The Ramones -- S/T

    The best damn rock 'n' roll album ever put out -- that's my opinion.  And if you try to simply label it as punk rock because it's loud and fast, forget that.  This record changed the whole ball game of the music business once the needle hit the wax.  These guys gave music a total face lift, no more pretty boys, no more showing off, justpure rock 'n' roll music from the most basic skeletal perspective.  But it wasn't that simple either, maybe the riffs were, but you had some bubble gum pop, 60's girl groups, Spector's wall of sound, Chuck Berry's Maybelline simplicity and the Raw Power of the MC5/ Stooges all mashed together into one sound, rattling the world, and forcing some major changes. 

  I would have loved to be there in 1976 when this album hit the streets.  Jaws must have been dropping on epidemic scale, thinking what the hell is this and are these guys for real, but there's no mistake, those songs would have engrained themselves your mind until you started your own Ramones rip-off band.  People constantly argue, which is the real first punk band is it, The Sex Pistols, The New York Dolls, The MC5, The Stooges or maybe the 60's punks, The Sonics, The Music Machine, The Seeds, The Velvet Underground, yadda yadda, admittedly those groups are all just pieces, but The Ramones mastered it first, putting their stamp on the sound!

  The Ramones never made it as big as their influence on music, but every year their legacy grows ... I think I saw one of the Backstreet Boys wearing a Ramones t-shirt on TV, now does that douchebag really like the band or is it just trendy nowadays to wear their t-shirts, who really knows?  As far as I'm concerned Dee Dee is one of the coolest cats in Rock history, like a Lou Reed or a Bob Dylan, his lyrics have beat poet quality and essence of life, freedom meets struggle, the ideal punk rocker.  The Ramones proved to us all that less is more and more is just a waste of time!! Hey Ho Let's Go!

Percy Sledge -- The Best Of ...

  For those of you who don't know, Percy sang mega hit When A Man Loves A Woman, and I must say this Best Of collection doesn't stray much further than that.  This is a great record if you're having dinner, who wants pumpin' tunes when you're sitting down to eat, it's all pure soul ballads, but at the same time all the songs sound alike.  Percy wasn't a diverse artist, but he knew what he was good at, and gave it his all ... which was the same track over and over again!

The Zombies -- The Best Of ...

 Part of the British Invasion, The Zombies didn't have the typical Invader sound, yes their first album has tons of R & B covers, like all the other British groups, but their originals have more in common with the Californian sunshine pop music.  We all know the typical Zombie Hits like Time Of The Season, She's Not There and Tell Her No, for the lush cool organ driven style.  They were definitely major pioneers, songs like Indication and Care Of Cell 44 were almost like premonitions of Indie Nerd Rock that came 30 years later. 

The Heartbreakers -- What Goes Around ...

  1975: Johnny Thunders quits the New York Dolls, Richard Hell gets tossed out of Television, both form a group with Jerry Nolan, ex Dolls drummer, and Walter Lure, called the Heartbreakers.  By 1976 Hell leaves the group to form the Voidoids and Thunders carries on with the Heartbeakers.  What Goes Around is recorded live in '75, mostly at CBGB's, with what sounds to be a crowd of ten people.  I have to admit that the record sounds like sh*t, would I have bought it knowing this, fu*k no, am I going to keep it as a document in punk rock history, fu*k yes!  What you have here is two rockstar ego's battling it out for center stage and artistic direction of the band, it's obvisous in the track listings; you've got Voidoids classics like Love Comes In Spurts and Blank Generation, as well as Heartbreakers classics like Pirate Love and Can't Keep My Eyes On You, a couple of years before they get released separately and officially.  One track that sticks in my mind, if any, from this album is So Alone a kinda sad slow ballad sung by Thunders, I think (?).  Thunders on this number sounds, and probably is, like a junkie who's ripped off all his friends and finally faces the sickness and loneliness he has much deserved, but nonetheless cries for sympathy after everything is all said and done, it's too late, all that there is left is What Goes Around ...

the Vaselines -- Dum Dum

  Heavily influential, garagy grunge shoegaze band The Vaselines.  They seem to pick up on anything and everything that's cool and toss it into their timeless sound.  They're one of those bands you wish were more popular, but are secretly glad they aren't because you are so hip that no one knows them except you, some of your friends, and a couple of rock stars.  I doubt they knew what kinda impact they have on the face of music at the time, but some of the best music was made that way.  I hope all the hipsters won't thrist for my blood, I just let the cat outta the bag, but don't worry the jock nerds never caught wind of them then (you know what year), I doubt they will now!  "MEEEOW!"

The Descendents -- I Don't Want To Grow Up

  If you grew up punk like I did there's no way you missed this group, they're definitely one of the best punk bands the 80's ever produced.  For those who don't know, this is the Descendents second release, and marks the return of Milo from college.  Personally do I think this record is better than Milo Goes To College, no I don't, but I Don't Want To Grow Up has in my opinion the best Descendents songs ever written, so it evens them out in awesomeness.  Side one tries to go where Milo Goes To College left off, silly, serious, angry, funny hardcore-ish punk rock, I can't say I'm too too crazy about it, it has its moments, but I feel blah about it.  Side two is where the real gems are, plus I find the sound production superior to the first half.  The song writing on the second side reached a new maturity for the band and had an influential writing style that spruced up again in the 90's Indie Rock. The numbers I hope to hear on classic rock stations when I'm an old man, if there's enough of us old punkers still alive to make it happen, would be Silly Girl and Good Good Things.  Not only are the riffs great, the sound is good and the cute girly lyrics are insanely relatable.  You know what, I Don’t Want to Grow Up either and if I keep listening to this record I probably never will!  YAY!

Johnny Nash -- Hold Me Tight

  Everybody knows him as the "I can see clearly now" guy Johnny Nash.  I bought this record solely because I thought his hit was interesting, totally over played, but I wanted to hear what the rest of his music sounded like.  Hold Me Tight is a full blown Desmond Dekker sounding Rocksteady album, keep in mind Nash is American and the first to export the sound, I couldn't believe it, it was great!  This album was recorded, apparently, in Jamaica, and has two numbers written by Peter Tosh, Love and You Gotta Change Your Ways, which are the best tracks on the record, especially Love, a cool Rockseady ballad.  Further footnotes, this album was released on his own record label JAD Records, and his label signed some of The Wailers luminaries, Bob included.  Also the cover and back cover have various pictures of Nash in a waterfall scene, not taken in Jamaica, but taken in the gardens of Hotel Bonaventure, Montreal.  What's strange about that is if the album was recorded in Jamaica, why have the pictures taken in the gardens of a hotel?  Musta been a Canada only release, with that specific cover?  Anyway I can see clearly that Johnny Nash is awesome now!