Capitalism's Favorite Boychild: The Mekons '85-'89
While I've got nothing but love and respect for Neil Young - my spiritual godpapa since 6th grade - I haven't left Spotify yet. He may like Amazon and Apple and Google, but I don't love the idea of picking up my playlists and setting them up somewhere that makes its money and focuses its UI attention on something other than music. Plus, they didn't give Joe Rogan 100 million because they make hay as a platform for Team MeResearch without spending so much. If enough artists and labels leave Spotify (is there a reason, or even a logic to letting me hear the entirety of End Hits on there?), I'll probably make Tidal or Quboz or Blingidingi my new streaming discovery & playlisting tool, once I've figured out the relative utility in terms of my laptop, PS4/smart tv and phone/car set-ups. If you're happy with sticking to physical media and the relatively esoteric fields of Bandcamp, you have my hearty approval to bake a cookie and eat it. But currently society, Spotify and Joe Walsh (or his contractually appointed rightsholder) lets me play Joe Walsh's "Life Of Illusion" through my phone and into my car, while breaking fewer ethical contracts than a dubbing a mixtape did. So I'm gonna! He gets more pennies from that than when I play my used vinyl copy of But Seriously, Folks... anyway.
What does this have to do with the Mekons? Not much. But I saw a picture of them in 1986 today, and that made wonder if they might be my favorite band of the late '80s. Once an art-punk band of more theoretical musical appeal, the Mekons dropped Fear & Whiskey in 1985, inspired by country music and the miner's stike. The Edge Of The World and Honky Tonkin' followed in 1986 & 1987 respectively, sharing a similar raucuous sound and sardonic, literary perspective on how to party with your principles. 1988's So Good It Hurts brought some studio polish and reggae into the mix, setting the stage for 1989's The Mekons Rock'N'Roll, a classic concept album (released on A&M!) about the absurdity of being a rock band with crossover potential and a working knowedge of communist critque. Opener "Memphis, Egypt"... I'm just gonna post the lyrics in full.
Destroy your safe and happy lives before it is too late
The battles we fought were long and hard
Just not to be consumed by rock 'n' roll
Rock 'n' roll
Capitalismos, favorite boy child, we must apologize
Up in the rafters a rope is danglin'
Spots before the eyes of rock 'n' roll
Rock 'n' roll
We know the devil and we have shaken him by the hand
Embraced him and thought his stinking breath was fine perfume
Just like rock n' roll
Rock 'n' roll
East Berlin can't buy a thing, there's nothing they can sell me
Walk through the wall no pain at all
I'm born inside the belly of rock n' roll
Rock 'n' roll
It's something to sell your labor for when hair sprouts out below
I'm a microscope on that secret place where
We all want to go, it's rock n' roll
Rock 'n' roll
And that's just the single! Hit number 2 starts "When I was just seventeen, sex no longer held a mystery/ I saw it as a commodity, to be bought and sold like rock n' roll." Somehow the band pounds away behind both tracks like they want to soundtrack rather than interrupt your pool game. Many heads consider Fear & Whiskey their peak, but my love of music that doesn't let intellectual comprehension of our collective futility get in the way of a good time - music that demands you both accept reality and pogo - makes this their ultimate statement for me. But all five albums are terrific, and all five came out in the arbitrary period of time many call "the late '80s." As did Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World," another song about wilding out on your guitar despite it all. And now we're full circle.
This playlist isn't my Top Ten Songs from the era. I didn't even include one of the tracks I quoted! It's just meant to be a listenable introduction to the era. Two songs each from five albums, and you can take it from there.
Out of respect to those who don't or shan't have Spotify, I'm including a YouTube playlist! Some are contemporary videos, some are later live versions, some are just the song and a static photo of the album cover. May it only improve your algorithm.
One last note! The name of the playlist is indeed a mondegreen from "Memphis, Egypt." I think it's just a perfect, scathing summation of the cultural status of rock music, and the Mekons didn't even actually say it. Long may they run.