BROADCAST #48
AIR DATE: 11-27-07


Fanatics! We are back live and it’s great to be here with you. Tonight’s show is a monster. Some old, some new, all great! At my company, we are in the middle of mail order madness and it’s all hands on deck. I will be working on next week’s show when I get off work here. I am usually a week ahead broadcast-wise so I can make adjustments but not this time. So, expect next week to be full of very cool new releases, remasters and music I am very unfamiliar with as I just picked up on it. That should keep us all awake! Ok, Fanatics, I am going to let the music do the talking. I hope you enjoyed the show tonight and please tune in next week if at all possible and until then,
STAY FANATIC!!! -- Henry

Shameless Plug Dept.: In a few days, December 1st to be exact, there will be another clip on http://www.henryrollins.com/. Also, Fanatic! Vol. 2 is available on the website (and for only $10), 470 pages of way too much information about way too little. For those of you who don’t know what this book is, it’s all the broadcast notes from last year along with a ton of graphics made from flyers, ads, newspaper clippings, etc. It took me many hours to put this thing together, I hope you get something out of it.

Henry e-mail address: Henryontheradio@aol.com

For you Fanatics who can’t live without hearing this show again or if the original broadcast time is too hard on your sleep cycle here’s the re-broadcast schedule: USA: Fridays: 0200 – 0400 hrs. PST / UK: Fridays: 1000 hrs. – 1200 hrs. / Continental Europe: Fridays 1100 hrs. – 1300 hrs. / Australia: Fridays 2100 hrs. – 2300 hrs.

Salah Ragab - Ramadan In Space Time: From the Salah Ragab And The Cairo Jazz Band Present Egyptian Jazz – Ramadan In Space Time album. I first heard Mr. Ragab when I checked out a Sun Ra album he was on called Sun Ra Arkestra Meets Salah Ragab in Egypt. I read a review of this album online so when I was in Chicago recently, I picked it up and it’s really great. I found a little background on the man and he had been playing out in Egypt since the late sixties while also putting in time as the leader of the Military Music Departments there. I have no idea what all that entails but I am glad he got a chance to do his own thing. I have always found interesting listening when someone takes a form, like Jazz and has only limited access to records and whatever else that might influence the sound. Quite often, the sheer remoteness of a location allows for a lot of creativity to happen, which is the case here. This is a album and it’s been released on vinyl and CD.

Deadboy & The Elephantmen - Grave Beyond Windows: From the If This is Hell I'm Lucky album. This is the album that came before We Are Night Sky. This is the one I was having trouble finding. I was in a record store in St. Louis a few weeks ago and found it. I also found Dax’s earlier band Acidbath. I got those records as well but have not played them yet. I will get those listened to this week and bring in something next week for us to check out. About this Deadboy album, it’s a lot more rock than We Are. I like it but I like where he’s going with his music more than where he was, that is to say, I think the man is progressing in a great way and I am looking forward to the next installment.

Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band – Bill’s Corpse: From the classic Trout Mask Replica album. I usually stay away from this Beefheart album for use on our show. It’s not that it’s not a great piece of work, I just reckon it might be the one that everyone has heard and I am always trying to bring something else to our short time we spend together every week. So, it occurred to me that we have not visited this one in awhile and I have had this album for so long, it’s a familiar friend and listening to it the other night backstage somewhere, I thought that it was time to haul a song off it and lay it on you. I think all the Beefheart albums are worth having or at least worth checking out. He’s like Ellington or Sun Ra, he’s completely unique and since we have ears . . . you know the rest.

The Harlem Hamfats - Weed Smoker's Dream: From the Harlem Hamfats Vol. 1 CD on Document. I was in Chico CA the other day and saw this CD in a record store. I have rarely had anything less than a good experience with the Document label and when I saw this was on sale, I couldn’t say no. From what I’ve read, the band is not from Harlem but from Chicago. Hamfat Joe McCoy wrote this song and later re-wrote it as Why Don’t You Do Right, which was recorded by all kinds of folks but this is the original with all those good drug references that you love so much. Sure.

John Wiese - Casual Psychedelic: This totally fucked 20 second assault on your sanity is torn from the Soft Punk album. I only know this man from his work with Metalux and Wolf Eyes but I am willing to check out things I have never heard before so I got his album. The depth and dimension of the noise on this record is remarkable. It is truly amazing. It’s more than just noise, it’s a very deep and powerful thing. One of the things I was hoping to understand by getting this record was what exactly he brings to the table when he collaborates with other groups. I don’t know if I got my answer all that clearly as it seems that he just might dominate the collaborations, judging by the sheer weight of the recordings found on this album. I don’t know how much this album will mean to you Fanatics but I think it’s great, although I don’t know how often I could play it. It’s extremely dense. Just like your mamma!

The Fall - Last Commands Of Xyralothep Via MES: I pulled this version from the 1976 – 2007 Fall Box Set. We all know that this song is originally found on The Real New Fall Album. The version on the box set sounds better, so that’s the one I went with. I am still trying to make time to get all of this box listened to. Perhaps by the time this show airs, I will have heard it all but so far, as I said before, it’s not a fraction of what it could have been. Here’s a site for some Fall info: http://www.visi.com/fall/

Noah Howard - Queen Anne: From the Black Arc album. This has been out of print for a very long time and much to the relief of those who didn’t want to pay hundreds of dollars for the original vinyl, the album has been reissued for all to hear. Noah Howard bailed on America and has spent a good part of his life in Europe. I think he lives in Belgium now. I got to him by listening to a Frank Wright album called Church Number Nine and went into his solo stuff from there. If you like Wright, Ayler and other out players, you will want to check out Black Arc immediately.

The Galloping Coroners - Hello Universe!: From the Jumping Out The World album. I used to do a lot of shows with this band. They are from Hungary. They were almost always our opening band in Budapest and they were amazing every time. It was like Sun Ra meets Punk Rock, or as they call it, Shamanpunk. There were many members onstage, playing all kinds of instruments. The singer and band leader, Attila is one of the most charismatic frontmen I have ever seen. Their manager was our agent in Europe for a long time so we did a lot of shows with them all over the place and it was always memorable. It was always best seeing in them in their hometown when they would bring out all the extra people onstage and the lights and stuff, on the road, it was a bit more stripped down. I remember one night we played in Holland together, 08-25-90 in Utrecht, that might have been the best show I have ever seen of theirs though. They were on fire. This is the only album I have of theirs and bravo to Jello for putting this out.

Steward - The Last Wasps Of Summer (Remixed By Downpour): I got this from the Chihuahuas & Chinese Noodles comp. CD but it can also be found on the CD version of the Steward album Goodbye To Everything You Love. It was also the b-side of a single with the regular mix on the A-side. I have not heard any other stuff by Stewart Anderson also known as Steward nor have I heard anything by his band Boyracer but I ordered some stuff of theirs and will be checking it out when I get it as this track made me curious.

Mark Stewart – Survival (edit): From Mark Stewart album. I first heard this album at Jessamy Calkin’s flat in London. She’s the one who did all the photographs on the cover of the first Nick Cave album. It was November of 1987. I was finishing a band tour and starting a talking tour and had nowhere to live so she put me up. One night, Howard Devoto was hanging out there, that was great for me. Jessamy always had great taste in music. I have not seen her in a long time. I remembered this album although it took me a long time to get a copy. It took me a long time to catch up to Mark Stewart and his band The Pop Group. I had heard some of the music here and there but only got into the albums a few years ago. I have never heard one track of his that is not totally intense.

Holland - Suburb On The Euphrates: From The Paris Hilton Mujahideen CD on Teenbeat. Holland is Trevor Kampmann who has released a lot of records and produced a lot as well. Hell, he produced Flin Flon, so we like him very much already. I believe this is the first time we have ever played one of his songs. You want more information? I bet you do. Here’s the Teenbeat site address: http://www.teenbeatrecords.com/.

Georgie James - You Can Have It: From Places, the new Georgie James album. It’s John Davis from the now gone Q And Not U and solo musician Laura Burhenn. They’ve been working together for a couple of years now and this is their first full album. I think it’s great. We have been playing Georgie James and Christopher Richards’ new outfit Ris Paul Ric, he’s the other guy from Q And Not U who is out there making some noise. Good stuff. Here’s a site for Georgie James: http://www.georgiejames.com/.

Hawnay Troof – Gloria: From my very handy Dollar And Deed clean for radio CD. Vice Cooler cusses up a storm on this album and it’s good to have a version of it where Engineer X doesn’t have to sweat the details, waiting for the next f-bomb to drop. I guess Mr. Cooler is giving more of his time to XBXRX now, who by the way, have a new album out. I just got it and will bring in a track next week as we can’t leave that out, that would just not do. We are at the point in this show were so many of these people and bands are frequent or semi-frequent visitors, I hope that you’re not becoming bored of that. There are some people and bands that I think are so inspiring and doing the right thing, that I can’t help but play them often. This band and Vice Cooler’s other outfit, XBXRX are exactly what I’m talking about when I say over and over that music is doing just fine.

Pere Ubu - Dream The Moon: From The Tenement Year album, recently remastered and expanded. This record was released in 1988 and is one of the more approachable Pere Ubu albums. All their albums for Fontana and the one on Imago were not exactly commercial or trying to be but were not as out there are some of the ones that came before. In my opinion, all Pere Ubu albums need a home in your home but that’s me. All the remastered Pere Ubu albums have extra tracks and sound really great. Also, they are one of the great live bands of all time. The band’s leader David Thomas is in a class of his own and his solo records are great as well. He and Ubu were originators of music that broke away from FM and all the regular restraints that were around in the 70’s. You really have to appreciate people and bands that could actually think differently and buck convention. Another band from Ohio, DEVO are in the same vein, different, brilliant.

Meat Puppets - Up On The Sun: From the Up On The Sun album. Engineer X and I went to see The Meat Puppets several weeks ago and I am so glad I went. I had not seen them play in years, in fact, there were people at the show I had not seen in years. It was a night for the old folks to get out and boogie. I can’t believe I just wrote that. The band played a lot of songs I knew and I found myself remembering almost every word even though it had been so many years since I had heard them. I did a lot of shows with them back in the 1980’s when they were on SST. I saw them play some amazing shows. I never held onto the albums, I don’t know why, perhaps hearing the songs over and over night after night I never thought to grab copies of the albums for myself. I went to the record store after the show a few nights later and got the ones I was familiar with and listening to them again has been a very good experience. The first three albums are the ones I am the most familiar with. It was so great to hear Chris and Curt Kirkwood play again. I hope they swing through town again soon. I thought it would be difficult to see them play again as so many of the Black Flag era associations I have are not good and nothing I ever want to return to. That is perhaps why I didn’t have their albums here. It’s good to hear them again.

The Rondelles - Rediscover Fire: From The Fox album. I got this record because it was released by Teenbeat. I am always curious about any record this label releases. I have confidence in their good taste and I also know they don’t have the budget to release something they are not really excited about. I checked out the album and really liked it and got the rest of their albums I could find and liked them as well and that’s why we have had some of their songs on our show over the last several weeks. I have another one of their songs ready to go for our last covers broadcast of this year so get ready for that. I always have time for smart women making cool music so I am liking this band very much, thanks to Teenbeat for putting them in front of me.

Saccharine Trust - Success And Failure: From the great Paganicons EP on SST. This record is to me, one of the times when Spot’s recording technique found the right band. This recording, along with the early Black Flag and Minutemen recordings are Spot’s best work as a producer. I saw Saccharine play a lot of times and there wasn’t one time when they were not great to amazing. It’s good to see that Jack Brewer and Joe Baiza are still at it as I think they still have a lot of give. I really wish SST would have released ST’s album Surviving You Always on CD. It’s out of print and you can’t hear it now. I don’t understand how the SST label works. If you can, seek out the Paganicons record, it’s out of print but you see it now and then, it’s fantastic. All that early SST stuff is worth checking out. That was a great label.

The Eyes – Disneyland: From the Dangerhouse Vol. 1 CD. I first heard The Eyes when I got their single on Dangerhouse with Take A Quaalude Now and Topological Lies on it. Interesting line-up on this record. You have David Brown and Joe Ramirez and Joe Nanini, who all played with Black Randy. It’s worthwhile checking out the two Dangerhouse comp. CDs. All the music is great and you might have some trouble finding the vinyl at this point. It was one of the top shelf Punk Rock Labels and they documented some of the greatest bands of the early LA scene.

The Ruts – Blackman’s Pinch (Underhill Studio Sessions): From the In A Can release. I really don’t know much about all these semi-legit Ruts releases that have come out over the years. I asked Segs, the bass player about them and he seemed fairly mystified by them as well. I have never really been able to get to the bottom of who has the rights or thinks they the rights to these versions of the songs and I hope that in 2008, Segs and Ruffy take control of this catalog and put it right. There are, as evidenced here, some interesting demos to be heard. I didn’t play the regular version of this song for the entire time I was on the road for some reason but when I walked in the door of the house, it’s the first song I wanted to hear. It’s one of my favorite Ruts songs. I thought I would bring in this alternate version, seeing that I have pummeled you poor Fanatics with a ton of Ruts and having played the regular version of this song already, I thought this would be a way to keep things interesting. The Ruts are one of those bands I never get tired of listening to, even though there’s not all that many songs to hear. Since Ruts guitarist Paul Fox died weeks ago, I have been tripping on the band and my experience with them all over again. Segs and I have been exchanging letters. It’s an interesting thing, right when I am about to write him, he sends me a letter.

The Instant Automatons - People Laugh At Me: From the Another Wasted Sunday Afternoon CD. Mark Lancaster aka Mark Automaton and Martin Neish aka Protag were The Instant Automatons. From 1977 to 1982, this UK band made a ton of very cool lo-fi recordings and did everything seemingly possible to avoid to traps that ensnared even the most well meaning musicians by giving away their music for free. They had a label called Deleted Records and to get their music, all one had to do was send a blank cassette and postage. Their theory was that if they ever entertained the idea of profit, the music would suffer for it. There are two ways to get to their music. There is one commercially available CD which is where we sourced tonight’s track and you can also go to their website: http://www.instant-automatons.com/recordings.asp and download 4 CDs of their material for free. Not so bad, right? Check out the Dusted review of the Not So Deep As A Well CD superbly written by Wilson Neate to get a ton of information on the band but don’t forget to get all that music for free.

Tom Waits – November: From The Black Rider soundtrack CD. This fits the mood of November perfectly. November has always been the brooding and cold month that prepares the earthling for the plunge into winter and this song nails it perfectly. This record is one of the more interesting if under mentioned part of the Waits catalog and worth checking out.

Tom Verlaine – Glory (Live Washington DC 11-11-81): Guy Picciotto gave me this show on CDR a while ago. Sounds great! Cool to hear Verlaine as a solo artist doing a Television song. Glory can be found be found on Television’s 2nd album called Adventure. This album and it’s predecessor, Marquee Moon are both fantastic albums and have been re-issued with extra tracks. I have a lot of Verlaine’s solo stuff but not all of it. His recent solo efforts, Around and Songs And Other Things, are really great. If he ever comes to your town to play, get your ticket as soon as you can. The man can play some guitar.

The Mae-Shi - Summer In Gomorrah: From the To Hit Armor Class Zero album. I just got this album recently and have not had the chance to play it as much as the others. It was Engineer X who turned me onto this band, no surprise there. I think he lent me the Terrorbird CD and after playing it once, I was a fan. I just went to their site and ordered up two CDRs of stuff. It’s been a few weeks and so far, nothing has shown up. I better write a letter and see what’s up with that. I really like bands like this who are taking music and just ripping it to shreds, it’s about time.