We're changin' lodgin's!

Yes, we're moving. After a long time here at Blogger we've moved over to Wordpress to try that out. You can still use www.24hourpartypooper.com but if, for some reason, you've bookmarked a blogspot address please change that. You'll need to resubscribe to the feed, too. Just bear with me, people, an let's see if this experiment will work.

A Thought I Thought

Observations of 2008 so far made over coffee at 4:45 AM.











1)The Hold Steady is to The E Street Band as Buckcherry is to AC/DC.
2)"Young Folks" was/is the new "Brimful of Asha"
3)Hipsters wearing bad 1980's garbage have no idea how much they really look like someones aunt.
4)That Fleet Foxes record isn't as bad as one might suspect.
5)If Conor Oberst is his generation's Bob Dylan then Colin Meloy is its Natalie Merchant.
6)Why hasn't anyone come clean and admitted that Albert Brooks and Alan and Susan Raymond invented 'reality TV'?

I'm out. Happy weekending.

With Fuzz & Screaming For All

It was sometime around 1997, I'm pretty sure, I was contacted via telephone by a guy named Jack Ball. (No, I didn't yet have an email account.) He was putting together this massive project consisting of 50 bands from around the county. The idea was to have one band from each state and each band would record their state song. He had already confirmed participation from a band from Georgia (I can't remember who) but they had dropped off the project and somehow he found out my contact info and got in touch to see if my old band A Mercy Union was interested. We had been around in various incarnations for about 5 years at that point, and counted among our alumni Henry Owings and Ryan Lewis, and I was the only original member left. But the line-up circa 1997 was me, Dave Gerow and Dan Pahl and this was really the only time the group felt totally solid and actually gelled.

Anyway, we readily agreed to do it and got Greg Harmelink to lug his recording equipment across town to the now-demolished Ultramod Compound so we could record our version of the Stuart Gorell/Hoagy Carmichael classic "Georgia On My Mind".

The thing was, we didn't really know the song. We sorts-kinda knew the tune a little bit and perhaps a smattering of the lyrics but once we had committed to recording it we knew we had to actually learn it. Then we realized that none of us even owned a copy of the song. I distinctly remember us listening repeatedly to the version from Willie Nelson's Stardust album that belonged to Dan's father. So we figured it out and made our own version of it.

Our take on "Georgia on My Mind" is pretty far away from the moon-June-spoon, sleepy Spanish moss, front-porch whimsicality of any other version I've heard. We played it as if the Civil War were still raging and we were hunkered down inside some Yankee stronghold wondering if we were ever going to drink sweet tea again.

The double CD was eventually released the next year and when I look at it today it's kind of cool how many bands from that era I actually remember (Fun Size, Boris The Sprinkler, Pee-Tanks, Doc Hopper, Royal Pendeltons, Pezz, Sicko, Haggis) and still kind of amazed that Bunnygrunt is on it, too. The album was named Coolidge 50 and you can follow that link to learn more about it but don't go sending your money there. The site was last updated in 2004.

Jack Ball wound up sending copies to the then-governors of each state and the then-president of the United States. Here's a sampling of the responses he received:

-Governor Zell Miller, Georgia: "I appreciate your thinking of me and extend my best wishes for its success. With kindest regards, I remain."
-Governor Mike Huckabee, Arkansas: "The CD is great! I can tell a lot of hard work and dedication went into this project. This will make a wonderful addition to my audio library."
-Governor Jesse Ventura, Minnesota: "Minnesota is sure to succeed with your involvement."
-Governor Tommy G. Thompson, Wisconsin: "I am thrilled to have this for Wisconsin is celebrating it's 150th Anniversary this year and how appropriate that we have this CD now with our State song."
-Governor George W. Bush, Texas: "Thank you for the thoughtful gesture. It was kind of you to think of me."
-Governor Tom Ridge, Pennsylvania: "You can be certain that I will enjoy listening to the bands from each state performing their state song."
-President Bill Clinton, United States President: "Thank you so much for your kind gift. I appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity. You have my best wishes."

Although I have no doubt that almost none of them actually listened to the record I am equally confident that this is the only time anything I ever recorded wound up in the White House mail room.

So, here it is.

MP3: A Mercy Union-Georgia On My Mind
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(PS: Yes, that's the old Georgia flag. The one this song was recorded under. )

Licensing Hell

Yeah, I know all the arguments. Bands need a way to make money, it's exposure, blah, blah, blah. Sure, I sympathize. Just know that this is how cool you look doing it.


Meanwhile...
Megadeth front man Dave Mustaine goes totally wild over Legends Cup Coffee and endorses a KICK ASS Peruvian roast that "was so pleasing to taste and had the right boost [he] needed in the morning for [him] to prepare for another day of shredding!"

This makes me never want to buy another thing ever.

Mine Mine Mind

This is going to be highly personal so if that sort of thing bugs you feel free to flip the channel to Vice and learn what's hot/not hot or some such shit.
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Actually, screw it, half you will probably already be schooled in what I want to talk about anyway. Because I've spoken with you about it. I feel like I've hit, not an impasse exactly, but a frustration point as to what I want 24 Hour Party Pooper to be and what I've let it become. Although posting the schedules last week for The Athens PopFest was necessary ( and, as an organizer something I was pretty much beholden to doing) I'm so tired of so many 'blogs' having content that amounts to nothing more than short new items. What's worse is how many items are actually purloined directly from other sources. It's one thing to pick up on a news story, item, whatever and then post your own take on it but so many people are out there just re-posting the same crap over and over.

I'm starved for good, critical, thoughtful music writing. Sure, it's out there and I don't mind hunting it down. But I think mostly I'm starved for a community of thoughtful writers. The nature of the music blog world is now at the point where everyone is so worried about their Technorati rating falling or being a half-second behind someone else posting the new hot shit MP3 that no one seems to care that this potentially wonderful (and largely freely available) means is becoming nothing more than a copy of a copy of a copy. And no one gives a shit enough to say, "Yeah, that Vampire Weekend record really is a shitty album." Hell, why do that when it's so much easier just post a string of tour dates and a link to the band's MySpace page? Get enough hits doing stuff like this and you just might be able to pull down a few thousands dollars a year selling ad space. And publicists will love you, too! (And, yes, that Vampire Weekend record is dog shit and you should feel ripped off.)
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The other problem is with myself and my own writing. I constantly fluctuate between venomously ripping an album (or being so excited over a record that I froth at the virtual mouth to tell you in very vague terms how wonderful it is) and writing 5,000 words attempting to find the proper cultural context in which to place a band and their recordings. It's less Jekyll vs. Hyde than it is hobo vs. historian. But, dammit, I also like to read those styles of writing so I'm stuck there, too. I like Bangs and Marcus. I like Owings and Byron Coley. But, for myself, I'm still trying to reconcile the two sides and am not sure why I feel like I need to necessarily go either way (as if there were no third option available) but I just feel this need to be serious one way or another. Laugh all you want but, to me, this Rock-n-Roll stuff is serious business. Yeah, I mean it. Music is important and for reasons that go far beyond the personal. Nothing is born in a void and when ever a record comes out it is a cultural artifact informed by the culture from which it came. This is especially true if said record was made as a conscious reaction to said culture.
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I'm not at all interested in records as commercial products; I'm extremely interested in records as cultural products. No, the two are not at all mutually exclusive but you sure as hell wouldn't know it with every blog reading as if they were one giant advertisement.
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All that said, here's one of the best songs ever written about the utterly dorky, ridiculously obsessive world of record collecting.

MP3: The Tweeds- I Need That Record

Day 4 and then 1 More

Oh, wow. Seriously. Roky Erickson & The Explosives absolutely killed it last night. It's amazing how many half assed rock bands bitch and moan about any little perceived slight and then you've got a guy like Roky, who's been to hell and back, slay a huge crowd at age 61 and be incredible humble and thankful for everything.

Anyway, here's the lineup for today's Athens PopFest events. Be there or be gone.
Please note: This will be the last show ever from Boyracer. No, you don't want to miss it.
Also, at 2:40 PM Tendaberry (pictured above) should be one of the best bands all week. I'm totally excited to see these guys. For cheap comparison imaging Fishbone mixed with Gang Of Four. Oh. Yeah.

Little Kings
2:00 p.m.
Railcars (San Francisco, CA)
2:40 p.m.
Tendaberry (Atlanta)
3:20 p.m.
One Happy Island (Boston, MA)
4:00 p.m.
Hat Company (Toledo, OH)
4:30 p.m.
Fat Planet

Flicker Theater and Bar
6:00 p.m.
Umbrella Tree (Nashville, TN)
6:45 p.m.
Noisycrane (Lexington, KY)
7:30 p.m.
Gospel Gossip (Northfield, MN

Caledonia
8:30 p.m.
Laminated Cat (Boston, MA)
9:30 p.m.
Ham 1 (Athens)
10:30 p.m.
My Teenage Stride (Brooklyn, NY)
11:30 p.m.
A.Armada (Athens)

The 40 Watt Club
8:00 p.m.
Cryptacize (Oakland, CA)
8:30 p.m.
Secret History (New York, NY)
9:10 p.m.
The Faintest Ideas (Sweden)
9:50 p.m.
Ruby Isle (Athens/Minneapolis)
10:30 p.m.
The Buddy System (Athens)
11:00 p.m.
The Lolligags (Athens/Nashville)
11:30 p.m.
Fishboy (Denton, TX)
12:15 a.m.
Apes (Washington, D.C.)
1:00 a.m.
Boyracer (Flagstaff, AZ)

A Cold Night For Alligators, Dogs.

Damn. Here I am, hosting a festival that was a year in the planning, and I come down with the worst sinus infection of my life. So, yeah, I'm dizzy and sickly so if you see me this week don't give me any crap. On the upside of things today represents the first time the Athens PopFest has utilized four separate venues in a single day. And, of course, headlining tonight is Roky Erickson & The Explosives. If you miss it, you truly did.




Athens PopFest 2008 Lineup for Thursday, August 14.
Little Kings
2:00 p.m.
That's My Daughter (St. Louis)
2:40 p.m.
Little Birds
3:20 p.m.
A Faulty Chromosome (Austin)
4:00 p.m.
Panda Riot (Chicago, IL)
4:45 p.m.
Averkiou (Gainesville, FL)

Flicker Theater and Bar
6:00 p.m.
Night Driving in Small Towns (Valdosta)
6:45 p.m.
The Good Graces (Atlanta)
7:30 p.m.
Mary O. Harrison (Atlanta)

Caledonia
8:30 p.m.
Ocelots (Nashville, TN)
9:30 p.m.
Twin Tigers (Athens)
11:30 p.m.
Dead Confederate (Athens)

The 40 Watt Club
8:00 p.m.
Patience Please (Seattle, WA)
8:30 p.m.
Velcro Stars (Murfreesboro, TN)
9:00 p.m.
Bunnygrunt (St. Louis, MO)
9:30 p.m.
Cars Can Be Blue (Athens)
10:15 p.m.
Great Lakes (Brooklyn, NY)
11:00 p.m.
Dark Meat (Athens)
12:30 a.m.
Roky Erickson & The Explosives (Austin, TX)

Athens PopFest Day 2, Comin' At You.

Last night went smooth as ice. Seriously flawless. Today is nearly 12 hours straight of bands at Little Kings so follow the links and judge for yourself. Oh, yeah, if you want quick and easy songs from a bunch of bands playing this week head over to the Athens Banner-Herald's Athens Popfest micro site. They've been really supportive of us this year and gone above and beyond for us.






Wednesday, August 13. Little Kings Shuffle Club.
2:00 p.m.
Boy Genius (Brooklyn, NY)
2:35 p.m.
Amo Joy! (Indianapolis, IN)
4:00 p.m.
Afternoon Naps (Cleveland, OH)
4:45 p.m.
Nervous Systems
(Gainesville, FL)
5:30 p.m.
Oh Sanders (Gainesville, FL)

(Go eat. Take a nap. Whatever.)

8:00 p.m.
Supercluster (Athens)
8:35 p.m.
Blondie-Grunt (St. Louis, MO)
9:10 p.m.
Nana Grizol (Athens)
9:45 p.m.
Hot Pants Romance (UK)
10:20 p.m.
The Coathangers (Atlanta)
11:00 p.m.
Whistling School for Boys
(Athens)
11:30 p.m.
Judi Chicago (Atlanta)
12:00 a.m.
Spring Tigers (Athens)
12:35 a.m.
The Selmanaires (Atlanta)
01:15 a.m.
We Versus The Shark (Athens)

(Top to bottom: The Selmanaires, Hotpants Romance, Judi Chicago)

Athens PopFest Week

After an entire year of planning, coordinating and doing more work than I though was possible The 2008 Athens PopFest begins tonight. I can't even tell you how excited I am about this. Of course, I want you to see all the bands but take a look at the schedule and make your own plans.
Tonights FREE opening night party is at Cine and will have Fish Schticks, Allison Weiss, Bob Hay and The Jolly Beggars and Titans of Filth. The snowball starts rolling at 8 PM.

Canadia is no fun, my babe, no fun

There's only a few rules in rock and roll. One of them is: you don't seal from Mike Watt. Another one is you don't steal from Iggy Pop. It seems some sticky fingered Canucks thought it'd be a good idea to rip off an entire rented truck containing every bit of The Stooges gear yesterday morning In Montreal. In the interest of justice I am reposting this here.
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if anyone has information, ANY INFORMATION!
please, please, PLEASE as soon as possible contact
Eric Fischer at:
nycentral13@gmail.com
cell phone: +1 646 932 1907

PLEASE FORWARD AS FAR AND WIDE AND AS QUICKLY AS

POSSIBLE!!!

IGGY AND THE STOOGES
EQUIPMENT STOLEN ON AUGUST 4, 2008
OUTSIDE THE EMBASSY SUITES HOTEL
208 SAINT ANTOINE OUEST,
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA

all equipment was in a rented Penske 15 foot yellow truck
with U.S. (michigan) license plate number AC46493
and the theft had to have happened in the morning,
between 6:30 and 7:30 am

there's a web page at:
http://www.hootpage. com/stoogesstolenstuff/stoogesstolenstuff.html
that will soon have pictures and updates to more stuff found missing

Item Country of Origin Serial Number:
-Red roadcase containing: USA No serial number
-Red Gibson 1963 EB-3 bass (this is mike watt's bass!) USA No serial number
-Black roadcase containing: USA No serial number
-Reverend Flying V guitar - Volcano black USA #08001
-Black roadcase containing: USA No serial number
-Reverend Orange guitar USA 03416 ZSL7
-Black fibre case containg: USA No serial number
-Gibson red SG short scale bass USA No serial number
-Black roadcase containing: USA No serial number
-Marshall Vintage/Modern Amplifier UK M-2007-07-0926-2 RoHS
-Black roadcase containing: USA No serial number
-Marshall Vintage/Modern Amplifier UK M-2007-07-0927-2 RoHS
-4x Marshall 4x12 Cabinets (with Tuki cover) UK #1 Slant: M-2007-05-0149-0
-4x Marshall 4x12 Cabinets (with Tuki cover) UK #2 Straight: M-2006-49-0380-0
-4x Marshall 4x12 Cabinets (with Tuki cover) UK #3 Slant: M-2007-05-0150-0
-4x Marshall 4x12 Cabinets (with Tuki cover) UK #4 Straight: M-2006-49-0381-0

-Orange Calzone road case containing:
Guitar pedal board and pedals USA/Japan No serial number
Assorted leads USA/UK No serial number
2x mic stands Germany No serial number
Assorted strings and spares USA No serial number
plus:
2x Boss TU2 Chromatic Tuner
Boss CH1 Super Chorus
Fulltone OCD Overdrive
Crybaby Wah
Peterson Strobo-Stomp Tuner Pedal
Whirlwind A/B Boxes
Whirlwind Cable Tester
and many many istrument cables
various tools ( screwdrivers, soldering iron, pliers, etc... )
tambourine and maracas

-Cardboard box containing:
Assorted replacement drum heads USA No serial number

-Gretsch Silver Sparkle Catalina drum kit USA No serial number
26" Kick Drum No serial number
13" Rack Tom No serial number
18" Floor Tom No serial number
4x Cymbal Stands No serial number
1x Snare Stand No serial number
1x Hi Hat Stand No serial number
1x Drum Throne No serial number

-Eden D810 Bass cabinet USA D810RP4 0703E5001
-Eden D810 Bass cabinet USA D810RP4 0703E5002

-Cardboard box containing:
Eden VT300 Bass amplifier USA 0601E5115

-Cardboard box containing:
Eden VT300 Bass amplifier USA 0507E5033

-Floor Fan CHINA No serial number
-Floor Fan CHINA No serial number

-Green clamshell suitcase containing:
Yamaha snare drum JAPAN No serial number
Yahama kick pedal JAPAN No serial number
Zildjian Mega Bell cymbal USA No serial number
Zildjian 15" Hi-Hats USA No serial number
3x Zildjian 18" 19" 20" crash medium cymbals USA No serial number

-Brown Epiphone guitar case:
Black Epiphone EB3 short scale bass KOREA F300503

PLEASE FORWARD AS FAR AND WIDE AND AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE!!!
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Cincinnati, 1970: