Something to live for... (other than The Sopranos)

LOOK OUT! LOOK OUT! LOOK OUT! LOOK OUT!

MARY WEISS TO RECORD WITH THE REIGNING SOUND ON NORTON!

Norton Records is proud to announce the signing of Mary Weiss, lead singer of the Shangri-Las, to the Norton cavalcade of stars... Mary is set for a spring NYC recording date with THE REIGNING SOUND... Billy Miller and Greg Cartwright to produce ... Mary is selecting from a batch of great new comps from today's most talked-about songwriters including Greg Cartwright, John Felice, Andy Shernoff, Jackie DeShannon and others TBA... Mary's first album of new material since 1965... Mary is geared up for her return to the studio and STAGE... and so are we! Mary was fifteen years old when she and her sister Elizabeth (Betty) began singing with identical twins Margie and Mary Ann Ganser in their Cambria Heights neighborhood of Queens, New York, as students at Andrew Jackson High School. They soon came to the attention of George "Shadow" Morton and shot into the charts with massive hits on the Red bird label including Remember (Walking In The Sand), Leader Of The Pack, Give Him A Great Big Kiss, I Can Never Go Home Anymore, Give Us Your Blessings and Out In The Streets. The Shangri-Las gave a voice to real teenagers, with Mary's explosive lead vocals delivering emotion packed melodramas that made them one of the most consistently exciting groups of the day. Look for our interview with Mary on the Norton website in April, when you will learn where she's been and where she's going, setting the record straight about her days as a teenage rock n' roll star. Says Mary: "I'm excited by the opportunity to work with Billy, Miriam, some great writers and a kick ass rock n' roll band!" Hail, Mary Weiss, ultimate cultural icon!

Out soon: UGLY THINGS - ISSUE #24 "Special INLAND EMPIRE GARAGE issue with big stories on The Bush and The Mustangs, plus the Rubber City Rebels, Part 2 of Sheridan & Price and Mike & the Ravens, the Flamin' Groovies, the Phantom Brothers, the Stiphnoyds, Willie Alexander & the Boom Boom Band & more".

New 7”e.p. Digger & the Pussycats, live at World Cup 2006! 4 Kick-ass live recordings from yr favourite World Cup-countries from Group A, Group C and Group F (Germany, Holland and Australia that is) Co-release with P-Trash Records from Bielefeld, Germany
For more info see http://www.ptrashrecords.com/startseite.html

Don’t be a moron, catch Digger live on their Eurotour NOW !!! :
Wed Mar 8 - Ekko, Utrecht, Netherlands
Thurs Mar 9 – 013, Tilburg, Netherlands
Fri Mar 10 - Station 77, Wuppertal, Germany
Sat Mar 11 - Kulturpalast, Hannover, Germany
Sun Mar 12 - Patronaat, Haarlem, Netherlands
Mon Mar 13 - 2 Palmiers, Nancy, France
Tues Mar 14 - The Pits, Kortrijk, Belgium
Wed Mar 15 - Tsunami, Koln, Germany
Thurs Mar 16 - Lades Kaelder, Copenhagen, Denmark
Fri Mar 17 - Rock Bottom, Oslo, Norway
Sat Mar 18 - Feelgood, Halden, Norway
Sun Mar 19 – Skylten, Linkoping, Sweden
Mon Mar 20 - Decibel, Oskarsham, Sweden
Thur Mar 23 - Suburbia, Stockholm, Sweden
Fri Mar 24 – Club Idiot, Orebro, Sweden
Sat Mar 25 – Club Showdown, Gothenburg, Sweden
Mon Mar 27 - Hafenklang, Hamburg, Germany
Tues Mar 28 - Black Fleck, Potsdam, Germany
Wed Mar 29 - Wild At Heart, Berlin, Germany
Thurs Mar 30 – Gleis 22, Munster, Germany
Fri Mar 31 - Pretty Vacant, Dusseldorf, Germany
Sat Apr 1 - Dipol, Freiberg, Germany

A FISTFUL OF RECORDS, NOT ON OLD-FASHIONED CD'S BUT ON BRAND-NEW VINYL !!

Punk Rock Comes to Canada. From the CBC Archives.

Destined to be "bigger than gigantic" and coming at you April 10th courtesy of Spit and Polish. Karine Polwart's "Scribbled In Chalk", see the video for "I'm Gonna Do It all" here.

So the intention was to go and see “The Proposition”. However, as it turns out, it wasn’t bloody on so – being in the cinema I decided, agin my inner judgement to see “Walk The Line”. For weeks now I managed to quell the nosey gene but faced with no real alternative I laid the money down. Turns out that my hunch was right all along, it’s not what it’s cracked up to be. It’s watchable enough and, though I’m not a fan, Reese Witherspoon really steals the show. Such as it is. That Phoenix guy reminds me more of Morrissey by way of Chris Isaak than Johnny Cash. Of course if you deck him out in black then it’s like a cloak of invisibility but I’d rather that Lou Whitney had done the voiceover. It’s in the same biopic territory as Ray and the superior “What’s Love Got To Do With It”. All very authentic but missing any real heart and/or soul. It’s no “Great Balls Of Fire” and if you thought that Dennis Quaid didn’t look like Jerry Lee then you want to clock the geezer that plays him in this. “WTL” has none of “Great Balls” raggedy charm. The score is good if slightly homogenized but I think that’s because the real tracks are so familiar to me. It’s a seasoned crew including Peter Case and Tony Gilkyson. My favourite was their rendition of “It Ain’t Me Babe”, there was actually some on-screen chemistry there. The practice of making films about people who haven’t long shifted this mortal coil is something I find uncomfortable. If it introduces the music to an audience that hasn’t been exposed to it then fine but the vehicle is too glossy. Too slick. But ain’t those the breaks…

Website coming soon... stay tuned for that link.

Soon as it's available!

An old NBT mucker caught Radio Birdman recently, read the report here...

Also, there's a match update on the Wreckless Eric/Cynical Girls tag team tour on Mr Goulden's site. All of human life is in these tracts.

Not much in the way of gigs around here but further afield, The Alex Chilton Trio will be in Europe and will be Whelan's in Dublin on Tuesday 25th April. Those Fleshtones are headed for Scandanavia at the start of May, Olso (3rd), Helsinki (4th), Stockholm (5th), and Gothenburg (6th). Click HERE for venue info.

In addition to the Link show,The Nomads have a show just outside of Frankfurt called DARMSTADT at Goldene Krone on May 13 together w/ the Doits (also from Stockholm).

Mr Crider tells me that the finalisedMono Men SPANISH ATTACK dates are as follows...
April 12 - Vitoria @ Helldorado,
April 13 - Ponferrada @ Freakland Festival
April 14 - Madrid @ Gruta 77

As always, Stockholm is the place to be for action-packed rock'n'roll antics. Sheriff (I assume that makes sense to the locals?) and Debaser on April 7th for a stellar line up saluting Mr Link Wray.

What's up with that?

Wed. 4/19 - Winston, Amsterdam Holland w/ Sonic Litter, Reputation
Thu. 4/20 - Trefkoel, Groningen Holland
Fri. 4/21 - King Calavera, Hamburg Germany w/ Divine Brown
Sat. 4/22 - Club Showdown, Gothenburg Sweden w/ The Shocker
Sun. 4/23 - Elm Street, Oslo Norway
Mon. 4/24 - Sluggy will be DJ-ing at the BUZZCOCKS show in Gothenburg
Tue. 4/25 - WE DON'T KNOW !! HELP US OUT !!
Wed. 4/26 - Feelgood, Halden Norway
Thu. 4/27 - Orebro, Sweden, TBC
Fri. 4/28 - Vernissa, Vantaa Finland
Sat. 4/29 - Vastavirta-Klubi, Tampere Finland
Sun. 4/30 - ???, Stockholm Sweden
Mon. 5/1 - ???, Malmo Sweden
Tue. 5/2 - WE DON'T KNOW !! HELP US OUT IN NORTH GERMANY
Wed. 5/3 MDC practise
Thu. 5/4 MDC practise
Fri. 5/5 MDC Wasted fest
Sat. 5/6 Tenne Musikkneipe, Hoehr-Grenzhausen Germanyw/ M.D.C.
Sun 5/7 MDC + Nitwitz Rotterdam Holland TBC
Mon 5/8
Tue 5/9
Wed 5/10 - TBC Spain
Thu. 5/11 - Pub Districte, Sant Carles de la Rapita Spain
Fri. 5/12 - Festival, Lleida Spain w/ Saratoga, Primal Fear
Sat. 5/13 - Billy Cool, Bilbao Spain w/ Torazinas
Sun. 5/14 - Sala Jam, Bergara Spain w/ Señor No
Mon. 5/15 - Mogambo, Donosti (st. Sebastian) Spain w/ Señor No
Tue. 5/16 - Edaska, Barakaldo Spain w/ Señor No
Wed. 5/17 - L'Ile aux Tresors, Limoges France
Thu. 5/18 - Club TBC, Paris France
Fri. 5/19 - Cul-de-Sac, Tilburg Holland
Sat. 5/20 - TBC, Hoogeveen Holland
Sun. 5/21 - Amsterdam, Holland

Hey, hey, hey Kits'n'Kittens! There's a double-dose of Sonic Reducer action next weekend! We'll be a-rockin'n'sockin' on Saturday nite up at Filthy MacNasty's, dishing our patented, superlative muss'n'fuss of barmy funk, lairy beat, scintillatin' soul, good-gawd-y'all gospel, gripping garage punk, mutant rock'n'drool, and The Singing Postman, with special guest DJ Captain Rex Standish (RCA MGB RKO DiPso) of the justly-revered 50 Watts Of Power club. As per, we'll be showin' a loada vintage footage on the biiiig screen and, it being St Pat's, there'll also a free packet of Tayto crisps with each pint of Guinness purchased! Gratis potato products AND the Big Beat, free! Truly, we live in wondrous times ...
Captain Standish will also be taking control of rudder and throttle next Sunday evensong, when he'll be piloting The Stripchords through a set of saucy bump'n'grind instrumentals at The Large Club, a hep night at Bethnal Green Working Mens' Club. 'Big' Alan Milliner's shindig also feature the organ styling of Rory More, and post-set tuneage from yer ever-loving Sonic Reducer Tag Team DJs.
Having been rehearsing furiously in their North London smut space, The Stripchords are proud to reveal that they'll be debuting some new tunes next Sunday, including "Voodoo Clam", "The Dirty Burglar", and a cover of "Love Potion Number 9". Plus, this tits'n'twang-centric aggregation have collated a fresh'n'fruity line-up of vintage 8mm cheesecake films for your titillation - as ever, curated by Mr Jim Bishop. Check out The Stripchords. So, izzat a double date?

See ya at the bar(s)! Selah Joss & Joe

Sonic Reducer @ Filthy MacNasty's, 68 Amwell Street, London EC1V

Nearest Tube is Angel / King's Cross

Saturday March 18th, 7pm-11.30pm, FREE ENTRY

The Stripchords

March, 19 2006 at The Large Club

Bethnal Green Working Men's Club, London, E2 6NB 7.30pm-midnite

Cost: £4, free before 9pm

Further info

The Sonic Reducer Tag Team will also be spinning 45s after The Stripchords' set.

Bettie Page in the LA Times
(Thanks to Lisa F. for the link)

"HELLO, HELLO ...AND HELLO AGAIN!

THE GREASE MONKEYS are supporting UNCLE JOHN & WHITELOCK this Wednesday at Oran Mor (on the corner of Byres Road & Great Western Road) in Glasgow

WEDNESDAY 15TH MARCH at ORAN MOR, Great Western Road, doors: 7.30, first band: possibly as early as 8, tickets: £7

...yeah, I know £7 is pretty steep - there's a big buzz around UJ&W at the mo' - they sold out King Tuts early January, but they're actually pretty damn good!"

A Fleshtones tribute?

Although it'll probably be Slush Central in a few hours, there's a veritable Billie Jo Spears situation out of doors. A blanket on the ground (for those not familiar with the country chanteuse). I made the antarctic trek for the Sunday paper and got splattered by a show plough for my trouble. Anyway I is back, dried off and not planning to leave the ol' "midden heid" again today. Compared to some places this 6 or 8 inch fall is nothing but it's causing chaos throughout Central Scotland today and certainly the most snow I can remember since maybe 1992 or thereabouts.

"Greetings, dear friend, from your trusted source in Hillbilly-styled entertainment, Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co.!

Please join SIT & Die Co. at the RODEO BAR on TUESDAY, MARCH 14th, for the opening night of our new rootin' tootin' Tuesday residency, won't you? It'll be our first show of the year -- and on hand will be everyone's favorite gypsy, THE BABY MARIA, joining us for three colossal sets beginning at 10pm sharp. The show's free and so are the peanuts!

TUESDAY, MARCH 14th and EVERY TUESDAY this Spring!

Rodeo Bar
275 Third Avenue (corner of 27th Street), Manhattan / Three colossal sets, at 10:00, 11:00 & 12:00 sharp / No cover!

Also, for the tiki lover in you...

THURSDAY, MARCH 30th and the LAST THURSDAY of every month!

Otto's Shrunken Head,
538 East 14th Street (just west of Avenue B), Manhattan / 8:00 until 10:00 sharp / No cover!

Sincerely, Michael, "Ballads, Boogies & Blues"

Death rattle from the tombs...