June 20, 2014 Playlist

Sir Paul of Wings

The Self-Indulgent Birthday Special Featuring Sir Paul McCartney

"3:47 EST" (a/k/a "Klaatu") by Klaatu (1976)
Klaatu  "3:47 EST" (a/k/a "Klaatu")  1976 (Canada)
Klaatu is an enigmatic art-pop group from Toronto that recorded five albums and a handful of singles during the years 1973-1981. A silly rumour about the band being a secret Beatles reunion turned out to cause more problems than help their career in the long run; the deliberate obscurity that surrounded the group was both a blessing and a curse. For you see, the first three LPs released by the group provided absolutely no information as to who was in the group: not their names, no pictures, nor even a sense of how many people were in the band. In fact, they were a trio of brilliant studio production engineers (John Woloschuk, Dee Long & Terry Draper) who labored intensely to come up with their immaculate sound which strongly recalls not just Beatles but also Pink Floyd and The Moody Blues. I believe they kept their image so mysterious so that they would be judged solely on their music and not their "presentation" (they were shy guys who probably would not have looked so hot disco dancing in tight trousers). The first Klaatu LP (this week's classic) is the one that is best-remembered, producing the unlikeliest hit single in The Carpenter's discography when that group covered "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft", and the flipside "Sub-Rosa Subway" which really does sound like something Paul McCartney & Wings might have done (Woloschuck has a remarkable ability to sound like Paul, John and George at various times . . . though the other songwriter Dee Long's material is groovy hard rock that sounds nothing like any Beatle!)
"Slip It In" by Black Flag (1984)
Black Flag  "Slip It In"  1984 (USA)
A second bonus classic album is my birthday gift to you! I have a theory that almost every hip kid goes through a "punk phase" and everyone has a different favorite punk band that speaks to them more than any other. Well with the fullness of time, my favorite probably has to be Black Flag (even more than Sex Pistols and Stooges, whom I also loved as a snotty youth . . .) The Flag's earliest records took the punk aesthetic as far as it could go - literally nobody could play shorter, tighter, faster, more stright-to-the-point and in-your-face anthems than the sixty-second ditties on their first handful of 7" EP's from the late 1970's. Then Hank Rollins joined, and their first full-length LP Damaged set a new standard in teeth-gnashing, fist-in-the-face angsty bad feelings punk. Not being done yet, My War followed with a revamped heavy metal sound that paved the path that leads directly to "grunge rock".  But my favorite of all their albums is the one that came next after that, this week's bonus CAOTW. With a brilliant batch of hard-rocking riff songs running up to six or seven minutes in length and drenched in epic jazz-skronk guitar solos inspired by Mahavishnu Orchestra (!!! and Greg Ginn was also a major Deadhead and even Genesis fan!), there is simply nothing like it in the world of punk. For sheer sweaty musicianship and striving forward against the trends and currents: Black Flag rules!
(N) = New Release
(K) = live radio Kosmik remix
Artist Song Album Year (label) Country
The Royal Guardsmen
Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron
A-side 7" single
1966
USA
The Monkees
Circle Sky
Head
1968
USA/UK
Black Oak Arkansas
Dancing In The Street (Martha & The Vandellas)
Street Party
1974
USA
Dr. John
Mess Around (Ray Charles)
Dr. John's Gumbo
1972
USA
Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band Bad DancerTake Me To The Land Of Hell (N)2013 (LAB 344)Japan/USA
Tom Jones
Thunderball
A-Tom-ic Jones
1966
UK (Wales)
Jack Jones
Sweet Gingerbread Man
All To Yourself: 20 Golden Greats
c. 1972
USA
The Beatles
Penny Lane
Magical Mystery Tour
1967
UK
Chicago
Saturday In The Park
Chicago V
1972
USA
 
  
Klaatu
Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary CraftKlaatu (a/k/a 3:47 E.S.T.)
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
1976
Canada
The Beatles
Across The Universe ("nature" version)
Rarities (originally released on No One's Gonna Change My World various artists compilation)
1969
UK
Klaatu
Little NeutrinoKlaatu (a/k/a 3:47 E.S.T.)
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
1976
Canada
Klaatu
Older
Sir Army Suit
1978
Canada
 
  
Black Flag
The Bars
Slip It In
2nd BONUS CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
1984
USA
OFF! No Easy EscapeWasted Years (N)2014 (Vice)USA
Slayer
Die By The Sword
Show No Mercy
1983
USA
Swans Screen ShotTo Be Kind (N)2014 (Mute)USA
The Beatles
It's All Too Much
Yellow Submarine
1968
UK
 
  
Vosellglaas
DreiiiDreiii
2008
USA
The Sheep Fiends The Weakest Selectorforthcoming album, title TBD (N)2014 (Sheep Fiends)USA
Dethkorpz
TacocatApocalypse 1999:6661
2000
USA
Tacocat Psychedelic QuinceañeraNVM (N)2014 (Hardly Art)USA
The Walking Faces It Could Be TimeRehearsal EP (N)2014 (Cosmic Primitive)USA
Dethkorpz
Photograph (Def Leppard)unreleased rehearsal tape
c. 2001
USA
Steely Dan
Green EarringsThe Royal Scam
1976
USA
Hall & Oates
I Can't Go For That (No Can Do) (Kosmik Birthday remix) Private Eyes
1981
USA
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
CreditWorn Copy
2005
USA
 
 
White Cloud (Dave 3000)
My Nation Undergroundunreleased recording
2011
USA
The Fireman (Paul McCartney)
AuravedaRushes
1998
UK
                   
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