Bettie Page R.I.P.

Bettie Page
(April 22, 1923 – December 11, 2008)
photo: Irving Klaw

Lennox Lewis, Klitschko Brothers

Lennox Lewis
WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO Heavyweight Champion
training session w/Emanuel Steward (right) (4/27/2000)
Paramount Theater @ Madison Square Garden NYC
photo: ht

before entering the ring to defend his belt(s) on April 29th 2000 against Michael Grant, a lawsuit brought about by Don King forced Lennox to surrender his WBA title or cancel the fight. He knocked out Grant in the second round. There's now talk of Lennox lacing the gloves again to take care of some "unfinished business" - Vitaly "Dr. Ironfist" Klitschko, who recently came out of retirement to take back the WBC Heavyweight belt this past October. He is the fourth boxer to win a heavyweight belt for the 3rd time - Ali, Holyfield and Lewis being the others. Wladimir "Dr. Steelhammer" Klitschko, Vitaly's younger brother, is currently the holder of the IBF, IBO and WBO heavyweight titles making the Klitschko Brothers the first siblings to simultaneously hold world heavyweight championship belts. Unification, anyone?
more Lennox, Klitscho, Grant and Bert Sugar here -

Vitali & Wladimir Klitschko
Paramount Theater @ Madison Square Garden NYC,
(preceding Wladimir's US debut)
April 28th 2000
photo: ht

Stylin'

ht, Alan Vega - CBGB's
photo: Bonnie Graham

North Fork Sound Top 20 December 7th ‘08

1. Billy Edd Wheeler: Fried Chicken And A Country Tune
2. Lindisfarne: Winter Song
3. Julie Peel: A Night Like This
4. Lee “Scratch” Perry: Scratch Is Alive
5. The Rainman Suite: Douchebaggery
6. Lydia Lunch: Frankie Teardrop
7. The Jesus & Mary Chain: Head On
8. Hellvis: Foggy Mountain Deathride
9. Terry Edwards & The Scapegoats: Spill The Beans
10. Rickie Lee Jones: Under The Boardwalk
11. Department S: Is Vic There?
12. Wormburner: Bells Of St. Ignatius
13. The Cure: Fascination Street (remix)
14. Brinsley Schwarz: Nervous On The Road (live, ‘72)
15. Dave Edmunds: Run Rudolph Run
16. Debbie Harry: I Want That Man
17. Aubrey Small: Country Road
18. Blake Boy: Cambodia
19. Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford: I Need Your Loving
20. Suicide: Rocket USA (live@Eric’s, Liverpool ‘78)

Album Of The Week:
Brother Tyrone: Mindbender (Guitar Joe’s House Of Blues)

The 7” B-side:
Dennis Linde: East St. Louis Nights (Elektra)

The Guilty Pleasure:
Two Dollar Question: Aunt Matilda’s Double Yummy Blow Your Mind Out Brownies (Intrepid Records)

Last Week’s Listener Favourites:
Alan Vega: Jukebox Babe
Brother Tyrone: New Roll And Tumble
Gene Casey And The Lone Sharks: That’s What Cheaters Do
Johnny Allen: The Promised Land
The Duke Spirit: The Step And The Walk
Neu!: Hero
Dr. John: The Monkey
Eddie & The Hot Rods: Do Anything You Wanna Do
Billy Bragg: Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards
The Vaughan Brothers: Brothers
Don Drummond: Man In The Street
Elliot Easton: (Wearing Down) Like A Wheel
The Mothers Of Invention: The Uncle Meat Variations
The Who: The Kids Are Alright
The O’Jays: The Back Stabbers
Jah Lion: Columbia Colly
The English Beat: Save It For Later
Dr. Alimantado: Born For A Purpose/Reason For Living
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: The Ballad Of Robert Moore & Betty Coltrane
The Cramps: Monkey With Your Tail
Legend: Bartender’s Blues
ESG: You’re No Good
The Undertones: Teenage Kicks
Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Days That Used To Be
Pops Staples: Why Am I Treated So Bad?
John Lennon: You Can’t Catch Me
East River String Band: Some Cold Rainy Day
Graham Parker: Christmas Is For Mugs
The Star Spangles: I’m On A High
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Christmas All Over Again
The Feelies: Time For A Witness
Mary Gauthier: Just Say She’s A Rhymer
Donnie Elbert: Little Piece Of Leather
Eli ‘Paperboy’ Read & The True Loves: The Satisfier
Jace Everett: Bad Things

Incoming...

Some good mail showed up at NoFoSo Towers this week. What used to be a double LP is now a triple cd - yes, the Greasy Truckers Party at the Roundhouse in 1972 is now available thanks to the gentlefolk at Liberty Records in London. So now we get cds of whole sets by Brinsley Schwarz, Man and Hawkwind, not to mention a song by Magic Michael, silence from Byzantium (thanks to a power failure) and commentary from founding Curry Club member and all-round NoFoSo fave dj, Andy Dunkley, (The Living Jukebox).
The Greasy Truckers was an outfit formed by (Hawkwind manager)

Doug Smith
Gramercy Park Hotel, NYC (late 80s)
photo: ht
scanned from a 3-D lenticular print

Doug Smith and (Brinsley Schwarz manager and - later - Stiff Records co-founder) Dave Robinson based on the Diggers, a San Francisco anarchist/street theater group who doled out advice to folks who'd been busted for drugs and free food for the homeless, amongst other things. According to the booklet, Liberty U/A's Andrew Lauder described the Truckers as a "loose organization of individuals whose aim was to recycle money into worthwhile causes that would benefit the 'underground' community in Britain". This particular concert practically launched the careers of space-rock jammers Man and spaced-out rockers Hawkwind, who would soon re-write this early version of 'Silver Machine', put Lemmy into the vocal spotlight and have a top 5 hit in the UK with it the following year.
Who can forget the magnificence that is Stacia?

Alas, Brinsley Schwarz were condemned to remain slogging around the pubs and clubs of the UK, nevertheless leaving a very tasty catalogue of albums in their wake. Brinsley himself (guitar), went on to play with Graham Parker, Ian Gomm (rhythm guitar) had a top 40 US hit with 'Hold On' and Nick Lowe formed Rockpile with Dave Edmunds, produced Elvis Costello, Paul Carrack, The Damned, Wreckless Eric, Dr. Feelgood amongst many, became Johnny Cash's step-son-in-law by marrying Carlene Carter while continually putting out great, great albums.

Ok, so if that doesn't make you want to fly to England immediately, how about the latest in the Suicide 10" ltd. edition vinyl series with Lydia Lunch giving us her take on murder/infanticide/suicide subject Frankie Teardrop and Primal Scream taking the piss out of Diamonds, Fur Coat, Champagne? C minus, Gillespie...can do better.

Lydia Lunch: Frankie Teardrop
art: "Undated X-Ray of 16 year old youth"
courtesy of London Metropolitan Police

Primal Scream: Diamonds Fur Coat Champagne
art: detail from Untitled 2007 by Fang Lujin
courtesy alexanderoch-galleries.com

Just as I posted my Cure piece, a cd showed up right out of the blue: 'Just Like Heaven - A Tribute To The Cure (American Laundromat Records) - featuring the delightful Julie Peel, Joy Zipper, Tanya Donelly and our faves, Dean & Britta, who also have a new, very good Christmas 45 out, called 'He's Coming Home' (Chimney Rocks Records). It's the old Wailers song, but don't ask me which Wailers we're talking about. It doesn't sound like the Bunny/Tosh/Marley version, nor does it sound anything like the Washington state band who did Out Of Our Tree and Louie Louie. Get it now, 'cuz I got #369 out of 500 and it'll be gone soon.

Paul Weller's new favourites, Little Barrie sent a package. Sad to say, the cd tray in my computer just wheezed its last, but since one of the items was a 7", that'll go on the radio until we're fixed.

Also, this week I re-connected with ex-Ant, Marco Pirroni. So I asked him to send the new album by the Wolfmen, his triffic new group. I heard their version of Eno's 'Needle In The Camel's Eye' 45 on Little Steven's Underground Garage and if the rest of the alb is anything like it, then it's going to be a 'year's best'.

ht, Marco Pirroni
CBS Records UK, 1981

Ruth Polsky (12/5/56 - 9/7/86)

Ze Records' Michael Zilkha, Ruth Polsky
23rd St, NYC
photo: ht

Today would have been Ruth Polsky's 52nd birthday. I met Ruth when she came to London to see if I could help her get The Psychedelic Furs to play Hurrah, a club she booked in NYC. I made the necessary introductions and it wasn’t too long before they were playing ‘Sister Europe’ to David Bowie, myself and a house full of curious Anglophiles.

Richard Butler, David Bowie
Hurrah, NYC '80
photographer: Ebet Roberts

Ruth was a big fan of the period’s non-mainstream music and bands like Simple Minds, New Order, The Smiths, The Birthday Party, The Sisters Of Mercy, The Slits and Echo & The Bunnymen can all thank her for being the first person to bring them to the States. After Hurrah, in the early 80s she moved on to Danceteria and, with Jim Fouratt, Rudolf and Dianne Brill, made it NYC's liveliest, and most creative nightspot. The man with the 'list', sweet Haoui Montaug, would greet you with a smile and the first thing I'd do upon entering was turn right, into the room where the bands would play. Ruth's booking policy made everything worth a look, so I'd take a spot at the bar, order a drink and give whoever was playing 3 songs (or 2 drinks) to make their point. It was there I first saw 10,000 Maniacs at Ruth's insistence (and also on the recommendation of my friend Eric Maché, who had seen them in Buffalo). It only took a couple of minutes to find me up front, mesmerized by Natalie Merchant's extraordinary stage presence and Rob Buck's liquid guitar-playing.

Natalie Merchant
Rochester, NY, 1983
photo: ht

If nothing was happening downstairs, one floor up was where DJs like Mark Kamins, Anita Sarko, Johnny Dynell and Bill Bahlman would spin all the latest discs. I remember 'dancing' past a supremely confident and stylin' lass on my way to give Bill a Leisure Process advance 12" only to find out her name was Madonna and that she was a regular and Kamins' girlfriend. She was not tall (in stature) but she had huge presence. There were bars on all floors and sometimes I'd just park myself at the bar, drink a few, listen to the latest records and watch the dancers.

The 3rd floor featured a video lounge that ran experimental video (a developing art-form) and bizarre porn. I remember staring at the televisions once - careful, I nearly typed TVs - trying to figure out exactly what was going on and suddenly realizing I was seeing my first fisting tape (male). Had to wash away the image with copious screwdrivers with Suicide's Alan Vega, a regular 3rd floor customer who lived a few blocks away at the Gramercy Hotel.

(unknown couple), Alan Vega, Diane Brill, ht
3rd floor, Danceteria
photo: Herbert Schultz
German Cosmopolitan December 1984

In the summer, the club’s owner Rudolf opened up the roof to lucky invitees and on Wednesday nights, Haoui presented his freaky 'No Etiendes' variety show, where Madonna made her live debut. There were often strange art events happening. Underground film-maker Nick Zedd 'premiered' his 'Geek Maggot Bingo' (to most people's disappointment) and somehow Chris Isaak even had a residency at Danceteria.
One of Ruth’s favourite bands was Joy Division and she worked very hard to put their first US tour together only to have it canceled when singer Ian Curtis hanged himself the night before they were due to leave for America. She wasn’t only a fan of British bands though and in 1984 started managing NYC’s Certain General, whose compilation 'Invisible New York' was released last year. For those who might be interested, their history is admirably recounted by Kris Needs here
Ruth enjoyed photography, and one of her favourite people was Andrew Eldritch from the Sisters Of Mercy. Andrew used a photo she took inside their debut album, First And Last And Always.

The Sisters Of Mercy
publicity photo by: Ruth Polsky

and she took this one, backstage, after a show in London -

Andrew Eldritch, ht
photo: Ruth Polsky

Tragically, Ruth was killed on September 7th 1986 outside another club, Limelight, when a taxi jumped the kerb and pinned her to the wall while she was waiting to enter the venue to see Certain General play. Ruth was a lovely, kind, funny, generous and nurturing woman. At this time of year, I always think about the ways she encouraged and helped musicians. She enriched many of their lives and her presence and influence is still greatly missed.

Robert Maché (The Swinging Madisons), Stephen Israel, Ruth Polsky, Eugenie Deserio & Steven Alexander (Model Citizens/The Dance)
23rd St, NYC
photo: ht

David Johansen, Anne Deon, John Anthony, Jo-Ellen (top), Ruth
23rd St, NYC
photo: ht

Feel like...

Little Richard
photo: unknown

when you listen to North Fork Sound...

The play-list on NoFoSo is now up to about 10 hours of music, (un-interrupted, if you become a VIP listener for as low as $5.95/month or otherwise FREE, with advertisements). Everyday, approx 20 new songs replace the 20 or so uploaded a week before. There's always some blues, some reggae, some protest, some unfettered rock & roll, something new, something rare (unheard anywhere else), some pop, punk, soul, a smattering of jazz, rebel country, contemporary classical and whatever I else I feel like throwing in. Always represented: Chuck, Ramones, Beefheart, Suicide, the Stones, Bo and Dylan... and the baddest of the bad, too.
Thanks to all the managers, artists and labels that continue to feed our hunger, especially Nonesuch, New West, Shout Factory, Universal (UK), Time-Life/Saguaro Road, Blast First Petit, American Laundromat, Punk Rock Blues, Ace/Big Beat (UK), YepRoc, Sursumcorda, Abaton, Lone Sharks Music, Hi-N-Dry, Horizon Music Group, Merge & Sartorial (UK).

After 2 years, currently ranked 1,866 out of 12,000+ stations on the live365 network...slowly working toward #1