1. How did you get into 29? (
Karp)
The first person that ever played me
Karp was my friend Jarred. I remember thinking they sounded like what a band equally influenced by
Melvins and nursery rhymes would sound like.
I loved them instantly, and actually taped them off of him as soon as I could buy some more cassettes. (hahah! Cassettes...), I never did see them live, even though I had the chance to at Gilman, but they remain a favorite of mine.
I actually become friends with Jared from KARP years later and, indeed even played a few shows with The Whip. Jared is now in
Big Business and
Melvins, which is fantastic.
2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22? (
Van Halen)
Panama, my dad had the record
1984, and I thought it was pretty cool, I would jump around to it a lot. Then I didn't really think about VH again until about 20 years later, when I had a few friends extol the praises of their first records, I checked them out for myself after getting a really cool compilation cd made by another friend, and it turns out... they really WERE awesome. At least before Van Hagar.
3. What's your favorite lyric by 33?
Johnny Cash
Wow, favorite lyric by Johnny Cash? See that's rough because he has so many great ones.
Although it's an easy choice as one of his most famous songs I'll say
I Walk The Line
I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you're mine, I walk the line
unfuckwithable!
4. How did you get into 49?
The Ramones
Wow, that really goes back... I think I remember seeing the video for
I Wanna Be Sedated, and thought it was about the coolest ever.
I read a little about them in some horrible mainstream music rag, and it mentioned that the first album was the best.
So I bought the cassette of
The Ramones, and practically wore it down.
To this day it remains one of my favorite albums.
5. How many albums by 13 do you own?
Chavez
Well they didn't put out very many, i had
Ride the Fader for years, but when it came out I made sure to pick up the compilation
Better Days Will Haunt You, which is even more fantastic since it has... EVERYTHING.
They truly were an underlistened band.
6. What is your favorite song by 50?
James Brown
Hmmm, that's tough, i'll make it a split decision.
It's a Man's, Man's World is pretty incredible, and shows that the brilliance of the songwriting as well as summing up James's thing with... well STRINGS.
Try Me is pretty incredible too... i'm thinking specifically
Live At The Apollo [1963] version.
Absolutely, IN-CRED-I-BLE.
7. Is there a song by 39 that makes you sad?
Yo La Tengo
They are pretty good at the sad bastard music i'd say.
They usually make me happy though, not sad, if you mean... wistful or whatever, then
Damage and
I Heard You Looking, are both utterly fantastic and do the trick there.
8. What is your favorite song by 15?
The Jesus Lizard
Puss,
Monkey Trick, or
Mouth Breather, are all all time faves for TJL for me, all for different reasons. Incidentally when
Replicator was
The Jesus Replicator for Halloween, we actually did two out of the 3 of those. We would have done Mouth Breather too if we had had time.
9. What is your favorite song by 5? (
Wire)
I'd say either:
I Am the Fly,
Dot Dash or
In the Art of Stopping
All of which totally kill.
Wire is easily one of my favorite bands of all time, those first 3 records are as solid as you get, and
Send is astounding too.
10. Is there a song by 6 that makes you happy? (
Fugazi)
fugazi make me happy generally, they never made a bad album and I still listen to them all the time. There is something about the power of
Merchendise that always puts a smile on my face though.
11. What is the worst song by 40? (
Pixies)
That's tough since I even like
Trompe Le Monde[/track], they are overly worshipped, but they don't have any BAD songs (unlike #41 Trans Am, however... I will say that without the "you are the son of incestuous union" part, Nimrod's Son Doesn't really hold a candle to their later stuff.
12. What is your favorite song by 10? (AC/DC)
Yikes, just one? I could give you a favorite 20 songs no problem at all. T.N.T., [track artist=AC/DC]Shot Down in Flames or Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be all jump to mind.
that's just from the Bon Scott era of course.
That's WAY harder then #11 Man...Or Astro Man? which is clearly Specify Gravity
13. What is a good memory you have involving 30? (Sonic Youth)
Man, where to begin? Making out to [album artist=Sonic Youth]Experimental, Jet Set, Trash and No Star, wandering the streets of Oakland listening to
Sister over and over again. You name it, the Sonik Tooth was pretty much a constant of my adolescence.
14. What is your favorite song by 38? (
The Who)
Can't Explain or
Baba O'Riley both for very, very different reasons. Again, a tough choice!
15. Is there a song by 19 that makes you happy? (
Led Zeppelin)
Yup,
Immigrant Song always puts a smile on my face, and it also makes me think of dearly departed kitty Riffy (long story),
Communication Breakdown gets me pumped, and of course the excess of
Moby Dick usually has me shaking my head, but always with a smile.
16. Is there a song by 25 that makes you sad? (
Hot Snakes)
Sad? No, not really, sad they aren't around anymore perhaps. They were a fantastic band.
17. What is the first song you ever heard by 23? (
Unwound)
It was
Corpse Pose off of
Repetition, which to this day is still probably my favorite album of theirs, but started my long love affair with those folks. Never a bad album there either.
18. What's your favorite lyric by 11? (
Misfits)
Hybrid Moments
If youre gonna scream, scream with me
Moments like this never last
When do creatures rape your face
Hybrids opened up the door
Ooh baby when you cry
Your face is momentary
You hide your looks behind these scars
In hybrid moments
Give me a moment
oooh that Danzig, he was such a poet in his way. Misfits are just dumb enough to be completely awesome, they worked their ouvre perfectly.
19. Who is a favorite member of 1? (
Tom Waits)
Trick question as it's a solo artist, one of my favorites of all time actually. Mr. Waits is brilliant, as far as supporting players go
Marc Ribot's guitar stuff is pretty bent and gives Tom a lot of his post
Swordfishtrombones sound.
20. Is there a song by 14 that makes you happy? ([track]The Wipers)
Over the Edge, and
, both get me pretty psyched I must say.
21. What is a good memory involving 27? (The Flaming Lips)
Last time I saw them was pretty fantastic, I mean they are always fantastic, but it was a good group of friends and a great time. Confetti cannon, human hamster ball, dancing superheroes, they do the band as circus thing pretty fantastic. I almost lost it when they played an intro from the old Jon Stewart show introducing "[track artist=The Flaming Lips]turn it on" I thought they were going to play it, but it was
She Don't Use Jelly instead, which was a letdown as I feel it's an inferior song.
22. What is your favorite song by 16? (
Hot Snakes)
Suicide Invoice probably, or
Our Work Fills the Pews
23. What is the first song you ever heard by 47? (
Replicator)
Hahaha!
Replicator is my old band, I think we're only in my top 50 because I listened to a lot of our older stuff cramming for our last show. That's funny, first song ever heard by
Replicator was probably our first song ever. I honestly don't remember. The first song of Replicator as everybody thinks of it was
Epoch, I do remember that.
24. What is your favorite album by 18? (
the pAperchAse)
Now you Are One of us, it's their masterpiece, by far.
A concept album about haunting the living, good stuff.
25. What is your favorite song by 21? (
Radiohead)
hmmm, interesting question since I don't listen to Radiohead much these days, kind of a ban on the chart domination of
In Rainbows, here awhile ago.
Fake Plastic Trees or
Where I End And You Begin (The Sky Is Falling In) both spring to mind.
26. What is the first song you ever heard by 26? (
Steel Pole Bath Tub)
It was on a mix tape that my friend Bryan made me, I remember it was something off of
Butterfly Love. I think it was
I Am Sam I Am. It blew my mind, it also blew my mind that they lived that close to me. My favorite SPBT songs of all time are:
The Scarlet,
Train to Miami and
Borstal, but it's a tough call.
27. What is your favorite album by 3? (
Minutemen)
This one is easy, because it's an example of a bands most famous album also being their best.
Double Nickels on the Dime baby. Besides can you count
Buzz or Howl Under Influence of Heat as an album if it's only 15 minutes long?
28. What is you favorite song by 2? (
Queens of the Stone Age)
That is a tough one, i'll do one from each studio album:
If Only,
The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret,
First It Giveth,
Everybody Knows That You Are Insane, and
Misfit Love
29. What was the first song you ever heard by 32? (
Mogwai)
Punk Rock and
Cody (which to be honest I pretty much consider the same song), my mind was blown a little bit, which did not prepare me at all for
Young Team
30. What is you favorite song by 8? (
Sparks)
Ahhh! one of the most undervalued bands on my list, I owe my love of sparks to Tim from the
The Mae Shi, who burned me an incredible comp that got me hooked. I'd say it's probably
Amateur Hour and
The Number One Song in Heaven, both are monumental in their own way. I really wish that I could put out a compilation of tracks I hand chose for a Sparks best of. There have been a bunch of them, but always some seriously glaring omissions and some less then stellar songs included.
31. How many times have you seen 17 live? (
Unwound)
4 or 5times I think?
The first time was fantastic, that was on the tour before
Challenge for a Civilized Society Came out, I had been into them for years... heck they were my favorite band, but I had either never been old enough to see them, or they hadn't played. The second and third times were for [album artist=Unwound]Leaves Turn Inside You, which were ok, and kind of eh... then the third time was for Leaves with
Dave Scott Stone and Brandt. The last time was their 3rd to last show, and STILL ranks as one of the best shows i've ever seen.
32. Is there a song by 44 that makes you happy? (
Big Business)
Just As The Day Was Dawning is so damn triumphant, I can't help but have a smile on my face.
Another Fourth of July... ruined! absolutely destroys live too.
33. How did you get into 12? (
Man... or Astro-man?
Wow, it's hard to remember... it was so damn long ago, at one point I had more shirts from MOAM? then any other band because I had seen them so many times, I think I might have read about them in the Touch and Go catalog and bought one of their cds unheard on a whim.
I was not disappointed at all.
34. What is the worst song by 45? (
Scratch Acid)
Easilly one of the ones that the dude that isn't David Yow sang on, but even those have their moments.
The Scale Song is a little silly and probably unneeded, but it closes the album well.
at their worst they were a total rip off of the
The Birthday Party, but that isn't a BAD thing, they probably did it better then most other bands that tried. Like they got the menace AND sense of humor thing.
35. What was the first song you ever heard by 34? (
Gang of Four)
I Found That Essence Rare, I loved it immediately and sought out more. And I also finally understood where some of the guitarists that I thought made noises I had never heard before found their influence.
Entertainment! is still one of my favorite records ever.
36. What is the first song you ever heard by 48? (
Andrew W.K.)
Party Hard, and I absolutely LOATHED it. I think I went off on a 20 minute rant about how bad I thought it was, and how it represented everything I hated. It sounded like a beer commercial to me. Then I heard a few more songs, and I was like: "Ok, this sucks, but I see the appeal.", then a few more times it changed to: "Well it doesn't COMPLETELY suck." and then I realized it was absolutely awesome.
I picked up a used copy of
I Get Wet and before you know it I was listening obsessively. I mean the dude takes all the things I love best about
The Ramones,
Motorhead, the best parts of
Sweet and like every good arena rock band ever and puts it into this huge pop meat grinder that is uniquely his own and with relentless positivity. I only have the first two records, but I adore them, and they make great clean up the house music.
37. How many times have you seen 42 live? (
The Damned)
Never! I actually probably should have given that
Machine Gun Ettiquette is one of my favorite records, but no... sadly I have not seen them play. It must have been a kick to see them play back in their hey day before all of the goth nonsense.
38. What is you favorite song by 36? (
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band)
Singin through you to me; thunderbolts caught easily
Shouts the truth peacefully Eeeeeee-lec-tri-ci-teeeeeeee
High voltage man kisses night to bring the light to those who need to hide
their shadow deed
Go into bright find the light and know that friends don`t mind just how you
grow
midnight cowboy stains in black reads dark roads without a map
To free-seeking electricity (repeat) (Repeat both lines)
Lighthouse beacon straight ahead straight ahead across black seas to bring
Seeking eeee-lec-tri-ci-teeeee
High voltage man kisses night to bring the light to those who need to hide
their shadow-deed hide their shadow-deed
Seek electricity...........
Electricity
Safe as Milk is unfuckwithable.
39. What was the first song you ever heard by 28? (
The Residents)
Jambalaya, which they made so uniquely their own that I didn't realize it was a
Hank Williams cover for the longest time. I become a bit obssessed with the RZ for awhile. I still maintain that
The Commercial Album is a masterpiece.
Easter Woman sold me on them for good.
40. What is you favorite album by 7? (
Devo)
well if I could only recommend one PURCHASE to people it'd be the compilation
Pioneers Who Got Scalped, but clearly as much as I love
Freedom of Choice, the only answer is:
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!.
41. Is there a song by 31 that makes you happy? (
Ennio Morricone)
many of them! I've always really loved
Man With a Harmonica, off of the excellent Once Upon a Time in the West, all of the obvious ones too. Morricone is a badass.
42. What is your favorite album by 41? (
Trans Am)
They all have their annoying moments, that's part of what makes Trans Am who they are!
If I was forced to choose just one... it'd probably be
Surrender to the Night though, I think that has my best ratio of songs I love and best sequencing. Some of my very favorite songs of theirs are on other albums though. Futureworld, Balbados, etc.
43. What is your favorite song by 24? (Babyland)
wow! hard question for a band that has been such a huge influence on my life in so many ways, i'll do a top 5 in no order: Happy Drum,Gehry,Worst Case Scenario,Omaha, and Logan's Run. I could easilly name 20 though, they've written many of my very favorite songs ever... no lie.
44. What is a good memory you have involving 46? (Mudhoney)
That's an easy one, because Chris (from Replicator) and I met at a Mudhoney show, totally by accident. I had talked to him about maybe playing months before, and kind of flaked out, and he had heard my friend call me "Conan", and noticed that i had blue hair (which I had mentioned I had at the time), so he decided there couldn't be that many people named Conan that had blue hair and said hello. We've been fast friends ever since.
Mudhoney was only ok that night, but it was when Lukin was still playing with them, so that was cool.
45. What is your favorite song by 42? (Alice Cooper)
No More Mr. Nice Guy, more then likely... possibly Caught in a Dream though, those early Alice Cooper band records are just awesome. [album artist=Alice Cooper]Billion Dollar Babies,
Love It to Death. So Good!
46. Is there a song by 9 that makes you happy? (
Federation X)
indeed
The Most Unlucky Sound isn't my top listened track for no reason!
Southern Comfort makes me smile as well,
Federation X are an underappreciated and underlistened band.
47. What is your favorite album by 4? (
Melvins)
I'm very tempted to say
(A) Senile Animal, and it still ALMOST qualifies, but it peters out just a wee bit at the end sadly.
Bullhead perhaps? So many great albums by them, it's hard to decide.
48. Who is a favorite member of 23? (
The Birthday Party)
Without a shadow of a doubt, that's got to be
Rowload S. Howard, in a band of veritable musical titans it was Rowland's absolutely unique and bent guitar work that made the Birthday Party who they were. You could make the argument for Nick Cave, who of course is a close second, but as far as FAVORITES go, Rowland baby.
49. What is the first song you ever heard by 43? (
Buzzcocks)
Amazing enough it was
Paradise of the oft forgotten album
A Different Kind of Tension. I thought it was totally badass! and I didn't even hear
Oragasm Addict or
What Do I Get? until years later.
I still feel that they are very underappreciated.
50. What is your favorite song by 20? (
The Beatles)
Wow! That's tough, ok... i'll for for 3
Help!,
Revolution (the single version that is loud and rocking, not the more sedate White Album version) and maybe
Oh! Darling, obviously this could change at any given moment though... to say the least.
Wow! Exhausting but fun.
Chavez