Can Your Brontosaurus do the Monkey?

PETER HAMMILL - Nadir's Big Chance

"Peter Hammill's great. A true original. I've just liked him for years. If you listen to his solo albums, I'm damn sure Bowie copied a lot out of that geezer. The credit he deserves, has just not been given to him. I love all his stuff" - John Lydon

Whaddaya know? A bit o' (very) rare enlightened insight by the former Mr. Rotten-- not surprising as this LP provided the inspiration for his upper-middle class Brit sneer that has since become standard punk vocalizin'. There's nothing particularly astonishing about his implication that Bowie lifted from Hammill though-- The Thin White Puke never had an original thought in his life (see Reed, Lou and Osterberg, James).

Unlike many of his soon-to-be dinosaur brethren, Peter Hammill saw the writing on the wall: techni-wizard art rock was on its way out, "The Enemy" to be trampled underfoot by young upstarts with spiky hair, safety pins in their noses and possessing only the most fundamental instrumental skills. So, he adopted the alter-ego of Ricky Nadir, a neurotic garage rocker and made one of the most intriguing albums of his career (and that's saying something when you sit down and investigate his body of work-- it's near fucking flawless) ca. 1975.

This masterpiece was brought to my attention by a congenitally loaded, often droolin' sloppy old bastard that useta haunt the head shop I worked at many moons ago. Even in his perpetually altered state he'd noticed I'd been playing the shit out of Hammill's work on Van Der Graaf Generator's "Pawn Hearts" (further proof that prog could be punk kids). Well... bless that waxy-eyed old goat's heart-- at the time I had no idea anyone else was dabbling in the same brand of leather jacketed art wank that Eno seemingly concocted on "Taking Tiger Mountain" and "Warm Jets." Nor was I aware that subject matter like schizophrenia and the artist's fear of his/her audience could be tackled with far more panache and far less pretension than Roger Waters' mind-numbingly egocentric attempt four years later. If yer still in the dark about such things I suggest you...

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HAMMERSMITH GORILLAS - Gorilla Got Me

When we last left our tale of London's Dynamic Duo of mutton chopped guitarist Jesse Hector and his trusty thunder-broomer sidekick Alan Butler, they wuz paving the way for punk with Crushed Butler-- and then? Glad you didn't ask! After playing with a succession of drummers unfit for their degenerate R&R vision (in Tiger and Helter Skelter), they finally discovered sticksman Gary Anderson and formed the Hammersmith Gorillas in 1973. They hooked up with producer Larry Page, known for his work with the Kinks and the Troggs, and whom Hector had worked with in the mid-60's when he was in Mod combo, the Clique (whom you may remember from their great single "She Ain't No Good").

Their first 45, a cromagnon romp through the Kinks' "You Really Got Me" got the blank generation hot 'n' bothered, but that fact didn't translate into decent sales figures. It did cement their reputation as a fearsome live act, giving 'em the opportunity to hit the road with the likes of drinking buddies like the Damned and Eddie & the Hot Rods. According to legend, they supposedly blew the Flamin' Groovies outta their Beatle boots at a gig in Paris, ca. 1976-- which I mention more as a segue than as veritable fact, as I've often considered 'em England's answer to the Groovy Ones. Both bands played the same brand of meat & potatoes, R&B informed rock 'n' roll with slightly bigger fangs than what came before 'em.

NOTE: There is a live set tacked onto the end of this disc-- it has NOT been included. They are considered bonus tracks, and I like to give youse bastards an incentive to buy this stuff!

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