Alright, this is the thing I was talking about in the 80s album topic earlier. The thing is, I love 90s rock/alternative music and want to be sharing some of that love. In this topic I'll be presenting popular songs from the 90s, from different genres. Depending on the song I might talking about the band themselves, origins of the song, music video etc. I'll try to have at least three write-ups per week. Oh, and I do take requests but won't guarantee whenever I'll get to 'em. If it's an artist/song I was planning to cover, I'll bump it up on the shortlist.
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MINISTRY
JESUS BUILT MY HOTROD
1991Today’s song is really weird and it is really baffling to me it actually was a hit. According to Al Jourgensen (remember, he’s not the most reliable narrator given the amount of drugs he’s done during his lifetime), Ministry was given a hefty budget by their record label Warner Bros for recording a follow-up to their 1990 record The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste. The problem was, most of the money went up the band members’ arms and noses. The band had nothing to show for the money and the record company was getting understandably antsy. Al did have one demo however, but it had a really weird rhythm (6/4 guitars over 4/4 drum beat) and no vocals. One day Al had invited Butthole Surfers vocalist Gibby Haynes to the recording studio and when he showed up, he was drunk off his tits. Anyway, apparently Al wanted Gibby to try singing something over the demo. Gibby was so drunk he kept falling of his chair and the result was incomprehensible gibberish (Gibby was actually singing lyrics to an unrecorded Surfers’ song that went on the setlists under the name Watlo. Watlo was later released on their 1993 album Independent Worm Saloon, retitled as
Some Dispute Over T-Shirt Sales. It’s a nice little song with some great guitar work by Paul Leary).
The record label was not to keen on the crazy hillbilly “ding ding dang dong”-song, but decided to release it anyway. Surprisingly, it became a decent-sized hit and their biggest so far, hitting no. 19 on the Billboard Alternative chart. Ministry got their act together and recorded Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs, which is their best-selling album and an industrial music classic.
It might sound like I am playing this song down, but that is not my intention. It is fucking odd yes, but it is AWESOME. The fast driving beat smells of burning rubber and gasoline, Gibby’s weirdo lyrics are whole lotta fun and the song has two of my all-time favourite guitar solos. While the album version is fine and dandy, I tend to think that the essential version of the song is the Red Line/White Line remix, featuring additional samples from movies Blue Velvet and Wise Blood and drag racing. Elements of this remix are used in the music video.
The music video itself is cool but not spectacular, featuring a lot of car and racing-related stock footage and the band with Gibby performing over it. One thing I don’t like about it is how the intro monologue is butchered (Jesus was the architect…).
Why did I feel like starting with this song? Well, I saw Ministry last Wednesday and this song has been a rarity in the live sets. Probably because only Gibby can sing it right. Last time I had checked it was played live in 2006. However, it had resurfaced this tour leg and to my complete surprise they started playing… the Red Line/White Line version. Damn the whole place went nuts when the song kicked in proper! Even though this is probably not one of my favourite Ministry songs and is hardly indicative of their overall sound of that era it’s still great fun. Rev that engine baby, we’re gonna ding dang my dang-a-ling-long!
One more little tidbit I find amusing/cool: promo copy of the single came with
a quart of motor oil. A brilliant piece of marketing dare I say. The can itself had the warning: Not to be used as sexual lubricant. Classy…
Music videoJesus Built My Hotrod Red Line/White Line version on Spotify