U23D

2006 In Review

I'm a few weeks behind in doing my 2006 list but it seems like others were late as well so I don't feel as bad....

Soooooooooooooooooo........here's raves and faves (non-Bruce) from the year....

CD Of The Year....Neko Case "Fox Confessor Brings The Flood"...Someone tell me what that title means! Loved this CD all year. Seeing her with the New Porns at SXSW was a highlight but the show at The Troc may have been my fave show of the year as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdsiQ0LT6TM

Others in the top 10....

The Living End "State Of Emergency"...Green Day-ish stuff from Down Under...made a lot of commuter train rides home far more enjoyable...check out "Long Live The Weekend" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPE2fQDUZOA

James Hunter "People Gonna Talk"...This one really came outta left field...Such a COOL set of tunes to kick back with http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Shyoe-S10yI

Reckless Kelly "Was Here"...Live CD of the year...Been a big fan of these Texas (via Oregon) for many years...the CD/DVD combo really gives the good feel of their live shows...grab a cold Shiner when listening... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5VQcEKxk68

Bob Schneider "The Californian"...Any "Bob" release will always make my list...Now if only The Scabs would tour outside of Texas... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik02ik4Ue80

Kaiser George & The Hi Risers "Transatlantic Dynamite"...Close your eyes and you will venture back in the time of "To Sir With Love" and "A Hard Day's Night"... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEUqH0p9pHI

New York Dolls "One Day..."....Love it...Hate it...Three chords and goofy lyrics...David...Sylvain...and Sammy (the best rock bassist!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbmvhNzeeyY

Susanna Hoffs/Matthew Sweet "Under The Covers Vol 1"...A mtach made in heaven...Dig up seminal 60's tunes and let it rock...Susanna was made to sing "Different Drum"...Did I mention I was standing THIS CLOSE to her at SXSW!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1Pkd8sIe-c

Katie Melua "Piece By Piece"...New singer of the year...Her cover of "On The Road Again" slays me every time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqygkO7ZvP4

Jerry Lee Lewis "Last Man Standing"...Probably the most anticipated CD of the year for me ever since the rumors that he had recorded "Rock & Roll:...I really loved most of the tunes on here (a few are throwaways)...but the CD made me smile all year...Think a similar project with Little Richard may be in the works???? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KhUyu6q4r4

Other faves of the year....

Ben Kweller "Ben Kweller"...late year add...not sure why it took so long for me to catch on

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals "Nothing But Water"...never heard of her before the WXPN Weekend...great singer! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzPeTC7bH6E&mode=related&search=

Lindsey Buckingham "Under The Skin"...his guitar playing is so incredible

The Pipettes "We Are The Pipettes"...I'm a sucker for cheesy organs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsvKJ65-TlM

The Yayhoos "Put The Hammer Down"...Dan Baird and Roscoe Ambel can play in my garage band anytime! http://www.yayhoos.com/news.htm

Willie Nile "Streets Of New York"...This one kept coming back up on my iPod all year...and the dude so short!

Cheap Trick "Rockford"...best CD they've done in years

Joan Jett "Sinner"...She covers The Sweet and puts Carmen Electra in the video...need I say more???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVlcAJFTPRo

Prince "3121"...OK...wheren's the next tour?

Ray Davies "Other People's Lives"...Comeback of the year!

The Wreckers "Stand Still Look Pretty"...This one (on paper) should not have been this good...it's better! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0_PJYYaCUE

The Beatles "Love"...I'm still listening to it trying to figure out all the snippets...an absolute aural jigsaw puzzle!

Peter Frampton "Fingerprints"...Just listen to "Rockin' The Fillmore" shows how great of a player he is

Mindi Abair "Life Less Ordinary"...OK..she's hottie playing sax...need I say more....speaking of sexy sax, I see Candy Dulfer is playing East Cost dates in March!!! http://www.mindiabair.com/

Alejandro Escovedo "The Boxing Mirror"...how did this not make the top 10???

The Who "Endless Wire"...this one is still taking some time absorb but it is surprising considering it was 20 zillion years since the last CD

The Sadies "In Concert Vol 1"...why are these guys not bigger? http://www.thesadies.net/

Song Of The Year...Primal Scream's "Country Girl"...Rock & Roll is all about the "hook"...Bobby Gillespie hooked me right in and wouldn't let go!...The rest of the CD is good but does not bring far enough to me mentioned above http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0kYLyMkWTE&mode=related&search=

Show of the year...Neko Case at The Troc...Even with her timely "pee" break she held The Troc crowd in the palm of her hands http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50dzxkJa1NE

Worst show of the year...Brightblack Morning Light @ SXSW...Ranks in the top 3 of worst sets I ever endured http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxz8uucCz2o

Best weekly event...WXPN's Lunch Time shows on Friday...performer permitting these shows are so much fun

Worst CD of the year...Gwen Stefani's latest...so bad I can't even recall the title...Memo to Gwen...call the band back up!!!!!

Worst song of the year..."Our Country" by Elaine Irwin's tortured, spiteful husband...it wasn't about the money then but it is now

Guilty pleasure song...Fess up time...All Saints' "Rock Steady"...the chorus is so catchy! (video link below)...honorable mention goes to Kylie Minogue and Bono doing "Kids" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7RPWn-TAE8

Music DVD (documentary) of the year..."Punk - Attitude"...OK, it came out in 2005 but I just saw it on IFC and it was absolutely one of the best music docs I've seen on the punk/new wave scene...kudos to Don Letts!

Music DVD (non-documentary) of the year...Ian Hunter "Just Another Night With The Rant Band"...actually came out late 2005 but did not get it until 2006...worth it to see Ian and Mick Ralphs on stage together

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJzY36Wm_r0&mode=related&search= Honorable mention to the Reckless Kelly CD/DVD combo mentioned above http://www.recklesskelly.com/ and Two Tons Of Steels' Live At Gruene Hall CD/DVD combo http://www.twotons.com/html/main_menu.html

Best movie scene using a song...The blisterning "Cocaine Blues" Joaquin Phoenix launches into in "I Walk The Line" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9JuixrnK7o

Best band cameo in a movie...The Old 97's in "The Break Up"

Best song used in a TV commercial..."Remind Me" by Royskopp...its the one in the caveman ad when's he riding the moving sidewalk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZrjr4A-ASQ

Worst song used in a TV commercial..."Our Country" by Johnny Cougar....NEED I FREAKIN' SAY ANYMORE????????????

Best use of a song in a You Tube spoof...the use of "SexyBack" in The Office video spoof http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJG6mD5l8LI

Best music video of the year...where there any? I can't find any TV station to freakin' see one...but I did see the one for All Saints' "Rock Steady" and it is pretty damn cool.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ7dtNVjNEM

Worst music video of the year...even I could see one it would have to somehow involve Fergie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylykkQw_BEE

Best celeb meeting of the year...getting a pic with Chrissie Hynde at SXSW http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYucausmhig ...honorable mention to standing next to Kris Kristofferson at the New West party and being too nervous to ask him for an autograph...2nd honorable mention to standing next to Jane Krakowski after the SNL taping and being too awestruck to ask for a photo with her http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gdAmypk9Sg

Best blog site...Heather's I AM FUEL http://fuelfriends.blogspot.com/

And so onward to a great musical 2007......

Friday Nights Alright For.....WXPN All About The Music Festival

Nothing like attending a sheer cornucopia of musical stylings....from bluegrass to rock funk to sheer glam...

Upong entering the Wiggins Park grounds for the WXPNfest the first act up was...

Grace Potter & The Nocturnes

http://www.gracepotter.com/

I had heard of Grace and seen her name on critics lists but never really heard her until Friday night. What a voice! Think Bonnie Raitt or Sheryl Crow fronting a jam band. Grace hails from Vermont (which begs the question....are Vermont and New Hampshire the Tigris and Euphrates of jam bands???). Grace alternated between a Hammon B3 (which she rocks on) and a Flying V guitar (the ghost of Albert King?) and went through a nice set of tunes. Definitely worth checking out.


After their set the band was most gracious at the meet and greet....

Yonder Mountain String Band

http://www.yondermountain.com/

Ok...is there some kinda checklist that when bluegrass jam bands play all their fans have to go through before attending? All of sudden the Yonder mosh pit was full of tie dyes, knap sacks, bandanas, Birkenstocks, and women wearing no bras (merely an observation!!!!). As for the band they were OK. I can handle bluegrass for a while but I just was not into it that night. Maybe some other time bearded ones....

Danielia Cotton

http://www.danielia.com/

Go back in time to last year's deal. Walked up later and heard this woman wailing away on a tune in a rock funk sorta way. Not too bad. All of a sudden she luanches into AC/DC's "Back In Black". Holy crap! Incredible. Why didn't I come earlier.

This year DC is a higher on the band list. She and her 3 piece band came and ROCKED. If you haven't heard of her it seems she hails from the NYC but grew up in a mainly white school so her music tastes are more rock than R&B. And it shows.

DC needs to be seen. Great performer. Pretty good songs. And her own unique style.

Marah

http://www.marah-usa.com

New York Dolls

http://www.nydolls.org/

The Hooters - Philly - June 16, 2006

The great English author Nick Hornby once wrote about how he went to see Marah and all these other people were there to see them although the last time they played no one was there. "This was my band...why are all these people here?". That's how I felt last night at The Hooters show at the Electric Factory.

Turn the clocks back to about 1980 or so. Walking through the hallowed halls of Bucks County Comm College and seeing these posters announcing a band playing the Sutdent Union Friday afternoon..."Ska/Reggae/Rock". What the heck was ska? But I hung around and they were great. By the way, the drummer and bassist look like the guys from the band Hot Property. Whatever happened to HP's lead singer Heidi? Then again, what ever happened to Johnny's Dance Band???

Few months later...watching this local show and the legendary DJ goddess Cindy Drue (WYSP) shows this band called The Hooters doing "Man On The Street". Suddenly this band is everywhere. Pretty soon all stations were playing this funky reggae tune called "All You Zombies" recorded at the former Emerald City. That vinyl 45 got a lot of spins at the frat house at Penn State.

1984...Boy that tune sounded familiar. But when I heard it before it was "Boys Just Wanna Have Fun" by Robert Hazard. But the girl singer changed the gender. And the backing band on the LP sounded very very familiar.

1985...walking into a record store in Amarillo where I lived at the time. Boy that tune they are playing sounded familiar. "Blood From A Stone"? It's freakin' The Hooters! In freakin' Amarillo! I asked the cashier and she said.."oh yeah...we've been playing this LP all day". Wore that mutha out! Nothing else to do in Amarillo except...uh...drink beer and eat calf fries. Then there was Live Aid. Flew back to Philly for it and the lads opened the show...sorta. But no one was really awake a the time. Plus the crowd was anticipating that appearance by Spandau Ballet from London. BTW...about this time Mick Jagger re-recorded "Hard Woman" from his first solo CD with the lads (I think I have the mp3 somewhere). Also the legendary New Wave band the Red Rockers (of "China" fame) covered "Blood From A Stone".

1987...Heart on tour witn The Hooters opening (Zig Zag tour?). For one night all I cared about was Nancy Wilson's leg kicks over my boys from Philly. Blame me? But their sound was changing. The band sounded more like E-Baz and the Boys. Not sure I really liked it.

1990...The Berlin Wall comes down. Roger Waters performs The Wall at the site there with the lads helping out. Small cameo but they were there!

1994...living in San Antonio. Saw an ad in the local paper that the Hooters were playing Sneakers that night. The Hooters? In San Antonio? Holy F! What a show that was. At the time the late Mindy Jostyn was in the band and her fiddle and mandolin playing really made the band sound great. But in reality The Hooters were that 5 piece band (with a Spinal Tap rotation of bass players) I saw at Buck U.. After the show I got to talk to Eric Bazilian a bit. BTW...the opener that night was this local band called Sun-Day. Kinda like Pearl Jam meets Los Lobos. I thought they were great but they faded.

Suddenly The Hooters went their own ways. Eric still recorded. Rob Hyman put together his great concept CD called "Largo". I hear John Lilley started a landscaping business. David Uoiskkken spent his time teaching people how to spell his last name and I'm not sure I still know. I'm sure Fran Smith found things to do. They still got together to tour Europe as they were still big over there.

Suddenly it is 2006. The Hooters are playing the Electric Factory. You know local DJ Pierre Robert would hype the crap out of it but it shouldn't sell out. But was I wrong. So a few days ago I posted a note on Craig's List looking for a ticket. Friday AM a dude emails me so after a few emails and calls we agree to meet outside. Dude never shows up! But luckily this tattooed mama was selling her extra so I grabbed it.

Place is packed. Young and old. Parents bringing their kids to see their hometown heroes. Was this some kinda musical PTA meeting? F&CK NO! It's THE HOOTERS! Opening band was some local band called Ike. Actually they were pretty damn good and I might check them out.

Out comes Pierre Robert in all his rainbow clothed glory. He's nearly foaming at the mouth introducing them. The place goes nuts. The launch into a new tune then crank up the joint with "Day By Day". The place is rockin'! Everyone is going nuts. Tune after tune after tune. New stuff. Old stuff. Plus an absolutely splendid cover of Don Henley's "Boys Of The Summer" done on 2 mandolins and piano. It's not 1980 at Buck U. all over again but the boys are playing their hearts out. Sweat flying everywhere. Everyone singing. It was a wonderful show. This is a Philly band that adores it roots.

One of the best moments of the night was in the encore where after they did their version of "Time After Time" they then launched into E-Baz's "One Of Us" that he wrote for Joan Osborne (ever hear the Prince version???). It rocked! They closed. the show with 2 signature tunes..."Beat Up Guitar" (a Philly homage) and "Blood From A Stone".

2 1/2 hours later and 3 encores. Everyone was smiling. Might have also been the very affordable $15 Hooters shirts they were selling.

Sometimes you go to a show in hopes of reliving the past. It happened last night. Now...what about a reunion from The A's???

Supersuckers - North Star Bar - Philly - 4/27/06

Tickets to Supersuckers....$15
Yuengling Lager Drafts...$3
Supersuckers T-Shirt...$15
Latest Eddie Spaghetti CD...$10
A Supersuckers show...PRICELESS

Sometimes its fun just to go see a band that just wants to play....anywhere. Could be a small club to a theater to a arena/stadium but the 'Suckers just seem like they like to play anywhere that was a an electrical outlet and a large supply of beer.

The crowd was very...interesting. I think I saw more tattoos and piercings on the females than I saw on the males....not that there's anything wrong with that. But it was a fun crowd.

Opener was Rhino Bucket. 4 piece band from somewhere. Interesting band. All I can say is that they would be a perfect AC/DC (Bon Scott era) tribute band. They sounded just like the fabled Aussies in the era down to singer and the drummer. Overall I'm not heading out to buy any of their CDs.

The 'Suckers rocked! Eddie came out first and did about 5-6 tunes either acoustic solo or with Rontrose on backing guitar. The rest of the band then hopped in and the whole night started careening their your eardrums. Basic 'Suckers tunes throughout the set ending with the usual "encore" of "Pretty F&cked Up" and "Born With A Tail".

I had hoped for their legendary cover of Outkast's "Hey Ya" or Thin Lizzy's "The Cowboy Song" (they even have been known to cover Madonna's "Burning Up") but it wasn't to be. That's OK. I probably wou;d not have it heard it anyway.

Neko In Philly Pics

More Neko pics