Track One by Mara

I actually had an entirely different theme in mind for the month of November, but that changed after I purchased Iggy Pop’s “Lust For Life”. I had never heard the album in its proper form, only individual songs being played independently of one another, so I knew that I liked the album, but I was unaware of the track listing. I had no idea that the title track was the first track and hearing the song as the lead-in for the album inspired me to change my theme, which was then further inspired by the lists of “High Fidelity”. I started to think about the list of the best side one, track one songs that Rob made and I felt like there was no reason “Lust For Life” shouldn’t be included. Welcome to my theme: Side One, Track One.

Artist: Iggy Pop

Album: Lust For Life

Year: 1977
1: Lust For Life

This song has been all over the place and mostly for good reason. It’s incredibly catchy, largely due to the massive drums; it’s a well-written message to the masses about fighting drug addiction, without being too preachy; thematically, it fits with the rest of the album, but it’s not the most haunting song. It’s frantic. It’s fun. It’s an exceptional first track. Plus, David Bowie was a producer for this album. Added bonus.



Remember when the Royal Caribbean used this song in a commercial? Nothing said fun to the Royal Caribbean more than a song with the lyrics, “No more beating my brains, no more beating my brains with liquor and drugs.” They strategically used the song in the ad, but that didn’t calm the outrage about how it was being used in such an outrageously incorrect context. Enjoy:

Artist: The Clash

Album: The Clash

Year: 1977

1: Janie Jones

“Janie Jones” is the first track on the debut album of one of the greatest bands in the entire history of music. The Clash decided to introduce this record with a song inspired by the real London madam, Janie Jones, and a general type of man who hates his job and relieves that stress with music, hookers and pot. It’s not the angriest song they’ve ever written, but it’s encouraging of telling off authority, quitting your job and taking control of your life, themes they repeated for the rest of the album and themes they continued to mature throughout their career. I love this band and I would have LOVED to be here:

Artist: Ramones

Album: Rocket To Russia

Year: 1977

1: Cretin Hop

“Rocket to Russia” is my favorite album by these dudes. With “cretin” meaning a stupid person and “hop” meaning an informal dance of sorts, this is pretty self-explanatory. The song is fast, powerful, and in your face:

Artist: The Heartbreakers

Album: L.A.M.F.

Year: 1977

1: Born to Lose

“L.A.M.F.”, which stands for Like A Mother Fucker, is both the debut album and only studio album that The Heartbreakers ever released. A handful of the members are now either dead, missing, or doing other projects, so that complicated any further ambitions, although many of them were in other famous punk bands so if you like the sound, you can hear them in other groups. Regardless of the fact that this band is a truly tragic disaster, formed by a group of heroin-addicted misfits, this album is remarkable. The first track always puts me in an anxious place (I didn’t want to say “breaks my heart”) because I’ve honestly never heard a song that is so passionate about expecting so little. Towards the end of this song the band sings, “born to lose,” and Johnny Thunders screams, “I can’t hear it!” and it gives me the chills every time. It’s like he is demanding them to believe it more, to say it louder, and to get out every foul feeling about being born to lose. 

Since this mix is going to Chris, a Replacements fan, I will note that Paul really loves Johnny Thunders. You may or may not already know that.

Artist: Devo

Album: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!

Year: 1978

1: Uncontrollable Urge

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeah!” – Uncontrollable Urge

I was recently explaining to Cody an annoyance I hold with the movie "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" because someone put a Devo poster in the character Mike Damone's room, and I don't believe he would have liked Devo, to which Cody replied, "Devo is for dorks." That sums it up. 

Mark Mothersbaugh is the only musician on this list I have come in contact with. When I was in high school he had an art exhibit that came through Phoenix as part of a monthly art walk that is held in the downtown area. He was standing in the gallery with a shirt on that said "I'm with stupid" and it had arrows pointing everywhere. I was way too nervous to say anything to him. 

Artist: Echo & The Bunnymen

Album: Porcupine

Year: 1983

1: The Cutter

I’m pretty sure this song is about how difficult success is in the music industry, so naturally it is the song that helped push the band into more success and radio time. It’s a good intro to their sound if you’ve never listened to them, even though it’s from their third album. I became an instant fan of Echo after hearing Ian McCulloch’s voice because the man can really sing. I definitely swoon over him, which is something a few or absolutely none of you may experience when you listen to this song. 

They are also featured in this: http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/alpacas-with-post-punk-hair

Artist: X

Album: More Fun in The New World

Year: 1983

1: The New World

Even though I’m not a native Angelino I’m really proud that this band is from Los Angeles because we need something to redeem this place. This is their fourth studio album and if you are a new fan and start with this album and move backwards, you will notice a change in their sound. This record is pretty polished and accessible, but it’s one of the greatest rock albums I have ever heard, with a strong track one, even though other stalwart X fans may disagree. I also really admire Exene Cervenka because she completely dominated in a genre of music that tends to be ruled by men. 

This is the only video I could find for this song:

Artist: The Replacements

Album: Let It Be

Year: 1984

1: I Will Dare

I’m going to try to explain my love for the Replacements in the most concise way possible, at a length that most of you are still willing to read. If you read stories about them from their main days, you’ll see that they’re total assholes, they don’t give a shit, but they also give a shit more than most people ever will. If you really are curious to learn more about them, there are some great books you can check out including “Our Band Could Be Your Life” and “The Replacements: All Over But The Shouting: An Oral History”. This is one of their most well known albums, along with “Tim”, my personal favorite. Peter Buck of R.E.M. plays guitar on this song and my favorite moment is when Paul comes in playing the mandolin. This song sums up a lot about the Mats. They would dare to succeed and dare to fail, as you can see from the name of this album, a story explained in one of those books, I can’t remember which one. They’re my favorite. 

Artist: Talking Heads

Album: Little Creatures

Year: 1985

1: And She Was

David Byrne is a person who makes it really hard for other people to be cool because he is the coolest. Apparently this song is about a girl Byrne used to know who liked to do acid near a chocolate milk factory. I don’t know what else to say. This is some of the greatest New Wave music ever. 

I couldn't embed this video for some reason, but it's really interesting, so just go here to see it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgSVTdAtNYE

Artist: Jesus & Mary Chain

Album: Psychocandy

Year: 1985

1: Just Like Honey

One of my favorite things about the Jesus & Mary Chain, besides the incredible talent of Jim and William Reid, is how frequently people debate the meanings of their songs. It’s not uncommon for a band to write about girls and drugs, but people occasionally reject that subject matter with Jesus & Mary Chain and try to demand the songs are about love. This song is a lead-in for their extraordinary debut album, and also a song that closes out the movie “Lost In Translation”. It’s great for the album, horrible for the movie, in my opinion. It’s definitely about a relationship, but mostly it’s about sex, and I do remember people commenting on how it was the perfect love song to close out that movie. I disagree, but decide for you:

My other favorite thing about the J&MC is the incredible personalities of Jim and William. 

Jim Reid: “I'm embarrassed to tell people what I do with my life, to think that what I do is the same as what Eric Clapton does. He's raping it, he's puking on it, he's pissing on it. For that reason I don't want to be a part of it.”

William Reid: “Whenever my girlfriend wears tights, I refuse to see her, I put her on the first train back to Hornchurch and tell her to come back wearing suspenders.”

They are also featured in this: http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/alpacas-with-post-punk-hair

Artist: Pulp

Album: Different Class

Year: 1995

1: Mis-Shapes

Pulp recently announced their plans to reunite and I couldn’t be more thrilled (I really want to see Jarvis Cocker in person because he's unbelievably beautiful). This album really helped push Pulp into the limelight of the Brit Pop movement, even though Jarvis had formed the band over a decade prior to the release. One of the things that I’ve always enjoyed about Pulp since I started listening to them is that Jarvis really enjoys wittily writing about being both an intellectual and a sexual person. He doesn’t compromise one over the other and it makes for layered albums as he often switches up the mood. So while this song is about an intellectual movement, the next song is about a steamy affair (seriously, he sings the song will heavy breathing and it’s kind of intense) and then comes “Common People” a pretty insulting song about a stupid rich girl Jarvis met in college. The album is really fun to dance to and I recommend checking it out. 

Artist: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

Album: Shake the Sheets

Year: 2004

1: Me and Mia

This song is about eating disorders and standards of beauty, but not in the hellishly painful way that "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera is also about those things. Ted Leo will never cease to be incredible at what he does. Let us all hope that when we are 40 years old we are anywhere near the level of cool that Ted Leo innately possesses.