(In this installment, Wallflowers vocalist Dave Rinck puts his arms around a memory.)
Last Saturday night, Dave Ellison and I took our wives out for dinner and a show in Los Angeles. We had a great time, and what a show it was!
Well, first there was some sort of ridiculous country/New Wave band that sucked. I don’t know why they let these guys in the door. They were called Cracker or something. They had some stupid song about taking skinheads bowling. I mean, why should I have to hear about that?
Anyway, the headlining bands were X and the New York Dolls. Obviously X was great. I mean, wow: Billy Zoom has become such a guitar virtuoso, really like a sort of punk rock Chuck Berry. Has anyone here noticed that Gretsch is releasing a re-issue of the amazing Billy Zoom Sparkle Jet guitar? BTW some guy is running an online petition to get X into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Please go and sign it — it would be so cool to see a real authentic underground band like this get in.
Seems these days like X is on their way to becoming America’s punk-rock darlings, which is morally problematic, but it’s hard to hold a grudge against a band with the massive cred that X has. And anyway, it’s high time for punk rock to take a well-deserved victory lap. Cultural war – won that!
So to be honest, I was pretty skeptical about the New York Dolls, first of all especially given that only two of the original members are still even alive. The first two albums in all their lipstick-smeared glory are certainly two of mankind’s greatest achievements, but that was many rock-and-roll moons ago, back when women were women and men were, too.
OK, I actually broke down and bought the new New York Dolls CD in Paris about a year ago, but I honestly don’t think it’s very good. There’s one cool song on it called “Rainbow Store,” but other than that, the only really Dolls-level cool thing about it in my opinion is the title: “Someday It Will Please Us To Remember Even This.” Hahaa that’s pretty funny.
… But much to my surprise, the Dolls sounded really good, and what’s more, they were really, really fun! I recommend that everyone goes and sees them when they roll into your town. There are such great performers, really David Johansen still has IT, and the band is fine. Anyway, at one point Sylvain Sylvain gets in front of the mic to sing “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory/Lonely Planet Boy”, and he very poignantly introduces this touching masterpiece, “Now we’re gonna play a song for Johnny Thunders.” And the crowd went wild with applause. …
Oh, the ghost of Johnny Thunders truly haunts the underground. You really can’t put your arms around a memory, but old JT didn’t leave too much else behind. OK, the Heartbreakers’ “L.A.M.F.” and his solo “So Alone” are two of my very favorite albums. But neither of them really captures the deeply soulful essence of the man with the golden arm, and his distinctive and evocative wailing bluesy guitar. Live — he could be just brilliant, but that quality was so illusive with him, cause nine times out of ten (when he showed), he’d be out of his head on something.
But catch him on that one-in-ten magic night (like I did at the Whisky back about 1980), and he was the king. Like John Lee Hooker or Muddy Waters, when he was on his game, the word “soulful” was the only one to describe him. Too bad lucidity was such a rare condition with him. Or, well. … maybe that was what made those fleeting moment of shining genius so priceless.
What’s he doing now? Well, they usually say great musicians that died are in up in heaven jamming with each other, but I imagine Johnny’s probably shooting up in God’s bathroom.
— David Rinck
More “This We Dug”!
…Jimi Hendrix and Sid Vicious pounding on the door… “Come on man, hurry up in there”…
Since I’m quite fond of the Camper Van guys behind Cracker, I harbor personal hopes that this post will provoke another celebrity intervention! (David Lowery, do you hear me??) 🙂
BTW, we must inform Billy Zoom about this blog. I love me some Billy Zoom!
Lesha: Jimi just needs to throw up.
JT and the Heartbreaker SO reminds me of you David. In the early Wallflower days that music was on constant rotation with Funhouse. Chinese Rocks. Born to Lose (too loose).
I still sing: “Get off the f*cking phone!” when I’m in traffic.
My L.A.M.F. T-shirt has been co-opted by my daughter.
I caught the New York Dolls in SF a couple of years ago and they were great! I was right up front and got creeped out by David Johansen but Sylvain Sylvain was amazing. He had that punk rock godfather style and is such a good guitarist.
I love X but the show in SF this weekend is $31! I think that the first time I saw them at the North Park Lions Club it was $5.
The $35 is what tipped me against seeing the Dolls in S.F. Plus I didn’t to be let down by expecting them to recreate their ’70’s sound. If they come again I’ll check ’em out.
By all means go and see the Dolls. They’re really good, and certainly not a recreation of the past (that wouldn’t be possible anyway). I think we paid more like 50 bucks to see both bands, and it was at the worst club I’ve ever been to -- the Club Nokia in downtown L.A. You had to have a “gold bracelet” to get into area in front of the stage, and there was a ring of neckless baboon-like bouncers glaring at everyone (lest they do something crazy, like dance I guess). There were light-up signs on either side of the stage advising us that there was “merchandise available” near the rear, by which they meant 25 dollar t-shirts, but the price was no object, since they had an ATM next to the concession stand. Dave E described it as the club from hell.
Okay, who’s gonna send Billy Zoom an email? He’s on Gretsch Pages all the time, and his email is on his website too. Maybe someone could convince him to contribute a blog entry (one possible topic “What it was like up in L.A. growing up in the shadow of San Diego”).
>>Okay, who’s gonna send Billy Zoom an email?
Dave Rinck: I’ll do it. He and I talked pretty often for a little while when I was at MacWEEK and started agitating for Apple to acknowledge the band when they announced Mac OS X.
X really was as good as ever. I read that when Billy Zoom rejoined the band, one thing he demanded was that they only play songs from their first four albums. They played so many of them and were completely tight, only stopping a song once when they screwed up the intro… Exene leaned on the mic stand and drunkenly told us all “We’re going to start over… just the song, not the whole show.”
As for “Club Nokia”, I’ll just add that the $50 didn’t include the cost of valet-only parking (there literally was nowhere else to park within miles) and the five-dollar cups of water. Five dollars. For a cup of water. Well… you couldn’t get a cup of water for any price at Fairmont Hall, so I suppose it’s all in how you look at it…haha.
It sounds like the show was fun as he--!
Are you guys super-duper-drastic-fantastic fired-up to rock and roll?
Can you channell some of that Henricks-Vicious-Zoom-delicious,
JT-rock-and-roll-fabulicious-FIRE my way?
YeeeeeeeeeHaaaaaaaw!
Excellent instinct from Billy on the first four albums. The later material was a pale shadow. I have very fond memories of seeing X at the Roxy in PB and Fairmont Hall in 80-81. Billy’s cool demeanor and silver Gretsch ruled the world!
Can you imagine valet parking at a punk rock concert? That’s what it’s like in 2008.
We drove our scooters up to LA and decided to check out the Go-Go’s record signing at Tower Records (when their debut album came out). Billy Zoom came over to introduce himself and talk scooters (he had a nice collection of Vespas). A really nice guy, and an amazing guitarist.
If I haven’t mentioned it before, Unknowns drummer Craig Packham is my brother-in-law (Claudia’s husband). He is indeed a good egg. Craig and the other Unknowns, Dave Doyle and Mark Neill perform as Billy Zoom’s backing band when he plays. You can check out his myspace here: http://www.myspace.com/thebillyzoomband
You know those Chuck Norris facts that were popular a few years ago? “There’s no Control key on Chuck Norris’ computer; Chuck Norris is always in control”?
Billy Zoom facts would be godhead!
“Billy Zoom doesn’t need a guitar pick … Every guitar in sight picks Billy Zoom!”
“Billy Zoom doesn’t need frets … When Billy Zoom is on the bill, all the *other* acts are fretting.”
Billy Zoom is the Bob Vila of hammer-ons.
Billy Zoom is the Jacques Cousteau of bends.
Billy Zoom doesn’t tune his A string to 440 Hz; the universe adjusts frequencies to harmonize with Billy Zoom.
Yeah, sort of like a wet bull dog. That’s about right Dylan.
Billy Zoom doesn’t go to Guitar Center; Guitar Center is anywhere Billy Zoom is.
Billy Zoom can tie his shoes with his feet.
Billy Zoom can play the violin with a piano.
Superman owns a pair of Billy Zoom pyjamas.
Billy Zoom can run Windows Vista on his Etch-a-Sketch.
Santa writes letters to Billy Zoom.
Billy Zoom can hurry love.
When Billy Zoom wants to practice scales, the Department of Transportation clears every weigh station on Highway 5.
>>>I love watching Billy Zoom play guitar, with his sly smile and that Zenith amp. Whats the deal with that Zenith amp anyways? is it a home brew deal?
Dylan, the logo on his amp might look like the Zenith logo, but I think it really says “Zoom”… that’s an amp he built himself. When I used to see X in the early and mid-80s, he always used a 4x12 Fender combo amp (a Super? I dont know what it was, actually). I remember reading that he’d beefed up the wattage of the amp himself to make it more like a Marshall.
On the first three X albums, it sounds to me like he’s using a distortion pedal… the guitar sound is much grittier than later ….not as natural sounding, but I like his sound on those albums best. On More Fun In the New World his sound changed to more of a natural tube amp overdrive sound… smoother and not as “grindey” sounding.
Billy Zoom fought the law, and the law died.
Dave, BZ is often on the Gretsch Pages website answering queries about his sound. The other day someone asked him what effects he uses to get the distorted “X sound”. He replied with the following (classic) rejoinder:
“I’ve never tried an overdrive pedal. I think you’d do better with natural distortion. It’s marked by a “10” on your amp.”
Billy Zoom scorns pickups; Billy Zoom’s guitar has MONSTER TRUCKS.
Billy Zoom does not “shred.” Billy Zoom purees.
Billy Zoom’s pick guard is a Navy SEAL on permanent loan from the U.S. government.
Billy Zoom carved his amp from a Roman sundial so he could turn it up to “X.”
In any battle of the bands, the United Nations has declared Billy Zoom a WMD.
Billy Zoom used a solid-state amp once. The state was New Hampshire.
Back onto Thunders/Dolls: Never saw them or ever really listened to them and since the convo has moved to Zoom/X:
One of his scooters made it into Playboy for a foldout. And one of his jackets and guitars is in the HOB iirc. He plays a variety of instruments beside stringed ones. He used to play gigs at Barney’s Beanery (“No Fags Allowed”). He delivered some PA gear to the Bev Hills Hotel once for the Supremes and they were cooking up fried chicken, and Diana Ross asked him to join them for some.
When I used to see X in the early and mid-80s, he always used a 4×12 Fender combo amp (a Super? I dont know what it was, actually).
Dave, that was a Quad Reverb, damn thing was loud, it would bite your head off!
When Billy Zoom is on the bill, all the *other* acts are fretting.
Never us, it was a battle to the death! Hell we were the opening act, we always took on that challenge lol! Steve was a loud bombastic drummer and Mark’s guitar through a Twin reverb cut slice and dice, but we were clean and loud maybe not near as loud as X, but we weren’t backin’ down fer anybody!
The Unknowns did a lot of shows with X back in the day, the first time I saw the Unknowns (pre Steve and I of course…) was at the Skel with X and the Reactors. I missed the Reactors, but dug Mark’s guitar sound and style and thought X was louder than my ears wanted to hear so I hung outside to talk with Mark about gear!
——————————
I have other recollections plus photos of Billy and X, so I’ll save them for a post on them proper…
>>the first time I saw the Unknowns (pre Steve and I of course…) was at the Skel with X and the Reactors
Dave Doyle: We have the flyer for that show, thanks to Jason Seibert, and will be posting it soon!
I do as well!
Somebody else understands Billy Zoom’s powers. “Billy Zoom can’t be photographed because he emits beams of pure silver light … Billy Zoom seems to grow and shrink at will.”
Yes, yes, yes, now let’s get down to some serious discussion of Jonathan Richman. I remember seeing him at SDSU’s Backdoor during the “Jonathan Sings” album era. During the soundcheck Jonathan kept yelling at the guy running the sound board to turn the monitors down. I was there with Dave (Ellison), Sam, and my girlfriend Lori. We sat cross-legged on he floor during the show and had a rockin’ good time. At the end of the show, Jonathan invited anyone that wanted to audition for his band to come back stage. We all went back in the florescent-lit hallway where JoJo handed Dave his guitar and had him play Johnny B. Goode as an audition piece. Dave played it great even if he didn’t get hired.
You remember that Dave?
Jonathan was like a spiritual guide for the Rockin’ Dogs. Like D.J. Bonebreak and Iggy, Jonathan never wore a shirt for his shows around that time--and neither did I for the Rockin’ Dogs’ performances.
>>Jonathan was like a spiritual guide for the Rockin’ Dogs.
Dave Ellison baptized me into the faith in early ’85, I believe. Turned my head around — I never looked back after that first spin of “Back in Your Life.”
Was Johnathan Sings the album with the two women in the band? I’ve always been a huge fan but never actually owned any of his albums… I’d only taped them from people who owned them, so I dont know which is which. I think Johnathan Richman and the Modern Lovers was the first one with the low volume sound. That one is my favorite….the one with Here Come The Martian Martians and Abomidable Snowman in the Supermarket.
But yeah, Cole, that was the first time we saw him play. I was already a big fan, but live he was even better…. it was incredible how good he was. Anyway, one of the girls from Johnathan Sings was still in the band, and the original bass player who played upright bass.
I thought that was the coolest thing how he offered to audition anyone who wanted to try out to be his lead guitar player…totally unpretentious. His guitar was an acoustic/electric… I remember it had really high string action and what seemed to me at the time like really heavy strings… not at all what I was used to, and I hadnt been playing guitar for very long either (I was just learning after switching from bass), so I dont imagine I sounded too good… he didnt think so either, since he cut me off before I finished!
i remember that show like it was yesterday. and still have my “treasured” ticket. dave, you’re wrong. he SO wanted YOU in the band. he was totally impressed (you could tell). was it you or sam who played “Louie Louie?” or am i getting that song wrong? hmm. anyway, i also recall he wanted backup singers. i, sadly, did not have the “balls” to audition. gawd, i was SUCH a wallflower back then. if it were today, i’d so do it. i’ve seen jonathan many times since then. a couple memorable ones: back in ’89 in NYC — i had only just moved there and didn’t know a soul. saw he was playing and i had to go! i knew he could make me feel less home-sick. he had a way of doing that to you. after the show, i was so high (from jojo, not drugs) that i sang my heart out as i walked down the middle of the street on the way to the subway back up to WASHINGTON HEIGHTS. for those of you not familiar with manhattan, WASH HTS is borderline bronx. ya know, up by the cloisters. fort tryon park. WAY upper west side. anyway, tired, rambling. the last time i saw him was here in sf at slim’s in ’98. it was just him and that drummer dude. still really cool. can you believe he will be 58! this year? jojo will be eternally youthful. go road runner, go.
hahaha… Lori, you remembered the song right (it was louie louie that I played, not johnny b. goode), but I think you’re hallucinating about him wanting me in his band. He sure didn’t make me a job offer! For 25 years I’ve been practicing the song, hoping someday I’ll get another opportunity. 🙂
I’ve seen him play many times too… the last time was probably around 10 years ago, though. My wife (then my girlfriend) was very impressed.
Yeah, Dave I guess it was Louie Louie.
I’ll never forget Jonathan used to always some gawdawful ugly belt buckle, and I read in a interview where he said that he did it to piss off the audience so he’d have something to play against. Pure punk.
I’m pretty sure he was a big influence on Mojo Nixon too.
I don’t have my Mojo Nixon records any more, but I think I remember that on one of them he acknowledges the Richman influence in an imaginary conversation (playing both parts), in which he has Jonathan say, “But, Mojo, you’re too NASTY…”
I remember his belt buckle… He had some pretty bad wardrobe all around if I remember. Nothing could beat this look though:
http://www.amazon.com/Rock-n-Roll-Modern-Lovers/dp/B000GALE3G/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1233381048&sr=8-3
Aside from “Jonathan Sings,” “Jonathan Goes Country” is my favorite of his post Modern Lovers records. He’s got great session guys with him so there’s a lot of authentic twang on songs like “Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad” and “Since She Started to Ride.”
About Simon’s post: I was just at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur. I love that place. That’s a pretty out of the way venue to see JoJo--but a lovely spot. You must be a pretty big Jonathan fan to have made that trek. The Harpo thing is hilarious. I really wish I’d been there.
You people really have nothing better to do? Really??
BZ
>>You people really have nothing better to do? Really??
BZ
Mr. Zoom: Absolutely nothing!!
Seriously though, thanks. I’m just recovering from surgery for prostate cancer, and I needed something to smile about.
I’m now cancer free BTW.
BZ
Congrats Billy, I had heard of your travails and am glad to hear of your successful treatment. Not looking forward to the annual digital rectal exams myself and somehow I don’t think they’re of a very high bitrate.
BTW we do have cookies…
I presume the entire male half of this blog’s demographic can relate … Your clean bill of health is great news and deserves another round of Billy Zoom panegyrics …
Billy Zoom doesn’t just beat cancer, he syncopates it!
“I presume the entire male half of this blog’s demographic can relate” …
Certainly…been following a rising PSA for a couple years…some scary tests and biopsies too…WTF??
My Urologist says we die OF it or WITH it…take your choice…goddamn useless gland…good for nothing!!!
Billy: That is wonderful news about you beating cancer! Great hearing from you on this forum. Looking forward to seeing you play again soon. -- Dean