AFS v. 200 ~ Panic on My 35th!

I'm back from vacation and internet-avoidance, and of course, I gotta bag fulla goodies from record-shopping in Portland, Oregon, in addition to part of the two-week backlog of promos streaming into the KDVS mailbox. Nevermind how it's halfway to septagenarianism (spooky, eh?)...35 might just be the best birthday ever! Everytime I've had the pleasure to say hello to Fred Cole, I've always asked "When are The Rats ever gonna get reissued?" Surely, he must've been hearing it all the time. He would always nod a bit and look sorta wistful. But now the wait may be over any minute because Mississippi Records got it back from the presses last Wednesday. There is a "but", however...Apparently, the label's kinda frettin' over some kinda defect that is apparent on one song, which was described as a loud pop. I listened to my copy gleefully and could hardly care. Hey, this is a great, long overdue reissue of a major piece of Portland's punk rock history, and that one tiny defect--if it is even there!--won't keep this LP off the top of my best reissues of 2008 list. Fans of Cole music aren't audiophiles! Release it and keep those Rats reissues comin', please!

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NASA SPACE UNIVERSE | Meteorite Mystery | 6-song 7" | Gradual Limbo *new
LAS NURSES | I Am Yellin' | Rémora 7" | Discos Humeantes *new
LIFE PARTNERS | AIDS of Spades | AIDS of Spades 7" | Ride the Snake *new
KILL THE HIPPIES | End of Discussion | split 7" w/ Blacken Snapper | Wheelchair Full of Old Men 1993
KILL THE HIPPIES | Born With a Bible
MY WHITE BREAD MOM | Counter Culture Daddy Warlord | split 7" w/ Moody Jackson | Burnt Sienna 1995
PRIMITIVE TRIBES | Trapped | Some Bouncy Anthems from... 7" | no label 1994
THE RATS | Panic on 39th | The Rats | Mississippi *new (orig 1980)
THE RATS | Defiance | Intermittent Signals | Whizeagle 1981
PIERCED ARROWS | Paranoia | Paranoia 7" | Tombstone *new
ELDER CHARLES BECK | Rock & Roll Sermon, Pt. 1 & Pt. 2 | v/a: Life Is a Problem | Mississippi *new (orig 1956)
CASSIUS CLAY | I Am the Double Greatest | I Am the Greatest! | Columbia 1964
CASSIUS CLAY | Do You Have to Ask?
w/ SUN RA & HIS ARKESTRA | Somewhere There | Pictures of Infinity | Black Lion 1971
SHADOW RING | I Am the Black Piper | Lighthouse | Swill Radio 1999
SHADOW RING | I Am Lord Llyson / Mindart / If It Is a Boy
GRAHAM LAMBKIN & JASON LESCALLEET | Soap Opera Suite | The Breadwinner | Erstwhile 2008
THE HOSPITALS | Animals Act Natural | Hairdryer Peace | no label 2008
AIDS WOLF | General _ _ | Cities of Glass | Skin Graft *new
A.H. KRAKEN | Kevin Costner Est un Acteur Americain | A.H. Kraken | In The Red 2008
BAD PARTY | I Touched Her Twice | Bad Party | Animal Disguise *new
TWIN CRYSTALS | Spell on You | Twin Crystals | NMR *new
NIGHT WOUNDS | Nothing Changes [Death in June] | split 7" w/ Mutators | Badmaster 2008
NIGHT WOUNDS | Ghana | split LP w/ AIDS Wolf | Nail in the Coffin 2008
GOD'S GIFT | People | 1st 7" | Newmarket 1979
LOVE TAN | This Land Is No Good | Miscellaneous Night Feelings | Kill Shaman *new
THE MEDIATERS | The Waiting Room | v/a: The Waiting Room | Object Music 1980
DISLOCATION DANCE | You Can't Beat History | v/a: Messthetics #106 | Hyped2Death *new (orig 1980)
FINALLY PUNK | Coffee, Tea, and Misery | 2nd 7" | M'Lady's *new
VIVIAN GIRLS | Damaged | Vivian Girls | In The Red *new
BLEACH | Burn | Snag EP 12" | Way Cool 1991
VINCENT OVER THE SINK | I Found a Genie | 22 Coloured Bull-Terrier Chants CDR | no label 2008
BLANK DOGS | Silk Heads | Captured Tracks vol 1 CDR | no label *new
ROBOTI | Robot Sintezator | v/a: Analoges Russland | Kernkrach *new
PRIVATE ENTERTAINMENT | He's Dancing in My Belly | Four Tracks 7" | White Denim *new
ANGEL FACE | Pride | A Wild Odyssey | Pacific Productions 1985 (orig 1974-76)
LOS LLAMARADA | I've Got Your Face | Take the Sky | S-S *new

During late-night record-gabbin' with Scott Simmons from Eat Skull and Exiled Records, we were talking about the Rats record and how much we like it, but he made a funny point about Fred and Toody's singing "There's a panic on 39th!" No, it wasn't so funny because of Toody's youthful punk affectation on the last syllable. "It's just funny to imagine that there could have ever been a panic on that street," he said.

Really, though...What could make one panic on 39th?

I think there really was a time that I was fretting about that double-left turning lane at Sandy Blvd. I never seem to know which lane to be in so that I can catch that westbound I-84 freeway ramp.

I suppose that you could panic at Pho Dalat if you are a vegetarian.

In Laurelhurst Park, at the south end of the basketball court nearest the intersection of 39th and Stark, tree limbs hang over the backboard which can greatly complicate long jumpers. I remember running a game there, 5-on-5 to fifteen, and one guy was extremely adamant about the teams switching baskets at eight to make things fair. No one else really cared, but he seemed concerned nearly to the point of panic as he counted off each point to eight emphatically.

I've seen a Tri-Met bus kick up a ruthless wave of water due to the leaf-clogged storm-drain on the northeast corner of 39th and Hawthorne. It ruined some rockabilly dude's day. He'd worked so hard on his look to have it whippy-chipped like by a gutter tsunami.

Wonder how the Blazer fans at Tom's Sports Bar at Division and 39th felt when Greg Oden rolled his ankle in game two of this young NBA season? Surely someone panicked! Ever eaten there? Your dinner might just threaten to leak down your drawers...That would surely be a PANIC ON 39TH!!!