind The Bollocks... Here's The Sex Pistols" (CD, Virgin Black Triangle Edition - 1986)

Hi there! Hope you're well most of you guys and gals, if not all.
I know it's been a while, since the last time. Many things have happened and to tell you the truth I wasn't sure if I want to continue this space. Actually, after the assassination of a young anti-fa rapper by the name of Killah P a few days back by the Nazis of Golden Dawn I felt that I was at the gates of depression.
The last four months I bought only a handful of CDs. I wasn't in the mood to hear or write something. Our lives hit bottom and we're still trying to keep this country in a Union, that clearly never worked and never will... The only things made me happy were my family and my basketball team, no other. Not even rock & roll, the most important element so far in my life..! I was checking to see if I had any comments to approve but I wasn't interested to reply... So, don't get me wrong that I didn't, cause we're in trouble down here. I talked to my faithful partner JP, only a few times... We're still trying to get ourselves together and put a new WAX shit, but as I already told you, I wasn't in the mood and it's all my fault.
So what happened? Straightly, I don't have a clue. I was ready half an hour back to press the 'DELETE BLOG' button and something hold me back. Fuck man, I was ready to throw over what I've built with your help and all this for some jerks that are ruining our lives... So, I'm not! Maybe you don't really care about what I'm writing this very moment but I understand. You came here for rock & roll and that's what I'm gonna give you. Cause rock & roll was ALWAYS this driving force that change your mood, your life, everything! I was listening to the latest Kurt Baker single and I was thinking "Man, this is what power pop should be!". I was hooked by its dynamics and felt for the first time in months, ALIVE! So, YES, rock & roll can clearly save your life and make you stronger.
I found also my old comrades from the Gang Bang zine and we're trying to get and publish again a new fanzine. It's time to feel again keen and to give my kids the dad they want and not the not feeling well jerk that comes from work after 10 hours and had nothing to share. Maybe two blogs and a zine are TOO MUCH but I'll try keep them all, so please be patient for the lack of constantly posts cause this time WTS is re-inventing its presence. There's no reason to post when I'm not in the mood just 'to post something', you know... I haven't talked as you imagine to JP, but I will and I'm pretty sure he's gonna back me up once again.
So, what do we have here? The most important LP in rock & roll history, in a very rare as those stupid audiophile dudes claim, pressing, with a dead flat transfer and a perfectly balanced sound. I was pretty sure this was a boot (there's no bar-code in the back) but from a (very) quick internet search I discover the opposite. The legendary now 1986 'Black Triangle Edition' is in fact a very rare Jap Toshiba EMI CD. Never had the usual OBI and it's celebrated by both fans and audiophiles as THEE one made justice! Not my rip, a Russian friend send it to me. I did notice as well many torrents with this but what the hell, here's another one if you 're interested.


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Jeff Dahl - "All Trashed Up" (CD, Triple X - 1999)

A true Underground hero for how long, three decades now? I'm only having good words about Jeff Dahl, in everything got involved through years passing! He managed to have a pure rock & roll career without selling out his punk rock ethos not a single time, he had putting out fanzines (Sonic Iguana especially, belongs to the better ones ever printed, up there with Ugly Things, Sniffin' Glue or Kicks), released records to amazing artists through his own label Ultra Under (Freddy Lynxx, Gunfire Dance, Jacobites) and who knows what else am I forgetting now?
I remember asking him for an interview some years back, sending him the questions and after a month of no reply and without getting back at him, I received an email asking me if he ever answered my questions... I was amazed! And you know,  they were lots of 'heroes' that said me they 're gonna give me an interview but never replied, not caring for the love and time I have put into these questions... NOT Jeff though! Saying all this, there's no way for such a cool person to not having a CV of ass-kicking and purely honest (at least) records .
A three chord wonder in the very close meaning of the title! Check out if there's still around somewhere (my friend Mr. Rambler from SOTD had posted them both quite back) the sadly never re-printed and an only  for the fan club release of  Glamfag volumes/tributes for instance (only 500 pressed). A very basic, almost childish approach on 70s glam numbers by Suzi Quatro, Alice Cooper, New York Dolls, David Bowie and Sweet among others well known and not, that somehow and due to Jeff passion's re-birthed with a Dead Boys/Heartbreakers prism and a know for the first time freshness!
This one's for sure in my top-5 Jeff Dahl list and perhaps, the last one I ever enjoyed from start to finish. In "All Trashed Up" Jeff for the first time gives us more of the glam element of his sound, without of course dumping the well known Thunder-esque guitar styling.The album features as well Mr. Michael Brooks, guitar slinger supremo of the Beat Angels (great band!) on some tunes and you know what this means... A full twin attack blazing and bastardizing Mott and Dolls, New York powerpop in the vein of the early Boyfriends and Ramones with the usual Heartbreakers/Dead Boys feel. If Jeff had in mind to make a variation of the glam Bowie produced period of Lou Reed, he failed entirely...Thank God, he-he!!!


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Iggy & the Stooges - "Unrough Powder: The Trueborn Raw Power Mixes" (WAXEP001)

Well, well, well... Is there anything about "Raw Power" that hasn't been said or written yet, especially after all those previous years re-mixes, re-masters and re-issues? Quite honestly, no. I just deleted a 3000 words piece cause it had nothing utterly new to tell... Lester Bangs did it first and it sucked too some times. Come on, feel free to abuse me for the previous line but the best thing ever wrote (and it sums perfectly the punk rock attitude) was this Troggs appreciation (RIP Reg Presley) on Who put the Bomp... I hate the 'Funhouse' review!
Include ourselves of course to the above, cause if you can recall almost two years back to this day, we have tried to give you some of our postures on the subject by posting the rare original UK CBS vinyl. So?
So, we had absolutely nothing to discover hither, at least the we way did with "L.A.M.F."  and we knew that from the very start. It was however the natural next step for us to try something with "Raw Power". I mean, the similarities with "L.A.M.F." are spotless. A hugely influential rock & roll record, a blurry history/mythology, a long lasting 'bad production' debate, a 'Revisited' like attempt (Iggy's 1997 remix) and the most important thing, is 'the other' fave ever record for the Bobcat Twins (JP must own 20 different issues)!
What we also knew was that CBS was no Track at all. There were/are many bad pressed or bad transferred "Raw Power" editions around through the years (the first ever CD edition is a very good example) but if you're looking for secretly different mixes to be found somewhere, I'm sorry no such thing here (with the only known exception of "Search & Destroy" of the UK press). Actually what we had on our hands and deserved to be used for WAX-ing was the "Original Bowie mix" in some pleasant pressings, "Iggy's remix" which btw lead us to some arguments with JP (a VERY infrequent situation - I like it, he hate it) and the often bootlegged "Original Raw Power Mixes" again by Iggy, which in most cases were barely audible but never altogether compiled. Bomp's "Rough Power" had 'em all of course if you want to object, but this WEIRD reverb/echo storm throughout the songs presence, destroyed everything and makes us STRONGLY believe now that 'some hand' added these ridiculous and totally extraneous effects just to sound 'different'. Don't get us wrong, WE LOVE Bomp and you know it well BUT this is clearly some cook kind of thing.
There was no motivation for us to deal actually with the first two well known foresaid mixes and it's easily understood the reason why of this. All of them are in print now and most of the 'different' pressings have been posted on internet many times before. If we had to touch our hands somewhere there was only one path for us to cross. The one of the 'Original Mixes'.
So why an EP this time? Cause after countless conversations my buddy convinced me he was right. Quality over quantity as he wrote me! The often recycled WABX radio broadcast has a crappy sound in all cases/releases and any thought on using it, abandoned immediately. There's no need to represent something's not worth a shit (and it ain't won't worth a shit!). On the other hand what through the ages surfaced as what was Iggy's original essay that annoyed all the jerks at MainMan, were only four songs (Search & Destroy, Hard To Beat, Raw Power and Shake Appeal). We couldn't do much except to find the best ones. And that's what we did. Look no further, these are actually the best sounding survivors, scattered in four different and very hard to find now bootlegs plus the rare as hell "Search & Destroy" version of the UK press, for the first time all gathered in one!
We found A LOT entertaining the way we created the covers with this 'hostile to Bowie' approach. After all we're not his biggest fans, he-he... We sure like what he did at times, and as you perhaps, we both grew with his mix, that's what we learned to like and love but hey, this is an Iggy and the Stooges 'release', dedicated to the most furious rock & roll ever commited to tape, so a hate note and a sour feel it is incumbent upon, right? RIGHT!!!
And, oh! One more thing... The 'badly produced/recorded Ashetons' steam engine or the 'visionary' Bowie mix are in questioning with these tapes...Hear for yourself, and let us know!


"It wasn't about production and it wasn't about being popular. It was about this gut-level expression, almost like a soul singer. And it's no accident that it comes from Detroit". 
Rod Firestone, 
Rubber City Rebels 

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The Nomads - "Powerstrip" (CD, World Service/Rough Trade - 1994)

Hi there!
I just figured it out but it's almost a month since the last post...Sorry guys and gals, but too much things going on and naturally no spare time. I'd like to ask for forgiveness all of you guys who sent me an email and haven't replied back yet (I will though) and especially our friend Steve (thanks so much man for the GF stuff, I know I owe you something I promised LONG time ago, but hopefully I'll make it up this weekend). I'm slow sometimes but I never forget. Anyway, this cursed LAMF stuff has haunted us in a way and ever since whatever we tried with JP to touch with our hands stayed in the can. I'm not gonna say much but yes we're almost done for the next WAX hit and we already have another one in plans, so I guess there's life on the planet White Trash Soul/WAX, he he!
The past weekend I went to see the Nomads for the third time. It was pretty good. I mean no-one can mess with time it's obvious and it was quite frustrating seeing them aged, but they made me quickly forget all these stupid thoughts with just one song, actually my fave song ever and these Swedes are totally responsible for saving it from time's lethe! "16 Forever" man and I was such a jerk forgetting a statement supposedly is my life moto..! So, at the end I'm saying just this: If the Nomads ever come to your town don't have second thoughts, go see them. Satisfaction guaranteed as the old song says.
That's my fave Nomads record and the strange thing's that even a 90s release, has the fewer posts around and with dubious quality. I recently found the LP but I'm c-o-m-p-l-e-t-e-l-y useless in vinyl rips so here's what a friend of WTS, Pubbi had offered me some months back!

See ya in few days (probably...)


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The Boyfriends (USA) - "I Don't Want Nobody (I Want You)" / "You're The One" (7" Single, Bomp - 1978)

I was checking up lately some old stuff and came to this great band and single. The Boyfriends from New York had some great power pop blood running through their veins (The Poppees) and as a result of this, some more great tunes! This Bomp seven inch has a special place among my favorites for what is known to this day as 'powerpop'. The reason why is not that difficult for someone to imagine it when the needle make its dive. Cause both tracks are some great examples of raw pop & roll jewels with a heavy Heartbreakers influence upon them. And on "I don't want nobody" exists this great Stooges drum beat ruffle ("No Fun" obviously) - elevating the song in the 'irresistible' heights of sentiments! As far as I know they had another one on Signal (1981, "Wrapped Up in a Dream" / "Same Old Song") which was equally good but clearly in more pop oriented paths. But this...WOW! Imagine Johnny Thunders' gang with all their girly pop influences up front and you're in. No wonder really why the Ramones chose to cover an unrecorded gem of theirs for the 'Subterranean Jungle' ("I Need Your Love"). Joey was nuts about pop vignettes like these, and so am I !!!


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Cock Sparrer - "The Decca Years" (CD, Captain Oi! - 2006)

Oi!  He-he, I’m quite sure some loyal eyebrows have been raised to the view of a Cock Sparrer post here at White Trash Soul but hey, stop the chattering and listen to what I've got to say first. 
No, I didn't changed my mind about Oi! in general, even though there are quite a few lies lying there ‘bout racism and fascism matters… And I know it now cause I've been fooled too! There’s a HUGE gap between bands like the Business or Screwdriver and the Sparrer or Sham 69, OK? And that’s the easy part cause all you have to do to witness the above (the truth actually), is just to give a listen to those bands stuff! I’m not going to write more on this, but it was a good way for opening today’s pick. Cock Sparrer are IT, period! Most people knows the band from the “Shock Troops” territory which for punk rock at least it’s a CLASSIC but for my disturbed point of view, Cock Sparrer’s glory days were the early ones where their boot-boy, loud, raw and hooligan sound had more in common with the Small Faces and original Slade, than Sex Pistols… 
Cock Sparrer themselves separated group’s existence with punk ‘trend’ by citing constantly the inimitable ‘We‘re not punks – we‘re football hooligans!’ phrase. Btw, Decca for some strange reason (company’s entire history somehow have been build upon peculiar decisions…) seems to have seen ‘punk rock’ early on in boot boys like the Sparrer or Slaughter & the Dogs but for some even stranger reasons drop them when they were ready to cash in… The Beatles 'legacy' resurrected? Perhaps... So, the Sparrow (as the ‘Sparrer’ should be pronounced) in those days were nothing but a hard edged pub rock band! Heavily influenced by their country’s previous years’ heritage on R&B only this time played even sloppily (and aggressively)! For many years band’s 'immature' FANTASTIC recordings were left to the hands of the bootleggers. I believe this stand out Captain Oi! release is the first one that gathers all the stuff (and more). It worth’s his price alone for the original (and SUPERB!) version of “I Need a Witness”, a song at least for me previously bonded with the Little Roosters fame and history (what a band!). Rolling Stones’ “We Love You” is being treated the way the younger and snotty-er Jagger/Richards should have did, and “Runnin’ Riot”, “Taken for a Ride” and “Planet Suzy” are showing the way for the sound about to come with Sex Pistols and their followers. Boogie riffs in hyper speed and tradition rejection by the oxymoron of doing it by looking at the roots!

Don't know if it's a myth or something but the story says that the Cock Sparrer were at first Malcolm McLaren's look for his 'big plans' but they denied making a deal with him due to the fact that they didn't wanted to cut their hair as the devilish manager demanded... True or not -  a cool one, right?


Pic taken from Punk77.co.uk

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The Jim Jones Revue - "Savage Heart Documentary"










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Rockin' Bones - "On Fire" (CD, Vinyl Lust - 2001)

Of the longest running punk & roll outfits in Greece (they were born back in 1991) if not the longest, Rockin' Bones proved to anyone was betting against that they're tough enough to get over line up changes, fights, death (ex-Personality Crisis, Fuzzy - R.I.P. brother) and the square prosaism of the country's non existent rock & roll culture. Once upon a time blood-brothers of my favorite Cosmic Teds (for a short but very fond period they were actually the two most dangerous gangs of the city and Teds guitarist Adonis jumped in for a single on Bad Elvis), but still in good relations with the legendary Last Drive (they share Earthbound's duties two of the band members). Alex K of the Last Drive in fact co-produced this CD, unfortunately their only full work to day. From the 'Last Drive (again!) in an early Social Distortion mood' opener of "Son of Reptile" to the closing rip roaring version of (you know...) "Ace of Spades", you can hear a band making real its album title, knowing and using all the best parts of this ancient music just for (your) fun. I can't remember how many times I pogoed with "Go-Go Baby" (still do the same, my fave Rockin' Bones tune along with "Torpedo"). If you're expecting with this to witness something new, you're in the wrong place pal. If not, well, that's a 100% rock & roll rotgut. As the Bones moto says: "If it's too loud, you're too old!", he-he!


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Scott Deluxe Drake & The World's Strongest Men - "Beneath The Bloodshot Lights" (CD, Rank Outsider - 2009)

I LUV those Drake brothers, two underestimated forces and wild flame holders of real rock & roll! From the first time these poor treated ears blasted to The Humpers sounds (it was the mid 90s with 'Live Forever Or Die Trying' on... Epitaph a move that crabbed many of us -  NOFX, RKL and the Humpers under the same roof... WTF?!), I knew that was it! Swiftly these Heartbreakers sounding creeps became naturally household darlings, one thing lead to another and not much later the names (and the records) of the Suicide Kings, the Joneses and the Vice Principals took place on my table too. It was a time when I was thinking a lot that I had to find something new to re-birth my interest and the Humpers with the Lazy Cowgirls were the ones that did it first (then came those early misanthropic punk rock action fueled outbursts of the prime-era Hellacopters, the ultra-party anthems of Devil Dogs and the no-fi assault in the vein of the Kids meets the Pagans meets the Saints of Teengenerate). To this day I remain a HUGE fan of their family tree.  And I am waiting with my breath hold for the upcoming Lovesores full LP/CD and there's not a week from the time I mentioned that I haven't placed something Humpers-related on my stereo.
This came to my hands from Scott 'Deluxe' Drake himself. It was sent for review for our many times mentioned here old zine along with some pins I'm still proudly wearing of. And my face is still in a smilingly state when I'm looking at the label's printed logo...RANK OUTSIDER! Yep, the one that got ex-Lazy Cowgirl Patt Todd on the driver's seat. He-he, I wasn't wrong after all.
This is if I'm counting right Jeff's third solo effort, but who cares about order anyway? The only thing I'm anxious (actually I'm not - just to say something...) every time some new Humpers related thing hits my turntable/CD player is to see if they moved a little, but NO, you can't teach an old dog new tricks! Thankfully!! As I read on Sugarbuzz : "He was every bit the embodiment of rock n' roll motherfuckery - half unstoppable punk as fuck delinquent rabble-rouser, half old-school show-biz, born entertainer." Ha, I go for it buddy, top notch stuff!

CD still available through here

Scott Deluxe Drake on Reverbnation, Garage Punk Hideout and Myspace

 

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The Heartbreakers - "L.A.M.F. - Original U.K. Cassette Mix" (Cassette/Tape, Track - 1977)

AT LAST! Thanks to our friend Brian Young of the kick-ass rockabilly gang Sabrejets fame, we are able hereabout White Trash Soul HQ after a long and hard trying, to finally witness the original (and now legendary - known also as UK) cassette mix of punk & roll's ultimate uterus 'L.A.M.F.' ! I'm so damn bored to repeat myself so if you're a rookie on this read here first, you may need some introduction cause what you're going to face up within post is quite simply something of a 'holy grail'.
The story goes a little back, during the 'pre-production' days of 'L.A.M.F.T.M.J.B.' when along my buddy Jean Philippe tried our best to come up with a cassette copy of the album but as you maybe already know, failed entirely. Like a Deus x machina somewhere in there and out of a sudden, Brian makes his appearance volunteering but the sensibly tight schedule of the Jets doesn't let him feed our hunger on time. And you know what, some times in life something's not happening for the best. I know this now may sound like some soft-boiled crap to you all, but I do believe it.
Anyway, on our subject and the verdict says clearly this: Yes, the cassette has the original U.K. mix as most of us know for ages like the back of our hands - minus the mud! Yes, it sounds GREAT! Yes, it was a fuckin' bad pressing issue that caused the whole trouble (and legend). Yes, you still NEED to hear this if you consider yourself a serious rock & roll fan. What still mess ups my mind though are those two "why"s?
1. OK, obviously something went wrong with the pressings and the disbanding of Track Records a little later hold up things for a while maybe, BUT... when the bloody tapes (all those!) came to Leee Black Childers' possession or Jungle's afterwards, why not anyone thought to release properly the original mix instead of the 'Lost '77 Mixes'? We live at the digital age goddammit, we were able to hear in the past years without any sound difficulties for instance Slim Harpo kicking the shit out in a 1961 concert or the Link Wray's lost Cadence album for half a century but we can't do the same for the Heartbreakers original mix!!?
2. And what was Track's possible thinking for sending different tapes/mixes to other countries for their own L.A.M.F. releases (not to mention the singles...)? Anyone?
The cassette proves in the end that the 'breakers were right chatter up about it. From the first two concluded  plays I'm able to say that it sounds powerful, dirty and furious as we hoped or better, fantasized! The vocals of Johnny and Waldo for the first time have BALLS (if you think already had, listen up to this baby, ha!), and Billy's bass lines are audible and fat like Bon Scott's Rosie's ass! Oh, and somehow Jerry's drums sound louder. It's not THAT different from the 'Lost 77 Mixes' but in a way it is (I don't know how to put it right, you have to listen for yourself).
So where the mix issue lies? Perhaps on the surviving tapes Alan Hauser got from Childers, don't know. But that's not the answer to my own question No.1. If we're able here at WTS to track down a decent cassette copy, I'm definitely sure that the Heartbreakers rights keepers have (a lot) more chances to find a better one and master from it, if actually the reason why for all these, is a possible loss of the original mix tapes... Shit, I know I'm sounding like I'm bitching now and Brian told me that Alan's an OK  guy, but I got through so much trouble finding this after 15 years or something... you know what I mean?
Anyway, I came home from the office quite late the day Brian's package arrived and I waited for kids to go to bed first. I made the rip and gave a quick shot... I was blown! The first hour of the new day was running its first steps but I couldn't wait till the next morning's arrival to deal with again... I started the upload immediately and mailed Jean Philippe:

"I'm putting up this moment Side 2 of the Cassette Mix, it's 1:30 in the morning I can barely keep my eyes open but you NEED to hear this buddy! I gave a quick (about one minute of each song sliding the bar of the player and all this through my laptop's speakers) listening and it's definitely different! It's the UK mix indeed but with no fuckin' mud around it. A little bit speed-ed up also, don't know if it's because of the tape recorder or Brian's copy, but for a quickie attempt it sounded like the real thing. I need to hear this tomorrow with less wine running through my vains and through my stereo's speakers but don't know man, I don't think it sounds like the Italian, French or any other pressing. "

A few days later came my buddy's answer:

"Well, well, well, you were right, I was wrong! The cassette mix is definitely different from other mixes. I reduced speed by 3% (but it seems faster still), cut the wav files into individual tracks and uploaded it to our account. There's some (expected) hiss on the tape, which could have been easily removed, but I left it as is. I noticed L&R channel are reversed on some tracks (eg. 'Pirate Love' has guitar inro on the left vs. on the right on other pressings), but not all of them (so that's not Brian's mistake in plugin' his gear). What's not easy to tell is 'how much' this mix is different from others. A good part of the difference might be due to the media (tape vs. vinyl) and rig (tape player vs. turntable). The cassette is not muddy, but it doesn't have much bottom end, and sound is quite midrangey. Is it because of the mix or the media/rig? Some tracks are very different though: 'Baby Talk' and 'Going Steady' for example. 'Baby Talk' seems to be what the UK LP would be if it wasn't muddy. 'Going Steady' drums intro is different from other versions (including UK LP). It would have been a blast if we didn't have France/Italy LP already. Anyway, it's nice to finally hear it and know the truth. "

Indeed, 'Baby Talk' cassette take is by far the best we have heard (at least me)! If we had it during the creation of 'T.M.J.B.' would have kicked 'Lost 77' s ass without second thoughts! But as I said, it was meant to be this way. A full post dedicated to the 'media' a couple of thousand lunatics around the world for ages are/were looking for! There's really no need from our side to bull more. You all going to have in a while your own point of view. Just to complete WTS stuff's blurbs I'm adding the one Brian wrote me for the tape had sent me (the old fashioned way, on paper with a cool Sabrejets logo up left and a signature at the bottom- I dig you man!):

"I have heard lots of different stories about LAMF mixes. Some people insist that the French or Italian albums are much better sounding. It's not something I've ever worried too much about. When I bought LAMF (when it came out) I played it to death anyway. I think the problem isn't that it sounded THAT bad - but it does sound pretty feeble in comparison to the records which bands like the Pistols released which cost thousands and thousands of pounds... and took months to record.
It must have been really disheartening for them though - as some of my pals saw The Heartbreakers on the Anarchy tour and everyone (even if they didn't like the band!) told me they blew the Pistols/Clash etc offstage every night...
So if whoever was recording the band could have captured that live sound then it really would have been a killer album...
But there are too many buts and ifs... for sure Track were a waste of space compared to some of the other labels BUT in fairness they DID advertise the first singles and the album a lot. Perhaps the Heartbreakers should have chosen a less controversial topic for their first 45 too... not gonna get much airplay with a song about smack!
Certainly a different producer would have helped - but you can't rewrite history - and even though the reviews at the time mentioned the muddy mix, most people who bought the album couldn't care less. At the end of the day the in fighting and bickering over the album destoyed the band - but that was their own fault. "


What's left now is the hope Jungle to create a box with deep care for all those rumored different mixes that stayed in the can. I mean, who doesn't want to hear 'L.A.M.F.' in a sixties girl pop sounding mix? 

Keep the rocks rollin'!



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The Crybabys - "What Kind of Rock & Roll?" (CD, Castle/Sanctuary - 2003)

You know what, what's best in The Crybabys is not their bloodline (Honest John Plain of the Boys/Lurkers, Darrell Bath of Dogs D' Amour, U.K. Subs, Nikki Sudden among others, Robbie Rushton of Whizz Kids, Gunslingers and Leslie Riggs – Cheap & Nasty, The Godfathers), even though the credits from the past and future outfits, reel of a lot for the band's DNA. The Crybabys were a British institution on dirty, street and most importantly good time rock & roll not unlike or less important than those of the Stones, Faces, Mott and T-Rex trademarks and I'm not fucking joking! Too gifted to be press darlings (for some strange reason, Kerrang's readers voted them as the best band then...), too real to exist long, too ugly to become a girls room poster (that's a compliment, we're talking about rock n' roll here - don't fuckin' forget it!) and in general a fine example of the ‘too much too soon’ curse that's haunting the all prime movers. And for some strange reason my (utterly disturbed) brain have place them in the same position with The Georgia Satellites but this gang of drunk pirates (a tip to Johnny Depp, next time by-side of Keef try these nasty cockeyed motherfuckers...It's time to make a penny or two alright?!) were more colorful. Where the Satellites 'ave used the Malcolm Young boogie school riffology,the 'Babys tried instead Marc Bolan's. Something of a Dirty Strangers next morning personality crisis of a wild gang bang party with Slade the night before and you're getting close. Forget the bleach blonde anorexic fake wild ones of the era, they're not worth a shit in comparison!

PS: That's the MK I Crybabys complete (?) recordings. For more on this GREAT rock & roll mob look at the SOTD training school. BTW, even though I don't use the so-called 'social networks' shit, I noticed that the 'babys have an official page on Facebook, constantly updated with cool pics and information. So, if you have an account already, be sure to take a walk in there.  

-Pic taken from the Crybabys FB page-


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The Infections - "Kill..." (CD, Rip Off - 1997)

A nineties punk rock classic, period! If I was punk enough I would have stay only to the previous statement, true to the genre's attitude but I'm a middle thirties prick now and it's a dumb thing to pretend something I'm not now. At least my former 'punkiness' kept the honesty part, right?
If someone in those days would have said me that it's better the Rip-Offs died, I would have probably abused him. The history proved however that it was a necessity I can do without. Cause today and after countless repetitions, no Rip-Offs, no Supercharger and no Zodiac Killers could come close to The Infections' strength and balls! They were completely ferocious, totally supercharged and outright edgy carrying those Benzedrine guitars and a full Heartbreakers/Dead Boys/'77 (in equal doses) approach on their savaged creations, I mean WOW! They possessed three 'singers' and on their sole single posed with these infamous bleeding shirts for the cover, just like the Heartbreakers had and did, so I was 99% sure even before proceed that it's going to be a blast! And I was always more of a Shane White guy than a Greg Lowery. With "Kill..." he proved the better way he was the one everyone should mention. He didn't let Lowery do his thing here and thanks to evil powers of rock & roll, it was a smart decision! I mean, of course I dig Lowery and I do know that the guys exchanged some poison many times in the past and I don't care to get a side, cause I'm only interested to talk about music but Shane is nearest to what I have in me mind as 'punk rock'. Let's not forget that Shane right after created the mighty but criminally overlooked Loose Lips, OK?! Anyway, "Kill..." has a sliiiightly better sound than the Rip-Offs recordings (I'm sure I read somewhere that they recorded on 8-track when the Rips used only 6 tracks - two channels over in punk rock makes a difference I suppose), in a way more....hmmm 'fat', especially on (what else?) the guitars, which they spit up AMAZING amounts of distortion, tube buzz and energy; making me still wonder how this utterly 'in the red' shit captured so perfectly!?A to the max wailin' punk boulder for the generations to come.


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The Chimiks - "Modern Storm" (LP, Frantic City - 2012) OUT NOW!!!

You know summer's not a good season for taking care things. At least for me cause I'm already late a month on this (sorry man!)... And I tell you my fault's became bigger when yesterday gave it the listen! Bart sent me another fuckin' dynamite, keeping up high the standards Frantic City Records habituated us for years now (The Wild Zeros, The Pneumonias, Atomic Suplex, The Skeptics, The Beavers, Heartbeeps, etc).
The press info says something for the Dwarves subsequent obvious influences, BUT these guys here for sure were good students in class for the '60s Punk' lessons and especially those chapters for 'Back From The Grave' volumes. The guitar shaves and slash throughout long play's existence by squinting the one eye on the Stooges tradition and the other on every single creepy garage riff came outta the States during the early sixties. I haven't heard Chimiks earlier stuff but I'm definitely sure with this piece of plastic they entered today's global punk rock major league! The fact that WTS's favorite engineer Mike Mariconda, put hands upon is another safeguard for "Modern Storm" 's wild and savage sound. I assuredly can tell that Tim Warren's gonna envy Frantic City for this! Now where the fuck did I placed those Dirtys and Los Ass-Draggers CDs, cause my appetite's open?!

Order the storm here!

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The Heartbreakers - "L.A.M.F.T.M.J.B. - A Mixed Attempt For The Best Mixes" (WAXCD 007)

Hi there! Hope everything’s OK for all of you. “The Nightmare Returns”, perhaps this must be the right title/marquee for the new WAX CD. You know (I’m sure you do), when you’re young (loud and snotty) your only ambition in record buying things, is just to find the money and grab your bloody passion’s object. Actually at this age, your only ambitions are always a 'passion’s object' matter: girls, records, bikes etc. After your 25 or something, the lust’s being replaced by geekness. Come on, admit it! This entire ‘punk rock’ attitude obliterates for good. Cause the first time I purchased ‘L.A.M.F.’ (I was probably 14) had sounded to me like THEE record, THEE pattern and THEE way rock & roll should sound and look! Fuckin’ dangerous, sloppily tight (the brilliance of the Rolling Stones it’s being built on this formula and Johnny as a big fan of theirs, knew where to look) with more than obvious the evidence of the street culture (drugs… unfortunately). No problems then with fidelities, “muddy” mixes and overall sounding. Life was being taken as it had come, a day by day trip; don’t give a fuck for all the rest (except maybe once in a three months, when you have to find the way you’re going to defend yourself to your parents for the bad credits at school)! My crappy stereo and the absence of money in my pockets had left no space for such thoughts anyway. I wish sometimes to have still the same concerns in life I had then. ..
Fast forward some years from that era, in one of at the time usual daily walk in the few cool record stores of the city (now there's nothing), and a Jungle CD under the title of ‘L.A.M.F. – The Lost ’77 Mixes’ makes its presence in front of my eyes and guess what, it screwed my life ever since. A better stereo has been gained already the previous months, after a really hard trying by my side to gather up the bread-and-butter, but the a lot clearer version of the ’77 Mixes’ started almost instantly giving me the headaches. Mind that I didn’t say ‘better’ but ‘a lot clearer’. And the ‘a lot clearer’ phrase means more audible for sure, no less aggressive thankfully but not securely the one the band got in their minds (or the fans if I judge from my point of view). Oh well, who knows what do they have actually? Heroin’s like the best pussy around they say and quite logically no mind for the best possible results even if they claimed for the opposite, right? (My fave of the ‘breakers gang) Walter Lure drenched the situation in sound, with ‘Too Much Junkie Business’… In fact the added part next to ‘L.A.M.F.’ on our try here (T.M.J.B.) has been taken from this stellar sign tune for the obvious reasons. After all, all Heartbreakers ‘career’ wasn’t circled by powders, syringes and cold turkeys? Anyway, a little later came to my hands this Johnny’s ‘Revisited’ antiseptic attempt with Tony James ‘help’ (Generation X, Sigue Sigue Sputnik), which to be honest was a huge disappointment at the time. Actually still is cause with a few exceptions (‘Pirate Love’ most notably) succeed to overpower the dynamite. You need a ‘real talent’ to do such thing, right..? I’m not sure if it’s a totally avoidable release (try find the Jap, A LOT better – still away from the ‘breakers live majesty though) but I’m sure most of us fans, got it or kept it for historical reasons mostly. Cleaning is a good idea (that sadly Johnny never did) for drugs, not for rock & roll. Adding bits and pieces to by that time recorded material, made the situation even worse. Brian Young (Rudi/Sabrejets), a HUGE Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers fan in an email he sent me on this subject have written me:

“Everyone I knew who saw the Heartbreakers live in ‘77 said they wiped the floor with everyone onstage - but if they couldn't get it together in the studio they had no one to blame but themselves. I didn't like the Tony James remix either. Too 80's and what would Tony James know about producing records anyway? He certainly didn't produce Generation X's records and when he did Sputniks they sounded feeble....He was probably just cheap... I knew A. Hauser from when he managed the raped and he's a really nice genuine guy so I know he did his best - but if you ask me a lot of the excuses for the bad sound of ‘LAMF’ are simply that. Excuses...”

The truth? Quite honestly, I'm now with the Brian's side of thinking and you'll gonna know why a little later. Btw, Brian did a very cool piece on the Heartbreakers fatal existence for the 'Punk 77' website as 'Cursed, Poisoned and Condemned' and you should check it out without second thoughts, here and here. Really cool bloke!

You probably got it that I’m a totally bloated bastard, right? If you shake your head in affirmative to the previous, means that it isn’t difficult to imagine how this fire came to me head, haha! The ‘idea’ to cross paths with record’s history, was for years something intriguing. I mailed my comrade if he’s in and the reply from the dark shelter of France came almost instantly, ‘YES’! Ha! I knew I was right for one more time to base upon JP! And just like that our deep dive in ‘L.A.M.F.’s confused route, began. Our vaults opened, records and CDs (officially released or/and not) started to come out and our thoughts on how this ‘project’ might/should be built were exchanging rapidly. That was the easy part… “We’re gonna use all the songs original pressings had as uterus, and we’re gonna pick up the best in our opinion versions plus all the extras that appeared later and we can use as bonuses, tracks that's now widely known and recorded most properly from the post Heartbreakers bands (Johnny solo, The Waldos, Jerry solo, The Heroes etc.) but hither executed from their ‘breakers themselves, OK? “ I mailed my associate. Sounds cool, right? You betcha! There goes the hard stuff. We were missing pressings (we still miss the ‘legendary’ original Track cassette – anyone? - which many Walter Lure included, bring as evidence of not a ‘bad mix’ situation but of ‘bad mastering’) so we had to find them. I remember as well that when I’ve send my questions to Mr. Lure for the interview, next email from his side was if I was writing a book or something? Imagine in what heights my grind had come! Anyway, we tried but failed to come up with the tape and somewhere in there we stopped a little to think if a 'definitive' essay from our side will be 'complete' without this DAMN (ancient to all of our readers below 16) thing? I spent countless hours on old fanzines, internet forums, every possible (little or not) detail anyway, to see if this actually apply to reality or if it's just an urban legend that almost everyone helped grow (from die hard fans to the surviving band members), as the only 'true' evidence of the 'original mix'? I mean, Walter had then written me: “The problem was in the translation from tape to vinyl because it always sounded good in the studio on tape but lousy on vinyl”…. He can’t be wrong, right? He was THERE! But where in the bloody hell can we found this and in a MINT condition? I tried ePay, but no sir! I tried the internet for a possible download, but no luck…
And then Jean Philippe’s ‘bad habit’ resurrected… My mate debouched for other countries copies/pressings! Thank god, some things never change! He wasn’t in need for any further information by me and he didn’t needed as well my ‘knowledge’ for the presumably among the Heartbreakers fans rumors for the ‘excellent’ Scandinavian and Italian pressings… At first he surfaced (naturally) the French print: 

“I gave a careful listening to the French ‘L.A.M.F.’ LP, and the more I listen to it, the more I like it. It's no Hi-Fi for sure, but I like the fact that's it's the exact opposite of ‘Revisited’ version: the French LP sounds almost "unmixed". Vocals have no reverb, it's like demos. The drums on "I Wanna BeLoved" intro (or "Baby Talk") sound very, very thin but very natural. The French (or probably any non-UK LP) is definitely different from "The Lost 77 Mixes". Acoustic guitar on "It's Not Enough" is mixed upfront on "The Lost 77 Mixes", while it's not on the French LP. I guess that most people would prefer "The Lost 77 Mixes", but I don't. As for the ‘Revisited’ version, it's almost a joke. It sounds like it was remixed by a kid. The way the drums are far too much "enhanced" on "Pirate Love" is beyond silly. But I love it! It's ‘LAMF’ still! Anyway, I checked UK vs. French original LPs, and here's what I noticed:

* All of side one and "Goin' Steady" on side two are different, and the French LP is much better, especially on "Born To Lose" and "Chinese Rocks" which are pretty bad on the UK LP.
* The rest (side 2 minus "Going Steady") is the same mastering/mix. I hear differences on these tracks, but I think it's a matter of pressing quality. Despite its obvious mastering problems (on side 1), the UK version is a better pressing than the French one, as it's got more bass.
* "It's Not Enough" doesn't fade out on the French LP, but it does on the UK LP. I guess that ending a song that way is a studio job, not a pressing plant job: the UK and French pressing plants didn't receive the same "tapes". So that's not just a manufacturing problem?”

Didn’t I tell you? When it comes for rock & roll we’re 100% geeks and junkies! We‘re corroded to the bone but we’ll never see it as an academic work, OK? It’s an adventurous and uncompromising trip for the truth behind the legend. Anyway, I gave a (two, three, four) listen(s) and I wasn’t able to go against my buddy. After all he’s the WTS Analog Department Engineer (we have a loose screw, right!?  - it’s obvious now), I’m the guy with the long lasting adherences (the doc said I have already too much inside my head to deal with more...) and his conclusions destroyed twice my thoughts! Thanks mate! Aaarrrgggg! My wife for two months now grumping (OK I know, she’s totally right, she married a mentally ill person) that when our kids go to bed, I rush myself to the headphones or the library but… I CAN'T HELP STOP DOING IT. (Sorry babe, you knew what you had in your hands, don’t tell me I didn’t warned you!) As long as I was trying to gather information from a million possible sources, or to reply JP in what changes maybe we should make for the CD Covers (a whole lot different but same ball bustin’ story – try find on the net a good resolution Heartbreakers pic and you’ll understand…) my friend was keep sending me bombs. 'Another pressing, another story' to paraphrase Only Ones’ signature song. For example, I wanted to buy a Jap “Revisited” version to see if there were more in there (and actually THERE ARE MORE IN THERE!) but my part for one more time was catching me up. I was enthusiast at first, wrecked in the end. Another damn version to discover, master and have an upshot at it… Fuck!  And I knew already that the Heartbreakers singles and EPs have sounded ‘different’ to my ears but I didn’t have the knowledge to express things. To cut a long story short, JP’s comments in every email of the countless we exchanged were GREAT (we stopped at 69 as I see now, ALL for this nut case), enlightening, but on the majority of the things we put our hands upon, we faced the reality of the non identical versions, making things dizzier (in diverse with what Walter Lure have told me, I’m quite sure now that THEY DO EXIST 300 plus different mixes!), so I started go back and forth to this ‘chain-message’ shit gmail has, to see how to edit and place in this post the information that maybe some of you wanted to know. Not longer than 30 minutes of occupation, I go ‘@#$%’!!! Man, it’s easier to steal Monica Bellucci from Vincent Cassel’s hands, than to do this... In the end I gave up things. I ‘enforced’ JP to gather up his audiophile stuff (you have no idea how HARD was that too, I had to play at the same time early Gun Club and Cramps records, mumbling on top some voodoo spells a witch from the French side of New Orleans have taught me – a great chocolate chick btw, and menace him with transmogrify into Sarah Palin’s animal print bikini –  I’m sure some of you might find it not a bad change, and all these just to write a few words...) cause I’m not going to write a bloody book here, OK? Believe it or not, it worked! It needed still a little editing but hey, my part rejected all his fears about writing (I told you man, I’m no Hemingway either!). So more or less this is our conclusion:

“It's a well known fact something went wrong with the mix and / or mastering of the original Track 1977 LP. Well that's not exactly true. The 1977 UK LP has a muddy mix indeed, but UK 7"/12" or LP for other countries is fine (but harder to find). The 1994 ‘Lost 77 Mixes’ sounds pretty good, but it's not exactly the original mix. If you want to know how the original UK LP sounds, play the ‘Lost 77 Mixes’ on your stereo and put a blanket on your speakers. No high frequencies. The original French pressing is much better (play the ‘Lost 77 Mixes’ on your stereo, remove the blanket from the speakers, but kick the woofer as hard as you can, you'll get the idea: no low frequencies). Now, we found the original Italian LP and is as good as it gets, with the right balance between frequencies, a real good in-yer-face mix, nothing muddy or thin here, that's why most of the tracks we selected for your listening pleasure are from this rare LP. Pressings from other countries (Germany, Sweden, Holland) are probably good too (or even better), but please remember we have to save some $/€ for feeding our kids. And no, we haven't heard the cassette version (please share it if you can). ‘The Lost 77 Mixes’ is cheap & easy to find, but it's definitely different from the original mixes. For example, the 'Pirate Love' guitar intro (right channel) on the Italian LP has much more "crunch" (it KILLS!), and there's less reverb on the drums. 'It's Not Enough' has much more acoustic guitar on the ‘Lost 77 Mixes’ than on the Italian LP, and so on. The 1984 remix, known as 'Revisted' is so-so, but it has its moments, that's why we included some tracks from it, presented here in the best sounding version we could find, that is a Japanese vinyl. Neighbour warning: 'Pirate Love' has wall-shaking bass drum. 'Do You Love Me' for example is from the original 1977 'One Track Mind' EP. It's the same take as on 'Lost Mixes' 1st CD, but with a completely different 'pogo dancing' mix (much more bass). Now you can hear that Billy Rath is actually playin'. We had a hard time gathering the best sounding ‘L.A.M.F.’ & ‘L.A.M.F.’-related tracks from our vaults, and we hope you'll enjoy'em as much as we do. Play it loud, of course!”

We started this as a ‘just for kicks’ project like always, exactly the way we created all other WAX CDs. We have absolutely no intention to replace original, ‘Revisited’ or ‘Lost ’77 Mixes’. You must see our aspect like a cassette tape we used to create by tons us older ones; 15-17 years ago for our own listening pleasure, our friends and nothing else. We‘re HUGE Heartbreakers and Johnny Thunders fanatics and since we’re hooked enough, we thought this was a great idea to dive in, feast our hearts out from our every day routine, and give a possible ‘new look’ on one of our VERY favorite records ever. It just happened to share it with more, haha! As you can see for yourself we didn’t use the usual nowadays stamp of ‘Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers’ for our ‘L.A.M.F.’ version but the original of ‘Heartbreakers’ cause in our minds Johnny was just an equal member of the four. Waldo and Jerry created many songs together; possibly the best and they were a kick ass fine songwriting combo to not to be mentioned by yours truly! Billy’s another story, a happily after MANY years of no sign, and on going (check out the Broken Hearts and the Street Pirates). And it’s a bloody shame as the years gone by, the legend of JT to grow up (so) alone and those of ‘the other three’ to stay in the shadow. For the White Trash Soul duo, when we’re talking about the Heartbreakers, we‘re not having in our minds the Traveling Wilburys blonde guy’s band, OK..?

It was a quite enough busy winter for both of us. We’d like to thank you all for the continuing support. If it weren’t for you all, giving us your attention by commenting or just ‘hitting’ our site, then we have no reason to do all these! We’re gonna slow down a little a bit for the summer, cause we need some rest. Crank this fucker up high just like Johnny used to say: “Turn this shit P.A. up! Yo, gimme some fuckin’ reverb!”

As usual no bootlegging on WAX CDs. Share and dance loosely!

We hope all of you guys and gals to have a great summer!!! See ya around!



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Gunfire Dance - "Witness To The Crime" (1993, Self Released?)

Don’t let the looks of these guys fool you. No Heartbreakers meets Stooges copycats here nor second rate sleazes of the 80s . Perhaps the biggest mistake in the British rock & roll newest history. Cause along with Thee Hypnotics, Gunfire Dance were (hands down!) the best rock & roll outfits the island produced from 1977 and forth but (guess what?!) sadly IGNORED without any reasonable reason. Or maybe...for just one: 
British forgot their roots, their touch and their importance on rock & roll. They let ignorant ‘journalists’ to rule their minds and tastes (N.M.E. still is the worst piece of paper along with Rolling Stone). I mean, this is the country that produced the Rolling Stones, T-Rex, Mott, Hollywood Brats, Pistols and a million other more or less important bands for Chris sake! What in the bloody hell had happened the last decades? C’mon! They always had the ability to take American music and graft it into excellence! And Gunfire Dance was a prime example. I mean, look at the name of this band! Is it fuckin’ sharply or what?! They sure did love New York City’s rock & roll of the late 70s with a passion. The Dolls, the ‘breakers and the Dead Boys can be heard in all their brilliance on Gunfire’s sound in the same vein you can hear a “Neat,Neat,Neat” period Damned edge! No wonder two of ‘em produced them (Rat Scabies & Brian James). I’ve read many times for Hanoi Rocks comparisons… You know, Hanoi were nastier but not THAT edgy! Gunfire Dance’s guitars shriek the Johnny Thunders patented riffs like if have been played by Cheetah Chrome, their drums roll to the rhythms of Bo Diddley's ancient jungle beat and the voice betrays a street grown howl that CAN actually sing and not just scream and yell. Only great Jeff Dahl acknowledged their existence but Ultra Under was a way too small label to support such a band. Don't know the exact story, but somehow Island records got them into the company's studios for this tape's tracks for a future mini-LP release but mysteriously this never happened. "Suit & Tie" and the storming Kinks cover of "Till The End Of The Day" re-appeared on the aforementioned Ultra Under single. If you're looking for some super adrenaline street rock & roll it's your lucky day pal, you're in the right place!

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Bad Losers - "Bad Losers" (GMG, 1986)

Hi there! Glam punk anyone? You know, for a quite long period I was hooked DEEPLY with this fusion. My affection for the Dolls/Heartbreakers familia drove me to bought (m)any CDs and LPs with every possible Johnny Thunders/Jerry Nolan clone in it, sometimes with dubious results. This one was one of the best detections, hands down. I believe these Bad Losers should be by now legendary in their country (France) and I really don't know shit about them. Except that they were absolutely fabulous! The Hanoi Rocks reference is not only for the looks. Just like Finnish legends the 'copycat' tag evaporates from the first spin. They know how to filtrate the obvious influences via their own angle and create street rock & roll sounds,
profoundly rooted in the Stones 'Sticky/Exile' era and Mott the Hoople. Their take on "One of the Boys" just rips! Unlike the Heartbreakers, knew how to look for a good sounding result and the presence of Dave Goodman (Sex Pistols) behind the board I believe did justice to their essays. A hidden jewel? Perhaps. For sure a great addition to your record collection, in the shelf you guard the Crybabys and Dogs D' Amour albums!



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