When Big Stick's "Drag Racing" 7-inch came out in 1986, it was one of those you-hadda-be-there moments-- I'm sure it doesn't translate the same way now, but at the time it was so out of left field from everything else that was going on that it was about as unbelievable as it was hilarious. I no longer have the original 7", of course, but I have the one that came with the Blast First "Devil's Jukebox" box set, which gives the same effect of feeling like your guts are getting pulled around while you listen to it.
About a year later I saw Big Stick opening for Sonic Youth at Maxwell's in 1987, and it made the whole concept seem a lot dumber. Yanna Trance couldn't actually play the drums, much less keep a simple beat, and the humongous rock-star costume that John Gill wore on stage was sorta belied by the fact that before the show he was dragging around his own amps with his real name, "Galeski", stenciled on the side. I had a phone conversation with John around that same time, where we talked about including a Big Stick record with the next issue of my zine; he had a song idea that he was working on, based around Vince Neil's car accident that killed the drummer from Hanoi Rocks, called "Vince Neil Has Death Appeal". Too bad that one never came about.
I can also vaguely remember a "Drag Racing"-type song that Big Stick had on a compilation tape or something, making fun of hardcore and specifically mentioning bands like PTL Klub. I wish I still had a copy of it, because I'm sure it was awesome.
Big Stick -
"Drag Racing"
(this file is now listen-only)
