sing a long

[Boner]

I Cece. I've had a crush on her ever since I first saw this video years ago

[a9127]

You may know from other posts I had a brief “fling” with learning to play drums when I was very young. Seeing “Wayne’s World” made me think I too could play drums and my parents “caved” buying me a beat up old black Ludwig “double bass” set with cracked cymbals. Think my dad gave the guy $200 cash.

I was into “death metal” and “nu metal” back then (still am). As I remember, my parents were mostly afraid that music would be a bad influence and I would “do drugs” or it would “hurt my grades.” To make a long story short, my Mom finally tired of it (must have sounded like Hell ) and one day a few years later it was just… gone.

But not before I had had lessons and actually did learn a thing or two.

Last Christmas, my wife bought me a “PDP” set and I started messing around on it. I’ve never told you any of this about her before. She was married at 17 to her high-school sweetheart who played guitar in an Indianapolis-based band. She herself can play several instruments and can sing. They had opened for some major bands around the mid-west and she has met many celebrities and “famous” people.

Finally she left him over his drug and alcohol abuse and in 2010, we met through E-Harmony. We’ve been married since 2011. Almost 6 years younger than me, she is a nurse, getting a GED and putting herself through college.

She is still friends with him and we went to see his band play the other night. It is a “cover” band. I got to “sit in” on this hard rock classic. Simple enough that even I couldn’t fuck it up, the only “difficult” part is where it stops in the middle and the guitar riff starts in again. As long as you don’t mess up the “snare drum hits” you’re OK.

The crowd must have been drunk (also the current “anti-police” sentiment in the United States probably contributed to it although this audience was significantly "older" than most of the protesters) because we got a standing ovation.

But I don’t think I’ll quit my “day job” anytime soon.

(Below: Rob Halford. )

[a9127]

Definitely not “nu metal.” Not “punk” or “emo” either in my opinion. Just good music.

Paramore made their big breakthrough in 2007 with “Riot!” Still high school age in 2005 when the band released its debut album “All We Know is Falling” they immediately developed a large following. A group of friends from Franklin Tennessee that decided to form a band. Wish I had had friends like that.

“Careful” is from the third album “Brand New Eyes” which produced many hits and was also the last one featuring the “original” line up. BNE was released in September 2009.

All extremely talented and gifted musicians, Paramore stands out to me from the other bands they are often compared to. It is probably the world’s worst kept secret that yours truly “totally has it bad” for their singer. Her name: Hayley Williams.

We have been to see Paramore. It was a couple of years ago at the White River State Park in Downtown Indy. My wife is a huge fan too and is just a few months older than Hayley. She is convinced that Hayley and I were married in another life or are married in a “parallel universe.”

Whatever. Ms. Williams is super-talented with amazing stage presence and earlier this year released “Petals for Armor” her debut “solo” album. It is awesome. And reflects her growth and maturity as an artist and person. She can do nothing wrong as far as I’m concerned. My favorite song off PFA is “Simmer.” Go check it out!

I selected this song because it’s one of their “heavier” ones. The line “the truth never set me free so I did it myself” is one of the best known and often quoted lyrics written by Hayley. And I really like the video. The entire band kicks ass here. In particular the drumming of Zac Farro and bass of Jeremy Davis stand out.

[a9127]

Maybe this will score a hit. Bet the picture will at least get a couple of views.

That’s Re Styles. Fee Waybill was The Tubes lead singer. One of his on-stage characters was named “Quay Lewd.” Get it? Think that song was called “White Punks on Dope.”

From about 1975 or 1976. How do I know about all this stuff? I dunno. Just listen to lots of music I guess… But I DID see a picture of Taylor Swift wearing a “Blue Oyster Cult” T-Shirt one time.

[a9127]

Something to brighten your day. “Against” was Sepultura’s first album without original lead singer and founder Max Cavalera. I bought this CD way back in 1999. For our younger members: a “CD” is kind of like a “record.” They mostly sit on the shelf today. Something that “older people” such as me spent a great deal of money on when they were kids. Everyone today uses “Spotify” or “YouTube” or whatever.

This song is very heavy, loud, and aggressive. You have been warned…

Here is a sample of the lyrics translated:

The violent past of the Church is normal
Armageddon, destruction
The end of the world is not much to fuck your life

That is drummer Igor Cavalera (Max’s brother) on the left in the first picture. He is wearing a Brujeria sweatshirt. The last picture is them today.

[a9127]

Title says it all. From the album “October Rust” released in 1996. If this one doesn’t get some attention I’ll be fucked (preferably by Chanel Santini ).

RIP Peter Steele 1962-2010.

[a9127]

Where DO these things come from anyway? Thought of something different to post today. How many of you have heard this song? I first heard it on the "Dr. Demento" show many years ago. Guess it would have been around 1999-2000 when it experienced a resurgence. Surprisingly this novelty "classic" has quite a history:

1978 - The year Dr. Demento first received a copy of the “Fish Heads,” which subsequently became a massive hit on the show. A cursory glance at the Demented Music Database—an online database that catalogues the show’s playlists over its almost 50-year history—reveals a large amount of airplay for the tune and several instances of callers singing their own version of the song as they request it. To date, the song has been played over 350 times—and that’s not even counting the playlists that have yet to be catalogued at the DMDB.

The story of “Fish Heads” was inspired by a disgusting meal at a Chinese restaurant. But it’s also the product of a musical vessel well-suited to making songs inspired by disgusting meals at Chinese restaurants.

Bill Mumy was a child actor known for his iconic roles in Lost in Space (as Will Robinson) and The Twilight Zone. (Remember the kid who magically wished people into “the cornfield?” That was Mumy.) Much later, he became better known for his portrayal of Lennier in Babylon 5 and had bit parts in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In between acting gigs, he pursued music and associated with the likes of Gerry Beckley from the folk rock group America.

During more manic times from the age of 16 onward, he comprised one half of a strange musical duo called Barnes & Barnes, with his friend Robert Haimer. It was a sort of side project for channeling a “certain type of energy,” as he would later write in the liner notes to most of the Barnes & Barnes album reissues.
Mumy was (and still very much is) a talented musician who mostly made straight ahead serious music. Occasionally, he and recording partner Robert Haimer would get together and write/record weird, funny, irreverent, groovy songs that were never really meant to see release. As Mumy explains in an Archive of American Television interview, Robert Haimer was a big fan of The Dr. Demento Show and wanted to send some of their Barnes & Barnes songs to the good doctor for airplay on the program.

Though their first song, “The Vomit Song,” was rejected for various reasons (predominantly because it was a bit “too gross,” as Mumy writes in the Voobaha liner notes), the next tape they sent contained “Fish Heads,” which became a bit of an overnight sensation on the show. Dr. Demento knew it was something special, as he told Tedium via email:

I knew it would go over well on my show about 20 seconds into my first listen to it. Requests started coming in the same night I first played it, and continued to roll in steadily. After a few weeks of that, I knew it was going to be an all-time Dr Demento Show classic. I had the same feeling from Dead Puppies, which came in almost exactly a year earlier, and indeed those two are rivals to this day.
The chorus was written by Haimer, while Mumy penned the verses. The iconic high-pitched vocals were a source of contention between the two where Mumy wanted to keep them sped up and Haimer wanted to have them at normal speed. At the end of it all, Mumy’s idea won out and the rest is demented history.

“It’s highly original, it’s funny, and easily perceived as being funny. The music has a distinct sound and a good hook, but simple and direct. The production is clean. And for listeners of a certain age, it can be heard as a satire of the ubiquitous Chipmunks.” — Dr. Demento

Whether you love it or hate it, there’s no denying the song provokes some rather interesting opinions. While I enjoy the song and count Barnes & Barnes among some of my favorite artists—especially the albums where they mix comedy and serious music, like Amazing Adult Fantasy—there are others who have their own unique takes on the song.