Hi John,

what you said bout the Nervebreakers is absolutly true-do you have their live cd with (good-ole)ROKY ERICKSON.WONDERFULL!!!Live in Dallas ´79-perhaps Rokys best live cd ever.Superb......no more to say!
 
John Battles said:

I'm not hearing much , personally. Wait , did I already answer this ? If not ,Sons of Hercules (Around roughly 20 years , tho' , and I do mean roughly.) , Ugly Beats , Velveteen Loveseat , The Dyes (Rockabilly meets Garage by way of The Cramps and Wanda Jacksonmeets the eternally great , but , public interest could go spiraling into oblivion , AGAIN ,  due to people thinking they're the ONLY band of their kind , The Sonics ,  and no longer obscure Rockabilly covers - tho' no one else will DO most of 'em.) , Woggles , ? and The Mysterians , New Colony Six , Alarm Clocks , Remains , Kenny and The Kasuals (On a good night.) , Love Me Nots (Tho' not all of their most recent stuff.) , Wooly Bandits ( Ditto.) , Nervebreakers ( Too garage for The Punk Scene , Too Punk for The Garage Scene. What higher praise do you need?) Eve and The Exiles (Austin , Blues / Garage Rock'n'Roll. Ex - members of Sir Douglas Quintet and Neurotic Sheep.), Gories , Msr. Jeffrey Evans , and probably some other cool stuff.

Guys.... shameless self promotion here... But I feel my sounds are pretty good NEW garage.

www.paulmessis.moonfruit.com.... on arsebook too.

Paul

I think you mean "Ugly Things" magazine. Also check out bands on Soundflat Records in Germany for a good mix of new European bands.

Duke Of Earl said:

It's hard to keep out of the past because I generally like old bands better(even the obsurities) but I figure the more current bands, the more live shows. Do the Nervebreakers, and Remains still play live. That would get me out. With the Ugly Beats it appears your referring to the band, though I really liked the magazine. I would want to read more of those. I can tell that you have similar interest in wild rock bands.

-StayCool

It's hard to keep out of the past because I generally like old bands better(even the obsurities) but I figure the more current bands, the more live shows. Do the Nervebreakers, and Remains still play live. That would get me out. With the Ugly Beats it appears your referring to the band, though I really liked the magazine. I would want to read more of those. I can tell that you have similar interest in wild rock bands.

-StayCool

John Battles said:

I'm not hearing much , personally. Wait , did I already answer this ? If not ,Sons of Hercules (Around roughly 20 years , tho' , and I do mean roughly.) , Ugly Beats , Velveteen Loveseat , The Dyes (Rockabilly meets Garage by way of The Cramps and Wanda Jacksonmeets the eternally great , but , public interest could go spiraling into oblivion , AGAIN ,  due to people thinking they're the ONLY band of their kind , The Sonics ,  and no longer obscure Rockabilly covers - tho' no one else will DO most of 'em.) , Woggles , ? and The Mysterians , New Colony Six , Alarm Clocks , Remains , Kenny and The Kasuals (On a good night.) , Love Me Nots (Tho' not all of their most recent stuff.) , Wooly Bandits ( Ditto.) , Nervebreakers ( Too garage for The Punk Scene , Too Punk for The Garage Scene. What higher praise do you need?) Eve and The Exiles (Austin , Blues / Garage Rock'n'Roll. Ex - members of Sir Douglas Quintet and Neurotic Sheep.), Gories , Msr. Jeffrey Evans , and probably some other cool stuff.

I'm not hearing much , personally. Wait , did I already answer this ? If not ,Sons of Hercules (Around roughly 20 years , tho' , and I do mean roughly.) , Ugly Beats , Velveteen Loveseat , The Dyes (Rockabilly meets Garage by way of The Cramps and Wanda Jacksonmeets the eternally great , but , public interest could go spiraling into oblivion , AGAIN ,  due to people thinking they're the ONLY band of their kind , The Sonics ,  and no longer obscure Rockabilly covers - tho' no one else will DO most of 'em.) , Woggles , ? and The Mysterians , New Colony Six , Alarm Clocks , Remains , Kenny and The Kasuals (On a good night.) , Love Me Nots (Tho' not all of their most recent stuff.) , Wooly Bandits ( Ditto.) , Nervebreakers ( Too garage for The Punk Scene , Too Punk for The Garage Scene. What higher praise do you need?) Eve and The Exiles (Austin , Blues / Garage Rock'n'Roll. Ex - members of Sir Douglas Quintet and Neurotic Sheep.), Gories , Msr. Jeffrey Evans , and probably some other cool stuff.

Best clubs for R´n´R shows?? Hafenklang,Grosse Freiheit in Hamburg or Paradiso(Amsterdam).Wild at Heart and SO36 in Berlin.

I guess I forgot to say what else I liked about The Hot Klub. There was a remarkable energy about the place , when the band would come on , you'd instantly have a packed dance floor , or , at least , a respectable showing. Now , it is'nt cool to dance to Rock'n'Roll .You can get people dancing like their nads are on fire , but , usually , only with totally UNdanceable music.But , The Hot Klub was the kind of place where people just wanted to rock out , and it did'nt matter if you were a very good dancer , or if you did'nt have a partner , or if you danced with a member of the same gender (None of these things would bat an eye , today , but , 30 years ago , sheesh !).  I was told to stop dancing at a "Dance" club one time , why? Because I was'nt dancing with a partner. That , and the decor was kind of low rent , but artistically pleasing enough. Above the stage , the club's name was written in spraypaint (The spraypaint "Mural " , mostly of band logos , by the bands themselves, at the front entrance was priceless. Bands like X, Big Boys , Circle Jerks , Misfits , and others , sprayed their name in big "Fonts" on the wall. In fact , Black Flag spraypainted their own name (During guess which song?) below the "Hot Klub" logo . One witty individual painted out the "l" in "Flag". The walls , mostly black , with artistically arranged mirror glass shards , looked down on a cool black and white tile dance floor (Very 50's looking , tho the floor itself was probably laid out before talking pictures.). It had an atmosphere that was seedy but arty , too. Art should have a seedy quality , anyway.
 
John Battles said:

Some of my faves , in this life , include The Hot Klub in Dallas. Not the first , but the second Punk/NewWave WHATEVER venue in Dallas (ca. 80 - 83.), and the first real club I got to go to , tho' nowhere nearly as often as I wish I had , because I was still underage.

The Purple Onion in San Francisco. This venue has undergone MANY changes , in terms of location and theme , and Many LONG gaps between different versions of the club.

But , I went there , once , in 1999 (I think.) while visiting friends and family in The Bay area.

I saw The Loons , Dukes of Hamburg and Tee and The Crumpets , great show all around , and yes , the club at that time was very cool - looking , but , the bottom line was , people came there to have fun , I mean a LOT of fun. Women were coming up to me and asking me to dance. That used to happen all the time in  the early 80's , but , rarely today. I'm just as guilty , I generally don't ask ladies I don't know to dance anymore , tho' it's been known to happen.... The whole atmosphere was like being on the set of "Riot on Sunset Strip". The barmaid was go - go dancing up on the bar  . Russell Quan was eating a banana and an orange , leaving the peels on the floor , pissing himself laughing whenever someone stepped on the banana peel , meeting Dominic Priore , and my good friends , Mike and Anja Stax (It was the first time we'd met in person , tho' we'd been in touch for a while.).

Anja looked stunning , of course , but also stunningly familiar , I could'nt place it , where I would have seen her or her picture before. She told me she had played in a band in England a couple of years previously , but , I misunderstood her when she told me the band's name. I thought "What's a nice girl like this doing in a band called DOG BOLLOCKS ?!". Twenty minutes into my ride back to my friend's house , it hit me. She said DIABOLIKS !!! No wonder I thought I recognized her , I have their records.  But , even stronger and stranger deja vu occured when I saw this older guy , brooding , but enjoying the show. It was kind of dark , but , he looked very familiar , like someone I think I met in the early 80's. Well , he should have , that's when I met Jello Biafra.

chuckle

Even better.

You should be able to buy the DVD from J. Michael McCarthy (Guerrilla Monster films). Try emailing him: mike@guerrillamonsterfilms.com

http://www.guerrillamonster.com/movies/sore_losers/index.html

Thanks for posting!  I have never seen the film but I have the soundtrack on vinyl. I do not know where to stream unfortunately.

know any sites to stream this movie?

I recently picked up a 1963 Silvertone Head/Cab and a Fender Esquire w/ a hot 50s pickup, and a Colorsound OverDriver. This set up can take me from 60s Stones to 72 at Madison Square Garden. The pickup almost makes the Esquire sound like a Les Paul Jr with more twang.

It balances out nicely with my SG and Traynor. Though I have modded my Traynor so it combines elements of Vox, Marshall, and Hiwatt. For any kind of gritty rock it can't be beat. I use a modded DOD 250 and LPB-1 at times too. Any crude transistor based pedal and a tube amp will get you great rock tones from fuzzed out Black Keys to stringy twangy Black Lips and everything in between.

cool

A better experiment might be to buy a cheap speaker for your current amp to modify into Swiss-cheese. Smaller inexpensive amps tend to distort all on their lonesome. A franken-speaker in yer gigin' amp may give you a better idea when played at gig volume. Link Wray use ta' poke holes in his speakers and keep the volume ALL the way up.

Jamie said:

Cool choices. Have you ever tried the infamous "poke holes in your amp" trick? I haven't yet, but one of these days I'm going to get a small amp and try it out. I heard that Dave Davies had a small amp that he then ran through Vox AC30 I believe. If I could find a small cheap amp I would try it.

Scratch that. it's been resecheduled AGAIN for the 8th instead. What a network.

Andy Seven said:

"Oil City Confidential" will be on the Documentary Channel this coming Wednesday, December 7th. Hot diggity dawg.

 I have'nt seen it ( It would seem , living in the US , where The Feelgoods are only virtually unknown , as opposed to completely unknown , there's not a lot of call for it....) , but , I saw the trailer where they spoke of Wilko taking over the small plane they were flying to France in.....Even though he had never flown a plane in his life. The plane went off it's course in a hurry , imagine that...But they all , somehow , stayed out of harm's way until the Pilot GAINED CONTROL OF THE PLANE , once more.   It's cool that the guy in Iron Maiden actually flies the band to their own gigs , but , Wilko Johnson tried to fly the plane himself , and he did'nt even havea license , nor did he have a clue about basic flight maneuvering.... But , that's Rock'n'Roll, that's how we roll.

'When You Find Out' may well be one of my all time favorite pop tunes. Here's another:

Gotta check out this video by Just Jeffery (of Tranzmitors) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2I71e3mwl0

Well , living in the Midwest , I've had the stuff coming outof my ears. Not a big fan , and not a big hater , you know. The stuff that's too twee or too derivative of The Beatles , and/ ot helium - addled , I could'nt get behind. Maybe I'm uptight , but , guys who sound like girls (With a few exceptions.) put me off my food. i LIKE  tHE ROMANTICS , NOT EVERYTHING THEY EVER DID. tHEIR FIRST FEW RECORDS HAVE SOME REALLY GOOD MOMENTS , AND THEIR SORT OF RECENT LP (Recent as in about 8 - 10 years ago.) with Clem Burke is VERY good. If you go see The Romantics , chances are Clem Burke is actually Brad Elvis. Not that he's trying to pass , but , he's got that "Clem Burke" style thing down. Burke sometimes gigs with them , but , more often than not , Brad Elvis , who has always resembled a younger , skinnier , Clem Burke (I don't mean for the whole of his music career !) , will be at the kit , and you know what ? You won't mind. HMMMMMMMM Some of my faves ....

Roy Loney _ Sorry.  

Kings - First LP , LIVE 85 CD.  

Artful Dodger - 4 ALBUMS , ALL WITH GOOD MOMENTS.

Telefones - Sign of The Times , The Ballad of Jerry Godzilla , Let's Go Bowling , She's in Love With The Rolling Stones.....

Explosives - Like 'em across the board , but Power Pop afficianados will especially like  "A Girl Like You". One of my favorites is "Summer Come" , which has more Punk edge , UFO , Headhunter , other stuff.

Flamin' Groovies - I will be executed as a heretic , but I don't dig on the Chris Wilson stuff that much , except the very early recordings , as featured on Skydog boots and Norton's "Slow Death". Sure , I like "Shake Some Action" and a couple of Beatle - era Groovies tunes , like "You Tore Me Down" , "Yeah My Baby " is all right , too.

Piper - both albums , the first a bit more.

Is Max Webster considered Power Pop by some ? They're kinda nutty.

Tremblers - Appearing Nightly LP (w/ Peter Noone.)

Trolley (90's , oughts , w/Paul Wall from The Exotics.)

Lava Sutra ( 90's. Chicago did not deserve this great band , which they'd take for granted at a moment's notice.)  

Plimsouls - Whom I like , to a point  (Also probably heresy). I saw them once , really liked them, and decided I'd see them again if I ever had the chance. Had my chance , 25 years later , and the tix were one dollar for each of those 25 YEARS . Sorry , bit too rich for my blood , as only a casual fan , today. Not knockin' 'em. I'm sure I missed out , but , my Brother and I saw the band in their heyday for about one - third of that , each , and saw The Telefones and Robin Lane and The  Chartbusters (The last band , Split Enz , got rained out. They did one song , which we heard them playing on the radio on our way home.) .

Comateens (70's , 80's NYC. Bigger in France.)

MMM - Modettes.

You know , there were many bands in the 70's and early 80's that I conveniently called "Punk Pop". Unlike the latter day "POP - Punk" stuff , these bands , invariably , did'nt feature lead singers who sounded like four year olds who'd developed extremely runny noses and had pissed their pants , besides.  

I mean , bands like The Buzzcocks (Naturally.) , Boys , Lurkers , Dickies , Wreckless Eric ( OK , he's not a band , but , tell HIM that.) , Vibrators , Pleazers , Quick , Rezillos / Revillos , Plastic Bertrand ( I mean the Sire LP.) , eLTON mOTELLO (tHE POOR MAN'S PLASTIC bERTRAND?)....

 REAL KIDS (Maybe not Punk Pop , as such , but plenty Punk with enough Pop.). 

G. E. Smith's "In the World" (1981 Mirage Records) is a lost power pop gem, IMHO. Tight and tough sound production by Bob Clearmountain. Heart Frozen Up, Real Love, Nuns With Guns, Powerman, Sad About Girls, are all killer tunes that you deserve to hear if you love this genre. 

Back in the 90's I wrote the folks at (the then upstart) Razor & Tie Records trying to convince them to reissue it on CD. They knew of and respected the work but didn't see any potential $$ value in its re-release. I grabbed as many copies as i could find in the vinyl cut-out bins back in the day for around 99 cents each and gave a lot away to friends. Still one of my most treasured LP's.

Otherwise: The Producers' "She Sheila", The Plimsouls' "A Million Miles Away", The Who's often overlooked 45 RPM "Call Me Lightning" are some other faves.

Check out Vancouver's 'Vicious Cycles' 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J1JBuckGs0

Thanks for checkin' it out! I definately need to check out your recommendations, especially the documentary on road movies! Thanks!

Rhod said:

Sounds like an interesting read, joey! The author seems to have covered the subject comprehensively.

You might want to check out Rich Hall's BBC film documentary "The Dirty South" which took a look at how the American South was portrayed in movies. Highly recommended. He has a respect for his subject and completely avoids the usual pitfalls and stereotypes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/yoursay/dirty_south.shtml

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohzWgzVruic

He also did a documentary on the Western (haven't seen that one yet), and a recent one on Road Movies - also very good.