NOTHING NEW UNDER SUN

I thought the fake reviews of the Family Circus book was so funny, I posted about it below.

But now I've learned the phenomenon has been around for years. Here's a 1999 article about it in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

And here's a 2002 online interview with Bil Keane in The Washington Post. He's good a good sense of humor about the whole Amazon thing.

I also learned that other Family Circus books have whacky customer reviews in Amazon.

Still pretty funny though ...

I'M A TEAM PLAYER NOW

For the last several months I've resisted putting my radio show play lists on the KSFR web site. There were several reasons. For one thing, I post them on this blog. But most importantly I resisted because initially we were told that we had to include a UPC code number or catalog number, which apparently was for the benefit of the Recording Industry Association of America. And if we didn't include these numbers, the entry would be blank. This was bad news especially for those of us who ocasionally use home-burned CDs or (shudder) bootlegs.

So I refused to go to all the extra trouble of typing in a bunch of numbers for the RIAA's benefit. But checking out other KSFR play lists, I noticed others didn't have that info -- and no entries appeared to be missing.

So I created lists for last week's Santa Fe Opry and Terrell's Sound World.

I'll try it for awhile. But I'll keep posting my lists on this blog too.

HOPE, FAITH & CHARITY

I just became aware of a new organization called H.O.P.E. that has a program to bring relief to a sadly forgotten class of victims. Tsunami survivors? Nope? Iraqi children wounded in the crossfire of war? Naw ... Mudslide victims in California? Nope, they've got to look for "HOPE" elsewhere.


No, H.O.P.E. (Horrified Observers of Pedestrian Entertainment)is "an association of entertainment and media professionals, students, journalists, and citizens that are fed up with the face of popular culture and mainstream entertainment" who are dedicated to bringing "quality to the world of entertainment while working outside of the traditional network, record label, and studio structure." They're not a right-wing "Let's Beat on the Dixie Chicks" bunch who believe Sean Penn and Barbra Streisand are the gravest threats to democracy. H.O.P.E. is taking on the more serious issues of annoying celebs and talentless pop singers who suck regardless of their political views.

And H.O.P.E. is putting their money where their proverbial mouth is. They don't just make fun of Paris Hilton and Britney whatzername. They've actually set up a CD exchange for disgusted ex-Ashlee Simpson fans. That's right, you can send them your old Ashlee CDs and get some good music -- Elvis Costello, The Ramones, X, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Aretha Franklin, Mr. Bungle and Ray Charles are among those named -- in exchange.

I wonder if tsunami victims can send in Ashlee Simpson CDs in exchange for, say, sanitary drinking water ...

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, January 9, 2005
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Now Webcasting
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell


OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Nixon Tribute
One Tin Soldier by The Dick Nixons
Ohio by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Nixon's Dead Ass by Russell Means
Watergate Blues by Tom T. Hall

Oops! I Did It Again by Richard Thompson
She's 19 Years Old by Muddy Waters
Oh Sweet Mary by Big Brother & The Holding Company

Mack the Knife by Kazik Staszewski
Nothing Is Impossible (from Zakhmee soundtrack)
Theme From Burnt Weenie Sandwich by The Mothers of Invention
Is She Weird by Frank Black & Two Pale Boys
Contraflow by The Fall
Things We Like to Do by NRBQ

Elvis Tribute
(All songs by Elvis Presley except where noted)
Listening to Elvis by Ed Pettersen & The High Line Riders
King of the Whole Wide World
Reconsider Baby
Trying to Get to You
True Love Travels Down a Gravel Road
The Pelvis (Medley: Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock, Suspicious Minds) by The Ditch Bank Okies
Follow That Dream
Elvis Is Everywhere by Mojo Nixon
(There'll Be) Peace in the Valley (For Me)

Running From the Baron by The Winking Tikis
Yen on a Carrousel by David Holmes
The Darker Days of Me and Him by P.J. Harvey
Dream Scream by Death Cab for Cutie
Like Little Willie John by Mark Lannegan
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, January 6, 2005
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Now Webcasting
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Paradise by Lynn Anderson
Diggy Diggy Lo by Doug Kershaw
It's Not Easy Being Green by Rex Hobart & The Misery Boys

Rex Hobart Live Set
Don't Make Me Break Your Heart
Gotta Get Back to Forgetting You
I Just Lost My Mind
Let's Leave Me
You've Got Some Cheating To Do
Motel Time Again
Forever Always Ends

It Won't Be Long (And I'll Be Hating You) by Rex Hobart & The Misery Boys
I Drink Too Much by Cornell Hurd
Texas Honky Tonk by Justin Trevino
Mike the Can Man by Joe West
Pecos River by The Bubbadinos

Bonanza by NRBQ
Ringo by Lorne Greene
Dan Blocker by Gurf Morlix
There Oughta Be a Law Against Sunny California by Terry Allen
It's Only Make Believe by Kelly Hogan & John Wesley Harding
Train From Kansas City by Neko Case
Rich Man's War by Steve Earle
It Came From the South by Big Al Anderson
God Has Lodged a Tenant in My Uterus by Tammy Faye Starlite

Terrier by The Moaners
You Win Again by Mother Earth
Walk You Home by Marlee MacLeod
Wide River to Cross by Buddy Miller
Black Haired Boy by Grey DeLisle with Murray Hammond
God Walks These Dark Hills by Iris DeMent
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

PUNDIT PAYOLA

My former colleague Greg Toppo -- who worked at The New Mexican in the 1990s and now writes for USA Today -- has a fascinating scoop today concerning right-wing pundit Armstrong Williams (pictured here) getting a $240,000 contract from the U.S. Department of Education to promote No Child Left Behind.

Read all about it here

FAMILY CIRCUS

This book is getting rave reviews from customers.

(You better read it fast before Amazon wises up ...)

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: FRANK BLACK'S PIXIES TRIBUTE

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
January 7, 2004


When Charles Thompson -- aka Black Francis, aka Frank Black -- left The Pixies back in the early ‘90s, it seemed that he never looked back. He’s remained prolific, releasing a seemingly unending stream of crazy rocking records, in recent years fronting his new band The Catholics. His solo/Catholics output is more than twice that of The Pixies, who released only four full albums and one EP in their brief but influential run.

(In case there are those who somehow missed out on The Pixies -- and unfortunately that applies to far too many people -- this quartet, which also included bassist Kim Deal, guitarist Joey Santiago and drummer David Lovering, was perhaps the greatest indie band of the late 1980s. They were crazier than the Replacements, lighter-hearted than Husker Du and took themselves far less seriously than R.E.M. The Pixies served as inspiration to Nirvana and countless other groups back in those strange days when "alternative rock" truly was an alternative to the mainstream. And I don‘t care what anyone says, The Pixies‘ last album Trump le Monde, was better than Nirvana’s Nevermind, released the same year. And Trump isn’t even The Pixie’s best record. )

The Frank Black albums, for the most part have been full of fun, crazy energy, several good laffs per CD, and occasionally a memorable melody. But always there was the caveat -- this is good, but nothing here matches "Monkey Gone to Heaven" or "Wave of Mutilation" or "Caribou" -- or other masterpieces from the Pixie repertoire.

But last year, for reasons I’m not sure, Black began looking back. He apparently began to come to terms with his Pixiehood.

First there was a Pixies’ 2004 reunion tour -- the first time the four have played together since the breakup. Except for a limited edition live disc from a Minnesota concert, no record came out of the reunion -- though rumors of a pending studio record of new material persist.

In addition to the reunion tour, Black last year released a weird but delightful double CD called Frank Black Francis.

One disc is a collection of demos, recorded by Black and his guitar the day before The Pixies went into the studio to record tunes that eventually would be used on their first EP Come on Pilgrim.

It’s a low-fi affair -- recorded on a Walkman! Although the tunes here definitely would benefit from the full band treatment, Black sings with such wild abandon and raw enthusiasm, it sounds as if he knew he was on the verge of something amazing.

Indeed he plays like he’s about to explode. It’s fast and furious, with about half the songs clocking in under two minutes while only one tops the three-minute mark. Black shrieks and wails, just like he later would become famous for doing as Black Francis. At one point during "Caribou" he makes a note to himself: "There’s supposed to be screaming," he says, then proceeds to do just that.

While Disc One is an essential historic object for Pixies, Disc Two is the more interesting and potentially controversial among Pixies purists. Here Black teams up with Two Pale Boys, Andy Diagram and Keith Moline, a couple of electro-nerds who also have created weird and wonderful soundscapes with Pere Ubu’s David Thomas.

Black and the Pale Boys take 13 Pixies classics and turn them inside out.

Don’t get me wrong. As a long-time Pixies partisan, I prefer the original guitar-based versions of every one of these songs. But the Pale Boys versions are extremely interesting experiments. I love the droning fiddle sound on "Into the White," the regal horns and twangy guitar on "Nimrod’s Son," the lonely Arctic winds on "Carribou," the stuttering trumpet and spooky space sounds on "Is She Weird" and the electronic sounds on "Wave of Mutilation" suggesting seagulls and crashing ocean waves underscores the beauty of the original melody.

The only cut that’s hard to listen to here is the near-15-minute version of "Planet of Sound." It easily could have been cut by two thirds.

I hope all this leads to a proper Pixies reunion album. And I hope Frank Black or Black Francis or whoever he is carries on.

(I just realized that my first Tune-up of last year also featured a review of a Frank Black album. You can find that HERE)

Also Recommended:
*The Real New Fall LP (formerly Country on the Click) by The Fall. Little did I know back in 1981 when I interviewed The Fall’s Mark E. Smith in Evangelos right before a Fall concert across the street at a place called The Gold Bar (formerly El Paseo theater, now the site of Banana Republic) that this band would still be around cranking out records in the 21st Century.

But they are. The personnel has changed, but Smith is still the main Fall guy.

The title of this album is a clever jab at the seemingly endless recycling of old Fall material that inflates and clog’s the group’s discography. But don’t worry. It’s new. It’s real.

And like The Fall’s best work, this new album is full of songs built around raunchy guitar riffs, some subtle synth action and Smith’s incomprehensible vocals. "Singing" isn’t an accurate verb. Smith doesn’t sing as much as rant like some over-excited wino pontificating madness on some grimy street corner.

How could anyone not love someone spitting out lyrics like "I hate the countryside so much/I hate the country folks so much," as Smith does on "Cowtraflow" ?

Rex on the Opry: Bloodshot recording artist Rex Hobart, leader of The Misery Boys, who moved to Santa Fe last year, will appear live to sing his saddest country songs on The Santa Fe Opry, 10 p.m. Friday on KSFR 90.7 FM.

Hobart will be playing solo Tuesday night at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, 319 S. Guadalupe St, Santa Fe, and Jan. 21 at Santa Fe Brewing Company. 18 SR 14 E. Frontage Road. By the way, Rex is playing solo here because The Misery Boys don’t live in Santa Fe. That’s why they’re so miserable.

BACK TO THE '70s

No, these aren't stunt doubles for Welcome Back Kotter. This picture is from the March 27, 1976 wedding of my old pal Steve Severtson. He's the geek in the Navy uniform on the far right.

I'm playing Napoleon on the left. I was best man. Still a pretty good man.

The guys in the middle are John Ramirez and Bruce Bolinger.

Severtson found this old shot just recently when he was playing around with his new scanner/printer. It's probably a good argument for tighter federal regulations on the sale and possession of scanners.

Unfortunately the camera didn't pick up the brilliance and intensity of my green suit that day. But Bruce's jacket sure looks snazzy, doesn't it?

By the way, Steve and his wife Deb are still married. They live in Virginia and have two grown sons.

Time fries ...

ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: THE NEW MEXICO MUSIC COMMISSION

As published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
January 5, 2005

They're whistling a new tune in the governor's office these days. And it's a tune that might be appreciated by fans of ranchero, rock 'n' roll, country-western, opera, pow-wow, hip-hop or blues.

Gov. Bill Richardson will ask the Legislature to pass a bill establishing a New Mexico Music Commission, "to protect, promote and archive music in New Mexico," said Billy Sparks, Richardson's deputy chief of staff.

"Music is a longtime New Mexico tradition," he said. "Hopefully a music commission would provide New Mexico musicians opportunities for performing and recording."

"It would be under the Department of Cultural Affairs," Sparks said. The commission would be fashioned after similar music agencies in Texas and Louisiana, he said.

Sparks himself earned a living as a guitar picker and songwriter in Austin, Texas in the early '80s. "The state Music Office has really helped there," he said, noting that Austin is now known as the Live Music Capitol of the World.

Other state governments are picking up on the idea of having music offices. They're in Hawaii and Tennessee, (where it's part of the state Film, Entertainment and Music Commission). The cities of Austin, Memphis and San Francisco also have similar agencies to promote the music biz.

Sparks noted that the film industry is spending $164 million a year shooting movies in New Mexico. "And every film has music," he said.

"There's a new Grammy Award category, Native American music, which has been won by New Mexico musicians," he said. "There's the mariachi festival in Las Cruces. But there's no central place for information about all these activities."

Sparks said the commission would provide a clearing house for information regarding New Mexico singers and bands, as well as musical businesses such as recording studios and record companies.

"It's like the Film Office directory," he said. "It would be a directory of where the studios are and who's doing what."

The Texas Music Office's website has a talent register of more than 6,000 musical acts, as well as directories for live music venues, radio stations (broken down by musical styles), record stores, record distributors, musical instrument businesses, music publishers and distributors, CD manufacturers, college music programs, entertainment lawyers, and even music journalists.

The governor will ask lawmakers for $100,000 to get the music commission going, Sparks said. A full-time director would be hired.

Casey at the bat: Casey Monahan, a former music writer for the Austin American-Statesman, probably knows more about state music agencies than anyone else. He's been the director of the Texas Music Office since it started in 1990, working for Governors William Clements, Ann Richards, George W. Bush and current Gov. Rick Perry.

Asked in a phone interview Wednesday for his advise to New Mexico in starting a music commission, Monahan said, "I'd advise them to interview as many music-related business owners, bands, and music educators as possible and ask them what the state government could do to make their lives easier.

"You have to develop an agenda based on the needs of the industry after these interviews are conducted," he said.

And what should a New Mexico Music Commission avoid?

"The main thing is to avoid creating expectations that can't be met," Monahan said.

(Note to area musicians: I think that means the state isn't going to guarantee you gigs.)

"The Texas Music Office operates kind of like a chamber of commerce within the governor's office to promote the music business," he said. "It's important that you don't compete. We don't do big events or release our own records. We represent all the music business in Texas."

(That doesn't mean Monahan can't work on records as a private citizen. He was the producer on one of my personal favorite albums of the '90s, All That May Do My Rhyme by psychedelic Texas wildman Roky Erikson.)

Commissioner Randy Travis?: Well, maybe. Sparks said if the Legislature passes the proposed bill, some of New Mexico's best known musicians could be asked to become commissioners. But he stressed that nobody has been approached for the job.

It would be hard to beat the Louisiana Music Commission for star power though. The chairman of that board is Ellis L. Marsalis Jr., father of famed jazzmen Wynton and Branford Marsalis. Other members include Jean Knight, singer of the '70s soul hit "Mr. Big Stuff" and bluesman Ernest "Tabby" Thomas.