Special Ed Static Edition
3/23/2011
Thanks for joining us on the radio show and here on the blog. Here is some stuff that I mentioned on the show this week:
1) Dieu To
2) ABC is stupid
3) Sonic Youth wins over Linkin Park
4) LA marathon
5) War, disease, chaos, etc.
6) War Prayer
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1) Dieu To - see Kevin and Bean, KROQ 106.7 fm Los Angeles radio show
2) ABC stupid is. Sick make much sun sicker. This morning GMA ran a piece about how the sun makes skin cancer. News? Maybe they yanked it. I couldn’t find a link to it on their site. Tough to find anything there except royal wedding and Dead Liz.
3) Sonic Youth is better than Linkin Park. Duh. Took me a while, though. I have two painful concert memories next to a thousand shining lights of joy and wonder.
To anyone who will listen: Go to as much LIVE MUSIC as you can manage.
Painful concert memory #1
Long Beach Arena 1979
Headliner : Black Sabbath
Great show.
Ozzy was already getting fat, but he can SING. Could. Geezer nailed the bass line and Toni was EPIC as he burned through every riff with his own silent body language. His axe did all the talking. Bill Ward shredded throughout behind a wall of kettles, cymbals, and unidentifiable drum paraphernalia. He was the show. We got there early and the stage was empty except for his rig, which was so alien and fantastic it barely registered as a drum set. We were freaking twitching waiting for the band to play.
One problem. The warm-up act was sad. Four NYC freaks in leather and shades cowered in front of Ward’s drum cathedral singing “Gabba Gabba Hey!” and holding, like Teamster protest signs and shit.
So we got rid of them. Me and about a thousand people in the crowd yelled and threw shit until they left.
And that was the only time I got to see The Ramones.
Pain #2
Got in to see Pearl Jam a couple of years ago in Hollywood at the Fonda.
Perfectish.
Eddie was mellow and strong, drinking red wine from the bottle and punctuating the songs with passionate political speeches. Some celebrity players, Steve Jones, Tim Robbins, et al, did their bit and Chris and the then current guys held it all together. That little space just tornadoed for about six freaking hours. (Or so I heard. I am married. I was home by eleven. In Long Beach. Through traffic. “Honey, it’s THURSDAY! I have to get up!” And still she lives...) Anyway, the show -- what I saw of it -- was great. Only problem? Oh yeah, the warm-up band again.
I could swear these guys were the retarded friends of Eddie’s cousin. Just dragged along, like Tim Robbins onstage during PJ. What was that? Okay, okay, he can play a little. But come on! Did I come to see this? Save it for your friends, freak! Oh, say Tim, can I still get those passes for WTF? Thanks, man.
What? Oh, yeah. Warm-up band was discordant, random, full of feedback and static and chaos. My head ached. I closed my eyes and clicked my heels and they did leave. PJ took an hour to set up and with great relief I heard and saw that the sound was not a technical problem. It was by design. And I missed probably the only chance I will have to see Sonic Youth. Fuck me.
So I’ve got some penance. Linkin Park is about as close to my idea of a rock band as Antonio Villaraigosa is close to fixing LAUSD. Granted that Mike can sing, but so can a hundred waiters I worked with. There is more to it. And not just self-promotion, bullshit tattoos, and screaming fake pain inot the nearest mike, ‘cause the check looks good. To LP: Show passion. Make art. And to you guys: Send some love to a real band, and, oh, PAY FOR YOUR MUSIC, YA BASTARDS! How are these people supposed to eat?
4) LA marathon. Runners congratulate each other on first SWIM through the city.
5) War, disease, chaos...
6) “The War Prayer” by Mark Twain. Read without any permission at all because it is now in the public domain, ya bastards!
TYSM for reading and listening. I hope you had fun. Now, GBTW!
SF Weekly
SFBG
"The War Prayer" read with good intentions, but without any permission at all from Mark Twain, his heirs, or publishers.
Also used without permission, the intro music is "Wheels," by CAKE off of their album "Pressure Chief."
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Notes and links from BTR show 3/23/11 HWH w DD
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