05.13.11
Cursing the Oil Men
Jim Mulva, old coot CEO for Conoco says you’re un-American.
And, as it happens, now we have a song for that.
If you can’t tell where I stole this …
05.12.11
Music to piss your rubber pants to
In the last few seconds, the live footage of Booker T & the MG’s doing “Green Onions” fades away to Jeff Beck calling it a milestone in rock ‘n’ roll records.
Today, in primetime television, there’s this — “Green Onions” as backing music for Depends rubber pants.
From standing in front of Marshalls and pounding out crunching organ for the young and middle class to selling incontinence products to them.
Words fail. The brain turns to mush. Everything is spoilt.
“Green Onions has been used extensively in radio, television, film and advertising,” reads Wikipedia, it’s listing not yet updated to include the Depends commercial.
Graduate research
Speaking of graduate research, in getting ready for my next big rock show on Sunday in Pasadena (you’re invited if you’re close) I usually spend some time listening to old tunes for something to throw in at the last minute.
Yesterday, I got sidetracked onto British Invasion, Herman’s Hermits, in particular.
While they were a Mickie Most-produced bunch, they actually did play their instruments quite well. And it came through on the hits for the US market.
Here’s a charming clip, “Henry the 8th,” from Sullivan.
Lek’s guitar solo is perfect.
And here, from a televised British concert, where they’re obviously reproducing it live, “She’s a Must to Avoid” and the much less well known “You Won’t Be Leaving:”
And if you’re not too faint of heart, the Dave Clark Five doing “Bits and Pieces.”
Man, dig the crazy hard rock sound, the pounding drummer, the stamping feet!
05.04.11
What made us great?
Not arms manufacturing.
Now this was an export that made people smile.
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04.29.11
More jokes from the most jokeful country
Good news, lads! Good news! Michele Bachmann is a TIME VIP! (Fast forward to 2:11, note sign in background.)
“We’ll make some films about people white and crazy/And all they have to do is act naturally.”
Not bad as a prediction.
From the Center for American Progress, by Eric Alterman:
The Time 100, however, is the opposite of journalism. It is a series of pre-packaged lies and public relations exercises that, in many cases, are unlikely even to be authored by the people claiming the bylines. Were they to be taken seriously, they would fall afoul of every conflict-of-interest rule known to the profession (and a few they may have invented on their own).
I wrote about last year’s issue, focusing on the oddity in particular of inviting Ted Nugent to lie on behalf of Sarah Palin. But even the adoring profiles that did not lie—or were not written by lunatics—still enjoyed zero journalistic value, and were useful or significant only to the people who got to put framed copies of their alleged wonderfulness on the walls of their studies …
Where is this year’s equivalent of Ted Nugent snuggling up to Sarah Palin? Well, this year’s Sarah Palin, you might have guessed, is Michele Bachmann. And the writer to take a good, hard journalistic accounting of her strengths and weaknesses? You guessed it. Rush Limbaugh.
Rush doesn’t mind admitting that he is “a great admirer of Michele Bachmann’s,??? as she is “a strong spokeswoman for unapologetic conservatism. She is neither extreme nor unreasonable, which is why her philosophy has resonated with grassroots conservatives.??? Problem is, says El Rushbo, that “she’s conservative. So because she is smart, talented and accomplished and a natural leader—not to mention attractive—the left brands her as a flame-throwing lightweight.???
I don’t suppose the problem could be that Bachmann is also an idiot. She thinks the Revolutionary War began in New Hampshire, not Massachusetts. She thinks the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery. She thinks slaves came to America because they were “risk takers … people that wanted a better life and were willing to do what it took to get it.” She thinks something called the “Hoot-Smalley Tariff,” allegedly passed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, caused the Depression. She doesn’t know what years Jimmy Carter was president of the United States and thinks he had something to do with the spread of swine flu that happened during the presidency that preceded him. And she’s pretty sure that global warming is “all voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax.”
Bachmann also incited civil disobedience against the census. I got more than a good share of this wonderful fruit.
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It’s too late to get along
Here’s an ABC News clip from a New Hampshire town hall meeting in which the Republican, a Tea Party man by the name of Frank Guinta, gets a mildly hard time from his constituents. I say mild because by the standards of rudeness and disruption, its gentle. Guinta, after all, isn’t even close to being bottled.
Guinta — who looks every bit the overstuffed buffoon who doesn’t even know all the particulars of the legislation he’s defending — can’t take it. He calls for peace after an old white coot stands up, delivers a very brief rant about the president, and is decisively booed.
At that point another man begins to speak (it comes near the end of the segment):
Guinta: If we could refrain from booing…
Man: No!
You’ve asked the people that we cooperate and we all be nice. But you were swept into office by people who really weren’t nice and you didn’t
lift a finger to say, “Hey, let’s chill.” And these people were carrying guns. So it’s a little late for you to condescend …”
And here one sees in action the almost total failure of the president and the Democratic Party. So incapable of framing any powerful arguments. or just afraid to do so, against the prevailing stories leading up to 2010, their political base became dispirited, didn’t get out, and the extremists were put in office. And now there’s palpable regret.
As a resident of California, I can view it with a little detachment if only because the GOP is dead meat in the state. And it’s not that way becaus of anything the opposition did but because Republicans basically convinced almost the entire Latino population that it was a mortal enemy. And that was a fairly accurate judgment.
So let’s not get along. Not now, not soon.
If the President would choose to argue as pointedly as the man in the seats at the Guinta town hall, things could change. But he won’t. And because of that, 2012 will be a repeat of 2010.
Obama will probably win re-election because the opposition will nominate a radical fool. But the rest of the party will get drubbed for not standing for anything or quietly trying to inch the football to the right.
From Krugman, this made me laugh twice:
Lately the inflationistas have seized on rising oil prices as evidence in their favor, even though — as Mr. Bernanke himself pointed out — these prices have nothing to do with Fed policy. The way oil prices are coloring the discussion led the economist Tim Duy to suggest, sarcastically, that basic Fed policy is now to do nothing about unemployment “because some people in the Middle East are seeking democracy.???
But I’d put it differently. I’d say that the Fed’s policy is to do nothing about unemployment because Ron Paul is now the chairman of the House subcommittee on monetary policy.
First, for the obvious line. Second, for the elliptical reference to crazy Ron Paul’s goldbuggism.
This morning’s post is a little too bleak for a Friday, even by my low standards.
So I give you an old DD instrument inspired by the Get Smart villain known as the Claw.
From the web, the Claw, is described:
The Claw … was an evil villain of Asian ancestry — a distant cousin to Bond’s “Dr. No.??? The Claw was so called because one of his hands was missing, a la Captain Hook. In its place, as I recall, was a powerful shoehorn-shaped magnet. (There you go — two strikes already, both disability and ethnic stereotyping.) The Claw spoke English with a heavy accent, which was a good part of the joke. Picture Smart holding him off at gunpoint. Smart would turn to his sidekick, the lovely Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon), and say with a squinted brow, something like: “Well, 99, I see it’s our old nemesis, the Craw.???
Before 99 could respond, the villain would break in, growling: “No, not da Craw — da Craw!???
This doesn’t get at all of it, which in its ethnic stereotyping for the sake of humor is now taboo.
Anyway, the Claw story line also features Harry Hoo, a Chinese detective who worked with Maxwell Smart. Hoo is just another absurd take on Charlie Chan, and in my tune, you can hear the character — played by someone named Joey Forman, saying in a bad accent, “We meet again Mr. Craw!”
Followed by the Claw: “So it is you, Hoo!”
Here’s the tune, now a couple years old — The Amazing Harry Hoo!
Fairly machine-like, as befits the subject.
If the intro sounds familiar, it’s me imitating a sitar riff from The Beatles’ “Love You To.” Key gear: the Roger Linn Adrenalinn III.
Give it a listen! It still makes me smile. Need a video, maybe.
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04.28.11
Mark your calendars — another show, yow!
You and your friends are cordially invited to attend the Dick Destiny Band Tax-Free Concert at Artscape Gallery, Sunday, 15 May 2011, with margaritas and champagne served beginning at 4:00. Food will also be provided.
In honor of post tax season … the Dick Destiny Band will perform with its signature protest-rock originals and select cover-tunes. Come for the fun, see the artwork and enjoy the music. We’ll even perform our big hit, “GE & Jeff,” for your amusement.
We look forward to seeing you again — your’s truly and Mark, the drummer.
I’ll be posting a few other reminders, so if in the off chance you’re close in SoCal, come see me. I personally guarantee it’ll ROCK!
Last show, someone was so motivated by the rock they almost overdosed on some speed they’d surreptitiously brought to the gig. We don’t frisk at the door.
Anyway, we had to lock the guy in an empty room for two hours to prevent his self-injury.
Directions and such. Don’t be fooled by the genteel nature of the pix. It gets very loud.
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04.16.11
Great Band Names from Texas — Too great, so they changed it
Good news, lads! Good news! Tough women with lotsa dangerous tattoos!
Twelve minutes of off-the-cuff documentary video taken at SXSW in Austin showing The Hot Things, Texas Terri Bomb, and Pentagram
Even though the audio is far from sterling, the first six minutes — shot at a record store called Cheapo — efficiently delivers on the volcanic white trash rock. Part of it, the delivery of The Hot Things, the backing band.
From Humble, Texas, outside Houston, The Hot Things may be one of the most poorly marketed bands, ever, considering their former name — Shit City High and the best hard rock T-shirt ever.
Now I want to visit Humble, at least for a weekend.
Obviously urged internally or externally to undertake a name change, an interview with them at a Houston newspaper is here.
An excerpt for explaining that which did not need it:
Irony is what we do best, as you can tell with our band name and song titles. Besides that, I wanted a name that captured the “filthy-trashiness” of every city and to me, every city is a shit city and every night is a “shit city high!” And, luckily, SCH won over “Diabolical Dick Suckers!”
[Vocalist “MansRuin”: I wanted the Diabolical Dick Suckers but the guys weren’t going to have that!
RO: Wonder why that was? Seems reasonable enough.
MR: I did like The Bloody Lips as well. Shit City High is cool.
Right away you know why I like them. If DD’s your stage name, how can you not like a band whose frontperson’s moniker is “MansRuin”?
QED.
The Hot Things (nee SCH) had an album released recently. You can listen to around half of it here. Damned if I can find a physical copy, though.
On YouTube there’s way more video under the easily searchable “Shit City High” than under the not-so-search-friendly “Hot Things.”
And all of it is shockingly under-appreciated, something this blog will endeavor to change. If only briefly. OK, readers, don’t lemme down. Tick this next one. The zany photos with jiggle effect are perfect!
And shot in superbly appropriate blurry artificial black and white:
Lyric, I think: Your ass is hot, so who can blame us/We came from Venus to destroy your anus…
Invigorating stuff! Makes me young again. I’m serious.
The third act shown in the Austin clip is of Pentagram, a heavy metal band fronted by a fellow named Bobby Liebling.
And of them, I wrote years ago:
Thirty years in the business, almost twice that many records sold—or so it seems. But for Pentagram, persistence of vision works. The collection is mid-’80s Cotton Mather-inspired sludge ‘n’ cack, a style absolutely no mass demographic is or was interested in—shunned even in Britain, where this band of Virginians was mystifyingly sent to market. “Vampire Love” is a catchy trudge-metal classic; “The Ghoul,” Edgar Allan Poe for those prone to tattooing themselves using the nibs off fountain pens. And Bobby Liebling is a Roky Erickson type who mixes blues mumbling, I’m-living-in-a-ram’s-head black metal dogma, and Johnny Cash storytelling in the space of an hour and a half.
Watch that segment. You’ll have to agree I was spot on re the Cotton Mather part. (Still puzzled by the reference? See here.)
Still mystified? OK. Next.
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04.15.11
Tax related facts & music
Technically you have until Monday but … via Krugman and CBPP:
And…
The top five taxpaying nations all now easily have significantly higher standards of living, public school education and far less inequality than the US.
With the deconstruction of the idea that we need more tax breaks and bribes for corporations and the wealthy, along with the dissection of Paul Ryan, perhaps this time next year the latter will just be thought of as that guy who should have been in the habit of shaving twice a day so he didn’t look so greasy and jerked-off by late afternoon.
And — a true story — The Internal Revenue Boogie.
I got a letter from my Tax Man
To avoid big fines and a nasty jam
I had to work out a convenient payment plan
I saw the letter from my Tax Man
He had me banged up, I was body-slammed
I was fiscally blue
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04.14.11
Goldman Sachs cursed in Senate, Blankfein still on the loose
In the most damning official U.S. report yet produced on Wall Street’s role in the financial crisis, a Senate panel accused powerhouse Goldman Sachs of misleading clients and manipulating markets, while also condemning greed, weak regulation and conflicts of interest throughout the financial system.
Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, one of Capitol Hill’s most feared panels, has a history with Goldman Sachs.
He clashed publicly with its Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein a year ago at a hearing on the crisis.
The Democratic lawmaker again tore into Goldman at a press briefing on his panel’s 639-page report, which is based on a review of tens of millions of documents over two year
In the most damning official U.S. report yet produced on Wall Street’s role in the financial crisis, a Senate panel accused powerhouse Goldman Sachs of misleading clients and manipulating markets, while also condemning greed, weak regulation and conflicts of interest throughout the financial system.
After a two-year bipartisan probe, a Senate panel has concluded that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. profited from the financial crisis by betting billions against the subprime mortgage market, then deceived investors and Congress about the firm’s conduct.
Some of the findings in the report by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will be referred to the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission for possible criminal or civil action, said Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the panel’s chairman.
“In my judgment, Goldman clearly misled their clients and they misled the Congress,” Levin told reporters before the report was made public late Wednesday.
[Levin]He clashed publicly with [Goldman] Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein a year ago at a hearing on the crisis.
The Democratic lawmaker again tore into Goldman at a press briefing on his panel’s 639-page report, which is based on a review of tens of millions of documents over two year
Tune in tomorrow, same time, for the sound of — crickets.
The masters of the universe know they can ignore reports and days like this one.
From another finance story:
“This is not some evil conspiracy of two guys sitting in a room saying we should let people create crony capitalism and steal with impunity,??? said William K. Black, a professor of law at University of Missouri, Kansas City, and the federal government’s director of litigation during the savings and loan crisis. “But their policies have created an exceptional criminogenic environment. There were no criminal referrals from the regulators. No fraud working groups. No national task force. There has been no effective punishment of the elites here.???
Criminogenic environment. Two words where one will do: kleptocracy.
I wrote a song about this a couple months ago, Let’s Lynch Lloyd Blankfein. Catchy it was, too.
Protest music from the left, even satirical material, however, is totally dead in the US. You can comb the annals of music journalism for the last three years and you’ll find nothing on the subject. Zero.
Anyway, Let’s Lynch Lloyd Blankfein, which also needs a video, is here.
If you don’t want to listen to the tune, listen to the intro which is taken from a Charlie Rose interview of Blankfein. The discussion is about the very thing again in the news today, that Goldman benefited from the financial crisis by pushing and selling financial products it was simultaneously betting against.
“I have to explain …” the man said. He was doing God’s work.
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