My brother was the hip-hop and rap expert. I was more into anything off the radar, like Landscape, The Flying Lizards, Oingo Boingo, etc.
I will never forget two albums that came to me from the same kid, also seemingly not too concerned about whether he was “authentic” to a given scene or not - he gave me two cassettes after track practice - copies of copies, probably - One was Floodland from Sisters of Mercy. The other was It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back by Public Enemy. He said “you need to listen to these”. Liked Sisters; it was okay and seemed quite new (to me) at the time. These days it strikes me as not their best work and Unknown Pleasures (later) made far more of an impression. But…Nation of Millions. Whoa. That seemed to just open a whole new…thing. I mean the production on that, the energy, the everything. To me, with the equipment I had (total garbage), it seemed to be on par with something like Floyd or Zeppelin, which the “older kids” seemed to own, but this was for a new generation - mine.
In any case, that cross-pollination was like water in a desert for me, especially at the time. I’m not sure which is harder for square pegs - today’s over-saturation of media influencers and algorithms pushing you to certain musical trends, or yesteryear’s situation where it was very hard to “find the others” as a kid.
That was the tough part. I have to credit a friend from art class for introducing my friend to me.
Back when electro was having a bit of a resurgence in the early aughts, DJ Keoki did his “Kill the DJ” CD and used a remix of this from LeatherStrip to good effect.
This track is a bit before my time, but I always perceived Gary Numan as one of those artists who is treasured by goth/metal/punk/etc types – you know, freaks – in part because they don’t seem like famous people. You wouldn’t necessarily put Numan up there with Bowie, but he’s relatable in a way Bowie never was.
Like, a few years ago I saw him at the Purple Turtle buying his own drinks at the bar in a very un-star-like manner. The then-living Keith Flynn was also there. I couldn’t tell you who was playing.
I hereby third this recommendation. V well done docco.
A friend worked in Detroit radio for decades, and wrote the lyrics to most of their great parody songs. He loves my parodies, which makes me pleased and proud
He is still good friends w/the chap who did Dick the Bruiser.
The Reptile House EP is The Sisters’ best work, taken as a whole. There are some other great songs, but the LPs they’re on can’t hold a candle to that EP.
A friend had me DJ a small party back in the 80s, and at one point, I put on Reptile House and dragged my BF off to another room while the one side just repeated until we came back. There were no complaints!
Almost 30 years later, I was at a show, and a woman I didn’t recognize approached me. “You DJ’d Ava’s party, didn’t you?” I laughed and admitted it was true. “You changed my life when you left The Reptile House EP on repeat! Thank you soooo much!” and she hugged me.
I’m late to the party here but I want to bring up Gary Numan’s excellent cover
If it doesn’t grab you from the get-go, just a weird variant of Benson’s equally excellent original, please jump to 1:50 to Billy Currie’s synth solo that takes it into the stratosphere.
I know the Cookies’ rendition but did not post it as it did not incorporate the changes later made with the aid of Leiber and Stoller. It was that version, as recorded by the Drifters originally, which formed the basis for Benson’s cover.
Leiber and Stoller liked the song but felt that it was not quite right; the four held an overnight brainstorming session that culminated in the better-known version, now with a rock-oriented groove and with a more bluesy feel, which matched the new lyric in which the singer was now actually on Broadway and having a hard time.
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