Get Riel Paid

So, where does the average citizen stand with regards to his or her rights to reserve space in advance for the enjoyment of their associates? How far does a good bagsie stretch? We got a partial answer to this last week at a screening in the Union Square Theater of the Aristocrats. We spent five minutes grinning sheepishly at seat hunters after two associates (one of whom was somewhat Cute) left a packed showing momentarily to perform some maintenance work.

The principle looked sound then, the more so for it being the mighty Gringcorp doing the bagging. But at last night's screening of Animal House on pier 54 we were confronted with some shaven fiends asserting a vaguely-defined right to bag enormous swaths of the asphalt in front of the screen. Still it was too hot to fight, and we were able to use the rarely effective "we'll move if your stupid elephantine friends ever show up, OK?" gambit.

Can't say that Animal House has aged hugely well, partly because of the National Lampoon chaps' habit of leaving punchlines half formed, and the fact that the movie has only the slenderest of plotlines. In this respect Revenge of the Nerds has the edge, although its acting is worse and it isn't as dark.

Still it gives us a chance to post a couple of mp3s (well, AACs, if we're going to be accurate), which we will of course remove if you are the copyright holder and wish us to do so. Neither of them are, alas, by Otis Day And The Knights. Both are riffs on frathouse anthem Louie Louie.

The first is by long-forgotten New Wave of New Wave ((c) the NME) chancers These Animal Men. Contemporaries of S.M.A.S.H., and maybe even the Manic Street Preachers, TAM were skag-addled skiny gobshites long before the Libertines ate Brixton. This cut is from the second disc of the two-part Light Emitting Electrical Wave single (if that makes an ounce of sense), which you can buy HERE, and has little melodically in common with the Kingsmen's epic.

These Animal Men - "Louis Loui"

The other tune is by skiffle-edged garage rock heroes Thee Headcoats. If you want to rile a White Stripes fan by calling the Detroit scene kings TOYS, then this is the band to drop. They produced more good albums than Canada, swore like troopers and enabled leader Billy Childish to indulge several of his more peculiar obsessions. The first was a Sherlock Holmes fetish, which was considered commonplace in the late nineties (see alsoLionrock's debut).

The second was an enduring fascination with Louie Louie. With a little bit of googling we could probably uncover the reason and we hope that it has something to do with the song being the touchstone of garage rock. In any event, he recorded two and a half versions oof the song, all of which are represented on their singles collection, "Elementary", which you can buy HERE, you thieving numpties. We're going with the half version, which is a recasting of the song to lionise meti revolutionary warrior Louis Riel. For more on this fine, and rare upstanding, Canadian, read this comic book. If you are then seized by the urge to burn down Winnipeg, then we, of course, disclaim responsibility. So there.

Thee Headcoats - "Louie Riel"