The LA Weekly didn’t exactly shy away from blasting the acts who made their The 20 Worst Hipster Bands: The Complete List.

Ben Westhoff on Arcade Fire, #3

If the essence of hipsterdom is fetishizing the authentic, then Arcade Fire deserve a Canadian Nobel Prize for sucking the life out of the pop music canon. Sure, all artists build on their influences, but Arcade Fire sap the passion, intensity, and sincerity from greater acts who came before them, wringing their sounds out through a sponge and lustily devouring the drops. In a way, they’re like the over-processed food our generation consumed as children; with color and nutrients added after the fact, they almost smell and look like something that’s good for us. But they’re not. Arcade Fire is not good for us.

Probably not!

Moving right along, Dan Weiss on MGMT, #16 on the list:

Exploiting LOLcat culture and synthy, psychedoodling indie-dance for pop crossover was such a good idea, apparently, that MGMT made it all their own. They tried to be meta about it on their big 2008 breakthrough single “Time to Pretend,” which is about rocking ‘til you die with “models for wives.” And a follow-up hit was not to come; the hookless prog meanderings of their difficult second album (2010’s Congratulations) made it clear they weren’t in on the joke after all.

(I will admit to playing the shit out of the first MGMT album and loving the second album when it came out. A few weeks later, however, I decided that I absolutely hated it and have never listened to them since. That might be the only time this has ever happened to me with an album. I can’t think of a second time.)

The 20 Worst Hipster Bands: The Complete List (LA Weekly)

 
We seek to write the perfect sentence. The one that opens the paragraph, like a key in a door, to places undiscovered. It was how to begin this story on Duglas T Stewart, the lead singer and mainstay of BMX Bandits, whether with a fact or a quote, or oblique reference that would set the scene to unfurl his tale.

Duglas has written his fair share of perfect sentences - in dozens of songs over his twenty-five-year career with BMX Bandits. From the first singles in 1986, the debut album C86 in 1989, through to Bee Stings in 2007, Duglas has been at the center of an incredible family of talented musicians who have together created some of the most beautiful, toe-tapping and joyous music of the past 3 decades.

In the early 1990s, when Nirvana was top of the tree, Kurt Cobain said:

’If I could be in any other band, it would be BMX Bandits.’

It was a tip of the hat to a man who is responsible for singing, writing and producing songs of the kind of beauty and fragility Cobain aspired to.

Not just Cobain, but Brian Wilson and Kim Fowley are also fans, with Fowley explaining his own definition of what it means to be a BMX Bandit:

’It means a nuclear submarine floating through chocolate syrup skies of spinach, raining raisins on a Chihuahua covered infinity of plaid waistcoats, with sunglasses and slow motion. It sort of means, pathos equals suburban integrity of loneliness punctuated by really nice melodies.’

But let’s not take Kim’s word for it, we decided to ask Duglas to tell Dangerous Minds his own version of his life and love as a BMX Bandit.

DM: What was your motivation to become a musician?

Duglas T. Stewart: ‘Initially it was two things. I heard Jonathan Richman in 1977 and it sounded so human and full of warmth and humor and beauty. It also seemed to fly in the face in the punk ethos of DESTROY. It really made a connection with me and I thought I’d like to try to do something that hopefully might make others feel like I did listening to Jonathan. Listening to his music gave me a sense of belonging. I felt less alone.

‘The other thing was I met Frances McKee, later of The Vaselines, and I thought she was incredible. I loved everything about her from her mischievous sense of humor to her slightly overlapping front teeth. She said to me one day she thought it would be fun being in a group, and so I thought I would start a group and she could be in it and that way I could spend more time with her and have a vehicle for expressing how she made me feel.

‘Also I had a lot of self belief so I knew if I started a group it would be way better and more interesting than any other local groups at that time.
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds

The fabulous BMX Bandits: Interview and performance of ‘(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)

 
More from Duglas on music, art & books, and from BMX Bandits, after the jump…
 
With thanks to Duglas T Stewart
 

Squier by Andy Warhol.
 
Can a shitty video kill a musician’s career? In the case of Billy Squier, one did. In a poll of over 400 music industry mover and shakers, Squier’s video for “Rock Me Tonite” (terribly mis-directed by choreographer Kenny Ortega) is considered to be the worst video ever made by a major artist and record label. Mike Kelber, who headed the Capitol Records division responsible for making the video, called it “a whopping steaming turd” and was astonished that such crappy looking production may have been the most expensive video Capitol had made up until that time. The resulting fiasco was devastating for Squier.

In the thoroughly entertaining book I Want My MTV (I keep mine next to the toilet), Squier describes the effect the “Rock Me Tonite” video had on his career with a combination of self-pity and dumbfounded disbelief. He still seems dazed by the fact that his life could be so profoundly altered with such irrevocable swiftness :

When I saw the video, my jaw dropped. It was diabolical. I looked at it and went, “What the fuck is this?”

The video misrepresents who I am as an artist. I was a good-looking, sexy guy. That certainly didn’t hurt in promoting my music. But in this video I’m kind of a pretty boy. And I’m preening around a room. People said “He’s gay.” Or, “He’s on drugs.” It was traumatizing to me. I mean, I had nothing against gays. I have a lot of gay friends.”

The video damaged his reputation among rock fans and Squier went from playing to packed arenas to less than 10,000 people a night.

Everything I worked for was crumbling and I couldn’t stop it. How can a four-minute video do that? Ok, it sucked. So?”

Squier eventually quit rock ‘n’ roll and it’s pretty obvious that the video is what compelled him to retire. Whatever regrets he might have are tempered by the fact that he left the music biz a wealthy man.

The wounds have healed and the scars aren’t that deep, because my life has evolved in a good way. I left the music business when I was forty-three. I don’t have to work. Look who’s smiling now! That video is a bad part of a good life.”

I’m sure most first wave MTV fans remember this: the video that killed the rock ‘n’ roll star:
 

 
Update: I Want My MTV author Rob Tannebaum wrote us to clarify a point made in my article. Thanks Rob.

There wasn’t an actual poll. My co-author and I interviewed more than 400 people for our oral history, and there was a clear consensus that “Rock Me Tonite” sucked way more than any other sucky video. No other video came close, not even Journey’s “Separate Ways,” which is pretty damn sucky.”

 
Hot damn this is good! Thin Lizzy on fire at the Sydney Harbour in 1978.

1 Jailbreak
2 Bad Reputation
3 Cowboy Song
4 The Boys Are Back In Town
5 Waiting For An Alibi
6 Are You Ready
7 Me And The Boys Were Wondering How You And The Girls Are Getting Home Tonight
8 Baby Drives Me Crazy

Gary Moore joined Thin Lizzy on this tour and Mark Nauseef is subbing for Brian Downey on drums.
 

 
One of New York City’s longest standing destinations for lovers of music, the legendary Colony Records, is set to close. Owner Richard Turk gives the usual reasons for its demise: the Internet, high rent and lack of CD sales.

Colony Records was one of the first places I visited when I moved to New York in 1977. This was before Virgin or Tower existed and Colony was an overwhelming experience for a record freak like myself. It was hip without being hipster, cool without being cold. It definitely had a Times Square vibe while still being an oasis in a neighborhood that could be rough and uninviting. The staff was old skool New Yorkers who knew their shit. They might not have looked like the record store employees we’ve grown accustomed to in recent years - no pale-skinned, bearded geeks spewing fan jizz on rare Lee Hazlewood albums - but they had deep knowledge and appreciation for whatever genre they specialized in. They could be gruff but the gruffness was tempered with a sweetness that came from being around objects they loved - rows and rows of vinyl and sheet music.

Webzine Capitol offers a brief history of Colony Records in an article on its closing:

Colony Records was founded in 1948 by Harold “Nappy” Grossbart and Richard Turk’s father, Sidney. The shop’s location and late hours—it stayed open til 3 a.m. seven days a week for decades—made it a popular destination for musicians, theatergoers and celebrities throughout Times Square’s multiple incarnations. Repeat patrons included Benny Goodman, Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger, Elton John, Liza Minnelli, and Michael Jackson, who in his later years took to scheduling after-hours appointments to drop by.”

The closing of Colony, Tower, Virgin and dozens of indie record stores in Manhattan has resulted in a huge void where music fans once gathered to share their passion. Richard Turk’s concern is shared by more than just a few Manhattanites -  “where New Yorkers will go to talk about music, now that all the “characters stores” like Colony have gone extinct.”
 

 

 
The following is a rough cut of scenes from Manhattan Lullaby, a documentary about Colony Records directed by Sara Cross. It’s a work in progress that now seems to have found its ending.
 

 
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band (Zoot Horn Rollo, Ed Marimba, Roy Estrada, Rockette Morton and Winged Eel Fingerling) performing at Radio Bremen’s Funkhaus for German TV Beat Club, on April 12, 1972.

Zoot Horn Rollo (Magic Band guitarist Bill Harkleroad) recalls taping the show:

“I’m Gonna Booglarize You” got played an awful lot and was definitely part of our live show. Like “Click Clack” and “Alice In Blunderland,” “Booglarize You” was a staple part of the set on three basic tours - 1971, 1972 and 1973. I can specifically remember the band performing it on a German TV show called Beat Club. Like all TV shows at that time, they weren’t ready for loudly performed music. Our type of music was designed to be played loud, it didn’t have to be earsplitting, but it had to be played with a certain amount of volume just to push enough air to feel the excitement level of it - because we did have energy, no question about it!

I remember how difficult it was, beating the crap out of the instrument and jumping around, when you could hear people whispering over the low volume. ... Back then live TV shows were only one step better than lip-synching. It always felt funny playing to 30-odd people who were clapping politely while the TV producer was trying to make it look like a crowd 500. It was a very sterile environment and of course the Magic Band came over as being totally ‘over-the-top’ with our look - I remember stumbling around on my high heeled green shoes.

You’ll notice that the good Captain has two microphones bound together with tape, in order to amplify his deepest notes.

1. Hair Pie Bass Solo (The Mascara Snake) (0:00)
2. Click Clack Take 1 (3:08)
3. Click Clack Take 2 (6:51)
4. Golden Birdies and Band Intro (8:18)
5. I’m Gonna Booglaraize You Baby Take 1 (11:12)
6. I’m Gonna Booglaraize You Baby Take 2 (15:41)
7. Steal Softly Through Snow (Band Instrumental) (20:49)
8. I’m Gonna Booglaraize You Baby Take 3 (24:18)

The Magic Band will be performing live at the three-day Greg Dulli/All Tomorrow’s Parties-curated “I’ll Be Your Mirror” music festival in NYC on Sunday, September 23rd.

From the DVD of Lost Broadcasts.
 

 

 
Thank you, Brad Laner, WFMU and to bookheaven1thousand who uploaded this treasure to YouTube.

 
In September of 1969 I saw The Incredible String Band perform at the Fillmore West. I attended the concert with a theater company I was a member of called The Floating Lotus Magic Opera (yes, it’s true). The concert was sparsely attended, the Floating Lotus making up a good part of it, and there was a real sense of communal intimacy in the Fillmore that night, with the audience singing and chanting along with Mike Heron, Robin Williamson, Licorice McKechnie, Rose Simpson and various other members of the String Band’s extended family.

The air was thick with incense, pot smoke and patchouli as the audience (gathering) repeated together the mantra from “A Very Cellular Song.”

May the long time sun shine upon you
All love surround you
And the pure light within you
Guide you all the way on.”

In retrospect, the scene probably resembled a diorama housed in a sideshow museum called “The Weird World Of Hippie Freaks” (no one under 18 admitted). But at the time, it really was sweetness and light and the vibes were good. The Incredible String Band were not your usual rock ‘n’ roll act. They were a group of traveling minstrels that had come to town to share their music, good spirits and friendship. After their performance there was much mingling between audience and band and a genuine feeling of connectedness. I’ve never been to concert like it since.

Be Glad For the Song Has No Ending (1970) is a film that captures the hippiness of TISB and while it is at times dated and silly, there’s no denying the film is a spirited bit of whimsy that falls into the kind of strangely compeling vanity projects that many bands of the era were involved in, most notably Led Zeppelin’s The Song Remains The Same and The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour. No one will mistake these films as great works of art but they are trippy glimpses into what happens when musicians and Purple Owsley cross paths.
 

 
It’s Keith Moon’s birthday and I thought I’d share Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who to commemorate the life of one of rock ‘n’ roll’s genuinely great drummers. This detailed and entertaining two hour documentary (plus an hour and a half of extras) was co-directed by Murray Lerner who first filmed The Who at the Isle Of Wight in 1970 ( in addition to Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix and Leonard Cohen) as well as documenting Dylan’s historic plugged-in performance at the Newport Folk Festival in the mid-Sixties. Lerner is a legend among fans of rock for his ability to be in the right place at the right time and getting it all on film. Along with co-director Paul Crowder, Lerner manages to tackle a big subject and bring it all home in Amazing Journey. They are helped considerably by Pete Townsend’s enthusiastic and no-holds-barred participation.

This film reminds me of what I loved about The Who in the first place and have somewhat forgotten over the years. The Monterey Pop footage is epic beyond belief and truly one of the defining moments in the history of punk rock and rock in general..
 

 
Part two after the jump…

 
Neil Innes performs two of the quickest versions of his hit song “Urban Spaceman”.

The first is accompanied by “Testing” and is taken from Late Night Line-Up - a kind of late night BBC arts show that kicked-off in the 1960s and was revived in the 1980s. The second is from the brilliant series Rutland Weekend Television, which spawned The Rutles.

Innes is a favorite at DM, for his brilliant musical talents and his incredible back catalog as Bonzo, Python, Rutle and Book of Records. Like the dear olde Ginger Geezer, he is one of the few artists I return to with an obsessional passion. Indeed, m’colleague Richard and I have had phases when we’ve played nothing but the Bonzos for weeks on end.

My earliest memory of “Urban Spaceman” is looped to clips of playing space walks and moon landings with my brother on summer-lit lawns, at my grandparents’ house. Of wearing cardboard space helmets given away free with tasty fruit pastilles called Jelly Tots, and watching the Bonzos on Do Not Adjust Your Set. It was also the first time I learned the lyrics to a song, and became fascinated with its meaning. Who was this “Urban Spaceman”? And why didn’t he exist?

Later, in the 1970s, Innes starred, wrote and performed 3 series of The Innes Book of Records, one TV’s truly brilliant and original shows. Sadly, the BBC has been loathe to rescreen or even release this classic piece of musical culture since. But thankfully there is a petition up-and-running to get the Beeb to pull its finger out and do something useful about it ASAP. So, if like me, you want to see Neil Innes’ genius show, then please click here and sign the petition. Thank you!
 

 
More from the fabulous Neil plus bonus clip of when a Bonzo met The Beatles, after the jump…
 
With thanks to NellyM
 

 
Oh fuck yes, they are going to release the Beatles’ 1967 TV special Magical Mystery Tour on Blu-ray, with a new 5.1 surround soundtrack. Having my appetite whetted for more Beatles in surround by the excellent Love 5.1 special DVD edition and the great 5.1 mix on the new Yellow Submarine Blu-ray, I’m all over this one, too.

For me, the jewel in this particular crown will be getting to hear a surround sound mix of “I Am The Walrus,” one of my top favorite songs of all time. Can you imagine?

Several well-known Beatles bootlegs have let the multi-tracks for this song escape over the years and there is a “naked” mix of just the guitar, bass, drums and vocals floating around out there (no orchestra or sound effects) that sounds just like a Niravana demo (seriously). (Think about it, the guitar part is really monotonous, almost punky):

In September 1967, The Beatles loaded a film crew onto a bus along with friends, family and cast and headed west on the A30 out of London to make their third film, this time conceived and directed by The Beatles themselves.

“Paul said ‘Look I’ve got this idea’ and we said ‘great!’ and all he had was this circle and a little dot on the top - that’s where we started,” (Ringo)

In the wake of the extraordinary impact of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album and the One World satellite broadcast of “All You Need Is Love,” The Beatles devised, wrote and directed their third film, Magical Mystery Tour, a dreamlike story of a coach day trip to the seaside.

The film features a fabulous supporting cast of character actors and performers, (including Ivor Cutler, Victor Spinetti, Jessie Robins, Nat Jackley, Derek Royle, and the inimitable Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band).

Apple Films have fully restored the long out-of-print, classic feature film for October 8th release worldwide (October 9th in North America) on DVD and Blu-ray with a remixed soundtrack (5.1 and stereo) and special features.

In the DVD extras there is also going to be material featuring Ivor Cutler and Traffic (doing “Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush”) that was shot for Magical Mystery Tour but not included in the final edit

On a weird personal side note, when I was 11, during a double bill screening of Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine at the local library in 1977, I went blind for about an hour. True story.
 

 
Thank you, ifthenwhy!