BEST MUSIC: 2012, With Music Players!

With 3 Music Players!

S A N T I G O L D

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ALL THE
REAL MUSIC!

Nevermind those suburban-angst
'Best Music' lists that taste like paste!

These tunes will slink your slant
and everywhere your derriere!

Shortcut to Music Players:
• BEST ALBUMS: 2012
• COOL SONGS: 2012
• BEST RE-ISSUES: 2012

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B E S T
N E W
A L B U M S :
2 0 1 2

BEST ALBUMS 2012
by Tym Stevens

This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

This music player has songs from the following albums, in the same order.

• Moon Duo, "Circles"
Space Rock New Wave.
Like Hawkwind jamming with Devo.

(See also: Air, Wooden Shjips, L'Epee)

• Santigold, "Master of My Make-Believe"
Electro Pop.
Brash expansions in electronic dance music.

(See also: Romeo Void, M.I.A., Janelle Monae)

• Tame Impala, "Lonerism"
Electrodelic.
Like The Beatles' "Come Together" meets Pink Floyd's "Money".

(See also: Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Temples, GUM)

• Pepe Deluxe, "Queen of the Wave"
Pop Opera.
An epic album of prog ambition, psyche chorals, and theatric melodies.

(See also: B-52's, Queen, La Femme, The Avalanches)

• Soundtrack, "DJANGO UNCHAINED"
Spaghetti Western redux.
A compilation featuring classic score cues from Morricone, Bacalov, and Ortolani.
>
(See also: Ennio Morricone, Luis Bacalov, Bruno Nicolai)

• Jesca Hoop, "The House That Jack Built"
Mercurial melodicism.
Folk with more twists than algebra.

(See also: Tom Waits, Joanna Newsome, St. Vincent)

• Dr. John, "Locked Down"
New Orleans Funk.
The Doctor returns to his classic mid-'70s Funk glory.

(See also: Prof. Longhair, The Meters, Little Feat)

• THEEsatisfaction, "awE naturalE"
Hiphop psalms.
The duo branches from fluid rap into soaring chorals.

(See also: A Tribe Called Quest, Meshell Ndegeocello, Georgia Anne Muldrow)

• Gary Clark, Jr., "Blak and Blu"
Blues phoenix.
Clark's feiry guitar bridges the roots of Blues to a wildfire future.

(See also: Freddie King, The Black Keys, Alabama Shakes)

• Rocket Juice And The Moon, "Rocket Juice And The Moon"
Afrobeat futurism.
Damon Albarn (Blur), Flea (Chili Peppers), and Tony Allen (Fela). Nuff said.

(See also: Fela, Gorillaz, Antibalas)

• Lucky Jim, "The Lovers"
Dylan and Cohen's love-child.
The best singer/songwriter that not enough people know. Soulful confessions, majestic productions.

(See also: "Blood On The Tracks", "I'm Your Man", "Time (The Revelator)")

• Nona Hendryx, "Mutatis Mutandis"
Political Soul.
Always a rocker at heart, Nona raises her fist to resist.

(See also: Labelle, Betty Davis, Material, Tamar-Keli)

• Hannah Williams And the Tastemakers, "A Hill of Feathers"
Big-lunged Soul.
By turns groovy, tender, funky, and magnific.

(See also: Stone The Crows, Elkie Brooks, Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings)

• Father John Misty, "Fear Fun"
Folkadelic.
Formerly the drummer for Fleet Foxes, John Tillman's piano confessionals astonish with gossamer vocals and a corrosive wit.

(See also: Glen Campbell, John Lennon, Randy Newman, Elton John)

• The Bamboos, "Medicine Man"
Groovy Funk.
A soulful party throwdown, with guests like Kylie Auldist, Aloe Blacc, and Ella Thompson.

(See also: Medeski Martin Wood, Cookin' on 3 Burners, Orgone)

• La Sera, "Sees the Light"
Power Pop.
Catchy guitar tunes with sunshine vocals.

(See also: Peach Kelli Pop, Colleen Green, Dum Dum Girls)

• Antibalas, "Antibalas"
AfroBeat renaissance.
The Brooklyn band is so on-the-one that they provided the music for the theatre musical, "Fela!".

(See also: Fela, Ikebe Shakedown, El Michaels Affair)

• Soundgarden, "King Animal"
Grunge rebound, unbound.
Still alive with the best qualities of Zeppelin, Sabbath, Black Flag, and Green River.

(See also: Jane's Addiction, Jeff Buckley, Blackwater Holylight)

• Tom Tom Club, "Downtown Rockers"
Rubber Funk.
Still bumpin' the grooves to make your rumpus move.

(See also: Parliament/Funkadelic, Talking Heads, Luscious Jackson)

• Garbage, "Not Your Kind of People"
TripHop Indieclash.
Back and pissed, like a ronin ninja.

(See also: Blondie, Tricky, Sleigh Bells, Florence And The Machine)

• Ruby Velle And The Soulphonics, "It's About Time"
Party Soul.
Let's turn this juke joint inside out.

(See also: Motown, Cold Blood, Marta Ren And The Groovelvets)

• The Hives, "Lex Hives"
Garage Redux.
Some growing pains, but still fierce.

(See also: The Sonics, The White Stripes, Sahara Hotnights)

• Georgia Anne Muldrow, "Seeds"
Jazzy Soul.
Moody grooves with an activist fist.

(See also: Nina Simone, Gil Scott-Heron, Jimetta Rose)

• thenewno2, "thefearofmissingout"
Organic pop for the new now.
Dhani Harrison, second to none.

(See also: Hari Georgeson, Jeff Lynne, Fistful Of Mercy, Smith Westerns)

• Galactic, "Carnivale Electricos"
Nawlins Fonk.
Turbocharged by a jubilee of special guests.

(See also: The Meters, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, The Wild Tchoupitoulas)

• Led Zeppelin, "Celebration Day"
Rock Of Ageless.
Their triumphant 2007 reunion concert, now released.

(See also: Muddy Waters, Jimi Hendrix, Lez Zeppelin, Rival Sons)

• Public Enemy, "Most Of My Heroes Still Don't Appear On No Stamp"
The only comeback is a rebuttal.
Two new albums from the greatest, smartest, most rebellious Rap group of all time.

(See also: The Last Poets, The Clash, Consolidated, The Coup)

• Public Enemy, "The Evil Empire Of Everything"
The only comeback is victory.
Two new albums from the greatest, smartest, most rebellious Rap group of all time.

(See also: Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, KRS-One, Rakim)

• Django Django, "Django Django"
Lush Electro Pop.
Somewhere between Depeche Mode and The Beach Boys. Hooky, upbeat, shimmering, and catchy.

(See also: Split Enz, Telekinesis, Liam Finn)

• Ty Segall Band, "Slaughterhouse"
Fuzz Rawk.
Brutal fuzzadelic, as nature intended.

(See also: The Stooges, Mikal Cronin, Tim Presley)

• The Delfonics, "Adrian Younge Presents The Delfonics"
Vocal Soul.
A stunning revival, in craft, sound, and feel.

(See also: Ennio Morricone, Thom Bell, Norman Whitfield, Philly Soul)

• Gemma Ray, "Island Fire"
Indie chameleon.
A liquid songwriter freewheeling between noir cinema, art pop, and torch folk.

(See also: Dusty Springfield, Lykke Li, A.C. Newman, Kandle)

• Cody Chesnutt, "Landing On A Hundred"
Conscious Soul.
Early-'70s Soul for today's street.

(See also: Marvin Gaye, Lenny Kravitz, Curtis Harding)

• Boonaraaas, "More Knick-A-Knacks For Your Bric-A-Brac Shelf"
Garage Rock hullabaloo.
Turbo this Go-Go till it's gone gone.

(See also: Thee Headcoatees, Curlee Wurlee!, The Coathangers)

• Gossip, "A Joyful Noise"
Punky Dance.
Opera diva kicks your butt into sway.

(See also: Brides Of Funkenstein, Le Tigre, Von Iva, Joan As Police Woman)

• Lee Fields And The Expressions, "Faithful Man"
Timeless Soul.
Lee channels everything great and evergreen about late-'60s and early-'70s Soul.

(See also: Dave Porter, Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings, Charles Bradley)

• Bush Tetras, "Happy"
PostPunk funkiness.
Pioneers in the early-'80s NYC scene return periodically to school you.

(See also: Defunkt, Maximum Joy, Delta 5)

• David Byrne + St. Vincent, "Love This Giant"
Multiform Pop.
Skewed to the rescue.

(See also: David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, Mitski)

• The Honorable South, "I Love My Tribe"
Rock'n'Soul.
Because it only really rocks when it can really roll.

(See also: Ike And Tina Turner, The Bellrays, Vintage Trouble)

• J.D. McPherson, "Signs And Signifiers"
Rockabilly and Soul.
Everything great about Sun Records rock and Atlantic Records soul.

(See also: Johnny Burnette Trio, Sam Cook, Rev. Horton Heat)

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C O O L
S O N G S :
2 0 1 2

All the REAL MUSIC
beyond the box!

Nevermind Gloss Pop, Stepford Idols, Karaoke Choruses ("woh-oo-oh"), Ego Brats, Emo Prats, Plinky Folk, Brittle Bombast, Vegas Country, Smug Thug, Mope Noodling, De-mixed Throb, and Robot-o-Tune schlock! >

Here's the
D R E A M
J U K E B O X !
Twist around and rebound
and shake your body down to the ground!

COOL SONGS 2012
by Tym Stevens

This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

This jukebox is sequenced into groups of sound, instead of randomly.
All the songs elasticize their genres.
Get your groove on in this sonic order.:
Rockabilly! Surf! Garage! Psyche!

Glam! Blues! Soul! Funk!

Folk! World! Riot Grrrl! Alt-Rock!

Electro! Alt-Rap! Cinematic! Cover Versions!

Jesca Hoop; La Sera;
Lucky Jim; Lianne La Havas
10 hours of brain-flaming, booty-scootin' music, featuring the following fine folks in this exact order!:

• Rockabilly! • Heart Attack Alley, and Jack Ladder.

• Surf! • The Sunmakers, That's a NO NO!, Grass Widow, Peach Kelli Pop, Habibi, and Django Django.

• Beat / Garage! • The Jikens, The Fondas, The Younger Lovers, Sitcom Neighbor, The Fresh And Onlys, Lips of Salome, Boonaraaas, CONNY with Goggle-A, White Fence, and Jack Of Heart.

• Psychedelic / Beatlesque! • Nick Capaldi, La Sera, Neil Young, The Bootles, Kaiser Chiefs , Jim Noir, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Mystical, Weapons, Thee Oh Cees, Crash Normal, Stealing Sheep, Capsula, Pepe Deluxe, Deep Cotton, and Cat Power.

• Classic Rock / Glam! • Led Zeppelin, Eric Burdon And the Greenhornes, The Heavy, Spacin', The Dynamite Pussy Club, The Dandy Warhols, Ty Segall Band, Moon Duo, Tame Impala, The Sheepdogs, Foxy Shazam, The Mynabirds, The Hives, Redd Kross, The Peach Kings, Jack White, Band Of Skulls, and ZZ Top.

• Blues! • Gary Clark Jr., Danielia Cotton, Kid Koala, and The Savage Rose.

• Soul / Funk! • Hannah Williams, Cody Chesnutt, Pimps of Joytime, Tom Tom Club, The Bamboos, Alabama Shakes, Nicole Willis And the Soul Investigators, Dr. John, Galactic, The Honorable South, Rhett Frazier Inc., Ruby Velle And The Soulphonics, The Jezebel Sextet, Quantic, Georgia Anne Muldrow, The New Mastersounds, Mark Lanegan.

• Folk / Alt Songwriter! • Lauren O'Connell, Meshell Ndegeocello + Toshi Reagon, Father John Misty, Angel Olsen, Marissa Nadler, Sharon Van Etten, Jesca Hoop, Lucky Jim, Lianne La Havas, Gemma Ray, and Logistics.

• World-arama! • Beachwood Sparks, Antibalas, Karriem Riggins, Sinkane, Rocket Juice And The Moon, Here We Go Magic, and Hollie Cook.

• Riot Grrrl! • Cougars, Sleigh Bells, Brig Feltus, The Hussy Becky Lee and Drunkfoot, Nona Hendryx, Bush Tetras, and Garbage.

• Alt-Rock! • thenewno2, A.C. Newman, Killing Joke, David Byrne + St. Vincent, Dirty Projectors, Deerhoof, and Fiona Apple.

• Electro! • Air, La Femme, Geoff Barrow, Gossip, Santigold iamamiwhoami, Ava Luna, and Spektrum.

• Alt Rap! • Spoek Mathambo, Speech Debelle, The Ting Tings, K’NAAN, and THEESatisfaction.

• Cinematic! • Mount Eerie, Lava Children, JD McPherson, Silencio, David Holmes, The Surphonics, Durango14l Adele, Kandle, Serena Ryder, Hooverphonic, Luis Bacalov, Adrian Younge, Soulsavers, Calexico, Menahan Street Band, and Lana Del Rey.

• Cover Versions! •
List = Original By / Cover Artist
Songs are sequenced in the chronological order of the Originals.

Jackie Brenston / Tim Timebomb • Jerry Lee Lewis / Freddie Fano And Los Marijuana Trio • Roy Orbison / Molly Sue Gonzalez And The Mean, Mean Men • Sam Cooke / Meklit • Traditional / Le Chefs • Gloria Jones / Imelda May • Jackie DeShannon / The Sugarman 3 • Los Nivram / The Ugly Beats • John Mayall / Joan Osbourne • Jimi Hendrix Experience / Inga Rumpf + NDR Bigband • Nancy Sinatra / Jessica Fichot • Traffic Sound / DC Fontana • MC5 / The Fuzztones • Led Zeppelin / Dee Hemingway • War / Lettuce • The O'Jays / The Dynamics • Roxy Music / The Bryan Ferry Orchestra • Marvin Gaye / Martha High • Paul McCartney And Wings / Melvins • The Rolling Stones / Lee Fields And The Expressions • Bob Dylan / Lucia Micarelli + Steve Earle • Neil Young / Chromatics • Prince / Ishan Cooper • Bob Dylan / Tom Morello • Jane's Addiction / Fanesha Fabre • Terry Evans / Wtm Blues Band • Nirvana / Robert Glasper • Portishead / The Civil Wars • Bob Dylan / Adele • Lucinda Williams / Shemekia Copeland • The Black Keys / Kylie Auldist • Martina Topley-Bird / Neneh Cherry And The Thing • Yeah Yeah Yeahs / Macy Gray.

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B E S T
R E I S S U E S :
2 0 1 2

Quality is timeless.

BEST REISSUES 2012
by Tym Stevens

This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

This music player has songs from the following albums, in the same order.

• 1920s •

• Woody Guthrie, "Woody At 100" box set (1930s-40s)
Folk troubadoure. This guitar kills fascists.

• 1950s •

• Howlin' Wolf, "Smokestack Lightning" Chess box set (1950-60s)
Blues patriarch. 300 pounds of heavenly joy.

• 1960s •

• The Winstons, "Color Him Father" vinyl (1969)
The Rock'n'Soul album that the infinitely influential "Amen Break" sample came from.

➤ "Amen Break" - How 6 Seconds From 1969 Propel All Modern Music

• Daughters of Albion, "Daughters of Albion" (1968)
Like "The White Album" deconstructed by The Mamas And Papas.

• 1970s •

• Quincy Jones, "The Adventurers" soundtrack (1970)
Quincy Jones arranged and produced many great film and TV soundtracks, such as "In Cold Blood", "Mannix", "In The Heat Of The Night", "Ironside", and "The Color Purple".

• Rodriguez, "Searching For Sugar Man" soundtrack (1971-73)
A forgotten folk-rock figure, Rodriquez's cult following in Australia led to this acclaimed documentary and his return.

• Paul And Linda McCartney, "Ram" (1971)
Paul crafted a homespun "Abbey Road", and time has borne this underrated record out for the required classic that it is.

• Marvin Gaye, "Trouble Man" soundtrack (1972)
Underprized at the time, Marvin's jazzy score stretches out his game with sophistication and soulfulness.

• T. Rex, "The Slider" (1972)
Glam Rock's throne. Get it on.


• David Bowie, "Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars" (1972)
Rock opera. Jamming good with Weird and Gilly.

• Various Artists, "Ancestors of Rap" (1970s)
Proto-rappers from the '60s and '70s.

• Black Sabbath, "Iron Man: The Best of..." (1970s)
Hard Rock tough enough to grind stone down.

• Various Artists, "Dancing Time: The Best of Eastern Nigeria's Afro-Rock Exponents 1973-1977"
For a brief period in the mid-'70s, various African nations had Rock scenes, until coup tyrannies wiped them out. Never mind oppression, here's the record.


• Roxy Music, Catalog Remasters (1972-82)
The first two and the last two are essential, and the journey arcs from edgy to groovy.

• Sex Pistols, "Never Mind the Bollocks" (1977)
THE Punk band, THE Punk record.

• The Avengers, "The Avengers" (1979)
Essential record from the San Francisco punk band.

• Francis Bebey, "African Electronic Music 1975-1982"
New frontiers in motherland futurism.


• 23 Skidoo, "Seven Songs" (1979)
PunkFunk for your badonkadonk.

• Electric Light Orchestra, "Mr. Blue Sky: The Best of..." (1970s)
If The Beatles had made really smart Disco Pop...

• 1980s •

• Feedtime, "The Aberrant Years" (1980s)
Ferocious roar that hinges Hardcore Punk into Grunge.

• Tom Tom Club, "Tom Tom Club" / "Close To the Bone" (1981/1983)
The first two albums, essential and finally remastered and rereleased.

• Talk Talk, "Spirit of Eden" (1989)
At first New Wave, then Psyche Soul, the band evolved into epic Floyd-ian moodscapes with this neglected gem.

• Pixies, catalog box set (1987-92)
The crucial guitar-driven band that drug Indie Rock into the light, igniting Janes Addiction and Nirvana to take the torch next.

• 1990s •

• Bikini Kill, "Bikini Kill" (1992)
Revolution Girl Style Now and forever.

• My Bloody Valentine, Catalog Remasters (1990s)
Moody Shoegaze trances for the ages, anticipating cinematic TripHop just around the corner.

• Massive Attack, "Blue Lines" (1992)
TripHop, and you don't stop.

• Soundgarden, Vinyl Catalog (1989-96)
Grunge was the perfect merger of Punk rage and Classic Rock mejesty.

• 2000s •

• Goldfrapp, "The Singles" (2000s)
Electro-Glam for your foxy orgy.


© Tym Stevens

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"A splendid time is guaranteed for all!"

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See also:


• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2025
• BEST MUSIC: 2025
• BEST COMICS: 2025

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2024
• BEST MUSIC: 2024
• BEST COMICS: 2024

· BEST MOVIES + TV: 2023
• BEST MUSIC: 2023
• BEST COMICS: 2023

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2022
• BEST MUSIC: 2022
• BEST COMICS: 2022

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2021
• BEST MUSIC: 2021
• BEST COMICS: 2021

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2020
• BEST MUSIC: 2020
• BEST COMICS: 2020

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2019
• BEST MUSIC: 2019
• BEST COMICS: 2019

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2018
• BEST MUSIC: 2018
• BEST COMICS: 2018

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2017
• BEST MUSIC: 2017
• BEST COMICS: 2017

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2016
• BEST MUSIC: 2016
• BEST COMICS: 2016

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2015
• BEST MUSIC: 2015
• BEST COMICS: 2015

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2014
• BEST MUSIC: 2014
• BEST COMICS: 2014

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2013
• BEST MUSIC: 2013
• BEST COMICS: 2013

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2012
• BEST COMICS: 2012

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2011
• BEST MUSIC: 2011
• BEST COMICS: 2011

• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2000-2010
• BEST MUSIC: 2000-2010
• BEST COMICS: 2000-2010


_______________

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• TWIN PEAKS: Its Influence on 30 Years of Film, TV, and Music!, with 5 Music Players!


• The Real History of ROCK AND SOUL!: The Music Player Checklist


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• THE CANON 1: 50 Books That Created Modern Culture, with Music Player

• THE CANON 2: 50 More Books That Created Modern Pop Culture, with Music Player

• THE CANON 3: 50 Recent Books That Created Modern Culture, with Music Player

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ROCK Sex: "I CAN'T EXPLAIN" - The Who > David Bowie > The Clash > Fatboy Slim > The Hives

ROCK Sex can't explain but thinks it's love.

Creativity is each putting their own spin on an idea, advancing new directions. Here's another relay using one song.

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The Who were tearing it up in their early days as a Mod band doing blasting R'n'B and Blues covers. But Pete Townshend found his feet composing his first song and their first Top 10 hit, "I Can't Explain".


The song was inspired in its punching chords riff by The Kinks' "All Day And All Of The Night" (which was inspired by "Louie Louie", which was inspired by a Cuban mambo as well as a Chuck Berry Calypso song, which connects on to songs from the Old World, and the short of it is that I'm your Great Grandchild from the future. But back to the story.)

THE KINKS -"All Day And All Of The Night" (1965)



That's the hand-off. Now here's our young punks creating the future in two minutes flat. (Check for bruises and your wallet before going to the next song.)

Note that from the very start, the band finds its identity in insular lyrics with anthemic power chords.

THE WHO -"I Can't Explain" (1965)



Equally tongue-tied are Italy's Gli Uragani in this cover version.

GLI URAGANI -"Con Quella Voce" (1966)



In the early '70s, as The Who turned its Mod beginnings into the rock opera "Quadrophenia" (1973), others began to look back also.

From the '50s revival in films (American Graffiti, That'll Be The Day) and Glam Rock (T-Rex, Suzi Quatro, Gary Glitter), to the seminal NUGGETS double-album anthology, to DAVID BOWIE's covers album, PIN UPS...

DAVID BOWIE -"I Can't Explain" (1973)



Fresh off her success as Mary Magdalene in the screen version of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (1973), here's Hawaiian (by way of Ireland, Japan, and China) Yvonne Elliman with one of the best, unheralded versions ever recorded.

This becomes important again later.

YVONNE ELLIMAN -"I Can't Explain" (1973)



The Who's rock opera TOMMY was adapted into a feature film by director Ken Russell, and Elton John integrates "I Can't Explain" (at 2:00) into this classic performance.

ELTON JOHN -"Pinball Wizard" (1975)



The Clash loved this riff and used it a few times: in "Clash City Rockers" (1977), "Capitol Radio" (1977), and "Guns on the Roof" (1978); as well as a sample at the end of Big Audio Dynamite's "Contact" (1989, at 3:04).

THE CLASH -"Clash City Rockers" (1977)



Not far off from that spirit in a Big Beat dance style, here's Fatboy Slim sampling the overlooked Yvonne Elliman version over the drums from Led Zeppelin's "The Crunge".

FATBOY SLIM -"Going Out Of My Head" (1997)



Like The Clash, here's more young punks putting new kick in the strut: the premiere neo-Garage Rock band The Hives from Sweden.

THE HIVES -"Walk Idiot Walk" (2004)



And here it is in a rewrite by Brazilian band Ultraje a Rigor done acoustically.

ULTRAJE A RIGOR -"Eu Nao Sei (I Don't Know)" (2005)




© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• 1950s PUNK: Sex, Thugs, and Rock'n'Roll!

• THE BRITISH INVASION!, with Music Player!

• DON'T TREAD ON ME: The Original Punk of 1960s Garage Rock, with Music Player!


• "Brand New Cadillac" - Vince Taylor > The Clash > Ziggy Stardust

• "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" - Paul Revere > The Monkees > Sex Pistols


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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SAY WHAT?!: "Good Girls Don't", THE KNACK

SAY WHAT?! answers the musical question, "Wait, what did they just say?"

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THE KNACK of course are most famous for their massive hit "My Sharona" (1979). The Power Pop band were like a hyper-sexualized early Beatles, and their lyrics were full of entendres and brash come-ons.

A clear example of that is their follow-up hit, "Good Girls Don't". A few of the lines were too strong for radio and were softened on the single release. But here on the original they cheerfully sing, "An in-between age madness that you know you can't erase/ till she's sitting on your face" (1:35).


THE KNACK -"Good Girls Don't" (1979)



Some critics considered their lust misogynistic, but they must have missed the debut album of Nikki And The Corvettes at the same time. But The Pandoras and The Donnas didn't.


© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• THE BRITISH INVASION!, with Music Player!

• BEATLESQUE Albums: 450 Alternate Universe BEATLES Albums You Need!, with 2 Music Players!

• BEATLESQUE Songs: 1964-esque, with Music Player!

• BEYOND COOL: Badfinger, the Beatles of the 1970s!, with Music Player!


• SAY WHAT?!: "Touch Me", The Doors

• Say What?!: "Funky Stuff", Kool & The Gang

• SAY WHAT?!: "The Cisco Kid", WAR


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Sex: "Don't Bring Me Down" - Ronnie Dawson > Electric Light Orchestra > Dazz Band > The Hives

ROCK Sex gives you the lowdown with no letdown.

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"Don't Bring Me Down" was accidently the biggest smash hit Electric Light Orchestra ever had.

Leader Jeff Lynne melded together a lot of influences in this throwaway song that became a perennial classic.

• The tune was created off-the-cuff in a German studio and the spare metallic drum loop hearkens to the influence of Kraftwerk.
• The "downdowndadowndown" ad lib at the end recalls a similar one from "Who's been Here" (1961) by Commonwealth Jones, actually a psuedonym for young Rockabilly firebrand Ronnie Dawson.
• The bassline recalls "I Can't Take No More" (1970) by Atomic Rooster.
• There is a quiet structural similarity to "You Can't Do That" by The Beatles, particularly in the boogie vamp at the end.
• Some of the harmonies on the chorus sound like The Bee Gees who were then at the height of their fame. And the "Oo-ee-hoo" recalls Little Richard.

Jeff threw in a made-up word, "grrooooosss", for harmony. Since it was done in Germany it was first mistaken for a similar German word for 'greeting'. But everyone else in the world mishead it as "don't bring me down, Bruce", which Jeff cheekily sings now in concert.

ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA -"Don't Bring Me Down" (1979)



THE DAZZ BAND was inspired to their name by the song "Dazz" ('disco jazz') by Brick. For this great hit they also adopted Devo's robotic Funk and just may have borrowed the signature "oo-ee-hoo" from Jeff:

THE DAZZ BAND -"Let It Whip" (1982)



Recently the ELO song has been covered by OK GO and The New Pornographers.

The Dazz Band song was covered by Boyz II Men, SR-71, and in Cantonese by George Lam of Hong Kong!


The ELO song is also the clear inspiration for this song, with some Chuck Berry/Glam swagger in it.

THE HIVES -"Go Right Ahead" (2012)




© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• Revolution 1950s: The Big Damn Bang of Rock'n'Roll!

• "Don't Bring Me Down" -The Animals, The Beatles, Neil Young, WAR, McCartney, ELO

• BEATLESQUE Songs: 1969-esque, with Music Player!


• 'The Dreams that You Dare to Dream' - The Wizard of Oz > Electric Light Orchestra


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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BEYOND COOL: The Love Me Nots!

BEYOND COOL is about things I love, like celebrating this brilliant band.

_______________

The Love Me Nots are a modern Garage Rock band from Phoenix, Arizona.

If you don't know, it's time to get with it, baby!

THE LOVE ME NOTS -"Move In Tight" (2007)



After a rhythm section shift, singer/oraganist Nicole Laurenne and guitaristb Michael Johnny Walker blazed on without a blip to hotwire your car for more torrid road trips!

THE LOVE ME NOTS -"You're Really Something" (2008)



They will come to your town and burn it down. And you'll be an accomplice.

THE LOVE ME NOTS -"You're Bringing Me Down" (2010)



Show THE LOVE ME NOTS some love:

• FaceBook
• Discogs

"Atomic....Furious...Upsidedown Insideout raises the bar, with twelve catchy, immediately-classic songs that all sound like potential hit singles."
- Rolling Stone

"This Phoenix outfit turns a geeky garage schtick into white heat."
- SPIN

"FOUR STARS. One of the more exciting rock acts of the moment. DETROIT is Stunningly feverish. Disc of the month."
- Rolling Stone

"Top 10 Albums of 2008. DETROIT will make the hair stand up on the back of your neck."
- Bill Holmes, The Village Voice

"If the gospel according to The Love Me Nots is 'give em what they want,' then this is it. Brilliant."
- BBC Radio

"Enough full-throated, '60s soul, Mosrite fuzz, hip-shaking, back-alley stomp to rock the door off the garage."
- San Francisco Bay Guardian

"Atomic guitar licks that make your legs shiver."
- Kick Out The Jams (Spain)

"This band is on fire. Led by punk pin-up Nicole, a great garage party that would make neighbors seriously consider moving."
- Garage Greaser (Brazil)


So act like you know and let's go go go!


© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• DON'T TREAD ON ME: The Original Punk of 1960s Garage Rock, with Music Player!

• WOMEN OF ROCK: The 1960s, with 2 Music Players!


• LADIES FIRST: "Chick Habit" - France Gall > April March

• "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" - Paul Revere > The Monkees > Sex Pistols

• LADIES FIRST: "Love's Gone Bad!" - Chris Clark > The Underdogs


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Sex: "Teenage Kicks!" - The Undertones > Sahara Hotnights > Sunshine And The Rain

ROCK Sex gets its kicks right through the night.

Today's culture hand-off follows the song "Teenage Kicks".

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It was first done by Irish Punks The Undertones in 1978. DJ John Peel immediately considered it one of his favorite songs of all time and helped push them to success on the charts and Top Of The Pops. But the single was only a warm-up for the astoundingly rock solid first album, "The Undertones".

THE UNDERTONES -"Teenage Kicks" (1978)



Sweden has a storied history of great Garage Rock bands from the '60s to today. The recent wave included luminaries like The Hives, Mando Diao, The Flaming Sideburns, and Sahara Hotnights. The latter did this adrenalized cover which was included in an expanded version of their breakthrough album, "Jennie Bomb".

SAHARA HOTNIGHTS -"Teenage Kicks" (2001)



The standard has also been covered by The Vibrators, U2, Supergrass, Franz Ferdinand, Nouvelle Vague, Green Day, Skunk Anansie, Rasputina, The Coral, and The Raconteurs (with Jack White).



Here's a new variant on the main riff.

SUNSHINE AND THE RAIN -"I'm Not Your Girl" (2017)






© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• "Oh Bondage, Up Yours!" - X-Ray Spex > Free Kitten > Chicks On Speed > Pussy Riot

• "Time Has Come Today" - Chambers Brothers > Angry Samoans > Ramones > Joan Jett

• Chuck Berry > Beach Boys > Plastic Bertrand > The Damned


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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DON'T TREAD ON ME: The Original Punk of 1960s Garage Rock

...with 2 Music Players!

The Roots of GARAGE ROCK


"I heard Papa tell Mama, 'Let that boy boogie woogie/ Coz it's in him, and it's got to come out'!"-John Lee Hooker

Robert Johnson had paved the crossroads for the Blues, between the sacred and the profane; his acolytes hit another intersection, between the acoustic rural past and the electric urban future. After the great exodus from the depleted Southern states to the promise of Chicago, Detroit, and other Rust Belt cities, African Americans faced new paths of possibility or peril (as did their Dustbowl Days peers who went to Golden California). Muddy Waters was the first Blues maestro to go all electric in 1948, arguably creating the first Rock'n'Roll band. On his heels were Howlin' Wolf and John Lee Hooker. It was a tougher, terser metallic blues, coarsened and amplified by the city. And by a divided soul in play. Compare the liberation-in-dance lyric above with Hooker's murderous vibe in his "Mad Man Blues", over jarring chords played like a stabbing: "I'm gonna take you down by the riverside/ Hang you a knot, baby, by your neck/ I got the madman blues". John uses the metaphor of a betrayed love to vent his fury at the racist structure he is struggling in. It's this crossroads that is at the heart of Rock; between ecstasy and agony, between celebration and revolt, between the hereafter and heresy.

American youth, like all, revelled in their frills while questioning their worth. When was a sleek car just a slick scam, when was a dusty old tune actually a raw truth? 50's Rock'n'Roll threaded this maze with every dance step. To the public at large this dance rebellion just looked like juvenile delinquency. But the harder they clamped down, the more kids wanted to be James and Marlon, Jayne and Bettie, a Jet or a Shark...wanted to rumble.

Into England rode the Teddy Boys. The working class were just a coiled calm. They thirsted for the driven, the free, the real. American musics were dispatches from the landscape of the possible. Tough youths sculpted brillo coifs, rode cycles, and donned Edwardian longcoats (hence "Teds"). These Rockers wanted the brutal, the intense, the unvarnished. Meanwhile other youth wanted the New now. They wanted to kill mundanity with modernity. The Mods wore the sharpest newest threads, rode million-mirrored Vespas, and wiggled to Soul music in clubs. Caught in the median were the Beat bands, who retired their suits by '65 under Mod influence while reclaiming more and more of the hard bristle of 50's Rock. (Asked if he's a Mod or a Rocker in A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, Ringo replies, "I'm a mocker.")

This schizoid temperament in Rock -between rough past and sleek future, the raw and the refined- was now international. From this would emerge a new hybrid trend that would effect the music's future forever.



GARAGE ROCK 1965-1966


In America, frat bands like The WAILERS had taken Little Richard's ferocity, welded it to Link Wray's rumble, and terrorized Seattle dance halls. Their rivals The KINGSMEN were the first out the gate to record "Louie Louie". They'd sped up the Jamaican ode and slurred the words to disguise they didn't know them. It was a cheeky triumph of attitide over aptitude, and blueprinted the music later called "Garage" or "punk music" (by the time Lenny Kaye compiled the seminal NUGGETS album in 1972). Harder than anyone were The SONICS, whose barbed guitar and vocals could strip paint. (Their 45 of "Have Love, Will Travel" later played continuously on the jukebox in the SEX shop as McClaren and Westwood were midwiving the Sex Pistols.) Not to be outdone, UK acts like The ROLLING STONES, The ANIMALS, The KINKS, and The YARDBIRDS ramped up the clang and swagger in their blues. After the British Invasion returned America's music back to it supersonic, an estimated 63% of young US males were in budding bands in their garage, barn, or dorm room. (And many uncounted females, as well and as usual.) The sound was amateur, rough, and wild. Curt guitar, pounding rhythm, farfisa organ shrills, and the voice usually shouting, sneering, or jive drawling discontent with dumb love.

American garage rock was full throttle with no highway. It was happening off most of the record industry's radar, on nowhere labels and lost 45's, and the wilderness of hole-in-the walls with PA's. Maybe it didn't get killed because they didn't see it coming. Crazed Texans like The SEEDS and The 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS; The MUSIC MACHINE, dressed all in black and shades with one glove; The MONKS, former soldiers with monk haircuts frothing apocalypse; DAVIE ALLAN & The ARROWS throwing fuzzed-out biker anthems like molotov cocktails; DEAN CARTER, splicing Rockabilly and Garage in his carpet-walled living room studio; and Char Vinnedge leading her all-female LUV'D ONES on a assault that got darker and more abrasive as it went. These people acted like there was no tomorrow but they had to get there yesterday.

The Pleasure Seekers.

But then, DYLAN. His forefather Woody Guthrie had scrawled "This machine kills fascists" on his battered guitar; likewise, Dylan emerged from the early 60's Folk boom as a tonic to vacuous industry Pop. But The Beatles had now reignited his secret love of Rock. Seeing the British retool US roots music, he went electric with the aptly-titled BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME. Too damn mercurial to remain the Protest King, Bob went intensely surrealistic, spitfiring cryptic barbs like Kerouac with the madman blues. Garage bands couldn't match the wordplay but they sure got the attitude. Their immature tirades against girlfriends shifted gears into social discontent. "I know of nothing else that buggggs me," seethed Australia's The EASYBEATS, "more than working for the rich man." From New Zealand came The BLUESTARS with "I've gained a label as an angry young man/ because I don't fit into the Master Plan." KIT & The OUTLAWS snarled "People walkin' round on me and they stomp my name in the ground/ Don't tread on me! Coz I wanna be free!"

The tension kept intensifying. Before rec execs could spit their martini, rock'n'roll was turning into rawwwwk. The WHO declared their generation with technology while tearing it to shreds. Fuzz chords corroded factory-fresh studio speakers. Brutal rhythms dropkicked amps like Bo Diddleysaurus Wrex. Weird echo and flange distorted state-of-the-art mixes. Madmen now menaced the airwaves from hot wax as fellow freaks around the world responded in kind. The DOORS, BLUE CHEER, CREAM, The CREATION, The YARDBIRDS with Jimmie Page. And then a student of Seattle and the South named JIMI HENDRIX landed in London. With him he brought the whole raw history of the blues and a futuristic clang louder than gods. He is the axis, bold as love, the crossroads from Garage into all Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Punk, Grunge, and Garage Revival to come.

"Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command/ It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls..." -Dylan



© Tym Stevens

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See also:

• 1950s PUNK: Sex, Thugs, and Rock'n'Roll!

• The Legacy of LOUIE LOUIE, with Music Player!

• The Pedigree of PETER GUNN, with Music Player!

• BEATLESQUE Songs: 1966-esque, with Music Player!

• HERE IN PURPLE VELVET NOW: The Psychedelic Revolution, with 2 Music Players!

• WOMEN OF ROCK: The 1960s, with 2 Music Players!

• ROCK Sex: Rock Revolution = Busted Amp! - Ike Turner > Burnette Trio > The Kinks > The Beatles


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• "Evil Hearted You" - The Yardbirds > Pixies

• "I CAN'T EXPLAIN" - The Who > David Bowie > The Clash > Fatboy Slim > The Hives

• The Kinks > Sex Pistols > The Kinks


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: A Music Player Checklist

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