I'm Heavy Duty!

This is a great great album everyone should have. I have always loved it but I just now learned that many of my favorites are covers of original ska tunes. Nothing wrong with that! I was also surprised that singer Terry Hall has no individual writing credits on Specials at all.

Read more about The Specials debut, produced by Elvis Costello.

Oh my goodness, this song rocks! I’m a long time fan of The Hellacopters and “Sign of the Octopus” from their new record Head Off is already one of my favorites. Listen closely for the cutting guitar lick at the end of the chorus. It only happens twice for a cumulative four seconds of rock and roll bliss. Be ready to rewind because you’re going to want more, more and more! And more!

If you’re still standing after “Octopus” check out more of their new stuff at their MySpace page, especially “No Salvation” and “Veronica Lake” and “I’m Watching You” and, well, all of ‘em. I gotta get the scratch together to add this to my Hellacopters record collection.

More Hellacopters coming soon…

“Wave News”? Must be a German thing. Gotta love that sweet colored vinyl. We’ll definitely keep this “limitierte auflage” compilation because it’s a crazy mixed bag of “new generation” music from 1980 and ’81, released in ’82. I split the foldout in two so you can get a good look a whats-his-face from Depeche Mode. What is he, thirteen? Sporting that look I doubt he made it to lunch before being mistaken for a girl. My favorite track is definitely “Disco Man” by The Damned, followed closely by “Countdown” by U.K. Subs. Mary says she got this at a record store in D.C.

Tracklisting from Discogs.com:

A1	Depeche Mode	New Life (3:42)
A2	Damned, The	Disco Man (3:18)
A3	Max Meldau	Shutdown (3:46)
A4	Lovely Previn	From A To B (3:13)
A5	Eyeless In Gaza	Faceless (3:11)
A6	Jo Broadberry & The Standouts	Footsteps In The Dark (3:26)
A7	China Doll	China Doll (3:18)
A8	Medium Medium	Hungry, So Angry (3:56)
B1	Au Pairs	Inconvenience (2:55)
B2	Fad Gadget	Pedestrian (3:14)
B3	Dead Kennedys	Too Drunk To F… (2:39)
B4	Thomas Leer	Letter From America (4:36)
B5	Exploited, The	Hitler’s In The Charts Again (2:36)
B6	Eddie Maelov & Sunshine Patteson*	Another Teardrop (3:46)
B7	Bloodless Pharaos	Bloodless Pharao (6:09)
B8	UK Subs	Countdown (4:55)

I would keep this one for the sleeve art alone. The music is fun too. I said everything I can think of about this series when I posted Volume 4, one year ago this week. The most well-known song on Back From the Grave Volume One (1985), to me at least, is probably “That’s the Bag I’m In” by The Fabs. It’s also the rockin’est. On the back the artists’ names are written “Fabs”, “Jujus”, “Rats,” etc. Because everyone of them is a “The” name! Those were The days.

I’ve never met a girl who can be my friend
The only money I’ve got is Chinese yen (some currency confusion there – TS)
They’ll probably drop the bomb the day my ship comes in
I want a steady girl who could be tall and thin
That’s bag I’m in!

The Fabs

Back From the Grave at Wikipedia

Hellacopters! Rocket From the Crypt! When I’m having a good day these bands are part of the imaginary soundtrack of my life. I can’t get enough roots rock/punk rock. This 1999 double band single, Hellacopters’ “Crimson Ballroom” and Rocket From the Crypt’s “Delorean,” was put out by Gearhead Magazine, and included with issue #10. In my fantasy life Gearhead is the “lifestyle” magazine.

This record is a seven inch vinyl disk to be played at 45 revolutions per minute. I’ve included a pic of the vinyl so the kids can see what I’m talking about. I’m doing it all for the kids.

The Hellacopters
Rocket From The Crypt
Gearhead Magazine covers