10-Feb-15 Submitted by Art
KNIGHT THE KNACK
Man. We’ve gotten some real good feedback on the two shows we’ve played so far this year. The Apple’s gig two nights ago was a riot. I’m still buzzing from it. If you haven’t seen us, lately or at all, please stay tuned to our calendar and gigs page because we have every intention of building on this momentum.
On a sad note, I learned today that Doug Fieger of The Knack has passed away at the age of 57 due to cancer. You might be saying to yourself, “Oh yeah…that was that one-hit wonder band from the 80’s that did My Sharona”. If so, then you are almost completely wrong. The classic album “Get The Knack” was released in 1979 and also contained their OTHER hit “Good Girls Don’t” (#11 peak on Billboard). Secondly, by late 1980, their career took a nosedive that they never recovered from. They were not an 80’s band but rather a product of that wonderful gray area between the implosion of Punk and the advent of commercialized New Wave and eventually Alternative.
For anyone not swept up in the Disco plague, 1979 was a wondrous year for rock and roll. The Clash’s “London Calling”, Joe Jackson’s first two records, The Pretenders’ debut, Blondie, Elvis Costello’s “Armed Forces”, Graham Parker’s “Squeezing Out Sparks”, Cheap Trick’s Budokahn album, The Cars first album, England’s Two-Tone bands and a bunch of skinny tie power pop groups like The Jags, The Plimsouls and The (Paul Collins) Beat – many of whom sounded…well…just like The Knack.
Of all of these bands, none had a more significant impact on Top 40, none had a more startling rise to prominence and equally startling fall from grace than The Knack. Many credited them with single-handedly saving Rock and Roll at a time when Disco was at its peak, punk retreated back to the underground to plan its revenge, and bloated 60’s and 70’s dinosaurs were cluttering arenas with nostalgia tours.
To understand what was so special about The Knack, you only need to listen to their debut album. Deny if you can those unbelievable hooks, that perfectly crafted power pop and that wonderfully snooty attitude. Listen to that guitar solo on the album version (not the edited single version) of “My Sharona” and tell me it’s not one of the greatest of all time. Listen to that drum fill that launches “Your Number or Your Name” into orbit. Tell me that “Good Girls Don’t” and “Oh Tara” don’t perfectly capture the pimpled, hormone addled torment of early puberty (which I was going through at precisely the time that this was released). Dare I say this is one of the greatest rock albums of all time?
So why were they tossed out with the bathwater a year later? Part of the reason had to do with their disappointing follow-up album (which wasn’t too bad actually) and the horrible Sharona-clone single “Baby Talks Dirty” which deserved the big P.U. it received. But I think it something was more than that. Lot's of bands rebound from lackluster sophomore albums. This was a BACKLASH. There were “Nuke the Knack” t-shirts and a sudden hatred of the band that almost became a fashion in and of itself. Did it have to do with their sexist lyrics? Their perceived disrespect for everything including their fans, their own success, the Beatles, puppies, and all things sacred and wholesome? Perhaps a little of all the above. It seemed as if the public collectively decided that they created a monster and now needed to put it back in its place. It made no sense. It was the most dramatic reversal of fortune in music history.
With the downfall of The Knack, what might have been a golden era for rock – (led by those skinny tie bands I mentioned before), gave way to the MTV-led invasion of Flocks of Seagulls and other strange synthetic creatures.
Nothing The Knack ever did after that, (and they continued to bravely tour and release records up until Doug’s recent illness), was ever noticed by anyone aside from a small loyal cult following. UNFAIR I say. It’s time they got the respect they deserved. Let’s all bow our heads for a rock and roll fellow traveler and true believer; the legendary Doug Fieger. Amen.
Ps. An early Fieger band called “The Sunset Bombers” released a self-titled album on the indie California label Areola Records in 1978. It may be even better than “Get the Knack” and featured punky gems like "B.F.D.", "Dirty Pictures", "Suicide Kamakahze Girls" and a classic 'oops-I-took-the-wrong-sex-home' song called "Drag Queen". Good luck finding a copy. You can’t have mine.
10-Jan-21 Submitted by Art
Wow. I thought that the election of Obama (who I vocally supported and voted for) was tantamount to voters finally "dropping the big one". What happened in Massachusetts a couple of days ago was truly nuclear in its implications. It was yet another clear message to the present administration, as well as all incumbents - red or blue, that enough is enough already. Over a full decade of misery, we've seen too many Americans lose everything or come to the brink of losing everything. A whole generation looking into its future and seeing nothing. No ability to save or retire with dignity. Getting squeezed from every angle. Settling for jobs, if they're lucky to have them, that only allow them to survive and maintain their current level of suffering. God forbid an honest hardworking person should have a few rough years. The unending dings to their credit score and mounting late fees almost ensure their doom unless a miracle intervenes. Voters seem to be churning out miracles at the polls these days. Miracles that ripple through the nation like a full force hurricane only to sputter and fizzle out when they reach certain desks and doors. Sure, health care in this country is a national disgrace and must be reformed. But why the push now? America seems to be saying, "give me my quality of life back and then I will worry about my health". That's what I say too. Mr. Obama, now is the time. I voted for you pal. Don't make me regret it and don't saddle me with Palin for 8 years.
Now to matters of music...
Our new album "Fractured" seems to have fallen on deaf ears...assuming it has fallen on ANY ears. Alright...alright...I've heard rumours of rumours that some people have actually heard it and have had some nice things to say. Judging from the stats on this site only a meager few downloads have registered (we're giving it away for FREE for Christ sakes) and there is no way of knowing how many hits to our site are due to spam-bots anyway. Case in point, we have a "fan" in Houston that hit our site 55 times in as many minutes. Wow, that makes me all warm and fuzzy. Man I just want our music to be heard. It doesn't have to be liked or understood. But it should be respected. we could be just another fucking cover band dicking around in our spare time, making a few bucks serving as wallpaper at some local gin mill and having a great time. Instead, we are trying to say something fresh and honest, something pure and, if not always polished or pleasant to the ear, always passionate. I would think that would count for something. We do...and that's why we will continue to howl in the wilderness and make really hard sacrifices to press on. One day, archaeologists will dig up our songs and say, "Wow...now we know exactly what it was like to be an American in the 2000's. And we thought Lady Ga Ga was the spokesman of the generation all along...".
We don't call these "rants" for nothing folks. Please come support us at the many gigs that are coming your way. Peace and love ya bastards.
Art
10-Jan-5 Submitted by John
1 year later - Part 1
Well I guess I was wrong. It has been a year since the beloved coronation of our President. And I promised that I would be man enough to admit if I was wrong when I ranted last year. We have just experienced the best year our great country could have ever hoped for. The financial crises is over, the economy is back on track. We have unemployment at near historic lows with everyone basically having their choice of any job - with people actually outbidding others for their service. The other good news is that that silly mortgage/foreclosure crises has been mitigated by the government restructuring plan, coupled with the rising of home values again. My taxes (income and property) actually went down this year I could not believe it. I am now covered by the same health insurance that government workers get, and I did not even have to pay the same 0.5% of my salary to buy in (like those non-union workers). The government is no longer operating at a deficit (we actually had the first surplus since Clinton). We now have competent people in charge of homeland security and NSA, CIA, FBI and no one would even think of trying a terrorist attack against America. Our friend Mr. Chavas has decided to give back the assets he stole (I mean borrowed from our oil companies). And don’t forget about our great friend in the Middle East, Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has helped stabilize that incredulous region. But the absolute best part of the year was attending our towns parade where we honored all of our military that had been oversees and welcomed everybody back home. At long last the great unjust has been undone and just as promised we are no longer fighting the wars in IRAQ and Afghanistan. And Al Quada has declared a truce with the United States so we don't even have to worry about those pesky jihadists. The whole world respects us and loves us, I mean you gotta love the fact that our savior, I mean president was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his first two weeks in office, and his acceptance speech on the righteousness of war was simply written by angels. This surely has been the greatest ending of a decade that anyone could have ever wanted. I was wrong. Thank you Obama.
09-Dec-14 Submitted by Art
ART'S TAKE ON "FRACTURED"
Hurrah! The album is finally done, just in time for Christmas and only half a year late. It is 12 songs, whittled down from a base 20 or so that were initially considered for the album, (whittled down from the 150 or so originals gathering dust in our formidable vault).
The thing that I like best about the album is that the songs reflect a pretty healthy range of different styles, yet each sound exactly like 68AD. Punk, Grunge, Hard Rock with a touch of Country, Blues, Folk Rock, Folk Ballad, Power Pop, Power Ballad and Thrash Metal (in homage to Reggae) are all covered by the mere dozen songs. Not too shabby. The other thing that I like is the fact that a majority of the songs are relatively new (having been written in early 2009), thereby providing that "snapshot in time" that an album is supposed to be.
Now to the songs...
The title track is a completely fictional account of a doomed relationship, written as sort of a Buddy Holly/Eddie Cochran motif on steroids (with Itchy Fingaz providing much of the steroids). The term "Fractured" just seemed to have a lot of relevance and resonance on a number of levels. There is really nothing else we could have called the album.
"The Reader's Digest Version of my Mind" is what I would consider to be one of the couple of major songs of the record. I don't think the lyrics require any explaining but, if they do, the wonderfully brutal attack of the rhythm section should hammer it home for you after a few listens.
"16 Tons on my Back" is more complex that you will ever believe it is. Aside from being a sequel and homage to the famous Tennessee Ernie Ford song, it is a comment on the current recession, on the ongoing role of slavery in America and the history and importance of American popular music in the struggle for liberty and the pursuit of happiness. On an autobiographical note, it explains what the hell I am doing here.
"Perfect Weapon" is a song that nobody seemed too keen on while it was in its formative stages. I think the finished product came out magnificently and our engineer C.J. said it was his favorite as he was handing over the master. This is possibly the most lyrically challenging song on the disc. It was loosely based on a story that my brother is writing (which is a sequel to the novel he wrote that was based on my rock opera "Bread and Circuses"). Got that? No? Well then...you will just have to wonder who or what the "perfect weapon" is. Maybe it's a person. Maybe it's God. Or maybe it's the WMD of your choice.
"Garbageman" is an excuse to do an honest to goodness blues song and giving me an excuse to strap on the Les Paul (for a change) to do an honest to goodness blues solo. Lyrically, the concept has a whole lot more potential that we chose to explore here. The dark and heavy atmosphere fills in the blanks.
"Rachel Maddow" is thrown in to lighten the mood. I find Ms. Maddow to be very charming an intelligent and I particularly liked the "Lame Duck Watch" segments she did during the last days of the Bush junta. So I decided she needed a tribute song and I decided it would be funny if it came from the perspective of a lovelorn fan. In this way, it can also be seen as a commentary on our celebrity obsessed culture with the element of humor coming from the fact that the poor schlub doesn't realize Maddow is openly lesbian. The punked up style of the song is also an homage to Joey Ramone who released a similar song about Maria Bartiromo on his final solo lp.
"Wake Me When You're Done" is another very complex song...so complex in fact that I'm not even sure what it means. It might be about a prisoner of war. Whatever the case, I think it reflects a person who is completely at the mercy of forces beyond his control and is rebelling through the only means left to him. On a wider level, I suppose it could be about a society that is so overworked and overstressed that sleep becomes, for some, less a form of rest and more a form of temporary suicide...if that makes sense. Beyond that, it's a catchy sumbitch that's too weird to ever be a hit single.
"She's Illuminated" is another song from the rock opera "Bread and Circuses" as were most of the songs from our previous EP "Hell's Tenants". Taken out of context, the song stands as a catchy rocker and doesn't mean a whole lot. It's inclusion is part of a strategy to eventually capture studio recordings of all the songs from the opera.
"Victim of Coincidence" is another major song in my opinion. Lyrically, it revisits some of the themes that appear elsewhere on the record (hard times, the hand of fate, prophecy, the power of music and the motivation/process of songwriting). Musically, I find it quite moving thanks largely to the wonderful guitar accompaniments that John provided. Guest drummer Tommy Dowd of Earthquake studios did a bang up job for us here also.
"Coming Together (But Slowly)" is another song that nobody was crazy about at first. I tried to write positive song. John said it sounded like Dave Matthews. Joe said, "Is this as positive as you can get?" Nevertheless, I think the studio incarnation came out really well and I think we've all grown to like it...it's a different groove and a nice vibe to start winding the album down on.
"Thrash Marley" is an interesting artifact that we've played a few times live. One of the songs and characters from "Bread and Circuses" was called "The Heathen". It occurred to one of us that Bob Marley had a song called that and, lo and behold, it sort of fit the concept of the opera. So we decided to work up a cover version and, since this band doesn't quite have its reggae chops down yet, we translated it into a musical language that most of the boys are comfortable with...THRASH METAL! At some point during the arrangement, we realized it sounded a little like "Rockin in the Free World" and so we threw a little Neil Young into the mix as well. Wallah...Thrash Marley.
"In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" is based on an old Irish (I assume) ditty that my grandfather actually did used to sing. Since I could not trace the origin of the song, and could not remember if it had any other lyrics, I wrote new lyrics and made it my own. After the bombast of "Thrash Marley" this serves as a quiet toast to all the countless drunks that sat through our live act over the last two years.
And that is the album...just over 30 minutes of garage rock in its purest and most economical form. If we couldn't afford to do all we wanted to, or fix all the mistakes (which you hopefully won't notice anyway), please know that we spent every bit of energy and emotion we had on everything you will hear. Please enjoy.
A heartfelt thanks to the band members, supporters and contributors - Trot, Joe Sr.,Mike, Itchy, Tim, Paul, Joe Jr., C.J., Tommy, Russo and Pet, not to mention my wonderful wife Jen and beautiful daughters for putting up with all of this.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Art
68AD
09-Sep-29 Submitted by Joey
Farewell 9-28-2009
I write this sitting in my living room feeling very comfortable after an excellent 2 days of camping. It was just me and my three boys in the 1971 travel trailer we restored together this summer. This was the first trip with the trailer and it performed admirably. The electrical system we put together helped power our evening movie and the water system worked great for washing dishes and brushing all those teeth. I digress, the purpose of this my final rant on the website is not to bring you up to speed on my life but to say farewell to those of you who have supported me and my efforts with the band 68 A.D. I always felt 68 A.D. to be an extension of Snowblind as I see a lot of the same faces in the crowd that I always saw at Studio One and the other venues that we used to play VERY LOUDLY!!! To all of you thanks for your support and I hope you will continue to support the band as they move forward without me. There really is some great music yet to be heard from them. It should also be better with a new drummer who will no doubt be more technically proficient than I ever was. Also I always gave my full effort but my heart and soul is rooted in classic blues and metal, these two genres never fully got exploited by 68 A.D. as it was always alternative, folky, rock. I always loved the guys in the band and a lot of our best performances were in rehearsals behind the scenes where we would improvise and shred things that would never make it to the stage or the public ear. Trotte always said we were keeping the T-REX in a cage, that we as players had a lot more potential and chops to exploit than was called for by the music we played. I am letting myself out of the cage. I never felt that I had a full voice in the direction of the band and I felt it really was Art’s project more than really a “band”. That is fair because he has to front for us at every show and he has to believe in what he is doing to be able to deliver to the audience. I felt I gave most of what I had to give but most of my best potential as a player or contributor was never realized or fell on deaf ears. We were limited by the specific niche we carved out and as I realized it would never become what I yearn for musically and that I do not have time in my life for multiple musical projects or maybe not even one musical project it was time after two years to leave. This was the fairest thing to do as Art lives and dies by his artistic outlet with this band and I simply did not “feel” it anymore. New blood especially if it is someone who connects emotionally to this project will be better for all involved. I was always more of an emotional player than a technical one, without the emotional connection to the new material my performances were lacking and I knew it.
I want to thank Art for re-kindling my spirit for performance, when he first dragged me out of the moth balls 2 years ago it had been 10 years since I played in a band, although I had always continued to play drums I had not played with other musicians. Also I want to take a second to tell Trotte that he is the biggest reason I hung in this long, I love playing with him. I always wondered when 68 A.D. would start playing some of his songs too... maybe some day. That said Tim has a backlog of songs as well, some of which are very interesting, I would have loved to explore some of those too. Ritchie... maybe some day we’ll do some metal covers on stage together ;-) and I can not forget Mikey... we are now the two former members of this band that is a kinship we will share forever, seriously it was a pleasure to get to know and play with you guy.
Just to be clear, its not musical differences or musical direction that force my hand here. I felt if I wanted to I could have been more forceful and possibly begin to steer the ship towards my preferences a little. But that was not the reason for 68 A.D. The band was formed by Bread and Circuses and it needs to go that route. I really want to take time to complete some personal goals including my undergrad degree which will be done in June. I also want to continue to coach baseball and football. My oldest will be in High School next year... where does the time go. I am dedicating as much time as possible to raising, rearing, and enjoying these three boys who have become my best friends. We camp, fish, play baseball, football, and joke around in such a great way that it is almost like living with fraternity brothers. In the midst of this I hope to be able to carve out a few hours per month for musical pursuits at my pace. This will most likely take the form of a metal cover band to play a few gigs a year (these were the conditions that I originally joined 68 A.D. under as well). I still have a lot of musician friends in the metal genre and I have been putting off their requests to jam over the past year or so due to 68 A.D. commitments. The heart of steel is still beating inside me and every time I hear a Manowar tune or some Helloween I realize that I wish I was cranking up some metal. I’ve been playing in the evenings after everyone goes to bed on my new electronic drum kit to build up my double bass chops in preparation for unleashing some power metal once again.
Well just for the record I’d like to clarify I love all the guys in 68 A.D. I respect what they are doing and I wish them the best in the pursuit of bringing rock with a message to the masses. I just don’t have the time to make a full commitment to this anymore and it was not fair to the guys as they give a full effort all the time. Rock on to everyone and METAL UP YOU ASS!!!
Joey
09-Sep-24 Submitted by Art
DRUMMER NEEDED!
Email me direct at awright@68adrocks.com or awjwlw@juno.com for details on this unique opportunity.
We've got a new album about to be released. We've got big plans for gigs, radio appearences, etc. to support it.
PLEASE HELP US OUT!!!
09-Aug-20 Submitted by Art
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Oh well. I guess I am writing the rant again this month. Here I go again…howling in the wilderness. I’ll keep it short.
As we stand on the verge of completing our new album and I try to come up with new ways to get our music noticed…it occurs to me why there is so much mediocrity in the music biz today. Great songwriting, more often than not, comes from hard-won life lessons, from messing up, from getting f’d over, from wallowing in the darkness for so long that you either have to rise up or die. Those with such issues often have a hard time coming up with 30 bucks a song for songwriting contests, the cost for gear, the cost for rehearsals, the cost for recording, the cost for promoting gigs (that you can’t even get a lot of friends and family to attend and end up owing the promoter because you couldn’t bring in your quota of people), the cost for maintaining a web site, etc., etc. etc.
It’s the same with boxing. It’s no accident that the best fighters come out of the slums and great depressions and no wonder that all of the gyms are in the inner cities. But you see…THAT’s an industry that always knew where to look for its talent. The men from the boys are quickly separated. With the music biz, lazy AOR people are waiting for the next big thing to land in their laps on a silver platter. YOU, as the artist, have to rise above the din to get noticed and it will cost you. The internet has created such a din, that marketing trumps quality. Those that can afford to get noticed, typically do not have the depth of issues that fuel great songwriting, but of course get noticed anyway. Others with something to say, and a real need to explode creatively, end up punching the walls (provided they still have walls to punch). I listen to new stuff on the radio and, even in these horrible economic times, I do not hear blood on the tracks. I feel like there must be a lost generation of great talent out there, living underground like Morlocks, stymied by economic oppression and shut off by the velvet roped establishment…never getting the one chance to step into the ring that could change everything.
Another riddle of life solved by yours truly. You can repay me by buying our new album in October and coming to see us or me perform (whenever that will be).
More new songs are on the way , and there will be blood.
09-July-02 Submitted by Art
KING CONTRARY MAN
June was a pretty good month in 68AD-land. We had a real good gig and kicked up the momentum for finishing our album. I wish I could say the same for all these celebrities who left the building in June. Now it is July, and I just heard that Walter Matthau croaked. July is also the month I turn 42 and I am no more inclined to celebrate the fact that I was born, than I am to weep in my bowl of cocoa puffs over the death of Michael Jackson (so far the clear winner in the Summer of 2009 Celebrity Death Sweepstakes).
Indeed the life and death of the gloved one highlight many key issues around the nature of genius and celebrity, while presenting certain problems that are hard to intellectually rectify. For example, I believe the cliché that there is a clear link between genius and madness. That’s not to say that all great artists are wackjobs. Madness comes in many forms. It can be a chronic lifelong affliction that can lead to constructive or destructive behavior; directly proportionate to the severity of the derangement. Or,it can be a temporary or occasional state brought on by chemical influence, trauma, misfortune or stress. So the unease of the mind produces, not only the altered state of thinking required to produce interesting art, but also the incentive or compulsion to cry out and express oneself in a dramatic fashion.
The problem we see with guys like Presley and Jackson, is that obscene fame and fortune did not provide a cure, but rather an accelerator of their respective self abuse and emotional issues; ultimately leading to their demise. The real sick part is that WE as a society demand entertainment from these people at every step of the process. If they can no longer give us the art for which we originally appreciated them, we will derive a grotesque pleasure from their decline and death. In a way, maybe the old Faustian cliché about selling one’s soul to the Devil for temporary fame and fortune is applicable here. Does that make us the Devil?
The other problem related to Jackson is even trickier. At what point can you no longer separate the art from the artist? At what point is it fair to boycott the artist if he delivers art that is offensive? At what point do you boycott the non-offensive art when the artist himself commits the offense? The answer is easy if the proceeds from the art are directly funneled into some nefarious purpose. For example, if Al Qaeda were to form a rock band I would have to boycott that. But there are goons out there (just read some Amazon customer album reviews) who claim to have been Springsteen fans, that have now roundly denounced everything he has ever done because they woke up and realized he is a left-wing liberal and a Democratic campaign contributor. My only conclusion is that most of us are not consumers of art. We are consumers of image and product and our preferences (especially musical) are assembled specifically to reinforce some sense of self. If an artist steps out of line with our core beliefs or commits some heinous act, we can very cavalierly invalidate their entire body of work, no matter how great it might be. I ask again if that’s fair…but ultimately we as individuals must decide.
So let’s get back to Jackson. Aside from the early Jackson 5, I was not a fan of his music. I thought “Thriller” was slick corporate product of the highest quality and importance, but still slick corporate product nonetheless and it did not speak to me. When disturbing allegations later began to come out about his personal behavior, I hoped he would rot in a jail cell if they were true, and I further distanced myself from the man and his music. It was easy because I wasn’t a fan. But what about the fans? What about people who spent a chunk of their lives emulating Michael? How did they handle it?
The closest parallel I can draw to my own personal experience is when certain suspicions were raised about Pete Townsend’s internet usage. It is known that Pete suffered some dark childhood incident and it is obvious that his pain and trauma were what made the Who unique and powerful. None of the hubbub ever made it to trial and the whole thing blew over. Good. I don’t like to think about it. I have spent a lifetime worshipping and emulating Pete. He got me through some tough times. He still does.
So, in conclusion, we are all creatures of contradiction. What we do and what we create has a connection to who we are, but it is not always a direct reflection of who we are. Sometimes it is just a reflection who we would like to be...or maybe we just want to share the good part of ourselves with the world while we privately battle the bad part. Mr. Jackson, you had a job to do and you did it well. It is up to the Almighty to weigh everything out and decide where you go from here. Me…I’d better get back to work.
See you on the road citizens…
Happy 4th of July. Don’t die.
Ps. Certain comments in last month’s rant were perhaps misunderstood by some. I won’t set a dangerous precedent of apologizing for a rant. As Bill Burroughs used to say, “My pen hath its will like the Ancient Mariner”. Let’s just say I am proud of this band and what we have accomplished with such limited time and resources. If I lament the fact that we are not all 20 years old and doing this 40 hours a week, it’s just me being a cranky and unrealistic bastard.
Art 68AD.
09-June-09 Submitted by Art
BRUDDAHS IN ARMS
Is it June already? Holy mackerel.
Sorry fans, the year is going by fast but it’s been a slow year in 68AD-land. Our first full band gig of 2009 is coming up this Friday. Our new album is less than a third complete. I‘ve only written about 15 news songs since January, (as opposed to my usual 4 or 5 a week). What happened? Well, suffice to say, we’ve each had our own work and personal challenges to contend with. Many factors have made rehearsing and spending money on recording more difficult. See the songs “Cube Farm” and “Wishing Well” for more information.
Sometimes you have to do whatever you need to do to survive. The only problem is, making music is part of my survival process. I know this is not quite the same for other members of the band and that’s OK. But if I personally don’t have a gig or a recording or rehearsal to look forward to…well…let’s just say it’s not a good thing for me.
The point is that I have to do this. And why the hell not? I believe we are putting some quality material out there. If only we can fine tune our presentation so that more people can HEAR the quality, not just the intensity, we will build an audience. If we could only get enough studio time together, we could create one of the greatest rock albums of all time. Let me say that again. We could create one of the greatest rock albums of all time. That’s not an opinion. That is a fact.
Hey, speaking of all time greats, in case you weren’t listening to Rich Russo on WXRP Sunday night (and you better have been), Hell’s Tenants was played again on NYC radio. The boy is doing God’s work and let me tell you why. Ever since my car CD changer broke (add that to the long list of things I can’t afford to fix) I’ve had to rely exclusively on my Sirius satellite radio during my two hour commute (terrestrial radio is still a vast wasteland). I listen to Stern in the morning and then switch to music for the evening drive. Little Steven’s Underground Garage is about the best thing out there…but I always seem to get stuck with the Kid Leo program. Now, Leo’s rock credentials are impeccable, but I can’t stand listening to the guy, and his playlists are getting predictable. Every time I go to the E-Street channel (hoping to hear a great River outtake or something) I get “Fade Away” or “Streets of Philadelphia”. WTF? So I switch to “1st Wave” and friggin “Blue Monday” by New Order is playing. I literally have stumbled upon that song 4 times in the past week. “Deep Cuts”? Give me a break. On such a channel, I should never hear the same song twice for years. So here is my point, even though there is a great variety of niche stations on satellite, the playlists seem narrow to me and the risk taking is almost non-existent. I want a real D.J….a personality I can trust, who is an expert in the field, who can turn me on to new stuff and old stuff I may have missed…not play me records that any self-respecting fan of a particular genre should already have in their collection. Enter Russo. He is the only one out there who plays whatever he wants. There is always a reason for what he plays. He is always passionate about what he plays and you know it will be good or at least interesting. If you don’t dig a particular song, hang in there because he will soon hit you with something great that you never saw coming. His knowledge of all types of music dwarfs mine (and my musical knowledge dwarfs that of most so-called D.J.’s I hear out there). I am not just gushing because Russo is a friend and he plays our songs once in a while. You go listen for yourself and tell me that “Anything Anything” isn’t the most important music show on the airwaves today. For two hours on a Sunday night the promise and the purpose of Rock and Roll is renewed. He is not the last of a dying breed. The breed has long been dead. He is a new breed that has sprung up out of nowhere to make the music matter again (much like 68AD). Support his show at all costs…or you may never see anything, anything like it again.
Anything Anything
Sundays 9pm-11pm
101.9 RXP in New York
Streaming at www.1019rxp.com
playlists available at www.myspace.com/radioanything
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01-May-09 Submitted by Art
Friends, Romans and countrymen (and swine)...
68AD is alive and well. OK, so we've never been "well" but you know what I mean. Judging from the lack of live appearances and the lack of website activity, you might have thought we packed it in or died. Ha! Exactly what we wanted you to think suckas! (Insert diabolical laugh here).
Actually we continue to rehearse and record our new album, while sharpening our axes for the imminent live onslaught. It's been slow going but the beast is lumbering to life. There is one ditty in particular that is almost finished. It is called "The Reader's Digest Version of My Mind". It will set your headphones on fire and put hair on your teeth. At our current pace, I can't see us finishing the album before July, but check into this website frequently and we may just post a sneak preview of a song or two. Why? Because we love you.
On the gig horizon, we are trying to get something going at the Crossroads in Mid May. We will also play at Dockstreet in Staten Island as part of Rich Russo's WXRP local band showcase. The date for that will be announced soon. In fact, go there even if we are not playing and support Brother Russo in his holy quest to create a scene and make the music matter again. Beyond that, we plan to gig more frequently through the Summer and Fall. I know...promises...promises. Yeah...it's been a quiet year so far but we will bring enough noise to make up for it.
Is there anything else you would like to talk about? The bankruptcy of Chrysler? The good and bad of Obama's first 100 days? The fact that Wall Street is in the midst of some mysterious rally while the middle class continues its descent into unemployment and oblivion? The swine flu?
Yeah, I'm sick of politics and the economy too. Let's talk about the swine flu. Nothing like a little pandemic hysteria to pump up those news ratings. And what's up with Joe Biden scaring the crap out of everybody? Don't take airplanes? Let's bankrupt a few airlines while we are at it. The news media will have you believe that there will be town cryers in the streets yelling "bring out your dead" before long (FYI...because it is the swine flu, bodies cannot be cremated...they have to be dropped in a pit and slow smoked). OK, sorry bad joke. And if you see pigs flying, you will know that either you are in the middle of a bad Pink Floyd concert flashback, or that the swine flu has combined with the bird flu and the end of times is nigh. OK...OK...I don't mean to make light of this. People have died from it and more people will die. Look folks...wash your hands, don't eat raw Mexican pork, stay away from people who are coughing and sneezing and don't go anywhere except the doctor if you are feeling ill. This too shall pass. We are surrounded with things that can kill us 24 hours a day from the moment we are conceived. What's one more added onto the list? Just be cautious and smart and don't get sucked into the hysteria. Focus on things you can control. That's my only point.
One thing you CAN control is the content of this site. Tell us what you'd like to rant about...or better yet...give me a topic to write a song about (I've got a little writer's block going on at the moment). Send us artwork or photos to post. Maybe we will use your submissions for CD's or flyers. GIVE US FEEDBACK on songs, shows...etc. Tell us if we suck but tell us WHY we suck. Please. It's all good. Seriously, we are a band that is trying to communicate honest feelings about our times and common struggles. We gave away our first CD for free for crying out loud. We give and give and give. A little incoming dialog will help us and would mean a lot. Or just send cash. This recording has drained our measley band coffer and we are not even half done yet.
Speaking of coffers...some dude just coughed on me and his breath smells like chorizo. OH NO!
Goodbye cruel world.
Art
68AD
10-Feb-2009 submitted by John
disclaimer-The views represented in this rant are those of John and not necessarily the same as those of the other member of 68 A.D. ;-)
“No Kool-Aid for me.”
Welcome to the dawn of the new era. Where good will overtake evil, where merely wanting something to happen will. Welcome my friends to the new America. On the cold morning if January 20th we all witnessed history in the making. A loud cheer erupted as the helicopter taking the former resident of America’s white house lifted off for its final destination, Crawford Texas. And as the past 8 absolutely horrible years faded into the distance and the euphoric cheer came chrisendoing down the man of the hour, day, week, month, year came walking up the street leading the parade of washingtonites to take over their rightful place as president of the white house. I might add, not only the presidency but the entire congress as well (Representatives and Senaters). Yes it is truly a great day in our country’s history, for now we will finally see what it is like to have a real president, no wait a real party (don’t forget about congress) to finally run this country….. apparently, into the ground.
The coronation of our new president was still echoing down Pennsylvania avenue when the first and some would say the most important piece of legislation was signed by our new president. And now gays and lesbians do not need to worry about the don’t ask don’t tell policy in the military. Now I personally don’t particularly care what adults do behind closed doors, but in a country that has had the “worst 8 years of our existence” I just don’t get the overwhelming importance that made this piece of legislation the first to be signed. It was more important than the economy (I’ll get to that in a second), Guantonamo Bay prison, Corruption in government, paying of taxes by prospective cabinet members, finding Obama, etc. People are starting to say, I am glad Obama closed Guantonamo Bay, after all those poor souls civil rights were being violated. We will now follow the army manual so the only questions allowed by interrogators is What is your name, rank and serial number. And the terrorists will volenterally give us the information about their true involvement in terrorist activities and their collegues. We are America and people should want to do this, in the name of fairness and togetherness and Love.
The economy is in crises - “due to mismanagement by the previous administration”. And the only way the government can fix it, is by the great socialization of this great country. After all this is America and no company is allowed to fail. In this country you are an enemy of the people if your company makes money (Well not every company only oil and energy companies). If you run your company into the ground, there is Uncle Sam ready to give you as much capital as you need at little or no interest. And the best part is you get to spend the money any way you want (No strings attached), although you may want to keep under wraps how much RETENTION BONUS you are actually paying your people. But WAIT, that was the last administration, (See- I told you they were the worst 8 years in our countries existence). So the new administration decides they can do one better, they will look to spend a mere trillion dollars or so to help the economy, there is money for everything, every state gets some more money, because we would not want to have to lay off any government workers, god forbid they lose their jobs with their free healthcare and lifetime pensions. Those poor people work long and hard and deserve to be taken care of for the rest of their lives. After all this is a recession and we could not add to the unemployed masses. So we will leave the four people for every position that in the private sector has one person, and we will let them work less hours and carry over their umpteen sick time, and give them their annual raises on time. After all we wouldn’t want government employees feeling the pain the rest of the country has to endure. It just isn’t fair. And if the states do not want to give the local townships their share, then it just isn’t fair that towns have to keep their spending and tax increases to less than 4% a year. After all I am sure the people who are working would love to give a few more hundred dollars to their towns in property taxes, even though the private sector is getting their raises postponed or the salaries cut all together. They would be happy to give a few more hundred so those working in government do not need to suffer the same way that the private citizens do. Then there are the pet projects, the roads and bridges that need repair. While this seems like a good idea, if you are in fact building the roads and bridges, how many people will be added to the ranks? Those that are working in the industry will benefit and some new people will be added, so yes that does pass the red face test, although it will take a while for the dollars to translate into projects then into actual execution. If the money is approved on Tuesday Feb 11th, projects will then be implemented and bids rolled out and designs complete and the first construction could start probably by April (allowing for existing crews to roll over). The wave of construction work could potentially hit by September, although if the government streamlines (read – gives projects to companies in the governments hip pockets and fast tracks them – read massive overruns later in the project for not following the proved execution practice) so it is a tangible in flux of work into the economy although the real effects will not be felt until the late summer (It is OK to invest in the future). Another good stroke of the pen and power plants will be built, to help ease Americas electricity crunch with the building of new infrastructure (plants and power lines). Along with that comes jobs, jobs, jobs (White collar jobs for engineers, planners and Blue collar jobs for those who will build this infrastructure). Oh wait, that isn’t part of the stimulus package. Local engineering companies who were betting on these projects moving from conceptual jobs into the execution phase will be laying off scores if not hundreds this week. I guess since they are not union workers, the new administration doesn’t count it as them losing their jobs or care about them losing their jobs.
We are told it is imperative to give more money to financial institutions. After all $700 Billions is not enough, they need at least another $700 billion then maybe they can start to doll out the money to get the economy moving again. I am sorry but, I thought the first $350 billion was to help the companies be able to afford to start lending money… Although no money was lent, they all sat on the money like Mr Scrooge or Mr crabs. Wait, not true, they did give their executives $18 billion in year end bonuses. Isn’t that sweet. They get bonuses for running their companies into the ground.. Some will argue that the bonus number is merely half or so of what it was last year, you know when these companies were lieing about the financial health of their companies. And it isn’t fair to punish many for the sins of a few. Especially since we now have all this free money the government gave us. Now putting this in perspective (personal touch), my company made significant profits last year, even though by the end of the year we started to lose money, we usually get bonuses, but we are told not to expect much because the company did not do to good in comparison to our peers. Our location made money but we are all held by how the company does on a whole. I am not complaining, it is found money, but I am tired of all these people who think everyone owes them and they should not be effected if their companies screwed everyone else, fair is fair you know.
And car companies, how come you stupid Americans can not be happy buying these horrific cars that are being built, so what if you don’t like it, so what if they don’t get good gas mileage, so what if they are crappy quality, buy them anyway. Buy our SUV’s they have our higher profit margins on them, Don’t you know that peoples jobs may be lost if you do not buy it. It is your fault after all that the companies are going out of business. I would be laughing if these are not the sentiments of those in the industry. It reminds me of an old Abbott and Costello comedy routing about Mustard and the Susquehanna hat company. Again, the best fictional writers in the world could not equal the reality that is taking place. Take this for example
The latest thing I am hearing is that the real reason why the economy is going to take longer to get on track, is due to Americans actually starting to reduce their debt load and increase the savings. The average citizen has seen their mutual funds disappear, their 401k’s turn into 40 point 1 K’s, their homes lose their value, their jobs become in jeopardy. For the past 10 years at least we were all told, that Americans are not saving enough, we are living on future earnings, we are increasing revolving and long range debt to dangerous levels. Well we started seeing the country come crashing down and guess what, we are being a little more careful how we spend our money. We are buying less expensive items and putting off big ticket items unless we actually need them instead of just want them. We are starting to become fiscally responsible again (Much like our grandparents). We are reducing our debt, increasing our savings and actually living within out means. Whew, we must be in the clearing now, ready to right the ship and finally get this mess behind us.
Now that us Americans are finally doing the right thing financially for our families, we are now being blamed by the government for extending this recession/depression. After all the government realizes that if they gave every tax paying citizen their $9700 (That is the roughly $1.X trillion divided by roughly 125 million tax payers). That the people would, gasp, either pay down their existing debt or even worse, save the money. With people now starting to live within their means, the economy will now take longer to get rolling. Wait a minute… If spending above our means got us into this trouble, and NOT spending above our means will not get us out of this trouble, maybe there is something fundamentally wrong with the economy. Maybe we don’t need 15 million cars worth of automobile manufacturing and maybe we don’t need hundreds of millions of personnal computers to be made every year. Maybe companies need to shrink to come into line with true demand. Maybe the government can actually help our companies out by imposing taxes and tarrifs on foreign goods brought into this country. Hey how about a tax of say $1 per gallon for all finished products (gasoline, diesel, etc) that are imported into this country to help out the oil refineries. And how about a tax on all clothing, cars, electronics that are made and sent to this country. The other countries subsidize their own companies (with US dollars from our debt they but) why can’t our government try and help out our companies to compete on a level playing field.
So hear we are less than a month since the coronation and you hear on the news that people are waiting for their check in the mail, they are waiting for the war to stop in Iraq, they are waiting for a government job, they are waiting for free health care, they are waiting on free education, they are waiting on the poor sap to get a second and third job to support their families so the government can tax his ass to give away more free money. People are starting to say, how come Obama can’t make miracles happen. People are starting to say, I can not believe he actually broke a campaign promise, but it is OK as it was only a small promise, you know about transparency in government.
Hey is it me or did we set a record by Presidential appointees who either FORGOT or MADE A MISTAKE and didn’t pay their taxes. Lets see, it cost us potentially a US Senator from NY, It cost us a Cabinet position of Health and Human Services and another were people did not want to embarrass the president and backed out, and lets see…. Oh yeah. There was another one, someone actually got paid, then got a stipend to pay his taxes so he would not lose money on the deal and he FORGOT to pay his taxes, even though he received an extra check to cover the cost of his taxes. WHEW, it is a good thing he isn’t in charge of things like the economy or the IRS for peat sake. OH WAIT HE IS!. I am glad he is the only man for the job. So I guess those that steal from the government are the best people to run the government. Paying taxes is so middle class (Poor don’t need to and Rich figure a way not to). So “F” the middle class.
That Obama he really is shaking things up. And he hasn’t even tackled the tough stuff yet. We are now seeing the beginning of one of my predictions from my before election commentaries (Yes I was wrong on the outcome and no there are no sour grapes). I believe in letting the record speak for itself.
I was sitting in a bar on Friday and people were saying “WOW, I never thought he would do that, and WOW I can’t believe he has proposed that, Speaking of Obama of course. Welcome to the great Unites Socialistic States of America. Hold onto your wallets if you are working. The only thing I can say is the vast majority in this country has voted and they voted for Obama and the rest of the Democratic ticket. So everyone in this country gets what they deserve. They were so blinded in hatred for our past president, they couldn’t see the storm they have set forth on the white house, Moses 8 plagues would have been better then what is in store for this country,
He is my president even though I was/am not a supporter, If there are positives or if I am proving wrong I am man enough to admit it. However, I will NOT drink his kool-aid and I am ashamed at the Republican party for allowing things to get to the point where so many willingly volenterred to drink from the fountain of Obama.
The true test of freedoms of speech are allowing those that disagree with you the time, space and ability to speak their minds.
On a lighter note – The new album is starting to take shape. Lots of great new songs, the fountain was turned on and it can not be shut off. There are literally 120-150plus songs that we will not be able to get to on the next record with all the new things that are being written. It is going to be a little more aggressive than the first EP, it will have some melodic/poppy songs, and different genres of music will be represented. Hard Rock, Pop Rock, Punk, Metal, Folk, Blues, Rock n Roll to name a few. Can’t wait to get the next batch of songs down then give them a whirl live. Stay tuned as the roller coaster is just leaving the musical station and who knows where it will wind up.
Later ADers
Trotte
01-27-2009 Submitted by Art
It’s been a very quiet and inactive few months in 68AD-land as we emerge from the holidays into a new year filled with that same old boring mix of dread and hope. Whether or not you are feeling an increased sense of hope or dread this time around, of course, depends a bit on what you think of the new leadership in Washington. The boys in the band have differences of opinion on that so I will only make one simple point and let history prove me wrong.
George W. Bush, ironically, has finally become the great uniter that he promised to be early in his first term. In other words, a whopping majority of Americans are glad to see him go. Not only that, but the laundry list of terrible problems he leaves us with creates a unique opportunity for non-partisan cooperation not seen since the immediate post-911 days. Bush squandered his chance. I don’t think Obama will squander his (despite far-right fears that we are heading towards nationalized banks, collectivized farms and outright socialism). In fact, he’s already causing some dismay among the hard-line left. Whatever. Obama has done more to uphold the constitution in his first week of office than his predecessor who spent eight years undermining it (just check out some of the executive orders reversing a number of controversial Bush administration policies). But of course the overriding concern is the economy…and it may be beyond anything we can reasonably expect this administration to drastically improve in the span of four or even eight years. We dug ourselves into a deep, deep hole. So the main point about Obama is this: his legacy in history should not be that he was the first African-American president but rather that he was a TRUE uniter at a time when our country needed it the most. His success or failure depends ENTIRELY on that. Divided we fell, united we can stand again.
Many of our songs, including the whole opera “Bread and Circuses” deal with these concepts of fall and rise…death and rebirth. What will our music have to say in the year 2009? So far, judging by the evolving track list for our forthcoming release “Fractured”, it’s hard to say at this point. The songs are much less political in nature, much less autobiographical and do not fit together to form some overall concept.
In other words, it’s a hodgepodge (but most albums are).
The title track is a fictional account of a jinxed relationship (catchy punk). There is at least one song about economic hardship (straight rock). There are at least three songs obliquely dealing with the affect of media and technology on our lives (one of them is a punky number about an obsessed fan of a particular news show host). There is a nostalgic song about my first car (very soulful). A few Bread and Circuses tunes may also emerge on our new release (we are trying to gradually record all of them in the hopes of assembling a good studio demo of the whole enchilada). Beyond that, the last few songs I’ve written have taken a very character-oriented turn. These are very strange characters indeed…each with a peculiar talent or activity. There is a guy (based on a novel that my brother and I are collaborating on) who can wish people dead (heavy folk rock). There is a garbage man who collects peoples’ dirty secrets and holds a whole town ransom (heavy blues). There is a rascal who is arrested and tried for breaking every known law of man, God and nature (Early Priest-like metal). Perhaps I just got tired of writing topical and personal songs and started gravitating more towards imagined people and events.
“Hell’s Tenants” was more conceptual in the sense that it drew heavily on “Bread and Circuses” and is in many ways a summary of the opera and its driving themes. The only real concept of “Fractured” may be that it is a chance to flaunt our heavier side (which is more indicative of our live sound). Like the debut, however, you can still count on plenty of hooks to keep you humming for months.
ART’S CD CHANGER
Here’s what’s got me humming currently…
1. “Working on a Dream” Bruce Springsteen - C+: Ouch. Unlike last year’s deserving hit “Magic”, this latest E-Street offering (where the hell is Clarence?) seems to lack purpose and certainly does not offer anything that we haven’t heard a hundred times before. I played the BEST song “What Love Can Do” for my wife and she said it was “OK”. I said, “Exactly”. The album kicks off poorly with an 8 minute opus that sounds like a spaghetti western version of the Kiss classic “I Was Made for Loving You”. Same hook – I shit you not. From there we get the two singles; mediocre at best. Then a strange but fine ballad called “Queen of the Supermarket” appears, followed by the aforementioned best song; a funky hard rocker. So just when you think things are picking up steam, the album does a nosedive until the excellent duo of acoustic ballads that close the disc. “The Last Carnival” is a gut wrenchingly beautiful song that can be read as both a farewell to the deceased Danny Federici and perhaps to the E-Street band itself. “The Wrestler” is the all too short theme song for the movie of the same name; a touching moment that draws parallels between the hard knocks life of Mickey Rourke and the character he plays in the film. That’s it. Three, maybe four decent songs. This is one dream that could have used a lot more work. Go see the tour instead…or at least Super Bowl halftime.
2. “Hamburger” The Muffs – A: Former Pandora Kim Shattuck is my female rock hero. What guitar playing. What a scream. What HOOKS! By far my favorite band of the 90’s. “Blonder and Blonder” is their punk/pop masterpiece and the eponymous debut is no slouch either. But to get the Muffs in their rawest and juiciest form, you need to get “Hamburger”; a gonzo collection of out-takes, covers and assorted oddities. Courtney Love can only wish she was Kim.
3. The Velvet Underground and Nico – A+: Not much more I can add to the volumes of words already gushed over this timeless monolith. Lou Reed at his druggiest. The album that whipped the hippies into submission and birthed a million punks.
4. “Electric” The Cult – B+: The greatest Led Zeppelin album that AC-DC never made. Mindless heavy metal fun from a bunch of guys we took for alternative fops the first time around. Best line from “Love Removal Machine” – “Spider woman…she got me a beer…yeah yeah yeah”.
5. “Worlds Apart” Saga….how did THAT get in there? JEN???
6. “Hell’s Tenants” 68AD – A+: God I am getting tired of this already.
Get me to the studio.
