Minutemen’s “Double Nickels On The Dime”, Husker Du’s “Zen Arcade”, Meat Puppets second album… all these records came out within two months in 1984 and today are considered greatest albums of the underground rock movement in the 80s. Another thing they have in common is that they were engineered and produced by SPOT. His portfolio, mainly for SST is nothing short of stunning. He is also responsible for fun etchings in the runout grooves of SST records. Sadly, he passed away on March 4th this year after a stroke. Today’s show is entirely dedicated to his work.
Husker Du – Eight Miles High
Black Flag – Rise Above
Minutemen – One Reporter’s Opinion
Minutemen – This Ain’t No Picnic
Minutemen – History Lesson Part 2
Husker Du – Somewhere
Husker Du – Pink Turns To Blue
Husker Du – Newest Industry
Meat Puppets – Lost
Meat Puppets – Lake of Fire
Meat Puppets – Up On The Sun
Meat Puppets – Maiden’s Milk
Descendents – Hope
Descendents – Bikeage
Minutemen – The Maze
Minutemen – Definitions
Minutemen – Sickles and Hammers
Husker Du – It’s Not Funny Anymore
Minutemen – 99
Husker Du – If I Told You
Husker Du – Celebrated Summer
DC3 – 98 Malvern St
Rhythm Pigs – Fire
Happy Family – We Love You We Don’t Love You
Tailgators – Pick Up The Deck
Mike Watt (with SPOT) – Hearbeat
Welcome to the first ‘regular’ edition of The Little Lighthouse in 2019. Today we play a tune from the new ESC Life album, out soon on Ill In The Head records in North America. ESC Life come from Croatia, and so does Tena Rak. She used to play drums in Vlasta Popić, but that band no longer plays together. So we check out her solo act dubbed Å ećer and quartet Mi Nerve with three other ladies, Ivana PuÅ¡nik , Tea OvniÄević, and Ivana LjubiÄić. Back in the USA, Terry Six and Louie Bankston (ex Exploding Hearts) are back with an excellent new album together. Eugene Chadbourne teamed up with The Sunwatchers and recorded an album tribute to Minutemen, Doug Sahm and Henry Flyn. Paisley Underground legends Bangles, Three O’Clock, Dream Syndicate and Rain Parade made a record together covering each other’s songs. It’s almost a follow up to the legendary Rainy Day album. John Petković and Dave James of Death of Samantha have a new synth pop duet, Metrolight and we check out one of the songs recorded live in Cleveland recently. Holly Golightly has a new English solo album out and lots of folks included it on their lists of best albums last year. Yes, it’s that good. Outrageous Cherry are back with their final album entitled Meet You In The Shadows completed before the passing of founding lead guitarist Larry Ray.
Today we start off by checking out the new music for two legends: first Robyn Hitchcock and a song from his untitled new record and a new single from Mark Lanegan and his band. Also, two of the Kinks brothers are here with new records. Ray Davies joined forces with The Jayhawks and Dave Davies has a record with his son Ross. We introduce The Wooden Sky from Toronto in Canada and two new bands from Cleveland. First four ladies in Goldmines, among which Roseanna Safos and Mandy Look also joined forces with Jason Look in another Cleveland band Part-Time Lover. We also hear a tune from Part-Time Lover performed live at The Blue Arrow Records on the Record Store Day. Speaking of the Record Store Day, an interesting seven inch showed up with Mike Watt collaborating with three bands from The Balkans. Today we check out what Koja and Disciplin A Kitchme did to a Minutemen song!
First half of the show today is dedicated to legendary punks and last Monday in Cleveland. On that day, we had two events that threaten to be the events of the year. First, at the Rock’n’roll Hall of Fame we had a chance to see four legendary Cleveland punks who returned to the city to promote their new books. David Thomas, Cheetah Chrome, Mike Hudson and Bob Pfeifer had a great chance to reconnect with their native audience and reaffirm their well known love-hate relationship with the sweet home of Cleveland. Then, at the Grog show we had a chance to see Mike Watt live with his Missingmen. They played their new opera in its entirety and it worked really great as a single piece without interruptions. The next set was a short but furious and unforgettable Minutemen set. It was one of the best things I’ve ever seen. The second half of todays show is dedicated to some new records that came out. Lords of Altamont have a new record and they covered The Litter’s Action Woman. Another great cover today is that of Kill Devil Hills song Drinkin’ Too Much, this time on the new record for James Leg, the front man of Black Diamond Heavies. Meat Puppets are also out with the new record called Lollipop.
Legendary bass player of Minutemen and fIREHOSE is a busy man. He tours with several bands right now, his Stooges gig being obviously the most demanding thing. So, his solo records come out in large intervals of time. His last three solo records were all rock operas. Hyphenated-Man is a collection of over 30 short songs, which are really choppy parts of a larger single piece, which is the whole record itself. It’s a dense work that requires repeated listening. Also, Watt does not stick to a firm libretto this time, but the idea is to capture busy life of an over-the-hill punk rocker who still lives the old postulates of true a punk.