The Oedipus Project
If there is a new New Jersey sound, The Gaslight Anthem are the purveyors. A cross between Springsteen and the Clash, the melodic title track of American Slang is the Song of the Day.
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“American Slang” by The Gaslight Anthem
We spun it old school at Spit on Saturday night. Some classic punk and new wave from the day. There were four of us spinning and here is what I played during my turn on the tables for your dancing and listening pleasure. Continue reading
In 1979 I created a punk rock dance club named Spit with Patrick Lyons, a local nightclub owner in Boston. Punk had grown beyond the live music venues and needed a place for like-minded people to gather and connect and dance. Initially open only on the weekend, I spun on Friday nights. On Saturday of this week there will be a Spit reunion and I will spin once again.
I have always had mixed emotions about reunions. Times once experienced cannot be recreated again. Plus, I live for new music and always have embraced the future. Yet, reunions do force one to pause and reflect. Punk revolutionized rock and influenced generations of musicians. Punk lived for the moment as there was “no future.” Well, the future is now and this will be some night! Preparing for my DJ shift this weekend, I have listened to volumes of songs from the day. Some have not stood the test of time, but others (though in some cases poorly recorded) still energize today. Here are a few that I will play at Spit.
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Magazine-“The Light Pours Out of Me”
Gang of Four-“I Love a Man in a Uniform”
The Clash-“I’m So Bored with the U.S.A.”
Gold Record awards are for over 500,000 albums sold. Platinum for over 1 million.
“I’m So Bored with the U.S.A.”
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The Clash first performed in the Boston area on February 16, 1979, at the Harvard Square Theatre in Cambridge, MA. It was a Friday evening and the band was scheduled to come up to the radio station for a late night interview with me. Unfortunately, it never materialized as our staff had just gone on strike. The new owners of WBCN had decided to fire half of the workers in order to break the union. We all walked out. Scabs were hired. Although we eventually emerged victorious, this is another story for another post. That evening at the concert Joe Strummer dedicated a song to me and wished all of us good luck in our struggle.
The Clash returned to Boston later that year and played the Orpheum Theatre on Wednesday, September 19, 1979. Sam and Dave were their support. After their performance the entire band joined me on my program as guest DJs. Here is a recording of what remains from that night in radio history with a increasingly drunken Clash playing their favorite songs, exposing their politics, battling with listeners and singing along to the Dave Clark 5 and the Village People! Yes, this did air live.
Oedipus & the Clash
