Fear - I Love Livin In The City mp3 album

Popular music has always been a venue for opportunism, and punk (despite the narrative of common purpose and ethical purity that's been constructed around it) was no exception. A few of the people involved were passionate believers; others were just having fun; still others had dollar signs in their eyes. Enter Lee Ving, a Philadelphia-born musician who had relocated to Los Angeles and was looking for a break. According to the late Derf Scratch, original bassist for the band, photographer Bob Seidmann (who had just completed a shoot for the Sex Pistols) "called Lee up and said, 'Hey, if you wanna make some money in music, start a punk band, okay? And I've got the name for it: the name would be Fear.'"There's every reason to accept Scratch's recollection as accurate. In the first place, the members of Fear were older than most of their contemporaries in the Los Angeles punk community. (In this respect they were similar to the Screamers, the L.A. synth combo whose "vaunting ambition" was noted by English punk journalist Jon Savage. After interviewing them, Savage's impression was that the Screamers "were getting a little over-determined" despite the brilliance of their act; the same, arguably, could be said of Fear.) Secondly, these guys had previous musical experience under their belts and were competent technicians: drummer Johnny Backbeat had even gigged with the Detroit Wheels for a spell. Finally, the cartoonish edge on Lee Ving's snotty punk sneer during the chorus of 'I Love Livin' in the City' is unmistakable. There was no earnestness in Fear's music: they were lampooning punk rock, albeit intelligently and in a manner calculated to entertain. By the time this single was released in early 1978, they were the tightest, most formidable band on their scene. This early lineup didn't last long, but Lee Ving had gotten his foot in the door...and Fear, parodists or not, would go on to record one of the greatest debut albums in the history of the genre.

One of THE greatest punk songs ever and the B sIde is equally as good !!