Ok, here is an obscure one.  Around 1989, I heard a song, once, on a
college radio station.  But unfortunately, it hooked me and although I
never knew the name of the artist or the song, I haven't been able to
forget it.  Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to find
the artist, song and any other information (album, label) for a
punky-sounding song called, I think, "Devil's Train".  All I can offer
in support of this task is some lyrics I remember from the first verse
(which may or may not be accurate):

It's a long way from Berlin
To the lights of Tokyo
To the bad air in North Hamburg
To the back streets of SoHo

and then here is the chorus

We're all so different
We're all the same
Nobody knows the rules but everybody plays the game
Call it injustice
Call it insane
But a ticket costs a life
On the
Devil's Train

This is not a country song by Hank Williams, by the way.

Please let me know if you find this stuff.

---

Clarification of Question by tavo38-ga on 04 Nov 2002 18:32 PST

Faithful researchers, I checked out your links so far and can tell you
it isn't Hednoise, and I don't think it is Gun Club (which is a cool
band, thanks, never heard their stuff before).  I can't say for sure
about Trigger & The Thrill Kings... can't find any clips so far.  Plan
B sounds similar... the guitars sound right... would it help if I
hummed a few bars or tried to sing the refrain or something?  I could
post a mp3 or something with my approximation... but don't know if it
would help.  Also, one other bit of info I can share is that I heard
the song on a tape recorded from KRUX in Las Cruces, NM... which
was/is a college radio station from New Mexico State University.

THanks for the effort, please keep trying!

Tavo

I think I have some real good guesses, but nothing as evidence:

Band = Plan B
Mid 80s, similar to the Clash
http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=plan_b

Band = Trigger & The Thrill Kings
1985
http://www.yolatengo.net/Discog/luxury.html

Also, longshot = Jacky Giordano
1976
http://www.pulpflavor.com/uk/albums/uk_dd016.htm

My guess is "Gun Club", a punkish band from the 80's whose lyrics
seemed a bit obsessed about trains and the devil. I can't find the
particular song you are refering to yet, apparently there are some
lost songs out there.

Here are the lyrics to most of their songs:
http://www.gerpotze.com/gunclub/gunclub.htm

And here is a sampling of some of their songs. You could listen to it
to see if it fits the style of the song you had heard:
http://www.miatrade.net/G/Gun_Club_-_The/Fire_Of_Love/

This one is a great puzzle! Good luck.

Does this clip sound familiar?

http://www.content.loudeye.com/scripts/hurl.exe?clipid=024755201030006550&cid=600109

This is a song called "Devil's Train" as performed by Hednoize.