The Return of Red Weasel. Kinda.

Hey. This blog operator was on WBOC TV news... in my hometown. Okay... it's nice to have this done... But really? I hope there's better news out there than me and my old band.

HERE

RAMA LAMA FA FA ... hey!

Well.. It's my job. I'm on the road for Texas Pete Hot Sauce. (No.. not a joke.)... While I plan to be a brewer of the most amazing hoppy elixirs... I have to take my HD camera rig on the road. This weekend I was at the Michigan/Iowa game in Ann Arbor.

Driving into the town, I was thinking about the MC5... I kept replaying that moment in A True Testmonial .. where Wayne Kramer says that the heat was on.. so The Five had to "get out of Dodge".. and "Gotta Keep Movin'" plays.. as a POV camera angle shoots away from Kramer outside the Grande... and takes off on I94 to the college town.

The MC5 were feeling "the heat" of inner city Detroit in 1968. Crime... Cops.. and Copulation on the prowl... off they moved to the 45 minutes west to a "mansion" in the college district of Ann Arbor. The stories are amazing that came out of that house.. The birth of the White Panther Party... The dope... The Elektra Records signing...the guns... the jams in complete darkness... and of course.. the fucking in the streets. So how else could I NOT think about this holy site?

So... i'm shooting off Hill Street... That sounded familiar... Out comes the Blackberry.. and away I look. "The Mc5 took residence at 1510 Hill Street Ann Arbor"... I look across the street from THE ROCK.. (a Michigan college mainstay for spray painting the victories and sorrows of the previous football game) and there I am... 1500 block of Hill Street... I look closely.. and SHIT... There's the house.. right across the street! So .. i must as a fan boy.. take a pic... Now.. i look very "UGH'.. in the pic... but then... can i look giddy.. if i'm ready to fuck up "The MAN"?

CHEAP TRICK? Who loves ya baby?

You've got to love Cheap Trick right? I mean... who does NOT love this amazing band from Rockford IL. Sure... the output of quality songs has gone down hill since Dream Police... but some gems have appeared along the way. The last LP.. The Latest.. was actually very poppy and vast sounding.

My fave.. however has to be a combo of the first 3 studio records.. Robin was still angry in his singing.. and Rick was still loud.

In Color... a sister record to Heaven Tonight... was redone in 1998 by the band and Chicago producer Steve Albini.. (Chicago the town.. not the band)... This was an idea brought about by the band and Albini to remake the LP without the California gloss that original producer Tom Werman had added to the band's sound. Now.. instead of linked with Heaven Tonight... In Color is more like Cheap Trick (77) in sound and feel.

find the whole lp and more...HERE

Coolest Shirt Ever?

okay... so i'm in baltimore last month... in Hampden... and I see this shirt on a dude. I'm like "Wow! amazing!"... turns out it's Lucious Johnny V. wearing it ( LJV... member of the long defunct Martians... not the Baltimore band... the Harrisburg PA via Salisbury Phucknaught krew).

"Man best shirt ever"... He got it here....http://www.misswit.net/BeachBoysMash ... so i went.. and got. I'm actually wearing it now!

Why is it so great? Well... the Iconic THE BARS mean alot... if you see em.. you know em. They are the symbol of the early to mid 1980's American Hardcore underground... not just the punks..(ie. Dischord. X-Claim. etc)... but the SST era. The meeting of Flag... and then The Meat Puppets.. The Minutemen... Husker DU... yadda.

Ok... California based... Black Flag... could only be rivaled by ONE other CA band... ... hmm... The Beach Boys. Two complete oppisites of the same coin... This shirt... grabs... and makes you think of all the possibilites it holds.

Sitting here now... i'm thinking... WOW... Flag were set up on Hermosa Beach in 82-83... Hmmm... maybe that's what it means?


Well... dig it. MY WAR

Smokin' The Marshall Super Lead 100

I just want to say I love the Marshall Super Lead 1oo. Powerful as it gets... i like to link and jump the channels.. that means running the second input of the clean channel one .. into the first input of the dirtier channel two. Both channels run parallel and you can find the proper mix of bass and treble as you add volume. Hendrix used to jump like 6 heads together at one.. amazing stuff.

Here's Hendrix from Hawaii ... note the amps.. run parallel.. with channels linked. no pedals.. @2:30 in video(other than wah wah included.. the gtr and the amp do all the work... well... Jimi did something)

The Damned. Just Sayin.

Really? How can you deny... Hammer Films meets The Who.. The MC5... and Hawkwind? Sounds crazy... but it's The Damned. Loud band..in 1977 with one of the greatest british gtrist on bass... DAMNED DAMNED DAMNED set the stage... fast forward to 1979... blown up.. and recreated with The Capt on GTR.. as English and as Loud as they could be... some of the best music ever.

Think... Christopher Lee meets a shy ass Iggy... fronting a pub rock band with the amps of The Who.. and the attitude of Peter Cook on cocaine.

HERE

What's So Wrong With Face Dances?

Really? What is so WRONG with Face Dances? ... The Who were dead. Keith Moon died in 1978... just weeks after the release of Who Are You?... A album.. the ended an era of the bombastic group. BACKTRACK.... The Who.. a mid to late 60's loud ass mod english group.. with one of the best drummers ever... on the kit. Moon. There... next to Keith was John Entwistle... a bassist like never seen before... trained in french horn.. and wanting to play lead gtr... The OX.. owned the bass... he reinvented it. There.. with Pete Townshend... his songwriting.. and need of volume.. The Who pushed it. They were a band. .. loud.. British.. and powerful.

That said... by 1981... Keith was dead.. Pete was SO over Tommy... Roger was Tommy/Liszt/McVicar... John was John... Enter Kenney Jones... ex Small Faces.. ex Faces... He was dropped into the biggest shoes. Moon's. So what happens? They tour the WHO ARE YOU songs... and Pete records the next REAL WHO record... Empty Glass... so what's left? A new record contract with Warners... a need for cash..a need to keep the band alive... Townshend coughs up songs.. that were the runners up to Empty Glass...

well.. It seemed cool to me in 1981.. then by 1991... i hated it.. then by 2001.. i pitied it... now in almost 2011... i love it.

The best part of any Who record.. that at any part of yr life.. you can read into it.. Sure Townshend's songs are wrapped in self pity.. and John's songs are bullish show offs... Roger is Roger.. and at light does.. approaches a Freddie Mercury .. type rock pose on these songs. (how could he not? he WAS Tommy for chrissakes!)... It's not a WHO record.. like Sell Out.. or Quadrophenia... it's a slight return.

now.. this is just for Face Dances... It's Hard is a piece of shit. Sorry.

The WHO. Tanglewood Music Shed 1970

Maybe the BEST band ever.. the 1970 era The Who.

HERE

Noise is for Heroes. OPENING SALVO.

"Hard Rock." That's what I say when I'm asked about what kind of music I like. Of course.. this is a question I get after I've been making fun of every song that comes on in the bar I'm drinking in.

The bartender... really looking pissed... and tired of my quips... asks.... "Well... What do you think is 'Good Music' wise guy?"

I'm the part of the small percentage who has liked the same music... for all of my life. I meet "rockers" now.. who are excited about seeing the Eagles reunion.. or "you know.. that new Billy Joel is actually okay". I hated that stuff at age 10 (1976).. and I hate it more now. (2010)

BUT... what's worse? The dudes in the bar that are huge KISS fans.. and think that "Animalize" is one of the best KISS records ever.... or wonder why I can't get into anything KISS after 1980. (okay.. in 1980... UNMASKED .. was a greatpower pop record... i hated it then... love it now... ).

Rambling like Ramblin' rose. ... this is a blog about ROCK music. .... from Robt Johnson.. to The Who.. to The Misfits... to The Damned.. to Nirvana.. to Cheap Trick... to .. Funkadelic (westbound era)... to well .. the MC5.