Fifty Five

It's my birthday today- I'm fifty five years old. I'm not sure how I feel about fifty five. It is just a number isn't it, another trip around the sun. It's also definitely mid- fifties. Mid- fifties seemed ancient when we were young but it doesn't necessarily feel like that now I'm there. It's nothing to moan about- some people don't get to grow old so we shouldn't grumble about adding another number to our total. Here's some 19th May and fifty five related music to celebrate. 

Malcolm X was born on this day one hundred years ago, 19th May 1925. In the forty five years he was alive he packed in enough for several lifetimes- a tragic childhood, the life of a petty criminal in Boston and subsequent imprisonment, his conversion to Islam while in prison and on release his career as a minister for the Nation Of Islam, his revolutionary politics and speeches, then his departure from NOI and a change in his views and politics, a more conciliatory Malcolm emerging from his pilgrimage to Mecca and visit to Cairo. His assassination on 19th February 1965 robbed the US and the world of an inspirational figure. 

In 1983 Keith LeBlanc released the single No Sell Out, a track credited to Malcolm and using his voice with the permission of Malcolm's widow Betty Shabazz. As a result Malcolm became part of a musical revolution, drum machines and samples and new ways of making records, and given some of the reactions to the single at the time, Malcolm was still capable of pissing people off from beyond the grave. 

No Sell Out

A year later, in 1984, Minutemen release their four sides of vinyl opus Double Nickels On The Dime. The album cover was in response to Sammy Hagar's song I Can't Drive 55, the rocker complaining about a national speed limit of 55 km per hour being imposed on America's roads. The three Minutemen decided that refusing to drive at 55 wasn't being that rebellious. Mike Watt reasoned that 'writing your own songs, coming up with your own story, your own picture, your own book, whatever. So, he can't drive 55 because that was the national speed limit? OK, we'll drive 55 but we'll make crazy music'. 

On the cover Mike is driving his VW Beetle at 55 (double nickels in trucker slang) towards Interstate 10 (the Dime) for the band's hometown San Pedro turn off, the speedometer at 55, Mike winking in the rear view mirror. It took three goes to get the shot right, the photo taken from the back seat by Mike's friend Dick Vandenberg. Double Nickels On The Dime is an inspirational album and Minutemen were an inspirational band, just as much as Malcolm X really- their approach was total DIY punk rock, they created their own world, self taught, the political being the personal. Their song History Lesson Pt. 2 is one of my favourites, a beautiful song about their own history as a band, their lives and friendship and their own inspirations- Bob Dylan, John Doe, Richard Hell, Joe Strummer. 'Punk rock changed our lives', D Boon sings, and finishes with the pay off, ' justme and Mike Watt playing guitar'.

History Lesson Pt. 2

I've just noticed as well when uploading the song that it's the 23rd song on the album- some of you will know about the number 23 and its significance for me.  We went out on Saturday night for some birthday celebrations and ordered some pizza. Guess what number the bleeper we were given to tell us when our food was ready was?

And those lines on it are from this song by the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs...

Maps (Live From The Roseland Ballroom)

Our Time

It's a bit of a hipster thing to say but sometimes a band's early work really is their best work. On their 2001 five track debut e.p. Yeah Yeah Yeahs nailed something so absolutely with the song Our Time that nothing they've done since has been as good. They've definitely had their moments but nothing hits the spot like Our Time- the sound of the guitar, the snarl of the words, the rawness of the production. Bigger budgets and better studios, hanging out with richer people, more press, all that stuff doesn't necessarily add anything. Sometimes a band just gets it right when they're on the way up and nothing else matches up. Better to have done it once than never though.

Our Time

Yeah

Browsing one of the shelves holding cds the other night I pulled out the only two I own by New York's Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The first was the five track self titled ep, their debut release, from back in 2001. I loved (and still do) the final song Our Time, a raw and rough, spine tingling song setting Karen O's vocal against Nick Zinner's gut wrenching guitar...'It's the year to be hated...' she sings, 'this is our time'. And it sounded like she meant it.

A year or so later they released their first album- Fever To Tell. It is the only other thing I bought by them. Looking at the track listing I can't remember too much about any of the songs apart from the single Maps which went onto win awards and gets placed in lists in magazines and all sorts. And it deserves it.

Maps