What Now America? What NOW? How About a Mixtape? - Wal Ozello

By Pencilstorm contributor - Wal Ozello

We have a strict rule here among us Pencilstorm contributors - no politics.  Even with the tumultuous Presidential election, I stopped myself from blogging about it.  After Tuesday's results came in my facebook feed lit up and it's been crazy ever since.  Both sides are still talking about what America needs.

You know what America needs now?  Some good ol' rock n roll.  So I made a mix tape for you America.  Enjoy!

American Girl - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Liberty - Journey

Rockin' In  The Free World - Neil Young

For Those About To Rock, We Salute You - AC/DC

Johnny B Goode - Chuck Berry

Paradise City - Guns N Roses

American Idiot - Green Day

Right Now - Van Halen

Rock In America - Night Ranger

The Rising - Bruce Springsteen

Star Spangled Banner - Jimi Hendrix

Feel free to add your own in the comment section below.  It's time to rock.

Wal Ozello is a science fiction techno-thriller novelist and the author of Assignment 1989 ,  Revolution 1990, and Sacrifice 2086. He's a resident of Upper Arlington, Ohio and a frequent customer at Colin's Coffee.

Five Sentences About The Stooges Documentary Debuting at Gateway Film Center This Week - by Ricki C.

HEY, PENCILSTORM READERS, a new documentary about The Stooges (NOT Iggy & the Stooges, I WILL NEVER refer to them as "Iggy & the Stooges" they were just THE STOOGES) by Jim Jarmusch is playing at the Gateway Film Center this week.  I didn't get to go on Friday on accounta I was playin' roadie for The Whiles CD release party at Ace Of Cups (Columbus' finest venue for local rock & roll, and maybe just finest venue, period) and I've got a busy weekend comin' up, but you'd best believe I'm gonna be there THE MINUTE I get a minute.

So, I haven't actually SEEN the doc, but I think it's gotta be great, given Jarmusch's involvement and the fact that it's about The Stooges, for Chrissakes.  I read on the Gateway website that Tuesdays are Super Tuesdays, with $5 admission and FREE POPCORN, so my best advice to you, dear readers, is to QUIT YOUR JOBS (or just tell your boss you're headin' out to vote) and go see Gimme Danger on Tuesday.  

This is my fifth sentence: here's a trailer, GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!

(editor's note: Some of the footage in this trailer - the scene of Iggy throwing peanut butter into the audience and standing/pointing on the hands of the crowd - was shot at the Cincinnati Pop Festival, which Ricki C. attended on June 13th, 1970, exactly one week after he graduated from high school.  He's never been the same.  For a more complete account of that show, check out The First Time I Saw The Stooges on Ricki's previous blog, Growing Old With Rock & Roll.

One Night, Two Cities and Six Amazing Columbus Bands - by Colin Gawel

This Friday night, November 4th, 2016

Ace of Cups (Columbus, OH): The Whiles (CD Release), Ghost Shirt and Bicentennial Bear

The Pike Room (Pontiac, MI): Lydia Loveless, Aaron Lee Tasjan and Jeremy Porter & the Tucos.

The Whiles

Obviously anybody who reads Pencilstorm and/or is a fan of Watershed knows we go deep with The Whiles. Ricki C. has been a raving, slobbering fan since their first demos and still wrangles guitars for the Peppercorn brothers. I've had many a late night discussion pleading my case that Colors Of The Year is the best record to ever come out of Columbus. And I've been lucky enough to have Joe Peppercorn help out on both my solo records and the Watershed record Brick and Mortar.  And to top it all off, original lead singer Zach Prout is now my son Owen's 7th grade English teacher. 

Though the band has stayed active, this show is a release party for Mercury Ghost (Anyway Records) their first new record since Somber Honey in 2012. The word on the street is that  it could be their best yet, so needless to say, Ricki and myself are over the moon with anticipation. The band also performs their annual Beatles Marathon every Holiday season (this year it's December 10th) so this may be the last straight show of originals from The Whiles for - ahem - a while, so try not to miss it. You'll be glad you did. 

Lydia Loveless

Similar to The Whiles, Lydia Loveless' early records are so damn good they can overshadow her more recent work. And that's a shame, because although it doesn't reveal itself on the first listen, her latest record Real is her best to date and another big step forward for the talented Ms. Loveless. She and her kick-ass band have been touring since what seems like the last time the Indians won the World Series and in the process even became one of the few Columbus ensembles to perform on a national TV show. Click here to check it out.

Hot on her heels in the national sense, the pride of New Albany, Aaron Lee Tasjan has been making waves with his brand new release Silver Tears out on the very cool New West imprint. Aaron left Columbus for Brooklyn before settling into East Nashville where he has amassed a jaw-dropping resume as a side-player while simultaneously cranking out quality solo work. Don't take my word for it, check out his bio here.  The title track off his latest record is a must listen and a must watch.  Dig it here.  

Speaking of cool labels, while browsing around for this article, I realized five of the last eight 12" records I have bought were released on Columbus' own Anyway Records. One of those bands, Ghost Shirt will be making a rare live appearance to support their pals in The Whiles. I flat wore out the grooves of their last release, After the Spark, and I recommend it highly to fans of power-pop that falls not far from the Nick Lowe tree.

Bicentennial Bear is led by Miranda Sound alum Billy Peake and his talent for combining clever lyrics & clever arrangements played at stupid volumes is truly awe-inspiring. If you have never heard the song "Black Quarterbacks," I truly pity you. Click here to remedy that situation.  

OK, you got me, Jeremy Porter and the Tucos aren't from Columbus. They happen to be yet another kick-ass rock n roll band from Detroit. There is a local connection, however: Jeremy is longtime friends with Watershed producer Tim Patalan and - in fact - Jeremy added some musical parts to our last single Best Worst Night / Hey Lydia that was just released this summer. Like Lydia and Aaron, Jeremy is a touring machine who has built up quite a following around the Midwest and East Coast. Click here to check out some of the tunes. It's great stuff.

My best advice would be to try and attend one of these amazing bills in person, my next best advice would be to check them all out online and tell a friend. 

Colin Gawel thinks it's weird when guys in bands are also music critics. It's like being a baseball player and a sports writer at the same time. But he wrote this, so I guess he is weird. He owns Colin's Coffee and founded Pencilstorm. His latest video is here.

Enuff Z' Nuff: A Band You Need To Know - by Scott Carr

Hailing from Blue Island, Illinois, Enuff Z' Nuff was formed in 1984 by guitarist/vocalist Donnie Vie and bassist Chip Z' Nuff. Originally known as Enough Z' Nuff, the duo immediately began writing songs together. Leaning heavily on their influences of The Beatles, Badfinger, Slade, Queen, Elvis Costello and their home state heroes Cheap Trick, Vie and Z' Nuff built a catalog of hundreds of songs in short order and began hitting clubs all around Chicago. 

Enuff Z' Nuff took their shot at big time success when they released their self-titled debut album on Acto Records in August of 1989.  Glam metal was taking it's last gasp of breathe and Enuff Z' Nuff were pushed right into the middle of it all. While the band did have the glam image, their music was not metal and it certainly felt more sincere than their glam metal counterparts. Big media even took notice of Enuff Z' Nuff being quite different than the flavor of the week that the labels were churning out at the time. Rolling Stone magazine describe their music as "Beatle-esque song craft and ripping hard rock" while Billboard magazine called them "a truly gifted power pop act." Even radio shock jock Howard Stern took an interest in the band and often featured them on his nationally syndicated radio show, Stern would later write liner notes for the bands fourth album 1985. In the liner notes Stern mentioned a trip he had taken to a remote deserted island and he only took five cassettes with him and three of them were Ennuff Z' Nuff. Enuff Z' Nuff made back to back appearances on Late Night With David Letterman and Letterman said "when it comes to rock 'n roll kids, these guys are all you need." Kiss' Paul Stanley said "Their debut album is a classic!"

It would seem that everything was set in place for Enuff Z' Nuff to become a household name, but it just wasn't in the cards. The debut album did quite well and spawned the MTV hits "New Thing" and "Fly High Michelle." By the the time the band released their second album Strength the music climate had changed and anyone associated with the glam metal scene found it tough to get any attention. Strength was a far superior album to the bands debut album and found the band delving deeper into their Beatle-inspired power pop roots. Acto Records dropped the band but they were quickly picked up by Arista Records for their third record, Animals With Human Intelligence. Almost as soon as they were signed to Arista they would find themselves without a label again. This would be the bands last go around with the majors and Chip and Donnie forged ahead releasing their music on indie labels and sometimes you could only track down their new music via Japanese imports. Although they no longer had the support of a major label the quality of their music never suffered. If anything, it continued to get better with each record.

To date the band has released 12 studio records with a 13th on the way in December. The bands has had its share of inner turmoil, including the death of guitarist Derek Frigo in 2004 and the death of drummer Ricky Parent in 2007. Donnie and Chip have been the creative force behind the band and have struggled to keep the name of the band alive. Donnie has been in and out of the group a couple times and is currently not a touring member of the band. Chip is currently fronting the band and has a entirely new line-up touring the country. Their new record coming out in December - called Clown's Lounge - is an archival release of songs the band recorded around 1988 but never released. Donnie Vie has released several solo records over the past decade or so and continues making music on his own.

My personal history with Enuff Z' Nuff dates back to 1990 when a band I was in opened for them at a teen club in Huntington, WV.  We got to hang out with the band and they were really nice to us, which isn't always the case when you get an opening slot for a national act. I continued to follow the band and would open for them a couple more times over the years. The most interesting interaction I ever had with the band was sharing the stage with singer Donnie Vie for a one-off solo show he did at Oldfields On High here in Columbus in 2002. Donnie was in town for the holidays and wanted to play a show but didn't have a band. Donnie's wife at the time was a mutual friend and she reached out to me and asked if my band would be interested in backing Donnie up at this show. Of course we said we would. We scheduled a few rehearsals with Donnie and we had been doing our homework, so we already knew a bunch of songs. Donnie wanted to play mostly songs that we didn't know but by the end of rehearsals we had a pretty solid set put together. The night of the show the set list went out the window and Donnie said,  "We are gonna play one we have never played before...." He looked at me and sayid, "Stand By Me, John Lennon style." I launched into the opening guitar part, the band joined in and the rest is kind of a blur. Donnie ended the set with a swan dive into our drummer's drum kit. It was a crazy night but we all survived, barely. Although Donnie knows my name, throughout this whole experience he always referred to me as "Fingers." 

Chip Z' Nuff, myself and Derek Frigo 1990

Me and Donnie Vie 1998

On stage with Donnie Vie at Oldfields On High.

Donnie's infamous dive into the drum kit.

I'm writing this piece with the hope that it will shed some light on this great little band from the 1980's that not many people remember, but also as a tribute to the loyal fans that have stuck by the band for almost 30 years. Illinois has spawned so many great power pop bands like Shoes, Material Issue, Off Broadway, Pezband, and of course Cheap Trick. Enuff Z' Nuff has elements of all those bands in their music and they also managed to carve out their own unique sound. If you are looking for a "new thing" to listen to, I would suggest picking up an Enuff Z' Nuff CD. I think you will be pleasantly surprise.

The current touring version of Enuff Z' Nuff will be playing the Alrosa Villa on Saturday October 29th. 

Check out the clips below for a little taste of what Enuff Z' Nuff is all about....

Scott Carr is a guitarist who plays in the Columbus, OH  bands Radio Tramps andReturning April.  Scott is also an avid collector of vinyl records and works at Lost Weekend Records. So...if you are looking for Scott....you'll either find him in a dimly lit bar playing his guitar or in a record store digging for the holy grail.

Noisivision Studios produced this Enuff Z'Nuff video for their hit single "There Goes My Heart." www.noisivision.com Prod. Co. Noisivision Studios Director: Brian Smith Producer: Braddon Mendelson © 2008 Pony Canyon Year: 2000 Location: Exteriors filmed at Richard Rioux County Park, Stevenson Ranch, California http://www.noisivision.com/category/music-videos/

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises Catholic Girls · Enuff Z Nuff 1985 ℗ 2008 Stoney Records (BCD Music Group) Released on: 2008-03-25 Auto-generated by YouTube.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises Goodbye, Goodbye · Enuff Z Nuff 1985 ℗ 2008 Stoney Records (BCD Music Group) Released on: 2008-03-25 Auto-generated by YouTube.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises Day By Day · Enuff Z Nuff 1985 ℗ 2008 Stoney Records (BCD Music Group) Released on: 2008-03-25 Auto-generated by YouTube.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises I'll B The 1 2 Luv U · Enuff Z Nuff 1985 ℗ 2008 Stoney Records (BCD Music Group) Released on: 2008-03-25 Auto-generated by YouTube.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises I'll B The 1 2 Luv U · Enuff Z Nuff 1985 ℗ 2008 Stoney Records (BCD Music Group) Released on: 2008-03-25 Auto-generated by YouTube.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises We're All Alright · Enuff Z Nuff Tweaked ℗ 2008 Stoney Records (BCD Music Group) Released on: 2008-05-27 Auto-generated by YouTube.

Uploaded by DonaldEVanDevelde on 2015-11-18.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises Ain't It Funny · Enuff Z Nuff Paraphernalia ℗ 2008 Stoney Records (BCD Music Group) Released on: 2008-07-22 Auto-generated by YouTube.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises Rollaway · Enuff Z'nuff Dissonance ℗ 2010 Copyright Control Released on: 2013-06-01 Music Publisher: Copyright Control Auto-generated by YouTube.

Enuff Z´Nuff - Mother´s Eyes (High Quality)

Promo Video

Enuff Z'Nuff performing High at M3 Rock Festival, Merriweather Post Pavilion, US. Fri May 11th 2012

Enuff Z'Nuff performing Fly High Michelle at M3 Rock Festival, Merriweather Post Pavilion, US. Fri May 11th 2012

Tailgate w/ The League Bowlers @ Four String Brew Before the Battle of Ohio

Big $ and K-Dubs the Soldier - collectively known as The North Coast Posse - have been slogging through blogging another tough Browns season. To cheer them up, Pencilstorm will be throwing a pre-game party at Four String Brew (985 W. 6th 43212) Sunday October 23rd. As always, The League Bowlers (featuring Four String Founder Dan Cochran on the four-string) will provide the tunage. People start staggering in around 11:30 am and the Bowlers play at noon. Kickoff 1 pm. 

Fans of the Browns, Bengals, Day Drinking and Rock n Roll are all encouraged to attend. Admission is FREE. 

Kick Off Party with Carl Rose Jr, (The League Bowlers), Big $, Neil Sika, and K-Dubs The Soldier. @ Four String Brew. Next party Sunday Oct 23rd. Doors 11am. Music at Noon. FREE.

Who is Bava Choco and Why Are They Opening for Earwig this Saturday? - by Ricki C.

Bava Choco will be opening the Earwig CD release party this Saturday Night – October 15th – at CD 102.5’s Big Room Bar (1036 S. Front Street): doors at 8 pm, Bava Choco 8:30 pm, The Kyle Sowashes and Earwig to follow. 

The first thing you’ve gotta know about Bava Choco is that they’re HIGH CONCEPT.  By that I mean that lead singer Patrick Baracus has made sure that ALL ASPECTS of the band have been thought through and considered: the way the band dresses, the way the songs cohere, the stage presentation, etc.  And In these 21st century days of bands having TOTALLY ZERO ideas, creativity or – God forbid – originality of thought or word, Bava Choco really stands out.  (By this I mean, if I see ONE MORE BAND on Seth Myers – my choice of late-night viewing – with ABSOLUTELY NOT ONE REASON TO EXIST, done up in some mish-mash of thrift-store clothes, mismatched haircuts & not one iota of a notion of presentation I'm gonna put a bullet through my head, or more likely through my TV.)  (Just like Elvis.)

Plus, Bava Choco is named after one of the “brands” of dope that Eric Stoltz is peddling to John Travolta in Pulp Fiction.  And if naming your band after a heroin blend in a 22 year old Tarantino flick isn’t HIGH CONCEPT, I don’t know what is.

But really, screw all my HIGH CONCEPT guff: if THE MUSIC doesn’t deliver, why am I bothering to write about the band, and it’s THE MUSIC where Bava Choco really fries my synapses.  I’ve seen Baracus in his previous bands – the mighty MC5-influenced squall of B.A. Baracus, some intermediate band whose name I can’t remember that opened for Colin’s Lonely Bones at the Rumba or Woodlands one Christmas show – and I have to say that Bava Choco is Patrick’s best venture yet.   

Patrick told me one time when the band was still in rehearsals that he was just gonna say, “Fuck it, and unleash all of his Deep Purple and Black Sabbath fantasies” in his new band and – I’ve gotta say – I wasn’t particularly heartened by that pronouncement.  I lived through heavy metal when it was first invented and my rocker brethren KNOW it’s not one of my Top Three rock & roll genres.  But Bava Choco bring such a passion and fresh approach to quasi-metal it really took me back to those days of 1968 & 1969 when bands like Deep Purple were still really INVENTIVE and Tony Iommi actually incorporated some pretty jazzy chord voicings into the melee that was early Black Sabbath.  It really wasn’t until the 1970’s that those bands collapsed into the terminal, plodding, drug-ridden/ravaged sludge-pit morass of metal that rock history is riddled with.  (Are you listening Uriah Heep?)       

Anyway, this is sliding out of hand, I’m about to start mumbling about the ‘60’s & ‘70’s when Bava Choco is a thoroughly MODERN rock & roll band: guitarist Eric French’s riffs & guitar stylings are a joy to watch & listen to and drummer Corey Gillen is a MONSTER of invention.  So just go see ‘em this Saturday night: drink a few beers (then Uber home so you don’t kill anybody), support CD-102.5 and their Big Room Bar and dig The Kyle Sowashes and Earwig while you’re at it.  It’s a Saturday night of rock & roll, what could you POSSIBLY have better to do with your time than that?  - Ricki C. / October 13th, 2016.

ps. Since I’m supposed to be such a hotshot rock critic, two (easily correctable) criticisms of Bava Choco: 1) The first time I saw the band, Mike Lovins – who, by the way, happens to be a KILLER bass player – wore shorts onstage.  Admittedly, it WAS high summer then (I stopped to watch a coupla softball games at Berliner on my way to the gig at CD 102.5), but NO self-respecting rocker should EVER WEAR SHORTS ONSTAGE.  2) Patrick was drinking beer during that set when this is obviously a band that should be swigging cognac straight from the bottle while lurching around onstage.  Beer drinking is for league bowlers, Bava Choco is HIGH CONCEPT.  If Baracus has to go so far as pouring beer INTO a cognac bottle before going onstage, he should take that step and project/protect the illusion.      

For a little preview of the tunes, check out Bava Choco on Bandcamp