Wednesday, August 30, 2017

MAGAZINE REVIEW!!!! UGLY THINGS #45 (Summer/Fall 2017 issue)

It sure is great to get my claws on a new UGLY THINGS especially when the reading situation is starting to get thin and its either grab an old fanzine or comic book to pass the time away or look for some buried copy of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC in order to play yet another exciting game of Count the Bullseyes. As usual, this latest ish does not fail us in any way/shape/form even if Cyril Jordan wasn't able to continue on his year-by-year autobiographical trek through a rock 'n roll career that was filled with so many twists and turns that we can all live vicariously through.

The quality just keeps roaring on what with the massive cover saga on the mid/late-sixties Dutch Beat Boom featuring those longtime faves like the Outsiders (need I say not the Cleveland or English or any other band with the same moniker?) and Q-65 not forgetting things like a piece on the all-gal band the Untouchable (who were an influence on Iggy and the Stooges which should plunk them in a Punk Rock Hall of Fame glass enclosure rather soon), the Left Banke (!!!!!) and even some El Lay-area biker rockers called Puke, Spit and Guts who tried their hand at the whole punk thing and didn't even end up looking as silly as some of the bands that were trying to squeeze precious moolah outta kids who didn't know any better. Heck, there's even an interview with Kid Strange of Doctors of Madness fame that gets into the meat and potatoes of their whole reason for being even if it didn't mention their appearance on the old NBC WEEKEND show back '76 way. (And fortunately nothing about Strange's "New Romantic"---or was it "Blitz"---period is brought up. The less said about that the better!)

There's also a thing on some John Entwistle auction of rare items that's going to some worthy cause (or so they say) with his name on it, a good interview with Neil Ford of the Fanatic and  even more on country singer Joe Stampley's garage band side project the Uniques! And of course the other pieces I didn't quite get to but I wanted to get this review to you out in a timely fashion for once in my life!

My favorites of the whole batch of pieces though were (first off) the thing that Phil Milstein did with Victor "Moulty" Moulton of Barbarians fame who gives us a long and detailed account of what happened the day he lost his left hand, and let me tell you the story is so painful to listen to (as it must have been for Moulton to recollect) that if he talked about it on the legendary "Moulty" single the way it happened that record never woulda gotten played nohow! (You can tell I'm excited by this issue given all of the exclamation points I've been using---gotta control myself somehow.) (Second off) I also dug part two of the Geofrey Krozier saga which goes into the man's New York days which reveal a few things that even I didn't know about. You may be surprised too, but given just how nonchalant you readers are I kinda doubt it.

Of course there are the reviews of items that pertain to the UGLY THINGS universe that might interest you (unfortunately nothing reviewed here is begging for my attention---sheesh guys, release something that I'd like to splurge on for once) and all of my favorite writers from Bill Shute and Tim Stegall on appear. And if you need an excuse to take the day off and devote it to something that will soothe your suburban slob soul then hey, why not give this latest ish a go? OK, in most of you readers' cases why not skip going to the welfare office and read this in the comfort of your Section 8 fart-encrusted bedroom???

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