ok im looking for a Boston band possibly a singer that probably never made an actual record I only heard the song on a rhino punk collection that was done by city I had the new york LA and boston CDs
and on the Boston cd is a song called “one and one is less than two” which is written out as a math equation and its a very darkly funny song about a couple that’s having a very public knock down drag out fight and every time I look for the song all I get is a bunch of you tube math videos …
Back in the early 2000s, KGB-FM, a classic rock station in San Diego owned by the corporate behemoth now known as iHeartMedia, inexplicably hired comedy-psychobilly singer Mojo Nixon as their weekday afternoon DJ, and he was fond of sneaking the Beat Farmers into the playlist, which is where I first encountered them.
Mojo was also fond of spinning some of his own songs, which definitely qualify for this thread in their own right.
Thanks to a thread on this board itself, I have been delving into obscure turn of the 70s rock, anywhere from psych folk to straight up hard rock to proggy influences. The words “rock and roll” reminded me of this obscure album that I found on YouTube, which starts off fairly rock and rolly. It has an excellent cover of Fire and Rain at 17:19, sung in that earnest way that only a hard rocker playing a slow song can sing.
If I’m not mistaken, Nixon co-wrote “King of Sleaze” with BF drummer Country Dick Montana. It’s the closing track on their epochal Live, Loud and Plowed set.
Back in the early 80s there was a rock band in Australia called Heaven. They sort of sounded like AC/DC, but with a saxophonist.
Budgie was a three-piece rock band from Wales. They looked and sounded a lot like Rush, but they were not trying to copy them. Still, everyone was comparing them to Rush, which really annoyed them, and it probably held them back from being more popular.
I’ll see your Mojo Nixon and raise you Dead Milkmen. I figure that if Mojo Nixon is obscure enough for this thread, then the band that name checks him is probably obscure enough as well.
The Dead Milkmen took their punk rock girl friends on dates in their Bitchin Camaros.
Phasors On Stun by FM
“Nothing is a dream until you wake up”
Oh, The Cretones. Their first album, Thin Red Line, was released in 1980. Decent music, but most notable for Linda Ronstadt covering three of their songs on Mad Love.
And for the fact that their bassist was Peter Bernstein, son of THE Elmer Bernstein.
Probably not “Rock and Roll”. but it might blow your mind
Just dropped in to say that I once saw Mojo Nixon open for Dead Milkmen at the Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The pit turned into a square dance.
I caught a couple Pleasure Barons (Mojo, Country Dick, and Dave Alvin) shows back in the day.
Not to TS, but would either band be considered obscure? Both were pretty well known back in the day.
Speaking of groups whose name ends in -tones:
I like a number of them, including the Fuzztones and the Spongetones. But especially the Fleshtones.
It was a choice between this and Screaming Skull.
And the Simpletones
For a while in the late 1980s, MTV had a call-in request show, where they would play the top 10 requests (with a 95 cent fee for the 900 number). They actually took requests, which included, at one time, both the Dead Milkmen and this.
Wire is fantastic! And they’re still putting out great albums. A top ten favorite band for me.
One of my friends wanted that “ear” shirt, and was willing to look for material to make one. Unfortunately, in this pre-Internet/Etsy era, she couldn’t find one.