I'm Heavy Duty!

Thanks to KP for picking up my slack. That girl is nuts.

Brother, this Judas Priest record is so “very metal.” British Steel (1980) is not the most consistent record but it contains a couple true classics. “Breaking the Law”? You know it. One of my first garage band covers, with me on drums. “Living After Midnight,” check. And I’ll also throw the lesser-known, but anthemic gem, “United.” The band had really found their groove at this point, with that locked-in driving metal sound that got right to the point.

Check out this “Breaking the Law” video and watch for the moment that caused Beavis and Butthead to call singer Rob Halford a “wild and crazy guy” a la Steve Martin.

Yes! Today we celebrate. I’m celebrating because Mary and I got a new site up today for Heavy Duty Incorporated at WeAreHeavyDuty.com, our art and home furnishings business. To celebrate I’m finally posting Judas Priest’s Defenders of the Faith.

This album contains a song that has become my heavy metal mantra, “Heavy Duty.” The song contains the lyrics “I’m Heavy Duty” in the first chorus and “We’re Heavy Duty” in the last one. The first line I mentioned is, of course, the namesake of this web site. You can read more about why I chose that name. “We’re Heavy Duty” happens to be the URL for Heavy Duty Incorporated. “Heavy Duty” is simple metal dirge with some silly metal lyrics, but it never fails to give me a boost when I most need it. I play it all the time, and I have two copies, just in case. Just in case.

Another sentimental reason I love this record is that on April 12, 1984, the night before final exams in my senior year of high school, Roger Williams and I went to see Judas Priest live at the Hampton Coliseum. Roger is/was sort of an intellectual metalhead. If I remember correctly, he was valedictorian of his class and went on to Notre Dame. We lost touch after high school, which is unfortunate for him because I’m pretty sure one of those albums in the picture in his. Sorry Roj. Contact me to negotiate visitation rights.

The show was fantastic in a completely over the top heavy metal way. The “Metallian” creature on the cover was the actual stage, with the drums inside the mouth and a huge mechanical arm that lowered to allow Rob Halford to walk out. At least that’s how I remember it. Halford also rode a Harley onto the stage at one point. The whole band played perfectly was locked into the driving grooves that made this middle period Priest music so great.

Some of the other great songs on Defenders are “Freewheel Burning” and “Some Heads are Gonna Roll.” While overall the lyrics are the usual tough guy silliness you would expect there are more than a few corny-but-inspiring metal moments like this from “Rock Hard Ride Free”:

No denying, we’re going against the grain
So defiant they’ll never put us down
Rock Hard Ride Free
All day, all night
Rock Hard Ride Free
All your life

But my favorite, of course, comes from “Heavy Duty.”

We’re Heavy Duty
So come on let’s tell the world
We are defenders of the faith…

Yes, you are the man Mr. Jackson. I have posted a number of your records already, with more to come. You also had a lot of hair back in 1979 when “I’m the Man” was released as this seven inch vinyl single. This is a great original song. On the flip is spunky, nay, punky I say, live cover of Chuck Berry’s “Come On.”

P.S. I think the button on your lapel says “I LOVE TO BOOGIE.”

Nine singles, 18 songs on 18 sides, did I play them all? Damn straight. See the complete track listings below.

I won’t comment on Michael Jackson himself other to say that the song titles visible in this picture pretty much sum up his life. Everyone has their own definition of “enough.”

This package came out in 1983. I was working at a small chain record store a few years later when I saw a couple copies collecting dust in our seven inch singles bin and decided I must have it. How could I resist such a fantastic package, of songs that I like, printed on glorious red vinyl, with an employee discount? Well, I couldn’t.

Each sleeve and record was produced just for this set, “MJ1,” and they are numbered and labeled accordingly. Most songs are from the mega hit albums “Off the Wall” and “Thriller.”

MJ1-1:
1. Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough
2. I Can’t Help It

MJ1-2:
1. Off The Wall
2. Working Day And Night

MJ1-3:
1. Rock With You
2. Get On The Floor

MJ1-4:
1. She’s Out Of My Life
2. Push Me Away

MJ1-5:
1. The Girl Is Mine
2. Can’t Get Outta The Rain

MJ1-6:
1. Billie Jean
2. It’s The Falling In Love

MJ1-7:
1. Beat It
2. Burn This Disco Out

MJ1-8:
1. Wanna Be Startin’ Something’
2. The Jacksons - Rock With You - Live

MJ1-9:
1. Thriller
2. The Jacksons - Things I Do For You - Live

“This album is 20 years old! That’s craz-”

“You’re 41 years old. You forget that.”

Thanks for the reminder, Mary. It still sounds fresh! That’s why it’s hard to believe it’s this old, not because I’m senile.

Who doesn’t love this record? If you bought it right when it was released you were probably a hipster, maybe you still are, even in your 40s. That’s because this was the major label debut for Jane’s Addiction and pretty much only fans of their first record were waiting for it to hit. At the time my brother and I had record store and a number of our regulars were excited to get their hands on Nothing’s Shocking. I know I was, being a hipster and all. The album opening pretty ditty “Up the Beach” was the perfect spacey, ethereal set up for the flat out rocking “Ocean Size” that followed it. The rest of the album is just as good, and of course it also contains what I suppose was their biggest hit, the studio version of “Jane Says.”

And check out that ticket stub. I got to see Jane’s Addiction a couple months later, with Iggy freakin’ Pop(!) for a whopping ten bucks. Yeah, I remember that too. It was a great show and the crowd was definitely there for both bands. Navarro’s shredding was even more impressive in person. No rock star silliness, just full on rocking. And it was good. Amen.

Nothing’s Shocking at Wikipedia

Wish I was ocean size
They cannot move you
No one tries
No one pulls you
Out from your hole
Like a tooth aching in a jawbone

• Artist: Jane’s Addiction
• Title: The Shocking E.P.
• Year: 1989
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 6
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1989 - At a record I owned with my brother
• Keeper: No

Here’s another record that’s really “for fans only.” I only have it because I was running a record store with my brother when it came out. I’m a big fan of Jane’s Addiction and even I don’t want to keep The Shocking E.P. As you can see from the cover it’s a “limited edition” and I’ll tell you why. The only thing “shocking” is Perry Farrell’s larger than life face on the cover. There’s another pic on the back of the whole band, you know, for fans. The only non-album cut is “Had a Dad - Live!” and it’s pretty forgettable. “Mountain Song” and certainly “Jane Says” are rock classics, but all of us fans already have those tracks. This is an import from Englandia.

New Wyclef Jean coming out next month, Carnival II (Memoirs of an Immigrant), December 4 to be precise. This single “Riot” is intense, with more riffs and breaks than most albums. And if you can believe this, it features Serj Tankian (System of a Down)… rapping. Listen to it.

Wyclef.com

• Artist: Jane’s Addiction
• Title: Jane’s Addiction
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 9
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1987

I was surprised to read this went Gold. Not because it isn’t excellent, it truly is, but when I got it Jane’s Addiction were not well-known. Surely all these sales came after the success of their major label debut, Nothing’s Shocking. But this self-titled live album is their real debut. I believe my friend Ron Spencer first played this record for me. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. How could these guys be so original, smart, and maybe a little weird and still rock so hard? Perry Farrell does not have a typical rock and roll voice, and he often uses all those effects, but he is incredibly intense. I can’t imagine a different voice sounding so right. And the impressive guitar heroics of David Navarro have never had a better home.

Most of the shredding is on side one. When I heard the opening bass line for “Whores” for the first time in a long while I got goose bumps. They eventually turn things upside down with some semi-acoustic songs. The best known is “Jane Says”, and this version is better to me than the later studio hit. Being real men, they throw in some great covers: “Rock & Roll” by The Velvet Underground and “Sympathy” by The Rolling Stones, with nary a pause in between.

Etched is the vinyl margins:

Side 1 - “It used to be secrets! I couldn’t give them away”
Side 2 - What made you look here?

• Artist: The Jam
• Title: The Gift
• Year: 1982
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Tracy, Mary (two copies)
• Acquired: I can’t remember
• Keeper: Yes

“Now for those of you watching in black and white…
This one is in Technicolor.”

Those are the barely audible words spoken by Paul Weller that kick-off this brilliant record. I’ve listened to The Gift, all 32 glorious minutes of it, at least five times in the last 24 hours. That’s probably only half as much as I listened to it when I was 15. I bought it as soon as it was released. This was their last album and their biggest hit, at least in the UK. Some fans and critics didn’t dig it, but whatever, this one is probably my favorite. “Inconsistent”? That’s crazy. Every song is great. After a couple hundred listens you’ll agree, if you don’t already.

I use to blast this in my bedroom using the speakers and wearing my headphones at the same time while playing along on my old Ludwig drum kit. It was like I was swimming in the music. What a great feeling, and this is a perfect album for a drummer, with a lot of fast songs, fills, breaks and bashing cymbals. And drummer Rick Buckler even looks the coolest on the album cover (on the left). The drummer boy in me likes the instrumental “Circus” the best, but as I said before all the songs are great. Other favorites include “Happy Together”, “Ghosts”, Precious”, “Trans-Global Express”, “Town Called Malice”, “The Gift”, and the few I left out. We have two copies and we’re keeping both.

Long live The Jam!

• Artist: The Jam
• Title: This is the Modern World
• Year: 1977
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Mary? Tracy?
• Acquired: ?
• Keeper: Yes

I’ve been busy making the doughnuts so it’s taken me a while to give this record a proper listen. And The Jam’s This is the Modern World deserves a proper listen, or a few. You get your money’s worth with a total of 13 songs. All of them are exquisitely naked, mod, and short. There’s only one song over three minutes, and there’s one cover, a mod-punked out version of Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour.” Looks like I disagree with The Jam critics, historians and maybe even Paul Weller himself, again.

Back to the doughnuts. Who wants one?