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Friday, November 20, 2009
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Category: Music
 Home  Interviste 70s Paul Collins - Interview
Scritto da Administrator
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venerdì 20 novembre 2009 |
  CLICK HERE FOR ENGLISH VERSION  Paul
Collins iniziò la sua carriera con Peter Case e Jack Lee nel 1974. I
Nerves, andarono in tour coi Ramones e registrarono “Hanging On The
Telephone”, successivamente diventata una hit nella versione
coverizzata dai Blondie sull'album Parallel Lines. Successivamente Paul
Collins formò i Beat nel 1977, arruolando musicisti provenienti da
varie bands, Steven Huff, Larry Whitman, Dennis Conway e Michael Ruiz,
con un suono sullo stile di Ramones, Blondie e Dictators. Presto arrivò
un contratto con la CBS, sotto il management di Bill Graham, che portò
i Beat a dividere il palco con i Jam, Pere Ubu, Police, Eddie Money,
The Plimsouls e Huey Lewis. Dopo il cambio di nome in Paul Collins’
Beat (per risolvere il caso di omonimia con il gruppo ska inglese),
continuarono i tour e le registrazioni durante gli ’80s: "The Kids Are
The Same", "Beat Or Not To Beat", "Long Time Gone", "Live At Universal"
e l'ultimo"One Night", del 1989. Paul Collins intraprese una carriera
solista, regsitrando l'omonimo album nel 1992. Questo album
country/rock vide la partecipazione di special guests come Greg Kihn,
Cyril Jordan (Flamin Groovies), Jeff Trott (Sheryl Crow), Chuck
Prophet, Dave Immergluck (Counting Crows) e membri della band di Chris
Isaak. Nel 1993 Paul tornò con la sua band, ed un disco chiamato "Town
To Town", per la Caroline Records. Nel 2007 una nuova formazione di
Paul Collins’ Beat riemerse con un nuovo disco, "Flying High",
accompagnato da un tour in giro per il mondo, e culminato con
l'esibizione al SXSW di Austin, Texas ( http://www.sxsw.com/
). Dopo aver avuto l'onore di vedere Paul dal vivo con la sua
strepitosa band, ed averlo ospitato per un breve set acustico nella
nostra grigia cittadina in occasione della "Clash night" dell'ottobre
scorso, abbiamo il piacere di presentarvelo, attraverso una lunga e
piacevole chiacchierata, che rafforza in noi la convinzione di aver
conosciuto un grande artista, che ha vissuto un periodo incredibile,
rimanendo umile e disponibile come solo gli animi più nobili sanno
essere. ( Intervista a cura di fab e Alberto Baiardi) [Leggi l'intervista]  Torniamo
per un attimo alla fine anni 70/inizio anni 80... in quel periodo era
in atto una vera fioritura musicale negli States, come in Europa, del
resto. Gli anni del Punk, dai Ramones a Blondie, i Nerves, i Beat, New
York, Los Angeles, la Bomp! Records di Greg Shaw, Lester Bangs... tu
eri in qualche modo cosciente che quello fu un momento storico
irripetibile, e la culla di una cultura importante ancora oggi per
migliaia di persone?
Cercavamo solo di sopravvivere,
sfortunatamente contro di noi c'era la resistenza del music business
tradizionalista, e ci sentivamo ostracizzati ed esclusi da tutto.
Ascoltare i Ramones per la prima volta fu una vera ispirazione: eravamo
nella nostra sala prove, avevamo sentito in giro che questo gruppo di
New York avrebbe suonato in città (Paul in quegli anni viveva a San
Franciso, e suonava con la storica formazione dei Nerves ndr), così
chiamammo il club, il Savoy in North Beach (che è ancora lì oggi!) e ci
dissero che la band stava suonando l'ultima canzone! Pregammo il tipo
di non riattaccare, e di sollevare il ricevitore per farci sentire
qualcosa. Mi ricordo come fosse ieri di noi tre, stretti attorno alla
cornetta, Jack (Lee, ndr) e Peter (Case, ndr) iniziarono a urlare che
"Non stanno cambiando!"... i Ramones continuavano a rimanere fieri su
quel solo RE! Quello fu il momento in cui ci rendemmo conto di non
essere soli, e che c'erano altri gruppi che facevano "musica nuova". Fu
un punto di svolta per noi. Più tardi, ci ritrovammo in tour proprio
coi Ramones, e fu un'esperienza favolosa, ma non cambiò nulla riguardo
all'accettazione del fenomeno da parte dell'industria musicale. Hai un aneddoto significativo di quegli anni? Qualcosa che ti riporti in mente quella "atmosfera"?Molte
cose successero in quegli anni, fu come una montagna russa di
divertimento, sudore, rock'n'roll e alterne fortune! Un giorno ricordo
che eravamo così depressi per il fatto di non trovare date che
caricammo l'attrezzatura e ci recammo in un club ad Haight Street,
montammo tutto e iniziammo a suonare senza nessuna autorizzazione!
Eravamo sicuri che la gente dopo averci sentiti ci avrebbe amati...
sfortunatamente, alle tre del pomeriggio, gli avventori del locale
erano solo ubriaconi. Scapparono a gambe levate per il rumore,
provocando l'ira del barista che ci intimò di andarcene prima che lo
costringessimo a chiamare la polizia! Eravamo veramente folli!  Le
melodie sono sempre state la parte più consistente della tua musica...
per te il gusto melodico è qualcosa che giace all'interno dell'artista
o è più un lavoro di affinamento fino ad ottenere il risultato
desiderato?
Ho imparato molte cose nel periodo in cui
suonavo coi Nerves, è stata una delle mie maggiori esperienze.
Spendevamo ore e giorni a lavorare sulle canzoni, e lì imparai ad
affinare al scrittura. Le melodie e le buone canzoni pop non sono mai
state semplici per me, e questo è un aspetto sul quale trascorro molto
tempo. Una buona canzone è come un regalo, e non è dato per scontato
che arrivi. Al momento sto lavorando ad un nuovo disco, sempre con la
solita sfida... scrivere buone canzoni pop! Due degli
album dei tuoi Beat sono stati prodotti da Bruce Botnick, una figura
chiave nella produzione musicale del decennio precedente, gli anni 60.
Produsse parecchi album dei Doors e di Jim Morrison, e uno dei miei
(Fabio, ndr) album preferiti di tutti i tempi, "Forever Changes" dei
Love. Come fu lavorare con lui? Come si comportò davanti al vostro
sound fresco e "pop", molto diverso da tutto ciò che aveva prodotto
fino a quel momento?
Bruce è il miglior produttore che
una band possa avere per il proprio debutto. Lui mi ha insegnato tanto
del mestiere di "fare dischi". La fissa di Bruce era quella di
raccontare le storie dei dischi che produceva, catturandone la
performance. Con noi agì come uno specchio: se ascolti i demo originali
del nostro primo album, ti accorgerai di quanto piccole siano le
modifiche da lui apportate. Ci incise su nastro nel miglior modo
possibile. Ancora oggi io cerco di mettere in pratica le cose che lui
mi ha insegnato sulla registrazione! Bruce ha amato sinceramente i
Beat: vide cosa stavamo cercando di fare, e la sua missione diventò
quella di imprimere su nastro quello che volevamo. Ascolta quel disco
anche a trent'anni di distanza, suona ancora fresco e vibrante, e parte
di questa "attualità" arriva proprio dalla sua produzione!  Sappiamo che Gene Gnocchi è il tuo fan italiano numero uno... puoi dirci qual è la storia che ti lega a lui?E
divertente, non è vero? Non ci siamo mai incontrati di fatto, ma ho
conosciuto suo fratello Charlie, a Roma. Stavamo facendo la nostra
prima data italiana al Road to Ruin festival circa cinque anni fa,
quando arrivammo al locale il promoter Pier Paolo ci disse che Gene era
un nostro grande fan! Speriamo di poterlo incontrare presto, e magari
potremmo mettere su uno show con la sua band! Ancora
oggi tu scrivi e vai in tour in tutto il mondo. Qual è la molla che ti
spinge a fare ancora tutto questo, dopo più di 30 anni, dando il tuo
meglio sia davanti a platee numerose in grandi situazioni, sia in
piccoli clubs davanti a poche persone?
Amo la musica e
mi considero fortunato ad avere questo privilegio! Io ho iniziato da
fan, e ho sempre creduto che la cosa più bella del mondo per me sarebbe
stata suonare e cantare questo tipo di musica! Sappiamo
che la Spagna è un po' la tua seconda casa. Quanto viene influenzata la
tua scrittura dal fatto di vivere in luoghi diversi? Senti differenze
nello scrivere avvolto dall'atmosfera spagnola rispetto a quella
americana? E c'è qualche attinenza con il tuo interesse per la musica
country, particolarmente evidente nei tuoi album dei primi 90s?
Il
posto dove vivo può influire, ma non così tanto. Vivere in Spagna è
stato bello per un periodo, la band che ho incontrato lì mi ha dato un
aiuto immenso a reinventare la mia carriera musicale. Però quando
scrivo provo a rimettermi nella zona delle mie radici, nel suono della
Califonia, con le armonie brillanti, i giri di chitarra e le grandi
melodie! Ho sempre amato la musica Country, fin dal tempo in cui mio
padre mi faceva ascoltare Hank Williams e Ray Charles, "Country and
Western Hits". Ancora una volta per me l'obbiettivo è scrivere una
buona canzone, e nient'altro. Se è un buon pezzo per me va bene. Sia i
Beatles che i Rolling Stones, ovvero i miei più grandi miti, hanno
molte canzoni dal sapore Country. Recentemente hai
dimostrato il tuo valore artistico anche come scrittore, pubblicando il
libro "Mi madre, mi mentor y yo". Puoi raccontarci qualcosa di questa
esperienza e di quali siano le differenze nel rendere i tuoi pensieri
come strofe di una canzone e come linee di un libro?
Scrivere
un libro è stata un'esperienza straordinaria per me, da quel momento ne
ho scritti altri tre, che spero di pubblicare! Scrivere testi mi ha
aiutato a scrivere libri: ho scoperto di avere uno stile molto
americano, diretto, non difforme dalle mie canzoni. La prosa è un mezzo
di comunicazione formidabile, è un ottimo modo per essere vicino alle
persone: mi considero un principiante nel campo, e ho ancora tantissimo
da imparare. Se tutto andrà bene il mio primo libro sarà tradotto anche
in italiano, i miei amici italiano mi stanno aiutando molto in questa
"impresa".  Sei
stato sui palchi di tutto il mondo per più di tre decadi. Quanti
cambiamenti hai potuto vedere lungo tutti questi anni, con tutte le
band con cui hai avuto a che fare, o con le quali hai condiviso la
scena? Pensi che l'attitudine e lo scopo delle band di fine 70s abbiano
un seguito nelle nuove bands, o pensi che le cose abbiano perso il loro
significato reale?
E' sempre stato difficile: ci sono
sempre state più bands pidocchiose che buone, ma è sempre stato bello
vedere o lavorare con gruppi che avevano qualcosa di unico da offrire,
persone appassionate di quello che facevano... come i nostri amici
Radio Days: loro catturano lo spirito del rock'n'roll e credono al 100
% in quel che fanno... e si vede! Penso che a dispetto di quello che mi
dicevano quando avevo 17 anni e stavo iniziando ad affacciarmi al mondo
musicale, il rock'n'roll non sia morto: è vivo e sta bene, custodito
nelle mani di nuove bands che vogliono darci dentro e far vedere chi
sono! Negli ultimi due anni sei stato per due volte in tour in Italia. Quali sono le tue impressioni sull'Italia e del suo pubblico?Amo
l'Italia, le ragazze, la pasta, il vino e i "corretti"! I fans italiani
sono stati eccezionali con noi, e spero di poter fare più tour, magari
in compagnia dei nostri amici Radio Days, loro hanno reso speciale ogni
visita in Italia! Quali sono i tuoi progetti per il futuro? Rock
icon and cult favorite Paul Collins got his start with Peter Case and
Jack Lee in 1974. Their band The Nerves toured with The Ramones and
recorded a song called “Hanging On The Telephone.” The song would later
become a hit when covered by Deborah Harry and Blondie on the Parallel
Lines album. Paul Collins formed The Beat in 1977, recruiting
members of various rock bands including Steven Huff, Larry Whitman,
Dennis Conway and Michael Ruiz. The result was The Beat, a high energy
rock group in the style of The Ramones, Blondie and The Dictators. As
the story goes, Collins was awarded a record deal with CBS thanks to
his friend Eddie Money and Bill Graham Management. The Beat played with
many bands, including The Jam, Pere Ubu, The Police, Eddie Money, The
Plimsouls and Huey Lewis. The Beat became Paul Collins’ Beat when a ska
band from UK began using The Beat as their moniker. Paul Collins’
Beat continued to tour and record albums throughout the ’80s, with The
Kids Are The Same, Beat Or Not To Beat, Long Time Gone, Live At
Universal and their final album One Night, released in 1989. Paul
Collins set out on a solo career, recording the self-titled Paul
Collins album in 1992. This country/rock all-star album included
special guests such as Greg Kihn, Cyril Jordan (Flamin Groovies), Jeff
Trott (Sheryl Crow), Chuck Prophet, Dave Immergluck (Counting Crows)
and key members of Chris Isaak’s band. 1993 brought the sophomore
release by The Paul Collins Band, entitled From Town To Town. This
album was released by Caroline Records and featured a country rock
sound similar to The Byrds. A new version of the band Paul Collins’
Beat surfaced more recently and resulted in an album of new material
entitled Flying High. Considered to be their best to date, Flying High
is a solid record, done half acoustic and half electric. The album gets
back to the classic sound of The Beat, while combining the raw energy
of Collins’ solo works. Flying High is available from the official Paul
Collins’ Beat website and Lucinda Records International. Paul Collins’
Beat play clubs, music halls and arenas, touring Japan, USA, Spain, UK,
Italy and France among others. Expect Paul Collins’ Beat to play in
your city very soon! ( Interview by fab and Alberto Baiardi) Getting
back in the days in the late 70s-early 80... so much was blooming those
days. From The Ramones to Blondie, The Nerves, The Beat, New York, Los
Angeles, Bomp! records, Lester Bangs... were you somehow aware you were
creating something unrepeatable, an important "thing" for the people,
lasting til today?
We were just trying to survive,
unfortunately there was so much resistance from the established music
business that we felt very ostracized from everything. Hearing The
Ramones for the first time was very inspirational, we were in our
practice hall and we had heard this band from NY was playing (Paul
lived in San Francisco, he was in The Nerves at the time, ndr), we
called up the club, The Savoy in North Beach (it is still there today)
and they told us they were playing their last song! We begged the guy
to just put the phone up so we could hear them and he did. I remember
like yesterday the three of us crowded around the phone receiver, Jack
and Peter started yelling their not changing! They are just staying on
the D! It was the moment when we realized we were not alone that there
were other groups doing new music, it was a turning point for us. Then
when later on we toured with The Ramones it was great but we still
could not get any industry acceptance. Have you got a particular anecdote for us about those years? Something that brings you back in mind all that "atmosphere"?There
were many things that happened back in the day, it was a roller coaster
of fun, sweat, heartbreak and rock n roll high jinks! One day we were
so fed up with not being able to get a gig we just packed up our gear
and went to a club on Haight Street and loaded in and started to play
without permission! We were sure that once people heard us they would
love us. Unfortunately at 3 in the afternoon the people who were there
were drunks and they ran out the door and the bartender screaming at us
to get the hell out before he called the cops! Thats how crazy we were! Melodies
has always been the strongest part of your music... is melody something
that lies inside or is it a more work of crafting things until they
sound as you want them to?
I learned so much by being
in The Nerves it was one of my greatest musical experiences. We would
spend hours and days working on songs, it was there learned the craft
of songwritting. Melody and good pop songs have never been easy for me
it is something I spend a lot of time working on, a good song is like a
gift to me and I never take it for granted. Right now I am working on a
new record and the challenge has stayed the same....write great pop
songs! You had two albums from The Beat produced by
Bruce Botnick, which is a key figure of 60s music production. He did
several Doors/Morrison albums and one of my all time favourites,
"Forever Changes" by Love. How was it like to work with him? How did he
manage with your "fresh" and poppy sound, very different from all the
things he did before?
Bruce was the best first
producers any band could ever hope for. He taught me a lot about making
records. Bruce's whole trip was telling the story and capturing the
performance. He acted like a mirror for the band, if you hear the
original demos for the first album you will see how little he changed
our sound, he just got it on tape in the best possible way. I am still
trying to implement the things he taught me about recording! He truly
loved the band and he saw what we were trying to do, his mission became
to put it on tape which he did. Listen to the record 30 years later and
it still sounds fresh and vibrante, a big part of that comes from the
production! We know Gene Gnocchi is your #1 Italian
fan... could you please tell us what's the story between you and one of
the finest comedians here in Italy?
That is funny isnt
it? We have never actually met, but I have met his brother Charlie in
Roma. We were doing our first show in Italia at the Road to Ruin
festival some 5 years ago, when we arrived the promoter Pier Paolo told
us excitedly that Gene was a big fan of ours! We hope to meet Gene one
day and maybe even do some shows with his power pop band! Nowadays
you're still writing great music and touring all over the world. What
is the spring that makes you still do all these things after more than
30 years, giving all your best in big situations in front of numerous
audiences as in small clubs in front of few people?
I
love music and I consider myself lucky to be able to do it! I started
out as just fan I thought that the greatest thing in the world would be
to be able to play and sing this kind of pop music! We
know that we can call Spain you second home. How much living in
different places influences your songwriting? Is there any difference
when you write sorrounded by the american or the spanish atmosphere?
And can this be someway related to your interest in country music in
particular in your early 90s solo albums?
Where I live
may influence things a little but not much. Living in Spain was good
for awhile and my band was a tremendous help to me in reinventing my
musical career. But when I write I try to put myself back into that
zone I had in my roots, the Califonia sound of brite harmonies great
guitar hooks and great melodies! I have always loved country music ever
since my dad played me Hank Williams and Ray Charles record "Country
and Western Hits" Again for me the thing is to write a good song, no
matter what if it is a good song then I am ok with it. Both of my
biggest musical influences The Beatles and The Rolling Stones have many
country influenced songs. Recently you tried out your
artistic value also as a writer, publishing the book "Mi madre, mi
mentor y yo". Can you please tell us something about this experience
and about how much difference there is between putting your thoughts
among the tunes of a song and the lines of a book?
Writing
a book was a great experience for me, since then I have written 3 more,
hopefully one day they will get published too! Song writing definitely
helped me in being able to write in book form I have found that I have
a style very American and very to the point, not unlike my songs. It is
an incredible medium and a great way to connect with people, I consider
myself a beginner with a lot still to learn. Hopefully my first book
will be translated into Italian, my friends in Italy are trying to get
the together for me. You've
been on the road for more than 3 decades. How many changes have you
seen during these years with all the bands you had to deal or simply
share the stage with? And do you think that the attitude and the
purpose that rock 'n' roll bands had in the late 70s could be somehow
related to recent bands or now it looks like they lost the real meaning?
It
has always been difficult, there have always been more lousy bands then
good ones and it has always been special to see or work with bands that
have something unique to offer and are passionate about what they
do...like our good friends Radio Days they capture the spirit of rock n
roll and they believe 100 % in what they do and it shows! I think that
despite what people have been saying to me since I was 17 and just
starting out that rock n roll is not dead, it is alive and well and the
hands of new bands who want to crank it up and kick some ass! In the last 2 years you toured Italy twice. How's your feeling about Italy and his audience?I
love Italia, the girls, the pasta, the wine and the correctos! The
Italian fans have been great to us and I look forward to many more
tours, especially with our good friends Radio Days, thay have made each
trip to Italy a real blast! Which are your projects for the next future?I
have to record a new record which we are planning with producer Jim
Diamond in his studio in Detroit, more touring both in the US and
Europe and to finish the last book I am writing "A Tale From The
American Heartland". http://www.paulcollinsbeat.com/ http://www.myspace.com/thenerves http://www.myspace.com/paulcollinsbeat http://www.myspace.com/paulcollins http://www.myspace.com/thebeatthenervespaulcollins
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Saturday, November 07, 2009
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Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes
Saturday, November 07, 2009
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Current mood:  accomplished Category: Travel and Places
............................................
Day 1
We all land in ..Sea-Tac.. ..Airport..
coming from all points of the globe, I fly in from ..New
York.., Chris is coming from ..Wisconsin..
and Juancho and Manolo are flying in from ....Madrid..,
..Spain..... Chris
and I land first and as we wait, shooting the the shit with Scott from The Boss
Martians who was kind enough to pick us up, the shit starts to hit the fan!
Bryan our tour agent had told me we should get work permits but I had just
shrugged it off, who needs work permits for an underground tour like this, there
wasnt gonna be much money anyway and it sounded like one big hassle so I didnt
give it another thought until the customs agent called me and started asking
questions..."Are you waiting to pick up two fellers from Spain? They say
they are here to do some shows with you...how many shows are you doing?...will
they be getting any compensation for these shows?" Oh shit I could just
see the whole tour going up in flames as they send Juancho and Manolo packing
back to ....Spain.....
I had to think fast and I did..."Well officer as you know this is a tough
business and these boys are just coming along to help me do a little
promotional tour, I did say I would help them out with their tickets but as you
know there aint too much money unless you hit the big time!" That seemed
to do the trick and after 20 excruciating minutes where I was thinking of what
a jerk I would look like if I had to call Bryan and tell him that we would not
be able to play, Juancho and Manolo came waltzing down the escalators and into
our welcoming arms! My good friend Ingrid who I had not seen in some 20 years
also showed up in her BMW convertible rocket to give me a lift back into town
and we all blasted out of Sea- Tac as fast as we could! This was the beginning
of my first West Coast tour in some 20 years! We were going to be the openers
for The Avengers and Pansy Division for the next 11 days, going from ....Seattle.... to LA.
After settling into our respective
pads we all went out for some drinks and a little R&R! That night we went
to the Comet to see who was playing and have a few beers, I was pleasantly
surprised to see our good buddies from NY The Weight were in town and they
always put on a helluva good show. I was pretty Beat so I went home to get some
kip and get ready for rehearsal the next day at the Boss Martians rehearsal
studio, Scott and Evan from the Martians have been our buddies ever since we
met them at SXSW, we have played with them in Houston and they have been to
Spain and whole bunch of times, one of the hardest working bands around. Chris
is always busting a gut for Vietnamese food so we had to go and get some,
everything was fine until we started playing and Manolo turned 5 shades of
green and went down for the count and that was the end of rehearsal...shit
tomorrow was our first show and we really needed to warm up! Fortunately after
a good night's sleep Manolo recovered and we were able to get a quick rehearsal
in before sound check. We were playing The Fun House which is right in front of
the Space Needle so it wasnt hard to find! Our driver/merch guy Jay met us at
the club in what would be our ride for the next 11 days, a brand new white Ford
Expedition that I immediately named "The Great White Shark!" Jay was
an old buddy of mine who had worked with the original Beat way back in the mid
80's, We had toured the US numerous times and it was so great to have him back
on board, the guys in the band took to him immediately. I was a little nervous
because I hadnt seen Penelope since we played together at the Road to Ruins
festival in Rome a few years back and I had only met The Pansy Division guys
briefly when they had played NY a few months back and I was anxious that we
would all get along and have a great tour together.
Load in went fine and we all started the bonding process drummers with drummers
bass players ect, The Funhouse is a real rock club and Brian the owner was
quick to give everyone a beer and start things off right! Sound check went
smooth and my band sounded rocking I was confident we would have a good first
show and Brian said they had already sold over 150 tickets I was feeling good!
When we hit the stage the joint was rocking and we blasted through our set with
our balls to the wall! After it was all said and done we were feeling pretty
good about things, Pansy Division and The Avengers both kicked ass and we knew
we were a part of a great triple bill!....
.. ..
Day 2
After having eggs and biscuits at Ingrid's favorite greasy spoon Jay and I
pulled out of ..Lake.. ..Green.. and headed over to Scott's to pick up the boys
and head for ....Portland.....
The weather was stunning as we left town under blue skies and sunshine....it
felt good to back on the West Coast! The Great White Shark was packed to the
gills but she still had room to spare and we were all very comfortable as we
picked up speed on I-5. Tonight we were playing Dante's in downtown ....Portland..... In no time at
all we were pulling into the Hollywood District and we put the shark into park
in front of brother Rex and Sarah's beautiful little bungalow house.
Rex is
Jay's brother. He is a filmmaker and an old friend from way back. Sarah, his
lady keeps a lovely house and as we walked in the aroma from the curried
chicken she was cooking up in the kitchen made our mouths water. After a few
beers sitting in the sunshine of their garden we chowed down and headed over to
Dante's for sound check. ....Portland....
is pretty with lots of rivers running through it, Dante's is downtown in the
shady part of town with lots of derelicts hanging around, the Great White
Sharks teeth were gleaming as we parked in front, as if to let everyone know,
"Don't Fuck With The Shark." Dante's is a big room with all pro sound
and a stage that's high up. As we load in with Pansy Division and The Avengers
we replay last nights events, it seems like everyone is getting along great.
The cast of characters is as follows, Pansy Division: Joel on lead guitar, John
on guitar and vocals, Chris on bass and vocals and Luis on drums. Luis and Joel
play double duty and are also part of The Avengers an long with Gregg on
blistering lead guitar and of course one of the grand dames of punk Penelope
Houston on lead vocals. Chris Pansy and I are becoming fast friends and we wind
up calling each other everyday from the road to swap travel advisories and road
conditions. A big part of our income on this tour is the "Million Dollar
Merch" table. John is an expert with merch and The Pansy Division carry an
impressive array of swag. They have shirts and CD's and DVD's and John's book
that he wrote of their early years on the road, Penelope also runs a tight
ship, and they have buttons and stickers and LP's, CD's 45's and she even had
an Avengers dress. We needed 3 tables put together to handle all the stuff. Jay
was our man for the merch and he did a great job giving the peeps all the
inside info on our array of products. We were carrying Nerves CD's and LP's
& shirts along with my last 2 records, Flying High and Ribbon of Gold and a
lovely 3 color Beat shirt. I was proud to see the whloe thing once it was set
up!
Soon it was show time and we were on stage again rocking out. My band has
become a rock n roll steam roller, we have been doing shows all over the place
for some 3 years now and it has become a greased machine. ....
Our set
list for this tour is as follows:
HANGING ON THE TELEPHONE
WORKING TOO HARD
LET ME INTO YOUR LIFE
KIDS ARE THE SAME
I STILL WANT YOU
THAT'S WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT
I DON'T FIT IN
SHE DOESNT WANT TO HANG AROUND WITH YOU
WORK A DAY WORLD
HELEN
HEY DJ
WALKING OUT ON LOVE
USA
ROCK N ROLL GIRL
DONT WAIT UP
Not too shabby if I do say so myself!
The crowd is great and and I can pick out old fans along with new ones singing
along as we rip through our set. Next up is Pansy Division and the put on a
helluva show! These guys are really funny and their stage banter is hysterical
aside from the fact that they are fantastic muscians. When The Avengers hit the
stage the crowd is primed and ready. Penelope has a wonderful stage presence
and Gregg is an amazing guitarist, his sound fills the room, an avalanche of
guitar! They end their set with a great rendition of Paint It Black as Portland's punkers jump around in glee. ....
.. ..
Day 3 
Next morning Sarah whips up a huge mess of scrambled eggs and fresh fruits, hot
coffee, OJ and toast which have out on the veranda under sunny skies! Life on
the road can be tough sometimes! We drain the moca java and pile into the Shark
and make tracks for ....Medford.....
As we headed out of ..Portland.. we pointed The
Great White Shark towards ....Medford....
and slapped on the cruise control. Nothing like being on the open road in the
US of A! Four lanes wide open and smooth sailing. When we travel we love to
sample the local fair and we were in good taqueria country. After a few near
misses we found a great road side taqueria that had great food and the price
was right. We chowed down some burritos and tacos and piled back into the Shark
and made for the Musichead. We were the first to arrive and at first glance it
looked like an abandoned record store, we didn't even see any posters for the
show so we were doubtful we were even in the right place...but we were. Once
the promoter showed up and opened the place up we could see that it was a
massive record store with an adjacent area with a nice size stage, all we
needed now was some peeps, this was going to be an all ages show on Sunday in
Medford out in the middle of nowhere! The Pansy Division and Avengers all
showed up looking doubtful but we loaded in set up the gear. Outside of being
consummate musicians all the guys in my band love to collect records so they
had a field day going through the enormous amount of great old vinyl records
that were stacked up all over the place. After some Chinesse food next door it
was show time!
The record store owner had a band called Virgin Release and they opened the
show and did a good job of it. The band that had opened for us in ....Portland...., Silent Majority
never showed up so we hit the stage at about 8pm and played for a handful of
appreciative kids. The sound was surprisingly good and our set went down
smooth. Pansy Division hit the stage and then things started to go haywire, the
electricity started to cut out and then the PA went down, not to be daunted the
Pansy Division showed their great skill and showmanship and made it through
their set with flying colors! I was very impressed at their professionalism!
Penelope and company carried on and with more technical difficulties put on a
good show despite all the set backs. Afterwards we loaded out and when Penelope
handed me $73 we grinned at each other and said.."Well at least got gas
money!" ....
.. ..
Day 4
We were looking at our one day off and we were planning to spend it at the Jay
Thompson ranch in ....Redding....
Califonia....EEEYYYYDOGGIES Giddiyup...move em out lets hit the trail! We put
the pedal to the metal and The Great White Shark was eating up the apshfalt all
the way down I-5 to ....Redding....,
we got there at about 2 AM and woke up Jay's lovely wife Olivia who was more
then happy to have her hubby back home safe and sound!
....
Well hot
diggidy dog we got a day off! We woke up surrounded by mountains, sun shinning
down in the outskirts of ....Redding.....
First order of business for me after a hot cup of Joe was a dive into the pool
buck naked! Jay's ranch was sprawling and the boys spread out nicely, Chris and
Manolo took the downstairs den and Juancho and I had our own bedrooms, where
Jay and his brothers used to be long ago. Olivia treated us to a nice breakfast
of quesadias and fresh fruit and then it was off to do a little sight seeing
compliments of our hostess of the mostest Jay. First stop was the Whiskytown
Damn inaugurated by John F Kennedy himself, we stood there listening to his
speech he had made so many years ago, for any American it is a moving
experience to hear JFK's voice again after so long.
Then
we went to see the
bridge that the famous Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava designed
over ....Turtle.. ..Bay.....
It was lovely and we walked across it and saw all the big geese
swimming around
as the fly fishermen fished away...delightful to say the least. Then it
was off
to meet the legendary Steve Huff bassist extraordinaire of The Beat and
my com padre from way back. We cruised downtown passing the old
Thompson Big and
Tall clothes store that Jay had the unfortunate duty of closing down
after
three generations of service to the community and we rooted Steve out
of his
office where he does soft ware trouble shooting. Steve appeared to be
glad to
see us and he agreed to join us later for a tri-tip BBQ at the Thompson
ranch.
Then we need to get supplies so Jay took us to the best spot to stock
up on
booze and tobacy. Back that the ranch Jay's kids had the grill going
and old
friend Bob Sell showed up with his private stock of home brewed
liqours...peach
shnaps, plum whisky and god knows what else but it was good and it was
strong.
After shots and beers and shots and more beers it was dinner time and
we all
helped ourselves to big portions of Tri-Tips and beans and corn on the
cob,
salad and then peach cobbler for dessert...yeah we was living large!
After all
that good food and booze it was bed time for the nipper...tomorrow was
another
day....
....
Day 5....
.. ..
We pulled
The Great White Shark out of Jay's Ranch and headed down the mountains and back
onto I-5 direction ....Sacramento.....
Tonight it would be just us and Pansy Division at The Fire Escape in ..Citrus Heights... The sun was shining and we were in good
spirits after all the good spirits we had! Olivia had whipped us up a great
breakfast of eggs and beans with tortillas, OJ and lots of hot coffee to fuel
our drive, what a lovely lady she was! The Shark was shimmering in the sunlight
as we barreled down the road. We mad good time and as we pulled into Citrus
Heights I spied a road side Mexican joint that fit the bill so we pulled over
for yet more good Mexican food! You can never get enough burritos! The Fire
Escape had all the trappings of a good ol rock n roll joint. The sound man knew
his stuff and for me it was one of the best sounding gigs we did. The joint
wasn't too big so there was no need to mike up the instruments, it pure
unadulterated rock n roll. There was a local band opening whose name escapes me
at the moment but they had members from The Mr. T Experience and they did a
great version of Paper Dolls from The Nerves. It was the first night that I
really got to listen to Pansy Division's set and they really rocked, they are
all great musicians and I was really happy we were on the road with them, aside
from the fact that they are all just the nicest fellows you could ever want to
meet. John was a fan of mine from way back so he would pick my brains about the
old days, it was really kinda of touching the way he would want to know things
about my past which he seemed to know a lot about. Cris from Pansy Division and
I were well into becoming fast friends and Joel and Luis too, it was one big
mutual admiration society all the way around! After the show we had a few more
beers, chatted with the fans who all had been thoroughly satisfied, loaded up
the Shark and we hit the road for ....Berkley....
and our good friend Eric Blakely's house. We arrived at about 3 am and Eric was
waiting up for us. We had to completely unload the Shark for security measures
and then figure out how all of us where going to sleep in Eric's very small
apartment! Thank god I had had the foresight to get Jay to buy a Coleman blow
up bed for the trip, tonight we put it to good use! Soon we were all snoring
away with rock n roll music in our dreams! We were half way through the tour
and it was going by way to fast!
Day 6
We all woke up a bit stiff from sleeping on Eric's floor, although we did give
the one free bed to Jay and Manolo, got to take care of the driver and the
talent! After some good Java we loaded up The Shark and headed for ..Santa Cruz.., the weather was still holding beautifully,
clear blue skies and lots of sunshine, your typical ..Northern
California.. day! The ride to ....Santa
Cruz.... was gorgeous and we got there early enough to
take a stroll on the beach, Juancho and I couldn't resit so we jumped in! After
yet another Mexican meal at Las Palomas we made it over to the club. We took a
slight detour as we got lost into the mountains of ....Santa Cruz...., really spectacular with the huge
Eucalyptus trees! There was no place to turn around so we pulled off onto what
looked like some old railway tracks which scared the shit out of Chris who
immediately jumped out of the Shark..."You guys are fucking nuts!" I
was a bit scared myself as we were in between the railroad tracks and a cliff!
The Blue Lagoon is situated on main street right down the street from The
Catalyst where The Beat used to play all the time back in the day.
Tonight we were back to our usual line up with The Avengers, Pansy Division and
The PCB. After sound check we all took off for a stroll down main street and
Juancho and I picked up some new Converses, mine where bright red leather! The
show was good and everyone was in good form. It was so cool to see Penelope
dancing to our set along with Chris and John who always seemed to be watching
when we played. The bands where getting closer and closer with each show until
it seemed like we were one big family...it was the perfect ....California.... vibe!
Our good buddy Alan Ziffer showed up with his wife and a bevy of beautiful
babes in tow, they took to Juancho immediately calling him Nacho, "We want
Nacho!" That has become his new nick name! It was late when we left town
and headed towards our good buddy John Padilla's house in ....San Jose.... to spend the night. When we booked
this tour we knew that it was going to be crucial to the budget that we stay
with friends and not in hotels. At the outset I was unsure how we would do this
as I had not been on the west coast for many years, but friends came out of the
wood work to help us out and in the end it really made the trip very special,
we were the recipients of much generosity! We pulled into ....San Jose.... at about 3 am and went directly to
sleep, I had stayed with John before when I was doing House Concerts with my
good buddy John Wicks(more on him later) so I had my own bedroom and got a good
nights sleep in a big comfortable bed! ....
..
..
Day 7....
.. ..
In the
morning after hot showers and fresh brewed coffee we headed back to ....Oakland.... and The Uptown
Club. Everything was gleaming in downtown ....Oakland....
as we pulled the Great White Shark up to the curb in front of the Uptown
Theatre. Across the street the marquis of The Rex Theatre was flashing colours
all over the street, the sky was that blue azure of the on coming night, in
front of the stage entrance door stood a beautiful blond in a blue t-shirt. She
smiled sweetly at us and welcomed us to the Uptown! Yeah I love rock n roll
baby! The Uptown is the real deal, great stage and an all pro attitude. We load
in and kill time until the show…occupational hazard. I had a bunch of friends
that would be coming to the show, people I had not seen in years! My good buddy
from radio Dave Logan showed up and we shot the shit and had a cocktail, Steve
Owen my friend and compadre from the days when I was sucking eggs in Frisco
back in the late 80’s showed up too. After a few more drinks it was show
time…as I walked through the crowd I spied one of our oldest and truest fans
from the way back machine, he was wearing his sparkling white Paul Collins Beat
shirt in red letters from a show we did at The Old Waldorf back in 1980
something! We ripped through our set which by now we could play in our sleep,
Manolo was all over the stage tearing his leads off in big chunks, the band
just keeps getting better and better it is a joy to be a part of it. Juancho
picked ....Oakland....
to debut his referee’s shirt with black and white vertical stripes, I was a
little leery at first but everyone seemed to get it as Juancho whistled and
made the classic hand signal for a foul! It was late when we lest the Uptown
but I was feeling good, the warm ....California....
evening breeze kissing my skin. Jay and I followed Eric Blakely back to his pad
in Berkeley and Chris, Manolo and Juancho headed to the ....Mission.... in San Fran with a couple of
beautiful babes. All was well here in our rock n roll fantasy!
....
Day 8....
.. ..
We slept
in, had some good coffee and headed over to my good buddy Steve Owens pad in
the outer ....Mission.....
It brought back old memories as I climbed the back stairs to his house, this is
where I had stayed for awhile after my first divorce, things where pretty bleak
back then, a far cry from where they were today! Steve is really a great guy
and we sat in his living room, Eric, Jay and I , just trading licks on the
guitar and dobro, which Steve plays so well. I was happy to see my two old
friends, Eric and Steve, who had never met each other, become friends, music
being the common bond. We sipped on some cool micro brewed beers and let the
afternoon just drift by, just what the doctor ordered after the miles that we
had logged on the road. All too soon it was time to go, we cruised down ....Mission.... until ....16th Street....
and picked up the rest of the band and headed over to Bottom of the Hill, out
in the flats, now trendy but back in the day when The Nerves were playing you
would only find drunks, bikers and sailors! Tonight would be packed! It was
getting close to the end of the tour and we could all feel it, no one wanted
this ride to end. The friendship between the bands just kept getting tighter
and tighter, I had really become very fond of Chris from the Pansy’s and it
always gave me warm spot when I would see him watching our show and making sure
everything was ok! Tonight Penelope asked Manolo to come up and play with them
on their encore, Money. It was great and you can see it here on You Tube! We
rocked the house hard and there where tons of fans from back in the day, it was
a very satisfying moment for me! My good buddy Chris Von Sneidern showed up as
well as Radio Icon Dennis the Menace ............along with Paul Kopf and
our good buddy the legendary Cyril Jordan from the Flaming Groovies and the now
Magic Christians!
The girls where all beautiful and the
guys were looking cool, SF is still a cool place to be! Chris had a whole bunch
of friends show up, that guy knows more cute looking chicks then anyone I know!
A good time was had by all and at the end of the night some dude handed me a
king size pharmaceutical joint in a nice plastic tube case! I smoked it the
last night of the tour in LA with Juancho and Manolo and we got completely
ripped! We drove back to John Padilla’s house so we would be that much closer
to our next stop, ....Santa Ana.....
....
Day 9....
..
..
The White
Shark was cruising down I-5 towards ....Santa
Ana...., it was hot and we had the windows down to avoid
the AC which would all but render my voice useless. By the way my voice has
been holding up great I was singing like a veritable bird! The waist ....land.. of ..Southern California.... drifted by and
prepared us for the evenings festivities! ....
We pulled
into my dear friend Joan’s luxurious sprawling ranch style house complete with
swimming pool and chilled out while we had home made margaritas and relived old
times with Joan. She had been to most all of The Beats East Bay shows and even
had an old set list framed on her wall! After a quick dip in her pool we made
it over to The Galaxy, a huge club with a capacity of at least 1000 people.
This was one of those gigs where they paid you a ton of money and hardly
anybody showed up and you spent the whole night wondering what the hell you
were doing here! We survived the ordeal and left the next morning after coffee
and bagels which Joan graciously made for us.....
.. ..
Day 10 ....
.. ..
This was
it! This was the wrap! The big time playing Los Angeles on The Sunset Strip how
many dreams had been made and broken here, why even I had spent a good part of
my youth chasing down the dream right here in Los Angeles. The Echo was located
minutes away from where Steve Huff and I had relentlessly toiled day after day
making The Beats first demo which would become The Beat’s first album and take
its place in rock n roll history. The White Shark was parked out front as had
been its custom every single night of this tour! The Avengers and Pansy
Division were all here and there was a special feeling in the air, everyone
knew it was the last show but no one wanted to say anything except that we were
all wishing it could just go on and on. There was line to get in and the place
started to fill up fast and it was a Sunday night. Jack Lee was there, Patrick
from Alive Records showed up Pamela Lillig from Bug Music with her boyfriend
Art, booking agent extraordinaire made the scene along with our good friend
John Wicks of The Records and his lovely girlfriend Valerie amongst a host of
other luminaries, fans and curious on lookers. My good buddy Javier Estrella
showed up for the third time on this tour, he had been in ..Oakland..,
....San Francisco....
and now here in LA. Javier has probably seen more Beat shows then anyone I
know, he is always right upfront dancing and sweating and singing along with
every song! I opened the set with a short dedication to my good friend Jack Lee
and we ripped into Hanging on the Telephone for the last time on this tour.
Penelope and Chris and John danced for our whole set, Gregg stood and watched
us as we went through our paces and then it was over and we were back in the
dressing room all covered in sweat! Pansy Division and The Avengers in turn put
out there all for the LA fans and record moguls and soon we where all standing
out in front of the club, the gear was all packed and it was time to say good
bye! Gregg from The Avengers summed it up the best when he said…Come on guys,
lets just keep on going, were just getting warmed up!....
..
..
The
Avengers/Pansy Division/ Paul Collins Beat 2009 West Coast Tour
SA 9.11.09 Seattle, WA The Funhouse
SA 9.12.09 Portland, OR Dante's
SU 9.13.09 Medford, OR @ Musichead
TU 9.15.09 Sacramento, CA @
Fire Escape
WE 9.16.09 Santa Cruz, CA @ The Blue Lagoon
TH 9.17.09 Oakland, CA @ The Uptown
FR 9.18.09 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
SA 9.19.09 Santa Ana, CA @ the Galaxy
SU 9.20.09 Echo Park, CA @ The Echo....
....
SEE YOU
NEXT TIME!
....
Dagger Live Review Dantes, Portland, OR
After
a stint in Spain in the 80’s and 90’s (where he continued to release
records) power pop guy Paul Collins came back in 2007 with the terrific
FLYIN’ HIGH record in the Get Hip label. He has a new one but I’ve not
heard it yet but his set tonight , a mix of old and new tunes , was
strong (let’s also not forget this guy was in The Nerves with Peter
Case back in the 70’s) with lots of good rock and roll mojo. I noticed
“Rock N’ Roll Girl” and “Walking Out on Love” (which The Exploding
Hearts covered) and the band, Collins especially, showed the kind of
frenetic energy usually reserved for guys half his age. It’s nice to
see Collins doesn’t want to merely be a relic but writes new songs just
as powerful as his old one. Eva Silverman's photos oa The Uptown show Oakland CA Kristy Duncan's photos at The Bottomof the Hill show San Francisco CA
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Wednesday, March 19, 2008
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Category: Music
Hello folks, it’s been one heck of a week at SXSW 2008. We flew in and the week just flew by and now I am back home again. I did not think it was possible, but this year was even better for us than last year! It was one of the best weeks I have spent in I don’t know how long. It seemed like one Big Magical, Musical Ride! We met so many cool people and did so many cool shows I am still reeling from the effects of all the beer, Mexican and BBQ! I guess the best thing to do is give a day by day, blow by blow account. Tuesday 11th Rest and relaxation at the Blakely Mansion out in Bastrop
Shopping at Callahans, always fun, they have a great staff and good deals on your basic cowboy garb. Lunch at the fabulous Azteca, best Mexican in Austin!
SXSW Registration, we got our wrist bands and our SXSW freebie bag. As we rode up the escalator we met our good buddy Jeff from Kingsnake and he gave us the low down on all the unofficial shows. Based on that Juancho wanted to see Rocky Ericson again because Jeff told us that Billy Gibbons was gonna sit in, so we went over to Threadgills to buy tix’s. Then it was back to the Blakely Mansion with a stop at Wallmarts to do the mega shop for the week. The high lite of that was watching the kid at check out try to figure out what Asparagus was and how much it cost! Then it was time to kick back and make a huge BBQ on the outdoor grill with hickory logs and Shinner Bock beer. Wednesday 12th It was time to start rockin and a rolling. We did 2 shows the first was at Cheapo Records at One in the afternoon, Jeff the store manager was totally cool and put us right at ease with his keg of supper fine beer. The crowd was great and our good friend Lynn from Canada showed up and took some great videos. We also met Timothy and Naomi who are very cool fans from Austin, we would run into them later all over town. Craig Marshal played after us, and besides setting up the show for us he has a great band featuring our good buddy John Noterthomas, who also runs one of the best sausage carts on 6th street.
We had to blast out of there and hot foot it over to Beerland for our second show. That was some good rocking at 4 in the afternoon! We got there in time to catch our good friends and label mates The Ugly Beats as they cranked out a hot set and then we where on. The show was put on by local promoter Mike Hooker and it was great, Mike did the best 2 minute sound check and I had a blast on stage! It felt like the old days as the band blasted through the set and the crowd was just going nuts! We left the stage 40 minutes later, hot and sweaty with the crowd screaming for more, I was on Cloud 9! We hung out to see The Boss Martians as they tore through their set of great pop rock n roll and then we checked out the Sons of Hercules across the street. By that time I was well toasted and deeply in love with Erica so we all went to Whole Foods for diner. After that we went to meet The Stems who just got in from Down Under, for one last beer and then it was time to head back to The Blakely Mansion and bed! Thursday 13th We had an easy day, Octavio and I had to do an Acoustic Show over at The Thunderbird Café set up by Craig Marshall and the very cool local musician Neal Mehta. But first we went downtown to catch Dean Chamberlain’s set at Joe’s Bar & Grill. It was great to see Dean and he sounded good as ever, he had some new songs and his voice was in top form, we left humming "Working on the Coal Mine."
Then it was time to get over to The Thunderbird Café.
It was great to play at about sunset with a bunch of local folks hanging out with their kids. There were some fans from our shows on Wednesday and our good buddy Vic Gerard came down with his family. Vic is a long time local musician who used to play regularly at The Broken Spoke, he now has two boys and from what I hear they both are smoking musicians, the little guy plays bass and his older son is a drummer so be on the look out for them! Our good buddy Eric Brown was there and we all headed over to see Ian McLagan at The Lucky Lounge. Ian was great and Juancho was talking business with him about the upcoming shows he has booked for Ian in Spain, the rest of us had beers and checked out the gorgeous girls walking around in the cool Austin night air!
We retired to The Mansion, rocked out. Friday 14th We had a full band show at 5 at Sonny’s Vintage Clothing Store right next to Antones Records on Guadalupe. But first we went downtown to catch The Stems at the Aussie picnic. Man did they rock, my band was blown away by the guitar sound and I think Dom Mariani is just one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. We decided to cash in on the free grub that the Australian Government was providing, I was waiting in line for a sausage when who strolls by but my old pal Kim Fowley, looking dapper as all hell in his 3 piece blue pinstriped suit! We exchanged greetings and I gave him a copy of our new record, "Ribbon of Gold" which he promised he would listen to, (I later found out that he had produced Muck and the Mires and they were very happy with his production.) Then I got the shock of the day, I am looking at the name tag of the guy who is standing right behind me and it says ANDREW LOOG OLDHAM, Holy Shit! I can’t believe it, I’m flashing back to when I was in The Nerves and we used to read about him and his work with The Rolling Stones, I ask him if he is The Andrew Loog Oldham, like there could be two of them, and he very graciously says yes. I tell him I am a big fan of his work and I give him a copy of "Ribbon of Gold" and say that I would love to know what he thinks of it; he gives me his card and says we will be in touch; now how fucking cool is that?
Time to make it over to Sonny’s.
Gregg and Barbara from Get Hip, our US label, have finally made it and a whole ton of cool bands are playing. I got there just in time to have some tequila with Michael, lead singer of The Cynics and just about the nicest rock n roller I know. We caught Muck and the Mires as they ripped through their show dressed in their matching red shirts! Kudos to their drummer, Jessie Best, she rocks!
Alan a long time fan from California showed up, I had not seen him in at least 20 years! He looked great and as it turns out his wife’s sister is married to Clem Burke, small world ain’t it! My good friend Cliff O’Sullivan also showed up which was very nice for me. I met Cliff when we were both starting out, he was a college Rep when my first record came out on Columbia, and he remains to this day one of the nicest guys I know in the business, Cliff is now head of marketing at Universal. The Ugly Beats tore it up again and Jeanine looked hot as can be! Then The Cynics took the stage and Michael showed us all what it means to be a lead singer! He is just fantastic prancing all over the place while Gregg stoically rocks out on his guitar. Then it was our turn, and I think we ended up the evening on the right note. The band is a well oiled machine now and they follow my lead effortlessly so I can just bob and weave with the crowd calling the songs out as we go along. The new songs are going over great and it really seems like we are poised for some big things back in the USA! I was looking cool in my new white shades that Sonny gave me especially for the show! It’s a great store and if you are ever in town stop by, tell Sonny I sent you. After the show we were hanging out with some of the fans, and a couple of kids asked us if we wanted to play a BBQ on Sunday, I said, Hell Yeah! I will get back to that later. We stopped by Jennifer’s store Blue Velvet and the boys picked up some more shirts and then we had a kick ass Thai dinner. Octavio, Pablo and me went to catch our host, Eric Blakely’s show at Boarders books while Juancho went with The Ugly Beats to see X. Eric’s show was great he does a solo thing and he has a wonderful way with the audience, his songs are great story telling and his guitar sound is so rich and beautiful. We all enjoyed it immensely, Alan was there and so was our man Eric ’It’s Awesome’ Brown! After that we all went downtown to see the fabulous Chuck Prophet. MAN did he rock, what a band, what a sound it was the best group I saw the whole week! I was all musiced out after that, we said hello to Chuck and it was time for this puppy to hit the hay. Juancho and Pablo were on a bender so they stayed out with Eric to go see Magic Christians while Octavio and I went back to The Mansion. Saturday 15th The Official Showcase! We decided to take it real easy today because we had been really blowing it out. Octavio and I drove in to town early to have breakfast with my good friend Cliff at The Magnolia Café. It was lovely and Cliff kind of filled us in on the state of the nation, musically speaking, over scrambled eggs and hot cakes. Then we had to pick up Juanco. We met him down the street in front of the Continental trying on a really pink, pink shirt which went perfect with his red face and his cowboy hat! We went up the street to Allan’s Boot Shop to see if we could find some cool cowboy shirts. Inside the place was empty except for a very few people, including the very tall Mr. Billy Bragg! I went up to him and introduced myself and he was just the coolest guy and we all started shooting the shit and buying clothes, I told him I hated shopping so he picked out this very cool black cowboy shirt with gold guitars and music notes, "That’s you man, you’ll look sharp in that!" Juancho told him he could book him some shows in Spain and Octavio and Billy compared cowboy shirts, he is one of the coolest guys you could meet and now I think we can call him a buddy of ours! We were feeling pretty good has we cruised back to The Mansion for a pasta lunch and a long nap! Pretty soon it was Showtime at The Soho Lounge. This was it; this was why we flew some 3,000 miles, the place was packed as we hit the stage, Beetle Bob introduced the band and we slammed into one of our hottest 40 minute sets to date! We opened with Let Me Into Your Life and we closed with Rock n Roll Girl, and the crowd just ate it up! When I left Madrid my son Noah said, "Dad, leave ’em with their mouths open." We Did! Sunday 16th We found out sometime around midnight on Saturday that the BBQ show was on and we would be playing at 6pm. We got up late, and drove into town with just enough time to catch Cyril and his Magic Christians at the Head Hunters. It was great to see my good friend Cyril after so many years, he looked great and he sounded as good as ever! Clem and Eddie are old buddies too so it was great to catch up with them; the real surprise for me was meeting Paul Kopf, their lead singer. What a cool guy, we had a great time talking rock and just hanging out; he is as they say in the business a real sweetheart!
We blew over to the BBQ for our final SXSW show. I had no idea what was in store for me. The BBQ is an annual event put on by Austin’s Sherry Cardino. The band that had invited us was Beat, Beat, Beat (I know, it’s a cool name) who are out of Atlanta. The place was packed with kids, I was definitely old enough to be their father, and as I sat watching the proceedings I realised for the first time that even though I felt young in my heart I was no longer young, one of those personal revelations that you never know when you are going to have. I thought that these kids were great but that they lived in a different world that I knew nothing about, I was more nervous for this show than any of the other shows we had done at SXSW, I don’t know why I was just real nervous as I watched the other bands play, and they were great, and it made me feel that the future of rock n roll was just fine and dandy, but I felt like I was from the old guard and maybe my job was done and it was time to step aside and let these kids take over. I was shaking like a leaf when we hit the stage, and to top it off Cyril and his band had showed up. I tried to just let my rock n roll sixth sense take over and hope for the best, we blasted into Look But Don’t Touch and the blood started to surge through me, the sound was the best we had, had for all the shows, and this was a little wooden outdoor car park, next to a beautiful pale white wood frame house with green trim. The sound just blew me away I thought to myself this is what it’s all about, this is why I play music, this is what really makes my life worth living, all this went through my head as I had my eyes closed, when I opened my eyes and saw the kids moving and swaying in time to the music I knew that we were all together and that I was not out of touch with them and that even though we were two generations apart we were unified by that great equaliser known as......
ROCK N ROLL…… PC
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Saturday, March 08, 2008
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Category: Music
Hello folks, PC here, it's Saturday Night in Madrid I am gearing up for our trip to Austin. This will be our second time to SXSW and we are hoping it will be even better than last year. We have a new record "Ribbon of Gold" that we recorded in Gutenberg, Sweden with Chips Kiesby (Nomads, Hellacopters) I am very happy with the way it came out and I think it will go a long way in proving that I still have something left to say and do. Lots has happened along the way since I started out some 30 years ago with Jack and Peter in that little band called The Nerves. I have had my ups and downs juat like most of us but I am happy to still be here, alive and kicking with the spirit of Rock n Roll still alive in me. I have always been a fan 1st and a musician 2nd, its what keeps me going, there is nothing more exciting to me than to listen to a good rockin song, when the words and the melody and the beat all come together. Times have changed, tastes have changed, but for me the most important thing has not changed one bit...it's an electric guitar with a fifty amp fuse, straight form the heart with nothing to lose! See you all out there! Paul Collins
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Thursday, August 30, 2007
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Current mood:  sad
Paul Collins' Beat wish to send their condolences to the family of Hilly Kristal, the father of punk rock. Scroll below to read the full story.
NEW YORK - Hilly Kristal, whose dank Bowery rock club CBGB served as the birthplace of the punk rock movement and a launching pad for bands like the Ramones, Blondie and the Talking Heads, has died. He was 75.
Kristal, who lost a bitter fight last year to stop the club's eviction from its home of 33 years, died Tuesday at Cabrini Hospital after a battle with lung cancer, his son Mark Dana Kristal said Wednesday.
Last October, as the club headed toward its final show with Patti Smith, Kristal was using a cane to get around and showing the effects of his cancer treatment. He was hoping to open a Las Vegas incarnation of the infamous venue that opened in 1973.
"He created a club that started on a small, out-of-the-way skid row, and saw it go around the world," said Lenny Kaye, a longtime member of the Patti Smith Group. "Everywhere you travel around the world, you saw somebody wearing a CBGB T-shirt."
While the club's glory days were long past when it shut down, its name transcended the venue and become synonymous with the three-chord thrash of punk and its influence on generations of musicians worldwide.
The club also became a brand name for a line of clothing and accessories, even guitar straps; its store, CBGB Fashions, was moved a few blocks away from the original club, but remained open.
"I'm thinking about tomorrow and the next day and the next day, and going on to do more with CBGB's," Kristal told The Associated Press last October.
Kristal started the club in 1973 with the hope of making it a mecca of country, bluegrass and blues -- called CBGB & OMFUG, for "Other Music For Uplifting Gourmandisers" -- but found few bands to book. It instead became the epicenter of the mid-1970s punk movement.
"There was never gourmet food, and there was never country bluegrass," his son said Wednesday.
Besides the Ramones and the Talking Heads, many of the other sonically defiant bands that found frenzied crowds at CBGB during those years became legendary -- including Smith, Blondie and Television.
Smith said at the venue's last show that Kristal "was our champion and in those days, there were very few."
Throughout the years, CBGB had rented its space from the building's owner, the Bowery Residents' Committee, an agency that houses homeless people.
In the early 2000s, a feud broke out when the committee went to court to collect more than $300,000 in back rent from the club, then later successfully sought to evict it. By the time it closed, CBGB had become part museum and part barroom.
At the club's boarded-up storefront Wednesday morning, fans left a dozen candles, two bunches of flowers and a foam rubber baseball bat -- an apparent tribute to the Ramones' classic "Beat on the Brat." A spray-painted message read: "RIP Hilly, we'll miss you, thank you."
Other survivors include his wife, Karen, and daughter, Lisa.
By CRISTIAN SALAZAR, Associated Press Writer
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Friday, February 09, 2007
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Category: Music
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ITEM #1 
FLYING HIGH CD
PRICE $15.00
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ITEM #2
FLYING HIGH (Autographed)
PRICE $20.00
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ITEM #3 
FROM TOWN TO TOWN
PRICE $10.00
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Sunday, April 02, 2006
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Current mood: excited
The Nerves 2007 CD & Vinyl re-issues on Bomp/Alive Records
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7-inch EP reissue
COMING in 2007 |
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This is the reissue of the self-titled four-song EP released in 1976 by the legendary Los Angeles NERVES which featured Peter Case (PLIMSOULS), Paul Collins (PAUL COLLINS BEAT), and Jack Lee. The EP includes 'Hanging On The Telephone', the song recorded by BLONDIE on their 'Parallel Lines' album, and recently covered by CAT POWER. The EP is pressed on colored vinyl, and also features the original artwork. Watch out for the NERVES anthology coming 2007 on Alive records. |
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Bomp/Alive Records websites:
http://www.bomp.com/
http://alive-totalenergy.com/home.html
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