I felt sorry for the guy really.  He never had the chance to be a kid when he grew up.  He was thrown right into the spotlight and had to perform and tour at a very young age.  Later in life he tried to be a kid, but had the hormones of an adult.  Not a good combination.

He owned the rights to the Beatles and married Elvis’ daughter.  He really tried to be the King of Pop and whatever else he could.  Then he died, apparently just like Elvis, via a prescription drug overdose.  You have to wonder if that was actually his plan.

I for one am glad that chapter of the freak show is over.

Tribute to Bob Bogle

Bob Bogle, guitarist for the Venutres, died yesterday at 75.  Hats off, wine glasses up to you man.  Your plunky, reverberant guitar style is classic and influenced many guitar players.  And your sound with that Fender Jaguar guitar through a Fender Reverb Amp is one of the best guitar tones in the history of rock & roll.

My Ventures memory

Years ago my band opened for the ventures and the coolest club in town.  The place was packed and we had a GREAT time.  It was an honor to share the stage with such legends and to meet them.

It was hilarious during their rendition of Hawaii Five-O when the drummer was doing his solo on his gigantic kit with his black gloves.  The bass player’s amp went down and they were trying to figure out how to get it running again.  The drummer kept soloing and soloing.  He’d anxiously look at the bass player, who would throw his arms up in the air.  The drummer got the most classic looks on his face because he was shot but had to keep soloing…  Classic.

During that show I didn’t sit in the audience.  I sat on the stage, with Bob Bogle’s guitar amp sitting next to me.  I absolutely loved it.  Every time he’d do one of those plucky riffs where he slid down the neck of the guitar made me a giddy as an elementary school girl.

“A lot of these rappers simply don’t have the money for real stuff anymore.”
“It’s to the point where they are wearing imitation jewelry, and that’s ridiculous.”
“People think these big pieces are blindin’ but they be like D-quality diamonds, and when you try and sell them you learn they ain’t worth a thing.”
“If you admit you wear fake jewelry, it is over for you. It’s like bragging you drive a Lamborghini when you really drive a Toyota.”

“Times are hard, ain’t nobody rocking it like that anymore,” says rapper and record executive Bryan “Birdman” Williams.

…actually Mr. Williams, you’ve employed a what is called “double negative.”  What you stated means that they are in fact “rocking it like that.”

The vultures opportunists are circling

Now places are popping up like SellYourGoldTeeth.com, where rappers can exchange their bling for cash.  I’m sure it is pennies on the dollar…. Pardon me, “dolla” yo.

Perhaps it is time for President Obama to step in?  It is time for the government to bail out and socialize the hip-hop industry.  Hip-hop is just too big for us to allow it to fail.

More fun reading about is in the WALL STREET JOURNAL

“Hey we recorded in your studio back in 1991.  Do you still have our master tapes?”

Wow.  And I can’t even find my car keys.

While listening to the Peter Gabriel channel, Pandora played The Used and The Osmond Boys.  Uh, no.

Me: “Five business days.”

Client: “Great thanks.”

“I was thinking I’d leave my Groove Agent drums, but your accents of stuff really increased the vibe, great job! I appreciate your talent.”

Last night we had one opening band and they sucked. They really sucked. By the time they finished their overly long set, they’d chased half of the mediocre crowd away.

I was worried about my chops so I played pretty straight for the first few tunes. I still have some speed and abilities, but I definitely ran into situations where my brain would send commands to my limbs to do certain complex licks and my limbs would simply misfire or just plain gag and not do anything at all.

I ran into an endurance problem toward the end of the set as well. It was a good thing we only played one set, because in the last song my forearms started feeling like they were Popeye-ing. They were seizing up!

Despite being a fairly lame crowd I still had a really great time bashing the shit out of the drums.

No Smoking!

Perhaps the best thing about last night’s gig was the fact that I didn’t have to take a shower and discard my clothes in the laundry room when I got home. For years of playing in smoky bars I’ve gotten home completely covered with a smoky stench. Now that laws have changed and no smoking is allowed in clubs, I don’t have that disgusting smoke film on my body after the gig. I wish that law would have been enacted 25 years ago.

Studio Drumming Today

I’m off to the studio to play drums for some guitar player’s solo album, then another gig tonight.

I haven’t played the drums since last year. I’d sort of retired from my rock band since my bass player and very good friend moved to Portland. It just hasn’t been worth playing since he left. He’s back this weekend, and I’m playing TWO shows.

My hands will be hamburger and my body clock is in for a shock. I’ve gotten used to going to be early, like 11pm. This weekend it will be back to the 3am bed time.

Studio drums

Just after I confirmed my availability for the 2nd gig this Saturday night, I got an email from a studio who needs me to do drum tracks during the day Saturday. I’m gigging Friday night, studio drums Saturday afternoon, and gigging Saturday night.

A couple of posts back I said I’d be reflecting on the hell project of 2008, since it was done.

It isn’t.

Unfortunately my new vendor who was doing the replication (two of my old ones went out of business in this economy) screwed the pooch. I’m now waiting for the client to supply me with some samples of the screwed up discs to verify what happened so I can get it fixed.

I can’t write the closing chapter on “Hell Project ‘08″ since “Hell Project ‘08″ is now alive and well in ‘09.