Music = Life; The time period that I should really be living in, which would be: 1964-1980s; Singing at Karaoke and with my own band; Writing about music (and getting published too! Check out my blog to learn more about my most recent publications.); Muscle Cars; My friends; Boys; Glamming It Up; Daydreaming about time travel, boys, being a Rock Star etc.; and being as silly and immature as possible.
Music:
This list may be long, but that doesn't mean it's conclusive. Music is my passion, and I am always interested in discovering music I haven't heard before, so my tastes are forever expanding.
Anarchy In The UK:
The Clash, The Jam, The Buzzcocks/Pete Shelley/Steve Diggle, Magazine/Howard Devoto, The Damned/Captain Sensible, The Members, The Stranglers, Essential Logic, The AuPairs, Stiff Little Fingers (I know that Ireland isn't part of the UK, but they were still part of the UK scene), The Undertones (ditto), Wire, The Boys/Hollywood Brats, The Vibrators, Nine Below Zero, Madness, The Specials, The English Beat, The Delta 5, The Mo-Dettes, The Slits/The Raincoats, The X-Ray Spex, The Adverts, Sham 69, Generation X/Billy Idol, The Rezillos/The Revillos, Young Marble Giants, Kleenex/Liliput (Yes I know they're Swiss, but they are associated w/ the UK scene), The Only Ones/England's Glory, XTC, Chris Spedding, Rockpile/Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Squeeze, Elvis Costello/Attractions/Imposters Adam and The Ants, Duran Duran, Gary Numan/Tubeway Army, Joy Division/New Order, John Foxx Ultravox/Tiger Lily, Doctors Of Madness, The Cuddly Toys, Sisters Of Mercy, Bauhaus/Love And Rockets/Daniel Ash/David J, T.Rex, Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry/Brian Eno, David Bowie, Sweet, Gary Glitter/Glitter Band, Jet (The 1970's Glam Band with Martin Gordon, not the shitty new band that rips off both Iggy Pop and Sweet with that one big lame-o hit of theirs), Pilot, Mud, Cockney Rebel, 10cc, ELO/Wizzard/The Move, Status Quo, Badfinger, George Harrison (and some Beatles), Syd's Pink Floyd/Syd Barrett solo, The Who, The Kinks, and The Rolling Stones. I also am a total Junk Shop Glam whore, and most of that stuff is British.
Germany: Kraftwerk and Klaus Nomi.
Australia:
Skyhooks, The Saints and The Church.
California Uber Alles:
The Doors, Sparks, Zolar X, The Dickies, X, The Flamin' Groovies, The Nerves, The Plimsouls, The Dils, The Germs, The Weirdos, The Rotters, The Runaways/Joan Jett, The Avengers/Penelope Houston, The Eyes, The Nuns, Los Microwaves, The AlleyCats (only their singles from when they were on Dangerhouse, I'm not too fond of their albums), The Suburban Lawns (Oh My Genitals haha!), The Blasters, Fear, Legal Weapon, The Bags, The Pandoras/The Muffs, The Salvation Army, The Descendents/All, 7 Seconds, Black Flag (Pre-Henry Rollins only), Dead Kennedys (but only in small doses since there is only so much Jello that I can take), and The Donnas.
Midwest/Illinois:
Shadows Of Knight, The Cryan' Shames, Daughters Of Eve, Iggy Pop and The Stooges (He's originally from Detroit so he gets put in this category.), Alice Cooper (Like Iggy, he's also originally from Detroit, at least Alice Cooper Group was), Suzi Quatro (Yet another Detroit native), Lene Lovich (ditto), Cheap Trick, Big Star (They're from Memphis, which might not be considered Midwest, but it's close enough), The Raspberries, The Shoes, Off Broadway, Pezband, Phil N' The Blanks, Heavy Manners, and The Rev-Ups.
Noo Yawk Noize/East Coast:
Milk 'N' Cookies, Brett Smiley, The Ramones, The New York Dolls, The Velvet Underground/Lou Reed, Wayne County, Tuff Darts, The Dictators, Richard Hell & The Voidoids, Television, Cheap Perfume, Tom Tom Club, ESG, and The Brood.
Oldies but Goodies:
The Beach Boys, Creedence Clearwater Revival/The Golliwogs, Various Psych/Garage Groups/Songs (especially what's on the Nuggets Box Set, as well as Pebbles and Garage Beat '66 comps), Various AM Gold One Hit Wonder Songs/Groups (For ex. Love Goes Where My Rosemary Grows, Ride Captain Ride, Jackie Blue etc), The Byrds, The Hollies, The Animals, The Yardbirds, The Grass Roots, Music Machine, The Luv'd Ones, Shocking Blue, The United States Of America, Paul Revere And The Raiders, Tommy James And The Shondells, The Ohio Express, The Monkees, The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Gladys Knight And The Pips, The Shangri-Las, The Shirelles, Carole King, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and Janis Joplin.
Guilty Pleasures:
Abba (Admit it, you love them, and how could you not, they are just so fucking infectious), Christina Aguilera (But only the Dirrty album, I don't like her crappy teenybopper shit from before that), and Early-Mid '80s Madonna (True Blue is where I start to lose interest, although I do like Deeper And Deeper, which is from the '90s, but besides that, I'm not really into here '90s or '00s stuff). I am also an Ex-Spice Girls junkie, and I like to watch America's Next Top Model. Phew! I feel so much better now that I've let all my dirty little secrets out.
Movies:
Back To The Future has been my fave movie since I was 5, and it has influenced a lot of the stories I've written. Other all time faves include: Peggy Sue Got Married (This movie has also probably influenced my writing in one way or another), The Jerk (Back when Steve Martin was actually funny), Coming To America (Back when Eddie Murphy was actually funny), Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (I'm talking about the original, since I thought the remake totally sucked), Rock And Roll High School (I've always related to Riff Randall), Valley Girl (I want Randy to be my boyfriend, and I want to be able to see The Plimsouls play as much as they do in that film), Velvet Goldmine (I want to be part of their fab Glam Rock world and be in a threesome with Curt Wild and Arthur Stuart, yum!), Urgh! A Music War (One of the best concert movies ever!), Rude Boy (Ok, so the movie really doesn't have a plot, but the concert scenes are killer), and The Decline Of Western Civilization (I'm talking about Part 1, I've never seen Part 2 nor do I want to, and I thought Part 3 was just ok.).
Television:
The only current TV shows that I never miss are Veronica Mars (or I should say was Veronica Mars, since it was cancelled) and America's Next Top Model. I own the first and second seasons of Veronica Mars on DVD and have most of the 3rd season on VHS, so yeah I am kinda obsessed with that show. I don't save Top Model on VHS though. I am fine with watching that just once (and preferably with Val and Bianca). But I will watch eps of Veronica Mars multiple times, especially since I have a crush on Jason Dohring, the actor who plays Logan, so the eye candy is just an added bonus to the intriguing story lines and wonderful acting. I used to be really obsessed with Buffy, and then that went off the air, but I still had Angel to fill the void, but then that got cancelled, so Veronica Mars is how I was filling the void of my past obsessiveness over Buffy (And now I have nothing to fill that void, so I'll just have to read, write, and listen to music instead, not the end of the world really, since I prefer doing those things over watching TV anyways). Veronica Mars has been compared quite a bit to Buffy, and Buffy's creator Joss Whedon said Veronica Mars was the Best Show Ever (I disagree, Buffy was a better show, but I guess it would be wrong for him to say his own show is the best ever, especially if he has any sense of humility, and I think he does) but anyways, I guess it still makes sense why I like Veronica Mars so much. Since I see myself as a smart blonde (instead of a dumb one obviously, not to say I don't have my ditzy moments, because I ocassionally do, but the point is that I do not consider myself a bimbo, despite the fact I'm blonde), so I dig shows where the main character defies the dumb blonde stereotype, and such is the case with both Buffy and Veronica Mars. But enough about those shows. I used to watch That '70s Show regularly, but it got boring during it's last couple of seasons and I lost interest in it. I still will watch the reruns, if I have time to, so that I can get my Hyde fix, since he's so yummy. When Angel was still on I never missed an episode, and I also never missed an episode of Buffy while it was still on the air, but unlike Angel, I thought that Buffy ended at the right time, especially since I did not like the last season of it very much (when it aired, but after rewatching it on DVD, I do like it better, it's still not one of my fave seasons though.) Angel, on the other hand, should not have ended when it did, since it was still such a good fucking show and there were so many more stories to tell. Hopefully the WB will make those rumored Angel movies/miniseries (but as time wears on, and the show's cancellation becomes further in the past, it seems more and more doubtful that they will ever be making these movies/miniseries, especially since Joss keeps moving on to new things. There was Serenity, and I heard he'll be doing a remake of Wonder Woman next, so that doesn't really leave him much time to focus on the Buffyverse, and it doesn't really seem like he wants to right now either), because the way Angel ended is just so unfair. I also like lots of British TV. Doctor Who and The Young Ones are my fave Brit shows, but I also like: Coupling, The Office, The Vicar Of Dibley, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Da Ali G Show (which may air in America now, but was originally a British show), and Bottom (I hate the crapola American remakes of Coupling and The Office so don't be thinking I like those). I don't have Cable but if I did I would probably be watching BBC America a lot. I also would watch Nick At Night and TV Land a lot if I had Cable, since there are so many shows from the '70s and '80s that I love (Actually I don't need Cable to watch some of my fave old sitcoms because they're now on Me TV, so yay for that!). During the summer of 2005 I became a Bewitched junkie (Samantha being another smart blonde I dig), and I watched it almost every day on ME TV. I haven't been watching it lately though because I'm usually at work when it's on, and I don't think to tape it. I also got in to Cheers that year, and watch reruns of it when I can, but I only like the episodes with Diane (yet another smart blonde), since I think Rebecca sucks. My new favorite show to obsess over would be Sex And The City. Unfortunately I didn't watch the show when it was actually on because I was without cable. Carrie Bradshaw is another smart blonde I like, and sometimes I feel like I am her, being a chain smoking writer, with offbeat fashion sense myself, and having gone through plenty of trouble with my love life as well. Soap, Three's Company (Chrissy obviously does not apply to the smart blonde analogy I've got going, which is fine since I don't like her), Degrassi High, Square Pegs, the Facts Of Life, and What's Happening (the original, NOT What's Happening Now), are some other shows that I love which are coming to mind, but there are plenty of other ones from the '70s and '80s that I dig too. I also wish I had the Sci Fi channel so that I could watch reruns of the Twilight Zone and Quantum Leap. They are two of my fave shows ever.
Books:
I guess it's not too surprising, since I am a music writer, that I love to read music biographies. Two music books I read that I really enjoyed would be: The Prettiest Star-Whatever Happened To Brett Smiley? by Nina Antonia (which inspired me to write about Antonia, see my blog for more info on that) and Man Enough To Be A Woman by Jayne County. I have various ideas in my head for music books that I'd like to write, and I hope that I will be able to make them all possible. Lately, my writing and reading have both been focused on non-fiction, but I am always looking for good fiction to read, whether it be short stories or novels. I plan on reading Jake Arnott's fictional Glam Rock opus, Johnny Come Home, as soon as I have a chance. I also like to read coming-of-age novels for teenagers, which might have to do with my tendency to act quite juvenile. I have written some fiction for young adults, which could be seen as controversial, and I use banned YA books and the authors who wrote them, as inspiration for what I want to do. Two of my favorite banned authors would be Judy Blume and Norma Klein. One of my friends even nicknamed me the "Punk Rock Judy Blume" after reading some of my stuff, and I took that as a huge compliment since I really look up to her. I also love to read Sci-Fi and Fantasy, especially short stories from those genres. I have also written a Fantasy story, and it has been published, here's the link to it: http://lostcoastphoto.com/runners.html
