"I sometimes wonder if anyone still reads this stuff." Here's an unique perspective for the self-styled brash, anarchist, punkrocker turned maturing, computer-
geeky, old git in all of us, or at least those of us who remember John Coltrane's version of
My Favorite Things.
WrecklessEric dot com contains the words of a man filled with
faux passion and finite jest, whose composed some good music and written some good lyrics to go with them. For those of you not that old,
Wreckless Eric wrote the song
Whole Wide World which is what Will Ferrell sings to Maggie Gyllenhaal in
that movie before she jumps his bones. It was just last year. You might have seen it. Eric's done some
other things too. I bring this to the blue cuz I happen to be fascinated by the wry, personable, unapologetic, self-referential, egotistical and occasionally self-loathing way
the guy writes in his website, and cuz I'm a sucker for the history of
punk, cuz I'm a geeky old git who used to fancy himself a shoegazing punk enthusiast.
...and cuz I'm bored.
posted by ZachsMind
on May 13, 2007 -
10 comments
CBGB is closing at the end of the month. Yeah, newsfilter, NYCfilter, say what you will, and the club hasn't "mattered" in decades, but anyone who cares about punk rock will feel the pang. This should probably have been posted by jonmc, but I wanted to do it so I could highlight
this excellent piece by Paul Collins; besides the inevitable "I played CBs" anecdote, there's some wonderful history of the site. [Quote inside.]
posted by languagehat
on Oct 13, 2006 -
110 comments
Kid Congo Powers , noted guitar stylist, teenage president of
The Ramones Fan Club, erstwhile member of
The Cramps,
The Gun Club, and
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (also known for his collaborations with
Julee Cruise,
The Legendary Stardust Cowboy,
Khan and others) has produced a
two part online autobiography of sorts for
New York Night Train. It includes
oral histories, available as transcriptions or MP3s, pages from
his Cramps scrapbook, a vintage
Creem article,
free MP3s from his back catalogue, and, of course, his
recipe for enchiladas.
posted by jack_mo
on Feb 12, 2006 -
6 comments
Rat Scabies and the Holy Grail. Best known as the drummer for 1970s punk band The Damned, Rat Scabies grew up with a father interested in the mysteries of the French town of
Rennes-le-Château, which may or may not contain the Holy Grail and in the enigmatic priest
Berenger Sauniere. Conspiracy theories surrounding the town first popped up in the 1970s book
Holy Blood, Holy Grail and gained a certain amount of infamy in recent years from
The DaVinci Code.
Upon striking up a friendship with his neighbor, journalist Christopher Dawes, Scabies discovered common interests in conspiracy theories and all things paranormal and a shared hatred of the
DaVinci Code. Now the pair wrote a book about their alcohol-sodden quest for the Holy Grail that asks the question: What happens when an ex-punk rocker goes looking for the Holy Grail?
posted by huskerdont
on Sep 16, 2005 -
19 comments
There's a new DVD on GG Allin. Born
Jesus Christ Allin he was a front-man of the
still-touring Murder Junkies. An
overdose in 1993 did him in. A profile,
Hated:GG Allin and The Murder Junkies, was made just before his
death and features a portion of his
strange funeral. Needless to say, his
lyrics and well, his life are NSFW.
"...That audience is there for me. I'm not a performance artist or any of that, I'm not out to please anyone. Just me. Rock'n'roll has to be destroyed and rebuilt in my name if it's ever gonna accomplish anything. It's not about being in some clique, it's for people who don't fit in with any thing....I believe I am the highest power, absolutely. I am in control at all times. Jesus Christ, God, and Satan all in one." -
GG, in an interview
posted by john
on Mar 30, 2005 -
49 comments
For all those late nights spent wide awake, trying to wrestle with that most cursed of all questions, "How would The Stooges sound if they played trombone, tuba and drumset?",
your quest will now be fulfilled.
[preceding text written by the trombonist]
posted by kenko
on Nov 28, 2004 -
11 comments
Hey, ho! He's...gone. Today
Johnny Ramone joins
Joey and
Dee Dee at the great Blitzkrieg Bop in the sky (though admittedly he might not have much to say to either of them). This comes just days after a
benefit/tribute concert in L.A. commemorating the 30th anniversary of the first Ramones gig. Catch the new documentary
End of the Century in the meantime. Then again, maybe you'll just wanna be sedated.
posted by scody
on Sep 15, 2004 -
45 comments
Danzig gets knocked out. Now, I know that most of you probably aren't big on violence, however, I find a little jolt of comfort in seeing
Danzig dropped with one punch. It's like being back in high school and seeing a bully knocked out by a geek he'd been picking on.
(NSFW - violence and language)
posted by fizz-ed
on Jul 15, 2004 -
39 comments
Another member of the Blank Generation lost. Robert Quine was found dead in his apartment in NYC yesterday, he committed suicide. He was sixty years old and had played with
Richard Hell &
the Voidoids,
Lou Reed,
Matthew Sweet,
Lloyd Cole, Materia,
Brian Eno and others, he also cut an LP with Jody Harris (Escape), and one with Fred Maher (Basic). It has been reported that he was suffering depression brought on by the death of his wife Alice last August. Robert also recorded the Velvet Underground on a hand held cassette deck, the highlights were issued last year as
The Quine Tapes a three CD set. Personally, I'll always remember him from the jagged guitar parts from Richard Hell and Voidoids' "Blank Generation", which were the only guitar parts that I ever bothered to learn and faithfully reproduce note for note in the many times my band covered the song. Condolences to those that survive him.
posted by psmealey
on Jun 7, 2004 -
18 comments
Grand Old Punks The Sunday Times reported on Johnny Ramone's conservative beliefs today
As he grew up he realised that for all his guitar thrashing, he was a conservative at heart. He opposes abortion and gay marriage and thinks welfare benefits are too generous. “Everyone in America can succeed to at least the middle-class level if they work hard enough,” he said.
Do
these people have a point or do they just not get it?
posted by maggie
on Mar 7, 2004 -
51 comments
Plenty of pop music explosions have been international in scope-metal, punk, hip-hop. But none as much as the initial blast garage rock and roll that erupted after the Beatles and Stones broke big.
Cutie Morning Moon does an astounding job of documenting the far flung outposts of garageland like
Chile,
Hong Kong,
Sweden,
Holland Japan Uruguay,
Poland and the rest of
Eastern Europe. It also includes the story of Japanese Brazillian expatriates
Os Incriveis , plenty of
wild photos,
movie footage of swede legends
the Tages and an
article on the secret history of Joan Jett's #1 hit " I Love Rock And Roll". This site is seemingly bottomless, but if that ain't enough there's great
links too. If the whole world gan get together and dig three chord boogie, I say there's still hope.
*
some pages are translated from Japanese. The prose can be awkward. But the feelings there.
posted by jonmc
on Sep 23, 2003 -
13 comments
Ah, the world cries out for an updated Jonathan website.
The Abominable Lesbian Vampire Cappuccino Bar in Cyberspace has withered on the vine, links almost all dead--
damn, I should've copied that tab!--but some of the music's not firing blanks.
The Jonathan Richman Project only posted one issue of their xerox zine--jeez, remember zines? Mail art? Man, those were the days--but they're nice enough to print Lester Bangs 1976 Creem diss of the
Twerp King At The Summit. God, I remember reading that Bangs piece new and running out and buying The Modern Lovers, trusting as I did in his taste or maybe just his gonzo stylings? Little did I know...(inside)
posted by y2karl
on Jan 27, 2003 -
32 comments
"The right man for the job will be aged between 18 and 21 and will presumably need to demonstrate an abundance of energy and the ability to withstand repeated showers of saliva, the traditional punk rock crowd's sign of respect for performers."
But who is the right man?
posted by oh posey
on Jun 27, 2002 -
5 comments
Punk Rock Aerobics. "Punk Rock Aerobics: The work out that rocks out. No more sucky classes full of braindead bimbos in spandex thongs. PRA is for fun people with discerning taste. An hour and a half of cardio and strengthening class that will have you pogoing and skanking your butt off!" Brought to you by Maura and Hilken (the latter of the band
fuzzy). As they say on the
mission page: "Free your mind and your ass will follow."
posted by moz
on Jun 8, 2002 -
12 comments
Punk was rubbish , so says Nigel Williamson. Tuneless noise of no merit whatsoever which sought to destroy anything that was good. Nothing good came of it and it has left no credible legacy.
Well, what would you expect from a guy called Nigel?
posted by Fat Buddha
on May 29, 2002 -
112 comments
I’m probably really late to the boat for
Epitonic, but goodness, if you’re looking to sample mp3s, videos, sometimes
entire albums, for indie or otherwise unknown bands this here is it. Genres from punk to folk to various electronica-delectica all the way back out to hip hop, jazz and
contemporary composers. They’re all here:
Styles of Beyond,
Solex,
Blue Six,
Sporto Kantes,
Couch (Alle Auf Pause),
Gonzales, on and on. They must eat bandwidth like Jim Morrison and mescaline caps.
posted by raaka
on Mar 31, 2002 -
11 comments
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes! No, not the
children's book, but the punk novelty band, featuring talent from various punk bands, including the bassist from NOFX. They do covers of decidedly non-punk songs, such as Barry Manilow's "I Write the Songs," the themes from "Phantom of the Opera" and "Rocky Horror Picture Show," and Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl".
Their record label offers
four free mp3s including "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and "Wild World."
posted by CrunchyFrog
on Nov 3, 2001 -
20 comments
