I still want a 12-string Rickenbacker

So we've all heard the stories about big musicians who go into producing once they retire from "the road," but have you ever wondered what happens to the musicians who never quite make it big but still have to move on to something (read: a real job)? It seems they often find their way behind the scenes too. Take Danny Benair. He was in one of my favorite bands growing up: The Three O'Clock. They were an incredible L.A. band in the Paisley Underground movement back in the 80s, of which I was a big fan. I believe I was the first person to tell almost all of you (my wonderful, dedicated readers) about this band, which tells you something about the level of commercial success they achieved. Well, I found Mr. Benair again -- he's working in the industry, marketing music for placement in tv, movies, commercials, etc. He also has a website that just so happens to have a large collection of complete songs publicly available. Have a look. Once the main page loads, click on "music vault" and then select a song.. Oddly (and unfortunately), he doesn't have any of his own songs up.. I just might email him and ask if he would remedy that..

And just in case you feel like listening to some good paisley tunes:

The Three O'Clock fan site on Myspace

Michael Quercio on Myspace
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Find Something New Every Day, Part I

It's nice to have things to check in on every day: news, family, plants, email, etc. So why not add to it? This is the start of a series of sites that might be worth checking every day or so. These sites are all experiments, so I'll have to post updates about these as I discover whether they pay off or not in the long run.. but this first site seems promising: NPR's Song Of The Day. Each work day they profile a song and the artist behind it. The text is very short, and the clip lasts for the length of just one song, so this is hardly a huge time commitment, but the potential payoff is pretty high: discovering a new favorite band, or at least more great music to enjoy and tell your friends about. So here it is -- check it out:

NPR -- Song of the Day

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On The Roq

This is Rodney's Day!! Today he gets a star on Hollywood Blvd, and a concert in his honor (at the Henry Fonda Theatre -- don't miss it!)

So take a look at his myspace page, comb through his playlists from the last year to see a great mix of old favorites and new ideas, and then listen to him here on Sunday nights, 12am to 3am (yeah, technically Monday morning..)

We love you Rodney! Congratulations!

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Sunday's Sounds

Today's playlist: streaming radio from Indie 103:

Your radio reception may be bad, but never fear! You don't have to miss a minute of your favorite radio programs. Many radio stations have web pages that can connect you to their programming. Once such example is Indie 103.1, a Los Angeles station that has a show hosted by Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols (called Jonesy's Jukebox). Listen to it and all the Indie shows live right here.

Other great radio programs will be posted throughout the month, so check back often for more great tunes.

And I Thought Shonen Knife Was Cool

"Japan's bands are by turns bracingly experimental and jubilantly retro, a land where our own greatest music returns with an alienated majesty. How else can one describe the King Brothers' "100%," a song that could make the Black Crowes eat Humble Pie? Or Syrup16g's Elvis Costello-esque "I Hate Music"? Or "Johnny Depp" by Triceratops, an amp-crunching reanimation of Physical Graffiti-era Zep? And you'd swear that the Pillows' "Degeneration" was a hidden track on Matthew Sweet's Altered Beast."

Explore the world of Japanese pop that you can't find in the states in Paul Collin's latest article in Slate Magazine.

Musical Influences -- under construction

For everyone who wanted to know about my early musical influences that led me to playing bass and wanting to start a band, this is a good place to look. If you did not grow up listening to these bands, then me trying to describe them with words would be pretty useless. The sites below have soundclips.

As with most attempts at musical categorization, I do not agree with everything said on these sites and their discriptions do not always say very much, but they give it a good try and have lists of bands that look like sublists from my record collection, so they are worth checking out. Most of these links are to various sections of Allmusic.com:

1960s garage bands (and the Byrds and the Monkees)
proto-punk
punk, punk, and more punk
post-punk & 1980s college radio
goth
"neo-psychedelia"
1980s ska

The music that inspired me was arty, political, experimental, painful, DIY, minimal, moody, jangly, noisy, and fast.

This is not a definitive list of music I like -- it's a list of many of the sounds that made me want to start a band.

Music Industry & Associated Links

Good music resources to have links for:
(This is a post in progress -- comments about each resource will be added eventually)
NME
Rhino Records
Trouser Press Record Guide
Spin
Mojo
Subpop Records
Discogs
AllMusic.com
Auralgasms
SXSW_2006
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Hunting & Collecting

If you ever need a resource for 1960's garage band albums, this is it: Midnight Records. I wish I had known about them last time I was in New York. A visit to their shop is definitely on my itinerary for next time.

Speaking of 1960's garage punk, an old garage punk style band from the 80's is back together and performing! See if you can catch a show:

The Morlocks (used to be the Gravedigger V)

website
myspace (note - the first song will not load, but the other 3 work just fine)

Friday Was A Holiday; This Is America; Therefore I Must Have Been Shopping

Alas, Tower Records will soon be no more, but their going-out-of-business sale isn't half bad ($7 for a new CD is hard to argue with). So today I'm listening to recent acquisitions:
My Bloody Valentine -- Isn't Anything
Devo -- Greatest Hits
New Order -- Republic

I Could Lose Days On This Site

"http://www.punk77.co.uk/index.htm - A history of UK Punk Rock from 1976-79: Featuring an A-Z of punk bands from Adam and The Ants to The Sex Pistols to X Ray Spex, fanzines, punk girls, rare record sleeves, audio clips, fashion, punk rock lyrics, interviews and loads of pictures."

The Soundtrack of Our Lives

A great site for less-well-known bands: Auralgasms