Fossil Fuelin' the Fonkay

WHAT: Fishbone 101: Fossil Fuelin’ the Fonkay WHERE: Any record store worth its salt. HOW MUCH: I paid $13.00. Who knows what your record store is charging.

image courtesy of Sony Music

If America is a vast melting pot, then Fishbone is the ultimate American band. We’re talking about a band from South Central Los Angeles that was inspired by such disparate musical influences as George Clinton and Rush. This is a band that deftly mixed Punk, Funk, Rock, Ska and Soul into an upbeat musical form all their own. If that ain’t American, I don’t know what is.

Though Fishbone’s frenetic musical mix deeply influenced a score of commercially successful bands (including the Red Hot Chili Peppers), Fishbone never achieved the glory and recognition they deserved. But this is an album review, so I’ll ditch the time- warp business.

Fishbone 101 is a 2-disc, “best of” compilation.

Disc One lifts songs primarily from their first five albums (1985’s self-titled EP, 1986’s In Your Face, 1988’s classic Truth and Soul, 1991’s The Reality of My Surroundings and 1993’s Give a Monkey a Brain and He’ll Swear He’s the Center of the Universe). As far as compilations go, this is top notch stuff. Disc one contains (among others) Party at Ground Zero, Ugly, Lying Ass Bitch, Freddie’s Dead, Ma and Pa, Bonin’ in the Boneyard, Change, Fight the Youth, Sunless Saturday, Everyday Sunshine, Lemon Meringue and Unyielding Condition. Nicely done. There are only two or three songs that I’d have ditched, and I would have liked to have seen the inclusion of Ghetto Soundwave, Slow Bus Movin’, Housework, and Prayer to the Junkie Maker, but again, as far as compilations go, this one has 90 percent of the goods you’d expect.

But wait, there’s more! Disc Two contains all the stuff you wouldn’t expect to find: early demos, alternate mixes and, praise be to God, the Fishbone Christmas Album (It's a Wonderful Life)! I’ve personally spent the last 15 years schlepping from one record store to the next, searching for this rare, punk-reggae Yuletide gem on cassette, to no avail….and now you can get it here on Disc Two. Bonus! Indeed, each of the 18 tracks on Disc Two were previously unavailable on compact disc. All in all, you’re looking at over two hours of fine, rump-shaking, mind-expanding music.

Fishbone 101 is a must-have for any Fishbone fan, but allow me to go one step further and strongly recommend this album to everyone who enjoys hard-charging, funky bass-slappin’, punk-funk. Hell, if you don’t even know what that means, just go out and buy the damned CD. You’ll dig it.