First of all, props to whomever designed the
poster/logo of the Earth as the Corona Virus. Brilliant.
Even for those not directly affected by the
Covid 19 virus, we are all mutually suffering through it. For some, it is being
locked away and sequestered like Rapunzel, and others it’s a tantrum reaction
to being told to stay inside so they bring out their misspelled placards and
guns. But if you are talented and involved in the arts? It can be an opportunity
to spread those butterfly wings (okay, not literally…).
Michael Thurber
The East Coast has been hit hard, and what’s a
New England writer for film and theater supposed to do to take up the time?
Well, if you’re Lenny Schwartz, you write a screenplay about the sitch. Plus,
thanks to the Found Footage style genre, use of Skype, Snapchat, WeChat and now
especially Zoom (among others), combined with a culture of selfies, artists who
are used to being in front of the camera, even if it is their own, can still
work from their locus. Then with Nathan Suher, you turn that into a visual work
of art.
Lenny wrote a long screenplay that fits in 117
actors as characters, many from his local New England part of the world, and
has them leapfrog each other; or another way to see it is as a game of Tag-team.
As one quick story end, usually lasting a minute or two, it concludes with them
describing someone like their neighbor, friend, spouse, parents, “essential
workers,” etc., and then we meet them. It’s like a railroad apartment of
actors, going from room to room sequentially.
Jamie Lyn Bagley
Each has a different story, possessing its own
tone, with quite the wide range. It can go from hysterically funny, to tragic,
to a “yep, that’s what it’s like for me” moment for the viewer. We see people
who are loving, fighting, depressed, really getting into the separation, and so
forth (and scooby-doo-bee-doo).
As I indicated, the cast is mainly actors,
directors, and crew of independent film and local theater troupes. For example,
there’s Michael Thurber who runs the Theater Company of Rhode Island, Scorpio
Releasing film director Richard Griffin, and a whole menagerie of actors like
underrated Jamie Lyn Bagely (who is also a mindfulness/yoga instructor),
Samantha Acampora (also a Rocky Horror Picture Show reenactor), Chad
Kaplan (also an film animator), Sheri Lee (who was wonderful in the short film Doll
House), and a host of so many others, all worth mentioning but… who has the
time? Go look it up on IMDB. Or better still, watch the film. Anyway, as I was
saying…
Richard Griffin
There are a lot of really smart moments, such
as the teen girl who sells her engagement ring and goes to party on a beach in Florida,
or a couple who wake up their marriage by robbing from closed stores. While
some of it sounds a bit fantastical, most of it is a realistic montage of
moments of pathos and joy, sadness and surprised bliss, and the occasional just
plain wackiness. Some find inner peace; others find their fears.
Samantha Acampora
One of the aspects of this whole event that it
touches on indirectly is that people are losing their minds over two-three
weeks of isolation. How do survivalists plan to – err – survive for months in seclusion
in shelters? Speaking of survivalist types, despite it’s length I really would
have liked to have seen more representatives of the extreme right wing (like
those maroons protesting with armor that they want haircuts and to dine in
restaurants – talk about White Privilege) and religious fanatics that believe Jeebus
will cure all who believe. I am, however, happy how little the President, who
holds much responsibility for what is going on that triggered this film, is
mentioned (he would love that).
Sheri Lee
When all is said and done, even after the quarantine
is lifted and life goes back to relatively normal work-eat-shit-sleep, this
will remain as possibly an important time capsule of what it was like “in the
time of the plague.”
From beginning of the concept to the final editing
took a total of three weeks, and many characters mention being locked up for
two weeks and going stir crazy. I have been home for a month now, and I gotta
say as much as I would like to go out, it has not been that bad. The house is
clean, I have seen some really interesting films like this one, kept in
touch with friends and relations, and done quite a bit of writing. Perhaps when
the second wave hits, as it is supposed to happen around the beginning of the New
Year (Happy Holidays everyone…), just when we hopefully usher in a new
President, we may see volume two? I am not wishing for it, just curious, as I
would concerning a sequel about after the whole megillah is over
and done.
Of course, computer use has had a drastic impact on both the workplace
and home, especially since the 1990s; in some cases, both at the same time.
Research:
For most people, an increasing amount of what
is done online is considered research. Here is an example of how research has
changed with the Internet:
I have a friend who, in the 1990s, worked for
a major law office near Rockefeller Center in Midtown, New York City. The company’s
files were kept in a warehouse in New Jersey, just over the Hudson River,
probably no more than 10 miles away. When a lawyer needed some information from
a file box, he would contact my friend, who was the company’s Records Manager.
My friend would then look up the box number and call the warehouse. They would
locate the box, put it on the back of a truck, and bring it into the city where
it would be delivered to him, and he would have it brought to the lawyer. After
the lawyer was done, the lawyer would phone my friend, who would have the box
brought back to his office. He would then call the warehouse who would send the
truck back into the city to pick up the box, and it would be stored in its place
on a shelf. This was a three-day process from beginning to end. Now, the lawyer
would type onto the computer, and retrieve the .pdf scanned file in seconds.
Introduction of a technology does not change
any singular thing; it changes everything in a culture. This is incredibly true
for methods of research. If you are looking for a job, that’s research. Until
recently, you would explore the newspapers’ Employment section for the Want Ads;
now there are dedicated websites which fall into three categories that are much
more efficient.
The first category is known as a clearing
house, where a company needing to fill a position will contact the website and ask
(or pay) to have the job posted on their site. The second is a search engine,
where the website looks for jobs on company websites by using key words, such
as Construction, Administrative, or Purchasing Manager. An
example of a Search Engine is Indeed. The third is more direct, such as Craigs
List or Kijiji, where the employer directly puts the ad on the site. With the
latter, however, there is no oversight so be sure to research the companies
asking for employees.
Research can also be getting directions such
as before an interview, the schedule of the mass transit from your house to the
organization where you are going, and using Google Street Maps to see what the front
of the company looks like beforehand when you go there.
An especially important aspect of research is
finding out about the company, especially when you are called in for an
interview. It’s good to know where various offices are located if it’s a large national
or multi-national corporation, the name of the CEO, who your boss may be if it
is listed, what the company does, and especially its Values and Mission
Statement, which can usually be found on the company website. It is not
necessary to memorize the Values and Mission Statement, but it is a good idea
to be able to paraphrase it, at least. It is becoming more common during an
interview to be asked, “What is our Mission Statement?”
Researching a company through their website or
social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Wikipedia can be helpful to learning
the company’s corporate culture and footprint.
Telecommuting:
First of all, a bit of clarification: telecommuting
is when your place of employment is in one location, and where you physically do
the job online in another, such as at home. This has both good points and less
favorable, but which is which may depend more on your own personality as much
as the logistics.
One of the benefits is that when it is a stormy
or bitterly cold day outside, you do not have to leave the comfort of your own
personal space. It also means that there is no footprint left behind from your
commute, such as exhaust from your car or money for gas or public
transportation. You also do not have to spend the time commuting. When I lived
in Brooklyn, it was 70 minutes to work in Manhattan and the same back. Sure, I used
that time for reading, but with telecommuting, one does not need to rush around
due to transportation schedules, as one is already “at work.”
Here is the part that is more of a personal choice
and work style. For some people, working from home is a boon in that there are
less people trying to take up your time chatting, and with less external distractions,
it is easier to work without interruption. For example, hearing other people
make phone calls from the same room in an office is a major distraction for me.
For others, it is the opposite: When at home,
it can also be easier to be distracted by that pile of dishes that need
washing, the dog that needs walking or the cat that crawls on your lap while
you are at the computer. Also, if you’re more of a social animal, it can get a
bit lonely staying at home all the time (just look at what the spring of 2020
taught us about the possible loneliness of self-isolating).
Here is another aspect to telecommuting. While
you don’t have to go out in bad weather, it also means that there are no snow
days, or transit strikes to impede your work. Most people find themselves
working even when they are sick since they are already at home and there is no coworkers
to affect. Historically, it has been shown that people also tend to work past
the hours they would normally do so. For most, work starts at 9 AM and then you
leave the it all behind at 5 PM. But when you are working from home, people tend
to turn on the computer when they wake, and work past supper. For those that
get paid a flat yearly fee, that decreases the amount per hour you are paid, as
there is no overtime. Even with an hourly wage, people tend to want to finish
projects if it’s an hour or two longer, though they don’t get paid for it.
Depending on your personality type, being an
introvert or extrovert, telecommuting can be a great boon, or not. It is, however, becoming more
the norm. A company I worked for used to have 15 employees in the office. Now
they still have the same work staff, but only three on location, with the
others scattered over the United States. They all do the exact same job, but
they do it in the relative ease of where they want to live, including Seattle,
Minneapolis, Southern New Jersey, Delaware, and so forth.
Telecommuting can be an excellent way to get
work done and get into a zone of production, and you could find yourself being
more productive and efficient.
As I unwrapped the gift,
the album cover radiated a golden glow. The photograph was of a figure playing guitar
in front of a gigantic amplifier. The guitar player was surrounded by an electric
halo. There was something reverent, even religious about the image. Now, I would
call the cover of T. Rex’s Electric Warrior iconic. The cover was designed
by British art group Hipnosis, based on a photograph by Kieron “Spud” Murphy.
The mystique of this album
cover art and the poetic rock’n’roll seduction within changed me and my life forever.
I had recently turned 14, but I was still a sheltered child until T. Rex thrust
teenhood upon me for the very first time. T. Rex brought color, sparkle, fun, and
glamor. Before Marc Bolan burst out, fully formed majestically from his own brow,
rock’n’roll meant Elvis Presley and the Beatles, seemingly safe-as-milk music that
your mother and grandmother could love. T. Rex was the private territory and personal
property of teenagers.
There were no Glamrock boutiques
in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1971, so, I had to use my imagination and creativity
to remake myself from a little antisocial nerd-bird to the first glitter girl on
my block. I pincurled my hair, wore rhinestone earrings and necklaces borrowed from
mommy’s jewelry box, put together strange ensembles from vintage finds, and changed
from a Coco Baroque or Too Too Bamboo-lipped mod doll to candy apple-lipped glamrock
vixen. At concerts, grown ups called me “acid queen,” although I had barely kissed
a boy (a birthday kiss!!!) and I had not touched any drug! When a sweet,
innocent former Girl Scout hears T. Rex, there is no turning back.
“Bang A Gong” hit the US
airwaves in July 1971, and that was T. Rex’s only Top Ten hit in the US. It sounded
like sex, even if I didn’t know exactly what sex was. Those "dirty and sweet”
power chords and the explosion of the percussion’s primal boom shot through my head,
my heart, and my body.
“Bang A Gong” was often referenced
by many bands over the decades, most notably on the first Oasis single, ”Cigarettes
and Alcohol.” The single sounded like Johnny Rotten fronting T. Rex, a perfect amalgam
for me in the Britpop ‘90s. This proved how much staying power T. Rex had, and when
you hear the song today it still sounds fresh and exciting.
Some of my other long-time
favorites like Paul Weller of the Jam and Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream count
Electric Warrior as among the greatest. Weller said it is “one of my all-time
favorites. The guitar playing is really unique – you know the sound instantly.”
Gillespie said “’Bang-A-Gong’ is one of my all-time favorite pop songs. When I was
growing up, singles were an art statement. T. Rex was changing all the time. As
a fan, you wanted to know what they wore and whether you could follow them to that
new place.”
With Electric Warrior,
I was hooked. So, I started delving into the past for Bolan treasures and searched
for the key to the alchemy that helped create the beautiful and perfect man-child
with celestial curls, with his Les Paul as an integral appendage; the fact that
Bolan compared his love interest to a car was no small part of the attraction. Bolan
conjured lyrics that were equal parts cosmic poetry and rock’n’roll heart.
Marc Bolan’s roots included
joining a psych rock group that dressed all in white called John’s Children, with
an album and several singles, including “Desdemona.” Next came the folk rock psychedelia
of Tyrannosaurus Rex that recorded four albums between 1968-1970. Bolan was on acoustic
guitar with first Steve Peregrin Took and then Mickey Finn on percussion The band’s
first single, ”Debora,” was released in 1968, and was included on their first album,
My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their
Hair But Now They’re Content to Wear Stars on Their Brow, was released in June
1968. Bolan’s warble was so exotic that the producer, Tony Visconti, thought Bolan
was singing in a foreign language. T. Rex, released in December 1970, was
the first album under the T. Rex name and bridged the gap between the folk rock
psychedelia of Tyrannosaurus Rex and the power chord orgy and hysteria-inducing
T. Rex.
Although this was six years
after Dylan was booed by folk purists for going electric, Bolan experienced his
own “Judas” moment when long-time supporter and personal friend John Peel dismissed
the electric phase of his musical career as being a “sell out.” Like his hero Dylan,
I doubt Bolan ever did anything to sell out. Bolan, from the earliest age, wanted
to be a teen idol. Whatever Bolan did, he did it on his own terms and to fulfill
his vision of his ideal self. Bolan, who was always assured of his impending
superstardom, was an iconoclast who sought to please himself and his fans. In July
1972, The Slider was released. By this point, it was clear that Bolan was
trying to concoct some magical, alchemical sound and spectacle for fans who knew
about Presley, the Beatles, and Hendrix but were too young to experience them live.
The rock’n’roll cocktail Bolan served up with splashes of Presley, Chuck Berry,
Eddie Cochran, Beatles, the Who, and Hendrix, shaken not stirred for the coolest,
most iconic superstar potion, like the visitor from Lord of the Rings reimagined
as a Dylan coiffed vampire troubadour who rocked a Les Paul, not a lute. Such perfect
pop, but so deliciously strange like a sweet drink with a bitter, yet addictive
after-taste.
Was this really 48 years
ago?! Bolan’s songs retain power and relevance, and have even more resonance for
me today despite their being close to half a century old. Right now, we have the
bad orange man failing to lead during a worldwide pandemic and we need songs
like “Metal Guru.” It is comforting to me, imagining a futuristic extraterrestrial
with corkscrew hair serenading me, freeing my body like Presley, and freeing my
mind like Dylan. “Mystic Lady” seduces. “Buick Mackane” takes you by force. “The
Slider,” ”Baby Boomerang,” ”Spaceball Ricochet,” “Telegram Sam” and “Baby Strange,”
and the rest, are all a part of me on a cellular level. Every nuance of every song
is in my DNA.
Tanx was released in January
1973, and was described as “interstellar soul,” which I believe influenced David
Bowie’s Young Americans. Some wonder if there ever would have been a Ziggy
Stardust had there been no T. Rex. I feel Bowie – as well as Prince – owe debts
to Bolan musically, fashion- and image-wise. “Born to Boogie” and “Life Is Strange”
stand out on the 1994 CD version of Tanx, along with other greats like “Children
of The Revolution,” ‘Solid Gold East Action,” and “20th Century Boy.”
Zinc Alloy and the Hidden
Riders of Tomorrow released in February 1994 was celebrated by neither fans nor the
critics. “Teenage Dream,” which reached #14 was Bolan’s last hit until “New York
City” in 1975.
Light of Love was a US-only album in 1974,
with 3 tracks from Zinc Alloy, with eight songs recorded at Music Recorders
in Hollywood that would end up on Bolan’s Zip Gun, released in February 1975.
Ken Barnes wrote in a Rolling Stone review, ”Bolan’s vocals still retain
the amphetamine amphibian warble, but at times his snarl is tough enough to rival
the Seeds, a considerable achievement.”
Zip Gun was Bolan’s tenth album.
Bolan continued in an R&B-influenced vein, joined by Gloria Jones of “Tainted
Love” fame. Futuristic Dragon brought a return to form in January 1976. “New
York City” is a blast and ushered in the moment where Bolan reinvented himself as
the “godfather of punk.” This phase saw him promoting punk era bands like the Jam,
Generation X, Eddie and the Hot Rods, andthe Boomtown Rats on his television show, “Marc.” Moreover, Bolan booked
a sellout show in London with the Damned.
Dandy in the Underworld, the eleventh album, was
a swan song of sorts, about six months before Bolan left this mortal coil due to
an auto accident just short of his 30th birthday. Great title, great photo, great
songs-helping fans keep a little Marc in their hearts. Sadly, I never saw Marc Bolan
live, but I asked a friend, Binky Philips of the Planets what it was
like to experience the splendor of T. Rex in the flesh. Binky said, “I saw T. Rex
at Carnegie Hall on February 27, 1972. I was crazy about their singles they had
put out and I was intrigued by how Marc Bolan was a one-man Beatlemania in the UK.
I’d been an Anglophile since February 9, 1964. So, I was well-versed on all things
Brit. The Carnegie Hall show might have been the most exciting first ten minutes
of any gig I have ever seen. The band hit the stage with every stage light blazing.
Marc was wearing a satin jacket over a white t-shirt that had his own face covering
his entire torso. I was just dazzled by that over-the-top ego trip. They launched
into my own top five favorite T. Rex song, ”Cadilac”(no typo), a track relegated
to a B-side and not on any album. I thought that was fantastically ballsy. The whole
audience felt like it was on the verge of screaming like 13-year-old girls, the
opening was so strong that Marc and Mickey and Steve and Bill just could not sustain
the excitement. But T. Rex made a delicious ungodly noise that I can still hear
in my mind’s ear.”
The delicious ungodly
noise is what got T. Rex inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year.
I voted for the band and was excited more than any induction before. The event was
supposed to be held May 5, but because of the pandemic, the festivities were rescheduled
for November 7, 2020. Congratulations to
drummer Bill Legend, the only living member of T. Rex. Congrats to Bolan’s son, Rolan, and
his mother, Gloria Jones, and all the band’s family, friends, and admirers. Congratulations and thanks to Mark
Feld Bolan, who is still the prettiest star.
I believe Bolan is grinning
down from his “armor plated chair” (throne?) on the astral plane and there is an
angel polishing his “hub cab diamond star halo.”
What do you do when
you’re an independent filmmaker, and you can’t gather your cast due to a
worldwide pandemic? Well, the answer for the collective at Scorpio Film
Releasing, under the direction of indie maestro Richard Griffin, is to make a “science-fiction
homage of the [radio] serials of the 1930s-‘50 that’s filled with action,
romance, danger and cheap special [sound] effects!” (in his own words).
Of course, I’m not old
enough to have lived through those bygone days of yore, when people gathered ‘round
the tube radio to listen to adventure stories, but I have heard serials on cassette
tapes. I even stayed at a Bed & Breakfast (yes, I’m one of those people) in
New Hampshire that had it’s own radio station, and they broadcast old serial
shows. Point is, I’m somewhat familiar with the Flash Gordon and Perils
of Pauline style of broadcasts. Heck, there were even serial versions of Superman
and Batman back in the day.
For the format of the
serial broadcast with Planet of the Gorilla Suits, which is broken up
into 10 parts (that’s why it’s serial, not cereal… sorry), averaging about 4
minutes per episode, the cast is seen on multiple screens (Skype?) reading from
their respective homes, keepin’ it real – and safe.
The basic premise is
that a group of scientists, the astronaut Rhett and his young brother Bucky
(there was always one of those high-pitched voice comedy relief guys in these
serials, and in 1950s sci-fi films, often with nicknames like “Brooklyn”), are sent
to Mars because rays from the planet are causing auto accidents on Earth. There,
they run into a humanoid race living underground (including one in a bikini and
an evil “Ming the Emperor” type leader called Lepton the Lethal). Above ground
are the titular “Gorilla Suits” apes who are apparently being driven mad by the
results of our atomic tests.
This sci-fi ‘cast has
it all, like giant spiders and scorpions, killer robots that you know are going
to look like Robbie the Robot in your mind (or perhaps the one from “Lost in
Space”). I do find it interesting that the leaders of the humanoids and
the gorilla suits are women, and both are out for blood.
Written by Guy Benoit
(who wrote the excellent film, Exhumed), if this sounds goofy, it is, and
it is also hysterically over-the-top funny. For example, one of the “sponsors”
of the show is Asbestos Cigarettes, which is promoted by “9 out of 10 doctors
on iron lungs,” and good for anyone “8 to 80.” I wish there were more of these
kinds of ads throughout, but I’m being picky.
There is no doubt that
the story is silly and attached by a string of WTFs, but if you did
listen to any other original serials, this is actually quite accurate, while
being a loving jab at them at the same time. It kept me smiling all the way
through, and even had a few LOLs thrown in.
I love that this
troupe is doing this, because this is perfect for sitting around the house day
after day, week after week. This serial was released over a two-week period,
but honestly, I waited until they were all done to binge watch/listen (my
style), rather than “tune in next time for…” as the cliffhangers (did you know
that expression was named for the Perils of Pauline serial, much like “jump
the shark” was for “Happy Days”?) rolled on by. I’m impatient to find out what
happens “next.”
What’s even better is
that this is only the first of the serials, with new ones to be starting shortly,
each of a different type. I believe the next will be a romantic comedy. I’m looking
forward to when they do a Lights Out kind of horror thing, but will
enjoy what they throw my way in the meantime.
The first episode is
linked below, and they will flow through and jump to the next as you watch
them. Have a blast!
This interview was originally published in Big Star fanzine, issue #3, dated Spring 1978. It was written by Gary Sperrazza!,
who passed away in 2016 (but his exclamation point lives on). Thanks to Bernie
Kugel, the fanzine’s publisher, who kindly granted permission for this reprint.
Metal Mike Saunders is a name that was a much larger known West Coast
punk personality than in the East, but he had quite an influence through his
early punk rock journalism at both national and fanzine levels, and later with
hardcore bands like VOM, and especially the Angry Samoans (who have been
touring again in the last couple of years). However, his biggest claim to fame
that no one seems to remember is that he is credited with coining the phrase “Heavy
Metal.” – RBF, 2020
* * *
In the early ‘70s, Mike Saunders was one of the leading and best writers
around, especially when he was writing about the topics most near and dear to
him: heavy metal and punk rock of the ‘60s, in such diverse publications as Flash magazine, Phonograph Record Magazine and Buffalo’s own lamented Shakin’ Street Gazette. He also was partly responsible for the legendary
Brain Damage mag, the great one-shot
parody of the big fanzines a few years back. He was also one of the guys initially
responsible for the quickly-becoming-legendary West Coast rock critic punk
band, VOM, even though he seems to have stepped back from taking a major role
in the band, preferring to just “churn out heavy metal riffs.” Some of the
classics he’s written over the years includes such underground hits as “Got a
Dagger for You Jagger,” “Just Killed My Dad,” “Getting High with Stephen
Stills,” “Gary Gilmore is my Friend,” and many others which will hopefully find
their way to vinyl in one form or another, eventually.
Lester Bangs [d. 1982 – RBF] recently told me that Metal Mike was truly “ahead
of his time.” So to satisfy the needs of all the Metal Mike fans across the
globe, we present this little interview recently done by Big Star West Coast Editor, Gary Sperrazza! – BK, 1978
* * *
Big Star: What have you been doing lately?
Metal Mike Saunders: Well, from 1973
through mid-’75, I worked a 9-to-5 office job here in LA that truly inspired me
to go back to Arkansas and get a second college (degree) so I could become an
accountant. I saved a lot of money those two years. A lot for what I was making, but… so now I’ve got the degree, got
suits in the closet, my hair is cut short, (and) I’m hunting for that first
accounting job. I guess my goal is to have $100,000 in the bank at the age of
35. That’s really sick, you know! But accounting is a vehicle through which to achieve
that goal, and it’s (a) great profession, besides. Do you really think anyone
cares about this trivia, outside of my mother?
Big Star: Not really.
Metal Mike: So let’s talk about
something interesting. How about the Dodgers?
Big Star: What about ‘em?
Metal Mike: Well, what it amounts to
is that in this town (Los Angeles), the Dodgers are bigger than rock’n’roll, TV, and movies all combined. They’ve run these surveys showing that 71.7% of all
males (females, 54%) over 18 listen to the Dodgers games on the radio or TV.
And the team is amazing anyway… manager Tommy Lasorda is a bona fide future
legend in the making. What it amounts to is that in LA, the Dodgers kill any current rock’n’roll phenomena
with the possible exception of KISS.
Big Star: KISS???
Metal Mike: Yeah, I think they’re the
‘70s Beach Boys. The best American rock group, hands down. I love their
records.
Big Star: Care to elaborate on that assertion?
Metal Mike: No, not really. KISS are
just the commercialization of heavy metal that I was really waiting years for.
Plus, they got the most and best riffs of any band around. Like, “I Stole Your
Love,” man – any of you MC5 fans who can’t get into that, I’m having your
record collections repossessed tomorrow! Or “Love Gun,” to stay current – that’s
as good a 45 as anything.
Big Star: Anything else you like in the current rock scene?
Metal Mike: ABBA are really, really
great; they’re the only other group whose albums I’d pay four bucks for. Aerosmith
are OK, Rush and Starz ditto, Ted Nugent, eh… I really liked all those rock’n’roll
Top 40 singles from the past year: Boston, Foghat, KISS, Steve Miller, ELO, the
Bay City Rollers’ rock’n’roll singles; paid 99 cents at K-Mart for all those
groups’ 45s. Basically, I’m just a heavy metal purist. AM radio finally caught
up with heavy metal guitar via Boston – so my taste now is really mainstream. Don’t
ask me about New Wave, I hate that stuff. “God Save the Queen” was a great
record, both sides, but otherwise… Limeys can’t do anything right, y’know. The Ramones albums literally make me ill.
Their 45s are neat though – I bought “Sheena is a Punk Rocker.”
Big Star: Any other hobbies or fandoms you like better than rock’n’roll?
Metal Mike: Oh, yeah, I’ve been back into
wargaming since 1975. It’s a great hobby… a couple nights a month, anyway.
Baseball is really the king, though.
Big Star: Tell us about R. Meltzer and VOM.
Metal Mike: Gregg Turner came by one
day and mentioned that Meltzer wanted to do a group; he was really serious
about forming a band. So I said, “Okay,” and the next time I plugged in the
fuzzbox to write some metallic riffs, I did a song tailored to Meltzer’s voice,
“Getting High with Stephen Stills.” Then a couple days later Turner came by
with a lyric he had called “Too Animalistic,” and I wrote some Fred Smith/Wayne
Kramer riffs for it, and it was obviously a VOM song! So it all took off, and
the concept of VOM has been expanding ever since.
Big Star: Which is?
Metal Mike: Sort of a cross between
heavy metal Fugs and the first Stooges album.
Big Star: Who’s gonna be in the band?
Metal Mike: Three friends of Meltzer’s
on guitars and bass who’ve knocked around in bands, we’re auditioning drummer, myself
on anything from guitar to drums to vocals, plus Meltzer and Turner handing a plurality
of the vocals. So things as of this date (10/77) are in that embryonic stage of
finding the right musicians, then rehearsing for a couple months.
Big Star: So what’s the musical genre?
Metal Mike: Various levels of heavy
metal, because that’s all I write – Black Sabbath/Stooges, mutated ’66 metal,
or whatever level of tightness is attained, but with Meltzeroid lyrics and
stage presentation. Heavy metal Fugs is really a good description. Unless it’s
both stupid… and funny... then we’re not gonna do it.
Big Star: You have a really big backlog of songs of your own, don’t you?
Metal Mike: Oh, yeah, around 300-350
from over the past eight years. I love making up riffs; it’s like working algebra
problems. Quick and easy, (in) 10 minutes ya got it, another song. It’s like
permutations – 10 different basic chord changes in 10 different sequences, 10
different tempos. 10 x 10 x 10… a thousand songs. You’ve just got to know the
basic riffs really well, like very
good punk rock or heavy metal record ever made. I think Paul Stanley of KISS is
really one of the best riff-mongers ever; his output is just great.
Big Star: What’s your personal experience in rock bands?
Metal Mike: The mid- and late-‘60s,
as a drummer and guitarist in a lot of garage bands back in Little Rock,
Arkansas; some real megatonic heavyweights like the Rockin’ Blewz, the Living
Endz, Society’s Outcasts, among others… A Standells member I wasn’t – by the
end of high school I was a real basket case stage-wise… a walking time bomb
capable of blowing a chord change at the worst possible moment. Like the chorus
of “Talk Talk”… or the intro to “Louie Louie.” My position with VOM as musical
director/dictator and utility infielder is really ideal… I only have to play on
the songs I know I’m not gonna blow.
All three of them…
Big Star: Back to rock writing –
Metal Mike: Rock what?
Big Star: Rock writing; magazines…
Metal Mike: Boy, ya got me. It was just
something I did in lieu of working at McDonald’s during my college years, you
know.
Big Star: Any writers you like?
Metal Mike: Oh, yeah. Nick Kent of NME was amazing during his hot period.
Charles Shaar Murray is amazing. Max Bell also of NME has done real well at times. Over in this country you had or
have Lester Bangs. All the rest of us turkeys were a good six notches below Bangs
and those first two, I think you’ll agree. Like, I mean, Lenny Kaye for example
had a couple great moments, but… Like Circus
is really the best commercial American pro-zine at this point – don’t you think
that kinda says it all?
Big Star: Compared to NME, yes. Any comments
on Mark Shipper, Flash, or your Brain
Damage fanzine from 1974?
Metal Mike: No, not really. At this
late date it’s just all water under the cesspool… Let bygones be bygones. Who
cares, y’know?? I’m still gonna let the air out of Shipper’s tires someday,
though!
Angry Samoans: Metal Mike on far left
Big Star: Anything else about VOM?
Metal Mike: Yeah. At the first VOM
business meeting, Meltzer was really drunk, knocking over things. We got into
an argument on how you write songs, me being used to patching lyrics onto riffs
I make up, and then he called me a folkie. I really wanted to deck him. But I
calmed down… so Turner and I went into his brother’s bedroom, locked the door,
and plugged in the guitar and took a couple of Meltzer’s finished lyrics, “Electrocute
Your Cock” and “I’m in Love with Your Mom,” and I made up riffs for them. Good
ones, right on the spot. So when we came back out in half an hour with finished
songs, Richard saw we weren’t kidding about being just what he needed musically….
He’s going, “Hey, Blue Oyster Cult takes six months to write a riff… this is
all right!” And it’s been easy working with him ever since; we write together
when we can in the same genre, lyric-wise, so it’s a real songwriting mill. All
that Meltzer needs is someone to crank out the music; he’s got the best lyrics
around. “I Live with the Roaches” is hilarious – I can’t believe BOC [Blue Oyster Cult – RBF, 2020] wimped
out on recording that! All that has to happen is for the group to attain a
reasonable level of competence and keep up with the quality of material that’s
gonna be coming out.
Big Star: How about records?
Metal Mike: Aw, that’s the best part…
for records, we’re gonna bring in Ross Friedman [Ross the Boss, at the time in the Dictators,– RBF, 2020], that
kind of thing. They’ll be real heavy metal 45s. I’m the musical Dictator of
Vinyl – so they have to be, or they
won’t happen. Back Door Man Records will have their first big chance to break
the 1,000 sales mark… maybe even 2,000!
Big Star: Sounds Interesting.
Metal Mike: Well, y’know… heavy metal
Fugs… I guess it beats watching the San Diego Padres on TV… unless they happen
to be playing the Dodgers, that is.
