Pin Ups

Second Level Influential

As far as I can determine the most influential bands in rock, ie. those who inspired kids to play music and start bands are:

1. Chuck Berry

2. The Beatles

3. Rolling Stones

4. Ramones

5. Sex Pistols

6. Black Flag

7. Led Zepplin

8. Black Sabbath

Not too many really although there are probably many I've not thought of and Zepplin is kind of on the line (there are lots of bands who heavily influenced other musicians : Velvet Underground, 13th Floor Elevators, Bad Brains and so on.) They all had a pretty specific impact, that is, a lot of bands copied their sound. Witness all of the '60's garage comps, obscure '70's heavy rock bands, Latin American punk bands and '80's hardcore outfits. The Strokes , to my mind, are one of the few that have influenced both ways, who would have thought?

So who influences todays bands? Judging from MySpace  bands today  are influenced by genres or the whole rock 'n roll canon. Even bands that sound like they are specifically copying someone list a variety of influences. Bands should stop listing their influences. If it's obvious, it's obvious. If not, why tell everybody? Let them enjoy your music without immediatly comparing it to something else. I'm all for stealing riffs and whatever in rock and roll and there's no reason to tell folks you've done it, they probably don't want to know anyway.

Up Against the Wall

Free concert in Tompkins Square Park today. I saw some bands and friends I hadn't seen in a while. Also saw a fight, a bunch of bums, a guy named Jism too drunk too stand up and a lots of police. Like the old days, not really. I don't know, New York just doesn't get me all that excited anymore. It's me I'm sure, been here too long. Oh well, once gas hits $15 per gallon I'll be glad I don't need a car.

Danny Sage (ex D-Generation) Shy Guy!

Keiko, Bingo and Walt- Continental crew

EZ ( right, of the fab Waldos) and band mate

Abandoned Deli, Avenue B, future Starbucks probably

Fake '60's, from a recent TV shoot on 4th Street (good bill though)

" The Crux of the Biscuit is the Apostrophe"

Filming "Last of the Ninth"

David Milch, who did "Deadwood" for HBO is filming a pilot for a NYC cop show set in the '70's, "Last of the Ninth". They filmed some of it on 4th street, a couple of blocks from where I live. Should be good, hope it makes it.

I guess one of the good things about not working all the time is that I can read lots of books. I just started reading JAPANROCKSAMPLER by Julian Cope. Pretty great so far. I just finished "Enter Naomi"  SST, LA And All That... by Joe Carducci. It's also pretty great. If you're into Black Flag and the whole SST thing, you should  check it out. It can be easily gotten from Amazon.com.

Innervisions

                                                                    131 St.  NYC

Just finished watching season 5 of The Wire, which I think is the best television series ever made.  If you haven't watched it. please do. Watch it in sequence or you'll be really lost. The last season, too bad.

Getting a bit tired of sitting at home. Dino shows in a couple of weeks, looking forward to it.

This Town

Some random photos

Dublin

Tel Aviv

Minehead, UK

Somewhwere

What We Do Is Secret?

Urban Outfitters, Philadelphia

Went to Philadelphia on Tuesday with Secret Machines. They did a show at an Urban Outfitters there. It turned out to be a good gig, which I wasn't really expecting as the PA's for these things usually suck. This time it didn't. The band sounded amazing. They just finished a tour and man they are tight. I really liked mixing them and listening to them.

"He Came Dancing Across the Water"

Lets Go To China Guys!

I recently contacted a chinese manufacturer of microphones (Alctron Audio) hoping to buy a few and save some bucks. It didn't work out, when you add freight and various fees it's not much cheaper than buying them here. I was impressed by how helpful they were. I received answers to my questions within hours.  Keep in mind that this was from a company that really prefers to sell their products in lots of 50 or more. I was tempted to buy stuff from them just because it was such a pleasant experience. Compare that to Cascade microphones here in the states. I've sent them several e-mails trying to buy a clip for a mic I bought from them. Haven't heard a peep. The item is shown on their website but there is no way to order it. Start learning Mandarin kids, you're gonna need it.

Our rush back to the '70's continues as Russia invades a neighboring country and oil politics rules. I need a pet rock to get through all of this.

For What It's Worth

LA , I Like It!

Someone left a comment on a previous post in which I said that I love LA. They said "I love LA? I guess someone has to !" Well, not so long ago I would have said the same thing, mainly because every time I went there I got some kind of bronchial infection. Seriously,  I've been there maybe six times in the last year and it feels like New York used to, full of weirdness and possibilities. It's a cool looking place, lots of art deco and crazy americana. There seems to a good music scene and people just generally appear to be enjoying life. What I really want to do is move to Santa Monica and hang out at the beach with Lemmy and all the other old British rockers who live there. And, there is an Amoeba records in LA. , I like it!

Let There Be Rock!

Met some good people on the Boris tour, like Curt, pictured below. He's one of the house guys at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Working with him was Phil on monitors. They were both terrific. Curt tours with the Melvins and I had met him before in New York. It makes such a big difference having good house sound engineers. The patch gets done right, the opening bands sound good, monitors cease to be an ordeal and the show just goes smoothly. It's a bit of a thankless job and not as glamourous (?) as touring but these guys can make or break a gig. Hats off to the good ones cause there are some real bad ones out there (eg.I found myself teaching the house guy, at what was a perfectly good midwestern venue, how to run his monitor board. I said fuck this and did it from front of house. Sad). 

Need a sound guy? I'm available!

Hi Curt, thanks dude!

Inside Looking Out

I Love LA !

Now that I'm home I'm realizing just how much we seem to be hurtling back into the "70's. Stagflation, recession, high gas prices, wars we can't win, been there man. If you want to connect with that bummer '70's vibe, take some Quaaludes and check out the following.

Movies

 Looking For Mr. Goodbar

 Two Lane Blacktop

 Taxi Driver

 Cisco Pike

Music

 Rock and Roll Animal: Lou Reed

 Darkness on the Edge of Town: Springsteen

 Tonight's The Night: Neil Young

Books

 Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail: Hunter Thompson

 All The Presidents Men: Woodward and Bernstein

 Love Story: Eric Seigal

You can probably buy all this stuff on Amazon for less than it will cost to fill up your car.

Have A Nice Day !

Tom Thumbs Blues

Waiting at LAX to go to New York, flight delayed 3 hours so far. Finished Boris tour yesterday, show at Echoplex in LA was great as was the San Fran show at Great American Music Hall. A long tour,kinda tough, but rewarding. Boris is a great band, not one bum show the whole tour. By the end they were sounding absolutely amazing, sonic , psychedelic bliss.

Can't upload pictures so i'll put some up tomorrow.

Lithium

Not much time to do this lately. Had a bunch of good shows on the west coast. Spent four hours getting into Canada, Vancouver, drag. Had an amazing dinner in Seattle with a friend of mine at  a very fancy restaurant on Puget Sound. He works for Microsoft so they treated us well even though we looked like slobs. Portland, Oregon is still weird but cool also. The Northwest is not hot yay!

Two more shows, San Fran and LA. Home on Monday.