Siouxsie & The Banshees - Peel Session, 29th November 1977 cassette

We don't smoke in the house, which is I guess a good thing, odor, smoking less and so on, but God there are times when it would be nice to be able to smoke and be on the computer at the same time.  Anybody got a spare laptop?  :-D

There have been many times in my life when this tune was the sum total of my person experience and opinion on relationships.

It's funny how we feel sorry for ourselves when we've been "done wrong" in relationships, yet there's mostly just a feeling of relief when we are the ones who have "done wrong".  I guess Suicidal Tendencies really had something going with that first LP as so many of the songs like that one or the "hits", 'Institutionalized' or 'Subliminal' were so easy to relate to.  I was very impressed, in what was it, 83 0r 84 when it first came out, but was less impressed with the whole Suicidal gang.  Rat packers, just like every other so called gang of tough guys.  Wish had something rare to share by the band but I've just got that LP and 'Welcome to Venice', but I'm sure everyone's heard those. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0s_uhi0Wu4&w=560&h=315] Not by a long shot do I think I'm unique in sometimes wandering in a seemingly aimless fashion or just plain old dead set on a mission to find something specific on Youtube.  Fucking IMMENSE site with these mysterious saints of the music lover surrounded by masses of idiots.  Sites like my humble Mustard Relics are in a losing battle for the attention of a select few, when confronted by monsters like Youtube and Facebook.  Fuck it, we'll keep plugging away, knowing that we are morally obligated to persevere.  So I take from monstrous behemoths like Youtube (who profit in the billions and yet I still support them), using a marvelous tool of imaginative pirates like, JDownloader and tear the music right out of the videos.  Not selfishly of course because here they are in semi secrecy for my 5 or 10 friends.  Almost self destructive in a sense because it detracts from the main post/topic but somehow it all makes sense and is cohesive in my mind.  So... I was in a folk mood the other day and ran across this one (Punk way before punk was born), Pete Seeger - What Did You Learn In School To the right there on the Youtube page, whenever you watch a video, you get suggestions and ran across another piece of Pete Seeger deepness. Pete Seeger - Which Side Are You On Needless to say (as you read on or not) I took that song and beat it to death all over Youtube.  For a while there when I was a 24/7 drunk, before I said fuck it and bought my liquor by the fifth or the half gallon, I enjoyed those little airplane (single shot) bottles hooch.  When I was desperate I would take 20 or 30 of those, so called empties, and turn them upside down over a glass until the last little leftover drops were free of the tiny bottles.  If I had enough, it might add up to a shot, or enough to take a little bit of the edge off until the liquor store opened up.  What better song to collect drops of to add up to one decent drink, with it's socialist leaning even as masses of ignorant accuse "our" president of being a Socialist.  I'm still not a big fan of the guy but then again there would have to be a drastic change (you might say revolutionary) in the figure in general. They were different times back then, but as long as there are gluttonously wealthy people, a fair wage for whatever it is that people are doing to help those people get that way, it will always be relevant.  The song wasn't written by Mr. Seeger, but by a woman named Florence Reese. A hundred tons of emotion and passion in a simple tune like that, here's the lyrics.  As I've done before, once I've found the original, I want to hear other groups do their take on a tune. I posted a tune by these guys before, from the Give 'Em The Boot 2 comp. Their take on it is kind of what you'd expect kind of a pub chant, working class Oi! kind of thing which in this case works for me. Dropkick Murphys - Which Side Are You On They do it in their live sets apparently too. Dropkick Murphys - Which Side Are You On (live) I've never strayed into the Natalie Merchant camp, but she does have a VERY pretty voice. Kind of a Joan Baez folky hippy kind of thing. More sad than a call to action. Natalie Merchant - Which Side Are You On Her live version just doesn't sound as good as the studio one. Natalie Merchant - Which Side Are You On (live) This Greek lady, I think, has a perty voice too but now that I think about it I'm not sure that's what the song calls for. Νατασσα Μποφιλιου - Which Side Are You On This rap tune samples the chorus, of I don't know who's version. Not bad if you dig rap and kinda cool because in a distant way, it stays with the theme, in that they are dissatisfied with the status quo. Rebel Diaz - Which Side Are You On These guys kind of have a fun version and have changed the lyrics to make it more about the system and poke a little fun at hippies at the same time. Wahoo Skiffle Crazies - Which Side Are You On This is easily one of my favorites, Billy Bragg changes the lyrics to give it an English twist and electrifies it, with the end result of nailing it. Billy Bragg - Which Side Are You On (1985) Germany This next one was from a KXLU thing called "Demolisten", you L.A. heads should be familiar with that historic Loyola Marimount radio station. These guys blew me away with their self described "L.A. Folk Death". I apologize for the low quality of the rip, I take em as I get em. Los Duggans - Which Side Are You On (live on demolisten KXLU) Got diverted after that one and had to check out some more by those guys at their site appropriately called, Los Duggans. Do yourself a favor and listen to this rager and then go get their CD like I'm going to. Los Duggans - Poor Boy in Jail After doing all that bullshit, basically masturbating in binary, I found out that this site did this in may of this year, FUCK! Oh well I'm drained. Don't you just love the clarity of my prehistoric digital camera?  Couldn't find a scan to steal so as you've seen before that's what you get.  Ah, Siouxsie, the stuff teenage crushes are made of.  Less lustful than say the blue ball infatuation of Wendy O. Williams, but of course the music and the musicians themselves are mountains more than that.  This was/is some serious shit.  I only saw The Banshees once, much later than this in 1987, during their Peek -A-Boo tour.  Insanely good and a contrast because I had seen Yellowman the previous night at the same venue in Berkeley, California.  Even though I was with a woman I was seeing at the time (long story), I was mesmerized.  More than that was that they put on an out of this world performance.  Songs from every record up to that point and it all came out perfect (maybe it was just the super high quality bud I had, and shared at both shows). I have most of what Siouxsie officially put out whether it be with the Banshees or the Creatures, but not really any rarities. In high school it was mostly the Bau Haus, Jesus & Mary Chain, Love & Rockets crowd that was into her, but I always figured that her roots were punk so I wouldn't have to answer to the punk rock rule writers. Stopped following her 10 or 15 years ago so I don't know what made me put this one on the plate today. You can get all this from the recently released 'Siouxsie and the Banshees at the BBC' 3 CD/1 DVD set, so I'm not really providing with you much more than a sample of some of my favorite stuff. Dig it or don't. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBxYKO6hDy4&w=560&h=315] Not like I haven't babbled on enough so we'll keep this short. Stumbled upon these a while back, I can't remember which site, the 'Love in a Void' take on this is well worth it. Later. Track Studios 1977 20th Century Boys Capitain Scarlet Love in a Void Psychic Scrapheap