Star Spangled Blackhearts

Joan Jett is returning to the Marin County Fair tonight...

It's her second July 4th weekend appearance their since her first in 2006...

Here's a couple pics i took last time she was in the neighborhood...

how about Joan's bubblegum rock relic manager Kenny Laguna?


Kenny produced back in the day for Tony Orlando, Darlene Love, Bill Medley of the Righteous Bros. as well as The Lemon Pipers, and Ohio Express. By the mid 70's and stabs at the charts with David Essex and Edwin Starr his only real production success was a Dr. Demento show novelty hit by Little Roger & The Goosebumps called "Stairway To Gilligan's Island", that predates the popular mash up concept by about 25 years...


By the late 70's, with those bubblegum daze behind him, Laguna worked with Beserkely Records, producing Greg Kihn and Jonathan Richman.

Around this time he found a former Kim Fowley protege named Joan Jett , who was leaving the dysfunctional mess of The Runaways and the shadows of blonde lead vocalist Cherie Currie to start her own band.

After the Runaway ran from Kim Fowley, and hitched onto Laguna's sage advice train, Joan's career really took off in earnest.

With Lita Ford a retired housewife, she's the last Runaway standing...

At nearly 50, she has more onstage energy than slew of performers half her age, and has a legacy of hits and near misses that make her a true queen of the scene.

Whether playing for the troops at USO shows overseas, a Warped Tour crowd in Phoenix , a Biker Convention in Sturgis, or a Gay Parade gathering in San Jose, Joan has a huge and diverse audience.

Few performers have as wide a demographic pull at the boxoffice...

Her family friendly fair crowd will have fist pumping punks alongside patriotic bikers, service men & women, lesbian Moms, old rockers, construction workers, nerds, hipsters and grandmas and every conceivable combination thereof.


Earlier this spring Joan Jett and The Blackhearts added her latest Blackheart Records album Sinner, as well as her classics Bad Reputation & I Love Rock n Roll to the eMusic download queue.

It's nice to be able to legally shop for Joan Jett tunes online...

Like Joan Jett getting down with Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues... a track from her Bad Reputation album...

This was one recorded at the old Media Sound studios in New York circa 1981 at the request of late Casablanca prez Neil Bogart...Joan Jett -

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - Summertime Blues

But aside from the easily found stuff, I'm also just as much, if not more, into her rarities...

For example

Here's a fierce one from an out of print Joan Jett & The Blackhearts 7" single from a decade ago...

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - Hostility

This one was featured on the soundtrack to Tank Girl circa 1997...

Joan Jett & Paul Westerberg - Let's Do It

And here's one some thang you aren't likely to run across unless you have as bloated and outdated CD collection as I do...

In 1993, with Charles Koppelman still flush with music industry cash and running his SBK label, they somehow thought enticing David Letterman's sidekick Paul Shaffer into the studio was a wise move. Supposedly ol' Paul was ripe for a double CD set... of badly thought out cocktail lounge covers.

What was worse, was that this damnable double disc was chock full of cameo's from some actually relevant music industry mavens who should've known better.

I hope people were at least paid for embarrassing themselves like this... it's like a kid's record for clueless adults.

It was called "The World's Most Dangerous Party" and would no doubt be dangerous to almost any event you played this turgid turd through the speakers at.

Somehow, our fave rock n roll lovin' gal Joan Jett showed up in the credits alongside names like producer Todd Rundgren, and guests like Aaron Neville, Leonard Cohen, Bootsy Collins, and even Phil Spector.

Why Joan ended up being buried in the mix on a tepid lounge rock version of "Don't Bring Me Down" on disc 2, and wasn't paired with the half of L7 who were squandered on disc 1 joining in the shameless execution of a James Brown cover alongside Bill Murray & Mike Myers, I suppose that only Paul Shaffer & Todd Rundgren know.

If I ever get alone with either of them to ask, it may get ugly...

So I'll let ya hear a lil bit of it for yourself, and just be glad that I kept the rest of this travesty offline... before it brings us all down.

Joan Jett & Paul Shaffer's Party Boys Of Rock n Roll - Don't Bring Me Down


and just to keep it 4th of July related... here's Joan Jett singing another cover tune, this is an obscure one written by Francis Scott Key...

It's called the Star Spangled Banner...

Joan Jett - The Star Spangled Banner

and here's one that is particularly poignant for me...

Here's when Joan joined forces with The Gits who were reeling from the death of Mia Zapata and formed Evil Stig...

The group did a quick LP/CD

Evil Stig - Last To Know

Evil Stig - Spear & Magic Helmet

and then a US tour, I recall Kenny Laguna said he lost the tour advance money on Melrose...

It was complicated... It was a sad time for boys from Seattle...

go see the movie...

yeah, that's right... the movie...

Incidentally, in Evil Stig related news, The Gits have an actual film on their saga out now

( http://www.thegitsmovie.com )

it has been under production for awhile and is finally screening nationally beginning this week!

If ya can't make one of the screenings, then order this sucker on DVD...

It's a film that's been in production for several years, has tons of unique footage unavailable elsewhere, including tons of interviews with folks like Joan Jett, Seven Year Bitch, Kathleen Hanna etc.

Heck, I think I even made the final cut...

Anyhow, it's worth seeing and supporting ...

The Gits Movie

and here's some tracks you should check out by a band well worth hearing

The Gits

Super Random Friday Five Track Free For All Freak Out

Greetings from the tail of what was my Hectic Hump Day...and man, if Friday isn't banging on the door already...

I'm currently in the midst of simultaneously monitoring the taping of 3 different classrooms with a total of six cameras...and using the ol' sneaker net to monitor a "Digital Media Law Seminar on IP Rights As Corporate Assets" moderated by the lead counsel for a company y'all know, even if yer not using their software anymore.

So let's further complicate matters by attempting to distract myself and get a "blog" post up for y'all...

and then I'm outta here, no last call, no b.s

So how about a Five Track Free For All Freak Out...



Whoops I noticed that in my haste, I didn't bring my "stash"...

Y'know the deep digital repository from which I oft draw my inspiration from...

I am referring to the fact that I thought I left the house today with my extra "hard drive", the one with the 250 Gigabytes of mp3z to supplement my meager "blogging" skills...

Turns out where gonna have to wing it with my wits alone & the mere 80 gigs of tuneage I have on hand...

Well I guess i'll get by, and somehow distribute some of those corporate assets around & increase the sonic peace...

hey

Not only is it Super Sunday this weekend...

But considering we've just had a super state of the union, and we're heading into another round of "Dupe the Nation" coming up on Super Duper Tuesday, I imagine everyone's feeling pretty super?

right?

here's some super news stories for y'all , each with a little super duper freakiness quotient for ya




Anyhow in honor of all this wintry freakiness in the air:

Here's a Brazilian hit track called Freak Cat by the band known as Jumbo Elektro, from São Paulo ...

Jumbo Elektro
"Freak cat" (mp3)
from their album "Freak to meet you!The very best of Jumbo Elektro"
and also featured on
"Tratore Basics 2: New Brazilian Rock"
(Tratore)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Amazon
More On This Album




I recently was digging in the digital crates and pulled this nugget of classic jazz funk flim flam out of the detritus, and I think it's a story that's worthy of sharing with ya...

It's got some serious street cred, unlike most of the candidates for office you see running about these days.

Eddie Jefferson was one bad mutha, a tap dancer and an O.G vocalist whose "vocalese" style influenced not only King Pleasure, Lambert Hendricks & Ross, and the Manhattan Transfer, all of whom worked with him. Also I swear indirectly lots of jazzy funk, especially the Sugarhill era rap, and quite possibly the less fluid crap you still hear these days. Eddie would kick back in his jammies with his Victrola, and used to come up with lyrics to great jazz instrumentals. He'd play these composistions after hours for pals, and one got out to the wider world.

His biggest hit being "Moody's Mood for Love", was based on a song that was a 1949 instrumental hit for Jack Moody. Eddie composed lyrics that got picked up by the curious ear of touring musician King Pleasure when he was visiting Cincinatti.

King Pleasure recorded Jefferson's version, but when asked to duplicate the style again for a new tune, the King fessed up that it wasn't his idea. He told people about some dancin' fool on the midwest black vaudeville circuit. Eventually by 1952 Jack Moody the alto saxman went looking for Eddie and found him in Cleveland. Moody reportedly needed the now quasi-legendary Eddie Jefferson to tour & deliver the lyrics to appease the audience demand, and everywhere they played was packed.

Eddie Jefferson created lyrics to a Lester Young solo on 'Its Only A Paper Moon' and renamed it 'Lester's Trip To The Moon', which was a big track for Dexter Gordon.

Eddie Jefferson had a long & winding career path, and was tragically shot and killed by a bullet fired from a black Lincoln Continental as he was leaving a famous Detroit club called Baker's Keyboard Lounge on May 8th 1979. Apparently the shooter, a fellow dancer had some bad blood with Jefferson, but the corrupt Detroit cops never came up with enough evidence to convict the purported killer.

Interestingly, just two nights before his death, a crew filmed his show with Richie Cole in Chicago. It's out on DVD under the title, Eddie Jefferson: LIVE FROM THE JAZZ SHOWCASE

Here's Eddie from 1968's Body & Soul, his comeback LP where he gets down while revamping a Horace Silver tune by giving it some serious "vocalese" swagger.

Eddie Jefferson - Filthy McNasty


I noticed that supposedly importing Absynthe is now legal here in the states...

In fact the first distiller in the US is operating just a few miles away on the little island hamlet of Alameda.




I haven't been in a big hurry to pound any, afterall, I've seen the holes this liquid chews in marble in all the old Absinthe houses in New Orleans...and god knows what it does to the soul. It contains "wormwood" extract, and that can't be very good for ya can it?

Although, my deranged distant relative Edgar Allen Poe swore by it, it appears he also seemed to be into syphilis as well...

Anyhow, I do enjoy this song that goes by the same name as that weird green elixr

In fact I have a video of the track I shot some years back at SF's Covered Wagon Saloon posted below the mp3 here...

Ladies & Gentlemen, hopefully they need no introduction, here's The Gits, from their Seafish Louisville live release recorded in their hometown of Seattle by Doug Pray's crew during the making of Hype...

The Gits - Absynthe ( live )



It's getting late and I gotta get out of here so I can get back by 8am

So here's the last two tracks of this friday Freakout Mix:

First Up

One Am Radio in a collaboration mix with Lymbyc System...



One AM Radio - Mercury ( Lymbyc System Mix)

Incidentally Lymbyc System, dialed in the remix above, not only are being repped by my pal Todd Cote's Leafy Green Booking empire, but have their own remix EP coming out in which other acts muss up & mangle their tunes from their "Love Your Abuser" CD...details here

Here's the track from the upcoming release where One AM Radio returns the favor of the flavor to the Lymbyc System

Lymbyc System - Astrology Days ( The One AM Radio Mix)

Anyhow...

gotta go folks...

If ya missed my last post on Willie Dixon, be sure to check that out here

I have 2 songs from some rare live video shot in 1981, and some classic cuts in mp3 form for ya as well