BROADCAST #49
AIR DATE: 12-04-07


Here we go Fanatics, the notes for tonight’s show. I hope you liked what we brung to the dance. I played the songs over the weekend and I think it’s a good batch. I worked at the office all week and then on Saturday started work on a film called Ice 44 that I have about 8 days of work in. Everyone on the set was very cool and it’s shooting here in town so it’s no problem to get to. I am happy to get the first day of shooting under my belt, it lessens the anticipation level a great deal which allows me to get the work done more efficiently. I hope you liked the Red Cross tune, I have wanted to get that one on the show for some time. Next week will be another amazing two hours of FM radio triumph so please try and tune in and whatever you do, STAY FANATIC!!! —Henry

Cool Local Event Alert: For you all living in the Los Angeles area, Shepard Fairey has a bunch of really amazing work up at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery at 170 South La Brea. It’s basically La Brea and 2nd . http://www.mkgallery.com/ I went to check it out the other night and it was fantastic and worth it. If you’re in town and have the time, it’s worth it. Here’s the write up:

IMPERFECT UNION
Presented by Merry Karnowsky Gallery
Imperfect Union, the largest Los Angeles solo exhibit of new works by Shepard Fairey. This show displays a provocative collection of politically charged paintings, screen prints, stencils, album covers and mixed media pieces rich with metaphor, humor and seductive decorative elements. Imperfect Union is derived from the first line of the U.S. Constitution “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union”. For Shepard Fairey, critiquing the imperfect union, far from disparaging the United States, is a patriotic step toward shaping a more perfect union.

The exhibition is comprised of artworks which scrutinize the dynamics of the imperfect union such as the unholy union of government and big business and the dichotomy of symbols and methods associated with ideologies of the American Dream. Fairey’s artwork comments on underpinnings of the capitalist machine and monolithic institutional authority critiquing those who support blind nationalism and war. Conversely, Fairey recognizes that most individuals would rather suffer than stand up for their beliefs as illuminatingly expressed in the Declaration of Independence with the statement "all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." Fairey celebrates the role of counter culture, and independent individuals willing to question the cultural paradigm and advocate peace. Fairey employs the graphic language of the subjects he critiques or celebrates blending Art Nouveau, hippie, currency and revolutionary propaganda styles. His works utilize bold iconography coupled with decorative elements and, upon closer inspection, reveal sophisticated layers of collage. The resulting pieces are both boldly aggressive and seductively subtle.

Exhibition Dates: December 1, 2007 - January 14, 2008
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 1, 8-11pm
Merry Karnowsky Gallery
170 South La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90036
323.933.4408

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 schedul: 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.

Sex Pistols – Bodies: From the classic Never Mind The Bollocks album of course. I have not had this record in my collection for at least 20 years or more. I was at the record store the other night and it occurred to me that it was time to take care of that. I really missed hearing this song. The album is so solid and holds up so well. I remember years ago, I was in London, trying to find a record I actually wanted to buy, not easy when you’re in a Virgin Megastore, and this album was playing over the in house system and I it hit me how damn good this album is. Right around the time of the Bronze Age, I was going out with a girl and she and her friend were hanging out with me at my mother’s apartment. I put this record on and when this song came on, they both locked themselves in the bathroom until it was over. Two things hit me at that time. The first was that this was what music should be doing to some people and that I had to seek a different kind of girl to spend time with. Sex Pistols in, girlfriend out. Everything got much better after that.

Hawkwind - The Wizard Blew His Horn: From the Warrior On The Edge Of Time album. I don’t think this one is out of print although I see it here and there now and again. It should be easy to find all the time and not 50 bucks on Amazon.com. This is the last Hawkwind album with Lemmy, a great album but sadly lacks the presence of band member DikMik. We have visited this album before. All the albums with Lemmy are great, I think. One should check out the first five Hawkwind albums. Relegating them to “Space Rock” and being done is selling the band short massively because Hawkwind, like all great bands, are unique unto themselves. That’s not to say they were the only ones doing extended jams at the time these records were made but their approach and sound are completely theirs. In Search Of Space and Space Ritual are my two favorite Hawkwind albums.

Sim Sisamouth - Don't Let My Girlfriend Tickle Me: From the Cambodian Cassette Archives: Khmer Folk And Pop Music Vol. 1 CD. I got this CD because it was on the same label, Sublime Frequencies, that I go that great Omar Souleyman CD from so I figured I better explore the label more and so far, it’s been nothing but good. This is the same label from where we sourced that great recording from North Korea recently. There’s a great series called Cambodian Rocks and it’s up to at least four volumes now that we’ll get into that I think you will enjoy. There was some crazy music coming out Cambodia and if it wasn’t for these series, you might not have ever heard it. A lot of this stuff only existed on cassettes so it’s incredible that a lot of this stuff is around at all. A few years ago, I went to Tunisia to check it out and encountered a few record stores. They were, for the most part, all cassettes with a few CDs in a glass case. I am sure they made the tapes on site. I saw basically the same thing in Syria recently but it was mostly CDRs. We will be getting deep in on the Sublime Frequencies label in the months to come so stay tuned fo mo.

Faith – No Choice: From the Subject To Change record. When I left DC to join Black Flag, some of the members of my old band stayed together and formed this one. One of the great Dischord bands I don’t think I ever got to see. One of the riffs I wrote before I left town actually ended up in one of the Faith songs, I thought was pretty cool. Faith was around in an interesting era of the DC music scene, a scene that is always evolving and always interesting to me, hence the major presence of this music on our show. The vinyl version of Subject To Change is not easy to find but it’s available on CD. There were many different colored pressings of this record. I don’t have any exact counts of how many of each color or what order they were released in but I will be getting to the bottom of that one. http://www.dischord.com/band/faith

Red Cross - Burn Out: From the Rodney Vol. 2 LP. The Rodney we are talking about is of course, the one and only Rodney Bingenheimer. It always makes me smile when I see him. I ran into him the other night and it was so great to see him. He’s one of the first people I met when I came to LA to be in Black Flag, he was always really great to me. Many years ago, he released some great comp. LPs made up of the bands he featured in his show. At one point, Posh Boy Records released a best of on CD but it didn’t have this Red Cross song, (I never use the Redd Kross spelling of their name) so I thought it was time to dig out the LP and put the song onto CDR and bring it in so we could hear it. It’s as good as I remember it, too.

The Circle Jerks - Red Tape: I remember the first time I saw the Circle Jerks. It was right before their album that we pulled this track from, Group Sex, was released. They basically played almost all of this album for their set and to this day, it was one of the best shows I have ever seen in my life. They were amazing. It was summer of 1980 in San Francisco. I was in CA with Ian’s band, The Teen Idles. They had a night off so we went to see this show at the Mabuhay Gardens. It was The Circle Jerks, Flipper and The Dead Kennedys. Not bad, right?! Then and now, Keith Morris is one of the greatest frontmen of all time and the best singer Black Flag ever had.

The Fall - Secession Man: From The Light User Syndrome released in June of 1996. A solid outing by the band. On this album and the one that came before it, Cerebral Caustic, Brix Smith came back to the band. As you Fanatics know, she used to be the wife of MES and was on many great Fall albums and singles. I don’t know what brought her back into the fold for these two albums. There are some great songs on Light User, worth checking out. One of my favorite songs on this one is Cheetham Hill and the one we heard tonight. I think The Fall will release a new album in 2008 and of course, I will be there. I am still trying to get into the last album but have not warmed up to it yet. Here’s an address for Fall information: http://www.visi.com/fall/

Joe Lally - Tonight At Ten: From Joe’s brand new Nothing Is Underrated album on Dischord. I had a copy of this one for several weeks but didn’t want to play it before it was released so when I saw it at the record store a couple of weeks ago, I knew it was good to go for our show. For the one or two of you who don’t know, Joe was the bass player in Fugazi. You may have heard of them. This is his 2nd album. He released almost a year ago to the day, an album called From There To Here, which was quite good. This one is as well and if you’re a fan of Fugazi and all things Dischord, then this is a great addition. Joe is a thoughtful and deep well. The lyrics on this song are amazing. I am so happy that Joe followed up so quickly. Recently, Joe had his van broken into while on tour in San Francisco. There should be a special place for people who steal from bands. Perhaps a room full of musicians who have been ripped off while on tour.

Sun Ra – Retrospect: From A Fireside Chat With Lucifer. I got this from Road Manager Ward on the last leg of the tour. I have this track on a Sun Ra CD called Nuclear War but Ward’s version sounds a little better so we’re going with his tonight. The sessions that brought forth this track went through a lot of hassle to get released and eventually found homes on multiple releases. I think Sun Ra and his players were often beset with the problem of release and distribution with their staggering output. If you notice, Sun Ra re-issues and previously unheard tracks are still coming out great regularity. I have a good handful of Saturn pressings of Sun Ra records that I have never seen on CD. I should put those on CD and bring them in for next year.

Dinosaur Jr. – Yer Son: One of the two b-sides from the Beyond album. This is a good track, not the greatest Dino track and not better than anything on the Beyond album but a good song all the same. I asked J Mascis many weeks ago if there going to be a lot of b-sides from this album and he said no. If you are a Dinosaur Jr. fan and don’t have the Beyond album yet, you’re missing out and should rectify this situation.

Buck Gooter – Animal: From the brand new album Animals by the mighty Buck Gooter who hail from Harrisonburg VA. I ran into band member Billy months ago in DC at a Joe Lally / Evens show and he said they would be bringing out a new album soon and they did. This is another great album, I think this is my favorite of all them so far. If you want to check out their site and get more info on them and of course, get yourself some Gooter, here’s where to go: http://www.littlegrillcollective.com/bg/

The Clash – I‘m So Bored With The USA: From the first Clash album. One of my favorite albums of all time. I am sure this one gets played on the station all the time so we’re not all that innovative by playing this track but what the hell, it’s a great song so let’s play it. There was a Joe Strummer documentary that was released recently but I have not gone to see it. I don’t know if I ever will. I am still angry about the fact that he died so young and he’s no longer around.

Bertolt Brecht – Mack The Knife: From the September Songs CD. It’s a tribute to the great Kurt Weill. We have utilized this CD at least once this year and I have plans for it in the weeks upcoming. Weill composed the music for Mack The Knife but it was Brecht who wrote the lyrics. It’s part of The Threepenny Opera based on The Beggar’s Opera. Almost everyone has heard the Bobby Darin version, which had great success in 1959 although it’s been performed by many as a pop standard. I remember when I first started noticing the lyrics and they seemed awfully dark for someone to be including in their lounge act. Sinatra’s version is almost happy performance wise. The song is about a killer. I like Nick Cave’s version, also found on this album.

Kim Salmon & The Surrealists – Looking At The Picture: From the Essence album released in 1991. It pains me that one can’t walk into any record store in America and easily apprehend every Kim Salmon album in one fell swoop. Kim has done a little bit of music in a place called Australia with a few bands, The Beasts Of Bourbon, The Scientists, nothing too momentous. And then there’s all those solo records, not one of them are not worth checking out more than once. You have heard this man on our show many times so you don’t need to be reminded as to what a huge fan I am.

Mississippi Fred McDowell – I Woke Up This Morning (04-14-71 Takoma WA): Joel, Fanatic From Ohio comes crashing in through with this amazing find. A 2CD set of Mississippi Fred McDowell live in Takoma WA! I have every Fred record I have ever seen but am not aware of music from this date being on any of them. I can’t believe there’s bootleg Fred McDowell out there. Is there more? Can you hurry up and lay it on me?! Thanks to Joel, Fanatic from Ohio for tonight’s blast of the legendary man who put Como MS on the map!

Leopards - Cutting A Short Dog: From the They Tried Staying Calm album. I first heard this band on a Creeping Bent compilation CD and was under the impression that they were from France. Now, information I am getting seems to indicate that they are a Scottish ensemble led by Mick Slaven. Mick has played in a lot of bands I have heard of bet never listened to, Del Amitri, Deacon Blue and Bourgie Bourgie. I am liking this loud rockin’ record though.

The Chuck Dukowski Sextet – Destruction: From the new album Chuck just released called Reverse The Polarity. I am happy that Chuck is still out there, making records and playing out all the time. There’s some great stuff on this album and this is our first foray into it. I was on tour when it came out and when I got back, Chuck had dropped one off at the office. Does Chuck need an introduction? Well, just in case there’s a few of you who don’t know, Chuck was one of the original members of Black Flag, back when that meant something! One of the great things in my life was being on the same stage with the man, truly, he’s one of the large figures in my life and a great influence on my thinking and attitude. If I had an older brother, it would be him. Vocals on the album are handled by Chuck’s wife Laura. Some of you Fanatics may remember the band’s version of My War with Laura on vocals. I have only given this album a once-through so I don’t really have the hang of it yet but I’ll be bringing in some more tracks from it soon. In the meantime, I will get some contact information as to how to get yourself a copy of the album. Ok, here’s the info: I just wrote Chuck and he says that anyone interested in getting a copy of this CD can send a check for 8 bucks to the following address and they will send it out: Nice and Friendly Records 814 Pacific Ave Venice 90291. Also the album is available at ITunes and I think some local outlets in LA. Here’s site information: http://niceandfriendlyrecords.com/

Joy Division – Wilderness: From the Unknown Pleasures album. This is the remastered version that I waited to long to listen to. Many times I have begged you to never turn in your old masterings for the new ones before you do a great deal of comparison. I did with the old and new masterings of this album and have come to the conclusion that not a great deal was done or could be done with this new edition of this great album. Did you ever have one of those boom boxes that had the “loudness” button? You would press it and the music would get a little louder and bass heavy? That’s what happens with a lot of remasterings these days, they make a louder CD with more low end, often lows that were not the intent of the band or the producer. In my opinion, that’s what has happened here with this remastering. I am not hearing more clarity, if anything, I am hearing more fog in the lower mids and low end and that’s too bad. For the hell of it, we are listening to the remastered version of this song tonight. I have kept my original CD of this album and of course, my different vinyl pressings.

Miles Davis - What They Do: Finally, our first airing of a track from the Complete On The Corner Sessions box set. This jam is cookin! If you are familiar with the electric era of Miles Davis, then you have heard some of the music on this set but there’s a lot of unreleased stuff here as well as a lot of unedited stuff as well. I don’t know what Miles would have to say about all this material coming out but I am glad for it. This set marks the last of the Miles complete sessions box sets. It’s been a great ride. We will play more tracks from this one now that I finally got my hands on a copy.

The Lines - On The Air: From the Messthetics #102: D.I.Y. 77-81 CD put out by the kind folks at Hyped To Death. One of the bands I picked up on by getting this CD and checking it out. I know of three vinyl releases, 2 7”’s and a 12” and a multi CD set that was supposedly coming out on Acute, in fact, this track was licensed from Acute. I went to the Acute site and saw notice for it but not an actual release or release date. So, for now, we have this track, it’s great. The Hyped site doesn’t have much information on the band so there’s nothing I can add here besides I think the song is cool. It’s good to still be finding new old music. I recently managed to track down all the vinyl but have not had the chance to play it yet but I really wanted to get this song on so here it is!

Viki - No Date: From the Viki and Hair Police split CD. In all fairness, we will listen to a Hair Police track from the same release in a few moments with a Dax Riggs song in the middle to cleanse the pallet. I had never heard any Viki stuff until Engineer X lent me this CD. I was already a fan of Hair Police so it was cool to hear some of their stuff that I was not familiar with and the Viki stuff was great too so it’s a new band to bring on our show, one of my favorite things to do is play a band or musician for the first time. I checked out one of her videos on the youtubes and she’s really intense. I just ordered her Escape From Detroit CD so I will have more of her stuff soon hopefully. So far, if you are a fan of Hair Police, Wolf Eyes and THAT kind of music, then you will perhaps dig on Viki. This is easily one of my favorite tracks from tonight’s show.

Dax Riggs - Truth In The Dark: From the We Sing Of Only Blood Or Love album. Lyrically, it sounds like it should be the title track. This is another track from Dax’s first post Deadboy effort. When I first heard Deadboy And The Elephantmen’s album We Are Night Sky, I went looking for other records of theirs and found a listing for one but couldn’t find it but recently ran into a copy as well as his recordings with the band Acid Bath and I’ll bring in tracks from those records soon. This is a great album, I have been playing this one a lot lately and it’s really working for me. Dax is the man.

Hair Police - Night Visitors: As promised, here’s your Hair Police track. I have a few of their records, I don’t know how many they have released. I have Constantly Terrified, Obedience Cuts and The Empty Quarter at least. Fuckin’ brutal work, all of it. Of all the music I have checked out over the last several months, it’s been this group of bands that has had the most impact on me. Of course there is the good the bad and the fakes in any kind of music or art and it might not always be easy to pick them out at first, especially when the sound is new to the ear. That being said, in my mind, there is so much pure attitude and savagery happening with these bands. From the way they put out the music, not giving a damn about major labels, normal promotion or seemingly hardly any of the standard operations of “how it’s done” and in that way alone, they are not only making their own way but they are inventing a new way of going about it and I think that that really needed to happen. As Darby Crash said, “Let’s give this established joke a shove.” I think this is what he might have been talking about. What was the eventuality of Punk Rock? Something that you could take your kids to at an arena. Performers you would have lit on fire when you were that age. Definitely bands that would have been eaten alive by the audiences at shows I was a part of as a young person. Bands like Wolf Eyes, Yellow Swans and others are so much harder core than all that male bonding idiotic hardcore bullshit I saw in the 80’s and has so much more of the fuck it attitude. This is music / noise that doesn’t seek approval or permission the way Punk Rock eventually did. Damn, did I just hop onto a soapbox or what?!

Butch Willis & the Rocks - I Miss Her Too Much: From the very cool Repeats album on Teenbeat. I figured we would ease on out of our show tonight with this heartfelt and melancholy number from one of the best records on Teenbeat. Butch is a DC area guy who has released a few albums of his very alt. rock. I think this is the best one of the batch but they’re all good. I have never met Butch and don’t really know how to describe his music. He certainly has something, hence the players around him who are trying to get him what he needs. There’s a really cool interview with the man that is very telling: http://www.songpoemmusic.com/butch/butch.htm