Dear Friends,
Last night, I was having some leftover spaghetti and Bailey kept showing me the saddest, most pathetic faces. You would think I have been starving her for two weeks or so. I was kind of distracted while I ate, so I wasn’t taking bites with any particular rhythm, but she knew every time I picked up the fork.
It was like clockwork.
It’s my own fault, too. I spoil her. She gets bites of my dinner when it is safe for her to get some. I can’t complain about it, but goddamn if she doesn’t deserve a doggie Oscar for last night’s performance. Bra-fucking-vo.
I gave in, too. She got some noodles. I am a tower of Jell-o when it comes to that dog.
Every night since we’ve been here in Maine, she has just about pushed me off the bed. God forbid I disturb the dog’s sleep. I drive 6000 miles a year for her, and I can’t sleep completely comfortably because, well, she’s cute.
*****
I’m riddled with bug bites. I made it the first few days without them going for my jugular, but I’m losing the battle. In Rockford, my ankles were a feast for whatever horrible little ankle biters were there, but now the mosquitos are having their way with me.
I’m a total slut for the bugs, I guess.
*****
Yesterday was nice, though. Liam and I went to the park and played a few games of horse. I also helped Cousin Blaine get his boat in the water, too. That was pretty fun. He’s a great dude and is married to Rhondi’s cousin, Michelle. I really enjoy hanging out with him when he is up in Rangeley.
I also did a dump run and found some great books in the “Rangeley Walmart.” A Carlos Castaneda, a Tom Wolfe, The Corrections, something by Rick Barry, and a book about Yosemite. In addition to those, I found a golf bag that was in decent shape, too. We are putting together a set of clubs for Liam, so we’ll probably get out and play some golf while we are here, too.
*****
Most of the time when bandmates get into an argument, everybody loses. Bands break up, key members leave, and the music invariably suffers. There are exceptions, of course, where addition by subtraction has had great results. I have been in a few of these situations, and without naming names, I have seen bands improve because someone decided to take their talents elsewhere.
I can’t say that Public Image Ltd (henceforth being referred to as PIL) benefitted from Keith Levene leaving the band in the early 80s, but one result of his parting was two excellent records. The short version of this, and it is really not my story to tell or surmise about the happenings, but Levene and John Lydon could not seem to agree about the band’s fourths studio LP and each of them submitted a version to Virgin Records.
There are significant differences in the records when you listen to them side-to-side, but most people probably wouldn’t do that. I love them both. I also feel it would be tough to talk about one without talking about the other.
For one thing, I got them in two different ways. Back in the day, it was easy to find This Is What You Want, This Is What You Get on vinyl for cheap. I doubt it is the case today. I guess a lot of people were bummed with it, but I snagged my used copy at Zia for $2.99 and loved every minute of it.
I appreciate that PIL didn’t need to keep recreating the same record. They had the incredible limitation of John Lydon’s voice to keep the casual fan and all the non-fans saying that all PIL sounds kinda the same, but if you listen closely, the music is always fucking fantastic. This allows Lydon to stretch his limited range every which way he can (thank you, Clint Eastwood).
This Is What You Want, This Is What You Get (TIWYWTIWYG)starts out with a bang and drops “Bad Life” and “This Is Not a Love Song” back-to-back. Commercial Zone, which I got as a gift (thank you, A!), does the same, but the songs sound very different. These songs are the most instantly recognized of the songs from these sessions, and rightly so, but for me, they are just a jumping off point.
I love the funky, quirkiness of “Solitaire” on TIWYWTIWYG, for example, and in some ways, it feels like the first song on the record after you start with a couple of flashy bonus tracks. It is re-titled on Commercial Zone as “Young Brits” and while it is not as full sounding, it’s also great in this mix, too.
That’s the main difference for me (as a decidedly lo-fi, who gives a shit about production kind of guy) in the two albums. Commercial Zone sounds like it is recorded to sound great in on a Walkman and TIWYWTIWYG is bigger and fuller. The vocals also sound very different, although I will say that Levene didn’t attempt to show up Lydon or make him sound bad. The recordings on Commercial Zone mostly pre-date the ones used on TIWYWTIWYG and the vocal performances may have just not been nuanced as much. Who knows?
When I heard the B side of Commercial Zone I was blown away, though. I listened to it over and over. “The Slab” is one of my favorite PIL songs, even though it is an instrumental. There is something so haunting about the riff. It’s just acoustic guitar and a synthesizer (I’m guessing on the latter as it could be a keyboard, too, I suppose). Simple and haunting and exceptionally beautiful, “The Slab” has stuck in my head for the last 30 years or so since I first heard it.
“Lou Reed Pt. 1” and “Lou Reed Pt. 2” are both also so refreshingly different. Again, I remember listening to these tracks for the first time and just having my head blown off. This was a side of PIL I didn’t know existed. For TIWYWTIWYG, “Lou Reed Pt. 2” is refashioned as “Where Are You,” but they may as well be completely different songs. Levene’s guitar work is so much more interesting in his version than that of the studio guitarist brought in for TIWYWTIWYG’s version.
Another huge difference is the inclusion of another favorite of mine on Commercial Zone called “Blue Water.” There is almost a kind of feeling as if PIL and Bauhaus joined forces on this one. I could see Bauhaus doing a really cool version of “Blue Water.” It’s dark and angsty and feels a bit dangerous, too. The piano really makes the song. It’s just there in the background reminding you that evil is always close by.
Event though the B sides of each record are very different, they are both super strong in my opinion. Where TIWYWTIWYG is kind of missing the really experimental sounds that Commercial Zone does so well, the songs are just as compelling when you listen to each record on its own.
“1981,” for example, is one of those songs that only a true PIL fan will love. We are a pretty exclusive club, sometimes, but welcoming to new folks. You just have to love the deep tracks.
“The Order of Death” is “The Slab” from Commercial Zone reworked with Lydon sing/chanting “This is what you want, this is what you get” over the instrumental track. It’s a powerful ending and a total earworm. I might prefer it as “The Slab,” but since I heard “The Order Of Death” about five years before “The Slab,” I do love them both and have a place in my heart for each.
The bottom line is that you can’t go wrong with either version of this record. If you want something kind of rare that will make that one record collector friend of yours ooh and ahh, grab a copy of Commercial Zone off Discogs. It’ll set you back a few buckaroos, but you’ll have the bragging rights.
*****
See you tomorrow.
Blue Water...this is what you get. AI for the win today.