At my advanced age, it's always amazing to me how fast 6 months come and go. I'm pleased to announce my latest e.p. up now on Bandcamp. Sorry there was no winter release, I've just been too busy.

The new release is a cool example of the evolution of a tune. I wrote "Spring" during the wilderness years of the early 90's. There are many songs from that period that remain forgotten or unheard. "Spring" was not one. It basically wrote itself in the time it took to play it.  It was the song that put my 4th…

I was in Lexington the other day and picked up a CD of the Pogues "BBC Sessions". I know that i could have streamed it or something, but I was sentimental for the 80's when every trip to the record store was discovery of a new land. I highly recommended this disc. Many of the takes are superior to album versions: energetic but somehow tighter. 

Like adopting Mott as my favorite band in high school to individuate myself from my brothers influence, The release of the Pogues "Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash" was a…

I was thinking about the Brighton Park location of KittyHawk Records in Frankfort back in the early 80's this morning. It had the most "Spencers" like ambience of the 3 locations i remember....Strong head shop odor and soft lighting. I seem to remember the racks were floor to ceiling which was different than most shops. I was smack dab in the middle of the mall. I can't remember what other shops they had there.

I remember my older brother buying JP some cassettes for his 14th birthday there. Prince "Dirty…

Snow Days are almost always productive song-wise for me. I have no choice or distractions and usually come up with something or come back to something. 

I've had fun with the mini-moog lately. Space soundtracks are in my blood. There's nothing i can do about it! I worked on a song that i started in 1982 and finished it the other morning. It was based on that recurring dream i have that my old apartment in Richmond still has my stuff in it. I always wonder why they haven't thrown it out and worry that i…

I've been reading Roger Daltrey's bio "Thanks a lot Mr. Kibblewite?' I keep doing a book on tape in my head with his voice from all the WHO documentaries I've watched over the years. This particular tome seems strongly ghost written. You can always tell by the childhood chapter. This stock approach was first reveled in Mick Foley's "Foley is Good". If you aren't familiar with Mick, he is the only wrestler to actually write his own books and they are great. He hilariously detailed how he was initially placed…

Since the riots, I've forced myself to watch a bit of nightly news. NBC's Lester Holt is the quick and dirty mainstream choice. Corporate and fake news aren't the same thing. All have their slants.

Vice News covers the educated pot head slacker perspective.  I find myself listening to Liz Landers rather intently. She looks like the kid that Jane Hathaway from the Beverly Hillbillies and Hiliary Clinton would have had if such a hybrid was possible in the grow room. Her glasses and beret combo killed me the…

As I am asked by friends and fam to weigh in on all comic booked themed movies and T.V., I will give my quick take on "Wanda Vision".  I thought it sucked and here's why.

I had a co-worker who fancied himself a writer and he used to say "I have a great idea for a Ghost Rider movie."  He really thought if he pitched his idea, it could get made. I'd just smile to myself and think " there are 20 years of great stories. You aren't creating anything." 

There are lots of great "Wanda Vision" stories in the…

I was sad to hear of the passing of Sylvain Sylvain, guitarist with The New York Dolls. Johnny Thunders received all the acclaim but Syl was the heart of the band. My favorite Dolls album was their last, "Dancing Backwards In High Heels". Syl's keyboards, singing and songwriting are all over it.  The improbable reunion with David Jo in the 2000's let the world see just how responsible he was for the sound and attitude of a legendary band. Also how much he and David have evolved while still rocking. 

His…

All I know about riots, I learned from rock and roll heroes and rock and roll magazines. I believe yesterday was the "White Riot"  The Clash prophesized. Like the The Mekons "I've never been in a riot".

Usually when they try to bust a band for inciting a riot, they refer to a concert bootleg to see who kept their yaps shut on stage. By that standard, Don Jr., Rudy and the Orange Man would all be culpable.

The Baked Alaska douche reminded me of the Hell Angels at Altamont. They needed a Sam Cutler type to…

I recently re-watched the "Decline of Western Civilization I" on TMC as part of their Women on Film series. I remember not really liking the L.A. Punk scene as a youngster since i was such an Anglophile. "X" i always liked but the other bands seemed to try too hard to be outrageous.

The music is actually pretty cool from my older vantage point, but the racism and homophobia that's documented still bother me  like the first time around. You could argue that  as a good documentarian that Penelope Spheris just…