Bad Brains: Black Dots
1996
Format I Own it on: Vinyl
Track Listing: 1. Don't Need It 2. At the Atlantis 3. Pay to Cum 4. Supertouch/Shitfit 5. Regulator 6. You're a Migraine 7. Don't Bother Me 8. Banned in D.C. 9. Why'd You Have to Go? 10. The Man Won't Annoy Ya 11. Redbone in the City 12. Black Dots 13. How Low Can a Punk Get? 14. Just Another Damn Song 15. Attitude 16. Send You No Flowers
Apparently, somewhere in the late 90's someone discovered a Bad Brains album that nobody put out...Wha huh?!? Recorded in 1979, this predates the ROIR album and features some overlap but probably less than you might think...There's like, what? 8 utterly unheard compositions here in addition to the 8 classics presented here in completely different versions...
The '79 Bad Brains were a click slower than the '81-'82 Bad Brains of ROIR, which you would think would hinder the enjoyment of the songs, but it doesn't...They're just as entertaining played at any speed...The average Bad Brains song is so damn fast that some of the details can come across as a blur, but on this album you get a chance to step back and get a good look at the moving parts, which is interesting (except the title track which is odd and fast as fuck)...
Not to mention, you get some insight into HR...Prior to hearing this, I had no idea whatsoever what HR's infuences were...His blend of singing, screeching, spasming, and jabbering is so unique that I didn't know how he could have possibly arrived at the delivery...Turns out, you can hear a very pronounced Johnny Rotten influence on some of HR's vocals here...Huh. Who knew? "Redbone in the City" is a great example of the Bad Brains/Sex Pistols hybrid...
What's even more mind-boggling is that, in the liner notes, this album comprises all the material the band wrote in the first month of its existence....Which explains song titles such as "Just Another Damn Song"...Oh yea, the liner notes also inform me that HR was a waiter at a steakhouse?!?!?! This record is really just blowing my mind on all levels at this point...
So happy that someone finally got around to putting this out...I've been trying to find a copy for yeeeeaaaars....I remember seeing a CD version of it at a Circuit City back in the early 90's but I passed over it for something else that I'm sure was nowhere near as awesome as this...Then I spent a couple decades trying ot find it again to no avail until I ran across a vinyl copy hanging on the wall at Eastside Records...Sold!
Here's "Don't Bother Me" by the Bad Brains...Enjoy...
Bad Brains!: Pay to Cum/Stay Close to Me
1980
Bad Brain Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl
Track Listing: 1. c 2. Stay Close to Me
"Pay to Cum" is to hardcore what "Blitzkrieg Bop" is to punk. The original text. A genre codified. The how-to manual. The first and still the best. There's a cosmic consciousness contained within that very few (if any) other hardcore bands ever obtained...
Recorded about 6 months after the "Black Dots" version, while they share a similar arrangement (keeping what is quite possibly the fastest cowbell playing ever recorded) the differences are striking.The single take is faster and more furious...Darryl Jennifer and Earl Hudson (the rhythm section) run the five minute mile in roughly a minute thirty...
And look! Lyrics! I had no idea that "Pay to Cum" had real lyrics. I just figured HR was always singing, "Numma numma numma numma numma numma numma numma NO!" But here, in black and white, are actual words...Although only extreme speed readers will be able to read along with the song playing...
This single is a straight-up classic and I think every punk enthusiast owes it to themselves to sit down and listen to the original "Pay to Cum/Stay Close to Me" single...To experience a pivitol moment in music history in its original form...
Here's "Pay to Cum" by the Bad Brains...Enjoy...
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