Wanna' Meet the Scruffs?

In college in 1980 I owned the vinyl of this record. A self-styled connoisseur from New York (where else) of my acquaintance lived and died by the Village Voice reviews of Robert Christgau. His contempt for southerners was typical of his provincial ilk, predisposed to think anyone not from Manhattan was from nowhere.

It is difficult to over emphasize the influence of Christgau during this time, and his Consumers Guide was, along with old Cream magazines, the only publications that anyone who listened to rock and roll and went to a good college could respectably cite. In his first edition, Christgau gave only two "A" ratings for the over 1,200 records he reviewed. The memory of humiliating this pretentious ass by being able to cite Christgau's "A minus" review for "Wanna Meet the Scruffs?" comforts me to this day.

"Only a sucker for rock and roll could love this record," wrote Christgau, "and I am that sucker."

Of this album, I agree with Christgau's assessment that it is "A middle-period Beatles extrapolation in the manner of Big Star (another out-of-step Memphis power-pop group on a small, out-of-step Memphis label), it bursts with off harmonies, left hooks, and jolts of random energy." Yet I reject Christgau's difficulty reconciling himself to the adolescent dimension of the pop tunes subject matter. "The trouble is, these serve a shamelessly and perhaps permanently post-adolescent vision of life's pain, most of which would appear to involve gurls." But I of course embrace Chritgau's resolution "....To which objection the rockin' formalist in me responds, "I wanna hear 'Revenge' again.""

The Scruffs....a band I may never have heard about if not for an old compilation CD that came out in 1993 on Rhino Records. It was called "Come Out And Play: American Power Pop I (1975-78)". There were many awesome bands and tunes on it....Pezband, Flamin' Groovies, Cheap Trick, Fotomaker, and The Flashcubes. But the highlight on it was a song called "My Mind" by the Scruffs. The song blew me away and still brings a smile to my face every time I hear it! One of my fave tracks of all time. It took several more years before I was able to get myself a copy of the album it came out on....Wanna Meet The Scruffs. It is one of the best power pop/rock albums of the last 30 years! I also love the song Bedtime Stories....what a classic! Get this CD now! If you love the Beatles, Big Star, The Knack, etc. you'll love it!!!!

It's tragic that a band as good as this could languish in obscurity, but if it happened to Big Star, it could happen to anyone.

Fortunately we can enjoy them now and be thankful that their classic debut album has been reissued. If you love Power Pop, you NEED this album. The alternate version of "Break The Ice" (the last track on the album) is what rock and roll is all about.

Buy this disc, you won't regret it.