NoTes
Hard to believe that ten long years
ago, a handful of boys in London put
the screws to the music industry. It
was the Sex Pistols who initially
brought punk to the rest of the world
with its volatile media/music barrage,
a barrage that ended with the tragic
romance-drug-death tale of Sid Vic-
lous and Nancy Spungen. Well, now
this torrid romance comes to the sil-
ver screen in an Alex Cox film, call-
ed Sid and Nancy. How distorted is
this flick's version of history? The real
Sid wore a swastika on his chest, not
the hammer and sicle the movie Sid
(Gary Oldman) wears. Even Johnny
Rotten, frontman in Sid's old band,
is in quite a tiff about the movie. He
claims he wasn't even consulted
Lately, "Tinsel-
about the flick.
town" has been living up to its image
as movie capital of the world. Films
have been in production all over town
(as usual) but with a twist: they all
have a connection to either new
music or skating. In production: Slam
Dance, starring Adam Ant (as a
cheapskate club owner) and X's
John Doe as an unscrupulous cop-
on-the-take and Dudes, Penelope
Spheeris latest, featuring punk art-
ist Mad Mark Rude, and the D.I.'s
Axxel Reese as bad guys. This flick
also has The Vandals playing two
songs live, and the soundtrack.
though not yet confirmed, should be
totally bitchen. Cutting Loose has
been filming around Venice lately. No
info on the plot, but so far there's
been lots of surf and skate action,
and the set, with extras like Stevo,
members of L.A. Guns, Feline, Lit-
tle Kings, etc., has been the party.
Last but not least, Texacala Jones
has a speaking part in the sequel to
Beverly Hills Cop. T.S.O.L. have
been on the road for a little over a
month, promoting their new Lp
Revenge. Their show at the Ritz was
sold out, and their video to the song
"Colors" is now being shown on
MTV. Way to go. Sonic Youth have
been tracking at Spinhead Studios,
working on the soundtrack for a Pare-
mount movie called Black Lung.
R.E.M.'s Peter Buck has been drop-
ping in on the sessions and talking
up S.Y. in all the local papers
Megadeath have just "sold
out and signed with Capitol
Records. Congratulations. Speaking
of recording. Faith No More will
begin work on an album with Slash.
as soon as they decide on a pro-
ducer.. Doggy Style has gone
through a couple of personnel
changes, as well as a name change.
New name: Doggy Rock-one sup-
poses that this will lead them in a
more "acceptable direction.
Anyway, they're back in action.
Lorenzo Buhne (of Dickies and
Fear) has merged with former Surf
Punk Drew Steele to form a new
band called I Hasi...The Red
Devils (alas, still without Johnny
Ray) are back in action. SF's
Wolfgang's was the place to be this
Halloween. The reason: Iggy Pop.
The proto-punk hisself is back with
a new album and a dynamite live
show. Ig took to the stage looking
healthy and wild and burst out with
"I Got a Right." that ancient Stooges
composition, then barrel-rolled
through a vibrant, well-balanced
evening of new and old material, in-
cluding "Some Weird Sin," "Lust for
Life" Five-Foot-One" and "BLAH-
BLAH-BLAH" All was delivered in
the "snaking Iggy" tradition. No
longer does he appear ready to self-
destruct at any moment. Instead,
with his Cheshire cat smile, he looks
like someone who couldn't be hap
The evening of Nov. 1 peeled open to reveal yet another skate rock
extravaganza. Here we have Skate Master Tate joining Pleasant of the
Screamin' Sirens for a wild rendition of the Skate Rock Rap
pier. Out in the crowd, soaking it all
up, was the THRASHER heirarchy
along with James Muir, Mr. Potato.
B. Ware and Kirk Hammet of
Metallica, who was dressed up to
look like Glen Danzig, complete with
devil-lock and all the trapp-
ings... And if you weren't one of the
lucky few to get Iggy tickets before
they sold out (on the first day of
sales), then you went to the other
place to be in S.F. on Halloween: the
Butthole Surfers show at The Farm.
This was one wild affair, complete
with men dressed as ladies and
ladies not dressed at all. The U-Men
and Tragic Mulatto put the crowd in
a suitably crazed state before the
B.S. hit the fans. Amid the mood-
setting mist of dry ice, the mind-
bending imagery of a slide and film
montage (which included footage
from the 1960's skate classic Skater
Dancer) and the stimulating gyra-
lions of the three go-go dancers,
them good ol' Texas boys played their
hearts out in their usual megaphone-
assisted, psycho-drawl style. Fave
song of the evening: "The Shah
Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave". On
the very next night, the place to be
was again The Farm for THRASHER'S
latest Skate Rock extravaganza. It
was quite the tough evening, begin-
ning with Van Hated, a hard-rockin'
three-piece band with a monster
sound, then the Screamin' Sirens,
providing some female-styled stomp-
in Master of ceremonies, Skate
Master Tate came onstage at the end
of the set to join the Sirens for a rous-
ing version of "Skate Rock Rap (Mr.
Potato Head, fo yo info, was under
surveillance by People Magazine
over the weekend for a possible.
feature.) Tupelo Chain Sex played
next, and if you haven't had a chance
to see this band in action, you've
missed out big time These guys
blow most live acts away with
their ska-jazz-rock shenanigans.
McShred, featuring Chuck Treece
on guitar, came all the way from Philly
to do some jammin'. The band
displayed a blend of speed rock and
Rastafarian type noise. Capping off
an eventful eve was J.F.A.. possibly
the first group to mesh skatin' and
rockin' into a band. These guys have
come a long way: from the garage
sound of the early days to the polish-
ed musicianship of today. They have
grown up. The whole event was
videotaped by Unreel Productions, so
keep your feelers out for another
Skate Rock video. Metallica
showed up for a surprise perfor-
mance at the Los Angeles Metal
Church gig in November. This was
Metallica's first appearance since
the tragic loss of their bass player,
Cliff Burton. The band introduced
their new bassist Jason (aka Micheal
Myers), ex-member of the Phoenix
metal ensemble Flotsam & Jetsam
before heading off for five dates in
Japan. Their tour will continue with
gigs on the east coast, across
Canada, and down along the west
coast of the US, after which they will
begin work on their 4th Lp.
bad bains
bad being
against i
A
SST 065 BAD BRAINS: Against (LP
CASS $6.50) An unstoppable beat
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grandeur on this, the Bad Brains first
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These world spint rockers zero in for
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House of Suffering and Return to
LAWNDALE
SST 087 LAWNDALE: Beyond Bar
beque (LP/CASS $7.50] From Lawn-
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tham. Lawndale will take you beyond
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mering majesty Features Shogun
Shuffle, Interstellar Caravan and The
Story of Vanna White.
THE
LEAVING TRAINS
THE
LEAVING TRAINS
KILL TUNES
SST 07 LEAVING TRAINS: Kill Tunes
(LP/CASS $6.50) The Leaving Trains
ride the rails of American rock with this
awesome collection of "Ki Tunes
Guitar, voice, bess, and drums. Real
men need no more than that to create
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87