Monday 7 October 2024

Double nickels on the humble pie

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Police Helicopter (demo version)
(From demo; 1983/Out In L.A compilation; 1994)



For 32 years I lived by the belief that Give It Away is the only good Red Hot Chili Peppers song and you couldn't tell me nothin' to the contrary. But a month or so back I saw Johnboxxx mention the demo version of Police Helicopter and that shit has been up inside my speakers like a diaphragm ever since. It's the best song Minutemen never recorded, and it conclusively bodies the official studio version (over)produced by that commie Andy Gill; them Chili Pepper lads shoulda heeded the Ramones' third rule. Anyhoo, I betcha Pimp C woulda loved this song as he loved Give It Away.

9 comments:

Spartan said...

Prior to Mother's Milk, the only Chilli Peppers song I knew was the one they performed in the movie Tough Guys.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Hah I first heard/saw them in the movie Thrashin'.

God, I've heard Mother's Milk so many times. One of my mates in high school was obsessed with that album.

Yohan said...

Listening to Commando on repeat makes me want pedal to the metal to the nearest airport and airlift myself into Vietnam.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Johnny Ramone reckoned it was their best song. I reckon he was right.

Jesse said...

Johnny XXX is the only writer who makes me poptimistic. The hot eating contest newsletter was a masterpiece.

Jesse said...

("Give It Away" sucks, you're insane.)

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Soz, m8 - you can't argue with Pimp C's taste in choonz.

Anonymous said...

Fine, fine. (It does suck, though.) I did hear a funny anecdote about that song, which is that Flea was (correctly) disappointed by Weird Al's lackluster parody "Bedrock Anthem."

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Not as good as the RHCP's masterpiece, but better than Bedrock by Young Money.