(Curb, right, relieved that Blender has left him off the hook)

Blender’s just issued their “20 Biggest Record Company Screw-Ups of All Time” list, and while I’m grateful Matador escaped their wrath (amazingly, no mention of Johan Kugelberg’s departure or “Whitechocolatespaceegg”), I’m still not entirely satisfied with the selections on offer.

Sure, it’s hard to argue with a few of ‘em (ie. Berry Gordy selling Motown for a collection of blankets and beads, Geffen suing Neil Young for making records that stiffed) and there’s undoubtedly others that should’ve made the cut (Mike Curb dropping the Velvets, the Mothers Of Invention and Solger on the same day).  But I’m pretty sure there’s no way you can make a list of historic rock biz fuck ups without mentioning there was once a bidding war for a band called Spade Ghetto Destruction.

1) Someone named “Mitch Michaels” calls Courtney Love’s blogs “impossible to decipher”. Heck, you should see some of the Matablog entries before I get my hands on ‘em.

2) Courtney is s being roundly mocked for claiming someone bought a house in New Jersey using Kurt Cobain’s social security number. I totally believe her ; I almost bought a house next door to someone named Lee Ving 4 years ago, and there’s no way you can tell me that was the former Fear vocalist’s residence. He’s at least as dead as Kurt.

3) It’s not she’d make a stink for no reason whatsoever. Someone’s been using Falling James’ identity to buy stuff (newspapers, correcto-type) for ages and please note NO WILD PRESS CONFERENCE was called.

So lay off, already. Anyone who thinks it’s easy to blow through tens of millions of dollars probably hasn’t tried it.

Ahh… Even As We Speak. Hand-fingerpainted sleeve, I haven’t listened to it in years, and can’t listen to it now (neighbors are nightmares). Australian or GB? Who knows. Weird association with Scapa Flow in mind. In any event, there it is. What is useful about this series is showing up the incredible banality of any collection, even ones the owner proudly thinks of as “edited.”

To see more of your favorite album covers literally in all their fleshy glory go here.

Gerard came on strong with the Frantix single… though as I remember it, their previous 7″ with the B&W sleeve was actually better musically (not as intense visually or conceptualy, obviously – they nailed that).

However my choices are ACTUALLY random…… hence the incredible lameness of the last one. OK, let’s see what it’s going to be tonight – I actually have not done the random pick yet. Here goes. [break]

All right. Just look at that. No points for guessing what the B-side is called. See, you kids today, you have no variety in your lives (9000, I hope you’re reading this). The kind of TANGIBLE randomness that today’s choice represents is completely unavailable to you. And if you think just because I’m showing a pic of a single that doesn’t mean there’s an MP3 link. Music is NOT the point. Thank you very much.

Painstakingly fished from the Live at The Bradford Ballroom, March 12, 1983 DVD that accompanies Vs.

As you might’ve read via Pitchfork or Idolator,  Michael Kaminski of Akron, OH was arrested last weekend for trying to hold up a video store with a cologne bottle shaped like a gun. Why might PF  give a hoot about the Akron police blotter?  Well, as it turns out, Kaminski is a former member of NYC avant combo Cop Shoot Cop.

Or so I’m told. When I saw the PF headline, “Ex-Cop Shoot Cop Dude Attempts Boneheaded Robbery“, I thought, “no, not sweet globe-trotting Tod A.  Please don’t let it be the dashing David Quimet.  If Jack Natz or Phil Puleo are facing jail time, where can I send the cake with the file inside?”

But it wasn’t any of those guys. It was Michael Kaminski, who by virtue of being a replacement guitarist during the group’s 7th and final year of existance (please note that Kaminski is featured on none of CSC’s commercially available recordings)  has given rock bloggers around the globe a chance to sneeringly drop a band name they might not otherwise bother with.

While I’m sure some of you would just as soon file this story under “who gives a fuck?”, the PF thing bugs me. If Willie Alexander got pinched for failing to pay his parking tickets, I doubt the Boston papers would run a headline claiming “VELVET UNDERGROUND ROCKER JAILED”.

Granted, there’s something irresistable about a dude from a band called Cop Shoot Cop being nabbed with a faux firearm. Except the guy in question was barely a member and the fellows responsible for CSC’s surviving works, have not, to my knowledge, been charged with any felonies in the past 7 days.

(Mother Mercy, above, include no members, original or otherwise, from LA Guns, Faster Pussycat, Odin, D’Molls, Pretty Boy Floyd, Foxx or Reinkus Tide.)

The LA Times’ Neal Shah on the sort of legal wrangling that sounds terribly familiar to anyone who ever purchased a Dead Kennedys ticket and ended up watching Brandon Cruz.

Steve Riley is a survivor. At 51, he still plays the drums for L.A. Guns, a biker-themed hair-metal band famous mostly for once featuring Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose. Riley and first mate Phil Lewis, who sang L.A. Guns’ only Top 40 hit, “The Ballad of Jayne,” toured Australia last fall before joining Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil for a show in St. Paul, Minn.

Downe, 43, says he rejected an overture from Muscat to share the band’s name. “It’s my company. Someone from Starbucks is not going to go out and form another company called Starbucks.”

For perhaps the first and last time in his career, Downe has made a salient point. Perhaps Muscat should start a band called LA’s Best Guns?

Family tree connections to The Fluid aside, the above single is the greatest thing that ever happened in the city of Denver other than the time Denny Neagle sang “Caught With The Meat In Your Mouth” at karaoke. Thanks to the folks at Smooch Records, it is now available on the popular compact disc format for a price everyone can afford.  Well, everyone except Denny.

The above is the first chapter in the “random single from the collection” series, which will be happening as long as I can annoy people with it. This one is, appropriately enough, an incredibly boring French-Japanese childrens-lounge music single from 1997, recommended me by Yasuharu Konishi at a store in Tokyo the year it came out. Maybe one day it will be cool.

snazzy, albeit brief video footage (above), in honor of Dave Bass’ Distortions releasing ‘Government War Plans’. OK, maybe it came out a while ago, but I just found a copy the other day.

As far the clip above, I recognize Dave Smalley and Jamie Sciarappa in the chorus line. Who knows? Maybe you’re in there, too.

Cleveland guitarist Jim Jones, a member of Pere Ubu from 1987-2002, and a player with bands including Home & Garden, The Mirrors, the Styrenes and the Easter Monkeys passed away on Monday evening. Jones was 57.

(an obituary from the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s John Petkovic)

From Pollstar :

It’s too late to be any consolation to John Lennon or George Harrison, but Israel has apologized to the surviving Beatles for banning them from the country in the 1960s.

It was believed at the time that a live appearance by the band in Tel Aviv could be a threat to the morals of the nation’s youth.

In a barely related note, it’s still impossible for Klaatu to play Israel. Not because they’re banned, mind you, but rather because no one’s going to invite them.

Nils and Zach both celebrated birthdays earlier this week and it seems the tasty Carvel cakes I shipped to each of them ended up melting in the lobby of 304 Hudson St. (something about how the cake didn’t have proper ID for security).  Sorry, dudes.

That said, I was able to find the very next best thing in the entire world. Vintage footage of Siege rendering music, video and American flags done and dusted, back in the year 1984.   Don’t bother sending me a thank you note — I already know you’re thrilled.

Kicking ass (the musical sort, hopefully) somewhere in the great beyond.  Good night, Ike Turner.  Sure, he might’ve beat the holy heck out of Angela Bassett Tina, but how many musical genres have you invented/re-shaped lately?

(the youthful SSD, doing their best to clean up Boston’s Combat Zone)

from eBay (link courtesy Patrick) :

Masterdisk Corporation NYC, USA May 1982. The set of two 1-sided 12″ 45rpm acetates for the later XClaim-release of Boston`s first straight-edge hardcore LP: Disc 1 (Side a): Boiling Point, Fight Them, Do You Ever Care?, Not Normal, Wasted Youth, Jock Itch, Fun To You, Violent Attack, How Much Art. Disc 2 (Side b): The Kids Will Have Their Say, Headed Straight, War Threat, Teach Me Violence, Screw, Who`s To Judge, Police Beat, Unity, The End. In white gatefold cardboard cover with sticker on front. The acetates are in finest condition. Photocopy of the original invoice enclosed. Postage costs depend on your location. Payment can be made by bank transfer, Paypal, IMO or something other. I will soon sell more records so stay tuned.

No square inch of scenery left to chew, no square inch of Shatner’s ass to kiss, and no clips of the interview on YouTube yet, but one can enjoy Mike Patton exploring everything that happened in music between The Infectious Grooves and Linkin Park!

The Girls : Daved Hild, Robin Amos, George Condo, Mark Dagley, circa 1978, long before Boston was Titletown and even longer before people like us figured out how to commodify stuff like this. YouTube link courtesy Jane, Pat.

http://www.couldntyouwait.com

http://www.myspace.com/couldntyouwait

Bid at your own risk, folks.

Remember how that rare Velvet Underground acetate was unearthed at the Chelsea flea market by a clueless record digger (I hate that guy).
Well people, that was just an hors d’eourve, this is the main course. Here is a chance to own suitable for framing Indie Rock history acetates from hottt Matador band Pretty Girls Make Graves. I happened upon these GRAILS at a rummage sale adjoining a Renaissance Faire in upstate New York. I was dressed as a dark knave.

Unlike that Velvet Underground acetate playtested hype auction (I hate him), these virginally pure acetates have been untouched by the hand of Man.
This is *investment grade* vinyl, and we would not dare sully it. Only the winner of this auction will decide whether to enjoy these recordings on an audiophile quality system or frame them in rarest teakwood.

From Reuters :

Canada's biggest phone company has apologized after a punk-rock reference to the Holocaust appeared on billboard advertisements for its cellphones.

The ads for Bell Canada's Solo discount service showed a young woman decked out in flashy punk rock attire, with a button that reads "Belsen was a gas" — the controversial title of a song by the Sex Pistols, and a reference to Nazi Germany's Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

"It was inadvertent," Bell Canada spokesman Mark Langton said on Friday, noting that the dozen ads were taken down as soon as the company realized its mistake. "Obviously, we would never depict such an offensive slogan in our advertising."

He said Bell officials approved the ads after examining sample images that were smaller than the final billboards. The button inscription could only be read when the ads were blown up to their full size, he said.

"In the proofing and approval materials, it was impossible to see the button, so our folks missed it."

Cell Freak helpfull points out most of the prisoners at Berger-Belsen "actually died after being beaten to death or from a Typhus epidemic in late 1944."   So I'm feeling better about Canada Bell already. 

For every Television, there was an Inflatable Boy Clams.  For every Ramones, there was a Rude Buddha. For every Agnostic Front there was Envelope…there was Agnostic Front.  You get the idea.

(left to right : Hily, Paul Simon. Not shown : Jimmy Gestapo, Donny The Punk)

An inconsistent booking aesthetic and life threatening chili aside, we'll choose to remember the late Hilly Kristal fondly, and for all the "it's not as good as it used to be" grumblings about CBGB's (some of which, to be fair, started in 1978) there's no disputing that some of the greatest shows we ever witnessed took place on the Bowery between 1st and 2nd.

Heck, some of 'em even took place inside the club. 

What in blazes does soul legend George McRae have to do with Matador Records and Filmworks?  Well, unless you count Yo La Tengo's inspired cover of "You Can Have It All", of the Frogs' paen to George's longtime muse, "Gwedolyn McRae", absolutely nothing.

That disclaimer aside, the official George McRae website is a terrifying blast from the past.  The past in this case being the heady interweb design days of 1994.

Former Panty Line Fever editor Rick Hall was moved to write, "check out his rather primitive WEBPAGE that makes my browser crash. Read his grandiose BIO that, with its superstar hyperbole, deserves an audiobook reading by the guy from J&H PRODUCTIONS".  And Hall's right on the money, it's a doozy.  Were you aware, for instance, that McRae was the recipient of the Luxembourg Golden Lion Award for Outstanding Achievement By A Foreign Artist in Germany ? ("Frank Sinatra is the only other U.S.A. Recipient of this award" – huh, eat shit and die Hasselhoff!)

Anyhow, read it at your own risk. And if there's anything about the site's layout that seems a tad familiar, just remember that George isn't merely "The Disco Pioneer", he's also an HMTL innovator to boot. 

Songwriter and producer extraordinair Lee Hazelwood passed away this weekend in Henderson, NV following a long battle with cancer.

A full obit can be found at New York Night Train.

Hazelwood's manager has requested that those wishing to honor Lee's memory do so by making a donation to the Salvation Army. 

As luck would have it, one day after former Matador warehouse workhorse Mark Ibold was profiled by New York Magazine, the following item appeared over at Badminton Stamps (link swiped from Baseball Think Factory)

For their "21st century" encore, Sonic Youth was joined by their new touring member, bassist Mark Ibold. You may remember the lovable Ibold from his days with Pavement. Sonic Youth and Pavement. Very impressive. In fact, it may even be the coolest the two band turn known to man. While Ron Wood's tenure in The Faces and The Rolling Stones is impressive, for straight indie cred Jerry Harrison's membership in The Modern Lovers and The Talking Heads has long been considered untouchable. In fact, some have claimed his record was as unbreakable as the baseball home run records of yore. And like the imminent crumbling of the round trip titles held by Ruth and Aaron, there can be only one explanation for Ibold's triumphant challenge to Harrison's glory: steroids. That's right; Mark Ibold, the chubby charmster himself, is doping. We all know how tempting, and accessible, steroids are to bassists just a wee bit past their youthful glory days. These musical warriors thirst for greatness, a thirst that can only be quenched with the succor of sweet, sweet 'roid juice. Plus there's no better way to bulk up your rock and roll credibility than by shooting drugs into your ass.

Ahem. Having loitered in the dressing rooms of both Sonic Youth and Pavement on more than one occasion, I can vouch for Mr. Ibold's All Natural status.  But as far as "coolest two band turn known to man" is concerned, where's the love for the Dustdevils? Free Kitten? Wall Drug?  Much the way Barry Bonds' detractors manage to gloss over his days as arguably the game's best all-around player while a svelte member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, I truly believe Mark is getting a similar raw deal in this instance. 

(link swiped from Sean Bonner via Boing Boing)

This is possibly the only reason for wanting to step foot anywhere near James Blunt… 

Spinal Tap, the greatest band that never was, are to play at the Live Earth gig at Wembley, London on 7 July. The three actors Michael McKeen (David St Hubbins), Christopher Guest (Nigel Tufnell) and Harry Shearer (Derek Smalls) have been brought together for the appearance by the director of 'This Is Spinal Tap', Rob Reiner. A short ten minute film has also been made, and will be screened at the gig.

Reiner says of the band's appearance: "They're not that environmentally
conscious, but they've heard of global warming. Nigel thought it was just
because he was wearing too much clothing – that if he just took his jacket
off it would be cooler."

(pic by Lori Lee, used without permission)

With all due respect to Angus Young, Rowland S. Howard and Steve Lucas, The Coloured Balls' Lobby Loyde might be the most important Australian rock guitarist of his generation or any other.  Loyde passed away Saturday after a struggle with lung cancer — he's capabaly eulogized at WFMU's Beware Of The Blog by Brian Turner.

Starting off in 1963 with various combos including the Stilletos, Purple Hearts, Wild Cherries, and Thorpe's early Aztecs, Lobby took his amazing guitar playing through many phases from straightforward R&B through acid psych and spacerock soundtracks and schooled countless countrymen for years to come.

Matador Direct's esteemed Dave Martin (right) brings his patented the-customer-is-always-wrong ethos to New York Noise.