Stiff Little Fingers

Going to see Stiff Little Fingers in some shithole Polish disco in Hipsterville Brooklyn that my band has actually played. It's sad that they have to take the same stage that we disgraced.

Stiff Little Fingers were the shit to me. Growing up... seeing them during the Nobody's Heroes Tour in NYC in '81 or so. Their songs were part of the beat that kept my heart pumping.

 A Pale (but tanned) Copy

When I finally got my own band, the first song I sang myself was "Wasted Life". If they play "Johnny Was", I might break down. I'm attending with my buddy Dave (reference the song "Thick As Thieves" from The Jam for a full decryption of THAT relationship.)
 
He's actually my last living usher from my wedding. The four of us: Me, Dave, Kim, Vin... and now only Dave and I left. A bike accident and an aneurysm... and then there were two,,, probably the two that the smart money would have been on croaking first.

The Real Thing 



report on show- they fucking rocked it- they played everything much faster and harder versions than on any of their live output- maybe because original bass player ali mcmordie is in the band again?

and the couple of hundred fuckers who were there knew every fucking word of every fucking song. which was extremely heartening to have a 90 minute singalong.

they concentrated mostly on the "Nobody's Heroes" album. a definite greatest hits show- the newest thing they did was the joe strummer tribute "strummerville". although i gotta admit that jake burns is looking a bit william shatner-ish these days. but who isn't?

(from a show earlier in tour)- Suspect Device

Stiff Little Fingers

Holy crap! I just found footage of the Stiff Little Fingers 1982 show in NYC that I was at.
Here
and
here
and
here!
The young and athletic Nazz was pogoing his lil old heart out right by Jake Burns for this show. My memories of the show are vivid... my buddies picked me up from the gas station job that I had that summer and we drove the hour trip to New York City's Peppermint Lounge. Fortified by Ballantine's 40 ounce torpedo's, I reeked of petroleum fumes and we got there just in time for the start of the show. The band was just killer... Ali McMordie on bass was amazing. I remember that we sorta really "picked" on one older guy with our enthusiasm. That "older guy" was probably 25!
I've seen em since, but nothing beat that first time!
SLF are on the "desert island" band list for me. Their first two albums "Inflammable Material" and "Nobody's Heroes" are punk classics. The stupidity of war and tribalism was their forte; with such songs as "Straw Dogs", "Suspect Device", "Wasted Life" and "Tin Soldiers", SLF took The Clash's "heart on their sleeve" politics and stayed on the rock n roll path, rather than the multi-cultural route The Clash took after their first two albums. In 2004, SLF released a tribute song to Joe Strummer, aptly title "Strummerville". Sure, SLF played some Reggae and Ska (covering the Specials' "Doesn't Make It Alright" and Bob Marley's "Johnny Was"). However, they "rocked" them, rather than the "rolling" The Clash preferred.

"Johnny Was" is Stiff Little Fingers' tour de force... with the senseless murder of Marley's Jamaican character transferred to "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland. SLF, as an Irish band, certainly experienced the senseless violence that they sang about. "Johnny Was" is a song close to me, as I think of my fallen friends whenever I hear it.

In a top floor flat in the
middle of the night
There's a man with rifle and
Johnny in his sight,
I said oh no, we can't let
that kind of thing happen
here no more
Oh no
Johnny, Johnny, Johnny...

A single shot rings out in a
Belfast night and I said oh
Johnny was a good man

The balance of Stiff Little Fingers' oeuvre is well worth checking out. The live "Hanx", "Go For It", "Now Then" (all early 80's product with their original line-up all have great moments. They reformed in the 90's and came out with some albums worth checking out as well (the best of which are "Hope Street" and "Get A Life".
They still tour, and have several dates in the UK coming up in March. Hopefully, they'll get back over to The States soon too!

THAT'S Rock N Roll!

(My idea of a party)

Dang, I think I am actually finally sober. From Tuesday nite. Yep, Caterwaul Of Sound came, saw and kicked ass. We played the premier party of the new film "Kids Go To The Woods, Kids Get Dead", and by all accounts, we were extremely entertaining.
What a thrill it was to play a packed club (our lead singer relates "I couldn't even see where the people ended") and rock it.
This was the famous "we're not gonna get wasted before we go on" show. OK, so that didn't quite come to pass, my excuse being that Mrs. Nomad accompanied me and well, what can a poor boy do, except get hammered with his rock n roll chick?
By the time we went on, I was obsessing how I couldn't get the G string on my bass tuned... until I remembered that I don't even use the G string!
The cool thing was, that despite our lack of, ahem, technical prowess, they all loved us. Our drummer beat the crap out of his cymbals so hard that they actually flew off the stands. As a result, I started to throw them all about in the air and play fungo, hitting my bass into them.

The show ended with me doing a Pete Townshend and smashing my bass on the floor and jumping all over it. Real smart, Nazz.

And then we played Surfin' Bird. Because, every show should end with Surfin' Bird.
Or something.

The review of the night... courtesy of Mrs. Nomad: "Y'know, I will come see you guys again".

And then things got weird...

On another floor, there was some kind of weird party starting up. It turned out it was a lesbians only party for some magazine. I tried to make friends and even offered to have the band come up and play for them for awhile. Hey, some of my best friends are lesbians!
Unfortunately for us, these weren't exactly "lipstick lesbians", they were more of the, ahem, manly type. Now I ask you, what's the point of two butch lesbians going at it? Wouldn't that be sort of like they both wanted to be gay men? Ah, the wonders of true love. And why did they hate us guys so much?
Nonetheless, it wasn't exactly our cup of tea; watching gals who were dressed as dudes and looked manlier than us making out. Plus they told us they were gonna kick our asses if we didn't leave!

So we left.

Oh well, rock n roll!

Here's some stuff that came on my shuffle this morn... it seems to make sense.

Toonage:
Grandmaster Flash - The Message
The Who - Drowned (Quadrophenia demo)
Stiff Little Fingers - Strummerville
The Dickies - Sound Of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel cover)

Barbed Wire Love

They take away our freedom
In the name of liberty
Why don't they all just clear off
Why won't they let us be
They make us feel indebted
For saving us from hell
And then they put us through it
It's time the bastards fell

Don't believe them
Don't believe them
Question everything you're told
Just take a look around you
At the bitterness and spite
Why can't we take over and try to put it right

- Suspect Device... Stiff Little Fingers

As it's St. Patricks day, we at Bleedin Out pay humble tribute to the greatest of all Irish Punk bands. With all due respect to Thin Lizzy, The Undertones and U2; our money is on STIFF LITTLE FINGERS.
No other band combined political commentary on "The Troubles" with such a kick ass emotional (not emo!!!!!!) punk attack.

Certainly, comparisons to The Clash, from topical matter to a heavy dabbling in Reggae and Ska ("Roots, Radicals, Rockers and Reggae", their cover of The Specials ""Doesn't Make It Alright") can be made. SLF also penned "Strummerville" in honor of Joe Strummer when he passed.


Gravel voiced singer Jake Burns growled his way through topics ranging from Military Conscription ("Tin Soldiers", "Wasted Life"), Nationalism ("Fly The Flag"), prejudice ("White Noise") and violence ("Suspect Device").

SLF could even show a sense of humor with a song like "Barbed Wire Love"

I met you in No Man's Land / Across the wire we were holding hands / Hearts a-bubble in the rubble / It was love at bomb site

And, of course, they recorded the definitive version of Bob Marley's heart wrenching "Johnny Was"; transitioning the original's locale of Jamaica to Ireland.

SLF still tour occasionally (recently, original bass player Ali McMordie came back to the fold, replacing The Jam's Bruce Foxton).






Here are a couple of shows. The first is a compilation of the performances SLF did on the John Peel show, the second is a live show from their heyday.

GO FOR IT!

Toonage:
Stiff Little Fingers - The Peel Sessions
Stiff Little Fingers - Live At The Keystone, Berkeley CA 10-8-80

Old And Insane

This guy is bad news. Our country is totally fucked and McCain is gonna do his best to keep it in a downward spiral. Wanna keep the war going? Vote McCain! Wanna ban abortion? Vote McCain! Wanna kill free speech? Vote McCain! Wanna keep assault weapons legal? Vote McCain!

Back in 2000, McCain seemed to be a great candidate for the Republikkkans. But after Bush/Rove destroyed his rep, it seemed he was a done deal. 8 years later, he is fellating Dubya and courting the asshole half of Amerikkka.

4 years of McCain = another four of Bush.

And here's something, courtesy of Inspiration, Move Me Brightly.



Toonage:
Kraut - Kill For Cash
Pink Floyd - The Gunner's Dream
Ramones - Street Fighting Man
Stiff Little Fingers - Tin Soldier
The Knack - Good Girls Don't

The Queen Is Dead

Don't go be bad

Cause you been had

Don't go be sad

Don't go away mad

Just go away (go away)

O Don't ya know

Don't wanna see ya curse and pout

Pack it and move it

Ya spell, ya read O U T out

"Just Go Away" - Blondie

Sorry Hillary, I know you really really really really wanna be President.
I really really really really want to be a Rock Star. And pitch for the Mets.
But I can't play well enough. (Actually, I might pitch well enough to be on the Mets)!
And Hillary, you're just an unlikeable liar with delusions of grandeur.
Good riddance.
Oh, and make sure you drag down the whole Democratic Party with you and ensure that we get at least four more years of Bush's policy's. After all, it's better to destroy the whole country than bow out gracefully.
Try having a little grace. Perhaps you can still be an asset to this country by helping Obama win.

Toonage:
David Bowie - Queen Bitch (1972 BBC Radio Sessions)
Eater - Queen Bitch (Bowie Cover)
Green River - Queen Bitch (Bowie Cover)
Rolling Stones - Bitch (Acetate version)
New Bomb Turks - Bitch
The Specials - Little Bitch
Stiff Little Fingers - Just Fade Away
Blondie - Just Go Away

Reggae De Blanc

What do Jerry Garcia and Rancid have in common? Well, aside from kick ass bass players and a San Francisco pedigree, not very much. Except of course, for a healthy respect for Reggae music.

The early punks were influenced by Reggae as well, it seemed that it was almost mandatory for the old school Brits to dabble in the genre (Clash, SLF, Generation X, Slits, etc). And the late 70's Two Tone scene certainly was a direct result of Reggae.

Here are some prime exhibits of white boys doing the Reggae thang.

Irie ya mofo's!

Toonage:

The Clash - Police And Thieves (live Hong Kong 1982)

Rancid - The Harder They Come (live)

Jerry Garcia - The Harder They Come

Stiff Little Fingers - You Can Get It If You Really Want It

Stiff Little Fingers - Johnny Was

Joe Jackson - Pressure Drop (live 5/14/79)

Daisy, Daisy

At least H.A.L. was able to take some of the bastards out before they disconnected him. We should all be so fortunate.

"We are turning into a nation of whimpering slaves to Fear—fear of war, fear of poverty, fear of random terrorism, fear of getting down-sized or fired because of the plunging economy, fear of getting evicted for bad debts or suddenly getting locked up in a military detention camp on vague charges of being a Terrorist sympathizer."
Hunter S. Thompson—"Extreme Behavior in Aspen," February 3, 2003

Toonage:

Stiff Little Fingers - Straw Dogs
The Bureau - Only For Sheep
Slaughter And The Dogs - White Light White Heat
Face To Face - Disconnected

Of Monsters, Giants, and a King

Saw Cloverfield over the weekend and it certainly rocked. It's done as a videotape that one of the characters shoots during an attack on NYC (where else!) by some sort of monster. As it is supposed to be an amateur video, it falls in and out of focus and the picture is shaky, but the concept really makes it seem that you are involved in the action. There is one scene that takes place in a helicopter that is really freaky.

I wish however, that everyone would stop beating up on NY. Between this and I Am Legend, the Big Apple has taken more than it's share of hit's lately. There is one scene that echoes 9-11 very eerily. Here's hoping the next movie takes out Boston. I'd like to see Fenway Park melt under the next alien death ray. Or something.

A happier event in NY is that the Giants are going to the freakin' Super Bowl! I was supposed to be at the game at the Frozen Tundra in Green Bay last nite, but things fell apart. And, upon reflection, that was a good thing. It looked unbearably cold and the cardiac arrests provided by Big Blue woulda killed me. Holy crap! Eli and Plaxico and the G-men defense put a hurtin' on Brett Favre and the Cheeseheads and now it's on to the Super Bowl! It would be nice to knock off the Patriots and destroy their season, especially after the Red Sawx have bitch-slapped the Yankees around the last few years.

And today is Martin Luther King day. As Bill and Ted said: "Be excellent To Each Other". Racism and other hate-isms sucks. Unless it's anti-Boston.

Toonage:

NOFX - Don't Call Me White

Rancid - Don't Call Me White

Minor Threat - Guilty Of Being White (demo)

Slayer - Guilty Of Being White

Stiff Little Fingers - White Noise

Cry Baby Cry

What a beautiful football game Sunday night. The Giants kicked the crap out of the Cowgirl's and now it's on to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. The Cowboys went down quicker than Jessica Simpson does on her loser QB boyfriend.

At this point, it's all gravy for the G-Men.

Aside from being the reason that President Kennedy's dead and the main city of the state our Prez is from; Dallas will now be known as the place where grown men cry like little pussy's.

Seeing Terrell Owens weep like a little bitch in the post game interview was the cherry on the sundae. I eagerly await his next "overdose" of painkillers.

Toonage:

Gay Cowboys In Bondage - Domestic Battlefield

The Cure - Boys Don't Cry (acoustic version)

The Beatles - Cry Baby Cry (alternate version)

Stiff Little Fingers - Bloody Sunday

X - Blue Spark

Posthumous

12/31 or 1/1 would have been my buddy Kim's birthday. We never could figure out which one it was and he was kinda vague about it, so we would split the difference and celebrate it at midnite, when everyone was celebrating the new year.

Kim was an usher at my wedding, and practically a brother to both me and my wife. Kim wasn't from the USA originally, so he was sorta on the outside looking in a bit. But he assimilated pretty quickly. He was an avid participant in all of our twisted reindeer games, and was a constant at all the shows. Tons of Punk shows, Garage shows, Dead shows, Floyd shows, etc. Plus, he would drive and get our sorry asses home afterwards. I guess he must not have drank as much as the rest of us, but the other "accoutrement's" of being young and stupid were certainly visited upon him as much as the rest of us. It's kind of a miracle that he never got killed or pulled over in the various incarnations of "Death-Mobiles" he drove.

Kim died in a bicycle crash during the NYC Five Boro Bike tour in 1997. He was grievously injured as he was going down a hill really fast and went flying over his bike and did a header into a concrete barrier. Yes, he was wearing his helmet, and it split open and also split his skull in two.
When we got the call about it, and rushed to the hospital, Kim was on life support, his head bandaged and he was being kept alive by machines. The Doctor told us that the best we could hope for was that he would be in a vegetative state forever.
At that point he didn't even look human. You see your buddy all broken up and on machines and it's almost as if you're looking at a monster. It was quickly apparent to us that the quicker he passed, the better. I remember speaking to him, listening to the machines whirring and beeping, and telling him to "let go". Not that he could hear me of course.
Three days later , he was gone.

This was the first exposure we all had to DEATH. I am not talking about relatives dying, or some kid in your school that you vaguely knew cashing in. I am referring to the ripping asunder of our very small tight group of friends. You know, the ones you figure that will always be with you and one day you'd be in the nursing home laughing at all the stupid shit you did when you were young. It was strange, because the smart money would have been on Kim to outlive us all. I would've figured that any of us would have crashed, overdosed, or been killed before Kim. And a fucking bike crash. Un-fucking believable.

I think that none of us handled the next few days particularly well, but we had a small memorial service for him in a park, read some passages from some relevant books and songs and proceeded to get shitfaced drunk.
Several very strange paranormal things happened during these two weeks, and we all liked to think that Kim had a hand in some of them.

More times than I care to remember, I was an asshole to Kim. Inconsiderate, thoughtless, even mean. More than once, he even took a punch for me.
But he stuck out our friendship. I guess family is like that.

I wish I could say that I learned a valuable lesson from Kim, and maybe I did about loyalty. But I sure wish I would've treated him better. And I haven't learned enough, since I still treat loved ones worse than they deserve.

I still think about Kim all the time, especially when I am at a show that he would have been at. I have some of his old t-shirts and wear them at these shows. When I played gigs with bands, I would always wear one of his shirts or this cool leather vest with Husker Du and The Misfits and DOA painted on it. And it was a huge moment for me when I started playing Stiff Little Fingers' "Wasted Life" and I would dedicate it to him.

I still go outside on New Year's eve a bit before midnite and communicate with Kim. At this point that's all I can do.

Toonage:

Stiff Little Fingers - Wasted Life
Stiff Little Fingers - Johnny Was (Peel Sessions)
The Damned - Wait For The Blackout

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

How strange is the lot of us mortals!

Each of us is here for a brief sojourn;

for what purpose he knows not,

though he senses it.
But without deeper reflection
one knows from daily life that one exists for other people.

Callimachus

Coming up on a milestone b-day and thinkin' and drinkin' in reflection. Lot of water has washed old bridges away and many friends and family that I went into battle with are gone. Some extremely close friends have died years too early and others have either drifted into the ether or are really only reachable by digital means due to distance (both mileage and emotional).

I suppose that's all natural, what with real life intruding and family/jobs/timing all throwing a spanner in the works. But I never expected to be so seperated by my droogs due to time and mortality at such an early age. People who you think are gonna be there forever. And they never are.

Toonage:

Ramones - Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (live)

Paul Weller - Thick As Thieves (live 2007)

Led Zeppelin - Ten Years Gone (live)

Backyard Babies (w/ Joey Ramone) - Friends

Stiff Little Fingers - Wait And See

Betrayed - Self Oppression

100 Years of Punk Rock (sorta)

Wow-

100 posts. I am not real big on marking such portentous events, but wtf. It's been fun, and the cyber banter with you folks has been peachy keen.

I've put together a compilation with some of my favorite bands and tunes (plus a couple of tracks from crews I was in). It's all Punk Rawk, well, because I am so freakin' punk rawk.

Hope you enjoy em...

Toonage:

1. The Vandals - Jackass
2. Replacements - Gimmie Noise
3. The Rants - Big Mistake (live NYC 2006)
4. The Jam - Thick As Thieves
5. The Damned - Wait For The Blackout (live hollywood 2001)
6. The Damned - Dozen Girls
7. The Clash - Death Or Glory
8. The Clash - All The Young Punks (demo)
9. The Clash - Clampdown (live nyc 1981)
10. Stiff Little Fingers - Johnny Was (John Peel Show)
11. Soul Asylum - Never Really Been
12. Replacements - Another Girl Another Planet (live NYC 1986)
13. Replacements - If Only You Were Lonely
14. Rancid - Olympia
15. Ramones - Do You Remember Rock n Roll Radio
16. Ramones - All The Way (demo)
17. Ramones - Bonzo Goes To Bitsburg
18. Pennywise - Bro Hymn
19. NOFX - The Longest Line
20. Joey Ramone and Holly Vincent - I Got You Babe
21. Ism - I Think I Love You
22. Husker Du - Turn On The News
23. Husker Du - Celebrated Summer (live NJ 1985)
24. Generation X - 100 Punks , Kleenex (live sheffield UK 1978)
25. Dirty Pillows - I Won't F#ck Your Sox, Bugs (live NYC 2005)
26. Dead Boys - All This And More (live nyc 1978)
27. Circle Jerks - Put A Little Love In Your Heart

Click here for the whole kit and kaboodle!