recommended gigs

      

Thursday 8-29-24 - the Implosions at Taverna Costera

Friday 8-30-24 - The Hypnotiques at the Golden Tiki

Friday 8-30-24 - the Minges, Dominick Muzio and Chemical Tribe, Decaying Tigers at Red Dwarf

Saturday 8-31-24 - VaVoom, It's Fine, Manicdotes, Post Noble at Red Dwarf

Saturday 8-31-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 9-2-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday 9-4-24 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast at the Double Down

Wednesday 9-4-24 - the Speedways, Cromm Fallon, Nico Bones at Red Dwarf

Saturday 0-7-24 - Bogtrotter's Union, Muertos Heist, Pure Sport at Red Dwarf

Saturday 9-7-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 9-8-24 - Fuzz Solow at Fat Cat

MOnday 9-9-24 - Fuzz Solow at Fat Cat

Monday 9-9-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 9-13-24 - The Peculiar Pretzelmen with the Implosions and the Hideaway at Red Dwarf

Friday 9-13-24 - the Minges, Those POor Bastards, Big Like Texas at Cemetery Pulp

Saturday 9-14-24 - the Minges, War Peggy, Femaliens at the Double Down

Saturday 9-14-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 9-15-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Monday 9-16-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Saturday 9-21-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Skinny Bar, Boulder City

Saturday 9-21-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 9-22-24 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Monday 9-23-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Saturday 9-28-24 - Fuzz Solow at Fat Cat

Saturday 9-28-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 9-30-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Monday 9-30-24 - Fuzz Solow at Fat Cat

Wednesday 10-2-24 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast at the Double Down

Saturday 10-5-24 - Farewell party for Christy Larson with the Time Crashers and more at the Founder's Club

Wednesday 11-6-24 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast at the Double Down

Ugly Things #66

 

Of course, I always tell any lover of rock'n'roll to pick up Ugly Things as it is one of the best music zines out there these days. Tons of great stories of obscure (and not so obscure) bands, innumerable reviews of all types of media and general r'n'r trvia'n'gossip.

Heralded by original garage guru Mike Stax and his lovely wife Anja, they, with the help of multiple friends, delve into the inner workings of various r'n'r (and related) combos over the decades.

Obviously, the cover story is a huge interview with the beautiful and talented Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas and, boy, is there plenty of tales of sex'n'drugs'harmony vocals here! From there we get everything from 70's punkers the Subway Sect, to Detroit high energy purveyors the MC5 to 60's garage kings the Emperors and many other, more obscure combos.

Of course, there are reviews galore, so get your wish list ready to add books, records, films and what-have-you's, as you dig the rantin'n'ravin''n'recommendations!

Always essential - dig it!

recommended gigs

     

Friday 8-23-24 - Suburban Resistance, the Minges, the Last Gang and the Drowns at the Usual Place

Friday 8-23-24 - Shanda and the Howlers at the Golden Tiki

Saturday 8-24-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 8-25-24 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Sunday 8-25-24 - The Hypnotiques at the Clark County Library Theater

Monday 8-26-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Thursday 8-29-24 - the Implosions at Taverna Costera

Friday 8-30-24 - The Hypnotiques at the Golden Tiki

Friday 8-30-24 - the Minges, Dominick Muzio and Chemical Tribe, Decaying Tigers at Red Dwarf

Saturday 8-31-24 - VaVoom, It's Fine, Manicdotes, Post Noble at Red Dwarf

Saturday 8-31-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 9-2-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday 9-4-24 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast at the Double Down

Saturday 9-7-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 9-9-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 9-13-24 - The Peculiar Pretzelmen with the Implosions and the Hideaway at Red Dwarf

Friday 9-13-24 - the Minges, Those POor Bastards, Big Like Texas at Cemetery Pulp

Saturday 9-14-24 - the Minges, War Peggy, Femaliens at the Double Down

Saturday 9-14-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 9-15-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Monday 9-16-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Saturday 9-21-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Skinny Bar, Boulder City

Saturday 9-21-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 9-22-24 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Monday 9-23-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Saturday 9-28-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 9-30-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday 10-2-24 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast at the Double Down

Saturday 10-5-24 - Farewell party for Christy Larson with the Time Crashers and more at the Founder's Club

Wednesday 11-6-24 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast at the Double Down

Peter Case - A Million MIles Away (Documentary)

 

I never got a chance to see the Nerves and, in fact, didn't hear them until years later - this doc has some great early pix/footage - and I believe that the Plimsouls started a bit before I got to LA but they were still very much an underground band when I started hanging out on the scene. While they were very much a power-pop group (a genre that I always dug, but had moved away from somewhat by that time), they still had enough garage roots and plenty of hooks'n'energy to captivate. I distinctly remember a New Year's Eve show of theirs where Paula Pierce came up to me and said that I had to hear this new song of theirs, "A Million Miles Away", which, of course, didn't make them stars, but did give them a national profile.

This doc is particularly fascinating because it has actual film footage of Peter as a folk-singer/hippie teenager in San Francisco in the early 70's after running away from home. No idea how or why this footage exists as he was just another of a million long-haired folk singers in the town at the time, but it is pretty great. In SF he meets Jack Lee and Paul Collins and, in a disorienting fast-forward of a few years (which happens multiple times in this doc with no explanations), the Nerves are in LA and touring the country opening for the Ramones! 

But, the three personalities were too strong (each went on to their own bands) and they split up before they could hit it big (and Blondie recorded Jack's "Hanging on the Telephone" just after the split) and with another fast-forward, Peter has the Plimsouls and are playing big local shows. A lot of the footage simply says "LA" so I'm not sure where or when all of the gigs were, but they were still a club band when I arrived in mid-79 and it took a while before "Million..." gave them their big push, such as it was.

But, despite all of the breaks that they got, they couldn't hit the big time, they broke up and Peter, being the obstinate chameleon that he is, went back to being a folk singer. He was still on a major label, Geffen, but they weren't sure what to do with him and he floundered for a few years, but eventually found his way and became a reasonable successful folkie.

Of course, there is a lot more to the story and a lot of relationships, health issues (after the Plimsouls he seemed to stop taking care of himself), record company woes and lots'n'lots of shows, but at the end he is in a loving marriage with a supportive wife (who, funnily, recounts that she didn't care for him at all when they first met) and a reasonably successful folk career.

Definitely interesting, and goes to show that even the bands and songwriters that got plenty of breaks (that I was definitely jealous of at the time) didn't guarantee any type of true success and sometimes ya kinda gotta do it almost on your own. Worth watching, for sure!

Biography of a Phantom - Robert McCormick

 

Of course, I've been a fan of Robert Johnson and his legend since I first learned about him in the 70's. Besides the fact that his songs were even then covered by innumerable rock stars that I admired, the "sold his soul to the devil" mythos was a great hook! I've read a few books about him over the years and this one was recommended online so I picked it up to see what it was about.

Editor John Trautman's preface explains who McCormick was - one of the early blues documentarians who went searching for information on the blues artists and even discovering unheard artists in the process. Lots of traveling and knocking on doors, in a similar manner to people like Alan Lomax, who did discover some of the original artists. Troutman details some of McCormick's processes and some of the issues that hindered his work - everything from his undiagnosed (apparent) bipolar problems to hinderances due to money and being unable to hold down a good job, to the fact that a white man knocking on doors of black families was viewed with suspicion and outright fear in many cases. Troutman also discusses some editorial changes to the manuscript (McCormick never finished the book himself) to avoid offending or even to avoid legal challenges that have arisen.

McCormick approaches the tale as a mystery to be solved and writes in first person, describing the places that he visits and the people that he meets along the way, as well as the bits'n'pieces of information, which is all word-of-mouth, of course, and difficult to verify, if even he believed what he was hearing. So, the story is actually McCormick's search for Johnson, not really a story about Johnson himself - he is just the impetus for McCormick's tale.

Naturally, it was quite a daunting task to search for someone with a name as common as Robert Johnson, given that paper records were nowhere near as complete in those days, particularly with African-Americans. So, there are lots'n'lots of contacting people who had nothing to do with Robert and, again, the people who claimed to have known him had stories that were difficult to verify.

McCormick eventually finds a number of people who knew a Robert Spencer, who they verify (as best as can be verified, from knowledge of songs, and the little personal information that McCromick knew) was indeed Johnson. From what we know now, this all seems legit - again, as best as recollections can be - and was a veritable treasure trove of facts'n'family'n'fellow musicians.

This was pretty much the extent of his search for facts about Johnson's life, and he then tried to discover more about his death, which was less well-known back then, of course. Researching a 30 year old death of a traveling African-American man in the South was another difficult task that was generally stymied by officials whose records, such as they were, didn't go back that far, and, of course, records on events related to the Black population were even less regulated.

In any case, McCormick did a lot of sleuthing and came up with quite a bit of invaluable information and the book is also filling with his photos of the area 30+ years later, naturally, but still quite interesting. 

So, not exactly anything definitive, but a good, informative read, regardless, and well-written in a way to keep you hooked'n'entertained along the way.

RIP Greg Kihn

Greg Kihn, Who Scored Hits With ‘Jeopardy’ and ‘The Breakup Song,’ Dead at 75 

---

I don't listen to him as much any more but I was a big fan of his brand of power pop in the 70's. Sad to hear of his early demise.

recommended gigs

    

Thursday 8-8-24 - TV Party Tonight showing Grosse Point with live music by the Shakewells

Saturday 8-10-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 8-11-24 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf Sunday Brunch

Monday 8-12-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Monday 8-12-24- Fuzz Solow at Red Dwarf with It and I

Saturday 8-17-24 - Angie's Fucking Birthday Bash at the Dive Bar with the Hard Pipe Hitters, Same Sex Mary and Fish Circus

Saturday 8-17-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 8-18-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Monday 8-19-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday 8-21-24 - Trombo’s Wheel of Fuckery at the Double Down with VaVoom and Wheelchair Mosh Pit

Friday 8-23-24 - Suburban Resistance, the Minges, the Last Gang and the Drowns at the Usual Place

Friday 8-23-24 - Shanda and the Howlers at the Golden Tiki

Saturday 8-24-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 8-25-24 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Monday 8-26-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Saturday 8-31-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday 9-4-24 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast at the Double Down

Friday 9-13-24 - The Peculiar Pretzelmen with the Implosions and the Hideaway at Red Dwarf

Friday 9-13-24 - the Minges, Those POor Bastards, Big Like Texas at Cemetery Pulp

Saturday 9-14-24 - the Minges, War Peggy, Femaliens at the Double Down

Wednesday 10-2-24 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast at the Double Down

Wednesday 11-6-24 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast at the Double Down

Franz Kafka - The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony and Other Stories

 

Another book that I randomly picked up way back at the Founders Club book fair and hadn't gotten to until now. Kafka is just someone who it seems like you should have read at some point and I don't remember doing so in the past so thought I'd give him a shot.

The introduction to this collection is actually very informative and certainly gave me more food for thought and made me consider the stories differently. I would probably have simply taken them as somewhat surrealistic tales, but apparently, while that is obvious, the point of the tales are metaphors for the assimilation of the Jewish people into other cultures. I am a white male, brought up as a Christian, and as open minded as I try to be, I still find myself surprised by the fact that I haven't acknowledged the variety of upbringings in the world and how people are forced to integrate into cultures other than their own or face ostracization or are considered inferior. If they can quickly assimilate and conform to the dominate culture, they are considered superior. 

Joachim Neugroschel does a much better job than I in explaining these concepts and, as he translates this edition, he also talks about how translations can vary due to the fact that often words cannot be literally translated, or have various meanings, which can be interpreted by the translator in various ways. Lots to think about and consider well before even starting the actual stories!

The first few stories are very short (a couple of pages of so), stream-of-consciousness, surrealistic prose that is not very coherent, to be frank. Not particularly poetic or linear, just kind of bizarre, which made me almost give up on the book before I had gotten very far. But then some of the actual tales started - still a little odd'n'ramblin', but lucid. The Metamorphosis is definitely surreal - a salesman turns into a human-sized insect - but is compelling, funny, and, yes, readable. The rest of the stories are generally more of this ilk - unusual but not so surreal as to be difficult. 

Certainly interesting and glad that I checked him out, but I can't say that Kafka's writings have drawn me in. As I said, the are odd without being particularly poetic and while the introduction gave me more food for thought in reference to the stories, they still didn't grab me.