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Stacey and
Sleazegrinder |
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 Stacey, Randolph again. 2002 (click picture to enlarge) |
 Sleazegrinder, Cambridge MA 1987 (click picture to enlarge) |
 Sleazegrinder, Randolph (why are always taking pictures in fuckin' Randolph?) 2002 Note: I will give you $100 Million dollars if you can get me my hair back! |
| Sleazegrinder's Top 5 (or so) of 1986 (or thereabouts)... |
My memory is a
little hazy about those days. I know Luke and I spent most of our time
doing one of two things- hanging out at the record store, and getting
drunk at the railroad tracks (or wherever). I also know that I missed 93
days of my junior year of high school. Mostly because of the railroad
tracks and the record store. Anyway, here’s some records I was definitely
listening to around that time.  TKO- Below the Belt
(1986, Combat)Last gasp for this seminal pop metal band. Led by mouthy ego star Brad Sinsel, these Seattle proto-proto-grungers infused way more melody and emotion into their songs than anybody else in the flash metal universe, and- aside from a few teary ballads (and not pussy power ballads, either), they were bad asses, as well. Their previous record, 1985’s “In Your face” remains their best, filled with fist shaking, arena ready anthems that are absolutely world class and still sound great today, but this one was a solid follow-up. Also included a song called “17”, and since I was, it worked for me. They broke up soon after this record (which fizzled, anyway) and went their separate ways. Recently, a comprehensive double CD retrospective was released, and I think they’ve even played a few one-off reunion gigs, so maybe we’ll hear from this stellar band again. Probably not, but maybe. Recent interview with TKO bass player Scott Earl in Take It Webzine  Johnny Thunders- Que Sera Sera (1985, New Rose)Mighta been Johnny’s last official studio album, and it really wasn’t all that good- too much of the “hippy shit”, as he liked to call it, and not enough of the “electric shit”- but the idea of everybody’s favorite rock n’ roll junkie being back in action was pretty thrilling at the time. He blew his momentum, of course, but that was pretty expected. You absolutely could not have been a fledgling hipster in the mid-80’s without this record. I dunno about now, but I reckon it’s still gotta be somewhere in the fledgling hipster mix. I think the ROIR live JT compilation tape, “Stations of the Cross” came out the same year, and that one is infinitely cooler, if only to here Johnny’s obnoxious, drugged-out, carrying-on. “God bless the mothers who forget to fuck their children,” he drawls before the umpteenth attempt to get the opening chords to the next song right. “This one’s called “So Fuckin’ Alone, ya cunts!” What a charmer. Johnny Thunders Cyber Lounge  Smack- Rattlesnake Bite
Finnish glam metal in the 80’s will forever be synonymous with Hanoi Rocks, but let us not forget their sleazier, heavier bretheren, Smack. These cats were the ultimate in down and dirty raunch n’ roll, equal parts Aerosmith, the Pistols, the NY Dolls, and the Stones. They looked like they were gonna die at any moment (took their singer Claude a few years, but he eventually did), and they sounded that way, too. Rattlesnake Bite was less narcotic than their trippy first record, 1983’s “On You”, favoring more of a metal crunch, but it was no less debauched. Hits- “Pass that Bottle”, one of the drunkest songs you will ever hear, and their snarly, metallic cover of “(I’m Not) You’re Stepping Stone” which easily out-punks the Sex Pistol’s version. Still relatively obscure after all these wasted years, Smack were one of the greatest rock and roll bands of the 80’s, and if anybody’s deserving of a revival, it’s these cats. Smack Fansite  Dino Lee- King of White Trash
(1985, New Rose)Nowadays he’s sauntering around Austin as lounge crooner Mr. Fabulous, but in the 80’s, Dino Lee was a crazed Elvis-meets James Brown sleazeabilly mutant with a 9 piece band of Nazi zombies. “King of White Trash” was his definitive album of that era, a wild mix of Tex Mex, soul, swing, punk, and high octane rock and roll. “King” even spawned an almost-hit, the raucous “Beer Party”, which he performed in the climax of ex-porn director Jackie Kong’s over-the-top Blood Feast goof, “Blood Diner”. I think he fucked a cow in it. Anyway, it’s a classic, and he looked just like Elvis on the cover, only with a sci-fi greaser haircut. Now he looks like Zodiac Mindwarp in a white smoking jacket. Fabulous.  Mr.
Fabulous Rogue Male- First Visit (1985, Music For Nations)It was a year old by then, but it was still getting constant airplay at Teen Sleazegrinder central, and I think it was 1986 when Rogue Male came to Boston, and Jim signed my jacket and gave me meningitis. I will be extolling the virtues of this one (and it’s scarce follow-up, Animal Man) at a later point, but I just wanna say that if you haven’t heard this one yet, than you’re missing out on the greatest pre-Love Reaction biker metal band, ever. “Thin Lizzy meets Motorhead” was the hopeful buzz-phrase on these cats at the time, and goddamn it, it was true. Speed, muscle, excitement, and songs about forced facials all wrapped up in post-apocalyptic barbed wire and machine gun mounted crazy motorcycles. Lead howler Jim Lyttle’s future-shock vision of dirty rock and roll menace was years and years ahead of it’s time, and this record still sounds amazing. One of the biggest Sleazegrinder influences there is. Is that 5 already? I’ll have to continue this later, but honorable mention must go to Cali punks gone rock Decry, for their bitchin’ gutter-glam-punk classic, the “Japanese” EP, Jersey’s The Skulls, for the goth-glitter-trash n’roll sleaze metal masterpiece “Blacklight 13”, goofy-spooky Stooges rip-offs The Left for “Last Train to Hagerstown”, and the exceptional fucked-up serial killer shit kickers, Country Bob and the Blood Farmers (who have since reformed) for whatever the name of that record with the “Bowl Full of Noses” song was. Oh yeah, and we listened to The Replacements, Soul Asylum, and Prince a lot, too. Did I mention Sigue Sigue Sputnik?! Maybe the 80’s weren’t so bad, after all. - Sleazegrinder |
