Ignored           Obscured            Restored

Toady’s SotW is by the Los Angeles based band X.  X was formed in 1977 by John Doe (vocals, bass) and Billy Zoom (guitar) and included Doe’s girlfriend Exene Cervenka (vocals) and DJ Bonebreake (drums). Due to the timing and proximity of their formation, they’ve often been thrown in with the “punk rock” movement.  But although the band initially played some fast and ferocious rock, they were not really all punk all the time.  They often incorporated rockabilly, folk and other genres into their recordings. Take, for instance, “True Love Part 2” from their 1983 disc, More Fun in the New World.

The Doors’ Ray Manzarek produced cut starts off with a riff sounding like early Doobie Brothers (“Long Train Runnin’”) and quickly turns into something more like a Talking Heads funk work out, from the Stop Making Sense era.  Of course there are other influences too; like in the section about a minute and a half in, where they sing “true love is the devil’s” yes-man, hot house, lunch box, wishbone, door knob, pass key, etc.  When they get to “crow bar” the voice goes down to a low bass register that’s an obvious nod to Sly & the Family Stone. Later the song references “Land of 1000 Dances” and quotes lyrics from a potpourri of American roots music including:

Be-bop-a-lula – Gene Vincent

D-I-V-O-R-C-E – Tammy Wynette

Skip To My Lou – 19^th century traditional children’s song

Burning Love – Elvis Presley

I’ve Been Working On the Railroad – American folk song

Black Betty – Ram Jam

Freddie’s Dead – Curtis Mayfield

Land of 1000 Dances – Cannibal & the Headhunters

Shake your booty! Enjoy… until next week.