Mimi and Richard Farina - Pack Up Your Sorrows
Young Marble Giants - Credit In The Straight World
Burning Spear - African Postman
Captain Beefheart - I'm Gonna Booglarize You, Baby
The Incredible String Band - Painting Box
Velvet Underground - European Son
Karen Dalton - God Bless the Child
Yellow Magic Orchestra - Taiso
Kid Creole - I'm A Wonderful Thing, Baby
posted by y2karl at 11:05 PM on November 30, 2006

Yay! Jonathan Richmond! Is there anything that YouTube can't bring us?! Thanks, y2k!
posted by squirrel at 11:06 PM on November 30, 2006

For the Jonathan Richman links alone, this post rocks! I shall explore the other stuff at my leisure.
posted by MrMustard at 11:08 PM on November 30, 2006

Fucking cool y2karl - I met and photographed Jonathan Richmond about 15 years ago.
posted by strawberryviagra at 11:14 PM on November 30, 2006

Yes, I'm a starfucker ...
posted by strawberryviagra at 11:17 PM on November 30, 2006

Is it so wrong that I think Jonathan Richman dancing should warrent a NSFW warning?
posted by redsparkler at 11:18 PM on November 30, 2006

And he sighs, and everything.
posted by redsparkler at 11:19 PM on November 30, 2006

Richman
posted by strawberryviagra at 11:20 PM on November 30, 2006

Ahh Chic...

I have nevey had the pleasure to be dancing somewhere and have Everybody Dance suddenly get played.

I would likely explode.
posted by Hicksu at 11:21 PM on November 30, 2006

I got obsessed with that Kid Creole song last week, and now here's the video? Amazing. It's just like I pictured it!
posted by hydrophonic at 11:26 PM on November 30, 2006

I once listened to European Son over 90 mins over and over for driving in rural MN, in order to keep awake
posted by edgeways at 11:35 PM on November 30, 2006

Worth it for the rare Beefheart sighting! He's crazy as a loon, but I love the guy!
posted by newfers at 11:38 PM on November 30, 2006

I love you so damn much y2karl.
posted by melissa may at 11:39 PM on November 30, 2006 [1 favorite]

Coincidentally, I was just watching the Beefheart "Booglarize" clip just a couple of days ago, and thought how *early-80's* the ol' Captain looked in 1972! At that point he hadn't quite gotten his desert hobo shaman look together yet, he appeared more like a paunchy Holiday Inn lounge singer. Which was a cooler look than even he was probably aware of. Beefheart is, of course, one of the great oddball iconoclastic bandleader geniuses of rock history. And how 'bout his band's moves in that vid? Slamming!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 11:58 PM on November 30, 2006

Karen Dalton!
posted by muckster at 12:02 AM on December 1, 2006

I forgot to add that if you want to see one of the many reasons I was always a little sad to be too young to ever be Jonathan Richman's g-i-r-l-f-r-e-n, here you go.
posted by melissa may at 12:08 AM on December 1, 2006

OMFG. Too good... Damn you y2karl for making me stay up past bedtime on a schoolnight!
posted by numlok at 12:08 AM on December 1, 2006

Recent years have seen a great upsurge of interest in Raymond Scott's music, thanks in no small part to the tireless efforts of the estimable Irwin Chusid.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:18 AM on December 1, 2006

Jonathan Richman does not blink. I'm not kidding. Look for yourself.
posted by photoslob at 12:20 AM on December 1, 2006

thanks you, jonathan richman is so, so, so good!
posted by facetious at 12:26 AM on December 1, 2006

Ps. Is Joanna Newsom lined up for the 2026 list?
posted by numlok at 12:45 AM on December 1, 2006

I saw Burning Spear in Brussels earlier this year. How good was he? this damn good - you tube link
posted by quarsan at 1:07 AM on December 1, 2006

Great post, y2k -- but the Incredible String Band? Not only did they suck, but they all went mad and joined the Scientologists!

For any poor soul who happened to accidentally click on that link, I've got the antidote for your sore eyes and ears right here:

Bo Diddley
posted by PeterMcDermott at 1:51 AM on December 1, 2006

And my other great find of recent times -- from Detroit, 1964 on the Golden World label:

The Reflections - Just Like Romeo and Juliet

and thirty years later
posted by PeterMcDermott at 2:07 AM on December 1, 2006

Before skins were racists there was:

Skinhead Moonstomp!
posted by PeterMcDermott at 2:26 AM on December 1, 2006

I met and photographed Jonathan Richmond about 15 years ago.

I met Captain Beefheart when he was working with the line-up in the second clip, almost thirty-five years ago: either on the Spotlight Kid or the Clear Spot tour. (I worked at the same venue for both tours and I had to take him to our local guitar shop to buy strings for the band.)

He was as weird in real life as he was on the albums. Have you ever had a conversation with somebody about something that's supposed to be really practical, but you just can't follow along?

Both gigs were stunning though, and both albums rate among his very best.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 2:50 AM on December 1, 2006

PeterMcDermott, thanks for reminding me of the Bo. That's a great clip, I love how's he's just so chill, so nonchalant. And he had a full-time maracas player! Bo Diddley was just the coolest goddamn thing ever. Ever.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:13 AM on December 1, 2006 [1 favorite]

Jonathan, you're crazy for taking that bus!

At any rate, no listing of cult music could possibly complete without a mention of Pere Ubu.
posted by psmealey at 3:17 AM on December 1, 2006

The Pere Ubu videos won't be up for long.
posted by ardgedee at 3:58 AM on December 1, 2006

Check out the Mad Captain on click-clack with two ex mothers Roy Estrada and Artie Tripp. Rock on y2karl and thank you for the trip down memory lane. Burning Spear Live in Paris was one of the first albums I ever downloaded.
posted by adamvasco at 4:01 AM on December 1, 2006

Magazine - Shot by Both Sides.
posted by emf at 4:40 AM on December 1, 2006

More Beefheart
posted by johnny novak at 4:46 AM on December 1, 2006

Bo Diddley was just the coolest goddamn thing ever.

His *name* is a guitar riff. How could he not be the coolest thing ever?

The way he dances in that clip is so fine. It's like a Chuck Berry duckwalk, but without playing to the crowd, just grooving to the music.

What I was really looking for was a copy of Bo performing 'Who do you love', but I've not seen one turn up yet.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:06 AM on December 1, 2006

yay for raymond scott getting captured on film.
I was a fan of his through his medium of Carl Stalling for years.
posted by Busithoth at 5:33 AM on December 1, 2006

My fav Kid Creole tune: Endicott
posted by Meatbomb at 5:36 AM on December 1, 2006

Yikes! Thanks y2karl! And thanks for Magazine link, emf; pity it's cut off by Kid Jensen's mug ...
posted by carter at 5:48 AM on December 1, 2006

Was not Was: I Feel Better than James Brown
posted by Meatbomb at 5:49 AM on December 1, 2006

Shriekback - Lined Up
posted by Meatbomb at 6:00 AM on December 1, 2006

Lots of early stuff - Ramones, Siouxsie, Joy Division, X-Ray Spex, Penetration, Orange Juice, Only Ones, Psychedelic Furs, The Fall, The Gang of Four, The Ruts, Cabaret Voltaire, etc. collected here ...
posted by carter at 6:02 AM on December 1, 2006

I was about to watch the Pere Ubu ones when I discovered that the Protocols of the Elders Of Ubu (extra-snotty edition as linked to by ardgedee) were opposed to it. So I didn't bother, and may never find out what made people think they were so great.
posted by imperium at 6:02 AM on December 1, 2006

Dammit, y2karl, I've got two deadlines today, and they're forecasting high winds and thunderstorms, I've got to get the stuff done and out of here, and you do this to me!

*bookmarks feverishly, bows in the Master's direction*
posted by languagehat at 6:05 AM on December 1, 2006

Ok, I never criticize a Karl masterpiece, but why is Mimi and Richard Farina - Pack Up Your Sorrows in this cult list? They were folk singers, not new wave. Also. I swear thats a double post, but I cant find it in this great thread. It's a lovely song but it doesn't fit in.
posted by wheelieman at 6:10 AM on December 1, 2006

Classic - Joy Division - Transmission - (with bonus John Cooper Clarke).
posted by carter at 6:26 AM on December 1, 2006

I saw Jonathan Richman perform live last year.

I'm not ashamed to say... I cried a little.
posted by koeselitz at 6:31 AM on December 1, 2006

Chic? Cult? Wasn't that top ten?
posted by shecky57 at 6:32 AM on December 1, 2006

I don't want to go to work today because of your post, y2karl. Thanks!!!
posted by carsonb at 6:43 AM on December 1, 2006

Nice Finds:

Box Tops - Soul Deep (w/Alex Chilton interview)
The Dictators cover "Search & Destroy" at CBGB's
Blue Cheer "Summertime Blues"
The Fastbacks - Waste Of Time
Moby Grape - Hey Grandma
Motorhead & Girlschool - Please Don't Touch (check out Philthy cutting a rug)
My beloved Bellrays coverin AC/DC
The MC5 on local TV
MC5 Again
Jason & the Scorchers cover Dylan's Absolutely Sweet Marie
posted by jonmc at 6:47 AM on December 1, 2006 [1 favorite]

Heh. I happened to have a Richman album playing in the car a couple of months ago, and when "I was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar" came on, it blew my wife's mind more thoroughly than any other music I've ever seen. It was amazing... it's like her synapses are set up on some weird Richman-Sapphic-Rhythm resonance frequency.
posted by COBRA! at 6:49 AM on December 1, 2006

Lemmy & Wendy O. do a touching duet
posted by jonmc at 6:51 AM on December 1, 2006

Ahh, The Fastbacks. Shitdamn that's a band I haven't thought about in a long time. RE: Jonathan Richman, I have only one thing to say:

I EAT WITH GUSTO, DAMN YOU BET!
posted by spicynuts at 6:55 AM on December 1, 2006

and may never find out what made people think they were so great.

Seeing is believing. They still tour every once in a while I think. Go check them out for yourself live, you won't be disappointed.

On a personal note, I'm not a big fan of Jonathan's but I have probably seen him more than any other national act (except maybe GBV). I had a girlfriend when I lived in Seattle in the 90s whose large circle of friends would obsessively go to see him - and drag me along - when he came to town (which was frequent). I have little been to more a dozen JR shows, while I don't dislike him, I never fully grasped why people felt so passionately about him.
posted by psmealey at 6:57 AM on December 1, 2006

I have little been to more a literally been to more than a dozen JR shows.

Ugh. Not enough coffee.
posted by psmealey at 7:00 AM on December 1, 2006

Memphis Slim - Every Day I Have The Blues
Canned Heat - Let's Work Together
Stereolab - Wow and Flutter
Handsome Boy Modeling School - Rock N' Roll Could Never Ever Hip Hop Like This
Throwing Muses - Hate My Way (badly synched, I'm afraid)
Captain Beefheart - Electricity
Jethro Tull - A Song for Jeffrey
De La Soul - Me Myself and I
Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire
posted by imperium at 7:05 AM on December 1, 2006

I never fully grasped why people felt so passionately about him.


Odds on someone bringing Dylan into this thread: 1:1
posted by spicynuts at 7:06 AM on December 1, 2006

The Goo Goo Dolls and Lance Diamond

(don't get me wrong, the Goo Goo Dolls suck ass everywhere else, but the unstoppable showmanship of Lance Diamond shoots this performance straight up to the top of the awesomesphere)
posted by COBRA! at 7:09 AM on December 1, 2006

and Jonathan Richman doth rock. 'Road Runner' is one of the best rock songs. ever.
posted by jonmc at 7:10 AM on December 1, 2006

Electric Six - Gay Bar
posted by Pendragon at 7:11 AM on December 1, 2006

and Meatbomb: I fucking love 'Endicott,' man. good call.
posted by jonmc at 7:14 AM on December 1, 2006

Electric Six - Gay Bar (Bush and Blair version)
posted by imperium at 7:16 AM on December 1, 2006

Richard and Mimi Farina! Y2Karl, you rock (folk style)
posted by DenOfSizer at 7:17 AM on December 1, 2006

Coven
posted by DenOfSizer at 7:23 AM on December 1, 2006

Coven?
posted by jonmc at 7:28 AM on December 1, 2006

Coven!
posted by DenOfSizer at 7:46 AM on December 1, 2006

imperium, thx for that -- I wondered if I'd hallucinated that one, back in the day.

Meatbomb, here's another Shriekback one: Nemesis.
posted by pax digita at 7:53 AM on December 1, 2006

Weird Al Yankovich.

(Sorry. Sometimes I feel as though I have Tourette's of the keyboard.)
posted by leftcoastbob at 8:13 AM on December 1, 2006

Billy Nayer Show - Billy Nayer
Billy Nayer Show - Must Be Santa
That 1 Guy - One
Camper Van Beethoven - Take the Skinheads Bowling
Dead Milkmen - The Puking Song (@ MTV)
The Toy Dolls - Nellie the Elephant (live in Japan)
The Gits - Seaweed
Fear - I Don't Care About You (live @ SNL)
Fear - Beef Balogna & New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones (live @ SNL)
posted by JT at 8:28 AM on December 1, 2006

Awesome!
posted by drezdn at 8:32 AM on December 1, 2006

Yellow Magic Orchestra - Prologue
Millie Small - My Boy Lollipop
Maytals - Sweet And Dandy
Howlin' Wolf - Down In The Bottom
Maytals - Treat Me Bad
Archie Bell & The Drells - Tighten Up
Sun Ra _ Space Is The Place
Bad Manners - My Girl Lollipop
Yellow Magic Orchestra - Happy End
Bad Manners - Lip Up Fatty
Plastic Bertrand - Ca Plane Pour Moi
Bad Manners - Nee Nee Na Na Na Na Nu Nu
Telex - Twist A Saint Tropez
Yma Sumac - Tumpa
Yellow Magic Orchestra - Epilogue
posted by y2karl at 8:35 AM on December 1, 2006

Thanks so much y2karl (and everyone else). The Raymond Scott video was wonderful and that drummer was amazing.
posted by sleepy pete at 8:38 AM on December 1, 2006

The Pretty Things - Midnight To Six
The Legendary Stardust Cowboy on Laugh-In
Rose Tattoo - Branded
Wendy O. Williams - It's My Life
posted by jonmc at 8:43 AM on December 1, 2006

Ubu's stance appears to be about concert clips. I think the music videos are fair game. Waiting For Mary is amazing, by the way.
posted by SansPoint at 8:44 AM on December 1, 2006

Alice Cooper on Beat Club
posted by jonmc at 8:49 AM on December 1, 2006

Cracking post, cracking supplementals in the comments - cheers everyone!

Though 'cult' does seem to mean 'globally megafamous' for the purposes of this post?

Why wouldn't you mention Fad Gadget ?

May he rest in peace. Two years ago I found every Fad Gadget 7" ever released in a record shop in Leeds for 10p each, mint condition. I was smiling for about a month.
posted by jack_mo at 8:55 AM on December 1, 2006

In Shreds by The Chameleons (U.K.)
posted by drezdn at 8:56 AM on December 1, 2006

Raven - On & On
Manowar - Blow Your Speakers
posted by jonmc at 9:08 AM on December 1, 2006

the raincoats
can
the birthday party
big black
posted by brevator at 9:13 AM on December 1, 2006

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Happy House
Adam Ant - Kings Of The Wild Frontier

Though 'cult' does seem to mean 'globally megafamous' for the purposes of this post?

Sorry if I'm not playing this right... based on the original links in the FPP I thought cult could just be synonymous with "Whatever vaguely alternative stuff Meatbomb thought was cool in the 1980s"

y2karl: you get 20 bonus points for linking Toots and the Maytals... Sweet and Dandy, irie mon!!
posted by Meatbomb at 9:33 AM on December 1, 2006

Laura Nyro - Sweet Blindness
John Fahey - Red Pony
Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs - Ring Dang Doo
Johnny Ray - Such A Night
David Grisman Quintet - Naima
Dick Dale & The Deltones - Miserlou
Shirley Ellis - The Name Game
posted by y2karl at 9:45 AM on December 1, 2006

Why not check out my music video blog? It's all culty and everything!
posted by mokey at 9:51 AM on December 1, 2006

Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy singing a Christmas song with a couple of Sex Pistols
The Standells on The Munsters
Anthrax on Married With Children
posted by jonmc at 10:09 AM on December 1, 2006

AWESOME!
posted by Divine_Wino at 10:14 AM on December 1, 2006

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Mona
Donovan - Three Kingfishers
13th Floor Elevators - Your Gonna Miss Me
Roky Erickson - White Faces
The Blues Magoos - Tobacco Road
posted by xod at 10:33 AM on December 1, 2006

Bongwater - You Don't Love Me Yet
posted by xod at 10:43 AM on December 1, 2006

y2karl, I think I can say with confidence that your posts have made me happier than anything else on MetaFilter. Still working my way down your original sets during breaks and looking forward to everyone else's contributions. Renewed thanks.
posted by languagehat at 10:49 AM on December 1, 2006

Devo Corporate Anthem; Satisfaction; Jocko Homo; Girl U Want.
posted by Meatbomb at 10:58 AM on December 1, 2006

for jonmc:

Speaking of novelty appearance stuff and Christmas music, I may have the perfect reference for you:

The Monkees -- Riu, Riu Chiu
posted by pax digita at 11:02 AM on December 1, 2006

ha! I remember that! thanks pax.
posted by jonmc at 11:14 AM on December 1, 2006

Nina Hagen - Naturtrane
posted by xod at 11:49 AM on December 1, 2006

Am i a hopelessly snarky flame troll (don't answer that) -- and no, i did not read the 89 other posts, and yes I am a bit late on the scene here, shut up, no you shut up! --

But does "I was dancing in a lesbian bar, aoup!" lack a certain cultic power?

I mean, it's not as if the lyrics are sort of woven into the sound-fabric, for us to decipher. He's making sure we hear EVERY EARTH-SHATTERING WORD of that sentence, making our very astral beings quiver like bacon-flavored jello molds.
posted by gorgor_balabala at 11:53 AM on December 1, 2006

Lynott and the Sex pistols singing We Wish You a Merry Chrismas was one of a number of, er..numbers they did together as "The Greedy Bastards". I see the they are more politely referred to in a caption on the video as "The Greedies".

More info at Answers.com among other places.
posted by Sk4n at 11:59 AM on December 1, 2006

Solex
Boredoms
OOIOO
Jonathan Kane
The Residents (NSFW- computer generated fat naked man)
Otomo Yoshihide
posted by Dr-Baa at 12:53 PM on December 1, 2006

I have never heard of any of these songs or bands, but the sheer exhuberance of the replies to this post has infected me and I look forward to watching all these clips when I get home.

(You know, instead of studying.)
posted by arcticwoman at 12:58 PM on December 1, 2006

Incidentally, meatbomb and pax digita, the new Shriekback album is called Cormorant.
posted by mongonikol at 1:04 PM on December 1, 2006

Wow! Late to the game, but "I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar" is my favorite JR song ("I'm Gonna Booglarize You, Baby" is up there for Beefheart).
posted by Jeff_Larson at 1:49 PM on December 1, 2006

The Bongwater clip is great too. Made my dark winter day!
posted by Jeff_Larson at 1:58 PM on December 1, 2006

Heh. Just yesterday I happened across Kid Creole on YouTube. But it was this live version of Lifeboat Party. That in turn led me to thinking about some other contemporary tuneage, which led to this: Ebn Ozn's AEIOU Sometimes Y, something I haven't heard for 20 years. Which somehow led me to this: X Los Angeles. I forgot how hard X rocked.

Thanks for extending my trip down memory lane into a second day with your great post. Think I'll go look for some live Clash.
posted by spacely_sprocket at 2:10 PM on December 1, 2006

Christ, X was a great band. They're about the last band for whom I remember running out to the record store literally the minute I heard they had a new album out. Thanks for that clip.
posted by languagehat at 2:20 PM on December 1, 2006

I'm delighted to see so much Beefheart in this thread.

I had picked through youtube and google a while back, so I've seen most of these clips, but I'm glad to see that many others are enjoying them.
posted by glycolized at 2:53 PM on December 1, 2006

Captain Sensible - Wot (featuring the The Dolly Mixture)
The Dolly Mixture - Been Teen
The Rezillos - Destination Venus
The Undertones - Teenage Kicks
Hawkwind - Silver Machine
The Art Ensembe of Chicago
Richard Hell & the Voidoids- Blank Generation/Love Comes In Spurts
Suicide - Ghost Rider
Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot
Neil Young - Wonderin'
posted by hydrophonic at 3:49 PM on December 1, 2006 [1 favorite]

I had been lamenting the loss of the original MTV (with videos) for lots of years now, but now I can line up hours of playlists, sit back and enjoy as many music videos as I want in all their low-res glory. It's like the spring has come again after a long winter.

Some currrent favorites ...
Afrika Bambaataa & John Lydon - World Destruction
Chambers Brothers - Time Has Come Today
A.C. Marias - One of Our Girls (Has Gone Missing)
Martha and the Muffins - Black Stations/White Stations
Shellyann Orphan - Burst / Shatter
Cocteau Twins - Iceblink Luck
Chemical Brothers - Get Yourself High
Big Black - Bad Penny / Racer X
posted by milovoo at 5:07 PM on December 1, 2006

I forgot how hard X rocked.

Still do, man. Still do. If I'm not mistaken, I think that footage you linked to is from a set of live recordings they put out last year. If you want to pick up The Decline of Western Civilization in your local independent vid store, you'll see that they rocked pretty hard in 1981 as well.

To this day (to my taste at least), I don't know how X does not come out on the top of every single Greatest American Rock Band of All Time list.

I love this post. Such a treasure trove.
posted by psmealey at 5:18 PM on December 1, 2006

Hah! Take the Skinheads Bowling! My downstairs neighbor did the video. I'm pretty sure that's him making coffee and looking out the window in the beginning

And I suppose I should give in to hometown pride and post this old gem:

?eyr - Blood
posted by Kattullus at 5:19 PM on December 1, 2006

The Goo Goo Dolls and Lance Diamond

Nice memories. Btw, I still think that's the best cover of "Bitch" I've ever heard. I remember when the Goo Goo Dolls were a pretty serviceable punk rock band. What the fuck happened to those guys?
posted by psmealey at 5:26 PM on December 1, 2006

Some more:
Minor Threat - Screaming at a Wall
Jesus Lizard - Seasick
Girls Against Boys - Superfire
Bikini Kill - Rebel Girl
posted by psmealey at 5:34 PM on December 1, 2006

I am the god of hellfire and I bring you...
posted by mds35 at 6:36 PM on December 1, 2006

Haysi Fantayzee:
"John Wayne Is Big Leggy"
"Shiny Shiny"

Jeremy Healy has a myspace page. Kate Garner is a photographer now. Go figure.
posted by kimota at 6:37 PM on December 1, 2006

Cuz each time I see you, I just want to cry
posted by mds35 at 6:41 PM on December 1, 2006

Y'know, this thread has covered a shitload of territory from Howlin' Wolf to Manowar to Haysi Fantayzee. This shows that this site has a broad sprectrum of utter geeks. Whether it's testosto-rock, synth-pop blues or whatever, we're utter dorks about it and we should be proud.

How bout a group hug? I'll even let you grab my ass.
posted by jonmc at 6:47 PM on December 1, 2006

Hey, Wim, get a load of these guys...
posted by mds35 at 6:47 PM on December 1, 2006

Oh. Oops.
posted by mds35 at 7:44 PM on December 1, 2006

Frank Zappa - Suicide Chump
The Tielman Brothers - Rollin' Rock (Instrumental rockabilly from Indonesia with the Best. Stage Moves. Evar!)
Lil' Bobby Bleed - I Got My Mojo Workin' (Raw n' raunchy one-man-band insanity)
Fugazi - Break
posted by arto at 8:44 PM on December 1, 2006

I met Captain Beefheart...

Zoot Horn Rollo (guitarist on Trout Mask Replica) lives just down the street from me, but I haven't met him yet. Gotta work on that.
posted by neuron at 10:29 PM on December 1, 2006

Bakerman
posted by theemperorhasnoclotheson at 12:33 AM on December 2, 2006

Jeremy Healy has a myspace page. Why does this amuse me so much? Either it is an elaborate hoax or other 'superstar-Djs' are leaving comments. And he has Little Fluffy Clouds by The Orb as his background music.

Anyway, those 80s cult clips:

The Swans - A Screw/Holy Money (Raping a Slave)
Bauhaus - Bela Lugusi's Dead
Newcleus - Jam On It
Zapp - More Bounce to the Ounce
The Butthole Surfers - Suicide, BBQ Pope and Wooly Bully live in 1983
The Butthole Surfers - Cherub (excellent video)
The Butthole Surfers - BBQ Movie (comedy gold)
Big Black - Bad Penny (yes that is Steve Albini)
Scratch Acid - Cannibal (live at the reform gig this year)
posted by asok at 4:34 AM on December 2, 2006

Jonathan Richman also has a Gumby song that rocks.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:15 AM on December 2, 2006

Finally, the post that makes me go from lurker to member. This was amazing, thanks y2karl. But I noticed a serious omission...

Laurie Anderson: Smoke Rings, Language Is A Virus From Outer Space, O Superman

My older sister brought Anderson's Home of the Brave video concert back home from college one Christmas in the mid 80s and my brain has been warped ever since. And still, in the past 20 years, I've only met one or two people who have even heard of Laurie Anderson. So she's "cult" to me. :)
posted by zengargoyle at 5:54 PM on December 2, 2006

Mark me as a LA fan. Got all her albums, got her music on my iPod.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:36 PM on December 2, 2006

I've never before seen the O Superman video. Thank you. My god, the woman is a genius.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:15 PM on December 2, 2006

Red Nichols & His Five Pennies - Whispering
Red McKenzie & Eddie Condon - St. Louis Blues
Red McKenzie - I Ain't Got Nobody
Bobby Hackett's Jazz Band - At The Jazz Band Ball
Coleman Hawkins - Meditation
Boswell Sisters - Crazy People
Coleman Hawkins & Charlie Parker - Ballade
Thelonius Monk - Rhythm-A-Ning
Sonny Rollins - Weaver Of Dreams
Horace Silver Quintet - Cool Eyes
posted by y2karl at 10:02 AM on December 3, 2006 [1 favorite]

Earl Scruggs & Steve Martin - Foggy Mountain Breakdown
posted by numlok at 1:13 PM on December 3, 2006

The Nihilist Spasm Band - Meat Eater
posted by obvious at 9:59 PM on December 3, 2006

More lurve for Ms. Laurie Anderson from over here. Back in the day, I wanted to have her children. Or something.

The Strangers - Golden Brown
posted by pax digita at 4:24 AM on December 4, 2006

Lightnin' Hopkins - Baby Please Don't Go
Sonny Boy Williamson - Your Funeral and My Trial
Bob Neuwirth at the Gaslight Cafe - Rock Salt and Nails
Johnnie Taylor - Rome (wasn't built in a day)
The Cramps - Tear it Up
The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown - I Put A Spell On You
Richie Havens - Freedom (Woodstock, 1969)
The Meters - Look-Ka Py Py / Jungle Man
Biz Markee - Benny and the Jets
Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians - Vibrating
Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinensinainciusol
Brian Eno & David Byrne - Mea Culpa
The Five Stairsteps - Ooh Child
The Residents - Constantinople
My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallow
Lee (Scratch) Perry - I am the Upsetter
The The - This is the Day
The English Beat - Mirror in the Bathroom
The Pogues - Dirty Old Town
Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Love Missile F1-11 ;)
posted by numlok at 4:01 PM on December 4, 2006

Can anyone find the SNL footage of the Beastie Boys playing Radio radio with Elvis Costello?
posted by drezdn at 9:41 AM on December 5, 2006

Fantastic thread.

Late to the party, but my addition is: Bill Nelson - Do You Dream In Colour?
posted by spacelux at 10:30 PM on December 5, 2006

I suppose I contributed to this upthread, but I think there's a fundamental difference between a cult artist, and one that is universally acknowledged by those "in the know" to be great, but still relatively obscure.

Jonathan Richman, who will attract the same 100 people in every city in America when he's doing shows into his 80s is definitely one of the former. The Grateful Dead was probably the purest example of this, though probably the least interesting. Laurie Anderson, Captain Beefheart and a lot of the other artists mentioned here seem to me much more part of the latter. Or did I get something wrong here?
posted by psmealey at 8:25 AM on December 6, 2006

Jonathan Richman, who will attract the same 100 people in every city in America when he's doing shows into his 80s is definitely one of the former.

Well, he happened to play the last two nights in Seattle and there was about that many people present last night despite the wind and rain.

The show was great if more on the dancing and guitar playing end than then on the singing and for good reason, as it turned out. When he came out after the show, he was miming and writing notes in response to people's questions and comments--he's got vocal chord trouble and on doctor's orders, he can't talk other than onstage during the show.

That he comes out and schmoozes with his fans after a show is one thing I have always liked about him. Two years ago, when he was here last, I traded a Proper doo wop box set for a happy birthday phone call to Tina, which was so nice of him. And he remembered me, the doo wop and the phone call. What a guy.

I saw him at the OK Hotel here about twelve years ago and witnessed a girl coming up and saying tentatively,

'Hi, Jonathan, you may not remember it but I sent you a tape of Italian pop last year and...

--Oh, you must be Kathy! I really liked that tape--that was so nice of you, thank you so much!...'

And then he launched into a brief dissertation on Italian pop and why he liked it. It was pretty amazing, all things considered, that he would remember the tape, the name of the person who sent it and that he took such time to talk to anyone who came up after the show.

I have seen him do it many times since--he remembers people, their names and their stories from the last time he saw them and takes an extraordinary amount of time talking to them. I can't think of another musician who treats his or her fans so well. He really enjoys doing it.

He comes across in conversation as a sort of Control Normal, far more well adjusted and positive than the average bear. It is always such a hit, a natural high to go see him live. Even his off nights are better than 90% of any live shows one can see.

Another odd note--nearly half the songs he sang were written and sung in Spanish, Italian and French. Or it seemed.

But he did do Old World. And Lesbian Bar, but of course.
posted by y2karl at 11:31 AM on December 13, 2006

You know, I like to imagine how it looked, that once upon a time when Jonathan really was dancing in the lesbian bar. I bet it was wonderful.
posted by redsparkler at 4:50 PM on December 13, 2006