RUHtf gem: New Bad Things - I Suck

Alright...this is a rare gem of the "wow...I never even knew that song existed but it's pretty cool" kind. New Bad Things were a Portland, Oregon band. According to their wiki they formed in order to open for Sebadoh. A Myspace Page set up to honor them could do a better job with giving background. I'll just play this cool song we used to play on The Bro Show.



Oh...this song is also my message to you, my faithful, loyal RUHtf reader for sticking with me and my minimum entries the past few weeks. More cool stuff to come... Chinese Democracy wasn't recorded in a day. :)

A Tribute to GG

Those of you who know Terry's grandmother know her as "GG"...known to the rest of the world as Jean Desmond. ("GG", to the uninitiated, stands for "Great Grandmother"). She also went by "The Matriarch", as she held court over an extended family all over the world. This morning, around 4 AM, GG died peacefully. She was an incredible woman, an inspiration to everyone who met her, and lived a full life that most people would envy and could only wish they could have. She was a person who saw something she wanted to do, so she did it. Her last words of advice to me, which have been her motto for life, were "I didn't know it couldn't be done, so I did it!" (I was considering applying for a job which, on paper, I didn't have some of the important criteria they were looking for).

I have put together a video tribute with music for GG. The song choice is Eurythmics' "Miracle Of Love", a very moving song that 20 years ago was dedicated to me. When I was in the hospital, struggling for my life, my friends at the radio station (KUCI) dedicated a few hours of radio programming to me and called it the "Lar-a-thon". My radio partner, and one of my very best friends to this day, Marian, dedicated this song to me.

When I first met GG, her comment to Terry was "My only problem with him is he is ferociously independent!" GG met her doppelgänger in me, as we refer to GG (who lived alone in her apartment up until the last week of her 89 year old life) as "ferociously independent".

Marian must have known something about me back then, as Annie Lennox use the word "ferocious" in this song. How many songs can you name that use "ferocious"??When I decided to use this song, I hadn't read the lyrics yet, so I didn't even know it was in there.

GG NEVER played the pity card or the "help me i'm a senior citizen" role. Her can-do attitude was an inspiration for all, and will inspire generations. GG was a storyteller of Mark Twain proportions, and you can pick up a copy of her first book here at Amazon.

Visit here for the video tribute.

tribute

GG will live on in our hearts, our minds, our stories...and now on the internet!

RUHtf gem: Swamp Zombies - Chicken Vulture Crow

Never released on CD, I give you the Swamp Zombies classic, Chicken Vulture Crow. Out of nowhere came these Orange County....punks(?) Playing acoustic instruments (acoustic guitars, stand-up bass, single drum) and singing about peace and love in two and three part harmonies, wearing beatnik clothes, and driving around in a truck that advertised a giant alligator inside...these "punks" transcended labels. They were a "big" band in OC, attracting huge crowds at the Sawdust Festival and being able to headline The Coach House. "life" happened for the members, and they broke up. Josh had been doing in-house art for their record label (and the Swamp Zombies art) and stared painting and selling his stuff, soon morphing in to a highly sought after artist, Shag. The Tiki Tones evolved from the ashes of the Zombies, and carried on their tradition.

I'm sure i'm bastardizing their history. For a more complete histoy, you could probably check out wikipedia. There's also a documentary in production.

Hear my interviews with them here.
See my Tiki Tones videos here

And now....Chicken Vulture Crow...digital:

Truly Needy:


Love Zombie:


Swamp Boy:


Open Up Your Eyes:


Pots And Pans


Coffeehouse Ray:


Purple Haze:


Zombie Jamboree:


Chucha:


A Simple Desultory:


Phobia


Rudy The Magic Crow (+bonus ending)

RUHTF: Matt Sorum sings, Slim Jim swings

Alright..here's a couple random treats I found listening to Indie recently.

They are rare in that I doubt you'll find them anywhere else.

First up is Matt Sorum doing an amazing Maggie May:




Thanks to Paul!

Then, Slim Jim Phantom of the Stray Cats hosted Jonesy's Jukebox. He played a song by the Swing Cats, which is Lemmy, Johnny Ramone, and Danny B. Harvey. This is an Elvis cover, Good Rockin' Tonight:

Style Council live in concert

This is cool. Wolfgang's Valut now lets you embed the concerts they are streaming. This makes my job easy (but its then less rare). Anyhow...here's my first: Stye Council. Paul Weller has god-like status in the UK. EVERYONE knows and loves him. He fills stadiums over there. Here...he can barely fill a small theater..and his albums register only a minor blip in the charts, let alone never played on the radio. Then again, one song gets played on "Easy Hits" stations - "My Ever Changing Moods"...his first hit with his second bad, The Style Council. His record company, realizing the American Public has short attention spans, released the UK album 'Cafe Bleu" as 'My Ever Changing Moods"

Here's a King Biscuit Flour radio broadcast:

Happy Birthday Ringo! Ultra Rare Cher (!) track

Well..a day late but not an utra-rare song short. Yesterday was Ringo's birthday. I found this ultra-rare Beatles tribute song by Bonnie Jo Mason. You probably know her by her stage name - Cher. This was produced by Phil Spector with, of course, The Wrecking Crew playing the music. This is "Ringo, I Love You", and it begins with a public service message by Ringo for The Shriners:

RUHtf Gem of the week: Jane's Addiction @ Amoeba for the Lolla 2003 press conference

This was a treat I unearthed on my hard drive (and something that definitely falls in the RUHtf category)...Jane's Addiction performing at Amoeba for the Lollapalooza 2003 press conference. You're going to be hard pressed to find this footage anywhere on the web, so enjoy it in all its lo-fi shaky camera glory. Not bad for a guy who doesn't use his hands.

Oh...on this day....I got a parking ticket cause I failed to read the signs that said there was street sweeping. Has anyone ever really figured out what those street sweepers do, besides give a reason to give people tickets for parking on the third Thursday between the hours of 8:30 AM and 12:30 PM (you need a scientific calculator to figure out those parking signs sometimes)? I think I had to pay $50 for the ticket...it was worth it.

And now..for your enjoyment (and cause you probably weren't there)...Jane's Addiction at Amoeba Music Hollywood:

The Introduction:


The Lollas (Jane's Addiction's dancers):


Wrong Girl (a new song at that time...Strays hadn't been released):


Jane Says:


Oh...Incubus and Audioslave were there too.