Fancy a frank from Nathan’s and a twirl on the Wonder Wheel, friend? Well, then perhaps you’d best join SUSQUEHANNA INDUSTRIAL TOOL & DIE CO. this SATURDAY, AUGUST 18th, for the 2007 CONEY ISLAND ROCKABILLY FESTIVAL! As part of an ambitious four-day event combining bands, burlesque, roller derby and sideshow acts, Saturday’s show is set to run from noon until 8pm
–- with our 45-minute set scheduled for 4pm –- and featuring a lineup that includes The Tombstone Brawlers, The Fury 3, Jason James & The Bay State House Rockers, The Fisherman Orchestra, Sean Kershaw & The New Jack Ramblers, The 56 Kid, The Holy Roller Sideshow, sideshow acts and more.
It’s all happening outside on Brooklyn’s famous Coney Island boardwalk, rain or shine, right in front of Astroland Amusement Park, and it’s free! Sponsored by Deno's Wonder Wheel, Sam Ash Music, The Onion, Coney Island Lager and Cockabilly Records.
See you on the Cyclone!
Yours truly, Michael

Can you say "wasted opportunity"? Dammit, I just got back from my inaugural EIFF visit of 2007 and I'm not altogether happy. You see, I've been going on about this for weeks. Some folks might even have noticed. The great JW comes to Edinburgh to support this Jeff Garlin directed film of his "stand-up" or whatever you want to call it. I've read some iffy reviews of it but it's pretty great and captures the guy as I believe he is. Sharp as a very sharp tack and vicious. Not so much near the knuckle as indeed up to the elbow. Then comes the much-vaunted Q&A which for want of a better expression did not go well. I've never heard a more disenfranchised, lame affair and who was to blame for this?, the bloody audience. John valiantly tried to steer the ship from running aground several times before thinking to himself, "sod this for a game of soldiers". This should have taken place at The Cameo or at Filmhouse. Not in the soulless portals of sodding Cineworld. Having canvassed hard to put bums on seats for this, I felt a little embarrased. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity with a true genius that was fluffed. And I don't mean that in some double entendre type fashion that the man himself might use. Whoever the guy was that tried to conduct the "interview" was out of his league. Wasn't Mark Kermode available? So, if you're a Waters fan, there's much to dig in the film. Jeff didn't come so that meant no Lar and no Suzie either. What should have been the crowning event of the festival went splat. Let's see how tomorrow pans out...

RIP - Max Roach

It was 30 years ago, etc... but 15 of those past I was in Memphis with Brother Randall and Sister Donna. It was great and then we headed on up to Springfield, more about which later. Seeing that there's a timely new Skele-release on the streets!

Well thanks for asking but in order to have writer's block then you have to be a writer. And that counts me out on a number of fronts...

It was one of those all weather drives to the stalag this morning. The flesh and the spirit were somewhat less willing even than usual. "It'll soon be the weekend" was the message from from Wreckless Eric's "Big Smash" via the cd player. That seemed to be recklessly optimistic given the circumstance but it's a good thing to be reminded that there is light at the end of that there tunnel thing. Amy and Eric stopped by here on their way back south on Saturday night. It was great to see them and they were in fine fettle. I was privileged to get a wee preview of some songs they're working on for a forthcoming release. Grand stuff that sits outside of any pigeonholes either of them are use to being stuffed into. They have a show in France soon so if you’re within range then go catch something very special indeed.

Like I mentioned in my short intro to last night’s late post scramble to get Ben’s Blasters report up, I saw the Hamell show again last night. During the show I got to thinking how hard it must be to focus and do this again and again. It seems like it's more difficult than just belting out songs in a conventional set. There are parts where the tempo of the storytelling and strumming intersect to drive home the message. Is this stuff really based on true stories? Very probably but the way he tells them has an extra edge. It's not comedy but humour comes in many shapes and sizes and when it's as sharp as this you won't even feel the gnashers biting yer arm off. He'll tell you "this isn't for everybody" but I was thinking that maybe it is. That it's exactly the dose of salts a lot of people need. As before, the "fuck it" chorus raised the roof. It was a horrible, wet night in Edinburgh but at that point the feeling of release was palpable. I guess he's halfway through the run now and it seems like the momentum is in high gear. See him. What else would you be doing between 6 and 7pm if you're in Auld Reekie onyhow?

Film Festival opens tonight and hits full throttle tomorrow. The great John Waters is in town, let them festivities begin.

It's kinda late on a school night but lucky for me that Brother Ben has sent this report on the recent visit of Phil Alvin and Co to the Windy City limits... so without any further ado...

The Blasters - FitzGerald's Nightclub, Berwyn (near Chicago),
IL - August 4th 2007

FitzGerald's is a perfect spot for (American) music, where fans go because they love the real stuff. The owners created a wonderful "out of the way" roadhouse, where you can catch a cookin' band and eat some authentic down-home food. The Blasters (as well as Dave Alvin, and countless others) are no strangers to FitzGerald's. In fact, it has a yearly American Music Festival during the 4th Of July Weekend where countless artists gather to show off and have a good time (in the past, you'da find Dave A., The Blasters, Robbie Fulks, Sleepy LaBeef, and other eclectic acts). Good sound, fun atmosphere and affordable booze.

I had some trepidation about catching The B's, minus Mssrs. D Alvin and Bill Bateman, but any concern quickly went out the window once they took the stage and kicked in with the opening notes and chords of "Dark Night". Initially Phil had to battle through an upstart guitar cable but fought through and managed to belt out a Big Joe Turner tune while Billy Davis (their go-to man) grabbed him some new equipment. Phil was in strong form, his voice was full, soulful and without any signs of doing this gig for nearly 30 years. The grimace was there the entire show, it seemed. Those teeth, the sweat, amazing stuff. When this man takes the stage, watch out -- he ain't no redneck from LA, he's every blues shouter, soul singer, harp blower that's come before him. For my taste this night, Phil's capper was a tribute to the Godfather of Soul with a blistering Please, Please, Please. I can happily report that this was one of the coolest and right-on James Brown covers I've ever heard.

And the rest of the band? John Bazz is just...a killer on the bass. Going up and down the neck, rollin' with the beats and bendin' those strings like they were nothing at all. Jerry Angel was also more solid than I had hoped for, and Keith Wyatt played some great leads, emulating Dave's recorded ones while still managing to expand and do different things. Even they would have to admit they have big shoes to fill, and it would be unfair to compare them to Dave and Bill as this point since they've been playing with Phil and John. Are they as good as the original Blasters?

No, of course not because they're different. They make no attempts at being them. These Blasters are a tight unit that plays how they play. And I think it also shows a bit of respect towards the older compositions in mixing up the arrangements a little without taking anything away from them. The set was mostly made up of more recent tunes from 4-11-44 while still kicking out some of their more well-known classics like "Long White Cadillac", "Marie Marie", and "American Music", while also tossing in an old live gem, "Rock Boppin' Baby". The newer tunes, like "The Boneyard", "Rebound" and "It's All Your Your Fault" all sound significantly stronger live. It's my guess that the band has gotten tighter having played consistently again over the past few years. Phil had fun with the audience, joking about baseball (incurring some boo's and minor applause when mentioning Mr. Bonds and The Cubs). He got sweaty, he was exhausted by the end but, like the rest of the band he gave his all. Now I just have to cross my fingers and hope the Alvin Brothers can bury the hatchet again and make it back to Chicago sometime soon...

I wouldn't be holding my breath Ben. I think that's unlikely but who knows. And that's about it from this airt for tonight. Saw Hamell again tonight and then cut across town to meet up with my old mucker Liam on a whistle stop from Belfast. I'm looking at the time thinking that in 8 hours, I gots to get in commute mode. But at the rate the rain is hammering on the windows maybe the roads'll be flooded. To quote the great Al Bundy, "Like I could ever get what I want". All gearing up for John Waters visit to the capital this coming Thursday.

RIP - Merv Griffin

Glasgow's Monorail Film Club is proud to announce that Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand will be introducing Joseph Losey's creepy 1963 masterpiece, The Servant on Sunday 19th August, 7.30pm at the GFT. Scripted by Harold Pinter and starring Dirk Bogarde and James Fox, The Servant is one of the key films of 1960s British cinema. It takes a sharp look at British class relations via a dramatic turning of the tables between a dainty Oxbridge twit bachelor (played by a young and dapper Fox) and his contemptuous manservant (Bogarde).

After the screening you can join us for drinks and an informal discussion in Cafe Cosmo. We very much recommend booking tickets in advance.

GFT, 12 Rose Street, Glasgow G3 6RB t: 0141 332 8128.

45 Revolutions (Volume 1, UK/Ireland, 1976/1979) by Mario Panciera (Hurdy Gurdy Books)

Close to 1200 pages, this is the ultimate reference guide to UK and Irish punk, new wave, powerpop, indie and whatchamightcallit 45s from the late 70s. "Insane" is the word that first comes to mind when browsing the pages of this book; 2000+ artists, 3000+ singles and 4500+ picture sleeves and label shots in full color. The skope is amazing; detailed biographies (on every band!), release dates and jaw dropping info on various pressings of discs you thought you knew all about (My Chiswick Records want list has doubled after checking the various entries!) Just get it, that's all I can say, 'cause this truly is the Encyclopedia Britannica for record geeks like me 'n you.
This baby doesn't come cheap tho', with a list price of 85 Euros, but Lost & Found seems to be the cheapest dealer offering 'em for just €60. (heck, I'd gladly pay a months' earning for a US edition!)

A public information announcement from Tom Phobic...

"Hi Kids, get your grubby selves down to the Dirty Water Club on Thursday, August 23rd for a special featuring THE STALKERS (from New York City) and their own brand of mischief and mayhem wrapped up in perfect garagepunkpopsongs. Expect a Star Spangle in their midst on guitar deputising duty making this a unique one off occasion. They're flying over to do the Reading and Leeds festivals but require a little limbering up session beforehand to get their juices going, and it is up to us dear reader, to welcome them with open arms and deep pockets and make sure when then go back home they have a suitcase full of great rock n roll memories (or at the very least some hand luggage), and a maybe a hangover ot two.

To aid & abet them in this quest, THE PHOBICS and THE SWANKERS have been enlisted for their proficiency and expertise in this area. All that is missing is a huge throbbing crowd and that's where you come in....so, come in on Thursday 23rd August or be a boring stopathomebillynomates.

Another date to stick in your diary is Friday 21st September when we play a Swamp Productions gig at The Living Bar. 443 Coldharbour Lane, London, SW9 8LN. This venue has an excellent location, only 200 metres from Brixton Tube so even Moyni will be able to find it.

We are on around 11pm with a triple shot of rising glam punk rock n roll talent, Bubblegum Screw + Rapidfire Radio + Geisha kicking off proceedings and its FREE Yup, FREE! Finally, we might be doing Crossfields Festival in Deptford , but more news on that if it happens. Keep September 2nd free just in case.
tomx"

RIP - Anthony H Wilson

I met Tony Wilson a handful of times over the years and on one of those occasions, at New Music World in Glasgow, I gave him an Angel Corpus Christi cd. He was a very smart man and although I wasn't a rabid Factory fan, you can't get away from the fact that he was a true original. A character and a maverick. And he was only bloody 57, what's up with that?

There's a story that Claude Bessy (of Slash magazine) once made Tony a pirate copy of ET where he tacked the closing credits on right after the little guy dies. Now I'm not sure if that story is actually true but it rattled into my noggin every time I saw Tony Wilson on TV or wherever. I always figured that if I met him again that I'd ask if that indeed happened.

My thoughts are with his friends and family. Some of whom I know stop in here from time to time. Lefsetz tribute here.

This event will make the screening of "Control" next weekend at the EIFF even more intense.

This very weekend!

Wednesday was cancelled. It did sort of exist but not in any tangible sense. I'd spent more time than usual staring at a screen all day and that induced the phenom known as a "nipping heid". One of those where the slightest movement causes considerable discomfort. This happens periodically and is not conducive to even attempting to think let alone blog or anything along those lines. I'm pretty sure I'd have heard a bomb going off in here but maybe it was one of those newfangled - smart - quiet ones. It sure bloody looks like one went off. There's stuff every-bleedin'-where but where to start with the sorting? I oughtta switch on the TV and ponder that.

Duglas Bandit on Lee Hazlewood...

"I wanted to write something here about Lee Hazlewood, who died after a 3 year battle with cancer on August 4th.
I wanted to say something about how his remarkable records were often more like "movies for the ears" rather than just songs, a bit like the Shangri-las but completely different.
I wanted to say how he would live on through the legacy of not just his own recording but the multitude of artists that have made music with clear shades of Lee in them (Johnny Thunders, Belle & Sebastian, Nick Cave, My Bloody Valentine, Dean & Britta, Richard Hawley, The Vaselines, Lambchop, Pulp, Sonic Youth, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Isobel Campbell, Primal Scream, BMX Bandits are just a few).
I wanted to say something about his moustache, about his exile in Sweden, about Duane Eddy's Girl on Death Row, about Dino, Desi & Billy and about the recordings with Suzi Jane and with Nancy.
The first time I ever heard Some Velvet Morning it moved me in a way only a few records ever move you in a life time and it still does "it" for me on every listen.
But somehow I couldn't get together the words to say what I wanted to say about Lee Hazlewood...sorry about that. But never fear I discovered this set of posts from Lee's most famous "musical wife" Nancy that I think say much more than any old words could ever say."
Thanks also to Tony (Ron) Thewlis for also sending that link.

Dean Wareham on Lee from a Dean and Britta myspace bulletin...

Just back from a weekend at the beach, launched my computer and found five different emails about Lee Hazlewood's passing yesterday at age 78. It has been a week of big losses – Bergman, Antonioni, and now Hazlewood. Inspirations all, but it is Hazlewood whose death hits me the hardest. We put "Soul's Island" by Lee on the stereo last night and drank a glass of wine in his honor.

I spent an afternoon with Lee in 1999. I had been given the opportunity to conduct an interview – on the phone – for CMJ magazine. Figuring this might be my only chance to meet in person, I bought myself a ticket to Orlando, FL, where he was living. We spent the afternoon at his house near the airport, drinking white wine, smoking cigarettes and chatting about his records (he also signed my entire Hazlewood collection).

I was first given a mixtape of Lee's songs in 1990, while touring Europe with Galaxie 500, and began looking for his out-of-print vinyl wherever I traveled. Great titles like Requiem for An Almost Lady, Hazlewoodism: Its Cause and Cure, and my personal favorite Love & Other Crimes.

Hazlewood was an American treasure. A pioneering producer of early rock and roll (producing Duane Eddy) – Phil Spector even visited Lee's studio to learn how he made these records sound so great. A wonderful songwriter, from "These Boots Are Made For Walking," "Some Velvet Morning," "My Autumn's Done Come," "Your Sweet Love" (which string arrangement we borrowed for "Night Nurse") on through "The Old Man", the final song on his most recent album, Cake or Death. And a hugely charismatic singer, whose pipes come at you like the voice of God (he explained exactly how he got that effect). Sure, there are more versatile singers, but his was a voice I always wanted to listen to. Many is the night I have laid on the sofa listening to Nancy & Lee's sing "You've Lost That Loving Feeling".

We will continue to do so, but it won't be the same.

Dean, August 6, 2007

Click here for excerpts from my 1999 interview with Lee.

More here..

When I got in last night I fully meant to post a review but when I got the Lee news it kind of bummed me out. I couldn’t find the actual facts until early this morning. Running at the last minute, a part of this am was taken up by mild solvent abuse and I’m still kind of under the influence. I guess the adequate ventilation wasn’t what I figured. Punk bloomin’ rock, that’s me. Out and out.

“Bill Hicks, Hunter S. Thompson and Joe Strummer all rolled into one” might be one way of putting it but I never considered Ed Hamell to be a comedian before. Sure he’s funny but it’s peculiar to consider this show as being outside the rock’n’roll arena. It’s still Robbie Fulks via Lou Reed to Ben Vaughn in a satirical context to me. But this setting is a great twist. One that more “entertainers” should consider and the 6pm start time is perfect. Music has sort of become a cul de sac on the way to the club/disco/call it what you fucking like. Hellhole would be my choice. It’s all gotta be over by 10pm or 10.30 at the latest because the alcopop guzzlers are the one’s that keep the venues that are left, open. But anyway, this guy has more energy than your closest power station. The material that makes up The Terrorism (of Everyday Life) is more observation than outright song but the evangelical nature of the delivery makes it part sermon/part seminar. The latter is when we all get to scream “Fuck It!” at the top of our voice several times. Like bringing a wee touch of the Grande Ballroom to the Edinburgh Festival. So yeah, an hour well spent. He’ll start off by telling you that the show isn’t for everybody but bollocks to that. The world would be a better place if it was.

The show is on all through August (except the 15th) so if you can, get your tail down there. If you want to read his diary blog as to how he rates the shows then you’ll find that here. He’s hoping to shoot a film of the show during this run for release on dvd in early 08. Last night I think he hit full stride, yell for “Kick Out The Jams” if you go. Next time I sure as hell will. Tickets, go get ‘em!

And now I've discovered a whole wheen of Stereo Total videos on YouTube. I might be here for a while...

RIP - Lee Hazlewood

Snag this Hellacopters item at Bootleg Booze before they're all gone!