DRUGS.

Let me just preface this with: Drugs are Bad! At least that’s what I learned in fifth grade in D.A.R.E. and the cliché goes you learn everything you need for life in elementary school. But as bad as drugs are they go hand in hand with music; sex/love is the only other contender for the most widely discussed topic in music. (I guess I should clear this up I don’t think drugs are really that bad; I don’t condone them but I don’t condemn them either. People on drugs can do bad things but so can people not on drugs. Maybe drugs increase people’s potential to go berserk and shoot some one but so does losing a job or getting picked on in school or losing a football game or basically anything that unstable people can use as an excuse.)

Without drugs music would not be the same. I’m not sure how affective drugs are to the creative process (I can’t do shit will fucked up. I’m too busy trying to talk to God or make sense of who I am as a human being) but I don’t think they are the sole reason for the great art -- music wise-- of our, and our dads’ time. Drugs help I’m sure, actually I know. The Beatles were introduced to my good friend pot by my good friend Bob Dylan and the next thing they put out: Rubber Soul. That album is a huge step ahead of the stuff they were doing prior; you know, “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” “Love Me Do” and “Can’t Buy Me Love.” Sure they’re great pop songs but they don’t hold a candle to stuff like “Got to Get You into My Life” (which is about pot) and “Dr. Robert” (about a doctor friend of the band’s who doubled as a (LSD?) dealer) that came after the DRUGS. Maybe this is pure coincidence but the drug advocate in me so no way, Jose. Sure drugs aren’t necessary to create stand out art (check out Frank Zappa (although caffeine and tobacco were frequently abuse by him but I’m not too sure anyone beside the most semantically correct person considers them drugs) and Minor Threat and Fugazi (both led by the creator of sxe movement Ian McKaye.)

But most bands I really enjoy know their way around a joint I’m sure. I’m gonna do a quick run down: Beatles, Dylan, Neil Young, Black Flag, the Jesus Lizard (yes booze is included here and David Yow was wasted any time he stepped on stage), Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, Sabbath, Pink Floyd (I don’t like them but it’s just a point I’m trying to make), Bad Brains, Nirvana, Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, Black Mountain (my constant listening to them and their talking about hash actually inspired this post), Johnny Cash, Zeppelin, John Lennon, Husker Du, the Replacements, Depeche Mode, Love (who’s lead singer/mad genius died recently and means more to me than Syd Barrett so this is my giving him some props), the Damned, Oasis, 13th Floor Elevators, Spacemen 3, Stone Roses, Primal Scream, the Stones, Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers, the Birthday Party, the Stooges, Iggy, Flaming Lips, Allman Bros, Jefferson Airplane, Radiohead, the Velvet Underground, the Zombies, Joy Division, Cream, Flipper, Mudhoney, the Who, Jimi, Funkadelic, Jane’s Addiction, MC5, Pavement, Red Krayola, the Meat Puppets, Tom Petty, T. Rex, Spiritualized, Screaming Trees, the Ramones, the Band, Big Star, AC/DC, Van Halen, the Grateful Dead, the Byrds, the Doors, Creed. I’m not trying to act cool by showing off the bands I like because I don’t even like some of these bands (you can probably tell which ones if you know me); I’m just trying to make a point. I only listed band that I’m almost certain dabble some what in drugs via stories or interviews or just common knowledge. These bands (well some of them) have made/make the most inspiring, invigorating, harrowing, groundbreaking, revolutionary, passionate, innovative music ever. Do the drugs help? That’s not even my point. Actually I forgot my point…I guess I should lay off the drugs.