BLOG TO COMM

I don't blame ya if ya don't read this. It's so obvious that I've run outta steam loooong ago and ain't been relevant to the whole concept/idea of rock fandom since what...1986 if not earlier. As if that every mattered since I've always been way outside the scope of what is "hip" and "cool" w/regards to this thing they call "under-the-underground" music, although, frankly considering some of the downright creeps who permeate this "scene" I think I'm all the better because of it. But that doesn't mean you have to read my rehashing of old musical forms that might have lit a few sparks way back when but are today about as meaningful to anyone's day-to-day existence as The Trojan Wars. Don't expect much, as if you ever did.

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But for those of you who do actually follow my every word, syllable and punctuation mark while actually caring about my own personal comings and goings well, I have been keeping myself out of mischief mostly thanks to the miracle of internet. When the evening hits and it's time to kick off the ol' shoes, I find myself scouring the usual sociopolitical sites I oft head towards as well as catching a good portion of my video entertainment via youtube. Most of the time I end up watching a cooking demonstration (usually during my frequent hungerthons) or old tee-vee show that passes my fancy (see below!), or maybe some thirties-vintage comedy, the kind I've been blabbing about since the early-nineties at the very least. Seems that as of late there have been many new to me shorts popping up with an alarming frequency thanks to some film collector named Joseph Blough, a man who is generous enough to share his collection of rare Educational Films Exchange comedies with us.

Not so surprising (at least to me) is how my current tastes in cinema seem to be turning towards the American Mutoscope and Biograph films of the pre-D.W. Griffith era such as the quickie trick-photography ones like SHERLOCK HOLMES BAFFLED (1900, and I don't think any rights were applied or given) as well as other early one-minute comedies and dramas which really settle well with the ten-year-old doofus that still seems to reside in me. Y'see, when I was that age and the other kids were all agog over Peter Max, I was taking a big interest in the culture and overall how do you do's of the turn of the century and thus stuck out as an even bigger sore thumb amid my "peers" because of it!

Them Victorian Age feelings continue to live on even this late in my life considering how, right at this very moment, my favorite pre-World War I comic strip just has to be THE LOVE OF LULU AND LEANDER! Artist F. M. Howarth's finely detailed style might seem antiquated and perhaps even downright reactionary to today's not-so-discerning tastes, but I find it quite appealing especially in these times when it seems as if it takes only thirty seconds to crank out a daily (a wnole minute for a Sunday!). What especially draws me to this legendary strip is the detailed art with oversized heads and vivid eyes which lend much to the characters' oft aggravated facial expressions. Naturally the amusing storylines dealing with the courtship of Lulu Peachtree and her boyfriend Leander Lavender (!) help out plenty. 

Now these strips might not be downright belly-laugh material, but they're still quite pleasing in their own way as they reflect a part of the past that unfortunately has drifted away as if people actually do care about romance and courtship in the same way today as they did 115 years back.

Old fashioned and perhaps even hokey to a fault, but for a turd like me who was always interested in comic strip history I find LULU AND LEANDER a whole lot more life-reaffirming and a reflection of the tribulations and happiness that tru-blu love can bring. The affection (and jealousy) the pair have for each other as well as comedic tribulations that they often go through do seem to reflect, amid the occasional chaos their relationship would tumble into, an idea of love that I believe has left the planet and perhaps for good!  

If you don't think I'm on the lookout for a collection of these strips in book form (other'n an original 1906 edition which is probably crumbling beyond belief) you certainly must be out of your ever-lovin' gourd! Fortunately there are some strips available online which should hold my interest for awhile. Directly below I printed a few of the LULU AND LEANDER hidden image postcards that were out and about during the strip's run in which the revealing drawings completing the gag were made visible after the cards were heated up! I put these on the blog just because, well, I just thought you'd get a kick outta seein' 'em! Maybe not but I'll sure give it a try...

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As far as other internet fun 'n jamz go, its no great shakes to you to know that I've been perusing the same old blogs that I've been reading for almost twenny years awlready. Naturally those blogs are fading away but still, tune in I must. Surprisingly enough, one of my current faves is a newly created one, none other than (now get this!) Jay Hinman's alleged attempt to steal my thunder, FANZINE HEMMORHAGE! Yes, the very same blog I accused Hinman of ripping off from ME (accusing him in a perhaps half-hearted way but still...) only a few posts back!!! 

In case you've been hiding under a turd you should know that this is the place where Hinman reviews them home-made publications of the past that have been cluttering up his collection for years on end, usually doing so in glowing if not nostalgic terms that might seem a tad alien to someone who's been outta the loop like myself! I espy it not only to see if Hinman (who I still think is a creep par excellence) is saying anything negative regarding me and my "stature" in the world of fandom (so far so good but that will change), but gosh darn if my own appreciation of the fanzine form doesn't have me reading on if only to find out more about a lotta these rags of the eighties I just dad blamed couldn't afford to pick up back in those penny-pinching days! Of course most if not all of them I wouldn't want to peruse (mainly because I'm not exactly inside Hinman's "clique" --- not that I'd want to be) but still...

The above FACT should be quite obvious to most of you, for the kind of music fanzines I go for (seventies-era neo-Meltzerian gonz) and his (eighties underground coma-inducing) are worlds apart as far as aesthetics and general snide attitude go. But read on I must given my near-Werthamian interest in the general fanzine form which is why I can't help but take a sneak peak at FANZINE HEMMORHAGE now and again! Perhaps I might learn something from it, but in the long run I sincerely doubt it.

Whatever you do, don't tell Jay that I'm a secret fan...who knows what nefarious trick he'll pull on me in order to get my oft-gotten goat!

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I was way too old (and way too busy) for Saturday Morning Tee-Vee when those especially made for the kids sitcoms (LOST SAUCER, BIG JOHN LITTLE JOHN,,,) made their way to the mid-seventies television screens. However, I do recall seeing at least one episode of NBC's THE MONSTER SQUAD, prob'ly on some rainy Saturday morn when there were no chores to be done or any other way to occupy my spare time. Who knows, some of you may even remember this series (no relation to the 1987 moom pitcher of the same name) that featured a post-DEATH RACE 2000/pre-LOVE BOAT Fred Grandy leading a buncha wax museum monster figures brought to life in campy crime fighting adventures that pretty much mimicked the fantasy sitcoms of the sixties, only with an extremely limited budget. A cursory viewing lo these many years later has led me to believe that THE MONSTER SQUAD was aimed not only at the kiddos spilling Cap'n Crunch all over the carpet but the blurry-eyed boozers recovering from a long Friday night! 

After re-watching this particular episode featuring Marty Allen heading up a gang of thieves decked out in glitter regalia, it's more'n obvious that THE MONSTER SQUAD was way better'n some of the comedies that were popping up on the prime time schedule at just about the same nanosecond! Well, it made for way better viewing than a good portion of the offal of the day like THE SAN PEDRO BEACH BUMS as well as those totally dismal variety shows like the kind Cher and Tony Orlando hosted. The exact type of tee-vee which helped wean me off of a good portion of boob tube watching for good, or at least the new stuff! As the guy in the meme says, "prove me wrong!!!!"

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Yeah yeah I know...enough with the personalism and on with the reviews! Paul McGarry (as usual) is to be credited with contributing all of the donations (God will reward him for this, although I do not know whether it will be in a good or bad way.) Anyway, read on, and tell me that I wasn't right about how I've been going through the same ol' motions for nigh on twennysome years awlready!

The Sons of Adam-SATURDAY'S SONS CD-r burn (originally on High Moon Records)

Yeah, this is the same group that not only once boasted the presence of future Blue Cheer guitarist Randy Holden in its ranks but recorded the then-unreleased Love number "Feathered Fish" which eventually wound up on the second volume of PEBBLES! 

A lack of liner notes has me more in the dark than had I fallen into the Black Hole of Calcutta, but I can tell you that the live from the Avalon set that opens this disque is chock full of that San Francisco ballroom feel that was oozing forth from that city shortly before it all fell into loveandpeacedrivel, Punk rock in the same fashion Nick Kent called the first Grateful Dead platter punk, but perhaps closer to the Dead '65 during their definitely punk "Confusion Prince" period than what would transpire in a few rotten years time

The studio tracks which follow show a softer and definitely influenced by the quieter side of the British Inversion sound, again coming close to the earlier San Fran style back when the inspiration was way more Peter and Gordon than the Dave Clark Five. By the time "Feathered Fish" rolls around the pulse rises and the sphincter tightens (the stomach sphincter mind you) and we're into that notion of what "West Coast" rock 'n roll was supposed to have meant to a good portion of us had the flakier elements not overcome the scene.

Following these Sons of Adam proper tracks are a series of cuts done during the group's earlier Fender IV days, surf instruments that sounds as if they came straight outta Downey California. Only from what I can tell these tracks were recorded while the bunch were still living on the East Coast with just goes to show ya that ideas and musical modes traveled a whole lot faster than what I would have thought in them pre-internet days!

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Randy Holden-POPULATION III CD-r burn (originally on Riding Wasy Records)

(And speaking of  the Sons of Adam...) Frankly I didn't have much hope that Holden's follow-up to his mega-opus would be anywhere as hard-edged as the original, and although I really HATE to admit that I'm wrong well... If POPULATION III actually is a sequel to Holden's 1970 earbuster it's sure an unexpectedly wonderful one that surpasses if not equals the original what with that hard-edged seventies thud doom metal approach that seemed to have been washed outta the genre by the time the sissified eighties rolled in, if not earlier. I particularly liked the hypno-beat of  "Sands of Time" while "Land of Sun" has a rather powerful lurch to it that's gonna grow on you like that lump on the back of John Fetterman's neck! It's sure great knowin' that old turds like Holden can teach them young 'uns a thing or two! 

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Iggy Pop-EVERY LOSER CD-r burn (originally on Atlantic/Gold Tooth Records)

I like (well, most of) Iggy's latest because it reminds me of something outta the early eighties that at least had a modicum of class. The Bowie influence rages on and the synths sound like they were lifted outta some new wave album right around the time the terms transformed into "gnu" wave (copyright 1983 Bill Shute). It still registers in me perhaps because, even with that Larry King voice and the technoslick production, the Ig of old shines just enough to bring back dem warm 'n fuzzy memories of the days when music seemed to be an extremely driving force in my genetics. If this is how Iggy's gonna go outta his career better be this way'n singin' duos with that thing from the B-52s. 

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Robert Gordon with Link Wray-NYU LOEB AUDITORIUM, NEW YORK NY Dec 2, 1977 CD-r burn

Given all the negative commentary that has been bestowed upon Robert Gordon for quite a spell (and the rumors I've heard aren't exactly complimentary) I might feel quite uncomfortable writing about the man in positive terms! But eh, I find this live 'un to be a whole loads more entertaining 'n some of those stiffoids pretending to capture the glory of fifties rock 'n roll I've had the misfortune of hearing for a longer time 'n I can imagine. Gordon ain't any real talent mind you, but Link Wray could even make Wally Cox sound exciting! Bruce Springsteen guests on one track although Wray's natural magnetism overcomes any of the emote that "The Boss" might exude.

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Popular Creeps-ALL THIS WILL END IN TEARS CD-r burn (orignally on Big Stir Records)

Ya know I tend to shy away from these modern "power pop" efforts given how I believe it to my soul that the idea of ANY seventies modes being performed in the twenties is rather --- shall we say --- a bit too retro for my sense of listening. I won't be shying away from Popular Creeps tho, or at least this particular platter which thankfully displays a gutsier take on the retro-mop top trends of the past. Now I'll admit that portions of ALL THIS WILL END IN TEARS might ooze shards of post-sixties over-professionalism that marred a number of efforts from the Shoes on down, but despite that it holds up a whole lot better (and smoother) than some of the more sweety pie p.p. efforts I've heard o'er the years. Nothin' creepy about these guys that's for sure! 

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Hey, why should I (like other fanzine publishers of the past) put my entire run on line for free especially when I have so many of 'em I need to move outta my basement! BLACK TO COMM  is not quite ready for the digital age, but until it is why not buy a few (or more) available back issues (click highlight above) and who knows, maybe if I sell 'em all out you'll be paying to see it online some day (like I'm gonna give it away for free!).