Dear Friends,
I’m a cranky old man.
Yesterday I was all worked up about our show Friday night. Our friends, Bright Sunshine, have been actively promoting the show and what do they get for it? Bumped to the opening slot so two bands (and nothing against them because I have friends in these two bands, so it is not their fault) who were just added to the show can play after them.
I have never been a big fan of the Yucca Tap Room, but this takes the cake. I won’t say never, but I will say that I will not actively pursue any further shows at Yucca Tap Room, no matter who it is that is playing there.
Uggh. Rant over.
*****
I don’t have much to say about today other than I hope it is one more day better of having this stupid cold. It’s been one of those colds that you get from going from one temperature to another and it hasn’t been awful, but by the end of the day, I’m toast. I need to have some energy for Friday night.
At least I can sleep in on Saturday (which I just ruined by typing it).
My students have a big test in front of them. I switched up the seating arrangement because the talking has been ridiculous. They might just go wild with the new arrangement, so the law will have to be laid down this morning.
I love laying down some law. My students generally listen when I use “the tone,” so it might have to get used this morning. We shall see…
*****
In 1987, I made friends with a group of skinheads who were all decent, fun-loving guys. They weren’t nazis, although I knew a few guys later who claimed to be nazis and that went south pretty quickly for them and for our friendship, but that’s another story. I had my dalliance with shaving my head and wearing boots and braces, but like many of the more devout sub-flavors of punk rock, it just wasn’t a long-term lifestyle choice for me.
It also pissed a lot of people off and I would much rather let my music or writing do that. I just didn’t know that then. Other than some friendships and interesting life experiences, one of the great things that came out of that time was an appreciation for several bands. One of those bands was Angelic Upstarts.
I first heard them on a compilation cassette that a guy named Spider gave me. He hung out with us for a minute in 1987 and I never saw him again. I think he was just passing through Phoenix. He did one of the most punk rock/skinhead (in a positive way) thing I had seen at that point. He was a big dude and looked pretty scary. He had a spider web tattooed on his forehead, hence, “Spider,” and looked like he would just as soon rip your head off as shake your hand.
Anyway, we walked up to Alpha Beta (it wasn’t even ABCO yet, I don’t think) to get some beer. He was 21 and I was barely 18 and it was just after Thanksgiving, so the Christmas trees were up. A young guy was trying to make off with a Christmas tree and the guy from Alpha Beta was trying to grab it from him.
Spider and I saw this as we walked out with our beers and walked over, quite casually, and took the tree from the two guys. He told the Alpha Beta guy “Fuck off, it’s Christmas” and handed the tree to the tree thief. I was impressed. The guy from the store said he was going to call the police, but no one messed with us as we walked down Indian School back to our apartment.
He gave me this tape, though, and said something like, “I think you’ll like this” and so I listened to it. It was some other old record that he had taped over and got the ink off so that all it said was “Oi!” on it. For years I never knew who was on the tape at all, but there was one song that stood out to me.
“Who Killed Liddle Towers” was the song and I eventually figured out it was by the Angelic Upstarts. I loved the song so much that it haunted me for a long time. Once the mystery was solved, I bought the first Angelic Upstarts record I found with the song on it and that was Live In Yugoslavia.
What a cool record. It’s got tons of good Angelic Upstarts stuff on it and for a live album, it sounds great. It’s also about to be forty years old. In 2018 or so, they played a couple of shows at Punk Rock Bowling and were amazing. They might have even appeared a couple of times that we went. I don’t remember, for sure, but seeing them live was a bucket list show for me.
We saw Mensi in the Golden Nugget and he was pretty much being mobbed by fans so I left him alone. I enjoyed seeing how cool he was with the people, though, and it was nice to see he was every bit the guy that he seemed to be from his lyrics.
One of the things that I really appreciate about Angelic Upstarts is the positivity that comes from their music even though they often tackled subjects that were not positive at all. “Last Night Another Soldier” is one of those songs that talks about people dying for a bullshit reason, but it’s done in a way that makes you want to do something about it and not just turn away.
“Teenage Warning” is on Live In Yugoslavia and it’s another banger. It comes right before “Solidarity” which I love and then “Last Night Another Soldier” so it is a back-to-back-to-back thing that just kicks ass. The whole record is great, though.
If you’ve read all of these, you’re probably sick of reading that “the whole record is great” but remember, I’m only picking records I love. “Police Oppression” kicks off the B side and just rips here, too. It’s such a simple yet great riff. I love the “Angelic Upstarts” riff. It’s like a stab-stab-stab followed by a boom, boom, boom. Listen to the song, you’ll hear what I mean.
They did this riff as well as anyone.
The whole band sounds great on Live In Yugoslavia. Max Splodge’s drums are steady and powerful. I do wish the bass was a little louder in the mix, but Ronnie Rocker’s bass lines are part of what makes the band so good. He doesn’t overplay anything but stays right in the pocket and does super tasteful rolls here and there. “Kids On The Street” is a good example of this.
I know I need to branch out and add more Upstarts stuff to my collection, but this one has so much of what I like and it’s live and raw and takes me to those shows I saw in the last teens. I’ll keep listening.
*****
See you tomorrow.
Angelic Upstarts never looked like this, AI. You're nuts.
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