KISS- aka Knights in $atan's $ervice

"All right!

You Wanted the best

You Got The Best

the Hottest Band In the Land...

KISS!!!!!"

Well, you all know that KISS really stands for Knights In Satan's Service. Cause they're really demons, right? Say what you want about 'em, but they've been rockin and rollin' all nite for over 30 years.


Critics hate them and most of us have had a love/hate relationship with them over the decades. Why they aren't in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame (aka jann Wenner's circle jerk) and Billy Troll and Jackson Browne are is a travesty.


Sure, they're money hungry capitalists; out to make a buck any way they can (Kiss coffins? Kiss coffee houses? Kiss Cologne? Cellulite from Gene Simmons thighs?). But the music world would have been a far more boring place if they hadn't been around. How many bands actually have tribute bands of little people covering their stuff?


Paul Stanley's rock and roll star trip is still mind boggling. Gene Simmons (registered trademark) still plays the demon role with a straight face. And what's the diff on who is behind the "Space-Ace" (aka "Fake-Ace") and "Cat" greasepaint anyway? They fucking rock.


Shit, as long as they keep touring, I'll keep seeing them! If you can't have fun at a KISS concert, then you must be dead, Fred.

Toonage:
A special collection of Paul Stanley stage banter
Kiss- Shout It Out Loud (live)
Kiss - Deuce (live)
Kiss - Detroit Rock City (acoustic live on Howard Stern)
Peck - Rock n Roll All Nite (Finnish band)
Skellington - Love Gun (Swedish Heavy Metal band)
Redd Kross - Deuce

NOFX - America's Best Punk Band

What can I say about NOFX? For my money, NOFX are the best American Punk rock band since the Ramones. What more could you want? They've got great lyrics that can be tastelessy funny or political (often both). They've supported "the scene" with Fat Wreckords (their record label). They tour incessantly (and were instrumental in making the Warped Tour so huge- maybe that's not such a good thing!). Even their spin-offs (such as Me First And The Gimme Gimme's) kick ass.

Erik Sandin (drums), Eric Melvin (guitar) and Fat Mike
(bass, vox) started NOFX in 1983. El Hefe (guitar) joined the party in 1991.
Since then they've combined punk rock, some reggge, some hardcore and plenty of alcohol to sell millions of records and incur plenty of bruises on their audiences. They also released THE PUNK ROCK EPIC with The Decline- an 18 minute opus that blows the doors off punk rock dogma.

Over the years, they've become overtly political as the band is heavily involved in the http://www.punkvoter.com/ movement. The well known "Not My President" t shirts are a product of Fat Wreckords as well. Songs like Idiot Son Of An Asshole", "You Will Lose Faith" and "Leaving Jesusland" should leave no doubt as to where their politics lie. If you have never seen them play live, whaddya waiting for?

Toonage:

The Decline (studio version)

The Decline (live Worcester 3-06)

Liza & Louise

She's Nubs

The Longest Line

Linoleum

We Got Two Jealous Agains

Buy NOFX Music and Schwag

NOFX Wiki

IDIOT SON OF AN ASSHOLE

(by NOFX)

He's not smart, a C student

And that's after buying his way into school

Beady eyes, and he's kinda dyslexic

Can he read? No one's really quite sure

He signs stuff and he executes people

Maybe that's why, he doesn't have any friends

Cocaine and a little drunk driving

Doesn't matter, when you're the Commander in Chief.

Idiot son of an asshole

He's the idiot son of an asshole

Idiot son of an asshole

He's the idiot son of an asshole

Put on some make-up, turn on the 8-Track,

I'm putting a week back on the shelf,

Suddenly I'm the President, of the United States,

But then I woke up, and realized I'm still me.

He's too dumb, to eat pretzels,

apparently smart enough to fix an election.

Moved boldly into the White House,

but most people voted against him.

He likes naps, He really likes naptime,

A couple of naps and then a nap and then he's ready for bed,

He may be from Bush descent,

but he's always gonna be the unpresident.

Idiot son of an asshole

He's the idiot son of an asshole

Idiot son of an asshole

He's the idiot son of an asshole

Idiot son of an asshole

He's the idiot son of an asshole

He's our president!

Friday Grab Bag- Unclehood

I am about to become an Uncle for the first time. My brother and sis-in-law are about to bring forth child number 1 into this cold hard world. So, in tribute to this wonderful event, here are some songs that are sorta relevant. Congratulations to mi' familia' !!!!!!!!!!!!

Toonage:

Grateful Dead - Me And My Uncle

(live 9-3-77)

The Jam - Aunties And Uncles

Uncle Tupelo - Willin'

(Little Feat Cover)

Cheap Trick - Welcome To The World

Altered Images - Happy Birthday

Pizzicato Five - Baby Love Child

and from the So Much Younger Than Yesterday bootleg, here is an excellent Rolling Stones live show from Honolulu Hawaii in 1966

Rolling Stones: 7-28-1966 Honolulu

The Replacements (don't) Stink

For many of us white and lazy mofo's, the Replacements were the representative band of our extended adolescence in the 1980's. Common touchstones of drunken unpredictable behavior; combined with a 1970's musical heritage of classic and punk rock defined both the band and their fans. Many was the night where it was a toss-up between the 'Mats and the audience regarding who was more wasted. There was a nite in NYC around 1983 when we were going to see them (at Folk City, of all places!) when we ran into lead guitar player Bob Stinson wandering around Bleeker Street, completely hammered and wearing a dress. We had to literally carry him into the club.

Of course they kicked ass that night. Bob was eventually thrown out of the band (passing away a couple of years later) and the 'Mats were never the same; as they became a vehicle for Paul Westerberg's sensitive singer-songwriter aesthetic.




(footage from a show in Minneapolis from 1981- bass player Tommy Stinson was 14 or so)

Chances are, if you're reading this, you might have your own Replacements stories.

Also noteworthy was their appearance on Saturday Nite Live in (about) 1984. This was the show where they changed clothes with each other for their second song (except for Bob Stinson, who was wearing a pants suit cut down to his crotch). Apparently they were drunk off their asses (gee, what a surprise) and Westerberg screams out "Motherfucker" during Bastards Of Young. They were banned from the show after that.

Rock and Roll!



Toonage:

Replacements - Bastards Of Young (live 1986)
Replacements - Temptation Eyes (demo)
Replacements - I Wanna Destroy You (live)
Replacements- Another Girl Another Planet (live)

and here are two live shows:
1984 - when they were the greatest band in the workld
and
1987- when they were on their last legs
Toonage:

Replacements- Los Angeles: 10-26-84
Replacements- NYC: 7-27-87

It's Spiderman's world, we just live in it

So, I saw the new Spiderman 3 movie last night at the premiere in Astoria last nite. As Peter Parker, The Ramones and little old me are all from Forest Hills, Queens, NY; I feel a kinship with the Webhead.

I'm no star-f#cker, but it was pretty cool to be "on the black carpet" as it was. Seeing all the anoxeric entertainment show interviewers was no great shakes. It was fun to have people look at me as if I was a celebrity. I actually had people coming up to me and asking who I was (and not in the usual "who are you get the hell outta here" way!) And the free popcorn and soda's were swell.

It amazes me how many people got all dressed up to sit in a dark movie theater, but that's show biz.

If you're watching any coverage of the nite and you hear someone yelling "END THE WAR"... well, that was me!

Anyway, the movie was pretty cool...about what you'd expect if you've seen the other two. Aunt May as the voice of compassion, Mary Jane and Peter's romance (yawn), Harry's split personality (and I do mean split!), etc. While some of the movie was a little slow, the action sequences were amazing. There is a fight scene at the end of the movie with Spidey and an ally who shall remain nameless versus Sandman and Venom that is freakin' crazy and worth the snoozefest of the MJ/Peter/Harry love triangle.

I wish there was more Venom in the movie, but Sandman was actually a more developed and sympathetic character. The fx for both villains were spectacular.

I'm sure the movie will more than get a return on the supposed $300 million budget.

Toonage:

The Ramones - Spiderman (live)

Jerry Garcia - Spidergawd

The Monocles - The Spider & The Fly

Lemmy (from Motorhead) - Enter Sandman