Elgin Avenue Breakdown Revisited

The 101'ers

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 14, 2005)
• Original Release Date: June 14, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Astralwerks
• ASIN: B0009IW8DU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #43,442 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Those who doubt the obsessive, unbridled affection Clash mainstay Joe Strummer held for traditional rock and R&B roots need only punch up virtually any track on this infectious collection of live and studio cuts from the 101ers, the raw yet accomplished band Strummer fronted just prior to his punk superstardom. While most such early-catalog excavations are suspicious and often spotty, Elgin Avenue Breakdown Revisited is a revelatory rush, from the opening blowout of "Letsagetabitarockin'." Many of the tracks rock with the rootsy charm of fellow pub rockers Ducks Deluxe, yet one can hear the later sound of the Clash nearly fully formed on tracks like the blue-beat-seasoned "Sweet Revenge," "Keys to Your Heart," and "Junco Partner." The collection's second half kicks into even higher gear, presenting a generous slate of previously unreleased live workouts that hammer familiar R&B staples like "Shake Your Hips" and "Maybellene" into submission and closing with a frenzied rave-up of Van Morrison and Them's Brit Invasion staple, "Gloria." --Jerry McCulley

Product Description
Joe Strummer's 'lost' Debut Solo Album, Recorded after his Split from the Clash and Before He Formed the Mescaleros. Composed as the Score to the Alex Cox Film. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute gem from Joe Strummer's pre-Clash band, June 14, 2005

By	Paul J. Escamilla "mostly water" (NYC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For those who don't know, the 101'ers was the band that Joe Strummer led before he formed the Clash with Mick Jones, Paul Simonen and Terry Chimes.

I used to have the "Keys To Your Heart" single many years ago and I remember loving it. Little did I know that there were this many recorded tracks of the 101'ers, and I, for one, am ecstatic.

It's not as "punk" as the Clash, but it's still rough, driving rock with great hooks and Joe Strummer's signature vocals on top. If you are a Clash fan, you really owe it to yourself to get this great collection.

This album is so good I almost want to refer to it as the finding of the Punk Rock Holy Grail.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "We're the guys who play the hits", June 24, 2005

By	Gena Chereck (Nebraska, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a fan of the late, great Joe Strummer -- not just as singer-guitarist of the legendary punk band the Clash (1976-1985), but also as frontman of the world-beat combo the Mescaleros (1998-2002) -- I was ecstatic to learn that this compilation of studio and live recordings by his mid-1970s pre-Clash pub-rock outfit, the 101'ers, would be released Stateside. I knew the disc would be worth getting for the historical value alone -- but what about entertainment value?

Not to worry -- this thing *rocks*. Although Strummer and company didn't have the musical chops of their pub-rock peers (Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, etc.), the band's overall sound amply illustrates Strummer's affection for early rock 'n' roll and R&B -- not only in covers of classics by Chuck Berry ("Maybelline") and Bo Diddley ("Don't Let It Go"), but also in self-penned tunes like "Surf City" and "Silent Telephone." The first song Joe ever wrote, the giddy "Keys to Your Heart," is included here in both the raw 1976 single version and a poppier BBC re-recording. Clash lovers will most certainly recognize "Junco Partner" (an R&B cover that Joe later reworked into a pair of dub-reggae numbers on the 1980 epic Sandinista!) and "Lonely Mother's Son" (later rewritten as the "Clash City Rockers" B-side "Jail Guitar Doors"). "Lonely Mother's Son," by the way, is one of the first overtly political songs by Strummer; I must also mention "Rabies (From the Dogs of Love)," a wry comment on sexually transmitted diseases, and "Sweety of the Saint Moritz," an early demonstration of Joe's punk anger (about having to contend with a lousy club and its shady owner).

Okay, so the sound quality on EAB (Revisited) varies noticeably between the studio and live cuts. And as Joe sings, he often rushes his words together, rendering them unintelligible (but then, I could also say the same for many of his performances on the first two Clash albums and his 1988 solo record Earthquake Weather). These flaws aside, however, this disc holds up as a fascinating and often fun document of rock 'n' roll history.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have...., June 16, 2005

By	C. Davis (Scottsbluff, NE USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a great release. Too bad it wasn't released when Joe was alive. This a great archive for not only Joe Strummer/Clash fans but for those interested in the history of underground music. It is very interesting to hear echo's and threads of the 101'ers in Streetcore. Many of these 30 year old 101'ers songs have more energy and vitality than much of what is released today. Letsagetabitarockin'....