[Every Sunday from 8 to 10 p.m., Henry Rollins brings an exclusive mix of songs old and new to listeners at 89.9 FM, KCRW. Visit KCRW.com for more information and to stream his show online, or peruse the Radio Notes archives to see past playlists.]

RADIO BROADCAST #324
06–14–15

Fanatic! This is a show I have been wanting to do for several months. We will be listening to FM St. Jude’s Gang War album in its entirety.

We have listened to tracks from his Here Am I album but never any of the Gang War material. I wanted to play the whole thing before we did anything else.

There is a bit of reading to do here. To get a history of the making of Gang War, you can go to the below links. It’s a cool story. FM, or Fred as we know him, made this full-on double album in 1982. The tapes sat for literally decades and then this year, the very brave and cool Drag City Records put the record out. Good for them and good for us, because we have a genuine time capsule here.

This is the first part of an interview I did with FM.

And this is the second part.

Not only is the history of the album compelling, it’s great music as well. I have played Gang War many times now and still trip on the fact that it sat unheard for so long. Playing the entire record seemed like the Fanatic thing to do.

Fred is very happy and excited that Gang War is rolling out in this way on our show. He wrote a letter to express his gratitude:

Fanatics, my name is FM St. Jude. It is my honor and great pleasure to be coming to you through the auspices of Mr. Henry Rollins and Engineer X. I would like to thank all of you for listening to the show. Where else do you get such an eclectic selection of music vibes that sooth the soul and slaughter misconceptions?

And speaking of vibes, it is with great humility, sincerity and gratitude to Henry for introducing you to my music; “HERE AM I” and “GANG WAR.” I hope you find it interesting, stimulating and honest. It has been my goal to be as legitimate and authentic as possible when it came to writing and recording the tunes you are going to hear. Long has been the road that I have traveled in this very serious, exasperating, frustrating yet rewarding existence called “music.” It takes an amazing amount of courage to pursue an endeavor. Some call it “in pursuit of a dream.” In my case, it was bringing what was given to me to fruition. Perhaps the most lethal of all sins is to give up on the calling; the cause; the dream, as it were. One must wait for the right time, the right people, the right instance for all the pieces to fit together. It takes time…an immense amount of time in some, if not all cases. As Mr. Petty once said: “The waiting is the hardest part.”

So…that being said, I would like to thank Mr. Neil Hamburger, Mr. Henry Rollins, Mr. Scott McGaughey, Drag City Records, Mr. Mike Hickey and every single one of you, the listeners, the fanatics, the folks who make the music happen. If it were not for you, the music would wither on the vine, collect dust, never be heard. Thank you.

Besides music I am also an author. I have a sci-fi/horror novel available on Amazon for Kindle. It's entitled, “DARK AND INSIDIOUS” by FM ST. JUDE. If you like that genre, perhaps you might be tempted to give it a once over. (forgive the shameless plug)

I am currently working on new music which I will shoot off to Henry as soon as the vocals are tweaked. Until then…thanks from the bottom of my rock n' roll heart and stay fanatic.

FM St. Jude

Fanatic, I hope you dig Gang War. As I think you know by now, Engineer X and I do our best to make the show everything from entertaining and celebratory, to challenging and eclectic.

Besides almost an hour of Mr. St. Jude, we have some other great tracks, of course. Of note, you will see that we have a double dose of John Dwyer! Not only did the man recently unleash a new Oh Sees album but a few days ago, put out a new Damaged Bug album on Castle Face Records as well. My LP arrived today and I can’t wait to hear it on vinyl. I have had a CDR of it for several weeks and have been counting the days until we could turn it loose.

We start and end the show with two great re-issues from Superior Viaduct. The Dils and Charles Mingus. This is a fantastic re-issue label. Not only are the titles they choose great but they are damn good sounding as well.

Another one-of-a-kind show for you, Fanatic. You deserve nothing but the very best.

Keep listening and STAY FANATIC!!!
–– Henry

Hour 1
01. The Dils – You're Not Blank / single a
02. Thee Oh Sees – Poor Queen / Mutilator Defeated At Last
03. Valet – Lion / Nature
04. The Cramps – Subwire Desire / 02-03-79 Hall of Nations
05. David Lynch – Pinky's Dream / Crazy Clown Time
06. Frederick Michael St. Jude – Gang War Theme / Gang War
07. Frederick Michael St. Jude – Boy, You're Not From Here / Gang War
08. Frederick Michael St. Jude – …Western Front / Gang War
09. Frederick Michael St. Jude – Give It Up / Gang War
10. Frederick Michael St. Jude – Intro To Story Line / Gang War
11. Frederick Michael St. Jude – Chicago's Burnin' / Gang War
12. Frederick Michael St. Jude – I Was Your Man / Gang War
13. Devo – Come Back Jonee / E-Z Listening Disc

Hour 2
01. Frederick Michael St. Jude – New York City / Gang War
02. Frederick Michael St. Jude – Top Ten / Gang War
03. Frederick Michael St. Jude – Interlude Oxygen / Gang War
04. Frederick Michael St. Jude – Tearin' My Heart Out / Gang War
05. Frederick Michael St. Jude – Maybe / Gang War
06. Frederick Michael St. Jude – Gang War Exit / Gang War
07. Tom Waits – Goin' Out West / Bone Machine
08. Wire – High / Wire
09. Damaged Bug – The Mirror / Cold Hot Plumbs
10. Jeff The Brotherhood – Voyage Into Dreams / Wasted On The Dream
11. Hawkwind – Kings Of Speed / Warrior On The Edge of Time
12. Charles Mingus – Solo Dancer / The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

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