L.A. Explosion / Hitler's Brother.
(Backlash 003 [no number on sleeve]) - 11/9/78
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| Where the songs came from |
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L. A. EXPLOSION
Listen to a clip of this song: (MP3)
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(written Jan 6, 1977)
The A side of our third single, as well as the title song for
our first album, even though it didn't actually make it onto
the album. Confused? Me too. I can only surmise that it was
originally slated for inclusion, and dropped at the last minute.
Anyway, musically this is pretty obviously a take on the Stones'
"19th Nervous Breakdown". I'm pretty sure the opening
riff was the first part written - I'd wanted to come up with
a fakeout riff, where the band would come in on a One beat that
was just half a beat sooner than the first time listener would
have thought.
It worked. All too well, as a matter of fact. I have never had
so much trouble teaching drummers any other song.
Lyrically, it was a nostalgic look at the glory days of the Sunset
Strip during 1966, and a clarion call for a reawakening. You
must remember that, at the time this was written, there was no
real L.A. scene to speak of.
As we know, that changed . . . |
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(written Spring 1978)
This was actually written by our drummer, Jack Reynolds. We were
practicing one day and Jack just started spontaneously pounding
out the beat and singing this thing - it had come to him on the
spot. Recognizing an instant classic, we threw a couple of chords
together (literally - this song has only two chords!), and boom
- instant song. Ended up as the B side of "Every Summer
Day", but unfortunately the acetate got dropped and the
result was an annoying scratching sound all the way through the
recording. We therefore made it the B side of the "L. A.
Explosion" single, as well.
Flipside at the time asked "What's up with the English
accent?"
Well, Jack Reynolds is, indeed, from Britain. The accent was
genuine.
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