Ringo Starr, Genius

Ringo Starr was more than just a lucky drummer who hooked up with The Beatles. This video makes the argument that his originality, technique, skill, patience, and influence all add up to making him an unqualified genius of his instrument. He was, by all meaningful ways, the FIRST rock and roll drummer.

Also want to add that something about this guy reminds me of Lurker.

Sorry.

Beneath the mayhem and incompetence, this is a good song with a great hook in the chorus.  And the lyrics are as true as any.  According to Wikipedia, Terry Adams of NRBQ likened their melodies to Ornette Coleman.  I hear what he’s getting at.  The long melodic lines appear to meander, but then they resolve into a nutty coherence.  But I dunno that they remind me that much of Ornette Coleman.  Since none of you can throw a beer at me for being a pretentious ass (today, at least), I’ll go ahead and submit that their melodic lines remind me of Hector Berlioz.

Love ’em or hate ’em, the Shaggs are a genuine enigma, and those are always interesting.

If you happen to run across an original pressing (you won’t), snap it up.  They’e very rare and worth thousands.

Shipping In Late July

In a just world, this guy should have been huge. I’ll be pre-ordering this shortly, the package which includes a 45 of the demo versions of “There She Goes” and “Walking Out On Love.”

After two long years of painstaking research and development, we present to you, the first major memoir covering the birth of DIY Power Pop, from Paul Collins. From it’s initial conception as a film script to it’s re-birth as a full-bore rock & roll revelation, this is one crazy story from beginning to end. Outlining the first National DIY cross-country tour by an unsigned band in 1977, and by default, creating the pathway for the true indie underground network of the 80s to take as a template. It wasn’t even a second thought for Collins and bandmates Peter Case and Jack Lee, but the underground rock & roll world is a better place for it. But until now, the real details of the origins of The Nerves, Breakaways, and The BEAT have eluded most of us, so with this tome of incredible survival stories from the trenches, Paul Collins opens up and reveals all the drama, victories and defeats with such an impassioned voice, you won’t be able to put it down. The coverage of the pre-Punk 1975 landscape of both LA and San Francisco is unmatched, and your mind will be BLOWN.

Featuring TONS of previously unseen photos, flyers and ephemera from the earliest days of The Nerves lineup as a FOUR PIECE, to the legal documents challenging The Paul Collins BEAT vs The English Beat, to the ill-fated Nerves reunion, and so much in between. Truly a smorgasbord of juicy details and revelatory discoveries await, balancing the failures with triumphs from the mid 1970s to the mid 2000s, when Paul returned to the touring circuit. From literally renting out a space for the first documented Punk show in Los Angeles in March of 1977, to The Screamers story about buying a copy of The Nerves EP at the Capitol Records swap meet and smashing it to pieces- it’s all in there, along with so many more soon-to-be-legendary tales from the real trenches you don’t usually rise out from unscathed….

And here he is more recently. Fuck yeah!

How Now Is Soon?

In honor of Bastardos Drum Week, enjoy the Soon!!

Why do you enjoy playing music?

Mr. Kwon Soon Keun: When I was young, my family was financially difficult. I played the drums because there was a scholarship program at school. I wanted to alleviate my parent’s financial burden. That’s why I am so grateful when I play the drums.

Obviously you have a lot of passion when you drum, when did your style first emerge?

Mr. Kwon Soon Keun: It’s not passionate. To me, it’s normal. I become one with the drum when I play it.

Terry Bozzio Needs More Drums

His entire set is a bathroom break. It could be worse, though.

He could be a bass player.

Terry Bozzio’s drumming for Frank Zappa, Missing Persons, Jeff Beck and a host of today’s top artists has become legendary. His solo concerts have been acclaimed around the world as entertaining and inspiring. His incredible drum set includes 26 tom-toms, 8 bass drums, 53 cymbals and 22 pedals.

And now you can see and hear Terry as you’ve never seen or heard him before by streaming his “Reality Tour” performance video. Drum Channel members automatically get 20% off the “Reality Tour” video download and everything else on the DC site!