Valiant Vinyl - Issue #6

The Commodores - Midnight Magic LP (1979)

I have had some good luck lately, accidentally finding out of print records and such. Picked up for a whopping 99 cents, I acquired The Commodores’ Midnight Magic. At the time of this posting, this is out of print, and the import version of this on CD is going for upwards of $96 (!) on Amazon and eBay.

In reality, it’s not their best work. The “Getting’ It”, "Midnight Magic”, and “Sexy Lady” tracks are nice slabs of funk/pop, but after that it slows down, veering into Lionel Ritchie ballad territory. “Still” was a big hit, but I still don’t like it! Guffaw, guffaw…

Notably, you can get “Still” and “Sail On” (another Commodores song I’m not crazy about) on practically every “best of” collection, however this version of “Sail On” is the full five minute plus version with some more guitar and horns in the mix which makes it a much better listen, at least for me.

This is from my own vinyl rip, and it does have the tiniest bit of surface noise, but if you’re not listening for it you won’t notice. But now that I’ve told you, you’re going to make a point to hear and complain!

A1 - Getting’ It (03:40)
A2 – Midnight Magic (05:20)
A3 – You’re Special (03:28)
A4 – Still (05:49)
B1 – Wonderland (05:21)
B2 – Sexy Lady (03:32)
B3 – Lovin’ You (04:24)
B4 – Sail On (05:23)

B5 – 12:01 A.M. [Reprise] (01:05)

Valiant Vinyl - Issue #5

Gruntruck - Above Me 7" (1992)

I had known of Gruntruck’s existence while I was first discovering Skin Yard, but I wasn’t well versed in their material. After I had been listening to Skin Yard for awhile, a friend of mine put in his cassette copy of Inside Yours. When it got to the track “Melt”, and Ben starts hitting the higher notes, it was like a light bulb appeared over my head. I frantically began searching for his case and insert to verify, and sure enough thereit was in black and white. So, even though I had found nearly every Skin Yard release, I now had to search out everything by Gruntruck as well, which is unfortunately not very much.

Gruntruck began as a side project of Ben McMillan’s, but continued on after Skin Yard’s demise. The band also featured Tom Niemeyer of The Accused, Scott McCollum (aka Norman Scott) previously of Skin Yard, and Tim Paul of Napalm Beach and Final Warning. The band was wrapped up in a legal battle with Roadrunner Records in 1993 and probably on into 1996 until they released the Shot EP, something over shenanigans with their contract. I know, it’s a big surprise that Roadrunner would ever do anything to hurt one of their bands… just ask Type O Negative.

This is the 7” single for “Above Me”, from the Push album. On the b-side is a demo version of “Machine Action”, and even though I don’t like it as much as the album version it is a nice little ditty.

Jack Endino produced this, and I think he may have even contributed guitar to both of Gruntruck’s full length albums, but I can’t be sure. I remember Jack mentioning in one of his updates that Ben had recorded close to 100 songs and Jack was trying to convince him to release a solo record. Now that Ben is gone, I hope that someone has the good sense to release at least on album of his best unreleased. Not that I want people profiting from his passing, but I think it would give us fans at least one last chance to hear some new stuff, perhaps some stuff Ben may have been too self conscious to release himself. After all, we are all our own worst critic.

A: Above Me (04:59)
B: Machine Action [16 Track Demo] (05:10)

"Above Me / Machine Action Demo"

Valiant VInyl - Issue #4

Skin Yard / Loveslug Split 7" (1991)

This is the Skin Yard / Loveslug split, from… well I don’t really know when. It was recorded in early 1991, so I’m going to assume it at 1991, or 1992 at the least.

The Skin Yard track, a live version of Psychoriflepowerhypnotized from 1000 Smiling Knuckles is really raunchy sounding, but it’s good. It has this raw quality that, unfortunately, you don’t hear all that often anymore.

Loveslug, a band I know nothing about, presents “Loser Bar”, which is a good little rock song. It sounds as if it were definitely influenced by what was happening around Seattle a few years prior. I do know that Loveslug is European, so they probably heard all the Sub Pop stuff before we even knew it existed.

A: Skin Yard – Psychoriflepowerhypnotized [Live 02/05/1991] (02:54)
1: Loveslug – Loser Bar (03:45)

Psychoriflepowerhypnotized / Loser Bar

Valiant Vinyl - Issue #3

Skin Yard - Inside The Eye 10" (1993)

Continuing with the out-of-print Skin Yard singles collection... you know, the entire discography is out of print and I considered posting all of it in time, but decided to do only the singles. Daniel House has copies of some stuff at this location. Jack Endino used to have a "garage sale" online, but it's down at the moment. You can purchase any of your wanted Skin Yard items from these nice fellows, or from scam artists on eBay. It's your thing, do whatcha wanna do!

This single is taken from the final Skin Yard album, Inside the Eye. Jack said he considered it more of a Gruntruck album than a proper Skins album (more on them later). This release features Pat Pedersen on bass instead of Mr. House. Pat's tenure with the band was roughly six months before they called it a day, but he also played on the first Endino's Earthworm record. Although no proper credit is given for the live version of "Kerosene", I have to imagine Daniel plays bass on it, as it must be from their final European tour behind 1000 Smiling Knuckles.

A01 – Inside The Eye (03:22)
B01 – Undertow (03:23)
B02 – Drunk On Kerosene [Live In Holland] (02:43)

"......."

Valiant Vinyl - Issue #2

Skin Yard - 1000 Smiling Knuckles / Bulldog 10" (1991)

I feel bad about posting that dreadful Hott single, but it’s not like anyone is reading anyway, let alone listening... but I digress. Now is the time for you, the reader (who doesn’t exist), to be rewarded for your patience. Today, I’m going to offer you some of the delicious sounds of Seattle’s own Skin Yard.

I really wanted to post this earlier in the week, as I want to post more often than once a week, but it took me a few tries to come up with something I really wanted to post. Many people have done their rundown of Skin Yard’s history, and you can read bassist Daniel House’s account here.

I’ve decided I’m going to give you my introduction to, and history with, Skin Yard.

Sometime in late 1994, I picked up the Deep Six compilation (now out of print for the second time) quite by chance. I didn’t know it was re-released, and I’m not even sure I knew it existed ever. The main draw for me was early Soundgarden and Melvins, some familiarity to make the purchase safe and not a complete loss. I had heard Green River, someone had the Come On Down EP, and I thought it was alright. One thing this CD had was two tracks by Malfunkshun, which until now had been largely unheard outside of Seattle in the pre-innerweb days. The CD would of course be my first glimpse of not only Malfunkshun, but The U-Men and or course, Skin Yard.

Front to back, the disc was fantastic, but Skin Yard had this underlying darkness that the other bands didn’t possess. After hearing “The Birds” and “Throb” I was smitten. They seemed to specialize more in atmosphere, whereas The Melvins specialised in punching you in the face with an anvil as much as possible in the span of 45 seconds (at least back in those days).

Of course, in the pre-innerweb days, you actually had to work to find something you were looking for… if it even existed. Sometimes you would walk into a record store, only have the clerk tell you a record didn’t exist because a) they were ignorant, or b) it really didn’t. Some stores couldn’t order things that other stores could for whatever reason, etc, etc. I used to drive hours away to independent record stores to find what I wanted, releases you couldn’t find at Sam Goody’s or Record Town. I ventured to Music City and House of Guitars to scour the bins for obscure releases. Eventually, I contacted Jack Endino and he filled in most of the gaps in my collection, being the ultra cool dude that he is.

At that time, Skin Yard was mine and mine alone. No one I knew of them, and no one I knew was really interested because they weren’t Soundgarden or Pearl Jam. “Fools!” I cried, “Have you no courage to explore the depths of the Seattle scene?!” Regardless of my friends’ indifference, I enjoyed the thrill of the hunt and the discovery of new music from my new favorite band.

Anyhow, this is the 10 inch single. This version of The Beatles’ “Bulldog” is drastically different than the one that appears on 2001’s “Start At the Top” rarities collection.

A: 1000 Smiling Knuckles (03:19)
B: Bulldog (02:36)

"Hey Bulldog!"

Valiant Vinyl - Issue #1

Hott - Hip Service 12" (1986)

So, I don't know what exactly to say about this 12" single. I did some internet sleuthing and turned up a certain Dr. York, who is listed as the Executive Producer, Producer, Writer, Arranger and Engineer of this particular piece. He may or may not be the same Dr. York who's wikipage is an amazing chunk of text.

I picked this up in a Thrift Store some years ago, and I have only now just listened to it. The jacket is cheap, but the vinyl itself is very heavy and a beautiful, nearly flawless deep red... the exact color I would expect Count Dracula to release an album on if he weren't so busy draining virgins and creating hounds of hell. How could I resist this album cover? It is simple, yet effective. In fact, why not use it to spruce up some other, less desirable album covers? See what happens when you use it against the album "Load" by Metallca:

"Now with 100% less semen!"

Anyway, about the actual music. This is standard 80's dance music, but it sounds like it was intended to be disco but they just tried to make it more modern in the production. The standard single mix is ok. The "Club Mix" is just a drawn out version of the regular single mix, but to nauseating proportions. The "Crazy Mix" sounds just like you would expect from someone in 1986 when given the direction "Just make it crazy!" The Accapella is the real treat, complete with echo effects. Maybe some DJ can do something creative with it, which is the real reason I'm posting it up... maybe it will be of some use to someone, somewhere.

A1 Hip Service [4:29]

A2 Hip Service (Club Mix) [8:13]

B1 Hip Service (Crazy Mix) [8:28]

B2 Hip Service (Acapella) [2:10]

"We're Hott!"