Phast Phreddie on Radio Birdman's "Burn My Eye" EP in Radio Free Hollywood June 1977/Erasmo Carlos "Sonhos e Memórias" (1972) [repost 2013]

I have had several copies of Erasmo Carlos' excellent 1972 lp "Sonhos e Memórias." It has that great early 1970's Polydor Brazil production quality and this track, "Bom Dia, Rock 'n' Roll" has got the Creedence hoodoo down to a science along with some great early rock/Beatles stylings with late tropicalia filtered in there. It also has one of my FAVOURITE early 1970's gatefold covers (Elvis, Lennon, Jagger, Dylan, Hendrix, Warhol, Monroe etc). Somebody rolled a few too many on my "nicer" gatefold copy.  While Jovem Guarda may not be your thing, and Erasmo has some weaker moments in his early catalogue, he struck gold in 1970-1972.  Why do I bring this up?  Although I doubt that Stars in the Sky ever heard "Bom Dia, Rock 'n'Roll," it has that same Fogerty jog where I expect the Kessel Brothers (like Erasmo) to start name checking Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry et al in Portuguese inflected English.  Why do I bring up Stars in the Sky? Does the comparison below of Stars in the Sky make "Bom Dia" a proto "Shake Some Action" styled track? 

Moonlighting from his own Back Door Man, Phast Phreddie penned the "Pharmaceutically 45" columns in the early Radio Free Hollywood. What jumps out to me in this column from #2 in June 1977 is his inclusion of Radio Birdman's "Burn My Eye" ep - you could probably count on one hand the number of copies of that ep floating around the US at that time. Obviously, the U.S. release of "Radios Appear" on Sire changed the likelihood of RB sightings and I found my used copy in the bins at Rhino in the early 1980's. But a compilation of just the then-new tracks he reviews in this single monthly column could make a best of the 1970's lp hands down: Devo, Roky, Radio Birdman, Droogs, "I Got a Right/Gimmee Some Skin." - and just think of all of the amazing records still to be released from June 1977 though December 1979!

The best version of "Burn My Eye" other than by Radio Birdman itself for me hands down is the version by Monoshock on the S-S comp. I saw them play it at a practice followed by an equally unwound version of the Pink Fairies' classic "City Kids." Maybe they will play them in Portland in March. Who knows? Given that neither is available as a split single, here is a pretty hot 50's styled live take (with equally awesome 1980's aussie hairdos) by the Girlies:

Chris D's First By-Line in Slash - August 1977: "I Got a Right"/" Fucking Obvious Bastards of L.A."/"insipid and retarded hippie wimps with googoo brains"

I can't even count how many shit-fi French Stooges bootlegs I bought in the 1980's but it was a lot. Pretty much every early 1970's rehearsal scrap and live show that made an appearance before the floodgates opened (and in great sound to boot starting in the late 1990's).  I practically fell out of my law office chair when I opened the email announcing the release of the Funhouse box set. Was this really happening? In this most prescient of reviews, Chris D. articulates what I was searching for on every one of those 1972-1973 rehearsal bootlegs: more of the "rawer, crazier, less calculated, more despairing" and yes, more brain shattering masterpieces left off the official releases. Still a top five single from the 1970's. "Wild Love" is one of my favourite excavations from the myriad of live tapes from the era with a great Williamson solo - a classic fer sure. The August 1977 issue also features a live review by Chris. I wonder if he had a rethink on the Dogs.  Such a great band live.  Check out the Dogs super 8 footage from 1971 (yes 1971) with sound from the "no-nonsense single" which Chris references (guessing it was the John Rock/Younger Point of View 45 from 1976?).  The Masque vs the Radio Free Hollywood crowd coming into contact and not quite gelling?  Anybody with info on F.O.B.L.A.? One of the funnier reviews in the earlier Slash issues with a Buddy Greco reference to fine tune the hazing. Just imagine Claude reading this out loud after Chris handed it to him!

First of all, what does F.O.B.L.A. stand for? Fucking Obvious Bastards of L.A.? Should be,because these kids are still caught up in the sequin shit trip of singing about being R 'n' R stars . . .insipid and retarded hippie wimps with googoo brains; even have drum solos yet and plunging V-neck shirts a la Buddy Greco. Hasn’t anybody learned anything, in the last year? There's no excuse for this kind of music any more ... no matter how unimaginative/unoriginal one is.

Two 1975 Classics Live in 1977

Buck Dharma joined by Neal Smith and Dennis Dunaway: "Born to Rock" (1982)

Recently revisited Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser’s solo lp Flat Out. Funded in the wake of "Burnin' for You"'s success? The last time I saw Buck was with BOC in Isla Vista in the late 80’s. Such a sweet, recognizable guitar tone. On Flat Out Buck is credited with playing all “instruments, effects and noises.” On “Born to Rock" however Buck is joined by Alice Cooper Band greats Neal Smith and Dennis Dunaway on bass and drums. Great track and those lyrics! “Your Loving Heart”: sound effects and six plus minutes with a solo in the second half right out of “Godzilla,” which in sum reminds me vaguely of Ariel Pink/Gary Wilson (in a good way). Best heart transplant song outside of Ray Steven's 1974 "Heart Transplant"? Then you have the R. Meltzer penned "Wind Weather and Storm" which is not yer mother's VOM. I had no idea that videos were made for the lp until this week. "Mad Max" meets Tom Petty's "You Got Lucky" fer starters and the overall emotional tenor of the video "Yer Loving Heart" is worth a watch.
 

"Astral wailings from the black oozing pit of Cleveland's concrete hell": Chris D. on Pere Ubu's "Heart of Darkness"/Peter Laughner's mug in Slash Magazine August 1977

Although I have not reviewed it properly, the Slash Magazine coffee table book Slash: A Punk Magazine from Los Angeles: 1977-1980 (B. Roettinger & J.C. Gabel eds, Los Angeles: Hat & Beard, 2016) is essential reading, preferably by those with a magnifying glass. I could nitpick that there is no proper index to the reviews but that is my next task right? Also, I probably could use an index to the various aliases so that I could tell who was reviewing what, and who should have recused themselves from reviewing their roommate's/girlfriend's/boyfriend's band etc. Chris Desjardins' first reviews under his own name are in Vol. 1 No.3 (August 1977): Iggy and the Stooges' 1977 via 1971 Siamese "I Got a Right" single and a live review of the Dogs at the Whisky (August 15, 1977). But let's start with his September 1977 review of Pere Ubu's 1975 double A-side "Heart of Darkness/30 Seconds over Tokyo" from Volume 1, Number 4 ("hypnotic mindfuck singles" - exactly!). Or is it "30 Seconds" on the A side? Chris' question of where the lp (with the various singles) was answered the following year with Datapanik in the Year Zero. Along with Phast Phreddie Patterson's most excellent 1978 review of The Modern Dance in Back Door Man #14 (March/April 1978), there is no mistaking the psychedelic uptake by two of the most astute music writers in Southern California circa 1974-1978. Laughner was out of the band after the second 45 (with no eye contact for the unnamed photographer) and died June 22, 1977 - around 6-8 weeks before publication of this review, which no doubt he would have liked. To be continued with Chris D.'s earlier work . . .

In Defence of SWA: the Video Evidence: "Majorly, Fully, Completely SWA"

Just as I remembered.  Interview starts in second clip below:

Bob Mosley - Thanks (1972)

Bob Mosley’s 1972 self titled lp is a must for anybody into Bob’s work with Moby Grape but especially for one track. When I was living in San Diego I remember reading this about Bob and just being crushed and even trying to find him. The article is well worth revisiting. Two years later the LA Weekly had a story that I widely circulated to friends that Skip Spence was living in a half way house in San Jose. While Bob’s lp has a lot of hard rock styling and horns (both of which suit his voice), this autobiographical song with pedal steel with Ed Black for me is what makes this lp a keeper. If you know Bob’s story this one is where the divining rod struck gold and ranks up there with my favourites on Spence's Oar and with Bob's classic "Bitter Wind" off Wow. “Step inside my shoes/chase away these blues . . . before I lose my mind/thanks for leaving your guitar my friend/I was afraid I would be hung up by someone . . . there is nothing left to lose the blues for me/say hello please stay”


The Move's version of "Hey Grandma":