Communist Radio!!

Yes, in a way I am saying anything could have existed with something else. That's exactly why I don't draw a connection. It's too arbitrary and denies every other influence. Rock and roll had to happen and would have happened no matter what. The same with punk. Draw all your lines and make your graphs and reduce rock 'n' roll to a scientific formula if it makes you feel better, but the music came from the heart. Restless hearts create restless music, with or without The Beatles. 

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

You're basically saying that anything could have existed without something else but you're not making any of the connections.  You start with the caveman but you don't mention HOW we get to Texas psyche from there.  How can you take away Gospel (which eventually leads to blues, jazz, and soul) from what alot of Southern Americans based alot of their music on to start with?  If they only went by the church music that was brought over from Europe, psyche in Texas would sound more like Procul Harum.  You mention the backbone ("if someone wasn't beating a stick first, someone else would have done it eventually") but you don't the mention the meat that eventually surrounds it. 

Certainly, the Beatles would not exist without Elvis, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, and Little Richard.  But none of those original rock and rollers would exist either if not for Gospel.  Rock and Roll would exist if Elvis had solely based his repertoir on Dean Martin and Mario Lanza records, instead of Big Boy Crudup and Wynonie Harris, who again, wouldn't exist if Gospel didn't exist?  You call bullshit on all this but you're not backing up your own claims.

RJFait said:

Perhaps you've been misreading it all along. Your "That's your logic not Rockin' Rod's" is so incorrect. I've been saying the exact opposite the whole time and Rod admitted that he believes there would not have been Texas psych (the best kind) without gospel. I think that's nonsense. If the first person to beat out a rhythm with a stick hadn't done it, someone else would have. Period! And to say the Beatles were the first to do any genre is also nonsense. They were just one of the first to achieve commercial success at it.

Time For Tiffin said:

Don't back out on my account man.

Surely discission/debate/banter are what it's all about,ain't it?

I have read the thread,infact i was the first to reply to it.I simply don't agree with ya statements.

To know what The Beatles changed ya have to know what dross the vast majority of English kids were listenin' too before em......Cliff Richard,Billy Fury,Joe Brown and worse.

Record companies had artists not bands.EMI took a chance and it paid off.The Beatles went huge over here and the kids went bonkers.Every other company went lookin' for their own Beatles on the back of that success.Even Decca took on another guitar band after statin' "guitar bands had had their day"....The Rolling Stones.

Love em or hate em,take away The Beatles and ya take away most of the other bands from the era.

Take away The Beatles success in the US and ya take away The British Invasion that followed.

Take away The Beatles and ya take away the most excitin' time in pop when every 15 year old lad wanted to pick up a guitar and play in a band.

It would have been a very lonely path for Cliff Richard and Billy Fury to walk down from 63 to mid sixties psych (and i'm not sure they'd have made it) without The Stones,Kinks,Animals,Yardbirds etc.And they wouldn't have been anywhere if The Beatles hadn't done it first.

The Beatles changes EVERYTHING.

own Beatles

RJFait said:

Alright, I'm going to have to back out of this now because people are just saying stupid shit that absolutely no basis in reality. If you're not going to bother reading a thread, you really shouldn't comment on it.
Time For Tiffin said:

EH?

That's your logic not Rockin' Rod's.

They were also influenced by Buddy Holly.If he stated he was influenced by his grandad would that mean by "your logic" The Beatles were influenced by Buddy Hollys grandad!!!

DOG DIRT!!!

RJFait said:

Absolutey. Everybody said they were influenced by The Beatles (they were completey inundated with them, how could they not be). They all (including The Beatles) said Elvis influenced them. Elvis claimed gospel as his biggest influence. So by Rockin' Rod's logic, garage and/or psych music never could have happened without... gospel? (bullshit sneeze) There were enough influences bouncing all around that by removing any one of them, (even the damned Beatles) the end product would have no discernible difference. But if you took away all the numerous influence on any one band (including the damned Beatles) that one band would be very different.

Don said:

But isn't it true that all music cross pollinates? Who are my influences? Some I can name but most I cannot.

Stealing a song or an arrangement without giving credit is one thing, but the rest of this IMO is mostly sour grapes.

Don't want to have anyone influenced by your music? Play in your room with the door shut.

-don

The Beatles were the spark that launched the golden age of garage rock like Elvis sparked the rockabilly explosion. I don't buy the money/hype argument, if they hadn't been great songwriters with an exciting new sound it wouldn't have worked.

I'm going to take exception to that one statement. Certainly Gospel did have a big impact on the development of blues, folk, soul and rock, but if Gospel never existed, if people never incorporated music into their church services and praise rituals, or if African slaves had never accepted the white man's faith, there was already enough indigenous Black music to evolve and branch into other forms. Work songs probably predate Gospel in America, and African songs and rhythms certainly do.
 
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

 ...none of those original rock and rollers would exist either if not for Gospel. 

You're basically saying that anything could have existed without something else but you're not making any of the connections.  You start with the caveman but you don't mention HOW we get to Texas psyche from there.  How can you take away Gospel (which eventually leads to blues, jazz, and soul) from what alot of Southern Americans based alot of their music on to start with?  If they only went by the church music that was brought over from Europe, psyche in Texas would sound more like Procul Harum.  You mention the backbone ("if someone wasn't beating a stick first, someone else would have done it eventually") but you don't the mention the meat that eventually surrounds it. 

Certainly, the Beatles would not exist without Elvis, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, and Little Richard.  But none of those original rock and rollers would exist either if not for Gospel.  Rock and Roll would exist if Elvis had solely based his repertoir on Dean Martin and Mario Lanza records, instead of Big Boy Crudup and Wynonie Harris, who again, wouldn't exist if Gospel didn't exist?  You call bullshit on all this but you're not backing up your own claims.

RJFait said:

Perhaps you've been misreading it all along. Your "That's your logic not Rockin' Rod's" is so incorrect. I've been saying the exact opposite the whole time and Rod admitted that he believes there would not have been Texas psych (the best kind) without gospel. I think that's nonsense. If the first person to beat out a rhythm with a stick hadn't done it, someone else would have. Period! And to say the Beatles were the first to do any genre is also nonsense. They were just one of the first to achieve commercial success at it.

Time For Tiffin said:

Don't back out on my account man.

Surely discission/debate/banter are what it's all about,ain't it?

I have read the thread,infact i was the first to reply to it.I simply don't agree with ya statements.

To know what The Beatles changed ya have to know what dross the vast majority of English kids were listenin' too before em......Cliff Richard,Billy Fury,Joe Brown and worse.

Record companies had artists not bands.EMI took a chance and it paid off.The Beatles went huge over here and the kids went bonkers.Every other company went lookin' for their own Beatles on the back of that success.Even Decca took on another guitar band after statin' "guitar bands had had their day"....The Rolling Stones.

Love em or hate em,take away The Beatles and ya take away most of the other bands from the era.

Take away The Beatles success in the US and ya take away The British Invasion that followed.

Take away The Beatles and ya take away the most excitin' time in pop when every 15 year old lad wanted to pick up a guitar and play in a band.

It would have been a very lonely path for Cliff Richard and Billy Fury to walk down from 63 to mid sixties psych (and i'm not sure they'd have made it) without The Stones,Kinks,Animals,Yardbirds etc.And they wouldn't have been anywhere if The Beatles hadn't done it first.

The Beatles changes EVERYTHING.

own Beatles

RJFait said:

Alright, I'm going to have to back out of this now because people are just saying stupid shit that absolutely no basis in reality. If you're not going to bother reading a thread, you really shouldn't comment on it.
Time For Tiffin said:

EH?

That's your logic not Rockin' Rod's.

They were also influenced by Buddy Holly.If he stated he was influenced by his grandad would that mean by "your logic" The Beatles were influenced by Buddy Hollys grandad!!!

DOG DIRT!!!

RJFait said:

Absolutey. Everybody said they were influenced by The Beatles (they were completey inundated with them, how could they not be). They all (including The Beatles) said Elvis influenced them. Elvis claimed gospel as his biggest influence. So by Rockin' Rod's logic, garage and/or psych music never could have happened without... gospel? (bullshit sneeze) There were enough influences bouncing all around that by removing any one of them, (even the damned Beatles) the end product would have no discernible difference. But if you took away all the numerous influence on any one band (including the damned Beatles) that one band would be very different.

Don said:

But isn't it true that all music cross pollinates? Who are my influences? Some I can name but most I cannot.

Stealing a song or an arrangement without giving credit is one thing, but the rest of this IMO is mostly sour grapes.

Don't want to have anyone influenced by your music? Play in your room with the door shut.

-don

"They were just ONE of the first to achieve commercial success at it"

Wow!!!.......who were the others?

As i said ya have to know what the vast majority of kids were listenin' to over here pre Beatles.
 
RJFait said:

Perhaps you've been misreading it all along. Your "That's your logic not Rockin' Rod's" is so incorrect. I've been saying the exact opposite the whole time and Rod admitted that he believes there would not have been Texas psych (the best kind) without gospel. I think that's nonsense. If the first person to beat out a rhythm with a stick hadn't done it, someone else would have. Period! And to say the Beatles were the first to do any genre is also nonsense. They were just one of the first to achieve commercial success at it.

Time For Tiffin said:

Don't back out on my account man.

Surely discission/debate/banter are what it's all about,ain't it?

I have read the thread,infact i was the first to reply to it.I simply don't agree with ya statements.

To know what The Beatles changed ya have to know what dross the vast majority of English kids were listenin' too before em......Cliff Richard,Billy Fury,Joe Brown and worse.

Record companies had artists not bands.EMI took a chance and it paid off.The Beatles went huge over here and the kids went bonkers.Every other company went lookin' for their own Beatles on the back of that success.Even Decca took on another guitar band after statin' "guitar bands had had their day"....The Rolling Stones.

Love em or hate em,take away The Beatles and ya take away most of the other bands from the era.

Take away The Beatles success in the US and ya take away The British Invasion that followed.

Take away The Beatles and ya take away the most excitin' time in pop when every 15 year old lad wanted to pick up a guitar and play in a band.

It would have been a very lonely path for Cliff Richard and Billy Fury to walk down from 63 to mid sixties psych (and i'm not sure they'd have made it) without The Stones,Kinks,Animals,Yardbirds etc.And they wouldn't have been anywhere if The Beatles hadn't done it first.

The Beatles changes EVERYTHING.

own Beatles

RJFait said:

Alright, I'm going to have to back out of this now because people are just saying stupid shit that absolutely no basis in reality. If you're not going to bother reading a thread, you really shouldn't comment on it.
Time For Tiffin said:

EH?

That's your logic not Rockin' Rod's.

They were also influenced by Buddy Holly.If he stated he was influenced by his grandad would that mean by "your logic" The Beatles were influenced by Buddy Hollys grandad!!!

DOG DIRT!!!

RJFait said:

Absolutey. Everybody said they were influenced by The Beatles (they were completey inundated with them, how could they not be). They all (including The Beatles) said Elvis influenced them. Elvis claimed gospel as his biggest influence. So by Rockin' Rod's logic, garage and/or psych music never could have happened without... gospel? (bullshit sneeze) There were enough influences bouncing all around that by removing any one of them, (even the damned Beatles) the end product would have no discernible difference. But if you took away all the numerous influence on any one band (including the damned Beatles) that one band would be very different.

Don said:

But isn't it true that all music cross pollinates? Who are my influences? Some I can name but most I cannot.

Stealing a song or an arrangement without giving credit is one thing, but the rest of this IMO is mostly sour grapes.

Don't want to have anyone influenced by your music? Play in your room with the door shut.

-don

Perhaps you've been misreading it all along. Your "That's your logic not Rockin' Rod's" is so incorrect. I've been saying the exact opposite the whole time and Rod admitted that he believes there would not have been Texas psych (the best kind) without gospel. I think that's nonsense. If the first person to beat out a rhythm with a stick hadn't done it, someone else would have. Period! And to say the Beatles were the first to do any genre is also nonsense. They were just one of the first to achieve commercial success at it.

Time For Tiffin said:

Don't back out on my account man.

Surely discission/debate/banter are what it's all about,ain't it?

I have read the thread,infact i was the first to reply to it.I simply don't agree with ya statements.

To know what The Beatles changed ya have to know what dross the vast majority of English kids were listenin' too before em......Cliff Richard,Billy Fury,Joe Brown and worse.

Record companies had artists not bands.EMI took a chance and it paid off.The Beatles went huge over here and the kids went bonkers.Every other company went lookin' for their own Beatles on the back of that success.Even Decca took on another guitar band after statin' "guitar bands had had their day"....The Rolling Stones.

Love em or hate em,take away The Beatles and ya take away most of the other bands from the era.

Take away The Beatles success in the US and ya take away The British Invasion that followed.

Take away The Beatles and ya take away the most excitin' time in pop when every 15 year old lad wanted to pick up a guitar and play in a band.

It would have been a very lonely path for Cliff Richard and Billy Fury to walk down from 63 to mid sixties psych (and i'm not sure they'd have made it) without The Stones,Kinks,Animals,Yardbirds etc.And they wouldn't have been anywhere if The Beatles hadn't done it first.

The Beatles changes EVERYTHING.

own Beatles

RJFait said:

Alright, I'm going to have to back out of this now because people are just saying stupid shit that absolutely no basis in reality. If you're not going to bother reading a thread, you really shouldn't comment on it.
Time For Tiffin said:

EH?

That's your logic not Rockin' Rod's.

They were also influenced by Buddy Holly.If he stated he was influenced by his grandad would that mean by "your logic" The Beatles were influenced by Buddy Hollys grandad!!!

DOG DIRT!!!

RJFait said:

Absolutey. Everybody said they were influenced by The Beatles (they were completey inundated with them, how could they not be). They all (including The Beatles) said Elvis influenced them. Elvis claimed gospel as his biggest influence. So by Rockin' Rod's logic, garage and/or psych music never could have happened without... gospel? (bullshit sneeze) There were enough influences bouncing all around that by removing any one of them, (even the damned Beatles) the end product would have no discernible difference. But if you took away all the numerous influence on any one band (including the damned Beatles) that one band would be very different.

Don said:

But isn't it true that all music cross pollinates? Who are my influences? Some I can name but most I cannot.

Stealing a song or an arrangement without giving credit is one thing, but the rest of this IMO is mostly sour grapes.

Don't want to have anyone influenced by your music? Play in your room with the door shut.

-don

Don't back out on my account man.

Surely discission/debate/banter are what it's all about,ain't it?

I have read the thread,infact i was the first to reply to it.I simply don't agree with ya statements.

To know what The Beatles changed ya have to know what dross the vast majority of English kids were listenin' too before em......Cliff Richard,Billy Fury,Joe Brown and worse.

Record companies had artists not bands.EMI took a chance and it paid off.The Beatles went huge over here and the kids went bonkers.Every other company went lookin' for their own Beatles on the back of that success.Even Decca took on another guitar band after statin' "guitar bands had had their day"....The Rolling Stones.

Love em or hate em,take away The Beatles and ya take away most of the other bands from the era.

Take away The Beatles success in the US and ya take away The British Invasion that followed.

Take away The Beatles and ya take away the most excitin' time in pop when every 15 year old lad wanted to pick up a guitar and play in a band.

It would have been a very lonely path for Cliff Richard and Billy Fury to walk down from 63 to mid sixties psych (and i'm not sure they'd have made it) without The Stones,Kinks,Animals,Yardbirds etc.And they wouldn't have been anywhere if The Beatles hadn't done it first.

The Beatles changes EVERYTHING.

own Beatles

RJFait said:

Alright, I'm going to have to back out of this now because people are just saying stupid shit that absolutely no basis in reality. If you're not going to bother reading a thread, you really shouldn't comment on it.
Time For Tiffin said:

EH?

That's your logic not Rockin' Rod's.

They were also influenced by Buddy Holly.If he stated he was influenced by his grandad would that mean by "your logic" The Beatles were influenced by Buddy Hollys grandad!!!

DOG DIRT!!!

RJFait said:

Absolutey. Everybody said they were influenced by The Beatles (they were completey inundated with them, how could they not be). They all (including The Beatles) said Elvis influenced them. Elvis claimed gospel as his biggest influence. So by Rockin' Rod's logic, garage and/or psych music never could have happened without... gospel? (bullshit sneeze) There were enough influences bouncing all around that by removing any one of them, (even the damned Beatles) the end product would have no discernible difference. But if you took away all the numerous influence on any one band (including the damned Beatles) that one band would be very different.

Don said:

But isn't it true that all music cross pollinates? Who are my influences? Some I can name but most I cannot.

Stealing a song or an arrangement without giving credit is one thing, but the rest of this IMO is mostly sour grapes.

Don't want to have anyone influenced by your music? Play in your room with the door shut.

-don

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

Lou Reed as Auden in Get Crazy

Faithful Todd Rudgren

 I have'nt been happy with a lot of 'em , but , that's just me. I DON'T recommend "Sonic Cathedral" , Roky fans.  I liked about 5 songs on "Where The Pyramid Meets The Eye". The fact that ZZ TOP did the best cut (OK , it's fact to me, but , a lot of people have agreed .)speaks volumes , tho' , of  course ,they cut their teeth on The Elevators when they played in The Moving Sidewalks and American Blues.... I thought KISS did the best track on "We're a Happy Family" , and I have'nt liked them since Carter was President.

The Sam The Sham comp on Norton is very good . Lotta variety , little , if any , filler and a Drew Friedman cover !

"Groin Thunder" is pretty good. I would have replaced the Dwarves' "Strange Movies" with T.Tex Edwards and Lithium Xmas' version , which came out at the same time.

The Waste Kings' "Feels Like a Woman" would have been an asset , too.

 I thought Gary Glitter doing "The Raver" would've been choice. It's practically the blueprint for the "Glitter " sound.  We've already talked about all that other stuff regarding him.

The now - rare Blue Cheer Tribute CD is also very good , Stoner bands that don't suck and Psych bands that seldom noodle cover songs from pretty much every facet of Dickie and The Cheer's career , and do some really interesting things , for the most part.

I'm In Love With That Song - Replacements tribute by Australian bands

We'll Inherit the Earth: Tribute to Replacements

We're a Happy Family: A Tribute to Ramones

Trash Is Neat: Cramps Tribute (2-CDs and downloadable!) 

one of my faves... the styles vary enough to keep it interesting.

Hard To Beat - Twenty-One Stooges killers

It's a great tribute album of the Stooges by Aussie bands!

Here Ain’t the Sonics The Sonics

Groin Thunder The Troggs

The Both albums are great!

Not The Singer But The Songs : An Alex Chilton Tribute

I think it's not perfect, but it includes some great covers!

Song Ramones The Same

It's not a great tribute album, I think, but it includes an amazing cover of "Mental Hell" by Sator!

I was just listening to a great Ramones tribute album done by a bunch of Japanese punk & garage groups called "Do You Remember Rock'n'Roll High School? Adios Joey Ramone" and I started thinking about other great tribute comps like that... A couple other favorites of mine include "Eternally Ours - 24 Bands Play the Saints" and "Attack From the Planet of the Devil Dogs" (a Devil Dogs tribute, natch). An older one that I sort of forgot about but is also pretty cool, obviously, is the Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs tribute called "Turban Renewal" on Norton and "Not So Pretty" (a tribute to the Pretty Things).

What are some other good ones?

Hey Winston you should also check out Softube's spring reverb,  i think they do a pretty great sounding plug in and I use it most of the time.

Hi Winston,

sorry for the delay, family stuff as well! Can't quite remember which link, I have a Mac so it might be different one anyway. As for the band, we don't gig often, a few times a year, and tend to make it weekend away gigs, which are more enjoyable. Playing Liverpool soon at the Go Go cage, which is normally a great gig. Sounds a nice combination the jag and reverb tank, not sure I could sneak that past the missus! bye for now Pete

 What's funny , tho' I'm centuries past caring about Madness , I read that they DID have a following among members The National Front , not at their own solicitation , of course.

Reportedly , they took an apolitical stance regarding their prescence at gigs. I'm sure they were pressured to say or do something ,as Rock Against Racism was in full gear. They were in a unique , somewhat unlikeable , position , being the only Two - Tone band with no Black members. That was frowned upon , somewhat. But , "The Naziest sound around !" , that's very funny !

WELL , WE SURVIVED IT .Though , I really only went to see Roky , who did a tremendous set , and The Mentally  Ill , last Thursday , well , the mix was terrible , yes , these things matter , even in "Punk Rock". They sounded fantastic a few months back at the Ultra Lounge.

I'd say it was a success , all around , tho'.

Download or stream the entire May 18 show right here.

Uptight, Tonight – Flash & the Memphis Casuals
Uptight, Good Man – Laura Lee
Kind of Uptight – Gentleman Jesse
Uptight – Tyler Keith & the Preacher’s Kids

Pop-Eye-Stroll – The Mar-Keys
Let’s Dance – The Excels
Drowning in Whiskey – The Leg Hounds
Stop – The Booby Traps
Take it Off – The Genteels
Wowsville, Pt. 1 – Big Bob Taylor

Girl With the Exploding Dress – The Electric Mess
Shame on You – The Smoggers
It’s Better Girl – The Phantom Keys
All Night Long – The Frowning Clouds
Shoes – Troll Controll

Cool Breeze – Bloodshot Bill
My Uncle Used to Love Me But She Died – Uncle Butcher
Love is My Business - Tav Falco & The Unapproachable Panther Burns
Fire Engine – Thee Dirtybeats

Local Lunchbox
Haunted Blues – Midwest Beat
Guitarantula – The Exotics
White Cap Sunrise – The Revomatics
Turkatron – The Hussy

Chicken Voodoo Blues – The Creeping Ivies
Bad She Gone Voodoo – Chief Fuzzer
I Wanna Kill Your Man – Harmonica Lewinski
Consumption Cowboy – La Bastard

Until You’re Dead – Outer Minds
Barbacoa – Guantanamo Baywatch
Paradise Heights – Natural Child
Straight Into The Sun – El Pathos

It’s Gonna Be Allright – Mary’s Kids
Start Listening – The Meltdowns
Tie Me Up – Spanking Charlene

Horse-Driven Ambulance – Million Sellers
Grow Your Own – Red Jacket Mine
Man of the World – Alejandro Escovedo
Pins & Needles – Trapper Schoepp & the Shades
San Francisco Girls – Roy Loney & the Phantom Movers

Sooner or Later – Hot Knives
One More Time – The Missing Links
Sunflower – Paul Messis & Jessica Winter
I’ll Go Too – The Chefs

Sarah’s Not Falling in Love – The Plunderers
If Your Baby Was My Boss – The Boss Mustangs
Broken Rule – Thee Exciters
You Said – The Jackets

Crying All By Myself – Wendy Rene
Got Nobody to Love – Terry Timmons
You Told a Lie – Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Magic City Stomp – Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires
Leavin’ This Town – Crankshaft & the Gear Grinders

In Vancouver we have plenty o' fuzz kicking out the jams, splintered among the various cliques that we're so famous for:

The Fiends: carrying on with a female vocalist

Vicious Cycles: motorcycles n hot rods

Los Furios: arguably the best ska band in the PNW

Dead Ghosts: doing the current trend of reverb-drenched, washed-out indecipherable noise

East Van Playboys: play the classics

The Living Deadbeats: doing our own thang

D.B. Buxton: channeling Roky and JB together in a parallel universe

The Tranzmitors: powerpoppin' like it's 1979

The Hathaways

... and a few more that I can't think of right now.

Playlist 05/19/12

Sham 69 Family Life
The Vibrators Dragnet
Generation X Night of the Cadillacs
Wire Two People In A Room
Joey Ramone What Did I Do To Deserve You?
99ers Practical Girl
Suzy Chunk Tripwire
Baby Woodrose Down to the Bottom
Mudhoney Running Loaded
Weirdos Life of Crime
Channel 3 I'll Take My Chances
Angry Samoans Time Will Come Today
Reason to Believe Fr I Fl
Caroline and the Treats Tonight
Hafensabine Do the Karl Heinz
Kickstart Harmonica
The Nomads Miles Away
Pins of Light Losing Sleep
Sonic Avenues Givin' Up On You
Cheap Time Another Time
Mind Spiders On The Radio
Wild Evel and the Trashbones Why Can't We Be Like
Angry Dead Pirates I Don't Mind
The Nevermores Lilly's 11th
Foreign Characters There They Go
Mark Lanegan Band Quiver Syndrome
The Movements Deserted Town
Bloody Hollies Good Night Sleep Tight

Its been a long time since I had to deal with these slugs, but if anything it seems that over time they have simply refined their dastardly game.

Con artists always work by reading the weaknesses of their intended target.  A rich widow yearning for love has nothing on a bunch of young and inexperienced musicians yearning for an audience -- and their big break for the 'big time.' 

None of this is new. The hard thing is avoiding becoming cynical. There are good guys out there. Just keep your eyes and ears open and always remember to say your prayers at night. :)

-don

Talent agent sounds like an oxymoron to me.....only agents i dig are the secret variety...ie Maxwell Smart and Agent 86.

But seriously, Kopper hit the nail on the head.