I'd like to meet:
Everyone looking for a good night out.
Myspace Layouts at Pimp-My-Profile.com / Skulls & Pink
Music:
The Coolest Songs In The World Vol. 1 - Wicked Cool Records
Little Steven Van Zandt hangs out with Bruce Springsteen, James Gandolfini and Handsome Dick Manitoba on a regular basis, which would make it a safe bet that he has a higher cool factor than the average guy, so if he says that these 15 tunes are the coolest songs in the world, we can believe him, right? As far as this compilation goes, Van Zandt's circle of friends isn't as important as the fact he hosts one of the best syndicated radio shows in America, Little Steven's Underground Garage, and if his taste in nuevo garage rock isn't flawless, it's good enough that this CD rocks with consistent strength and enthusiasm. Van Zandt covers a broad range of garage-centric acts here, from the very retro vibe of veterans the Chesterfield Kings to the epochal fuzztone of unsung guitar hero Davie Allan and the soulful vibe of Reigning Sound, and he's willing to put relative little-knowns Mr. Brown and Cotton Mather next to relative big names Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Mooney Suzuki. While there aren't any out and out duds here, Van Zandt does seem to have a fondness for garage formalism, and there are just enough songs following the familiar teenage sneer template that this get a bit samey in the middle innings. But there's no arguing Little Steven knows a good single when he hears one, and there are 15 songs here that would be topping the AM charts in a better world. This isn't going to change your life the way Lenny Kaye's Nuggets compilation did, but it'll give you something good to listen to while waiting for the next installment of the Underground Garage to air.
Books:
Handsome Dick wrote a book!!
The Official Punk Rock Book of Lists features over 200 of the funniest, craziest lists - from the Most Offensive Songs to Stupidest Band Names, from Punk Sell-Outs to Fashion Don'ts - culled from historical archives and generated by celebrity guests. Contributors include rock stars and punk luminaries, from members of Guns N' Roses and the Ramones to Little Steven Van Sandt, Nick Tosches, Lenny Kaye, Richard Hell, and every other big-name punk from the last 30 years of rock history. Wicked caricatures, by noted underground artist Cliff Mott, of punk rock stars are peppered generously throughout the book, which is already being hyped as the most fun music book of all time.
Pre-order it here:
Heroes:
FOR MY PAL,HILLY KRISTAL
Hilly Kristal invented something amazing...Unprecedented, to my knowledge, on God's green earth...A rock and roll club that lasted & flourished, in the same spot, for over 30 years...That type of success doesn't just come from just being a good businessman. It comes from someone who loves music... someone who loves the people involved in the music...someone who loves what they do.
CBGB'S started in an era when the Bowery was the Bowery!...No velvet ropes, no "Do You Have A Reservation?" questions, no Apple Martinis...Just a strip of land on The Rock that included flop houses, Christian missions, and tons of good old fashioned cheap,let's get drunk, gin joints.
What CBGB'S did, was shine a light on this most improbable piece of land, a land not used to the light at all . All of a sudden, limos and famous music industry types were coming down in droves to sign bands outta CB'S.
That's my recollection as a lifelong resident of New York City, of the impact Hilly's club had on the neighborhood.
Yes, by now, music fans all over the world, know of Hilly Kristal's famous Bowery club, and the impact it had on our culture.
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I don't know what life would have been like without CBGB'S, or Hilly.
That's because, for over 30 years, (uninterrupted) I played his club, watched others play his club, and visited Hilly and the staff.
From the early days of punk, in the mid 70's, all the way up to closing time last year, I got a smile (well, a "Hilly smile" anyway, his sort of "clenched grin") whenever I entered CBGB'S and saw him. He liked me. He liked The Dictators. I /We, liked him. There was a special chemistry. A friendship chemistry, that comes from sharing something important in life with another person. It was a person, a time, a place, and an experience that was powerful and symbiotic, between Hilly Kristal, myself, and my band.
That was the thing that comes to mind when I think of Hilly. Let others detail and document what went on in the club, and the great accomplishments. I just want to remember that grin,that feeling of belonging...that special "second home" vibe, one rarely gets, in life.
In the last coupla' years I used to push my son Jake Koufax in his stroller, and visit the club, whenever I was near The Bowery and Bleecker.
I came through the drug addled 70's, where half of my contemporaries died from overdoses, relatively unscathed, clean & sober. So it was with great pride when I entered CB'S for the first time, with Jake in tow, and said, "Hilly, this is my son, Jake" Hilly was happy for me...Maybe even proud of me...It was like that between us. Hilly always made me feel welcome ... I always felt loved, whenever I entered Ceebs, and saw him sitting there.
Another piece of me, another piece of my life died when Hilly died.My story is inseparable from the CBGB story. It is intertwined. It is one.
Bye Hilly, and thank you so very much.
Love,
Handsome Dick Manitoba
New York City, October, 2007
