San Diego Music Encyclopedia & Database Online Now

 RIP SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON FOUNDER SHEL DORF

The original San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Minicon was held on March 21, 1970 at the U.S. Grant Hotel in downtown San Diego. News of Shel's passing leaves me very sad - he knew Revolutionary Comics founder Todd Loren back when Todd was first doing comic conventions in around Detroit, and I've known Shel since his early '80s days at the San Diego Comic-Con and working with us at Blackthorne Publishing on the Dick Tracy comic strip reprints in the late '80s.

I didn't begin attending lthe local Comic-Con until 1983, when they were at the Community Concourse Civiv Theater and Golden Hall, but from then I went every year, up until I retired from comic book publishing in 2000. Shel withdrew from running the Con in the mid-'80s, and my first-ever professional "comic-creator" Con pass came courtesy of friends of Shel, who let me attend his farewell party where I met dozens of comic creators and publishers who'd later be instrumental in my own career.

One of my biggest professional or personal thrills to date was drawing a little piece of skullface barbarian artwork on a gigantic wall-size paper card that everyone at Shel's party was drawing on that night, along with personal messages of cheer and well wishes - I sheepishly scribbled my art between drawings by the likes of Berni Wrightson, Frank Brunner, and John Pound, feeling for all the world like an interloper and imposter, brazenly defacing Shel's giant greeting card with my own inadequate scrawl.

But then Shel walked over, shook my hand, and thanked me ---- I cite that as the very moment I became a professional comic book creator ---

Many years later, around 1992, I went to lunch with Shel and Revolutionary Comics publisher Herb Shapiro. I was surprised to find that Shel actually remembered me from as far back at that '80s Comic-Con party, tho I imagine he only remembered because I was the one guy he'd never met before but who defaced his giant greeting card anyway.

During lunch, Shel looked at me and said "I had a feeling right from the start that you were one of the good guys in comics."

I've strived ever since to live up to that pronouncement ---- 

Shel Dorf was a rare true-life hero -- he'll be sorely missed ---

Jack Kirby and Shel Dorf — November 9, 1969 - courtesy http://www.sheldorftribute.com/

NEW COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL MUSIC DATABASE IS LAUNCHED

IT'S DONE!!!! And growing every hour....

If you wanna see a list of over 1,800 San Diego bands, with links to full profiles, photos, discographies, articles, MP3s, etc, checkout http://www.sandiegoreader.com/bands/search/

Believe it or not, you can click on ANY LOCAL MUSICIAN'S NAME (around 4,800 musicos listed!) and bring up bios of every notable band they've ever been in! Try it here with Rob Crow ---

AND, if that wasn't cool 'nuff, click on an instrument, say like this here link to "Drums" - BAM, a list of EVERY DRUMMER IN SAN DIEGO!!!

We've been working on this massively cross-linked Local Music Database for over two years now, covering a century of San Diego history --- if you're a local performer who wants to add or edit a page, go to http://www.sandiegoreader.com/band/edit/

More soon!!!! JAS

HERE'S THE NEW Overheard in San Diego

ARCHIVE OF Famous Former Neighbors

LOCALS IN THE NEWS

Antimusic.com reports: Blink-182's Travis Barker appears alongside Taylor Swift and Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz,  and Weezer's Rivers Cuomo in Brett Ratner-directed commercial ad for Activision video game Band Hero where they recreate a scene from "Risky Business". "The premise is that we're sliding out into a living room and it's me and three other players. The three other players are some of my musical heroes," Taylor commented more

The Black Heart Procession are interviewed in the new Filter Magazine - Q: The first show of the tour will be at The Casbah in your hometown of San Diego. Is it symbolic that you start where the band began 12 years ago? (more Q&A: The Black Heart Procession)

Pinback are featured in a new article in the Washington Examiner - Pinback plays on: California band brings show to dc's Black Cat

Runhoney drummer Emily O'Bannon will appear in the November 11 episode of the new TV show Glee, which has proven to be a huge hit, having sold over two million songs online. O'Bannon plays the drummer for a rival band competing with the Glee crew, the Jane Adams School For Delinquent Girls Band. O'Bannon also works at the newly opened Gossip Grill, which is operated by Chris Shaw, formerly of the Flame.

AntiMusic reports: A lil Judas Priest Christmas cheer for Halloween? The new single "Christmas for Everyone" from Halford III Winter Songs is available as a FREE download from HalfordMusic.com . Four more new singles from "Halford III Winter Songs" are available for purchase from HalfordMusic.com as well:Get Into The Spirit, We Three Kings, Oh Come O Come Emanuel, Winter Song. more

Check out Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready performing "Ball & Chain" with Social D here Also be on the look out for video of Mike Ness and Jonny "2Bags" Wickersham joining Pearl Jam on-stage performing "Down."

For the next 12 days, Switchfoot will be previewing audio clips from thier upcoming album Hello Hurricane. You can only find these snipets @ www.switchfoot.com, so please make sure to check back each day for the next 12 days. more

Switchfoot appears on the Jimmy Kimel show on Thursday, November 12. In addition, the band has released a video for their rockin' new single "Mess Of Me". You can check it out here

We Are The Fallen, the new band featuring original Evanescence members Ben Moody (guitar) and John LeCompt (guitar) and Rocky Gray (drums) along with American Idol vocalist Carly Smithson is currently recording its debut album for Universal Republic in Los Angeles and expect to release it in early 2010. more

Stone Temple Pilots are just about to hit Canada with a couple of random dates set after that. Sounds like a perfect time to get to work on an album, and that's the plan according to frontman Scott Weiland: "When we get back[from touring], we're going to finish the album. And then when we finish the album, there will be a big tour around its release and that will probably be a long tour." more

Adam Lambert had this update for fans on his Twitter account: "Well here's some more album info for you guys! The upcoming single was produced by Dr Luke!!" he twits. "Debut single is called 'For Your Entertainment' get ready to shake yo asses to this song. It'll make ya dance for sure." more

Less than three weeks from its release day, Lambert's major-label debut album For Your Entertainment has been previewed. All of the fourteen songs on the album can be streamed for 30 seconds on Amazon U.K. more

(Lambert's Nagel-inspired cover art looks a lot like Rihanna's new album!)

MORE NEW MUSIC STORIES

	Heart-Shaped Pie Pan by Jay Allen Sanford Known to many as Mojo Nixon's musical sideman from the '80s, Skid Roper -- at 55 -- is hoping for his own turn in the spotlight. "I don't like to think that my time has completely passed. I spent a lot of years playing ...
	The Big Empty by Ken Leighton Beck, the Strokes, and the Pixies have all played UCSD's 4700-capacity multipurpose RIMAC arena. The school is looking for a concert promoter to take over RIMAC and run it the way Live Nation handles SDSU's ...
	Shonen Knife by William Crain I saw Shonen Knife sometime around '94, and I remember this odd feeling that I was playing out a role that had been written for me by hipsters who didn't really know what they were doing. Shonen Knife's ...
	Episode I: The Combs Wars by Jay Allen Sanford "Somebody suggested that the song might not be such a good idea because I might burn a bridge," says comedic rapper Rob Deez of his track "Seth Combs," concerning a CityBeat contributing editor ...
	The Bob Vila of Boxes by Dave Good Local musician and media-relations manager David Moye calls himself an "insensitive singer-songwriter." Moye, 44, has worked as a reporter and an editor at the WirelessFlash, a San Diego news agency. Moye says ...
	Heavy Vampire Sounds by Barnaby Monk Chi-town sludge-rock quartet Pelican alights at Casbah tonight. The instrumental act aims for your eardrums on their fourth for Southern Lord Records, What We All Come to Need. Bay Area band Black Cobra and ...
	Record Release Roundup by Jay Allen Sanford Family Wagon have a new EP they'll be playing and selling October 31 at Side Bar's Acoustic Halloween show, while the Robin Henkel Band is bringing in a horn section for the release of Steel Guitar Lounge at ...

 TODAY'S "WHAT THE F-CK" ALBUM COVER

If "Do the Arousal" was an actual dance ala "Do the Twist," well, let's thank gawd it didn't catch on.

Semi-soft squirting thing in Tijuana. Riiiiight -----

Uhhhhhh...words fail me. Make up your own punchline for this one...

An album full of xylophone music - particularly one by Mr-Rogers-On-Crack here - gives me nothing but BAD vibes! Checkout the two guys in the back buckling down to do all the work, while Dexter Dickweed dorks out in the spotlight ---- 

I do NOT wanna know why that guy in the middle is so effin happy ---

Oh yeah, Bud in a glass - now THAT'S how to seduce a REAL lady! In a trailer park, anyway -------

Mae West, "way out" rock and roller - as far as musical Bad Ideas go, this ranks right up there with Pat Boone's heavy metal album, the New Monkees, and Fleetwood Mac's Rumors followup Tusk (okay, maybe it's not THAT bad) ---

Ah, Bollywood musicals - bugfuggen WTF! Howcum Superman only has one leg??

With a cover THIS WTF, can you imagine how effed up below album itself is? Even if you LIKED ventriloquists, it's an ALBUM, you can't see if his lips move....making this little more than a twisted puppet show (albeit one I'd drive to Alaska to checkout!)

 Believe me, you DON'T want to see a larger scan of this grape-sucking hookah hooker that somebody spilled rust-colored paint all over --

"I've got confidence" - well, obviously, or you wouldn't let someone snap that photo, in those dresses, let alone paste it on your album cover. Note the album title in quote marks, as tho nobody else behind-the-scenes shared their confidence ----

An album cover only Robert Crumb (or John Waters) could love...

PREVIOUS WTFs - http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/jul/24/wtf-album-covers---strange-bizarre-and-butt-clench/

 CATHRYN BEEKS’ WEEKLY LISTEN LOCAL HOTSHEET  

 Thursday 11/5 - Happy Hour Acoustic Fun at Winston's in <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 />Ocean Beach.  Join Kate and I for drink specials and excellent acoustic music.  Email me to reserve a spot to play!  This week: 5:00 open, 5:30 open, 6:00 David Hermsen, 6:30 Heather Green, 7:15 Big Winner - NO COVER!

 Sunday 11/8 - The party to celebrate the release of Mood Swing.  Swedenborg Hall from 4pm to 7pm.  NO COVER, all ages, refreshments and potluck snacks (feel free to contribute).  Music from Folding Mr. Lincoln, Rob Deez, Lindsay White, Rachel Belinski, Mountain Ghost, Podunk Nowhere, Tori Roze, Astra Kelly, Christopher Dale, Josh Damigo, Steph Johnson and The Flowerthief, The Ordeal plays at 5pm.  Private pre-party for our sponsors and VIPS from 2pm to 4pm featuring music from Schmooze, Chris Clarke, Paul Cannon, Pete Thurston and Lisa Sanders.  Have questions?

November 9th there is a benefit dinner/concert for the California Music Project in San Diego, a non-profit that Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and other musicians helped get off the ground, but which needs new impetus.  Held at the The Catamaran Hotel, the event will feature honored musicians Jerry Raney, Jack Butler, Jack Pinney, Skid Roper, Andy Vereen and more.  Donate $75 per seat directly to the California Music Project on their website using PayPal.  The California Music Project helps keep music in public school classrooms through its Music Teacher Training Initiative and its Be Sharp mini-grants... go here for more info.

  

Save the date!  I love all music but there is some that I'm absolutely CRAZY for and Vulgarrity is one of those bands that I want to scream about from the rooftops.  They're sister/brother rockers from Boston and they're stoping in San Diego FOR ONE SHOW ONLY on their Magic Numbers Tour.  I'm telling you now DON'T MISS THIS SHOW.  It's a Tuesday night, November 10th at Brick by Brick and the cover is only $5 -- plus SweetTooth and Astra Kelly will also perform. 

 

 There's a party for Jimmy Duke on November 19th.  Milano Coffee's Folkey Monkey presents a birthday concert (including a catered dinner) for Dark Thirty Production's Jimmy Duke.  Reservations required, music from James Lee Stanley, Joel Rafael, Peggy Watson, David Beldock, Cici Porter, Joe Rathburn, Mark Jackson and Jinnah Willimas.  Tickets are $15 in advance, day of show they will be $20 and won't include dinner.

 Link of the Week:  Sustainable Waves was behind the ListenLocalsd.com stage at the KickGasFestival, and not only did it rock, it was solor powered.  Check out the good work they're doing.

 Thanks to Dave Gilbert our new Happy Hour gig at Winstons got a little mention in the OB Rag last week.  Check it out, thanks Dave!

 

Ruby G is in the Baby Gap Casting Call, go vote, baby!

 

 Track Star Studio is sponsoring a new Open Mic at Gio in La Mesa every Tuesday until Xmas.  Sign up is at 5:45, show starts at 6pm and it goes until 9:30.  There is a songwriting contest to win studio time at Track Star.  For more information contact 619-462-9100

 Jose Juan Maldonado wants you to know about a few of his sites:  obcooperativerecords.com is a music website where locals can register for free and upload their music, videos, upcoming shows, forum, etc.  Add yourself and if inspired, ask your friends to do so, too!  sandiegocommunitypages.com is a place for San Diegans to write about the neighborhood meet others, etc.  Check it out

 Playlists are posted here, join The Homegrown Hour Mailing List!

 Monica Leon (a.k.a. Danger from For the Love of Ray J) makes her local debut as an artist November 28th

 MORE STRANGE STAGE MOMENTS - courtesy of Bart Mendoza

Zank Bennett: “At a gig, I was standing just behind our main speaker at the Tiki in PB, leaning against the map that is on the wall there. A little later I was playing a big solo in a song called “Saturday Night” and I went to lean back on the map/wall. It wasn't there. Unfortunately, I had spun another 45 degrees during my solo and hadn’t realized it. I was directly behind our front-of-the-house speaker; the one that sat atop an empty keg of beer. Still with my eyes closed, I leaned back and the three of us, the keg, the speaker on top and I, went tumbling the foot-and-a-half drop to the floor below.  We were about three beats from the end of the song. The band never lost a beat and we finished the syncopated last few bars perfectly, more or less. And without a scratch.

Karin Carson: “One time I was playing shaker on a gig and getting really into the tune. So into it, that I lost the grip on my shaker, which went flying towards the guitar player, who, mid-riff, dodged the flying shaker in a matrix like move, sideways. The audience never caught on, but we still laugh about it.”

Carolyn Kallis / Coco and Lafe: “We were busking on the street in Boston and this very large man came down and sat down in front of us, almost right on the microphone, sort of assumed the yogi position and pulled out a can of colt 45. He started to mumble along to our songs, but then he lay down and fell asleep. Every once in awhile he’d wake up, mumble something and then go back to sleep. Homeless people really gravitated to us in Boston.”

Danny Cress / The Coyote Problem: “I was in a surf trio a few years ago. We were in a club playing a version of the old standard “Caravan,” when all of a sudden - and in unison, the guitarist and bass player just put down their instruments and walked off. They headed towards the bar, looking at me just long enough to say “drum solo.” It was probably only about five minutes before they came back, but it seemed much longer.”

Mary Dolan: “I was booked for a performance at an AA convention in Las Vegas. I got there with about 1/2 hour to spare. I had a raging headache from the desert drive, the air conditioning and the tension of bad traffic, so I asked a friend for some aspirin. She didn't have any, but she asked her sister and SHE had a bottle of Advil in her purse.  So I took two. I'm on stage and I'm starting to feel weird, like maybe I had more than just a headache.  I was having a hard time feeling my fingers on the fretboard and the audience was getting blurry.  No one was saying anything. Maybe it sounded okay and looked okay, even though I felt a kind of lousy I've NEVER experienced before. For my last tune, I gave "Piece of my Heart" whatever I had left. I cut it short and then I started to dry heave as I was getting off stage. My friend and her sister came running up to me as I was telling them that I was really very sick.  My friend's sister had tears streaming down her face and she was saying," I'm sorry, I'm sorry."  What, huh, I thought?  Then my friend told me that her sister had accidently given me her disguised muscle relaxants. I was loaded at the AA convention.”

Calen Lucas / Family Wagon:  “We played a concert on Halloween and there was a giant pumpkin on the stage right in the center, where the monitors should be. As we were playing I decided to put one foot up on the pumpkin for dramatic effect. Except that my foot sunk right into the center of the pumpkin, which was hot orange goo under the stagelights.”

Abraham Nunez / Team Abraham: “At our Record Release Party (@ the Casbah) in March, we were mid-set when I suddenly see two bras hanging from the mic stand. One was very sexy the other was fairly large and sturdy. This was fine and I kept playing and all, but mid the next song, I see some boxers being passed down toward the stage... they we're flannel and I could smell them as they were being placed, by a fan, onto the mic stand. I wasn't sure how to respond...”

Eric Schauer: “Strangest thing?  A gig at a dirty dive called "The Double Down" in Las Vegas with my surf band on 6/6/06. We were playing surf instrumental versions of Black Sabbath tunes.  Before we played, there was a side-show troupe. Their act included a young lady bending over and shooting darts from her ----- and popping balloons that were taped to a man's chest about 20ft away. That's not too disgusting, right?  There were fire-breathers and our hula-hoopist was topless and donned in red paint and devil horns. We were set up on the floor and some girl in the audience kept taunting her and knocking her hoop down as we played.  Finally, the hula-hoopist snapped, lept out of the hoop in mid-hula onto this girl and proceeded to beat her down.  The band played on as the bouncers broke it up. I’ve seen a few girl-fights with this band at this bar. This one definitely sticks out.”      

Anna Troy: “On stage at Lestats, I was singing a song with a friends band when a piece of hair went into my mouth. It was uncomfortable, but I waited until between songs to pull it out, complete with spit. Not very graceful, but it had to be done. For some reason the guys in the band loved it. The bassist said it was the highlight of the night.”

Jaime Valle: “Years ago, I was playing an underground Tijuana night club, it was a hot summer night, the band was jamming, the joint was jumping, suddenly, someone shoots the bass player. The bullet was aimed at the singer, missed and hit the poor bassist. All the cats in TJ know who I'm talking about.”

UPSTAGING APPLE'S iTUNES: Electrical engineers go head to head with Genius on music playlists

UC San Diego engineers use their song-annotating algorithms to study playlists

		VIDEO: Electrical engineers at UC San Diego have created a new kind of music search engine that actually listens to music. This approach could help bands like Juna and S03 (both... Click here for more information.

Electrical engineers recently pitted Genius – the music recommendation system in Apple's iTunes – against two experimental music recommender systems. Genius appears to capture acoustic similarities among songs within the same playlist, the researchers found. The University of California, San Diego electrical engineers also discovered that the music recommender they built from scratch can generate song playlists that human subjects thought were as good as those that Genius generates. The UC San Diego system works for songs that Genius knows nothing about.

UC San Diego electrical engineering Ph.D. student Luke Barrington presented these findings on October 28 at the 2009 International Society for Music Information Retrieval Conference (ISMIR 2009) in Kobe, Japan. (Read the paper at: http://cosmal.ucsd.edu/cal/pubs/Barrington-Genius-ISMIR09.pdf

"Our goal is to make a music recommendation tool that is as good as or better than Genius, but that does not require massive amounts of user data. The system we are developing can analyze and recommend completely unknown songs by new bands as accurately as it analyzes the most popular hits," said Barrington, who used the same underlying technology to create a series of music discovery games for Facebook (http://herdit.org) and a new kind of music search engine that will be available for beta testing next week (http://herdit.org/music/index.html). Watch a three minute video about the new music search engine at: http://cse-ece-ucsd.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-music-search-engine-on-way.html

Tools for creating automated music playlists are increasingly useful now that huge numbers of songs are available for download and streaming to anyone with an Internet connection. iTunes – the most popular music retailer on the planet – has sold more than 6 billion tracks. Genius uses "collaborative filtering" on these purchase statistics to help people organize their music and discover new songs they might like based on similarity to a "seed" song that they do like.

By averaging statistics about how millions of listeners purchase and play music, Genius appears to actually capture acoustic similarities between songs, according to the new research, which involved human evaluation of music recommendation systems and was led by researchers at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. Because Genius is a proprietary system whose secrets are not available to the public, the researchers studied it by testing its song recommendations against comparable song suggestions from experimental music recommender systems that they fully understood.

		IMAGE: Electrical engineers recently pitted Genius -- the music recommendation system in Apple's iTunes -- against two experimental music recommender systems. Genius appears to capture acoustic similarities among songs within the... Click here for more information.

"At first we thought that collaborative filtering would just spot similar artists: if you like Daft Punk, it might recommend any song by Justice. However, we found that acoustic similarities come through in Genius playlists. Genius seems to find correspondences between songs that go beyond what you get by just matching artists. We don't think Genius actually knows anything about the acoustics of songs, but it still produces great recommendations since the data it is using is built upon acoustic analyses of the music done by millions humans," said Luke Barrington, an electrical engineering Ph.D. candidate at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, and the first author of the new study. Gert Lanckriet, an electrical and computer engineering professor from UC San Diego and Reid Oda, an undergraduate in cognitive sciences at UC San Diego are co-authors on this paper, available at: http://cosmal.ucsd.edu/cal/pubs/Barrington-Genius-ISMIR09.pdf

Smarter than Genius?

The UC San Diego researchers found that the playlist generator they built using their own algorithms performed as well as Genius under certain conditions. In contrast to Genius, which uses information about the songs people buy and listen to in iTunes in order to learn which songs in any iTunes library are related, the UCSD music recommender relies on auto-tagging algorithms that use machine learning to label songs with descriptive words based only on the acoustic content of the songs.

"Our computer system works by listening to the music – it doesn't know anything about artists or albums or charts. In some trials of our survey, we tried to remove these biases from the human listeners by hiding the names of the songs and artists and making sure that subjects liked the seed songs but had not heard them before," said Barrington. In these cases, the researchers found that people liked playlists generated by the UCSD auto-tagging algorithms as often as they liked Genius playlists.

This partial parity with Genius underscores how the UCSD auto-tagging algorithms can be used to generate high quality music playlists that incorporate lesser-known and unknown songs. Genius currently ignores relatively unknown songs because it lacks adequate wisdom from iTunes customers about how these songs connect to other songs. Systems like the auto-tagging music algorithms developed at UC San Diego could be useful in filling in the "blind spots" in Genius and other collaborative filtering systems that rely on the wisdom of the masses to generate playlists.

"We weren't expecting our system to beat Genius at making playlists based on the most popular songs – our system doesn't know about artists, popularity, release dates, albums or anything else that the average music fan is aware of. Once we add that information in, we think we can build something that is really smarter than Genius," said Barrington.

The UCSD electrical engineers are always improving their auto-tagging algorithms thanks to a series of music discovery games they created for Facebook called Herd It (http://www.herdit.org/). Players listen to songs and compete with other online players to most accurately describe the songs they are listening to. The electrical engineers use the song-word combinations these games generate to improve the accuracy and breadth of their auto-tagging algorithms.

As with the Herd It games, the surveys the engineers created to study playlists also began with humans listening to a song clip. Next, the survey system produced two competing five-song playlists for the same seed song. Playlists were generated by one of the four possible recommender systems the researchers were studying: Genius; Artist Similarity – a music recommender that selected songs based only on similar artists; Similar Tags – a music recommender that selected songs based only on the audio content of the songs (this system was built upon the UCSD auto-tagging algorithms); or random playlist.

For each pair of playlists, subjects identified the list they thought was better. Playlists were built from the authors' personal music library of over 12,000 relatively popular songs that span the most common genres of Western popular music. The list of songs used to seed playlists is available at: http://cosmal.ucsd.edu/cal/projects/playlist/

People are moving more and more to streaming music, where listeners don't have the actual file. With access to every song on You Tube, deciding which of the 10 million songs you want to listen to next can be daunting.

"Playlists are an increasingly important tool for overcoming what otherwise might be an overwhelming amount of streaming music," said Barrington.

The algorithms that automatically tag songs with descriptive words that are at the foundation of the UC San Diego playlist generator are also powering a new breed of search engine for music as well as Facebook games that provide researchers with the information needed to improve the new search engine. To watch a video highlighting the capabilities of the new music search engine, go to: http://cse-ece-ucsd.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-music-search-engine-on-way.html

This search engine will be available for beta testing next week. Register for the music search engine beta test at: http://herdit.org/music/

SWITCHFOOT PERFORMING ENTIRE NEW ALBUM - plus TRANSFER FUTURE SELVES

AntiMusic.com reports: Switchfoot will kick off its fall headlining tour in San Diego on November 8 for 94.9's Anniversary Bash. The band will then appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live, performing on the outside stage on November 12th.

The tour will feature Switchfoot playing Hello Hurricane in its entirety, followed by fan favorites from its previous records. The band will be collecting donations for local food banks along the tour route, so fans are encouraged to bring non-perishable items to the shows. (See below for tour itinerary and a list of food banks that will receive donations.)

Switchfoot is also launching a new website, http://www.theworldyouwant.com, which will spotlight goodness, beauty, and truth in everyday life. Fans are invited to contribute stories about people they know who are making this world a better place and the band will read some of these contributions from stage during the tour. - more including dates

Upcoming Switchfoot Shows

• 94.9 Anniversary Bash, November 8

IN OTHER NEW LOCAL ALBUM NEWS: Transfer is poised to release their second full-length album Future Selves (DIGITAL-ONLY) on November 3rd. Earlier this year, the band secluded themselves in their studio for a month to write the record.

Tucked away in the canyons in North San Diego among the influence of coyote howls and cricket bows, they created a collection of songs with poignant and chilling lyrics and sounds broad enough in range to deem undeniable.

While exhibiting all the grandeur of British rock, yet rooted in the gritty allure of the American west, Transfer beseeches personal discovery. You can either experience Transfer by being fully immersed within a good pair of headphones, or, preferably, get caught up in the intensity of their unusually captivating and dynamic live performance. With the impending release of their digital-only second full-length release, Future Selves ... - more on this story

Upcoming Transfer Shows

• Beauty Bar, Saturday, November 7

 MEGADETH RADIO NOW BROADCASTING

Megadeth are set to be the latest act to go A.P.E. on the virtual airwaves. Listeners everywhere should prepare for the debut of the band's "predictably unpredictable" Artist Personal Experience radio station, Megadeth Radio.

Band founder and frontman Dave Mustaine has complete creative control in the programming of his 24-hour channel, which features interviews, news, personal commentary, and playlists of his favorite music. The multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated rockers follow hot on the heels of A.P.E. stations: Radio Weezer, Christina Aguilera Radio and Eagles Radio Hosted by Joe Walsh as Megadeth Radio, debuted on October 22 at 11:00 am EST.

Megadeth Radio is set to become the destination of choice for both the band's fans as well as anyone who appreciates hard-rocking radio, and will be distributed across Clear Channel Radio's iheartradio network, which includes hundreds of local radio websites; the popular iheartradio mobile app, which has been downloaded by 3.5 million people; widgets; and megadeth.com. Just like the other A.P.E. stations, fans can participate in Megadeth Radio by emailing their comments to [email protected] or calling 1-866-686-1010. - more on this story

Megadeth founder Dave Mustaine was born September 13, 1961, at Grossmont Hospital in San Diego. His parents split when he was young and his mom raised him as a Jehova's Witness. He left her La Mesa home as a teen.

In 1981, he quit his first band Panic to become Metallica’s original lead guitarist, before getting replaced by Kirk Hammett in 1983. Mustaine moved to Rolling HillsEstates in Fallbrook in late 2004, along with his wife Pamela, their kids, and their horses.

Mustaine filed a petition for divorce in San Diego Superior Court in 2006, seeking dissolution of his marriage to Pamela Anne Casselberry, whom he wed in April 1991 before the couple movied into their $1.2 million house in Fallbrook's Rolling Hills Estates.

The couple had a son in 1992 (Justis David), a daughter in 1998 (Electra Nicole), and another son in 2002 (Victor Gar). Victor Gar was named after Megadeth mascot Vic Rattlehead and former band drummer Gar Samuelsson, who died in 1998. Justis plays guitar and has appeared in several local theatrical productions, including one in which he played Elvis Presley.

Megadeth's DVD Blood in the Water: Live in San Diego, filmed in May 2008 at Cox Arena, premiered on HDNet television in early November '08.

The recording process for Megadeth's twelfth studio album began on January 7, 2009, at the band's own Vic's Garage studio in San Marcos. Released by Roadrunner Records and produced by Andy Sneap (Sabbat), it's the group's first with album guitarist Chris Broderick, who replaced Glen Drover at the end of 2007.

Related links

• Blurt "Heavy Metal Taxi"
• "Mad at Dave Mustaine"
• Blurt "Dave Supports Sports"
• Blurt "Birth of Gigantour"
• Blurt "Metal in the Grooves"
• Blurt "Megaproblems"
• Blurt "Dave Hearts Christ"
• Blurt "Megadivorce"
• Blurt "More Gigantour Problems"
• Blurt "Heavy Metal Taxi"

LOCAL TAYLOR GUITARS TEAMS UP WITH TAYLOR SWIFT FOR SIGNATURE MODEL AXE

Taylor Guitars and Taylor Swift announce the arrival of the Taylor Swift Baby Taylor guitar (TSBT), a model that is sure to inspire players of all skill levels with its compact size, full-voiced tone and a top that features Swift's design touches.

 Based on the best-selling Baby Taylor guitar, the TSBT is ideal for both promising players and accomplished pickers. At three-quarters the size of a standard dreadnought, with a slim 1 11/16-inch neck and a comfortably compact shape, the guitar is just right for both the littlest player's hands and anyone who likes to pick up and play on the go. With the new model, Swift hopes to inspire others to express themselves through music. "I wanted to share my passion for playing guitar with my fans," she says. "For a beginner, finding the right guitar can be intimidating, but this guitar, it's the perfect size. Even if you've been playing for years, it's a great size to travel with."

The TSBT is crafted from a resilient sapele laminate body with a solid Sitka spruce top. Swift's design, which encircles the guitar's soundhole, features her well-known expression "Love, Love, Love" among delicate vines. The design also commemorates the songwriting spirit and success of her latest album, Fearless, whose title is inscribed above the bridge along with her signature.

 Swift, who shares a close relationship with Taylor Guitars and regularly uses a variety of Taylor guitars when both performing and recording, fondly remembers her own Baby Taylor as a go-to guitar during her early days of touring. "I used to sit in the back seat of the rental car while I was on my radio tour at 16, writing songs on my Baby Taylor guitar," she reflects. "I love the sound, and I love those memories."

It's not just Swift who is excited about this guitar. Taylor dealers everywhere are also eagerly anticipating its arrival, like Bryan Rankins from Fazio's Frets and Friends in St. Louis, Missouri. "It's not often that I get excited about another 'signature' guitar, but when I heard about the Taylor Swift Baby Taylor, my reaction was much different," Rankins says. "Here you have an incredibly gifted young woman who is inspiring young people through her words and music. When I first saw a picture of the guitar, I knew right away that it would help spawn a whole new breed of young musicians and give them something positive that will stay with them for the rest of their lives."

 In addition to Taylor's global network of dealers, the Taylor Swift Baby Taylor is available now for pre-orders at Amazon.com. "We're thrilled to work with Taylor Guitars to make the new Taylor Swift Baby Taylor available to our customers," said Noah Herschman, director of Home Electronics and Musical Instruments for Amazon.com. "Taylor Swift is one of the hottest stars in country and pop music, and her collaboration with Taylor Guitars has resulted in a product that we think our customers will love. Now they can pre-order it and ensure they'll get it in time for the holidays."

Introduced in 1996, the Baby Taylor was designed to be the ultimate musical travel companion and set the standard for how good a small guitar could sound. Delivering impressive volume and tone for its compact dimensions, the Baby Taylor quickly became the favorite "road guitar" for many professional musicians, including rock legends Bono (U2) and Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), pop artist Katy Perry, and country music hitmakers Clint Black and Tim McGraw.

The TSBT will be offered at a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $398 and comes ready to rock in a cushioned Taylor Guitars gig bag. The Taylor Swift Baby Taylor guitar is available for purchase at authorized Taylor Guitars dealers, Amazon.com and soon, at TaylorSwift.com.

To view more pictures of the Taylor Swift Baby Taylor, please visit http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/limiteds/signature/TaylorSwift

www.afropunk.com

LOCAL PLAYER RAY SUEN NOT ALLOWED TO INDIE-BLOG WHILE ON TOUR WITH THE KILLERS?????

 Local multi-instrumentalist Ray Suen has spent the better part of two years on the road as a touring member of the Killers, even turning up with them on Saturday Night Live. For awhile, he was contributing blog reports from the road to www.sddialedin.com.

Now, site operator Rosey Bystrak has posted a report indicating the Killers put a stop to Suen's Dialed-In blogs.

"You might recall he was blogging for us for a while until that huge band he's been on tour with told him all his blogs had to go through their fan boards. Bummer because we loved those posts."

 Violinist, violist, keyboardist, guitarist, and harmony singer Suen has also been a member of Louis XIV and The Exfriends with Gregory Page. He's apparently also in the newer Louis spin-off group The Nervous Wreckords. He goes back on the road with the Killers the first week of November.

Rosey also posts a video of Suen performing "Watching the Planets" with the Flaming Lips on the Conan O'Brien show earlier this week (whacking a Bonhamesque gong!) - www.sddialedin.com  

Tonight (Thursday October 15) Suen will play with the Flaming Lips tat a (not-so)Secret MySpace Show in Hollywood --

Related links

• Plugged In
• You're Fired! (thanks for the ratings) - ... Rosey Bystrak, who has written "Locals Only" since September 2007, blogs, "The column had been cut a couple times in the last few weeks ...
• For the Little People - ...Attendee Rosey Bystrak at sddialedin.com posted her theory as to why the Interpol drummer arrived so late. "Apparently back ...
• The Homeless Sexuals - ... Local blogger Rosey Bystrak at www.sddialedin.com says "Anytime the Homeless Sexuals play is pretty nuts, but the first time I saw them at the Zombie Lounge ...
• Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - ... “I don’t really like to call people out,” blogs Rosey Bystrak at sddialedin.com, “but, to the drunk girl who thought she was so cute by getting onstage ...
• Whiny Foal - Rosey Bystrak's blog (sddialedin.com) has fueled the debate over fans shooting concert videos to post online. After a July ...
• The Tiara Chronicles - ... 'I wanted an organized way to document the music I see," says Rosey Bystrak, who chronicles, lists, and discusses all things music and San Diego on her blog ...

FAMOUS FORMER NEIGHBOR FRANK ZAPPA WAS FRIENDS WITH COMIC BOOK KING JACK KIRBY?!

Now there's a headline that catches your eye. Yes it turns out that late Frank Zappa, the restless musical genius who may have been the most committed inconoclast in the history of rock, was a pal to the late Jack Kirby, the cosmic dreamer who is arguably the most essential artist in the history of the American comic book....

(More Jack Kirby and Frank Zappa, a cosmic friendship )

ALSO SEE: Frank Zappa Comics And Stories, Famous Former Neighbors part 1, Neighbors part 2

Pacific Comics: The Inside Story of Jack Kirby's locally-published comic books

LOCALLY-PRODUCED COMIC SHIPPING FEBRUARY 2010

Here's a sneak peek at the cover to the 300 page graphic novel Hard Rock Heroes, shipping in February 2010 from Bluewater Productions, best known for their comic book biographies on the Obamas, Oprah, etc ---

LOCALLY PRODUCED PINK FLOYD GRAPHIC NOVEL

For the first time anywhere, here's a world premier sneak peek at the cover to the 300 page Pink Floyd Experience graphic novel shipping Spring 2010 from Bluewater Productions, best known for their bio comic on the Obamas, Oprah, Michael Jackson, Ted Kennedy, etc. Written by San Diego's own Spike Steffenhagen, bassist for the Black Sabbath tribute band Children of the Grave. www.bluewaterprod.com

AND here's a sneak peek at the upcoming Elvis Presley Experience graphic novel, collecting the Rock 'N' Roll Comics series! An internet exclusive, so far unseen anywhere else ---

 GUNS N' ROSES - A BABY LULLABYE ALBUM?!?!?

www.antimusic.com reports: Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions Of Guns N' Roses – lands in stores November 10th via Baby Rock Records An excerpt from a press release reads: "Is a sweet child o' yours trying your patience at bedtime? Do you have an appetite for noise reduction? Don't you cry tonight. Fire up these gentle renditions of GNR's metal classics to rock your little devil to a peaceful sleep. Welcome to the nursery, baby. It's paradise city." You know you're curious

ALSO SEE: Sex With Axl Rose , Rocket Queen , Rock 'N' Roll Comics: The Inside Story , and Worst Celebrity Interviews

---- And, what the heck, here’s a song spoof from Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics, “Welcome to McDonalds” ---------------

 WEILAND TANGLES WITH YOUR MIND

antiMusic reports: Scott Weiland has released a new video off his latest solo album. The video is for the track "Tangle With Your Mind," where the Stone Temple Pilots frontman turned to film students to craft the video.

Blabbermouth is streaming the video but also has this info: "I had watched this movie called 'The Science of Sleep' about a year ago and I fell in love with the film," Weiland told Spinner.com. "I thought it was such a cool and interesting approach and I wanted to use that in a video sometime."

Weiland also had the idea that he wanted to reach out to film students and see if he could give someone a big break. So when relative newcomer Dennis Roberts came up with a treatment that was surprisingly close to what Weiland had already envisioned, he got the go-ahead. "I was really impressed," Weiland told Spinner.com. "I've worked with huge video directors and [Roberts] and his crew were just as professional as anyone I've ever worked with." - Learn more and check out the video here

 Punknews.org had this news for Blink fans: blink-182's 1999 full-length,  Enema of the State, will be released on vinyl for the first time by independent punk/hardcore label Mightier Than Sword Records.

The album will be the first in a 10 Year Anniversary series by the label, with each release involving a limited pressing of 500 on 180-gram vinyl. They will also feature a gold seal to commemorate the release. In addition to the 500 180-gram copies, Mightier Than Sword will also press 500 each on clear red, clear blue and clear colors.

The release date is December 1, but MTS will begin taking pre-orders on Monday, October 19. photos and more details

 A few comments from www.punknews.org:

onegirlarmy : ...for a small, independent label that's basically a one man operation, this is a HUGE release to obtain the rights to. Congrats to RJ and MTS Records for this!

TheOneTrueBill :  Coming to a store near you for $27 a pop.

KidDangerCat :  I bet Mightier than the Sword sh-t their pants when they got this opportunity. They're going to make so much d-mn money.

Indecay :  Good luck finding 2000 Blink182 fans who know what an LP is.

Related links

• http://www.blink182.com
• blink-182 Blurt collection

BLACK HEART PROCESSION RETURNS WITH NEW ALBUM, VIDEO, AND TOUR!

With the emergence of Mr. Tube & the Flying Objects, the rebirth of Three Mile Pilot, and almost three years of radio silence casting a...pall over Pall Jenkins’s soul-wrecked rock act The Black Heart Procession, hometown fans of the band can’t help but wonder, wherefore art thou saw songs and blinking bauble? Other than a couple of fest sets last year for the international indie hits (Adams Ave. and the Melvins-curated All Tomorrows Parties in Minehead, England), the BHP camp has been pretty quiet since 2006’s rock-steady return The Spell .

Well, The Black Heart Procession are gearing up to hit the road in support of their adventurous and macabre new album, Six, out this week on Temporary Residence Ltd. This is the band’s first world tour in three years. To celebrate the release of their record and imminent tour, The Black Heart Procession proudly unveil the second video from Six. Once again directed and starring the band, "Drugs" is a slow-motion narcotic montage perfectly befitting the laconic piano ballad.

View/embed/share The Black Heart Procession’s “Drugs” here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5rpdnt0v3s

View/embed/share The Black Heart Procession’s “Witching Stone” here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN8_B5SBMiM

You can listen to/download BHP's "Rats" here: http://temporaryresidence.com/descriptions/trr157.php.

The tour starts right here in San Diego - Oct 17 @ Casbah, San Diego, CA w/ The Mumlers.

The Black Heart Procession was launched in 1997 by Pall Jenkins (Ugly Casanova) and Tobias Nathanial, both from Three Mile Pilot. Other frequent members include violinist Matt Resovich (the Album Leaf), James LaValle (the Album Leaf and ex-Tristeza), and others.

Resovich is one of those musicians who keeps busy and often commits to many projects at a time. He’s performed with the Black Heart Procession, the Album Leaf, Mung, and Battling Maxo over the past decade, carving a niche with fans of eclectic and electronic music.

Upcoming Shows

• The Casbah, Saturday, October 17

Related links

• MySpace page
• Blurt: "Surprise, Surprise"
• Musician Interviews Matt Resovich
• Matt Resovich page
• Blurt: "Sad Times"

 

Also see: Black Heart Procession by Dave Good Sit down and pour yourself a big cup of melancholy, and while you're at it, set some extra places at the table tonight for panic, desolation, and a dark and hellish nightmare or two. That noise coming from the basement? ...

 NAM CHI VU GOES BEATLE (AND SO DO THE ALPHABEATLES...)

“Imagine the Spice Girls singing Beatles songs,” says bass phenom Nam Chi Vu of The Penny Lanes, an all-female Fab Four tribute that also includes singer/guitarist Vanja James. “I based the name after the Beatles song, of course, but also after Kate Hudson’s character in Almost Famous. I have replicas of the Sergeant Pepper uniforms in short dress form, which the ladies will be wearing with mod go-go boots…We’ll play all the hit Beatles songs, but that includes covers the Beatles did, such as ‘Twist and Shout’ and ‘Please Mr. Postman.’” 

While their look is customized per gender, The Penny Lanes shoot for straight note-for-note renditions. “My goal is to get it as close to the real thing as possible. When doing a tribute, I feel like it’s important, because everyone knows these songs and will know if something is tampered with, or when someone messes up or forgets a lyric.”

If you prefer your Beatles naked, the Alphabeatles still perform for tips at Black’s Beach on the first Saturday of every month. The middle-aged married duo plays acoustic versions of around two dozen Beatles songs, unaccompanied by clothing and always performed in alphabetical order, a discipline they refuse to alter. I once saw a (naked) woman request that they do “Rocky Raccoon.”

“We can’t,” the (naked) husband said, “we’re only on the Gs,” and they launched into “Good Day, Sunshine.”

SPORTS ARENA MVP SPILLS ON 2.5 MIL REDO AND NEW ARENA NIGHTCLUB

“We’re putting two and a half million dollars in the building” says Ernie Hahn, General Manager of the Sports Arena for the past 13 years. “It’s been a year since AEG Live became a majority owner partner and, since there’s no new arena being built for awhile in San Diego, AEG is modernizing the facility with creature comforts like LCD TV screens, flat screens, redoing the entrances and the outer concourse, paint and colors and lighting, and all new lower level seats. The eight rows of riser seats at the Arena that have literally been here since day one are all getting replaced, [with] 2,200 state-of-the-art seats.” 

Construction has also begun on “a special club for our sponsors and club seat holders,” in the old Arena Club space, set to open later this year. Club 3500 (the facility’s address) will be 6,500 square feet, with a 350-person occupancy and accessed via membership only. “When you walk in,” says Hahn, “it’s going to feel like a downtown club, really swank, hip, and sophisticated. It’ll be close to a dedicated seating section at stage right, which will be put aside for our club members.”

Annual membership is $2,450.00, with the option to purchase up to four “dedicated seating” tickets for events you want to opt-in for. Other perks include VIP parking, a VIP entrance, and its own “Exclusive men’s and women’s rest rooms, with sound in them, new paint, mirrors, sinks, and counters, and stalls. The Arena Club in the past always had to utilize the rest rooms that are also available to anybody in [sections] A, B or C on the floor.”

 Hahn is also outfitting Club 3500 with Arena memorabilia. “Few houses have this kind of history,” he says. “A lot of people saw their first concert here. We’ll have over 120 pictures showing the actual [Sports Arena] history, like Pink Floyd in ‘74, or the Stones in ’72. I’ve got a great shot of Elton John, one of Elvis in ‘73 or ‘76, and I think a Led Zeppelin ‘75 shot. We have a great photo of James Brown here in 1967, and one of John Denver in the mid-seventies, which I particularly like.”

The 42 year-old Hahn grew up in locally, with parents who were Mariners season ticket holders in the ‘70s (“Lower level one, two seats on the end, across from the visiting penalty box”). He began at the facility as an event coordinator in June 1991.

AEG runs, operates, or is involved with around a hundred arena facilities worldwide, though Hahn notes “We’re an open building. So, whether it’s Live Nation or AEG or anyone else, all shows are not only welcome but encouraged here.”

As for selling naming rights to the building (after a short-lived stint at the iPayOne Center), Hahn says “Through the global partnerships division of AEG, we’re working with a lot of sponsors, some who just recently stepped up, and we’re in discussions with a couple who will hopefully bid or ultimately come in as a naming rights partner.”  

AEG sold naming rights for Berlin’s 02 Arena last year for $37.5 million.

And now, courtesy of Bart Mendoza, here are 15 video clips set at the Sports Arena, some pro-shot and some fan-made ----

1)      Tribal Seeds @ Reggae Fest 2008

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONzQ-w7zr84

2)      Fleetwood Mac / “Dreams” 05/31/09 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eXXAth0i74

3)      Metallica / “Enter Sandman” 01-13/14-92 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYlPUNEwGRU

4)      Nirvana / “Heart Shaped Box” 12 29 93 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVGpbtv2mgU

5)      U2 / “Beautiful Day” 09 28 05 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HhnRBOMJhY

6)      George Micheal / “Careless Whisper” 06/17/08 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml1Qlpn_LQ8

7)      Led Zeppelin Comes to San Diego on SD News

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APplenzzKk4

8)      Taylor Swift / “Hey Stephan” (really good footage of her interacting with concert crowd at 2:30 – kind of daring actually…

       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI4e8_fn80k

9)      AC/DC / “Back In Black” 2009

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiWX-7khEog

10)  Janet Jackson / ….. (Janet gets overwhelmed by San Diego fan response)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcosWOI-dOs

       11) Pearl Jam / “Jeremy” 1995 – not great pic quality, but really good sound!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCOZoUcPANI

12)  JJ Cale & Eric Clapton / “Cocaine” 03/15/07

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg63-uOgUJ8

13)  P.O.D. / “Boom” (just 8 seconds worth!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXEzvQtnC9w

14)  Ozzy Osbourne / …end of the show (fake gunshots!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUpDN1gOx5s

15)  Slayer / At the Sports Arena 1992 (a brief parking lot clip shot by a fan!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H_9zhpMDHY

Exclusive preview and new interview with one of the creators/performers behind the new internet Trek series - click for more ---http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/oct/04/happy-rons-hormonal-harem---loving-san-diegos-musi/#

READER EXCLUSIVE - For the first time anywhere on the web, here's the promo trailer for Star Trek: The Continuing Mission, episode six: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/audioclips/66/

The Twilight Zone made it's TV debut 50 years ago this week, on 10-2-59 - we asked local musicos to tell us their own favorite Zone episodes --- (more "What's Your Favorite Twilight Zone?" )

TWILIGHT ZONE AND STAR TREK WRITER GEORGE CLAYTON JOHNSON PRESENTS - The inside story of a local horror comic book series featuring Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, plus sci-fi king Larry Niven, Zap Comix co-founder Spain Rodriguez, Matthew Alice artist Rick Geary, Vampire Lestat painter Daerick Gross, yours truly JAS, and many more... (more   Deepest Dimension Terror Anthology: Inside ... )

WHO GETS ALL THAT MONEY FROM THE BEATLES ROCK BAND AND DIGITAL ALBUM SALES????

$$$$: So Michael Jackson once bought most of the Beatles song publishing - does that mean his estate is now raking in the bucks from the newest round of Fab Four marketing, including the Rock Band game and digital album releases? (more at http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/oct/15/who-gets-all-the-money-from-beatles-rock-band-digi/ )

Many of the artists from Revolutionary Comics, Rock 'N' Roll Comics, and Carnal Comics have joined forces once again to work on a new & unusual comic and reality based project – The Obama Nation Card Game! 

Obama Nation makes good-natured fun of politics, republicans and democrats, government spending and the US economic meltdown.  It’s a bit like playing Old Maid or Go fish, but half the fun is looking at and reading the hilarious card art – all very tongue in cheek.  Though it’s called Obama Nation, the game makes fun of consumers, banks, environmentalists, the elite, congress in general and both political parties, all in a fairly good natured way.  The goal of the game is to see if you can spend Billions of tax dollars faster than your opponents,

Former Rev Com artist  (and Obama Game art director) Steve Crompton described how it all came together; ”It’s a bit like a cross between wacky packages, Old Maid and some of the stuff Revolutionary Comics might have done if they made card games.  I thought it would be fun to get the old gang together for something like this, and I needed all the help I could get, so I contacted everyone I could find and I’m really happy with the response and great art I got from my Rev Com & Carnal pals.”

A quick look at the 54 card deck shows reveals an impressive list of RevCom & Carnal alums, including Lyndal Ferguson, Scott Jackson, Steve Crompton, Brad Foster, Gus Norman, Randy Vogel and Philo.  There may even be a few others hiding in the set as a complete list of all the RevCom artists is hard to come by. 

The full-color 54 card deck comes in a resealable box for a only $7.99. 
http://shop.twistedrules.com/ 

You can also get it at Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/shops/carnalcomics

http://www.obamanationcardgame.com/  

One Model Nation, the first cinematic, action packed, graphic novel of its kind, was released by Image Comics on October 28, 2009, in book-stores nationwide.

Donovan Leitch, C. Allbritton Taylor of the Dandy Warhols and Street Angel illustrator Jim Rugg piece together the complete story of the political art-noise band One Model Nation, revealing just how they kick started the revolution that revitalized a country, the final dark days of the Baader-Meinhof Gang and the band's mysterious disappearance a few months later.
The story is set in Germany in 1977, when the country is still shattered from the devastation of war and the harsh realities of communism. The country's youth are fighting back against a repressed nation with their only figurehead for this violent, well dressed revolution, a band, later to be forever lost in time, One Model Nation.

With stunning graphics and Scorsese-esque electricity, One Model Nation captures the arts and politics of an era whose influence can not be measured.

"This is a life's work for me," says C. Allbritton Taylor. "From the Munich Olympics to the heyday of raves, hip hop to state-of-the-art handguns, this era has informed modern culture, fashion, politics, technology, you name it. But this dark time has been a relative German secret which only recently has begun to be revealed, mostly due to the birth of the internet. On a personal level I needed to see this time and place fleshed out into people and events that make sense yet maintain heroic proportions. Donovan spent years researching the multitude of bizarre and overwhelming events in which these people lived their lives and made their noble, everyman decisions. This story needed to be told."

"I have always been fascinated by post-war Germany, the counter-culture revolutionaries and their violent upheaval against the rise of capitalism in a Communist country. The fact that One Model Nation, four musicians who helped to create electronica, was unwittingly pulled into the battle being waged between these two forces makes their story all the more compelling. This is the equivalent to a Syd Barrett German epic," says Donovan Leitch.

Robert is no stranger to comics. He studied cartooning under Walter Simonson (The Mighty Thor) at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where he attended on scholarship and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Best known for being the primary songwriter behind Life of Agony's critically acclaimed River Runs Red concept album, Robert is also an accomplished artist. His illustrations and designs have appeared on merchandise, ad campaigns and websites for multi-platinum rock acts such as 3 Doors Down, Puddle of Mudd and Shinedown.

In Wire Hangers, which will debut with a 32-page, ad-free first issue, a series of abductions are plaguing New York, leaving no one safe. When Anna Davis, a feisty young female reporter, goes undercover to try and snag the big exclusive, she stumbles upon clues that give us a glimpse into what could be the most disturbing government conspiracy of our time. Pill-popping detectives, corrupt secret agents and a mysterious, disfigured homeless man are all inter-connected in this horrific tale of revenge and redemption.

Robert states, "I've wanted to tell this story for as long as I can remember. I came up with the Wire Hangers concept a few years back, when Life of Agony was on the road supporting Ozzy Osbourne It has haunted me ever since! Whenever we were touring or in the recording studio, I would find myself sketching out characters on the back of lyric sheets and leaving myself voicemail messages with scene dialogue. By the time I presented the idea to IDW earlier this year, the story was completely fleshed out. Visually, it's dark and gritty with tons of textures and atmosphere. The artwork really sets a tone for the series and plays an equal part in telling the story.

"I really can't express how excited I am to finally see this idea come to life. I've been a huge comic book fan since I was just a kid and went to art college in the hopes of becoming a penciler one day. During my graduation year, LOA landed the record contract with Roadrunner to record River Runs Red and, once it came out, I found myself touring full-time and focusing on my music career. So, for me, all these years later - to finally create my own original comic series is a dream come true. Releasing it through IDW is the icing on the cake. They've put out some of my favorite books, like 30 Days of Night and Welcome to Hoxford. It's a real honor to have Wire Hangers appear alongside those titles."

"Wire Hangers is going to hold its own up against the IDW titles that Alan has long admired," said Chris Ryall, IDW's Publisher/Editor-in-Chief. "When he brought me the story, both his storytelling sense and artistic skills were fully formed and ready to roll on a comic series. In much the same way Alan went from playing bass for one band to fronting another, his talents will be front and center on his comic, too."

Wire Hangers will make its debut with a 4-issue miniseries in March 2010.

MOWER GUITARIST QUITS, SKINLAB TOUR CANCELLED

The just-announced SkinLab/Mower tour is already minus a Mower. Here's what the band said on their MySpace page in early October:

"A decision made by a departing member yesterday has forced the band to relinquish our spot on the bill. We are beyond disappointed. Sometime between sound check and set time last night in Denver, CO, our guitarist Greg Russell decided to book a flight and leave the tour without alerting anyone in the band of his intentions."

"The fact that he decided that his issues were more important than the fans, friends, band, crew, agents, club owners, promoters, record labels, sponsors, press, Skinlab, and all the local support acts is something that we can't even begin to understand or condone. The four remaining members of Mower looked into every possible replacement option to continue on the tour, but none of those options would have been viable in time." - more on this story

Free Mower MP3 downloads

 THE RETURN OF ROCK 'N' ROLL COMICS!

 (colors: Christie Maconnell)

HELL BENT FOR SANTA - HALFORD'S CHRISTMAS ALBUM?!?

Hell Bent for Santa? You will be this year as Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford drops his version of a Christmas album on fans (more at www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/oct/04/hellbent-for-christmas---rob-halford-plans-christm/ )

 PATHOLOGY SEEKS NEW COOKIE MONSTER

Cookie Monster-sound-a-like vocalist Matti Way has quit the death metal/grindcore band Pathology. The group states, "We are extremely disappointed and bummed over this. Matti has other stuff going on right now and we wish him the best. Because of this we are canceling a few upcoming shows." (more at  www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/oct/04/pathology-seeks-new-cookie-monster/  )

WAVVES SAYS "IT'S WRETCHED PLAYING SHOWS IN SAN DIEGO"

Wavves frontguy Nathan Williams is quoted in the new Denver Decider saying "Generally speaking, it's wretched playing shows in San Diego. The people think they're too cool to move around, they don't come out if it's not a party, and there aren't enough places to play besiedes bars, which is a real bummer...but Wavves happened, and I think it sort of shed a light on San Diego."

Asked if he's planning to stick around SD, he says "I'm moving to LA next month. I've had plans to leave San Diego for longer than I can remember, so it's about time that I finally do it." ( more at  www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/oct/04/wavves-says-its-wretched-playing-san-diego-and-pla/  )

• Related links

  • Blurt: "More Ink for Psychedlic Horse(expletive)" (April 22, 2009)
  • Of Note: "Anyone With Equipment and a Smidgen of Talent" (April 15, 2009)
  • Blurt: "Injured Reserves" (Aug. 12, 2009)

2009 SAN DIEGO MUSIC AWARDS – IT’S A (FISH)WRAP

Jimmy Powers (half of the Clasy Pigeons duo) says of his Best Hip-Hop nomination “I don’t feel I should have been nominated for the award. I have only released a limited press EP [200 copies]…I think local artists like Blame One, who hit the top 40 on iTunes this year, should be the ones getting a nomination.” ( more www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/oct/04/2009-san-diego-music-awards---post-show-report-its/   )

 WHAT I'M WATCHING:

LIFE ON MARS season 1 

I remember not being that impressed with the first Life on Mars episode - seemed like no more than a "reverse" Dirty Harry, ie instead of a rogue cop operating amidst PC bureaucracy, the show had a PC future cop in pre-PC 1973. The premise seemed to have possibilities, but that first ep was all stereotypes and occasional inexplicable sci-fi flashes explaining less than nothing about what the hell was going on ---- However, I stuck with it, and I'm absolutely astounded at how it paid off....

MORE LIFE ON MARS - PLUS "WHAT I'M WATCHING" DVD AND MOVIE REVIEWS, 1970 THRU 2009 - Including S Darko, Futurama: Bender's Game, the Sentinel, Andy Warhol's Bad, Night Gallery: Brenda, Star Trek 2009, Stranger Than Fiction, Cloverfield, Black Ceasar, Forbidden Zone, Cover Me Babe, Final Destination, Wicked Wicked, Watchmen, Coraline, Land of the Lost TV show, more = http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/sep/02/what-im-watching-dvd-and-movie-reviews-1970s-thru-/

DOG TALKER

“I haven’t done too much playing in concert as of late,” says singer/guitarist Dave Gilbert, “so I started the OB Happy Dog Walking Service.” He says the doggie duty requires walking from six to twelve miles each day, making the job more consistent than musician work, despite playing in three local bands at the moment...  (more  www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/oct/04/dog-walker---ob-musician-runs-successful-biz-doing/  ) 

GUITAR WHIZ WAYNE RIKER TURNS HIS BACK ON PRIVATE TEACHING, TO HEAD UP WORKSHOPS INSTEAD

"The final curtain has come down for me as a private guitar teacher, after thirty seven years of lessons," says local guitarist Wayne Riker. "However, I'll be starting an exciting series of on going four hour workshops,every fifth to sixth Sunday,at Old Time Music in North Park"... ( more  www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/oct/04/guitarist-wayne-riker-gives-up-guitar-lessons-for-/   )      

Related links

• Hometown CD Review
• As I Hear It
• Musician Interviews: "Lick Vocbulary"

Recent Blog now only found in the "archive" section: Comic-Con 2009 - Final Wrapup, with more costumes, costumes, costumes!

THE RETURN OF RIP MAGAZINE (or "Why I Got Fired By Larry Flynt")

 Rock writer Lonn Friend, former MTV host and publisher of the terrific '90s music mag Rip, is launching an online archive of the magazine! Rip is where I first created the Rock Tales comic strip before it ended up at Spin Magazine. After around a year of the two-page Rock Tales strips, I turned one in mocking Courtney Love called "12 Steps to Stardom" - little did I know that Rip publisher Larry Flynt had just arranged for Love to play his wife in the movie The People VS Larry Flynt. ... ( more  www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/oct/04/the-return-of-rip-magazine-or-why-i-got-fired-by-l/  )

 HANDS FREE - TROPHY WIFE WILL MARKET ANYTHING FOR A BUCK!

From producing Viewmaster reels to scratch-N-sniff flyers and custom Wheaties boxes, the self-marketing requirements of today’s music biz can result in some offbeat promo endeavors. “We sell what we call a ‘hands-free cell phone device’ on eBay,” says Trophy Wife singer/guitarist Joe MacAskill, “which are really just headbands to hold the phone against your ear, with our band logo hand-drawn onto it.” The “devices” sell for $5 to $8.... ( more  www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/oct/04/trophy-wife-says-well-market-anything-for-a-buck/   )

Related links

• As I Hear It: Trophy Wife
• www.myspace.com/trophywifemusic

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HAPPY RON'S HAREM - LOVING SAN DIEGO'S MUSICAL LADIES

“Most of the women were involved with someone else, so I had to behave appropriately,” says Happy Ron Hill of the video shoot for his song “Pitter Patter,” which featured nine different San Diego women singers playing potential love interests. “Sometimes, I hate behaving appropriately.”

 

Dressed in a pimp-like purple suit and porkpie hat, Hill is seen in the video professing his love to all nine women, including Marcia Claire (as MC Bassalicious), Cathryn Beeks (Catastic Beats), Laura Kuebel (Laura Fab), Brooke Mackintosh (Brooklyn), Marie Haddad (The Marrying Type), Elizabeth Abbott (Tipsi Holiday), Alyssa Jacey (Alyssa Jacey Blue), Nancy McCartney Mestyanek (Sister Linkun), and  Jenene Lambert (Neener). “All the women were at the shoot at the same time,” says Hill, “though many were late.”

 

 (more  www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2009/oct/04/happy-rons-hormonal-harem---loving-san-diegos-musi/  )

 

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Related links

• Blurt: "Happylicious" (Jan. 14, 2009)
• Blurt: "Record Release Roundup" (Feb. 18, 2009)
• MySpace page
• www.happyron.com
• Blurt: "In the Woods" (Sept. 3, 2008)
• Happy Ron on YouTube

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THE ROCKETEER AND OTHER FAMOUS '80S COMICS BEGAN RIGHT HERE IN SAN DIEGO - Here's a detailed history of local Pacific Comics, who recruited comic superstars like Jack Kirby to create one of the first successful indie comic book lines. Pioneers in the fight for comic creators' rights and royalties, former employees and operators reveal how they did it, and what went so terribly wrong...

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/08/pacific-comics-the-inside-story-jay-allen-sanford

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THE KOMPLETE KISS KOMIX KRONICLES - Comprehensive collection of stuff I’ve done about working with Kiss on a comic book series in San Diego, along with a bunch of never-before-seen artifacts from the Kiss Komix archives AND an article by Kiss comic author Spike Steffenhagen, offering his own very-different take, ala Rashomon, on the same events I describe in my essay...

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/12/komplete-kiss-komix-kronicles

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ROCK 'N' ROLL COMICS: THE INSIDE STORY - In 1989, San Diego's Revolutionary Comics ("Unauthorized And Proud Of It") launched Rock 'N' Roll Comics, featuring unlicensed biographies of rock stars, most of which I wrote. Some performers, like Frank Zappa and Kiss, were supportive, while others like New Kids On The Block considered our comics akin to bootlegs and sued. In June 1992, publisher Todd Loren was found dead in his San Diego condo, brutally murdered...

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/12/rock-n-roll-comics-the-inside-story

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NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK VS REVOLUTIONARY COMICS - The inside story of how a hugely successful boy band tried to sue local-based Rock 'N' Roll Comics over an unauthorized biography of the group, sparking a court case that established, for the very first time, first amendment rights for comic books. Illustrated by comic superstar Stuart Immonen (Superman, etc.)...

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/13/new-kids-on-the-block-versus-revolutionary-comics

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OVER A MILLION CARNAL COMICS ARE IN PRINT - Here's how and why we made some of the top-selling erotic comics of all time, right here in San Diego, including what Gene Simmons has to do with it all, backstage tales of porn stars, and more confessions of a comic pornographer...

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/08/carnal-comics-the-inside-story-jay-allen-sanfor

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COMICS AND CENSORSHIP - DON'T BE AFRAID, IT'S ONLY A COMIC BOOK - A local-centric history of comic book censorship, and the fight for the rights of comic creators...

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/06/comics-and-censorship-a-local-centric-illustrated

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TWILIGHT ZONE AND STAR TREK WRITER GEORGE CLAYTON JOHNSON PRESENTS - The inside story of a local horror comic book series featuring Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, plus sci-fi king Larry Niven, Zap Comix co-founder Spain Rodriguez, Matthew Alice artist Rick Geary, Vampire Lestat painter Daerick Gross, yours truly JAS, and many more...

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/05/deepest-dimension-terror-anthology-twilight-zone

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THE BIRTH OF IMAGE COMICS: INSIDE STORY OF A LOCAL PUBLISHING POWERHOUSE - Illustrated tale revealing how Spawn creator Todd McFarlane and local comic artist Jim Lee (the Punisher, etc.) conspired to create the ultimate creator-owned comic books...

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/bands/2007/sep/03/the-birth-of-image-comics-an-illustrated-history

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 Down the Slippery Slope - Arrested For the Crime of Viewing Manga

On March 30, 2004, when Dwight Whorley found the Japanese website of Fractal Underground Studio via Yahoo and clicked on a couple of the thumbnail images... ( http://comipress.com/special/miscellaneous/down-the-slippery-slope-the-crime-of-viewing-manga )

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"Before It Was The Gaslamp: Balboa's Last Stand" - Cover story 6-21-07: In the late 70s/early 80s, I worked at downtown San Diego's grindhouse all-night movie theaters, for the owner of the Pussycat Theatre chain, Vince Miranda - this detailed feature recalls those dayz, the death of the Balboa Theatre, etc.

More Before It Was the Gaslamp

 

"Battle Of The Peeps" - feature article about a weird gig I had in the mid-'80s, running a strip club called Jolar, for the nation's second biggest pornographer, Harry Mohney (Deja Vu Showgirls founder).

More Battle of the Peeps - An Insider History of San Diego Porn Shops

"Field Of Screens" - Cover story 7-6-06: Complete theater-by-theater history of San Diego drive-ins thru the years, including a few which screened X-rated fare for awhile.

More Drive-In Theaters in San Diego: Complete Illustrated History 1947 thru 2008

  

"Pussycat Theaters - When 'Cathouses Ruled California" -- for the first time, the detailed inside story of the west coast Pussycat Theater chain of adult moviehouses, which peaked in the '70s but later died out. Told by those who actually ran the theaters!

More Pussycat Theater History: When Cathouses Ruled CA

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Like this blog? Here are some related links:

OVERHEARD IN SAN DIEGO - Several years' worth of this comic strip, which debuted in the Reader in 1996: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/overheard-san-diego/

FAMOUS FORMER NEIGHBORS - Over 100 comic strips online, with mini-bios of famous San Diegans: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/famous-former-neighbors/

SAN DIEGO READER MUSIC MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/sandiegoreadermusic

JAY ALLEN SANFORD MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/jayallensanford