We finally got a chance to see Devo play most of these songs live this past fall in Las Vegas at Punk Rock Bowling. It was incredible! They’ve been around for well over 40 years and are truly master performers. A full-on spectacle complete with a light show, video loops, multiple costume changes and choreographed routines (I won’t go as far as to say “dancing”) all in perfect sync.

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I only have one Captain Sensible story which I’ve written about before but in case you missed it, here it is: We went to The Damned show at The Rave in Milwaukee in either ‘98 or ‘99. Captain Sensible was walking around the venue pre-performance so we decided to talk to him, but Joe didn’t want to have a typical fan-musician encounter so instead opted to ask how tall he was (both men are on the tall side). A bit taken aback, Captain Sensible said “Blimey!” and having no idea who was taller, they stood back-to-back. It was Captain Sensible, by a bit. BLIMEY!

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“Ramblin’ Rose” is a cover of the song originally written by Marijohn Wilkin and Fred Burch, recorded first by Jerry Lee Lewis and also covered by MC5 on their 1969 Kick Out the Jams LP. “Get Some” is by Kramer and fellow Pink Fairies (as well as the Deviants member) Mick Farren, the same version of the track that is on this single appeared on the 2000 comp Wayne Kramer/Pink Fairies Cocaine Blues: ‘74-78.

This single was released as a fundraiser for Kramer during his incarceration in a Kentucky prison for dealing coke. The back of the record sleeve says “This record cost £1.00. Wayne Kramer was once in a band called MC5. He is currently serving five years for conspiracy to traffic in cocaine. £1.00. Do not pay less or more.” Mick Farren was the driving force behind the fundraising. About the effort Kramer said, “While I was in the penitentiary, he wrote me at one point that all the bands over there were outraged that I had to go to prison and a couple of labels had gotten together – Stiff Records and Chiswick Records – and they were gonna put out two of those tracks as a benefit for me, and they were gonna give me all the money when I got out of prison, which was really a brotherly thing for them to do, considering that most people come out of prison with what they have when they go into prison, which is nothing, and that’s generally the reason they wind up going back to prison. But when I came out, I had like 2000 dollars as a cushion to help me adjust to life back on the street. It really, really made the difference for me…not that I would have gone back to dealing drugs or selling stolen TVs or guns or whatever, but it really did…a couple grand, y’know, straightens you out. Takes the pressure off.”

Runout Groove Side A: RELEASE WAYNE KRAMER Runout Groove Side B: FREE WAYNE KRAMER

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Runoff groove Side A: “STIFF RECORDS – WRECKLESS ERIC WE’RE NOT THE SAME HE’S NOT THE SAME” and Side B: “SEMAPHORLY YOURS – ERIC”

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“What’s Gone Wrong” and “The Lonely Bull” are both on their first LP Wild Child. The tracks are highly polished 80′s ska: bright horns, synths, kicked-back lilting reggae rhythms (“The Lonely Bull” is a bit more ranking full stop), rich vocals. The extended version of “What’s Gone Wrong” is, not surprisingly, longer than the album version with more instrumentation and shimmering musical effects. Overall the 12″ is pleasant enough but for me lacks the subversive political message and playfulness of their contemporaries.

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Damned Damned Damned is the band’s debut full-length release and it reached #36 on the UK charts. (It’s also credited as the first British punk album release in the 70′s.) It’s a true classic punk album: messy, funny, fast and loud (the LP label states “made to be played loud at a low volume” – probably due to relatively low production value). So many great tracks like “Neat Neat Neat,” “Fan Club,” “Stab Yor Back,” “New Rose,” the Stooges’ “I Feel Alright” and the foray into the dark-n-creepy goth sound on “Feel The Pain.”

I wrote about seeing The Damned play live in a previous blog post, but the story is amusing enough to repeat here. We went to The Damned show at The Rave in Milwaukee in either ‘98 or ‘99. Captain Sensible was walking around the venue pre-performance so we decided to talk to him, but Joe didn’t want to have a typical fan-musician encounter so instead opted to ask how tall he was (both men are on the tall side). A bit taken aback, Captain Sensible said “Blimey!” and having no idea who was taller, they stood back-to-back. It was Captain Sensible, by a bit.

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Allmusic’s review of Wreckless Eric describes it as “a ragged, endearing collection of crude rock & roll…A muddle of scratchy guitars, pounding drumming, and snarled, indecipherable vocals, the record is pure, primal garage rock in the old-fashioned sense…a combination of catchy hooks, spirited playing, and downright rudeness. Too punk for pub rockers, too straightforward for punk, and too weird for everybody else, Wreckless Eric’s debut album is one of the small gems of the punk era.” “Whole Wide World” is definitely one of the stand-out tracks, beautiful in its raw melody and heartbeat rhythm. His cover of Ian Dury’s “Rough Kids” is rollicking fun. “Rags and Tatters” is straightout frenzied weird, weaving in a lick that crazily mimics the Benny Hill theme song “Yakety Sax.” “Personal Hygiene” has the tempo of a slow-swaying late night dance, complete with mournful saxophone, but with decidedly gross lyrics:

Push that pimple in the mirror
Scrub it and bathe it
With Old Spice and don’t scratch the eczema
Partly stifle your natural odor with underarm spray
Garnish your bottom with powder
Wipe it with paper
Wash it with embers and pumicing stones
Girls don’t forget there’s a place where you sweat
Use your feminine spray
Sluice yourself down in the bath and pray god your…keep clean

Your starchy attire is appalling
Your raw blistered red neck is burning
With strong antiseptic
You smother your body with liquids and lotions
And poisons and creams
So get down on your knees in humility
And pray to your god to keep yourself clean
Take a sniff at yourself
Examine your personal hygiene

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This copy of “New Boots and Panties!!” (the title referring to the only two items Dury insisted upon purchasing new – everything else could be thrifted) is the 1978 US pressing with “Sex + Drugs + Rock + Roll,” leading off Side 2, which did not appear on the original UK pressing of the album.

Melody Maker described the album as “a tense, harrowing account of urban degradation, that conveys with more vocal, musical and lyrical vehemence than any so-called ‘new wave/punk’ combo has yet been able to muster, the desperation and squalor of the social conditions (and the effects of those conditions upon individual personalities) it so provocatively illustrates.”

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