Michael Layne Heath - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Veteran inspired-amateur culture journalist, writer, poet and musician. Founder of VINTAGE VIOLENCE, Washington DC's first fanzine devoted to Punk/New Wave, 1977-78 (as documented in Anderson and Jenkins' history of the DC alternative music community, DANCE OF DAYS). Writer for other DC zines thru the 80's - anyone recall THE INFILTRATOR, CAPITOL CRISIS or TRULY NEEDY? Moved to San Francisco 1992 - contributed to everything from MAXIMUM ROCK N ROLL to XLR8R, wrote about local color for SUPERSTAR (Germany), and record reviews for SHREDDING PAPER out of Berkeley. Once familiar with Cyberspace, MLH wasted no time in knocking out essays about music and the City for PERFECT SOUND FOREVER, the recently late, lamented TANGENTS U.K, and the newly reconvened PTOLEMAIC TERRASCOPE. Frequent liner note contributor to Bay Area reissue label Water Recordings/Four Men with Beards/DBK Works - done notes for vinyl reissues of both MARQUEE MOON and ADVENTURE by Television, and the soundtrack to Kubrick's LOLITA. Also CD reissues of Afrika Bambaataa's PLANET ROCK and BEWARE THE FUNK IS EVERYWHERE, Bob Neuwirth's first solo lp, and brand new CD reissues of both lp's by the Sugar Hill Gang. MLH is also a published poet, having self-published two chapbooks of his prose - PUT IT THIS WAY and COUNT TO FIVE AND TELL THE TRUTH - which have been hailed by Thurston Moore in ARTHUR Magazine as "choice meat and potatoes punk 'n' roll...firing on some right-on cylinders", and by Daniel (Lemony Snicket) Handler as "growly and tender". Both are available thru Feudal Gesture Press c/o this website. A third chapbook, SACRED GROUNDS, was published in December '07 by Texas/Scotland poetry imprint Kendra Steiner Editions. A followup chap for KSE, GREY RAGE (DYED), is out now (March '09). In January '08, MLH began a semiregular blog column, THE GROOVER'S GROTTO, at the official website of noted epic fantasy novelist Tad Williams (www.tadwilliams.com). And if all that weren't enough, MLH is also guitarist for THE SCREAMIN GEEZERS, a Bay Area band fronted by writer and pioneer of both the Cyberpunk lit genre and the Portland (OR.) Punk Rock scene, John Shirley. MLH is also available at reasonable rates for freelance writing, liner noteage and journalist assignments, also via this page. He is looking forward to being the next big Twenty-Year Overnight Sensation.

My Interests

I'd like to meet:

Dreamers, failures, explorers. Someone to teach me how to dance the Peanut Duck. Walt Curtis, bard of Oregon. Ultimately, myself at various stages of my life, to tell him to hang in there and that everything gets better with time and age - mostly.

My Blog

New Grotto column now online!

Fans of diligent excavators of musical gems are directed to check out my new Groovers' Grotto column, over here...http://www.tadwilliams.com/blog/blogs.aspx?uid=4xo - MLH
Posted by on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:14:00 GMT

New Grotto blog/Sky Saxon RIP

Got a new Groovers' Grotto column up, exploring the 'bubbleglam' sounds of 1970's Holland, recently unearthed on a fantastic new CD collection. As ever you can peruse it hyar:http://www.tadwilliams.c...
Posted by on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:22:00 GMT

Chris (Tall Dwarfs) Knox Hospitalized

Was skootching round the news page at the Fall's fansite, and was distressed to read that veteran genius New Zealand musical artist CHRIS KNOX (being part of orig. NZ punkers Toy Love, half of the Tal...
Posted by on Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:27:00 GMT

KICKSVILLE 66 (The Real Clevo Hall of RnR Fame) Now Open!

Was recently hipped to a brand new blogsite and was compelled to share it with all my MS kindreds.Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of prototypical Punk/Wave histoire should be hip to the goings on...
Posted by on Fri, 29 May 2009 13:32:00 GMT

Poem outtake from latest chap

The following is an outtake from my latest poetry chapbook GREY RAGE (DYED), available through the good folk at Kendra Steiner Editions in San Antone and Volcanic Tongue in Glasgow.Also more locally, ...
Posted by on Sun, 24 May 2009 12:38:00 GMT

Movie Time in the Grotto (new blog column)

So we have a new installment of the GROOVERS' GROTTO column up as of now, scoping out such films as A TECHNICOLOR DREAM, THE STORY OF THE YARDBIRDS and THE LAST POGO as well as the usual blatherskite ...
Posted by on Sat, 02 May 2009 11:04:00 GMT

More Than Just A Brand New Cadillac

One new/old disc I've been reaming into my brainpan as of late is JET BLACK LEATHER MACHINE, the mindbogglingly first - and about time - compilation of the music of early UK rocker Vince Taylor, now o...
Posted by on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:53:00 GMT

MLH chapbooks in S.F. bookshops now!

Just thought I'd let local San Fran folk, who might be interested in checking out any of my chapbooks, know where they are available.In the Mission, most of my poetry chaps - including the latest, GRE...
Posted by on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:30:00 GMT

Do you have any Cerise records? (No not a band, a color)

Just thought I'd serve up a little Sunday afternoon link salad:For one, there's some dandy reportage from St. Etienne mainman and intrepid journo Mr. Bob Stanley to hip you folks to.First, a piece fro...
Posted by on Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:55:00 GMT

GREY RAGE (DYED) Gets Noticed (online review)!

What do you know, my new chapbook GREY RAGE (DYED) has only been out a week and is already getting reviews...this is from Gail Grey, who runs Shadow Archer Press, and it's from her COUNTEREXAMPLE POET...
Posted by on Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:50:00 GMT