The College Crowd Digs Me

"My life has just  been  a run of crazy comedians..." ~ Penelope Spheeris ~ When discussing director Penelope Spheeris , I hesitate to suggest she has led a charmed and magical life, only because that might imply that her acclaimed work in film has been more a gift from the good luck fairies and less from the good old fashioned sweat of hard work.  And that would simply be a falsehood.  An untruth.  And while she is indeed charming, her accomplishments are nothing less than well-earned.  Someone once said, 'you make your own luck.'  And that's exactly what Penelope has done. She burned the late-night candle earning her Masters Degree at UCLA...and then kept her ears open and her eyes peeled for any opportunity she could grab.  She walked on the wire and absolutely dared anyone to tell her she couldn't do it.  She was fearless. She rattled windows with her amazing documentaries about the music culture.  She smacked us around a...

" I will buy you a new life. Yes I will." ~ Everclear ~ In 1997, Art Alexakis , along with his band Everclear , laid the album... "So Much For The Afterglow" on us. The music was hard, crunchy and catchy.  And for many spinners of the disc, it gave them a feeling of almost absolution. Melodic lyrics about all-too-familiar personal pains and doubts were delivered with exciting staccato guitar churns...and it felt like a good cleansing.  The songs helped wash away a bit of the crud and the crap and the confusing tangles of life that can be so hard to shake off. More than anything though, the music gave reassurance that we were not alone in the struggle.  And maybe that helped us see a small break in the clouds.  And for some, that was all we needed to see. Am I using too much hyperbole?  I don't know.  Maybe.  I'm not declaring this the best album from the 90s.  Hell, I'm not even sure this is Everclear's best album of the 90s! ...

Story songs can be a tough sell.  They're like a juggling elephant.  You believe it when you see it.  Or in this case...hear it.  One too many forced or telegraphed rhymes and the listener will bail. A story song requires a bit more commitment from the listener.  It has to maintain a comfortable balance of words and melody in the telling...without forfeiting the point of the tale.  Plus, and this is a biggie for me, the song must ring with a modicum of truth.  And I don't mean the song has to be truthful.  It just needs to sound believable.  Sincerity never hurts.  I mean, Jim Stafford's "Wildwood Weed" may not be literal truth, but we believe it. Finding that sweet spot is tricky.  And can be risky time spent in the studio.  The replay value for a story song decreases much faster.  The majority, but for the treasured ones, is played a few times and then quickly relegated to the blue moon bin. But when a story so...

"From a land where dragons stood, a young boy dared what no man could." ~ Mahogany Rush ~ At a time when classic rock fans practically pull their hair out waiting to hear something/anything apart from the same overplayed radio songs...I give you Mahogany Rush .  During the '70s, Mahogany Rush , led by Frank Marino ... recorded a surprising number of wonderful amp-blowing albums.  Each one filled with jams and burners and crankers begging for a radio spin. Yet his music has been almost virtually ignored.  It is what it is, I guess, but I don't get it. Frank Marino was only 16 when he recorded his first Mahogany Rush album... "Maxoom" ...in 1972.  He was a hard-blues, psych-rock guitarist with a young man's heart and an old man's soul.  His music immediately awakened similarities to the better parts of Hendrix, while unleashing his own blistering guitar style.  He wailed and burned and cranked and thrashed his way through the ...

"It's a turn-down day ...and I dig it." ~ The Cyrkle ~ For a few brief and wonderful moments in time, the 60's group...The Cyrkle, led by Don Dannemann...held the transient talisman of rock-n-roll. They were good musicians with good voices playing weekends hard wherever they could....and by twists and turns of that talisman...landed beneath the wings of manager...Brian Epstein.  Yeah, that guy! Mr. Lennon himself offered them the band moniker ...The Cyrkle (with a y)...if they cared for it.  And if that wasn't enough, they opened every show on The Beatles last American tour.  Along the way, the Cyrkle found time to make two albums.  Three if you count the excellent lost gem soundtrack for "The Minx."  And at least two songs which will forever remain radio-staples.  Get you some. Don Dannemann Interview - May 2017 Don Dannemann (vocals, guitar) Casey Chambers:  It was 1966 and The Cyrkle decide to join the party by rel...