Somebody must've gotten this on tape. CNN recently aired a piece about Spin magazine's Worst Band in America contest that included interviews with last year's winners Rat Bastard and Scraping Teeth, as well as mentions of another band Mr. Bastard is in, To Live and Shave in L.A. Apparently WSVN-Channel 7 ran parts of the story on its local news broadcast. Problem is, no one told Bastard the thing was airing, so he missed his fifteen minutes on the international airwaves. Got a clip? Call me and we'll work out a trade: I get the video, you get my personal set of To Live and Shave earplugs.
Blue Note Records is expanding -- again. Bob Perry is adding a third store to his little mall of cool retail music shops in North Miami. Along with the original store and its annex (which features alt-rock stuff and nifty T-shirts), there'll be a joint for recorded jazz, and the new place will also offer a live stage and espresso bar.
Shows to know: Nil Lara plays tonight (Thursday) at S.O.B.'s. Suzy Creamcheese melts tomorrow (Friday) at Churchill's Hideaway with the band Me and the band Helium Bomb. Le Coup reggaefies Rose's tomorrow (Friday).
Advance notice: On Saturday, May 27, at Button South, the Florida Music Association offers you a chance to become part of what some yahoos call "the scene." (Note to yahoos: Just kiddin' ya.) It's the FMA Music Expo, and you should mark it on your calendar. Reps from radio, newspapers, magazines, and television will be on hand to explain the meaning of the universe to each other, then a ton of top bands will perform. More details next week.
A rock and roll tale: Red Road goes to play a show at Chili Pepper. They find no P.A. there. So a band called Al's Not Well provides an extra amp through which Red Road runs a vocal mike garage-band style. All goes well from there.
Mr. Tasty and the Bread Healers and Snatch the Pebble and Hank el Diablo play at Churchill's tonight (Thursday), and Mr. Tasty follows that with shows at the Evolution Room of Button South tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday. Next Thursday the Tasty ones hit Rose's.
Brian Rochlin is looking for local recordings to play at the South Beach Film Festival in June. Send CDs or tapes to 2980 McFarlane Rd., suite 211, Coconut Grove, FL 33133, or call 538-4162.
Gregg Sutter is looking for surf musicians. I told him Charlie Miami don't surf 'cause there ain't none. But if...call him on his pager at 877-4361, or e-mail gpsutter //www.gate/-madonia/Third Wish.html. Or, if that don't work, e-mail the Wishers at madonia00 p.m. (sharp) at Tobacco Road. Come by the Road tonight (Thursday), and the Beast and Baker will tell you all about it in person (if you consider us persons). I guess I should also let you know that I Don't Know and the Goods will perform live in between our stage patter (see "Calendar" please, please, pretty please with sugar on top).
At least two locals copped songwriting awards in this year's Billboard songwriting contest. Perennial winner Flexx Martinez scored for "Nothing to Say," and Jodi Horovitz won for "He Can't Stop."
Wow. Several many people called to remark about reawakened memories of Evil, the Montells, the Shaggs, and all those other great local rock bands of the mid-Sixties. There is a bible I'd recommend to all y'all: Savage Lost, Jeff Lemlich's comprehensive history of South Florida's first rock scene (and even some stuff about more modern happenings). It was published in 1992 and is sold out, so you should write to the publisher A Distinctive Publishing, P.O. Box 17868, Plantation, FL 33318.
LB's Eatery in the Gables (5813 Ponce de Leon) gets along fine with its great food and cheap beer. But now the venue adds live jazz and original film screenings every Thursday night, plus an open mike on Monday.
A band to keep an eye on, Vinyl Swampcookie, plays tonight with Mosquito at the Silver Dollar, and now hosts open mikes at the Chili Pepper every Wednesday. Call 532-0048 or 531-9661.
Okay. Who's next?
