Music

Another Bump

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8. "It Takes Two," Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock. On the surface, this song has nothing directly to do with cocaine or crack. But then it all depends on whether Mister, um, Base, is saying "I want to rock right now" or "I want a rock right now." (Or as Press contributor Greg Ellis hears it, "I want two rocks right now." "'Cause it takes two to make a thing go right," he explains.) I've always leaned toward the "a rock" view, because this has always sounded to me like music made by crackheads for the enjoyment of other crackheads, exactly what a big ol' hit off the pipe would feel like. Here's what, um, Mister Rock's track does to me: My pulse races, there's those clicky drums and hissing cymbals, that chick going "Whoo!," that four-note bassline, Rob Base rapping about how he's the king of the whole motherfucking world. "I like the Whopper, fuck the Big Mac!" Man, my eyes are rolling around in my skull just thinking about it. The song is insanely catchy, ridiculously frivolous and always done way before I want it to be, which seems a lot like a crack high to me.

9. "Thrasher," Neil Young. According to Michael Walker's new book Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock & Roll's Legendary Neighborhood, cocaine spelled doom for the L.A. hippie scene that spawned Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. This song is Young's take as he escaped toward a rebirth as a solo artist. His old friends had become "dead weight," fools who planted "when the moon was full" because they were "lost in crystal canyons," each with his own "aimless blade of science."

10. "Lit Up," Buckcherry. "I'm all lit up, again / I Love the cocaine love the cocaine." Back in 1999 when these dudes came out with this, they seemed laughably behind the times. In hindsight, they seem to have been way ahead of the curve, as songs about cocaine, hard retro-rock, and carrying on like Aerosmith-style rock stars have all come back into fashion. But then again, much like cocaine, does that stuff ever really truly disappear?

Cocaine Hall of Fame

David Bowie

David Crosby

Miles Davis

Elton John

John Entwistle

Fleetwood Mac

Andy Gibb

Bobby Hatfield (Righteous Brothers)

James Honeyman-Scott (the Pretenders)

Whitney Houston

Rick James

Waylon Jennings

George Jones

Little Richard

Mötley Crüe

Ol' Dirty Bastard

Cole Porter

Stephen Stills

Sly Stone

B.J. Thomas

Ike Turner

Andre Williams

And now for some non-devil's dust-related news, here are the top ten sellers at Sound Exchange and Sig's Lagoon this week:

Sound Exchange

1. Shellac — Excellent Italian Greyhound

2. Napalm Death — Scum; 20th Anniversary Edition

3. Chaos Horde — 1986 Demo LP

4. Jana Hunter — There's No Home

5. Neutral Milk Hotel — In the Aeroplane over the Sea

6. Charalambides — Electricity Ghost

7. Bardo Pond / Pre — split ten-inch

8. Pixies — Surfer Rosa

9. Beirut — Gulag Orkestar

10. Quintron — "Jam Skate 12-inch"

Sig's Lagoon

1. Sideshow Tramps — The Medicine Show

2. Moses Guest — Best Laid Plans

3. Aggrolites — Reggae Hit L.A.

4. White Stripes — Icky Thump

5. Betty Davis — Betty Davis

6. Blaze Foley — Cold, Cold World

7. Betty Davis — They Say I'm Different

8. Kashmere Stage Band — Texas Thunder Soul 1968–1974

9. The Octanes — Lucky Seven

10. James Hand — Evil Things

(lists compiled by Craig Hlavaty)

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