San Diego Music Encyclopedia & Database Online Now
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
ROCK AROUND THE TOWN TODAY/FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6
Classical Music
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Alyze Dreiling (violin), Greg Lawrence (violin), Paula Simmons (viola), Gordon Grubbs (cello) plan chamber music ...
8:00 p.m., Friday, Nov. 6
USD: University of San Diego
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Palomar Chamber Singers perform choral compositions from medieval to modern, featuring music by Bach, Mozart, ...
8:00 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 7
Palomar College Performance Lab (room D-10)
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Pacific Camerata vocal ensemble presents an "international sampler of seasonal Renaissance vocal music." Listen for ...
7:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 7
Saint Andrew's by-the-Sea Episcopal Church
View all Classical Music Events
Submit a Classical Listing
www.afropunk.com
SECRET SWITCHFOOT ACOUSTIC SHOW IN SAN DIEGO NEXT TUESDAY
Switchfoot will be at Sam Goody's for a (no longer) secret in-store event on Tuesday 11/10 starts at 7pm. There will be an acoustic performance by the band and they will be signing their new cd Hello Hurricane, which will be released that day here ----
Switchfoot also appears on the Jimmy Kimel show on Thursday, November 12, performing on the outdoor stage. In addition, the band has released a video for their rockin' new single "Mess Of Me". You can check it out here
For the next week, 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 week. more
Switchfoot will kick off its fall headlining tour in San Diego on Sunday, November 8, for 94.9's Anniversary Bash.
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
Free Transfer MP3 download
TEN SONGS BY LOCALS THAT ARE BETTER WHEN SOMEONE ELSE DOES THEM! --- courtesy Bart Mendoza
Being a musician is great but being a songwriter can be even greater - if your song ends up in the right hands, or with the right voice. Here are ten songs by ten San Diego connected songwriters which fared rather well when performed by others.
Phil Collins / “Separate Lives”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF0scfQ7_so
Written By Stephen Bishop. A huge worldwide hit, as heard in the 1985 film, White Knights.
Phil Collins & Phillip Bailey / “Easy Lover”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1kDmnHyOBg
Co-written by Nathan East. This one went all the way to #2 in 1984, hitting #1 in the U.K.
Dan Fogelberg / “Rhthym of The Rain”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djCUfGVd9lY
Written by John Gummoe. This is the lone track here that was a hit in an earlier incarnation as well, in this case by Gummoe's own group, The Cascades. Fogelberg’s 1990 version was a #3 Adult Contemporary Hit, and is till ubiquitous on soft-rock radio. Also one of only two songs by a local songwriter to hit near the top of the charts with more than one version of a song. So far.
Lynyrd Skynyrd/ "Call Me the Breeze"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaTZkIInYNw
Written by JJ Cale. This is the band in their prime, with a 1975 appearance on British TV program, The Ol’ Grey Whistle Test.
Steve Miller Band / “Jungle Love”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZHXMnC2qwk
Co-written by Greg Douglass. Some songs are lucky enough to get a second chance at hit status, as happened when Steve Miller’s “Jungle Love” was used as a theme song for CBS-TV sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond.
The Monkees / “Daydream Believer”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9m-hkvFDLk
Written by John Stewart. Many others including Anne Murray and Shonen Knife have had hits / singles with the song. With so many versions to choose from, we went with U2 live, with head Monkee, Davy Jones, in 1997.
The Matrix with Katy Perry / “Broken”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOoyiN3BfP0
Co-written by Anna Troy & Lindsey Troy. This single was recorded in 2004, but not released until 2009. The Troys version of the song, was called “What Do You Do.”
The Ramones / “I Don’t Want To Grow Up”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU2SRNU955c
Written by Tom Waits and another tune with many versions – dig the Dan Clowes artwork in the video!
Johnny Rivers / “Slow Dancin (Swayin’ To The Music)”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQOmW_TVPxI
Written by Jack Tempchin, one of his many hit songs. This version is live, on NBC-TV’s The Midnight Special.
Various Artists / “Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-P3ClQfWks
Written by Jeannie & Jimmy Chetham. Many blues songs have been written by San Diegans, but only one is a certified standard, covered by hundreds of bands worldwide. Case in point, here’s one of a numerous local bands found online playing the tune, Band of Oz, from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
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."
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!)
Longtime comic book historian Shel Dorf passed away November 3, at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, after a long hospitalization. His brother, Michael Dorf, was at his side. If you knew Shel, or just want to find out more about the man who founded the San Diego Comic-Con, I encourage you to visit (and maybe post to)
http://www.sheldorftribute.com/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 the local Comic-Con until 1983, when they were at the Community Concourse Civic 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 ---
Jay Allen Sanford 11/3/09
THE RETURN OF ROCK 'N' ROLL COMICS!
Here's a sneak peek at the first promo art for the locally-produced Rock 'N' Roll Comics: Hard Rock Heroes, a 400 page graphic novel shipping from Bluewater Productions in early 2010, as well as the 240 page Beatles Experience comic, the Pink Floyd Experience, Led Zeppelin Experience, the Elvis Presley Experience, and more -
JAS
First, here's the first look at the Elvis Presley Experience cover art:
And here's the scoop and a first look at the cover of the Pink Floyd Experience:
The Pink Floyd Experience: All five issues of the
Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics series The Pink Floyd Experience have been out of print and in demand for over fifteen years. As showcased in Pink Floyd’s own official box CD set
Shine On, the Floyd comics chronicle rock’s most enigmatic psychedelic warriors, from their early dayz with stoner icon Syd Barrett, through their split (and later reformation). With art by Marvel and DC star Ken Landgraf (
Wolverine, Hawkman, Nightwing & Flamebird, etc.), the collection also includes update material, bringing the saga up to 2010.
Hard Rock Heroes: What goes together better than comics and rock music? With almost 300 pages of Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics, Hard Rock Heroes goes WAY beyond Behind the Music, to tell the real life, behind-the-scenes stories of rock’s most heavy hitters. Creators include Stuart Immonen (Superman: End of the Century), Ken Landgraf (Wolverine), Jay Allen Sanford (Overheard in San Diego..), Todd Loren (Beatles Experience), Scott Pentzer (Razor), Mike Sagara (Ninja High School), and many others.
Hard Rock Heroes is a book-length pictorial history, covering bands like Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, Motley Crue, Poison, Megadeth, Pantera, Anthrax, Motorhead, Sammy Hagar, and more. The cinematic stories are realistically drawn, researched from countless photo and video archives, with an encyclopedic eye toward visual accuracy, dramatic flair, and journalistic depth.
Also includes the never-before published “missing” Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics #8 from 1990, on Skid Row. The lack of an eighth issue has vexed collectors and catalogers for years – exactly 20 years later, the story can finally be told, and collectors can finally own ALL the Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics!
As a bonus treat, Hard Rock Heroes also features the Motley Crue comic story from their official box CD set Music To Crash Your Car To II, released in 2004 and written and drawn by original Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics creators Lyndal Ferguson and Larry Nadolsky. Shipping February 2010.
(colors: Christie Maconnell)
"Great ideas, like the marriage of rock 'n' roll and comics, have the half-life of Uranium and will always be popular," says series co-creator Jay Allen Sanford, who has worked on over 200 reality-based comic books and thousands of similar cartoon strips for the San Diego Reader, as well as for magazines like Rip, Spin, and Oui. "The folks at Bluewater clearly have their fingers on the same pop culture pulse that enabled the original Rock 'N' Roll Comics to become one of the top-selling indie comics of the '90s. Truth is often stranger than fiction...and certainly much more interesting!"
The Beatles are bigger than ever, now available online for the first time digitally, on the Vegas stage in “Love,” and in the new Beatles: Rock Band video game. Now comes the most comprehensive and encyclopedic illustrated Beatles story ever, the Beatles Experience! Over 200 pages, dramatizing one of the most compelling tales in pop culture history, drawn from thousands of photos and interviews, meticulously researched and featuring stunning art by Mike Sagara (Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics) and Stuart Immonen (Legion of Super Heroes, Ultimate X-Men).
Covering the Beatles’ lives from birth and beyond their breakup, dramatized in dialogue and scene recreations more akin to a film bio than a mere documentary, the Beatles Experience also includes a Chronolog timeline going down each page, with encyclopedia background and footnotes detailing related events happening at the same time in the world, in music, and in the Beatles’ own tumultuous and extraordinary lives.
The Led Zeppelin Experience:
The Led Zeppelin saga is one of the wildest in rock history, and this graphic novel pulls no punches in dramatizing the backstage, behind-the-scenes story. From their early days as the New Yardbirds on through their rise to superstardom (and controversy), all five issues of the original Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics series are collected in one rockin’ volume, with art by Scott Pentzer (Razor), Marshall Ross (Deepest Dimension), David Neer (Sports Superstars), Francois Escalmel (Frank Zappa: Viva La Bizarre), and others. The collection also includes update material, bringing the saga up to 2010.
www.rocknrollcomics.com --- www.myspace.com/rocknrollcomics
MORE NEW MUSIC STORIES
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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 ... |
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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 ... |
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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 ... |
Watch. Your. Drink. by Jay Allen Sanford
“Nobody is safe from getting something snuck into a drink,” according to Syndicate bassist Tim Nelson, who says someone surreptitiously slipped band vocalist Chase Shelton ... More
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TODAY'S "WHAT THE F-CK" ALBUM COVER
The only way to get THIS spaced out was to take the bad brown acid at Woodstock ---
This is actually the soundtrack to a "wild" biker movie that I just know I'll hate myself for watching, assuming I ever come across it.
The 1970 film What Do You Say to a Naked Lady was actually a spin-off of the Candid Camera TV show, only done by Allen Funt for adults only. Originally rated X (I have it on video), the movie catches people reacting in public to, well, a naked lady - how THAT translates to a RECORD ALBUM, only Satan's Sadists can say....
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
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.
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!
Organic Blood and Dangeress Productions present with Love: Danger in Wonderland, Saturday, November 28, 2009 at the Kava Lounge in San Diego, CA. Danger in Wonderland is the debut art exhibit of artist Monica Leon aka Danger from For the Love of Ray J season 1 & 2. San Diego is the first city of this multi-city tour - the evening will begin with an art exhibition and end with a VIP ONLY after party hosted by Danger.
Artist Monica Leon first became a household name in 2008 thanks to her appearance as Danger on the VH1 show, For the Love of Ray J. Reportedly, viewers have been inquiring about her artwork after they caught of glimpse on it on T.V.
The art show will be hosted by vlogger Andrea Brooks of
www.Youtube.com/AndreasChoice, where she's racked up over 1,000,000 views per month. According to an event press release, "She has won the support and undivided attention of men, women, and teens throughout the world. Andrea has mastered the art of keeping an audience engaged in her and will lend her artistic swagger and personality to us for the evening."
Monica will be debuting new paintings --- showcasing alongside of her are other artists from the lowbrow art community featuring custom shoes, wood and canvas paintings, and glass pieces, tho the names of those artists do not appear in the aforementioned press release. The scenery will be filled with models showcasing art in place of clothing, as well as a live musical performance from neo-soul recording artist J. Carter & the Science.
Immediately following the art exhibition is our VIP after party hosted by Danger with two rooms of music featuring DJs spinning Hip Hop, reggae, and electronic music.
Organic Blood is a local "
lifestyle brand" (that's really what they call it!) offering an array of events. "Organic Blood always takes a conscious approach to all of our events incorporating the best of what nature has to offer," according to their website. "It's the way we live and who we are. Refusing to live life mundane. We seek to inspire, educate, and entertain organically."
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
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.
"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.
Music Games are Serious Research
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.
New Music Search Technologies
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/
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
WHY MEXICANS HATED ELVIS!
May 1959: While Elvis Presley’s popularity in the U.S. was arguably at its all-time peak, Mexico was in the midst of a huge anti-Elvis backlash.
Tijuana tabloids called him a racist and homosexual, after the singer reportedly told gossip columnist Federico de León “I’d rather kiss three black girls than a Mexican.” A Mexican woman in the same column was quoted saying “I’d rather kiss three dogs than one Elvis Presley.”
Mexican Radio Exitos read de León’s column over the air and spearheaded a boycott of the “insolent artist,” while the powerful student group Federación Estudiantil Universitaria (FEU) held public record burnings.
When Elvis’ movie King Creole screened in May 1959 at the Américas Cinema in Mexico City, newspapers who’d advertised the film under the title Melodía Siniestra (Sinister Melody) reported a “riot” occurring.
Mexican counterculture novelist Parménides García Saldaña wrote a short story, “El rey criollo,” about the screening where several hundred gatecrashers reportedly shredded the seats and threw lit papers onto patrons from the balcony.
“Before the film began,” wrote Saldaña, “it was pure chaos, a f-ing riot as they say more vulgarly. The different gangs shouted ‘Here the Guerrero [neighborhood],’ ‘Here the Roma’ …And then some chicks come in with leather jackets with swastikas painted on them, pony tails and bobby socks, real rock and roller like…a group of guys gang up around them [and shout] “‘Dance!’”
Mexican reporters suggested Elvis’ hip-wiggling and mannerisms proved he was either maricón (homosexual) or actually a woman in reverse-drag.
The movie Los chiflados del rock’n roll, a musical spoof, was promoted with posters showing Elvis in drag, being shot by rifle-toting men in sombreros, under a banner reading “Die Elvis Presley!”
The book “Refried Elvis: The Rise of the Mexican Counterculture” (Berkeley: University of California Press, c1999) claims the original Elvis quote was fabricated. According to author Eric Zolov, “Herbe Pompeyo of Polygram Records in Mexico City claims that a high-up Mexican political figure wanted to contract Presley for a private party, for which he sent the performer a blank check to fill in as he wished.
Presley, according to the story, returned the blank check, so the politico, extremely offended, invented the storyline about Elvis not liking Mexican women.”
Who could have imagined that, four decades later, Mexico would be producing more Elvis velvet paintings than any other region in the world…
…not to mention giving us “El Vez, the Mexican Elvis….”
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/
LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS
Mo 11/9: TBA
Tu 11/10: Jack Hanna, Shakira
We 11/11: Kate Walsh, Norah Jones
Th 11/12: Amanda Peet, the Cribs with Johnny Marr
Fr 11/13: Mariah Carey
THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, NBC
Mo 11/9: Kelsey Grammer, Major Brian Dennis and his Iraqi dog of war Nubs, David Grey
Tu 11/10: Jessica Biel, Super Dave Osborne, John Fogerty
We 11/11: Heather Locklear
LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON, CBS
Mo 11/9: Carla Gugino, Dennis Lehane
Tu 11/10: Adam Arkin, fashion director Nina Garcia
We 11/11: Kenneth Branagh
Th 11/12: Trace Adkins, Paula Marshall, Nick Griffin
Fr 11/13: Harry Connick Jr., Peter Sagal
JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE, ABC
Mo 11/9: Jamie Foxx, Toby Keith (R 10/14/09)
Tu 11/10: Bill Simmons, the latest "Dancing with the Stars" castoff, Amerie
We 11/11: Dominic Monaghan, Los Lonely Boys
Th 11/12: Switchfoot
Fr 11/13: Super Dave Osborne, Huey Lewis & the News
THE VIEW, ABC
Mo 11/9: Emma Thompson, Teena Marie
Tu 11/10: Laurence Fishburne, Carrie Prejean, "Supermarket Guru" Phil Lempert
We 11/11: Woody Harrelson, Stephen King
Th 11/12: Rachael Ray, the latest castoff from "Dancing With the Stars"
Fr 11/13: Kool & the Gang, Duff Goldman
LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY, syndicated
Mo 11/9: Meredith Vieira, Dana Delany
Tu 11/10: John Cusack
We 11/11: Martin Short, Andre Agassi
Th 11/12: Kate Walsh, Justin Bieber
Fr 11/13: Jimmy Smits
THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW, syndicated
Mo 11/9: George Lopez
Tu 11/10: Jenny McCarthy, Shemar Moore
We 11/11: John Travolta, Ella Bleu Travolta
Th 11/12: Harry Connick Jr.
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?" )
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
"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).
"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.
"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!
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More Music on the Reader Website:
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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
RIP SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON FOUNDER SHEL DORF
Jack Kirby and Shel Dorf — November 9, 1969 - courtesy 
Thanks to Dave Gilbert our new Happy Hour gig at Winstons got 
Monica Leon (a.k.a. Danger from For the Love of Ray J) makes her local debut as an artist November 28th
