REVIEWS, REVIEWS, REVIEWS

Since the Grammys will be coming up soon it gets me to thinking about music. Actually it gets me thinking about good music. You know, the kind of music that the Grammys will completely ignore, opting instead to promote and honor all of the least common denominators and music business droids. So in honor of this prestigious event I have decided to discuss a few platters that ( as far as I know) have never received the award.

ELIAS HULK - UNCHAINED (BEAT GOES ON RECORDS)

Early 70's hard blues psych. Proto metal, stoner rock, that will conjure up images of guys with long, greasy hair, and glazed stares playing some seedy bar in some nowhere town. Great acid guitar, and the singer kinda sounds like Pete Townshend in places. The whole thing recorded in only a day or two (as it should be). The cover is pretty cool and makes me wonder if Marvel Comics ever tried to sue these guys? Although there sub - unknown status and lack of money making would, I guess answer the question.

FLAMING GROOVIES - TEENAGE HEAD (BUDDHA RECORDS)

An anabolic and amphetamine speed ball fueled stomp blast by these California born and bred monsters. The Groovies shed their musical skins a couple of different times through their career. This period is my favorite, although I do like their later power pop phase as well. Roy Loney, Cyril Jordan, and the boys lay down a high energy groove that has one foot in early 70's Rolling Stones, and the other foot in Charlie Feathers. This disc will take you where you want to go.

JESSE HECTOR - GORILLA GARAGE: THE JESSE HECTOR STORY(RPM RECORDS)

This disc gives you an overview of the musical life of Jesse Hector with his various bands and whatnot. This thing delivers on a lot of fronts; glam, proto punk, proto metal, garage, and rockabilly. It's all there in Jesse Hectors music wrapped in all of its high energy glory. Crushed Butler, The Hammersmith Gorillas, and other of his bands are here. When listening to this I find it impossible to understand how anyone can give a crap about stuff like Breaking Benjamines, Buck Cherry, or whoever it is now days that is supposed to be getting out the jams. This music is the real crash and smash that you need, owing a lot to the Who, Mott the Hoople, T-Rex, and Jimi Hendrix. The song "Carolina" alone will probably add 10 years to your lifespan. In fact, in these dark days where everything has become permeated with abysmal dross, this disc will save your life. WHAT ARE YA DOING STILL READING THIS? GO GET IT.

BOOGALOO BOOK NOOK

With all of the cold, windy, winter weather going on, I find myself much less inclined to feel like walking outside my door. I would just as soon sleep the whole winter away, but those bills have got to be paid. Gotta keep the lights on here at Driver 13 HQ after all. And although these dark and desolate days can really get one down, there are always a few items of interest to keep things from getting downright bleak. Which brings me to a couple of books that have found their way to my mail box.

TRASH! THE COMPLETE NEW YORK DOLLS by Kris Needs and Dick Porter. (Plexus)
Just as no record collection is complete without the New York Dolls, neither is any library complete without a book on said New Yorkers. I'm not really sure how many books there are on the subject, but this one would seem to be a worthy book to invest in. I certainly don't consider myself any kind of expert on the band, but I knew about a great deal of stuff that's in this book from other sources. And there are a lot of different sources out there about this band, but it is nice to have a lot of this info in one place, and the book is well written, which is really what it's all about when your gonna plunk down some hard earned cash for a book.

This book does seem to be pretty comprehensive, you get not only the history of the band, but some prehistory as well. It also covers the post Dolls events of all the members, mostly Johnny, but then he was rather prominent (along with Jerry) in the punk scene of the middle to late 70's, with the Heartbreakers and all, but the other guys are covered as well. It also covers the new version of the band that is still going ( as far as I know) , and all of the attention that they seem to be getting, or at least had been getting a few years ago.
If you don't know anything about the Dolls, then definitely get this book. If you know a little, or even a lot about them, you might want to go ahead and get it anyway. You're bound to pick up a little piece of info that you didn't know.
Heck there's even facts in here that I could have lived without knowing. I mean, I'm not sure that I wanted to know that Johnny wasn't happy with the guitar sound on the two records. I mean wow. I have always considered both of those albums as ultimate primo blast, talismanic objects of power, and johnny didn't feel the true sound of the band was captured. Sounds like freakin' perfection to me, but what do I know?

WACKY PACKAGES (ABRAMS)

Next up is a book dedicated to the greatness that was Wacky Packages. When I was a little kid in the 70's I thought these things were absolutely great and my opinion of just how great these are hasn't changed any. The Topps company put these stickers out alongside their baseball and football cards. Some of the artwork was done by underground comix names like Bill Griffith (Zippy the Pinhead) and others.The book is pretty much a couple of page interview with Art Spiegalman, an afterword by Jay Lynch, and the stickers. Well not the actual stickers, but each page is a reproduction of the stickers, series 1 through 7, from 1973 to 1974. The dust jacket of the book is like the wax wrapping that the stickers came in. These stickers were as important to my cultural formation as MAD Magazine, 60's and 70's Marvel comics, and rock and roll.