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1/16/2017
Saturday, January 7, 2017 "Thursday 5 Jan 17 it was back to Keegan Stadium for a makeshift practice for a makeshift Velvet Underground cover show. Jiblantos bassist and guitarist from the Steely Dan cover band; John Keegan is like MANPOWER for musicians! or maybe it's the ole union hall. my surprise: "I asked Prez to be on drums". Perez Prado? dido! NO Mister I would rather vote for fucken TRUMP President Ken Kaiser! As I plugged in my guitar and he sat at drums I said "oh god it's Them Again!" and "we're right back where we started". SO now that's forty years from 1977, lettuce step into my "Time Machine": meet Ken Kaiser Friday 11 feb 77, draft him into afrika korps, two weeks later we're recording my basics on my songs down in DC and fighting all the tyme (me versus Solomon Gruberger) and Kim Kane decides for Saturday 26 Feb 77 "let's have the Blank Generation All Stars between sets of slickee boys and the Look at American university". the band: Sol Gruberger, PFC KE Highland USMC ready to fight ANYBODY, Kim Kane's lil brother on bass, Kaiser on drums, Mike Livewire on another guitar and "Nobody's Gurl" Patricia Regan on a Japasonic whom, in blonde hair and leather jacket, PISSED OFF the AU jocks as she smashed said guitar. Kaiser claims "the first velvet underground song I ever played with Kenne Highland was "white light/white heat""; quite probable as O. Rex was covering "sister ray" in '74! Saturday 12 march 77 see Real Kids at Rat, Lady Caroline sees Runaways the next week (BGN '77 Gig Listings) and at this tyme she and Lord Manuel (RIP) were in a west Medford funk band singing "turn the beat around"! "Memories are made of this"..... Friday 6 jan 17 was FUN at cantab; a good lineup of the lads in velvets cover band; I used the solid state house amp from back room, bass pickup on the ole Korean Bradlee Les Paul lookalike and I got that 1969 ostrich guitar sound; imagine Bo Diddley playing Buddy Holly on dunkin' donuts methamphetacoffee. So the Real KIDS in the room liked it! Right after one young fan REALLY liked that "white light/white heat" was performed. I should say my first
Monday, January 9, 2017
Brockport, NY weather so I stayed in and thank GOD Jimmy Jay plays oldies on Saturday night on WMEX! an Elvis special, Wanda Jackson said Elvis was "pretty", heard BJ Thomas, who is alive, still gigging and on TWITTER; highlight maybe was hearing "King Creole" (you wanna go for the Elvis non-hits, of course). did some googling and Elvis finished that movie and THEN went into the Army; I recorded first Gizmos and then went into marines. My dad and Elvis are Irish twins, eleven months apart and for my 1978 BGN cover had same hairdo! (photoshoppe young Elvis, Landmine picture sleeve and me on BGN cover). switched over to WRKO oldies and hear "reach out of the darkness", such a great song; that guy played maybe the Harvard coop about 1980 and Frank Rowe's wife Denise Donahue (RIP) told him that I remembered Friend and Lover and he smiled; I now get same tribute from 21st century Gizmos fans! (played by eric pouille in france!). I should maybe stop by the Garment District and tell Frank Rowe's daughter Susan the tail of her ma meeting Friend or was he Lover? maybe the woman was lover; need to research! Sunday really WAS Elvis's birthday (Bowie's too but I'm sure he got tribute on the classic rock channels, i'm an oldies guy; read it in FANZINE OF THE YEAR Vulchur, according to Chris Stig of BLOG TO COMM). Bob Bittner played plenty of Elvis on country music memories WJIB and you can LIKE the memories station page on facebook he said. But I decided to tune in WSM, nashville on the ole I-phone five ("Sonically speaking", Mr. Patti Smith has Kentucky roots). there was some GREAT, RARE Elvis southern gospel, i was pickin' and a-grinnin' just a-lookin' at the Brockport NY lookin' snow which is how I learnt to play on the ole Ridge Road. Snowbound, then I saw Sabbath do "Snowblind" feb '74 with Solomon gruberger at the Rochester NY war memorial. 'eaded to me local (Flann O'Brien's) for food and football; Pittsburgh won and Fences got an award so I'm sure a lot of Iron City beer was drank and Jaggerz songs were covered. if not, I DO know how to toss the "Mississippi queen" lick into "the Rapper"!"..... Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Thursday, January 12, 2017
taking vacation days on the day of WODIN means I can rocknroll all night and drink O'Douls every day! Friday the 13th of the 13th month of 2016=33 years since Unattached/hopelessly obscure played exit 13 Worcester and met Ken Kaiser but I am doing a Kaiser-less gig at out of the blue! The Korp? Highland/Quirk/Burns and Keegan (Taylor and Reeves) did Kenne's greatest hits adding non-Kaiser toons from non-Kaiser records, to wit: "everybody's a lyre", "shes not just another girl she's a darling" and "be more flamboyant"; John Keegan did all the guitar leads on sax and it sounded wicked Roxy Music, I played chords but I DID miss Kenny's guitar playing but don't tell him that. "drivin' along in keegan's automobile" (Sullivan Square being a PARTICULAR place to go!), Richard Manitoba played the Sonics "maintaining my cool" which NOONE covers so I decided to youtube Introducing the Sonics on Jerden. Feeling 16 again ("edge of 17"), it was tyme for Grand Funk's On Time album so being a distant cuzzin of Mark Farner I did indeed rock that D-9th chord on a Gee Julie Ephiphone acoustic from "TNUC"....I ended up riffing on during club linehan-a-go-go practice, highlight being I could fret with left hand and sprinkle devilish Jimmy Page 1968 licks with right; John Keegan: "we need to get you a bow!" like my facebook friend Eddie Phillips! this is a good space to promote club linehan-ago-go gigs AND t-shirts: 11 feb 17 out of the blue gallery= MJ Quirk birthday and Rat beach party hull Friday 3 march 17 is with greg allen and tsunami of sound! No Hopelessly Highland gigs YET but check this column or "write me" (covered by some Hoosier band at IU in early '76 or late '75 AFTER Larry Bird left IU) at Facebook!"... Friday, January 13, 2017
IDA MAY: Vulchur magazine in mail! thank you Sammy Gizmo! LIKE this fanzine just like Gulcher in '75! Item B: you tube The Lost Battalion. why am I mentioning a WWI movie? Dad's father, Private John Wilbur McBee, US ARMY was in 53th Pioneer and they rescued these guys behind enemy lines in Meuse-Argonne. Quite a tale, now I know what my grandfather went through in the trenches along with Miss Lyn's grandfather and Ken Kaiser's Black Watch grandfather (at least we were all fighting the Kaiser!) The Lost Battalion, lots of info on Wikipedia BUT besides seeing horses and carrier pigeons used for messages 100 years ago, another wiki page to print up is Cher Ami, carrier pigeon saying "here's our position in Agonne forest", shot but by the Kaiser's men but STILL flew to headquarters! in Smithsonian, got a medal, "war, good God what is it good for" and think of the carnage horses and other animals suffered but at least Cher Ami IS recognized! on a happier thought (glad I aint in the trenches! I'd rather listen to Terrance Trent Darby! gonna rock Out of the Blue tonight in my club linehan-a-go-go t-shirt! wait! one more movie fact: so the Lost Battalion's commander was a NY lawyer and he had an immigrant Army: Poles/Jews/Irish/Italian all Noo Tawkers ethnically slurring each other like an O. Rex practice ("schmeggegi" WAS used!) but since they were all going back to sweat shoppes and pushcarts, they were NOT gonna surrender. SO: The Lost Battalion: "NY Punks and they don't take shit from no one!" Five weeks later Kaiser defeated and it was 11/11".....
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