(1/21/12: STOP PRESS! Peter Hook & The Light reviews added to "Gig Notes & Reviews"; Bad Compilation Tapes interview moved to "Band Interviews" section, where JC Carroll and Knox interviews now reside. Whew!
NOW POSTED: "54 Hours In D.C.," which chronicles my whirlwind trip to do a book signing on behalf of UNFINISHED BUSINESS: THE LIFE & TIMES OF DANNY GATTON, which you'll find in the "Danny Gatton Corner" section of this website...enjoy, OK? Today's my birthday, so I'm feeling a little bit expansive. Till then: stay cool.*****)
NOW POSTED: "54 Hours In D.C.," which chronicles my whirlwind trip to do a book signing on behalf of UNFINISHED BUSINESS: THE LIFE & TIMES OF DANNY GATTON, which you'll find in the "Danny Gatton Corner" section of this website...enjoy, OK? Today's my birthday, so I'm feeling a little bit expansive. Till then: stay cool.*****)
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Chairman Ralph recalls the first of Phil Donahue's many run-ins with the exponents of punk rock, and what it meant amid a mini-trend for "punksploitation" that included Penelope Speehris's classic documentary, THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION. | Jan 1, 2012 |
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Chairman Ralph sits down with author, lecturer, performer and singer-songwriter Helen McCookerybook about her book, THE LOST WOMEN OF ROCK MUSIC (2007), which she's revised and is gearing up for a reissue with a new publisher. We talk about what motivated her writing, as well as her thoughts on female musicians' roles, and what people can look forward to seeing in the revised edition. | Dec 25, 2011 |
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Chairman Ralph returns for the second installment of his original chat with White Summer's sticksman, Jimmy Watkins, who recalls the peaks and valleys of recording in the '80s, winding down in the '90s, and life after rock...among other topics! | Dec 21, 2011 |
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Chairman Ralph sits down with White Summer's drummer (and sometime frontman) James Watkins for an extended look at the band's origins, playing philosophy, and encounters with rock legends like Eric Clapton, and Neil Young, in the first of two installments. | Dec 20, 2011 |
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Chairman Ralph shares his recollections of White Summer's one-off reunion gig at Czar's 505, including the mood of the crowd, and the major songs that the band played. | Dec 12, 2011 |
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Chairman Ralph continues with part two of his email chat Zanna about Ollie Halsall, including life in Deja, their experiences with the post-Franco Spanish rock scene, Ollie's studio work from that era, and many more topics...as culled for part three of Ralph's massive UGLY THINGS retrospective on the late British underdog guitarist. | May 30, 2011 |
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Chairman Ralph posts the first portion of an emil chat with vocalist-keyboardist Zanna Gregmar, who discusses her musical influences, and the five years that she spent with the late British guitarist, Ollie Halsall -- and shares her insights into their collaboration, and what made his style tick. | May 22, 2011 |
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Chairman Ralph sits down again with Trygve Mathiesen for an email chat about SID'S NORWEGIAN ROMANCE: SEX PISTOLS EXILED TO TRONDHEIM 1977, an in-depth look at the events that surrounded the combustive British punk band's second Norwegian gig on their Scandinavian tour of that year. | Apr 21, 2011 |
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Chairman Ralph sits down with Trygve Mathiesen for a chat about his book, BANNED IN THE UK: SEX PISTOLS EXILED TO OSLO 1977, which deals with the band's legendary 7/20/77 gig at the Pingvin Club. Among other topics, the author discusses the gig's importance to the Norwegian punk scene, the research needed to find the list of 214 patrons, and the wider cultural reverbrations beyond that night in Oslo. | Apr 21, 2011 |
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Chairman Ralph publishes another excerpt from A DRUM BEAT BEHIND, David Apps's unpublished rock 'n' roll memoir of his punk rock life and times with Beat Of The Beast. In this excerpt, David focuses on the band's one-off encounter -- and subsequent chaotic encore -- with the late Wally Nightingale, best known as the "almost-Sex Pistol." | Nov 25, 2010 |
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David Apps, former drummer of legendary Brentwood punks, Beat Of The Beast, shares excerpts from his memoir of the band, A DRUM BEAT BEHIND, including his London childhood, early musical motivations, personality sketches of his colleagues, and a memorable run-in with the humorless French gendarmes in 1986. | Nov 19, 2010 |