Faux Fu

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Most Dangerous Drug!

I wrote about Tav Falco's Panther Burns here.  I mentioned that I loved the liner notes in the little booklet that comes with the CD.  And well, you ask me, "sunnyjimmy,  just why do you love them so much?"


Well, you get three takes (Tav Falco,  Ross Johnson & Ron Miller) on the band.  And the writing from all three is funny and insightful.  It is the "Lore & Testament" of  a band that lived on the margins of the margins of the Memphis scene in the early 80's.  They help build the legend, even as they illuminate the crash and burn nature of the endeavor.


The band had a great punk mentality which is certainly reflected in the "Behind the Magnolia Curtain" music.  So anyway, I actually re-read the liner notes and I wanted to point out some gems...


Ross Johnson (drummer): "I see punk rock as something primarily authored by rock critics, particularly Lester Bangs, Richard Melzer, Greg Shaw, Nick Tosches, and Dave Marsh.  It began as a literary movement, I believe; the music came later."


And this on what "punk rock meant to him:" "It saved my life for better or worse.  It gave me hope which is, of course, the most dangerous drug of all."


Amen on that Brother! 

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