'Music For A Jilted Generation' & ' The Fat Of The Land'

Prodigy is known for one thing, really, and that’s their single from Fat of the Land, “Smack My Bitch Up.” The amount of press that they got for the lyric in addition to the video can’t possibly be placed in some monetary perspective. Although, it’s safe to say that they probably couldn’t have bought that much attention.

The irony is that it’s a sampled lyric.

'EVOL' & 'Sister'

Two rather contrasting albums for a band on the brink. Released in 1986 and 1987, respective, EVOL and Sister proved to be the jumping off point for Sonic Youth creatively and also as far as their careers go. 

EVOL was the first album released under the SST label. Dissatisfied with the label, they recorded Sister a year later with Enigma. EVOL, however, is considered the album that Sonic Youth’s alt-rock testicles dropped. Although, the next album, Sister, was far more palatable and melodic. So whatever step they took with EVOL, I would think it was taken a new or at least different direction with Sister.

Sister, for whatever it’s worth, was inspired by the life and times of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, who was supposedly haunted by a twin sister that died shortly after birth.

'A Man Escaped' & 'The Hole'

Because you can't have enough French prison-escape movies. Although not connected in the least, both  have a lot of common threads outside of being tremendous films.

A Man Escaped was about a French Resistance fighter caught by the Nazis during World War II and imprisoned in Fort Montluc. The film was based on the memoirs of Andre Devigny, who basically lived everything in the film including the escape from Montluc.

Director Jacques Becker also was imprisoned by the Nazis due to his activism in film after serving as an assistant to Jean Renoir. 

After the war, his own film career started and in 1960, four years after A Man Escaped, he released The Hole, which was based on Jose Giovanni's book, which featured Jean Keraudy, who was cast to portray Roland in the film (he also introduces the film after being shown working on a car. 


The Hole is far superior, I think. Mostly due to the excellent performances from the small main cast of five guys, who basically had zero acting experiences. For the most part, The Hole was each of their first performances. 

Becker died just weeks after the conclusion of filming. 

'Electric Warrior' & 'The Slider'

The origins of T. Rex date back to August 1967 when then acoustic performer Marc Bolan booked a gig at Electric Garden. He had no band. 

So he takes out an ad in the local newspaper, holds auditions at 3 p.m. and is ready for the gig at 5 p.m. He and his band were booed off the stage and they broke up.

Bolan did keep a drummer/percussionist, who had changed his name to a hobbit from The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Steve Peregrin Took), and they continued to gig until they went electric and formed what is known as T. Rex, a sort of boogie/glam/1970s panty-dropping radio music for reformed hippies.

 

Of these two albums, Electric Warrior was released first and became the band’s biggest hit in England and The Slider became the band’s biggest album in the United States. It also evoked an hour conversation from an older co-worker, who is REALLY INTO T. REX.

Bolan died in a car accident in 1977. Ironically, he never learned to drive due to a fear of premature death.

Steve Peregrin Took was killed by an orc.

'I Against I'

One of the weird shows that I can’t believe wasn’t more popular among my generation was Degrassi High, the teen Canadian melodrama. Edgier than Saved by the Bell but safer than Gossip Girl or My So-Called Life. 

ANYWAY, the bit with Degrassi: The Next Generation was that each episode was titled after a song. There are currently 13 seasons ranging from 15 to 40 episodes. That’s a lot of songs.

Of course, in season five, episode 14, there is an episode titled “I Against I.” Because Gen Y Canadian teenagers love American hardcore from the 1980s.

In all seriousness, this is a very cool album to listen to. Even for Canadians.

'Here Come The Sonics' & 'Midnight Ride'

Two very different bands despite playing in the same genre in the same era. 

I actually thought the pair would be quite similar but Paul Revere and the Raiders are a lot more polished and poppy, whereas the edgy and unforgiving sound of The Sonics is uncompromising and downright harsh.

Here Come The Sonics is probably one of my favorite records to discover while doing this list. It is quite amazing in every way from the actual performances to the sound and the attitude that you see from modern independent rock to 1970s punk and 1980s hardcore. Kurt Cobain was a fan and it’s obvious if you listen to Nirvana.

Interesting facts: 

• Paul Revere and the Raiders started in Idaho. It makes them the most popular group from Idaho in the HISTORY OF IDAHO. Individuals from Built to Spill and Motley Crue (Nikki Sixx, of all people) are from Idaho. 
• I never considered Paul Revere and the Raiders as a manufactured band (despite the costumes) but there was an apparent falling out at the height of their popularity in the 1960s partially due to the use of studio musicians over the guys in the band.
• Paul Revere and the Raiders still perform and haven’t really stopped in 60 years. Say what you will about The Beatles or the Rolling Stones, but for those groups to maintain a line-up as long as they did is remarkable considering how many changes took place in any number of groups in the 1960s.
• Midnight Ride was produced by Terry Melcher, the popular producer for The Beach Boys and Byrds throughout the 1960s. He was Doris Day’s son and his father wanted him aborted.
• The Sonics are awesome.