Here's a special BoHA edition of cool videos that have crossed my desk as of late. Above left, we've got Sweden's amazing Bob Hund, and their perennial WFMU hit "Ett Fall Och En Lösning", which you and I know better as their absolutely leveling rendition of Pere Ubu's "Final Solution". On the right, taking a substantially less aggro route, it's Mr. Augustus Pablo being backed by the Soul Syndicate Band at Japansplash, circa 1986. The sweet strains of the melodica get scarcely any better than this.
In the left-most slot of row two, we've got the shamelessly un-topical 23rd Street Summer Jam from many summers ago, "Red Light/Green Light" by Charizma with Peanut Butter Wolf. It's been stuck in my head for more than a week, so by sharing it here, my hope is to afflict you all with the recent soundtrack of my musically overpacked cranium. Wrapping up this week's visual montage is a rare one from one of Washington DC's more misunderstood and undersung 1980s punk/wave bands, The Slickee Boys (above right). This video shows our neon-clad heroes tearing through their signature song (so sayeth me, anyway...) "You Gotta Tell Me Why" with style and aplomb. Kim Kane (guitar, stage left) is the coolest axeman to ever make a convincing statement with a handlebar moustache.
WFMU Playlist Links: Bob Hund | Augustus Pablo | Charizma+PB Wolf | Slickee Boys
Kim Kane once told me a story about the Cramps crashing at his parents house (he still lived at home) in 1976. For any place outside of NY and Cle, that's impressive. He's impressive. They're impressive.
I think their fun attitude has hurt them in the record collecting set these last 10 years, but their 1974-1982 output is unmatched for new wave punk. Perhaps only a few Athens bands did better new wave in "the south" in the 1970s.
Posted by: DCer | July 09, 2007 at 12:44 PM
Totally agree with you, DCer. The Slickee Boys don't get half the respect they deserve and I think it's mostly due to their purposefully goofy presentation. The cover art, however, to their "Live at Last" LP is one of the most menacing rock & roll images I've ever seen. Can't find a real clear shot of it online, but here's a peek:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7a/Slickeeslal.jpg
and here's a good overview of the band:
http://www.earcandymag.com/rrcase-slickee.htm
Posted by: Mike | July 09, 2007 at 12:59 PM
Thanks for playing and posting Bob Hund. If you need help with the Swedish, let me know!
Posted by: Ed | July 10, 2007 at 11:07 AM
Dr. Pablo is a melodica pimp. (RIP)
Posted by: pmx666 | July 10, 2007 at 11:11 AM
thanks for the slickee boys vid. i've always heard about these guys mentioned in reference somehow to the bad brains. perhaps they were friends in DC?
Posted by: caza | July 10, 2007 at 04:13 PM
More than their look, I think it was the fact that they had a tendency to write novelty tunes ("The Brain That Refused to Die", "When I Go to the Beach", "This Party Sucks") that kept them from being taken seriously enough -- never mind the fact that even those goofy old school WHFS favorites had more cojones (and killer guitar parts) than a lot of "real" punk bands could pull off, let alone a novelty act like Blotto.
Posted by: Goyim in the AM | July 11, 2007 at 04:11 AM
Kim Kane produced the first Bad Brains recordings and that they had their first public performance with the Slickee Boys at the Townson, MD Oddfellows Hall - and Kim said it was quite a show. Also that at that time HR played guitar too.
Robbie White
Slickee Boys Fan Club
Posted by: Robbie White | July 12, 2007 at 07:40 AM
hi. great to see the slickee boys AND augustus pablo.
once back in 1979 or 1980 i met a guy from dc who was wearing a slickee boys hat. at the time i didn't know them (or of anything else, either), and i thought it said 'the suckee boys.' he didn't think it was funny when i asked who the suckee boys were.
later i learned about the insect surfers from that guy.
i hope you all find this funny . . .
Posted by: listener john | July 12, 2007 at 05:57 PM