MOG

Of course as I have time to sit and write this at work I don’t have the track listing for my 8/2006 iTunes playlist in front of my. Really I shouldn’t need it cause the whole idea of this playlist is so that in years to come I can look back and see what songs I was really into this past month. Really, wouldn’t it be interesting and potentially embarrassing to look back and see what the playlist of my in Aug of 1986 was like? Let’s see that would have been the summer that I first really got into music and the summer that stuff like Richard Marx and Starship were big on my stereo. It’s also interesting to note that I was just around the corner from hearing my first real blasts of metal, alternative and punk rock. I think had heard both styles of course as I had been exposed to Black Flag, Love and Rockets, INXS, and R.E.M. It’s hard to say and my memory gets fuzzy… then there is the ‘what do I wish I had been listening to in Aug of 1986?’ question? Really a lot of the same stuff that I am into today: The Deadboys, The Stooges, The bands from the Nuggets comps, Jet Black Berries, The Misfits, The Ramones, Radio Birdman, Drivin’n’Cryin, The Damned, Legal Weapon, Johnny Cash, The Misfits, 50’s Rock and Roll…… One thing that I was into that I wish I had a good copy of is the 1980’s version of Runaway by Del Shannon, the recording that was used on the show Crime Story….

Enough of the time tunnel, so for the month of Aug 2006 the songs that I was listening to and digging were…..

Drivin’n’Crying: Patron Lady Beautiful From the 10 year old and over looked Smoke album, solid hard southern rock. These guys were one of the groups that drove me away from the

The Jolly Jumpers: Blood Runner I first heard about this group through a review at sleazegrinder.com, and tracked down several mp3’s to their web site. At first listen they seemed to be a straight up power pop band with a hint of American in the mix. This track has a slower moodier feel, like one of the mid-tempo Flaming Sideburns tracks, that kind of envelop the listener in a fog, that kind of fog where you can feel the heaviness of the air.

Djinghis Khan by Vikingarna

The Brotherhood Of Al Wazah by Radio Birdman One of my all time fave bands, their ‘Essential Radio Birdman’ CD is one of my DID’s for sure, and so here they are 30 years later with a new studio album, and it’s, it’s taking some getting used to, but this track grabbed me right away, with it’s Man with Golden Helmet rocked out vibe.

Evading The Greys by The Groovie Ghoulies Before The Flame Dies by Cock Sparrer What do Cocksparrer and The Groovie Ghoulies have in common? Both bands always lift my spirits when I listen to them.

Fishnets & Cigarettes by New York Dolls My buddy Bill has proclaimed this his album of the year, and I am digging it. Solid kick out the jams rock and roll from a band that is showing others how to do it all these years later. Sure it’s not going to live up to the original New York Dolls material, but what can?

Calcinator Death Ray by Forbidden Dimension People sometime ask me what my favorite band is, and I am always loath to name just one, after all sometimes I am in a metal mood and loving listening to Sabbath, or a more relaxed mood and it’s Waylon, Willie and the boys playing, but one band holds constant, and that is the mighty Forbidden Dimension, with their addictive little audio comic books, their mastery of rock, punk, rockabilly, surf, and Hi Energy Rock and Roll. They are truly one of those bands who are unknown and unembraced because they do it all so well, because they aren’t locked into one sound, and because they would rather play their little music on their own terms than to give in. that said Halloween is coming up and now is the time for all you Moggers to get busy building your Halloween playlists, and there are 4 FD tracks sitting on their Myspace page waiting for you to download and listen to.

Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill by Hüsker Dü Ringing distorted punk, wailing

Leavin in the mornin' by Drag The River The Upper Penisula by Sufjan Stevens A Town Too Fast For Your Blues by Mark Pickerel And His Praying Hands Your World by Ghost Buffalo 4 songs that are each perfect for listeneing to when the sunsets on one of those hot Aug evenings.

Dancing With Joey Ramone by Amy Rigby Honestly I don’t recall just where I got this tune, but it’s fun, it’s plain, it rocks and I dig listening to it. Sure there are all kinds of references to the kind of music that inspired the Ramones but I like that, name check away, sometimes it’s just right to roll back the curtain and let us the listeners know just where you are coming from. I also like the fact that it’s got a fun innocent bounce that The Ramones would have enjoyed. If there ever was a Rock and Roll High School 30th Class Reunion this tune would be the perfect one for the end of the flick.

Hybrid Moments by Misfits Meet The Nutley Brass Loungesque version of a great song…

Into the Strange by Atomic Swindlers If you follow what I have been writing about on my MOG posts there are a couple of bands that I keep coming back to, The Forbidden Dimension is one, New Math/ Jet Black Berries/ Atomic Swindlers are another. This is one of the tunes that they have available for download on myspace that just seemed to fall into my play list. It’s not really heavy, or glamy, it’s kinda on the slower more reflective side, yet is seems to have an epic feel and sweep to it… in a lot of ways this would have been the perfect tune for the show Firefly.

Devil's River by The Divine Horsemen This tune is like an unfinished thought of a America being swept away by the death of the culture that made everything great… it’s country, it’s punk, it’s noir, it’s the ‘There is no shelter’ to the Stones Gimmie Shelter… dig it!