Thursday, July 19, 2012

The Rolling Stones Comic (1989)



Despite the great reaction to the Dead Kennedys comic (see HERE), MRML isn't becoming a 'scan blog'. However, thanks to Big Scott we've received an avalanche of rock n' roll comics, including one on The Rolling Stones.




Deep in my classic rock phase (circa 1980), my elder brother and I would argue incessantly (and occasionally homophobically) about the alleged superiority of The Doors or the Rolling Stones. I was The Doors defender, my brother the Stones supporter. While my appreciation for Mr. Mojo Risin' and his doors of perception has fallen over the years, my feeling for the Stones have stayed exactly the same. Good band. I like a lot, if not all, of the hits but I've never owned a proper Rolling Stones album (though I kept a vinyl copy of Exile on Main St. that someone gave me for a few weeks). I don't mean to besmirch the band on their golden anniversary. After all, the band's longevity is mind-boggling, their influence boundless and they always make great copy (e.g. Mick Jagger once claimed his wrinkles were merely 'laugh lines' to which British jazz codger George Melly replied, "nothing's that funny").



In this issue, from Revolutionary Comics, we get the Stones story from the meeting of Mick and Keef till the multimillion dollar Steel Wheels tour (plus three bonus features),  told in simple black and white images with forty-six numbered historical reference points!




Readers:

1) What's your view on the Rolling Stones?
2) Do you wanna see more rock n' roll comics?
The COMMENTS section is now open for business!

Chumbawamba: Farewell to the Crown CD (B-Sides and Rarities)




Speaking of Chumbawamba (more HERE) and their sole HIT, "Tubthumping (see HERE), let us not neglect that single's phenomenal B-side, "Farewell to the Crown". It's a delicious mix of Pistols-ish treason ("Goodbye to the king of nothing really"), British folk-traditionalism (that's the legendary Oysterband backing them up) and the requisite BPMs (and who's really tried that mix before?)





This blatant bootleg, collects up B-sides, re-mixes, rarities and web-site freebies from the band's nineties era. Obviously, not everything here is as essential as "Farewell to the Crown" but it's fascianting portait of the depth of a group 99% of the world will forever consider One Hit Wonders.


(click to enlarge)


So tell me,
What do you think of "Farewell to the Crown"?
What do you make of all these B-Sides, rarities and remixes? 
The COMMENTS section is now open...


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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

V.A. Powerpearls (1979-1982) Volume Ten

(Thanks to David Quinton for being the model
 for MRML's own cover for Volume Ten!)


Very final batch of stellar mod-punk-new-wave power-pop from an L.P. that dates back to 2003* (ah nostalgia for a better nostalgia). Volumes one to nine are <HERE>

In previous comments, Iron gives these dates for the series:
Vol. 1, 2 & 3: (1998)
Vol. 4 & 5: (1999)
Vol. 6 & 7: (2000)
Vol. 8 & 9: (2001)
Vol. 10: (2003)





01. The Pylons - Marvel World
02. The Pop - Wait a Minute
03. Last Words - Every Schoolboy's Dream
04. Tripple Cripple - Baby, I Don't Mind
05. Liquid Stone - Here Comes the Weekend
06. Chuzpe - I Loved the '60s
07. The Reaction - I Can't Resist
08. Sensuuri - Goodnight NYC
09. The Trend - Teenage Crush
10. David Quinton - Make Up Your Mind
11. Bees - Mr. Gaynor
12. The Haskells - Pop Art
13. The Blitz Boys - She Told My Friends
14. Skymning - En ängel
15. The Reactions - Marianne
16. The Limit - My World at Night
17. Manikins - Love at Second
18. Duggie Campbell - Real Nice Girl



















 Speaking of comments a word or two from readers about these nifty offerings would be a darling way to finish off this bounty (After all this only one series....)

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Chumbawamba: Knock Hard...Life is Deaf (1997)



So, level with me, do you hate Tubthumping? (They Might Be Giants HERE)

Lots of people do (see here).

I think it's brilliant, a highlight of Chumbawamba's (more HERE) problematic anarcho-rave era.

That era's albums are is fitful, for sure but the singles from that time ("Ugh Your Ugly Houses", "Timebomb" and "Amnesia") were often excellent.

Now, obviously, I'm not gonna post an album that is both in-print and available in every dollar bin in the Western world but what I have to offer instead is even better. Knock Hard...Life is Deaf is a long out-of-print Japanese-only, limited edition 1997 CD that features acoustic versions of mid-nineties hit(s) as well as some interviews. The acoustic versions offer a unique view on the band's song-writing and a preview of their future





Tracklist
      Interview
1         Introduction     0:22    
2         Background History - Punk & Squatting     2:45    
3         Staying Together For So Long     1:11    
4         First Single (1985) And Scams     3:08    
5         Music, Popculture, Women In Rock 'N' Roll     1:48    
6         Tubthumper     1:43    
7         Kill Your Idols!     1:03    
      Previously Unreleased Versions
8         Tubthumping (Country & Western Version)     3:43    
9         Amnesia (Acoustic Version)     3:03    
10         Mouthful Of Shit (Country & Western Version)     2:58    
11         One By One (Acoustic Version)     3:14    
12         Drip Drip Drip (Country & Western Version)     3:55    
13         The Big Issue (Acoustic Version)     3:42    
14         Stitch That (Country & Western Version)     2:45    


 


So tell me,
What do you think of 'Tubthumping'?
What do you make of Chumba's anarcho-rave era?
Are these acoustic versions better, worse or just different?
The COMMENTS section is now open...


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Sunday, July 15, 2012

Chumbawamba: Revolution EP (with booklet), 1985



Note: Chumbawamba fans are great commenters, therefore this series will continue, if irregularly and irreverently. Also, the series is wildly non-chronological not out of some attempt to adhere to anarchist principles but because the band's discography is utterly bewildering.






Hey, here's the first Chumbawamba (more HERE) single from 1985 (which is not to imply I don't have old demos, if you're so inclined). This single, whose track list won't help you much, feels kinda like a rehearsal for Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records, as a couple of the 'sections' done here are repeated on that classic album. Ultimately, it's a formative document, which, while not foretelling every shift the band would go through, does show a band determined to be attacking on multiple fronts simultaneously.


Tracklist
A         HMV Side, Introduction To History And Where We Stand. Which Side Of The    
B         Fence Side, And Its Application To Everyday Life. The R'n'R Factory Strike.    

Line-Up
    Bass, Vocals – Dunst
    Drums, Guitar – Artmi
    Guitar, Drums – Man Afraid
    Guitar, Vocals – Boffo, Loo
    Keyboards, Voice – Simon
    Vocals – Alice Nutter, Danbert Nobacon

Notes
Recorded at Woodlands Studio.
An ajit-prop rekawrd.
Disc is encased in 8-page booklet (in black & white & red).
Suggested retail price on front sleeve: "one pound + twenty pence".





If you wanna hear some STILL more rare Chumba, please leave a COMMENT, there's a folder full of oddities and absurdities that I'm willing to share, non-chronologically, if you're willing.





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