Forums » Shakin' Street

List of newest posts

    • October 18, 2011 7:21 PM CDT
    • It kinda looks like they are all going to start ripping each-other off soon! But, needless to say, it will be a good time :)

    • October 18, 2011 11:22 AM CDT
    • It'd be great if we could get some of these cruise promoters to buy a banner ad on the Hideout! That could go a long way in helping to spread the word...

    • October 18, 2011 7:07 PM CDT
    • Thomas , I was joking. When he was living , few people would have put it past Bobby to add a little something "Special" to the pizza , even if he never did. I think , later , Bobby became increasingly unemployable. I'd see him doing odd jobs , sometimes , like working the concession stand at The Arcadia Theatre (Ironically , at a Ramones show, years after  letting a friend take the fall for spitting on Johnny Ramone.) or helping do the door at The Twilite Room , but , those were one - offs at best. The TV appearance where he's shown working as a Cook was probably about 80 or 81. I met him in '82 , and only saw him around , occasionally , because I could'nt get into the clubs , yet. Then ,  I saw him more frequently around and after '83. He seemed too erratic , by the mid -80's , to hold down a regular job.      It's true , performing with his band , Stickmen With Rayguns , was probably his primary source of income. They gigged quite a bit , and were patronized by The Butthole Surfers , but , they probably did'nt make any more or less than the next band. Some venues paid , if they could , or if they felt like it , while others never did. I played at some of the same places they did , so , I knew about that.                     John.  

      Thomas Marshall said:

      If Bobby's trying to pay the bills because a musician's wage isn't anything then I would do the same in that situation and I would have eaten there out of respect for Bobby. Most musicians don't get paid.

    • October 18, 2011 4:18 PM CDT
    • If Bobby's trying to pay the bills because a musician's wage isn't anything then I would do the same in that situation and I would have eaten there out of respect for Bobby. Most musicians don't get paid.

    • October 18, 2011 1:58 PM CDT
    • slaughter and the dogs were a great early band check out "Where have all the boot boys gone" Crass were probably the most uncompromising of the british bands, The "feeding of the five thousand " still sounds great over 30 years later" Do they owe us a living " and "Banned from the roxy" are particular favourites, also Steve Albini's Big Black are well worth a listen particulary "Kerosene" . Killing Joke's "Whats This For" sounded pretty brutal when it first came out.

    • October 18, 2011 1:47 PM CDT


    • John Battles said:

      I've heard even better than that , but , I really should'nt repeat it. There IS a video , somewhere on You Boob of Bobby on the TV news , yep , working in a pizza place. I would not have wanted to have eaten THERE ! Ha Ha.Yeah , the name sounds familiar , but , not sure. You can tell 'em I said hi , if you like , and see if they go , "OH , GOD !!! NOT HIM !!".

      Nick X said:
      It's cool to hear more stories about Bobby. My parent's friend (maybe the name Craig Roberts rings a bell?) was telling me that Bobby used to work at a pizza shop and live with his parents and one day he ran into him sleeping in a shopping cart in front of a grocery because he had gone home the night before, after a show, and his parents had moved without telling him.

      John Battles said:

      Nick , I knew Bobby Soxx , back in the 80's in Dallas. Maybe I knew your Mom and Dad ( I don't want to intrude on their privacy ,of course.).

      Yeah , he had a reputation for being crazy , but , mostly , he was just annoying. He was one of those "Look at me ! I'm weird !!!" urban attention seeker types. I did'nt get along with him too well , but that was all kid's stuff.

      I only really conversed with him , maybe 4 or 5 times....One could be forgiven for thinking he was generally harmless. I did. I never actually saw him involved in any acts of violence. He struck me as kind of a Punk Rock Ernest T. Bass. Living to piss people off , but , at the end of the day , he did'nt seem like he meant any , or much , harm. Of course , there were incidents. Like the time he slashed The Stranglers' tires at  The Hot Klub because he was'nt allowed backstage to see them. Or making a friend take the fall for his spitting on Johnny Ramone at a Ramones concert. Then - Ramones Roadie, John  Felice of The Real Kids , was sent by Johnny to beat the shit out of the other guy , while Bobby laughed.  But , when he went to prison for the attempted murder of his Girlfriend , there was'nt anything to laugh about. He did 2 or 3 years (?) , and got clean , but fell back on the old ways , and passed away several years ago , from Cirrhosis and other complications. He played one "Comeback" gig ,  backed by either The Telefones (Who played on "Scavenger of Death") or a thrown together group , I forget which. 

      Nick X said:

      Well, I guess I'll have to check them out now. Just out of the blue, my parents knew Bobby Soxx from the Stick Men with Ray Guns growing up and they said he was about as crazy as you can imagine.



      joey fuckup said:

      Ha, well, the small rock 'n' roll world we live in...G.G. was best friends with Jeff, matter of fact they recorded together as the Murder Junkies way back in the day. There is an album out of their collaborations, and they did a lot of shows together.

    • October 18, 2011 6:17 PM CDT
    • joe dear,

       axel's music is brilliant and that is no joke. his cover of  "you're no good" is gorgeous. his originals are just that. original. dont know about lofi. his recordings are quite accomplished. he knows exactly what he is doing.
       
      Joe Willy said:

      The first band you linked to are an excellent example of garagerock rock. The Velvet Underground, the Strokes, Guided by Voices all come to mind... 3 bands that epitomize "garagerock". I think the high production value of the recordings might be throwing you off, as lo-fi recordings are only a small aspect of what makes something fit the "garagerock" genre. Your band has some very poor recordings that happen to be lo-fi, unfortunately the vocals are unintellible & the mix is, well... not sure if it ever was mixed. Lo-fi recording is just a style of production, if done correctly its the song & vocals that grab the casual listener, whether you record it live in your garage or live in the studio is much less relevant in my humble opinion.

    • October 18, 2011 6:17 PM CDT
    •     It's true , in Chicago , they're mainly concerned about who THEY think is going to be the "Next Big Thing".     It's politics. That's why The Smashing Pumpkins (Whom I had the grave misfortune of seeing , by accident , a few months after forming.) were opening for The Buzzcocks 6 months after their first gig. That's also why Liz Phair and Veruca Salt got signed after each doing a half - dozen shows . "It's politics , not what you know , but who."- Nervebreakers.       Many Journalists want to be able to say , "See? I told ya ! I gave them their first plug!".   But , last year , I got a VERY favorable writeup in The Chicago Reader (Which used to be our main Music and Arts paper.) , from someone I barely knew , personally , and who had nothing to gain by speaking well of my act. He gave me almost as much space as The Gories , the headliners. It only took me 23 years to get mentioned in The Reader , but , I never begged anybody. One Writer on their staff expressed an interest in writing about me about 12 years ago , but , nothing came of it. Sometimes you can try too hard to make things happen , when they will happen , anyway ,  if they're supposed to.

      Joe Willy said:

      Band's that work like dogs and are ignored play (with few exceptions) very poor music. Either the recordings are so lo-fi, presumably in an attempt to cover up the lack of a strong melody/progression, that the words are impossible to understand, or the band lacks originality with an alluring quality to their music. All in all, band's that work like dogs should consider focusing their time/efforts on bettering themselves as artists, instead of working a hard days night to endlessly promote recordings that blogs aren't playing... perhaps there's a reason for that other than that they're ignoring you? It's just a possibility is all I'm saying.

      DEPRAVOS DE LA MOUR said:
      axel- you CAN"T spell rocknroll rong. there is no right way. also if you are getting press ANY press! then you are really fortunate. in chicago the local reviewers write mainly about big time acts or their fellow reviewers acts. all the reviewers are in bands and thus have easy access to press. we have seen feature articles about a reviewer's roomate's drunken train wreck band thrown together for a one off night of baloney and then called the new hope of rock and roll. press space is wasted on 3rd rate FRIENDS. bands that work like dogs to achieve something are ignored.

      Axel Björnsson said:

      I totally agree with you.. haha I always spell rock n roll wrong.. 

      Ok my band was playing at international festival in my town and by older rewiews and describes (including from ourselves) we're described as a 60's revival psychedelic rock. (ofcourse we have influence from bunce of other genres as well) But that description really tracked us down. One journalist was not happy with us.(fuck journalists by the way) I can respect his opinions and all that crap but he killed his credbillity by saying that The Piper at the gates of dawn with Pink Floyd is what psychedelic is supposed to sound and our music were just chaosistic. (has he fucking listened to 13th Floor Elevators? That's what psychedelic is supposed to sound for me thou) The chaosistic is the psychedelic.. Different opinions.

       

       But really my point is descripion can be dangerous.. at least when we're are talking about ignorant journalists..

      DEPRAVOS DE LA MOUR said:

      that usually doesn't cut it with potentially interested listeners not familiar with your music. sifting through the gazillion choices requires some specific glittering shiny object word or phrase. sad and as unhappy as it may  be the term rock n roll is meaningless.( FUCK!! NOBODY CAN EVEN AGREE ON HOW TO SPELL IT!!!!!) to one person it means you may be death metal or to another you could be jimmy buffet or you could be a 1953 rhythm and blues offshoot. it would take longer to describe what you mean by rock and roll than to describe yourself. clubs, bookers, websites, bloggers and online mags or whatever will not even bother to listen to an unknown quantity without a stinkin' category marker. we really and truly do not know what category we are supposed to be stuck in. and its a sure bet that like yourself many other bands do not now what they are until someone else tells them..
      Axel Björnsson said:
      I was onetime obsessed with analyzing my music, talked endless about it. I'm still obsessed with it but I keep it to myself because I think it's dull to describe my art to another person. Recently I just tell people that i play Rock 'n Roll.

    • October 18, 2011 5:52 PM CDT
    • Genre labels are a construct of record labels. It's a marketing technique to effectively sell more records. Any music store/iTunes music store would sure be a lot more hectic & confusing if genre's didn't exist. Also labels make it easier for people to communicate what they like - despite the fact that labeling music is an impossible exercise. If you're in a band and are worried about what genre you fit into, theres a problem with your band. A good band can say "rock n' roll" or "rock-sock hoppin' blue beat thrash" & it will not matter, all that matters is what comes outta the speakers when your band's track is queued & "play" is pressed.

      The Terrorists said:

      Garage is trendy because it's a safe word-- nobody ever got beat-up cause they played "garage." Unlike punk... 

      I've heard many bands that are definitely punk-influenced and whose members have never heard a garage band before except for maybe The Sonics, and i even doubt that much. They don't even hear the music that those garage bands grew up listening to, which is the key to coming up with a believable sound. If you honestly don't listen to rock n roll and blues, your "garagey" sound is likely to come up quite dull.

      Not only is a safe word, but it also implies you went through the trouble of listening to music that isn't mainstream, which makes you hip. If only that was true.

      These people won't stop at garage, i've heard bands claim they play gospel and surf influenced music and I just dont' hear it. 

    • October 18, 2011 5:39 PM CDT
    • now what are we supposed to do? joe willy hates us.

      Joe Willy said:

      Band's that work like dogs and are ignored play (with few exceptions) very poor music. Either the recordings are so lo-fi, presumably in an attempt to cover up the lack of a strong melody/progression, that the words are impossible to understand, or the band lacks originality with an alluring quality to their music. All in all, band's that work like dogs should consider focusing their time/efforts on bettering themselves as artists, instead of working a hard days night to endlessly promote recordings that blogs aren't playing... perhaps there's a reason for that other than that they're ignoring you? It's just a possibility is all I'm saying.

      DEPRAVOS DE LA MOUR said:
      axel- you CAN"T spell rocknroll rong. there is no right way. also if you are getting press ANY press! then you are really fortunate. in chicago the local reviewers write mainly about big time acts or their fellow reviewers acts. all the reviewers are in bands and thus have easy access to press. we have seen feature articles about a reviewer's roomate's drunken train wreck band thrown together for a one off night of baloney and then called the new hope of rock and roll. press space is wasted on 3rd rate FRIENDS. bands that work like dogs to achieve something are ignored.

      Axel Björnsson said:

      I totally agree with you.. haha I always spell rock n roll wrong.. 

      Ok my band was playing at international festival in my town and by older rewiews and describes (including from ourselves) we're described as a 60's revival psychedelic rock. (ofcourse we have influence from bunce of other genres as well) But that description really tracked us down. One journalist was not happy with us.(fuck journalists by the way) I can respect his opinions and all that crap but he killed his credbillity by saying that The Piper at the gates of dawn with Pink Floyd is what psychedelic is supposed to sound and our music were just chaosistic. (has he fucking listened to 13th Floor Elevators? That's what psychedelic is supposed to sound for me thou) The chaosistic is the psychedelic.. Different opinions.

       

       But really my point is descripion can be dangerous.. at least when we're are talking about ignorant journalists..

      DEPRAVOS DE LA MOUR said:

      that usually doesn't cut it with potentially interested listeners not familiar with your music. sifting through the gazillion choices requires some specific glittering shiny object word or phrase. sad and as unhappy as it may  be the term rock n roll is meaningless.( FUCK!! NOBODY CAN EVEN AGREE ON HOW TO SPELL IT!!!!!) to one person it means you may be death metal or to another you could be jimmy buffet or you could be a 1953 rhythm and blues offshoot. it would take longer to describe what you mean by rock and roll than to describe yourself. clubs, bookers, websites, bloggers and online mags or whatever will not even bother to listen to an unknown quantity without a stinkin' category marker. we really and truly do not know what category we are supposed to be stuck in. and its a sure bet that like yourself many other bands do not now what they are until someone else tells them..
      Axel Björnsson said:
      I was onetime obsessed with analyzing my music, talked endless about it. I'm still obsessed with it but I keep it to myself because I think it's dull to describe my art to another person. Recently I just tell people that i play Rock 'n Roll.

    • October 18, 2011 5:37 PM CDT
    • excellent strategy for getting pub my man!

      Axel Björnsson said:

      gaddanmit. fuck the press..

    • October 18, 2011 5:36 PM CDT
    • The first band you linked to are an excellent example of garagerock rock. The Velvet Underground, the Strokes, Guided by Voices all come to mind... 3 bands that epitomize "garagerock". I think the high production value of the recordings might be throwing you off, as lo-fi recordings are only a small aspect of what makes something fit the "garagerock" genre. Your band has some very poor recordings that happen to be lo-fi, unfortunately the vocals are unintellible & the mix is, well... not sure if it ever was mixed. Lo-fi recording is just a style of production, if done correctly its the song & vocals that grab the casual listener, whether you record it live in your garage or live in the studio is much less relevant in my humble opinion.

    • October 18, 2011 5:26 PM CDT
    • Band's that work like dogs and are ignored play (with few exceptions) very poor music. Either the recordings are so lo-fi, presumably in an attempt to cover up the lack of a strong melody/progression, that the words are impossible to understand, or the band lacks originality with an alluring quality to their music. All in all, band's that work like dogs should consider focusing their time/efforts on bettering themselves as artists, instead of working a hard days night to endlessly promote recordings that blogs aren't playing... perhaps there's a reason for that other than that they're ignoring you? It's just a possibility is all I'm saying.

      DEPRAVOS DE LA MOUR said:

      axel- you CAN"T spell rocknroll rong. there is no right way. also if you are getting press ANY press! then you are really fortunate. in chicago the local reviewers write mainly about big time acts or their fellow reviewers acts. all the reviewers are in bands and thus have easy access to press. we have seen feature articles about a reviewer's roomate's drunken train wreck band thrown together for a one off night of baloney and then called the new hope of rock and roll. press space is wasted on 3rd rate FRIENDS. bands that work like dogs to achieve something are ignored.

      Axel Björnsson said:

      I totally agree with you.. haha I always spell rock n roll wrong.. 

      Ok my band was playing at international festival in my town and by older rewiews and describes (including from ourselves) we're described as a 60's revival psychedelic rock. (ofcourse we have influence from bunce of other genres as well) But that description really tracked us down. One journalist was not happy with us.(fuck journalists by the way) I can respect his opinions and all that crap but he killed his credbillity by saying that The Piper at the gates of dawn with Pink Floyd is what psychedelic is supposed to sound and our music were just chaosistic. (has he fucking listened to 13th Floor Elevators? That's what psychedelic is supposed to sound for me thou) The chaosistic is the psychedelic.. Different opinions.

       

       But really my point is descripion can be dangerous.. at least when we're are talking about ignorant journalists..

      DEPRAVOS DE LA MOUR said:

      that usually doesn't cut it with potentially interested listeners not familiar with your music. sifting through the gazillion choices requires some specific glittering shiny object word or phrase. sad and as unhappy as it may  be the term rock n roll is meaningless.( FUCK!! NOBODY CAN EVEN AGREE ON HOW TO SPELL IT!!!!!) to one person it means you may be death metal or to another you could be jimmy buffet or you could be a 1953 rhythm and blues offshoot. it would take longer to describe what you mean by rock and roll than to describe yourself. clubs, bookers, websites, bloggers and online mags or whatever will not even bother to listen to an unknown quantity without a stinkin' category marker. we really and truly do not know what category we are supposed to be stuck in. and its a sure bet that like yourself many other bands do not now what they are until someone else tells them..
      Axel Björnsson said:
      I was onetime obsessed with analyzing my music, talked endless about it. I'm still obsessed with it but I keep it to myself because I think it's dull to describe my art to another person. Recently I just tell people that i play Rock 'n Roll.

    • October 18, 2011 2:09 PM CDT
    • gaddanmit. fuck the press..

    • October 18, 2011 5:44 PM CDT
    • That , he is. You can say you don't dig his humor , or that he's a little bit too over the top for you , but , at the end of the day , he's a very pleasant , likeable cat (Pardon my Sammy Davis Jr. - isms.) , and I'm proud to call him a friend. " Doot Doodle Doot Doot - Damn straight. ".          Besides , would Thurston Moore have had the moxie to goof on Gorbachev AND Gerald Ford ?!        John.

      swt said:

      That Nardwuar is a charming fellow. Christ, I nearly broke my computer half way through the video.

       

    • October 18, 2011 5:33 PM CDT
    •      Derek (Bloodshot Bill) would be tickled to hear that , tho' NO ONE could take Charlie Feathers' place. Also , Charlie's son , Bubba , puts on one of the best Rockabilly shows you'll ever see , WITHOUT Stray Cats ' dos "Vintage " threads or standup Bass.       Yeah , I was really into The Stingrays , too. They got lumped into the "Psychobilly" thing , just because they had a standup bass...I kept all their old records , so , maybe , I'll dig 'em out , soon. 

      My friend used to work with their Guitarist (Mark?). Alec Palao , of course , came here , to the land of milk and cold beer , and has since played Bass with  The Magic Christians and the latter day Chocolate Watchband , and works with Ace/Big Beat , his "G.S. I Love You" series (Japanese Group Sound .) should be his proudest achievement....to date.        I even have a Vibes 12" EP.  Time was , if you could find that stuff at all in the states , you could find it cheap , because no one wanted it. Anyone remember The Huns? They were Americans from the Midwest (One of 'em played baseball on the grounds of my old Public School in Glenview , Illinois) who joined the Prisoners /Stingrays / Milkshakes axis in The UK. I need to listen to their EP again - Like The Cannibals with Stoogey Guitar and maybe somewhat more irreverent humor.

      Lucky La Rocka said:

      YAY, another fan of english early 80s Garage !!!!  My formative years , one of the best gigs ever for me was The Stingrays & Vibes at Retford Porterhouse ....great days !

      Bloodshot Bill is great ....a worthy successor to Charlie Feathers !


      SarahJayne said:

      It's for this reason that I don't limit my tastes to just a few genres. I can find at least one song I'll dig from ANY genre - even mainstream pop music, lol.

      As far as 60s style tunes, I'm big on the whole trash revival that evolved from the early psychobilly scene, and consider those bands underrated. THE VIBES (!!!!!), Russian Roulette (pick up the 'fuckin' car 7" if you're into the Cramps), Stingrays, etc. etc. Garage covers with an upright bass, fuck yeah!

      I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for them : ).

      PS, new G&R blows. Amen.

    • October 18, 2011 5:28 PM CDT
    • mr willy,

      we did not imply that we thought that kelly's last suggestion was one for which we did not care. quite the contrary. we are very grateful that she went to all that trouble to find  for us (and we hope others here) that very helpful list of blogs. we really thought that kelly understood that. the punk stance was meant to be satirical. from now on we shall proceed with the utmost gravity. obviously this is no place to be a smidge light hearted.

      Joe Willy said:

      Kelly just offered you a concrete answer/tip to your original question... and your response is an attempt to be funny while implying you don't care for the suggestion, and have no gratitude for her time spent helping your band-that-needs-lots-of-help in many areas, most of all your embarrassingly weak attempts at being "jerks", as you've let everyone now know. If that image of being punk-mother fuckers is more important to you than taking advice freely offered to you, I advise you to replace the members of your band (the want-to-be jerks) with natural born assholes who don't give a fuck. Either be rude fuckers with attitude (which you're not) or don't post discussions politely asking for advice, afterwards dismissing the advice given because you've remembered you're supposed to be wearing that cracked, oversized mask full of holes.

      Drink a pitcher of your band's picture & let me know how it tastes.

      DEPRAVOS DE LA MOUR said:

      thank you kelly. people like you make us feel bad about being what we are. if we hung around with you we could lose our jerk cred.

      kelly alvarez said:

    • October 18, 2011 5:09 PM CDT
    • Kelly just offered you a concrete answer/tip to your original question... and your response is an attempt to be funny while implying you don't care for the suggestion, and have no gratitude for her time spent helping your band-that-needs-lots-of-help in many areas, most of all your embarrassingly weak attempts at being "jerks", as you've let everyone now know. If that image of being punk-mother fuckers is more important to you than taking advice freely offered to you, I advise you to replace the members of your band (the want-to-be jerks) with natural born assholes who don't give a fuck. Either be rude fuckers with attitude (which you're not) or don't post discussions politely asking for advice, afterwards dismissing the advice given because you've remembered you're supposed to be wearing that cracked, oversized mask full of holes.

      Drink a pitcher of your band's picture & let me know how it tastes.

      DEPRAVOS DE LA MOUR said:

      thank you kelly. people like you make us feel bad about being what we are. if we hung around with you we could lose our jerk cred.

      kelly alvarez said:

    • October 18, 2011 1:57 PM CDT
    • we thought that everybodys pitcher clicked to their page with their music on it. but that's what we get for thoughtin'. it just ain't worth the trouble. 

      we would be dead and dug in deep by the time some little steven intern got around to listening to us. we've all taken second jobs so we can afford the entrance fees for all those "opportunities" offered by reverb nation. that's the way to go!

       you are very nice and shouldn't be talking to us. we used to be called The Unpleasant Jerks. thank you for the smiles.


      kelly alvarez said:

      Demonstrated little interest? I said I am always down to hear new bands, but as I stated earlier, for my particular blog, I only write about female-fronted bands and female musicians; I never said I wouldn’t check your band out, it’s just not something I would blog about since I have an ongoing theme going on :) Also, you didn’t let anyone know that clicking your picture would lead to your music page!! What if you sent a demo to Little Steve’s Underground Garage? I think he would play your songs on the air http://undergroundgarage.com/    

    • October 18, 2011 1:20 PM CDT
    • Demonstrated little interest? I said I am always down to hear new bands, but as I stated earlier, for my particular blog, I only write about female-fronted bands and female musicians; I never said I wouldn’t check your band out, it’s just not something I would blog about since I have an ongoing theme going on :) Also, you didn’t let anyone know that clicking your picture would lead to your music page!! What if you sent a demo to Little Steve’s Underground Garage? I think he would play your songs on the air http://undergroundgarage.com/