I break off a curveball, ala Bret Saberhagen ca. 1985!

(The title is a reference to the 1985 Kansas City Royals, one of my favorite baseball teams

ever.... they were about 1/3 as good as the fearsome 1980 team, but THOSE guys lost the series to the Phillies.....these guys road some unbelieveable pitching from Saberhagen, Danny Jackson, and Charlie Liebrandt to best the Cardinals.....yes, used to be a Royals fan, I guess I still follow them even though they have not been competitive since that 1985 series.....was going through a divorce during that series and the Royals performance, in particular the great George Brett and Saberhagen, kept me sane......man THAT is a ways to go to get to a post TITLE)

The "curve ball" is I am not feeling "psych" today, not even a little bit, and not feeling garage rock or ANY from that decade of love. Again, I am going to venture into something which is quite a bit more MY turf, if you don't like these, come back tomorrow, we'll see what I'm feeling then.

Still feeling "comp-y" though.....here is a five disc set entitled "101 Punk and New Wave Anthems". Nothing really RARE here, but if you have pigeonholed yourself into some other genre, these might be an excellent primer for..... if ya DO like this stuff, this is a very fine collection a couple of discs of which I thoroughly enjoyed today during the work thing.

Again, NOTHING here is hard to find, hell of the "101" I probably have 80 or 90 on the original vinyl, but punk/new wave singles of the 1970's-80's transform to compilation SO INCREDIBLY well, burning through these discs is, to me, like partying again with the Springfield South High School Class of 1979, in my shitty 1969 Pontiac that at least could pick up some good radio, which actually existed at the time.

OK, I may go on at too much length about some of
this stuff, if something sparks some special idiotic memory or something, just tell me to shut up. Disc one contains 21 , Lord God, I want to talk about them ALL, but I will refrain from it. We do have a rare alternative take of the Pistols "God Save the Queen" and a live "Burning Down the House" from Talking Heads (arguably that legendary band's best song in the live setting), but other than that, just a bunch of GREAT fucking singles....."Turning Japanese" by the Vapors, "Ever Fallen In Love?" the Buzzcocks, "Dancing with Myself" from Generation X, Stiff Little Fingers "Alternative Ulster", "Jocko Homo" from Devo, "Making Plans for

Nigel" by XTC, and one of very faves, the wonderfully vile, sexist "Peaches" from the Stranglers, GOD I love that track ("Is she trying to get out of that clitoris? Liberation for women, that's what I preach, PREACHER MAN!") Oh fuck yes I am back in college! See the complete track list below, I didn't want to get TOO wordy, but I have not even mentioned GREAT (not good, GREAT) tracks from Blondie, Undertones, The Members, The Only Ones, The Damned, Iggy, The Saints, 999, and Wire. Now, keep in min here, this is JUST THE FIRST DISC!

Disc 2 presents us with another fabulous live Talking Heads track ("Psycho Killer"), and oh God, what else? Nothing you can't find anywhere else,but put these 5 discs in your CD changer and start that party from my glorious school days! Ian Dury & the Blockheads amaze with "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll", The Specials contribute the fab "Ghost Town", Devo's legendary cover of "Satisfaction" is here......Patti Smith's chilling "Because the Night", "Senses Working Overtime" by XTC, the great "Echo Beach" by Martha & the Muffins, "My Sharona" by the much maligned Knack (shut up, "My Sharona" was a GREAT song), "68 Guns" by The Alarm, and the wonderful "2-4-6-8 Motorway" from the Tom Robinson Band......what is so cool here is, for example, the Smith and Robinson tracks......FAR from their greatest works (I was a huge fan of both), but EASILY their best singles if you get what I'm saying......brilliant programming all the way through and again, haven't even said a peep about Wreckless Eric, Flying Lizards, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Flamin Groovies, Blondie, Buzzcocks, and the Motors.....my word, what a fabulous set!


So, now, they have all the layups out of the way, the quality is sure to go down, right? Wrong you are
safety pin breath, check out these stone cold CLASSIC tracks on Disc 3: "Blitzkreig Bop" by the Ramones, "Blank Generation" by Richard Hell and the Voidoids, the legendary "Marquee Moon" Television (one of my faves although I may not have included it on this set as a "single", probably opting instead for "Venus" or "Foxhole", even though "Marquee Moon" is one of my favorite of ALL songs. Moving on, "(Get a) Grip (On Yourself)" by the Stranglers, "Public Image" by PIL, "What Do I Get?" from the Buzzcocks, the absolutely brilliant "Statue of Liberty" by XTC, "Damaged Goods" from Gang of Four and the Records fab new wave-pop gem "Starry Eyes".... I am in heaven!

Disc 4 gives us another couple of live goodies ("If the Kids are United" by Sham 69, "I'm an Upstart" from the Angelic Upstarts), but, let me be honest, the set does go into a decline with this disc. Certainly there are winners:The Buzzcocks "Orgasm Addict", "Suspect Device" from Stiff Little Fingers, the great "Holiday In Cambodia" from the Dead Kennedys, the great "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" from X Ray Spex......but some fluff is beginning to creep in by this point (Ten Pole Tudor, UK Subs, The Flys, while all damn GOOD are NOT really "classics" of the magnitude of most of this set, but disc 3 is worth it for Spizzenergi's "Where's Captain Kirk?", and for having the guts to NOT include "I Want Candy" from Bow Wow Wow, favoring the more significant ode to home taping (It was highly controversial at the time) "C30 C60 C90 Go" (Bow Wow Wow released this as part of "Your Cassette Pet", some tunes on one side of the cassette, and BLANK on the other so you could record whatever you wanted to on it. Wonder what those people who freaked out about home taping back then would think of what I and others do today? I suspect they would be, well, maybe less than enthusiastic.

Disc Five is just fine as well, live tracks from Talking Heads ("Once In a Lifetime" and Eddie and the
Hot Rods (the great "Do Anything You Wanna Do"), any "Classic" tracks? well, not really, somewhat the same quality level as Disc 4, I always liked "Der Kommissar" from After the Fire, "Tell That Girl To Shut Up" is a good one from Holly & the Italians (I'd prefer "I Wanna Go Home"), "Presence, Dear" by Blondie, "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" from the Buzzcocks.... couple sort of odd inclusions that I personally would not have gone with REM's "The One I Love", and (get ready) "Blazing Apostles" from Be Bop Deluxe (not germane here really but Be Bop Deluxe were the only band I ever saw physically "boo'd" off the stage.....they were opening for Blue Oyster Cult (!) and were getting chairs thrown at them and had to suspend their set...people can be such boorish pieces of shit at times, indeed but WHO THE HELL THOUGHT OF THAT particular pairing? Hell, I LIKED Be Bop Deluxe and though it was pretty silly.

Anyways.....depending upon what your tastes are and where your collection stands, you could snatch up all five discs and be happy, OR you could program them any way you like, if your collection of this era/genre is on the light side and you want a fine sampler, I'd guess at the minimum it would fill three discs!

I am not changing course, there WILL be more psych comps, garage stuff, whatever else, but I really started to paint myself into a corner with those psych comps and wanted something different for today....maybe some of you old timers that love 60's psych stuff need to call your young cousins/nieces/nephews and make them aware of this set......perhaps they will LOVE you for it!

DISC 01-THE JAM-Going Underground/02 THE VAPORS-Turning Japanese/03 THE
UNDERTONES-Teenage Kicks/04 BLONDIE-One Way Or Another/05 THE BUZZCOCKS-Ever Fallen In Love ?/06 THE MEMBERS-Sound of the Suburbs/07 THE ONLY ONES-Another Girl Another Planet/08 THE STRANGLERS-No More Heroes/09 THE DAMNED-Love Song/10 THE RUTS-Babylon's Burning/11 GENERATION X-Dancing With Myself/12 IGGY POP-Lust For Life/13 THE SEX PISTOLS-God Save the Queen (Alternate Version)/14 (I'm) Stranded-The Saints/15 STIFF LITTLE FINGERS-Alternative Ulster/16 999-Homicide/17 THE STRANGLERS-Peaches/18 TALKING HEADS-Burning Down the House (Live)/19 WIRE-I Am the Fly/20 DEVO-Jocko Homo/21 XTC-Making Plans For Nigel

DISC 02-IAN DURY & THE BLOCKHEADS-Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll/02 MINK DEVILLE-Spanish Stroll/03 WRECKLESS ERIC-Whole Wide World/04 TALKING HEADS-Psycho Killer (Live)/05 THE SPECIALS-Ghost Town/06 JOHN COOPER CLARKE-Evidently Chickentown/07 THE FLYING LIZARDS-Money/08 DEVO-(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction/09 SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES-Happy House/10 PATTI SMITH GROUP-Because the Night/11 THE FLAMIN GROOVIES-Shake Some Action/12 XTC-Senses Working Overtime/13 MARTHA & THE MUFFINS-Echo Beach/14 BLONDIE-Hanging On the Telephone/15 THE BUZZCOCKS-I Don't Mind/16 THE KNACK-My Sharona/17 THE MOTORS-Dancing the Night Away/18 TOM ROBINSON BAND-2-4-6-8 Motorway/19 DR FEELGOOD-Milk and Alcohol/20 THE ALARM-68 Guns

DISC 03-01 THE RAMONES-Blitzkreig Bop/02 RICHARD HELL & THE VOIDOIDS-Blank
Generation/03 BLONDIE-Rip Her To Shreds/04 TELEVISION-Marquee Moon/05 DEVO-Whip It/06 THE SAINTS-This Perfect Day/07 DR FEELGOOD-She Does It Right/08 THE STRANGLERS-(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)/09 GENERATION X-Ready Steady Go/10 THE SKIDS-The Saints are Coming/11 THE BUZZCOCKS-What Do I Get?/12 MAGAZINE-Shot By Both Sides/13 PUBLIC IMAGE-Public Image Ltd/14 GANG OF FOUR-Damaged Goods/15 THE MONOCHROME SET-The Strange Boutique/16 WIRE-Outdoor Miner/17 THE RECORDS-Starry Eyes/18 THE BANNED-Little Girl/19 RICH KIDS-Ghosts of Princes In Towers/20 XTC-Statue of Liberty/21 THE HUMAN LEAGUE-Being Boiled

DISC 04-01 THE BUZZCOCKS-Orgasm Addict/02 THE SKIDS-Into the Valley/03 SHAM 69-If the Kids Are United (Live)/04 SPIZZENERGI-Where's Captain Kirk?/05 STIFF LITTLE FINGERS-Suspect Device/06 THE DEAD KENNEDYS-Holiday In Cambodia/07 UK SUBS-Warhead/08 ANGELIC UPSTARTS-I'm an Upstart (Live)/09 THE RUTS-Staring at the Rude Boys/10 THE BOYS-First Time/11 THE FLYS-Love & a Molotov Cocktail/12 999-Emergency/13 GENERATION X-King Rocker/14 TEN POLE TUDOR-Swords of a Thousand Men/15 COCKNEY REJECTS-I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles/16 X-RAY SPEX-Oh Bondage Up Yours!/17 BOW WOW WOW-C30 C60 C90 Go/18 PENETRATION-Don't Dictate/19 THE STRANGLERS-Five Minutes

DISC 05-01 THE SPECIALS-Friday Night, Saturday Morning/02 TALKING HEADS-Once In a Lifetime (Live)/03 THE STRANGLERS-Golden Brown/04 FUN BOY THREE-The Lunatics/05 ADAM & THE ANTS-Deutscher Girls/06 BLONDIE-(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear/07 EDDIE & THE HOT RODS-Do Anything You Wanna Do (Live)/08 HOLLY & THE ITALIANS-Tell That Girl To Shut Up/09 THE ROMANTICS-What I Like About You/10 THE RADIO-Stars Nervous Wreck/11 AFTER THE FIRE-Der Kommissar/12 XTC-Sgt. Rock (Is Going To Help Me)/13 SIMPLE MINDS-Love Song/14 HEAVEN 17-(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thing/15 DEPARTMENT 5-Is Vic There/16 TOM ROBINSON BAND-Up Against the Wall/17 RICH KIDS-Rich Kids/18 BE BOP DELUXE-Blazing Apostles/19 REM-The One I Love/20 THE BUZZCOCKS-Everybody's Happy Nowadays

What a magnificent set......VERY little rarity, but programmed so wonderfully that obscurity/rarity is anything BUT The point.....obviously it's not "all inclusive", no Clash, no Elvis Costello, no Police.....there are other comps. I've probably got a few of em, if I stay in this mood maybe I'll put a few more of em up.......this is great music, and as I've said, punk (and new wave) along with power pop and garage rock suit the compilation format perfectly as it simulates a wonderful radio listening experience, when done right. Comments? Especially from anyone pretty much here just for the psych?