Whew! The Thanksgiving leftovers are finally gone as is black Friday & cyber Monday. Time to get back into the spirit of things alternative!
Some interesting tidbits came down the pike recently, like the blurb that hit the media regarding a new biopic on the Clash. According to the BBC, former Clash members Mick Jones and Paul Simonon will co-executive produce a new biopic about the making of the band's classic 1979 album London Calling. The cast of the film has not been announced and shooting is scheduled to begin next year although no dates have been released. The Clash and late singer Joe Strummer have been the subjects of several films already, including the documentary Westway to the World, Julian Temple's Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten and The Rebel Truce: The Clash, which is slated to premiere on BBC America on December 12th.
I was reading through some history notes over the past day or two and realized that it was during this week back in 1972 that the original New York Dolls drummer, Billy Murcia, died of an overdose of barbiturates while the band was on tour in the UK. According to police reports, Murcia was placed in a tub of cold water and some "friends" tried getting some coffee in him when they could not wake him. Ever tried drinking coffee while you're unconscious? Doesn't work very well...
However, within a month, the band has a new drummer, Jerry Nolan, and starts performing a bunch of gigs at the Mercer Arts Center in New York. By March 20th 1973, a mere 3 1/2 months later, the Dolls are signed to Mercury Records.
Ya gotta love Jack White! Yeah, he can be kind of a temperamental artist, and he seems to be in the news (music-wise) a great deal, but this time he's pissed at his fans. Say what? Yup - it's all because, according to White, he was just trying to outwit so-called "flippers" who buy limited-edition releases, only to sell them for much higher prices online.
But after his Third Man label auctioned off a limited-edition White Stripes LP on eBay for $510, White Stripes fans complained - and White fired back on the forum of the label's subscription series. "We sell a Wanda Jackson split record for 10 bucks, the eBay flipper turns around and sells it for 300," White wrote. "We're not in the business of making flippers a living. We're in the business of giving fans what they want."
But he didn't stop there... "We've done giveaways, contests, auctions, etc. a lot of different ways for vault members to get first crack at limited records when we don't have to ... seriously stop all of the whining, because what you communicate to us is that all of the trouble we go to isn't worth it because nothing we do will make you happy. we'll try to do back rubs door to door when we get a chance. Sincerely the staff at third man records."
In other news briefs, one buzz lately seems to be all about videos. First, The Killers released their 5th annual Christmas song & the accompanying video, "Boots", last week. Proceeds from the song will benefit (RED) and help fight AIDS in Africa. Very cool indeed.
The 2nd video, "Hurricane" by 30 Seconds To Mars, has been banned from MTV as well as other media outlets. Never mind the video is 13 minutes long, (I'm sorry - that's not a video... that's a movie short), but apparently at the 9:20 mark there's a scene where a woman reaches between another woman's legs and strokes her (over leather panties). Gee, no wonder it landed the clip in the "not-safe-for-America" bin... It's also once again reinforcing that age-old adage that sex on TV is more dangerous than violence. Please - skip the hate mail...
Finally, taking a quick look back in today in alternative rock history - the year is 1980 and the Talking Heads begin their tour of the UK tour starting with a few gigs at the Hammersmith Palais, supported by an obscure band from Ireland named U2...
That's about it for this entry. As always, keep on listening & keep the comments and suggestions coming!
Peace out,
Dave
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