Naked Raygun-Home b/w Last Drink (1990)

Artist: Naked Raygun

Title: Home

Label: Caroline

Format: 7"

Cat #: CAROL 1463-0

Year of Release: 1990

Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 1990 Green Vinyl

Sold Price: $7.99

Listed Condition: VG+/VG+

Sell Date:  10/9/20

Discogs Last Sold:  8/15/20 VG+/VG+ $8.22

Low: $5.88

Median: $8.22

High: $9.99

Current low price: $9.09 NM/VG+

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 12

Have/Want: 386/99

Where Sold:  Saint Helena, CA

Time it took to sell: 5 years

Where and When Bought: Boston Newbury Comics $2.99 new

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: A

Sad To See It Go?: No

Bass player Pierre Kezdy passed away this week.  I'm sad to see him go at only 58.   He wrote the A-side of this single as well, and it sold the day the news of his passing broke.   The B-side, Last Drink, is also a good later era track.  This marks the first time on The Reverse Collector I can eulogize in real time.  For being on All Rise alone he deserves a salute, since that is simply one of the greatest albums of the 80's independent rock era, more a hybrid of the Chicago Big Black family the band came from, as well as heirs to the tuneful raw punk of Stiff Little Fingers.  Modern Pop-punk influence shouldn't be hung around their necks, there was much more substance with Naked Raygun.

This track was an excellent one on the bands final studio album, Raygun...Naked Raygun.  The album was not the bands best and they went on hiatus after.  Kezdy joined at the peak of their catalog, All Rise, which I consider an A+ album.  Although later efforts on Caroline yielded great singles, the two mid-80's  Homestead albums were so great, everything released in those Caroline years were diminished returns.   The killer was when John Haggerty left NR before this release and went on to do Pegboy.  His loss was felt.  It must be noted that Kezdy played in Pegboy after NR and his bass uncredited in Arsenal EP "Factory Smog Is A Sign of Progress," which was an excellent post-Big Black family release of yore.  

I witnessed Naked Raygun in this era open for the Bad Brains in Boston at the Channel in 1991 on a Sunday afternoon in the short lived Chuck Mosley era.   With Haggerty AND HR gone, there was much grumbling and complaining that afternoon.   I would have expected an all ages riot, but boredom was the emotion that day for me as NR were merely "good."  I expected perfection, but it just seemed like something was off that afternoon.   I had a much better time 1987 in Providence when NR opened for Sonic Youth,  except that I got a combat boot full force across the bridge of my nose from an errant stage diver, only rivaled in concussion ability by the first time I saw the Ramones and got clocked full force on my head from above 30 seconds in.  I also had a 3 hour journey to Norwalk, CT to the infamous Anthrax on the Jettison tour and I think Bunrattys on Understand, so NR was a band I checked in on every tour.  I also caught them once in Austin in the 10 plus year ago range, and the sight of Naked Raygun in 2008 was a relief after bribing my way or sneaking into the sold out room.  Not because I got in, but because they were there, and any ill will I had from that Boston day show where I thought they were just ok without John Haggerty went right out the window.  I had witnessed so much mediocrity in the new century that I needed to be reminded of true greatness, if only just for a night.  Or maybe it was just a full day of drinking and seeing music all day in Austin and they went on at like 2am or something.  Now I can't remember, except I was psyched to see them after 17 years or so. Odd to think 12 years has passed since THAT night.

As far as the record goes, I bought this as I dutifully bought every NR release until the end of the first run.  This single came before the album and the Newbury Comics label of $2.99 is still on the plastic bag.  All I have left now is the "Vanilla Blue" single which I jacked up to $24.99 from $5.99 for sentimental reasons (it sells under $10 consistently), but at one point I had 'em all.  I even had the Breaking Circus cover of "Home Of The Brave" 7", which I also jacked up to a way-over-market $24.99.  I’m sitting on them which I do from time to time.   I never bought the Quarterstick CD reissues with bonus tracks, or the later live releases.   Some titles I had on CD and some vinyl from the mid '80's until the end of the bands main run.   That's what hard drives and the interwebs are for in 2020.