Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Whole Wide World” by Wreckless Eric “If it ain’t Stiff, it ain’t worth a f*ck.” “The world’s most flexible record label.” “Undertakers to the industry.” “We came. We Saw. We Left.” “In ’78 everyone born in ’45 will be 33-1/3.” “When you kill time, you murder success.” “If they’re dead, we’ll sign them.” The above non-sequitors were all slogans for one of the coolest record labels to be associated with the late 1970s punk rock movement. Stiff Records established itself by not only having a roster that included Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, The Damned, Wreckless Eric and Ian Dury, but by the hyperactive media antics they pulled off in the name...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#854 in the Series) is Old Man Markley, Down Side Up (Fat Wreck Chords) There is an interesting thing happening in the pop music world these days. The more things change, the more they stay the same….and yet they still keep changing. Not entirely sure what that means, but this much is true: traditionally defined genres are blending, sometimes being deconstructed altogether, and new fusions are emerging. Especially in the Nashville/ACM scene, groups like Gloriana and Lady Antebellum have managed to get mass market crossover appeal while still winning several critical accolades with a not-exactly-country, not-exactly-pop, just pretty-darn-good sound. Enter Old Man Markley, with a style dubbed “newgrass.”.Energetic without being overly gritty...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Paul’s Not Home” by Gibby Haynes (with Jack White) Today’s Song Of The Day hails from a Third Man Records’ “Blue” Series single released by Jack White, who also plays guitar and sings on all three tracks. Gibby Haynes is the ex-captain of the Trinity University basketball team, ex-accountant and founding member (along with Paul Leary) of Texas’ own Butthole Surfers. The Surfers remain purveyors of hard core left-wing psychedelic music since their formation in 1976. With albums like Locust Abortion Technician, Hairway To Steven and Psychic…Powerless…And Another Man’s Sac, the surfers have spent the better part of thirty years bending the rules in rock and roll while staying far...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Picture This” by Blondie There was nothing new about punk and new wave. It came about as a reaction to the bloated excesses of progressive rock groups like Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Genesis and Yes and their seemingly obligatory side-long multi-part suites of music.  (Not that there was anything wrong with that…) Groups like Ramones and Blondie brought back the sounds of the early 1960s. They simplified things, kept their songs under three minutes and created sugary-sweet melodic gems that were bashed out on guitars and drums. But being from New York, Blondie were just as inspired by the Broadway scene, and you can feel the presence of Broadway all...

  Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “This Ain’t No Picnic” by Minutemen – I’ve been spinning tracks by San Pedro’s Minutemen all day, since it was 27 years ago today (12/22) that lead singer, D. Boon, died in a car wreck. Minutemen were such an important band to me and my cohort back in the early 1980s. They were a band that cut through the image-centered video-centric MTV acts that dominated the music scene, with a healthy dose of punk rock realism. D. Boon was a visionary poet who regularly tackled the subjects of racism, politics and the plight of the working man, while musically he had a mean streak of funk running through his veins....

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#813 in the Series) is  Bram Tchaikovsky, Strange Man Changed Man The legend says: ¨A long time ago, a bunch of bored cavemen, hungry of fun and sex, invented Rock´n´Roll…¨ It must be true, and we must be grateful:  they invented something of the same transcendence as the Ferris wheel; one of the most proteiform and free examples of contemporary art. Did I say art? Yes, maybe the 8th form! Along there with Music, but with its own singular status. Joyously alive, always changing, the perfect constant motion machine. This album is one of the finest examples of the genre. Sadly overlooked, it condensed in itself all of the stamina and the joie...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#775 in the Series) is Romeo Void, Benefactor. Romeo Void’s Benefactor album is another perfect example of some of the cool post punk/new wave sounds of the early 80s. There was a refreshing blend that mixed a little bit of punk, a little bit of ska, a little bit of the new romantics and maybe even a touch of reggae at times.  It allowed many people to hit the dance floor again that might not have since growing tired quickly of the disco era. Benefactor was released in 1982 and stood up well alongside albums released by bands such as The Psychedelic Furs, Ministry, OMD, Our Daughter’s Wedding, A Flock of Seagulls,...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#746 in the Series) is Iggy Pop, Blah Blah Blah  I dusted this one off recently and fell back in love with it. Tons of sharp pop hooks and well written pieces, it was “Jim Osterberg’s” most successful commercial record when it came out in 1986 that apparently ended up causing some negative emotion that we can only imagine came from the fact it sounds a lot like a David Bowie record. The first song “Real Wild Child” was his first top 10 hit in the UK (don’t know why it wasn’t “Lust for Life”- I always loved that some cruise ship company used the music bed of “Lust” for their commercial. Do you...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#704 in the Series) is New York Dolls, New York Dolls The New York Dolls are a band that has, over time, come to be defined more by the drugs, debauchery, and deaths of various members than their actual music, and the original line-up has never been given enough credit for being good musicians, in my opinion. Much like The Sex Pistols and even The Ramones, they are always labelled as ‘influential’ in terms of style and attitude, without being given due respect for their musicianship and the songs they wrote and recorded. Then again, the reputation they had as being hell raisers was well earned. It isn’t a widely-known fact that...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#664 in the Series) is The Clash, Combat Rock We music fans love to hear stories about how classic songs were recorded, and how some almost never happened. There’s a great part in the Joe Strummer documentary The Future Is Unwritten where drummer Topper Headon talks about how the Clash single ‘Rock the Casbah’ came into being. It was 1982 and the Clash were coming apart at the seams; torn apart by egos, infighting, drug addiction, and the strain of such a heavy touring schedule. Musically, the band had long since left behind their band-of-the-people persona, and were now filling stadiums. Their last two albums London Calling and Sandinista had seen them...