Quickly - The Quick

That's Steve Hufstetter, the musical brains behind LA power pop icons, The Quick.

This was a brilliant discovery of negatives that I thought might have been lost forever... anyway, I wanted to give you something new to look at. More about The Quick later... like I said, "quickly - The Quick."

Enjoy

RHINO RECORDS IS BACK... for a limited time

Rhino Records, the famed Westwood hole-in-the-wall storefront that begat the iconic catalog record label of the same name and defined the independent music store paradigm -- just celebrated on "Record Store Day"-- will be back for a very limited run from May 17 - 30. It's the pop-up store to end all pop-up stores, a reprise of a golden era when idiosyncratic customers and clerks sparked a musical revolution and catalyzed real-life debates that were more passionate than anything seen in High Fidelity.

I bought my first Jam album - In the City - at Rhino at the urgent suggestion of the man who would become a lifelong friend, Gary Stewart.



The Rhinos also fed my particular obsession with Eno, finding me obscura in addition to always having the latest imported releases. Thanks to Rhino, I am the proud owner of a limited edition lithograph of the cover art for Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy.

I can't say enough great things about Rhino... from the records I was turned on to by Gary, by Richard Foos, by Harold Bronson and all the others who worked there... to the life long friendships that resulted from our love of music... yeah - its exactly like Nick Hornby's High Fidelity. Only better.

If you are in Los Angeles, you can't miss this final 48 hours of pop-up Rhino!

Rhino is, for a fortnight, back from the grave bringing its legacy of eccentric, eclectic and unabashed fun with incredulous deals, in-store performances , the irreverent attitude typified by the "worst customers" chart for one last spin on the merry-go-round in the name of Hope in Action. All proceeds will go to Chrysalis Enterprises, an LA nonprofit that transitions the unfortunate and hopeless into employment.

The impetus for this riotous resurrection is that Richard Foos, Rhino founder and éminence grise, is bidding farewell to Los Angeles after 40 plus years to move to New York. Foos, who strongly believes in merging one's social values with business has installed a strong sense of purpose and giving back in all his business concerns. He loath to move the thousands upon thousands of albums and DVDs to New York so decided, in a flash epiphany, that if you can’t take it all with you, why not blow it out with purpose? The store, located at 1740 Westwood Blvd. (Map: tinyurl.com/Rhino1740) will be selling not only his stuff but also thousands more that Foos and his accomplices have cajoled out of his many media industry friends. It is expected that over 100,000 individual "pieces of product" will be sold over the course of Rhino's reanimation with a goal of raising $100,000 for Chrysalis Enterprises, a non-profit organization that has helped address the problems of the economically disadvantaged of Los Angeles county for more than 25 years. Foos, it should be noted, serves on the board of Chrysalis as well as other organizations that have a strong commitment to social progress.

As the Rhino pop-up store is on the cusp of launching a two week run just 50 feet and a few doors down Westwood Blvd. from its original location, a schedule of rhinoesque -- there's no other way to put it -- events is shaping up:

Friday, May 28: Peter Case and guests perform selections from Wig! to be released June 29 on Yep Rock.



Peter Case is not just a lifelong friend, but a fave artist. He's been a folkie / troubadour street bard for much longer than he ever was a member of the Nerves or the Plimsouls, but his punk/power pop mantle accompanies him. I think he's been on to something for decades. I'm bummed I can't see Peter in LA at the pop up Rhino store... but this fall, he's one of the highlights of the Americana Music Association's Festival in Nashville. Like fellow musicians Dave Alvin and John Doe, rising out of the LA punk scene, and like Tommy Ramone, Peter's a man who has been able to gracefully combine his love for and talent in genres other than the punk rock that elevated his visibility. Peter's last album was nominated for a Grammy in the contemporary folk category! He's got just as much in common with Buddy Miller as he does with his punk / pop brethren.

As the holiday called Memorial Day approaches...memorialize the Rhino and celebrate the good music !

Celebrate Photography - Buy It!

Stiv Bators, Amsterdam, Summer 1985

On May 5, 1984, the year that many people, for a variety of reasons, anticipated, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed something that I actually do not disagree with. Take note folks, this is a FIRST, and mostly likely the ONLY thing this particular dead president said or did that doesn't offend me.

His proclamation reads:

Photography, the prime visual recorder of human events, preserves memories, emotion, and sentiment for virtually all Americans. It is an established and growing art form which communicates the beauty and diversity of America as well as the vitality of its culture and its people.


Iggy Pop, 1977

Photography has played an important role in our commercial and artistic lives and in the process of government through motion pictures, video cameras, and still shots.


My camera "watching the detectives," as it were

Photographs preserve the history of the Nation and the changing panorama of American landscape and culture. Visual records also contribute to the advancement of many fields of science, technology, and inquiry, including communications, meteorology, geography, medicine, justice, astronomy and agriculture.


..."I am an American artist and I feel no guilt" - Patti Smith

To honor the invaluable contribution that photography has made to the quality of our life, the Congress has, by Senate Joint Resolution 250, designated the week of May 7 through May 13, 1984, as "National Photo Week" and has authorized the President to issue a proclamation in honor of that occasion.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 7 through May 13, 1984, as National Photo Week, and I call upon the American people to engage in appropriate observances to reflect our appreciation and understanding of the value of photography to the Nation.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eightyfour, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighth.

RONALD REAGAN

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 12:51 p.m., May 7, 1984]

Like I said above... this proclamation praising photography is the only thing that Ronald Reagan said that I can stand behind. And I've got this to add: Celebrate Photography by collecting it! BUY IT

There's 4 Dead in Ohio

It was 40 year ago today that four students at Ohio's Kent State University were gunned down by the National Guard who fired into a crowd of students who were merely exercising their First Amendment rights.

Chrissie Hynde was there, as were Devo founders Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerry Casale. All students at Kent State, Chrissie was participating in the protest and Casale was standing near slain student Allison Krause at the time of the massacre.



Chrissie talked about this incident at length in an interview that was part of a 5-hour documentary about the 1970s that I helped produce back in 1995 (and if it doesn't come up in your diligent youtube searches, I can at least recommend some reading about the historical tragedy here, at ohio.com. )



Kent State is but one of the several tragedies that have occurred throughout the course of human events when people seek to raise their voices in protest. Research these: Tlatelolco (La Plaza de las Tres Culturas at Tlatelolco, Mexico City, October 2, 1968), Tiananmen Square (China, June 1989) and you'll find that when you study one, others are referenced.

Perhaps this is a good segue to let you know about the new release by punk rock supergroup Batusis, featuring Dead Boy/Rocket From the Tombs (two of Ohio's finest bands) guitarist Cheetah Chrome and Syl Sylvain of New York Dolls fame with Blackhearts rhythm section Thommy Price and Enzo Penizzotto. If you appreciate the "question authority" position, then you'll love Cheetah's new song "Bury You Alive" that combines a scathing analysis of certain powers that be with some searing rock n roll by the genre's best players.



Find Batusis at Smog Veil Records.