Let's All Get Dixie Fried

In case you are not a native speaker, and probably if you are a native speaker but didn't grow up in the south of the U.S.A., you got no clue what the heck Carl Perkins is singing about on his 1956 Sun single. I was just as clueless as you but then something changed my way of listening to old Rock'n'Roll records. I found a book. That book didn't only explain the slang used in old Rock'n'Roll, Country and Blues songs, it also explained expressions used in Pulp novels and Noir and Exploitation films. Author of this essential piece is singer extraordinaire Max Décharné, frontman of the great, and I really mean it, Flaming Stars. The book is called 'Straight From The Fridge, Dad - A Dictionary Of Hipster Slang' and the 3rd edition has just been published http://www.straightfromthefridgedad.com/. I will get me a copy for sure, as I own only the first American paperback edition, and that one came without any pictures. To make you understand how great and essential this book is let me tell you, when I moved to Finland from Germany this was one of the few books I took with me, along with some Chandler, Kerouac, Bukowski novels and books on music.

Not All Was Bad In 1939

In 1939 (some sources say 1938) young Alex Steinweiss(born 1917) invented the record picture sleeve. In his career he designed about 2500 of them untill he retired in 1972 at age 55 (some sources say he retired from designing record sleeves in 1970). Taschen has just published a 416 pages book of his work, limited to 1500 copies, you can get for 300,- Euros: TASCHEN. More info on Steinweiss and examples of his art can be found here STEINWEISS or here(Article in German) STEINWEISS 2. Above btw you see the world's first picture sleeve. Not bad at all for a start I think.

Mutant Leather Ted

It's normal to forget things the older you get. But there are some people, names, things and even little details that will stick with you forever. No matter how old you'll be, you will always remember them. I will always remember the 'mutated leather Ted'. I read that term more than 25 years ago in a review of the first Meteors live album where the author called Rick Ross that. And that's what I think of each time I think of Rick Ross. No, don't get me wrong. I'm not obsessed with him and spend my sleepless nights in bed thinking bout him. But just recently I found the 1983 Meteors line-up promo picture again(see above) and BANG, 'Mutated Leather Ted' popped up in my brain and I started wondering what happened to him after he left the band. Back in 1984 the news was that he was joining The Cult, but I never found out if that's true. At least there is no Rick Ross in the list of ex-members on their Wikipedia site. Information about him is rare on the Internet and in most cases wrong. It often says that he was the Meteors bass player in 1983 only but I saw the band with him on bass on their 2nd German tour in May 1984. It was on this tour that the band was filmed at their 'Rockpalast' gig, to be shown on German TV. Check this link ROCKPALAST . On the pictures there you'll see that it's Ross on bass, but the page states 'The Spectre' as bass player for the show. Also the other info on Rick Ross and the Meteors you come across on the Internet obviously is wrong, the one that says that he had joined the band for just one national(UK) tour. Sometimes it's incredible how much wrong information gets spread here. But the question remains, what did Ross do musically after he left the band? Does anyone know? If so, please share.

Got The Sarno Fever No More

There we were, all the way from Finland, standing in front of the stage of the 'Hyde Park', a rather big club in a rather small town in northern Germany, waiting for Rochee and the Sarnos to enter the stage and to entertain us in the way only Rochee can, playing their and other classics, songs like 'Sarno Fever', 'Rochee is a Monster' and Myron Lee's 'Aw C'mon Baby'.

I saw the band the first and last time 1985 at the Rotterdam Psychobilly Festival, as I managed to miss each and every Reunion show they played over the years. When Rochee announced last year that the band wouldn't perform anymore(due to him having depressions) I was mad at myself for having not put more effort into seeing them again. Than another gig was announced. The band would perform again November 2009 at the Rock'n'Roll Hellfest, Osnabrück. I told my girlfriend that no matter what WE HAD TO GO! Of course she agreed and flights were booked. The rest of the line-up wasn't that bad either from a Psychobilly point of view. Tazmanian Devils, Phantom Rockers, Mad Sin, Batmobile and Hungarian trio Gorilla would play their first show in years there. The night before we had been to the pre-party of the Westside Teds and Rockers Dance in Oberhausen where the Town Rebels from Darmstadt played. Compared to Finland the beer was VERY cheap and VERY VERY good so we had a lot of it and a huge hangover the next day. I don't know if that was the reason why I couldn't enjoy the festival at all, or if the bands were really as bad and boring as I thought they were. Tazmanian Devils have a great guitar sound but need a better singer and better songs, same goes for the Phantom Rockers. There's a reason why after 20 years they are still playing early on the bill. Gorilla had technical difficulties with the guitar amp and sound but at least they have some nice melodic songs. I never was a fan, but so far they were the best band. But not for long. Now the Sarnos would play. No, they wouldn't. Rochee had disappeared. He had come to Germany the day before but now no one knew where he was and he wasn't answering his phone. Great for everyone who went there because of them, maybe even from abroad. Maybe his depression kicked in again, I don't know. And I don't care. If so, take your medicine and play the show for the people who spend a lot of money to see you! The band, well Rob Glazebrook at least, the only original Sarno in the line-up, was def pissed(not drunk) too and I guess that's it for Rochee and the Sarnos. To save the day Rob and the other guys(The Houserockers) played a bunch of Rockabilly/Rock'n'Roll classics that went very well with the Hellfest crowd. They even played 'Aw C'Mon Baby' and 'Mudboat'. The audience's positive reaction showed one more time that Rockabilly bands do great at Psychobilly festivals so I hope promoters will book more of them in the future and not just Caravans, Rockabilly Mafia, Restless and Space Cadets. Next on the bill were Mad Sin and Batmobile. Both bands always deliver a top performance, real value for money, but still we left to spend the night at my family's. We came to see Rochee and we didn't, so no need to stay. We had just seen Batmobile in Berlin in September and I once toured with Mad Sin for 6 weeks. I guess I can sing every song in my sleep.

Mou-Mou-Moustache

It may not be super new news anymore but still: Billy Childish has reformed the Buff Medways. The reason is that Nurse Julie, bass-player of his latest band The Musicians Of The British Empire, is expecting a baby. I never was a big Childish fan so my excitement is limited, but I know there are millions out there that look up to him like a Messiah. All you fans should get your asses to London where they'll play a show at the Dirty Water Club at The Boston Arms, December 4th. Easter 2004 I saw them play at some 2-day Mod/Garage-Festival in the British capitol and was very bored. And I had high hopes before because Graham Day(Prisoners etc. in case you don't know) was on bass. The only thing really entertaining was Childish's moustache and look. But I am listening to their songs on the band's MySpace site now while writing and must say 'not bad, not bad'. Maybe I just had to pass 40 to appreciate trashy recordings and a singer that can't sing.

Cavan & the Meteors

Crazy Cavan and the Meteors together on the soundtrack of an animation movie? A movie about Jesus and Judas? What sounds like Walt Disney having a bad trip actually is true. 'Judas and Jesus' is a German 15 minute animation movie that features beside a Crazy Cavan song two unissued Meteors/P.Paul Fenech songs along with one of my all time faves 'I Don't Worry About It'. I haven't seen it yet but will purchase a copy in the near future, that's for sure. To see the trailer and to get more info go to www.judasandjesus.com

BOOM!!!

Sometimes it's not the greatest thing to live in Finland. The winter starts early and lasts almost half a year(we had the first snow mid October and now we have snow and ice for about a week already, and we live in the south!) and not many foreign bands get booked to play shows here. But now us northern folks are in for a treat. The Sonics are going to play Helsinki at the end of the month. It seems as if this will be my only chance to see them as I've read somewhere that this Euro-Tour would be their last gigs. I'm excited and at the same time worried that I maybe will have a 'Roky Erickson' experience again. About 2 years ago he played Finland and it was a disaster. At least for me. I was a HUGE fan since my friend John Battles from Chicago played me some bad quality b/w video tapes of him. He was sitting on a cemetery playing a couple of songs on his guitar and it was awesome! The voice, sound, atmosphere. But that time in Helsinki he played a huge club with his band the Explosions and they sounded like Rock-Veterans. No great atmosphere, no goosebumps. The fact that the place was sold out and drunk long-haired Finns were constantly bumping into me or stepping on my shoes didn't help me enjoying it either. The Sonics will play at another club but it's not small either and I bet there will be tons of drunk long-haired Finns again. But this time I will be prepared. I will be drunk, too. Even if they take 6,- Euros for a beer. And even if I won't remember much of the gig. Who knows, maybe that will be good. I should have done the same at the Erickson show. Judging from the videos the Sonics have on their MySpace site they are still able to kick some serious ass. Just on one clip they sound like some Oldies-Band, so let's hope for the best. If you want to come by, they play Sunday the 29th at Nosturi and it seems that it isn't sold out yet.