Remain In Love: Talking Heads • Tom Tom Club • Tina By Chris Frantz [St. Martin’s Press] “Now I get it. You guys are so uncool, you’re cool.” This pronouncement, from famed rock music critic Lester Bangs, came in the mid 1970s when Talking Heads were getting their first notices around the Bowery area of… Continue reading Remain In Love
Tag: The Ramones
Shazam!
If you ask any true comic book nerd, Shazam! is the original/real Captain Marvel. When DC licensed Captain Marvel from Fawcett Comics in 1972 they had to change the comic book name to Shazam! because Marvel had already trademarked their own superhero named Captain Marvel in 1967 (assholes). So, it may be a tad bit… Continue reading Shazam!
Leucine Zipper & the Zinc Fingers Drop Science
Just when it seemed like it’s been a while since Georgia boasted a silly costumed band beating a concept into the clay, a la Servotron or Man or Astro-Man?, along comes Leucine Zipper and the Zinc Fingers. Their shtick, as it were, is that they’re a genetically modified band created in a laboratory. And as… Continue reading Leucine Zipper & the Zinc Fingers Drop Science
Cover Me
Cover Me: The Stories Behind the Greatest Cover Songs of All Time By Ray Padgett [Sterling Publishing] The term “cover songs” comes from record labels covering their bets. If a song by some artist was a hit, then when asked if a label had a particular popular song, they could say, “We’ve got it covered,”… Continue reading Cover Me
Even Blank Generations Age
Blank Generation, the iconic and influential 1977 debut album from Richard Hell & the Voidoids, is getting a fancy-pants upgrade for its 40th anniversary, albeit a limited-edition one for the 9,000 or so people that have heard of it. The 2-LP (4,500 copies) and 2-CD (5,250 copies) deluxe edition, both to be released Nov. 24th… Continue reading Even Blank Generations Age
Punk Avenue
Punk Avenue: Inside the New York City Underground 1972-1982 By Philippe Marcade [Three Rooms Press] I’ll preface this review with an undeniable, capital T Truth: Authors Legs McNeil and Jillian McCain’s 1996 opus, Please Kill Me, is the ne plus ultra of “punk books.” Basically, McNeil and McCain did for the history of NYC punk… Continue reading Punk Avenue
Clem Burke
Dreaming Is Free: Blondie Drummer Clem Burke Discusses The Split Squad, Super Groups, Ramones, David Bowie, and the Band That Made Him Famous Clem Burke, a founding member of Blondie, is a very busy man. One of the most respected and sought-after drummers working in rock ‘n’ roll, Burke fills any time available between his… Continue reading Clem Burke
Big Eyes
Clear and Bright: Big Eyes’ Kait Eldridge Keeps It All In The Cretin Family If any classic punk rocker that’s still going strong has lived their dream to the fullest, it’s C.J. Ramone. Born Christopher Joseph Ward, he went from the Marines to a coveted spot as the Ramones’ bassist back in 1989. Unfortunately, today’s… Continue reading Big Eyes
Danny Fields
Shine a Light: Danny Fields Was THERE, Man. He is, in the eyes of no less a glam-rock superfan than John Cameron Mitchell, the “handmaiden to the gods.” He played important roles in the careers of The Doors, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, The MC5, Nico and The Ramones, whom he managed for their four greatest… Continue reading Danny Fields
Drivin’ n’ Cryin’, Part 1
Ain’t Waitin’ on Tomorrow: Kevn Kinney Shares His Thoughts on a Rejuvenated Drivin’ n’ Cryin’ During the second half of the 1980s, I’d go see nearly every local show they played. Scarred But Smarter remains one of my favorite albums by an Atlanta band. Even through the mid ’90s, after they’d evolved into a more standard-issue rock band… Continue reading Drivin’ n’ Cryin’, Part 1
Drivin’ n’ Cryin’, Part 2
You do that every year there. “Yeah, that I have been trying to put the brakes on every year, those things. We did the Thanksgiving thing, that was every year, and I felt like fucking Tom Turkey! Everybody was like ‘Yeah, Drivin’ n’ Cryin’, that’s the Thanksgiving Atlanta band!’ I don’t wanna be that! Now… Continue reading Drivin’ n’ Cryin’, Part 2
Cults
Cults Horrify Them (But They Love Cult Classics) (And Other Curious Things to Know About Cults) New York duo Cults are a hip, photogenic young couple adored by much of the online blogosphere. They’re signed to Lily Allen’s record label (via Columbia) and sorta fit in with this whole beachy/reverby trend. Still, am I the… Continue reading Cults
The Paley Brothers – The Complete Recordings
The Paley Brothers The Complete Recordings [Real Gone Music] Nobody believed Joey Ramone when he was declaring that he was the lead singer for a bubblegum pop act. That was mostly because of more traditional Teen Dreams trying to redeem the sound back in ’77. Rick Springfield made an important contribution with Wait For Night,… Continue reading The Paley Brothers – The Complete Recordings
Joey Ramone – …Ya Know?
The second and perhaps final solo album by the late Ramones frontman Joey Ramone is titled . . . Ya Know? (after the phrase with which Joey habitually concluded his sentences) and it opens with an appropriately powerful, upbeat stomper called “Rock ‘N Roll Is the Answer.” Full of snaky power chords and chant-along choruses,… Continue reading Joey Ramone – …Ya Know?