Thursday, September 9, 2010

(The) Razz
"Love Is Love"

(The) Razz were supposed to be the next big thing out of Washington, D.C. when I was in high school. It was 1979, though, so the closest I got to listening to stuff even close to punk rock was Bill Nelson's Red Noise. In fact, I took a copy of their lone album, Sound-on-Sound, to a church youth group party in 1979, and it was immediately taken off the stereo: This is . . . punk rock!

So, I never heard (The) Razz when they were playing, but I was aware of them. They were hard to miss; the graphics for their records (there were three, in total) were eye-catching.

When I was in college, and playing catch-up with the local punk and other out-of-the-mainstream music from my high school years, I bought all three records: two 7" singles, and this live EP released between them. 'Twas a wise investment!

The before they were famous tag on this entry is for Tommy Keene, who played on the second and third records, and co-wrote this song (among others).

4 biased opinions:

Biki Honko said...

love this one!!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

How about a download?!!? PLEASE!! Or one for "Bound and Gagged" by The Razz....

If you know where I can buy copies, PRETTY PLEASE let me know at sithprime@gmail.com.

Thanks very much.

Lightning Baltimore said...

The streaming player thing is fixed, Sith. If you click the title of the EP above, there are copies for sale on Discogs; currently, there's one available for only $4.99!

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for posting this.

This song shows so well how Razz was a phenomenal live band with devoted local base.I was lucky enough to see them, including during a 'reunion' performance in '97 as warmup for the Monkees at DC's 9:30 club.