We had the opportunity to meet with Brian Ritchie and Gordon Gano from the band Violent Femmes before their sold out show at the Fabulous Commodore last week. Brian was a real treat to talk with and offered us some of his influential albums from his early days. Gordon joined in to mention his love of Johnny Thunders and the Velvet Underground. It was an amusing interview with a lot of good vibes and laughs. The band will be touring North America through the summer, including dates in Dallas and Chicago. Violent Femmes also released their first single “Memory,” their first in fifteen years.

This Violent Femmes episode of Records In My Life references the following albums:

1. Yes – Fragile
2. T-Rex – A Beard of Stars
3. Albert Ayler – The Impulse Story
4. Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers – Live at Max’s Kansas City
5. Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico

Brian also spoke to us about his love of Televisions’s Marque Moon as well as Ornette Coleman’s “Ornette”