Listen: Watermelon Man / Gloria Lynne
Watermelon Man / Gloria Lynne

Michael Alago and I worked together at Elektra for ages. We’d first met when he booked The Ritz a few years prior. The great times and mischief we got up to at that label, it’s an HBO series waiting to happen. Michael’s one of the great A&R people out there as well, having signed Metallica, Alan Vega, White Zombie, Nina Simone. It’s pretty hard to top his track record.

There was a moment when we were sent on a mission to find some classic artists for a series of Nonesuch jazz releases, those that might still be active, but hadn’t recorded in a while. This was a perfect reason to have an extended champagne lunch at Bicé on the company card and brainstorm a list. Gloria Lynne came to mind. After a few phone calls, we found she managed herself and got her home number from the fellow who booked The Blue Note at the time, name escapes me. Turns out her’s was the exact same as Michael’s, bar the last digit.

In those days, we used to get back to one of our places, four or five in the morning, fresh from another night at Danceteria or The Ritz, still ready to go; seriously. Sad but true. We’d often dial her number up to that very last digit, deciding it was time to make the call, then chickening out. Thankfully.

Check out her rap at the end of ‘Watermelon Man’. This is so blatant, so nasty. Lil’ Kim has nothing on her.

Listen: Come See Me / The Pretty Things PrettyThingsComeSeeMe.mp3

Written about way more times than it ever got played on US radio embarrassingly. ‘Come See Me’ is without question, one of the all time greats. I can’t think of a single that’s cut louder. Seriously, can you? Always on the border of over distorted, but just, I guess it was too good to be a hit. Too good for the average shlump to hear.

And in their 60′s heyday, if they were this good live, it’s no wonder their friends The Rolling Stones never asked them out on tour, even though Brian Jones was their roommate (not that he had much juice apparently). Makes perfect sense.

The Cramps always had the same problem getting support slots. Who in their right mind wanted to go onstage after they played? Nobody.

Although, hold on, to be fair, White Zombie gave them a few slots, like the San Diego Sports Arena. Yep, I saw The Cramps at the San Diego Sports Arena. The front 25% were going bonkers, the remaining 75%, basically silent – not booing, not speaking, just completely baffled. Genius.

Above: Jukebox Tab signed by Dick Taylor