Friday, August 02, 2013

(The Triumphant Return of) Weekend Listomania: Special All These Jokes Were Predicted by Nostradamus! Edition

Well, it's Friday, and you know what that means.

Yes, my Oriental fille-de-whoopie Fah Lo Suee and I will be at an undisclosed location endeavoring not to make up any jokes referencing New York City preposterous horn dog mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner.

You know, like this prospective campaign ad: "I'm Anthony Weiner, and you'll love my package."

In any case, as a result, posting by moi will necessarily be somewhat fitful for a few days.

But until then, as always, here's a fun project for us all to contemplate:

MOST AHEAD-OF-IT'S-TIME POST ELVIS ROCK/POP/SOUL RECORD OR ALBUM!!!!

And my totally top of my head Top Six is/are:

6. The Monks -- Black Monk Time



From 1966 -- five alienated G.I.s in Germany invent Blank Generation punk several years before Richard Hell got his first blowjob.

5. The 5 Torquays -- "There She Walks"




From 1964 -- the same five alienated G.I's in Germany (before they shaved their heads and changed their name) invent Talking Heads' version of New Wave Rock several years before David Byrne had his first anxiety attack.

4. Eddie Cochran -- "Something Else"




From 1958 -- Cochran invents heavy guitar rock before Rockabilly was even dead.

3. The Travel Agency -- "That's Good"




From 1968 -- some lost-to-the-mists-of history Texas rockers (who they were is unclear) invent New Age at least a decade or so before Yanni played the Acropolis. I should add that this album -- produced by Jimmy Griffin, of Bread fame -- also anticipates pretty much everything Dave Edmunds did a few years later too. If you can find an illegal download on the intertubes, I highly recommend you check it out.

2. The Kit-Kats -- "Won't Find Better (Than Me)"




From 1970 -- a brilliant greaseball bar band from Philadelphia --The Kit-Kats, temporarily doing business under a more hippie-ish nom du disque -- anticipate just about every piano trope of the first couple of Bruce Springsteen albums that followed.

And the number one most amazingly un-commercial (because being ahead of your time is the most egregious sin you can commit in pop music) song/album of all time clearly is --

1. Michael Nesmith -- Tantamount to Treason ("Bonaparte's Retreat")



In which one of the Monkees invents psych-country rock a la Wilco about thirty years before Jeff Tweedy blew his nose.

Alrighty, then -- what would YOUR choices be?


[h/t Sal at Burning Wood]



28 comments:

Sal Nunziato said...

The Chambers Brothers-Time Has Come Today LP!

All the elements had been heard before- rock, gospel, blues and soul. But hearing it all together, most of the time in the same song was pretty damn fresh for 1967.

Anonymous said...

for better or worse, depending on how you feel about prog, the first Renaissance album with Keith Relf.

buzzbabyjesus said...

After checking out your nominations I'm going to have to think about this before I make mine.

steve simels said...

Note to self: Long absence not making Listomania fonder.
:-)

buzzbabyjesus said...

This is a hard one.

1 Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited
-The Move

2 "21st Century Schizoid Man"
-King Crimson

3 "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn"
-Syd's Pink Floyd

4 "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag"
-James Brown

5 "The Return Of The Super Ape"
-Lee "Scratch" Perry

Jerry Lee said...

Chuck Berry - "Bye Bye Johnny" - The birth of Keith Richards.

edward said...

Too beat to even make an addition to the amazing list. So I'll just say Yay for highlighting the overlooked and underappreciated solo work of The Nez. I think one could go farther back than Tantamount To Treason Vol 1, but I'll settle. Besides, it comes with a recipie for beer for liner notes.

Anonymous said...

What? I wake up to this? It's too hard! My noggin's not quite lucid enough for this stuff yet. But I believe you can be ahead of your time and still sell records.

Carla Bley/Paul Haines - Escalator Over the Hill

Can - Tago Mago - esp. Halleluwah

Jack Bruce - Songs For a Tailor

The Last Poets

Curved Air - Air Conditioning; Phantasmagoria

Hendrix - Are You Experienced; Electric Ladyland

Piper at the Gates of Dawn

Fela Kuti & Africa '70 with Ginger Baker

Funkadelic - Free Your Ass, S/T; Maggot Brain

Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King; Lark's Tongue In Aspic; Red

Mothers anything 1966-1970

Zappa - Hot Rats

Silver Apples

Annette Peacock - I'm the One; X-Dreams

Don Van Vliet - Trout Mask Replica

Roy Harper - Stormcock, Bullinamingvase

Late Sixties Miles Davis

After Bathing at Baxter's

Here Come De' Judge - P Markham

Grateful Dead - Anthem of the Sun

Cream - Disraeli Gears; Studio Wheels of Fire

Rattles - The Witch

Captain Beyond

Stooges

Quicksilver Mesenger Service

Sweetheart of the Rodeo

Kraftwerk

Crogmagnon - Orgasm

Gong - Radio Gnome Trilogy

Sly - Stand!; There's a Riot Goin' On

Roxy Music - first three LP's

Fred Wesley - A Blow For Me, A Toot for You

James Brown - Sex Machine; Payback

Love - first three albums

Doors - first two albums

Beatles - Revolver

Yardbirds - Still I'm Sad; Shapes; Happenings

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

Zeppelin - Zoso IV Untitled

Traffic - first two LP's

Hawkwind - S/T; In Search of Space; Space Ritual

Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine

Metallica - First 3 LP's

UFO - Phenomenon, Force It, Lights Out

Joni - Hissing of Summer Lawns

Monkees - Papa Jean's Blues, What Am I Doin' Hangin' 'Round, Daily Nightly

Buffalo Springfield - Everydays

Michael Murphey - Geronimo's Cadillac

Jerry Jeff Walker - S/T; Viva Terlingua

Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger; Phases and Stages

Velvet Underground and Nico

Anything connected with Roy Wood 1966-1975.

Johnny Coltrane when he got weird.

Wichita Lineman - I'm serious

Pleasure Seekers - What a Way to Die

Suzi Quatro

Bowie - Hunky Dory

Lovin' Spoonful - Summer In the City

New York Dolls

Queen - first three

The Merry-Go-Round

Can I be excused now? Time for breakfast.

Vickie Rock

Brooklyn Girl said...

Arthur Lee and Love - "Love", which I listened to concurrently with "The Fugs First Album" ---

Slum Goddess from the Lower East Si-i-i-i-ide,
Slum Goddess, gonna make you my bri-i-i-i-ide ---

Okay, maybe not ahead of its time. But I don't give a shit. :-)

Brooklyn Girl said...

Oh, and the Mothers of Invention's "Freak Out", which I bought at the Sam Goody at the Garden State Plaza strictly on the basis of the cover.

steve simels said...

I was waiting for somebody to nominate the first Roxy album.

Which I have never particularly even liked, but boy did it get to some places other bands didn't arrive at till years later.

Mark said...

In no particular order,

Chad and Jeremy - OF CABBAGES AND KINGS (featuring Firesign Theatre)

The Chambers Brothers - TIME HAS COME TODAY (mentioned earlier)

Grateful Dead - ANTHEM OF THE SUN

Velvet Underground - LOADED (and sure, everyone who bought the first VU went out and
started a rock band, but we would’ve been better served if each person who bought THE VU
AND NICO opened a same-day dry cleaners)

Frank Zappa - HOT RATS (mentioned earlier)

Elliott Murphy - AQUASHOW

The Yardbirds - FOR YOUR LOVE (or, if you prefer, ROGER THE ENGINEER)

The Dream Syndicate - DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES

Lists? What are they good for?

Jerry Lee said...

Link Wray - "Rumble"

Meet The Beatles - birth of The Rutles

buzzbabyjesus said...

Last night I listened to "No Other" by Gene Clark. Apparently it bombed because it was too slick like the Eagles got years later on "Hotel California".
Too bad, it's a fine album that has aged well.

buzzbabyjesus said...

Here's "Scratch":

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqFVdovOoxc

Anonymous said...

I forgot to mention Spirit's first album which was quite revolutionary.

Soft Machine should be in there too.

Pretty Things S.F. Sorrow anyone?

The Who - A Quick One (While He's Away); The Who Sell Out

Never mind what I had for breakfast. But it was a good combination with lots of vitamin D.

And I suppose there is no such thing as a Virgin Fug.

Vickie Rock




buzzbabyjesus said...

It's really a crowded field.

Wire

Sex Pistols

Genesis Foxtrot

The Clash

The Who Sell Out Definitely

I wondered about S.F. Sorrow and now that I think about a little, yes. The first actual Rock Opera.

The bigger question is who is ahead of their time now?

Anonymous said...

Who's ahead now is best determined with hindsight. Most of the random choices here don't get beyond the 1970's.

Good call on Foxtrot. Supper's definitely Ready.

Someone suggested Aquashow above. I don't know how that's ahead of its time. Explain. I know, I know, some of my choices are highly suspect too. But some of them are jokes.:-)

Re the repulsive weasel who calls himself Carlos Danger: No jokes are necessary. The joke's between his legs. "Nothing to see here!"

Finally, since I'm a newbie here, what's the significance of Fah Lo Suee in the Simels universe. Phoebe Zeitgeist wants to know.

Btw, my breakfast was a savory Banana Nut Crunch followed by the inevitable Yogurt Burst Cheerios. It's very rich in essential vitamin D.

I enjoy it whenever I can.

Vickie Rock

buzzbabyjesus said...

I was thinking of "Supper's Ready" when I said "Foxtrot".

Jerry Lee said...

Nobody said the Ramones first album yet??

Anonymous said...

Addendum:

96 Tears

Crazy World of Arthur Brown

Bela Lugosi's Dead

Modern Lovers

Zen Arcade

Neu

Harvey Mandel - Shangrenade

Desolation Blvd. / Sweet Fanny Adams

Station to Station

John Mayall - Latest Edition

Van Halen - Eruption

Daft Punk - Discovery, Homework

Shady Lady - Raving Mad

Alice Cooper - Love It To Death

Zolar X - Rocket Roll

Death - For the Whole World To See

We Five - You Were On My Mind 45; You Let a Love Burn Out

Sir Douglas Quintet - She's About a Mover and everything connected with them

Tommy James & Shondells - Crimson and Clover/Crystal Blue Persuasion


Arrows - I Love Rock 'N' Roll

Small Faces on Immediate

Judas Priest - Sad Wings, Sin After Sin

AC/DC - It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Want to Rock 'n' Roll)

Be Bop Deluxe - Axe Victim; Futurama; Sunburst Finish

Bill Nelson's Red Noise - Sound On Sound

Fairport Convention - first three and Heyday

Millie Small - My Boy Lollipop

Barbara Lynn - You'll Lose a Good Think

Drive-by Truckers - Southern Rock Opera; Decoration Day; The Dirty South; Live at the 40 Watt DVD; Blessing and a Curse

Sun Ra - pretty much anything

Off to Randy Weeks

The Misunderstood UK stuff

Vickie Rock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWnUueJCNig

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a535/VanessaStone/A%20Taste%20of%20Special%20Stash/DozinInSchool_zps933718c5.jpg



Anonymous said...

Barbara Lynn - You'll Lose a Good Thing and most of her Jamie singles and Atlantic LP

Adios

Vickie Rock

Anonymous said...

Yes. More!

Mel Tillis – Mental Revenge
Aerosmith – first four lp’s – really – every rockin’ kid I know that was born in the mid sixties claims Aerosmith and Alice as influences
Locanda delle Fate – Forse le luccione non si amano piu
Creation – Painter Man
Beatles – Strawberry Fields Forever and pretty much everything else
Stones – I’m Goin’ Home, We Love You, 2000 Light Years
Curtis Mayfield 1970-1972
Temptations – Cloud Nine; Psychedelic Shack
Dub Taylor – Lumiere – For Synthesized & Concrete Sound (Yes, the TMOQ dude on his own Varese International label, a subsidiary of TMOQ – major vanity project – interestingly, the late 1972 album is dedicated to Carol Ann Harris – Hmmmm – Is there a clue there?)
Tony Williams – Emergency; (turn it over)
Larry Coryell – Jam with Albert (only cuz I love to lose myself in it.)
United States of America
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Will the Circle Be Unbroken
Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso – S/T; Darwin!
The Band – Music from Big Pink; The Band
Montrose – S/T
Bill Fay – Time of Last Persecution
Wigwam – Tombstone Valentine; Fairyport; Being; Dark Album
David Axelrod – Mass In F Minor
Sagittarius – Present Tense
Pink Fairies – Never Never Land
Twink – Think Pink
Caravan – In the Land of Grey and Pink; For Girls Who Grow Plump In the Night
The Rising Sons
Captain Beefheart – Diddy Wah Diddy (sorry Remains, your version is cool but mucho blanco)
Camel – Snow Goose; Moonmadness (The latter only because I got a huge promotional coke mirror for it [only in the 1970’s], plus I slept with the keyboard player years later. Think I have a photo of that mirror with a vast quantity of evil Peruvian nose candy upon it somewhere around here. It is a rather unique and expensive promo item from Janus Records. Very thick ¾ inch glass. Must weigh about five pounds with felt bottom. Cover art is under the glass. My older daughter took it to her place. Hmmm. I don’t care as long as she doesn’t sell it on ebay. Used to be in my study right next to my Warner Brothers stash box and Capitol Records executive ash tray, which is a real beauty.)

Btw, I never listen to most of this shit either. Been there done that. Time for a past midnight breakfast and Sierra the Serial Killer. My nineteen year old’s forcing me to listen to it. She just got home and she’s totally sober. Kid’s these days.

Vickie Rock

This is not an endorsement:

http://www.divshare.com/download/24288220-879

Anonymous said...

Very cool Scratch tune BBJ. So truly ahead of his time.

"Return of the Super Ape" title reminds me of a thing several of my girlfriends and I did with a Junior High School band from Ontario, California named the Scamps. They used to be called the Electric Five circa grade school post Hard Day's Night. Bad name which was understandably short-lived. After the Scamps they became Liquid Trigger. Never did anything 'cept a few local and High School gigs.

They were cute guys with long hair when few had it. One of my girlfriends, Kari, who had a very deep sexy voice, was going with their bass player. I made out with the lead singer, guitarist once. He got aroused and proudly showed me his thing. It was frighteningly huge!

I've never seen anything like it before or since. He was beyond Magnum. Seriously. This guy needed a bread bag for a condom. I touched him and he went off instantly. He should have had Louisville Slugger tattooed onto the shaft of that bruiser. No way was he getting near me with that thing.

At any rate, they would sometimes practice at Kari's because her dad had a farm and a big shed out back where you could make as much noise as you wanted. They brought a Revox reel-to-reel with sound-on-sound and we fucked around, composing a very wretched song(?) on the spot. It was sort of a story-telling talking R&B ala Them.

The story line was about a naughty young girl who decides to get her gang bang groove on. She retires to a cave with four of her boyfriends, portrayed by members of the band. She, portrayed by my deep sexy-voiced friend, enjoys each guy's turn more than the last and ends up in an ecstatic delirium. But she still laments that she hasn't gone completely "Ape Shit."

Well that's when our juvenile endeavor gets really stupid. You see, the cave is the dwelling place of Bigfoot, you know, the Sasquatch. While she is lying there in ecstasy waiting for guy number one to make his return, Bigfoot spots her lusciousness and takes full advantage of her making her go completely "Ape Shit."

The bassist provided beastly sounds of procreation while I was the one to provide the female orgasmic sounds. The song reaches it's accelerating rhythmic climax with me declaring in orgasmic tones, "Make me go Ape Shit. Ape Shit, baby. Ooo yeah I'm gonna. I'm wanna... go completely "Ape Shit. Ape Shit. Oooooo. Ape Shit. Yessss. Ape Shit.

Each panting "Ape" and "Shit" is panned from left to right. How stupid, right? What were we thinking? Ape Shit? How unsexy is that? But it was really funny and I was pretty dramatic and convincing. I can't tell you how many times we replayed it and laughed our asses off. But you really needed to be there.

I had a cassette dub of that travesty up until 1997 when it apparently got lost in a move. It was really crudely recorded and stupid. But we had so much fun making it. Wish I still had it.

A few years back, I ran into a guy who was friends with members of the band and had heard the tape. It was at a biker bar in Carbon Canyon during a Rick Derringer gig. He looked at me with an ear to ear grin and said, "We're gonna go Ape Shit!" before busting out in laughter and hugging me.

And speaking of "ahead of their time," Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are at the Bowl tonight with Sun Ra.

I'm very late. Gotta run.

Vickie Rock

Anonymous said...

AddendumNeverEndum:

Bjork - anything inc Sugacubes
Damned 3X
Dory Previn
Patti Smith - Horses
Jam - In the City; All Mod Cons
Beach Boys - Good Vibrations; Pet Sounds; Heroes and Villains; Cabinessence
Kate Bush - The Kick Inside
Leonard Cohen
Marquee Moon
Serge Gainsbourg
Francoise Hardy
Buzzcocks - Spiral Scratch
Gary Numan - Pleasure Principle.
Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains the Same (song) (instrumental backing track) The Overture for sure.

Vickie Rock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuIJEmVkQ1A

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a535/VanessaStone/A%20Taste%20of%20Special%20Stash/37972037-LPF-This_Bed_We_Made-Front_zps1ce7c56e.jpg

Anonymous said...

Please stop.

Hannes A. Jónsson said...

Not that I'm terribly interested in such things, but I've always felt that The Sweet predated TNWOBH by a good 4 or 5 years. Especially with their "Give Us a Wink" (1976) LP. Both Def Leppard (And they've admitted it) and Iron Maiden "borrowed" a couple of things from that album...

Anonymous said...

The AddendumNeverEndum were not really about content, but more a commentary on the title of the post and my feelings toward it and lists in general.

Vickie Rock