That's What I Was Going to Say

New Wave for the New Week #143

2012-01-31T07:30:00.002-05:00

When you think of the early days of Punk Rock, Belgium is probably not the first place you see on the map in your mind's eye. But there was indeed a rumbling there back in 1976 in the form of a trio who called themselves The Kids. Ludo Mariman played guitar and sang; the De Haes brothers, Danny and Eddy, played bass and drums respectively. None of them were particularly proficient, but they had passion and energy and attitude, and wasn't that what Punk Rock was all about?

The Kids took their cues from media reports and magazine articles about The Ramones and The Sex Pistols. They wore leather jackets and safety pins and played loud and hard and fast. They spat at their audience and rejoiced when the audience spat back at them. They wrote songs with titles like "Fascist Cops," "Johnny's On The Dole," "I Don't Care" and "Bloody Belgium." They could easily have been written off as a paint-by-numbers wanna-be Punk band, except for the fact that they were so damn engaging and their music, while probably veering closer to tough bar-band swagger than Punk Rock in the traditional sense, was catchy as hell.

Their records are difficult to find but worth the search. In 1978 they released both their debut, The Kids, and its follow-up, Naughty Kids. Both are very much of their time, with the first being a bit stronger of an album and actually seeing a brief reissue a few years back. By the time of the third album in 1980, The Kids had expanded their lineup by adding another guitarist, Luc van de Poel, and had refined their sound to a less abrasive, more power-pop noise, in keeping with the musical trends of the time.

That third album, Living In The 20th Century, is an absolute masterpiece, and ranks high on my personal list of criminally overlooked Punk and New Wave albums. Within its hook-filled grooves of tight, melodic Punk, you will find no filler, and when the needle hits the amazingly irresistible "Do You Wanna Know?," you'll wonder why all music can't be this damn good.

After those first three records, The Kids soldiered on for another five years, releasing a few more albums but never quite duplicating the sound of 20th Century. In 1985 they called it quits, but their records found new audiences through bootlegged copies and occasional collector reissues. Ten years later Mariman got the group back together for some reunion gigs, and they have been playing together ever since. In 2004, they played their first ever show in the USA in Brooklyn, NY, in front of a sell-out crowd. The Kids Anthology, a very difficult to track down and fairly pricey seven-disc (!) boxed set, was issued in 2007 containing just about everything they ever recorded, but is now out of print.

For this week's NW4NW, here are The Kids with a live (and, unfortunately, very poor audio mix) performance of "Do You Wanna Know?" followed by an audio-only clip of the early "Fascist Cops." Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2012-01-29T08:54:00.000-05:00

*Sigh.* Is it Baseball Season yet?

New Wave for the New Week #142

2012-01-23T09:08:00.000-05:00

With their plinky, chant-along music and their hillbilly/dreadlock/thrift store chic appearance, Haysi Fantayzee staked out a unique territory during the year or so that the band existed. Dismissed by many as so much fluff, their singles still found enough receptive ears to get them steady mention in the UK charts during 1982 and into 1983. Undeniably childlike, those songs nonetheless spoke to the issues of racism, nuclear apocalypse, and suicide. At the same time, they were addictive little bits of ear-candy that kept club dance floors packed.

Jeremy/Jeremiah Healy and Kate Garner were the image of Haysi Fantayzee, while Paul Caplin stayed in the background playing all the instruments and managing the band's affairs. Instead of taking the usual route of sending demo tapes to various record labels in hopes of landing a contract, Haysi Fantayzee leveraged their most obvious feature: Healy's and Garner's carefully constructed image. They put together a low-budget video and sent that around, eventually finding a home with the Regard label. Granted, dancing about in their colorful rags made Healy and Garner an eye-catching duo, but the "style over substance" label would haunt them.

The substance was there, even if the critics chose to ignore it. Their debut single, "Holy Joe," caught on enough to get them into the lower reaches of the charts; their sophomore effort, "John Wayne Is Big Leggy," broke them big. Using a story of The Duke taking liberties with a squaw as an allegory for the treatment of Native Americans by European settlers, it was mildly controversial. But damn if it wasn't catchy! The single went to #11 and got them national exposure throughout the UK.

Their third single would be their most well-known, the post-apocalyptic square dance "Shiny Shiny." Though it fell a bit short of its predecessor's mark (only reaching #16) in the UK, it was a huge club hit in the States and remains a staple of nostalgic New Wave compilation albums today.

In early 1983, their lone album, Battle Hymns For Children Singing, appeared, gathering up all three previous singles as well as the concurrently released "Sister Friction." A fun record worth picking up if you can find it, but be wary of the CD reissues: the version issued in 2000 by Razor and Tie features extra tracks, but was poorly mastered resulting in some songs being sped up while others are slowed noticeably; Cherry Pop's 2007 reissue doesn't have the mastering issues, but has different bonus tracks.

This week's NW4NW features Haysi Fantayzee's two big singles. First up, the exuberant "Shiny Shiny," followed by "John Wayne Is Big Leggy." Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2012-01-22T09:51:00.000-05:00

Yawn.
S t r e t c h.
Still time?
Yes!
Zzzzzz....

New Wave for the New Week #141

2012-01-16T07:00:00.002-05:00

Boston seems to have always had an interesting underground music scene. From the early-70s days of Jonathan Richman's Modern Lovers to the barroom punk of The Real Kids; from the skronk-y noise of V; (note: the ";" was part of the band's name) to the hyperspeed hardcore of The Freeze; and currently, from the farfisa-driven garage sound of The Charms to the retro-synthpop sounds of Freezepop. New York and L.A. can claim all the history and influence they like; there was always something special in the dirty water of Boston. (Just ask The Standells!)

One of the too-often forgotten blips on the early-80s Boston music scene was the fascinating Human Sexual Response. Formed in 1978 from the remnants of a goofy all-kazoo project (the awesomely-named Kazoondheit) and the semi-serious a capella group Honey Bea & The Meadow Muffins, Human Sexual Response featured a unique band configuration: seven members including a drummer, bass player, guitarist, and four - count them, four! - vocalists.

In their relatively brief existence they issued two albums. Their debut, Fig. 14, appeared in 1980; In A Roman Mood followed a year later. Both sport the same pluses and minuses. Human Sexual Response was a solid band that featured an overflow of creativity and a marked inconsistency in their ability to translate their ideas into enjoyable songs. When they hit the target, they were incomparable. Early singles like "What Does Sex Mean To Me?" and "Dolls" are great fun; later material ("Pound," "Andy Fell") is darker but equally catchy. They scored a minor regional hit with 1980's "Jackie Onassis" ("I wanna be like Jackie Onassis/I wanna wear a pair of dark sunglasses..."), and were club favorites in and around their native Boston.

Unfortunately, when they missed the mark, they could be pretentious, overly theatrical, and frankly boring. Over both albums they sounded like a band trying to settle on a sound, but never quite finding that comfort zone. Between the two releases an album's worth of solid material could be culled, so the records are definitely worth picking up, but buyer beware - there are a few clinkers. In 1991, nine years after the band dissolved, Rykodisc issued a CD titled Fig. 15. This was the original Fig. 14 album reissued with the addition of the song "Butt Fuck," which they had performed unannounced on a live Boston TV program, Five All Night Live, causing trouble for the band, the show, and the station on which it aired. It's a perfect encapsulation of where the band went wrong: the idea of getting away with thumbing their nose at the FCC was far better than the actual song.

But rather than rehash the bad, let's celebrate the good! This week's NW4NW includes two of Human Sexual Response's best songs. "Blow Up" incorporates footage of the legendary Tura Satana; "Land Of The Glass Pinecones" is a cult masterpiece ("Their seeds are made of rhinestones... / ...They smash on the grass when the wind blows..."). Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2012-01-08T09:08:00.000-05:00

New year: new possibilities, limitless potential!

Since Everyone Else is Doing It: My Favorite Records of 2011

2011-12-30T10:00:00.006-05:00

This is not a countdown.

I feel it's important to state that right off the bat. Yes, I know that in these waning days of the year it's the thing bloggers do: countdowns of the best or worst songs, albums, movies, varieties of soup, what have you. And I hate those kinds of posts, because they always lead to the same arguments among the commenters: "How could you rank X higher than Y? Are you insane?"

2011 was a pretty damn good year for music. Lots of fantastic stuff out there if you're willing to dig for it. So, despite my reticence to join in with the year-end-list crowd, I'm doing it anyway - but I'm not ranking these in any order. Think of this more as a "buying guide" provided to you by your old pal Bryan. You're welcome.

Another note before we dive in: yes, I know one or two titles here might technically have been 2010 releases, but I'm including them because they got a lot of airplay around here this year, and thus they are 2011 releases in spirit. And it's my list. So suck it. Here we go:

Freezepop - Imaginary Friends/Secret Companion
Originally released in the fall of 2010, Freezepop's fourth album, Imaginary Friends, was reissued this year as part of a limited edition two-disc package with nearly another album's worth of bonus material, Secret Companion. Founding members Liz Enthusiasm and The Other Sean T. Drinkwater, along with relative newcomers Robert John "Bananas" Foster and Christmas Disco-Marie Sagan (it took two people to replace the departed Duke of Pannekoeken!) continue the band's remarkable ability to recreate a spot-on circa-1983 synthpop sound updated for the 21st century. It's a fuller, lusher sound these days, but that's not a bad thing. Their insanely clever lyrics and constant ironic wink will leave you wondering at times where the line between tribute and parody lies, but you'll be dancing the whole time, so does it really matter? "Doppelganger" is the single, and it is simply outstanding:

Shilpa Ray & her Happy Hookers - Teenage and Torture
Pounding out blues-based punk-tinged rawk-n-roll on her harmonium and spewing forth raging vocals that will pin you to the wall if you're not careful, Shilpa Ray has drawn favorable comparisons to just about every emotion-fueled female musical icon you can name from Ella Fitzgerald to Chrissy Hynde and beyond, yet she stands quite uniquely on her own with no comparison being quite accurate. "Heaven In Stereo," the first single from Ray's band's second LP, is representative of the driving, insistent sound you'll find throughout. Rough-edged but stunning. Don't miss this one!

Crisis of Conformity - "Fist Fight!"/"Kick it Down and Kick it Around" (single)
Saturday Night Live's greatest musical export since The Blues Brothers turns out to be this nostalgia-fueled celebration of mid-80s hardcore. The brainchild of Fred Armisen, Crisis of Conformity found life in a single skit last season (a newlywed's father gets his old band together at his daughter's wedding reception, and the four graying middle-aged friends launch into "Fist Fight!" while wrecking the place). All of the by-the-book moves are here, from the mid-song tempo change to the nonsequitor name-checking of Ronald Reagan and Alexander Haig. Armisen should know those moves - his pedigree is real, having played drums for Chicago's Trenchmouth in his youth. Drag City Records released the single this year; the clip includes both songs.

Buy the single here!

Van Buren Boys - Up All Night
Fans of The Exploding Hearts, Paul Collins' Beat, or other hard-edged power pop should line up for this one, the second full-length LP from The Van Buren Boys. Their first effort, 2009's Six String Love, was a helluva debut whose only drawback was that every song sounded very samey (that they all sounded like The Clash's "Gates Of The West" helped mitigate that, of course). With Up All Night, The Van Buren Boys (Seinfeld fans should get the reference) find the confidence to stretch a bit beyond that safe zone. The result is a twangy, guitar-ringing sound that should put a big ol' smile on the faces of those other bands' fans.

Download the album here!

They Might Be Giants - Join Us
What could I possibly say about They Might Be Giants that would add anything new or insightful to the many, many songs of their praise over the past 25 years or so? You know everything you need to: John Flansburgh and John Linell are freakin' geniuses when it comes to writing insidiously catchy songs with lyrics far wittier than you or I could ever come up with, and the well from which their creativity springs seems to be bottomless. This year's album is no exception. Just get it.

Shonen Knife - Osaka Ramones
It is truly amazing to consider how far The Ramones' influence has reached over the years. What would music sound like today had they not existed? Scary prospect, isn't it? Many, many artists have attempted to repay their debt by either covering Ramones songs (or occasionally, full albums!) or penning tributes. Few have done so with the unbridled enthusiasm of the wonderful Shonen Knife. Joey Ramone himself gave the girls the nickname "The Osaka Ramones" after hearing them play; they have always said they learned to play rock and roll by listening to The Ramones and The Beatles. Well, if you're gonna do it, you couldn't ask for better teachers! On Osaka Ramones, Shonen Knife reverentially honor the classics: "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Rock 'n' Roll High School," "Beat On the Brat" - they're all here. My personal fave, though, is their take on "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker." Enjoy!

Poly Styrene - Generation Indigo
Former X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene's comeback album also, sadly, turned out to be her swansong. Released shortly before losing her battle with cancer, Generation Indigo presented Poly in prime form. In 1977 she was singing about a world of dayglo and genetic engineering and disposable society; in 2011 she was still going on about such modernisms being foisted on us in place of real human interaction ("Virtual Boyfriend"). Her vocal style, once described as shrieking out songs "with all the delicacy of a cat in heat," had grown into a confident, strong, unique voice that served her well whether the sound was hard, soft, reggae, dance, whatever. Enjoy "Thrash City," one of the best tracks on an excellent album:

Madam Adam - Madam Adam
From the hard rock side of my record collection I offer South Carolina's Madam Adam. Discovered this band opening up for Halestorm here in Lancaster, PA, about this time last year, and was very impressed. Granted, they're not breaking any new ground here: it's just no-frills, by-the-book rock-n-roll with tinges of Aerosmith and Cheap Trick. It's a sound that will always sell because it's just good. It's party music; it's music for speeding down the highway in a car filled with too many friends; it's music for blasting on your stereo and violently air-guitaring until the neighbors pound on the door and demand you turn it down. Crank up the single "Sex Ain't Love" and see for yourself:

Hillbilly Moon Explosion - Buy Beg or Steal
After half a dozen albums, it's a shame Switzerland's Hillbilly Moon Explosion haven't found a larger audience. Basing their sound in American rockabilly with a modern twist, not entirely unlike HorrorPops, Hillbilly Moon Explosion are at once very familiar and very foreign. You could jump in just about anywhere in their discography and be pleasantly surprised at the gems you'll find, but the prize found in this year's release is their cover of Orchestral Manouevres In The Dark's "Enola Gay," about the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb as a weapon of war. Brilliant!

Kimberly Freeman - Into Outer Space
I discovered Austin, Texas' One-Eyed Doll earlier this year, and they have quickly become one of my favorite bands. As I've gotten to know their material, I've discovered that Kimberly Freeman is a remarkably talented and unbelievably creative force. Within the framework of One-Eyed Doll she is all over the musical map (as noted in earlier posts, they run the gammut from death metal screaming to hook-laden pop to children's-song chanting); outside of One-Eyed Doll, her solo work finds even more facets to her fascinating musical world. I could rave about her work for hours, but that would take away time you could be spending listening for yourself! Check out "Fame And Loathing," the single from Freeman's 2011 solo album Into Outer Space, then follow the link to the One-Eyed Doll site and start exploring!

Download the album here!

Amy Gore & Her Valentines - "Drivin' Around"
A late entry in the 2011 sweepstakes, but a winner nonetheless, is the debut track from Amy Gore's current ensemble. Best known for her work in The Gore Gore Girls and her teaming with Nikki Corvette to form Gorevette, Amy gathered up these particular Valentines for a one-off gig in her native Detroit. They discovered they really enjoyed playing together, and ta-da: a new band is born! "Drivin' Around" is one of those tracks that nearly defies genre. It's a solid chunk of whaddaya-wanna-do-tonight-I-dunno-whadda-you-wanna-do guitar rock, with a simple but insidiously catchy chorus and sound that holds great promise for a full album's worth of goodies from the band. Soon Amy? Please?

Download the track here!

OK, those are my picks for 2011. How about yours? Any glaring omissions here? Have at it in the comments section! And also, please have a safe and happy New Year!

He Jammed Econo - D. Boon 4/1/58 - 12/22/85

2011-12-22T16:53:00.002-05:00

Just posted up a couple of clips on the Facebook Page, in remembrance of two musical giants we lost on this day. The Clash's Joe Strummer passed away on December 22, 2002; I wrote about the anniversary of his passing in one of my earliest posts here. But many years before that, on December 22, 1985, D. Boon of The Minutemen lost his life in a car accident at the far-too-young age of 27 (yes, he's a member of the 27 Club).

Remembering D. Boon, my mind immediately goes back to the night of December 4-5, 1985. I was finishing up the first semester of my Freshman year at University of Richmond, and was discovering what great town Richmond, VA, was for seeing bands. Although R.E.M. had not yet broken through to their mainstream popularity, they were already huge college radio idols - especially south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Word had come to town that R.E.M. would be coming to Richmond, playing live at The Mosque (now The Landmark Theater). My circle of friends were eager to see them; I might have been the only one in our group who was even more psyched to see the opening band: The Minutemen.

The Minutemen came out of San Pedro, CA. The trio of D. Boon, Mike Watt and George Hurley had been together for about five years, playing a unique amalgam of punk, jazz, and folk that seemed at times, to borrow from one of their album titles, to buzz and howl. At other times, their music soared, rolled in on lazy waves, and landed harmlessly at your feet. D. Boon sang, hollered, whispered, recited poetry; Mike Watt thumped a bass like no one else; George Hurley pounded out the most intricate rat-a-tat-tat-boom. They were amazing, but they were a band out of place at times: too progressive and intricate for the harder-core-than-thou crowd who wanted only fasterandlouder, too abrasive and political for the hairspray kids. But Michael Stipe and the rest of R.E.M. heard them, loved them, and took them on tour with them. And they were coming to Richmond!

The Mosque was theater seating, and tickets were to go on sale the day of the show, so about half a dozen or so of us got the bright idea that we would camp out the night before so we could be first in line and get the best seats in the house. So on an early December night, there we were, wrapped in blankets and sleeping bags like hobos on the sidewalk in front of The Mosque, feeling not quite safe enough to fall asleep but becoming more and more exhausted as the night wore on. Odd folks roam those city streets at the wee hours, we learned; yet to them we were the oddities putting ourselves on display. I know I nodded off once or twice throughout the night, but mostly we stayed up swapping stories, cracking each other up, sharing a few beers and the joy of knowing that forgoing our soft warm mattresses for the cold hard sidewalk would be worth it for the front-and-center tickets our night would earn us the next day.

As dawn broke, we began to wonder why no one else had thought to camp out...or why no one was even lining up for the ticket office to open. Ha! We thought we had outsmarted them all! I can only imagine what went through the box office person's mind when they opened that morning to find six shivering, exhausted, unshowered bodies wrapped in sleeping bags and waiting with money clenched in our fists. We asked for the best tickets available, and in that completely disinterested, unemphatic voice that can only come from a jaded ticket booth attendant we were told the horrible truth: "Ain't no best tickets. All General Admission."

We had camped out for General Admission tickets.

The show turned out to earn a place in infamy. In her contribution to the liner notes of the excellent Rhino Records 4-disc boxed set Left Of The Dial, Karen Schoemer talks about being at that same show, and describes the sad scene:

...the crowd, collegiate and beery, booed [The Minutemen]. Now, I had no idea at the time what The Minutemen were about, except that their songs were short, but I remember looking at the crowd and thinking, 'This isn't cool. If we wanted to act like a bunch of close-minded morons, couldn't we just attend a Rod Stewart show?'

My memory is that, despite the crowd, both bands played fantastic sets, although in my mind's eye I see The Minutemen looking out of place with their minimal gear on the fairly large Mosque stage. Still, they were electrifying, and I am so glad I had the chance to see them, even if it meant being so foolish as to spend a night on a city sidewalk.

Seventeen days after that show, on December 22, D. Boon was killed. RIP, D.

New Wave for the New Week #140

2011-12-19T07:30:00.005-05:00

This time of year, radio station playlists seem to fill up with the usual Christmas fare. For the past 28 (!) years, those Yuletide playlists have included The Waitresses' holiday hit, "Christmas Wrapping." So, no surprise to have already heard it several times this year. I will admit to a chuckle, however, when I heard one DJ refer to The Waitresses as "one hit wonders," referring to their annual classic as being their one hit. While they were never a chart-topping act, they had at least three singles receive notable mainstream success - that's more hits than many acts can claim!

The Waitresses started life as an imaginary band in Akron, Ohio, circa 1978. Chris Butler had been playing with the band Tin Huey, when he noticed that the bands that were breaking big out of the scene in Ohio (The Dead Boys, Pere Ubu, Devo, etc.) were doing so by heading to New York and merging into the CBGB's crowd. Wanting to let the world know that Ohio was a happening place, he and musician/producer Liam Sternberg came up with the idea of putting together a compilation where the joke would be that none of the bands actually existed, but were really all Chris and Liam (as he explained in the liner notes to one of the many "Best Of" compilations of Waitresses material, reprinted here).

By the time the first piece of Waitresses vinyl appeared, the Short Stack 7-inch, in 1978, there still wasn't an actual band. The record's A-side, a Devo-esque track called "Clones," was quite different from the funkier and more accessible B-side, "Slide." Neither sound anything like what The Waitresses would eventually become; legend says that both tracks were actually Chris and Liam with Tin Huey backing them up.

Butler had a knack for writing songs from a female perspective, and soon went in search of female vocalist to bring those works to life. Enter Patty Donahue, who would join the band in time for their next recorded output, a song called "The Comb." Liam Sternberg had become the in-house producer for Stiff Records and had apparently never forgotten the idea for a compilation of Ohio bands; by the time The Akron Compilation hit the shelves in early 1979, there were plenty of real bands sprouting up in the second wave of the Ohio scene. The Waitresses were represented by "The Comb" and "Slide" (while "Clones" ended up being a hidden track on the end of the comp).

By the turn of the decade, Butler had followed the path of many others to New York with Donahue in tow. There, The Waitresses' lineup was soon rounded out by ex-Television drummer Billy Ficca, saxophonist Mars Williams, keyboardist Dan Klayman and bass player Tracy Wormworth. They became a popular live band, and in 1981 contributed "Christmas Wrapping" to Ze Records' holiday compilation A Christmas Record. A year earlier, Ze had released The Waitresses' second single, "I Know What Boys Like." It was with these releases that The Waitresses found their signature sound - a funky New Wave vibe with horns that were far less skronky than the concurrent No Wave scene happening in the Big Apple, with Patty Donahue's unmistakeably sarcastic vocals layered over top. Trouser Press described her style quite accurately: "she doesn't sing so much as carry a simultaneous conversation and tune."

The band soon signed to Polydor Records, who in 1982 reissued the "I Know What Boys Like" single. This time it caught on thanks to a quirky video getting airplay on MTV, and the song soon became a cult hit which is to this day a New Wave staple. On the basis of that success, The Waitresses were tapped to sing the theme song for the TV series Square Pegs. The wonderfully-titled I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts EP appeared soon after, containing two of their three biggies, "Christmas Wrapping" and "Square Pegs," along with three more similarly snarky tracks. The success of that record led to a full album, Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?, which made "I Know What Boys Like" available on LP, but otherwise contained new material that followed the standard Waitresses formula. Some tracks are very good ("No Guilt", "It's My Car"), while others start to sound a bit repetitive.

When their second album arrived in 1984, the snarkiness was wisely toned down a bit. Bruiseology showed great promise in its lead single, the perfectly wonderful "Make The Weather." Unfortunately, the band was going through a great deal of internal strife during the recording of the album, resulting in Patty Donahue walking out of the band and several tracks needing to be finished without her. As a result, the album is a bit shaky at points, although still recommended.

With Donahue gone, Butler called on Holly Beth Vincent to join the band as the new frontwoman. She toured with the band for a few weeks, but it just wasn't a fit, and before long Patty was back. It seemed The Waitresses were back on track, but it didn't click. By the end of 1984, The Waitresses were done with no more material released.

Chris Butler stayed involved in the music business, mainly doing production work and songwriting. The most visible members of the band these days are Mars Williams, who is currently touring with The Psychedelic Furs, and Tracy Wormworth, who has been playing off and on with The B-52's for several years. Sadly, Patty Donahue passed away in December 1996 after battling lung cancer for a year.

For this week's NW4NW, here are the clips for the classic "I Know What Boys Like" and the excellent "Make The Weather." Then, as a Christmas bonus, a fan-made video for "Christmas Wrapping." Merry Christmas!

Six Word Sunday

2011-12-18T12:19:00.000-05:00

Heat is too expensive. Wear sweaters.

Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!

2011-12-17T17:10:00.002-05:00

Oh boy, am I a lucky guy! Apparently, I've won $68,000 dollars! Let the singing and dancing in the streets commence!

Pictured is the letter I received from World Link Finance Inc. informing me that was one of the "lucky winners" in a "Publisher's Clearing house [sic]" Compensation Draw Sweepstakes, and I've won a lump sum of $68K which will be delivered to me by special courier. Can you imagine the joy? I'm already spending the money in my head!

"Lucky" is absolutely the right word, too! You wanna know just how lucky I am? I won a sweepstakes that I never even entered! That's right, read 'em and weep: all you chumps out there who think you have to play to win - I just proved you wrong!

I'll be contacting my File Agent on Monday to start the claiming process. These folks thought of everything! They even sent me an advance check of $3866 to cover the Government Service Tax and Insurance! All I have to do is cash that check and wire them back $2976.55 of it, and I'm on my way to riches, baby!

Sure, I find it a little strange that the good folks at World Link Finance Inc. sent the letter to me in an envelope bearing the logo and name of Hudson's Bay Co., and that the check bears the logo and name of a company called Tahitian Noni. I figure that must be some sort of security measure. A simple Google search tells me that Hudson's Bay Co. happens to be the oldest commercial corporation in North America and today is a retail clothier throughout Canada, and that Tahitian Noni is a multi-level marketing company promoting a health drink. My guess is that World Link Finance uses their names and logos to throw others off the track: greedy relatives and friends will just think I'm shopping for clothes or getting paid for marketing a beverage rather than winning a sweepstakes, and won't come begging for money. Pretty smart, World Link Finance!

You see, I did my homework! I know World Link Finance Inc. uses top-level security, because they can't even be found in a Google search! I looked up their address on Google Street View, and as you can see, they take security so seriously that they even camouflage their offices. You wouldn't even know they were there! So, before you ask, that's also probably why a finance company in New York City has a phone number with a Toronto area code. It all makes perfect sense!

And how considerate of them to rely on me to handle the Government Service Tax and Insurance, rather than simply taking the funds they sent to me and just delivering them to the proper authorities! They were nice enough to send more funds than needed, so I get to have a little extra spending cash for Christmas. Happy Holidays, World Link Finance! Now, I had never heard of "Government Service Tax and Insurance," so I turned to Google once again. Google couldn't point me to any place that told me exactly what it was, but it did show me that lots of other winners were supposed to pay the same thing, so it must be legit, right?

The check itself is a thing of genius, sheer genius! My scanner kind of picked up the watermark, which clearly says "void" on it - obviously a way to test bank employees to make sure they're validating these checks! Why, with security measures that advanced, how could this be anything but the real deal?

Those clever bastards even managed to keep my name entirely off the actual letter, and rather than have it signed by anyone, they had it "approved" by Mark Stines. He's a Vice President of Global Operations, so he must be very important. Just look at his smiling, trustworthy face right there at the bottom of my letter. You know he's got to be a big muckety-muck, because he looks an awful lot like another Vice President of Global Operations, Vernon Kimberly, of C&C Services Inc. I found a picture of one their letters to another winner online.

Almost an eerie resemblance, isn't it? But you know, put those bigwigs in their monkey suits and you can't tell 'em apart, right?

What? Scam? Whaddaya mean scam? Naw, you're just saying that because you're envious of my good fortune! Why, I bet next you'll be telling me that there really is no Nigerian Prince who needs my help in secretly moving millions of dollars out of his country, and is willing to split the funds with me 50/50!

I'm rich, rich I tell ya!

This is Number Three

2011-12-13T15:15:00.000-05:00

Today marks three years of existence for this li'l ol' blog o' mine! Talk about time flying! Hard to believe that much time has passed since I sat down one afternoon and pounded out my first rant, in this case about people who seem unable to grasp that they are the ones slowing traffic at Lancaster's otherwise wonderful Central Market.

In the three years since then, over 10,000 unique visitors have stopped by to spend a little time here. That amazes me. Not because I think I'm uninteresting, but rather I am amazed by the sheer scope of reach my words have here. When I was doing my radio show in Richmond, VA, many years back, I don't think I reached 10,000 people! Certainly I didn't reach folks from so many varied locations. You've come to my blog from Spain, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, Sweden, Malaysia, Croatia and more other countries than I can list here. In fact, six of the seven continents have sent readers to this blog (only Antarctica remains - come on, where are my Antarctic readers?!?).

Please know I am grateful for you all, whether you're a regular subscriber here or you just stumbled on the blog by chance and decided to read a post or two. I am always open to your thoughts and suggestions on how to improve - what would you like to see more of? Less of? Want to suggest a band for an NW4NW post? Interested in writing a guest post? Let me know!

If you're on Facebook and haven't already "liked" the blog's page, please consider doing so. On occasion I put bits and pieces up there that don't make the cut for the blog itself. If you're on Twitter, you can follow the blog's Twitter account, @TWIWGTS.

I'm looking forward to what the next year brings - I hope you are too! In the meantime, join me in celebrating our Happy Third Anniversary!

Six Word Sunday

2011-12-11T09:15:00.000-05:00

This year flew by too quickly.

New Wave for the New Week #139

2011-12-05T07:30:00.000-05:00

Canadian-born Jeff Plewman has been making fascinating music since 1975, although you have likely never heard of him. An incredibly talented individual, Jeff seems capable of playing any instrument you hand him. He is best known, however, for his work with electric violin and mandolin, often processed further through assorted synthesizers and, as he refers to them, "devices." He has toured with Gary Numan and Iggy Pop, among others, and he is still going strong in 2011, having just released a fine retrospective compilation of his career's work. But if you go to your favorite record store (or, as I guess we must say in 21st century, "music source") and ask for Jeff Plewman's latest release, you'll get little more than funny looks. Jeff doesn't record or perform under his given name. Jeff records and performs with his head and face wrapped mummy-like in bandages, wearing tuxedo and top hat, and goes only by the name Nash The Slash.

It wasn't always thus. Nash started out as a normal, unbandaged musician as part of a Canadian mid-70's progressive band called FM (think long hair and long, long songs). After FM released their first album, Nash struck out on his own, beginning with 1978's Bedside Companion. At the time this four-song instrumental EP was released, as the cover art reveals, the top hat and jacket were already in place, but the bandages didn't appear until the following year. During a 1979 tour, with the crisis at Three Mile Island having just occured, Nash wanted to make a statement about the dangers of a nuclear meltdown. He appeared onstage one night wrapped in bandages dipped in phosphorescent paint as a warning that "this may happen to you!" The bandages quickly became a trademark, and he has not appeared in public unwrapped ever since.

1979 also saw Nash's first full-length LP, Dreams And Nightmares. Following the debut EP stylistically but beginning to add vocals to the mix, Nash slashed out a sound not far removed from German electronic noodlers like Kraftwerk or Tangerine Dream. In 1997 both the EP and this first LP were combined onto one CD as Blind Windows. Setting his sights on the pop music world next, Nash released a cover of Jan & Dean's "Dead Man's Curve" in 1980 to positive acclaim. The follow-up album, Children Of The Night, included that single as well as a few other covers ("19th Nervous Breakdown," "Smoke On The Water") as well as the usual experimental instrumental pieces. Covering well-known songs made Nash more accessible, but also threatened to paint him into a corner as a gimmick act - and the hidden-identity/bizarre cover songs gimmick was already taken by The Residents (with whom Nash was briefly associated).

Nash answered his critics with his most wonderful album, 1982's And You Thought You Were Normal, which split the difference with one side of fairly standard New Wave pop and one side of instrumental noodling, and no cover versions to be found in either basket. Nash scored a club hit with the album's single, "Dance After Curfew;" other notable cuts include "Pretty Folks," "Vincent's Crows," and the utterly majestic "Citizen" ("I've got nothing to hide/I just can't decide/Am I just a citizen?"). Then, in the ultimate thumb-your-nose-at-your-detractors move, he followed that two years later with an album full of nothing but cover songs! American Bandages found Nash slashing up the theme from American Bandstand, "Born To Be Wild," "Psychotic Reaction," and "Hey Joe" among others, while also taking another stab at "Dead Man's Curve." The song from which the titular pun was taken, Grand Funk Railroad's "(We're An) American Band," gets a slight rewrite given that Nash always performs completely solo; hence he sings, "I'm an American Band." Brilliant.

Having made his point, Nash pulled a most unexpected move and returned to his old bandmates, rejoining FM, although he retained the now-standard Nash The Slash uniform. While spending the next few years playing with FM, Nash also dabbled in film scores and other production work. But it wasn't until 1991 that we got the next solo Nash The Slash album, his soundtrack to Highway 61. 1999's Thrash demonstrated handily that Nash had not missed a step in his instrumental work; 2008's In-A-Gadda-Da-Nash equally proved he still knew his way around a goofy cover version or two. In between those two albums, Nash issued a stunning score he created for the silent horror classic Nosferatu. Is there anything this guy can't do?

Despite all his work and critical acclaim - both from the music press and his fellow musicians - Nash The Slash remains relatively obscure. This year's The Reckless Use Of Electricity, a handy compendium of Nash's finer moments, is a welcome introduction for those new to this fascinating musician's oddly mesmerizing world of sound. Get it.

For this week's NW4NW, here is some early-80s vintage Nash The Slash. First, the clip for his breakthrough cover of "Dead Man's Curve," then his club hit, "Dance After Curfew." Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2011-12-04T09:14:00.000-05:00

I want one I can't have.

FAIL.

2011-12-02T08:54:00.000-05:00

NaNoWriMo is done. Over. And I failed.

I tried; I really did. 50,000 words is a lot, sure, but it wasn't an unachievable goal. Many folks reached or surpassed that number. Hell, in the NaNoWriMo Group on Facebook, there were folks who cranked out nearly half of the target in the first week alone. Many folks "won" this year by reaching or surpassing 50,000 words, and I applaud them. It ain't easy to do!

To say I fell short of the mark would be an understatement. At month's end I had just shy of 10,000 words - less than a fifth of the goal. (OK, confession time: I really probably wrote closer to 25,000 words if you count everything I wrote and then immediately discarded as being worthless, terrible, or downright embarrassingly poor writing. Still, that's only half the way there.)

It was not for lack of ideas. I had plenty of them - scribbled on scraps of paper and backs of envelopes, recorded on the Voice Memo app on my iPhone, swirling through my mind at night keeping me awake. What I seemed incapable of doing was distilling those ideas down to basic English words and phrases and putting them on paper or screen in any way that resembled a coherent story.

It was not for lack of support. Many friends spent the month cheering me on, pushing me along, letting me vent my frustrations and telling me to shut up and write when the situation called for it. Thank you all; I apologize for not completing the task despite your best efforts and your good advices.

I spent more than one night staring at a blank screen, willing myself with all my might to start putting words down, and feeling that internal block pushing back just as mightily. I tried everything: write meaningless bullshit until the words start flowing, write about a character going through the mundane actions of the day until he or she does something interesting, create dialogue equivalent to small talk between characters and let that conversation build.

I tried to write with music on. I tried to write with music off. I turned off my modem so that I would not be distracted by the Internet and Facebook and Twitter. I tried writing in different rooms of the house. I tried writing outside of the house. I tried writing at different times of the day. And I grew more frustrated as the month wore on, and I saw - and felt - the time slip away with little progress being made.

I discovered a few things. I don't write in chronological order; rather, I start to delve into a scene no matter where it is in the story's timeline. Hey, I figure when the words actually do flow, who am I to stop the current simply because I haven't yet written the chapter before it? My secondary characters are more fully fleshed out than my main characters. The MCs have become little more than the vehicles for the inherent conflict that drives the story, whereas the SCs with whom they interact along the way have evolved into almost real people. I kept thinking that if only I could get to know the MCs as well as I did the SCs, then things would really start to happen. Unfortunately, they hid their true selves from me. I still don't even know their last names. (Oh, don't get me started on naming characters...one character has had her name changed at least four or five times already...)

To top it all off, as I dug deeper into the story, I opened a door that created an entire second cast of characters and a completely new subplot. That happened around the 20th day of the month, and while it was a breakthrough for the story, it sealed my fate for NaNoWriMo - it was just too much to think about.

So, I failed. I didn't reach my goal. I didn't "win" NaNoWriMo. But, I'm glad I did it, and I'm sure when I am finished beating myself up for not reaching 50,000 words I will see the positives of doing it. People are already trying to show them to me: made a major plot breakthrough, have 10,000 more words than I did on November 1, am continuing to learn about and improve my own writing style and habits, and so forth. On a certain level I know that, but right now I'm not ready to accept it. Right now, in my mind, I failed. Let me wallow in that for awhile, please. I need to do so to process it.

I will keep writing the story. But I know now that it'll be slow going. And next year, just maybe I'll come back and take on NaNoWriMo again.

It's Gonna Be A Punk Rock Christmas

2011-12-01T07:30:00.003-05:00

I'm not quite sure how I missed The Angry Snowmans the first time around two years ago when they released their first album full of Christmas joy, especially considering my annual search for cool and unusual holiday music for the CD mix I make for friends each year, but I did. My bad; my head is hung by the chimney in shame.

But lo, I have been shown the light with this year's release of their follow up album. These guys are simply geniuses! Punk rock parody is not an easy feat; attempts usually fall flat because people forget that at the heart of the best parody you find honest tribute. These Snowmans know their Punk Rock and play it well, and will leave you laughing (and pogo-ing) all the way as they transform old mosh-pit classics into new Christmas carols. They carry the joke to its fullest extreme, too; from the band's name itself (hello, Angry Samoans!) to each album's cover art. The 2009 self-titled debut pays homage to The Adolescents' first LP, with a yuletide red/green color scheme in place of the original's red/blue; this year's offering, the brilliantly titled What We Do Is Festive, takes on the appearance of The Germs' (GI), with holly wreath in place of that band's blue circle logo.

A quick scan of the song titles will bring a smile to any old-school punk's face, as many of those titles immediately reveal their source material, from the debut's "Richard Hung His Sock," "Blitzen Bop," "Ebeneezer Über Alles," and "Somebody's Gonna Get Their Halls Decked In Tonight" to the new record's title track and "I Love Christmas In The City." In other cases, the presents are only unwrapped upon listening: "Decoration" takes on The Circle Jerks' "Operation," "Egg Nog" is a brilliant holiday reworking of Black Flag's "Six Pack," Agent Orange's classic "Bloodstains" is reimagined by these Snowmans as "Fruitcakes."

What makes it all work on both records is that, snarky humor aside, these guys are a damn good band! The music is tight, fast and loud - and, most importantly, accurate. In a few cases you'd swear they used the original tracks and just recorded new vocals, but these guys actually play live! Dates so far have been only on the West Coast (they are from Victoria, British Columbia, so it's easy enough for them to make the Seattle-to-California circuit); wish they'd find their way over here to PA.

Both albums are available as digital downloads for a measly $8 a piece from The Angry Snowmans' Bandcamp.com site; physical copies are also available from the band themselves (I picked up the debut on CD and What We Do Is Festive on Christmas-y red vinyl - score!). Get yourself over there and get them downloaded, and fill your home with their special brand of Christmas cheer!

To ring in the holiday season, here's The Angry Snowmans' take on the Angry Samoans, "Lights Up." Enjoy!

New Wave for the New Week #138

2011-11-28T07:50:00.001-05:00

Husband and wife Randy Stodola (guitar) and Dianne Chai (bass) first made noise in the L.A. Punk scene as two-thirds of The Alley Cats. With drummer John McCarthy rounding out the trio, The Alley Cats issued their debut single, "Nothing Means Nothing Anymore," on the influential Dangerhouse label in 1978. Playing a swampy style of garage punk that placed them somewhere along the spectrum between X and The Gun Club, The Alley Cats proved to be a popular live act. Chai's exotic look and outstanding proficiency on bass was an obvious drawing card; she and Stodola shared lead vocal duties, a large part of the band's unique personality and appeal. That first single is probably the closest they ever got to capturing the reported energy of their live shows on any of their recordings, however, and over the years The Alley Cats have somewhat faded into history.

It would be three years until their first full length LP appeared. After signing with indy label Time Coast, they released Nightmare City and its concurrent single, "Too Much Junk." A decent-to-very-good album, it not only boasted the new single but several other excellent tracks ("Give Me A Little Pain," "Today," "One More Chance to Survive") and a snappy re-recording of "Nothing Means Nothing Anymore." Although the album drags in a few places and Stodola's lazy enunciation comes off as somewhat affected at points (and somewhat grating at others), those bright spots make it a hidden gem worth digging up. Nightmare City was eventually reissued on CD, but has been out of print for some time.

1982 saw The Alley Cats make another change in labels, this time landing on MCA for their follow-up album, Escape From The Planet Earth. Despite receiving the typical major-label treatment (slick, sheeny production that sands off the rough edges and a few obvious bids at commercial radio airplay), the band's personality is still evident here. Highlights include "Breath Of The Barfly," "Waiting For The Buzz," "Just An Alley Cat," and the fantastic title track. The band pushed their envelope a bit on this record, and not everything works, but nonetheless it's an album worth searching for.

After a few year's hiatus, the trio returned with a brand new name. Their ongoing game of label hopscotch continued as they found themselves back on Time Coast, but now rechristened as The Zarkons despite no change in line up or sound. 1985's Riders In The Long Black Parade treads similar sonic waters as Nightmare City, although not as successfully. What sounded fresh in 1981 now seemed stale, and lukewarm production with vocals buried too deeply in the mix didn't help. The high point of the album, Chai doing her best Grace Slick imitation on a cover of "White Rabbit," was somewhat underwhelming; the remainder of the record is not bad - just unnecessary.

Changing drummers and adding a fourth member, The Zarkons were back in 1988 with Between the Idea and the Reality...Falls the Shadow, about which the less said the better. The band broke up soon after.

A "best of" compilation, 1979-1982, appeared in 2007, pulling ten tracks from the two Alley Cats albums and nothing from either Zarkons record (although inexplicably excluding undeniable classics like "Nothing Means Nothing," "Too Much Junk," or "Give Me A Little Pain"). The accompanying DVD with five video clips is a nice touch, however, and this CD remains the only in-print example of The Alley Cats' work.

For this week's NW4NW entry, here are two clips of the band performing live. First up is "Too Much Junk," followed by the band's appearance in the must-see URGH! A Music War scorching through "Nothing Means Nothing Anymore." Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2011-11-27T12:18:00.000-05:00

My words shatter against the ground.

New Wave for the New Week #137

2011-11-21T07:30:00.000-05:00

If The Only Ones are only ever remembered for their most popular song, the indispensable "Another Girl, Another Planet," their place in Punk/New Wave history is rightfully earned. Still, it would be selling the band a bit short, given that they released three very solid albums in their day, all of which are readily available on CD. Bands like The Replacements or Green Day owe a huge debt of gratitude to The Only Ones. If you missed out on these guys, it's your own fault - and something you need to correct immediately!

Formed in late 1976 by singer/songwriter Peter Perrett and guitarist John Perry with Alan Mair on bass and Mike Kellie on drums, The Only Ones debuted in 1977 with a self-released single, the likeable but pessimistic "Lovers Of Today" ("We ain't got feelings/we got no love/we ain't got nothing to say..."). This opening effort was solid enough to get the band signed to CBS/Epic, and by 1978 they had released their masterpiece as their second single, and along with it their first full length album, The Only Ones. "Another Girl, Another Planet" is one of those songs that almost defies genre. Searing guitars, driving beat and Perrett's nasally faux-Pete Shelley vocals combine to create a classic that has been covered many times by artists from Greg Kihn to The Replacements to The Mighty Lemon Drops; more recently Blink-182 and Belle & Sebastian have taken stabs at it as well. It has even been adapted by The Nutley Brass in an easy listening version and interpreted in a 1920's Tin Pan Alley style by The Ukelele Orchestra Of Great Britiain. How's that for reaching a wide audience?

After Perrett and Kellie took a break to back up Johnny Thunders on his solo album So Alone (specifically on the fantastic "You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory"), The Only Ones released their follow-up LP, 1979's Even Serpents Shine. While no individual track reaches the heights of "Another Girl," the album as whole is every bit as good as the debut. Highlights include "From Here To Eternity" and "Miles From Nowhere." Hoping to crack the US charts, Epic released Special View later in the same year, combining the best tracks from the first two LPs and throwing in "Lovers Of Today" for good measure. A perfect introduction for those unfamiliar with the band!

1980 saw their third LP in three years, Baby's Got A Gun. While still a very good effort, it falls about a half-step behind the first two. "The Big Sleep" is the star attraction here. The Only Ones stuck it out for another year or two before finally calling it a day in early 1982.

Fast-forward to 2007, when "Another Girl, Another Planet" was revived in an advertisement for UK company Vodafone. The renewed interest in the single inspired the original band to get back together, and they have been playing live ever since, although they have yet to release a new album.

For this NW4NW entry, here are the classic "Another Girl, Another Planet" and their debut, "Lovers Of Today." Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2011-11-20T07:45:00.000-05:00

NaNoWriMo goes slow; blogging again soon...

Well Damn...

2011-11-08T20:41:00.001-05:00

So, no sooner do I put up a post raving about One-Eyed Doll and being psyched that they would be playing close enough to Lancaster for me to actually go see them, then this news from Kimberly Freeman herself:

Just my luck. No word yet on why the cancellation, but the date is off of the band's tour dates page. That's a bummer. But, check their tour and if they're going to be near you, go see them! And tell them they need to come to PA!

Since I won't get to see them live, I'm taking this opportunity to post another clip. "PAO!"

Still Here! Updates, etc.

2011-11-08T09:59:00.001-05:00

Realized that it's been over a week since my last post, so I figured I should bring you folks up to date on a few things happening in this neck of the woods:

NaNoWriMo - Started the month out with a bang, writing like a fiend! It's much easier to do, I've discovered, when you have a clear goal (1600 words a day) and fellow writers aiming for the same goal with whom to compare notes, celebrate milestones, and cheer each other on past the hurdles. It's been neat watching my short story grow and take shape, and getting to know the characters who populate the story better. I have most of the novel outlined now; at this point, I am putting flesh on the bones. Should be easy, right? Nope - I hit a wall this weekend and must admit to letting a couple days pass without writing a word. I'll be back at it tonight, though. My local writers' group meets tomorrow night, so I better have something to show them! (Right guys?)

NW4NW & 6WS - The Monday New Wave for the New Week posts and weekly Six Word Sunday entries are on indefinite hiatus. I don't know whether that's a concern or not: the poll I ran here in October about continuing NW4NW sent me a decidedly mixed message. The votes that came in were 100% in favor of continuing NW4NW; however, despite there being an audience that includes 234 who follow on Facebook and 933 who follow on Twitter, only 4 (4!) of you voted. So, for now, I've decided both series of posts are getting a rest. I am still open to your thoughts and opinions (hell, I'm practically begging for them!), so please post either in the comments field below, or on either the Facebook or Twitter pages.

What's The Name of That Song? - Still have yet to discover the title and artist for the remaining mystery song posted here a month ago today. Please take a moment to listen - someone out there has to know who and what this is! It's still driving me crazy, and - no promises - but there just may be a reward in it for you:

mystery song #1
Recent Discoveries - A couple of nifty websites and a truly awesome band have landed on my radar screen in the past few weeks, and, as always, when I find the neat stuff I share it with you! The two websites are actually Tumblr blogs, and have been added to the blogroll on the lefthand side of the screen here (keep scrolling down; you'll find it! And while you're there, check out some of the other sites I have linked there).

First is Things Could Be Worse, a wonderful collection of dryly yet wickedly funny drawings by Benjamin Dewey, referred to as the "Tragedy Series." Almost like a virtual set of trading cards, these one-panel webcomics are brilliant visualizations of Dewey's warped reminders that, no matter how bad your day is going, someone else somewhere at some point in time has had it worse. One of my faves:

Those of you who follow my posts about my challenges with Social Anxiety will join me in celebrating the second site, Social Anxiety Things. Most of the entries are simply that: brief descriptions of those moments all of us who battle Social Anxiety Disorder know all too well. For those who live it every day, it's a bit of the constant reassurance we need that we really are not alone; for those who are fortunate not to suffer such anxieties, the site offers a bit of a window into the worlds of those who do, which may help you better understand friends or family who experience it. The site takes submissions from readers, so scattered among the regular items you will occasionally find folks sharing stories of both anxiety attacks and successful "wins" when they overcame the hurdles anxiety threw into their paths. The occasional video shows up as well, and suggestions for coping skills are offered. Together, these varied entries make up a reassuring and wonderful site, and I for one am glad it exists! As an example, here's a recent Social Anxiety Thing that I certainly relate to:

And now, my "band of the moment": My friend JK introduced me to Austin, TX's punk/metal/awesome duo One-Eyed Doll about a week ago, and they are all I have been listening to since! I have become utterly smitten with singer/guitarist/driving force Kimberly Freeman, who, together with drummer "Junior" (Jason Rufuss Sewell, who also does most of the production work), is putting out some truly original, highly enjoyable, often hysterical and always intelligent material which ranges from death metal screaming to pretty pop balladry to children's-song chanting and back again, often within the same song. Not ones to sing about the mundane, One-Eyed Doll tackle lyrical subjects like the difficulties serial killers have in making friends ("Be My Friend"), the troubles with dating the undead ("You're A Vampire"), the joy of video game victory ("Battle On"), and the sheer delight of being insane ("Committed"). As luck would have it, One-Eyed Doll will actually be playing near here (The Crocodile Rock Cafe in Allentown, PA, to be exact) on November 25th. We will be there, and you'll be treated to another road story afterwords! Meantime, here's One-Eyed Doll's fantastic "You're A Vampire":

OK, that should about catch you up from my world. More neat stuff coming up in the near future!

And So It Begins...

2011-11-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

The calendar flips to November 1st today, which means it's time for me to put up or shut up. I've talked a lot about being a writer and wanting to write more, about wanting to be held accountable to the task of putting words down on paper, and about getting past my own loud, progress-stopping inner critic and just put my writing out there to stand or fall on its own merit. This month, I shall bring all three about. I am participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).

What is NaNoWriMo? For those of you unfamiliar, it's described as well as anyone could on the NaNoWriMo website itself:

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. This approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

Now, celebrations that frighten small animals and children are the kind of thing I can really get into! But 50,000 words in 30 days seems a daunting task. That means an average of about 1660 words a day, give or take. Every day. Every damn day.

Confession time: I'm hedging my bets on this project just a wee bit. I am showing up with the core of a story already in place. I submitted a story to the Gloaming Gap website (if you don't have Gloaming Gap
bookmarked already, do so! It's a fantastic site where writers contribute short stories with either a horror or supernatural plot, or, like mine, something of a more psychological Twilight Zone-like bent), which will be appearing there after the turn of the year. In this nascent form, it's about 1400 words - the right size for Gloaming Gap, but hardly enough in which to really explore the potential for the characters and the story. Ever since I wrote that short story version, it has been nagging at me to do more with it. So, I will.

Let's see, 1400 words already in means I only have to average 1620 words a day. Yes, that's much more manageable. *headdesk*

Anyway, you can follow my daily progress here by clicking on the "Stats" tab (you can also see a brief description of the story and a short excerpt here). Eventually there will be a widget here on the blog as well to let you know how I'm progressing, and I will surely be sharing my ups and downs through the process here as well. Why? Well, I'm hoping you all will both cheer me on and keep me honest! A few "attaboys" will go a long way this month, I'm sure; similarly, a few kicks in the butt to get moving and get writing will be needed, too. The more folks supporting me that way, the better!

So, it begins. If all goes well, I'll have something of a novel by November 30. As I said when signed up for this project, quoting David Byrne, "...my God, what have I done?"

"The Children of the Night, What Music They Make" - 10 of My Favorite Halloween Songs

2011-10-31T09:33:00.000-04:00

Several years back I made an annual series of mix tapes for friends around this time of year, gathering ghoulish delights and ghastly tunes into a bubbling cauldron of Halloween music I called Altogether Ooky, in honor of one of my all-time favorite TV shows, The Addams Family. One day, I will lay out for you the irrefutable arguments as to why The Addams Family was leaps and bounds better than The Munsters (I hear the naysayers gnashing their teeth already!), but for now I share with you ten terrifying tricks and treats - some of my favorite Halloween songs. Listen, if you dare....MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

1. The Birthday Party - "Release The Bats"

2. HorrorPops - "Ghouls"

Horrorpops - Ghouls by xMalicexKittyx

3. Landscape - "Norman Bates"

4. The Fuzztones - "The Witch"

5. Screaming Tribesmen - "Date With A Vampyre"

6. Persian Claws - "Ghostified"

7. The Fleshtones - "I Was A Teenage Zombie"

8. The Misfits - "Vampira"

9. Social Distortion - "Mommy's Little Monster"

10. Siouxsie & the Banshees - "Halloween"

Obviously, there were many great tunes I left off the list (hell, you could pull a decent list of ten from The Misfits alone!), so now it's your turn. What are some of your favorites?

Let's Knife!

2011-10-25T15:12:00.000-04:00

Baltimore is quickly surpassing Philly as my favorite destination if I must travel to see a band. Of course, I'd love to see more bands come to Lancaster. Some do, but the trade off we make here in south central PA is that Harrisburg, Philly, Baltimore, New Jersey and - in a pinch - NYC are all within easy access. As a result, the pickin's are pretty good around here when it comes to shows - you've surely gathered that from earlier posts!

Last night I was back in what seems to be the general go-to place in Baltimore, The Ottobar, to see the awesome Shonen Knife, who are currently on their 30th anniversary tour. What a great night of music it was: three opening bands plus Shonen Knife, and only ten bucks to get in - wot a bargain!

Now, history dictates that once you go past two opening acts you're getting into questionable territory as far as band quality, especially when all of the openers are local bands. Baltimore, however, has a pretty decent scene going these days, and in last night's case the rule did not apply. The openers were great - not a clinker in the lineup!

I admit to going out on a limb saying that about The Degenerettes, who were up first, only because by the time we arrived we really only caught the last two and a half songs of their set - not really enough to make a true assessment, but what we heard was very good.

Plurals

I can say without reservation, however, that the next band, Plurals, were outstanding! With five band members perched on the not-so-roomy Ottobar stage, Plurals blasted out a nifty set of originals and one cover (of sorts): in the midst of their poppy-punky wall of sound, I caught myself realizing I recognized some lyrics but couldn't place them at first. It took another cycle through the verse before I realized I was hearing the words to The English Beat's "Save It For Later," or at the very least a close approximation. The one drawback to Plurals' set was that the vocals were mixed a bit too low. Still, this is a band I want to hear more of. Couldn't find a website for them (with a name like Plurals, Google doesn't help much; searching "Plurals band" leads me to a similarly named trio from Lansing, MI) and their Facebook page is not a band page but rather a regular profile.

The Quarantines

The final opening act was The Quarantines, an excellent pop-punk trio with a curious tendency to sing about robots. Their set was loud, rockin' fun, and they were clearly the most polished of the opening acts. I am kicking my self today for not picking up their record at the merch table last night! Great stuff. The Quarantines are a band I think we'll all be hearing more of in the future.

Shonen Knife

A little before 11:00, Shonen Knife hit the stage, opening with an enthusiastic Japanese-language version of Cheap Trick's standard set-opener, "Hello There" (here redone as "Konichiwa"). Over the next forty-five minutes or so, they treated us to a sampling of their best tunes. "Devil House," "ESP," "I Am A Cat," "Super Group," "Redd Kross" and more were greeted with knowing cheers from the crowd, and the girls seemed to be having a blast onstage. After a searing run-through of "Antonio Baka Guy," Shonen Knife left the stage and left the crowd chanting their name and begging for more.

The Osaka Ramones!

After a few moments they returned, but now they were dressed in leather jackets and jeans. No longer Shonen Knife, they were now in full character as The Osaka Ramones (a name they played under for a Ramones tribute concert many years back, and also the title of their newest CD in tribute to the Ramones. Legend has it that Joey Ramone himself would always refer to Shonen Knife as "The Osaka Ramones"). With bassist Ritsuko Taneda playing the Dee Dee Ramone role, counting off each song "1-2-3-4" in quick succession, they ran through "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Beat On The Brat," "The KKK Took My Baby Away," "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," "I Wanna Be Sedated," and "Pinhead" before closing with "Rock & Roll High School." All the while, the crowd pogo'd and sang along. Somewhere, Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee were smiling.

It was a stellar night, start to finish, and I highly recommend seeing any of these bands if you get the chance. Shonen Knife, of course, was much fun, but it was nice to be so pleasantly surprised by Plurals and The Quarantines as well. As usual, additional pics will be up on our Facebook page later today.

Catching Up and Coming Soon

2011-10-17T07:30:00.003-04:00

As you may have noticed, it's been a bit busy around the ol' blog in recent weeks. There have been a number of very cool out-of-the-norm posts up lately, and I wanted to take a moment to highlight them to be sure you didn't miss anything - or in a few cases remind you that your participation is welcomed and encouraged!

First of all, today is the day the episode of The Lancast on which I am honored to be the guest goes live! You can read all about it here: Talk Talk. You can listen to the podcast by clicking this button:

I hope you will enjoy the conversation.

Over the past two weeks I have presented both a mystery and a challenge to you all. The mystery involves two mp3s I found in my collection which had no identifying information on them, and I asked for your help in figuring out who/what they were. One of the two was quickly ID'd (thanks, Jeff!) as "Tiger Tiger" by Scruffy The Cat; the other remains unidentified. Can you help? Oh please can you help? Really, you have no idea how much this is driving me batty! You can find all the info here: HELP! Identitfy These Songs!

The challenge I presented to you on Saturday, and I'd like to keep rolling throughout the month. If you are on Spotify, you are challenged to come up with your own Frankenstein Playlist and share it with us all! What is a Frankenstein Playlist, you ask? Read all about it here: Spotify vs. Frankenstein. You'll see there are already a couple very cool playlists shared in the comments section. Looking forward to seeing what diabolical creations you mad scientists come up with!

Mike Essington, a/k/a Mike E. from the blog Strange Reaction, has written a fantastic book called Last One To Die. I cannot recommend this one highly enough, folks - simply a must read! Please check out my review of the book and find out where you can get yourself a copy here: Recommended Reading: Last One to Die.

There is also change afoot around these parts. Assiduous readers have already noted that the long-time New Wave for the New Week series of posts has been put on hiatus. After two and a half years, I've just gotten a bit burned out on them. But I will leave it up to you - do you want me to continue the series or have you gotten burned out as well? There is a poll in the upper left corner of the blog where you can vote "yes" or "no" to more NW4NW posts. Voting ends 10/31.

I'm also going to begin sharing with you my journey through NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo is shorthand for National Novel Writing Month, a challenge put forth throughout the month of November to write a 50,000-word novel from scratch. I've been looking for ways to create some accountability for my writing, and as you'll hear me discuss on The Lancast, there's a story that has been floating around in my head demanding to be written. So, with the support of my local writing group, I am diving in. What am I nuts?

Finally, I'm considering some aesthetic changes to the blog itself. I think it's time to spruce things up around here. Change the layout, maybe create a new homepage, link to some of the other things I'm doing online, etc. Your feedback on these things is greatly appreciated, whether here in the comments, on the Facebook Page or on Twitter.

Hope to hear from all of you!

Six Word Sunday

2011-10-16T09:36:00.000-04:00

Autumn chill, hot coffee. Perfect morning.

Spotify vs. Frankenstein

2011-10-15T13:25:00.004-04:00

It took me awhile, but I'm now hooked on Spotify. The social music sharing site is a fantastic way to discover new music by trading playlists with friends, and if you don't mind a few ads you can join the fun for free. You're not on Spotify yet? You can only join via invitation, but invitations are easily enough had. Ask around on Facebook or Twitter; someone is bound to have an extra invite or two to pass along. If not, don't fret: Google is your friend! This particular post, however, is geared for those of you already on Spotify.

Years back, when friends and I were trading mix tapes and later, mix CDs, there was something called a Frankenstein Mix. Frankenstein Mixes earned their name because they were assembled out of assorted, potentially mismatched pieces of your music collection. Those of us who were earnest mix makers know that the art of a good mix lay in getting all the music to flow well from one song to the next. Frankenstein Mixes were a different beast. You and your friends agreed upon a specific set of rules that must be followed, regardless of whether the mix flowed well or not. In fact, somewhat jarring juxtapositions were expected and celebrated.

With Halloween approaching, I thought it an appropriate time to resurrect the Frankenstein Mix, but in the modern era of all digital music. Rather than trading mix tapes or CDs, I challenge you to a trade of Frankenstein Playlists! Do you think you're up to it? All you need to do is set up a 20-song playlist on your Spotify page, such that each song corresponds to the 20 "rules" below. The rules are open to interpretation - whatever you read into it is fair game. Once you've completed your playlist, come back here and post a link to your creation in the comments section below (right click your playlist's title and choose "Copy Spotify URI," which you can then paste in your comment here), so that we can all listen. Comments and conversation about one another's playlists is also welcome and encouraged! Your 20 songs should be chosen as follows:

1. A song under 1 minute in length.
2. A song from last physical album or CD you purchased.
3. A blues: not a necessarily a blues record but a song that is labeled (something) blues.
4. A song that gets you going and makes you feel good.
5. A song that reminds you of your 1st relationship.
6. A song in a language you don't speak.
7. A song from a favorite band/artist.
8. A song from an artist or band that you otherwise don't like, but you like this one song.
9. A lullaby.
10. A favorite song from a genre/style you usually don't like.
11. A Beatlesque song.
12. A song from the year you graduated high school.
13. A song from an artist that you are embarrassed to admit you like
14. Whatever it is, it has to be funky.
15. A song for those quiet rainy days.
16. Song title asks a question.
17. Song title answers the question asked by song #16.
18. A song with "sun" in title, or that reminds you of summer.
19. Your favourite Elvis song.
20. An instrumental.
Playlist Title = a favorite movie quote.

Here is my entry: Well?...We're Waiting...

Hoping that many of you will join in, and we all get to discover some music we might not have heard otherwise!

Talk Talk

2011-10-12T07:30:00.005-04:00

I am pleased to announce that I will be appearing as a guest on The Lancast this coming Monday, October 17th. Mark your calendars!

The Lancast, regularly hosted these days by David Moulton and Keith Slesser, is a weekly podcast focused on the local Lancaster Community and its surroundings. Guests are brought on from the area to discuss anything from current events affecting the region to specific subjects regarding the ways that week's guest is interacting with the larger community. Local musicians, artists, business owners and celebrities have shared The Lancast's guest seat with community leaders, activists and politicians over the roughly two-year history of the show. Moulton has been the steady figure throughout the podcast's lifespan, originally co-hosting with Neil Hershey in the show's earliest incarnation as Beards Over Babies, then joined by Daniel Klotz as the show transitioned into its current format. Klotz stepped down as co-host recently, replaced by Slesser in June of this year. Each hosting team has maintained the same successful approach, however: an informal 30-minute conversation, not unlike sitting around a local coffee shop and talking about the doings in our area with a couple old friends.

When David approached me about being a guest on The Lancast, I was at once flattered and befuddled - what on Earth would they want me to talk about? As long-time readers of mine might imagine, my demons kicked in big time, screaming at me that I would be a terrible guest and probably make a fool of myself. But the honor of being invited to appear was too great to let my demons steal the experience from me, and last Wednesday evening I found myself sitting at a table at Winding Way Books, a fantastic used book shop on West Chestnut Street which donates makeshift studio space to The Lancast, with David Moulton and Becky Svendson (who has taken on guest hosting duties while Keith celebrates the birth of his first child), having a great time recording the episode which will go live Monday.

Over the course of roughly half an hour we talked about this blog and and the reasons for its creation; how it has helped me continue to hone my writing and work through my own personal challenges; and why music came to be such a big part of this blog and my life in general. David and Becky were fantastic interviewers. They asked insightful questions that gave me the ability to answer without, I hope, rambling on too wildly, and made me feel comfortable by seeming to be truly interested in what I had to say. No great problems of the world were solved or mysteries of life answered, but we had a great conversation that you just may find interesting.

If you don't already subscribe to The Lancast, you should, especially if you live in or around the Lancaster area. Those of you who are not from around here will find fascinating topics and conversations too, as well as getting a glimpse of how things are here in South-Central PA.

My great thanks again to David and Becky for having me on the show. The link will go live Monday, October 17:

In the meantime, for your listening pleasure, the song from which I borrowed this post's title, "Talk Talk" by The Music Machine:

Six Word Sunday

2011-10-09T13:30:00.000-04:00

Chin up! There's always next year!

HELP! Identitfy These Songs!

2011-10-08T10:10:00.000-04:00

Been going through the slow process of cleaning up my database of mp3s - you know, making sure each is correctly tagged with the right name, artist, year, album, track number, etc. At present there are over 26,000 mp3s on my music drive, and I am one who enjoys putting the whole collection on shuffle and letting the music play! But it drives me and my OCD nuts when even one of them turns up mislabelled or with certain info missing. Some folks I know care little about that - I often wish I had that luxury. No, I'm one who makes sure there is the right album art, all the tags are there and correct; hell, I use a nifty free program called MP3Gain to make sure every mp3 plays at the roughly the same volume!

Simultaneously, I am diligently digitizing boxes of analog cassette tapes. I have an old TEAC tape deck hooked up to the computer and use TerraTec Sound Rescue to record and Audacity to edit and/or clean up the recordings and split them into individual tracks. Sounds like a major process, I know, but I've got the system down now to a science, and can digitize about half a dozen cassettes in a day's time if I wish to. It's been neat to dig up mixes that I haven't heard in years and breathe new life into them this way - and add them to the ever-growing music drive.

As you might imagine, I have always been pretty meticulous in labeling my cassettes, just as I am now in the era of digital music. But I recently came across one tape where the original insert card was missing. Excited for the mystery, I popped the tape in and went to work identifying its contents. Turns out it was a tape of my friend Lara's radio show from college.

Most of what she played on this tape I was able to identify, either because I knew the song well already, or by typing a few lyrics into Google. Better yet, there is a fantastic iPhone app I use called SoundHound which actually listens to a song and returns its title, artist, album, etc. - so long as it has that song in its huge database.

However, two songs remained unidentified, even after SoundHound took a stab at them. As luck would have it, Lara and I are connected through Facebook (isn't everybody anymore?), so I sent a message off to her with the two songs attached and asked her if she could identify them for me. She replied that she had instantly remembered both songs, but had not heard either in years and sadly could not remember what they were or who did them.

So, I turn to you, dear readers, hoping someone among you will recognize these tracks and be able to solve the mystery - what are the titles, and who are the artists? Better still, on what albums can they be found? I can tell you that the recording dates from around 1988-89ish, and the songs would have been fairly current then.

mystery song #1

mystery song #2

If you can identify these songs, you will be doing me a huge favor - probably more so than you know. It drives me freaking batty to have these unidentified tracks in my collection! Please leave your answers in the comments section below, and thank you in advance for your help!

Six Word Sunday

2011-10-02T16:19:00.000-04:00

Let's go Phillies! Beat those Cardinals!

New Wave for the New Week #136

2011-09-26T13:09:00.001-04:00

During their brief existence, Cowboys International® may not have been the most well-known band around, but a nifty little who's-who of musicians made stops in their lineup on their way to or from bigger-name projects.

In its earliest form in the late '70s, Ken Lockie's band of Cowboys was called The Quick Spurts, and included Keith Levene, who had been an early member of The Clash (he co-wrote "What's My Name?" among other early Clash singles), and who would go on to form Public Image Ltd. with John Lydon (and have a rather nasty falling out with the former Mr. Rotten as well!). Adding original Clash drummer Terry Chimes (a/k/a "Tory Crimes") and bass player Jimmy Hughes from The Banned, Lockie changed the moniker to Cowboys International® and off they went to record their lone album of the era, The Original Sin, which hit the shelves in 1979.

Neither the name Cowboys International® nor a pedigree that includes former members of The Clash and future members of PiL suggests that the listener should be expecting smooth synth-based New Wave pop, but that's what the album consisted of. And it was damn good, too! The singles "Thrash" and "Aftermath" are obvious standouts; other highlights include "Pointy Shoes," "Wish" and "M(emorie)."

While on tour supporting the album, Terry Chimes quit the band to join Generation X and was replaced with Paul Simon (the drummer from The Radio Stars, not the partner of Garfunkel); original guitarist Rick Jacks was replaced with once-and-future Adam Ant sideman Marco Pirroni. Pirroni, in turn, was replaced by Steve Shears from Ultravox. After playing a final show in Berlin in 1980, Cowboys International® folded completely.

Lockie went on to join PiL himself briefly in 1981, and then turned to collaborations with other musicians, reaching his highest success in 1984 working with Dominatrix on the club hit "The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight."

In 2003, 20+ years after it's release, Lockie oversaw a CD reissue of the then lone Cowboys International® album. Retitled The Original Sin Revisited, it appended various remixes and demos to the original album. The following year he revived the Cowboys International name (without the "®") for a brand new album, The Backwards Life of Romeo, which compares favorably to Lloyd Cole or The The. A pleasant surprise.

For this week's NW4NW, we reach back to the early days for Cowboys International®'s first single, "Thrash," and a clip of the band performing "Pointy Shoes" on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2011-09-25T10:02:00.000-04:00

Oh, Facebook, what have you done?

Six Word Sunday

2011-09-18T09:42:00.000-04:00

Love the autumn chill this morning!

New Wave for the New Week #135

2011-09-12T09:52:00.000-04:00

"Snatch represents collaboratory work between Patti Palladin and Judy Nylon, and anyone or thing of relevance attracted to it. Regretfully, due to logistics, it is impossible to note the numerous manifestations in exact detail. As with anything unique, one enters at one's own risk, and takes responsibility for their actions therein. Conspirators generally know each other and say nothing." - Patti Palladin

This quote, emblazoned on the home page of Snatch's website, serves both as perfunctory bio and formal mission statement for one of the more fascinating musical assemblages to form out of the Punk/New Wave scene. As Palladin notes, Snatch was more collaboration than band. The term "band" tends to imply a fully-formed entity, which Snatch was in a sense, but certainly not in the same sense as most people expect. Their songs are sparse, minimalistic pieces that constantly seem on the verge of blooming into beautiful, lush creations, yet never do. Each composition is simplistic, but not necessarily simple; heavily rhythmic while seldom relying on the traditional drum and bass for rhythm; remarkably dense and claustrophobic while using a bare minimum of instrumentation. It's all great stuff, what little there is of it.

Legend has it that Patti Palladin and Judy Nylon met on the telephone, not actually meeting in person until both had relocated to London from NYC. Once they got together, they discovered a shared interest in the then-nascent Punk scene, and began writing and recording their own material in 1976, and by mid 1977 had their first single released on the Bomp! label. The outstanding "I.R.T" was a rather matter-of-fact description of the gritty chore of riding the New York subway, delivered in what would become Patti's signature bored/barely attentive vocal style.

A year later the single "All I Want" appeared. This record sounded a little bit harsher, but fared better in sales. It even made the lower reaches of the UK charts. Demanding, repetitive, yet catchy. Two years later the duo returned once more with "Shopping for Clothes." Verging on beat poetry and conjuring images of a seedy, smoky club, "Shopping" slinks and snakes along as Palladin and Nylon weave their tale of a sleazy salesperson and an equally sleazy customer trying to make a deal. As a whole, the three singles demonstrated that Palladin and Nylon had a whole lot of tricks up their sleeves, and promised great things to come. Unfortunately, nothing did.

Judy Nylon formed her own band, Crucial, and released a very good album (Pal Judy) in 1982. She also went on to work with John Cale and Chris Spedding, among others. Patti Palladin also released some solo material (the single "Siamese Lovers" and an EP, Rituals), and became known for her collaborations with The Flying Lizards and Wayne/Jayne County. Palladin made her biggest splash in 1988 when she and Johnny Thunders released an album of excellent cover tunes, Copy Cats (you must find yourself a copy!).

A Snatch album of sorts surfaced in 1983. The self-titled compilation included the three singles (although "Shopping for Clothes" is in a re-recorded version here) and several unreleased demos. All of Snatch's records are out of print, but can be found with a little effort and Google. Same goes for the solo records. Palladin's collaboration with Johnny Thunders had been out of print, but was just given a new UK reissue by Jungle/Hepcat. Pricey, but worth it.

For this week's NW4NW clips, here is an audio-only of Snatch's wonderful debut single "I.R.T.," and then a rare live clip, circa 1979, of Snatch performing "Dateline Miami," which would become a track on Nylon's Pal Judy lp. Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2011-09-11T02:02:00.000-04:00

Ten years. Horror, anger remain undiminished.

3 Decades Disappearing in One Night

2011-09-06T08:29:00.000-04:00

In lieu of the usual NW4NW post this week, I instead want to share with you my rather enjoyable Saturday night when it felt like 1983 all over again. Was at Lancaster's infamous Chameleon again for the second time in about a month, this time to see a couple of bands who belong on any sensible roll call of New Wave royalty. The Psychedelic Furs came to town this weekend, and brought with them opening act The Tom Tom Club.

Thankfully, we did not have any of the issues that marred the enjoyment of the They Might Be Giants show a few weeks ago: not nearly so long a wait to get in, nowhere near as oppressively hot (although The Chameleon still lived up to its "sweatbox" reputation), and no drunken idiots lunging at the stage. In fact, the first thing we noticed was that a barrier had been set up about two feet in front of the stage, creating a sort of moat between the crowd and the bands. That Guy's legacy, perhaps?

The crowd also was surprisingly not as large as I expected it might be for two big-name bands. When Tom Tom Club took the stage, the club was about half-full; by the time The Furs began their set, the place had filled in quite a bit. Still, I'd be surprised if there were more than 300 people there. It seemed like the show was not well advertised around here - I only heard about it a week before it happened, and many I've talked to since then never heard about it. Strange. Made for a nice evening, though: it's refreshing to be able to see a band without being shoved against the stage (or barrier) like a sardine, and since the place wasn't crammed full, the air conditioning could actually occasionally be felt (such as it is - anyone who's ever been in the Chameleon will attest to the terrible ventilation there.)

Seeing The Tom Tom Club was neat, especially considering nowadays they are about as close as we'll ever get to seeing Talking Heads again. Tina Weymouth (bass) and Chris Frantz (drums), who founded the band in 1981, led the group through a great opening set that had the crowd dancing and really got the energy going. Classics like "Man With the 4-Way Hips" and "Wordy Rappinghood" were met with energetic applause and sing-along vocals from the crowd; a pair of songs from their parent band's catalog ("Take Me To The River" and Heads' original "Psycho Killer") were happy surprises. The best reaction, though, was reserved for The Tom Tom Club's biggest splash, "Genius Of Love." Check out this clip of the performance, taken by YouTube user vwall10411 (and keep your eye out for the band's DJ in the back, wearing the hat that says "BAD." We were trying to figure out if that was actually David Arquette!)

The Psychedelic Furs are celebrating the 30th anniversary of their incredible Talk Talk Talk LP, but their set didn't focus solely on that album's material. (For an excellent take on the album and the band, check out this post by Theresa Kereakes at her Punk Turns 30 blog.) It was great to hear "Pretty In Pink" and "All Of This And Nothing," though I would have loved a live version of "Into You Like A Train." Over the course of roughly an hour, The Furs did a fantastic job of touching on the various eras of their career, and live they sounded like they haven't aged a day or missed a beat. Richard Butler looked to be having a great time, doing his best Bowie-as-Thin-White-Duke pose and literally bouncing around joyously thanking the crowd after each song. Brother Tim Butler stalked about the stage in wrap-around shades and bass in hand, playing to the crowd at every turn, and saxophonist Mars Williams simply amazed. If you had never heard The Psychedelic Furs before, you would have walked away impressed; those of us who have been fans for far too many years to count were overjoyed. Again thanks to vwall10411, here is a clip of The Furs performing one of their later hits, "The Ghost In You:"

The only complaint any of us had was that the night was over too soon. The Furs could've played until dawn and not a soul would have left the club - it was a good crowd who loved both bands, sang along and relived happy memories. For a time, inside that club, it could easily have been 30 years ago. That, my friends, is the sign of a great show!

The Psychedelic Furs/Tom Tom Club tour runs through October. Here is a link to the remaining dates - if they are coming within earshot of you, go. You will have a blast. Pics from Saturday night's show will be up on the Facebook Page shortly.

Six Word Sunday

2011-09-04T15:07:00.002-04:00

Good grief! Is it Sunday already?!?

Waiting for Calmness

2011-09-01T00:05:00.003-04:00

Over a decade ago, when I first began therapy and discovered the names of my demons, my therapist said to me that my "work will never be done. The goal is not to cure you because these are not things you cure. The goal is for you to learn how you react to things and develop the skills you need to develop to remain in control." It's the thing that those of us who live with anxieties hate to hear but must admit: this is how we are. This is how we always will be. It won't ever stop - but it can get better. My demons cannot be exiled, but they can be tamed.

I liked the fact that she called it my "work." Actually, more often she called it "our work," because her part in the matter was to teach me how to do this work. It truly is a full-time job to internally monitor my reactions to things. Fortunately, by this point, it is work that is, a majority of the time, passive. It's the work a smoke alarm does in your home. You put the battery in the smoke alarm and forget about it, unless and until it screeches out its warning that there's an awful lot of smoke - and where there's smoke, there's fire, so you had better do something lest your house burn down. Same thing. My internal monitor sits there, vigilant yet passive, until something sets it off. Then, it screeches out a warning and I know I have to react.

I haven't written about my demons in awhile, because they haven't tripped the alarm in some time. In the past few meetings of the writer's group I belong to, I've shared that I have made no progress at all on my planned book about dealing with OCD, Social Anxiety and Depression, because they have not been at the surface of my awareness. It's difficult enough to write about them when they are causing mayhem in my life, but it's damn near impossible to write about them when they aren't. There's nothing to say, no story to tell. It's as if I have to be in pain to write about pain. Well, for the past few months, the waters have been still. So still, in fact, that I almost forgot about my demons.

Almost.

When I became unemployed for the first time in 14 years this summer, I was ready for the demons to make an appearance. Despite the fact that the company which had employed me all that time was shutting down and it was absolutely no reflection on my abilities or my work ethic, I just knew that my demons would relish the opportunity to remind me what a failure I am. It would have been an obvious thing for them to latch onto, but they didn't. And I'll admit I was very pleased with myself that I have come far enough in ten or so years of "work" that I could recognize that potential "fire hazard" and guard against it before it ever occurred. That's not to say I wasn't upset or even somewhat depressed at being out of work - that's only natural, especially in our society where we are often defined by our careers. But I didn't sink into the bleak despair that I might have had it happened a few years earlier; I didn't give the demons a chance to wreak their havoc.

As a result, rather than sit around moping and hurting and beating myself up, I found an new job within about two weeks. Or, so I thought. As I've said to those with whom I have since shared the story, I had the unique experience of having been interviewed for, hired for, traveled to across the state to be trained for, even received business cards for a job that turned out not to exist. I went from the extreme high of being able to announce to friends and family that I was back among the gainfully employed to the extreme low of realizing that no, I am still unemployed. Now this was certainly where my demons would usually chime in: "You see! It was all a set up! All designed to make you look bad! They're laughing at you, Bryan! You're a failure! You don't deserve a good job!" But yet again, I found myself on guard against their insidiousness, almost without realizing it. I knew what to expect from them and was ready, and they never had the chance to strike.

I have since gone into business with my former boss and mentor to create a new marketing company. You'll hear more about Independence Marketing Services in the very near future. We're taking what we know how to do well and "rebooting," after a fashion. Of course, like any other startup, it's hard work and long hours for little pay. Once we get the ball rolling, that will change, but overcoming the initial inertia is a challenge. I am pleased to be working and excited for the possibilities this venture presents. But there has been a price, which I really only discovered last night.

With all of my efforts and attention being directed towards building the new company, I haven't been as vigilant in listening to my internal monitor. My demons have begun finding small little cracks to chip away at - small chinks that have been quietly yet inexorably clawing away at until they can break through like an army of zombies bursting through windows boarded up against their approach. They manage to get an arm through here, a head through there; they push and pound and scratch until the boards give way and they are in.

The first signs that they were finding ways in showed up when catching myself lying awake at night going into mild panic attacks over paying my bills. Right now, Unemployment Compensation helps and will remain a help as we build the business to a place where steady income begins flowing; but it's not really enough and it will not last forever. I have savings and I budget wisely enough that I needn't really start to worry for another month or so. But the self-doubt: "You're not good enough to make this work. You're going to fail. You don't deserve success..."

I fight back by reminding myself that we have already completed one successful project for one client, and we have gotten paid for it - we have made a small profit on our very first venture! It was a client that I brought to the table and a project that I managed! On top of that, we're building a second project for another client, and have at least one more on the immediate horizon. It IS working. But the demons are relentless.

Last night, for the first time in a long time, they showed up in full force. I was invited to join some friends for a bonfire at one friend's house for "drinks and philosophical conversation," the kind of thing I love, as anyone who has gotten into an esoteric debate with me about life, reality, theology, existentialism, etc. has discovered. I immediately said "count me in." Of course, the old transportation situation came up: I don't drive, and our meeting place would not have been within walking distance. So, we began figuring out the logistics of getting me to and from the festivities. And then it hit.

"You better not leave your house! Something might happen to it - a fire, a burglary, vandalism - and you don't have the money to fix it if that happens! And you won't have the money, because you're not going to be successful in your new business!" My stomach lurched, my head swam, and I wanted to run away, bury my head and cry. I was sitting there, working out transportation with a friend on Twitter, perfectly fine, and within seconds I was in the midst of a full-fledged anxiety attack, as strong as any I've ever had. My hands were trembling, I was nearly hyper-ventilating, and I was once again hating myself for going through this.

I begged my friend's forgiveness, explained that I was in high panic mode, and politely backed out of the evening. Then came the embarrassment. How could I let this happen again? I'd done so well, gone for so long without an event, and something so simple as "hey let's get together for a bonfire" sent me into a violent emotional whirlpool. Next came the OCD demon replaying it again and again in my head, reminding me how insane this behavior is. "See how messed up you are! See how silly you behave! It's a wonder you have any friends at all!"

It took some time to settle down, maybe a couple of hours. It was then, in a more rational state of mind, that I could reflect and realize that it wasn't just one thing that set it off. No, it's been the upheaval that my life has been through since I lost my job back in April. And I reminded myself that my work will never be done, that my demons can never be exiled - only tamed. I've also reminded myself that I have proven that I can tame them, and that even though they may occasionally win a battle here or there like they did last night, they haven't won the war. I will continue to work towards seeing that they do not. Once calmness returns to my life, it will be better again.
___________

In case you missed them, here are links to my prior posts regarding my demons:

Table For One
Fighting The Demons Again
A Stalemate With The Demons
At The Moment

New Wave for the New Week #134

2011-08-29T11:26:00.001-04:00

This is going to be a short entry, mainly because there's not a lot of information out there about Colour Radio. They remain one of those "mystery" bands: it seems that the few people who know of them and have heard them, like their music, but no one can tell you much about them.

Here's what I know: Back in my high school days, circa 1985, I was digging through the cheap cassettes bin at a local record shop (the now-defunct Camelot Records for you locals) and found a tape with a sort of New-Wavey-looking cover by the band Colour Radio. For half a dollar, it was worth the gamble. Took the tape home and it never left the cassette desk for the next few weeks!

What I had snagged was Colour Radio's self-titled debut album, which had been released a year earlier with little-to-no fanfare by Gold Mountain Records. Here were ten songs without a clinker in the bunch, all done in that sort of tough pop-wave style that would evolve into the big radio-friendly sound of 1986-87, although the style was rather embryonic here, not yet fully removed from the New Romantic sounds of 1982-83. Keyboards are a focus, but so is guitar. (The record was produced by Rick Derringer, which explains the rock-star pose that permeates each track - yet the band pulls it off without falling into the easy trap of unintentional self-parody that pose often sets one up for.) Lead vocalist Stephan Schneider's warble vaguely recalls Ric Ocasek. He has a habit of clipping his words (a remnant, perhaps, of earlier paint-by-numbers New Wave singing?), which adds an appealing layer of off-kilter-ness to the goings-on.

Over the years I wore the cassette out and replaced it with a proper vinyl copy of the LP, which would appear to be the only thing the band ever did. Never released on CD, it remains a fantastic mystery that is well worth chasing down. The only bit of information Google searches of the band has added is that Colour Radio was from Milwaukee, WI.

So, I appeal to my readers: can anyone out there add to the story of Colour Radio? Anyone ever see them play live? Were any of you in the band? Please share!

In the meantime, enjoy these audio-only clips of two of my favorite cuts from the album: the stunning opener "Adrianna Dreams," and the cynically wonderful "Bound For Life." Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2011-08-28T10:08:00.000-04:00

Stayed up all night with Irene.

New Wave for the New Week #133

2011-08-22T10:38:00.000-04:00

When it comes to just plain goofy fun, it's tough to beat the group of loonies who called themselves Tenpole Tudor. Though often lumped in with the Punk bands of the era, they demonstrated over the course of two utterly astounding albums a remarkable ability to move nimbly from punky slam to country twang to rockabilly rumble to tender ballad and back again. They also demonstrated a steadfast reliance on the most silly side of British humor (it was not without insight that a friend of mine described Tenpole Tudor as the Punk Rock Monty Python!)

Edward Tudor-Pole first came to the attention of the general public via his appearance in the Sex Pistols' film The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle and its soundtrack. At the time, Malcolm McLaren was touting Eddie as the new Pistols lead singer, replacing Johnny Rotten. Tudor-Pole's eccentric mannerisms and unmistakeably wobbly vocals made his contributions ("Who Killed Bambi?," "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle," and a nearly unrecognizable "Rock Around The Clock") memorable indeed; plans to install him in Johnny's stead were scrapped when The Sex Pistols finally blew apart.

Rechiristening himself as Eddie Tenpole, he found a group of like-minded musicians and presented the music world with Tenpole Tudor. After their 1980 debut single, "Real Fun," found some traction, they released the first of their two full-length LPs in early 1981. Eddie, Old Bob, Dick And Gary is a fantastic record from start to finish. Its weakest tracks are saved by Eddie's vocal acrobatics, but when it hits the mark, it's jaw-droppingly good stuff. Tenpole Tudor hit the UK charts with a number of tracks from the album, including "3 Bells In A Row," "Swords Of A Thousand Men," and their finest moment, "Wunderbar."

Later that same year, Tenpole Tudor released a second album, Let The Four Winds Blow. While not as consistent as its predecessors, this album has a few stunners within its grooves as well, especially the lead single, "Throwing My Baby Out With The Bathwater." By this time, as the cover art for Four Winds shows, the band had taken to appearing in full suits of armor, and their lovable looniness had begun to pigeonhole them as something of a novelty act. Before falling into that trap, Tenpole Tudor split up.

Eddie went back to calling himself Tudor-Pole (or, sometimes, Eddie Tenpole Tudor), and split his time between acting and playing music of various styles - most notably, Cajun, Jazz and Swing music. In 2009, he reformed his band, slightly renamed as Ten Pole Tudor, for a new album, Made It This Far.

The two 1981 albums are well worth searching for. For those not inclined to spend hours hunched over used record bins in full search mode, a nifty two-disc compilation exists called Swords Of A Thousand Men. In the meantime, please enjoy this week's NW4NW offerings - three great clips from Tenpole Tudor, including "Wunderbar," "Swords Of A Thousand Men," and "Throwing My Baby Out With The Bathwater:"

Six Word Sunday

2011-08-21T14:08:00.000-04:00

Where have all my editors gone?

Six Word Sunday

2011-08-14T08:22:00.000-04:00

She's perfect, but I am not.

New Wave for the New Week #132

2011-08-08T11:15:00.000-04:00

It's been somewhat fascinating in recent years to see so many bands from the Punk/New Wave era being the focus of renewed interest, often reforming and hitting the road to play before both new fans and those who were there way back when.

Such is the case the Maso sisters, Caron and Michele, who, together with backing band Kip Brown, John Gerlach, Jeff Fair and Steve Sicular, were known collectively as The Little Girls. The Little Girls became local favorites in the early 80's San Fernando Valley scene, and thanks to airplay on LA's KROQ had two regional New Wave hits, "The Earthquake Song" and "How To Pick Up Girls," both of which appeared on their 1983 EP Thank Heaven! ("The Earthquake Song" had already been available in an earlier form on the second Rodney On The ROQ compilation LP from 1981).

Treading similar musical waters as Josie Cotton and Nikki Corvette, The Little Girls' version of '60s-girl-group-inspired New Wave bubblegum was made extra-sugary thanks to the sisters' goofily amateurish yet somehow endearing attempts at choreography in their stage act. Pantomiming the lyrics as they sung them, they had a routine for each song; decked out in outfits that might have been found at Pat Benatar's yard sale and backed by musicians dressed like extras in every early '80s movie you can name, they were undeniably of their time. But the songs were catchy, the music was great, and if The Little Girls didn't put a smile on your face, then you had no sense of fun.

By 1985 their time had passed and the Maso sisters went on with their lives. In 2004, The Little Girls reunited for a one-off show in Santa Monica, CA, which sold out in one night. Realizing there were a fair number of folks who fondly remembered them, the Masos set about assembling and reissuing whatever material they could. First up was 2006's No More Vinyl, which combined all of the tracks from Thank Heaven! with unreleased material they had recorded in 1984/85 in hopes of landing a full album deal. Around the same time, they also reissued a collection of very early demos (circa 1981) under the title The Polodor-Cooper Sessions. The following year, Ramo Records issued a 4-track 7-inch of the 1984/85 demos called The Clear Album, including their excellent cover of The Dave Clark Five's "Any Way You Want It" and the shoulda-been-hit "I Really Wanna Be With You."

All of those reissues are still available, but completists will want the recently issued pair of CDs on the Masos' own ValleyPOP Records. Thank Heaven For Valleypop expands on No More Vinyl with additional tracks, while Today...And Yesterday gathers more unreleased gems from the sisters' more recent studio demos (circa 2006) as well some nifty surprises from the '80s including an interview with KROQ's Rodney Bingenheimer. Recommended stuff, guaranteed to keep you in a good mood all day!

For this week's NW4NW entry, here are both of The Little Girls' early hits, "The Earthquake Song" and "How To Pick Up Girls." Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2011-08-07T09:07:00.000-04:00

Overslept yesterday. Underslept today. Can't win.

New Wave for the New Week #131

2011-08-01T13:38:00.001-04:00

London's The Doll were another of those blink-and-you-missed-them bands that seemed to crop up like weeds in the immediate aftermath of the first wave of Punk Rock. Sounding a bit like The Rezillos on overdrive, The Doll first came to public awareness with their appearance on the Beggar's Banquet Records 1977 compilation Streets. Their contribution, "Trash," stood out among those of other soon-to-be-bigger name bands like Slaughter & The Dogs, The Members and The Lurkers.

Liking what they heard, Beggar's Banquet soon issued The Doll's first single, "Don't Tango On My Heart," with "Trash" on the flipside. It was a scorching piece of vinyl, but the band was more heavily focused on live performance, and it would be a year until The Doll would be on record shelves again.

Their return to the record racks also saw them reach the height of their fame. "Desire Me," released in 1979, made the UK Top 30 and landed The Doll an appearance on Top Of The Pops. This in turn spurred a brief media infatuation with frontwoman Marion Valentine. The attention being focused solely on her ticked off the rest of the band, who decided to abandon her. It would be another year before she would be back in the recording studio with a new set of band members to record the first full-length Doll LP, Listen To The Silence, and the lead single "Cinderella With A Husky Voice." Unfortunately, both quickly sank without a trace, as did two follow-up singles. By the end of 1980, The Doll was done, and would probably have been relegated to status as a footnote to Punk Rock history had Cherry Red Records not reissued Listen To The Silence earlier this year as a two-disc set including the early singles and assorted unreleased material. It's well worth picking up.

For this week's NW4NW entry, here are audio clips of both sides of The Doll's incredible debut single, "Trash" and "Don't Tango On My Heart." Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2011-07-31T09:51:00.000-04:00

Good week: demons held at bay.

Oppressive Heat, They Might Be Giants, and That Guy

2011-07-29T12:53:00.000-04:00

When I heard that They Might Giants were kicking off their tour in support of their fantastic new album Join Us right here in Lancaster, PA, at The Chameleon, it was simply a given that I would be there. This was the third time I've seen the two Johns. First time was in 1986 in Richmond, VA, at a nifty little club called Rockitz; second time was here at The Chameleon in 1996, so I was five years overdue this time around.

Here in the Northeast we've been having an ungodly heatwave, coupled with oppressive humidity which combine to make it feel like we're breaking three digits on the thermometer daily; yesterday was no different. This made waiting for the doors to open - normally an enjoyable process where you get to meet some folks in line, maybe see old friends who haven't been in town since the last show, etc. - a chore to be despised. The Chameleon's entrance leads into a small cattle-chute area where, depending on whether you already have your ticket or not, you are herded through mazes to either the ticket booth/will-call window or the main door. This area fills up fast, and then the lines trail out the door and down the block. Fairly typical club stuff.

On this night, however, the heat and humidity and crowd of people sent the temperature in the cattle-chute area soaring. We were all quickly drenched with sweat and the place developed a mild high school gym locker room aroma. Not too worry, though - it was about 5:45 and doors were announced as opening at 6:00. Right....

6:00 came and people were still piling in. 6:05....6:10....6:15...now people began grumbling. At 6:20 someone pounded on the club door, which opened just a crack. When someone yelled "When are you letting us in?!?" the meek reply was only, "Soon," as the door slammed shut again. They finally let us in just before 6:30, and it was good that they did. Had they waited much longer, they may have seriously had a riot on their hands - people were NOT happy.

Thankfully, the club was air conditioned, and at first felt about 20 degrees cooler. A couple cold beers helped as well, and the space in front of the stage began to fill. Before long, the body heat from the growing crowd overtook the A/C, and once again The Chameleon lived up to and beyond the nickname friends and I had given it years ago: The Sweatbox.

All was made right again, however, when TMBG hit the stage and launched into "Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head," which not only is one of their classics, but also turned out to be a bit of foreshadowing, as we were actually treated to a puppet show by John & John in the guise of The Avatars of They, two goofy green sock puppets who "covered" TMBG's "Spoiler Alert" (from the new album).

Their set was fantastic, and was a well-balanced diet of material from the new album (including their first-time performance of "When Will You Die?") and fan favorites spanning their 25+ year career ("Doctor Worm," "We're The Replacements," "Birdhouse In Your Soul," etc.) Flansburgh and Linnell were hilarious as usual in their between-song patter, in turns complaining about the "oppressive lack of oxygen" in the club, musing about appearing on the Jimmy Fallon show with Fran Liebowitz, and wondering aloud whether the crowd would just be randomly screaming at anything they said. The band sounded great, with only a few missteps here and there (but again, it was the first show of the tour - cut them some slack!). Marty Beller on drums, who John Flansburgh repeatedly introduced early on, was excellent; Danny Weinkauf and Dan Miller alternated various instruments as did Linnell and Flansburgh, with everyone taking their turn at keyboards ("We're sort of like Genesis - everyone plays keyboards," noted John Linnell).

It seems that every show you go to has a character I have come to refer to as "That Guy." That Guy is usually there by himself, or maybe one friend. That Guy is also exponentially drunker than anyone else in the club, but he is not an innocuous drunk. No, That Guy is an asshole, yet usually oblivious to the fact that he is ruining other people's good times. Last night, That Guy showed up about two-thirds of the way through the show. I felt someone bump into me heavily, turned and saw a ratty looking guy with grungy hair, bad tattoos, and a marked inability to stand up straight. He positioned himself just behind me, and proceeded to randomly yell out song lyrics, curse words, and assorted "yeahs" and "rock ons." Carrying his beer bottle like a torch and swaying like a madman, he yelled at the band (who mockingly dismissed him) and knocked into anyone around him. As is usually the case with That Guy, it was only a matter of time before he made his big move.

It came the moment TMBG finished their main set and left the stage. Suddenly, That Guy threw himself bodily toward the stage, bowling over two young women and yanking a live microphone down on top of himself and others. Immediately, he was swarmed by people nearest him while others yelled for club security. Despite having three or four people now holding him, he lunged at the stage again, appearing to try to pull the keyboards down as well. By now, a very large bouncer was making his way toward the action. Not to be deterred, That Guy made a final push and grabbed his prize: the set list that John Linnell had been using which was on the keyboard. In that same moment, the bouncer cinched him into a half-nelson and dragged him out of the crowd to a round of applause. A moment later, the bouncer returned, and was greeted with more applause, which he shrugged off with a "just doing my job" look on his face. The applause grew louder when a roadie walked on stage and, with a triumphant flourish, produced the retrieved set list and taped it back onto the keyboard.

The band did three encores, including an outstanding run-through of "Istanbul Not Constantinople," and even noted that That Guy was going to "have one hell of a night ahead of him. We may not be in New York, but we're from New York," Flansburgh smiled.

All in all, a fantastic show. Check out our Facebook page later today to see more pics from the show. Head over to Amazon.com via the link below and pick up the new album. If you get a chance to see them on this tour, go - you'll be glad you did. And let me know if you run into That Guy.

New Wave for the New Week #130

2011-07-25T08:55:00.000-04:00

This coming Sunday night/Monday morning at midnight will mark the 30th anniversary of the launch of MTV. Over the course of three decades, MTV went from a cable television novelty playing music videos 24 hours a day (in stereo! - remember when they would simulcast on cable FM radio? Hell, do you remember cable FM radio??) to a pop-culture powerhouse that reshaped the music industry to a sad back-of-the-dial reality-show wasteland bearing little if any resemblance to its original intent, and making the "M" ("Music" in "Music Television") utterly meaningless.

In 1981, though, it was a different world. The very concept of a music video was often scoffed at, and the technology and production values were embryonic at best. Additionally, MTV did not have a huge warehouse of clips to show when they started out. Their early playlists, as a result, were a fascinating mish-mash of the well known and the unknown, as a review of the videos shown on MTV's first broadcast day shows. There was The Who, Styx, and Rod Stewart; but there was also Robin Lane & The Chartbusters, Ph.D., and one still unheralded band whose sole contribution to the music video world remains a personal favorite. Scan down the list to the 40th video played that first day, and there, tucked between REO Speedwagon and Juice Newton, you'll find Pittsburgh, PA's The Silencers.

The Silencers were wholly a product of the era, from their skinny ties and sharkskin jackets to their wrap-around slit sunglasses to their farfisa-driven power-pop with just enough wackiness to keep them out of mundane bar-band territory. They began playing live in and around their native Pittsburgh in 1978/79, and were good enough to land a record deal with CBS. Their debut LP, Rock And Roll Enforcers, was issued through the subsidiary Precision label, and the band made a video clip to promote the album.

Their clip differed from most in that they did not make a video for a specific song. Instead, their clip was a mini-movie clocking in at almost six minutes, featuring a collage of abbreviated edits of three key tracks: "The Peter Gunn Theme," "Remote Control" and "Illlegal." Their original purpose in creating the clip was to pitch CBS about turning the entire album into a movie, but CBS dismissed that idea and began sending the existing clip out to any outlet that would play it.

The video stayed in MTV's regular rotation for the balance of 1981 before fading away. The album sold well in and around Pittsburgh, with singles like "Shiver And Shake" and the stunning "Head On Collision" seeing local airplay. A second album, Romanic, followed soon after. While both records showed a solidly talented band, there just wasn't enough there to make them stand out on a national or international stage. Rock And Roll Enforcers is the one to get if you must make a choice between the two; it is more consistent and somewhat easier to track down.

In honor of MTV's upcoming anniversary, here in it's entirety is the three-song clip from The Silencers, including their straightforward take on "The Peter Gunn Theme," the clip-clopping "Remote Control," and the simply fantastic "Illegal," which is one of those songs that I'll never understand why no one has yet covered. Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2011-07-24T14:40:00.000-04:00

"Dropped the toothpaste," he muttered, crestfallen.

New Wave for the New Week #129

2011-07-18T09:38:00.000-04:00

It is temptingly easy to write off The Rezillos as simply "the UK's B-52's." Certainly the similarities are obvious: fun, kitschy party music; sixties-inspired yet futuristic neon costumes and hair-dos; male/female call-and-response vocals - that they were cut from similar cloth is clear. But The Rezillos (along with their equivalently-named succesors The Revillos) occupied their own space on the music continuum, saw much greater immediate chart success at home than their American counterparts, and unfortunately disintegrated relatively quickly.

Formed in 1976 by a wonderfully-named contingent of Edinbugh art students (Eugene Reynolds, Fay Fife, Jo Callis,William Mysterious, Angel Patterson, Hi-Fi Harris, Dr. D.K. Smythe, and Gale Warning), The Rezillos set about creating a visual and sonic attack with strong ties to both the early-70s Glam scene and the late-60's girl-group sound. Though they quickly aligned with the growing Punk movement, their happy outlook and cartoonish presence never quite seemed to fit that categorization.

After making their name on the club circuit, The Rezillos self-released their first single in 1977. "I Can't Stand My Baby" caught the ears of the folks at Sire Records, and after undergoing a minor change in lineup the band was signed and rushed into the studio to record their debut album. Can't Stand The Rezillos, released in 1978, is one of the most wonderful artifacts of its era. The lead single, "Top Of The Pops," was a Top 20 hit in the UK; the album itself also reached the Top 20. Zany originals like "(My Baby Does) Good Sculptures" and "Flying Saucer Attack" sit alongside well-chosen covers both known ("Glad All Over") and obscure ("I Like It"), and there ain't a clinker in the pile. It may surprise more than a few to learn that one of The Rezillos' best-loved tracks from the album, "Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight," was not an original, but in fact a cover of an obscure 1969 b-side from - of all bands - Fleetwood Mac (!) goofing as the imaginary Earl Vince and the Valiants.

At the end of 1978, The Rezillos - after yet another change in personnel - issued a non-LP single, "Destination Venus," which charted just under the Top 40. Internal pressures in the band were too much, however, and The Rezillos blew apart, leaving behind a live LP, Mission Accomplished But The Beat Goes On, which basically recapitulates the album with a few surprises thrown in ("Thunderbirds Are Go!" is worth the price of admission alone; a cover of Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz" is both expected and enjoyable). Both albums and both sides of the "Destination Venus" single, sans one cut from the live LP, are collected on the essential Can't Stand The Rezillos: The (Almost) Complete Rezillos CD. If you do not own it, you need to.

In 1980, Reynolds, Fife and Harris were back with a new crew and ready to pick up where they left off. Legal wranglings made it impossible to continue to use the name Rezillos, so they changed a letter and became The Revillos. The first LP under the new name, Rev Up!, proved that they hadn't lost a step. The title track, "Scuba Boy Bop," and "Voodoo" all could have fit well on Can't Stand The Rezillos; the concurrent non-album single "Where's The Boy For Me?" copied that sound even more precisely. Other tracks saw the band moving in a more sixties-pop direction: "Motorbike Beat," "Bobby Come Back To Me" and "Yeah Yeah" evoked memories of AM radio hits of an earlier era. Another fun, must-have album.

The Revillos then unleashed a string of singles that presaged a second LP: "She's Fallen In Love (With A Monster Man)," "Bitten By A Love Bug" and "Scuba Scuba" (not to be confused with "Scuba Boy Bop," mind you) were all nifty enough, but the album, Attack!, floundered, and again the band went their separate ways.

In the years since, the band's popularity has given them cause to reform and tour on occasion, and in 2008 they released their first new recording in 26 years, "No. 1 Boy." Another Rezillos album would be quite welcome, but nothing more has been heard from them to date.

For this week's NW4NW entry, here's a collection of clips: The Rezillos performing their hit "Top Of The Pops" on, of course, Top Of The Pops; The Revillos' clip for "Where's The Boy For Me?;" and the newest Rezillos recording, "No. 1 Boy." Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2011-07-17T17:16:00.002-04:00

OK, time to start writing again!

A Bit of My Hometown's Punk Rock History

2011-07-13T09:48:00.000-04:00

Over at the always interesting ...tapewrecks... blog, Tom Quinn has curated an excellent oral history of Lancaster, PA's "First Punk Rock Band," The Bodies. Better yet, he has rescued a handful of rare recordings of the band, who never released any records during their brief existence.

The Bodies were essentially a cover band. They learned Punk Rock from vinyl and snarled through the songs they liked best, spreading the good word to a bunch of misfit kids in the heart of Amish country. There were very few originals in the mix, but The Bodies were still a band, a Punk Rock band dammit, and right here in Lancaster! They were the ones who kicked open the door for our scene; they inspired other bands to start playing, and they themselves went on to join other bands through the years.

Get yourself over to ...tapewrecks... and read, listen and learn, my friends. The story of The Bodies is not a unique one, but it is an important one for those of us who grew up in the scene around these parts. Those of you who are from other places have your own "First Band" stories - I'd love to read them. Those were good times...

New Wave for the New Week #128

2011-06-27T07:30:00.000-04:00

A bit of a highly sought-after New Wave curio to share with you this week, in the form of NYC quartet The Go. Formed in 1979, The Go were one of the innumerable bands that traced their inspiration back to The Ramones. Armed with three chords and attitude, they felt ready to take the world by storm. If they fell a bit short of that mark, at least they made an impression at CBGB's, where they debuted at an open audition night and were the only band asked to return for a paying gig.

The Go broke no new ground. Their jangly power-pop-with-spiky-hair sound was already being plied by several bands, but something about them stood out from the crowd. They had an energy, a personality, and they had the knack (pun intended) for writing memorably catchy songs. The best of their repertoire would become the centerpiece of their lone vinyl release, the 4-song 45 rpm Instant Reaction ep. Fans of bands like The Shoes or 20/20 will find familiar comfort within these grooves: the title track and "Don't Take Her Away" were both punchy, energetic tracks that became underground favorites; "She Gives A Color To Me" and "Tomorrow Night" showed a moodier side and hinted that commercial success could be theirs if only they'd find that big break.

They spent nearly four years looking for that break, playing the NY/NJ club circuit, shopping demo tapes around from label to label, making local-access cable TV appearances. Unfortunately, it just never happened, and by 1983 the band was no more. Instant Reaction, however, became the stuff of legend over the years. With only 1000 copies pressed, it remains a holy grail for Punk and New Wave vinyl collectors, and usually fetches quite a price if you can find it (I've never actually seen a copy!)

That collector interest spurred the release of a compilation album in 2005, also titled Instant Reaction, put together by the Japan's Wizzard In Vinyl label, containing all four cuts from the ep and as much demo and studio outtake material as they could find. The 22-song import was reconfigured into a 16-song abridged version released stateside through Rave-Up Records. Both go for roughly $20 - take your pick.

This week's clip is one I never knew existed, for The Go's "Instant Reaction." Gotta love the low-budget early music video feel of this one, from the oh-so-1980 clothes to the not quite accurate lip-syncing. Still, it's a classic. Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2011-06-26T09:14:00.000-04:00

Insert Six Word Sunday post here.

New Wave for the New Week #127

2011-06-20T12:01:00.000-04:00

San Francisco's Los Microwaves were a quirky Synth-Punk trio who played together from roughly 1978 to 1982. Comprised of David Javelosa (a/k/a David Microwave), Meg Brazil and Todd Rosa, the trio created four excellent singles and one pretty decent LP during their existence, and proved to be a very popular live act.

Finding their sonic home base somewhere between Wall Of Voodoo and The B-52's, Los Microwaves imbued their songs with a mixture of the mundane and the surreal. At times they were guilty of trying too hard to be goofy - occasionally at the expense of the song - but more often than not they hit the mark.

Their best work is found on their singles. They debuted in 1978 with "I Don't Want To Hold You," a blippy pop song that Javelosa would later rerecord under the David Microwave moniker. The following year the issued the "Radio Heart" single. One of their most popular songs, "Radio Heart" chirped along, irresistibly pushed forward by a nagging bassline and Meg Brazil's best Cindy Wilson/Kate Pierson impression. Strange whizzes and boings and whatnot bubble up through the melody, but never quite overtake the song. Excellent.

That strangeness would overtake the next single, the wonderful "Time To Get Up!" This may have been the most perfect encapsulation of Los Microwaves' sound: discordant keyboards, off-kilter sound, and Brazil's take as the reluctant sleepyhead combine to create one of the better singles of the genre. Both "Radio Heart" and "Time To Get Up" appeared on Los Microwaves' lone album, Life After Breakfast. While the good stuff on the album is truly fantastic (the two singles, "What's That Got To Do With Loving You?," the title track), the filler is at times difficult to get through. Some bands are simply better as singles bands, and Los Microwaves were one of them. A final single, "I Can't Say," was released in 1982, and that was the last of Los Microwaves.

This week's NW4NW entry includes an audio-only clip for the outstanding "Radio Heart," and the only promo video Los Microwaves made, "Life After Breakfast." Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2011-06-19T08:44:00.000-04:00

Happy Father's Day to dads everywhere!

New Wave for the New Week #126

2011-06-13T11:02:00.000-04:00

The history of Punk Rock is littered with tales of tortured, misguided souls who destroyed themselves with drugs. The most well-known cases (Sid Vicious, Darby Crash) were particularly sad because it seemed no one ever tried to stop them, and they were certainly incapable of stopping themselves. A third case, one which gets considerably less press, at least saw his bandmates make it clear to him that there was a problem, but it was too little, too late.

Malcolm Owen formed The Ruts in 1977 with Paul Fox, Segs Jennings and Dave Ruffy. They infused their take on UK Punk with Funk, Dub and Reggae, creating a sound that landed about midway between The Sex Pistols and The Clash. After two years of playing the pubs and clubs circuit, they had their first single in the record shops, 1979's "In A Rut," which remains one of the best singles of the era. In a bit of eerie foreshadowing, the b-side was a song called "H-Eyes," a warning against the dangers of heroin addiction in which Owen sings, "...it's gonna screw your head, you're gonna wind up dead..."

The popularity of "In A Rut" got The Ruts signed to Virgin Records, who promptly issued two more singles, "Babylon's Burning" and "Something That I Said," both of which became decent hit records in the UK, and demand for a full album began to grow. That album, The Crack, appeared in September of 1979, with the two Virgin singles re-recorded for the LP, as well as some new material. One of the new tracks, "Jah War," was released as the next single; its Dub Reggae sound was an abrupt shift from the sneering Punk of the earlier singles, and helped The Ruts reach a wider audience (especially since The Clash had already begun to blaze the trail from Punk to Reggae).

The following year, The Ruts released the outstanding single "Staring At The Rude Boys," but Owen was becoming unreliable due to increasingly heavy drug use. After a sixth single, "West One (Shine On Me)," the rest of the group fired Owen, giving as reason their inability to work with him in his addicted state. After a short period of inactivity, the band and Owen reached an accord and reuinited. One would assume that part of the reconciliation would have had to include Owen getting the help he needed, but it never happened. On July 14, 1980, Malcolm Owen was found dead of a heroin overdose at his parents' home, only 26 years old at the time of his death.

Later in the year, The Ruts released a second album, Grin And Bear It, as a tribute/goodbye to Owen. Containing the new singles as well as an assortment of demos and live material, it's a brief window into what could have been.

The rest of the band continued on for awhile under the name Ruts D.C. ("da capo," a Latin musical term meaning "from the beginning"), following the Reggae/Funk path the band had begun to explore and adding bits of Jazz to mix, but the fire was gone. Had Owen not destroyed himself with heroin, The Ruts may well have evolved into the equal of The Pistols or The Clash; the potential was certainly there. As it is, we are left with an album and a half's worth of material and the question, "What if?"

Our clips this week nearly bookend The Ruts' recording career. First up is the classic "In A Rut," and then the excellent "Staring At The Rude Boys." Enjoy.

Six Word Sunday

2011-06-12T12:46:00.002-04:00

Have you joined The Revolution yet?

You Say You Want (Another) Revolution?

2011-06-07T12:00:00.004-04:00

"When you don't know where to start, go back to basics..."

Good advice that opens the new release from Lancaster PA's DIY studio assemblage The French Revolution, and advice that the band's core of Daniel French and Jeremy Bentley took to heart both in the original concept for the band and in the recording of their outstanding sophomore effort, Back To Basics.

If you've studied your Lancaster music history, you know that this Revolution began in October of 2009 with the The Letdown, both a debut album and a manifesto: To Hell with the Corporate Music Business! To Hell with endless touring and gigs in seedy dives in front of unenthusiastic drunks! To Hell with trying to write The Next Big Hit! To Hell with charging ridiculous prices for a CD so that some label can make a profit! Let us simply make music we enjoy, and give it to the people who enjoy hearing it!

That's right - give it to them. No charge. Free. A Revolutionary concept indeed!

The Letdown definitely was not a letdown, and neither is Back To Basics, although they are quite different from one another. Among the guerrilla tactics being employed in this Revolution is the drafting of an ever-changing musical militia. French and Bentley remain the heart and soul of The French Revolution, but the other musicians helping out on Basics are a completely different cast of characters than those on The Letdown, save for the return of guitarist/keyboardist Jason Sherman. (Sherman takes a larger role this time around, providing a sizable share of the vocal duties, which were previously solely provided by French.) The result is a decidedly different personality than the first album. Where The Letdown was a rocking house party, Back To Basics finds itself getting lost in moments of almost sentimental introspection - the partygoer who takes a moment outside to clear his head before rejoining the fun.

It's nice to hear these layers of emotion becoming a part of The French Revolution's growing bag of tricks. It shows a continuing growth and depth in songwriting and a willingness to follow where the music they are creating leads. I would have been disappointed (dare I say "let down"?) to simply hear a rehash of the first album. Still, it remains difficult to describe the sounds here. Part of the manifesto is to play the music they want to play, which means they are not beholden to the bounds of any particular genre. Obviously hard rock is the basic foundation, but that's an awfully wide foundation. That they each grew up on 90s alternative rock is apparent, but it is equally apparent that they know well the 70s roots from which that grungy genre grew. Their ability to throw a nifty hook or two into the mix belies a bit of pop influence as well.

Back To Basics is, like its predecessor, being offered as free download here beginning today, June 7. (The Letdown continues to be available as well.) My favorite cuts are "D.O.A." and "Incomplete," which you can listen to below, but please, do your part to help the Revolution - download the full album today, and pass the link along to a few friends. I'm interested in hearing your reviews, so please stop back here and share your thoughts on the album!

"D.O.A."

"Incomplete"

New Wave for the New Week #125

2011-06-06T08:32:00.000-04:00

I discovered far too late that one of the greatest "first wave" Punk bands, Stiff Little Fingers, are not only back out on tour, but played in Baltimore this past weekend. Well damn. Would have loved to see them. The good news, according their website, is that their first new album in seven years is in the works. That bodes well for them coming back around in the relatively near future, I hope!

Stiff Little Fingers, named after a song by The Vibrators, began in Belfast, Ireland, in the mid-70s as hard rockers Highway Star before guitarist Henry Cluney discovered Punk Rock and took the band in that direction. Jake Burns' gruff, strangled vocals fit the new sound perfectly, and with drummer Brian Faloon and new bassist Ali McMordie rounding out the band, they briefly toured as The Fast before settling on their now-famous moniker. In early 1978 they issued their first salvo, the single "Suspect Device." Famously influential UK DJ John Peel loved the record and played it regularly on his radio show, which in turn lead Stiff Little Fingers to a deal with Rough Trade Records. By the end of the year, they had their first album, Inflammable Material, on record store shelves.

Inflammable Material is as vital to the history of Punk Rock as Ramones or Never Mind The Bollocks. As one might expect from a late-70s Irish band, this is politically charged stuff delivered at machine-gun pace with barely time to breathe between reloadings, but that does not mean it's not melodic. Where many a banner-waving slogan-spouting Punk band's songs come across as hyper-speed football chants, SLF's history in hard rock informs their sound. Sure it's basic three-chord stuff, but there is a definite sense of songwriting here as opposed to simple shouting. With "Suspect Device," "Alternative Ulster," "Barbed Wire Love," and "Wasted Life" among its tracks, it's simply a stunning, must-have LP.

1980's follow-up, Nobody's Heroes, keeps the energy level high and snarl gruff. Musically, SLF starts to branch out a bit here, especially into dub, ska, and reggae territories hinted at on the first album. (See their excellent cover of The Specials' "Doesn't Make It All Right.") "Gotta Get Away," "At The Edge," and the title track were all released as singles, and while perhaps not as immediately memorable as the first album's classics, Nobody's Heroes is every bit as good.

Go For It, released the following year, saw the sonic attack mellowing a bit. SLF's dabblings into varied styles underscored comparisons that had always been made to The Clash, and much like that band, not every experiment works. Still, the songs and the sound is solid. A year later came Now Then..., the band's most commercial effort, despite being a sales flop. The album is a fantastic piece of power-pop ear candy (the lead single, "Bits Of Kids," could have been a Cheap Trick single), and has aged remarkably well. Problem was, the kids wanted Punk Rock, and this sure wasn't Inflammable Material.

A a result of the backlash, the band called it quits. A decade later, a new Stiff Little Fingers album, Flags and Emblems, appeared. Burns, Cluney and McMordie had actually reformed a few years earlier, playing live shows here and there, and decided to have another go at being a band. Three more albums were released in the 1990's (Get A Life, Tinderbox, and Hope Street), each with different line-ups. 2004 saw the release of Guitar And Drum, with the anthemic "Can't Get Away With That" helping it to reach the same level as the first four albums. And then, silence. That is, until word of the current tour and a possible new record.

For today's NW4NW entry, here are Stiff Little Fingers in their early prime with the classic "Suspect Device." Enjoy!

At The Moment

2011-06-05T21:35:00.005-04:00

I'm smack in the middle of one hell of a dark period. This one rolled in over the weekend unannounced, triggered by the stupidest little thing, but then these episodes are rarely triggered by anything of substance. (I remember one day several years back when, out with a group of friends, someone commented that I seemed like I was in a particularly good mood. The woman I was with at the time warned, only half-facetiously, "Don't worry, his mood will change. Suddenly, and without warning, but it WILL change. Enjoy it while you can.")

It's funny how I can always recognize when my OCD or anxiety demons are up to their tricks, but the depression demon can be so slick as to set up shop and get to work well in advance of my internal alarm system notifying me. It's like a smoke detector that is extremely poorly placed, so that by the time it goes off half the house is engulfed in flame already. Still haven't figured out where to put that damn detector.

This is a particularly rough one. I got up yesterday morning in a fairly decent frame of mind, but somewhere along about lunchtime, I realized things weren't right. I didn't recognize what was happening yet, but something was off. And I was suddenly damn tired - not just sleepy, but the kind of tired where moving your limbs is a chore, and where sitting up straight seems like far more effort than it's worth. I napped. Most of the afternoon and evening. Ate some dinner, but more because I knew I should eat something than because I was hungry. "Dinner" was really a bologna and cheese sandwich. Rarely left the couch. At no point during the day did I open the blinds, much less leave the house. Just sat there, lumplike, alternately sleeping and staring at the TV. Today has been more of the same. Honestly, I couldn't tell you where today went. I was "up" around 7:00-ish, but again the day has been spent napping on and off. No appetite. No motivation.

My head is uncomfortable. It's not a headache in the traditional sense - it's not pain. I feel as though I cannot unfurrow my brow, and my own voice is screaming in my brain as if it were trying desperately to jump out of my head, flinging itself like a tantrum-throwing child against the inside of my skull in vain efforts to crash through that wall of bone to freedom. I want to cry, but there are no tears to cry. Resultantly, my eyes burn and feel heavy in their sockets. My teeth are gritted and my neck is tense. Hell, every muscle in my body is tensed as if I were preparing to have to physically defend myself from something. My stomach feels strange - not nauseous, not nervous, but somewhere in between, similar to the way it feels when experiencing a surge of adrenalin, but not exactly the same. The adrenalin surge fades with time; this has been a day and a half now.

Does any of that make sense? I know these sensations very well. They are not symptoms of illness - well, at least not of physical illness like a flu bug or having eaten something that might have been a few days past its use-by date. The thoughts that accompany them, fueled undoubtedly by my ever-present Internal Greek Chorus of OCD and SA, are both sad and angry, usually. This time, they are more angry than sad. It's a loud, visceral anger, overpowering at times yet unfocused. I couldn't tell you who or what I am angry with, I am just angry. Feel like I could lash out like a cornered animal at anyone who came too close.

And therein lies another great conundrum: I wish I had someone I could tell all this to, someone who would listen and understand and tell me its OK and help me get through this. At the same time, I don't want anyone around me when I'm like this, because I know I will be nasty towards them - a cutting, sarcastic, verbal nastiness. It is, I think, a large part of the reason I remain single: it takes a very strong, thick-skinned woman to be with me during these times. Believe me, I have scared off more than a few over the years when things got "too intense," to use the phrase I have heard more than a few times.

And before you suggest, yes, I do have a therapist - have had for years. But that's a very different type of interaction. An important one, one I value immensely, and one that I recommend highly to anyone who fights demons similar to mine. I would never have come as far as I have without my therapist's help. As I say, though, that's a different interaction.

I'm going to stop here. I may not be making a whole hell of a lot of sense, but blogging these things helps me to sort out the jumble of thoughts that clog my beautifully broken brain. I don't write these types of posts looking for sympathy or to cry "oh woe is me," nor do I write them really for anyone's benefit but my own. Maybe there are some of you out there reading who get it, maybe there aren't. Hell, maybe no one reads this. But it helps me, and that what matters. At the moment, anyway.

Six Word Sunday

2011-06-05T08:02:00.000-04:00

Time to change a few things.

The Go-Go's Go Wild In Hershey PA

2011-05-30T14:12:00.004-04:00

[Note: The regular Monday feature, New Wave For The New Week, will return next week.]

It only took me 30 years, but last night I crossed off another from the "Bands I Need To See Live" section of my personal bucket list. The Go-Go's played at The Hershey Theater in Hershey, PA last night - a show that was a wonderful combination of music, party and nostalgia for the good-ol-days.

My friend Janel and I could not have timed our arrival at the venue much better. We saw the lines outside, and given the heat and humidity of the day, neither of us were thrilled with the idea of waiting outside. No worries, as it turned out. No sooner did we take our place in line than the ushers opened doors and let everyone in. As someone who has attended innumerable shows at innumerable clubs in innumerable towns over the past 25 years, I can tell you, that never happens! If anything, the doors are going to open late. It was a sign that a good evening lie ahead.

And yes, I did say "ushers," not "bouncers." The Hershey Theater is just that - a beautiful old theater with stage, orchestra pit, and tiered seating. Seating! Again, after years of standing on hard concrete beer-soaked floors crammed sardine-like beyond fire code limits in warehouse-style spaces to see many of my favorite bands, the concept of sitting in plush, upholstered theater seats was a foreign one. No matter, because The Go-Go's were greeted with an enthusiastic standing ovation when they took the stage and launched into "Vacation;" for the rest of the show, hardly anyone sat down.

I know from live recordings I have heard over the years that, much as I love them, hearing The Go-Go's live is a bit of a gamble. When they're on, they're awesome, but when they're having an off night they have been known to induce a cringe or two among my circle of friends. Last night may have only been the second night of the current Ladies Gone Wild Tour, but they were most definitely on! They were energetic and entertaining, and looked like they were having as much fun as the crowd. Nothing is worse than catching a band on a night when they look and sound like they'd rather be anywhere else but there; The Go-Go's were definitely not one of those bands last night.

Their set relied heavily on their 1981 debut album Beauty And The Beat (naturally, as this year celebrates the 30th anniversary of that LP, now available in a special anniversary reissue), but they pulled some from every album, even giving the single from 1994's Return To The Valley Of The Go-Go's compilation, "The Whole World Lost Its Head," a run-through, as well as Belinda Carlisle's solo hit "Mad About You" and Jane Wiedlin's wonderful collaboration with Sparks, "Cool Places." Most surprising was a decidedly excellent cover of The Rolling Stones' "Mother's Little Helper." For their second encore and final song, they went deep into their back catalog to play "Fun With Ropes," which only ever saw release in a roughly recorded version included on Return. Have to say, getting to see The Go-Go's perform "Our Lips Are Sealed" ranks up there with the best performances of favorite songs I have ever seen. A nice touch: having never played Hershey before, they dedicated Beauty's "This Town" to Hershey, PA, changing the line "it is so glamorous" to "it is so chocolatey..."

The theater was packed with eager Go-Gos fans and bouncing beach balls, which also kept the energy level high. We agreed heading in that neither of us could predict what kind of crowd might be showing up. It was fascinating to do a bit of people watching: there were families with kids who couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 bopping along happily with the music; there were folks in our age group, some in full rock-and-roll costume, others as preppy as you could imagine; there was a large older contingent, too. Everyone knew the songs and sang and clapped along and had a great time, though.

All in all, one of the more fun shows I've been to in awhile, and I sure won't complain about not having to sit through a series of opening bands. I had hoped to get a chance to get to thank the band for their music and maybe get a record or two signed - who knows when or if they'll be back on the East Coast again! - but that didn't happen. So, Belinda, Jane, Kathy, Charlotte and Gina - if you're reading this, thank you for the past 30+ years, and thank you for a great time last night in Hershey!

Six Word Sunday

2011-05-29T13:36:00.000-04:00

Better late than never, right? ...Right?

New Wave for the New Week #124

2011-05-23T09:30:00.001-04:00

Since the earliest days of rock and roll music being pressed into vinyl, there has existed the bands that, well, don't actually exist. One of my favorite examples of this phenomenon happened during the late-60s/early-70s bubblegum era, when a session musician by the name of Tony Burrows was actually the lead vocalist on four contemporary top-ten records: The Edison Lighthouse's "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)," White Plains' "My Baby Loves Lovin'," The Pipkins' "Gimme Dat Ding" and The Brotherhood of Man's "United We Stand." One guy, four simultaneous hit records, four bands that didn't really exist! (He'd add a fifth a few years later with "Beach Baby" by The First Class.)

The New Wave equivalent to Tony Burrows may not have been quite so prolific or successful, but the influence Daniel Miller had on hundreds upon hundreds of musicians to follow his lead and go make a record is hard to understate. After all, his initial studio project needed a record label, so Miller created Mute Records, which would go on to introduce the world to bands like Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Fad Gadget among many others.

Miller was a bored film editor who, in 1978, discovered the two muses that would propel him into the music world: a synthesizer and the novel Crash by J.G. Ballard. Miller was taken by Ballard's description of characters whose sexual fetish centers around purposefully caused automobile accidents and the injuries caused by them, and sought to translate that theme into music. The cold, electronic sounds of the synthesizers of the day were a perfect aural analogy for the cold technology that propelled Ballard's story, and in short order Miller had written and recorded "Warm Leatherette." A stark, minimalist piece that involves two chords and virtually no melody, "Warm Leatherette" is nonetheless insidiously, almost hypnotically catchy. Miller succeeds in his effort to use sound to mimic driving through city streets and tunnels at high speed. The music may be primitive and almost laughably simple, but it does suggest motion. You can almost hear the buildings whizzing past in a blur as the car continues forward intent on its target. Miller's utterly emotionless vocal creates an otherworldly aura that renders his final request of his target to "make love before you die" as nothing more than the completion of a task as opposed to a final romantic gesture. It's a stunning record even by today's standards; in 1978 it was startling. Miller credited his work to a fictional band called The Normal, and "Warm Leatherette" (b/w "T.V.O.D.") became the first single released on the Mute label.

For his next trick, Miller went to the opposite end of the emotional spectrum. If The Normal was cold and feelingless synth art, them The Silicon Teens would be downright giddy throwaway pop product! With a wink and a nod to another non-existent band, The Flying Lizards, Miller's Silicon Teens project took well-known hits of the previous generation and reinterpreted them in a new medium and not without a full dose of snarky irony. Where The Flying Lizards deconstructed and minimalized the familiar, The Silicon Teens left their source material relatively unwarped. Imagined as a futuristic cover band, these fictional Teens breezed through plinky, bleepy covers of "Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)," "Memphis, Tennessee," and "You Really Got Me," among several others, on their lone album, 1980's Music For Parties. Once again, this was all Daniel Miller, but this time he had to do more than invent a band name: he had to invent a band! After all, in 1980 the music video era was starting to pick up steam, and Miller needed some Silicon Teens to make a clip of their own. So he went out and hired a group of actors to portray The Silicon Teens in a video for "Memphis." His newly cast band also made the tours of UK pop music shows and radio station interviews.

After this, Miller began to focus more on studio work for the bands he was beginning to sign to the Mute label, although over the years he would occasionally collaborate with other artists on different projects. Nothing quite captured people's attention like The Normal and The Silicon Teens, however. So, for this week's NW4NW entry, let's hear from each! First up, The Normal's "Warm Leatherette," and then The Silicon Teens' "Memphis, Tennessee." Enjoy!

Silicon Teens - Memphis Tennessee by Rikardo1980

Six Word Sunday

2011-05-22T08:25:00.002-04:00

Hey look! We're all still here!

Flash Fiction Friday: Wake Up

2011-05-20T13:27:00.001-04:00

Jason Deeds, a member of the local writers group I participate in, has been in the habit of providing us with weekly writing prompts which he dubbed Flash Fiction Friday. I have not, however, been in the habit of making use of those prompts, as I have never been particularly pleased with my ability (or lack thereof) to write fiction. In my continuing efforts to push my writing out of my comfort zone, I decided to start joining in. I decided I will also share my ham-fisted attempts at fiction writing here, hoping to receive feedback from you good readers. Is it any good? Is it crap? Should I spare you further attempts in this genre, or should I keep going?

This week's prompt was: "The morning you woke up and everyone was gone, no family, no friends, no one that you can find. The Rapture happened and you were left behind. What do you do?" Here is my take:

Wake Up

You know that briefest of moments when you first wake up but you haven't yet opened your eyes? I clung to that moment, happily existing midway between sleep and consciousness. I buried my head into my pillow and squeezed my eyelids even more tightly, let myself feel the weight of my body against the mattress. It was so perfectly comfortable, not unlike what sleeping on a cloud must feel like. Through the open window by the side of my bed, a cool summer-like breeze carried the sounds of children happily laughing and playing, and the excited chatter of neighbors. A lot of chatter and a lot of neighbors, I thought, but I wasn't annoyed by the noise. In fact, it was almost melodic.

I lay there for a moment more, feeling absolutely joyful. How wonderful to start the day in such a great mood! Then, another of my senses awakened: the familiar, homey aroma of bacon, eggs, hotcakes and fresh-squeezed oranges wafted through my room from the downstairs kitchen. I sat up, stretched and yawned, threw on my robe and went downstairs to investigate.

My grandmother stood at the kitchen stove whistling happily, and when I appeared in the doorway she turned, smiled, wiped her hands on her apron, and greeted me with outstretched arms. "You're here, Little One!" she exclaimed, calling me by the familiar nickname she had always used for me. I rushed to her and embraced her with overflowing happiness. "Nana!" I cried, "what are you doing here?"

Then, in a moment, the realization: Nana had passed away five years ago. I tried to speak, but she seemed to anticipate my question. "Don't worry, it will all make sense soon enough. Now run along outside with everyone else. Breakfast will be ready soon." And with that, she shooed me out the door just as she had when I was a child.

The fresh air nearly took my breath away. The neighborhood never looked so vibrant; the sky never so blue and the grass never so green. And people! People everywhere, laughing, chattering, hugging...it was utterly joyous. I spotted my family congregated over by the neighbor's fence, and I went to join them when I was stopped by a hand on my shoulder.

I turned to see who it was but the light was so bright, as if a thousand halogen lamps were being shined directly at me. My eyes squinted shut in self-defense, and then a voice I did not recognize spoke.

"We really must apologize. It's not often that these kind of mix-ups happen, but today has been a particularly busy day. It's been easiest to bring entire families, and in most cases that accomplishes it. But in your case..." The voice hesitated for a moment. "Again, we really apologize. There's no easy way to put this other than to simply say it: You're not supposed to be here."

Again I tried to speak, but the voice continued: "Fortunately, this can be corrected relatively easily. If you'll just step this way..."

I felt a sudden exhaustion, a sudden need to go back to sleep as the bright light enveloped me, and again I found myself in that odd purgatory between sleep and consciousness. I quickly shook off the bonds of sleep and sat bolt upright in bed. I rubbed my eyes and looked around at my room, shrouded in the grey of yet another rainy May morning. I looked out the window and saw not a soul; heard not a sound other than an ominously long, low rumble of thunder in the distance. The sky looked awfully dark, as if there was about to be one Hell of a storm...

New Wave for the New Week #123

2011-05-16T08:18:00.000-04:00

Here's another NW4NW entry from the "Hidden Gems Just Waiting To Be Rediscovered" file: Brisbane, Australia's The Riptides.

Between 1978 and 1983, The Riptides released four outstanding singles, one excellent mini album, and one fantastic full-length LP that essentially collected everything on one slab o' vinyl. Despite a rabid fanbase and at least two comeback albums, they sadly remain under-appreciated today. Here's me doing my part to, hopefully, help right that wrong!

At the time calling themselves The Numbers, Mark Callaghan and his band's first release was a three-song 7" called Sunset Strip. A raw and ragged affair, the punchy, punky tunes were catchy despite their stripped-down, bare-bones sound. Only 500 copies were pressed, making this a truly difficult-to-find collector's item. There existed another Aussie band calling themselves The Numbers at that time, however, so - after a minor shakeup in personnel - Callaghan renamed his band The Riptides, and reissued Sunset Strip in a remixed/remastered edition of 2000 copies. The lead track, "77 Sunset Strip," caught on like gangbusters, and defined The Riptides' surf-twang/power-pop sound. Quickly thereafter, the follow-up single, "Tomorrow's Tears," proved just as popular locally and reinforced that musical direction.

Their first venture into 12" vinyl was 1981's 6-song mini album Swept Away. The lead single was a stomper called "Only Time" that fell only slightly short of the mark set by "77 Sunset Strip" and "Tomorrow's Tears." The Riptides were still playing solid material, but the frustration caused by lacking a big breakout record was becoming evident.

1982's "Hearts and Flowers" single, sadly, was a misguided attempt at that commercial success, and lacked the punch and personality of their previous efforts. About the same time, the full-length The Riptides album hit the shelves, neatly combining the existing material with newer stuff. The Riptides' moment in the Brisbane sun was over, however, and in 1983 they called it a day.

Four years later, a live album, The Riptides Resurface, appeared to some acclaim; four more years passed before a reunited Riptides issued the comeback attempt Wave Rock. But it all been done before, and again The Riptides faded into history.

Presently, none of The Riptides' material is in print, but everything from "Tomorrow's Tears" on shows up with fair regularity on eBay. There is a present-day Canadian band called The Riptides, so be aware if you go looking and make sure you've got the right band. And if you ever find a reasonably-priced copy of The Numbers version of the Sunset Strip EP, let me know!

For today's entry, we celebrate The Riptides with their first three singles: "77 Sunset Strip," "Tomorrow's Tears," and "Only Time." Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2011-05-15T07:30:00.002-04:00

You actually can go home again!

New Wave for the New Week #122

2011-05-09T09:15:00.000-04:00

Imitation, they say, is the most sincere form of flattery. If that be the case, then the Talking Heads should have been overwhelmed by the flattery heaped upon them by Washington, DC's Urban Verbs.

That lead singer Roddy Frantz was the younger brother of Heads drummer Chris Frantz helps to explain Urban Verbs' nearly direct imitation of the older sibling's band, although to listen to his vocals, you would not be shocked if his last name were Byrne. His delivery, inflection, and tone were nearly identical to David Byrne's, and the Verbs' skittish, claustrophobic music and paranoid lyrics were a more than fair approximation of just about everything on the first few Heads albums. The duplication was so impressive as to have been a major hindrance: they were quickly dismissed as clones, when in fact they were a damn good band.

Behind Frantz, the Urban Verbs were rounded out by guitarist Robert Goldstein, bass player Linda France (say, wasn't there another band with a female bassist?), drummer Danny Frankel and Robin Rose on synths. Beginning in 1977, Urban Verbs were regulars on the DC club circuit. Goldstein was the main booker for The Atlantis Club, giving the Verbs a regular place to play; in 1980 The Atlantis would change names to become The 930 Club - the main venue for Punk and New Wave acts to play in the DC area. Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

It was at The 930 where Urban Verbs were spotted by Brian Eno, who so enjoyed the band that he offered to help record a few demos for them. That connection brought them to the attention of Warner Bros. Records, who signed them up and issued both Urban Verbs albums, Urban Verbs and Early Damage, within a twelve month span between 1980 and 1981.

Despite generating a lot of interest and underground airplay with the single "Subways" from the first record, neither album sold well, thanks in large part to the "Talking Heads clones" tag. Taken on their own, however, both are solid, well-played records that bear - and endure - repeated listenings. Fans of that more well-known band are advised to proceed without caution - you'll love them.

This week's NW4NW entry is an audio-only clip of "Subways" - try to listen past the obvious and discover the gem hidden here. Enjoy!

Six Word Sunday

2011-05-08T12:24:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to moms everywhere!

New Wave for the New Week #121

2011-05-02T08:40:00.001-04:00

Many moons ago, I picked up a goofy record while picking through the quarter bin at a random thrift shop somewhere. It was a 7-inch that contained six different variations of the old Rice Krispies jingle ("It's fun to put snap, crackle, pop into your morning!"), each done in a different genre: rock, country, pop, etc. The one that my friends and I laughed at most, however, was the one labelled "New Wave," which was nothing more than a generically slick MOR-style take liberally sprinkled with staccato stuttering: "Sna-sna-sna-snap! Cra-cra-cra-crackle! Pa-pa-pa-pop!" THAT was what they thought New Wave was? Why they must have only ever listened one New Wave song, "Computer Games" by the band Mi-Sex.

Mi-Sex formed in New Zealand in the late 70s, and amalgamation of cabaret singer Steve Gilpin and assorted refugees from a hippie-ish prog-rock outfit called Father Thyme. Adding the rhythm section from local hard rockers Think, they called themselves Fragments of Time (a nod to the band that Fathered them) and stuck to trying their best to sound like every other long-hair-and-mustache hippie band of the era. Quickly realizing that was getting them nowhere but lost in a crowd of like-minded groups, they cut their hair, shaved the 'staches, put on leather pants and black tank tops, nicked a name from an Ultravox song ("My Sex"), and jumped on the New Wave bandwagon.

Their first album, Grafitti Crimes, was released as the 70s came to a close. Despite their best efforts to be cutting-edge, the aura of decade-old hippiedom was hard to shed. The album veers from bland pop to mildly interesting pub-rock, but also contains Mi-Sex's one fantastic contribution to the New Wave genre, the aforementioned "Computer Games." Somewhat affected and certainly self-aware, the track sounds a bit forced today, although it remains undeniably catchy. With its precisely placed vocal hiccups, typical computer bleeps and whirrs, nagging synth line and that staccato-stutter chorus, this is paint-by-numbers stuff. But, in this case, it works - so well that the single went to number one in New Zealand and Australia, and got the album released in the States, with new cover art and and renamed Computer Games.

The follow-up album, Space Race, appeared a year later. The same sort of sounds pervaded this record, again with one stand-out single, "People," which did chart in their homeland but certainly was nowhere near as successful or enjoyable as "Computer Games." Two more albums would follow - Shanghaied in 1981 and Where Do They Go? in 1984. To call those two records underwhelming would be kind. With that, Mi-Sex was no more.

Their vinyl is all out of print these days, although you can pick up a two-fer-one CD pairing Computer Games and Space Race. There is also a best-of, The Essential Mi-Sex, for those who find them appropriately appealing.

Our entry this week, naturally, is Mi-Sex's nifty "Computer Games." Turn up the volume and party like it's 1979...

Six Word Sunday

2011-05-01T12:31:00.000-04:00

A door closes. A window opens.

Goodbye, Poly

2011-04-26T11:30:00.002-04:00

Those of you who follow this blog's Facebook Page or Twitter account saw two announcements yesterday: one, that this week's NW4NW post was being postponed to today; and two, that there had been an unconfirmed rumour that Punk legend Poly Styrene had passed away just three weeks after the release of her comeback album.

I had hoped to make this week's NW4NW a celebration of that album, Generation Indigo. Less than a week ago I received a nifty package containing a copy of the album on vinyl, a limited edition CD issue housed in a beautiful book that also included five prints of Poly's graphic art, and a pin and tote bag each sporting Poly's logo. You know that I have been talking about her comeback and the impending release of this album over the past few months, since it was first announced with the release of her holiday single "Black Christmas" last November, so you can imagine how excited I was to have the album in hand! It has been on high rotation here in Ruttville since its arrival. The album certainly lives up to expectations, and I wanted to review it for you here.

Sadly, the rumour of Poly's passing was confirmed this morning. At the far too young age of 53, Poly Styrene (born Marianne Joan Elliott-Said) fell victim to breast cancer. She had made the shocking announcement of her diagnosis on her own website and on her Facebook page in February; two months later, she is gone.

In lieu of a NW4NW entry this week, I'd rather simply take a moment to say goodbye, Poly. I still want to tell you how great the album is, but I don't have the words right now - I am shocked and saddened by the sudden loss of one of the more creative and trailblazing female voices in all of Punk Rock/New Wave/whatever-the-hell-you-wanna-call-this-stuff. She will be missed.

Six Word Sunday

2011-04-24T07:49:00.000-04:00

Wishing Happy Easter to you all!

My New Favorite Chair

2011-04-21T08:49:00.001-04:00

The comedienne Rita Rudner has a funny bit about what she refers to as one of God's great practical jokes: men reach their sexual peak around age 18 - 20, while women reach theirs closer to age 35 - 40. Therefore, she clarifies, women are reaching their height of sexuality around the same time we men are discovering we have a favorite chair.

In my typical style, I am reaching this particular furniture-based male life event a couple years late, but as of yesterday morning there sits in my living room a brand new La-Z-Boy recliner (the Forte Reclina-Way model, to be specific), and in the short 24 hours it has been in the house, it has most assuredly claimed the title of My Favorite Chair.

Plush, sturdy, and sizeable, it is more comfortable than I can describe to you in words. It has already made all of the other furniture in the living room noticeably jealous, as it is not only a thing of beauty but also a thing of functionality. It is the perfect TV viewing chair; it is quiet reading area; it has proven its worth already as a prime napping spot. Why, set me up with a mini-fridge within arm's reach and there would be virtually no reason at all to ever get up!

Since we do live in an era filled with overly-litigious morons who require the most common-sense concepts to be spelled out for them lest they sue for damages caused by their own stupidity, a page of warnings came with my wonderful new chair. Just how dangerous can a recliner possibly be? You'd be surprised:

WARNING! To avoid tip-over, do not throw your weight against the back of the unit. (That's right, there will be no moshing in this chair. I just pray for my own safety that I'm not overcome by full-body spams or violent seizures while reclining in luxury. Actually, that last sentence is true even without the phrase "while reclining in luxury...")

WARNING! Keep hands, fingers and body parts away from the mechanism. (First of all, don't know about you, but I always consider my hands and fingers body parts themselves, not separate entities. Goes to show what I know! Also, how in the blue hell are people getting body parts, specific or generic, caught in the mechanism - which is beneath the chair - while seated in the chair? Who is that unfamiliar with how a recliner works?)

WARNING! Only the occupant should operate the unit. (Damn, there goes my idea of hiring a harem of beautiful, scantily clad women to recline and unrecline the chair for me. Sorry to announce, applications will no longer be accepted for that position...)

WARNING! To safely exit the unit, bring the back upright and close the legrest. ("Safely exit?" Wait, did I purchase a recliner or a roller coaster? Do I need to install a sign that says "you must be this tall too sit here?")

(My favorite:) DANGER! To prevent suffocation keep plastic bags away from children. (Well, yes, this is good advice, but this is a chair, not a bag of groceries. It was delivered not only with no bags whatsoever, but with no plastic wrapping of any sort. This warning seems to have been added to the list just as a general reminder. Unless there are folks out there who get themselves comfortably reclined and holler out, "Hey Maude, I'm awfully relaxed here! Hows about going and getting me a plastic bag or two and I'll really do this up right!")

Regardless, the new recliner is mine, mine, all mine, and is hereby named as My Favorite Chair. I will defend my chair with same vigor that Archie Bunker defended his. I will luxuriate in its comfort, I will happily snooze in full reclination (it's a word, OK?), I will proudly take this first step into old-man-hood: the rest of you are on your own to find your own comfort!

Oh, and risks be damned, I still like the harem idea.