There comes a time when nothing else but a brain-hammering session with Pussy Galore‘s 1989 album Dial M For Motherfucker will do. And not just to clear the house of your so-called friends who’ve been sloshing cheap wine on your expensive new carpet all night. (Although it might work for that, too.) Jon Spencer, the man who shocked and awed the world with the noisiest band in the history of rock ‘n’ roll, went on to form three more exhilarating combos: Boss Hog (with his wife Cristina Martinez), Heavy Trash (his most recent band) and, of course, the stunning Blues Explosion, whose recent career-spanning compendium, Dirty Shirt Rock ‘N’ Roll (Majordomo), tells you plenty about the DNA of the man in charge. (The label is reissuing expanded versions of out-of-print Blues Explosion albums Now I Got Worry and Controversial Negro this week.) Spencer is guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with him.
Spencer: If you’re talking about greats, we lost a couple of them just this year. I’m referring to Alex Chilton and Jim Dickinson. Both amazing and beautiful people who had an impact on me. Very sad to lose them both this year. I was a big fan of Big Star and all the stuff that Alex did, even though that style of music is not really my bag. I don’t know what you want to call it. Power pop? But I also liked those weird solo things Alex did, like “Bangkok.” The Blues Explosion toured with Alex. We took him on as a support act in, maybe, 2000 with a rhythm section. He would play things like “Volare,” just whatever he wanted. And one Big Star song, “In The Street,” which was being used by That 70’s Show on TV. He would just go from gig to gig by himself in a big old American sedan. He really kept to himself. But they didn’t make arrangements to get into Canada. So he just checked into a hotel at the border, hung out for a couple of days and met us on the other side.
Video after the jump.
