Hall of Blame

Time to shut the R 'n' R Hall of Lame? So says the LA Times.

I'd rather see Rolling Stone publisher Jan Wenner shut down if the insider's claim is true that the publisher of that heap of fashion-obsessed tripe has the sort of influence on the voting process that extended to Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five getting the nod over the admittedly harmless Dave Clark Five.

Yeah, shut the fucker. I'm not planning on going there soon.

Pretty good summation, I'd say

Former Sounds writer and NY Dolls biographer Kris Needs on "The Stooges" LP.

Pixies for nixies

Nirvana were the global break-out act of the early '90s but The Pixies (frontman Frank Black pictured) were the soundtrack of any inner-city or suburban hipster party in the closely-preceeding late '80s. Certainly that was the case in Sydney.

Personally, I wasn't fussed about or fascinated with them, either way. I owned "Dolittle", which was flogged to death on the (then listenable) 2JJJ, the youth-orientated Aussie broadcaster whose reach hadn't yet extended nationally and thus wasn't as homogenised as it is today. The Pixies were an OK listen, mainly because their guitars bristled. They were way preferable to A Flock Of Sausages, Pseudo (as in "Fraud") Echo and all those crappy Euro-synth bands, but I had my head in another musical space.

The point is that the reformed Pixies have a world tour happening, as well as a nearly sold-out run through Australia, and that'll take all those once-upon-a-time hispter kids back to their yewf and have everyone asking whether they really had a haircut like that back in the '80s. You'll also get to download each gig, or walk away from a show with a copy on a USB stick.

More immediately, there's a free download of a Paris concert here and everyone likes shit that is free, don't they? Tell me if it's any good.

The Mummies seek mummification after Japanese sojourn

Garage garbage gods The Mummies played a one-off show in Japan recently. Expat American and champion of US West Coast-via-Michigan band The Dogs and American expat, Detroit Jack, explains their plans which include going to Cairo to buy coffins here.

Ironic or what?

This is great. Brittany Spears is slammed by the Australian media for lip-synching on her Oz tour (tickets for which are as pricey as $1500) - and she replies through a mouthpiece. Have a giggle here.

Stooges Go Nuts in Brazil

Here's the set list for the return of the Raw Power Stooges at the Terra Festival in Brazil:

Raw Power
Kill City
Search & Destroy
Gimme Danger
Loose
Fun House
Skull Ring
Johanna
I Got A Right
I Wanna Be Your Dog
Five Foot One
The Passenger
Death Trip
Lust For Life

James Williamson was, of course, back on guitar and Steve Mackay remains in the line-up. From the lo-fi bit I'm hearing, "The Passenger" was a sax-enhanced re-working.

Thanks to Cathy Benson-Burke, first with the news, as usual.

STOP PRESS: Here's some YouTube taken from the broadcast. Sounds great and I can't wait to watch the whole thing but a second guitar would make James' job a lot easier:

Rock and Roll's Turin Shroud

You know what it is and who originally wore it. Long John Gone owns it these days. Read all about it here.

The "Raw Power" Stooges are about to play a festival in Brazil as i type. More on that event as news comes to hand.

I-94 Bar Top Tens

It's that time of the year again. The Top Tens are starting to roll in. Klondike Masuak is first cab off the rank here.

The War Against The Jive

Props to Peter Ross.

Killer Kane doesn't write a thriller

I've been hanging off grabbing Arthur Kane's posthumously-published autobiography. Maybe this confirms I was right not to take the plunge. Musicians often make lousy writers (Nick Cave - are you there?) and I'm not sure there was time to get a ghost writer ion board, given that Killer passed away weeks after there-born Dolls became a big deal.

That's the way the cookie doesn't crumble

Ex-D.O.A. drummer Chuck Biscuits is alive and his mates are angry. Read the comments here. You never heard friends of Paul complain about this, back in the pre-Internet days. Here's a sample quote form the drama:

“The only reason I put any stock in the Internet rumours was because [James Greene, Jr.] used Chucks wife’s name [in private e-mails],” Bob wrote after his visit to Chuck’s house. “Otherwise, I would have filed it under the African ruler looking for money to enlarge his penis file. I am really curious as to who’s been sending [him] this info.”

It's all too Spinal Tap for me.

Another groupie book

An ex-employee/groupie spills the beans on the Beatles and says they used to take drugs. Wow, there's some news. Does the book come in mono and stereo versions?