45 X 5: SOME RECENT VINYL FINDS

I don’t know how to tell you this … but I really like to go look for records, and if circumstances permit, I like to to buy those records, too. As people who make the mistake of going to record stores or yard sales or some random house with me discover, I can easily bleed away hours flipping through stuff. This is less some super-elite digging technique and more that I can never remember exactly what I’m looking for at any given moment … so better look at every single record to be safe, right?

This is also a good way to kinda blunder into random things I would never think to ask for, like Tim, the Batman record Sun Ra made and Sex For Teens … For Teens. And so I figured every so often I’ll put up some 45s I have added to my disorganized stack of 45s, so maybe you will discover something that makes you look through every single record in the store, too. For this latest installment, let’s check out …

THE SWEET – WIG WAM BAM
This is like a $1 record in the UK, where I assume thrift stores are full of old glam and reggae 45s, but it took me a weirdly long time to dig up here. The Sweet are always good for a killer B-side, like “Man From Mecca” or the hilariously crass “Someone Else Will,” but this is one of their best A-sides. This is like two leather jackets away from being a Ramones song.

THE OSMONDS – TRAFFIC IN MY MIND
There are only three Osmonds songs you should look for. (I know, three more than you thought.) “Crazy Horses” is the most popular—well, that’s not the right word really, but it’s their most “Haha, no way!” song. I forget the second but it’s less ridiculous and just as shreddy, and obviously it made a giant impression on me. This is the third, and by far my favorite. Would you know it was the Osmonds if I hadn’t told you? Exactly.

THE FLAMIN GROOVIES – SLOW DEATH (“LIVE” VERSION)
I love the Flamin Groovies. I wish that a) there were still bar bands left and b) they all sounded like the Flamin’ Groovies. This comes from their punkest live-to-tape session, done after they’d seen the Stooges and the MC5, I think, and to me is the definitive version of their classic “Slow Death.” “Let Me Rock” and “Dog Meat” are on this EP, and are also great. You can get all this stuff on one handy LP from Norton, who deserve a big bulging bag of your money anyway.

SOGGY – WAITING FOR THE WAR
These French freakers probably never saw the Stooges or the MC5—actually, the MC5 did hang out in France for a while, I think—but I’m sure they would have lost their minds if they had. This late 70s-early 80s band was rediscovered a bit back and by now have two out-of-print retrospectives of every rocking second they ever put to tape. This is from a reissued 45 that has two of their best songs, though, so you can just get this and feel like you’re doing OK. B-side is just as good and even soggier. Also please, watch the video above. The visuals are vital.

JADE – PAPER MAN
As spotted in that new Enjoy The Experience book—which is tons of fun to read—and on the legendary Chains and Black Exhaust comp. B-side above is just relentless riffin’, and the A-side is a good fast funky song that asks, ‘Does your booty shake for money?’ A 45 with something for everybody!