30 December Happy Birthday Patti Smith

 

8 December ... a wonderful mixed tape by my dear friend Bart Plantegna ...

 CLICK here  >>>>> JL<<<<<<<<< TO BE TRANSPORTED 

ATV in NYC 2001 playing the classics

 01. 00:00 - 2:13 ACTiON TiMe ViSioN 02. 04:46 - 1:51 Good Times 03. 06:57 - 3:15  Love Lies Lipm 04. 09:53 - 3:28 Vive Le Rock 'n' Roll 05. 13:20 - 3:54 Nasty Little Lonely  06. 17:14 - 3:57 LiFe AFTeR LiFe 07. 21:11 - 2:18. Life 08. 23:28 - 1:25 You Bastard

26 October 2016 - revisited : Thurston Moore with Charles Hayward at The Social

 I drove through Camden to Regent's Park, windows open to catch the peat and leaf - the zoo dark and quiet, the white iced cakes of posh houses sitting on the sideboard with resident parking only outside. Down Great Portland Street past the line of taxis waiting for the workers from the BBC, the BBC glowing blue like TVs in sitting rooms do, to tiny Little Portland Street, parked on Margaret Street round the corner and outside the old Speakeasy near a blood donor store. 

The Social is one of two shops that are open in a street that feels late night, even though it's just gone 7:30pm. There is a late-night burger bar next door to this thin door that opens into a corridor where you might take a P45. 

The club is in the basement. I passed a familiar face coming up the stairs. He went outside and smoked a cigarette and looked back at me. It was Charles Hayward. When you pass your past like that - and I hadn't seen him since last century - the feeling was that I was almost in two places at once. I walked down the stairs and came to a wooden door and thought it might be a stock room and I'd made a mistake.

But you open the door and wha-la, a warm, fancy railway carriage. You jostle back to the bar and jostle forward to the stage. And then you settle and wait. And while you're waiting there's warm sound from Rough Trade DJ James Endeacott stoking the fire with a bit of this, a bit of that... and you don't need to shout over it. Cool. 

So I'm there chatting to a nice chap in a Sonic Youth t-shirt, young guy from Italy. He's moaning, "If only my mother had given birth to me 10 years earlier, I would have been able to see..." and his list went through some pre-tty dire bands if you ask me.  I caught sight of the merchandise. After a few sentences of chatting with the American guy that was the merchandise man, I realise this is Thurston, someone you don't recognise easily when he's sitting down. 

So yes, he stands up. He takes the stage in front of a drum kit that is as wide as he is tall. There's the sound of fairy-dust like you've gone through the curtain into another dimension, and this is when time left town.  Charles Hayward  well, we could call it drumming if we were standing on the street outside but down here he was tunnelling in to his inner core and I don't know what happened but it drove Thurston to ... well... I can't say what it was like really... if I was driving we'd be off a cliff.  Maybe he was in an alleyway where he was pacing, smoking, kicking a trash can. Maybe arguments raged in a loft above, books swooshed from bookshelves sailing to the floorboards, pages of art and architecture flew out the window, etchings and ink splash drawings on a carpet, frames falling, glass breaking but the glass magically time-warps back in slow-motion to fit back together and back on the wall with one shard now in hand a perfect plectrum. Whatever this was, was coming from this deep lava-like place. 

There were two sets. In between Hayward said, "We're going to slow the pace down now so you boys and girls can meet each other." And Thurston said, "Well, let's not be gender specific..." and we went somewhere else again.

 It could've been starry if we were outside, the zoo could be brought to life... people in the posh houses could be discussing complicated investments or operating table techniques with an electrician working on the security accidentially lighting up every window. The air was electric. My hair was standing up.  Just amazing from that black night in the ICA in the late seventies, last century, (This Heat), now playing with our new arrival from the USA having split from his Sonic Youth. 

You'll see the soundguy's head bobbing and I'm sorry that it doesnt last longer. Thing is I couldnt stand still anymore.

ANTON NEWCOMBE is posting some wonderful postcards from Berlin October 2020

 

another one of the loveliest ... SAM AMANT

 

one of the loveliest

 

Richard Hell crossed my path in NYC.

 

Met Richard in New York when he was the MC for the Monday night reading series at the Poetry Project at St Mark's Church in 1987, last century. 

I was engaged to a writer called Mike, and we went every Monday.

There were some characters. I remember in particular some Warholian drag queens, one was called Margaret Howard-Howard (say that with an English accent!).  Penny Arcade was there. Sparrow. Maggie Dupris. Eileen Miles. John Giorno. Typewriter writers, reading from dimpled pages. We loved it. We sat in the front row.

One of the Monday nights, maybe the last Monday of the month, there was a sign-up open reading. 

Mike read something and afterwards Richard came over and we went out to dinner together at 7B in the East Village. 

Richard was putting together a publication called CUZ. It was a compilation of some of the poets who read and Mike was chosen. I remember helping out, collating the pages from the printer in the
church. Some girls can knit and crochet, I am a super-collator. 

 

I had arrived in Brooklyn, New York, on Labor Day with 90 days to get married. 

The summer had been long and warm. We actually went to Coney Island on November 9 and I wrote a postcard home to say I had paddled in the sea.

November 12, however, I was called in to my coat check job at the Odeon, Tribeca.

On the Saturday, around 9:30pm, the restaurant was buzzing and, since I stood at the door I witnessed the bus boy coming with a huge tin of salt. 

Snow had started to fall. 

 It was a light dust to start with and then it kept snowing and snowing but the salt kept the pavement clear.

By the end of my shift the snow was almost 7 inches deep already, and it kept snowing, and then didn't thaw out for ages. In fact we had to dig the car out on December 2 before we drove over to Gotham City Town Hall. 

If I didn't get married that day my 90 days would be up and I would have been illegal.  

Richard offered to be our best man.

We arrived with our Marriage License and handed it to the lady behind the desk sitting under a huge sign with lots of hand-written rules, in different colours. 

No smoking. 

No spitting.

No loud radio playing.

No guns.

No bills larger than $20.

PS no blood test required. 

Richard had brought a poloroid camera. 

Ahead of us was a Large Lady in a bright pink dress with her very thin well turned out Gentleman in a navy blue suit. When they entered the 'Wedding Chapel' they took a ghetto blaster with them. We could hear a muffled Bridge Over The River Quai ten minutes later before they emerged. .

They saw Richard and stood perfectly still thinking that it he must be a photographer. 

He caught on and obliged, "Smile."

A young boy appeared in between them, obviously her son, and they all smiled.

They tried to pay but Richard said, "Nah, good luck." 

Meanwhile, we had been at the counter and I had seen a book of receipts open with skyline of Manhattan printed on them. 

To get married was five dollars and I said to my fiance, "Let's get a receipt." 

"Your bride is your receipt," said the lady, smoking. 

 

I wore a black Chanel jacket I had found in a thrift store, a hat with a blue broach belonging to my grandmother. My pleated skirt was new from Barney's Department Store on Fifth Avenue. 

We'd borrowed five dollars to pay for the ceremony. 

We had snow for confetti when we left the building and we ate at Pete's Tavern near Grammercy Park. 

I think Richard came to lunch with us. 

I cant remember because we had a lot to drink. 

We went home and called our parents in one of those lighted phone booths in a bar across the street that was run be ex-cops who were watching the crack dealers out the window. 

That evening we got changed and went to hear Richard read with Jim Carroll at the Poetry Project. 

Jim Carroll had written The Basketball Diaries. 

When I worked at SPIN magazine someone called to report Johnny Thunder's had died. 

I called him on the phone. 

 

I was able to get him an assignment at NME, Richard being a writer and poet by then, and later, since I knew he would have a pen, he was best man at my divorce, and he helped with the paperwork.

What with one thing and another we have lost touch.

It was Richard's birthday yesterday. 

I follow his career with interest as they say.

 

I ... You ... We Are Time

 

love this .... Gareth's guitar is so b e a u t i f u l 

Gareth Sager on Guitar ... Bruce Smith drums .... Dan Catsis bass ... Mark Stewart vocals ...  beautiful night at the Garage from ten years back ... 

THIS Sunday 11pm UK. 6pm NYC. Happy Birthday Puma Perl

 

Simeon Coxe has gone beyond the velvet rope.

 In the late 1960s, Coxe was a member of the Overland Stage Electric Band when he decided to incorporate the sound of a vintage oscillator into the music. He formed a new duo called Silver Apples with drummer Danny Taylor, and their debut self-titled album was released in 1968. The electronic rig of his own creation was dubbed the Simeon, and it featured 16 oscillators, foot pedals, telegraph switches, wah-wah pedals, Echoplexes, and more. Jimi Hendrix was a fan of Silver Apples, and Coxe jammed with Hendrix on “The Star Spangled Banner” prior to Hendrix’s iconic Woodstock performance.

Silver Apples were revived by Coxe in 1996. A new lineup featuring Xian Hawkins produced two albums in the ’90s: Beacon (1997) and Decatur (1998). In 1998, Coxe and Danny Taylor reunited the original lineup for live shows and a new album called The Garden. That same year, Coxe sustained extensive injuries in a car crash, including a broken neck. Taylor died in 2005, and Coxe continued to sample his drumming in subsequent Silver Apples performances. The last Silver Apples album was 2016’s Clinging to a Dream.

Evan Minsker

for Pitchfork. 

April 1979 H E A R T B R E A K E R S. at Max's Kansas City. and then they came to LONDON

 

today 9 September - with Roberta Bayley -- Photographer - this is your invitation

 The two people who took the two most iconic photos of the Ramones telling all about their relationship with the band, the old CBGB scene and the group's transit to the problematic 80 s and their farewell in the last decade of the last century.

Roberta Bayley

, the genius that BA decorated just two years ago with an incredible sample ′′ From Chaos to Culture ′′ and took the best photos of that scene from 1975 to early eighties including iconic photographs of the Heartbreakers , Damned, Blondie, Dead Boys, Sex Pistols and especially the white and black photo we all had in the form of a poster, shirt or stuck on the folder of school that marked time, style and formation. The record cover that wasn't going to be and that is today reference worldwide of rock photography.

George Sebastian Walz DuBose

, the one who took half a dozen tapas from 1983 to 1992 and countless ad and live shots, the one in the photo of the silhouettes in the tunnel that was not going to be silhouettes and also gave chair.

If the Ramones had anything, it was a very strong image.

She and he were responsible for documenting it and tomorrow they will tell everything closing the episode Four of this very special Ramonera series in ′′ The Year of the Plague ": where always, through the usual channels and on the usual schedule.

Released 7 September 1979 --- still love this

 

On the streets of Brixton - Today -- Sinead and Don Letts

Paola Kellman had her camera handy --

 

This is a Banksy

This ship out in the Med saves migrants. It is paid for from the proceeds of Banksy's artwork. He said he did it not only to save souls, but save ours.
 

It needs to be said ...

 

RIP Walter Lure - forever loved

 Photo by Roberta Bayley

Once a heartbreaker always a heartbreaker (even though he was a stockbroker in New York City after the Hearthbreakers broke up).  He was diagnosed with Liver/Lung cancer in July this year.  He was 71. Downtown New York shocked and very sad today. So lucky I saw them back in the day. I made so many friends who turned up when they didnt. But when they did ... oh man!  I can still feel how squashed with sweat and the awe and how levitated I was. Music, always a part of his life, he had his own band, The Waldos, and didn't mind singing our favourites.

Dont Mess With Cupid

 All by Myself

 

and it was sunny ...

 

Patti Smith and U2 - and i dont usually like U2

Chequered Past ... Live For Ever (Spot Steve Jones)

c'mon baby - HALF JAPANESE

Passport Photos -- Damned 1976

Ennio ...

this is in my Happy House

went to see Siouxsie Sioux at the Southbank Meltdown Festival and afterwards popped backstage. Mark Moore was there too 

Poor Young Sid by Five Mle Family

photo by Chalkie Davies

Here is a song written and sung by Chris McHallem from Five Mile Family.
I was a West London punk. I found out a few days ago that I am that girl in the white aertex blouse having a cigarette in the Men's Toilets (homage to Chalkie Davies photo no doubt) and also in the Kam Sing Chinese Restaurant later, with a bandage on my arm.

My arm is bandaged because I was taken to Paul Hartnett's house in Ealing. His house used to belong to Alistair Crowley or someone 'magikal' like that. He had an Alsatian dog that leapt at me and bit me, called Seamus. We were surprised to remember the name of the dog.

Anyway ...

JOEY RAMONE'S BIRTHDAY BASH Tuesday May 19 8pm EST 1am UK

LINK to the live stream ... click here

 (donations to the Joey Ramone Foundation for Lymphoma Research will be optional and greatly appreciated)

Gina Birch from The Raincoats in PARIS today on ZOOM

ZOOM to Paris this evening to hear Gina Birch  talking about her paintings --
here's the link to click at 5pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86944050858

In the Village on Thursday - Portmeirion ...

 they lit up in Portmeirion's magical village on Thursday 

thank you NHS

So lovely 

L O V E -- Thursday NHS Appreciation lights -- WALES

These lads have lit up Carnarvon Castle in PrAiSe of KEY WORKERS and the NHS.
They have another location planned tomorrow.

When Florian was here ...

Earlier at the Paridiso

1994 ... Nirvana Buzzcocks backstage downtime (France)

Tony Barber in his leopard spot bucket hat, Steve Diggle, Pete, Dave, Kurt ...

Oh. Joy. #Isolation #NoLoveLost #AMeansToAnEnd

Sniffin Glue bingo - how many have you got?

STAY FREE - remember that song?

Mick Jones wrote it about Robin Banks who just happens to be interviewed on this radio show Click here -- Episode 65
The host is Aiden McManus who, when the coast is all clear, takes tours round the houses that Joe Strummer lived in back in the day, amongst other things ...
I am a BIG FAN of Aiden.
Top bloke.

Sing-a-long with Genesis P-Orridge

Filmed by Texas bob (Robert Stockholm) in a Rome hotel bar - November 27 2008.
David Max (PTV) starts to play DARK  GLOBE (Syd Barrett)
Genesis P-Orridge joins in the chorus.

Thanks to Lee McFadden

Now wash your hands to the tune of your choice ...

You know how they say wash your hands and sing happy birthday so you wash your hands for a good amount of time to destroy any germs ... well now you can

Click here and tell the generator what song you want to wash your hands to

for example
LOVE WILL TEAR US APART ...
you can do ANY song ...

Dennis Bovell and Tessa (The Slits) on SoHo Radio

Dennis Bovell on the radio with wonder that is Tessa from The Slits

Mark E Smith (5 March 57 - 24 Jan 2018) Here's a lost interview from MTV June 1996 thank you to Tim Riley X

Tim Riley freelanced at MTV in 1996. Some kind soul working in the MTV library found this videotape hidden away in the vaults and made him this copy.  

Tim has noted that it's clear that it was never intended for broadcast. Firstly, there is no microphone on the interviewer and this makes her voice too audibly low for broadcast and the one-camera, extreme close-up would make editing difficult, especially given Smith's erratic movements. 

Secondly, a callous VH1 producer appears to have assigned an unfortunate, naive (and anonymous) 26 year old female staffer the job of interviewing the notoriously abrasive and volatile leader of The Fall to earn her music journalism credentials. 

Smith seems to warm to her and drops his usual acidic guard revealing more than if she'd been a seasoned music hack. The latter stages appear more like a chat over a cup of tea than an interview, making it one of the more candid and open media exchanges given by Smith at the time. 

There's lots of interesting topics in here; politics, recording albums, record companies, young fans, plagiarism, Sex Pistols and Buzzcocks reformation, Paul Weller, Paul McCartney, Pete Waterman and John Peel. I particularly like the way Smith praises his ex-wife Brix, who had re-joined The Fall during this period but she would shortly leave acrimoniously during the album's imminent promotional tour.

David Haslam has written a book about Courtney Love. "Searching For Love." (Not expensive. 7 quid. About her time in Liverpool. https://www.confingopublishing.uk/cart?appSectionParams=%7B%22origin%22%3A%22cart-popup%22%7D) He was reading it in Liverpool last night. Reminded me that one night I was strolling with my friend from Albecurque. We'd had dinner and we came across a huge crowd on the sidewalk on the Bowery. Big old cinema place. The place looked like a bank.
I asked, "Who's playing?"
And they said, 'We're waiting for Courtney Love.'
She was meant to go on at ... let's say 10pm, and she was late. Very late. Someone said she was staying in SoHo which wasn't far away so she didn't have far to come.
They told us it was a special concert for Virgin records. Special tickets.
My friend and I stood outside where the velvet rope was. Saw Mick Rock, LIttle Steven ... loads of famous people coming in. He knew most of them. I only recognised Little Steven cos he was little and wore the bandana.
At one point an ambulance came and these big metal doors opened and a very loud girl was chucked out and loaded in by the paramedics.
It wasn't Courtney.
The ambulance must have stopped round the corner. 
The girl walked back.
She pounded on the door screaming that her coat was in there and her boyfriend had her keys.
She got let in again.
We waited and waited.
Some people were drunk and left, and the bouncer said there was room if we wanted to go in.
We thought about it and thought we'd wait some more, after all we'd been there an hour or so at this point. And it was very amusing outside.
Of course just as we were about to leave limousine turns up. It's Courtney. Suited and booted. Handbag like an attache case. She marches in right by us (tiny!) and we followed her in.
A few minutes later she had taken her coat off, was on the stage. Sang one song. No sound check of course. Blew her voice but just freeeking carried on. Jill Emery was on bass I remember. Great bass player. She played with Mazzy Star too.
There were enough people there to carry Courtney to the back so we could wave and they carried her back and put her back on the stage. It was a great night. Like i say it was warm out so we walked home afterwards.

Poor Young SId by Five Mile Family

HOWL Gallery - NYC this sunday FEB 23 ... Rare footage of Go4 at Hurrah's - with The Mekons support

L O V E to all those who danced with Andy Weatherall - who transcended beyond the velvet rope yesterday 17 February 2020

JC Carroll (The Members) has been busy

You've heard of the trans-Europe Express - now hear this -- about JC's Great-Aunt Irma escaping from those Bolsheviks (true story). It is a song from his new album called West ByFleet Selfie

Transiberian Express  - JC Carroll from JC Carroll on Vimeo.

Television and Patti Smith at CBGBs in 1975

Intro 
Television 00:45 Fire Engine 
Television 04:00 Tuning 
Television 05:07 Judy (Hello Jim) 
Television 08:50 Poor Circulation 
Television 14:00 Tuning 
Television 14:40 Breakin' In My Heart 
Television 20:30 Foxhole (The Soldier Boy) 
Speech 25:39 
Patti Smith 26:14 Soundcheck and tuning 
Patti Smith 28:51 We're Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together 
Patti Smith 31:33 Redondo Beach 
Patti Smith 35:45 Birdland 
Patti Smith 41:46 Speech 
Patti Smith 43:20 Space Monkey 
Patti Smith 48:01 Distant Fingers 
Patti Smith 53:30 Gloria 
Television 01:00:43 Venus T
elevision 01:04:54 Marquee Moon 
Television 01:12:39 Friction