DRIVER 13 and the IMMORTAL BOOGALOO

CREATIVE DROUGHT AND NOTHING GOOD ON TV BLUES

2010-02-25T20:03:00.000-08:00

The creative well has been rather dry as of late. Maybe it's been the long winter, or job burnout, or whatever, but I haven't felt like writing at all. In fact the only writing I've done has been filling out my NCAA Tournament brackets, and I was none too creative with those as a matter of fact. I'm sitting here surrounded by empty Old Style beer cans and still nothing is coming. Watching tv might help, but as I 'm flipping through channels I still can't get a kick start. However, one thing does occur to me as I watch the tube. If I never have another creative thought in my life again, I could still likely get a job in television. Talk about a freakin' wasteland.
It seems like when I was a kid there was all kinds of cool stuff being broadcast. Creature Features and B-movies on the late show, Bugs Bunny cartoons, Supercar, Leave It To Beaver, the Munsters, Have Gun Will Travel, Get Smart, Outer Limits,Twilight Zone, Spiderman cartoons from the 60's, the list goes on and on.
Nowadays things do not seem to be any where near as cool as the days of old, but then I could say that about all kinds of things, not just television. Yeah, I realize that I sound like some old codger bitching about how things just ain't like they used to be, and everybody thinks the stuff from their time period is better than what's going down currently, I get that, but it seems like there must be more to it than that.
I mean is 16 and Pregnant more fun to watch than Dragnet? Is Celebrity Rehab a more intense thrill ride than Combat with Vic Morrow? Can you honestly tell me that the Steve Wilkos show is more life affirming than Ozzie and Harriet? Maybe you can, but I won't believe it, and your coolness will be suspect.
I now have I don't even know how many channels of television, but there are only three that I really watch with any regularity. I always check Discovery, the History Channel, or Turner Classic Movies first when I decide to watch a little tv. I love these channels and if I'm watching tv it's most likely going to be these stations if there's not a game or fight that I want to watch on. I use to watch the news channels frequently, but I really don't like them much anymore. They are really more news opinion channels than hard news anyway, and I can't think of anything I care less about than Bill O'reilly or Keith Olbermann's opinion about anything. (Of course they feel the same way about me).
Anyway, to get to the semi point of this pointless post; I have 100+ channels and I have three stations I really think are great, some assorted shows here and there(and almost all of them are old shows) that I like, but for my money I'd rather be watching a DVD of some old weird movie, or reading a 1970's Fantastic Four comic book. I know I ain't hip, but lets face it, unhip is the new cool.

STRICTLY SONICS

2010-02-14T19:07:00.000-08:00

THE SONICS - BOOM (NORTON RECORDS)

In the last 20 years or so the state of Washington had become rather famous for it's music. Nirvana and Pearl Jam were certainly living in the limelight back in the 90's. I admit that I was much more partial to the likes of Mudhoney and the Melvins, but they were not necesarilly on the lips of all the movers and shakers out there in music biz land. Yeah you'de hear the names of some of these bands mentioned and occasionaly see the videos on EMPTY V but all the heaps of praise and accolades were being heaped upon Cobain and Pearl Jam. (At least until Pearl Jam decided to stop making videos, and who knows, you just may be able to thank them for breaking the back of MTV as far as music vids were concerned).

The point that I'm going to take forever to get too is that as famous as these bands may have been or not have been, there is a giant musical heritage in the state, and although the bands I'm refering to may be well known inside the circles of people who really dig their rock and roll, out in the mainstream you most likely won't hear them mentioned at all. There are a number of bands that could fit that profile, but the band I'm talking about goes by the name of the Sonics.

This may very well be the band that forged the groundwork for all of the raw, high energy blast that has come since their existence. I realize that it can be argued that Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Link Wray, or any number of R&B shouters from the late 50's and early 60's could be credited with starting what can be regarded as the high energy jams that you can call the precurser to punk, and who am I to argue with that line of thinking, but the Sonics took all of that stuff and took it to that next level. The Sonics were raw, wild, and savage.

The record Boom, which was the second long player from the band, most certainly must have fueled a lot of mid 60's teenage rampage. This thing has intensity in spades. Take it from lead vocalist Gerry Rosalie who commented about the song He's Waitin'. "It's all about REVENGE. Like somebody treated you so rotten that you hope they go to hell!"Rosalie's tonsil shredding vocal delivery on the rockers is as electrifying as clamping a live power cable to your tongue. Larry Parypa's guitar riffage is like pile driver punch to the heart. This bands version of Louie Louie is the second best I've ever heard, and I've heard a lot. (The Swamp Rats have the best in my opinion in case you're interested. Check it out.)

This reissue gives you, not only the greatness that is the album Boom, but also two live cuts of fan favorites The Witch and Psycho, as well as fantastic liner notes by the truly great Miriam Linna. It's packed with info and great band stories. Look, it's a Norton release, so you really can't go wrong.

So pick this thing up and listen to some real Classic Rock that you'll never get a chance to hear on that radio format. Go ahead and call up your Classic Rock station and request it. They'll never have heard of 'em and probably feel superior because of it. A band like the Sonics will not fit into their extremely narrow and bland parameters of rockism and they'll quickly slap some Lynard Skynard on the laser pad to prove it.

HEAVY METAL MINDBENDERS

2010-02-11T20:11:00.000-08:00

I have to say that I really don't know what the term Heavy Metal refers to anymore. But I am sure that the two platters of sonic assault that I'm about to discuss certainly fit the bill. Buckle up, we're about to hit warp drive.

SLEEP - SLEEP'S HOLY MOUNT IAN (EARACHE)

If you told me that this was a lost Black Sabbath record from around '73 I'd probably believe it. The music is a dead ringer and really the only difference is the vocals of Al Cisneros, and even that has a certain Ozzy like quality. This sound is big, earthshaking, like the footsteps of some giant Lovecraftian creature loose upon the planet. The riffs on this album don't stomp you, they crush you under the earth. The lyrics are kind of what you would expect; mythic, apocalyptic, and filled with solar seas and atomic skies. Wallpaper your bedroom with black light posters, put this disc on the stereo, and pass the bong brother.

MAINLINER - MAINLINER SONIC (CHARNEL MUSIC)

This super group from Japan are the ticket when you want loud, distorted, fuzz, and feedback drenched rock n roll. This group is comprised of members from High Rise, Acid Mothers Temple, and Ruins. If you are familiar with those bands then you pretty much know what your in store for with this. Set the controls for the heart of a star going supernova. This may be what it sounds like to have a building come down around your head. These guys know how to make noise and man does it satisfy. The drums sound like chunks of metal being beat on by iron bars, the bass hits with an atomic nightmare ferocity, and the guitar is a flurry of solar storm chaos that hits all the right spots. Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray" aesthetics taken to some extreme cosmic levels? I don't know, but this sonic nerve blast will leave the weaklings brain dead in the dirt.

REVIEWS, REVIEWS, REVIEWS

2010-01-06T11:33:00.000-08:00

Since the Grammys will be coming up soon it gets me to thinking about music. Actually it gets me thinking about good music. You know, the kind of music that the Grammys will completely ignore, opting instead to promote and honor all of the least common denominators and music business droids. So in honor of this prestigious event I have decided to discuss a few platters that ( as far as I know) have never received the award.

ELIAS HULK - UNCHAINED (BEAT GOES ON RECORDS)

Early 70's hard blues psych. Proto metal, stoner rock, that will conjure up images of guys with long, greasy hair, and glazed stares playing some seedy bar in some nowhere town. Great acid guitar, and the singer kinda sounds like Pete Townshend in places. The whole thing recorded in only a day or two (as it should be). The cover is pretty cool and makes me wonder if Marvel Comics ever tried to sue these guys? Although there sub - unknown status and lack of money making would, I guess answer the question.

FLAMING GROOVIES - TEENAGE HEAD (BUDDHA RECORDS)

An anabolic and amphetamine speed ball fueled stomp blast by these California born and bred monsters. The Groovies shed their musical skins a couple of different times through their career. This period is my favorite, although I do like their later power pop phase as well. Roy Loney, Cyril Jordan, and the boys lay down a high energy groove that has one foot in early 70's Rolling Stones, and the other foot in Charlie Feathers. This disc will take you where you want to go.

JESSE HECTOR - GORILLA GARAGE: THE JESSE HECTOR STORY(RPM RECORDS)

This disc gives you an overview of the musical life of Jesse Hector with his various bands and whatnot. This thing delivers on a lot of fronts; glam, proto punk, proto metal, garage, and rockabilly. It's all there in Jesse Hectors music wrapped in all of its high energy glory. Crushed Butler, The Hammersmith Gorillas, and other of his bands are here. When listening to this I find it impossible to understand how anyone can give a crap about stuff like Breaking Benjamines, Buck Cherry, or whoever it is now days that is supposed to be getting out the jams. This music is the real crash and smash that you need, owing a lot to the Who, Mott the Hoople, T-Rex, and Jimi Hendrix. The song "Carolina" alone will probably add 10 years to your lifespan. In fact, in these dark days where everything has become permeated with abysmal dross, this disc will save your life. WHAT ARE YA DOING STILL READING THIS? GO GET IT.

BOOGALOO BOOK NOOK

2010-01-02T19:58:00.000-08:00

With all of the cold, windy, winter weather going on, I find myself much less inclined to feel like walking outside my door. I would just as soon sleep the whole winter away, but those bills have got to be paid. Gotta keep the lights on here at Driver 13 HQ after all. And although these dark and desolate days can really get one down, there are always a few items of interest to keep things from getting downright bleak. Which brings me to a couple of books that have found their way to my mail box.

TRASH! THE COMPLETE NEW YORK DOLLS by Kris Needs and Dick Porter. (Plexus)
Just as no record collection is complete without the New York Dolls, neither is any library complete without a book on said New Yorkers. I'm not really sure how many books there are on the subject, but this one would seem to be a worthy book to invest in. I certainly don't consider myself any kind of expert on the band, but I knew about a great deal of stuff that's in this book from other sources. And there are a lot of different sources out there about this band, but it is nice to have a lot of this info in one place, and the book is well written, which is really what it's all about when your gonna plunk down some hard earned cash for a book.

This book does seem to be pretty comprehensive, you get not only the history of the band, but some prehistory as well. It also covers the post Dolls events of all the members, mostly Johnny, but then he was rather prominent (along with Jerry) in the punk scene of the middle to late 70's, with the Heartbreakers and all, but the other guys are covered as well. It also covers the new version of the band that is still going ( as far as I know) , and all of the attention that they seem to be getting, or at least had been getting a few years ago.
If you don't know anything about the Dolls, then definitely get this book. If you know a little, or even a lot about them, you might want to go ahead and get it anyway. You're bound to pick up a little piece of info that you didn't know.
Heck there's even facts in here that I could have lived without knowing. I mean, I'm not sure that I wanted to know that Johnny wasn't happy with the guitar sound on the two records. I mean wow. I have always considered both of those albums as ultimate primo blast, talismanic objects of power, and johnny didn't feel the true sound of the band was captured. Sounds like freakin' perfection to me, but what do I know?

WACKY PACKAGES (ABRAMS)

Next up is a book dedicated to the greatness that was Wacky Packages. When I was a little kid in the 70's I thought these things were absolutely great and my opinion of just how great these are hasn't changed any. The Topps company put these stickers out alongside their baseball and football cards. Some of the artwork was done by underground comix names like Bill Griffith (Zippy the Pinhead) and others.The book is pretty much a couple of page interview with Art Spiegalman, an afterword by Jay Lynch, and the stickers. Well not the actual stickers, but each page is a reproduction of the stickers, series 1 through 7, from 1973 to 1974. The dust jacket of the book is like the wax wrapping that the stickers came in. These stickers were as important to my cultural formation as MAD Magazine, 60's and 70's Marvel comics, and rock and roll.

A POST YULE BLOG

2009-12-26T10:03:00.000-08:00

PHIL SPECOR - A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOU FROM ....

Christmas is over and done now. I hope everyone had a great time. I really enjoyed the holiday this year and even the usual nastiness of the season which is shopping did not seem to bring me down all that much. The reason for that is clearly the Phil Spector Christmas album. This is hands down my favorite Christmas record. I actually like most Christmas music (although I hate most anything done by modern artists and bands, but then that applies to almost everything for me, so I guess that ain't no big deal)but stuff by Mannheim Steamroller, symphony orchestras, church choirs and most any of the classic stuff I can get with and enjoy. The Phil Spector album however, is always heavy rotation during this time of year and I probably play it on a nearly daily basis. This thing is so ingrained into my vision of Christmas that I can't imagine not hearing this at the magic time of year.

You can hear a lot of this stuff on the radio around this time, especially Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" seems to get a fair amount of radio airplay. This record is chock full of greatness. You get the Ronettes (possibly the greatest girl group ever) as well as the Crystals, Darlene Love, Bob B Soxx and the blue jeans. Of course all of this music gets the Phil Spector "wall of sound " production that you know and love. Also many members of the "Wrecking Crew" show up to lay down their chops (and you would expect nothing less) such as the legendary Hal Blaine and Jack Nitzsche as well, as well as Leon Russell and even Sonny Bono lends a hand on some percussion I believe.

I think the origanal record was relesed on the same day JFK was shot, therefor it didn't do as well at the time. It has been reissued a number of times since and is a true classic, not just of Christmas music, but pop music in general, although you won't hear it outside of the holiday parameters unless you spin your own copy in the month of July.

THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EL SUPERBEASTO

Rob Zombies foray into adult animation is something I've been waiting for with some level of anticipation. Rob Zombie's comic book that had the character El Superbeast in it was really good, and I was disappointed when I couldn't find it anymore. So when I heard he was going to do a movie with one of the characters I thought it might be pretty good. I'm not a fan of Rob's music, although he does seem to like a lot of the same bands I do. He also likes a lot of the movies that I like, so you would think that i might be able to get into the guys work, but not so much really. "House of a Thousand Corpses" was ok, I haven't seen "Devil's Rejects" or his remakes of the Halloween franchise. I mean why remake those first two movies? Oh well, that's freakin' Hollywood for ya.

Anyway, back to the movie at hand. The thing is I can't really give my take on this movie because I didn't watch the whole thing. I turned off a little way through it. It started out cool. Black and white, with a nice old school horror film vibe. As the film took off though I just couldn't get into it. It's not because it's a cartoon, I'm a cartoon fan, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Looney Tunes, The Flintstones, Popeye, and most all of the classics I enjoy to this day. I just found myself watching El Superbeasto and it seemed lik a waste of time that I wasn't willing to engage in. I will possibly give this movie another chance in the future, but then again maybe not. I don't know. Many people will probably get into this and more power to 'em. I will hope the Rob Zombie will bring back his SPOOKSHOW INTERNATIONAL comic instead.

Before I go, I would direct to check out The Hounblog. This is a great blog and I have to say that Gillian's Found Photo#32 says more about real, bonafide rock and roll than anything your gonna find in a years subscription of Rolling Stone.

THIS MADE ME LAUGH TILL I CRIED

2009-12-17T19:00:00.000-08:00

The only thing they had in
common was solving crimes

I took this from here

MY WORTHLESS TAKE ON THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME

2009-12-16T17:31:00.000-08:00

You can blame Gooseneck over at The Bigfoot Diaries for getting me to think about this. I have never really given the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame much thought before. I never gave more than passing notice to past inductees, and even though there are bands I really love inducted, there are, of course, bands that I do not. No big deal. I never thought at the beginning of the HOF that bands like the Ramones, Velvet Underground, or the Stooges would ever have even been considered, let alone inducted. Yet the legend status of these bands is undeniable, and so they absolutely belong there. The thing is though, are bands like the Stooges being inducted because they are finally getting the respect they are due, or is it more for the fact that the RARHOF would have no credibility if it didn't have them. Yeah the Ramones are inducted, but don't you think the a bigger deal will be made when Green Day gets the nod? I do. So I think that you can conclude that it is the commercial success that has the most meaning to the people running the show. Okay that's life, and it's not surprising, but I always thought of rock and roll(I mean the real stuff) as the language of the other side. A primal blast that the corporate types with their marketing degrees will probably never understand.
Oh well, I'm glad for the band any way. It's really too bad that Ron Ashton isn't around to see this. I remember seeing a documentary where he said he thought the Stooges would have been the American Rolling Stones had they lasted longer. So he may have enjoyed this. I would also guess that with the Stooges being in, that the MC5 will have their day, but it's probably too much to hope for the Gizmos or the Mummies.
What about the Sonics?

THE IMPERIAL DOGS ON MY TV

2009-12-12T12:00:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to come up with something to write about. I thought maybe something about football, but being a Steelers fan, I obviously have nothing to say. Possibly I could do a write up on the Micky Spillane book I'm reading, but I haven't finish it yet. Tiger Woods, it's already tired. Politics, not worthy. So I turn to a newish DVD that I got. THE IMPERIAL DOGS LIVE IN LONG BEACH (OCTOBER 30, 1974).

My first question in regards to this is, where are the bands like this nowadays? Really. It's hard to imagine that in the modern rock culture, that is co-opted, sanitized, and impotent, bands like this would be able to exist. I'm sure that there are places where some no name bands with a following of about 12 people, are laying the real thing down in the here and now, but most people are too busy pretending that Green Day is a punk band, or that Blink 182 are cutting edge, or maybe there still trying to convince themselves that the befuddled, old , gibberish speaking, fool of Heavy Metal, Ozzy Osbourne is still worth a crap. Actually, as far as I know, all of those I just mentioned are probably already designated to the yesterdays papers scene, but it doesn't matter, because whoever the new faces are that have come up to take their places, are 99% likely to be limp, sterile, and as interesting as a quilting bee.

Now on to the DVD. First and foremost you absolutely have to play this thing loud. Very loud. It's rock and roll after all and you really can't expect to get anything out of it at low volumes. The show takes place at California State Collage, and the crowd (no more than forty people I'm sure) don't seem to get what they're experiencing. They clap and sorta shake their heads to the songs, but for the most part they seem to be there because there's nothing better to do. There is a girl and her boyfriend who are really into it. I wonder if the girl who is dancing, is the girl who got the band the gig at the collage.

The sound quality is not the greatest, but it's not that bad, although I think that the music does suffer somewhat. But again compared to some of the bootlegs that you've heard, this thing does fine. Like I said, play it loud.

Don Waller is a great front man, and the band lay down some great riffs. The choice of covers is nice, you get the The Kinks,Velvet Underground, and Mott the Hoople tunes done nicely enough.

I have to say that this DVD is my first exposure to the band in regards to actually hearing them. I've read there name in many places where true blue rock and roll is talked about, and Don Waller was one of the main guys behind BACK DOOR MAN, a great rock rag if ever there was one.

This DVD is a nice thing to watch, especially if you want to glom on to some of the greatness that was once rock and roll, when the New York Dolls and the Dictators were walking the earth. The Imperial Dogs are one of those bands that kind of capture all the stuff my imagination thought about rock and roll when I was just first discovering it, before MTV and corporate zombies basically ruined it all. So is this thing for everybody? No, but the really cool things in life rarely are.

THE THREE STOOGES

2009-12-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

After a long, slow, and difficult drive home last night, I wanted to do absolutelynothing but sit back and relax with a vengeance. As luck would have it I was able to do just that. So I spent the better part of the night drinking cold ones, sitting with my feet up, and resensifying (is that spelled right?) myself to some of the greatest aspects of human culture to ever come down the pike.

I put in The latest Three Stooges DVD collection that I just acquired and set the controls for the heart of the sun.

I don't think that there is any argument about the legendary status of these guys. I mean even in these P.C., sanitized, and uninspiring times, these guys still do seem to carry some level of cred. I also realize that these guys were not necessarily doing anything groundbreaking (the silent film comedians were tromping along a lot of the same territory i.e Lloyd, Keaton) and the humor was lowbrow, but you are reading this blog; and here at Driver 13 hq, lowbrow is the coin of the realm.

Now I really do enjoy all of the cheap laughs, and zany humor that these guys, as far as I'm concerned, pull off on a level not touched by many, if any. But another thing that really gets me about these Three Stooges shorts is the surrealism of 'em. I think that you could easily slip one of these shorts onto a collection of avante-garde films from the 40's, 50's, and 60's, and it would fit right in. There's an otherwordly quality to a lot of these, or maybe I should say otherreality quality. When you come to think of it though, doesn't most of the really great comedy, the kind that has a lasting quality contain surrealism. Maybe I'm wrong but look at Monty Python and the early years of Saturday Night Live.

Anyway, the particular collection itself is volume #7. All of the shorts on thee discs have Shemp manning the third stooge chair, after Curly leaving the group for health reasons and eventual death. Many people out there in Three Stoogeland don't like Shemp at all, considering the post curly trio is unauthentic. I find Shemp to be pretty good, not better than Curly, just different. He's certainly bringing his best to the proceedings. The Columbia shorts on this collection range from the years 1952 to 1953. Some of the scripts are rehashed from earlier ones but they still work ok. Two of the shorts on here are 3D. You can watch them that way with the enclosed glasses or you can choose to watch them in 2D form.

If I have any complaint at all, it would be that there is no booklet or any kind of extras like interviews or things like that. There are short (couple of sentences) blurbs of info about each of the shorts, but a booklet with more in depth info about each one would have been nice. But all in all this is a minor complaint, and the collections are well worth buying.

SOME THANKS, AND A REVIEW

2009-12-06T20:01:00.000-08:00

I wanna say thanks to gooseneck over at The Bigfoot Diaries for the kind words. The guy is truly a King among men. The guy has a true talent for words and I can only hope that one day he will bless us with a book. Yeah, he's that good. He and I have known each other for some time now and we have had some pretty amazing adventures. Checking out his blog is well worth the time.

And since we're speaking of great stuff to read, the latest issue of UGLY THINGS just hit my mailbox. This is probably the best rock and roll magazine out right now. I realize that there may be a few fanzines still making the rounds out there, but I don't know of many (if there out there please let me know). Let's face it, most of the stuff out there on the newstand is not even worth using as toilet paper. ROLLING STONE and SPIN are utter crap. METAL EDGE, and all the other rags championing the flavor of the month corpse paint wearing troubadors are just plain WEAK! Mojo is only marginally interesting, if ever, and I think it's safe to say that almost anything out there that you can name, is just not worth the time,effort, or hard earned dinero it takes to obtain such fluff. Where is the 70's CREEM and ROCKSCENE when we really need 'em?

Well those greats are long gone, and we're left with nothing but the garbage I just mentioned. Dark times indeed. But lo, there is reason to throw on those party hats and rejoice. UGLY THINGS exists in the here and now, and with some luck and people supportig the mag, it will be with us for a long time to come.

This thing is over 200 pages and is full of stuff that the pussies who put out STONE will never begin to comprehend. You get the lowdown on bands like the Master's Apprentices, Stepson, The Imperial Dogs, and many, many more. The music, book, and DVD reviews are all great. Even if I don't like a band they cover, I still like reading about 'em in UGLY THINGS. This thing is a labor of love put out by Mike Stax and his assorted gang of scribes, and if your going to spend money on any magazine spend it on this.

GIFT IDEAS THAT YOU SHOULD PROBABLY AVOID

2009-12-02T10:51:00.000-08:00

The only thing worse than being the kid who gets this thing on Christmas morning; is being the creepy relative who gave it.

New Name

2007-10-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post basically to see if this thing is working under the new handy dandy monicker. I'm off to work on one of those various projects I mentioned last night. More on that later. Next post will most likely have some reviews so stay tuned.

Back From the Dead

2007-10-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

I think that about sums things up rather well. I have returned to the vast wasteland of the blogosphere or whatever folks call it nowadays. Things have sure been crazy and all that but I'm sure all of you out there know what I'm talkin' about. I've really missed sitting here at the keyboard and putting down all of my sage wit and wisdom for all of you good folks who just happen to stumble along into my little happy go lucky blog here. So hey. It's back. Although there are going to be some changes coming in regards to a new name and look for it. But rest assured that the wonderful content will always be part and parcel to all of the fun goings on around here.
There are a lot of projects going on and many things to be discussed and lets face it gang, you don't wanna miss a bit of it. So get ready cats. Things are about to get good.

LONG TIME NO SEE

2006-08-09T18:19:00.000-07:00

Wow, has it been a long time since I've posted. Things have been a bit on the crazy side lately, but hey, when ain't they. So anyway, here it goes with reviews of a disc or two and as was promised oh so long ago, a review of a SANTO flick. So without any further ado.....

HASIL ADKINS - OUT TO HUNCH (NORTON RECORDS)
"I didn't try to be primitive. I just had bad microphones." That is without doubt, one of the greatest rock n roll quotes of all time. I know there are many, but this is definitely in the pantheon of rock verbiage. Yeah, Hasil is most definitely primitive. How primitive? He makes the Waka Chalaka tribe of PaPau New Guinea seem like the Jetsons. I sincerely doubt that you could boil rock n roll down into a more pure form. This is true blue hillbilly rock n roll. No fag art rock here, this is straight from the chicken coop floor gang. You've got yourself a flannel shirt and a Nirvana record and you think your grunge? Ha. You don't know grunge pal. Hasil was laying down the real thing way back in the 50's. Check out the twisted psychosis of WE GOT A DATE. Man, that whinny, pussy Cobain could never touch something like that.
This disc is real rock n roll, not rockabilly, rock n roll. Not for the faint of heart.

THE BEVIS FROND - INNER MARSHLAND (PAST PRESENT)
psychedelic astronaut head trip freak rock. This thing is brain surgery man. This thing melts in your mind, soars, explodes, splatters all over the inside of your head, and then the pieces morph into something else and the whole thing starts over again. Or something like that. If you have a bong, you need Bevis.

EL SANTO VERSUS THE VAMPIRE WOMEN DVD
If you haven't seen a Santo movie, you really do need to get out there and find a copy and give yourself a treat. Yeah, sure these are b-movies, but b-movies are really where its at don't ya know.
So ok. If your impatiently awaiting the next Spielberg blockbuster, or the next Ben Afflek(?) movie, you may be too far gone for a Santo flick to save you.That's extremely unfortunate.
Many people will resign this film to the category of "so bad it's good", but I don't think that's completely fair in this case. Yeah, it has it's hokey moments, and yes those hokey moments do have that retarded charm us trash movie lovers love, but this movie can stand on more than just those things. For one thing (and I'm sure many will disagree) but I don't think the acting in this movie is so terrible. I would go as far as to say that every single actor in this movie is better than Keanu Reeves or Steven Seagal. Taking this movie as a whole, if you thought that WHITE CHICKS or BLADE TRINITY were good films (they weren't)then I can't see any reason you shouldn't be giving this film a try. Pure escapist fun. Isn't that why you really watch movies?
Anyway, you haven't really seen inspiring cinema until you've seen a masked Mexican wrestler kick some monster ass. The scenes where the body builder vampire henchmen run will have you laughing. They stretch their arms out to their sides holding the edges of their capes, it's like demonic ballet on steroids. AS for the real selling point, any movie that uses the term booby hatch should win an academy Award.

BROKE BACK MOUNTIES

2006-06-14T16:03:00.000-07:00

Two Royal Canadian Mounties (both men) are planning on getting married, or maybe they already have, I don't know. After hearing about the story I had to post just so I could use my headline. I would think that I'm not the first, the story has been out for at least a week or so. I think it was in the Washington Post, but I'm not sure. These two guys will be giving an added dimension to the saying "They always get there man". I know it was obvious, but I haven't posted in a while and couldn't resist
Next post I'm gonna review some records and possibly a film or two. You won't wanna miss any of it friends, and I promise that this next post will be in the next day or two. Just in case anybody out there cares. In fact I will say that my next post will be on the boards by midnight Friday and will have at least two reecord (or CD) reviews and at least one film review, a Santo flick to be sure. Nuff Said.

FINE DINING

2006-05-21T21:25:00.000-07:00

We've all been to those fancy restaurants haven't we? You know, the ones where they want you to smell the cork from the wine bottle, a guy walks around the place playing a violin, or Flamenco guitar, candles on the table, dim lighting. Well the place I'm going to talk about ain't that kind of a place. In fact it's very far away from being that kind of a place. It was a total hole in the wall. Now, first off let me say that I don't have any problem with places that are dives. If the food is good and the plate and utensils are clean then I'm sure I could be spotted throwing down food at some mighty unsavory places, and in fact have. After all, a dive can have a certain sense of trashy charm. I like to think that I can put up with a lot, but no matter what, there does have to be a level of hygiene. That level may not be all that high to some folks, but I do have my standards.
So anyway, I've been on the road for a couple of hours now, and I start to get a hankering for some chicken egg foo yung. Maybe not so much a hankering as it was an enslaving compulsion. As luck would have it I came upon a take out Chinese food place. I walk in and go up to the counter. I start to look over the menu that is scotch taped to the counter and I come upon a dish that seems like it will fill the bill. The problem is that there is nobody there to take my order. I know that there are people in the back because I can hear them. They are making no efforts to be discreet in as far as volume goes, but then it really doesn't matter because I don't know the language they were speaking in and thusly, had no clue as to what they were talking about, so their secrets are safe with me. At this time a lady and an older teenage guy have come in together and they get behind me at the counter.

After a few seconds of all of us clearing our throats, or coughing, a young girl appears behind the counter and takes my order. I pay for it, grab my ticket and take a seat at a table. The same thing goes down for the other customers. We all look each other over a little cautiously, maybe even suspiciously, due to the fact that we've all reached the same assumption about the kind of people that would eat from a place like this, and figure that it is probably best not to turn your back on such a person.

After a few minutes of waiting I decide to grab a magazine from the pile that are on the table next to mine. And I do mean pile. I thought they were maybe having a recycling drive or something. Anyway after going through the several old issues of Sports Illustrated, which I had mostly already read from visits to the doctors offices, and all of the issues of People (man Brittney Spears has gotten a lot of face time from that mag) I settle upon an old copy of Time. I'm flipping through the thing trying to see anything that would interest me for what I was hoping would be only a few minutes wait. I read that Bill Gates and his wife are giving a bajillion dollars to some cause or other and quickly turn the page. A two pager on Hillary Clinton and the prospective candidacy of the Alpha Bitch,turn the page again. It is now that I come upon the horror. It has nothing to do with the content of the printed words on those pages, but rather it came from the fact that those pages were relatively stuck together by some slimy kind of substance that I was extremely afraid to begin to identify.. I mean this was Time magazine. Had it been a porn mag I could have understood, I still would have been repulsed, but at least it would have made sense. I don't believe that it could have been physically possible for the magazine to leave my hands and the table any faster than it did. As I walked to the bathroom I was seriously hoping that my feet wouldn't stick to the floor in there. I scrubbed like a doctor prepping for surgery, and after I got out my food was ready. I know that it could have been anything on those pages, but I ain't gonna take chances like that. I drove off and my food and subsequently, six bucks were jettisoned to the nearest garbage can.
LET THE BUYER BEWARE!

DRIVER 13

2006-04-26T17:39:00.000-07:00

That is my official designation at my job. I think that it's pretty cool. It conjures up all kinds of cool images of me blasting down some desolate desert highway, in a jet black, convertible GTO, customized by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, terrorizing some pinks, while Black Sabbath, Antiseen, Motorhead, and the Ramones volcanicly erupt from the stereo. In reality however, I'm driving around in a white van with red letters on it wearing a blue rugby shirt, and tan pants, listening to Jim Rome on the am radio. Could there be a more neutral color than tan? Anyway, I still think being Driver 13 is pretty cool.
I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted but I've been out there enjoying my life like crazy, which is something that has been long, long, overdue. I've got lots to write about so get ready because the Kulture corner is back open for business.

MOVIES !

2006-03-09T16:41:00.000-08:00

So last Sunday night I was doing what any self respecting fan of movies would be doing, I was avoiding watching the Academy Awards like it was the avian flu. I have never in my life watched the Oscars and I really never see myself doing so unless it involves some kind of financial compensation.
I hate all these awards type of things. I really hate the Hollywood scene, and all of the self righteousness that a lot of these people puke out at these things. I like Jon(?) Stewart, the Daily Show is KILLER! All the way, but the Oscars have always sucked by it's nature, and I don't think I can ever bring myself to watch it. I figure there is always going to be something better to do.

So anyway, my avoidance of the whole Oscar's thing has put me in the mood to wax on about movies, so I'll jabber briefly about a few that I have just recently scene.
First on the list is HELLBOY. Yeah I know this thing has been out for awhile, but anybody who knows me knows that I am a behind-the-times sorta guy, and for the most part I like it that way. I liked this movie more than I thought I would and I went into this thing figuring I would enjoy it, so I have to say that it ranks pretty good on the meter. I thought the Hellboy character was played pretty well by Pearlmen, although I haven't ever read any of the comic books so I guess I can't make a comparison or anything.
The movie was strictly entertaining and really, what could anybody want to get out of a film called HELLBOY anyway. All the people who what social relevance can go see POKE CRACK MOUNTAIN.
I thought HELLBOY was really good in the area of what folks in the biz term as a "popcorn" movie. Y'know, Fun...Monsters...Violence. My favorite complaint about this movie that I heard once in a video store is that "It wasn't very realistic." No kidding. I'm thinking the dork was possibly missing the point of the film. I thought it was great to watch a movie that didn't have some underlying message that I should take away from the film.

Next up is the film JERSEY GIRL. Yeah, I know it's a chick flick, and it has all of those horrible attributes that such a film of that genre entails. My wife was watching this, Her being big into the whole Ben Affleck vibe, and I quite frankly, had to much to drink to bring myself to go into the other room and watch something else. Face it Ben Affleck sucked in this thing, Someone tell me a movie he was really good in. Liv Tyler was sexy as usual, but not really all that good as far as acting goes, George Carlin was probably the best thing in this movie, but that's not saying a whole lot. I'm not slamming Carlin here, the movie was just absolute crap. I don't think that Kevin Smith is that great of a film maker (I liked CLERKS)but I can't figure out why he wanted to make a chick flick.

The last film here is the one that everybody's been talking about WALK THE LINE. Everybody and there dog seems to be on a Johnny Cash jag these days, and I've got nothing against Cash. I like the guys music, and would agree that the man is an absolute legend.(does this mean I'm becoming mainstream ?)
I also thought that the movie was good, but it sure didn't knock me out like everyone said it would. I mean, I know some people who really raved about this thing, claiming it to be one of the best movies they had ever seen. I don't know, I just couldn't get that into it. One thing is that I couldn't really see phoenix ( I ain't even gonna try and spell his first name) as Cash. I think that he did a good job in the film, but I don't think he could really pull off the job. I have to say that I can't think of anybody else who could either. Maybe Steven Segal would of wanted to give this role a try, but I'm sure he was to busy portraying Jimi Hendryx. The guy who played Jerry Lee Lewis stunk. When I think of Jerry Lee, I think of energy unbound, this guy plaid a little to laid back as far as I'm concerned. At least Quade(?) gave the role some energy, of course he also played it as an over the top buffoon, but oh well, I don't suppose any of these guys lose any sleep over the fact that they haven't made me happy with their work.

Well that's it for now, gotta go. I hate having to rush stuff but I figure what the hey, I was in the mood to write. Next time more stuff that you will really be able to sink your teeth into, and I'll take more time to give a proper kick ass review like I know I should. Next time I'll talk about Archie Shepp, Antiseen, and other luminary stuff that you really shouldn't be caught dead without having it in your music library.

STAY TUNED!

2006-03-08T16:24:00.000-08:00

Cool Reviews coming soon.

SWEET FREEDOM!

2006-03-07T13:27:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's true. I have finally been able to throw off the shackles of that daily grind that has been my job for the better part of 11 years or so. I am trading it in for a new kind of daily grind, but I like the new job better and it doesn't come with all of the hassles and grief that were a constant part of my county job.
My new job is a driving job for a dry cleaning company. I have been lucky to land two jobs now that are mostly driving. No more worrying about people not making it to work, no more getting called in the night to have to go in because something happened, no more scheduling, holidays off, yeah! This is going to be all right. I'll also be off work by 3:oo pm central standard time.
Perhaps I will now be able to live a normal life? Well ...Ok, not so much normal but...
Anyway, more later.

WINTER OLYMPICS

2006-02-22T14:24:00.000-08:00

I don't know about anybody else, but I've had a real hard time trying to drum up any amount of interest in this years Winter Olympics. I'm not really sure why though. I usually really like to watch the games and the Winter ones especially, but so far I just can't get into it. I wonder if it's because things are somewhat anticlimactic after the Steelers won the Super Bowl. I don't know. I guess I need that March Madness injection or something, but the Winter Games just aren't making much of a dent in my psyche.
I think that maybe I should be watching the couples Ice Skating, or whatever it's called, because all the highlights reels that I've seen have shown a lot of crash and burn, so maybe it's more exciting than I ever figured it was. No, I'm sure it's not.
One thing I have to say is that all of the hype about Bode Miller has been a laugh. This guy was built up to be the second coming, but when you think about it, all the hype, or at least a large majority of it was based on how much of an all night party animal this guy is. When you think about it, if that's the case, then the odds of him walkin' away with a bunch of gold medals was highly unlikely anyway. Unless he wins his last chance, he can kiss those Miller Beer endorsements that were sure to come his way goodbye.

WHAT A WEEK !

2006-02-13T17:03:00.000-08:00

What can I say. Things started off with a Steelers victory in the super bowl. Then I land a weekend job as a courier, Then I get two job interviews. I hope this string of hopeful opportunity continues. I am also submitting some reviews to Creem Magazine in the hopes that maybe I can become the next Lester Bangs, or at least the next Robot Hull. (Check back issues of Creem magazine circa '71-75 to get the obscure rock writer references). Any way I've come across a few tidbits that the rock inclined amongst you will want to be checking out.

T-REX - BORN TO BOOGIE

Well the Grammy's were on the other night and decided that I needed to combat all the bullshit coming over the airwaves by putting some real rock n roll on my television. So enter T-REX and the DVD BORN TO BOOGIE. This is a real to treat for anyone who digs T-REX (is there any one who doesn't?) This is a film that was made in '72 or so. I never even knew of the existence of this thing but the story goes that after it's release it was left rotting away in the cans. This DVD has the restored film and of course, it has all those extra goodies we've come to count on when we get DVD's.
The movie is mostly concert footage interspersed with some surrealist goofing off, kind of Fellini crossed with Monty Python in a way. There are also some performance pieces with T-REX jamming along with Ringo and Elton John. You know this type of film if you've seen MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR or 200 MOTELS.
One of the extras that you get along with everything else in this package is the entire concert that is used as the foundation of this movie. It is T-REX in pretty good form playing great high energy rock n roll. If you like T-REX you will like this. If you like good rock n roll you will like this. The sound is good and the visual is top notch. You cannot go wrong with this thing. It was just the cure needed to counteract U2, Kanye West, and all those other bozos getting awards for being purveyors of mediocrity and crap.

NEW YORK DOLLS-ALL DOLLED UP
Forget the reunion discs that are out there. I mean, it just ain't the dolls. I mean no disrespect to Syl, Johanson, or Killer Kane, but it ain't the dolls. They were definitely integral parts of the composition but you don't have the New York Dolls without Johnny Thunders.
So why don't you go out and pick yourself up the DVD that gives you the goods. The real New York Dolls. This is considered a documentary, but really it's more just footage that was shot of the Dolls goofing around, and playing gigs. I have some of this footage on an old bootleg video but the picture quality on that thing is pretty much unwatchable. Here everything looks good, and for my money sounds good as well. Any one who bitches about the sound of the Dolls music not being clear or pristine is really not getting it. That's not to say that I enjoy crappy sound quality, but the primitive, raw sound is what the Dolls were about in spades.
However the best thing about this DVD isn't the feature it's the extras. You get twelve songs performed uninterrupted. There's stuff from Kenny's Castaways, Max's Kansas City, the Whisky A Go Go, and more.
I wonder why the Stuff from Kirschner's Rock Concert and the Midnight Special is not available. It's time for all this stuff to get released for goofs like me who can't get enough of this mainline rush. Till next time gang.

OOPS!

2006-01-30T14:23:00.000-08:00

After posting the last time, I went home as was looking through some old THOR comic books and realized a mistake that I had made. I should have written RAGNAROK COMETH ! And in continuing with the Stan Leeisms,'NUFF SAID TRUE BELIEVER !

RADIO BLUES

2006-01-29T13:23:00.000-08:00

I really do hate music radio anymore. I have for a long time but it's only getting worse. I'm driving in my car and if I have to spend any amount of time driving I know I'm in for a lot of disappointment unless I bring some tapes. I just cleaned out my car and have not replenished it with a supply of tapes so as I was driving around I was stuck with listening to local radio. First I turn it to the major college radio station in my area. It's their singer/songwriter folk show and they are playing some of the most godawful hippie drivel I've ever had the misfortune to hear. It kind of makes me consider that possibly dropping some bombs on the crowds at Woodstock may not have been such a bad idea.
Next It's over to the "classic rock" station. I hear a set of Yes, Queen, and Bruce Springsteen(?). The DJ warns me that John Mellencamp is coming up next so I figure it's time to git. I turn it to the other college radio station and have my ears assaulted with some mallternative crap and then the lame ass DJ's come on to bore me to death.
Allow me to paraphrase:
"I got some information on Jordan last night."
"Yeah"
" I heard he was wearing a hat."
" Yeah, it was one of those stocking hats with the bill on it in the front."
" I wish I could have been there. Jordan, If your listening, you can't pull that off."
Laughter ensues as they then put on Pink Floyd's "comfortably Numb" A completely predictable selection. After that it's a good reggea tune and then more alternative garbage mixed with rap.
stupid, lame ass DJ's can possibly be forgiven, but only if the music that they are playing is really good. Not the case.
RAGNOROCK APPROACHETH !!

HEY! MY BLOGS INQUISITIVE!

2006-01-25T15:30:00.000-08:00

I was reading the comment left at my last posting and it seemed to me that I've read that before. And in fact I have. I had another comment left before where somebody said that they found my blog inquisitive. Is there a form comment for spammers out there, or is my blog really inquisitive? I tried to go to the blog of the latest person leaving me a comment but the links don't work, so I guess there is the slight chance that they are not a spammer trying to sell me on some great investment or something, but I sorta doubt it. The last comment saying my blog is inquisitive was a spammer. I think so anyway.
The thing of it is, I don't know that inquisitive is an adjective I would use to describe my blog. I don't know. I think that you can find my blog a lot of things; such as boring, witty, insightful, profound, offensive, crappy, mindless, thought provoking, deep, extremely tantalizing, pointless, a pile of shit, void of worthwhile content, but inquisitive?
If you cats out there who think my blog is inquisitive are reading this let me know why you think so, otherwise I'm just gonna assume that there is some kind of form response that you can leave to get people to check out the spam stuff.

ONLY THE SECOND POST OF THE NEW YEAR!

2006-01-19T15:14:00.000-08:00

After promising myself that I was gonna write more on this blog I've gone and virtually ignored the blamed thing for longer than usual. At first it was just cause I thought I didn't have anything to say, but actually I have a lot I could say but very little time in which to say it.
I started hard and heavy again on the job hunt and I hope to find myself in something new very soon. The NFL season is still going well for me as well as things are just starting to look good all around. I'm feeling pretty optimistic these days, but I won't let it ruin my usual cynical outlook on life.
There's actually a lot going on and a lot of stuff is going to be happening so my blog should be full of stuff in the oncoming weeks and months.
I've also picked up a lot of crap that I'll be tellin' you about soon, so as you can fill your life with all of that cultural flotsam and jetsam that you need so bad you can taste it. I'll be back in a day or two to tell ya about some books, music, and movies that you probably can't live without. At least not if you want to be a piller of society such as myself. Get ready folks.

ANOTHER NEW YEAR !

2006-01-02T12:06:00.000-08:00

Well now that the holidays are over I hope that everyone had a good time. I did, but I have to say that I'm glad all of the hustle and bustle is over. Although things weren't as hectic and crazy as they usually seem to get around this time of year, so I don't really have a lot to complain about.
It's a brand new year and I feel really invigorated about the whole thing. I don't have any real particular reasons, but I just feel good about things. Now if my life goes according to norm, then my happy feelings will last about another hour and that's that, but what the hell. Enjoy it while you can I guess.

A lot of weird stuff has happened to me in the last month. My boss took a month off and the board of directors made me the interim director for one month. I was happy to receive the lame duck position, but I would have to say that I would probably not want the job were it to be a permanent gig. I'm having enough trouble handling the stress I've already got. But it was one more experience to be had and believe it or not I did learn a thing or two from the deal. (Not all of it positive either). I really have been feeling that I need to get into another line of work and this past month has really solidified that fact in my mind. But now the question is, what am I gonna do? Where are all the jobs that pay $50,000 a year for a ten hour work week? That's the goal I'm shooting for, so if anybodies got any Leeds be sure to let me know.

I've also recently gotten myself a cell phone. I am now starting to assimilate myself more and more into the modern world. I put having a cell phone off for as long as I could, but I finally caved in. I really thought that I would hate having a cell phone, but I have to admit that it hasn't been as bad as I figured it would be. But even as I trudge may way into the modern era I still consider myself a Neanderthal, behind the times, goofball (many people will back that up), and really, I like it that way. So for as much as I may start to be technologically swankified, I'm still sticking to the past as far as all of the gulcher business is concerned. My pop culture tastes still lay in the prehistoric days of the 50's, 60's, and 70's, and anything I'm into that is post 1980 is most likely going to be a throwback to those great golden ages. Just so's nobody thinks I'm totally turning over a new leaf when they start seeing pictures on my blogs.

PUT A HEAD ON A STICK AND HAVE A PARTY!

2005-12-18T14:10:00.000-08:00

This is the cry heard from all those ghoulish kids that are dancing around the tombstones at the beginning of what is one of the greatest kids shows ever. The show is GHOUL A GO GO and man do I love it. And quit frankly so should you. Remember in the 60's and 70's when a lot of the local television stations had kid shows. The host was often somebody dressed up in an animal suite, or a clown, or just some goofball who would come on and entertain the kids, and show cartoons and whatnot. Well this is that kind of a thing only better than most. You have Vlad Tsepis, Crieghton, and the Invisible Man as your hosts, and for what it's worth, in my opinion, they beat Soupy Sales and BOZO the CLOWN hands down. (No disrespect to Soupy Sales).
This show is great. The kids on the show are out there shakin' their booties to all those great 60's go go moves like the twist, the monkey, the swim, and the really great thing about it is that they play the coolest music. You ain't gonna hear no EMINEM, or 50 CENT crap on this show. No way. They are infecting the kids with righteous rock n roll. Hell, this show makes me think that there may really be a future for this goll darned country after all. Let's face it, a kid who is exposed to Link Wray at an early age is certainly gonna be way better off than all these mamby pambies who are being spoonfed RAP and HIP HOP as the music to have as the soundtrack to their lives. The youngsters who are Kickin' Out the Jams, are also gonna be Kickin' the lame asses of all those weenies watchin' MTV.
Not only did I get a cool DVD-R of some of their shows, but I am a full fledged Fan Club Member, so I can truly look down with contempt upon all the lesser mortals that scurry about in my midst. I am also among good company and can consider myself among the inner circle with guys like the late great HASIL ADKINS, REVERAND BEAT MAN, members of the MISFITS, and legendary Horror host ZACHERLY. (I wonder if Lux Interior or Poison Ivy has ever seen this show?)
If you are cool, then check these guys out on the web and get their DVD. If you don't like this show, you are very likely, a boring shithead without an ounce a creativity, or a sense of humor, and are jaded beyond the point of all hope. All I can say is that this show is a lot of fun, and that's what bein' a kid and rock n roll are really all about. Ain't it?

MIDWEST HOSPITALITY

2005-12-12T14:01:00.000-08:00

Just got back late last night from the Twin Cities. After two tickets for the Vikes/Rams game found their way into my sweaty palms I decided to take my son to check out his first Live NFL Game. He loved it, to say the least. He now wants to move to a large city so he can be closer to professional sports teams. He really wants to move to Chicago or close to it,(this do to his rabid passion for the Cubs) but he said he'd settle for Minneapolis/St. Paul. I have to thank Becky for giving me the tickets, and also say thanks to my friends Ann and Dave, who came through as usual with major helpings of hospitality. Not only did they drop us off, and pick us up from the game saving me bucks I would have had to spend on parking, but then provided a tasty and hearty meal including desert.

I have been wanting do this for a long time, but I've decided that I'm going to get serious about it. I'm going to go to film school. I have started to save money and I definitely need to get another job, if not multiple other jobs, but I think I need something else to do in my life. It's expensive, so any contributions would be greatly appreciated. Who knows, maybe someday I could make you a star.

QUIKEY REVIEWS

2005-12-10T11:07:00.000-08:00

I'm about to start getting ready for a trip to the twin cities tomorrow to let my son enjoy his first live NFL experience, but before I start getting things together I thought I'd take the time to offer two cents on a couple of items that have found their way to my door in the past couple of weeks.

LIGHTNING BEAT MAN AND THE NEVER HEARD OF 'EMS - APARTMENT WRESTLING ROCK AND ROLL
This seems to be a lot of odds and ends from the Swiss mad man. Some of it is his one man band routine and other stuff is him being backed by a band. Some of it's live as well, seemingly from some radio broadcasts or something. There are also sound bites of stuff in between a lot of the songs that are actually pretty cool, but depending on your mood can kind of detract from the full frontal onslaught that the Beat Man is laying down.
This stuff is primitive and raw, which is nothing less than what you outta expect from the good reverend. The clanging guitar and the growling vocals do speak to the heart. Fans of the Cramps and Hasil Adkins would likely dig this, or just anybody who can appreciate wild and wooly rock and roll without any pretensions.

D.M. BOB AND THE DEFICITS - CAJUN CREOLE HOT NUTS
Forget Creedence Clearwater Revival. Born on the Bayou, FAH!! If you want swamp music, then this is absolutely the record for you. Bog Hillbilly Hootenany Music at it's finest. This is definitely what you need to be playing at your next White Lightning fueled wingding jamboree. Slap this thing on and then slug down some back yard corn mash from an old mason jar.

JERRY LEE LEWIS - LIVE AT THE STAR
This is Jerry Lee playing in Germany in '62. This thing is great and man can Jerry Lee play. He is without a doubt one of the first wild men of rock n roll. He'll even probably be the first to tell you so. If you like Jerry Lee then you really ought to have this in your record collection. If you don't like Jerry Lee, what's wrong with ya.

CROW FOR SUPPER TONIGHT!

2005-11-29T13:36:00.000-08:00

I have to write this quick as I have to interview a prospective employee soon. After that it's off to the bar where I am certain that my evening may be a little less of a good time that I had hoped it might be. This is due to the fact that I spent some time shooting off my mouth about how the Steelers were going to prove that the Colts would not go undefeated. I, apparently, was wrong about this statement that I had spent so much energy expressing over the past week. What can I say? There was no "Classic Steelers" running game present. I found the offensive line to be offensive to me, with all of those penalties. I could go on but I really hate to reflect on the game, and I am going to likely have my face rubbed in the game a lot, but there will be at least one cohort, friend, and Steelers fan there to share in the vilification that will be. At least there are no die hard Colts fans to have to listen too. No, just a bunch of people who's teams are sucking so bad right now they are only going to talk football to cause me grief. I can take it. A lot of alcohol will of course help and what the hell, my team is still in the running so it ain't gonna be that bad. I just felt that I should get on here and say I was wrong so as to maybe deflect some of the crap that may be hurled my way this evening. This really doesn't mater though, because most of the people that will be giving me grief will not see me admitting my wrong. NO. Mainly because a large portion of those lame asses can't even read, so it may very well be a futile point.Oh well.

Some of the latest in pop culture news. Kelly Osborne is calling it quits. That's right she, of the loins of the madman hisself, is retiring. My question is, just exactly what is it that she is retiring from? The girls what, 21? She said that she's been working since she was 15 and she tired of it. I'm tired of working too. Unfortunately I don't have multi millionaire parents to be able to sponge of off for the rest of my life. Let's face it though, It's gotta be rough to have your dad get you a recording contract based on his name and satis in the business. And being a tv star of her caliber must have truly been a strain. I think this retirement is well deserved and I wish her all the best.

Michael Jackson has left the country. I read this somewhere. It may not be new news but it's the first I heard of it. He went to some place in Africa maybe, I'm not sure, But I'll bet one thing, there's probably no age of consent there. He's probably going to cause a giant boom in the slave trade market for young, boys.

R.I.P.- LINK WRAY

2005-11-19T10:42:00.000-08:00

I just found out the news today. Link Wray has left this planet at the age of 76. The guy was still playing guitar and kicking ass 'till the end. I don't know what I can say about the guy that isn't already being or will be said. The man was, without question, a legend. I know that word gets thrown around a lot but it is the truth in regards to Link Wray.
His music has been used in numerous films and commercials, and he was a pioneer of the raunchy guitar sound. Probably everybody has heard one of the guys riffs, whether they knew what it was or not. "Rumble" and "Jack the Ripper" are tunes you've likely heard, and his music has been in films like "Pulp Fiction" and "Desperado" (the film, nothing to do with the Eagles piece of shit) to name only a few.

Without Link Wray the kind of music that I obsess over would may not even exist. Heavy Metal may not exist. There may not have been the Cramps, without Link Wray having come before. The list would go on and on. His music is kick ass all the way. The sound was dirty, crunchy, and greasy. Perfection when it comes to rock n roll. If you are not familiar with the sounds of this guy now is the time to rectify that situation. Norton records has a great collection of his stuff and should be the first place you look. And look you should. If you consider yourself to be a rock n roller then there ain't no excuse for not having a record of his in your collection. His music is the perfect soundtrack for:drinking, fighting, F@#%&king, and basically just partying till you drop.

Plunk some Link wray on the music machine tonight and raise a bottle in honor of the Godfather of the Power Chord.

MORE BAD CASTING CHOICES

2005-11-07T17:41:00.000-08:00

Here's another bad move in the movie biz. Coincidently it's another rock n roll icon. Keith Moon to be played by Mike Meyers. If this one happens, it would probably not even be "so stupid and bad it's entertaining" but rather just "stupid and bad". Send in your own bad casting choices and let's see just how bad things have gotten in tinsel town.

GREAT RUMOR

2005-11-07T12:30:00.000-08:00

I'm sure that we've all marveled at the wonderful, captivating acting abilities of everyone's favorite action movie hero, Steven Seagal. Well the rumor is that he is ready, or at least at one time was opting for the chance to really use those acting powers of his. He was wanting to play the late, great Jimi Hendryx. Now a lot of bad moves get made in Hollywood (anybody ever see John Wayne as Gengis Khan, Ya have too see it.), but I would still be surprised to see this happen.Would I pay money to see this movie were it ever to be made? Hell Yes. I am certain the thing would be unbelievably entertaining. Face it, Seagal would be playing this thing seriously, and there is no way he could pull it off. Every scene with Seagal as Jimi would have to be hilarious. Not intentionally, ,cause you know Seagal's gonna play the part serious, which will only make it more funny.
I don't know if this is actually going to happen, but there is a part of me, deep down inside that really hopes it does. You'll be able to file this one under so bad it's good. And then you can get ready for the Mike Tyson biopic Starring Danny Devito.

FANS GONE TOO FAR

2005-10-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

Are you one of those people who are always looking for signs that confirm your deep seeded suspicion that this ole world of ours is rapidly going down the crapper? Do you scan the world in search of the harbingers of the soon impending apocalypse? It's getting closer folks. No doubt about it. Ragnorak is coming. How can you miss the signs? Another season of The Simple Life is on the boards. Ashlee Simpson returns to SNL. The NFC North. The hand writing is on the wall people.
The world wide web itself is chock full of warning signs. The ole kulture corner itself may be a signal to some that the end is near, and who am I to disagree with 'em.
But if you really wanna see just how bad it's gettin' then just go visit www.perry-tales.com and see for yerself. A fansight devoted to Mr. Perry and his old band Journey. Look I'm not one to put down folks obsessing about stuff. I mean finding a more obsessed goof than myself about certain gulcheral concerns would be a Herculean task indeed. But hey, Journey? I don't get it. I realize that a lot of people out there probably don't grasp my obsession over things like the Cramps, but come on. The Cramps offer a whole lot to get geeked out about, what in God's name do Journey give?

I really don't want to be putting down this person. I just don't see how anybody could be this devoted to something that is this mundane. Anyway there are some fictional stories here as well as some poetry. One poem asks us to reflect on where we were when we first heard those heaven sent pipes of Mr. Perry. I know I'm a loser because, for the life of me, I can't remember. ( Although I think I probably first heard 'em on tv, on one of those old commercials for K-TELL records. Remember those?)

I only read one of the fiction stories. The Halloween one, where the band seek out the great pumpkin. The writing is pretty much what you would expect, but again, I shouldn't be throwing any stones in this area. So anyway, check it out for a laugh or two, or if you are a true blue Journey fan. I know there's a lot of them around.

And speaking of Halloween, I'm going to visit a friend of mine in a week or two and we are going to check out a haunted site in his town. There are actually several but we'll see how this first one goes. He, like myself fall more on the skeptical side of the fence, but the subject is of a vast interest and we do approach such stuff with an open mind. So be looking for my ghost hunting adventure which I will be sure to post soon after it happens. Hopefully I won't scare the crap out of myself so bad I won't be able to write about it.

WORKING STIFF BLUES!

2005-10-06T14:14:00.000-07:00

I don't know about anybody else out there, but I've gotta say that my job has really become a pain in the ole rear. Office politics are at an all time high as far as I've ever seen at my current place of employment. I have been able to do a lot of stuff that's kept me away from the water cooler somewhat, but there ain't no escape. It's like everyone wants you to pick a side and of course if you don't, then everybody thinks your against them. Too be brutally honest, I really just don't have the energy to give a rats behind. Things like this really can bring me down. It's a good thing that some tasty trash has happened upon me to help bring me out of those office blues.

TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE
This flick came in a package of a ton of old sci fi movies and I've been watching a number of them in the wee hours of the morn on those times when I can't sleep. (And man, there sure seem to be a lot of those times lately). I'm telling ya I'm almost finding these pre dawn viewings of old schlocky movies to be nigh to a religious experience.
So anyway, I slip this disk into the ole' machine and sit back to watch this movie, which was most likely shot on a budget of twenty-three dollars and 87 cents. If bad movies are your bag then this is going to be treasure for you. It's the kind of flick you would see on Mystery Science Theater or whatever, but I really would rather not sit through the movie listening to those jokes being tossed around by the hosts. I always hated that for the most part. I would rather enjoy a movie like this on it's own merits, or lack there of, as the case may be.
The plot is fairly simple. Aliens are brining these creatures to earth so that they can feed on everybody here and then the aliens can come back and butcher the monsters for food after they grown to giant size. Of course, one of the aliens has a problem with this and escapes, and is hunted by another of the aliens.
The special effects are not the worst I've ever scene, but the movie going demographic that this was aimed back in the day would only scoff at it's amateurishness.
The acting in this thing is so stiff it's the thespic equivalent of rigor mortis. (Hey, I think I just made up a word). Keeanu Reeves is a master thespian compared to these guys.
However this movie does give you a raygun that disintegrates everything but the bones. You also get a hero named Derek, and a villain named Thor. You could buy this flick on that alone.
This movie is bad, but yet I happen to like it. I suppose It's so bad that it transcends in some way, as a lot of movies that are considered bad by most folks do. The thing of it is, it's just fun to watch. And why else would you wanna watch a movie for anyway.

THE HEXXERS- FREAKS WITH THE SAVAGE BEAT
Just got this cd and I play it an awful lot. It really gets me going and cranks up the energy. When I'm in the office and I know that I have no excuse for an escape, this thing has really done the trick. It's sorta voodoo rockabilly, and sorta tough garage. This thing really does deliver the high energy jams that seem to be in such short supply these sorry days. This thing really reminds me of the Sonics, and what we could use in the world right now is a lot more stuff that sounds like the Sonics, and a lot less stuff that sounds like Cold Play.

ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR VOL.3
These paperbacks being put out that reprint the early Marvel Comic Books from the 60's and 70's are really a great thing as far as easy, quick escapism goes. I think I idg the stuff now more than I ever did. That probably has to do with the sad state of crap thats out there on the comic rack these days. It's great to see this stuff again as I relive my childhood reading all of this junk, but it's better than most everything out there on the New York Times Best Sellers list, and I ain't kiddin'. Tons of the ole' titles are getting the reprint treatment and it really is worth the money if comics are your bag, or even reading in general. Just don't go looking for this stuff to end up on Oprah's Book of the Month Club. Her Loss.

SORRY ABOUT THAT CHIEF!

2005-09-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

No, this isn't going to be about the Kansas City loss to Denver last night. I fell asleep around halftime anyway. Rather this is about the late great Don Adams, who just recently died. His claim to fame is his role as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86 for Control. Definitely this was one of the greatest television shows ever to be on the airwaves. Written by Buck Henry and Mel Brooks, this show gave you action, adventure, and great humor. You don't see a lot of that offered anymore. Don Adams was great in the role of Max and I think he was definitely one of the funniest characters ever. This show is without a doubt, a TV classic, and we should be seeing more of this, rather than reruns of "Roseanne" and "Cheers". These two shows, as well as many more that are in syndication, do not really hold up that well as time passes on. "Get Smart" on the other hand is a true classic, meaning it set a standard that other television should try to live up to, rather than shooting for the lowest common denominator, which it does way too much of in these sad and desolate days of boob tube programming.

I hadn't really realized how long it's been since I've posted, but it has been a stretch of time, even for a lazy bum such as myself. So for the four of ya out there that read this here blog, and the one of you that actually cares enough to comment, I'll try to be a bit more current with these here posts that even though a lot of ya won't admit it, ya probably can't live without.

I did come across a couple of things that you all may or may not be interested in. First off is a book by Michael Luckman called ALIEN ROCK:THE ROCK 'N' ROLL EXTRATERRESTRIAL CONNECTION. I heard about this book through an interview with the author that he did on the Coast To Coast AM radio program. A program I find to be pretty snat most of the time. Anyway, after hearing the show I decided to get the book. I found the book for around five bucks and figured I probably couldn't go wrong at that price. I've got to say that I llike the chapter on Elvis. I didn't know that he was very interested in the subject of UFO's and the Paranormal. (Much to the chagrin of fat bastard Col. Parker.)
There are also some more interesting stories about other famous rockers UFO experiences, but as the book goes on, the stories seem to lag and become pretty much just people seeing unexplained lights in the sky. There is some good stuff here but all in all, it seems to come up rather short and not even getting in depth in regards to some of the cases. Such as John Lennon receiving a strange object from people that came into his apartment that he thought were maybe aliens. Another story that he doesn't go into that I would love to know more about, is the one of Jerry Garcia. It has to do with a two day ordeal involving being trapped on a spaceship and insectiod creatures. That's all the info you get from the book. Maybe the story is mainstream in Dead Head circles so he didn't feel the need to go into it.

The thing about this book that I find really irritating ,(info omissions aside)is the fact that this guy pretty much seems to think since Jimi Hendryx wrote songs that contain sci fi imagery, then he was obviously in tune with aliens, and therefore, they must exist. He of course doesn't say it in those words, but that does kind of seem to be his point. Even Garcia says that the experience with the Insectiods could possibly be explained by drugs, but the Luckman doesn't seem to want any of that.
I don't have a problem with the author believing in his subject, and I am not a total disbeliever when it comes to the paranormal, but just because David Bowie believes in men from space, doesn't exactly clinch the deal for me. I might be wrong in my assessment of Luckman's ideas about proof, but it seems to me that he takes pretty superficial things and then passes them of as evidence.
Overall, There are some interesting things in this book. The Elvis stuff is cool, as well as a lot of other stuff, but I don't think you're gonna want to pay full price for this thing. Check the internet for used copies, or better yet, try and get this thing at the library. Rock On.

SUN RA ! MUSICIAN, YES - ACTOR, NO

2005-09-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

I just watched this movie the other night. It was SPACE IS THE PLACE and it starred the great Sun Ra. Now when I say great, I'm referring to the man's music. I am in no way referring to the man's acting ability of which there seems to be none. At least if this movie is the standard.
The movie does not really have a totally coherent plot except for the fact that Sun Ra is going to save the Black race through his music and take them to space where they can start over again without any oppression from the White man.
I'm not even sure that Sun Ra was going for any real plot, but maybe he was going for the concept instead.
Scenes jump from Sun Ra playing a card game with some other black guy who is in opposition with Ra's plan. Sun Ra destroys a nightclub in the 1940's with his piano playing which is the second scene of this film. The rest is Sun Ra going around trying to preach the message to the Blacks, and the enemy following around trying to thwart his mission.
There are also some rocket scientists who try to get Ra to tell them how his technology works and then try and kill him at a concert. This movie does have some concert footage but it is not prime Sun Ra stuff.
As for the acting,Sun Ra seems like he's reading everything off of cue cards and maybe he is. He has a sly smile on his face through most of the movie, either he's thinking that maybe this movie was a bad idea and he's just taking it all in stride, or maybe he's just stoned out of his gourd.
All the words I'm spewing out here should not lead one to think that I didn't like this movie, I actually did enjoy watching this.
The costumes are pretty way out and the special effects look like they were done by the guys who did the TOHO Godzilla movies. (Undeniably the best ones were made by the Japanese studio, and anyone who thinks that the Hollywood Godzilla movie that came out in the 90's is better, really is mentally lost).
I can't maybe put my finger on it, but I have a soft spot for this film. It's like a lot of those experimental films that came out in the late 60', early 70's. They don't all make sense but there is something about them that allows me to enjoy them on some level.

That being said I come to the next movie I shall review for all of you who truly need more of this trash in your life. It's called THE HORROR OF SPIDER ISLAND and this ting is really by all of the standards that you would learn in critic school a stinker. The plot is basic, and this isn't really a bad thing in itself, but it is executed oh so badly.
A group of dancers and there new manager are stranded on an island. They find a cabin of a professor who has been working on the island. The professor is dead and we soon learn that it is due to some alien and/or mutated spider like creature. The creature attacks the manager as he is taking a late night stroll and the guy although kills the thing, has been bitten, and is soon turning into some hideous monster, chasing after the girls who have to strip down to their underwear a lot because it's so hot on the island.
Two guys who work for the professor arrive and after a bikini party in honor of them being saved the mutated manager attacks.
As far as the acting ability of the cast, it couldn't be any worse. The directing is bad, the fight scenes are so bad they're laughable.
And yet this movie has a certain 3:00 AM ambiance to it that makes it somewhat enjoyable. This would be listed in that category of "so bad it's good" I guess.
The main thing is that if you watch this movie, please, and I say this with the utmost sincerity, do not do it while you are sober.

A CANDIDATE WE CAN ALL FEEL GOOD ABOUT!

2005-08-15T15:56:00.000-07:00

DIO FOR AMERICA

And here I was going to give up on voting.

MORE BLACK TO COMM!

2005-08-13T12:24:00.000-07:00

I just got a couple of back issues of this fine magazine in my mailbox the other day. I've reviewed the last issue a while ago and it goes without saying that if you really are one of those rock 'n' roll freaks who lives for the blast and blair of kick ass, bone crunching music, then you really ought to be buying this magazine.
This magazine is devoted to the Velvets/Stooges/MC5/New York Dolls/Dictators worship that is really the standard for rock 'n' roll. If your one of those new heavy metal types you probably don't want to bother with this mag, because you ain't gonna see much you'll like, and would most likely be better off sticking with your subscription to Hit Parader and Metal Edge. If your a politically correct type who wants to save the Spotted owl, thinks the "Summer of Love' had any real relevance to anything, and believe in the Meat is Murder line of thinking, then this magazine is probably even less for you. These types should stick to Rolling Stone or Spin.

However if you really get your rocks off by experiencing "High Energy" music, and enjoy trash culture and all of the greatness that it had, and has to offer then you really need to be plunking down the money to own some issues of this beloved rag.

I just received issues #17 and #19. As expected these mags live up the the standard that I've come to expect from this zine. Miriam Lina is interviewed in #19. She, an ex-member of the Cramps, and she currently drums for the A-Bones, a band that everybody should be playing their records at their next beer bash.
#17 does a feature on the Scott Morgan Group, formerly of the Rationals. Drummer for the Scott Morgan Group was none other than "Rock Action" himself Scott Ashton, formerly of you know what group (and if you don't, then you really should be reading Black To Comm).

The articles, interviews, reviews are all top notch as far as I'm concerned. I read these things cover to cover when I get them and they stand up to repeated readings and they don't get dated. I certainly can't say I feel the same way about most of the issues of Rolling Stone that I have.( there's only a couple of issues that have an interview that I may reread and still find it entertaining, provided, I found it that way in the first place). I don't even thumb through Rolling stone in the store anymore. That thing has become such a corporate shill sheet. The last straw for me was in their list of 500 greatest songs; John Lennon's "Imagine" came in at number three. That song is one of the most boring, weak ass, pieces of shit ever, and they rate it at number three. Did the Stooges have a song on their list? Probably not.

Anyway, my point is that Black To Comm really hits the spot in as far as gulcher is concerned. I'm interested in almost every thing I read on every page in this thing. It's good I'm tellin' ya. So unless you're a hippy you should buy this total rock 'n' roll blast of a mag. If you are a hippy, you probably don't want the people involved with this magazine to have your address.
Look up the address on the old post where I previously talked about this mag, or ask for the address and I'll get it to those interested. Later friends.

p.s. I have nothing against the Spotted Owl, but as far as I'm concerned. those guys are on their own.

PERUVIAN PUNK

2005-08-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

The Mangazoids-Sobredosis de Horror just made it's way to my doorstep. This is a nice slab of garage punk with a lot of surf sound to season it up. The first song "El Condor Pasta" is a surf instrumental that really reminds me of The Shadows.
"Mujer Boa" has a nice power punch riff and a beat to send you bouncing around the room. The song "Estoy a 5 Anos de Aca" is the Third Bardo tune "Five Years Ahead of my Time" .
Al the songs are in Spanish, or Portuguese, or whatever the language is that they speak in Peru. I was too lazy to look it up before posting this review.
This platter is really tasty heavy garage/punk with a number of good surf type tunes thrown in for good measure.
This stuff is soaked in booze, sweat, and dirt and is a great soundtrack for drinking lot's of beer, whiskey, tequila, and running wild like a pack of wolves. (A typical Friday and/or Saturday night for many).
They also have a song on here called "Lluvia de Fuzztones" which I'm assuming is a tribute to the legendary band. It certainly sounds like a Fuzztones type of song.
This CD has a lot of grit and power and is just plain good shit. And if you happen to be one of those people who just can't get into this because you can't understand the words, then I feel sorry for ya. I have had people tell me this before when I've played them some tasty selection of something from a German, or Japanese band that don't sing in english. I don not get it. Kick ass rockin' music is Kick ass rockin' music no matter what language it's sung in. If it rocks, then it's good enough for me.

Keep your eyes peeled for my next post when I just may decide to rant and rave, and go off on all kinds of tangents about the true Southern Rock. Or maybe I'll write an essay on Punk Rock vs. Heavy Metal. Or maybe something equally as meaningful and profound to us gulcher types.

MC5-KICK OUT THE JAMS DVD

2005-08-06T11:42:00.000-07:00

I got this thing in the mail a couple of days ago with my subscription to SCRAM magazine. The DVD was apparently some kind of merchandise that you could get from the newly resurrected CREEM magazine, since the mags logo is on the thing. First off this isn't exactly what I had thought it was going to be. It definitely is footage of the 5 in their hey day and the music is live; however, it is actually more of a video collage, rather than being an actual live concert.
That being said I still think this is pretty cool. The music is still live(some of it being almost impossible to hear the songs through the muddy quality) and seeing the band rockin' their nuts off is truly there stuff of legend.

This thing being put together by Carey Loren, it does have that psychedelic, late 60's art damage kind of look, which is what his other video stuff sorta looks like. (See Grow Live Monsters, a video art project from his band DESTROY ALL MONSTERS. That same group to consist of an ex-MC5 member, as well as an ex- Stooge later on.)

The real complaint that I have about this thing is that a number of the songs are cut in the middle of them. I'm not sure why. But some of the songs are completely there, at least enough of the song for me not to completely notice.

The footage of the band , as I've already said is great too see. They were in no uncertain terms, a band to be reckoned with. They were noted for on occasions, having the headline act refuse to go on after them, being unable too match the power, energy, and frenzy laid down by those motor city bad asses.
Greatness indeed. Now if there was some actual concert footage out there; which there is at least something. I know because I remember seeing a vidoe of KICK OUT THE JAMS before on some show like RADIO 1990 or NIGHT FLIGHT. Shows that were on the USA Network back in the early 80's. That channel was very cool back then, I loved NIGHT FLIGHT, and who could hate something like MARTIAL ARTS THEATER. Uh oh, now I'm longing for the good ole days again. In fact it's hard to think, considering all the shit that passed for pop culture in the 80's that I would be reminiscing about it fondly. Oh well, there was some cool stuff going on in the 80's, not much, but some. (The great garage rock revival comes to mind.)

The thing that this DVD did after I watched was get me in to a big MC5 binge. I dug out all my records and CD's and got cought up in all the energy and sound once again. And it felt almost as good as when I first heard the MC5. I had gotten KICK OUT THE JAMS from a used record store after hearing about it from some friends older brother, and reading about it referenced in some rock mag. This thing really blew my mind and was immediately on a pedestal equal to, if not higher than almost everything I had been listening too previously. It was one of those watershed albums in my life that changed my perceptions of rock 'n' roll and led me on the greater listening pleasures of the stuff I currently love and obsess over. Hell, who knows if not for hearing the MC5,the STOOGES, and others of that ilk, I might have turned out to be a Motley Crue fan. I shudder to think.

LATEST STUFF

2005-07-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

I've recently been to a number of new films, and one not so recently but I haven't given my worthless, yet totally pointless opinions on them so here we go.

First I did go and catch the last STAR WARS movie REVENGE OF THE SITH, but then who didn't. I've always liked these movies and I find them entertaining on so many levels. I really think that these are some of the best movies ever made, although movie and culture snobs will disagree, passing them off as junk. Of course these movie and culture snobs pretty much consider everything that is fun as junk. I myself find a lot more appeal in the B movie stuff than in what is considered the cream of the crop by Hollywood.
I heard it said by some critic ( I don't remember who ), That the STAR WARS movies were B movies dressed as A movies. I would agree whole heartedly with this statement. This is not an insult to the films and I don't think that this critic meant it as an insult necessarily.
I find it hard to believe that there are people oput there who do not enjoy the STAR WARS movies. There seem to be a lot of them though. Imagination is truly Something that is being killed off in people and I think it definitely getting worse.
As far as the movie goes this when is maybe not better than THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK but it certainly comes closer to any of the others. This movie did a great job of tying everything together story wise and the movie carried a sense of apocalypse about it. The Jedi's basically destroyed and sent into hiding, the Republic transformation into the Evil Empire. Good movie.

Next, I saw WAR OF THE WORLDS. I really planned on hating the movie, but I was actually surprised by how much I liked it. It seemed to capture that sense of being on the run while the world is falling apart around you very well. I think Tom Cruise did a pretty good job of acting, and I've never considered him all that great. The terraforming stuff was pretty cool, as you would expect the effects in this movie were very good. Many people are complaining about the ending, but I tend to look at it in a more ironic sense than lame. This is how the 50's movie ended and I'm assuming the book ends the same way.
The scene with Tim Robbins was okay but I think it dragged on a bit, but Cruise closing the door behind him and killing the guy was a pretty cool, although you don't see the fight it was done in a way that carried a lot of impact.
My biggest complaint about the movie actually is that the lame ass son didn't get disinegrated. That would have made this movie a lot more satisfying. You knew the kid was going to survive and they were going to meet up in the end, but I was rooting for his death all the way through. Again Hollywood let's me down.

The last movie I saw was the FANTASTIC FOUR and I have to say it would have been more aptly titled THE FANTASTIC BORE. What a piece of crap.. They really did not do the characters any justice and Doctor Doom was a fucking wimp. This movie took a long tiome to go absolutely nowhere. The climactic fight scene was one of the most lame ass things I have ever witnessed in regards to celluloid (and I have seen a lot of lame ass stuff).
This was just a bad movie with only a few good parts, but they in no way make up for how disappointing this film was. I thought the action was way too slow, and like I said the story just didn't go anywhere. Don't go see this stinker. Instead take the money you would have bought for tickets and buy one of the FANTASTIC FOUR ESSENTIAL books that reprint there classic comic books from the 60's. The stuff in there is astronomically better than the movie.

I've got a DVD coming in the mail soon that I will definitely be talking about once I've seen it. It' classic footage of the MC5 in all of there power chord, bone crunching glory from the 60,s and 70's. Man, have I been waiting for this to come along. Now if only somebody would unearth some complete live footage of the Stooges in there heyday, I would be the happiest man alive.

NEW GOERGE ROMERO MOVIE

2005-06-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

I'm really looking forward to checking out LAND OF THE DEAD. It opens tonight. I love all the other zombie picks in the trilogy and I even liked the remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD, and I usually hate remakes. The new movie actually looks like Romero had a fairly sizable budget to work with. Maybe I should take my wife to this for our anniversary? I realize that it's not really romantic but she does like horror movies and I already got her flowers. I'll have to give this some thought.

I have just recently seen REVENGE OF THE SITH and BATMAN BEGINS. I really liked these movies. A lot of my friends have been commenting that the new STAR WARS movie is the best in the series. Maybe, but I really thought THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK was hard to beat, but I haven't seen it in a while. I know a couple of people who are waiting for the DVD to come out so that they can watch all of the STAR WARS movies straight through in one sitting. Man, I think I don't have a life, but I don't know if even I could get to that point. Maybe if I was on heroin. I mean I like the movies, but thats a level of fandom that I can't reach. Even if I wanted to, how could you find the time, I mean how long would it take to watch them all straight through? 12 hours or more. Well guys, good luck with that.

Speaking of the new Batman movie, it's about time that they made a good one. The others were spotty at best. This one really seems to capture the mythology and does it some justice. Hopefully they will be able to keep making the franchise with this level of quality.

Other movies that I want to see: THE FANTASTIC FOUR and WAR OF THE WORLDS. Being that the second one is a remake I might find a lot to hate about it, but it does look like it may be good. Actually both of these films look like they could go either way based on the trailers that I've seen.

Still trying to find more info on the Roky Erickson flick that is being written. I know that there is a piece about Roky in the new MOJO magazine, but I haven't been able to get my hands on an issue yet.

NEW ROLLING STONES TOUR

I've heard the the tickets are going to be around $180 or so. I don't know of anybody that I would pay that much too see. I've already seen the Stones and I did enjoy it immensely, but lets face it, they were past there prime when I saw them in '88 and they really haven't gotten better since then. I haven't heard any of the new stuff that is coming out soon, but I really don't think that the old boys are going to surprise me. Believe me, I'll be really happy if they do, but I just don't think it's in the cards.
I also think that charging that much for concert tickets is just wrong. They have a right to charge whatever they want, but when the cost is that high, I think they might be taking themselves a wee bit too seriously. I mean, yer gonna have to pay more than you ever did to see the band and they are nowhere near as good as they used to be. I might pay the $180 I guess, if that included the expense of time travel to go see the Stones in '66 or '72 or somewhere in between but certainly not now.

And remember, if I wasn't writing about all of this pointless stuff, I'd be writing about the latest Supreme Court decision in regards to private property and the public good. Let's face it gang, nobody wants that.

ANOTHER SESAME STREET POST

2005-06-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

I was reading a couple of days ago about how the feds are looking to cut funding for public broadcasting. This editorialist was pissed because this may very well mean the end of Sesame Street and she went into how that very show has immeasurable importance in the lives of us all, whether we be adult or child.
Well, I have to say that on some level I agree with her. Sesame Street does have some real value and it is definitely iconic, but it's icon stature is more in the sphere of pop culture more than I would say in it's actual educational value. I'm not saying that it doesn't have any value as a tool to help in learning, but I have to wonder about what the exact measurement of that value is. I mean, has the show ever really taught somebody to read? I don't know, maybe it has, but I would sorta doubt it.
I do believe the show does inspire learning in young kids and that is a good thing without a doubt, but let's face it, there are a lot of dumbasses out there in the world today and Sasame Street ain't gonna save 'em, or us from them as the case may be.

The real question that has come to my mind about all of this controversy (and I think we've seen all of this before in regards to public broadcasting?) is even if the government would stop funding PBS would Sasame Street fall? I mean couldn't the show make it on it's own. I mean the merchandising alone has had to have brought in a ot of cash. Remember when the "Tickle Me Elmo" doll was causing riots in the toy stores? Are there really no business' that would buy advertising time during Sasame Street? I would think that all of the corporations would be linning up. I'm almost certain that the show could hold it's own. So why all of the bitching?

I'm not sure why it's a good idea for the government to be funding broadcasting anyway. I mean once in a while you may see something interesting on PBS, but let's face it, how much of it does anybody really watch. I am of course not counting all of the lame ass college professors that seem to live for the network, they ain't worth much any way.
Hell, they don't even show Monty Python anymore and that was really the best reason to ever watch it.
Maybe if they started showing more stuff that I would be interested in, maybe I'd feel differently but as of the moment I couldn't care less if PBS folds. (Which it won't.) And I like Sasame Street. Really.

MICHAEL JERKS-ON

2005-06-14T15:36:00.000-07:00

Is anyone all that surprised that this suckwad Jackson is not behind bars? What I want to know is, who's gonna be the first one on there block to send their young sons to the big "I beat the rap" sleepover at Neverland Ranch?
I bet the Jesus Juice is flowing at the ol' ranch.

Top 5 spins of last week:
1.The Seeds-The Seeds/Web of Sound
2.Antiseen-Here to Ruin Your Groove
3.Black Sabbath-Master of Reality
4.Jungle Excotica-Volume #2
5.Thee Mighty Ceasers-Surely They Were the Sons of God

DEE DEE AND THE DETROIT COBRAS

2005-05-28T10:58:00.000-07:00

Two new platters, well new to me anyway, that are on deck for review.

DEE DEE RAMONE-ZONKED
A post- Ramones effort here from Dee Dee who many consider to be the best songwriter of the Ramones. In actuality you have Marky Ramone doing the drum chores so you really have one half of the Ramones here. On this platter Dee Dee switches from bass to guitar and some vocals. Linning out the rest of the line up is Daniel Ray on guitar and Barbara Ramone on bass.

If you like the Ramones (and why wouldn't you) then you would probably like this although it isn't completely Ramones soundalike. I think that this album has pretty strong stuff on it. The thing starts of with "I'm Zonked Los Hombres" and it is basically the perfect tune to start hits off. Great guitar riff, kind of tough sounding, makes you want to move around the room. The song "Fix Yourself Up" bounces around like a bunch of sugered up six year olds on a trampoline.
Joey Ramone shows up to do the vocals on "I Am Seeing UFO'S". So here you've got 3/4's of the Ramones. The song is good pop/punk definitely in a Ramones vein. Joey wrapping his vocal style around the dumbhead, lyrics (not an insult here) fit perfectly. I am seeing ufos/I guess it's because/I had a hard time out with you last night. Joeys vocals fit like the proverbial glove. And if the words don't make sense to you, the sentiment, feeling, and emotion of this song hit home. You have felt like this before and this song will bring a smile to your face when the connection is made. I can't explain it, just trust me.
Lux Interior even steps up to the mik for the song "Bad Horoscope". Lux was a good choice as this could easily have been a Cramps tune Or maybe Iggy Pop in one of his finer post-Stooges moments.
Barbara Ramone does vocals on a few tunes. Her vocals exude a great tough chick attitude and she looks extremely cute in the band photo.

This album is one of those that had I known about it, or in the case of this album, had it existed back in my high school era, would have been played on a regular basis. It would have been taped onto a cheap cassette, and blasted it from my car tape deck while cruising around trying to evade the blues and boredom of high school existence.

THE DETROIT COBRAS-MINK RAT OR RABBIT
This album seems to be comprised of all covers and the band does do a great job of making these songs there own. The singer Rachel Nagy's vocals combine both a subtle sexuality and toughness that work very well for me.
There version of "Putty In Your Hands)" is great. Driving riff and perfect vocals(at least from a male or lesbian point of view). The first version of this song I ever heard was by the Yardbirds. These guys do a different take, and dare I commit blasphemy and say that I like this version better. At least at this moment in time.
"Easier to Cry" is a nicely executed ballad with some very nice guitar work provided by Steve Shaw and Maribel Restrepo.

"Bad Girl" a great piece of pop rock 'n' roll. This is a song written by the Oblivions, another band that I would recommend checking out. Other songs like "Summer(The Slum)" have great frenetic energy to them, and the riff of this song is like a wave of .heart punches from whatever bad ass pro wrestler you care to name. The song "Chumbawa" is a tasty instrumental with a definite south of the border feel. This could be great background music for partying on the beach, getting drunk on tequila. The song makes me want nachos and Margaritas.

Overall the music on this thing slithers and slides around, yet at the same time is tight and controlled. Imagine being in a closet with a heavily oiled up, nymphomaniac that is expert in extracting all the right reactions. The more I play this thing the better I like it. If you are cool and have any taste at all I think you'll feel the same way.

ROKY ERICKSON MOVIE

2005-05-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

I heard some news that there are plans in the works to make a biopic about Roky Erickson. The story I have heard so far is that the plan is for Jack Black to play Roky, and that he is interested in doing this.
I don't have any more info than this at the moment and as far as I know this may just be rumor, but I hope it's true. Hopefully this will be more of a small studio or indepedent film. It seems unlikely that any of the Hollywood big wheels would want to touch something like this, and if they deemed to do so they would very likely ruin something that could end up being very cool.

If you don't know anything about Roky Erickson I feel sorry for you because you have been missing out on some very good music. He and his band the Spades got a hit in Texas which got him noticed enough to get into the 13th Floor Elevators. Many people consider this to be the band that actually started the psychedelic movement. The story is that these Texans toured around San Francisco in the early days and all of those bands from the area were influenced by the Elevators. True or not, I would think that many die hard Roky fans would shudder to think that he was possibly instrumental in the birth of bands like the GRATEFUL DEAD, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, or any other of the frisco hippie bands, since most Roky fans that I hear of are from the garage/punk side of the street and thus many would be sworn enemies of anything those filthy hippies hath wrought. But I am getting off topic now, and I normally like to go off on tangents that lead to who knows where, let's get back to the Rock.

I'm certainly no expert on the story of Roky Erickson and a movie that told a fairly factual story might be nice. But you have to ask, wouldn't a movie about the myth be more fun? Probably, I don't know. I mean I,liked the Doors movie that Oliver Stone did but lets face it, that movie was a work of fiction. At least if you can believe a lot of the people who were around for the events, who say the film ain't the way a lot of the shit happened.
Anyway, I hop this project will see the light of day, or I guess maybe more fitting, the dark of night.

If you are not familiar with Roky Erickson then you need to rectify that situation and you need to do it now. There is a lot of stuff actually available and your better music stores should be able to hook you up with something from the 13th Floor Elevators and/or his post-Elevators career. If not you can always check out the internet.
I would recommend the stuff to start with to be something like THE EVIL ONE or GREMLINS HAVE PICTURES. Then get into the live stuff, the album ROKY ERICKSON and the EXPLOSIVES-CASTING THE RUNES will obliterate.
Maybe I'll review some Roky stuff here in the coming days, and I'll hopefully have some more info about the movie.
I also hear that he has been appearing at places and doing two or three songs live. I think that his mental health has kept him from doing a lot of stuff for the past several years but I hope that all is going to be well.
GOD BLESS ROKY ERICKSON!!

LITERATURE REVIEWS

2005-05-19T13:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a few literary items that you really probably can't live without.

ESSENTIAL SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM UP VOL.I

Marvel comics have been reprinting a lot of their great stuff from the 60's and 70's in these Essential books and I for one think a lot of this stuff is simply kick ass. I've gotten a number of these over some time and I always enjoy reading this stuff. The 60's and 70's were simply the greatest era for comic books. You usually get about 24 or so issues of the title as well as some annuals or giant size editions that Marvel was putting out in those halycon days of comic book coolness. The stuff is printed in black and white, and although I love the color of the comics there is something to be said for the black and white format. It gives the artwork a stark look that seems to go over well with me and gives a new dimension to the look of the books.

All that being said I guess I should talk about this particular title. Super-villain Team Up was a book dedicated to telling us the story of megalomaniac Doctor Doom and his never ending bids at world conquest. The comics would have him teaming up with other various super bad guys. Most of the issues have him teamed up with the Sub-Mariner (although I would say that he technically isn't a villain as much as a guy who has some trouble handling his anger. He's more in the character vein of the Hulk or someone like that). There are also stories that team Doom with the Red Skull and Magneto. The stories are classic Marvel stuff, full of over the top, egomaniacal dialog, lots of fights, back stabbing, betrayals, sci-fi weapons and machines, and lots of massive destruction. It's cool. You should check this out as well as any of the other Essential books out there. This stuff is really good.
You can pick these things up at most book stores,or at your favorite comic book shop. The comic shops will obviously have better selections but of course you run the risk of running in to all of those comic geeks. I suppose that I could even be considered one on some levels but allow me to point out some of the glaring differences.
One: I shower daily.
Two:I don't live in my Mom's basement.
Three:I have actually experienced sex.

I don't want to offend all people who read and enjoy comics, because there are a lot of cool people, but honest to God there are those stereotypical nerds out there and they are numerous. They are easy to spot however and you'll most likely know them when you see them. Definitely when you smell 'em.

BLACK TO COMM
This zine is great. It completely hits the spot in as far as gulcher culture is concerned. It's spreading the gospel of the rock'n' roll. Not just as a form of music but as a kind of lifestyle. The guy who puts it out has a great writing style and he seems to be attuned to a lot of the coolness that makes life worth living. The last several issues of this thing have been big. You get 100 plus pages of interviews, record, cd, movie, book and zine reviews, as well as other assorted articles on things you really do want to read about. The last issue (no.25) had a cool article on the New York Scene, an excellent look at fanzines, cool reviews, and a cd that you ain't likely to get anywhere else.
If you are into cool rock 'n' roll, movies and tv shows that matter, and one of the most entertaining reads you can get, you really do have to get this zine.
Send $12.00 to:
Christopher Stigliano
714 Shady Ave.
Sharon, PA 16146-3149

GET THIS.

UGLY THINGS
Here's another zine that is involved in the garage/punk side of life. This thing is put out by Mike Stax who is the lead singer for the Loons. He's also been a member of a few other bands that champion the big beat. This thing is definitely a labor of love. The thing is extensive and well researched. I've read articles in hear that are more comprehensive than some books. Again you get a large number of pages devoted to reviews of music and books, interviews, and assorted things that make for a completely satisfying literary experience.
The last issue that I got had a great piece on the Jimmy Page era Yardbirds, The Misunderstood, and so much more that you can't read the thing in one day. Again you get nearly 200 pages of absolute coolness. There are no subscriptions but you can check them out on the web www.ugly-things.com or write 'en a letter at 3707 fifth Ave#145, San Diego, CA 92103.

You're probably asking yourself right now how can you live without this stuff. Well bub, you can't, so throw away your copies of SPIN and ROLLINGSTONE and get this stuff instead. It's better than Shakespeare, and it's even been found that reading this stuff cures the plague, so what have you got to lose. You need this stuff, you really, really, do.

HERE'S TO GOOD HEALTH!

2005-05-18T16:30:00.000-07:00

I am finally feeling better after my bout with whatever it was that was dragging me down. It feels good to feel good again. I feel like I've been in a fog for the last week or so. Now that I think of it that happens with some frequency. I have been watching a lot of tv lately and I have to say that for the most part television sucks.

I sat and watched some of that show the Bachelor the other day. My God, that show is completely and utterly retarded. The thing reeks of down syndrome. I really hate this stuff. My wife who usually likes the more sappy type of thing made the comment afterwards "I can't believe I spent an hour and a half watching this." Amen baby, I can't believe that I did either. Just goes to show how miserable it can be when your sick and not in full possession of your senses.

The thing about television is that it used to be pretty cool. I mean when I was a kid there was all kinds of great gulcher on the airwaves. Looney Tunes, Ultraman, Combat, Starsky& Hutch, and remember the Creature Features with all of the cheesy yet way cool hosts? Whatever happened to that kind of stuff?

Damn I'm sounding old again, but hell, I don't care what anybody says, tv ain't as cool as it used to be. Reality tv is absolute unadulterated crap. Sports are really the only kind of reality tv that's worth watching. Oh well.

It's the day before the latest installment of the Star Wars movies is unleashed upon the public and there are actually people that have been in line all morning to get tickets. I realize that this is not uncommon but in my town. Hey, if I didn't have a bunch of this to do maybe I'd be out there too, sitting in the rain. Maybe not.

Keep watching as some movie and music reviews will be coming post haste, so tell all your friends and family. Over and out.

A NEW DRUG

2005-05-11T14:51:00.000-07:00

I went to the doctor the other day due to an incredibly painful sore throat. If you are like me, then long waits at the doctor are a source of major irritation. I have discovered that the way to avoid such things are to have your appointment about ten minutes before 5:oo. The doctors and nurses are already thinking about being home and opening up a cold and frosty beverage, and you the patient are very possibly the last thing that they are concerned about at this time.
Hell, you'll be lucky if they check your vital signs. I have never seen a doctor so quickly. The second the nurse shut the examining room door it was opening again. The diagnosis was quick and I didn't have to go through a lot of tests and stuff that I might have had to endure had my appointment been aroun 3:00. I got a prescription and went home feeling pretty happy about my drive through doctors office visit.

The only problem that I can come up with is that, not only am I not better, but have steadily been getting worse. Now I have a cough that will not quit and I haven't really slept in about three days because of it. I am also keeping my wife up.

As if feeling like crap isn't bad enough, I have had to hear from family and friends about how they know somebody who was having the same exact problems and they died. I don't know that I'm that sick yet, but I would say that another sleepless night of this hacking cough and death is going to come as a cold and comforting friend.

Anyway, I've now gotten a high powered cough syrup from my doctor (he was not the guy that I saw on Friday) and it says it's a narcotic antitussive and I should avoid driving and all that stuff. After I post this I'm running to the store to buy a 12 pack and then I'm going home and watching something weird like the Monkees movie HEAD, and then it's out to check out the bars. Heh, heh, I'm only kidding. I do not advocate that sort of reckless behavior. Someone will be driving me to the bar.

PREDICTIONS

2005-05-02T16:16:00.000-07:00

I predicted that the movie HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY was going to suck. I've heard that it was the number one movie over the weekend. That doesn't mean that it doesn't suck. I will know for myself in a couple of days. I still think it's going to be crap, but it will give me something to write about.

I watched the documentary END OF THE CENTURY last night. I thought this was really very good. I was surprised that PBS had something this cool on. Every member of the band was interviewed, even the forgotten Ritchie Ramone. The guy looks like he's gone on to be a business exec or something. As a Ramones fan I found this movie to be pretty satisfying. It seemed like it was a pretty honest picture of the band. It really is a mystery why the Ramones never had a hit. The film said, and I agree, The Ramones played classic American Rock 'n' Roll. Lots of other bands have gotten radio airplay copping the sound of the Ramones, yet the innovators never had much commercial success. It just goes to show that the music business makes no sense.

All things Ramone rule. Well, except for Dee Dee's rap stuff. I guess heroin is bad for you.

I CAN SMELL THE STENCH ALREADY !

2005-04-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

I have a feeling that the movie HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY is going to suck really bad. I loved those books and from the looks of the previews this thing is going to be total crap. I hope I'm wrong. I think Douglas Adams is going to be spinning in his grave. Where's Zaphods second head?

THE ARMIES OF THE UNCOOL STRIKE AGAIN !

2005-04-13T17:20:00.000-07:00

That's right! All those losers who want to make society completely antiseptic, safe, inoffensive, and completely pointless and boring have done it again. This time they have taken down a great American figure. Cookie Monster. Yes friends, Cookie Monster has been taken down. That icon of gluttony. That king of self indulgent cravings run amok, has now become more health conscious. He has learned that cookies are only a sometimes food, and he should also have a healthy diet of fruit and vegetables. This is kind of like the safe sex James Bond of the Timothy Dalton era. It's enough to make me quite watching children's television.

And if all that wasn't enough; some people did an experiment at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where they had a concert that the audience listened to on headphones. At least for a small segment of the show. The people wanted to show that you could enjoy live music without amplification. Jeez, these lame asses didn't learn anything from all of the times they were beaten up in grade school. Listen to rock 'n' roll through headphones at a concert. Who thought this was a good idea? I believe from the news report that I heard, the experiment was a failure. Well no kidding. Who couldn't have told these morons that it wouldn't work? The people who thought this idea up are so not cool it makes my head hurt. Friends, the apocalypse is upon us.

REKKID REVIEWS!

2005-03-17T09:02:00.000-08:00

God I love rock 'n' roll. Really. I admit it. I'm a complete geek for it. Going to a cool record store is like an amphetamine rush for me. I'm like a little kid at Christmas waiting to open presents as I race home to put a new purchase on, or in, the stereo. I virtually wet my pants when the latest Norton Records catalog arrives in my mail box. Yeah it's a sickness, but I do not want to be cured. I love this stuff. That being said here's a couple of reviews of some stuff that I just recently picked up not too long ago.

THE CRAMPS-HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER
Yes, everyone's favorite Neanderthal noise makers have put out a new 2 disc set. The first disc is full of early demos and rehearsals. The Cramps have always been a band that have waved the primitive rock 'n' roll flag and some of this stuff is possibly the most raw stuff that these guys have ever recorded. You get a few versions of SUNGLASSES AFTER DARK, chock full of all the Link Wray riffs that poison Ivy and Bryon Gregory could think of at the moment. The song LOVE ME sounds like an amphetamine fueled rewrite of Rawhide. The song RUMBLE BLUES( of which you get four versions in a row on here) is Link Wray's Rumble with Lux Interior adding some manic satanic vocals. They do a cool version of Ricky Nelson's Lonesome Town, with a nice guitar that gives the song a hauntingly twisted, off kilter feel.

The second disk in this package is of two live sets. One being from an early CBGB's show and the other from Max's Kansas City. Both pivotal New York City bars that were more than a little instrumental in bringing the mid-late 70's punk rock to the space it held in the American cultural psyche.

What can I say, this stuff is good. This package has got all of that caveman goodness that you have come to expect from the Cramps. Its the kind of music those apes in the first scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey would have listened to while crushing the skulls of the enemy tribes.

This thing comes with extensive liner notes written by both Lux and Ivy. gives lots of info on the origin of the band and it's various line ups at the times of said recordings, as well as other various tidbits. (Did you know that Poison Ivy once had a job as a Dominatrix). All of the stuff is great and it's great to read These Guys' attitudes about rock 'n' roll. After reading the liner notes it makes me wish that Lux and Ivy were my neighbors. (Imagine how cool Halloween would be on your block?)

Go out and get this thing. The Cramps are an essential part of any rock 'n' roll collection and frankly they are one of the most kick ass bands walking the planet at this very moment. You can trust me on this one.

MASTER PLAN-COLOSSUS OF DESTINY
This is a super group of sorts. Most, if not all of the members hailing from some pretty good New York City bands. Keith Streng and Bill Milhizer were members of the Fleshtones, and Andy Shernoff was the mastermind behind the great and mighty Dictators. This is a kick ass rock 'n' roll platter, with incredible power pop sensibility, and even slight hints of bubblegum (this is not an insult).
The songs on this are great with the exception of one (Broken Arrow, frankly it just flat out sucks). This disc is great to play when cruising around in the car hunting down a good time, shakin' your ass, or just sitting around throwing back a few cold beers. Hell, it's good any time.

The disc starts of with Shernoff's WHAT'S UP WITH THAT, which was also done by the Dictators. This version is slightly different with a nice Eddie Cochran kind of feel. BETTER GET BETTER is one of those life sucks songs, job's a drag, relationship is going wrong, but, it better get better, RIGHT ON! The song I GOT LOADED is one of the best songs about getting drunk ever written, and I'm sure that more than a few of us can relate to it.

Everything on this disk satisfies and if you know what's good for ya you'll run out and buy this thing, blast it on the stereo and have a block party. So do it already.

THE LOST POST

2005-02-26T14:23:00.000-08:00

The other day I posted a very long piece and as my luck would have it, I lost it to technical difficulties. This is how my life works sometimes.
Anyway, what I had written was about how that some people have been asking me how I could respect Hunter Thompson because he killed himself. Well, for one thing I don't respect the guy because he killed himself. In fact if the details that I have heard are true; and he shot himself while his son, daughter-in-law, and five year old grandchild were in the house; as well as having his wife (or ex-wife,I don't know) on the phone while he did it, well let's just say that I find that to be the behavior of a total fucking piece of shit.

My sympathy really goes out to those people who were close to the man and loved him. I am sure that they must be experiencing a flood of emotions ranging from anger, hatred, love, sorrow, etc. And possibly all of these things at the same time if that is possible. I have seen what suicide can do to families and loved ones and I can't begin to imagine what those people who loved Thompson must be feeling. I hope that I never will.

But back to the original question at hand. Do I respect Hunter S. Thompson? Yes. I'm not sure why that seems to be so hard for some of the people I have talked to in the last couple of days to conceptualize. I enjoyed the man's work. I think he was a great writer and his work had an impact on me. Him shooting himself really doesn't change anything for me. Had I personally known the man, maybe it would. No, I don't agree with everything the guy thought or stood for; but since when has that become the prerequisite for respecting, or liking someone?

I have a lot of friends that I do not agree with on everything, or maybe I don't subscribe to their certain philosophies in life, but hell, I think it be kind of a boring if all I did was hang or associate with people who thought exactly like I do, or only like the same things as me. It makes me wonder about just how narrow minded some people must be.

As an aside, if "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" doesn't describe "drug addled" then nothing does.

Rest In Piece-Hunter S. Thompson

2005-02-21T15:52:00.000-08:00

Wow. Hunter S. Thompson kills himself Sunday night. Killed by self inflicted gunshot the story goes. Well, the guy was either gonna die from a gun, or a drug overdose, so I guess in a way this sort of fits in with the guys life. I would have to think that a lot of people out here in the blogosphere owe the man some kind of small debt. The guy pretty much created gonzo journalism and whether a lot of these people know it or not; of lot of bloggers are definitely following in the great gonzo tradition.

If you haven't read anything by the man then you definitely need to out and pick something up right now. My favorites are "Hell's Angels", "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail in '72", as well as what is truly a classic "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas".

I really loved this guys work and I would have to say that it did have a profound effect on my life when I was a young guy reading and absorbing his stuff. The guys wit, cynicism, and drug addled perception of life struck a chord with me and still do. It was even due to Mr. Thompson and his writings that I discovered the greatness of vodka and grapefruit juice. Something I would find it hard to get through many days without.

So many heroes of mine have been dying lately and it's really caused me to think about things. I mean Johnny, Dee Dee, and Joey Ramone are dead. Arthur "Killer" Kane dead. Now Hunter Thompson. I know that it may sound kind of trite; but these guys (and many more) had some significant impact on my life. These guys either with the music or their writings would reinforce a lot of the ways I felt about things, or how I thought about things. I never met any of the these guys but I really do miss them in ways. It seems strange to say that, but it really is true.
These guys all represent something in regards to my perspective on life, but more than that each one of them represents an era, a fragment of culture that really does seem to be disappearing from the world. Now I know that saying that makes me seem like a dinosaur and maybe I am, but I feel it's true. I'm not really trying to be depressing here, I actually don't feel depressed per say, just a little sad I guess. The times they are a changing. I guess I'll go out to the porch, sit in my rocking chair and drink a toast to the good ole' days.

Anyway, the next time you have a drink, raise a glass to one of the great gonzo's.

A RANT !!!

2005-02-13T13:33:00.000-08:00

The other day someone showed me a video of Fred Durst playing guitar. He plays guitar like I do. Very badly. What is it with this piece of shit and his fuckhead band Limp Bizkit that some people seem to think is enjoyable? I really don't get it. The entire Nu-Metal scene is beyond me. None of the stuff I've heard appeals to me in any way. I know that I'm not in touch in regards to this stuff, but I thought this style was dead already. Maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part I guess, 'cause somebody's still making a fuss about this kind of music.

Well, I'm sure that douche...Er, I mean Durst, isn't gonna lose any sleep over what I think of him, but he is a complete and utter fuckhead. At best the idea of mixing rap and rock is a very, very, bad idea, at worst it's a fucking abomination. Yeah, I know it's just my opinion, but my opinion is one to be reckoned with. I've even heard that Bo Diddley has been doing some rap stuff when he performs. I've also heard that it completely sucks and is more than a little embarrassing to watch and listen too. So this stuff has even poisoned one of the coolest mortals that has ever walked the earth. This may not be Fred Durst's fault, but hey, I'm gonna go ahead heap all kinds of venom and hatred on the guy anyway. Why? Why not? He's certainly not shy about voicing his worthless opinions and here on this page, is where I get to voice mine.

So Fred, for all you do and say, and for all the bullshit music that you write and play, FUCK OFF!The only time that you should go near a stage is as a roadie, or if you're going to be crucified on one.

All my best,
SHEP

NEW VINYL !!

2005-02-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

It's been a very long time since I've posted, but when you mix a busy schedule with a lazy dispopsition things sometimes get left behind. Besides, I'm not sure that there are a whole lot of you out there reading this. Oh well, never let it be said that I couldn't get behind a lost cause.
So anway, I guess I'll review some of the new vinyl platters that I have procured in these last couple of weeks.

DMZ-RELICS
The tunes on this record were recorded sometime in 1977. DMZ were a important band in the early pantheon of garage revivalists and they soon evolved into the LYRES. The riffs are good as of course, they should be or else, why bother in the first place. The style definatly does harken back to the screaming sixtees kind of punk as well as mixing in some nice Ramones feel to the stuff. They also do some nice 60's covers including the classic 13th Floor Elevators tune "Your Gonna Miss Me".

SCUM OF THE EARTH part 2
This is a collection of various sixtees bands that in some way or another try to live up to the title.
Lots of cool stuff on here. The Bugs doing a song called slide which is a good garage punk stomper. Steve Purdy and the Studs doing "The Weed". No it's not about that weed but rather it's a kind of white trash anthem to tobacco. The Soul Men do "Road House" A great instrumental stomper and Ronnie Cook and the Gaylads appear doing "Goo Goo Muck" A cool strange kind of thing that was later to be covered by the Cramps. The platter is capped off by Bob Vidone and the Rockers playing "Weird". Lots of greasy saxophone and a thumping guitar riff. This thing is good for the soul I'm tellin' ya.

Lightning Beat Man 7 "
Three songs on this 45. "I'm gonna kill ya tonight" has a great killer fuzz riff. "I Love You" is not a ballad by any stretch yet it is kind of warm in a desperate psychotic kind of way. "I think You Lie" is possibly the most raw, sloppiest riff that I have ever heard. I mean this in a good way folks. This thing is primitive. It's caveman clatter that satisfies in a way that the squares and normals will never understand.

Well there's just a few of the high culture treasures that I have come across lately. If your out there people, let me hear from ya.

WHEW!!!!!

2005-01-15T18:39:00.000-08:00

What else can I say about tonights win by the Steelers. Way to many mistakes for comfort. In fact if it wasn't for Mr. Brien I would be crying in my beer right now. But hey, I have faith they will have it together for the next game. I am looking forward to this like you can't believe.
And as for Doug Brien, I want to buy that guy a beer. You know nobody in New York's gonna.

HAIL TO THE KING

2005-01-09T21:13:00.000-08:00

Well yesterday was Elvis' birthday and in memoriam I spent the day in a hazy fog. The kind that descends on the mind and body after a night of power drinking. I was up early and spent some time at work. Then it was home to the couch to relax and watch some football. After that I turned the tv to AMC where they were showing a bunch of Elvis movies. I've only recently got into Elvis after hearing his stuff on Sun records but I've never been a member of the cult; and I would still say that his musical output is spotty. However, as I sat there in a state of semi delerium, I watched a couple of his movies back to back; and as I watched I started to get what all of the big deal was about. I starterd to see beyond the movies and saw Elvis as that mythic being his disciples see him as. The pop culture messiah, dripping with cool. Hell, it was like I was having some kind of cosmic revelation. I was totally engrossed by these films. I now have this overpowering compulsion to go out and get a velvet oil painting of The King.

Maybe I should take a break from drinking so much?
........Nah.

HOW TO SPEND YOUR HOLIDAY MONEY

2005-01-03T10:44:00.000-08:00

Now that the holidays are over your probably wondering what to do with the money that you got after returning all of those lame ties, glow in the dark underwar, and Avril Lavighn CD's. (I'm not sure that's how it's spelled, but really, who cares).

I've got the answer for ya. A freind of mine asked me to recommend some rock 'n' roll DVDs, so here you go, have at 'em.

IGGY& the STOOGES-LIVE in DETROIT
I was a little worried when I first heard about the Stooges deciding to get back together and do some shows. I mean how many times have we seen once great rock 'n' rollers come back from the ashes and embarrass themselves in a last ditch grab to relive past glories? Well I shouldn't have worried. I mean it is the STOOGES after all.
Let's face it, The Stooges worst rehearsal session is better than a lot of big time stars best efforts. C'mon, you gotta love a band who asks the record company for an advance telling them that they need it for drugs. You gotta love a band who's lead singer gets the crap beat out of him by a biker and then invites the guy and his gang to come to the next show and throw eggs at the band while they play. Would Bono be this cool? No, he wouldn't.
This DVD catches the band back on their home turf of Detroit and it doesn't dissapoint. It's a great show and the bonus material of the Stooges playing in a record store is good as well.
Well what else can I say, It's the Stooges fer criminy's sake. Go Buy it.

The CRAMPS-LIVE at NAPA MENTAL HOSPITAL
Forget all the labels that have been attached to this band. These guys are a ROCK 'N' ROLL BAND. Pure 100%, uncut, adreline pumped, get yer rocks off, thud, stomp, and roll.
This DVD is the band in the early days. As the title implies it's footage of the band playing a show at a mental hospital. The quality may not always be the best at times but the content of this transcends any of the technical flaws.

If you pride yourself on being a crazy rock 'n' roll animal you really need to get this thing. The story goes that something like 12 patients escaped during or after the show. How cool is that?

JOHNNY THUNDERS and the HEARTBREAKERS-DEAD or ALIVE
This DVD came with a book about Johnny. The DVD is concert footage of the Heartbreakers in England. It's great to see some footage of this great and seminal band. Johnny does seem to be messed up during the proceedings but what else would you expect if you know any of the legend.
Thunders was one of the best guitarists to walk the planet and has made some of the best music out there. This is just a part of the legacy that the man left behind. Great concert footage and interview as well as a few other goodies.

There are just a couple of things you all ought to run out and get. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

YEE-OWWWCH

2004-12-30T06:52:00.000-08:00

That pretty much sums up the way I was feeling yesterday morning when I crashed into the waking world. Most of the rest of my day was spent in a brain fog that I just couldn't seem to shake loose. Of course the reason I was in such a state was due to the events of the night before, and here in lies the story. Doesn't it always?

My friend Troy and I set out for one of those nights. We were with some friends of his and headed for the local drinking establishments. The evening started off normal enough, but normal wasn't to be the order of the day. everybody should prepare themselves for the next big thing headed your way. What am I talking about? I'm talking about FULL CONTACT OUTLAW TRICYCLE RACING. Smashes, crashes, bodily injury, it's all there. Screw NASCAR, this is the next big thing in racing sports.

What's needed:
Tricycles (the smaller the better)

Two racers for each trike (One for power and one for steering.yeah, you can do it with one each but it's a lot less entertaining).

Lots of objects in the center of the track and definatly near all of the turns. (folding chairs, garbage cans, etc.)

So go on. Be the first in your town to get started. Your local emergency room will thank you for it.

BLAST OFF!

2004-12-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

The Kulture corner is now open for business. Who says good things don't come out of extreme boredom? Not that I'm necessarily saying this is a good thing, only time will tell. I suppose that my mission here is to simply infect those reading this with my views and opinions on things. Mostly what I'll be talking about will probably be movies, rock 'n' roll, books, comics, tv, and whatever will seem like a good idea at the time.

If you hold a high opinion of modern mainstream pop culture then you may just want to quit reading right now. For the most part I have nothing but contempt for things like MTV, current tv shows, the Grammy's, and all other kinds of lame ass stuff that is being passed off as cool. And this goes especially for rock 'n' roll, or rather the phony imitation that is being passed off for it these days.

So anyway, hope any of you folks out there who stumble across this maybe enjoy it , and better yet, go out and buy some of the records and movies I might happen to be yappin' about. So log on, grab a cold one from the fridge, and smoke 'em if you got 'em, it's likely to get twisted from here on.