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The Monks - Bad Habits (1979)
Posted by
Nostalgiaholic | on
May 31, 2008
It wasn’t until just recently that I was finally able to make contact with other Monk aficionados. Re-live their first, and best, Pop-Punk Masterpiece !!!
Tracks :
- Nice Legs, Shame About Her Face
- I Ain’t Gettin Any
- Out Of Work Musician
- No Shame
- Dear Jerry
- Love In Stereo
- Skylab (Theme From The Monks)
- Bad Habits
- Inter-City Kitty
- Drugs In My Pocket
- Johnny B. Rotten
- Spotty Face
Release Date : 1979
Label : EMI
Producers and Band : John Ford, Rich Hudson, and Terry Cassidy
For the longest time I was convinced that only I had heard of this particular album. The spoof-punk stylings of The Monks and their earlier folk-rock incarnation The Strawberry Hill Boys seemed all but unknown to my friends, relatives (thank god), and classmates. Even searching for online information on them now is difficult and the BitTorrents seemed strangely Monk-free. Ahhh well, who needs Wikipedia anyway ? Thank God for album linear notes, THE source for all your band-info needs !
Though I listened to the album’s catchy and hilarious track “Nice Legs, Shame about Her Face” in high school, it wasn’t until years later that I worked a stint as a bartender with a guy named Scott that turned me onto the album. I’ve still got HIS copy of Bad Habits on vinyl… I should really get around to returning it someday.
The album was the first of only two discs produced by the band, and features almost all of their best bits. Most tracks focus on simple, three-chord guitar tunes with a stylistic nod to late 70s power-pop-punk bands like The Ramones, Big Star, and the Jam. Of course the minute the vocals kick in, you know these guys aren’t taking any musical legacy seriously… the nasal, way-to-British snarling and childlike lyrics are instantly smile-inducing and totally “take the piss” out of all the aformented bands. These guys didn’t make an album to change the world, they were just having fun, and it completely comes through your headphones.
Drop your stylus like an atom bomb on this record ! “Johnny B. Rotten” is rockabilly/surf craziness meets The Damned, but with an emphasis on FUN FUN FUN !!! This song will carve out a small corner in the back of your skull and wait there until a month later, when crawls out into your mind and you’ll catch yourself humming the tune. Same with the totally infectious next track “Drugs In My Pocket”.
The swinging “Love In Stereo” is just bizarre. The melodies, lyrics and vocals bring such diverse comparisons to mind as Weird Al Yankovitch meets Duran Duran meets the more laid-back songs of The Offspring. Check out “Spotty Face” before you move on to Side B, the rest is mainly just filler.
Flip your record over, and “Nice Legs…” sets the party tone with Dylan-esque mumblings and shout-along choruses. “I Ain’t Gettin Any” keeps the tempo up with a fast, bent rhythm that’s reminiscent of The Clash. Plenty of hand-clapping and “Oi ! Oi ! Oi !” bleed from the end of track 2 into the more melodic barstool-burning “Out Of Work Musician”. Who woulda thought these guys could pull off a buzzsaw guitar solo !!!???
It isn’t all gold though, both “No Shame” and “Dear Jerry” are more filler that strays into the new, exciting and slightly-nausiating world of early-80s synth-pop. “Dear Jerry” actually sounds likes a sped-up version of a Phil Collins song, or maybe the Police’s “Roxanne”.
And Then there’s the weirdness that is “Skylab (Theme From The Monks)”… Wtf ??? I haven’t decided whether this song is the most brilliant piece of Sci-Fi/Western Ambient Cabaret music music ever, or a sick and twisted rip on Queen’s “Flash Gorden” soundtrack. It’s probably both… You should have a listen.
Despite making a great couple albums, the Monks disappeared into obscurity and were never heard from again by anyone other than hard-core fans (most of which hide in caves, protecting their mountains of discarded 8-track tapes). It wasn’t until just recently that I was finally able to make contact with other Monk aficionados. A couple of months ago I had dinner with my friend Jess and his dad, and I happened to mention a line from “Drugs In My Pocket”. Suddenly Jess’ Dad (himself a musician) began to chant the chorus in his gravelly baritone; “Drugs in me pocket, drugs in me pocket.“. Aha! A kindred spirit!
It would seem that the fans of the Monks are of a more cult-ish, underground variety and tend to avoid chat-room fandom in favour of nocturnal beer drinking and goat worship. Do not attempt to approach any of these strange and disheveled individuals without first listening to The Monks “Bad Habits” album at least twice.
Hey I just found a Bad Habits BitTorrent !!!
Much love.
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(3 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)
Loading ...8 Responses to “The Monks - Bad Habits (1979)”
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chuck u farley
Jul 17th, 2008
at 8:56 am1Reply to this comment.Dude! This is awesome! Y’know, as a child listening to this one, I never got what the album cover was about…
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Shlarbee
Apr 8th, 2009
at 7:03 pm2Reply to this comment.Hey, guys,
I was 13 when this sonic masterpiece was released in Canada and I recall endless hours listen to it on my turntable and staring at the front cover.
In support of their second album, Suspended Animation, (apparently a Canadian release only), the Monks came to London, Ontario, to perform and were my first concert experience. Although “Nice Legs” was a hit, “Drugs In My Pocket” was the one which got them started around here. I recall during this song, the lead singer reached into his pocket and started tossing candy “drugs” into the audience.
Unfortunately, the sequel could was not very good (my opinion), however, I still listen to Bad Habits 30 years later (God - is that number correct?)
Have a good one!
-
pzed
Aug 21st, 2009
at 7:12 pm3Reply to this comment.Hey, guys,
I was 13 when this sonic masterpiece was released in Canada and I recall endless hours listen to it on my turntable and staring at the front cover.
In support of their second album, Suspended Animation, (apparently a Canadian release only), the Monks came to London, Ontario, to perform and were my first concert experience. Although “Nice Legs” was a hit, “Drugs In My Pocket” was the one which got them started around here. I recall during this song, the lead singer reached into his pocket and started tossing candy “drugs” into the audience.
Unfortunately, the sequel could was not very good (my opinion), however, I still listen to Bad Habits 30 years later (God - is that number correct?)
Have a good one!Hey, I grew up in London too. I missed that show, but I remember hearing about it. Man, I’m jealous, wish I’d been there!
I’m listening to Bad Habits right now, for the first time in decades, and I can’t believe how well I remember it. These guys were HUGE in Canada, can’t figure out why the rest of the world didn’t get it!
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Mefj
Sep 28th, 2009
at 7:00 pm4Reply to this comment.Hey, guys,
I was 13 when this sonic masterpiece was released in Canada and I recall endless hours listen to it on my turntable and staring at the front cover.
In support of their second album, Suspended Animation, (apparently a Canadian release only), the Monks came to London, Ontario, to perform and were my first concert experience. Although “Nice Legs” was a hit, “Drugs In My Pocket” was the one which got them started around here. I recall during this song, the lead singer reached into his pocket and started tossing candy “drugs” into the audience.
Unfortunately, the sequel could was not very good (my opinion), however, I still listen to Bad Habits 30 years later (God - is that number correct?)
Have a good one!I was in Toronto when the Album was released, and wore out the first vinyl….have just got a CD version….and stress, no “liner notes”. Of course - I don’t actually remember the lyrics being included the first time, but I must say that I remember most of them anyway!
In the late 80’s “Skylab” was a great favourite with a group of us…finally discovering the merits of that song, and the author’s comment about Queen’s Flash Gordon….Yikes, The Monks was much better.
Nice to know there are others out there thinking foundly of the Monks!
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Jason Stewart
Dec 8th, 2009
at 6:59 pm5Reply to this comment.My uncle was a fan of The Monks and owned both albums. However, I had heard ‘Drugs in My Pocket’ on the radio quite a few times. In fact, when I mention the song to others my age (mid-30’s) and older, they immediately begin to sing. Strange how there’s very little info, even on the net about the band. Even worse, the catchy, ‘Drugs in My Pocket’ is treated as obscure in favour of the minor hit ‘Nice Legs…’. I even remember hearing the song, ‘Bad Habits’ on the radio as well.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say that someone wants everybody to forget the band ever existed! -
Bill
May 3rd, 2010
at 1:34 pm6Reply to this comment.The same group of guys also released “I Never Go Out In The Rain” (as the band High Society), between Bad Habits and Suspended Animation. In a way, it fits with their approach to spoofing punk on Bad Habits, because it’s an album of semi-1930s music, with periodic country and flamenco tones. Maybe their tastes were just too eclectic for a record label to back over a long time? Whatever the case, it’s really too bad they didn’t put out any more albums and it’s so hard to find out anything about them on-line.
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Mikael
May 8th, 2010
at 3:32 am7Reply to this comment.Richard Hudson and John Ford was in the psychedelic band Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera (later shortened to Velvet Opera) before joining The Strawbs for which they wrote the big hit “Part Of The Union”. Then they started their own career as Hudson-Ford and had hits in UK with “Pick Up The Pieces”, “Burn Baby Burn” and “Floating In The Wind”. Having played psychedelic, folk, pop, prog-rock and even some disco(!), they formed The Monks. Great guys! John Ford now lives and performs in New York.
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Dave From GP
May 22nd, 2010
at 9:27 pm8Reply to this comment.Me and my friend did an air guitar performance of Johnny Be Rotten for a high school talent show in the ’80’s complete with slutty girl back up singer. It was one of the best moments of my life.
Wax Nostalgic?
Shwag
