HOUSE OF LOVE - DESTROY THE HEART

Yes, I admit -- I do hear a bit of Echo and the Bunnymen in here -- but the middle of this song gets sort of lost. I lose the narrative when I hear the song. When you watch the video it does tend to go forward in a very clear cut singular direction. But then again -- so does the camera so the two of them sort of coincide and allow the listener to follow along.......

This came off a BBC CD from Uncut magazine recently celebrating the late John Peel.

Posted by Cantu at 11:12 on Sept. 13, 2007

CAPTAIN SENSIBLE - HERE IS THE GOOD POP - HAPPY TALK

"HAPPY TALK ---- One of The Great Unknown POP Songs You Never Heard"

This is one of the greatest songs that existed in its time period. It came out one Captains solo efforts when he wasn't acting like a revved up maniac with THE DAMNED. This album allowed Sensible to do some pretty off the cuff things you may not expect from the UK's First PUNK band. This is a great effort.

Around this time it was rumored that Sensible was paying for Robyn Hitchcock to write songs and to create music. Hitch's band THE SOFT BOYS had recently broken up and now he was solo. Sensible heard his music and thought it was important enough to support. I have only heard this rumor by club kids growing up in this time period but was never able to validate this curious fact.

This song HAPPY TALK was featured in a few comedies of late. Its whimsical like Sensible himself. The other notable songs on this effort include YANKS WITH GUNS. If you can locate this on disc its worth owning. Unfortunately ITUNES does not carry it.

Posted by Cantu on Aug. 6, 2007 at 8:56 pm

HEY GIRLS... ITS BIG TRACK !!!!

BIG TRACK = LOTS OF HOT CHICKS
In the 80's you had a few choices. If you played with action figures that meant that you
were a homosexual.... seriously. If you played with a ten speed and ...... BIG TRACK.. that meant
that you scored ALL THE CHICKS......

RIIIIIIIIIIGHT.

Course if you wanted to be REALLY COOL you would bitch slap the principal in the
lunch room like our colleague and criminal.... Jeff Simpson. And to put it another way
if you wanted to be THE KING OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD then you had to risk jail time,
felonies, and grand larceny.

Seriously.

the Horrors of Flood Junior High
This is a very tall order to fulfill when you are 12. Still in our neighborhood we had young
men and women aspiring to great heights of ... er um... greatness. It was scary going to Junior High back in the day. Oh sure, we didn't have guns back then in our schools but you sure
could get knifed up pretty good like a slab of apple wood smoked bacon.

But I'm getting WAY off course here. Simply said, Junior High in Stratford Connecticut was a lot like the county lock up. The food was on par to boot. Scary shit.

THE BIG QUESTION IS......

DID THE CHICKS... REALLY get impressed with Milton Bradleys Big Track? Unlike my 13 year old counterparts opinion I beg to differ. My guess was they probobly did not.

Get impressed that is. This toy in my opinion sucked balls. Due to the simple fact that it had no doors or action figures to go with it. The windows were painted on in the form of a decal. This was kind of a weird toy. Notice that the kid playing with it has to interact with a dog of all things and a bored father who is trying to read the paper on his day off. That is the level of ACTION you get with this toy. FOr added charm you had to lay your action figures on top of the BIG TRACK and pretend that they somehow could coexist in a doorless and windowless society.

Milton Bradley never did come out with anything to go with this toy. You had to supply your own dog and ... bored dad to partake in the great BIG TRACK experience. This toy offered little emotional comfort back in the day. It hardly took your mind off the mindless monsters that clogged up our public school system waiting to cave our young heads in.

I never got my ass kicked up and down the block ..THANK GOD. Nor was I shot or stabbed while I attended public school.

But this toy offered little escapism as the 80's began. It brought very little peace of mind. But most of all.... The thing that i remember most about this toy was that it sucked.. BIG TIME.

Cantu posted Aug. 29, 2007

THE NEW FAT BOYS - BIG WALMART BUTTS

This video takes a lot of balls. There is nothing wishy washy about these guys and they totally understand comedy. They understand confrontation. If they are somewhat lucky they may actually get fame and fortune. This is the sort of thing that can get you on the JIMMY KIMMEL SHOW. Seriously.

"EXCUSE ME SHOPPERS YOU ARE IN FOR A SPECIAL TREAT...."



posted by CANTU at Aug. 23, 2007 at 8:50 pm

EDITH MASSEY - DONT LEAVE ME GATOR - NO NO NO

"A THOUSAND BELLY LAUGHS LATER -- THIS ONE STILL FLOORS ME"

FROM THE FILM.... FEMALE TROUBLE... WITH EDITH MASSEY.....

Yes, I am aware that this film is truly terrible. But that is half the beauty. The acting in this flim is beyond deplorable but thats part of the charm of John Waters, the director. I have no idea of actress Edith Massey had a low I.Q. My guess is that she probably did.

The 90's are over. Its time we forget the whole,,,, "politeness" act.

Lets face it this film is just plain hard to watch. But as you watch it you will find it even harder to take your eyes off of it. This thing is really demented, strange and sad. Through it all there is a rainbow glimmer of comedy in it in very small proportions.

Massey by the way had a punk band in the L.A. punk movement in the early - mid 80's. I find this very hard to believe. Yet, I would have liked to have seen her perform and wouldn't mind even finding some of her recordings. This of course is for educational purposes only.

Posted by Cantu, Aug. 22, 2007 at 10:14 PM

XTC - FUNK POP A ROLL - SERIOUSLY NOW

"XTC - DESIGNED TO DRIVE YOU UPBEAT SKYWARD AND MAD"

I never knew these guys had a video for this song off the album MUMMER. Its the final track on the CD. I should know because I played mine so many times I wore the damned thing out. Its hardly playable now. It was a great way to end the CD as it is a fairly upbeatable sort of sound.

Just the sort of thing you never seem to get enough of these days.

The frenetic cut up video pieces jerk and fly about in a somewhat predictable pattern. Its welcomed to see this sort of thing appear after all this time. Note how every shot in this sequence is not dyed green or red and there seems to be an abundant overload of musicianship.

Ted Cantu posted this on Aug. 15, 2007 and at exactly 10:22 PM for those who are keeping score.

THE ALARM - STRENGTH

"THE GREATEST SOUND FROM THE MID - 80'S --
WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE STORM BROKE?"

There was a lot of crap in the 80's. There was a lot of crap in the 90's. But then lets face it . There is a lot of crap today too. Somewhere in all that crap there are usually great bands LIKE THE ALARM who get shuffled behind permalayers of garbage. You're job as a culture archeologist is to dig them out with a toy shovel and try to enjoy their brilliance. The Alarm is one of those amazing bands that got shuffled aside.

The one thing you need to understand is that the Alarm is from Dublin. They are powerful and they were on a powerful label..... IRS RECORDS.... which is now defunct.

There hasn't been a record label this ballsy in years. So bands with style and a radical calling to sustain get undiscovered. This is very unfortunate.

The Alarm just got back together and are kicking out new amazing sounds. I say great for them because they are truly amazing to watch. They have style and a lot of heart. Its never a put on.

Cantu posted this on Aug. 12 9:45 pm

TROG - JOAN CRAWFORDS FINEST HOUR

"JOAN CRAWFORD IN THE MOVIE TROG: almost as horrible as the child abuse SHE INFLICTED ON HER OWN STEP CHILDREN"

When Crawford starred in the very ultra hilarious TROG she was a full blown alcoholic and lunatic. This is her last movie and it came out in 1970. Its meant to be dead serious. If you are are....lucky... you can see this on late night television. Course, I doubt that if you find it that late at night that you can truly consider yourself lucky.

There is a scene in here where he learns his ABC'S I kid you not. There is also a scene where he learns how to play with a toy choo choo train and learn his colors. He sees the color red and goes bananas. This is great stuff. Its a serious study of mindless behavior.

Still, all in all, its worth owning.

Well, not owning teeny boppers... but its worth viewing.

Cantu posted this on aug. 12, 2007 at 9:29 PM

THE CIRCLE JERKS - THE CROWD

"ALL THE WORLD MUST LIVE HERE...."

From the album WONDERFUL which ... is. This was recorded at the House of Blues, which is the greatest place to go watch live gigs. I saw the Damned there and a few others. You can literally hang out there at that bar for hours. Its insane.

This clip is from the live DVD that was called THIS SHOW MUST GO OFF.

Cantu posted this on Aug. 12, 2007 at 9:17 PM

THE SIMPSONS - WORLD UP MY ASS

"world up my ass - by the circle jerks"

CANTU - 2007, POSTED ON AUGUST 12, AT 9:12 PM