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gojohnnygo

Mackin' the Vinyl, any way that I can.

About Me

check out gojohnnygo.com for more! ... I've been called a Populist, a Contrarian, and an Alarmist, and I'd have to agree! Know this about me: I saw Thin Lizzy. Twice. And The Jam too. Also Sam & Dave, suckas. Plus Muddy Waters, Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, Sun Ra, XTC, The Damned, Slade, The Contortions, The Heartbreakers, Lynyrd Skynyrd (w/Ronnie), The Plasmatics, The Runaways, John Lee Hooker, The Minutemen, Monochrome Set, MX-80 Sound, Dead Boys, Nash the Slash, The Specials, Simon Stokes, Rancid Vat, The Boo Radleys, Albert King, The Pop, Willie Dixon, SS Decontrol, The Beat, The Deviants, Junior Wells, Ronnie Lane, Plastic People of the Universe, The Professionals, Black Flag (4 times), The Ramones (4 times), The Replacements (many times), Husker Du (a zillion tmes), and THE GODZ!.... I've seen all four members of The Velvet Underground in concert, but not together.... I still have a Twin Tone Records email address: [email protected].... The Time played my High School Prom, Morris Day on drums!.... I saw Husker Du's 2nd show ever, September 1979, at Christiansen's Bar in St Paul....Mitch Hedberg went to my High School, and my sister had him in some classes.... I got to meet The Clash in the '70s, see my blog for a comic strip showing the meeting......I once helped R.L. Burnside park his van........I helped book Minor Threat in Minneapolis in 1983...I saw Nirvana's very first show outside the Pacific Northwest....I helped put together "The Essential Radio Birdman 1974-1978" LP & CD released on the Sub Pop label....I helped book Low's first-ever show in Minneapolis...I have 1960s bluesman "Lazy" Bill Lucas' piano in my living room....my Tim Buckley LP collection is featured in the new documentary DVD....I've been to Sunday service at Rev. Al Green's Full Gospel Tabernacle.....I once slept in Otha Turner's granddaughter's bed (while she was away at college)....I've eaten fried pig snoot together with Georgia & Ira of Yo La Tengo.....I booked the very last rock show at The Prom Center, St Paul's grand old ballroom...I will someday build a house out of records....People who have ridden in my car: Steve Earle, Steve Drozd, Lou Barlow, Mix Master Mike, Zakk Wylde, Mojave 3, Iron & Wine, LA Guns, Bill Janovitz, St Etienne, Looper, KMFDM.....hard to believe, but I still like mash-ups......my earliest memory is of riding in a Corvette-shaped stroller at the 1964 Worlds Fair in New York City....

My Interests

Listening to vinyl. Hanging out in record stores (a fave since I was 12 years old). Making prank phone calls to record stores. Buying & selling records. Getting free stuff-especially records. Selling stupid stuff I get for free. Unpopular music. Left-wing conspiracy politics. Early 1930s American roadmaps. Zubaz. Whole foods, soft drinks. Outdoor swimming, outdoor ice-skating, & urban hiking. Making sushi at home. Being resourceful, thorough, punctual, & proactive. Multi-tasking, untangling things, peeling stickers off of stuff (esp. record covers), re-gluing stuff, fixing junk, sorting & organizing, donating, recycling, re-using, composting. Co-Ops of all kinds. Ignoring most media, sports, television, & Hollywood. Taking mass-transit instead of driving. Going waaay out of my way to do the right thing. Taking that extra step, seeing the Big Picture, Leading by good example. Spending $$$ at locally-owned independent businesses. BEING DIFFERENT & feeling smug about it! Pizza: Red's Savoy Inn, St Paul. Sushi: Midori's Floating World- Minneapolis. Ribs: L.C.'s- Kansas City. Vegetarian/Indian: Udupi- Columbia Heights. KMOJ Radio , First Avenue , KFAI Radio , Radio K , WFMU Radio , WSM Radio , The Guardian , acid archives , digg.com , littlehits.com .

I'd like to meet:

Vespa-ing the streets of of Brighton with Pete Townshend, Shopping for clothes on Carnaby Street with Ray Davies, Trying on mascara with David Johansen, Eating Texas Barbeque with Billy Gibbons, Brooding in the gloom with Greg Sage, A long walk on the beach with Ernie Isley ............................................................ ............................................................ .......... ............................................................ ............................................................ .....................................Already Met: Deniz Tek, Rob Younger, Chris Masuak, Johnny Kannis, Iggy Pop, Dennis Thompson, Wayne Kramer, Michael Davis, Marky Ramone, Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan, James McNew, Alice Cooper, Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger, Mo Tucker, Sterling Morrison, Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan, Brian Wilson, Arthur Lee, Colin Blunstone, Rod Argent, Mark Mothersbaugh, David Thomas, Cheetah Chrome, Richard Lloyd, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon, Dick Dale, Jim Dandy, Rickie Lee "Ricochet" Reynolds, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Ian Anderson, Ted Nugent, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Robin Trower, Eddie Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Dee Jay & The Runaways, Steve Earle, St Etienne, Jaimoe Johnson, Bobby Rush, R.L. Burnside, Mix Master Mike, Jonathan Richman, Krist Novoselic, Sam Beam, Zakk Wylde, Holger Czukay, Robin Zander, Rick Nielsen, Calvin Johnson, Martin Phillips, Gary Burger, Ronnie James Dio, Roger Miller (MOB), Stephen Roback, Matt Piucci, Jason Newsted, Phil May, Dick Taylor, Plasticland, Chris Knox, Lou Barlow, Tracy Gunz, Otha Turner, Steve Drozd, Michael Yonkers, Al Green, Husker Du, Lee Ranaldo, Gibby Haynes, Laika, Mojave 3, The Replacements, Jackie Martling, The Pharoahs, The X-ecutioners, Super Furry Animals, The Gourds, The Church, Modest Mouse, Tav Falco, Koerner, Ray, & Glover, Prince, Bob Dylan, Wilson Pickett, The Weirdos, Michael Hurley, The Clean, Kid Koala, Dan the Automator, Slug, Material Issue, Ric Menck, Zippy Caplan, Jesse Johnson, Bettye Lavette, Tom Hazelmyer, Kirk Kirkwood, Peter Green, Frank Black, Soundgarden, Mark Arm, Kurt Cobain, Geddy Lee, Del The Funkee Homosapien, Jeff Buckley, Jim Reid, William Reid, Janet Bean, Rick Rizzo, Mickey Dolenz, Stuart David, Charlie Burton, Sonic Boom, The Three O'Clock, Minor Threat, Die Kreuzen, The Effigies, Kevin Seconds, Steve Albini, Question Mark, Kevin Ayers, Neko Case, Kelly Hogan, BT, Freddy Fresh, Tech N9ne, Nazareth, Van Connor, Gary Lee Connor, Howard Tate, Penelope Houston, Marshall Chess, Ralph Stanley, Sally Timms, Baron Von Raschke, Ben Vaughn, Mojo Nixon, Jac Holzman, Dave Marsh, Robert Christgau.

Music:

Prank Phone Call recordings, pre-hardcore Punk Rock bootlegs, '70s popsong collages, R&B and soul TV appearances on video, obscure Mod/Psychedelia.

Movies:

"Napoleon Dynamite", "Being There", "King of Comedy", "Rock n Roll High School", "Slap Shot", "24 Hour Party People", "Cool Hand Luke", "Repo Man", "Catch 22", "Vanishing Point", "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", "Head"

Television:

America's Funniest Home Videos!

Books:

"The Long Emergency", "Bomb the Suburbs", "Thrift Store Art", "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee", "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", "Catcher in the Rye", "On the Road", "Go"

Heroes:

My parents, especially after visiting their hometown recently & realizing where they came from & where they've gone....Deniz Tek- Radio Birdman: Top Rocker, Jet Pilot, Surgeon............ Greg Shaw, Seymour Stein, Ralph Nader, Michael Yonkers, Drew Miller, Bill Batson, Ernie Batson, Robert Wyatt , Donald Bailey, Peter Jesperson, Paul Stark, Terry Katzman, Noele Sutherland , Walter "Q-Bear" Banks, Jr., Lori Barbero, Gregg Kostelich, Nick Hadjis, David Holt, Fred "Sonic" Smith, Mike Phillips, Rich Shelton, Tom & Mick Novak, Rick Fuller, Tom Berglund, Jon Lovold............... Ryan Cameron, Earl Root , Mark Trehus, Vince Murray, Julie Wellner, Aura Lee Likes, John Beggs, Sarah Brace, Todd Adams, Keith Covart, Joe Furth, Jason Brazil, Carl Nordmeier, Joe Schwab, Kelly Corcoran, Kory Willis, Ron Rooks (RIP), Steve Wilson, Anne Winter, Chad Kassem, Papa Ray, Kirk Walther, Craig Kessler, Dave Harrington, Nate Niceswanger, Mike Fratt, Mike Howard, Mike Garber, Steve Merry, Jim Deardorff, Steve Manley, Dave Benton, Ron Roloff, Rich Menning, Chuck Lokey, Bart Ford, Dustin Wallace, Jim Paddack, Bernard Vlasek, Quinn Bishop.........anyone who has the foresight to PLAN AHEAD & take alternate forms of tranportation instead of driving a car just because it's convienent..............anyone who has the foresight to PLAN AHEAD & get rid of unwanted stuff creatively (donating, recycling, etc) instead of hiring a dumpster & throwing everything away just because it's easy......anyone who has copyrights to great music (new and old) & actually releases it all ON VINYL too.....anyone who thinks before they act.......anyone who makes the effort to look at things from different angles....

My Blog

St Paul/Minneapolis interesting facts

THEE biggest Metro Area on the Mississippi River, located at the last place to land a steamboat (St Paul), right before the biggest waterfall (Minneapolis). Biggest Middle Class per capita of any big ...
Posted by gojohnnygo on Tue, 25 Sep 2007 07:18:00 PST

July in Hollywood

Overwhelming is the best word to describe my first visit to LA proper in 24 years. I didn't sleep for five days...just too excited. Amoeba Records on Sunset Blvd is too good to be true, also great wer...
Posted by gojohnnygo on Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:40:00 PST

New Orleans May 2007- like a dream

Words can not express how good it felt to be back in N.O.. It had been 8 years since I was there last, here's my take: New Orleans post-Katrina is like the old New Orleans with a bunch of Detroit spri...
Posted by gojohnnygo on Mon, 07 May 2007 08:44:00 PST

Meeting The Clash 1979 at Sun Ray Shopping Center

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Posted by gojohnnygo on Wed, 02 May 2007 07:13:00 PST

I am the same age as....

Barack Obama, Scott Baio, George Clooney, Michael J. Fox, Heather Locklear, Eddie Murphy, Dennis Rodman, Meg Ryan, Paula Abdul, Garth Brooks, Jim Carrey, Tom Cruise, Tommy Lee, Jodie Foster, Demi Moor...
Posted by gojohnnygo on Thu, 22 Feb 2007 09:20:00 PST

REV-105, hundreds of spots

When the legendary Minneapolis/St Paul radio station switched to a Heavy Metal format once ABC Cap Cities purchaed it in 1996, I happened to grab the box of used DATs headed for the trash heap. Ten ye...
Posted by gojohnnygo on Thu, 21 Dec 2006 09:05:00 PST

Finding Cool Old Stuff

I like to spend time digging for cool old music stuff. It might be finding a copy of The Doors "Golden Doors" Taiwanese import LP (albeit without the jacket, and only in fair shape) in a pile of free ...
Posted by gojohnnygo on Thu, 10 Nov 2005 08:33:00 PST

Wayward Home for Unwanted Cassettes

Yep, I've been talking about this for about five years, and now I'm ready. I have the space. You have the cassettes. If you can get 'em to me, I will watch over them. It sure beats throwing them away,...
Posted by gojohnnygo on Mon, 31 Jul 2006 03:40:00 PST

THE WHO 30 years ago this month

My first concert. St Paul Civic Center, Steve Gibbons Band were the openers. I went with Mike Reiter & Roger DeBace. The band were to play Saturday night, but Keith Moon "fell ill", so they postponed ...
Posted by gojohnnygo on Fri, 05 May 2006 11:54:00 PST

I have more fun

with a stack of scratchy Benny Goodman 78s that I got for free on a wind-up player than you have with your SA-CDs & audiophile equipment. I have more fun with a pair of $1 garage-sale hockey skates on...
Posted by gojohnnygo on Wed, 08 Feb 2006 07:39:00 PST