Jeff Shaw at our sister paper City Pages goes off the beaten sleigh path to bring his readership 10 songs for the season. Ever generous, Jeff's allowed us to share 'em with you:
10 and 9: Two from Tom Lehrer
My uncle would never forgive me if I didn't mention Tom Lehrer's scathing, brilliant "Christmas Carol.." Unfortunately, only the lyrics are available on-line, and the only performance of the song is a dreadful reading performed by the even more dreadful Christopher Hitchens. Do Not Want. O
I never made the trek to New York's CBGB, the birthplace of punk rock. But thanks to the Intranets, I can now feel like I'm in a dingy NY club when I'm really typing in a Long Beach apartment.Click this link for a CBGB virtual tour. I suggest doing what I did: Pump the Ramones, spill some beer on your jeans, drop stinkbombs and make out with a strange girl. It's the next best thing to being there.
Had he not passed away in 2001 at the age of 49, Joey Ramone would be turning 58 years young today. It's hard to believe that three of the four original Ramones are no longer with us. Yeah, there's always that "as long as the music's here, they're here, maaaann" bullshit, but I don't buy that. The tunes are in fact still here, but it's not the same cranking "Havana Affair" knowing the band that penned some of the best tunes of the 20th century barely made it to see the 21st. Needless to say, the
CNN couldnt do it; the LA Times couldnt do it; no other journalist or major media outlet could do it. Are we to accept that some moonbat reporter from a local free weekly actually sat down and researched the subjec
The original line-up of one of Southern California's first punk bands, the Zeros, is playing Alex's Bar in Long Beach Aug. 21. Before punk became synonymous with mohawks and chains, the genre was like a sped-up version of '60s bubblegum rock (basically, what the Ramones did). The Chula Vista -based quartet was often called the Mexican Ramones and are credited as the first band from the San Diego area to play LA clubs. The members have reunited in the past, but the last time that happened was
