Neutral Milk Hotel 33 1/3 book

I've pretty much completed my little book on In The Aeroplane Over The Sea for Continuum's 33 1/3 series, pending a few facts being checked by Robert Schneider and Bill Doss, and I'm really happy with how it's turned out. This is the longest piece of reporting I've ever done, and it was wild to see how the story revealed itself in pieces, with each person I spoke with polishing up a new facet on the gem, until it was so perfectly clear what form the book had to take.

The book includes recollections from Lance Bangs, Jeremy Barnes, Ross Beach, Chris Bilheimer, Laura Carter, Ben Crum, John Fernandes, Geoff George, Jamey Huggins, Julian Koster, Martyn Leaper, Bryan Poole, Robert Schneider, Scott Spillane, Jason Norvein Wachtelhausen and Briana Whyte. It was midwifed by my assistant Craig Ceravolo and by Mike Turner, Eric Hernandez and Leslie Dallion-Superstar, who put us up in Athens and helped us secure a few key interviews. Julian Koster and Robert Schneider especially were generous with their time and their memories.

A few trusted friends have read it and responded well, and it almost made David Smay cry, so I think it's really a book. The release date is supposed to be around Xmas, though Amazon still says September. Stay tuned for an official date.

My editor David Barker (who has a nice blog) is letting me include a dozen photos, and with the help of Laura Carter, Robert Schneider and Brian Dewan, I've pulled together a great batch of never-before-seen ones, including pics of the major locations in NMH lore, an unused Dewan illustration commissioned for Aeroplane, performance photos, tour snapshots, a horn chart from the album and a couple of posed band photos that I don't think were ever used.

The story of Neutral Milk Hotel revealed itself to be one of faith and love and trust, of a bunch of talented kids who believed in each other and made magical things happen. It's an inspiring tale, and I think one that has a lot to offer young people who want to be artists, but are unsure of how to go about it or how much to rely on their friends and collaborators. They could do much worse than to follow the Elephant 6 model.

The book is organized chronologically, geographically and thematically, with sections on Ruston, Louisiana (where the players first came together), Athens, Denver, the On Avery Island recording sessions, Queens (where the Jeff-Jeremy-Julian-Scott band manifested), the In The Aeroplane Over The Sea recording sessions, an analysis of each of the songs on Aeroplane, an account of the designing of Aeroplane's sleeve art, life on the road dealing with the band's increasingly popularity, and concluding with the aftermath of the 1998 world tour, how the band ceased to be, and Neutral Milk Hotel's continued influence.

For those reading this who've never heard this extraordinary album, I emphatically recommend that you pick it up, whether you intend to read my book or not. If you think you might want to read the book, all the more reason to get the songs in your bones before you do.

It's funny... In The Aeroplane Over The Sea was a ringer on the wish-list I sent to Continuum, one of a few semi-contemporary albums chosen intentionally to modernize a list that was otherwise shamelessly retro. I'm so glad David Barker commissioned me to do it. I can't imagine I could have found such rich, untapped material had he said yes to Astral Weeks or Happy Sad or Liege & Lief or Big Star Third or Horses or The Who Sell Out or Grievous Angel or Funhouse or Live at the Old Quarter Houston or the Anthology of American Folk Music or Odessey & Oracle or Scott 4 or Lolita Nation or Promenade. (Notorious Byrd Brothers... maybe. We'll see when Ric Menck's book comes out.)

I've also never written anything that is so eagerly anticipated. Usually Scram stories reach a small audience and I hear nice things face to face. It will be interesting to see how unknown people who adore the band react to reading their story.

Del Rey & The Sun Kings - I AM THE LIGHT

Jackson Del Rey, late of Savage Republic and 17 Pygmies, and a contributor to Lost in the Grooves under his "slave name," has just released his first recordings in more than fifteen years.

"I Am The Light" is a hypnotic intersection of Sufi trance music, surf guitar, Italian instro soundtracks and Jackson's unique post-punk vision. The album is available in the traditional CD format, or as a special edition (just 100 made) of ritual objects the listener can arrange into their own personal shrine.

"I Am The Light" is available exclusively from Jackson Del Rey at his page on the Scram Magazine website. Or visit The Sun Kings on myspace to hear the new music.

Ask A Hungry Freak!

Periodically at Lost in the Grooves, we feature personal advice and memories from Carl Franzoni, the wild freaky dancer of Sunset Strip fame. Email the editrix at amscray @ gmail.com with your questions for Carl Franzoni on matters of love, career, etiquette or "other."

A delightful young lady named Christina in the San Francisco Bay Area writes in this week with several incisive questions for Carl:

What was it like dancing with The Byrds on tour? I always thought that Michael Clake the drummer of The Byrds was really good looking in his prime-- what was he like in person? What was it like going to Veto's studio and all those crazy parties you used to go to? What was the Sunset Strip like back in the sixties? I bet it has really changed now, hey? What are you doing now? You ought to write a book on your past experiences.

Carl replies:

Hello Christina,

In 1965 we were asked by the "Byrds" Management, to go with the band for a thirty day tour in the USA Midwest, starting in the mile high city of Denver. There we were all treated like Royalty by the producers and the people that came to see the show. The band's music and the way we danced, and the crowd's approval blew all our minds and this was our first performance together, we were not on any drugs. That's why Jim McGuinn wrote the song “8 Miles High.”

Now. Jim or Roger did not want the dancers on the tour because he thought we would upstage his band. But after leaving Colorado, when we were in Wyo. or Kan. we stopped for a break on the tour bus, and he asked me what I thought of his song “8 Miles High?” I thought then he was giving into the idea of us dancers, performing with the Byrds. But we never did dance on the stage with them and got none or no credit for being there dancers. Our fame was because we first started dancing with the Birds at a teen dance that Vito put together at a hall on Melrose Ave. It was a 300 people Success. By the way it was a STOP THE WAR in Vietnam Dance. with placards and posters saying, STOP THE KILLING!!!!!!! STOP THE WAR NOW!!!!!! DON"T GO TO VIETNAM TO KILL PEOPLE!!!!! this was a teen dance and it's 1965 in Hollywood, California.

The very next night at Ciro's on the SUNSET STRIP we danced and then any other place the Byrds would have a gig. We became inseparable and that started a dance movement never seen before. But later on, at the Midwest Tour we were not a happy group. because the dancers were never given any acknowledgment. And today as I watch TV Roger McGuinn now shows the dancing and the dancers of that time, but not the tour dancers that made him famous and rich.

Michael Clarke was a Beatnik, a congo drummer a beach dude, he hung aloof from the Byrd's and didn't perform on the Records they made, A sweet guy who loved women, a poet that didn't belong to a group of guys that had to do 78 takes in a recording session, and couldn't get it right. And the blood did roll. ask the manager, Jim, he got bloodied too.

And VITO, our teacher, loved Hollywood, I met him as a business man looking to buy a painting from one of his students. a young woman painter. Within a short time I became one of his proteges . So I was at all the parties and happenings and events. Hollywood was so turned on because we wore clothes like in the Movies and right out in the street U saw people wearing garments from all the costume stores that the studios were selling, also Vito's wife Sue was making and selling her Sculptured Garments. At any party it was all the people and actors and actresses from the studios hanging out and being involved with one another, love and kisses everywhere, like the movie “King of Hearts” and we seemed to be free of all tyranny until, we had to stop, because Acid was being dropped in all the punch bowels and Timothy Leary's curse screwed up everyone’s mind. And of course the police wanted to get rid of anything we proposed to do.

The Sunset Strip was a battle ground for free speech with Lenny Bruce as one of our guides and walking every night on Sunset Blvd. to protest no fancy Stores and High Rise apartments and not being busted for wearing different clothes. The change is, U can't breath the air and more cars to pollute and all people want is more money. Otherwise I wish I could live there.

I’m making Movies about the Local Indian Tribes, this is my 4th and two others about Artists I know. I still dance whenever I can. I can still do about an hour if the band can play that long.

I’m Hungry Freaks Daddy,
carl o. franzoni

Spermathon 2005

This just in from Pamita...

Hey everyone -

Me (Pam) and Judy (from Cheap Chick, Betty Blowtorch, etc.) will be playing in Tadpole with Mia (Hole, Tadpole, Bulimia Banquet) and Sharon Needles (Betty Blowtorch, Butt Trumpet, etc.) for an all-star alternative-y, punky spermathon. Huh? Kinda like if Jerry Lewis was a lesbian and Muscular Dystrophy was actually spelled F-E-R-T-I-L-I-T-Y.

Anyway, great muzak, fun activities and it's for a good cause - so that another great lesbian couple can have a baby and piss off Rush Limbaugh and Jerry Falwell! Can I hear a "Hell yeah!"

Details are below:

---------------------------

Benefit for: Jen Hitchcock and Amy Hanreddy
Location: MOONSHADOWS
10437 Burbank Blvd, North Hollywood,CA
When: Sunday, June 26, 5:00pm

BABY BENEFIT!!! JEN AND AMY NEED YOUR HELP.

Jen and Amy are about to embark on the process of having a kid. Sperm ain't cheap, and it costs them over 500 bucks each time they try, so they are calling on their extended family to help out a bit.

MOONSHADOWS, a San Fernando Valley lesbian bar like no other, has kindly allowed them to use their space to put together a benefit to raise money to help them have a kid! What better place to throw a benefit for sperm than a lesbian bar!!! YEAH!!!!!

There is no cover charge, they are raising money by selling food, taking donations, playing games etc... Lava Diva will be playing along with Tadpole and some more great bands.

Bring coins to win cheesy carnival prizes at the coin toss!

Bands start around 6pm.

Tadpole should be on around 7 or 8pm.

Another Reign

Gosh, a music post on the Dawn Patrol! And here I thought it was all attacks on Planned Parenthood and misreadings of the zeitgeist. There's apparently an unreleased early Robin Gibb album up in MP3 format on the Beddazzled! site.

Strong but likes roses

Hats off to the oddball in Austin who included a link to my Poppy Family article in his personal ad on Craigslist. Ladies?

Zolar X RETURNS!

This just in from Screaming Lord Duff at the Hollywood Knitting Factory...

SATURDAY, JULY 23
ZOLAR X, RUINS ALONE feat. YOSHIDA of RUINS with GENGHIS TRON, PRAY TO ROBOTS
In what may be strangest slice of the rock this year, long lost glitter space aliens Zolar X are headlining over a bill of avant rockers. Planet Earth will never be the same. Zolar X opened for the NY Dolls and Iggy, wore matching spacesuits (with antennae), and despite a knack for impossibly catchy glitter rock, could not get a record deal during their ‘70s heyday. Jello Biafra heard their lost sides and considered them the missing link between Chrome and the Stooges. Alternative Tentacles reissued their ‘70s brilliance on the recent “Timeless” collection, which literally has to be heard to be fully absorbed. Ruins Alone features Yoshida Tatsuya, who is one of the most innovative drummer/composer/improvisers in the Japanese avant-garde music scene. Yoshida emerged with his drum and bass duo Ruins in 1985, winning over fans like John Zorn, Sonic Youth, Mike Patton, Glenn Branca, and Bill Laswell (even forming the band Painkiller with Zorn and Laswell in the ‘90s). Fans of the Boredoms, Wives, or any of the above mentioned artists take note.

More on Zolar X here.

Lost in the Grooves on iTunes

We've just compiled custom iTunes iMix shops where you can browse many of the great artists and albums featured in the Lost in the Grooves book, listening to a little of their songs and maybe buying one or six, which will kick a small percentage back into the Scram coffers. This is meant to supplement the Lostinthegrooves.com MP3 shop, where we have exclusive tracks by hard-to-find artists like the Sex Clark 5, Orgone Box, Lipstick Killers, Brute Force, Linda Perhacs, Leopards, Gibson Bros, Fugu, John Trubee and Costes.

You can always drop back to this blog's sidebar or to the Scram site to find the iTunes links, which are split up into five alphabetical sections of about 250 tracks each. There are some real surprises in there, like Muddy Waters' Electric Mud, Rhino Handmade's Judee Sill reissues, Michael Nesmith's Nevada Fighter, the Nourallah Brothers solo and in tandem, Wizzard and Yer' Blues by the James Gang. Enjoy...

LITG on iTunes (Action-Cowsills)

LITG on iTunes (Crenshaw-Gaillard)

LITG on iTunes (Gaye-Megadeth)

LITG on iTunes (Mekons-Ramones)

LITG on iTunes (Raspberries-Yoakum)

Game Theory Rickenbacker bass on the block

Donnette Thayer, who played with Game Theory during the Lolita Nation era, is selling her black 3001-model Ricky bass on eBay. The auction, which is quite poignantly described, can be viewed here.

Lolita Nation is a featured album in Lost in the Grooves, and I can personally attest that the band was wild when Donnette was with 'em. Hope it finds a happy home.

Yellow Pills: Prefill double CD (Numero Group)

The biggest problem with power pop fiends is that as a group they’re so enamored of their genre that they’re as likely to recommend something mediocre as something stunning. This is unfortunate, because there’s so much power pop out there, and if its partisans aren’t going to root out the gems, who will? Jordan Oakes, that’s who. The editor of the late Yellow Pills fanzine has compiled an eminently listenable two-disc set of ultra obscure bands who skirted the edges of the skinny tie world (mainly) circa 1978-82. Unless you were dog-earing copies of Bomp! at the time, odds are you’ve never heard the Speedies’ goofy-punk “You Need Pop,” Jon Brion’s new wave/ Beatlesy Bats, art-geeks Luxury, the Treble Boys’ adorable “Julie-Anne” or Randy Winburn’s jubilant, ambitious “Sunshine U.S.A.,” just a few of the highlights on this delightful release.

Sneak Peak of the October International Bubblegum Month festivities

Email editrix Kim at amscray@gmail.com if you're interested in
screening Kier-La's film in your town.

Stay tuned for further announcements.

Lost Grooves in London with the fabulous Orgone Box!

GIG ANNOUNCEMENT – Daedalus Industries and CWNN proudly present

The Friday Night Music Appreciation Society’s ‘Lost in the Grooves’ book launch with
The Orgone Box – special acoustic set from indie legend + Cult With No Name, Helen Fisher

When: FRIDAY 29TH JULY 2005, Doors: 7.00pm
Where: The Red Rose, 129 Seven Sisters Road, London N7 7QG (Finsbury Park Tube)
Cost: Tickets: £3 on the door

This very special event sees the UK launch of the book ‘Lost in the Grooves’ with a special acoustic set from psychedelic indie legend The Orgone Box (Rick Corcoran), plus Cult With No Name and Helen Fisher. As well as live music, the evening will see talks from contributors to the book, fanzine editors and record collectors, with a smattering of exclusive merchandise stalls.

About Lost in the Grooves:

‘Lost in the Grooves - Scram’s capricious guide to the music you missed’ Kim Cooper and David Smay (Ed.), Routledge, 2005 For the past 12 years, the L.A.-based magazine Scram has championed the work of musicians who might otherwise fly beneath the mainstream critical radar. Here, Scram editrix Cooper and longtime contributor Smay display the sense of fun that distinguished their previous collection 'Bubblegum Music Is the Naked Truth,' in an immensely entertaining, informative and sometimes exasperating encyclopaedia, in which more than 75 contributors offer over 250 entries (a series of "miniature love letters") about their favourite artists and albums. With praise offered for works by Captain Beefheart alongside the Cowsills, no single genre or artist is considered outside the sphere of the book’s interests.

About The Orgone Box:

Upon a solid framework of Beatles inspired melodic inventiveness, The Orgone Box A.K.A Rick Corcoran, adds layers of pulsing psychedelia, new wave dynamism and a dazzling overlay of classic blazing-guitar rock. Most renowned for the classic 1994 EP Judy Over the Rainbow (Chrysalis), the recent release of no less than three Orgone Box collections have helped to finally secure the OB’s rightful place in the definitive history of British guitar pop. Performing all new melancholic material alongside radically different versions of Orgone Box classics, this rare live appearance from Rick and friends will be a truly special event to behold.

“…a gorgeous wall of bittersweet harmonies and phased guitars.”. Lost in the Grooves
“…blows your mind and stimulates the bits beneath”. The Evening Standard
“…a giant in his field”. The Sunday Times
“…lives way larger than the myth”. Q
“…dripping with melody and inventiveness”. Goldmine

Event Information: Erik Stein erik@hisskiss.freeserve.co.uk - 07790 381 773
Book Information: Kim Cooper amscray@gmail.com
http://www.scrammagazine.com

Rodney's Getting His Star

Mayor of the Sunset Strip
Buy this Poster at AllPosters.com

News just in from Bingenheimer pal Go-Go Giddle Partridge that the extortionate $15,000 (remember when it was $3,000 and that seemed absurd?) the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce demands to lay a new star has been raised, so Rodney will soon be getting his pentangle on the walk of fame. Here's Giddle's email with all the details:

GOOD NEWS!! THIS MORNING ON 106.7KROQ "THE KEVIN AND BEAN" MORNING SHOW, HELD A TWO HOUR "RODNEY-ON-THE-WALK-ATHON"!

A FEW MONTHS AGO SAM NELSON (RICKY NELSON'S OTHER SON, NOT A TWIN), STARTED A CAMPAIGN TO GET 'RODNEY ON THE ROQ' HIS VERY OWN STAR ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME! SAM STARTED A WEBSITE, WWW.RODNEYONTHEWALK.COM, IN ORDER FOR FANS AND FRIENDS ALIKE TO DONATE THE MUCH NEEDED $15,000, WHICH IS THE COST FOR THE CEREMONY. THE HOLLYWOOD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE HAS RECEIVED THE APPLICATION FOR RODNEY'S STAR ALONG WITH LETTERS FROM STARS RANGING FROM CHER TO BECK TO GWEN STEFANI, DEVO, DAVID BOWIE AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ON.

SO WHEN I PASSED ON THE NEWS OF THIS EXCITING HAPPENING EARLY THIS YEAR ALOT OF YOU SENT IN WHAT YOU COULD AND THANK YOU!!! BUT THE NEED FOR CASH IS NOW OVER THANKS TO THE WALK A THON! ALL 15 GRAND WAS RAISED TODAY! SOME OF RODNEY'S FAMOUS FRIENDS WHO HE HELPED LAUNCH THEIR CAREERS CALLED IN TO THE SHOW AND HELPED WITH RAISING DONATIONS: JOAN JETT, DEBBIE HARRY, JOHN DOE OF X, KATHY VALENTINE, ADRIAN OF NO DOUBT, MEMBERS OF BLUR AND BAD RELIGION ETC...

SO NOW WE WAIT UNTIL RODNEY BINGENHEIMER GET'S HIS GLITTER ROCK STAR ON THE WALK OF FAME!

EARLIER THIS WEEK HE WAS HONORED WITH A LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FROM THE L.A. WEEKLY! FINALLY HE IS STARTING TO GET THE RESPECT HE DESERVES!!!

LONG LIVE THE MAYOR OF THE SUNSET STRIP!!

LOVE,
GIDDLE PARTRIDGE

CHECK OUT HIS SITE: WWW.RODNEY-B.COM AND LISTEN TO 'RODNEY ON THE ROQ' EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT FROM MIDNIGHT TO THREE A.M FOR THE GROOVIEST AND MOST CUTTING EDGE MUSIC ON RADIO!

Lovelonglovelonglovelonglovelong

A highlight of the L.A. Weekly Awards ceremonies last night was watching Petra Haden and her 9-girl choir (The Sell Outs) replicating a couple of tracks from her phenomenal vocal-only multitrack interpretation of The Who Sell Out. Quite charming and weird, like a dream of bridesmaids run amok. They're doing the whole album at the Ford Theater on July 1. More info here.

Nice too to see Brian Wilson, Rodney Bingenheimer (so articulate! usually in public situations he makes you forget he's a broadcaster, but he was just terrific), Jeff Barry and X get lifetime achievement awards.

The Weekly's Kate Sullivan introduced Jeff wth effusive (and much deserved) praise, listing singular musical accomplishments, and for the longest time it looked like she wasn't going to mention the Archies, but she was just building up to it. Somehow Ellie Greenwich got left out of the intro, though Phil Spector got a nod. Jeff accepted graciously, and pointed out that whatever it was he'd been doing, it beat working.

Later Flea spoke warmly about how kind X was to him when he wiggled in the back window of the Roxy as an underaged fan, and insisted that for kids growing up in the 70s and 80s, X was THE L.A. band, not the Doors, because they were hippies. I had to laugh. I was 13 when Los Angeles came out, and I dug it a lot, but they were so obviously arty Venice hippies, just a few years removed from the Doors and Tim Buckley and that crowd, pissier and grubbier, but arty hippies all the same.

Arch Hall Jr. and the Archers - Wild Guitar! CD (Norton)

Arch Hall Jr. might have had the lowest forehead in Hollywood, but he also had a namesake dad who wanted to make teen exploitation pix, so they strapped a guitar on the kid and made a series of truly insane low budget features, including Wild Guitar, The Sadist and Eegah, starring Richard Kiel as a caveman.

Arch Jr. was already a music and car fiend with a combo that played at pool parties, so it wasn’t such a huge stretch for him to star in their hot rod epic The Choppers (1959), with its soundtrack featuring one especially bat-shit track, the rockabilly/exotica fusion “Konga Joe.” The rest of the recorded music is entertaining, lo-fi teen rock, with a few fun touches like the moaning in the “Eegah” theme—there’s also an amusing 1962 live set recorded at a Florida drive-in while promoting Wild Guitar.

With well-chosen dialogue clips, radio trailers and Miriam Linna’s terrific notes packed with Arch Jr.’s frank recollections, Kim Fowley quotes and plenty of background on Arch Sr.’s early Hollywood hustles (pre-fab houses, an inept hauling biz, selling futuristic three-wheeled cars), this is an impressive package, and an inspiring portrait of an extended family who really made things happen DIY-style. Not many labels would put so much love into something so lowbrow… and what’s more lowbrow than Arch Hall Jr.?

More Mounk'a!

Lost in the Grooves contributor Richard Henderson has a new MP3 blog where he explores vintage African pop, including a number of recent posts on his LITG favorite Pamelo Mounk'a.

Jeff Barry vs. Rod McKuen

In his fascinating interview in the LA Weekly today with music ed. Kate Sullivan, Jeff Barry waxes irked about those who dismiss the value of his bubblegum:

What you were doing was so new: The sound was new, the lyrics, the thematic values, the whole concept of a girl group and what that meant —
[Nonsense lyrics] are the hook — the stuff that gets attention and you remember. But I was also conscious of putting in real stuff.

Somebody once said to me, you write all this bubblegummy garbage, and I said, “Yeah, you’re right. I read a Rod McKuen poem the other day that said something about “the loveliness of loving you . . .” And he said: See, now that’s what you should be writing. And I said, fuck you — that’s a lyric from “Sugar, Sugar” that I wrote for 3-year-olds.

“I just can’t believe the loveliness of loving you” is not a 3-year-old’s sentiment. And it was record of the year. And I went, wow, that’s interesting. To become record of the year, it’s more than 3- and 4-year-olds asking Mommy to buy it.

And the fact it’s still on the radio every day.
Isn’t that cool?

From “Doo Wah Diddy Diddy” to “Skooby — Doo,” your nonsense lyrics have a real childlike emotional power — there’s something heroic about them.
Heroic? Ah, jeez. I love you! I’m a hero! I’d love to be a hero. I’d love to be a friggin’ hero.

Did you know that...

October is International Bubblegum Month?

Well, it is! Find out more here.

Very limited free Scram premium: The Dead Boys live DVD

Thanks to our friends at MVD, five lucky new or renewing Scram subscribers will receive a free DVD of the fabulous multi-camera Rod Swenson film DEAD BOYS LIVE! AT CBGB 1977.

Watch Stiv make a fashion statement with bologna... hear the band crash through ten great tunes... "enjoy" a bonus clip from the Steel Tips featuring art world madman Joe Coleman.

If you want this very limited premium, you must specify it with your subscription/renewal, and you are advised to write ahead to reserve a copy. Orders received after the Dead Boys DVDs are gone will receive the Denny Eichhorn comic anthology.

Scram subscription info is at http://www.scrammagazine.com/backissues.html, email scram@scrammagazine.com