TV Party Tonight! Part Four: The Dictators and The Neighborhoods - by Ricki C.

paraphrased from the Ricki C. interview, 1/10/2017

Q. Nowadays, you’re almost better known as a roadie than as a performer, how did that happen?

A. Truthfully, I’m probably a better roadie than I am a rocker.  I’m too OCD to be a rock & roll star.  I want everything to run on time and the wires never to be crossed.  Also, I’m really, really lazy.  I never seek out gigs anymore.  They just fall in my lap.  Somebody asks me to open, and I open.  Otherwise I just stay home, feel sorry for myself and write Pencilstorm columns about The Dictators and The Neighborhoods.

I thought I’d stay true to myself for my first crack at TV Party Tonight! (read part three here) and stick with bands I know like the back of my hand.  The Dictators and The Neighborhoods are two examples of my “The Five Best Bands That You Never Saw” theme.  (i.e. Bands SO FAR outside mainstream rock & roll the casual rock fan might not have ever even seen them on YouTube, let alone on Saturday Night Live or the late night Jimmy-shows.  EVERYBODY has seen The Who and Bruce Springsteen, NOT everybody has seen The Dictators or The ‘Hoods.)  (The other three bands in that category – for those of you scoring at home – are Romantic Noise/The Buttons, Willie Phoenix’s 1978/1979 bands; Brownsville Station, who I wrote somewhat at length about a coupla weeks ago, but could write WAY more at length about if someone gave me the slightest provocation; and Mott The Hoople.)

But I digress, let’s rock……… 

This clip comprises The Dictators entire set at Little Steven’s International Underground Garage Festival August 14th, 2004, on Randall’s Island in New York City. I was at that show. (In fact at the 5:17 mark, the guy with brown hair & a black t-shirt next to the white-haired guy wearing a red & white baseball cap, that’s ME.)

for much more about The Dictators, click The Dictators on Growing Old With Rock & Roll

The Neighborhoods in their 1979 rock & roll infancy on some Boston cable-access TV show.  (And MAN, what I wouldn’t give if Columbus had been a big enough city in 1979 to have a program like this that would have videotaped Romantic Noise in their prime.)

Next decade, ‘Hoods in 1983 at The Channel in Boston (the second or third greatest rock club I have ever been to in my entire rock & roll existence).

And finally, David Minehan & the boys from 2010, rockin’ the 21st century………

for much more about The Neighborhoods, click The Neighborhoods at Growing Old With Rock & Roll

Bonus Dictators, for the truly hard-core, with time on their hands and rock & roll on the brain.

This was the edition of the band I witnessed opening for AC/DC at the Columbus Agora, 1977. 

Craig Finn (The Hold Steady) House Show Review - by Jeremy Porter

Concert Review
Craig Finn (The Hold Steady) House Show
Ann Arbor, MI
Monday January 16, 2017

Going to a rock show sure has changed, eh? If you’re not filming every other song on your damn iPhone, you’re stuck watching the show through the damn iphone screen of the guy in front of you. Alright, I admit, I’ll take a couple photos at a show if the moment seems appropriate, especially if I’m planning to write about it, but I like to think I am not part of the problem. A couple pics, then put the phone away, enjoy the band and live in the moment. 

Maybe I’m just trying to stay positive, but it seems like we might be slowly, collectively starting to realize that some of the magic of a live show is lost when your gadget stands between you and the stage. It seems like we might be seeing less of that (?). And we’re starting to see a backlash - a (somewhat) new trend of “living room shows” where musicians who have obtained a respectable following play a tour of private homes and other non-venues, hosted by fans, for fans. They’re the Uber and AirB&B of rock shows. You’re not going to see ads in your local weekly rag or posters at the record store, but if you’re on the band’s email list or follow them on social media, you’ll probably hear about it. Pat Dinizio from The Smithereens was doing it years ago. Will Johnson (Centro-Matic) and The Bottle Rockets (among many others)  have been doing it more recently, and this month, Craig Finn from The Hold Steady did a 12-date tour of intimate living room shows.  

I talked myself into going pretty soon after the Michigan show was announced. I’m a sucker for anything limited edition, limited engagement, limited release, limited whatever, and this seemed to me like it could be a special event. I’ve been a Hold Steady fan for years, admiring not only their great songs, but their Midwestern themes and vibe, and their commitment to building a community around the existence of their band and the music they play. I’ve never been one for fan clubs (except Trick International, where I proudly carry card #1824 and get a great Christmas card every year), but The Unified Scene is a positive force for positive people through music. This show was a pretty easy sell.  

So I pulled the trigger on the $30 tickets and then found that the show would be held at a Christian church in Ann Arbor. Not exactly a house, but still an interesting setting. They sold about 60 tickets and the upstairs “Sanctuary” room was comfortably full. We got seats right up front, talked to our host Luke (his wife is the pastor), and sat down as Craig loaded in his guitar and a tiny PA.  At 8 pm sharp the iPod house music was turned off and Craig gave a little intro to the show and a quick plug for his upcoming record and went into the music.  

The setlist was heavy on new material from the forthcoming We All Want The Same Things album, and the title was a theme that kept coming up from song to song. He played “Jester & June”, “Preludes”, “God In Chicago”,  “Tangletown”, and “Be Honest” from the new record and the material seemed fresh and inspired, more so than his previous 2 solo releases.  He also played “Mission Viejo” from his Minneapolis-based Lifter Puller days, and ended with “Certain Songs” from The Hold Steady Almost Killed Me. Other than an alternate take on “Maggie I’ve Been Looking For Our Son”, a favorite from his first solo record, that’s the extent of the setlist as I can remember, though I may have missed something.  

Between each song he took a couple questions from the audience, often using his answers and stories to set up the next number. Questions and banter ranged from songwriting influences and techniques, poetry, locational and age themes in his music, and the recording of and approach to the new material. The setup for the debut “single” from the new record “Preludes” was especially interesting, with a backstory around the Asian gang in his old neighborhood that was the inspiration for the made-in-Detroit Clint Eastwood movie Gran Torino, and how they’d soup up their Honda Preludes. It was more like sitting around a living room with one of your favorite songwriters than going to a show.  

That’s what the real story is here, after all. The songs and the singer, the room, and the audience, together sharing a special, common experience. I planned to take a photo or 2 for this story, but I couldn’t bring myself to pull my phone out and ruin the purity of the experience. I wouldn’t dream of it. I realized a couple songs in that that was the point, that was a big part of what made it special.  When it was over, it was over.  No YouTube clips, no photo stream, just the memories. It was liberating and I felt somehow cleansed. It seemed appropriate that it was in a church. 

Sometimes you want to go to a club, see your friends, drink whiskey, and have Bob Mould melt your face off. I love that, and those days aren’t over for me, but it’s a different kind of intense to sit in a quiet room and listen to Craig Finn talk to you about his new songs, and then play them - for you. Rock and roll is alive and well, my friends.  It’s there for the taking and it’s being served up in fresh new ways. Go to a show.  

Craig Finn’s website: http://www.craigfinn.net/
Pre-order We All Want The Same Things here:  http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/craigfinn2

Colin Gawel on the TV! WOSU-PBS "Broad and High" Thursday, 8pm

Hey folks, WOSU-PBS is doing a little feature on Colin this Thursday on "Broad and High." The program airs Thursday, January 26th @ 8pm on WOSU-PBS. It also repeats Sunday, January 29th at 11:30am. Or you can watch it online after the fact by clicking here. Tune in and spread the word. Thanks!  

 Click here to visit Colin bio page with videos, press and more.. 

On the next Broad & High, catch up with Columbus musician and coffee-shop owner Colin Gawel; warm up with a visit to Petali Teas in Alexandria, Ohio; and, explore the story behind a literary classic. Thursday at 8 p.m. on WOSU-PBS! (Episode airs 1/26/17. Find all episodes online at www.wosu.org/BroadAndHigh.)

Book Review: Punk Tees (Martin Popoff) - by JCE

BOOK REVIEW -- PUNK TEES: THE PUNK REVOLUTION IN 125 T-SHIRTS by MARTIN POPOFF

I will get to the book review, but first I have to give you the background on how I came to read this book.  The book was a Christmas present from my daughter.  She is 16 years old and she went out shopping on her own this year.  My daughter & I have a very close relationship, and one thing we both love is music.  We can talk for hours about bands we love and why, and even though we have a larger than normal age gap (I’m an older Dad), we have a lot of overlapping taste in music.  I take my daughter to rock shows all the time, and we have a ball. So when I opened this gift, which she was very excited to give me, it choked me up.  If you’re a father, you probably know what I mean.  In the card she wrote with it, she said “Thanks for being such a great Dad and for supporting me in the things I love, such as music...”  So let me wipe the tear out of my eye and tell you about the book.   

I would give this book 3 out of 5 stars.  The book attempts to tell the history of punk rock through a series of write-ups about various bands and punk t-shirts.  There are some brief oral histories provided by people like Roberta Bayley, who shot the cover photo of the first Ramones record.  The book, for me, has a lot of positives, and a few negatives.  First, let’s get my criticisms out of the way.  The book is a nice, quick history of punk.  There’s discussion of punk fashion and such, but the t-shirts seem almost unnecessary.  Still, it’s a unique and clever way to present the history that is the subject of the book.  It’s a whirlwind tour of all the punk bands that are most well-known.  The t-shirt thing is a bit of a stretch though.  I think if the book had really been more of a punk t-shirt collector’s bible, with way more shirts pictured, it may have been more unique and interesting.  My other criticism is that there were only a few things I read in the book that I hadn’t read numerous times before.  But I have read a lot of biographies and books about music, so that’s more my fault than the author’s.

Let’s get to what is good about the book. I like the graphics, the color photos and the paper stock: it’s a high quality book.  It’s small, about 9” x 9,” which I kind of like.  It’s 192 pages with many photos, so it’s a quick, easy read.  As far as content, the best thing about the book is that they got it exactly right, as far as the history goes, at least in my opinion.  The author, Popoff, broke the book into four chapters, which are meant to cover distinct eras of punk.  He started with the Velvet Underground, MC5, New York Dolls and the Stooges, but he also references how in some ways, even earlier bands could have been considered punk.  He argues that The Who were punk in their own right and he tells you why he feels that way.  I think he got it right.  The t-shirt for The Who, with the target, really looks like punk to me.  The smashing of equipment and the music itself could certainly be thought of as punk.  The book also has some very specific dates in history, of certain shows and things like that.  There is an attention to detail in that respect, but the book is very general in nature.  Chapter one includes the Ramones as well.  

Chapter two covers the British heyday: citing the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Damned and many others, all of which are exactly the right bands to mention.  I remember getting punk tees in Georgetown as a teenager during this era of punk and thinking they were like a badge of honor to wear into my high school.  Since the book is supposed to be about t-shirts, it would have been nice if there were multiple examples for each band, but only one example per band is provided, and they are quite obscure examples, which maybe is a positive aspect.  Again, this chapter mentions virtually every band from that era that I know about, and a few I didn’t know about, which was a nice added bonus.

Chapter three is your post-punk or new wave chapter.  It covers a lot of bands including The Jam, Siouxsie and the Banshees, more of the Damned, Blondie, Lords of the New Church, etc.  Most of the chapter is pretty spot on, but some of the bands could easily have made it into chapter two.  The book seems to take the position that Pistols and Clash era punk was over very quickly, which is a valid argument I guess.

Chapter four moves on to hardcore and includes both oi! bands from Britain like Cockney Rejects and also American hardcore: Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedy’s Black Flag, etc.  This chapter relies mostly on California bands, but it cites Washington D.C., Boston and Minneapolis as vital hardcore scenes and includes Minor Threat, Gang Green, Husker Du and early Replacements.  The only shirt in the whole book that I actually own is the last one pictured, the Social Distortion skeleton shirt.

Bottom line:  Punk Tees is a nice book.  The concept of using t-shirts to tell the story of punk didn’t work all that well, because it’s not all that detailed as to punk history or t-shirts, it’s just a little of both.  But when your music-loving daughter spots a book on punk tees and identifies it as a perfect gift for her Dad, well that it makes it a great book in my opinion. – JCE  

TV Party Tonight! Part Two: Fridays - by Scott Carr

Click here for TV Party Part One: George Michael and Queen.

When it was announced at our weekly editorial board meeting (editor's note: over cognac & cigars) that Pencil Storm would be doing a new series dedicated to the YouTube rabbit hole, I was totally on board. I often find myself digging through YouTube for hours searching for a lost piece of footage that takes me back in time. 

My trip down the You Tube rabbit hole this weekend will take you back to the early 1980's when the ABC television network decided that they would give NBC's Saturday Night Live some competition. Originally ABC had thought they should go head to head with SNL with a sketch comedy series airing on the same night and in the same time slot. After giving it some thought ABC decided maybe the better idea would be to air their late night comedy show a night before and call it Fridays. 

Fridays began it's run on ABC in April of 1980 and would last for only three seasons, leaving the airwaves in April of 1982.  The premise of Fridays basically followed the SNL concept:  sketch comedy with a different guest star and musical act each week. 

Fridays really connected with me as I was too young to really appreciate the original cast  of  SNL that included John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and others. By 1980  SNL was struggling as it had lost all of its original cast members and producer Lorne Michaels had gone on hiatus from the show. The time seemed right for a new kid on the block. 

Fridays had a pretty strong cast of characters but for me it was the musical guests that kept me watching week after week. Fridays is notable for hosting the American network television debuts of  AC/DC, The Clash and The Stray Cats. At the time of their appearance The Stray Cats didn't even have a record out in America, it would be another eight months before their US debut would be released. Other memorable performances included The Jam, Pretenders, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Plasmatics, Split Enz and many others. The Cars and Devo hold the distinction of being the only artists to make more than one appearance on the show. 

Kiss appeared on Fridays in February of 1982 promoting their album (Music From) The Elder. Kiss performed three songs from the album and this would be the only live performance of material from that album for over three decades. This footage was very sought after by Kiss fanatics around the globe and would eventually resurface on the band's Kissology Vol. 2 DVD set in 2007.

Fridays final episode aired on April 23rd 1982 and featured Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder performing "Ebony and Ivory."

There are plenty of Fridays clips on YouTube, below are a few of my favorites. I'm sure you'll discover others that will keep you occupied for a few hours........television like this does not exist anymore.......

The Clash perform "London Calling" and "Train In The Vain" live as the musical guest on the cult classic comedy show Fridays. You can buy The Best Of Fridays at: https://www.shoutfactory.com/node/217612 For the first time ever on DVD, ABC's cult hit Fridays is here!

The Stray Cats perform "Rock This Town" and "Stray Cat Strut" live as the musical guest on the cult classic comedy show Fridays. You can buy The Best Of Fridays at: https://www.shoutfactory.com/node/217612 For the first time ever on DVD, ABC's cult hit Fridays is here!

Kiss performs "The Oath" live as the musical guest on the cult classic comedy show Fridays. You can buy The Best Of Fridays at: https://www.shoutfactory.com/node/217612 For the first time ever on DVD, ABC's cult hit Fridays is here!

Devo performs "Uncontrollable Urge" live as the musical guest on the cult classic comedy show Fridays. You can buy The Best Of Fridays at: https://www.shoutfactory.com/node/217612 For the first time ever on DVD, ABC's cult hit Fridays is here!

Tom Petty performs "Shadow Of A Doubt" live as the musical guest on the cult classic comedy show Fridays. You can buy The Best Of Fridays at: https://www.shoutfactory.com/node/217612 For the first time ever on DVD, ABC's cult hit Fridays is here!

Steve Forbert performs "Romeo's Tune" live as the musical guest on the cult classic comedy show Fridays. You can buy The Best Of Fridays at: https://www.shoutfactory.com/node/217612 For the first time ever on DVD, ABC's cult hit Fridays is here!

New Zealand band Split Enz on ABC Comedy/Music show "Fridays" performing "I Got You"

Features Amy Kanter on vocals.

Uploaded by rebelsports on 2010-01-21.

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.

Valley Dale Ballroom, Then & Now and The Ballroom Breakout! - by Ricki C.

Rock & roll returns to the Valley Dale Ballroom this Saturday night, January 14th, with the Ballroom Breakout! The Breakout! features local rockers Terry Davidson & the Gears playing both their own set AND backing Detroit rock & roll legend Mitch Ryder on a set of rockers that you KNOW is gonna include "Devil With A Blue Dress," "Jenny Take a Ride," and – I would hope, on accounta it’s my favorite Ryder tune – Lou Reed’s "Rock & Roll." The Lovebenders will open the night.  (Click here for a poster: Ballroom Breakout!)

Some of the best nights of my rock & roll adolescence took place at the Valley Dale Ballroom. From sometime in 1969 ‘til ’72 a band called Brownsville Station – the pride & joy of Ann Arbor, MI. & environs – would rent Valley Dale and essay their own rock & roll throwdowns at the venue. (Smart business.) The large majority of rock fans would think of Brownsville Station as the one-hit wonders responsible for the 70’s novelty tune "Smokin’ In The Boy’s Room." I – and many, many of my rocker brethren & sistren – would remember Brownsville Station as one of the ten best live rock & roll acts they EVER witnessed: as our own near ‘n’ dear version of The MC5 or The Who; as the act that would play Columbus at least twice a year – at Valley Dale or at the old Agora Ballroom – and leave an audience of a few hundred to a thousand souls pleasantly deafened, hoarse from rock & roll sing/shout-a-longs and trying to dig our car keys out of our sweat-soaked jeans to make the drive back from Sunbury Road to our mercifully quiet homes. We was reamed, steamed & dry-cleaned, ladies & gentlemen, and it felt fine.

Brownsville Station weren’t just a rock & roll band, they were a rock & roll EXPERIENCE. I never saw a band so effortlessly establish a symbiosis with its audience that bordered on worship & hysteria. You weren’t an audience member at a Brownsville Station show, you were part of a tribe of like-minded jump, shout, work-it-all-out cult of crazy people intent on sex, drugs and rock & roll. (And – in a pinch – I guess two out of the three weren’t bad.)  My best friend of the time, Dave Blackburn and I would leave those shows feeling the best I have ever felt in my rock & roll existence. I saw The Who in Columbus on November 1st, 1969, and yeah, of course they were probably BETTER than Brownsville Station, but I didn’t see The Who AGAIN until sometime in 1972 in Dayton. I saw Brownsville Station probably six or seven times in between those times and every one of those shows was a masterpiece of rock & roll mayhem. Plus we were maybe 20 FEET from Cub Koda’s Marshall stacks at Valley Dale, rather than the third row from the back of Vet’s Memorial or the second balcony cheap seats at Hara Arena. Sometimes proximity and quantity count.

Valley Dale recently underwent a $1.5 million renovation, I bet it’s still a great place for a rock show. Myself, I’ve gotta play the rock & roll elsewhere this Saturday night, but you should go, and I am DEFINITELY gonna be there in the future to relive my misspent youth and see what rock & roll The Team Productions have in store for the rockers of Columbus. Details at TheBallroomBreakout.com. – Ricki C. / January 11th, 2017

Mitch Ryder - Devil With The Blue Dress/Good Golly Miss Molly Johnny "Bee" Bdanjek - Drums

ALBUM : BROWNSVILLE STATION 1977 PAIS : USA The other night I was Walking down the street I was getting kinda hungry I decided to get me something to eat Now I passed up all the chain Franchise joints on Hamburger row And stopped at a little greasy spoon place

Columbus blues-rockers Terry Davidson & The Gears let loose some rockin' rhythms and cool blues solos at the barber shop.