Thursday, March 08, 2007

Vietnam... the band
Well, they're from New York, but they're called Vietnam and if rock isn't your bag, than perhaps you'd prefer Vietnam Disco all the way from Chester in Wales.

Can't vouch for either of them as I haven't listened to the tracks yet, so don't shoot the messenger if they're pants.

Speaking of Vietnam related band names, worthy of a mention, of course, are Helsinki's finest, Hanoi Rocks.

I've also heard a few tracks by Unkle Ho - you can download their songs here.

Probably a few Saigon-influenced band names out there too - a quick google brings up Saigon Distress Signal, a Canook "Hardcore / Melodramatic Popular Song / Shoegaze" outfit and also a rap act Saigon : Tha Yard Father, a Brooklyn fella it seems (you can download his single, Pain in My life for free on the myspace page, and Saigon Kiss from Norwich... who knows why boys from Norwich chose Saigon Kiss. If I get a chance I'll try and email them.

Also, gets me thinking about a top 10 Vietnam-related songs (but not counting actual Vietnamese songs, anthems, not that I'm not a HUGE fan of Vina-pop - I mean Tays who don't live here stuff). Suggestions on a postcard if you can be bothered.

Number one - Jimmy Cliff - Vietnam Listen to that track here
Posted by at

7 comments:

elliott said...

What ever happened to that 40-something long-haired Kiss wannabe Hanoi band? Can't for the life of me remember their name... but they did, as Oslo sometimes says, rock.

4:33 p.m.
pittstop designer said...

Don't you mean Hanoi Rocks? Or do you mean a band in Hanoi ...

Results of research on Vietnam songs tells me ... (for songs name-dropping Vietnam, or places in Vietnam) we have Daniel Charles with "Still In Saigon", Johnny Cash's "Vietnam", Dave Dudley's "Vietnam Blues" and from Billy Joel - yes! - "Goodnight Saigon"

I've found a Vietnam war-era jukebox website, but struggling to get the fecker going...

Watch this space, or maybe that space pittstop

4:54 p.m.
elliott said...

Oh yes, Hanoi Rocks... it just seemed a little too obvious and for some reason I seem to remember those UNIS students being called something similar (but probably not). My memory is a long way from being reliable. Thank goodness I am not in a profession that requires it: cricket umpire, nuclear physician etc

12:15 p.m.
pittstop designer said...

Perhaps you're half remembering the gig you deejayed at which was called... Hanoi Rocks.

Where famously the West Lake Boys stormed on stage to the sounds of Eye of the Tiger and then off the stage after a suspicius power cut...

They never recovered.

12:25 p.m.
Anonymous said...

"Vietnam" songs:

Red Sovine, "Vietnam Deck of Cards"
John Paul Jones (future Led Zep), "A Foggy Day in Vietnam"
Country Joe and the Fish, obviously
Rage Against the Machine, "Good Morning Vietnam"
...and the best Vietnam song of all time...
The Didjits, "I Got a Plate In My Head (In Vietnam)"

2:37 p.m.
pittstop designer said...

Good ones.

One more for the set list...

Uncommon Valour: A Vietnam Story by Jedi Mind Tricks

2:51 p.m.
Anonymous said...

There's also the Last Poets' "Ho Chi Minh" from the early seventies, in which they rap "I just can't win against Ho Chi Minh" over and over for about 10 minutes.

9:56 a.m.

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)