Music: August 2008 Archives

The festivities surrounding the release of Cherry Bomb: The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Better Flirt, a Tougher Chick, and a Hotter Girlfriend, and to Living Life Like a Rock Star continued with a second launch party on Saturday, August 16, 2008 at the Billy Shire Fine Arts, Gallery in Culver City.

Guests included: Kim Saigh (the celebrity tattoo artist currently starring in TLC's L.A. Ink), Chris Vrenna (Marilyn Manson), Cherie Currie (Runaways) and her son Jake Hays, Terri Nunn (Berlin), Jessicka and Christian Hejnal (Scarling), Jared Gold (fashion designer), Audrey Kitching (model), Leigh Gorman (Bow Wow Wow), Mezhgan (celebrity makeup artist), Cynthia Freund (celebrity wardrobe stylist), Melissa Renee Hernandez and Anna Geyer (Girl School club promoters).

Toasting with cherry flavored cocktails, author Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna had much to celebrate. Her groovy girl-powered guide bagged the number one spot on Amazon.com's Fashion & Beauty Bestsellers list, and is already in its second printing a mere week after its release. Carrie hopes her book will bring out the inner rock star in everyone, and promises it will "help you embrace that wild side." Judging by its success so far we can expect the world to be a little wilder from now on.

UK rockabilly band The Polecats swung into action for a rare Stateside reunion at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood on Sunday night. Runaways svengali and producer Kim Fowley introduced the band, who have toured Europe and Japan in recent years. Leading man Tim Worman bounced on stage like a pinball on speed as his band proceeded to rip through a breakneck set of classics which included their 1983 worldwide hit "Make A Circuit With Me." The track has recently exposed the band to a whole new generation of fans thanks to Pixar's highly appropriate use of it in trailers for WALL-E, a computer-animated flick about a lovelorn robot. The song, like the band, sounded as fresh as ever. Let's hope The Polecats don't leave it so long next time.

Check out Current TV's coverage of our campaign to make air guitar an Olympic sport. Current TV and Current.com are part of a really cool democratic news network set up by the should've been president Al Gore. It's a place where you (and I) decide what's news, which has to be better than leaving it up to Fox!

I've just finished watching the finale of So You Think You Can Dance, a rare talent show that actually puts the emphasis on talent. I'm happy that street dancer Joshua won against the odds, and stiff competition from those with more formal training, though I have to admit I was rooting for Katie (who came in third) and the Debbie Allen trained Will (who got knocked out way earlier than I think anyone expected).

One of the nicest moments of last night's show was watching Katie and Will reprise one of the most stunning performances of season four, their pas de deux, which was choreographed by Desmond Richardson & Dwight Rhoden and set to LDS American Idol contender David Archuleta's interpretation of the John Lennon song "Imagine."

I love the song, it's one of my all-time favorites, and Archuleta's performance has its merits, but here's where I have a problem; American TV seems to have a very selective memory when it comes to the song's lyrics. It's like the majority of the nation has mass amnesia when it comes to that sociopolitically tricky second verse, you know, the really profound one which talks about doing away with religions and countries in order to achieve world peace. In case you've forgotten, since the verse in question is almost always edited out when the song is broadcast on TV, this is the message Lennon intended us to hear:

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

We're glad to hear that Current readers feel the same way as we do about air guitar becoming an Olympic sport. Al Gore's politically correct TV and online news network has significantly boosted our campaign, which began just hours ago, with an upcoming broadcast of our story. Thanks to all our Current readers who voted for our story. Air guitar players may not yet be Olympic heros, but our campaign to make the competitive air form an Olympic sport has hit gold, gaining Homepage Hero status on Current's U.S. and U.K. websites, and finding gold on the U.K. site with a much sought-after Current Pod serving as our medal.

Wishing the best of luck to all the air headz competing in the 2008 US Air Guitar Championship Finals tomorrow. The event takes place at the Grand Ballroom in San Francisco. Competition is likely to be fierce as contenders vie to follow in the footsteps of past U.S. champions Rockness (2005), Hot Lixx (2006) and Ocean (2007). The hot air guitar hero crowned in S.F. will represent our rock schooled nation at the World Air Guitar Championships, which are held annually during the Oulu Music Video Festival in Finland.

For a sport as seemingly American as apple pie it's surprising the U.S. has only won the world title once, when David "C-Diddy" Jung brought home the gold in 2003. Fortunately, this year, those who aspire to air guitar greatness can participate in an intensive Air Guitar World Championship High Altitude Training Camp to polish their skills. Attendees will be offered classes in improvisation, choreography and philosophy, the latter class being taught by world renowned air guitar philosopher Dan "Björn Türoque" Crane, who authored the inspirational book To Air is Human - One Man's Quest to Become the World's Greatest Air Guitarist.

Heavyweights like Brazil and Russia are joining in the fun for the first time this year, with a total of 20 countries competing for the world title in the grand final on Aug 22nd. Other leading air head nations include France, Italy, Australia, South Africa and Japan.

As air guitar matures, both as an art form and as an international competitive sport, I think it's high time it gained Olympic recognition. I'm therefore starting a campaign to make air guitar an Olympic sport by 2016. After the success of snowboarding in the last Winter Olympics, I'm told the Olympic committee is trying to include more youth-orientated sports like skateboarding (which is well on its way to approval for the 2012 London games), which bodes well for seriously competitive air axe wielders worldwide.

I would argue that if synchronized swimming and prancing around on ice skates in silly outfits cut it as Olympic sports, so should air guitar, which is equally physically challenging and has similar compulsory moves. It would surely be a ratings winner, since there's always been a positive correlation between viewers and competitions that involve music, sequins and skimpy attire (just look at the success of Dancing With The Stars). Air guitar is Hendrix, Page and Van Halen meets rhythmic gymnastics (without the ribbon, hoops or guitar). I'm sure you'll agree the sport is a compelling combination that is more than worthy of the five-ringed games, which, quite frankly, need livening up. No offense, but who really wants to watch Olympic table tennis?

Watch this space for an official petition which will be announced shortly.

I had the pleasure of catching popular SoCal reggae band Common Sense in Lake Arrowhead this past weekend. The show was part of the resort's free summer concert series, and attracted a huge crowd to the town's Center Stage open air venue.

Though Common Sense regularly pack mid-size venues such as San Diego's Belly Up Tavern, their following is strictly word of mouth. Having been burned by a major label early on in their 15-year career, like many unsigned bands they now connect directly with their fans via their website and MySpace page.

Despite having a loyal fanbase, the size of which many bands can only aspire to get, not to mention a slew of incredibly catchy songs, outside of Native Wayne's Indie 103.1 Sunday afternoon Smoke In show, you'll never hear them on mainstream radio. In fact, outside of the odd novelty recording, you'll rarely hear reggae on FM radio period due to programmers' wide-held and rather bizarre belief that you can only play reggae after April (seriously!!!). Consequently labels see the summertime-only genre as a bad investment in a year round music selling market, hence the serious lack of resources and investment.

As I watch Lake Arrowhead crowd dance with abandon for the best part of three hours against the alpine backdrop, I couldn't help but think how short-sighted and lacking in common sense this sub-tropical reggae policy is.

For those who'd like to hear what they're missing out on, check out prime Common Sense cuts such as "Burn Fire Burn," "Ocean" and "Baby Girl" from their 2004 release Don't Look Back, which is available, along with rest of the band's catalog, via CDBaby.com.

There are many reasons to support KCRW by becoming a member. Of course, it goes without question that you should support your local NPR station, but KCRW members have access to a slew of additional fringe benefits, such as groovy T-shirts and mugs, and an amazing discount program with a whole bunch of cool retailers (we're talking places you'd actually want to spend your money). But one of the best perks of becoming a KCRW member might just be the priority booking privileges to their new Sessions series, the second installment of which was last night. The event, at the rather civilized Malibu Performing Arts Center, featured an intimate performance by Moby. The show sold out in an amazing six minutes, which means that sales never went beyond the initial priority/members-only stage.

As you might imagine, an audience that snapped up tickets so quickly was going to be more than up for it by the time the proverbial curtain rose at the deluxe converted recording studio-cum-venue. The first set developed into what KCRW Music Director Nic Harcourt later called "a partially seated rave." By the third song, encouraged by generous pours from the bar staff, everyone was out of their comfy cinema-style seats and on their feet dancing.

Before playing his seminal Twin Peaks inspired rave anthem "Go", Moby dedicated the track to David Lynch, saying, "without him I wouldn't have a career." Indeed, if someone tried similar sampling in today's less innocent musical age, they wouldn't have a home or a car either after the resulting lawsuit, but the song took us all back to more glo-stick friendly times.

After the initial five song ravetastic set, Moby cosied up to Harcourt on the center stage sofa for a Morning Becomes Eclectic-style interview. Worried that the Scientologists were out to get him after recent comments he'd made to various members of the press, Moby jokingly requested that they avoid the subject at the start of the interview. Firing right back, Nic posed the question: "If you had to get shot by a Scientologist who would it be?" Actor Jason Beghe was the Xenu follower of choice, this initial exchange setting the tone for the remainder of the frequently LOL-funny interview.

A second set followed, which the bald one warned would be "weird." But it was weird in a good way, featuring major amped-up reworkings of songs which spanned Moby's two and a half decade career -- though sadly the set didn't include songs from his first band the Vatican Commandos and their debut 1983 hardcore punk E.P. "Hit Squad for God". Longtime Moby singer Laura Dawn handled much of the vocal duties, with a drummer, guitarist/bass player, keyboardist, and a dedicated computer geek rounding out the band. The second set built up again to rocked-out electronica heights. One can only hope the response from the crowd, which coaxed several encores from the band, will be enough to persuade Moby to give the DJ decks a rest and return to the stage for more full-on live performances like this.

Backstage after the show we bumped into the very shagadelic Heather Graham. Who knew the Hollywood actress had such good taste in music? Then again she did date Adam Ant back in the day -- he's another artist that needs to find his way back to the live stage.

To catch up with Moby's KCRW Session go to www.KCRW.org to view the archived webcast.

The Roxy was transformed into a serious sweat box last night by buddies in rhythm DJ AM and Travis Barker. Though a drummer and DJ combo is not exactly a new idea, Travis and AM keep things fresh with their boundless energy and excellent song selection. The celeb spinster and ex-Blink 182 drummer did their thing to tracks as diverse as The Police's "Roxanne" and Chili Peppers' "Can't Stop". The pair were perched on either side of a video screen positioned center stage, which displayed a novel mash-up of vintage porn and computer graphics. Travis' Expensive Taste pals Skinhead Rob and Paul Wall guested on the mic, as did rapper Warren G, who closed the show with his big hit "Regulate". The sold out night was the second of three monthly residencies at the Sunset club, the final installment of which will take place on August 27th.