GG Allin

[Gonzo]

Not exactly familiar with a lot of his music and I know he's not exactly along the lines of Garage Punk, Psych Folk Rockabilly Trash Surf and other various lofi genres generally favoured in this site but I'm wondering for any fans out there..what is a good place to start ? What was his best era ? For his albums, previous bands etc. Never really dug deep into his music and more so just seen footage of him for his antics.

[Chris Henniker]

GG's early stuff is the sort I can take to any indie disco and people'll cut a rug to it. It's just good power pop, simple as that. Some of it's even quite humourous. Gimme Some Head and Assface make me laugh, just for their utter ridiculousness.

 

The later stuff is so bad it's good, just for its gonzo comedy value.

[Andy O.B.O.]

Wow, I never thought of GG Allin in terms of power pop, but I'm amazed at how well it fits now that I'm looking at his music through that filter. It's easy to label him as punk because of the lyrics, leather, blahblahblah, but the MUSIC is totally power pop. Honestly, my mind is pretty blown right now.

Also, in response to the original post- you should watch the documentary Hated. It's good, plus it him playing this, one of my favorite songs of all time-

Chris Henniker said:

GG's early stuff is the sort I can take to any indie disco and people'll cut a rug to it. It's just good power pop, simple as that. Some of it's even quite humourous. Gimme Some Head and Assface make me laugh, just for their utter ridiculousness.

 

The later stuff is so bad it's good, just for its gonzo comedy value.

[Dave r]

check out the doco- "hated" (its made by todd phillips who went on to film "old school" and a few of those comedy movies with will farrel) its not bad... the guy was a piece of shit, but an interesting piece of shit i guess... i like bite it you scum, catchy song....

[Chris Henniker]

I saw that Todd Phillips was interviewed in Bizarre about the documentary. He even said that Allin would have loved Road Trip, so I bet he would have loved Bad Taste and Meet The Feebles by Peter Jackson.

 

Let's face it, Allin was just a poor man's Alice Cooper. 

Dave r said:

check out the doco- "hated" (its made by todd phillips who went on to film "old school" and a few of those comedy movies with will farrel) its not bad... the guy was a piece of shit, but an interesting piece of shit i guess... i like bite it you scum, catchy song....

[Axel Björnsson]

I love "Die When You Die"

[Chris Henniker]

"Die When You Die" is a good song, but I'd to hear The Raveonettes cover it with more menace and at a slower tempo. "Expose Yourself To Kids" is pure gonzo comedy at its most fuckwitted.

Axel Björnsson said:

I love "Die When You Die"

[Axel Björnsson]

are you talking about they have already cover it or you like to hear them cover it? (don't find it on youtube)

[John Battles]

Hey , Mike. You might be thinking of "Hated in The Nation" , which was a ROIR cassette comp of various studio recordings , inc. the ones with Wayne Kramer and Dennis Thompson - or some of 'em - and the very Bubblegum Punk of "Gimme Some Head"  which I thought WAS the guys from The MC5 , but I guess was J. Mascis on Kramer-ish guitar - all spliced together with aggravated stage banter from the "Legendary" Twilite Room , Dallas 1985 show ( Which I was at.). It was later released on vinyl , and probably CD.

Retraction : Maybe you mean one of a few reissues of his first album , "Always is , Always Was , and Always Shall Be". I had a chance to buy it once , when Allin was virtually unknown beyond The East Coast. It is , as others , here , noted , truly innocent compared to what he put out in later years. I thought he LOOKED too innocent to be this monster I'd read a little bit about in Trouser Press....Little did I know...that , and the fact I could probably ask three figures for it , today , if I had bought it , then.

Mike said:

Only saw GG once. Way late. Maybe early to mid 90's up in San Francisco. I wasn't impressed. Just watched him do his poo thing and chase people around the club. Musically, it was boring and pretty generic sounding. With that said, I do like the two singles I have - 'Gimme Some Head' & 'No Rules' which it seems alot of people I know don't like. There was a CD that came out around '99/2000 that had most of his early stuff on it. i really liked it but can't find it now. Anyone know what it was called?

[Chris Henniker]

I'd love to hear them cover it.

Axel Björnsson said:

are you talking about they have already cover it or you like to hear them cover it? (don't find it on youtube)

[John Battles]

Axel , It sounds like they mean they would like to hear The Ravonettes cover it...."Die When You Die" actually IS a cover song , of sorts. It's taken directly from "You're Gonna Die" by Destroy All Monsters. He changed it a bit ,  of course , the words are his. He did the same thing with "Scumfuc Tradition" ("Family Tradition" by Hank Williams , Jr.) , "Outlaw Scumfuc" ("Longhaired Redneck by David Allan Coe.) and even "Blow Jobs" ("She Got a Nosejob " , a Mad Magazine record !!!!). YES , I DO NEED TO GET OUT , TONIGHT.

Axel Björnsson said:

are you talking about they have already cover it or you like to hear them cover it? (don't find it on youtube)

[Chris Henniker]

Allin was influenced by Hank Williams, as well as the Stones, the New York Dolls, Alice Cooper, The Stooges, etc. I wonder what he could do with a Smiths song (and I'm a Smiths and occaisional GG fan)?

John Battles said:

Axel , It sounds like they mean they would like to hear The Ravonettes cover it...."Die When You Die" actually IS a cover song , of sorts. It's taken directly from "You're Gonna Die" by Destroy All Monsters. He changed it a bit ,  of course , the words are his. He did the same thing with "Scumfuc Tradition" ("Family Tradition" by Hank Williams , Jr.) , "Outlaw Scumfuc" ("Longhaired Redneck by David Allan Coe.) and even "Blow Jobs" ("She Got a Nosejob " , a Mad Magazine record !!!!). YES , I DO NEED TO GET OUT , TONIGHT.

Axel Björnsson said:

are you talking about they have already cover it or you like to hear them cover it? (don't find it on youtube)

[anarchistwood]

i loves GG - was really surprised by how much i liked the music - leave out the blood and shit montage and listen to the Murder Junkies music - it's great. and GG himself - his lyrics are pure pain but he was a wordsmith for sure...