MARIONETTE - Blonde secrets & dark bombshells

MARIONETTE Blonde secrets & dark bombshells lp 1985 Heavy Metal Records 320 kbps

Ain't nothin' to it / Is that you / On a night like this / You better believe it / Too far gone / Raise hell / Gettin' sticky / My baby suxx / Nothin' but the night / Take me home with you / Staggerin' back to you / My baby sucks real bad (T. O. D. version) / Too far gone (T.O.D. version).

Marionette : R. Zell : vocals / D. Veal : guitar / K. K. : bass / Pig : drums.

Of all the main bands of the '80s London Glam scene, the one band that received the most initial press and gushing reviews were the fabulous Marionette. They had it down man...they were punk as shit. Fashion over function...guts over chops...silly, un-pretentious, obnoxious, loud, snotty...all the qualities that make for a rock band you can get behind. They became the scene's answer to the Hollywood Brats and frontman, Ray Zell, was the Flash Metal era's R. Crumb. His Pandora Peroxide comic strip was a vital part of Kerrang! Magazine as it was establishing itself as the only good magazine of the '80s Flash Metal Movement. Zell's Pandora character was the ultimate rock chick. Blonde, bitchy and tough, with big tits and dicksucking lips...she took the piss out of ego driven Kerrang cover stars while championing her underdog faves...part Wendy O., part Cherry Pop Tart, to most real deal rock fans, Pandora is as much part of the '80s Hair Metal movement as Aqua Net and cowboy boots.

As Pandora took off, so did Zell's rock journalism career and unfortunately Marionette were placed on the backburner.

Despite their short career, Marionette deserve to be remembered. Their two contributions to the Trash On Delivery album are the compilation's crowning achievements. "My Baby Sucks Real Bad" and "Too Far Gone" are primal and raw, primo-punk rawk at it's best. Zell spits classic lines like "Oh so very chauvinistic, she won't let me use her lipstick" in "My Baby Sucks Real Bad" like he's delivering the manifesto for the hairspray sect. In "Too Far Gone", Zell removes his tongue from cheek long enough to slurr "Just get me a whiskey. Just get me a beer. I don't need no girls tonight, I think I'm turning queer...Just get me a whiskey...Just get me a beer...But if you get me anything....GET ME OUTTA HEERREE!" ...trading his studied Andrew Matheson lisps for his Iggy yelps like the un-seasoned pro he wuz.

Completed by Dave Veal on guitar and drummer "Pig", the band inked with Heavy Metal Records in 1985. Their first and only record "Blonde Secrets and Dark Bombshells" appeared soon after and it was a bonafide sleaze rock monster. A lost classic of Dolls-y swagger, shitty NWOBHM production value and Pistols bravado, the album earned rave reviews in the UK press. The band also contributed the LP track 'Gettin' Sticky Over The Girl Next Door' to the 1985 Heavy Metal Records compilation album 'Rock Pretty'.
Unfortunately for us rock fans, the band just seemed to fizzle out as Ray Zell's status as a rock scribe became more solid. And with the end of Marionette came the end of embryonic stages of the '80s Glam Punk scene, as endless hairsprayed hopefuls emerged from the English sticks looking for chart action and Kerrang! cover status. Sleazegrinder
Great cd cover by MAX !

VARIATIONS - Nador

VARIATIONS Nador 1971 320 kbps

What a mess again /Waiting for the pope / Nador / We gonna find the way / Generations / Free me / Completely free / Mississipi woman / But it's alright / Come along / Promises / What's happening ... / Magda / Down the road / Love me.

Variations : J. Leeb : vocals / M. Tobaly : guitars / J. Grande : bass / J. Bitton : drums, percussions, vocals.

Les Variations was a French rock band (1969/1975) that sang in English and was known for its rock guitar based music. Often, their songs and compositions contained hints of North African and Jewish Sephardic melodies as well as the Hebrew songs of the band members' youth.

Les Variations signed with EMI/Pathé in 1969. It may be argued that Les Variations were the first and one of the best known rock groups from France, largely in part to commercial successes during their decade-long span. Between 1969 and 1973, they released the bulk of their albums. They often mimicked traits of the Rolling Stones, The Who and Led Zeppelin.
By 1974, they adopted a more exotic style and signed with the American label, Buddah Records. It was then that they introduced sounds and styles taken from their Moroccan heritages, exemplified in the albums Moroccan Roll, and Cafe de Paris. During the recording and subsequent touring of these albums, the band added the American keyboard player/singer Jim Morris; and for the second album "Cafe de Paris" and its tours, they added the French/Tunisian singer/guitarist/composer R. Fitoussi and the celebrated French/Tunisian violinist of Arabic music, M. Meimoun. The band broke up in December, 1975.
Over the course of their career, Les Variations became the first French rock band to headline the Olympia Theatre in Paris; and toured Europe and America with many major acts of the era, including: Kiss, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, Guess Who, Taste, Queen, Aerosmith ... among others. Source

Jo Leeb , their singer was a real rock singer , a "savage child" in the pure style of M. Jagger or S. Tyler. P. Eudeline has often written about him ...

In 2006 they have played again at Le Petit Vélo (see comments) & M. Tobaly has a new album out !

Don't forget second link : here !

THE ROCKATS - Make that move

THE ROCKATS Make that move mini lp 1983 320 kbps

Burning / One more heartache / That's the way / Go cat wild / Never so clever / Make that move / Rockabilly idol* / Note from the south*.

*Bonus tracks : Levi & the Rockats (from the "American Neo-rockabillies" compilation)

Produced by M. Thorne except* produced by B. Paine.

The Rockats : D. Preston : lead vocal / S. Smiff : bass, backing vocals / B. Ryan : guitar, backing vocals / D. B. Harvey : guitar, backing vocals, keyboards / M. Osborn : drums, backing vocals.

The Rockats began in 1980 after the breakup of Levi & the Rockats. Levi left to go solo and guitarist Stephen "Dibbs" Preston and stand-up bassist Smutty Smith decided to keep the band going. Preston moved to vocals and Barry Ryan and Tim Scott joined on guitars along with ex-New York Dolls and Heartbreakers drummer Jerry Nolan on drums.
Chris Blackwell (owner of Island Records) signed the band after he saw Iggy Pop, Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy), Frankie Infante (Blondie), and Johnny Thunders join the band on stage for a very long encore one night in New York. Island released "Live at The Ritz" in May 1981 to rave reviews and gained the band a nationwide following. The Rockats hit the road for the next year headlining their own shows as well as touring with or opening shows for acts such as Hall & Oats, The GoGo's, David Bowie, Dave Edmunds, The Cramps, Tina Turner, and more.


Tim Scott and Lewis King left in late '82 and were replaced with Danny B. Harvey and Mike Osborne. The band appeared in the movie "Where The Boys Are '84" and on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand". Soon after the group was signed to RCA and released the album "Make That Move" along with a video for MTV.
The Rockats broke up in 1985 and became involved in individual projects. Smith, Preston, and Ryan reformed in 1992 with drummer Ira Kay for a successful tour of Japan, where the group was very popular. Smutty left in 1997 and Dibbs and Barry continue to keep The Rockats rockin' with Mike "Chops" Laconte on the King Doublebass and Eddie Everett on drums. Source

WILLIE LOCO ALEXANDER - Taxi-stand Diane

WILLIE LOCO ALEXANDER Taxi-stand Diane mini lp 1984 New Rose records 320 kbps

Taxi-stand Diane / Dream° / Telephone sex / Walkman woman"°/ Just another fool* / So innocent / Don't give it up now (bonus Lyres cover) / Blues for Vanessa (bonus).

Produced by Willie Alexander.

W. Alexander : lead vocals & keyboards / B. Loosigan : guitars / B. Pritchard : bass / E. Lindgren : keyboards & strings on°/ A. L. Drake : drums & percussion / M. Day : saxo on" / B. Harrington & E. Marshall : backing vocals on*.

"Don't give it up now" appeared on the double lp compilation by New Rose artists singing other New Rose artist's tunes (never released on cd)

"Blues for Vanessa" appeared on a New Rose compilation called "La Vie En Rose" (a double lp on pink vinyl in a pink box & also never released on cd - I think)

Although relatively unknown outside Boston, Willie "Loco" Alexander is familiar to rock trivia experts as the answer to the brain-teaser: Who took Lou Reed's place in the Velvet Underground? He was born in Philadelphia in 1943, but emigrated to Boston in the '60s, where he formed the folk duo Baba & Willie Loco. Alexander founded the Lost in 1964, one of Boston's most popular garage bands of the period, and recorded for Capitol during the mid-'60s. By 1967, he was playing in Glass Menagerie with Doug Yule (who joined the Velvets one year later, replacing John Cale); in 1970, Alexander was invited to join one of the most influential bands of the '60s after its leader departed. He played keyboards and sang until Yule and the rest of the skeleton crew called it quits in 1972, after the album "Squeeze".

Willie Alexander recorded three solo singles beginning in 1975, and formed the punk-oriented Boom Boom Band the following year. The group recorded two albums for MCA, but broke up in 1978. He released "Solo Loco" (New Rose & Bomp) in 1981 , and then formed the Confessions, who also recorded two albums, "A Girl Like You" and "Autre Chose" in 1982 (New Rose). W. Alexander continued in his solo status throughout the '80s with the mini lp "Taxi-stand Diane" in 1984 ,"Tap dancing on my piano" in 1986 (New Rose) & then "The dragons are still out" in 1988 always on New Rose records .

He formed the Persistence of Memory Orchestra in 1991 , recorded a few albums . Maybe the best is "The East Main Street Suite" (1999) .

From the Lost, a 60's garage-band that made a couple of records for Capitol, to the psychedelic late-60's Bagatelle, to a brief stint in the post-Lou Reed Velvet Underground, the Boom Boom Band in the punk 70's, which recorded for MCA, to an introspective take on the 80's recording for the French label New Rose, and renewed band energy in the 90's with the Persistence of Memory Orchestra, Willie has maintained a consistently high level of emotional and artistic integrity. In 2005 the original Boom Boom Band reunited 23 years later, only to go into the studio owned by the Neighborhoods' guitarist/vocalist David Minehan recorded a new lp "Dog Bar Yacht Club" The results were phenomenally great, only proving that had the rock & roll minefields not existed to stand in this juggernaut's way, Willie Alexander & the Boom Boom Band would have emerged as Boston's answer to the Rolling Stones, and then some.

Source : here & here .

WILLIE ALEXANDER - Burning Candles

SINGLES WILLIE ALEXANDER Burning candles / In your car sp 1986 Arf Arf Records wav
It was hard to be a Willie Alexander fan in those days. You could purchase his New Rose albums in the Boston area and at a few other places, such as Northampton. But, out here in the provinces, his records were difficult to come by. Nor, as I recall, were they given a lot of promotion. In the 1980s, Alexander often recorded and performed solo or at least without a full band; and it seems likely that economics was a factor. In his 1987 interview with D.C. Denison, he said he was only playing out two or three times a month. In 1987, Willie Alexander and the Cars were inducted into the Hall of Fame at the first Boston Music Awards ceremony. W.A. told D.C. Denison that he got really nervous. "I'm not used to getting awards, I'm used to playing the piano and singing." ... Source

WILLIE ALEXANDER - Perfect Stranger

SINGLES WILLIE ALEXANDER Perfect stranger / Lonely Avenue sp 1983 New Rose wav
After Alexander's relationship with MCA ended, many of his albums were released in France on the New Rose label. "Gin" (45, Varulven, 1980), one of his best singles from this period, seems to have been more popular in Europe than here. And M. Howell reported that, locally, W.A. pretty much dropped out of sight. About the time Alexander released "Solo Loco" (LP, New Rose, 1981), he told Ed Slota of Boston Rock (Issue 23) that he was taking better care of himself. "You can't kill yourself forever, you'll wind up dead." Words to live by. Dean Johnson contributed an important full-page article to Issue 32 of Boston Rock.

During a tour of France, as Johnson's account goes, a kid played Alexander his own cover of "At the Rat." Fans approached the American and asked him to autograph their copies of the Bagatelle album. And concert-goers requested songs that he had released on obscure singles. We get stories of French rock fans who spoke hardly any English but long ago mastered the two essential words, "Willie Loco." When people on the other side of the Atlantic value this guy's music so much, we might wonder whether we Americans fully appreciate our own native talent... Source

SURPRISE, SURPRISE N° 3

..... 's first chart-topping album, ....... is a certified classic, a riotous non-stop party ...

CRANK UP THE VOLUME AND GO CRAZEE !!!

THE SAINTS - Permanent Revolution

THE SAINTS Permanent Revolution cd 1991 Mushroom Records 320 kbps

Grain of sand / One night with you / Wild & wicked world / Pick up the pieces / Running away / Revolution in my life / Friday the 13th / Love or imagination / Cartoon life / Idiot blues.

Produced by C. Bailey, G. Watson.T. Ryan and S. Leadley.

"Permanent Revolution" was released as an "official bootleg" by Mushroom Records in 1991 but in reality it is a collection of "demos" for either Chris Bailey or Saints albums. Several of the tracks have yet to be recorded on "real" albums if in fact they ever will be... so from that point of view this is a fairly interesting collection of "works in progress". As an album in it's own right it has it's own peculiar charm...

BACKYARD BABIES - Tinnitus

BACKYARD BABIES Tinnitus cd 2000 Liquor & Poker 320 kbps

Brand New Hate* / U.F.O. Romeo* / Highlights* / A Song For The Outcast° / Minus Celsius° / The Clash" /Colours* / Made Me Madman* / Star War* / Friends° / One Sound° / Look At You*.

*Produced by T. Skogsberg & Backyard Babies - °Produced by J. Barresi - "Produced by A. Kviman & Backyard Babies

Backyard Babies : N. Borg : lead vocals, guitar / Dregen : lead guitar, vocals / J. Blomquist : bass / P. Carlsson : drums.

Originally formed by teenage guitarist Dregen in 1987, Backyard Babies (after their first lp "Diesel & power" in 1994) were put on hiatus in the early '90s while he launched another acclaimed Scandinavian act, The Hellacopters. Upon recommencing in 1997, Backyard Babies released "Total 13", the first of five excellent albums (including 2001's "Making Enemies is Good" , 2003's "Stockholm Syndrome",2006's "People like people like People like us & 2008's "Backyard Babies") that epitomized what rock is all about: decadent songs and the cockiest of attitudes. Stockholm Syndrome even earned the group a Swedish Grammy, as well as a personal nod from Velvet Revolver to open their European tour, thus cementing the band's reputation as a force to be reckoned with. (They'd previously toured with such rock heavyweights as Alice Cooper and AC/DC.)
"Released in 2005, "Tinnitus" is one opportunity to rectify an injustice, collecting 12 choice highlights from three of the Backyard Babies' uniformly strong studio albums into a U.S.-only greatest-hits set of unbelievably high quality. Expertly and diversely showcasing the Stockholm natives' never less than inspiring Cheap Trick sound (where heaviness, speed, melody, and hooks coexist in explosive perfection), bona fide classics such as "Star War," "Minus Celsius," and the reverential "The Clash" could teach American bands a thing or two about their roots. Opening the disc with one of the band's most commercial and atypically synth-enhanced singles, "Brand New Hate," is probably ideal for the circumstances — but deeper immersion quickly unveils darker pleasures contained in songs like the scat-hateful "U.F.O. Romeo," the forlorn "Highlights" and "Colours," and the absolutely frenzied, Motörhead-would-kill-to-still-write-songs-like-this masterpiece "Made Me Madman." To sum it all up, if America's tattered and fast-fading rock & roll soul has any chance of salvation, this may well be one of its last chances . Grab it !

The digipack version of "Tinnitus" (like others Liquor & Poker records cd) was made all the more irresistible by adding a bonus disc sampler of tracks by other label signings, including Nebula, Crash Kelly, the mighty Hellacopters, and even Hanoi Rocks. Today it seems that this rockin' label is no more "Allmusic

VIEILLESSE SONIQUE ?

Si Eudeline , Geant Vert , Ungemuth et un ou deux autres amateurs de real rock'n'roll n'écrivaient plus dans Rock'n'folk, je ne l'achèterais plus depuis longtemps car je M'ENNUIE en lisant 80% du magazine !

Et voilà que ce matin, je sors de la lecture jouissive, dans le dernier numéro (503) , d'un article de Nicolas Ungemuth sur Sonic Youth intitulé "Vieillesse sonique ?"

Dire que certains journaux dits rocks (Inrocks, Rocksound, j'en passe et des pires ...) nous ont cassé les pieds avec cette mixture "sonique" durant les tristes années 90 , c'est peu !

Voici donc quelques extraits de la prose d'Ungemuth à laquelle je souscris avec grand plaisir :

"Sonic Youth , c'est du progressif né du punk "

"Tu veux te la péter mon pote Thurston ? Va apprendre à jouer comme Coltrane sur "Giant Steps". Pour le reste, contente-toi d'écrire des chansons, parce que le rock'n'roll c'est ça."

"La jeunesse sonique ? Sonique ta mère, oui ..."

Impayable et tellement vrai ! A lire et en entier... ainsi que l'article du toujours excellent Patrick Eudeline dans un nouvel épisode de "La vie en rock" consacré à Boris Vian pour le cinquantenaire de sa disparition.

Malgré tout ma sympathie, deux bons articles ce n'est malheureusement pas assez pour revenir au niveau de cette periode bénie durant laquelle Adrien, Garnier, Paringaux, Loustal et consorts nous obligeaient à l'achat systématique du magazine !