I...J...K...

Iggy Pop & James Williamson - Kill City

Well, my attention deficit disorder is kicking in & I’m getting tired of this alphabet nonsense. I though it would help me organize my thoughts & determine my choices for posting musick. Now I’m getting bored with the procedure. So today I’m hitting the next three letters all at once...I-ggy Pop, J-ames (Sonny Boy) Williamson, & K-ill City.

After the second break-up of The Stooges (the first break-up & reformation added Williamson to The Stooges as Ron Asheton moved from guitar to bass & Dave Alexander moved from alcoholic to dead) Iggy & Sonny Boy recorded Kill City. This disc is somewhere in the no-mans land between The Stooges & Iggy’s solo career. Although maligned by many (mostly for its less than stellar production values), this is by far my favorite post-Stooges work by Mr. Pop (& really damn good considering Iggy was in drug rehab at the time).

Released in 1977 by Bomp Records. All tunes written by Iggy Pop & James Williamson except “Master Charge” by James Williamson & Scott Thurston, with Scott ‘Troy’ Thurston (keyboard & electric piano player for The Stooges after Raw Power) & Tin Machinists Tony & Hunt Sales (Soupy boys). Players on this album are: Iggy Pop - vocals; James Williamson - guitar; Scott Thurston - keyboards, bass, backing vocals, special effects, & harmonica; Brian Glasscock - drums, congas, African beaters, backing vocals, & guiro; Steve Tranio - bass; Tony Sales - backing vocals & bass; Hunt Sales - backing vocals & drums; John Harden - saxophone; & Gayna (from the Count Dracula Society) - backing vocals on “Night Theme”.

Year of Release: 1977
Label: Bomp Records BLP-4001
Genre: Garage rock, protopunk

Tracklist:
Side 1 -
Kill City
Sell Your Love
Beyond the Law
I Got Nothin’
Johanna
Night Theme
Side 2 -
Night Theme (reprise)
Consolation Prizes
No Sense of Crime
Lucky Monkeys
Master Charge
(there are no breaks between tracks 1&2, 4&5 side 2 so I have included the split & merged tracks for you personal choice)

Download: Iggy Pop & James Williamson - Kill City
Download Size: 102MB (ripped from emerald green vinyl at 320Kbps)

VA - Born Bad Volumes 1-6

In 1986 the first of a series of compilations entitled "Born Bad" introduced listeners to a number of bands that greatly influenced the rockabilly and psychobilly bands in the decades that followed. Perhaps the most important band to emerge was The Cramps, a band that I have featured here on DM many times in the past. The Cramps helped to usher in a new wave of rockabilly acts across the world, and inadvertently created a new genre in the process. They combined the sound and style of the early country, rockabilly and garage rock acts of the '50s and '60s with the newly emerging punk rock attitude and style of the late '70s. Their unique approach was labeled as "Psychobilly", and thus a genre was born.

The Born Bad series collects together the original music that inspired bands such as The Cramps. The six original volumes contain 84 tracks, with each volume in the series containing 14 tracks. The first volume is often listed as "Volume One: Songs The Cramps Taught Us", not to be confused with the bootleg release of the same name, which can be found here: http://digitalmeltd0wn.blogspot.com/2007/12/various-artists-songs-cramps-taught-us.html A sticker was included on the vinyl release of the first volume that read "Songs The Cramps Taught Us", although it would not be included on any of the volumes that followed. For those of you who are interested in listening to the early rockabilly, country, rock 'n' roll and garage rock acts of the '50s and '60s that inspired The Cramps, it gets no better than this compilation. Those of you who are familiar with The Cramps will recognize these songs, as the band sought to pay tribute to the artists that inspired them by performing their own cover versions to many of the songs contained in the Born Bad series.

The Born Bad series has proven to be one of the most popular posts on the blog. This is actually the third incarnation of the series that I have posted. Each time I have re-posted it I have attempted to improve the download being presented in terms of quality and features. Once again I have replaced the previous version with one consisting of MP3 files of a higher quality bitrate. Perhaps one day I'll get lucky enough to obtain a version of this in either FLAC or 320kbps MP3. I have exhausted all possibilities while searching for higher quality versions, but I have yet to find anything better than 192kbps. I have also included the liner notes for each individual volume, and managed to track down a number of images other than the front album covers.

Decades after the first volume was released someone decided to create two bootleg volumes to expand on the original six, and I will be posting those two volumes (Volumes 7 & 8) next. Due to the fact that they are bootleg releases, and not officially affiliated with the original six volumes, I decided to dedicate a separate post to those volumes. You can find Born Bad Volumes 7 & 8 posted here: http://digitalmeltd0wn.blogspot.com/2010/11/born-bad-volumes-7-8.html

Born Bad Volume 1

Label: Born Bad
Genres: Garage Rock, Rockabilly, Proto-Punk
Bitrate: 192kbps
Format: MP3

Tracklist:
1. The Bostweeds - Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
2. Ronnie Cook - Goo Goo Muck
3. Link Wray - Fat Back
4. Dwight Pullen - Sunglasses After Dark
5. Glenn Glenn - Everybody's Movin'
6. Roy Orbison - Domino
7. The Sonics - Strychnine
8. The Groupies - Primitive
9. Ronnie Dawson - Rockin' Bones
10. The Third Bardo - I'm Five Years Ahead of My TIme
11. Warren Smith - Uranium Rock
12. Mel Robbins - Save It
13. The Novas - The Crusher
14. Wanda Jackson - Funnel of Love

Download: Born Bad Vol. 1
Download Size: 49MB

Born Bad Volume 2

Label: Born Bad
Genres: Garage Rock, Rockabilly, Proto-Punk
Bitrate: 192kbps
Format: MP3

Tracklist:
1. The Phantom - Love Me
2. Jimmy Loyd - Rocket In My Pocket
3. Tommy James & The Shondells - Hanky Panky
4. Paul Revere & the Raiders - Hungry
5. Kasenetz-Katz Super Circus - Quick Joey Small
6. Charlie Feathers - I Can't Hardly Stand It
7. Jimmy Stewart - Rock On The Moon
8. Hasil Adkins - She Said
9. Dale Hawkins - Tornado
10. Little Willie John - Fever
11. Jackie Lee Cochran - Sweet Georgia Lee Brown
12. Dave 'diddle' Day - Blue Moon Baby
13. Jody Reynolds - Fire of Love
14. Ricky Nelson - Lonesome Town

Download: Born Bad Vol. 2
Download Size: 50MB

Born Bad Volume 3

Label: Born Bad
Genres: Garage Rock, Rockabilly, Proto-Punk
Bitrate: 192kbps
Format: MP3

Tracklist:
1. Kip Tyler & His Flips - Jungle Hop
2. The Busters - Bust Out
3. Jett Powers - Go, Girl, Go
4. The Riptides - Machine Gun
5. The Rivingtons - Mama-Oom-Mow-Mow
6. The Rivingtons - The Bird's The Word
7. The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird
8. Andre Williams & His New Group - Bacon Fat
9. Andre Williams - Jail Bait
10. The Frantics - Werewolf
11. Del Raney's Umbrella's - Can Your Hossie Do The Dog
12. Jack Scott - The Way I Walk
13. Andy Starr - Give Me A Woman
14. Herbie Duncan - Hot Lips Baby

Download: Born Bad Vol. 3
Download Size: 49MB

Born Bad Volume 4

Label: Born Bad
Genres: Garage Rock, Rockabilly, Proto-Punk
Bitrate: 192kbps

Tracklist:
1. Buddy Love - Heartbreak Hotel
2. The Shades - Strollin' After Dark
3. Spark Plugs - Chicken
4. Nat Couty and the Braves - Woodpecker Rock
5. Ward Darby & the Raves - Safari
6. Shortly Long - Devil With The Blue Dress On
7. The Red Crayola - Hurricane Fighter Blues
8. The Standells - Barracuda
9. Richard Berry and the Pharoahs - Louie Louie
10. The Tune Rockers - Green Mosquito
11. Duane Eddy & the Rebels - Girl on Death Row
12. The Rumblers - Boss
13. Bill Allen & the Backbeats - Please Give Me Something
14. Alfred E. Neuman - It's A Gas

Download: Born Bad Vol. 4
Download Size: 51MB

Born Bad Volume 5

Label: Born Bad
Genres: Garage Rock, Rockabilly, Proto-Punk
Bitrate: 192kbps
Format: MP3

Tracklist:
1. Kai Ray - I Want Some of That
2. The Instrumentals - Chop Suey Rock
3. The Raindrops - Hanky Panky
4. Jerry Warren & the Tremblers - Rompin'
5. Carl Perkins - Her Love Rubbed Off
6. The Readymen - Shortnin' Bread
7. The Joker - What Is A Fisterris
8. The Fendermen - Mule Skinner Blues
9. Three Aces & A Joker - Booze Party
10. Lonnie Allen - You'll Never Change Me
11. Macy Skipper - Bop Pills
12. Mac Rebennack - Storm Warning
13. Freddy & the Hitchhikers - Sinners
14. Charlie Feathers - It's Just That Song

Download: Born Bad Vol. 5
Download Size: 50MB

Born Bad Volume 6

Label: Born Bad
Genres: Garage Rock, Rockabilly, Proto-Punk
Bitrate: 192kbps
Format: MP3

Tracklist:
1. Dean Carter - Jailhouse Rock
2. Lee Dresser & The Krazy Kats - Beat Out My Love
3. The Ventures - The Fourth Dimension
4. J.J. Jackson & the Jackaels - Oo-Ma-Liddi
5. The Sonics - He's Waitin'
6. The Wailers - Dirty Robber
7. Carol Connors & The Cycles - Yum Yum Yamaha
8. The Flower Children - Mini-Skirt Blues
9. The Sparkles - Hipsville 29 B.C. (I Need Your Help)
10. Jim Lowe - Green Door
11. Mel Smith & The Night Riders - Pretty Plaid Skirt (and Long Black Sox)
12. The Runabouts - When I Get The Blues (The Strangeness In Me)
13. Tommy Jim Beam & the Four Fifths - Golden Boy
14. Ric Cartey - Oo Eee

Download: Born Bad Vol. 6
Download Size: 50MB

Born Bad Volumes 7 & 8

This is a continuation of my previous post in which I posted Born Bad Volumes 1 through 6, which can be found posted here: http://digitalmeltd0wn.blogspot.com/2007/04/born-bad-compilation-series-collects.html I'm on break from school, and I have to go to work as soon as I get out, so I'm going to keep this post short. Many years after the original Born Bad compilation series was released, an individual released a couple of bootlegs, Born Bad Volumes 7 & 8. For the most part the music contained within these volumes is in the same vein as the rest of the series. One noticeable difference is the absence of songs which would eventually be covered by The Cramps, which were heavily featured throughout the first six volumes. Another minor difference is that both volumes contain 16 tracks, while the original six volumes contained 14 tracks each. Aside from these differences these bootleg volumes integrate well with the first six volumes, and one can listen to them all seamlessly. Below you will find an excerpt from my previous post, which covers some of the general info about the first six volumes:

In 1986 the first of a series of compilations entitled "Born Bad" introduced listeners to a number of bands that greatly influenced the rockabilly and psychobilly bands in the decades that followed. Perhaps the most important band to emerge was The Cramps, a band that I have featured here on DM many times in the past. The Cramps helped to usher in a new wave of rockabilly acts across the world, and inadvertently created a new genre in the process. They combined the sound and style of the early country, rockabilly and garage rock acts of the '50s and '60s with the newly emerging punk rock attitude and style of the late '70s. Their unique approach was labeled as "Psychobilly", and thus a genre was born.

The Born Bad series collects together the original music that inspired bands such as The Cramps. The six original volumes contain 84 tracks, with each volume in the series containing 14 tracks. The first volume is often listed as "Volume One: Songs The Cramps Taught Us", not to be confused with the bootleg release of the same name, which can be found here: http://digitalmeltd0wn.blogspot.com/2007/12/various-artists-songs-cramps-taught-us.html A sticker was included on the vinyl release of the first volume that read "Songs The Cramps Taught Us", although it would not be included on any of the volumes that followed. For those of you who are interested in listening to the early rockabilly, country, rock 'n' roll and garage rock acts of the '50s and '60s that inspired The Cramps, it gets no better than this compilation. Those of you who are familiar with The Cramps will recognize these songs, as the band sought to pay tribute to the artists that inspired them by performing their own cover versions to many of the songs contained in the Born Bad series.

Born Bad Volume 7

Label: Born Bad
Genres: Garage Rock, Rockabilly, Proto-Punk
Bitrate: 220VBR
Format: MP3

Tracklist:
1. Ric Cartey - Oo Wee Baby
2. Johnny Fortune - Dragster
3. The Blues Rockers - Calling All Cows
4. Roy Brown - Buther Pete Part 1
5. Larry Phillipson - Bitter Feelings
6. Terry Dunavan - Earthquake Boogie
7. The Shells - Whiplash
8. The Fanatics - I Will Not Be Lonely
9. The Wailers - Hang Up
10. Junior Thompson - How Come You Do Me
11. The Rhythm Rockers - Madness
12. Kit & the Outlaws - Don't Tread On Me
13. Charlie Feathers - One Hand Loose
14. The Embers - I Walked All Night
15. Gene Summers - Taboo
16. Link Wray - Rumble

Download: Born Bad Vol. 7
Download Size: 51MB

Born Bad Volume 8

Label: Born Bad
Genres: Garage Rock, Rockabilly, Proto-Punk
Bitrate: 192kbps
Format: MP3

Tracklist:
1. Sheriff & the Ravels - Shombolar
2. Bo Diddley - Dancing Girl
3. Walter Brown - Jelly Roll Rock
4. Keith Courvale - Trapped Love
5. Hayden Thompson - Blues, Blues, Blues
6. Lightnin' Slim - It's Mighty Crazy
7. Roy Brown - Butcher Pete, Part 2
8. Danny Dell - Froggy Went A Courting
9. Fender Four - Margaya
10. Elvis Presley - Do The Clam
11. Slim Harpo - Strange Love
12. Randy Alvey - Green Fuzz
13. Captain Beefheart - Hard Working Man
14. Sonny Burgess - Red Headed Woman
15. Don & the Galaxies - Sundown (Instrumental)
16. The Revels - Intoxica

Download: Born Bad Vol. 8
Download Size: 54MB

New Christs - Dropping Like Flies EP (Double 7")

This little gem was originally posted on the first Ausrock blog, which was removed by blogger. It hasn't reappeared on the new blog, so I thought I would post it here as requested.

The New Christs were originally formed by Radio Birdman and New Race vocalist Rob Younger after he was offered the support spot on Iggy Pop's Australian tour of 1984. The other members had played in groups such as Celibate Rifles, Lime Spiders and Hoodoo Gurus. The tour proved a success and the band stayed together, recording the two singles Like A Curse and Born Out Of Time for Sydney independent label Citadel Records. These releases gained universal acclaim for their tough and uncompromising nature. With the prospect of an album deal and European tour, the other members instead chose to return to their former interests. Younger was left to pursue a career producing some of the finest upcoming Australian alternative bands.

In 1986 Barracudas bass player Jim Dickson returned to Australia from the UK and together with Younger started a new line-up. Featured were Charlie Owen, a gifted but as yet unknown guitarist and drummer Louis Burdett who soon left to be replaced by Nick Fisher who had played with Ed Kuepper and Wet Taxis. This line-up released a series of hard hitting singles Black Hole, Headin' South, Another Sin and the EP Dropping Like Flies. These tracks were compiled under the title Divine Rites, whose European release allowed the group to tour there for the first time.

Track List:
1. Dropping like Flies
2. Dead Girl
3. I Swear
4. You'll never catch my Wave

Download: New Christs - Dropping Like Flies EP
Download Size: 20MB

13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators

Update: I've re-uploaded this file as requested. I'm not sure what the problem is, but most of the files that were hosted on gigasize are no longer working. For some strange reason they are still active, but the files have changed into small 1kb files. I've sent an e-mail to the gigasize admins to inform them of the problem, and hopefully they will be able to restore the files, or fix the problem. On a good note... It looks like I'm back permanently. Everything went well with court and I don't have to go back till May, and my internet service is working once again. You can look forward to regular updates once again.

There are few albums from the early stages of the psych movement that sound as distinctively trippy, and remain as pleasing

Did the 13th Floor Elevators invent psychedelic rock? Aficionados will be debating that point for decades, but if Roky Erickson and his fellow travelers into inner space weren't there first, they were certainly close to the front of the line, and there are few albums from the early stages of the psych movement that sound as distinctively trippy, and remain as pleasing as the group's groundbreaking debut, The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators. In 1966, psychedelia hadn't been around long enough for its clichés to be set in stone, and Psychedelic Sounds thankfully avoids most of them; while the sensuous twists of the melodies and the charming psychobabble of the lyrics make it sound like these folks were indulging in something stronger than Pearl Beer, at this point the Elevators sounded like a smarter-than-average folk-rock band with a truly uncommon level of intensity. Roky Erickson's vocals are strong and compelling throughout, whether he's wailing like some lysergic James Brown or murmuring quietly, and Stacy Sutherland's guitar leads, long on melodic invention without a lot of pointless heroics, are a real treat to hear. And nobody played electric jug quite like Tommy Hall. Actually, nobody played it at all besides him, but his oddball noises gave the band a truly unique sonic texture. If you want to argue that psychedelia was as much a frame of mind as a musical style, it's instructive to compare the recording of "You're Gonna Miss Me" by Erickson's earlier band, the Spades, to the version on this album, the difference is more attitudinal than anything else, but it's enough to make all the difference in the world. (The division is even clearer between the Spades' "We Sell Soul" and the rewrite on Psychedelic Sounds, "Don't Fall Down"). The 13th Floor Elevators were trailblazers in the psychedelic rock scene, and in time they'd pay a heavy price for exploring the outer edges of musical and psychological possibility, but along the way they left behind a few fine albums, and The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators remains a potent delight.

Year of Release: 1966
Label: Collectables
Genre: Psychedelic
Bitrate: 192kbps

Track List:
1. You're Gonna Miss Me
2. Roller Coaster
3. Splash 1
4. Reverberation
5. Don't Fall Down
6. Fire Engine
7. Thru The Rhythm
8. You Don't Know (How Young You Are)
9. Kingdom Of Heaven
10. Monkey Island
11. Tried To Hide
12. Everybody Needs Somebody To Love (Live)
13. You Really Got Me (Live)
14. Gloria (Live)
15. You're Gonna Miss Me (Live)

Download: 13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
Download Size: 72MB

Roky Erickson - Gremlins Have Pictures

Cobbled together from live tapes, studio outtakes, and well-known for his mental illness and erratic behavior, caused in no small part by shock therapy and incarceration in a Texas mental hospital casually recorded demos, Gremlins Have Pictures was the lesser of the two albums Roky Erickson, the former frontman for the 13th Floor Elevators, though it still captured the psychedelic pioneer in potent and hard rocking form. Several different backing bands appear on these tracks, ranging from the tight and empathetic the Aliens to Texas proto-punk also-rans the Explosives, but Erickson was in strong voice when this stuff was put on tape (no dates are included, but most of this probably dates from the early '80s), and even the lesser musicians at least try to match him for energy (and often succeed). Gremlins Have Pictures also preserves some of the less well-known titles in the Roky Erickson songbook; while "I Have Always Been Here Before" is once again recycled here, the oddball ballads "Anthem (I Promise)" and "Song to Abe Lincoln" and potent rockers "The Interpreter" and "Cold Night for Alligators" rank with Erickson's more memorable tunes, and the into-the-wind cover of the Velvet Underground's "Heroin" certainly ups the frenzy factor of the original. Gremlins Have Pictures is a patch job, but at least it's a patch job done with care and concern for the material, and musically it has a lot more going for it than the wealth of semi-authorized Erickson sets floating around.

Track List:
1. Night of the Vampire
2. Interpreter
3. Song to Abe Lincoln
4. John Lawman
5. Anthem (I Promise)
6. Warning (Social & Political Injustices)
7. Sweet Honey Pie
8. Cold Night for Alligators
9. I Am
10. Heroin
11. I Have Always Been Here Before
12. Before in the Beginning

Download: Roky Erickson - Gremlins Have Pictures
Download Size: 56.9MB

Various Artists - Songs the Cramps Taught Us Vol. 1

The Cramps are a Psychobilly band whose only permanent members have been Lux Interior (Erick Purkhiser) and Poison Ivy (Kristy Wallace), the lead singer and lead guitarist respectively. Their musical style is stripped-down rockabilly, mostly in twelve bar blues form, played at varying, though usually fast, tempos, with a very minimal drumkit. The compelling part of the early Cramps sound is dual guitars - Ivy's Fender Twin Reverbed twang paired with Bryan Gregory's brutal Superfuzzed grind - without a bassist. The content of their songs and image is sleaze, the same trashy Americana John Waters celebrates, sexual fetishism, clever bad jokes, and a lot of cheap, horror B-movie cliches. Influences on the sound are early rockabilly and proto-rock'n'roll like Link Wray and Hasil Adkins, 1960s surf music acts such as The Ventures and Dick Dale; 1960s garage rock artists like The Standells, The Gants, and The Sonics, as well as the post-Glam/early punk scene from which they emerged. They also were influenced to a degree by The Ramones and owe a lot to Screamin' Jay Hawkins for having invented the theatrical, horror-blues stage act. In turn, they have strongly influenced subsequent punk and rockabilly revival bands, even creating a genre in their wake. "Psychobilly," a style played by bands like The Meteors and the Sharks, is a term coined by the Cramps, although Lux Interior maintains that the term does not describe their own style. The Cramps' music, flamboyance, and glamour influenced or anticipated acts like The White Stripes, The Gun Club, The Fuzztones, James Chance and the Contortions, The Birthday Party with Nick Cave, The Dum Dum Boys, The Meteors, Flat Duo Jets, and Tav Falco's Panther Burns.

Track List:
1. Sparkles - Hipsville 29 B.C.
2. Dwight Pullen - Sunglasses After Dark
3. Link Wray - Fatback
4. Sherrif & Ravels - Shombolar
5. Riptides - Machine Gun
6. Bo Diddley - Dancing Girl
7. Trashmen - Surfin Bird
8. Walter Brown - Jelly Roll Rock
9. Sonics - Strychnine
10. Rumblers - Boss
11. Third Bardo - Bikini Girls With Machine Guns
12. Busters - Bust Out
13. The Phantom - Love Me
14. Jett Powers - Go Girl Go
15. Ronnie Cook & Gaylads - Goo Goo Muck
16. Runabouts - Strangeness In Me
17. Groupies - Primitive
18. Frantics - Werewolf
19. Elroy Dietzel - Rockin Bones
20. Dale Hawkins - Tornado
21. Shells - Whiplash
22. Keith Courvale - Trapped Love
23. Freddie & Hitchikers - Sinners
24. Charlie Feathers - Can't Hardly Stand It
25. Andy Starr - Give Me A Woman
26. R. Lewis Band - Get Off The Road
27. Hayden Thompson - Blues Blues Blues
28. Lee Dresser & Krazy Kats - Beat Out My Love
29. Andre Williams - Bacon Fat
30. Jack Scott - The Way I Walk
31. Elvis Presley - Do The Clam

Download: Songs the Cramps Taught Us Vol. 1
Download Size: 103MB

The Mummies - Tales From The Crypt

I couldn't find out much information about this. This was originally recorded in 1994, but was never released by Crypt Records because the Mummies weren't happy with the sound and thought that it was overproduced. There is also another bootleg entitled 'Fuck the Mummies', which features songs from this as well as recordings from a few live gigs. 'Tales From The Crypt' doesn't have the low-fi sound that you will find in all of the other Mummies recordings, and it is much more bass heavy also. However if you're like me you'll enjoy this album simply for the fact that it is the one and only Mummies. Special thanks to hdvns for helping me find this, and to the Nothing But Trash blog for originally uploading this.
(Year of Release: 1994)

Track List:
1. Mummies
2. Your Ass (My Face)
3. Red Cobra #9
4. Land Of 1000 Dances
5. That Girl (Tribute To Shane White)
6. Victim Of Circumstances
7. She Don't Care
8. Speed Track
9. Wild Mutha
10. F.U.C.K
11. Shut Yer Mouth
12. Hairy Mary

Download: The Mummies - Tales From The Crypt (34.1MB)

Sonic's Rendezvous Band - City Slang

Sonic's Rendevous Band was a rock and roll band from Detroit, Michigan in the 1970s, featuring veterans of the 1960s Detroit rock scene. Led by guitarist Fred Sonic Smith, formerly of the MC5, Scott Asheton of the Stooges, SRB featured singer/ songwriter Scott Morgan formerly of the Rationals, a soul-influenced Detroit band of the 1960s, and Gary Rassmussen of the Up.

A master musician who consistently chose to move forward creatively, Fred "Sonic" Smith set an exemplary pace for future music explorers who would follow. After the demise of the MC5, Fred continued to be one of Detroit's most original and prolific performers. The trail blazing music he created with Scott Asheton, Scott Morgan, and Gary Rasmussen easily rivals that of the Five without benefit of trendy counter-cultural trappings and further expands upon the "liberation through high energy" musical philosophy. Someone recently remarked that perhaps Fred never got over the breakup of the Five. This second compilation, together with the Sweet Nothing album, proves that nothing could be further from the truth.

This collection features the original studio recording of "City Slang", digitally restored and remastered, along with a number of never-released live recordings that further document the explosive musical force of
Sonic's Rendezvous Band.

Music writer Edwin Pouncey described "City Slang" as "an urban rocker that comes down like a falling asteroid and explodes like a star being born." Frequently cited as one of the greatest Rock & Roll songs to ever emerge from Detroit, and perhaps Fred "Sonic" Smith's most fully realized work, "City Slang" rivals the best of his recordings with the MC5. At a time when "Skunk (Sonicly Speaking)", "Sister Anne", "Baby Won't Ya", "Over And Over ", "Tonight" and "Shakin' Street" were already well-known testimonials to the songwriting skill of Fred "Sonic" Smith, Sonic's Rendezvous forged the next potent chapter of an already powerful legacy.

Track List:
1. City Slang (1999 Mix)
2. So Sincerely Yours (Bookie's, Detroit 2/3/79)
3. Step by Step (Bookie's, Detroit 2/3/79)
4. Clock With No Hands (Palace Theater, Cleveland 6/23/79)
5. Heaven (Palace Theater, Cleveland 6/23/79)
6. Goin' Bye (Second Chance, Ann Arbor 10/23/79)
7. You're So Great (Bookie's, Detroit 2/3/79)
8. Earthy (Bookie's, Detroit 2/3/79)
9. Thrill 5:12 (Bookie's, Detroit 2/2/79)
10. Detroit Tango (Bookie's, Detroit 2/3/79)
11. Gone With The Dogs (Second Chance, Ann Arbor 10/23/79)
12. Sweet Little Sixteen (Second Chance, Date Unknown)
13. City Slang (Original 1978 Mix)

Download: Sonic's Rendezvous Band - City Slang
Download Size: 93.3MB