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Sad News

Farewell To A Legend: Milo Ramone, The Conductor Of The Ramones, Has Passed Away At 83

Born Milo Sebastian Altenhöfen in 1936 in Forest Hills, Queens, Milo Ramone first made a name for himself in the flourishing 1970s NYC punk scene. He was known by musicians all over the city for his signature upbeat conducting tempo and DIY aesthetic, the broken piece of pool stick he used as a baton, the beat up barstool he turned into a music stand, and the wild, unkempt gray hair exploding out from the sides of his balding head. After bouncing from band to band, the middle-aged conductor crossed paths with the Ramones for the first time in 1974—and after seamlessly clicking with the group while filling in for their usual conductor during a legendary show at CBGB, he was officially asked to join the outfit. With the five original Ramones in place, the band was born, ready to set the world ablaze with hit after lightning-fast hit.

Full story here.

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I Thought I’d Seen It All

Check out “Twink” miming with The Pretty Things for a bewildered French TV audience.  Ever heard of Twink?  I hadn’t, so I poked around on Google.  Nicknamed after a British hair product, Twink was a mime, drummer, close friend of Syd Barrett, and general scenester of the London psychedelic underground.  He played drums with an early version of T. Rex, with Syd Barret occasionally, on one Pretty Things album, and with the Pink Fairies.  In the early 70’s, he was in Hawkwind with Lemmy.  His band The Rings were on the ground floor of the London punk scene in ’77.  Some refer to their lone single, “I Wanna be Free” as England’s first punk record.  It’s not very good compared to what was about to come from the Damned, Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, Clash, and Jam.

What led me to this video was my fondness for The Pretty Things,  a very good British r&b band who never made any headway in the U.S.  Their guitarist, Dick Taylor, had been in an early version of the Stones.  Like the Stones, their forays into psychedelia were not always memorable, as you can hear above.   You can hear them at their best here and here.  Their raucous version of Roadrunner is my favorite cover of that song.

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What I’m Reading Right Now

I somehow made it to 50 without ever reading any of Raymond Carver’s short stories, but I’m fixing that now with this collection. Great stuff! Little depressing slices of life that any bastard can relate to. Perfect bedtime reading …

By the time of his early death in 1988, Raymond Carver had established himself as one of the great practitioners of the American short story, a writer who had not only found his own voice but imprinted it in the imaginations of thousands of readers. Where I’m Calling From, his last collection, encompasses classic stories from Cathedral, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, and earlier Carver volumes, along with seven new works previously unpublished in book form. Together, these 37 stories give us a superb overview of Carver’s life work and show us why he was so widely imitated but never equaled.

I picked this one up in hardback at Barnes & Noble for a few bucks. Chabon I’m quite familiar with, having read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Wonder Boys, and Werewolves in Their Youth. I honestly believe Chabon is one of our greatest living writers. Anyhoo …

In 1989, fresh from the publication of his first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Michael Chabon traveled to his mother’s home in Oakland, California, to visit his terminally ill grandfather. Tongue loosened by powerful painkillers, memory stirred by the imminence of death, Chabon’s grandfather shared recollections and told stories the younger man had never heard before, uncovering bits and pieces of a history long buried and forgotten. That dreamlike week of revelations forms the basis for the novel Moonglow, the latest feat of legerdemain from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon.

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I Will Find A Way

Everybody knows this one. But did you know there was a 1974 Capitol Records version of “Shake Some Action?” (I’m guessing Renfield does.)

A lot of folks on YouTube prefer this other one, but I don’t know. See what you bastards think …

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I Said Goddamn

$250.00! Cheap!

This deluxe two-volume slipcased set explores seven-time Academy Award–winner Rick Baker’s 40-year journey as a special makeup effects artist

From the gory zombies of Michael Jackson’s Thriller and the staggeringly lifelike Bigfoot in Harry and the Hendersons to the creative builds in Men in Black and the groundbreaking effects in An American Werewolf in London, Rick Baker’s special effects, makeup, and prosthetics count among some of Hollywood’s most enduring achievements.

This deluxe, two-volume slipcased set is replete with more than 1,000 four-color images and original sketches. It covers the makeup artist’s 40-plus year career in which he’s earned seven Academy Awards, one Emmy, and three British Academy Film Awards, among numerous others.

Imprint: Cameron Books
Publication Date: October 22, 2019
Price: $250.00
Trim Size: 10 1⁄2 x 13 1⁄4
ISBN: 978-1-944903-43-5
EAN: 9781944903435
Page Count: 736
Illustrations: More than 1,000 color illustrations
Format: Two-volume set, hardcover with slipcase

EDIT: Rick Baker’s Instagram is here. Definitely worth a look.