Punk Rockers - Jet Set Hobos?
On December 1, in Toronto, Canada... The Mods will reunite once again to play at the Horseshoe Tavern, celebrating the 29th Anniversary of The Last Pogo, when the Horseshoe claimed to be stopping the Punk Rock...
But can you ever stop the punk rock? I don't think so...
I would never have known about the Mods if not for Stiv Bators' hijacking of their young drummer, David Quinton way back in 1979.
Well, I can't be there because the logistics of The Mods specific show date totally conflicts with my filming on the West Coast and my own tour dates which are still in the South... (if you're in the ATL - come see me!)
David Quinton - behind Stiv, and the Disconnected Band featuring Frank Secich and George Cabaniss
What I've already missed out on over this Thanksgiving weekend --- both the Reigning Sound and Jack Oblivian played the same venue on the same night the week after I left Memphis... although I really can't complain, since I did have the utmost special honor of Jack playing his first US gig after being gone so long on tour in Europe at Punk Rock Day of the Dead. And also, I did get to hang out with the original Tearjerkers rhythm section of Bubba Bonds and T-Money and Jack at the Hi Tone... which was the high point of that particular Memphis midnight hour... not exactly a Tearjerkers show, but there was some Jack O music that night.
Bubba, T-Money and Jack-O
But I understand that the Reigning Sound debuted some new songs... and well... Greg Cartwright is a fine songwriter, and I'm itching to hear what he's got going.
Greg Cartwright
While I was in Memphis, I missed the Masque Reunion and launch party for Brendan Mullen's book on the Masque. Back when he was putting it together, I went through a lot of my photos with him, and never was able to put my hands on a photo I'd taken at the Masque... and of course, after he'd gone to press, I found that I had a few...
Belinda Carlisle and Karlos Kaballero of the Dickies
I was, however, a Whisky A Go Go girl and everyone from back in the day knows that. So it always works out just the way its supposed to.
The Unguarded Moments tour is going well, and I couldn't be happier... and my Christmas wish list really is topped off by something I never got back in punk rock days either --- SLEEP!
In fact, not a lot has changed since punk rock days... because other than the fact that punk rock is unstoppable... leopards don't change their spots! Those of us who lived and breathed for rock n roll are still doing it. Only a year ago, Dawn Wirth and I piled into a little car with her daughter and drove up to San Francisco and back in the same day. Just like we did for the Sex Pistols show and many others. Only this most recent time, we were the show!
Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook, Rory Johnston (hiding) and Viv Albertine of the Slits, backstage at the Whisky a Go Go
Even the Sex Pistols reunited again! I missed their LA show at the Roxy because my own tour opened on the same date... in Mississippi.
But that is how and why so many of us punk rock people from far-flung places around the world all know each other. We're not jet setters... or perhaps we are jet set hobos (I am one of those). We are like worker bees, we bring back souvenirs from other parts and pollinate... in the bees case, it is actual pollen and in our case, its those fantastic things called RECORDS....
And there are some people in our kind of rock n roll who know all the best places to eat in the world... one of them would be John Silva, who back in the day was this guy who collected cool toys and stuff... managed some local Paisley Underground guys like The Three O'Clock, and eventually ended up guiding the careers of Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Foo Fighters... yeah - you could call John Silva and say, "John, I'm in Beirut and I want the best shwarma." And he would tell you where to find it. Dream Syndicate frontman Steve Wynn is another one of those food dudes.
Those of us who travel also tend to know all the same people. During my Memphis sojourn, I caught Ross Johnson perform a few times and it turns out that Ross and I know all the same LA punk rock people...
So, since Ross sent me off from Memphis to the rest of my tour with a big laugh riot... I will post a photo just for him of our mutual friend, Pleasant Gehman, LA's punk rock ambassador and It Girl non-pareil!
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