The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion “Extra Width” released 30 years ago today, May 24th, 1993. Matador Records. JSBX’s third release (the first two, Crypt Style and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, both came out in ‘92) and their first to really get funky, infusing punk blues and soul into a danceable R&B beat on ass-shakers like “Afro,” “Soul Typecast,” and “Hey Mom” and sexy groovers like “Train #2″ (Trains #1 and #3 appeared on an In The Red Records single release in ‘94) and “The World of Sex.” One of my favorite – and funniest – lyrics is from “Pant Leg” –  “Take a whiff up my pant leg, honey-baby/Take a whiff up my pant leg, child/Take a whiff up my pant leg, baby baby baby/Take a whiff up my pant, get down.” (I think Spencer really likes pants: see “Bellbottoms,” “Get Your Pants Off,” “Boot Cut” etc.)

I saw JSBX for the first time about a month after Extra Width‘s release, on June 19th, 1993 in Madison, WI. (Thanks to the always excellent pop-catastrophe.co.uk for the exact date as my memory from 30 years ago = hazy). The club, O’Cayz Corral (long burned down), was loosely packed, mostly with friends from – or formerly from – Appleton, WI to see Judah Bauer. It was a very small venue and small show: the band wasn’t well-known at this point, especially in the Midwest.  But a bunch of Judah’s family and friends were there, including his brother Donovan, who I hung out with at the bar.  After the show Russell came over by us and was looking for a place to crash for the night so I introduced to him to a friend of mine, John W., who had an extra couch (Russell, in a whisper, “Is this guy OK, like not weird?” I assured him that John was indeed not weird). Russell stayed there and I popped over in the morning to bring breakfast and nab a copy of the new album (I’m not entirely sure why I didn’t buy one at the show) which they threw on the record player. The other recollections I have from old JSBX shows (having a few opportunities to be backstage or, in the case of the O’Cayz show: no backstage, just a little recombobulation corner) were Spencer’s extreme quiet and reserve offstage, basically looking exactly like the cover of “Extra Width,” but given the guy’s amazing stage energy and outlandish bravado, I’m guessing he saved it all for the audience. More recently with his solo/HITmakers tours, Jon has been far more outgoing and engaging, happy to pose for ridiculous selfies and sign records.

Joe, me and Jon Spencer, 2018