Sunday, April 30. 2006
Alice Cooper told me to start this webzine, telepathically. Some in the reptile industry, however, feel I need to adjust the reception on my aluminum foil hat.
Mention the name Alice Cooper to most people and they will tell you he was the world's first "shock" rocker, best known for a song hated by generations of teachers and parents everywhere, the infamous "School's Out," or for his extremely timely and incredibly vacant opus of wasted youth, "Eighteen," or for the infamous myth that he bit the head off a live chicken onstage in 1968. Ask somebody who owns a snake and they will probably tell you somewhere deep in their subconscious, Alice Cooper taught them that rock & roll & snakes were cool.
I know for me this imprint happened in Indianapolis in 1973 when I was 10 and saw a news story on TV about Alice. Politicians were trying to ban him from appearing because of stage antics where he appeared to behead himself with a guillotine. I remember watching the coverage of him onstage and he had this monster boa constrictor. To a ten year old the snake seemed huge. And Alice really seemed to piss the adults off.
I got three things out of this when I was 10: Rock 'n' roll was cool, Alice Cooper was really cool, and I wanted to own a really big snake. It was probably a good thing my mom turned off the TV just as Alice was sticking his head on the chopping block or lord knows what else I'd have gotten out of it or how I'd have turned out. No matter, what I did take away has kept me in fairly good stead so far.
Many, many songs, albums, tours, and years later, Alice Cooper is still the purveyor of cool to me, and he still takes snakes on tour with him. Last year he had one of Amazon Reptile Center's pythons on the road with him. His next tour starts in June and I'll be curious to see if the snakes go with him again. I don't think it swings through Austin, but if he makes it to Texas somewhere I'll try to catch up and give him a kingsnake.com T-shirt. ;)
Since then, many popular music stars have used snakes in their act or promotions, including Britney Spears and LaToya Jackson, or kept them in their personal lives, including Kerry King from Slayer. But certainly no other musician of record has influenced so many people to turn up the music, put on a black t-shirt and leather jacket, and take up the snakes like Alice.
Rock and roll has long been influenced by reptiles, whether it's the 1001 covers of the old blues standard "Crawling Kingsnake," a personal favorite, or Jim Morrison, the infamous "Lizard King," encouraging all to "Ride the snaaaaakkke." While most rock and roll has introduced reptiles subtly through lyrics, Alice's use of large constrictors onstage was essentially a cathartic progression that has resulted in a huge subculture of black-wearing, goth-influenced reptile owners wholisten to music with an alternative edge or message.
This webzine is basically for all the fans of rock & roll & reptiles. Thanks, Alice, for telling me to start it - whether you actually did or not.
Saturday, April 29. 2006
We can't promise you backstage passes, limousines, or groupies, in fact, we can't even pay you, but we can guarantee two things - someone will read what you've written, and someone will disagree with what you've written.
We are looking for a few good writers who want to blog about the alternative and indie music scenes from a variety of locations, perspectives, and genres. Applicants must enjoy music (of course) and be able to write good well.
If you're interested in blogging here, drop us a note and let us know where you're located, what kind of music you like, and what your background with music and writing is. Like we said, this is not a paying gig, you have to do it for the power and prestige alone.
Thursday, April 27. 2006
I believed Apple when they told me I have to take all my music with me everywhere I go, and thus have taken on a Herculean task: Putting all my CDs on my iPod. Daunting though this may seem, it does have its payoffs, one of which is now and then hearing music as if for the first time. And that happened to me last night when I decided it was time to load up all my Velvet Underground.
I originally discovered the Velvet Underground around 27 years ago, listening to a bootleg of Patti Smith singing "White Light, White Heat" live. My friend said, oh, that's a Velvet Underground song, and I said, the who? So she played the original of "White Light/White Heat," and I just lay on the floor and thought: This is unbelievable. Who knew? And then she played "Pale Blue Eyes" and I was lost, lost, lost.
The Velvet Underground got their start as proteges of Andy Warhol, who designed the cover of their first album, 1967's The Velvet Underground and Nico. The lineup was Lou Reed on vocals, guitar and songwriting duties, John Cale on crazy electric viola, Sterling Morrison on guitar, Maureen Tucker on drums (girl drummer in 1965, how cool is THAT?), and for their first album only, Nico singing on three tracks ("Femme Fatale," "All Tomorrow's Parties," "I'll Be Your Mirror") of the cool dark pop Reed was writing then - if you can write pop songs about heroin and sadomasochism, which he could. And did.
Nico didn't stay with the band, Warhol lost interest, and in 1968, with Reed handling all the vocals, they released their second album, White Light/White Heat. And this time, they unleashed something primal and hard and cacaphonuous, that got rough in a way that still sounds modern today, unlike the music of many of their contemporaries who were, at the time, better known. They used feedback and distorted sound, and "Sister Ray" clocked in at SEVENTEEN AND A HALF MINUTES LONG - not even the most Ecstasy-drenched, mindnumbing electrotrancedance song gets away with that. This stuff was just weird and out of step with the 60s and anything remotely acceptable or marketable back then; this is the song that gave birth to punk rock.
Cale left after a huge feud with Reed, and was replaced by Doug Yule. The group released their third album, The Velvet Underground, in 1969. This one was more muted and less "anti-beauty," with a couple of standout rock tracks and a handful of chiming pop songs ... "Pale Blue Eyes," "Candy Says," and "Jesus," three of the best songs Lou Reed ever wrote. And of course, "Sweet Jane," possibly one of the most covered songs ever.
It made me absolutely crazy to see Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" listed on a "One Hit Wonders" playlist on iTunes, although I suppose the real problem is that "hits" are a piss-poor way to define the impact of a musician or a group on the music world. Reed and the Velvet Underground could have never had a "hit," and they'd still be more important than groups that churned out top forty hit after hit during the 60s. They influenced Patti Smith, Brian Eno, David Bowie, and so many others it would be impossible to list them. (Eno is supposed to have said that almost no one bought their first album, but everyone who did went out and started a band.)
If you have never heard them, and you're a fan of punk, post-punk, indie, lo-fi, or any other possible genre or hyphenation of alternative music, go find their stuff and listen to it. Then see if you can believe this music is forty years old. I was in kindergarten when it came out. You might not have even been born. Then tell iTunes to choke on their "One Hit Wonders."
Wednesday, April 26. 2006
When I quit clubbing in my late 20s, I started snake hunting. Let me tell you that the one thing that kept me from driving off of numerous cliffs in the middle of the night in Davis County was loud screaming rock and roll. Joe Forks always used to say that the reason I rarely saw graybands was that the bass was shaking my eyeballs too much. Snake hunting and music go well together, the music often acting as a soundtrack or mood enhancer to what was usually a long monotonous drive.
I remember driving east on 90 between Sanderson and Langtry listening to the Doors' "Riders on the Storm" as I dashed from rain shower to rain shower, parking at 5:30am overlooking Lake Amistad watching a lightning storm over Mexico, the sun dawning to the east and "Dark Side of the Moon" providing an aural backdrop, or dodging 18 wheelers and weekend boaters zipping down 277 on a hot friday night with some Soundgarden to help keep the pace.
Music and snake hunting are a natural.
Monday, April 24. 2006
Via Dave at Line Out, a 2003 gem from the Onion (need I say more?):
(M)y mind has features your iPod will never have. Does your iPod have real-time remixing? No?! Well, if I don't like the original lyrics to Kansas' "Carry On Wayward Son"—zip, zip, zing—my mind can change them! Adding a cool bass line or a rocking keyboard flourish to any piece of music? No problem! Adding images of myself performing on stage with the band? Done!
Saturday, April 8. 2006
I recently rediscovered my love of music. It wasn't a new band or a concert that did it, though; it was our new radio. A year ago hubby and I made the switch to Sirius Satellite radio. I used to think it was a joke to pay to listen to music. So what if there are no commercials? Well, you know, commercials must make the difference.
Now, I have heard Motley Crue on the radio, but I have never ever heard C4, Deicide or Cannibal Corpse on the radio. Nothing wakes you up on a long drive home like "Hammer Smashed Face," let me tell ya. And I can honestly say I am really looking forward to Buckcherry's new release - and I can promise you won't hear many of their songs on terrestrial radio.
If you have a deep seated love of music no matter what style, I would seriously suggest satellite. Yeah it costs. Yeah you have to pay 12-15 bucks a month, but honestly, when you can choose from a selection like these companies are offering, I would never turn back. At this point I would rather sit in silence than be with out my new lover, My Sirius. Between the music and My Bubba the Love Sponge I am never alone.
Sirius
http://www.sirius.com/
XM
http://www.xmradio.com/
Wednesday, April 5. 2006
I liked the Smiths as much as anyone, in fact, I liked them to the point that I saw them 20 times in six different countries. I loved them, OK?
But that was a long, long time ago baby, and they ain't comin' back. Plus, you know, I grew up and everything. You can only be Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now for so long.
So I just don't get why people were so frigging disappointed when Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr released his snakily-named solo album Boomslang a few years ago. It's not like he hasn't done anything and everything since the Smiths broke up, from playing with the Pretenders and Bryan Ferry to the Pet Shop Boys (what that chiming guitar did to "Birthday Boy" could make a stone weep).
I also don't get the criticism of his voice. Does someone, somewhere, think MORRISSEY has a great voice? PSB's Neil Tennant? The The's Matt Johnson? Distinctive voices, yes, but great? Not so much. Marr's voice is fine, neither great nor bad, and fits the music well. Do we need more, when he plays guitar like that?
Boomslang came out to great expectations and decidedly mixed reviews. Rolling Stone hated it, Guitar Player loved it. And I'm damn glad I heard it before I read the forty-plus reviews on Amazon, because I probably would never have bought it if I'd read them first, and that would have been a shame. Because I really don't care if I'm in the minority, I think Boomslang is terrific. And I think the reason the legions of Smiths fans didn't like it is because it's a straight-up progressive rock album and it doesn't carry even the tiniest little tinge of angst or agony.
If you like your guitars to thrash and scream, you won't like Johnny Marr's guitar playing. It's subtle, layered, textured, and yes, can definitely be poppy. It's also technically astonishing, and a lot of musicians think so, too, given that he's played with the Pretenders, the Talking Heads, the Pet Shop Boys, The The, Kirsty MacColl, Bryan Ferry, Billy Bragg, Beck, and his group with Joy Division/New Order's Bernard Sumner, Electronic.
Electronic has produced some very good albums, but they're definitely not for your average rock fan .... which I suppose is fairly obvious from the name of the band. If you are allergic to dance/electronica but want to check them out, start with Twisted Tenderness, their third album, as Marr's guitar comes to the forefront (and it was criticized by many New Order fans as being "too rock").
But Boomslang isn't going to send rock fans into shock. There are no synthesizers, and Marr is backed by Zak Starkey (the most recent drummer to put his butt in Keith Moon's seat behind the Who, as well as current drummer for Oasis, which I try not to hold against him since he's a much better drummer than his father, Ringo Starr) on drums and Kula Shaker's Alonza Bevan on bass.
I'm not trying to mislead you; this is not a rock classic, and you won't die if you never hear it. His lyrics are kind of bland, and his voice is average at best.
But oh, that guitar.
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