Even Dave Wallflower gets the blues

(Wallflower/Blues Gangster/BeatHog David Rinck waxes indigo and finds the musical treatment for it. What’s your prescription?)

Bluesy DaythumbThe other day I had the blues
I walked down the street in my old shoes
I know you won’t believe it’s true
But even Dave Wallflower gets the blues …

Yes, even Dave Wallflower gets the blues. Had ’em for a while now. Go’n through some hard times.

But that Sunday morning a few weeks ago in Liberia, brothers and sisters, I was down. I’d just come out on a long flight from Nairobi the night before, and I was tired. I headed out of the hotel and down those beat old streets for my early morning walk.

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UETA and the Beathogs: Live at Underground Express at Dass, Nairobi

(Wallflower Dave Rinck files an update from Africa.)

Detail: UETA/Beathogs flyer; Dass, March 19, 2009 (collection David Rinck)March 19 the Underground Express rolled on at Dass in Nairobi. We had a particularly awesome night out, largely due to a rare visit from my own very favorite Kenyan rock band, UETA.

Consisting of three brothers and a cousin, UETA is one of the hardest-rocking bands on the local scene. They mixed heavy metal with a mini-set of acoustic numbers to create a really dynamic show that left the audience (literally) screaming for more.

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This We Dug: Johnny Thunders

(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.

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The Che Underground