PRE-PUNK PROTO JUNK

1. Skyhooks - Smartarse Songwriters
Kinda wanky, maybe even glammy, it’s interesting that the song shifts from speedy licks to white funk though.
2. Chris Bell - Got Kinda Lost
Nice little ramblin’ tune. Also like the fact that the guitar is of the non-lush acoustic variety. The voice grates me at first
3. Streetwalkers - Me 'n' Me Horse 'n' Me Rum
A dark-bar slinky song. I like the Ahh-oooo parts, but the sing-speak narrative is done much better (and later) by nick cave, tom waits, et al
4. Kursaal Flyers - Walking To School
Just about every song that’s about a girl walking to school is awesome, this track being no exception. Could’ve done without the studio string section though.
5. John Cale - Fear Is A Man's Best Friend
Starts out pretty normal but gets exponentially weirder. a track that I won’t play unless I want to weird out a guest or something.
6. Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Psychomodo
I like this one. Has a poppy, carnival, and British (?) feel to it.
7. Captain Beefheart - Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles
Never did like this guy, but this song isn’t as annoying or arty as some other stuff I’ve heard.
8. The Beau Brummels - Turn Around
I d/led some of these BB albums from FnB back in the day. I dig it.
9. Roy Harper - Don't You Grieve
Easily my most favorite track on the disc. I’m not a big Dylan fan but this kinda sounds like him and I love it. Will seek more of his work.
10. John Martyn - You Can Discover
Nice mellow number. I like the mood and style of this type of music but I don’t usually care for mumbly singers so I guess it’s a push.
11. Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance - Give Me A Penny
I think I’ve heard this song on the Oldies station before. If not, then kudos to this guy for writing a song that makes me feel I’ve heard it before, even if I hadn’t.
12. Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Last Of The Teenage Idols Pts. 1 - 3
Takes a while to get going, but once it does, even the combined powers of Elton John and Meat Loaf better watch out!
13. Wizzard - Ball Park Incident
I like this track. It reminds me of Johnny Rivers perhaps?
14. Family - Sweet Desire
Another nugget that sounds like something from the Atlantic R&B label. Nice horn section.
15. Paul Siebel - Jack Knife Gypsy
Nice organ work
16. Bobbie Gentry - Fancy
She has a song I’ve heard on the oldies station. After hearing two songs I’m predicting she was one of those artists that wrote the same song over and over again.
17. Artful Dodger - Honor Among Thieves
Has someone covered this song? I swear I’ve heard the opening hook before. Cool ol’ rock song.
18. Ducks Deluxe - Paris 9
Also has a familiar sound. It sounds like 1974. Also kinda reminds me of Bowie’s Suffragette City or NY Dolls “Personality Crisis” or something like that
19. Michel Pagliaro - Some Sing, Some Dance
Another radio-ready nugget that sounds like I’ve heard it before
20. Doctors Of Madness - Mitzi's Cure
Kinda plodding but not bad if I’m in a spooky mood.
21. Blue Ash - She Cried For 15 Years
Nice little pop tune. Left Banke-ish perhaps
22. Kevin Coyne - Marjory Razorblade
Just some oddball mountain-hippie stuff. Would be nice on a mix with Nikki McClure though

Kewl, Bort! Thanks for the review! Some r/x to your r/x:

Skyhooks were an arty Aussie band that were a direct influence on Split Enz. Most of their output is too clever for its own good IMO but they generally saved themselves with a loopy sense of humor.

The Waits/Cave comparison is an interesting take on it, Bort. Streetwalkers were faves of fans of '70s British blooze rock, and I never got into them much - but I'm gonna have to re-listen with mssrs. Waits and Cave in mind.

Nota bene: Kursaal Flyers eventually splintered into Eddie and the Hot Rods and the Records, best known, respectively, for "Do Anything You Wanna Do" and "Starry Eyes" (which many consider the quintessential power pop song).

Yep, British, for sure. Back in the waning days of glam, Steve Harley tried to out-Ziggy David Bowie.

It's my fave Harper track as well. I took it off his Hats Off compilation, so you might want to track down whatever acoustic set it originated from. Harper was well respected by some of the '70s bigwigs (for evidence, there's Led Zep's "Hats Off To Harper"), but I find a lot of his stuff is full of the sort of bloated cliches that made punk rock such a good idea.

Yezzuh, SAHB were pretty much the link between glam and punk. That song is off Next, which is my fave SAHB disc.

Wizzard was Roy Wood's post-ELO band.

Don't think anybody's covered it - but that doesn't mean it isn't a GREAT idea.

I didn't get into Pagliaro until '76, and by that time there was already over 5 years of radio-ready nuggets that sounded like I'd heard 'em before. And the reason for that was because I had (and just didn't know it). "Some Sing, Some Dance", "Lovin' You Ain't Easy", "What The Hell I Got", "I Can't Believe It's You" and more - they were all AM radio hits in the early '70s. In his home province of Quebec the guy was like the Beatles and the Stones. Massively popular - and effortlessly writing hit after hit. He deserves a revival.

Yeh, that's about right. Blue Ash, for a brief moment, were the main competition of the Raspberries in the neglected power pop sweepstakes.

Don't know about the mountain-hippy thing, but Coyne is definitely an oddball. He came from the '60s band Siren, and reportedly turned down an offer to replace Jim Morrison in the Doors. He's got a ton of solo albums out, all of them decidedly odd - and with that elfin voice of his you'd think the time was right a rediscovery by the freak folk fans.

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were apparently Nick Cave's biggest initial influence.

A Bort mix can only mean one thing – 70-some minutes of pop/punk goodness. How much goodness is the question – because in the world of pop/punk there’s not much in the way of variation. The sound tends to be pretty uniform, so how do some tracks stand out and others die on the whine vine? How in hell is anybody supposed to apply any critical standards to something like this? I think the usual combo of whim and prejudice will suffice.

Operation Radcliffe

1. Teenie Cheetahs – U.G.L.Y. 2/5
A hard way to start the mix. This doesn’t make me run away with my hands cupped over my ears, but let’s just say I can understand completely why the female subject of this song doesn’t return the singer’s affections. Good monkey screaming though.
2. The Briefs – Poor And Weird 4/5
A little "Blitzkrieg Bop" drum pattern goes a long way. Ditto a repeated chant of "hey". My only complaint with this one is the addition of the gratuitous geetar solo, time which would’ve been much better served by subtraction (ie: strip it down to bass and drums).
3. The Riverboat Gamblers – Ooh Yeah 3/5
I’ve always wanted to hear the Riverboat Gamblers. They’re pretty much the poster children of local gutter punk rag The Nerve, getting raves every time they play. This reminds me of stuff like the New Bomb Turks in that it mixes punk rawk with more traditional rock star moves. It needs a bigger production to carry it off though.
4. FM Knives – D.O.A. 3/5
Very singsongy. A little too much so, IMO, but the bass guitarist is busy as all hell. So kudos to him (or her).
5. Incredible Kidda Band – Bullet In My Heart 3/5
Good melody and good energy – and I like the vocals, which remind me of Joe Strummer trying to sing Abba songs – but it could have benefited from the virtue of brevity.
6. The Figgs – Step Back And Let’s Go Pop 4/5
Speaking of brevity, the good ol’ Figgs clock in at just over one minute on this one and manage to pack in enough melody and invention to remind me of Elvis Costello.
7. The Ergs! – Pool Pass 2/5
Good energy – but let’s face it, ALL these bands have energy. They’re skating on thin ice by playing the exact same guitar solo that everybody else plays when they play this exact same song. Mercifully short.
8. Maryz Eyez - OK 3/5
Much better. I mean, it’s essentially the same song as "Pool Pass" but they dare to play a different guitar solo, plus the vocal melody is way more assertive. Extra points for the short breakdown before the final chorus. Those same points subsequently deducted for the awful band name.
9. The Dickies – See My Way 4/5
The Dickies doin’ what the Dickies do. The razor-sharp guitar sound is a tad more metallic than punk, as if a little Iron Maiden is creeping into Dickiesville.
10. Beat Crusaders – Be My Wife 2/5
Somebody just done snuck a burbling synthesizer onto this mix. Don’t quite know what I feel about that. Part of me commends them. The more sensible part of me wants the culprits hunted down and flayed. Good chorus though, which is fortunate cuz I think they forgot to write any verses.
11. Psychotic Youth - Downtown 4/5
This one is getting close to the anthemic. Also steals Johnny Ramone’s one note guitar solo from "I Wanna Be Sedated", so that makes it, like, a historical document.
12. The Patsys – In And Out With You 2/5
This song would’ve worked so much better if the chick singer could’ve projected some of the sex that’s loudly hinted at in the title. As it is, she sounds bored, the kind of girl that files her nails while her man futilely pumps up a sweat. Bad lady. Bad.
13. The Revelers – Little Kings Of Rock ‘n’ Roll 4/5
The first song that ISN’T made up entirely of fuzz-drenched barre chords and, therefore, an immediate stand out. It almost verges on roots rock, in fack, and there’s a wistful quality to the melody. I like this quite a bit.
14. The Chance – 7 Years Of Bad Luck 5/5
Wow. This has got a sweet soul vibe to it. Very unexpected. And very much appreciated. Funky bass line, R&B horns, and a white teenager who aspires to being Wilson Pickett. What, if anything, could go wrong with that?
15. M.O.T.O. – All Ready All Set 3/5
This is one of the bands that Pop Todd has been pimping? It sounds like old Forgotten Rebels without the sense of humor or outrage. S’okay.
16. The Living End - 4/5
For a brief moment, I expected great things out of the Living End. They seemed to have everything in place – great musicianship and strong songwriting – and I would’ve bet real money that they were destined for huge success. What the hell happened? I dunno. They just started to suck. But this song represents one of their earlier bright points. It’s got a good ol’ pro-union chant for a chorus and verses that stomp along with tuneful gusto – and some Pete Townsend windmilling goin’ on at the end too. Noice.
17. The Horror Pops – Where They Wander 2/5
I guess there’s a place for this kind of cartoon pop. A Saturday morning Horror Pops show, for instance, could be a Scooby-Doo for the ‘00s. Otherwise, I dunno… the girl might want to consider stripping or porn.
18. Joe Strummer – Coma Girl 5/5
Goddamn, I love this song. Always makes me miss ol’ Joe – and also always makes me wonder why he didn’t do so much more post-Clash than he did. Although, I suspect I know the answer. So long, you poor, magnificent bastard.
19. Cherry Twister - Sparkle 4/5
Whoa. Harmonies. This is like a throwback to the Raspberries, even includes that slight bit of surprising aggression in the guitar break.
20. Chixdiggit – Welcome To The Daisbo 4/5
What the hell’s a daisbo? If it’s just some doofus place in Calgary, please ignore the question. I really like Chixdiggit – mainly because of the singer’s voice and his way with a melody – and they shine brightest in a short, sharp jab like this appearance on this mix. Cool.
21. Goldenboy – The Challenge 3/5
I can dig this too. Pop/punk with ‘60s psych organ tones weaving through the usual power chords and whoa-ohs..
22. Teenage Bottlerocket – Bloodbath At Burger King 2/5
The comedy of the lyrical premise certainly exceeds the interest level in the music. A little generic, in other words, but almost worth it for the line "I’m gonna make those fuckers pay."

This is a pretty great mix, Bort. A great deal of it gets better with each added listen, which might be the make-or-break aspect when it comes to this kind of high energy pop. The Chance and Cherry Twister are two bands I'd never heard of before -and I'll be keeping an eye out for both of them in the future.

Thanks!

And apologies for taking so long to post this review

well i love all these tracks but to add some small notes:

teenie cheetahs are from Japan and are crazy. great crazy monkey screaming!

The Ergs! are one of my fav bands so in their defense I'll say that even they recognize that "Pool Pass" is too-easy-as-shit and they also don't like the fact that it's their most requested song to play live. don't give up on them though, www.dorkrockcorkrod.com

love that maryz eyez song. any fan of green day or mxpx should.

The Patsys - it was either this or their cover of the Undertones "Teenage Kicks" - a pretty good, straight up cover

The Chance - great song. got it off a comp called Get Out Of Philly. So they're a Philly band but I know no more.

Cherry Twister - i believe there are more fans on this board. some stuff is tra-la-la pop, but the album from which this song was taken is pretty slick, rock/pop with 'Berries and Beatles written all over it.

the pop punk stuff at the end i just threw in for poops and guffaws. i could've easily given you 70 minutes of that stuff! Chixdiggit are indeed from Canada and they are a bit doofy.