fIREHOSE: Working-Class Heroes | Pop Culture Graveyard Ep 73

This episode of Pop Culture Graveyard, Firehose: Working-Class Heroes, details one of the best bands to ever grace the SST label. Firehose blended punk, jazz, funk and classic rock into their own indefinable hybrid sound. Please join me for a trip through the band's discography, as I highlight the brilliant music and puzzling lyrics of a blue-collar band that was one of the greatest live acts in music. 

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To purchase Firehose albums:
Ragin' Full On: https://amzn.to/3BQI8xX
fROMOHIO: https://amzn.to/38Mnkv9
If'n: https://amzn.to/3nkba4O
Flyin' the Flannel: https://amzn.to/3n8Dyad
Mr Machinery Operator: https://amzn.to/2WTATWN

As promised, I proudly present my TOP TEN Firehose Songs...

Brave Captain: The song that began my love affair with Firehose. This video ain't exactly Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii, but it'll do:    • fIREHOSE - Brave Captain  

Chemical Wire: Such a badass track, and one of the greatest basslines off of the Ragin' Full On album, which pretty much makes it one of the greatest basslines of all time!:
   • Chemical Wire  

Relatin' Dudes to Jazz: SO DAMN GOOD! This shows the band miming to the song. And even when miming, the band exudes white-hot energy--and any time you can watch Watt pluck that bass is time well spent!:    • FIREHOSE - Relatin' Dudes to Jazz  

For the Singer of REM: You tell me if you can hear MIchael Stipe singing this one? As for me, I believe this brilliant Watt-penned track off If'n has got plenty of that early REM magic. And it even manages to get the word "Firehose" in the lyrics!:
   • fIREHOSE - For the Singer of REM  

Sometimes: Here's the lead track off of If'n, Sometimes. It has many of the typical hallmarks of Ed's best song: staccato guitar, strident vocals, and an unerring sense of melody:
   • Sometimes  

Riddle of the Eighties: This track of fROMOHIO accomplishes in two minutes what lots of more successful bands take hours to not accomplish:
   • Riddle Of The Eighties  

What Gets Heard: Another fROMOHIO track, with a killer guitar tone, if this rhythm doesn't force you to move, you should consider calling the medical examiner. This is the live version off the Totem Pole EP, which rocks SO HARD:
   • fIREHOSE - What Gets Heard (Live Tote...  

Down With The Bass: This is PERHAPS the most badass track in the entire Firehose discography, which is a serious distinction:    • fIREHOSE - Down With the Bass  

Can't Believe: This carefree track off Flyin' the Flannel always puts me in a good mood. The guitar is so sexy, it even obscures how funky the bass is. Crazy!:
   • fIREHOSE - Can't Believe  

Blaze: For my money, the best song off of Mr. Machinery Operator. This is a link to the video I spoke about, which only serves to enhance the wistful feeling of the song. Note the great J Mascis and his super-fuzzy bass solo!  (You'll have to excuse the idiots at VEVO for calling Firehose FireHOUSE. Ugh. it's stupid, but this name confusion continually happened throughout the band's entire career.):
   • fIREHOSE - Blaze  

O'er the Town of Pedro: ***[BONUS DEEP CUT]*** Okay, I can't do a Top Ten; so you're getting 11, because I had to stick this Flyin' the Flannel track in here! With its epic, apocalyptic feel, it sounds like the last song ever played right before the Earth explodes--which would actually be just fine with me!:
   • fIREHOSE - O'er the Town of Pedro  

******FOR ALL SPINAL TAP FANS*******
You may not hear what I'm talking about at the beginning of The Candle and the Flame, but when the bass kicks in at the five second mark, it totally reminds me of Jazz Odyssey by Spinal Tap Mark II:
   • fIREHOSE - The Candle And The Flame  

You are witnesses at the new birth of Spinal Tap Mark II! Listen to the bass opening to Jazz Odyssey. Do you hear The Candle and the Flame?:
   • Spinal Tap - Jazz Odyssey  
*************************************************
Here is live footage of the band performing Public Enemy's Sophisticated B*tch at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago. You have to see this:
   • fIREHOSE -  'sophisticated bitch'  li...  

Finally, all you Daniel Johnston fans can check out Firehose's version of Walking the Cow by watching the video--which is introduced by Mike Watt himself:
   • fIREHOSE - Walking The Cow video w/Mi...  

00:00 Intro 
01:24 Ragin' Full On
06:04 If'n
10:45 fROMOHIO
14:03 Flyin' the Flannel
18:06 Mr Machinery Operator
22:33 Live Totem Pole EP
23:48 Outro

#Firehose #Minutemen #MikeWatt