12-bill o'reilly, media, media, media

the media overwhemeth and the media suppresses us, what ever the agenda,
whatever the cause, especially in this time of pre-election heat. there is no
news as news, unless you count, as i do the IHT, UK FT and BBC online.

what there is, post-dan i'd rather not, is an entertaining quicksand of talking
heads, who, since the advent of news as entertainment, appear in front of us
with less qualifications than ed sullivan and without the humor of tex antoine.
i'd like to thank steve belgard at the STARZ network for sending me these to posts
that, in regards to bill o'reilly bring the crap simmering to the frothy top.
enjoy......



dance remix.

blog 11-atlanta, bruce springsteen, athens, BRMC

we just had a wonderful time in america, north america. we always do. this time
my family and i flew up from bogota to atlanta to get together with SVZ and catch the april 25th phillips arena, bruce springsteen & the E street band show. this was bound to be a moving experience, as it would be the first time that bruce and the Estreeters would be in concert since the passing, burying, and paying of respect to founding keyboard, zane gray and maven, maestro danny federici.



before the concert....food. we met SVZ in the lobby of the four seasons hotel
and SUV'd around the corner to a local wop-hop eatery. the food was wunderbar, the host and service very cage de follies. the host was so graceful that when we'd finished chopping, noshing, dishing and wishing ray davies waterloo sunsets and pete townshend a great now that he's old,SVZ WAS TOLD THAT HIS MONEY WAS NO GOOD AT THE INN BUT THAT HIS THOUGHTS AND SIGNATURE ON A RESTURANT plate would be more than appropriate for the food consumed.

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the evening before the atlanta bruce concert, we drove down to athens, ga to
catch BRMC at the 40 WATT venue. i'm interested in any town that produced REM. BRMC are a group i've loved for a long time. their records are great, i just
wondered what was it? the group, the management, the vibe, the timing, record company... that had stopped them breaking on through.

i had thought it might be the record company as to how could the big machine stay on top of, stay on the street with, and support BRMC as they hoe'd the road. they are terrific on stage, really, but they take so damn long abut it. Their audience is faithful and full of bravo, but if they ever want to appeal to those of us who 9 to 5 they had better get the chops down and moments up. do not get me wrong, i loved them, as did the audience, they are awesome. but to tease us with the high end of their collective talents only once, and on the very last song, is impudent to say the least.

on their very last song of their show you heard the totality of their power,
instrumentally and vocally. you heard the national anthem they could
become, but after two hours, or what seemed like two hours it's just not enough.
it's just a subjective opinion, no one else seemed to object, but when i like
something, i want it for the world.

a big hail to BRMC member robert who said a nice hi, glenn was a charmng
host and robert's dad, mike, who said hi after manning he lights for the band.
athens...nice pizza town. all of you lucky enough to be schooling in athens are
blessed. use it well.

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had breakfast the next morn with my old new york pal, sid maurer. after years in
the art and music trade in new york, sid has settled in atlanta to attend to his
first love (after barbara) and that is to paint. we had not caught up for nigh
on 15 years and brekky was great. we'll have more news about sid in the next
blog.

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bruce was magic. i have not seen him since the bottom line in ' 75 (thanks jon
tiven for taking me there back then) and then an amnesty international MSG gig at the end of the 70's with jackson browne (thanks bob krasnow for that one).

the atlanta show kicked off with some great halibut and broccli backstage with the
crew; thanks to the lady-in-charge for super duper food. said hallo to max
weinberg. after charlie watts there’s ringo, jim keltner, jim gordon and max..... and hal blaine and is it gary chester that was the drummer on gene pitney's "every breath i take" ?

SVZ did his wunderbar meet and greet with the UG people and fans and that was quite a cirque du soleil with good vibes. then it was showtime....



it started with a moving video tribute to danny federici then just went slam dunk, slam run, we ran all the way home and out in the streets, the shore, the life, the movement, the reason, the angst, and the spirit and joy. it is an american
heartfelt experience. i could call it a religious experience, it's not, it's a
social experience with soul on. clarence, steven, max all the E street loonies
just keep laying out those tunes and pouring out those magical charts with so much heart and knowing.

10-Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

i had decided that lou reed wasn’t so difficult after seeing him in the Q & A at SXSW. then i received a "care package" from steve belgard at the STARZ network. (steve often sends a box of goodies down to colombia to make sure i'm up to date on stuff) this time it was the "ROCK' AND ROLL HALL OF FAME 2008" show which had been misbroadcast earlier on VH1 , a channel i do not get here in bogota.



the opening inductees were kenny gamble & leon huff. the duo are the first recipients of "the ahmet ertegun award". they were graceful and cool in their acceptance speech. they have an incredible body of work, the artists they have written and produced include the o'jays, the soul survivors, harold melvin and the bluenotes, archie drell and the drells, bunny sigler, diana ross, jerry butler, the jacksons, billy paul and dusty springfield…

and the songs...let's get lost in the songs! "if you don't know me by now", "me & mrs jones", "love train", "i'm gonna make you love me" and so many more!

then on rolled patti la belle to “murderiah carey” her way through "if you don't know me by now". i hated it! there is nothing worse than a bunch of rich white folk acting up as if they are in church and patti, you led 'em there. the original record by mr. melvin & the bluenotes just sat there and kept you grounded, it progressed meticulously slow, it was taking it's time, it incrementally took over your heart with it's sound and story. simply red later homogenized it into a sorta hit, but patti la belle threw it away with tricks. good tricks, but nonetheless tricks. hard not to do, but an easy meal at the waldorf astoria ballroom where the audience are gonna get off just to justify the price of the meal. however, it can be done…done without the vocal juggling and box of tricks.



i remember a few year ago going to the awful MOTOWN 45th or 50th anniversary in hollywood. it was saved by beyonce (or was it kelly rowland) doing diana ross and the supremes featuring mary wilson. amazing. sexy. the works. she was diana ross and it was a throwback to magic. the other thrill was gladys knight and the pips who did the sexiest, low key, low roller version of "i heard it through the grapevine" just like the record.... no tricks... no extra unneeded bonbons, just the record, ma' am and it was sublime.

lou reed was a disgrace, he seemed unprepared, although that could have been part of his preparation, he quoted lyrics and rambled, he made it about himself as opposed to the artist he was inducting, leonard cohen, who may have no place being in the RRHoF anyway. but cohen did show up and the least he could have done was sing one of his songs instead of leaving to damien rice to sweat and pine his way through "hallejujah". it needs a fellow to sing that song, not a young fop.



the ventures, all geezers as old as cohen at least picked up their instruments and played and gave us an example of why they had been inducted. the best act of the night was john mellencamp, that's how bad it was. he was inducted semi-hilariously by billy joel who, from his anti-music business rant either has a very secure recording deal, or is not looking for a new one. the best spark of the night was joan jett, she looked and played feisty in a tribute to the dave clark five. there was a moment when, and no, i'm not quoting the shangri-la's, there was a moment when she had a glint in her eye that was pure rock'n roll magic ---- which she is.



tom hanks went on too long in his induction of dthe dave clark five but it was nice of him to do so. the kathleen turner award from yours truly goes to madonna who, regardless of all the lame protests and shrill attempts to justify her induction has as much business being in the RRHoF as leonard cohen. gent of the evening was dave clark. his acceptance speech was hearfelt, the right length, graceful, eloquent and he spoke on behalf of himself, his five and us all.

so basically this years RRHoF was schlebville with a few highlights. perhaps they'll make up for it by inducting next year the hollies, donovan, manfred mann and a list of should-be's that rocks on forever.....i had decided that lou reed was not so difficult after seeing him in the Q & A at SXSW then i received a "care package" from steve belgard at the STARZ network, steve often sends a box of goodies down to colombia to make sure i'm up to date on stuff. this time it was the "ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME 2008" show which had been misbroadcast earlier on VH1, a channel i do not get here in bogota.

09-SXSW, Glen Falls

i finally returned to bogota yesterday after nearly two weeks in both austin,
TX and upstate NY. i was in austin attending the 22nd SXSW music festival the and in the glens falls area, attending to my families health at the natural health improvement center.

in glens falls and we were taking care of some of my wife's wellness issues at our friend lenny chiriboga's biosync and healthQuest location in the same town. the
weather was march snows so my son max and i headed over to west mountain and took some snowboarding lessons with aaron. by the second day max was at the top of the mountain snowboarding down and i was on my second lesson. it was an exhilarating way to follow the exhausting wonderful SXSW.



we arrived home to more bleatings from equador against colombia, a
continuence of the three week ago crisis between colombia, venezuela and
equador. the crisis was over colombia having killed a FARC leader and 18 followers who were entrenched just inside the equadorian border. life is never dull here and it will be even less so later in the day when i go to the dog resort and pick up our dog gruff.

SXSW was very successful. it has been for 22 years. this year the new york
times reported an attendence of 1700 bands ( which is more than SXSW
reported but if you include all the street buskers and " nearly performed"
brigade it might be so). in 2001 only 700 people registered, this year the
number was 12,500. the suppressive ones love heaping, " it's over" at SXSW,
they've been at it a good dozen years. it's not, in fact…it's just getting it's second or third wind.



the biggest reason sxsw has been freed up is how rapidly the record companies have sealed their own tombs over the past two years. they just seem hell bent on burying themselves dead. of course, they can still serve some acts, but for fresh young bands it is now as though the record companies invented the wheel. the record companies still think they are the same giant, while the rest of the world has wings. this factor, the not needing to bother factor, has freed young
bands of the luggage of even looking into record companies. unless you bleat
in way that would attract mark ronson or clive davis your route is the internet... and vinyl.



the keynote speaker was lou reed, interviewed in a Q & A by producer hal
willmer (with whom i've had the honor of sharing marianne faithfull). lou was
blunt and fun and was an example of obsessing on yourself as a brand and a
career when all the other obsessions have been said goodbye to before they
killed you. the couple of clips we were allowed to see from the julian
schnabel directed "BERLIN" (lou reed’s) were rivetting and magno. I hope the
rolling stones " SHINE A LIGHT" does the same for me.



well, just wanted to let you know i survived my reunion with kim fowley, (seriously it was a great catch-up) , but now i've got to go get the dog. be back later in the week with the rest of my SXSW news.

PS it was a simple pleasure of grace to be back in the kindness and
hospitality of america. nobody does it better!

08-america, al kooper, russ titelman, and jerry ragavoy

i just came back from a tremendous time in america…north america, our land of music, land of the free.

the most heartfelt moment (of many) came while watching the grammys; all four hours of it with the ear bleeding commercials seeming to rise in volume every hour. the kick-off, as was a lot of the show, was just plain awful. the "duet" between alicia keys with frank sinatra even had ole' blue eyes looking embarrassed. that is no mean feat considering that mr. s. recorded his contribution of "learning the blues" in the early 60's.

i loved the foo fighters with the orchestra conducted by my old mate, led zep bassist, john paul jones. i loved vince gill accepting an award from ringo starr, i also loved george martin accepting an award from ringo. george showed the mannered deferential correctness the beatle deserved. however vince gill…that was the heartfelt moment.

when vince said (and here i paraphrase), "music…where democracy lives, where every note is equal". i got that pop lump in my throat and i nearly teared up. gill was graceful.

i suppose the shambled success of the show was amy winehouse. gotta hand it to the girl. she brings back to america and the world american 40's and 50's chops that america don't serve up no more with relish and style. shame about the crack, girl.

the UK sunday times weighed in with mick, keith and my take on the subject. click here


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another highlight of my trip to america was catching the al kooper "when i'm 64" birthday concert at BB King's (west 42nd street in NY).



what a lovely show, all of al's milestones. national anthems, humor and recall, swung and sung by one of america's maestros (more than the brooklyn bridge). i also enjoyed the chance to hang with top daddy super producer russ titelman



also i got the chance to hang with my old mate songwriter/producer jerry ragavoy:



jerry gave us: "piece of my heart", "stay with me, baby", “cry baby”, “try (just a little bit harder)”, “get it while you can”. jerry gave the stones and us "time is on my side"



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another treasure was just driving over connecticut and upstate NY and listening to the underground garage. it helps a lot to hear more of the music and all of my fellow DJ's. nothing like being at the wheel in america listening to channel 25.

07-bill wyman and eric clapton

the finest article i've read in a while is the bill wyman interview in the UK daily telegraph conducted by robert sandall. i have attached the article here for your enjoyment.

mr. sandall is not your usual journo.

he is a former punk and post punk musician and a member of bands that "have never gone down in history". he's a former ski-bum, he’s worked at Q magazine and the UK sunday times…and was a good choice for bill wyman.

whilst at the UK times he wrote what must have been the last, or almost last, piece on the revered champ of brit DJ's, the late john peel. (you can read here)

peel spoke with robert just before he left for his last holiday in peru, which is where he died. sandall was actually editing the piece when the news broke that peel had died. tiz a moving piece, it was as much a friendly, concerned diagnosis as anything else the article contained.

i may have met sandall in the mid-90's. it was the oddest of occasions. i was in london and to have dinner with my barrister. (a barrister is the legal person who stands up for you in court and wears a white wig and black robes and
addresses the judge as "m' lud"). my barrister was a very accomplished
lady named margaret puxon. in the UK high court system they are known as QC's. you may be familiar with them from a myriad of tele and/or filmed efforts. these efforts range range from "witness for the prosecution" to TV's "rumpole of the bailey". anyway it was an odd place to meet robert but my QC liked to "keep in touch with what youth was up to".

i like the bill wyman article because mr. sandall has allowed bill to skate over the sensitive area of his relationship, both personal and professional (with the rolling stones), without having bill fall through the ice (the hole determined by sandall's pen). in addition the sub-editors (those who determine the headline) have gone gentle on both the subject and topic which is a rarity in the UK and almost anywhere.

we live in an era where pro-tools have both improved and debased our music
and it's potential to affect our daily lives. at the same time the computer has both improved communication and debased the meaning and standard of
journalism, via the "everybody is a star" blog-ville in which we all reside.

of course it's more than computer, it's a whole social discourse ranging
from rupert murdoch to the decaying of the family unit by economical and
egoic wants and needs. also its our affection for schadenfreuden and the
belittling of others seemingly more fortunate than we may be. this article
is from the old school about the old school and it works. it's a rarity.....but so is bill.

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a couple of months ago i raved both on my shows and on this page about the
eric clapton biography. i had read an extract that was published in VANITY FAIR. a few days ago i popped into my english book
carrying shop here in bogota and picked up a copy of the actual book.

i was concerned about it from the moment of purchase. it was thinner in pages than i'd thought it might be, it was lacking in photographic amities to the written
proceedings and the cover was brasher than i'd imagined. the cover was more Rosanne barr or farrah fawcett than gore vidal or gay talese. i sorta ignored this as i cancelled my nightly meet with " law & order" and set into eric. i was
disappointed.

vanity fair had done a superb job of presenting the best aspects of the book. the rest did not stand up to that standard. i have written two volumes of biography and am hard at work on a third. it is a very thin line, like the one tightroped by bill wyman, chez robert sandall in the above telling the truth without going tabloid. with ronnie wood there is no danger, he does not even notice it. regarding eric, had my life been changed and futured by seeing God in it's forms as cream and/or blind faith and had that treasured moment trampled on by eric talking about the gig or tour that had improved my lot as something he was " not there for"…i'd feel like whacking him. honesty has to be respectful to another fellow's recall.

another vomit moment is eric's naff betrayal of his "best friend" , the late beatle george harrison. by betrayal, i do not mean it was back in the day. i refer to the way it is written up now. eric has given both God and musos a bad name with his self-serving agenda of dismissal and moving on.

sorry eric, but this God can move to the judus section of the table.

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staying in the realm of the musical holy we have some great VATICAN PICKS
coming up on the UNDERGROUND GARAGE. our "vat-man" has come up with a slew of goodies for the upcoming weeks.

this week it's the stones and "get yourself together", recorded in november of '66 at olympic studios in london. i do not actually remember this session. the times they were a-straining and some six months later i would be leaving the band. this track is hitherto unreleased. glyn johns was the engineer. ian stewart is tentatively playing piano holding back whilst wondering whether
his little three chord wonders are going to pull it off. they don't, otherwise it would have been finished, mixed and released. the human riff (keith)
has the figure down, the bottom end is starting to swing and mick is gamely
trying to secure a song. tiz a gem.

we have quite a few more gems coming up from VAT-MAN in the coming weeks so please listen in.

6-the last of the great svengalis

you may have read below about my wee to-do with the uk sunday times. it seems it always goes and comes round in circles. the same newspaper asked me to write something about ahmet ertegun, the art of svengaliism and the recent tribute concert. this concert featured led zeppelin, pete townshend, bill wyman and the rhythm kings, foreigner and paolo nutini and happened at the o2 arena in london to honor the life of mr. e. special thanks to mr. martin lewis for the superb dede allen/robert towne editing job. plz enjoy . saludos de bogota, o

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