HARMONY IN MY HEAD

BROADCAST #32
AIR DATE: 08-08-06

OK you Fanatics, this is what we heard tonight. I am on tour at the moment, in Minneapolis on a night off. We play here tomorrow night and I can’t wait. We’re ten shows in and feeling good. I hope you enjoyed the show tonight. I am hoping I get a chance to say hello to Roky when I am in Austin several days from now.
     We have some great shows coming up in the next few weeks as I’ve been telling you about, perhaps way too often but as you know, Fanatic is as Fanatic does. Next week, it’s a show devoted to DC area bands. This was going to be our July 4th show but we were unable to broadcast it so we’re going to roll it out. That night, I’ll be playing in DC so it works out in a cool way. I just got a letter from Ian MacKaye and the new Evens album is done and is slated for release in November so we have that to look forward to. I have recently picked up some good records here and there that I’ll be dragging onto the show so we can check them out. I have been working on different ideas for shows and came up with two the other night that had me writing, gathering and researching for hours. I reached out to some people and they are going to supply me with some very cool tracks that we’ll check out in weeks to come. I can’t wait to put these playlists together and see how they work out. I’ve spent a good deal of my night off here in this small hotel room looking information to try and get all the facts straight. For the last hour, my soundtrack has been a band called Ludus. I don’t know much about them. I only became aware of them because the singer, Linder Sterling is the artist who created the image on the cover of The Buzzcocks Orgasm Addict single. I thought it would be interesting to investigate them and so I did. I don’t know how to describe them. Might not be for everyone but I think they’re really interesting. Jazz meets post-Punk or something. Of course I’ll play them later in the year. I do hope you enjoyed tonight’s show. More great music to come. Stay Fanatic! –Henry
     For you Europeans, Australians and New Zealand Fanatics, there is a re-broadcast time of Friday mornings, 0200 – 0400 hrs. West coast time so you all can check out the show and not have to set your alarms to too rude an hour. If you want to download this show, http://www.rollins-archive.com/ is the place to go for that.

Spotlight on Roky Erickson!!!: I imagine most of you are Roky Erickson Fanatics. Well, here’s a generous helping of the Austin TX genius. I don’t know if the songs we listened to tonight are in any way representative of the man’s Staggering catalog. I know, I know, what about Stand For The Fire Demon, Cold Night For Alligators, If You Have Ghosts, White Faces, Bermuda, Don’t Shake Me Lucifer, etc.??!!! I know. We could have easily had a Roky marathon but somehow we’re going to contain it to a mere dozen.
     Like many of you, I have been a XXL fan of Roky for many years. I first met Roky in the mid nineties when we had made a deal to put out Roky lyric book Openers II. I
     I would like to be able to write a short biography of the man but it’s better to go to the site and read the one they have there as it’s better written than anything I could do and it covers all the things I wanted to say anyway.
     Roky is better than ever. I saw him recently and we had a great time hanging out. I hope he comes to our show coming up in Austin this summer. I really want to see what he thinks of our music. Years ago, there was no way he would have made it to a show but now things are very different for him thanks to his brother Sumner and all the people who support Roky, myself being one of the proud members of the team.
     To me, Roky is one of the greatest musicians this country has ever had. His songs never age. There are no bad Roky songs in my opinion. I hope for the uninitiated, that this broadcast turns you into a Roky Fanatic. It’s all good, as they say.
http://www.rokyerickson.net/ for information, bio, etc.


I Have Always Been Here Before: One of my favorite Roky songs of all time. What a lyric, what a delivery. He’s great with a band but he certainly delivers without one as this track shows. Source for this was the Gremlins Have Pictures CD on Ryko. There’s an earlier release of this CD on Demon but I don’t know if it’s still in print and as far as mastering and availability, Ryko is top shelf. If you ever get a chance, check out the version of this song contained on the Click Your Fingers Applauding The Play CD. That one may prove hard to find but worth it when you do.

Two Headed Dog (Red Temple Prayer): Part of his live set for a long time. This is one of the more often heard Roky songs. I saw him sing this once in Austin many years ago. Source for this track was from The Evil One CD. I have two copies of this CD. One is on Pink Dust, the other is on Restless.

I Am: Apparently Roky did this track at a radio station in 1982. I have been going through the liner notes of the CDs and can’t find anything about that. It’s one of his most chilling tracks. The way Roky can change moods and hold a listener is unreal. This track is so heavy. Thankfully this song is available on the Gremlins Have Pictures CD on Ryko / Restless. Can also be found on the You’re Gonna Miss Me CD.

I Think Of Demons: I always appreciated this lyric. When Roky sings “I think of demons they never kill / I think of demons they never will . . . I think of demons for you.” It makes me think of all the times I have avoided telling someone the details of something really horrible that I have seen or been through because you want to spare them and you know it’s better that you keep it to yourself. Think of soldiers coming back from war and not ever talking about it.

I Walked With A Zombie (live): A very simple lyric. “I walked with a Zombie last night.” I was told it was about hanging out with patients on Thorazine from when Roky was locked up at Rusk. This is live version I got from the Casting The Runes CD. I picked the live version because the band is just killing it and the guitar sound is blazing. Roky has always had ridiculously good players on his albums and in his live bands. This is a typically burn your house down Roky live track. Talk about a guy who can sing live, Roky’s one of the better live singers out there. You can find this live version on the Reverend Of Karmic Youth CD but it doesn’t sound nearly as good.

Anthem (I Promise): Often called “Gremlins Have Pictures” but it’s actually called Anthem. Another slice of pure genius. “For you I cool the streets with the wind at night / In the day I beat with the sun the cobblestones / And cool the wind of the Nile at night / The Earth I fill with diamonds plus light . . .” What can you say? What a lyric!!! Roky might be my all time number one underrated American musical talent. Those who know—KNOW. Those who don’t just don’t know it yet. Source for this was the Gremlins Have Pictures CD on Ryko / Restless.

Starry Eyes: Roky favorite song. One of his many beautiful love songs. Tonight we heard the version on the All That May Do My Rhyme CD.

Click Your Fingers Applauding The Play: One my favorite Roky moments. Tonight we are going to hear the harder to find more tripped out version found on the Click Your Fingers Applauding The Play CD on New Rose / Jasmac.

The Interpreter: I don’t know who Roky is indicting in this song but it has some of the overtones of paranoia that are fascinating and dismaying at the same time as you know he was really going through some hard times in his mind. The Moscow reference is intense. Now this is interesting, I was listening to the Ryko / Restless version of Gremlins and the version of The Interpreter sounded unfamiliar. I put on the Demon version and they are two different versions. Ok, let me check for info on this. This caught me by surprise as I just got the Ryko version recently. You know there’s only one thing to do. You know what kind of show this is. You know what we are. That’s right, we’re going to play both versions. Damned Fanatics! The first one is from the release on Demon, the second is from the newer one on Ryko / Restless. Decide for yourself which one you like better. Good luck, they’re both awesome.

Bloody Hammer: One of Roky’s greatest ever songs. I think it’s about Roky trying to keep his sanity. This track is sourced from the Casting The Runes CD. Also on the Reverend CD but again, Runes sounds better. Abuse Dept.: Heidi kicked me out of my chair as I was working and wrote the following: “I’ll take a hammer and bloody your head! This song was written by me about bludgeoning Henry after having to deal with him all day!”

Night Of The Vampire: Another one of Roky’s great songs. This live version pulled from the Reverend Of Karmic Youth CD. I looked for that on Amazon.com and it’s not showing. I bet this live material is on other Roky CDs at this point. 666

Burn The Flames: I always thought this was a cool song but a strange sound for Roky. It sounds a little too slick in a way. It’s still Roky and the album this comes from, Don’t Slander Me, is also really good.

Recommended Roky listening to get a foot in the door with his music:
The Evil One
Don’t Slander Me
Gremlins Have Pictures

Ok, that brings us to the end of the Spotlight on Roky. Moving on!

The Cramps – Human Fly / The Way I Walk / Domino / Surfin’ Bird / Lonesome Town: This is our EP of the week. Gravest Hits by The Cramps. I know I play this band’s music all the time. What can I say, I think some of their records are as good as it gets. Gravest Hits came out about 100 years ago and we all bought it for the song we didn’t have, Lonesome Town. Also that Stephanie Chernikowski cover photo is worth the price of purchase. That one is proudly framed at my place. What you get on this 12” are the first two singles and the aforementioned Baker Knight classic. One of the best things about these five songs is the sound the band got on them. There’s nothing like it anywhere. They couldn’t even get close to it on the album that came after these singles, Songs The Lord Taught Us. It’s a great album but the sound is nowhere near as unique as sounds you hear on the Chilton produced sessions. He’s another one of those amazing guys who has been around forever. All five of these tracks are found on the Psychedelic Jungle / Gravest Hits CD. They incorrectly credit Stephanie with the back cover photo done by David Arnoff. A great two-fer CD. I got to see The Cramps around the time they released the singles and they were some of the best shows I have ever seen.

The Fall – The Birmingham School Of Business School: I know, call me a lunatic but it’s our almost weekly dose of The Fall. The Birmingham School Of Business School is from The Fall’s brilliant Code : Selfish album released 03-23-92. This album contains one of my favorite Fall songs, Free Range. I wish I was Mark E Smith!! I want to be a genius small of stature, somewhat destroyed by my intellect and drugs. I want band members to quit left and right! That’s what I want! I want it now. I’m a lunatic and that’s what I want!!!!!!!!!! That MES quote again: “I mean, I wouldn't even shake hands with Sonic Youth, you know. And Henry Rollins is a bit of a lunatic. He gets up and gives a fucking lecture about how he wishes he was me." That unofficial site website address: http://www.visi.com/fall/.

Barry White – Love’s Theme: We finish with my favorite Barry White track, an instrumental. This is in no way meant as a slight against the Mr. White’s great voice, I have just always liked this track of his more than anything else he’s ever done. I remember when this was a single and it really put the hook in me so I thought it would be a cool way to end the show. I wonder if my fellow host, Mr. Steve Jones has played this track yet.