History of Punk & Alternative Pt 2, Along With Rumors, Rumors, & More Rumors!

     No we're not celebrating any anniversary in regards to a Fleetwood Mac album... relax! It seems not a whole heck of a lot has been going on in the past week, alternative music wise, except for a cake-load of rumors. Here's just a few;
 - Billy Corgan was rumored to have been writing a new Smashing Pumpkins album a few months back. Well, turns out he's just starting to write it... now. Gonna have to wait a while more Pumpkin Heads.

 - Remember last week when I blogged that My Chemical Romance was no more? And announced it via Twitter? Well, that part is true. However, over the past week or so their fairly large fan base has submitted a thousands-strong signed petition that they want a "proper farewell". It has also been rumored that the responses to the bands original tweet were so numerous, that it caused server glitches and had to be removed.
 - This year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is fast approaching (happens on April 18), and as per usual, speculation and rumors are flying about possible reunions and collaborations among inductees and presenters. One such hopeful collaboration? Dave Grohl and Rush.
 - Kings of Leon are promising a "youthful" new album this September. What the heck does that mean?
 - Also last week, we gave a glimpse of the 2013 Lollapalooza lineup. Rumor now has it that Nine Inch Nails & The Cure will also be there. The source? A "leaked" poster of the event.
 - Fall Out Boy will no longer be writing ridiculously long song titles... rumor has it.
 - Last but not least, we can state that this one is NOT a rumor! As of 3 days ago, our long national nightmare is over. In an interview with a  Los Angeles radio station, Chris Brown said he and Rihanna are no longer together. Thank God.

     Continuing onward is our “History of Punk and Alternative Music” portion, where we welcome you to part 2. Last week we touched on influences from the 50’s as well as the powerful shift in teenage culture and rebellion. It basically takes us up to around 1962. By this time, rock n’ roll has taken America by storm. Across the pond over in England, this has not gone unnoticed; it’s just been quashed quite a bit... actually a lot. Seems the U.K. is not quite ready for all this wild rebellion. This is painfully evident in radio and television programming. Any “rock” star has been toned down so much, that the music & performance is drastically pale by comparison to what the U.S. had, in an effort not to upset the older status quo. Even worse, most local clubs still barred rock music.

     This is especially frustrating for the musicians themselves. However, there was a boom happening in Hamburg Germany of all places. Numerous bands made the trek to this crucible proving ground where rock, mod, and progressive music was welcomed with open arms. In fact, things got pretty wild - groups were required to play loud, fast and raw, hour after hour, obviously using stimulants to maintain the pace. Many bands saw members who thought they couldn’t sing take the mike when the lead vocalists lungs gave out. The sound took on a mania that would become a crucial factor in the coming assault on the U.S. in a few years.

     Fast forward those few years to 1964 and this is where things get really dicey. Garage rock, which is a direct predecessor to punk, was big time in the Pacific Northwest, and was starting to gain a foot hold nationwide, although that wouldn’t fully happen until 1965. However, a group called The Kingsmen held the #2 spot on the charts at the end of 1963 going into 1964 with their classic “Louie Louie”. Basically a pop infused blues riff three chord song that reeked of scandal. The song was even banned in Boston for a time. Why? Because too many people couldn’t fully understand the lyrics and some thought some were perverted in nature. There’s another concept; Scandal can come from fear of what you don’t understand. Adding to this mix was the fact that the song was raw, distorted, and that the musicians were not all that talented.

     By late 1964, the Beatles had just hit America thus starting the British Invasion. But we would be getting ahead of ourselves. Also at this time, in New York City, The Fugs were born in a bar called The Dom. It was the downstairs portion of The Electric Circus, which was a popular night club on the East side. Founded by Tuli Kepferberg and Ed Sanders, they managed to gather other like-minded musicians (if you could call them that) and release their first album on the jazz oriented ESP label before the summer of 1965. Due to their satire nature or general disrespect for just about everything (you can decide),  one can assume correctly without much thought that the album did not sell well… at all.

     There were two other factors that came together during the summer of ‘65. Lou Reed had already written future Velvet Underground classics like “Heroin” and “Waiting for the Man” when he met John Cale at a party. Lou played some of his tunes to John on an acoustic guitar. John hated folk music, but was drawn to Reed’s urban-realist style lyrics. They started rehearsing and also played at The Dom by the end of 1965.

     The 2^nd major factor was The Who. I’m not going to go into a long history here, but when first arriving in America in 1965, they had a healthy dose of attitude, aggression, and a sound of fury. Get passed their first hit of “I Can’t Explain” and delve into “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere” and you’ll see what I mean. Pete Townsend drove that point home in 1965 when he wrote, “My personal motivation on stage is simple. It consists of a hate of every kind of pop music  and a hate of everything our group has done - I don’t see any career ahead”. If this doesn’t sound like a mindset of punk and alternative in general, then what does?

     Yes, there will be other factors contributing to this fire throughout 1965 - The Animals, The Yard birds, (yes the Y-birds; they stampeded everything & blew it away. They were so good, bands a decade later were still imitating them), surf rock as well as the one-hit wonders of The Trashmen with “Surfin’ Bird”; in my humble opinion, the closest thing we’d have to true punk rock for a decade. 

     Until next time - peace out.

History of Punk Pt.1, Love Is Lost With My Chemical Romance & More!

    We're not even 4 months into 2013 and the drama wheel keeps turning. In all honesty, I'm starting to think that "drama" is fast becoming an outdated term. It seems like the "smash & grab" concept seems to be coming into vouge, especially out in the entertainment world. The term "Smash & grab" refers to information that is sudden, poorly planned, and deliberate. It only seeks to get the receiver off-guard (smashes) and then attempts to grab as much attention and reaction as possible.

  

 Latest case in point, My Chemical Romance. After 12 years and four studio albums, the band announced they're splitting up in a surprise blog post three days ago. While the band thanked fans for all their support and the whole decade plus experience was wonderful, they added the dreaded phrase, "like all great things, it has time for it to end." Maybe it's just me - it's cool to go out while you're on top, but this just seems... a little cold. Let me know what you think.

     I already did a separate post on this next tidbit, but it's worth repeating. The Library of Congress have selected numerous rock albums for preservation into the National Recording Registry. My God, there's hope for our government yet! One of their selections was the Ramones 1st album from 1976. I'm still speechless as I write this. Maybe we could write letters and have them preserve classics by The Sex Pistols, The Who,. and countless others. Hey - I can dream can't I?

     Another quick note, mainly because this story has gone viral to the nth degree is the band listing for Lollapalooza 2013. Some highlights include Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Mumford and Sons, and the Killers. Also confirmed for the Chicago festival, which runs August 2 - 4, are the Postal Service and the National. The full lineup will be officially announced in April, but early bird tickets are already on sale.

     Finally, as promised, we're starting a mini-series if you will, on the history of punk and alternative music. Guaranteed to raise some eyebrows, tick a few people off, but hopefully share and educate most. 

To truly and effectively tackle the history of punk and alternative music would be akin to trying to solve the mysteries of Easter Island, but I’m going to give it a shot anyways. The biggest dilemma I seem to run into is a starting point. I thought religion and politics was a touchy subject… that’s nothing when you start mentioning influences. Some purists state that punk and thus alternative started in the 70’s with The Sex Pistols and The Ramones. Others pay homage to The Stooges & The Velvet Underground. In my humble opinion, and in my experience, it started in the mid 50’s.

     Now before you compose that flaming email and hit the send button, press the pause button for a moment. I will be the first to admit that there is no exact time or year when the seeds of punk and alternative music were planted. But I’m going to use that key word from the previous paragraph – influences. Some of those influences weren’t even on vinyl. For example, Sam Phillips - the founder of Sun Records. A true visionary and without whom there would be no rock n’ roll… period. Some other milestones were various artists, like Buddy Holly, producing their own music, which was unheard of until 1956. While that may not sound like much today, it gave the individual artist freedom. Big time.

     Then you’ve got this cat from Memphis called Elvis Presley. Say what? Yup, Elvis and a bunch of other rockabilly artists like Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran. They were riding the crest of the new teen culture and rebellion. There’s another key word right there… rebellion. When you start mixing in a number of other rockers from James Brown to Little Richard to Chuck Berry, we’ve added another item to the mix - the wild (at least during that time) front-man and guitarist. Sorry folks, there’s no turning back now. These artists weren’t just banging on the door, they were kicking it in.

     These influences would carry us through the remainder of the 50’s until the early 60’s when all hell would start to break loose again. But we’ll save that for next time. 

     Until then, peace out.

We're Not Confused; Just Well Mixed - Touching On Nirvana, STP, Richard Hell, Punk History & More!

     Is it because it's late winter and the seasons are changing? Is it the phase of the moon? Or maybe the moon is in the phase of Nirvana... kinda chaotic? I don't know either, but whatever is going down, we seem to have an abundance of opinions, happenings, and emotions.

     First off, I finally got around to actually looking at a calendar and seeing what March 2013 is holding in store. I promptly threw that one in the trash because it ain't gonna matter. There's already too much shit in the fan and it seems the speed knob is going from medium to high. Being the music-mind that I am, (note: the official definition of "music-mind" is one where music is constantly playing in your head whether actual tunes are playing or not and remember obscure facts along the way that wouldn't matter to anyone else), I remembered that Nirvana's Nevermind was released 20 years ago. Great - now I really feel old...

     Digging deeper, however, there have been rumors circulating for some time about a 20 anniversary reissue of Nevermind. Yes - this reissue is a reality and it will be released shortly. Then bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl haven't had a lot to say about this project & I don't believe they really will. Butch Vig on the other hand, has offered a great deal of insight of the recording session of the album that changed and became the voice of a generation. Rolling Stone just posted on-line a rather cool article on this aspect - click here to check it out.

     Moving on to the he-said, they-said department, can anyone make heads or tails out of the latest Stone Temple Pilots / Scott Weiland drama / bullshit thing? The sometimes / former lead man for the Pilots now says the entire fiasco was a publicity stunt to boost ticket sales. Moreover, during a recent interview, Weiland first said that, "... in actuality, things are going great." However, he also mentioned that "... there are some issues that have to be worked out within the band - but they're the same issues as last year." Confused yet? Yeah... whatever. As the old saying goes, "...anyone who isn't confused here doesn't understand what's going on."

     They say timing is everything. In the last blog I commented on all the hoopla suddenly surrounding the small, short-lived NYC magazine called Punk. While a "best of..." issue will be coming out, it just seems natural that one of the founding members of Television (and the whole CBGB punk scene) Richard Hell will have his memoir hit the 'net on March 12th, not surprisingly entitled, I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp. Whether you dig punk from the 70's or not, the book, at minimum, should be an interesting read. I've seen and read interviews involving Hell in the past, and they've always been... how should I put it... colorful. But I expect nothing less from the man. This is the guy who purposely ripped his shirts and then held them together with huge safety pins - and this was back in early 1975 - long before the Sex Pistols made it a staple. In fact, Malcolm McLaren was visiting New York at that time and caught Television playing at CBGB's on a Sunday afternoon. He saw Hell's ripped clothes & brought that look back to England. He then amped it up when he became manager of the Pistols. Of course, that look was adopted by many of the English punk music scene.

     Whatever attitude you take about Billie Joe Armstrong, I'm glad he's out of rehab (again). Maybe this time, he'll get it. He seems to be on the right track. Rolling Stone will be featuring an interview with him in their next issue. From what I've glimpsed, he'll be basically taking some time off to get his act in gear after their 33 date tour (which starts at the end of this month) is over. He also mentioned that if anyone is anxiously waiting for the next Green Day release - don't hold your breath. It's going to be a while.

     Lastly, I'm going to go out on limb here - mainly on myself. I'm going to start a sub-blog to the alternative rock blog. I've got tons of notes from over the past 15 years on the history of alternative music and punk specifically. So, starting this month, as a separate blog entry, I'll be tackling the history of punk in segments. It will not be replacing or in substitution of the regular blog. As I mentioned - it should be quite an undertaking. We'll see how this pans out.

     We'll leave you this month with a video clip of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit video. Just click on the title to go to the video. As I watch this, I can't help but thinking about the spoof Weird Al Yankovic did of this song and video. Watch both back to back if you can. You'll laugh at the material and most likely be amazed at how close they are in details.

     Until next time, peace out!
     - D -

Old Is New... Or Reflections On Punk, Alternative In General, And Other Dribble

     Relax - we're not going retro on you with this "old is new" statement that's in the title. It just seemed fitting because of some things that are currently happening here in our neck of the woods as well as in the music industry.

     First off, the old and out-dated website, 360 Degrees of Alternative, will soon be taken down & replaced with a more modern and interactive one at some point this week (before March 1st 2013). It was hard for me, in a way, to come to the realization of the benefits of a totally new site, and not because I'm getting old. The first stumbling block I had to deal with was the fact that the website will only be 3 years old next month. In my mind, that's nothing. In technology's mind, that's ancient. Then came the reality of actually building the thing - this is no small task. It's not like we have a whole IT department here to whip this up in a day or two.


     But as more ideas came on the table, the more excited I became. We would make it more interactive with photos, music, videos, links, and more. The timing in actuality couldn't be more perfect. I've been doing a great deal more freelance writing and amateur photography. To accommodate all these ventures and pursuits, we are putting all these aspects under one roof if you will. The new site will simply be called "360 Degrees", as it will cover alternative music, photography, and writings about this same genre of music as well as alternative views on hi-performance automotive, past and present.

     Once the site is up, browse through it at your convenience & shoot us an email about what you think. We know we can't please everyone, but we feel you will enjoy it or at least a certain aspect of it. As a famous person once said, "Take what you like and leave the rest..."

     I was cruising through some music news yesterday and noticed some interesting tidbits from some artists we haven't heard from in a while, mainly Iggy Pop & Nine Inch Nails. Seems they are also in the "old is new" mode or at least a regeneration type thing. Okay - when it comes to Iggy, maybe we could call this, "the thing that wouldn't die" - no pun intended and not that I'm complaining in the least. This guy has been around the music scene for almost 50 years... shit the guy is 65 years old as I write this. Their new release, Ready To Die is due out on April 30th. It will mark the first time Iggy has worked with guitarist James Williamson & drummer Scott Asheton since the album Raw Power that saw the light of day back in 1973. It will also be the first Stooges album since 2007.

     Another surprising tidbit was about Trent Reznor & Nine Inch Nails. Apparently the band is working on new material and is "reinventing itself completely", according to Reznor. The first thing I thought of was, "didn't they have a farewell tour, the parting of the ways, and all that other glorious stuff four years ago?" 
Yup - that piece of history hasn't changed. As the saying goes, you can't keep a good person down. No rumblings of exactly when any new stuff will hit the net or stores, (except for the fact it will be at some point this summer), but Reznor mentioned that band lineup changes include former members of Jane's Addiction & King Crimson.

     I've been a little confused lately as to why, all of a sudden, so much media attention has surfaced about the magazine Legs McNeil started back in 1976 called "Punk". It's not like it's a 30th or 40th anniversary... it's been like 36 years and 9 months. The magazine came out, for a while, every other month and then quarterly by 1977. I've managed to snag a copy or two over the years, and they're a gas! Not only did it highlight the music and the bands, mainly in NYC and who played at CBGB's at the time, but it also helped define it's sound. I found this cool pictorial on Spin Magazine's website. Click here to check it out.



     I received some feedback about my thoughts and comments regarding alternative music starting in the early 60's. A fan named Glen shot me an email stating he felt alternative started more in the early 70's with the Detroit and Cleveland sound. I responded back with info about The Stooges and Velvet Underground - both had vinyl out by 1968. He replied back stating they were practically solo anomalies, one being from NYC, the other from Detroit. His point was of a more widespread geographic area and album releases to include such bands as The Electric Eels and The Dictators. While I agreed with him on those points, I mentioned the point of influences. These bands just didn't wake up one morning and say, "Hey - let's play our songs this way." They had musicians who influenced them in some way. Case in point - The Who. While Pete Townsend and company were influenced by rhythm and blues, they in turn influenced many future bands  - from the Sex Pistols to Nirvana... like it or not. Stage performances also had a lot to do with it as well. Check out this live performance of The Who doing "My Generation" from 1966. I kinda feel sorry for Roger Daltrey - while Keith Moon & Pete Townsend are just hammering away, he just has to... well, sorta stand there and groove along. How do you pull that off while instruments are beaten to shit, speakers are smoking, and general chaos is raining. Watch this and tell me this didn't fan the flames of punk to come...
Click here to flip your wig (or whatever they said back then).

     Until next time, peace out!
    

What Are You & Who Are You Doing? David Bowie, Live Lou Reed & More!

     I've always liked that line - it's a demented twist on the old cop show / movie question. As humorous as it may be, it sometimes seems appropriate (in an odd way... very odd) in the grand scheme of things. I'll respond to this in two parts; the latter statement first because that one is easy - it's none of your dang business. With that out of the way, I'll answer it from the blog / radio station's point of view. They are doing (and thus being) themselves. The station nor the blog is an imitation of anything else out there. It was never meant to be. It's going to exist and evolve in it's own way, in it's own time. I always like to hear comments or feedback about the two entities, but it doesn't mean changes will be made just because someone loves it or hates it.

     The "what are you" portion is an extension of that last thought and statement. I started 360 Degrees of Alternative because there wasn't anything out there like this. I have my own views of what "alternative music" is. I'm sure you do as well. If those planes mesh, then great. If not quite completely, that's still okay. We can still have the love for this genre of music and still agree to disagree. Bottom line - hopefully we all learn from each other, evolve in a positive way and can all co-exist peacefully. 

     I'm going to steal another old cliche here; is it me or has there been a lot of press and general hoopla with the timing of David Bowie's return to the music scene? I'll admit - with some of the latest PR pics floating around the internet lately, the first thing I noticed is that he looks... well... old. Yeah, the guy is 66 years old, but for the longest time he seemed to have had this Dick Clark anti-aging thing going on. Be that as it may, the BBC has agreed to air a documentary on his life, primarily focusing on certain years, namely 1971, 1975, 1977, 1980 and 1983. I think these time frames have a lot to do with how Bowie changed musically during those times. Another question that popped into my head was - where is the Ziggy Stardust years? It's quite possible that once Bowie "killed" that character, (which he has described in the past as quite egotistical and dangerous), that he wanted it buried for good. I can remember seeing him back in 1983 on his "Serious Moonlight" tour - he performed zero songs from that brief era. In any event, it should be an interesting documentary and I wish him all the best with his upcoming release "The Next Day".

     Since we're discussing icons in the alternative music world, I'm going to leave you with another video clip of one of rock's greatest artists - and not just in the punk / alternative world. Some even pose the question, without Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, would there be rock n roll as we know it today? I can't answer that, but I do agree that without Reed and company, who literally threw everything out the window when it came to conventional rock and roll - at a time when society was starting to throw conventionalism out as we knew it. In 1966, when the Beatles were singing "Yesterday", the VU was singing about heroin. This may seem like no big thing today, but 45+ years ago, it was cosmos moving! This clip is a more modern Lou Reed jamming out the classic "Sweet Jane". Enjoy!

     Until next time - peace out.

We're Back! Time To Flog The Blog!

     I'm trying to come to terms with a contradiction in Internet terms if you will - it's been over a year since my last blog entry; yet the 50+ blogs that we've shared have over 18,000 views. I'm in awe, both in a slightly negative as well as in a positive way. It's possible I've under estimated myself - just like many people under estimated punk back in the 70's (as far as influences go) as well as when grunge in the very early 90's wearing it's ripped jeans, ugly sneakers, and faded flannel shirts.

     I'm not going to get on some bullshit ego trip here, but as the saying goes, "looking back in hindsight is always 20/20", but as Dave Mustaine of Megadeath adds, "...and it's usually still a bit fuzzy". My current hindsight is that I should have kept going with the blog, regardless of what came onto my plate. Writing for me is actually a decent form of stress relief and I enjoy doing it. It has become obvious to me that other people like what I write about, or like my writing style, or something... who knows. But between the battle of royalty costs for the songs I play on 360 Degrees of Alternative to some personal issues that took me out of the game for about 6-8 months, the blog inadvertently took a back seat... and then got parked for way too long. For that, my friends, you have my sincerest apologies.

     However, positive changes have been made, progress is being seen, and we are moving forward once again. Please ignore the squeaks and rattles as we work out some of the kinks, but I am 110% confident that we'll get there - and in even better fashion.

     So - were just over 6 weeks into 2013 and where are we? Today being Valentine's Day, I was cruising through Rolling Stone's website and their home page story was about the 10 nastiest rock band breakup's in history. 360 Degrees plays 6 out of those 10 bands - in a way it doesn't really surprise me - but in another way, it bums me out. We're all human beings, we all have negative emotions, egos, and all that other fun shit we could really live without. There's also other killers like success - many bands like The Clash just couldn't handle it - as well as drug problems which put the final nail in the coffin for Smashing Pumpkins. But what hits home is some of the petty junk some of these bands experienced, sometimes at the hands of one or two people. If they could just get over themselves, things could have been much different. Case in point, The Pixies. This was a band who primarily rocked out in the mid to late 80's and were way ahead of their time. I'm a pretty big fan of this group. I admire front-man Black Francis and his artistic abilities. It's too bad he just couldn't get his head out of his ass. If he did, the band could have been huge. I had a chance to meet him in the late 90's and he was still bitter about Pixies fans loving bassist Kim Deal.

     Just a quick note here - I'm glad the Grammy's experienced their 2nd largest TV viewing ever. But a word to the media, whether it's print, web based, radio, whatever. It's over... move on. I'm tired of hearing if Jack White swore during the ceremonies or not.

     Another quick note - yes, we are aware that Fall Out Boy, Silversun Pickups, and Radiohead have either completed a new CD or are working on one. We are also aware that Oprah landed an interview with Beyonce, that Justin Bieber fans are all pissed off (Twitter it if you must), and Nicki Minaj is the new judge on American Idol. Guess what - aside from the 1st sentence, we can honestly say we truly don't care. Hate us if you want. Whatever.

      One more quick note - I promise. Did you hear about Beck's remake of the David Bowie classic "Sound and Vision"? From what I've seen & read, it's nine minutes of pure wow. To give you some idea of this, Beck did the tune with a 157 piece orchestra. He also had it filmed with 360 degree cameras and microphones. It gives new meaning to the term "being there". However, the best thing that came out of all this was beck's comment about the entire project - "...it was an experiment and an opportunity to try something completely irrational". Words to live by, people.

     I'm going to leave you with a taste of one of the new features that will become a regular part of the blog. I'm still sorting it out, but it's definitely coming together. Alternative on video.
This aspect has two goals - one is to make the blog more interactive. The second is to bring you cool stuff you've probably never seen before. This entry's piece of anti-high def is an old video of The Kingsmen doing their immortal song "Louie, Louie". Whether you agree with me or not, I consider that hit ground zero of alternative music. Why? Because it is distorted garage rock at it's primal infancy. The tune itself was three basic chords. No one could understand the lyrics. The song was inflamed in controversy and it pissed off parents nationwide. Alright, the band members were clean cut, but hey - we gotta start somewhere. This particular vid is a live broadcast from the TV show "Shindig". And guess what - you can actually understand the lyrics! Wonder never cease. Just click here to watch.

     Until next time, peace out & keep listening.

The Long Road Back, What October 2011 Might Be Famous For, and More!

How long is 5 months? You might say, "Well.. it's 5 months... duh". Or you could be sarcastic and say it's approximately 152 days (going from June to October), or 3,648 hours, or 218,880 minutes... and then we'd smack you upside your head. It can be a short period of time (like in the case of summer where it truly flies by), or a long, dragged out period where it seems the current situation never ends. Thus is the case of certain aspects of 360 Degrees of Alternative.

You may (or may not, but most of you did), noticed that the station was "not available to all listeners" on our host site Live365.com. This is because, for the last few months, we have been a VIP membership only station. Are we giving the middle finger to any and all non-paying listeners? Hardly. The music industry did that for us. Allow me to explain.

When I originally set up this station almost 2 years ago, I made it so anyone - paying or not - could listen along. If you were a non-paying listener, you just had to stomach some occasional commercials. To offer this service, I pay royalty fees on all the songs I play. Back then, they were very nominal, so it was no big deal. Everything was pretty hunky-dory until last May. At that time, the music industry announced that royalty fees would be increased through such services because profits are way down. At first, I didn't think too much of it, because I've heard this crap before. At worst, I thought, the fees would increase a little... and I mean very little. Well, they did... sort of.

When you think of an increase of 3 cents, many times you wouldn't bat an eyelash. However, when you add multiplication to the equation, that's when things got dicey. My royalties went up 3 cents per song... per month. I currently have over 4,200 songs in the stations current playlist. You can do the math. Needless to say, my monthly expenses to operate the station skyrocketed overnight. We didn't want to cut the station off at the gonads, so we went "private" for a while until we could sort things out. It looks like they're may be a light at the end of the tunnel.

We are hoping by January 1st 2012, we will return to the "all type of listener" access. We will once again be free-form or free-based, or whatever you want to call it. We still have listeners adding us as their favorites and the support emails are still being received. And for this, we thank you.

The blog has been no exception. It has been truly absent over the past 5 months. Between my regular job, working with the station, and a few other distractions this summer (including the process of finding new digs), the blog really took a back seat. Check that... more like moved to the trunk... and stuffed in a suitcase. Well, let's unpack and air it out!


The 2nd tag line is in reference to the people and events that have passed on this month. I was talking with a friend of mine and he mentioned that October is a rite of passage of sorts from summer to winter where many things in nature die... but this month, so far, is getting ridiculous.

By now, everyone is aware of the passing of Steve Jobs who helped revolutionized how we listen to music, work with computers, enjoyed movies, you name it. He will be missed. It's also old news that R.E.M. is done after 31 years. The latest issue of Rolling Stone has a big interview on this, so you can check out all the dirt there. I must admit, the band was spot on by saying, "... we don't hate each other, we haven't run out on creativity, we're just... done." It reminds me of what Johnny Rotten, former front man for the Sex Pistols once said in an interview; "We knew (the Pistols) were done. So we just stopped. It's the easiest thing in the world. People won't understand, and that's their problem. If you don't want to be a rock star anymore, just stop being one."

I was also glancing at some music news that took place over the past week. This seems to be the month for ending things in one form or another;
- Jani Lane, the current lead singer of Warrant dies of alcohol poisoning.
- RCA announces it will pull the plug on Arista, Jive & J Records.
- Ex Weezer bassist Mickey Welsh died in a Chicago hotel room.
- The Academy Is... calls it quits after 9 years & 3 albums.
- The Monkees cancel the remainder of their 45th anniversary tour.

... and this is just in the past few days! Jeez!!


However, there were also some highlights -
- My Chemical Romance's guitarist Frank Iero designs a guitar that will be sold for charity.
- Smashing Pumpkins finally kick off their tour in L.A. - and kick ass.
- Red Hot Chili Peppers will headline for MTV's Europe Music Awards.
- Jane's Addiction rocks late night TV

... and this was just in the past few days! Cool!!


That's about it for now. We'll keep you posted with more updates when we get closer to our target date. Until then, keep listening & thanks again for the support. We'll still be here for you!

Peace out,
Dave