New England Music Scrapbook News
Our Corner of the Rock 'n' Roll Life
April 28, 2007
Issue 2007:219

E-MAIL via:
http://www.geocities.com/nemsbook/fred.htm
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We've got Thrills, chills, Dirty Water
What more do you need?
When the big beat hits ya
Comin' from your transistor
Like the T at full speed
When the big beat hits ya...

-- "Boston Lullaby," Dudick/Naihersey.
Copyright c. 1980 by Camaraderie Music, BMI.
All rights reserved. Used with permission.


LAST-MINUTE NEWS :

start here


. . . . .


Preamble
35TH PARALLEL
and
LINDA WORCESTER

An article I pulled together about one of my favorite current bands,

35TH PARALLEL,

is set to run in the Windham County Vermont newspaper, The Commons,
this next week. Meanwhile, I needed to round up an electronic copy of
my earlier 35th Parallel article in the Vermont Guardian of several
months ago. So, since I had that Guardian piece in this computer's
memory anyway, I pasted it below for the benefit of anyone who might
want to look through.

35th Parallel plays world music with a difference. They love their
Eastern instruments and have studied them extensively, but they do not
deny at all that their approach to music is largely informed by their
Western backgrounds. They jam, but I have never seen or heard even
the slightest hint of jam-band self-indulgence. They are
tradition-minded but play a lot of new music. These things and much
more combine to make 35th Parallel one of the most enjoyable bands in
the business.

35th Parallel periodically expands into a five-piece outfit called the
35th Parallel MediterrAsian Jazz Ensemble. That bigger outfit has an
important event planned for this town, Brattleboro, Vermont, maybe a
couple weeks away. More on that later.

Anyway, if you scroll down you should find my Vermont Guardian article
about 35th Parallel, which was published not so very long ago.

We received a highly informative mailing-list e-mail from

LINDA WORSTER,

substantially updating her career. It seems highly doubtful she would
want me to copy much here from her message, without her reviewing it
and giving a go-ahead first. But I definitely do not have time to
request permission and then wait on a permission slip. I am just
mentioning, then, that we have been updated, Linda seems to be doing
well & looking forward to the future, and if you are familiar with her
work or know her personally and would like to be in contact, perhaps
we can help.


IT WAS A GRAVEYARD SMASH...

BOBBY PICKETT
Was One of Us

I was saddened in the Thursday-Friday overnight to hear, on the radio
news, of the death of

BOBBY "BORIS" PICKETT.

Bobby Pickett had one of the great rock 'n' roll novelty hits, "The
Monster Mash."

Pickett was in and out of Boston, in and out of New England. But at
the time his record was a big hit, he was living in the Boston area.
It seems to me he was then based in Somerville.

After "The Monster Mash," the guy pretty much owned Halloween, just as
The Fools pretty much owned April Fool's Day and Arlo Guthrie turned
into some sort of populist hippie king every Thanksgiving.

I remember an album of rock 'n' roll novelties, on Rhino I think. I
don't even recall the theme, though it may simply have been Halloween.
All I remember is that it was great and that it was anchored by
Napoleon the 14th's "They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha Ha" and by "The
Monster Mash."

We loved "The Monster Mash" when it first came out.

We loved it when it peaked on the charts.

We loved it for countless Halloweens thereafter.

We loved the fantastic cover done by The Beach Boys in concert for years.

We loved it on that compilation CD.

We loved the fact that the recording artist was from this region.

And we just plain loved Bobby Pickett and his great hit record.

May his spirit rest in peace.

BOSTON GLOBE HEADLINE :
Bobby Pickett; wrote, did the 'Monster Mash'

Nicknamed "Boris," Bobby Pickett became a fan of horror movies and
Boris Karloff from many afternoons in his father's theater in
Somerville.

By Globe Staff | April 27, 2007

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2007/04/27/bobby_pickett_wr\
ote_did_the_monster_mash/


MIEKA PAULEY

Mieka Pauley: Worth the wait
By Alan Lewis | Special to the Vermont Guardian

Posted April 27, 2007

http://www.vermontguardian.com/members/culture/042007/MiekaPauley.shtml?

I got a chance once before to profile

MIEKA PAULEY

for the Vermont Guardian. But this week's article does more than just
update her career. She gave a fine interview, and we covered a lot of
ground.

There have been some temporary problems with the Vermont Guardian
website lately, and I am not totally clear on whether this piece is
freely available online to all or only available to Guardian subscribers.

If you are interested in this topic and try to get into the article
but can't, e-mail me by way of the following Web page

http://www.geocities.com/nemsbook/fred.htm

and I will e-mail you a plain-text copy of the article.

Once again when I copied the article's header, which is both above and
below the illustration, the picture went through the most amazing
lightning storm acid trip. It was loads of fun to watch.


= = = = =


BRIEF ITEMS :


HEY DAVE
Keeping on the O Positive
Side of Life

In a recent mailing-list e-mail, in reference to a show this past
Wednesday, Boston rocker Dennis Brennan spoke of a scheduled
performance by

"HEY DAVE, with former O POSITIVE members Dave Herlihy, Dave Ingham,
Dave Martin and Ken Hickey along with Charles Berman. Go to

http://www.opositive.com/

for more info."

-- Dennis Brennan, "Sayonara Spring Residency,"
April 24, 2007

Apparently Ken Hickey has never gotten fully in touch with his inner
Dave, as have his several bandmates, but otherwise, this sounds like a
promising outfit. We definitely have old O Positive fans among our
readers, myself included.


JACQUES THIBODEAU

From Pete Weiss:

"JACQUES THIBODEAU: The Boston-based garage-pop whiz
cut some tracks with me (and the wonderful Nathan
Logus on drums) at my old Boston stomping ground,
Zippah Studio. Great to work with Jacques again, and
great to return for a session at Zippah. Check out
Jacques' stuff on Myspace:

www.myspace.com/jacquesthibodeau"

-- "Pete Weiss Production Newsletter No. 21,"
April 20, 2007


BRANDI CARLILE

When I asked Mieka Pauley whether she has had a recent knockout
listening experience, she named roots singer-songwriter

BRANDI CARLILE.

It has been little more than a week, and we have received a second
unsolicited, totally unconnected, and enthusiastic recommendation that
we give a listen to the music of Brandi Carlile. This latter
suggestion came in the form of a mailing-list mailing from Vermont
singer-songwriter and organizer Gregory Douglass.


DROPKICK MURPHYS
Working Up New Songs

"After taking a couple of weeks off to recover from the March/St.
Patrick's Day madness, we're currently in the studio working on new
songs and getting ready to head off to Europe for some awesome
festivals over the summer."

-- Dropkick Murphys, "EU Tour Dates Announced,"
April 25, 2007

Walking through our downtown this (Saturday) morning, I passed a young
guy wearing a Dropkick Murphys T-shirt.

I was wearing my Modern Method "T."


SAVE INTERNET RADIO
A Message From 1980s Pub-Rockers
THE REDUCERS

"Save Internet Radio

"The future of Internet radio is in immediate danger. Royalty rates
for webcasters have been drastically increased by a recent ruling and
are due to go into effect on May 15 (retroactive to Jan 1, 2006!). If
the increased rates remain unchanged, the majority of webcasters, like
NewLondonRocks.com, which features independent artists from
southeastern Connecticut, will most likely have no choice but to shut
down. Internet radio needs your help! For more information and
suggestions on what you can do to help, go to SaveNetRadio.org."

-- Rave On Records, "Reducers at Meriden Daffodil
Festival," April 27, 2007


BRUCE BENSON
of
THE BARBARIANS

"Hi ... trying to contact bruce benson member of moulty and the
barbarians ... please help!"

We have never been in contact with a member of The Barbarians, so
pretty much all we can do is run this as a query. If you could help
put our correspondent in touch with Bruce Benson of The Barbarians and
you are willing, please e-mail us by way of the following Web page:

http://www.geocities.com/nemsbook/fred.htm


TRIPTYCH

From Pete Weiss:

"My neighbor Mark Grieco's vocal trio has settled on a
name! Keep an eye and ear out for TRIPTYCH in the
southern Vermont area."

-- "Pete Weiss Production Newsletter No. 21,"
April 20, 2007


TOM RUSH
East Coast Visit
Heavy Reminiscing

"Eric [Andersen] and I got to reminiscing about the Festival Express
train ride. They got him to be a commentator for the movie. They
never asked me. They should have. I would have told them about the
Olympic-sized swimming pool the promoters hired for us in Winnipeg,
where we all went skinny-dipping. The proprietors didn't like the
idea but couldn't really stop us - it was our pool for an hour. But
they did insist that the long-hairs wear bathing caps, and that was
everybody. Leslie West stark naked with a bathing cap on his head and
a second one upside-down on his beard. One of the most terrifying
things my young eyes had ever seen. Then there was Janis. Probably
the second most terrifying."

-- Tom Rush, "A Note from Tom Rush," April 25,
2007


A Solo Outing by The Dresden Dolls'
AMANDA PALMER

" ... i'm very excited to announce that i

[ AMANDA PALMER ]

am just about to embark on my first solo effort, produced by Ben Folds
in his studio in Nashville. it is going to be a heartbreakingly
beautiful record, released sometime next year."

-- The Dresden Dolls, "True Colors Tour,"
April 20, 2007


LOUDNESS OF CD'S

In our last newsletter issue, we copied an item, from the latest
production newsletter by Pete Weiss, having to do with the loudness of
CDs. He has since suggested the following, from the TapeOp message
board, for more in-depth reading:

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=38697


"MAGIC MUSHROOM" QUERY
No Reply

I ran an inquiry in the last issue of this newsletter as to whether
any of our readers are familiar with a truly legendary magazine article,

R. Gordon Wasson, "Seeking the Magic Mushroom," Life, May 13, 1957,
starts on page 100.

That query drew no responses. Too bad.

I think my memory is going to be borne out that early drug references
made by Eric Von Schmidt date back to just this time. But either way,
the Life magazine article was a major influence on 1960s and 1970s
drug culture through Timothy Leary and in many other ways.

I personally have never been into drugs beyond prescribed and
over-the-counter allergy medicine. In fact, if you have any allergy
medicine to spare and you could drive it to southern Vermont in a
major hurry, I'll give you directions. But anyway, as it turns out,
one of the main folks responsible for the magic mushroom article is a
direct descendant of one of the people (ironically, a temperance
singer) who I am at present researching. I had hoped for something
personal and anecdotal, even if available for only deep background
information, in addition to the published sources I can find, myself.


end BRIEF ITEMS


= = = = =


THE NEIGHBORHOODS
David Minehan as a Guitar Hero

It was explained to me why it is that all of a sudden the recording by

THE NEIGHBORHOODS

which is on the soundtrack of the Guitar Hero II game is a hot topic.
But I have totally forgotten the explanation. Here is the first of
many messages we have lately received on the topic:

"I picked up Guitar Hero 2. (GH1 doesn't come with a controller these
days, plan on getting it later.)

"I was flipping through the songs you can purchase, and I find a song
called 'Parasite.'

"'Boston legends The Neighborhoods helped to pioneer the sound of the
hooky garage-rock that still dominates the music scene today' is the
description of the song.

"I don't know this song, and it doesn't particularly sound like THE
Neighborhoods. Is this something you know about?"

We got a very large number of e-mails about this soundtrack track this
past week, and the volume of messages is pretty nearly all I remember.

For instance, I asked my e-friend Maria McLaughlin about this track,
and she got back to me not much later. The three messages that came
just before hers were also all about The Neighborhoods' GH2 track.

We received just three e-mails in the Friday-Saturday overnight, and
one of them is about the Neighborhoods recording in the Guitar Hero II
soundtrack.

Clearly this is a topic of some current interest.

My friend Maria, when dealing with a related question, was put in
touch with Johnny Lynch, the group's drummer. It seems that one good
way of contacting the band is by way of Lynch, and he has a website at

http://www.johnnyrocklynch.com/

As desirable as a Neighborhoods mailing list might be, the band does
not have one as of the latest word received here. If you should write
The Neighborhoods, say, to pay respects, dropping a broad hint about
the need for periodic mailings from the band might not be a bad idea.
Just a thought.


Punk Rock Film
PUNK'S NOT DEAD

"Punk's Not Dead
USA, 2006, 115 min
New England Premiere
Directed By: Susan Dynner
Co-presented by Newbury Comics

"Punk did not stutter mid-step in tight shiny pants and get booed off
the stage like Disco did. Punk music has clung to cultural history
the way filth hangs around behind the refrigerator. It has marched
on, screaming and spiky, through contemporary history, from the
seventies all the way through today. So what is it about punk music
that has allowed it not only to survive several changes in cultural
styles, but also to remain popular for so many years? PUNK'S NOT DEAD
asks that question (among others) as journeys through reminiscences
about the punk of yore to revelations about its reinvention today.

"Susan Dynner's exhilarating documentary explores the entirety of the
punk scene and how a musical style can expand well beyond its
three-chord structure to infiltrate society at large. From interviews
and clips, Dynner crafts an exhaustively-researched look at the
origins and evolution of punk music, pinpointing exactly what has
changed and what has remained in its 30-year history. Why is it that
the original bands are still playing and are more popular than ever?
Is it just the rebellious rage passed down from generation to
generation that makes punk so resilient, or is there more to its
lasting success? How is it possible that punk has been used by
advertising agencies to sell products? Is the music on its way out,
having been misused and watered down for today's consumer lifestyle,
or is the market itself the perfect place for the music to regain
strength? Only one thing is truly certain: for now, punk music is
still alive and thrashing."

-- Jillian Maryonovich, Coolidge Corner Theatre,
"Punk Documentary at the Independent Film
Festival of Boston," April 25, 2007


KURT VONNEGUT

Here is an actual example of what I wrote about an issue or two back,
following the death of author

KURT VONNEGUT.

A sentence in the first draft of this newsletter issue read exactly as
follows:

"Last time I ran an inquiry as to whether any of our readers are
familiar with a truly legendary magazine article, R. Gordon Wasson,
'Seeking the Magic Mushroom,' Life, May 13, 1957, starts on page 100."

When it came out, that sentence made perfect sense to me. What I had
in mind was,

Last time we got together by way of this newsletter, I ran an inquiry...

Some people might have gotten the basic idea the first time through.
Others would have read

Last time I ran an inquiry,

as a single phrase and then soon would have stopped in their tracks
and puzzled over it, when they noticed that it didn't quite fit with
the rest of the sentence.

Kurt Vonnegut taught to write in such a way as to keep the readers'
eyes moving. Taking this to be good, experienced, carefully
considered advice, I keep it always in mind when self-editing my work
(to the degree that available time permits self-editing).

I have not actually rewritten the example sentence yet, so at this
moment I can't tell how it will have come out when you read this
issue. But I can assure you that the sentence will be rewritten; and
whether or not the change seems significant to you, I do believe you
will notice the change.

There has been an effort on this end to learn from Kurt Vonnegut.


35TH PARALLEL

Unparalleled:
Westernizing Eastern music,
duo produces an uncommon sound
By Alan Lewis | Special to the Vermont Guardian

posted August 25, 2006

"We know that the sounds of our instruments, the timbres, are enough
to help us to stand out, to catch the new listener's ear," said 35th
Parallel member Mac Ritchie. "When Gabe [Halberg] got that jaw harp,
the kou xiang, I thought it was important to get that sound recorded
and on our album. Gabe plays a really catchy melody on this tiny
little fan of metal tines stuck in his mouth — that alone is enough to
get people thinking differently about where a catchy melody can come
from."

This is a great introduction to 35th Parallel, a duo sporting a look
with early 70s touches, playing concerts for contemporary popular
audiences, and producing a sound not quite like anything commonly heard.

"One of the things we've heard over and over from Western audiences is
that our music, although `unusual,' is extremely accessible," said
Halberg. "Part of this, I think, is that we `modernize' the music —
not in terms of watering it down so it's more digestible, but in terms
of injecting everything we play with a contemporary aesthetic.

"Both Mac and I are Westerners," he continued. "We grew up listening
to the same stuff that most mainstream Americans were listening to in
the 80s — particularly those mainstream Americans who were riding a
school bus every day. Our musical sensibilities have grown from
countless sources, many, many of them being Western styles of music.
So although we're playing Middle Eastern and Indian instruments, we've
heavily studied traditional forms of music from India and the Middle
East, and we play a lot of traditional Middle Eastern pieces, I think
our non-Eastern musical backgrounds actually come through in our
playing in a way that helps people relate more to these sounds they
may never have heard before."

Crossing Painted Islands, the latest release, features both the core
duo and a larger group, the 35th Parallel MediterrAsian Jazz Ensemble
(MJE), making this album equally potent for quieting the mind for
spiritual exploration or exciting the feet to dance.

"As a group, we're also very drawn to rhythms and motifs that
`groove,'" said Halberg. "Lots of Indian and Middle Eastern music
grooves heavily, and I think people who listen to our music pick up on
that as well."

Asked about influences from the improvisational music side, Ritchie
said, "First and foremost for me, jazz fusion — the kind of bands with
electric bass — really got me thinking about jazz. I was coming from a
rock background. The drive and snap from Bill Bruford's stuff with
Alan Holdsworth and Jeff Berlin, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and now people
like Wayne Krantz, Club D'elf ... that's what drew me into that world.
But this was coming from Yes and King Crimson — not a far step to
take, really."

Halberg's answer overlapped Ritchie's, hinting at how these two
musicians — Halberg based around Montpelier, Ritchie in New Hampshire
— can come together to form a great two-piece band. One inspiration,
though, for expanding for the MJE project came quite close to home.

The 9-piece jazz/dance band viperHouse "featured Michael Chorney,
Brian Boyes, and Zach Tonnissen — the horn players on Crossing Painted
Islands and members of the MJE," recalled Halberg. "I sat in with
viperHouse a long time ago for a couple pieces in a Mingus tribute
they were doing as part of the Burlington Jazz Fest. After this set,
they played a full show of their own material. I'd actually never
heard them before, outside of rehearsals of the Mingus thing, and I
was blown away. I immediately had dreams of fusing their funky fat
horn-work with a more world-music based ensemble, heavy on the
percussion. 35th Parallel didn't even exist at that point. I just had
this dream of `something.' And what we're doing with the MJE really
brings that dream into being."

A couple of cuts on Crossing Painted Islands are quite unlike the rest
of the album. "Kou Xiang, a short, fun instrumental, could be compared
to Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks more easily than to Ravi Shankar.
Said Halberg, " `Kou Xiang' for me, serves the role of a breather: a
light dish to sort of clear the palette between more substantive
courses." By contrast, he said, "`The Deep' is kind of a `Whoa, that's
wild' piece — certainly not a light dish in the meal, but definitely
an other-worldly moment that hopefully deepens the appreciation for
the other, more familiar tastes on the album."

"`The Deep' actually comes from an idea we launched at our first
performance with `The Ensemble,'" recalled Ritchie. "We had slotted a
spot for a jam, phrased as `C# didjerido, throat singing, and horns.'
It was one of those moments where, on the spot, something really
amazing was created — really successful improv. We tried a couple of
versions for the studio, trying to recreate what had happened that
night. This felt like what was wanting to come out this time [was]
around on the same concept, the same theme — this time without the horns."

From Thursday, Sept. 14, to Saturday, Sept. 16, 35th Parallel has
shows at Burlington's Firehouse Music Series, at the Black Door in
Montpelier, and at the Hardwick Town House respectively, the latter
two featuring the MediterrAsian Jazz Ensemble. After that are
appearances in Massachusetts and a trip through Maine.

"We're working on setting up some mid-November shows with cellist
Kristen Miller in New Hampshire and Vermont," noted Halberg. Lately,
many New England musicians have been singing Miller's praises. In
March, Halberg said, "We just recently met with a fabulous cellist
named Kristen Miller in New Hampshire. She's an amazing player, with a
totally unique approach and sensibility. During our jam session it was
clear that the musical `click' was just right, and we all stated very
clearly that we want to do an album together."

Mark your calendars for September's MediterrAsian swing through Vermont.

For more information, visit www.35thparallel.com/.

Accessed April 22, 2007 from www.vermontguardian.com.


ARTISTS AND BANDS
WORKING AT THE BUSINESS
OF BEING ARTISTS AND BANDS

Many of the artists written up in these pages, or written up in Web
documents linked to from this newsletter, have hard-earned reputations
as punks, bad boys or bad girls, country rebels, tough characters in
general, and so forth. We would hate to do anything injurious to
their careers by saying something nice about them. At the same time...

Certain artists work uncommonly hard at getting their music out to the
people who would appreciate it. We don't always know who they are,
but sometimes we do.

I get up really, REALLY early. At present, the very LATEST my alarm
clock is ever set for is 2:15 a.m. There is not a lot of e-mail
activity in the first few hours after I get online. But there is some.

There are a few artists ... not a lot of them ... who stay up extra
late, or get up extra early, or both, in order to keep moving their
careers forward. They have new songs you've GOT to hear. Or they
have new bookings they've GOT to let you know about. Their music is
important stuff, and they mean to share it. No if's, and's, or but's
about it.

There is no time of day or night when we are safe from getting a

DROPKICK MURPHYS

e-mail. I don't know whether it is true of the whole DKM operation or
just true of one or two members. But clearly there is an insider who
cares very much about Dropkick Murphys music. Or there are insiders...

The Dropkicks are hardly the only artists who make it their business
to work hard at their business. DKM just happens to be the band that
inspired this item, by sending a promotional e-mail at a time of night
that, to most folks - even nightlife folks - would be absolutely
ridiculous. And as Boston Globe sports columnist Bob Ryan would say,
the only thing you need to know is that this is not the first time it
has happened.

The Dropkick Murphys have had solid success. And they got it the
old-fashioned way: they worked hard for it. At the VERY least, one
band member did. And probably more.

I once asked rock singer-songwriter

ERIN McKEOWN

about her debut cassette. It sold a lot of copies, and she once told
me a colorful story about all the work that went into getting those
tapes out to fans who wanted them.

Once at a Hudson River Sloop Singers concert,

PETE SEEGER

was far too sick with the flu to take the stage. But he played the
first half of the show anyway.

Brett Milano once told of getting a record from

LAURIE GELTMAN.

It was produced so meticulously that he thought he was listening to an
advance copy of a finished album of major label quality. It was
actually a self-funded, do-it-yourself demo.

And so it goes...

A tip of the hat to all the artists who are so eager to get their
music out to the music lovers of the world that they are going to do
it pretty nearly no matter what it takes.


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. . . . .


If you have friends who would be interested in any of the items in
this issue, please forward this newsletter to them. Thanks!


As a rule, we do not post SHOW LISTINGS. The reason is quite
simple. Our readers are spread out all over the map. Though our name
is the NEW ENGLAND Music Scrapbook, we have readers all across the
southern tier of states - with a large number in Florida and another
large number in the Atlanta area. Even within the Northeast, we have
readers in each of the six New England states and many in New York and
New Jersey. The great majority of show listings would be of no
interest at all to most of our readers.

We make exceptions when show listings are part of an item of more
general interest. CD-release events are great examples. For us, the
main point of an item of this sort is that an act has a new record.
The show being announced is of secondary interest to us - if that - as
far as the contents of our newsletter goes.

We also make a few exceptions for shows in the immediate Boston
area. Our single biggest concentration of readers, as far as we know,
is in and around Boston. We understand from e-mails we receive that
we are able to help turn out an audience to many entertainments in the
Boston area. But even in the case of Boston shows, we make few
exceptions.

So, the general rule of thumb is that we don't post show
listings. In the very few, truly exceptional instances where we do...


... Shows can be canceled, sold out, or even moved to another
date or location. We recommend checking the Web, calling ahead or
otherwise confirming details.


Exceptionally long addresses may need to be pasted into the
address field, which is probably toward the top of your browser
screen. Some addresses are so extremely long that they may have to be
pasted in two or more pieces.


New England Music Scrapbook :

http://www.geocities.com/nemsbook/home.htm

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Issue 2007:219

Published no less often than monthly.
We're guessing eventually we'll settle
into an every-other-week schedule.

Copyright © 2007 by the New England Music Scrapbook. All rights reserved.

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