Election Day

Home Plate

Turn it up. Beginning in January, Alabama state license plates will carry the slogan of Lynyrd Skynyrd's southern rock classic Sweet Home Alabama.

official press release

Scary Movie

March Of Greed from Bring Me The Head Of Ubu Roi
Long Live Pere Ubu!

Yambo

Jason Mewes and Dave Grohl face off on Craig Kilborn's Yambo

Stumping The Shark

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Funny as a crutch, Rich
I know Happy Days already jumped the shark but leave Mayberry out of this.

Blue Plate Blues

We missed the opening set by friend of Philco Con Murphy (1 PM!) so we swilled some Pumpkin Ale to the sounds of Jason James at the Blue Plate 75th Anniversary Bash.

J D Drew Rap Remix

New version of Bob Ryan/JD Drew rap featuring Game 5 heroics
listen
Pete's Bits

Under A Blu-Ray Sky : U2 Live At Red Rocks

You need this. Not because the picture has been regraded (whatever that means). Not because the sound has been remastered in 5.1 surround (I can't really tell on my stereo). No, you need it because unless you have an old VHS (or beta) copy lying around you haven't seen this in years if at all. This is a band at it's live peak. I saw them on this tour at the Worcester Centrum and it was so good I vowed never to see them again. That also may have something to do with the fact that I never bought an album after War until All That You Can't Leave Behind. Live At Red Rocks actually looked better on VHS back when TVs weren't made for high definition and you didn't notice the flaws in the film. Bono's singing is great, his dancing not so, but the real star of this show is The Edge and the sounds from his guitars. It's a blast to watch him switch from piano to guitar seamlessly throughout Sunday Bloody Sunday. 2003's U2 Go Home: Live At Slane Castle DVD would have been a worthy sequel to this but the camera's don't show Edge's guitar for more than a second at a time. Too bad. That leaves this DVD as the definitive document, a band seemingly unaware of how great it was...yet. Be warned the picture isn't fantastic, but the music is.

buy it now

RED SOX vs. RAYS PREVIEW

The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Sox

Elvis Costello Orpheum Boston October 1986
Listen carefully to the intro

The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Sox

What's The Fascination With JD Drew

Only Theo Knew
Bob Ryan Rap (from Pete's Bits)

Nevermind The Butter, It's A Sex Pistol

John Lydon's British Butter Advert

Little Big Wheel - Home

Little Big Wheel discuss their 1998 cd Home on Worcester News

MOMOFUKU - An Instant Classic

One of this year's biggest musical surprises of the year is the latest Elvis Costello record (yes, record!) Momofuku. Featuring The Imposters and some musical guests (including superb background vocals by Jenny Lewis), I mistook this for some throwaway side project but in fact it's one of Elvis best releases in years. This isn't the second coming of the Attractions, well actually it is, it's not on a par with their first three records but certainly up there in terms of the entire catalog. When I Was Cruel and The Delivery Man were a return to form but this goes one step better.
With no grand concepts to weigh them down The Attractions, I mean Imposters, sound like their old selves. If your an Elvis fan this year's model is not to be missed.

buy it now

stART on the Street

StART on the Street Worcester's biggest art festival will be held this Sunday, September 21, on Park Ave between Highland and Pleasant Streets.
startonthestreet.org

JETS vs. PATS PREVIEW

Brett Favre Career:
Starts: 254
Passing Yards: 61,849
Touchdowns: 444
Interceptions: 288

Matt Cassel Career
Starts: 0
Passing Yards: 405
Touchdowns: 3
Interceptions: 2

Prediction: Cassel led Pats will send Favre back into retirement

Experience Boylston

Some guy from Boylston bought a guitar that Jimi Hendrix set on fire for half a million bucks. Not the Hendrix /Zappa Strat from Monterey but the first one he lit up at London's Astoria. The other one is expected to fetch Dweezil a cool million. If you don't have that kind of money to burn you can have always one custom built.

more from The Sun

OPEN UP AND READ

With the lingering disappointment of The Weirdness and the endless sea of Iggy DVD I didn't need more Iggy Pop, but while browsing for a summer vacation book I could find nothing else. Well that's just fine because Open Up And Bleed could not be better. Not the authorized biography, but written with Iggy's blessing, Paul Trynka perfectly captures the tale of Jim Osterberg and his alter ego Iggy Pop from pre-Stooge to present with all the gory details intact. Essential.

buy it now

A Drink and a Quick Decision

The incomparable Hall and Oates

Your Sounds

filmed on flip by philco brothers
This time I got to see them.
Here's the Incredible Casuals playing Your Sounds Yourself at The Beachcomber in Wellfleet

"The Casuals make a raucous, guitar-driven sound not unlike NRBQ but with a hint of Replacements-style corrosion." - David Fricke, Rolling Stone

band website

Quote Of The Week

I’ll take a guy hitting .500 that’s miserable as opposed to a guy handing out bouquets of roses to his teammates and he’s hitting .145
-Red Sox manager Terry Francona

He's Out!

The timing of Manny Ramirez' latest injury has the Boston Herald's Steve Buckley up in arms

read Buckley's column
read Dan Shaughnessy

The Kids Are Allright

Tab The Band - Where She Was On Monday

49 minutes

New Paul Westerberg release!
It seems to be only 43 minutes and 55 seconds but at 49 cents who's complaining.
Buy It

Don't Ask Me No Questions

Spirit of '76

The Philco Brothers Army salute the 4th of July
watch this classic video by X

EXTRA! The Godfather Of Indie Rock

Oasis?

Psycho Circus

I don't know what I like best about this dvd, the dressed to laugh Kiss family, the battle of the tribute bands, the real band's convention intervention, Handsome Dick Manitoba's imitations of both Paul and Gene, or the ace Frehley impersonator who turns to Elvis when the real Ace lets him down. This rockumentary basically follows the put on the make up movement and concludes with the ridiculous press conference at which the original Kiss reformed. You wanted the best, you got it. Now watch it.

buy it now

play ball

photo by Vivian Johnson
Steve Wynn, Linda Pitmon, Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck formed this dream team of alt-rockers to sing about baseball.
Have a listen.
The Baseball Project

yep roc page

Na Na Na

Nice Suit!

Be Married Song

Please enjoy our cover of The Pontiac Brothers' classic
Be Married Song

electric
acoustic

10 MPG

MPG is almost out of gas so they will be having a 10-year retrospective opening tonight.
Included in the exhibition are works by the Philco Brothers' own Don Hartmann.

450 Harrison Avenue
Boston MA

June 6 to
July 12, 2008
reception:
Friday, June 6, 5:30 to 8:00 pm

Read The Book, See The Movie, Buy The CD

Just finished reading this tremendous book about Roky Erickson and The Thirteenth Floor Elevators. It's quite detailed and will probably stand as the definitive book on the subject although it would be nice to hear Roky tell his own story. The book made me revisit the documentary You're Gonna Miss Me which I enjoyed much more knowing the details provided in the book (the author appears in a short segment in which Roky ,while polite, shows no interest in helping with the book). This in turn made me find my old CD Where The Pyramid Meets The Eye (still in print?) the 1990 tribute CD which made me realize what a great songwriter Erickson is in the first place.

book
dvd
cd

Country Cookin' with Doug Sahm

1976 US Army Radio Program featuring Doug Sahm

Pleased To Meet... Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell talks about his new album Meet Glen Campbell on which he covers:
"Jesus," Velvet Underground
"All I Want Is You," U2
"Times Like These," Foo Fighters
"Grow Old With Me," John Lennon
"Angel Dream," Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
"Sadly Beautiful," the Replacements
"Sing," Travis
"These Days," Jackson Browne
"Walls (Circus)," Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
"Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)," Green Day

Bayou Country

Tom Petty and his new, old band Mudcrutch

Who The Fuck Is Mick Jagger?

Keef and Ronnie 1974

Rhino Replacements Reissues

The first four records will be reissued with bonus trax on April 22nd

read more
listen more

Shine A Light

Keef gives the traditional thumbs up at the New York premiere of the new Stones flick Shine A Light.

more photos

The End Of An Era

If you grew up in Massachusetts watching the Bird-era Celtics then you probably got your sports news fron Bob Lobel. Make no mistake this guy was one of the greats.
He was smart and funny before ESPN sportscasters were smarter and funnier than you.
We celebrated with him as the Celtics raised banners and we turned to him when the ball rolled the other way, as in through Buckner's legs. Big layoffs at CBS are sending him packing and maybe it is time. Even the great Johnny Carson lost a step in his last few seasons. There won't be another Lobel as we turn to the internet for instant scores and highlights. But when we see another young sports star shine somewhere else and ask "Why Can't We Get Players Like That?", we know there's one who didn't get away. Here's to you Bob Lobel, The Jock, we wouldn't have made it through the 80's without ya.

Harp Blues

The quite excellent Harp music magazine has printed its last issue.
I once e-mailed them about a Pere Ubu review and I got a response in less than 30 minutes.
Little did I know they were gonna print it.
Thanks Harp
We'll miss ya.

Sugar Free

The only thing we like better than Joe Perry's Hot Sauce are his kids.
Secretary's Day - TAB The Band
CYT - TAB The Band

north street records
TAB the band

Criss Alive

Kiss Live '75 - The Year of The Cat

Pop Hall Of Fame

Yes it's true, Iggy and the Stooges finally made the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony. Not for their three trailblazing pre-punk classics however.
They were there to sing for Madonna, the Queen Of Rock and...um...well she played CBGB's once or something. Oh yeah and she sold a lot of records too. Maybe this was the MTV awards cause I saw John Cougar there too.

BURNING UP

I think I just saw the Stooges play Burning Up and Ray Of Light for Madonna at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.
Could this be possible?

pale blue eyes by R.E.M.

Jagger-meister

Shattered and Little Big Wheel at The Lucky Dog
The last time I saw Little Big Wheel they opened for an amazing Frank Black at this same venue eight years ago. Since then the band has released the excellent Redwood CD, making it two of the best locally released albums to ever come out of the Worcester music scene.
When LBW hit the stage the first thing I noticed was only half the original members are still in the band. That only makes 'em a little Little Big Wheel doesn't it? What matters is singer-songwriter Jim Weeks is center stage. The band sounds fine, but I miss original guitarists Wes Burton's playing a bit. He was the Dan Murphy to Week's Pirner (a veiled Jagger -Richards reference). No offence to the other musicians, but maybe it's time to drop the Little Big Wheel moniker. We know who Weeks is by now and it's his songs we come to hear.

On with the show,
To celebrate the anniversary of the legendary Rolling Stones appearance at Sir Morgan's Cove (now Lucky Dog) tonight's main act is Shattered. The club originally booked legendary Rolling Stones clones The Blushing Brides but they had to cancel.
As the band took the stage I was trying to figure out who played who with no luck.
Then I saw the Jagger guy. Yes, he was definitely Jagger. Directly to his his left was a female singer (which Stone was she?).I figure her job is to make you not notice that the other guys don't look like Stones at all.

How you doing Wooster?

This guy had the accent and rooster dance down pretty well as they ripped into Monkey Man. The Keith guy had the right guitars and tunings all the way down, but he hardly looked the part with his leopard print shirt and his K-mart chain. That's okay cause the Jagger-esque voice and moves got all your attention. The between song patter made me wonder if he acted like this all the time. He'd be great at parties, for a while. They ran through all the hits (with a couple of surprises, like No Expectations) and the more you drank the more you thought they were the the real deal. Jagger-boy left the stage for a breather and the female singer took over for a capable version of Beast Of Burden (remember the Bette Midler video?), which looked better than it sounded, prompting one rowdy fella to holler "let the bitch sing!" upon the Mick's return. Encore time and Mick and K-mart Keith are playing the crowd with us regular folk and it's 1981 all over again, almost. Wonder what is was like to really be there.

Lights Out

Hear Rock City, one of the finest music blogs on the web, is going out of business.
Go check it out before it's gone.
HEAR ROCK CITY

James Gang In Concert

I never gave much thought to the James Gang because they pretty much happened before my time. My first band played the hits, Funk #49 and Walk Away, but I'd never even seen their their LP's. Then one day, twenty years on, I saw a clip of Walk Away on VH-1 Classic that blew me away. I was also surprised when I heard that they were doing a reunion tour. Why would Joe Walsh need to do this when he's in the fucking Eagles and can charge 300 dollars a seat? After listening to a bootleg copy of one of the 2002 shows I realized this band had a few more good songs and they could still cut it live(with a little keyboard help). Next day while browsing CD racks I couldn't find anything new so I headed for the James Gang bin. I should have bought the studio James Gang Rides Again but the $6 dollar price tag for Live In Concert suckered me in. Well it rocks, with sloppy sound and total stereo separation of the bass and guitar. It starts off with a few heavy bloozy rockers then Walsh switches from guitar to keyboard for Tend My Garden, the song on whihch Tom Scholz supposedly based his "Boston Sound" on. A quick acoustic track follows and then back with a blistering version of Walk Away. The album ends on a long note with a 17 minute jam complete with bass and drum solos which I could probably do without. A 7 minute Funk # 49 might have been better. But hey, 20 minutes of good music for 6 bucks, who could walk away from that.

buy it now

walk away (2002 version)

Couldn't Get Much Higher

It's Oscar Night!

So turn off your TV and come listen to the Philco Brothers

sleepwalk

February Make Up

More Patriots Video Found

This time it's from 1986

The Patriots answer to the Superbowl Shuffle

and it's Metal companion

Please Roger Goodell destroy these tapes immediately

Superbowl XLII Recap

Tom Petty had a better night than Tom Brady as the Patriots fell to a Manning brother for the second year in a row. Sure there was Moss in the end zone but it was too little too soon. You would think they would learn from their own success. Well nobody's perfect...except the 1972 Dolphins. Forget Spygate, there's only one question for Bill Belichick now: Do you think you were out-coached?

Tom Petty Halftime Show

Looking forward to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers halftime show.
He'll probably break out all the lame hits (Freefallin, I Won't Back Down) but the Heartbreakers are still a great band, especially guitarist Mike Campbell and former Stooge Scott Thurston. If you don't have their 1999 album Echo go buy it now

post Superbowl update:
Tom Brady didn't play as well as Tom Petty
but he went down Swingin' (1999)

Tom "playing bass" with Dwight Twilley (1977)

Super Bowl Matchup: Brady vs. Manning

Watch out, this could be the greatest Super Bowl matchup of all time

Bill Belichick Secret Videotape

With the looming specter of a congressional hearing, we shall show this Spygate video one more time before it really is destroyed

Trick Disease

trick disease

Add to My Profile | More Videos

New Philco Brothers Video. IN COLOR!
more music

BIG SPLASH !

The Monkees cover Wreckless Eric from their 1987 album Pool It!
Whole Wide World

buy it now

The Earth Says Hello

The Link Wray Rumble Live

Excellent Live In The Studio Recording Of Link Wray From 1974
click here

Patriots Chargers Preview

shrunken memory

There were two more new albums I bought in 2007 I almost forgot. Paul McCartney's Memory Almost Full which, while an improvement on the much overrated Chaos and Creation (what chaos?), didn't hold my attention for more than a couple listens. Also of note was Ian Hunter's Shrunken Heads which was good but not on a par with his previous album Rant. I may have to try this one again while I search for the out of print Artful Dodger.

Last Year's Model

Is it too late to nominate an album which came out last year, even though I bought it this year, for the best of 2007?
I'm talking about Ray Davies second solo LP Working Man's Cafe.
It's not due for a physical release in the US (New West Records) 'til Feb 19 but apparently has been available as a digital download for months. Who knew?

Amazon Download (only $8.99!)
Ray Davies MySpace

The Return Of Hate & Oates

Hate & Oats MySpace

HaPPy NEw YeAR !

champagne jam (ween version)

Top Whatever List of 07

Enough with the top ten lists already . I didn't even listen to 10 new albums this year.
I'm just gonna cap off the old year by listing the few things I did like.

Top LP
Thurston Moore - Trees Outside The Academy
I think this is the only new CD I bought. I like it.

Top DVD
The Johnny Cash TV Show
I now like Country, Western and Creedence. Buy the two disc version.

Top Book
I liked Andy Summers' One Train Later but i didn't finish it. Buy All Over But The Shouting instead. It's about the Replacements and it's easier to read. The Warren Zevon book is fabulous too but you might not want to go there.

Other "top" things:
Elvis Costello live
Red Sox
Patriots
Celtics
Blog posts of out of print vinyl
Vicodin

Some "bottom" things:
Bob Dylan live
Bruins
Blog posts about important new bands
Vicodin

a little big star

Merry Christmas

The Philco Brothers wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Feliz Navidad

El Vez Live !

The Philco Brothers Christmas Hour

Please join the Philco Brothers and friends as we celebrate Christmas

The Philco Brothers Christmas Hour

Christmas Grab

Go to these places to grab some cool holiday tunes (and more)

the dogmatics (Christmas Time)
chris trapper (In The Snow)
ickmusic (Springsteen Holiday Show)

Spygate Revisited

here come the warm jets

Joe For Oil

Following sluggish sales of his recent solo album Joe Perry appears to have taken a job delivering oil. click for delivery

Christmas Time

Philco Brothers cover The Dogmatics Christmas classic

Records Go Round

Picked up this fabulous peice of vinyl at Luke's Record Exchange in Pawtucket RI today. Being a big fan of the Q I wonder why I never bought this LP. It may be their finest (3/4) hour. Almost half the songs are on their best of collections and the other half could be. Vinyl is not my preferred method of listening these days but when I see a good store it's fun to check out all the abandoned wax and laugh at all the bad albums covers people parted ways with. I always try to buy something just to be polite. I usually just spin 'em once and then file 'em away but it's a nice warm break from this cold digital wonderland.
Luke's Ebay Store
buy At Yankee Stadium (cd)

Creedence Hop

what have i got ?

Generation Gap

click here to hear Alice's Restaurant (1967)
courtesy of Aquarium Drunkard

click hear to hear The Thanksgiving Song (1993)
courtesy of The Lonely Note

No Stones

Seems I've been censored by Rolling Stone Rock& Roll Daily. In response to a post titled
Red Hot Chili Peppers vs. David Duchovny
I wrote these exact words:
Rolling Stones
Rolling Stone
Chili Willi and the Red Hot Peppers
The Abbey Road E.P
duh
pointing out the fact that their magazine lifted the name of a famous band just as the Showtime program lifted the name of a famous album.
My comment was there this morning and now it has mysteriously disappered.
Are they trying to hide something?
By the way, I'm changing the name of this blog to Blood Sugar Sex Magic
Do you think anyone will notice?

Frampton's Cameo

slicker than a weasel

snatches of pink sing alice cooper group

Palm Tree Rescue Unit

Keef marches in support of his local hospital, St. Richards

read more

Country Comfort

I bought this to see Creedence and Clapton but it's the country stars that keep me watching. Stand By Your Man doesn't mean a thing until you see the girl (woman) sing it. The real standout here though is the Man In Black who puts his heart and soul into everything he sings and is at ease with all the acts here. Maybe next we can get an entire DVD of Linda Ronstadt performances (with bonus rehearsal footage). That would be nice.

buy it now

Brady vs. Manning

Heads & Tales

OPENING TONIGHT! more details

Disc-O-Teen Halloween

A Good Idea

I don't listen to Husker Du or Sugar much anymore but when I saw a positive
review of Bob Mould's new live DVD I was intrigued enough to buy it. The show looks and sounds great but the one thing watching this made me realize is how good his body of songs (cheap pun) is. I've seen the Huskers a few times but the Mould shows that stood out for me were:
A Sugar show which started out with Copper Blue and b-side material and then kicked into overdrive
with with a nearly possessed performance of the entire Beaster EP.
A solo acoustic performance after which Bob stuck around and talked soap box style for an hour then personally shook hands and thanked each person for coming.
Even if you weren't happy with his last few solo CD's buy this DVD to reminisce and realize this guy may still have a few good tunes up his sleeve. Stay in tune.

buy it now

Thanks For Flying Beckett Airlines

Starrship Enterprise

Don't Be A Dummy

head over to nrbq.com and download the live zip file. Then scroll down and buy Live At The Wax Museum.

New, Old and Borrowed

Ray Fuller and the Bluesrockers from 1982.

Champagne Jam

It's time to celebrate.
Not because the Red Sox just swept the Angels
Because the ALCS is on FOX.
That means we can watch it in modern HD TV.
The NLCS is on TBS.
Good luck with that.

Don't Think Twice

The truth of the matter is I was there to see Elvis. When Elvis Costello plays 10 minutes from your house it's time to get off the couch (or laptop) and go see a concert. The venue: DCU Center. Formerly the Worcester Centrum. As the Celtics were hanging banners and the rats were chewing up the parquet floor of the old Boston Garden, the Centrum was the hottest concert venue in New England. Now it houses minor league hockey and monster trucks and on occasion a halfway decent concert bill like Bob Dylan & Elvis Costello. No wristbands these days just a verification code and bingo your on the floor. First up Amos Lee. This guy's in fine voice and his band ain't bad either but after a few songs I realize this is the kind of music I hate. Sort of a poor man's Hootie and the Blowfish. Maybe he should open for Jack Johnson or Phish. That way I won't have to see him again. Seems like nice guy. Probably good at hackeysack. At this point the place is filling up. My guess is Elvis fans probably dig Dylan, but do Dylan fans dig Elvis? They do now. Costello was in fine voice. He opens with Red Shoes and he's already got the crowd.
The acoustic guitar suits him well and prevents him from playing those overextended leads he usually plays with The Attractions/Imposters. Some new songs, a little known gem, and some hits. By the way, I hate Veronica. Do you suppose I'm the only one? It seems like he plays it at every show. Anyway this is top shelf Costello worth the 70 dollar ticket price. A complete success. Between acts I hear people saying things like "I forgot how good his songs were". I didn't.

So what about Bob?

Well maybe I'm not qualified to review this portion of the show because I "left early". I don't want to say I walked out. It wasn't that bad? It was exciting to see the great songwriter as the lights went on. Nice hat. Appropriately, he started with Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat and except for the singing it wasn't that bad. Shortly after that was a reinterpretation of Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (reinterpretation is bobspeak for "bad version"). For a moment I imagine it's all right. Then I think twice. Some new songs sound okay but it's kind of wearing on me. We decide to go look at the t-shirts or get some food. In other words we don't want to leave, it's just that Dylan starting to ruin the good vibes of the earlier EC performance. I've had enough. Hey, it's all right to "leave early" (I "left early" a during an Elvis show once-King Of America tour). Doesn't make me a bad person or him a bad artist. He's still Bob Dylan and he's still a living legend. He's just not a living live legend

Unbelievable!

Sandra After Dark. It's not unusual. It's unbelievable!

The Definition Of Low

Here's a big F**K YOU to MLB, TBS, TNT, and Charter Cable.
I just watched the entire 162 game Red Sox regular season in High Definition on NESN. Now the playoffs are on TBS and TBS HD is not carried by my local cable provider. Even worse the beginning of tonight's Sox game began on TNT HD then switched to non-HD TBS when the Indians - Yankees game ended. It's obvious that TNT could carry the game but they want to force Charter to carry TBS HD at their price. And why is Charter always last major cable company to carry the new stations? As they fight over price the viewers get screwed. Some of the blame must also go to Major League Baseball for giving the contract to a non HD ready network. Watching the game in standard definition on an HD TV is like going back to UHF. The picture nearly as bad as Craig Sager's jacket.

update

Radio Ga Ga

I'm really glad Radiohead is letting me set the price for the new album IN RAINBOWS (Oct 10) because I wouldn't give you two cents for their last couple albums. In fact I would like my money back.

Belichick Video To Be Destroyed