Sunday, July 08, 2007

Let The Music Do The Talking


I saw the first version of the Joe Perry Project open for Rossington Collins and they were fine. I believe Joe sang Jailhouse Rock while another vocalist handled the rest of the songs. It was average Joe but nothing could prepare me for the Project that played at Westboro Speedway in 1983. It was a very hot day but I didn't need Cowboy Mach Bell, looking like an poor man's Dee Snider, repeatedly screaming "It's fucking hot out here" trying to get the crowd excited while the band plodded through mediocre material, some of which hadn't been released yet. The low point - in the middle of a new tune Joe Perry says"this is for my friends from Milford" then proceeded to play the intro to Dream On while the band rambled on with the rest of the nameless song. Next time let the music do the talking. Luckily Aerosmith reformed shortly thereafter.

this was originally written as an e-mail to the Boston Herald

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Get Off Of My Cloud


POWER POP SHOWDOWN
The Rubinoos have filed suit against Avril Lavigne claiming Girlfriend sounds a lot like I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.
avril myspace
rubinoos myspace

no comment yet from the Stones or Ramones

Acoustic Piece


Ecstatic Peace records will be releasing Trees Outside The Academy-an acoustic based solo album by Thurston Moore- on September 18th.
read all about it

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Declaration


read this:
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

you are now free to have a beer and light a sparkler

grab some tunes

almost 4th mixtape - SVB
life liberty pursuit of happiness- Fuel Friends

Sunday, July 01, 2007

A Gayla Celebration


Go Fly A Kite. You've heard the expression and that's just what we did. Cool and windy day, Cape Cod, perfect. The fifteen dollar Flying Machine lasted about five minutes before it hit the ground. This was shortly after Dick Wagner (my uncle, not the legendary guitarist) boasted of his extreme kite-flying skills. What to do. Luckily, my trusty sidekick brought the BABY BAT. You know, that 1970's model kite that I bought in a joke store for two bucks. Ten minutes and three rolls of string later, the bat was flying at an altitude of approximately 1200 hundred feet. It was true, he was the great kitesman he claimed to be. Hours later we decided to cut the bird loose instead of spending the night reeling it in. So long, we thought, but the string caught the trees and the BABY BAT was still flying well into the darkness of night. Could still be there today. If you cross the Bourne Bridge take a look and let us know.

Starship Troupers?


On a hot summer night in Boston Morrisey had a meltdown and bailed out on his show while Paul Kantner couldn't take the heat across town.
Boston Herald reports:
Amazingly, about the same time Morrissey was wilting last night, Starship was overheating. Complaining about the lack of air conditioning, Paul Kantner and several other bandmembers walked offstage, abandoning singer Marty Balin, who was forced to stretch three ballads into 20 excruciating minutes. Eventually Kantner cooled off enough to come back and finish the show, but he was still boiling when reached by phone yesterday. “We played at the worst venue imaginable yesterday,” he griped. “What a dive. The only reason our manager booked it was because we wanted to play the NBC Morning show in New York City.”
Yeah, that must be the reason.

Bourne In The USA


Maybe it was the Jackass style photos we took of ourselves with the fireworks. I don't know. This year was going to be the biggest display yet. We had them all lined up, boxes and boxes of the finest imported fireworks a lot of money could buy.
A few rockets and a roman candle or two and they were already cheering across the bay. One big box-boom-we were on our way. I walked the yard to check the view and that's when the spotlight hit me. I knew it was the cops. I ran to the beach as fast as I could and they hid the 'works twice as fast as that. But there was no big chase scene, no arrests, just a polite request to stop the show. "Did You Know Fireworks Are Illegal In Massachusetts?" Yes sir. And that was the end of what would have been the biggest display to date. Couldn't ruin a good day though. Sparklers and Snakes will have to keep us amused.

Friday, June 29, 2007

introducing Hate & Oats


Hate & Oats is a side project of the Philco Brothers band.
This is their Myspace site



hate & oats

Tired Of The Same Old Song And Dance?

Then listen to former Ted Nugent singer/guitarist Derek St. Holmes sing some Aerosmith classics!
click here
why? you might ask. I don't know but he did put out an album with Brad Whitford back in the day.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Last Minute Father's Day Gifts


Long before salad dressing and iced coffee made him a household name, Paul Newman was an actor.
Yes it's true. He "starred" in b-movies like this tale of a washed-up minor leaugue player-coach trying to save his team from folding. A Bad News Bears for adults.
buy it now



He actually did rub a pot roast all over his chest. And if you need to know more then you need this biography of Warren Zevon. Just don't read it to the kids.
buy it now

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Who Listens To The Radio?


(a little more sports talk while we're on the subject)
The only radio I listen to is "sports radio", WEEI specifically. I lost interest in "music" radio a long time ago. People keep telling me I NEED satellite radio but from what I hear it's just more of the same. Someone telling me what to listen to. The internet is my music source now. This is what I love about sports and sports radio:
Forty year old Curt Schilling ,of bloody sock fame, comes as close to a no-hitter as possible (two outs in the ninth) and all the callers on WEEI can talk about is how Julio Lugo and J.D. Drew can't hit and are a total waste of Red Sox money. Later that night Lugo hits a leadoff homer and Drew adds not one, but two three-run homers. And while the callers aren't completely wrong it seems like he and Julio get the last laugh.
who listens to the radio - the sports
curt blogs about his one-hitter

(editor's note: Who Listens To The Radio could be confused with On Your Radio by Joe Jackson who should not be confused with "Shoeless" Joe Jackson)