I’m swiping Joel’s idea of rating 10 songs. I’m not as cool as some of you all with your iPods and shiny dingle dangles and such. I have good ol’ Winamp. So I loaded up my Winamp with all the stuff we have, threw it on “randomize list”, and picked the first 10 songs.

1. Misfits – Go

This is just a demo version of “Nike”. I have a weird reason for liking both songs a lot more than I should. When I was a wee bairn, we lived in San Pedro, CA directly across the street from Fort MacArthur’s Nike missile site. Like, I would toddle off our porch, across the residential street and press my face against the fence and wave at the “Army guys” as I called them. That kind of across the street. Once a month, I’d be sitting on our porch and they’d open up the silos and out would come the missiles for their monthly scrubdown. The guys who manned the Nike sites were called Goonybirds. The Misfits were awesome, by the way. Did everyone see Danzig on Aqua Teen a little while ago? Tee hee that was goddamn funny.

2. Jack Bruce – Keep It Down

Of course, there is Jack Bruce on this list. The man can do no wrong in my book, but this really is a great song. The bass is right up front, that stinky Gibson sound of his I love so much. It’s kind of herky-jerky at the beginning of the song and at the end, it just scoots along.

3. Fear – Beerfight

As much as I love Fear, I’m not sure why I have this song. It isn’t a very good one. I think they kind of dragged the whole beer thing out for too long and it got tired after like the fourth song about it. “More Beer”, “Have a Beer With Fear”, those were good. Lee Ving sounds really awful, too.

4. Apocolyptica – Creeping Death

I wish I played the cello. I think it’s the most expressive of the strings, and the only one that sounds like it’s actually breathing. I’m also a fan of Burton-era Metallica. This is one of those things that go together like Red Hook and Dove Bars. It’s utterly perfect.

5. Primus – John the Fisherman

Not one of my favorite Primus songs, but a good one nonetheless. Love Les’ bassing, but I think I love the drums even more.

6. The Posies – You Avoid Parties

I love the album this came off. The whole thing, there isn’t a bad song on it. “Dear 23” is almost 20 years old and I’ve never tired of it. The thing is, it’s full of the most beautiful music and vocals with gorgeous harmonies, with the most gut-wrenching lyrics. It fools you into thinking, on first listen, that it’s happy-ass music. By the time you’re half-way through the third listen, you’re ready to go jump off a bridge to escape Ken’s pain. And I still often listen to it over and over.
7. Bob Marley – Lick Samba

Damn. I haven’t listened to this enough. It’s off a 4-disc set full of great old Bob, and all his Wailers’ stuff. It really doesn’t particularly stand out, though. Could be any Bob Marley song when you come down to it.

8. Amy Arena – Excuse Me

Came off a compilation of some kind. I vaguely remember when this was being played on the radio. Pretty decent song. Funny. I usually put this on CDs for my girlfriends who are single and moms and they love it more than I do, so that’s good. The music is some lame shit, though. Way better words.

9. The Havalinas – Not A Lot to Ask For

A funky little band that came out of members of the Cruzados and the Plugz (after being filtered through some other stuff), lucky if you can find out anything about them. I’ve been hauling this CD around for about 17 years. This song in particular is pretty cool. A sort of “get off your girlfriend’s back, you stupid fool” thing. There are better songs on the CD, but this one popped up.

10. The Replacements – We’re Comin Out

Ahhh... Who doesn’t love the Replacements? I still have this tape. Always loved how it went from frantic punk rock to the jazzy thing, “one more chance to get it wrong’, then sped back up into a kind of everybody solo! thing.

So, a short peek into some of the music that shapes how I play. More American Music next week, I promise.

Shut Up And Play Guitar Archives

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