Stardom By Death

Just recently an upstart band Tickle Me Pink got a boost for exceptional notoriety- the 21st century way- their lead singer died on the same day as their national debut album "Madeline" was released. On August 3rd they gave a concert as openers to the bands Finch and Scary Kids Scaring Kids at Denver's Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom downtown. They have a replacement lead singer in Joey Barba (who is a Pantera fan, my era !) and a trendy sound which will keep them being heard on indy airwaves regardless of the fact that it is sudden tragedy which put them on the musical map.

The Denver gig was their homecoming gig so a Rocky Mountain News music journalist recently caught up to them to ask questions about where they're headed and how they were able to carry on. Even with most questions unanswered about the death of Johnny Schou they decided to forge on with the national tour that comes along with a debut album. If you check out the links at the end you can see what venues they've already played at and where they're headed next.

Songs such as the title track "Madeline" have taken on new and deeper meaning for the band which were initially difficult to sing at the onset of the tour are now helping them get through the tour on the emotional tide it's running. This is the tour that Bill Stevenson of The Descendants told them they'd never get through without air conditioning ! !

Mark Brown: The fans gave you an outpouring of support. Did that help ?

Sean: So, so much ! Especially initially when none of us had really gotten on our MySpace for a couple of days. It was the last thing we were thinking about. I finally logged on and there were literally thousands of comments and messages. It was overwhelming. I started bawling. Kids love our music. We need to press on. Johnny would want us to press on.

M.B.: How is the road right now ?

Sean: I was glad to leave. We had two weeks before we left and I couldn't go home. It was too weird for me. I was just staying with my parents and at a hotel. I never even went home. Getting out on the road was a relief. I can be productive. I'm sure when I get back for a couple of days I'll feel more comfortable now.

M.B.: How did you pick Joey Barba to play with the band ?

Sean: If there'd just been some random studio musician who'd come in to play with us, we wouldn't have done the tour. A lot of the songs on our record are pretty deep about life and death. I couldn't have been able to sing those lyrics onstage and look over and see some studio musician there in the place of Johnny. We're lucky that our good friend Joey Barba came out....he was good friends with Johnny and lived with us for a while.

M.B.: How hard was that decision ?

Sean: He went through this big emotional dilemma about what he should do. We wanted him to not feel obligated to the situation so we had a big ordeal. If Joey's not going to do this, we're not going to do this tour.... he came to the conclusion that he wanted to do it....there's something about having our unity with each other that makes it easier.

M.B.: After the tragedy, what were your thoughts ?

Sean: We didn't wanna go on the road. We needed to take some time. Then we thought for a while about what Johnny would want us to be doing and really evaluated our own lives individually. We came to the conclusion we needed to do this in Johnny's honor. Every song we play off this record- he helped write it- we're sharing a piece of him with everyone. Now we have so much more purpose, to where it makes it a little easier to play.

Now they have to make it through without Johnny but the band remains optimistic

but still very emotional...

The Castle Lady sends lots of love your way!

http://www.ticklemepinkrock.com/ for more news and official blog

http://www.cervantesmasterpiece.com/ the Denver concert

Madeline video : www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVSW38T0AWU&feature=related

Beck is Back on the Scene !

Last week Beck released a new CD under the title Modern Guilt and according to what I've read it's an eclectic (as always !) collection of ten songs. For those who haven't been paying attention Beck broke into the hit "parade" with his song Loser in 1994. I personally don't remember that particular song but I was thoroughly impressed with the song that made it to movie soundtrack fame Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime, with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It wasn't the theme song to the movie but it should've been.

Well, ever since his Grammy-winning hit in 1994 he has been putting out product that is always fresh sounding and definitely ground-breaking in some fashion. No one knew what to expect with this new album and that is a great place to be for any artist. Trust me !

For more info check out these links:

http://www.parade.com/celebrity/articles/080711-beck

http://en.wikipedia.org.wiki/Beck

http://www.modernguilt.com/

www.imdb.com/name/nm0065059

Your ever illustrious Castle Lady.. bises to you !

The First Woman Rocker

Does anybody remember the song "Let's Have a Party" or "Honey Bop"? I first heard the rockabilly classic ( Let's Have a Party )in the 1989 movie Dead Poet's Society which starred Robin Williams as an English teacher in a boarding school. It's the best example of a typical rockabilly song from its era. Wanda Jackson recorded this tune and I have never heard anyone else's version of it, although another version which Elvis Presley recorded first, exists. If you've never heard the song I urge you to check it out to hear it for yourself.

Wanda Jackson was the rockabilly queen and she had no real competitors in her genre- not of the female variety in any case. Her first hit was in Japan in 1958 with Fujiyama Mama. She had a uniquely aggressive approach to her music which was unheard of at the time of her popularity. She had as much power and class as any of the "old" guys like Gene Vincent, Dorsey and Johnny Burnette, Eddie Cochran or Buddy Holly. Her first huge hit was Let's Have a Party which featured a band belonging to Gene Vincent called The Blue Caps in 1960. None of her hits made the top twenty but she continued to record clear up to 1979 with a Greatest Hits album. She eventually went into gospel and country music but never achieved quite as much notoriety with that music as in her beginnings.

Born in Maud, Oklahoma on October 20, 1937 to an amateur musician ( her father, Tom) both her mother and father encouraged her to sing from an early age. In 1952 she won a local talent contest and was awarded a fifteen minute daily show on KLPR which was in Oklahoma City. She then got a thirty minute slot radio show (at the tender age of fifteen) which she kept through her high school years and by 1953 she started recording with Decca Records. Her first hit was You Can't Have My Love a duet she sang with Hank Thompson's bandleader, Billy Gray. In 1956 she signed on with Hank Thompson's swing band, Brazos Valley Boys and eventually signed with Capitol Records after her career was well under way.

Some tunes to look for would be Right or Wrong, In the Middle of a Heartache in addition to the previously mentioned tunes. There are others such as Mean Mean Man, Slippin and Slidin, Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad, Try a Little Kindness and many more you can Google. In the 70s and 80s she toured internationally and has re-recorded several of her hits in German, Dutch and Japanese to great success.

Jackson toured constantly during her career and was nominated for a Grammy twice. She married an IBM programmer, Wendall Goodman in 1961, and surprisingly he gave up his job in order to manage Wanda's career. After she released her gospel album in 1972 her secular career cooled but she claimed that it saved her marriage!

During the 80s Rockabilly had a resurgence in Europe with The Stray Cats and others and Jackson's major influence to several country artists who wanted to take advantage of the new found popularity received new attention as a rockabilly singer. As a result she was invited by many female artists to tour Europe in which she took part. Rosie Flores released a rockabilly album titled Rockabilly Filly in 1995 and invited Jackson to record several of the tunes with her. They embarked on a major U.S. tour together later that year.

Discography

1960- Rockin' with Wanda (Capitol)

1966- Wanda Jackson Sings Country Blues

1972- Praise the Lord

1974- Country Gospel (Word)

1979- Greatest Hits (Capitol)

2000- Queen of Rockabilly (Ace ) import

Single "Let's Have a Party" made it to #37 on the charts 1960

Single "Right or Wrong" made it to #29 in 1961

Single "In the Middle of a Heartache" made it to #27 in 1961

All Rights

Evelyn M. Wallace

March 28, 2008

James Blunt's Reemergence

You'll remember him from his brilliant but simple debut with "You're Beautiful" from 2005 which gave him strong radio rotation for a half year. This modest Brit who came from London, now lives his down days in Ibiza, Spain and is getting ready to start a world tour on the strength of a new CD "All the Lost Souls". In an interview with Cosmo recently he revealed that he felt a woman's most attractive feature is her mind. This 30 year old is one smart cookie. XD

From reading the interview I came to a few conclusions about him. One is that he's very shy with people so his visual recognition has forced him out of his shell and that he's a very strong (and rare, let's face it! ) romantic with the opposite sex and certainly doesn't make money an issue. He does have a girlfriend, though. He's also quite aware of how short life is and he makes the most of it by filling his time as much as possible.

My last observation is that he strives for satisfaction in what he does so he'll probably never put out a bad album and if he couldn't make his living as a musician anymore he'd make sure whatever he does would make an impact for positive change in the world.

Coming at 'ya with blunt affection!

The Castle Lady

All rights reserved 2008

Evelyn M. Wallace

It Was A Blast ! !

Christmas extravaganza in Denver every year!

Rockabilly galore!

The Best!

The Castle Lady

Happy Holidays!

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Are you looking for some really rockin' presents this year? I have started a list for you so hear me out, check out the list and just add whatever you think will make for a true rock and roll Christmas to your own list. Here goes:

1. A Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock wireless guitar, approx. $100 (you can get it at guitarhero.com

2. A Crosley USB turntable will run about $165 from fredflare.com

( hint: it converts old vinyl LPs into digital files for your up-to-date devices!)

3. A Samsung Electronics MP3 player will cost about $80

4. Audio-Technica portable folding MP3 speakers only about $28 from momastore.com

5. The Nikon D3 SLR

( To see what this one is all about visit www.stunningnikon.com/challenge )

Ho ho ho!

Have a Merry Christmas!

The Castle Lady

Who is Michael D.R.I.V.E. ?

Chi Coltrane has said, "Usually in the case of a rock band, if you take away the band and just leave the singer with the guitar, it's not very impressive; but in Drive's case, it's completely different. If you were to take away the band, you would see that he shines; like a multi-faceted diamond. His voice is unique...his musicianship, and his songwriting are excellent."

Michael Drive was born and raised in L.A. but in 2003 he moved to Paris and moves around Europe (touring mostly France, Germany and Switzerland) playing venues and recording songs with other musicians he crosses on the road. He has been playing as an opener for the de Palmas and has a new recording out "One Direction Left...From Hell". Some of the lyrics from his title song are:

There's a boy reaching for his girl

But her eyes are reaching for someone else

As he crawls around inside her soul

Trying desperately to touch her there

But she's far away and he does not know

That today she'll say goodbye.

His music is available at http://www.girdermusic.com/ and his titles are:

One Direction Left...From Hell

Live in Paris

The Acoustic Collection

This former lead singer of Barren Cross is inspiring and winning the hearts of many loyal fans worldwide. Check him out!

New note: Michael is now back with Barren Cross and they are

back touring the States this summer. Check out his web site and theirs >

http://www.michaeldrive.com/ http://www.barrencross.net/

& www.myspace.com/michaeldrive1

All rights reserved

Evelyn M. Wallace 11/4/07

Rock Band- the new video game!

This new game which can be used in the PS2, PS3 and XBox 360 is coming out in stores by November 20th! Remember the Rutles? The Rutles. HELLOooo! Well the reason you need to check this out is because the original creators of Guitar Hero invented this new "air guitar" phenomenon and adding a second guitar, a drum kit and a microphone is this guy's way of turning things up to 11. If you were unfortunate enough to be born in the 80s that's just going to go over your head. Now- back to coolness! XD

This game gives several players a chance to play in person or virtually and form a video game band. Like Guitar Hero, Rock Band is pumped up to 11 and uses replica instruments to allow you to play along with Rock, Jazz or pop of any kind. While the lead and bass guitars are quite the blast, the microphone might be a little embarrassing. Better learn to sing, dude! XD The drums are well worth it and you'll probably be fighting over who takes them. May the best man win! MTV has supplied a good stock of original masters for this sweet one as well. I have a feeling you'll find plenty of riffs and licks to choose from. Have fun! Better get in line now!

All rights reserved

Evelyn M. Wallace 2007

Magma and Gong!

Rock and Roll has certainly had its share of particularly strange groups throughout the years but I'm not going to touch on the obvious stand-outs at this point in time. Some people think KISS was a rock oddity but if you have some knowledge of Rock history, you'd know that many bands took the "make-up and elaborate costumes" route and many teenagers and young adults didn't think it out of ordinary at all. Before KISS, Alice Cooper did a more psychological but creepy approach to Rock that may never die out. Today it is known all over the world as Death Rock and there are a myriad of European bands which tout just that but they are certainly not original. Alice Cooper takes the bows for that alone.
Here's a band I consider to be my version of an oddity. Does anybody remember the band Magma? Didn't think so. Don't feel bad, I don't either but they were before my time! It's not surprising that most of you won't because it was a band formed in 1969 in France by Christian Vander. They considered themselves an Art Rock phenomenon because they invented their own language: Kobaian. That's right, Kobaian which was supposed to be from the planet Kobaia.

This gets even better so keep reading.

Vander was a percussionist who loved Elvin Jones music (Jazz) but he was really a devotee of both contemporary Classical and modern Jazz (a` la Coltrane, Sun Ra). Christian Vander, from these influences, constructed music that had some intriguing polyrhythmic tunes and all his albums were conceptual (very much like Frank Zappa!) but involved interplanetary communication, galactic warfare and even the apocalypse. They toured with another band called Gong (who were even more bizarre, keep reading...) and while touring often stayed in fans homes because they were so low budget. This is not to take away from their musical viability, however, as they put out an impressive amount of albums and if you attend enough garage sales you may run across one of their albums someday! Here are some titles to look for:

Magma- 1970, 1001 Degrees Centigrade- 1971, Live (on Utopia Records) 1975, Udu Wudu- 1976, Edits, Attahk- 1977.

If you ever find any of these e-mail me because I'd like to buy at least one of these records and actually hear them ! ! ! !

Now Gong were formed a year later than Magma in Paris by an expatriated Australian by the name of Daevid Allen. All but a few of their titles were in English and they had the distinction of being not only in compliment to Magma (i.e. UFOs, mythology buffs) they were more of a European post-hippie band which mixed Rock, Folk and Jazz in with synthesizers but emulated Magma's musicality. (The Kelly Family might be a good example as a more modern equivalent.) As time progressed in their evolution they had frequent personnel changes. When Allen started out he was basically a beatnik who attended the Canterbury College of Art back in 1966. While his group evolved he went on to greener Rock pastures. He had the opportunity to work with an impressive number of "well-knowns", mentioned further in this entry. Before his departure from Gong he was able to complete a trilogy he created about the planet Gong. These LPs were Flying Teapot, You, and Angel's Egg.

In 1979 with the release of one of his few French titles N'existe Pas he led the first Gong group to play the U.S. He lived for a time in Woodstock (quel surprise!) and did solo tours for a time as the Divided Alien Clockwork Band.

Pierre Moerlen took over Gong in 1973 and the real Gong specialized in percussion-heavy Jazz Rock under Moerlen's influence. His first recording with them was Angel's Egg in 1973. He had actually studied music at his father's old alma mater the Strasbourg Conservatory in 1967 until 1972 and was well prepared for his rotating cache of sidemen which included some big names like Steve Hillage, Todd Rundgren, ex-Rolling Stone Mick Taylor ( on whose solo debut in 1979 Moerlen contributed.) The only remaining original member was Didier Malherbe, the saxophonist/flutist.

He re-united with Allen in 1977 to record Gong Est Mort and at that point they began to do more work in America after signing with Arista. Gong is most unique in that many different "incarnations" of the band, using the very same name, were allowed to flourish which most likely is the reason that Moerlen's band received very little notice for their U.S. concerts. Their brand of Rock was simply more popular in Europe at the time. Don't hesitate to let me know if you ever see Gong's or Magma's LPs in a garage sale. Check out Gong's discography below:

1973- The Flying Teapot

Angel's Egg

1974- Continental Circus

Camembert Electrique

You (Virgin Records)

1976- Shamal

1977- Gazeuse

Live!

Magick Brother

Gong Est Mort

Expresso 1978
Expresso II

1979- Downwind

Time is the Key

Pierre Moerlen's Gong Live

Evelyn M. Wallace

All rights reserved 2007

Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Rock

But I'm gonna tell you anyway!

This is my official title of this blog. Tomorrow at this very same time you will be reading an awesome piece of writing on Rock Oddities (one of my catagories.) I started this blog, however, to write about women in Rock which I'm going to do a series on for the next two years. Keep checking back because you're going to learn more about Rock and Roll from my blog than you can by picking up your average Rock magazine these days. I may diversify eventually, but for now... it's all about Rock AND Roll!

Evelyn M. Wallace aka The Castle Lady