Tuesday, May 20, 2003


I guess this thing is on?... so some kind of introduction might be in order... this is the latest manifestation of something called THE NEXT BIG THING. A beastie inspired by the mighty Dictators that set sail in the heady months of 1976 into '77. Although the first (proper) issue didn't come out until 1977, there was a pilot in late '76. It had a drawing of Eddie and the Hot Rods, Iggy and Cyril Jordan on the cover that I clocked in an old Sounds Barry Lazell (God bless 'im) column. None of those survived and that's probably for the best. How come I'm still involved in all this hoo-hah is as much a surprise to me as it is to anybody else. specially being way past old enough to know better but "involved" I am so we (you and I) might as well lump it and I'm not altogeher happy with the state of music circa May 2003. Moaning old get mayhap, Garage Rock surge overground notwithstanding, a guy has the right to air his tuppenceworth. I have it on good authority from one Tony Parsons, on IPC notepaper, that I'd never amount to being a writer and I don't recall ever claiming to be. He, on the other hand...

So NBT - Next Blog Thing - operates under te ethos that there really only is good and bad. Music, Film, whatever and we don't dig pigeonholes or demographics. If it floats wir boat, we'll tell you. If it dosnae and we figure you ought to be hep to that then we'll hoist that up the ol' flagpole also. Sometimes we crew members may even disagree (Turbonegro - I say nay, Jeroen says Yay!), viva la controversy...

So yeah, with the (substantial) aid of my buds - Jeroen (Vedder) and Steve (Coleman), we've set this thing to comment on popular culture as it festers. We share a common goal to rid the planet of the limited shelf-like shite that permeates our collective existence. If you ain't all the way down with that then please "log-aff" as they holler around these parts. Between us we'll guide you outta the lame-erkey wilderness. So there you have it. I've rattled on enough. Pans are underway for a new volume of actual print too, so I'll let you know about that in due course. So here goes, NBT hauls its wee bahookie into cyberspace, 26+ years after #1 hit the streets. Welcome then...