Give the other side a try
Year: 1993
Original Format: cassette
There’s definitely a theme here, though I’m hard-pressed to say exactly what it is. Something about, like, the duality of man, sir.
Playlist:
The Worst Kind of Badness David Warner & Jerold Wells
Nobody did evil like the late, great David Warner.
Bad Vibes Everybody Cracker
Trés 2020, don’t you think?
Divine Hammer The Breeders
There were a lot of videos from this period that I never saw at the time, because MTV was no longer useful for that kind of thing. Kim Deal as the Flying Nun… hmmmm….
The Rustle of Paper Is Music to the Lord
I honestly can’t remember anymore what this is from. I thought maybe Wise Blood, but I just watched it and no dice — though it was late at night and I might possibly have nodded off. What a strange movie that is. As faithful to its source material as you could ask, and with Flannery O’Connor that’s saying something.
I Will Turn Your Money Green Alex Chilton
Chilton’s version is very different from Furry Lewis’s original, which I somehow never heard until just now:
Sometimes (I Want’cha for Your Money, Honey) Buck Naked & the Bare Bottom Boys
Buck was one of a kind. He is still missed.
Salvation Celebration Psalty
I knew nothing about this when I taped it off the radio; I just thought it sounded funny. 27 years later I have learned that Psalty — a walking, talking songbook who teaches kids about Jesus — was and is a big brand in the lucrative Christian children’s entertainment market. He was created by a couple named Debby Kerner and Ernie Rettino way back in the late Seventies — which makes perfect sense if you watch something like, for instance, Salvation Celebration the Movie, a masterpiece of inadvertent (?) psychotropia.
Bulbous, Also Tapered Captain Beefheart & The Mascara Snake
“Victor Hayden (August 16, 1948 – December 7, 2018), also known by his stage name The Mascara Snake, was an American painter and musician…. [and] a cousin of Don Van Vliet, better known as Captain Beefheart. Hayden joined Beefheart’s Magic Band as guest bass clarinet player in 1968, but is heard only on the 1969 album Trout Mask Replica. He can also be heard on one of the sections of dialogue interpolated between the album’s tracks, in which he and Beefheart agree that some unknown thing is ‘fast and bulbous.’” —Wikipedia
Spiritual Pollution Pure
Searching for info on this song turned up an Amazon listing for “MJYJL puzzleGod Annoying Dog Spiritual Pollution Wooden Adult Pure White Hell Puzzle 1000 Pieces Spoof Tricky Funny Gift-Fluorescent Green 1500 Tablets.” To which I say, what?
Gimme Some Money Spinal Tap
My college band used to cover this song. A friend recently threatened to send me a rehearsal tape of said band, and I have been living in fear ever since.
You Never Give Me Your Money The Beatles
Back in 1993 I knew nothing about how this song tied in to inter-Beatle politics of 1969, and to be honest I think I was happier that way.
This Is It
The liner notes say this was from The View from the End of the World, which was a prison documentary I taped off of PBS, I think, back in the day. But in 2020 I can find no trace of it — nothing on YouTube, IMDB, etc. The tape may still languish in my VHS collection; that is another ongoing digitization project that will be completed sometime around, em, the end of the world.
No Words No More Love and Rockets
Don’t Do Anything (I Wouldn’t Do) Angelo Badalamenti
Through the darkness of future past, the magician longs to see…
Feed the Tree Belly
Tanya sounds pretty bossy here, but in a good way.
U-Mass Pixies
“U-Mass is short for ‘University Of Massachusetts,’ where lead singer Black Francis and guitarist Joey Santiago met and formed the band. Francis wasn’t enthralled with the institution: he quit after two years.” —Songfacts.com
Less of Bob/More of Jesus Pastor Robert Tilton
Y’know, one day, Pastor Bob will be dead, and you’ll say, “Oh, yes, I’ve been listening to his work for years.”
Teenage Lust The Jesus and Mary Chain
Turns out there’s a video for this one too, a rather sexy one:
The Stallion Pt. 3 Ween
“This song is the meaning of life.” —“puckmaster97”
My Sister, My Brother Pastor Robert Tilton
Let it be said: As a “holy man,” Bob Tilton is a charlatan who preys on the foolish and credulous. But as a source of weird and wonderful audio clips, he is pure fucking gold.
The Rev. Hell Gets Confused Richard Hell
Real news from the Richard Hell official website: “Gucci, the luxury fashion house, licensed from Richard and his collaborator and friend, Christopher Wool, two images from their book Psychopts (2008) to be reproduced on clothes for the Fall/Winter Gucci men’s wear collection.
The Way the World Ends Robert Loggia
Just for the heck of it, here’s a photo of of Bob Loggia in Scarface:
In some of his obituaries the headline said “Scarface actor Robert Loggia,” which while technically true is hardly fair. He was also in Big, Lost Highway, and An Officer and a Gentleman. The man had range.