200 POUND UNDERGROUND

FIRST, WE'LL TALK ABOUT THIS RAD ASS JOHNNY WASTE INTERVIEW AND THEN WE'LL TALK ABOUT TWINKLE...

Yo dudes/dudettes--

Check out this interview conducted circa NOW with Johnny Waste, guitarist for that almighty first string NYHC band, Urban Waste. Coulda done with more stories of sketchy NYHC street life circa '82, but the piece is interesting/informative/entertaining nonetheless. Catch it here--http://bareboneshardcore.blogspot.com/

And since I'm in the mood to smash skulls and skank hard, why don't we talk about some female British singers from the mid sixties? Twinkle strutted into the British music scene in 1964 with the rather creepy but beautiful self penned tune, 'Terry', an homage to a boyfriend who died in a tragic 'motor bike' accident. Yeah...a guy named Terry being a tough British biker...I can see that. Anywhos, the song went to number four on the U.K. charts and primed Twinkle to release a string of singles in England that didn't really match the success of 'Terry', but still made grown men want to don beehive wigs and wear white lipstick. Some of you might know her track 'Golden Lights', which was covered by The Smiths and was the B-Side to the 12" single of 'Ask'. Yes, I knew that off the top of my head. You can stop reading at this point if you want. I understand. That label I love so much, RPM, did up a CD a few years back compiling all of Twinkle's singles entitled 'Golden Lights' and it's quite something, let me tell you. The dichotomy in the material is somewhat disorienting. Tracks like 'Tommy', 'Poor Old Johnny' and 'I Need Your Hand In Mine' stick in the 'Cor blimey! Me boyfriend done left me and/or died' vein and might have you droppin' a salty tear for ole Twinkie. But then there's 'Ain't Nobody Home But Me', 'Take Me To The Dance' and 'What Am I Doing Here With You?', tracks that make you long for some adolescent innocence you never had. But I think I see a theme here...Twinkle meets boy at dance...or invites him over to her parents' barren house...or meets him in some strange town and has a fling...AND THEN HE DIES! Remind me never to go over her house for tea and blood pudding. But man, if you track this down (plenty of 'em over at Overstock.com) it'll have ya floatin' on clouds. More so than that live Warzone set with Tommy Rat singing? Well...I never said that...