I have finally come to the end of the Celtic letters, with letter “X”. I thought about putting links in this to some x-rated songs by three of my favorite x-rated singers, Dirt Nasty, Andre Legacy, and Mickey Avalon, but decided against it. Feel free to look them up for songs that will make your ears burn.

Instead of doing that, I looked on youtube for “x music” and found the punk rock band X. So… today’s Celtic letter “X” is dedicated to X.

X are an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1977. The original members are vocalist Exene Cervenka, vocalist-bassist John Doe, guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer D. J. Bonebrake. The band released seven studio albums from 1980 to 1993. After a period of inactivity during the mid- to late 1990s, X reunited in the early 2000s, and currently tours, as of 2019.

X achieved limited mainstream success but influenced various genres of music, including punk rock and folk rock.  The band received an Official Certificate of Recognition from the City of Los Angeles in acknowledgment of its contribution to Los Angeles music and culture.

Los Angeles is their debut studio album, released on April 26, 1980 by Slash Records. Produced by ex-Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek, it includes a cover of the 1967 Doors song “Soul Kitchen”. It placed at No. 16 for the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.  It was ranked No. 24 on Rolling Stone’s 1989 list “The 100 Best Albums of the Eighties”, and in 2003, X’s first two studio albums, Los Angeles and Wild Gift, were ranked by Rolling Stone as being among the 500 greatest albums of all time.  Pitchfork ranked it 91st on their top 100 albums of the 1980s.  In 2012, Slant Magazine placed the album at No. 98 on its list of “Best Albums of the 1980s”. The title track, was included in “The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll”.

“Your Phone’s off the Hook, but You’re Not” is the song I chose for today.

Someone clean to chew on
A wife that no one likes
I called and they said all of New York
Was a tow-away zone
We paid sixty dollars on 12th Street today
And now all our money’s gone

You don’t have to answer me
You don’t have to call me back
Your phone’s off the hook
But you’re not

You hate my older sister
And you burglarize our home
Your dirty invitation waits
Run over on my street
I don’t care who you don’t like
You don’t have to answer me

You don’t have to answer me
You don’t have to call me back
Your phone’s off the hook
But you’re not

Someone clean to chew on
A wife that no one likes
I called and they said all of New York
Was a tow-away zone
We paid sixty dollars on 12th Street today
And now all our money’s gone

You don’t have to answer me
You don’t have to call me back
Your phone’s off the hook
But you’re not

But you’re not
But you’re not
But you’re not
Songwriters: Exene Cervenka / John Duchac Nommensen (aka John Doe)