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On CHEATING AT SOLITAIRE, Ness is freed to further explore his rootsy Americana influences, from straight country and bluegrass treatments of original tunes to covers of "Long Black Veil," Hank Williams's "You Win Again" and Dylan's "Don't Think Twice." Naturally, Ness attacks much of this material with the same punk-inspired brute force and unflinching lyrical realism that made Social Distortion a success, and it makes CHEATING AT SOLITAIRE an intriguing chapter in Ness' continually unfolding musical story.

One of the things that always set Social Distortion apart from the rest of the '80s California punks was their incorporation of twangy country/rockabilly into their driving sound. They wound up covering everything from "Ring of Fire" to Jimmy Work's "Making Believe" without sacrificing a bit of sonic fury. With Social D. frontman Mike Ness' solo debut, it becomes apparent that most of those country leanings came from him.

Personnel: Mike Ness (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars); Bruce Springsteen (vocals, guitar); James Saez (acoustic, electric & slide guitars, keyboards, percussion); Chris Lawrence (guitar, pedal steel guitar); Brian Setzer, Billy Zoom (guitar); Tom Corbett (mandolin); Mando Dorame (tenor saxophone); Jamie Muhoberac (Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards); Veikko Lepisto (acoustic & electric basses); Josh Freese, Daniel Glass (drums).

For all of you who have babies! here's lullaby thats for sure will put your little angel to sleep at the same time you will enjoy it too. The Cure rockss!

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOCIAL DISTORTION

In the late 1970s the first raw, sloppy, speeding guitar chords began to blare from the garages and backrooms of a Southern California suburb called Orange County. They echoed a sound forged in the preceding years in the seminal punk undergrounds of New York City and London.

By 1979, a 17 year old kid named Mike Ness had formed Social Distortion with drummer Casey Royer and brothers Rikk and Frank Agnew. The band's world centered around Mike's one-bedroom pad, dubbed "the black hole," in a nondescript Fullerton, CA apartment complex. After meeting Dennis Danell, a punk loving classmate, Ness insisted Danell, who at the time didn’t play an instrument, join the band on bass. Royer and the Agnew’s soon split from the band and eventually form The Adolescents.

Local Los Angeles KROQ-FM deejay Rodney Bingenheimer embraced Orange County music, playing highlights from its major local bands, including Social Distortion, on his Sunday night radio show. In 1981, Social Distortion released their first single, "Mainliner/Playpen," on the Posh Boy label. Around the same time, Mike Ness developed a reputation as a brawler resulting in a chunk of his left ear being bitten off during a confrontation at the Cuckoo’s Nest bar.

In 1982, Social Distortion, along with LA’s Youth Brigade and DC’s Minor Threat, are the subjects of the documentary "Another State of Mind," which captures the band’s first stormy cross-continental tour in a beat up school bus. By late 1983, Social Distortion’s line up consisted of Mike Ness, Danell (now on rhythm guitar), bassist Brent Liles, and drummer Derek O’Brien. Released on the 13th Floor label, their debut album, Mommy’s Little Monster, gained the band a national name in punk circles. Returning home, the line up now included a nasty heroin habit for Ness. The madness that followed resulted in Brent Liles and Derek O’Brien bailing out of the band in the middle of a New Year’s Eve 1983 show.

Ness and Danell soon recruited John Maurer, another old school buddy from Fullerton to play bass and Christopher Reece, of the San Francisco band The Lewd, came in on drums. This lineup weathered Social Distortion’s toughest years, as Ness struggled with heroin addiction and the resulting series of jailings and detoxes, which finally ended in 1985. Ness is able to continue writing and hold the band together to being work on a new album. In 1988, Social Distortion emerge with the release of Prison Bound, an album whose moving title cut about a wasted life is one of the greatest songs ever to come out of Orange County. Ness turned Social Distortion’s albums into an ongoing dialogue about impulsiveness, its consequences and the hard struggle to overcome.

In addition to the early punk of The Ramones and The Clash, the band’s sound was culled equally from Ness’ love of roots music, specifically early country music greats like Hank Williams and the early blues recordings of the South. As Ness would later declare to Social Distortion audiences, “Without good black music, there would be no good white music.”

The self titled Social Distortion album followed in 1990. It is SD’s first release on a major label. The success of singles "Story Of My Life" and "Ball And Chain," along with their remarkable cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire," make the album Social Distortion's first Gold record. The band are asked to join Neil Young on tour, beginning the process of bending punk expectation. They soon return with 1992's Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell lead by the blistering single "Bad Luck," the album also goes Gold. A co-headlining tour with The Ramones follows.

The band took an extended hiatus following the release of Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell, and did not return to the studio until the fall of 1995. Earlier that year, Time Bomb Recordings re-issued Mommy’s Little Monster, Prison Bound, and released the single compilation Mainliner, Wreckage from the Past. Social D return in 1996 with a new album, White Light White Heat White Trash, and a new drummer, Chuck Biscuits of Black Flag and D.O.A. fame. The album is a success atop radio favorites "I Was Wrong" and "When The Angels Sing." The band sign up as one of the main draws of the 1997 Warped Tour and then record and release the live album Live At The Roxy in 1998.

A solo record, Cheating At Solitaire, was released by Mike Ness in 1999. The album is an homage to the classic country, blues, rockabilly, and folk that shaped him as a songwriter. Later that same year Ness released Under The Influences, a collection of cover tunes further showcasing his love of American roots music with songs written by legends Hank Williams, Marty Robbins, and Carl Perkins among others.

On February 29, 2000, then 38-year old guitarist Dennis Danell dies suddenly of heart failure. At the time Mike is quoted: "I am saddened beyond any possible form of expression. Dennis and I have been friends since boyhood, starting Social Distortion while we where in high school. My deepest regrets to his family." In the Fall of 2000, Jonny "2 Bags" Wickersham (guitar) and Charlie Quintana (drums) officially join Social Distortion. 3 years later Social Distortion head into the studio to record a new record - their first full-length studio record in 7 years and the first record without Dennis Danell. A live DVD, Live in The Orange County, is released in 2004. On August 5, 2004, after 20 years of serving as Social Distortion’s bass player John Maurer decides to leave the band for personal reasons after having completed the recording of Sex, Love and Rock'n' Roll, the new Social Distortion album.

The album is well received nationwide, bolstered by the success of the single "Reach For The Sky." Brent Harding of Ness' solo touring band joins Social Distortion as their full time bassist. In 2005, the band go on to sell out a record 6 nights at The Wiltern theater in Los Angeles, that’s in addition to the record 37 shows sold out as part of their regular year end multi-night stands at House Of Blues clubs across the Southwest - an almost annual tradition since 2001.

(from Social D's website)

Vampire Weekend gained attention via a variety of blogs, such as Stereogum. The band is influenced by both African popular music and Western classical music, describing their genre of music as "Upper West Side Soweto," performing such songs as "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," which references congolese soukous music.
The members of the band met while attending Columbia University; they then self-produced their first album after graduation while concurrently working full-time jobs. Lead vocalist Ezra Koenig and drummer Chris Tomson first collaborated as members of the comedy-rap band "L'Homme Run."
In 2007, Vampire Weekend's third single, "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," was ranked 67th on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of the year, and in November, they toured the United Kingdom with The Shins. They were declared "The Year's Best New Band" by Spin magazine in the March 2008 issue, and were the first band to be shot for the cover of the magazine before releasing their debut album.

Thanks to Ajira for the audio clip.


Dont Use The Mouth:

Maybe no one saw the humor, or maybe they were distracted by the barely competent heavy metal of the album, but rapper Ice-T's heavy metal group launched a hurricane of publicity with their self-titled debut album, Body Count. Ice-T's music had been hard as heavy metal for a number of years, and on 1991's landmark OG Original Gangster, he recorded the speed metal/hip-hop fusion "Body Count" with his band of the same name. Body Count's lineup included Ernie-C (guitar), D-Roe (guitar), Mooseman (bass), and Beatmaster V (drums), all of whom attended Crenshaw High School in South Central Los Angeles. On the 1991 Lollapalooza tour, Ice-T performed with Body Count and earned a substantial amount of fans and praise. "Body Count" was a highlight of OG and, not coincidentally, it was the most serious and best song on their 1992 album. For the rest of Body Count, the band engaged in heavy metal clichés and lyrics that were either humorously over the top or cringe-inducing.

After it was out for a couple of months, fury over the song "Cop Killer" made the album a symbol for everything that was wrong with popular culture. After several months of constant bad publicity, Warner Brothers and Ice-T pulled the song from the album; several months later, he parted ways with the record company.

Body Count released their second album, Born Dead, on Ice-T's new record label, Priority, in 1994. The record failed to generate either controversy or sales and disappeared shortly after its fall release, after which Mooseman left the band. Despite declining interest in Body Count, Ice-T stuck with the band, recording the group's third album, Violent Demise: Last Days, in 1997; sadly, Beatmaster V fell victim to leukemia early that year. Upon the release of Violent Demise, most critics suddenly got Body Count's sense of humor and, consequently, the album received fairly good reviews, yet failed to sell. In 2005 the band was revived and hit the road. Three live DVDs and one live CD were sourced from the tour.

~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Johnny Cash was one of the most imposing and influential figures in post-World War II country music. With his deep, resonant baritone and spare, percussive guitar, he had a basic, distinctive sound. Cash didn't sound like Nashville, nor did
he sound like honky tonk or rock & roll. He created his own subgenre, falling halfway between the blunt emotional honesty of folk, the rebelliousness of rock & roll, and the world weariness of country. Cash's career coincided with the birth of rock & roll, and his rebellious attitude and simple, direct musical attack shared a lot of similarities with rock. However, there was a deep sense of history -- as he would later illustrate with his series of historical albums -- that kept him forever tied with country. And he was one of country music's biggest stars of the '50s and '60s, scoring well over 100 hit singles.

Cash was born and raised in Arkansas, moving to Dyess when he was three. By the time he was 12 years old, he had begun writing his own songs. He was inspired by the country songs he had heard on the radio. While he was in high school, he sang on the Arkansas radio station KLCN. Cash graduated from college in 1950, moving to Detroit to work in an auto factory for a brief while. With the outbreak of the Korean War, he enlisted in the Air Force. While he was in the Air Force, Cash bought his first guitar and taught himself to play. He began writing songs in earnest, including "Folsom Prison Blues." Cash left the Air Force in 1954, married a Texas woman named Vivian Leberto, and moved to Memphis, where he took a radio announcing course at a broadcasting school on the GI Bill. During the evenings, he played country music in a trio that also consisted of guitarist Luther Perkins and bassist Marshall Grant. The trio occasionally played for free on a local radio station, KWEM, and tried to secure gigs and an audition at Sun Records.

Cash finally landed an audition with Sun Records and its founder, Sam Phillips, in 1955. Initially, Cash presented himself as a gospel singer, but Phillips turned him down. Phillips asked him to come back with something more commercial. Cash returned with "Hey Porter," which immediately caught Phillips' ear. Soon, Cash released "Cry Cry Cry"/"Hey Porter" as his debut single for Sun. On the single, Phillips billed Cash as "Johnny," which upset the singer because he felt it sounded too young; the record producer also dubbed Perkins and Grant as the Tennessee Two. "Cry Cry Cry" became a success upon its release in 1955, entering the country charts at number 14 and leading to a spot on The Louisiana Hayride, where he stayed for nearly a year. A second single, "Folsom Prison Blues," reached the country Top Five in early 1956 and its follow-up, "I Walk the Line," was number one for six weeks and crossed over into the pop Top 20.

Cash had an equally successful year in 1957, scoring several country hits including the Top 15 "Give My Love to Rose." Cash also made his Grand Ole Opry debut that year, appearing all in black where the other performers were decked out in flamboyant, rhinestone-studded outfits. Eventually, he earned the nickname of "The Man in Black." Cash became the first Sun artist to release a long-playing album in November of 1957, when Johnny Cash With His Hot and Blue Guitar hit the stores. Cash's success continued to roll throughout 1958, as he earned his biggest hit, "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" (number one for ten weeks), as well another number one single, "Guess Things Happen That Way." For most of 1958, Cash attempted to record a gospel album, but Sun refused to allow him to record one. Sun also was unwilling to increase Cash's record royalties. Both of these were deciding factors in the vocalist's decision to sign with Columbia Records in 1958. By the end of the year, he had released his first single for the label, "All Over Again," which became another Top Five success. Sun continued to release singles and albums of unissued Cash material into the '60s.

"Don't Take Your Guns to Town," Cash's second single for Columbia, was one of his biggest hits, reaching the top of the country charts and crossing over into the pop charts in the beginning of 1959. Throughout that year, Columbia and Sun singles vied for the top of the charts. Generally, the Columbia releases -- "Frankie's Man Johnny," "I Got Stripes," and "Five Feet High and Rising" -- fared better than the Sun singles, but "Luther Played the Boogie" did climb into the Top Ten. That same year, Cash had the chance to make his gospel record -- Hymns by Johnny Cash -- which kicked off a series of thematic albums that ran into the '70s.

The Tennessee Two became the Tennessee Three in 1960 with the addition of drummer W.S. Holland. Though he was continuing to have hits, the relentless pace of his career was beginning to take a toll on Cash. In 1959, he had begun taking amphetamines to help him get through his schedule of nearly 300 shows a year. By 1961, his drug intake had increased dramatically and his work was affected, which was reflected by a declining number of hit singles and albums. By 1963, he had moved to New York, leaving his family behind. He was running into trouble with the law, most notably for starting a forest fire out West.

June Carter -- who was the wife of one of Cash's drinking buddies, Carl Smith -- would provide Cash with his return to the top of the charts with "Ring of Fire," which she co-wrote with Merle Kilgore. "Ring of Fire" spent seven weeks on the top of the charts and was a Top 20 pop hit. Cash continued his success in 1964 as "Understand Your Man" became a number one hit. However, Cash's comeback was short-lived as he sank further into addiction, and his hit singles arrived sporadically. Cash was arrested in El Paso for attempting to smuggle amphetamines into the country through his guitar case in 1965. That same year, the Grand Ole Opry refused to have him perform and he wrecked the establishment's footlights. In 1966, his wife Vivian filed for divorce. After the divorce, Cash moved to Nashville. At first, he was as destructive as he ever had been, but he became close friends with June Carter, who had divorced Carl Smith. With Carter's help, he was able to shake his addictions; she also converted Cash to fundamentalist Christianity. His career began to bounce back as "Jackson" and "Rosanna's Going Wild" became Top Ten hits. Early in 1968, Cash proposed marriage to Carter during a concert; the pair were married that spring.

Also in 1968, Cash recorded and released his most popular album, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. Recorded during a prison concert, the album spawned the number one country hit "Folsom Prison Blues," which also crossed over into the pop charts. By the end of the year, the record had gone gold. The following year, he released a sequel, Johnny Cash at San Quentin, which had his only Top Ten pop single, "A Boy Named Sue," which peaked at number three; it also hit number one on the country charts. Cash guested on Bob Dylan's 1969 country-rock album Nashville Skyline. Dylan returned the favor by appearing on the first episode of The Johnny Cash Show, the singer's television program for ABC. The Johnny Cash Show ran for two years, between 1969 and 1971.

Cash was reaching a second peak of popularity in 1970. In addition to his television show, he performed for President Richard Nixon at the White House, acted with Kirk Douglas in The Gunfight, sang with John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra, and he was the subject of a documentary film. His record sales were equally healthy as "Sunday Morning Coming Down" and "Flesh and Blood" were number one hits. Throughout 1971, Cash continued to have hits, including the Top Three "Man in Black." Both Cash and Carter became more socially active in the early '70s, campaigning for the civic rights of Native Americans and prisoners, as well as frequently working with Billy Graham.

In the mid-'70s, Cash's presence on the country charts began to decline, but he continued to have a series of minor hits and the occasional chart-topper like 1976's "One Piece at a Time," or Top Ten hits like the Waylon Jennings duet "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang" and "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky." Man in Black, Cash's autobiography, was published in 1975. In 1980, he became the youngest inductee to the Country Music Hall of Fame. However, the '80s were a rough time for Cash as his record sales continued to decline and he ran into trouble with Columbia. Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis teamed up to record The Survivors in 1982, which was a mild success. The Highwaymen -- a band featuring Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson -- released their first album in 1985, which was also moderately successful. The following year, Cash and Columbia Records ended their relationship and he signed with Mercury Nashville. The new label didn't prove to be a success as the company and the singer fought over stylistic direction. Furthermore, country radio had begun to favor more contemporary artists, and Cash soon found himself shut out of the charts. Nevertheless, he continued to be a popular concert performer.

The Highwaymen recorded a second album in 1992, and it was more commercially successful than any of Cash's Mercury records. Around that time, his contract with Mercury ended. In 1993, he signed a contract with American Records. His first album for the label, American Recordings, was produced by the label's founder, Rick Rubin, and was a stark, acoustic collection of songs. American Recordings, while not a blockbuster success, revived his career critically and brought him in touch with a younger, rock-oriented audience. In 1995, the Highwaymen released their third album, The Road Goes on Forever. The following year, Cash released his second album for American Records, Unchained, which featured support from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. His VH1 Storytellers outing was released in 1998, and in the spring of 2000 Cash compiled Love, God, Murder, a three-disc retrospective focusing on the major songwriting themes dominant throughout his career. The new studio album American III: Solitary Man appeared later that year.

Health problems plagued Cash throughout the '90s and into the 2000s, but he continued to record with Rubin; their fourth collaboration, American IV: The Man Comes Around, was released in late 2002. The following year, the Mark Romanek-directed video for his cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" garnered considerable acclaim and media attention, culminating in an unexpected nomination for video of the year at the MTV Video Music Awards. Not long after the video sparked numerous stories, his beloved wife June Carter Cash died on May 15, 2003, of complications following heart surgery. Four months later, Johnny died of complications from diabetes in Nashville, TN. He was 71. Five months later, the compilation Legend of Johnny Cash became a Top Ten hit. in 2006 Lost Highway released the final installment of Cash's legendary "American" recordings, American V: A Hundred Highways, which featured the late singer's last sessions with collaborator Rick Rubin.

~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Westcoast's finest, Hip hop group from Los Angeles.

I stumbled upon this mix CD while cleaning out my garage. I bought this for $10. at the Santa Fe Springs Swapmeet around '99. This is very good DJ's mixx if you like reggae and dancehall. This is a single track but divided it into three parts.

Track One: [24:59]

Lady Saw – Hardcore Lover (Feat. T.O.K)
Lady Saw – Nuh Dis Me
Lady Saw – Bunner Boy
Mr. Vegas – Heads High
Mr. Vegas – Big Things A Gwaan
BeenieMan – Let Him Go
Mr. Vegas – Hands Up
Red Rat – Mix Up Melissa
Degree – Traffic Blocking
Mr. Vegas – Wave
?? - Vex

Track Two: [26:09]

Sean Paul – Strategy
BeenieMan – Gwaan So
Innocent Crew – Impossible Mission
Demo Delgado – Name Weh We Have
DeVonte & Tanto Metro – Everyone Falls In Love
BeenieMan & the Taxi Gang (Feat. Ansil Collins) – Foundation
Degree & Red Rat – Dwayne
Mr. Vegas – Sucky Ducky
Buju Banton – Di Woman Dem Phat
Machel Montano – Big Phat Fish
BeenieMan – Kingston Hot

Track Three: [21:53]

Degree – Wi Nuh Boring
Hawkeye – If
Frisco Kid – Hackle You
Degree – Giddy Up Giddy Up
Ritchie Stephens – Call Me Name
Mr. Vegas – Model Pon Dem
Mr. Easy – Warning
Lady Saw – Oh Yeah
Shaggy – Sexy Tiger Girls (Tiger version)
Tanya Stephens – From You Hot
Lady Saw – No Matta Me
Ritchie Stephens – That’s The Way