V03-T01b Romp, Romp, Romp

.....Youthful rebellion is much like bacteria: large in quantity, diverse in quality and constantly reproducing, spreading and yielding new mutations. And like bacteria, when someone sets out to eliminate it they either chose a method potent enough to hurt themselves in the process or else some weaker method that leaves only the stronger and more destructive strains of the bacteria surviving.

Volume 3: A KINDER, GENTLER ZERO TOLERANCE, track 1b

• 03:28 "ROMP, ROMP, ROMP" (Sport [Mike Murphy])
• performed by The Skels
• original source: LP HOW DO YOU LIKE IT HERE NOW? Mystery Fez REC 1297 (Canada) 1988
• and my source: the same

.....First of all, this band has absolutely no relation to the band currently known as The Skels who specialize in Dropkick Murphy-style Irish pub punk and who are based in New Jersey. This earlier, New York-based band broke up at about the same time that the current band formed (c.1995). It's individual members are all on either Facebook or MySpace: John Borghardt, Jim Colford, Bill Hafener, Willy Liguori and Sport (Mike Murphy). This song comes from what I believe was the first of three albums, portions of which appear on the compilation CD EVIDENCE OF A STRUGGLE 1988-1994, also on Mystery Fez and released in 1995, after this mix tape was recorded.

.....On repeated listenings (and fortunately this song lends itself to repeated listenings) you may notice that with every chorus the singer calls for a different style of once-demonized music. Not only that, but he exchanges them in the chronological order in which each was scapegoated as The Cause Of All Our Problems; rock, metal ,punk, hip-hop. And every one of these music styles seemed to disappear off the radar when the next Cause Of All Our Problems came along. It is interesting to note that in my own experience, whenever I've played this song, which contains not one lyric that would read as a joke on paper, and observed people's reactions I have never encountered anyone who did not laugh or at least smile at some point during this song. I can't tell if they found it amusing for the same reasons but in most cases they definitely taste of a 'moment of recognition'. That's something really essential for sarcasm or 'tongue-in-cheek' humor to work. Volume 1 cast the widest possible net, but volume 3 presents what an electrician would call a "gate" and cleaves closer to my personality. Later on this side there will be an extended mood of playfulness and passing "ROMP, ROMP, ROMP" is in my estimation the minimum for going forward since the humor is often more subtle from here on out.

.....Tomorrow, more on Warhol, nursery rhymes and hypnosis.