There used to be a cable television show called Night Flight. I'm not sure if it existed prior to MTV's arrival, but it was definitely cooler. It showed a lot of punk rock videos, and one of the more popular of the time was "Mommies Little Monster" by Social Distortion.

Loved the song, loved the singer. The charm of Mike Ness' singing is that he can't hit the note he's looking for but nevertheless manages to expound his pain and trouble wellenough. He's gone from punk rock free-form spitter to honky tonk git playing, low riding rock star. But, still the rebel rouser. There's lots of old time country western blues rockabilly flavored music on his 1999 release 'Cheating At Solitaire'.

That same year Mike Ness released 'Under The Influences', which has him paying homage to people like Hank Williams, Carl Perkins, Marty Robbins. If you buy one you gotta buy the other as they are a nice compliment to each other. I like the vulnerability he shows on "You Win Again". In 1989 I bought the self-titled Social Distortion album. My favorite track on it is "Ball and Chain", which explains in painful detail a life that definitely needs to be

interrupted. Great song. Mike has re-recorded and re-arranged this song for 'Under The Influences'. It's a steel-guitar, stand-up bass version now. It's quieter but no less dynamic. Footnote: I saw Social Distortion open for Joan Jett and the Blackhearts in 1985. Mike Ness is a big fan of Jett's. And I guess she is a fan of Mike's cuz she in recent years covered "Ball and Chain". And it's a dang good version too.