"(Ronnie) Biggs is a fool, a buffoon....if you're going to worship a train robber, why not the one who got the money?" Johnny Rotten
For decades Die Toten Hosen have ruled the charts of their native Germany by mixing the swagger of glam rock, the aggro of '77 punk and and the sing-along choruses of schlager (a central and Northern European easy listening genre whose name sounds like a portmanteau of schmaltz and lager for good reason). Outside Deutschland, the band, whose name means "The Dead Pants", are best known for the 1991 album Learning English: Lesson 1, in which they covered punk classics by the likes of the Ramones, the Vibrators and MRML favourite Wreckless Eric, each with a guest from the original version. It's an impressive achievement, though no more musically memorable than their albums of schlager songs and Christmas carols done under the pseudonym Die Roten Rosen.
The key to this seemingly backward-looking exercise is in the sole original,"Carnival in Rio". The special guest on this track (and on the two B-sides: the Sex Pistols' '"Everybody is Innocent" and Eddy Grant via the Clash's "Police on My Back") is notorious lowlife and Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs. To say Biggs comes off as like your disheveled, creepy old uncle, is sort of an insult to the disheveled, creepy old uncles of the world.
Fortunately, Biggs is used here as a punk prop (watch singer Campino give up on trying to get Biggs to sing at the 34 second mark) just as he was with the very late period Sex Pistols. While Malcolm McLaren used him to hide the fact that the Sex Pistols were dead, Die Toten Hosen use him, and a shit-load of curses, to disguise their song's surprisingly sweet sentiment. "Carnival in Rio (Punk Was)"is where the band lays their guts on the line. The song is both a tribute to their forefathersand a paean to punk's indomitable spirit of defiant optimism, exemplified by those shouts of, "It'll all be coming back!" at the end. Amen. Punk never dies, fuckers.
Don't leave the house without MRML's New Year's gift stapled onto your iPod (oh that wasn't the verb I needed was it?) Last time we dedicated a post to Die Toten Hosen we said "they have for decades have ruled the charts of their native Germany by mixing the swagger of glam rock, the aggro of '77 punk and and the sing-along choruses of schlager (a central and Northern European easy listening genre whose name sounds like a portmanteau of schmaltz and lager for good reason). Now I'm going to send you sprawling into 2010 with the sound of the Dead Pants (en anglais) curb-stomping Guy Lombardo.
It's a riotous 2:32 that, in tribute to "Auld Lang Syne's" Scottish author, Robbie Burns, has bagpipes alongside the loud guitars. Die Toten Hosen's take on this old folk standard recalls the Sex Pistols derangement of "Friggin' in the Riggin", there's even an exact moment where you can imagine someone shouting "Give it some bollocks" just before the song goes into overdrive. Who cares if the boys add some 'new' verses about "pubs in Inverness" when the song's such a blast?
The rest of this 1999 E.P. is filled out with two fine-sounding Deutsch sing-alongs as well as an unplugged versions of "Auld Lang Syne" and "Little Drummer Boy".
TV Smith (more here), formerly of The Adverts (more HERE) re-recorded some of his best work with German super-punk-stars Die Toten Hosen (his fourth biggest fans). The album, Useless: The Very Best of T.V. Smith
proves his peculiar genius. Specifically, TV proves what a deft
re-interpreter of his own material he really is because he never gets
caught in that old stuff vs. new stuff war that artists and their fans
can get dragged into. To TV, it's all the present:
Musically, Die Toten Hosen's (more here)
backing him up on material spanning much of his career (but, sadly, not
1979-1983) proves how devastatingly consistent and relentlessly
inventive the man is. Lyrically, TV and co. chose songs like "Gather
Your Things and Go" and "My String Will Snap" that portray a world
out-of-sorts, a world unjustly turned upside down. While Smith's never
had truck with religion, he decries the wickedness of the world like a
biblical prophet, just listen to his
voice-of-one-screaming-in-the-wilderness anthem, "Get Ready for the Axe to Drop" for proof. To hear TV and the Dead Pants (as they might be known
in English) work this theme to its most brutal effect, witness
"Expensive Being Poor" one of the most excoriating broadsides ever
written, a sharp paradox wrapped in a tune you could hum yourself to
death with:
Smith's worldview is never clearer than on the album's sole new track,
"Only One Flavour". Here, TV hoists himself up onto the rickety platform
of the post-Communist left and, in a pique and at a peak, decries the
monotony of political discourse in a capitalist society (see how even
that sentence sounds awfully pre-1989). Useless, which
shows off Smith's catalog of stirring songs that mix punk brio with
folk tropes and that joyously hammer away at the the necessity at
looking at our problems through different eyes (though maybe not Gary
Gilmore's), is anything but.
So while the physical version (LP, CD) of Useless is seemingly out-of-print, the MP3 is back at iTunes, but to hear the single go to the COMMENTS section
Regular reader Herr Pauli has broadened my perspective be pointing out that in Germany most punk fans often fall in to two camps, those who follow Die Toten Hosen (more HERE) and those who follow Die Ärzte. Now the name, Die Ärzte ('The Doctors'), was vaguely familiar to me but truthfully, until Herr Pauli got me to Wikipedia them, I was unaware that they've been around as long as DTH and share an affinity for catchy songs, crunchy guitars and crazy antics. This single, "Ist Das Noch Punkrock?" ('Is That Still Punk Rock?'), from their latest album is a funny, poppy and crunchy blast:
For those of you who need to know the lyrics in English (like me!) here they are in both languages:
Ist Das Noch Punkrock?
"Fick dich und deine Schwester" hast du dir tätowiert
No future, das war gestern, seitdem ist viel passiert
Sie heißt Andrea, ihre Haare sind blau
Ihr habt Verkehr und du gibst es zwar nicht zu, aber sie ist deine Traumfrau
Aber ist das noch Punkrock
Wie dein Herz schlägt, wenn sie dich küsst?
Ist das noch Punkrock
Wenn euer Lieblingslied in den Charts ist?
Das hat so den Coolnessfaktor
Von einem Gartentraktor
Ist das noch Punkrock?
Ich glaube nicht
Früher warst du dabei, wenn eine Wanne brannte
Dieses Jahr am ersten Mai besuchst du ihre Tante
Seit es Andrea gibt, kommst du nicht mehr saufen
Ihr geht zu Ikea, um euch für die neue Bude eine Küche zu kaufen
Aber ist das noch Punkrock
Wie dein Herz schlägt, wenn sie dich küsst?
Ist das noch Punkrock
Dass euer Lieblingslied in den Charts ist?
Ich will euch nicht den Spaß verderben
Aber musste Sid dafür sterben?
Ist das noch Punkrock?
Du machst nichts mehr ohne sie
Ihr seid so ein bisschen wie
Tom Cruise und Scientology
Gefährlich, gefährlich
Gut geht das auf Dauer nicht
Du verstehst meine Trauer nicht
Das ist wirklich bedauerlich
Ganz ehrlich, denn
Ist das noch Punkrock
Wie dein Herz schlägt, wenn sie dich küsst?
Ist das noch Punkrock
Wenn euer Lieblingslied in den Charts ist?
Ihr solltet euch immer fragen
Was würde Stiv Bators sagen?
Ist das noch Punkrock?
Ich glaube nicht
Is That Still Punk Rock?
"Fuck you and your sister" you got tattooed
No future, that was yesterday. Since then a lot happened
Her name is Andrea, her hair is blue
You two are having intercourse and you surely don't admit it, but she is your dream girl
But is that still punk rock
How your heart beats when she kisses you?
Is that still punk rock
If your guys's favorite song is in the charts?
That has the coolness factor
Of a garden tractor
Is that still punk rock?
I don't think so
Earlier you were involved when a police van burned
This year on Mayday you're visiting her aunt
Since Andrea has been there, you don't come drinking anymore
You two go to Ikea to buy a new kitchen for the new room
Is that still punk rock
How your heart beats when she kisses you?
Is that still punk rock
If your guys's favorite song is in the charts?
I don't want to spoil your fun
But did Sid have to die for this?
Is that still punk rock?
You don't do anything without her anymore
You two are a little like
Tom Cruise and Scientology
dangerous, dangerous
That doesn't go well in the long run
You don't understand my grief
That is really unfortunate
In all honesty, because
Is that still punk rock
How your heart beats when she kisses you?
Is that still punk rock
If your guys's favorite song is in the charts?
You should always ask yourselves
What would Stiv Bators say?
Is that still punk rock?
I don't think so
Readers. what's your take on this battle of the German punks, Die Toten Hosen vs. Die Ärzte? Your thought are welcome in the COMMENTS section!
Year-end lists (Best Singles/E.P.'s HERE, Best Under-Appreciated Albums HERE) can be a bit ludicrous but please suspend your disbelief in the comprehensiveness of this blogger's
listening and enjoy some ripping tunes. And ripping it must be, since we
here at MMRL crave music that, regardless of genre, >> moves >>
Unlike the Best Under-Appreciated Albums and the Best Singles/E.P.'s
lists, neither acclaim nor success are a factor here (though no one
release can be on more than one list) - this time it's
strictly about the songs!
So while I considered only releases not covered on my previous lists, I still chose to rank my choices for song of the year according to their importance. However, this is not meant to be The Most Important Songs of 2012, intriguing idea as that is, but rather my narrow, retro-biased 2012 playlist ranked in order of importance, as I saw it. So I'm not trying to freight my choices with deep significance, only arguing that music is not just an app or an add-on but a force of history.
20. The Haddonfields - When She Left (listen) Slow and steady be damned - the race goes to the swift!
If you play fast enough you can finish a song a three-minute pop song in 1:37!
19. Dot Dash - The Past is Another Country (watch) Lack of recognition is no reason to quit anything!
A buncha guys who've been knocking around the musical underground for thirty years have formed a rocking alliance, which spits out both moodier pieces and fiercer ones like "The Past is Another Country".
18. Green Day - Let Yourself Go (watch) Sometimes amidst the refuse, there's something redeeming.
Three
albums in a row? For fuck's sake, grow up Green Day ("Fuck you, Tom Selleck!"). Were there enough songs as propulsive and catchy as "Let Yourself Go" to create one strong album? Probably, but even I, a devout fan, couldn't make it past Dos!
17. Air Traffic Controller - Hurry, Hurry (watch) The past is another country but the border is undefended.
Indie-pop
band Air Traffic Controller get accused of ripping off They Might Be
Giants and Talking Heads a lot but band leader and real-life US Navy
ATC, Dave Munro has already developed his own distinct voice.
16. Bob Dylan - Dusquene Whistle (watch) As their age advances some musicians becomes more like magicians.
Okay, Tempest got more than its share of praise but in "Dusquene Whistle" Dylan has pulled out of his hat a clear, standout single something he hasn't really done since "Things Have Changed".
15. The Big Pink - Oh Superman (watch) Sometimes the memory of a thing is better than the thing itself.
A British synth & guitar duo on 4AD (hello, mid-80's!) pays tribute to Laurie Anderson's "O Superman".
14. Bob Mould - The Descent (watch) Every generation anoints an avatar of their angst.
Sure, sure we can all admire Contended Disco Bob but it's Angry Distorted Bob, on display on "The Descent", that we need.
13. Gaslight Anthem - 45 (watch) Metaphors, even anachronistic ones, still hold their power in this modern age. Hand-Written was a clear let-down - Pearl Jam worship is no basis for a sustainable new direction - but there were still a few of those timeless moments, like "45".
12. Die Toten Hosen - Rock Me Amadeus (watch) Music, like a fist in the face, is an international language.
Due
to their usual commitment to sing in their native tongue Germany's Die
Toten Hosen are superstar's in their homeland and unknown in most of the
rest of the world (who only notice them when they do English-language covers, like "Rock Me Amadeus").
11. Don Williams - Better Than Today (watch) Old dogs are too smart to need new tricks.
We've
lost some of the best country singers in this century - Johnny Cash,
Waylon Jennings, Porter Wagoner - so appreciate country vet Don
Williams' defiant and unsentimental optimism, knowing that he didn't come by it
cheaply.
10. Classics Of Love - Castles in the Sky (watch) You can always go home again, in fact, you may have never really left.
Operation Ivy/Big Rig/Common Rider front-man Jesse Michaels' return to active duty in Classics of Love proves he still has the fire in eyes and in his belly!
9. July Talk - Paper Girl (watch) There are always combinations yet untried.
This Toronto indie-blues-pop band raised a few hackles for their oddjuxtaposition of styles but it sure makes for a striking sound on this single.
8. Titus Andronicus - My Eating Disorder (watch) Discretion is not always a part of valour.
By dropping the grand, historical ambitions of The Monitor and focusing on the smaller and the more personal (hence, Local Business) Titus Andronicus have done some wrenching work of which "My Eating Disorder" is the perfect example.
7. Charlie Peacock - Let the Dog Back in the House (watch) It's never too late to peak
Charlie Peacock, known more these days for producing bands like The Civil Wars then for his own extensive discography, has crafted a career peak in an album that sounds like what would have happened if T-Bone Burnett had produced Graceland. "Let the Dog Back in the House is his duet with the Ghana-born, Nashville-based singer Ruby Amanfu and it shows off how three-dimensional his production work can be!
6. Tim Barry - 40 Miler (watch) One man, one guitar and locomotion are eternal values.
Itinerant
folk-punk Tim Barry can't stand "songs about writing songs, albums
over minutes forty long and broke-up bands on their third reunion tour"
but he's happy as hell to tell you that "music should sound like escape
not rent."
5. First Aid Kit - Emmylou (watch) History has hooks.
What do a pair of young Scandanavian women know about country music? Listen and learn...
4. Cloud Nothings - Stay Useless (watch) Great music still yearns for something, even if it's something not clearly understood. Attack on Memory
deservedly made a slew of Best-Of lists, even though to me nothing on
the album was as trans-fucking-cendant as this paean to empty moments.
3. Redd Kross - Stay Away from Downtown (watch) Youth will be served, at least by the time they hit middle age.
How did a band who've been recording since they were teens put out their greatest song (and surely their best album) thirty years into their career?!?
Better to be loved after you're dead, then never loved at all.
With
three out of four of the original Ramones dead, the world had to take
notice of Ya Know, a posthumous musical scrapbook, with some amazing songs like "What Did I Do to Deserve You?", curated by Joey Ramone's brother,
Mickey Leigh.
1. Bruce Springsteen - We Take Care of Our Own (watch) Music is a tie that binds.
When Obama finished his victory speech, "We Take Care of Our Own" came on over the loudspeakers and you knew that Springsteen, who campaigned for McGovern in '72, railed against Reagen in '80 and stumped for for both Kerry and Obama had done his most important political act by creating this fiery statement of purpose.
DON'T LET SILENCE OFFER THE FINAL WORD - LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
Please consider leaving a COMMENT: A) TELL US IF WE MAYBE GOT YOU TO LISTEN TO SOMETHING NEW! B) TELL US WHICH GREAT SONGS YOU HEARD THIS YEAR!!
Die Toten Hosen (more HERE) followed their 1991 punk covers album, Learning English Lesson One, with an all-English album of originals called, Love, Peace & Moneyin 1994. That album (which I bought in the dollar bin at Extreme Noise in Minneapolis in '95), seemed a bit grunge-damaged at the time but now sounds like a fun rock-punk mix with Wagnerian production.
This EP, donated to us by Bristolboy from the fantastic My Life's a Jigsaw (as a response to this gift from our reader, Roberto - don't you just love the cycle of giving!) comes from that album. Both album tracks, "Love Song" and "My Land" are cynical and utterly catchy and well worth your time. It seems lesson two of the band's plan to learn English was to form an alliance with The Boys, whose members Honest John Plain and Matt Dangerfield get writing credits on every song on Love, Peace & Money, including the two aforementioned anthems. One of those Boys, John Plain also get a co-writing credit on the terrace-echoing football song, "Long Way From Liverpool" and (I believe) he and Dangerfield pitch in on a foul-mouthed-but-still-kinda-clever cover of "Guantanamera" that would've sent Pete Seeger into an axe-wielding frenzy! Plus you get the band running through "Whole Wide World" with it's writer, Wreckelss Eric (more HERE) on lead vocals.
Track listing
"Lovesong" (Breitkopf/Frege, Plain) − 3:41 (English version of "Liebeslied")
"My Land" (Breitkopf/Frege, Dangerfield) − 3:55 ("Willkommen in Deutschland")
"Whole Wide World" (Wreckless Eric) − 3:19 (Wreckless Eric cover)
"Long Way from Liverpool" (Breitkopf, John Plain/Frege) - 3:01
"Guantanamera" (Joséito Fernandez) - 3:20
German punk-stars, Die Toten Hosen (more HERE) - and massive TV Smith fans (see HERE) - recently unleashed a new album called Ballast Der Republik. The album has all the expected massed guitars and soaring choruses that make you want to shout-along to whatever the fuck they're saying.
As the bonus disk, the band recorded a set of amped-up covers of influential German artists. I'll confess to my own ignorance and say I only recognize Kraftwerk's "The Model" and eighties synth-pop staple, "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco:
Let us know what you make of DTH giving Amadeus a roughing up in the COMMENTS section.
WrecklessEric did it. By it, I mean have a hit, twenty years after the fact, with one of those neglected classics of the late seventies I prattle on so much about. “Whole Wide World” is a magisterial song, one that demolishes the distinctions between the bottom of the gutter and the top of the pop charts. And now, everyone from Will Ferrell to the Proclaimers to Napoleon Dynamite has contributed to the song’s 21st century ubiquity.
I could go on but this is not the place to dote on that which already suffers from lavish praise (but do go here to hear the 2006 World Cup version and others by the Monkees(!) and Die Toten Hosen). Let us rather consider the messier parts of Eric the Wreckless’ saga. After making an almost commercial album that he loathed like a self-inflicted wound, Eric was dropped by Stiff Records. This conflict was detailed in “A Pop Song” which was, ironically, a damn fine piece of song-writing.
Next, like Neil Young before him, Eric went from the middle of the road straight to the ditch. Like Neil, Eric’s raw voice and penchant for noise can make for difficult listening but there’s a rough beauty in much of it. Case in point, in 1985 Eric released A Roomful of Monkeys by his band the Captains of Industry, offering not some Randist fantasy of capitalist might but rather a bleak indictment of the mess that was Thatcher's England. It’s somber melodicism was a deliberate break with his old jolly, “I’m a Mess” personae - it’s a bit like a record Joe Strummer could’ve have made in 1985. In fact, Eric at this time was managed by former Clash road manager Johnny Green who’d brought former Clash deputies Norman Watt-Roy and Mickey Gallagher in to record the album. (Side note, Eric later recorded “The Crooked Beat", Clash bassist Paul Simonon’s contribution to Sandinista for the odd tribute album, The Sandanista Project. Wreckless Eric - Crooked Beat
The album, his last before an alcohol-fueled nervous breakdown, is a bit subdued but grows in power with repeated and careful, listening, of particular note is the more traditionally Wreckless song, "Reputation (A Serious Case of)". .
Hailing from Nuremberg, Germany, Oxymoron kept Oi! kicking in the nineties, alongside a trans-global army of bald n 'spiky bands. Oxymoron- Sucker (vocals), Bjoern (drums), Martin (guitar) and Filzlaus (bass) - employed the fist-in-the-face musical attack of Oi! but wrote lager-swaying, sing-alongs brimming with twists and turns, like a raw version of fellow countrymen Die Toten Hosen. "Bondage" makes non-gratuitous use of ska guitar figures to keep the pace furious and the almost four minute long (that's prog-rock by Oi! standards), "Beware Poisonous" uses gang vocal arrangements that are almost ...gulp...sophisticated.
For more great nineties Oi! (a.k.a. Street-punk, UK '82 and Fuck-core*) go to Frequency 7 where Ollie Stench has posted his fist-pumpin' band, the Subversives.
* Okay, I made that one up.
MRML commenters: Can anyone suggest any good Oi! bands from this century? (the title of a strong single would also be welcomed - this genre works best in short, sharp doses.)
An amazing BBC hour-long documentary on The Adverts and TV Smith, marred only by sprinting through the 90's/00's at the expense of so much great music (how could they leave out the TV/Die Toten Hosen alliance all togther?)
This is a loving bootleg that collects up the scraps from all over Joey Ramone's career. While you may not want to continuously re-listen to every one of the 24 tracks, it is amazing how many are pretty damn good like this collaboration with Debbie Harry that showed up as a B-side of one of her less-than-successful solo singles:
WARNING: The original compilers, in their zeal to show Joey's range, included a few officially released Ramones tracks. While I can't see the harm, these tracks inclusion does go against our mission of offering the unoffered. So, with no apology, we've made a few substituttions of other rare tracks or live versions to underscore our primary point - BUY THE DAMN ALBUMS!
1. Joey, Dee Dee Ramone and The Dictators - Danny Says (3:09)
2. Joey Ramone and Deborah Harry - Standing In My Way (4:23)
3. Joey Ramone and Nomads - The King Of The Night Train (3:39)
4. Joey Ramone and Dee Dee Ramone - I Am Seeing UFO's (4:04)
5. Joey Ramone and Mickey Leigh - See My Way (4:13)
6. Joey Ramone and The B-52's* - Chop Suey ('Get Crazy' version) (3:38)
7. Joey Ramone and Holly Beth Vincent - I Got You Babe (3:34)
8. Joey Ramone and 22 Jacks - I'll Be With You Tonight (4:25)
9. Joey Ramone and Helen Love - Punk Boy (2:27)
10. Joey Ramone and General Johnson - Rockaway Beach (3:30)
11. Joey Ramone and Richie Ramone - Chasing the Night (Demo) (4:28)
12. Joey Ramone and Furious George - Gilligan (3:01)
13. Joey Ramone and Die Toten Hosen - Blitzkrieg Bop (1:50)
14. Joey Ramone and Mickey Leigh - Don't Be So Stranger (2:27)
15. Joey Ramone and 22 Jacks- 1969 (Live) (3:39)
16. Joey Ramone and Pearl Jam - Sonic Reducer (Live) (3:56)
17. Joey Ramone and The Seclusions - Shape of Things To Come (3:08)
18. Joey Ramone - I Couldn't Sleep At All (2:31)
19. Joey Ramone and Ronnie Spector - Bye Bye Baby (4:10)
20. Joey Ramone - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (3:26)
21. Joey Ramone and Mickey Leigh - On The Beach (3:01)
22. Joey Ramone and The Independents - Garden Of Serenity (2:08)
23. Joey Ramone and the Resistance - Bring it on Home To Me (4:40)
24. Joey, Dee Dee Ramone and The Dictators - The Kids Are Alright (Live) (3:10)
* Specifically Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson plus Deborah Harry. Also, this is a different version than the one on the re-issue of Pleasant Dreams.
"If you can't understand the lyrics - don't worry you're not alone."
Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer died six years ago. I'm still angry.
Joe promised not to repeat the old mistakes. He promised rock n’ roll swagger and principal. But things went wrong. When that error occurred is a subject for Deep Clash Theoreticians but that he fell hard is incontestable.
The Clash got the Six Years of Greatness like Dylan had in ’62 to’68. Yet, after that, unlike the brilliant peaks and wretched valleys of Dylan’s innumerable second acts Joe produced only that Crap album, a handful of humble solo outings and some marginal soundtrack work.
“Joe Strummer put more into a couplet than most guys put into an album.” Don Letts
The strength of the Clash’s work is that Strummer-Jones dynamic – their voices shoring up each other’s weaknesses, their contradictory public images and the way they embodied the split between music and lyrics.
In The Future is Unwritten Joe says that, unlike Mick who understood the music, he just wanted to get out some great words. He did. And in the end , no matter what, he left behind a fearsome body of work.
“Joe Strummer would choke on your verbosity and bellicose verbiage.” Catch22Rye (in my comments)
Those words, Strummer’s densely packed lyrics, meant everything to me. During one of those particularly miserable years of junior high school, I, rather sadly, befriended a cassette tape of London Calling. That tape remained stuck in my Walkman while I tried decrypting Strummer’s garbled argot all on my lonesome. As I translated snippets, I wrote out page after page of them in my Social Studies binder. Joe Strummer did not save my life but he gave me focus when it turned to shit.
“Raise a toast to St. Joe Strummer. I think he might've been our only decent teacher."The Hold Steady
Joe taught me that anger could be power. That knowledge helped me break break old patterns of passivity. It helps me still, after all my anger with Joe's untimely demise spawned these words. However, I've come to learn that anger can also become a weakness and that there are times when truces and forgiveness bypass power altogether.
“So you think we lost the battle? Then go home and weep about it. Sometimes you’ve got wake up in the morning and think, Fuck it, you’re going to win the battle.” Joe Strummer
Strummer not only inspired thousands to re-think anger and power he also got them to plug in their guitars and pen lyrics about him. I can’t find any songs about Mick, Paul or Topper (and definitely none about Terry) but lots on Mr. Strummer. So here they are collected in one place.
Songs about Strumming: Twenty Songs about Joe
(All songs , in order, are in the DivShare player below - click and enjoy)
The HeadlinesWith No One To Follow (A thrilling chorus drives home a song that celebrates Yoe Strummer in the best Swedish pop-punk style.)
The Hold SteadyConstructive Summer (While the sing-speak vocals can grate the Hold Steady are never boring musically or lyrically, as this song ably demonstrates.)
Azra The Strummer (“Sell everything except your strummer.” Amen)
The Radiators From Space Joe Strummer. (A rocking little narrative from this pre- and post-Pogues punk band.)
Perry Keyes Joe Strummer (Keyes is an excellent Australian songwriter mining that seam between Strummer and Springsteen, which turned out to be richer than anyone imagined.)
The Nu NilesStrummer’s Swing(Joe would’ve loved these spaghetti instrumentalists from Barcelona.)
The Sting-RaysJoe Strummer’s Wallet (This 80’s British Psychobilly band name-checks Joe and quotes Eve of Destruction.)
Stiff Little Fingers Strumerville (A newer track from this late 70’s Irish punk band – a bit earnest but such is the curse of Strummer fandom.)
Suciedad Discriminada En el nombre del punk rock (Joe Strummer, Joey Ramone) (Strummer was a citizen of the world - “An atlas” in Bono’s words - so it’s no surprise to hear this band from Mexico, where Joe lived as a child, salute him.)
The Alarm Three Sevens Clash (Mike Peters and co. took a lot of undeserved guff in the 80's for being a sloppy mixture of the Clash and Bob Dylan with worse hair but damn, as he proves here, Mike is still kicking.)
The Beatsteaks Hello Joe (German punk band quotes London Calling riff to say hello and goodbye to Joe.)
Billy Childish Joe Strummer’s Grave (Thirty years on and Childish,still all full of piss, vinegar and the early Kinks, gives us a screed against modern Britain that is venomous and fun.)
The Gaslight Anthem I’da Called You Woody Joe (The very definition of the aforementioned Strum-Steen amalgamation and fucking good at it.)
Die Toten Hosen Goodbye Garageland (The Dead Pants, Germany’s most legendary punk band, say sayonara to Joe with yet another fist-pumping lager-swaying sing-a-long.)
Billy Bragg Old Clash Fan Fight Song (Let Billy, often called a “one-man Clash” in his better days, tell you all about Joe Strummer - good luck stopping him once he starts yammering.)
Cowboy Mouth Joe Strummer (Overall, this New Orleans band seem like real Rock the Casbah fans but this track has some wit and a few fine (likely pro-tooled) vocal parts.
Cock Sparrer Where Are They Now? (Early 80’s English oi band wrote some of the best songs in that genre including this call-out to Joe - and Tony Parsons and Julie Burchil - as they warn us “I believed in them – don’t you believe in us.”
The Vacancies Strummer Hair-raising screams in the verses and a mournful, biting hook combine to “tell you a story about Joe Strummer.”
The Pernice Brothers High as a Kite (Wikipedia says the lyrics include the line "We wore pictures of Strummer" but you'll need to listen closely as this is even quieter than usual for Joe (Pernice, that is). Give his solo album, Big Tobacco a listen, if you're ready for a nasty downer.
20. The Department of Correction A Message From Joe Strummer We end as we begun, in Sweden, this time with an instrumental track provided for some of Joe's final words.
If you'd like to have this collection of songs all together you may (for evaluation purposes only - to be wiped from your computer in 48 hours etc. etc.) here , for a limited time, is the entire folder.
“One of the reasons that (the Clash) still rings true is that Joe spoke the truth.” Mick Jones
MRML is a blog about the devestating effects of culture: music, politics, comics plus etc. blah blah blah. At times MRML will post fine, unpurchasable three-chord obscurica (punk, pop-punk, new wave, mod, power-pop, gospel, reggae, hardcore, rockabilly, folk, country...whatever.) - - - - - - "The otherwise unavailable files in this blog are posted for a limited time and are intended for educational, non-commercial use. These files were transcribed from what are believed to be out-of-print sources. If you are aware of any of these items being readily available from commercial sources, or if any of these files infringe upon rights that you hold, please notify us so that we can quickly remove the referenced items immediately." - - - SUPPORT THE ARTISTS - BUY MUSIC!
If you have any questions or music to donate you can contact me at musicruinedmylife (at) gmail (dot) com
Re: Re-Ups
MRML does not plan to restore all of the content lost in The Great Mediafire Gutting of 2012. Polite requests may be made in the appropriate section, regular commenters will get priority.
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