At last we get to see Sid Vicious performing with the band.  In my last Sex Pistols post, it was Glen Matlock in the promo vid for “Anarchy in the UK.”  It’s probably not Sid playing bass on the actual track, but its cool to see the icon of the group thrashing about in this historic clip.  I’ve been staying in Australia for the last few weeks, and I recently got a coin in my change honoring the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton.  It was kind of horrifying that such a thing is stamped on the official currency, so I had to put up “God Save the Queen,” in honor of such a revolting display of unearned honor.  The song itself is fairly revolutionary, released in 1977, the year of Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee.  Johnny Rotten claimed the song was written out of love for the English people’s working class, deriding the monarchy as fascist, and proclaiming that England has no future.  It’s actually a complex idea about class warfare presented in the awesome straightforward punk rock format.  The song is filled with delicious riffs, and a perfect acid tipped vocal delivery from Rotten.  A true classic, enjoy.

Part 95 is a double dose of glorious rock and roll.  I’ve got the Beach Boys and the Ramones rocking the Bobby Freeman classic, “Do You Wanna Dance?.”  In the Beach Boys version, drummer Dennis Wilson takes the lead vocals, and man is he good.  Dennis was the only Beach Boy that actually surfed, and like his brothers and cousins, was a fantastic singer.  I love the Beach Boys version for their gorgeous harmonies and almost indie rock slacker like take on the song.  This video is also hilarious to see Mike Love just dance off on the side not contributing nothing to the song but Beach Boys vibe and attitude.  The Ramones version is just as good, if not better.  Recorded for Rocket to Russia, the Ramones are shown ripping their version of the song through the halls of Rock ‘N’ Roll High School, the 1979 Roger Corman cult classic.  The Beach Boys were always a favorite of the Ramones, and they bring all the high octane distorted punk joy they can to this number, making it one of the greatest covers of all time in my opinion.  So, in conclusion, the answer to the question is, yes, I wanna dance…RIGHT NOW!

Part 76 of my youtube countdown closes down punk week in a hilarious fashion.  It’s an old interview from the Howard Stern show featuring Joey Ramone and Marky Ramone going at each others throats with juvenile comic viciousness.  Marky calls up Howard complaining that Joey called Marky a drunk the other day.  Joey gets on the line and accuses Marky of having spread rumors about him on the internet.  The fight intensifies and devolves from there into petty name calling, a question into who is sober and who is not, and a cutting accusation of wig wearing.  It’s so funny because its a real fight and gives you an idea as to what band fights are like, the insecurity amongst members, and the fragility of their massive egos.  Happily, the fight does resolve fairly amicably, but probably because both Joey and Marky started to get embarrassed.  This is a great moment in punk rock history and a must listen.  Oh, yea, I included, “I Wanna Be Sedated” as a bonus video to serve as a nice chaser to the hilarious antics.  Enjoy.

Part 75 continues my unplanned punk week, this time with the legendary X Ray Spex performing their underground surf punk classic, “Identity.”  Never heard of X Ray Spex?  Well, they were an original punk group from London whose goal was to be “deliberate underachievers.”  Releasing only one album, Germ Free Adolescents, X Ray Spex were like a shooting comet of high octane punk rock.  They were fronted by Poly Styrene, whose voice traveled like a laser beam of effervescent power over roaring distorted guitars and awesome surfy saxophones.  Sadly, she just recently died this past April due to breast cancer.  This post is a tribute to Poly, her amazing band, and this amazing video.  Check it out.

Part 74 roars on, as I guess its punk week here on williesimpson.com.  This time I have the Ramones smashing through a blistering live performance of “Blitzkrieg Bop,” the lead off track from their debut record.  The Ramones, hailing from Forest Hill, Queens, NY, are probably the world’s first original punk rockers.  This video is amazing.  First of all, they are performing “Blitzkrieg Bop” in Germany of all places.  Second, its almost a note perfect recreation of the record, which speaks to the Ramones awesome live power.  Their energy and passion just fly off the stage, and off the screen.  This is one of the coolest documents in rock and roll history, and everyone who likes music needs to watch it.

I’m in a punky mood, so for part 73 of my youtube countdown, I have the Sex Pistols with their 1976 classic, “Anarchy in the UK” from their seminal LP Never Mind the Bollocks. There is not much I can say about this record that the video doesn’t give you.  Oh, its Glen Matlock on bass not Sid Vicious, (he must have been MIA.)  I like how Johnny Rotten is staged behind the drummer, you never see that in a band’s stage presentation.  I like this song for its musicality.  It’s got a sludgy almost phasered electric guitar sound, and Johnny Rotten’s vocal delivery has just the right amount of that classic English bite.  Lyrically, the song is genius, with the idea of the song right up front, no metaphor, no bullshit, and its FUNNY!  Most people like to associate danger and violence with the Sex Pistols, but I always associate humor.  They were funny in interviews, their lyrics were clever and sharp, and they were media pranksters.  Pretty cool.