Kitten

Reflex C.

The Kitten comp is one of the defining moments in the Minneapolis punk scene.  A document of the punk and hard core bands that put Minnesota on the map.  It has since been re-released on CD by Garage D’or Records .  It probably sounds a whole lot better than this tape ever did.   Once you sample the cassette, head over and buy the CD.

Once again, linked from the fabulous Download Underground site.  Head over and get this!

Blue Hippos

12" EP & Fourty Fourty EP

From the Ashes of Otto’s Chemical Lounge , the Blue Hippos were a  Twin Tone band.

I must admit that I’ve never been a big fan of the Blue Hippos, but I believe (it’s been a while) that I own one of these long out of print records, but I haven’t listened to it probably since the day I bought it. When I was working on my cable access show in the early 80’s, I went on a binge for about a year buying just about anything locally released so I could play it on the show.  Most of that stuff is packed up in boxes, probably never to be looked at again.  That’s why I really got to liking these music blogs.   I’m able to find a lot of the old records that I owned back in the day, but never transferred to CD/MP3, or that I just plain missed out on because of poor distribution or limited supply.  No matter what folks in the music industry will tell you about how the internet has killed their business, it has become awesome for old farts like myself that just want to hear some of those old vinyl records, and cassette tapes that I have piled up in the basement but will probably never play again.  It’s also been a great way to check out the bands I missed the first time around…most of which are completely non-existent today.  Those are the bands that I celebrate here!

I’m just direct linking to another blog that has this posted.  No point in duplicating their work, so head over there and get it!

Scooby Don’t

Better than the last

This was their first and, as far as I know, only EP.   They had a split with another band, and some compilation tracks, but I’m pretty sure this was the only record they put out themselves.  This was Billy  Morrisette’s pre-Dillinger Four band, although this recording pre-dates his time with the band.

They were from small-town Wisconsin (Shawano or Sheboygan if I remember correctly).  They moved to Minneapolis and made the biggest contribution to the local punk scene by opening their basement up to traveling bands.  The 35th St. Entry as it was called, because it was roughly on the corner or 35th St. & 1st. Ave (just 28 blocks south of a more famous venue ), showcased bands from California to New York and was by far the best basement show venue durring it’s time as it was actually somewhat large and open.  The picture above is from a video I shot at the 35th St. Entry.  You can watch that video over at BasementShows.com

Get it! or Buy it!

I thought I’d start the first post off with something that everyone would recognize.  A few video clips of some obscure TV appearances.

(more…)