Yesterday afternoon, I witnessed a man getting publicly fired from a record store. The owner yelled "Get out!" along with bickering from the guy that was getting fired and then the owner yelling back "I don’t care! You’re fired!" As far as record store humor/pathos goes (coincidentally, most of it’s happened at this one particular store), it was at the top of what I’ve seen.

Similarly, 15 years ago, I was living in Athens and practically living in the bins at the big record store downtown. One day, I walked in and saw an enormous stack of Mummies singles just sitting there in the new arrivals bin. Even in ’93, these records were as rare as hen’s teeth. I immediately went to the bank at the opposite end of the block, withdrew fifty bucks, came back and bought every Trash Rock ™ single they had. When I went to the cash register, Manfred from The Woggles (who worked there until ’97 or ’98) immediately huffed "Where did you find these!?" to which I nudged the new arrivals bin. He looked quite irritated and instantaneously jealous. Again, one of those hilarious record store moments. I walked out and was never to see that remaining incredible stash of records show up ever again. Thanks, Manfred.

Live at The Vouge, Seattle

What I later found out is that one of the main buyers at the store was lifting multiple copies of records the store was buying for his own personal inventory. This was in the late 80’s and early 90’s when Pre-BS, AmRep, Estrus and Sub Pop singles were lining the back wall of any half-respecting record store with collector’s prices on them. And here he was, stealing from the store. And not just stealing, but also being on the payroll while stealing. Fucking shitball.

So when the powers that be found him out, he was given two options both which left him humiliated, penniless and thrown out on to the curb. First option was to explain everything to the cops. The second option was to give his entire record collection to the store. He went with the second option. And seeing as how the record store wanted to recoup some of their lost revenue, they immediately started to put a tiny fraction of the stock out on the floor. It was in those nano-seconds that I got every Mummies single known to man.

The Mummies were a tongue-in-cheek band that reveled in their disinterest in fidelity, gear and talent. And what do they have to show for it? Only one of the most enviable discographies in all of rock (punk, garage or otherwise). All trash. All hooks. All brilliant. Oh, and Billy Childish liked them. That speaks volumes, yes?

Live at UC Stanford

Much like every other bay area band of the time, they never made it even remotely close to Georgia. The Mummies did play a lot though, but it wasn’t for the South to enjoy. In the mid-90’s, they broke up. Shortly thereafter, I was broke and sold all of my singles (along with much, much more) to buy my first computer. Fortunately, everything has been reissued on singles comps that perfectly explain why this is one of the best 90’s bands ever. Ever.

A few years ago, I remember the whole Die Slaughterhaus/Black Lips/Carbonas contingent created a Mummies cover band and performed at the old Lenny’s. This was before the Vice douchebag factor really changed the vibe of  shows here in town, so it was blissfully incredible.

So now we flash ahead to 2008, and Jay Hinman reports that the Mummies played a low-profile show in California this past week in preparation for their "final" show in Spain this coming October. It’s mighty tempting, but what isn’t tempting when you can actually afford to fly to Spain, huh? And here’s an interview in Wired (??!!!) with Trent.

I’m including a bootleg 7" of Mummies Peel sessions from ’94 that many of you probably don’t have.

Enjoy.

(post script: The store I mention at the beginning of this piece is NOT this one. Names are withheld to protect the innocent and tremendously stupid, though.)

Live at the old 9:30 Club

The Mummies – The Fly (Peel Session ’94)

The Mummies – The Ballad of Iron Eyes Cody (Peel Session ’94)

The Mummies – Just One More Dance (Peel Session ’94)

The Mummies – Baba Diddy Baby (Peel Session ’94)

The Mummies – High Heel Sneakers (Peel Session ’94)

The Mummies – That’s Mighty Childish (Shitsville 7″)

The Mummies – Doin’ The Kirk (Shitsville 7″)

A number of people have been asking where the updates to the site have been and to be frank, I’ve just been massively busy. I’m getting the new issue completed (yes, that only took 3 years), the Rock Bible’s about to come out, a few records to put out, shows to promote, the wife and I are nerding out on Battlestar Galactica and we have a new dog that needs lovin’. Oh, and then there’s the "grown up" work that everybody else has that I have as well.

However, in the "down times" I’ve been reading. And yes, I have a few minutes to extoll the virtues of this great book about the No Wave scene in NYC in the late 70’s. Both of the authors require zero introduction, but man, what a rock solid piece of journalism they’ve created! Superior photographs, great interviews (including a 4-pager with Brian Eno!) and very little self-congratulatory spiel from either author. Organizationally, it’s probably one of the best I’ve ever seen and the design of the book is, in a word, stunning.

Worth getting? Oh, you betcha.

Bummer.

I think it’d be safe to say that the New Bomb Turks were a band whose initial success was entirely thanks to MaximumRockNRoll. Or more specifically, "Destroy Oh Boy" was sold exclusively on the adoration that MRR heaped upon it. And why not? It’s a perfect rock album. I think that the only other record that MRR "made" by themselves was "Feel The Darkness" by Poison Idea, but I’m sure there’s others that I’m forgetting. MRR and Tim Yo’s "punk" guidelines which allowed such nuggets as "Destroy Oh Boy" to be heaped onto the top of the underground music pile were also what killed the magazine’s breadth as the 90’s went on. But I digress……

I was still rather new to Athens when I really became obsessed with this album. So obsessed, in fact, that I began writing the band at their Columbus, Ohio mailing address on the back of their records. Without fail, singer Eric Davidson would write me back with news of an upcoming tour or a new record coming out and information on how I could get it. And yes, my full rock dorkdom shines through, I still have the records and the letters around here somewhere.

Eric Davidson on stage with my glasses, Athens ’93

Much like the Turks, I became equally obsessed with Gaunt and their lesser (yet equally incredible) Ohio bretheren such as V3, Puff Tube and most significantly, The Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments. There was a spectacular "All Ohio" issue of Liz Clayton’s irregular fanzine "Wind Up" which encapsulates that early-to-mid-90’s period oh-so-well. My Dad Is Dead, Log, the list is endless. And yes, all of it still holds up remarkably well.

My interest in the Turks never really died down as the years progressed, but much like an old sweater, there wasn’t much that they needed to improve upon. I was lucky enough to see them perform quite a bit and I still believe to this day that Jim Weber’s guitar tone is up there with John Haggerty (Naked Raygun) as one of the most distinct in all of rock and roll. And Eric? Well, there have been few as energetic and/or humorous as he has been.

As things go with all bands that get on past their 30’s or 40’s, the Turks reconvene every so often when the time and/or money is right. And good for them, they deserve it.

I’ve included a ’93 Peel session by the Turks and included a slowed down version of "Tall Order" that the band had on the a-side of a 12" they did for Anyway Stuff back that same year. I don’t know why, but the band’s best ideas were always when they slowed things down much akin to their cover of "Mr. Suit" on their debut album (which is also included).

God fucking bless the Turks.

New Bomb Turks – I Hate People (Peel ’93)

New Bomb Turks – Never Will (Peel ’93)

New Bomb Turks – We Need More (Peel ’93)

New Bomb Turks – Tall Order (Peel ’93)

New Bomb Turks – Deathbed Side Manner (Peel ’93)

New Bomb Turks – Taller Order

New Bomb Turks – Mr. Suit (Wire cover)

Truly bizarre audio sometimes comes from the most random place. After purchasing some back issues of Chunklet (don’t ask) on eBay, the seller sent me a CD-R along with the package.

written on the CD-R insert…..

I think the thick Pennsylvania accent and the electric songs he cranks out speak for themselves, but hey, if I thought the power company would turn my service back on if I wrote a song, I’d probably do it.

J&H Productions has nothing on this guy….

Superstar Love Cross Tape – track 1

Superstar Love Cross Tape – track 2

To quote Billy Carter, "holy shit, I can’t decide which is worse: the $3,200 owed to Eric/AIMS et al, the $115k to BET or the .86 cents to Aaron Spelling". I wonder if The Connells back catalog will keep them afloat for a while.

Read it here.

I should also add that I have never had business relations with TVT Records, but I can rattle off a list a mile long of labels, distributors, etc. that have stiffed Chunklet for ad revenues or magazines sold. I know, I know, try and wrap your head around the fact that there are liars and thieves in the music business. I’m sure this is the first time it’s been mentioned.

I must admit, I was pretty late to AC/DC. When my family moved to Colorado from the suburbs of Houston in 1980, that was my first introduction to their distinct logo and sound. However, my parents were always super protective and not willing to let me bring records into the house with a schutzstaffel "S" (Kiss and AC/DC were the two big offenders) or pentagrams (Rush, Black Sabbath, etc.) or anything that the catholic church (or worse yet, Donahue!) frowned upon.

A classmate lent me "For Those About To Rock" a couple years later and I dug it, but it wasn’t until the mid-90’s that I really started obsessing about them.

The yin and yang of protorockr

With mp3 blogs being how they are, finding AC/DC bootlegs is rather common, but really good bootlegs are another story. During my cyber discoveries, I found these recordings.

The first is by Bon Scott’s 60’s bubblegum pop band, The Valentines, doing a jingle for Coca Cola in Australia. A bit of a novelty.

Okay, each band has their missteps….

The second batch is during AC/DC’s first real US push in 1978 where they played any show that Atlantic Records told them. This recording is from a record industry conference in Nashville. Sadly, due to my inability to post more than 7 tks per blog post, I can’t include the hilarious radio announcer lead in track, but the rest of the recording shows just how flawless and on fire this band was back in the late 70’s. And I have said this a lot, I’d put The Ramones and AC/DC in the same pantheon of amazing bands. Simple. Flawless. Unstoppable.

Enjoy.

The Valentines (pre-AC/DC) – Coca Cola jingle

AC/DC – Live Wire (Nashville ’78)

AC/DC – Gone Shooting (Nashville ’78)

AC/DC – Rocker (Nashville ’78)

AC/DC – Whole Lotta Rosie (Nashville ’78)

AC/DC – Problem Child (Nashville ’78)

AC/DC – Sin City (Nashville ’78)

Actually, that’s not true. Although it’d be miraculous if it happened.

I was lucky enough to see Bitch Magnet at least a couple times when I lived in Pittsburgh during the "glory years" (some would say "year") of 1990 and 1991. Much like lesser (yet still phenomenal) bands such as Nice Strong Arm and Bastro, Bitch Magnet were more massive in Pittsburgh than any place else in the country.

So when I left Pennsylvania for Georgia, I knew that Bitch Magnet lived in Decatur (a burb inside Atlanta) for a while, but even with that, their presence was minimal at best. I pushed them on everybody I knew to little effect.

1993 was a big year. I met an enclave of suburban Atlantans who’d moved to Athens. The Martians, the Fiddlehead guys and most importantly, Jerry Fuchs. Jerry wasn’t well known at the time (he was 18, ferchissakes), but he’s now played in Chk-Chk-Chk, LCD Soundsystem, The Juan McLean, Turing Machine, Maserati, Cloudland Canyon and Vineland (with Jon Fine from Bitch Magnet, not coincidentally). Bands that all massively benefit from Jerry’s motorik skills.

Still, to this day, I think he’s one of the best drummers on the planet. I have crystal clear memories of Jerry sitting in the passenger seat of my ’84 Jetta as we went record shopping in north Atlanta, playing Bitch Magnet’s "Umber" album and Jerry excitedly playing along with "Navajo Ace" on the dashboard. Whereas there are few that could play Orestes’s drum parts, Jerry nailed them. Even without a kit he was a master.

1993 also signaled the year I became good friends with the guys in Seam which featured the songwriting genius of Bitch Magnet’s bass player Soo Young Park. Another blog post goes into this band in detail.

Due to my inability to know what’s passing as "hip" nowadays, I can’t tell you if Bitch Magnet are fashionable in today’s lexicon, but if it weren’t for this band, nothing from Tortoise to Mogwai to Torche to Minus The Bear would exist. There’s no way.

So I’m including this video clip (which was the original impetus for me doing this post) and some rare recordings of Bitch Magnet. The first 2 tracks are from the Caff single that came out in 1990. Caff was run by somebody in Saint Etienne as memory serves. The other tracks are from a board tape of them performing in London in 1989 with Dave Grubbs (Bastro/Squirrel Bait) on guitar.

Go buy all of their albums.

Bitch Magnet – Ducks & Drakes (Caff Single)

Bitch Magnet – Sadie (Caff Single)

Bitch Magnet – Americruiser (Live in London ’89)

Bitch Magnet – Sea of Pearls (Live in London ’89)

Bitch Magnet – Valmead (Live in London ’89)

Bitch Magnet – Big Pining (Live in London ’89)

Bitch Magnet – Goat Legged Country God (Live in London ’89)

So I’ve been spending a lot of time today sifting through just a mountain of old correspondence (both mail and that of the "e" variety) and came across a couple emails of suggestions for sniglets.

Seeing as how we’ve had these in many past issues, I thought it time to open the floor up to people that might have some suggestions/additions for the new issue.

And in case you’ve been wondering, this new issue is going to be absolutely crushing. Very excited. Finally.

FOLKLECTIC (adj) describes any music group featured on NPR’s Fresh Air.

ALTRO (adj) describes any music group featured on NPR’s Sounds Eclectic. oddly dated. most often derrivative of Beck and/or trip hop.

Leave suggestions/additions in the comments section.

So Record Store Day is this coming Saturday and it’s becoming evident that things are taking a decided downturn in the record store biz. Yeah, I’m sure many people that read this blog know to support your local record store, but do you really KNOW what it means?

Anyway, this documentary is being released shortly called "I Need That Record" which chronicles this decline of which I speak. This is the trailer, but if you click here, here and here, you can see other clips. The one about Trash American Style (TPOS to those in the know) was particularly heart breaking especially to those of us who shopped there routinely.

The movie has obligatory interviews with Thurston Moore (keeping his promise to be in every documentary ever), Mike Watt, Brian Poole (giving Athens bootleg lords a shout out!) and a coterie of other luminaries including….Noam Chomsky (!?!?!).

I can’t speak for you, but I’m anxious to see this movie hit screens this summer.

Oh, and on Saturday? Go buy something at your local indie record store.