190n120: 30 Years of Music with Adam Johnson...Episode Eleven: "I'll sleep when I'm dead"

164. Warren Zevon - Exciteable Boy (1978)

He was "Old Man Zevon" in his early twenties, and this is his best offering of curmudgeony piano rock. Effective subtlety was the man's truest power, a songwriter through and through with the heart of a damn good storyteller. What drew me to Warren Zevon, really (besides his association with Dr. Hunter S. Thompson), was his deep understanding of a song's feel, its subtleties and motivations. His funky songs had funky lyrics and melodies; his driving songs had lyrics with locomotive cadences. He was Elton John and Bernie Taupin in one.

I bet if Stephen King were to ever put out an original album, it would sound an awful lot like Excitable Boy. There's a bloody revenge story, complete with a funeral organ and spectral protagonist; touching confessions of very vulnerable feelings from seemingly invulnerable characters; and let's not forget the runaway lycanthropic single "Werewolves of London". To be 100% honest, the duel guitar solo made a lasting impression on my young developing musical sensibilities. Then I found Thin Lizzy and Alice Cooper. Yeah - Warren Zevon could rock as hard as Thin Lizzy and Alice Cooper.

I really like this record, and it's a solid number, too. Back to front, it speaks for itself. Incredibly well written, well performed, and well produced, enjoy Excitable Boy as you would enjoy every sandwich.

Recommended Listening: Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner, Accidently Like A Martyr, Lawyers, Guns, and Money

163. Elvis Costello - King of America (1986)

I'm more a fan of his wiley younger years, and this is where he started to lose me. I'm not sure if he decided he was out of new ideas and resigned to being an homage artist or what, but Declan really knocked it out of the park with this one. I think he was aiming for a Dylan impression - real, man. After all, he credited the songs by his given name. Mr. MacManus is only himself, though. And that's a really, really good thing. If nothing else, he married the Pogues' bass player this same year after producing their best album. Call him the Yoko of his time, but he had a great year. All hail the King of America. Long may he reign.

Recommended Listening: Brilliant Mistake, Indoor Fireworks, American Without Tears

162. The Clash - Combat Rock (1982)

After the Clash were done fighting themselves on Sandanista! they decided to take on the world. Combat Rock is the best title for this record because the songs herein are fighting words. As the poster boys for punk rock, the Clash were lauded with some serious expectations. They were supposed to be the only band that mattered, the last gang in town – more importantly, they had outlived the Sex Pistols. And while the Pistols’ legacy was spoken for, the Clash still had pavement under their wheels with plenty of gas left in the tank. At least in 1981.

In 1981, their collaborative efforts were rivaling the Beatles. Not only had Mick Jones given the band their first charting success with “Train In Vain”, he had managed to strike oil in the same place twice with “Should I Stay I Should I Go”. And then Topper Headon really joined the party when he presented “Rock the Casbah” in its entirety. Joe Strummer, the Andrew Jackson that he could be at times, opted to rewrite another Clash classic from love song to revolution rock (“I’m So Bored With You” famously became "I'm So Bored With the U.S.A.") and – boom. Butt moving, thought provoking radio play. But, as the case usually goes with the most handsome member of the band, Paul Simonon’s “Red Angel Dragnet” is left to its own jah devices. Beat poet patriarch Allen Ginsberg even gets time on the mic. The Clash were making art rock of the highest order, daring anyone to call them liars.

They had shown the world their cards with London Calling; and with a winning deck, one always must maintain their momentum. Instead of snuffing hip-hop and funk and poetry and all the stuff that wasn’t supposed to be punk rock, the Clash turned down the scene kids and turned up the ghetto blasters. Sandanista! is loaded with experiments, but Combat Rock is the steady infantry ready to kick some real ass. “Ghetto Defendant” and “Car Jamming” bounce and pulse with the streets of Harlem. If there was one thing Paul Simonon and Mick Jones could agree on it was rhythm, and boy does the bass shine on this album. Like Adam Clayton or Jeff Ament, Simonon has a most remarkable style based around clever modesty. Imagining “Overpowered By Funk” or “Straight To Hell” without that middle-grounded Fender P Bass is nothing to spend time worrying about..


Language is also very important to Combat Rock. As I mentioned earlier, “Know Your Rights” and “Death Is A Star” are fighting words, fully realized ruminations of a class of intellectuals not yet recognized in a public forum. Like Woody Guthrie, Jack Kerouac or Bob Dylan, Joe Strummer was a man with a cause, even when that cause wasn’t even apparent to himself. Communication was always his goal, though. He once said, “I think we’re going to have to forget about the radio and just go back to word of mouth.” If telling stories is the blood of rock-and-roll, then Combat Rock is an earnest pulsing heart.

Recommended Listening: Know Your Rights, Straight To Hell, Atom Tan