This show was originally broadcast on April 6, 2013 on KCRW. Not only are there great tunes to listen to, but good conversation between two old friends.
Playlist:
01: Booker T. & The MG’S — “Green Onions” (Stax Revue Live At The 5/4 Ballroom)
02: Vile Cherubs — “Man With A Photograph” (The Man Who Has No Eats No Sweats)
03: Q And Not U — “Kiss Distinctly” (No Kill No Beep Beep)
04: Lungfish — “Wailing Like Dragons” (Feral Hymns)
05: Radio Birdman — “New Race” (Radios Appear)
06: Black Eyes – “Drums” (Cough)
07: Follow Fashion Monkeys – “Managerie” (Unreleased Session)
08: Slant 6 — “Double Edged Knife” (Soda Pop*Rip Off)
09: Stooges Brass Band — “Where You From” (It’s About Time)
10: Eddy Current Suppression Ring — “She’s Dancing Away” (So Many Things)
11: The Ramsey Lewis Trio — “Hang On Sloopy” (Hang On Ramsey!)
12: Led Zeppelin — “The Song Remains The Same”
13: Happy Go Licky – “Twist And Shout” (Happy Go Licky Will Play)
14: Medications — “The Perfect Target” (5 Songs)
15: SPRCSS — “Ours Is Expanding Light” (Unreleased)
16: Funkadelic — “Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow”
17: The Nurses — “D.Y.F.” (Single)
18: Nation Of Ulyses — “SS Exploder” (Plays Pretty For Baby)
19: Red C — “Pressure’s On” (Unreleased demo)
20: Rocket From The Crypt — “Pressure’s On” (All Systems Go)
I’m no Henry Rollins fan but when he’s good he can be very good, as he is in this short piece on punk rock, Is Punk Back From The Dead?, that was broadcast on British TV recently.
The clip also includes some thoughts on punk from John Holmstrom, Tony James (Generation X), Mark Perry (Sniffin’ Glue) and Toyah Wilcox. The consensus: punk now more than ever!
I guess I was sleeping under a rock or something, but I completely missed Henry Rollins turning over his KCRW show to Ian MacKaye on April 7. Beyond Ian’s DJ set, it’s a treat to hear these two pals—Rollins and MacKaye—who go way back chatting it up.
Oh, and I’m happy to see Lungfish made the cut on Ian’s set. Do listen!
Setlist:
01. Bikini Kill - “New Radio” / single
02. Scream - “Walking By Myself” / single
03. Lungfish - “Savings” / single
04. Nervous Norvous – “Transfusion” / single
05. Trashmen - “King Of The Surf” / single
06. Cold Cold Hearts - “Broken Teeth” / Cold Cold Hearts
07. The Vibrators – “Petrol” / Pure Mania
08. Viktims - “Television Addict” / single
09. Wire - “Ex Lion Tamer” / Pink Flag
10. Eddy Current Suppression Ring - “Which Way To Go” / single
11. Vernon Walters - “The Truth About You” / single
12. Felt Letters - “600,000 Bands” / single
13. Satan’s Rats – “Louise” / single
14. The Pack - “King Of Kings” / single
15. Skunks - “Good From The Bad” / single
16. The Need - “Let Them Eat Valiums” / single
17. Shine - “Lost Sun Dance” / single
18. Dog Faced Hermans - “Keep Your Laws Off Of My Body” / Those Deep Buds
19. Creation - “Through My Eyes” / single
20. The Arbors - “Hey Joe” / The Arbors
Henry Rollins spins some of Iggy Pop’s classic tracks and a few lesser known songs in a nicely done career overview of America’s patron saint of punk rock.
Henry runs it down thusly:
We are going to go at it somewhat chronologically, although I may have a couple of songs out of order on that front but by and large, it’s a trip through the man’s catalog. Two hours isn’t enough time to be completely release-by-release, so I went for what I thought sounded good.”
01. The Stooges - 1969 / The Stooges
02. The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog / The Stooges
03. The Stooges - Down On The Street / Fun House
04. The Stooges - T.V. Eye / Fun House
05. The Stooges - Search And Destroy / Raw Power
06. The Stooges - Raw Power / Raw Power
07. The Stooges - Open Up & Bleed / Heavy Liquid
08. The Stooges - Scene Of The Crime / Anthology Box - The Stooges & Beyond
09. The Stooges - Gimme Some Skin / Anthology Box - The Stooges & Beyond
10. The Stooges – Johanna / Heavy Liquid
11. The Stooges - Tight Pants / Anthology Box - The Stooges & Beyond
12. Iggy Pop & James Williamson - Consolation Prizes / Kill City
13. Iggy Pop – Funtime / The Idiot
14. Iggy Pop - The Passenger / Lust For Life
15. Iggy Pop - New Values / New Values
16. Iggy Pop - Get Up And Get Out / Soldier
17. Iggy Pop - Run Like A Villain / Zombie Birdhouse
18. Iggy Pop - Repo Man / Repo Man Soundtrack
19. Iggy Pop - Fire Engine / Anthology Box - The Stooges & Beyond
20. Iggy w/ Debbie Harry - Well Did You Evah! / Red Hot + Blue: Tribute To Cole Porter
21. Iggy Pop - Bang Bang / Party
22. Iggy Pop - He’s Frank / Heroes Soundtrack
23. Iggy Pop - This Is A Film / Arizona Dream
25. Iggy w/ Teddybears – Punkrocker / Soft Machine
26. Iggy Pop - Fix Me / Rise Above 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the WM3
Rollins, like myself, found much inspiration in the first Stooges album. For me, there was a delayed reaction. It took me seven years after hearing that seminal chunk of punk before I started my own band in 1976. One of my first gigs was at a country and western bar in Boulder, Colorado. The shitkickers, bikers and assorted mountain men grew homicidal when my group, The Ravers, tore into “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” At the end of the song, the place fell silent and it suddenly hit me as hard as a pool cue to the forehead that being a punk in the land of “Rocky Mountain High” was as about as much fun as being set upon by a pack of rabid wolves. But I got used to it.
Of all the records I own, some of the most frequently played, decade after decade, are ones that Iggy has had something to do with. One of the great hot-night listens of all time, perhaps the purest rock & roll recording I have ever heard, is the self-titled first album by the Stooges. So minimal and perfect. Every note, beat and lyric are essential to the whole. The older I get, the more I learn about music, the more amazing this album is to me.” H. Rollins.
Henry Rollins For President t-shirt by Hello Henry
A short video from Big Think wherein Henry Rollins describes the actions he would take if he were President of the United States of America. Say what you like about Rollins’ music and his stand-up (or even his views about the younger generations) but he seems to have a pretty good grasp of what would be expected of him in office. So, would you vote Rollins for President?
In this genuinely heartwarming video, Henry Rollins officiates the wedding of Page King and Stephen Hart at last weekend’s Fun Fun Fun Fest.
I’ve never cared much for Rollins’ post Black Flag schtick, but he sure as hell makes for a charming minister as he leads this sweet couple from Dallas, Texas through their marriage ceremony. Henry does the delicate job of balancing wit with spirituality while adding a dose of rock n’ roll energy to the conventional solemnity of the marriage ritual. It looks like everyone is having fun.
I wonder if Rollins has done this before? He’s always been a preacher of sorts but this is taking it to a whole other level.
I love this faux-Raymond Pettibon “Henry Rollins tattoo whiteboard” from the always brilliant Brandon Bird. You can order it over at ToptoCo for $20.00 + shipping.
Man Test was a British TV program where famous people are asked a series of questions on their private lives, and asked to rate their feelings on certain topics from one to seven. The overall score will determine whether a person falls more into the “masculine” or “feminine” category. Where do you think Henry Rollins lands? The answer may surprise you.
Richard recently stated that it was vogue-ish to hate on Rollins. About as vogue-ish as it was to idolize him in the 80s and 90s? Personally I have mixed feelings about Hank - I do like him, but think he is also capable of massive dick moves. The infamous clip of Rollins “confronting” a group of young people (known in some particular circles as “hipsters”) in a NY café is a great example - his confrontational stance makes the situation much worse and he makes a lot of unjustified assumptions about these kids, assumptions that could very easily apply to him too. Being over-tattooed is definitely one.
On the other hand, I’ve only just recently watched The Henry Rollins Show, as it never aired in the UK as far as I knew. To my mild surprise I like it and him. He comes across well, though that would be the point of having your own TV show I guess. But Rollins is an excellent interviewer, holding back on inserting his own ego into conversations and good at creating rapport with his guests. The Werner Herzog and Steve Buscemi interviews are good examples. I don’t even mind his rants on the show, which is more surprising as I am not a fan of his stand up. It’s hectoring, and not as insightful or as clever as he thinks it is.
Man Test gives some surprising insights into Henry Rollins’ character. The show, from 2000, asks him some direct questions about his love and family life, which he is not afraid of answering openly. Rollins is not a man who wears his intelligence lightly, which works against him sometimes, but he is definitely an interesting character. Personally, I would like to know if he is a fan of TLC’s “No Scrubs”?
Although it’s fashionable to bash Henry Rollins, when he was the lead singer of Black Flag, the guy was one of the greatest—and most fearsome—punk frontmen going. Back then Rollins was scary. Scary in a kind of Charles Manson meets Iggy Pop, slightly unhinged sort of way. I saw Black Flag play several times back in the day—always right up front—and they absolutely killed it live.
Reality 86’d is a road film by David Markey about the final Black Flag tour in 1986. They spent six months traveling in support of their grunge-metal In My Head album. That tour—which I saw—also featured Greg Ginn’s side project Gone and Painted Willie (Markey’s band). It marked “the end of the line for a trail-blazing American band” in the words of the filmmaker. Reality 86’d is a wonderful document about 1980s underground culture.
