Jonathan Richman's 60's Favorites/ What Do Rat Scabies and Lester Bangs Have in Common

Was August 1977 a changing of the guard moment for the British rock press? I am not sure. That was the month that Kris Needs took over the editorial helm of Zig Zag from Pete “Rock Family Tree” Frame. I have two gems from the last issue of Zig Zag that Frame edited in July 1977 (the one with a most excellent Lee Black Childers cover design with a photo of Johnny Thunders holding a switchblade and looking like one of Keitel’s buddies outta Mean Streets). Just click on the image to make them at least legible. Here we present Jonathan Richman’s Sounds of the 1960’s - at least Jonathan didn’t drop the Spoonful like a lot of the counterculture based on the rumour about Zal. In fact, we need to revisit those albums and Zal’s solo lp again. The second item is dedicated to my friend Tim who was responsible (along with Grady), for starting the West Coast Godz revival in my household. Tim wrote one of the best pieces/interviews on the Godz in his Rock Mag (or Modern Rock Magazine) in the 1990’s and other than Bang’s article mentioned herein, it is essential reading on one of Thirsty’s favourite bands as well. If someone wants to compile the Richman tape and post it in the comments, hey – we would be pretty grateful for the heavy lifting.