Listen: They Call It Acieed / D. Mob
They

While sitting in my dentist’s chair earlier today, having an unexpected root canal, nitrous oxide mask clamped to my face and a local radio station being piped into the room, I suddenly released that American Top 40 radio, when under this influence, sounds exactly like UK Top 40 from the late 80′s. Without the chemical enhancement, I’m afraid the said US format is dreadfully dated and dull. Yes, the nitrous was that good.

At one point. Neil Diamond’s ‘Cracklin’ Rosie’ began to play, and for thirty or so seconds, I got hyper excited, convinced the station was playing Bassnectar. A few minutes later, the nitrous had me believing The Small Faces ‘Itchycoo Park’ was beaming over the airwaves, but instead it was Bob Seger’s ‘Night Moves’. Tricky drug that.

House producer Dancin’ Danny D, via his alter ego, D. Mob, had the #3 UK hit in ’88 ‘They Call It Acieed’, which can easily double as the soundtrack to a nitrous afternoon at the dentist, without the help of any chemical.

Listen: People Have The Power / Patti Smith PattiPeople.mp3

There was a time, around RADIO ETHIOPIA, that I stalked The Patti Smith Group. You might say the sum was greater than the parts, but not in any way to diminish Patti’s centricity. They were a perfect band. Just before heading to the UK for a ’77 tour, they came upstate to play two shows in a cathedral on the campus of Hamilton College in Clinton, NY, supposedly to raise money to get to England. We taped both shows. They were mesmerizing. One of the greatest musical exeriences of my life.

God bless Bob Seger. Shortly after returning from said tour, he gave she and her band a chance to open several of his shows, an opportunity to reach people that radio programmers blackballed her from. Unfortunately, Patti fell off the stage during a Florida performance, taking in no doubt her wild abandon, broke her neck, and the intense live energy of the band was never the same. Arista and Clive Davis turned to Bruce Springsteen and Todd Rundgren to help broaden her reach, admirably. Some of those ideas worked, some didn’t. But it is the thought that counts.

When you’re the real deal, you go through ups and downs, yet rise above. That’s the Patti Smith saga. In ’88, she bounced back with ‘People Have The Power’, possibly her strongest song yet. It was edited on 7″ for airplay, but I’ve chosen to post the full length version. It’s a song you just wish would never end.

Listen: Ramblin' Gamblin' Man / Bob Seger System BobSegerRamblin.mp3

In ’68 this bordered on garage rock. Caught my ear the very first time it came on the air. I forever associate it with The Choir’s ‘It’s Cold Outside’, a terrific single despite it’s overflowing power pop sweetness. Probably Bob Seger’s finest moment. Mind you, this is coming from someone who never listened beyond to his other work, except when he got real traction years later and his stuff couldn’t be avoided. I would always cut him a break though, his heart seemed in the right place and despite his appearance, it appeared he loved to ‘rock’.

I was equally impressed when he showed a true card: even he wanted to be like The Cramps. His ‘Old Time Rock And Roll’ is the perfect corporate rock, cleaned up, MTV friendly version of the pure primal blueprint: The Cramps ‘God Damn Rock And Roll’. What a compliment. He got film usage, mainstream American ‘Rock’ radio play and a license to print arena tickets out of it – while The Cramps resided happily in the tunnels beneath hell. Yet another example of Lux Interior’s lyrical genius:

Jill’s bucket Jack had to hold,
Humpty dunked it ’til it done explode,
Even before Van Gogh had art
Adam & Eve did it in the park

They did that Goddamn Rock n Roll
The kind of stuff that don’t save souls
Ain’t nothin’ good about it that I know
I dig that Goddamn Rock n Roll

(lyrics reprinted without permission)

Listen: Goddamn Rock And Roll / The Cramps CrampsGodDamn.mp3