Two extremely significant events happened on this day in history – August 16… Elvis Presley was found dead in his Graceland bathroom, clutching the book A Scientific Search For The Face of Jesus, and the Ramones took the stage for the very first time at CBGBs, ushering in a new era in American music. While […]
Tag Archives: 1977
Which happened first, the death of Elvis or the Ramones’ first show at CBGB?
John Doe: On the origins of X, what the history books get wrong about the LA punk scene, and the fucked up state of our world
I had the opportunity a few days ago to speak briefly with John Doe of the legendary Los Angeles punk band X. Doe, along with his bandmates Exene Cervenka, Billy Zoom, DJ Bonebrake, after making their way thorugh Chicago in early September, will be playing two dates in Michingan… September 6 at The Magic Bag […]
Contemplating the life of Veronica Lake
It started out innocently enough… I was sitting here, waiting for the storm to begin, and listening to two of my favorite people, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest, discussing one of my favorite films, Sullivan’s Travels, and, then, one thing led to another, and I ended up going one YouTube link too far. Now I’m […]
On dead birds, big feet
I’d set out to write a really comprehensive piece about the thousands of dead birds and other animals that have been dying in heavy concentrations these past few days, but I can’t seem to do it. Maybe, deep down inside, I’m scared. Maybe I’m afraid that I’ll come to the conclusion that our planet has […]
Tom Snyder, new wave, and Kim Fowley
I’ve got work to do tonight, but I can’t seem to find the energy. So, I’m procrastinating, watching old episodes of The Tomorrow Show, and bemoaning the fact that we don’t have good, substantive late night talk shows anymore, or, for that matter, television hosts like Tom Synder. For those of you unfamiliar with Tom, […]