FUN FUN FUN

November 18, 2008 8:22 PM

30 seconds over Tokyo is a song that is both unpretentious and epic at the same time. Anticipation mixed up with fear, flying, crashing, burning. Nevermind just give it a listen 30 seconds over Tokyo. Rocket from the Tombs, a nasty bit of rock history. Get out a shovel and exhume it's remains.

Ain't if fun?

I can only imagine what it would have been like to see these guys live.

posted by nola (18 comments total)

Flew off early in the haze of dawn
In a metal dragon locked in time,
Skimming waves of an underground sea
In some kind of a dream world fantasy

Sun a hot circle on a canopy,
'25 a racing blot on a bright green sea
Ahead the dim blur of an alien land,
Time to give ourselves to strange gods' hands

Dark flak spiders bursting in the sky,
Reaching twisted claws on every side
No place to run,
No place to hide,
No turning back on a suicide ride

Toy city streets crawling through my sights,
Sprouting clumps of mushrooms like a world surreal
This dream won't ever seem to end,
And time seems like it'll never begin
30 seconds,
And a one way ride
30 seconds,
And no place to hide
30 seconds over tokyo
posted by nola at 8:25 PM on November 18, 2008 [1 favorite]

I think the Ubu version's better... more atmospheric, dark, and theatrical.

Not that the original is bad, by any means.
posted by SansPoint at 8:47 PM on November 18, 2008

No time for a little context or Wikipedia link?

Rocket From the Tombs (or RFTT) was an American rock music band originally active from mid-1974 to mid-1975 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Heralded as an important protopunk group, they were little known during their lifetime, though various members later achieved renown in Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys.

...In 2006, Thomas announced that the band had again reunited, this time to work on a new material. The band toured the US in the summer of 2006.

I hear a lot of Captain Beefheart in these guys, and that's okay by me.
posted by lumensimus at 8:49 PM on November 18, 2008

The late RFTT member Peter Laughner recorded an affecting little song called Cinderella Backstreet. Worth a listen or two.
posted by grounded at 8:59 PM on November 18, 2008

I saw Pere Ubu on their most recent tour and it was pretty epic as well. Worth doing, would do again.
posted by mike_bling at 9:03 PM on November 18, 2008

So, what's the relationship between these guys and Rocket From the Crypt?
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 9:20 PM on November 18, 2008

Ubu version at Last.fm.

I concur, nola, woulda loved to see these guys (or Ubu or the Dead Boys) pre-1980. Cheetah is still playing, FWIW. Oncet he had a tour diary-slash-bloggy thing going but I can't place my cursor on it at the moment. A true character, and I use the word in affection and respect.
posted by mwhybark at 9:54 PM on November 18, 2008

wow. I forgot about these guys. I was fortunate enough to see them in 1993 at the U of Michigan, in the commons...... I quit my education and spent the money on a Les Paul.....
posted by peewinkle at 10:16 PM on November 18, 2008

No time for a little context or Wikipedia link?

Or correct spelling, grammar, or punctuation? I mean, I'm guessing it's good but it's going to give the grammar gestapo a major headache tomorrow morning.
posted by Deathalicious at 10:24 PM on November 18, 2008

I did not know this song was not by Pere Ubu. It makes the cover sound polished in comparison, which I never thought I'd say about them.
posted by gregjones at 10:44 PM on November 18, 2008

So, what's the relationship between these guys and Rocket From the Crypt?

the name is an homage to Rocket From the Tombs, but no formal connection.
posted by radiosig at 10:51 PM on November 18, 2008

Dark flak spiders bursting in the sky
Reaching twisted claws on every side

Nice work.

I agree on the "more context or Wikipedia link or correct spelling, grammar, or punctuation" complaints. But I dunno, at the same time the what the? randomness kinda made me curious to check the thread.

Were you drunk?
posted by uncanny hengeman at 11:33 PM on November 18, 2008

This is not what I was expecting.

This was what I was expecting (boston punk band from the 80s/90s). Anyone have any info on those guys?
posted by mrzarquon at 12:34 AM on November 19, 2008

I did not know this song was not by Pere Ubu. It makes the cover sound polished in comparison, which I never thought I'd say about them.

Well, only in the sense that New Order's Ceremony is a Joy Division cover - RFTT never entered a studio during their 9-month lifespan, and also gave birth to a number of other Ubu tracks (Life Stinks, Final Solution) as well as numbers adopted by the Dead Boys (Ain't It Fun, Sonic Reducer).

For my money, The Day The Earth Met Rocket From The Tombs (rehearsal demos & live cuts) is one of the greatest recordings of the 1970's - in a way they were the perfect band, way ahead of their time, massively influential and had the good sense/fortune to fall apart before their legacy could be sullied (well, until 2006's Rocket Redux anyway...)
posted by anagrama at 2:32 AM on November 19, 2008

Let's not forget the real 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, which was itself based on the real real 30 Seconds Over Tokyo (sorry couldn't find link to the book itself), which is of course based on real real real life
posted by poppo at 4:28 AM on November 19, 2008

It's nice to hear the RFtT version as a sort of demo for the incredibly awesome finished product by Pere Ubu.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 5:48 AM on November 19, 2008

I think this means we need a Pere Ubu FPP.
posted by mykescipark at 6:56 AM on November 19, 2008

Finally got around to this thread. Thanks, nola, for the post. Some great music I wouldn't have thought of digging up on my own.

> I think this means we need a Pere Ubu FPP.

Dave Thomas, bless his soul, continues performing, blogging, putting out albums by Pere Ubu, himself and his homies (The Numbers Band are an otherwise lost treasure), and enjoys his seriously insidery jokes.

Pere Ubu is known to slap down YouTube posts when they're aware of them, so while fan-posted videos are not hard to find they shouldn't be expected to stay up for long.
posted by ardgedee at 10:47 AM on November 20, 2008