We Hate The Beat
Beatlemania was so big that a bunch of acts jumped on the bandwagon by writing songs about the band. Most were positive but some attacked. Here's an interesting list of 18 anti-Beatles songs at the A.V. Club. They hit the big ones, including Allan Sherman, Peter, Paul and Mary and Rainbo (aka Sissy Spacek), and plenty of lesser known stuff.
But there's one they don't have, and it's probably my favorite. I certainly didn't expect to see it on the list. See, years ago, in Chicago, I bought a collection of local punk bands on a cassette tape. I can't find the tape--it's probably at the bottom of some box--and I can find no trace of it on the interweb, but I still hum the first cut to myself occasionally. It's entitled "Kill The Beatles" and starts thus:
Of your boring old songs
I'm so sick and tired of it all
Makes me want to gag!
Makes me want to puke!
I'm so sick and tired of it all
Let's kill the Beatles
Kill the Beatles
Kill the Beatles
Kill the Beatles
And the eggheads who still like them
One down, three more left to go
Later the song goes into a "Chapman had the right idea" mantra that ends with "it's just too bad that he didn't, didn't get Paul McCartney first."
I played it for a friend and he said it reminded him of a kid he knew in high school who would turn his eyelids inside out to get attention. All I can say is, job well done.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:18 AM
6 Comments:
I recall a hardcore Beatles fan being greatly offended He said something like "No one will ever remember this"
I recall looking at the cassette- I think the band was called A Certain Death
The wonder of the internet- You can get a recording (of the song)on a different album for $12 on dannyimig.com
Well you got me going on search project. More info than you want- The Band is just "Certain Death" and was fronted by Danny Sleeze (Danny Imig above). The compilation LA Guy refers is called I think "Complete Death" and can't be found. There is a "Complete Death II" out there but its from 1988 and doesn't contain the track. One of the notes in Mr. Imig's website indicates that another song about Richard Speck, John Wayne Gacy and Chicago race relations was too controversial to put on the compilation tape (but apparently "Kill the Beatles" wasn't)
Thanks for the info. I checked and the compilation is called Dial-A-Trance. For more information, go to
http://punkdatabase.com/wiki/Dial-a-Trance
Here's some of the explanation for the title from the guy who created the web page:
Where or what is the name "Dial A Trance" all about otto ?!? Dial A Trance was an actual sevice we used to see broadcast on TV Ads here in Northern Illinois and Indiana and Wisconsin .. one was supposed to call up the 312# and be put into a hypnotic trance to make all ones cares go away ... it was pathic ... and the world we lived in then was so whacked thanx to der fuher reagan that people actually thought this shit up .. and well someone was calling in ...
The cassette itself came with a flyer stuffed inside .. yeah i still have mine and yes its falling apart and yes years ago i put scotch tape on it and YES ya twits its still falling a part ... i had scanned it some years ago but it seems i never burned the fucking scans and lost them in a crash ... the front of the fly has the bands on the cassette and a lil artwork for them .. like their lil symbols and band logos .. also is an artical about Dial A Trance and what they are all about by the company that was dial a trance ...
On the back we find what Danny Sleeze (Certain Death member) thinks of dial a trance the society at the time .. videos & television ... heres a lil exp ...
1. "If you dial area code (312) 792-1051 you'll get a Chicago area hypnotist who tries to put you in a trance over the phone. After you're in this supposed trance he tells you to relax, forget your problems and be "mature"
2. "But this hypnotist is just one cog in the massive machine that tries to sedate you into cooperation with it, so that it (the machine) profits, and you depend on it"
Thats only a fraction of whats written but tells you a lil about dial a trance and the shit back then that pist us off that even more present today in der fuher bush's america
I was the drummer for Garbage Bodies and we recorded our songs in Danny Sleaze's bedroom. I bought the tape from Danny and always quoted lines from "Kill the Beatles" because it was very relevant at the time - you couldn't get bigger than the Beatles so the punks attacked them accordingly. We didn't realize we were in the company of bigger punk bands at the time. I guess we were just naive. My friend knew Mike Lazuka of Group of Individuals and got us hooked up with Danny and the the tape project. The tape release party was a blast - lots of bizarre people and we got to play a few songs. I played Danny's brother's huge vista-lite kit and thought I should be in a metal band. Really fun times that we didn't appreciate back then. Oh well.
Here it is, three years later, and I finally catch up with a comment that came six years after the original post.
Great to hear from you, anonymous. This is the kind of communication that makes me sad the blog is over.
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