Blogs | Rock Around the Town
STP Reunion Off, Ratt Reunion Trouble, Blink Reunion On? plus Local Joins Nine Inch Nails
By Jay Allen Sanford | Posted November 25, 2008, 2:00 a.m.
Are Any Bands Left That Haven’t Reunited?
STONE
In a chat with Billboard, STP singer Scott Weiland seems to be closing the coffin lid on the band once again.
While it would be easy to assume Weiland’s mercurial behavior during the STP reunion tour is to blame, it’s more likely that the band is being killed amidst the final desperate thrashings of one of the last doomed dinosaurs to stumble into the tar pits ----- Atlantic Records, STP’s label.
Atlantic filed a lawsuit against Weiland and Eric Kretz of STP on June 12, demanding that the reunited band now live up to its record contract to deliver new albums. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, alleges the STP duo “threatened to stop performing under their contract and have indicated they would like to end the agreement.”
According to the filing, these threats "have given rise to a definite, real and substantial controversy between the parties that threatens to harm Atlantic's business." Guitarist Dean DeLeo and bassist Robert DeLeo were not included in the lawsuit, having been released from their Atlantic contract in 2003.
Though STP recorded six albums for Atlantic Records – a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group Corporation - the label feels it’s still owed up to three more albums. The day after the lawsuit was filed, STP released a response stating “Despite the allegations in the complaint, the band never threatened anything more than remaining away from the studio until equitable terms could be arranged. The precipitous filing of this action is yet another example of the difficulties facing artists in the new music environment, as relationships between artists and their labels fall further and further apart.”
“Eric and Scott have not yet been served and hope that Atlantic will allow cooler heads to prevail, and have the courtesy of shelving this action, to permit negotiations to continue in a positive spirit rather than under a dark cloud of hostility.”
When STP hit the road earlier this year, it was the band’s first national tour in around eight years.
One well-circulated YouTube clip from New Jersey shows singer Scott Weiland mumbling about the band being over an hour late, until he’s cut off by Robert DeLeo saying “Apology accepted, brother,” whereupon the band starts playing. The singer then sits down on the stage and holds out his mic, letting the audience handle the vocals on most of the song.
A New York Times review of the show said “[Weiland] seemed bedraggled and bushed, like a scarecrow. His first comments were barely coherent, and what came next was dispiriting.”
Weiland’s solo album Happy in Galoshes comes out November 25th, on his own Softdrive label. In the new issue of Billboard, he talks about STP’s current status, or lack thereof:
“I don't know how things are going to go with STP. It was sad to find out that we're still in some way locked into a contract with Atlantic Records, which is a travesty, actually. When we signed to them it was a great label. It was a beautiful time in music. Now if you say, ‘We're going to do this song as the first single,’ they go, ‘OK, we're going to do some radio testing.’ What the? When we first talked about putting STP back together, it was, ‘Do this tour and then see about doing a creative deal with another company.’ So if it ends up being we have to make a certain amount of records for Atlantic in order to be free, then I don't know if I have that in me.”
IS BLINK 182 REUNITING???? PLUS BLINK-RELATED LAWSUIT UPDATES
Former blink-er Mark Hoppus posted a message on his blog this week that appears to be an olive branch for his two estranged ex-bandmates.
Apparently, the recent death of blink producer Jerry Finn and the harrowing plane crash that drummer Travis Barker survived has kickstarted talks between all three blink members. Yes, even that DeLonge dude, who talked so much trash about how much better his new band Angels and Airwaves is (when not telling radio DJs that the U.S. government probably took down the Twin Towers, anyway).
"We're just reconnecting as friends after four years of not talking," says Hoppus. "It's a good thing. Obviously the first question for a lot of people will be, 'Does this mean a blink-182 reunion?' The answer is none of us know. We haven't talked about it at all. Right now it's just good for the three of us to see one another, reconnect and let the past be the past."
http://www.pickrset.com/markhoppus
There’s related news about a recent lawsuit launched locally by Hoppus ----
Hoppus filed a lawsuit on August 11 against Missicom LLC of San Diego, alleging the firm embezzled funds “to the tune of over 1.5 million dollars.”
“This all goes back to blink-182,” says Hoppus' attorney, Howard King, “when Mark met this kid Jeff Mitchell, who drove a Ferrari and talked about these self-pay machines he was going to put inside McDonald’s, eliminating the need for cashiers. Mark and Jeff become friends, their wives become friends, but all the while Jeff is pitching Mark on investing in these cash machines.”
“So Mark goes to Louis Tommasino, blink’s business manager [1999 to 2004], and says ‘look into this,’ and Tommasino says ‘Yeah, it’s a great deal’…he neglects to tell [Hoppus] that he’d already been working for the Mitchells since July 2003, or that’d he’d been given three percent of the company, in return for talking the blink guys into investing their money.”
In October 2003, Hoppus and his wife Skye invested around $600,000 in Missicom, whose company principals are father and son Ed and Jeff Mitchell. The other blink members also invested, as did pro golfer Phil Mickelson.
According to King, “$500,000 that was supposed to go into building the cash machines immediately went into the Mitchell’s pockets, as undisclosed consulting fees...Then we found out the Mitchells had already been sued in San Diego county by other investors, in a prior company set up to do the same thing.” Hoppus’ suit alleges Missicon never had a deal pending with McDonalds.
So why didn’t Hoppus sue Missicom until now? “Mark’s wife Skye and Jeff Mitchell’s wife Suzanne were friends, and they wrote a book called Rock Star Mama…then the whole Missicom thing happened, and Skye wanted Suzanne to take her name off the book. Suzanne said ‘I’ll take my name off the book if you agree not to sue us over Missicom’…the lawsuit we just filed is a derivative lawsuit, on behalf of the company, seeking to have the [missing] money returned to Missicom, and not against the Mitchells themselves, so it isn’t affected by the agreement Mark and Skye signed to not sue them.”
Hoppus’ lawsuit sought 2.2 million dollars. However, this week Tommasino was cleared of all charges by a San Diego Superior Court jury.
According to the San Diego Business Journal, the jury found Tommasino to be forthcoming about his involvement in the company to the couple. The Hoppuses are still seeking unspecified damages in a pending lawsuit against the Mitchells.
Travis Barker is also lining up some quality courthouse time. On Friday, an AP report announced that Barker is suing companies linked to a plane that crashed in South Carolina, injuring him and killing two friends. His suit is against plane owners Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., plus an airplane maintenance company – he’s seeking more than $25,000 in damages.
Barker's suit claims the companies improperly operated and maintained the Learjet that overshot a runway and burst into flames on Sept. 19 in South Carolina. The crash killed two pilots, Barker's assistant, Chris Baker, and Barker's bodyguard, Charles Monroe Still Jr.
The suit seeks damages for pain and suffering, disfigurement, loss of earnings, and medical and legal expenses. Still's mother, Thelma Martin Still, joined Barker in the lawsuit and is suing the companies for damages including grief and sorrow, funeral expenses and loss of earnings.
The members of Blink-182 are no strangers to lawsuits.
In September 2002, they were the subject of a personal injury case. Alexandra Cassie, a minor residing in northern California at the time, sued at the behest of her mother Janet Cassie, blaming the band, Clear Channel Entertainment and the Sacramento Valley Amphitheater for injuries sustained during a concert at that venue.
The band has faced litigation threats as far back as the release of their first official album.
Originally called simply “Blink,” the group’s origins date back to fall 1991, when Tom DeLonge met Mark Hoppus (Hoppus’ sister was dating one of DeLonge’s friends at the time). Hooking up with drummer Scott Raynor, they began playing local clubs and in 1994 they released “Buddha” on a small label run by friends in a band called the Vandals. They were signed to a one-album deal for Cargo Records and released “Cheshire Cat” in 1995. That’s when they came to the attention of a techno-industrial band from Dublin Ireland also named Blink.
The Irish Blink are comprised of guitarist/singer Dermot Lambert, bassist Brian McLoughlin, drummer Barry Campell and keyboardist/guitarist Robbie Sexton. They were just preparing to release their first album (which would go on to spawn four top-ten Irish singles) when someone sent them a copy of the Cargo “Cheshire Cat” record. In an interview posted at www.extreme-online.com, Travis Barker, who quit the Aquabats to join San Diego’s Blink after the departure of Scott Raynor, said "Blink was the original name of [our] band. But when we started getting exposure we nearly got sued by an Irish tech band so we added the 182 to keep the name.”
The threat of litigation is denied in a statement posted by the Irish Blink at irishsongwriters.com. “Contrary to anything you might read elsewhere, Blink`s manager simply phoned Cargo Records and asked them to inform the San Diego Blink that a band of that name already existed. We never sued the San Diego Blink and there was no court case. They simply agreed to change their name and an agreement was drawn up to avoid confusion. They became blink-182 and we continued on as Blink. Apparently there was also a Danish band called Blink but they changed their name voluntarily before we even heard of them. They are now called BL!NK.”
As to the “182,” members of the San Diego band have said in interviews that the number was chosen at random and at other times have claimed it represents "the number of times Al Pacino says everybody's favorite f-word in Scarface."
In 1997, blink-182 released "Dude Ranch" on MCA Records, which reached gold status in both the United States and Canada, and in July 1999 “Enema Of The State” sold over 100,000 copies within the first week of being in stores. Meanwhile, Dublin’s Blink released their second album “The End Is High” in the U.S. in March 1998, earning a “Spotlight Album Of The Week” profile in Billboard magazine and a subsequent American tour deal which saw them playing 113 gigs in 32 different states through 1999.
At least three booking agents filed lawsuits against the Irish techno band and their promoters during this tour, claiming they thought they were getting radio favorites blink-182 only to wind up with a numeral-deficient “Blink” and being faced with demands for refunds from angry patrons.
Blink-182's song "Dammit" was recently added to the Rock Band 2 video game.
LOCAL DRUMMER JOINS NINE INCH NAILS
Drummer Ilan Rubin started his music career while still in grade school, with the local band Freak of Nature, which performed at Woodstock 1999. Nine Inch Nails announced this week that Rubin is their newest drummer - he'll take up the sticks for NIN in early '09.
Astute Reader readers may remember that one previous NIN drummer, Jerome Dillon, had a medical mishap during a 2005 San Diego gig, only to find himself quickly replaced in the band.
20 years old, Rubin used to take drum lessons from Travis Barker of Blink-182 and David Uosikkinen, from the Hooters. Rubin – who also plays piano - recently released a solo album, Coup, though the album is credited as being by the New Regime.
Here’s the Overheard comic from September 2005, when NIN played in San Diego shortly after having done a show at Soma, only to have drummer Jerome Dillon fall over onstage ----
Dillon told MTV.com at the time "It was absolutely the most stressful thing I've been through in my life…During the third leg of the tour, I noticed that I was not feeling good. A few years ago, I was diagnosed with a thyroid malady and I was taking medication for it. I didn't know that [the medication wasn't working] and was building up in my system on the road."
A few NIN shows were cancelled, and then Dillon called NIN management to say he was back on his feet, healthy, and ready to get back behind his kit. But Dillon said Reznor and company showed "complete apathy and no sympathy for what I'd been through…I was not welcomed back with open arms, which I didn't understand, since I had been in the band for six years."
After booting Dillon from NIN, Reznor posted a message on the band’s website, saying “Jerome continuously has to see himself as the victim in all circumstances. He lives in a world where he is always being wronged by someone or something. That could be me, that could be management, that could be his drum tech, that could be the girl who mistakenly washed his permanent press designer jeans, that could be the person that didn't cook his chicken properly before the show, or that could be the record label that wont give him tour support for his new band to play a show…you look like an a-hole in your picture.”
Congratulations, Ilan, for becoming NIN’s new drummer...and, uh…..good luck!
WHAT DO TOURING BANDS THINK OF Let’s ask the Corrs and A.J. Leland
A.J. Leland.
Bassist Brian Sabin (aka Syban) keeps a diary of the band’s geographical and cultural upheaval, with segments posted at a Cleveland newspaper website, morningjournal.com. The band’s first local paying gig was a “happy hour” set at Winston’s, which Sabin called “a dusty, retro beach bar.”
Reportedly, the bartender told them it’s a miracle if anyone shows up for a Saturday afternoon set. “Our first song sent the Golden Tee crew packing, likely in search of a bar with more gaming and less blaring rock music. Thankfully, they were quickly replaced by a glazed Texan who introduced himself as Vino…during our second set, Vino was a bubbling bastion of support, hollering encouragement after every song.”
“A few more people wandered in during that second set…by the time we stepped onstage for our third and final set, we counted almost 18 people in the bar.” He says the intimate gathering of “drinkers and listeners” were increasingly enthusiastic about their set. “We ended to a chorus of clapping and Vino yelling at everyone in the bar ‘I told y'all, AJ Leland ruled, but you didn't believe me, now look at you, you dumb (use your imagination)! AJ Leland rules!’…we had our first California fan.”
Sabin says the bartender told him that the almost-20 person crowd was “an exceptional feat,” and promised to recommend the band to Winston’s promoter.
“Night had fallen by the time we left the club, but we felt like our star was rising at last. After all, we had nowhere to go but up.”
the Corrs...
In England, one of the most popular nightly TV programs is So Graham Norton, which airs on BBC Channel 4. Musical guests have included Ozzy Osbourne, Phil Collins, Marilyn Manson, and Cher.
In one episode, Andrea Corr of the Irish folk band the Corrs discussed her first visit to San Diego. The band’s U.S. label, Atlantic Records, had arranged a series of promotional showcase performances for the all-sibling quartet, just as their first single “Runaway” was released, from their September 1995 debut album “Forgiven Not Forgotten.” The gigs were intended to introduce the group to radio programmers and concert promoters, and Corr mentioned one of them taking place in San Diego. While she didn’t say exactly where they played, she evidently didn’t recall the occasion with much fondness.
“We did this gig and the record company invited media people to come, and the bribery was lots of alcohol. Which was fine but we went on a bit late so they consumed an awful lot of alcohol. We played to a definitely mild response and it kind of got bad at the end…we had just gotten off [the stage] and we were kind of depressed, going ‘that was really awful’ and [Corrs violinst] Sharon comes in [the dressing room] going ‘Some guy just puked on me!’”
[Norton’s audience erupts into hysterical laughter]
“Then, after that, we got back into the van and we’re about to pull off and I see these people are coming toward the van. I recognized this skinhead girl from the gig and I kind of go, oh, they were at the gig, go ahead and wave at them, they might be fans or something. So they come over and every one of us is sort of waving at the fans and all of a sudden they start kicking the guard! We said ‘Let’s get out of here!’”
[more giddy laughter from the British audience]
In the band’s biography at their website www.corrsonline.com, it’s noted that “The Corrs had one of their worst experiences, when a San Diego's [sp] radio station got them to serenade one of their listeners in the pouring rain.”
Andrea Corr is quoted here as saying “That was pretty humiliating…we eventually laughed our heads off at it. But at the time it was beyond, it was disgusting.”
Wait – someone from IRELAND, complaining about bad weather in SAN DIEGO?!?!? WTF -
HIDDEN TRACKS WEEK 1 – THE SHAMBLES and MANUAL SCAN
Dontcha just love getting something for nothing? And who doesn’t fantasize about finding hidden treasure? That’s pretty much the notion behind “Easter eggs” on DVDs and hidden tracks on albums – the goodies are there, but you gotta find ‘em --------
Probably the first hidden track was on Monty Python’s Matching Tie and Handkerchief vinyl album, released in 1973.
I remember the first time I put on side two – funny, funny stuff, and then the automatic record changer kicked in, the needle arm lifted up, returned to the beginning, and the album started again (yeah, I know this is stone age technology to a lot of you, but that’s how record players worked).
When the album began playing again, a voice boomed “I think all right thinking people are sick and tired of being sick and tired….” I couldn’t recall the skit, even though I’d just played side 2. Then another unfamiliar bit, and then another – WTF?!?!?!
Turns out the album had “double grooves” – one set played side two, and another set played a hitherto unsuspected – and unmentioned – side three!!! Nowhere on the record sleeve was this noted – there was no way of knowing until your record player needle happened to slide into an alternate set of tracks upon starting the album!
As the first in a series of web articles pointing out hidden tracks on local albums, here’s a detailed list of such goodies on releases by the Shambles and Manual Scan – first, a bit of background about the bands.
San Diego in the '80s was friendly to mod-leaning rockers with thin ties and a bright pop sound to match the polish on their shiny shoes. Managing to be both stylish and retro (no easy feat), Manual Scan thrilled not only the metal Vespa crowd, but amassed a European following as well with several popular single and EP releases.
Manual mainmen Bart Mendoza and Kevin Donaker-Ring have been musical partners since 1980, when they paired up to form Scan. "You had to own a metal scooter to be mod," Mendoza says, referencing local scenesters who used to hang out at Vespa Super Shop and Gelato Vera in Mission Hills, checking out the Tell-Tale Hearts at the old downtown Soma or rallying to see Quadrophenia at the Ken Cinema.
After a string of overseas hits (with little attention paid in the States), the duo reformed in the early ‘90s as the Shambles, with a rotating roster of new players (including bassist Mark Z of the Crawdaddys and a succession of drummers rivaling Spinal Tap's). Their originals still maintain that '60s sound, albeit more powered-up, à la Nick Lowe or Oasis, and they have a vast repertoire of eclectic covers (Badfinger, the Zombies, unreleased bootleg Beatles cuts, and more).
Mendoza is currently cowriting a book covering "every record released from every San Diego performer" from the turn of the 20th Century through the '90s. He also collects local vinyl, with the most rare piece in his own collection being the Scottsville Squirrel Barker album with Chris Hillman (later of the Byrds), from around 1962. "Copies have sold in excess of $200 in mint condition. I got mine at a thrift store, although that was 25 years ago." He still rides a metal scooter and has never owned or driven a car.
The Shambles have toured extensively and performed in Mexico, Spain, England, and throughout the U.S., appearing in concert as well as on TV and radio. They've also contributed to over three dozen compilation albums and have released four of their own albums to date. There's been a fair bit of press, from Billboard to Creem, and they've gigged with Jonathan Richman, the Rembrandts, Superdrag, the Records, OK Go, the Wondermints, Sugarplastic, Rusty Anderson (Paul McCartney, guitarist), the Alarm, Robyn Hitchcock, 20/20, Graham Parker, and Stereophonics, among many others.
HIDDEN TRACKS
“Our albums usually have between 14 and 20 tracks, but with the hidden stuff it usually goes quite a bit higher,” says Bart Mendoza. “The Spanish Manual Scan disc ended up with 31! We started to add demos and the like to the discs as a bonus in a big way when we signed to Snap! Records in Spain, as they wanted hidden tracks for their version of Clouds All Day, and we continue today.”
“There is probably a couple of albums worth of hidden tracks on our various albums,” says Mendoza. “Most of it is lo-fi; demos, radio recordings, live stuff, spoken word bits. A Manual Scan anthology had clips of the band being interviewed or played on stations around the world, including a clip of our first airplay/interview ever on KCR back in the early eighties. Some really cool solo Kevin guitar demos show up as well. But the oddest hidden track is probably an acoustic busk through Gilbert O'Sullivan's ‘Get Down’ on the Shambles Chelsea Smiles album.”
The Shambles’ new album Desde Ayer of course has hidden goodies. “There are commercials for a recent concert and a sound check recording of the band working up a cover of Los Brincos "Tu En Mi", which fits thematically with the Spanish theme.”
Below is a list provided by Mendoza of all the Shambles and Manual Scan hidden tracks, which are highlighted in bold typeface:
The Shambles
Clouds All Day (US/Blindspot 10/CD): Days & Maybes / The Colour Swirl (remake) / Blindspot / Thin Lines / Bears Down The Hill + I Believe / Original Tangent / Nadie Te Quiere Ya / Change / Rain / Don’t Know Where To Start / A Girl To Kill For (take 1) / I Can’t Don’t Want To (remix) / You Are My Friend / Brilliant / Moments / Ambient (You Are My Friend) live
Clouds All Day (Spain/Snap/CD): ***Same as US version except: Dancing in place of Nadie Te Quiere Ya; Bears Down The Hill and I Believe broken into separate tracks; and the addition of the following demos and home tapings: Innocence Becomes You (4trk demo), The Colour Swirl (acoustic arranging demo), I Wish (acoustic arranging demo), Blindspot (acoustic arranging demo), All The Love (4trk demo), I’ve Just Seen A Face (home tape)
What You’re Missing (Spain/Snap/CD): Leaving here/Innocence Becomes You/(She’s Used To Playing With) Fire, Does Stephanie Know?, Change, Love And Kisses, Clouds All Day (Acoustic), Medley: Of Heart And Soul/For Jamie, Might As Well, Harmony, Sorrow, A Short Spiral (Will Tell), Delve Into Everything, Is It In My Head, But I’m Different Now, It’s Going To Happen, Stuck On the Inside, It’s A Mod Mod World….. Bonus Tracks: Psychotic Reaction (Live), Nothing Can Be Everything (Live), Brilliant (Home Demo)
Chelsea Smiles (Spain/Snap/CD): Reissue of above vinyl EP with bonus tracks: The Waiting Game, Grace Intervenes, Child’s Play (alt. Version), She’s Electric, Daily Nightly, Sympathy, PLUS : Rhythm Of the Rain (demo), Happy Together (demo), Truly (demo), Hide And Seek (demo) + Instrumental No. 1 (demo), / Get Down (demo)
Manual Scan
Plan Of Action (Snap/Spain) All Night Stand/Nothing You Can Do/And We Still Feel The Same/Ever Any Reason/For Those/She Said It’s Late (Long Version)/I Want To Hold Your Hand/Plan Of Action (ITC Version)/New Difference/Yesterday’s Gone/31968/I Can’t Don’t Want To Faster/Confidence And Love/New Song/Come And See Me/Jungle Beat (remake)/ Man About Town/ Don’t Know Where to Start/Nothing Can Be Everything/The Bird (Demo 1)/ Shape Of Things++++Bonus Tracks: Woman (live at the Kings Road Cafe)/Gloria (live at Club Zu)/ Hanky Panky (live at Montezuma Hall with Jeff Connolly of the Lyres on Keyboards)/What Did You Say (Hit Single demo)/ Yesterday’s Gone (Southwestern demo) + Audio Clips of Manual Scan on World Wide Radio: 1) Germany 2) France 3) KFAI Minneapolis 4) KCR San Diego 5) KUSF San Francisco
All Night Stand (Get Hip/US) Plan of Action/I Can Only Give You Everything/Shape Of Things/Nothing You Can Do/Delve Into Everything/And We Still Feel The Same/Confidence And Love/New Song/She said it’s late (Long Version)/I Want To Hold Your Hand/All Night Stand/The Bird/Nothing Can be Everything/Ever Any Reason/It’s Alright With Me/Jungle Beat (remake)/Don’t Know where to start/Anymore/31968/New Difference(Remix)/Come see Me ++++++Bonus tracks: Fearless (live acoustic at 2581)/I Want To Hold Your Hand (Southwestern demo) / Don’t Know Where To start (live acoustic at 2581)/the Bird (demo 2) / Tonight (Pedestrians Demo)
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/bands/shambles/
Blurt (May 4, 2006)
"Ratt Doesn't Want You to Read This Blog" - Beyond Behind the Music, here's a comprehensive account of how much these guys hated each other, through all the lawsuits and insults, until the money to "reunite" piled up too high to ignore. That is, if you consider the current partially-original lineup a "reunion"....
"Just Sing the Hits and the Crowd is Happy - When Bands (Barely)Reunite" - San Diego has seen its share of former hitmakers who come to town with few - if any - original members. And it doesn't help when brainless local promotors can't even spell the band name right ("Orginnal Sugarhill Gang," anyone? No? I didn't think so.....)
"Lawsuits - Lawyers, Songs, and Money" -- 3-part series detailing Southern CA lawsuits involving venues, performers, patrons, etc. Includes separate feature covering rock stars who've been arrested in San Diego thru the years. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/mar/28/more-local-music-lawsuits-plus-celebs-busted-in-sd/
Concert Security Wars: Battle of the Bouncers -- San Diego security firms fight (AND SUE) for their right to bounce you! http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/apr/24/concert-security-wars-battle-of-the-bouncers/
"Rock Operas Were Born in San Diego" - Didja know the world's first-ever actual rock opera was staged in San Diego? "An Eye in Each Head" creator Anthony Adams is still in the stage rock biz, at the North Park Theater... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/aug/31/rock-operas-leaving-town-plus-playing-with-michael/
"Midnight Movies - the '80s Part 1" - The Fine Arts Theater, the Unicorn, the Guild, the Academy, the Loma and La Paloma, the Ken Cinema, the Strand in OB - for a time, the midnight movie crowd was its own sort of stoner subculture. Several historic cult movie events happened right here in SD, including the first-ever audience participation performance along with Phantom of the Paradise.... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/oct/22/worst-musical-halloween-costumes-plus-rock-op92d7a/
"Why Jackson Browne Hates Former Reader Contrib Richard Meltzer" - The first time Jackson Browne was profiled Rolling Stone [June 22, 1972], Richard Meltzer did the interview. When Meltzer called the singer "one hell of a prototype sex symbol for the gay rock underground," Browne was VERY unhappy.... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/oct/22/worst-musical-halloween-costumes-plus-rock-op92d7a/
"An Extreme Elvis Is a Naked Elvis" - Extreme Elvis doesn’t play San Diego much any more. "I’m banned from all the clubs in town," he says. "They booted me off the stage at one place [Brick By Brick] after about five minutes"..... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/oct/22/worst-musical-halloween-costumes-plus-rock-op92d7a/
"The Celebrity House Hunter" - A local real estate agent talks about driving celebs like George Harrison and Bread singer David Gates around town, in search of new digs... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/oct/22/worst-musical-halloween-costumes-plus-rock-op92d7a/
"Judge Judy Takes On the Belly Up Tavern" - So I was watching an afternoon repeat of Judge Judy (I like it when she yells at dumbasses), and lo and behold the episode involved the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach. It was the case of “Beauty and the Bouncers”... http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/oct/22/worst-musical-halloween-costumes-plus-rock-op92d7a/
"Playing With Michael Jackson's Head [Guitarist]" - Local string whiz Jennifer Batten has played with the Great Gloved One, Jeff Beck, Slash, and many more... 
"Whales Are Changing Their Tune" - according to Professor John Hildebrand, a blue whale expert at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD who has studied recordings of whales “singing” since the 1960s.
"[Paint]Brushes with Fame" - profiling three album cover and concert poster painters; Mike Clift (Psychotic Waltz, Tipper Gore's Comics & Stories), Geo (Fairfield Fats Band, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes), and Ken Meyer, Jr. (Marvel's Ghost Rider, Alternative Comics). http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2008/aug/31/rock-operas-leaving-town-plus-playing-with-michael/
"RIP Alton Kelley: King of Collage, Prince of Prints" - my unpublished 1999 interview with the late album cover and poster legend, who died in June ’08. Together with Stanley Mouse, Kelley virtually created the very look of an entire era.
"RIP Dave Stevens: Rocketeer Creator" - tribute to another fallen Great One, longtime San Diegan Dave Stevens. 
"Where Have All The Deadheads Gone?" Local flower children, after the head Deadhead was dead.
Blacks Beach - Partying nekkid with the children of the Rainbow (and some OCD Beatles fans).
THE KOMPLETE KISS KOMIX KRONICLES - Comprehensive collection of stuff I’ve done about working with Kiss on a comic book series, along with a bunch of never-before-seen artifacts from the Kiss Komix archives AND an article by Kiss comic author Spike Steffenhagen, offering his own very-different take, ala Rashomon, on the same events I describe in my essay...
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/12/komplete-kiss-komix-kronicles
LOCALS REVEAL THEMSELVES - We asked 75 local musicos to tell us something few would know or guess -----
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/11/75-secrets-about-75-san-diego-musicians
LOCAL ROCK CHICKS - “It’s not easy being a chick rocker,” says Vv Loveland of Scary Mary, who shares rock chick tales alongside Eve Selis, Anya Marina, AM Vibe, Elan, Lindsey and Anna Troy, Cindy Lee Berryhill, Jenn Grinels, Victoria Robertson, Rachael Gordon, Wild Weekend, and more...
ROCK 'N' ROLL COMICS: THE INSIDE STORY - In 1989, local Revolutionary Comics ("Unauthorized And Proud Of It") launched Rock 'N' Roll Comics, featuring unlicensed biographies of rock stars, most of which I wrote. Some performers, like Frank Zappa and Kiss, were supportive, while others like New Kids On The Block considered our comics akin to bootlegs and sued. In June 1992, publisher Todd Loren was found dead in his San Diego condo, brutally murdered...
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/12/rock-n-roll-comics-the-inside-story
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK VS REVOLUTIONARY COMICS - The inside story of how a hugely successful boy band tried to sue local-based Rock 'N' Roll Comics over an unauthorized biography of the group, sparking a court case that established, for the very first time, first amendment rights for comic books. Illustrated by comic superstar Stuart Immonen (Superman, etc.)...
OVER A MILLION CARNAL COMICS ARE IN PRINT - Here's how and why we made some of the top-selling erotic comics of all time, right here in San Diego, including what Gene Simmons has to do with it all, backstage tales of porn stars, and more confessions of a comic pornographer...
THE ROCKETEER AND OTHER FAMOUS '80S COMICS BEGAN RIGHT HERE IN SAN DIEGO - Here's a detailed history of local Pacific Comics, who recruited comic superstars like Jack Kirby to create one of the first successful indie comic book lines. Pioneers in the fight for comic creators' rights and royalties, former employees and operators reveal how they did it, and what went so terribly wrong...
COMICS AND CENSORSHIP - DON'T BE AFRAID, IT'S ONLY A COMIC BOOK - A local-centric history of comic book censorship, and the fight for the rights of comic creators...
TWILIGHT ZONE AND STAR TREK WRITER GEORGE CLAYTON JOHNSON PRESENTS - The inside story of a local horror comic book series featuring Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, plus sci-fi king Larry Niven, Zap Comix co-founder Spain Rodriguez, Matthew Alice artist Rick Geary, Vampire Lestat painter Daerick Gross, yours truly JAS, and many more...
THE BIRTH OF IMAGE COMICS: INSIDE STORY OF A LOCAL PUBLISHING POWERHOUSE - Illustrated tale revealing how Spawn creator Todd McFarlane and local comic artist Jim Lee (the Punisher, etc.) conspired to create the ultimate creator-owned comic books...
Like this blog? Here are some related links:
OVERHEARD IN SAN DIEGO - Several years' worth of this comic strip, which debuted in the Reader in 1996: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/overheard-san-diego/
FAMOUS FORMER NEIGHBORS - Over 100 comic strips online, with mini-bios of famous San Diegans: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/famous-former-neighbors/
SAN DIEGO READER MUSIC MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/sandiegoreadermusic
JAY ALLEN SANFORD MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/jayallensanford
