Wow, you guys have pretty much equipment, I feel a little inadequate, but still:

Guitars:

- An old black Fender Squier guitar (with that damn Floyd Rose Tremolo), I have no idea what guitar exactly that is

- My brand new sexy Höfner Galaxie reissue

Amps: An old Dean Markley 50 watt amp

Effects: A Behringer Blues Overdrive, the Marshall Guv'nor, the Danelectro Tuna Melt tremolo. And in my noise band I also use a Cry Baby wah wah.

Not especially garage stuff, but that's all I head or could afford to buy new...

So I posted a month or two ago about hitting the studio only to find out that many producers/engineers in my area don't get what I'm going for. If you want something done right, sometimes you just gotta do it yourself.

So, I purchase this 8 track monster, the Tascam 80-8, an analog 1/2" tape deck. The beast weighs at least as much as it's model number, maybe more. I then get a Tascam Model 5 mixer. Another monster, I now think I need a bigger house.

So, I'm looking at my setup only to realize I don't have a mixdown option. I've got a 2 track Teac mixdown deck but it's low on the IPS. So, I was wondering your opinion, if I could just run it into a digital recorder? I lack a good computer and figure that if I run stereo into a digitall recorder at a high sampling rate and bit quality that I may be on the right track. Tell me what you think...

I think you can purchase the mag in electrinic form too

Plus there's the side project 'Happening!' which appears to be an abridged bloggy version...

HAPPENING!

Does your amp have a tube power section?

If so, turn up your master volume, so you get your power section to distort just a bit. Keep your gain down, so you get a clean sound, but with some bite. Play with either the Dano, or the First Act that have single coils, and try to play with dynamics, so when you play loud your sound distorts.

I've more or less stopped buying CDs, they lost their appeal as soon as I could burn my own at home, much the same reason I never bought albums on cassettes in years gone by. Vinyl is still my format and with so many LPs coming with a download code too I won't mourn the death of the CD. Doesn't bode well for the record store though.

A nice sentiment, Jamie. I too despise MP3's for their quality and am amazed by the sheer ignorance of not only normal people but the major labels that when you buy an MP3 you buy a crap product which is worth 0 and only has a lifespan of whatever harddrive it's on and nothing further. This isn't record collecting. I have vinyl and cds and I back my digital onto I-Tunes but enjoy listening to vinyl. Vinyl has a massive collectable factor which surpasses both cds and digital downloads.

This essence of collectability will keep vinyl thriving. I wished people would wake up to the digital streams but they haven't. Until 4G is recognised under our ISP's then we too won't have the speed required for instant glich free streaming of larger video files. Or audio. There is a lot of problems with relying on the Internet for streaming. Buffering. Capacity. Throttling from your network provider. How much the artist actually receives in compensation for their product. How does the artist receive it. Yet they are using this more and more over physical audio. 

I can't wait until the day we have a set standard where products last but largely due to money and poor long term gain understanding this isn't happening. I'd like more Blu-ray as I think the codec range on those for audio is stunning. I hope bands do work with them. I can only see an increase in vinyl sales when cds are left behind. There has to be something better than cds and scratch free.

The reason why I like going to the shop and buying CDs, is its a good way to stem the flow of the infinite music available on internet blogspots that i would never have the time to download and actually listen to. When so much music becomes instantly accessable, it loses its meaning, and its no longer possible to connect with it in the same way as when you were 15 years old and could only afford a few albums a year.

I hate having thousands of songs on an ipod. You put it on random and end up flicking through to the next song after about 30 seconds, impatient for the next one to come on, till eventually you just skip each song in the hopes that the next one will be better. Then you just sit there in silence admiring how good your taste is while reading your playlist.

I cant imagine paying money for an mp3 file. I don't feel that Ive actually bought anything by doing that. I might as well go onto youtube and listen to the song on there, while watching a video of it.

This future we are in now really freaks me out. Culture used to be a shopping list that you chose to buy from. Now it means even less.

Thank you for this awesome post.

ixnayray said:

George Formby is the fucking maaaaaan...

Homer Henderson

Atom & his package

See y'all at the bell house friday night, saturday too! I'm rested and ready for some high octane rock and roll. And beer drinking in twelve hour shifts.

Yeah , it's a damn shame. I thought this could have been a launching pad for The Real Kids' return to performing...I have'nt HEARD of them playing in 8 or 10 years , does'nt mean they were'nt......Roy and Cyril were already on the bill as special guests , but therewere no details as to what or when. I saw Roy a few months ago in San Francisco , and he basically just told me that they'd be there , that's all.....I've seen them twice , another old school act that will (Unintentionally , of course) make many the younger acts very , very nervous. They will CRUSH , KILL , DESTROY ! Be a-scared. 

yeah - Real Kids are not on the bell house website nor is Mark Sultan

but Black lips have been added tonite

& the website says this

"Norton honchos Billy Miller and Miriam LInna have been performing with The A-Bones since the 80's and keeping the spirit of rock'n'roll that can be found on all Norton releases very much alive. Tonight they will be joined by Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan of the fabulous Flamin' Groovies."

Have a great time , if you go , but , check this out. I don't know if it's true or not , but , I heard The Real Kids had to cancel. That's just what I heard, check WITH nORTON'S WEBSITE , OR ASK AT THE VENUE , if you're already there.

I predict The Figures of Light are going to blow the younger bands away.

I just noticed Black Lips has been added to the line-up tonte - nice!

Reigning Sound were great at Maxwells last nite

here's some footage (lighting wasn't real good though)

http://youtu.be/OvG9r5WfLqU

http://youtu.be/xCkQhIcPxno

I've got an extra ticket for tonight, night #1 with The Phantom Surfers, 5,6,7,8's and the others... If you are a dude, i'll sell it to you. If you are a single babe who would like to get married to me here: http://www.tikiresort.com/ , you can have it for FREE if you buy me a drink.

Thanks for your recommendation on this. I've literally picked this book up twice at my Barnes & Noble here and debated on whether or not I should get it. I did read a review on it in either Shindig! or Ugly Things (can't remember), and it was mentioned that there was a large focus on Levy. The impression I got, though, was that it seemed to be more about him than Tommy James himself. Even though Levy played a huge role in James' career, what I'd like to know is do you feel like you get any insight into Tommy at all? I do like his music, especially his non-hits that oldies stations never played. (Do real oldies stations exist anymore?) I don't doubt this is a good read, but it may be one I'll be waiting to see if it hits the discount table.

Did'ja know "That's The Way It's Got To Be" was the theme song to "Frankenstein Meets The Space Monster" ?

edmur said:

The Poets were a pretty moody band from Scotland - "I Am So Blue" is pretty somber stuff, but this one, "That's The Way It's Got To Be" (1965) has a sick bass hook and some jangly guitar underneath it's fairly depressing lyric:

 

Mat , It WAS amazing.

Mat said:

Aw man, that sounds amazing!

Aw man, that sounds amazing!

About 7 or 8 years ago (Maybe less , I forget?) we had a great AM Oldies station that did'nt last a YEAR...tHEY PLAYED ONLY 50'S AND EARLY 60's songs , their cutoff point was 1964 !

They played the Rock 'n'Roll hits , but , also the Country and Pop crossover hits . Anything that was a hit , so they played a LOT of songs the other Oldies stations would'nt touch , like "I've Had It" by The Bell Notes, "Tell Him No" by Bud and Travis , I even heard Sal Mineo , who , it turned out , cut some good Pop - Rockabilly sides. On Sundays , they had a 2 hour show hosted by Jerry G. Bishop , a Cleveland and Chicago Radio legend , now based in L.A.

He was friends with Ernie Anderson (Ghoulardi) , and picked up a lot of his gimmicks when he became Chicago's great Horror Host of The 70's , Svengoolie. He opened every show with "Rumble" which was his theme song as Svengoolie.He used alot of funny sound effects (Including one of Elvis laughing.) and still hada quick with , as he did in the 60's. Like Krispy Kreme ,it was too good to last in Chicago.

  Oldies radio is terrible. Maybe it's better in some markets. I listened to it a lot in the 80's in Dallas , because I did'nt have a big budget for records at the time....But , the station , there , used to play the "Nuggets" hits - Dirty Water , Psychotic Reaction , Too Much to Dream , etc. , as well as "Call Me Lightning" and "Over Under Sideways Down", and , even ,sometimes , SEE EMILY PLAY ! They played choice 50's cuts , too...I even heard "Save It" by Mel Robbins at about 10:30 at night , once. MAYBE some early 70's stuff , too , but THAT was the cutoff point. NOW , they play 80's music , probably even early 90's music on the Oldies stations , just because it's 20 years older or more....But , you're right , younger people may learn about more cool sounds on TV. Crazy , innit. In the 80's , they were glued to MTV , which was only allowed to play anything worth a damn after 10:00 pm on Sundays.

Weird, but awesome. I still remember that I got into Jim Reeves and Buddy Holly when I was in elementary school from commercials and oldies collection paid programming - if mainstream radio stations (even the oldies stations these days) don't play that much good music anymore and kids spend more time watching TV and listening to iPods anyway, then TV, I think, is a perfectly viable way to expose the public to real rock & roll that I love and, yes, pays royalties, that's cool.

  I saw a B52's TRIBUTE band , recently. They were on a bill with my friend , Patti Elvis. I'm not a  B52's fan. Liked 'em OK in the early 80's , not enough to buy their records. But , the band was entertaining , and the faux - Wilson sisters were real stunners. I could'nt leave.

The Cynics were great , despite soundboard hassles , and a crowd of about 30. A lot of  the other old F**ks like me , who normally make it to their shows , did'nt. But , it was good to see they have some younger fans. It was free pinball night , too , Hell , yeah !

Jerry Lee is playing Dec. 3 , moved up several months....If he does an all - Country set , I'd be just as happy.

Mina said:

They still perform? 

Scott Simpson said:

Last "proper" show I attended was Paul Weller a few months ago in Hollywood. And B-52's next to a lake over the summer.

I know this is months old, but if it's any help I definitely second the Peavey amps as a great place to start.  I'm in a much lower budget range than you are but even their "transtube" amps like the studio pro and the bandit that use a tube for the preamp and a solid state post amp sound amazing and they're equipped with rather drippy actual reverb tanks that sputter out like mad when you knock the amp.  The preamp tube gives a decent amount of warm, vintage breakup and they've got a pedal loop in/out to let you play with your chain a little more if you're into that.  They're usually in the $200 range used but I got my immaculate 80 watt pro for an unbelievable thirty dollars on Craigslist!  Just make sure you're getting the late 90s models that are made in America because the current Chinese model's parts aren't as high quality.

Rockin' Rod , I know we're straying from the original point , but "Louie Louie" is hard to fuck up....When I first heard The Kingsmen's version ,in about 1980 , I knew A) It was considered one of the first "Punk" records , and B) It supposedly contained dirty words.

I LIKED it , on first listen (Albeit in a somewhat noisy bar , on the jukebox.) , but , I was'nt quite sure what the fuss was about , back then. Yes , it sounded raunchy , even for the day, and I considered the possibility of a "Fuck" or "Shit " thrown in , here or there , amidst the nearly unintelligible vocals of soon to be ex - Kingsmen Vocalist , Jack Ely. 

I only ever heard Richard Berry's version in passing , in the next 10 years , but , surprisingly , it was MOTORHEAD's version that was the first one where the lyrics , basically the same as Berry's (Though Lemmy changes the West Indian phrasing of "Me see Jamaica..." to "I see Jamaica" , but , big deal.), were perfectly clear , to me ..... Anyway , now 55 Years old , the song is like a Folk song , handed down from one Artist to another , sometimes with very interesting results....A Rock standard of the highest order , also done in a non - Rock context (The Sandpipers , anyone ?). But , it's hard for me to pin down a favorite. I love The Sonics and Swamp Rats' versions for different reasons , one being extremely grungy for it's time , the other , grungier still (And by "Grunge" , you know I don't mean the much - hyped Seattle sound of roughly '88 - '94. We used to call stuff like The Sonics and Link Wray "Grunge Rock" or "Grunge Guitar" before The Sub Pop sound was happening. I was calling my own music "Gutteral Guitar Grunge" back in '86.) , But , there are so many versions , besides the roughly half - dozen (Berry , Kingsmen , Sonics , Wailers , Raiders , and maybe , by now , The Swamp Rats , too.) that are , for obvious reasons , help up as the template.    Roy Loney said that when The Flamin' Groovies were doing "Louie" live in the late 60's , it was almost considered tasteless. Tastes change , but ,a great song is still a great song. I think I've only ever done the song once with The Shitty Beatles about 25 years ago in Dallas , and once or twice , 5  years ago in honor of the song's Fiftieth anniversary. When my friend and I saw The Wailers , they told us that there was a small affair , honoring the anniversay of the song , in Seattle , with The Wailers , Kingsmen , and an appearance by Paul Revere....But , NOT Mark Lindsay (?!!). They said it was a quickly thrown together thing , when it should have been a two day blowout. Oh , well....

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Well that's a smart and hearty answer and good reasoning behind a Swamp Rats answer than just blurting out "SWAMP RATS" with out regard to the premise(?).  I love their version of "Psycho" but "Louie Louie" kind of left me cold good as it is.

Ryan Hatt said:

I agree with the Swamp Rats voters which, yes Rod, means that technically I vote for The Sonics but let me explain why I think that's not exactly true.  Until late middle school I wasn't allowed to listen to much more than what the "oldies" stations were playing in LA, which means that the Kingsmen version was the first rendition of Louie Louie I ever heard and I always thought it was just ok.  While in college a couple of years back with (forgive me) absolutely no knowledge of The Sonics I picked up one of the Back From The Grave comps and was completely blown away by The Swamp Rats doing their Sonics cover.  We're talking constant repeat, nearly wrecking my car because I was rocking while driving sort of stuff.  I did the research and learned it was their version of The Sonics arrangement so I went to check out The Sonics and was utterly disappointed by just how toned down and "Ed Sullivan" their version felt comparatively.  Sorry.  I think The Sonics have the better arrangement, but, like some of Dylan's work, I don't think they utilized its potential.