1
(UPBEAT PUNK MUSIC)
The first record that
I ever bought, I believe,
was Stampede, by
the Doobie Brothers.
The first record I bought
was a 45 by David Bowie,
was Space Oddity.
The first record I ever
bought, with my parents' money
of course, was this 1973
Famous Monsters Speak.
I think I bought my
first record at age eight.
It's the Monster Mash.
The first record that
I owned was a present,
it was a Christmas
present, and it was
the Partridge Family Album.
CLIF: We Sold Our
Soul for Rock and Roll,
The double Black Sabbath album,
my parents got it
for me for Christmas,
which is completely
unlike my parents.
They're not really churchgoing,
but they consider
themselves Christian.
So, my aunt Marlene
said, I will get you
any record you
want, for, I think
it was Hanukkah, or
something like that.
Great. Please get me Blizzard
of Ozz by Ozzy Osbourne.
The first record I
owned was given to me
by my grandparents, they
actually gave me two.
Chuck Berry's Golden
Hits, and the other was
a Mozart Ein Kleine Nachtmusik.
My grandma took me
to buy my first record,
and I picked out three
records, I picked out The Cars,
Blondie, and the one that
really hit me the most,
The Ramones, and it
was in the third,
I think it was Rocket to Russia.
MAN: The Hotter Than
Hell, probably asked mom for
some money and went to
Tumbleweed records in P-town.
Me and my friend didn't
have any money, but we had
like, a dollar each,
so we went in together,
and bought Hotter Than Hell.
I think the first
record I ever owned,
that I got my own,
I think I shoplifted
Summertime Blues by The Who.
Who's Next, that
was the first album
I really remember
buying on my own.
Hey Jude, with
Revolution on the back.
The Beatles Blue and
Red compilation records.
With my own money,
birthday money, I went to
the record store and
bought Led Zeppelin II,
and Sergeant Pepper, same day.
I rode my bike to the
mall, and went to Corvette's,
and I bought Led Zeppelin III.
Believe it or not, it was
a Seals and Crofts record,
and I was like, you know, I was
like, what the fuck is this?
Darling, if you want
me to be, closer to you
Right, that's them,
and I was like,
this sucks, I fucking,
they got my money!
December's Children
by the Stones.
Had the dark cover, you
know, it was just menacing.
I bought a band called Think,
it was called Once
You Understand.
A lot of these are one hit
wonders, and the only way
you knew about
them was listening
to these records on the radio.
American Graffiti.
The album that I came
out, I think it came out
in '75, and this is the
actual album I bought.
Looking at, nice!
The record that I was like,
I must have this record,
is the soundtrack from
Star Wars, definitely.
My first record that
I owned was actually
a comedy record, it was
George Carlin's AM and FM.
First record I actually
went out and bought,
not sure, but it
would've been a single.
I remember, they were like,
think they were 70 cents.
And there was a music
store near my house
called Giant Music, and
I think it would've been,
I think it was the Lemon
Pipers, Green Tambourine.
My favorite song as
a child, was Taxman.
Off of Revolver, and it
was a great package deal
because Revolver was so
powerful, A, to look at,
the cover was insane, Taxman,
first song on the record,
and has the distorted guitar.
It's just incredibly
powerful, but I think
it's a combination of
the cover and that Taxman
guitar solo, and it kind of,
this is one of the first things
that made me wanna play guitar.
My favorite record as a
child, as a young child,
it probably would've been Endless
Summer by the Beach Boys.
It's like a double album, it
was in my parents' collection,
and...
And you know, every
single song is good.
I think one of
my favorite records
as a child would
have to be Jackson 5.
Being grown up, you
know, in that era, and
just all around, I mean,
I remember there was even
a cartoon to the
Jackson 5s, and it was,
all, it was just, and as
a kid, living in the hood
and the ghettos,
you know, and I just
could relate all
the way, you know.
Best cartoon theme
song ever, to this day,
it's the punk rock lead guitar,
is the Flintstones theme.
Flintstones theme was
so fast, and just so
abnormal to hear a
song like that on TV,
you just wanted to
run around the room.
With the shows back
then, you can't help
but thinking, Gilligan's
Island, 'cause that
was one song that was gonna
be on, immediately made
you happy, you're just
like, fuck school,
I wanna watch Gilligan's Island.
And the Flintstones
for the theme.
Probably the Banana
Splits theme, or any song
by the Monkeys.
CRAIG: Free to be You and Me.
Probably the earliest thing.
Kind of just like, every
American kid being raised
by a...
Early 70s liberals, I just
knew, and I loved Free to Be,
and I loved all the
songs on Sesame Street.
Jungle Boogie by
Cool and the Gang.
I saw them on Soul Train.
I must've been 12, and I
was like, holy, can I curse?
Holy fucking shit...
Definitely Roger K,
with Leaders of the Pack,
and I remember, the
first record I bought,
it was a compilation thing.
Like, with all these
other songs, and that was
the only song I
ever listened to.
'Cause it had the
motorcycle in the end.
And the revs and stuff like
that, and I just loved that,
even when I was a little
kid, I loved the dramatic.
(LAUGHING)
My mother had decided
we needed to learn to play
the organ in our house, we
had this electric organ,
three keyboards and a
pedal board, I actually got
pretty good at it.
But in the organ was a
cassette tape player,
and my sister, who was
five years older than me,
got a cassette tape
with the song Tush
by ZZ Top on it, and I played
that song over and over
and over and I was probably
eight, maybe nine years old.
And it was my very favorite
song, in the entire world.
I don't know why, I
don't know what happened,
but something about the
electric organ and the cassette
tape of Tush super muffled
on this terrible speaker,
was the best thing in
my whole entire life.
I loved the Electric Prunes,
I Had Too Much To Dream
Last Night, the Blues Magoos,
and this was like stuff
I'd never heard,
it was something
that really stuck in
my ear and all that.
Jesse Colin Young and the
Yonugbloods get together.
That song, when I was
six, maybe younger, five,
like, can you play
that song again?
I think it was the cover art.
It was vaguely psychedelic,
is my recollection
and mysterious like
Fantasia or something.
It had that great guitar part
and sort of
Beatles-like harmonies.
I had a real response to that.
Puff the Magic Dragon, I
think it was the Brothers Four.
I vaguely remember the
art work, I think it was
four guys in cardigan
sweaters on the cover
with beautifully coiffed hair.
Kind of stashed in
with my mom's records,
kind of deep into it so I
probably wouldn't find it,
was a record called
'Have a Marijuana'
by David Peel and
the Lower East Side.
I discovered it when I was
about eight or nine years old
and I knew what pot was,
I knew what marijuana was.
On the record cover it had
a giant marijuana leaf.
You know it was probably around
1972 or something like that
and the symbolism of
the marijuana leaf,
older kids that I knew had them
on their jean jackets and shit.
There was something
really cool about that
and iconic about
that record cover.
In kindergarten, we had them.
The teacher would
have us singing.
She played piano
and we would sing,
we did Home on the Range and
she taught us the harmony.
It was as if my brain
exploded and poured out
of my ears when I
heard the harmony.
I couldn't stop thinking about
the harmony of that song.
That was a pretty
important song for me.
Without a doubt, Jim
Croce's Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown.
Now if you think, and I was
probably eight years old
at the time, I didn't realize
what the soft spoken Mr. Croce
was really kind of, the
themes he was dealing with.
Who was this bad,
bad Leroy Brown?
Apparently he was
badder than King Kong
and meaner than a junkyard dog.
What I didn't quite realize
was this was sort of
a folk song about a
Chicago drug lord.
He's the El Chapo
of 70s folk rock.
TOMMY: My father
despised rock music
and he didn't allow
it in the house.
The only record that I
could play as a kid was
a Carpenter's record
was Close to You.
It's still one of my
favorite records for
the record cover and
for the actual music.
That's absolutely,
just it is gorgeous.
When you don't have a video
and all you have is artwork,
you really start digging
into what's there
and just staring at it while
you're listening to the record.
Visually it was a
great sounding board,
you'd just look at this,
right, but musically
this record is by far
my favorite KISS record.
Overall I'd have to say
Mott from Mott the Hoople.
I liked all the songs on it.
Number one it was
an album album,
you know before album
albums was just a hit song.
The first song on side A
and the first song on side B
were the hits and then
the rest was filler.
But this was an album album.
The first song that
really got me going as a kid
and that I kind of played
over and over again
and danced around
to was probably
Jumping Jack Flash by
The Rolling Stones.
I wish I could pick
something more esoteric
but that's what it was.
Grew up in a group
house, so we had a bunch
of different record
collections and at some point
around when I was five
or six they all lived in
the living room with the stereo.
So I used to take out the
triple gate fold Tommy album,
there was three copies
of it in the house.
I'd set up all three copies
and build a little fort
and then sit in there,
dance around in it,
try to analyze the
record and figure out
what everything meant in
it and identified with it.
So I'd say Tommy
was my first record
that I was really
focused on and earliest
remember being
really into that one.
It was probably a tie between
Ironman and Crocodile Rock
which was the seven inch
that I remember having.
But it was totally, we're
talking like little kid
logic so the connection
being, I used to have reptiles
and oh Crocodile
Rock, that's my song.
It's probably that
or Iron Man because
it was such a little mini epic.
The one that sticks
out in my head was
Trini Lopez and for
some reason I used to
always sing that
song Lemon Tree.
That would be the one.
The Hey Jude album
by The Beatles.
I just listened to this
and stared at the cover
of them on the back
and on the front
and listened to the record
over and over and over
again until I don't
know if I wore it out.
I probably couldn't
hear the difference
on that piece of crap I
was listening to it on.
But I really liked that.
CLIF: Whatever the song from
The Grinch that
Stole Christmas was.
Wahoo Forest, wahoo Doris,
wahoo Christmas, Christmas Day
Whatever the one that
was called. I forget.
That was my favorite
song as a child.
I would sing it on
May day, Earth day,
my mother's
birthday, everything.
Go ahead, next question.
(ROCK MUSIC)
TOM: My mom brought
home a few Beatles albums.
She brought home Help
and Meet the Beatles
and maybe one other.
I really liked it but
a spark wasn't ignited
until my grandfather bought
me the Woodstock soundtrack
and I heard Jimi
Hendrix on there.
Now you have to
understand, I'm maybe 10
or 11 years old and
I'm listening to this
and listening to
the Hendrix on that,
I'm seeing God on that.
I'd never seen Jimi Hendrix.
I didn't know what a Jimi
Hendrix was or anything.
I just saw his name on
the record, Jimi Hendrix.
From what I heard there,
I thought he was maybe
a 75 year old, gray haired man,
sitting on a stool
playing this music.
I had no idea that
he was who he was.
But that was the 'Ah ha' moment.
We went to visit a friend of
my parents who lived
in Lyland, way out,
and he had a copy of
Jimi Hendrix, Smash Hits.
That's the first time I
remember hearing Hendrix.
I just kept listening to Hey
Joe over and over and again.
Cadet also just blew my mind.
I couldn't understand
what was happening.
Of course The Beatles
were so central
at that time in my life,
I loved The Beatles.
The Beatles cartoon was on
so we used to watch that.
Also The Monkees cartoon
or TV show was on.
I was very interested in
rock and roll early on.
Hendrix was really,
that was sort of scary.
That was a different
kind of music.
Then Janis Joplin, who was
also really significant.
I have two older brothers
and they were both into
different kinds of music,
but one love they shared
was The Beatles and I
have a distinct memory
in my very early childhood
of always hearing that first
chord in A Hard Day's
Night on the record player
and it always
grabbed my attention
and then I'd start dancing
around and then as soon as
they allowed me to touch
their Beatles records
I started touching them
and looking at them
and smelling them and
listening to them under
their supervision so I
wouldn't scratch them.
It was that first chord in
A Hard Day's Night for sure.
I mean I don't have just
one story, but just like you,
my father is involved
with my music foundation.
He managed rock bands in the
60s and so the first band
he put out would be 1966,
so I was like eight or nine.
I started going with
him to shows and stuff.
It's about the same
time I saw The Beatles
on The Ed Sullivan
Show, which I remember
me and my brother sitting
in front and watching that
and going back in our
room and acting it out.
I think I was the drummer on
an ottoman with some kind of
pieces of wood or something
and then we just pretended
to play, like we were
The Beatles or something!
Fourth of July, 1977 and we
were lighting off sparklers
and I had never lit
a sparkler before
and so I decided that
it would be interesting
to see what it felt like if
I touched the sparkly part,
and so I touched it
and burnt my finger.
I remember just
getting a piece of ice
and putting it on my finger and
going into my friend's house
for the ice and on television
was Yellow Submarine.
I'd maybe heard of The Beatles,
but the cartoon Yellow
Submarine was on television
and I had this piece
of ice on my finger
watching Yellow Submarine
and it just being whoa.
MAN: When I was
growing up my parents
bought us this
horrible, huge plastic
I guess jukebox, it
looked like a jukebox
but it was just a
big piece of plastic
that was empty and
it had speakers
and just a really
bad little turn table
and it sounded horrible,
but they bought us that.
I think at a yard sale,
just grabbed a box of 45s.
I remember this
seven inch, which was
The Beatles, Help and on
the back side is I'm Down.
My parents came home
with the White album.
It might not have been
right when it came out.
But I was maybe three
or four years old
and I think why that hit me was
because everything about it.
If you're a little kid
and you're just kind of
opening up and it's
this white cover,
it's a gate fold, it's
a couple of records.
There's a song on it
that's not really music,
like Revolution
Nine and all of this
and I just remember
that's a big one for me
and that's one of
the first things
that was like, "Whoa.
What's going on?
"What are these other records
that they have in the house?"
When I was four,
five, six I thought
liking music was girly, it
was something girls did.
I had this weird twisted,
masculine sort of
thing attached to
it, it was so weird.
But secretly, I remember
melodies going through my head.
Things I would hear on the
radio, this was the early 60s.
(HUMS "I WILL FOLLOW HIM")
You know, these goofy pop songs.
The first time that
I just couldn't
resist anymore was The Beatles.
The Beatles, I mean, you
couldn't have been around
in '63, '64 and not have
been impacted by The Beatles.
When they were on Ed
Sullivan, it was like
the man landing on the
moon, it was as big as
the assassination
of JFK in some ways.
I mean it was monumental.
Riding in my dad's car,
'63 Buick if I remember,
and back then it was just a
regular AM station blasting.
Ah, my dad's listening to music.
I'm in the back
with him, whatever.
Hearing The Beatles Revolution
come on, that guitar,
(GUITAR NOISE) I was like
what the hell is that?
Kind of shook me up. What
the fuck is this? You know?
I was like wow,
man. Listen to that.
And it just dropped, duh duh duh
Do you want a revolution
Back then, lyrics didn't really
mean much to me, you know?
It was just like the music just
hit me like wow,
this is amazing!
When I was four
or five years old
I had a little transistor radio
and I'd listen to
the AM station, WMEX
and they played the
rock and roll of the day
like The Stones and
Beatles and all that.
I started listening
to these songs
and I'd tell my parents later,
"Hey, I heard this
song on the radio
can you get me the
record, is that okay?"
They started getting me
records and I remember having
Beatles stuff in the house,
mostly singles and mostly 45s.
I was a carsick kid and I was in
the back of the station wagon.
My brother and sister were in
the seat behind mom and dad
and I was in the very back,
trying to keep from puking and
the song A Horse with No Name
came on the radio by America.
In retrospect it's kind
of a moment I can point to
that sort of shaped
me or I realized later
it kind of steered me in the
direction that I went in,
to be a musician as a career
or life as a musician.
That song cured me
from being carsick.
That's kind of miraculous.
MAN: My grandparents
had this old radio
and I used to listen to it,
they played a lot of oldies.
I guess they weren't
that old at the time
but they were still old enough.
They were late 50s as opposed
to like 60s, which it was.
The song came on, La
Bamba, and I thought,
"Wow this is a
really cool song."
I just thought that
riff was just amazing.
(HUMS "LA BAMBA")
I think when I was an infant
the radio was on constantly.
My dad's always playing
his swing big band music.
Songs that kind of stuck
in my head from that time
are probably Three Little
Fishies, ever heard that song?
Ever heard that song? (SINGS
"THREE LITTLE FISHIES")
Growing up in Boston, the
radio station was called WRKO.
It was an AM station. 68 RKO.
They would play what we
call one hit wonders.
I head The Surfaris and
that was the one song
I just said, "This
is cool as hell."
I went out and walked
about one and a half miles
to the only record
store in my town,
right outside of Boston,
to buy this record.
It was like 75 cents brand
new and it was Wipe Out,
Surfaris on one side and
Surfer Joe on the other.
What I thought was
really cool, was Wipe Out
didn't have any vocals
and Surfer Joe did.
It was all about California.
That actually drew interest
in me to go to California.
I found an AM radio in
the garbage and it worked.
Then I went and I bought
a little head phone
and it was like no matter
what me and my two brothers
were going through
in a foster home,
which it got closed
down by the state.
It was a pretty abusive place.
But no matter what
I was going through,
every night when my
brothers fell asleep,
I would be under the blanket
with that head phone in
listening to all the music on
AM radio which was soul music.
Sly and the Family Stone
and the emotion coming off
that stuff... you
know, Sam Cooke,
just all the old school stuff
really helped me get through
a lot of that stuff
I was dealing with.
Music made all the
pain of the other
stuff subside for
a little while.
It was as much visual
as it was auditory.
Literally it was a
matter of like going
and buying comic books
in the local record store
slash head shop, I'm
looking up at the walls
and going, "Oh look
at that Boston record!
"Look at that Beatles record!
"Look at that Stones record!
"Look at that Zeppelin record!"
How badass and cool
are these images?
Think about an eight year old
mind looking at a Roger Dean,
Yes cover going, "What
the hell is that?!"
My mind is expanding!
There was a record
store on the Cape
that I would walk
into and you'd see
the shelves of vinyl
up against the walls.
Okay that looks cool,
like even Meat Loaf.
That first Meat Loaf
record it was like,
"Wow! Look at that
record cover!"
I bought the record, I was
like this fucking sucks.
But at the time, it
wasn't like you could just
take the records
out and put them on
and listen to them at the time.
That wasn't a thing.
They'd have them on
maybe in the store
and you'd hear something,
but a lot of times back then
you went by, gosh
this cover is awesome.
Maybe you could find
Cream magazine or Circus,
sort of get an idea of
what a group might be like.
My first real personal
experience with music was from TV.
I know it's
embarrassing, but true.
My first record that I asked
my mother to buy for me
was Bobby Sherman,
not Sean Cassidy.
Sean Cassidy's wings
were a little too wingy.
He was too soft for
me, Bobby Sherman
had a little more umph to him.
There was a fold out and
I hung it on my wall.
I think I was seven years old.
When I was a kid I
lived on Targee Street
in Staton Island across the
street from the court house
and we lived downstairs in the
basement ground floor thing.
The back was my father's tool
shop or whatever, you know?
The front was kind of like a
play room kind of whatever.
We had a stereo down
there and all these
eight tracks, tons
of eight tracks.
Bobby Sherman, Voltic,
Partridge Family.
But we had Goats Head
Soup by Rolling Stones.
I remember my
brother playing and
singing along to Star Fucker.
As kids, I thought
that was amazing.
That and Simon and
Garfunkel, I loved.
I guess I was like
three or four years old
and I knew all the
lyrics to Cecilia.
I used to sing
that all the time.
As soon as it came on in
the car, we were driving.
You had a three
year old kid singing
about a girl cheating
on ya. (LAUGHING)
What made me start paying
attention to music was
what also made me not pay
attention to music for
a couple years, which was
having to listen to my father
play country music on his
guitar along with his friends.
Every night, all day
long it seemed like.
Everyday, 24/7 it seemed like.
The same old junk from the
40s and 50s and I hated it.
That was my first exposure to
music and they play 50s songs.
My mother loved Elvis and I
could care less about any of it.
Nothing drew me in at all until,
like you mentioned,
Led Zeppelin.
When I was nine years old,
Led Zeppelin Whole Lotta Love
came out as a single and
was being played everywhere
and that part in the middle
where the sound effects
would come in and he
started breathing heavy
and he's like "ahh ahh
ahh" (BREATHES HEAVY)
Actually disturbed me to a
degree, but attracted me also.
Being disturbed, and a little
bit today, and attractive
(LAUGHING) I was
drawn into that song.
That was one of the first
albums I ended up buying.
CYNTHIA: You grew
up in Los Angeles
and there were long
drives and back then
you didn't really have
a cassette player.
You listened to the AM radio.
There were a lot of AM radio,
you know The Beach Boys,
The Beatles, that kind of stuff.
I distinctly
remember Cat Stevens.
This was like late
60s early 70s.
TOMMY: My brother got
a reel to reel player
and the first recollection
I have of listening to music
or hearing it was West
Side Story soundtrack
and the song Gee Officer
Krupke was my first
recollection of
any kind of music.
My mom was a big music fan.
My parents split up
when I was young,
but they both were
record... not collectors
but it was the 60s
and everybody had
Herb Albert and stuff like that.
My mom, she was really
into The 5th Dimension
and so that was kind of the
first song, Up Up and Away,
that I really got
into 'cause my mom
would fucking play
that song twice a day.
When I was really little
there was this record called
Journey to the Center of
the Earth by Rick Wakeman
and that record like,
I was super into it
because it had a gate fold
sleeve with a kind of like
weird iguana that was dressed
up in this crazy background
to look like a giant
dinosaur living in a cave in
the center of the earth
and it was narrated by
Viv Stantial maybe,
it was one of those
important sounding British
dudes who would tell the story.
In between give the
narration and between
the Prague, people with
swords or whatever.
Well my dad was who
he was and he loved
and listened to and knew,
inside and out, classical music.
These are highly complex,
if you've ever seen
a music sheet for
an orchestra for
classical music, Brahms,
Beethoven, Chopin,
my dad loved Chopin, and
Mozart and et cetera.
He could whistle along to an
entire symphony of Beethovin.
He would hear a little
snippet that guys like you
or me would not, I mean
it would sound nice.
We would say that it was pretty.
We might even know,
I'm at the stage where
I kind of know it's
Mozart versus Beethovin.
I kind of know
those distinctions,
but I don't know that's Mozzart's
Suite in E minor or that's
Beethovin's... okay
Beethovin's Ninth is easy.
But there are some that are
difficult and my dad, instant.
So I grew up with
that permeating to me,
so I think that had a lot to
do with my sense of melody
my sense of timing,
building, layering, you know?
All of that is
incredibly complex stuff
that you don't just
pick up easily.
I'm grateful to him
for that, so that was
sort of the planting
of the seeds.
When I was 10 to 12 months,
I guess this doesn't
really count as a memory
'cause it's before I
remember it, but I always had
lots of music around growing
up and Aretha Franklin
Respect, the background vocals
of the ree-ree-ree part.
I would stand up in
my crib and yell,
"Ree-ree-ree-ree" whenever
I wanted to hear music.
I guess that's my first
identifying with music
and sort of like, probably
one of my first words too,
as it being counted as a word.
My memory is of being very young
at my dad's apartment
in Columbus, Ohio
and my parents were divorced
when I was pretty young.
I lived in Cleveland.
He lived in Columbus.
I think he had ordered a K-tel
Little Richard, just
like off the television,
Little Richard's Greatest Hits.
I just remember
literally dancing around
in our tightey whiteys to
Keep a Knocking or something.
It makes me emotional
to remember this.
But, I mean, how
are you not going
to devote yourself
to music after that.
(UPBEAT ROCK MUSIC)
I discovered a lot
of music through radio
and so there's some
certain DJs that
were really
important in my life.
When they were on
WHFS was a station
based in Mathesda,
Maryland that had a couple
DJs that were
really interesting,
playing their own
thing, and didn't
have to play some
corporate song list that...
Late at night I could hear
early blues from this guy Weasel
and discovered so much
about music through DJs
and also discovered punk
rock, it was a great show,
and Mystic Eye, greatest
show on the HFS.
First place I heard
Iggy Pop, you know?
So much music I
learned through DJs.
Discovering FM radio and
discovering on accident
Left of the Dial college
radio and hearing
heavy stuff on college radio,
that's what did it for me.
It wasn't any people because
I didn't really know anybody.
It was just pretty much me,
so I discovered it through FM.
I would have to say my
biggest influence in music
that really got me into punk
rock was my cousin Choochee.
I remember, it's a
funny interesting story
because Choochee
was supposed to not
be with us today, he still is!
He had this disease
where he lost one kidney.
He was gonna lose his
second, he was apparently
supposed to die,
but he never did.
The crazy story about
that is his mom,
because we were young,
we were all young.
We were all like
15, 16 years old.
You're son's gonna die.
What are you gonna do?
Give him anything he wants!
So he had a big
Marshall amplifier,
this punk rock band
called Barb Wired Babies.
He was just punked
out, he's doomed
so he's gonna go all out.
I'd go into his room and he'd
be blasting The Sex Pistols
and I was like, "What
the hell is this?"
Then we're doing mescaline
and all crazy out of my minds.
My father's taste was horrible.
Mom's taste was
white trash country.
But my cousin's just, were
two years older than me,
and there was four
of them, they were
twins that were two
years older than me.
I was like 11 and they were 13
and Keith was 15
and Ricky was 17.
They said, "Let's
take him to a concert!
"Let's take the little
kid to the concert."
I was like, "Okay,
I want to go."
My parents go, "What show
are you taking him to?"
"Oh, it's gonna be
at the Boston Garden.
"It's gonna be fine. This
band is doing a whole opera."
I'm going to an opera?
"Yeah, it's called Quadrophenia.
It's like an opera."
Cousins, it was my
cousins Rhonda and Carrie.
We looked up to them, they were
four, five, six years older
than I am and their basement was
The Monkees, The
Beatles, and KISS.
I do remember Jim Croce
as well, but those were
the main records
we would listen to.
My cousin Jimmy, who lived
around the corner from me
for a few years, he
was a big music fan.
He was mostly into blues
and bluesy rock and roll.
I had just heard Jimi
Hendrix for the first time,
so this is my maybe 14 years
old and I went over to see
Jimmy and said, "Hey, you got
any Jimi Hendrix records?"
He loaned me his
copy of Smash Hits.
He was very generous
loaning me his records.
I still got a few in
the pile down there,
which I'm gonna return
to him one of these days.
I would say it would
be my older cousin,
Johnny, who was
just cool and he's
probably like 10
years older than me.
I would hang out with him
and he'd let me clean out
his weed and we'd go to the
unemployment office together.
I was just his little side kick.
He was very into the
Yankees, that's not music,
but he was into
Bruce Springsteen
and Lynyrd Skynyrd
and Molly Hatchet.
My brother, who's two
years older than I am,
was kind of into
drugs and you know,
he tried to get me to
listen to the Grateful Dead.
I remember at the UCLA,
what was it called?
The Pavilian, or
the UCLA something,
I don't know what it was.
Grateful Dead I
was like, no way.
I'm not going to
The Grateful Dead.
This is where I kind of
already knew about punk,
like I already knew.
I was listening to
Rodney on the Rock.
I'm like, "You want to see
The Grateful Dead, why?"
He's like, "You know
you can take acid
and it's really awesome."
I was like, "No, I
don't want to do that.
"I don't want to do that."
In a way, he was my
inspiration that made me
even more into punk,
because it was like
that is so not what
I'm into right now.
I have a huge answer
to that and I've actually
credited it on record covers
to my older brother Bob.
I've said, "It's your fault!
"You got me into
this whole mess."
Being in the music
business, he really pushed
Hendrix on me, like
you said your dad did
and The Allman Brothers,
Brothers and Sisters.
He's like, "You gotta
hear this Jessica!
"The guitar playing
is amazing on here."
Then Cream, and I'm still
into Clapton big time.
Both of my older
brother's because they had
such different musical
tastes were huge influences.
One brother was listening
to Lynyrd Skynyrd
and The Allman Brothers
and the other brother
was listening to Dylan and
Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell
and later on Patti
Smith and lots of stuff.
But a neighborhood friend of
my brother's, an older kid,
named Eddie Rose in the late
70s came over to the house
with Clash and Ramones
records, the first ones.
That was, you know, legend.
PAUL: My older brother and
my sister, I was the youngest.
They definitely
influenced me, my brother
because he had the
early Slade records.
They were popular on
Staten Island in the 70s.
Slade was with like the
poor kids, whatever.
The white trash kids, he had
that and-you outta here? Okay.
He had that and Mott the Hoople.
He had Black Sabbath,
Alice Cooper.
My sister was more
into the pop side.
She was into The Baycity
Rollers and stuff like that.
But then Kiss came
into the picture.
I really don't know.
My sister brought
me to The Clash
and then The Clash opened up
my eyes to a whole nother world
of underground music and
I think there were movies.
Stop Making Sense came out
and that was The Taking Heads
and then there was all
these little avenues
and then I heard Gang of
Four and I don't know,
I ended up at some
show in college.
I walked through the kitchen,
in these back hallways,
and ended up in this room and
I was watching Gang of Four.
They were performing
at Carnegie Melon
and I fucking lost
my shit right there!
I was like (GASPS) I love
this band! Oh my god!
Probably my father,
who was a swing jazz guy,
but he was hard core and he
listened to records constantly.
He was just a really avid,
close, critical musical thinker.
Plus, it was a tremendous
gift he gave to me,
he used to take me into
New York to the jazz clubs
to see people that he admired.
That was a tremendous
gift to me.
My father was a television
producer and record companies
would give promo copies to
the TV station for whatever.
He was on the local CBS
affiliate, he did nighttime news.
They had all this
other stuff, and so
they would send him
all these records.
He'd bring records home, so
it was like having Spotify
in 1975 and so my influence
was kind of DIY on it,
but there's always this
rack of new stuff coming.
Toto, oh that's
bad. Like bad good!
Toto's cool, it's got guitar.
KENNY: Cody Alexander,
he had six other brothers.
He's the youngest
and they're all just
these long haired dudes that
were really into rock and roll.
His older brother, Roy
Alexander, I used to go
into his room when
Cody wasn't around
and I'd get stoned with
Roy and his buddies,
like Boyd and Daryl and
stuff like that, or Dilbert.
We'd listen to Steely Dan.
He had Endless Summer
by The Beach Boys.
All the stuff that I
wouldn't have heard normally.
I will give a shout
out to a guy who lived
two doors down, a guy
named Joe McGrath.
I was probably eight
or nine, Joe was
probably the ripe
old age of 12 or 13.
He saw something in
me and literally,
we would hang out, I think
Joe smoked the pot as well
but that never came
into our conversations.
He would turn me onto the
first three Aerosmith records,
the first two Alice Cooper
records, Black Sabbath.
CRAIG: For me and my friends,
it was a guy named Matt Fields,
who still is a dear
friend of mine.
I remember I met
Matt at a JCC dance
and he was wearing a trench coat
and a Joy Division pin
and had like six rat tails
and we immediately met
and became best friends.
It was through him that we
all started listening to
XTC, the entire first wave
of 4AD bands, Parooboo.
Damon Locks, who's still
one of my best friends
in the world, and Derek
Bish who was his friend
who I'm still friends
with and Chris O'Conner.
These were just three
kids, that we were
all in this art magnet together.
I was doing these faux HR
airbrush paintings and stuff
and I think they kind of rescued
me and they started making
me tapes of DC punk rock and
just like whatever it was.
When we got to high
school there was this
transfer kid from California
named Richard Bash.
He's the one that brought
us to our first show.
He's the one that said,
"Oh! Black Flag is playing."
Oh yeah, we like Black Flag.
He's like, "Well,
we're all gonna go."
Around that time
we're just buying up
all the records
that we can based
on what he's sort
of letting us know.
He's like, "Oh you should
check out Minor Threat."
They're from here, so my
friend Dave went out and bought
the record and it was like,
we thought it was illegal.
It was just like
Fuck yeah, fucking shit
The amount of cursing
that was going on,
we're like I don't
know if we're allowed
to listen to that,
but I really like it!
My best friend Mark
Haggardy, who I was
in bands with later,
me and him sort of
discovered rock music
at the same time
and started really
getting into it.
A lot of it was just us
feeding off of each other.
Going to record stores
together, watching all
the TV show specials
with bands from the 60s
and taking notes on them
and later when we get
into punk rock, going
through photo magazines
and trying to pick bands
off of people's jackets.
I wonder what that is! 999!
That looks cool, let's
check out that record!
If he's got it on his jacket,
maybe it's worth listening to.
My best friend, Eric Neil,
he had an older brother
who was friends with
The Feelies, who were
kind of a popular indie
band at that time.
But Fritz Neil was his
name, the older brother,
and Fritz turned us both
onto The Clash, I remember
Plastic Bertrand,
(SPEAKING FRENCH)
obviously the early Ramones,
and all these things.
Fritz Neil probably has no
idea, he probably doesn't
remember any of that,
but he would put all
this stuff in you know, "Try
this, try this, try this."
I was like a junkie. I needed
more and more and more.
So I'm working
at this restaurant
and these two cooks were
just blasting 77 punk.
They were blasting
Plasmatics, The Ramones
and telling the stories
about them going to the Rath
Underground Paradise,
places that I was too young
to go to and I'd
heard a lot about.
From '78 to '80 I was locked
up and I went into the navy.
Then I was stationed in
Northfolk and there was
this dude down there, I think
his name was Dave or Dan.
He was a mod dude. He was into
the jam, but he was British.
He knew all the fucking punk
shit from, this was 1980.
He knew all the punk
shit from London
and turned me onto this
Live at the Vortex.
I started really getting
into a lot more of The Clash
and The Damned and
obviously The Pistols,
but I heard them in the 70s.
He had a real great sense
of what music was going on.
IAN: Henry Rawlins,
we started hanging out.
I remember going to his house.
He had a BB gun. We'd
go into his basement.
He had a piece of
foam against a wall
and a cigar box he put
poker chips in slots
and we'd just sit there
and shoot the poker chips.
He had a Crosman 760
Pump Action Rifle
and a little Co2 Pistol
and I remember listening
to Cheech and Chong,
Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin.
That's where I first heard
Nugent, was in his basement.
Henry Rawlins, he is
absolutely the most influential
music taste maker of my
early interest in punk music
and then other
music, and still is.
I still listen to his
radio show and always hear
something that is interesting
even if I don't like it.
I was actually
the one that turned
most of my friends
onto certain bands.
I would be out there buying
anything that looked
interesting at yard
sales or something.
I had a collection of probably
2500 albums at one point.
I discovered music cheaply until
I learned how to shoplift well.
Why am I going insane
Why am I the one to pay
What records made
me who I today?
Which is an interesting
question because I mean
I'm sitting here decades
later, still probably
over involved with
music, never looked back.
To me, the most influential
record as a person
was SS Decontrol's The
Kids Will Have Their Say.
If there was ever sort
of a scene maker band
for Boston hardcore,
DIY independent action
fought involvement,
that was SS Decontrol.
First Generation X
record, and this record
I listened to more than
anything else in the 80s,
pretty much until
this came along
which I probably
listened to even more.
Between these two, both
in G, those would be
my formative sort of
80s punk rock records.
This one.
This record as a
musician is like...
I love this record
it's like flawless.
It's hilarious. It's powerful.
It's snotty. It's intelligent.
Yeah, I like this one.
Outcasts, Self
Conscious Over You.
First album. Bell
faced die on a dare.
This album's beautiful. It's
just so innocent, really.
They could barely
play their instruments
and the timing's off
and they're singing
love songs and stuff like
that about being a teenager
while bombs are going off
in the streets outside.
This album without
a doubt meant a lot
to me growing up and
even to this day.
I mean I don't even
have to think about that.
The Bad Brains first album
'cause I was living in
the studio with them at
171 when they recorded it.
So seeing what they
were living through.
For me, it's not just
I put the record on.
Every song has a story to it.
I was there when HR
was recording it.
The guys were talking about it.
We were living it, I
was living it with them
when that record was being made.
To this day there
ain't a fucking band
on the planet that
could touch those guys
musically or
lyrically or anything.
Having been there when
the late great Jay Dublee,
God rest his soul, recorded it.
It's like nobody
made The Bad Brains
sound that way on any
record to this day.
Obviously The Bad Brains are
a huge influence for my band.
A lot of British punk,
Jam 69, The Damned.
All those records.
Over and over again.
You know, Iggy Pop,
Stranglers, The Sonics.
It's so crazy now, you hear them
on TV commercials, but
when we first started
getting into them,
no one heard them.
Those are the garage punk bands
and the punk bands
that got us into music.
Hearing the first Blag
Flag single, whew man.
Nervous Breakdown record
was massive for me.
Sham 69, Tell Us the Truth.
The live side of that.
I thought, wow
that's what I wanted.
For me, the idea of being in a
room with people singing along?
That's all I've ever wanted.
What blew my mind was probably
Iggy Pop and The Ramones
because everything is
sped up and louder.
What really made me want to
play fast aggressive punk
is, I would say, Greg
Ginn from this record.
I would listen to
this, someone's picking
me up to go to college
and I'm blasting
this in my bedroom
and I miss my ride.
I was in a head shop in
downtown Lim when I was about 16,
this would be 1976, and they had
a crate of records on the floor.
I'm looking through it
and all of a sudden I see
this record with this freaky
looking guy on the cover.
It's like wow, what's this?
I turn it around and it says
Iggy and The Stooges, Raw Power.
Had the clerk play
me a couple of songs,
like wow this is great
and I took it home.
It didn't leave my turn
table for a long time.
That was a life changer.
I was listening to
something called
punk rock before I knew
such a thing existed.
I think that certainly
the first Clash record
blew my mind and
the second as well.
Their early stuff was, the
first two, three Ramones records
also, the energy and the sheer
dedication they played with.
One, two, three, four! You know?
Just you know, when you're
a kid that touches you.
That grabs your heart
and makes it race.
At this point, it sounds cliche,
but it is 100 percent true.
There's nothing that comes
anywhere near this record
was The Ramones,
Rocket to Russia.
I was listening to our college
radio station at the time.
I was 17, I'd heard
about punk rock.
I was drawn to the 60s
counter culture thing.
Not the hippie shit,
but the counter culture.
I was too late for
that and I was looking
for something out there,
didn't know what it was.
I could rebel with, not
rebel thinking back then,
wishing I was alive back then.
Something relevant that
meant something today.
The DJ was saying I have to
play a song from this band here.
This is something called by
The Ramones called
Teenage Lobotomy.
When that started
playing, I'd never
heard anything like that either.
I just cranked it up
to 10 and I was like
yeah, this is fucking
exactly what I like.
There was this record store in
Dupont Circle called
Bread and Roses.
We used to be regulars
there and we walked in
and this guy John was
playing, it had just come out,
it was The Ramones,
Road to Ruin album.
We were like, what
the hell is this?
He's like, "It's The Ramones.
It's their brand new record.
"I just got an advanced copy."
We were like, "But what
kind of music is this?!"
We don't really understand
what we're hearing.
He said it was
basically punk rock.
From our perspective,
we had always, you know,
the media line of punk
rock is it's an exclusively
British form of music that
people beat each other up to.
That's kind of all
anybody would tell you.
It sounded stupid. Yeah, we
were immediately sold on it.
If I had to give
credit to a single record
if I ever have to, I think
Never Mind the Bollocks
by The Sex Pistols
is just mind blowing.
I think that just
shook the world.
That just changed music.
It changed everything.
It pretty much set
and opened all doors
in me and my life and so
much more to walk through.
There was other great
bands doing stuff.
The Ramones, I can't take that
away from them, Dead boys.
A lot of good stuff, but there
was nothing as intense as
Never Mind the
Bollocks, just intense.
Tom Snyder had
a show on that was
like every first Saturday
night of the month.
Instead of Saturday Night Live,
he had his little news show.
I remember they did a
thing on the new thing
in England called punk
rock and Barbie Benton,
they were interviewing
her on the street.
She goes, "Oh my god!
"There's this band
called The Sex Pistols."
That name stuck out
and the next time
I was up at the record
store, there it was.
It must have just come out.
I bought that and
that was it for me.
The record that changed the
direction was The Teen Idles.
In DC of course, punk
rock was sort of recent
when I was wandering
around Georgetown
looking for something fun to do
and I'd hear that
people hung around
in Georgetown and looked
for fun things to do.
I was wandering the streets
and I went into a record store
and they said, "oh you should
listen to this record."
So of course, I bought
the record immediately.
It is the first record
on Discord Records,
which I subsequently
worked for for 22 years.
Apparently I really
liked this music.
This record, 9353,
extremely important band
for me and my friends.
Growing up in DC in
the 80s and a band
that is sort of lost
to the sands of time.
I discovered Dead Kennedys
and AC/DC at the same time.
I remember asking
my guitar teacher,
the first song I learned
to play was Back in Black.
I remember asking
him to teach me
California Uber Alles
and he was not into it.
He goes, "I don't
want to teach you
"any songs by this
band The Dead Kennedys.
"That name is just
really offensive to me."
Which made it all
the more interesting.
Beatles, Beatles,
Beatles, Beatles.
As a kid and then when I started
to become very interested
in guitar as I got older,
AC/DC, KISS, AC/DC, KISS.
But if I'm gonna have to
puck one, probably AC/DC.
Malcolm, more than Angus.
Get Your Ya-Ya's Out
by The Rolling Stones.
That was in my dad's collection.
That's the first
record I obsessed over.
It was probably
around '72 or '73.
I was like nine
years old I think.
I listened to that
record constantly.
I used to take wax paper
and trace the pictures
on the back of Keith and Mick.
Just kind of wonder who was
playing what instrument.
I knew all the between song
banter so that record was huge.
Paranoid and then
I went back and
got the first Black
Sabbath record.
Electric Funeral, that
really changed my life.
It was more dark
stuff, then later on
pushing ahead it would
be the Killing Joke.
The first Killing Joke record
is still a huge influence on me.
Blood sport, the
stance, punk rock.
Then seeing them live,
it was just so pummeling.
It still had heavy
guitar, but it was punk
and new wave and dance music.
Completely different
than anything else.
Just like Paranoid,
I thought was,
I just was blown away by that
first Killing Joke record.
One big turning point for
me was when you're getting
an album for Christmas, two
copies of the big hit album
that year, Rod Stewart,
A Night on the Town.
I took one to Payless
Drugstore to exchange it.
I was riffling through
all the records
and this Led Zeppelin
four album cover,
the man with the bundle
of sticks on his back.
I saw that and I go,
this is incredibly cool.
I don't remember whether
I bought it because of
the album cover or because I
might have recognized it and
remembered Stairway to Heaven,
I don't remember honestly.
I was very young. I took it
home and put the album on.
Everything in my world changed.
In terms of impact,
life changing,
planet wobbling off its access
kind of impact, Hendrix.
There's nothing even close,
really there's nothing close.
I mean he was the God head.
When I heard that first
album, all bets were off.
Anything was possible.
It was a world of
wild imagination
and color and limitless
possibilities.
That guitar, I'm getting
goosebumps just thinking of it.
The same record that
originally blew my mind
when I was 10 or 11 years old
that made me want to change my
religion to Jimi Hendrix was
the Live at Woodstock album.
Him playing, it sent me on a
path of wanting to play rock,
of wanting to play rock and
roll, to play at an extremely
loud volume, to be
extremely distorted.
That feedback was a note
and a chord and a song.
Jimi Hendrix. It all
comes back to him.
(FAST PUNK MUSIC)
A house is on fire, what
three records would you grab?
Is that a desert island dissoff?
First, if you're on a desert
island, there's no electricity.
Your batteries are gonna
run out pretty soon,
so I don't think any
records are gonna help you.
But if your house is on fire,
you grab Minor Threat,
Out of Step test pressing,
only because number
one it's a great record
and number two it's extremely
rare and will allow you
to buy records to replace
the one you lost in the fire.
If my house was
on fire and I had
to get three records
out, the first thing
I would definitely get is...
I have a Minor Threat test
pressing of Out of Step.
It's worth enough to probably
fix some of the smoke
and water damage, so I
would need that in order
to get sorted out because
you know insurance,
they could do anything
and just say no.
So I'd get that, and
it's a good record.
I would definitely take
Exile on Main Street,
by far my favorite
Stones record,
just such an important
thing and I would
take the Black
album by The Damned.
Probably the Minor Threat
discography and let's face it,
except for Good Guys
Don't Wear White,
they didn't have a bad song.
I'd just get the
fuck out of the house.
If my house were
on fire and I could
only grab three records,
I would grab The Faith,
The Damned, and
Love and Rockets.
If my house were on fire,
I would grab one of
my favorite records.
I did punk rock, which is what
threw off my entire college
career in the end, but I
went to college for opera
and Maria Callas was my actual
favorite singer of all time.
MC5 which is one of my favorite
records of all time,
oh my goodness.
Reptile House, which is
also a Discord record.
If my house is on fire, which
is not even a funny question
because I've already
been through this.
I've unfortunately been through
a fire and lost records,
lost a dog, which is more
heartbreaking than anything.
I was actually playing
a show with The Bruisers
and I got that call
and was like "Oh."
Anyway, if I had to get out of
my house with three records,
you're making it
really tough on me,
I would definitely grab
my Bad Brains, Pay to Cum.
This has got to come
with me everywhere I go.
I love all of these.
I would grab SS Decontrol,
Kids Will Have Their Say.
This is one of my all
time favorite albums.
All time, love it.
Everything up here I love.
I don't think I would need
to grab my own because
it's in my mind, but if I
had to take another choice,
I love the Misfits of
course, Minor Threat.
Can I take four? Can I take
The Misfits and Minor Threat?
I'll take these two. Bullet
and In my Eyes, Minor Threat,
I'd be very tempted
to grab a couple
test pressings like Flex
Your Head test pressing
or the Iron Cross test pressing,
just because I wouldn't
be able to replace those.
The Bad Brains single I
like because it's the only
signed record I have and it's
also one of the early ones.
They didn't figure out how
to fold the cover correctly
so it's like too fat and
long which I kind of like.
I don't know, I'd probably
grab something like that.
My Bad Brains, seven
inch, which I could easily
put that in this category
because it completely
changed everything I knew
about music and it sounded pro.
It didn't sound
like a local band.
It was just amazing and
I hadn't heard that much.
There wasn't really any
hardcore to hear at that point.
So this record, I'd
grab it, and it's also
probably my only
valuable record left.
Raw Cassette,
Catch a Fire, and man
I've got to go with
fucking Master of Puppets.
I fucking love that
record dude. You know why?
When Master of Puppets
came out I was addicted
to cocaine and
freebase at the time
and going through a
lot of crazy shit.
When I put that
record on I was like,
to wake up and have your
breakfast on a mirror,
it was a lot of deep
shit being said there
and the music was
just fucking brutal
and it's Cliff Burton's
last record with them.
It was just like, you
know, I was like holy shit.
3, 2, 1, I would grab the
Bad Brains wire sessions
which I have on cassette,
but I don't have it with me.
But I would grab this one,
and number two would be this.
But my number one
record, if I just
had to grab one,
would be this one.
Okay, so if my house was
on fire what would I do?
Do I want this? It's cool.
This is a great record.
I mean, a classic for sure.
Well if my house is
on fire, I have this
one box of all my
collectable, or records
that some people
refer to as bonzers.
I heard that somewhere
basically refer to rare
or prized records so
I guess that's kind of
the term I go with, but
I'd just grab the box.
If I had to specifically
pick three, one would be
the first Articles of Faith
album, What We Want is Free.
Another one is Negative
Approaches first seven inch,
in fact their only
seven inch I guess.
This last one isn't really
anything that rare, I suppose.
It's a band from Michigan
called The State.
I had a friend named Jane
from here and she went
to the University of Michigan
and would send me back
flyers and records and this is
one of the ones she sent me.
"You gotta check this
band out, they're great!"
I did that and it
has really strong
sentimental value
because she died on 9/11.
She was on one of the
planes, so I really cherish
any of the records I got from
her after she passed away
I basically inherited her
record collection as well.
That's something that
means a great deal to me.
It's an impossible
answer. Honestly?
I think, like I mentioned
before, why I keep these things
in boxes is so I can
throw them at the window,
so I don't have to
pick threw them.
(LAUGHING)
I could just throw them
out and I'll be great.
I don't know, this The
Saints third album,
Prehistoric Sounds.
Slade, Play it Loud.
I only get three.
This record, the
Why EP. Discharge.
Jesus. It's like I got this
when it first came out.
This fucking record scared
the shit out of everybody.
Let's see, Rocket to
Russia and then probably,
I get three?
Two of the three signed by
Edward Gory albums that we have.
One False Move by The Freeze,
Edward Gory the artist
signed them and because
I love Edward Gory
and I miss him I'd grab those.
That's funny that
you asked that.
My answer is I'd
grab my negatives.
(LAUGHING) I wouldn't
grab records.
I'd probably just grab a
few Rolling Stones records.
I would probably give
a different answer
to this every hour of every day,
so if I had to
answer it right now,
let's go with The
Clash, London Calling;
The Beatles, it's like I
want to say the White album,
but believe it or not I'm
gonna say Magical Mystery Tour;
It's a tie right now
in my brain between
Let it Bleed by the Stones
and Blue by Joni Mitchell.
If my house was on fire I
would grab the White album.
I would grab, I might grab Honky
Dory - no I would grab Low.
For sure. I would definitely
grab Street Hustle.
All right, I gave
it some thought
and every time I thought
about it I changed my mind.
But this morning,
Electric Ladyland.
My second choice this
morning would be Trout Mask
and the last one, it could
have been their third album,
you know I love their
third album as well,
I love even some of those
later things that are sort of
compilations of live
stuff recorded at Max's
but this record is
very important to me.
I actually met Lou a few
years ago he signed it.
Then I was bummed that I had
him sign it on the front.
This front is just so brilliant.
Have to be an Allman
Brothers record.
This was one of my
first favorite bands.
When I was 14 I took a bus
and went down to Georgia
and saw them at Lana Jam
so it would have to be
an Allman Brother's
record, probably
either Eat a Peach
or Live at Fillmore.
East, John Coltrain
Ballads, and then
Will the Circle be Unbroken
by The Nitty Gritty Band.
To be honest, the
first thing I would
grab would be my
1952 Gibson ES175.
(ROCK MUSIC)
The last record that
I bought was Drinks,
which is a project
band with Tim Pressley
from White Fence and Kate
Lebon who's a Welsh singer.
I think it's called The
Essential Charlie Rich.
The last record
I purchased was by
an artist by the name of Eluvium
and the record's called
Nightmare Ending.
Honestly the last record
I bought was probably
Duran, Duran and
it was for my wife
because we got a new turn table.
I got this Moondog record a
few weeks ago. I love Moondog.
The last record I purchased
was Radkey's Dark Black Makeup.
The last record that
I bought would be,
I forget the title of it, it's
a Delbert McCLinton record.
Yeah. That would
be the last one.
The last record I bought was
Key Markets by Sleaford Mods.
Animals, box set. I
wanted the Animals box set.
The last record I purchased,
and I've been doing this
as a habit from the very
beginning that our first album
came out, Victim in Pink,
it's just for the purpose
of good luck itself, I always
go out and but my record.
I go to the record store
and I buy my record.
It hasn't worked.
(LAUGHING)
Christ, I don't know.
I've been illegally downloading
for so long now I
don't know. (LAUGHING)
I can't remember the last one.
Probably Leatherface,
Stormy Petrol.
Battle Ruins. It's
a bunch of local guys.
They're like a side project.
If I tell you, then people
will think I'm just a hippie
and I'm not even into
hardcore and I'm just a fraud,
but (LAUGHING) you know, but
Apostrophe by Frank Zappa
was something that I picked up.
I'm spoiled by the internet
because I look for stuff
that I didn't buy that's
not in my collection
of records and CDs
and I just stream it
and I don't download it
and it's kind of a shame.
The music industry is like that.
This is the last
record I purchased.
It's a band from New
York City called Nandas.
I found out about it just
on the internet, you know,
checking them out online
and it was really good
so I got this a couple weeks
ago and I was not disappointed.
The last record I bought
was last week for a road trip.
I got Singles Going
Steady by the Buzzcocks.
The stereo situation hasn't
been around for decades.
It's just too easy
with the digital stuff.
I listen in the car and I listen
on that little speaker there.
It's sort of pathetic, isn't it?
That little Bose,
whatever it's called.
The last single record I got
was a reissue of a DC
band called The Hangmen,
60s garage band who was
sort of hard to hear
this band in the 80s and 90s,
but now being rediscovered.
I got 'Bout Love by Clydie King.
It's a northern soul,
all these old (MUMBLING).
All the Time, by The Intruders.
Both of these I got for
maybe 20 bucks with postage.
The last record I
purchased was Black Sabbath's
first album because
it's the deluxe version.
It's a double album with
outtakes and this album
is ground zero for a lot of
people and I can see why.
Let's go with KISS,
Dressed to Kill.
It sucks that I don't have
time to listen to vinyl.
Almost never can I
make time to do it,
so I totally turned into
one of the file people.
I just pluck music
out of the ether.
I think it was the
first Undertones record.
I just, you know one thing
I just recently bought?
I'm not sure this
was the last record,
but Eddie Harris live.
You know Eddie
Harris? The jazz guy?
Had a listen here
track, good jam.
Him live at The
Village Gate, I think.
That's a great record.
I bought Funky People
Part One, James Brown.
That was the last
record I bought.
Record labels sell plastic.
That's what they're selling.
And the reason we buy one piece
of plastic over another one,
is because they have
licensed information
to be inscribed into that
plastic that is more attractive
to us than say some
other information
that the guys licensed for
another piece of plastic.
Ultimately, records label,
it's just fucking plastic
and with paper on it right?
That's what a record is.
What do you call a record
you don't listen to?
A piece of fucking trash.
(PUNK MUSIC)