Sunday, April 9, 2017 at 07:40AM
Saturday, April 8, 2017 at 12:01AM Today's post is from our friend HIM.
This post is a spiritual counterpart to one I penned in 2015. In May of that year, I mourned the retirement of David Letterman. Today’s post is in response to sadness of a more profound sort: Don Rickles, the equal opportunity offender who often graced Letterman’s guest chair, died on April 6 at the age of 90.
‘Mr. Warmth,’ as he was ironically known, was an acquired taste. His style was a throwback to a different era. It was, by turns, well-rehearsed and seemingly spontaneous. But it was also a style of comedy that saw the act of loving offense as one of the higher callings in entertainment. If not for Rickles, comedians like Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, and Daniel Tosh would only exist in truncated states, with access to a certain type of breezy belligerence denied to them.
Don Rickles, like Lenny Bruce before him, mined the worst of our thoughts and transformed them into laughs. A racial slur or gendered slam were, in his hands, a way to lighten our collective load. You showed up to one of his shows wanting to be the subject of one of his tirades, waiting for one his mic drops, waiting for some snippet of remembrance related to his days with Sinatra, some genuine mention of the love of his life, his wife Barbara.
This was comedy best suited to nightclubs filled with smoke, to a low-lying Vegas Strip that no longer exists. Yet his humor remains as relevant as ever in an era where people constantly seek out silos of non-offense. Rickles was having none of it. Like the comedians who came before and after him, Rickles understood something important: laughing at others is a dopamine rush; laughing at yourself is cathartic. He was the master of ceremonies, timing his zingers and lobbing his one-liners with the ease of an expert.
As Rock said on Twitter when his death was announced: Don Rickles is funnier right now in death than most comics are in life.
That about sums it up. With Donald Jay Rickles gone, the world is just a bit less fun. You will be missed.
Don Rickles, legendary insult comic, died this morning at the age of 90. https://t.co/6Vhb1ues3d pic.twitter.com/IdLMAPqaiy
— Variety (@Variety) April 7, 2017
Friday, April 7, 2017 at 12:01AM A few years ago, I started posting on this site about an upcoming metal documentary called Hair I Go Again. The film has a simple enough premise: it follows Kyle Kruger and Steve McClure on their quest to put their teenage band back together again and to make a real run at fame and stardom.
Tryxx was formed in the 1980s and featured lots of hairspray, spandex and bad songwriting. To be clear Tryxx was based in Florida, not the Sunset Strip and during the band’s heyday they were young – 18 and under. They were well known at roller rinks in the area for doing great shows.
Kruger and McClure are lifelong best friends. At the beginning of the film it isn’t necessarily clear that they want to give up literally everything for their dreams, but as time goes by that becomes pretty evident and I’ve been conflicted about this ever since.
I watched the movie Sunday night and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say about it, exactly. The film features a ton of hair metal musicians that we love including members of KIX, Anthrax, Warrant, Keel, Great White and of course ever present radio host Eddie Trunk, among others. Seeing all the old photos from the scene days and hearing the music was fun. The interviews are all great. But still something nags.
A not insignificant amount of time is spent on the financial struggles of Kruger and McClure. When it became clear it was just them against the world and Tryxx wasn’t going to get back together, they leaned in – hard. They both quit their jobs… and went broke. They both struggled with housing. Kruger sold plasma. They both put all their energy into making it as professional musicians. Thing is, neither is particularly great at music. We’re not talking about virtuosos here that honed their craft day in and day out. In fact, McClure had to relearn the guitar as he hadn’t played in decades! Kruger had to learn how to sing the right way, too. This was the most shocking bit of the documentary to me. Usually an artist that wants to give up a day job for their craft is working pretty consistently toward… something. Other than the dream of “making it” there didn’t seem to be much planning happening here.
Around Tuesday I realized that the confliction has more to do with me than Kruger or McClure. Replace “musician” with “artist” or “writer” or “actor” and the story is basically the same. I’m a writer. I’d much rather write all day than go to a day job, but I get up every morning, day after day, and go through the mundane slog of life. I have a mortgage and that’s the adult thing to do.
Or is it?
Along the way, Kruger and McClure fight – a lot. They struggle, and practice and get breaks, including landing some financial backers and a sponsorship deal with Peavy. Ron Keel helps them a lot, especially Kruger. The ever kind Steve Blaze lends his skills on an amazing guitar solo since McClure can’t play that fast. And on and on it goes. Eventually you realize Hair I Go Again isn’t a documentary about another 80s band. It’s really a film about friendship.
By the end of the film – and we’re talking about a process that took years – Kruger and McClure become the Denver-based band Bullet In The Chamber. They got to open for Jake E. Lee and played the Monsters of Rock Cruise.
Was this their dream realized? Probably not exactly, but the journey made for a great film and they did get on stage and in the studio to record original tracks. Do Kruger and McClure have day jobs now? I have no idea. I know they are promoting the heck out of the film right now and that takes a lot of time and effort. Will they be household-name musicians? Nope, but those are few and far between now. Of the modern generation of musicians, you can name the big ones on two hands, like Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. The outlook for aspiring musicians isn’t great, but then it never really was, right?
All throughout the film, the famous 80s musicians give the same advice: “don’t quit your day job.” Some are pretty blunt and tell Kruger and McClure that they are too old to expect too much. The music industry sucks now (and so does the publishing world for fellow writers like me). The fact is this and it’s always been the case, but it is truer now than ever: talent doesn’t mean as much as your connections, your drive and your luck.
No, you can’t be anything you want to be, but you sure can try – and you should.
Hair I Go Again was directed by McClure and originally released January 2016. Follow the movie on Facebook to attend a special screening or order on Amazon.
Thursday, April 6, 2017 at 07:23AM
As a promoter and composer, O'Neill helped launch major careers. He did a lot of work with Aerosmith in the early days and made their album Classics Live 1 and Classics Live 2 a reality, for which I will be forever grateful. An incredible loss.
Wednesday, April 5, 2017 at 12:01AM
Sib plays on "Smokin '96” along with Donnie Vito (bass), Jim Collins (vocals) and Quiet Riot guitarist Alex Grossi. You can check it out below. It's a little piece of history I think.
Late BOSTON Drummer SIB HASHIAN's “Smokin’” Remake With QUIET RIOT Guitarist ALEX GROSSI Now Streaming https://t.co/YQqk5LJB19 pic.twitter.com/WukWhu7IvO
— BraveWords (@BraveWords666) April 4, 2017
Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 12:01AM
So anyway, Aerosmith trended because some of the show was featured during the pre-game warmup. Then it became a thing for people to mock the performance of "Walk This Way" featuring Macklemore. Personally, I thought it was cool and I've shared it below.
Monday, April 3, 2017 at 12:01AM
