The 1981 Listening Post - Nine Below Zero - Don't Point Your Finger

Nine Below Zero - Don't Point Your Finger 

1981 Housekeeping LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

Nine Below Zero

Don’t Point Your Finger

Genre: Mod Revival Garage Rockabilly

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

One Way Street

Doghouse

Three Times Enough

Requisite 80s Cover: “Rockin’ Robin”. They don’t really do anything special with it but the harmonica playing’s spot on. Trouble is, it makes them sound like what they truly are: a terrific party band that you hire for some kid’s Bar Mitzvah. Maybe a wedding. But you don’t plunk down $$$ to see them on tour. 

These guys opened for The Who, apparently. Had they been around 6 years earlier they might have sold a bunch of rekkids. This thing opens with a soulful barn burner and rips into a pubtastic Chuck Berry bite (“Doghouse”) that every band worth their salt could include in their repertoire. 

These guys aren’t rewriting the rules or anything and I don’t think they had the novelty to compete with Stray Cats or anything but tunes like “Helen” and “Treat Her Right” are great six string slingers and if I had this record back in the day I might have played it at least as much as, say The Beat Farmers’ record. (And probably should have shown up in a Tarantino movie at some point. The latter, especially.) 

You know what I’m reminded of as I drink this album in?

Danny Blitz. Anyone remember him? 

I met Danny at a Wheat From Chaff show where I sang “Life During Wartime” with The Andersons and promptly forgot the words and someone ran up with the lyrics so I could finish. 

Danny asked what kind of music my band was afterwards and I mentioned X and some others and he looked at me and said, “You’ll fit in just fine”. 

I saw Danny at a few other shows and events and, though we never became pals I considered him a friend.

Danny wrote one of the greatest tracks of the 90s, “If Ozzy Was My Dad That Would Rock” and I will link it at the bottom. 

Danny kept the rock and roll spirit alive. His hair. His guitar. His attitude. 

That’s what these guys are doing. 

I miss Danny. 

Rest in Rock, Mr. Blitz. 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va-psrS9B34&list=PLlvn8uktX5LsqKBjdaYClgpNsHYan1oNL