Boogie Chitz

Reckless crowned young denim dandy Bryan Adams the surest thing in rock and roll in 1984. Ten flawlessly-constructed and produced songs void of experimentation but full of heart. Adams was at the top of his game - but SOMEONE was watching closely from three-thousand miles southeast of Vancouver.

We got a fresh one on site tonight - only a few months old. Twisted Teens make infectious New Orleans garage rock and have a pedal steel guitar player named Razor Ramone - with an e. Be cool Chico. Nuff said. Blame the Clown is their second album and you must hear.

Erasure are NOW regarded as 'homosexual pop' icons - but back when they started in the eighties no one noticed because EVERYONE was wearing spandex and sequined vests. The duo's second album The Circus is a joyous realization of destiny. Keyboardist/leader Vince Clarke had finally found the perfect front-twink in Andy Bell to sing his songs. For Andy - a dream come true - he was now in a group with THEE Vince Clarke - his hero from Depeche Mode and Yazoo.

The paradoxical Mötley Crüe hit the Hair Hunk heavens with Shout at the Devil in 1983 as Frank Ferrana gets to quit his day job and continue one of rock and roll's greatest swindles full-time.

Italian prog rock band Goblin found their destiny during the second half of the 1970's when they became the go-to musical score composers for the hot-shot horror movie directors of Italy. Goblin split at their peak but reunited (most of them) for 1982's Tenebrae - directed by their old friend Dario Argento.

Following the surprise success of their eponymous debut in 1971 the informal New Riders of the Purple Sage needed a couple FULL-time members to keep the party going - including a new pedal steel guitar player - a boutique role not easy to fill. Marmaduke had to go back in time to a quirky train tour across Canada he took part in a year earlier to find their man. Once the classic permanent NRPS lineup was set they continued to uncork records for Columbia including 1973's The Adventures of Panama Red - a deep-track dandy that sounds like the smell of bong water.

Creatively juiced by the wet-mulleted beefcakes of production team Full Force, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam continued to pump the coffers of the Freestyle genre they helped create with 1987's Spanish Fly - a solid urban dance album in a genre generally defined by singles.

The atmospheric, echo-laden martian world of Dub is the most 'reggae-sounding' varietal of all the reggaes - and it was created by a workaday radio wireman from Kingston. King Tubbys Meets the Rockers Uptown represents Dub at it's finest - quietly released during the global boom of reggae in 1976.

In 1974 forty-five year old Cameroonian Renaissance Man Francis Bebey retired from a career as a journalist and musical director of UNESCO to focus more time on his family and the arts. He turned a spare room of his Parisian flat into a studio, bought a synthesizer, drum machine and four-track recorder - and began an early-retirement musical quest that would last thirty years. Trésor Magnétique is twenty tracks beautifully extracted from the wagonload of unused analog material Francis Bebey left behind in that glorified walk-in closet.

Ten years before transforming into a suited-DILF headed for MTV rapture - Robert Palmer along with the coolest cast of session musicians ever - cranked out a spirited blue-eyed funk winner called Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley. An amazing piece of work and yet another gift of the collaborative spirit (aka Satan).

A galley pisser and a tighty-whitey wearer meet in a record store in Athens, Georgia and form R.E.M. They begin their thirty year gentle-rock quest with Murmur - a deep-track treasure considered a Rosetta Stone to all indie-rock that followed.

Released during the height of the Grunge Hunx Dynasty - Dirt remains one of the coolest albums of the 1990s - an absolutely heroic effort by Jerry Cantrell. Dirt was Alice In Chains' brief view from the top before beginning the inevitable slalom down smack mountain.

A dispatch of wonderful garage sleaze from France made by a Boogie Chitz supergroup consisting of The Limiñanas, loose-of-mind Anton from Jonestown and Emmanuelle Seigner - the GILF wife of creepo director Roman Polanski.

Even as the musical tide was shifting from the Golden Oldies Era to the Classic Rock one in 1963, the radio was still filled with snappy sing-alongs regardless of genre. You had to go to the jazz rack for exploratory action - and even in that world the gently-cosmic lounge swing of Moon Gas is one of a kind.

Somewhere is the only release by Gum Country - a side project of the guitarist from artisanal grunge band The Courtneys. Infectious 1990s shoegaze rockery for the present day slacker - it's hard to believe an album this catchy can be so obscure. A 'blind listening' treasure to the fullest.

We enter the world of Kosmische Musik thru the psychedelic soundscapes of Manuel Göttsching's Ash Ra Temple. Starring Rosi was the fifth and final Ash Ra LP - and it's definitely the sonic outlier of the batch - the only one that comes close to a traditionally-tracked rock record. This of course is only noticeable once you've actually sampled the first four - which we will do.

Given the MTV buzz and debutantal boom the Bangles experienced during the second half of their run, it's easy to forget their debut LP is a bonafide hitless alt-rock classic. All Over the Place reminds us that the Bangles were a really cool Paisley Underground band before the Egyptian pantomimes and Prince lil' purple penis pageantry.

During summer 1972 - in between the end of a historic European run and a tour schedule that would have the band zipping around the country for the rest of the year, the Grateful Dead made a stop in Oregon to help their old friends Chuck and Sue Kesey save their small yogurt company from financial collapse. Great show choice Bana.

A young guitarist named Maximiliano Chavez experiences a flash of divinity when he discovers the Wah-Wah guitar pedal in mid-1960s Peru and assembles Los Orientales de Paramonga - one of the cornerstone bands of Peru's psychedelic Chicha scene. Fiesta en Oriente was the band's second album - and the only one they recorded for the understatedly-historic Infopesa Records.

The most exhilarating rock album of the nineties came from the guitar and mouth of one of the most lovable heroes of the college rock eighties. Five years after the end of Hüsker Dü and without record label support, Bob Mould formed Sugar and found his melody on their debut album Copper Blue in 1992 - a ten-track treasure buried in plain sight amongst the chaotic Hair to Grunge Hunk transition of power.

A hobbyist Sikh devotional singer and her three sons create the first ever Asian-infused electronic dance album in England at their kitchen table in the Punjabi-populated London suburb of Southall in 1982. The record sat in obscurity until this year when Naya Beat resurrected and reissued the magic for our consumption.

A solid discog you could hold in one hand - Dead Kennedys managed to make some awesome rock and roll while simultaneously defying music industry promises and pee-pee tugs. We're gonna nip thru the whole DK catalog but go HARD on Frankenchrist - Dead Kennedys number three - where the San Francisco-ness of Jello and the gang shines thru a little more than their perky punk past.

The first music ever recorded in the multi-track format in Ethiopia came about from a Swedish national living in Addis Ababa who offered use of his four-track recorder to a group of Ethio-Jazz workhorses named Ibex Band. The Ibex boys welcomed the opportunity and set up shop in the empty ballroom of a hotel. For two days they made magic that would lay dormant for close to fifty years before a formal release this past April. What a gift.

If you've ever listened to or bought this album because of (Don't Fear) The Reaper - then you were in for a big surprise upon the initial neck-to-nut - All five members of the BÖC each sing lead on at least öne of the ten tracks of Agents of Fortune. Nine other nuggets that sound nothing like the Reap - or each other - but somehow flow with flawless cohesion. An awesome classic rock record that remains buried in plain sight. And we're also gonna try and answer a question that no one seems to ask - who are Blue Öyster Cult?

After a decade of missionary work in Singapore, Sister Irene O'Connor returns home to Australia and unleashes her one true miracle - a 12-song lo-fi/high-spirit psyche-pop classic called Fire of God's Love.

Only a year removed from chaining themselves to the walls of the One-Hit WonderDome with Happy Together, jaded L.A. fun boys The Turtles stopped listening to their handlers and created an underrated thematic classic centered around fictional bands performing songs of various genres popular at the time. Battle of the Bands is a gold nugget mined from one-hit hindquarters. And it must be celebrated.

A group of working-class Bergen County Italians transform into zombie male strippers and form one of the coolest bands ever. This self-titled compilation (a.k.a. Collection I) was released by Glenn Danzig himself three years after the band broke-up, but it's the best single disc appetizer offering of the Misfits original run.

This week's ep is up early because myself, Jose and Bemba have to travel to Mexico for business. 1970's David Bowie is one of the greatest musical runs ever - but we begin with the Bowie's never-before-told quest to create his 1983 midlife crisis pop manifesto - Let's Dance.

Ry Cooder, one of classic rock's greatest journeymen convinces Malian legend Ali Farka Touré to forget about his rice farm for a month to create one of the coolest albums ever under the 'world music' categorical tag.

Years before getting the indie gold star with Before Today, Beverly Hills trust fundie Ariel Rosenberg recorded a couple hundred cassettes-worth of home made pastiche psychedelic bacterium while in high school and college. Loverboy was the fifth LP extracted from this low-fi/highly-invigorating cassette cache. It's my favorite of Phase I Ariel Pink - probably because it's the only one I own on vinyl. Also - we play Cupid and pop the cherry on the Cryofab Rejuvenation Machine II.

The two most staph-infected former members of the New York Dolls get stranded in England with their new band and unload an absolute classic. One of my very favorite two sides of vinyl everrrrr.

During the 1960's - in the wake of a Coup d'état and weird middle-of-the-night Presidential pushup challenges from JFK, Brazil started pumping out some of the most wonderful music ever created - Série Samba Soul is an obscure ray of delight from the early years of MPB (Música Popular Brasileira).

Doors-lovin' Liverpudlian sassboys Echo & the Bunnymen made a single-hander of LPs during the 1980's that are all solid. My favorite is number two - Heaven Up Here - Post-punk poundery that is perfect for soundtracking your BDSM adventure. If that's your thing - pervert.

Harry Hosono's tropical-themed Japanese jamboree from 1978 is the perfect album to put on if you ever find yourself dosed on acid at a Lu’a. Paraiso was Hosono's fourth LP released under his own name - but also the unofficial birth of Tokyo city pop forefathers the Yellow Magic Orchestra.

During the summer of '92 - amidst the official transition of rock and roll power from the Hair Hunx to the Grunge Hunx - the Gin Blossoms dropped the lovable New Mis' - a dryly joyous Mangina Music masterpiece that stands out by not standing out at all.

We pick up where we left off with Faith No More (Check out 045 Introduce Yourself) - the funk-metal carnival continues with a new singer and an oddball classic of an album that somehow wedged it's way into the 1989 popular music zeitgeist amongst an overstuffed populace of Pop Stars and Hair Hunx.

Hair-raising new album from one of Jose's favorite bands - we'll also explore nuggets from Water From Your Eyes' back catalog - boundless creativity with this duo.

Mick puts down his Majesties' wizard hat and Keith picks up open E and D tuning on the guitar as The Rolling Stones pound thru 1968 with something to prove - resulting in Beggars Banquet - the album when The Rolling Stones became The STONES.

The best rock album ever made by a band with a frontman pretending to not have a penis. The gloriously unwieldy catalog of The Smiths is tremendous front to end - but there was a little extra specialness happening with The Queen is Dead as The Smiths closed out their final full year of existence.

Classic rock radio giveth much thanks to that Steve Miller Greatest Hits album with the gay horse head on the cover. And most of those laser-beamy soft rock classics were birthed on Book of Dreams - Steve Miller Band's tenth and most recent LP at the time. Book of Dreams dropped only one year before the Greatest Hits album - basically rendering it obsolete to the average fan while still in the racks. Weird move but B.O.D. still rocks and is one of the few reasons to jump off the Steve Miller Greatest Hits horse.

After neck-to-nutting The Doors discography in chronological order I was like 'what is up with The Soft Parade?' It might not be the best Doors album - but it definitely has the most personality - the sound of the biggest band in America having a temper tantrum in real time.

Roky Erickson barely survived the 1960s - lost his mind during the 1970s - and still somehow managed to release his most awesome LP in 1981. The Evil One is a treasure chest of deep tracks about fictional ghouls and demons that might actually be reality to Roky. We also welcome Bemba and Bana to the crew.

Fifteen track gift from Analog Africa proving that you can't spell Funaná without F-U-N. Bemba Restrepo's discovery on the shores of São Nicolau adds an extra jolt of weirdness to the traditional sounds of Cabo Verde.

Keystone Berkeley ran live music shows for twelve years and also served as a favorite hangout spot for rockers living in the Bay Area. Merl Saunders and Jerry Garcia were two of those  - and had been ripping it up together regularly for a year and a half when they decided to record their action to tape. Live at Keystone was the result and is a real-time capture of a musical friendship between two fat guys at peak electric output.

Gelli Haha is a new act and it is my job as Mr. Cool music show host to alert you of her existence. Switcheroo is fun-ass dance music - slammers about Italian desserts and pissing in glass jars that sound more like little electric kisses than songs.

I love Bleached tremendously - so it's on a curve when I say Welcome the Worms is one of the better no-fuss rock records of the past decade - a controlled frenzy of catchy songs made by an instantly-likable band. Also - the Canseco Twins find themselves on a path to fantasy fulfillment - turns out that fantasy is only four blocks away.

Before Daft Punk got the robot sex change operations and became the sound of global gloss there was Homework - the self-financed and home-recorded debut. And it's fantastic.

While not the most coveted 'Mats LP - Hootenanny is the one that got them out of the icy Jesse Ventura-ness of their beloved Minnesota - and on the road to alt-rock knighthood. This is where Paul Westerberg began to fully embrace the joys of socially ergonomic songwriting...sometimes.

Here we are blessed with a baker's dozen of Anatolian-flavored funk nuggets via the side project of a Swedish film and television composer.

The eponymous third aka Grey Album from 1969 began the second half of the VU's run - the forgotten half - when they were an actual touring rock and roll band trying to pop big. No Warhol, no New York City and no John Cale. A deep track dynamo without the literal AND figurative feedback of the past. Lou's older brother Roy shows up though.