V.A. Punks on Drugs

"I can't understand why anybody should devote their lives to a cause like dope. It's the most boring pastime I can think of. It ranks a close second to TV."
Frank Zappa

"Frank Zappa is probably the single most untalented person I've heard in my life. He's two-bit, pretentious, academic and he can't play his way out of anything. He can't play rock n' roll because he's a loser. And that's why he dresses so funny. He's not happy with himself and I think he's right"
Lou Reed

After Lou Reed (more here) and all that smack-talk it's time to post this dodgy compilation, which even by Lou's standard has a pretty seedy track list:

1 New York Dolls - Pills 2:55
A fine 1973 demo.
2 Urban Dogs - Cocaine 2:23
UK Subs' Charlie Harper plus the Vibrators' Knox do a bracing version of Dillinger's reggae classic (itself an adaptation of an old blues song).

3 Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - Chinese Rocks 2:55
Y'all know this one from L.A.M.F. - The Lost '77 Mixes.
4 Fallen Angels - Amphetamine Blue 2:32
The Vibrators' Knox plus half of Hanoi Rocks makes for a near perfect pop song.

5 Simpletones - I Like Drugs 2:09
The first band of Jay Lansford of the the Stepmothers (more here) and Channel 3(more here) offers up a classic early SoCal pop-punk song.
6 Chron Gen - L.S.D. 1:55
A UK '82 chant-along rocker.
7 Family Fodder - My Baby Takes Valium 3:26
Tinkly-synth post-punk from their Playing Golf (With My Flesh Crawling) single
8 Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - One Track Mind 2:35
Thunders once said "I'm addicted to sex, my guitar and White Russians" but with songs like this who would believe him?
9 Urban Dogs - Speed Kills 1:20
Glad someone here said it.
10 UK Subs - Killing Time 2:19
A blazing track from the Harper-Garrat reunion of 1988.
11 Creaming Jesus - Smoke (Skin Up For Jesus) 2:05
(How did this crappily-named tuneless goth-metal band merit inclusion?)
12 Eater - Waiting For The Man 2:26
Eater were close to the bottom of '77's barrel but this Velvet Underground cover is charming.
13 Heroes, The - Too Much Junkie Business 2:24
Former Heartbreaker's Walter Lure and Billy Rath do their former boss's classic.
14 Adicts, The - Get Adicted 2:03
The Adicts drug of choice is stuttering, hooky punk rock as this song from 1982' Songs of Praise attests.
15 UK Subs - DF 118 2:04
Charlie Harper gets four tracks here(!), including this track from Occupied
16 Broken Bones - Secret Agent 2:52
Some more metallic UK hardcore here from the album Dem Bones.
17 Action Pact - Suicide Bag 1:54
Female vocals like fellow Uk 82'ers Vice Squad but lacking the strong personality of Bekki Bondage. From Complete Singles Collection.
18 Newtown Neurotics - The Mess 4:14
"Good pop on a bad budget" is how these eighties UK punks accurately described themselves. From Beggars Can Be Choosers
19 Slits, The - New Town (Live) 3:57
All-female reggae-punk, the Slits were (and are) a genre unto themselves. From In The Beginning
20 Only Ones, The - The Beast (Live) 6:09
The Only Ones (more here) never recorded a bad song. From The Big Sleep.



Punks on Drugs CD