Plain Jane and The Jokes
PLAIN JANE AND THE JOKES "THE JOKE’S ON YOU!" 8-SONG 12"EP
(NORTHERN CALIFORNIA- SICK SOUND, 1981)
Here is a rather rare one from a post-Insults band- the guitarist was Richard B. Shively (aka "Richard Sikk") from the Insults, along with his wife Deborah on vocals. It is also on the same label as the 2nd Insults record, which was the snot"Stiff Love" 3-song EP (which you can check out here on the always great KBD Records site).
Of course there is also a bass player and drummer in Plain Jane and The Jokes, but I don’t know who they are since I only possess rips of this rarity instead of a vinyl copy so I can’t check the credits on the back of the sleeve or anything. Perhaps it was the other ex-Insults (?). If you happen to know this, or any other information about Plain Jane and The Jokes, please post some comments.
If you are familiar with and a fan of both great Insults 7"s from 1979, you will definitely recognize the similar guitar sounds emanating from Mr. Shively’s instrument. But while both Insults records were full of wild, off kilter guitar noodling, the playing on this Plain Jane record is a bit more restrained me thinks. They do cover the Insults' "Zombie Lover" (the B-side of their 1st 7") but I prefer the original over this redone version. There are also two other covers, a funny short one of the Velvet Underground’s long opus "What Goes On" as well as one of the first punk cover songs, that of the Dils’ immortal "Class War". Funny cover there, full of sloppy playing and the singer chanting "You asshole, you asshole, you asshole" at the end. Kind of lightens the mood of the serious and overtly political original if you ask me. [Speaking of the Dils, I think THEIR live cover of "What Goes On" (see the "What Stuff" comp) was very moody and much better. But I digress...] Plain Jane was "rediscovered" when their version of "Class War" was included on the beloved Bloodstains Across California comp way back in 1993. And that probably set off a fire storm of sorts amongst collector scum and sent the price skyrocketing after it languished it dollar bins for 12 years before that. But such is the nature of record collecting, eh.
Probably my favorite song on this pretty good 12" is the last one, "I Hate", which- given that they play three other cover songs- you may assume is a cover of White Boy’s killer 1978 song of the same name (from the mostly-great ":30 Over DC" comp LP which, incidentally, was reissued by Henry Rollins’ 2.13.61 label a few years back). But Plain Jane’s "I Hate" it is an original, uh, "composition" as are the first four tracks. This 12" is definitely not one of my favorite records but overall it's a fun, somewhat sloppy record that is definitely worth a few spins. The vocals are bit monotone and Deborah really can't sing all too well but I think that adds to the charm of this disc. Thought I'd post it because I haven’t seen it on any of the other 3,000 punk music blogs currently out there.
TRACK LISTING
Agent Orange
Hostage
Soylent Green
I Got Fired
Zombie Lover
What Goes On
Class War
I Hate
Here is a .rar file with all 8 songs on it
As an added bonus, here is the Insults 1st 7" (which used to be posted elsewhere but since disappeared), released on Ric Mar Records in 1979
Population Zero.mp3
Zombie Lover.mp3
ENDNOTES
The Insults were based out of Watsonville, CA- Plain Jane and The Jokes, I have no idea (someone help me out here). I always wondered where the fuck Watsonville was but found out a number of years back while driving with the Mrs. from San Francisco to Los Angeles. We took the scenic route that I highly recommend, driving due South along the Pacific Coast Highway that runs right next to the Pacific Ocean. Very nice, relaxing ride that you can split up over two days. Anyway, we get outside of San Francisco and about an hour or so later we see a sign for Santa Cruz. Exciting to me since I am a lifelong skateboarding fan and Santa Cruz Skateboards is based out of there. From the late 70’s until about 1991, Santa Cruz was THE punk company back when punk and skateboarding went hand in hand. They had the killer graphics from Jim Phillips, along with a bunch of raw, unpolished riders from Steve Olson to Duane Peters to Jason Jessee to Tom Knox.
But I digress again… anyway, we first pass Santa Cruz. Then a little later on is a nondescript sign for Watsonville, CA- I almost crashed the car since it kind of came out of nowhere. Here was the home of the Insults, the town in which they spawned such rude ditties as "Stiff Love" and crazy, whacked out anthems like "Population Zero". And, from what we saw, it looked like a mellow, cute, little, quiet town right next to the Pacific Ocean. For all we know, the Insults could have been sitting on the beach writing their classic tunes while staring off into the ocean as the waves rippled and the sun glistened on the water (ha!). I wanted to get off in Watsonville and find the first hippie record store I could that would be stockpiling multiple dead mint copies of both Insults 7”s 20+ years later (LOL!) but thought that’d be a pipedream so we kept on driving. But it made me think, yeah, I can see why the Insults played such rude stuff- they were in a little hippie town in Northern California and probably wanted to throw a monkeywrench in the mellow, quite vibe of their hometown and shock people a bit. Which I am sure they succeeded at after I saw their hometown firsthand. Thank goodness they- and countless other bands in the same situation worldwide- did this in the late 70’s because here we are 30 years later still enjoying their wreckords.
(NORTHERN CALIFORNIA- SICK SOUND, 1981)
Here is a rather rare one from a post-Insults band- the guitarist was Richard B. Shively (aka "Richard Sikk") from the Insults, along with his wife Deborah on vocals. It is also on the same label as the 2nd Insults record, which was the snot"Stiff Love" 3-song EP (which you can check out here on the always great KBD Records site).
Of course there is also a bass player and drummer in Plain Jane and The Jokes, but I don’t know who they are since I only possess rips of this rarity instead of a vinyl copy so I can’t check the credits on the back of the sleeve or anything. Perhaps it was the other ex-Insults (?). If you happen to know this, or any other information about Plain Jane and The Jokes, please post some comments.
If you are familiar with and a fan of both great Insults 7"s from 1979, you will definitely recognize the similar guitar sounds emanating from Mr. Shively’s instrument. But while both Insults records were full of wild, off kilter guitar noodling, the playing on this Plain Jane record is a bit more restrained me thinks. They do cover the Insults' "Zombie Lover" (the B-side of their 1st 7") but I prefer the original over this redone version. There are also two other covers, a funny short one of the Velvet Underground’s long opus "What Goes On" as well as one of the first punk cover songs, that of the Dils’ immortal "Class War". Funny cover there, full of sloppy playing and the singer chanting "You asshole, you asshole, you asshole" at the end. Kind of lightens the mood of the serious and overtly political original if you ask me. [Speaking of the Dils, I think THEIR live cover of "What Goes On" (see the "What Stuff" comp) was very moody and much better. But I digress...] Plain Jane was "rediscovered" when their version of "Class War" was included on the beloved Bloodstains Across California comp way back in 1993. And that probably set off a fire storm of sorts amongst collector scum and sent the price skyrocketing after it languished it dollar bins for 12 years before that. But such is the nature of record collecting, eh.
Probably my favorite song on this pretty good 12" is the last one, "I Hate", which- given that they play three other cover songs- you may assume is a cover of White Boy’s killer 1978 song of the same name (from the mostly-great ":30 Over DC" comp LP which, incidentally, was reissued by Henry Rollins’ 2.13.61 label a few years back). But Plain Jane’s "I Hate" it is an original, uh, "composition" as are the first four tracks. This 12" is definitely not one of my favorite records but overall it's a fun, somewhat sloppy record that is definitely worth a few spins. The vocals are bit monotone and Deborah really can't sing all too well but I think that adds to the charm of this disc. Thought I'd post it because I haven’t seen it on any of the other 3,000 punk music blogs currently out there.
TRACK LISTING
Agent Orange
Hostage
Soylent Green
I Got Fired
Zombie Lover
What Goes On
Class War
I Hate
Here is a .rar file with all 8 songs on it
As an added bonus, here is the Insults 1st 7" (which used to be posted elsewhere but since disappeared), released on Ric Mar Records in 1979
Population Zero.mp3
Zombie Lover.mp3
ENDNOTES
The Insults were based out of Watsonville, CA- Plain Jane and The Jokes, I have no idea (someone help me out here). I always wondered where the fuck Watsonville was but found out a number of years back while driving with the Mrs. from San Francisco to Los Angeles. We took the scenic route that I highly recommend, driving due South along the Pacific Coast Highway that runs right next to the Pacific Ocean. Very nice, relaxing ride that you can split up over two days. Anyway, we get outside of San Francisco and about an hour or so later we see a sign for Santa Cruz. Exciting to me since I am a lifelong skateboarding fan and Santa Cruz Skateboards is based out of there. From the late 70’s until about 1991, Santa Cruz was THE punk company back when punk and skateboarding went hand in hand. They had the killer graphics from Jim Phillips, along with a bunch of raw, unpolished riders from Steve Olson to Duane Peters to Jason Jessee to Tom Knox.
But I digress again… anyway, we first pass Santa Cruz. Then a little later on is a nondescript sign for Watsonville, CA- I almost crashed the car since it kind of came out of nowhere. Here was the home of the Insults, the town in which they spawned such rude ditties as "Stiff Love" and crazy, whacked out anthems like "Population Zero". And, from what we saw, it looked like a mellow, cute, little, quiet town right next to the Pacific Ocean. For all we know, the Insults could have been sitting on the beach writing their classic tunes while staring off into the ocean as the waves rippled and the sun glistened on the water (ha!). I wanted to get off in Watsonville and find the first hippie record store I could that would be stockpiling multiple dead mint copies of both Insults 7”s 20+ years later (LOL!) but thought that’d be a pipedream so we kept on driving. But it made me think, yeah, I can see why the Insults played such rude stuff- they were in a little hippie town in Northern California and probably wanted to throw a monkeywrench in the mellow, quite vibe of their hometown and shock people a bit. Which I am sure they succeeded at after I saw their hometown firsthand. Thank goodness they- and countless other bands in the same situation worldwide- did this in the late 70’s because here we are 30 years later still enjoying their wreckords.
Posted by Punk Business Manager at 4/30/2009 2:03 PM 
Categories: Plain Jane and The Jokes
Tags: Plain Jane and The Jokes
Categories: Plain Jane and The Jokes
Tags: Plain Jane and The Jokes
I believe you're right Tony. It's not one of the greatest LPs ever, but it's still a damn fine album, even if her voice gets a bit annoying after a while. Thanks for posting it, and for the extra info on the Disco Zombies.
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Last time I stopped in a hippie store I got the first Descendents 7" and the Bodysnatchers (TX) for a buck each. Of course that was like 15 years ago and I thought both of the records sucked. You might have fucked up. I believe the phrase is "I'll only be a second, you can wait in the car if you want to" and then you dig through the piles until they come in and get you.
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Weren´t the INSULTS from Monterey actually? I must belong to the minority prefering their 1st 7" "Population Zero" over the "Stiff Love" one...?!
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JUST FOUND A MINT COPY OF THE VINYL LP!!@ SANTA CRUZ FLEA MARKET. AUTOGRAPHED BY RICHARD SIKK AND BY ED ACHE WHOM IS CREDITED PLAYING BASS;
ON DRUMS; IS R.WATTS.
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This is weird, so I work with this man who would go on and on about punk music. Told me he was in a band called "Nobody". So he lent me one of his cd's to hear what his music sounded like. I was surprised it was good! So he says he has 40 copies of his vinyl record. So he sells me on for 10$. He said they changed their name, they used to be called "The Insults"! So I see he has 4 covers. I search the web tring to find out who made "class war" and I found this website. It's so weird reading about people discussing Richard!! Ha I work with the guy 4 days a week. I had no idea people still remember him and talk about him. Hey if you have any questions for richard I can rely them to you. Man what a small world.
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just spoke to Mr. Sikk and he said that Brian F. and Richard W. were the bassist and drummer. The same ones from "The Insults". Also they are from Monterey.
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Debby is my sister and I remember the rehearsals on Carlton Dr in Del Rey Oaks downstairs at Richards mother Sylvia's house. It was cool I am surprised the house did not vibrate of its foundation. I have a few of the original neon green 45's signed by Richard saying "you got gypted Ha Ha" and the Plain Jane album. Last I heard Richard was in Gridline the band out of Seattle.
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I have been looking for the Insults 45's and Plain Jane LP for years! I'm from Santa Cruz. Would you be willing to sell any? Here's my email: starasco@hotmail.com
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