New Wave Punk Rock

Have you heard about the new pop music craze that's sweeping the country like wildfire? It's called new wave punk rock. It's an exciting new music played by performers with names like Johnny and the Rottens and Sid Viscous. When young people "do their own thing" to this music, they do so by performing a "slam dance" called "the pogo" while sticking safety pins in their ears.

The Sloptops decided that it was time to "get down" with the young people and cash in on this fad, because if you're not "with" it, then you must be against it.

So don't delay. As the lyrics say, "All you punkers dance away!"

And don't forget to destroy.

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The Sour Grapes Of Wrath

The good news: The American conservative movement seems to be in its death throes. The bad news: It appears that it is going to be a very noisy, ugly death and they will take as many Americans with them as they can (you see, they are amoral and don't care who gets hurt, as long as SOMEBODY gets hurt--watching Americans suffer causes them to squirt viscous goo into their underwear). However, even in the bad news is some good news: Loud-mouthed, right-wing wind-bags are one of the Sloptops' favorite sources for their sound collage work.

For this one they tapped a regular who's who of hate-based radio and television; Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Jonah Goldberg, Bobby Jindal, and Michael Savage were all invited into the studio to contribute vocals for this piece. Also present were a gentleman known only as Charles who recently accomplished what was once thought impossible--he got past Limbaugh's screeners and called Oxy Boy "a brainwashed Nazi". You can be absolutely certain that the staffer who let that call through is, at best, unemployed, and at worst, feeding fish in the coastal waters of eastern Florida. Finally, in the interest of fairness and balance, The Sloptops gave Jon Stewart a quick cameo near the end of this piece.

The object of derision for the hate mongers featured here is, of course, President Barack Obama. The Meat Beetles are a bit taken aback by the reaction from the right over his election. Although they are portraying our new president as some sort of left-wing radical, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, he is, in a political sense, a lot closer to many Republicans than he is to true leftists like The Sloptops, yet we actually support and respect the man. We have no doubt that we will be at odds with a number of his policies and decisions (we're already a bit concerned about some of his foreign policy decisions), but we are willing to give the guy a chance. We want to see him succeed.

The picture accompanying this piece, by the way, was found at Blue Herald. We hope they don't mind our using it.

http://blueherald.com/

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Turn Me On, Dead Man

Was it a hoax? The sensationalist media run amuck? Or did it really happen? In the late '60s rumors began to circulate that paul McCartney had been killed in a car crash and replaced by a double. A plethora of "evidence" and "proof" was offered up by various pundits to support this thesis; Paul was the only Beatle not wearing shoes on the cover of Abbey Road; Paul was dressed in a walrus costume on The Magical Mystery Tour cover; a number of Beatles songs contained "backwards" messages that suggested paul was, indeed, dead. The Beatles themselves were never very forthcoming; even Paul himself never stated for certain whether he had died or not. If that's not proof then the Sloptops don't know what is (or isn't)!

The samples for this piece came from a recording posted at the original "365 Days" project (see link at right, under "Sites You Should Visit), as well as a recording of a 1969 broadcast of the "Uncle Russ Gibb radio show on WKNR, Cleveland.

Here are some links if you would like to read more.

Listen: Paul Is Dead Hoax - Putting the rumor to rest

AUDIO: Beatles In Detroit and Paul is Dead "I read the news today: All Beatles news

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Just Say Know

Not to long ago, The Meat Beetles were paid a visit by a member or members of We're Late For Class, a jam band from somewhere in America. The Sloptops immediately spotted WLFC as kindred spirits on a myriad of levels. It was decided that these two bands should join forces.

The ensuing sessions were quite fun and a good time was had by all. Except for some neighbors, who called the police. Seven officers responded to the call, but only three returned to the station. The other four could not resist and were drawn into the festivities. After drinking several cups of coffee (with plenty of sugar cubes), the officers in question traded their badges for bongos, their tasers for trumpets, their guns for glockenspiels, and joined the hootenanny.

This piece is respectfully dedicated to the memory of Albert Hoffman, who left this world on April 29, 2008, at the age of 102(!). If you have to ask who he was, you're not ready for the answer.

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Blue Boy

It starts with LSD and Preparation H, and before you know it you're "hooked" on "Mary Jane" and "pot". Just say know!
The samples on this one are from the legendary '60s police show, Dragnet.

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Meat Your Mete

The Meat Beetles are vegetarian. The cow in the foreground in the above image was still alive when the picture was taken.

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To Keep And Bear

Usually, when the Meat Beetles use samples of media and political personalities, the intent is to ridicule and insult those people. On this one, however, the voice used is someone for whom the Sloptops have enormous respect: Air America radios host, Rachel Maddow. This was taken from her broadcast the day after a gun owner murdered 5 people on the campus of Northern Illinois University.


The more history we live through the more often it repeats itself.

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Paul's Big Score

Here is another bit featuring the genius of '70s pick up guru, Eric Weber (Weber also played a prominent role in "The Mating Call of the Male Uglo-American"). For this one the Sloptops simply took an entire track from his classic album, How To Pick Up Girls, and superimposed beats and squiggles on top of it. Interesting how things just serendipitously fell together into something approaching a structure. As for the subject matter, there may be or have been women in the world who would fall for a routine like Paul's, but none of the Meat Beetles ever met one.

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Dragsville Cats

Don your beret and shades, tune up your bongos, and pour another cup of espresso. The Meat Beetles have invited you to a beatnik hootenanny. The samples in this one are from the classic 1958 film, High School Confidential . Click here to see the original source material, posted at You Tube.

The Meat Beetles have passed you the shovel--now dig!

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This is My Happening and it Freaks Me Out!

Wowie zowie, let's do your thing! This 1992 recording is the Meat Beetles' salute to the '60s in. It features a cast of, literally, thousands, including JFK, LBJ, MLK, Walter Cronkite, Allen Ginsberg, Mario Savio, Abbie Hoffman, and more hippies, yippies, dippies, commies, and mothers than you can shake a stick at. An improvised two-guitar rave-up provides the backdrop for a barrage of samples, most of which were lifted from a PBS documentary series on the '60s, and from the documentary film, Berkeley in the 60s.

By the way, at least one of the Meat Beetles is 99% certain that the young woman holding the sign in the above photo is none other than Melanie Safka, who had a hit with "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)" in 1970.

Oops, almost forgot. This one has F-words in it. Listen at your own risk.

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23%

Let's face it; every day more and more people are coming to the realization that George Bush, the "leader" of the "free" world, is a living, breathing joke. But in this go-go world of the 21st century, maybe you just don't have the time to laugh. Maybe you are too busy trying to earn a living; maybe concerns of family and community don't leave you with enough time to laugh; maybe you're saying to yourself, "I'm too busy to laugh today; I'll find time tomorrow." And tomorrow is forever another day away.

Well, if this describes you, don't worry. The Meat Beetles have you covered. We have nothing but time on our hands and will be happy to laugh at Bush for you. And should you ever find yourself with a few free minutes and would like to join the Sloptops and billions of others around the world in laughing at the little twerp, just click the "Play" button below and let yourself go.

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World War 345

The Democratic Party had a lot of low moments in 2007, but the Meat Beetles unanimously agree that the party leadership was at its most despicable in the wake of Representative Pete Stark's floor speech in October. A rare person among the Democrats, Stark actually stood on the floor of the House and did what so few have the spine or integrity to do: he told the truth about our "president". For this he was slapped down and forced to apologize by the Democratic leadership. The Meat Beetles, en masse, went to the nearest post office, picked up voter registration forms, and changed their affiliation from Democrat to Independent.

Anyway, part of Stark's speech was used in this piece. To provide a context, audio recordings of inane blather by George Bush and various cable "news" creeps have also been used.

Happy New Year! Same as the old year?


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Michael, Queen of the Savages

For those fortunate enough to not know who Michael Weiner Savage is, he is one of the most virulently hateful of all hate radio jocks. He's a lot like Ann Coulter, but much more feminine. His contempt for women and his obsession with manhood and masculinity have led the Sloptops to one inevitable conclusion: This guy is a closeted gay man. Come out, Michael, come out. Celebrate who you really are. You'll be better off for it and so will America.

Acknowledgement: The Meat Beetles found the above picture of Savage at Pride Depot.

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Battle Hymn

The samples here came from a PBS documentary about the battle of Iwo Jima in World War 2. The accompanying photo is "Spanish Loyalist at the Instant of Death" taken by Robert Capa during the Spanish Civil war. Two different wars, but really they're all the same--stupid, power-mad scum like George Bush and Francisco Franco start them and ordinary people fight and suffer in them. Maybe someday the human race will evolve beyond this, but probably not. Recorded ca. 1994.

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Poor Elvis

Mid-90s mayhem featuring "The King of Cholesterol". John Lennon once said that Elvis died the day he got on the bus that took him to the army. The Meat Beetles agree.The strained, rumbling sound throughout this one is a short excerpt from the song "Hound Dog" tweaked and processed to the point of being unrecognizable.

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Oath

The Meat Beetles are on hiatus this summer, but we'll be back with new material soon, including our tribute to the 40th anniversary of the Summer Of Love. Meanwhile, here is something from the early 90s. The samples used in this one came from the 1975 film, Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?, a documentary about the Republican-caused depression of the 1930s. Listening to this, the Sloptops are reminded of the loyalty oath that one has to take to attend a speech by "President" Bush (OUR EMPLOYEE AND WE HAVE TO TAKE AN OATH TO SEE HIM BLATHER!!!). The voice at the end of this one is Herbert Hoover, the Republican president whose economic policies were a key factor in causing the Republican depression.

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A New World Odor

Do you ever wonder where George W. Bush gets that streak of amorality? The answer is it's in the family genes. This piece was built around his father's "victory" speech after HIS war against the people of Iraq in 1990-91. It's hard to imagine who has more innocent blood on his hands, Junior or Senior. And let's not forget Grandpa Prescott Bush, who did business with his Nazi pals for several years AFTER the US went to war with Hitler's Germany. And of course there's Mother Barbara, who showed her true colors when she remarked in the wake of Hurricane Katrina that, if people are "underprivileged" squatting in their own filth in a crowded, sweltering sports arena is good enough for them. Shouldn't there be a law against people like this reproducing?
If anyone has ever had the suspicion that The Meat Beetles have too much time on their hands, this piece should confirm that suspicion. At least such was the case when this was recorded in one long weekend session in 1991. This one is different from most of the other things posted here--no beats or music of any sort, just edited samples. As with all the work they did during this period, it was all done with tape--no aiff editors, no graphic readouts, just hit or miss and a lot of hiss. However, they did rerecord it into a computer recently and apply some very judicious editing--a little cut here, a bit of EQ there, an amplitude boost/cut from time to time.
Also used here are samples from TV news and George Romero's classic film, Night of the Living Dead. 

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Pickles

When The Meat Beetles found out about Laura Bush's claim that no one has suffered more than she and W have over the Iraq war, they were apoplectic. The nerve of this sorry excuse for a human being to say such a thing. What has she sacrificed? What does she even know about suffering (besides, what she has learned about suffering from being married into the Bush family)?
Once the Sloptops got over their hissy fit, they realized that there was plenty of fodder for audio collage in the insane rantings of The First "Lady". And is she on drugs or just naturally out of touch with reality?
The picture below was added as a mere suggestion that there may be--just may be--some who have suffered more than she and W have as a result of his choice to go to war.

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Smoked Children

In 1994 The Meat Beetles got their first computer, an Apple LC475. It wasn't much by today's standards--a whopping 160 Meg hard drive, 32 Mb of memory, and 8-bit sound. But nothing would ever again be the same for the Sloptops. This was one of the first pieces they created with their new digital tool. The samples used include a caller to a radio talk show, incensed by the bombing of Iraq, Carroll O'Connor (aka Archie Bunker), and Hollywood director, Cecil B. DeMille. Also putting in a guest appearance at the end is none other than Franklin Roosevelt. Grilled millionaires indeed!
meanwhile, the smoking of Iraqi children continues!

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Death And Hell In A Yellow Submarine

Once again The Meat Beetles explore social views on rock music. This time the vocal chores are handled by Elizabeth Claire Prophet, doomsday cult leader, and Ronald Reagan, the object of worship for the Republican hate/death/fear cult. It was a match made in Purgatory! Also featured are other members of Prophet's cult, a network news interviewer (don't know who), and a cute but naïve hippy with a cute but naïve view of a future that would never come.


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