Selby Comes Alive

Yes, I have truly been a blog slackard lately for a combination of reasons, but things are settling back into a comfortable groove again. Being exposed to other people's miseries can quickly make you forget about your own, realize how fortunate you are, and teach you to SHUT UP!

So, let's get back to important things -- due to a couple of recent flattering comments about my "music" blogs, here are a few nuggets:

Def Leppard's cover of Badfinger's "No Matter What" is decent enough, I guess, but it can't hold a candle to the version released 10 or 12 years ago by Louisiana band Lillian Axe.

Chuck over at Burst Transmission noted this first, but I want to chime in again that I thought that Kelly Clarkson's performance on the VMA's absolutely kicked ass --- seriously!

Nickel Creek's new album is excellent, as usual, and could honestly appeal to fans of both Bill Monroe and Incubus.

Rolling Stones show in Little Rock not yet sold out, but will probably be soon. Haven't bought a ticket; not sure I will. Saw them in 1994 in Memphis; enjoyed it more than I thought that I would. Opening act hasn't been announced yet, but I know that Merle Haggard is opening a few of their shows. Now that would be something.

Old obscure song plug: So You Are A Star by the Hudson Brothers. These guys are best remembered, if at all, as the hosts of a Saturday morning kid's show in the mid-1970's. One of them is Kate Hudson's biological father (although she goes out of her way to emphasize that Kurt Russell was always more of a father to her). Another has worked with Aerosmith, Hanson, and Ringo Starr. Anyway, this song was a minor hit around 1974 or 1975 and is a really good slice of Beatles / Raspberries / Cheap Trick style pop. It also has similarities to the recent song "Look What You've Done" by Jet.

George Jones's has a new version of Hank Jr's "Blues Man" (also covered extremely well by Alan Jackson). Dolly Parton is on background vocals; it's very good.

Maybe Kanye West is a genius; that seems to be the general perception. I just can't get past the arrogance and the hypocrisy, though.

It's okay to admit that the Black Eyed Peas really, really suck.

Brief tribute to Eugene Record, who recently passed away: He was the lead singer of the Chi-Lites; they recorded the soul classic "Oh Girl" and it has always been one of my favorite songs. R.I.P.

I enjoy Ludacris' "Pimpin' All Over The World" when it is on the radio; the version on the VMA's was sub-par, though.

Somehow, my 5 year old daughter seems to know all the words to "Helena" by My Chemical Romance. I don't know how that happened; I haven't put it on any of her mix cds. In related news, she and I reached a mutual agreement that we just couldn't travel to Little Rock tonight on a school night to see Jesse McCartney. She didn't really seem all that upset and I'm very, very happy that I don't have to go.

A song by Clutch called "Careful With That Microphone" is playing on my computer right now; good (and funny) song.

Finally, I had hopes for the debut cd by country group Sugarland. The lead singer, Jennifer Nettles, has a lot of charisma and the singles have been pretty good. Alas, the cd isn't all that good; too many Springsteen-type "working class" songs that are cliched and have been done to death. Maybe Jennifer's upcoming duet with Jon Bon Jovi will be better?

This isn't about music, but I really liked The 40 Year Old Virgin. I thought that it was much better than Wedding Crashers. Playing at the club periodically in Monticello has been a good thing. When we play on Friday nights, it makes no sense for me to go home after work, so I stay here in Monticello. However, there is a gap of about 2 1/2 hours between work ending and time to go to the club and set up. Perfect opportunity to see a movie that I want to see!

And what are YOU listening to?

...

so last Friday I got fairly hammered for the first time in a long time and walked down to the Brian Howe / Mindcure show and had a REALLY good time; the KAGH folks are to be commended for at least trying to do something new around here - they probably took a bath on it financially, though; massive hangover hit around 3:00 a.m. because you shouldn't drink a lot of beer while also trying to down as many apple martinis as possible before the show; got over hangover in time for major toothache to hit Saturday night; couldn't get to dentist until Monday and then it was a truly brutal HORRIBLE dental experience; still hurting and swollen three days later and have to go back Monday and get stitches out; home computer also died on Saturday - seems to be the hard drive; have a back-up laptop computer but it isn't all that fast and there is some sort of internet problem where it disconnects on certain pages; also having auto problems -- a few weeks ago, my a/c didn't work; I got it fixed - now the problem is that the a/c won't turn off even when my ignition is off and this runs the battery down; hectic week also trying to get the kids ready for school and going to orientation; went to kindergarten orientation last night and seriously wanted to kick the asses of a lot of the parents there who were completely uncivilized and talked and visited while the principal struggled over the noise to tell us what we were there to hear in the first place; medication I am taking for dental pain requires that I eat more so that I don't get sick, and I had been doing fairly well on my diet; and my family would probably say that I've been a FUN GUY to be around this week.....so, how was your week?

An Oxymoron: classic Journey

I read an article in Entertainment Weekly regarding the upcoming NBC reality series Tommy Lee Goes To College that the network's first choice for their concept of "let's send a rock star to college and see what happens" was former Journey frontman Steve Perry.

Who the hell would watch that?

I've softened on Journey over the years and even have their Greatest Hits cd, but my hatred of them in the past is well known among friends and fellow musicians. I've had an argument going with Mark Pounds of soulgravy for about 25 years now regarding the relative merits / lack of merits of Journey. He believes them to be the greatest band of all time.

Catching Up Vol. ?

My worries about a sparse crowd last weekend at All Stars were unfounded. The crowd was decent Friday night, but on Saturday, it was a great crowd and we had a blast! Much thanks to family, friends, and coworkers that turned out for the festivities on Saturday, and thanks to the club owner for designating us as "a great band" on the marquee. Even though I work in Monticello, I hadn't seen that sign until I actually showed up to play.

Had to kill time last Friday before time to report for the gig, so I went to see "Wedding Crashers." I was expecting to laugh more, but it was okay.

Went down to watch the first two bands in the Battle of the Bands last week. The first band, the Hammers, consists of friends of mine. They were very solid, but their type of blues-oriented music wasn't quite right for the opening slot for a classic rock show. (We kept getting asked why we didn't enter -- mainly, we didn't think our "style" was right for a hard rock contest, and we also felt that the contest should be for those bands who are actually trying to accomplish something -- and that ain't us. Plus, we were booked already and stood to make substantially more money from the booking than from the contest.) The second band was kind of an Evanescence style band led by a tall Goth chick. They have potential, but need to be tighter -- their first song, if I heard it correctly, had a chorus where they sang "I know the Pope is smoking dope." Had to leave before the other bands came on, but I've heard the winner on the radio since then and......well, maybe they were better live. Hell, any band that day that was halfway competent in that heat and under less than ideal staging-and-sound setups deserves some credit.

My wife is gone to a seminar this week. I need her back. Her birthday is tomorrow.

Something crawled under my house this week and died, presumably one of the many nameless cats that I feed each day. In case this ever happens to you and you don't personally want to crawl under your home and remove the fragrant, bloated carcass, please be advised that this type of service falls under the category of services provided by Austin Pest Control -- thanks a million!!!

As I type this, I am listening to a compilation cd that I made about 3 years ago that I creatively entitled "Shit I Like." A song is currently playing called "Stranger Than Paradise" by Sleeze Beez. It is a hair metal song and I don't recall ever hearing any other song by these guys. Right after that, the old chestnut "Misty Blue" by Dorothy Moore came on. Nice juxtaposition.

I watched a fascinating documentary on PBS last night regarding Sun Studios in Memphis. The stories of Sun recording artists like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, etc are well known, but this special also gave considerable time to "lesser lights" like Sonny Burgess, Billy Lee Riley, Ace Cannon, etc. It's really something to see and hear people like Robert Plant and Jimmy Page sing the praises of Sonny Burgess and then realize that Burgess and band played the Armadillo Festival and Pink Tomato Festival in recent years and that I didn't even bother to go see them (and Ace Cannon has played every little festival around here in recent years). I haven't given these old veterans the respect they deserve and, if they ever come around again, I'll make sure I go see them. Burgess was very philosophical about never becoming a big star, but Billy Lee Riley was extraordinarily bitter and blamed Sun founder Sam Phillips for his lack of success. I highly recommend this special!!!

Speaking of Sam Phillips, I was reminded of when Phillips was a guest on David Letterman many years ago. Sam was obviously intoxicated. He slurred his words, wouldn't answer the questions, and asked Dave when he was going to "get them damned teeth fixed." They broke for a commercial, came back, and Sam was no longer there. However, at the next commercial break, they showed Sam passed out in the Green Room. Hilarious.