Meet The New Boss

Yay!!!!, we survived the Repugnikkkans "regime change" attempt. Thank (insert imaginary deity of yer choice).

But the boss I'm talking about is The Velvet Underground. Been listening to a few "tribute comps":




Unpiecing The Jigsaw: featuring Buffalo Tom, The Wedding Present, James and this Echo & The Bunnyman riff on Foggy Notion:



 and

American Velvet: featuring Frank Black, Mitch Easter, Frank Agnew and this Jonathan Richman epic:




Sing along with Jonathan..........

Jonathan Richman - Velvet Underground
They were wild like the USA
A mystery band in a New York way
Rock and roll, but not like the rest
And to me, America at it's best
How in the world were they making that sound?
Velvet Underground.

A spooky tone on a Fender bass
Played less notes and left more space
Stayed kind of still, looked kinda shy
Kinda far away, kinda dignified.
How in the world were they making that sound?
Velvet Underground.

Now you can look at that band and wonder where
All that sound was coming from
With just 4 people there.

Twangy sounds of the cheapest types,
Sounds as stark as black and white stripes,
Bold and brash, sharp and rude,
Like the heats turned off
And you're low on food.
How in the world were they making that sound?
Velvet Underground.
Like this...

Wild wild parties when they start to unwind
A close encounter of the thirdest kind
On the bandstand playing, everybody's saying
How in the world were they making that sound?
Velvet Underground.

Well you could look at that band
And at first sight
Say that certain rules about modern music
Wouldn't apply tonight.

Twangy sounds of the cheapest kind,
Like "Guitar sale $29.99,"
Bold and brash, stark and still,
Like the heats turned off
And you can't pay the bill.
How in the world were they making that sound?
Velvet Underground.

Both guitars got the fuzz tone on
The drummer's standing upright pounding along
A howl, a tone, a feedback whine
Biker boys meet the college kind
How in the world were they making that sound?
Velvet Underground.

Wild wild parties when they start to unwind
A close encounter of the thirdest kind
On the bandstand grooving, everybody moving
How in the world are they making that sound?
Velvet Underground

How Many Local Dollars For A Local Anesthetic?

“Every man has inside himself a parasitic being who is acting not at all to his advantage.”
-- William S. Burroughs --

Bookage:
William S. Burroughs - Naked Lunch - The Restored Text

Toonage:
Johnny Cash - Cocaine Blues (Live at Folson Prison)
The Clash - Safe European Home (Live London Music Machine 1978)
Velvet Underground - Heroin (Demo)
Flamin' Groovies - Slow Death - (Rehearsal San Francisco 1971)
Nirvana - I Hate Myself And Want To Die



----------------
Now playing: Grateful Dead - Death Don't Have No Mercy
via FoxyTunes

The Heroin Diaries

“I had not taken a bath in a year nor changed my clothes or removed them except to stick a needle every hour in the fibrous grey

wooden flesh of heroin addiction. . .

I did absolutely nothing.”

...William Burroughs

The book du jour at the residence is Nikki Sixx's "The Heroin Diaries". First off, I never liked Motley Crue very much. As a punk, I hated hair metal. And while I was always in favor of sex, drugs and rock n roll, I absolutely despised the attempt at "singing" that Vince Neil screeched. The Crue had some righteous riffs, but why would you have a giant pussy like Vince Neil lead your band? According to The Heroin Diaries (and Tommy Lee's book as well), the rest of the band thought he was an asshole as well. Plus, Vince Neil murdered Hanoi Rocks drummer Razzle and paralyzed another person in a 1984 car crash.

However, Nikki Sixx seems to have been a guy I coulda gotten along with. Well, aside from the Heroin of course. He professes to have been influenced by all the "right" bands... Iggy, Sex Pistols, Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, etc.

It's nicely packaged, with Ralph Steadman style nightmarish art on virtually every page (lots of black and red)

The book itself reproduces his diaries from 1986 through 1988, at the height of The Crue's stardom and the depth's of Sixx's addiction. According to the book, he grew up pretty much unloved and abandoned. He's not exactly blaming his addictions on his childhood, but it certainly seems to be a factor. But Sixx takes all the credit for becoming a junkie and does not blame it on the r n r lifestyle. Escapades with former Prince anti-ingenue Vanity and various seedy denizens of the L.A. rock underground provide lotsa laughs (not!) and it's a miracle that Sixx was capable of keeping a diary, much less playing bass and writing the material for the band.

A cautionary tale to be sure and one that I would recommend to any teenagers. Hey kids, hard drugs are bad, mmmkay? There is absolutely no glamour or bragging in the book. It's simply a harrowing and sad tale of a guy who had it all, and almost blew it all.

Toonage:
Replacements - Hold My Life (live 7-27-87 NYC)
Velvet Underground - Heroin (demo)
Neil Young - The Needle And The Damage Done (live London 2-27-71)
Rancid - Junkie Man
Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - Too Much Junkie Business (live)
Keith Richards - Before They Make Me Run (live 1993)
Rolling Stones - Sister Morphine (1969 outtake)