welcome to the first installment BLOG TO COMM, the internet wing of BLACK TO COMM magazine (or to be more precise, fanzine), a rag that has been infesting the usually staid and dry world of rock writing/critiquing etc. since 1985. A bit of introduction for the uninitiated...BLACK TO COMM (which originally wallowed along in a variety of titles before settling on its current moniker in 1989) is a not-so-periodical that has to date twenty-five issues under its belt, ranging from the early Xeroxed 12/24 page tossouts to larger, less frequent offerings that could run anywhere from 74 to 162 pages. The content of BLACK TO COMM (and BLOG TO COMM) is pretty much up to what I (and those within my very close circle) deem good or important enough to be printed in its pages, which usually seem to be dissertations on underground rock, usually that of a Velvet Underground and/or various applications of their sound thereof variety (avoiding post-eighties atrocities natch!), not to mention varying aspects of rock & roll (as opposed to "rock") gulcher, usually with aesthetics firmly rooted in the selfsame vague underground "rubric" previously mentioned. Naturally, there will be many sidesteps into areas I and presumably you the reader will want to dwell on...books, movies (usually of the old variety albeit I am not the moom pitcher watcher I was even a decade back!), food and other things important (at least to my horse-blinder mentality range of tastes). This will also be a place where I can defend myself against various incursions upon the realm, which over the past decades has been more or less akin to the circling wagon train fending off Indian attacks! Enough of that anyway...expect in the coming weeks (don't expect any daily blogs here...I'm still trying to get the hang of this newfangled blogform in a manner similar to a toddler playin' with one of those Fisher-Price plastic playpen attachments with the dials, door with mirror and sliding bars! As you can see I'm having trouble getting the bold and italics type to work!) a number of pertinent things, including reviews of not only Charles Shaar Murray's SHOTS FROM THE HIP collection but Donovan's BARBAJAGAL album, not forgetting some rebuttals to a couple anti-BLACK TO COMM blogs that have appeared over the last week!
If you're interested in obtaining a copy of BLACK TO COMM, the latest is now available from me, featuring 162 info packed pages on the New York scene of the seventies, an interview with cartoonist J. D. King, gonzo rock critic Hot Scott Fischer on his involvement with garage band legends the Screamin' Mee-Mees, Simply Saucer pics, gig guide and family tree not to mention the tons of reviews (as usual) plus a bonus CD featuring unreleased live Simply Saucer tracks recorded in 1975 and Ruby and the Rednecks amongst others. Ten smackers plus two for postage in the USA (more elsewhere--write first!) will get you a copy. Send it ALL to Chris Stigliano, 714 Shady Ave., Sharon, PA 16146-3149 and when you're making out payment, make it to me and not the mag, OK?
If you came here looking for rock criticism you might as well be orbiting Jupiter.