Razorcake Podcast #231: With Russ Van Cleave
Tracklisting:
1) Doughboys, “No Way” from Home Again (Restless Records)
2) Nick Lowe, “Mess Around With Love” from The Abominable Showman (Columbia Records)
3) Dogmatics, "Thayer Street" from Everybody Does It (Homestead Records)
4) The 'tone, "Metropolitan Calf" from Here's Another Reason… (No Idea Records)
5) The Thermals, "Now We Can See" from Now We Can See (Kill Rock Stars Records)
6) Charlie Louvin, "See The Big Man Cry" from Less And Less And I Don't Love You Anymore (Capitol Records)
7) ADD/C, "Good Dog" from Busy Days (Plan-It-X South Records)
8) The Beltones, "Fuck You Anyway" from On Deaf Ears (TKO Records)
9) Lightnin' Hopkins, "Cotton" from Lightnin' Strikes (Verve Records)
10) The Pine Hill Haints, "Never Cry" from To Win Or To Lose (K Records)
11) Dave Dondero, "#Zero With A Bullet" from #Zero With A Bullet (Team Love Records)
12) The Move, "The Brontosaurus" from The Best Of The Move
13) The Clash, "Death Or Glory" from London Calling
Extra Notes:
This Doughboys record ranks high on my list of the greatest “pop punk” records ever recorded. They had a run of great releases when they were active, but this is the first one I ever heard and is the standout for me.
Totally hooked on Nick Lowe lately. This album isn’t near as good as “Jesus Of Cool” or “Labor Of Lust” but this song is great.
I didn’t know anything about Dogmatics except that they were from the Boston area. But after playing “Thayer Street” for this show, I decided to see what I could find out. They were apparently somewhat influential regionally, released two LPs and were starting to make headway nationally. Unfortunately, bassist and vocalist Paul O’Halloran was killed in a motorcycle accident in October of 1986.
The ‘tone have got to be one of the U.K.’s best bands in recent years. I don’t know if they still play but everything I’ve heard is worth having.
Not from the latest Thermals full-length, but from the Thermals full-length prior. I guess i'm a little slower processing information these days. Title track from this one is a good spin though.
This is the first Charlie Louvin solo record I've ever heard. I guess it's also his first one, chronologically speaking. Of course, Charlie was the younger of the Louvin Brothers, the famous country brother duo (Ira being the other). As an aside (and if you as much of a sucker for this stuff as I am), there is a great documentary on the recently deceased legend of country music that will probably be available on DVD by the time this gets posted.
As most of you Razorcakers should already know, ADD/C is on the short list of badass bands that people should be stoked on. Busy Days is an instant classic. Long live Chattanooga Rock City.
The fist time I met my good friend Will Thomas (Grabass Charlestons singer), he was drumming with the Beltones. They were an intimidating bunch. Will was very imposing and Bill scared the hell out of me. They were tough mofos who didn't give a good goddamn about nothing (at least that's how they came across to me). It wasn't long after I started listening to The Beltones. I've recently been re-spinning On Deaf Ears and it stands the test of time. I also remember Cheap Trinkets being really amazing.
This is a great cut from a Verve Folkways release of blues legend Lightnin’ Hopkins. On most days I’d probably put Lightnin’ Hopkins at the top of my favorite blues artists list.
The Pine Hill Haints have been often praised in the pages of Razorcake. This song is another fine of example of that well-deserved praise.
In my humble opinion, Dave Dondero is one of the best songwriters out there in this wicked world.
The Move was the band from which the seeds of ELO sprouted. Regardless of whatever premonitions one may have regarding ELO (for whatever reasons), the influence that Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne have had on classic rock are largely undeniable (See Cheap Trick for starters). This has always been one of my favorite Move songs.
Roll credits. Cue “Death Or Glory”.