Fear

I was reminded of these guys at band practice the other night. LOVED this record in high school, in a way that kids tend to love stuff they know will piss off their parents. Listening to it again 30 years later, I think it holds up. I’m particularly impressed with Lee Ving’s vocals. (Hilarious lyrics and a tight band who can really play don’t hurt, either.)

As is my want, I did a little research. Turns out, Ving (real name Lee Capallero) is a bit of a journeyman musician. Before Fear, he sang in a Philadelphia blues band called Sweet Stavin Chain, who shared stages with B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Cream. Most recently, he plays in an outlaw country band called Range War. He’s an actor too, typically cast as degenerates and lowlifes. He was Mr. Boddy in the 1985 film, Clue.

There’s too many of us
There’s too many of us
There’s too many
There’s too many of us
There’s too many of us
There’s too many

Let’s have a war
So you can go and die
Let’s have a war
We could all use the money
Let’s have a war
We need the space
Let’s have a war
Clean out this place

It already started in the city
Suburbia will be just as easy

There’s too many of us
There’s too many of us
There’s too many
There’s too many of us
There’s too many of us
There’s too many

Let’s have a war
Jack up the Dow Jones
Let’s have a war
It can start in New Jersey
Let’s have a war
Blame it on the middle class
Let’s have a war
We’re like rats in our cage

It already started in the city
Suburbia will be just as easy

There’s too many of us
There’s too many of us
There’s too many
There’s too many of us
There’s too many of us
There’s too many

Let’s have a war
Sell the rights to the network
Let’s have a war
Till our wallets get fat like last time
Let’s have a war
Give guns to the queers
Let’s have a war
The enemy’s within

It already started in the city
Suburbia will be just as easy

There’s too many of us
There’s too many of us
There’s too many
There’s too many of us
There’s too many of us
There’s too many

Westy Bootsy

‘Member cassettes? ‘Member when Westerberg was touring and had a great band and Makerbot hadn’t slipped into dementia? Me either, but here’s a cassette only boot proving the first two parts were real.

In the Musicarioum

Jac Mac And Rad Boy Go!

Any of you bastards remember this from Night Flight?

Interestingly, Wes Archer was one of the original three animators (along with David Silverman and Bill Kopp) on The Simpsons, Tracey Ullman shorts, and subsequently directed a number of The Simpsons episodes. He’s also directed episodes of King of the Hill, Futurama, The Goode Family, Bob’s Burgers, Allen Gregory, Rick & Morty, and Disenchantment.

There’s a great article about Archer and his cult classic (which my place of business chooses to block, because of course it does) right over here.

Back In Print!

Ian Hunter’s Diary of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star is back in print, as of this past August. Out of print copies can go for three figures on Amazon, although one is currently listed at $3,214.79 on some site called Books on Demand. (More like Dealer on Drugs.) Anywho, the new paperback is $17.25. Cheap!

Ian Hunter’s Diary of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star has received a litany of plaudits and been described as “an enduring crystallization of the rock musician’s lot, and a quietly glorious period piece” by The Guardian. A brutally honest chronicle of touring life in the 1970s, and a classic of the rock writing genre, Diary of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star remains the gold standard for rock writing. This edition includes new content from Hunter and a foreword from Johnny Depp.

Great article and interview in The Guardian here.

BONUS! Because I really wanna hear this song now.

Catchy

This album had a few more good ones.  Don’t know what became of these guys.  Apparently they made this album, toured, then parted ways.  Nothing like touring to turn people against each other.