The main thing is still to play out a lot and be good. Social media helps in that it introduces you to people, if they like you, if you charm them, they become predisposed to liking your music. Because most people--present company excluded, I'm sure!--don't really care as much about the music itself as being part of something that's trendy, or feeling a sense of group membership. Hence the "likes." And it still helps to be sexy.  

Oh yeah, I intentionally avoided FB for about 3 or 4 years because I knew it would be a time- gobbling nemesis. After band was up and running, it was a necessity. I was right about the time...

 

Yeah. It's getting ridiculous. One good part about the hideous job of hi-volume retail is that I see a few of my FB friends and talk to them in person. Tell them when a gig is coming up, hand them a flyer/schedule (remember those- I think they are still around because they don't require verbal!). It's all part of the general erosion which I have a name for but won't say in print until I have the trademark on it like Pat Reiley (sp?) has on 3-peat. Nyuk, nyuk.

How are you Mr. Battles?

 
John Battles said:

Amen. People who criticized me for not getting on it are now saying they wish they had'nt bothered. Not all of 'em. But , it IS killing how people communicate. Between that and texting , when do people ever TALK , even on the phone? When FB first started , some former friends from college were starting a chat group. They asked one friend I've always been in touch with to join. One of them , a longtime Born - Again Christian said to tell me to get on FB so he could TALK to me. I said , I'll  give him my phone number , if he has anything to say , he can say it to ME. TURNED OUT THE ONES WHO WERE'NT BORN AGAIN IN COLLEGE ARE , NOW , SO , THEY SNUBBED MY FRIEND FOR HAVING A MIND OF HIS OWN, AND HIS OWN PERSONAL BELIEFS......On the other hand , when it comes down to music , there may be reasons to join , but , I'm reading , now , there are plenty of reasons not to. How hard is it to e-mail a personal friend , or , God forbid , call 'em on the phone , if they're not on Face Book , to tell them you have a gig ? We used to do it , all time , not long ago.
 
Allerleirauh said:

Facebook is killing everything.

THE DRAGS, forever

http://youtu.be/LV3xt_LuMI8

Wow, what an unfortunate incident! Other than their names and their music I know very little about them so thanks for that insight into the less than glamorous side of lo-fi rock n' roll! Does your distaste now extend to all Dan Kroha outfits?

kopper said:

Meh. Dollrods suck. They played in St. Louis several years ago and were too unimpressed with our pizza joint/southside bar venue to give a rat's ass about us, so why should I give a rat's ass about them? As they were setting up, they realized they were missing one 
of their bags that contained their stage costumes (pasties, special panties, etc.). We waited a LONG time for them to start... maybe an hour? Something like that. You could tell they were pissed. They were mostly hanging outside the club, yapping away on cell phones, complaining about everything and in real foul moods. They even had a dog with them (who the fuck takes a dog with them on tour?) and were playing with it or whatever out on the sidewalk. They didn't like the bar and they weren't at all happy about the crowd (it was an unusually small turnout, even for a weeknight, but especially for a weekend). So they finally took the stage a little after Midnight and played maybe 5 or 6 songs... really short set. If it was more than 20 minutes I'd be really surprised. Everyone was pretty surprised when they just suddenly stopped, put down their instruments, and disconnected their shit. No "thanks for coming," "sorry we can't play anymore cuz we don't have our costumes," nothing. It'll be a cold day in Hell that I ever go see them again!

Boaby Digital said:

Demolition Doll Rods 'On' is an album I never tire of hearing. I'd love to see them come back for more sometime.

Let's see....I hear with my little ear:

"Gotta be a skookie" (what's that?) ...."get my bong".. "Is your mother hi, call me in the road." "Fish can talk to me bony" and I distinctly hear.."pooh-pooh brown" and "Give me all your rock" ....and of course "get on baby, get on"

Yeah, I think that's what they said.

Axel said:

But what I really wanna know is...what is he singing? The mighty Hurriganes!!!

OF COURSE , WHEN THAT SONG CAME OUT ,YODA WAS'NT EVEN A GLEAM IN GEORGE LUCAS' EYE , SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ALTAMONT AND THX1138.....

I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY , TOO. THANK YOU FOR SAYING HA HA HA INSTEAD OF LOL , TOO.
 
b0nes tra5hyf said:

Ha ha ha

John Battles said:

  "Oh , Yoda , I'm loaded."   "Oh no , dear , oh , no dear" (?)

"John , I'm Only Dancing" - David Bowie.     Thanks to Chris Morris.

I meant to say"Is closing tightly". I should be ready enough to remember , when I can name 3 versions ,INCLUDING THE ORIGINAL , and I should be able to name about 100.....

John Battles said:

"YOU START WALKING TOWARD ME , AND MY GLUE COMES ALL UNDONE"

"....MY COOL COMES ALL UNDONE. " - "Get Me To The World on Time" , Electric Prunes.

" i HATE TO SEE YOU SHINING SO BRIGHT YEAH , NEW SURROUNDINGS , HOLD ME TIGHTLTY"   

" MY XKE IS SHINING SO BRIGHTLY. THE NOOSE AROUND US IS HOLDING TIGHTLY."

THE WHO "CALL ME LIGHTNING".

Ha ha ha

John Battles said:

  "Oh , Yoda , I'm loaded."   "Oh no , dear , oh , no dear" (?)

"John , I'm Only Dancing" - David Bowie.     Thanks to Chris Morris.

Gary "US" Bonds did a version, but I don't think it's what you're looking for... still pretty ok though in a 70s honky tonk rock kind of way.

Gary "US" Bonds "From A Buick 6"

Nice find on the harmonica-intro version, I like the way it sets-off the track. Record digger's tip: the original stereo pressing of "Highway 61 Revisited" will always have the word "Nonbreakable" on the labels, to the left of the center hole. Later pressings will not have this word at all. A good way to know as you're flipping through stacks that you've got a first pressing with the rare track. The first Canadian release also has this mispressing: the "360 Sound" text is white on US copies and black on Canadian copies.

dave said:

Has anyone done a cover of Dylan's "From A Buick 6"? Seems like it would be cool when done by some Gories-type band.

Here is something I did not know existed:

Bob Dylan - From A Buick 6 (Alternate) [vinyl]

The very first stereo copies of Highway 61 Revisited were mistaken pressed with an alternate version of From A Buick 6.

I think we'll both stick with the one we heard first.

 
Mike Humsgreen said:

I was going to mention the Magnet cover. Although the steel guitar is really good on the original. But I heard the Magnet cover first and find the Dylan version doesn't really fit to the lyrics because of that. After hearing the cover it just has to be a soppy love song.

Glenn Barton said:

 I love "Lay Lady Lay" but a lot of that has to do with the killer pedal steel guitar and the reverb attached to it!
 

I was going to mention the Magnet cover. Although the steel guitar is really good on the original. But I heard the Magnet cover first and find the Dylan version doesn't really fit to the lyrics because of that. After hearing the cover it just has to be a soppy love song.

Glenn Barton said:

 I love "Lay Lady Lay" but a lot of that has to do with the killer pedal steel guitar and the reverb attached to it!
 

Has anyone done a cover of Dylan's "From A Buick 6"? Seems like it would be cool when done by some Gories-type band.

Here is something I did not know existed:

Bob Dylan - From A Buick 6 (Alternate) [vinyl]

The very first stereo copies of Highway 61 Revisited were mistaken pressed with an alternate version of From A Buick 6.

i THINK YOU'LL WIN THAT BET. I HEARD "SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING" BY THE YARDBIRDS , FIRST , THINKING THAT IT SOUNDED A LOT LIKE "PRIMITIVE" BY THE CRAMPS" , NOT YET AWARE OF HOWLIN' WOLF'S ORIGINAL VERSION OF THE FORMER , AND THE GROUPIES' ORIGINAL VERSION OF THE LATTER.....I CAN'T EVEN THINK OF ANY OTHER VERSIONS OF "SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING" , OFFHAND ........ IN THE STATES , THE CHESS RECORDS CATALOGUE WAS OUT OF PRINT UNTIL 1984 , AND , EVEN THEN , THE OBVIOUS STUFF LIKE CHUCK , BO , WOLF AND MUDDY WAS SLOW IN ARRIVING.
 
Tersicore said:

Well, since most of us grown up with R´n´R, Rock, Punk and so on, i guess is not too difficult to find more appealing versions of some old Jazz, Folk or old R´n´B songs. 
We may have heard in most cases the cover earlier than the original one,  
or maybe never heard the original at all. 

Personally i´d be more curious about comparing songs which were both, original and cover, quasi contemporary, or from not so extremely different musical genre.
What do you think?

BUT: I´ll spend a beer to anyone who comes with a better version of the original "Smokestack Lightning" by Howling´Wolf! ;)

I'm not the beating kind. Just threw "Positively" out there because I heard it recently (on dishnet xm underground garage I think) and it's one I like but couldn't think of covers for it. I'll have to listen to J. Rivers version again. In general I agree.. Dylan covers are mostly better than the originals. I love "Lay Lady Lay" but a lot of that has to do with the killer pedal steel guitar and the reverb attached to it!
 
Tersicore said:

Don´t get me wrong. Dylan is a really great singer-songwriter, i recognize it myself, but how can i say it? When i hear most of his songs i get kind of bored, are somehow too lame, sluggish, to me. But they do are great songs and that´s why i think it may be possible if not even easy, to make some better covers of one of his songs.

@Glenn Burton, "Positively 4th Street"? Don´t beat me but personally i don´t like this song, though the cover by Johnny Rivers is not that boring to me as the original.

Audio Gasoline said:

I remember reading somewhere that the only cover of his that Dylan liked (of all the covers of his songs) was Jimi's version of "All Along The Watchtower". John, I have to mention one small factoid in your Dylan post: "Turn, Turn, Turn" was a Pete Seeger song (the words were from the Bible, but he wrote the music and did the main arrangement). Dylan in his early years did some bitchin' covers in his own right, especially of traditional blues and gospel standards. Half of his first album were cover songs. (Disclaimer: I'm a fan of "Classic Dylan", and lose interest somewhere around "Blonde On Blonde".... except for "Desire", that album rules.)

Tersicore said:

ha ha, somehow i got the feeling that is not really hard to make a good cover of a Dylan song, sorry! ;D

Don´t get me wrong. Dylan is a really great singer-songwriter, i recognize it myself, but how can i say it? When i hear most of his songs i get kind of bored, are somehow too lame, sluggish, to me. But they do are great songs and that´s why i think it may be possible if not even easy, to make some better covers of one of his songs.

@Glenn Burton, "Positively 4th Street"? Don´t beat me but personally i don´t like this song, though the cover by Johnny Rivers is not that boring to me as the original.

Audio Gasoline said:

I remember reading somewhere that the only cover of his that Dylan liked (of all the covers of his songs) was Jimi's version of "All Along The Watchtower". John, I have to mention one small factoid in your Dylan post: "Turn, Turn, Turn" was a Pete Seeger song (the words were from the Bible, but he wrote the music and did the main arrangement). Dylan in his early years did some bitchin' covers in his own right, especially of traditional blues and gospel standards. Half of his first album were cover songs. (Disclaimer: I'm a fan of "Classic Dylan", and lose interest somewhere around "Blonde On Blonde".... except for "Desire", that album rules.)

Tersicore said:

ha ha, somehow i got the feeling that is not really hard to make a good cover of a Dylan song, sorry! ;D

Can't argue with any of those (esp. 2 I may not have heard yet). Like that you mentioned The Turtles version of "It Ain't Me, Babe". My band, The Shreds Of Evidence, does a version based on The Turtles version but arranged a bit differently. No drastic changes (unless you compare side by side). If we ever get vid on that one I'll post in vids. We need a new topic... Dylan songs we think Dylan did better than any covers. "Positively 4th Street"? ... wait, I don't know of any covers... off to youtube-nah!
 
John Battles said:

There's so many....Jerry Lee Lewis made , pretty much , any song his own.

 

There's so many Dylan covers that , I believe, were better than the originals....

Pretty much any by The Byrds - My Back Pages , Mr. Tambourine , Turn , Turn ,Turn , etc.

Elvis did a total of two Dylan songs. "Don't Think Twice , It's All Right " was just a studio jam that went on for 10 minutes , but really drove the point home......a putdown to the one who put him down. Saying "iT AIN'T NO BIG THING" WHEN IT IS.

it Ain't Me , Babe - Johnny Cash and even The Turtles.

It's aLL over Now , Baby Blue. - Them , Chocolate Watchband , 13TH Floor Elevators.

Isley Bros. - Lay , Lady Lay "Now some people say this cat knows a lot about a lot of things . Me , I like anything that's goy LAY in it !" (Ronnie Isley) 

Yardbirds - Most Likely You'll Go Your Way .

Solomon Burke - Maggie's Farm.

OK , to be fair , I heard Dylan doing "It Takes a Lot To Laugh , It Takes a Train To Cry" , recently. It beats Hell out of Blue Cheer's version.

I don´t need much words for that: love both but i think Cash gave a "soul" to this song!

It´s all double dutch to me, John... are those all (shitty?) bands?
Guess, any cover made by anyone is way better than an original Janet Jackson! ;D
I got bad allergic reactions to tunes of Michel Jackson, go figure to of Janet! 

I think, Kopper is right! in this case is not longer subjective, that´s a fact! ;)

John Battles said:

Ciccone Youth , Chicago Style (Tomatoes , peppers , celery salt , day - glo relish , white onions, mustard. Fuck the no ketchup statute.) ??  This sounds surprisingly inoffensive , but , it is'nt annoying , like a Wax Trax cut. Beats Hell out of the original record . So would a sledge hammer.
 
kopper said:

Killdozer's cover of Janet Jackson's "Nasty" is better than the original.

Yep, sure, is bound to be subjective.
the Man or Astro-man? version of this song is great to my ear too ;)

Pity! I love Suffragette City by Bowie but i couldn´t hear at the cover since is blocked in the country i´m now (or maybe in whole Europe?) 


Audio Gasoline said:

Contemporarily speaking, there's some great covers out there, but harder for me to make the judgement that they're better than the original. Some great versions though, to my ear, include:

Zeke "Midnight Nambla" (Turbonegro)

Nashville Pussy "First I Look At The Purse" (Contours, Smoky Robinson) - ok, this one goes back to the 60s

The Dictators "Search & Destroy" (Stooges)

The Candy Snatchers "Suffragette City" (Bowie)

Supersuckers "400 Bucks" (Rev. Horton Heat)

Man Or Astro-Man? "Dueces Wild" (Link Wray)

Tersicore said:

i´d be more curious about comparing songs which were both, original and cover, quasi contemporary, or from not so extremely different musical genre. 

What do you think?

Ciccone Youth , Chicago Style (Tomatoes , peppers , celery salt , day - glo relish , white onions, mustard. Fuck the no ketchup statute.) ??  This sounds surprisingly inoffensive , but , it is'nt annoying , like a Wax Trax cut. Beats Hell out of the original record . So would a sledge hammer.
 
kopper said:

Killdozer's cover of Janet Jackson's "Nasty" is better than the original.

You're right , Pete Seeger adapted the song from the Book of Ecclesiastes before Dylan did it. I forgot.
 
Audio Gasoline said:

I remember reading somewhere that the only cover of his that Dylan liked (of all the covers of his songs) was Jimi's version of "All Along The Watchtower". John, I have to mention one small factoid in your Dylan post: "Turn, Turn, Turn" was a Pete Seeger song (the words were from the Bible, but he wrote the music and did the main arrangement). Dylan in his early years did some bitchin' covers in his own right, especially of traditional blues and gospel standards. Half of his first album were cover songs. (Disclaimer: I'm a fan of "Classic Dylan", and lose interest somewhere around "Blonde On Blonde".... except for "Desire", that album rules.)

Tersicore said:

ha ha, somehow i got the feeling that is not really hard to make a good cover of a Dylan song, sorry! ;D

Radio What Wave Playlist Feb 28/2013

Our first 90m long show in a month and there's a ton of stuff to play....

1. 63 Monroe...At The Boot...from the cassette, Slippery's Club Hits, that comes with What Wave 24.

63 Monroe at The Cedar, fall 1981

2. Johnny Terrien and the Bad Lieutenants....El Camino...recorded live at Call The Office 7/27/12. JT will be playing at Brennan's tonite.

Johnny Terrien and the Bad Lieutenants at Black Shire Pub 11/14/08

3. The Zellots....Do Me A Favour....recorded live at Call The Office 10/27/12 as part of our Graphic Underground: London 1977-1990 art opening.

The Zellots playing at a street fair, August 1980

4. The Enemas...Picture Yourself At Guelph....as above.

5. The Scenics...Oh Boy...from their latest CD, Dead Man Walks Down Bayview.

6. Bloodshot Bill...Honky Tonky Angel...recorded live at CHRW 5/25/07 as part of Less Talk More Rock, a punk show that used to air on CHRW. The person talking, Paul, was the host of Less Talk. 

Bloodshot Bill playing live on CHRW.....5/25/07

7. Bloodshot Bill...16 Chicks...as above. Bloodshot Bill will be playing at This Ain't Hollywood in Hamilton on Sunday Mar 3rd, as part of the monthly garage fest, Kissin' The Carpet.

8. Bloodshot Bill...King Slut...from the Dig It Up LP from 2005.

BB live at The Victoria, 7/12/08

9. The Firejacks...Tell That Woman...from the Full Blast LP, BB sang and drummed for The Firejacks.

10. The Ding Dongs...Ding Dong Party...from their 2010 LP on Norton Records. The Ding Dongs are Bloodshot Bill and Mark Sultan, who will also be appearing on sunday's show.

11. BBQ...Outta My Mind...from the Tie Your Noose CD on Bomp Records 2005.

12. Les Sexareenos...Wild Wild Wild...from the SFTRI LP  Live In The Bed, 2000. Mark Sultan drums and sings on this one.

13. King Khan and BBQ Show...Pretty Plaid Skirt...from the 3 sided LP on In The Red Records.

14. The Standstills....Black Betty...from the Human Element CD. They are playing Call The Office tonite.

The Standstills at Black Shire Pub, 3/27/09 as part of Battle Of The 2 Piece Bands Part 2

15. The Royal Hangmen...Irresistible Girl...from their self titled debut LP on Screaming Apple Records. Swiss garagepunks.

16. The Hypnotics...Holiday In The City....recorded live at Grooves Records 11/3/12.

17. The Evil Eyes...Jerry Lee VS The Wolfman...from their only 7"...and they are also supposed to be playing Kissin' The Carpet this sunday, but in a 2 piece version.

18. Cheap Thrills...You Make Me Wanna....from their self titled 10" record. They were in town at Call The Office last night.

19. Cheap Thrills...21...as above.

20. Chris Hart...Burn This City...from the Rock & Roll Revelation CD.

21. The Kickstands...Scrambler...from a compilation LP called Boss Drag '64. Not much info on the LP, but it appears to be from Argentina. Jon Traut phoned in during this one, and he was speeding down the 401 from Toronto, so we cranked the instros for Jon!

22. The Gruesomes....Bikers From Hell....from the Tyrants Of Teen Trash LP, re-ished on Groovie Records from Greece.

23. Deuce Coupes...Gear Masher...also from Boss Drag '64 LP.

24. The Night Raiders...Cotton Pickin'....from Strummin' Mental Volume 3 compilation LP. Somewhere around here, i started talking not realizing the record was still playing...it wouldn't be a Radio WW without a ton of fuckups!

25. Boy From Nowhere...Heartful of Soul....from Slippery's Club Hits the cassette that comes with WW 24.

What Wave 24.....over 100 pages!!!

Thanx for the phone-ins, emails, messages etc....back again next week with more noise to annoy.

I'll be at Kissin' The Carpet, at This Ain't Hollywood on sunday. I'll be selling the latest edition of What Wave at the garage sale starting at 6PM.

All photos from the What Wave archives...please DO NOT Reproduce without permission.

Here's a link to the podcast:

http://chrwradio.ca/content/radio-what-wave#prev-shows

Damn, the listings improved again. Damnit. Can't fuggin' go :( *sniffle*

YOU POOR MAN !!! I think they have support groups  for teens and men that had to escort their relatives to NKOTB concerts. Now that they're coming back (EUGGH!), survivors of the 90's campaign can act as sponsors for the unfortunate younger guys who'll have to complete this circle of terror.   The Zeros ,Hell Yeah. I've seen El Vez and The True Believers , Dos Zeros?
  
Johnny Garage said:

First show: 1991 New Kids on the block. My folks didn't want my sis to go by herself so I had to go. 90 minutes of chicks screaming still haunts me to this day

First punk show: 1996 Glasshouse Pomona, Ca. Line up: Red Aunts, New Bomb Turks, Voo Doo Glow Skulls, Union 13 and Strife. My friends and I ditched school to buy Voo Doo's new album at Rhino records because you got a free ticket to the show. That show changed my life.

Best shows: The Zeros @ The Troubadour, The Hives @ The Glasshouse, Japanther @ VLHS, Night Birds @ The Blue Star, NObunny @ The Alexandria, BBQ Show @ El Cid, OBN III's @ The Smell, Guitar Wolf @ The Knitting Factory, 5,6,7,8's @ Knitting Factory...just off of recent memory.

I did see No Doubt at a back yard kegger in Anaheim for $2 bucks 1996. Back when she used to dress up as Alice in Wonderland...I saw Green Day and AFI @ Gilman St in San Francisco for free. 1999 I believe.

I was on 2001 Warped Tour and saw AFI, CIV, Rancid, AFI, Bouncing Souls, Murphys Law, Keith Cool, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes on stage. Priceless memories. Thanks Lyman...