MOG - White and Nerdy's Posts

a Dark Surprise for Anna

White and Nerdy — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:50:15 GMT

The last 2 weeks have been so busy, that it took me some time to catch up on MOG. One of the post that got me thinking was Anna’s post about live records killing live music, read it here -> http://mog.com/Anna/blog_post/16975

I started to think about songs where the live recorded version blows the studio version out of the water. Dark Surprise by Radio Birdman is one of these songs. Some years ago I picked up a bootleg with the studio version of this song and the studio version just does not capture the over all feeling like this live version. It lacks the energy of being on stage in front of an audience. It sounds too relaxed and lame, this live version is the Birdman that we all know and love (well, those of us that know and love them. If you don't maybe this will be a good intro): intense and alive. And this particular recording has the advantage of NOT being of bootleg quality. Birdman did some amazing studio work, to be sure, however a song like this really shines in "live" form...in my opinion.

I’m not trying to convert anyone, just offer an example of what is so wonderful about live recordings.

Florence Desmond

White and Nerdy — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:21:34 GMT

I’ve been listening to a lot of wartime radio lately, ironically via Internet radio stations (although for effect I’d probably rather be listening to these stations on the wireless while taking it easy on the Davenport). I guess they call it "wartime" because "oldies" means something rather different nowadays. I started listening to this stuff as I really dig crooners, big bands, flappers & vamps and all that stuff. Such style! And I shouldn’t forget to say that the stations play lots of Bob Hope’s military appearances and Who’s On First?, which never fail to crack me up.

I’ve learned more about WWII listening to these stations than I ever did in school! After all I am the product of the American public school system. One thing I’ve been learning is that the young lady singers of today who think they are dirty and nasty and clever and all that, have probably never heard Florence Desmond. I don’t know how popular this song may or may not have been when it was recorded but I wonder how this woman got away with it? Did the innuendo go over the heads of some people, while the right people totally understood this? When I first heard this I was laughter, thinking, "wow, this is the dirtiest song ever." Then I thought "wait a minute, this song actually says something about the world at that time."

Just a few thoughts on what I think might be one of the dirtest songs ever.

Money Comes, Money Goes

White and Nerdy — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:07:15 GMT

Not too much is known about this guy calling himself Yumpalong Yanson, in fact I don’t even known what his real name was. When I do an Internet search the only hit that comes up is my page, that I compile as part of my Scandinavian Comedy music preservation project: http://www.streetsofscience.net/sac.html Yumpalong was yet another Scandinavian-American comic artist that recorded in the early days of the last century. Singing silly songs about everyday life things, like not having enough cash. Yumpalong sings in the signature accent that typified such artists such as himself, Yogi Yorgesson, Stan & Doug and the handful of other artists of that time. From the accent alone you get a sense of the American immigrant world that once was. That is, that people STILL had their cultural accents and roots. America has certainly come along way since Yumpalong roamed the earth.

Fast-forward to the modern age and Swedes and other Scandinavians are still making great music. Only they don’t let their accents through. I’ve spent some years documenting the underground high-energy Rock and Roll scene and it’s connections between the USA and Nordic Europe. I’ve been asked/invited to show photographs at the American Swedish Institute (ASI) during the month of July. http://www.americanswedishinst.org/ASI/Exhibits.html Sweden has been a constant photographic theme for me for a long time, as has been music. Now I’m pleased to exhibit some of my images as the show “Together In The Darkness: the Rock & Roll Music Culture in Sweden”. Showing at the ASI in Minneapolis, MN from June 29th thru August 3rd. In doing this show, my money is certainly in the “going” category that Yumpalong sings to us. I know it’s not cool or polite or whatever to admit this kind of thing, but this exhibit is putting this white, nerdy guy in the dog house. But this is what happens when you care about something, your money comes and then it goes. No use in trying to hold onto it, just keep it moving. I’m hoping it comes back eventually.

To paraphrase Omar Little “Your money ain’t got no owners, only spenders.”

Welcome to the American Nightmare

White and Nerdy — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:06:22 GMT

America is in some bad shape these days and the people in charge could care less. And I tell ya’, the bad news in Michigan just doesn’t stop. Jobs getting erased EVERY day. The auto industry has never been smart enough to grasp the concept of sustainability in economy. Hello, did you fail Economics 101? Long run!! Kwamee is crooked and no one, not even GOVERNOR GRANHOLM will do anything about it! Lightweights, I say, a bunch of lightweights! And this morning on the radio I hear a report that some official committee decided that the answer to retaining college graduates in this state is, get this, create more internships?? Yeah, because no one would want an actual JOB after college. Why work a real job when you can work for free as an intern? That dangling carrot in front of you, representing the hope that maybe someday the internship will become a job. You pinheads! Jobs jobs jobs is what Michigan needs!!! Stop wasting time trying to ban smoking in restaurants and bars and bring some blasted JOBS back to Michigan. Is all our pinhead leaders can do is get into sex scandals and kill hookers and cut jobs and pussy foot around issues instead of solving problems? Yes, you all know who you are; I don’t need to name names. Ahhhhhh, it feels good to be a taxpayer.

In a fit of rage and frustration I bring you all a history lesson from one bright point of light from this once great state. I only wish the chickens would come home to roost!!! But in the immortal double negative words of Dennis Thompson “...you will shut the f**k up!...don’t make no trouble...”

THE AMERICAN RUSE (Words & music by MC5)

They told you in school about freedom But when you try to be free they never let ya They said "it's easy, nothing to it" And now the army's out to get ya

Sixty-nine America in terminal stasis The air's so thick it's like drowning in molasses I'm sick and tired of paying these dues And I'm finally getting hip to the American ruse

I learned to say the pledge of allegiance Before they beat me bloody down at the station They haven't got a word out of me since I got a billion years probation

Sixty-nine America in terminal stasis The air's so thick it's like drowning in molasses I'm sick and tired of paying these dues And i'm sick to my guts of the American ruse Phony stars, oh no! Crummy cars, oh no! Cheap guitars, oh no! Joe's primitive bar... nah!

Rock'em back, Sonic!

The way they pull you over it's suspicious Yeah, for something that just ain't your fault If you complain they're gonna get vicious Kick in the teeth and charge you with assault Yeah, but I can see the chickens coming home to roost Young people everywhere are gonna cook their goose Lots of kids are working to get rid of these blues ‘cause everybody's sick of the American ruse

Well, well, well, take a look around! Well, well, well, take a look around! Well, well, well, take a look around! Well, well, well, take a look around! Well, well, well, take a look around!

You Call It Madness

White and Nerdy — Sun, 25 May 2008 03:07:54 GMT

I have been on an accidental MOG strike for 2 months now. It's been a mad, insane past 2 months since I posted last. I've been hiding over here-> http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefanmp. And I've been getting back to spending time behind the camera instead of behind the keyboard. Anyway, since reading about the strike I thought this would be a good time to "come back". During my little hiatus (sabbatical???) I've been letting my iTunes call the shots and this song has popped up on quite a few occasions. Night Boat To Cairo by Madness!

I used to think One Step Beyond was THEE Madness song, however the magic of the iTunes shuffle has reminded me of their other great songs. There's something almost soothing about Night Boat To Cairo. Perhaps it's the thought of being on a boat at night heading somewhere, away from troubles and cares. That night boat to Helsinki usually does the trick for me, but Madness preferred Egypt it seems. Still a great (2Tone ska) song! If you've forgotten about your Madness LPs or never heard the sounds...have a listen.

An unearthed treasure: the Stra-a-a-a-angemen

White and Nerdy — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 03:45:37 GMT

I'm avoiding some photo work right now that will benefit me, maybe even bring in some cash in the long run. Scanning slides can wait a little longer. So I thought this would be a good way to avoid responsibility for a few moments: writing about a CD I took a chance on 8 years ago or so. I found it at a CD shop for $1 or $2, I don't remember. But I'm glad I took the chance.

Surf music with vocals! I've said it before: I'm a sucker for surf guitar music. I don't know why, I just dig it! I could blame the Kids In The Hall for this, but rather I should thank them and Shadowy Men. Anyway...Honestly there is absolutely nothing new with surf music and to quote the Hurriganes "it's not what do, it's how you do." If you perform this style well, then, you rock! And these guys did it well. I was quite honestly surprised that they made it work with vocals. I could tell from the huge blond pompadour hairdos and the we-ripped-it-off-from-Stringray font they used for their logo that this was going to be fun. Song titles like 'Hitch-Hike UFO' and 'Beat From 20 000 Fathoms' made it sound that much more fun. I listened to the CD off an on over the past 8 years but once I put this stuff into my iPod it started to stick with me more. Honestly if I had this on vinyl it'd be getting a lot more play, but I think it was only released on CD.

I present to you the song Elvis Inside Of Me.

Love, Motown style.

White and Nerdy — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:24:45 GMT

Wow, I have been silent on MOG for far too long. However in my defense I have told many people that being in the thick of winter, I've been outside away from the computer enjoying the cold weather and snow.

Since it's Valentine's day I was thinking about just how many songs men write about how much they love women (although my first thought on this day is always The St. Valentine's Day Massacre). I think this song by the Four Tops is one of my favorite popular songs on the subject of love. Totally classic Motown elements all over this piece - the beat, the lyrics and basically the whole vibe. Although the Four Tops are more well known for other songs, I always thought this one was one of their better songs.

Enough for now, don't let me distract you from your chocolates and chalk shaped hearts.

2007 Music wrap up

White and Nerdy — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 19:40:30 GMT

I wish I had found MORE great music during 2007. It maybe that I'll connect with stuff from this past year a year from now, who knows. At any rate, here in no particular order are the albums I acquired during 2007 that are most worthy of note. I'm lying a little bit, as the Flaming Sideburns (of Helsinki, Finland) are first on my list. If you all have been following me long you know how much I dig this band.

Their album Keys To the Highway was released earlier this year in Europe. No official US release as of yet, sadly. Luckily I scored a copy in Finland (thanks Mela!). These guys have been playing rock'n'roll for a lot of years. I honestly don't know what else to call it other than rock'n'roll. Why these aren't as big as the Rolling Stones, I'll never know. A lot of great songs on this album: Rock'n'roll Bang!, Lost Generation, Roky Mountain Sidegates. I'm tagging this with the song Challengin' which happens to be one of my favorites off the record.

I'm trying to upload it so y'all can have a listen but MOG hates me today it seems.

A short song for the shortest day of the year

White and Nerdy — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 04:30:56 GMT

Folks, we are on the bridge of the shortest day of the year (I think the 22nd is actually the shortest). This is typically one of my favorite days of the year because I dig the snowy, dark, coldness of it all...and, NO I am not goth (although I do dig Peter Murphy and Fields Of Nephilim)...I just happen to really like winter. This day last year was awesome as I was living in Sweden and it was cool to see the sun go down at something like 2:30 PM.

Anyway, in celebration of this shortest day I thought I'd check my iTunes for the shortest song. There are some mighty short sound clips but I discounted those and I knew this was coming: Pressure by Negative Approach. Leave it up to John 'Can't Tell No One' Brannon to squeeze frustration, anger and rage into 14 seconds!

I suppose I could have posted the longest song I have in celebration of such a long night but I thought this was more fun.

Mog anniversary, it feels good to be 1 year old again

White and Nerdy — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 05:26:16 GMT

I didn't intend this, it just happens to be past midnight and I noticed that it was one year ago today that I joined MOG. I forgot that today was the day...heck I'm tired anyway, just got back from a business trip and was thinking about MOG for some reason.

Anyways...my first post was about this wonderful band the Sonic's Rendezvous Band. You can read it here. Fred Sonic Smith's band post-MC5. I had just gotten the 6 CD box set days before joining MOG and it blew me away. I knew it would. Fred, in my opinion, was one very underrated guitarist. He just worked so well with the bands that he was involved in. He was Detroit Rock, back when Detroit actually rocked (by the way I wasn't there for the rock in Detroit, I wasn't quite born yet).

I'm still here, hanging around the Mog-o-sphere. And I'm remembering that Crash was one of the first to welcome me aboard to this website, it was strange to see him go. When I signed on I was living in Sweden, now I'm (sadly) living in the States again. My how things have changed over the course of a year. Hopefully this next year will bring some positive changes!

I was trying to upload a song but MOG just doesn't want to take it. Sorry folks. Maybe a little later.

Punk rock tuesday Victims - Television Addict

White and Nerdy — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 04:12:45 GMT

Today at work they were replacing the front entrance(not just the door), which means the entire front entrance of the building I work in was taken off. In December. In the midwest. Why no one thought to replace the this in September is beyond me...Anyway, one of the advantages of being stuck in the back of the building, in a cube like Milton in Office Space is that I was warm today. What does this have to do with punk and TV and Australian rock? 2 of the receptionists came to the back to get warmed up and we ended up talking about all the horrible progams on TV these days. Roommates that spend too much time watching absolute garbage. Reality programs that are not reality. 24 hour news channels as entertainment. I could go on and on, and you all probably know what I would say, so I'll cut to the chase...

Dedicated to all those folks that watch WAY too much TV for no real reason at all and watch the most useless programs, I send out to thee "Television Addict" by Australia's Victims. A somewhat Saintsy sounding tune (imagine that) with appropriately snotty vocals. This is on the masterfully compiled compilation Do The Pop; 2 CDs of increadible Aussie garage & punk circa late 1970s & 1980s.

These Aussies know how to rock!

I’m Gonna Vote Republican

White and Nerdy — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:09:10 GMT

November is election month and we Americans are 1 year out from the BIG presidential election. I’ve briefly mentioned before a little music preservation project of mine involving Scandinavian-American humor recordings. You can read more about it here http://www.streetsofscience.net/sac.html

Scandinavian-Americans love to talk politics, once you’ve loosened them up a bit with friendliness or alcohol. There was one man that pretty much tackled the 2 party voting process we have here in America, within song. That man went by the name of Yogi Yorgesson and in this song he comically covers many of the reasons that people would vote for a republican candidate as opposed to a democrat.

I’ve made a post of the Democrat song here, which happens to be on the flip side of this 78.

A note on the MP3: I transferred this from my 78RPM vinyl, thus the crackly quality.

I’m Gonna Vote For A Democrat

White and Nerdy — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:01:53 GMT

I’ve made a post of the Republican song here, which happens to be on the flip side of this 78.

A note on the MP3: I transferred this from my 78RPM vinyl, thus the crackly quality.

In memory of Fred Sonic Smith

White and Nerdy — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 01:14:59 GMT

Cast your mind back to 1994, November, the 5th day. A man by the name of Fred Sonic Smith passed away in the Detroit suburbs on this day. His name may not be as well known as Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Clapton, or any of the most popular names thrown around these days but Fred Sonic Smith was absolute magic behind the guitar.

Raised in the Detroit suburb of Lincoln Park, he was one of the founders of the MC5. The MC5 being one of the more notable Michigan bands of the late 1960s, in fact one that helped define the style "Detroit Rock." The MC5's antics are certainly legendary but so is the guitar sound. After the MC5 disolved Fred formed a few other bands that never recorded. Married Patti Smith, yes, THAT Patti Smith. Ended up recruiting ex-Stooges drummer Scott Asheton (AKA - Rock Action), Gary Rassmusen and Scott Morgon to form Sonic's Rendezvous Band. Sadly the Rendezvous Band never got the attention that the MC5 did, partly due to the fact that they barely toured outside the Midwest and only released one (now extremely rare) 45 RPM single: City Slang. However their sound was intense and they were definately one of those bands that had all the right people working together at the right time. Unfortunately the band broke up in the late 1970s.

There's still a handful of us in Michigan where the life Fred Sonic Smith holds great meaning. However if you ask virtually any rock and roller in Spain, Sweden, France, Germany, Finland, Norway, Netherlands and most other western and northern European nations about Fred you'll probably get an earful of how great he was. Thank goodness for bands like the Hellacopters for bringing Fred's name back into current day conciousness. On thier 1997 album "Payin' The Dues" they recorded a cover of City Slang.

Today is a day to remember a great musician that is gone but certainly not forgotten.

Graveyard Rock – my ultimate Halloween song

White and Nerdy — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:28:43 GMT

As much as I love the Misfits, greatly enjoy the Cramps and absolutely adore the Forbidden Dimension, none of them have quite recorded a song that screams Halloween for me. One of the coolest Halloween songs goes back in time further than any of these artists.

Some years ago my brother and I found the CD compilation called Horror Hop on the Buffalo Family label. A compilation of ancient rough and spooky horror, monster, weirdo etc tunes. Of all the songs on that awesome compilation I think this song by Tarantula Ghoul represents this season best for me. First of all, it’s just a fun song and Halloween should be a fun time; in this case, rocking out in the graveyard. And I just love the female vocal on this track, it adds a bit of eeriness to all the fun. The way the track ends couldn’t be more fitting for the song and for Halloween itself.

Dig it.

The good news about Chris (Crash) Pryor

White and Nerdy — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:02:34 GMT

I'm not typically an optimist, and I really hate to be...however, having said that, I now have this to say:

Even though I am saddened that Crash is no long with us, the good news is, just think about the LONG list of folks he now gets to interview and harass, how cool:

James Brown!!! Elvis Presely Rob Tyner Robert Johnson Johny Cash Tupac Kurt Cobain Keith Moon John Lenon Sid Vicious Tons of actors, actresses and directors and film producers

I'm not gonna make a huge long list of people, there is just some that come to mind. I can't help but think that Chris is in good company.

But, still, we're gonna miss you here Crash! If you've got an internet connection on the other side Chris and can read this, say hello to Fred Sonic Smith for me.

Sorry folks, I don't have a song to tag this with. I can only guess that Chris probably couldn't be summed up by just one.

Return the nature. Animal Day.

White and Nerdy — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 01:10:53 GMT

I haven't had much time to MOG recently, too much real life stuff. However on my bike ride after work today I saw some deer, 4 of 'em, on somebody's front lawn. It got me thinking - thinking about Animal Day.

I remember reading many months ago about Chernobyl being taken over by animals, as there are NO humans there. Several months later I read news reports about coyotes IN Detroit, on the streets. Which really isn't that new, there've been wild dogs populating D-town for some time now. I've been seeing a lot of deer inside Ann Arbor, where I live. As my friend Marc might say; I love me some Wall Of Voodoo...and I couldn't help but think of this song Animal Day. Is it time for nature to come back and take us over? Michigan has been had a leeky population for some time, but now there are, quite literally WHOLE neighborhoods up for sale. With all the people fleeing there's now urban space for the animals to reclaim some habitat. Another part of the equation is that perhaps certain animal populations have become accustomed to human presence and no long fear close proximity with humans. I'm getting too much into wildlife management here...I don't have the original version of this song on CD, only LP. So have a listen to a live version!

Long live Stan Ridgeway, he rocks!

Ever Get the Feeling You've Been Cheated?

White and Nerdy — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 13:35:03 GMT

I'm not talking about Johnny Rotten here. I'm talking about the weather today...it's October, dadgummit and it's going to be darn near 90 degrees out this weekend! Outrageous. I always look forward to October as it's the start of my favorite part of the year, the cold season. I dig cool weather, overcast skys, rain, snow and all that follows with it. I'm not a summer person. Is this global warming? Just a natural warm cycle in the earth? I'm being cheated of an autumnal season.

I've tagged this with the Forbidden Dimension for 2 reasons. First this song, it has the glorious lyric "Summer's almost over/I can't wait to see the leaves and flowers die". That's my feeling right. However summer IS over but it doesn't feel like it. Where's my October? Secondly, this month the NEW Forbidden Dimension LP is being released and I finally have some new music to look forward too. A Cool Sound Outta Hell is the title and it's sure to rock! I swear Jackson Phibes, the man behind the Forbidden Dimension, has yet to let me down musically. I have not heard a bad release from this, ever!

If you're interested to know more, read this: http://www.savedbyvinyl.com/rel_forbidden.htm

Punk rock tuesday: UK SUBS

White and Nerdy — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 03:27:31 GMT

I am so tired right now, and it's because this heat is killing me. I'm not jetlagged, I don't do jetlag. It's been upper 70s since I got back to Michigan from my second home; Sweden. What does this have to do with punk rock and the UK Subs?

I finally got to see the movie This Is England last week while in Sweden (it was just my brother and I and several old ladies on a tuesday afternoon in the cinema, that was an interesting crowd) and the movie employed one of my all time favorite UK Subs songs - Warhead. It starts off with an awesomely dark bass line and then the drums kick in. It's all the bad things about war.

Then on thrusday I was on the rocknroll boat (which is another post altogether) on which the UK Subs performed. I saw Charlie Harper in a hall way before they played so I took the opportunity to introduce myself and tell him that I'm a big fan of the UK Subs and that Warhead is probably my most favorite song of theirs. To which he replied "We still play that one" and indeed they did that night on the boat. And even though he's probably about as old as Iggy Pop, Charlie Harper can still kick out the jams.

Dig it!!!

Blue Eyes and Black Coffee - the end of my experiment

White and Nerdy — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:57:23 GMT

My little coffee experiment is coming to an end. Not because I have a better job and can afford good coffee now but, well, because, just because.

First the drink – it was a $1.79 for about 300grams of Kroger Value coffee. Yes, even cheaper than straight up Kroger Brand coffee. The can is wonderfully generic in packaging you’d almost swear you saw this on the shelf in the film Repo Man in the grocery store scenes. It’s got the word “value” prominently displayed along the top of the label. The taste, well it kinda tasted like dirt and twigs…or at least I imagine this is what dirt and twigs would taste like if you tried to brew ‘em up. I hope my digestive track doesn’t take revenge on my 20 years from now due to this coffee. And since I’m at the end of the can, I’ve been cheating a little and spiking it with some good coffee grounds in the filter.

The music – I’m a bit of a Sinatra fan (which may be an understatement [I still aspire to style my hair like 1950s Sinatra]), especially his Reprise Records era. Before the cheesy strings enter into the production. Ring-A-Ding-Ding is probably my favorite Sinatra LP and partly because side 2 kicks off with The Coffee Song. Any of you that have heard this song know that it’s a real peppy, up-tempo number. It’s the kind of song that makes you happy to be drinking coffee. Black coffee of course, you can dilute the coffee with something like cream or sugar. As one of my friends says “it has to be pure.”

remembering Slim Jim Iverson

White and Nerdy — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 04:07:21 GMT

Every once in awhile I'll get contacted by someone looking for a Scandianvian-American song on CD, usually for their elderly parent.

I have put together a website to catalog Scandinavian-American humor songs from long ago, you can read about it out here:

http://www.streetsofscience.net/sac.html

I started this due to my own severe interest in my own Swedish heritage. Also partly as my own bit of preservation of this very small nich of music. It's basically me and a bunch of old timers who dig this stuff. I'm working on preserving/remembering this music as it really reflects how the world changed for people from this corner of the world as they settled in and adapted to the new world.

Nowadays I get people contacting me occasionally to find out if a certain song is available on CD, as a great many of these songs were originally available only on 78s (very few of which I have). The elderly parent in question often immigrated from Sweden or Norway OR their parents did. These songs are something they remember from childhood. A woman in Minnesota contacted me to find some Slim Jim and it reminded me of how I let someone slip once...Just over a year ago I was contacted by a man who wanted to find the song Nikolina by Slim Jim. He didn't seem to be in a particular hurry to get it, so I transfered my Slim Jim LP to CD and eventually got a CD-R in the mail to the man. A few weeks later I get the CD returned to me by his wife with a copy of the man's obituary.

So this one is for you Miles...

I hate computers, but I love the Subhumans. Punk rock tuesday!!!

White and Nerdy — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 02:29:48 GMT

It's punk rock tuesday! My favorite UK 70s punk has got to be the Subhumans. My apologies to Mr. Strummer and Mr. Harper. I LOVE the LP The Day The Country Died. I love this song Big Brother, it's the book 1984 in a punk rock song.

Today I hate computers because I went to ther grocery story to buy some chicken and window cleaner and I used the self check out lane. My brother and I refer to these are the Big Brother Check Out Lanes. I should have gone through the check out with a live human. Also I've been gazing into the CRT trying to edit together a PowerPoint presentation of my photographic work that I did while in Sweden. It's for the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis and I got have it ready to take to them at the end of this week. Analog stuff is so much better, no cathode rays blasting your eyeballs. Enough screwing off on MOG I gotta finish the photos.

Big Brother's watching you!!!

What Elvis means for me

White and Nerdy — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:54:56 GMT

I wanted to write something about Elvis today, but I’d only be saying what’s already been said a countless number of times before. So, I’ll just say this…

One of the things I always loved about the Misfits is that Glen Danzig cited his 2 biggest musical influences as being Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley. You can really hear the Elvis in Danzig’s vocal stylings, even in those early days of the Misfits. As the King passed away in 1977 on this day, guys like Danzig were there to pick up the torch and carry on.

Thank you Elvis, if for nothing else for giving us the Misfits and the Cramps.

And Elvis had a pretty bad-ass hairdo as well.

Thee Ultra Bimboos on a coffeebreak

White and Nerdy — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:46:10 GMT

My cheap coffee experiment, which I’ve written about previously on MOG, has taken a bit of a detour. I just moved apartments and do not have a coffee maker at my disposal until I go to Minneapolis next weekend and retrieve my Mr. Coffee. I’m drinking the brown water they insist upon calling coffee here at work. What I’ve done to make this stuff drinkable is quite simple – dump 3 instant coffee “one cup serving” packets (HA! One cup, they must be joking.) into a cup and use the brown water to mix this stuff up. Mmmmmmmmm, tolerable. Who needs a stomach lining anyway???

Speaking of retrieving things from the Twin Cities, I’ll also be retrieving my vinyl and CD collections and this Ultra Bimboos CD is one I WISH I had. Fortunately I got a CD-R copy from a friend so I can enjoy this (I think this CD is way out of print, impossible to find). For those who have no idea who Thee Ultra Bimboos are – 4 ladies from Helsinki, Finland that like to rock out. This particular song barely has any instrumentation, it’s pretty much a vocal track at the end of the CD with, what sounds to be a percolator, in the background for accompaniment. Awesome! It’s not their typical song. Now, I didn’t catch on to these gals until their 3rd album “Four Fans Can’t Be Wrong”, a great record. They only got better as time went on; their last release Bimboo Wizard is the proof in the pudding. A friend of mine described it as “unstoppable”. I must agree. What do these Ultra Bimboos sound like??? These gals draw all the best parts of 1950s girl groups, 60s garage and 70s rock & punk music and filter it into their brains and spit it back out for us all to enjoy. I know that’s not a very good description, but that’s the best I can come up with at the moment. These gals do what they do and they do it well.

Check ‘em out here: http://www.theeultrabimboos.com/

I'm not so sure they are together any longer, so you all may want to start buying up their records while you can. On the good side at least 2 of the Bimboos are involved in other musical projects.

Poison Heart, just because

White and Nerdy — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:45:22 GMT

...just because I like this song, classic Dee Dee Ramone writing. I love the story of how he was in jail and the Ramones would bail him out but they paid for this song, and that paid for his bail.

And I really dig this band from Finland - Mean Idols. A pretty straight forward cover but well done! A testament to just how far reaching the Ramones influence is dispite the under-appreciation they enjoyed during their career.

Dig the cover tune!

Punk wars Midwest style

White and Nerdy — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 02:46:25 GMT

I was gonna stay outta this BUT I read Pekka's post on Husker Du and the midwest. I respond with...NEGATIVE APPROACH!

Even though MI isn't truely Midwest, that's the region we get grouped into. We got John Brannon in this here state and he sounds lik this...

punk rock tuesday - arrrrrrrgggggggg!

White and Nerdy — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:34:17 GMT

I don't even have time to explain why...these past few weeks have been MEGA stress. I shouldn't even be taking time to write this...let's just say, when it rains it pours...aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggggg!

Black Flag to the rescue!

Black Coffee with Julie London

White and Nerdy — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:55:16 GMT

Part 2 of my cheap coffee saga.

I'm just about to finish off my tin $2.69 Meijer Brand coffee - French Roast, 326 grams. Meijer is a local (to Michigan) chain grocery store. Not too bad, it's pretty much on par with the Kroger brand coffee I sucked down last month. If I had to choose one over the other, it'd be a tough call. But so far I'd be tempted to go with the Kroger brand. Although the Meijer brand is 30 cents cheaper.

And, now, for the coffee song to go along with this round of cheap grounds - Julie London's version of Black Coffee. I still have a crush on Julie London, she was so classically beautiful. Her LP covers always showed her as such. Awesome, beautiful voice and she knew how to use it, way better than any popular songstress around today. She may have been a bit of a one-and-a-half trick pony with her voice but WHAT a trick it was. The combination of Julie's voice and a song about black coffee makes me feel like life should be in black and white, and I should be in a diner or jazz club hoping Ray Luca doesn't show up. Anyway she sang tons of songs of the time way back when. She had sung a lot tunes that the Rat Pack guys performed. I find it interesting to hear a woman perform those songs, mostly male oriented, and make them rather feminine. And very effectively at that! I'm pretty sure her whisper voice could knock over any man, as if it were a storm coming off the ocean. She may have sung virtually every song very softly but there was a power in that voice of hers. In fact I'm pretty sure when Iggy Pop wrote "raw power can destroy a man" he must have been thinking about a woman like Julie. She may not have been as popular, but she was definately every bit as good as the Rat Pack guys.

Is it still OK to use the words "broads" and "dames"? Or has political correctness ruined all that?

Motor City been burnin' for 40 years

White and Nerdy — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:39:11 GMT

40 years ago this day, the Motor City began to burn. I wasn’t even born so I won’t pretend like I was there, I’m just going to tell you what I’ve learned…according to John Lee Hookers song “The Motor City’s Burning”: Let me tell you how it started now .../it started on 12th & Clairmount that morning./It made the pig cops all jump & shout,/Ah said, it started on 12th & Clairmount that morning,/It made the pigs in the street freak out.

From what I’ve learned elsewhere, the Detroit police made a raid on a blind pig (illegal after-hours drinking establishment), pushed or threw a woman down a set of stairs (depending on who you talk with) and that set off 5 days of rioting. That was THEE last straw on a mountain of tension that had been building up. The US National Guard was on the streets of Detroit with tanks – army TANKS people! Detroit is the only US city to have that happen, so far. White flight to the suburbs started in the 1950s, but the white folks fled for the suburbs even faster than before at this point, never to return south of 8 Mile Road. Leaving the poor and black people behind.

40 years later and we, Southeast Michigan, have yet to recover. I recently talked with a good friend of mine, and former employer, who was probably 5 or 6 when the riots went down and told me “I can remember the tanks coming down the streets.” His mom still lives on the Westside of Detroit and when I ask him about Detroit today he just says “I know I wouldn’t move back there!” I got back to the USA from life abroad and one of the news stories was about the LAST 2 grocery stores in Detroit closing! Farmer Jack closed its last 2 Detroit locations. There are seriously NO more proper grocery stores inside the city limits.

It’s been 40 years and we are just NOW starting to rebuild. I can’t explain it, all I can say is what I always say to explain how things work here “It’s Detroit.”

Many of you already know about the wonderfull music that has come out of the Detroit area. Listing them all would take some time. Many of the artists would not be what/who they are or were if this riot had never happened.

Trying to live, on a punk rock tuesday

White and Nerdy — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 03:11:14 GMT

It's punk rock tuesday right? I'm having housing issues, dammnit!

How bloody hard does it have to be to get a decent apartment? I just got back into the country 4 weeks ago from living abroad, my sister and I have been trying to find a nice apartment/condo-thing (for a change) to rent. She's in the middle of changing jobs(stepping up in fact), I'm temping until I get a damn address, at which point getting a better job will be easier. We passed the credit check. Great! And they still want some other financial info. What the hell? I'm learning that it's really hard to rent when you have virtually NO rental history. My sister has usually lodged with friends and paid rent to them. I've done the same but also paid rent at exactly 2 proper apartments.

Whatever happened to 'I've got a job, I'm not under a mountain of bad credit, I'm not a criminal like those Enron or WorldCom hot-shots...' ??? I'm just an honest workin' man who wants to live in some kinda comfort.

iTunes just put on the MC5's AMERICAN RUSE! "They told you in school about freedom/but when you try to be free they never let ya" How appropriate!

Damn landlords.

Cheap coffee and cheap 45s

White and Nerdy — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 17:31:24 GMT

One of the true luxuries in life, other than music of course, is coffee. I’m not an addict to coffee physically but I am mentally (the ritual and flavor of it all is what I want, don’t need the caffeine). I’ve been spoiled with really tasty coffee living in Sweden. Now I’m living in Michigan again (but hopefully not for too long!) where Swedish coffee pretty much doesn’t exist and with our ever-sinking economy I gotta save some cash. So I’m doing a little experiment and drinking what I call Slum Coffee. That is to say that I’m buying the cheapest coffee I can find - I’m slumming with my coffee – to see if I can stand it…and not go broke spending my money on good coffee. Besides if I can save some dollars on coffee that's more money I can spend on records!

I just finished up my first can of store brand coffee grounds. Kroger brand; dark roast. $2.99 for about 300grams. For about 26 Swedish kroner (SEK) [$3.92 in US dollars] I could have gotten 500 grams of store brand coffee that is way better than this Kroger brand. I did find that if I grind up the Kroger grounds to a finer grind than what is provided there is a little more flavor, thus more tolerable to drink. There is a Kroger brand coffee that is even cheaper than this that I may (or may not) give a try, it’s even called Value brand or something like that. $1.99 for a 300gram can.

In relation to music, I used to LOVE going to record shows, before the Internet totally changed the record buying experience. True, going to these shows meant putting up with old, smelly men who have minimal social skills – and these were the record dealers – and typically overpriced wax. But one could often find weird, obscure 45s on the cheap and give ‘em a try and not lose too much money. Sometimes you’d score something unexpectedly cool or totally bomb out and waste a few bucks on something you’d never play again. There are a lot songs out there that involve coffee and on one of my last visits to a record show I picked up a 45 by the Knight Ridders with “Sittin’ Sippin’ Coffee” on the A side. With this 45 I most certainly did NOT bomb out and waste money. A guitar, piano and a singer open this song “Sittin’ sippin’ coffee/watchin’ time go by/laughin’, smokin’, jokin’/tryin’ not to cry…funny how a girl can keep a fella on a string” You guessed it, this guy is singing about woman troubles. And what better way to try and forget your woman troubles than over a cup of coffee at a diner while trying to pick up a waitress? Well, at least that’s the way it goes with this song.

Telstar Tuesday - Joe Meek Died for your sins

White and Nerdy — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:16:32 GMT

This day in history, 45 years ago satellite communication was born! However the importance to music is not as talked about. From Wikipedia: "Joe Meek (born Robert George Meek; April 5, 1929 in Newent, Gloucestershire) was a pioneering English record producer and songwriter acknowledged as one of the world's first and most imaginative independent producers."

This guys was an AWESOME producer. He was totally crazy and whacked out and out of his mind, but that's probably what made his productions so good. He 'heard a new world' and attempted to bring it to the people with these crazy productions. The song Telstar, inspired by the satellite was his grand opus - he wrote, recorded and produced it, the Tornados performed the original. In my opinion it's one of the happiest sounding songs ever recorded. It's just got that vibe with so many different emotions in it. Joe Meeks production style and his sound has influenced countless artists over the past 40 years or so. But in a way, you'd never know it. He's still too much of an underground icon. He truly had his own vision and was one of a kind. Today isn't really a day for the satellite, but rather for Joe Meek - another fallen soldier in the war against the jive.

Sadly, Joe Meek did not come to a good end: "On February 3, 1967, the eighth anniversary of Buddy Holly's death, Meek killed his landlady Violet Shenton and then himself with a single barreled shotgun..."

Now for the Nerdy part of today's post. Where would we be today without satellite communications? Just to remind us how far communication systems have come in 45 years, I pulled the following information from a couple of websites:

Telstar 1 was launched on July 10, 1962 into a 514 x 3051 nmi. orbit by a Delta launch vehicle. The spacecraft weighed 171 pounds (the Delta capability was for a maximum payload of 180 pounds). The shape was a faceted sphere with a diameter of a little over 34 inches. Of six spacecraft built, two were launched.

Telstar relayed its first television pictures (of a flag outside its ground station in Andover) on the date of its launch. Almost two weeks later, on July 23, it relayed the first live transatlantic television signal. The first broadcast was to have been remarks by President John F. Kennedy, but the signal was acquired before the President was ready, so the lead-in time was filled with a short segment of a televised major league baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Even as the success of Telstar I was becoming apparent, AT&T lost the chance to control commercial satellite communications. On August 31, 1962 President Kennedy signed the Communications Satellite Act which gave a monopoly on international communications via satellite to a new corporation called Comsat. AT&T went ahead with Telstar II anyway to complete its experimental program. It was launched on May 7, 1963. The publicity from Telstar had been very positive for AT&T.

I must recognize and thank my good friend Tim L (not a mogger unfortunately) in the Detroit area for constantly reminding me of Joe Meek and his contributions to the word of music. Otherwise I'd know a lot less about Telstar and Joe Meek. Thanks Tim!!

White and Nerdy with Weird Al in Detroit

White and Nerdy — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 19:26:36 GMT

Went down to Detroit to see Weird Al in concert last night. He was performing at what used to be known as Taste Of Detroit, now it’s called the Comerica CityFest. Kind of depressing, but what you gonna do about? However I’m still angry that the State Theater has recently been re-titled the Fillmore (thanks Clear Channel, you bastards!). Feels like Detroit is losing its identity (soul??) and not in a good way. But it felt good to be back in the Detroit area; I’d been living in Sweden for almost a year and before that I spent a few years in Minnesota. I missed Detroit. I really wish there was something I could do to help Michigan and Detroit rebuild. We’ve pretty much been in decline since the race riots of 1967.

Anyway, I’m getting off topic. It’s no secret that Weird Al is my all time favorite musical artist and I have the utmost respect for his genius. Mostly I consider him as a genius as he is extremely gifted at reflecting American popular culture and values behind a curtain of parody. I could dissect every one of his albums and songs and tell how each part of those is a symbol of America(ns) at that point and time in history. I had never seen Weird Al perform live so this was a great moment for me. Usually I hate big concerts; they’re just so impersonal and distant. Al’s show however was more an experience than a regular concert. In a way he’s like the Simpons, he brings Americans together and I can assure you togetherness is some we very much need in Michigan. In the crowd I was standing next to crusty punk rockers, hip hop dudes, families with their kids, police and fire officials, etc…Detroiters need to come together more often.

Al really made my night, he played most of my favorite Weird Al songs, in particular “It’s All About the Pentiums” “Bob” and of course “White and Nerdy.”

Here’s the set list: Polkarama! Close But No Cigar Bob It’s All About the Pentiums You’re Pitiful Medley with Couch Potato/Creep You Out/some Gilligan song/Headline News/Confession Part 3/Complicated Song/EBay/Bedrock Anthem/Spiderman/Pretty Fly For a Rabbi/Stuck In The Drive Thru/Gump/Eat It I’ll Sue Ya The Saga Begins Yoda Smells Like Nirvana Amish Paradise White and Nerdy Fat

It was a pretty good welcome back to the Southeast experience for me. Sadly I did not get to meet Al. And it would have been cool if he had played material from his earlier records...but I can't complain.

Hot damn! I love music...duh.

White and Nerdy — Fri, 25 May 2007 20:12:12 GMT

It's been a crazy week for me, with the end of school coming up next friday - the "avslutning." Anyway I finally got all my photos done and hung up for the exhibition here at school and I'm starting to wind down a little. I realize the only thing that really keeps me sane and moving forward is music, fairly selfevidently.

So, here I sit on a friday night "moging" and listening to NPR from Detroit via the miracle of the internet. I hear a voice say "...Terry Gross speaking with Dick Dale in 1993." I had a short panic moment where my first thought was 'did he die?? No, please no!' I love surf music and this time of year I'm always in the mood for surf music (and Oi! music) for some reason. It's good spring time music. If I had my Dick Dale LPs with me I'd pull 'em out and throw 'em on the turn table. Skipping the songs where he sings. Sorry Dick, you're not a horrible singer but you aren't good either. Stick to the instrumentals! My bro even posted a Mog item about Man...Or Astroman? So you see, surf is in the air folks. Dick Dale is pretty much the God of surf guitar but most of you already know that. The number of bands, both surf and non-surf oriented that Dick Dale has influenced is uncountable...if that is even a word, I don't know.

I was worried that Dick Dale had passed away due to the old interview but, whew! I'm glad he's still with us. With all the ups and downs that just today alone has brought me it would have been sad to cap off a day like this with news of someone like Dick Dale kicking the bucket.

Branded Women

White and Nerdy — Wed, 23 May 2007 20:55:16 GMT

From Helsinki, Finland comes the band Branded Women and they are SO good. On a january trip to Helsinki my brother asked me to pick up a copy of this CD for him. And as I'm a record junkie I happily volunteered to be the pusher man for once. I have one of their previous albums on vinyl and it didn't quite grab me. This album however I am totally hooked on and I wish I could explain why. I don't know that I can accurately describe the music. Perhaps I could say "this is the way pop music SHOULD be." But it's more than pop music, and I don't want to call it indie-pop because that isn't the right term either. It's got some garage rock elements but it's not garage rock either. Damn Finns, they're too good at making good music that doesn't easily fit into a catagory. I'm gonna try a description again...fairly atmospheric, organs, guitars, drums, wonderful female vocals...damn, I still can't get it right. Garage rock, rock and roll... this is pointless, just check 'em out on myspace: www.myspace.com/brandedwomen

The first compact disc I ever bought

White and Nerdy — Thu, 10 May 2007 20:06:42 GMT

I've got my iTunes on shuffle with just Weird Al and They Might Be Giants selected while I'm working on a short speech I have to give in my swedish class tomorrow. A short talk about the obligitory fika (basically the swedish word for a coffee break, but it's more than that, It's hard to explain) here at school. So as I'm going over what I wrote, practicing practicing practicing...on comes the song Stormy Pinkness.

Ahhhh the way it opens with that ringing guitar sound, takes me back to 1991(or was it 1990?) when I bought this CD EP. It's the very first CD I ever bought and I bought it before I even had a CD player! I think this is when my love of music REALLY started. Well, either this band or in 1986 with the TV show Crime Story, but that's another story. Anyway, I picked this baby up at Arborland shopping mall at some chain store that I can't remember the name of. This CD was like a new world for my teenage ears. I think I paid $5 for it, maybe $4. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) was the big single driving this CD but Stormy Pinkness and the James K. Polk songs are still my favs on this CD. People back then used to give me a lot of grief for liking They Might Be Giants, but I didn't let it bother me. This was MY music, it connected with me but not them I suppose.

The thing about Stormy Pinkness that is so wonderful is that it sounds like it could be from a couple different decades. The sound is not tied to just that time of the early 1990s, it could have been recorded earlier or later. It's got a nice dark tone to it, but not in a depressing way. Oddly enough there's something uplifting about the song despite it's dark mood. A lot of They Might Be Giants' songs are like that. This song made feel pretty good back then and it makes me feel good today.

When I bought this first CD 16 years ago, I never would have thought I'd be here in Sweden listening to it now. Or writing about it "online". Wow, what a different world it was in the 1990s.

Well, back to work! I've got get ready for tomorrows class.

Michael Bolton can piss up a rope!

White and Nerdy — Thu, 10 May 2007 11:13:59 GMT

I'm feeling a bit surly and bitter and I haven't posted in awhile... I was in the darkroom last week making some prints and the radio was on. I don't know who over at Sveriges Radio decided to play Love Is A Wonderful Thing, but I really didn't need to hear it. Love is NOT a wonderful thing. I'm guessing most of you reading this already know that love is a 4 letter word - if you catch my meaning.

In this context, I really love being here at school and in Sweden. It's just a positive atmosphere in many regards. Once the 1st of May hit, it struck me that there is only one month of school left. June 1st I gotta leave behind something I love. While it's been a wonderful thing to be here, it's not wonderful leaving this environment. Yes, I will savor the fond memories of fun times and even get nostalgic for the down days that I had. Leaving doesn't ruin this place for me. When you love something or even someone and have to leave it all, it stops being a wonderful thing and starts being a depressing thing. Love is a hurting thing Mr. Bolton and everyone else knows it. I bet even you know it, yet you sing lies to the people. Does your wife know you're lying?

Time to go out and experience some new (or old) music, so my next post will be a little more musically relevent. And I can't resist the Office Space quote "Why should I change my name? He's the one that sucks!"

I Hate Banks/Mojo Nixon was right!

White and Nerdy — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 08:42:29 GMT

I'm a very frustrated man today! I've been trying (for several days) to transfer funds from one bank account to the other, so that I can pay my credit card bill online. TCF bank, from Minnesota, SUCKS!!!! That bank can burn in Hell.

I knew it was going to be trouble when they bought out the awesome Great Lakes Bank back in Michigan and incorporated them into their evil empire, effectively ruining a wonderful bank. Mojo Nixon was right and it's no wonder that when the horrible follow up to Rock And Roll High School was filmed he was chosen to represent the spirit of Rock and roll. He was the right man for the job. So, not only have I been getting an error message on their website for 2 days when I try to send a transfer through, when I try to send feedback via their website I get an email saying that it was undelieverable. TCF sucks! I hate banks. And to top it all off, I only have Mojo Nixon on LP and my LPs are all thousands of miles away from me right now. So I can't even listen to Mojo. ":(

I should have listened more closely to Mojo Nixon and what he says. He's truely a wise man: I Hate Banks, Burn Down the Malls, Get Out Of My Way, Elvis Is Everywhere, Bring Me the Head of David Geffen, etc...

"Some jerk in a 3 piece suit/tryin' to steal all my loot!"

Sing it Mojo, sing it brotha'!

Desert Island MP3s or The Trassels rock and I need their rock action songs

White and Nerdy — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 16:20:13 GMT

I have been one busy cracker as of late. Shooting my photo project and trying to believe that it all actually matters. Making a visit home to the USA. Developing loads of film. Printing prints. I barely have enough time to mog...but let me back up a little bit.

I'm borrowing my brother's laptop computer while at school, it's practical. Before I left for school I loaded a bunch of music into iTunes, naturally. I decided, stupidly, to not bring some music with me to see how long I could stand not having certain bands, songs, etc... No, I'm not a masochists. I'm pretty sure that without LOTS of music at my disposal I would die - this is probably why I'm on mog like y'all are. So while taking a short vacation home I digitzed my CDs on my own computer and brought many songs, albums, bands back to school with my on CD-R. I could never pick just 10 desert island discs, it is impossible! Here's a list of somethings that I've been missing over the past 6.5 months:

The Trassels "Catch'N'Release" album (A great rock and roll band from Tampere, Finland. I met these guys while touring in Finland in 2003. They just flat out rock!)

More Blue Öyster Cult albums

More Dinosaur Jr. songs

The Trash Brats (one of Detroit's funnest bands that almost no one has heard of. I still have fond memories of driving down to D-Town to see these guys at little clubs)

Manic Hispanic "The Recline Of Mexican Civilization"

Southern Culture On The Skids

The Subhumans "The Day The Country Died" album

The Vandals

The Misfits (I was stupid to think I could live without the classic Walk Among Us album)

Minor Threat

TSOL "Dance With Me" album

Fear

More Black Flag songs

last and certainly NOT least.... UK Subs "Endangered Species" album (I honestly thought I had this with me, but obviously did not. Thank goodness a friend of mine in Helsinki had the first 3 UK Subs records that I got copies of to hold me over.)

Music: don't leave home without it!!!

Let's remix the 1980s!

White and Nerdy — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 16:57:45 GMT

I'm working on this long term project of portraits of musical people. People, who tend to be in the underground, playing music because they HAVE to. As one of my subjects put it "...because they have no choice." Today I was photographing Robert the drummer for the Hellacopters, we were looking for a place to use for a quick shoot so he said "hey let's go over to Stevie's guitar shop." We got there and Stevie Klasson is standing outside, closed for the day because there was a fire in the bathroom. So he takes us downstairs into the cellar of this place. As I'm doing what I need to do we're all talking about music, of course! After all Robert plays with the Hellacopters and Stevie plays with bands like the Diamond Dogs (and he's been lucky enough to have played with Johnny Thunders!). Somehow we got on the subject of bands from the 1980s, like Lords Of The New Church and Robert says "that second LP, there's nothing wrong the songs but the production killed it." Stevie says "someone should remix that album. Maybe we should just remix the whole 80s?"

So we all started to joke about how the coked-up engineers and producers pretty much ruined a lot of bands. And we started thinking: yeah, someone should remix those 80s bands that were great punk bands and underground bands. Rock and roll bands that should have sounded better. Rougher. Rawer. More real. Anybody else with us on this???

New wave pretty much sucked though, so we don't need to both with that.

Tom Waits thru The Wire

White and Nerdy — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 03:02:49 GMT

I was thinking the past few days about how TV has introduced me to music. I wrote before how The Kids In The Hall got me hooked on surf music. Nowadays I'm a BIG fan of the police show The Wire. I'd heard Tom Waits before watching this show and it never really hit me but when I heard "Way Down In The Hole" as the theme song for this show, his music started to click a little more for me. I think it was the context of the show that helped. I've been noticing that the Wire has got some good taste in using music in the show. First season I recognized James Browns' song "I'll Go Crazy" then in the second season there was "Loose My Soul" by the Flaming Sideburns and "Search and Destroy" by Iggy & The Stooges. I've been a fan of all those artists previous to the Wire airing. During the 4th season I got hip to another artist I've been curious about: Curtis Mayfield. They use the song Move On Up, I love this song now.

So now I wonder 2 things: Is this marketing (which I don't believe, because most of these songs are old and are not trying to find an audience) or does the production team just have good taste? Secondly, anybody else out there getting turned onto music in somewhat unlikely fashions?

MOG is weird

White and Nerdy — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 14:54:27 GMT

Strange things are afoot here...somehow things that aren't even in my music collection are showing up as "Recently Add To My Music Collection" and my "Last Songs Played" is totally wrong. It's not really a big deal, it's just ruining my awesome street cred, Rock&Roll respectability and making me look like a softy.

I don't suppose there is an explaination or fix for this?

In the meantime I won't worry about it...but who the hell is Airged L'amh???

Chuck Norris - not a musician but he's got a band, kind of...

White and Nerdy — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 10:28:36 GMT

Whilst I am here in Sweden I am taking every opportunity to visit friends. My friends, the band called The Chuck Norris Experiment played a gig last night in Gothenburg. A release gig for their new CD "...And The Rest Will Follow". I haven't seen these guys for almost 2 years. I was a little surprised to see that the crowd was singing along to songs, everyone was crammed up against the front of the stage - it was quite a show. They've made some strides.

Fo those who have asked about the music scene up here in the land of the Midnight Sun, here's another chunk 'o solid Rock for you to take in. I'm not really sure how to explain this band, I know the singer is a fan of Rock&Roll, Punk rock and what is called Stoner Rock (stuff like Kyuss or Queens Of The Stone Age). I guess if you combine those 3 things you come pretty close to what CNE sounds like. Although I would say it comes much closer to straigh up Rock And Roll. It's the classic line up, 2 guitars, bass, drums and a singer. There are other influences on these guys of course, for example when the singer picked me up at the train station he was listening to the Tenacious D "Pick Of Destiny" album. They've got a nice unfied stage image and good solid song wrtting to go with it. Fast, loud guitars, rapid fire drumming, thumping bass and a singer that knows how to work the crowd. What's not to like?

Bsides they've got cool song titles like Dinosaur Fire, Radioshadow and Meteor Mama. I don't know if anyone else has ever noticed that there is indeed something special about left handed musicians? Iggy Pop is left handed, Curt Kobain, Nicke Andersson of the Hellacopters - the CNE has a left handed Finnish guitar player. I must say the Finlanders seem to be born with music in their blood.

Anyway, you all can decide for yourselves:

http://www.chucknorrisexperiment.com/

The Flaming Sideburns are keeping real Rock and Roll alive!

White and Nerdy — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 18:46:14 GMT

I'm going to sound like a name dropping, cooler-than-you, hippster, snob in this post. I don't mean to, I'm sorry, I'm just tellin' like it is. Can you dig it? Here goes...

I was in Helsinki, yep the one in Finland, this past weekend. My friends, the band called the Patsy Walkers were haivng a 4 years old birthday party for their band. This was in conjunction with a 10 years celebration for the band Anal Thunder as well. Now I couldn't resist a birthday party like this, the Flaming Sideburns were headlining the gig and they are my current favorite band ever. If that makes any sense to anyone. I got to be backstage, as I was shooting photos of the chaos and most of the bands are friends of mine. I got to meet the Sideburns manager, who is a heck of a nice guy, and he gave me a copy of the new CD (which is to be released to the public tomorrow!) for which I am eternally grateful. Not only because I am a poor student and free is my favorite number (however I would happily shell out my food money for this disk!), but because I just couldn't wait to hear the new album.

So, now, on to the description...their first full length album "Hallelujah Rock'N'Rollah" did indeed have me saying "Hallelujah", just ask my brother he can confirm that I played that record everyday for a year straight, literally...sometimes twice a day! What makes this band so darn good is not only the influences of the heavier days of bands like the Rolling Stones(before they really sucked in the 1980s), The Stooges, MC5, The Sonics and their love of weirdo dudes like Roky Erickson, is the simple fact that they are one of those bands that work so well together; the members. You can tell that they aren't forcing the music, they just do what comes naturally and it sounds great - to me at least. Quality rock and roll. Straight ahead, stripped down rock and roll the way it should be. No foofy, poofy extra stuff that doesn't belong in the mix. They are one of those bands like Radio Birdman or the original Misfits where the mix of the place+time+people makes it go! If you remove one of those elements from the equation, it wouldn't sound this good.

If you can dig the heavy, heavy monster sound of 4 Finlanders, 2 guitars and one wailing Argentine singer...check out the Flaming Sideburns, if you dare.

I don't know that they'll ever top the awesomeness of the "Hallelujah Rock'N'Rollah" album, in my opinion, but I'm still gonna buy everything they release. They have yet to disappoint me.

2007 is off to a great start - Naked Raygun returns!

White and Nerdy — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 09:42:16 GMT

WOW! So it's official, Naked Raygun has reformed. Great news! I love this band:

http://www.nakedraygun.org/

Now, the only bummer is I just moved out of Minneapolis some months ago and their website says "We're invading Minneapolis!" They're playing 2 gigs at the Triple Rock. Shucks, maybe by the time I return home to Michigan they'll be playing at the Magic Stick or somewhere cool like that. I can't wait to hear some new stuff from these guys.

Welcome to the Dollhouse - Swedish style?

White and Nerdy — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 19:03:35 GMT

In one of my previous posts BeatleMeyer asked what good music there is in Sweden currently. There's a lot! I'm sure most of you know that Sweden is the 3rd largest producer of music in the world (following the USA and the UK). There's pop, punk, garage, rockabilly, psychobilly, a lot swedish hip hop(which is very funny for me, because they have virtually NO lower class here in Sweden. I don't even blink at the "ghettos" here. You gotta love socialism and the fact that politicians are actually ACCOUNTABLE to the people...I'm getting off track here, back to the story) and every other genre you might be looking for.

I'm mainly a rock and roll guy, there's plenty of good rock bands up here: The Hellacopters, Soundtrack Of Our Lives, The Chronics, The Chuck Norris Experiment, The Dee Rangers, the Maggots, the Voladoras, Sons of Cyrus, the list goes on and on... However, today, I present to you the band Dollhouse. I'd post a graphic, but I'm lazy so here's a link their homepage: http://www.mc5.org/dollhouse/

I've discussed this band with some friends, while at their concerts. One of my friends thought they weren't good "it's nothing new", a line I hear a lot from people. In regards to various different bands. They are a somewhat derivative band. It's obvious that they listen to loads of Hendrix, the MC5, the Mooney Suzuki (before they went mainstream and really started to suck), Hellacopters, James Brown, the Who, Rolling Stones and a bunch of other wonderful performers. I think they are a band that wears their influences on their sleeves...and why shouldn't they? In my opinion they are very good at what they are playing. They put on a good show, they're great performers, they have good songs. It's rock and roll, and it's good. If anyone out there in Mogland digs high energy rock and roll, check 'em out. They have a myspace profile, free listens: http://www.myspace.com/rockandsoul

You'll either really dig 'em or you won't like them one bit.

I’m a sucker for the surf - wild surf guitar rock!

White and Nerdy — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 12:30:32 GMT

I don't know why I was thinking this, but I blame the Kids In The Hall! As a young man in 1990 or thereabouts (whenever the show hit the air) I very accidentally came across the aforementioned TV program while watching Canadian TV. One of the great benefits of growing up across the Detroit River from Windsor, Ontario was that we could receive CBC channel 9! Yes they were a hilarious comedy troupe and I was instantly addicted to the show, but the thing that stood out to me most was the song Having An Average Weekend by Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, used as the opening and closing theme song for the show. Pure magic. I think I was more addicted to this song than the show itself.

Up until that point I always thought Surf Music was lightweight pop ala the Beach Boys or Jan and Dean. I gotta, publicly, thank Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet for showing me the way to the real surf. The real way reverb should be used and how surf guitar should sound. Fast guitar riffage, properly beat on drums and a heavy, thick bass tone – good stuff! A few years later Pulp Fiction was released into the theaters and that just threw more fuel onto my fire. Thank goodness Rhino Records released the big surf box set. And thus, from the earth has sprung numerous bands that decided to buy Hawaiian shirts and Fender reverb amps. Wanna be surf bands became quite common. What this means for me is that if I hear a surf guitar band that is halfway decent and competent I’ll more than likely buy a CD or, if they are hip enough to press such a thing, a 7 inch record(AKA 45) by them. My latest purchase: 7 inch record by the Monsters From Mars. Can’t wait to hear it.

However I think Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet will always be my favorite surf-rock group. If for no other reason, they were a bright spot in my “troubled adolescences.” Thank you Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet!!!

Dim the lights and chill the ham, yo!

I’m a sucker for the surf - wild surf guitar rock!

White and Nerdy — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 12:30:31 GMT

Dim the lights and chill the ham, yo!

Patti Smith, anyone?

White and Nerdy — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 08:46:33 GMT

This post is a question...I've been thinking about buying Patti Smith's CD Land. I thought I'd ask if anyone out there (or should I say "in here"?) can recommend this CD set or maybe something equally as representative of Patti Smith's music?

I've been thinking about this for the past 4 years or so. I can remember when this CD cwas released and I heard Patti interviewed on good ol' WDET Radio from Detroit, as I was driving around one day, and it sounded real interesting. The cut they played during the interview was People Have the Power, a song I kept thinking about off and on since then. As it turned out, I was at an odd place in life in 2002 when it came out so this purchase slipped WAY down on the list of priorities. Now I'm really interested to hear what Patti was doing. Better late than never, eh? I must admit that part of my interest is due to the fact that she married Fred "Sonic" Smith, one of the most amazing musicians ever - that hardly anyone knows about. She wrote a song about her late husband, entitled Frederick, and covered one of his songs (Summer Cannibals) that he wrote between the time the MC5 broke up and when he formed Sonic's Rendezvous Band. For those of you keepin' score the band was called Ascension. Both songs are on this 2 CD set along with what appear to be other classics. These 2 songs plus People Have the Power are my main reasons for wanting to buy this.

Anyone care to offer up any opinions on Land? Or Patti Smith's music? My ears are open.

Patti Smith, anyone?

White and Nerdy — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 08:46:31 GMT

Anyone care to offer up any opinions on Land? Or Patti Smith's music? My ears are open.

Can't Fake the Funk - Black Merda

White and Nerdy — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 22:32:03 GMT

After reading CrashPryor's posts about James Brown and then the Isley Brothers, I felt like saying something about Black Merda. I'm not really a funk fan, but I got a copy of the Black Merda CD from a friend this summer. They were an obscure band out of Detroit, in the late 1960s. The CD is a reissue of their 2 LPs, which are supposedly hard to find. I bet copies of the LPs are probably sitting in a Salvation Army on Gratiot Ave. or somewhere. Something that makes me like this group is the fact that they are a little more on the Rock side of things. Funkrock? At any rate, it's good music! It also helps that they have some very socially and politically oriented lyrics. For some reason when I listen to the CD I feel like I should be watching reruns of the TV show Good Times (before John Amos left!). If you feel like expanding your funk/soul collection, check 'em out. Some of the Black Merda guys are still alive and, surprise, there's a website for all, with internet access, who are interested:

http://www.blackmerda.com/home.html

The day After Tomorrows Ice Age

White and Nerdy — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 21:18:18 GMT

This post is about a movie and a song...not just music...

I'm up here in Sweden with nothin' to do during Jullov (Xmas break) so I've been watching movies and drinking really strong coffee, when I'm not printing photos or drinking glogg with friends in Stockholm. I watched the movie The Day After Tomorrow last night. Wow, what a horrible piece of crap that was! I'm glad I folded laundry during the film so as not to completely waste my evening. Anyway, for some reason the film got me thinking about the UK SUBS and their song Ice Age. Great bass sound on that song, real smooth. Those first 5 UK SUBS records are absolutely wonderful! Charlie Harper and Nicky Garret just rip it up on those records. In case you are wondering who the UK SUBS are (not 'were' because they still play) they are one of the great UK punk rock bands, they formed in 1976, I think it was. So many good songs on the Another Kind Of Blues LP. I remember picking up a copy of the Endangered Species LP in Detroit for $4, great songs but the album does suffer a little from the production sound. By the way, who allowed Guns'n'Roses to do that horrid cover of Down On The Farm? When you punk rock fans get a little restless for punk that wasn't as huge as the Pistols or the Clash, check out the UK SUBS - the early stuff, up to 1983 or so.

To pour a little a juice on my own wound, when I left the states to come here for school, I accidentally left my Endangered Species CD at home. Doh! On the good side, I think one of my friends in Finland might be able to send me a CD-R of it...I hope.

All I want for Xmas is my first MOG

White and Nerdy — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 19:19:02 GMT

I'm new to this whole MOG deal. I must admit that I'm a bit freaked out about THE WORLD peeking in on my music collection. It's kinda like Big Brother is watching me and show off my digital music collection. On the other hand I was somewhat inspired to get on here due to the fact that I just got my copy of the Sonic's Rendezvous Band(SRB) box set. This is a chance to spread the word...

So, do you like the MC5? The Stooges? Early Mitch Ryder? other Detroit/Ann Arbor rock bands? SRB is one of those magical bands that had all the right people together at the right time, but none of the right business things going for them. They only officially recorded 2 songs and released 1 45rpm record. At any rate this box is for Michigan rock enthusiasts only. It's live recordings, practice tapes and the 2 official recordings - City Slang and Electrophonic Tonic.

The SRB is one of those lost treasures, I know that sounds cheesy, but I don't care what you think. Michigan rock and roll fans, go get this box, you won't be sorry! You casual listeners, find a friend with this box and listen to the song City Slang.