[Ed. Note: What follows is a work in progress. Tom Kipp is in the process of compiling a list of 1200, or perhaps more, unforgettable songs. Some of these songs will be familiar, others less so. All will be worthy of your attention and Tom will expertly explain why. The presentation below, “What Was in the Water at Warner Brothers, ca. 1978-80!” is intended to be a mere fraction of the larger, 1200+ song, work, yet fun to experience on its’ own. Dig it, read, and listen.]
Gang of Four: “Anthrax” [EMI 1979/Warner Bros. 1980] Feedback for the Ages, achieved & transmitted via solid state amplification, for once!
Wire: “Map Ref. 41° N 93° W” [Harvest/Warner Bros. 1979] Perfect Abstract Pop, with a chorus that simply should not work. But oh, how it does!
Public Image Limited: “Albatross” [Virgin 1979/Warner Bros. 1980] The “Sister Ray” of Postpunk [“You are unbearable…”]. And John Lydon’s envoi to Johnny Rotten, Punk, Malcolm McLaren, The Seventies, and “the spirit of ’68”. Also: Fun to dance to!
Hear the tune at Last.fm.
Download it at Uploading.com.Public Image Ltd.: “The Suit” [Virgin 1979/Warner Bros. 1980] A very odd, seeming throwaway track, marooned toward the end of Postpunk’s magnum opus, but I’ve always loved it’s near-carcinogenic disdain, not to mention its genius bass part.
Marianne Faithfull: “Why D’Ya Do It?” [Warner Bros. 1979] Unbridled filth at a fever pitch of glorious payback, with Steve Winwood in tow! Miz Marianne’s envoi to The Sixties, junkiedom, the delicate teenaged waif she’d once portrayed so beguilingly, and Mick.
Talking Heads: “Mind” [Sire 1979] That marvelously orchestral guitar rumble…from an unexpected source.
Talking Heads: “Drugs” [Sire 1979] The Apotheosis of Quirk, long before David Byrne (and a thousand lesser new wave dorks) gave it such an awful bad name.
Talking Heads: “Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) [Sire 1980] Didn’t really hit me for a full decade, post-release, but from the opening BLAM! of the drums to the intense, synth-like, Adrian Belew guitar freak-out near the end, with a ton of hyper-syncopated, post-Disco/Afro-funk rhythm guitar knitting it all together, THIS was the breakthrough all the avant-funksters claimed for the rest of Remain in Light, which somehow buried said stupendous achievement despite it being the lead-off cut! (“Take a look at these…HANDS!”)
The B-52’s: “Dance This Mess Around” [Warner Bros. 1979] The silliest dance craze parody you ever heard, and the razor-edgiest funk ever wrought by White Folk.
Devo: “Uncontrollable Urge” [Warner Bros. 1978] The spazzy insistence of a phalanx of True Weirdos. Damn it sounded good.
Devo: “Secret Agent Man” [Warner Bros. 1979] Even more fun than Johnny Rivers live at The Whisky A-Go Go, if that’s possible! And certainly twitchier.
Funkadelic: “Who Says a Funk Band Can’t Play Rock?!” [Warner Bros. 1978] Who indeed?!
Prince: “Why You Wanna Treat Me so Bad?” [Warner Bros. 1979] For “that long lunar note” on the guitar—Jimi would be proud! As would Captain Beefheart. And is that g-d’s falsetto we hear?
Van Halen: “Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love” [Warner Bros. 1978] Stun guitar riffage heralds the return of Greezy Be-Spandexed Machismo—spoiled bum U.S. teens erupt with joy!
Van Halen: “Spanish Fly”/“D.O.A.” [Warner Bros. 1979] The latter a b-side straight from the immortal jukebox at the Havre (Montana) Pizza Hut (see also: The Stones’ “Silver Train”), and in tandem, marooned on their lame-ish 2nd album, a forgotten KNOG apotheosis of both absurdist Eddie Van Halen virtuosity and greezy “Diamond Dave” absurdity!
– Tom Kipp
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