dimland radio 3-8-14 show notes

I Was Wrong

During last week's show, I had twice stated that I am 48 years-old. I'm 49. How did I get that wrong?

A Mini Oscars Recap

I didn't have much to say about last week's Oscars event. It was ok overall, but why did Ellen spend so much time in the audience? Remember when Bob Hope and Johnny Carson used to host the show from the stage?

I Was A Weird Kid

 

Yes, I was. I have no idea why getting to sleep required such odd behavior. It worked, but I sure did try the patience of my room sharing siblings. How did my brothers refrain from smothering me in my sleep?

This Woman Really Likes The Exorcist

 

I stumbled upon this TV spot from 1974 or so for the movie The Exorcist. The woman in the ad really, really, REALLY liked the movie. Was it her personal kink or something?

 

Never Found In The 80s: The Three Johns and The Screaming Blue Messiahs

 

It had been a couple months, but my Never Found blog series finally returned to the Stuck in the 80s blog this past week. Profiled last week were two bands from the UK: The Three Johns and The Screaming Blue Messiahs. Did you miss the series?

What Sacred Me As A Kid?

 

My mother used to think scary movies such as the old Universal monster classics (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, etc.) would scare me and keep me up nights. She was wrong. The movies that scared me were the ones that were supposed to be true. Movies such as The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror, The Legend of Boggy Creek. But we know those stories are true, don't we?

 

A Dimland Radio Pedantic Moment

 

Speaking of The Exorcist, which I was, there is a moment in the movie that is difficult for me to suspend my disbelief. I can accept the demonic possession, the levitation, the projectile vomit, etc; but her head making a complete 360 turn on her shoulders?

 

Not Forgotten Lyrics

 

A couple weeks back, before I broke my Google Nexus tablet, I was listening to my Pandora music radio app. A song came on which I hadn't heard for 15 to 20 years, but the lyrics were all still right there in my brain. Why, after all this time, would my brain be hanging on to the lyrics of Styx's Renegade?  

 

Movie Recommendation: None This Week

 

You are on your own. Are you ok with that?.

 

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus

First ad break bumpers: 'Tony's Theme' by Pixies & 'Death Of The European' by The Three Johns
Second ad break bumpers: 'Wild Blue Yonder' by The Screaming Blue Messiahs & 'Seconds' by U2
Closing song: 'Angler's Treble Hook' by $5 Fiddle

That's it! See you next Saturday night for Dimland Radio 11 Central, midnight Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com you can also download my show from the z talk show archives page. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com

You can also go to my CafePress store and buy stuff with my artwork on it and have me do a portrait for you if you like. Find out more here and here.

dimland radio 8-28-10 show notes

I did it again. Another stellar show.

I was cool once Part 2

I enjoyed talking about the old days last week that I decided to do it again. This time I talked about one particular concert my friend John and I had seen. The concert at First Avenue in Minneapolis was The Cramps with The Screaming Blue Messiahs opening. That Cramps were good, but the real show was The Messiahs. They were fantastic. I played a few clips of their songs to give the listener a flavor of the marvelous noise this band made.

You can read a more detailed account of the show here. You'll need to scroll down a bit or you could read about the other concerts on that page.

Ten Minute Topic with Chris Brown

Fellow skeptic: Chris Brown

This was the first installment of a new segment for Dimland Radio. In Ten Minute Topic, fellow skeptic, Chris Brown, and I talk skeptically about some topic for about ten minutes. But don't hold us to the ten minutes. Remember, Chris and/or I could be wrong about any of the stuff we talk about, however unlikely. It is ok to be skeptical of the skeptics.

For our first installment we talked about the Book of Revelations. Actually, Chris did most the talking. Chris revealed the most likely candidate for who was the Antichrist. You'll have to download the show to hear the identity.

Chris learned much of what he talked about from Bart Ehrman, a Biblical scholar of some note. Please check out Dr. Ehrman here.

Quietest place on earth

No, it's not the Z Talk chat room during my show. It's a specially constructed studio at Orfield Laboratories, Inc. in Minneapolis, MN. It's so quiet it made the Guiness Book of World Records. I would be interested to hear an EVP that might come out of that room.

You can read more about the silence here.

Movie recommendation

It was time for a Western to be recommended, so I chose one the was directed by and starred Kevin Costner. No, not that one. I suggested that my listeners check out the 2003 Western, 'Open Range'. It's excellent and has a very authentic feel to it. It costars Annette Benning and the incomparable Robert Duvall.

Put in your Netflix queue now.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ahead' by Wire
First ad break bumpers: 'Alice's House' by The Psychedelic Furs & 'Night Time by Killing Joke
Second ad break bumpers: 'Constant In Opal by The Church & 'Your Autumn Days by Figures
Closing song: 'Angler's Treble Hook' by $5 Fiddle


That's it! See you next Saturday night for Dimland Radio 11 Central, midnight Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com You can also download my show from the Z Talk Show Archives page. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com

concert memoirs pt. 29 - cheap trick, cheap trick & cheap trick

Cheap Trick

11/5/98 First Avenue w/Dave Ticket Price: Unknown

This was the first night of three night concert event. Cheap Trick had rereleased their first three albums: “Cheap Trick”, “In Color” & “Heaven Tonight”. To promote the rereleases the band did this three night concert event with each night focusing on each album. They would play each song, in order, from that night’s featured LP. Then they would play a variety of their other songs afterward.

I had complained about Husker Du (First Avenue, 3/30/87) playing their latest release first song to last in order that last time John and I had seen them. It pissed us off when Husker Du did it, but when Cheap Trick did the same thing three nights in a row it was cool. The difference being that we knew going in what Cheap Trick would be doing and we know the material well. You know what they say about the time bands play their new material, “Time to get a beer.”

This being the first night, they played their first album the self-titled, black and white covered “Cheap Trick”. I really liked that album. It doesn’t have a hit, but it has some great rock tunes, such as, ‘Hot Love’, ‘He’s A Whore’, ‘Oh, Candy’ and ’ELO Kiddies’. They played all the songs with great intensity while still having a load of fun.

These guys are true, road-tested, rock’n’roll professionals. The show was a load of fun and we still had two more nights to go.

Cheap Trick
11/6/98 First Avenue w/Dave Ticket Price: Unknown

On this, the second night of the big event, the band showcased their second LP, “In Color”. This was the best of the three concerts with a big surprise finish.

Dave and I decided to stand farther back then we had the night before to avoid the crowd and still get a good view of the band. We were standing with some other friends, I’ve forgotten who, when Dave’s brother, John, excitedly approached. He was busting to tell Dave, “They’re here! They’re gonna play!”

They were the big surprise finish. There was another fairly noteworthy band in town. They would be playing a show at the Target Center, which is located across the street from First Avenue. There were rumors that they might join Cheap Trick on stage that night, but, until John had come in with his news, we weren’t sure they would. I don’t know where John got his information, but he was correct.

For the last song of Cheap Trick’s concert, Aerosmith took the stage to join Cheap Trick in an amazing, kick ass version of Aerosmith’s ‘Train Kept A’Rolling’! It was fantastic. With the exception of Aerosmith’s drummer, the entire band got up there with Cheap Trick and had a ball!

It was a fun unexpected treat for us and I had a far better view of Aerosmith then when John and I had seen them back in 1983. It was a lot of fun and I’m glad I was there.

Cheap Trick
11/7/98 First Avenue w/Dave Ticket Price: Unknown

Night three of the big Cheap Trick event. It was “Heaven Tonight” that night. It was also a night of technical difficulties.

Something went wrong with one of Rick’s guitars. It just zortched out and stopped playing. No problem. He just got one of his many, many other guitars. However, once he started playing it, he realized it wasn’t tuned right. And, if memory serves, the next guitar he grabbed was also improperly tuned. He was getting a little perturbed and told us that he preferred playing a guitar that was in tune.

Well, they are professionals and they soldiered on.

There was also a special guest for this night’s show, albeit not nearly as exciting as last night’s. The guest was some local Top 40 radio DJ, I can’t remember who he was or what station he was with. He was brought out to do the DJ patter heard at the end of the song ‘On The Radio’.

An interesting note on that song was how Rick introduced it. Let’s face it, if you know the album and the song, you know that it’s pretty much filler. It’s not one of Cheap Trick’s better songs, but they were featuring each album and they weren’t going to leave it out. Rick introduced the song as being “somewhat... shitty.” And he should know, he wrote it.

The show came to an end and I had the feeling that I had been a part of something special. Not quite on the level of The Screaming Blue Messiahs (First Avenue, 7/22/86) or Pete Shelley (First Avenue, 8/20/86), but I’m glad I was there.

concert memoirs pt. 15 - souxsie & the banshees, let's active, the church, the cramps & the screaming blue messiahs

Souxsie & the Banshees

5/25/86 Orpheum Theatre w/John Ticket Price: $13.75

Here was one of the rare shows not taken in at First Avenue. John and I had come to prefer shows at First Avenue or, to a lesser extent, the Cabooze. It was easier to get a good view of the act and not have to put up with the assigned seating nonsense. And, of course, the ticket prices were lower. But, Auntie Souxsie was worth shelling out the $13.75 for the balcony seats at the Orpheum.

So, we the folks (John and I included) in the cheap seats were all doing our best to dance in our confined seating area, when Auntie Souxsie got a little upset. She didn’t appreciate the apparent sedentary nature of the audience. She said something along the lines of, “I hope your wheelchairs are comfortable.”

“Oooo, Auntie wants us to dance! Well, look up here! We’re rockin’ the balcony!”

Let’s Active
7/6/86 First Avenue w/John Ticket Price: $4.00

Ok. We must have liked this band, because this was the second time we’d seen them. I still can’t remember a thing about the show.

The Church w/A Few
7/9/86 First Avenue w/John Ticket Price: $7.50

This was our second time seeing The Church. We really liked these guys. Their early shows were pretty damn good. They were tight. They had good balance in their sets, which was something they lost in their later shows. These shows they had the right mix of mid-tempo ethereal songs to excellent fast paced rockers. Their later shows were too dominated by the slower, moodier tunes. But I’ll relate more on that later on in this series.

One thing I really liked about Marty Wilson-Piper (one of the band's two guitarists) was he had his rock star thing going all the time. The rock star hair, the jumping around, winking at the gals and give them the up-nod. He must have had a lot of “Backstage Betties” in those days. The rogue.

The Cramps w/The Screaming Blue Messiahs
7/22/86 First Avenue w/John Ticket Price: $7.50

The title of this segment ought to give you a clue as to my take on this show...

This was a special Club Degenerate concert night featuring The Cramps. So, yeah, The Cramps were The Cramps were The Cramps. Punkabilly, whiskey drinking, leather, Lux Interior’s ass hanging out of his pants, etc., etc., etc.

They were entertaining enough, but the truly transcendent act was the opener. I’m not exaggerating (ok, maybe a little)... The Screaming Blue Messiahs blew The Cramps right off the stage! This is one of those shows that stands out as a true gem. If you weren’t there you really missed something.

This was one of the very best shows I have ever seen. A three piece band that absolutely kicked ass. They were so amazing. I knew, at most, one of their songs (‘Wild Blue Yonder’) before seeing them play. That didn’t matter, because despite my ignorance of their material, I was blown away.

The rhythm section was fantastic. They kept the songs together while lead guitarist/vocalist Bill Carter attacked his guitar. He even dropped it to the stage and danced on it at one point. And when he played it, he was incredible. He had a rather unique finger-picking style. The sound those guys made! You should have been there.

Because they were the opening act and most of the people there were more interested in seeing The Cramps, there was plenty of room at the front of the stage. John and I and a growing number of folks were down front and were being greatly entertained by this fairly unknown band. I say unknown because a fellow approached me and asked, enthusiastically, “Who are these guys?!”

My mind went blank. I couldn’t remember, at first. I told him I didn’t know and we went back to basking in the glory of these musical masters. Then I recalled the Club Degenerate night from the week before when, at the end of the night, Kevin Cole reminded us that the next week would feature The Cramps and The Screaming Blue Messiahs.

I went over to that fellow and told him who they were. He shouted, “These guys are f@#&ing great!”

Indeed they were. You should have been there.

Now two things about The Screaming Blue Messiahs...

First is something admittedly a bit silly. Bill Carter is almost a dead ringer of the 80’s era pro wrestler, Baron von Raschke. Look at the photos below. Bill is on the left. What do you think?

Second, this band should have made it bigger than they did. They released three full length albums (‘Gun Shy’, ‘Bikini Red’ & ‘Totally Religious’) over a five year period (1984 - 89) and then they were done. They vanished.

I find it a little sad that if they are remembered at all it will likely be for their one “hit”, ‘I Wanna be a Flintstone’. It’s very good song, but, let’s face it, despite the fantastic sound it’s essentially a novelty song.

Oh, well. At least I was there.