Topics

31

Non-Music Shit / Profile on "The Real Janelle" HEssig, AKA Janelle Blarg

« on: July 31, 2014, 01:00:46 PM »

Wrote a profile about "The Real Janelle" since she has a book out now that she wrote with Brontez Purnell from the Younger Lovers.

For fans of the almighty Janelle and the super funny Tales of Blarg...

http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2014/07/31/gimme-action-bay-area-comic-artist-janelle-hessig-publishes-first-book/

32

Music Shit / The ultimate Residents article?

« on: June 30, 2014, 12:25:31 PM »

This is something I've been working on for a month and I'm glad it's in.

MAke sure to watch the videos -- they're great!

http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2014/06/30/tap-into-your-inner-resident-notes-on-our-planets-strangest-band/

BTW I promise not to post every goddamn article I write, just the shit I think you dudes will dig

33

Music Shit / I finally posted bits from my Devo interview

« on: June 26, 2014, 04:30:19 PM »

I barely got through this thing with Jerry, especially since he was not the most friendly or talkative that day. But he humored me and answered my super nerdy questions, and here are the best bits:

http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2014/06/26/devos-hardcore-tour-in-the-beginning-was-the-end/

PS Big THANK YOU to Keith for the John Belushi anecdote!

34

Music Shit / Own Lou Reed's equipment

« on: June 17, 2014, 02:20:16 PM »

It looks like a bunch of shit but I know there's some big VU fans here:

http://stores.ebay.com/Lou-Reed-Archive

35

Music Shit / Body Count does Instutionalized

« on: June 13, 2014, 11:21:48 AM »

Apparently Ice-T:

1.   Loves playing X-Box
2.   Does not give a fuck about Oprah
3.   Just wants to check his motherfuckin? email

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqIp3i1ZBzI#t=141

36

Upcoming Shows/Tours/Events / BAY AREA SHOWS: Topp Dudez w/ members of FNU Ronnies, Musk, Slicing GRandpa, etc

« on: April 28, 2014, 03:10:12 PM »

This Thursday night, drop your plans.

The debut of Topp Dudez AKA Hoarder AKA (it's still undecided, I think?), featuring members of FNU Ronnies, Musk, Slicing Grandpa, Dead Witch and others (Terminal Boredom user: BATSHIT on Vox, user: JimV on bass, me on drums)

Also playing:
Murder Murder (local noise heroes)
Mormon Crosses (Vancouver)
N.213 GROUP VISION (Vancouver) (members of Shearing Pinx)

Thursday, May 1, 9 pm
Hemlock SF, $6

37

Music Shit / Mike Atta (Middle Class) has died

« on: April 21, 2014, 10:57:26 AM »

From Middle Class Facebook page:

It is with a heavy heart that we announce that Mike Atta, guitarist of Middle Class and our brother and friend passed away Sunday at 4pm. It is an end of an era and our world just got a little smaller. Middle Class would like to express our collective thanks to all of you that supported Mike in his illness both financially and spiritually, and our band that Mike loved so much.

One of the best punk records EVER:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVKANtcUqAs

38

Music Shit / How Art Chantry brought back Ed Roth's career, no thanks to the Birthday Party

« on: April 16, 2014, 04:27:46 PM »

Great post on Facebook from Art Chantry

cleaning off my desktop again:

this is the  infamous album cover for "Jumk Yard" by that notoriously nasty band (Nick Cave's original group) "The Birthday Party."  the image was created by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.  at the time Roth did this cover, he hadn't done a 'monster' drawing in a long long time.  in fact, he was working as the sign painter at Knott's Berry Farm.  he lived a quiet life and assumed he had been forgotten about.

sadly, that was true.  in the mid 1960's, 'Big Daddy' was king of the monsters.  his Rat Fink cartoon character was a hit and he sold huge numbers of model kits, tshirt, decals, plastic novelty items, even kiddie halloween costumes.  he was also a superstar car customizer and pinstriper.  his scratch-built kustom kars were so wild that they were actually closer to sculpture than drivable vehicles. 

his career was cut short by several things:  1) the Beatles invaded amercia and killed the demand for the southern california surfer/hot rod teen craze.    nobody wanted Rat Finks anymore, they wanted Beatles.  2)  his politics were conservative, even far right.  he loudly supported the war in vietnam and hated peacenik hippies, etc.  that further isolated him from the new teen culture that had suddenly emerged.  and 3) he started to get into designing choppers and three wheel trikes.  that alienated him from the car culture, who dismissed two and three wheel vehicles as "toys" back then.  his creations were banned from the car shows.

Roth also had an infamous run-in with a conflict between the hell's angels and the FBI.  Roth had start hanging around with the Angels (becoming an honorary member - a 'pledge').  in an argument over use of the Hells Angels logo (Roth wanted to sell it on a tshirt!!!  yeow!) bad blood erupted between Roth and the motorcycle gang, who held their "colors' (logo) in extreme high reverence.  Roth was also approached by the fbi, who had him under surveillance because so many Hells Angels were hanging around his car shop studio.  the situation became extremely tense and (according to tales i've been told) resulted in a shoot-out standoff at Roth's studio that lasted several days.  soon after that, Roth came to work one day to find his studio/shop completely emptied out - everything gone to the cement floor - even his guard dogs were gone.  he was later told it was all burned in the desert in retaliation over events.

so, Roth laid low after that.  he did some sign painting and decorative pin striping, but his Rat Fink empire was over.  he drifted a bit and met a woman and fell in love and raised a family.  his wife was morman and he converted (whole-heartedly) to the morman faith and lived a very quiet life working (for some 19 years, i believe) as the in-house sign painter at Knott's Berry Farm.  that's where i found him.

yes, Roth was sort of forgotten.  he became obscure - "retro" history.  there were even imitators and outright fraudulent "Big Daddy" characters cashing in on his old fame pretending to be him (he had to sue to get them to stop). i hired whim in 1985 to do a cover for The Rocket.  he was SO THRILLED anybody under 30 knew who he was.  he still did the car show circuit now and then doing airbrushed tshirts for people as they waited.  but, he really hadn't done much "monster' stuff since the olden days.  so, my request sort of came out of the blue at him.

however, when i told him that the cover was for a "rock and roll" magazine, he flinched.  he said, "no."  i pressed further to find the problem and he started talking about THIS album cover.  you see, Ed Roth was old skool through and through. for him, when you say "rock and roll", it meant little richard and chuck berry.  his listening taste pretty much ended there, too. when he recently was hired to do a "rock and roll' record cover, that's what he thought it was.  he had no idea what PUNK had spawned.  he didn't listen to the record until after he got a finished copy.  when he put it on the turntable to give it a listen, he was MORTIFIED.

you see, when he converted to mormonism, he MEANT it.  he stayed a mormon the rest of his life - even after he had split up with his wife.  he was even trying to revive Rat Fink as a cartoon strip to syndicate where ratty was a ecological warrior battling corporate evil and fighting for the forces of good and all that.  no joke.  Nick Cave and The Birthday Party absolutely shocked the shit out of him.  he was furious about being 'tricked'.  he refused to ever have anything to do with rock and roll ever again.

when i got him to tell me the story, i tried to explain that the band he did the cover for was a notoriously downbeat and negative band that was of legendary proportions.  i explained our little magazine was not like that.  we even interviewed Chuck Berry once.  he finally promised to not walk away until i sent him a bunch of issues to look at  first.

after he got the stack of Rocket magazines, he LOVED it. he decided to do the cover.  it was a big hit and Roth continued to subscribe to The Rocket for the rest of his life.  one of my big shot designer friends saw that Rat Fink cover and was reminded of Roth - and what a hero he was to our generation (you'd be shocked at how many really famous graphic designers started their lives doing monster tshirts and hot rod pinstriping.  really famous names, too.)  eventually, he was invited to speak to the Stanford Design Symposium, where he was the absolute HIT of the show.  he got a standing ovation was considered one of the best speakers they ever had. years later, when i ran into Ed Roth again, he told me that Rocket cover re-started his career.  that his life change after he did that cover.  and then he thanked me.  no way!  i was humbled almost to tears.  my hero thanked ME.  ridiculous.

now, he's as popular as he ever was (even though he died a few years back).  people collect his work and Roth made a small fortune before his untimely death. his work will survive beyond the 1960's and there is awhile new generation of crazy hot monster makers to continue the legacy.  every time i see this record cover, i laugh.  "the birthday party that almost killed Ed "Big Daddy" Roth."

39

Music Shit / RIP Bob Casale

« on: February 18, 2014, 09:39:17 AM »

Goodbye Bob II

Very sad news to report today.

Bob Casale of Devo. Born: July 14th, 1952 . Deceased: February 17th, 2014

As an original member of Devo, Bob Casale was there in the trenches with me from the beginning. He was my level-headed brother, a solid performer and talented audio engineer, always giving more than he got. He was excited about the possibility of Mark Mothersbaugh allowing Devo to play shows again. His sudden death from conditions that lead to heart failure came as a total shock to us all.

Gerald Casale, Devo founder.

40

New Releases For Sale/Distro Updates / WHAT? SOMETHING NEW On Lemon Session?

« on: January 08, 2014, 01:56:01 AM »

Yeah, I guess I have these tapes you can buy (Musk and Raw Nite) and all the rest of the Lemon Session catalog on Bandcamp:

http://lemonsession.bandcamp.com/

Please god buy them

41

Demo Tape / Wasted Places

« on: November 17, 2013, 09:51:37 PM »

I've been working on this project for the past 2 years (?) and I finally have stuff I'm totally happy with:

http://wastedplaces.bandcamp.com/

42

Music Shit / Neu and Krautrock/early electronics

« on: November 09, 2013, 08:02:12 PM »

So I'm posting this because every time I do, I swear other people on here tip me to what become my favorite records.

I've been listening to a lot of Neu and similar stuff -- Michael Rother solo, Chrisma -- but that's it. I like some other related stuff (this live track from Harmonia is fucking awesome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpakAmF68JA) but is there anything I'm missing? I want to know it all!

43

Music Shit / Stories of touring with Richard Lloyd

« on: October 20, 2013, 02:25:27 AM »

I've been enjoying the shit out of this podcast "Worst Gig Ever" but this week's episode with the guys who played the Petes on "The Adventures of Pete and Pete" takes the cake.

Why you might care? The younger Pete used to play bass for Richard Lloyd until he went to jail after blowing up at a show in Cleveland.

For that story and more:
http://worstgigeverpodcast.tumblr.com/

BTW was anybody there at the Richard Lloyd show at the Grog Shop where Billy Ficca was supposed to play drums?

44

Music Shit / Savages -- I think we're supposed to like them

« on: October 13, 2013, 05:46:35 PM »

Does anybody like this band? No, I'm not talking about the garage band, but the London-based goth all-girl group.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL7uHhCo4qw

I wish I could like it but something just seems so contrived... Also, they just don't have the songs in my book.

45

Music Shit / Rules of the Tribe: Discharge goes glam

« on: October 02, 2013, 08:45:08 PM »

I just can't get into second wave punk. Wish I could enjoy Discharge but the Bay Area hardcore scene ruined any chances of that.

I still really enjoyed reading this, especially with the audio going:

http://theappendix.net/issues/2013/7/rules-of-the-tribe-hardcore-punks-and-hair-metal-in-the-1980s