Time certainly flies when you're, well uh, busy... It's almost a week now since returning from our holiday trip and I've hardly posted anything here. As some of you already know I'm headin' for parenthood somewhere early in the next year if all goes well, and the logistics that come along with that take up a lot of time at the moment. We're gonna have an extra floor build on top of HQ in the next couple o' weeks, not to house our upcomin' baby tho', but to make room for my ever expanding record collection ! (earlier today I was tryin' to clear up the mess that is my "music room" and I noted that over the past six days I had bought 18 LPs, that's three a day!... that's insane!...) But, as you can well figure, that building business will be needin' most of my attention in the near future, so please excuse me if I'm temporarily not as frequent with my posts as what you're used to.
Enough of that tho', let's talk "culture". First off, I finally got to read Robert Gordon's amazing Muddy Waters biography 'Can't Be Satisfied' during our stay in Greece. A fantastic read that doesn't go all scholarly like most books on blues, but tells Muddy's story in plain detail. Fascinating, captivating and inspiring, how's that for superlatives?. Another great read was the new issue of Ugly Things magazine. Mike Stax has really outdone himself with the Misunderstood story, and with all the other info available in it's 200 or so pages, this one will take a while to fully digest. For no apparent reason I also dropped Charles White's Little Richard biography in my traveling bag after it had been gathering dust on HQ's bookshelf for a decade or so. I had forgotten what fantastic book this is, easily as wild as the reverend Penniman's wildest discs. The story of his encounter with Buddy Holly is worth the price of admission by itself !. That's it as far as reading is concerned, as for my current listening habits; I'm stuck to a steady diet of old blues 'n soul discs, everything from pre-war country blues to Bobby Womack's early 70s LPs. It never stops to amaze me how much great music is still out there to be discovered, we're talkin' over a century of record music here !, yet people are actually gone over such horsedung like the Darkness and King Of Leon these days, bands that no one will give a shit about in 12 months time. Truth is; fifty years down the line you can put on a Muddy Waters or Little Richard disc from their heyday and sparks 'll still be flying, while these current "contenders", baskin' in their 15 minutes, can't even hold a candle to either of 'em. Excuse me while I do the Boogaloo and refuse to be duped into yet another marketing ploy....

Welcome back J. This guy is the glue that keeps all this together y'know. Been hunting for more victims for my Ebay clearout. Repatriating stuff that's been in boxes in the loft for a while now. I'm letting 'em out on good behaviour for whatever they raise. I think quite a lot these days about how, if I go out some morning or whatev. and get hit by a bus, that it'll all end up in a skip anyway. The idea then is to raise some dosh so I can spend time with my extended family across this planet. They know who they are. Anyway, music stuff soon. There's been a certain amount of turmoil about the abode this weekend. We've gone broadband so I haveta shut down the AOL thing and make sure that I have all the info I need outta that account before it's deep sixed for good. Will this new faster, doesn't kick you out every 15 minutes connection make for an increase in postings? You never bleedin' know mate...

OK, back from Greece and downing the final parts of a bottle o' "imported" Greek wine.....
I'll spare you the details (at least for the moment) and just urge you all to get a hold of the new Zodiac Killers full length 'Society's Offenders'. As fine a p-rock blast as you're gonna get in this day 'n age.....

Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest but I've got a stinkin' cold and today's papers are full of crap about The Strokes. This is in sharp contrast to yesterday when my cold was just creepin' up on me and hearing Steve Earle talk about The Dictators on BBC Radio Scotland pre-11am.
Also how hard does the new Mojo suck? Not the cd or Sylvie Simmons thing on Johnny Cash but their latest Hall of Fame "list" might finally be the thing that pulls the plug on me buying it ever again and nothing to do with the fact that I'm actually forbidden by religion to buy issues with Oasis, The Beatles, Paul Weller or The aforementioned Str*kes on the cover. I hope those thunderstorms ain't raining on Jeroen's parade too hard now...

I've been called a lot of things in my time but capable isn't one of them. Ok kids, wanna see Godlis? some kinda iconic punk rock photographic action as only NY could serve it up. Go!

While all o' you are checkin' this blog on monday morning at work, Alice 'n me are off to Greece for some well deserved, uh, rain and thunderstorms apperantly.... So I'll have to leave you in the capable hands of Steve 'n Lindsay for the next 10 days or so. Please be kind to 'em....

Time to shunt this WHO WILL SAVE ROCK'N'ROLL project into action. This was prompted by meeting a friend of my brother's in the supermarket this morning. He reminded me how lame the kids of today are. Did you read Metal Mike Saunders thing on sissy-rock recently? It was brilliant but anyway, the "parents" are taking the kids to Linkin Park and in my book that sucks. My old man would never have taken me to see Alice Cooper or Led Zep and the world could do with a generation gap more than ever. I guess it'll all be washed down with a pre-match swally in McDonalds? So anyway, please feel free to pitch in anything on the subject. I'd like to get it all in by the end of November to be published early in 2004. Kids ain't allowed to be kids anymore. I blame computers and the continual peer pressure hard sell but that's what we auld fellers do. Parents goin' to concerts with the kids, never woulda happened in my day. Then there are those that take them to the frauditorium and wait outside in the SUV while the little sorry-asses groove to the nu-metal boybandness. It's all handed out on a frickin' plate.

Cap'n Per Hagred crossed my cd player with a copy of an album by a combo called The Blackstone Valley Sinners and what a wee cracker it is too. Reminds me of a country-fried (not -fied) Guadalcanal Diary. Swingin'. Go!

I was just (politely) chastised for not being up to date with my buddy of old, Art Fein's Another Fein Mess. The A fella is a one of a kind writer that, when I read his stuff, I wonder how the hell he isn't some kinda high-falluting "writer" that gets paid a hefty wad and on the best-seller lists. his writing, no matter what it's about, rocks. He also has a public access TV show that has a guest list that reads like a proverbial who's who. The standard dipped when I was on in 1992 but it has since regained its wall to wall status. I met Art when he managed The Blasters and was representing The Cramps in 1982. In the 20 years since he has stuck to his guns and continues to champion exactly what the heck he likes. Read what he writes and attempt to live by it. Because you could y'know... GO!.

An alternative guide to Glasgow culture and beyond anyone? GO!

"The Rocket From The Tombs non-reunion continues to roll on in its inimitable non way. A second tour begins November 17 in San Diego and runs up the west coast, across the top, down the east coast and across the south ending December 14 (maybe). Like topsy it keeps growing. Go here for the latest state of affairs.
The lineup continues, miraculously, as David Thomas, Cheetah Chrome, Richard Lloyd, Craig Bell and Steve Mehlman.
An album of studio recordings of the live set will be released on Smog Veil Records. It's called Rocket Redux and features the following songs: Frustration, So Cold, What Love Is, Ain't It Fun, Muckraker, 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, Sonic Reducer RFTT, Never Gonna Kill Myself Again, Amphetamine, Down In Flames, Final Solution RFTT, and Life Stinks. Copies will be on sale at the upcoming concert dates but the commercial release and general availability will not be until Feb 1 2004".
Persistant rumors from Cheetah Chrome insist that a Euro tour is in order for early next year !.

And another one down; apperantly Andy Starr passed away on the same day as Johnny Cash. On 21st October, he would have celebrated his 71st birthday. (News forwarded by Jan Kooi).

As previously mentioned, the Dictators will be playing CBGBs on December 5th (w/ the Star Spangles) & 6th (w/ the Fleshtones) as part of the CBs anniversary fest. Word just came in that both shows will be filmed for a DVD release. That's the good news. Sadly there are also strong rumors that this may be one of the final events at CBGBs as their lease is up at the end of the year and doesn't look likely to be renewed.

After a long hike thru' the woods earlier today I found myself diggin' out some primo p-rock blasts tonight, mayhaps in response to all that peace 'n quiet and the abundance of tweetin' birds, who knows. It was not your "old skool classics" however, nope, I had a severe case of "back to the 90s" (a phrase I'd love to trademark!). And before you knew it I was already thinkin' in "best Of" terms (a sure sign to spot the nerd). So here it is; my "top 10 (chronological) best of the 90s p-rock discs":

1990 Gories - I Know You're Fine
Never really cared for their debut disc, but this one (their 2nd) is on a par w/, say, the first Cramps, Ramones or Suicide discs, bein'' stylistically completely unconnected to their surroundings....
1991 Nomads - Sonically Speaking
Way overlooked, this might just be their finest moment. Like CCR or Jerry Lee Lewis, the Nomads are able to take whatever song or musical element and turn it into something that can't be anything but a Nomads song...
1992 New Bomb Turks - Destroy Oh Boy
A real head-turner for me at the time. It might have well been the first time since 'Damaged' that the entire notion of p-rock as a valuable proposition held any credence.
1993 Devil Dogs - Saturday Night Fever
If all their records were produced as solid as this one they'd probably be worshipped on a global level these days. Sadly it wasn't to be. Watch your speakers melt while these guys tear thru' the Garry Glitter and Gene Pitney songbook.
1994 Rip Offs - The Rip Offs Got A Record
Remember the Fingers, Supercharger or Pure Filth magazine?, well this this record actually rounds up all the best parts of 'em. Looked like they were desperately tryin' to be the Lurkers, but in fact they were so much better than their heros ever were.
1996 Loli & the Chones - P.S. We Hate You
From the same scene as above, the entire thing lasts about 15 minutes but is impossible to fault.
1996 Oblivians - Popular favorites
For about two years these guys were the best band on the planet, no two ways about it. This is their finest moment, but anything w/ their name on it justifies whatever is the askin' price...
1997 Hellacopters - Payin' The Dues
This is where the controversy set in for a lot o' folks, but a disc that combines the best parts of the Nomads, Alice Cooper 'n the Dead Boys is A-OK with me.
1998 Turbonegro - Apocalypse Dudes
I know ol' Lindsay hates 'em, but to me this is pretty hard to beat as far as punk/glam/gay-metal crossover goes
1999 Nitwitz - Dark Side Of The Spoon
Tony Slug is one o' the finest 6-string strummers the low-lands have delivered in the past quarter century or so, the sad fact however remains that nobody's noticed so far. Worshipped in Spain, the Slugster remains a complete unkown in his native country....

M.I.A.: Nine Pound Hammer, Supersuckers, Lazy Cowgirls, Didjits, Ramones, Riverdales

The German Ramones Club site has been pretty quiet for the past 6 months or so, but it looks like Heiko is shifting gears once again to get the thing back in action. Hey, we're talkin' the most up-to-date Ramones re-source on the web. Latest news contains info on the band's long suffering tour manager Monte Melnick's upcomin' book on his years on the road with 'em, plus plenty other worthwhile stuff. GO!.

"Oh boy!  Listen up, music lovers and noise heads, improvisers and olde-skool punks:  This 'un's gonna knock yer sox off!  The new CD LIVE FROM THE BASEMENT 1975-1997, from Gulcher Records, collects the 7-inch vinyl output of the Screamin' Mee-Mees, legendary pre-punk crazies from St. Louis, Missouri.  With this disc, Jon Ashline and Bruce Cole finally get the respect they probably still don't think they deserve.  Such is the self-deprecating racket-roll these two yahoos have been spewing about in Bruce's basement since 1972.
The Gulcher CD picks up the story with the release of their debut EP, LIVE FROM THE BASEMENT, recorded in '75/'76, but unleashed during the punk-rock frenzy of 1977.  The Mee-Mees were punk more by timing than by design.  It's true they had grown up on a diet of Stooges, Velvet Underground, and 60s garage--like many early punk-rockers--but they were equally influenced by more outside sounds like Amon Düül I, the Godz, Silver Apples, Captain Beefheart, etc.
Although a few of their songs are composed in the old-fashioned way, most are spontaneous eruptions of rhythm, sound, and absurd word play.  I should also mention that the Mee-Mees possess a very strong all-Amerikan sense of stoopid.
They recorded a second EP, HOME MOVIES, in 1978, but it remained unreleased until their comeback in the '90s. The '80s were a pretty dry period for the duo, but their 90's singles are all here:  "Pull My Finger"/"Family Tree" ('93), "Life Never Stops"/"Oscillations" ('94; B-side is the Silver Apples song), and "Answer Me!"/"Arthritis Today" ('96).  Also included are the Mee-Mees' cover of the Twinkeyz' "Cartoon Land" from a split single with Mike Rep & The Quotas, and "Squawk Squawk Squawk" from a comp EP for WHUMP! fanzine.  The most recent tracks are from Bruce Cole's 1997 VENUSIAN PLATEAUS solo EP, which you probably missed completely.  Bruce took a very natural turn into more overt forms of improv, noise, and drone.
Half of the Gulcher CD tracks are re-mastered from the original tapes, most done properly for the first time after various botched vinyl jobs. There are also numerous extended versions, with music, noise, and conversation not included on the original 7-inch releases.
Lots of great sounds here, boys and girls!  And it all comes packaged with a 20-page booklet full of rare photos, reproductions of the sleeves, an interview with Bruce Cole by Jeff Kopp from HEAD IN A MILK BOTTLE fanzine, liner notes by yours truly, and a complete discography for the Mee-Mees and related projects".  (Eddie Flowers/Slippy Town)

There's a burst of BMX Bandits activity going on to celebrate the new Down At The Hop album on Shoeshine. Check their stall out.

Yeah. The blonde bomber is gone. Brother Randall sent this link to the Dallas News obit. Bye Ronnie...

More sad news; Ronnie Dawson passed away yesterday at 16:30 local time. (news c/o Tjarko Jeen).