Wednesday, September 01, 2010


The Slickers - Johnny Too Bad

Sheridan DuPre XVII was talking about this tune, as he'd heard the Taj Mahal version in a mix of Greg's but scandalously didn't know the OG. So, here you go. Lovingly ripped from my dad's copy of the LP.

. . . "walking down the road with a pistol in your waist, Johnny you're too bad . . ." warn the Slickers, and they should know: when the lawyer was getting copyright clearance on that tune, one of the writers was underground. The other was in death row.

--from the sleeve notes

10 comments:

robert61 said...

Which LP? The Harder They Come? Seeing that movie was a rite of passage for Boston-area high schoolers of my vintage (70s/80s). It showed at midnight at the Orson Welles Cinema in Cambridge.

Anonymous said...

great track! new to me!

i remember that a cover version of it by the Lords of the New Church was quite popular in the early 8ties and i must still have it on a mixtape from that era.

the picture is a bit of a'right too. U shot that during one of your djaying world tours?

ano 2

Anonymous said...

just to complete what was said...

the pic stongly reminds me of the following:

"It's suicide, to live on pride,
You claim you own, your skin your bone,
.....
The rider wearing black,
He's gonna he's gonna shoot you in the back" (Mötorhead - Shoot u in the back)

amends the anonymus no 2

emmett said...

Hey Robert, yes I mean the Harder They Come LP. "Orson Welles Cinema" in Cambridge? That must not be there anymore. Was it near the Brattle?

Ano 2: Glad you liked it! The pic is from the film The Harder They Come.

Cheers, Emmett

wv: nederhos

Greg Condon said...

sweet! i was not familiar with the original either. thanks for posting!

Sheridan Dupre said...

That's what I'm talking about!

Sheridan Dupre said...

Also, I feel like that quote should be more famous.

robert61 said...

The Orson Welles was a classic art house on Mass Ave. It burned down in 1986. I was supposed to go see Dreamchild there that evening but begged off for reasons I no longer remember. I've still never seen the movie.

Beastre said...

Wasn't the drummer on Fripp's League of Gentlemen album named Johnny Toobad? Looks like a skinny white guy on the back of the album. Nice awkward dance/pop music with Barry Andrews (orig. from XTC) matching mainc keys to Fripps manic gtr. Not your father's King Crimson, eh?

Anonymous said...

Yeah, Josh, you're right.

The album of The League of Gentlemen is a widely and underrated gem and a long thyme favourite of

anonymous no. 2 & his record-listening-gang