Music Reviews

Richard Lester Meyers was born in Lexington, Kentucky on October 2, 1949. His father died when Richard was seven years old; he was then raised by his mother. He attended the Sanford School in Delaware, where he met Tom Miller (aka Tom Verlaine). They ran away from school together and were arrested in Alabama for arson and vandalism. Richard Meyers, who later changed his name to Richard Hell, moved to New York City to become a poet.In 1972, Verlaine joined Hell in New York; they added a guitarist, Richard Lloyd and became Television. They regularly played at CBGB and here Television played the anthematic “Blank Generation”. In 1975, Hell parted ways with Television because of creative differences. In 1976, Hell released the three song “Blan Generation” EP on Ork Records, founded by the late Terry Ork, manager of Television.The first track, “(I Could Live With You In) Another World” contains a funky, repetitive bass line, a meandering instrumental break, and a catchy chorus. The second track is “(I Belong to the) Blank Generation”, starts off with a guitar intro, after which Hell launches into his vocals: “I was sayin’ let me out of here before I was/Ever born, it’s such a gamble when you get a face”. This early version of the song is the same released on Stiff Records later that year, which can be heard on The Stiff Records Box Set (1992), although the version on the Ork Records compilation doesn’t have the surface noise. The third and final track, “You Gotta Lose” is a surprisingly upbeat boogie, again with a compelling base line and drum beat. The instrumental fade out is particularly good. “Another World” takes up all of side one, with side two split between the other two songs.Overall, I found this EP surpisingly melodic, punctuated by Hell’s bass line, and an excellent introduction to the music of Richard Hell. You can find all three tracks on the Ork Records compilation, released in 2015.

Here’s the playlist for 3-11-2025, a show in which I underwent some technical difficulties, read an article by James Bovard, debated the merits of NATO and had The Posies in the featured artist segment:

Hour 1

1. Dave Edmunds, “I Want You Bad” [Information (1983)]
2. The Tearjerkers, “Heart on the Line” [Murder Mystery B-side (1980)]
3. Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Dear Prudence” [Hyaena (1984)]
4. Matthew Sweet, “Nothing Lasts” [Girlfriend (1991)]
5. The Donnas, “Take It Off” [Spend the Night (2002)]
6. Thomas Dean Eubanks, “Oh Babe” [Rock City (1974/2003)]

This Day in Music

7. Tom Robinson Band, “4-6-8 Motorway” [Rising Free: The Very Best of TRB (1977/1997)]
8. Eric Carmen, “That’s Rock ‘N’ Roll” [Eric Carmen (1975)]
9. Vanilla Fudge, “You Keep Me Hanging On” [Vanilla Fudge (1967)]
10. Nina Hagen, “TV-Glotzer (White Punks on Dope)” [Nina Hagen Band (1979)]

Hour 2: Songs about hands

11. The Rolling Stones, “Hand of Fate” [Black and Blue (1976)]
12. Brinsley Schwarz, “Home in My Hand” [Nervous on the Road (1972)]
13. Foghat, “Home in My Hand” [Energized (1974)]
14. Aerosmith, “The Hand That Feeds” [Draw the Line (1977)]
15. Bon Jovi, “Lay Your Hands on Me” [New Jersey (1988)]
16. The Rubinoos, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” [The CBS Tapes (2021)]

New Music Express

17. Lady Gaga, “Abracadabra” [Mayhem (2025)]
18. Jason Isbell, “Ride to Robert’s” [Foxes in the Snow (2025)]
19. Bob Mould, “Breathing Room” [Here We Go Crazy (2025)]

Hour 3: Mandatory Mayall

20. John Mayall, “John Lee Boogie” [Rolling with the Blues (2003)]
21. John Mayall, “Don’t Start Me Talkin’ (with Buddy Guy and Junior Wells)” [In the Shadow of Legends (2011)]

Featured artist: The Posies

22. The Posies, “You’re the Beautiful One” [Success (1998)]
23. The Posies, “Who to Blame” [Success (1998)]
24. The Posies, “Grant Hart” [In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Pluggin’ In (Live) (2000)]
25. The Posies, “Flavor of the Month” [In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Pluggin’ In (Live) (2000)]
26. The Posies, “Solar Sister” [In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Pluggin’ In (Live) (2000)]
27. The Posies, “I Guess You’re Right” [Every Kind of Light (2005)]

Hour 4: Tribute to David Johansen (part two)

28. David Johansen, “Donna” [David Johansen (1978)]
29. David Johansen, “Frenchette” [David Johansen (1978)]
30. The David Johansen Group, “Cool Metro” [NYC 1978 Live (2004)]
31. The David Johansen Group, “Build Me Up Buttercup” [NYC 1978 Live (2004)]
32. David Johansen, “You Touched Me Too” [In Style (1979)]
33. David Johansen, “Flamingo Road” [In Style (1979)]
34. David Johansen, “Bohemian Love Pad” [Here Comes the Night (1981)]
35. David Johansen, “My Obsession” [Here Comes the Night (1981)]
36. David Johansen, “Here Comes the Night” [Here Comes the Night (1981)]
37. David Johansen, “Animals Medley (We Gotta Get Out of This Place/Don’t Bring Me Down/It’s My Life)” [Live It Up (1982)]
38. David Johansen, “Melody” [Live It Up (1982)]
39. David Johansen, “Heard the News” [Sweet Revenge (1984)]

And here’s the show:

Car Records was founded in 1977 by Chris Stamey of the dBs. Stamey was born and raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolona and moved to New York City in the 1970s. He founded Car Records, more or less to release his own material. He released a handful of singles on this label. Stamey released Chris Bell’s first (and only) single, “I Am the Cosmos” b/w “You and Your Sister”, noteable because Alex Chilton sang backup vocals on “You and Your Sister”. In addition, Car Records issued a mini-EP (or a maxi-single?), “Big Black Truck” / “96 Sec. Blowout” / “Death Garage” with future dBs guitarist Peter Holsapple.

“Big Black Truck” starts off with drums for the first five seconds, then a guitar joins for the rest of the intro. Then we get Peter Holsapple – doing his best Elvis impression – singing about interstates and the titular big black truck and its specifications. After two verses, there is an instrumental break (including drums); then we get one last verse, a chorus, then – two minutes and forty-four seconds later – the songs ends. It’s part power pop, part rockabilly, and one hundred percent infectious.
One the B-side, we get “96 Second Blowout”, which starts with a fast guitar riff, and is a lot more punk than “Big Black Truck”. It ends with the rhythm (and vocals) becoming much faster before ending abruptly. Then we get “Death Garage”, which sounds much more ethereal, even psychedelic. There’s even a sitar in the instrumental break. The lyrics are morbid: “Never mind the bruises and blood/The cause of death was carbon monoxide/In the death garage”. Unlike “Big Black Truck” and “96 Second Blowout”, the song ends with a fade out.
This record came with a picture sleeve which is both artistic and informative; it depicts the big black truck and tells us that it was produced by Chris Stamey and had Mitch Easter on drums and echoplexes. It’s an excellent single for those who liked the early years of the dBs. “Big Black Truck” is available on the Ork Records compilation released in 2015. The B-side apparently has not been released on CD, but is available on YouTube: