Oct 042013
So I’ve been going through another Nuggets binge. I’ve always dug the Amboy Dukes and would love to buy Journey to the Center of the Mind, but I’m conflicted. I really, really hate almost everything about Ted Nugent and what he stands for politically, socially, and musically
Should I put all my prejudices away for the sake of the music? I like Woody Allen, for instance, but feel skeevy about his personal marriage, yet I still watch his films. Am I a hypocrite? Would it be better to “steal” the album off the web so I don’t have to put a dime in Nugent’s pocket? Or is that a blurry line I don’t want to cross?
Or does the album not live up to the 2 to 3 great Amboy Dukes songs I’ve heard?
Help me, friends of the Hall?
Long before I knew what Nugent was about beside being a solo artist in the ’70s whose music and schtick I couldn’t stand, I excitedly borrowed this Amboy Dukes record from a friend in college. Beside the title track, I thought it was terrible, sludgy, proto-blooz-metal, if memory serves. I haven’t heard the album since. I think it would be OK for you to steal a copy.
Just listen to it Spotify, that way you’re only putting $.0004 in Ted’s pocket.
I’ve never heard anything aside from the two songs on the Nuggets album and I think their version of Baby Please Don’t Go bites it. And Journey to the Center of Your Mind never really did anything for me. So I would recommend that you steal it but then never listen to it.
Or you can listen to the whole thing on youtube and avoid giving Ted even $.0004: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLmRYHZXvGg
Being pretty close to Detroit I can usually get behind those kinds of bands. I like Grand Funk and I think Suzi Quatro was really cool and The Dirtbombs are one of my favorites ever, so the noise Detroiters make usually seems to hit me in the right way. that being said, Ted never did anything for me. I hated him when i was in school and I didn’t like the people that liked him. A friend’s older sister had a few Amboy Dukes albums and they do everything I should like, but there’s just no fun in it. I’d find an old Brownsville Station album and listen to that instead.
I never heard of the Dirtbombs until a couple of weeks ago, when I heard their newest album Ooey Gooey Chewy Ka-Blooey. It’s their homage to Kasenetz-Katz bubblegum music and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I got that the day it came out. I didn’t even know they were working on anything and just happened to be there. I’ve listened to it a few times, and I think it’s going to be one of my favorite albums by them, which for me is saying a lot because I love those guys. They manage to keep the power and weirdness of the Dirtbombs wrapped up in 1910 Fruitgum Co. sounds. I’m really digging it.
The choice of Mistral as the cover font indicates that the album was conceived to be “edgy” at the time but have no staying power. Purchase at your own risk.
This opens up a whole new area of rock criticism: not judging by the cover so much as by the cover font. (I am serious here, btw.) I trust someone is at work now creating a topic for this–best and worse font usage on album covers? This will take some thought.
Mod, I have a really hard time believing that a whole album of Amboy Dukes can be justified. Setting aside the Nugent problem, some things are best left as they are. I speak as the (not proud) owner of the Strawberry Alarm Clock’s Incense and Peppermints lp, btw.
Why do you single out me, misterioso? As I said initially, I borrowed the album from a friend in college and thought it was lousy. I haven’t heard more than 1 song beside the title track in all the years since, but I trust I wasn’t missing anything the first time around.
Full albums by bands like the Strawberry Alarm Clock are definitely worth extreme caution. I’ve made my share of similar purchases.
Sorry, I didn’t read carefully, didn’t notice that machinery was the author of this, not you. I can only beg for forgiveness.
Cue the final movement in “A Quick One (While He’s Away)”!
I’ve at one point owned all three Amboy Dukes albums and they’re all pretty weak. I’ve heard tons of psychedelic albums from this era, and while the Dukes have one great single and one great cover version, that’s all you need by them. There are many far better albums in the style by much less well-known bands. The one thing the Dukes *do* have going for them, as do the Electric Prunes, is excellent production, which does count for something in this genre.