The Guy From Doormat
Lyle Hysen
The theme for this column is the hobo. First off, as many
of you know I live in Hoboken, which was one of the original
bases for the hobo. Second, Doormat is still a publishing
company without a home, so we are now basically a Hobo Publishing
company. We've set up our offices in the back of box cars,
we collect on foreign territories by holding out our hand,
we burn contracts to keep warm. Recently to make money, we've
used our songwriter talent pool to score Rentless the
musical. Thankfully, the talent is still working, and here's
some highlights of the past couple of months:
Doormat is proud to announce the signing of TOBIN SPROUT.
Ex-GBV, whatever, Tobin, recently released his solo debut
Carnival Boy on Matador and it rules the world. Wow,
did I just say "rules the world?" Yikes, well you should check
it out. Welcome to the family, Tobin.
Also on the Matador label, CAT POWER have been touring
the world, making an especially strong dent in France. What
Would the Community Think is now the biggest selling Matador
French release--even beating out the Frogs! (sorry) A CD5
with "Nude as the News" was released in Europe on Matador.
Tentative Europe and States date coming up, I think.
PELL MELL have been very busy. First, "Revival" made
an appearance on a promo for some Must See TV. The tune was
used in a commercial for "The Pretender," which is part of
the Thrillology series. The big news for Pell Mell
was the scoring of the film The Green Monster, a documentary
about the '50s stock car driver Art Fonz. Believe the hype,
it's a classic. The film is being released by Matador Films
(really!). No release date yet but I'll keep you posted.
Pell Mell are going into record a new LP in February with
producer Tchad Blake for a fall release.
NOTHING PAINTED BLUE: Well, the long-awaited singles
compilation is coming out in April. The new record is well
into the overdub stage. It should be finished in the next
few months and will hopefully come out in October, though
if it turns out that they can't tour around then, it may be
pushed back. Franklin has a limited edition (of 100) solo
7" coming out on Dark Beloved Cloud and another from Germany's
Little Teddy, probably... Franklin's New Year's resolution
is: "Write a new song every other week, and so far I've stuck
to it, but it's only the third week of January." Hmmm, I must
remember to call Franklin every week and ask for a copy of
his latest tune.
LIQUOR GIANTS:
The following was written by David Vodicka at Rubber
Records about Ward Dotson's Australian Tour:
"Ward tour--was great--played our Xmas party and had the
Shock staff a-talking (Shock being our distributor). Played
a Thursday headline to 130 payers and a rapt audience. Played
Friday supporting Underground Lovers to about 400 (these shows
all in Melbane backed by Icecream Hands, who played exceptionally
well. You wouldn't pick they weren't his regular band). Then
he flew to Sydney and guested with Tim Rogers' lead guy in
You Am I (a band that still means nothing in the U.S. but
here the last two You Am I records have debuted at #1 on the
mainstream charts so they're kinda legends). Rogers introduced
Ward as the greatest guy since sliced bread, backed him on
'Chocolate Clown' and 'Just Might Cry' and promised him a
shot at You Am I national supports later this year.... The
Liquor Giants have been doing gigs up and down the coast,
and have more gigs and recording planned."
THE SCHRAMMS: Toured Europe in November. They even
played a couple of shows with Townes Van Zant (November 18th
in Munich could have been one of his last). The record Dizzy
Spell is out in Europe and doing well. They are currently
in hobo land looking for the proper U.S. record deal.
BARDO POND: Drunken Fish is releasing a CD by Hash
Jar Tempo, a collaboration between Roy Montgomery and Bardo
Pond. It's coming out on March 17. Bardo are starting to record
some new stuff as well.
SILKWORM: New LP, new tours, but no new clothes .
. .
As you may or may not remember from last issue, I was working
on writing scripts as a way to supplement my income. Well,
it didn't work out at UPN with Pokey and the Gang.
The president of the network said "it wasn't the one." So
I went back to the drawing board and decided to make the show
based around the premise of the cat (Pokey) and the two dumb
dogs (Slack and Flack) forming a techno band. The show Scratch
and Sniff will featuring DJ Slack, MC Flack and Mix Master
Pokey and it will center around how none of the animals play
instruments, but hey, not like that has stopped any humans.
Word on the set has it that Slack and Flack are having problems
walking around with baggy jeans, but Poky looks sharp in a
his stripped ski sweater and his pierced tail. The dogs, due
to religious reasons, won't get tattoos. The pilot episode
features the furry techno trio running amuck at a rave after
their milk bowls are spiked with ecstasy. Next thing you know,
the feline DJ and his possee of pooches are busting a move
with their big phat animal beats.
PLEASE KILL ME
Oh, HOBOken, never ceases to amaze me. There's Small
Burgers where they have, you know, "small burgers." Cow design
wall paper makes it the place to go, except now we
also have Planet Hoboken, which has cars hanging on the ceiling!
Two other new stores have opened and are so funny even Saturday
Night Live couldn't stop them from getting laughs:
First off: A Time To Kiln. That's right, a mere ten blocks
from my apartment is my own "paint your own pottery store."
Now that's the store I've been waiting for all my life! Finally
a store where I get to glaze and fire all my favorite dinnerware
and candlesticks. Let me tell you, it's hours of entertainment,
plus they have corporate events there. The place for
the Doormat party!
Second: ah yes, the British Food Store. Yup, you could imagine
my confusion staring at the storefront with the teas and the
British Flags, but then the sign came up: "Tuck Shop, purveyors
of English and Irish Foods." Yum! All of my favorite foods
are there including "Heinz Baked Beans, teas, Prawn Flavored
Crisps, and Marmalade?" Hopefully they will open a sister
store specializing in British Teeth and Skin Care Products.
Back to the boxcar,
Lyle
Doormat Publishing is Matador's in-house publishing company.
Artists on the Matador label do not necessarily publish through
Doormat, though, and vice versa.
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