#69
1980 Housekeeping
Doug and the Slugs
Cognac and Bologna
Genre: New Wave & B
4.75 out of 5
Highlights:
To Be Laughing
Just Another Case
Too Bad
Stay With Me
Thunder Makes the Noise
My connection:
I had no idea that the theme song to The Norm Show was “Too Bad” from this record.
It was on my way to an audition FOR the Norm Show that I was pulling in to the Warner Bros gate when the pickup track in front of me backed up into my Miata.
I leaped out of the car and started yelling at the drive.
“Throttle Back, Sparky. It’s all good.”
There was no damage.
The audition was cancelled. As was the show.
Driving home I ran the event over in my head.
“Throttle Back, Sparky”.
Holy shit. THAT’S a great band name!!!
I told the band at that night’s rehearsal in Silver Lake.
They agreed. And that’s just one connection to Doug and the Slugs.
I’m about 16 years old and my parents are doing business in mid-town. Maybe they were selling stuff at a street fair, as that was a large source of our income. I strolled across town and came upon a strange brick a brick store. It was sparsely stocked and it was mostly vintage clothes. And, along the wall of windows was a record bin.
Digging through I picked up two records that would feature on many many cassettes.
The first was a compilation of midwest music from Gulcher Records called Red Snerts. I loved this lo-fi sampling of a rag tag collection of wannabe rockers. It’s been written about all over the wayback machine. Maybe one day we’ll cover it.
The other was by Doug and the Slugs.
I bought it for the name.
A couple tracks on that album, Wrap It…perfection.
I thought it was their debut.
Wrong.
This was.
A Canadian band with a wicked tight rhythm section and and equally spectacular sense of humor.
I didn’t know they were from Canada.
Until I was up there for a job and thumbing through a copy of the Georgia Straight on my day off, looking for something to do and, what? Doug & the Slugs are playing?!?!
I couldn’t get to the show. Doug Bennett died two years later.
I missed my chance.
This is stellar New Wave that strides the razor of R&B and Rock. With a ton of space between all the notes, they really show us what it’s like to be a party band in the New Wave era, complete with Friendly humor and musical chops.
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