First Time Hearing VIOLENT FEMMES! Bass Teacher REACTS to “Add It Up” and Brian Ritchie
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- Опубліковано 7 чер 2024
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➡️ Well, this was a nice surprise. I had never heard the name Violent Femmes in my life until my older brother insisted I check out the song “Add It Up” here on the channel. I had zero requests for them until just a few weeks ago when I began analyzing punk rock songs. Boy, I did not know what to expect reading the term “folk punk” to describe this group, but this was an oddly nostalgic sound coupled with ferocious, heavy-handed bass riffs. I’m learning these guys were THE underground band of the 80s, but only if you were "in the know". The lyrics were such a trip (and especially quirky) against the happy, major-key progressions supporting them. I discuss Brian Ritchie’s BOLD bass presence, his method of “going rogue” from the main groove to assert some really off-kilter bass fills, his use of intense bass-chord accenting, and much more.
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0:00 Intro
3:21 Reaction / Analysis
14:31 Final Thoughts
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Mark Michell is an internationally-touring and recording bass player known for his work with Scale the Summit, Tony MacAlpine, Tetrafusion, Watermox, and more. Michell is a published educator and author for Hal Leonard, the world's largest music publisher, and has taught bass clinics around the globe for many years. He has played on several Billboard-charting album releases and is endorsed by Jackson Basses, EMG Pickups, and Dunlop.
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This whole album is amazing. One of the best debut albums ever.
You could delete the "debut" part and still be correct.
Last year they toured and played the entire album front to back for its 40th anniversary. It was amazing.
Saw it myself at Darker Waves in HB this fall. They were so good and it was such a treat to hear the full album like that. DEVO followed right after and killed it as well. @@stevenbley1846
@@stevenbley1846sad I missed that but I did see them about 15 years ago or so and it was incredible.
Flawless. Amazing from beginning to end.
The whole time I’m yelling at the screen “google a pic of his bass and you will understand the tone!!”
Hahaha…I had this revelation after the fact 😅 - had that strong neck pickup P-Bass sound until I heard it louder and was like “Hmm, that’s awfully resonant for an electric bass. Maybe a hollow body of some sort?” - Very cool.
He was forbidden to.
Acoustic bass
Oh yeah? Well don’t get so distressed. Did I happen to mention I’m impressed?
Streetlight Manifesto please! :D
Finally, a modern bassist covers Brian Ritchie. He should be a bass hero.
Absolutely! But I feel that because everyone who knows him understands why he is, it’s even better to not be recognized as a bass hero!
But he is one of my all time favorite.
tall dude too... friendly, even when just off stage ... or he was to me.
He IS a bass hero, to those of us in the know.
He is a hero
Finally, someone is trying Violent Femmes. Their first album is one of my favourite albums of all time.
Same - I have no idea how many cassettes (cassettes!) of it I wore out. It’s my favorite record to drive to and scream sing.
The exceedingly rare Perfect Album.
The self-titled album is perfect, but I feel like Hallowed Ground is better. I honestly love all their records. Underrated discography!!
"You could dance to this." Oh, I have.
🙋♀️ Same 😂
Many, many times!
Saw them live three times and everyone was dancing at each show.
One guy fell through the suspended ceiling on to the stage. That's next level stage diving.
We would play this whole album at parties. So good.
Lol me too me too!!
Gone Daddy Gone by Violent Femmes! That’s the first song I ever heard by them and I instantly knew I’d love them 🤩
Love gone daddy gone
YES! Can't think of another song that makes the xylophone sound so badass
Me too!! I heard that song and was immediately hooked. I saw them play in Minneapolis at 1st Ave.
Still my fave from them
Great video. It's on UA-cam.
Acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, and cocktail drum. That's all you need to rock this hard.
sometimes, less is more. look at morphine ...
And only like 2 drums, too!
@@m1k3g3tz yup. Two string bass, baritone sax, and a cocktail drum. Most unique sounding band from back in the day.
Stray Cats
I was lucky enough to see them in concert in 1986! What a great time!
This album came out in 83, but I remember going to high school parties in the early 90s, and when this song, or Blister in the Sun, or Kiss Off came through the sound system, EVERYBODY was singing along with it and dancing. I was kind of surprised, because like you said, someone introduced me to the band, and I never saw them on MTV or heard them on the radio, and yet somehow all the kids seemed to know them.
They blew up in the 90s because they were on the soundtrack for some movie… Reality Bites, I think.
I was so confused because we had been listening to them for years then everybody knew who they were all of a sudden.
They weren't on the Reality Bites soundtrack, but apparently Ethan Hawke sang Add It Up in the movie; I never saw it. They did have songs in The Crow and Grosse Pointe Blank, but in any case all three of those movies came out after I graduated high school, so that wasn't where the popularity came from in my neck of the woods; their first album was already really popular. @@gentlemanjunkie7864
FACTS!!!!!!
It was a huge underground thing…I had the cassette and all my friends re taped it …lol. I found it at a punk shop in Toronto in 85
I looked it up, and while they weren't on the soundtrack album, Ethan Hawke sings Add It Up in one scene in the movie. But that movie came out in 94, after I graduated high school, so their first album was already really popular in my area. @@gentlemanjunkie7864
Acoustic Punk is the closest term I can come to the Femmes. Tough to put them in a category. That whole 1st album is incredible!
I was thinking funk punk
I was thinking "Incel Punk Rock" Don't get me wrong, I have listened to them since this album released. A lot of the lyrics brought me to this decision in this millennium, since "Incel" was not a term or label used in the 80s,
@@cptunderpantz9273that’s more like early RHCP
Folk punk works just fine 😊
Yeah "folk punk" is the wrong term, acoustic punk is better
I think pretty much everyone knows “Blister in the Sun” by now, yourself included, so I’m glad you picked this one!
Yeah he probably doesn't even realize it's this band. Everyone knows this song.
Totally. I hear people say they don’t know who the Violent Femmes are and they hear Blister and theyre like “oooh THIS song..”
Ya, especially after it had the resurgence when it was on the soundtrack for that John Cusack movie. I was surprised when I found out they were an early 80’s band.
It is up there with Mustang Sally and Wagon Wheel for cover bands. I dropped a guitar in front of Brian Ritchie. I never dropped a guitar before or since.
Great band to see live they’re unbelievably tight.
I have to throw in a vote for Minutemen. Mike Watt is a bass god.
I second this, specially something from the Double Nickels in the Dime album, like 'West Germany' 'The Politics of Time' 'Spillage'
Indeed. Minutemen were awesome.
Yes!! I was thinking this the other day!
“Me and Mike Watt played for years. Punk rock changed our lives.” Minutemen rules!
I watched Mike Watt change a bass string in less than a minute in the middle of a song. It was absolutely amazing, and to this day one of the greatest live things I've ever seen
“When I say ‘Dance!’, you best dance motherf…..!”
Dance MFer Dance is probably one of the coolest songs to see Brian Ritchie play live.
Voot Warnings wrote that. Genius Milwaukee underground guy He can write. Live he can be as strong as Neil Young. Often in a wig and dress. Voot Warning, like on a submarine getting depth charged in a movie..'voot voot" Yay Bob Weidenbaum and Day One Delivery. Jackie Yost too if you are out there. My drummer in 1983 who was 14 at the time insisted I listen to his record, their debut.
We used to call it "cow punk" back in the day.
Basically acoustic instruments with a punk sensibility. 😊
The Femmes are irrevocably connected to the Pixies in my mind. You should check out Here Comes My Man or Gigantic. Kim is shamefully underrated.
I like to think of The Pixies as Melodic Punk.
@@malomodo "Must like Husker Du and Peter, Paul and Mary."
@@bradleyheck7204 I love that! I would have responded too.
VF , especially this album, is an absolute WATERSHED Masterpiece.
When you go to a show the crowd doesn’t just know the words, they all master each little inflection in each word.
Yes, I’m singing out loud and my dog thinks I’m nuts 🤣🫡
I'm just as good with Hallowed Ground, haha.
saw them live a week ago and that was my experience as well.. it felt nice to be in the same room with 1500 people who loved the same music I do
@@eboethrasher it's of utmost importance
I’m from Milwaukee. In 1982, I was a high school freshman. One day I took the city bus from school downtown to Radio Doctors, a cool record store. While the bus was stopped by the Oriental Theater, I heard the Femmes busking on the corner. I had no idea who they were. A year or so later they were discovered busking at that same spot by The Pretenders, who were playing the Oriental. I didn’t hear the Femme’s debut album until I was a freshman in college, about 1986. I instantly knew that they were the band I had seen busking. I’ve seen them live three times, including their 20th anniversary show at the Oriental. Keep exploring, they have a lot of great music.
Love this story. Thanks for sharing!
Omg....Please Dont Go is the saddest and best song ...its sooo simple but the bass at the end is ridiculously good. ...theyre just a good band . I regret ive never seen them live
Such a wonderfully sad song.
They are still going
they're touring right now, get some tickets, you won't regret it
Violent Femmes have legendary songs! Remember being a teenager playing in a band and finding out about them. Loved their style ever sense then. Learning the guitar riffs.
When he said Violent Femmes never broke into mainstream I can't help but think of their appearance in an episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch
And earlier a song of theirs was central to a scene in “My So-Called Life.”
If you want go further down the rabbit hole, do Bad Brains with Banned in D.C.
They were a jazz-fusion band that heard about how fast punk was, and then they heard the Ramones and decided to show the punk scene how to play _fast_. Their influence was the start of thrash metal too, so they can not be understated
YYYYYYEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!
Yup. Needs some bad brains. I played bass in a BB cover band 10 years ago... My arm still hurts
Got to see Violent Femmes play in 2022 at a punk fest at a winery. I can check them off my bucket list!
They were busking outside of a theater where The Pretenders were playing that night, and the band saw them outside and invited them to open for them that night! And the rest is history
This reads like they were busking in 2022...and the rest is history! ;) :D
Great reaction. ... Listen to the album in its entirety. Each song is a gem and they build on each other into a masterpiece.
We used to listen to this album loudly on the bus on the way to school everyday, and everyone would sing along to every song.
You went to a cool school!
Yeah I did. We also listened to Licensed to Ill every day. I can't believe they let us.@@jmachatch6696
The opening of this song is amazing live, leading a show with a full crowd singing the start is great
I was going to mention that their live album, I believe recorded in Green Bay is really good. They're certainly older, but the recording quality is so good, especially on the bass
Minutemen Double Nickels On The Dime is my all-time favorite album. Boon/Watt/Hurley are one of the most unique trios. And beware, the cd release cut out several pieces from the original double vinyl.
I luckily got to see the, Minutemen Duet on the Queen Mary at ATP festival 2003. The ballroom floor and the balconies all the way up the boat were filled with people pumping their fists to every song and I swear you could hear the guitar parts, like seriously, could hear D Boon’s guitar. Wild experience.
Double Nickels is a goddamn masterpiece
DNotD is an epic record. Mike Watt is a great bassist.
The first Violent Femmes album I bought was Add It Up (1983-1991) and I can’t hear this song without hearing the 1-2-3-4 countdown after the vocal intro from that version. Great song and great reaction!! This channel is the reason I go on UA-cam anymore.
Nothing like this band live! I’m 50 and this is as fresh today as hearing it the first time as an early teen.
They had a great song on The Crow soundtrack named Color Me Once. Violent Femmes has an iconic bass sound.
I saw Him play a one string bass in concert. Literally a 2x2 board with one string, one pickup, and no frets. Legendary.
The Decline and now Add it Up. Both classics. There is a entire world of amazing music that you never hear on the radio. The real stuff. Glad you are finding it.
I was so lucky to be in range of a college radio station in this era, so much amazing music I didn't hear on any of the other radio stations.
The song Gone Daddy Gone (same album) was on MTV in heavy rotation in the 80's.
Brian Ritchie was playing an acoustic bass guitar. I have seen them live, they were great.
They were amazing live. Ritchie with his acoustic bass and Victor Lorenzo having like two drums and a high hat, standing through the whole set... wild stuff.
@@fretless05did he also have his grill? Lol
When I saw them at Lollapalooza, he was playing an upright. There were so many amazing bands there and they were easily one of the most entertaining!
The "folk" part is probably because they regularly played acoustic guitar and acoustic bass and the drummer only used a snare drum. So kind of like a rockabilly setup a la the Stray Cats but with a way less flashy guitar and acoustic bass instead of an upright.
Folk punk is also a sub genre of punk. It spawned from the crust punk scene. When living in squats with no electricity acoustic is a necessity.
The drummer also plays on a grill. Lol
I would love if you did a reaction to Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia. Very polarizing early Punk band and one of my absolute favorites 👍
Moon Over Marin would be good
Kiss Off, the live version from the Violent Femmes greatest hits album, would be great. I first heard these guys in 85 or 86 in jr high. They stuck in my head forever. It was around the same time as I first heard the Dead Milkmen, the Dead Kennedys, and DRI.
I LOVE the Violent Femmes. This whole album is excellent. Definitely do more of their songs!
They really were not that obscure - the indie radio boom of the 80s was pretty big, and the Femmes were a staple on those stations. But definitely a great band - I haven't listened to them for years, but this video gives me a new appreciation.
Maybe give the Wipers a try? Or the Minutemen? Or Mission of Burma? You won't regret it.
WLIR was the ish.
YEEEEA BUDDY! Love the Violent Femmes. You should do this whole album!
Definitely a candidate for an album reaction I hope!!
Every song is amazing. One of the best debut albums ever.
100% agreed, and then journey into Hallowed Ground for the change in sound and a deeper dive into dark Americana Punk... AlCountry Death Song and I hear the Rain have been songs circling my head for some 35 years or so and still I sing them out of the blue... Of course, now as a dad, singing Country Death Song outloud is done with caution 😂
This album was lightning in a bottle. Timeless.
Can’t talk about VF without mentioning “please do not go” and that killer bass solo!!
The Femmes are PURE GENIUS. Back in the day there was "College Radio" where they got their following. In my part of the world it was WVXU ... POW the future of rocknroll (see the movie Rain Man)
Now you need to do Please Don’t Go by the same band
They are on tour right now. If they are playing near you, I highly recommend going to see them. I'll be seeing them for the fourth time in May. I started listening to them in the early 80's, and they never get old. The bassist is amazing. Interesting fact-the percussion section is just a snare and a high hat.
Saw them 4 or 5 times in Australia. Absolutely phenomenal shows, the audience sang so loud that the band just stopped playing and stood there while the audience finished the song! Magnificent shows!
Totally agree. These were great live shows, as well as collections of delightful misfits in the audience. I still have a drumstick thrown into the crowd from ca 1990.
Brian Ritchey lives in Tasmania now.
Amazing song from one of my favorite albums. It's such a shame that most people only know the Violent Femmes because of Blister in the Sun. The bass line in this song has always really stood out to me too.
Gotta tell ya man, it’s been so terrific to watch you get into all this punk, primarily because your excitement and joy at hearing this stuff is endearing and it makes me realize there is value in bass that isn’t virtuoso-slap / tap. Keep up the positive energy and vibe, I love it.
Also, check out either Failed Imagineer or Adventures in Zoochosis from Propagandhi!
Thanks SO much for the nice words! Appreciate you hanging with me. Propagandhi is on the list and coming soon!
Saw them right before Covid and Gordon's voice sounded EXACTLY like it did 40 years ago and they played just as tight. One of the best shows ive seen in a long time.
Ned's Atomic Dustbin had 2 bass players. Their album God Fodder is something you'll want to listen to.
Been a long time since I saw someone reference Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Nice 😊
I actually went to see Ned's when they opened for Jesus Jones in Ann Arbor back in the day.
Brian Richie most under rated bassist of all time
Remember - punk is not a genre in spite of what the world is trying to jam down our throats. It is an attitude that you will do what you want regardless of what the establishment says. If there is a unifying factor in the sound of punk rock bands it is a rawness that comes from doing it yourself because no one will support you. Some punk bands are virtuosic and some are complete amateurs but they don't let anything stop them. That's punk. Heavenly hamburger! ✨🍔✨
Yes, which would make Johnny Cash Live at Folsom Prison totally a punk album. That's the one with the bird, right? And the songs, and playing at the prison. It's all punk attitude.
It seems impossible to me that someone has never heard of the Violent Femmes. How can anyone never hear Blister In The Sun?
Had a friend in high school that turned me on to 4 bands that became essential for me: Violent Femmes, Smithereens, They Might Be Giants and XTC. All became part of the soundtrack of my life!
My greatest joy, in the 80s, was walking out of my room, and hearing my Southern Baptist mom grooving to The Blind Leading the Naked by Violent Femmes.
It was a moment of two different ideologies connecting through music.
Folk Punk originated with two bands: the Violent Femmes in the US and the Pogues in the UK. The two couldn't be more different but they definitely are the godfathers of the two main forms of Folk Punk today. Interestingly often adherents of the Femmes style of Folk Punk often hated the Pogues style and vice versa, and fans of earlier and other forms of Punk Rock often hated both. Only a few punk kids in that era actually liked it all, which is kinda funny looking back really.
Hard go imagine hating either of those bands. 2 of my favorites.
Ah yes Violent Femmes.
Also I agree some Subhumans, as mentioned in the chat, could be some fun!
🤘😃🤘
Yes, Subhumans and Citizen Fish!
I saw the Femmes like at the Waldorf in San Francisco for their tour after their 4th album. The crowd was super interesting because there didn't seem to be a single "aesthetic". All different ages, and types. They saved all the songs from the first album to the end of the set, and when they started playing them, everyone in that sold out show started singing along. Over 2k people, and we sounded good (well, you could understand the words we were singing). All those different people who probably would never meet outside that theater knew every lyric and nuance to those songs.
Love this band! Your brother made a good choice recommending Add It Up instead of Blister in the Sun (still great song though!).
I recommend Too Shy by Kajagoogoo if you are interested in reviewing some cool 80s synthy slap bass.
They made me want an acoustic bass guitar and this came out in high school so they really related to me with that high school feel. I can sing the whole first album and still relovant today. My teen kids like it too.
You should check out the epic Violent Femmes banjo/bass jam at the end of "Lies (Live)" off of the Add It Up album. The banjo gives strong folk vibes.
Keep up the good work. I'm digging the reactions and new insights into songs I've heard a thousand times before as a teenager. Good times.
Saw the Femmes in the early 90's in a theater that sat about 2500, and they were great. Super indie. Super cool.
I saw them in 92(?) at an open air folk fest.
Saw them a little later at Humboldt State University. Seated 862 and we were on our feet the whole time. It was a great night out with my brother - we grew up in L.B. and saw hundreds of shows over the years
@@KlingonPrincess they didn't play Add it up but the crowd kept chanting for it. It was a day time "family" event. They did eventually play it after a quick huddle on stage. They but omitted certain words when they sang it. Just left a blank and the crowd screamed the lyrics. It was awesome.
Love this song! Violent Femmes are so underrated
I was like you introduced to this band by my older brother and we don't typically share the same musical taste. These guys are definitely a nontraditional band and aren't scared to try different sounds. I would have loved to have attended a live show. I've watched an Austin City Limits session of theirs and love it. I turned most of my friends on to them then growing up and I love that you reacted to them cause they are a fun band. Enjoy your reactions.
I was fortunate enough to see them in 1988 in Toronto. Someone threw a light stick on the stage and Gord Gano said...I wouldn't do that again, I'm a pissed off paranoid American.
It was a terrific show.
Violent Femmes were a huge part of my college years back in the 80s. Loved that whole album.
Another banger of a video ❤ Brian Ritchie is seriously underrated so thank you for shining light on his playing!
Folk punk is one thing - Balkan punk is another fascinating style
Gogol Bordello - Underdog World Strike
Kiss Off is another good bass song by the Violent Femmes. And Never Tell.
I know I'm going more two-tone/ska here, but after some of the bands you mentioned at the end, maybe The Specials? Concrete Jungle
Horace is fun to watch in the live videos from the late 70s/early 80s. 😅
I promise they count as a punk band. It's not what you play, it's how you play it. ❤
This is by far my FAVORITE tune to cover live..SOOO much fun!!
One of my favorite albums of all time. They are one of of the best bands ive seen live. I love the resentment in the music and the embodiment of punk rock energy.
They played it whole on their last tour. Good times!
I met Brian once when he stayed at my dads inn to do a show nearby. Super chill guy with a very down to earth family and his wife was probably even more interesting than him, which is saying something considering I've been listening to his music all my life. They even gave us free backstage tickets to the show and the whole band was just really nice and pleasant and friendly and one of the best live concert experiences I've ever had. They're the real deal.
Also this is 100% the song that convinced me to get an acoustic bass guitar.
Love stories like this!! Rad!
He lives in Tasmania now and runs a music festival out there that some of my friends have gone to and say is great.
one thing about the femmes: they were/are the kings of college radio, which was a huge thing in the 80s/90s. every single college kid in the US had that first violent femmes record. the punks, the squares, everyone. my parents even loved them. they were not on mainstream radio, but they were huge, and they still have a massive global fanbase. they are akin to the ramones in that regard, famous and massive but never in the mainstream media. i am from milwaukee, and saw them from the start, and when that slash records album hit it was like beatlemania when they played at summerfest that year. the second album, hallowed ground, is also excellent. i think the reason you like brian's bass sound so much is: he is playing an oversized mariachi bass, that gives it that thick sound.
Great read!! Thanks Dan 🙏🏼
Never heard of these! This was a wild ride brother
Such a good album. A flood of teenage skater memories.
FOR REAL. I almost tagged EVERYONE I'm still in contact with from those days, including my friend's older brother's cover band, Women Fat. The English translation, though the French way is written is backwards, but yeah, this isn't a grammar lesson and that's most of the fun of the name and OMG did he just push his daughter into a well with all his love and might...?
Excellent vid. The Descendants would be a great dive, especially since Fat Mike has openly expressed his own love of the band. Personally, I think you'd have fun looking at " 'Merican " , or quite literally anything from their album Milo Goes to College.
Whole album react to Milo Goes to College, let's goooooo
Please Descendants!
Dude! Thanks so much for doing this. I grew up hearing this stuff on cassette tape. I’ve been rocking and jamming with it all night!
A friend gave me a bootleg copy of their debut back in 87-88 and I've been hooked on the Violent Femmes ever since. Thanks for this pick! Definitely have to check out Minutemen. Mike Watt is amazing!
Rad! And, thanks for requesting this one right on time 😎 - I’ve got Minutemen in the queue coming soon. Thanks so much for being here!
Great suggestion! Watt is incredible!
I would bet that bootleg cassette copies of the Violent Femmes exceeded legal sales by A LOT.
I saw the Femmes on this tour in Providence. I'd been to countless hardcore shows, but the energy at this one was so bananas it was the first time I looked around for an exit door just in case. Top five show for sure.
Their first two albums are kind of "Midwest Velvet Underground" to me. "Country Death Song" on the second album is truly chilling.
Country Death Song is my favourite VF song.
Saw them in 1986. The power of the music and the bass's roll comes from being a trio. You can hear each instrument, each voice so distinctly. Trios are some of the greatest rock bands.
So awesome that you are hearing this for the first time and sharing it. They are one of the best rhythm sections, such a joy to listen to them. There is a live album of all their "hits" that exemplifies just how good they are. Edit to add name Live, in Wisconsin. Also from 1987 on at least, Blister in the Sun was played at every party I was ever at, along with Add it Up. Both are massive sing a longs, and definitely tickled our young hearts and minds 😂
Here’s an interesting request: Seven by Sunny Day Real Estate, punk band from the 90s that help bridge the gap between emocore and Midwest emo. There’s fire but also a lot of emotion and some kill bass and drums
Sunny Day Real Estate is emo dude. They are not even close to punk
@@JimBobHurley_in_AK emo spawned as a subgenre of hardcore??? SDRE aren’t as “punk” as a skramz band but 7 is definitely a punk song
@@JimBobHurley_in_AKemo is punk. True emo anyway
Hey, check out the Band Choking Victim with the Song 500 Channels. Great bass play at the beginning
As someone who loves the sound of good driving bass, I have adored this band since they came out.
I just love that acoustic bass' sound in combination with the punk aggressiveness is what really gets me. The guy can really play.
For old-school original English punk, you have to listen to The Stranglers. JJ Brunel is such a huge influence on a huge number of modern bassists. I would suggest listening to "Peaches" from 1977 or their cover of "Walk on By" (one of the best covers ever)
I love the stranglers, good call
walk on by was voted best cover song ever by bbc listeners a few years ago. and yes, jj burnel is pretty obviously the best bass player ever in punk, and one of the best bass players in music period. classically trained, and yet vicious. deft and savage in equal measure.
Brian Ritchie is effectively their lead guitarist! Such a brilliant band
This album is amazing. "Blister in the Sun" was played at every house party when I was kid.
This record changed my life. Kind of a gateway drug into experimental music. Although I’m a guitarist, I was learning bass proper to play in a band when I heard this album. Got to play a show BY SURPRISE with Gordon Gano in some weird free-improvisation group. NICEST COOLEST DUDE! Awesome video man! Made me subscribe 😁
Blister in the sun is a great one too.
I once had blister stuck in my head for an entire summer, just wake up in the morning singing it... good times hahaha
@@richiedagger733 That happened to me with Anti Flag - Die For Your Government and it was good times haha
@brahmasatyamjagatmithya Years ago, I fell out of the punk scene. Then I heard NOFX were touring, and I had never seen them live before, so I went. Anti-Flag opened for them and Die for Your Government sold me on them. I think the drummer actually sat in the middle of the pit area with just a snare and high-hat and played the song in the middle of chaos.
@@sahamal_savu just that intro to the song is forever stuck in my head
One of the best songs on one of my favorite albums. Been listening to this for almost 30 years.
This was the first video I've seen of yours, and what an introduction! Keep up the great work!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the kind words!
My Violent Femmes experience and how I first heard them is pretty unique. I worked at Wendy's in HS and I was walking home after working at night and I found this CD thrown in the street. Granted I live in S. Texas and I am Hispanic, so when I read the name of the band I thought it was a Spanish CD. So I took it with even though I didn't listen to Spanish music I was like what the hell it was free Ill give it a listen. And when I played it for the first time it blew my mind. What I had found was their greatest hits CD on the street that night in 1994.
"Kiss off "by Violent Femmes off this album has great bass lines
I had totally forgotten about this band. Please do this entire album! I'm about to head down the femme black hole! Thanks!
I saw them live twice back in the early 90's. Their shows were unlike any other. Especially after this album came out. Everyone thought they were this cool band that they themselves discovered. Then you went to their show and realized everyone there knew every word to every song. The only other band who produced a similar feel at their shoes was Fugazi.
I love bands like the Femmes that make assaulting your musical instrument sound melodic
This whole album is great.
Being from Milwaukee- I didn't realize the reach these guys have had in other parts of the country- and Australia as well. Obviously, I've seen them live here a few times and of course the audience participates and knows the words front to back. But to hear people in Kansas, or Texas, etc. were doing the same thing kind of amazes me. I know the album sold well over a million copies, but they always seemed to be so underground nonetheless.
Picture it: Burbank, 1988. I've lived in L. A. for 2 years, I'm 13-meet a new friend, whose big bro is in a VF cover band... So yeah. They had reach, even back then❤❤.
Wait, do I Hear the Rain?...
So much so that it honestly doesn’t make sense to me that someone who is into music and is a bass teacher hadn’t heard of them.
Mark, as one who’s known about the Violent Femmes since I was in early high school and has seen them live at least twice, I’m sorry that you’re just now getting into them. They are a quite delightful and seriously underrated band for sure. I’m glad that you’ve had a taste of them and shared it with all of us. It truly took me back in time and helped remember why I got into bass. And I believe his tone comes from an acoustic bass actually, although I don’t know if he just had it miked in the early days or if he was running direct into the board. Oh, and along with playing bass, he also plays and is actually certified to teach shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) AND, one of the times I saw them live, he actually played a didgeridoo in the opening song while marching with the band onto the stage. Completely mind BLOWING!!! Thanks for taking us on this journey with you and bringing back all these found memories.
Ok I know you have a ton of suggestions, but I want to add my 2 cents and see if anyone agrees....
100 Proof by 88 Fingers Louie
Drag my body by Hot Water Music
The press corpse by Anti Flag
Still by Rufio
Disconnected or A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing by Face to Face
Goodbye Forever by Alkaline Trio
We Will Fall Together or Dear Sergio by Streetlight Manifesto
Beer by Reel Big Fish
I could keep going on and on. All good and fun basslines. Some with more chops and some with more theory behind them.
It was 1986 and I was finishing my freshman year in Lafayette and preparing to move back to my hometown, Bossier City when my friend, Tim introduced me to the Violent Femmes while we were driving in his little green convertible MG.
I’ve never heard anything like them. Even today, there isn’t a band that comes close. It’s not the level of technical difficulty or anything like that. It’s just a great band with lyrics that are (some vulgar, true) incredibly fun to sing along with.
That summer after I finished moving back home, I played the tape to my friends in the band. Literally only one or two of them heard of them, if any. When school started, I found an additional friend group who fell in love with the band. My metal friends and my punk friends all loved the Violent Femmes.
Now I’m explaining to my brother, Mark Michell, how we spread the news back in the day about cool new bands and songs. But even then, Violent Femmes tried their very best to remain “underground” and relished in the fact that their music was spread via “illegal” copies more than the music stores or radio.
I’m encouraging Mark to do a bass analysis/reactionary video to one of their most popular songs, Add It Up. But there are a few other very popular songs they have.
Thoughts?
(Above - Copied and pasted from my personal Facebook page)
Today he came through for all of us Femme fans. If you don’t know, it’s hard to explain. But I never even knew what they looked like until I had this discussion with Mark. I just knew their music. They were never on MTV. Their album cover was just that girl (you can find her today on the web, btw). The only videos of them playing were from old VHS tapes which were not readily available. Talking to Mark about this great band, I later looked them up on UA-cam and realized, “yep! That’s exactly what I imagined they looked like!!”
Some details: it was 1986 and I was a 14 year old young boy living in Lafayette, LA. My parents split up and mom was moving back to Bossier City & my dad back to Monroe. I went back to Bossier bc we lived there before the recent move down to Lafayette.
I heard this song, as described above. I was just amazed! So much fun to sing. I had my friend make me a copy of the tape (it was late June). I played it for a few other friends on our band trip (Acadiana High School went to play in NY City for the 1986 rededication to the Statue of Liberty). Most of my friends never heard of them but they eventually got a copy of the tape.
A few weeks after the trip, I moved back to BC with my mom. I joined the Parkway High School band. I knew most everyone in the band already. I played this tape and I swear, it was like wildfire. Everyone was playing VF in their car. I introduced it to my friends at church, many who went to Airline or Bossier High School, and the next thing I knew, everyone was singing “DAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY………. AAAAAAAYYYYFFFteeeeeeeeeeeer DAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY…..”
The entire album was just amazing. It was the perfect one for me. It spoke to me as a young man struggling with his parents going through a divorce. Also, as a kid struggling with just growing up, period!!! VF speaks to the very heart and angsts that we carry as young men!
Thanks for this Mark!
Love you too!!
I would blast it in my little Datsun pickup heading to school. I remember BJ even saying he could hear the whisper part, across the parking lot, I had it so loud. We could sing the whole album front to back on the Band trips, without stopping, just finish one song and start the next. I would request it on Centenary's college radio station, the only station in Shreveport/Bossier that would even play it.
@@wfrommeholy heck, is this Billy Fromme????