/ Personification of Cockabilly: Robert Rex by Kris Studio of Chicago photographed in 1959 (Via) /
Cockabilly! A rock’n’roll homo-fest! A pink riot of bliss! Further!
Faster! Filthier!
There hadn't
been a Cockabilly club night (London’s sole
regular queer rockabilly booze party at Shoreditch epicentre of hip, The George and Dragon) since May. So by Friday 25 July I was gagging to shake-up a rancid cocktail of
vintage musical sleaze alongside Cockabilly head honcho Mal
Nicholson. Sweat to the oldies! Get in touch with your inner juvenile delinquent! Swallow a fistful of bop pills and hit the dance floor! And how hip was this night? Let's just say Her Royal Highness, Ms Princess Julia (the princess of our hearts) was spotted dancing early on.
/ Perennial Cockabilly favourite:
Cry-baby (1990) by spiritual father / filth elder of us all,
John Waters /
Let's Have a Party - Wanda Jackson
Tough Bounce - The Fabulous Wailers
Love Me - The Phantom
Lucille - Masaaki Hirao
Hound Dog - Little Esther
Don't Be Cruel - The Bill Black Combo
Honolulu Rock'n'Roll - Eartha Kitt
Rock-a-Hula Baby - Elvis Presley
Dragon Walk - The Noblemen
Jim Dandy - Sara Lee and The Spades
The Swag - Link Wray
Kruschev Twist - Melvin Gayle
Peter Gunn Twist - The Jesters
Let's Twist Again - Johnny Hallyday
Twistin' the Night Away - Divine
That Makes It - Jayne Mansfield
Sweet Little Pussycat - Andre Williams
Tina's Dilemma - Ike and Tina Turner
Here Comes the Bug - The Rumblers
Dance with Me Henry - Ann-Margret
Sweetie Pie - Eddie Cochran
C'Mon Everybody - Sid Vicious
Breathless - X
Comin' Home - The Delmonas
Wiped-Out - The Escorts
Whistle Bait - Larry Collins
One Hand Loose - Charlie Feathers
Chicken Grabber - The Nite Hawks
Vesuvius - The Revels
Wipe-Out - The Surfaris
The Girl Can't Help It - Little Richard
/ Walter Leon Gibson by
Bob Mizer /
Read about the squalid proceedings at previous Cockabilly nights here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here,
here and
here.
/ Clown Princess of Punk: Nina Hagen /
Bonus set list! The following night (Saturday 26 JuIy) I hauled my ass to South London (Brixton, to be precise) for a club night called
Strength! And Power! organised by my brilliant and talented artist friend Sarah
Holly Sayeed. (Nightclub hostess Sarah was radiant in a kimono with her hair scraped into a little
Samurai top knot). By the time I started my DJ guest spot towards the end of
the night, the crowd had pretty much thinned and the atmosphere was a bit
funeral parlour-ish. (The couple sat directly opposite me seemed to be there
mainly to sit and text on their iPhones). So I cranked-up the aggression and
antagonism to try to rouse a reaction with loud, raspy-voiced and confrontational
tracks by the likes of Divine, Edith Massey and Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black amidst the usual mess of kitschy surf, punk, rockabilly, twist music and sleazy instrumentals.
Most satisfyingly, I seized the opportunity to play my favourite track from East
German freak diva Nina Hagen’s unsung 1982 post-punk masterpiece Nunsexmonrock:
the truly maniacal “Iki Maska.” Just
before it I played The Jester’s grinding tittyshaker twist version of the Peter
Gunn theme and eased them into each other. Like “Planet Claire” by The B-52s, “Iki
Maska” is anchored to that same minimalist repetitive surf-y Peter Gunn riff,
over which Hagen trills, growls, shrieks and spews her crackpot bag lady lyrics while channeling Linda Blair in The Exorcist. Spine-tingling! My boyfriend Pal shook his head and said, well, you succeeded in
making people feel uncomfortable!
Mau Mau - The Wailers
Kismiaz - The Cramps
Twisting with Bad Boy Bubbles - Shuggie Smith and The Cajuns
Peter Gunn Locomotion - The Delmonas
You're Driving Me Crazy - Dorothy Berry
Margaya - The Fender Four
Here Comes the Bug - The Rumblers
Peter Gunn Twist - The Jesters
Iki Maska - Nina Hagen
Punks Get Off the Grass - Edith Massey
Female Trouble - The Melvins
Hey, You - Divine
Pillow Case - The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black
Harley Davidson - Brigitte Bardot
Can't Stop Thinking About It - The Dirtbombs
He's The One - Ike and Tina Turner
Boss - The Rumblers
Honolulu Rock'n'Roll - Eartha Kitt
Rock-a-Hula Baby - Elvis Presley
Deuces Wild - Link Wray
Esquerita and The Voola - Esquerita
Suey - Jayne Mansfield
Rip It Up - Little Richard
Hard-Headed Woman - Wanda Jackson
Shout! - Johnny Hallyday
Whistle Bait - Larry Collins
Rock Around the Clock - The Sex Pistols
Year One - X
Beat Party - Ritchie and The Squires
8 Ball - The Hustlers
Save It - Mel Robbins
Love Me - The Phantom
Surfin' Bird - The Trashmen
Rock-a-Bop - Sparkle Moore
And finally: scrawl the date in your social calendar - preferably in blood! End summer 2014 on a note of sleazy desperation on Saturday 6 September 2014 when Lobotomy Room (my irregular Mondo Trasho punkabilly club night) triumphantly returns to its ideal venue, Paper Dress Vintage.
And featuring special musical guests ... the vicious EMPRESS OF FUR! Led by the Bettie Page-tastic Venus Raygun (half angel, half jungle cat – all woman!), Empress of Fur answers the musical question “Why do the sweetest kittens have the sharpest claws?” – and rasp your freakin’ face off in the process with their raunchy post-Cramps voodoobilly assault! Imagine the musical equivalent of a 1960s Russ Meyer film about go-go dancers on a homicidal rampage, and you’re on the right track. The Von Nitros kick of proceedings with their surf / garage punk mayhem. And it's all totally gratuit (that's French for free!).
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