Chick's Legendary Records Party
The Ottobar
2549 N. Howard Street
Sunday, August 31, 2014

Veni, Vedi, Veditz.Harry "Chick" Veditz: he came, he saw and he conquered the local music scene by opening a legendary record store - Chick's Legendary Records on Sulgrave Avenue in Mount Washington Village - with partner Don Webb back in the late '70s. As Rafael Alvarez recalled in a 1992 Baltimore Sun tribute ("A swan song for Chick's record store"), "Back in the glory days of Chick's Legendary Records, gangs of rock 'n' roll bands would hound owner Harry Veditz Jr. for the chance to play for free at his annual summer thank-you party for customers. That was in 1978, during the first flowering of the punk movement in America, when the record store was on Sulgrave Avenue." Over the years, the record store specializing in hard-to-find vinyl and local tunes would move to Smith Avenue and later Reisterstown Road, before finally closing in 1992, a victim of the rising popularity of cassettes and compact discs. "You have to move with the times," he told the Sun. "I didn't."

T-shirt commemorating Chick's Legendary Records' First Anniversary Party: July 14, 1979

I recall those days well, having been in Thee Katatonix, one of the bands that successfully hounded "Chick" to play at his 2nd Anniversary Party in August 1980. I was later in The Boatniks, who got to play Chick's 3rd anniversary party in 1981.

Of course, the default house band at any Chick's party was always his beloved Slickee Boys, and no one championed them more than Chick. (Alas, the Slickee Boys are now no more as well.)

Slickee Boy Mark Noone and Katie Katatonic enjoy a cold one at Chick's 2nd Anniversary Party

Sure, there were other good record stores around at the time -  Music Machine, Record & Tape Collector, Record & Tape Traders, Vinyl Discoveries, Record Theater (and Joe's Record Paradise and Yesterday & Today Records in the DC suburbs) - but Chick's was the most laid back and casual.

Besides the always affable Don Webb, Chick's staff over the years included erstwhile City Paper music scribe Michael Yockel and various local musicians (like Rockheads/DelMarVas/Big As a House bassist Bernie Ozol), besides Chick himself (who had that steady paycheck with the City of Baltimore to keep his racks well-stocked with new vinyl). And besides having a large inventory of the psychedelic and garage rock records that inspired his fave Slickee Boys, Chick's offered an eclectic selection of records by the local, punk, and New Wave bands then playing The Marble Bar. In fact, Chick regularly advertised in Tonescale, the Marble Bar fanzine (as shown below),

Chick's Legendary Records ad, Marble Bar "Tonescale" zine

and wrote the "A Side and B Side and This and That" record review column, as well:

Chick's "A Side, B Side"column, "Tonescale" zine

As an early champion of the local bands playing the Marble Bar, it was only fitting that Chick got his own night to DJ "the best recorded music of all time" there. In 1980, Marble Bar owners Roger and LesLee Anderson designated Thursdays as "Legendary Chick's Nite," with all girls ("chicks" - get it?) getting in free to enjoy 75 cent beers, as shown in the September 1980 calendar below.



Chick also regularly advertised in the City Paper to promote local bands and shows, such as the OHO Record Release Party for 1984's Rocktronics LP:

Chick's ad promoting OHO's new album "Rocktronics" (June 15, 1984)

My girlfriend Amy Linthicum remembered Chick's store with bittersweet memories.

"That's where I sold all my 10cc records," she recalled. That was the bitter part. The sweet part was all the groovy new music she and her boyfriend of the time, guitarist Mark Harp (Null Set, Nos Mo King, et al) picked up. "Back then I was into everything New Wave and traded my Prog for Punk!" (Full disclosure: Amy has since bought back all of her 10cc collection in both vinyl and CD - proving that what goes around comes around again!)



I myself remember picking up the rare Music To Kill By record by The Afrika Korps (an ensemble of D.C.-area musicians that included some Slickee Boys members), which in addition to an early version of the Slickees'"Jailbait Janet" featured one of my fave tracks, "Fox Lane" ("Fox Lane, where all the girls get PhD's in learning how to spread their knees").

36 years later, Chick's Legendary Records is long gone, but neither Chick nor his fans are forgotten. That's why Chick is hosting a private party for his friends at The Ottobar on Sunday, August 31 to celebrate his glory days - as well as other notable milestones. As he wrote in his evite:

Among the many occurrences the party is to celebrate-the 30th anniversary of Arlene and Chick; my 31 years with the State of Mayland and pending retirement at the end of January 2015 (another party then); What would have been the 36th anniversary of Chick's Legendary Records (I missed the 33 1/3 party opportunity); the 31 years since the Orioles won the World Series; The many summer parties at my parents place on Bodkin Creek; record store employees reunion; softball players reunion; mini Marble Bar reunion; seeing friends, relatives, and co-workers; and I have wanted to throw a party for a long time.

As we go to press, at least three bands - Chelsea Graveyard, Garage Sale, and The Stents - are scheduled to play, with possible guest appearances from the great local bands of the last 40 years. (Expect one or more Slickee Boys to post.)

Chick's Private Party flier (poster art by Dave Wilcox)

Video killed the radio stars and CDs killed record stores like Chick's, so it's rather ironic to see vinyl make a comeback as a hipster collectible these days, a collectible glorified on Record Store Day. If Chick's Legendary Records opened in Mount Washington Village today, it might actually flourish.

And Chick still remains a committed to the purity of vinyl uber alles. As he told Rafael Alvarez back in 1992, "I'll argue with any CD lover that albums still sound better," he said. "And I like the packaging of albums, the art that comes with them. I know that albums scratch, skip and pop, but we have CDs that do the same thing."



That's why Chick still has his private collection of over 12,000 LPs and 7,000 45s,  though in recent years he's devoted himself to his other passion - selling baseball and other collectible cards at area flea markets, yard sales, and conventions. In fact, I ran into Chick "Collector of All Things" Veditz at the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in Hunt Valley (featuring Davy Jones of The Monkees at one of his last convention appearances) and was surprised to see him selling cards instead of vinyl. But I should have known better - Chick got into trading cards back in the '90s when he ran Chick's Records Tapes & Baseball Cards in Pikesville. And there he was selling vintage pop culture artifacts like Monkees bubblegum cards. "With Davy Jones here, a lot of people are buying individual cards for him to sign," canny capitalist Chick commented at the time

Like Judy Collins, Chick Veditz has looked at life from "Both Sides Now"- A-side and B-side! - and on Sunday night will enjoy turning back the clock and cueing up a scratchy and pop-filled remembrance of the good old days. Or as Rootboy sang, "Put a quarter in the juke, and boogie 'till you puke." (Just don't play any disco, or a rogue Slickee Boy might just "Put a Bullet Through the Jukebox"!)


Related Links:
Chicks-a-palooza Party @ Ottobar (a Flickr picture set)

Buzzcocks
Black Cat, Washington, D.C.
September 4, 2014

Buzzcocks want to show you "The Way"

Nostalgia for an age yet to come - yet again!

I'm a curmudgeon, I'll readily admit it. When I saw that Buzzcocks, punk's longest-running (yet still vital) act, were bypassing Baltimore on their U.S. tour in support of new album The Way - their first stateside visit since 2010's "Another Bites" tour - I was ready to blow off seeing them. Once again, Shelley-Diggle & Co. were opening their 12-date North American tour at The Black Cat in Washington D.C.'s posh Shaw-U Street neighborhood (DC's answer to Portlandia with lots of bikes, coffee shops, and upscale boutiques) with their next closest gig set for the next night at Philadelphia's Union Transfer club. I hate driving to D.C. and Philly's an even longer drive, but after weeks of hearing my Buzzcocks fanatic girlfriend Amy Linthicum whine "We can't miss Buzzcocks, they only tour once every four years!," I finally relented (otherwise I envisioned years of relationship counseling to repair the potential rift). Had I not, I really think she might have hitch-hiked down to the nation's capital!

I immediately contacted my friend Dave Cawley, whom Amy had supplanted as World's No. 1 Buzzcocks Fan, and he and his girlfriend Gina joined us for the suprisingly easy commute down I-95 to the Black Cat to see our beloved 'cocks. Gina was a 'cocks virgin, whereas Dave had seen them countless times and Amy and I had only seen them once before, when they played Baltimore's Ottobar in May 2010.

Tom & Dave compare their tees

Gina & Amy: These girls just wanna have fun

On the drive down we played the new album (their ninth studio album, which was funded by the Direct-to-Fan online crowd-sourcing site PledgeMusic!, and the first album of new songs since 2006's Flat-Pack Philosophy), an even-Steven split of five tunes apiece by original 'cocks Pete Shelley ("Keep On Believing,""The Way,""Virtually Real,""Out of the Blue," and, co-written with Danny Farrant, "It's Not You") and Steve Diggle ("People Are Strange Machines,""In the Back,""Third Dimension,""Chasing Rainbows/Modern Times," and "Saving Yourself"), which Dave hadn't yet learned to love - unlike Amy and I.

We doubted many of the songs would make the show's setlist, but were wrong: the boys played six of the 10 tracks that evening, though surprisingly Diggle's old Flag of Convenience song "In the Back" (from his War on the Wireless Set LP) didn't make the cut. Neither did Shelley's "Virtually Real," despite the relevance of its social media subject matter (e.g., "You spend your time liking and sharing, when you could be loving and caring with me" and "profile updated, it's complicated, so tell me how do you feel: virtually real?"). The full Black Cat setlist is shown below:

Buzzcocks Black Cat set list (Setlist.fm)

Now for some reason, Buzzcocks always have horrible bands open for them over here (in 2010 it was The Dollyrats), so we took sonic shelter in the back of the Black Cat while DC's Loud Boyzlived up to their name, blasting out recycled hardcore atonalities which one audience member characterized as "so 15 years ago" (I would have added "So 15 epochs ago"). That astute observation was made by Tru Fax & The Insaniacs singer-guitarist Diana Quinn, who was sporting the coolest minimalist Buzzcock button I've ever seen. She was there with her friend Gary Hailey, who writes about music at his "2 or 3 lines (and so much more)" blog - check it out, it's pretty good!

Dave bites his knuckles listening to Loud Boyz, while the gals cool their heels

As Pete Shelley sings on the new album's title song, "The way you are's not the way you were," and it's an apt description for Buzzcocks today (as well as for all middle-aged rockers). Sure, Pete's a little chunkier and sports a gray beard now (one fan likened his countenance to folkie John Martyn) and his "helium" vocals have lost an octave or two, while original bassist Diggle has emerged from Shelley's shadow to take his place as a spotlight-hogging guitar thrasher (one given to"cod-guitar hero antics" in the words of one critic) and songwriting equal in the Lennon-McCartney arrangement the band has adopted since their post-Classic Era (1976-1980) relaunch in 1993 with the still-great Trade Test Transmissions album. But coy boy Pete still writes clever lyrics over melodic hooks, and Steve's still a hard-rocking man-about-stage who pleases crowds with his boundless energy and windmill guitar-strumming histrionics. (He tried it out once, found it alright for kicks, but now he's found out it's a habit that sticks!)

Follow-through on a Diggle windmill power chord

Diggle prepares for lift-off

More Diggle cod-rock guitar antics

In fact, some might argue that Buzzcocks today aren't the way they were but better. I wouldn't, as the original rhythm section of John Mayer (best drummer ever?) and Steve "Paddy" Garvey still sets the standard for me. But the new boys, Cockney drummer Danny Farrant (who co-wrote "It's Not You") and stylish Steve Winwood-lookalike bassist Chris Remington (who's also in Diggle's Revolution of Sound side band) are as good as one could hope for as able-bodied replacements. Farrant joined the band in 2006, replacing Phil Barker; Remington came on board in 2008, replacing bassist-producer Tony Barber. (To hear what this Buzzcocks edition sounds like playing the classic-era tunes, check out 2011's A Different Compilation.)

Diggle, Shelley & Remington kick out the jams

At 10 o'clock, Buzzcocks took the stage to a packed house (we were crammed into a tight pocket of space on the Diggle side of the stage) and proceeded to blast out what has become their traditional opening three-song salvo, Spiral Scratch's anthemic "Boredom" followed by "Fast Cars" and "I Don't Mind" from their studio album debut, 1978's Another Music in a Different Kitchen.


Then, while the audience caught their breath, some new material: Pete ventured forth with "Keep on Believing," the pop-infused toe-tapper that opens The Way with the que sera, sera words "What's the use  complaining, it's forever raining, after all that's what they made umbrellas for"...

Watch Buzzcocks play "Keep On Believing" (Union Transfer, Philly, 9-5-2014):


"Keep On Believing" was followed by Steve's "People Are Strange Machines."

Watch "People Are Strange Machines." (Robin 2, Bilston):


Along with his "Chasing Rainbows/Modern Times" (essentially a recycling of the Ramones'"Blitzkrieg Bop" with added guitar solo chops), "Strange Machines" is a definite highlight of The Way.

Steve Diggle: Always Chasing Rainbows

Diggle strums his strange machine

Then it was back to the classic tunes fans know so well from Singles Going Steady (by the way, the t-shirts featuring the Singles Going Steady cover quickly sold out - sorry Dave! - at the show's merch table), interspersed with new tunes (like Pete's "The Way" and the growing-on-me "It's Not You" - the latter which I think would fit nicely on SGS) and a Mini-Diggle Set of  "When Love Turns Around" (from 1993's Trade Test Transmissions - still Dave Cawley's favorite "new edition" Buzzcocks album), "Why She's a Girl From the Chainstore" (to which naysayer Dave Cawley murmured, "Worst music video of all time!"), and the classic "Sick City Sometimes" (from 2003's Buzzcocks - still Amy's favorite "new edition" Buzzcocks album), which Diggle explained was about 9-11 (which was news to me - ah, those Diggle lyrics, so many layers to unravel, like an onion!). ("Yeah, well onions stink!" countered Diggle contrarian Dave Cawley who, in retrospect, admitted he now understood "SCS" better.) ("Yeah, well you picked the Diggle side of the stage," counter-countered Amy.)

Diggle & Shelley: A Different Kind of Duo

Pete: "Steady now Steve!"

In concert, the two main Buzzcocks couldn't be more (polar) opposite one another. Louder Than War blogger John Robb describes the Shelley-Diggle partnership as A Different Kind of Tension:

It's this dynamic tension between [Diggle's] scissor kicking rockism and Pete Shelley's sardonic very much non rock approach that is the key to Buzzcocks- the two opposites, the warring couple- each with their own powerful, creative agenda and yet when they join together and those two guitars interplay with each other it's perfect.

Pete Shelley: Sardonic Rocker

Pete making one of his coy faces

The Dynamic Duo

Or, as reviewer Kyle Schmitt (DC Rock Live - Reviews) remarked:

In contrast to his more reserved, gray-bearded bandmate, Steve Diggle unleashed his inner 18-year-old guitar hero throughout the set, playing to the crowd and bumping fists with the punters. His enthusiasm clearly inspired the audience, which he implored to “Blow the fuckin’ roof off!” and “Keep rock ’n’ roll alive!” Diggle walked the stage hoisting a microphone over the crowd during a singalong version of “Harmony in My Head”, and seemed to invigorate Shelley as the band rolled through “Noise Annoys” and “Oh Shit!” during the set’s latter half. Crediting rocks’s standard bearers at night’s end, Diggle said this music was “about Chuck Berry, the fuckin’ Ramones”, and despite his accent, I’m 90% sure he threw in the Buzzcocks at the end of that listing. After their set, it’s hard to disagree that his own band belongs in that rarified company.

Buzzcocks: In rarified company

Pete Shelley and Chris Remington

Diggle, emoting

It was a great show and I'm so glad we caught it, despite my initial reluctance (perhaps Pete Shelley was singing to me in his 1981 'cocks single "What Do You Know?"). Amy even got to shake Steve Diggle's hand as he walked off stage (though it wasn't as intimate as the kiss she got back in Baltimore in 2010).

Afterwards, Amy made a pilgrimage to Steve Diggle's amp (easy to spot with its signature "Steve Diggle" cloth draped over it!).

Amy standing guard over Diggle's Corner

She later spotted former WCVT disc jockey and lover of all things Pop-Punk, Gary Razorpop in the crowd and gave him a big hug. And I spotted another Baltimorean, Big Chris Calabrese of the band Fishnet Stalkers.

Amy with Gary Razorpop

Outside the Black Cat, Dave Cawley saw Next Gen Buzzcocks Chris Remington and Danny Farrant milling about on the sidewalk, getting a spot of fresh air.

Dave, Chris & Danny (backed by Chris Calabrese) outside Black Cat

Dave tried to convince Farrant to get the band to play Baltimore's Ottobar again (probably to no avail, but at least Danny liked the name of the club he couldn't remember from his last stop there in 2010). "I like the way you say that," Danny said, repeating "Ot-oh-bah!"

Dave continued to ingratiate himself with the affable drummer, singing the praises of P.G. Tips tea, The Who, The Small Faces, The Jam and all things Mod.

Dave Cawley, Lover of All Mod Cons, poses by a scooter outside Black Cat

"You really ought to stop that," Danny cautioned, worried about Americans loving anything hinting of British Invasion superiority. He did concur about the early Jam and Faces, but Dave winced when Danny admitted he liked the Rod Stewart vintage Faces as well. As for North American bands, Dave and Danny bonded over their shared appreciation of The Sonics. But Danny drew the line when Dave admitted he listened to Rush in high school.

Danny admitted only to listening to Rush in order to get into a bird's knickers. Dave had no such excuse ("I was young and stupid!" he cried), and tried to limit the damage by saying he stopped following Rush after 2112.

And then the errant Buzzcocks were off to pack up for the next night's gig.

Later, after we walked back to the car and drove off past the Black Cat, we spotted a little, stocky, gray-haired man in shorts loading something in a white van.

"Tom, look! That's Pete Shelley!" Dave shouted, rolling down the car window to get ready to say something to his idol. But as I slowed down and we got a close-up, it turned out just to be some middle-aged schlub.

We should have known by the shorts, Pete Shelley, punk rock star, would never be seen on the street in shorts! "The way you are's" may not be "the way you were," Pete Shelley, but you were always too cool for shorts. We ask only that in our rock star idols. As for us, we won't stop believing!

Amy to Tom "Aren't you glad you came now?"

Related Links:

Buzzcocks @ Black Cat (9-4-2014) (a Flicker set)
It's the Buzz, Hons! (Accelerated Decrepitude)

16mm fans: real film for reel enthusiasts

The few, the proud, the discerning. That describes the folks that continue to check out the rare film shorts housed in Enoch Pratt Free Library's archaic-yet-still-invaluable 16mm film collection. People like my Pratt co-worker Teresa Duggan and her husband Bob Wagner (my fellow St. Paul's School for Boys grad - though Bob is a much younger vintage STP alumnus!).

Every summer, this hip couple perodically check out films from Pratt Central to project during outdoor parties in the back yard of their Hampden home. Their taste is impeccable. Though I've worked in the library's A/V Department for a baker's dozen years and thought myself well-acquainted with Pratt's 16mm film collection, Bob and Teresa continually manage to find rare and obscure films that I never knew existed. They truly know how to dig through the archives and navigate the intricacies of the Pratt catalogue!

Norman McLaren's psychedelic Stars and Stripes

As an example, for this year's July 4th's Independence Day celebration, Bob and Teresa checked out Norman McLaren's dazzling (and tres appropriate) animated short Stars and Stripes (Etoiles et Bandes, 1940, 3 minutes),which is set to the chest-pounding music of John Phillip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever" (it doesn't get more patriotic than that!). Who knew? (Well, I should know, as I own the now out-of-print 7-disc, 58-film DVD box set Norman McLaren: The Master Edition - which will take me my lifetime to get through!)



Norman McLaren 1940 "Stars and stripes"by moklaomax

Following are their most recent Outdoor Film Festival checkouts (great picks all!), listed here just in case you didn't get invited to their backyard soiree:

GUMBASIA(1955, 3 minutes, color, 16mm)
Directed by Art Clokey

















This student film, consisting of animated clay objects contorting and reshaping themselves to a snappy jazz score, so intrigued Samuel G. Engel, the president of the Motion Pictures Producers Association, that he financed the pilot films for what became Art Clokey's The Gumby Show (1957). (Art Clokey, USA, 1955, 3 minutes, color, 16mm)

Watch Gumbasia(YouTube)



MOODS OF SURFING (1968, 15 minutes, color, 16mm)
Directed by Greg McGillivray and Jim Freeman

What better way to  hold on to an Endless Summer than trading the urban chic of land-locked Hampden for the hang-ten feats of surfboards riding waves in Hawaii?
 

The film poster used the LeRoy Grannis;s classic photograph of the infamous Makaha shore break in Hawaii.

The Moods of Surfing was a Pyramid Films short made for theaters and released in 1968 by United Artists. Photographed and edited by Greg MacGillivray, the film received many awards including the Best Film Award from the Photographic Society of America and the Gold Award from the New York International Film Festival.


Pyramid Media description: "In this spellbinding interpretation of surfing's many moods, wild wipeouts are contrasted with the grace and agility of a skilled surfer on a long ride; the excitement of large waves and crowded beaches with the quiet of pre-sunset surfing."

Watch ""Moods of Surfing" (YouTube):

 


THE NOSE (LE  NEZ) (1963, 11 minutes, b&w)
Directed by Alexander Alexeieff and Claire Parker

Nez Who?: Alexander Alexeieff knows all about "Nose"

A wordless adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's story about a nose that disappears from its owner's face and turns up in a barber's loaf of bread. In this case, the medium is the message, as artist Alexander Alexeieff uses a reflected-light pinpoint "direct animation" technique (in which images are created during the process of filming, not before it) to make this film. The effect is like watching an animated engraving. In collaboration with animator Claire Parker, Alexeieff invented the "pinscreen,"  a sturdy frame holding a white board into which thousands of very thin black pins are inserted; by adjusting the pins so that the distance to the camera varies, the animator creates various shadings from black to white. (Another oustanding pinscreen-animated film in Pratt's collection is Jacques Droin's impressionistic Mindscape.) Arguably the best adaptation of a story by the Russian literary giant.

Alexeieff and Parker are perhaps best known for using their pinscreen technique in the prologue to Orson Welles' 1962 film adaptation of Kafka's The Trial(which is also in Pratt's 16mm film collection).

Watch "The Nose" (YouTube):


  

SHOTGUN JOE (1970, 25 minutes, color, 16mm)
Produced by the Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons

Joe Scanlon

 This is a cinema verite-style documentary film about convicted felon Joe Scanlan, nicknamed "Shotgun Joe," who was serving time for armed robbery in the Conneticut State Reformatory. The film follows Scanlan in prison and his interaction with prisoners, staff, and family. Interviews with guards, teachers, fellow inmates, Joe's mother, his sister, and Joe himself reveal him as a likable, flamboyant, pathetic, young man moving toward his own destruction. A classic study of juvenile delinquincy, by an unknown director for the Department of Justice's Bureau of Prisons.

"Shotgun Joe" became "Joey Onions" Scanlon and was later shot and killed in a 1982 mob hit. The guy who killed him confessed on his deathbed and Scanlon's remains were found in 2009.

Watch "Shotgun Joe" (YouTube):




CALDER'S CIRCUS (LE CIRQUE DE CALDER) (1961, 19 minutes, color, 16mm)
Directed by Carlos Vilardebo

Cirque de Calder

Sculptor Alexander Calder (1898-1976) is best known for his "mobiles" (a word invented by Marcel Duchamp in 1931 to describe Calder's moving scuptures). He also created miniature spring-loaded circus figures made of wire. In Calder's Circus, Calder demonstrates his creations and viewers get to see them spin, hop, roll and leap. I remember seeing this years ago at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. It's quite fun!

Watch "Calder's Circus" (YouTube):


 
BETTY IN BLUNDERLAND (1934, 7 minutes, b&w, 16mm)
Directed by Dave Fleischer

Betty in Blunderland

If you went to St. Paul's during Michal Makarovich's tenure as film instructor, you couldn't avoid being exposed to the mind-blowing animation of the Fleischer brothers - animator Max and director Dave - especially their wild, Jazz Age shorts featuring Betty Boop. No doubt that's why Bob Wagner picked this gem, a surreal adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. (By the way, Pratt also owns Makarovich's 1976 homage to Greta Garbo, The Face of the Century, on 16mm.) The Fleischers were considered Walt Disney's main rivals in the 1930s and their violent, sex, jazzy and imaginative animation made them polar opposites of the Disney aesthetic. In this short, Betty Boop dozes off while working on a jigsaw puzzle and awakens to enter an enchanted world inhabited by characters out of Lewis Carroll's Wonderland. Betty sings "How Do You Do" to them and everyone comes to her rescue when the Jabberwock steals her away.

Watch "Betty in Blunderland" (YouTube)




I would be remiss not to mention that Teresa's not just a discerning cineaste, but a talented photographer. Along with fellow Pratt shutterbugs Lynne Parks (a 2013 Mary Sawyers Baker Artist Awards Winner) and Patrick Joust (whose "Still of the Night" photo essay was recently featured in Baltimore magazine), she will be showing her work as part of the "Pratt 5x3" exhibit in the Fine Arts & Music Reading Room on the second floor of the Enoch Pratt Central Library. The photographs of these talented Pratt staffers are on display from September 8 through November 2, 2014, with an opening reception Wednesday, September 17 from 5:30-7 p.m.

Pratt 5x3 exhibit

And I would be equally remiss not to mention that Bob Wagner is a well-respected musician (and cyclist, for that matter!) about town, a percussionist described by the High Zero Festival guide as "a pure natural, an enigma, a question mark." They go on to characterize his drumming as "deeply perplexing" and call him "The Han Bennik of Hampden" because of his extreme use of dry humor in his music. Bob can be heard on numerous records with his groups Companion Trio, The Can Openers, and The Recordings. He also performs with The Pleasant Livers, whose set I was lucky to catch at Baltimore's 2012 SoWeBo Festival.

Watch The Pleasant Livers play "Big Headed Baby" (YouTube)



Related Links:
Pratt's 16mm Film Rarities (Accelerated Decrepitude)
A New Generation Keeps It Reel on 16mm (Accelerated Decrepitude)
Top 10 Pratt 16mm Film Rarities (Accelerated Decrepitude)
Shorts Circuit (Accelerated Decrepitude)
The Great Ecstasy of the 16mm Film Series (Accelerated Decrepitude)

A Look Back - and Forward - at Tru Fax & Dark Carnival

Following are some thoughts about some tracks lost between the cracks of time, a celebration of some great local music by Tru Fax and Dark Carnival that I've been too lazy to review - until now!

Tru Fax & The Insaniacs @ 2013 SoWeBo Festival

Just the Fax, Ma'am!
Running into the perpetually perky Diana Quinn at the Black Cat club in Washington, D.C. last week (for the first stop of Buzzcocks's 2014 North American Tour) reminded me that I was criminally negligent for not reviewing the latest music from her classic and long-running D.C. pop quartet, Tru Fax & The Insaniacs. You see, I bought a 5-song CD-EP ( a steal at $5!) from Diana back in May when her group played the 2014 SoWeBohemian Festival.

The Mighty Quinn: The perpetually perky rocker Diana Quinn

Way back when I played drums (if that's what you want to call my limp-wristed attempts at keeping a beat) in Towson's first punk band Thee Katatonix (circa 1979-1980), we were good friends with the Insaniacs - they were our favorite D.C. group (along with The Slickee Boys and Black Market Baby, natch) and I was particularly close to Libby Hatch, the original Insaniacs bass player (formerly of The Shirkers) who tragically passed away before her time after a 1998 motorcycle accident. Perhaps the Kats bonded with the Fax because we were both underdogs whose technical ability was sometimes questioned in the early days: Katatonix frontman Adolf Kowalski used to boast, "We're the worst, that makes us the best!" while Washingtonian Magazine actually named Tru Fax the District's "Worst Band" of 1980. For their part, the Insaniacs wore the dubious award as a badge of honor, even flaunting their status as "Washington's Award Winning Band"! in their fliers, as shown below:

Tru Fax: "Hear Them Do Their Worst!"

Perhaps it was this self-effacing, ego-free attitude that so endeared them to me. Despite having two "rock chicks" in the early lineup, their onstage vibe was always that of cool nerds, like something out of a Daniel Pinkwater young adult novel, rather than "New Wave Punks." Back then, now noticeably slimmer guitarist David Wells was roly-poly and bespectacled, while Michael Mariotte wore big, thick tortoise-shell specs that made him look more like an accountant than a rock & roll drummer. They didn't care; the band was about making pop music and having fun, not putting on airs and copping attitudes.

"We adhere to the original punk ideals of musical simplicity, purity, and high satire, and we're committed to having fun." - Tru Fax Mission Statement

Their sound was accurately characterized by Silver Spring Penguin blogger Jennifer Deseo as "a mixture of buzzsaw guitars and Debbie Harry vocals...a gritty sound juxtaposed with a bubbly beat" accompanied by "cheeky irony that makes punk deliciously irreverent" ("Local Licks: Tru Fax and the Insaniacs," March 28, 2008). Deseo added that songs like "Betsy's Dressed Up,""Friday" and "Pictures Of You" mirrored the punk end of Blondie's Parallel Lines (a list to which I would add the new song "Quarry House," with its soaring "Atomic" vocals intro). "Other tunes - 'King of Machines' and 'Washingtron' nod at Stooges," she continued, "and 'Love Love Love' is a gabba-gabba-hey! away from The Ramones." So Tru(e)!

Listen to "Love Love Love."



The Debbie Harry-style singing of Diana Quinn is an especially spot-on comparison, but as far as songwriting goes, my girlfriend Amy had an even better analogy. "Diana Quinn is either the Ceil Strakna of D.C. or Ceil Strakna is the Diana Quinn of Baltimore!" she observed one day. The comparison to former Boy Meets Girl and Big As a House singer-songwriter-guitarist Ceil Strakna is apt, as both ladies had the song-writing chops to match their outstanding vocals.

Charm City's Diana Quinn: Ceil Strakna fronting Boy Meets Girl

And it doesn't stop there: Diana also plays in two side bands, the retro/alt Honky Tonk Confidential and the '60s "Girl Sound" ensemble The Fabulettes.

Tru Fax would soldier on after Libby Hatch with various other bass players (Jamie Cramer is the latest) and Diana would win a 1998 WAMMIE (Washington Area Music Association award) for Best Rock/Pop Female Vocalist, but over the years I lost track of them. Until, thanks to the encouragement of the Kats'Adolf Kowalski, Tru Fax rekindled memories of their late-70s/early 80's brilliance by once again gigging in Charm City with the Kats, first at the Metro Gallery in February 2013 and then at the 2013 and 2014 SoWeBohemian Festivals. (Diana also performed at the 2013 Honfest in Hampden with her swinging '60s "Girl Group Sound" band The Fabulettes.)

Watch Tru Fax play at the 2013 SoWeBo Festival.



Watch Tru Fax play "Chinese Wall" at the 2014 SoWeBo Festival.



Though they only released one album (1982's Mental Decay on Wasp Records, with Tim Carter on bass guitar) and one classic 45 (1980's "Washingtron" b/w "Mystery Date" on Wasp Records), Diana reports that a new CD is in the works for release in the fall of 2014.

Tru Fax's "Washington" 45 (Wasp Records, 1980)

Tru Fax's "Mental Decay" LP (Wasp Records, 1982)

This is good news, very good news indeed! (According to their official web site, Tru Fax had originally planned to release a CD in 2007 that would have included their vinyl 45 and album, plus eight new songs, but it never came to pass. So far, only four Tru Fax songs - live versions of "King of Machines,""Chinese Wall,""T.V. Me," and "Washingtron" - have appeared on a commercially available CD, 1997's hard-to-find 9:30 LIVE!: A Time, A Place, A Street 2-disc set, recorded during the final days of D.C.'s old 9:30 club.)

9:30 LIVE! CD (1997, Genes Records)

Perhaps now, since their long player Mental Decay only came out on vinyl, there will finally be digital versions of that album's "Love, Love, Love,""What the World Needs Now," and "Mars Needs Women" for the world-at-large (at least the world beyond The District) to enjoy at last! And maybe (please!) that Killer B-side "Mystery Date"?

I'm a secret admirer of Tru Fax's "Mystery Date"

According to recent posts on the Tru Fax Facebook page, we can count on the following songs to appear on the new CD: "Beautiful World,""Pictures of Dorian Gray," and hopefully personal fave "Chinese Wall."

In the meantime, here's are some more clues to what we can expect from the Insaniacs based on their latest EP teaser release.


TRU FAX & THE INSANIACS
5-Song CD EP (2014)

Tru Fax & The Insaniacs 5-song CD EP

1. "Washingtron" (2014 update)

We're all Washingtrons!

This sounds like a beefed-up, slightly faster re-recording of the 1980 original that became an instant anthem for all residents of The District. (Of course, I may be wrong - since I no longer have a phonograph that works, I can't compare it to the original 45. If it's not a rerecording, then the original is holding up very well!) Diana adds some additional patter and vocal dubs, but this is still basically the unadulterated timeless classic that remains as relevant today as almost 35 years ago, even with all its time-topical references ("Accu-tron watches" and the movie Tron - of course!).

Over crunching guitars, Diana states the case for D.C.'s conflicted white-collar workers who want to pursue idealistic-elitist dreams but often end up as anonymous cogs in a dreary bureaucratic machine:

"We don't know nothing, we want to know less
It's all too hard, the world's a mess - it's not our fault
The things they told us turned out to be lies
We know the truth has got to be disguised - for our protection
Just wanna make it but before it's spent
I wanna live a life that's Heaven sent" 

It all leads up to Mariotte's driving beat signaling the famous chorus:

"I used to work as a waitron in the lounge of the Hiltron
Now I work for my Senatron and I live in Arlingtron
I'm just a Washingtron, we're all Washingtrons, Washingtrons"

It's great to have a anthem that defines your city. Diana's done that cheekily for DC, in the same way Blammo's "Sweet Home Balt-amore" has defined Baltimore as The City That Bleeds or KISS has defined Detropia as "Detroit Rock City."


2. "Britney Spears"

"Of all the jilted Mouseketeers, I love to hate for Britney Spears"

This must be a few years old, because Britney Spears today is "so 15 minutes ago," but nonetheless it's a blistering skewering of today's cookie cutter talent-challenged pop divas. Or, as Diana sings:

"Pop culture doesn't make any sense, made up of starlets with lots of pretense
American Idols who don't know how sing, rock stars who just go bling, bling, bling"

Britney Spears: Mother of the Year?

Diana continues,

The thing that really baffles me, makes me wanna drink, makes me wanna flee
No matter when I flip on my TV, all I see is Britney
I wanna smash the television, toss my fanzine
Watch a train collison, take some Thorazine
Get a missile launcher, shoot down a satellite
Yeah I think I wanna pick a fight

Erstwhile Mouseketeer Britney Spears

Of all the jilted Mouseketeers, I love to hate for Britney Spears
I hate to love for Britney Spears, I hate to hate for Britney Spears

Who cares if she's a bad mom, likes a line of coke with her cheese and salam?
I don't think she's such a cutie when she flashes me her waxed patootie

I love the sentiments behind this melodic rant, and look for future put-downs of here-today/gob-tomorrow disposable pop stars like Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and their twerk-and-roll ilk.

3. "Mental Decay"

"Now that I'm older, I'm falling apart"

Though its the title of their 1982 long player, this marks the first appearance of a lyrically clever song every Baby Boomer can relate to.


When I was younger, I used to be smart
Now that I'm older, I'm falling apart
I just can't seem to cogitate smart
My cerebellum, it's not in my heart

I'm getting slow, I'm getting slow
I'm getting stupid you know

As I get older, I seem to think less
I can't do addition, my life is a mess
My intellect's lacking, I'm outta control
The Gallup Poll asks me, I answer 'I dunno'

I don't know, uh, uh...
'What's the capital of the Soviet Union?'
'Is it Russia?' I just don't know!

What's the question again? Where am I?

I've got my eyes in circles, I listen to KISS
I know I'm demented, but isn't it bliss?
I'm getting senile, this mental decay
My favorite expression is 'Have a nice day!"

The lyrics ring all too true for this AARP member, and David Wells' rollicking guitar solo proves that he, for one, isn't suffering from any osteoarthritis.

4. "Quarry House"

The Quarry House Tavern in Silver Spring, MD

After a soaring vocals opening (think Debbie Harry-circa-"Atomic"), Diana pips "Welcome to Silver Spring!" before singing the praises of the Quarry House Tavern, a "dive bar" in Silver Spring, MD, that's popular with musicians and fans of rockabilly music.

If you're not in the mood, sick of culture and fine food
Want a place that's full of paramours and dudes
Where the johns are lacking clean, and the staff's a little lean

In a town named for a spring
Full of shops and movies and bling
Beneath the surface hell, there's a clientele strangely warming

Don't you need a place to hide, from the everlasting tide
Where nobody seems to notice life's not perfect?

Only a band with Punk/New Wave street cred can do justice to a skewering of DC's yuppified suburban paradise, and Diana & Co. don't disappoint as they find a place more to their calling, an even more underground 9:30 Club for those outsiders who do notice that's "life's not perfect" - and are glad of it!

Silver Spring: The kind of place where life is worth living

5. "Message To You"
 



This is Tru Fax's hilarious parody of those infamous  "419 scams" - you know, the fraudulent advance-fee mail or e-mail requests (similar to the "Spanish Prisoner" scams of the late 19th century) often associated with foreign nations like Nigeria (419 is the section of the Nigerian Criminal Code dealing with fraud). Famous variations feature either a Nigerian Prince or royal family member requesting financial assistance from you - yes you! - because not only do "we hear you are confident and have strict criteria" but we're hoping you're also very stupid! After all, who wouldn't want to send money to a total stranger promising untold riches - it's a no-brainer, n'est pas?!?

To assist an unfortunate widow, we came across your address
And crave your kind indulgence, with this very important business
My father was a wealthy man, he died in a plane crash
Can you please help me with a transfer, 'cause I really need the cash

CHORUS:
This is a message to you, please sincerely respond
We seek your cooperation, from way across the Pond

Please observe with confidentiality
I'll provide you with hospitality
100 million dollars we guarantee
60 for you and 40 for me

We hear that you are confident, and have some strict criteria
Please don't forget to send the fee to my bank here in Nigeria

This is a funny song with beautiful guitar strumming.

*****************

DARK CARNIVAL
"Book of Love" b/w "Second Chance"
Limited edition red vinyl 7"
(Merkin Records, 1989)

"Book of Love/Second Chance" 45 (Merkin Records, 1989)

I mentioned before how the (thee?) Katatonix connection helped rekindle memories of the criminally neglected tunes of Tru Fax & Co. Well, they also helped stir memories of another criminally neglected local band from that era called Dark Carnival. You see, two outstanding staples of Thee Kats' live shows over the years have been "Book of Love" (especially during their neo-psych phase) and "Second Chance," and both poptastic tunes were penned by lead guitarist Charlie Gatewood (aka "Mr. Urbanity")dating back to his late '80s days leading this Kats spin-off group whose ranks included Katatonix drummer "Big" Andy Small and bass player Ken Malecki.

In 1989, Baltimore's Merkin Records released a limited edition red vinyl 7" of the two songs. "Book of Love" was technically the A-side but, like classic era Buzzcocks "singles-going-steady," it was basically a double A-side release, with the songwriting quality making this arguably the greatest post-punk record ever to come out of Charm City. (Berserk's 1991 "Giant Robots/When I Think" 7", also on Merkin, begs to be part of this discussion as well!) (For D.C., the best single debate would come down to Tru Fax's "Washingtron/Mystery Date" versus Tommy Keene's "Back To Zero/Mr. Roland.")





Despite that, this rare collectible is virtually impossible to find on the open market, unless you want to fork over $15 for a German distributor import. I recall buying a copy from the band when they played a record-release show at the Galaxy Ballroom back in the day, but alas, it's long been lost in the black hole that is my vinyl 45 collection (shame too, because it came with a lyric sheet insert that rightly puts the spotlight on Urbanity's urbane wordplay).

What makes this single so, um, singular, is that both tunes merrily spin around the record player with nary a stitch: there is no filler, no dead space, no wasted lines. Pop perfection in just a little over three minutes flat: songwriting craft at its best.

A-Side: "Book of Love"

Fast-tempo guitar and drums race through this pop confection as Mr. Urbanity sings "I want to read the Book of Love/I want to see what you know between the pages." On the bridge, Gatewood throws in a change-of-pace reggae guitar riff (think Jonathan Richman's "Egyptian Reggae") that shows the influence of this musical style on the eclectic guitarist. (When I first met Charlie Gatewood at Towson State University circa 1980, he was working at a record store and always talked enthusiastically about reggae records - that is, before he discovered the similar joys of punk, New Wave, and post-punk while playing in Thee Katatonix.)

Watch Thee Katatonix play "Book of Love."



A version of "Book of Love" also appears on Thee Katatonix's Thanks Hon, 30th Anniversary CD (U.K. Spud, 2009). The Katatonix version is notable for adding keyboards to Dark Carnivals's guitar-only propelled mix. Both versions are outstanding and compliment one another.

B-Side: "Second Chance"

Watch Thee Katatonix play "Second Chance."




Mr. Urbanity's paen to love-at-second-sight reflects its subject's immediacy, the Boy Meets Girl rush best deconstructed by The Kinks as "Girl-I-want-to-be-with-you-all-of-the-time/All-day-and-all-of-the-night."

The song opens with the fairly typical rush-of-crush lyrics...

I don't wanna have took everywhere to find you
I don't wanna have to look anywhere at all
I was looking through the photographs
Yeah I think you're unforgettable
And I wanna see you once again for a laugh 

Look out, look out, here I come again
I wanna see you, I wanna talk to you
I wanna love you to the end

With breakneck speed, the tune continues, with Urbanity's words adding, on second pass, more indelible images:

I was looking through the photographs
And I think you're almost edible
And I wanna see you once again for a laugh 

Look out, look out, you know I'm gonna call
I wanna hold you, I wanna scold you, I wanna have it all!

The track's opening and closing guitar onslaught signals the obvious effect playing harder-edged riffs in Thee Katatonix had on Urbanity.

Merkin Records Seedy Sampler (1989)

Another Dark Carnival song, the industrial-toned "Back to the Factory," appears on the 1989 Merkin Records Seedy Sampler album. Despite the exceptional pedigree of Gatewood's songwriting and the band's musicianship, Dark Carnival's back catalog consists of just these three songs. Alas. Gatewood and Small eventually returned to the Katatonix fold, where Mr. Urbanity's melodic pop tendencies and image-packed lyrics (especially on songs like "Ordinary Sunday,""Shake, Shake" and "Daisy Chain") - and Small's rock-solid beat - continue to shine.

Note: Should you try to track down Baltimore's Dark Carnival records, be sure not to confuse them with Detroit's Dark Carnival, a band featuring ex-Destroy All Monsters singer Niagra and ex-Stooges Ron and Scott Ashton.

The other Dark Carnival: I'm pretty sure that's not Mr. Urbanity in heels!

********************

Related Links:
Tru Fax and The Insaniacs (Facebook)
Tru Fax and The Insaniacs (www.trufax.com)
Tru Fax and the Insaniacs (My Space) (there are lots of videos here!)
Tru Fax & The Insaniacs (15 tracks to hear @ ohmytracks.com)
Radio Baltimore: Tru Fax & The Insaniacs (Mobtown Shank)

Or: Bravo, Balto Weirdos!

[Note: This is a salvaged draft of an earlier post (June 9, 2014 to be exact), most of which was lost in the Blogosphere thanks to Blogger's deficiencies, which are too many to go into; but now, like a moth drawn to the flame, I go cautiously once more into the fray...]

It was a trip down Memory Lane - not to mention The Marble Bar, Oddfellows Hall, Maxwells, Spirits, the 8x10, and so on and so on...

(May 24, 2014) - Tonight's the night! I made the Double-A List (thanks Bob, thanks Mindi!) of invitees to a private party called Band Bash 2014: "You're With the Band!" (Mission Statement: "We are paying tribute to our friends, families and others who have suffered through the hardships of repititous rehearsals, frightening feedback and decor-destroying equipment. This party is for you!")atHeritage Parkville Gardens Hall in the Parkville Shopping Center.

It was an offer no one could refuse: free hot and cold buffet (the cinnamon cake desert alone was worth the price of admission - if there was one!), free beer and wine, and free musical performances by a lineup of luminous local legends. History may have relegated them to being rumors in their own time and legends in their own rooms, but on this night in this room, they were beheld as rock avatars in the collective minds of everyone there with two ears and a taste for good, smart music.

Yes, in the age of Smart Food, Smart Drinks, Smart TVs and Smart Phones (not to mention Smart Asses, who are mostly found at comic book conventions and nightly on Fox News), there is such a thing as Smart Music, and it was made on this night by three bands with, as they say in Kentucky horse-breeding country, impeccable best-in-class "bloodlines": the bossa nova-and-a-more-a Trio Novo (keyboardist Bob Tiefenwerth, bassist Paul Reiger, and drummer Tim Taormino)...

"Kick out the jams, mofos!: MC Rod Misey introduces Trio Novo

...venerable rock vets OHO (featuring guitarist Jay Grabowski and drummer Dave Reeve, with guest vocals on a Kinks cover courtesy of Dave "Steptoe T. Magnificent" Wilcox), and the "progressive rock for the contemporary absurdist" stylings of Buck Subtle & The Little Planets (keyboard-vocalist mastermind Mark O'Connor, his singer-guitarist wife Mary Lis, sax player Mindi Siegel (with her signature "Coltrane on the Moon" sound), and a former Da Moronics rhythm section of bassist Charles Freeman and drummer Jaimie Wilson, Sr.).

Buck Subtle & The Little Planets

Mary Lis and Chuck Freeman of The Little Planets

Jamie Wilson & Mindi Siegel

Saxy Mindi Siegel toots her own horn while savy Mark O'Connor sings

Monkey To Man: Jamie Wilson's drumming has really evolved from Da Moronics days

Buck Subtle's set was highlighted by "Pluto's Not a Planet Anymore" (renamed "Poor Pluto" and appearing with seven more tracks on their new CD Lowdown, recorded at Baltimore's Invisible Sound recording studio and available from CD Baby, CD Universe and Amazon.com)...

Buck Subtle gives listeners the "Lowdown" (2014)

...and O'Connor's homage to Moby Grape singer-songwriter-drummer Don Stevenson's infamous middle finger salute on the cover of Moby Grape's 1967 debut album (which was airbrushed off on subsequent reissues).

Don Stevenson makes a point for Moby Grape

Basically, most of the musicians gathered in Parkville on this night could trace their roots to the "OHO-GOHOG Revue," a multi-tentacled assortment of like-minded bands including the original OHO (named after the initials of O'Connor, bassist Steve Heck & guitarist Joe O'Sullivan, with guitarist Jay Grabowski & drummer Jeff Grabowski bookmarking them as GOHOG), Dark Side, Trixy & The Testones, Food For Worms, Klangfarb, U.S.E. (United States of Existence - a neo-psych group featuring Trio Novo's Paul Rieger and Bob Tiefenwerth and former Ebeneezer & The Bludgeons singer Dennis Davison), Little Hans, and BLAMMO (Beleaguered League of Artists Meeting Mass Opposition).

Best of Baltimore's Buried (1980)

Their output over the years dominates the two Best of Baltimore's Buried records (the 1980 LP Best of Baltimore's Buried and 2003's Best of Baltimore Buried, Vol. 2 CD), which, far from sounding dated, hold up well compared to current professional recording standrads - damned well, in fact!

Best of Baltimore's Buried Bands, Vol. 2 (2003)

Note that the "Great OHO Schism" eventually split the band into Jay Grabowski and Mark O'Connor camps, with Grabowski carrying on the brand name and O'Connor branching off into new, Not OHO (NOHO?) ensembles like Blammo and now Buck Subtle & The Little Planets.

In a just world where the cream always rises to the top, Outrageous, OHO, Food For Worms, or Blammo would have been not just the Best of Baltimore but recognized as among the best in the world at what they do: creating funny, melodic, danceable rock songs, with the added heft of actually being thought-provoking (that's what you get with a bunch of artists and Philosophy majors - it's almost a categorical imperative!).

Remember, these were the pre-Punk days when "Prog" wasn't just another four-letter curse word (one described by The Rock Snob's Dictionaryas "the single most deplored genre of postwar pop music, inhabited by young musicians who, entranced by the eclecticism, elaborate arrangements, and ostentatious filigrees of the Beatles'Sgt. Pepper era, distorted their enthusiasm into a seventies morass of eternal song suites with multiple time signatures, ponderous space-cadet or medievalist lyrics, ridiculous capes and headpieces...and an overall wretched bigness of sound, staging, and hair") but a sign of intelligence like Roxy Music, Eno, or Van Der Graf Generator. Always self-effacing, Mark O'Connor would later write "Prog Man" for Blammo, which both celebrated and lampooned the Prog Rock Era: "I'm a Prog Man, with my synthesizer/I'm a Prog Man, I'm your tranquilizer.")

Probably what held the GOHOG pack back is the fact that they were just a bunch of ordinary looking guys more concerned with making music than projecting image, unlike the majority of today's hair-today-gone-tomorrow flash-in-the-pans and glammd-up American Idol prima donnas.

Gyro J. Scope in FFW's "It Needs a Haircut" music video

And, other than "singing human lightning rod"  Gyro J. Scope (Ed Barker) - whose OHO-inspired Outrageous may have been the best (albeit outrageously short-lived and unheralded) local prog rock group to emerge from the '70s and whose "Who Am I? Where Am I?" is the hands-down highlight of the Best of Baltimore Buried LP (narrowly eclipsing OHO's "We'll Be Famous When We're Dead") -  there was no truly charismatic frontman leading these various lineups. (Gyro would go on to play with both Food For Worms and Blammo.)

Listen to Outrageous play "Who Am I? Where Am I?"




These well-schooled rockers weren't concerned with window dressing and they never took themselves that seriously - they were funny, clever, and self-deprecating. Indeed, Food For Worms - with O'Connor, Grabowski, Barker, and Reeve all contributing songs - may very well have been Baltimore's answer to 10cc, another too-clever-for-their-own-good band blessed with multiple songwriters but without that shining star frontman or easy-to-peg identity.

The folks at Hyped 2 Death Records (a great singles compilation resource) called FFW's sound "good guitar-and-wheezy keyboards Human Switchboard Velvet Monkeys garagewave" and sell copies of the group's 1981 single "I Don't Wanna Be President/Another Crack in the Jaw" at the rare collectible price of $19!

Food For Worms 1981 single: Collectible "Garage-wave"

But I prefer the band's own characterization of their sound as "Gothic Pop, Slavic Funk & Balkan Bop at its best!"

Food For Worms: Gothic Pop, Slavic Funk & Balkan Bop at its best!

Food For Worms was notable also for being one of the few local bands to not only make a video, but to have it air on MTV, back in the days when the fledgling 24/7 cable TV network actually played (and was desperate for)  music videos. In fact, my girlfriend Amy Linthicum and her friend Liz Crain had cameos in the crypt-rocking video for 1983's "It Needs A Haircut, (about a long-haired corpse getting a posthumous makeover) as shown below.

Watch "It Needs a Haircut."




The FFW tradition of smart and smart-ass rock carried over into O'Connor's next musical venture, Blammo (whose ranks included Gyro J. Scope and Bob Tiefenwerth), as witnessed in his amusing anthem "Sweet Home Balt-amore" - another in a long line of songs about his hometown (e.g., "Horrible Place" about the then-new downtown showcase Harborplace and "Fun In Nicaragua" with its topical lines during the Iran-Contra Scandal about a certain Orioles pitcher: "Dennis Martinez, your home is where the heat is!").

Listen to Blammo play "Sweet Home Balt-amore."




If I've said it once, I've said it a million times: along with Randall Peck (Boatniks) and David Cawley (Berserk, Garage Sale), Mark O'Connor is one of the few area artists whose songs make me laugh out loud.

What a treat this night was! It was like going to a wedding reception except the band(s) didn't suck and the DJ wasn't obnoxious (indeed, the evening's MC was none other than former WCVT psych-rock jock Rod "The Mod" Misey!). And this wedding, marking the marriage of classic '70s-on-up Local Prog Rock to Baltimore Weirdos (AARP Edition), was thrown and paid for by the largesse of Paul Reiger, Esq.

Host Paul Reiger (Trio Novo) and MC Rod Misey

Apparently Mr. Reiger is doing quite well, thankyou, as a lawyer! As Bob Tiefenwerth remarked later to me, "You see, you should have stayed in law school!" (Bob's right about that - as he was when he also told Mark O'Connor that he never should have sold his Mellotron, as later lamented in the Blammo song "You Never Should have Sold Your Mellotron"! O'Connor's Mellotron melancholia also surfaced in another Blammo song, the Gyro J. Scope-sung "Prog Man": "I'm a Prog Man/I would never sell my Mellotron!" Both songs are available on Best of Baltimore's Buried, Vol, 2.) By the way, Tiefenwerth's impressive art was also on display this night, along with other paintings and art by Connell Byrne, Maureen Nolan, and David Wilcox.

I thoroughly enjoyed Paul's latest collaboration with Bob, but I hope that someday he might coax Dennis Davison back to Charm City so that he and Bob could once again don their love beads and Nehru jackets and revive, if only for one night, their trippy cult '90s neo-psych band United States of Existence.

Listen to U.S.E. play "Anything Goes" with The Association.




Before we arrived, Amy remarked that she wouldn't know anyone there except for Mark O'Connor and Dave Wilcox (The Alcoholics, Problems Pets, Grand Poobah Subway, Chelsea Graveyard & the Screams At Midnight, et al), but the minute we walked in she was immediately greeted by her good friend Mark Silvestri! (This being Smalltimore, Mark's brother Matt is good friends with Paul Reiger's wife and...there ya go!) And I ran into my old pals Alexandra Doumani and Jay Ludwig (Jay and I were in The Boatniks, whose ranks also included Katie Katatonic, Randall Peck, and Rick and Stephanie Eeney).

The Boatniks: Tom Warner, Randall Peck, Jay Ludwig, Katie Katatonic

It was a great night to catch up with countless old friends of both symbiotic camps - musicians and fans - alike. Folks like "Mrs. Steptoe"Alice Wilcox, the always affable Chuck Gross (The Beaters) (who in the midst of all the music couldn't stop raving about Svengooli and Me TV's Saturday night lineup), and my long-time-no-see college pal Mary "Myrtle May" Crivello, who grew up in Hamilton and thus was well-aquainted with the GOHOG Revue, especially Outrageous and the many Mark O'Connor ensembles from the '70s and '80s. Myrt reminisced about hanging out with the Barker boys during Outrageous practices in Hamilton, and I promised her I'd make her a copy of the four-song Outrageous suite appearing on Best of Baltimore's Buried Bands, Vol. 2.

Mary "Myrt" Crivello & Tom Warner reunite

Speaking of which, I think I stumbled onto Gyro's Outrageously obscure web site, Fastelder.com ("Electric Music for the Wilted Mind"), where one can listen to all four Outrageous songs on that CD sampler - "A Letter From Kevin,""Faggy Goats at the Neck of the Woods,""Madman Serenade," and "The Laughing Man" - as well as capsule reviews of them.

I love the description of "Faggy Goats": ""A decade before Spinal Tap did Stonehenge with dwarves, Gyro J. Scope wrote this masterpiece about elves, bowling (again, ahead of the curve) and Goats of an alternative persuasion" with what may be the first bass solo run through a Fuzz box and ending vocals inspired by Ethel Merman. A masterpiece indeed! And the chicken solo in "Madman Serenade" is wonderful as well!

"Be kind in your evaluation," Gyro asks on the fast Elder web site.  "This was the 70's. The effects available at the time came in two flavors - Fuzz & Wah...Double tracking was done with two tracks" and "Loops were pieces of tape splice together, and a flanger was somebody's thumb on the rim of a tape reel (hence the name!)"

All the more's the glory that Outrageous, like its other like-minded "avante-fringe" peers in the GOHOG Revue, made such fantastic sounds over the years - sounds that were recalled and celebrated anew this very night.

But I digress...back to the party!

In summary: Thanks Paul and thanks all ye bands for an evening bash that was a bona fide smash!

Chick's Legendary Retirement Party 
Saturday, January 17, 2015
The Ottobar
2549 N. Howard Street

Chick's Legendary Retirement Party (flier by David Wilcox)

Stop me if you've heard this one before, but Harry "Chick" Veditz - ertswhile owner of Chick’s Legendary Records on Sulgrave Avenue in Mount Washington Village back in the day; longtime City of Baltimore and State of Maryland employee; and indefatigable collector of, well, everything  - is once again hosting a party for friends, co-workers, and legendary local musicians at The Ottobar in North Baltimore.

"This Chick is coming home to roost, baby!"

Last August, Chick threw a big bash (food, drinks, music!) at the Ottobar just to catch up with past, present and future friends and to feature three of his favorite local troubadours: Garage Sale, Chelsea Graveyard, and The Stents. That "Chicks-a-palooza" throw-down was such a success that Chick decided to hit the replay button and celebrate his official retirement this year from the 9-to-5 grind of gainful employment with those three groups at a Ring-in-the-New Year party this Saturday night. But the highlight of the evening may well be the addition of a fourth ensemble, Washington, DC's The Yachtsmen, whose line-up includes the charismatic and sartorially resplendent Mark Noone.


The former Slickee Boy singer has been in various bands over the years (The Wanktones, The Wranglers, The Rhodes Tavern Troubadours, Hula Monsters) but his latest group finally lets him act out his fantasy alter ego of millionaire Thurston Howell III from Gilligans Island while plucking away on bass guitar as well. His shipmates include Joel App and John Penovich, and like Noone, they are inspired by all able-bodied seamen, from Jack Kennedy to The Love Boat's Captain Stubing.

Thurston Howell III: A Well-respected Man About Yacht

I haven't been this excited about hearing some sea-faring rock & roll since the maiden voyage of Towson's Little Toot & The Boatniks back in the early '80s!

Watch The Yachtsmen play "You Gotta Tell Me Why" (Surf Club, 7-16-2011)


The retirement party is Chick's way of saying thank you to his family, friends, every customer over the years, and the bands. His sage advice to those he knows is always simple and true to his (vinyl at) heart: "Support local music and go play a record!"

Related Links:
The 2014Chicks-a-palooza Party (Baltimore Or Less)

Reflections on Chick's Legendary Retirement Party
Saturday, January 17, 2015
The Ottobar

Chick Veditz went out with a bang at The Ottobar with help from The Yachtsmen, Chelsea Graveyard, Garage Sale & The Stents

Harry "Chick" Veditz's retirement party last Saturday night at The Ottobar was a textbook example of how to say goodbye to the working life with a BANG!, not a whimper. Four fantastic bands - The Yachtsmen, Chelsea Graveyard and The Screams at Midnight, Garage Sale, and The Stents - provided a rockin' musical backdrop to what was not just one man's farewell to the 9-to-5 rat race but a reunion of all his friends past, present - and future.

The Yachtsmen took Ottobar landlubbers on a smooth-sailing Sea Cruise

Chelsea Graveyard: Steptoe, Fernando and new guy Professor Henri Van Lingenfelder

Yes, in addition to all the old rockers (you know who you are!) in the audience who gathered to pay homage to the man who ran Chick's Legendary Records in its two Mount Washington locations between 1978-1992, there were some youngbloods (including a few 20something hipster chicks decked out in all their clubland finery - and I'm sure their red heels did not go unnoticed by Chelsea Graveyard frontman Steptoe T. Magnificent, author of the randy chestnut "Red Shoes") scattered throughout the teeming throng - and not just kids there with their parents (like Rachel Milstein, who lent her familial support to Chelsea Graveyard guitarist Stevie Squeegee).

From the balcony, Rachel Milstein kept a close watch on her dad (white shirt) in Chelsea Graveyard

There was a huge turnout for Chick's Retirement Party at The Ottobar

It was great to see a Who's Who of vintage local musicians, music fans, and music critics on hand for the festive occasion, including: Skunkpuppies bassist, the Outrageous Gyro J. Scope (aka Ed Barker), his little bro Ronnie Barker, George Wilcox, former City Paper scribes Michael Anftand Michael Yockel (Mr. Yockel having a "quiet" night out away from his Mr. Mom duties at home with his indefatigable twin baby boys, Castor & Pollux, er, I mean, Tex & Miner)...

Open Mike Night with Anft and Yockel

...yet another CP alumnus (and, like Chick, yet another record store alumnus) Jim Maher, Mindi Siegel (Buck Subtle & The Little Planets), Cindy Borchardt (The Beaters, The Monuments), Rod Misey (former WCVT-Towson U. New Wave DJ '77-'90, whose current WVUD-Delaware U. podcasts are essential listening) , honey-sweet award-winning Maryland apiatrix Beth Sherring (there to cheer on her hubby, new Chelsea Graveyard bassist Professor Henri Van Lingerfelder)...

Professor Henri Van Linglefelder prepares his notes for Chelsea Graveyard

...Sharon Rudolph, Mike & Gail Maxwell, and three-quarters of The Slickee Boys - Kim Kane, Marshall Keith, and (Yachtsmen bassist) Mark Noone - in attendance. It was strange to see former Slickee Boys vocalist Noone sharing vocals with the other Yachtsmen, but reassuring to see him belt out the Slickees classic "You Gotta Tell Me Why" (a highlight of an impressive set). The Yachtsmen's caps, blazers and khakis evoked the sartorial spirit of their inspiration, millionaire Thurston Howell III from Gilligan's Island, but the coup de grace of their show was the placement of two martini glasses on a barstool. Very swank, Yachtsmen!

The Yachtsmen: Maximum martini rock & roll

"A long long time ago The Slickee Boys played at Harry Chick Veditz's record store in Baltimore. It was a hot summer day. But just as we set up a thunderstorm rolled in. Most of the people that were there to see us ran for their cars and split. But we squeezed into the store wherever we could fit. A few people stayed around to see us and peruse the records. Even with the rain it was still hot. But a fun memory." - Marshall Keith

Mark Noone of The Yachtsmen

Chick knows all too well the unifying power of rock & roll, regardless of era. Besides paying homage to his fave bands of the past - The Yachtsmen being a trio featuring Mark Noone of Chick's all-time favorite retro-psych-garage rockers, The Slickee Boys, and Chelsea Graveyard being an oldies hit parade of various Dave Wilcox-led Marble Bar ensembles (Poobah, Rockhard Peter, The Alcoholics, Problem Pets) over the years -  Chick has never closed his lobes to new exciting sounds around town. Case in point, Chick has only recently discovered and become a devoted fan of groups like Garage Sale and The Stents.

Garage Sale

The Stents

I only regret that I could only stay to catch The Yachtsmen (who, in addition to having great outfits, are great musicians to boot!)  and Chelsea Graveyard (who never sounded better!), missing Garage Sale (who have now been performing for - gasp!- 20 years!) and The Stents because my beloved Amy had to get up for work the next day. (Oh well, we will catch The Stents when they strike next, with The Idle Gossip, February 7 at Stoneleigh Duckpin Lanes in Rodgers Forge.)

Oy to the world! Suburban House Deli's menu includes a Basic Yiddish Dictionary

But Chick has also discovered the great unifying power of "Coddies," the codfish and potato delicacy (served on saltine crackers with a mustard topping - and often without any codfish!) that was a  common after-school snack in 1950s and 1960s Baltimore. They were easily the highlight of the food spread - catered by Suburban House Deli - on offer Saturday night, even spurring Chick to suggest that The Coddies would make an excellent band name. I heartily concur!

Coddies, crackers and mustard!

As Chick posted on Facebook the next day:

"Once again The Coddies were the #1 food item people were talking about. Some new band should call themselves The Coddies - then again, maybe not." - Chick Veditz

 Watch the Levy brothers reminisce about eating coddies below:


Baltimore brothers remember coddies from American Food Roots on Vimeo.


 Chick continued his shout-out thanks to attendees and performers alike:

And of course; the four bands- The Yachtsmen, Chelsea Graveyard and the Screams at Midnight, Garage Sale, and The Stents- you all were incredible. You all gained a lot of new fans. I can't thank everyone enough. For those of you who had to leave and could not see The Stents, they will be Playing at the Stoneleigh Bowling Lanes on Saturday February 7th with the Idle Gossip opening. Some rock and bowl. I will be there so come on out. - Chick Veditz

Bowling with Stents is good for your health!

Besides Chick's retirement from work and strife, it was also a night that saw Dave "Dr. D" Zidek retire from his 10-year tour of duty with Chelsea Graveyard. Dr. D handed the four-stringed reigns over to Professor Henri Van Lingerfelder at the close of Chelsea Graveyard's set, as the Z-man is now set to gig full-time with The Harlan County Kings.

Chelsea Graveyard bid adieu to bassist Dave Zidek (far right)

Dave Zidek: "Hey, now that I'm retired, I can watch Chelsea Graveyard from the audience!"

Head bowed, a vaclempt Steptoe reflects on Dave Zidek's departure from Chelsea Graveyard

Chick not only provided a night of free booze, food and music, but also dished out custom t-shirts to the performers.

"If any of you are wondering who made the two T-shirts shown in other posts they were done by Adam Turkelof Altamont Records. He is based in Florida but is from Pikesville. The first party shirt was loosely designed by me and then Adam did his artistic magic and you see how it turned out. It was 90% Adam and 10% me if that. - Chick Veditz

Adam Turkel-designed t-shirt commemorating Chick's August 31, 2014 Ottobar party

The other shirt was from a poster from that show that was on the Stents site. I really like it so I had some made for The Stents and Garage Sale.

Chick gave The Stents and Garage Sale got t-shirts of this classic poster

Go on the Altamont web site and you can see all the great items they have. Adam started  hanging out at my stored when he was about 10 and was working for me when he was in high school. Besides being a great artist he is a really good musician as well and is in a band down in Florida. Thanks for the great shirts Adam; everyone loved them" -ChickVeditz

(FYI, besides his Chick's Legendary Records and t-shirt design connection, Adam Turkel used to play in the local band The Beatings. Check out his '90s Baltimore rock days recollections in the Sleazegrinder book Gigs From Hell: True Stories from Rock and Roll’s Frontline.)

Stents buttons: "Bargain-priced Beauties"!

And speaking of those Stents posters, they are truly awesome. I don't know who their designer is (perhaps bassist Scott Sugiuchi, he of Hidden Volume Records), but everything they produce - be it buttons, 45 rpm record sleeves, stickers, whatever - is hip from toe to tip! I'd buy their records even if I didn't like the music, just for the art and design. The influence of vintage retro clip art and the design aesthetics of record labels like Norton, Estrus and Blue (labels where everything from the design to the recording was/is part of the whole package) is unmistakeable. And that's another thing they share with the like-minded power-garage-surf-pop & sounds-that-jangle souls in Garage Sale, whose guitarist Alex Fine is responsible for some of the "Finest" graphic designs in the Land of Pleasant Living (and drummer Skizz Cyzyk is no slouch either when it comes to boss fliers).

"Maximum Rock & Bowl!": Yet another collectable Stents poster

Thanks again to Chick, his lovely wife Arlene (who tirelessly runs around greeting everyone and making sure everything runs smoothly), and everyone who made his retirement party a blast! But the last word must, by rights, go to Chick himself - the man of the moment who made the occasion so special:

Once again THANK YOU< THANK YOU< THANK YOU to everyone involved who made the party such a good time and a success-especially the weather."-Chick Veditz

Related Links:
Chick's Legendary Retirement Party (Flickr set)

We bid adieu to your sweet lovely ongaku!

United We Smile: Uzuhi's Final US Tour

"We are UZUHI! We play Music! We want to make you Happy!"

I am so glad that Amy Linthicum and I were able to say sayonara to NYC-based Japanese rock band Uzuhi ("oo-zoo-hee," the name means "sun" in Japanese) on their "United We Smile" Farewell US Tour, which stopped at Baltimore's Charm City Art Space (1731 Maryland Avenue) last night. The tour marks the end of Uzuhi's 10-year run playing music stateside with various lineups since forming in the Big Apple in the fall of 2004.

Uzuhi always take a picture of the audience at their shows; here's a shot showing the large turnout (pretty good for a Wednesday night!) at last night's gig, where they headlined a 4-band lineup that also included Dead End Lane, Clockbreaker, and The Street Parade:

Uzuhi singer Gosha took this photo of the audience at Charm City Art Space after their final Baltimore appearance on January 28, 2014

Singer Gosha (Takeyoshi Gosha Oba, a Curly Howard of Three Stooges clone) and keyboard-playing wife Tsubasa (Tsubasa Matsuda, who joined in 2007) had a baby and are returning to Tokyo on the "Island of Sushi" to carry on. Here's wishing them a great life back in Tokyo, where Tsubasa promises to keep making music while new dad Gosha will bring home the bacon (or sashimi) as a Salaryman.

Baby Uzuhi

As a musical concept, Uzuhi mixes punk-pop energy with unabashed sentimentality, a formula that successfully engages diverse and disparate people with its simple message: Smile, dance and be happy. It works - even the slam dancers last night were a respectful & happy lot. Uzuhi also believe that music has no borders, being able to transcend cultural and geographic differences to unite all people - especially young people who have not yet grown old and cynical (celebrated in songs like "This Is Our Generation" and "The Braves") - the world over with life's simple pleasures, which include love, dancing, eating, kids, and so on. Lyrically, their songs are not deep, but then a band that hopes for global appeal, regardless of language and beyond borders, must keep its message simple (as in their tune "S.O.S. - Simplicity of Satisfaction"). In a nutshell, that zeitgeist is "just do it,""go for it,""live your dream." As Gosha confided to the Charm City Art Space audience, he initially disappointed his father when  he told him he wanted to come to the US and be a "rock star." But, he added, he got to live his dream, playing countless American cities and meeting and connecting "with all you out there, and making you smile."

At their best, Uzuhi channel the anthemic punk energy of Japan's Blue Hearts and the J-Pop cuteness of a Puffy or Shonen Knife. Keyboardist Tsubasa Matsuda is the glue that holds together the band's sound (which they call "Positive Pop Punk" and "Japanese Energetic Punk Rock for This Generation"), one hand playing the melody while another works the bass lines that anchor the pop-punk beat. Not that the other players - drummer Yukiyoshi Kurata and blue-haired guitar shredder A-Key (Takaaki Ando, who also plays guitar in Shinsei and bass in Harlots Vice)- aren't aces on their respective instruments. The original drummer (Shu) and guitar player have long since departed (the drummer returned to his native Miyagi Prefecture in Japan following the Fukajima earthquake-tsunami disaster of 2011), with Tsubasa and Gosha remaining the core (and spirit) of the band.

Uzuhi keyboardist Tsubasa bonds with Amy Linthicum at Charm City Art Space

Gosha's voice will never be compared to Freddie Mercury's, but like the Queen frontman, he is a charismatic stage presence, one whose humor and joie de vivre cannot be denied. He's a fun and energetic guy, one who will suddenly jump off stage to dance with the crowd and grab fans to come onstage and sing with the band. As I said before, physically he reminds me of Curly Howard of Three Stooges fame (especially since he shaved off all his hair), frenetically scooting across the stage with whoops and hollers and always willing to play the clown. Resistance to Gosha's energy is futile. He's a force of positive vibes to be reckoned with!

Send in the Clowns: Me, Gosha & Chris Schatz @ Ottobar, September 2010

Tsubasa, Gosha & official mascot Peach Matsuda @ Sakura Matsuri festival

Amy loves what she calls Uzuhi's "broken but heartfelt English," as evidenced in song titles like "Sweet Lovely Chocolate Smile" and "Dear My Honki Friends." And new songs like "Kids Are the Future" from newbie parents Gosha and Tsubasa are almost embarrassingly innocent and wholesome for a band inspired by the Sex Pistols and punk rock - but then that's what makes these guys and gal so appealing. They are unabashedly positive and friendly in a jaded age of cynicism and irony. Or, as (half-Asian) Amy says, "It's a Japanese thing to be kinda corny about that sort of thing." (No wonder Japan is the land of kawaii, or saccharine-sweet "cuteness.")

Amy and I first discovered Uzuhi when they played the April 10, 2010 Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Festival) in Washington, D.C.and have been fans ever since. We liked them so much, we caught them when they came to Baltimore for the first time (a great show with Peelander-Z) at the Ottobar in September 2010, as well as their return appearance at DC's 2011 Sakura Matsuri (alas, we missed them there in 2014 thanks to a bathroom malfunction!).

We will miss seeing Uzuhi, who leave behind two CDs worth checking out,  2008's self-titled Uzuhi (containing their best - and most complex - composition, "The Braves") and 2009's Ongaku (it means "music" in Japanese). Most of the set performed at Charm City Art Space came from Ongaku (theme song "Uzuhi,""This Is Our Generation,""S.O.S. - Simplicity of Satisfaction,""Pura Vida!,""Sweet Lovely Chocolate Smile").

Related Links:
Uzuhi @ 2010 Sakura Matsuri
Uzuhi @ 2011 Sakura Matsuri
Uzuhi/Peelander-Z @ Ottobar (a Flickr set)
Uzuhi on Facebook
Uzuhi on Bandcamp
Uzuhi on MySpace
Uzuhi on Twitter

Redux Stage celebrates music long gone but far from forgotten



It was the best of times, it was the Worz of times (yes, perpetually frenetic scenester Keith Worz was there!) at the 30th annual SoWeBohemian Arts & Music Festival held this past Memorial Weekend Sunday in  Baltimore's failed experiment in neighborhood gentrification, SoWeBo (which I guess stands for SouthWest Baltimore, but was originally coined by the early bohemian settlers to show their solidarity with South Africa's Soweto townships).

Musicians chill in The Redux Stage's open-air VIP Lounge

Though there's a lot to see and do down at SoWeBo - like all the art and crafts on display (though most people seem to just eat, drink, get sunburn, and listen to the free music) - Amy "I have enough t-shirts & jewelry" Linthicum and I set out to hang at the Marble Bar Time Capsule Stage (officially known as The Redux Stage, on the corner of Arlington and Lombard) as our prime objective, because this was Festival Ground Zero for seeing all the old people (Marble Bar Baby Boomers like us) and hearing all the old music (late '70s & 1980s Punk-New Wave-Postpunk) that we like.

Marble Bar Boomers trux on down to Redux

The stage was managed by Fred Collins (Motor Morons, Pleasant Livers), with DJ "Lightning"Rod Misey (former WCVT-Towson State University and current WVUD-University of Delaware jock who interviewed and played countless Punk-New Wave bands - like Da Moronics, Ivan & The Executioners, Thee Katatonix, etc. - during his late '70s/early '80s radio reign) emceeing the proceedings and Joe Berky of Sound Productions handling, um, sound and production.

DJ MC Rod Misey

Once again the usual musical suspects - The Motor Morons (unofficial "house band" of SoWeBo), Thee Katatonix, The Beatoes, Mongoloidian Glow - were on stage to perform, but this year's highlight was easily the much-anticipated performance of The Mark Harp All-Stars - plus a surprise mini-set (courtesy of the Kats' Adolf Kowalski) by Washington D.C.'s '80s pop-punk wonders, Tru Fax & The Insaniacs.

Behind the Music: Robyn Webb

The Mark Harp All-Stars idea was the brainchild of long-time Harp collaborator Robyn Webb (following a suggestion by Fred Collins), who posted on her Facebook page the following thank-you to all who participated in the day's festivities:

Still in recovery, but want to offer major thanks to everyone, Chris Dennstaedt, Chris Ciattei, Cecilia Strakna, Robert J. Friedman, David Zidek, David Wilcox, Bill Dawson, Cindy Borchardt, Craig Considine and Ben Watson for making Mark Harp's All-Stars a reality one more time....Despite scheduling snafus, equipment failures and general chaos, they said it couldn't be done, but we pulled it off...Thanks also to Fred Collins, the SoWeBo Festival committee, Joe Berky, Thee Katatonix, Motor Morons, Mongoloidian Glow, Trufax & The Insaniacs, David Wright, Tom Warner and to all of you that stuck around until the bitter end to share Mark Harp's music with us. Great to see so many old friends together in one place. - Robyn Webb

Well said, Robyn. My only regret was that the star-studded set started so late, at Twilight's last gleaming after a long day's journey into (SoWeBo) blight. But as Larry Vega would say, "What the hell ya gonna do?"

Apparently, there was a little "drama" behind the scenes of the All-Stars event, but I try to avoid conflicts and confrontations as much as I can (I get enough of that on a daily basis at my job!); interested parties can read Robyn's soap opera recap at Mark Harp's All-Stars.) (I did, however, love Robyn's snarky riposte to all the post-event carping: "Lessons learned: Get a lead guitar player who owns a guitar. Never follow the Motor Morons or an animal act.")

Robert J. Friedman (aka "Beefalo Bob") put it all into perspective with his tempered observation that "...organizing the un-organizable Mark Harp All-Stars...(was) a task that made herding cats look easy. Sure it could have been better, and it should have been earlier, however I thought we served the Big Man's memory well and made him the star of yet another SoWeBo Festival!"

More on The Big Event celebrating the music of The Big Man, Mark Harp (Mark Linthicum, 1957-2004), later in this long-winded tome...but first, a litany of the day's events in chronological order as they happened...with accompanying videos recorded by yours truly...

Tom Warner, Vidiot About Town records the action

The SoWeBeatoes
Thanks to a family medical emergency, Amy and I missed most of The Beatoes' noon set (why so early?; we barely had time to put on our sunblock!), catching only their last number, "Mouse in a Blender," an old Poverty & Spit vermin supremo delicacy that featured guest vocals by erstwhile Spit and current Thee Katatonix honcho Adolf Kowalski.

Adolf K. spits it out while Chris D. strums along

Adolf released a bunch of balloons, just like Nena in "99 Luftballons," though I don't think his act was as symbolically charged as the Krautpop fraulein's.


Watch The Beatoes play "Mouse in a Blender."



This was the first stage appearance by Chris Dennstaedt, the man Robyn Webb always intros as "Philadelphia's answer to Beck Hansen," who would return to the Redux Stage later that night to perform with the All-Stars. By all accounts, Chris did some major heavy lifting on the day (no wonder he wears a wrist brace!), being called into duty to carry much of the All-Stars guitar duties. As Robyn Webb later commented, "After all this hoopla, we still had to go to the bullpen immediately upon the first pitch...[and] Chris, as a relief pitcher was far from warmed up, but managed to deliver when he hit the mound." Copy that and color me impressed!

Afterwards, Amy and I wandered around the festival, running into mutual acquaintance friends and peeps like Billy McConnell and his girlfriend Nicole...

Billy McConnell's "Big Man" pin reminds us to watch the Mark Harp All-Stars

"Mark Harp? I'll drink to that!"

Bucky B...

Hollins Street Hookup: Bucky B., Robyn Webb & Amy Linthicum

Bucky's "Big Man" ink trumps Billy McC's "Big Man" pin

...Amy's college roommate and longtime gal pal Liz Crain and, hey, Chris Dennstaedt the Hobo Chef sampling a local Chicken Gyro!...

Liz Crain, Amy Linthicum & Chris Dennstaedt

Blade (Motor Morons) says hi to her Edgewater neighbor Liz

...and Jo Connor (Here Today, Vigil)...

Jo Connor (Here Today, Vigil) models his Mark Harp tee

...Amy's pal Valerie Potrzuski (of Hampden's Valerie Gallery fame), who was a festival vendor selling her art there.

Valerie Potrzuski & Amy Linthicum

...and Bill Barnett, who used to work with Mark Harp when they were DJs at WJHU back in the '80s and had a music blog, Burl Veneer's Music Blog, which had a great tribute to "The King of Peru."

Bill Barnett & Amy Linthicum

In his 2007 "King of Peru" post, Bill/Burl wrote:

"I read today that Alberto Fujimori, former President of Peru, was just convicted of abuse of power, the first in what should be a string of convictions.  But that just reminded me of my dear friend Mark Harp, who in his final years was the self-styled King of Peru.  In fact, nearly every day something reminds me of Mark; just a few days ago he figured in my post on Vigil.  I met Mark when I was 17, a freshman in college.  The campus radio station, WJHU, had a marvelously liberal policy regarding on-air staff: you didn't have to be a student, or even affiliated with the university at all!  Mark was a so-called "community member" of the radio station.  I got to know him when I graduated from the 3-6 AM timeslot into 1-3 AM; he came on after me.  He scared me a bit at first, because he was a big, ugly guy.  But he was incredibly friendly and his enthusiasm for music was unbounded.  Every week he brought a mind-blowing case of records into the studio with him, and I would often stick around for an hour or two just to hear them, and what he did with them.  Mark's ecumenical taste in music opened my eyes to so much that I had ignored until then, so he is probably more responsible than anyone else for broadening my own musical world." 

On a day that was paying homage to the Mark's memory, I thought this was a touching tribute. I too was a "community member" at JHU's then 5-watt radio station in the early '80s (was anyone there from Hopkins? I recall a lot of TSU-ers having shows), along with my ex Katie Glancy, City Paper writer Michael Yockel, and countless others. I think my solo show was "Make Believe Ballroom" and my show with Katie was "We Am a DJ" (named after the David Bowie song) and can recall interviewing Boy Meets Girl on air there; BMG singer-songwriter Ceil Strakna would perform later that day with the Mark Harp All-Stars.

Oh, and two fans even recognized me from my old public access television atrocity exhibition, Atomic TV (one guy confessed he couldn't get enough of the Underdog Lady episodes while Harvey Wiley other gave me card for his YouTube animated series "Punk Rock Negro" available on the spaceboycmx channel).

We then headed back down to the Redux Stage shortly before Thee Katatonix's 5 p.m. scheduled set, where some unscheduled spoken word and dance performances were taking place.

Mary Knott's Poetry Gong Show
Boy, timing is everything. Poor Mary Knott was slotted to give her poetry reading before a unreceptive, sometimes heckling, urban audience that had gathered to see the act that followed hers, the Dynamic Movement Dance Team. Alas, her words fell on def ears.


Watch Mary Knott's spoken word set.



Wow, tough crowd! One guy stood directly in front of Mary and glared at her, shaking his head dismissively and giving her the "cut it short" motion with his hand. Guess he was impatient to see the skinny-tights gals in the Dynamic Movement troupe - I suspect he's from the "It ain't the Mete(r), it's the Motion" school of thought - but rude is rude. Respect, brother, respect - spelled R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Dynamic Movement Dance Team: Poetry in Motion

Robyn Webb diffused the situation by thanking Mary and cracking "Where's that gong when you need it?" as he ushered her off the stage. Mary avoided getting the gong and the Dynamic Movement came on to do their thing.



Dynamic Movement Dance Team
I have to say, these kids were really good and busted some truly dynamic moves. Not my music and not my style, but talent is talent, and these terpsichoreans "brought it"!

Watch Dynamic Movement move dynamically.



I'm sure the crowd enjoyed the one girl's exposed butt crack as she gyrated, to boot(y). (Joy is where you find it, after all! Look for butt crack at the 1:48 mark!)

Dynamic Movement Dance Team members

Dancing with the Stars, SoWeBo Style

So much for the professionals...It was also a day of wild abandon as far as dancing and gyrating music lovers were concerned in the amateur ranks, from a Headbanging Woman in a Wheelchair clutching a Pet Pigeon to her breast (she seemed to have an epiphany during Thee Katatonix's set - see her rock out when they played "Second Chance")...

Wheelchair lady holds pigeon - and Thee Katatonix - near and dear to her heart

...to a high-jumping, high-kicking black dude who went airborne during the Motor Morons set (Dave Wright and I suspected he might have been amped-up on Bath Salts and cautiously covered our faces whenever near him - just in case he wanted to chew off our well-chiseled faces)...

Manic dancer in blue comes unglued during Motor Morons set

"I like open-face sandwiches!": Blue man checks out our faces!

...and his sweat-suited companion in look-at-me spotlight dancing, Pink Lady...

Pink Lady busts a move in front of Redux Stage

...to uber-fans Blade of the Motor Morons pulling people from the crowd to dance with her and wildman Keith Worz of Marble Bar Lore - beer always in hand - pounding his fist on the stage and imploring the musicians to rock on.

Kalamitous Keith back in the day

(I remember well the time Keith came to a 1979 Katatonix gig in Annapolis where his frenetic pogo dancing so impressed a local music critic that he got singled out in the review for resembling something along the lines of "Jerry Lewis exposed to repeated electro-shocks"!)

I hadn't seen Keith in years, if not decades. Googling him later, I found out that there's a short film by Zach Greenbaum called "Out To Lunch" on YouTube that stars Keith and is based on real events from his life. Filmed  in Keith's basement, it's about two friends that reconnect after many years.

Watch Keith in "Out To Lunch."



Keith also starred in another Greenbaum short film, "Shades of Gray."

Keith Worz in "Shades of Grey"

Watch Keith in "Shades of Gray."




Thee Katatonix
Thee Katatonix came on next and played a set that alternated between Mr. Urbanity (Charlie Gatewood)'s hook-happy psych-pop tunes ("Daisy Chain,""Second Chance," Ordinary Sunday") and Adolf's early, punky pre-Divine Mission LP tunes  ("Highlandtown,""Basket Case,""My Son the Gynecologist,""Valentine's Day") that were highlights of my (Tommy Gunn's) Katatonix Mk 1.0 reign-of-error days (1979-1980).

Adolf sets the tone early (nice shirt!)

Adolf set the day's in-your-rocking-face tone with his choice of the opening salvo, the subtly named "Fuck You" (officially known as "F*** You" on their Thanks Hon, 30th Anniversary CD, and which sounds suspiciously like a re-working of the old Kats tune "Stretch Marx" with new lyrics).

The Kats lower their axes

Then it was on to such primal sonic blasts as "Basket Case" and "Valentine's Day," which date from the Kats first-ever vinyl recording, their 1983 EP ("Thanx to no one") on UK Spud Records.



Watch the Kats play "F*** You" and "Basket Case."



Watch the Kats play "Highlandtown" and "Valentine's Day."



Here's the full Kats setlist:

1. Fuck You
2. Basket Case
3. Daisy Chain
4. Highlandtown
5. Valentine's Day
6. Second Chance
7. My Son the Gynecologist
8. Ordinary Sunday

I noticed that ever since the Kats played their all-Ramones covers set February 9th at The Metro Gallery, Charlie Gatewood has turned into Johnny Ramone on guitar, playing with a renewed vigor and reveling in power chord downstrokes ("They'll kill your wrists, take it from me!" Beatoes guitarist Chris Dennstaedt later remarked to Charlie, holding up his wrist brace). The transformation seems to be intentional.

Charlie Gatewood (L) channels the spirit of Johnny Ramone

(For the record: Mark Harp was also a big Ramones fan; in fact, he was cremated in a Ramones t-shirt.)

"Tommy, you missed it - we were The Ramones at the Metro," Charlie remarked afterwards. "Instead of just playing the old Katatonix tunes, I thought, why don't we play those great early Ramones songs like "Commando" and "Carbona Not Glue" and we nailed it, man. It was fun and who better to be Joey Ramone than Adolf? We had it down!"


Thee Katatonix transformed into The Ramones at Metro Gallery on Feb. 9, 2013


And did the audience like it?

"Who cares?" Charlie replied. "We had a blast playing it and that's what's it all about. It was fun!"

Charlie then proceed to recite the words to Dee Dee Ramone's "Commando": "First Rule is: the laws of Germany, Second Rule is: be nice to Mommy, Third Rule is: don't talk to Commies, Fourth Rule is: eat kosher salamis!"

Who says The Ramones weren't thought-provoking?

And for that matter, who said those early Katatonix tunes weren't thought-provoking? "Basket Case" anticipates amputee romance, a subject critics raved about in the recent Marie Cotillard arthouse film Rust and Bone; "Highlandtown" (dedicated this day to neighborhood native Don White of Da Moronics) addressed male hustling in East Baltimore ("Highlandtown is my kind of town, where everyone pulls their pants down/To make some bread you use your head") in the same way that Dee Dee Ramone immortalized street meat in "53rd and 3rd"; and "My Son the Gynecologist" eerily anticpates the sexual needs of horndog doctors, a la the recent sex scandal (and subsequent) suicide of Johns Hopkins physician Nikita A. Levy. Who knew?

Watch Thee Katatonix play "Second Chance."



Here's another view of "Second Chance" (for you completists!)  recorded by Danny Simpson that has lotsa good close-ups of Big Andy Small and Honest Ed Linton for all you Rhythm Section groupies :




(I promise to post more Katatonix videos from their set in future. Stay tuned...)

Tru Fax & The Insaniacs
Washington, D.C.'s classic pop quartet Tru Fax & The Insaniacs came on after Thee Katatonix as their surprise "Mystery Dates." They were intro'ed and outro'ed by Adolf Kowalski, who has been re-smitten with Diana Quinn's melodic foursome ever since they played together at the Metro Gallery back in February, and decided to donate the rest of the Kats' allotted set to his Capital District friends.

I have to say that few records hold up as well as Tru Fax's "Washingtron" b/w "Mystery Date" single (Wasp Records, 1980).

"Washington/Mystery Date" single (Wasp Records 1980)

In 1980, Washington Magazine dubbed them the District's "Worst Band," but what would you expect from those squares? (Atomic TV was once voted Charm City's "Best Worst TV," so I consider them comrades-in-arms for that alone!) No sir, that's a badge of honor. They were, and are, a great band (though I dearly miss original bass player Libby Hatch, who passed away in a motorcycle accident years ago).

Tru Fax: The original awesome foursome

Tru Fax performed three songs in a riveting mini-set that played like a killer EP record: "Love Love Love,""Mars Needs Women," and "King of Machines"(which sounded so Ig-quisite to my ears that I thought it was a Stooges cover!).

Tru Fax & The Insaniacs

By this time, acts were running over Redux time limits, so apparently the Tru Fax set was cut short, much to Adolf's dismay. Still, the Insaniacs' EP-length performance was better than nothing.

Watch the complete Tru Fax set below.

Tru Fax video (YouTube):



Afterwards, fans made a bee-line to congratulate Diana, including LesLee Anderson, Amy Linthicum, Carol Underwood and Mary Butler.

Marble Bar Sistahs Representing: Amy Linthicum, LesLee Anderson, Diana Quinn, Carol Underwood, Mary Butler

Word has it Diana's set to hook up with former Marble Bar co-owner LesLee Anderson on an upcoming Charm City gig...

Mutual Admiration Society: Diana Quinn & LesLee Anderson

LesLee Anderson congratulates Dian Quinn

...and will perform in the area in the immediate future with her swinging '60s "Girl Group Sound" band The Fabulettes next Saturday, June 8 (Main Stage, 6:30 p.m.) at the HonFest in Hampden. And yes, the Fabulettes (Diana, Lisa Mathews and Jane Quinn Brack) sport the requisite double-decker B-52 beehives that fit in perfectly for the Honfest.

The Fabulettes

Milling about afterwards, a enthused Charlie Gatewood was singing the praises of Tru Fax's rendition of "Mars Needs Women." He reminded me that he went to see Tru Fax playing with Thee Katatonix Mk. 1.0 in DC - on his wedding night! -some 30-plus years ago. Now that's a fan! That's a graduate of Rock & Roll High School!

Motor Morons
The Motor Morons came on well past their original 6:30 p.m. start time (the spoken word and dance performances probably backed up the schedule) and played a long and enthusiastic set. It seems that sparks fly and brains fry whenever the Morons play. The crowd was really into it, especially the aforementioned Bath Salts Man and Pink Lady, who took over front stage to put on a Dancing with the Stars performance that momentarily looked like it might turn into a romantic hookup.

Watch them dance in the following "Motor Morons Dance Party" video.



The Mark Harp All-Stars


As the sun set, The Mark Harp All-Stars finally took the stage to pay their respects to the departed legend Mark Harp (Mark Linthicum, 1957-2004), whose musical legacy included countless bands, including (working backwards) Chelsea Graveyard, The Tralalas, The Diamondheads, Pornflakes, Step 3, Interrobang, Asshead, Cabal, Null Set, Not Null Set, The Mark Harp Club, The Mark Harp Experience, The Beatoes, The Casio Cats, The Casio Cowboys, P.A.B.L.U.M., Timmy, Globetrotters, The Muggers, Mold and Mildew, Maternity Ward - to name a (whew!) few!

And I'm pretty sure Keith Worz saw all those bandsl!

Keith Worz implores the All-Stars to pull his finger

The All-Stars ranks on this day were filled with the following: Robyn Webb (guitar, vocals), Chris Dennstaedt (guitar, vocals), Ben Watson (guitar), Robert J. Friedman (aka "Beefalo Bob," keyboards), Dave Zidek (bass), Chris "Batworth" Ciattei (drums), Ceil Strakna (lead and backing vocals), Cindy Borchardt (vocals), with special guest appearances by singers Bill Dawson, Steptoe T. Magnificent (Dave Wilcox), and trombone player Craig Considine (Rumba Club, Boister, All Mighty Senators).

I think the All-Stars they were originally scheduled to play for an hour, but I'd be surprised if their shortened 10-song set - which opened with "Null Theme" and ended with a cover of Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes" - was much over 40 minutes. The complete setlist (with lead singer and original associated group in parentheses) is listed below.


The Mark Harp All-Stars Setlist:
Null Theme (Bill Dawson, Null Set)
Fall Flat (Bill Dawson, Null Set)
I'm Too Ugly for MTV (Chris Dennstaedt, Beatoes)
Mad Dog 20/20 (Chris Dennstaedt, Beatoes)
Bowling With You (Robyn Webb, Ceil Strakna)
Rock 'n' Roll Asshole (Steptoe T. Maginficent)
Dating the Wrestlers  (Ceil Strakna)
Big Man (Ceil Strakna, w/ Craig Considine on trombone)
I've Got Five Dollars (Everyone)
All the Young Dudes (Robyn Webb, Steptoe T. Magnificent)

Long Day's Journey into Blight
Former Null Set/Cabal and Black Pete singer Bill Dawson, with wife Michelle, traveled all the way from Jacksonville, Florida to Charm City's crumbling westside to sing two nuggets from his early '80s days collaborating with Mark Harp in Null Set and Cabal and to meet up once again with old friends.

Bill Dawson, Amy Linthicum, Robin Linton & Michelle Dawson

Michelle & Bill Dawson: All the way from Jacksonville, Florida

Dundalkians Bill & Amy bond over their shared East Baltimore heritage

Bill was stylishly attired in all-leather (we would settle for nothing less!) and colorful ink (he's a professional tattoo artist) on this sunny day, and indicated afterwards that he and the missus were hoping to move back to Baltimore eventually.

Fittingly, the day's tribute began with the two-song Null Set set, which included the anthemic "Null Theme" (featuring the legendary "Null Chord") and "Fall Flat."

Ceil Strakna and Bill Dawson belt out Null Set ditties

Watch the Mark Harp All-Stars  play "Null Theme/Fall Flat."



At one point during "Fall Flat," Bill Dawson pointed to an empty space and remarked, "This is where Mark plays a serious guitar solo. But he can't do that, because he's dead." Alas, true dat.

Dawson was awesome and his brief stint after coming from so far away down the coast meant everything to the Marble Bar oldtimers - and no doubt to Mark.

Beatoes single "I'm Too Ugly for MTV" (UK Spud, 1986)

Then it time for The Beatoes redux set, with Chris Dennstaedt leading the band through "I'm Too Ugly for MTV" - which included Ceil Strakna's great vocal interlude - and "Mad Dog 20/20."

Watch the All-Stars play "I'm Too Ugly for MTV/Mad Dog 20/20."



Next up, the spirit of Corky Neidermayer was invoked for the classic "Bowling With You," with Robyn Webb handling lead vocals while backup singers Ceil Strakna and Cindy Borchardt hit the girly ooo-aaahs.

Corky Neidermayer and Mark Harp love to go bowling with you

Watch the All-Stars play "Bowling with You."



Next up was Steptoe T. Magnificent (Dave Wilcox of Chelsea Graveyard) to sing "Rock & Roll Asshole."

Steptoe sings his signature shout-out, "Rock 'n' Asshole"

Watch Steptoe & Co. play "Rock & Roll Asshole."



Steptoe once remarked that, during a low point in his nearly 40-year-career in rock 'n' roll,  it was Mark Harp who inspired him to keep on keeping on, and he's never looked back since.

Next, former Boy Meets Girl and Big As a House singer-songwriter Ceil Strakna stepped out front from her backing vocal duties to belt out two classic Mark Harp tunes, "Dating the Wrestlers" and the anthemic Harp homage, "Big Man." (In 1991, Mark Harp rewrote "Big Man" as "Moguls in Training," a would-be theme song for a failed TV pilot, with Leslie Miller handling the vocals backed by Mark, Mike DeJong on sax, Dave Zidek on bass, and Jack Odell on drums; you can hear the 2004 Mark Harp Band version online at Internet Archives and 24 Hours with Mark Harp.) "Big Man" also featured the inimitable trombone stylings of Craig Considine (Mo Fine's All-Blind Orchestra, Off the Wall, Rumba Club, Boister, All Mighty Senators).

Watch Ceil and the All-Stars play "Dating the Wrestlers/Big Man."



The All-Stars closed out their set with two everybody-play-along jams, Mark Harp's "I've Got Five Dollars" and a cover of Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes." Robyn Webb introed the former by noting that Mark often wrote songs inspired by a random turn of phrase, rising to the challenge of creating something out of nothing.

Watch the All-Stars play "I've Got Five Dollars."


More videos to follow! (I'm publishing this now because YouTube just upgraded to a Google interface and I'm afraid of losing everything with all the damned multiple account logins - aaaccckkk!.)

***

It's too bad the sun set so quickly on the All-Stars' set because I'm sure we would've like to have heard more, maybe even Harpo's "Movie Dream."

The sun sets on the Mark Harp All-Stars

If it's any consolation, I've included the Tralala's version from the 2004 Honfest in Hampden - one of Mark's last appearances before his untimely death on Christmas Eve 2004.

Watch The Tralalas play "Movie Dream."



It would have been a fitting end to a day that had us all dreaming back to the halcyon days of youth and musical nirvana. And, like a movie reaching its end, the lights had begun to dim, ready to fade to black...



It was a great day to hear fun music and meet up with old (literally!) friends, most of whom were card-carrying (at least in spirit) members of the Mark Harp Fan Club.

Mark Harp Fan Club card

Related Links:
SoWeBo 2013 (Flickr photo set)
Mark Harp's All-Stars (Facebook Group)
The Marble Bar (Baltimore) Facebook Group
Mark Harp/King of Peru (Official site)
24 Hours with Mark Harp (listen to Mark Harp's music)
Listen to Black Pete's "Mississippi Queen" (1989, Calvert Street Records)

Local hero dreams of being back in Baltimore with hard-shelled crabs and beer.

Today marks the 145th anniversary of Memorial Day, a day to honor those men and women, both nationally and right here in our own background, who gave their lives in the service of their country.

As a port city and former steel manufacturing hub, Baltimore has always been active during military conflicts, especially during The Big One. Baltimore was right in the thick of the Allied war effort in World War II - launching the first Liberty ship (the SS Patrick Henry, which was constructed at the Bethlehem-Fairfield yard),  producing military aircraft like the B-26 Marauder at the Glenn L. Martin plant in Middle River, and training grunts and sailors alike for combat duty at facilities like Camp Holabird, Fort McHenry, Curtis Bay and elsewhere.

Baltimore was certainly "on the map" during the second world war, and Hollywood took notice, name-checking B-more for its stereotypical "Charm City" attributes in a number of films. Long before this town become synonymous with violent crime, drug peddling and urban decay in TV series like  Homicide, The Wire and The Corner (not to mention prostitution - don't forget, Tippy Hedren's mom in Hitchcock's Marnie was a sailor-baiting floozy), a Baltimore reference usually involved beer (our German brewing heritage long celebrated by H.L. Mencken) and crabs (both the edible kind and, later, the sexually-transmitted variety) - though in Fred Zinnemann's post-war film The Search (1948), Montgomery Clift boasted that he was from "Baltimore, the cleanest, finest city in the United States!"


Faux native son Montgomery Clift gilds the lily of Charm City in "The Search."

But more often than not, vets from Mobtown were vetted as legit homies by referring to our beer and seafood. One of my favorites name-checks was by native son "Pvt. Jim Layton" (played by Marshall Thompson) in William Wellman's WWII classic Battleground(1949), in which the soldier holes up under wreckage dreaming about being "back home in Baltimore, loadin' up on hard-shelled crabs and beer."

His pal Holley (Van Johnson) counters, "That dream's against regulations, soldier. You know what our boys overseas always dreams about."

Pvt. Jim Layton: "Mom's blueberry pie?"

Holley: "Why certainly. That's what they're fighting for. Boy, when I get home, just give me a hot dog and a slice of that pie. Am I gonna kick when I don't get my job back? No siree."

I've excerpted that "Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time" clip below as a fitting Memorial Day tribute to our vets and their service fighting for the Baltimore - if not the American -  culinary "way of life."Pie schmie! Crabs and beers on the homefront - it's what got this town's Band of Brothers through WWII!

Buzzcocks: The boys are back in town

Buzzcocks @ Baltimore Soundstage
w/The Residuels, Expert Alterations
April 18, 2015

Touring in support of their latest release, The Way (Pledge Music, 2014) - their ninth album over the course of a celebrated 40-year career (1976-81, 1989-present) and the first featuring new material since 2006's Flat-Pack Philosophy - Buzzcocks stopped in Baltimore on April 18 for their first show here in four years (though they did visit Washington, D.C.'s Black Cat just last September). This was a real treat because Baltimore was one of only three East Coast stops for the fab foursome, who played New York's Irving Plaza on April 16 and Asbury Park, NJ's Stone Pony on April 17, before closing out their tour at the Baltimore Soundstage. (I suspect Buzzcocks fanboy Dave Cawley is responsible for Charm City's inclusion on this brief tour, thanks to his overtures at the Black Cat club to Buzzcocks drummer Danny Farrant to "please come back to Baltimore.")

Banksy-inspired cover of Buzzcocks'"The Way" CD (2014)

They came, they rocked, and they conquered the crowd, among whom I spotted friends like Jim Moon, theace rock photographer; Mike and Gail Maxwell; Donna Honneman and Larry Doering (enjoying a "Senior Rockers" night out); Sharon Rudolf (splitting her time between Buzzcocks and, next door at Ram's Head Live, The Ravens);Tim Finnerty (The Krudz); media maven Greg Brazeale and his pal Joe Maravi; model-scenester MaryAnne Tom; nouveau riche punk philanthropist Adolf Kowalski, vintage Fiat sportscar-lover Charlie Gatewood, and Ed Linton - all of Thee Katatonix fame; artist-rocker Alex Fine (Garage Sale, Thee Lexington Arrows, alexfine.com) and his lovely wife, who were on hand to sell AF's spectacular Buzzcocks posters (which Baltimore Soundstage used on their web site). Chick Veditz (of Chick's Legendary Records fame) was also rumored to be there, but I must have missed him.

Buzzcocks poster by Alex Fine (alexfine.com)

I had never been to the Baltimore Soundstage and didn't know what to expect. In fact, I don't know most local venues other than my familiars, the Ottobar (or "Ahh-toe bah" in Buzzcocks drummer Darry Farrant's patois) and the Metro Gallery, because I don't really like going to see live music save for a few select artists.

Machine-Gun Etiquette in Clubland
You see, though I used to play in bands and go to a lot of shows in my (wasted) youth, I am not what one would call a "rock guy." Truth be told, I'd rather be in the SkyBox Suite sipping Merlot than down rubbing elbows with the sweaty, beer-soaked drones that inhabit the mosh pit. Comfort appeals to me much more than Street Cred. Slam-dancing especially does not appeal to me, given my brittle build and knack for attracting spilled drinks all over my wardrobe (I only like rugby when it's on TV!). Besides, you have to wear earphones to hear anything (an irony seemingly lost on concert lovers - that one goes to hear loud, live music and ends up blocking most of it out!) and run the risk of getting a sore throat from screaming over the din of music to converse with your friends. And, in the old days, one had to also contend with drunken idiots burning your clothes with their ciggies - an "analog tobacco" problem solved by the emergence of e-cigarette "vaping."

Tonight was no exception to my exceptions. I literally couldn't understand one word said to me when I walked in and saw various friends and acquaintances at the show, who came up and made gestures while I feigned comprehension and smiled. In other words, it was kind of like being on the reference desk at the library fielding questions (and the occasional threat) from John (and Johanna) Q. Public. It didn't help that the Baltimore Soundstage - a cavernous (albeit comfortable) arena comparable to an urban cow palace (in fact, it reminded me of this year's StanStock Music Festival, which was held at the Timonium Fairgrounds Exhibition Hall) - was sonically challenged, with music bouncing and reverbing off the walls.

Opening Salvos
But, after I put my ear plugs in and my lobes adjusted to the din, I was pleasantly surprised by the sound of the opening band. They didn't suck! In fact, neither of the two opening bands sucked - a rarity at recent Buzzcocks shows stateside.

Expert Alterations: Fashionable indie-pop

The jingly-jangly Expert Alterations, a local indie-pop trio, dressed and sounded great. One guy had a nice nest of hair that reminded me of a cross between Echo & The Bunnymen's Ian McCullough and the high-coiffed guy in the Jesus and Mary Chain. Their duds were polka-dot friendly and the drummer had his kit set up in the front of the stage, which you rarely see. (As a former drummer, I like to see that; though as a former suck-ass drummer, I preferred to sit as far back from the audience as possible - the better to dodge the tomatoes hurled my way!). They cite The Fall, TV Personalities and The Wedding Present as influences, which count as impressive references on anybody's Rock Resume.

Besides their retro-rock group influences, these guys also like retro-music formats. Both they and The Residuels had only cassette tapes of their music for sale, a trend I've noticed has replaced the previous fad of local groups releasing singles on vinyl (which seems to be almost passe now, except on Record Store Day). (I personally don't understand this trend - don't bands want people to be able to easily access their songs? Isn't a CD or .mp3 going to reach a wider audience than the select few who still have boom boxes and record players? What's next - 8-track releases? A 78 rpm revival?) But I quibble about technicalities...these guys are worth checking out on Facebook and at Bandcamp. (OK, if you purchase their cassette at Bandcamp, it includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC, and more. I still think it's easier to plop a CD in the car stereo or laptop, though!)

Philly's Residuels

The Residuels (photo by Adela Loconte for imposemagazine,com)

The Residuels were a hard-rocking trio whose lead singer-guitarist wore a black hat and reminded me of the pre-Delicious Pies Rodney from The Glenmont Popes.The Man in the Black Hat also wears cool t-shirts of retro West Coast punk bands like Crime and The Wipers. The bass player was a tall, sullen study hunched over his Fender bass with an inertia that seemed to cry "Oh, bother," while the energetic drummer had perfect hair that bobbed and weaved across his face like Ringo merrily banging away with The Fab Four. Even Alex Fine commented that the drummer's hair reminded him of the pompadour he created for his Buzzcocks Fine-art poster (which in turn was inspired by his own jet black mane). They too sold cassettes of their tunes, but I was most impressed by their Simpsonized t-shirts (as shown below).

Simpsons-style Residuels t-shirts

The Residuels sound - which they characterize as garage punk -was thick and heavy, like a Philly cheesesteak. Check 'em out at residuels.com, Bandcamp, and Facebook.

Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, or: Into the Heart of Darkness
Though I hung in the back for the opening acts (looking through Charlie Gatewood's car-porn pics of his '60s Fiat convertible on his cell phone), I moved up as the Buzzcocks set loomed. My beloved, Amy Linthicum, is a Front Row Seeker (I'm much more an "In the Back" fan), and that's where she and our companions Dave Cawley and (his beloved) Gina Houten had cut a path through the ground-level clusterfuck.

"I like to be where the action is!" says Amy Linthicum

A hyperactive Dave Cawley (is there any other kind?) bounced up and down in the heart of the crowd gatherered around the stage front, excitedly singing along with Billy Idol as the P.A. played selections from the first Generation X album ("They were great, kinda poppy like Buzzcocks, which is why the press slagged them," Dave explained), one hand holding his sweetie Gina, the other clutching a filled-to-the-brim Rum-and-Coke that swirled precariously 'round the rim but did not spill or splatter. I only knew Gen X's "Girls,""Dancing with Myself," and "Ready, Steady, Go," but Dave knew every word of every song. (Like every band Dave and I love, we agreed that Gen X were "criminally neglected," much like Dave's old bands The Lumpies, The Nu-Beats, and The Young Prufrock Alliance - alas, the YPA's sure-fire educational hit "Study Group" has still yet to be released, much less recorded, or even much less remembered!)

On her way to the front, Amy almost didn't recognize a long-haired, bespectacled Tim Finnerty who was at Baltimore Soundstage to represent Essex and the Greater Middle River Community. Tim explained he was merely growing his hair out to fit in at an upcoming Saxon "Hair Metal" show.

Though he loves comic books and Heavy Metal music, Tim Finnerty is no East Bawmer waterbilly - quite the opposite, in fact. He made quite a few astute observations about the Baltimore Soundstage audience, including my favorite: "What is it with all the studded vests here? I've never seen so many in one setting."

Studs have a vested interest in rock & roll

Sleeveless shirts and vests were certainly de rigueur for the The Stereotypical "I'm a Rock & Roller" Club Look (available for purchase at any Hot Topic store in any mall in America), all the better to show off the tattoo sleeves many attendees had. These, in turn, were complimented by studded belts and bracelet accessories, just in case anyone would mistake the wearer for a corporate salaryman.

When I told him that I was gonna shop for studded vests at Hot Topic, Tim insisted that a true rocker always takes a "virgin denim vest" and adds their own studs to it. It's what separates the poseurs from the real deal. 'Nuff said, I'm down with East Bawmer cred for studded threads!

Look What the Kats Dragged In
Later, I spotted Adolf Kowalski and Patti Jensen Vucci in the back of the stage floor, where they were joined by Adolf's Katatonix bandmates, Charlie Gatewood and Ed Linton, showing solidarity in arms (hey, he did buy their tickets, after all!). Adolf had seen Buzzcocks back in their 1979 heyday (yes, I'm still very jealous) when the lineup included drummer par excellence John Maher and bassist Steve "Paddy" Garvey.

Adolf, Charlie and Ed of Thee Katatonix

"Peek-a-boo, I see you," says Adolf K.

Setlists Going Steady:
At last, Buzzcocks - founding fathers Pete Shelley, Steve Diggle, and new boys Danny Farrant and Chris Remington - took the stage to a packed house and opened with "Boredom," the best-known song (along with "Orgasm Addict") from their 1977 self-produced EP Spiral Scratch. This signature tune dates from the days when Steve Diggle was the bass player and Howard Devoto sang, and still delights with its minimalist guitar solo (two notes repeated 66 times).








Of course, though we (Amy, me, Dave, Gina)  had staked out a primo spot just two rows back of the stage, we were soon invaded by beer-sloshing slam-dancers the minute the song started. I do not like them. (And yes, my jacket sleeve got soaked and I almost dropped my cell phone mid-photosnap!). I bid Amy adieu, exchanging places with Charlie Gatewood as I moved to the back of the pack to wait until things settled down, all  the better to see and hear the band without being crushed.

Charlie Gatewood protects Amy in the mosh pit

Tonight's set pretty much duplicated the one they played last September at DC's Black Cat, with the notable absence of Diggle's "When Love Turns Around" (from 1993's superlative Trade Test Transmissions) and Shelley's "Oh Shit!," and the addition of the great jam "Why Can't I Touch It?" (the group-written flip of the 1979 single "Everybody's Happy Nowadays). This existential lament should be the official theme song for every strip club in the world.

"Why Can't I Touch It?" B-side (United Artists, 2 March 1979)

In fact, other than Diggle's "Sick City Sometimes" (from 2003's Buzzcocks), all songs were pretty much taken from their hits collection Singles Going Steady (1979) and The Way, with the remainder filled out by selections from 1976's Spiral Scratch EP ("Boredom,""Orgasm Addict"), 1978's Another Music in a Different Kitchen ("Fast Cars,""Autonomy") and  Love Bites ("Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't 've)), 1980's A Different Kind of Tension ("You Say You Don't Love Me,""I Believe"), and Diggle's late 1980 single "Why She's a Girl From the Chainstore" (which Dave Cawley still insists is "the dumbest music video of all time!").

Buzzcocks setlist: Baltimore Soundstage, 4/18/2015

I enjoyed the selections, though I am still mystified why Diggle's "Third Dimension" continues to be selected, other than as a psychedelic guitar workout. It's an average tune that goes on way too long; I'd much rather have Shelley's new (and timely) social media song, "Virtually Real" included, or even Diggle's "Love Turns Around" return to the setlist. Likewise, Diggle's "Chasing Rainbows/Modern Times" may be a surefire rocker, but as Katatonix guitarist Charlie Gatewood so astutely pointed out (mere seconds after hearing it played for the first time), it's basically just a variation on The Ramones'"Blitzkrieg Bop," just with the trademark Buzzcocks buzzsaw guitars this time around.

Diggle's waiting, anticipating...

...in the Third Dimension

That said, Diggle's "Sick City Sometimes" and the new "People Are Strange Machines" were performance highlights, along with Shelley's "I Don't Mind,""You Say You Don't Love Me," and a spirited "Love You More."

Buzzcocks closed their set with Shelley's masterpiece "I Believe," the last great single from the Buzzcocks Golden Era" (1978-1980) - and my fave track from 1980's third (and last) original 'cocks album, A Different Kind of Tension.

"I Believe" (I.R.S. Records, 1980)

I "Keep on Believing" that "I Believe" is timeless and never dated, a great tune matched by thought-provoking lyrics ("It's the aim of existence to offer resistance to the flow of time"), including its coda, "I believe in, it's time to be leavin'." It was a great note on which to end A Different Kind of Tension, as well as tonight's regular set.

Pete Shelley states his case in "I Believe"

A fourth Buzzcocks album was in the works before Pete Shelley called it a day in 1981. Diggle, Maher, and Garvey carried on briefly minus Pete and recorded  Steve's "In the Back"; though it remained unreleased until 1988, when it turned up on the Diggle/Flag of Convenience (FOC) War on the Wireless Set collection, the new 'cocks (rightly) deemed it worthy of reconsideration and re-recording on The Way. Coming on the heels of the set-ending "I Believe," it was a fitting choice of first encore song.

Listen to F.O.C. play "In the Back."



This was followed by Diggle's "Harmony in My Head," an energetic workout in which Steve-o pulled out all the stops and got quite emotional.

Diggle hits a windmill power chord

Diggle sends a shout out from the harmony in his head

Then it was on  to three Shelley-penned encores: starting with "What Do I Get?";  followed by that hit-of-hits "Ever Fallen in Love"...




...before bringing the show full circle, back to its Spiral Scratch origins with the happiest of Happy Endings, "Orgasm Addict."

"Was it good for you too?!" Diggle asks, post-"Orgasm Addict"

 
Basking in the Afterglow

"The essence of being, these feelings I'm feeling, I just want them to last"

Afterwards, basking in the afterglow of another 'cocks show, friends caught up and compared notes on the evening's festivities. Amy, Gina, and MaryAnne Tom made a beeline to the vendor tables to snatch up their Buzzcocks posters, where Alex Fine exclaimed, "Steve Diggle is my guitar hero!"

Patti Vucci, Adolf K., MaryAnne Tom and Amy Linthicum

TSU alums Dave, Greg and MaryAnne outside Baltimore Soundstage

Dave, Greg, Joe and MaryAnne cavort outside

Greg Breazeale, Joe Maravi and MaryAnne Tom clinch outside

Some of us speculated on whether any future Buzzcocks shows would incorporate Steve Diggle or Pete Shelley solo material outside the 'cocks canon. I know Amy and I wouldn't mind hearing "Wallpaper World" or some other tunes from Diggle's Revolution of Sound band (whose ranks include Buzzcocks bassist - and long-time Diggle collaborator - Chris Remington); and I'm sure Dave Cawley wouldn't mind hearing Shelley's early solo hits "Homosapien" and "Telephone Operator." Oh, and Amy, Dave and I agreed that Buzzcocks should consider playing the entire A Different Kind of Tension album on their next tour, though Amy added that she thought of it first (ha!). Admittedly, singing the complex lyrics to the title song would be challenging, but it would rekindle memories of their last visit to Baltimore during 2010's "Another Bites Tour," in which they played their first two albums (Another Music in a Different Kitchen and Love Bites, both from 1978) in their entirety. We can only hope.




It was a fun and entertaining night, and fortuitous timing, as well - I can only imagine what havoc might have ensued had Buzzcocks played here the following Saturday, April 25, when Freddie Gray protesters brought downtown Baltimore to a standstill.

48 hours later, Buzzcocks returned to New York on Monday, April 20, to perform two songs on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Both were Pete Shelley songs (hope Diggle wasn't miffed!): "Keep On Believing" from their latest CD, The Way (Pledge Music, 2014), and the timeless classic "Ever Fallen in Love" from Love Bites (United Artists, 1978).

Watch Buzzcocks play "Don't Stop Believing" on Late Night with Seth Meyer.


Watch Buzzcocks play "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" on Late Night with Seth Meyer.


And with that, Buzzcocks bid the States farewell, crossing the pond to continue touring the UK the whole merry month of May. Alas, their next American visit isn't until July 2015, and then only a lone gig in Portland.

***

Related Links:
Buzzcocks @ Black Cat, 9-4-2014 (Accelerated Decrepitude)
Diggle Solo Career: "Digging Da Diggle" (Accelerated Decrepitude)

Celebrating the Later Years and Solo Songs

Buzzcocks: What goes around, comes around

Buzzcocks is my favorite punk band, and has been since I first heard them back in 1979 - back when I was blown away by the symphonic earwig that is Side 2 of A Different Kind of Tension, which remains my all-time favorite Buzzcocks LP to this day. (Reviewing ADKOT, Robert Christgau famously characterized the sound as being "as bright and abrasive as new steel wool," which I think perfectly describes the band's pop-punk aesthetic.) I share this musical adulation with my fiancee, Amy Linthicum, and good friend Dave Cawley, the only other people I would characterize as hardcore Buzzcocks fanatics. For we love Buzzcocks in all their manifestations - past, present, and future. In fact, our feelings for this band of brothers is summed up in the opening lyrics to founding 'cock Pete Shelley's song "Reconciliation":

Been contemplating lately what you mean to me
You are the one I care about, the only one I love
And though we remain separated by the sea
It's still you I'm dreaming of, you must believe me

Buzzcocks broke up in 1981, with founding guitarists Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle pursuing solo careers throughout the 1980s.  (Original vocalist Howard Devoto had already jumped ship in 1977 to form the art-rock band Magazine.) Shelley went on to record two great synth-pop records, Homosapien (1981) and XL1 (1983) before his electronic music career stalled, while Diggle spent the decade playing with Buzzcocks drummer John Maher and others under the aegis of Flag of Convenience. (Diggle would later release three impressive solo albums in the 2000s.)

And then in 1989, the original "Golden Era" lineup of Shelley, Diggle, bassist Steve Garvey, and drummer John Maher - the players that appear on the four Buzzcocks albums released between 1978 and 1979 (Music from Another Kitchen, Love Bites, A Different Kind of Tension, Singles Going Steady) - reunited for a world tour. But it was a short-lived reunion (with ex-Smiths drummer Mike Joyce eventually replacing Maher), and by 1992 Shelley and Diggle were backed by the new rhythm section of  bassist-producer Tony Barber and drummer Phil Barker. This was the dawn of the era of the "Post-Buzzcocks Buzzcocks" (aka "New Buzzcocks,""Post-Prime Buzzcocks" or "Buzzcocks 2.0"). The Shelley-Diggle-Barber-Barker lineup continued intact through 2006, touring extensively and recording five albums (Trade Test Transmissions, All Set, Modern, Buzzcocks, and Flat-Pack Philosophy). Barker was replaced by Danny Farrant in 2006, and bassist Chris Remington joined the group in 2008. This Buzzcocks 3.0 line-up has been the face of the brand from April 2008 up until the present, recording two full-length albums, 2011'sA Different Compilation (re-recordings of previously released Buzzcocks songs) and 2014's The Way.

It is a cruel irony that despite our boundless love for this band, none of us ever saw the original quartet in their late '70s prime; we've only seen the two post-breakup renditions led by Shelley and Diggle. Dave Cawley has seen them the most (I foolishly passed up Dave's impassioned entreaty to see their first visit to Baltimore's Ottobar back in July 2003 when Tony Barber and Phil Barker were in the band), but we all count ourselves lucky to have seen their subsequent transatlantic stops here and in D.C. in 2010, 2014, and 2015. Amy even got to see Pete Shelley at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., back in the day.

And while there's no point trying to measure the "new Buzzcocks" tunes recorded in the Nineties and Naughties to "Golden Era" Buzzcocks songs from the late Seventies (which remain Shelley and Diggle's essential Holy Scriptures), taken on their own merits, there are a number of gems to be heard from The Post-Buzzcocks Buzzcocks Era, which now spans six studio albums (Trade Test Transmissions, All Set, Modern, Buzzcocks, A Different Compilation, The Way) over the last 22 years. Everyone has their own personal favorite album from this period:

• Dave Cawley insists that the first release from the reformed Buzzcocks, 1993's Trade Test Transmissions, is their finest hour (and it's hard to argue with songs like "Do It,""Isolation,""When Love Turns Around,""369,""Alive Tonight," and "Unthinkable"); 

• Amy prefers 2003's self-titled Buzzcocks (impressively produced by Tony Barber and featuring two songs written by Spiral Scratch-era 'cocks Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley - "Stars" and the Lester Bangs riposte "Lester Sands" - not to mention her faves "Jerk,""Sick City Sometimes,""Friends,""Driving You Insane," and "Wake Up Call"); 

• I find myself preferring 2006's Flat-Pack Philosophy (also produced by Tony Barber), which may be far from perfect but boasts at least six good tunes ("Reconciliation,""I Don't Exist,""Wish I Never Loved You,""Sell You Everything,""Credit,""Big Brother Wheels") out of 14 tracks. (I find it amusing that some naff on Amazon criticized the album thusly: "Steve Shelley's infamous high-pitched vocals sound more like a strange old geezer than a hyperactive kid, but that should not come as much of a surprise." WTF???) It's also the mostly attractively packaged Buzzcocks album in ages, with Paul Terrence Madden's design aesthetic recalling the glory days of those gorgeous Malcolm Garnett and Linder Sterling album and 45 record sleeves (especially true of the CD Singles that accompanied FPP's release).

FPP narrowly edges out 1999's Modern, a much under-appreciated album which, true to its title, attempts to merge the Buzzcocks formula of buzzsaw guitars-with-clever lyrics with more "modern" contemporary rock trends such as hip-hop (Diggle's regrettable "Doesn't Mean Anything"), electronica (synths pepper the mix all over the place), and even (unfortunately) drum machines. Still, at least half the songs on Modern are worth a listen, with Shelley's "Rendevous" and "Thunder of Hearts" and Diggle's "Speed of Life" standouts; "Soul of a Rock,""Sneaky," and "Choices" have good bits but the sum of the parts fall somewhat short of the mark, while Diggle's "Turn of the Screw" continues to be included in Buzzcocks live shows.

Note: Speaking of which, to hear what the Post-Buzzcocks Buzzcocks sound like live, I recommend listening to 1995's French and Encore Du Pain (same '95 Paris concert featuring Shelley & Diggle backed by Tony Barber & Phil Barker) and 2007's 30 (London Forum show featuring Shelley & Diggle backed by Tony Barber & Danny Farrant). Both live albums are heavy on the back catalog, but mix in songs from the post-prime albums ("Isolation,""Reconciliation,""Unthinkable,""Innocent,""Speed of Life") that hold up surprisingly well standing alongside the greatest hits.

That said, I think we all can agree on the tunes that make up my fantasy listening guide to the best of the Post-Buzzcocks Buzzcocks, including many tracks from those Pete Shelley solo LPs (for Diggle's solo output, see my extensive - exhaustive? - blog posting, "Digging Da Diggle").  This list started out as a mix CD I burned, but I ran out of space after 74 minutes; thanks to the unlimited space of the Internet, I can now expand it to include even more bonus tracks! As far as the quality of this list, well, as Mr. Shelley sings in "Friends,"

It's a mixed up world
These are mixed up times
And the recipe of life is mixed up too
But if it's the quality of ingredients that matter
I would award myself a cordon bleu

The Post-Buzzcocks Buzzcocks Listening Guide: An Operator's Manual

1.  "Here Come the Nice" (Marriott/Lane) - from Long Agos and World's Apart: A Tribute to the Small Faces (1996).

Long Agos and Worlds Apart: A Tribute to the Small Faces (1996)

Steve Diggle is perfectly suited to handle Steve Marriott's howling vocals that praise the drug-peddling Dr. Feelgood, while Pete Shelley (he of those "high-pitched/strange old geezer" vocals, as one clueless detractor described Shelley's delightful upper registers) takes over on the alternate verses to great effect. As the song says, "You don't need money to be wise," and this is a very wise inclusion on this tribute to the Mod's Mod Group, perfectly essayed by Great Modfather Diggle, he of the ever-present polka-dot shirt and white jeans wardrobe.

Listen to Buzzcocks play "Here Comes the Nice":



Watch Steve Diggle play "Here Comes the Nice" at the Ronnie Lane Memorial Concert (Royal Albert Hall, London, April 8, 2004):




2.  "Jerk" (Shelley) - from Buzzcocks (2003).




It was my fault, you're not to blame, it's me who is in the wrong
That's why I wrote this song just to explain

Amy's favorite song from her favorite later-years Buzzcocks album. Along with Flat-Pack Philosophy's "Reconciliation," it's one of the great pleas for romantic forgiveness:

I'm a jerk, you're right to tell me so
Forgive me - I beg you
You know I only love you
Wish I hadn't told you where to go

Having passed up the chance to see Buzzcocks play Baltimore in 2003, I totally relate to a song called "Jerk." Perhaps this song also inspired Dave Cawley's own tail-between-legs plea for atonement, "Forgive Me," with his band Garage Sale?)






3.  "Sick City Sometimes" (Diggle) - from Buzzcocks (2003)



I only recently learned that this was a song about 9/11. At least, that's how Steve Diggle introduced it when Buzzcocks played The Black Cat in Washington, D.C. in April of 2014. Now it all starts to make sense:

Now the buildings take a fall/And it tries to kill us all
In the name of something zero in your mind

4.  "When Love Turns Around" (Diggle) - from Trade Test Transmissions (1993)

Listen to Buzzcocks play "When Love Turns Around."



What do you do when love turns around you, when hate is just a state in your mind? So asks Steve Diggle on this highlight track, arguably the best song on TTT. The answer, unlike love, is not so hard to find: you press play and put this tune on infinite repeat! Amy likes the coda, "And you and you and you - and you and you!," which is always a high point in concert when Diggle plays to the crowd.

Yield when love turns around you

Another version, featuring drummer Danny Farrant and bassist Chris Remington, appears on A Different Compilation.

5.  "Wallpaper World" (Diggle) - from Steve Diggle's Serious Contender (2005)

The best song from Diggle's debut solo effort, an album that also boasts the cracking good "Starbucks Around the World,""See Through You" (later recorded by Buzzcocks with a different arrangement), and "Terminal."

Steve Diggle, "Serious Contender" (EMI Europe Generic, 2005)

People can say anything to you
What in the world would it take to wake up you?
Can you see me, can you hear me?
Can you see me, in this Wallpaper World?

This is perhaps Diggle's best-ever song, a beautiful mixture of acoustic and electric guitars, great chorus, and lovely guitar solo. And Professor Diggle of the Ministry of Truth once again drops a literary reference, this time to the Everyman protagonist of George Orwell's dystopian future classic Nineteen Eighty-Four. "They got a bucket of paste to put on your face/And disappear behind a wall/And if my name wasn't Winston Smith, I could laugh about it all."

Who's laughing now?

6.  "Reconciliation" (Shelley) - from the Flat-Pack Philosophy "Reconcilation" CD Single (2006)

"Reconciliation" CD Single (2006)

What I want is reconciliation
This separation's more than I can bear
Don't wanna be alone, my love is guaranteed
I want to know that you still care

"Renconcilition" is a great word and a great song, and boasts more clever wordplay by pop-polyglot Pete (author of such "Parlez Vous Francais" songs as "Raison d'etre" and "Qu'est-ce Que C'est Que Ça"), this time dropping some Espanol into the mix:

And so I'll tell you something you already know
Para siempre means forever
And I intend to keep that promise, you know


7.  "Wish I Never Loved You" - from the Flat-Pack Philosophy "Wish I Never Loved You" CD Single (2006)

"Wish I Never Loved You" CD Single (2006)

Now I know how it feels to have loved and lost because of pride
To be deserted so that hurt is all that's left inside
I'm ashamed, I've been blamed so much I wanted to die
Tell me why, tell me why, tell me why, tell me why
Wish I never loved you but I just can't let go

Watch the official (incredibly low-res) music video for "Wish I Never Loved You."


8.  "369" (Shelley) - from Trade Test Transmissions (1993)

Neither Amy nor I understand what the heck "369" means ("1-2-3" cubed?), but it's a great rocker with killer hooks, and that's why it's on this list!

369 all the time/What's the meaning in the number
Somebody tell me
369 through my mind/All I'm getting is a number
Somebody help me please

Listen to Buzzcocks play "369."



9.  "Rendezvous" (Shelley) - from Modern (1999)

"Modern" (1999)

Modern was the first Buzzcocks album produced exclusively by bassist Tony Barber. Amy thinks it's critically under-appreciated, and I concur. It's certainly got an eye-catching pop-art cover.

Listen to Buzzcocks play "Rendezous."


 

Though Dave Cawley considers Modern a mostly an ill-advised and forgettable foray into electronica (Pitchfork agreed, calling it "a weak attempt by a once-great band to simply sound 'current,' whatever that means"), Shelley's song about a memorable bus trip remains one of its shining moments, if only for its unusual vocal approach. Amy likes the love-on-a-double-decker-bus imagery: "I'd overslept so I caught the bus; it's the only thing I could do/I went upstairs, took a vacant seat, and found I'd sat next to you."



And then comes the memorable singalong chorus:

I'm on a cloud I must be in a dream
This can't be real this can't be happening
What are the odds against this rendezvous?
It's worth the gamble when the prize is you

And, as an added riposte to Mr. Cawley, I must note that Modern is the only Buzzcocks album released on Go-Kart Records - the same label as Cawley's pop-punk band of the early '90s, Berserk. Look that up in your Funk & Wagnalls, DC!

10. "Thunder of Hearts" (Shelley) - from Modern (1999)

You live what you learn
I'll beg, steal and borrow
The thunder of hearts
Will echo tomorrow

This was the official single for Modern. Amy thinks "Rendezvous" should should have been the single, but this straightforward pop-by-the-numbers tune is very radio friendly, though the lame video recalls the worst of those MTV "story" videos...and is perhaps a little over-produced.

Watch Buzzcocks music video for "Thunder of Hearts."





Pete Shelley remarked that the line "sometimes even monkeys fall from trees" was inspired by Japanese culture. "I buy a lots of Japanese books," he told Earcandy magazine in a1999 interview. "There was one that was Japanese proverbs. And that was actually the title of the book, Even Monkeys Fall from Trees. It means even the most skillful people can make mistakes."

Japanese Proverbs: More fun than a barrel of monkeys

Pete must have been reading a lot of Japanese books during the recording of Modern, for he name-checks Nippon again on the randy album track "Why Compromise": "I've been a bad boy, so do what you please/Talking of pleasure, speak in Japanese." (Turning Japanese? I really think so!)

11. ""Isolation" (Diggle) - from Trade Test Transmissions (1993)

A definite highlight of TTT with that trademark Buzzcock lead guitar sound. Wonder what Diggs means by "living under two nations," though? Is this a UK reference, like being Scots or Welsh and part of the United Kingdom? This from the guy who once flew the Flag of Convenience.

Living my life in a separate way
Living on my own from day to day
I'm living in a world of isolation
Oh yeah, living under two nations

Listen to Buzzcocks play "Isolation."


12. "Speed of Life" (Diggle) - from Modern (1999)

"You're living at the Speed of Life/On the edge of a razor knife"

As usual, nothing too deep lyrically from Diggle, who cuts straight to the chase with this hook-happy rocker, that sounds like glossy AM pop straight out of the '80s, especially the guitar solo. And that's not a bad thing - not at all.

Listen to Buzzcocks play "Speed of Life."





13. "Credit" (Shelley) - from Flat-Pack Philosophy (2006)




My favorite song from FPP is an anti-debt manifesto (and as one who has only recently gotten out of debt, I totally relate to its theme!): "Credit, in love with the never never/Wish I could get something I really need."

In fact, the very title of the album Flat-Pack Philosophy refers to Pete and Steve's anti-consumerist world view, a world in which even love "is a cashed-in check," as Pete sang in the early Buzzcocks B-side "Whatever Happened To?" That song, written by Shelley and Alan Dial, also contained the bon mots: "Your pasteurized life so fit for consumption/Ooh those undressing eyes so strictly commercial."

 

AssemblyRequired: That's Flat-Pack Philosophy!

OK, while the album's title song takes on deeper existentialissues - Why am I here? What are we living for?/All of my hopes, dreams and desires: Assembly required/That's flat-pack philosophy -  I think FPP is really all about how one buys and sells those "hopes dreams, and desires." Like an earlier Buzzcocks CD box set's title, it's all about Product.For inthe UK, "Flat-pack" refers to a piece of furniture that sold in parts, which consumers must then fit together and reassemble. In other words, it's the IKEA-ification of Britain by cheap, affordable goods, (under)class warfare fought against the economy by armchair generals and sofa warriors. It's cheap goods on offer for purchase with cheap plastic credit. When the first IKEA opened in London in 2005, greed-frenzied shoppers stampeded for bargains, with 20 customers rushed to hospital in its aftermath. (Stateside, we call this phenomena "Black Friday.")

Paradise is a platinum card
Behind the wheel of your car, with your new pair of trainers
Designer clothes: Go on, I'll have seven of those
And go to ski where it snows/Its bounty sustains us

Videophones, with all the latest ringtones
You buy-to-let your new home
Don't care what you're spending
Then just like that, reminders under the mat
Of your flat full of tat
The pile of debts never ending
Diggle also addresses crass commercialism and the global homogenization of culture in his song "Starbucks Around the World" from 2005's Serious Contender, as well as in "Sell You Everything" from 2006's Flat-Pack Philosophy.

14. "Big Brother Wheels" (Diggle) - from Flat-Pack Philosophy (2006)

Big Brother is watching YOU!

A tune about 1984 hitting a tad later than expected. Yes, Big Brother is watching and his jack-booted "line of blue" will make "you believe what you receive". Shouts from the crowd? Not allowed. "And if you walk into walls, you'll get a kick in the balls and see how the mighty fall," Diggle warns. If his name wasn't Winston Smith, he could laugh about it all. Instead, he offsets the dire straits with this finger-snapping pop melody that at least one reviewer compared to the late '70s sound of The Motors. Buzzcocks made a music video for the song, but the record company passed on releasing it as a single, much to Diggle's disappointment.

Watch Buzzcocks play "Big Brother Wheels."



Big Brother Wheels gonna stamp it out of you in time
Big Brother Wheels gonna make you jump and walk the line...

Jackboot stamp all over your face
Jackboot stamp all over the place

15. "See Through You" (Diggle) - from the Flat-Pack Philosophy "Reconcilation" CD Single (2006)



If I could see through you/Through what you want to do/But you ain't got a clue
If I could find a way just to make you say/But you don't play that way...
Look into your life like a mirror/Backs against the wall - it's a never-ending story

Diggle originally recorded this on his 2005 solo album Serious Contender, but this slower Buzzcocks version is more stop-start/herky-jerky, its thick-and-chunky layered guitars and backing vocals creating a '70s powerpop vibe not unlike a Badfinger song - specifically "No Matter What."



I especially love the hand-claps that are added on (a Tony Barber suggestion? A shout-out to Badfinger's "No Matter What"?).

16. "Keep On Believing" (Shelley) - from The Way (2014)

"The Way" (2014)

Let’s give it up for rock and roll
If you feel it in your heart and soulThen you’re in control
Keep on believing...
What’s the use complaining that it’s forever raining
After all, that’s what they make umbrellas for

The obvious single, and opening track, from 2014's The Way. Nothing spectacular, just a solid pop song and concert pleaser.

Watch Buzzcocks play "Keep On Believing" on Late Night with Seth Meyer.



17. "Sell You Everything" (Diggle) - from Flat-Pack PhilosophyCD Single (2006)

"Sell You Everything" CD Single (2006)

An album track that also was released as a CD single, "Sell You Everything" is either about consumerism or prostitution (take your pick!).

"All the things you wanted, set within your sight"

Either way, it's a Diggle ditty, which means that what it lacks in profundity it more than makes up for in solid riffing. Nice Steve solo, to boot.

The lights are so bright/all the things you wanted
Set within your sights/you sell your soul tonight
Sell you everything, sell me everything


Watch Buzzcocks play "Sell You Everything."



18. "People Are Strange Machines" (Diggle) - from  The Way (2014)




Steve's best song from the latest album, and one of the best in his 'cocks catalog. No idea what it's about (as usual), but another strong melody makes this one a keeper.

When you're stuck in a room with a mouthful of headspace
A mechanical zoom and a smile wide across your face...
Looking for life, counting the cost
Nothing's been gained and nothing's lost
People are strange machines



Watch Buzzcocks play "People Are Strange Machines" (live).



19. "Totally from the Heart" (Shelley) - from All Set (1996)

"All Set" (1996)

Amy and I rarely ever listen to All Set, despite it being a pretty solid rock album that would appeal to fans of Green Day's sound. No surprise there, the record was produced by Dookie engineer Neill King and recorded in Green Day's hometown of Berkeley, CA. "Totally from the Heart" opens the album and sands of one of Shelley's best driving pop songs: crisp and soaring guitars, an infectious chorus, and a typically compact arrangement. That's our Pete!

Listen to Buzzcocks play "Totally From the Heart."



20. "Telephone Operator" (Shelley) - from Pete Shelley's XL1 (1983)

Pete Shelley, "XL1" (Island Records, 1983)

Pete's irresistable single release from his second solo album is pure '80s electronic dance-club joy, married as always to his clever wordplay. Once again produced by Martin Rushent, the album itself was notable for including a computer program for the ZX Spectrum which displayed lyrics and graphics synced in time to the music - a precursor to the visuals of today's media players.





Telephone operator/You're my aural stimulator
Telephone operator/Ne c'est pas la raison d'etre


21. "Yesterday's Not Here" (Shelley) - from Pete Shelley's Homosapien (1981)

Pete Shelley, "Homosapien" (Island Records, 1981)

Several of the songs on Homosapien started out as tracks intended for the abortive fourth Buzzcocks album. But after the group convened at Manchester Pluto Studios in early 1981 and troubles continued, Shelley and producer Martin Rushent decided they loved the synth-and-drum machine experiments enough to jump ship on Buzzcocks and launch Pete's solo electronics career. Listening to "Yesterday's Not Here," I can easily imagine it as a guitar-driven Buzzcocks tune.






22. "I Don't Know What It Is" (Shelley) - from Pete Shelley's Homosapien (1981)

The second single from Homosapien is another tune I can see working as a Buzzcocks song from that post-1980 period when Pete was coming up with such Martin Rushent sound experiments as "Strange Thing,""Are Everything," and "What Do You Know?" (from the Parts 1, 2, and 3 final Buzzcocks singles releases).





23. "Homosapien"(Shelley) - from Pete Shelley's Homosapien (1981)

Pete Shelley, "Homosapien" (Island, 1981)

Shamefully banned by the "Homo Superior"-with-heads-up-their-posterior BBC, the title track to Pete's solo "coming out" career is unashamedly infectious, working as a fun sing-along pop song as well as a (not-so-thinly-veiled) gay rights manifesto. And yes, it's the most Buzzcocks readymade of the songs here, with still a lot of guitar (acoustic and electric) between the synth-pop production by Martin Rushent.

The Post-Buzzcocks Buzzcocks even performed "Homosapien" at the 2012 Coachella music festival, as shown below:

Watch Pete & Buzzcocks perform "Homosapien" at Coachella 2012.



And here's the as-it-sounded-then original from 1981's music video:




The next two songs are from a limited edition maxi-single and represent more guitar-based music that could easily have ended up on that abortive final Buzzcocks album.

24. "In Love with Somebody Else" (Shelley) - bonus single from Pete Shelley's I Don't Know What It Is Limited Edition 2x7" Single (1981)

I Don't Know What It Is EP (Genetic/Island Records, 1981)

Another in the line of great Shelley songs with "love" in the title, a list whose ranks also included "Ever Fallen in Love" (Etc.), "Love You More," and "You Say You Don't Love Me." And, lyrically, Pete could be talking about his "all booked up" post-Buzzcocks career at the time ("Homosapien" rose as high as number 14 on the Club Play Singles chart, and hit number 6 in Canada).

Everyone's coming to me
For some love, oh yeah
I'm popular since you left me, you see
All booked up, oh yeah
But half of what I want I don't need
Cos you see
I'm in love with somebody else
With a dream whose passion is a dare
And I'm always so unaware

Listen to Pete play "In Love With Somebody Else."



25. "Maxine" (Shelley) - bonus single from Pete Shelley's I Don't Know What It Is Limited Edition 2x7" Single (1981)

Listen to Pete Shelly play "Maxine."



Move over, "Mad Mad Judy," there's another gal name-checked in Buzzcocks discography. The acoustic guitar, subject matter, and arrangement lend the tune an early Beatles vibe (think McCartney's "Michelle"), while the drum machine and production keep it modernized enough to include with Pete's Homosapien CD reissue.

This song actually dates back to the late '70s, with Pete previously demoing it on Picadelly Radio in February 1979, as shown below.

Listen to "Maxine" acoustic radio session.




26. "Every Day and Every Night"(Diggle) - from Flat-Pack Philosophy "Sell You Everything" CD Single (2006)

Cross the bridge and you will find/That it's only in your mind
 
Steve Diggle stays calm and carries on, in this pretty acoustic number found only on this FPP CD single.
This 1996 demo recording was originally intended for the Modern album. And, yes, multi-talented bassist-producer Tony Barber plays synth on it. Starts off real Windham Hilly with acoustic guitar strumming complementing Barber's airy synth line, but then really kicks in with a hooky bridge as Diggle sings, "Across your mind you find that time is only time and time again" and adds a restrained, economical electric guitar solo.

Listen to Buzzcocks play "Every Day and Every Night."



27. "Twilight" (Shelley) - from Pete Shelley's XL1 (1983)

Amy and Dave Cawley consider this to be the prettiest song Pete Shelley ever wrote, which makes it the perfect cool-down coda to this fantasy mix tape. Plus you get the sound of birdies merrily chirping away.

Watching the twilight, I saw it flicker
Feel that I might as well give up and go
On the horizon, are distant reminders
Twilight is the only love I know

Listen to Pete Shelley play "Twilight."

The Last Trio Novo Show
July 14, 2015
@ Chateau Rieger, Towson, MD

Trio Novo's farewell gig at Chateau Rieger

Trio Novo is:
Paul Rieger: Rickenbacker bass guitar
Robert "Bob" Tiefenwerth: Yamaha keyboards
Tim Taormino: drums

Sunday, July 14th marked the last live performance of Trio Novo. The trio's swan song concert took place at Chateau Rieger in Towson, where friends and family gathered to say farewell to the genre-defying band that may have been Baltimore's Best Kept Musical Secret over the past decade. With keyboard whiz Robert Tiefenwerth and his wife relocating to Houston, Texas, two days later, Trio Novo is no more. To paraphrase Monty Python and a certain dead parrot, Trio Novo has ceased to exist, ceased to be, expired,  kicked the bucket, shuffled off their mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible. This is an ex-Trio Novo.

Departing keyboardist Robert Tiefenwerth is already fading from view in this picture

But, hope springs eternal that the band will utilize the borderless Internet to collaborate on future projects virtually. So, as King of Bling Liberace once sang, "Never Say Goodbye, Say Ciao!"





Formed in 2006, Trio Novo - keyboardist Robert Tiefenwerth, bassist Paul Rieger, and ex-BLAMMO drummer Tim Tourmino - played a variety of what they called "classic jazz" and featured the music of such composers as bossa nova legend Antonio Jobim, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, and Herbie Hancock, among others. But as the band progressed, their setlist reflected an even more eclectic repetoire, adding Martin Denny exotica ("Quiet Village"),  '60s psychedelia (after all, Tiefenwerth and Rieger were veterans of the '80s neo-psych band The United States of Existence), '70s Prog Rock (The Nice's still-epic "America"), secret agent TV theme songs (Edwin Astley's "High Wire," aka "The Danger Man Theme" - the UK series predecessor to Secret Agent Man), and straight up rock & roll (Small Faces, "Barefoot in Baltimore" by Strawberry Alarm Clock, et al).

Paul Rieger (far left) and Robert Tiefenwerth (far right) in U.S.E.

Trio Novo's Dynamic Duo today: Bob Tiefenwerth and Paul Rieger

At Paul Rieger's stately West Towson manor, Chateau Rieger, the trio played all of the above and more to an appreciative crowd of family and music friend fans whose ranks included Dave Wilcox (Chelsea Graveyard), Mark O'Connor (Buck Subtle, OHO, Food For Worms, et al), and WCVT/WVUD DJ Rod Misey (incidentally, Misey's liner notes for The United States of Existence's 1994 CD The Collection provide the definitive history of that band and are worthy of publication in Ugly Things magazine).

A highlight of Trio Novo's farewell performance was their rendition of Dave Brubeck's "Take Five," a snippet of which is shown below.

Watch Trio Novo play "Take Five."




Over the years, the trio had enjoyed supporting the local arts (Tiefenewerth is an accomplished artist, as well as musician, and even sold a greeting card on FineArtAmerica.com) and non-profit communities by providing music for events held at Center Stage, Gallery G, the Visionary Art Museum, and the HACbox. And they were supposed to play at the Hamilton Arts Collective this past May, but had to cancel due to the city curfew imposed following the death, in police custody, of Freddie Gray. (But a gig's a gig, and trouper Tiefenwerth posted on social media that he would be playing piano at home alone that night, just as the Baltimore Orioles would be playing the Chicago White Sox in an empty Camden Yards.)

"How's this thing work again?" Robert Tiefenwerth keys off with Trio Novo

Unfortunately, few Trio Novo performances have been captured on video. A Google search turns up only a September 2014 Trio Novo performance at the Hamilton Gallery (5502 Harford Rd, Baltimore, MD 21214) in Northeast Baltimore - that is, they provide the soundtrack to a clip showing highlights from that night's gallery show.

Trio Novo at Hamilton Gallery

And Paul Rieger, Esq., recorded their May 24, 2014 performance for Band Bash 2014: "You're With the Band!", (a private party for "friends, families and others who have suffered through the hardships of repetitive rehearsals, frightening feedback and decor-destroying equipment" over the years with the GOHOG-Toys bands)atHeritage Parkville Gardens Hall in the Parkville Shopping Center. So, there is archival footage of this great band out there (hint, hint, Paul!)

Paul Rieger paints a pretty picture on his Rickenbacker

There may not be a lot of video footage of Trio Novo, but they did record two CDs, one of which (Tribute) you can check out of the Enoch Pratt Free Library's "Local Music" collection (wonder how that happened?).

So while the Novo we all know is no more, the Trio's legacy lives on. Remember: Never Say Goodbye, Say Ciao!

Related Links:

See Robert Tiefenwerth's Art @ FineArtAmerica
Balto Band Bash 2014
United States of Existence @ Discogs.com
United States of Existence on YouTube
BLAMMO - "Sweet Home Balt-Amore"

Why, Just Follow These Easy-to-Follow Steps!

If you ever have a question about how to do, well, anything, just ask a librarian. We're here to help the helpless.

The answer to all your queries, all your problems, and all of life's mysteries is just a phone call away and operators are standing by to take your call.

Ready? Grab a pencil and some paper and follow just these steps. Aren't you glad you asked?

 **********************************************************

1. Welcome!
2. Spell out your full name, surname first. Fill in the circles completely with a No. 2 pencil. Make sure your marks are heavy and dark.
3. Enter your five-digit PIN number. If you do not own a touch-tone phone, hold for operator assistance. If you do not hear an alarm within sixty seconds, force the door open. If the door won’t open, try closing it first.
4. Insert tab A into slot 6. Color in any space marked “3” with cornflower blue. Do not put all your eggs in one (1) basket. Do not pound square pegs into round holes. Guide them in gently. Think outside the box. Then fill in boxes 7a(a)-7a(c) with your age, address, and conception of the afterlife.
5. Think, write, revise. Lather, rinse, repeat. Before you begin assembly, locate the fissile isotope plutonium-239. Determine its expiration date, then predetermine your own.
6. Check at least once a month, perhaps in the shower. Search carefully for a hard, pea-size growth. Remove the hard drive with a flathead screwdriver. Phillips-head screwdrivers are awkward tools and untrustworthy lovers, like the Danish.
7. To avoid the appearance of sexist language in your writing, try to pluralize, stylize, or just tell lies. Always replace “he” with “he or she.” Also replace “she” with “he or she,” unless preceded by the phrase “he or.”
8. If you are travelling with a child under the age of twelve, strap your oxygen mask to your face first, then put your child’s oxygen mask on your face. If your oxygen supply runs low, photosynthesize. If you experience technical difficulties, weep softly, with prudence. When finished, configure the plutonium-239 into a small “pit” packed with explosives. This pit will compress symmetrically into a supercritical mass when detonated. Be careful not to apply this product, or yourself, in high humidity or at abnormal altitudes.
9. Just say “No!” If you speak Spanish, say “¡No!”
10. Take a deep breath. Think about slowly moving clouds that are white, like wedding dresses and Deborah’s legs in the rain. Don’t worry about shark attacks, terror attacks, or the inheritance tax.
11. Do not stare directly at the sun. Do not exceed the recommended dosage of anything, except Vitamin C and meaningful emotional contact.
12. In the rare event that a mature adult of the human species confronts you, stretch your arms above your head to make yourself as tall as possible. Shout strong commands with a strong, commanding shout. If you are assaulted, fall down and play dead. Do not play dead for more than seventy-two hours, or you will die.
13. Pause. Pause again.
14. Insert your card into the machine and determine if you are happy or sad. If you are unsure, ask a loved one, but the likely answer is a combination of four to six numerals. Make sure to refrigerate after opening. A sulfurous, or “rotten egg,” smell is a sign that something is wrong. Notify transit authorities.
15. Take a moment to ease your mind, stretch your legs, and exercise your Second Amendment rights. Review your work thus far. Is this the best you can do? Why won’t you settle down and grow up? Why must you constantly confuse ranch dressing and Russian dressing? Why did Deborah wait through twelve years of marriage before leaving to pursue her career as an office temp?
16. Seventeen syllables is a haiku. Eighteen syllables is an unauthorized withdrawal of company resources and will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
17. Studies show that Monday afternoons are optimal. Engage the employee in a room near his desk. Compliment his kinfolk and establish a light, collegial atmosphere with an icebreaker—perhaps a gender-sensitive joke about mulatto children. Use positive inflection and never say the words “you’re fired.” Talk about company cutbacks. Talk about hope, about faith, about weather cycles, about anything other than testicular cancer and corporate liability. Call the employee “a real trouper.” If he or she looks sad, talk about sports. Everybody likes sports. Except, of course, golf.
18. If the one who is “it” touches you, you are now “it.”
19. The addition of tritium will boost fissile power. Now that the plutonium is properly packed, the device is functional. Carefully consider other dieting options before starting a thermonuclear war or ending a thermonuclear peace. Remember, violence is not an alternative. Violence is not an answer. Unless the question is “What is an eight-letter word for something painful that is neither an alternative nor an answer?”
20. Be mindful that bees smell fear but not toxic chemical defoliants. Humans, like most life-forms (lobsters, lichen), can smell neither. God can smell both fear and defoliants, because God is all-smelling. If only Deborah’s orthodox Lutheran upbringing hadn’t closed her mind to this revelation, widening the schism between us. If only she could have diverted her energies from stapling and faxing to refreshing the stagnant adolescence of our marriage. If only she weren’t Danish.
21. No, no! Refrigerate after opening!
22. Put your left leg in.
23. Take your left leg out.
24. Put your left leg in—

25. That’s what it’s all about!

Humans (AMC)
Sundays at 9 p.m. EST



OK, I'm all in. Finally watched the first episode (on demand) of AMC's new sci-fi series Humans last night and I'm hooked.

I say new, but this Anglo-American co-production (that's AMC-Channel 4) is actually an English-language adaptation of yet another groundbreaking Nordic TV series, Sweden's Real Humans (Akta Manniskor, 2012-2014), which is as yet unavailable to see unless you have an all-region DVD player.



So why am I in? Well, first off it's a British production filled with a mostly Brit cast (save for William Hurt). Then it's got two Doc Martin alumni in Katherine Parkinson (receptionist "Pauline Lamb," 2005-2009) and Tom Goodman-Hall (Portwenn bartender "Mark Ridge," 2011; Goodman-Hall also had a prominent role in last year's Alan Turing biopic, The Imitation Game), who play a middle-class professional couple, Joe and  Laura Hawkins, with three kids and a need for some help around the house - though Parkinson would prefer a less attractive housekeeper than "Anita." Anita, you see, is a "Synth," a flesh-and-bolts all-too-human-on-the-surface A.I. machine played by the sexy Gemma Chan (who I last saw as a touchy-feely archeology student in Shetland). As you can see in the pics below, she's quite an upgrade from the space-age Rosie the Robot model I grew up watching on The Jetsons.

Rosie the Robot from "The Jetsons"

Gemma Chan cleaning up as "Anita"

Gemma Chan is green with humanoid envy as "Anita"

Her counterpart in Real Humans, Lisette Pagler, is perhaps even sexier, albeit with brown eyes:

Real Humans'"Anita," Lisette Pagler

Synths can be distinguished from humans by their sparkling blueish-green eyes (whoever is providing the colored contact lenses for this series must be making a mint!) and, well, by their politeness (Abe Sherman and Donald Trump would not pass as Synths). But certain Synths are more similar to humans than meets their blue-green eyes; some can actually feel and dream. They are self-aware and start to think of themselves existentially (Cogita ergo sum, anyone?) - but as limited-time-only mortal coils. Yes, they are emo bots.

Seeing as Blade Runner is my all-time favorite movie, you can see where I'm going with this. Yes, these Synths are basically updates on Philip K. Dick's Androids-dreaming-of-electric-sheep, of Ridley Scott's memory-longing "Replicants" who want freedom from their artificial enslavement. They want "more life, fucker." You can make the argument that these robotic wage slaves are metaphors for today's exploited immigrant labor force that toils in sweatshops and farm fields. These are servants that get recharged instead of fed and paid.

In place of Harrison Ford's "Blade Runner" Rick Dekard, we have Hobb (played by Danny Webb, who you might remember as prisoner colony leader Morse in Aliens 3) out to involuntarily "retire" the renegade robots.

Naturally, men being men, when Daddy brings home a sexy skin-job (to use a Bladerunner vulgarism), it's just a matter of time before temptation rears its ugly head. I love the scene where Goodman-Hall looks over his operator's manual and spies an "Adult Options 18+," which he quickly and furtively slips into his back pocket so the family won't see it. Everything in this Brave New World is apparently On Demand. There's already a emo Synth, Niska, who is hiding out in a brothel and looks to be an update on Blade Runner's ass-kicking "pleasure unit" Pris (as portaryed by the athletic Darry Hannah).

William Hurt's character is an aging engineer who may at one time have worked on the technology that led to creating these Synths. He has become paternally-attached to a similarly aging, outmoded Synth, one who retains many of the memories Hurt's character, Dr. George Millican, is slowly starting to lose to dementia. He kind of reminds me of Blade Runner's Tyrell, the father figure inventor whose creations have run wild and out of control.

The show makes a statement about a future that's not all that far away. Don't we already have GPS, computers, and smart phones that talk to us? Robotic voice mail messengers? (You've come a long way, Speak and Spell!). Recent movies like Ex Machina and Her also have trod this familiar ground.

Maybe the novelty will pass. But so far, I am intrigued by the issues and the characters in Humans.

Local hero dreams of being back in Baltimore with hard-shelled crabs and beer.

Today marks the 145th anniversary of Memorial Day, a day to honor those men and women, both nationally and right here in our own background, who gave their lives in the service of their country.

As a port city and former steel manufacturing hub, Baltimore has always been active during military conflicts, especially during The Big One. Baltimore was right in the thick of the Allied war effort in World War II - launching the first Liberty ship (the SS Patrick Henry, which was constructed at the Bethlehem-Fairfield yard),  producing military aircraft like the B-26 Marauder at the Glenn L. Martin plant in Middle River, and training grunts and sailors alike for combat duty at facilities like Camp Holabird, Fort McHenry, Curtis Bay and elsewhere.

Baltimore was certainly "on the map" during the second world war, and Hollywood took notice, name-checking B-more for its stereotypical "Charm City" attributes in a number of films. Long before this town become synonymous with violent crime, drug peddling and urban decay in TV series like  Homicide, The Wire and The Corner (not to mention prostitution - don't forget, Tippy Hedren's mom in Hitchcock's Marnie was a sailor-baiting floozy), a Baltimore reference usually involved beer (our German brewing heritage long celebrated by H.L. Mencken) and crabs (both the edible kind and, later, the sexually-transmitted variety) - though in Fred Zinnemann's post-war film The Search (1948), Montgomery Clift boasted that he was from "Baltimore, the cleanest, finest city in the United States!"


Faux native son Montgomery Clift gilds the lily of Charm City in "The Search."

But more often than not, vets from Mobtown were vetted as legit homies by referring to our beer and seafood. One of my favorites name-checks was by native son "Pvt. Jim Layton" (played by Marshall Thompson) in William Wellman's WWII classic Battleground(1949), in which the soldier holes up under wreckage dreaming about being "back home in Baltimore, loadin' up on hard-shelled crabs and beer."

His pal Holley (Van Johnson) counters, "That dream's against regulations, soldier. You know what our boys overseas always dreams about."

Pvt. Jim Layton: "Mom's blueberry pie?"

Holley: "Why certainly. That's what they're fighting for. Boy, when I get home, just give me a hot dog and a slice of that pie. Am I gonna kick when I don't get my job back? No siree."

I've excerpted that "Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time" clip below as a fitting Memorial Day tribute to our vets and their service fighting for the Baltimore - if not the American -  culinary "way of life."Pie schmie! Crabs and beers on the homefront - it's what got this town's Band of Brothers through WWII!

Redux Stage celebrates music long gone but far from forgotten



It was the best of times, it was the Worz of times (yes, perpetually frenetic scenester Keith Worz was there!) at the 30th annual SoWeBohemian Arts & Music Festival held this past Memorial Weekend Sunday in  Baltimore's failed experiment in neighborhood gentrification, SoWeBo (which I guess stands for SouthWest Baltimore, but was originally coined by the early bohemian settlers to show their solidarity with South Africa's Soweto townships).

Musicians chill in The Redux Stage's open-air VIP Lounge

Though there's a lot to see and do down at SoWeBo - like all the art and crafts on display (though most people seem to just eat, drink, get sunburn, and listen to the free music) - Amy "I have enough t-shirts & jewelry" Linthicum and I set out to hang at the Marble Bar Time Capsule Stage (officially known as The Redux Stage, on the corner of Arlington and Lombard) as our prime objective, because this was Festival Ground Zero for seeing all the old people (Marble Bar Baby Boomers like us) and hearing all the old music (late '70s & 1980s Punk-New Wave-Postpunk) that we like.

Marble Bar Boomers trux on down to Redux

The stage was managed by Fred Collins (Motor Morons, Pleasant Livers), with DJ "Lightning"Rod Misey (former WCVT-Towson State University and current WVUD-University of Delaware jock who interviewed and played countless Punk-New Wave bands - like Da Moronics, Ivan & The Executioners, Thee Katatonix, etc. - during his late '70s/early '80s radio reign) emceeing the proceedings and Joe Berky of Sound Productions handling, um, sound and production.

DJ MC Rod Misey

Once again the usual musical suspects - The Motor Morons (unofficial "house band" of SoWeBo), Thee Katatonix, The Beatoes, Mongoloidian Glow - were on stage to perform, but this year's highlight was easily the much-anticipated performance of The Mark Harp All-Stars - plus a surprise mini-set (courtesy of the Kats' Adolf Kowalski) by Washington D.C.'s '80s pop-punk wonders, Tru Fax & The Insaniacs.

Behind the Music: Robyn Webb

The Mark Harp All-Stars idea was the brainchild of long-time Harp collaborator Robyn Webb (following a suggestion by Fred Collins), who posted on her Facebook page the following thank-you to all who participated in the day's festivities:

Still in recovery, but want to offer major thanks to everyone, Chris Dennstaedt, Chris Ciattei, Cecilia Strakna, Robert J. Friedman, David Zidek, David Wilcox, Bill Dawson, Cindy Borchardt, Craig Considine and Ben Watson for making Mark Harp's All-Stars a reality one more time....Despite scheduling snafus, equipment failures and general chaos, they said it couldn't be done, but we pulled it off...Thanks also to Fred Collins, the SoWeBo Festival committee, Joe Berky, Thee Katatonix, Motor Morons, Mongoloidian Glow, Trufax & The Insaniacs, David Wright, Tom Warner and to all of you that stuck around until the bitter end to share Mark Harp's music with us. Great to see so many old friends together in one place. - Robyn Webb

Well said, Robyn. My only regret was that the star-studded set started so late, at Twilight's last gleaming after a long day's journey into (SoWeBo) blight. But as Larry Vega would say, "What the hell ya gonna do?"

Apparently, there was a little "drama" behind the scenes of the All-Stars event, but I try to avoid conflicts and confrontations as much as I can (I get enough of that on a daily basis at my job!); interested parties can read Robyn's soap opera recap at Mark Harp's All-Stars.) (I did, however, love Robyn's snarky riposte to all the post-event carping: "Lessons learned: Get a lead guitar player who owns a guitar. Never follow the Motor Morons or an animal act.")

Robert J. Friedman (aka "Beefalo Bob") put it all into perspective with his tempered observation that "...organizing the un-organizable Mark Harp All-Stars...(was) a task that made herding cats look easy. Sure it could have been better, and it should have been earlier, however I thought we served the Big Man's memory well and made him the star of yet another SoWeBo Festival!"

More on The Big Event celebrating the music of The Big Man, Mark Harp (Mark Linthicum, 1957-2004), later in this long-winded tome...but first, a litany of the day's events in chronological order as they happened...with accompanying videos recorded by yours truly...

Tom Warner, Vidiot About Town records the action

The SoWeBeatoes
Thanks to a family medical emergency, Amy and I missed most of The Beatoes' noon set (why so early?; we barely had time to put on our sunblock!), catching only their last number, "Mouse in a Blender," an old Poverty & Spit vermin supremo delicacy that featured guest vocals by erstwhile Spit and current Thee Katatonix honcho Adolf Kowalski.

Adolf K. spits it out while Chris D. strums along

Adolf released a bunch of balloons, just like Nena in "99 Luftballons," though I don't think his act was as symbolically charged as the Krautpop fraulein's.


Watch The Beatoes play "Mouse in a Blender."



This was the first stage appearance by Chris Dennstaedt, the man Robyn Webb always intros as "Philadelphia's answer to Beck Hansen," who would return to the Redux Stage later that night to perform with the All-Stars. By all accounts, Chris did some major heavy lifting on the day (no wonder he wears a wrist brace!), being called into duty to carry much of the All-Stars guitar duties. As Robyn Webb later commented, "After all this hoopla, we still had to go to the bullpen immediately upon the first pitch...[and] Chris, as a relief pitcher was far from warmed up, but managed to deliver when he hit the mound." Copy that and color me impressed!

Afterwards, Amy and I wandered around the festival, running into mutual acquaintance friends and peeps like Billy McConnell and his girlfriend Nicole...

Billy McConnell's "Big Man" pin reminds us to watch the Mark Harp All-Stars

"Mark Harp? I'll drink to that!"

Bucky B...

Hollins Street Hookup: Bucky B., Robyn Webb & Amy Linthicum

Bucky's "Big Man" ink trumps Billy McC's "Big Man" pin

...Amy's college roommate and longtime gal pal Liz Crain and, hey, Chris Dennstaedt the Hobo Chef sampling a local Chicken Gyro!...

Liz Crain, Amy Linthicum & Chris Dennstaedt

Blade (Motor Morons) says hi to her Edgewater neighbor Liz

...and Jo Connor (Here Today, Vigil)...

Jo Connor (Here Today, Vigil) models his Mark Harp tee

...Amy's pal Valerie Potrzuski (of Hampden's Valerie Gallery fame), who was a festival vendor selling her art there.

Valerie Potrzuski & Amy Linthicum

...and Bill Barnett, who used to work with Mark Harp when they were DJs at WJHU back in the '80s and had a music blog, Burl Veneer's Music Blog, which had a great tribute to "The King of Peru."

Bill Barnett & Amy Linthicum

In his 2007 "King of Peru" post, Bill/Burl wrote:

"I read today that Alberto Fujimori, former President of Peru, was just convicted of abuse of power, the first in what should be a string of convictions.  But that just reminded me of my dear friend Mark Harp, who in his final years was the self-styled King of Peru.  In fact, nearly every day something reminds me of Mark; just a few days ago he figured in my post on Vigil.  I met Mark when I was 17, a freshman in college.  The campus radio station, WJHU, had a marvelously liberal policy regarding on-air staff: you didn't have to be a student, or even affiliated with the university at all!  Mark was a so-called "community member" of the radio station.  I got to know him when I graduated from the 3-6 AM timeslot into 1-3 AM; he came on after me.  He scared me a bit at first, because he was a big, ugly guy.  But he was incredibly friendly and his enthusiasm for music was unbounded.  Every week he brought a mind-blowing case of records into the studio with him, and I would often stick around for an hour or two just to hear them, and what he did with them.  Mark's ecumenical taste in music opened my eyes to so much that I had ignored until then, so he is probably more responsible than anyone else for broadening my own musical world." 

On a day that was paying homage to the Mark's memory, I thought this was a touching tribute. I too was a "community member" at JHU's then 5-watt radio station in the early '80s (was anyone there from Hopkins? I recall a lot of TSU-ers having shows), along with my ex Katie Glancy, City Paper writer Michael Yockel, and countless others. I think my solo show was "Make Believe Ballroom" and my show with Katie was "We Am a DJ" (named after the David Bowie song) and can recall interviewing Boy Meets Girl on air there; BMG singer-songwriter Ceil Strakna would perform later that day with the Mark Harp All-Stars.

Oh, and two fans even recognized me from my old public access television atrocity exhibition, Atomic TV (one guy confessed he couldn't get enough of the Underdog Lady episodes while Harvey Wiley other gave me card for his YouTube animated series "Punk Rock Negro" available on the spaceboycmx channel).

We then headed back down to the Redux Stage shortly before Thee Katatonix's 5 p.m. scheduled set, where some unscheduled spoken word and dance performances were taking place.

Mary Knott's Poetry Gong Show
Boy, timing is everything. Poor Mary Knott was slotted to give her poetry reading before a unreceptive, sometimes heckling, urban audience that had gathered to see the act that followed hers, the Dynamic Movement Dance Team. Alas, her words fell on def ears.


Watch Mary Knott's spoken word set.



Wow, tough crowd! One guy stood directly in front of Mary and glared at her, shaking his head dismissively and giving her the "cut it short" motion with his hand. Guess he was impatient to see the skinny-tights gals in the Dynamic Movement troupe - I suspect he's from the "It ain't the Mete(r), it's the Motion" school of thought - but rude is rude. Respect, brother, respect - spelled R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Dynamic Movement Dance Team: Poetry in Motion

Robyn Webb diffused the situation by thanking Mary and cracking "Where's that gong when you need it?" as he ushered her off the stage. Mary avoided getting the gong and the Dynamic Movement came on to do their thing.



Dynamic Movement Dance Team
I have to say, these kids were really good and busted some truly dynamic moves. Not my music and not my style, but talent is talent, and these terpsichoreans "brought it"!

Watch Dynamic Movement move dynamically.



I'm sure the crowd enjoyed the one girl's exposed butt crack as she gyrated, to boot(y). (Joy is where you find it, after all! Look for butt crack at the 1:48 mark!)

Dynamic Movement Dance Team members

Dancing with the Stars, SoWeBo Style

So much for the professionals...It was also a day of wild abandon as far as dancing and gyrating music lovers were concerned in the amateur ranks, from a Headbanging Woman in a Wheelchair clutching a Pet Pigeon to her breast (she seemed to have an epiphany during Thee Katatonix's set - see her rock out when they played "Second Chance")...

Wheelchair lady holds pigeon - and Thee Katatonix - near and dear to her heart

...to a high-jumping, high-kicking black dude who went airborne during the Motor Morons set (Dave Wright and I suspected he might have been amped-up on Bath Salts and cautiously covered our faces whenever near him - just in case he wanted to chew off our well-chiseled faces)...

Manic dancer in blue comes unglued during Motor Morons set

"I like open-face sandwiches!": Blue man checks out our faces!

...and his sweat-suited companion in look-at-me spotlight dancing, Pink Lady...

Pink Lady busts a move in front of Redux Stage

...to uber-fans Blade of the Motor Morons pulling people from the crowd to dance with her and wildman Keith Worz of Marble Bar Lore - beer always in hand - pounding his fist on the stage and imploring the musicians to rock on.

Kalamitous Keith back in the day

(I remember well the time Keith came to a 1979 Katatonix gig in Annapolis where his frenetic pogo dancing so impressed a local music critic that he got singled out in the review for resembling something along the lines of "Jerry Lewis exposed to repeated electro-shocks"!)

I hadn't seen Keith in years, if not decades. Googling him later, I found out that there's a short film by Zach Greenbaum called "Out To Lunch" on YouTube that stars Keith and is based on real events from his life. Filmed  in Keith's basement, it's about two friends that reconnect after many years.

Watch Keith in "Out To Lunch."



Keith also starred in another Greenbaum short film, "Shades of Gray."

Keith Worz in "Shades of Grey"

Watch Keith in "Shades of Gray."




Thee Katatonix
Thee Katatonix came on next and played a set that alternated between Mr. Urbanity (Charlie Gatewood)'s hook-happy psych-pop tunes ("Daisy Chain,""Second Chance," Ordinary Sunday") and Adolf's early, punky pre-Divine Mission LP tunes  ("Highlandtown,""Basket Case,""My Son the Gynecologist,""Valentine's Day") that were highlights of my (Tommy Gunn's) Katatonix Mk 1.0 reign-of-error days (1979-1980).

Adolf sets the tone early (nice shirt!)

Adolf set the day's in-your-rocking-face tone with his choice of the opening salvo, the subtly named "Fuck You" (officially known as "F*** You" on their Thanks Hon, 30th Anniversary CD, and which sounds suspiciously like a re-working of the old Kats tune "Stretch Marx" with new lyrics).

The Kats lower their axes

Then it was on to such primal sonic blasts as "Basket Case" and "Valentine's Day," which date from the Kats first-ever vinyl recording, their 1983 EP ("Thanx to no one") on UK Spud Records.



Watch the Kats play "F*** You" and "Basket Case."



Watch the Kats play "Highlandtown" and "Valentine's Day."



Here's the full Kats setlist:

1. Fuck You
2. Basket Case
3. Daisy Chain
4. Highlandtown
5. Valentine's Day
6. Second Chance
7. My Son the Gynecologist
8. Ordinary Sunday

I noticed that ever since the Kats played their all-Ramones covers set February 9th at The Metro Gallery, Charlie Gatewood has turned into Johnny Ramone on guitar, playing with a renewed vigor and reveling in power chord downstrokes ("They'll kill your wrists, take it from me!" Beatoes guitarist Chris Dennstaedt later remarked to Charlie, holding up his wrist brace). The transformation seems to be intentional.

Charlie Gatewood (L) channels the spirit of Johnny Ramone

(For the record: Mark Harp was also a big Ramones fan; in fact, he was cremated in a Ramones t-shirt.)

"Tommy, you missed it - we were The Ramones at the Metro," Charlie remarked afterwards. "Instead of just playing the old Katatonix tunes, I thought, why don't we play those great early Ramones songs like "Commando" and "Carbona Not Glue" and we nailed it, man. It was fun and who better to be Joey Ramone than Adolf? We had it down!"


Thee Katatonix transformed into The Ramones at Metro Gallery on Feb. 9, 2013


And did the audience like it?

"Who cares?" Charlie replied. "We had a blast playing it and that's what's it all about. It was fun!"

Charlie then proceed to recite the words to Dee Dee Ramone's "Commando": "First Rule is: the laws of Germany, Second Rule is: be nice to Mommy, Third Rule is: don't talk to Commies, Fourth Rule is: eat kosher salamis!"

Who says The Ramones weren't thought-provoking?

And for that matter, who said those early Katatonix tunes weren't thought-provoking? "Basket Case" anticipates amputee romance, a subject critics raved about in the recent Marie Cotillard arthouse film Rust and Bone; "Highlandtown" (dedicated this day to neighborhood native Don White of Da Moronics) addressed male hustling in East Baltimore ("Highlandtown is my kind of town, where everyone pulls their pants down/To make some bread you use your head") in the same way that Dee Dee Ramone immortalized street meat in "53rd and 3rd"; and "My Son the Gynecologist" eerily anticpates the sexual needs of horndog doctors, a la the recent sex scandal (and subsequent) suicide of Johns Hopkins physician Nikita A. Levy. Who knew?

Watch Thee Katatonix play "Second Chance."



Here's another view of "Second Chance" (for you completists!)  recorded by Danny Simpson that has lotsa good close-ups of Big Andy Small and Honest Ed Linton for all you Rhythm Section groupies :




(I promise to post more Katatonix videos from their set in future. Stay tuned...)

Tru Fax & The Insaniacs
Washington, D.C.'s classic pop quartet Tru Fax & The Insaniacs came on after Thee Katatonix as their surprise "Mystery Dates." They were intro'ed and outro'ed by Adolf Kowalski, who has been re-smitten with Diana Quinn's melodic foursome ever since they played together at the Metro Gallery back in February, and decided to donate the rest of the Kats' allotted set to his Capital District friends.

I have to say that few records hold up as well as Tru Fax's "Washingtron" b/w "Mystery Date" single (Wasp Records, 1980).

"Washington/Mystery Date" single (Wasp Records 1980)

In 1980, Washington Magazine dubbed them the District's "Worst Band," but what would you expect from those squares? (Atomic TV was once voted Charm City's "Best Worst TV," so I consider them comrades-in-arms for that alone!) No sir, that's a badge of honor. They were, and are, a great band (though I dearly miss original bass player Libby Hatch, who passed away in a motorcycle accident years ago).

Tru Fax: The original awesome foursome

Tru Fax performed three songs in a riveting mini-set that played like a killer EP record: "Love Love Love,""Mars Needs Women," and "King of Machines"(which sounded so Ig-quisite to my ears that I thought it was a Stooges cover!).

Tru Fax & The Insaniacs

By this time, acts were running over Redux time limits, so apparently the Tru Fax set was cut short, much to Adolf's dismay. Still, the Insaniacs' EP-length performance was better than nothing.

Watch the complete Tru Fax set below.

Tru Fax video (YouTube):



Afterwards, fans made a bee-line to congratulate Diana, including LesLee Anderson, Amy Linthicum, Carol Underwood and Mary Butler.

Marble Bar Sistahs Representing: Amy Linthicum, LesLee Anderson, Diana Quinn, Carol Underwood, Mary Butler

Word has it Diana's set to hook up with former Marble Bar co-owner LesLee Anderson on an upcoming Charm City gig...

Mutual Admiration Society: Diana Quinn & LesLee Anderson

LesLee Anderson congratulates Dian Quinn

...and will perform in the area in the immediate future with her swinging '60s "Girl Group Sound" band The Fabulettes next Saturday, June 8 (Main Stage, 6:30 p.m.) at the HonFest in Hampden. And yes, the Fabulettes (Diana, Lisa Mathews and Jane Quinn Brack) sport the requisite double-decker B-52 beehives that fit in perfectly for the Honfest.

The Fabulettes

Milling about afterwards, a enthused Charlie Gatewood was singing the praises of Tru Fax's rendition of "Mars Needs Women." He reminded me that he went to see Tru Fax playing with Thee Katatonix Mk. 1.0 in DC - on his wedding night! -some 30-plus years ago. Now that's a fan! That's a graduate of Rock & Roll High School!

Motor Morons
The Motor Morons came on well past their original 6:30 p.m. start time (the spoken word and dance performances probably backed up the schedule) and played a long and enthusiastic set. It seems that sparks fly and brains fry whenever the Morons play. The crowd was really into it, especially the aforementioned Bath Salts Man and Pink Lady, who took over front stage to put on a Dancing with the Stars performance that momentarily looked like it might turn into a romantic hookup.

Watch them dance in the following "Motor Morons Dance Party" video.



The Mark Harp All-Stars


As the sun set, The Mark Harp All-Stars finally took the stage to pay their respects to the departed legend Mark Harp (Mark Linthicum, 1957-2004), whose musical legacy included countless bands, including (working backwards) Chelsea Graveyard, The Tralalas, The Diamondheads, Pornflakes, Step 3, Interrobang, Asshead, Cabal, Null Set, Not Null Set, The Mark Harp Club, The Mark Harp Experience, The Beatoes, The Casio Cats, The Casio Cowboys, P.A.B.L.U.M., Timmy, Globetrotters, The Muggers, Mold and Mildew, Maternity Ward - to name a (whew!) few!

And I'm pretty sure Keith Worz saw all those bandsl!

Keith Worz implores the All-Stars to pull his finger

The All-Stars ranks on this day were filled with the following: Robyn Webb (guitar, vocals), Chris Dennstaedt (guitar, vocals), Ben Watson (guitar), Robert J. Friedman (aka "Beefalo Bob," keyboards), Dave Zidek (bass), Chris "Batworth" Ciattei (drums), Ceil Strakna (lead and backing vocals), Cindy Borchardt (vocals), with special guest appearances by singers Bill Dawson, Steptoe T. Magnificent (Dave Wilcox), and trombone player Craig Considine (Rumba Club, Boister, All Mighty Senators).

I think the All-Stars they were originally scheduled to play for an hour, but I'd be surprised if their shortened 10-song set - which opened with "Null Theme" and ended with a cover of Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes" - was much over 40 minutes. The complete setlist (with lead singer and original associated group in parentheses) is listed below.


The Mark Harp All-Stars Setlist:
Null Theme (Bill Dawson, Null Set)
Fall Flat (Bill Dawson, Null Set)
I'm Too Ugly for MTV (Chris Dennstaedt, Beatoes)
Mad Dog 20/20 (Chris Dennstaedt, Beatoes)
Bowling With You (Robyn Webb, Ceil Strakna)
Rock 'n' Roll Asshole (Steptoe T. Maginficent)
Dating the Wrestlers  (Ceil Strakna)
Big Man (Ceil Strakna, w/ Craig Considine on trombone)
I've Got Five Dollars (Everyone)
All the Young Dudes (Robyn Webb, Steptoe T. Magnificent)

Long Day's Journey into Blight
Former Null Set/Cabal and Black Pete singer Bill Dawson, with wife Michelle, traveled all the way from Jacksonville, Florida to Charm City's crumbling westside to sing two nuggets from his early '80s days collaborating with Mark Harp in Null Set and Cabal and to meet up once again with old friends.

Bill Dawson, Amy Linthicum, Robin Linton & Michelle Dawson

Michelle & Bill Dawson: All the way from Jacksonville, Florida

Dundalkians Bill & Amy bond over their shared East Baltimore heritage

Bill was stylishly attired in all-leather (we would settle for nothing less!) and colorful ink (he's a professional tattoo artist) on this sunny day, and indicated afterwards that he and the missus were hoping to move back to Baltimore eventually.

Fittingly, the day's tribute began with the two-song Null Set set, which included the anthemic "Null Theme" (featuring the legendary "Null Chord") and "Fall Flat."

Ceil Strakna and Bill Dawson belt out Null Set ditties

Watch the Mark Harp All-Stars  play "Null Theme/Fall Flat."



At one point during "Fall Flat," Bill Dawson pointed to an empty space and remarked, "This is where Mark plays a serious guitar solo. But he can't do that, because he's dead." Alas, true dat.

Dawson was awesome and his brief stint after coming from so far away down the coast meant everything to the Marble Bar oldtimers - and no doubt to Mark.

Beatoes single "I'm Too Ugly for MTV" (UK Spud, 1986)

Then it time for The Beatoes redux set, with Chris Dennstaedt leading the band through "I'm Too Ugly for MTV" - which included Ceil Strakna's great vocal interlude - and "Mad Dog 20/20."

Watch the All-Stars play "I'm Too Ugly for MTV/Mad Dog 20/20."



Next up, the spirit of Corky Neidermayer was invoked for the classic "Bowling With You," with Robyn Webb handling lead vocals while backup singers Ceil Strakna and Cindy Borchardt hit the girly ooo-aaahs.

Corky Neidermayer and Mark Harp love to go bowling with you

Watch the All-Stars play "Bowling with You."



Next up was Steptoe T. Magnificent (Dave Wilcox of Chelsea Graveyard) to sing "Rock & Roll Asshole."

Steptoe sings his signature shout-out, "Rock 'n' Asshole"

Watch Steptoe & Co. play "Rock & Roll Asshole."



Steptoe once remarked that, during a low point in his nearly 40-year-career in rock 'n' roll,  it was Mark Harp who inspired him to keep on keeping on, and he's never looked back since.

Next, former Boy Meets Girl and Big As a House singer-songwriter Ceil Strakna stepped out front from her backing vocal duties to belt out two classic Mark Harp tunes, "Dating the Wrestlers" and the anthemic Harp homage, "Big Man." (In 1991, Mark Harp rewrote "Big Man" as "Moguls in Training," a would-be theme song for a failed TV pilot, with Leslie Miller handling the vocals backed by Mark, Mike DeJong on sax, Dave Zidek on bass, and Jack Odell on drums; you can hear the 2004 Mark Harp Band version online at Internet Archives and 24 Hours with Mark Harp.) "Big Man" also featured the inimitable trombone stylings of Craig Considine (Mo Fine's All-Blind Orchestra, Off the Wall, Rumba Club, Boister, All Mighty Senators).

Watch Ceil and the All-Stars play "Dating the Wrestlers/Big Man."



The All-Stars closed out their set with two everybody-play-along jams, Mark Harp's "I've Got Five Dollars" and a cover of Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes." Robyn Webb introed the former by noting that Mark often wrote songs inspired by a random turn of phrase, rising to the challenge of creating something out of nothing.

Watch the All-Stars play "I've Got Five Dollars."


More videos to follow! (I'm publishing this now because YouTube just upgraded to a Google interface and I'm afraid of losing everything with all the damned multiple account logins - aaaccckkk!.)

***

It's too bad the sun set so quickly on the All-Stars' set because I'm sure we would've like to have heard more, maybe even Harpo's "Movie Dream."

The sun sets on the Mark Harp All-Stars

If it's any consolation, I've included the Tralala's version from the 2004 Honfest in Hampden - one of Mark's last appearances before his untimely death on Christmas Eve 2004.

Watch The Tralalas play "Movie Dream."



It would have been a fitting end to a day that had us all dreaming back to the halcyon days of youth and musical nirvana. And, like a movie reaching its end, the lights had begun to dim, ready to fade to black...



It was a great day to hear fun music and meet up with old (literally!) friends, most of whom were card-carrying (at least in spirit) members of the Mark Harp Fan Club.

Mark Harp Fan Club card

Related Links:
SoWeBo 2013 (Flickr photo set)
Mark Harp's All-Stars (Facebook Group)
The Marble Bar (Baltimore) Facebook Group
Mark Harp/King of Peru (Official site)
24 Hours with Mark Harp (listen to Mark Harp's music)
Listen to Black Pete's "Mississippi Queen" (1989, Calvert Street Records)

 Or: Defining the words "Art Film" for a generation

Pratt Library's typo edition of "Last Year at Marienbad" directed by "Alain Reanais" (sic) instead of Alain Resnais

"Unforgettable in both its confounding details (gilded ceilings, diabolical parlor games, a loaded gun) and haunting in scope...this surreal fever dream, or nightmare, gorgeously fuses the past with the present in telling its ambiguous tale of a man and a woman (Giorgio Albertazzi and Delphine Seyrig) who may or may not have met a year ago, perhaps at the very same cathedral-like, mirror-filled chateau they now find themslves wandering." - From DVD box

I had never seen Alain Resnais'Last Year at Marienbad (L'annee derniere a Marienbad, 1961) until recently - and then only by accident. Despite being a fan of the director (especially his Night & Fog, Hiroshima, Mon Amour and Stavisky) and the film itself being hailed as a defining work of the French New Wave and "one of the lasting mysteries of modern art," it had flown under my radar until it came into my consciousness through the backdoor, via American pop culture.

You see, while sorting through my cornucopia of videos and DVDs in anticipation of moving to a new house, I popped in a Classic TV Commercials DVD (one of countless similarly-styled retro video products aimed at nostalgic Baby Boomers like myself) and came across a bizarre "arthouse" foreign film-style commercial for L&M Cigarettes. I subsequently uploaded it to YouTube, as shown below.


Classic '60s L&M Ad Spoofs "Last year at Marienbad"

At first I thought it was a spoof of  Michaelangelo Antonioni's beautifully photographed but meandering and dialogue-sparse La-La arthouse films (L'avventura, L'eclipse, La Notte), but then it slowly dawned on me that I had seen the film's iconic baroque landscape and nattily attired tux-and-evening dress actors in images for Marienbad. I knew then that it was Arthouse Hardcore, because Resnais worked with intellectual writers like Marguerite Duras (Hiroshima, Mon Amour) and, and Marienbad, Mr. Nouveau Novel himself, Alain Robbe-Grillet.

And make no mistake, this is Arthouse Hardcore. I usually hate this type of non-narrative, enigmatic World Cinema, but, for some reason, I find Last Year at Marienbad fascinating. (Maybe because there was no Orioles game on the night I watched it?) There's nothing else quite like it. It's a film about film, a film that is always self-reflective about itself, with purposely stilted, aloof performances by its cast and literary (as opposed to natural) dialogue. (Fans of the films of Jean Cocteau will find themselves right at home here!) And no one knows what it's about (Nuclear war? A ghost story? Rape? Ennui? Memory?); in that way, it reminds me somewhat of Patrick McGoohan's cult TV series The Prisoner. Meaning is a bonus - the style's the thing, and this one is awash in style.

Watch the trailer for Last Year at Marienbad.



For some reason this 2-disc edition has gone out of print, which is a shame because I love all the extras, from French film scholar Ginette Vincendeau's history and analysis of the film and a new "Making-of-Marienbad" documentary featuring many of Resnais' crew (in which we learn that Delphine Seyrig's iconic hairdo was actually an accident - made to cover up a bad haircut after Resnais had originally envisioned her with a "Louise Brooks bob") to the inclusion of two early Resnais documentary shorts - Toute la Memoire du Monde (a 1956 documentary about the organization of the Biblioque Nationale de France that looks at libraries as an archive of human memory and which used many of the technical elements - swooping dolly shots and pans - that would later be employed in Marienbad) and 1958's Le Chant du Styrene ("The Song of the Styrene," a poetic industrial film about plastic made for French manufacturer Pechiney).

It's far from an easy film, but one that is required viewing for any student of film history. But if that sounds too daunting, there's always the encapsulated version to be found in that L&M commercial about "a cigarette for the two of you."

In the midst of life we are in death, and in in the midst of moving I am in near-death as I keep finding all sorts of scribblings, clippings, journals, zines, magazines and post-it notes that have - or at one time had - meaning to me. As a Material Boy in a Material World, I find it hard to part (such sweet sorrow it is!) with these things. My solution is to upload as much of my life as possible, so that some poor Web Editor of The Future is left to edit (or shit-can) my dubious presence on Earth after I shuffle off this mortal coil.

OK, here's one such item, a 2008 Journal I started and abandoned (mainly because I lost it until just now!). Under the first-page entry "MFF 2008 NOTES":  

MARYLAND 2008 NOTES

ALEX GIBNEY, dir. of GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF HUNTER S. THOMPSON documentary was cool and clever.

He intro'ed film with Thompson quote, "You bought the ticket, so enjoy the ride!"

Q&A: Woman asked why Hunter S. Thompson always wore shorts. "Do you know why he always wore shorts?" [Wow, the thought-provoking things viewers take away from documentaries; the mind boggles.] Laughter. Long pause from Gibney, after repeating the question, then a simple: "No."

McGovern anti-war quote during film about stopping wars that send ouryoung men to death got an auditorium-wide applause! Anti-Bush sentiments run high. Jimmy Buffett wished Hunter was still around to write against Bush - "We could use him now" - but, in effect, Bush killed him. Hunter was described as "depressed" after the 2004 election re-elected Bush. Killed himself in 2005.

Dumbest question of night: as usual from (loveable but no-flair-for-the-obvious) Charles Johnson. "Where did Dr. Thompson get his doctorate?" Gibney said he believed it was a joke and mentioned that he himself is a "Dr." from Universal Life Church.

Someone else asked why would anyone interview Pat Buchanan, the man who worked for Hunter's nemesis Nixon and who helped destroy Hunter's boy George McGovern. Gibney said Buchanan was a great interview - anyone not an idiot can see that. I mentioned afterward to him how much I enjoy Buchanan's wit (if not his politics), that he's cool enough to talk to Ali G [Sascha Baron Cohen's over-the-top hip-hop character] and always shines. Gibney said that Hunter would hang w/Pat and drink beer and Wild Turkey w/him, to Mrs. Buchanan's horror! I'd dink a beer and shot with Pat!

 I sat next to the most annoying woman. Middle-aged, I first noticed she wouldn't turn her cell phone off. Hid it under a shawl the first 15 minutes of movie. Then she systematically chewed her fingernails - all 10 of 'em! - throughout the movie (thank God it was only 2 hours, any more and she'd prolly move onto her toenails!). Then she would transfer her remnants to her left hand and delicately rub the detritus off like she was rubbing away the salt from pistachios or chips ontop the floor near my camera bag. TOTALLY DISGUSTING. She saw me staring at her - I was hoping to shame her, but she was well beyond shame, and I had to cup my head w/my right hand, like blinders, so I could escape her wretched, and most unfortunate, presence in the last good seat in the house in the front row." 

Related Links:
"My Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival Journal - Part 3" (Gibney's films reviewed)

On June 19, 1987, Baltimore's City Paper celebrated its 10th anniversary of publishing with a giant special issue called "10 Years in Baltimore." One of the outstanding features, previously never archived on the Internet, was Michael Yockel's history of Baltimore's music club scene. It's a great reminder of "What Is and What Should Never Be." Along with John Strausbaugh, Yoke was one of CP's greatest writers ever. Fans can still enjoy his prose at the online site, Baltimore Fishbowl (www.baltimorefishbowl.com).

Following is the full scanned-in article; click on each page to enlarge it, then use the magnifying tool as needed to magnify the text to your taste.