Whoever picks the songs for Mojo magazine's mix CDs is one cool ass Mofo! GLONO sends an open letter to the Mojo Mofo to set up a record party and makes some suggestions. Got any songs to add?
Dear Sir or Madame,
Who the hell are you? Would you like to hang out some time? I just picked up the December issue of MOJO with the free Mix CD of drug themed songs and must say it is one of the best mixes I’ve ever heard. It ranks up there with Jake Brown’s “26 Timeless Classics” or “Day-Old Crown” mix tapes from college. No shit, this is a great mix and I’ll bet you’re really cool to hang out with.
I mean, from the opening “The Devil is Dope” by the Dramatics to the Small Faces’ “Here Comes the Nice” to Sebadoh’s “Too Pure”—it’s like you’re reading my mind, or Twisting My Mellon, as the Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder would say (notable exclusion there, especially since you have a Monday’s feature in the December issue. What gives? [Probably licensing issues - ed.]).
I’ve been picking up MOJO for years now and it’s consistently a good read. I ride the train to work every day and it makes for a nice commute, but this mix is quite possibly going to send me into freak-out-Willy-Wonka-boat-ride-mode! It’s sick, man. Sick! (Note to Self: Can I sue MOJO if I trip too hard and never come back after listening to this mix? Call GLONO lawyer ASAP.)
I do have some suggestions though, in addition to the Happy Mondays noted above. Here are 10 more:
1. Daisy Chain For Satan – My Life with the Thrill Kill Cult
2. Little Fluffy Clouds – The Orb (featuring Rickie Lee Jones) *
3. She Said – The Beatles
4. Flying on the Ground is Wrong – Buffalo Springfield
5. Just Say No – Young MC
6. Dope Man – NWA
7. Drug Me – Dead Kennedys
8. Julie’s in the Drug Squad – The Clash
9. Sister Morphine – The Rolling Stones *
10. Not if You Were the Last Junkie on Earth – The Dandy Warhols
* included in the article, The 100 Greatest Drugs Songs Ever, but not on the cd.
There are so many more, but then we’re getting into Rhino Records’ turf and you know how those bastards can be.
Anyhow, I love the mix and can’t thank you enough for leaving anything by Glenn Frey off the list. Seriously, like Miami Vice hadn’t already started to suck when he had to add that steaming turd “Smuggler’s Blues” into the mix?
Best,
Derek Phillips, Glorious Noise
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Little Fluffy Clouds. Oh yeah...
And BTW, I made "Day Old Crown," not Jake. He did name a mix "Day Old Poop" though.
"Sunny Meadowz" by Del the Funky Homosapien is one of my favorite drug songs of all time.
Jeff,
I thought YOU did Day Old Poop as a reply to Day Old Crown? Oh, the years blur...
Complete track list of Mojo magazine’s Feed Your Head: 16 mind-blowing Classics:
1. The Dramatics – The Devil is Dope
2. The Sonics – Strychnine
3. Nat Adderley – Quit It
4. The Small Faces – Here Comes the Nice
5. Dillinger – Cocaine in My Brain
6. Donovan – Sunny Goodge Street
7. Country Joe & the Fish – Bass Strings
8. The Pretty Things – Defecting Grey
9. The Flaming Groovies – Slow Death
10. Chris bell – I am the Cosmos
11. Grandmaster Flash – White Lines
12. Sebadoh – Too Pure
13. The Mighty Hannibal – The Truth Shall Make You Free
14. James Booker – Junco Partner
15. Funkadelic – Maggot Brain
16. Harry the Hipster Gibson – Who Put the Benzadrine
Good God, yall - favorite drug tracks? That's like half of all rock songs ever made.
My personal drug faves: The Replacements! God bless those sots! How bout 'Dope Smokin Morons', or 'Treatment Bound'?
While these may be way too obvious, what about the Velvet's "I'm Waiting For The Man" and "Herion" (both conveniently available on the same disc).
"Come Down Easy" or "Call a Doctor" by Spacemen 3 (and off of their suitably named album, Perfect Prescription) would've been good choices for such a mix. I'm surprised the 3 weren't included, it being a British publication and all. I haven't picked up the Dec issue yet, surely they're mentioned somewhere in there. No?
Adam, Spacemen 3's "Walking with Jesus" is included in the article, The 100 Greatest Drugs Songs Ever, but not on the cd, probably due more to licensing issues than oversight.
Kenny Rogers and First Edition - "What Condition My Condition was In"
Steppenwolf - "Pusherman"
Curtis Mayfield - "Pusherman"
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - "Willie the Weeper"
Tricky - "Ponderosa"
The Lemonheads - "My Drug Buddy"
and about ten thousand other songs.
Kenan, you have to pick up this issue. I think ALL of your songs are listed in the 100 Greatest... Except that Tricky song.
Other drug songs that fucking rule: "Cheeba Cheeba" by Tone Loc, "Namaste" by the Beastie Boys. Shit, it's hard to remember back to 1991 when I had a head full of chemicals half the time...
one they forgot to mention in the article was The La's "There She Goes" - "...there she goes... racing through my veins..."
but yeah, that disc has some very cool stuff on it.
slight addendum - given the current condition of Lee Mavers, the above is not a large leap to make at all.
Hmm... Lee Mavers... pretty power pop, one hit wonder, practiced his whole life to play beautiful music and now there's only one song the audiences ever want to hear, hmm, wonder why he's an addict now. didn't see that coming.
One song I still have trouble coming to terms with is Slow Death by the Groovies. It's such a good song, but so frightening. The feeling I get is that the protagonist would leap out of the radio and kill me for some fuckin' morphine if he knew I had some. The way he starts that last verse, "I GOT to mainline..." Jesus! Look out!
Does anyone know what Too Pure or I am the Cosmos are doing on that list? Man, those aren't even about drugs. Are they? I just imagine the dude from the Groovies jumping across the tracks in the CD and shaking those fools down for their lunch money, then taking it straight to the damn pharmacy.
This is in regard to the VU comment- obviously Heroine is a great drug track, but I'm waiting for the man is about prostitution, and I suppose tangentially about drugs, but its a song about hustling.
What about Chinese Rock though? Or how about Jane Says? How about Lust for Life? These are canon drug songs- and probably so obvious they don't need mentioning, but I can't imagine not including them on the list because they are obvious- obscurity doesn't necessarily equal greatness.
Mike, "I'm Waiting for the Man" is totally about scoring drugs. "He's got the works, gives you sweet taste..." Come on. The man is his dope dealer. He's not going to be hustling way up in Harlem, is he?
how about "better living through chemistry" by the queens of the stone age? i think i read that that song plays in the background of a driver's education video about driving stoned. or maybe "DAZED and CONFUSED"....ever heard of led zeppelin? obscure doesn't mean great, you're right. while smoking a joint, however, zeppelin does.
What about my stuff? We could go on all day.
O.K., you guys... What about that song whose lyrics go- "...I smoked two joints before I smoked two joints/ and then I smoked two more..."?? It has a kind-of reggae beat to it? I don't know the song title, or the band who does this song, but REALLY- how could you have missed that one? And yes- it should have been on the cd (which was great- much kudos to Mojo for this one!!).
-Phil Little
I Need help to find Mojo magazine from December 2002. I really wanna read that list. 100 drug songs.
http://www.mojo4music.com/
Can anyone send me a copy of the list of 100 Greatest Drug Songs Ever? What issue MOJO was it in? December 2002? ==- Nick SoulQuest7@aol.ocm