Monday !

It's not all about songs of love's lost and yearning or the most upfront beats. Sometimes to set you up for the week ahead what ya need is some brash, bonkers bad music for bad people.

The Cramps - Bikini Girls With Machine Guns

Lazy Week pt 4

Up until a couple of years ago I was under the impression that today's track was a Cramps original. With a title like Goo Goo Muck, I thought that it had to come from the demented minds of Lux and Ivy.

How wrong I was, not only was it not an original but it was first recorded in 1962 by Ronnie Cook and the Gaylads.

Ronnie Cook and The Gaylads - Goo Goo Muck

Lazy Week pt 2

Well at least the performance review is over for another 6 months. I have no idea whether I am where I should be or not and anyway it's all arbitrary as there is a curve to follow and we can't have too many people doing well as that wouldn't fit in with whoever's bullshit theory the curve was, I'm sure I could find out if I really gave a toss. That's not to say I don't give a shit about my work, it's just all the bullshit that I can't be doing with.

Anyway,  back to the important stuff, Surfin' Bird is probably the maddest song ever and one that always puts a smile on my face. The song itself, borrows heavily from Papa Oom Mow Mow by The Rivingtons. It was released in 1963 in the US and got to number two. Apparently it was re released over here in 2009 and was also used in a campaign for stopping the last cack factor winner getting to number 1 last year. Both of which I was oblivious about.

The Cramps version was produced by Alex Chilton and was released in 1978. However the first version I ever remember hearing was the Ramones version which was on their third album Rocket To Russia.

The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird

Lazy Week pt 1

Right, I have a really shit week ahead.

End of year review today and three days in the smoke to look forward to. So I have decided to do a week of original songs that were either covered by the Cramps or The Fall, two of the most plagiaristic bands in my collection, indeed a couple of this weeks track will have been covered by both. Both bands however put their own inimitable slant on anything they cover.

First up we have Strychnine by the Sonics and released on their 1965 album Here Are The Sonics, the track was also included on the seminal Nuggets compilation of 60s US Garage bands.

This was also the last track that waste of space and fuck-wit Smith sung from the stage the other Thursday in Edinburgh. The Fall's version can be found on The Complete Peel Sessions and various live things. The Cramps version appears on Songs The Lord Taught Us.

The Sonics - Strychnine

Peel Sessions

While loitering with intent at the Bagging Area checking out the latest excellent instalment of Friday Night Is Rockabilly Night I remembered that a good while ago I promised to post the Cramps Peel session if I ever got my hands on it.

To be honest it wasn't that difficult getting hold of the session but it was certainly worth while. Although the session versions of two of the tracks from  1986's  Big Beat release, A Date With Elvis aren't earth shatteringly different from the versions on the album they are great examples of a band who were unique and consistently on form. The session recorded on 23/12/1985 differs from most Peel sessions in that it was not recorded at Maida Vale but at Ocean Way Recording Studios, Hollywood. It was first broadcast on 10/02/1986.

The Cramps -What's Inside A Girl?

The Cramps - Cornfed Dames

The Cramps - Give Me A Woman

Primitive

The Groupies were from Manhattan and as far as I am aware this is the only single they released and what a single it is. It was on the ATCO label  in 1966. I've got the tune on the excellent The Roots Of The Cramps compilation of obscure and not so well known singles by rockabilly and American garage bands.

The Groupies - Primitive