Saturday, September 16, 2017

Various Artists - "Born To Lose - A Tribute To Johnny Thunders" (3xCD, Skykrebs Records - 2009)

Oops, here I am again!
How many tribute albums have you bought people and how many of them are worthy of your hard earned spent money? Not much right? OK, let's make it easier. How many tribute albums have you downloaded so far and you've been bored to death for the time you spent on 'em hearing? Not so much, again, am I right?
Well, for some very strange reason this one even though was probably of the best around and surely the best on our beloved Johnny Thunders, never got the credit. I mean, even fuckin' Discogs doesn't have it on (wtf)! And if the producer had it reduced to a single disc it would have been the ultimate, but what the hell, the more Genzales the better, right? RIGHT!
And thanks to the old pal of the blog, Steve, came to my own hands too a couple of years behind. Here's the story: I was looking for material The Waldos haven't had anywhere else and I came across this. Three tracks man! The Waldos on "Jetboy", Walter on "Short Lives" and Tony Coiro with "Blame it on Mom"! I remember myself searching for it for quite a lot but I wasn't able to track it down in a reasonable price, cause you know they weren't many places have it on their vault. So I asked Steve if he was sitting on and the reply was a link with full scans and 3 CD rips! The tags was a mess but who cares, do something for yourself you lazy prick and so I did! The performances doesn't go below good and the names are at least underground scene thugs. My beloved Devil Dogs with a rip-roaring version of "I Wanna Be Loved", Blanks 77 with "London Boys", The Stiffs take on "Crime of the Century" (with a lil bit of Sex Pistols...) or Nine Pound Hammer ("Let Go") and New Bomb Turks ("Bad Girl"). Impressive, huh? Except for the Waldos familia, there are plenty of other people who knew and played with Johnny over the years (Buddy Bowzer, Jeff Magnum, Andy Shernoff, Alison Gordy etc) or people with more maintream creds (Jesse Malin, New York Loose). And oh, there are also a few surprises (listen for yourselves for 'em) and many a guest star if you read the extensive liner notes carefully. In other words people, this boxset is a must for anyone who is a fan of Thunders or The Dolls or The Heartbreakers.

Cheers!