In 1984, legendary British punk rockers the Damned decided to pay homage to the 1960s garage and psychedelic groups that influenced them by releasing a covers album under the name Naz Nomad & the Nightmares. The album in question was entitled Give Daddy the Knife Cindy and featured the Damned spin on tunes by the Seeds, the Electric Prunes, Kim Fowley, and numerous other forgotten rock pioneers. It’s been out of print for a while, of course, but you can get a taste of the Naz Nomad experience by watching these live clips from 1989 (why they were Nazzing it up that late, I don’t know…I also don’t know why Rat Scabies isn’t in a psychedelic disguise like the rest of them):

“Action Woman”
“Can’t Stand This Love, Goodbye”

Pretty good stuff. Easy to hear how these tunes helped form the crux of the Damned’s famous sound.

Here’s a treat: the Sibling Rivalvry EP featuring Joey Ramone and his bro, Mickey Leigh. Three cool trippy punk tracks (my fave’s “Don’t Be So Strange”). The cover’s pretty funny, too. Thanks, Hangover Heart Attack.

Japan’s Zero Communications recently released three rare Tiny Tim albums for the first time on CD. Chameleon, Wonderful World of Romance, and Stardust all contain historic recordings from Tiny’s sessions with producer Martin Sharp. Where else are you going to get the Eternal Troubadour’s twisted interpretations of “Stayin’ Alive” and “Highway to Hell?” Nowhere, that’s where. Tiptoe over here and pick ‘em up for 2,500 Yen a pop (that’s about $22 American).

Watch out, Old Skull. Run for the hills, Rolling Scabs. There’s a new knee-high punk rock threat in town: Say Uncle. Says nine year old singer Valor, “I hope people know that we have love for our music and that we’re not just showing off.” If you like their stuff, they have t-shirts. Very tempting.

Here’s a “live blog” of this Reptoids CD I got in the mail the other day. It’s like a “Trapped in the Closet” entry, except this disc hasn’t even made it past the unforgiving plains of my coffee table yet.

Reptoids - Park a Tiger

They sound like Sub Pop’s forgotten daughters. Muddy guitars, mumbly vox…Elastica on downers? That seems fair. Reminds me of stuff I’d hear on the radio late afternoons during high school when I was in my room pretending to do homework (but really playing with Star Wars figures and watching MTV on mute). I can handle that. The bassist’s last name is Joffee. That makes me think of Al Jaffee, the guy who did the fold-ins in the back of Mad. Would Jaffee’s offspring change her name to avoid association? Seems plausible. A nice pastiche of tempos and moods on “9 Times.” “Crimes Against Humanity” is the best track, though, and it is the last. Rocks fast, smoothly, punctuates the thickness with skronky guitar breaks. Grungetastic. This is definitely going on my iPod.

Experience the Reptoids for yourself here.

If you’re into the actor rock of yestertear, Check the Cool Wax rules your wastelands. Today they (I use a plural here, but I know it’s just one dude) posted some hot Travolta action. Uh bob bob bob, bob Babarino! Ain’t it cool? They call it a Royale with cheese. Who? What? Watch the hair.

Behold the number of Dark Knight-related bands on Myspace:

- a fairly out-of-tune boy band from Norway called Batman

- far too many rappers calling themselves Batman to list; this one partners with somebody called Big Daddy Snipes to spit hot fire about Nike shoes (probably the best rap ever written about Nike shoes)

- A French drum n’ bass Batman

- three rock groups named after Adam West: Adam West the Bat, Adam West Rides Again!, and just plain ol’ Adam West

- the rockabilly group called Batmobile

- An electronica Joker

- a totally awesome metal band from Florida called Gotham City

There’s so many more, but I really need to go roll down an asphalt hill naked.

Hearing those Jim Steinman Batman songs really jazzed me up for more lame Bat-antics. I went searching on Youtube and discovered these boffo clips:

- Batman woos a girl on 1960s dance show “Shindig”

- Clips of the old Batman movie set to DMX (NSFW)

- Batman plays Guitar Hero

- Batman plays the theme from Halloween on a real guitar, followed by Darth Vader jamming in an Iced Earth shirt

- Batmen play a song from Final Fantasy

- Batman bodybuilder flexes to unknown Hammer track

Bonus non-musical clips:

- Batman either has a cold or is totally blitzed as he faces Jerry Lawler in this clip from some TV show local to Memphis

- Batman fails to disable the security camera

Hey, remember that Batman musical from 2002? You know, the one Jim Steinman wrote all the songs for? You don’t? Oh yeah, I forgot - God exists. That’s why you don’t remember it. God exists, and He decided humanity had enough shit to deal with. Thus, He destroyed the Batman musical. Unfortunately, He forgot to destroy Jim Steinman, who is keeping the spirit of the all-singing, all-dancing Dark Knight showcase alive on his website. If you have a strong resolve, Bat-fans, click on that link and endure the following:

- “In the Land of the Pig the Butcher is King” (sung by Gotham City fat cats)
- “Catwoman’s Song” (she needs all the love she can get)
- “We’re Still the Children” (sung not by children but by grown-ups)
- “Wonderful Toys” (the Joker’s show-stopping number)
- “(Vespers) Angels Arise/Graveyard Shift” (the latter half marks Batman’s fist appearance)

Steinman, of course, is Meatloaf’s right-hand man. The Loaf apparently dug this Bat-jive; he recorded his own version of “In the Land of the Pig” for Bat Out of Hell III. Holy Friendship.

If you give Marky Mark an Oscar tonight, you might as well give this guy one, too. I mean, he pretty much fooled the entire planet into thinking he was the best rapper in the world for five minutes. That’s worthy of something.