They’re calling the event “Local Music Is Sexy”, though I personally prefer to use the word “sensual”. So consider the following option (before? during? afterwards?) the Shannon & The Clams / Bad Sports / Woven Bones / Harlem bill at Trailer Space; there’s a zillion and one band bill happening at the Mohawk and Club De Ville the same evening. Black Before Red and Beautiful Supermachines are at CDV between 9:15 and 10:30 ; Manikin and The Distant Seconds are playing the Mohawk outside at 8:30 and 9:30pm respectively. Air Traffic Controllers (me & JJ) are inside at 10:15pm. The event is free, and that’s nice, because we don’t want to haul our shit down there to put even $1 in TV Torso’s pocket,
JGTWO reported the passing of drumming virtuoso Chuck Biscuits last week, following a long battle with throat cancer. Though Biscuits punched the clock with latter period stints in Social Distortion, Danzig and the Circle Jerks, his tenure with DOA and cup of coffee with Black Flag are what earned him his iconic status. Chuck was 44.
Chuck was easily one of my favorite drummers of all time and anyone who saw him play —- even with lesser lights — felt pretty much the same way. Ever heard the claim made that you’d go to see a band purely to watch the drummer? I did that a couple of time, simply because of Chuck. He was one of the rare drummers who elevated a merely good band to great, and on some occasions, took someone pretty mediocre and at least made them interesting. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues.
Could longtime CSTB-whipping person Scott Weiland have been involved in some sort of violent dispute over the weekend? Not according to the chronic recidivist’s P.R. crew, who claim scrapes to the right side of the singer’s pretty face were inflicted when a bit of pigskin tossing prior to last month’s Nevada/Notre Dame game got a little out of hand. Thanks to reader Tom Enstice, who adds, “Can’t Stop The Bleeding has been my go-to source over the years for Weiland-Notre Dame news items. With all of the downsizing taking place in sports journalism I sincerely hope that CSTB will not sacrifice the ever-so-important Weiland beat.”
There’s at least a half dozen jews in the greater Austin area, and I’m confident all of them will be attending tomorrow night’s Air Traffic Controllers show. Joined by guest drummer J.J. Ruiz, whose guitar playing is well known to fans of Naw Dude, Wild America and the Teeners, Sunday’s ATC set is especially geared to commemorate Yom Kippur 2009, as the following actvities will be prohibited on the venue premises :
1. No eating and drinking
2. No wearing of leather shoes
3. No bathing or washing
4. No anointing oneself with perfumes or lotions
5. No marital relations
After sundown on Monday, as is the ATC custom, we’ll all go out for Chinese. Heck, I’m open minded. Even Tebow’s invited!
What right thinking person doesn’t wanna run for the hills upon hearing the opening notes to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”? You can add to the chorus of critics….former Journey vocalist and the song’s co-author Steve Perry, writes the SF Chronicle’s Henry Schulman.
Late last season, the Dodgers started playing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” before the bottom of the eighth inning every night as a rally song, and Steve Perry leaves before they do.
“I have to,” he said. “I don’t want to hear it.”
Why? Because Perry is a diehard Giants fan who cannot stand the fact that the Dodgers “hijacked it first” and use it to win games.
Perry has friends on the Dodgers. He admitted it was “amazing” the first time he heard the entire stadium singing along with his voice and finds it appropriate the song is used by sports teams. Still, he said, “It tweaks me to know they’re using the song as a rally song. I really wish we’d have hijacked it first. I think the song is about hope and power, and it’s working for them, damn it.”
Perry gets a royalty every time the Dodgers play it, but said, “It’s not enough to get me a latte at Starbucks.”
…presenting the first-ever Air Traffic Controllers signature model G&L ASAT. Featuring a unique three-string setting, charred P90-style pickups and a roasted finish, the ATC ASAT is available in a limited edition of one and is currently up for bids on eBay. All proceeds from this auction will benefit the American Red Cross and the Austin Humane Society.
Iconic Memphis musician and producer Jim Dickinson has died.
The 67 year-old Dickinson passed away early Saturday morning in his sleep, according to his wife Mary Lindsay Dickinson. Dickinson had been in ill health for the past few months, and was recuperating from heart surgery at Methodist Extended Care Hospital. “He went peacefully,” said Mary Lindsay.
The Associated Press story says Jim is “perhaps best known” as the father of Luther and Cody, which might be something of a stretch unless you’re under 25. In addition to the obvious (Stones, Big Star, Replacements), I especially treasure Green on Red’s “Here Come the Snakes.”
(alas, not all western icons are welcomed as warmly in Japan as Bobby Valentine)
Mr. & Mrs. Howie Rose spent the All-Star Break on a trip to London, affording the couple an opportunity bask in a bit of rock history. While the Roses didn’t get around to visiting the Bruno Wizard Museum, Mets’ radio announcer Howie does have a few recommendations for his fellow tourists (link courtesy Repoz and Baseball Think Factory)
If you’re a fan, and you appreciate the history, I would strongly suggest a trip to 3 Savile Row. That’s the building the Beatles bought for their Apple offices, and eventually they installed a recording studio in the basement. This is where a big chunk of the Let it Be album was recorded, but it’s best known for it’s rooftop. That’s where the Beatles performed their last live “concert”, an impromptu show held in the middle of a business day until it was eventually broken up by police. It’s all in the Let it Be movie, and although we weren’t allowed on the roof, I gazed at the iconic site like an awed teenager. The building looks just as it did in the film 40 years ago.
Later, it was on to the Abbey Road studios where much of their music was recorded. Naturally, we went to the crosswalk where the famous album cover was taken. If you looked at it from the same vantage point as the one used by photographer Iain MacMillain, you would have thought it was 1969 again.
The coup de gras was the Paul McCartney concert at Citi Field on Friday night. If you are of a certain age and have a certain reverence for the Beatles, you probably felt as though the soundtrack to your life was playing out right in front of your eyes. It was incredible. Paul McCartney is 67 years old, and moved energetically around and across the stage, changing instruments, talking to the crowd and playing one historic song after another. I couldn’t help think that he has the stamina to do all of that, and the Mets have world class athletes in their 20s and 30s who can’t run out a pop up.
Or easier to spell, in any event. If you’ve not seen the The Young, your life is most assuredly poorer for it. The same is true of the evening’s other performers to a lesser or greater degree depending on your sensibility, but a performance by these guys in a rock club environment should be worth everyone’s time.
Of Bruce Springsteen’s headlining set at the Glastonbury Festival’s Pyramid Stage last night, the Guardian’s Dorian Lynskey — killing all chances of a guided tour of the Bronx from Peter Abraham — opines, “being bored, irritated and only occasionally thrilled by the man routinely called the most electrifying performer in rock is no fun at all…this critic felt like someone standing in front of a magic-eye picture and being told that, if he stares long enough, he will see the Statue of Liberty but who finds, two-and-a-half hours later, that it’s still just squiggly lines.” These John Cafferty sympathizers are everywhere, I tell ya.
For someone acclaimed as a perceptive blue-collar bard, he’s rarely far from self-parody. Many of his songs sound like numbers from a Broadway musical about a guy who works in a garage. If you drank a shot every time he sang the words work, dream, streets, highway or refinery, you would be unconscious within an hour (less than halfway through the set). During Working on a Dream (two shots), he begins testifying like a southern preacher, or, more accurately, like a Saturday Night Live comedian doing an impersonation of James Brown, about building a house of lurve, a building of soul and a loft extension of hope.
But then it seems that the whole point of Springsteen is that he’s a colossal, unashamed, scenery-chewing ham. Born to Run is both the most preposterous song in his catalogue and the most heart-thumpingly joyous. Dancing in the Dark and Glory Days are elevated, rather than marred, by their corny use-before-1985 synth riffs. More of a problem than the garage-guy lyrics, the oh-lawdy business and Clarence “Big Man” Clemons’s reliably ghastly sax solos, is the realisation that, despite Springsteen’s stature, he has very few songs that have entered the mass consciousness. Only the three just mentioned – along with Because the Night and Thunder Road – excite mass singing all the way to the back. Calls for Born in the USA go unanswered. Fair enough, because it’s a good song massacred by its bombastic arrangement and is now avoided by the very man who made it, but during long stretches of bar-band rock and American Land’s horrible Irish jig, one wished he would throw another bone to the agnostics.
I don’t wanna argue with Mr. Lynskey, though I saw a Springsteen show earlier this year and found most of the cheesey O.D. bits he describes to be of the kidding-around variety. But as we should all have an informed opinion rather than rely upon the crackpot testimony of self-styled experts, here’s some exclusive footage of last night’s Glastonbury show. Decide for yourself!
Steven Wells aka Swells aka Seething Wells, the Yorkshire spoken word artist, author, music journalist and sporting critic, has passed away at the age of 49 following a long battle with lympathic cancer. Wells’ columns for the Guardian —- written from his subsequent Philadelphia home — have been quoted at length in CSTB, and perhaps some enterprising person will compile a stack of them into a book of some sort. To call Wells a contrarian is only skimming the surface of his skills. There have been few scribes on either side of the pond — in the music or sports spheres — who could match his wit, or maintained bullshit detectors so finely attuned. He’ll be sorely missed and our thoughts go out to his family, friends and colleagues.
“These guys must be great,” exults The Landry Hat about Free Reign, an aspiring metal quartet featuring Dallas Cowboys offensive linemen Leonard Davis, Marc Colombo and Cory Proctor. “They are so good that ESPN refused to release even a few seconds of the live footage of these guys blasting their free rock music.” That’s certainly one way of looking at it (and sadly, their videos aren’t so hard to find). You could also say Free Reign are so accomplished, they’ve signed with the same Australian label responsible for bringing you the vocal stylings of such arias as Tim “Ripper” Owens and Chris Jericho (despite their sole upcoming gig being a DeMarcus Ware fundraiser). Musical attributes aside, I take this as yet another sign Wade Phillips has no control over his locker room. Surely during Jimmy Johnson’s heyday, a band like this could’ve at least done a one-off with Metalblade.
Hot Shit College Student submits the above, recently unearthed 1982 video of the Misfits in Kalamazoo as “a document of what probably was the most uncool night (possibly afternoon) of this child’s life.” On the other hand, how many parents are bold enough to eschewing the teachings of Dr.’s Spock and Bettleheim in favor of Robo?
“Christening Citi Field as a venue will give this concert the added weight of the historical significance of The Beatles appearance at Shea Stadium 44 years ago.” – AEG’s Randy Phillips, plugging Paul McCartney’s two-night stand at Fred & Jeff’s Monument To Avarice & Greed.
This is kind of like saying Sting’s upcoming Foxwoods appearance is right up there with the time Damned played the Rat. It’s not the same venue, it’s not the same band, and while I’ll grant Mr. Phillips there’s an obvious connection between the two Flushing events, it seems rather sad his company is unwilling to reach out to a band that once played Shea who are still quite active.
In a press release, the tome is described as a “visceral, rollercoaster ride inside bipolar disorder, rock ‘n’ roll, celebrity culture, and the competitive world of modeling from a rock star wife and recovering drug addict.
“Weiland’s story offers a window into the world of modeling and rock ‘n’ roll celebrity while providing deep insights into a serious and misunderstood psychological disorder.”
Apparently, the misunderstood psychological condition in question is Forsberg’s bipolar disorder. Though to be fair, there’s not a clinical term yet associated with the psychological condition that allows a vocalist to launch a career as a poor man’s Eddie Vedder only to morph into a confused Bowie wannabe just a few years later.
There’s a particularly wonderful passage in John Joseph’s harrowing & funny “The Evolution Of A Cro-magnon” in which the protagonist puts the fear of G-d into a disrespectul Dave Mustaine. Perhaps the latter’s current publicist might want to enlist Joseph’s assistance during Megadeth upcoming promo tour? The following bit of press release magic is culled from The Gauntlet.com :
Droogies!
Wow, the last week has just slipped right past me and here we are getting ready to start mixing, mastering (no worries here), and sequencing the record. We have all of the 12 songs done and ready to be revealed soon.
I am also going to start doing interviews for the new record and of course the upcoming Megadeth and SLAYER dates in Canada. Let me assure you though, the interviews may be really short, because if I get asked anything antagonistic or I am told, ‘Someone said this and someone said that,’ it will be over. I don’t care.
I am honestly looking forward to these dates, and hopefully more than just breaking the ice and doing four concerts with some old friends. I currently have the flu so this is going to be short.
I love you all and thanks for checking in on me here, and at TheLIVELine.”
2nd time around the block for the post-King Coffey ATC, and we’ll be debuting new material and trying to remember the old on a favorite stage. If you’ve not seen Elvis before, all prior notions of “menacing stage presence” will require revision (though to be fair, the R.S. Howard-esque guitar playing is an equal draw)
More info on this event as it draws closer, but I’m pretty sure Andre Rison won’t be able to make it. In the meantime, you can familiarize yourself with Elvis and decide for yourself if one local’s description of their “post-punk confrontationalism” is particularly apt (or totally full of shit)
Air Traffic Controllers Kingdom Of Suicide Lovers Diamondhead
How do I best describe Tommy Keene? America’s great living songwriter? A guy who transcended the power-pop scene long enough to see it revived for the 80th time? The only man to have backed both Bob Pollard and Paul Westerberg and lived to tell the tale? A man whose blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in the Anthony Michael Hall star vehicle “Out Of Bounds” should have led to other starring roles? A chap who effortlessly fuses all the good bits from Big Star, the Flamin’ Groovies or the Only Ones and came up with an achingly smart, funny hybrid that sounds like no one as much as himself?
None of the above descriptions really do the Washington DC native / LA transplant justice, but over the last quarter century Keene’s recordings for a succession of labels (amongst them Park Ave., Dolphin, Geffen, Matador, Spin Art….I’m leaving a few out mostly to keep the discussion short) have combined for a staggering body of work — his 2009 ‘In The Late Bright’ (Second Motion) might be the best of the pile.
Keene’s not played Austin in ages (fronting his own band, anyway) and on this occasion he’s supported by pals Sally Crewe & The Sudden Moves (w/ whom he’s touring this month) and Austin’s criminally overlooked (by me, anyway) MonkeyTown. The show starts a tad earlier than most Emo’s events, in deference to the delicate sensibilities of the promoter, who has a plane to catch the next day (sorry)
Metal Mike Saunders and his latest incarnation of the Angry Samoans are playing Austin’s Red 7 next Saturday, but the real action might well take place the following afternoon. Mr. Saunders it touting an “Anti-Talent Contest” to take place Sunday the 26th at an as-yet-undisclosed location. While the ruled of engagement might be rather close to those from the event above, Mike has helpfully provided a list of potential songs via a MySpace bulletin. More after the jump : Read the rest of this entry »
How many times have you wished there was an panoramic, interactive website that afforded you an 360-degree view of the CBGB’s toilets? Yeah, me neither, but it’s amazing someone went to all this effort.
Last Thursday marked the 15th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s suicide, and while everyone has their own memories of the Nirvana singer/guitarist, here’s two additional methods you may or may not like ;
b) Kurt, Krist and Dave preparing for an SNL broadcast with one of the more turrrrrible hosts in the program’s long history (video link courtesy David Schied).
Oh, Bob Costas, too. Far be it for me to suggest there’s some hyperbole employed on behalf of rock journeyman Benny Mardones. I mean, I can totally believe he was considered a pariah (video link courtesy Tim Cook).
Though I’m abdicating my Church Of The Up All Night responsibilities this evening, Max Dropout will be your host for an evening of exceptional cinema at Beerland (711 Red River) , screening “Rocktober Blood” (1984, dir. Beverly Sebastian) and Brian DePalma’s directorial debut effort, “Phantom Of The Paradise” (1974) Brooklyn Lager are supplying the free beer, there’s free pizza and i’m so jealous I cannot attend I’m literally shaking with rage. No wait, that’s just a minor stroke!
A: In an emergency, you can take a shit on this entry.
Until the Harris From Letch Patrol Birthplace & Museum Opens, this will have to do; from The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Annex.com (link courtesy Brooklyn Mutt). I’ve not been to see Mercer Street’s loving recreation of the famed CBGB awning, mostly because I spend most of my time in New York pouring through the racks of the Ned HaydenJohn Varatos Record Canteen. But my head is spinning at the wonders that oughta be displayed at this exhibit ; Rude Buddha flyers, Bill Popp & The Tapes setlists, a Texas Instruments calculator (still in the box, never opened), Copernicus’ smoking jacket, etc.
Do Not Feed The Rat (Bastard). The chap on the left’s amazing Laundry Room Squelchers are playing tonight at the Hideout at 1:30am. Alternatively, if you’re still looking for afternoon entertainment, FXFY v2.0 is ongoing throughout the day. Free beer, free form, but sadly, no free love (as I’ve already left).
Props to the organizers of this ambitious event, and while King and I are dearly looking forward to it, I’m not sure which of the following I find more distressing ; a) once again I have to tell an (admittedly) small audience how happy we are to be playing with Black Cock and b) 3 shows with Woodgrain in 15 days is sort of pushing the limits of shotgun marriages.
Cynics might call this the play-in-game for the real tournament, but they’d be wrong. First of all, much the way supermarkets and taverns are legally prevented from using phrases such as “Super Bowl” and “March Madness”, you’ll note that I’m not claiming connection to a rather prominent music conference/trade fair happening in Austin this week. Instead, like so many others, I’m merely taking advantage of all their years of hard work.
Secondly — and I can’t believe I have to mention this again — there is no need to RSVP for tomorrow’s party. Just show up. In the very unlikely event the venue is filled beyond capacity (and with so much else happening on the same block, I’m not counting on it), if you come back 15 minutes later you’ll probably get in.
How exactly did someone manage to program a 3 night (alleged) psych fest in Austin this weekend but neglect to book San Pedro, France’s GUNSLINGERS? A deconstructo trio whose not-so-nuanced approach recalls at various times the Groundhogs, Mick Farren’s Deviants, Sonics Rendezvous Band or the sludgier moments of the Bevis Frond, the Gunslingers are making their first Austin visit this Sunday. That it falls outside the confines of anything Black Angels-sanctioned is all the more reason why these visitors to our beautiful city need our help.
“In a systematic act of alchemy clearly designed to upstage in one fell swoop every budding Asahito Nanjo, every rising Kawabata Makoto, every post-Reck and neo-Keiji Heino, nay, every occidental Japrock wannabe combined, French super freak and guitar mangler Gregory Raimo has – with this solitary Gunslingers album release – put to shame each’n’every proto-metal musician across this lickle planet with a spiteful racket so accursedly evil, so mischievously demonic, so gurningly and grinningly piss-taking that barbarians across the globe (myself included, natch) can only drool in disbelief and green-eyed envy. For NO MORE INVENTION is nothing less than the sum total of every move culled from every essential No Wave, Post Punk, Free Rock statement thus far spewed forth onto vinyl and CD.
I know, you know, we ALL know the French might not know how to rock’n’roll 99.999999% of the time. But when they get it right, boy, does it smoke pole! And, like existentialist hero Albert Camus’ bizarre death in the back seat of a massively expensive Facel Vega HK550 supercar, Gunslingers’ NO MORE INVENTION is a raging and fumingly Gallic summation of all things Righteous, Nihilistic and Stylishly Paradoxical simultaneously.” – Julian Cope, August, 2008
(the following item appeared elsewhere earlier today)
The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported earlier today that Pylon guitarist/co-founder Randy Bewley (above, far right) passed away yesterday at the age of 53.
Bewley suffered a heart attack while driving in Athens, GA Monday evening.
Readers of a certain vintage will recall Bewley’s guitar work on songs like “Cool”, “Volume”, and “Feast On My Heart” bridging whatever stylistic chasm separated Andy Gill from RIcky Wilson. DFA’s 2007 reissue of Pylon’s 1980 debut LP, ‘Gyrate’ is a good place to start.
Thank you, Blabbermouth.net. This looks to be a certain literary classic, though it would be good to know whether or not Tommy Saxondale handed in a foreword before I place an order with Amazon.
While fans of the Philadelphia Soul can enjoy the fact that their team gets an extra year as the Arena League defending champions, it also means that they’re still waiting for that free Bon Jovi concert. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s “Gonzo” is on the case.
The guy on the other end of the phone was ticked at me. It happens.
“You know, to bang Jon for this isn’t right,” Ken Sunshine said.
Sunshine is the spokesman for rocker and Philadelphia Soul owner Jon Bon Jovi. (Great name, right? Sunshine, I mean, not Bon Jovi.) When I called to inquire about the free concert Bon Jovi promised the city, Sunshine turned defensive. Mere seconds into the call, I was being accused – politely – of preparing to “bang” his client, which I think means “criticize” in PR speak. At least I hope that’s what it means….
For the unfamiliar, Bon Jovi went on WMMR-FM’s Preston & Steve show last February and promised to perform a free concert in Philadelphia if the Soul somehow managed to win the Arena Football League championship. Shortly after his club emerged victorious in ArenaBowl XXII, Bon Jovi renewed that promise, publicly saying the concert would be held “later this year.”
That was back in July. Last time I looked at the calendar, it’s now February 2009, which is most certainly not the same year as 2008.
So what gives? Was Philly duped by the Jersey hair band front man?
“As indicated, Jon will fulfill his commitment when the schedule for the return of the Soul is clarified,” Sunshine said. “Everything he’s pledged to the fans of Philly regarding the Soul he’s fulfilled. No one can doubt his integrity.”
No. Of course not. Wouldn’t dream of it.
Except, since when was the concert contingent on the AFL’s holding another season? (The league recently canceled the 2009 campaign.) Until now, Bon Jovi and his representatives had never mentioned that proviso. What happens if the schedule isn’t “clarified” and the Soul never return? What happens if the AFL folds for good?
“I don’t know,” Sunshine said.
Now, it always seemed quite clear to me that the free concert was to happen at a Soul game, or before a Soul game, or somehow in conjunction with a Soul game. In fact, you’d almost figure “free” was gonna end up meaning “free with purchase of a football ticket.” It was all about as altruistic as a t-shirt cannon. Still, the guy deserves the “banging.” And it’s nice of Sunshine to take time out to discuss this when he must be busy with John Thain.
(Note: Because this is about Arena Football, I can’t quite bring myself to use the category “Gridiron.)
The Cramps’ NY based publicity co. issued a press release this afternoon confirming the death of vocalist Erick Lee Purkhiser aka Lux Interior, earlier today in Glendale, CA.
Possessed with a keen understanding & love of early rock’n'roll and savvy enough to help fashion a sonic & visual template countless bands around the globe have aped, Lux was without question, one of the funniest and most exciting frontmen in the game. That Lux and Ivy haven’t been inducted into the Rock’n'Roll Hall Of Fame is sort of besides the point — a Cramps performance (even years after the likes of Bryan Gregory, Nick Knox or Kid Congo Powers had left the band) was a living, breathing 3D history lesson every time.
(probably not Gene Simmons on the left. Though it’s really impossible to say)
Friend of the CSTB family Maura Johnston made the not so outrageous suggestion yesterday that Gene Simmons’ new Canadian label might be, y’know, a big pile of suck (”how Simmons will turn bands from Canada into superstars who eclipse the likes of Bryan Adams and Celine Dion is as yet unclear, but I’m going to hazard a guess that lots and lots of merchandising will likely be involved”). With typical aplomb, though somewhat confused about the author’s gender, Gene fired back earlier today :
You will see the built in bias…the arrogance of US media.
What are YOU and I going to do about it? We’re going to shame this guy into submission. We will send him and his ilk back to fish wrapping factory they escaped from.
How are we going to do it?
We’re going to find, develop, nurture and launch new talent emanating from — CANADA!!!. That’s right, Baby.
Why here?
Because you actually DO have the talent.
And now, you have a WAY.
ME.
Send us you electronic demos. (Read above how.).
Oh, and the asshole who posted the story? He gets no free tix, no backstage passes, and therefore, he won’t have access to our parties and our girls.
All Naysayers can get in line. It forms over there…to my left.
MH There’s a song on this album – Queen of the Supermarket – about a guy who has a terrible crush on a check-out girl. Where on earth did that spring from?
BS” They opened up this big, beautiful supermarket near where we lived. Patti and I would go down, and I remember walking through the aisles – I hadn’t been in one in a while – and I thought his place is spectacular. This place is… it’s a fantasy land! And then I started to get into it. I started looking around and hmmm – the subtext in here is so heavy! It’s like, ‘Do people really want to shop in this store or do they just want to screw on the floor?’” [laughs]
MH Sometimes it’s about buying groceries, you know…
BS “But maybe… [laughs] maybe there’s this other thing going on. In the States they’re sort of shameless, the bounty in them is overflowing. So the sexual subtext in the supermarket; well, perhaps, it’s just twisted me.”
MH It must be really hard to go shopping with you.
BS “I’m telling you, it’s there! So I came home, said: ‘Wow, the supermarket is fantastic, it’s my new favourite place. And I’m going to write a song about it!’ If there’s a supermarket and all these things are there, well, there has to be a queen. And if you go there, of course there is. There’s millions of them, so it’s kind of a song about finding beauty where it’s ignored or where it’s passed by.”
MH And does Patti still take you shopping?
BS “Yeah, she does [laughs]. Says, ‘Hey – what’s this one about?’”
You’ve been panned, you’ve been adored, you’ve received a Golden Globe nod. . .
I didn’t really want to be a movie star, and people do not understand that, because everyone wants to be a movie star, but me. Let me tell you something, man. I can’t even stomach (although I do it sometimes) dating actors, because they’re bitches. They’re women. They’re waiting around for someone to call them. You know, part of it’s self destructive as hell, and I guess a lot of people are really shocked by, you know, that kind of conscious decision that I just don’t want to play this game. Let’s also get real about it, you have a very dark, twisted, horrible thing like a suicide happen in your life, and you’re still getting fucked by the industry, but here’s the reality: Every time you buy a Nirvana record, part of that money is not going to Kurt’s child, or to me, it’s going to a handful of Jew loan officers, Jew private banks, its going to lawyers who are also bankers, its going to sixty PAs – Courtney Love, from an interview with Heeb’s Karen Bookatz.
The above remarks were dubbed “ANTI-SEMETIC RAVINGS” by the New York Post’s Page 6, to which Heeb’s Joshua Newman responds, “remarks made by this woman of Jewish background were being made in the context of a Jewish conversation in a Jewish magazine….this is how Jews talk to Jews.”
Newman might be entirely correct, in this case anyway. While the Widow Cobain’s deep thoughts concerning the allocation of her loot sound nothing like an conversation I’ve had without someone who wasn’t a flaming anti-semite, I can certainly allow for the possibility that this kind of dialogue happens all the time. Pair up one Jew who isn’t very bright with another that is utterly star-struck, and I’m sure this passes for shooting the breeze.
In the meantime, I’m gonna think long and hard about Ms. Love’s explosive charges. As one of the only Jews in the entertainment business who isn’t part of the vast conspiracy to screw Frances Bean out of her private school tuition, I pledge to do my part to set things right. For starters, I’m not gonna buy anymore Nirvana albums.
Noted animal rights champion / occassional baseball manager Tony La Russa has organized a benefit show to raise funds for his Animal Rescue Foundation this coming Sunday night in St. Louis. “It’s been a busy off-season for Tony La Russa — what with all these great rock bands on tour. In recent months the Cardinals skipper has caught Velvet Revolver, Dragonforce, Joe Satriani and AC/DC in concert, to name just a few” writes the Riverfront Times’ Chad Garrison (link taken from Baseball Think Factory). Hey, if you’d just lost the services of Aaron Miles and observed your GM’s failure to sign any prominent starting pitchers, a Velvet Revolver gig might be preferable to reading the sports pages. Not on La Genius’ iPod, presumably : Asleep At The Wheel.
Vince Gill will be playing here in St. Louis. We didn’t peg you as a fan of country music.
I like all music. Vince Gill is great. And Lady Antebellum is as hot as it gets right now. But, yeah, my preference is classic rock, which gets me into trouble here with my daughters. They’re into heavy metal. But the whole family, really, we’re all rock & rollers. We’ve been to Metallica and the Scorpions recently. Unfortunately, I missed the Eagles and Journey this past year — that really bothered me.
Huey Lewis is from the Bay Area. Are you friends with him from there?
Yeah, I’ve known Huey for twenty years. He’s a fan of the Giants, but a lot of the band members like the A’s.
Of course, another famous band from the Bay Area is the Grateful Dead. How many times did you catch them back in the day?
Only a couple. Bruce Hornsby sat in on keyboards with them for a couple years. He is a good and personal friend. But the Dead weren’t on the top of my list. I liked the Doobies better. They were from the Bay Area. Their lead singer, Michael McDonald, is from Missouri. He’s good.
Kevin Cronin and Dave Amato of REO Speedwagon are locals of sorts, with their band starting out in Champaign, Illinois. Any REO songs you specifically identify with? Perhaps “Ridin’ the Storm Out”?
“Keep on Rolling” is good. But they got, like, twenty hits. What’s not to like?
Last question: If you were coaching a celebrity baseball team with Huey Lewis as a weak-hitting catcher and Michael McDonald as his ace starting pitcher, would you still bat McDonald eighth and Lewis ninth, bucking convention?
The idea of hitting a position hitter ninth only works if he is a good batter. The idea is to get him on base, making your third hitter — Albert Pujols — your clean-up hitter. You turn the lineup around that way. Now, if Huey was not a good hitter, I would try to find a better hitter and still bat Michael eighth. But I refuse to believe that Huey wouldn’t be a good hitter.
(not the Deron Williams of rock’n'roll)
Jody Genesy of the Deseret News ventures into the Jazz locker room with the most pressing question imaginable prior to tonight’s tilt with New Orleans.
Deron Williams continued his comedy routine when asked if he was offended by ESPN columnist Bill Simmons’ much-ballyhooed statement early last fall about how purporting the Team USA teammates to be co-equals was as silly as comparing Pearl Jam and the Stone Temple Pilots.
His response was a smile and a claim that he didn’t know the meaning of the comparison because he isn’t familiar with those rock groups.
“I don’t listen to either of them,” Williams said with a slight grin. “Are they like neck and neck or are they here and there? So, basically what’s that mean?”
When told it means Simmons (aka “The Sports Guy”) considers Paul to be Pearl Jam and far superior — on the court, and probably in concert — Williams/Stone Temple Pilots didn’t act too offended.
“Everybody’s entitled to an opinion,” he said. “That’s OK. It doesn’t bother me.”
Kyle Korver also found no offense at Simmons’ comparison.
“I’m a big fan of Stone Temple Pilots,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Given that Korver wasn’t a member of Team USA nor singled out by Simmons, a Hinder reference might’ve been more appropriate.
Original Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton (above, right, flanked by Niagra) was found dead in his Ann Arbor residence earlier today. Asheton, 60, would be a pivotal enough figure in rock history were his only contribution his playing on the first two Stooges albums, but subsequent stints in New Order, Destroy All Monsters and perhaps most of all, the short lived New Race (alongside Radio Birdman’s Deniz Tek and Rob Younger, along with the MC5’s Dennis Thompson) only enhanced his stature.
It would be an understatement to say we’ve lost a guy whose playing provided a template for huge chunks of any decent record collection. Through the past 6 years, Asheton’s performances with the reunited Stooges became a staple at otherwise dreadful outdoor rock festivals around the world (ATP excepted), and writing as someone who witnessed about a half dozen of ‘em, I consider myself ridiculously fortunate to have seen and heard him play.
Edition 21 of Jon Solomon’s 24 Hour Christmas Spectacular is in progress as of this writing on WPRB.com. Please keep in mind, just because you can see Jon and he cannot see you is no excuse for not wearing trousers.
The above clip of the Minutemen performing “Working Men Are Pissed” and the Urinals’ “Ack Ack Ack” at DC’s 9:30 Club in 1984 is posted to mark the 23rd anniversary of D. Boon’s passing. I’m sure those old enough to remember will concur that Xmas ‘85 was unusually rotten.
Persons familiar with the more avant side of Austin nightlife are already well aware the Dikes Of Holland are America’s Finest Band (Without Any Music Available Via MySpace). The Palin Brothers —- Trig (guitar), Track (guitar) and Traps (drums) are making just their second local appearance after wearing out their welcome during a succession of Alaskan all-ages shows. The Brothers may or may not include members of the Air Traffic Controllers and The Black — much like the disappearance of Eddie Wilson, this is one of rock’s great mysteries.
Who amongst us hasn’t seen The Shitty Beach Boys and wondered out loud, “wouldn’t it be nice if they just did their own songs?” That few of you, huh? I’m very confident, however, that on Saturday evening, the Stuffies will do their part to dispell the myth that the suicide rate skyrockets during the Christmas season. Not with charts or statistics, mind you, but through the gift of song.
….and Paul’s the one who came up with it. Kiss’ founding vocalist/guitarist shares his thoughts on the matter of intellectual property with AskMen.com (link swiped from Blabbermouth.net).
Q: Back in the ’80s, a decision was made in order to respect the fans that Vinnie Vincent and Eric Carr would have to wear new face makeup; why was the decision made to allow Eric Carr and Tommy Thayer to wear the makeup of original members?
Stanley: It wasn’t to respect the fans; it was a misstep, if anything. The idea that we should dilute the four icons, which are world-known (not by name, but by character) and come up with like “Frog Man” or “Turtle Boy” was a big misstep. Those iconic figures are known worldwide; you show anybody in the world a photo of KISS and they’ll tell you it’s KISS. So, it just sold everybody short to think that when somebody left the band that they should take those characters with them. In a sense, we all created each others’ characters because it was the four of us together and the synergy between the four of us that made those characters. Could we have done it on our own? I don’t think so. It was all of us together that came up with it.
Q: : Is there any truth to the rumors about a “Kiss II” reality show?
Stanley: It’s kind of gotten distorted into something that it really isn’t. The idea that some guys are going to take our place and we’re going to go home is never going to happen. Really, what it was and remains is the idea that Gene and I have created and nurtured something for 35 years… [and] as successful and consistent as we’ve been kind of makes people wonder what it would be like if we put together another band and gave [them] that experience. It’s much closer to that.
I’m gonna have to plead ignorance about Dennis or Under The Gun’s music, but when it comes to flyer art, this guy is nothing short of a visionary. Flatstock awaits!
It would only be appropriate (though not accurate) at this juncture for a surviving member of Candlebox to hold Mr. Corgan accountable for the demise of ECW. From Home Run Derby’s Richie Rich:
Thursday night during a break at the Smashing Pumpkins show at the Chicago Theater, lead singer and Cub fan Billy Corgan waxed poetic about the Bears winning the Super Bowl in 2012, Mike Ditka coming out of retirement, and his beloved Cubs, while getting in some digs at White Sox fans – telling them to stay the F*ck out of his Cubs Fan conversations.
Then Corgan said that he might write a song about the Cubs …
“God Bless Steve Goodman, but I think I can do better than ‘Go Cubs Go’
Really – I’ve been called a lot of things, arrogant is one of them. I don’t think this is arrogance. I think I can top ‘Go Cubs Go’”
Still on the subject of Cub-themed songs … Corgan did what someone should have done a long time ago … he blamed Eddie Vedder for the Cubs’ 2008 playoff collapse.
“If … If … IF … the Cubs did have a chance this last year that just passed … Fuckin’ Eddie Vedder killed that shit dead. Last I checked Eddie ain’t living here, Okay?
Eddie ain’t living here to write a song about my fuckin’ team.”
Ya listening, Ben Schwartz? There’s a clearly defined residency requirement for supporting Billy Corgan’s Chicago Cubs.
$20 from BarackBrains.com, half the loot going to the Obama campaign (link courtesy Jeff Campagna). No word, however, if these guys get a cut, but Austinites can take it up with them this weekend.
Needless to say, “American Storm” isn’t nearly as good a song as “2+2=?”. But aside from footage of Bob and the Silver Bullet Band — seemingly a larger ensemble than most symphony orchestras — rocking hard on a stage the size of an aircraft carrier, “American Storm” benefitted from scenery chewing turns from James Woods, Randy Quaid, Lesley Ann Warren and Scott Glenn. What’s actually happening during these scenes is a bit hard to figure out. It seems to have something to do with cocaine. And the tossing of drinks/food (which usually accompanies a cocaine deal, if memory serves me correctly).
I saw the original clip on VH-1 and MTV a handful of times in 1986 and struggled mightily to discern any sort of storyline. Or for that matter, how this clip ever came to see the light of day. There’s another version floating around the YouTubes in which only the lipsynch footage is shown — perhaps Scott Glenn was concerned he might be recognized.
Writes Tim Cook, “The casting call for 3 members seems a little suspect but since this appeal worked so well for the Gas Station Dogs, I’m trying not to be so judgmental.” After hearing the tunes on this guy’s MySpace page, I’ve buried my Smashchords cassettes in the backyard. As seen on Craigslist :
SLAMSTERDAMN SEEKS 2 HEAVY GUITARISTS AND DRUMS!
myspace.com/slamsterdamn
slamsterdamn@yahoo.com
we are hella connected (mostly in L.A.)
lead singer and bass.
Tracks w/ my vocs will be mixed in and posted in a few days as soon as
we take care of a tech prob. Killer home studio DAW.
Currently in sonoma county/sebastapol/russian sewer area,
looking to relocate as close as poss to san fran.
this is not another tool / incubus / APC / AIC plagerism exercise.
all originals, well experienced in many aspects
of the music shit, er, i mean biz….
YOU: your own gear, be pro minded.
(but i have backup 300w tubeworks/mosvalve combo that sounds like god),
the usual basic must haves and must do’s and dont ever do’s
to pull your part in this (means paying bills).
Meter and clicks yes.
My own riffing is off, that’s why i’m not the gtrist….
Thieves will be kneecapped,
and tweakers/ human drug vacuum cleaners need not apply.
Very low tolerance for idiots.
If you need shelter if you have to commute/record for days on end, etc…
I have a xtra size rv van/future tourbus to shelter in (the ‘MOTHERSHIP’).
Be able to roll the roads, be ready produce FAST.
All originals, you get the writing credit for what you create and
contribute; this will be ran as a bonafide business.
Musically, what is it? Probably stoner rock….and gettin’ off
