Tim Curry Rocks, Tower Bar Rebuilt, Love-In Musical, Local Recording Studios, more

San Diego Music Encyclopedia & Database Online Now

Press illo to play the Overheard song!

Cathryn Beeks: Vocals www.myspace.com/cathrynbeeksordeal

Sven-Erik Seaholm: Vocals, Guitars, Bass www.svensongs.com

NEW COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL MUSIC DATABASE IS LAUNCHED

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

If you wanna see a list of over 1,5000 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 4,500 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 anon!!!! JAS

HERE'S THIS WEEK'S NEW Overheard in San Diego

AND THE NEW Famous Former Neighbors

TIM CURRY ROCKS – SO I DESIGNED THIS DREAM CONCERT…

Tim Curry has enjoyed a vastly and inexplicably underrated music career.

Like many (most?), he first hit my radar as Frank ‘N’ Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which I first caught while visiting Austin Texas in summer 1978. A few months later, my first appearance in my hometown Connecticut newspaper The New London Day was NOT in the police blotter (surprise!!) – it was an article about the midnight rockies at the Groton Cinema, as represented by a photo of me (half)dressed as Curry and accompanied by my already underwear-inclined girlfriend ----

(October 16, 1978 – let the mocking commence…)

(An aside - after above pic was published, underwear girl’s parents forbade their daughter to date me…as did the parents of several other local ladies….)

Anyway, I continued to follow Curry’s musical career. Post-Rocky, he started up an amazing rock-n-cabaret band, with Alice Cooper’s fiery lead guitarist Dick Wagner.

Curry’s big, booming voice was perfectly suited for the theatrical rock opera-esque songs, most of which managed to be both gritty urban and feather-fay at the same time – think Springsteen concert as staged by Twyla Tharp.

Over several solo albums, Curry enjoyed a few moderate “hits,” including “Paradise Garage,” a snarky rocker about a famous New York City disco – the (excellent) video includes a shot of Curry making faces at a guy walking by dressed as Frank ‘N’ Furter –

PARADISE GARAGE video

“I Do the Rock” was probably his best known tune, with its stream of consciousness namedropping rap. Curry even updated the tune for a performance on the Tracey Ullman show!

Tim Curry - I do the Rock

But most every song on Curry’s albums was a jewel, especially smoldering burners like “Sloe Gin,” an all-out “Stairway” style masterwork still frequently covered by guitar gods –

Tim Curry "Sloe Gin" Live Performance Chicago 1978

Checkout this amazing version by the amazingly(ly obcure) Joe Bonamassa (hand to gawd, if you haven't heard this guy, wailing THIS tune, you will seek me out wherever I may be in this whole wide world, just to shake my hand and thank me for turning you on to this):

Joe Bonamassa - Sloe Gin @ North Sea Jazz 2007

However, for some reason, Curry’s rock and roll fire never quite caught – his deep voiced operatic style clearly foreshadowed the VERY similar music in the two Eddie and the Cruisers movies, as performed by the Beaver Brown band (and lip synched by the actors). In addition, groups like Sisters of Mercy, Oingo Boingo (whose original Mystic Knights cabaret act was directly inspired by Rocky), the Cult, and even Guns N’ Roses and U2 may well some of their inspiration to Curry’s music. Many similarities -----

Certainly Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell looks, feels, AND sounds like a direct descendent of Tim Curry’s rock and roll experiment, as do the Dresden Dolls, the Killers, and a number of other contemporaries.

Curry kept singing, tho, first in movies like the low budget Blue Money, on up through Muppet Treasure Island, Annie, etc.

Up until recently, he was rocking the stage in Monty Python’s Spamalot, as King Arthur. Just last weekend, he co-starred in an Ion TV movie The Colour of Magic, based on the Terry Pratchet stories and co-starring friend-of-Frodo Sean Astin. It was watching that movie that gave me the idea for this blog ----

Here’s a Dream Concert I designed, with what I feel would be the ultimate Tim Curry performance, assuming he’d ever agree to do such a demanding, wide-ranging career retrospective. Me, I’d like to think he could make a lot of people wealthy doing such a show, say in Vegas, but - truth be told – the musical side of Tim Curry still seems to enjoy no more than a small-but-dedicated cult fanbase.

Betcha a show like this could change that, tho ----------- click song titles for links to sound or vid files provided where possible (all highly recommended, whether or not you’re already one of the converted) -------

FIRST SET

“PARADISE GARAGE ”

“Charge it ”

“Hide this face”

“Birds Of A Feather” (from his 1978 debut Read My Lips)

“Wake Nicodemus” (WITH live bagpipes, of course!)

“Simple Twist of Fate” (Yep, the Dylan song, an early Curry concert staple)

“All I Really Want”

“I Will” (Curry’s wonky reggae version of the Beatles tune, from his 1978 Read My Lips album)

“Working on My Tan” (Another reggae number this one from Curry’s 1981 album Simplicity)

“Gimme Some Lovin” (another cover from his early shows)

“When a Man Loves a Woman” (Helluva cover)

"Tumbling Down" (By the Venus in Furs, from the movie Velvet Goldmine - tho never covered by Curry, it should be)

"Suffragette City" (Bowie cover, 'nother one he hasn't done but should do)

“SOS” (slow fadeout of sound and lights, with only the ringing buoy bell, accompanied by the rising applause)

INTERMISSION screened on a Drive-In style screen backdrop:

1 – Film clips from Curry’s Saturday Night Live appearance 12-5-81, including his Mick Jagger impersonation and the Rocky Horror Fire Sale with Meatloaf

2 – Curry duet with Tracey Ullman from the February 1989 ep of her TV show

3 – Clip from Blue Money (1982) of Curry singing the title song

4 – From Rocky Horror, Frank ‘N’ Furter intro scene

5 – A couple of clips from the excellent 1979 West German Der Musikladen TV show appearances

6 – Clips of Curry purring into a mic as DJ Johnny LaGuardia in the cult classic Times Square

7 – “The Pluck Song ” (“I’m such a lucky plucker…”) from the 2001 movie Blood Moon

8 – Compilation video of his many singing movie roles, including “Easy Street” from Annie, in which he played Rooster Hannigan

SECOND SET

“A Professional Pirate - ” (from Muppet Treasure Island – perhaps with a Muppet guest star??)

“Toxic Love ” (Written by Thomas Dolby, from the animated film Ferngully)

“zucchini song” (Hysterical dirty ditty from his SNL appearance)

“ Rose Tint My World ” (Rocky Horror snippet)

“Street Signs” (from his Rock Follies of ’77 show)

“ Tim Curry singing Losing My Mind ” (Piano torch tune by Sondheim)

“Cry For Love” (Iggy Pop cover – Curry has never performed it, to my knowledge, but he’d tear the mutha up)

“Fire Woman” (Cult cover, also never in a Curry setlist, but I actually thought Curry was singing when I first heard it…)

“Celluloid Heroes” (Kinks cover he used to do in the ‘70s)

“Alan” (Nice barroom croon)

“Anything Can Happen on Halloween ” from The Worst Witch (false start, a few bars only, just enough to make the audience gasp “No effin way” --- the song is Curry’s most ridiculous musical moment, from a no-budget 1986 TV special, tho a clip of the song from the show has become a popular internet laughing stock, simply for being so crappy)

"I'm Going Home" from the Rocky Horror Show (rarely performed live since the old stage days)

“No Love on the Street” (with Clarence Clemens sax solo)

“Origin of Love” (Tho never covered by Curry, this rocker from Hedwig and the Angry Inch would be OWNED by him)

“I Do The Rock”

Finale: "Sloe Gin"

Encore: Spamalot medley, accompanied at the end by surprise walk-ons Eric Idle, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, and – what the hell, it’s a dream – the late Python Graham Chapman, dressed as Brian from Life of Brian, revealed by an opening curtain to be hanging on a cross, as they all sing Eric Idle’s closing track from Meaning of Life “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”

The concert ends with everyone whistling “Bright Side,” as Curry and the Pythons walk off stage, to thunderous and deafening applause……

ROCKY HORROR SPOOF from the Hillcrest-based comic book BARF

Adams Entertainment Releases Second DVD in Music Series –

Love In: A Musical Celebration

_________________________________

Featuring the late Buddy Miles final performance,

Eric Johnson, Peter and Gordon and Vince Martell

On the eve of the 40^th anniversary of Woodstock, Adams Entertainment has released Love-In: A Musical Celebration of the “Summer of Love.” Love In: A Musical Celebration features electrifying live performances by legendary artists, rare historic footage and a spectacular psychedelic light show, filmed at the North Park Theater.

Hosted by Tony Award-winning Broadway star, BEN VEREEN, ("Hair," "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Roots," "Pippin," "Wicked"), with live performances by some of the eras superstar artists including the late, great BUDDY MILES in his final performance as well as Grammy Award-winning guitarist, ERIC JOHNSON, lead singer/songwriter of the Youngbloods, JESSE COLIN YOUNG, British invasion greats, PETER & GORDON, classic psychedelic band, STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK, lead guitarist/singer of Vanilla Fudge, VINCE MARTELL, soul and blues sensation, EARL THOMAS, sitar virtuoso and foremost protégé of Ravi Shankar, KARTIK SESHADRI, and tabla master, ARUP CHATTOPADHYAY.

Love In is a feel good, high spirited view into the unequaled musical passion and creative time which can never be repeated, the explosive 60s.

For more information on the DVD go to: http://www.LoveInTheMusical.com

The stage production comes courtesy of San Diego's longtime counterculture theater maven Anthony Adams, who I first became aware of when I discovered a private-pressing rock opera LP from 1973, An Eye In Each Head.

Created by Adams (Harlequin Records), the album captured the music of a decidedly offbeat and counterculture stage production, launched locally. The show earned a measure of local fame and notoriety, not only for its (perfectly legit) nudity and (witty) drug references, but for its offbeat storyline subject matter. The show concerned a fly who eventually becomes king of the world, due to man’s evil and self destructive nature. Then the fly reveals that he’s really Jesus…

Show creator Anthony Adams – who was in a local sixties teen garage band the Norsemen – is credited by many as having launched the first true recording of a rock opera.

The Who’s Tommy is often regarded as a song cycle, Jesus Christ Superstar is most accurately classified an oratorio, and SF Sorrow was never truly staged, leaving An Eye In Each head a clear contender for the title, having been staged as well as recorded. Pictured here is the mind-blowing cover Art By Conchita Vesco.

“I saw this performed at UCSD with my parents,” says Gravedigger 5 vet Ted Friedman. “I think my cousin was in it. For real, I was real young. It was weird. I was maybe 10, if that, there may have been some nudity in it. A fly takes over the world. I remember my parents saying maybe it wasn't a good idea to take us there. I just remember it being really trippy and kind of long. I think it kind of scared us.”

Adams went on to a prolific and storied career in the theater, as well as working on TV series like Disney’s Duck Tales and Jim Henson’s Fragglerock.

Among his original plays and musicals that he’s directed in San Diego and London are the Adventures of Olig and Obster, A Song For Gar, the Living Cell, and the Great Relativity Bomb Plot. He also composed music for the national touring production of the Grapes Of Wrath, starring Ed Harris and John Carradine.

Adams’ Los Angeles-based Adams Entertainment has filmed DVDs of two musical stage productions produced at the Birch North Park Theatre; 2006’s Primal Twang: The Legacy of Guitar and the aforementioned Love-In, a celebration of 1967’s Summer of Love.

Both episodes are part of a proposed ten-part DVD series on the history of musical styles, featuring a mix of storytelling and performances from guest musicians including Eric Johnson, Jesse Colin Young, and San Diego’s own Rockola and Strawberry Alarm Clock (“Incense & Peppermints”).

While the filming was by all accounts a success, further productions will not be take place in San Diego. “We love the North Park Theatre,” said Adams. “It has great acoustics and is physically beautiful, but there is simply better access to musicians up north and it’s also much easier to get attention from the national press.”

The San Diego native has run his production company in Los Angeles for the past 18 years. He partially relocated to San Diego in 2005 to care for his ill father. Now all operations are moving back to Los Angeles. While the move back to Los Angeles was inevitable, Adams also considers that the production is also a victim of its own success.

“When managers and others began to see how well Primal Twang turned out, we began to get calls from all sorts of big name performers who wanted to be involved. It’s just so much easier to connect with them in a city that’s geared towards the industry already.”

Upcoming episodes include Country, Jazz and The British Invasion. The two productions so far have used numerous local musicians to back the star acts including Peter Sprague, Dennis Caplinger and Rockola.

According to Rockola guitarist Mark DeCerbo, rehearsals for “Love-In” took six weeks. “It was a lot of work and we didn’t even get much screen time,” he joked. “But it was worth it to play with people like (sixties duo) Peter & Gordon.”

Adams Entertainment’s return to Los Angeles will not exclude these local musicians from continuing to be involved in productions, though Adams makes no guarantees. “These guys were great and I really hope to work again with Caplinger in particular, but it’s a matter of best fit. I don’t care if you’re from San Diego or Nashville, as long as you’re right for the part.”

(Thanx to Bart Mendoza for portions of above)

STUDIOWEST - LOCAL FACILTY WITH WORLD CLASS ASPIRATIONS

Album cover Astra Kelly from StudioWest emails to say " We are staying super busy, here's just a snapshot of this week alone:"

~ Tonight the winner of the SD Songwriter's Guild contest, Allegra, comes in to record a few new tunes with her band.

~ Tomorrow the winners of the SD6 "Your song for San Diego" contest, Pullman Standard, are in to record their winning song. They've won two days of studio time so they'll be back in soon, I'm sure.

~ We are also doing dialog replacement for the new NBC series "The Kings." Actress Susanna Thompson lives here in SD.

~ Tues. evening is the first ever "San Diego Pro Tools User Group" meeting.

~ Every Wed., we record "A Way with Words" a radio show that airs on KPBS.

~ Wed. night, a "Pyles Session."

~ Fri. voiceover for Bullrun, a popular UK television show

~ Sat., Rolling Stones producer Alan Sanderson brings a new client to Studiowest. He's been doing some work here since Strate Sound closed down.

"Phew!! Also, did you know that in addition to our recording services, we are also The Recording Arts Center, San Diego's only Digicertified Pro Audio school, offering beginner to expert level Pro Tools certification courses?"

No, I did NOT know that - more in an upcoming Blurt, perhaps?????

Custom Radio Station

Listen to music by Astra Kelly

Free MP3 downloads

CHRISTIAN COMES AGAIN - 21ST CENTURY RECORDING CUTS OUT THE MEDDLE-MAN

San Diego Recording Studio

“Three years ago,” says recording engineer Christian Cummings, “seventy-five percent of my income came from producing records and twenty-five percent from mixing. Now, it's the opposite. The personal computer has revolutionized the world of recording.”

Cummings, who also plays with Crash Encore, says that performers who record at home aren’t necessarily qualified to produce and mix. “Software like Pro Tools can be learned by reading and trying, but then there are recording techniques like mic placement, EQ, compression, and all the other sonic factors outside the computer. Those skills can only be learned by listening, studying, practicing, ear training, and style development…the recording techniques used by George Martin and the Beatles differ greatly from what Kiss did with Bob Ezrin, or even what Kings of Leon do.”

Despite the decline of studio recording, Cummings feels he’ll still earn money mixing. “New technology cost me work, but it also allows me to offer my final mixes at a cheaper price…services that once required $30,000 worth of equipment can mostly be accomplished now with $5,000 worth of gear.”

He says his current fees run “Between $10,000 and nothing. To put that into perspective, platinum multi-Grammy winning mixers can charge $10,000 per song…now, we can mix a whole album within a day, maybe costing the client $500.”

Christian Cummings began performing live at age 15 in Hollywood. By his early 20s, he'd already shared the stage with everyone from the Foo Fighters to Snoop Dogg, as well as performing in hiw own bands, Tailgunner and Crash Encore.

After graduating SDSU, he joined up with local mainman Bryan Stratman at Capricorn Studios, to hone his skills as a recordist. recording-gear-hybrid-room

Cummings teaches occasional recording workshops at the Signature Sound recording studio.

"This might sound strange based on the current trends," he says, "but I have no intention of covering much on Pro Tools, besides answering basic questions. The reason being is that Pro Tools is a piece of logical software that can be explained via textbooks in a very quantitative fashion."

"Despite what your local music retailer would like you to believe, the quality of your gear is only a very small part of the overall equation. Learning to trust your ears, use your equipment properly, and playing your parts well will get you much closer to where you want to be."

"However," he says, "all technology aside, songwriting trumps recording 99 times out of 100. If you write and play a great song, even a bad recording of it will be great.”

recording studio san diego music mixing pro tools mixing

(A few of Cummings' recordings)

Drumming for Ken Andrews in Portland

mixmymusic.net/workshop

mixmymusic.net

A HUNDRED AND FIFTY FREE UNUSED BAND NAMES -

Free for all who wish to use, here’s a list of band names I’ve been dreaming up, all so far unused (as far as I know). I designed many for maximum internet search possibilities and cult tie-in potential – if anyone ends up getting rich and/or famous using any of my band names, I expect you to at least buy me a large pizza, and maybe a Porsche ---

Oh yeah, I design band logos too, so maybe hire me for that…

Jay Allen Sanford

3-20-09

Danish Plato

Watchers From the Blind

P Test

Duodnym Duo

Same To You Bud

Why You I Oughtta

George LeRoy Tirebiter

Logan’s Sun

Rizzuto’s Revenge

The Hell You Say

Sickon U

Strapon Dickoff

Schwing Kings of Bling

Aiiieeeggg!

Manos Hand of Fate

Zoey Loves Zeus

Aaark Aaark

The Steekin Badgers

There’s No Need To Fear

Restless Natives

Nightmare Feet

The Saggy Baggies

My Fellow Terrariums

Pudding Pipers

Things Won’t Leave

Crooow!

Not Wearing Pants

Spa Fon

Squa Tront

Quitcher Wining

Opposing Bums

MiniMiniMini

Icy London

Icy France

Eye See Eeew

I.C. Underpants

He’s Dead Jim

Giant Rats of Sumatra

Monsters Due

Orion Slave Traders

Jenna’s Douche

Way 2 Bigg

Mylar Zone

Bees, She Sees

Lionel and the Security Blankets

Thank You Mask Man

So Far So What

Zoso Mofos

The Whoop Woops

Jerkin Gerkins

WTF Whitey

Alba’s Abs

Overlord Obscura

Yorga Counts

I Said Goode Daye

Broken GayDar

Suckit

Stickit

Takeit

Tara La Bouvier

The Shoephones

Tents On Fire

Bitten by Barnabas

Attaway Castaway

Jay Men Forever

Beware of Torgo

Milk Me Dammit

Freaky Fantasm

Phrankly Phinks

Wish You Were Beer

It Takes Beef

Coconut Radio

Eggplant Revenge

I Got a Rock

Who Killed Todd Loren?

The Phoneups

The Homegrownups

Minor Murders

Max Madder

Themes of Josette

Chef Schweaty

The Shaft Workers

Scary Serling

Servants of Sexploitation

Cathouse Theater

The Hairy Poms

See Thru U (abbreviated as C/U)

Put That Thing Away

Robert’s Ridge

Munchin Brady

Mystic Hamburg Highway

Future Faire

Joel VS Mike

Miss B. Natural

Psycho Tsunami

The Friendly Giants

The Fraidy Scats

Sax Afire

Margo Escargot

The Pullout Nows

Nobody For President

Ducking Howard

Bare Whiz

The Golden Hind

Planxton

Kitten Kundalini

Bunches of Hooey

Knot Insane

Fuggit Forgot

SlamSlam

Fleas on Feet

Peeble’s Pet

Wholly Moley

Klondike Kittens

Cheez Toe

Demons of Demi

Penisaurus

The Tube Grooves

Groovy Groo Bees

Bozo Buskers

The Dwarf Crushers

Rotten Cratchet

Cartman’s Probe

More Science High

Steppenfetch

See Sigmund

The Vulcan Itch

Whynot Measles

Ribsey’s Treat

Clams Got Legs

HellCowz

Highway Bloody Hwy

Starkweathermen

Whacko Mole

R.U. Nutts

Tearaway Newsome

WrongWrongRight

SaveSum

Eyes of Bohemia

Duz Not Die

Know Duh

Nose Hoes

Harden Gardens

Ghostly Trioka

Takeout Wrenched Ankle

Gallery of Night

Lowbrow Unibrow

The Unibrowser

Bundy’s Bride

Buddy Buddha Breath

Zeta Zilch

The Beta Rays

Already1

Almighty1

The Crankups

Indoor Outhouse

Freddie Fullasheet

Return of Mr. Hand

Faster Phoebe and the Fallouts

Wot the Hey

V.A. Jay Jay

Gamma Made Me Green

Collector’s Attrition

Lela’s Eyeball

Tubby La Mesa

Finches of Attica

Busted Chifarobe

Busted by Boo

The Tumblin’ Tombstones

Stewie Luvs Rupert

The Giggity-gigs

YesNoMaybe

Pigga Fuggen Name

UNCLE JUNKIE AT BRICK BY BRICK 3-19-09

Record Release Roundup

U.K. transplant Taz Taylor releases his new album Straight Up on March 27, featuring his self-named band’s new singer Keith Slack, formerly of the Michael Schenker Group (who replaces another MSG vet, Graham Bonnet). Guest players include Don Airey (Deep Purple, Ozzy Osbourne).

Cotton Fever’s release party for their album Tall Tales of the West happens March 28 at Two Roses Tattoo on Logan Avenue.

Realcide release their new CD/LP on March 29.

Bobby Fantasy’s new album (recorded at Jason Hee’s studio) is being prepared for release; he appears March 29 at O’Connells.

The new CD from fusion jazz guitarist Patrick Yandall, A New Day, debuts March 29, with a release party at Humphrey’s. Yandall informs, “I’ll have a guest keyboardist, Kevin Flournoy, an amazing player and producer who tours the world with the Pointer Sisters and Harvey Mason.” The Samoan-born, Michigan-bred Yandall appears regularly at local casinos, a sometimes thankless gig. “A manager at one place — who’s not there anymore — told me to tell the band to turn down, since the people were there for the food and not to listen to us. Makes you feel really special.” A New Day will be available at Amazon, CD Baby, and at patrickyandall.com.

A.J. Croce releases Cage of Muses March 31.

Nautical Disaster's release party for their new EP Interceptor happens Tuesday, March 31st, at the Casbah, with the always invigorating Apes of Wrath and the incorrible stylings of White Denim. This one's $10 in advance, www.casbahmusic.com, or $12 at the door.

The gigaholics of Likewize are holding a release party for their debut album Real Livin’ on April 3, at 710 Beach Club. “I moved out to San Diego because I’m in the Navy and had orders to the USS Nimitz about three years ago,” says bassist Matt Albrecht, who currently serves a shore command at the 32nd street base.

Albrecht says the local music scene differs from where he grew up near Austin, Texas. “Instead of beach and reggae music, in Austin you’ll see country rock. The biggest difference is the most popular bands in Austin are local original bands, and in San Diego it’s the cover and tribute bands.” Real Livin’ (self-released by Likewize) contains ten tracks and will be available via MySpace, iTunes, likewizemusic.net, and CDs sold at shows.

Nickel Creek fiddler-gone-solo Sara Watkins releases her self-titled debut, produced by Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, on April 7.

As I Lay Dying release a three-DVD set, This Is Who We Are, on April 14, which includes performances taped at the Jumping Turtle in San Marcos.

Children of Nova are holding a CD release party at Soma on April 17.

The Drabs are nearly done with a new album containing ten songs, some of which can be heard when they play April 21 at the Beauty Bar.

Locals with upcoming record release info, please send details thru the Reader link or to me at [email protected] -

TOWER BAR REBUILD NEARING COMPLETION!

From the Tower Bar's MySpace blog, March 21:

Tower Restoration almost complete

The rebuilding of the tower on top of The Tower Bar and Tower Tattoo Parlor is almost complete. Built to the exact dimensions of the original, it will stand 110 feet high.

The “Euclid tower” was a spire that loomed as a local icon for nearly seven decades until 1999, when the city of San Diego ordered it torn down because it was leaning precariously.

With $225,000 in city redevelopment funds, a South Bay firm was contracted to build an aluminum-alloy replacement of the original wooden tower, designed in 1930s art-deco style to resemble New York's Empire State Building.

The replica was trucked in sections from Chula Vista and hoisted by crane to its rightful perch atop the namesake Tower Bar on University Avenue just east of Euclid Avenue.

The tower's history is almost as colorful as the spire eventually became. Erected in 1932, it rose 110 feet above what was then a hamburger drive-in at the end of the former trolley line from downtown San Diego.

Bob Kennedy, City Heights project manager for San Diego's redevelopment agency, said replacing the tower was one of the most requested and least costly projects identified by community groups in a five-year plan adopted in 2003. Some $20 million to $30 million worth of improvements are planned for the area over the next three to five five years with local property-tax revenue that, as redevelopment funds, must be reinvested back into City Heights.

What it will raise is community morale, said Enrique Gandarilla, executive director of the City Heights Business Association.

“It's a symbol of the revitalization that's taking place in City Heights,” he said. “Every community has special landmarks. For us, this is once again going to be one of those.”

A celebration is planned for Monday, April 20th 2009. San Diego Mayor, Jerry Sanders, is scheduled to speak

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=7690879&blogID=478096326

LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, CBS

Th 3/26: Jason Segel, Brian Kiley, U2 (R 3/6/09)
Fr 3/27: Joe Torre, Demetri Martin, Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt (R 2/4/09)

Mo 3/30: Seth Rogen, Tom Dreesen, Adele
Tu 3/31: Bill O'Reilly, Marianne Faithfull
We 4/1: Marg Helgenberger, Ray LaMontagne
Th 4/2: Michael J. Fox
Fr 4/3: Denis Leary, Diana Krall

THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO, NBC

Th 3/26: Paul Giamatti, Emma Roberts, Prince
Fr 3/27: Dana Carvey, Billy Mays, Prince

Mo 3/30: Vin Diesel, Lisa Lampanelli, Gavin DeGraw
Tu 3/31: Amy Poehler, Paul Walker, Fall Out Boy
We 4/1: Michael Caine, Dennis Rodman, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer
Th 4/2: Ben Affleck, Taylor Swift
Fr 4/3: Miley Cyrus

LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON, CBS

Th 3/26: Eva Longoria Parker, Neal McDonough (R 10/5/08)
Fr 3/27: Lauren Graham, the Damned (R 10/31/08)

Mo 3/30: William Shatner, Regina King
Tu 3/31: Isabella Rossellini, Linda Cardellini

LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON, NBC

Th 3/26: Ray Liotta, Cheryl Hines, John Rich
Fr 3/27: Ted Danson, N.E.R.D.

Mo 3/30: Bill Hader, Emma Roberts, Glasvegas
Tu 3/31: Glenn Close, Kristen Wiig, Gomez
We 4/1: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Stevie Nicks
Th 4/2: Seth Rogen
Fr 4/3: Lauren Graham, Cold War Kids

LAST CALL WITH CARSON DALY, NBC

Th 3/26: Iglu & Hartly
Fr 3/27: Jack & Kelly Osbourne, Ben Harper & Relentless 7

Mo 3/30: Charles Hamilton (R 3/3/09)
Tu 3/31: Robin Thicke

THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART, Comedy Central

Th 3/26: Nandan Nilekani (R 3/18/09)

Mo 3/30: Jack Cafferty
Tu 3/31: Seth Rogen
We 4/1: Peter Orszag
Th 4/2: Tom Zoellner

THE COLBERT REPORT, Comedy Central

Th 3/26: David Grann (R 3/17/09)

Mo 3/30: Derrick Pitts
Tu 3/31: David Plotz
We 4/1: Dambisa Moyo
Th 4/2: Biz Stone

JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE, ABC

Th 3/26: Ozzy, Sharon, Jack and Kelly Osbourne, Bobby Cannavale
Fr 3/27: Paul Giamatti, Jim Gaffigan, Keri Hilson featuring Lil Wayne

Mo 3/30: Jaime Pressly, Kirstin McMillan, the Pretenders (R 3/11/09)
Tu 3/31: The latest "Dancing with the Stars" castoff, Will Arnett, Michelle Rodriguez
We 4/1: Amy Poehler, Jordana Brewster
Th 4/2: Vin Diesel, Anna Faris
Fr 4/3: Paul Walker, Lily Allen

Mo 4/6: Dwayne Johnson, Kristin Stewart, The-Dream (R 3/13/09)
Tu 4/7: Portia de Rossi, Melissa Rycroft, Motley Crue (R 3/20/09)
We 4/8: Andy Samberg, Ashley Scott, MSTRKRFT (R 3/18/09)
Th 4/9: The latest "Dancing with the Stars" castoff, Zach Braff, Cheryl Hines, Charlie Wilson sits in with the band (R 3/24/09)
Fr 4/10: Amy Poehler, Jordana Brewster (R 4/1/09)

A NOTE FROM ROBIN HENKEL: "My new Egg video is complete and viewable on YouTube.

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

"A year ago, I wrote a funny song about eggs and chickens. Right off the bat, people liked it. I could tell it had potential for the making of a silly video. A year later, after at least six video shoots, hours of editing and planning (which amounts mostly to getting goofy ideas, gagging around and laughing at ourselves), the video is in a presentable form on YouTube. So if you are up for a little uplifting 'cluck cluck' or a big fat 'pacauck!' check it out. Especially if you are having a crappy day at work. Watch my video and tell your boss 'I want egg!'"

SECRETS BEHIND AXL VS GN'R PHOTOG, AS TOLD BY LOCAL “ROCKET QUEEN”

“For years, I drank and used drugs out of shame over it,” says Adriana Smith, known by Guns N’ Roses fans as the girl heard having sex with Axl Rose in the recording studio, during the song “Rocket Queen.”

“I was dating the drummer [Steven Adler] at the time, and we got in a little tussle about whether or not I was his girlfriend…I was boozing it up in the studio, and Axl propositioned me. Axl and I had always kind of tempted fate, and once we got together, it was like fire and gasoline.”

The track appeared on GN’R’s debut album in 1987. “Axl had visions of taking me on the road with them, and we’d have live sex shows behind a screen onstage. I mean, the guy’s a genius, he has crazy over-the-top ideas.”

However, Smith – then 19 - declined. “I probably lost a lot of money, but I didn’t want to be seen as the groupie lowlife boyfriend-stealing slut.” She says the last time she met up with Rose was a chance encounter at a 1998 party.

Smith’s identity remained unknown for many years. She settled in San Diego nearly 20 years ago, had a daughter, and began working as a drug and alcohol counselor.

“I’m 15 years sober,” she says. “I went public, because I’ve been trying to make my amends to my past. Axl had a girlfriend at the time, who later became his wife…I let Axl down by shooting down his big plans, and I also let Steven down, he was really upset about it.”

Today, Smith fronts the local band Ghost in the Graveyard, which includes guitarist Dave Wagner, brother of famed session guitarist Dick Wagner (Alice Cooper, Tim Curry, etc.). The current lineup made its debut on Halloween, 2008, at Bailey BBQ in Julian.

Album cover “There’s a song on our CD [Wars in the Graveyard] called ‘CFM, Come Find Me,’ which is actually written to Axl,” says Smith. “I have no doubt that at some point we’ll meet up again. Maybe the gas will be on the fire again!”

Smith’s MySpace page was recently revised with a post containing her own insider's takeon the ongoing dispute between onetime Guns N' Roses official photographer Robert John and the band's current lead Pharisee Axl Rose, who said some fiery things about John in a recent interview. Excerpts include:

"It seems Robert is attempting to sue Axl for his words. Furthermore, Robert is creating a public spectacle of himself and Axl for his own attention-seeking, without regard to his past mistakes."

"I am someone who has been blessed with being 'in the know' and will not tire until all things untold are told truthfully. Robert John and I met in the '80s when GNR was still playing clubs. He and Axl were like brothers. As a matter of fact, they were almost look-alikes to some degree, with the hair colr, skin tone, and height, except Robert was always heavier, and is even more so now."

"Because of his relationship with Axl, Robert was signed by Geffen Records under exclusive contract to be the only photographer on GNR's tours. This was not kosher with the whole band, or the top industry dogs, but Axl is a very loyal and trusting friend, and would have it no other way."

"Robert's work began to decline as a result of his personal inadequacy to keep current with necessary equipment and technology, and so the effects of his work resulted in crappier pictures. Axl was there to stack the bux behind him for better more expensive equipment, with no avail. The drugs, the pace, the stress, or whatever, lead to Robert's innability to do his job. I was privied to the info that out of 2000 pictures, only two were acceptable, but low quality, and below standard; trash."

"Robert John took Axl Rose to court to sue him for this event recently. It did not go well for Robert. He lost the litigation and lost the best friend he ever had. Did he appologize or try harder? Nope. He, like Slash and Steven, continue to badger and berate Axl & live in denial of their self-made shortcummings just to blame others for where they are in life. This makes me sick!"

"Robert was going through many personal things in the time before he was relieved as photographer for GNR. He was losing his long-time girlfriend Shannon and the house they so desperately loved. Axl bailed him out in the amount of approxiamtely 160,000 bux. That was prior to Robert John suing Axl, by the way. Oh, and the rub is that Robert gave the house to Shannon in the end and lost everything anyway."

"All of us used to hang out and party back in the day. At some point, the party changes, and people usually trade vices for virtue; usually."

"The reason that I am posting this blog is simple. I can't stand liars and people who were supposed to be my friends forever, perpetuating anguish and animosity toward Axl."

"So I want none of you to believe it is Axl's fault Robert John is not on tour with GNR, he gave him everything: a career, the equipment to use, sole photographic rights , and a house, and his credit! Robert John sued him, and is now gonna try again, because Axl repeated what he heard about Robert being on meth. Well Robert, if you are gonna sue anyone it should be me. I am the one who told him about it, and you told me, remember?"

"No one can trust anything you say and that is heartwrenching. Let me know when you are really sorry. By the way, saying sorry isn't best related by trying to sue the person who cared about you most."

Related links

Hometown CDs

Blurt

MySpace page

Three women I've known have had sex with Axl Rose - and these are their stories... (more Sex With Axl Rose )

Former Dream Theater Singer is Going to the Movies

Over the past few weeks, the band Dominici had frequently held the daily "top downloads" spot here on the Reader website with their song The Calling. The songs are from the musical concept trilogy 03.

“I’m talking to scriptwriters and producers about bringing the story to the big screen,” says former Dream Theater frontman Charlie Dominici, who fronts the self-named band. “The three CDs have a storyline that’s perfect for a movie, and the soundtrack is already done.”

Photography by Veronique Broquet

The singer/guitarist spent the last year recording and touring with his band Dominici, whose members are based in Sardinia (off the coast of Italy), but he recently returned to San Diego. “The 03 story is very international,” he says, “concerning a young boy taken from his home, placed in a foreign land by his captors, and trained for months in the desert by religious fanatics who seem to be planning some sort of terror attack.”

“He develops a love for the foreign country, where he meets a girl, falls in love, builds his own business, and is living as a free and prosperous man. But then his captors resurface and want him to carry out his sacred mission.”

Dominici says the story ultimately concerns religion, with a touch of sci-fi. “The true nature of the apparent terror plot is something that has been prophesized in the Bible, among other religious and philosophical writings, but involving beings from another world. I don’t want to give away the ending, but some who have figured out the CDs say it’s pretty shocking.”

“A movie version would be sort of a science fiction twist on the Greatest Story Ever Told.”

As for potential casting, Dominici says “I would love to see Michael Chiklis, Russell Crowe, or Denzel Washington become interested in the project. Al Pacino would be great as one of the so-called terrorists; Scarface of the desert.”

Charlie Dominici - the original singer for Dream Theater - spent several years living in an apartment on Spring Street in La Mesa, beginning in May 2003. "I chose La Mesa because it really is a nice place to live and I knew the area well," he says (he also resided in San Diego from 1998 to 2000). "It's very rustic and kind of like an old classic western."

Dominici joined famed prog rockers Dream Theater in November 1987, co-writing seven of the eight songs on the band's debut album When Dream and Day Unite. He was booted in 1989 and replaced by Kevin James LaBrie, reportedly because of "personality conflicts."

Dominici spent the next 15 years as a "virtual recluse" (his description). "I needed to get some financial stability and also wanted to return to music only when it felt good again."

He was asked to leave Dream Theater after their first album. Wikipedia quotes Mike Portnoy saying, "It was like having Billy Joel sing in Queensrÿche."

Only Dominici didn't completely disappear -- he sang at Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy's wedding in 1994 and joined his old band onstage in L.A. for two songs in March 2004 (filmed for the DVD When Dream and Day Reunite). "I was so out of practice, vocally...after that I realized how much I had been like a fish out of water since I had not been doing much musically. I quit the car business and started writing."

A guitar player and singer since he was 12 years old, Dominici was a La Mesa auto finance accountant for several years. "I'm sure there will be some people who'll be looking at my CD and saying, 'Hey, that guy sold me an alarm, a LoJack, paint sealant, and a service contract. '"

In summer 2007, he temporarily relocated from La Mesa to Sardinia, off the coast of Italy, to join his new band Dominici, for recording and touring overseas.

His solo material is acoustic singer/songwriter music reminiscent of Cat Stevens and Harry Chapin, while his rock band Dominici is more influenced by the Queensryche/Dream Theater/Roger Waters school of theatrical, classical metal. 03 part one is acoustic, while the other two CDs in the trilogy are heavy progressive metal, recorded with a full band.

www.dominici.com

www.myspace.com/charliedominicimusic

sdreader.com/news/2007/may/31/let-music-do-talking

Download "The Calling"

THE COLOUR OF MAGIC - UK TV MOVIE AIRING IN U.S.

Do you want the good news or the bad news?

Terry Pratchett’s books tend to be a bit nudge-nudge/wink-wink for my tastes, know what I mean? A little bit of Hitchhiker’s Guide humor (or should that be humour?) goes a long way for us far less punny Yanks. So I’ve never read the book(s) that spawned this nearly 4-hour TV movie (showing now on the ION Network in the U.S.).

I didn’t read the IMDB comments until after viewing, but I had the same bipolar “This is great” feeling during some scenes, and “This really sux” disdain during others, as described by many viewers. The cheesy budget constraints are a frequent stumbling block, as is the British tendency to keep speeding up scenes to fast-motion ala Benny Hill/Goodies/Python/BadNews/YoungOnes/etc. Poor substitute for genuine chuckles, which should have been aplenty, given the ludicrousness of the fantasy genre –

An earlier imdb comment mentions deviations from the book that “didn’t make sense,” but I disagree with most of the incidents he mentions. For instance, when the walking luggage (nice visual, but usually sped up like a Benny Hill chase-scene) seeks out Cohen the Barbarian to help his master, I just assumed the wardrobe – described as “fiercely protective of its owner” – recognized it needed heroic help to get Frodo’s pal --- I mean the Worst Wizard’s pal, Sean Astin – out of his increasingly dangerous predicaments.

And I certainly don’t think we needed any more pit stops along the road to the distant finale, no matter how entertaining or troll-filled those pitsops may have been in the books.

Tim Curry chews up all his scenes, and even seems to be paying tribute to (or gently mocking) several past roles with several sly bits of dialogue and inflection that harken back to Legend, Times Square, Annie, Spamalot, the Shout, and even Rocky and a couple of his cartoon villains.

I didn’t know Christopher Lee was Death until after viewing but, wow, his scenes were among the best! I loved how he just pops up out of nowhere whenever someone’s life is on the line, seemingly caught in the middle of whatever he was doing at the time and becoming increasing bitter that his sharpened scythe is only scooping up uncredited extras and no marquee stars. You can tell much of what little budget there was went into tinting and partly animating his sequences, each of them terrific. I actually laughed aloud when our intrepid Tourist said, on the reaper’s own monochromatic porchstep, “How often does one get to be at Death’s door?”

So the movie seems to be a low-budget but fairly accurate TV transcription of Pratchett’s usual entry-level teen fiction take on the fantasy genre. Yeah, it’s boneheaded at times, but at least the low common denominator it aims for is usually a funny denominator. To paraphrase the late Don Thompson, If you LIKE that sort of thing, this is that sort of thing.

100 BEST DEBUT ALBUMS - KANYE AND BOYZ, BUT NO BEATLES OR ALAN PARSONS?!?!?

Antimusic reports: Wanna Laugh? Amazon's "editors" have tossed together their list of "100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums of All Time." That comedy is here It's pretty funny but not nearly as hilarious as their "100 Greatest Debut Albums" list.

Hint: Boyz II Men made that list, but the Beatles didn't. Oops. And we won't even try and figure out how Kanye West placed higher than The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, The Doors, Radiohead or John Coltrane. And they sort of left the biggest selling debut album of all time off the list as well. Surely that one is more important than anything by Sade or Ludacris? Maybe it was guest edited by the folks at Rolling Stone? Get a load of that joke - here

Me, I think the two greatest debut albums of all time are Alan Parsons Project: Tales of Mystery and Imagination (adapting Poe stories) and Comus' First Utterance.

The Parsons album came off the famed producer's stints with the Beatles, Pink Floyd, John Miles, Ambrosia, Al Stewart, the Hollies, and others - it's a masterful, confident and impressive, um, Project. I highly recommend, to Dr. Evil and anyone else ready for a listening experience akin to the first time they heard Dark Side of the Moon, wearing headphones and burning a doobie big enuff to require fireplace tongs for a roach clip.....

Comus was a freak folk band of the late '60s, initially discovered by David Bowie - topically and musically veering from fairy wood sprites to evil monsters in caves who rape innocent maidens, the album is a cult classic that inspired pretty much every freak folk band to come since. Some of their songs are playable on various MySpace pages, but the original album can be a challenge to find, even on CD - I recommend the 2-fer CD that includes their lesser second album and some lost tracks and singles.

OR checkout the recent Comus reunion clips on YouTube - you'll thank me ten times over for it.

SLUKA SAYS "FLY ME!!"

Singer/songwriter Christopher Sluka’s first two albums were released in Japan by Meldac Records, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi, while his third album was recorded for CGD, an Italian branch of Time-Warner. “After that, all my music has come out through my own Steel Flower Music label,” says Sluka, “which has different distribution deals throughout the world.”

In 1994, Sluka bought PB’s Javanican Coffee House, soon opening a Mission Beach branch where he also regularly performed. He recently sold the operation to local drummer Patrick Watson, a.k.a. Max Slyder.

“I had the coffee biz for 15 years, with many ups and downs,” says Sluka. “During the last few years, I was inspired to make a new album, and the coffee house was in need of more and more attention. Something had to give.”

Other time demands include his job as Assistant Chief Instructor for National Air College, Montgomery Field, where he’s an FAA Gold Seal Certified Flight Instructor, with a commercial pilot’s license and over 3,000 hours of flight time.

“I have yet to fly myself to a distant gig,” he says, “if only because I haven’t acquired an airplane large enough to carry all the heavy equipment. Still working on that one.”

“I think I have performed well in the air, though, but it wasn’t music. You’d have to ask her.”

Sluka’s eighth album Solo Flight was released last month. He appears April 11 at the Welcome Café in Redondo Beach.

www.myspace.com/christophersluka

NEW LOCAL PRO TOOL USER GROUP FORMS

The first meeting of the San Diego Pro Tools User Group was held March 24 at Studio West on Via Frontera.

Album cover “Over 50 attended, and within a few days we already had 150 members,” says studio manager Astra Kelly. “The goal is provide a community for home studio owners and industry pros who use Pro Tools, to swap technical tips and creative ideas.”

The group’s inaugural topic was ‘What’s New and Great in Pro Tools 8,’ the most recent version of the program. “We plan on having guest speakers at each meeting,” says Kelly. “Potentially on the next bill is prolific engineer and producer Eric ‘ET’ Thorngren [Bob Marley, Talking Heads].”

There’s no fee to join the group, though Studio West offers paid Pro Tools courses at its Recording Arts Center. “The bassist from B-Side Players, Damian DeRobbio, took some classes,” according to Kelly, “and [bassist] Traa Daniels from P.O.D. has registered for some courses as well.”

Isn’t teaching Pro Tools hastening the recording studio’s own obsolescence?

“Actually, it provides us with a revenue stream, because it exposes the studio to potential customers who may not otherwise visit the facility. It also educates people who are using Pro Tools at home about the importance of using a real fully-equipped studio and an experienced engineer for certain aspects of the recording process.”

Studio West also records dialogue inserts for the NBC series Kings and a UK show called Bullrun. “The biggest difference is that, when you record music in studio, the creative process is happening right then and there. When doing dialogue for film or TV, the actor is coming back into the studio to fix portions of audio. The creative process happened on the set, so them coming in for an hour or so after the fact is sometimes awkward, since they have to conjure up the same emotions and attitude they had while shooting.”

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.