8 May 2025 - Dead Kennedys - Police Truck

I was going to open this post with a fan-made video of this song with a lot of videos of police brutality.  

Unfortunately, those videos are age-restricted and can't be embedded here.  

This song began life as the B-side to "Holiday In Cambodia", a song with a similar feel, in 1980.  The surf guitar riffs kind of hide the fact that this song is told from the story of a two awful police officers who are brutalizing people and abusing their power.   

The song was actually written in direct response to a real 1970's incident in Oakland, CA, but, let's face it - it is more broadly applicable.  Written by Jello Biafra and East Bay Ray (who is responsible for the fantastic surf guitar riffs), the song experienced a resurgence in popularity after the George Floyd murder.  And yeah.  It was a murder.  That's how I feel about that. 

Back in the day, when the band performed live a lot, they brought even more energy than they did in the studio. 

SO what about more recently?

Jello is still angry and energetic.

7 May 2025 - Led Zeppelin - Heartbreaker

It's 1969.  You just picked up your copy of Led Zeppelin II.  You've just finished side one.  You flip it over.

You are smacked in your face with arguably the greatest riff in rock and roll history.

The iconic guitar solo in the middle was actually recorded separately from the rest of the track - and Jimmy Page used a pull-off technique that inspired guitar virtuosos for decades.   

Led Zeppelin was a great blues band who manged to get volume turned up to 11, and this song was arguably their magnum opus. 

Even though he originally recorded it separate from the rest of the track, hearing and watching Jimmy Page performing what is almost inarguably his greatest solo of all time, live, embellishing the hell out of it, is incredible.   This performance is from 1979. 

6 May 2025 - The Darling Buds - Shame On You

You know we take credit for getting the Darling Bubs back together, even though we KNOW for a FACT we had nothing to do with it.

Andrea Lewis, would you confirm that for us?

So thank US without merit for this 2022 performance of a song from their debut.

5 May 2025 - Lenny Kravitz - Rock and Roll is Dead

This song was Grammy nominated in 1996 after being a huge hit song around the world in 1995.... except in the United States, where it was NOT a hit.  Canada?  Loved it!  New Zealand?  Huge hit.  Spain?  Top 5.  United States?  #75 on the Hot 100. 

Let's be honest - even though Kravitz wrote and produced this song, it sounds like he lifted half the riff from "Heartbreaker" by Led Zeppelin.  It's undeniable (and probably why it failed in the US).  In reality, that riff was the riff from "Are You Gonna Go My Way" - which shared an album with this song - played backwards.... so, not actually lifted.  But man, I sure thought it was, too. 

Anyway, the song is a pretty solid rock song.  

Oh yes, he plays it live, and it's perhaps more impressive as a straight-ahead rock song.  Here he is performing it in 2011.  Not pictured: the painting in his attic that's aging for him.

2 May 2025 - Throwing Muses - Ruthie's Knocking

Does Throwing Muses have new music out?  They sure do.

Did I go back to the 90s for some of their older stuff anyway?  I sure did. 

No, Limbo is not my favorite album of theirs - it was post-Tanya era Muses, which is never my preference.  It was their first album on Rykodisc after a decade with Sire Records (and of course, as always on 4AD).  The album and stress on it - combined with Kristin Hersh's successful solo career - led to the band breaking up for several years. 

As most of their music, written by Kristin, the song is at once noisy - a bit noisier than their earlier work - and dark.  Even though Limbo isn't my favorite of theirs, this song floats to the top for me. 

I love Kristin's voice live. It comes through a lot raspier than on record.  

1 May 2025 (Special Edition) - Jill Sobule - I Kissed A Girl

This 1995 song by folkie Jill Sobule was her biggest hit, in both the US and Canada.  It was on my short list to be posting this song very soon.  

Unfortunately, her untimely death today in a house fire at age 66 hastened that for me.  

In 2009, in response to Katy Perry's song of the same name, Sobule said, and I quote: "Fuck you Katy Perry, you fucking stupid, maybe “not good for the gays,” title thieving, haven’t heard much else, so not quite sure if you’re talented, fucking little slut."   No, she really said that.  

She didn't actually harbor any ill will against Katy Perry.  She was kidding.  Perry's song sparked new interest in Sobule's.  

Anyway, this song was sweet and earnest and kind, and here it is. 

Jill was touring until, no joke, this week.   She was literally scheduled to perform in Denver tomorrow.  This is a performance of this song from February of this year.   Her storytelling is pretty damned amazing.  

This is a sad day for music, and she will be missed. 

1 May 2025 - Technotronic - Pump Up The Jam

Well, I had a significant power outage yesterday.   Absolutely huge.   I was personally in the dark for a day and a half.   

And I had grand plans for an *NSYNC post yesterday, too!  Oh well.  Next year. 

Today, I'm dealing with the aftermath, so I felt like I'd pull out an easy one from my youth.  "Pump Up The Jam" was Technotronic's first and biggest hit. The brainchild of a couple of Belgian producers, the vocals were provided by Congolese-Belgian artist Ya Kid K.  She does NOT, however, appear in the video. 

The song was a massive worldwide hit in 1989, hitting #2 on the US charts and pretty high elsewhere.