I spent some time with the Norton 7″ sampler. It’s got 45 songs, so it took some time to process. The songs vary greatly in pretty much every way. Some date from the 50′s, some from much more recently (though those sound like 60′s rockers). Some songs fall into the R&B genre (or more realistically, like Little Richard on acid).

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That’s Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. I’m not usually into the soul/R&B thing. But I really dig this. It’s from 1962 and apparently a well known song (this is a different take on it). I’ve not heard anything like it before.

Some surf music is always good. Especially in winter. And who doesn’t like surf music? I mean, how can you not? How about The Triumphs’ “Surfside Date”?

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From that, it’s easy to see how punk started. And if you look through this comp and through early punk in general, it’s really hard to tell exactly when punk started. Some folks say the Ramones, some go back to MC5 or The Stooges, but really, with the very gradual slide into what most would call the punk sound from the garage banks and rockabilly of the 50′s, how can you tell? And further more, who really cares?

Hell, maybe it started with Seattle’s very own Sonics. Here’s “Busy Body.”

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There’s definitely a lo-fi punk feel to some of this stuff. Without looking it up, you’d be hard pressed to figure out when most of that stuff was recorded. Sure, you can peg “Judy’s a Punk” at 1975, but what about “All Kindsa Girls” by The Real Kids?

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And if you really want timeless, how about “Monkey Speaks His Mind” by Andre Williams. He’s still making music, just released an album this year. He is the Black Godfather and this was recorded in 2002.

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I’m placing an order with Norton, even picking up something fun and local for my parents for Christmas. The prices are fairly “punk rock” as well. $4 for a 7″, $9 for an LP, $12 for a CD. You really can’t complain about that. Shipping is $4 for items 1-6 and $2 for each addition six items. So if you get 12 LPs, shipping is $6. That’s pretty punk rock.

All of the songs on the I Hate CDs comp are on 7″s, but Norton’s LPs and CDs are worth a look-see. Where else can you get Wild Guitar by Arch Hall Jr and the Archers? That’s right, Arch’s entire discography. MTSies will remember Arch from Eegah! It’s really tempting to get it. Maybe it’s even good, who knows. Maybe I’ll sing wherever I sing wherever I sing wherever I sing… who can really tell? Watch out for snakes!

Norton also has Phantom Surfers, Mary Weiss (from the Shangri-Las), Iggy Pop’s first band (The Iguanas), early Bobby Fuller (“I Fought the Law”) and really a ton of other stuff. Very worth checking out.

And to stress the “timelessness” point, how about the mid-90′s The Henchmen doing “Hot Rod Millie”!

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If timeslessness wasn’t enough for you, how about four white guys from the 60′s singing “Shortnin’ Bread”?

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Hope you enjoyed something here.