Cheap, but Not Cheap

Cheap Trick, The Latest (which is actually their latest release), has been released on 8-Track tape. Yes it wasnt cheap, but it is making me very happy to have such a thing. And even to know that such a thing exists is pretty heartwarming. My player is a bit dusty, but we will be blasting this thing out before weeks end, I'll report back with how it sounds.

Cigars anyone?

Stage one of the cigar box guitar is complete. Lou Lou and I have been working on this for a few weeks. All the parts are together and it just needs a bit of fine tuning—that sounds like a pun. I was thinking it might need frets, but after playing it a bit I may be changing my tune on that—again with the puns. There are definitely a few design flaws, but nothing that seems to be detrimental to its overall usefulness. Apparently I will have to refer to this guitar as 'The Edge', as the box is emblazoned with that name. Surprising how nice the thing sounds.

Perma-Buzz

What is it? It sounds like I want one, but it is ellusive. I knew the members of this band mostly from Art School in Chicago in the early 80's. Some very tight Power Pop, and doesnt it sound like the mid-west? I think it does.

Eric Cassell, Markus Greiner, Rick Muelder, Jan Muller from 1987

Perma-Buzz

Smashed Zappa

I'm not the worlds biggest Frank Zappa fan, his music falls deep into the 'Too Many Notes' category. I do respect his irreverence though, and I did see him live back in the late 70's in a stadium show. Apparently he is from Maryland and along the turnpike as u pass thru Maryland there is a rest stop with a Smashed Penny: Frank Zappa edition. My kids love the smashed penny, a terrific souvenir. This one stands out, which one of these is not like the other . . . Now I want all rock icons in smashed penny form.

Holiday Tune 2008

Yes Virginia, there is a new Dead Gwynne Holiday song!

Dead Gwynne Holiday Tunes

Merry Christmas Everyone!

—Brendan deVallance

Three (for me)

Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, Meat Puppets, the holy Triumvirate of my Punk Rock. These 3 Bands were all signed to SST records and each is made of solid gold. Minutemen were from LA, Hüsker Dü from Minneapolis, and the Meat Puppets were from my home town of Phoenix. I saw the Meat Puppets first live performance and subsequently saw them live many times as well as played on the same bill with them. They were 3 terrific people, very nice and very good musicians. The punk scene in Phoenix was quite small and everyone knew everyone. A very creative and friendly bunch of people. The Meat Puppets ended up in LA and got signed to SST records. The Meat Puppets music in the beginning was hardcore. Very fast, fast fast fast. Very abrasive. Hüsker Dü was the same, Over the top with speed. But both bands headed down a pop tinged path after the first couple of records. The Meat Puppets sound morphed into a psychedelic county tinged sound. They were heavy pot smokers back in the day, I can verify that. Lots of pot. The sound was very unique. No one really imagined combining both sensibilities. But in the early days of punk everything was up for grabs. We were inventing it as we went. Breaking the rules was part of the deal.

In 1983 my wife and I lived in Los Angeles, the high point of that was getting to see the Minutemen play many times. Every time we saw them they were fantastic. Always put on a great show. Such a tragedy that D. Boon died so young. He had such a unique perspective. To this day no one has approached that sound or anything close.

Hüsker Dü is the band that makes the music that really sets me on fire. I absolutly love the warped, hard edged pop that they play. They wrote so many good songs I can not count them all. Grant Hart and Bob Mould were 2 of the best songwriters of there generation. And as in all good bands grew to hate one another. I guess it made some kind of crazy competition within the band.


We Jam Econo— A DVD documentary about the Minutemen, a must see.

Corndogs

The drummer Derrick who is no longer with the Meat Puppets runs this site:
Meat Puppets

Shit from and Old Notebook

Book I read

Shaun Cassidy Vs Talking Heads. This has been on my list of things to track down for years. And it does not dissapoint. Shauns attempt to broaden his audience beyond 12 year old girls. Todd Rungren produced the LP, WASP, and it has a few other gems, Rebel Rebel and It's My Life stand out. 


Book I Read