So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes

So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes
Studio album by NOFX
Released	November 11, 1997
Recorded	August, 1997, Motor Studios, San Francisco, USA
Genre	Punk rock, skate punk, ska punk
Length	33:16
Label	Epitaph
Producer	Ryan Greene, Fat Mike
NOFX chronology
Heavy Petting Zoo (1996) So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes (1997) Pump Up the Valuum (2000)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes is the seventh studio album by the American punk rock band NOFX. It was released on November 11, 1997 through Epitaph Records.

Overview

The band often finds themselves bombarded by footwear while performing live, as it is common practice of punk rock fans to throw shoes lost by crowd surfers on stage. From this, and the title of the fourth book of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, comes the record's title.^[2]

The album was recorded at San Francisco's Motor Studios in August 1997 and was produced by Fat Mike and regular Fat Wreck Chords producer Ryan Greene. The liner notes for the album claim it is 'arguably their third best album' (up to that point). Also therein the standard practice of including a photograph of each band member has been mocked, with members of other punk bands standing in for the four NOFX members:

• Fat Mike is replaced by Serge Verkhovsky, bassist in Limp,
• El Hefe is replaced by Otis Bartholomeu, vocalist and guitarist in fluf,
• Eric Melvin (listed as just "Melvin") is replaced by 'Little John', roadie for Swingin' Utters,
• Erik Sandin (listed as "Smelly") is replaced by Chuck Platt, bassist in Good Riddance.

Track 9, "Champs Elysées", is a cover version of the track "Les Champs-Elysées" by Joe Dassin.^[3]

The final track, "Falling in Love", is reportedly a love song about a friend of Fat Mike and his friend's wife together in a plane in rapid descent, destined to crash. The track has a 'hidden ending' that starts at timecode 4:15. It is a recording of a segment from Howard Stern's radio show in which the host's DJ begins to play the track "Drugs Are Good", from the band's HOFX EP. He clearly dislikes the track and stops it after 36 seconds, effectively labelling it as disco before going on to rename the band 'No Talent'. The first pressing of the cd contains an extended bonus track: 8 min instrumental immediately after this radio show segment, that ends with a 10 second song "Congratulations, you made it through the song, I bet you never thought anyone could play something so wrong".

On the CD it bears the Warning "Unlawful Duplication May be Hazardous to your Health!". This warning might be a parody of Bad Religion albums because some Bad Religion albums (e.g., Suffer, No Control) carry this warning.

Track listing

All songs written by Fat Mike except where noted.

1. "It's My Job to Keep Punk Rock Elite" – 1:21
2. "Kids of the K-Hole" – 2:17
3. "Murder the Government" – 0:46
4. "Monosyllabic Girl" – 0:55
5. "180 Degrees" – 2:10
6. "All His Suits Are Torn" – 2:19
7. "All Outta Angst" – 1:53
8. "I'm Telling Tim" – 1:17
9. "Champs Elysées" (Wilsh, Deighan, P Delanoë) – 2:02
10. "Dad's Bad News" – 2:02
11. "Kill Rock Stars" – 1:33
12. "Eat the Meek" – 3:32
13. "The Desperation's Gone" – 2:25
14. "Flossing a Dead Horse" – 1:46
15. "Quart in Session" – 1:38
16. "Falling in Love" – 5:13
    • Contains a hidden track: see Overview, above.

Personnel

• Fat Mike - vocals, bass
• Eric Melvin - guitar
• El Hefe - guitar, trumpet
• Erik Sandin - drums, percussion

• Serge Slovnik - tuba, trombone
• Nate Albert - "chanky" guitar
• Ryan Greene - tambourine
• Spike Slawson - backing vocals

• Ryan Greene, Fat Mike - producers
• Ryan Greene - engineer
• Adam Krammer - second engineer

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ http://www.nofxofficialwebsite.com/albums/solong/solong.html
3. ^ http://xenios.cti.gr/french/les_champs_lyrics.htm

External links

• NOFX official website
• Epitaph Records
• Fat Wreck Chords