Chauncey and Chumley's Dad

Lin Brehmer (1954-2023)

This weekend’s kick off is dedicated to Chicago radio personality Lin Brehmer who passed away earlier this week at age 68. He was an excellent disc jockey and outstanding morning drive personality on WXRT, a passionate fan of all things Chicago, and your best friend in the whole world. Borrowing from a Frank Zappa song, he regularly used the catch phrase, “Its great to be alive!”

In memory of Lin and the many years of joy he brought to Chicago listeners, I’m kicking off the weekend with The Mothers of Invention and their live version of Call Any Vegetable.

(If you choose to skip around on the song, Frank’s “great to be alive” is at 5:43. Also, don’t miss Frank’s awesome guitar solo at 3:40.)

I’m in South Dakota so I thought I’d find a famous Rock band from South Dakota to kick off the weekend. Except I couldn’t find one. So instead, let’s go with a famous Rock band from London!

Sometimes I forget about old albums and then sort of rediscover something I had not listened to in years. The other day I listened to Janis Joplin’s album Pearl. I know it’s been years but it may have actually been decades since I tracked this great album in it’s entirety. Listening to it reminded my of what a huge album it was in 1971. At a time when FM radio was just starting to take off as a medium for Rock music and “deep tracks,” virtually every song on Pearl received airplay on FM stations across the USA.

As I am writing this, I also just discovered that today (19 January, 2018) would have been Janis’ 75th birthday. So in honor of Janis and her album Pearl, I’m kicking off the weekend with one of the all-time great female vocal performances, Me And Bobby McGee.

With a myriad of famous personalities seeing their careers and lives going down in flames due to thoughtless behavior, it seems that we have an endemic of personality crisis among celebrities. So with that in mind, it is apropos that I kick off the weekend with the New York Dolls and their poignant song, Personality Crisis. 

And you're a prima ballerina on a spring afternoon Change on into the wolfman howlin' at the moon

Personality crisis you got it while it was hot But now frustration and heartache is what you got

There is a long history of misheard lyrics in Rock music. The other day, I just happened to look up the lyrics to an old 70’s song Sufficiently Breathless by Captain Beyond. What I always thought was “Car door watching the bouncing ball” turns out to be “Gargoyle watching the bouncing ball.” I thought it was like a reflection in a shiny car door. What do I know? So in honor of misheard lyrics and Captain Beyond, I am kicking off the weekend with Sufficiently Breathless.

Sad to hear of the passing of Walter Becker. I saw Steely Dan once. It was either late 1972 or early ‘73 when they opened for The Guess Who in Chicago. Within a couple of years, they would stop touring and become a studio-only band, later breaking up in the 80′s. Throughout the 70′s and 80′s, I never met anyone else that had seen them in concert. They regrouped in the 90′s and toured quite a bit after that but I never saw them again. They were a unique band that provided some outstanding music, particularly in the mid-70′s when Rock music was at a low ebb.

Minneapolis Live Music Triple Play - 3rd Night

The 99ers CD Release Party at First Avenue/7th Street Entry - This was the third and final night of my Minneapolis live music trilogy. Damn, was this show a lot of fun! Just a great collection of local Punk bands getting together for the release of The 99ers new CD, Pop Punk Girl. I’ve been to the legendary First Avenue a few times, but I’ve never been in the main room. Every show I’ve been to has been at 7th Street Entry. It’s a small, intimate venue that is starting to feel like “home.” Although the show was loosely billed as a Pop Punk show, it was not Pop Punk in the contemporary sense of the word. It was more early straight-up Punk in the vein of The Ramones when bands were playing Pop Rock with a fast, stripped down sound. The bands all rocked hard and the crowd had a lot of fun. 

The 99ers were the headliners but actually played third of the four bands on the bill. They played all the songs from the new album and included a few older songs along with some cover songs. They invited several guest singers on stage including, Anthony Shore, a.k.a. The Minnesota Elvis and also the emcee for the night. He sang the old Elvis song Burning Love . From their new album, they also brought up a singer for their song Roller Grrrls. I wasn’t clear if the singer was from a band or actually a roller girl, but she was a very good vocalist and had a very entertaining stage presence. They also have a song on the new album dedicated to RuDeGiRL, Rude Girl T-Shirt, and they brought up the band members from that band to sing the song and another song dedicated to the band Ye-Ye Pow and they brought up the singer from that band to share vocals. The 99ers band members have very interesting background. Punk Rockers by night, they are the antithesis of Punk Rockers during the day. Guitarist and principal songwriter Stephen Brookfield is a professor at University of St. Thomas and an author of several scholarly books.  Bassist Doug Heeschen is an attorney working for the state of Minnesota, drummer Chris Schoonover is an endocrinologist, and guitarist Emily Bee is the director of planned giving at Minnesota Orchestra. Emily is the newest member of the band and she is also in the band RuDeGiRL. (So, yes, she did double duty at this gig, playing back-to-back sets with each band.) Emily is also the daughter of former Replacements guitarist Slim Dunlap. 

The Silverteens started the show and overall, I would say they were my favorite band of the evening. They are a Garage Punk band that started in 2012 but the members have all served in various Punk bands since the early 80’s. I was really impressed with guitarist Eric Pierson. He played some fine guitar and for my money, is the driving force behind that band’s sound. Bassist David Moe evokes the energy of the animated Tasmanian Devil. He gets his mojo working on stage and it’s amazing how much he can move around within the confines of a small stage. (During the other bands’ sets, he was up front at the stage, dancing, jumping and occasionally leaping up on stage to add back up vocals.) Singer Mark Engebretson and drummer round out this talented band. They played a great set including a wonderful cover of the Ramones’ song I Wanna Be Sedated that included a couple of guest vocalists.

Ripper was 2nd on the bill. A relatively youthful power trio, their brand of Punk was more Hardcore; very direct and brash with Noise Rock leanings. They played a fine set with contrasting sound that added some diversity to the evening.

RuDeGiRL topped off the evening. They are a six piece Clash tribute band, all female (except for the drummer). I’m rather ambivalent about tribute bands, but I did enjoy this band. The Clash is a band I’ve always liked and London Calling is one of my all-time favorite albums, so it was fun to here the songs performed live. The band make up is a lead vocalist, two guitarists (including Emily Bee), bass and a multi-instrumentalist who played several instruments throughout the set. I particularly enjoyed watching the bass player. She rocks hard, plays a fretless bass guitar, and moves her fingers faster than anyone I’ve ever seen on the bass. At times I wasn’t sure if she was actually playing notes or just scrambling her fingers along the neck, but whatever she was doing was done with complete vigor and total aplomb. The show started at 9:00 and it was after 12:30 by the time it wrapped up. It was an extraordinary evening of live music. The band’s performances, the guest singers jumping on and off the stage, and the enthusiastic crowd made this a priceless show. And all for the bargain price of a $5.00 ticket. Punk Rock still lives in Minnesota!

I’m kicking off the weekend with a little Beatle-esque ditty from Ty Segall’s latest release, his second self-titled LP.

R.I.P. Chris Cornell (1964-2017)

Pink Floyd shrimp anyone?

A new species of shrimp has been discovered and named after the Rock band Pink Floyd because of it’s large pink claw.

I just read Phil Lesh’s autobiography, Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead (2005). The book included a wonderful photo (above, top) of Jerry Garcia on stage playing to Phil’s older son, Grahame. Phil explains that as Grahame became a little older, instead of playing back stage with the rest of the entourages kids, he became very interested in the music and wanted to always watch the show. Grahame musically bonded with Jerry Garcia and would become elated when Jerry would play to him. Jerry, in turn, would respond to the affection with some of his best guitar playing of the evening. The photo was taken in 1993. Jerry passed away in 1995. Phil’s sons are now both musicians. (Family photo L-R: Brian, Phil, Jill, Grahame.)

I’m kicking off the weekend with a rockin’ Stones rarity, Jump On Top Of Me!

Missing my little sister on what would have been her 56th birthday, a birthday she shared with Rock music legends Elvis Presley and David Bowie.

My wife and I had a fabulous time at Edgewater Greek Festival at Saint Andrew Greek Orthodox Church on Chicago’s North Side. We went to see Chicago band White Mystery, who I have previously enjoyed seeing at Riot Fest in both 2013 and 2015. White Mystery band mates and sister and brother Miss Alex White and Francis Scott Key White have a long history with the church. They were both baptized there and play a set every year at the festival. (Some of Miss Alex’s former Sunday School students were their “roadies” for the gig, helping out with moving the equipment.) They played a fine set and afterward, we enjoyed some delicious Greek food along with FIX Hellas beer and a bit of ouzo. We also had a chance to chat with Miss Alex who was engaging and gracious. Good music, food, drink and picture perfect Chicago lakefront weather along with a nice walk through Edgewater made for a wonderful evening.

Pixies release a new song Um Chagga Lagga, which will be on their forthcoming new album Head Carrier.

Good audio interview with Michael Petryshyn, founder of Riot Fest, from WGN Radio.