Along with co-lyricists Mikael E. Jones and Ernest Ruffin, Jr., and scratcher DJ Chuck - b/k/a the Get Funky Crew - Clay D lays out a meaty, wild, and varied sound that shares a bit in common with some of the 2 Live Crew's most recent work. D himself wails a juicy chorus as the others take their licks. The Crew comparison is a compliment, but note that there's nothing about sex on this kickin' cut. The topic is booze, which is only one reason I love the sucker. Check it out. Or wait till the fall, when D's album, which will include "Bottle," comes out on Pandisc, the label he signed to after leaving Vision.
Unless you spent last week in South Carolina (wish I had), you missed Spittoono XI, "the momma of all redneck festivals." Not beset with lament? Should be. Check out the bands that played: Cow in a Ditch, Gopher Baroque, Reasonably Blue, Sibling Harmony, the Crank Dogs, The Esso Bees, the Wild Hog Band, and others. No idea what any of 'em sound like. But the names kill. Maybe next year.
Rumor control central: Geffen swears the label has not dropped Young Turk. So what's the delay with the album, which was expected to be out months ago? Geffen spokesfolks won't say. But they swear....
Rumor out of control: A source deep in the Left Coast hip-hop scene says that both Eazy E and Dr. Dre are working on solo albums. No word up yet as to whether this signals a fracturing of NWA, whose latest slab, Efil4zaggin, sold a million copies in its first fifteen days of release (without radio play, of course). Maybe it's just the Beatles syndrome - any band that big must be made up of members who are solo stars in their own rights.
Continuing his long-standing policy of supporting literacy - I'm not joking - Luther Campbell is "telling all" in a book due out in October. As Nasty as They Wanna Be: The Uncensored Story of Luther Campbell and the 2 Live Crew will include, the press release says, candid revelations about dealing with radio stations and their DJs, trades, and those evil creatures called reporters. He mentions names (I'll sue your ass, Luke), dates, and places. He dishes the dirt about life on the tour road. Lots of photos, too. Even so, I might wait for the movie.
Wouldn't January 18 be a perfect date for a Greg Brown concert in Miami?
Duh, I guess it would have been helpful to tell you this a week ago, but we didn't know. The Live at the Square CD recorded last week should feature Boise and Moss, Vesper Sparrow, As One, Rat Bastard, Watt, Big Deal, the Randies, Snatch the Pebble, the Planets, Coldshake, Beat Poets, Outcast, Basket Case, Quit, Raped Ape, Amazing Grace, Smashing Hammers, L.T. Rocks, K.R.U., the Holy Terrors, Forget the Name, Velvet Taxi, and the Wait.
A coalition of animal-rights groups is calling for a nationwide boycott of Bloomingdale's, a place I wouldn't be caught dead in anyway. Plenty of animals that had no choice, however, are caught dead there, courtesy of the fur-as-fashion trade. (I dunno, but wearing the pelt of a dead animal strikes me as a bit primitive.) On September 21, right-to-lifers are encouraged to bring their Bloomie's credit cards to the Boca Town Center, Glades Road Entrance, between noon and 2:00 p.m. Skin the skin trade by calling 891-3613.
Ministry's next album will be titled The Tapes of Wrath. Best thing Ministry's ever done. The title, I mean.
Butthorn of the week and media circus: WSHE-FM and New Times. This is the sort of marketing brilliance that can come only from stuffed-brain corporations that deal in terms of the masses rather than individuals. SHE is celebrating its twentieth anniversary with a big, free concert in the park. Cool, man. Tune in SHE and you get this: "See our ad in the new issue of New Times for all the details." Check the ad in last week's NT: "Listen to 103.5 for details." So can I bring a cooler or not? We aren't people, ya know, we're Ping-Pong balls. The media hold the paddles.
Media circus, clown dept.: What's all this fuss about outing Gorbachev? The man is a great leader, so who cares if he's gay?