(Note: if you're visiting the main RUHtf page, be aware that Sunday the 22nd starts automatically and is very loud. Scroll down and press stop or it will blast your speakers. If all you see is this George Carlin post, you're cool. Don't say I didn't warn you).
We lost a great one yesterday. A real crusader for free speech and revealing the inanities of society.
We saw him a year and a half ago, and he said that he made it to his favorite age: 69.
I also met him a few years before that (thus the above picture). Though he was "On" when on stage, in person he seemed frail...very fragile and vulnerable. We had a great conversation and he seemed really impressed with me and all I could do.
The next week, he checked in to rehab.
Anyhow...here's a couple classic routines:
Carlin on the Ten Commandments
Carlin on Language
The classic - 7 Dirty Words
In my opinion, one of Carlin's greatest routines: Modern Man
Here's a really cool RUHtf exclusive. Friday night i'm watching Letterman, as is my nightly bedtime ritual. Letterman announces "The Baseball Project" as the musical guests. Now, I know a lot about music, but I had never heard this Baseball Project. Luckily, rather than falling asleep, which I usually do before the musical guest is on, I was awake to hear him announce "The Baseball Project". When the music started, I IMMEDIATELY dug it..and propped my eyelids open. It had a real jangly Byrdsesque/Pettyish/Beatlesesque/REMesque (which I guess, in a sense, is itself Byrdesque/Beatlesesque)/Rickenbackerish feeling. Then I noticed (and it all made sense), it was Scott McCaughey (auxillary REM member/Minus 5/Young Fresh Fellows...and I had met him at the Coach House)...then Peter Buck (whom I had seen paying the Coach House and then met at the Rickenbacker festival...then I noticed there was a female drummer, whom I recognize as Linda Pitmon from Marty Willson Pipers' Mood Maidens whom I had a great conversation with and introduced me to her boyfriend (and final Baseball Project member) Steve Wynn). So basically, I knew every single person the the Letteman band stage.
Anyhow...like I said, I really enjoyed the sound. I found the following album stream for you to enjoy. When you're done, order it
Alright, i've figured this out. Click here to hear The Baseball Project. Close the window when you're done.
Think you know Hendrix? Can groove along to "Foxey Lady" a la Garth?? Got all the releases and box sets and reissues?? You don't know nothing about Hendrix til you say you have heard "Doriella Du Fontaine". This is definitely a bona-fide rare gem. It's a 1969 jam with Jimi Hendrix (of the Jimi Hendrix Experience), Buddy Miles (of Band Of Gypsys) and Lightning Rod (of The Last Poets). This is rap before rap was ever rap. This is extremely hard to find, but for you, the RUHtf reader, I present one of the fonkiest grooves ever committed to vinyl:
No…Dave Navarro wasn’t present as master of ceremonies. There were no TV cameras, the only cameras being used were either ones run by family members or soldiers in the Supernova Army. And no…neither Jason Newsted nor Tommy Lee were scheduled to play along tonight.
That is because gracing the District stage Saturday night was not the corporate “Rock Star: Supernova”, but was a local Orange County punk band who have been together since around 1989 and have recorded four albums. This is the “little band that could”…which is go up against the corporate greed mongers and win out. Even though they “only” had four albums and were on hiatus from touring and performing..they still had established themselves in the public’s collective consciousness as the entity known as “Supernova”. It would be as if Mark Burnett, in his idea for the next chapter in his “Rock Star:” behemoth got together, say, Howard Jones, Vince Clarke, and M, to put together a supergroup looking for a lead singer and called it “Rock Star: A-ha”. The Norweigians would be in an uproar. (side note: that’s probably not the best example, as a simple wikipedia search shows the band is one of the greatest selling bands of all time…with over 80 million copies sold. Who’da thunk? But you get the idea).
Well, Saturday night was the latest in entrepreneur Tazy Phillipz series of concerts under the stars and in the mall. What this means is you have a great concert with people walking by with their Borders, Johnny Rockets, and DSW bags, holding their hands to their ears as they pass.
The band promised a “family friendly show”, and family friendly they did deliver. The District, of course, requires a clean show...but the band was also keeping it clean because, well…their families were there including their young kids. It was telling when, in the middle of their set, I overheard the conversation of the young girl behind me talking to her friend on her cell phone saying “I’m at my dad’s concert.” Absent from this show, thankfully, was any signs of a mosh pit that often accompanies this type of music at shows like House Of Blues and the Galaxy (RIP). In its place were admiring parents, happy wives, friendly neighbors..and dancing kids. I especially got a kick out of watching one kid do that dance…you know what I’m talking about. The one where they lose all control of their body and let the beats of the music guide them…throwing out any semblence of embarrassment and hopping around like the cement is hot.
The band was tight and had some great, hooky songs. They could have easily fit in to that hole that was in the music scene that is now occupied by that “other” Orange County punk trio. Hopefully the band will continue playing and recording some new music. This music is timeless and sounds as good now as it did then. And maybe they could catch on well enough to be known as more than “The band that brought Mark Burnett down”.
These District Legacy concerts are great, on Friday and Saturday nights. The sound is stellar. The video screen above the stage is kind of annoying. Although at one point there was an anonymous boy band dancing on the screen, and it was almost in sync with the band. At a time when gas prices are through the roof, this is a way to get some good quality entertainment close to home (if you live in Tustin or Irvine, that is).
What follows are some songs culled from the Bro Show interview of Supernova (which can be heard in its entirety here):
Aroma
Backyard Boat
Calling Hong Kong
Chewbacca
Cool Job
Electric Man
Choke The Fuzz
Medly of I'm The Man (Joe Jackson) and Supernova's What We Do
Alright...new feature on RUHtf...i'm going to start putting up some of the abundance of covers I have. Yeah, I know...I already did the Swans and Taxman..but it did not have a name til now. Most people shun covers...Henry Rollins says why cover something when the original was already perfect...yet even he does a covers show on his program. Covers can show you a whole other side to the song you've known and loved. Some covers even eclipse the original so that the cover is seen as the original (Hound Dog, Respect, All Along the Watchtower...you get the idea.)
Well, who better to feature on RUHtf than OC faves, The Swamp Zombies. The Swamp Zombies were a mostly acoustic (though they added occasional electric in later incarnations) quartet that were a large draw at local clubs. Guitarist/singer, Josh Agle went on to fame and fortune as Shag. Bassist Steeve plays on and off with The Tiki Tones. Travis had moved on to family life. Who knows what happened to Smiling Dave. He signed my guestbook one time, but I lost contact.
The Swamp Zombies take on familiar classics was always a highlight of any show. And the medlys were a particular treat.
Here's a couple so I can get this out and i'll add more later, so stay tuned:
This isn't really "rare", as it has been available on You Tube for quite some time. However, I felt I should put it up on my blog since, well, it IS mine and is really cool. as a matter of fact, Mr. Wallinger himself has a copy of the DVD and thinks it pretty keen, and it has notoriety in the WP trading community as being one of the best videos of the in-store tour (if you'd like one, just ask).
ENJOY!
In no particular order:
Ship Of Fools
Is It Too Late?
Is It Like Today?
Put The Message In The Box
Love Street
What Does It Mean Now?
Ever notice how Karl Wallinger is the inquisitive philosopher - so many of his songs end in question marks.
File this one under "I put this up because I can". No...there's no anniversary or a new benefit single or Apartheid in the news right now. I just put this up because it's very rare, especially digitally. Well, you can hear the snaps and pops on my vinyl.
THIS shows how benefit singles should be done. It raised a lot of awareness, and brought a lot of great artists together. And now you can hear it here. It was kind of forgotten in all the attention going to Band Aid, We Are The World, and Live Aid. Radio stations didn't play it much cause a) the criticism of Ronald Reagan (of course, that was Joey Ramone singing it, not republican bandmate Johnny) and b) cause radio was still fairly segregated and this had rap.
It was ahead of its time bringing together rap and rock. You can play "name the voices", or cheat and read more about it here.
SORRY...SOMETHING IS AWRY WITH THE MP3 EMBEDDER..SO NO AUDIO FILES WILL BE ABLE TO BE STREAMED...UNTIL THIS THIS FIGURED OUT.
UPDATE: I DID FIGURE THINGS OUT AND MUST NOW CHANGE CODE IN EACH MP3. IF THERE IS SOMETHING YOU WANT NOW, EMAIL AND I WILL GET ON IT. OTHERWISE, IT WILL TAKE A WHILE.
Hello visitors! Please e-mail me and let me know what you're here for and what you enjoy!
