Playlist | Proto-Punk πŸ§·


Inspired by the comments on a reddit post, I wanted to dig into some pre-“punk” proto-punk. I set Gemini, ChatGPT, Perplexity, & Copilot to the task as I’m fascinated by their ability to parse & compile information if prompted accurately. (I’m also fascinated my their penchant to provide completely incorrect or even made-up information. Some time I will have to blog about my experiment in having them search restaurant menus in an area to see if they serve shellfish. Copilot recommended some seafood places, so clearly it wants to kill me.)

I added my own stuff that some of them disagreed with, but it is my list after all. 🀣 Going back to little Richard and including Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” were points of contention, as I would expect from a conversation with people.

Music snobs aficionados, audiophiles, and punk rock gatekeepers will argue all day every day about the origin of punk… but for me, to be clear, it’s the moment that the Ramones’ self-titled album dropped. So, with that in mind I gave the language models this prompt:

There is and always will be constant debate, but if we agree for the premise of this exercise that the Ramones self-titled debut album was the first punk album… What are 25 songs that should belong on a proto-punk or punk precursor playlist?

I would assume bands that get mentioned as the progenitors would most likely include The Kinks, the Sonics, Link Wray, The Stooges, the MC5, the Velvet Underground, New York Dolls, & more I’m sure to be missing. Maybe even the band Death who hailed from Detroit MI?

All songs on the list should have been released before April 23, 1976… and be listed in order if release date by single or album, whichever dropped first.

This has been corrected for my typically egregious spelling/typing/lack-of-proofreading errors. After tossing the rules to the wind, keeping to the spirit of punk rock, we arrived here:

  • “Little Demon” – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (1956)
  • “Tutti Frutti” – Little Richard (1955)
  • “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” – Jerry Lee Lewis (1957)
  • “Rumble” – Link Wray (1958)
  • “La Bamba” – Ritchie Valens (1958)
  • “Love Me” – The Phantom (1958)
  • “Louie Louie” – The Kingsmen (1963)
  • “Surfin’ Bird” – The Trashmen (1963)
  • “Baby Let Me Take You Home” – The Animals (1964)
  • “House of the Rising Sun” – The Animals (1964)
  • “I’m Crying” – The Animals (1964)
  • “You Really Got Me” – The Kinks (1964)
  • “Gloria” – Them (1964)
  • “I Can’t Explain” – The Who (1964)
  • “Dirty Water” – The Standells (1966)
  • “My Generation” – The Who (1965)
  • “Strychnine” – The Sonics (1965)
  • “I’m a Man” – The Yardbirds (1965)
  • “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” – The Animals (1965)
  • “96 Tears” – ? & The Mysterians (1966)
  • “Wild Thing” – The Troggs (1966)
  • “Complication” – The Monks (1966)
  • “Psychotic Reaction” – Count Five (1966)
  • “Pushin’ Too Hard” – The Seeds (1966)
  • “7 and 7 Is” – Love (1966)
  • “I’m Not Like Everybody Else” – The Kinks (1966)
  • “You’re Gonna Miss Me” – The 13th Floor Elevators (1966)
  • “Talk Talk” – The Music Machine (1966)
  • “I’m Waiting for the Man” – The Velvet Underground (1967)
  • “Doctor Please” – Blue Cheer (1968)
  • “Sister Ray” – The Velvet Underground (1968)
  • “Fire” – The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (1968)
  • “Jigsaw Puzzle” – The Rolling Stones (1968)
  • “Kick Out the Jams” – MC5 (1969)
  • “I Wanna Be Your Dog” – The Stooges (1969)
  • “Little Doll” – The Stooges (1969)
  • “TV Eye” – The Stooges (1970)
  • “Paranoid” – Black Sabbath (1970)
  • “Get It On” – T. Rex (1971)
  • “School’s Out” – Alice Cooper (1972)
  • “Suffragette City” – David Bowie (1972)
  • “Raw Power” – Iggy & The Stooges (1973)
  • “Search and Destroy” – The Stooges (1973)
  • “Personality Crisis” – New York Dolls (1973)
  • “Jet Boy” – New York Dolls (1973)
  • “Urban Guerrilla” – Hawkwind (1973)
  • “Violence” – Mott the Hoople (1973)
  • “Cum On Feel the Noize” – Slade (1973)
  • “Editions of You” – Roxy Music (1973)
  • “Ooh La La” – Faces (1973)
  • “Subway Train” – New York Dolls (1974)
  • “Hey Joe” – Patti Smith Group (1975)
  • “Piss Factory” – Patti Smith (1975)
  • “Roxette” – Dr. Feelgood (1976)
  • “The Next Big Thing” – The Dictators (1975)
  • “Chez Maximes” – The Hollywood Brats (1976)
  • “After Eight” – Neu! (1975)
  • “Ghost Rider” – Suicide (1977)
  • “Little Johnny Jewel” – Television (1975)
  • “30 Seconds Over Tokyo” – Pere Ubu (1975)
  • “Burn My Eye” – Radio Birdman (1976)
  • “Politicians in My Eyes” – Death (1976)
  • “Cherry Bomb” – The Runaways (1976)
  • “Roadrunner” – The Modern Lovers (1976)
  • “She Cracked” – The Modern Lovers (1976)
  • “Shake Some Action” – Flamin’ Groovies (1976)
  • “Blank Generation” – Richard Hell & the Voidoids (1977)
  • “Anarchy in the U.K.” – The Sex Pistols (1976)
  • “Sonic Reducer” – Dead Boys (1977)
  • “Neat Neat Neat” – The Damned (1977)
  • “Chinese Rocks” – Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers (1977)
  • “Psycho Killer” – Talking Heads (1977)

I used Tune My Music to import it to Spotify from a text file, then copy to Amazon Music from there. I tried to go to Amazon first, but it messed up quite a bit of the songs. I did have to add “7 and 7 Is” by Love manually as it shows as “Seven and Seven Is” on Spotify. It weirdly plopped a Bob Marley song in that spot. Amazon was full of weird covers and the wrong songs when trying to import from text.

So, what do you think of the list? What’s missing? What needs added? Are my parameters skewed? Do you not accept anything past the date of what parameters were set? What obscure band that 14 people heard at the time is missing from this list? Don’t come at me with the Sex Pistols over the Ramones. Should we whittle it back to 25? Only have 1 song per artist? Come at me with healthy discourse.

So, I need help with my rΓ©sumΓ©.


I rarely ever blog about or post on social media about work.Β  My work life is work, and my personal life is personal.Β  I’ve never felt the need to discuss, vent about, or provide detail about my job.Β  I’m going to go ahead and break with that for this post.

Unfortunately, the time has come where I need to update my resume.Β  About a year and a half ago, the company that I was working for was sold, shut down, & liquidated.Β  A core group of people decided to try to move on & start a company in the same industry, and I was invited to be a part of it.Β  I was honored to be asked to participate, and glad to be gainfully employed.Β  Sadly, things didn’t pan out as planned, and the company is also in the process of shutting down.Β  Basically, I’m no worse off than I was a year ago.

At that time, I had an updated resume, and went on my first job interview in a long time.Β  I was offered employment elsewhere.Β  It may have worked, but the pay wasn’t where it needed to be for me to comfortably continue to pay rent and put food on the table.Β  I went with the group I knew & salary I needed.Β  I have no regrets, I’m just illustrating that I don’t have much job interview experience, but it has mostly all been positive.

Basically, I’ve been at the same job for 10 or so years.Β  In 2002, I started at an a/v integration company as the shipping guy.Β  That company was purchased in 2005 and I was hired by the new company, which closed in 2011.Β  Then on to the newest one where I was doing all slight variations of the same thing.Β  I liked my work, it was a nice mix of desk/paperwork & physical warehouse work sometimes, it was always different & challenging.Β  I have learned many rules, processes, & things about the equipment over the years.Β  I was able to adapt to many changes, and survived them all (up until now).

I need help with my resume.Β  I think I first updated this format in 2005, when it looked like I may have needed to search for other employment.Β  (Luckily, I was able to work temporarily for the new company, proved my merit, and was hired full time.)Β  In 2012 this format may be stale.Β  I’m not big on titles.Β  I call myself a “shipping guy” but I do much more than that.Β  I have more skills than a simple shipping guy needs.Β  I hate phrases like “team player”.Β  I am, but it sounds goofy.Β  Who reads that & doesn’t roll their eyes?Β  I’m generally not boastful (other than in jest), but this is one time when you need to be.Β  There’s a lot riding on a resume.Β  It gets your foot in the door.

I’m confident in my writing (thanks to this blog), but thrown into a resume it looks braggadocios, fragmented, & boring.Β  I love bullet points, but breaking things down into them, I feel like I lose cohesion.

I need this to grab someone’s attention, highlight what I can do & what I can offer, and get me a job.

Eric AiXeLsyD with the Batmobile

I have a lot of skills in my utility belt.

What do I want to do?Β  I’m certainly qualified for shipping, warehousing, and inventory jobs… entry level or supervisory.Β  Sadly, entry level pay may no longer be acceptable.Β  I could certainly do something else though.Β  I’m a quick learner.Β  I’d love to get paid for this writing / blogging / insanity thing (I mean… show/album/food reviews, photos, humor, goofy letters? I can do a bunch of stuff there).Β  Unfortunately I don’t have a degree.Β  Can you get one in shipping?Β  Certainly 10 years experience in shipping I would have learned anything that I could in 2 or 4 years of school?Β  I do have some training in graphic design & commercial art, I have experience in drafting (by hand even… does anyone remember that?), some talents that have yet to get me paid like drawing mazes and photography, and I recently completed classes in Microsoft Project… so I could even fill a “Jr. Project Manager” type role where I can learn as I go.Β  I’m certainly adept with computers, know old school (& also useless) html coding, and can pick things up rather quickly with any kind of program.Β  I can promote things like my band, the blog, and Food Allergies like mad online.Β  I think I’d be a good PR person, I just lack formal training or experience.Β  Maybe it’s time for something different.

So, I need help with my resume.Β  What works, what doesn’t?Β  1 page?Β  2 pages?Β  IfΒ  so, how do I fit it all on one or to pages (I think it kicks into an atrocious 3 now)?Β  What do I need to express?Β  Do I need a cheesy cover letter?Β  Do letters of recommendation help?Β  References right on the resume, or “provided by request”?Β  3 Personal/3 professional?Β  3 total?Β  Cover letter?Β  No cover letter?Β  Cover paragraph?

I’m laying it all out here and asking for your help.Β  Take a look at this resume and tell me what you think?

Please help me with my resume!

Click to check it out at Google Docs

Please excuse the format, it needs a new look… something anyway, and Google Docs may have messed with it a bit.Β  Other than that though… I ask you to be honest, brutal, constructive, and hopefully helpful.

Also… know anyone that’s hiring?Β  Are you hiring?Β  Point me in the right direction here.Β  I’m confident in my in-person interviews, and with anyone that already knows me or has worked with me.

Thanks in advance for your help.Β  I need to start hitting up InDeed, PA Career Link, etc. with my resume.Β  I know I have a lot of friends, family & readers that can help me out here.Β  It would be crazy to not use all of the resources at my disposal, right?

Chat.


No, I don’t want to chat.

Google’s Chat or G-talk is integrated into the mail inbox, over to the left.Β  It’s in about the same spot with Google+.

Yahoo‘s chat/messenger is integrated into their mail service &the only chat/add requests I ever get are super spammy.Β  (They’re also annoyingly getting rid of the “Updates” tab/pages which I’m sure not many will miss… but it was a way for me to read Facebook & Twitter at the same time.)

The latest Facebook outlet puts the chat right on up there.Β  I have my chat status set to away or always off or whatever it is… but it’s easily fat-fingered back into “hey chat with me” mode.

When I set up Ubuntu on a laptop, I setup something that acts like an instant messenger with tweets that are “@” me, and I think I can Tweet or Update Facebook from it.Β  It was cool for about 5 minutes.

I don’t want to chat.

We can talk back & forth via our Facebook pages, email, Twitter, or even a text message if urgency is required… but we don’t need to chat or IM each other.

I don’t have the need to instant message anyone.

If I’m at Yahoo or Google, I’m checking my email.Β  I’m trying to read something, I don’t need my focus pulled away.Β  I already have a miniscule attention span.

I’m not tryin’ to hate.Β  I’m just sayin’.Β  I mean, my wife picked me up using AIM. She was all up on me like “lol“,Β  “πŸ™‚“,Β  “send n00dz“.Β  OK, maybe not that last one.Β  But she did make plans with me to go to Ritter’s.

Instant messaging is fine, I just have no interest in it while I’m doing other things.Β  There are plenty of viable ways to say hello to me, or ask me questions.Β  I can’t think of any purposed served by instant messaging at this point in life.

Why is it forced upon me by every email carrier, social network, & rogue open-source operating system?Β  (OK, the last one is my own fault.)

Even some websites have built-in creepers now.Β  “Hello, I can see you’re looking at several different widgets on our site.Β  Our knowledgeable associate Peter Parker is available to help, type your question below to chat now.”

NO!Β  Let me browse.Β  (I do the same thing anytime a salesperson approaches IRL.)

Quit it.Β  I already have enough browser windows open at once.Β  I don’t need a chat going on.Β  I realize that I’ve reached the point of being obsolete.Β  I didn’t think I’d ever be the type of person that rails against change.Β  I don’t know if I’m railing against it here, or just not rolling with it.

So, please don’t take offense if this one time fan of Trillian doesn’t want to IM any more.Β  Maybe we can Skype some time.Β  Or not.

Emergency "Twitter was down so I wrote my...

OMG!

I am computer smart & very good with organization.


Worst resume ever?Β  Perhaps.Β  It’s pretty funny though… so maybe if the writer can harness the chaos, it can be put to good use.Β  I wish I could take credit for writing or even finding this, but I can’t.Β  It comes from a note posted on Facebook by my good friend Mike.Β  I asked him if I could steal it to share with a wider audience, and he agreed that it’s too good to not be shared.

So, grab a cup of coffee, and pretend you’re looking to hire someone…

[Mike’s forward: This comes from my palΒ at a local coffee shop. This kid came in and insisted on including this resume with his application. I have not edited it for content, spelling or punctuation aside from anything containing his personal info. Have fun!!]

Β Resume of, AUTHOR.

Β Address: (Something, Pittsburgh PA 15219.)

Β Best way to contact: E-Mail.(email@college.edu.)

Β Attending college at: (College.)

Β Major of study: (Graphic Design, moving up to Game & Art Design.)

Β Degree earning: (Bachelor’s Degree, “4 years.”)

Β Years done so far out of 4: (almost a full 2 years total.)

Β Skill’s & Talent’s, which PERSON can bring to this job offer, is as followed:

  • I have both my Adobe & Microsoft skills.
  • I wield the knowledge & understanding on, how to properly function these programs.
  • I am computer smart & very good with organization.
  • I am a hard worker & I get stuff done right the first time around.
  • I am very well, at English & speaking.
  • I understand details very quickly & fluently as well.

Β I take direction extremely well & work as hard as I can, in order to guarantee success at whatever it is I am presently doing.

  • I am a team player & can be greatly independent upon my efforts put fourth in my work too.
  • I can give great advice to fellow students, if I do not know an answer to a question I will first try to see if I can figure it out, or guide them to the correct person in position to answer their questions.
  • I am passionate at everything I do, I never waste time I work first & leave the relaxing time for when it can be enjoyed without consequence.Β Β 

Background & Job qualifications.

You are probably asking yourself:Β Β 

  • “Why should I consider hiring, this college student?
  • What makes him, stand out more than any other college student. who may be applying?
  • Does he have the ambition & determination, to follow through with this job position?
  • Will he ever fail me, or let me down in anyway imaginable?
  • Can he be trusted & reliable, to do this type of work?Β Β 

” These are all very good questions & I can inform security, that I can honestly answer them all, both correctly & factually, while backing up everything I am about to explain with evidence. ”Β Β 

  • I feel you should consider my employment, cause I am a working type of person almost 95 percent of my time, my life is what I do, in this cause art & employment, I seem to never stop moving or working on something important, while others party with friends I am either figuring out life arrangements, school finances & study, or just creating neat art, cause that’s what I came to an art college for.

I believe what makes me stand out, is my never give up attitude, my spunky side which shines through as a bubbly personality, my humor can be a personality trait in particular settings, I naturally love people & always give my all & best to help them, I would give a homeless guy the remaining dollar in my wallet & I have done that a lot, so I just believe with every good employee, comes a caring strong individual. I am a determined student, with one option only, success. Failure is a given, but I never allow it, it will never be3 a option for me, if I want this dream career & lifestyle I have to want it, I have to live it & most importantly I have to fight for it full throttle. I brought my GPA up this quarter from a 1.7 now is at a peaking 2.4 /2.5 & there are still a few grades that need to placed in their, but I know how I did by communicating with my professors, it will at least be a 2.5 if anything. I can guarantee excellent & efficient work ethic, delivered daily without any questions ask. I am up for change, so if details in the work environment turn to the left or to the right I am on the ball & never respond negatively to a changed course or daily pattern. I am a Full-Time Student, at the COLLEGE, in the Graphic Design Program (Bachelors Degree.) I came for Game & art Design. though my art work from high school, passed in insanely well, my mathematics’ is what I am working on in order to move up & soon enough I will do just that.Β Β 

Personal Cover Letter.

I am a very determined person. I believe in promotion, even where it seems, down right impossible. I believe anyone of us, can succeed at what we dream. It’s not where you come from, that makes who you are today, It is what you went through & how you handled it, in order to get to where you are today. I do not believe in using your pass negative experiences, as an alibi, nor do I agree with, failure being an option. I came from a rough life, beofre I became the young successful man I am today. I was the boy on the streets, the boy with no father or mother, nor anyone to love him. I came from Foster Cares, an endless amount & I went through life’s tragedies at an early age. Though my life was difficult, I still dreamed of a brighter tomorrow, with that said, I always said I BELIEVE. I never listened, when family & outsiders use to say, give up that’s a fairy tale dream-life it will never happened I still held my head high & believed, their must be more to this world Everyone can not simply be this horrid, their must be a better life, out there just waiting around the bend, sure enough after 17 to 18 years of my life, I found out that I was in fact very correct. There was a dream-life outside of tragedy & despair & that’s what I found today, for 2 years right out of high school I jumped on the college bandwagon & never stepped off since, still dealing with tragedies sure we always will, but I deal with them, get through them, the mature way, the professional way & I still do what my work & schooling expects of me.

I did have a part time job at the local Dunkin’ Donuts, but ran into, some scheduling details that weren’t that well explained in this case, every week was a new schedule & it began to confuse many employees working on the site. I worked as a very hard worker for a solid month, to the point that, the Assistant Manager taking over soon, said I wish I was in charge right now cause you would still be my employee, he apologized & said you the only one here who cleans, closes & runs this shop like a professional & to the book, like me, everyone else seems to slide on through & slack off, he said my apologize. This was very difficult it hurt very badly to where I cried a bit, I never been rejected in that fashion, so I think we all, get that wake up call, that proves to us even if your doing everything in your power to be the best employee, sometimes life still happens, all we can do is cry, move on & change for the better in the end I am also applying for 2 part times or one Full time position this quarter I have to find a place to live come September 1h & I expect to be okay, come fall something tells me I will. I guarantee, though I work part time, I will have more than enough time to work for you, this is without questioning, I would have never applied if I couldn’t bring the goods to the table, trust me. Many days I sit bored in a dorm silly, cause I don’t work that day or classes are finished, so I have all the time in the world I am a hard worker & I believe living life to it’s fullest, takes effort in order to receive it’s glory

Did he get the job?Β  Please, share your thoughts!Β  I’d also love to know how much of this was put through Google Translate.Β  Think any of it was?Β  I hope some of it was, anyway.

What’s your favorite line?Β  There are so many good ones!Β  This should replace the standard lourem ipsum.