July 11, 2006 Sonic Youth (updated 7/13)

7/13 I got some of it done go have a look down there -T

7/12 Tina here with the (second morning edition of the day) of ChrisWasAnon (see previous post below for that first edition, an update by Chris) Okay, I should have more of this done here at the moment, like some of the actual interview for instance? But begging your forgiveness, I tell ya I have been madly doing research in anticipation of getting me a new computer and it must be done soooon. But here's the first bit.

You know, I seem to recall Stephen as a callow youth, sporting a customized Pink Floyd t-shirt...hmmm.

Oi Chris, come back, you're needed again! You never know what or who is going to pop up here at CwA - or when, for that matter...

Late final supplementary diet edit!

That's ok. Tina in your own time my friend. Whatever you present here will be eagerly read and appreciated. It seems a little chaotic here at the cutting edge on the shop floor of this blog but bear in mind, that we don't work in the same office., 5,000 miles separate us.

That said, the Sex Pistols all wore the same togs - whatever was lying around on the floor in Denmark Street got went on Mssrs. Rotten,, Cook, Steve and Glen. Inc. "I hate Pink Floyd. " The Floyd were the band though definitely. So many great albums. Speaking of your new computer in

TECH NEWS!

a new feature (but not necessarily regular) I read somewhere (google "el reg") that Mr. Bill is not for def. planning on releasing Windows VIsta, "the next generation of operating systems" apparently in Feb 2007. 20% chance so far against. "We wamt to get it right," sayeth Mr. Bill. Back to the Floyd. So here's a post what I made on Jack's earlier and as it seems "timely" here it is again:

I was in an obscure and little known restaurant outside Whithorn (SW. Scotland) last night and in the dining room there were some barometers but mostly clocks hanging on the wall with some lovely wooden cased grandfathers with brass inlayed faces. It reminded me of Pink Floyd and in particular the last three lines of "Bike."

I suppose also because when hallucinogens are ingested they distort time - it seemed to either speedup or go sloooooooooooooooooooooooower when I was tripping.

But here are the lyrics

"I know a room of musical tunes.
Some rhyme, some ching. Most of them are clockwork.
Let's go into the other room and make them work."

It was just 8 o'clock when we sat down to eat and I fully expected these venerable time-pieces to start chiming in a cacophany of horological unison but they apart from the odd chime from one or two, remained silent.

I only mention it because I didn't know that Syd has now gone and it seems appropiate

So farewell Syd - genius acid casualty poet of the Floyd. He famously walked out of London to Cambridge barefoot. Some 70 miles I believe.

The Myspace Steve news. No change (see below).

Tina IS at the controls.

Steve: (starts off chugging on guitar in a distinctly Pink Floydish manner, yes I got it, I was so proud of myself) Isn’t that Pink Floyd?

Mr. Shovel: (mimicks vocal of song) One of these days…

Steve: Poor old Syd. Syd Barrett passed away. I dunno if it was today, or early this morning. I guess he was in England. Dunno what he died of, but he passed away. I think he was only sixty-seven, maybe? I could be wrong. Maybe we should have a, have a little search, see what’s, anything’s transpired since early on. Syd Barrett was the founding member of Pink Floyd, a very strange, mysterious man. I think he lost a few marbles. I think he’s been pretty much not all that on the ball lately…last, well for a long time, I believe. So maybe he’s gone up the visit the other Sid.

Mr. Shovel: (in the b.g.) He was sixty years old.

Steve: Oh, he was sixty years old. Maybe him and…start a new band, The Two Sids (Syds?). Bit of punk and a bit of hippiedom. Mix it in, see what happens. So that’s a shame. Another one bites the dust. I will give him a good farewell, in a minute. We have guests today, don’t we Mr. Shovel?

Mr. Shovel: Yes, we do.

Steve: Sonic Youth, coming in a little bit later. Gonna be jamming. I believe they’re opening up for Pearl Jam.

Mr. Shovel: Um hmm.

Steve: ...or they have been or are gonna be doing it. Yes.

Mr. Shovel: And they have an in-store appearance at Tower today.

Steve: Oh, on Sunset?

Mr. Shovel: Um hmm.

Steve: Tower on Sunset. I can’t mention Tower anymore because I don’t work for…(intentionally trails off to a mutter)

Mr. Shovel: Well, you didn’t. I mentioned it.

Steve: I am…no, you just made me say it.

Mr. Shovel: No, you said it.

Steve: I’m at Virgin, now. (inhales deeply) How dare you defy. Um, we’re still going to stay with the animal themes today. And I’m just going to play a little tribute to Mr. Barrett. Going to start with later Pink Floyd and then go into Syd, and then going to go into Pink Floyd with Syd. This is from the album, “Wish You Were Here”, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, for Mr. Barrett. God rest his soul. God rest in peace. May the Lord be with you. May the Pontiff bless you and all your many musical notes. Goodbye, Syd.

Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo from Sonic Youth visit The Box

Steve: That was, “I Am A Walrus” from “The Magical Mystery Tour”, that was The Beatles and before that was…

Thurston: That was us, man.

Steve: Oh, yeah. (both laugh)

Thurston: It was Bazooka Joe.

Steve: Yes, with Adam Ant. Yeah, did you ever hear of Bazooka Joe?

Thurston: No…Steve was telling me that Bazooka Joe was the band that The Pistols opened up for on their first gig.

Steve: Yeah, I was just telling…

Thurston: What were they, what were they like? Were they like a…

Steve: Kind of rockabilly-ish. It, there was no originality there. But Adam Ant was the bass player. I believe he was the bass player. And they cut the power on us because we were opening, we were opening for them cos we’d never played, no one knew who the hell we was. And there weren’t even a stage and it was in this art college and it was this tiny little area and um, we went in…the first song I think we did was, “Did You No Wrong”. And I was just so loud cos I was terrified. I’d never played a gig in me life, Rotten had never sung. None of us had done anything and uh, they pulled the plug - cos we were so loud – after about three songs and I was taking these pills called Mandrex at the time. They were like Quaaludes and had a few pints down me and I was like, “Yeahheahhgghhh, it’s great, this is great!” (sounds like Jerry Lewis there) And the next thing you know, I’m walking down Shaftesbury Avenue, I was just like, “What’s happenin?”.

Thurston: But now, you said there’s a plaque in the front there…

Steve: They, they…the reason…

Thurston: designating the place as an iconic…

Steve: …yeah. They’ve got like, one of them legitimate kind of like, “Dickens Lived Here” plaques, you know…

Thurston and Lee: Yeah yeah.

Steve: …saying this was the Sex Pistols’ first show.

Lee: Wow. That’s crazy.

Steve: St. Martin’s College on Shaftesbury Avenue.

Thurston: Next time I go to London, I’ll have to go by there.

Steve: Will you get a picture with your face next to it?

Thurston: (laughing) I will, definitely. I always do that in London. I love…there must be some kind of like, like a rock and roll tour of London that you can take.

Steve: Yeah, I’m sure.

Thurston: Cos they had one in New York for a while. But New York is like, it’s a grid. You can, you know, you can walk it, you know, in half a day.

Steve: What, you mean like, CBGB’s and…

Thurston: Yes all the whatever, Max’s Kansas City which is now like, nothing, it’s like a salon…

Steve: The Dolls…you know on the first Dolls album on the back, that like, kind of…

Thurston: That’s Gem Spa.

Steve: Is that still there?

Lee: Yeah.

Thurston: Gem Spa is there in some fashion.

Lee: Yeah yeah…Second and Eighth.

Thurston: That was the total place. That was the corner of St. Marks and Second Avenue.

Steve: Okay, yeah

Thurston: Yeah, you’d go, just go there and get your newspapers and your…

Lee: Egg cream.

Thurston: …egg creams and stuff like that. So that was like, that was a really, that was a great photo cos it really authenticated them as like, that “is” New York.

Steve: I would like one of them pictures. I wonder who took that picture? Was that a Bob Gruen classic?

Thurston: Could be. Did you see that Bob Gruen “Looking For A Kiss”, or whatever…

Steve: Yes, of all that footage of just them walking around…

Thurston: Right before the first album comes out and they come to Hollywood, man that thing is so good…

Steve: It was great because they all looked straight and innocent…

Thurston: They are…

Steve: …and naive.

Thurston: They’re totally like…they’re just having a good time and they’re like, walking through the airport like, in silver hot pants, and like smoking cigarettes and just blowing minds. They come to L.A….that’s the first footage you ever really get to see of like, L.A., of like, Sable Star and like the groupies that were sort of like, coming into the scene.

Steve: In the Whisky dressing room, I believe it was…

Thurston: Whisky dressing room and then they have all this footage inside of Rodney’s English Disco, like Johansen dancing in the disco…man.

Steve: and then they go up to San Francisco and they’re hanging out there.

Thurston: Yeah, they go up to SF, yeah. And they show people waiting in line for the gig and everyone has like, long hair and flares and stuff like that.

Steve: And mustaches and stuff.

Thurston: The coolest they get is like, someone will have a Bowie shirt on or something. So it’s like it’s this whole transitional like, thing is going on. It’s kind of hip.

Steve: What was that, ‘74? ’72?

Thurston: It’s like at least…maybe ’72…it’s killer.

Steve: You know they’ve got a new album coming out, The Dolls.

Thurston: Yeah.

Steve: Have you heard any of it?

Thurston: Um, I have not, no.

Steve: We played one song. It’s pretty good. Surprisingly good.

Thurston: Oh, I heard a song on this station actually. The one about the monkey.

Steve: Yeah.

Lee: Yeah yeah, I heard that one.

Steve: Why ain’t I…I should be playing that. It’s an ‘animal’ song. WHY WASN’T I INFORMED!? We’ve go to visit the Duke, we’re here with Sonic Youth, we’ll be right back after these lovely messages, thanks for listening…