OFF: relevance & irrelevance (was HW: Swindon)

Nick Medford nick at HERMIT0.DEMON.CO.UK
Mon Nov 5 20:01:28 EST 2001


In message <200111052051.PAA19531 at listserv.spc.edu>, Doug Pearson
<jasret at MINDSPRING.COM> writes
> I saw Sonic Boom (ex-Spacemen 3)
>and Spectrum last night, doing the psychedelic song thing (as opposed to
>the avant-garde electronics thing he does as E.A.R.), and they closed their
>set, as usual, with "Revolution" (the song that I thought was a cover
>of "You Shouldn't Do That" when I first heard it on the radio ... until the
>vocals came in ... turns out it's an MC5 lift, not a Hawkwind one

Right... it's one of the most shameless lifts in rock history in fact! It
basically *is* MC5's "Black To Comm", but for the monologue.

I have always wondered what "Black To Comm" actually means (if
anything).

Spacemen 3's version of MC5's "Starship" may just be the best cover version
ever.

>), which
>led into a cover of ... "War Sucks" by Red Crayola

Isn't there a Pere Ubu connection there? Can't remember the details.

> (extra-appropriate since
>he opened the set with "Transparent Radiation"

I love that song. The album "The Perfect Prescription" was the soundtrack
to my life when it first came out. I still can't hear anyone utter the words
"nineteen eighty-seven" without wanting to break into "Come Down Easy".
Spacemen 3 were great, if you ignore their weak final album "Recurring",
which wasn't really a band effort anyway.

The only E.A.R. I've heard was a seven minute electronic bliss-out called
"Hydroponic"- nice enough but nothing new. What say you about E.A.R. in
general then?

Talking of ex-Spacemen, I have somehow managed to not hear anything by
Spiritualized, despite them having become really rather famous. Anyone got
any comments on them?

--
Nick Medford



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