An eve' most-hallowed

For all those out there who know of me beyond the circuits and lights that make up my online personage, you know I am a fan of the macabre... I enjoy true crime stories, horror flicks, and all manner of lurid media. As a result, Halloween is kind of a special faux holiday round The Dance. Mostly because it's an excuse to be creepy without ending up on any government funded watch lists.

I know, I know, Al Jourgensen would tell me that EVERYDAY is Halloween... Well, at least, 25-years-ago-Al-Jourgensen would have... Now he'd likely scream gibberish at me, do a darkly entertaining version of Dylan's 'Lay Lady Lay', and attempt to rip out by jugular vein with his bare hands.

Anyhoo... My point was that 'tis the season to rock out with your crazy out... Here are a few ways to do just that...

-Enjoy reading of murders most foul, and in some cases, bizarre over at the Crime Library. There's even a story about the Vampire of Sacramento... Yup, Sacramento had a vampire... Bet you didn't know...

- Arbogast is offering up brilliant send ups of classic horror flick screams, and mixing in some hauntingly good tunes over at his blog. But beware, my entries will look like they were banged out by a 4 year old chimp once you've read the elegant stylings of a true professional...

- Find yourself a party! I shall be attending a few, and *may* even post photos...

- Oh, and before I forget, wish a happy birthday to a woman who should be revered as an inspiration for rockin' lasses the world over, but now prefers a solitary existence in Montana... Grace Slick turns a mind-numbing 70 years old today. Reminding us all that time waits for no one. Even the plastic and fantastic...

If any of you ladies out there have yet to pin down a costume plan, you could do worse than the fabulous Ms. Slick... Just shoot for 1960's Cher and take off the headdress...

Here are the high flyin' San Franciscan's of Jefferson Airplane in their heyday on the Smothers Brother's comedy hour...



Have a delightfully chilling holiday with somebody YOU love...

An Irish Holiday? It SHOULD Be...

Whilst the most of us are celebrating all things motherly, we should all take a moment to raise a pint of Guiness, eat a potato, or express our righteous indegnation. Why you ask?



Because today a gentleman named Paul David Hewson turns fourty nine years old.

That's right, enigmatic U2 front man Bono is now just 364 days from being a fifty year old man. Just another reminder to all of us to gather ye rosebuds while ye... still have the ability to bend over comfortably.

For your celebrating pleasure, pick your favorite version of the One video:

Berlin

Restaurant

Buffalo

Happy Birthdays to a Rock Icon and an Overly-Famous Whiner

First and foremost, just to get it out of the way, James Taylor is sixty one today. If you’re not familiar with my opinion of James Taylor than you haven’t been paying attention… Suffice it to say he’s the SECOND person described in the title of this post.

That being said, Happy Birthday none the less. I appreciate Mr. Taylor’s musical accomplishments if for no reason other than it helps me better gauge good music when there is bad music to compare it to.

I surfed through Taylor’s ‘greatest hits’ to come up with something worth posting here, but what I actually came away with was surprise that a man synonymous with 1970’s singer/songwriters has multiple tracks on ‘HIS’ ‘greatest hits’ collection written by OTHER PEOPLE! Don’t get me wrong, I’m aware that artists share each other’s songs, record covers and standards to sell tunes, and generally do not write all or in some cases any of their own material. I was however under the impression that the man who defines singer/songwriter sensitivity would at least have only originals on a greatest hits recording…

BTW, Taylor’s biggest hit, You’ve Got a Friend? Written by Carole King…

Sorry Sweet Baby James, I’ll give you the birthday shout out, but I can’t bring myself to post a song…

Secondly, and much, much more important, today is the sixty seventh birthday of Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship co-founder Paul Kantner. Kantner, only responsible for recordings under the ‘Jefferson’ moniker, wrote and performed some of the best examples of the psychedelic rock era, rocked Journey-esque epic studio rock tunes through the 1970’s and played a show in Fountain Valley’s Mile Square Park in 1991 that was likely a shade of the former greatness of Airplane, but I got to see it live, so it was by far the best show ever… At least the best one performed for free in an Orange County public park…

Kantner’s involvement and over arching history of Jefferson Whatchamacalit now spans fourty four years, seven or eight separate band break offs, roughly thirty different members and something like three hundred and fifty thousand different albums… OK, that MAY be an exaggeration, but it’s a lot of music, by a lot of people, and out of all of it there’s about two dozen really REALLY good tunes.

No, Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now isn’t one of them… It was also by STARSHIP, not JEFFERSON Starship. Happy Birthday, Paul, and congrats that you can go through life reminding people that you were NOT responsible for the theme song from Mannequin...

Rock out with your 'stache out!



... and with Jefferson AIRPLANE…

Happy Birthday: Sometimes it's more than music.

Say what you will about the music of Tom Scholz and his Boston cohorts, but it is undeniable that this quote is not one that a person would typically equate with a rock musician: "The public has been sold a bill of goods about the free market being a panacea for mankind. Turning corporations loose and letting the profit motive run amok is not a prescription for a more livable world."

Scholz, aside from writing some unquestionably catchy tunes is also a really smart dude... I don't think that is celebrated nearly often enough in public figures, so here on his sixty second birthday I'm taking a moment to say thank you Tom Scholz for doing your part to raise the average American IQ...

Oh, and note to Wikipedia... Referring to Boston as a 'hard rock band' is kind of like calling Mozart a 'badass'. No matter how true it may have been at the time, it's just not a fact any longer... That's not to say we can't all still enjoy More than a Feeling, and likely can all appreciate it more knowing that the bass player is smarter than your average pop-star, but 'hard rock' this is not...

More Birthday Wishes, and a reminder that time waits for no guitarist

In 1989 John Frusciante joined Red Hot Chili Peppers as a nineteen year old ingenue replacing band co-founder Hillel Slovak after a heroin overdose led to his death. Frusciante played on Mother's Milk and the band's breakout success Blood Sugar Sex Magik before parting ways with the band due to his own drug-related complications. John completed some experimental solo recordings before kicking his horse habit and re-joining the peppers for their 1999 release Californication.

Frusciante has spent the last ten years recording with RHCP, and continuing to release self-named solo projects, and side projects under the name Ataxia. He has also played in studio on recordings by The Mars Volta, a band of youngsters trying to keep prog-rock alive for the next generation.

The nineteen year old guitar phenom reminds us all just how long ago 1989 was by turning thirty nine today. Here's John, Anthony, Flea and Chad from way back in '89 covering Stevie Wonder...

Another day, another iconic birthday celebration

Today we congratulate Lou Reed on making it to sixty seven years young. From Warhol to dueting with Brandon Flowers, Reed has had more lives than even the luckiest cats. Hell, he even survived Metal Machine Music.

Here's a Reed classic...



This also marks post #100 here at The Dance... Perhaps the next 100 posts will even contain something at least mildly relevant...

Pre-Birthday Announcements

In honor of the fact that I tend to spend a goodly portion of the weekend inebriated, and I am a staunchly anti blogging under the influence I've decided it's best to announce this weekend's pending birthdays today!

Honestly, I just get lazy on the weekend, have a few minutes to spare now, and no one of note was born today. That's the God's honest truth, and I hope it makes you feel like a better person to uncover my deception. Whatever... I'm like... SO over it...

Imagine if you will a world in which all of the advancements of science and medicine were mistaken. A world in which you could take all the drugs you wanted and still be just fine. If such a world existed, tomorrow would mark the sixty seventh birthday of founding member of The Rolling Stones, Mr. Brian Jones. Considering Jones was ousted from the Energizeresque super Brits that just keep going and going prior to his passing at the age of 27, he would likely spend this birthday laughing about how out of place Mick looks still chicken strutting across a stadium stage.

Jones recorded on the first eight Stones studio albums, the last of which, Between the Buttons is arguably my favorite of their recordings in spite of the fact that Brian missed roughly half the sessions. In my humble and fully uninformed opinion, the band was never quite as good after his departure. Here's the original lineup playing Paint it Black on the BBC classic rock & roll show Ready, Steady Go!



Filed under sixties rockers still kicking, Sunday the 1st marks the sixty fifth time Sir Roger Daltrey has celebrated a birthday. He may now retire, and take full advantage of early bird specials at assorted restaurants around the globe. Somehow, I doubt Roger will choose that route however, as he seems to be locked in a perpetual death match with the aforementioned Jagger to see who's hip can break on stage first.

On a less mocking note, I'm of the opinion that The Who is the most under rated rock band of the British Invasion era, while the Stones are certainly the most over rated. Don't get me wrong, there's a heck of a lot of great Stones tunes, but The Who can match them track for track, and the Stones never released anything even approaching the level of Tommy. The Who not only was responsible for the rock opera that influenced countless prog-rock recordings to come, but for my money that isn't even their best work. I give that honor to Who's Next.

It doesn't get much better than this, even if it has been franchised by the CSI steamroller...

I fell in to a burning ring of birthdays

Had he not gone to join wife June earlier in the decade, Johnny Cash would be 77 years old today, and I wager that he’d be the coolest 77 year old around. Today’s quote of the day on my calendar of great rock quotes is attributed to the posthumous birthday boy:

“I followed trails and slept under mesquite bushes and in gullies… I learned to throw a bowie knife and kill a jackrabbit at 40 yards… Sometimes I might have gone a little too far, not such an uncommon trait in a person on amphetamines.”

I’m sure Johnny meant this as a ‘just say no’ speech, but has anyone ever made drug abuse sound more sinisterly manly? Cash oozed badassedness…

Aside from being an enemy to the jackrabbit, and a friend to country music fans the world over, in his later years Cash also collaborated with a couple of The Dance’s favorite artists, U2 and Nine Inch Nails. Here’s Johnny performing his cover of a Reznor masterpiece.

While My Guitar Gently Births

If cancer wasn't such a dick, George Harrison would be 66 years young today. I say, just because he is no longer with us, that's no reason to not recall his legacy, and celebrate his majesty. I've often considered Harrison the most under rated Beatle, in spite of the fact that he did receive a good amount of well-deserved praise towards the end of his life. He was certainly the most musically gifted of the Fab Four. Like many of the greats, Harrison taught himself to play by ear just through listening to his favorite tunes on the radio. As his guitar prowess grew, he ventured out to other string instruments, learning to play sitar from the instrument's indisputable master, Ravi Shankar. He was instrumental (no pun intended) in the Beatles involvement in eastern religion and philosophy during the last part of the 1960's, and was actually the first to attempt to leave the band, as early as January of 1968, pre-dating the supergroup's 'official' breakup by almost two years. There is more to Harrison than just the Beatles though, and some of it is quite interesting.

- He was the only Beatle (to date) to write an autobiography entitled I Me Mine after the track of the same name on Let It Be.

- His first wife Pattie Boyd was stolen from him by best friend Eric Clapton. In spite of this the two remained close, living the 'bros before hos' code...

- George Harrison financed early Monty Python performances, and is credited by the comic group as the reason they managed to gain international fame and fortune on the tales of dead parrots and cross-dressing lumberjacks. This, more than any of the music, is reason enough to celebrate George's work...

- Two years prior to his death, Harrison was caught in a home invasion attack by a deranged man who felt he was possessed by the spirit of Harrison and was sent on a mission from god to kill him. Despite stabbing the aged rocker multiple times and puncturing one of his lungs, Harrison survived the attack due to the ass-kicking ability of his wife, Olivia Trinidad Arias. I highly doubt Patti Boyd would have been able to save George's life, so props to Eric Clapton for the cock-block...

There's oh so much more Harrison lore out there, but for now let's just sit an listen to the man and his guitar. Happy Birthday, George...

Birthday wishes into the ether

Had O. F. Mossberg decided to go into say, interior decorating, today would be the fourty second birthday of one Kurt Donald Cobain. In honor of this once happy but now tragic day, I suggest you strap on a flannel, find the largest coffee mug you can, fill it to the brim with a vaguely Italian sounding Starbucks creation, and find a quiet corner in which to cry as you enjoy this.



In the 'still with us' birthday catagory, today marks the celebration of Walter Becker's fifty ninth year on this planet. Becker was an original founder, and one half of the writing duo for beat-inspired NY 70's rockers Steely Dan. Becker also honed his guitar playing skills under the tuitalige of Randy Wolfe nee Randy California of one of my favorite 60's psych-rock outfits Spirit. If you find yourself confronted by a maudlin Nirvanite on this historic occasion, feel free to share with them the less tragic side of today's music history... They may offer to share their case of Oly...

Happy Birthday to You... Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday dear Captain Beefheart, Happy Birthday to You...

In honor of the sixty eighth anniversary of your birth, I have purchased you a replica trout mask... What's this? You already have one?

Oh well, happy birthday anyhow...

Posthumous birthday wishes also go out into the ether for Ronnie Van Zant. My dislike for Lynyrd Skynyrd not withstanding, without Ronnie, no one would ever have the opportunity to yell 'FREEBIRD!!!!' at a rock concert. Oh to have such a legacy...

Ronnie's bro Donnie also scored a hit with his band .38 Special (Not to be confused with Ronnie's bro Johnny who took over the vocals for Skynyrd's 2nd incarnation running from 1987 to the present day.)

Here's the original singin' Zan Vant, who would have turned sixty one today, performing a song that everyone on the planet other than me thinks is a Rock & Roll classic...

Birthday Wishes to the world's greatest person, and a pretty good guitar player...

Today's birthday shout outs go to Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, who's senior discounts go into full effect now that he has reached the age of sixty five. Page will be appearing at a local Denny's at roughly 4:45 this evening...

More importantly, happy birthday to the rock on which I anchor my tattered ship, the breath that fills my lungs, the single most important reason to wake up in the morning, my beautiful, brilliant, and amazing wife, CSD Julie... Whether in nombe de blog fashion or in the really real world you make my life so much more complete. I love you dear...

Since CSD Julie has yet to release an album of Karaoke classics, enjoy that OTHER dude's music... Complete with Viking Kittens!!!



For the more politically inclined, it is also the birthday of Richard Milhous Nixon, so feel free to go steal something, and upon your capture tell the arresting officer that YOU are not a crook... If Gerald Ford happens to be hanging around your local grey bar hotel you may even get a pardon out of it!

Birthday Greetings to Rock Royalty

Happy Birthday to that OTHER Elvis, you know, the Presley one. Had he survived he would have been seventy four today, or if you prefer, he IS seventy four today and still enjoying a life out of the spotlight working in a Nebraska 7-11...

Birthday wishes also go out to a man who by all accounts IS still with us, and who's crotch starred in Labyrinth. Mr. David Bowie is sixty two years young today. So at what point will he start aging rapidly so Catherine Deneuve can sequester his rotting corpse to her attic?

Since I'm not a huge fan of the OG Elvis, enjoy DB's The Heart's Filthy Lesson...