Every day at least one song - Week # 29 (August 11, 2025)
When I started Barstool Revolution I created a Facebook site and generated a daily thread where I would post at least one song a day. With social media sites increasingly useless for self-promotion to generate traffic to sites like this one - unless you are willing to shell out money - I decided to continue the “tradition” right here to add content and to hopefully generate more traffic to the site. As suggested, every day you will get at least one song, old or new that is, and of any genre. Stay tuned and check in daily!!!
Monday, August 11, 2025:
This week I decided to post songs that shall be dedicated to people I know in person and that have enriched my life in one way or another, mainly by just being good friends. I’ll start off with an Angry Samoans hit off their classic “Back from Samoa” LP. It’s funny as over the weekend I’ve read some FB thread where people said that in this day and age a record like that wouldn’t be possible to be released. I get the point, but tend to disagree. I just think people are less accepting of humor such as to be found on the Samoans LP, that’s all. Anyway, this song is dedicated to my buddy SuLee, someone I’ve befriended as an MRR pen pal all the way back in the early ‘90s and remained in touch over the decades. We hung out in Cleveland just very recently, and it was a blast. Never change my friend! Happy Monday!
Tuesday, August 12, 2025:
Today’ choice is an easy one as my good mate Alain back in Zurich, Switzerland is celebrating his 67th birthday. Alain has never changed, and I mean that in a good way. He lives and breathes rock’n’roll and with his band The Pukes he definitely got me stay up all night and party until the morning hours such as prescribed in today’s song “We don’t wanna go home”. Alles Gueti, Alain! On another note, today also marks the eighteenth anniversary of me moving away from Switzerland back in 2007. In said year it was a Sunday and just about at this time I recall being on the ferry between France and the UK as I was originally moving to London where I stayed a bit over five years before coming to the US, but that’s another story. And with that, have a great day everyone!
Wednesday, August 13, 2025:
When speaking of London, the city I lived from ‘07 to ‘12 and adore to this day, I have to think of my mate Marco. He is London through and through, North London to be more precise. I knew Marco a bit before I moved there and we have remained friends over the years after I have left. I will always cherish our in depth talks about punk rock from god knows where in the world and about the myriad of bands Marco has been in and has released on his No Front Teeth record label, now in existence for twenty five years (look out for an interview in Razorcake in the next few months). The world needs more people like him, full of passion and commitment for life. Here a song by the Gaggers, probably Marco’s best known band. Cheers mate, and have a great day everyone!
Thursday, August 14, 2025:
As mentioned earlier this week it’s been eighteen years since I left Switzerland for the shores of the UK, and back then I certainly wouldn’t have thought that in 2025 I’ll be writing these lines from Buffalo, NY. Well, via London and New York City my wife and I ended up here and have been living here since ‘20. I knew Buffalo just a little bit from way back in the ‘90s when I spent some time in Toronto and would basically just travel through here as it’s a border city. Moving here right at the beginning of Covid hasn’t been exactly easy, but I’ve made the most of it me thinks. Back in 2022 I saw a FB post with a young gentleman sporting a T-Shirt by Japcore legends Bastard and announcing that he’ll be opening a record store. I thought to myself that a guy with a band shirt like that has to be a positive sign so I checked out the shop a couple of months after Out There Records opened at its original location. Over time I’ve gotten to know Jerid better and I visit his store as often as the bank account allows me to. It’s always a great pleasure to talk to Jerid about music and life in general, but more importantly I just don’t take it for granted that a relatively small city like Buffalo is home to a record store of such high quality, that’s incredible. Thanks Jerid, we appreciate you! Happy Thursday!
Friday, August 15, 2025:
Unfortunately not everyone I am dedicating a song to this week is still alive and with us, and today’s post is dedicated to two fallen friends, Imants from Hamilton in Canada and Urs from Basel in Switzerland. During the ‘90s I spent a bit over two years living temporarily in Toronto, Canada, a city I very much loved at the time. At some little hardcore punk show I recall being introduced to a tall and somewhat stern looking guy that definitely looked quite a bit older. We instantly talked about German and Swiss bands and from then on would always run into each other at shows or else. Imants was one of a kind and soaked up every band and scene from around the world. He had an immense thirst for music of all kinds and travelled the world to hang out with like minded people and to find records from various parts of the world. He stayed with me at least once when I was back in Switzerland and we had a fantastic time, as always. Imants would be in his early 70s now if he was still with us and knew the Forgotten Rebels from day one I imagine, as he was always supportive of local acts. The Hamilton punk rock legends lead me to Urs, who I was close friends with and who passed away last year. Back in 2000 my friend Alain (see Tuesday’s post) and myself organized a gig for the ‘Rebels’ during their European Tour. It took place at the Sansibar in Zurich and to this day remains one of my favorite gigs I’ve ever witnessed. The Forgotten Rebels were not just at their very best, it was a long night of partying afterwards, and a gig I’ll never forget. Urs and I would talk about said night for years to come, something we would always do, talk about punk rock for hours and hours. We remained in contact over the years after I have left Switzerland, and often spent three to four hours on the phone until he no longer could due to his illness he eventually succumbed to. I miss Imants and Urs a lot, and come to think of it back in the late ‘90s we actually all hung out at Urs’ place in Basel and had a blast with beers and lots of punk rock. Wherever they are, I hope both rest in peace and swap punk rock stories. Happy Friday folks!
Saturday, August 16, 2025:
Back when I moved to London in 2007 I remember vividly that I arrived in my shared flat in Southgate on a Sunday, and started my new job at Southern Records the following day. One of the first people I met at my new job was Wojtek, originally from Poland and having relocated like many of his countrymen to the UK for a better life. Not sure you could have a better life on the little salary we received at Southern, but that’s not the point here. With the little money we made we had the maximum fun, that’s for sure. I’ll never forget how we would pack beer cans on the bus and by the time we arrived at the pub or a show we were already in a let’s say enhanced mood. Wojtek moved on to work for Cargo Records shortly after I started at Southern whereas I left the music business altogether after a few months. Being of a similar age Wojtek and I bonded over many European and US hardcore punk acts and while I left the UK for the US, Wojtek returned to Poland a long time ago also. As it goes these days we remain in touch on Facebook and it seems that both of us miss London a lot. Nazdravje Wojtek with a classic Dezerter tune! Happy Saturday to everyone!
Sunday, August 17, 2025:
So, Sunday it is and last but not least I of course am dedicating a song to my wife Tricia. She doesn’t like a lot of punk, so that’s not what we bonded over. Back in 2009 we met in London as two people kind of from the opposite ends and hit it off, and the rest is history as they say. With my wife having spent almost her entire life in Brooklyn, NY, through her I started to appreciate other genres of music which were not big on my list before. There is an early Trojan Records Compilation LP (Tighten Up Volume 2), which is probably our favorite Sunday record to listen to, and the Soul Sister track posted today is just one of many great tracks on it. And with that I conclude this week’s themed selection of songs and will be back tomorrow with the usual more random picks. Happy rainy Sunday everyone!
