The year was 1987, where was your daughter?
One of the disadvantages of growing up in a small town, before the internet existed, was limited access to music outside of the mainstream. Greensboro, NC and Roanke, VA were the closest cities with any kind of music available outside of the recycled garbage being beamed in through the airwaves. Sure, there was 120 Minutes and HeadBanger’s Ball (with its occasional punk video) on MTV, but tapes and vinyls for the bands I really wanted to hear were hard to come by. On rare occasions, I’d find the random Dead Kennedys, Misfits, Husker Du or the Damned tape shoved in the import section at some chain store in one of these cities. Eventually, in the mid 80’s, the small record store in Eden, NC, had an “import” section, which basically meant, all the shit that we can’t put with the regular music. It was at this store that I found the Dead Kennedys’ “In God We Trust Inc.” Needless to say, being too young to drive, and the closest of these stores nearly 45 minutes away, meant I rarely got to find new music, and when I did, I drank it in with a passion.
In 1987, all that changed. The local record store in Martinsville came under new management, and decided to include a small “import” section. Within days, every skateboarder and punk knew about it, and I went in with $30 in hand to see what I could find. All they had were albums, which was fine by me. I had one of the better collection of punk stuff around, and most of what they had, I already owned. However, mixed among the quickly disorganized selection, were two albums, that to this day, are among my favorite. Both albums were brand new, by bands I’d never heard of. The first was “Groovy Hate Fuck” by Pussy Galore, and the second was “Songs About Fucking” by Big Black. The covers to both were intriguing, especially the Big Black album, so I bought them both, since I already owned everything else. Though I rarely listen to the Pussy Galore album anymore, “Cunt Tease” and “Pretty Fuck Look” do make it into some of my random mixes, I still really enjoy the bands that formed out of Pussy Galore. Two of these side projects, Boss Hog and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion are still among my favorite bands.
The same cannot be said for Big Black. Even after 22 years, I still listen to Big Black’s “Songs About Fucking” on a monthly, if not weekly basis. Pitchfork listed it as number 54 out of the top 100 albums of the 80s, and for good reason. It’s one of those few “punk/alternative/whatever label” from the 80s that stands the test of time. Sure, the Misfits are fun and the Dead Kennedys had a lot to say, but you’d be hard press to call either of them “good” music. Big Black sort of crossed that line between punk and what would be labeled “alternative” in the 90s and created a sound that many later artists would emulate. It’s no wonder that so many artists have used Steve Albini as there producer, including Pixies, Nirvana, The Jesus Lizard, The Auteurs, Slint, Membranes, P.J. Harvey, Joanna Newsom and Shellac.
I’ve been pondering the last few weeks, going through some of the defining albums of my life, and doing reviews not only from a musical perspective, but also from the perspective of how they changed or influenced my life. Along those lines, thinking about these two albums has really started to solidify that idea, and I’m going to take a stab at it over the next couple of months. I doubt there will be any rhyme or reason as to the order of what I review. Hell, they may not even be of any value to anyone other than me. But, isn’t that what a blog is for, to fill the endless digital void with ramblings of no discernible value?
