Last night was Victoria Record Club Meeting number 4. It was off to Talk’s Cheap on Pandora for another night of music, friendship and beers.
The first, or second record I put up was the Foo Fighter’s 1996 single, “Big Me.”
I recently bought the UK import (on white marble vinyl!) from Ditch on the weekend and had yet to drop the needle on it.
I remember being a kid in 1996 and “Big Me” being a massive hit. The music video was on Much Music all the time… and it was so clever because it made fun of those old goofy Mentos ads! Oh the 90s.
I love the story about the fans used to pelt the Foos with Mentos when they performed the song live… so the Foo Fighters stopped playing it in their live sets till 2005! Dave Grohl saying, “We did stop playing that song for a while because, honestly, it’s like being stoned. Those little … things are like pebbles – they hurt”
Tiemen is the fine proprietor of Talk’s Cheap and knows so lots about punk rock. I didn’t expect him to care or notice too much about my Foo Fighter’s pop song till he flipped it over to see the b-side was a cut called “Gas Chamber.”
He said, “oh I bet that is an Angry Samoans cover.”
SWA?
A-side: Foo Fighters – “Big Me”
B-side: Foo Fighters – “Gas Chamber”
I’ve said before, you can make it in music if you’re one of two things… really good, or really first.
The Angry Samoans appear to be a really first. They were one of the very first bands to put out a record that could be described as hardcore. Their 1982 record Back From Samoa contains the song “Gas Chamber.”
The Samoans were some rock journalists at Creem magazine that formed a punker band.
The first brush with notoriety was a dis song directed at a popular KROQ radio DJ in Los Angelas, Rodney Bingenheimer.
According to his bio, he doesn’t seem like all that bad a guy… but I guess the Samoans didn’t agree with him… or maybe the song was more a strike back against the whole “king-making, music industry industrial complex machine.” Who really knows… but the song “Get Off the Air” didn’t do the Angry Samoans many favours.
The Angry Samoans – “Get Off the Air”
Download a shitty MP3 >> Angry_Samoans_GetOffTheAir
Bingenheimer was a LA/Hollywood socialite in the 70s who was very instrumental in helping to network rock stars (and groupies). He owned a club on the Sunset Strip called English Disco, he was dubbed the “Mayor of Sunset Strip”, and was BFF with people like David Bowie and Sonny and Cher.
In the late 70s he was given a show on KROQ which at the time was a little rock radio station that no one cared about playing country-rock. Rodney jammed out punk and British glam/new wave at a time when the whole world in California was into the Eagles.
Rodney helped get some groovy bands out into the mainstream and became a popular guy.
Then backlash, then the Angry Samoans. The song pretty much made sure they didn’t end up on KROQ or get a chance to play any LA clubs for a few years.
They released an EP under a different band name to try and “sneak” onto Rodney’s show… but according to wikipedia, I don’t think it worked. Not sure if it was a gag or the guys are lame… I mean, I would have just apologized and sent my new record, or not given a shit to have my record played if I didn’t care about playing the game. But hey, it was the 80s, what do I know?
The point, I love this radio dis song, I want it to my theme song! I would have never found out about the Samoans if Dave Grohl hadn’t covered their song gas chamber back in the mid 90s and Tiemen had recognized the title. neat.
Go with yourself.
The Morning After 