"Blue Flowers" By Dr. Octagon A.K.A. Kool Keith (Dedicated to my man, Panda Bear, M.D.:) I couldn't find a video of this song with the opening part where he screams "There's a horse in the hospital!" but I tried.
"Song From Under The Floorboards" by Magazine (Dedicated to Berko: probably my favorite reader to debate with because he keeps his cool. Big up, you fucking anarchist.)
Alright, a few days of criticizing women is getting old, so, before I get back to TMR's main focus, let's flip the script to praising women a bit (which, sadly, may be all the "daddy's little princess" types can understand) specifically Women-Fronted Rock Bands:
Heart's "Barracuda" is a Rock classic. Once it was released, there was no debating if women could play as hard (or write as cleverly) as guys - they most definitely could - and it finally made sense that guys in a Rock band were wearing those puffy shirts and shit. The mid-section of "Barracuda" achieves a fast-funk feel that's pretty undeniable (I'm surprised nobody's sampled it by now) and ain't it a trip the female artists today don't really sing with their own true voices anymore, the way Ann Wilson does, here? I mean, I'd know her voice anywhere, whereas for most of today's female artists, I couldn't pick 'em out of a police line-up. Whoops - that was more criticism, wasn't it? Sorry. Oh, fuck that, I'ma say what I want: It's my fucking blog.
This is a really silly anti-war video by Kate Bush, so just close your eyes and listen to it. The song's called "Army Dreamers". I first heard it when I was in the hospital, back in my Punk days, and was jarred by what a light touch it had, compared to everything else on college radio at the time. Like Heart, Kate Bush was another favorite of guys because, not only was she attractive, but she wrote, produced, and played on all her stuff. Any woman who says guys don't appreciate a woman in charge don't understand the important part: Competency matters. Show you've got the stuff and guys will follow you anywhere; do anything you say. Even making your crappy videos.
Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders epitomized Punk back in the day. She was the baddest of the bad: A woman who could dish it out with the same ferociousness she took it with - she wasn't asking for favors ("Stop sniveling!") or for "understanding" - and there definitely wasn't shit NewAge about her. Musically, The Pretenders arrangements, writing style, meter - everything - was uniquely their own. I really can't say enough about them: They were brilliant. This is "Tatooed Love Boys".
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are fronted by Karen O, and while their stuff can be kind of hit-and-miss, the "hits" are always these short, powerful, stabs of Punk glory. (In some ways, sonically, they have a lot in common with my own group, Little White Radio.) "Date With The Night" was one of the first songs I heard of theirs and, if you don't know them, it's probably a good place for you to start as well.
