I also created a promotion called the Hundred Dolla' Holla' Club. It is an incentive to get people to spend $100 on raffle tickets.
The idea is simple: Join the Hundred Dolla' Holla' Club by spending $100 and you shall receive -
- 80 raffle tickets
- A CCH t-shirt
- $10 in video game tokens
- A Naked Raygun styled chant performed in your honor by the volunteers staffing the booth.
Guess which part I had a hard time selling to the volunteers I recruited.
The thing is, I blame the Chicago education system. Clearly we are not teaching the younger generations about the rapturous call and response opportunities offered through the music of Naked Raygun.
Elsewhere in the world, they have football vuvuzelas that trumpet your impending hearing loss. In other areas of the globe, you can wildly scatter in a market square as a full grown bull thrashes about in close proximity.
These rituals represent a submission of your individual consciousness to the ecstatic mob mentality. Y'see, mob mentality gets a bad rap as always being negative and it just isn't so. In the words of Maude Lebowski, these moments "can be a natural, zesty enterprise."
Here in the Windy City, the quickest path to a true Chicago citizenship is to risk a severe bruising as you mingle your sweat with hundreds of others; the easiest way to earn your Chi-town bona fides is to mosh joyously at a Naked Raygun show as you shred your vocal chords chanting along to (at least) these ten songs.
This is not the result of a poll. This is based solely on my extensive field experience.
10. New Dreams
This is where it all started. The short chant perforates the Super Ego with the force of its intent. It boldly declares: "My new dreams are becoming a reality no matter what heretofore unseen steps need to be taken. WHOA-AY-OH! WAY-OH-WAY!
9. HOME
For most of the song, it is just blunt primal scream therapy to manage the pain, ("Oh God, I really feel the pain"). but then in the last throes of the song the heavenly choir ascends. Home again, check the fridge.
8. Backlash Jack
Hey, I was at this show! The sound quality on this video is impressive but because of the narrow scope of what I assume was a cameraphone recording, you can't really see the crowd.
But you can certainly still hear them. Our presence is best represented by the the kid that shows up 1:15 minutes in to the video. It seems that in Mishwauka, Indiana at least one family is raising their young up on the classics.
What is this song about? Beware of vipers and sycophants. Or as Joan fucking Jett puts it, "you got nothing to lose, you don't lose when you lose fake friends."
7. Wonder Beer
Hey! I was at this show too! And I can totally see myself in the crowd. I pounded the stage floorboards until my fists were black and blue.
Kudos to whomever loaded this up for putting in the lyric word balloons. Until just now, I thought I knew the lyrics to this song by heart - but I always heard the line about "too much adrenaline" as being a shout out to Loretta Lynn. In my defense, this is much less of a logical jump than one would expect in this song that also give props to Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and Roy Orbison.
This one isn't really a chant per se, it is more like chorus that acts like an Irish toast in the middle of a song about that "sweet Bacchanalian din" (expertly rhymed with two more aspirin). But it is a prime example of the energy that a crowd of faithful NR fans gives back.
It is okay to feel a little lightheaded as you sing along to Wonder Beer. It is perfectly normal to have a pukey burp as you belt this out. Who is going to judge you? Surely not the Gods - they are as piss drunk as you and I.
6. Home of the Brave
I remember listening to an episode of Sound Opinions where Derogatis and Kot struck upon the idea of playing the "quintessential" Chicago song. They gave themselves just one station break to come to an agreement on what that track would be.
This is the song they came up with in a pinch, and as an instinctual decision it was a pretty astute one.
Fast forward ahead to 1:50 in to get a POV perspective of what it is like when Jeff Pezzati thrusts the mic into your vicinity.
What are you going to do? Stand there like a poseur or answer the Call of the Brave?
5. Metastasis
I would just like to point out that you can see Riot Mike at the start of this clip, making sure his guys have the proper hydration within arms reach.
When I started this post, I had no idea that I would discover how many NR shows I have attended that ended up on Youtube, but I here I am in yet another video. I am hanging just to the right of the taper and his buddy singing along with my good friend Wendi.
This track has the giddy joy of a football hooligan down pat. What else but fervent devotion would have you proudly exclaim, "I AM A LOCAL SLIME MOLD OH-OH-OHHH! HEY-AY! HEY-AY! HEY-AY!"
And if you are cramming for Riot Fest, be sure to pay close attention to this one as it will be performed as it is part of Throb, Throb which Raygun will be playing front to back.
4. Rat Patrol
Ok, I surely wasn't at this performance because I would remember that my mother would have had to drive me into the city to be there as I was only 13 years old at the time.
Rat Patrol is one of the very few reasons I am glad that my old-ass Honda Civic has just a tape deck. In the seconds of cassette hiss before this song kicks in, I exist inside a Pavlovian predisposition.
Look at how incredibly PACKED the Metro is with shirtless young men just burning to be a part of "Chicago Woodstock" as Jeff puts it. As your study buddy, I feel it is important to mention that this is also sure to be on the test this weekend.
3. Soldier's Requiem
Naked Raygun is a product of the first Cold War. It is self evident in their album covers and their lyrics. Growing up in the imminent shadow of mutually assured destruction, you can either curl up in a ball of fear or you can do your best to laugh it off and forge on. Camaraderie and humor helps to ease the anxiety of forces beyond your control.
It feels like we have come full circle and Naked Raygun is once again a product of current headlines.
Oh, I was at this show too. It was a night I hope I never forget.
2. Knock Me Down
If you have made it this far and actually watched all these clips, god bless you.
If you saw Guardians of The Galaxy, you know how the character Groot gets a lot of mileage out of his inflection of his only three words of dialogue throughout the movie?
Well, Raygun is the same way with just one word: Whoa.
If you saw Guardians of The Galaxy, you know how the character Groot gets a lot of mileage out of his inflection of his only three words of dialogue throughout the movie?
Well, Raygun is the same way with just one word: Whoa.
I want to give you a bit of break from the shaky and frenetic hand held cameras.
So I present to you the wonder of the Skater Tots covering our #2 entry - Knock Me Down - a great love song for the ages.
1. I Lie
I thought long and hard about what should be #1 and this one edged out the formidable competition simply because "I Lie" contains the Whoa-oh-oh-ohs that the crowd starts up with in unison, without the band, when we want Raygun to come back out for an encore.
It sounds utterly fantastic when the crowd is in to it. You can hear a little bit of it going on at the start of this clip as the band returns to the stage and takes up the song. They love us and we love them.
****
Well, that is it - 10 Naked Raygun songs no self respecting sing-along enthusiast can ignore! Maybe next year I can get some volunteers to holla with me.
Are you feeling it? Do you believe I left a crucial song off the list? Do you disagree with the pecking order?
You can post in the comments or take it up with me at Riot Fest. Or better yet, at the Double Door aftershow. I will be there - just follow the sound of my voice.
