Cool & Strange Music - Hell-Racer: James Dean Meets SS Totenkopf, the Eddie Legend Story and the Missing Suitcase and More!

It's time once again for another episode of Cool & Strange Music!

Today, I have a bunch of cool tidbits - a few with a Japanese twist - and some others that just tickle my fancy.

First off an artist named Hell-Racer that I went to a club and saw when we made the Bobby's Bar video of Weirdo Jungle (with the burlesque dancer, Miwa Rock). 

Bobby's Bar

The band really stuck me as interesting as I laughed at their costumes on the CD jacket. They were wearing a sort of pseudo-Nazi sixties Go-Go style. The band's name was "Hell-Racer"! You know me! Anytime I see Japanese musicians dressing like sixties Nazis, I'm amused and intrigued!

Japanese Punks? I love it!

Read and see more about Miwa Rock here in Burlesque Booming in Tokyo!

At all shows the artists have their CDs and merchandise laid out for customers to buy. This show was no different. I saw their CD jacket and smiled. But then, right next to it, I saw another CD of a group called Eddie Legend Story. The style of that artwork impressed me too. I could tell by the jacket art basically what the sound was like of Hell-Racer, and, of course, the same could be said of Eddie Legend Story. It really blew my mind when I found out that the leader of Hell-Racer is the guy on the bike in the Eddie Legend Story and that beautiful girl is his singing wife... Maybe it's kid of like a Sonny & Cher from hell? "Cool!" I thought!

Left: Hell-Racer. James Dean meets SS Totenkopf. Next, Eddie Legend Story, sixties cool!

Of course, whenever I see this sort of thing, the first thing that pops into my mind is, "Can I play this on my radio show?" I liked both styles but worried that Hell-Racer might be a bit too loud for a 6 pm drive time show (perfect for late night though!) I figured that I should check out the band's live performance and I did. Let me say that I was mightily impressed! These guys were hot! I decided to get their CD and was glad I did.

It seems that Eddie Legend (I don't know his real name) has been a cult rock star in Japan for a long time. He was in a famous Japanese Rock band called Mad 3 and now fronts both Hell-Racer and Eddie Legend Story (and who knows what else?)

Here's the totally fab sound of  Eddie Legend Story and Dressing to Kill: (See more Eddie Legend on Myspace here).

Gee, I wish this was a full length video of this GREAT TRACK that I have been playing on the radio a lot. This is excellent! Unfortunately, I can't... And, also unfortunately, I can't find any good quality sounding videos of Hell-Racer. I wish I could! Their original track, "Monster Beach" is a gas! (You can hear Monster Beach and other Hell-Racer tracks here on Myspace though!) But I can find the band that Eddie was in before that made him a cult star, Mad 3!

Here's the totally fab sound of the Mad 3 and Forever Teenage:

Gen X and the Clash have nothing on the Mad 3! These guys are hot! Too bad they broke up. Maybe Ken and I should make a video for Eddie's new band, Hell-Racer or the Eddie Legend Story? Hmmm?

It's not always just the Japanese bands in Japan making cool sounds and videos, sometimes western artists come here and do the same. The Eddie Legend Story video reminded me of a great video made by the London unit, Herbalizer, who is known best for Rap and Jazz music. Here's a video that they made in Japan with the cooperation of some of my friends, Ray Hearn and Hidaka san from Smash Corporation. Most of this video was shot in one day here in Tokyo!

The Herbalizer - Missing Suitcase.

The Herbalizer on Myspace

Wow! Is that cool, or what? But, hey, I'm hungry for some exotic food! How about something from Southeast Asia? Indonesia, perhaps?

Here's something I'd bet a half a donut that you've never heard before. It's the Pattie Sisters and Enteng and His Comets. They were said to be "Indonesia's very first psychedelic rock band." Enteng would really rock out on some songs and my very favorite song is called "Aku Lupa" but I cannot find a video of that track anywhere on Youtube. But here is a short version of another great song that gives you a glimpse of Enteng's guitar (as well as how well this all meshes with an Indonesian Pop sound!)

Pattie Sisters with Enteng and His Comets with Rulieku

What!? What's this? Impossible! Someone, somewhere, has uploaded this entire album on a download site for free? My good friend, Henk Madrotter, writes, "Well, I finally found a good copy of this fantastic album from the Pattie Sisters with Enteng Tanamal and his Comets. Often touted as the first ever Indonesian psych album, Enteng's guitar playing is just phenomenal on this one. Only a few tiny skips on the first song...." Get it while you can! http://www.mediafire.com/?8wyaq6aaewc9gfr

Well, a free album of Indonesia's first psyche band? Trust me, download this now and you'll will thank me. This sh*t is fantastically cool, Cool and Strange Music!

And, that's it. Of course, you want more... But, hey! I got you a free album, right? Christmas is early...

I'll bring you more cool stuff later! See you next time!

See the previous installment of Cool and Strange Music - Just Who is Jack Trombey? here.