a recording of my set at Heathers is available at heathersbar.com
here's the set list so you can read along at home:
the lines - cool snap suburban lawns - baby polyrock - #7 devo - praying hands the b-52's - there's a moon in the sky [called the moon] the cars - getting through the vapors - prisoners the clash - train in vain the db's - spy in the house of love talking heads - once in a lifetime xtc - earn enough for us elvis costello - whisper to a scream the smiths - panic the police - fall out suburban lawns - boyfriend buzzcocks - fiction romance adam & the ants - car trouble, pts. 1 & 2 warsaw - the drawback ramones - rock'n'roll highschool r.e.m. - radio free europe the patti smith group - so you wanna be nikki sudden - channel steamer the dancing cigarettes - pop doormat the b-52's - devil in my car tones on tail - go thompson twins - could be her, could be you tom tom club - genius of love the human league - love action depeche mode - new life omd - bunker soldiers [peel session] yaz - state farm madonna - think of me squeeze - annie get your gun our daughters wedding - lawnchairs sigue sigue sputnik - love missile f1-11 sparks - angst in my pants the human league - sound of the crowd mathematiques modernes - disco rough devo - girl u want casino music - viol af dis elton motello - queen echo & the bunnymen - no dark things delta 5 - triangle gang of four - not for great men glaxo babies - who killed bruce lee? esg - moody the clash - the magnificent seven the flying lizards - sex machine the waitresses - bread and butter the b-52's - 52 girls ramones - slug the misfits - hybrid moments blondie - xoffender the cramps - goo goo muck the revillos - rev up hoodoo gurus - i want you back pretenders - mystery achievement
if you have any questions about any of the songs i play, please leave a comment! i'm no music snob. this blog isn't just for people who already know about all of this music. i'm still discovering a lot of it myself. so raise your hand if you have something to say. now put that hand down, onto your computer mouse, and click the comments button below.
This is a mix of punk and pop from the 70’s and 80’s influenced by doo wop music.
Doo wop’s vocal harmonies had a big influence on 1950’s rock’n’roll like Buddy Holly, and later 1960’s girl groups like The Ronettes. It's easy to see how it could influence pop music, but punk? Pretty much all of the elements found their way into punk at some point. The simple lullaby melodies, the “shoo be doo”s, the "oooh wah oooh"s, the "sha la la"s, the saxophone solos, the call and response, the dramatic spoken-word intros... Slow it down to half speed and replace the electric guitar with a crooning bass vocalist and you've got doo wop. I've been compiling and distilling this for a while now and I think I've got most of the major players covered, obvious ones like the Ramones, and not so obvious ones like Richard Hell. In my opinion, this is one of the most fun forms of music. "its a crash course for the ravers..."
Blondie ~ Denise
-a cover of a doo wop song by Randy and the Rainbows [you gotta love the names of doo wop groups! Which is another way doo wop influenced punk, almost all doo wop groups had names that began with “The”. ] from the album Plastic Letters.
The Cars ~ Slipaway
-Ric Ocasek wrote this and gave it to Ian Lloyd. I like The Cars’ version better, which wasn’t an official release, but can be found on Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology.
Buzzcocks ~ Everybody’s Happy Nowadays
-always been my fav Buzzcocks track. From Singles Going Steady
Ramones ~ Do You Wanna Dance?
-originally written by Bobby Freeman in 1958, The Beach Boys version was probably the most popular, but its been covered by T. Rex, John Lennon, and The Mamas & The Papas too.
Plastic Bertrand ~ Le Petit Tortillard
-a little known classic by the guy who became famous for “Ca Plane Pour Moi”, more about him in a minute...
David Bowie ~ Hang On To Yourself
-from The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars. Bowie originally wrote this song even before Hunky Dory and gave it to a band called Arnold Corns, who released it on a single with Moonage Daydream [another Bowie song]. The single was a failure. Bowie was testing some of his material and concepts out on Arnold Corns, but when the Ziggy character started to gel, this song fit in nicely on the album and he reclaimed it. Rise and Fall wasn’t the complete concept album that everyone thought it was. Some of it was written before the Ziggy character existed. [paraphrased from Strange Fascination by David Buckley]
Marshall Crenshaw ~ Rockin’ Around In NYC
-I think of Crenshaw as the Buddy Holly of the 80’s. Holly was definitely one of his influences. Not to de-emphasize his originality - Crenshaw was an extremely talented songwriter. Check out his album Field Day, kind of a lost gem. This song is from a compilation of early stuff called The 9 Volt Years.
Ramones ~ Let’s Dance
-the Ramones can’t seem to go wrong with the cover songs. This one was a huge hit for Chris Montez in the early 60’s. The Beatles covered it and The Silicon Teens gave it the new wave treatment in the early 80’s. It’s on the Ramones first, self titled album.
The Misfits ~ Hybrid Moments
-as a kid I always thought the Misfits were straight-forward hardcore punk, and at a glance they are. But if you go back to their earlier recordings, theres more stuff like this song. [Go even further back and they had a synthesizer!] Turns out Danzig was a huge Marilyn Monroe fan and named the band after her last movie. Fifties nostalgia and hardcore punk don’t sound like they would mix well, but the Misfits pull it off.
Nikki Sudden ~ Channel Steamer
-Sudden was originally in the post punk outfit Swell Maps. This is the single from his first solo record in 1982.
Joan Jett ~ You Don’t Know What You’ve Got
-this is from her self titled solo debut album. That’s the one that had Bad Reputation and Do You Wanna Touch Me on it
Ramones ~ Slug
-one of my favorite Ramones songs. Not sure what the lyrics are about really. [A girl who turns into a slug?] I would imagine Joey got the idea from some horror movie he saw. If anyone knows please leave a comment.
Suburban Lawns ~ Anything
-my favorite obscure 80’s band. Sounds like if Olive Oil [Popeye’s girlfriend] started a punk band. Their most recognizable song is called “janitor”. This one is SO doo wop! This is the song I had in mind when I said slow it down and take out the electric guitar…
Elvis Costello ~ Welcome To The Working Week
-from My Aim Is True, his 1st album. Brief and to the point, catchy and clever, a perfect Costello moment.
Richard Hell & The Voidoids ~ The Kid With The Replaceable Head
-lately this is my fav Hell song. It was featured in Susan Seidelman’s first film called Smithereens. Richard Hell himself plays a character in the film. There are some other great songs in it too. If you’re young and rebellious and moving to the big city [or ever have been] you should see this. Seidelman later directed Desperately Seeking Susan.
Misfits ~ Last Caress
-doo wop horror punk, amazing.
Elton Motello ~ Sha La La La Lee
-originally by The Small Faces, Plastic Bertrand also covered this song.
Plastic Bertrand ~ Ca Plane Pour Moi
-Roger Jouret, aka Plastic Bertrand, played drums in Elton Motello for a bit, which explains why Bertrand and Motello played many of the same songs. This one has the same exact backing track as Motello’s infamous “Jet Boy Jet Girl”. Its rare that 2 bands will share the same recording, each with different lyrics. It’s like the bizarro opposite of a cover song, where two songs share the same lyrics and the backing tracks differ. The title of this one means “this life’s for me” and the lyrics are interesting to say the least. Many [Americans] of my generation [including me] first heard this song in National Lampoon’s European Vacation.
Le Volume Était Au Maximum ~ Nian!
-Le Volume is from Quebec and fronted by a guy called Johnny Love. This one is a wild card, as it’s not from the 70’s or 80’s, but I am invoking my creative license here. It plays so well with Plastic Bertrand! Yes, I could have told you that these guys hung out with Bertrand and Motello as well and you probably would have believed me. But I’m not shiesty like that :)
Blondie ~ XOffender
-apparently, this one is about a prostitute who falls in love with a cop. But how do you ask a cop on a date when you’re a prostitute? Tricky situation. This song will walk you through it.
The Nerves ~ Hanging On The Telephone
-I was surprised the first time I heard this. I always thought Blondie’s version was the original, but The Nerves wrote it. The Nerves only released one EP [ever] in 1976 and this song was on it. The other songs are good too, shame they broke up.
Marshall Crenshaw ~ Run Back To You
-also from The 9 Volt Years compilation. Love the chord progression in this one.
Pretenders ~ Kid
-one of their first singles to hit the charts. Released in 1979 before their first [self titled] album.
David Bowie ~ Drive-In Saturday
-this is another song that Bowie gave to another band before taking it back and putting it on his own album. He gave this one to Mott the Hoople, but they never released it. Its tells of a dystopian future where people have forgotten how to make love and resort to watching vintage “video-films” for guidance.
thanks everyone who came out wednesday! i had fun, i hope you did too. good crowds make for good sets. i don't plan my sets. i just sort of divine them from the room and, well, i can't wait to hear the recording on the Heathers Podcast when it gets posted. hope to see you folks next time.
the first song i played [which got partially trimmed due to a technical difficulty] was "cool snap" by The Lines, a brilliant post punk band that somehow never got off the ground. they had a lot of potential. check out some of their music here. there are recordings on the right of the page, i'm partial to the "radiobass" tapes, which are unfortunately not released, yet. Bass solos with minimal drum machine beats, pretty badass.
lets see, what else... i'm working on a new mix for you. i'm psyched about this one. sort of a punk rock tribute to doo wop music. putting the finishing touches on it.
a recording of my May 14th live set at Heathers Bar is up, listen to it here.
the replacements - within your reach the call - the walls came down ultra vivid scene - special one talking heads - warning sign the b-52's - dirty backroads fun boy three - our lips are sealed the the - giant new order - thieves like us wide boy awake - slang teacher china crisis - seven sports for all ric ocasek - true to you the go go's - you can't walk in your sleep the divinyls - ring me up hoodoo gurus - come anytime marshall crenshaw - run back to you ramones - slug suburban lawns - anything blondie - Xoffender joan jett - you don't know what you've got pretenders - kid the patti smith group - ask the angels nick lowe - cruel to be kind elvis costello - welcome to the working week squeeze - pulling mussels [from the shell] the cars - you can't hold on too long tones on tail - instrumental ultra vivid scene - lynn-marie #1 wake - favour echo & the bunnymen - all i want warsaw - no love lost the cure - grinding halt the psychedelic furs - pulse the jesus & mary chain - i love rock & roll the sound - acceleration group sad lovers & giants - things we never did romeo void - ventilation the waitresses - bread and butter delta 5 - triangle josef k - heaven sent the fall - fiery jack polyrock - go west the ex - watchdogs buzzcocks - moving away from the pulsebeat richard hell & the voidoids - down at the rock & roll club sonic youth - panty lies the cramps - sunglasses after dark the misfits - hollywood babylon pixies - dead the vaselines - son of a gun talking heads - and she was the b-52's - legal tender the vapors - jimmy jones lene lovich - lucky number xtc - earn enough for us the english beat - best friend the specials - little bitch r.e.m. - exhuming mcCarthy the jam - town called malice the replacements - left of the dial the wedding present - everyone thinks he looks daft unrest - cath carroll
the recording is a bit low, but it is a live recording, think of it as a bootleg. you really had to be there. the part with fleetwood mac's tusk, in its entirety, was unfortunately cut out. more to come soon...
Thanks to everyone who stopped by last night. I'm crossing my fingers hoping my recording came out okay. The little recording device at the bar is somewhat cryptic. I felt like the ape from 2001: A Space Odyssey trying to figure it out. Hopefully, those of you who missed out can at least hear my set soon. Honestly, I don't blame you for not coming, it was frickin cold out! For mid-May? Yeah. What is this the mountains? It was like 75 degrees in the afternoon and 50 at night. Anyways I'm not sincerely complaining about the weather, I'm attempting a segway here. My latest "official" recording is no doubt inspired by the crisp weather we've been having here in New York. Which is why I named it "Bring a Sweater". I actually like spring when the mornings are a little chilly. I get on the heel-toe with my hoodie up and my headphones on. I find myself listening to a lot of music with jangley guitars and extra fuzzy distortion. So it's a selection of tracks from the indie, C86, shoegazer and related flavors of the late 80's and early 90's. I'll be posting that as soon as my modem issue at home is resolved. My modem is fried so I'm posting from elsewhere. I recently realized that it has been on for about 3 years now, of course it's fried. Why they build modems without an on/off switch or auto-shutdown is beyond me...Way beyond me. Again, makes me feel like the space ape [see also: frustrating devices without interfaces], which is a nice dovetail for me to end this rambling post. <3john
