The Gunslingers - "Better Out Than In" (CD, EGO - 1995?)

I found this on ma hard drive courtesy of our good friend Steve. That's a MEGA RARE item of a fuckin' amazing rock & roll band from UK. I remember told him not to give away the link cause I wanted to post it in here and through all my fallen times, Steve waited and kept his promise. Thanks buddy! So it's time to fulfill mine. I know this 'Gunslingers' name has too many claiming its paternity but these guys are the ones, you really need to know! And if you are already a glam punk & roll fan, I bet you're familiar by now to their classic 'Never a Dull Moment' (if not, Midnight Rambler took care of you here). The sad thing's that there's not too much info out there and I really wonder why? You get loads of crap from stupid mediocre sleaze bands and when it comes to those that really matters, you have nothing, zero, nada...
Anyway, for all of you guys and gals having a Facebook account, I found this page for them, so if you ever get there tell them Mihaleez sent you, he-he.
And you know, what I hated on most sleaze bands (not all) and adored to the glam punk, were the same things from a different angle: The influences, the style and the production. The sleaze bands were more of a hairdresser's salon artifact in a time the glam punks were the streetwise motherfuckers of your bad fame corner. The first ones stole the Johnny Thunders rulebook and became millionaires and the last ones were the cursed flame torchers that stayed forever to a cult status but won the dignity and the appreciation of the true rock & rollers! And the Gunslingers were right up my alley with their Faces on puss and boots approach! Let's not forget the Crybabys connection... Not to mention they supported Motorhead... Hope someday someone pick on their stuff and make a proper re-release...

Sex Pistols - "Nevermind The Bollocks... Here's The Sex Pistols" (CD, Virgin Black Triangle Edition - 1986)

Hi there! Hope you're well most of you guys and gals, if not all.
I know it's been a while, since the last time. Many things have happened and to tell you the truth I wasn't sure if I want to continue this space. Actually, after the assassination of a young anti-fa rapper by the name of Killah P a few days back by the Nazis of Golden Dawn I felt that I was at the gates of depression.
The last four months I bought only a handful of CDs. I wasn't in the mood to hear or write something. Our lives hit bottom and we're still trying to keep this country in a Union, that clearly never worked and never will... The only things made me happy were my family and my basketball team, no other. Not even rock & roll, the most important element so far in my life..! I was checking to see if I had any comments to approve but I wasn't interested to reply... So, don't get me wrong that I didn't, cause we're in trouble down here. I talked to my faithful partner JP, only a few times... We're still trying to get ourselves together and put a new WAX shit, but as I already told you, I wasn't in the mood and it's all my fault.
So what happened? Straightly, I don't have a clue. I was ready half an hour back to press the 'DELETE BLOG' button and something hold me back. Fuck man, I was ready to throw over what I've built with your help and all this for some jerks that are ruining our lives... So, I'm not! Maybe you don't really care about what I'm writing this very moment but I understand. You came here for rock & roll and that's what I'm gonna give you. Cause rock & roll was ALWAYS this driving force that change your mood, your life, everything! I was listening to the latest Kurt Baker single and I was thinking "Man, this is what power pop should be!". I was hooked by its dynamics and felt for the first time in months, ALIVE! So, YES, rock & roll can clearly save your life and make you stronger.
I found also my old comrades from the Gang Bang zine and we're trying to get and publish again a new fanzine. It's time to feel again keen and to give my kids the dad they want and not the not feeling well jerk that comes from work after 10 hours and had nothing to share. Maybe two blogs and a zine are TOO MUCH but I'll try keep them all, so please be patient for the lack of constantly posts cause this time WTS is re-inventing its presence. There's no reason to post when I'm not in the mood just 'to post something', you know... I haven't talked as you imagine to JP, but I will and I'm pretty sure he's gonna back me up once again.
So, what do we have here? The most important LP in rock & roll history, in a very rare as those stupid audiophile dudes claim, pressing, with a dead flat transfer and a perfectly balanced sound. I was pretty sure this was a boot (there's no bar-code in the back) but from a (very) quick internet search I discover the opposite. The legendary now 1986 'Black Triangle Edition' is in fact a very rare Jap Toshiba EMI CD. Never had the usual OBI and it's celebrated by both fans and audiophiles as THEE one made justice! Not my rip, a Russian friend send it to me. I did notice as well many torrents with this but what the hell, here's another one if you 're interested.

Flamin' Groovies - "Shake Some Action" (LP, Philips - 1976 ~ French original pressing)

You know, taking breaks from something you REALLY love, doesn't mean necessarily you won't be interested anymore. Something like this, happened to both of us here at WTS the previous months. I've started a new blog the previous year exclusively dedicated to my fave basketball team and as the games were getting tougher and the attention on this bigger, I naturally turned my head more into it (the back to back European Championship title didn't help things either but you know, I'm not complaining at all!). Same thing for JP. He had found a place (a 'sonic-masonic temple' in fact as I like to call it, I'm teasing you bro, he-he!) to share his knowledge and passion on all things technical that I'm not able to understand and get right and as a result of all these was more or less, this site to have fewer posts as it used to had...
But we're back! We sit our lazy ass down once again for a double shot of WAX love and some mo' cool things for your listening pleasure, starting with this!
Perfect timing's everything in life, right?! I had in my mind to 'reply' to my friend Gyro and his great recent  Flamin' Groovies posts on Twilight Zone with something 'rare', but JP and without knowing it gave me something even better! A European (French) pressing of the 'Shake Some Action' masterpiece!! "Big deal" some might say, "who needs another SSA post"? Well, everyone! As my buddy mailed me:

This French pressing sounds different from the US or Canada LP I've heard (and also different from CD). They are quite muddy. Not as bad as LAMF UK, but too much bass and not much highs.The French version solves this issue.

Boom! The basterd was right once again!! I've had it in two supposedly different CD versions previously (mind you, the one a Jap) and never ( I mean, NEVER!) heard before this POP jewel sounding SOOOOO good and fresh! I was totally aware of the good job Philips did back then with the single (who handled Sire releases in Europe and picked mysteriously on the amazing Capitol 'version 2' take for the single - a BRILLIANT MOVE!) but not for the long play!!! Do I need to say more?

PS: Stay tuned and check constantly for re-ups...

Various Artists - "Shakin' Fit!" (CD, Candy Records - 1992)

Well, when was the last time this space honored the last word of its name?
Quite long back right? I was checking up to see what to offer and I discovered that somehow "Shakin' Fit!" slipped my attention. OK, three years back I had through these pages the first (vinyl and with less tracks) incarnation ("Whip It On'Em"), but here's the 'full' version, the one most people knows. Actually this CD gathers the first two vinyl volumes of the three these series had but I can't remember their names right now and Crypt's website doesn't have them now listed to make everyone's life easier. This is probably my fave of all these millions official/semi-official and bootleg comps about Rhythm & Soul. Great sound, great packaging and great song selection! And you know, some of these gems have been introduced to the younger generations by the Detroit Cobras' movement for the salvation of Black America's VERY IMPORTANT rhythm tradition! It's not the 'rare' factor that makes this CD such a COOL accumulation, but the SWEAT! You can actually smell a thousand people's body fluids (or more!) dancing to the sounds of Mickey Lee Lane's "Hey Sa-Lo-Ney", Don & Dewey's frenetic "Heartattack", Don Gardner's twangy ass-shaker "My Baby Likes to Boogaloo" or David Jones "Boss with the Hot Sauce" (you can do no wrong with a song having a title like this!). The Nuggets equivalent for 60s Rhythm & Soul!

The Nerves - "One Way Ticket" (CD, Alive - 2008)

Name your favorite power pop band quickly. Come on, you don't need to think about it, just drop the name your mind's database finds first.
Flamin' Groovies? OK, an obvious choice, but what I need is something less obvious, so drop another...
Badfinger? Mmmm, I'm sure you can do better, too boogie to fit in don't you think?
Cheap Trick? Way cool, but those hard rock twists they got sometimes... don't know.
The Raspberries? Wimpy and campy, you know...
Big Star? Now, you're talking man, but... a bit dark for a springtime post... Remind me about them when the winter is setting in, OK?
Dwight Twilley? Oh great! Wait a minute... I'm not in the mood to make a vinyl rip now man. I know I'm a lazy bastard but since Jean Philippe came to pic, my mind's have cool down about it so...
The Nerves? BINGO! I thought you never gonna tell it man! You know, I must admit I'm cheating a little here cause that's what I had in my mind from the first moment but I thought it was easily for someone knowing my taste which is probably my fave powerpop group, man! The words 'seminal', 'trademark', 'irresistible', 'ultimate' are synonymous with the Nerves short lived existence. What you get here's everything! The beyond any critic classic 7'' EP, the embryonic Paul Collin's Beat diamonds ("Walking Out on Love", "Working Too Hard", "You Won't Be Happy"), bonus studio material, live and demos. More or less the varia Nerves output. I adore Paul Collins Beat's first two and all Plimsouls works equally but let this be the subject of another time's case. After this, you have really no excuse to cite "Hangin' on the Telephone" as a Blondie tune...