MetaFilter posts tagged with punkrock

Meiecundimeesükskorsakovläkseilelätti

MaryDellamorte — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:52:32 -0800

The most insane Eurovision contest performance you'll ever see, courtesy of Winny Puhh with their song Meiecundimees üks Korsakov läks eile Lätti. Their Facebook photostream is worth checking out also.

Welcome To New Wave Theatre

Room 641-A — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 19:54:18 -0800

In 1980, director David Jove created New Wave Theatre, an L.A.-based music show showcasing live performances by California hardcore punk rock bands. Jove tapped former Billboard editor Ed Ochs to co-write, and musician Peter Ivers to host and interview the guests. The low-budget show provided the perfect setting to showcase the DIY attitude of groups such as Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedys, FEAR, and Bad Religion, as well as many lesser-known bands. Originally airing on local public access channel 18, it was later broadcast as part of USA Network's Night Flight (previously) line-up. In 1983 Ivers was found bludgeoned to death in his apartment, which ended the show's run. LIVE PERFORMANCES 45 Grave - Evil Angry Samoans - Steak Knife/Pictures of Matchstick Men/Inside My Brain + interview Bad Religion - Bad Religion/Slaves/Oligarchy + interview Castration Squad - A Date With A Jerk + interview Circle Jerks - Wild in the Streets The Clique - Lifeline/(Do It For) Mommy + interview Dead Kennedys - Holiday In Cambodia Earth Lies Burning - Another Six Year Old + interview FEAR - New York's Alright If You Like Saxaphones + interview The Fibonaccis - The Narcissist + interview Gun Club - Fire Spirit Kaos - Nuclear Nightmare Legal Weapon - Future Heat + interview The Mentors - Get Up and Die + interview Red Wedding - So We Make History + interview Suburban Lawns - Janitor + interview Surf Punks - My Beach + interview U.X.A. - Paraoia Is Freedom

IT'S ALRIIIIGHT! IT'S OKAAAY! I'M MATT MOTHERFUCKING DIECKMAN!

Rory Marinich — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 19:59:12 -0800

I WAS CONCEIVED! ON THE EVE! OF THE FOURTH OF JULYYYYY!
WHEN MY DADDY DIED, YOU COULD HEAR THE BALD EAGLES CALL HIS NAME!

AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOU GET OFF, YOU GET PAID!
YOU GO OUT, AND BUY THINGS FOR ONLY NINETY-NINE CENTS!

HEY! HOT BITCHES! GIVE ME SOME PUSSAY!

LE-VIT-RA VERSUS VIAG-RA!

— Memorable moments from the songs of Phil Buckman, AKA I Hate You When You're Pregnant. All his songs are available for free here. My personal favorites of his are Desiree, which is oddly comforting and touching for me, and Matt Dieckman, which is pretty much my go-to pep song now.

Happy holidays, everyone!

BitterOldPunk — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 07:03:05 -0800

It's A Bad Brains Christmas, Charlie Brown (SLVimeo)

Blood, Guts, and Pussy

256 — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 08:24:33 -0800

The Dwarves^NSFW have been playing their variety of shockpunk for more than 25 years. Their stage shows^NSFW and album covers^NSFW are infamous for their nudity, dwarfsploitation, and glorification of violence (though they only manage #8 on the list of 10 most offensive punk rock album covers of all time^{oh so very NSFW}). And yet, despite the fact that sock rock does not traditionally demand much musically, they are really frigging amazing^{SFW, SFW, NSFW}.

Live From New York's All Right if You Like Saxophones

Bookhouse — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 23:44:35 -0800

Thanks to lobbying from John Belushi, on Halloween night, 1981, LA punk band Fear played a set on Saturday Night Live. The New York Post headline the next day read "FEAR Riot Leaves Saturday Night Glad To Be Alive.” Bonus videos: The relatively peaceful first song of the night, "I Don't Care About You." A swear-happy John Joseph of the Cro-Mags talks about being there.

No fear! No indecision! Rage against the system of the oppressors!

fearfulsymmetry — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 07:28:54 -0800

Punks Not Dead.... but it can get you killed. Punk rock in oppresive regimes.

No future

fearfulsymmetry — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:07:45 -0800

Punk's Not Dead. The revival of punk in couture fashion and elsewhere

The Chelsea Hotel of NYC, surviving The Great Depression, fires, deaths, but maybe not a change of ownership

filthy light thief — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 21:49:20 -0800

Late July 2011, would-be guests of the historic and storied Chelsea Hotel (also known as Hotel Chelsea or simply The Chelsea) were informed on their reservations were suddenly canceled, in preparation for a year-long renovation project, which some people speculate is a union-busting strategy. Given the concerns for the future of The Chelsea, some came to throw last-minute parties, while long-term tenants held more somber gatherings. On August 1st, current guests were abruptly escorted out, increasing anxieties about the plans of the new owner, elusive real estate investor Joseph Chetrit. Even if this is the end of the era, the hotel's long and varied legacy lives on ... Built in 1883-1885, The Chelsea was one of the first co-op apartments (Google books preview) in New York City, possibly designed to be a creative community from the original design, as architect Philip Gengembre Hubert, "inventer of the co-op," had direct and familial ties to French philosopher Charles Fourier. The Chelsea was the tallest building in New York until 1902, when the Fuller Building (later known as the Flatiron Building) claimed that title. In 1903, the co-op went bankrupt, and in 1905 or 1906, the building became a hotel. The hotel was not spared in the Great Depression, and in 1939, the Chelsea Hotel was bought by Joseph Gross, David Bard, and Julius Krauss. In 1957, David passed the management to his son, Stanley Bard, who is remembered fondly for being supportive of the numerous artists and visionaries. Stanley remained as manager until 2007, when the Bard family was ousted by Chelsea Board of Directors. The subsequent management mis-steps are numerous and varied, as accounted in the Chelsea Hotel Blog, titled Living with Legends. At least the donuts are delicious. But what of the occupants of note? In the early 1900s, French stage and early screen actress Sarah Bernhardt supposedly slept in a coffin during her stay at the Chelsea Hotel, and O. Henry counted the hotel amongst his New York homes, where he registered under a different name on each visit, to hide from law enforcement, if you believe the stories. Other early notables include Mark Twain, American actress and singer Lillian Russell, and a few decades later, Thomas Wolfe called Room 829 home (and you can stay there -- well, you could have a few weeks ago). After the depression, the Chelsea Hotel went from catering to the elite of New York’s literary and theatre communities, down to a long slow descent into flophouse, and the once grand suites turned into smaller rooms. American author, critic and political activist Mary McCarthy stayed the Chelsea Hotel a number of times, and Welsh poet Dylan Thomas was a noted resident in the early 1950s. While some stories say that he drank himself to death in the Chelsea Hotel, Thomas died of pneumonia, while in a coma, in a near-by hospital. He was 39 years old. In 1961, around a year before he died at age 34, Yves Klein wrote what came to be known as The Chelsea Hotel Manifesto. Klein might have bumped into Arthur Miller, who moved that same year when Miller divorced Marilyn Monroe. Miller called the hotel "the high spot of the surreal." By 1964, the "madcap" Chelsea Hotel was "New York's most illustrious third-rate hotel," as described in the Life Magazine article A Room with Ghost, $4 and Up (Google books). But this dive was what Arthur C. Clarke called his "spiritual home" for some while. Stanley Kubrick sought out Clarke for a movie about extra-terrestrial life, and the two wrote the script for 2001: A Space Odyssey in The Chelsea, around the same time that Andy Warhol filmed Chelsea Girls. The film included specific play-back instructions for playing two reels side-by-side (YT, 10:00). The film featured a cast of notable names, including Nico (YT, 7:26), who would go on to record an album entitled Chelsea Girl, including a track about some of the inhabitants of the hotel. Edie Sedgwick (YT, 7:59) set fire to her room, 105. Her room was just above the lobby so staff could keep close watch on her. Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell also stayed at the hotel, and were brief lovers in 1967; Mitchell wrote and recorded Chelsea Morning (TV appearance, on YouTube, 2:54), and Cohen wrote Chelsea Hotel #2 (live in 1988, YT, 4:14), but about Janis Joplin and not Mitchell. Robert Mapplethorpe was a resident of Room 1017 in 1969, with Patti Smith. It was there that Mapplethorpe was filmed having his nipple pierced, with Smith providing an improvised monologue (description, not video). The seventies were a time for punk-rockers. Iggy Smith is often mentioned, but overshadowed by Sid and Nancy's trouble in Room 100, in which Nancy Spungen was found dead (but don't worry, the Daily Mail has cleared up the case). Madonna came through in the 1980s (and again in 1992 for a photo shoot). Then the Bard family legacy ended, taking with it the support of the arts and artists of all stripes. While it's true that art has been traded for rent, the story of a Canadian artist trading two pieces for a month's rent was probably done for positive PR, to cover the ailing image of the hotel as bohemian-friendly. The mystique and history hasn't completely faded -- the hotel was used in a May 2011 Vogue Italia editorial shoot. Now, the hotel is more notable for it's past than it's present. It's a key location to visit for the death of famous people, complete with ghost stories and hauntings. It's not clear if the tours of the hotel are still available, but you can find video tours of rooms and video re-creations of The Chelsea's history. Bonus: 1981 BBC Arena documentary on the Chelsea Hotel, in 6 parts: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, and part 6.

Die! Die! My Darling!

256 — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 13:53:26 -0800

Few bands have undergone as many reinventions as the Misfits (no, not those Misfits). Formed in New Jersey in 1977 by Glenn Danzig (vocals and keyboard), Jerry Only (bass) and Manny Martinez (drums), the original lineup played at CBGB and released one unclassifiable guitar-less rock single. In late '77 guitarist Franché Coma was brought on and Martinez was kicked out of the band in favor of a drummer named Mr. Jim. With this lineup, their sound began to take on a more defined sound, merging with the developing second wave of North American punk rock. Both Coma and Mr. Jim left the band in 1978, to be replaced by Joey Image and Bobby Steele. It was with this lineup that the Misfits began to develop their own "horror punk" mythos and sound. The devilock, the ubiquitous crimson ghost logo and the Fiend Club all first appeared in this era. In 1979, Image quit the band in the middle of a disastrous UK tour to be replaced by Arthur Googy and then in 1980 Steele was kicked out in favor of Jerry's sixteen-year-old younger brother Doyle. With this line-up, they finally released their first full length album, Walk Among Us, consisting mostly of songs about classic horror films, including Night of the Living Dead and Astro Zombies. In November 1981, during a show in San Francisco, Black Flag vocalist and long-time Misfits fan Henry Rollins joined the band on stage in a performance that can be seen as an early indication of an imminent change in their sound. When Googy was kicked out the band in 1982 because of personality clashes with Danzig, Rollins recommended former Black Flag drummer Robo. With this new lineup, they released Earth A.D. which showed considerable influence from hardcore punk rock and heavy metal. In 1983, Robo left the band and was replaced with Brian Damage who only made it one song into his first show before being kicked out of the band. Having finally had enough, Danzig dissolved the band after the show. And so ends the first chapter in the Misfits saga. Danzig went on to form an occult-and-pagan-themed deathrock band called Samhain while Jerry and Doyle returned to New Jersey, rediscovered their Christian faith and, honest to god, started a barbarian-themed Christian metal band called Kryst the Conqueror (with Jeff Scott Soto on vocals) to stand in opposition. Meanwhile, the early work of the Misfits began to garner a degree of attention it had never received while the band was actually together. Glenn Danzig had released several albums of remastered Misfits songs (often with some instrument tracks overdubbed to avoid paying royalties to other members) and Samhain (now known simply as Danzig) had gone on to become a pretty big deal in its own right. Misfits songs were coverered by both Metallica (I guess I should warn about infanticide, necrophilia and rape-themed lyrics) and Guns N' Roses. In the early nineties, a legal battle began between Jerry Only and Glen Danzig about royalties and use of the Misfits name and imagery. In 1995, an out of court agreement was reached and The Misfits reformed with Jerry Only (the only remaining original member), Doyle, drummer Dr. Chud and vocalist Michale Graves. The sound of the new lineup was much poppier, while retaining to the horror movie themes of the earlier incarnation. In the same year as the new Misfits released their first album, a tribute album to the old Misfits was released including covers by Pennywise, NOFX (same song as the Metallica cover, so the same warnings stand), Sick of it All and Goldfinger (warning: they're really phoning it in). In 1999, for the first time ever, the Misfits released a second full length album with the same line up. George Romero directed the music video for the "Scream!", the album's only radio single. The Misfits did a stint wrestling in WCW (yes, seriously) and filmed cameos in several Hollywood and independent films. It looked like the Misfits had finally, after 22 years, found their groove. Then, on October 25^th 2000, Graves and Dr. Chud walked off stage in the middle of a show and quit the band. Afterwards, Doyle also took an indefinite leave of absence, leaving Jerry as a one-man band. Not content to let the band die, Jerry recruited Dez Cardena of Black Flag and Marky Ramone of The Ramones (yes, those Ramones) and began a three-year long tour with Jerry on vocals. This same lineup then, in one of the strangest turns of Misfits history yet, then released an album consisting entirely of covers of songs from the 1950s and '60s. In 2005 (that's right, this isn't over yet) Marky Ramone left the band and Robo returned long enough to record one single before being kicked out and replaced with Eric Arce from Murphy's Law. The Misfits latest album "The Devil's Rain" is due out as early as later this month. Quoth Jerry Only: "It's really nice. I think we've finally reached a level of tranquility when it comes to personnel." -- BONUS - A list of bands (in addition to those mentioned above) spun off from, or otherwise directly descended from, The Misfits: The Undead, Son of Sam, Dr. Chud's X-Ward, Gorgeous Frankenstein, Graves, Gotham Road and, indirectly, AFI.

"Lurries. Containers that deliver your fucking food to your fucking house, alright?"

koeselitz — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 14:04:34 -0800

Two classic contentious discussions featuring the great Mark E Smith: discussing Situationism [wiki] with Tony Wilson, Stewart Home, and Jon King, 1996; discussing Nietzsche, acid house, and other topics with Nick Cave and Shane McGowan, 1989. Stewart Home's comment on the discussion about Situationism points out that it's not likely a perfect rendering of the conversation, but the transcript is nonetheless notable for being the only apparent record of an infamous meeting in which Mark E Smith attempted savagely to take the piss out of that most beatified of Manchester institutions, Tony Wilson, by claiming that Richard Branson is a Situationist and complaining: "You remind me of Stalin at Yalta." The NME interview between Mark E Smith, Nick Cave, and Shane McGowan is probably more well-known, but still deserves attention, as it is (in my estimation) one of the most entertaining interviews in rock history. Shane McGowan does not seem to have enjoyed the interview much, and averred years later that "I thought Mark E. Smith was an idiot. He’s not very nice. He was going on about the IRA and he didn’t know what he was talking about." Finally, a bonus regarding Mark E Smith's feelings about squirrels: "My sisters are animal lovers and they had been leaving food out for these squirrels. They've got rats in the bloody house now. Serves 'em right.... [I would] happily set about an endangered red squirrel with a set of professional hedge-clippers. Squirrels mean nothing to me. I killed a couple last weekend actually. They were eating my garden fence." (The RSPCA was not amused.)

National Book Award Winner Patti Smith

aught — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:38:10 -0800

Patti Smith, best known as a singer-songwriter (whose lyrics have occasionally been collected into books of poetry) has won the National Book Award in Nonfiction for Just Kids, her memoir of the years she spent living with the late artist Robert Mapplethorpe.

If Henry Rollins thinks you have too many tattoos, you might be a hipster

kittens for breakfast — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 05:50:41 -0800

Henry Rollins and Iranian artist Shirin Nishat visit NYC's Cake Shop, where a young woman acknowledges Rollins's presence by shouting a "very famous" catch-phrase of his at him. Hilarity ensues (language NSFW).

where were you in 1992?

Potomac Avenue — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:03:12 -0800

Eric Davidson, lead singer of the New Bomb Turks, has written a book exploring a much-overlooked and oft-imitated genre that he dubs Gunk Punk. We Never Learn came out June 1st 2010. More interviews with Eric at Chunklet and Totally Crushed Out. Pics from the book(NSFW) Vice has accompanying interviews with Billy Childish, the Mummies, and Steve Sherman of the Beguiled. Finally some New Bomb Turks videos, arguably the best example of the scene, to give you some idea of what we're talking about here. Live on a Monday The Look Alive Jive Girl You're On My Mind Sucker Punch Spanish Fly By Night Loose (Stooges) Tatooed Apathetic Boys Hammerless Nail Born Toulouse-Lautrec Job Mr. Suit (Wire)

Over The Edge

msalt — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 21:20:19 -0800

The Wipers were a tight and catchy post-punk band founded in Portland in 1977. Today they're best known for covers by The Vivian Girls and Nirvana (Return of the Rat, and esp. D7 - studio, live 1 2 3 4). But the originals are pretty interesting too. John Peel said of their first album "Is It Real": " 'It is one of punk's great albums by perhaps the most unappreciated band of all time'." wiki. Greg Sage's dad owned record pressing equipment and he made albums for friends in high school. He originally hoped to never appear live, and had a thing against videotaping, so live footage (start at 1:30) is rare, esp. early on. Early Wipers (tight, short, surfy, 77-81). These are album audio: Up Front - Voices in the Rain - Born With A Curse - Image Of Man - Potential Suicide - D7 - Return of the Rat - Window Shop For Love - Alien Boy Middle stage wipers (81-92) more "psychedelic," longer songs, gloomier. These are live video: Over The Edge, 1983, Mistaken ID, 1983 audio, Pushing The Extreme 1992, Nothing Left To Lose 1992, D7 live video in 1992 w/ glitch at start, So Young 1992, What Is? 1992, Doom Town 1992 - 1984 live audio - studio audio, Youth Of America (Melvins cover), When It's Over 1984 audio live.

Creatively Heinous

Potomac Avenue — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 05:27:50 -0800

Toronto band Fucked Up was everywhere at the South By Southwest music festival this year--playing at official and unofficial showcases, even once on the street, but often at unofficial massive advertising areas by, say, Pepsi or Levis. Some might think: How can a hardcore band justify their position in these marketing schemes? The answer, posted on the band blog by Mike the Guitarist, is simply titled: SXSW WHY? Previously

Female-Fronted Punk Rock

OmieWise — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:46:29 -0800

Female-Fronted Punk Rock 1977-1989. A huge, 12 (!) disc, mix of punk rock sung by women.

No one will ever have proof of the precious deeds that I achieve

generalist — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:47:33 -0800

How Crucifucks frontman Doc Dart became a man named 26 Crucifucks live in Akron, Ohio, 1983: 1, 2, 3. Crucifucks pages: 1, 2 (angelfire, popups).

That Ain't The Way To Behave

Len — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:26:43 -0800

Oil City Confidential is a new film from director Julien Temple, previously responsible for The Filth and the Fury, about the Sex Pistols, and Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten, focusing on Strummer and The Clash. This time round, in a kind of prequel to both those films, he tackles the life and turbulent times of Dr. Feelgood. Finding fame on the same Pub rock circuit (as remembered by writer and Kursaal Flyers drummer Will Birch) that also supported Ian Dury's Kilburn and the High Roads (not to mention Eddie and the Hot Rods and Joe Strummer's pre-Clash band The 101ers), Dr. Feelgood played stripped-down, taut and aggressive R&B. Hailing from the wildlands of Essex's Canvey Island – the "Oil City" of the film's title – Dr Feelgood were punk before punk really hit, a whirlwind of raucous energy, with a fierce work ethic. In Wilko Johnson, they had a guitarist with a scorching, slash and burn technique, while their singer, Lee Brilleaux (1989 interview), who died of cancer in 1994, aged just 41, oozed cheap-suited menace, and, into the bargain, helped found Stiff Records. The band took their name from the B-side to a single by Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, whose guitarist, Mick Green, was a huge influence on Wilko Johnson, inspiring him to play both rhythm and lead guitar parts at the same time. Johnson explains how he does so, for the BBC's Rock School, and following Green's death earlier this month, talks about Green's influence, and discusses his own influence on other bands. Dr Feelgood's debut single, Roxette, and their subsequent debut album, Down By The Jetty, which was recorded in mono, were both UK hits, but it was their live performances which truly showcased the band at their best. Their 1976, overdub-free live album Stupidity hit number one in the UK charts, but during the tour to support their studio follow-up, Sneakin' Suspicion, Wilko Johnson quit. Two years later, the Feelgoods scored their bigggest hit of all, Milk & Alcohol. However, despite that, and the fact that the band, in some form, remain gigging to this day, it's the first few years of their existence which count for their, until now, pretty-much neglected legacy. She Does It Right (1975) Riot in Cell Block No. 9/I Don't Mind (cut short at the end, unfortunately). Boom, Boom All Through The City/Roxette Route 66 Back In The Night Going Back Home All Through The City You Shouldn't Call The Doctor Dr. Feelgood on the Old Grey Whistle Test: Keep It Out Of Sight / Roxette / She Does It Right

He was a friend of mine

escabeche — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:43:04 -0800

Jim Carroll has died. Avant-garde writer, punk rocker, doped-up downtown scenester, never-made-it schoolyard hoop-dreamer. He couldn't have expected to live to see a master's thesis in English at San Diego State written about his journal/novel The Basketball Diaries, or to be interviewed by Jon Stewart about being played by Leo DiCaprio in the movie of his (early) life. Jim Carroll interviewed in Cleveland in 1991, hiding behind a big hat, a big cup of coffee, and a big accent. Obligatory (but follow it if you haven't heard it!) "People Who Died" link. catholicboy.com, as thorough a collection of Carrolliana as you're going to find.

Falling James Lives

ornate insect — Sun, 17 May 2009 20:59:23 -0800

In 1980 you begin one of the great unsung pre-grunge punk bands of all time; you dress in drag, run for president, and appear on Jerry Springer; The Bangles write a song about you in 1984; you get married to Courtney Love in 1989 (pre-Kurt) and produce Hole's first record; in 1987 your band releases a sloppy seminal masterpiece with a memorable title, and the label (SST) has a display contest for stores; you write for the LA Weekly; you're Falling James Moreland of the Leaving Trains, legend of the L.A. underground music scene.

It's The Ones Who've Cracked That The Light Shines Through

StopMakingSense — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:50:23 -0800

Jeffrey Lewis brings you The Complete History of Punk Rock and Its Development on the Lower East Side (1950-1975) in eight and a half minutes. A comic book artist and antifolk singer, he makes "low budget docu mentaries." And videos. Sometimes for his songs. Sometimes for other people's songs. Sometimes for his songs about other people's songs. Sometimes other people make actual low-budget documentaries about him. Or actual low-budget videos for him. Sometimes he makes actual low-budget videos for himself. Here are some interviews. And here he is playing with Daniel Johnston. Here's a playlist of most of the above.

New York is such a pity but at Max's Kansas City we won

psmealey — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:36:36 -0800

Max's Kansas City closed 25 years ago this night. Although Hilly Kristal's CBGB's is more iconic and perhaps better known today, Mickey Ruskin's Max's Kansas City (and its infamous back room) was every bit as important to fostering the punk scene of the late 1970s and early 80s. Located a 213 Park Avenue South, just up the street from historic Union Square, Max's played host to the Heart bre ak ers, Bruce Springsteen, the Ramones, Wayne/Jayne County and the Fast, the New York Dolls, and quite a few others. What's standing there today? Why, the 213 Park Avenue South Deli, of course.

Sometimes I think nothing is simple but the feeling of pain.

koeselitz — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:32:26 -0800

The White Noise Supremacists: Lester Bangs on race, words, post-punk, and society. from The Village Voice, 1979: ... around the same time I was actually rather proud of myself for writing things like (in an article on David Bowie's "soul" phase): "Now, as we all know, white hippies and beatniks before them would never have existed had there not been a whole generational subculture with a gnawing yearning to be nothing less than the downest baddest niggers. . . . Everybody has been walking around for the last year or so acting like faggots ruled the world, when in actuality it's the niggers who control and direct everything just as it always has been and properly should be." I figured all this was in the Lenny Bruce spirit of let's-defuse-them-epithets-byslinging-'em -- out in Detroit I thought absolutely nothing of going to parties with people like David Ruffin and Bobby Womack where I'd get drunk, maul the women, and improvise blues songs along the lines of "Sho' wish ah wuz a nigger / Then mah dick'd be bigger," and of course they all laughed. It took years before I realized what an asshole I'd been, not to mention how lucky I was to get out of there with my white hide intact. I'm sure a lot of those guys were very happy to see this white kid drunk on his ass making a complete fool if not a human TV set out of himself, but to this day I wonder how many of them hated my guts right then. Because Lenny Bruce was wrong -- maybe in a better world than this such parlor games would amount to cleansing jet offtakes, and between friends, where a certain bond of mutual trust has been firmly established, good natured racial tradeoffs can be part of the vocabulary of understood affections. But beyond that trouble begins -- when you fail to realize that no matter how harmless your intentions are, there is no reason to think that any shit that comes out of your mouth is going to be understood or happily received. Took me a long time to find it out, but those words are lethal, man, and you shouldn't just go slinging them around for effect. This seems almost too simple and obvious to say, but maybe it's good to have something simple and obvious stated once in a while, especially in this citadel of journalistic overthink: if you're black or Jewish or Latin or gay those little vernacular epithets are bullets that riddle your guts and then fester and burn there, like torture-flak hailing on you wherever you go. Ivan Julian told me that whenever he hears the word "nigger," no matter who says it, black or white, he wants to kill. Once when I was drunk I told Hell that the only reason hippies ever existed in the first place was because of niggers, and when I mentioned it to Ivan while doing this article I said, "You probably don't even remember --" "Oh yeah, I remember," he cut me off. And that was two years ago, one ostensibly harmless little slip. You take a lifetime of that, and you've got grounds for trying in any way possible, even if it's only by convincing one individual at a time, to remove those words from the face of the earth.

There I stand 'neath the Marquee Moon just waiting, hesitating... I ain't waiting

psmealey — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:27:55 -0800

Punk Guitar Heroes - Television's Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd Television, and its guitar pas de deux between Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, fit into the punk scene only because they are the ones basically responsible for CBGB becoming a punk rock club. Verlaine convinced Hilly Kristal to let them practice there and play shows, and the rest is history. Both Verlaine and Lloyd are such virtuoso guitarists that its a crime to fit them in with other punk bands that came out of the same scene. Along side Richard Hell (Television's original bass player) and the Voidoids, a band that also boasted some expert musicianship and poetry, Television occupied a special place, bridging the gap between art, poetry, music and the underground scene that was punk'd out. Marquee Moon Friction Foxhole In World Call Mr. Lee 1880 or So Prove It Venus de Milo