there is something goin' down

Today's post features a trio of tracks plucked from the grooves of Saturday Night Pogo, "a collection of Los Angeles new wave bands" released by Rhino in 1978. I found the album in the "various artists" Nuggets store in Kenmore Square sometime in the summer of 1992, and it set me back all of two dollars and ninety-nine cents.

Saturday Night Pogo also happens to be the only album I ever purchased the store, though I kind of regret not picking up the copy of Regina's album I saw in the dollar bin while I was there. That's not a dig at Nuggets, mind you. It had everything I could possibly want in a used vinyl store...except records I was interested in purchasing, though I did buy a number of old issues of Creem there (including the one covering the Sex Pistols ill-fated American tour).

Early punk compilations are always historically fascinating -- even when the material, as in the case of Saturday Night Pogo, is mostly uninspired -- because the genre's boundaries hadn't yet hardened into easily categorized shapes. In the early stages, punk was a matter of self-identification rather than a sonic template (three chords songs clocking in at under three minutes). While there were distinct sources of inspiration, the "anything goes" ethos allowed a host of acts -- whether cynically, cluelessly or sincerely -- to adopt the "punk" (or if they had commercial ambitions, "new wave") label.

In the case of Saturday Night Pogo, unfortunately, this meant a heaping load of so-so Stoogean and garage rock-inspired tracks with some cartoony "punk" efforts thrown in for good (and not-so-good) measure. The Dils (transplants from the San Francisco scene) and future AOR staples The Motels both contributed to the album, as did the Berlin Brats (who appeared with The Dils in Up In Smoke's Battle of the Bands), but none of the other major players associated with the early L.A. punk scene were represented. That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing in and of itself, but it this case the end result comes off as a c-list predecessor to 1979's Yes L.A. compilation.

Like I said: a historically fascinating (and brilliantly-titled) album, but an essentially disposable one.

VOM - I'm in Love with Your Mom - It's cartoony punk-by-numbers, but manages to pull it off in the most blatantly crass manner possible. VOM was fronted by music critic and provocateur Richard Meltzer, and during its brief career specialized in over-the-top shock tactics at the band's live shows. A couple of the band's members went on to form the Angry Samoans after Meltzer's departure.

Needles & Pins - I Wanna Play with Guns - Good (but not great) femvox power pop with both 60's retro and 70's punk flourishes.

The Hebe Geebees - Night Fever - A throwaway gag meant to justify the compilation's title, but one that outshines the more serious efforts. It also anticipated this film by a good two decades.