He Put The Bomp

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CMJ review
HE PUT THE BOMP! IN THE BOMP - GREG SHAW: Various Artists
By Eric Davidson

It's not a stretch to say that pop music would be a different thing today if it weren't for Greg Shaw. He began his musical enterprises in the very early 1970s, right at the get-go of "new wave." His Bomp magazine trumpeted then-forgotten garage rock bands of the '60s (who were the roots of punk), and chronicled the latest teen-hearted rock and roll groups, eventually garnering him writing stints at Creem, Rolling Stone and other mags. He put his money where his beat was, starting Bomp! Records in 1974, releasing platters from the Flamin' Groovies and other power pop masters before the genre was coined, by Shaw of course. Through the early '80s, he continued giving wax space to prime voices of the new wave era (Devo, Weirdos, Zeros, Stiv Bators, Nikki And The Corvettes, and numerous neo-garage bands). He then reintroduced the Stooges' most raw sides to the alt-rock intelligentsia via Bomp's Stooges rarities comps of the '90s. And after surviving personal troubles, he revved up Bomp again with new acts in the '00s (Black Lips, Dreadful Yawns, Brian Jonestown Massacre). Sadly, just as Bomp was becoming a player again, Shaw died in 2004.

This tribute compilation features new recordings from the label's alumni or poppers-in-arms covering Bomp faves. The Briefs buzz through the Zeros' "She's Just A Girl On The Block." Scuzz-punks will love the Dwarves doing the Weirdos and Brooklyn's Stalkers slugging through "Chunk Of Steel." Graying garage gods the Lyres, Barracudas and Nikki Corvette all do Shaw proud with their tracks. And some surging psychedelia (Morning After Girls, Warlocks) attest to Shaw's undeniable flower power beginnings. But the most effecting surprise may be Nikki Sudden and Captain Sensible's springy acoustic amble through Iggy Pop's "Kill City," as the now deceased Sudden echoes the fun in the face of infinity spirit that marked the best of Greg Shaw's endeavors.

All Music Guide review
HE PUT THE BOMP! IN THE BOMP - GREG SHAW: Various Artists
By Mark Deming

Greg Shaw wasn't a musician, but he had a greater positive impact on rock & roll than many people who've put out dozens of records. Shaw was a record collector and passionate rock & roll fan who founded one of the first rock fanzines, Mojo Navigator, that in time evolved into his magazine Bomp, which focused on the kind of real rock & roll most major magazines ignored. Shaw also wrote for other publications, worked as an A&R man for several record labels, and managed the Flamin' Groovies for a spell, and in the '70s, he put his money where his ideals were and launched his own independent label, Bomp Records, and released a steady stream of classic garage rock, punk, and power pop recordings that continues to this day. In the fall of 2004, heart failure claimed Shaw's life at the age of 55, and He Put the Bomp in the Bomp is a compilation album that pays homage to Shaw's work and his guiding influence. Since he didn't make records of his own, it isn't a tribute album in the usual sense, and it doesn't focus strictly on music that was released by Bomp over the years. Instead, He Put the Bomp features 23 acts who play the kind of raw, heartfelt, and passionate rock & roll that Shaw championed, each covering a different classic tune. Some of the combinations seem pretty obvious -- the Plimsouls grooving on the Easybeats' "Good Times" or Nikki Corvette tearing into the Pleasure Seekers' "What a Way to Die" -- while others are a bit more cryptic, such as the Morning After Girls transforming Kim Fowley's "The Trip" into a slow, narcotic drift, and the Warlocks closing the show with "Hey Man" by Spacemen 3. But the guiding principle seems to have been to get the kind of bands Greg Shaw liked and have them play songs Shaw would dig, and thankfully nearly everyone here hits that nail on the head. Nikki Sudden and Captain Sensible deliver a surprisingly effective acoustic version of Iggy Pop's "Kill City," Outrageous Cherry's cover of the Gants' "I Wonder" is simply luminous, the Black Keys transform the Cramps' "I Can't Find My Mind" into something even more messed-up than the original, "Him or Me" by the Dukes of Earl is pure frat rock bliss, and "Red Temple Prayer (Two Headed Dog)" finds the Barracudas making the most of a great Roky Erickson tune. He Put the Bomp In the Bomp is an eclectic set that covers a fair amount of stylistic ground, but every track in one way or another speaks of a deep love for rock & roll, and it's not hard to imagine that Greg Shaw would have gotten a pretty big kick out of it.