I had the honor of being a fly on the wall as Henry Rollins and his friend of over 40 years, Ian Mackeye (Fugazi, Minor Threat, The Evens), took over the airwaves for two hours on Saturday. Not only did they play some very hard-to-find tracks and unreleased demos that Ian has in his possession, but it was a bit of an education about the punk scene in DC (especially a story about The Nurses), among other things.
I was definitely not expecting Ian’s first pick to be a live version of “Green Onions” by Booker T and the MGs, but he was full of surprises. Another favorite came from New Orleans, the Stooges Brass Band, “Where You From It’s About Time”. He compared the brass band culture of the Big Easy to the Go-Go scene in DC.
Henry also threw in a Led Zeppelin live track (“Song Remains the Same”) from a concert the two of the attended together, at the Capital Center in Landover, Maryland in 1977.
Both men are incredible story tellers, and as soon as the mics were off, the stories kept coming. My favorite being Henry talking about having to listen to every Black Flag show in the van driving to the NEXT Black Flag show, at the insistence of Greg Ginn. And having to hear (paraphrasing) how awful he sang he each night. He said each Black Flag show was about survival more so than being your best. )
Check out the full set list below and hear it all in the archives.
RR
Ian Mackeye on KCRW — Set List
Booker T. & The MG’S — Green Onions (Stax Revue Live At The 5/4 Ballroom)
Vile Cherubs — Man With A Photograph (The Man Who Has No Eats No Sweats)
Q And Not U — Kiss Distinctly (No Kill No Beep Beep)
Lungfish — Wailing Like Dragons (Feral Hymns)
Radio Birdman — New Race (Radios Appear)
Black Eyes — Drums (Cough)
Follow Fashion Monkeys –Managerie (Unreleased Session)
Slant 6 — Double Edged Knife (Soda Pop*Rip Off)
Stooges Brass Band — Where You From (It’s About Time)
Eddy Current Suppression Ring — She’s Dancing Away (So Many Things)
The Ramsey Lewis Trio — Hang On Sloopy (Hang On Ramsey!)
Led Zeppelin — The Song Remains The Same (Cap. Centre, Landover, MD – 5/22/77)
Happy Go Licky — Twist And Shout (Happy Go Licky Will Play)
Medications — The Perfect Target (5 Songs)
SPRCSS — Ours Is Expanding Light (Unreleased)
Funkadelic — Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow (Live: Rochester, Michigan – 9/12/71)
The Nurses — D.Y.F. (Single)
Nation Of Ulyses — SS Exploder (Plays Pretty For Baby)
Red C — Pressure’s On (Unreleased demo)
Rocket From The Crypt — Pressure’s On (All Systems Go)
