Gran combriccola di sfigati, il contingente di kamikaze rock'n'roll che negli anni Ottanta mosse dall'Australia alla conquista del mondo, considerato che, nonostante il talento sopra la media espresso da gruppi quali Celibate Rifles, Died Pretty, Stems e tanti altri, nessuno riuscì a consolidare la propria fama al di fuori dei natii confini.
In realtà, chi veramente rischiò di assurgere al ruolo di rock star furono gli Hoodoo Gurus, tanto che ci fu un momento - tra «Blow Your Cool» e «Magnum Cum Louder», più o meno - in cui i nostri erano trasmessi con discreta frequenza sui canali video di Videomusic, epigono italiano di MTV, e su quelli audio di radio non necessariamente specializzate: alzi la mano chi non si è mai imbattuto in brani dannatamente catchy come «What's My Scene», «In The Middle Of The Land», «Come Anytime», «Another World» e soprattutto «Generation Gap» (senza dimenticare «Axegrinder»). In un mondo perfetto, pezzi del genere sarebbero stati tutti numeri uno nella chart di Top Of The Pops; ma a dispetto di Pangloss, questo non è il migliore dei mondi possibili, per cui noi bisogna continuare a coltivare il nostro giardino.
Niente male, comunque, per un gruppo che, in un vecchio flyer dato alle stampe nel tentativo di assoldare un chitarrista, citava tra le sue massime influenze Ventures, Troggs, New York Dolls, Ramones, Heartbreakers, Cramps e Fleshtones.
Ed il bello è che, pur sfiorando il Successo (quello con la esse maiuscola), i Gurus non cedettero ad alcun compromesso, mantenendo inalterata nel corso degli anni la loro formula sonora, mix di rockabilly, surf, garage, punk e pop, che per semplicità potremmo etichettare come power-pop. Forse proprio per questo non riuscirono a spiccare il volo definitivamente, ma, col senno di poi, penso sia meglio così.
E lo pensa probabilmente anche Dave Faulkner (voce e chitarra, innato gusto melodico ed anima del gruppo), visto che da qualche anno ha riesumato la gloriosa sigla, ripercorrendo le vecchie strade fatte di melodie assassine abbinate a chitarre ora sferraglianti ora canterine e ritmiche possenti, magari giusto con un briciolo di ispirazione in meno rispetto agli anni d'oro; ma saperlo di nuovo in circolazione mette comunque di buon umore, come quando si rincontra un vecchio amico dimenticato.
Datato 1984, «Stoneage Romeos» è l'album di esordio degli Hoodoo Gurus, e a mio avviso il migliore del lotto, inanellando una serie impressionante di (futuri) classici: a partire da quella «I Want You Back», che ci illude siano tornati i tempi di Flamin' Groovies, Real Kids, Nerves, Beat, Plimsouls e compagnia bella, sensazione ribadita con ancora maggior forza di lì a poco in «Tojo»; passando poi per il tribalismo crampsiano di «Leilani» (brano risalente a quando il gruppo ancora si chiamava Le Hoodoo Gurus), «Dig It Up» e «In The Echo Chamber»; imbattendosi nel pop "demenziale" e delicato di «My Girl» (canzone d'amore dedicata ad una cagnolina), quello altrettanto "demenziale" ma indurito, quasi rollingstoniano, di «I Was A Kamikaze Pilot» e quello venato di psichedelia di «Zanzibar»; fino al culmine di anfetaminici surf-punk-a-billy quali «(Let's All) Turn On», con un giro di basso da mandare a memoria, e «Death Ship», piglio à la Radio Birdman stemperato in un ritornello per cui molti sarebbero disposti ad uccidere.
E quasi senza accorgermene, le ho citate praticamente tutte, le canzoni di «Stoneage Romeos» (è rimasta fuori l'ottima «Arthur», per cui eccola qui), ma ne valeva davvero la pena.
Così come vale la pena, assolutamente, portarsi a casa almeno i primi quattro dischi dei Gurus, a partire proprio da «Stoneage Romeos» e fino a «Magnum Cum Louder», non tralasciando «Mars Needs Guitars» e «Blow Your Cool»; o almeno rimediare con un'antologia di valore, quale «Electric Soup».
PS: di «Stoneage Romeos» consiglio caldamente la ristampa in cd del 2005, inclusiva di quell'autentico, devastante capolavoro garage-punk che risponde al nome di «Be My Guru», uno dei rarissimi pezzi degli anni Ottanta in grado di rivaleggiare, per furia e selvaticità, con la produzione dei primi Lime Spiders.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 I Want You Back (03:12)
I can still recall the time
She said she was always mine
Then she left ( as people do ),
And forgets what we've been through
(Does this sound familiar to you ?)
It's not that she's gone away
It's the things I hear she has got to say
About me - and about my friends
When we've got no defence.
That's her: I'll never believe her again.
She might have deceived all my friends
I know they will see in the end
What it all means when she says (yeah!)
I want you back (She says)
But what's worse: she thinks it's true
But that's just her (she always was a little bit confused!)
She's not worth the time I had to lose
02 Tojo (03:22)
Tracy, Tracy was angry
A bad mood, a bad mood
I told her that it's an ill wind
Blows no good, blows no good
Then she told me
Tojo never made it
Tojo never made it to Darwin
Tojo never made it
Tojo never made it to Drwin
I said, Tracy, won't you listen, this is Christmas
Don't you go, don't you go
She said, David, believe me, I wouldn't miss this for the world
I've got to blow, I've got to blow
She said again
Tojo never made it
Tojo never made it to Darwin
Tojo never made it
Tojo never made it to Darwin
Now she's gone, gone, gone
Just like the wind
I just sigh, I just sigh
But I'm dreaming that I'm gleaming
In her eye, in her eye
But I'll always hear
Tojo never made it
Tojo never made it to Darwin
Tojo never made it
Tojo never made it to Darwin
Tojo never made it to Darwin
She said never made it to Darwin
Never made it to Darwin
That year, Santa never came
03 Leilani (05:36)
Somewhere on a South Pacific island
Sits a young man staring at the surf
His native girlfriend died a death quite violent
A tribal sacrifice made to the Earth
She was brown, her hair was black, her eyes were blue
A chief's daughter, Leilani was her name
She and her young man made a handsome two
But lava tore them both apart again.
He'd say, Leilani, don't go to the volcano
He'd say, please don't go to the volcano
They were saving for a little hut
He collected sea shells every day
Every night they'd share a cigarette
But the ancient, angry gods got in the way
He'd say, Leilani, don't go to the volcano
He would plead, please don't go, I'll miss you so
Katoomba hey! Macumbah ho! Umgawah!
Katoomba hey! Macumbah ho! Umgawah!
Katoomba hey! Macumbah ho! Umgawah!
Hey! Ho! Hey-eh!
Hey! Ho! Hey-eh! Ah
Leilani crula-bula-ulladulla-wok-a-tai
Aba-laba-laba Hut! Aba-laba-laba Hut!
Leilani nevageta-huta-tera-cota-tile
Aba-laba-laba Hut! Aba-laba-laba Hut!
Umgawah!!!
Hey! Ho! Hey-eh!
Hey! Ho! Hey-eh!
Hey! Ho! Hey-eh!
Ah Ah
Still the young man sits there on the beach
He's staring misty-eyed out into space
He's thinking about his girlfriend, of late deceased
At least her death had purpose, his life is a waste
Hey, his life is a waste
Please don't go, I love you, I love you, I love you so
05 Dig It Up (03:35)
My girlfriend lives in the ground.
My friends ask why she's not around,
She won't come home.
I'm so alone (you'll never know!).
You can't bury love,
You've gotta dig it up.
Yeah, you've gotta live it up.
I take her flowers each day.
I place them over her grave.
I want her back
Because I look so bad, so bad in black
(Like a maniac)
You can't bury love,
You've gotta dig it up,
Yeah, you've gotta live it up.
Please, darling, come home to me.
Well, I'll make you so happy, you will see!
I'll paint your room
In pink and blue
(I'll even choose the colour scheme for you!).
You can't take away my love
I'll never give it up!
Yeah, I'm gonna dig it up.
(Don't!)
(Don't! I Don't want to know!)
My girlfriend lives in the ground.
My friends, you ask me why she's six feet down,
I can't tell you why Œcos if I even try
I'd fall down flat on my face
And I'd cry, "you can't take away my love"
I'm gonna dig it up!
I'm gonna live it up, yeah,
I'm gonna dig it up, dig it up.
I'm never gonna stop
With that loving cup.
Gotta fill it up.
07 Death Ship (02:37)
I am the captain of a ghostly crew,
Sail the seven seas with nothing to do.
The girl that I thought was untrue
Really loved me.Boo,hoo,hoo.
Near hidden reefs we appear in the gloom
Luring mariners to their doom.
As we`re condemned,we condemn others too.
Who would love me? who? would you?
I`m asking you.
I`m on the Death Ship,
I sail the seas alone.
Death Ship - I can call no port home.
Lost souls cry to Hell in the wind
Let us in,Let us in!
I`m on the Death Ship,
I sail the seas alone.
Death Ship - I can call no port home.
Lost souls cry to Hell in the wind
Let us in,Let us in,Let us in!
I need somebody who will die for me
To free me of this misery.
I need someone who will cry for me
Really Love me.Really.
09 Zanzibar (03:25)
Did we ever meet in Zanzibar,
Two Caucasians at the town bazaar?
Are you who you say you are?
Did you offer me a Dutch cigar?
You must have thought you were so bourgeois.
Are you who you say your are?
After all these years,you haven`t changed at all
But I can`t say you look the same.
Summer days are hot in zanzibar
And at night the sky is filled with stars.
Listen.You can hear guitars.
Native people,skins as black as tar,
Wear bright-coloured robes in Zanzibar.
They`ve never even heard of ska!
On a tour of limestone caves
Did we see where traders kept their slaves?
Was that how we spent the day?
After all these years,you haven`t changed at all
But I can`t say you look the same.
I have never been to Zanzibar
I have always thought it was too far
You`re not who you say you are.
10 I Was a Kamikaze Pilot (03:10)
I was a,was a kamikaze pilot
They gave me a plane - I couldn`t fly it home.
Taught how to take off,I don`t know how to land.
They say it doesn`t matter and I just cannot understand.
I was a kamikaze pilot,
They gave me a plane - I couldn`t fly it home.
Left my happy homeland in a Zero,
I got engine trouble so I couldn`t be a hero
(Do you think I care?).
Now I`ll keep my two feet on the ground
`Cos when you`re in the clouds
Everybody tries to shoot you down
I was a kamikaze pilot,
They gave me a plane - I couldn`t fly it home
On an island there ain`t too much to do
Look after number one `cos I think I can see
Lee Marvin chasin`after you.
I was a kamikaze pilot
They gave me a plane - I couldn`t fly it home.
Cherry blossoms falling down.
11 My Girl (02:39)
Once a girl took my love until I couldn't give anymore,
Then I tried to pretend not to see what I couldn't ignore.
My girl don't love me at all
Anymore.
I took her to the dance and then I didn't see her all night.
Then a friend said he saw her with some other boy just outside.
When I went out she was alone.
She said, "I would like to go home"
I asked her, "Who were you with?"
She said, "No-one."
I could tell that she lied
(And a voice said inside)
My girl don't love me at all
Anymore.
Not at all.
Carico i commenti... con calma
