“The heavens themselves
blaze forth the death of princes” or as the case be, Prince. The
world mourns the passing of music's second most enigmatic celebrity
(surpassed only by Jacko) He was totally fucking cool and bad
ass....an exaggerated foppish mini-pimp decked out in puffy sleeves
and every shade of purple imaginable. I gotta say though, I was never
a huge fan. As for his status as musical genius, lest we forget, the
Love Symbol formerly known as Prince, followed up “Purple Rain”
(a trite, quasi-biographical musical, chock full-o- drama for yo'
mama and bad acting) with the much maligned “Under the Cherry Moon”
(a self indulgent, pretentious clunker, filmed in black &
white, no less)
Prince Rogers Nelson was a
revolutionary figure in music (less so in film) and his first five
albums alone would have secured him a place in the annals of American
music. “Purple Rain” however was what ultimately transformed
Prince from a cult favorite into an unstoppable musical force.
Burning him deep onto the psyche of music lovers worldwide. “Purple
Rain” struck a nerve but after “Under the Cherry Moon” he was
dishing out mediocrity as an entrée. Not that Prince wasn't
on his game. He wrote chart busters for himself and others, boosting
the careers of a handful of artists. (Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinéad
O'Connor being the most memorable)
Prince's performance at Super Bowl XLI
in 2007 was electrifying. (the bar for halftime entertainment having
been set quite low..... Up With People, Tops in Blue, Aerosmith, the
Janet Jackson / Justin Timberlake wardrobe malfunction) Opening with
a thunderous refrain from Queen's “We Will Rock You” under storm
clouds, then seguing into a muscular arena rock take on “Let's Go
Crazy” The crowd rushed the love symbol stage platform in a
scripted frenzy. Prince effortlessly worked in covers of Proud Mary,
All Along the Watch Tower and The Foo Fighters' Best of You before
closing with a rousing version of Purple Rain complete with audience
sing-a-long. Shine on you crazy diamond.
It's rumored that he left enough
recorded music behind to release an album per year through the foreseeable future. Here's hoping that's nothing more than wishful
thinking. Prince released at least 39 albums while alive, few of
those albums are still compelling. While prolific, Prince Rogers was
also the king of indulgent doodling. I'd hasten to bet that hundreds
of hours spent hunkered down at Paisley Park (an unyielding big box
monolith jotting out of the prairie in Chanhassen, MN.) didn't
necessarily result in a treasure trove of killer tunes. The Prince is
dead and the lesson we should all come away with is simply this;
Prayer has few if any medicinal properties. If you're deathly ill...
go see a doctor.
Yo!,
Dirt City Chronicles, trawling (some might say trolling) the internet
for music. Back with yet another edition of the only podcast
dedicated to local (Albuquerque/New Mexico) music on the interwebs.
Don't be fooled by imitations or knock-offs, this is the real thang.
An uninitiated listener might consider the local music scene a
shallow sea to fish from.... they would be wrong. If you take all 35
previous podcast episodes (this being #36 with #37 queued up) that's
well over 37 hours of local music. It wouldn't be that much of a
stretch to build a 48 hour plus playlist of nothing but local music
with a negligible number of repeats. That's a playlist rotation on
par with that of let's say..... Beatlerama, the all Beatles online
radio station.
Disclaimer:
I snipped and (or) padded some tracks in order to keep this playlist
under 60 minutes. Some podcast episodes have clocked in at well over
an hour. This resulted in YouTube advising me to trim 'em down in
order to keep folks tuned in. An hour plus is asking too much, tune
in, tune out... I get it. For $50 Facebook will boost my page
allowing me to reach more people in the United States. No guarantees
though and I have no idea how much of a bang you get for your bucks.
Either way, for a non-revenue producing, labor of love venture....
any amount of money poured results in no return. That's money better
spent making a dispensary run or buying tracks/albums online in
support of local musicians.
Being liked gives me a sense of enormous well being. In
order to drum up more likes, I did kick around the idea of emulating
R. Stevie Moore's cassette club with a Dirt City Chronicles cd-r
club, what with all those surplus cd-r packages gathering dust on my
shelves. However, the cost of shipping nipped that idea in the bud.
For those not familiar with R. Stevie Moore, he got his start in the
mid-1970s by offering cassette only releases of his music by
subscription. I once sent away for a “free”catalog from Floyd's
Record Shop in Ville Platte, La. A process which required my mailing
them a few postage stamps and a self addressed envelope. I could go
that route, but seriously who out there still spins cds?
One
Track Mind and Track Marks on His Arm
Few local bands of late
have gained as much notoriety as Glitter Dick. Their Tom of Finland
inspired record release flyer in 2012, was described by the Weekly
Alibi as “borderline pornographic” it caused one UNM student to
lose his shit, grousing that “the image caused him to lose his
appetite” Deemed tasteless and pornographic by the
administration, the flyer was banned from campus. Glitter Dick
followed up with a poster featuring Tom of Finland, Robert
Mapplethorpe and a few other artists.... which didn't help matters
any. Posted around the UNM campus, they were quickly torn down,
though the administration denying having anything to do with their
removal.
In 2013, Glitter Dick then
appeared on the syndicated court-tv show, “Judge Mathis” under
the pretense of lead singer Kendoll Killjoy suing guitarist Magnum
P. Nye. The band would later reveal that the television appearance
was nothing more than a creative way of funding their debut album
“Sparkling Richard” The video of that particular episode has
since been pulled from YouTube. Johnny Wilson (The Gamits) conducted
an interview with the band for his website “For the Love of Punk”
he tried in vain to pry the details from Killjoy and bassist Dee Dee
Ramen (Kenta Henmi) Ramen cut him off, advising Wilson that his wife
is a lawyer while tossing in a curt “Don't Worry About It” True,
she's a partner in the law firm of Maruchan, Ramen & Noodles.
Just when the whole
Glitter Dick experience couldn't get anymore trite, lead singer
Kendal Fortson aka Kendoll Killjoy turned up missing. The situation
was serious enough that the band put out an all points bulletin
asking fans to keep an eye out for their missing singer. Fortson, who
had been booted from Stabbed in the Back prior to the formation of
Glitter Dick eventually turned up, though his band mate were none too
happy. Magnum P. Nye posting on FB: “Let's go ahead and call the
search off and let this fun boy continue his quest for god/meaning of
life/hamdingers/cocks/bat boy/the 4th hole/Ray Bolger or
whatever it is he's doing now” he closed by adding “It's been
real. Magnum P. Nye - signing off for good” Ray Bolger?
Kendal Fortson released a
statement of his own: “Having nothing left in Albuquerque, I had
decided it was time to move on and thought 'sneaking away in the
night' would be a possibility” Amazingly, Glitter Dick was set to
play at Edge Fest, on a bill that included The Killers, Cake, Bad
Religion and Minus the Bear (a band that included Santa Fe's own Alex
Rose) An opportunity kissed off due to Kendoll's ill timed walkabout.
Magnum P. Nye now fronts The Russian Girlfriends, an onerous local
band that partakes of the sacrament at the Church of The Boss. You
know how Dread Zeppelin was once a Led Zeppelin parody band and now
they play it straight. Well I'm not sure if Russian Girlfriends are
seriously aping Springsteen, a Springsteen tribute band or just a
Springsteen parody band.... Note to self: Suzi
de Sade, drummer for Glitter Dick served in the same capacity with
The Teenage Werewolves.
If music
be the food of love, play on
Get Action! play what they
refer to as “burrito rock” others may slap them with whatever tag
they please... but that works for me. These veterans of 'Burque's
music wars take their name from the second album released by those
wacky, incomprehensible Japanese punks, Teengenerate. It all makes
sense once the needle drops. Scott Brown, Bill Bunting, Ashley Floyd,
Ben Levine and Zac Webb cut their teeth with some solid local bands:
The Gracchi, Ten Seconds to Liftoff, The Foxx and Scared of Chaka.
You know them and they know what you like, crackling garage rock,
vented without inhibitions or mercy. Check 'em out May 7th at The
Launchpad (w/ Russian Girlfriends) and June 24th at Burt's Tiki
Lounge (w/ Dying Beds, Weedrat & Alien Space Kitchen)
Kewl (that's how you spell
it nowadays) cover of Tommy James' “Crimson and Clover” from
Steve Hammond. He's simply the best Kansas has sent us since Gen.
Kearney planted the stars and bars in the Santa Fe plaza. Steve's
version of that epic classic comes via Lorchestral Recording
Company's “Cover of the Month Series” featuring covers of Miles
Davis, Wire, Melvins, Hank Williams, They Might Be Giants, Beach
Boys, Kinks and others. Steve Hammond really needs no introduction
around these here parts, seeing how he's the man behind Leeches of
Lore, not to mention his work in Retard Slave, Tenderizor, Knife
City, Filthy Jim, Black Ale Sinners. The man has an extensive catalog
to back up my glowing attaboys. Don't take my word, see for yo'self.
I'm not even sure if the
Teenage Werewolves “Your Cure for the Cramps” are still active.
Though touted as a Cramps tribute band, their live shows went beyond
that. The Wolves were (are) fronted by Los Angeles based singer,
songwriter, sound engineer, music producer..... Jack Atlantis (the
Show) who “has worked in practically every genre of music from
'Qawwali Pakistan Punjabi' to 'Greek Punk Rock” (i.e. The Barb Wire
Dolls, who set up shop in Deming, N.M. for a few months back in 2012)
Jack produced their breakout single “Revolution” You may just
recognize one of the Werewolves as none other than the hardest
working man in rock & roll: Billy Miles Brooke (Tragic Romance,
The Dirty Novels, Pan!c, Loving the Alien and so much more)
Albuquerque's legendary
garage rock combo, The Drags clock in with two tracks of their own
and I've also included a cover version of “My Girlfriend's in The
FBI” by New Kind of Mambo, a Portuguese duo who sing in English and
copped their name from a single by Big Maybelle. How do you like them
apples? Given their extensive discography and worldwide acclaim, I
must admit that I've sorta taken The Drags for granted (same with The
Eyeliners) Not anymore. I recently delved deep into their catalog and
fuck me, I love this band, and to think.... I still have a copy of
“Dragsploitation...Now! that I've maybe played twice. Charging from
the bass knives to the treble, Dirt City Chronicles, keep those
cards and letters coming in... all suggestions are welcomed and duly
ignored. We're done here, peace out homies.
Instantly Recognizable ~
Get Action
Audiophile ~ Glitter Dick
Monday Night Raw ~ Weedrat
Psycho Punk ~ The Dying
Beds
Crimson and Clover ~ Steve
Hammond
Cars ~ Bring Back Dad
Surfin' Dead ~ Teenage
Werewolves
I Like to Die ~ The Drags
Johnny T's O.D. ~ Glitter
Dick
Lucky Boy ~ Alien Space
Kitchen
The Scratch ~ Mother Queen
Death
Why ~ Red Light Cameras
Life is a Gift ~ Colin
Robinson
BTSD ~ Klondykes
Ghost ~ Weedrat
Quitter ~ The Talking
Hours
My Girlfriend's in The FBI
~ New Kind of Mambo (Drags cover)
