Sonic Youth's Teenage Riot Video: how many cameos can you name?

[ Verse 1 -- Bushwick ]
We needed money, so I robbed a liquor store
Down on your knees she hesitated, I kicked the whore
Wanna go for bad, bitch I go for broke
Pulled out the 9, think it's a game, she said nope
Out comes the manager, mother' thought I was bluffin him
She knew I was serious, so did he when I busted him
Come on motherfucker I ain't playin' so give it up
She said the cops are comin', does it look like I give a fuck!
You're lucky I ain't horny, I'd be rockin' ya
She let down her hair, pulled up her skirt and said what's stoppin' ya?
Bitch you must mistake me for a lollygag
Cuz' if I get in that ass, they'll haul me off in a body bag
Gimme the money, I'm tired of the waiting shit
She said the box is empty
I said ain't that a bitch
Back to the safe you better open it fast
I'm gettin' tired, I'm about to melt a cap in your ass
I got all that money that I'm live, how you figure?
I'll forever be a trigga happy nigga

(gunshots)
Don't fuck with me

(gunshots)
You die motherfucker

[ Verse 2 -- Willie D ]
Doin' crime in H-Town in my prime
Robbed the same motherfuckas 4 or 5 times
Where was the cops when I was rippin' off dividends?
Out writin' tickets to hard workin' citizens!
They ain't never been smart enough to catch me
But one day I went climbin' with a pussy
He got shot and hit the floor
I ran non-stop to my god damn front door
Stashed the cash and case
A clue led the motherfuckas to my place
I grabbed the bill cleaned my popper
And what did I hear a god damn chopper
Damn, ain't this a bitch, the motherfucher must've snitched
I thought about puttin some head to bed
But I played the stay instead
Surrender, the last day of November, made bond the first day of December
Promised myself when I see that snitch, I'd kill that son of a bitch!
We scrapped the slate every day
I just couldn't put the fuckin' gun away
Wait a minute, I'm full of those forties,
I caught his ass slippin' at a block party
Killed a motherfucka as he said D please
Put holes in his ass like rat cheese
Squash that shit, how ya figure?
I'll forever be a trigga happy nigga!

(gunshots)
You die motherfucker

Say hello to my little friend

Don't fuck with me

You stupid fuck

You die motherfucker

Say hello to my little friend

(gunshots)
I'll take you all to fuckin hell!

(gunshots)
Don't fuck with me

You stupid fuck

[ Verse 3 -- Scarface ]
Boys on my corner tryin' to run a day game
Sellin that phony shit, it's white but it ain't caine
Some stupid mother fucker said I owed him
I ain't payin' the mother fucker I don't play and I showed him
That if you come and front me with that bullshit
You card is filed and you'll die when I pull it
Cuz life is a gamble when you fuck with a psycho
No pity on another it's a game, it's how life goes
I'm hip to all the tricks of the trade
Killin', and stealin' and gankin' niggas to get paid
But this time you bullshitted the bullshitter
and found out that I'm a trigga happy nigga

Don't fuck with me

You stupid fuck

You die motherfucker

Say hello to my little friend

(gunshots)
I'll take you all to fuckin hell!

Don't fuck with me!

I have to watch it again.

I mean, does anybody really believe that they listen to Roland Kirk? Does anybody who has actually heard The Pop Group believe that Sonic Youth are more likely to have sourced their out-of-kilter rhythms and knife-scratch sleeve texts from Redd fucking Kross?

Spot the difference? And Neil Young is "cool"er?

I'm actually a big Sonic Youth fan, and love them muchly. However, I find it difficult to believe that bands such as Chrome, who investigated the same psychological territory of futuroid disconnection, with the same attitude towards bending instrumentation out of its normal harmelodic range, were less of an influence than Kiss? How did this happen?

Chrome: C or D?

the band is so overdue for a revival it's scary, I can't believe most of their records are out of print

Anyway, around the time of daydream nation they were morphing into a much poppier band and I think getting really into the whole 80s hardcore underground thing. The video is full of heroes, an alternative reality of 80s alternative iconoclasts and pop icons referenced with equal amounts of kitsch and adoration, not necessarily specific bands that inspired specific songs.

I wouldn't say they're not fans of those bands, but I don't imagine them sitting around thinking "we should sound like Chrome", or the Pop Group, and certainly not Gang of Four. I'd guess, especially at that time, they were really turned on by the cresting memory of touring america in a van.

Maybe, but what you're saying is a good point. The best thing about being in a popular rock band and knowing your rock and roll is when you are able to play games with critics and the media and cite influences that can work in your favor.

Critics love any artist with a theory and a gameplan, even if it doesn't make a lick of sense beyond them just having one.

How much do people know about Brecht outside of his elaborate and sophisticated theories?

Evade? They're pretty blatant about their influences. Never heard of them trying to evade acknowledging their influences.

This kind of sifting seems to be the major function (only function?) of rock criticism these days. However, I would suggest that only the most naive groups are truly honest about where they have sourced any major borrowed ideas.

To digress somewhat, an example is that I cannot believe that "Unknown Pleasures" and "Metal Box" would have sounded the way they did if their creators had not copped a serious ear to The Stranglers' "Black and White". Of course, both Joy Division and PiL would both have had strong ideological and professional reasons not to acknowledge this.

With "In The Shadows", The Stranglers laid down the key musical ideas for post-punk (Bass as lead instrument, guitars as atonal eerie texture, dread-inducing dub production, urban-alienation lyrics) as early as 1977. I find it difficult to believe that that record lay in a vacuum for a couple of years, and had no bearing on all the subsequent records that sounded like it.

Of course, being musicianly middle-aged misogynists on a major label, The Stranglers have been written out of post-punk history, or derided as being hangers-on, when in fact they were pioneers.

And there is the danger of believing what are outwardly stated as "influences". They give a false reading of history.

On Mars. Get it? Never mind.

Sounding like =/ influence

every time

And what you credit the Stranglers with actually belongs to Pere Ubu, who were releasing records before. By the time the Modern Dance came out in the UK, I'd say that's the place to look for "bass as lead instrument, guitar (and synth) as atonal eerie texture, dread-inducing dub production, urban-alienation lyrics) etc was pretty clear.

And talk about misplaced sour grapes - I can't think of another band that's been more openly supportive and celebratory of the obscure bands that have influenced them than Sonic Youth. Personally, I haven't enjoyed a Sonic Youth album since Evol, but I have to give them props for continuing to champion unsung music. Nobody talks about Live Skull anymore, but Thurston makes a point of name-checking them in the SY biog. And what about The Notekillers?

The Notekillers were an all instrumental guitar/bass/drums band I originally led and composed the music for from 1977 to 1981... sometime in 1981 we broke up in frustration and disappointment figuring that we had accomplished next to nothing.

I spent the next couple of years kinda floundering around and recuperating (the Notekillers had left me a wreck - more about that some other time), trying to figure out what to do next. I finally moved to NYC in 1984, and never much talked about the Notekillers again.

Then in January of 2002 I got a call from Barry Halkin. Someone had called him to tell him that none other than Thurston Moore had name-checked the Notekillers in some magazine (Mojo Collections). The friend said that Thurston didnft know anything about us except that we were from Philly. I was flabbergasted and emailed Thurston to tell him "hey, that was me!" Turns out that he used to hang out with his friends at the record store Ed Bahlman ran and that they were all really into our single.

So anyway, here we are over twenty years later and Ifve been inspired to revisit what was - when all is said and done - not necessarily the happiest time in my life, but it was, without a doubt, the most intense. And just maybe some of the most original stuff I've ever done. And I'm very excited to announce that we've just released a CD compilation on Thurston's Ecstatic Peace label of the best of whatever recordings we made back then. But the only thing that could possibly be crazier than all of this, is the Notekillers are playing again! - David First

The Stranglers have been written out of post-punk history, or derided as being hangers-on, when in fact they were pioneers.

WTF? I've never heard The Stranglers talked about with anything but respect when it comes to their impact on early UK punk.

acknowledged influence =/ actual influence

Yeah, and ascribed influence ‚ actual influence. How many times do you think bemused musicians have read critics say they're influenced by X or Y, when in fact they've never even listened to X or Y?

Acknowledge influence or not, Swell Map's Helicopter Spies has a serious SY vibe about it as well.