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Tag: loveliest vinyl

my loveliest vinyl, part 44
Schleprock ‎– (America’s) Dirty Little Secret (Warner Bros. Records 9-46277-1, 1996)

There are a couple of records that just came left field and took me by surprise or just made a huge impression on my humble self. For me it was Upstarts, Rejects and SLF (all say 1979) followed by Cock Sparrer, Neurotics and Toy Dolls (all say 1983) plus Descendents, Meat Puppets, Zero Boys (all say 1982) – and in 1996 it was Schleprock with their LP on Warner. I did follow Schleprock since their initial 7″ output, loved “Darkest Days” from their 1994 effort on Dr. Strange and little did i know that in the wake of all that Major signing of decent punk bands in the 90s they where also signed by a Major.

And then came “(America’s) Dirty Little Secret” and it was a perfect album. From “We need an Anthem” as a kick off it turned out to be one hell of a versatile record with a lot of nods to old UK punk incl. a cover of “Runnin’ Riot” from Cock Sparrer. Stunning. Just Stunning. And – from where i sit – without a bad song at all, loads of sing-a-long and not pop punk (which was what the Major labels in the US where actually trying to ca$h in on) but a Ruts/Members/Specials type of brew. Wow!

The verdict:

1977 – 1979 rather but just puurrrfect!
published by a cool label – no, Warner. Trying to ca$sh in. Little did they know…
found in a cool shop – Drugstore i believe – mmhhh – no, Konneckschen. Or? Memories, fading!
catching sound – Members. Ruts. Do i need to say more?
the lyrics – Take any song – nothing bad out there.

My loveliest song is “Can’t hold me down” but that is just by inches:
```
Somebody wants to put my brakes on
Better sit down and hear my song
Sell out, not here, get out
My passions burning like the Devil's night out
My integrity's packing a punch
The bleeding truth doesn't call no bluff
This goes out to all the cheerleaders
Who talk too much

You won't hold me down
You can't slow me down
You won't hold me down
You can't slow me down

Displace me, erase me
It won't go away
And I don't want a part
Of your fashion parade
I don't wanna play in your
So called brown nosing games
We're making up our own rules
Doing things our own way

You won't hold me down
You can't slow me down
You won't hold me down
You can't slow me down

Somebody wants to put my brakes on
Better sit down and hear my song
Sell out, not here, get out
My passions burning like the Devil's night out
My integrity's packing a punch
The bleeding truth doesn't call no bluff
This goes out to all the cheerleaders
Who talk too much

You won't hold me down
You can't slow me down
You won't hold me down
You can't slow me down

(c) 1996 Warner Bros Rec./Schleprock
```
Now listen to the alternate version from the 2005 retrospective:

And what happened next? They broke due to the major pressure, the drugs and other issues from being together since 1989. This is actually the version from “Learning to Fail” (2005 retrospective) and represents part of the demo tape that go them signed to Warner. The liner notes says it all:
```
This original recording was on the demo that got us signed and it set the tempo for the attitude of "(America's) Dirty Little Secret"; nearly a year later we would record this again, but this time for Warner Brothers Records. In the end we wound up scamming the big boys for nearly a million dollars, but we also found ourselves self-destructing.
```
Some parts of Schleprock formed The Generators and are going strong until today but that is a different story!

nb: Some friends of mine are making the long haul to Punk Rock Bowling 2015 in Vegas this year, in there is also a show by … Schleprock. Have the bucks been spent or is it for the fun? We’ll see, we’ll see!
2015/03/29
my loveliest vinyl, part 43
D.O.A. – 13 Flavours of Doom (Alternative Tentacles VIRUS 117, 1992)

Lifelong companions i’d say! From the early stuff of “Hardcore ’81” (1981), “War on 45” (1982) and the John Peel Sessions “Don’t turn yer back (on desperate times)” (1984) D.O.A. have been in the picture, only to move into some sort of hard rock sound in the late 80s and finally odd trash with “Murder” in 1990. And then correctly calling it a day, from where i sit for good musickal reasons. Now looking at all their massive output over the years their 1992 “comeback” on Alternative Tentacles put them back on the map big time: Great lineup as a trio with Wimpy Roy (of Subhumans fame) and excellent production by John Wright of NoMeansNo fame. And that makes it stand out from all the stuff they did – good songs are matched here with perfect production and excellent recording.

The verdict:

1977 – yes, but with a scent of hardcore
published by a cool label – Alternative Tentacles – any Q?
found in a cool shop – Michelle Records, back then a great place for vinyl!
catching sound – perfect mix of punk, hardcore and most likely the best produced and recorded D.O.A. album…
the lyrics – surprisingly sharp, to the point and up to date still today with the climate issue.

I have seen them so many times over the years that i have lost count but i still a wee bit frustrated that i missed their acoustic tour in August 14 in Hamburg. Nevermind – i am sure they will be back!

The sticking song of that record is “Hole in the Sky,” a song people have dubbed as a song “Al Gore would like if his wife had better taste“:
```
now you're gonna burn!

there's a hole in the sky
the ozone's ripped
and you can't hide
burning death and corporate greed
cause there's a hole in the sky

you can't see
but it's a mess
killing the ozone
put our planet to death

making profits
out of thin air
the sky's opened up
you can't hide anywhere

now you gonna burn!

there's a hole in the sky
the ozone's ripped
and you can't hide
burning death and corporate greed
cause there's
a hole in the sky

take a walk outside
see the blue sky
watch your step
might be suicide

well it's pretty obvious
you think they'd learn
but when money comes first
we're all gonna fry

yeah you're gonna burn!

there's a hole in the sky
the ozone's ripped
and you can't hide
burning death and corporate greed
cause there's
a hole in the sky

burn, yeah you're gonna burn
yeah you're gonna burn

(c) Sudden Death Records / Alternative Tentacles 1992
```
Now listen up:

Let’s be frank: D.O.A. are key to punk in Canada. Just take the number of cool folks who went to join Joey “Shithead” Keithley – be it Chuck Biscuits, Randy Rampage, Wimpy Roy, Dimwit and Ken Jensen (RIP). Whilst this one is in my list of loveliest vinyl it is way to “small” to represent the 30+ years of joy D.O.A. have been bringing and making PUNK and CANADA one item in my mental map! And sure they also had their hands in some cool Hockey-themed (like in Icehockey!) punk songs – love them for that too!

What else? Make sure you read “I, Shithead” from Joey, a cool biography written with a lot of wisdom. It’s even in it’s third print run since being published in 2004!

I, Shithead (Joey Keithley, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2004)

And whilst you are at it, seek more via these great flicks:
2014/10/28
my loveliest vinyl, part 42
The Lords of theNew Church – s/t (Llegal Records ILP009, 1982)

Now this serves a shitload of memories. One goes back to 29.09.1983 where they graced the Kir (and that was the old location in Hamburg Poppenbüttel) and we sneaked into the place through a broken window of the toilets (it was a sold out show anyway and the club was tiny). And they gave a hell of a live show with all the rock’n’roll glitter they had to give (and some more). They looked like rock stars, came across like rock stars and we did not give a flying fuck. For parts they looked junk too but little did we know back then about hard drugs and hard booze.

The other memory is that they looked like so many punks that had gone through the length of punk and came out at the end as “styled longhaired rocknroll twats” as i would say. Many of the Hamburg punks that went trough the late 70ties around that time sported similar looks, they where too much tied to what was going on in London! About that time US H/C came into view and that fresh look and sound was going to be what i was leaning to, rather than … rock’n’roll junkies?

Never mind, the Lords had something and sure they had members from bands i did dig: Dave from Sham 69 (i did love Sham back then to the max), Brian from the Damned (Hamburg Punks favorites), Nick from The Baracudas (just class!) and fronted by our lovely Dead Boy Stiv Bators. A match made from heaven and their first record really a fit!

Infamous Press-Kit from I.R.S. Records

The verdict:

1977 – yes, but with a scent of glam
published by a cool label – Illegal Records, sure a household name
found in a cool shop – Michelle Records, back then a great place for vinyl!
catching sound – powerfull glampunk i’d say, not waste like later recordings
the lyrics – surprisingly sharp, to the point and up to date with politics!

There a several “fav” songs on this record and i sure would love to see some covered by hardcore bands in a more modern style, that would show how good tunes they actually where. Let’s take this one – named after the fanzine we did back then and the record label i was soon to run:
```
Holy War! Holy War!
A Roman is invading Britain after hundreds of year.
With a pope star's world tour amidst fanatical tears. 
A false prophet, the bible warns us. Who's wearing a crown. 
Deceiving and uniting churches burn the whole world down. 

Holy War! Holy War!

Anti-soviet polish priest was just the image they need. 
Seize control of the catholic church for political greed. 
They replaced him with an actor. Set the stage for war. 
Pope John Paul II was poisoned behind Vatican doors. 

Holy War! Holy War!

Inquisition, crusades and martyrs burned for blasphemy. 
Religion causes most the wars throughout history.
Divine combat - revolution - the actor pope fraud. 
Greed and murder is forgiven when in the name of god...

Holy War! Holy War!
Holy War! Holy War!
Holy War! Holy War!

(c) Steve Bator, Brian James - Illegal Music 1982
```
The very reason for this song is actualy a triplet in my record collection:

The fucking Pope all over England, Ireland and Germany (love those novelty records!)

Now listen yerself and remember: This comes from 1982!

And live it looked like this – down at the Marquee in London on 27.01.1984:

And where did it go from here? Downhill. As ever. Bators lived a junkie life and died a lone death after running into a car in Paris in 1990 – the other continued in and out of music. Even a sad “reunion” of the Lords happened in 2003 with a bad album in tow.

But this one still stands out, indeed!
2014/06/21