Go Girl Crazy

A couple of these songs would probably cause an uproar today, but if you read the lyrics, they’re not what their titles suggest, but rather they’re mostly misguided (if viewed through the lens of present day) humor and sarcasm. Still, those choruses probably shouldn’t be blared out of your car stereo system on summer day when you’re stuck at a traffic light. That aside, this is a solid early punk record, with some really good guitar playing and songwriting. It’s fun, funny and it rocks. Fits pretty solidly with the mid 70’s New York punk scene, I think. All that said, I have to deduct at least a star because of Handsome Dick Manitoba (Richard Blum). Back in the the early aughts, he threatened Dan Snaith with a lawsuit over his band name, Manitoba. Snaith, an actual Canadian, changed the name of his project to Caribou to avoid the lawsuit. How can you sue for the rights to the name of a province? Also, very punk of Handsome Dick to threaten to sue a guy on an independent label making music out of his house. Super cool move, Dick.

Like a deeply discounted Kiss

Fun. Simple. Not extremely substantial, and that is ok.

High energy and catchier then expected protopunk that doesn't take it's self too seriously. Hilarious cover of I Got You Babe. Also liked Cars and Girls. Lots of shredding scattered throughout as well. "I think Lou Reed is a creep." Also protopunk is fun to say. PROTOPUNK. I would buy this if I came across a hard copy so I'm giving it the big five.

Never heard of “proto punk”, but I can definitely hear some of my favorite punk through this, Jeff Rosenstock included

This album is like the grandfather of punk rock. It certainly sounds punk: adolescent humor, repeated shouts of "Let's go!", and tracks that were clearly recorded in one take. Some of it is really fun, but there's a lot of dumb here, and that's hard to overlook. Best track: Two Tub Man

This was incredible! How have I never heard this before?! It’s funny, creative, an absolute joy to listen to.

Somehow back when I was exploring the big proto-punk bands like The Stooges, MC5, Velvet Underground etc I never got in The Dictators. Boy was I missing out. This is so much fun and I definitely can tell that they were super influential to many other bands I like. 4 stars for the album, the 5th for the big time influence power

August 24, 2021 The album cover is off-putting. I wanted to like this, and I can see how it influenced a lot of the later music I like, but I was just uncomfortable and a lot of this was pretty dumb.

This was a really fun album and I loved the I got you babe cover

Fun and silly proto-punk, but lacking some substance (that might kinda be the point of the album, though)

this feels like it goes on for an eternity, and the album is only 34 minutes

I actually loved this album. It was so cool and had such a sick vibe. I wanted more at the end!

lmao what an album. So punk, so camp, great irony. Love the personality, and some of the music

Well this is bat shit mental. But I quite like it! You can hear how this influenced bands that came later like the Ramones and the Beastie Boys. Rock n Roll punk with something to say. Its also pretty funny in places. Majestically mad. 4/5

proto punk. new york. ross the boss manowar

Ah, an album I've listened to endlessly. It's crass, it's dumb, wilfully offensive every now and again but it possesses so much attitude, cheek and zap-rock power that I find it irresistible. Part of the CBGB scene, and they have a good claim to have been there or thereabouts at the birth of the NYC punk scene. This, and their third album Blood Brothers, kick ass. I live for cars and girls.

Dumb rock and roll fun from dawn of punk, they're doing budget glam with all the skill and production nous of a highschool battle of the bands, but that gives it a great mix of ironic joking and earnest commitment to the bit.

Ok! It's not bad. Cute. Reminds me of Richard Hell. Old punk of the 1970s. I enjoyed it. Not sure if it will be one that I come back to often, but it was a good listen.

I had a surprisingly good time with this album. It’s not perfect, but that’s the charm. It sounds like people having fun making imperfect music. One of my favorite things is hearing people record music for fun, rather than it needing to be a magnum opus. I know some of the lyrics were a bit questionable at times, but I think that can be overlooked with how influential this type of music was to punk and other genres.

I really enjoyed the early punk sound! The covers were good too. My only issue, that unfortunately colored my opinion slightly, was that the guy on the album cover looks like my brother and he's annoying... I couldn't get it out of my head the entire time I listened to it.

This album provided me with a rippin' good time. Is it proto-punk or an early example of punk? I'm doubtful, but the energy and attitude are there for sure. Some of the songs' lyrics are riotously funny (I'm seriously side-eyeing anyone clutching pearls over "Master Race Rock" -- just read the lyrics and apply critical thinking). There are some pretty kickass guitar solos too. I went into this album very skeptical and came out of it quite impressed. Must-listen #237.

The reviews that deemed this as proto-punk threw me off. To me, this has a straight ahead rock vibe. The most punk thing about it is its sense of humor, an unwillingness to be taken seriously — by themselves or anyone else. Also…is the closing track a parody of The Beach Boys?? I actually hope so. 4/5 for a fun rock album, even though I will not remember this band’s name and by year’s end will forget this entire album exists.

While I can hear a little bit of Glam Rock in this one, it's definitely clear to see that this is a progenitor of your classic Punk record. 4.5 bumped up to 5.

Yet another album with a low average rating that just tells me that you lot hate fun. Like this didn't exactly break ground back in the day, but how could you hate an album this goofy? Don't get me wrong, I would choose to listen to something more meaningful than this pretty much any day, but what is life without a little silly goofy every now and then? It's light hearted enough that you can just casually enjoy it for what it is, but even when you look at the musicianship and the songwriting there is more depth than it seems on the surface. This is another album I will likely never return to again, but I genuinely enjoyed the experience of listening to it to be glad it's something I've been exposed to.

Not what I was expecting based on the cover. Very fun but definitely would enjoy it more in a different context. I'll try it out again when it gets warmer.

Actually super enjoyable! Expected something different from the “proto-punk” album but this was a nice surprise.

What is this gem?????? Westside gunn type shit! The first sample is game changing. Cool sounds thruout. FO! (Weird lyrics tho no lie.. hope theyre ironic)

This album grew on me the longer I listened to it. They have a real DIY, fast and loose approach to making music and despite maybe coming off as a bit cheesy sometimes it worked for me. Its a really direct line from these guys to the rest of the NY punk scene and pretty amazing this album came out in 1975.

So if I'm reading Wikipedia correctly, this was a heavy metal parody band that accidentally helped invent punk? Cool, I guess. For me, they're not quite dumb enough to be funny, and the music is neither good enough to be impressive nor bad enough to be amusing. I feel like it's one of those parodies that is close enough to the target that it's hard to be certain it's actually intended as parody.

I’m slightly embarrassed with how much I liked this. I came in thinking it would be garbage. And was sticking my nose up at the beginning. But didn’t take long for me to change my tune. Not sure I can rate super high for a satirical/parody band (I did have to check if Master Rock Race was racist), but overall a nice surprise. 3.25

short and high energy

I liked this: a goofier, more glam take on what the Ramones were to perfect, though the tunes don’t have that immortality.

Completely surprised by this. Based of the cover and a few descriptions I was expecting a campy Ramones. This is better than every Ramones album I’ve heard. Genius lyricism with lines such as ‘ We don't judge you by your face, First we check to see what you eat, Then we bend down and smell your feet’. Some killer guitar, memorable front man. Even a surprisingly solid cover of I Got You Babe. Just a weird as hell album cover. But that’s part of it I guess

I’m at a 4.5 that, surprisingly, I’ll bump up to a 5. I mean, there’s definitely flaws. I think “The Next Big Thing” feels a little bit vapid as an opener, since the album hasn’t really established its overall tone yet, so it feels like it’s trying to use a voice that doesn’t really work out of context. After that though, the weirdly intense shift on the cover of “I Got You Babe” that adds an awkwardly funny tone to the whole thing reveals this album’s modus operandi: it’s an album full of mockery. Granted, some of that mockery in & of itself has some tracks that aren’t as tactful as it could be; “Back to Africa” is a mockery of the “white savior” concept, but the lyrics read as almost fetish-y at times. I think the track works, but it’s not one you can really throw into a playlist nowadays. “Master Race Rock” has the baffling opening line about “picking a slave”, but it’s also a complete mockery of white supremacy & overt toxic masculinity, and that makes itself very clear by its final verses, so it doesn’t feel as painful. After that though, the album glides a lot more, both instrumentally & without some of the earlier lyrical missteps. “Teengenerate” feels like a loose mockery of fake tough guy teenage angst, underlined by the usage of “heck” – some of the backing vocals give a Beach Boys vibe that helps the track. “California Sun” feels pretty earnest, honestly. Certainly a little goofy in the lyrics, and that Beach Boys comparison feels warranted again for the subject matter / verse repetition, but the guitar solos make it work. “Two Tub Man” is just weirdly chaotic yapping that reminds me of some old batshit insane ‘80s wrestling promos (certainly helped by the Verne Gagne mention), and I just admire the absurdity of it. “Weekend” is genuinely just a good track with some loose Alice Cooper vibes to it; maybe one misstep with the “Beatin’ up the kids from Spain” line, but the whole track is full of drug-induced absurdities that I can look past it as a goofy overexaggeration. “(I Live For) Cars and Girls” is the biggest pisstake on the Beach Boys that the whole album has. The other tracks at least do them some justice by talking about something of substance, but it really is just a full blown lyrical mockery of their “Surfin’ USA” era of music. There’s a Zappa-esque quality to it, helped by the fact that they play the track itself totally straight, even pulling together some nice vocal harmonies to make it work. All in all, I genuinely did enjoy it. It’s just a good bit of ‘dumb’ punk rock, & one that’s keenly self aware of that fact. Even with the early missteps, I can chalk it up to not really getting the vibe of the album in full & a different era of humor in 1975. It is punk rock, yes, but I don’t think it’s “punk rock” as the Sex Pistols & Ramones would later run with. This doesn’t have the same bite to it, yet somehow, I think it works all the same. The vocals aren’t super melodic, but they don’t have to be when the instrumentation genuinely holds up really well for the time. It’s a lot catchier than I expected, and that clear DNA of the Beach Boys & the Beatles is still influencing these tracks in a way that makes them feel appealing. Yeah, it’s dumb, but it’s the fun kind of dumb that I just fuck with. I think the floor is a 3 (or a 2 if those early lyrical missteps feel THAT bad), but for my tastes, but solely on its ‘dumb fun’ vibes, I’m feeling generous enough to bump this up to a 5. I’m glad it’s on the list.

Half punk, half parody, 100% New Yawk. Look at most any pic from CBGB in the era and you'll see these bozos with the Ramones, Blondie, everyone. The I Got You Babe cover is a masterpiece.

Fun, campy, with the listen

I have recently had an epiphany; there was CBGB punk and Max’s Kansas City punk. This is the latter. I have always been more into 2nd wave punk but that doesn’t mean I don’t respect the classics This one feels experimental yet borderline parody. I sometimes wonder if the up and coming bands were trying to out do Iggy. Regardless, I love the energy and power. This album rocks. PS: Your favorite band loves this album.

Yesterday, I generated a pioneer for Heavy Metal, and today, I got a pioneer for Punk Rock, and hells yeah, dude, it's a hidden gem! I was not expecting to be blown away by virtually every track on the album, despite having lyrics which appear to be wrote by teenage males. Favorite Track: "I Got You Babe".

Definitely one of the solidifying sounds and attitudes of what later became known as punk rock. You'd think this came out in the early 80's or something. So ridiculous, hard, and who-gives-a-fuck at all times. I especially love the mock wrestling promo at the start of "Two Tub Man".

Hidden gem. Really like

One of the unsung heroes of punk in America, The Dictators blended the rock and roll sensibilities of KISS with a raucous and rude sense of street humor that proved to be massively influential. Go Girl Crazy beat The Ramones and The Sex Pistols to record store shelves by over a year, but unfortunately there was no music industry infrastructure for punk music. Radio didn't know what to do with their acerbic, fast-talking New York style, their label didn't know how to promote them, and before punk could even reach a crescendo The Dictators were gone. As is the case with most trailblazing bands, their legacy lives on in the music of others (specifically The Ramones who credit The Dictators as a major driving force).

The perfect example of how punk can be both smart and stupid at the same time. Ashamed of myself for not knowing about this gem. I’m not the only one I’m sure. Good to finally see where the Ramones stole their ideas from! Glad to have heard this and now I can finally see why critics claim a straight line from V.U. -> The Stooges -> New York Dolls -> Ramones and how that is how punk rock happened. They all forgot to input this before the Ramones. And it’s all New York art rock really anyway, like rap many years later, a lot of regional scenes erupted. Was NYC ground zero for this shit? Maybe, maybe… I might be starting to come around. This bit from the Wikipedia article says what I think far better than I could write it: “ funny, brilliantly played and hopelessly naïve masterpiece of self-indulgent smartass rock'n'roll".[10] Entertainment Weekly wrote: "Go Girl Crazy's junk-generation culture and smart-aleck sensibility did provide an essential blueprint for '70s punk. With its TV references and homely vocals, this ground-breaking and long-unavailable album continues to inspire underground groups everywhere."[7]”

Stupidily fun (proto) punk rock. And compared to slightly later peers (e.g. the Ramones) the musicianship of these guys was pretty awesome...

Interesting fact this is considered one of the first examples of punk rock! I got you babe is an interesting cover and the rest of the songs were 3.5/4 out of 5 to me overall. I liked reading more about the album on Wikipedia and think Dave Marsh may be a bit too harsh on his 0 star review haha! Happy listening all!

A fun album that doesn’t take itself seriously

Great fun

I like this. Early punk that isn’t too rough. 4/5

Album 966 of 1089 The Dictators - Go Girl Crazy (1975) Rating : 3.5 / 5 I’ll be honest - this one really took me by surprise. I’d seen it mentioned as one of the earliest punk albums, so I was expecting something a lot more chaotic and sloppy, maybe even a little unhinged. Instead, what I got was a tight, genuinely fun rock album with more craft to it than I ever would’ve predicted. There are some really catchy tunes here (even if the track titles might mislead you into expecting pure shock value). The musicianship is stronger than I expected - the guitarist especially deserves a nod - and the vocals fit the attitude perfectly. And the production? Surprisingly solid for a band associated with the “punk before punk” label. Overall, this is just a good time. Energetic, tuneful, confident, and a lot more polished than the early-punk tag suggests. I’ll definitely be hanging on to this one for future spins. Sometimes it’s nice when an album shows up and proves your assumptions wrong.

Kind of fun early punk

“I don’t have to be here, you know. I don’t have to show up here. With my vast financial holdings, I could’ve been basking in the sun in Florida. This is just a hobby for me! Nothing, ya hear! A hobby!” 4/5 Highlights: The Next Big Thing I Got You Babe (I Live For) Cars and Girls

This would be 5 stars if it came out 10 years later. I think with a full Reagan term under their belts the social commentary would come out better but this is truly one of the better proto-punk albums I’ve heard.

Like lots of other things I really like - New York Dolls, Heartbreakers, MC5

I enjoyed this proto punk rock - new to me! I'd listen to it again. Clearly before their time and its not the most amazing album, but I loved hearing this little step in the history of one of genre I like

Handsome Dick Manitoba isn’t even from Manitoba WTF! These New Yorkers cosplaying as someone from Manitoba. How’d they get their own official Manitoba jacket.

Fun punk for people who dont love punk

Categorizing this as punk rock is a far stretch. More like quirky comedic power pop. I liked moments of this and can appreciate the lighthearted often silly approach here. Does this album deserve a spot here in the list? Doubtful. But it was a nice reprieve from some of the other crap.

Felt like a teenage rebellious album lol

Do I need this? Not really. Did I enjoy listening to it? Kind of. How much? Um...medium? Like - it was good - but I feel like I've heard a lot that sounds like this before. I can see why this would make the list as early as it is. But that doesn't mean I really want to listen to it. It's fine. It's ridiculous. It's fine. Is that a 3? A 2? A 2.5? It's good enough...for a 3. I feel like the 'take it or leave it' albums cause the most ranking strife, because I don't have a strong opinion.

Wowie this was new to me! I’m pretty sure I heard the cover songs on some punk compilation back in the day but I’ve never listened to the Dictators before. Maybe once. This was so fun. I liked the cover songs and Two Tub Man and cars and girls. What a poppy punk rockin roll good time! The talking wrestling promos or whatever were wacky and reminded me of early SNL.

More fun than any Alice Cooper album I've heard, but the New York Dolls did it first, and did it better.

The homoerotic “I Got You, Babe” cover was cool but the rest was pretty stupid

One of the earliest, and therefore, inspirational punk albums. Influential, inspiring, and game changing at the time, but still not listenable. Pitchfork: n/a Rolling Stone: Not on any lists, but infamously received a 0 star rating from famous rock critic Dave Marsh

The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! Not sure if I’ve heard of The Dictators or not. The name sounds familiar but it also sounds like the name of a lot of bands from the mid to late 70s who presaged or followed punk. I thought it might be more like that Germs album, but it’s more listenable than that, reminding me a lot of the New York Dolls, with that sped up frenetic glam rock and blues rock sound, and a bit of the Ramones (esp the cover of California Sun), but without being quite as good or as exciting as either of those bands. I can see how this would be influential on punk and puncturing some rock posturing, and while some of it is decent, California Sun, Weekend and Cars and Girls, and some of it is a dumb sort of fun, like Back to Africa, Master Race Rock and Teengenerate and the rest just sort of dumb and not that much fun. One of those albums that, although I didn’t fully enjoy, I'm glad to have heard, even if I’m unlikely to come back to. Solid 2. 🤪🤪 Playlist submission: Cars and Girls

I dont think I need to explain why this album is weird and lowk offensive. But in the end the lyrics feel like an edgy 14 year old came up with them. Even if it's subversive, they're weird and lazy.

If I could give this album 0 stars or negative stars I would. It not only has two racist songs but also all the songs are just bad. Bad musicians. They didn’t contribute anything to punk or music at all. Maybe we should pay more attention to a band like MC5 because they were activists and were part of the civil rights movement. Way more important than this joke of a band.

Really fun party slop proto punk rock

Shocked the list had something this fun. Is it the best? No, but certainly no skips for me.

4.5 stars. Great NYC proto-punk (right before the Ramones changed rock music) with hooks, guitar thunk, and cartoonishly fun lyrics. The Dick Manitoba front and back cover art says it all.

Is this punk? is this glam? is this Kiss? is this even rock? It's a bunch of dudes having a good time, so who cares! Nice tunes, awesome energy 9/10

Excellent

Dumb fun

Absolutely adorable

Damn, this album is so stupid, but it was great. I loved the energy and the fact that each track seemed to hold a little surprise that I wasn't expecting. A few tracks felt DEVO-ish (makes sense, since they were contemporaries), and the cover of "California Sun" is arguably better than what the Ramones did a few years later. This was so good that I actually texted an old friend who's a gigantic asshole but I figured owned it (he did) so we could talk about it. This album is so good, I opened myself up to being harangued! AND I'D DO IT AGAIN

The bridge between the New York Dolls to The Ramones IMO. I love it.

Garage!!!

Awesome

I wasn’t expecting to like this as much as I did. Big grin on my face through the whole thing. Funny. Rocks. Not sure I’ll come back over and over but something I liked listening to about as much as anything on the list so far.

This was great! I absolutely loved this album and will add it to my list.

Really fun album. Had never heard before, but am definitely a fan!

Deliciously silly punk!

Good classic rock and roll

I weirdly liked it

A beast of a punk album.

super fun originals, wild covers

Silly and obnoxious and fat

Wow I really loved this. Funny and a great early punk sound

Really quite enjoyed this. Unless it’s the three post-work pints talking. Simpsons: No

I've never heard of the Dictators before, but I had a great time with this album! It's simple, fun, sarcastic early punk music that really doesn't take itself too seriously. I love the cover of I Got You Babe. I also hadn't heard the term protopunk before starting this project, but I'm finding I really enjoy every band with that label. I'm excited to get more early protopunk albums I've never heard, and I'm sure there's tons of it!

Great proto-punk here. Didn't appreciate it when I was younger, taking the lyrics way too seriously. This is a ripper, full of garage-style punk rock with tongue-in-cheek humor.

I got into this record when I was reading “Please Kill Me”. It’s sort of the first Punk record, as it mentions someone being a punk, but that’s a teenager who eats at McDonalds. It’s goofy, and it rocks, and who the fuck is Handsome Dick Manitoba? Is he a wrestler trying to be a singer? Why is he here? Who knows. It doesn’t matter.

Not listened to these before and wasn't sure what to expect. Quite enjoyed the tong in cheek lyrics and raw energy. Reminded me of New York Dolls/Ramones and wasn't surprised to find out the lead singers wrote a number of Ramones singles. Favourite songs include 'the next big thing' and 'california sun'

decent punk album

loved the covers

i personally liked master race rock the most because i think whites are the superior race of people return to africa was also good because we need a pure white country without dem monkies

this kicks ass!

It's fun, not sure if I'm actually gonna listen to it again but had fun listening to it!

Girls are cool!

Getting this the day after I got Dookie by Green Day just reaffirms why I gave that album 2 stars. Great punk album.

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