Rod wants you to look at his ass, and who am I to deny him?
Anybody Remember These Guys?
The late, great fIREHOSE. Man, I wore this cassette out (fROMOHIO) back in 1989 …
Firehose was formed in the spring of 1986 shortly after the accidental death of D. Boon brought an end to Watt and Hurley’s previous band, Minutemen. Crawford, a then 21-year-old Ohio State student and Minutemen fan, was invited up on the roof of Camper Van Beethoven’s van in Columbus, Ohio. The members of Camper Van Beethoven told Crawford a false rumor that Watt and Hurley were auditioning guitarists for the band. Crawford, having found Watt’s phone number in the phone book, called him up and expressed his desire to come out to California and play with them. Still mourning the loss of his best friend Boon, Watt initially was not interested and had lost much of his desire to play music; however, Crawford’s persistence eventually paid off when he showed up unannounced in San Pedro and asked Watt for the chance to come over and play for him. Watt eventually agreed and the two met with Crawford “auditioning” for Watt by playing him The Who’s “I’m One,” as well as a few Minutemen songs. Impressed with Crawford’s passion and enthusiasm, Watt and Hurley agreed to give the inexperienced “kid” from Ohio a shot and the band was formed. Crawford quickly relocated to San Pedro where he became known as ed fROMOHIO and spent nine months sleeping under a desk in Watt’s one-bedroom apartment. The name of the band was taken from a short film of Bob Dylan doing “Subterranean Homesick Blues” as Watt thought it was funny when Dylan held up a cue card for the lyric that said “firehose.” The name is stylized as “fIREHOSE” with a lowercase f as a subtle tribute to the Minutemen whose logo was an all caps MINUTEMEN.
Apparently, ed fROMOHIO (real name Ed Crawford) is struggling – or was back in 2020, anyway – as there’s a GFM campaign to get him back on his feet. Still open, if anybody wants to contribute.
One Of These Days I’m Going To Cut You Into Little Pieces
I’m in! Incidentally, regarding “One of These Days” …
The vocals were recorded through a ring modulator, with [Nick] Mason singing in a falsetto voice and then slowed down to create an eerie effect (some compare it to the Daleks from Doctor Who, which makes the song’s usage of the show’s theme adequate). It was aimed at Sir Jimmy Young, the then BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2 DJ whom the band supposedly disliked because of his tendency to babble. During early 1970s concerts, they sometimes played a sound collage of clips from Young’s radio show that was edited to sound completely nonsensical, thus figuratively “cutting him into little pieces.”
Apologies for my recent blargh absence. Work is kicking my ass on the daily.
Sly!
Yes, please.
I’m In My Glam Phase
Also I want the European woman who introduces the song to follow me around and narrate my various exploits.
She Does It Right
Some Dr Feelgood for the discerning bastard.
What’s On The Telly
Mesmerizing.
A “Modern Spiritual”
No comment, just putting it out there.
Clever
Marshall Crenshaw kind of fell off my radar during the past decade or two, then I ran across some cheap and decent copies of his first two lps in a store last week. I’d forgotten how strong those albums are. I’ve always liked how this song bridges the double verses with a false start of the chorus. A clever tactic. I’m sure other songs have done it, but for some reason I’m drawing a blank trying to think of one.