Show #84 August 18, 2012

Dedicated to Rosie and The Robots!


Rosie- The Kooks Junk Of The Heart
Yours Truly, 2095- ELO Time
Into The Light- Soul Asylum Delayed Reaction
Mary Of The 4th Form- The Boomtown Rats The Boomtown Rats
She Said Goodbye- The Phones I'm So Neat 7"
Choose to Play- Redd Kross Researching The Blues
Paint By Numbers- Code Blue Code Blue
Vegetable Row- Cotton Mather Kontiki
^Mr. Roboto- Styx Mr. Roboto 
True Love- The Del-Lords Johnny Comes Marching Home
Groovy Times- The Clash The Cost Of Living EP 
*New Wave Robot- Battered Wives Cigarettes
*I'm a Robot- Weezer Death To False Metal
*Robot Love- The Valves Robot Love 7inch 
*Monkey vs. Robot- James Kochalka Superstar Monkey vs. Robot
*Robot- The Futureheads The Futureheads
*The Robots- Ian North Neo LP 
*Do The Robot- The Saints (I'm) Stranded 
*Robots- Flight Of The Conchords Flight Of The Conchords 
Get Off -The Dandy Warhols The Capitol Years [1995-2007]
No Substitute- The Shivvers Til The Word Gets Out 
Soul Rejection- Happy Hate Me Nots Out 
>The Robots- Kraftwerk The Man-Machine 
Nobody's Business- The Click Five TCV 
Silly Place- The Wondermints Proto-Pretty 7"
The Valiant- Urge Overkill Rock and Roll Submarine 
Running for Your Life- Tommy Keene Behind the Parade
Miss You Baby- The Vacant Lot ...Because They Can
Lonely Boy- Walter Clevenger and The Dairy Kings Love Songs To Myself 
Dance- Kevin K Band Nightlife 
The Robot Song- The Scribbles The Scribbles 

^Power Pop Prototype:  #3 Billboard Hot 100 2/12/83

*SacroSet:  ROBOSONGS

>Power Pop Prototype:  1978 

I was a big fan of Lost In Space when I was a kid.  My mother tried to ban the show in our house, having grown tired of Dr. Zachary Smith's annoyingly aggressive alliterative asswipery.  Yet I was astoundingly adamant:  I had to have my Lost In Space.  (Mum must have REALLY hated Dr. Smith because the only other show she ever banned was The Three Stooges, and that was only after I bit my sister Sarah's nose.)  Of course, I couldn't tell my mother that I hated Dr. Smith too.  Watching the show I'd always think "why don't the Robinsons kill the guy?  Don would do it in a second if they'd let him! If that's too

hard on the kids they could just strand Dr. Smith on a
desert planet!  Come On!"  Will was a boy genius who could fix anything yet he would stick up for Dr. Smith show after show- it was very frustrating.  The Robot, on the other hand, was always messing with Dr. Smith.  It was one of the reasons I loved "him" (few robots were gender neutral before Star Wars- insert C-3PO joke here).

Tufeld and May

The Robot was played by Bob May and voiced by Dick Tufeld.  Between them, they created one of the most indelible characters of my childhood.  That monotone voice- my first exposure to dry wit came courtesy of The Robot- made it all the more exciting when "he'd" freak out, start yelling and waving his floppy arms all over the place, which happily was just about every episode.

Whenever my friends and I would talk about Lost In Space I'd always say The Robot was my favorite character- yet this was a lie.  And forget about the Robinson parents (June Lockhart and Guy Williams), they were, well, parents and thus as invisible as my own.  Judy Robinson (Marta Kristen) was super pretty, but barely there- it's like the writers forgot to give her a personality.  I did like Major Don West (Mark Goddard), despite the fact that he managed to get the crap kicked out of himself or get stuck under a giant boulder every episode.  Seriously, the guy took more blows to the head than Mike Tyson.  I was 12 years old before I realized that getting hit in the back of the head with a lead pipe was most likely fatal.  So, Don was not my favorite.  Nor was Will Robinson (Billy Mumy), though I respected his intelligence and was envious of his relationship with The Robot.  While I would not reveal it under pain of torture, in my deepest heart of hearts I had a secret, unspoken motivation for watching the show:  Penny.  From the first moment I saw Lost In Space, I was taken with Penny Robinson, played by Angela Cartwright (at 13 years of age, an "older woman" to me).  I thought Penny looked great in the early black and white episodes but once we got a color TV she literally blew my mind.

It wasn't a sexual thing- I was six years old for God's sake!  It was just that watching Penny filled me with a warm feeling.  She was compassionate and always fighting for alien animals, even making a pet of a bloop (see picture) that  she  adorably named "Debbie."  (Chimp in a hat?  Looks like a "Debbie" to me.)  Older kids would talk about sister Judy Robinson, but my heart belonged to Penny.  Now that I think about it, maybe Judy's whole reason for being on the show is so we don't have to worry about a space horny Don making a play for young Penny.  I literally shudder at the thought.

Like many of the TV shows I watched as a kid (Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeannie, etc.), Lost In Space doesn't really hold up when viewed as an adult.  Several years ago I brought a DVD home to watch with the kids and I couldn't get them to sit through more than an episode.  It wasn't even "good bad" or "craptastic" to them- they live in an on-demand world and have no patience for entertainments that are not perfectly suited to their tastes (sigh).

You never really know where these things come from, but I bet I can track my preference later in life for brunettes with bangs back to Penny Robinson from Lost In Space.  In the 5th Grade at Chandler School in Duxbury, Mass. I had a massive crush on a girl named Kathy Grealish.  She didn't have bangs but her dark hair, dimples and freckles just killed me.  Rachel somebody, who also sat at our table in Mrs. Chase's class, would catch me staring at Kathy and I would be mocked heartily.  Yet, I couldn't stop.  I hadn't watched Lost In Space in years so at the time I never consciously linked Penny and Kathy but in pulling the photos for this post I see the resemblance is uncanny.  No wonder I was so flummoxed back in 5th Grade- I had a Penny Robinson sitting directly across from me!  Of course there are limits- I ended up marrying a bang-free fair skinned blonde with nary a dimple or freckle.  Jaime loved Lost In Space too, though her favorite was Don (boooo!) for reasons I'd rather not know...

Link for tonight's show is below (to download right click and "Save Link As")
ALL KINDSA GIRLS #84

Show #83 July 28, 2012

This One's For Carrie!


Carrie- Dirty Looks Turn It Up 
Living For The Weekend- Farrah Moustache
Rock 'n Roll Is The Answer- Joey Ramone ...Ya Know? 
She's Boss- Psycotic Pineapple Where's The Party
Turn It Up Loud- Candy Whatever Happened To Fun
Hey DJ- Paul Collins' Beat Ribbon Of Gold
I Won't Let Me- Descendents Everything Sucks
Happy Most Of The Time- Brendan Benson What Kind Of World
^Weekend- Wet Willie Which One's Willie
Full Power- Pezband Cover To Cover
You Need A Friend- Sunnyboys Individuals
You Need Pop- The Speedies Speedy Delivery
I Slept In An Arcade- Black Randy And Metrosquad I Slept In An Arcade 7"
Ready To Snap- The Wanderers Only Lovers Left Alive
*Weekend- The Boys Boys Only
*Weekend- Bankrupt Rewound
*Weekend- Last Dinosaurs In A Million Years
*Weekend- The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!
*Weekend- The Diodes Tired of Waking Up Tired
Researching the Blues- Redd Kross Researching The Blues
All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth- The New Pornographers Challengers
I Did the Wrong Thing- The Toms The Toms
Cut to the Chase- David Myhr Soundshine
Everytime- Times Square Joanne 7" 
You Can't Do That- The Tremblers Twice Nightly
>Week End- The Kingsmen Week End 
Leave It In Motion- The Stompers The Stompers
Nothing To Me- Tinted Windows Tinted Windows
Before We Were Born- The dB's Falling off The Sky 
Growing Up- Any Trouble Where Are All the Nice Girls? 
The Weekenders- The Hold Steady Heaven Is Whenever

^Power Pop Peak:  #29 Billboard Hot 100  5/26/79

*SacroSet:  "Weekend" Songs

>Power Pop Prototype:  1958 

How's this for a small world...  Our friend Todd has a camp up in Philo, CA on the Navarro River and he asked Jaime to teach a drama class during their annual Music and Arts program earlier this month.  My son Jack was at the CSSSA program at Cal Arts in Valencia, so it was just Jaime, my daughter Nica, her friend Jessie and I at River's Bend.  We were staying in one of the "rustic cabins" and it was pretty nice- electricity, beds, sheets, chairs on the front porch- except for the uphill walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night (hey I'm 47 okay?).

Most of our fellow campers were self-acknowledged hippies and had been coming for at least ten years so for the first day or so we felt like outsiders.  Yet there's nothing like eating three meals a day with people to break the ice and by mid week we had hit our stride.  Nica and I threw our first pots on a pottery wheel while Jaime and Jessie worked with water colors, encaustic paint and mixed media collage.  Afternoons were spent at a swimming hole on the Navarro a short walk from camp.  I really love playing guitar around an evening camp fire and I think some of the younger campers appreciated hearing some songs recorded after 1974 for a change.

During one of the ice- breaking meals early in the week I had a conversation with a guy named Henry that eventually wound its way into (surprise!) music.  I talked about my radio show and he said he had been in a band in Berkeley back in the day.  When I asked the name of the group I was shocked to hear him reply "Psycotic Pineapple."  Not only had I heard of the group, I have all their records, my favorite being their LP Where's The Party?  pictured above.  What's more, I had already pre-recorded this week's show which included the song "She's Boss" from the album.  I'd even corresponded with the group's bass player John C. Berry a few years back when I bought one of their singles on e-Bay.  Turns out I was talking to Henricus Van Holtman (he's the guy on the far left) Psycotic Pineapple's guitar player.  He talked about playing the Mabuhay, The Stone, The I-Beam and other legendary Bay Area clubs.  Psychotic Pineapple shared the stage with just about everybody at the time:  Crime, The Mutants, The Rubinoos, Avengers, Pearl Harbor and The Explosions, etc.  Seems like they were as well known for their gig flyers as for their music.  Bass player Seabury (that's the correct spelling of his name) created the character "Pynoman" who appeared on their record sleeves and flyers.  (He even created an animated series in the late 90's.)

On the camp's Talent Night Henry even performed a Psycotic Pineapple song, his own composition "Headcheese"

Headcheese, I like headcheese
It's got eyes and ears and nose and lips
and everything I like except the tongue

I make my own, I boil the heads and bones
Then I grind it up and put it in an ice cream cone
It's good for you, my whole family eats it
Come over to our house, you'd really like it 
Come over to our house you'll have a real good time

Headcheese, it's the dead cheese
It's got eyes and ears and nose and lips
and everything I like except the tongue

Henry went to see the Sex Pistols at Winterland in January 1978.  In fact, once he mentioned it I remembered hearing Psycotic Pineapple referenced in the KSAN radio interview with Steve Jones and Paul Cook that later showed up on on the Pistols' Some Product album.  Despite all reports that the show was terrible, highlighted by Johnny Rotten's "ever get the feeling you've been cheated," Henry thought it was great.  Of Sid Vicious Henry said:  "he couldn't play a note, but man what a strap length- he could barely reach the strings."  (I've heard the same said of The Clash's Paul Simenon, so it's a compliment in my book.)  The video of that Winterland show is fascinating to me.  The one and only encore is The Stooges' "No Fun," which ended up being the Pistols' final performance (I'm not counting the reunions and neither should you).  Drummer Paul Cook is working his ass off, guitarist Steve Jones starts out trying but by the end of the song is gobbing on the audience, Sid Vicious is in a daze (he would overdose later that night and end up at the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic) and Johnny Rotten is watching all his Machiavellian conniving, cheating and scheming disintegrate before his eyes.  It's pretty powerful stuff.
No fun indeed.  I hope the surviving Sex Pistols can look back without bitterness and spite and appreciate the good times.  That's how Henry talks about Psycotic Pineapple and their Where's The Party album back in the day.  Sure the Pistols inspired a generation of douche bag Sid Vicious wannabees (just take a walk down upper Haight Street on a Saturday afternoon if you don't know what I'm talking about) but as always its the music that matters and Never Mind The Bollocks is an all-time great. 
Hour 1
Hour 2

Show #82 July 7, 2012

Dedicated to Steve...  and to Angeline!

Angeline- Pointed Sticks Part Of The Noise
It Must Be Summer- Fountains Of Wayne Utopia Parkway
Someday's Gonna Come- The Reducers Cruise To Nowhere
She's A Heartbreaker- Radio City Class of '77
Gaygirls Dance- Remod Life Of The Party
Icy Tracks- David Myhr Soundshine
Blow Me Away- The Fingers On The Radio
Never Again- This Perfect Day Don't Smile
^Summertime Girls- Y and T Summertime Girls 7"
For Free- The Tearaways Ground's the Limit
What Should I Do?- Durango 95 Lose Control
World To Cry- The dB's Falling off The Sky
Mallo Cup- The Lemonheads Lick
Midnight- The Revillos Attack of the Giant Revillos
*Constructive Summer- The Hold Steady Stay Positive
*Summer Job- Art Brut Art Brut Vs. Satan
*Dorchester Summer- Future Dads 24 Winship
*Summer Holiday and Me- The Jessica Fletchers Less Sophistication
*Endless Summer- Travoltas Endless Summer
*Hot Summer- The Lonely Boys The Lonely Boys
*It's Summertime, Baby- The Cute Lepers Can't Stand Modern Music
*Summertime Fun- Nikki and The Corvettes Nikki and The Corvettes
Going Nowhere Fast- Joey Ramone ...Ya Know?
Run To The Cities- High Rise Run To The Cities
Now- The Plimsouls The Plimsouls... Plus
>The Door Into Summer- The Monkees Listen To The Band
Right Time- The Crowd A World Apart
Untitled- The Saints Eternally Yours
Met Your Match- Brendan Benson What Kind Of World
Ten Fingers- The Pursuit Of Happiness I'm An Adult Now EP
The Summer Rain- Shoes Shoe's Best
Hawaii Five-0- The Ventures Hawaii 5-0

^Power Pop Peak:   #55 Billboard Hot 100 7/13/85

*SacroSet:  Summer Songs

>Power Pop Prototype:  1967

Tonight's show is a lot like life- some sadness but mostly greatness.  Yet the cool thing about life, and this show, is that the greatness makes the sadness easier to take and the sadness makes the greatness seem even greater.  I was very sad to read about the passing of Reducers' bassist Steve Kaika earlier this month.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, during the early 80's I interviewed The Reducers a few times when I was working at WERS and the band even came to Boston once to play on my show "Metrowave."  Singer/guitarists Peter and Hugh did most of the talking in the interviews, but Steve was always happy to contribute as well.  The thing is, from an aesthetic standpoint I had big problems with Steve when I first started going to Reducers shows.  While Peter and Hugh sported the band's signature pocket-T/Levi's/Chuck Taylors look,  Steve had what I considered a far less appealing "old rock and roll dude" style:  pointy toe boots/flares/sleeveless shirt and feathered long blonde hair.  Furthermore, his bass playing beyond reproach, Steve’s singing on the first album came dangerously close to the dreaded "fake British accent."   By the band's third album Cruise To Nowhere though, my opinion of him had changed.  Steve sported the same boots, flares and hair but I'd grown to love his singing, especially on tonight's selection "Someday's Gonna Come:" 

You can see him standing there

Another young kid on the subway stairs

You gotta wonder why they even try

He's just arrived and he's so bold

He's gonna reach his hand out and grab a hold

Of the world that's spinning by

He say’s “someday’s gonna come for me,

just you wait and see,

someday’s surely gonna come for me”

The weeks turn into months

And then the months turn into years

It’s funny now things don’t look the same

But he’s still waiting for his chance

He’s gonna dig in and toughen up his stance

He knows you gotta stick to your guns

He say’s “someday’s gonna come for me,

just you wait and see,

someday’s surely gonna come for me”

You can see him standing there

An older man with a wistful stare

He wonders what went wrong with his schemes

He’s toed the line and played the game

But all his dreams were shot down in flames

It’s not as easy as it seems

He say’s “someday’s gonna come for me,

just you wait and see,

someday’s surely gonna come for me

someday’s surely gonna come for me

He say’s someday’s surely gonna come for me”

The compassion in Steve’s voice gets me every time, I really can’t imagine snide Peter or gruff Hugh singing the song as well.  Cruise to Nowhere also shows Steve in fine form on “Jackpot Fever” and “Boys Will Be Boys,” the latter another of the band's anti-cop songs (how bad can the police in New London, CT be?).  One of the great things about The Reducers is that every album is a revelation.  Peter is my favorite singer on the first LP (“Out Of Step,” “Better Homes and Gardens,” “All About You”), on Let’s Go it’s Hugh (“Bums I Used To Know,” “Your Mother,” Maximum Depression”), Steve on Cruise To Nowhere and on the later albums drummer Tom even steps up to the mic.  The Reducers have been together for over 30 years and I can’t imagine the group without Steve Kaika- he will be missed.

Now onto the great news…   New music is traditionally not a big part of ALL KINDSA GIRLS.  First, there is so much of it these days it would be a full time job keeping track of it all.  (The great Ed Slota is the only person I know who is up to this herculean task.)  Second, maybe it’s my age, but a lot of the new stuff I hear these days doesn’t do it for me.  For every great band I discover like The Wellingtons, I have to sift through 50 indie rock groups who care more about social networking than making great records.  Music critics are no help as they throw the word “pop” around so much it has lost all meaning.  Frankly, it all makes me tired, so I’d rather just put on a Plimsouls or Big Star record and save myself the trouble.  That said, there is nothing like hearing a great new record for the first time and on this week’s show I have FOUR of them:

• David Myhr, a member of 90’s Swedish power pop giants The Merrymakers, has released his solo debut Soundshine and it is awesome!  The guy has forgotten more than most of us will ever know about crafting brilliant pop hooks and melodies.  Already a solid “Best of 2012” contender;

•  The dB’s are back!  Holder, Holsapple, Rigby and Stamey- the four guys that made the iconic Stands For Decibels and Repercussion albums are back with Falling Off The Sky and it is a very fun record.  Chris Stamey’s “Before We Were Born” stands among their best songs; 

•  …Ya Know? compiles a grab bag of Joey Ramone recordings from the last years of his life.  It is so good to hear his voice again;

 

• Brendan Benson has released another glorious power pop album What Kind Of World.  This guy deserves serious radio play- hopefully he’ll get it this time.

An embarrassment of riches!  I’ll be able to say “new music on ALL KINDSA GIRLS” a lot in the coming week’s- hopefully you’ll join me.

Download this week’s show here (Right click and “Save Link As”):

ALL KINDSA GIRLS #82

Show #81 June 16, 2012

 Christina and Cowbell... a powerful combo!

Christina- Idle Jets Nashpop: A Nashville Pop Compilation
Vicious- Lou Reed Transformer
Time And Time Again- Smithereens I Was A Teenage Zombie
Tiger Beat Twist- Simpletones I Have A Date
Whoever Said That You Was Cool- The Sidewalks Natalie 
Wallflower- Mega City Four Wallflower 7"
Lonely Next To You- Shane Champagne S/T 10" EP 
He'll Never- Walter Clevenger and The Dairy Kings Love Songs To Myself 
^Don't Fear The Reaper- Blue Oyster Cult Don't Fear The Reaper
Super Geek- The Greenberry Woods Big Money Item
Lover Like You- Cherry Vanilla Venus D' Vinyl 
Teenage Heartbreak- Sorrows Teenage Heartbreak 
End Of A Dream- TV21 On The Run 7" 
Tiger Feet- Mud The Singles '67-'78
*Party's Over- Raspberries Starting Over
*Sunrise On Sunset- The Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars
*Working Too Hard- The Beat The Beat
*You've Got To Pay- The Only Ones Special View
*Hammer In My Heart- Utopia Utopia
Achin' To Be- The Replacements All for Nothing
Loving Touch -The New Romans Jenny 7"
I Want Your Love- The Lonely Boys The Lonely Boys 
My Tulpa- Magazine Real Life
Don't Make Me Wait- Primitive Souls Primitive Souls 
Some Other Time- The Shazam Godspeed the Shazam 
>Time Has Come Today- The Chambers Brothers Time Has Come Today 
Isn't Anything Sacred Anymore- The Sweat No More Running
Heartbreak- The Signals Person To Person 
Crossfire- Phil Neal Standard Question 7" 
I Hope You're Happy Now- The Wellingtons In Transit 
Grazing In The Grass- Hugh Masekela Grazing In The Grass

^Power Pop Peak:  #12 Billboard Hot 100 7/31/76

*SacroSet:  More Cowbell!

>Power Pop Prototype:  1967

As a lifelong third rate guitar player, musical simplicity and/or ineptitude has always had a special place in my heart.  I still remember hearing The Ramones for the first time thinking "oh my god!  I can actually figure these songs out and play them myself!"  The bass is all on the left side and the guitar all on the right, so on my stereo I could switch the balance over to the left speaker and figure out Dee Dee's bass part.  Since he and Johnny ALWAYS played the same notes I'd have the guitar part down about ten minutes later.  It was a very empowering experience and I started playing the guitar a lot more that day.  

Needless to say, that NEVER happened when I was listening to Rush a few years earlier.  

Nothing against Toronto's finest, but they were so far ahead of me musically it's like comparing a very large rock to Usain Bolt.  I loved Rush's music but I never related to it the way I did to the punk rock songs I could actually play myself.  In fact I haven't put a Rush album on the turntable in years.  When it comes to my pre-punk records, I'm much more likely to listen to Kiss or AC/DC- good old "simple" rock and roll.

Rush's Neil Peart is a rock god among drummers- many of whom, in my experience, care more about "drumming" than about "music."  Guys who subscribe to Modern Drummer magazine (not to be confused with Drummer, which interestingly is gay porn).  Guys who can talk for hours about pataflaflas, flamacues and triple paradiddle-diddles, but whose record collection consists of two dusty old drum corps albums.  

The thing about Neil Peart is that he didn't limit himself to drums. By the time I saw Rush on the Farewell To Kings tour he had added, in his own words, "orchestra bells, tubular bells, wind chimes, crotales, timbales, tympani, gong, temple blocks, bell tree, triangle, and melodic cowbells."   Seriously- the guy only has TWO ARMS!  The only word I am familiar with in that quote is "cowbell." 

If you're a fan of Kiss, then you are a fan of the cowbell- Peter Criss was not one to be stingy with the 'bell.  One of my first favorite Kiss songs was "Calling Dr. Love."  How do I love it?  Let me count the ways:

• My last name is in the title;
• COWBELL!
• Awesome Gene vocal performance "there's nothing you can do-ow-oo!"
• The title is a riff on The Three Stooges;
• Soaring Ace Frehley guitar solo;
• Weird "Calling Dr. Love" background vocal in second chorus and coda.

Like Neil Peart, Peter Criss had a huge kit and at concerts was always up for the big drum solo (for drummers a "highlight," for everyone else a "bathroom break.")  Yet unlike Peart, when it came to recording Criss didn't try to jam every drum, cymbal and glockenspiel into every damn song- and God bless him for that.  Maybe it's simply that band leaders Gene and Paul wouldn't let him; perhaps Rush were just more democratic.  That would jibe with my own experiences with drummers who, unless you keep them in check, tend to favor a "more is more" approach.

Anyway a cowbell is a great way to keep drumming simple.  No matter how many tom-toms they have, if your drummer's putting one stick on the bell in a 4/4 time they can't get into too much trouble.  A cowbell in the intro also tells the audience that the beat is "special," you're calling attention to it with a little extra emphasis.  Of course Will Ferrel's brilliant SNL sketch has forever changed perceptions of the cowbell. The funny thing about what is now commonly referred to as "More Cowbell, " is that it almost didn't make the cut.  Ferrell had written the sketch months earlier, but it kept getting passed over.  According to Jimmy Fallon, the sketch wasn't even that great in rehearsal until Will Ferrel changed his shirt.  I've got to say the shirt is awesome, but it's really Christopher Walken as Bruce Dickinson ("THE Bruce Dickinson") that makes it work for me.  His quotes are the ones I remember the most, especially "Babies, before we're done here ya'll be wearing gold plated diapers!"

As much as I love the sketch I did worry that "More Cowbell" would be the end of the instrument, reducing it to ironic deployment in indie rock douchery.  My fears have proven unfounded however as songs like The Wellington's "I Hope Your Happy Now" carry the cowbell torch forward. The cowbell isn't a joke- it's just fun!  For that reason I think we can all look forward to a lifetime of "MORE COWBELL!!"

Download this week's show below (Right click and "Save Link As")

ALL KINDSA GIRLS #81

Show #80 June 2, 2012

Dedicated to Maya... and all dog lovers!
  
Maya- The Weed Bros The Weed Bros 
Every Dog- London Reboot 
Gimme Back My Dog- Slobberbone Everything You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today 
Bird Doggin'- Dogs Legendary Lovers 
Gonna Buy Me A Dog- The Monkees Listen To The Band
Your Dogs- Ben Folds and Nick Hornby Lonely Avenue
She's A Dog- Simply Saucer She's A Dog 45
Dogs Are Everywhere- Pulp Dogs Are Everywhere 
^Shannon- Henry Gross Shannon 7"
Rabies (From The Dogs Of Love)- The 101'ers Elgin Avenue Breakdown Revisited 
Since You Got A Dog- Chixdiggit! Safeways Here We Come
Do The Dog- The Specials Specials 
Dogs Of War- The Sensational Alex Harvey Band The Best Of
The Dogs- Sloan Parallel Play
Hair of the Dog- The Ramones Animal Boy
Walkin' The Dog- The Neighborhoods The Last Rat
Jealous Dogs- The Pretenders Pretenders II
Walk My Dog- The Boys Punk Rock Rarities
She Wants A Puppy, She'll Have A Puppy- Silver Sun Disappear Here 
Two Headed Dog [Red Temple Prayer]- Roky Erickson and the Aliens The Evil One 
Quiche Lorraine- The B-52's Wild Planet
Get Your Woofing Dog Off Me- Jerks s/t 7"
Doghouse- The Creepshow Sell Your Soul  
>I Wanna Be Your Dog- The Stooges The Stooges
Doghouse- Descendents Everything Sucks 
Dog Eat Dog- Adam and The Ants Dog Eat Dog 
Give A Dog A Bone- Sham 69 You're A Better Man Than I 45
My Dog Was Lost But Now He's Found- The Fiery Furnaces Blueberry Boat
Dog`s Life- Eels B-Sides and Rarities
Maya- The Church Forget Yourself 

^Power Pop Peak:  #23 Billboard Hot 100 3/22/80

>Power Pop Prototype:  1969 

We always had dogs when I was growing up in Massachusetts yet once I had a family of my own I held out for years on getting a dog.  For me, it came down to four things:  sh*t, p*ss, puke and hair.  By the time my daughter Nica was out of diapers I was looking forward to my return to a  sh*t and p*ss-free existence and I saw no reason to go back.  As for puke, to this day I have a multi-year no vomit streak going that I am quite proud of and (knock wood) the kid's days of Exorcist-like stomach flu are a thing of the past.  (Now the hair, well living with a woman, you've just got to make peace with that one as I did years ago.)

Anyway, I held firm until the Fall of 2002 when a friend of a friend was looking for a new home for her adult dog and Jaime convinced me to drive down to Fairfax in Marin County with the kids to "just check it out."  Due to a job change and kids in high school sports, this woman's dog, named Naiya, was being left alone all day and kept sneaking out to visit a convalescent hospital down the street.  I was under the impression that we were going to "meet" Naiya and maybe bring her home for a few days to "see how it goes."  Of course as soon as the kids saw her, it was all over.  As I'm putting the dog's bowls, brushes, leashes and bed into the back of our station wagon I started to realize that I was being had.  The funny thing was, I tried to put the dog into the back of the car as well but as soon as I let go of her collar she jumped into the back seat, which Jack and Nica thought was hilarious.  I wasn't sure it was a good idea to pack the dog in with the kids after just meeting them, so I brought Maya around and up into the back again, where she promptly vaulted the seat to be with the kids.  That time I just went with it. 

We had told Jack he could name the dog as his birthday was coming up.  I was a little worried about confusing Naiya with a new name like Luke Skywalker, Shrek or Ace Frehley (my sister Sarah gave me a set of Kiss dolls for Christmas the previous year and Jack loved playing with them).  It was a relief then when he chose Maya and Nica contributed the middle name Leah.  So Naiya became Maya and I'm no dog psychologist but she didn't seem to suffer any identity crises.  We learned that first day in Fairfax that Maya was not like other dogs. She wouldn't fetch, swim, sit up, beg or roll over on command- she only wanted to be with us.

I had started running a year earlier and the woman in Marin assured me that the dog loved jogging.  I don't know if "love" is the right word, but Maya would jog with me, though never in front.  We had one of those extending leashes and Maya chose to trot about ten feet behind me.  Of course to passersby this looked like I was dragging the poor dog up and down the bike path (though if there was ever a squirrel on the path you better believe Maya got out front fast.)  I'd respond to their nasty looks with an out of breath "she's got four legs, I've only got two" but I could tell they still thought I was a monster.  Maya was proud like that- like  how when kids would try to get her to fetch; they'd toss the ball, it would bounce of her chest and she'd look straight at them with a look that said "As If!"   It was the same way when we caught her trying to steal something out of the trash or eat food off the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.  I'd say "Maya you're better than that" and her shoulders would slump while she slunk away, trying to avoid looking me in the eye.

The only time Maya ever got aggressive was when there was a dog bone involved.  That first Christmas we got her a bone and three year old Nica got nipped trying to take it away.  I'll never forget the look of shame on Maya's face afterward.  The next time someone brought her a bone she calmly picked it up, took it out in the back yard and buried it.  Maya knew her limits -bones were her canine crack- you could almost see her saying, "thanks for the bone, but I just can't handle this stuff so I'm going to get it out of here right now."

Maya has been a fixture in our life for ten years and she has never asked more than to be with us.  In the last few years we started to let her lay out under a tree in our front yard.  She'd stay there for hours just watching what was going on in the neighborhood.  Jaime called her "Ferdinand The Bull" because she liked to "sit just quietly and smell the flowers."

We'd noticed Maya getting older of course but she really started to decline in the last month or so.  Our vet Rhonda was great, she laid out our options and when things hadn't gotten any better after a week of treatment, we took Maya back in one last time.  I'll never forget how strong Nica was in those last few minutes of her beloved dog's life, even catching Maya's last breath.  I was in awe of my daughter at that moment.


Sure there were a few heinous hours blotting diarrhea out of white berber carpet, and one year that same carpet looked like a crazed game of Twister with only yellow spaces, but that's nothing compared with all the joy Maya gave us over the years.  She was truly the B.D.E.- the Best Dog Ever.

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Show #79 May 19, 2012

For Sandy and the Trainspotters....


Sandy- Popsicle Laquer
Freeze- Motors 1
No Reason Why- Farrah Cut Out And Keep
Inside Doubt- Bonnie Hayes Good Clean Fun
All I Want- Blue Ash No More No Less
Love It When You Call- The Feeling Twelve Stop And Home
Five to Nine- The Blisters Storch 7"
One Way St.- The Aces One Way St. 7"
^Train in Vain (Stand by Me)- The Clash London Calling
Soul In A Box- Jakpak Soul In A Box 7"
Young Guy- The Eat Scattered Wahoo Action Cassette
Nice n Neat- The Boomtown Rats The Fine Art Of Surfacing
The Heat- Tommy Hoehn Losing You to Sleep
Your Number Is My Number- 999 999
*Trains- The Vapors Anthology
*I Wish I Was a Train- The Popes Hi We're The Popes
*Black Train- The Gun Club Fire Of Love
*Girl On A Train- Squire Big Smashes
Mr Menage a Trois- Hawaii Mud Bombers Mondo Primo
Our Money- Dig Dig Dig Shake Some Action Vol 8 (UK/Ireland)
Fun City- Tuff Darts! Tuff Darts!
Love's Lost on You- The Grip Weeds Infinite Soul: The Best of the Grip Weeds
(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes- Elvis Costello My Aim Is True
She Said- Tweezers Already!
>Last Of The Steam Powered Trains- The Kinks The Village Green Preservation Society
Can't Stand It- Wilco Summerteeth
Shake It And Dance- Hilly Michaels Calling All Girls
Society- The Zeros 4-3-2-1-The Zeros
Choo Choo- Train The Box Tops Soul Deep: The Best Of The Box Tops
Train Round The Bend (Alternate Mix)- The Velvet Underground Loaded

^Power Pop Prototype:

*SacroSet:  Train Songs

>Power Pop Prototype: 1968

One of the things I miss since moving to California is travel by train.  In the Boston area you can get from just about anywhere to just about anywhere on the "T," the Mass Bay Transit Authority.  I've written before about the Braintree Red Line Stop opening up the city's record stores for Cousin Rich and I.  Stay on the Red Line to what at that time was the end and you're in Harvard Square or switch to the Green Line at Park Street for a trip to Newbury Street and Kenmore Square.  By the time I moved to Boston for college I already felt it was "my" city, thanks to all those trips into town on the T.

In all those years, I was never hassled riding the train, even the dreaded Orange Line.  In fact, my friend Frank is the only person I know personally who had a problem on the T.  I wasn't on this trip but the story goes that Frank was sitting on the Red Line stopped at one of the Quincy stations when, just as the doors were closing, this kid punched him in the face and jumped off the train.  Frank ended up with two black eyes and a good reason to never again sit beside the train door.  I later heard that he had a pair of drum sticks and had been serenading everyone in the car with Elvis Costello's greatest (drum) hits on seats, railings, etc., but I don't have corroboration on this.  As trying as the drum stick thing can be, a punch in the face is a HUGE overreaction.

In college I discovered the Amtrak train to New York City.  Four hours out of South Station in Boston gets you to New York's Penn Station.  It was cheap in those days too.  Even at today's prices it's a lot easier to take the train than drive.  I've driven to New York several times and it rarely ends well.  From a break-in on the Lower East Side to getting towed in Chelsea and spending a day in the Kafka-esque nightmare that is the police impound lot, in the aptly named Hell's Kitchen.  On a trip to NYC it's best to leave the car at home.  And don't get me started on parking.  On one trip Jaime and I wanted to go the Museum of Radio and Television so I parked the car in a mid-town lot.  We were in a hurry so I didn't check the rates- I was on a quest and parking seemed inconsequential.  Of the many things I was hoping to see that day, my personal "holy grails" were:

Ultraman- I loved this show so hard when I was a kid!
The Clash on Fridays- crappy show but  one of my all-time favorite musical performances on TV

Thunderbirds- I was so young when I saw this show that memories of it are like a surreal dream....


Kiss on The Paul Lynde Halloween Special- talk about surreal- along with  proto-queen Lynde and Mssrs. Simmons, Stanley, Frehley and Criss, the show featured Witchiepoo from H.R. Puffenstuff, Tim Conway and Florence Henderson!


The final episode of The Prisoner. This show is a complete mindf**k and I'd never seen the last episode- not that I would have understood any of it.

The funny thing is all of the above can now be accessed in seconds on youtube.  These kids today don't know how good they have it!

Unfortunately The Museum Of Radio and Television was pretty lame at that time.  We had pictured a long hallway of private viewing booths and a huge library of videos that we could comb through ourselves.  Turns out there were five or six booths and they wanted you to send in ahead of time for the videos you wanted to watch.  After an hour of waiting for a booth we gave up and went back to get the car which had racked up about $50 in parking fees.  That's what Jaime and I called "getting New Yorked."  Like the aforementioned towing of our car or when you get to the club at 11pm and find out the headlining band is going on at 2am.  I love that city but you have to take the good with the bad.  Certain trips were like an effortless dream- you're heading downtown hitting all the lights on 6th Avenue and can't believe you're doing 60 miles an hour through one of the most populous cities in the world.  Yet on other trips it can be a slog through molasses- like watching an endless display of traffic light cycles as you sit in a crosstown cab driven by some dude of indeterminate ethnicity who, perhaps for religious reasons, hasn't bathed in four months.

So after the Museum of Radio and Television debacle it was train travel only for us.  Despite all the scary stories I'd heard about the New York subway, I've never had a problem.  In fact, those air conditioned subway cars saved my life a few times.  (Since moving to Northern California I become constitutionally incapacitated by high humidity and a subway platform during a heat wave is a uniquely brutal hellscape).  Admittedly, you've got the crosstown problem with the subway but I'm usually going up or downtown and you can always choose to hoof it with a transfer at 14th St- preferably not during a heat wave.

I expected to take advantage of the train system when I moved to San Francisco but in two years, I rode Muni twice and never once rode BART.  Muni never seemed to go anywhere I needed to get to and BART is for commuters from Concord or suburban punks from Walnut Creek who want to come in on the weekend to spare change on Market Street.  The Bay Area train systems are no comparison to the T in Boston or the NYC subway.  Both those cities are older than San Francisco so I don't know what the problem is.  Maybe it was the same evil cabal of oil companies, car manufacturers and the like that kept the subway out of LA all those years ago.  In any case, I really do miss those trains back east...

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Hour 1
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