Rockpalast: Blues Rock Legends, Vol. 1

Personnel: Commander Cody (vocals, piano); Bill Kirchen (vocals, guitar); Steve MacKay (vocals, saxophone); Tony Johnson (vocals, drums); Doug Killmer, Doug Kilmer (vocals); Peter Siegel (guitar, pedal steel guitar).
Audio Remixer: Hoppi .
Liner Note Author: Peter Rüchel.
Directors: Christian Wagner ; Christian Wagner.
Photographer: Harald Kratzer.
Recorded for Germany's Rockpalast live concert TV series in 1980, Blues-Rock Legends, Vol. 1 might catch the Commander some time past his vinyl peak, but he still packs one helluva punch in concert, and this 18-track trawl through the Lost Planet Airmen's lengthy catalog serves up some of the weirdest, wriest rock & country blues-pop you could hope for. The opening "Thank You Lone Ranger" sets the stage, ribald and rocking, and blessed with an expletive that American TV would still be bleeping now. The "disgusting old cowboy" is followed by "some songs about disgusting America," kicking off with "Two Triple Cheese (Side Order Fries)," the kind of song which could put you off fast food for life without even trying to; in fact, the Commander's between-song intros are almost as raucous as the songs themselves, while the band boogie-woogies without any regard for politeness or manners with "Beat Me Daddy, 8 to the Bar," "Rock That Boogie," and a positively demented "Ubangi Stomp" -- which, apparently, we're going to do "till we roll over dead." It's a brilliant show, and if the CD only splits one of your sides, there's a DVD version as well, so you can catch all the faces that the Commander is pulling. Some of them are worth the price of the disc on their own. ~ Dave Thompson