THE BLASTERS’ AMERICAN MUSIC!
First time I saw them at the Whiskey, the night they broke the club’s bar sales record and played American music so good that it almost made you forget how bad American beer is, there wasn’t a record company satin jacket in the place.
We got Louisiana boogie and the Delta blues
We got country swing and rockabilly too
We got jazz country western and Chicago blues
It’s the greatest music that you ever knew
—“American Music” by the Blasters
First time I saw them at the Whiskey, the night they broke the club’s bar sales record and played American music so good that it almost made you forget how bad American beer is, there wasn’t a record company satin jacket in the place.
Last time I saw them at the Roxy down the road on Sunset, both shows packed and quickly sold out, there were major label A&R men sniffing at the speakers, and a TV news crew sorting through the usual punks and ’50s quiffheads to find local music critics to say a few words on the air about L.A.’s favorite sons: A little more than a year ago “we couldn’t sell pussy in San Quentin.” Now “they’re coming out of the walls; everybody wants the Blasters.”