Here In 1975 - here in 2014    
Kene at Large
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7/7/2014

Tony and Kenne

Monday June 30, 2014

got TWO invites from Tony Kacynski, Fireking: one was Handymen at Plough (was at Plough for Triple Thick last week, but havent seen Handymen yet), the other for Jacques Underground,which I swear, my last gig was 2001 with Dead City Rockers (my first was 1995: the In Out and Keith Beauniece!) John Surette (Boy's Life) has REALLY upgraded that basement where it now looks like 1980 The Underground meets 1973 Max's Kansas City. also: those former Marine bouncers at Rat in '78 never called me "honey" like Jacques door folk do! (shouldnt I be at the Ramrod?) tryin' to read my North Carolina-schooled scrawl; looks like Happy Little Clouds opened, nice trio, lady singer had good voice and played good guitar and drummer had a Rush t-shirt. Next up was The Knock Ups, two elegantly-dressed young ladies who switched off bass and guitar and my favourite toon: "I would like you so much better if you werent a slut" ("...don' want you to be no 'ho"...)...drummer was Downbeat Five/Varmints drummer Dan McCarthy! more familar faces in Cooling Towers (Gee Julie arrived by then); Adam Bouchard was a very flamboyant singer and Tony Savarino on guitar evokes moody Joy Division and Culture Club on the up-tempo;total '80s/Spit-rock, dug it!

Talking to Adam who knew who I was coz he was a WZBC dj and my Gizmos button"yes,we got the cd reissues into the station about 2000", so YOUR Gizmos money- one Cooling Towers t-shirt for Julie with the TAZ on it!"......

ok, reason I came; after Velvet Goldmine came out in '90s and we had the Silver Star and Jukebox Angels glam revival, I saw Gene Dante all glammed out at Kirkland and I said "who are you?!?!?" He: "Jet Velvet Trash!" so been readin' about him for a spell; let me NOT forget that John Surette gave a cd of his rock opera plus some guitar picks and yes Gene has sang in them rock oprys. as is, I done told him this, but here 'Tis in print: I saw Bowie's Midnight Special fall '73 and I saw Jobriath in Chicago august '74 and Gene made this 58 year old Gizmo feel 18 agin! (dont think Miss Lyn hung at the Other Side til '75). the black leather sleeveless ensemble was totally Bowie Midnight Special and then changing into a smoking jacket! band was top-notch like Spiders from Hull (UK) (who were The RATS originally!), Johnny Thunders-looking guitarist had been in Mistlethrush, so what year IS this anyway? (and "My Head's in....'73!!!!")....("Bowie still was Ziggy and only N-words were into soul"-Solomon Spector, RIP). "Hand Me Your Razors" mixed rock and theatre like, dare I say it, Bowie stealing from Anthony Newley? afterwards, photos with Gene and Gee Julie and at first "you, my friend look like a big burly biker!" Me: "I'm Kenne Highland." Gene: "Kenne Highland? you're FAMOUS!" Me, deadpan, "hey, you're a lead singer, I'm a lead singer, I'm here to see YOU". yep, Gene damn sure don' need to Be More Flamboyant. So catch a show, mofos, you'll have Jobriath flashbacks like i did!".....

Tuesday July 1 , 2014

after working ALWAYS good on a Sunday to go to Lizard Lounge, Mass. Ave. for Roy Sludge doin' them trucker toons. upright bass Jim Haggerty and guitar Lyle Brewer, I hear tell they do a jazz brunch previous, then rush to this gig. all my favorites,"drivin' nails in my coffin","tombstone every mile", even heard they turnt a MOTO song 'bout drinkin' country! People in audience: Chris of Clan MacLaghlan (Human Sexual Response), Cal Cali (Jetset), Sarah Levecque, who has a cd out and a gig at sally O'brien's (Plough and Stars North) with Michael Tarbox (good-tymey play them spoons music!) also saw Dennis Brennan of Push Push (and proof that my head's in '83! David Birmingham of Third Rail was his drummer at STORYVILLE; damn, i'm old)....

lemme praise the music over the p.a., my favourite oldies mixtape! "that's cool, I respect little queenie, she's only a 'ho if Chuck Berry violates the Mann Act", George Jones, USMC "white lightinin'" and Link Wray's "Rumble" (wrote in Ferdericksburg,Virginny year after me born Quantico,Virginny). Cal Cali ses "let's see Natalie",so Flanagan-bound we are.

Union Square, Somerville; how IS Grooves record store there? Sally O'Brien's sign has a Beatles tribute band with Joe Klompus, whom i think was in Orangutang (good thing i bother to read that RIVAL NY Yankees Evil Empire rag, the Noise!) we ring up Miss Lyn,

Natalie Flanagan has Tony Kacynski on bass (Figures on a Bass?) Miss Lyn asks "how many bands is he in?" Me: 'all the good ones! he's from Detroit!" always enjoy Natalie doing Velvets 'what goes on", Leon Rich did a splendid solo acoustic set and I split coz of registry hell for new i.d. to get passport for my Italian tour...but Lazy Sunday in Boston CAN be fun!"......

Wednesday July 2, 2014

Trash Night at the Brattle theatre again, a great, fun night; this tyme: Cybermutt! originally a children's movie for the Animal Planet (?), a young lad's golden retriever gets accidentally hit by a car but a nerd scientist makes him "bionic" and yes, there ARE references to the Bionic Man/Woman, whatever....the bad guys are kinda comical Boris and Natasha type bumbling spies, and the nerd scientist was in The Breakfast Club. lotsa nerds AND nerdettes at this and EVERYONE wore glasses! (I was at home!) strange-ass movie, but got new Brattle Theatre schedule, good stuff coming up for this "Long Hot Summer Night" (Electric Ladyland!) Brattle has air-conditioning....also, the monthly Trash Nights (only $7!) have "Cyber" in title each month this summer....Steppenwolf had an album For Ladies Only, this is "For Nerds Only"!......

Thursday July 3, 2014

So a Gizmo walks into River Gods, wicked crowded after 6 pm; Irish waitress lass sez "would you like a t'rone?" so King Kenne had veggie sampler sittin' in a "t'rone", drinkin' a diet Coke (and "a little glass of milk right now")....ran into a healthy Alexandros Magos Piandes who HAS played the Goody Goody Gumdrops on WMFO! and Easy Ed and his lovely Be-Bop Shepherd (Tsunamis)/Justine Covault (Grand Theft Auto) doppelganger, henceforth known as "Mrs. Ed". (she was from DCene, first punk show she saw was Slickee Boys/Ramones 1980 DC!) I heard all kindsa great doo-wop/r&b, so obscure I didnt know it; Gene Vincent's "Lotta Lovin"" was "common",i.e. "less obscure!" Easy Ed said BGN is good to him, mentions all his events, so shall I! (actually, I believe Blowfish is a fan). work and starting-to-swell leg = an early departure, but nice chatting with Ed/wife/Alex and Ed and I discussed rare records and baseball! (tell Metal Mike Saunders the news!); my exit toon: the r&b original of "double-shot of my baby's love"! harmonies were very "Beach music" if you ask me and hey! the black original beat the white cover every tyme and kiss my ass if you think this is reverse racism or whatever; if I, King Kenne, declare it true, it's true! or I could be King Yusenovich (a Cub Koda alter-ego, he played those to me and the O.Rex boys 8 july 74!)"......

Also from River Gods with Easy Ed and Alex Piandes; on the wall they showed the 1959 Jean Paul Belmondo (as sung about by that Scot Donovan in "Sunny South Kensington" on my MONO Big N, Brockport NY 1969 copy of his Mellow Yellow album; CUTOUT!

flashback: DJ Vinny usedta spin '60s 45s on wednesday, maybe, at Common Ground, Allston, Mass. which WAS Johnny D's, Allston (January '84 opened with Hopelessly Obscure/Moose and the Mudbugs!); Vin would show ole '60s Shindig, which coulda been ordered VHS through the Rhino catalogue or bought'n at Tower Records, Mass. Ave., which is now extinct. also (joke), DJ Easy Ed and Alex Piandes, both happy married men, BUT, how to they explain to the wifes "I'm gonna go spin records?" is this like "bowling night?" Miss Lyn will form a support group for I MARRIED A RECORD COLLECTOR (coming to the next Schlock around the Clock at the Orson Welles on the 12th in Hell, Michigan...Orson Welles burnt down on Mass. Ave.,12th is of NEVER and Question Mark (Que MArk on facebook;friend and STALK him!) himself posted a photo of Hell, Michigan town sign with icilicles, so, Hell did indeed...freeze over....hahahahahahha! from a guy who claims he's an alien (Rudy Martinez cousins to Mike Soria who ALSO collects and worked at Disc Diggers, Somerville; thus, by me, named Question Mike!)"...........

Saturday July 5th, 2014

Kenne radio ok ,Fourth of July weekend not QUITE as exciting as Dad's ancestor Daniel David (born Wales, served in Revolution, Kenton, Delaware) or John Youst (born Bavaria and spending 4 July '76 in Trenton, Pa., so TWO Philly area Revolutionary soldiers-Dad 'Nam-me, Cold War/NSA, Amerika First)...saw Jaws at Brattle, never seen by me! loved EVERY '70s artifact in there EVEN the PHONES! Light Dawns Over Marble Head: Quint= Ahab; shark= Moby Dick! and i aint talkin' 'bout Zepelin, dood...).....WJIB 740 AM has been heavy on the British invasion (JUST for Ken Korps Kaiser!)...my lil radio (4 batteries MONO, man!) heard "Lady Godiva"-Peter and Gordon (Capital, picture sleeve!);"Dandy"-Herman's Hermits! (Frank J. Lima! (Kinks FREAK i known since age 15; hope Ray Davies got royalties for this cover being played) plus for Beatle maniacs: "I'll follow the Sun" (Beatles '65,rainbow label) and "we can work it out" (Miss Lyn's butcher cover she sold to Mono Man in the 80's!); this is also proof that 50 years later, Sir Paul McCartney's easy-lissening toons has become MUZAK for the grannies! (who 50 years ago were screaming teens!) Miss Lyn on 4 July: "Kenne, I'm not going to lissen to WJIB! My FATHER lissened to that!" (Ancestry.com proves my mother is related to Miss Lyn's father TWICE, so we iz cuzzins....)....for "lazin' on a Lazy Sunday afternoon" (Frank J. Lima, fan of both Small faces AND Kinks!): Snowpiercer at Brattle theatre (good reviews!) and Roy Sludge at Lizard Lounge (ALWAYS a good review!) and we see what next week has to offer, but if not, more Brattle theatre movies!"......

to quote the Peecocks; "but wait ladies and gentlemen! here's a news flash for you!"....negotiating with WMBR and Pipeline and GIZMOS in Boston once we (Evan) Shore up the date and who's in the band....little does Miss Lyn know....they're all stayin' with her! hahahahahaha! just like puttin' up the Insect Surfers in '81 at 25 walbridge street allston! Mo' later!"....


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