Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Encyclopedia
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion are an American
alternative rock
trio
, formed in 1991 and based out of New York City
, New York
. The band consists of Judah Bauer on guitar
, backing vocals, harmonica
and occasional lead vocals, Russell Simins on drums and Jon Spencer on vocals, guitar and theremin
. Their musical style is largely rooted in Rock and roll
although it draws influences from punk
, blues
, garage
, rockabilly
, soul
, noise rock
, rhythm and blues
and rap
. They have released seven official studio albums, collaborative records with Dub Narcotic Sound System
and R.L. Burnside as well as numerous singles, out-take albums, compilations, remix albums and, in 2010, a series of expanded reissues.
Throughout the course of their career this experimental sound and occasionally unconventional recording techniques has allowed the band to work with a number of diverse artists including Andre Williams
, Dr. John
, Alec Empire
, Elliott Smith
, Beck
, Solomon Burke
, Rufus Thomas
, DJ Shadow
, Steve Albini
, Rob K, James Chance
, UNKLE
, Chuck D
, Money Mark
, Calvin Johnson, Dan The Automator
, Othar Turner
, Jill Cunniff
, Jim Dickinson
, Luther Dickinson
, Cody Dickinson
, Bernie Worrell
, Willie Weeks
, David Holmes
, Steve Jordan
, Martina Topley-Bird
and Ad Rock of the Beastie Boys
.
The band was parodied by the Shirehorses
, operating as the Frank Spencer Blues Explosion as well as referenced in the name of the band The John & Spencer Booze Explosion.
, Jon Spencer attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island
where he was part of the noise rock band Shithaus before moving to Washington, D.C.
where he fronted band Pussy Galore
who would quickly relocate to New York. Spencer played and recorded with Gibson Bros., Boss Hog
and Honeymoon Killers prior to the formation of the Blues Explosion.
Judah Bauer from Appleton, Wisconsin
had been in an early line-up of The Spitters, and with Russell Simins, from Queens, New York, recorded as part of Crowbar Massage.
It was with Jerry Teel’s Honeymoon Killers that Bauer, Simins and Spencer would all perform and record and from which they would go on to form the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
The sound of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion was informed by previous bands with influence taken from working with the Gibson Bros. which was already evident in the last Pussy Galore album. "That final Pussy Galore album exuded a very Gibson Brothers-bent version of what was to come with Spencer’s next, more successful venture the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion."
They were signed to the large independent label Matador Records
between 1993 and 2002 in the US, Crypt Records
between 1992 and 1994 in Germany and Mute Records
between 1996 and 2005 in the UK although they have released material on a number of different labels including the 2010 reissues on Shout Factory in the US and Shove Records in the UK.
They are one of the select notable groups to cultivate a punk blues
sound in the 1990s. Their sound became key in the emergence of later blues and punk inspired rock bands such as the Oblivians and, later in the decade, bands like The White Stripes
, Soledad Brothers and The Immortal Lee County Killers
.
at Noise NY, New York
in July 1991 and recorded fourteen songs over a the course of three hours, "only doing second takes here and there, we didn't even go to the mixing board". This session was issued in its entirety as the first Jon Spencer Blues Explosion album, A Reverse Willie Horton. This was an unofficial bootleg issued by Public Pop Can at some point between late 1991 and early 1992 in an edition of 500 or 1000 copies due to a possibility of two separate pressings. It has been suggested that the source of the bootleg was a dubbed copy of a cassette that Jon Spencer let some people copy during a tour with the Gibson Bros. in August 1991.
The front cover image is a negative of Clarence Thomas
, his wife, and George Bush
at Thomas' swearing in ceremony for the Supreme Court on 19 October 1991, with the title and artist written in a typewriter style font. The rear sleeve features hand-written titles and label information over the top of a photograph of a topless woman. Both front and rear artwork are pasted onto a plain black sleeve. The title refers to the convicted felon William R. Horton
who was used extensively for political advertisements during the 1988 presidential campaign.
The second session was recorded by Steve Albini
at the Waterfront, Hoboken, NJ in November/December 1991. Tracks from both the Kramer and Albini sessions were issued on the Caroline (US) / Hut (UK) release The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Crypt Records
as Crypt Style
, and an alternate version of Crypt Style by 1 + 2 Records (Japan) including "Colty" which was unavailable elsewhere until the 2010 Shout! Factory release of Year One which compiled every released track from both sessions with the exception of an alternate take of "Feeling of Love" (released on Dirty Shirt Rock N Roll: The First Ten Years).
The band made a music video for the song "Rachel" directed by Jim Spring and Jens Jurgensen which was later issued by Matador Records
on the 1997 Live Promo Video.
The first Jon Spencer Blues Explosion album was the only one to be issued by Caroline Records
.
The first single release was "Shirt Jac" on In The Red Records
(1992) also from the second recording session with Steve Albini. This was the first of the Explosion Juke Box Series singles inspired by "a similar series of Charlie Feathers
released in the 70s" (the third single in the series, "Get With It", was actually an arrangement of a Feathers single from 1956).
The b-side "Latch On" is a Jon Spencer arrangement of a rockabilly song despite the fact that the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion recording has very little in common with the most well-known recordings of this track (released by Ron Hargrave and The Cochran Brothers
). The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion version is more than likely a cover of the Cochran Brothers version of this song as both tracks feature the words "you are really gone" which do not appear in the lyrics sung by Ron Hargrave.
In late 1992 Jon Spencer Blues Explosion embarked on a long tour in the US supporting the Jesus Lizard
. Frank Kozik
designed posters for shows at Emo's, Austin, Texas and Kennel Club, San Francisco.
Recording sessions for the Extra Width
, the second Jon Spencer Blues Explosion studio album, took place in Memphis at Doug Easleys studio on 23/24 November and 3 December 1992 during the Jesus Lizard tour. The album graphic design copies a package of panty hose purchased in Memphis, Tennessee. The original panty hose packaging can be seen in a band photo used on Mo' Width and the later reissues of Extra Width.
It is said that during this time Jon Spencer's stage persona evolved and he established what is now synonymous with a Blues Explosion live performance.
Matador Records
released the album in May 1993 and Crypt Records
issued the record in Europe in June 1993. "Afro" was later released as a 7" only single in the UK in 1994 and had a music video directed by Tom Surgal. This was the only single to be released from the album and featured b-side "Relax-Her" which is labelled as "Incidental" on the test pressing and introduced as such on the recording.
On 11 September 1993 the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion appeared at Blast First event The Lost Weekend at London Astoria 2 with The Afghan Whigs
, God Machine
and Hair & Skin Trading Company. The accompanying Lost Weekend compilation album was limited to 3000 copies and included the song "Afro". 2000 copies were given to attendies of the two-day event and the remaining 1000 were sold via (now defunct) UK music weekly Melody Maker
for £1.50 each.
Their first TV appearance was on Channel 4
UK TV show The Word
(Season 4, Episode 12) in February 1994, performing "Afro" and "History of Sex". Afterwards presenter Marc Lamarr said "they're the best live band I've ever seen."
Also in early 1994 In The Red Records released "Train #3" and "Train #1" as the third installment of the Explosion Juke Box Series ("Train #2" appeared Extra Width).
Mo' Width was issued in July 1994 by Au Go Go Records
and made-up of out-takes from the Extra Width-era featuring covers of "There Stands The Glass" (Webb Pierce
), "Beat of The Traps" (Teri Rodd & MSR Singers) and Ole Man Trouble
(Otis Redding
), an alternate mix of "Afro" with a much more prominent organ solo and "Rob K" features Rob Kennedy from The Workdogs and the song was later titled "Rob K is President" on the Mute Records
2000 reissue.
During an interview with Dutch magazine Oor Jon Spencer said that the release of Mo' Width was delayed until two months before the release as the next studio album Orange.
and Crypt Records
in October 1994. The original vinyl Matador Records was as a silver-coloured picture disc and first issue of the Crypt Records edition had orange-coloured sleeves rather than the usual silver.
"Bellbottoms" opens the album and features a string section arrangement by Kurt Hoffman. The song was also issued by Matador Records as a white vinyl 7" only single in the UK and had a music video directed by Tom Surgal. There were also music videos for "Dang" directed by Steve Hanft
, "Flavor"
directed by Evan Bernard
and featuring appearances by Beck
(who also appears on the song) and Mike D of the Beastie Boys
.
In August 1994 the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion played a number of tour dates in Australia and New Zealand with Beck and in September 1994 they played in the Netherlands at Vera, Groningen on the 18th and recorded a live set for VPRO
radio on the 25th. The VPRO session was issued as an unofficial 10" bootleg which included otherwise unreleased songs "Curfew Blues" and "Wriggle and Move" and the "Intro" is edited together in the same way as "Tour Diary" on Experimental Remixes
and at least two segments appear on both releases. "Curfew Blues" was later released on Jukebox Explosion Rockin' Mid-90s Punkers and the 2010 reissue of Orange includes two VPRO session tracks "Very Rare" and "Woman Love" (title sometimes given as "Frustrate").
In October 1994 the Blues Explosion made their first attempt to record a live album at DPC, Tucson, Arizona, US but the performance was plagued with technical problems and was stopped when an audience member threw a stink bomb
. Some of the songs were later released on the 2010 reissue of Controversial Negro.
In December 1994 they performed live on The Jon Stewart
TV Show at MTV Studios, New York City. "Get With It" from this show was released on the 1997 Live Promo Video by Matador Records.
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion played UK shows in March 1995 with the Beastie Boys (including Brixton Academy, London where they would headline in April 2002 on the Plastic Fang
tour) and in May they toured the US with The Roots
and Beastie Boys.
Matador Records released the Experimental Remixes EP in May 1995 featuring various tracks from Orange reworked by artists including UNKLE
, Beck, Mario Caldato Jr.
, Mike D, Dub Narcotic Sound System
, Moby
and GZA
(featuring Killah Priest
).
By September 1996 Orange had sold 70,000 copies.
In 2000 Mute Records
reissued Experimental Remixes with new remixes on CD and double vinyl and Orange was reissued on CD with an enhanced section featuring "Dang", "Flavor" and "Bellbottoms" music videos and on the vinyl edition was packaged with a poster. The album was reissued again in 2010 by Shout! Factory (US) / Shove Records (UK) as a double CD set this time combining Orange, Experimental Remixes and several rare, live and previously unreleased tracks.
with R.L. Burnside and Kenny Brown at Lunati Farms in Holly Springs, Mississippi. A further two tracks, "Alice Mae" and "Highway 7", also recorded at Lunati Farms in February 1996, would be released on the 1997 R.L. Burnside album Mr Wizard. Both albums featured cover artwork by Derek Hess
.
The musical arrangements used on the tracks "2 Brothers" and "Tojo Told Hitler" from A Ass Pocket of Whiskey would evolve into the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion song "Cool Vee" which was released as a b-side to "2Kindsa Love". "Have You Ever Been Lonely?" is a jam based on "Vacuum of Loneliness" originally released on the 1992 self-titled album.
Now I Got Worry
was produced by Jon Spencer and Jim Waters and recorded at Easley Studio, Memphis; G-Son, Los Angeles; and Waterworks West, Tucson. These sessions were mostly between 5 and 13 February 1996 (the same time as the recording with R.L. Burnside). The album was released by Matador Records
and Mute Records
in October 1996 (reaching number 50 in the UK album chart) and features appearances by Thermos Malling of Doo Rag (credited with "Bang" on "2Kindsa Love"), Rufus Thomas
and Money Mark
and a cover version of "Fuck Shit Up" originally by Dub Narcotic Sound System
with Judah Bauer on lead vocals. The Korean edition did not include "Fuck Shit Up" and the Japanese release featured "Get With It" and "Cool Vee" as bonus tracks.
During this time Matador releases were distributed by Capitol in an article about this Marc Burton, buyer for Minneapolis’ Electric Fetus, said "I think with the extra exposure he’ll get through wider distribution, Spencer could hit as big as Beck
did."
Capitol / Matador released a promo-only 7” single of five different radio promo spots.
R.L. Burnside would also join the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion for the Now I Got Worry tour dates in the UK, Europe and the US in October and November 1996. On 23 October 1996 Lola da Musica, VPRO TV filmed both artists in a pre-show jam session at De Melkweg, Amsterdam. "Boogie Chillun" was later released officially on the Live Promo Video.
On 29 October Jon Spencer Blues Explosion recorded a short live set for MTV
Studios, London consisting of Now I Got Worry songs and "Water Main" and "Vacuum of Loneliness". "Love All of Me" and the band introduction were officially released on the Live Promo Video.
"2Kindsa Love" was the first UK single released from Now I Got Worry by Mute Records issued on pink vinyl 7" and CD in November 1996 with music video directed by Mike Mills it reached 122 in the UK charts.
"Wail" was released in the UK by Mute Records on 10 May 1997 as a CD and two 7" singles (grey and green vinyl), the incorrectly spelt "John Spencer Blues Explosion" cover artwork was written in Tipex on an escalator hand-rail at Tottenham Court Road underground station in London (there was also a second part a bit further down the which just said "Damn"). Each of the covers features a slightly different photo by William Bankhead of the same text.
The music video for "Wail" was directed by Weird Al Yankovic, reaching number 66 in the UK singles chart.
In Melbourne, Australia, on 6 September 1997 the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion performed "2Kindsa Love" / "Flavor" on ABC's national, weekly morning youth program, Recovery. Jon Spencer can be seen running through the audience, around the set and destroying the "Blues Explosion" back drop. Jon Spencer was asked about this particular performance in a June 2010 issue of the UK music weekly NME:
In 2010 a new version of this album was released by Shout! Factory / Shove! Records expanded to include b-sides, rare tracks and the previously unreleased "Roosevelt Hotel Blues" featuring Beck
and Money Mark
.
In May 1997 Controversial Negro was released. This was a promotonal only live album issued on vinyl in the US, CD in the UK and it was officially released in Japan on CD with five additional tracks.
The sleeve for this release is referred to in an article titled "Mo' bitter blues" originally published in May 1997:
The title for this album comes from the Public Enemy song "Burn Hollywood Burn" from their 1990 album Fear of a Black Planet
. Towards the end of the track someone asks Flava Flav the following question: "Now we're considering you for a part in our new production, how do you feel about playing a controversial negro?"
The artwork used on the promotional version along with the title Controversial Negro was originally intended for Now I Got Worry
.
In June 1997 they performed at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in New York City and a live version of "Blues X Man" was released on the accompanying triple CD album (which also featured Russell Simins performing with Cibo Matto
).
released the compilation Selector Dub Narcotic (released May 1998). The song titled "Blues Explosion Attack" name checked Calvin Johnson, Doo Rag, Subsonics, Speedball Baby, Demolotion Doll Rods, R.L. Burnside, Dub Narcotic Sound System
and Sleater Kinney who had supported the Blues Explosion at their Moore Theatre gig the previous day (The song would later be re-written and re-recorded for the album Acme
).
Work on Acme
began in October 1997, when the band entered the studio with Dan Nakamura, a.k.a. Dan the Automator
for Right Place, Wrong Time, a cover of the Dr. John
hit used on the soundtrack to Scream 2
.
"The reason we did that Scream 2
soundtrack was to try working with a producer. We were definitely into the Dr. Octagon
record - it's a great record, and also a bizarre kinda record. So besides 'Right Place.' we recorded some other songs.""
The next stop for Acme
was Steve Albini
's studio, Electrical Audio
, where the Blues Explosion cut some tracks in the days following their 1998 New Year's Eve Chicago performance. "Steve's we cut everything live, like we always do," he says. "I Wanted to use Steve because I knew he would do a good job and the tapes would sound great, and we could send them to anybody because we had a great starting point and couldn't really go wrong"
Whilst in Chicago they also met Andre Williams
who was playing locally. He recorded guest vocals for the track Lapdance (which wasn't released until the Acme Plus / Extra Acme albums were issued the following year).
"Some of Acme
was done in the old-fashioned Blues Explosion way, me working with the engineer, but we were also casting a wide net. Some songs were mixed and remixed by different producers, which is one reason it got so expensive, and some of them were eventually stitched together from two or three different mixes. We weren't being so precious about these songs, we were letting other people work on it and then we'd shuffle the deck.
Acme
was released in October 1998 by Matador Records
in the US and Mute Records
in the UK.
In the US the first single to be released from the album was Talk About The Blues on 6 October 1998. This song was recorded during a session with Calvin Johnson at Dub Narcotic, Olympia, Washington. Most of the other tracks recorded at this time would be released in 1999 as the collaborative album Sideways Soul: Dub Narcotic Sound System Meets The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in a Dancehall Style!.
The music video, directed by Evan Bernard
, features Winona Ryder
, Giovanni Ribisi
and John C. Reilly
as the Blues Explosion with Judah, Russell and Jon acting. "The singer told MTV Online: I think that people are really going to be surprised when they see the acting on the part of the Blues Explosion. When people get a load of some of the heavy, dramatic, really very intense scenes that we pulled out from our souls, I think people are really going to be blown away.".
Throughout the life of the band the use of the word "blues
" in the band name has caused a great deal of debate. The lyrics of Talk About The Blues address this issue referring directly to MTV
and Rolling Stone
magazine and features the line "I do not play no blues, I play rock 'n' roll" (which itself was a reference to the Mississippi Fred McDowell
album I Do Not Play No Rock 'n' Roll).
"Talk About The Blues" was a reaction a Rolling Stone review of Now I Got Worry
and Q&A with Jon Spencer.
Magical Colors was the first single released in the UK/Europe by Mute Records
on CD and 7" single reaching number 92 in the UK singles chart in November 1998. The Terry Richardson
directed video is a compilation of still photographs.
Calvin was only issued as a single in Australia by Au Go Go Records on 12" and CD in March 1999.
Talk About The Blues was released in UK/Europe by Mute Records
on 7" and CD (later released as 12" single) reaching 120 in the UK singles chart in March 1999.
Non-Acme
track New Year (Destroyer) was released as a split-single with Barry Adamson as the forth single in the Slut Smalls series.
Heavy was the final single to be released from Acme
in August 1999. Issued in UK/Europe by Mute Records
on 7", CD and later as a 12" single reaching number 106 in the UK singles chart.
In 1998 they appeared on the Canal+
show Nulle Part Ailleurs performing "High Gear" and "Talk About The Blues". During the nine and a half minute performance Jon Spencer made full use of the television studio, running through the audience, standing on the desk and was carried back to the stage by one of the bemused presenters. Whilst on the desk Jon referred to and shook the hand of Jackie Chan
who was given a copy of the album Acme
.
On the morning of 22 July 1999, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion tour van was broken into in the loading dock of The Sheraton in Vancouver, Canada. The window was smashed and a mess of gear was stolen, including mics, amps, rack equipment, and the original 1962 Vanguard Model Theremin. The theremin was never recovered.
This album was issued by K Records
in the US and Europe, Au Go Go Records
in Australia and Rebel Beat Factory in Japan (which used an extended recording of Diamonds).
The Acme
out-takes and remixes were issued as Acme + (UK), Xtra Acme USA (US) and Extra Acme (CD) / Ura Acme (LP) / Extra Acme (Promo Only LP) (Japan) all of which had slightly different track listings.
Like Acme
the album features different production, mixing, remixing credits and guest appearances including; Steve Albini
, Nick Sansano
, Jack Dangers
, David Holmes
, Tim Goldsworthy
, Calvin Johnson, Moby
, Andre Williams
, Jill Cunniff, Cody Dickinson, Luther Dickinson
and Jim Dickinson
.
The Shout Factory! / Shove Records 2010 expanded reissue of Acme
included a 22 track version of Acme Plus as the second disc.
In February 2000 In The Red Records
released a 12" single under the name "Andre Williams Blues Explosion" featuring remixes of the Andre Williams
collaboration Lap Dance by Jim Waters/Scott Benzel and Jim Thirlwell
.
In March 2000 Mute reissued Blues Explosion albums with bonus content; Orange included an enhanced section with videos of Dang, Bellbottoms and Flavor, Extra Width was now packaged with Mo’ Width and Experimental Remixes included three new remixes.
The vinyl editions of Experimental Remixes
and Extra Width
were now double LPs and Orange was packaged with a two-sided poster.
Mute also issued an indie-store-only/mailorder 12" of Techno Animal remixes.
was produced by Steve Jordan
and recorded at Oorong, the Magic Shop and The Hit Factory. Released in April 2002 by Mute Records
(UK), Matador Records
(US), Everlasting (Spain) and Toy’s Factory (Japan) featured art and design by Chip Kidd
with the limited CD and vinyl editions being issued in a 'Fang Pack'.
The original artwork for this album was culled from comics.
Various editions of this album featured different track listings but there were guest appearances by Dr. John
, Elliott Smith
, Bernie Worrell
, Willie Weeks
and Bashiri Johnson.
She Said was the first single taken from the album Plastic Fang
, this had a music video directed by Floria Sigismondi
and on 8 February 2002 the Blues Explosion filmed a second 'live performance' video at the 100 Club
on Oxford Street
, London
for She Said (directed by Barney Clay). This single would be, to date, their highest UK single chart entry at number 58.
In April 2002 the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion appeared on the BBC
TV show Later with Jools Holland
featuring Jools playing piano during Sweet n Sour.
Mute Records
also released the singles Sweet N Sour (July, 2002) with a video directed by Stylewar reaching number 66 in the UK charts and Shakin' Rock'n'Roll Tonight (November 2002) reaching number 126.
On 31 January 2003 the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion performed with Solomon Burke
at Royal Festival Hall
, London
as Solomon Burke Meets Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
was the only album to be released on Sanctuary Records and for this release the band were temporarily known as just the Blues Explosion. The shortened name lasted less than two years and by early 2006 the official website was located at the domain name thejonspencerbluesexplosion.com rather than blues-explosion.com as it is given on the Damage
album sleeve.
The album was recorded between December 2003 and April 2004 at Empire View Studios, NYC, Globe Studios, NYC and Elegant Too Studios with production and mixing credits including Dan The Automator
, DJ Shadow
, Steve Jordan
, Free Association…David Holmes
, Jay Braun, Alan Moulder, Danny Madorsky, Chris Maxwell and Phil Hernandez (Elegant Too) as well as the Blues Explosion, Jon Spencer and Russell Simins.
During this time the band also recorded the Guitar Wolf
cover version Kawasaki ZII750 Rock 'N' Roll at Empire View Recording Studio with Danny Madorsky for the tribute album I Love Guitar Wolf...Very Much.
Damage
was released in September 2004 and features appearances from artists including Chuck D
(Hot Gossip), Martina Topley-Bird
(Spoiled /You Been My Baby), James Chance
and DJ Shadow
(Fed Up and Low Down) and Simon Chardiet (who would later perform with the Heavy Trash
live band (Rattling)).
Also in September 2004 Burn It Off was released as a single with music video directed by Stylewar. Issued in the US as a one track radio promo CD and in the UK Mute released the single on 7" and CD reaching number 77 in the charts.
Hot Gossip was the second Damage
single released in November 2004 reaching 119 in the official UK charts and had a music video directed by David Raccuglia. Issued as a red vinyl 7" only single featuring Elliott Smith
on the B-side Meet Me In The City previously released on the tribute album Sunday Nights The Songs of Junior Kimbrough.
Crunchy was the third and final single released in April 2005 issued on 7", 12" and CD reaching number 89 in the UK charts.
The sleeves for all the Damage
-era released featured photography by Ashkan Sahihi and design by Chip Kidd
.
In Japan there were two slightly different promotional Radio Session CDs featuring live recordings of the album tracks Help These Blues, Spoiled, Rattling, Hot Gossip and a cover of the Suicide
song Rocket USA which is unavailable elsewhere.
In September 2004 (28/29) Russell Simins and Judah Bauer would join Tom Waits
and Larry Taylor
for a performance on the David Letterman
TV show playing Make It Rain from the album Real Gone
.
This particular event caused a furore behind the scenes when Mike Edison
wrote a "crazed conspiracy rant" about Jon Spencer being replaced with Tom Waits
for the Blues Explosion website . This was part of a bigger plan to get the a picture of Tom with Russell and Judah and send it out with a tongue-in-cheek press release ("Tom Waits Blues Explosion") to see if the story would get picked-up by the mainstream press but before the event took place a record company publicist took the text direct from the Blues Explosion website and sent it out as a legitimate press release and very nearly led to the show being called off.
Between August 2004 and May 2005 the band toured almost constantly beginning with a festival appearance in Norway
and a low-key show in the UK at London’s 93 Feet East followed by shows throughout Europe
/UK, the US, Japan
(eight dates with The Kills
), Australia
, the UK again (supporting The Hives
) and Turkey
.
At this time in the UK 'garage rock' and bands such as The Hives
, The Strokes
, White Stripes were popular and it was often noted that the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion never got the recognition many writers felt they deserved.
Of Crunchy NME said it was "packing the kind of irresistible groove that would shoot straight to the number one for 14 years in any right-thinking world."
A mock-up newspaper (front page only) titled "The Daily Explosion" and DVD featuring the music videos for Burn It Off and Hot Gossip was available at US gigs in November 2004.
In 2005 an EP titled Snack Cracker was released in Japan
. This compiled many of the UK single b-sides album with Hot Gossip and Burn It Off videos, a Jay Braun remix of Hot Gossip and a live recording of Rattling featuring Steve Jones
of the Sex Pistols
.
The Blues Explosion recorded the theme tune for Anthony Bourdain
series No Reservations broadcast on The Travel Channel
in 2005. The track lasts approximately 60 seconds and around 20 seconds of this is used during the programmes intro sequence and the menu screen on the subsequent DVD release.
On 21 September 2005 Jon Spencer Blues Explosion appeared at Ko Ko, London performing as part of the "Don’t Look Back" shows organised by ATP
where artists played albums in their entirety. The band played Orange followed by a set of non-Orange songs.
During this time there was a message sent out to the Blues Explosion mailing list outlining a number of future projects and releases including news of a Live Recordings album recorded during the Damage tour (possibly just the Japanese shows) which has, to date, never been released.
Towards the end of 2005 the band went hiatus and the members worked on numerous different projects with different artists.
released a compilation of rare and unreleased tracks including all tracks from the five Explosion Jukebox Series singles (Shirt Jac, Son of Sam, Train #3, Get With It and Ghetto Mom). The album artwork parodied the original Back From The Grave 1983 compilation released by Crypt Records
with drawings of Judah, Russell and Jon replacing the original characters. Both sleeves were created by Mort Todd.
The band also started playing live again in June 2008 with a secret show at Bowery Electric followed by New York City Bicycle Film Festival and a short Jukebox Explosion European tour during August and September 2008.
, Orange, Acme
, Now I Got Worry
, Controversial Negro and tracks from the early releases (the original Kramer and Steve Albini recordings) Year One.
Every reissue included a booklet with new photos, extensive sleeve notes by Mike Edison
and a number of bonus tracks now making the new editions of Extra Width
, Orange, Acme
double CD sets.
On 16 April 2010 they played a one-off show at Brooklyn Bowl and announced more shows taking place from July 2010 including Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago, the Matador
@ 21 Festival at The Pearl, Las Vegas and a number of US and Canadian shows.
In an interview with music blog "Get Back" (yahoo.com) on 19 August 2010 Jon Spencer responded to a question about the possibility of the band releasing new material with "There's totally a chance. We've been playing concerts, touring and playing live because these records are coming out again. It's been very, very enjoyable. We have been talking about the possibility of something new."
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion track "Bellbottoms" from the album Orange was featured at number 180 in a chart titled "The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s" published by Pitchfork
on 30 August 2010
In early October Yahoo! Music interviewed Jon Spencer and the band performed acoustic versions of "Burn It Off", "Wail" and "Blues X Man". On 15 October 2010 videos of the songs and interview were published on the "Maximum Performance" blog along with a short article.
During 2010 the band started playing more regularly with groups of live shows in July, September, October (US / Canada), December (Europe/US) and January 2011 (New Zealand/Australia). They made their first UK appearance at London (Heaven) since the Don't Look Back performance of Orange at Koko in September 2005.
During the live shows the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion played some previously unreleased songs including a cover of "My War" by Black Flag
. And the band look set to continue playing live with further European live shows in mid-2011 including Primavera Festival in May 2011.
Whilst touring in Australia, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion recorded a cover version of "Black Betty
" at Linear Recording
for a commercial created by Volkswagen of America's agency Deutsch L.A. Inc. broadcast during Super Bowl Sunday on American television (6 February 2011).
The band have been chosen by Jeff Mangum
of Neutral Milk Hotel
to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties
festival that he will curate in December 2011 in Minehead, England.
& Dirty Delta Blues.
Under the name 20 Miles Judah has released the following albums and EPs:
, Honeymoon Killers, Crowbar Massage, Cibo Matto
, Grapevine, Ween
, Luscious Jackson
, Yoko Ono
, Money Mark
, Fred Schneider
, Duran Duran
, Asian Dub Foundation
, Stereolab
, The Pierces, Tandy, Spalding Rockwell, The Morning Pages, Little Barrie
, Jena Malone
, Tiny Masters of Today
and Harper Simon
.
And as a core band member he has released the following albums:
, Spencer Dickinson, Solex vs Cristina Martinez + Jon Spencer and in Heavy Trash
with Matt Verta-Ray released the following albums:
With the Honeymoon Killers he appears on several recordings and made one complete album as a member of the band with Russell Simins, Jerry Teel and Lisa Wells:
He has also performed with, recorded, remixed and produced a huge number of artists including: Gibson Bros., Workdogs, Nancy Sinatra
, Moby
, Cheater Slicks
, Beck
, Demolition Doll Rods
, Edison Rocket Train/Mike Edison
, Einstürzende Neubauten
, Coldcut
, Powersolo, Puffy AmiYumi
, Eros Ramazotti, The Sadies
, Add N to (X)
, Rob K, Haze XXL, Lost Crusaders, David Holmes
, Khan
, Los Straitjackets
, Bomb The Bass
, Princess Superstar
, Speedball Baby, Five Dollar Priest, The King Brothers, The Tremolo Beer Gut, Bikini Machine, Phenomenal Handclap Band, The Micragirls
, Cobra Killer
, Japanese Popstars, The Slew
and Perrosky.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
trio
Power trio
A power trio is a rock and roll band format where the traditional power trio has a lineup of guitar, bass and drums, leaving out the rhythm guitar or keyboard that are used in other rock music to fill out the sound with chords...
, formed in 1991 and based out of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The band consists of Judah Bauer on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, backing vocals, harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
and occasional lead vocals, Russell Simins on drums and Jon Spencer on vocals, guitar and theremin
Theremin
The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
. Their musical style is largely rooted in Rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
although it draws influences from punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, garage
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
, rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
, rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...
. They have released seven official studio albums, collaborative records with Dub Narcotic Sound System
Dub Narcotic Sound System
Dub Narcotic Sound System is an Olympia, Washington based indie-funk musical group founded by Calvin Johnson, signed to K Records.-Origins:The band is named after Calvin Johnson's basement recording studio, Dub Narcotic....
and R.L. Burnside as well as numerous singles, out-take albums, compilations, remix albums and, in 2010, a series of expanded reissues.
Throughout the course of their career this experimental sound and occasionally unconventional recording techniques has allowed the band to work with a number of diverse artists including Andre Williams
Andre Williams
Andre Williams is an American R&B and punk blues musician who started his career in the 1950s at Fortune Records in Detroit.-Biography:...
, Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
, Alec Empire
Alec Empire
Alec Empire is a German musician who is best known as a founding member of the band Atari Teenage Riot. Also a prolific and distinguished solo artist, producer and DJ, he has released well over a hundred albums, EPs and singles and remixed over seventy tracks for various artists including Björk...
, Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith
Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...
, Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
, Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke was an American singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, mortician, and an archbishop of the United House of Prayer For All People. Burke was known as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", and as the "Bishop of Soul", and described as "the Muhammad Ali of soul", and as "the most...
, Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas, Jr. was an American rhythm and blues, funk and soul singer and comedian fromMemphis, Tennessee, who recorded on Sun Records in the...
, DJ Shadow
DJ Shadow
Joshua Paul Davis better known as DJ Shadow is an American music producer, DJ and songwriter. He is considered a prominent figure in the development of instrumental hip hop and first gained notice with the release of his highly acclaimed debut album Endtroducing....., which was constructed...
, Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
, Rob K, James Chance
James Chance
James Chance, also known as James White , is an American saxophonist, songwriter and singer....
, UNKLE
UNKLE
Unkle are a British musical outfit founded in 1994 by school friends James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy. Originally categorized as trip-hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and have employed a variety of guest artists and producers.-First incarnation :Lavelle and Goldsworthy were joined...
, Chuck D
Chuck D
Carlton Douglas Ridenhour , better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.- Early life :Ridenhour was born in Queens, New York...
, Money Mark
Money Mark
Mark Ramos-Nishita aka Money Mark is a producer and musician who has collaborated with the Beastie Boys many times. He also appears on the first Banyan album in 1997 as the "Freeway Keyboardist".-Career:...
, Calvin Johnson, Dan The Automator
Dan the Automator
Daniel M. Nakamura , better known by the stage name Dan the Automator, is a Japanese-American hip hop producer. He founded the record label 75 Ark, which was distributed by Tommy Boy Records during its short existence....
, Othar Turner
Othar Turner
Othar "Otha" Turner was one of the last well-known fife players in the vanishing American fife and drum blues tradition...
, Jill Cunniff
Luscious Jackson
Luscious Jackson are an alternative rock group formed in 1991. The band's name was inspired by now-retired American basketball player Lucious Jackson....
, Jim Dickinson
Jim Dickinson
James Luther "Jim" Dickinson was an American record producer, pianist, and singer who fronted, among others, the Memphis based band, Mudboy & The Neutrons.- Biography :...
, Luther Dickinson
Luther Dickinson
Luther Dickinson is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the North Mississippi Allstars as well as lead guitarist for The Black Crowes...
, Cody Dickinson
North Mississippi Allstars
North Mississippi Allstars is a Southern rock/blues jam band from Hernando, Mississippi, founded in 1996. The band is composed of brothers Luther Dickinson and Cody Dickinson , and Chris Chew...
, Bernie Worrell
Bernie Worrell
George Bernard "Bernie" Worrell, Jr. is an American keyboardist and composer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic...
, Willie Weeks
Willie Weeks
Willie Weeks is an American bass guitarist. He has gained fame performing with famous musicians in a wide variety of genres. He has been one of the most in-demand session musicians throughout his career. Weeks has also gained notoriety touring with many of rock's heavyweights throughout his career...
, David Holmes
David Holmes (musician)
David Holmes is a Northern Irish DJ, musician and composer.-Career:Holmes began djing in Belfast from the age of 15. His first hit was the song "DeNiro", with Ashley Beedle, in 1992. In the early to mid 1990s he ran two club nights in the Belfast Art College known as Sugar Sweet and Shake Yer Brain...
, Steve Jordan
Steve Jordan (musician)
Steve Jordan is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, musical director and Grammy Award-winning artist, who has made a name for himself as a producer from the Bronx in New York City. A graduate of the Fiorello H...
, Martina Topley-Bird
Martina Topley-Bird
Martina Topley-Bird is a British vocalist and songwriter who first gained fame as the featured female vocalist on trip hop pioneer Tricky's debut album, Maxinquaye...
and Ad Rock of the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
.
The band was parodied by the Shirehorses
Shirehorses
The Shirehorses are a spoof band comprising two BBC Radio DJs from Manchester, Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley, known collectively as Mark and Lard....
, operating as the Frank Spencer Blues Explosion as well as referenced in the name of the band The John & Spencer Booze Explosion.
History
Originally from Hanover, New HampshireHanover, New Hampshire
Hanover is a town along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2010 census. CNN and Money magazine rated Hanover the sixth best place to live in America in 2011, and the second best in 2007....
, Jon Spencer attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
where he was part of the noise rock band Shithaus before moving to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
where he fronted band Pussy Galore
Pussy Galore (band)
Pussy Galore was an American garage rock band that formed in Washington, D.C. in 1985. They had a constantly fluid line-up until their demise in 1990. Like many garage rock outfits, they were dogged by substance abuse problems...
who would quickly relocate to New York. Spencer played and recorded with Gibson Bros., Boss Hog
Boss Hog
Boss Hog is an American punk blues band including the husband and wife duo of Jon Spencer and Cristina Martinez along with Jens Jurgensen , Hollis Queens and Mark Boyce...
and Honeymoon Killers prior to the formation of the Blues Explosion.
Judah Bauer from Appleton, Wisconsin
Appleton, Wisconsin
Appleton is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is situated on the Fox River, 30 miles southwest of Green Bay and 100 miles north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the county seat of Outagamie County. The population was 78,086 at the 2010 census...
had been in an early line-up of The Spitters, and with Russell Simins, from Queens, New York, recorded as part of Crowbar Massage.
It was with Jerry Teel’s Honeymoon Killers that Bauer, Simins and Spencer would all perform and record and from which they would go on to form the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
"Russell and I would rehearse with Honeymoon Killers and the rehearsal would be over and Russell and I would keep playing, eventually inviting Simins' friend Bauer to join in."
The sound of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion was informed by previous bands with influence taken from working with the Gibson Bros. which was already evident in the last Pussy Galore album. "That final Pussy Galore album exuded a very Gibson Brothers-bent version of what was to come with Spencer’s next, more successful venture the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion."
"...after five years of Pussy Galore I was able to connect to rock ’n’ roll in some way that I wasn’t able to before," he remembers those formative days. "I was pissed off about a lot of things…so much shitty rock ’n’ roll that angered me, and Pussy Galore was kicking against that. With the Blues Explosion, there was some of that, but now I was into celebrating it." - Jon Spencer
They were signed to the large independent label Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
between 1993 and 2002 in the US, Crypt Records
Crypt Records
Crypt Records is a Hamburg-based record label and record store founded by Tim Warren. The label is perhaps best known for issuing the eight-volume Back From The Grave Series of garage rock compilations, although its reissues and releases include surf, rockabilly, punk rock, exotica, garage punk,...
between 1992 and 1994 in Germany and Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
between 1996 and 2005 in the UK although they have released material on a number of different labels including the 2010 reissues on Shout Factory in the US and Shove Records in the UK.
They are one of the select notable groups to cultivate a punk blues
Punk blues
Punk blues denotes a fusion genre of punk rock and blues. Punk blues musicians and bands usually incorporate elements of related styles, such as protopunk and blues rock. Its origins lie strongly within the garage rock sound of the 1960s and 1970s.Punk blues can be said to favor the common...
sound in the 1990s. Their sound became key in the emergence of later blues and punk inspired rock bands such as the Oblivians and, later in the decade, bands like The White Stripes
The White Stripes
The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...
, Soledad Brothers and The Immortal Lee County Killers
The Immortal Lee County Killers
The Immortal Lee County Killers were an American rock band from Auburn, Lee County, Alabama. Playing in the punk blues style, as well as garage punk, the band consisted of Chetley "Cheetah" Weise on vocals/guitar, plus assorted musicians over its roughly three incarnations.Weise had formerly...
.
A Reverse Willie Horton / Jon Spencer Blues Explosion / Crypt Style (91 - 92)
The band had been playing together for six months when they had their first recording session with KramerMark Kramer
Mark Kramer , known professionally as Kramer, is a musician, composer, record producer and founder of the New York City record label Shimmy-Disc...
at Noise NY, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in July 1991 and recorded fourteen songs over a the course of three hours, "only doing second takes here and there, we didn't even go to the mixing board". This session was issued in its entirety as the first Jon Spencer Blues Explosion album, A Reverse Willie Horton. This was an unofficial bootleg issued by Public Pop Can at some point between late 1991 and early 1992 in an edition of 500 or 1000 copies due to a possibility of two separate pressings. It has been suggested that the source of the bootleg was a dubbed copy of a cassette that Jon Spencer let some people copy during a tour with the Gibson Bros. in August 1991.
The front cover image is a negative of Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Court....
, his wife, and George Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
at Thomas' swearing in ceremony for the Supreme Court on 19 October 1991, with the title and artist written in a typewriter style font. The rear sleeve features hand-written titles and label information over the top of a photograph of a topless woman. Both front and rear artwork are pasted onto a plain black sleeve. The title refers to the convicted felon William R. Horton
Willie Horton
William R. "Willie" Horton is an American convicted felon who, while serving a life sentence for murder, without the possibility of parole, was the beneficiary of a Massachusetts weekend furlough program...
who was used extensively for political advertisements during the 1988 presidential campaign.
The second session was recorded by Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
at the Waterfront, Hoboken, NJ in November/December 1991. Tracks from both the Kramer and Albini sessions were issued on the Caroline (US) / Hut (UK) release The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Crypt Records
Crypt Records
Crypt Records is a Hamburg-based record label and record store founded by Tim Warren. The label is perhaps best known for issuing the eight-volume Back From The Grave Series of garage rock compilations, although its reissues and releases include surf, rockabilly, punk rock, exotica, garage punk,...
as Crypt Style
Crypt Style
Crypt Style is the second official album by the group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and was first released in 1992 on CD in Japan on the "1+2" label. It was later released with an abbreviated track listing on CD in Germany, and as an LP in the US, both in 1993 under the Crypt label. The album...
, and an alternate version of Crypt Style by 1 + 2 Records (Japan) including "Colty" which was unavailable elsewhere until the 2010 Shout! Factory release of Year One which compiled every released track from both sessions with the exception of an alternate take of "Feeling of Love" (released on Dirty Shirt Rock N Roll: The First Ten Years).
The band made a music video for the song "Rachel" directed by Jim Spring and Jens Jurgensen which was later issued by Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
on the 1997 Live Promo Video.
The first Jon Spencer Blues Explosion album was the only one to be issued by Caroline Records
Caroline Records
Caroline Records started out as a subsidiary of Richard Branson's Virgin Records label during the early to mid 1970s. The label originally specialized in putting out budget price LPs by mainly progressive rock and jazz artists generally not considered to have a great deal of 'mainstream' or...
.
"In 1992, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion inked a deal with Caroline Records and requested a very specific signing bonus-- the then-new 10xCD Jerry Lee Lewis box set. As band lore has it, Caroline never sprang for the set, and the Blues Explosion's tenure there was short-lived and acrimonious."
The first single release was "Shirt Jac" on In The Red Records
In the Red Records
In the Red Records is an independent record label in Los Angeles, CA formed in 1991 by Larry Hardy. It is known for hosting garage punk related bands on its label....
(1992) also from the second recording session with Steve Albini. This was the first of the Explosion Juke Box Series singles inspired by "a similar series of Charlie Feathers
Charlie Feathers
Charles Arthur "Charlie" Feathers was an influential American rockabilly and country music performer.-Biography:...
released in the 70s" (the third single in the series, "Get With It", was actually an arrangement of a Feathers single from 1956).
The b-side "Latch On" is a Jon Spencer arrangement of a rockabilly song despite the fact that the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion recording has very little in common with the most well-known recordings of this track (released by Ron Hargrave and The Cochran Brothers
Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran , was an American rock and roll pioneer who in his brief career had a small but lasting influence on rock music through his guitar playing. Cochran's rockabilly songs, such as "C'mon Everybody", "Somethin' Else", and "Summertime Blues", captured teenage frustration and desire in the...
). The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion version is more than likely a cover of the Cochran Brothers version of this song as both tracks feature the words "you are really gone" which do not appear in the lyrics sung by Ron Hargrave.
Extra Width / Mo' Width / Afro / The Word (93 - 94)
When the band signed with Matador Records they "asked for the 9xCD Stax-Volt Complete Singles 1959-1968...Matador made good with Stax, and the band enjoyed a decade-long partnership with the label".In late 1992 Jon Spencer Blues Explosion embarked on a long tour in the US supporting the Jesus Lizard
The Jesus Lizard
The Jesus Lizard was an American alternative rock and noise rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground…[who] turned out a series of independent records filled with scathing, disembowelling, guitar-driven pseudo-industrial...
. Frank Kozik
Frank Kozik
Frank Kozik is an American graphic artist who has worked with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Melvins, The Offspring and Butthole Surfers. Kozik runs Man's Ruin Records, a media outlet and record label, and has published several books including Man's Ruin:...
designed posters for shows at Emo's, Austin, Texas and Kennel Club, San Francisco.
Recording sessions for the Extra Width
Extra Width
Extra Width is the third album by the punk blues group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and was released in 1993.-Track listing:#"Afro"#"History of Lies"#"Back Slider"#"Soul Letter"#"Soul Typecast"#"Pant Leg"#"Hey Mom"#"Big Road"#"Train #2"...
, the second Jon Spencer Blues Explosion studio album, took place in Memphis at Doug Easleys studio on 23/24 November and 3 December 1992 during the Jesus Lizard tour. The album graphic design copies a package of panty hose purchased in Memphis, Tennessee. The original panty hose packaging can be seen in a band photo used on Mo' Width and the later reissues of Extra Width.
It is said that during this time Jon Spencer's stage persona evolved and he established what is now synonymous with a Blues Explosion live performance.
"Jon had a breakthrough. It was time and art. He got better at it. The James BrownJames BrownJames Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
-style show was an old method, but Jon brought it to another level. Before that, it was punk - he was into it, but he was coy. he finally crossed over and became a full-fledged performer. He wanted to be watched."
"Spencer writhes about, possessed by Presley during the amazing "Vacuum of Loneliness" - his tortured soul dragged over shards o' glass for all to see. The wailin' theremin spits out sound and adds to the cathartic confusion. If this is real and not theatre, I'm disturbed."
Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
released the album in May 1993 and Crypt Records
Crypt Records
Crypt Records is a Hamburg-based record label and record store founded by Tim Warren. The label is perhaps best known for issuing the eight-volume Back From The Grave Series of garage rock compilations, although its reissues and releases include surf, rockabilly, punk rock, exotica, garage punk,...
issued the record in Europe in June 1993. "Afro" was later released as a 7" only single in the UK in 1994 and had a music video directed by Tom Surgal. This was the only single to be released from the album and featured b-side "Relax-Her" which is labelled as "Incidental" on the test pressing and introduced as such on the recording.
On 11 September 1993 the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion appeared at Blast First event The Lost Weekend at London Astoria 2 with The Afghan Whigs
The Afghan Whigs
The Afghan Whigs were a soul-influenced American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio. PopMatters described the band as "beyond simple genre categorization, and though lauded by the music press, never got their just due."-Band history:...
, God Machine
The God Machine (band)
The God Machine was an alternative rock band, active in the first half of the 1990s. Its members were all from San Diego, California, United States, but they all lived and performed mainly in the United Kingdom and across Europe....
and Hair & Skin Trading Company. The accompanying Lost Weekend compilation album was limited to 3000 copies and included the song "Afro". 2000 copies were given to attendies of the two-day event and the remaining 1000 were sold via (now defunct) UK music weekly Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
for £1.50 each.
Their first TV appearance was on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
UK TV show The Word
The Word (TV series)
The Word was a 1990s Channel 4 television programme in the United Kingdom.-Format:Its presenters included Mancunian radio presenter Terry Christian, comedian Mark Lamarr, Dani Behr, Katie Puckrik, Jasmine Dotiwala, Alan Connor, Amanda de Cadenet and "Huffty"...
(Season 4, Episode 12) in February 1994, performing "Afro" and "History of Sex". Afterwards presenter Marc Lamarr said "they're the best live band I've ever seen."
Also in early 1994 In The Red Records released "Train #3" and "Train #1" as the third installment of the Explosion Juke Box Series ("Train #2" appeared Extra Width).
Mo' Width was issued in July 1994 by Au Go Go Records
Au Go Go Records
Au Go Go Records is the name of a Melbourne, Australia based independent record label.It was founded by Bruce Milne and Philip Morland from a house in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy in 1979 and is now operated by Greta Moon....
and made-up of out-takes from the Extra Width-era featuring covers of "There Stands The Glass" (Webb Pierce
Webb Pierce
Webb Michael Pierce was one of the most popular American honky tonk vocalists of the 1950s, charting more number one hits than any other country artist during the decade. His biggest hit was "In The Jailhouse Now," which charted for 37 weeks in 1955, 21 of them at number one...
), "Beat of The Traps" (Teri Rodd & MSR Singers) and Ole Man Trouble
Ole Man Trouble
"Ole Man Trouble" is a song written by Otis Redding and the first track from his 1965 album Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul. It was released as the B-side to his hit single "Respect", the second track from Otis Blue. The song is a sign of Redding's emerging mature and reflective side that was to...
(Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
), an alternate mix of "Afro" with a much more prominent organ solo and "Rob K" features Rob Kennedy from The Workdogs and the song was later titled "Rob K is President" on the Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
2000 reissue.
During an interview with Dutch magazine Oor Jon Spencer said that the release of Mo' Width was delayed until two months before the release as the next studio album Orange.
Orange / Experimental Remixes (94 - 95)
Orange was recorded at Waterworks, NYC with Jim Waters and released by Matador RecordsMatador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
and Crypt Records
Crypt Records
Crypt Records is a Hamburg-based record label and record store founded by Tim Warren. The label is perhaps best known for issuing the eight-volume Back From The Grave Series of garage rock compilations, although its reissues and releases include surf, rockabilly, punk rock, exotica, garage punk,...
in October 1994. The original vinyl Matador Records was as a silver-coloured picture disc and first issue of the Crypt Records edition had orange-coloured sleeves rather than the usual silver.
"Bellbottoms" opens the album and features a string section arrangement by Kurt Hoffman. The song was also issued by Matador Records as a white vinyl 7" only single in the UK and had a music video directed by Tom Surgal. There were also music videos for "Dang" directed by Steve Hanft
Steve Hanft
Steven P. Hanft , more commonly known as Steve Hanft, is an American independent film director.-Early life:Hanft was born in Ventura, California. He started making films at the age of 11 growing up in California. His first works consisted of surf films and nature films followed later by...
, "Flavor"
directed by Evan Bernard
Evan Bernard
Evan Bernard is an American director of commercials and music videos who has directed videos for artists such as Moby, the Beastie Boys, Green Day, Lit, Cibo Matto and many others.After studying advertising design at Syracuse University and St...
and featuring appearances by Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
(who also appears on the song) and Mike D of the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
.
In August 1994 the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion played a number of tour dates in Australia and New Zealand with Beck and in September 1994 they played in the Netherlands at Vera, Groningen on the 18th and recorded a live set for VPRO
VPRO
The VPRO was established in the Netherlands in 1926 as a religious broadcasting organization. Falling under the Protestant pillar, it represented the Liberal Protestant current...
radio on the 25th. The VPRO session was issued as an unofficial 10" bootleg which included otherwise unreleased songs "Curfew Blues" and "Wriggle and Move" and the "Intro" is edited together in the same way as "Tour Diary" on Experimental Remixes
Experimental Remixes
Experimental Remixes is an EP by American punk blues band The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion released in 1995 by Matador Records which consists of six remixes of the group's songs and a hidden bonus track called "Tour Diary"...
and at least two segments appear on both releases. "Curfew Blues" was later released on Jukebox Explosion Rockin' Mid-90s Punkers and the 2010 reissue of Orange includes two VPRO session tracks "Very Rare" and "Woman Love" (title sometimes given as "Frustrate").
In October 1994 the Blues Explosion made their first attempt to record a live album at DPC, Tucson, Arizona, US but the performance was plagued with technical problems and was stopped when an audience member threw a stink bomb
Stink bomb
A stink bomb or stinkbomb is a device designed to create an unpleasant smell. They range in effectiveness from simple pranks to military grade or riot control chemical agents.The Guinness Book of Records lists two smelliest substances...
. Some of the songs were later released on the 2010 reissue of Controversial Negro.
In December 1994 they performed live on The Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
TV Show at MTV Studios, New York City. "Get With It" from this show was released on the 1997 Live Promo Video by Matador Records.
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion played UK shows in March 1995 with the Beastie Boys (including Brixton Academy, London where they would headline in April 2002 on the Plastic Fang
Plastic Fang
Plastic Fang is the seventh official release by the American punk blues group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 2002. "She Said" was released as a single and a music video was filmed for it...
tour) and in May they toured the US with The Roots
The Roots
The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...
and Beastie Boys.
Matador Records released the Experimental Remixes EP in May 1995 featuring various tracks from Orange reworked by artists including UNKLE
UNKLE
Unkle are a British musical outfit founded in 1994 by school friends James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy. Originally categorized as trip-hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and have employed a variety of guest artists and producers.-First incarnation :Lavelle and Goldsworthy were joined...
, Beck, Mario Caldato Jr.
Mario Caldato Jr.
Mario Caldato, Jr. is a Brazilian record producer and studio engineer best known for his work with the Beastie Boys and Tone Loc. Born February 24, 1961 in São Paulo, Brazil, he and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1963...
, Mike D, Dub Narcotic Sound System
Dub Narcotic Sound System
Dub Narcotic Sound System is an Olympia, Washington based indie-funk musical group founded by Calvin Johnson, signed to K Records.-Origins:The band is named after Calvin Johnson's basement recording studio, Dub Narcotic....
, Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
and GZA
GZA
Gary Grice , better known by his stage names GZA and The Genius, is an American hip hop artist and founding member of the seminal hip hop group the Wu-Tang Clan. He has also appeared on his fellow clan members' solo projects and has maintained a successful solo career...
(featuring Killah Priest
Killah Priest
Walter Reed, better known as Killah Priest, Iron Sheik from the Middle East, or Masada, is an American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan affiliate who was raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant & Brownsville neighbourhoods in Brooklyn. He is known for intensely spiritual lyrics loaded with metaphors and religious...
).
By September 1996 Orange had sold 70,000 copies.
In 2000 Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
reissued Experimental Remixes with new remixes on CD and double vinyl and Orange was reissued on CD with an enhanced section featuring "Dang", "Flavor" and "Bellbottoms" music videos and on the vinyl edition was packaged with a poster. The album was reissued again in 2010 by Shout! Factory (US) / Shove Records (UK) as a double CD set this time combining Orange, Experimental Remixes and several rare, live and previously unreleased tracks.
Now I Got Worry / R.L. Burnside - A Ass Pocket of Whiskey / Controversial Negro / Recovery TV appearance (96 - 97)
On the afternoon of 6 February 1996 the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion recorded the album A Ass Pocket of WhiskeyA Ass Pocket of Whiskey
A Ass Pocket of Whiskey is a collaborative album by the American Mississippi Hill Country Bluesman R. L. Burnside and the American punk blues band Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador Records on 18 June 1996...
with R.L. Burnside and Kenny Brown at Lunati Farms in Holly Springs, Mississippi. A further two tracks, "Alice Mae" and "Highway 7", also recorded at Lunati Farms in February 1996, would be released on the 1997 R.L. Burnside album Mr Wizard. Both albums featured cover artwork by Derek Hess
Derek Hess
Derek Hess is an American artist based in Cleveland, Ohio. His creative career grew largely out of his ability to express the emotion in the indie, hardcore and hard rock scenes of the mid-1990s...
.
The musical arrangements used on the tracks "2 Brothers" and "Tojo Told Hitler" from A Ass Pocket of Whiskey would evolve into the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion song "Cool Vee" which was released as a b-side to "2Kindsa Love". "Have You Ever Been Lonely?" is a jam based on "Vacuum of Loneliness" originally released on the 1992 self-titled album.
"It was pretty intimidating to go down [to Mississippi] and record with R.L. since he’s such an idol of mine," says Spencer, who toured with the guitarist/singer in 1995. "You definitely get the feeling you’re playing for him, rather than with him. It was pretty much the same with Rufus Thomas."
Now I Got Worry
Now I Got Worry
Now I Got Worry is a 1996 studio album by the American punk blues band The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. The album opens up with Spencer screaming. "Fuck Shit Up" is a cover of a Dub Narcotic song. The man depicted on the cover is Jon Spencer...
was produced by Jon Spencer and Jim Waters and recorded at Easley Studio, Memphis; G-Son, Los Angeles; and Waterworks West, Tucson. These sessions were mostly between 5 and 13 February 1996 (the same time as the recording with R.L. Burnside). The album was released by Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
and Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
in October 1996 (reaching number 50 in the UK album chart) and features appearances by Thermos Malling of Doo Rag (credited with "Bang" on "2Kindsa Love"), Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas, Jr. was an American rhythm and blues, funk and soul singer and comedian fromMemphis, Tennessee, who recorded on Sun Records in the...
and Money Mark
Money Mark
Mark Ramos-Nishita aka Money Mark is a producer and musician who has collaborated with the Beastie Boys many times. He also appears on the first Banyan album in 1997 as the "Freeway Keyboardist".-Career:...
and a cover version of "Fuck Shit Up" originally by Dub Narcotic Sound System
Dub Narcotic Sound System
Dub Narcotic Sound System is an Olympia, Washington based indie-funk musical group founded by Calvin Johnson, signed to K Records.-Origins:The band is named after Calvin Johnson's basement recording studio, Dub Narcotic....
with Judah Bauer on lead vocals. The Korean edition did not include "Fuck Shit Up" and the Japanese release featured "Get With It" and "Cool Vee" as bonus tracks.
During this time Matador releases were distributed by Capitol in an article about this Marc Burton, buyer for Minneapolis’ Electric Fetus, said "I think with the extra exposure he’ll get through wider distribution, Spencer could hit as big as Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
did."
Capitol / Matador released a promo-only 7” single of five different radio promo spots.
R.L. Burnside would also join the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion for the Now I Got Worry tour dates in the UK, Europe and the US in October and November 1996. On 23 October 1996 Lola da Musica, VPRO TV filmed both artists in a pre-show jam session at De Melkweg, Amsterdam. "Boogie Chillun" was later released officially on the Live Promo Video.
On 29 October Jon Spencer Blues Explosion recorded a short live set for MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
Studios, London consisting of Now I Got Worry songs and "Water Main" and "Vacuum of Loneliness". "Love All of Me" and the band introduction were officially released on the Live Promo Video.
"2Kindsa Love" was the first UK single released from Now I Got Worry by Mute Records issued on pink vinyl 7" and CD in November 1996 with music video directed by Mike Mills it reached 122 in the UK charts.
"Wail" was released in the UK by Mute Records on 10 May 1997 as a CD and two 7" singles (grey and green vinyl), the incorrectly spelt "John Spencer Blues Explosion" cover artwork was written in Tipex on an escalator hand-rail at Tottenham Court Road underground station in London (there was also a second part a bit further down the which just said "Damn"). Each of the covers features a slightly different photo by William Bankhead of the same text.
The music video for "Wail" was directed by Weird Al Yankovic, reaching number 66 in the UK singles chart.
In Melbourne, Australia, on 6 September 1997 the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion performed "2Kindsa Love" / "Flavor" on ABC's national, weekly morning youth program, Recovery. Jon Spencer can be seen running through the audience, around the set and destroying the "Blues Explosion" back drop. Jon Spencer was asked about this particular performance in a June 2010 issue of the UK music weekly NME:
"Which song were you playing with Jon Spencer Blues Explosion when you trashed a TV studio in Melbourne in '97?"
"We may have started with another song and went into 'Flavour'. It wasn't planned, it just kinda hit me. It may have just been exhaustion. You reach a point on tour and you get a bit punch-drunk. That show is broadcast live in the morning! They were all really nice about it though!"
In 2010 a new version of this album was released by Shout! Factory / Shove! Records expanded to include b-sides, rare tracks and the previously unreleased "Roosevelt Hotel Blues" featuring Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
and Money Mark
Money Mark
Mark Ramos-Nishita aka Money Mark is a producer and musician who has collaborated with the Beastie Boys many times. He also appears on the first Banyan album in 1997 as the "Freeway Keyboardist".-Career:...
.
In May 1997 Controversial Negro was released. This was a promotonal only live album issued on vinyl in the US, CD in the UK and it was officially released in Japan on CD with five additional tracks.
The sleeve for this release is referred to in an article titled "Mo' bitter blues" originally published in May 1997:
To the casual observer the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion may seem like little more than surly, self-important nihilists with an all-encompassing persecution complex. Yet their studious reserve in the face of journalistic interrogation is hardly surprising when you consider that the staunch traditionalists of the American rock media have recently branded them as racists, simply because they've dared to treat the blues as something other than a sacred museum piece. A situation soon to be exacerbated by the band's forthcoming promo live album, rather incautiously titled 'Controversial Negro' and garishly illustrated with a day-glo Warhol print of Mick Jagger's iconic countenance. Ultimately, Jon Spencer is playing with fire. He’s gleefully taunting the inverse-racists of so-called liberal America with incendiary images. He is, after all, a graduate of semiotics (the brand of linguistics concerned with signs and symbols), so he knows exactly what he’s doing.
Controversial Negro works on two distinct levels: firstly it’s a timely reminder to the journalistic 'squares' of far simpler times, when Jagger and his Rolling Stones (now untouchable old-guard stalwarts) were similarly decried for 'bastardizing the blues'; secondly, it’s a forceful visual communiqué that the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion staunchly refuse to be intimidated into artistic compromise.
The title for this album comes from the Public Enemy song "Burn Hollywood Burn" from their 1990 album Fear of a Black Planet
Fear of a Black Planet
Fear of a Black Planet is the third studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released April 10, 1990, on Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records. Production for the album was handled by the group's production team The Bomb Squad, who expanded on the dense, sample-layered sound of the...
. Towards the end of the track someone asks Flava Flav the following question: "Now we're considering you for a part in our new production, how do you feel about playing a controversial negro?"
The artwork used on the promotional version along with the title Controversial Negro was originally intended for Now I Got Worry
Now I Got Worry
Now I Got Worry is a 1996 studio album by the American punk blues band The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. The album opens up with Spencer screaming. "Fuck Shit Up" is a cover of a Dub Narcotic song. The man depicted on the cover is Jon Spencer...
.
In June 1997 they performed at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in New York City and a live version of "Blues X Man" was released on the accompanying triple CD album (which also featured Russell Simins performing with Cibo Matto
Cibo Matto
Cibo Matto are a New York City-based band formed by two Japanese women, Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori, in 1994...
).
Acme / Talk About The Blues / Nulle Part Ailleurs (French TV appearance) / stolen Theremin (97 - 99)
On 23 March 1997 the band recorded a track at Dub Narcotic Studios, Olympia track for the K RecordsK Records
K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson, formerly of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, The Halo Benders and presently in the bands Dub Narcotic Sound System and The Hive Dwellers...
released the compilation Selector Dub Narcotic (released May 1998). The song titled "Blues Explosion Attack" name checked Calvin Johnson, Doo Rag, Subsonics, Speedball Baby, Demolotion Doll Rods, R.L. Burnside, Dub Narcotic Sound System
Dub Narcotic Sound System
Dub Narcotic Sound System is an Olympia, Washington based indie-funk musical group founded by Calvin Johnson, signed to K Records.-Origins:The band is named after Calvin Johnson's basement recording studio, Dub Narcotic....
and Sleater Kinney who had supported the Blues Explosion at their Moore Theatre gig the previous day (The song would later be re-written and re-recorded for the album Acme
ACME (album)
ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"...
).
Work on Acme
ACME (album)
ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"...
began in October 1997, when the band entered the studio with Dan Nakamura, a.k.a. Dan the Automator
Dan the Automator
Daniel M. Nakamura , better known by the stage name Dan the Automator, is a Japanese-American hip hop producer. He founded the record label 75 Ark, which was distributed by Tommy Boy Records during its short existence....
for Right Place, Wrong Time, a cover of the Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
hit used on the soundtrack to Scream 2
Scream 2
Scream 2 is a 1997 American slasher film created and written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy and Liev Schreiber, released on December 12, 1997 as the second installment in the Scream film series...
.
"The reason we did that Scream 2
Scream 2
Scream 2 is a 1997 American slasher film created and written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy and Liev Schreiber, released on December 12, 1997 as the second installment in the Scream film series...
soundtrack was to try working with a producer. We were definitely into the Dr. Octagon
Dr. Octagon
Dr. Octagon was a persona created and used by American rapper Keith Matthew Thornton, better known as Kool Keith. First appearing on Thornton's 1996 debut solo album, Dr. Octagonecologyst, Dr. Octagon is an extraterrestrial time traveling gynecologist and surgeon from the planet Jupiter. Thornton...
record - it's a great record, and also a bizarre kinda record. So besides 'Right Place.' we recorded some other songs.""
The next stop for Acme
ACME (album)
ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"...
was Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
's studio, Electrical Audio
Electrical Audio
Electrical Audio is a recording facility founded in Chicago, Illinois by musician and recording engineer Steve Albini in 1997. Hundreds of independent music projects have been recorded there....
, where the Blues Explosion cut some tracks in the days following their 1998 New Year's Eve Chicago performance. "Steve's we cut everything live, like we always do," he says. "I Wanted to use Steve because I knew he would do a good job and the tapes would sound great, and we could send them to anybody because we had a great starting point and couldn't really go wrong"
Whilst in Chicago they also met Andre Williams
Andre Williams
Andre Williams is an American R&B and punk blues musician who started his career in the 1950s at Fortune Records in Detroit.-Biography:...
who was playing locally. He recorded guest vocals for the track Lapdance (which wasn't released until the Acme Plus / Extra Acme albums were issued the following year).
"Some of Acme
ACME (album)
ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"...
was done in the old-fashioned Blues Explosion way, me working with the engineer, but we were also casting a wide net. Some songs were mixed and remixed by different producers, which is one reason it got so expensive, and some of them were eventually stitched together from two or three different mixes. We weren't being so precious about these songs, we were letting other people work on it and then we'd shuffle the deck.
Acme
ACME (album)
ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"...
was released in October 1998 by Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
in the US and Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
in the UK.
In the US the first single to be released from the album was Talk About The Blues on 6 October 1998. This song was recorded during a session with Calvin Johnson at Dub Narcotic, Olympia, Washington. Most of the other tracks recorded at this time would be released in 1999 as the collaborative album Sideways Soul: Dub Narcotic Sound System Meets The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in a Dancehall Style!.
The music video, directed by Evan Bernard
Evan Bernard
Evan Bernard is an American director of commercials and music videos who has directed videos for artists such as Moby, the Beastie Boys, Green Day, Lit, Cibo Matto and many others.After studying advertising design at Syracuse University and St...
, features Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder is an American actress. She made her film debut in the 1986 film Lucas. Ryder's first significant role came in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice as a goth teenager, which won her critical and commercial recognition...
, Giovanni Ribisi
Giovanni Ribisi
Giovanni Ribisi is an American actor. His film credits include Gone in 60 Seconds, Boiler Room, Saving Private Ryan, The Mod Squad, The Gift, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lost in Translation and more recently, Public Enemies and Avatar...
and John C. Reilly
John C. Reilly
John Christopher Reilly, Jr. is an American film and theater actor, singer, and comedian. Debuting in Casualties of War in 1989, he is one of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma. To date, he has appeared in more than fifty films, including three separate films in 2002...
as the Blues Explosion with Judah, Russell and Jon acting. "The singer told MTV Online: I think that people are really going to be surprised when they see the acting on the part of the Blues Explosion. When people get a load of some of the heavy, dramatic, really very intense scenes that we pulled out from our souls, I think people are really going to be blown away.".
Throughout the life of the band the use of the word "blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
" in the band name has caused a great deal of debate. The lyrics of Talk About The Blues address this issue referring directly to MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine and features the line "I do not play no blues, I play rock 'n' roll" (which itself was a reference to the Mississippi Fred McDowell
Mississippi Fred McDowell
Fred McDowell known by his stage name; Mississippi Fred McDowell, was an American Hill country blues singer and guitar player.-Career:...
album I Do Not Play No Rock 'n' Roll).
"Talk About The Blues" was a reaction a Rolling Stone review of Now I Got Worry
Now I Got Worry
Now I Got Worry is a 1996 studio album by the American punk blues band The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. The album opens up with Spencer screaming. "Fuck Shit Up" is a cover of a Dub Narcotic song. The man depicted on the cover is Jon Spencer...
and Q&A with Jon Spencer.
"I wrote the song right after we did the interview, inspired by that and also some of the criticism we’ve received over the past couple years. If we tried to record some song that was a response to criticism as it happened, that would be too heavy-handed. The lyrics stayed true to the original off-the-cuff feel, what you call a rant. But it's not such a big deal, you know. A lot of that stuff just doesn't merit a response."
Magical Colors was the first single released in the UK/Europe by Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
on CD and 7" single reaching number 92 in the UK singles chart in November 1998. The Terry Richardson
Terry Richardson
Terrence "Terry" Richardson is an American fashion photographer.-Early life:Richardson was born in New York City, the son of Bob Richardson, a fashion photographer who struggled with schizophrenia and drug abuse...
directed video is a compilation of still photographs.
Calvin was only issued as a single in Australia by Au Go Go Records on 12" and CD in March 1999.
Talk About The Blues was released in UK/Europe by Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
on 7" and CD (later released as 12" single) reaching 120 in the UK singles chart in March 1999.
Non-Acme
ACME (album)
ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"...
track New Year (Destroyer) was released as a split-single with Barry Adamson as the forth single in the Slut Smalls series.
Heavy was the final single to be released from Acme
ACME (album)
ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"...
in August 1999. Issued in UK/Europe by Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
on 7", CD and later as a 12" single reaching number 106 in the UK singles chart.
In 1998 they appeared on the Canal+
Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...
show Nulle Part Ailleurs performing "High Gear" and "Talk About The Blues". During the nine and a half minute performance Jon Spencer made full use of the television studio, running through the audience, standing on the desk and was carried back to the stage by one of the bemused presenters. Whilst on the desk Jon referred to and shook the hand of Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...
who was given a copy of the album Acme
ACME (album)
ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"...
.
On the morning of 22 July 1999, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion tour van was broken into in the loading dock of The Sheraton in Vancouver, Canada. The window was smashed and a mess of gear was stolen, including mics, amps, rack equipment, and the original 1962 Vanguard Model Theremin. The theremin was never recovered.
Acme + / Xtra Acme USA / Dub Narcotic Sound System - Sideways Soul / reissues [2000] (99 - 01)
In September 1999 they released the collaborative album Sideways Soul under the name Dub Narcotic Sound System Meets The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in a Dancehall Style. The nine track album was recorded at Dub Narcotic Studios, Olympia and featured a line-up of Jon Spencer on Guitar, Vocals and Organ, Judah Bauer on Guitar, Russell Simins on Drums, Jeff Smith on Organ and Calvin Johnson on Vocals and Melodica (Talk About The Blues was also recorded during these sessions).This album was issued by K Records
K Records
K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson, formerly of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, The Halo Benders and presently in the bands Dub Narcotic Sound System and The Hive Dwellers...
in the US and Europe, Au Go Go Records
Au Go Go Records
Au Go Go Records is the name of a Melbourne, Australia based independent record label.It was founded by Bruce Milne and Philip Morland from a house in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy in 1979 and is now operated by Greta Moon....
in Australia and Rebel Beat Factory in Japan (which used an extended recording of Diamonds).
The Acme
ACME (album)
ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"...
out-takes and remixes were issued as Acme + (UK), Xtra Acme USA (US) and Extra Acme (CD) / Ura Acme (LP) / Extra Acme (Promo Only LP) (Japan) all of which had slightly different track listings.
Like Acme
ACME (album)
ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"...
the album features different production, mixing, remixing credits and guest appearances including; Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
, Nick Sansano
Nick Sansano
Nick Sansano is an American record producer, engineer, and musician. He coproduced and recorded Sonic Youth's albums Daydream Nation and Goo. He also engineered and mixed selections from Public Enemy's albums It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Fear of a Black Planet and Muse...
, Jack Dangers
Jack Dangers
Jack Dangers is an electronic musician, DJ, producer, and remixer best known for his work as the primary member of Meat Beat Manifesto. He lives in San Francisco.-Career:...
, David Holmes
David Holmes (musician)
David Holmes is a Northern Irish DJ, musician and composer.-Career:Holmes began djing in Belfast from the age of 15. His first hit was the song "DeNiro", with Ashley Beedle, in 1992. In the early to mid 1990s he ran two club nights in the Belfast Art College known as Sugar Sweet and Shake Yer Brain...
, Tim Goldsworthy
Tim Goldsworthy
Tim Goldsworthy is a British record producer, DJ and recording artist, living and working in New York City since 1999.Originally a musician/producer for UNKLE, Goldsworthy co-founded James Lavelle's Mo' Wax label...
, Calvin Johnson, Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
, Andre Williams
Andre Williams
Andre Williams is an American R&B and punk blues musician who started his career in the 1950s at Fortune Records in Detroit.-Biography:...
, Jill Cunniff, Cody Dickinson, Luther Dickinson
Luther Dickinson
Luther Dickinson is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the North Mississippi Allstars as well as lead guitarist for The Black Crowes...
and Jim Dickinson
Jim Dickinson
James Luther "Jim" Dickinson was an American record producer, pianist, and singer who fronted, among others, the Memphis based band, Mudboy & The Neutrons.- Biography :...
.
The Shout Factory! / Shove Records 2010 expanded reissue of Acme
ACME (album)
ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"...
included a 22 track version of Acme Plus as the second disc.
In February 2000 In The Red Records
In the Red Records
In the Red Records is an independent record label in Los Angeles, CA formed in 1991 by Larry Hardy. It is known for hosting garage punk related bands on its label....
released a 12" single under the name "Andre Williams Blues Explosion" featuring remixes of the Andre Williams
Andre Williams
Andre Williams is an American R&B and punk blues musician who started his career in the 1950s at Fortune Records in Detroit.-Biography:...
collaboration Lap Dance by Jim Waters/Scott Benzel and Jim Thirlwell
Foetus (band)
Foetus is the primary musical outlet of industrial music pioneer J. G. Thirlwell. Until 1995 the band underwent various name changes, all including the word foetus. Monikers adopted at different times include Foetus Under Glass, You've Got Foetus On Your Breath and Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel...
.
In March 2000 Mute reissued Blues Explosion albums with bonus content; Orange included an enhanced section with videos of Dang, Bellbottoms and Flavor, Extra Width was now packaged with Mo’ Width and Experimental Remixes included three new remixes.
The vinyl editions of Experimental Remixes
Experimental Remixes
Experimental Remixes is an EP by American punk blues band The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion released in 1995 by Matador Records which consists of six remixes of the group's songs and a hidden bonus track called "Tour Diary"...
and Extra Width
Extra Width
Extra Width is the third album by the punk blues group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and was released in 1993.-Track listing:#"Afro"#"History of Lies"#"Back Slider"#"Soul Letter"#"Soul Typecast"#"Pant Leg"#"Hey Mom"#"Big Road"#"Train #2"...
were now double LPs and Orange was packaged with a two-sided poster.
Mute also issued an indie-store-only/mailorder 12" of Techno Animal remixes.
Plastic Fang / She Said / Solomon Burke (02 - 03)
The album Plastic FangPlastic Fang
Plastic Fang is the seventh official release by the American punk blues group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 2002. "She Said" was released as a single and a music video was filmed for it...
was produced by Steve Jordan
Steve Jordan (musician)
Steve Jordan is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, musical director and Grammy Award-winning artist, who has made a name for himself as a producer from the Bronx in New York City. A graduate of the Fiorello H...
and recorded at Oorong, the Magic Shop and The Hit Factory. Released in April 2002 by Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
(UK), Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
(US), Everlasting (Spain) and Toy’s Factory (Japan) featured art and design by Chip Kidd
Chip Kidd
Chip Kidd is an American author, editor, and graphic designer, best known for his book covers.- Early life :Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Kidd grew up in the Reading suburb of Shillington, strongly influenced by American popular culture...
with the limited CD and vinyl editions being issued in a 'Fang Pack'.
The original artwork for this album was culled from comics.
Various editions of this album featured different track listings but there were guest appearances by Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
, Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith
Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...
, Bernie Worrell
Bernie Worrell
George Bernard "Bernie" Worrell, Jr. is an American keyboardist and composer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic...
, Willie Weeks
Willie Weeks
Willie Weeks is an American bass guitarist. He has gained fame performing with famous musicians in a wide variety of genres. He has been one of the most in-demand session musicians throughout his career. Weeks has also gained notoriety touring with many of rock's heavyweights throughout his career...
and Bashiri Johnson.
She Said was the first single taken from the album Plastic Fang
Plastic Fang
Plastic Fang is the seventh official release by the American punk blues group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 2002. "She Said" was released as a single and a music video was filmed for it...
, this had a music video directed by Floria Sigismondi
Floria Sigismondi
Floria Sigismondi is an Italian, naturalised Canadian, photographer and director.Apart from her art exhibitions, she is best known for writing and directing The Runaways, starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning...
and on 8 February 2002 the Blues Explosion filmed a second 'live performance' video at the 100 Club
100 Club
The 100 Club is a music venue in London situated at 100 Oxford Street, W1, originally called The Feldman Swing Club.The 100 Club attained legendary status in modern British music, having played host to live music since 24 October 1942....
on Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
for She Said (directed by Barney Clay). This single would be, to date, their highest UK single chart entry at number 58.
In April 2002 the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion appeared on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV show Later with Jools Holland
Later with Jools Holland
Later... with Jools Holland is a contemporary British music television show hosted by Jools Holland. A spin-off of The Late Show, it has been running in short series since 1992 and is a part of BBC Two's late-night line-up, usually at around 11pm to 12 midnight...
featuring Jools playing piano during Sweet n Sour.
Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
also released the singles Sweet N Sour (July, 2002) with a video directed by Stylewar reaching number 66 in the UK charts and Shakin' Rock'n'Roll Tonight (November 2002) reaching number 126.
On 31 January 2003 the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion performed with Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke was an American singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, mortician, and an archbishop of the United House of Prayer For All People. Burke was known as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", and as the "Bishop of Soul", and described as "the Muhammad Ali of soul", and as "the most...
at Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
as Solomon Burke Meets Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
Damage / hiatus (04 - 06)
DamageDamage (Blues Explosion album)
Damage is the most recent album by American punk blues band Blues Explosion, released in 2004. This is the first album that the band has released under the abbreviated name "Blues Explosion" rather than their previous name, "The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion"...
was the only album to be released on Sanctuary Records and for this release the band were temporarily known as just the Blues Explosion. The shortened name lasted less than two years and by early 2006 the official website was located at the domain name thejonspencerbluesexplosion.com rather than blues-explosion.com as it is given on the Damage
Damage (Blues Explosion album)
Damage is the most recent album by American punk blues band Blues Explosion, released in 2004. This is the first album that the band has released under the abbreviated name "Blues Explosion" rather than their previous name, "The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion"...
album sleeve.
The album was recorded between December 2003 and April 2004 at Empire View Studios, NYC, Globe Studios, NYC and Elegant Too Studios with production and mixing credits including Dan The Automator
Dan the Automator
Daniel M. Nakamura , better known by the stage name Dan the Automator, is a Japanese-American hip hop producer. He founded the record label 75 Ark, which was distributed by Tommy Boy Records during its short existence....
, DJ Shadow
DJ Shadow
Joshua Paul Davis better known as DJ Shadow is an American music producer, DJ and songwriter. He is considered a prominent figure in the development of instrumental hip hop and first gained notice with the release of his highly acclaimed debut album Endtroducing....., which was constructed...
, Steve Jordan
Steve Jordan (musician)
Steve Jordan is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, musical director and Grammy Award-winning artist, who has made a name for himself as a producer from the Bronx in New York City. A graduate of the Fiorello H...
, Free Association…David Holmes
David Holmes (musician)
David Holmes is a Northern Irish DJ, musician and composer.-Career:Holmes began djing in Belfast from the age of 15. His first hit was the song "DeNiro", with Ashley Beedle, in 1992. In the early to mid 1990s he ran two club nights in the Belfast Art College known as Sugar Sweet and Shake Yer Brain...
, Jay Braun, Alan Moulder, Danny Madorsky, Chris Maxwell and Phil Hernandez (Elegant Too) as well as the Blues Explosion, Jon Spencer and Russell Simins.
During this time the band also recorded the Guitar Wolf
Guitar Wolf
Guitar Wolf is a Japanese garage punk power trio founded in Nagasaki, Nagasaki in 1987. The band is known for songs with piercing vocals and an extremely loud style of noise-influenced punk which emphasizes heavy distortion and feedback...
cover version Kawasaki ZII750 Rock 'N' Roll at Empire View Recording Studio with Danny Madorsky for the tribute album I Love Guitar Wolf...Very Much.
Damage
Damage (Blues Explosion album)
Damage is the most recent album by American punk blues band Blues Explosion, released in 2004. This is the first album that the band has released under the abbreviated name "Blues Explosion" rather than their previous name, "The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion"...
was released in September 2004 and features appearances from artists including Chuck D
Chuck D
Carlton Douglas Ridenhour , better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.- Early life :Ridenhour was born in Queens, New York...
(Hot Gossip), Martina Topley-Bird
Martina Topley-Bird
Martina Topley-Bird is a British vocalist and songwriter who first gained fame as the featured female vocalist on trip hop pioneer Tricky's debut album, Maxinquaye...
(Spoiled /You Been My Baby), James Chance
James Chance
James Chance, also known as James White , is an American saxophonist, songwriter and singer....
and DJ Shadow
DJ Shadow
Joshua Paul Davis better known as DJ Shadow is an American music producer, DJ and songwriter. He is considered a prominent figure in the development of instrumental hip hop and first gained notice with the release of his highly acclaimed debut album Endtroducing....., which was constructed...
(Fed Up and Low Down) and Simon Chardiet (who would later perform with the Heavy Trash
Heavy Trash
Heavy Trash is an American rockabilly band based in New York City, formed by Jon Spencer of The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Matt Verta-Ray . The band's music draws from an eclectic mix of genres, including rock & roll, blues, alternative country, Americana and garage punk...
live band (Rattling)).
Also in September 2004 Burn It Off was released as a single with music video directed by Stylewar. Issued in the US as a one track radio promo CD and in the UK Mute released the single on 7" and CD reaching number 77 in the charts.
Hot Gossip was the second Damage
Damage (Blues Explosion album)
Damage is the most recent album by American punk blues band Blues Explosion, released in 2004. This is the first album that the band has released under the abbreviated name "Blues Explosion" rather than their previous name, "The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion"...
single released in November 2004 reaching 119 in the official UK charts and had a music video directed by David Raccuglia. Issued as a red vinyl 7" only single featuring Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith
Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...
on the B-side Meet Me In The City previously released on the tribute album Sunday Nights The Songs of Junior Kimbrough.
Crunchy was the third and final single released in April 2005 issued on 7", 12" and CD reaching number 89 in the UK charts.
The sleeves for all the Damage
Damage (Blues Explosion album)
Damage is the most recent album by American punk blues band Blues Explosion, released in 2004. This is the first album that the band has released under the abbreviated name "Blues Explosion" rather than their previous name, "The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion"...
-era released featured photography by Ashkan Sahihi and design by Chip Kidd
Chip Kidd
Chip Kidd is an American author, editor, and graphic designer, best known for his book covers.- Early life :Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Kidd grew up in the Reading suburb of Shillington, strongly influenced by American popular culture...
.
In Japan there were two slightly different promotional Radio Session CDs featuring live recordings of the album tracks Help These Blues, Spoiled, Rattling, Hot Gossip and a cover of the Suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
song Rocket USA which is unavailable elsewhere.
In September 2004 (28/29) Russell Simins and Judah Bauer would join Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
and Larry Taylor
Larry Taylor
Larry Taylor is an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee Lewis...
for a performance on the David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
TV show playing Make It Rain from the album Real Gone
Real Gone
Real Gone is an album by Tom Waits, released October 3, 2004 in Europe, and October 5 in United States on the ANTI- label.The album features some of the few political songs Waits has ever written, the most explicit being "Day After Tomorrow", a song Waits has described as an "elliptical" protest...
.
This particular event caused a furore behind the scenes when Mike Edison
Mike Edison
Mike Edison is a New York-based writer, editor, musician, and spoken word artist. He was the publisher of marijuana counterculture magazine High Times, and was later named editor-in-chief of Screw, the self-proclaimed "World's Greatest Newspaper." In his memoir I Have Fun Everywhere I Go, Edison...
wrote a "crazed conspiracy rant" about Jon Spencer being replaced with Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
for the Blues Explosion website . This was part of a bigger plan to get the a picture of Tom with Russell and Judah and send it out with a tongue-in-cheek press release ("Tom Waits Blues Explosion") to see if the story would get picked-up by the mainstream press but before the event took place a record company publicist took the text direct from the Blues Explosion website and sent it out as a legitimate press release and very nearly led to the show being called off.
Between August 2004 and May 2005 the band toured almost constantly beginning with a festival appearance in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and a low-key show in the UK at London’s 93 Feet East followed by shows throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
/UK, the US, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(eight dates with The Kills
The Kills
The Kills is a rock band formed by American singer Alison Mosshart and British guitarist Jamie Hince . Their first three albums, Keep On Your Mean Side, No Wow, and Midnight Boom, have garnered much critical praise...
), Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the UK again (supporting The Hives
The Hives
The Hives are a Swedish garage rock band that first garnered attention in the early 2000s as a prominent group of the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the "greatest hits" album Your New Favourite Band, featuring their most well-known song "Hate to Say I Told...
) and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
At this time in the UK 'garage rock' and bands such as The Hives
The Hives
The Hives are a Swedish garage rock band that first garnered attention in the early 2000s as a prominent group of the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the "greatest hits" album Your New Favourite Band, featuring their most well-known song "Hate to Say I Told...
, The Strokes
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti ....
, White Stripes were popular and it was often noted that the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion never got the recognition many writers felt they deserved.
"It must rankle a little. Jon Spencer has been wrangling his brand of the blues - extrovert, down-and-dirty, pinched by punk and acknowledging a debt to Little RichardLittle RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
and Carl PerkinsCarl PerkinsCarl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
as much as Hasil Adkins and Son House - for around 14 years now. And have he and his band enjoyed even a taste of White Stripes-like acclaim? Have they flick"
Of Crunchy NME said it was "packing the kind of irresistible groove that would shoot straight to the number one for 14 years in any right-thinking world."
A mock-up newspaper (front page only) titled "The Daily Explosion" and DVD featuring the music videos for Burn It Off and Hot Gossip was available at US gigs in November 2004.
In 2005 an EP titled Snack Cracker was released in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. This compiled many of the UK single b-sides album with Hot Gossip and Burn It Off videos, a Jay Braun remix of Hot Gossip and a live recording of Rattling featuring Steve Jones
Steve Jones (musician)
Stephen Philip "Steve" Jones is an English rock guitarist, singer and actor, best known as guitarist and founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols.-Childhood:...
of the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
.
The Blues Explosion recorded the theme tune for Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Michael "Tony" Bourdain is an American chef, author and television personality. He is well known for his 2000 book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, and is the host of Travel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure program Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.A...
series No Reservations broadcast on The Travel Channel
Travel Channel
The Travel Channel is a satellite and cable television channel that is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, US. It features documentaries and how-to shows related to travel and leisure around the United States and throughout the world. Programming has included shows in African animal safaris,...
in 2005. The track lasts approximately 60 seconds and around 20 seconds of this is used during the programmes intro sequence and the menu screen on the subsequent DVD release.
On 21 September 2005 Jon Spencer Blues Explosion appeared at Ko Ko, London performing as part of the "Don’t Look Back" shows organised by ATP
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
where artists played albums in their entirety. The band played Orange followed by a set of non-Orange songs.
During this time there was a message sent out to the Blues Explosion mailing list outlining a number of future projects and releases including news of a Live Recordings album recorded during the Damage tour (possibly just the Japanese shows) which has, to date, never been released.
Towards the end of 2005 the band went hiatus and the members worked on numerous different projects with different artists.
Jukebox Explosion Rockin’ Mid-90s Punkers / live (07 - 08)
In October 2008 In The Red RecordsIn the Red Records
In the Red Records is an independent record label in Los Angeles, CA formed in 1991 by Larry Hardy. It is known for hosting garage punk related bands on its label....
released a compilation of rare and unreleased tracks including all tracks from the five Explosion Jukebox Series singles (Shirt Jac, Son of Sam, Train #3, Get With It and Ghetto Mom). The album artwork parodied the original Back From The Grave 1983 compilation released by Crypt Records
Crypt Records
Crypt Records is a Hamburg-based record label and record store founded by Tim Warren. The label is perhaps best known for issuing the eight-volume Back From The Grave Series of garage rock compilations, although its reissues and releases include surf, rockabilly, punk rock, exotica, garage punk,...
with drawings of Judah, Russell and Jon replacing the original characters. Both sleeves were created by Mort Todd.
The band also started playing live again in June 2008 with a secret show at Bowery Electric followed by New York City Bicycle Film Festival and a short Jukebox Explosion European tour during August and September 2008.
Dirty Shirt Rock 'n' Roll The First Ten Years / reissues [2010] / live (09 - 11)
In 2009 it was announced that the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion would release the 22 track retrospective compilation Dirty Shirt Rock 'n' Roll: The First Ten Years followed by expanded reissues of the albums Extra WidthExtra Width
Extra Width is the third album by the punk blues group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and was released in 1993.-Track listing:#"Afro"#"History of Lies"#"Back Slider"#"Soul Letter"#"Soul Typecast"#"Pant Leg"#"Hey Mom"#"Big Road"#"Train #2"...
, Orange, Acme
ACME (album)
ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"...
, Now I Got Worry
Now I Got Worry
Now I Got Worry is a 1996 studio album by the American punk blues band The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. The album opens up with Spencer screaming. "Fuck Shit Up" is a cover of a Dub Narcotic song. The man depicted on the cover is Jon Spencer...
, Controversial Negro and tracks from the early releases (the original Kramer and Steve Albini recordings) Year One.
Every reissue included a booklet with new photos, extensive sleeve notes by Mike Edison
Mike Edison
Mike Edison is a New York-based writer, editor, musician, and spoken word artist. He was the publisher of marijuana counterculture magazine High Times, and was later named editor-in-chief of Screw, the self-proclaimed "World's Greatest Newspaper." In his memoir I Have Fun Everywhere I Go, Edison...
and a number of bonus tracks now making the new editions of Extra Width
Extra Width
Extra Width is the third album by the punk blues group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and was released in 1993.-Track listing:#"Afro"#"History of Lies"#"Back Slider"#"Soul Letter"#"Soul Typecast"#"Pant Leg"#"Hey Mom"#"Big Road"#"Train #2"...
, Orange, Acme
ACME (album)
ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"...
double CD sets.
On 16 April 2010 they played a one-off show at Brooklyn Bowl and announced more shows taking place from July 2010 including Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago, the Matador
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
@ 21 Festival at The Pearl, Las Vegas and a number of US and Canadian shows.
In an interview with music blog "Get Back" (yahoo.com) on 19 August 2010 Jon Spencer responded to a question about the possibility of the band releasing new material with "There's totally a chance. We've been playing concerts, touring and playing live because these records are coming out again. It's been very, very enjoyable. We have been talking about the possibility of something new."
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion track "Bellbottoms" from the album Orange was featured at number 180 in a chart titled "The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s" published by Pitchfork
Pitchfork
A pitchfork is an agricultural tool with a long handle and long, thin, widely separated pointed tines used to lift and pitch loose material, such as hay, leaves, grapes, dung or other agricultural materials. Pitchforks typically have two or three tines...
on 30 August 2010
In early October Yahoo! Music interviewed Jon Spencer and the band performed acoustic versions of "Burn It Off", "Wail" and "Blues X Man". On 15 October 2010 videos of the songs and interview were published on the "Maximum Performance" blog along with a short article.
During 2010 the band started playing more regularly with groups of live shows in July, September, October (US / Canada), December (Europe/US) and January 2011 (New Zealand/Australia). They made their first UK appearance at London (Heaven) since the Don't Look Back performance of Orange at Koko in September 2005.
During the live shows the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion played some previously unreleased songs including a cover of "My War" by Black Flag
Black Flag (band)
Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...
. And the band look set to continue playing live with further European live shows in mid-2011 including Primavera Festival in May 2011.
Whilst touring in Australia, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion recorded a cover version of "Black Betty
Black Betty
"Black Betty" is a 20th century African-American work song often credited to Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter as the author, though the earliest recordings are not by him. Some sources claim it is one of Lead Belly's many adaptations of earlier folk material; in this case an 18th century marching...
" at Linear Recording
Linear Recording
Linear Recording is a recording studio complex located in Sydney, Australia, which was established by recording engineer Christopher Vallejo and Emren Kara in 2005. Linear Recording is one of Australia's only dedicated all-analogue recording studios...
for a commercial created by Volkswagen of America's agency Deutsch L.A. Inc. broadcast during Super Bowl Sunday on American television (6 February 2011).
The band have been chosen by Jeff Mangum
Jeff Mangum
Jeff Mangum is a musician best known for being the lyricist, vocalist and guitarist of the band Neutral Milk Hotel, as well as being one of the cofounders of The Elephant 6 Recording Company. Mangum, along with the other founding members of the Elephant 6, attended Ruston High School in the late...
of Neutral Milk Hotel
Neutral Milk Hotel
Neutral Milk Hotel was an American indie rock band formed by singer, guitarist and songwriter Jeff Mangum in the early 1990s. The band was noted for its experimental sound, obscure lyrics and eclectic instrumentation....
to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
festival that he will curate in December 2011 in Minehead, England.
Judah Bauer
Judah Bauer was part of The Spitters "in their embryonic form" and has recorded or performed with Honeymoon Killers, Crowbar Massage, Appleton Brothers, Childballads (Stuart Lupton of Jonathan Fire*eater), Speedball Baby and Cat PowerCat Power
Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...
& Dirty Delta Blues.
Under the name 20 Miles Judah has released the following albums and EPs:
- Ragged Backyard Classics (In The Red, 1996)
- R.L. Boyce Othar Turner Fife & Drum Spam LP/CD (Fat PossumFat Possum RecordsFat Possum Records is an American independent record label based in Oxford, Mississippi. At first Fat Possum focused almost entirely on recording hitherto unknown Mississippi blues artists . Recently, Fat Possum has signed younger rock acts to its roster...
/EpitaphEpitaph RecordsEpitaph Records is a Hollywood, California based independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The label was originally "just a logo and a P.O. box" created in the 1980s for the purpose of selling Bad Religion records, but has evolved into a large independent record...
, 1997) - Sinful Tunes & Spirituals (Au Go-Go, 1998; split EP with Doo Rag)
- I'm a Lucky Guy (Fat Possum/Epitaph, 1998)
- Let Every Town Furnish Its Own Women (Epitaph/Sony, 2000; split EP with Bob Log III)
- Keep It Coming (Fat Possum, 2002)
- Life Doesn't Rhyme (Fat Possum, 2003)
Russell Simins
Russell Simins has produced, remixed and performed with numerous bands including Yeah Yeah YeahsYeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O, guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are complemented in live performances by second guitarist David Pajo, who joined as a touring...
, Honeymoon Killers, Crowbar Massage, Cibo Matto
Cibo Matto
Cibo Matto are a New York City-based band formed by two Japanese women, Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori, in 1994...
, Grapevine, Ween
Ween
Ween is an American alternative rock group. They formed in 1984 in New Hope, Pennsylvania when central members Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo met in an eighth grade typing class. Ween has a large cult underground fanbase despite being generally unknown in American pop music...
, Luscious Jackson
Luscious Jackson
Luscious Jackson are an alternative rock group formed in 1991. The band's name was inspired by now-retired American basketball player Lucious Jackson....
, Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
, Money Mark
Money Mark
Mark Ramos-Nishita aka Money Mark is a producer and musician who has collaborated with the Beastie Boys many times. He also appears on the first Banyan album in 1997 as the "Freeway Keyboardist".-Career:...
, Fred Schneider
Fred Schneider
Frederick William "Fred" Schneider III is an American rock singer, best known as the frontman of the rock band The B-52's, of which he is a founding member. Schneider is well-known for his sprechgesang which he developed from reciting poetry over guitars.-Early life:Schneider was born in Newark,...
, Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
, Asian Dub Foundation
Asian Dub Foundation
Asian Dub Foundation are a British electronica band that plays a mix of rapcore, dub, dancehall and ragga, also using rock instruments, acknowledging a punk influence...
, Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
, The Pierces, Tandy, Spalding Rockwell, The Morning Pages, Little Barrie
Little Barrie
Little Barrie is a power trio that originated in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, since relocated to London. Their sound could be described as stripped down R&B/Soul/Funk/Blues/Garage rock jamband. The band consists of Barrie Cadogan , Lewis Wharton and Virgil Howe . Before Howe, Billy...
, Jena Malone
Jena Malone
Jena Malone is an American actress and musician who has appeared on television, in films, and on Broadway. She made her movie debut with the film Bastard Out of Carolina , and has appeared in films including Contact , Stepmom , Donnie Darko , Saved! , Into the Wild , and Sucker Punch .Malone is...
, Tiny Masters of Today
Tiny Masters of Today
Tiny Masters of Today are an American indie punk rock band, consisting of siblings Ivan and Ada and their friend Jackson all members are from Brooklyn, New York.- The Early Years :...
and Harper Simon
Harper Simon
Harper James Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician and producer. He is the son of musician Paul Simon and Paul's first wife, Peggy Harper.-Early life:...
.
And as a core band member he has released the following albums:
- Honeymoon Killers - Hung Far Low LP/CD (Fist Puppet, 1991)
- Butter 08 (Grand Royal, 1996)
- Crunt (Trance Syndicate, 1994)
- Russell Simins - Public Places LP/CD (Grand RoyalGrand RoyalGrand Royal was the Los Angeles, California based vanity record label set up in 1992 by the Beastie Boys in conjunction with Capitol Records after the group left Def Jam Recordings....
, 2000) - Men Without Pants (Victor, 2006)
- Men Without Pants - Naturally (Expansion Team (US)/Vicious Circle (FR), 2009)
Jon Spencer
Jon Spencer has released some solo material in addition to being a core member of Shithaus, Pussy Galore, Boss HogBoss Hog
Boss Hog is an American punk blues band including the husband and wife duo of Jon Spencer and Cristina Martinez along with Jens Jurgensen , Hollis Queens and Mark Boyce...
, Spencer Dickinson, Solex vs Cristina Martinez + Jon Spencer and in Heavy Trash
Heavy Trash
Heavy Trash is an American rockabilly band based in New York City, formed by Jon Spencer of The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Matt Verta-Ray . The band's music draws from an eclectic mix of genres, including rock & roll, blues, alternative country, Americana and garage punk...
with Matt Verta-Ray released the following albums:
- Heavy Trash LP/CD (Yep Roc (US)/Crunchy Frog (DK)/Victor/JVC (JP), 2005)
- Heavy Trash - Going Way Out With Heavy Trash LP/CD (Yep Roc (US)/Crunchy Frog (DK)/Victor/JVC (JP), 2007)
- Heavy Trash - Mightnight Soul Serenade LP/CD (Big Legal Mess (US)/Crunchy Frog (DK)/Bronzerat (UK), 2009)
With the Honeymoon Killers he appears on several recordings and made one complete album as a member of the band with Russell Simins, Jerry Teel and Lisa Wells:
- Honeymoon Killers - Hung Far Low LP/CD (Fist Puppet, 1991)
He has also performed with, recorded, remixed and produced a huge number of artists including: Gibson Bros., Workdogs, Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....
, Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
, Cheater Slicks
Cheater Slicks
Cheater Slicks is a three-man garage punk band formed in Boston in 1987. The members are Tom Shannon , Dave Shannon , and Dana Hatch . They toured with Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in 1995. The band relocated to Columbus, OH, in 1996 and is still active. They played their 20th anniversary show on...
, Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
, Demolition Doll Rods
Demolition Doll Rods
The Demolition Doll Rods was a three-piece glam / garage rock band from Detroit, Michigan. The band, known for wild stage attire, released its first record in 1994...
, Edison Rocket Train/Mike Edison
Mike Edison
Mike Edison is a New York-based writer, editor, musician, and spoken word artist. He was the publisher of marijuana counterculture magazine High Times, and was later named editor-in-chief of Screw, the self-proclaimed "World's Greatest Newspaper." In his memoir I Have Fun Everywhere I Go, Edison...
, Einstürzende Neubauten
Einstürzende Neubauten
Einstürzende Neubauten is a German post-industrial band, originally from West Berlin, formed in 1980. The group currently comprises Blixa Bargeld , Alexander Hacke , N.U...
, Coldcut
Coldcut
Coldcut are an English dance music duo, comprising Matt Black and Jonathan More. Their signature style is electronic dance music, featuring cut up samples of hip hop, breaks, jazz, spoken word and various other types of music, as well as video and multimedia.-1980s:In 1986, computer programmer Matt...
, Powersolo, Puffy AmiYumi
Puffy AmiYumi
or Puffy AmiYumi is a Japanese rock duo that is currently signed with Sony Music Japan. The group continues to go by the moniker of PUFFY in Japan, but in order to avoid legal naming conflicts with Sean Combs, it has adopted the name Puffy AmiYumi outside of Japan...
, Eros Ramazotti, The Sadies
The Sadies
The Sadies are a Canadian indie rock and alternative country band from Toronto, Ontario.-Background:The band consists of Dallas Good , Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky...
, Add N to (X)
Add N to (X)
Add N to were a three-piece British band specializing in electronic music performed on analogue synthesizers, formed in London in 1994.The original band members were Andrew Aveling, Barry Smith and Ann Shenton...
, Rob K, Haze XXL, Lost Crusaders, David Holmes
David Holmes (musician)
David Holmes is a Northern Irish DJ, musician and composer.-Career:Holmes began djing in Belfast from the age of 15. His first hit was the song "DeNiro", with Ashley Beedle, in 1992. In the early to mid 1990s he ran two club nights in the Belfast Art College known as Sugar Sweet and Shake Yer Brain...
, Khan
Khan (band)
Khan were an English progressive rock band of the Canterbury Scene during 1971-1972.Formed by Steve Hillage from Uriel, the initial line-up was Steve Hillage , Nick Greenwood , Dick Heninghem and Pip Pyle...
, Los Straitjackets
Los Straitjackets
Los Straitjackets is an American instrumental rock band that formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1988. Originally comprising guitarists Danny Amis and Eddie Angel and drummer L. J. "Jimmy" Lester under the name The Straitjackets, the band split up soon after forming and reunited as Los Straitjackets...
, Bomb The Bass
Bomb the Bass
Bomb the Bass is the umbrella title for the output of British musician and producer, Tim Simenon. The band, which has evolved its style over the years, has been classed as electronic or dance....
, Princess Superstar
Princess Superstar
Princess Superstar is an American emcee and DJ.Her musical style, as she describes it, is flip-flop — a mixture of 'hip hop, electroclash and electronica'.-Background:...
, Speedball Baby, Five Dollar Priest, The King Brothers, The Tremolo Beer Gut, Bikini Machine, Phenomenal Handclap Band, The Micragirls
The Micragirls
The Micragirls are an all-female Finnish garage rock trio formed in 2001. The characteristic sound of The Micragirls is based on primitive beat, howling organ, and fervent vocal performances. Along their career the band has developed from sheer fun-having towards more soulful musical expression...
, Cobra Killer
Cobra Killer
The Cobra Killer duo of Gina V. D'Orio and Annika Trost began as part of Alec Empire's Digital hardcore movement. Both were part of other bands signed to Empire's Digital Hardcore Recordings label—Gina was in EC8OR, and Annika was in Shizuo...
, Japanese Popstars, The Slew
The Slew
The Slew is a multinational electronic music project, consisting of Canadian DJ Kid Koala, American DJ Dynomite D, and Australian rock musicians Chris Ross and Myles Heskett, formerly of the band Wolfmother....
and Perrosky.
Studio albums
| Title | Year | Label | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "A Reverse Willie Horton" | 1991 | Public Pop Can | LP |
|
| "Crypt Style Crypt Style Crypt Style is the second official album by the group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and was first released in 1992 on CD in Japan on the "1+2" label. It was later released with an abbreviated track listing on CD in Germany, and as an LP in the US, both in 1993 under the Crypt label. The album... " |
1992 | 1+2 | CD |
|
| 1992 | Crypt | LP |
|
|
| 1993 | Crypt | CD |
|
|
| "The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (album) The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (album) The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is the debut album by the New York City-based eponymous band. Few copies of the album were produced; however, some songs are featured on the album Crypt Style, released one year after... " |
1992 | Caroline | CD / CAS |
|
| 1992 | Hut | CD / LP |
|
|
| "Year One" | 2010 | Shout! Factory | CD |
|
| "Extra Width Extra Width Extra Width is the third album by the punk blues group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and was released in 1993.-Track listing:#"Afro"#"History of Lies"#"Back Slider"#"Soul Letter"#"Soul Typecast"#"Pant Leg"#"Hey Mom"#"Big Road"#"Train #2"... " |
1993 | Crypt | LP / CD |
|
| 1993 | Matador | LP / CD / CAS |
|
|
| 1993 | Au Go-Go | CD |
|
|
| 2000 | Mute | 2xLP / CD |
|
|
| 2010 | Shout! Factory | 2xCD |
|
|
| "Orange" | 1994 | Matador | LP / CD / CAS |
|
| 1994 | Crypt | LP / CD |
|
|
| 1995 | Toy's Factory | CD |
|
|
| 1995 | Toy's Factory | CD |
Experimental Remixes Experimental Remixes is an EP by American punk blues band The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion released in 1995 by Matador Records which consists of six remixes of the group's songs and a hidden bonus track called "Tour Diary"... . |
|
| 2000 | Mute | LP / CD |
|
|
| "Orange + Experimental Remixes" | 2010 | Shout! Factory | 2xCD |
Experimental Remixes Experimental Remixes is an EP by American punk blues band The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion released in 1995 by Matador Records which consists of six remixes of the group's songs and a hidden bonus track called "Tour Diary"... and bonus tracks; Haircut, Woman Love (VPRO), Very Rare (VPRO), Shakin' (S60 V JSBX), an alternate recording of Bellbottoms and recordings of Brenda, BX Man, 78 Style and Greyhound live at CBGB. |
| "Now I Got Worry Now I Got Worry Now I Got Worry is a 1996 studio album by the American punk blues band The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. The album opens up with Spencer screaming. "Fuck Shit Up" is a cover of a Dub Narcotic song. The man depicted on the cover is Jon Spencer... " |
1996 | Toy's Factory | CD |
|
| 1996 | Mute | CD / LP |
|
|
| 1996 | Matador | CD / LP / CAS |
|
|
| 1996 | Au Go-Go | CD |
|
|
| 1996 | Rock Records & Tapes | CD |
|
|
| 2010 | Shout! Factory | CD |
|
|
| 2010 | Shove! | CD |
|
|
| "Acme ACME (album) ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"... " |
1998 | Toy's Factory | CD |
|
| 1998 | Labels | CD |
|
|
| 1998 | Everlasting Records | CD |
|
|
| 1998 | Mute | LP / CD |
|
|
| 1998 | Matador | LP / CD |
|
|
| 1998 | Rock Records | CAS |
|
|
| "Acme + Acme Plus" | 2010 | Shout! Factory | 2xCD |
|
| "Sideways Soul: Dub Narcotic Sound System Meets The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion In A Dancehall Style" | 1999 | K Records | LP / CD |
|
| 1999 | Au Go-Go | CD |
|
|
| 1999 | Rebel Beat Factory | CD |
|
|
| "Plastic Fang Plastic Fang Plastic Fang is the seventh official release by the American punk blues group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 2002. "She Said" was released as a single and a music video was filmed for it... " |
2002 | Mute | CD / Ltd. CD / 2xLP |
|
| 2002 | Matador | CD / Ltd. CD / 2xLP |
|
|
| 2002 | Toy's Factory | CD |
|
|
| 2002 | Mute / Virgin | 2xCD |
|
|
| 2002 | Ultrapop | CD |
|
|
| 2002 | Everlasting | CD |
|
|
| "Damage Damage (Blues Explosion album) Damage is the most recent album by American punk blues band Blues Explosion, released in 2004. This is the first album that the band has released under the abbreviated name "Blues Explosion" rather than their previous name, "The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion"... " |
2004 | Mute | Ltd CD/DVD / CD / LP |
|
| 2004 | Matador | Ltd CD / CD |
|
|
| 2004 | Victor / JVC | CD |
|
|
| 2004 | Modular Records | CD |
|
|
| 2004 | Ultrapop | CD |
|
|
Other albums and EPs
| Title | Year | Label | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Mo' Width" | 1994 | Au Go-Go | LP / CD |
|
| Experimental Remixes Experimental Remixes Experimental Remixes is an EP by American punk blues band The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion released in 1995 by Matador Records which consists of six remixes of the group's songs and a hidden bonus track called "Tour Diary"... |
1995 | Matador | 12" / CD |
UNKLE Unkle are a British musical outfit founded in 1994 by school friends James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy. Originally categorized as trip-hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and have employed a variety of guest artists and producers.-First incarnation :Lavelle and Goldsworthy were joined... , Mike D, Beck Beck Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck... , Moby Moby Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early... , Dub Narcotic Sound System Dub Narcotic Sound System Dub Narcotic Sound System is an Olympia, Washington based indie-funk musical group founded by Calvin Johnson, signed to K Records.-Origins:The band is named after Calvin Johnson's basement recording studio, Dub Narcotic.... , GZA GZA Gary Grice , better known by his stage names GZA and The Genius, is an American hip hop artist and founding member of the seminal hip hop group the Wu-Tang Clan. He has also appeared on his fellow clan members' solo projects and has maintained a successful solo career... and Killah Priest Killah Priest Walter Reed, better known as Killah Priest, Iron Sheik from the Middle East, or Masada, is an American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan affiliate who was raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant & Brownsville neighbourhoods in Brooklyn. He is known for intensely spiritual lyrics loaded with metaphors and religious... . |
| 2000 | Mute | 2xLP / CD |
Prince Paul Paul Huston, better known by the stage name Prince Paul, is an American disc jockey and hip-hop record producer. He was also a founding member of the Gravediggaz where he used the name The Undertaker.- Biography :... , Plunderphonic (John Oswald John Oswald (composer) John Oswald is a Canadian composer, saxophonist, media artist and dancer. His best known project is Plunderphonics, the practice of making new music out of previously existing recordings .-Philosophy:Oswald coined the term "plunderphonics" to describe his craft in a paper called which he... ) and F. Carles (MC Relov/Hypercard) |
|
| Controversial Negro | 1997 | Mute | CD |
|
| Matador | LP |
|
||
| Toy's Factory | Ltd CD / CD |
|
||
| 2010 | Shout! Factory | CD |
|
|
| Rocketship | 1997 | AU Go-Go | 7" / CD |
|
| Acme Plus | 1999 | Mute | 2xLP / CD |
ACME (album) ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"... -era out-takes, B-sides and remixes. |
| Xtra Acme USA | Matador | 2xLP / CD |
ACME (album) ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"... -era out-takes, B-sides and remixes. |
|
| Ura-Acme | Toy's Factory | LP |
ACME (album) ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"... -era out-takes, B-sides and remixes. ACME (album) ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"... out-takes album to feature "New Year (Destroyer)" |
|
| Extra-Acme | Toy's Factory | CD / LP |
ACME (album) ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"... -era out-takes, B-sides and remixes. |
|
| Fang Plastique | 2002 | Toy's Factory | CD |
|
| Fang Visual | Matador | DVD |
Plastic Fang Plastic Fang is the seventh official release by the American punk blues group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 2002. "She Said" was released as a single and a music video was filmed for it... . |
|
| Snack Cracker | 2005 | JVC / Victor | CD |
|
| Jukebox Explosion Rockin' Mid-90s Punkers | 2007 | In The Red | LP / CD |
|
| Dirty Shirt Rock 'n' Roll: The First Ten Years | 2010 | Shout! Factory | CD |
|
| Shove! | CD |
|
Singles
| Year | Title | Label | Album | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | "Shirt Jac" | In The Red | Jukebox Explosion Rockin' Mid-90s Punkers / Year One |
|
| "Son of Sam " | Jukebox Explosion Rockin' Mid-90s Punkers / Extra Width (2010) |
|
||
| "History of Sex" | Clawfist | Year One |
|
|
| 1993 | "Afro" | Matador Records | Extra Width Extra Width Extra Width is the third album by the punk blues group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and was released in 1993.-Track listing:#"Afro"#"History of Lies"#"Back Slider"#"Soul Letter"#"Soul Typecast"#"Pant Leg"#"Hey Mom"#"Big Road"#"Train #2"... |
|
| "Train # 3" | In The Red | Jukebox Explosion Rockin' Mid-90s Punkers / Extra Width (2010) |
|
|
| 1995 | "Bellbottoms" | Matador Records | Orange |
|
| 1996 | "Get With It" | In The Red | Jukebox Explosion Rockin' Mid-90s Punkers / Now I Got Worry (2010) |
|
| "2Kindsa Love" | Mute | Now I Got Worry Now I Got Worry Now I Got Worry is a 1996 studio album by the American punk blues band The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. The album opens up with Spencer screaming. "Fuck Shit Up" is a cover of a Dub Narcotic song. The man depicted on the cover is Jon Spencer... |
|
|
| 1997 | "Wail" |
|
||
| "Rocketship" | Au Go-Go Records |
|
||
| 1998 | "Magical Colors" | Mute | Acme ACME (album) ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"... |
|
| "Talk About The Blues" | Mute / Matador |
|
||
| 1999 | "Calvin" | Au Go-Go Records |
|
|
| "New Year (Destroyer)" | Slut Smalls | Ura-Acme (Japan-only vinyl album) |
Barry Adamson Barry Adamson is a British rock musician who has worked with rock bands such as Magazine, Visage, The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the electronic musicians Pan sonic and Depeche Mode. Adamson created the seven-minute opus "Useless " remix for the latter band in 1997... - The Crime Scene Barry Adamson Barry Adamson is a British rock musician who has worked with rock bands such as Magazine, Visage, The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the electronic musicians Pan sonic and Depeche Mode. Adamson created the seven-minute opus "Useless " remix for the latter band in 1997... . |
|
| "Heavy (Remix)" | Mute | Acme ACME (album) ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"... |
|
|
| 2000 | "Lap Dance (Jim Waters/Scott Benzel Remix)" | In the Red | - |
Andre Williams Andre Williams is an American R&B and punk blues musician who started his career in the 1950s at Fortune Records in Detroit.-Biography:... |
| "Techno Animal Remixes" | Mute | - |
|
|
| 2002 | "Ghetto Mom" | In the Red | Jukebox Explosion Rockin' Mid-90s Punkers |
|
| "She Said" | Mute | Plastic Fang Plastic Fang Plastic Fang is the seventh official release by the American punk blues group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 2002. "She Said" was released as a single and a music video was filmed for it... |
|
|
| "Sweet 'n' Sour" |
|
|||
| "Shakin' Rock 'n' Roll Tonight" |
|
|||
| 2004 | "Burn It Off" | Damage Damage (Blues Explosion album) Damage is the most recent album by American punk blues band Blues Explosion, released in 2004. This is the first album that the band has released under the abbreviated name "Blues Explosion" rather than their previous name, "The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion"... |
|
|
| "Hot Gossip " |
Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour , better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.- Early life :Ridenhour was born in Queens, New York... and Meet Me In The City is a Junior Kimbrough Junior Kimbrough David "Junior" Kimbrough was an American blues musician. His best known work included "Keep Your Hands Off Her" and "All Night Long". Music journalist Tony Russell stated "his raw, repetitive style suggests an archaic forebear of John Lee Hooker, a character his music shares with that of fellow... cover version featuring Elliott Smith Elliott Smith Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity... on acoustic guitar. |
|||
| 2005 | "Crunchy" |
DFA DFA may refer to:* Directory of Financial Advisers, DFA a private directory of Financial Advisers in New Zealand-Computing:* Data-flow analysis, a technique for gathering information about the possible set of values calculated at various points in a computer program* Deterministic finite automaton,... Remix) / Blues Explosion Man (Live at FMU) |
||
Music videos
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Album | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | "Rachel" | Jim Spring and Jens Jurgensen | Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Jon Spencer Blues Explosion The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion are an American alternative rock trio, formed in 1991 and based out of New York City, New York. The band consists of Judah Bauer on guitar, backing vocals, harmonica and occasional lead vocals, Russell Simins on drums and Jon Spencer on vocals, guitar and theremin... / Crypt Style Crypt Style Crypt Style is the second official album by the group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and was first released in 1992 on CD in Japan on the "1+2" label. It was later released with an abbreviated track listing on CD in Germany, and as an LP in the US, both in 1993 under the Crypt label. The album... |
Released on Live Promo Video |
| 1993 | "Afro" | Tom Surgal | Extra Width Extra Width Extra Width is the third album by the punk blues group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and was released in 1993.-Track listing:#"Afro"#"History of Lies"#"Back Slider"#"Soul Letter"#"Soul Typecast"#"Pant Leg"#"Hey Mom"#"Big Road"#"Train #2"... |
|
| 1994 | "Dang" | Steve Hanft Steve Hanft Steven P. Hanft , more commonly known as Steve Hanft, is an American independent film director.-Early life:Hanft was born in Ventura, California. He started making films at the age of 11 growing up in California. His first works consisted of surf films and nature films followed later by... |
Orange | |
| "Flavor" | Evan Bernard Evan Bernard Evan Bernard is an American director of commercials and music videos who has directed videos for artists such as Moby, the Beastie Boys, Green Day, Lit, Cibo Matto and many others.After studying advertising design at Syracuse University and St... |
Features Mike D of the Beastie Boys Beastie Boys Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar.... and Beck Beck Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck... |
||
| 1995 | "Bellbottoms" | Tom Surgal | ||
| 1996 | "2Kindsa Love" | Mike Mills Mike Mills Michael Edward "Mike" Mills is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock group R.E.M.. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire includes also keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments... |
Now I Got Worry Now I Got Worry Now I Got Worry is a 1996 studio album by the American punk blues band The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. The album opens up with Spencer screaming. "Fuck Shit Up" is a cover of a Dub Narcotic song. The man depicted on the cover is Jon Spencer... |
|
| 1997 | "Wail" | Weird Al Yankovic | ||
| 1998 | "Magical Colors" | Terry Richardson Terry Richardson Terrence "Terry" Richardson is an American fashion photographer.-Early life:Richardson was born in New York City, the son of Bob Richardson, a fashion photographer who struggled with schizophrenia and drug abuse... |
Acme ACME (album) ACME is the sixth studio album by the American punk blues group Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 1998.-Track listing:#"Calvin"#"Magical Colors"#"Do You Want to Get Heavy"#"High Gear"#"Talk About the Blues"... |
A series of still photographs |
| "Talk About The Blues" | Evan Bernard Evan Bernard Evan Bernard is an American director of commercials and music videos who has directed videos for artists such as Moby, the Beastie Boys, Green Day, Lit, Cibo Matto and many others.After studying advertising design at Syracuse University and St... |
Stars Giovanni Ribisi Giovanni Ribisi Giovanni Ribisi is an American actor. His film credits include Gone in 60 Seconds, Boiler Room, Saving Private Ryan, The Mod Squad, The Gift, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lost in Translation and more recently, Public Enemies and Avatar... as Judah Bauer, John C. Reilly John C. Reilly John Christopher Reilly, Jr. is an American film and theater actor, singer, and comedian. Debuting in Casualties of War in 1989, he is one of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma. To date, he has appeared in more than fifty films, including three separate films in 2002... as Russell Simins and Winona Ryder Winona Ryder Winona Ryder is an American actress. She made her film debut in the 1986 film Lucas. Ryder's first significant role came in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice as a goth teenager, which won her critical and commercial recognition... as Jon Spencer. |
||
| "Attack" | - | With Alec Empire Alec Empire Alec Empire is a German musician who is best known as a founding member of the band Atari Teenage Riot. Also a prolific and distinguished solo artist, producer and DJ, he has released well over a hundred albums, EPs and singles and remixed over seventy tracks for various artists including Björk... , video released on Digital Hardcore Digital hardcore Digital hardcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk incorporating influences from electronic music. Digital hardcore fuses elements of hardcore punk with various forms of electronic music... compilations |
||
| 2002 | "She Said" | Floria Sigismondi Floria Sigismondi Floria Sigismondi is an Italian, naturalised Canadian, photographer and director.Apart from her art exhibitions, she is best known for writing and directing The Runaways, starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning... |
Plastic Fang Plastic Fang Plastic Fang is the seventh official release by the American punk blues group The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, released on Matador in 2002. "She Said" was released as a single and a music video was filmed for it... |
|
| "She Said (100 Club)" | Barney Clay | |||
| "Sweet 'n' Sour" | Stylewar | |||
| 2004 | "Burn It Off" | Stylewar | Damage Damage (Blues Explosion album) Damage is the most recent album by American punk blues band Blues Explosion, released in 2004. This is the first album that the band has released under the abbreviated name "Blues Explosion" rather than their previous name, "The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion"... |
|
| "Hot Gossip" | David Raccuglia | Features Chuck D Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour , better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.- Early life :Ridenhour was born in Queens, New York... of Public Enemy |
||
External links
- Blues Explosion official website
- Blues Explosion at Matador RecordsMatador RecordsMatador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
- Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Discography/Website: Pop-Catastrophe.co.uk
- "The Spencer Report", a complete list of songs and releases these appear on, 1991-95.
- An extensive interview with Jon Spencer on Jekyll and Hyde, 106FM Jerusalem