rj's dirty 13: songs to inflame and disturb

A companion piece to this one in The Huffington Post.   This songlist is designed to agitate, unsettle, or inspire listeners like good 70's punk did -- although the musical styles are all over the map, as usual around here.  Some may exceed the bounds of decency or appropriate political discourse.  Deal with it.

1. "Tommy Gun," The Clash - "You ain't happy unless you got one."  Political punk rises and sets around The Clash.  Although they weren't "the only band that mattered," they   mattered.  This is one of my favorites, along w/"Career Opportunities" and lots more.  It's got attitude and bitchin' guitar parts.  Where else to start this list but with the boys who strode the Westway?
2. "Positively Fourth Street," Bobby Zimmerman - When this came blasting out of my parents' kitchen radio, it hit this thirteen-your-old like 500,000 volts.  I had no idea that anyone else in Planet Exurbia was as angry as me - much less that you were allowed to sing or write about it.   "You'd know what a drag it is to see you."  My sentiments exactly.
3. "Bodies," the Sex Pistols - Ditto " I had no idea ... ," but in 77/78.  Nobody had ever said "fuck" so many times on a record.  And what was especially disturbing was, he was raging against an abortion.  Lydon/Rotten said later that a female "fan" had showed up at his door with an aborted fetus in a paper bag, claiming he was the father.  He said that he was against callous abortions, but that he's pro-choice.   As if it matters.  "Mommy," he screams, "I'm not a discharge!"  The guitar intro is appropriately thunderous and dark.  And I don't care what anyone says - chops or not, Jonesy could play.
4. "Funky Dollar Bill," Parliament/Funkadelic - Groovemeister George Clinton (he from whom all funk blessings flow) dishes up this critique of capitalist values and culture.  "You don't buy a life, you live a life," says the Man with the Rainbow Hair.   Underappreciated guitar virtuoso Eddie Hazel drives the sound, along with the Monk-inspired piano of Bernie Worrell.
5. "No Time to Be 21," The Adverts - They never "made it" over here, although they had at least one Top Ten hit in the UK.  Bassist Kaye Advert was one of the first female punk stars (maybe the first?  I'm no scholar ...)  This track and "Bored Teenagers" shows how they addressed alienation - but I like them because they're catchy.  Their best-known song was "Gary Gilmore's Eyes," but I prefer this one.
6. "Excuse Me (I've Got Someone to Kill)," Johnny Paycheck - From Grand Ol' Opry to Grand Guignol - it's not as far as you think.  This is 1960's-era, pedal-steel rich Paycheck, when he was truly dark - not the trendy "outlaw" of the 1970's.  He did some serious time, but eventually got clean and sober and found Jesus.  He lived happily for a few years before his death.    The song's plotline is "thanks for the drink, and they'll both be dead by the time you reach the sheriff."   In your face, you prefab country stars of today ...
7. "Concentration Moon," Mothers of Invention - Zappa's 1968 doo-wop song about putting hippies and protesters in secret camps.  Everybody thought he was a paranoid lunatic until Nixon's Huston Plan came out a few years later.  Don't think there's a plan out there today, ready to be rolled out at a moment's notice?  You're kidding yourself.
8. "When The Tanks Roll Over Poland Again," The Automatics - This 1978 tune made it to the Punk/Alternative Top Ten in the UK before false rumors of Nazism sank the band's record deal.  It was Steve Lillywhite's (of U2 fame) first producer gig.  (Disclaimer:  I've done session guitar work for the reconstituted Automatics, who still sell in Japan.  Sadly,  I don't think they plan to use my lap steel slide,  Telecaster leads, Farfisa organ, and piano on the tune "Who Died And Made You Brian Jones?" - although I think it's the best work I've done for 'em.  Guess it'll have to wait for the bootleg ...)
9. "The Selfishness In Man," George Jones - The master sculptor of human breath (translation:  really good singer) on what seems to be a typical gospel track.  Until the second verse, where those innocent children become something else.  Billy Graham meets Billy Friedkin.  Gives me a shiver every time ... And for a honky gospel two-fer, "When Heaven Comes Down," Nashville Bluegrass Band - This sounds like a nice bluegrass Christian song, too, but what are they saying?  "When heaven comes down/great mansions will burn ... "  Class war in the afterlife.
10. "Cause of Death," Immortal Technique - "My style is like a ten year old child with a slit wrist - too much reality," says IT.  There's a lot of political discourse in underground rap, and this half-black Hispanic socialist (Mumia Abu-Jamal speaks at length on one album) is one of the best - even if you don't think Bush planned 9/11, as he does.  If I tell you that he rhymes "poppin' and lockin'" with "Wolfowitz doctrine," which he does, you'll laugh and won't realize how intense and great he is.  (I have to force myself past some of the sadism and misogyny, though ... guess I'm a pussy.)
11. "Anti Love Song," Betty Davis - Miles' deep-funk ex-wife with the aggressive attitude. 
12. "Do They Owe Us A Living?", Crass - 70's-era British punk theatrical collective weighs in on that old question, "Do you kids think the world owes you a living?"  The irresistible answer: "Of course they fucking do!"
13. "Jet Fighter," Butthole Surfers - From a CPA, Gabby Haines, and his band, after they left punk and went all synthesizer-y under the production of ex-Led Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones.  The old offensiveness is still there, though, as in this tune about a US pilot who gets a big surprise in the afterlife.  Wingers would call it anti-military and unpatrotic; I'd say it mocks bullshit patriotism and fundamentalist self-righteousness.  But with a band name like that, what did you expect?  "God Bless the USA"?

I've got one more but I'm holding on to it, because it's really obscure, fits well into our insane times, and I've worked up a great powerpunk cover arrangement.   Clue:  the artist's former group was the inspiration for Duran Duran, Flock of Seagulls, etc., but never became well-known over here.

There's lots more I could have put on here (like "Anarchy in the USA" - Tito Larriva's Spanish-language version of the Sex Pistols track), but time is money - as proved by the famous equation (t = $).   Hey, do me a favor if you're so inclined ... come up with your own list of "songs to inflame and disturb" and send it my way.

Comments

[flawedplan]

I enjoyed your story at the Huff post, and am just letting you know I posted on it at my board, can't do trackback with discussion groups...

[Ken]

"I've got one more but I'm holding on to it, because it's really obscure...the artist's former group was the inspiration for Duran Duran, Flock of Seagulls, etc..."

And the answer is? I'll take a wild guess and say that it's "TV SMITH'S EXPLORERS," who's very smart debut album surely laid the groundwork for the synth-heavy sound that Duran Duran would later turn into pop hits. Of course, TV Smith was the leader of the aforementioned ADVERTS. And by the way, their bassist's name was not Kaye, it was "Gaye."

So...who is the mystery band if it's not the EXPLORERS?

[rimone]

there's 'god save the queen,' a mashup of chumbawumba and john lydon, the 2nd on this page.

[Fred]

How about If I had a rocket launcher by Bruce Cockburn?