Show #104 July 13, 2013

I Wanna Rock, Elaine!

Elaine- The Smithereens Green Thoughts
Do Anything You Wanna Do- Eddie And The Hot Rods Life On The Line
I Wanna Be- Arlis Titan: It's All Pop!
I Wanna Know- The CRY! The CRY!
I Wanna Know- Kevin K And The Hollywood Stars Cool Ways 
I Don't Wanna Know- The Chords This Is What They Want
I Don't Wanna Be In Love- The Last L.A. Explosion! 
I Don't Wanna Be Your Everything- Happiness Factor Self Improvement? 
^I Wanna Be Sedated- The Ramones Road To Ruin 
I Wanna Be Rich- The Marshalls Gettin' Out EP
I Wanna Be Me- The Stowaways I Wanna Be Me 7"
Do You Wanna- The Wayward Youth El Mundo 7" 
Do You Wanna Love Me?- Paul Collins King Of Power Pop 
Do You Wanna Break My Heart- The Sweat No More Running 
*I Wanna Rock- Twisted Sister Stay Hungry (#68 Billboard Hot 100, 10/20/84)
*I Wanna Be With You- Raspberries Fresh Raspberries (#16, 11/25/72)
*Do You Wanna Hold Me?- Bow Wow Wow Do You Wanna Hold Me (#77, 4/23/83)
*Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)- Joan Jett and The Blackhearts Greatest Hits (#20, 7/31/82)
I Don't Wanna Hear It- Shoes Shoe's Best 
I Don't Wanna Cry- The Keys I Don't Wanna Cry 7"
(And) I Don't Wanna Be Like That- Groovie Ghoulies Go! Stories 
I Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Wanna Get Rid Of You- Psycotic Pineapple s/t 7"
I Wanna Destroy You- The Soft Boys 1976-1981
I Wanna Hate You- Hundred Million Martians Martian Arts 
>I Wanna- The Platters I Wanna 
I Wanna Stay All Night- The Flashcubes Bright Lights 
I Wanna Be The One- The Yum Yums  Whatever Rhymes With Baby 
Doncha Wanna- Tinted Windows Tinted Windows 
Don't Ya Wanna- The Reducers Guitars, Bass and Drums
Don't Wanna Go- Earth Quake Most Fun You Can Have with Your Clothes On: Beserkley Story
I Wanna Be A Lifeguard- Blotto Hello! My Name Is Blotto What's Yours?
(I Wanna Be A) Policeman- The Cheaters Triple A
I Wanna Be A Hero- Incredible Kidda Band Too Much, Too Little, Too Late
I Wanna Thank You- Sloan Navy Blue

^Power Pop Peak:   Released in 1978 and again in 1980- never charted!

*SacroSet:  Hit "Wanna" Songs

>Power Pop Prototype:  1957

Rush in 1976

In the late 70's there was a very interesting transition in my music tastes.  At one point I would have told you my favorite bands were Rush, AC/DC and The Ramones.  Thinking about these three bands now, in this order, tells me that Devo were really onto something with their theory of "de-evolution."  On one side is Rush, one of the most complex rock bands ever, both musically (they were playing "math rock" years before the term was even invented) and lyrically (just listen to the 20 minute opus "2112" about a dystopian future where a lone hero with a guitar goes up against the dreaded Priests of the Temple of Syrinx).  

AC/DC in 1978

In the middle is AC/DC:  blunt, heavy riffage (though still far beyond my meager musical abilities) and

The Ramones in 1978

numerous songs about testicles; seriously "She's Got Balls," "Big Balls," Snowballed," "Ballbreaker," etc. Then you come to The Ramones and the genius of simplicity.  It's like Rush is a phaser attack, AC/DC is a nuclear blast and The Ramones are a tidal wave- all three will kill you, but in vastly different ways.

I disavowed Rush during my high school punk years but, despite what I may have told my friends at the time, I've never turned my back on AC/DC.  I could make the leap from The Ramones back to AC/DC easily but the next step back to Rush seemed like a million miles away in a direction I wasn't interested in any longer.  Admittedly, I love those rare occasions when "Working Man" or "Fly By Night" come on the radio (I was done with the band before their 80's hits like "The Spirit Of Radio" and "Tom Sawyer," but I like hearing those too).  My favorite scenes in the Paul Rudd/Jason Segel movie I Love You, Man were those where the two bonded over their love of Rush.  Even so, unlike AC/DC and The Ramones, Rush hasn't graced my turntable much in last 30 years or so.

On The Ramones first album Johnny's guitar is on the right and Dee Dee's bass is on the left.  Once I figured this out, I'd turn down Johnny and follow along with Dee Dee to figure out the songs on my guitar.  I'd never been able to do this with any of my other records and boy was it empowering.  (Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson's stuff is amazing but hard enough to decipher with my ears let alone my fumbling fingers).  And The Ramones lyrics are just awesome.  Most of the songs on their first album have 30 words or less and 28% include the word "wanna."  As illustrated by this companion graphic to the one at the top of the post, The Ramones "don't wanna" do things almost as much as they "wanna" do them.  

Tonight's Power Pop Prototype, "I Wanna" by The Platters, from 1957 shows that "wanna" has been a force in rock and roll from the beginning.  To me this is the genius of The Ramones and Punk Rock- it took the music back to its roots.  By the mid-70's a lot of "rock" had become pompous "art," far removed from its humble origins (The Dictators and I blame Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band).  Punk was a big slam on the reset button and it all started with The Ramones.  Interestingly, thanks to the "wanna" theme this episode of ALL KINDSA GIRLS includes more songs than any other- 34 to be exact.  Something about "wanna" inspires brevity I guess.  Think about it, can you imagine a 14 minute Rush song with "wanna" in the title?  (I can't, but I must admit it's fun trying.)

The Power Pop Peak tonight, The Ramones "I Wanna Be Sedated," failed to make the Billboard chart on its initial release or when it was re-released on the Times Square soundtrack (I'll come back to that film sometime- it's worthy of its own post).  The good news is that I now hear "I Wanna Be Sedated" on the radio at least once a month, so the song has taken its rightful place in our culture. 

Nica, Michael, Jack

You might not have noticed this, but in the last post about Bottle Rock Napa, my daughter Nica is wearing a Ramones t-shirt in the picture with Michael Franti.  She picked the shirt out herself and I tried not to make a big deal about it when she came downstairs with it on, but it was a very proud moment for me as a father.  The funny thing is most of the people who said "cool t-shirt" to Nica that day were dads just like me.

Finally, I've got to send out honorable mention to Bay Area rock and roll greats Psycotic Pineapple (I wrote about them last year in this post).  The full title of their song from tonight's show is:

"I Wanna, Wanna, Wanna, Wanna, Wanna, Wanna, Wanna Get Rid Of You" - how cool is that?!?

Also, credit where credit is due, the original Ramones graphic in this post was created by this guy and is actually a pretty funny comparison with The Misfits:

Streaming/download link for this week's show is below
ALL KINDSA GIRLS #104