Clothes: Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White

Standells - Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White [purchase]

"Good guys, bad guys
Which is which?
The white collar worker
Or the digger in the ditch?
And who's to say who's the better man?
Man, I've always done the best I can."

Like their breakthrough hit, "Dirty Water," The Standells' second charting single of 1966 tapped into Rolling Stones-esque angst, laying the groundwork for garage rock and punk rock. While I've linked above to a good Standells two-fer disc, you can also find "Good Guys" on Disc 3 of the beyond essential Nuggets box set. If you have even a shred of rock 'n' roll in your DNA, this 4-disc collection is no-brainer. 118 mostly great, almost uniformly obscure tracks and unbelievably thorough liner notes and photos adds up to Punk Rock 101.

Speaking of which, here's a couple bonus cover versions that further demonstrate the punk lineage:

Minor Threat - Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White [purchase]

Minor Threat included "Good Guys" on their swan song Salad Days EP, one of the few MT songs to feature an acoustic guitar. In fact, I'd say it's this close to being a pop song. Out of step, indeed.

Uncle Tupelo - Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White [live in '92; not available for purchase]

This comes from a March 1992 show at Lounge Ax in Chicago, about six weeks before original drummer, Mike Heidorn, quit the band. Capturing UT at the possible height of their powers, this gig also featured covers of "Love's Gonna Live Here Again" (Buck Owens), "Brand New Cadillac" (Clash), "Blue Eyes" (Gram Parsons/ISB), "The Concept" (they'd just finished a tour opening for Teenage Fanclub), and a medley of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Steppin' Stone." OK, so maybe sometimes good guys do wear white.