Templars have always been one of my favorite bands, and always will be. As a youngster I once drove 8 hours each way just to see them play. A few years back
when TKO Repressed the class "Dans Les Catacombs Du Studio de L'Acre"
collection by the Templars, I was all over it. I was then able to snag
the test pressing for this release, with the black and white sleeve. It comes on black vinyl with plain white labels.
The "Band Edition Test Pressing" had a red and white cover, and wasn't really a test pressing but more of a band only alternative cover. It came on the the clear vinyl with red and white black splatter which was the limited version out of /200 for the main release. There was also a bunch pressed on black vinyl for the main release.
The top left is the original pressing on Vulture Rock (clear vinyl), Top right was the main release, it is not shown that well in the picture but its like shiny tin foil front cover. Then the two test presses on the bottom. Make sure to check out the original pressing from my 50th post...
This is a post I've been waiting on for a while. One of my all time favorite albums and bands, The Bodies' S/T LP which came out on TKO Records in 1998. I've said it again and again, while most chase after Rev vinyl or other labels, I am all about early TKO vinyl. I'm not sure if I talked about it before but I'll tell the story again. When I was a kid I took a chance on some compilation CD that was selling for a few bucks at my local record store. It was the first volume of Punch Drunk by TKO Records. That damn CD single handedly changed my life and changed me forever. Ever since I first heard that comp, I have been chasing down nearly every band on that CD. The Bodies were on that comp, and there track was one of my favorite songs. Also on that comp was the Beltones, Anti Heros, The Templars, The Forgotten, Reducers SF, Swingin Utters, and a bunch more. In my opinion, this is the best compilation EVER made, Yes to me it is more important than any of the old classic compilations.
The first time I ever went to see the Bodies play in San Francisco, I got beat up at the show for being from San Jose. The Oi! and Street punk scene in the Bay Area was very violent in the early 00's, and crews had no problems beating the shit out of little kids coming to punk shows. Sadly for years I avoided Bodies shows because of all the drama and violence that surrounded them. It was really hard being from San Jose back then. If you were from San Jose then you would have to fight at almost every show that was out of town. Now things are so peaceful at shows, I can go anywhere and not have to worry about it. It makes me sad to think of all kinds of Bodies shows I missed as a kid. I would say from 1999 to 2003, gangs were such a problem at SF and Oakland shows that it wasn't even worth going. I'm glad those days are behind us now.
This album on glorious red is one of my most important pieces of vinyl. TKO Records only used to press maybe /100 on color and the rest on black. This red vinyl is out of /100 and is impossible to find. I think the black vinyl is out of /900, but I'm not positive on that. It took me years (and lots of money) to acquire this. What's amazing is that the Bodies never really toured that much and weren't that big, but have a huge cult like following that will pay retarded prices for their vinyl. These guys maybe play about once a year now, and whenever they do it is a big deal. I saw them last year in Oakland and they almost sold out the Uptown, which is a huge club. I was shocked at how many people came out to see them and were going totally postal. (You can watch the footage I shot of it here). This is my 2nd most important record, after my Beltones "Lock and Load" 7" on clear.
This album is an absolute classic. Every song fucking rules. One thing about the Bodies is that pretty much all their songs sound the same. That is fine with me, because they are all awesome. They are all simple as fuck and very catchy usually with an easy sing along chorus. Their vocalist changes his voice drastically on certain songs on this album, to the point where it almost sounds like two different singers. No matter how Abe sings, it sounds incredible. His voice has always reminded me a bit of old Glenn Danzig ala Misfits (think "Hybrid Moments"...). My favorite track on this is "Down the Drain", a song about him losing a friend to the world of drugs. "I saw another plane go down in the neighborhood tonight, Saw another friend spiral down out of sight..."
Instead of a standard white sleeve or an insert it comes with a printed insert containing the lyrics on one side and a live shot and some info on the back.
The Bodies are deffinitely one of the most fun and entertaining live bands I've ever seen. They usually play somewhere in between really drunk and blacked out drunk. They have been known to fall around the stage and act a damn fool. Their singer always seems to forget half the lyrics and will just start singing non sense, and everyone loves it! Most of their songs are real happy go lucky and their shows are always a blast. Despite for a few years over 10 years ago where they had a lot of shit heads causing problems at their shows, their shows now are a total blast and everyone just has a great time. Last time I saw them in Oakland, their guitarist poured a full beer right on top of my head. All in good fun! Check them out live below playing "California Republic" to see how much fun their shows are:
And the song that started it all for me. "Pack Your Bags" which was on this release and Punch Drunk vol 1:
How about some good old NYC Oi? That's right the Templars have a new (which is actually old) release out on TKO Records. Wait, you're telling me the Templars are rereleasing old recordings? Surprise, surprise. This is a one sided 7" that is hand numbered out of /666 on black. I really messed up because I saw that Pirates Press had a limited edition white version up out of /50, and it sold out in like a half hour before I could get an order in. So I had to settle with the TKO limited version which came with a patch for the first /200 (boring!).
With the patch and etched B-Side, which looks pretty cool. Also hand numbered #87/666.
Now moving on...
Of course on 9/11 I always can't help but feel sorrow for all the innocent people that got killed. Of course this is not a political blog, and I don't want to say too much on here because I am really not out to offend anyone (unless if it's saying a record sucks!), but below is a great 9/11 documentary that I think everyone should watch if you haven't seen it. It discusses some of the interesting things that occurred that a majority of the American public have no idea about. I don't mean to sound stupid, but before I watched a similar documentary several years back, I never even knew a third building collapsed in NYC on 9/11! At the time the media covered it up pretty well and no one talked about it at all. Even to this day I ask people how many buildings fell on 9/11, and nearly everyone answers; "Two". Whatever you want to believe, I feel that this should at least be seen by every American so they can make their own opinion on the matter. My heart goes out to all the victims of 9/11 and their families.
Here it is boys, my 100th post! One that I've certainly been itching to write for some time now. Most of you are probably unfamiliar with the Beltones, who are originally from Florida and then moved to Texas. They were inactive for almost the last ten years until last year when they started playing shows here and there. If I had to only listen to one band on an island for the rest of my life, it would be the Beltones, without a doubt. I am all about lyrics, and I have yet to find any punk, hardcore, whatever band with better lyrics than the Beltones have. They're just fucking untouchable, no one really comes close. Check out the video for "Fuck you Anyway" at the bottom and just read those lyrics! Fucking epic! I started listening to them when I was 13 and have listened to them constantly over these past 12 years. This is the music that has been there to help me through the worst (and best) times of my life and has really kept me going.
Let me ask you, have you guys thought out this scenario in your head: your house is on fire and you only have time to save one record, which records would you save? Well without a doubt, I would save my copy of "Lock and Load" on Clear. This is the Beltones first release ever on Far Out Records and it came out in 1995. I don't know about how many were pressed on black, but there were /100 pressed on clear. I have never seen a clear copy go up for sale since I bought mine in 2006, and "Beltones" is always the first search I do every time I sign onto ebay. The black copies pop up every once in a great while, but even the black copies maybe will pop up twice a year. As far as I know, there hasn't been a clear copy on sale since 2006! At the time I paid $40 for this, which is an absolute steal! I'm sure I could put it up with a $200 BIN and have no problems getting it, but fuck that. This is some of my favorite Beltones shit ever recorded, all these songs were on their debut album "On Deaf Ears" but these were earlier versions of the recordings, and they are all a little bit slower and rawer. They just sound amazing.
Here is an equally hard to find vinyl, with early recordings two of their best songs ever "My old Man" and "Fuck You Anyway". This came out in 1996 on "Just Add Water" Records, and had /100 on White vinyl. Several months back, I had a chance to pick up a white copy of this release and I fucked up majorly. As the time ticked down, my $80 bid quickly got blown out of the water and doubled! It ended up selling for around $170 and at the time I was thinking "wow, that is just way too much money", but now that time has passed and I know that I may never see a white copy again for years, I am starting to think that I should have gone over $200 for it. Lord knows when I will track down that white copy, but when I do victory will taste so, so sweet. I'm happy enough to have a black copy, because even these hardly ever pop up.
Here is "Naming my Bullets" that was released on TKO Records in 1998. All of these songs are the same recordings as the ones featured on "On Deaf Ears" on TKO, so this isn't quite as special as their other seven inches which feature songs ONLY available on those vinyls. This was pressed with /900 on black and /100 on green. The black copies are usually not too hard to find, I usually see one pop up every few months and you can get one for under $20. However, I have NEVER seen a green copy go up for sale, ever! If a green ever pops up, I don't know if I would drop the kind of coin on it that I would for "My Old Man" on white, but I am definitely going to be a major player on it.
Here is their (by far) easiest to find vinyl, "Shitty in Pink" which came out in 2001 on Radio Records. I have the first pressing on black /1000. It also had a "tour pressing" with the Singers face imposed on the girl in the tub (pretty funny) out of /250, and /250 pressed on blue/green vinyl, with 50 of them being hand numbered with alternate covers. This was also repressed on 2011 on Modern Action records, with /300 on purple vinyl, /45 of which are on alternate hand painted covers. Confused yet? I never really felt the need to go after all these represses, but now I wish I did because I only have the most basic copy of the 2011 repress. Since there are so many different covers and versions of this release I never really actively pursued it, but hopefully one day I'll be able to acquire atleast most of those versions. This release has the song "Shitty in Pink" which was on their "Cheap Trinkets" album from 2001, and a cover of the Nips' song "Nobody to Love", which is a great cover.
So there you have it... My Beltones collection is FAR from complete, and even at where it stands I have been searching for copies for years. This stuff just doesn't come up very often (especially color copies), and when it does it is unfortunately out of my price range. This is a quest I will not give up on though, and I know one day I will have every piece to the puzzle. It may take me another 20 years, but hey it will happen. Thank you to everyone that has been reading my blog for the first 100 posts, keep coming back! Now for your listening pleasure here's "Fuck You Anyway" with lyrics:
"Tonight is the night that I come unglued. No longer will the beautiful people walk the streets and smile while I sit and stew. Been waiting all of my life just to give it to you. Gonna pay back all you generous souls and when I'm done you motherfuckers will all be through. Just kidding, please forgive me, didn't realize that the whiskey would hit me so quickly. I'll just grab my death and be on my way. Didn't mean to wreck your evening, don't you worry 'bout me cause I'm only bleeding. And before I go there's just one last thing I wanna say... Always taking back the things that I say and do. I never meant to hurt anybody, but there's something inside that just won't play it cool. I wouldn't mind beating all of you black and blue. So if you want me I'll be off in the corner holding back on saying what I really think of you. Just kidding, please forgive me, didn't realize that the whiskey would hit me so quickly. I'll just grab my death and be on my way. Didn't mean to wreck your evening, don't you worry 'bout me cause I'm only bleeding. And before I go there's just one last thing I wanna say... FUCK YOU ANYWAY"
Here's my copy of Teen Idol Eyes by Swingin' Utters. This is a really great 7" with a classic track that was on the Punch Drunk Vol. 1 Sampler. For being such an early TKO Records release by such an influential band, I'm surprised that these are still so easily available. You can even find them on the TKO Records website still! TKO pressed /300 on clear and /700 on black. That's actually alot of color copies for early TKO standards. Most of their releases were /100 on color. The Utters used to be a big freaking deal in the Bay Area. I remember when I was a little youngster they would always have the craziest shows and pack out every club they played, and were always incredible live. They actually still play often around here, but aren't as hyped and exciting as they once were. But when a band is around for almost 20 years what do you expect?
I find it funny that alot of the LP's are cheaper than the CD's according to this old TKO catalog flyer that was included. You have to keep in mind this was 1999! No one wanted those pesky big wax things anymore, CD's were the king back then. It's sad that some of the most influential and important TKO Releases never even made it to vinyl, like The Beltones - On Deaf Ears, Pressure Point - Life's Blood and the Punch Drunk Vol. 1 Compilation. I've already sent TKO Records messages in the past begging them to re-issue these on vinyl but I don't think it's going to happen. But hey TKO if you want to send me that Bodies LP for $8 then I'll pay that price all day!
Here's the Utters playing my favorite song by them, "No Eager Men" at the Gilman all the way back in 1995! Some of my favorite punk lyrics to boot: "He's just a shadow of what he used to be, until I put him in his place. She's just a memory that's scarred him horribly, just like the lipstick on his face. This side of paradise is slow, and no eager men go to a show, Except for me!"
So this will be the first post of a series of posts I'm going to do called "More than just wax", stuff that has been in my collection for a very long time that has special meaning to me and I'll post little stories with it. For a while now I have been just posting mostly new stuff that I've been getting in and have left out my most sentimental records because I just felt they deserved my attention for a nice long post. First we have The Forgotten's "Class Separation" 7" that was TKO Records' Round 2. The Forgotten is a band from San Jose that still plays every once in a while, but have been inactive for long periods between now and then. During the late 90's, early 00's street punk glory days, the Forgotten were so big they would pack out any place they played. They were truly the king's of the South Bay at the time, and anyone from other parts of the Bay instantly thought of the Forgotten whenever you mentioned San Jose. Some of my best memories from shows as a kid was from Forgotten shows. This was one of the first vinyls I ever bought and I'm amazed it even still plays since it's been spun so many times. I got this about 1998 or 1999 around the time the 2nd pressing came out, and spun this over and over again on my dads record player. This has got to be in all time top 10 favorite 7"s list, ever. This release really started my interest in collecting vinyl, and after this I started to transition from buying Cd's to vinyl. Thanks Forgotten!
The 1st pressing came out in 1997 and was on pink vinyl. I'm not sure of the pressing info on this, I think I read once it was out of 500. If someone could clarify that would be fantastic. As you can see in the first picture, the first and second pressings had slightly different layouts. This was recorded at Studio B, which at the time was recording alot of the Bay Area heavy hitters. This copy took me years to find, but I got one about a year ago off ebay for only $1. It amazes me how much street punk has lost it's value. I remember around 2001, a friend of mine sold his pink copy to another friend for $30 bucks, which was hard for us to wrap our little 13 year old minds around. I even see a pink copy up now on ebay at a BIN of $5.
Here is the 2nd pressing, the actual copy that I've had for years. I know they pressed a bunch on black, probably over a thousand and I think 100 on gray. I have been meaning to pick up a copy on gray, but I haven't found one for the right price. I've seen people post them for $25, but I'm not really willing to pay that much when I know I can probably scoop one sooner or later for only a couple bucks. This record is one of the records that really got me out and inspired to go to shows. I would always go to the Cactus Club on Sundays for their all ages punk shows and when the Forgotten would head line it would be all sold out. I got introduced to alot of my favorite music through the Forgotten, since because of them I bought the "TKO Records Punch Drunk Vol. 1" sampler which introduced me to many of my all time favorite bands. That sampler had the likes of The Beltones, Anti-Heros, The Bodies, The Templars, Pressure Point, Reducers SF, Swingin' Utters, The Workin' Stiffs, The Randumbs, Dead End Cruisers, The Truents and even US Bombs and Dropkick Murphy's were on that damn thing. This was probably the most influential CD on me ever and these are the bands that always have and always will mean the most to me. If anyone from TKO is reading this, PLEASE reissue that compilation on Vinyl! It is far too important to be wasting away on CD format. So there you go... Many of you grew up on hardcore but this is what meant everything to me and made me what I am today. Long live that Oi! punk sound. Check out the title track from this 7" below:
"The common man's screaming down in the halls, while Oi! Boy kicks down the fuckin walls"
I'm probably the last one to post about RSD 2012 but better late than never. There are still a few pieces I may be getting to complete the RSD 2012 collection, but we'll see. So let's get down to the nitty gritty...
Poison Idea's "Pick Your King" was without a doubt my number one target of all the RSD releases. I have never owned this classic on vinyl and it's on a very nice clear. Perhaps what made me most interested in this is the fact that it was put out by TKO Records. I have been collecting TKO Records vinyl longer than any other label probably, and have always made it a mission to collect (mostly) all their early releases. I was stoked to find one of these left when I showed up at my local store.
Since they were out of Blood for Blood, Misfits and Cause for Alarm, this was the next one on my list. Besides Ignite, I must admit that I had never really heard any of the "Big 4" that Rev released this year except this one. One of my old friends had made me an Ignite tape when I was in like 6th grade, and I remember liking it but hadn't heard it in forever and mostly forgot about it. In anticipation of RSD, I had to track down all the "Big 4" and download them to see what I was (possibly) getting into. This Ignite album definitely brought back some memories and I knew I had to have this one. This one was actually already sold locally, and I was pretty bummed. To my shock and surprise a week after RSD I was at the Street Light Records in Santa Cruz and found this in the "RSD" left over bin. Hell yes! This Purple Marble vinyl is definitely the best looking of all the RSD presses in my opinion.
Upon downloading all of the "Big 4", this was the only other release that I had planned on picking up. Definitely not my style, but rather catchy pop punk that also reminded me of being a kid. My original plan was to pick up just this and Ignite, however on RSD I could not find either of them. That is until b. murphy and Vinyl Noize held a contest where they were giving away RSD releases, and they were kind enough to select me! So about a week ago, this shows up in my mail box (as well as another nice surprise, that will be revealed below). Vinyl Noize fucking rules, OK! So thanks again murphy, you are the man!
I had no plans at all in picking up this Sense Field LP. When I downloaded it, I couldn't even listen to more than a few songs. Sorry dudes, just way too emo for my tastes. But when I got down there and I couldn't find anything except for the "Pick Your King" EP, the record nerd kicked in when I saw just one copy left of this and Into Another and a bunch of people milling about around them. Fuck it, I guess I'll pick it up and maybe trade it later with someone that appreciates it more. It is on a beautiful orange marble vinyl though.
I had no desire to own this release either, as I just can't even listen to the music. Not my style at all, but same as the Sense Field LP... With only one copy left, I didn't want to kick myself later for not picking it up when I had the chance, because I seem to be doing that way too often. So I pulled the trigger and yeah, this one will probably be traded as well.
Murphy was awesome enough to also throw in this Run DMC single with the Farside LP, what a kick ass dude! It's also on Profile Records, which is rad. Too bad this one doesn't have an "Age of Quarrel" labeled b-side, haha. This is a really cool addition to my hip hop collection, and this is actually the first Run DMC vinyl that I have ever owned. Thanks again Murphy! Now for those of you reading this, go check out Vinyl Noize and TeeTilDeath.
(Note: I'll probably update this soon as I add a few more additions.)
