Jake Austen's Top Five

Jake Austen, Illustration by Derek Erdman — Jake Austen, Illustration by Derek Erdman

Top 5 Chic-a-Go-Go guests:
1. Rudy Ray Moore
2. Nobunny
3. Shonen Knife
4. Milt Trenier
5. OKGO (Invented their weird dance routines to be on Chic-a-Go-Go, and it worked out for them in the long run)

Top 5 interviewees you tracked down for Roctober:
1. Good Rats
2. Zolar X (In prison! Though I didn't do the tracking, but it was one of our best features ever.)
3. Andre Williams (Before his comeback.)
4. Guy Chookoorian
5. Sugar Pie Desanto

Top 5 record labels, past or present:
1. Veejay
2. Sun
3. Norton
4. Dootoo (80 Redd Foxx LPs can't be wrong!)
5. Liberty (Chipmunks, Eddie Cochran and Julie London...c'mon!)

Top 5 things that motivate you to keep Roctober in print:
1. I LOVE magazines.
2. Writers and artists wouldn't write or draw the stuff they do for me if they couldn't see it in print.
3. People don't read super long articles online, and super long articles are important.
4. I like creating a physical body of work.
5. I love reading Roctober and learning about these lost artists.

BONUS: It would be weird to read an iPad on the toilet.

John Wesley Coleman III's Top Five

John Wesley Coleman III, Photo by Renate Winter

Top 5 Giuseppe Andrews movies:
1. Touch Me In The Morning
2. Period Piece
3. Homoerectus
4. Cabin Fever
5. Detroit Rock City

Top 5 beers:
1. Schlitz
2, Dos X green bottle
3. Kona Brewing Company
4. Yuengling
5. Murphys Stout

Top 5 Lou Reed-related albums:
1. Coney Island Baby
2. Street Hassle
3. Velvet Underground & Nico
4. Take No Prisoners
5. Berlin

Top 5 reasons to record yourself:
1. It's fun.
2. Cheaper.
3. Better than watching tv.
4. Helps you write songs and play better.
5. Good to smoke weed, too.

Top 5 things about living in Austin, TX:
1. Friends
2. Margaritas
3. Micheladas
4. Punk rock bars
5. Swimming

Top 5 skateboarders of all time:
1. Matt Hensley
2. Gonz
3. Jeff Phillips
4. Lance Mountain
5. Rodney Mullen

Jeffrey Novak's Top Five

Top 5 albums made in 1970:
1. The Stooges - Funhouse
2. John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band
3. David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World
4. Velvet Underground - Loaded
5. Van Der Graaf Generator - H To He, Who Am The Only One

Top 5 Sparks albums:
1. A Woofer In Tweeters Clothing
2. No. 1 In Heaven
3. Indiscreet
4. Kimono My House
5. Halfnelson/Sparks

Top 5 Kevin Ayers albums:
1. Shooting At The Moon
2. Whatevershebringswesing
3. Joy of a Toy
4. Bananamour
5. Yes We Have No Mananas (So Get Your Mananas Today)

Top 5 records you don't own:
1. The Fall - Hex Enduction Hour
2. The Saints - Eternally Yours
3. Chrome - Alien Soundtracks
4. The Deviants - 3
5. Royal Trux - Veterans Of Disorder and Pound For Pound

Top 5 Cheater Slicks songs:
1. "Thinkin' Some More" from Whiskey
2. "Murder" from Destination Lonely
3. "Ghost" from Forgive Thee
4. "Please Explain It" from Yer Last Record
5. "Refried Dreams" from Refried Dreams

Bruce Saltmarsh's Top Five

Top 5 Memphis Frontmen:
1. Elvis
2. Jerry Lee
3. Tav Falco
4. Jeffrey Evans
5. Harlan T Bobo

Top 5 Aussie Punk Bands:
1. Radio Birdman
2. Saints
3. X
4. Scientists
5. Victims

Top 5 Contemporary Aussie Bands:
1. Eddy Current Suppression Ring
2. Deaf Wish
3. Royal Headache
4. Ooga Boogas
5. UV Race

Top 5 Aussie Movies:
1. Crocodile Dundee
2. The Propostition
3. Wake in Fright
4. Mad Max
5. Picnic at Hanging Rock

Alicja Trout's Top Five

by Alicja Trout

Top 5 things I love about Prince:
(Hmmn, this will be hard to just list 5.)
5. Ballad of Dorothy Parker
4. Album cover artwork for Lovesexy.
3. When You Were Mine
2. Dez Dickerson, guy in The Revolution with Japanese Headband, once wore a clear suit, played solo on Little Red Corvette.
1. When Doves Cry

Top 5 Timmy from Human Eye photos:

Top 5 favorite shows I have watched with my kid (not including the Muppets because I watched it when I was a kid):
5. Busy Town (Richard Scary)
4. Gofrette
3. Rugrats
2. Yo Gabba Gabba
1. Pingu

Top 5 favorite things to include in drawings:
5. Bottles with "xxx" or "magic potion" on them
4. Cute but slightly suspicious bunnies.
3. Flowers, trees and roots.
2. Angels and devils battling.
1. Night sky with stars, comets, and spaceships.

Top 5 reoccuring themes in my songs:
5. Rats
4. Robots
3. Shadows and something following me
2. Being attacked, killed, dying, drowning
1. Brain not functioning right

Top 5 reoccuring dreams:
5. I have a famous boyfriend and I am confused how I even know him...such as Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, and Ice Cube.
4. It's the zombie apocalypse, I've bashed in dozes of heads and I'm tired of it, then I wake up.
3. I'm walking around a really cool house with lots and rooms, bright colors and nice stuff.
2. Pets from the past I thought were dead but they are alive and I haven't fed them in a really long time!
1. Beautiful "wall of sound"-like music.

Renate Winter's Top Five

Top 5 current bands out of Texas:
1. John Wesley Coleman III
2. OBN III’s
3. James Arthur’s Manhunt
4. Flesh Lights
5. Bad Sports

Top 5 venues in Austin, Texas:
1. Beerland
2. 29th St Ballroom
3. Trailer Space
4. Mohawk
5. Emo’s

Top 5 current record labels:
1. Goner
2. In The Red
3. Burger
4. Dirtnap
5. Tic Tac Totally

Top 5 things you miss about Sweden:
1. Family
2. Friends
3. Speaking Swedish
4. Delicious Fishy Things
5. The Deep Dark Mossy Pine Forest

Top 5 things about photographing bands:
1. Being There: Practices Recordings & Shows
2. Documenting What I Love
3. Capturing & Sharing Moments/Angles Not Seen By Most
4. The Befriending
5. (Relatively Easy) Access To The Front!

Robert Scott's Top Five

Top 5 records
1. Velvets 2nd
2. Suicide 1st
3. Bill Callahan, Sometimes I Wish..
4. Stranglers 1st
5. Kate Bush, The Kick Inside

Top 5 underrated NZ bands, past or present
1. The Puddle
2. The Subliminals
3. The Rip
4. Haunted Love
5. Psychic Maps

Top 5 NZ venues, past or present
1. Empire Tavern. Dunedin
2. Leigh Sawmill. Leigh
3. Chicks Hotel. Port Chalmers
4. Mighty Mighty. Wellington
5. The Burgundy Bar. Dunedin

Favorite Flying Nun singles, EPs or LPs
1. Subliminals, Crystal Chain
2. Sausage Records 4 Star, Wellington compilation
3. Nocturnal Projections, Understanding Another Year in Darkness
4. Scorched Earth Policy, Going Thru a Hole in the Back of Your Head
5. Bailter Space, Tanker

Brad Eberhard's Top Five

Top 5 old songs:
1. "Cold Turkey"- Big Boy Pete
2. "Where Were You?"- the Mekons
3. "Temporary Secretary"- Paul McCartney
4. "Caucasian Guilt"- Noh Mercy
5. "Crazy Horses"- the Osmonds

Top 5 songs that aren't really old:
1. "Cascades"- the Mantles
2. "Underwater 1"- Tyvek
3. "Stupid Street"- Home Blitz
4. "Ball of Fame"- Sic Alps
5. "Fuck Her Tears"- Times New Viking

Top 5 bands I wished still existed so my band could open for them:
1. Suburban Lawns
2. Wall of Voodoo
3. Essential Logic
4. Stiffs, Inc.
5. Henry's Dress

Top 5 things I've been for Halloween:
1. Mustard
2. A Q-Tip
3. The Earth
4. A Cholo
5. Dr. Strangelove

Top 5 visual artist heroes:
1. Ralph Eugene Meatyard- optician / photographer
2. Sister Corita Kent- nun / printmaker / filmmaker
3. Alexander Lobanov- mute / dumb / outsider self-portraitist
4. Art Clokey- creator of Gumby
5. Phillip Guston- painter

Tape Man's Top Five

Top 5 surf bands:
1. Roy Orbison
2. Houghton Bay
3. Link Wray
4. King Loser
5. Planet of the Tapes

Top 5 underrated New Zealand groups:
1. Boss Christ
2. The Grand Chancellors
3. Bad Evil
4. Knife Fight
5. Planet of the Tapes

Top 5 reasons analog recordings are superior to digital ones:
1. Just sounds better
2. Often less options so less fucking around
3. No-one cares about it anymore so you can find it cheap and also sounds unique
4. Less boring to talk about
5. Planet of the Tapes

Top 5 bands on Estrus Records:
1. Supercharger
2. Trashwomen
3. Mummies
4. Makers
5. Phantom Surfers
666. (should be) Planet of the Tapes

Larry Hardy's Top Five

Top 5 favorite records
1. The Cramps - Psychedelic Jungle
2. The Stooges - Funhouse
3. The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette
4. The Ramones - Leave Home
5. Velvet Underground - White Light / White Heat

Top 5 favorite labels, past or present
1. Dangerhouse
2. Crypt
3. Island (mid 70's) - Sparks, Roxy Music, Eno, White Noise, Ultravox (w/ John Foxx when they were good), etc.
4. Bomp!
5. Sun

Top 5 labels that influenced In The Red
1. Crypt
2. Dangerhouse
3. Bomp!
4. Amphetamine Reptile
5. Sub Pop

Top 5 underrated records
1. Sparks - Lil' Beethoven
2. Scientists - You Get What You Deserve
3. The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette (better than anything the Clash could've ever thought of!)
4. The Monkees - their first five albums are all excellent. Better than the Beatles' first five albums.
5. Every album by the Cheater Slicks. One of the best bands in North America for the last 20 years and most people are too stupid to get it.

Top 5 Sparks records
1. Kimono My House
2. Propaganda
3. Indiscreet
4. Lil' Beethoven
5. Hello Young Lovers

Top 5 LA-punk shows you attended in the late '70s as an impressionable teenager:
1. The Cramps (opening for The Runaways) @ Whiskey 1978
2. The Germs, Middle Class, Black Flag, Redd Cross @ Hong Kong Cafe 1979
3. The Screamers @ Whiskey 1978
4. The Weirdos, The Dickies @ Golden Bear 1978
5. Iggy Pop @ Santa Monica Civic 1977 (first show I ever went to)... though he was better in '79 @ the Stardust Ballroom w/ Brian James (Damned) on guitar and Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols) on bass.

Top 5 music scenes, past or present (i.e. Montreal in the 2000s, etc.)
1. NY / CBGBs late 70's (Ramones, Suicide, Dead Boys, ect)
2. UK punk explosion late 70's (Sex Pistols, Damned, Slits, X Ray Spex, Buzzcocks, ect)
3. LA punk explosion late 70's (Germs, Weirdos, X, Screamers, ect)
4. British Invasion early-mid 60's (Rolling Stones, Who, Kinks, Yardbirds, Pretty Things, ect)
5. US garage scene mid 60's (Seeds, Electric Prunes, Sonics, etc.)