AGENT ATTITUDE

Hardcore from Sweden

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HARMONICA BLUES Great Harmonica Performances of the 1920s and '30s

Artwork by Robert Crumb

Tracklist

Freeman Stowers –	Railroad Blues
State Street Boys (2) –	Crazy About You
Carver Boys –	Wang Wang Harmonica Blues
Lee Brown –	My Driving Wheel
Clarence Ashley / Gwen Foster –	Bay Rum Blues
Robert Hill (10) –	I'm Going To Write And Tell Mother
Chuck Darling –	Blowin' The Blues
Chuck Darling –	Harmonica Rag
Jaybird Coleman –	Man Trouble Blues
Jazz Gillum –	I Want You By My Side
Alfred Lewis –	Friday Moan Blues
Chicken Wilson* & Skeeter Hinton* –	House Snake Blues
Bobbie Leecan & Robert Cooksey –	Need More Blues
DeFord Bailey –	Davidson County Blues

JIM CARROLL BAND Catholic Boy 1980

 

biography

[+] by Jason Ankeny

To rock audiences, Jim Carroll's crowning achievement was the near-hit "People Who Died," a brutally emotional punk record saluting the victims of the New York drug culture. In truth, however, Carroll's artistic legacy was considerably more complex and far-ranging -- an acclaimed diarist, poet, actor, and spoken word performer, his formative years even served as the subject of the film The Basketball Diaries. The product of a working-class background, Carroll was born and raised in New York City. He was a highly touted basketball prospect, and Jack Kerouac's On the Road inspired him to begin keeping a journal at the age of 12; later published in 1978 as The Basketball Diaries, his early writings vividly chronicled his teenage addiction to heroin, which led him into a life of crime and hustling. By the time he was 16, Carroll was a published poet; 1973's Living at the Movies further established his reputation as a prodigy and funded a move to Northern California, where he was finally able to shed his drug habit.

Inspired by the success of his friend Patti Smith, who also married a background in poetry with a career in rock music, Carroll began writing songs; in 1978, backed by the San Francisco band Amsterdam (comprised of guitarists Terrell Winn and Brian Linsley, bassist Steve Linsley, and drummer Wayne Woods), he cut a handful of demos, and was signed to Rolling Stones Records. Produced by label head Earl McGrath, the Jim Carroll Band's debut album, Catholic Boy, appeared in 1980; the subject of significant critical acclaim, it featured "People Who Died," the group's definitive moment.

After a move back to New York and the replacement of Terrell Winn and Brian Linsley by Paul Sanchez and Jon Tiven, the Carroll Band returned in 1982 with Dry Dreams, followed by 1984's I Write Your Name, which received lackluster reviews. With his three-record contract fulfilled, Carroll dismissed the group members and resumed his prose and poetry work. After an appearance in the 1985 film Tuff Turf, he published The Book of Nods in 1986 and Forced Entries: The Downtown Diaries 1971-1973 a year later. During the remainder of the '80s, Carroll balanced his poetry and prose material while writing tracks for other artists such as Blue Öyster Cult (Club Ninja) and Boz Scaggs (Other Roads). He also appeared on spoken word albums by John Giorno's Dial-a-Poem Poets.

As the 1990s dawned, Carroll was frequently approached to return to music, but he remained firmly dedicated to his spoken word work; his first solo album was Praying Mantis (1991), a collection of spoken word performances, not new songs. While he occasionally performed as a musician, his primary focus remained his literary pursuits. Notably, Carroll was one of the first poet/rockers to break down the barriers between poetry/spoken word and mainstream rock music. He participated in various readings beginning in the mid-'80s, but his 1994 performance on MTV'sUnplugged was most moving, with a soon to be legendary poem, "8 Fragments for Kurt Cobain," a mesmerizing tribute.

In 1993 he published Fear of Dreaming: The Selected Poems of Jim Carroll. In 1995, both The Basketball Diaries and the short story Curtis' Charm were adapted into films; he also contributed lyrics and vocals to Rancid's multi-platinum release ...And Out Come the Wolves (1995). A year later Carroll also contributed to the benefit release Home Alive: The Art of Self-Defense, and in 1997 Carroll was one of a number of high-profile writers, musicians, and actors who contributed to the Kerouac tribute album Kicks Joy Darkness, where, backed by Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo, Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye, and Anton Sanko, he read "Woman." The year 1998 was monumental for Carroll. He released a brand-new collection of poetry in his new book, Void of Course, as well as returning to rock in his own cathartic way with the release of his first album in nearly 15 years, Pools of Mercury. This combined his classic wounded poetry with song, noting his collaborations with Sanko and Kaye.

In 1999, a comprehensive tribute release entitled Put Your Tongue to the Rail: The Philly Compilation for Catholic Children showcased 25 local artists from Philadelphia empowered by the work of Carroll. Two years later, Carroll issued the Runaway EP, which featured live cuts of material from Pools of Mercury and an eclectic cover of Del Shannon's pop hit as the EP's namesake. It turned out to be his last major release, however. He died in September 2009 of a heart attack.

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COPOUT self titled 1993

Copout was from Memphis, Tennessee and later became the mighty His Hero Is Gone. 

Tracklist ▼

A1		Did You
A2		Colors
A3		Blind
A4		No
A5		Over There
B1		Burned Up
B2		Chained
B3		No One
B4		Epilogue

TONES ON TAIL Night Music 1987

biography

by Steve Huey

Bauhaus guitarist Daniel Ash created Tones on Tail as a side project in 1981 with bassist Glen Campling, who was also a roadie for Bauhaus. When Bauhaus broke up in 1983, Ash chose to concentrate on his new group, bringing in Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins as well. Their style ranged from light rock to funk to atmospheric synth music. Ash became dissatisfied with Campling, and a Bauhaus reunion was planned, but when Peter Murphy backed out, Ash, Haskins, and former bassist David J, who had been playing with the Jazz Butcher, decided to re-form as Love and Rockets.

SUICIDE self titled 1977

by request

biography

[+] by John Dougan

Although they barely receive credit, Suicide (singer Alan Vega and keyboardist Martin Rev) is the source point for virtually every synth pop duo that glutted the pop marketplace (especially in England) in the early '80s. Without the trailblazing Rev and Vega, there would have been no Soft Cell, Erasure, Bronski Beat, Yaz, you name 'em, and while many would tell you that that's nothing to crow about, the aforementioned synth-poppers merely appropriated Suicide's keyboards/singer look and none of Rev and Vega's extremely confrontational performance style and love of dissonance. The few who did (Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire) were considered too extreme for most tastes. Suicide had been a part of the performing arts scene in New York City's Lower East Side in the early/mid-'70s New York Dolls era. Their approach to music was simple: Rev would create minimalistic, spooky, hypnotic washes of dissonant keyboards and synthesizers, while Vega sang, ranted, and spat neo-Beat lyrics in a jumpy, disjointed fashion. On stage, Vega became confrontational, often baiting the crowd into a riotous frenzy that occasionally led to full-blown violence, usually with the crowd attacking Vega. With their reputation as controversial performers solidified, what was lost was that Suicide recorded some amazingly seductive and terrifying music. A relationship with Cars mastermind Ric Ocasek proved successful, bringing their music to a wider audience and developing unlikely fans (Bruce Springsteen went on record as loving Suicide's Vietnam-vet saga "Frankie Teardrop"), but after numerous breakups and reconciliations, Rev and Vega settled for being more influential than commercially successful. Ironically, the '90s proved to be a decade of vindication for Suicide with the rise of industrial dance music, Chicago's Wax Trax! label, and the bands associated with it (Revolting Cocks, Ministry, 1000 Homo DJs, etc.). Although not a big part of the scene anymore, the profound influence of Suicide on a generation of younger bands was readily apparent. When the duo returned in 2002 with American Supreme, its first studio release in ten years, much fanfare resulted, no doubt considerably furthered by Vega's presence around this time as a heavily profiled exhibitionist of art in New York, where he had presented a show at the Jeffrey Dietch Gallery in New York earlier in the year.

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CHROME Blood on the Moon 1981

by request

 

CHROME Red Exposure 1980

by request

CHROME 3rd from the Sun 1982

by request